Down the Frozen River

Author: Nick Lanciani

  • 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Benchmarks

    Friday night was rambunctious night in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs as chaos was abound.

    The Montréal Canadiens bested the Washington Capitals, 6-3, to force at least a Game 5 in their series with Capitals now leading 2-1 in their best-of-seven matchup.

    The offensive outburst for the Habs wasn’t the only outburst that the Bell Centre crowd witnessed as both teams nearly squared off with their entire rosters heading into the second intermission. More on that in just a bit.

    The Carolina Hurricanes paid a visit to Prudential Center as the New Jersey Devils hosted Game 3 of their series and if you thought this one would be over in regulation, well, you were wrong. Šimon Nemec was the hero in double overtime for the home team Devils as New Jersey won, 3-2.

    Carolina maintains the series lead 2-1, but will host a Game 5 on Tuesday, April 29th regardless of the results of Game 4 on Sunday.

    Finally, Friday night’s late game (for the East Coast, anyway) featured 11 goals between the two teams, rapid momentum shifts and one confusing as hell decision by Los Angeles Kings head coach, Jim Hiller.

    In the end, the Edmonton Oilers emerged victorious, 7-4, on home ice at Rogers Place to take Game 3 and trail the Kings 2-1 in the series.

    Did someone invite the Nordiques?

    Won’t somebody please think of the children?

    Sure thing Mrs. Lovejoy, right after we get back from watching comparisons between warmups and in-game scrums back when the Québec Nordiques and Montréal Canadiens went at it to present-day Arber Xhekaj shenanigans and Tom Wilson and Josh Anderson’s visit to the Capitals bench.

    If you haven’t seen what went down in Game 3 in Montréal: This happened.

    So, yeah, Tom Wilson and Josh Anderson ended up being fined $5,000 each– the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement– for unsportsmanlike conduct in Friday’s night game. Turns out you can’t fight on the bench.

    In the meantime, Connor McMichael scored first on a tip-in 3:20 into the first period to give Washington a, 1-0, lead on the road. But late in the opening frame, Montréal tied it, 1-1, when Alexandre Carrier wired a wrist shot from the point in the last minute of the period.

    Midway through the second period, both teams swapped goals as Nick Suzuki gave the Canadiens a, 2-1, lead off of an offensive zone faceoff thanks to a turnover from Capitals defender, John Carlson, that ended up right on Suzuki’s stick for backhand shot at 8:37.

    Jakob Chychrun, however, caught a pass from Andrew Mangiapane in the offensive zone, corralled the puck and rocketed a slap shot past Sam Montembeault to tie things up, 2-2, about two minutes after Suzuki’s goal.

    But once again, Washington allowed a goal against in the final minute of a period as Lane Hutson picked off a pass intended for Alex Ovechkin in the Capitals’ own zone and fed Cole Caufield a one-timer through the slot to put the Habs on top, 3-2, heading into the second intermission.

    Then chaos erupted at the horn when– after replacing Montembeault due to a lower body injury– Jakub Dobeš exchanged words with some Capitals on their way across the ice to exit the playing surface.

    Everyone partnered up to square dance while Wilson and Anderson tried to throw each other out of the saloon in the meantime.

    When the dust settled, the officials handed out 28 minutes in penalties between the two teams.

    Xhekaj and Lars Eller each had two minutes for roughing each other, while Wilson and Anderson picked up two minutes for roughing and ten-minute misconducts.

    Ahead of the final frame, Montréal announced that Montembeault would not return to the night’s action.

    Then Ovechkin scored on an early rush and a pass from Dylan Strome to Ovechkin on the far side after Anthony Beauvillier got the play started. The Caps tied the game, 3-3, at 2:39 of the third period, but the Canadiens started to pull away from Washington shortly thereafter.

    Christian Dvorak made it, 4-3, on a shot that ricocheted off of Brandon Duhaime’s own stick past his teammate, Logan Thompson, and into the twine, then Juraj Slafkovský played a game catch with Caufield as they entered the zone.

    Caufield dished the puck back to Slafkovský as the young Slovak forward crashed the slot and beat Thompson as the Washington netminder struggled to catch up on the play before being trucked by his own teammate in a collision with Strome.

    Slafkovský’s goal made it, 5-3, Montréal at 13:23 of the third period, while Thompson was slow to get up, then stumbled as he tried to shake it off and was helped off the ice.

    Both starting goaltenders were replaced by their backups due to injury and their statuses entering Game 4 are questionable.

    Alex Newhook added the final goal of the night with 2:25 remaining in the action on Charlie Lindgren’s glove side to secure the, 6-3, win for the Habs.

    Washington needs to tighten up their play if they want to take a commanding 3-1 series lead back home for Game 5. The Canadiens are skating stride-for-stride with the Capitals and haven’t really been out of a game yet this series by any means. It’s too close for comfort if you’re a longtime Caps fan.

    Meanwhile, Montréal just wants to keep riding the momentum they’ve generated. They’re only down 2-1 in the series and they have another home game before having to go back to Washington.

    The Bell Centre crowd lives and breathes the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They expect to be in the building through May every year, whether the Canadiens are rebuilding or not. It’s a religion and they won’t take “maybe next year” for an answer.

    They also won’t take lightly to Wilson and his new meme that he generated as a result of his “crybaby” gestures.

    The torch and LED flames may be a symbol held near and dear to the organization from John McCrae’s famous poem “In Flanders Fields”, but to opponents the flames that are shown across all LED signage before the Canadiens are introduced might as well represent Hell.

    Habs fans are praying to the Hockey Gods and they hope their opponents are smote off the face of the Earth.

    It’s different in Montréal this time of year.

    Nemec gives Devils life in 2OT

    Hey, speaking of Hell, the New Jersey Devils!

    They’re right back in their series with the Carolina Hurricanes after Šimon Nemec scored his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal early in double overtime to lift New Jersey over the Canes, 3-2.

    The Hurricanes now have a 2-1 series lead heading into Game 4 on Sunday in New Jersey and will host a Game 5 Tuesday, April 29th back at Lenovo Center.

    Late in the first period Friday, however, Timo Meier dished a pass to Nico Hischier while the Devils’ captain crashed the net while being chased by Carolina defender, Sean Walker.

    Hischier sold an intentionally mishandled puck and watched as it strolled past Frederik Andersen on the far side as the Hurricanes netminder dropped into a hybrid stance.

    New Jersey held the, 1-0, lead entering the first intermission and neither team managed to score until the third period.

    Jesper Bratt skated down the boards and cut from the corner to the front of the net mimicking a wraparound without even having to go through the trapezoid and out the other side around the goal frame.

    Andersen fell forward to snag the puck, but Bratt bested the Carolina goaltender as the puck slid to the side of the net.

    Andersen’s momentum carried the Hurricanes goalie out of the familiar blue paint of the crease while Dawson Mercer scooped and curled the loose puck– guiding the rubber biscuit over the goal line for a, 2-0, lead 1:18 into the final frame of regulation.

    About five minutes later, though, Carolina started to swing momentum in their direction while on the power play. Shayne Gostisbehere worked the puck to Seth Jarvis through the neutral zone as Jarvis gave the puck to Sebastian Aho before receiving the give-and-go in return and wiring a shot past Jacob Markström.

    Jarvis cut the lead in half with the power-play goal, while Aho later tied the game, 2-2, with a power-play goal of his own– snapping a shot from the bumper at 12:20 of the third period.

    Nobody else could score thereafter and one overtime wasn’t enough, so a second overtime period was in order.

    This time it didn’t take long for Nemec to retrieve a puck from the neutral zone and skate into the attacking zone before releasing a shot from the faceoff circle that deflected off of the Carolina goaltender and in to give Nemec his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal and the game-winner in the process.

    The Devils won, 3-2, as Nemec became the youngest overtime goal scorer in franchise history– beating Adam Henrique’s 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal game-winner in the process. Nemec is only 21, whereas Henrique was 22 at the time.

    Friday night was a huge moment for New Jersey’s 2nd overall pick in 2022, as the defender has had stints in the American Hockey League while coming into his own game between NHL appearances.

    New Jersey can even the series Sunday afternoon and make things really interesting heading back to Carolina for Game 5 afterwards.

    Then again, the Hurricanes can shake off their Game 3 loss– that’s been a trend in recent years for them in every playoff series it seems– and get right back to dominating possession and the scoreboard for a commanding 3-1 series lead with a Game 4 victory.

    “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN VIDEO?”

    It’s a question everyone in a remote production truck has heard at one point or another, but in this case it applies to the Los Angeles Kings’ coaching staff and their decision to challenge Evander Kane’s goal for goaltender interference after an already lengthy officials’ review.

    In the meantime, now we’ve got a series.

    The Edmonton Oilers beat the Kings, 7-4, after Jim Hiller’s questionable decision to challenge what everyone but someone in Los Angeles’ coaching staff saw, apparently.

    Here’s a little secret for those of you that don’t already know how writing works in the world of game recaps and more: You start writing a lede where one team wins and another lede where the other team wins. Prior to Kane’s goal I started setting the scene for a Los Angeles 3-0 series lead.

    The Connor McDaivd-Leon Draisaitl era Edmonton Oilers have been here before. They trailed 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final just last year to the Florida Panthers before generating momentum with a blowout win in Game 4, another win in Game 5 and a third-consecutive win in Game 6.

    They were looking to become the first team since the Los Angeles Kings came back from a 3-0 series deficit to eliminate the San Jose Sharks in seven games in the 2014 First Round.

    Then Edmonton lost in another Game 7 on the road in the Stanley Cup Final. Just like they did in 2006, in Carolina– only this time it was after nearly pulling off the highly improbable. There was no reverse sweep for McDavid’s postseason MVP-winning glory.

    Instead, only the inevitable. Just delayed by a few.

    Think about how great that would’ve looked here, Mr. Hiller.

    Instead, only the inevitable. Edmonton forces their way back into the series and upsets Los Angeles for the fourth-straight year.

    Now, I’m getting ahead of myself, but that’s what we could end up looking at here, folks.

    No matter how hot Adrian Kempe is right now– McDavid and Draisaitl are worth at least five of him. And with Evan Bouchard warming up? There’s circles to be skated ’round and ’round.

    You were already playing “catch-up hockey” all night, then you go and do that. How the hell are any of the Kings players supposed to keep their poise and confidence going into Game 4 while still in Edmonton?

    The Kings had a good story going in Game 3 as it was after trailing, 2-0. Kempe made it a one-goal game before heading into the first intermission.

    Kevin Fiala tied it early in the middle frame with a power-play goal and Drew Doughty added another about ten minutes later to give Los Angeles their first lead of the night.

    Then Connor Brown continued a bonkers run of goals– tying the game, 3-3, on a redirection at 17:19 of the second period before Trevor Moore one-handed an accident through Calvin Pickard’s legs to make it, 4-3, on the ensuing faceoff from Brown’s goal. The game had been tied for nine seconds.

    Oh, yeah, Pickard got the start for the Oilers, by the way, over Stuart Skinner.

    And then a few minutes past the midpoint of the third period, Kane and the Oilers thought they scored, but the call on the ice was initially “no goal” due to a perceived distinct kicking motion from Kane.

