Down the Frozen River

Category: Playoff Recaps

Never miss out on a night of Stanley Cup Playoff action, because we got you covered with a recap of every moment.

MacKinnon’s hat trick gives Avs 2-0 series lead

Nathan MacKinnon scored a hat trick as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the St. Louis Blues, 6-3, in Game 2 of their 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round series on Wednesday, but that’s not the only big thing to have happened in the matchup.

Avalanche forward, Nazem Kadri, is likely to face supplemental discipline from the league’s Department of Player Safety for his high, blindside, hit on Blues defender, Justin Faulk, in the third period of Wednesday night’s action at Ball Arena.

Kadri has not been suspended since the 2019 First Round when he retaliated– then as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs– with a cross check to the face of Boston Bruins forward, Jake DeBrusk.

He has faced numerous fines and suspensions before prior to the DeBrusk incident– though in accordance with the league’s 18-month timeline for repeat offenders it’s more than likely that Kadri won’t be defined as one in whatever additional discipline he’s about to face.

Nevertheless, the hit was bad.

Whether Kadri will be back at all in this series or at all in the remainder of the 2021 postseason remains to be seen.

Philipp Grubauer (2-0, 2.00 goals-against average, .931 save percentage in two games played) made 32 saves on 35 shots against in the win for Colorado.

St. Louis goaltender, Jordan Binnington (0-2, 4.07 goals-against average, .915 save percentage in two games played), made 29 saves on 33 shots faced in the loss.

David Perron remained on the league’s COVID protocol list as the Blues, Vegas Golden Knights and a few other teams across the National Hockey League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball had an issue with COVID testing at a lab.

Though Perron was unaffected by the mass false positive tests produced, the Blues and Golden Knights were promptly retested and cleared to play.

Joonas Donskoi (1) kicked things off with a deflection goal 35 seconds into the first period as the Avs went up, 1-0, on the scoreboard thanks to his presence in front of the net while Ryan Graves got a shot off from the point.

Graves (1) and Kadri (1) had the assists on Donskoi’s first goal of the night and the Avalanche got off to a hot start– wasting little time to pull ahead of the Blues on home ice.

Late in the period, St. Louis’ Robert Thomas sent the puck over the glass and out of play, yielding an automatic delay of game penalty and presenting Colorado with the night’s first chance on the power play at 17:35.

It took the Avalanche less than a minute to dominate on the skater advantage and capitalize on their first power play of the game as MacKinnon (3) cut to the middle of the point with heavy traffic in front of Binnington before firing a shot through the legs of a Blues defender, as well as MacKinnon’s own teammate, Gabriel Landeskog, and into the twine.

Cale Makar (1) and Donskoi (1) notched the assists on MacKinnon’s power-play goal and the Avs led, 2-0, at 18:05.

After one period of action, Colorado led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and, 19-6, in shots on goal.

The Avalanche also dominated in blocked shots (7-6), takeaways (4-1), giveaways (4-0) and faceoff win percentage (70-30), while St. Louis held the advantage in hits (13-8).

The Blues had yet to see time on the power play, while the Avs were already 1/1 heading into the first intermission.

Early in the middle frame, Ivan Barbashev hooked MacKinnon and presented the Avalanche with a power play at 2:48 of the second period.

Less than a minute into the ensuing skater advantage, MacKinnon sent a shot from the point that Donskoi (2) deflected while acting as a screen in the slot with Landeskog.

MacKinnon (2) and Mikko Rantanen (3) picked up the assists on Donskoi’s power-play goal as the Avalanche extended their lead to, 3-0, at 3:14 of the second period.

Late in the middle frame, Sammy Blais (1) sent the puck off of Grubauer from about the goal line as the rubber biscuit had eyes and trickled through the Colorado netminder’s five-hole and into the net.

Kyle Clifford (1) and Torey Krug (1) recorded their first assists of the postseason on Blais’ goal as the Blues cut Colorado’s lead to two-goals, 3-1, at 16:17.

Though the Avs led, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 28-20, in shots on goal after two periods, St. Louis held the advantage in second period shots alone, 14-9.

The Blue Notes also led in blocked shots (11-8) and hits (23-16) after 40 minutes, while the Avalanche maintained an advantage in takeaways (8-3), giveaways (9-5) and faceoff win% (68-33).