    An official review determined that Kane had, in fact, kicked the puck from his skate to his stick in a wise move to ensure no issues with the kick in the first place and to corral possession and just tap it in over the goal line with the blade.

    It was a good goal and Kane’s first in his second game back from an injury that somehow kept him out all season (the NHL isn’t thrilled about some of the long-term injured reserve use this year, apparently).

    Then Hiller used his coach’s challenge and, predictably, lost. If Kane had made contact with the blade of his stick touching Darcy Kuemper’s pads, it wouldn’t have made that much of a difference.

    The call on the ice– which, by now, was a “good goal”– stood. Los Angeles was assessed a bench minor for delay of game.

    Bouchard scored his second power-play goal of the game off the ensuing faceoff– 10 seconds after Kane’s goal, to be exact. The tally also rendered Bouchard as the first Oilers defender in franchise history to

    Now Edmonton was ahead, 5-4, and the Kings were forced to pull Kuemper for an extra attacker with all of the momentum fully swung in the Oilers’ favor.

    Doughty got crushed on a hit, lost the puck and McDavid ended up with possession on a short pass to go end-to-end from Zach Hyman to Edmonton’s captain for an empty-net goal to make it, 6-4, with 1:40 remaining in the action.

    Brown beat what would have otherwise been an icing about 90 seconds later and collected his second goal of the game– Edmonton’s second empty netter– to secure the, 7-4, victory.

    The Kings now lead the series 2-1, but the Oilers have home ice for Game 4 Sunday. It’s going to be a tough mountain to climb for Los Angeles to head back home with a commanding 3-1 series lead.

  • 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Now with some spice!

    Thursday night’s action brought us a close, 2-0, win for the Florida Panthers over the Tampa Bay Lightning– stealing home ice advantage in the process heading back to Florida for Games 3 and 4 with a 2-0 series lead for the Cats.

    What’s more, it also brought a 3-0 series lead for the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Ottawa Senators as an unlikely hero scored the game-winning overtime goal in Game 3 on the road.

    Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov continued their hot streaks for the Minnesota Wild as they downed the Vegas Golden Knights, 5-2, and took a 2-1 series lead in the process.

    Finally, the St. Louis Blues blew out the Winnipeg Jets, 7-2, which is bad news for Connor Hellebuyck fans as the Jets netminder was pulled from the action and good news for Hellebuyck haters, I guess. At least Winnipeg still leads that series 2-1, however.

    Now it’s a battle

    Just the other day I asked if the “Battle of Florida” actually kind of sucks and it’s good to see both teams are rejecting the hypothesis.

    Game 2 was a low scoring battle of attrition. Then Brandon Hagel went and threw gasoline on the fire.

    Now, I didn’t mean for someone to do that and go about making an illegal check rendering a five-minute major for interference and knocking Aleksander Barkov out of the game in the process.

    I want to note I’m a fan of heavy hockey, not bullshit hockey.

    A physical presence is always a good thing and a corresponding immediate response to it via fisticuffs is sometimes necessary and encouraged under heavy hockey pretenses. Unlike in bullshit hockey where premeditated or staged fighting occurs at, say, the opening puck drop of a 4 Nations Face-Off game between the U.S. and Canada.

    Heavy hockey is a grind and something to pride oneself on when the final score reads in your favor. Bullshit hockey is a five-minute major penalty in the waiting and possible other supplemental discipline upon a hearing.

    The latter tends to lead to being embarrassed in the next matchup too when it matters most– at least as Team USA found out.

    Now, I’m not saying that fighting isn’t part of the game or anything. Quite the contrary. It’s always been part of the game– as a penalty.

    You run the risk of being penalized and you will be penalized for shedding the gloves in an attempt to enact vigilante justice.

    Yet, big, clean hits are always perfectly legal and well within the range of “normal expectations and teetering on the edge of ‘the line’ or whatever.”

    The best way to handle something like Hagel’s illegal check? Score more goals than his team. Then win the next game for good measure too.

    In fact, make it a living hell for the opposing team. Finish every check. Capitalize on as many scoring chances as possible.

    Anyway, the Panthers still won Thursday night, 2-0, courtesy of a goal from the red-hot defender, Nate Schmidt, and an empty-net goal from Sam Bennett in the dying seconds of the game for insurance.

    Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside all 19 shots that he faced for his fourth career Stanley Cup Playoffs shutout in 96 postseason games. Bobrovsky has now recorded at least one shutout in each of the last three postseason runs for Florida and currently has a 1.00 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage to boot.

    Tampa spent a lot of time in the attacking zone with no results on the scoreboard and Jake Guentzel sent a rebound through the crease behind Bobrovsky and out the other side at one point late in the action too.

    The Bolts dropped home ice advantage and despite only trailing 2-0 in the series are basically in a do-or-die situation heading into Game 3 Saturday on the road.

    For the Panthers, their focus has to remain on the bigger picture– score goals and beat the Lightning on the scoreboard. Don’t try to settle the score, but let Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand do the talking (and walk the walk). A 3-0 series lead is within reach and can be accomplished with some home cooking.

    After writing this, Tampa forward, Brandon Hagel, was suspended by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for one game for interference against Florida forward, Aleksander Barkov. Hagel can return to the series in Game 4.

    Sonny and Cher approaching

    Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, in overtime in a playoff game.

    Unlike in Game 2 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, this time the Leafs did it in Game 3 on the road from Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa sorry, Kanata (well, technically it’s still Ottawa– it’s just 30 minutes from downtown Ottawa).

    Toronto now has a 3-0 series lead heading into Saturday night for Game 4 and can sweep the Senators while on the road and become the first team to advance to the Second Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Claude Giroux kicked off the night’s scoring to give the Senators a, 1-0, at 1:38 of the middle frame.

    Almost midway through the period, however, Matthew Knies had other plans and evened it up, 1-1, at 8:31 of the second period.

    Nobody else could muster anything on the scoreboard through the second intermission.

    Then it happened.

    A mere 32 seconds into the final frame of regulation, Leafs forward, Mitch Marner, fed Auston Matthews a pass with his golden stick while Ottawa’s goaltender, Linus Ullmark, was caught looking the other way and had no idea the puck was now briefly on Matthews’ stick.

    Matthews sent a one-timer behind Ullmark’s back to give Toronto their first lead of the night, 2-1, and people will still find a way to complain about Marner despite his offensive awareness and playmaking abilities.

    In any case, he’s due for a surefire raise this summer. Where he’ll be getting his new salary from, however, remains to be seen.

    Midway through the period, Brady Tkachuk carried the Sens into the attacking zone and proved Ottawa wouldn’t go down without a fight as he tallied a wrist shot goal on a breakaway from the faceoff circle– top shelf blocker side while using Maple Leafs defender, Brandon Carlo, as a screen– and tied the game, 2-2.

    Giroux picked up the primary assist as the home crowd came alive at 11:22 of the third period.

    But nobody could seal the deal on a regulation victory thereafter.

    Signed as a free agent by the Anaheim Ducks on March 7, 2019, before making his NHL debut during the 2020-21 season, Simon Benoit joined the Maple Leafs via free agency on August 28, 2023, and has recorded just six goals in 279 career regular season games.

    Benoit notched his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal in his 10th career postseason game.

    It also happened to be the game-winning goal at 1:19 of the overtime period.

    See, Benoit received a pass off the kickplate from Matthews– who had just won an offensive zone faceoff– then blasted a slap shot from the point with eyes past Ullmark.

    Benoit had served as the screen and had the only assist on Max Domi’s overtime goal in Game 2. This time in Game 3, he was the hero.

    For the first time since the 2001 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal, the Leafs have the chance to sweep a postseason series. Coincidentally, that 2001 series also happened to be against the Senators.

    Toronto can also improve to 5-0 in all-time playoff series’ against Ottawa with a win in Game 4 on Saturday, having most recently beaten the Senators in seven games in the 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal.

    Meanwhile, Sens head coach, Travis Green, has a difficult task ahead of him– besides the obvious “reverse sweep” attempt, Green has to contemplate starting Ullmark in Game 4 or, perhaps, looking to someone like Leevi Meriläinen to tend the crease.

    Meriläinen has never appeared in the postseason before and went 8-3-1 in 12 games (11 starts) with a 1.99 GAA, a .925 SV% and three shutouts in that span this season.

    Either way, it’s do or die at home for Ottawa and they look very much on their deathbed.

    Xceling in the Wild?

    Xcel Energy Center is getting a new naming rights partner next season and the Minnesota Wild opened up the 2025 postseason on home ice with a, 5-2, win in Game 3 of their First Round matchup with the Vegas Golden Knights.

    The Wild took a 2-1 series lead in the process and chased Adin Hill from the net after 40 minutes in favor of Akira Schmid.

    Zeev Buium recorded his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs point via the primary assist on Kirill Kaprizov’s power-play goal to give Minnesota a, 1-0, lead just a few minutes into the game Thursday night.

    Matt Boldy notched the secondary assist on the goal and, like Kaprizov, remained hot the rest of the night.

    Hill lost his focus a few minutes later after Wild forward, Justin Brazeau, sent the puck around the boards in the attacking zone. Hill went to play the puck in the trapezoid– stopping the rubber biscuit for a few seconds before going right back up the boards and directly to… …Brazeau.

    Brazeau eagerly worked the puck back down low to Yakov Trenin, who fed Marco Rossi in the slot for a one-timer goal while Hill was caught playing catch up.

    The goal marked the first of Rossi’s postseason career and gave the Wild a, 2-0, lead at 6:51 of the opening frame.

    Midway through the period, however, Alex Pietrangelo willed Vegas back into the game– if only for a little while, anyway.

    Pietrangelo received a pass from Noah Hanifin and rushed the attacking zone before unloading an old-school slap shot through Filip Gustavsson’s five-hole to cut Minnesota’s lead in half, 2-1.

    Midway through the second period, however, Boldy re-extended Minnesota’s lead to two-goals with a wrist shot goal.

    Then in the dying seconds of the period, the Wild struck gold on the power play. Again.

    This time Kaprizov put the puck in the back of the twine on a deflection to send the Wild into the second intermission with a, 4-1, lead.

    That goal was enough for Golden Knights head coach, Bruce Cassidy, to make a change in net and utilize the services of Schmid for the rest of the night.

    Midway through the final frame, the Golden Knights were shorthanded and Reilly Smith made it a two-goal game again, but Vegas couldn’t do anything else to erase the, 4-2, deficit.

    Boldy rang the post from way downtown while Schmid was on the bench for an extra attacker, but Marcus Foligno followed Boldy’s effort up with a surefire empty-net goal while shorthanded. Mostly because he skated the puck into the attacking zone and everything.

    Vegas finds themselves in a “must-win” situation entering Game 4 Saturday in light of the fact that the Golden Knights split Games 1 and 2 on home ice.

    Minnesota, meanwhile, can take a commanding 3-1 series lead with a win in front of their home crowd Saturday and try to eliminate Vegas on the road in Game 5.

    Of note, The Athletic‘s Michael Russo pointed out that Boldy and Kaprizov became the first Wild players in franchise history with multiple points in each of Minnesota’s first three postseason games. Eric Staal had multiple points in a two-game streak back in 2020.

    Hat’s all folks!

    Lately– and I haven’t had a chance to look at the swath of data, so I’m just going off of the “eye test” here– it seems like teams that have a blowout win in a series go on to win the series more times than not.

    Well, the St. Louis Blues ran away with a, 7-2, victory over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 3 in front of St. Louis’ home crowd at Enterprise Center Thursday.

    Pavel Buchnevich scored a power-play goal 48 seconds into the night, then added two more goals– including one more on the power play– to complete the hat trick and give the Blues a, 4-1, lead at 5:24 of the third period.

    Then the flood gates opened and Connor Hellebuyck was chased from the net and replaced by Eric Comrie as Winnipeg head coach, Scott Arniel, tried to wake up his team.

    Hellebuyck didn’t help himself, admittedly, after mishandling the puck with pressure bearing down on him from Blues forward, Robert Thomas, in the trapezoid leading to a gift goal for Buchnevich for the hat trick on a grab and go effort.

    The long story short is that “playoff Hellebuyck” might be back and the Jets couldn’t score (or defend, really) and that’s a dangerous combination for Winnipeg’s hopes in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Especially after their best season in franchise history– having won the Central Division, clinched the best record in the Western Conference and league courtesy of the Presidents’ Trophy for the first time ever.

    It’s not quite a 2007 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal collapse like when the Atlanta Thrashers were swept by the New York Rangers after winning the Southeast Division title in their only playoff appearance before relocating to Winnipeg in 2011, but…

    The feeling is awfully familiar.

  • 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Fifth night takeaways

    Wednesday night featured a lighter schedule with only three games on the docket as Logan Thompson stood on his head– in the third period especially– in Washington, D.C., Gabriel Landeskog played his first National Hockey League game in 1,032 days and everyone’s favorite harmonica group returned for Game 2 in Los Angeles.

    The Washington Capitals took a 2-0 series lead over the Montréal Canadiens with a 3-1 victory in Game 2 at Capital One Arena.

    Tyler Seguin scored the game-winning goal in Game 3 on the road at Ball Arena as the Dallas Stars won back-to-back games in overtime to take a 2-1 series lead over the Colorado Avalanche.

    And Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe each had four points in a, 6-2, blowout victory for the Los Angeles Kings in Game 2 of their series with the Edmonton Oilers to take a 2-0 lead on home ice.

    Shots shots shots shots shots (everybody)

    Despite outshooting Montréal, 32-26, in Game 2, everyone was talking about Thompson’s performance after Wednesday night’s, 3-1, win for Washington.

    Thompson made 25 saves and recorded a .962 save percentage in the victory and now has a 1.47 goals-against average and a .951 SV% thus far in the postseason.

    The Capitals held the Canadiens to 12 shots on goal through 40 minutes Wednesday– outshooting the Habs, 9-4, in the first period and, 18-8, in the second period alone for a, 27-12, advantage entering the final frame.

    That means Thompson faced a barrage of 14 shots against in the third period itself as Montréal mustered every effort to tie the game and force overtime for a second game in-a-row in the series.

    Despite the loss, Sam Montembeault still had 29 saves on 31 shots faced for a .935 SV% in Game 2 for Montréal and has a respectable 2.49 GAA and .921 SV% through two games in the series.

    That stat line would be fantastic in just about any other playoff series normally.

    The only problem is that the Canadiens have allowed six goals against thus far to their three goals for while Thompson has put up even better numbers than Montembeault as a result.

    Christian Dvorak slid a rebound under Thompson’s legs to give the Habs a, 1-0, lead 1:16 into the first period. Despite the fast start for the Canadiens, they weren’t able to get anything else past the Washington netminder.

    In fact, Montréal couldn’t hold the lead for long before the Capitals evened things up, 1-1, at 3:47 courtesy of a backhand goal from Connor McMichael.

    Then Washington’s leading scorer in the regular season, Dylan Strome, shoveled his own rebound past Montembeault for a, 2-1, lead a minute after McMichael had tied the game.

    The shift in momentum rendered a raucous crowd inside Capital One Arena as Strome put the home team ahead.

    Both teams settled in thereafter and McMichael wouldn’t add his second goal of the night until he hit the back of an empty net in the final seconds of the action to make it, 3-1, Washington.

    The series shifts to Montréal for Games 3 and 4 and the Habs can get back into it by just a few lucky bounces in front of their home crowd.

    Gabriel Landeskog returns! (for real this time)

    But Dallas ruined the party!

    Landeskog’s first game in almost three years featured six hits, one blocked shot, one giveaway and one takeaway to go along with a 50% draw on the faceoff dot.

    The first hit in his return? Delivered to former Avs teammate turned current Star by way of the Carolina Hurricanes, Mikko Rantanen.

    Almost halfway through the opening frame, the two teams were skating at 4-on-4 and Valeri Nichushkin made Matt Duchene look silly– shaking off the Stars forward with a quick cut and circle in the attacking zone before deking Jake Oettinger out of his mind to give Colorado a, 1-0, lead.

    Unfortunately for Avalanche fans in attendance, the 8:09 mark of the first period was also the last time they would experience joy for the rest of the evening as only anguish and dread was afoot.

    Posts were ringing, possession was to be had and play spent much of the time in Colorado’s own zone.

    Dallas outshot Colorado, 14-5, after one period and held onto an, 18-13, advantage through 40 minutes despite the Avalanche holding an, 8-4, shot advantage in the middle frame alone.

    Mackenzie Blackwood was the only reason why the Avs held their lead most of the night and finished with 26 saves on 28 shots against for a .929 SV%.

    Through three games this postseason, Blackwood has a 2.07 GAA and a .923 SV% for Colorado. Oettinger has a 2.37 GAA and a .910 SV% for Dallas. The Stars lead the series 2-1, however.

    Shortly after killing off a minor infraction, the Avs found themselves shorthanded once again when Nathan MacKinnon took what some experts are calling “a stupid penalty.”

    MacKinnon tried to be sneaky as he just happened to plant his stick on the ice while Colin Blackwell’s was heading backwards to defend his own end– catching the Stars forward’s skates in the process and sending Blackwell flying.

    The Stars were clicking on the power play opportunity just prior, but had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.

    This time, Dallas did not miss.

    Jamie Benn tipped a shot from Thomas Harley just under the bar to tie the game, 1-1, nine seconds into the skater advantage at 9:18 of the third period.

    Duchene cut a rut to the sin bin and presented the Avalanche with a chance to take momentum and the lead back into their own hands.

    No dice.

    Instead, Dallas had a tremendous shorthanded opportunity and sent Colorado’s power play units into disarray.

    Just as everyone settled in for overtime, Rantanen bounced a lead pass off the boards for Mason Marchment to rush into the attacking zone and drop a pass back to Seguin as No. 91 in his road white jersey with the familiar Dallas green yoke crashed the net.

    Seguin wristed a shot past Blackwood to secure the, 2-1, overtime victory and give Rantanen his first point of the series in the process as No. 96 for the Stars had the secondary assist on the game-winning goal.

    The Stars improved to 42-49 in overtime all-time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 25-22 record in the extra frame on the road in that span.

    The Avs fell to 47-37 in postseason overtimes and are now 20-21 on home ice in that span.

    In all, Dallas has led for just 72 seconds three games into the series. The Stars have a 2-1 series lead heading into Game 4 on the road Saturday night.

    Martin Nečas is not living up to his full potential.

    The regular season doesn’t have the same kind of pressure the postseason has. Whereas the expectations of the ebbs and flows of the regular season are predicated upon playing the right game to peak at the right time (now through June), you cannot have an “off” night in the playoffs.

    Nečas is clearly a talented player in his own right and now receives the benefit of playing on a line alongside MacKinnon– picking up additional points he could have only previously dreamed of in Carolina.

    But there’s an element of his game that he brought with him from the Hurricanes to the Avalanche that he hasn’t been able to shake off just yet.

    His failure to elevate his game from that regular season routine to the postseason grind.

    The Stars are doing enough to quell MacKinnon and Nečas. They’ve clearly done something to get under MacKinnon’s skin– just enough to annoy him and throw him off of his game.

    Remember after Game 1 when I said:

    “The bad news? Game 1 isn’t Dallas’ thing.

    The good news? History is on their side.

    The Stars dropped Game 1 against the Avalanche, 4-3, in overtime last year on home ice in their 2024 Second Round matchup. They went on to win the next three games before losing Game 5, but won Game 6, 2-1, in double overtime on the road in Denver– courtesy of former Colorado forward, Matt Duchene’s game-winner.

    Dallas also holds the 4-2 series advantage against the Avalanche in their lifetime….”

    Yeah, about that. The Stars still have history on their side– and not only that, they have a 2-1 series lead heading into Game 4. They are trying to go from being 4-2 to being 5-2 against Colorado in all-time playoff series matchups.

    Last year, when these two teams met I wasn’t enthused about the Avs’ odds. This year, that doubt has only grown further and further.

    It’s always the Stars or the Minnesota Wild when you think you “deserve” it more than the other team. They’re inevitable.

    Kopitar still has it, but Kempe has arrived too

    Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe each had four points on Tuesday night and that’s awesome and all, but you know what’s pretty cool too? Quinton Byfield keeps scoring.

    While Los Angeles’ certified stars in Kopitar and Kempe are doing their thing (as they should), Byfield has quietly been having a breakout of his own this series.

    Two games into it and Byfield has two goals and one assist– good enough for three points while centering the second line for the Kings.

    Kempe, meanwhile, has seven points (three goals, four assists) in two games. He’s already one point away from matching his previous postseason-high of eight points in six games in 2023.

    And Kopitar? Well, he’s having a better playoff run through two games this year than he did in five games last year against the Oilers.

    Kopitar has 1-4–5 totals in 2025, compared to his 1-2–3 totals in 2024 (five games played).

    And the Kings have a 2-0 series lead heading up to Edmonton for Games 3 and 4. Los Angeles has the Oilers right where they want them.

    All they have to do is win at least one of the next two games.

    That might be pretty easy to do if Stuart Skinner is still in net for Game 3.

    The Kings chased Skinner after he allowed five goals, but it’s not like the Oilers were completely out of the game– until they were really out of it.

    See, Los Angeles’ power play is cooking and, well, L.A. only had a, 3-0, lead by the midpoint of the middle frame. We saw in Game 1 how Edmonton isn’t out of a game by any means until the final horn sometimes.

    So Leon Draisaitl got the Oilers on the scoreboard. Then Viktor Arvidsson scored against his most recent former team on a tip-in early in the third period to bring Edmonton within one, 3-2.

    The Kings watched as their three-goal lead was suddenly back down to a one-goal lead.

    But a little over two and a half minutes after Arvidsson scored, Kempe answered. There would not be a weird (almost) comeback in Game 2.

    Kopitar notched his first goal of the postseason on the power play at 9:07 of the third period to extend Los Angeles’ lead to three goals once more, 5-2.

    Naturally, after Skinner was replaced by Calvin Pickard after a media timeout, Kempe scored on the first shot that Pickard faced to make it, 6-2, Los Angeles.

    If Kris Knoblauch decides to give Skinner another start in Game 3, there’s a very real chance we end up seeing Skinner join the revolving door of goaltenders in Edmonton’s recent history (yes, even before and after Ken Holland insisted that Mike Smith was the one, then tried to convince Jimmy Howard to come out of retirement).

    It’s insane, right?

    Skinner and the Oilers were just in the Stanley Cup Final last year because of, well, Skinner– oh, and some guy named “Connor McDavid” (plus Draisaitl– can’t forget him too).

    Yet, here we are.

    Through two games this postseason, Skinner has an 0-2 record with a 6.11 GAA and an .810 SV%. Sure, that save percentage might be half decent in, like, the 1980s (fitting for the greatest team of the 1980s, to be fair), but yikes. That’s no bueno.

    In his Stanley Cup Playoffs career (37 games played), Skinner has a 3.00 GAA and an .889 SV%.

    Now hear this– Pickard has a 2.48 GAA and a .903 SV% in four career Stanley Cup Playoff games (all with the Oilers and including his relief appearance on Wednesday).

    In Pickard’s two starts last spring, he went 1-1 with a 2.21 GAA and a .915 SV%.

    The Oilers clearly rallied around their goaltender when faced with the realization that Pickard of all people would be thrust into a position he once was expected to live up to when he was drafted 49th overall by Colorado in 2010, but hadn’t yet.

    So, riddle me this, why not see if the magic can work itself out again?

    Goaltenders are weird in more ways than one– personality, style and sometimes postseason runs.

    Is it time to consider Pickard the unlikely savior and turn to him when you need him most?

    By the way, Los Angeles has not won a playoff series since they won the Cup back in 2014. In case Edmonton needed more fuel for their manifestations or whatever.

  • 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Fourth day takeaways

    Tuesday night marked the fourth night of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs and– well, I’m not going to keep track of the number of days that have passed. I WILL forget one of these days, so let’s just get ahead of it now.

    Anyway, the Carolina Hurricanes hosted the New Jersey Devils in Game 2 of their series and took home a, 3-1, victory to go along with a 2-0 series lead heading to New Jersey for Games 3 and 4. Jordan Martinook scored the game-winning goal for the Hurricanes after they fell behind, 1-0, through 20 minutes of action.

    The Toronto Maple Leafs jumped out to a 2-0 series lead over the Ottawa Senators and had a, 2-0, lead in Game 2 from Scotiabank Arena before the Sens tied things up late and forced overtime. Max Domi was the hero for the Leafs early in the extra frame to give Toronto a, 3-2, victory.

    The “Battle of Florida: Part IV” commenced as the Florida Panthers paid a visit to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Game 1 of their series. Florida upset the Bolts on the road, 6-2, at Amalie Arena with Nate Schmidt credited as the game-winning goal in the dominant effort from the Cats.

    Finally, after an 11 p.m. start for the East Coast crowd, the Minnesota Wild jumped out to a huge lead and never looked back as they beat the Vegas Golden Knights on the road, 5-2, to even their First Round series 1-1. Mats Zuccarello had the game-winning goal, but Matt Boldy continued his hot start with a goal and an assist in the effort.

    Hello Hurricanes

    Two of their last three series meetings were quick five-game routs by Carolina and thus far in the 2025 First Round, there’s nothing to show that the Devils might make it past a Game 4.

    Though closer on the scoreboard than Game 1’s, 4-1, win for the Hurricanes, Game 2’s, 3-1, victory by the Canes felt like a classic, defensively dominant game in the Rod Brind’Amour era.

    Shots on goal were pretty even with Carolina holding the 28-26 advantage by the end of the night and Seth Jarvis’ first goal of the 2025 postseason occurring on an empty net to add the insurance marker to Carolina’s triumph.

    Former Hurricane, Erik Haula, fired a shot off of Frederik Andersen early in the action that New Jersey’s regular season leading scorer, Jesper Bratt, pounced on to give the Devils a, 1-0, lead 3:51 into the first period.

    That was it for the night for New Jersey, however.

    Shayne Gostisbehere tied things up, 1-1, for the Hurricanes early in the middle frame after collecting his own rebound for a snap shot goal at 2:57.

    Just a few minutes later, Martinook added a shorthanded goal to give the Hurricanes a, 2-1, lead at 5:54 of the second period after Dmitry Orlov fed Martinook a pass to breakout of Carolina’s own zone and skate up the ice without much pressure before unloading a snap shot past Jacob Markström.

    Another display of a strong defensive zone effort resulted in the Canes winning the draw from their own end with New Jersey’s net empty in the last minute of regulation.

    Martinook fed the puck up to Jarvis, who split the Devils defenders and skated through the uprights to guide a soft poke check empty net goal into the back of the twine for the, 3-1, win.

    Brenden Dillon and Luke Hughes did not appear in Game 2 after both Devils defenders exited Game 1 due to injury with the latter later returning late in the third period.

    This series doesn’t look like it’s going to be an offensive dynamo only two games into it. Yet, if New Jersey wants to have any chance of defending their home ice for Games 3 and 4, they’re going to have to get pucks in the back of the net.

    “Thanks Captain Obvious.”

    “You’re welcome!”

    One of the good things for the Devils heading home for Game 3 Friday night (8p ET on TBS, MAX, SN360, TVAS2, FDSNSO, MSGSN) is the fact that Carolina was only 16-21-4 on the road in the regular season, though New Jersey went 19-17-5 on home ice this season.

    The Hurricanes had a .439 points percentage in away games, while the Devils had a .524 points percentage at Prudential Center.

    Not your fathers’ Leafs?

    Morgan Rielly and John Tavares each scored for the second time in as many games to give Toronto a, 2-0, lead less than halfway through the first period Tuesday night– 8:20 into the opening frame, to be exact.

    The Maple Leafs recorded just seven shots on goal in the first 20 minutes and had scored on two of them.

    Things weren’t looking like they were going to bounce back for Linus Ullmark from Game 1 to Game 2, but then the Leafs just… …didn’t score again for the next 40 minutes and only had 12 shots on goal in the remaining two periods of regulation.

    Ottawa outshot Toronto 10-7 in the first period and 13-3(!) in the second period before the Maple Leafs held the advantage in shots on goal over the Senators 9-4 in the third period.

    The Leafs also had two shots on goal in overtime to Ottawa’s one shot on Anthony Stolarz in the extra frame.

    The final shot totals may have looked pretty close with the Sens holding a 28-21 advantage by the end of Game 2, but the Senators had fired far more rubber in the Leafs’ direction that didn’t end up hitting twine.

    Instead, the Vulcanized rubber disk smattered against the end boards, glass and Ottawa’s opponents. Toronto finished Tuesday night with 32 blocked shots– a number that would make John Tortorella smile, even if Craig Berube is the actual head coach of the Maple Leafs.

    At the other end, the Senators recorded six blocked shots themselves as the Leafs hit bodies with pucks few and far between by comparison.

    Heading into Game 3, Ottawa is going to have their work cut out for them to open up the shooting lanes and focus on getting more quality shots on net to make Stolarz earn every save.

    Power plays were few and far between with Toronto capitalizing on their only skater advantage of the night on Tavares’ goal. That’s something the Sens need to improve on too– their penalty kill.

    That said, Brady Tkachuk notched his first goal of the postseason while on the power play for Ottawa on a backhand shot late in the second period.

    Tkachuk’s goal planted a seed of doubt as Toronto’s lead was cut in half, 2-1, and the all too familiar comeback that Leafs fans have suffered through almost annually in the Stanley Cup Playoffs crept to the forefront of their minds.

    It wasn’t until late in the third period, too, that Adam Gaudette tipped a shot from the point by Tyler Kleven past Stolarz– tying the game, 2-2, in the process at 14:47 of the third period.

    But Domi made it look easy in overtime as he skated past Dylan Cozens and avoided Drake Batherson’s last-ditch effort flyby to breakup Domi’s advance.

    Domi wired a wrist shot from the slot just inside the outer edge of the faceoff circles through traffic past Ullmark to win the game, 3-2, at 3:09 of the overtime period.

    Toronto is going to want more of the same effort from Games 1 and 2, but without the jitters towards the end of the latter as they head to Canadian Tire Centre Thursday for Game 3 (7p ET on ESPN2, SNE, SNO, SNP, CBC, TVAS).

    Who wanted this exactly?

    Ever since the Florida Panthers were introduced to the National Hockey League in 1993, we’ve been dreaming of the intensity of Stanley Cup Playoff games between the Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

    But I have to ask– does the “Battle of Florida” actually just suck?

    We were treated to the first edition of the “Battle of Florida” back in the 2021 First Round. Yep, it only took 28 years, but we rejoiced when it finally happened.

    The first game was a thrilling back-and-forth, 5-4, victory for the Lightning on the road. The Bolts stole the Cats’ thunder in Game 2 with a, 3-1, victory and stole home ice advantage out from under the Panthers– despite both teams still playing in Florida, mind you.

    Then the Panthers responded with a, 6-5, overtime win in Game 3– proving that home ice simply didn’t matter at all.

    Well, until Tampa lit up Florida, 6-2, in Game 4 and took a commanding 3-1 series lead.

    Then the Panthers responded with a lopsided, 4-1, win of their own in Game 5 to force a Game 6.

    Despite the final scores, the Hockey Gods were setting the scene for what could have been a thrilling finish in a Game 7– except the Lightning shutout the Panthers on home ice in Game 6, 4-0.

    Tampa outscored Florida, 24-17, in the series.

    We didn’t have to wait another 28 years for the next rendition of the “Battle of Florida” as the sequel “Battle of Florida II: 2 Fast 2 Florida (Teams)” happened in the 2022 Second Round.

    The Panthers were riding high after advancing from the previous round for the first time since 1996– the same year that Florida went to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance.

    The Lightning were looking to keep their younger brother (by a year) down and win their second series in as many years against the Panthers.

    Game 1 was a, 4-1, win for the Lightning. Game 2 was a closer, 2-1, win for the Lightning as once again the Panthers dropped their first two games on home ice in the “Battle of Florida Part Deux.” Game 3? You guessed it, another win for Tampa– this time, 5-1.

    The Bolts completed the sweep, 2-0, in Game 4 and outscored the Cats, 13-3, in the 2022 edition of the “Battle of Florida.”

    Then we had a year off as the Everglades went fallow as the Toronto Maple Leafs pulled off the unthinkable and won a playoff series for the first time since 2004– knocking off the Lightning in six games in the process in 2023.

    But in 2024, we witnessed the return of the “Battle of Florida” with the third edition: “The Battle of Florida III: Medium Sized Edition.”

    Whereas their 2021 First Round meeting required six games and the 2022 Second Round meeting required four, the 2024 First Round matchup between the Panthers and Lightning required just five games. A happy medium of sorts.

    Florida won Game 1, 3-2, then Game 2, 3-2, but this time in overtime.

    The Panthers took a 3-0 series lead with a convincing, 5-3, victory in Game 3 and, well, everyone thought “oh, great, this one’s going to be another rollover isn’t it?”

    But then Tampa rattled off a, 6-3, win on home ice in Game 4 just to play with us a little because Florida came back and stomped the Lightning to the curb, 6-1, in Game 5– clinching the series– their first series victory in the “Battle of Florida” on home ice.

    The Panthers outscored the Lightning, 20-14, in the 2024 First Round series win.

    And so far in 2025?

    Game 1 was a, 6-2, blowout for Florida on the road in Tampa.

    The defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers had goals from Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, Nate Schmidt (x2) and Matthew Tkachuk (x2). The Lightning had goals from Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point.

    Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 20 out of 22 shots faced for a quality start and a .909 save percentage in the win.

    Andrei Vasilevskiy made 11 saves on 17 shots against for a .647 SV% in the loss. Oof.

    Let’s hope the rest of the series gives us the “battle” part in “Battle of Florida.”

    Call of the Wild

    Matt Boldy became the second player in Minnesota Wild history to score three consecutive team goals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs joining Marián Gáborík in the process.

    Gáborík did it on three consecutive goals in Games 3 and 4 of the 2003 Western Conference Semifinal.

    Boldy, meanwhile, kicked off the scoring as the Wild went on a run of four goals– three in the first period, one early in the middle frame– to jump out to a, 4-0, lead in Game 2 of their series with Vegas.

    For a moment, we all held our breath as the Golden Knights got on the board courtesy of Noah Hanifin to make it, 4-1, just past the midpoint of the second period.

    If Monday night was any indication in Los Angeles, then Tuesday night might have been a rerun in Vegas (kind of).

    Tomáš Hertl continues to be hot and made it a two-goal game at 2:26 of the third period, but the Golden Knights couldn’t muster anything else on the scoreboard.

    Kirill Kaprizov tallied an empty-net goal to put it away, 5-2, for Minnesota in Game 2– evening the series at 1-1 in the process.

    The Wild had five goals on 17 shots on net.

    Adin Hill’s 12 saves on 16 shots faced yielded a .750 SV%, which was better than Vasilevskiy’s save percentage over in Tampa at least. But still, that’s… …not a good look for Vegas.

    This series will be closer than you think and it could generate enough momentum to propel the winner on a deep run.

  • 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Third night’s a charm

    The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs continued Monday night with a pair of ones and twos– as in “Game 1s and 2s.”

    First, the Montréal Canadiens paid a visit to the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of their First Round series from Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

    The St. Louis Blues took on the Winnipeg Jets in Game 2 of their series from Canada Life Centre.

    Later on, the Colorado Avalanche visited the Dallas Stars for Game 2 of their series at American Airlines Center before the Edmonton Oilers opened up their First Round matchup with the Los Angeles Kings on the road at crypto.com Arena.

    Shoutout to Dave Goucher, by the way.

    The play-by-play voice of the Vegas Golden Knights took to X (formerly Twitter) to defend the good, hard-working people of regional sports networks not just for his own Scripps Sports crew, but across the entire National Hockey League in the face of some remarks from ESPN’s John Buccigross.

    History doesn’t repeat itself

    In 2010, Tomáš Plekanec was the overtime hero for Montréal in Game 1 as the eighth seed Habs beat the first seed Capitals and later toppled Washington in a seven-game series upset.

    In 2025, none of the Canadiens skaters could be like Plekanec and recreate the magic as the second wild card in the Eastern Conference in overtime in Game 1 against the Caps.

    Instead, Alex Ovechkin added to his storied career with his first-ever game-winning goal in overtime in a Stanley Cup Playoff game.

    That’s right, folks, the National Hockey League’s all-time regular season goal scoring leader hadn’t scored an overtime-winner in the postseason before Monday night.

    The ESPN broadcast had just finished highlighting a shot of Ovechkin on screen before the face off prior to his game-winning goal because of course that would happen.

    It was written and produced by the Hockey Gods. Absolute cinema.

    It only took 45 postseason overtime games, but Ovechkin finally has what has eluded him longer than getting a Stanley Cup ring and surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s 894 goal mark.

    Ovechkin also kicked off the night’s scoring late in the first period with a power-play goal to put Washington ahead, 1-0, at 18:34.

    Midway through the second period, Anthony Beauvillier– a clutch playoff performer reminiscent of the likes of Michael Ryder, Joonas Donskoi and my other personal favorite “glue guys” that always seemed to show up when it mattered most– made it a, 2-0, lead for the Capitals at 12:09 of the middle frame.

    Dylan Strome was off to a hot start with two assists and would finish the night with three assists– playing a helping hand in all three Washington goals and becoming the 19th player in Capitals history to record three assists in a playoff game (with John Carlson having been the most recent Capital to do so on April 11, 2019).

    Washington and Montréal were pretty evenly matched despite the Caps’ two-goal lead through 40 minutes.

    The Capitals led in shots on goal 23-21 entering the final frame, then pretty much forgot that there’s three periods in hockey.

    The Canadiens outshot the Capitals 14-7 in the third period alone and with it scored a pair of goals about five minutes apart from one another.

    Cole Caufield put the Habs on the scoreboard thanks to some good puck luck that bounced his way for an easy tally.

    Then Montréal’s other longtime veteran– a relative term for such a young team– Nick Suzuki pounced on a loose puck amidst a mad scramble with bodies all over the ice and Washington goaltender, Logan Thompson, wildly out of position– far from the familiar blue paint of the crease.

    Suzuki tied the game, 2-2, as the Canadiens had the Capitals holding on for dear life through the end of regulation.

    And then it happened.

    Just 2:26 into the extra frame after a 15-minute overtime intermission, Ovechkin sent the Washington fans home happy– especially since there was plenty of time to catch the Metro.

    If you subtract Nicklas Bäckström and T.J. Oshie’s postseason experience, Washington entered the First Round with 776 games of playoff experience under their belt across the entire roster.

    Montréal only had 385 games of playoff experience with none of those games stemming from a single goaltender entering Monday.

    But neither of these teams have really meshed in a playoff environment like this.

    The Capitals significantly overhauled their roster between their four-game exit in the 2024 First Round to the New York Rangers and the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    The Canadiens have been working towards getting back into the postseason, though might have been ahead of schedule in their arrival this spring.

    Despite attaining the best record in the Eastern Conference, Washington hasn’t faced the adversity of being a Stanley Cup favorite and thus forced to defend their honor in a while.

    Did this season pry the Cup window back open in Ovechkin’s twilight– well, biologically speaking, anyway– or are we witnessing a happy accident in the making?

    Both teams will progress further going into next year from having attained a playoff berth and gaining the experience from this matchup, regardless of who wins.

    More first line heroics for Winnipeg

    While depth scoring is paramount, sometimes all you really need to win a playoff game is more goals than the other team and doing so thanks to your best players.

    Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves on 22 shots faced for a .955 save percentage in the, 2-1, win in Game 2 for Winnipeg, while Mark Scheifele continued to cement his status as a Jets legend and Kyle Connor added the game-winner early in the final frame.

    Scheifele notched his 23rd career Stanley Cup Playoff goal– the most in Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise history– and gave the Jets a, 1-0, lead late in the first period.

    The Jets defenders came to play in Game 2 with some dominant shifts and big hits as Logan Stanley imprinted his opponents along the glass and Dylan Samberg cleared the slot to bail out Hellebuyck when it mattered most.

    Blues forward, Jimmy Snuggerud, tied the action, 1-1, on a power-play goal in the last second of the opening frame– beating Hellebucyk’s blocker side in the process for his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal, but that was all the offense that St. Louis would get Monday night.

    Luke Schenn led Winnipeg’s defenders in hits with seven, while Stanley amassed three, Neal Pionk and Samberg each had two and Josh Morrissey had one.

    Only Dylan DeMelo failed to record a hit from the Jets’ blue line, while David Gustafsson, Scheifele, Nino Niederreiter and Connor were the only forwards without a hit in the action.

    Snuggerud and Jordan Kyrou were the only Blues forwards without a hit, while Tyler Tucker and Justin Faulk were the only St. Louis defenders to record at least one hit (Tucker had four).

    Winnipeg led the physical aspect of the game in the first period, but St. Louis responded with vengeance in the middle period as Brayden Schenn and Jake Neighbours led the charge with five hits each by the end of the night.

    If Game 1 was more speed and skill based, then Game 2 was more of a calculated response with a booming physical presence crunching both Jets and Blues players in the process.

    Hellebuyck and Jordan Binnington both locked in, which is good news if you like low scoring goalie battles in postseason action.

    Early in the final frame, Scheifele worked the puck low from the trapezoid to Cole Perfetti, who promptly setup Connor for the one-timer in the slot to give the Jets the, 2-1, lead 1:43 into the third period.

    Winnipeg takes a 2-0 series lead heading back to St. Louis for Games 3 and 4 and is doing everything they need to be doing so far: (1) ensure your star players are performing, (2) get some depth scoring, (3) Hellebuyck dials in and (4) don’t let up the pressure, like, at all.

    St. Louis is doing… …whatever Jim Montgomery is doing while singing along with “Your Love” on the bench (love that for him, though– we could all use a little more fun in the midst of our workdays).

    There’s no Point in warmup, but there was Landeskog

    Famously, Brayden Point plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning and I’m referencing Elliotte Friedman’s tweet from back in the day, but Gabriel Landeskog did take part in warmup for the Colorado Avalanche for the first time since June 26, 2022.

    Landeskog did not, however, dress for Game 2 Monday night in Dallas.

    Instead, Ross Colton wasn’t good to go and Miles Wood drew into the lineup for the Avs, while Landeskog’s return will have to wait for Game 3 in Denver at the earliest.

    Nathan MacKinnon grabbed a quick, 1-0, lead for Colorado with a power-play goal before Tyler Seguin tied the game, 1-1, with a power-play goal of his own for the Stars in the last minute of the opening frame.

    Thomas Harley fanned on a shot attempt while traffic blocked Mackenzie Blackwood’s sight lines on Harley’s recuperated effort and the Dallas defender scored on the far, glove side– giving the Stars a, 2-1, lead.

    But the Avalanche continued to get the most out of their depth as Jack Drury tied things up 62 seconds after Harley’s goal.

    A couple of huge penalty kills led to a shift in momentum for Colorado and Logan O’Connor sent a backhand top shelf while falling to give the Avs a, 3-2, lead with 32.1 seconds left in the middle frame.

    The goal was O’Connor’s first goal in 22 postseason games and his second career Stanley Cup Playoff goal in the process.

    In the playoffs, it’s important for your top six forwards to do their job and maximize depth scoring as much as possible when you can take it.

    Outside of MacKinnon’s goal, Colorado’s top six forwards weren’t doing enough to maximize their depth contributions and get the desired results of a team looking to sap the Stars of their home ice advantage.

    Just past the midpoint of the final frame, Evgenii Dadonov reminded everyone that age is just a number as the 36-year-old Russian forward collected a garbage goal– pocketing a rebound to tie the game, 3-3, with 9:47 remaining in regulation.

    Both goaltenders faced a barrage of shots Monday as Blackwood turned aside 35 out of 39 shots faced in the overtime loss– good enough for an .897 save percentage– while Jake Oettinger made 34 saves on 37 shots against for a .919 SV% in the win.

    Blackwood made a hell of a save on Mason Marchment early in the extra frame, but it wasn’t enough to rally his teammates as the Stars continued to surge as the game progressed.

    Colin Blackwell– inserted into Dallas’ lineup for Game 2 in place of Mavrik Bourque– pounced on a loose puck before roofing it short side over Blackwood’s glove and under the bar after Sam Steel screened the Colorado goaltender and the Avs defenders were out of position.

    Clearly, if Avalanche head coach, Jared Bednar, utilizes Landeskog in his lineup for Game 3, Colorado can continue the trend of “guys who just made their debut this postseason scoring the game-winning goal” in this series.

    The Stars dictated the pace of Game 2 more than they did in Game 1, which if they’re able to do in Game 3 on Wednesday (9:30p ET on ESPN, SN360, TVAS2, Victory+, ALT) in front of a raucous crowd in enemy territory could be a good sign moving forward.

    Dallas can’t get caught up in the emotion of the game, but rather needs to stay focused on the unfinished task at hand– getting back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2020, and winning it for the first time since 1999.

    Colorado, meanwhile, could use a tremendous boost from the potential return of Landeskog in front of their home crowd and what Avs fan wouldn’t want to see him score in his first game back since Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final? Especially if it plays a pivotal role of taking command of a 2-1 series lead.

    Phillip Danault is probably a little tired of the Oilers

    For a guy that alleged the Edmonton Oilers were trying to hurt the Los Angeles Kings in their final meeting in the regular season to disrupt Los Angeles’ chances of (a) getting home ice in their divisional matchup and (b) potential long-term success in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, Phillip Danault sure played like a guy that was pissed.

    And it’s not like you can blame him when the Oilers have had the Kings’ number eight times in their 10 previous postseason series’– let alone for the last three years in the First Round in progressively fewer games each time.

    Edmonton eliminated Los Angeles in seven games in 2022, six games in 2023, and five games in 2024, and each time it seemed like the Kings lost their footing more and more– even on their own ice.

    But not Monday.

    “Not one more day.” — Phillip Danault, probably

    The Kings had a, 4-0, lead late in the second period. Danault had his first goal of the game at 17:43 of the middle frame, mind you, to give Los Angeles and all but in the bag effort for the night.

    Then it looked like Kings head coach, Jim Hiller, might need to utilize a bag skate for his players to shake off whatever colossal collapse of Maple Leaf-sized proportions they were about to encounter.

    Leon Draisaitl planted the seeds of doubt when he scored at 19:54 of the second period to get the Oilers on the scoreboard, 4-1.

    Mattias Janmark scored at 2:19 of the third period to pull Edmonton to within two. How’s that for a wake up call?

    “No worries, Kevin Fiala’s got this.” — Kings fans everywhere, probably after Fiala scored a little more than two minutes after Janmark’s tally

    BUT THEN

    Corey Perry notched his 55th career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal to pull Edmonton back to within two goals of tying the game at 7:43.

    Maybe start to panic a little? But then again, there was still plenty of time left on the clock for Kris Knoblauch to pull Stuart Skinner for an extra skater and, well, Los Angeles would surely put it away by then, right? Right!?

    Zach Hyman made it a one-goal game, 5-4, at 17:56. Connor McDavid once again put his team on his back and tied the game, 5-5, less than a minute later in the chaos.

    Uh oh. The Kings were on their backs again at the hands of the Oilers. Surely the inevitable was looming.

    Nope.

    Trevor Moore rushed into the attacking zone on a lead pass from Vladislav Gavrikov and dropped the puck back to Danault.

    Danault fluttered a knucklepuck shot past Skinner 46 seconds after McDavid knotted things up.

    Danault’s goal at 19:18 of the third period was the latest that anyone in Kings history has scored a game-winning goal in the postseason.

    Los Angeles had done it. They had one, 6-5.

    But it’s only Game 1. The recent trend would’ve indicated that the Oilers were going to pull of the sweep this year, but it’s at least going to take five games now. A gentleman’s sweep.

    Unless the Kings have anything to say about it.

    They just might– especially if Andrei Kuzmenko, Quinton Byfield, Adrian Kempe, Danault and Fiala keep scoring. They also might want a little more effort from their defenders in Game 2 (I’m sure Darcy Kuemper would appreciate that as well).

    Oh, but shoutout to Oilers forward, Jeff Skinner, by the way for making his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut after playing in 1,078 regular season games before doing so. That ended the longest active postseason appearance drought.

    The Kings still took Game 1, though.

  • 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Second day takeaways

    Whether you were out celebrating Easter on Sunday or busy having a regular Sunday that may or may not have included watching any of the action Sunday afternoon and evening, the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs rolled along with three more Game 1s.

    By now you probably already know the final results, but in case you were under a rock or emerged from a tomb yesterday, all of the home teams won on Sunday as the the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils, 4-1, the Toronto Maple Leafs topped the Ottawa Senators, 6-2, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Minnesota Wild, 4-2, to open their respective series’.

    This could be quick

    Already without Jack Hughes, the Devils lost Brenden Dillon and Cody Glass to injuries in Game 1 Sunday as the former got tangled up with Hurricanes forward, William Carrier, and landed hard on the ice in front New Jersey’s own net while Dillon’s legs went all kinds of ways that they normally aren’t supposed to go.

    Devils defender, Luke Hughes, also briefly missed time Sunday after colliding with Hurricanes forward, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and sliding into New Jersey’s net before clutching his arm as he skated off the ice. The younger Hughes, however, returned to the action in the waning minutes of the final frame.

    Glass, on the other hand, was self-inflicted casualty courtesy of his teammate, Jacob Markström, as the Devils goaltender appeared as though he meant to deliver a quick slash to Carolina forward, Andrei Svechnikov, and, well, he missed.

    New Jersey head coach, Sheldon Keefe, provided a report on the injuries on Monday, telling reporters that– despite his eagerness to return to action– Dillon was held out for the remainder of Game 1 as a precaution by doctors and indicated there was no update on Glass.

    The Devils were outshot 45-24 in Game 1, while Logan Stankoven notched a pair of goals for the Hurricanes in their, 4-1, victory.

    Jalen Chatfield and Taylor Hall each had a goal for Carolina as well, while Nico Hischier recorded the lone goal for New Jersey.

    Carolina went 2-2-0 in four games against New Jersey in the regular season, but outshot the Devils 125-93 in that span with 13 goals for and 12 goals against in their season series.

    In the postseason, history is on the Canes’ side with the Hurricanes holding a 4-1 advantage in all-time best-of-seven series matchups.

    New Jersey took their first meeting in six games in the 2001 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal, but Carolina’s been successful ever since. The Hurricanes beat the Devils in six games in their 2002 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal rematch, five games in the 2006 Eastern Conference Semifinal on their way to their first– and only– Stanley Cup ring thus far, seven games in the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal and five games in the 2023 Second Round.

    If there’s one thing that’s for certain for either of these teams, it’s that a deep run can be expected when they meet in a playoff series.

    The Devils beat the Hurricanes in 2001, then wound up losing to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final that spring.

    The Hurricanes beat the Devils in 2002, and lost to the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final that year. The Canes won again in 2006, then won the Cup that spring after beating the Edmonton Oilers in a Game 7 on home ice. They won again in 2009 and 2023, but both of those playoff runs came to an end in the Eastern Conference Final to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers, respectively.

    With so many injuries hampering New Jersey’s lineup and Carolina looking like a team that’s logged over 1,100 career Stanley Cup Playoff games across the roster on top of a rowdy Lenovo Center crowd on their side for Game 2 Tuesday night (6p ET on ESPN, SN360, TVAS2, FDSNSO, MSGSN), this series really shouldn’t get past a Game 4.

    Yikes, what was that

    For the first time in 21 years, we have ourselves a Battle of Ontario, but unlike 2004, this Game 1 wasn’t exactly close.

    The Ottawa Senators have the least playoff experience out of the 16 teams that qualified for the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs with 361 career postseason games among their roster before Sunday’s, 6-2, loss in Toronto.

    The Maple Leafs have just over 1,000– 1,003, to be exact– career Stanley Cup Playoff games played entering the series and wasted no time capitalizing on their shots early– recording five shots on goal in the first period, but scoring on two of them to lead, 2-0, heading into the first intermission.

    We knew goaltending would be one thing Toronto would have on its side with Anthony Stolarz having amassed a 21-8-3 record in 34 games played in the regular season to go along with a 2.14 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage and four shutouts in that span prior to starting in Game 1, while Senators goaltender, Linus Ullmark produced a 25-14-3 record in 44 games with a 2.72 GAA, a .910 SV% and four shutouts as well.

    But what we didn’t know was how, exactly, would Game 1 pan out given Stolarz had only ever recorded one postseason appearance– just 35 minutes worth– before with a 5.17 GAA and an .842 SV% in that span, while Ullmark had a 3-6 record in 10 career Stanley Cup Playoff games (all with Boston) with a 3.59 GAA and an .887 SV% entering Sunday.

    It was a little surprising, in all honesty, that Joseph Woll didn’t get the start in Game 1 given his 3-2 record in seven postseason games previously with a 1.78 GAA and a .933 SV% in that span despite his 2.73 GAA and a .909 SV% in 42 games in the regular season this year.

    Perhaps Maple Leafs head coach, Craig Berube, has a tandem approach in mind as both Stolarz and Woll handled the season well working diligently behind Toronto’s defense to render the Leafs their first division title in a non-pandemic influenced season since 2000.

    Then again, maybe they keep riding Stolarz until Ottawa finds a way to chase him from the net.

    That’s where things get interesting for the Sens, since Ullmark struggled early and made 18 saves on 24 shots against for a .750 SV% in Game 1.

    Toronto was on pace for about 15 shots if they hadn’t amassed 13 shots on goal in the second period alone and that would’ve made Ullmark’s numbers even worse.

    Ullmark battled injuries in the regular season, but still managed to appear in 44 games while Anton Forsberg, Leevi Meriläinen and Mads Søgaard split the duties in relief and out of necessity.

    Forsberg matched Ullmark’s 2.72 GAA, but had a .901 SV% and three shutouts in 30 games played with an 11-12-3 record. Meriläinen had a 1.99 GAA and a .925 SV% to go along with three shutouts and an 8-3-1 record in 12 games, while Søgaard appeared in two games and had a 5.24 GAA and an .800 SV% in the regular season.

    Though the sample size might be small, Meriläinen is worthy of getting a look– if anything for the confidence boost that the Sens skaters in front of him might get.

    Forsberg, Meriläinen and Søgaard have never appeared in a postseason game before, however.

    Speaking of confidence, though, Ullmark is one of the most mentally-focused goaltenders in the league and goes on walks to clear his mind, so he probably won’t be shaken by a disappointing Game 1 effort heading into Game 2 Tuesday night (7:30p ET on ESPN2, SN, CBC, TVAS).

    Focus is one of the things Ottawa is going to have to adjust to with a significant portion of their roster having made their Stanley Cup Playoffs debut on Sunday.

    The Sens can’t let the small things get to them or allow the Leafs to egg them on and draw penalties– and, for the record, Ottawa captain, Brady Tkachuk, only had two penalty minutes for roughing late in the middle frame as he took Maple Leafs forward, Scott Laughton, to the box with him.

    Nevertheless, however, Toronto scored three power-play goals in Game 1 and got top performances from three out of their four usual suspects in Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander.

    Auston Matthews later had an assist on a goal from Matthew Knies.

    Marner had 1-2–3 totals, while Tavares, Nylander and Knies recorded power-play goals for the Leafs.

    Clutch playoff performer (did I read my notes right?) Oliver Ekman-Larsson kicked off the scoring in the series and Morgan Rielly added a fluke goal that deflected off of at least one Senators skater in Sunday night’s victory.

    Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig had the only goals for Ottawa.

    Entering Game 2 it’s more of the same for Toronto and, well, don’t do that again if you’re the Senators.

    The house always wins, but this could be Wild

    Look, growing up, the Colorado Avalanche were my second-favorite team, so I’m going to hold your hand when I tell you this, Vegas Golden Knights fans, but don’t let a Game 1 victory fool you when you face the Minnesota Wild in a playoff series.

    The Avalanche, of course, were upset by the Wild in the 2003 Western Conference Quarterfinal and in the 2014 First Round– the latter of which the Avs won Game 1. Both times Colorado was the higher seed with the Avs ranked 3rd in 2003, and Minnesota 6th and Colorado atop the Central Division and the Wild as the first wild card in the Western Conference in 2014.

    Both series’ resulted in a Game 7 overtime win for Minnesota.

    I say all of this because– despite a, 4-2, victory for the Golden Knights in Game 1 on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena– Vegas and Minnesota have gone the distance in their only other playoff series meeting in 2021.

    Though, at least then Vegas won, 6-2, in what was their first ever Game 7 appearance.

    The scoreboard might not look it– in part because of Brett Howden’s last tenth-of-a-second empty-net goal to give him a two-goal effort and the Golden Knights a two-goal lead– but Sunday night was a grind.

    There were only three penalties in Game 1 with the first call against the Wild in the second period before Vegas and Minnesota each had one more minor infraction in the final frame.

    Tomáš Hertl tallied the first goal for Vegas at 15:22 of the first period, but Minnesota’s Matt Boldy evened things up, 1-1, at 17:42.

    Pavel Dorofeyev rocketed a slap shot power-play goal past Filip Gustavsson to give the Golden Knights a, 2-1, lead at 13:33 of the second period while Marcus Foligno went to cover the shooting lane that Shea Theodore decided against pursuing– instead opting to pass the puck to Dorofeyev for the goal.

    Howden gave Vegas a, 3-1, lead early in the final frame with a wrist shot goal at 2:28 before Boldy tied things up again on a wraparound goal midway through the third period.

    Then, of course, with the Wild goaltender pulled and Boldy in the box for tripping, Howden capitalized on his less than a second remaining empt- net goal to reestablish a two-goal lead and margin of victory for the Golden Knights.

    A lot of people favor Vegas in this series– what with another 50-win season from the Golden Knights and only two years removed from their 2023 Stanley Cup championship, as well as their 3-0-0 record against Minnesota in the regular season, in which the Golden Knights outshot the Wild 102-62 and outscored them, 12-4, in that span– but here’s the thing, Minnesota was built for moments like this.

    The Wild like stealing the thunder from teams that were supposed to win Patrick Roy one last Cup in 2003, as a player or his first as a head coach in 2014– I mean, yeah…

    Minnesota likes to play spoiler or at least make you face some adversity as they ramp up the intensity in the postseason.

    Though I’ll admit, I have the Golden Knights moving on from this matchup, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Adin Hill and Gustavsson are not that far off from each other in postseason performances.

    Entering Game 1, Hill had a 12-6 record in 19 career Stanley Cup Playoff games with a 2.09 GAA, a .932 SV% and three shutouts in that span, while Gustavsson was 2-3 in five postseason games with a 2.33 GAA and a .921 SV% in that span.

    These are two goaltenders that could keep the scoring in this series pretty low, so I fully expect we’ll get seven games of entertaining playoff hockey.

    Game 2 is in Vegas on Tuesday (11p ET on ESPN, SN, SN360, TVAS, FDSNNO, SCRIPPS).

  • 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs: First day takeaways

    The first night of action in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs is in the books and if you didn’t get a chance to watch, you missed out on some fun Saturday.

    First, the Winnipeg Jets rallied on home ice to beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-3, in Game 1 of their First Round matchup after trailing, 3-2, entering the third period at Canada Life Centre.

    Then the Colorado Avalanche took advantage of the Dallas Stars’ recent streak of bad luck in Game 1s and secured a, 5-1, victory on the road as the two teams opened up their series at American Airlines Center.

    Whiteout conditions

    Winnipeg takes a 1-0 series lead over St. Louis entering Game 2 Monday night (7:30p ET on ESPN2, CBC, TVAS2, FDSNSW) and is poised to take a commanding 2-0 series lead provided they– you know– maintain their home ice advantage.

    The Jets won 30 out of their 41 home games in the regular season and spread out their scoring pretty evenly in Game 1 with goals from Mark Scheifele, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Alex Iafallo, Kyle Connor and Adam Lowry.

    You may say “but, wait, three out of five of their goals came from the stereotypical first line forwards, isn’t that a little concerning?” and, well, you need your top six forwards to produce this time of year without question.

    Scheifele’s goal came on the power play and he later added an assist– giving him Winnipeg’s all-time leading playoff scorer status, having entered Saturday night tied with Blake Wheeler at 39 points.

    Scheifele now has 41 career Stanley Cup Playoff points with the Jets in 43 games compared to Wheeler’s 39 in 44 games.

    Meanwhile, Iafallo is getting off on the right foot and needs to continue to be a factor throughout the series. The Jets had an early exit in five games against the Avalanche in the 2024 First Round and Iafallo only had one assist in that span.

    Connor led the team in regular season scoring with 41-56–97 totals in 82 games– establishing career-highs in assists and points in the process– and is expected to be a point per game type of player.

    Lowry added an empty net goal from the third line and Anderson-Dolan picked up his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal in Game 1 as a fourth line winger.

    Here’s hoping the positive momentum continues this time around against the Blues.

    If anything, the second line was quiet with clutch postseason scorer, Nino Niederreiter, and his linemates, Vladislav Namestnikov and Cole Perfetti recording just three shots combined– one for Niederreiter and two for Perfetti. But, hey, fourth line center, Morgan Barron, failed to record a shot on goal.

    At the other end of the rink, St. Louis got ahead at 9:31 of the first period courtesy of Robert Thomas opening up postseason scoring with a power-play goal and cast doubt in the minds of weary Jets fans that have watched countless Vezina Trophy-winning (and worthy) regular seasons from Connor Hellebuyck come to a screeching halt.

    Despite Oskar Sundqvist tying the game in the final two minutes of the middle frame and 26-year-old phenom, Jordan Kyrou, capitalizing on another power play to give the Blues a, 3-2, lead at 1:13 of the third period, St. Louis couldn’t hold on as Winnipeg played the long game.

    By the end of the night, the Blues became undisciplined and both teams engaged in sending and receiving messages ahead of Game 2.

    If there’s one thing St. Louis head coach, Jim Montgomery, can’t afford to do ahead of Monday night– it’s lose the room.

    Montgomery’s tenure in Boston saw the Bruins lose focus on the big picture time and time again as they lost in the 2023 First Round and 2024 Second Round to the Florida Panthers– blowing a 3-1 series lead in the former.

    While Joel Hofer had a .921 save percentage on the season against Winnipeg– turning aside 70 out of the 76 shots he faced in three matchups while Jordan Binnington turned in an .875 SV% stopping 21 out of 24 shots against in one game against the Jets back in October– Binnington has the proven track record of taking over a playoff series both in the stat lines and in the opponents’ heads.

    Whereas the last two years saw Montgomery and his players scrambling to wrap their minds around Florida’s antics, the Blues could be the Panthers this time around. All Montgomery has to do is not screw it up.

    And, unfortunately for U.S. hockey fans, there’s the “big game” factor for Binnington in that he did win the 4 Nations Face-Off as Canada’s goaltender back in February, so he’s bound to steal Hellebuyck’s thunder again if St. Louis can channel their antagonistic qualities for the better.

    Meanwhile, in Dallas…

    The Colorado Avalanche are good. There’s a reason why they won the Stanley Cup in 2022, and remain a Cup contender from year-to-year since then.

    The Dallas Stars should be good. There’s a reason why they went out and added Mikko Rantanen ahead of the trade deadline last month and made it to the Western Conference Final in 2023 and 2024.

    All of this, of course, after losing in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

    Since that Cup Final, however, the Stars haven’t been able to get over the hump that is the Western Conference Final and, well, Game 1s.

    Dallas has now dropped eight consecutive series-opening games. The last time they won a Game 1 was actually that 2020 Stanley Cup Final against Tampa, when they had a, 4-1, victory in Edmonton during the pandemic-infused “bubble” playoffs.

    The bad news? Game 1 isn’t Dallas’ thing.

    The good news? History is on their side.

    The Stars dropped Game 1 against the Avalanche, 4-3, in overtime last year on home ice in their 2024 Second Round matchup. They went on to win the next three games before losing Game 5, but won Game 6, 2-1, in double overtime on the road in Denver– courtesy of former Colorado forward, Matt Duchene’s game-winner.

    Dallas also holds the 4-2 series advantage against the Avalanche in their lifetime having beaten Colorado in seven games in the 1999 Western Conference Final and 2000 Western Conference Final, as well as seven games in the 2020 Second Round and six games in the 2024 Second Round.

    Jake Oettinger is the type of goaltender that can get better as the series goes on. He nearly stole the 2022 First Round series against the Calgary Flames in a Game 7 on road ice.

    Oettinger faced 67 shots against and made 64 saves that night in the process before Johnny Gaudreau sent the Flames onto the Second Round with a game-winning overtime goal.

    We probably– and by probably, I mean we shouldn’t see Jamie Benn on a line with Rantanen again in this series and if Dallas can find a way to get by without Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen, the Stars will get better depth throughout the lineup as they return to full health by the Second Round.

    Well, assuming they get there. Rantanen should probably try not to have another minus-two plus/minus rating Monday night (9:30p ET on ESPN, SN360, TVAS-D, Victory+, ALT).

    Nathan MacKinnon notched two goals in Colorado’s, 5-1, victory Saturday night and usual playoff performers, Devon Toews and Artturi Lehkonen, found ways to get on the scoreboard as well– albeit Lehkonen in a rather unconventional, though unintentional manner.

    If the Stars can figure out how to (1) remain undisciplined because Cale Makar is a penalty drawing machine and (2) uh, stop MacKinnon and Makar while in the process shutting down Colorado’s heavily invested in depth at the trade deadline, then Dallas can go back to Colorado even in the series 1-1.

    The problem is that even if you shutdown MacKinnon’s line which includes Martin Nečas, the Avalanche still have Brock Nelson, Jack Drury and Charlie Coyle working their middle six while waiting for the potential return of Gabriel Landeskog for the first time in Colorado’s lineup since Landeskog raised the Cup above his head in late June 2022.

    Avs netminder, Mackenzie Blackwood, however, is largely untested.

    Both teams only managed 24 shots on goal aside in Game 1 and Blackwood is still new to playoff hockey even if he is now past his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut heading into Game 2.

    Dallas really has to come out on all cylinders Monday otherwise it could a short series.

    Even on an off night for MacKinnon– he’s still one of the top two, three or four best players in the world depending on whether or not Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl or Nikita Kucherov are also playing that night for their respective teams.

  • Take that nerds! Oh, wait

    Kyle Davidson, Chris MacFarland and Eric Tulsky have a combined zero games played in the National Hockey League. Anyone can know puck.

    Before Davidson became general manager in Chicago, he joined the organization as an intern in 2010, and rose the ranks– becoming an assistant general manager in 2021, and later replacing Stan Bowman as interim general manager on October 27, 2021, after Bowman resigned in light of an independent investigation that revealed how the organization mishandled allegations from a former player who was sexually assaulted by then-video coach, Brad Aldridge, in 2010.

    Davidson had the interim tag removed on March 1, 2022, becoming the 10th general manager in Chicago’s franchise history in the process.

    His early days before joining Chicago include growing up in Sudbury, Ontario, receiving a bachelor’s degree from Laurentian University in Sudbury, a stint as an intern with the Ottawa Senators in fan development and volunteering with the Ontario Hockey League’s Sudbury Wolves, as Scott Powers detailed in The Athletic in February 2021.

    The now 36-year-old gets to say he was the one that drafted young phenom, Connor Bedard, handles contract negotiations, contacts other NHL GMs to stay in touch and work on all kinds of transactions and hasn’t even turned 40 yet.

    MacFarland grew up in the Bronx, New York, played college hockey at Pace University and received his bachelor’s degree in business in the process in 1992, before going through the university’s law school and graduating in 1998.

    Between his bachelor’s and law degree, however, MacFarland joined the NHL as an intern at the league’s New York office from 1993-94, and worked in the NHL Productions office.

    He joined the Columbus Blue Jackets prior to the start of the 1999-2000 NHL season– before Columbus even hit the ice during the 2000-01 season– and served as the Blue Jackets’ manager of hockey operations from 2001-07, prior to his promotion as an assistant to the general manager– Scott Howson– in July 2007.

    MacFarland, 54, became an assistant general manager for Columbus a year later in July 2008, ultimately overseeing their American Hockey League affiliate Springfield Falcons as Springfield’s GM in addition to every component of scouting and the usual hockey operations front office duties.

    Howson was ousted in February 2013, with Jarmo Kekäläinen becoming the first European-born general manager in NHL history in the process as Howson’s replacement. Kekäläinen lasted in Columbus until his firing in February 2024, with John Davidson serving as the interim GM before Don Waddell’s hiring later that year in May.

    In the meantime, MacFarland had already left Columbus after 16 years in the organization– moving on to become an assistant general manager with the Colorado Avalanche under Joe Sakic in May 2015.

    MacFarland had a knack for assessing talent that was on the verge of becoming a major factor in a team’s ability to move forward and maximize the potential of that player or their entire roster’s prime. His close-working relationship with Sakic helped Colorado turn things around from their 48-point 2016-17 season, to winning the Presidents’ Trophy in 2020-21, to obtaining their third Stanley Cup championship in franchise history in 2022.

    During their Presidents’ Trophy and Cup runs, MacFarland had numerous interview requests around the league that would have offered a promotion to the general manager title in the process.

    Sakic– being the team-centric mastermind that he was as a player and GM– decided it was time to hand the reins over to MacFarland in a peaceful transition of power in July 2022, after winning the Cup less than a month prior. Sakic remains as president of hockey operations for the Avalanche to this day.

    Under Sakic’s keen guidance, MacFarland has been allowed to flourish as a proactive general manager in search of landing Colorado its fourth Stanley Cup ring in the 30 years that the Avalanche have existed since relocating from Québec after the 1994-95 NHL season.

    If he does, he’ll be the first Avalanche GM to do so without any NHL playing experience, unlike Sakic and Pierre Lacroix before him.

    Tulsky, the 49-year-old general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes has a fascinating background– the likes of which rival Billy Beane in his role of usurping the norms of Major League Baseball.

    The Philadelphia native has a B.A. in chemistry and physics from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. He also conducted a two-year, post-doctoral study at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., worked in the high-tech industry for a dozen years doing things with nanotechnology, DNA sequencing, solar energy and more– you know, regular stuff– and holds 27 U.S. patents.

    Oh, and he was a Broad Street Hockey writer in 2011.

    That’s right, Tulsky was a sports blogger.

    In addition to the Philadelphia Flyers-centric blog, Tulsky wrote for NHLNumbers.com and launched his own website– Outnumbered— through SBNation.

    He joined the Hurricanes as a consultant in 2014, before being named as a hockey analyst for the team and leaving his blogging days behind in 2015.

    By 2017, Tulsky was named as Carolina’s manager of hockey analytics.

    In 2018, he was promoted to vice president of hockey management and strategy. That was quickly followed up with another promotion in 2020, when Tulsky became an assistant general manager of the Hurricanes.

    That same year, Tulsky became directly involved with all player personnel decisions– overseeing pro scouting and Carolina’s hockey information department, as well as assisting with player contract negotiations, salary cap compliance and other hockey operations-related duties.

    Back on April 28, 2014, Jim Rutherford– the only general manager to bring a Cup to the Hurricanes franchise dating back to their days as the Hartford Whalers in 1979– turned the keys over to Ron Francis and retained a role in Carolina’s front office as president.

    Francis attained the status of executive vice president and manager of the Canes in the process and later added president of hockey operations to his official roles with the franchise on March 7, 2018, shortly after Tom Dundon acquired majority ownership of the team.

    By April 30th of that year, however, the relationship with Dundon soured and Francis was fired.

    Before taking his current job in Columbus, Waddell spent 10 years with the Hurricanes organization. On July 1, 2014, Waddell was named as president and oversaw business operations for the organization before adding the role of general manager under his belt on May 8, 2018.

    Tulsky learned some scouting tips and tricks from Francis in their shared tenure with the organization, but Tulsky likely picked up on how to be a trading partner in the modern NHL from the wisdom of Waddell– especially as Waddell transitioned the Hurricanes from perennial basement dweller in the Metropolitan Division to winning at least one round in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of his six seasons in hockey operations with the club.

    On May 24, 2024, Waddell resigned from his roles with the Hurricanes and Tulsky was immediately tabbed as interim GM. Less than a month later, Tulsky assumed the position full-time on June 18th.

    Almost immediately, Tulsky made waves on June 30th, by trading Waddell’s 2024 trade deadline rental that Carolina hoped to extend long-term, Jake Guentzel, to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a third round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft after it became apparent Guentzel was going to unrestricted free agency.

    On August 16, 2024, Tulsky announced the hiring of fellow former analytics blogger, Tyler Dellow, as assistant general manager and the promotion of Darren Yorke to associate general manager and general manager of the Chicago Wolves– Carolina’s AHL affiliate.

    Dellow, of note, had spent the last five seasons in the New Jersey Devils’ front office– most recently serving as New Jersey’s senior vice president of hockey strategy and analytics after spending two seasons as an analytics consultant with the Edmonton Oilers from 2014-16. He also was a staff writer for The Athletic between stints in NHL hockey operations departments and has a law degree from the University of Toronto and founded mc79hockey.com— a once leading analytics-based hockey blog.

    If Carolina wins the Cup during Tulsky’s reign, Tulsky will become the first to live the life of every armchair GM’s ultimate dream.

    On Friday, these three GMs used their superpowers to rock the hockey world much in the same way Scott Stevens used to deliver bone-shattering hits on the ice.

    Analytics? Inevitably so.

    Nerds rule. Let more nerds run sports.

    Sure, this piece isn’t about getting into the nitty gritty of what each general manager has accomplished in their short time– let alone any sort of actual analysis in the Mikko Rantanen, Martin Nečas, Jack Drury and Taylor Hall trade– but it’s more of an observation of how all sports cycle through hiring minds “outside the game” which is really just a way of saying “not a former NHL player.”

    In a related story, I, too, have never played an NHL game and I am one job-contingent final capstone course shy of completing my master of sports leadership with a concentration in professional sports administration, as well as a decade in live sports production under my belt and over 20 years of watching hockey.

    Just saying.

  • Let’s get into it

    Let me start by saying this will be a short post. You’ll find that to be a rarity in most of the writing I do. Long reads? Give them to me. Feature stories that ask everyone involved from the main character to their parents to their NHL coaches right on down to the skate sharpening guy at their local rink that they played in as a kid? I love it.

    If I’m able to recreate this handcrafted, slow-burn, artisanal methodology in all of my writing while making it coherent and a hell of a ride, I’m going to do it as many times as possible without a word limit. Or maybe it’s just my conversational tone.

    In any case, welcome back to Down the Frozen River.

    It looks a bit different here since you last checked or if this is your first time, pay no attention to the stack of boxes over there. I’m still getting unpacked over a year since announcing I’d be working on some longer projects– those are stuck in the development hell known as the crossroads where my brain and a Word Document meet.

    I am working on an Arizona Coyotes piece. I’m working on a Vegas Golden Knights piece. I’m also working on a “history of the Boston Bruins goaltending since, like, 2005” piece for those of you that are interested.

    These would take a higher priority, admittedly, if someone was paying me to write and, thus, holding me accountable to deadlines for progress reports.

    I’ve also thought about being like FOX Sports and pivoting to video, where I’d change up some of what I’ve written already to fit more of a scripted format and do a series of YouTube videos with graphics and Secret Base inspired aesthetics. Jon Bois and/or Kofie Yeboah, if you’re reading this, hello.

    Then there’s Goalie Hugs. It’s a podcast from the Down the Frozen River family, but if you’ve noticed it’s a little different from the old Down the Frozen River Podcast. For starters, there’s more guests than on the old show. It’s more vibes and less structure. It’s organized chaos.

    We could do weekly episodes under the right circumstance– namely, a job that pays me enough to buy more storage for our show files on our podcast hosting service. Being committed to four episodes a month would tighten each episode up into a solid 60-minute effort instead of letting things breathe and run over anywhere from 75-minutes onward.

    For now, the goal remains set on gaining employment, finishing grad school, making fake magazine covers with Shawn (Brews News) for the Brews & Bruins folks and being back around the written form of hockey analysis between Goalie Hugs episodes.

    Think of the columns as a sort of extended edition of the podcast or any podcast I appear on, for that matter. You’re bound to see some more here as the trade deadline approaches on March 7th and I plan on making the website a bit more visually appealing again.

    First up, a few thoughts on the blockbuster three-team trade the Colorado Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago wrapped up late Friday night…

  • Special announcement from the podcast department

    Down the Frozen River is proud to present a brand new podcast from the brand/blog/whatever we are these days. It is called Goalie Hugs. You may have already seen a few tweets about it, the Twitter account itself (we’ll never call it “X” because we don’t call our “exes”), the Instagram account and/or straight from the horse’s mouth.

    The first episode will be out in one week’s time (August 29th in case you’re not in front of a calendar).

    Nick and Dany are co-hosting with Shawn joining the fun from time-to-time if not on a regular basis. You may be wondering who those other guys are and you’ll learn soon.

    Episodes will be released biweekly throughout the season on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else snags our RSS Feed. Subscribe so you’ll always be the first to know (it’s free).