Colorado was 2/2 on the power play heading into the final period as the Blues had still yet to encounter a legal skater advantage in the action.

Then it happened.

Early in the third period, Kadri hit Faulk from a blindside angle, right to the head.

Faulk was visibly unwell and laying facedown on the ice– the CNBC broadcast briefly showed Faulk motionless on the ice, looking dazed and– even to the untrained eye– clearly unconscious as a scrum gathered along the side boards closest to the penalty benches.

Kadri was given a five-minute major for an illegal hit to the head, which was reviewed and confirmed. He was also given a match penalty at 6:30 of the third period.

St. Louis was already down a skater in Robert Bortuzzo– who had taken something up high earlier in the night– and was now short Faulk on the bench for the remainder of Wednesday’s action.

Late in the five-minute power play, Brayden Schenn (1) buried a rebound off of a rush that he generated with Tyler Bozak entering the zone– with Bozak firing the initial shot before Schenn collected the garbage.

Bozak (1) and Krug (2) had the assists on Schenn’s power-play goal as the Blues pulled to within one, 3-2, at 10:07 of the third period.

About five minutes later, however, Colorado answered.

MacKinnon (4) sent another shot from the point over Binnington’s blocker side with traffic in front of the net.

Devon Toews (1) and Landeskog (3) collected the assists as the Avalanche bumped their lead back to two-goals, 4-2, at 15:25.

But 15 seconds later, Mike Hoffman (1) had a quick breakout the other way and sent one of his patented quick-release shots off of Grubauer under his blocker side and into the top left corner of the goalframe.

Niko Mikkola (1) and Thomas (2) had the assists on Hoffman’s goal as the Blues pulled back to within one, 4-3, at 15:40.

St. Louis’ head coach, Craig Berube, pulled Binnington for an extra attacker with about 2:18 remaining in the game.

It didn’t take long for Colorado to score.

Brandon Saad (1) simply cleared the puck from behind the red line into the open 4×6 net as Tyson Jost (1) and Toews (2) picked up the assists to make it, 5-3, Colorado at 17:51.

Once more the Blue Notes pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker after getting possession deep into the attacking zone.

Though the Avalanche would also once again capitalize on the empty net– this time as MacKinnon (5) completed his hat trick with the assists going to Rantanen (4) and Landeskog (4) as the Avs pulled ahead, 6-3, at 19:48.

At the final horn, the Avalanche secured a 2-0 series lead with a commanding, 6-3, victory in Game 2 at Ball Arena in Denver.

Colorado finished the night leading in blocked shots (17-14), giveaways (11-5) and faceoff win% (64-36), while St. Louis exited the building leading in hits (26-19).

Both teams finished with 35 shots apiece, though the Blues led in shots on goal in the third period alone, 15-7.

St. Louis went 1/2 on the skater advantage while Colorado was a perfect 2/2 on the power play on Wednesday.

The Avs lead the series 2-0 as the venue shifts to Enterprise Center for Game 3 in St. Louis on Friday.

Puck drop is expected a little after 9:30 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can tune to national coverage on USA Network, while those in Canada can watch the action on SN360 or TVAS2.

May 20, 2021
Aho and Nedeljkovic power Canes to, 3-0, shutout

Sebastian Aho scored a pair of goals as Alex Nedeljkovic made 32 saves in a, 3-0, shutout win for the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 of their 2021 First Round series with the Nashville Predators at PNC Arena on Wednesday.

Nedeljkovic (2-0, 1.01 goals-against average, .964 save percentage in two games played) became the second rookie goaltender in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers franchise history to record a postseason shutout, joining Cam Ward in doing so.

Ward notched a pair of shutouts in the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs en route to leading Carolina to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup championship.

Meanwhile, Predators goaltender, Juuse Saros (0-2, 3.08 goals-against average, .910 save percentage in two games played) stopped 28 out of 30 shots faced in the loss.

The Hurricanes were without Jaccob Slavin on the blue line, so Jake Gardiner was dressed for Carolina.

Meanwhile, Predators head coach, John Hynes, had replaced Calle Jarnkrok (illness), Mathieu Olivier and Ben Harpur with Eeli Tolvanen, Brad Richardson and Matt Benning in the lineup on Wednesday.

Early in the action, former Carolina forward, Erik Haula, got tangled up with Martin Necas and received a minor infraction for roughing– yielding the game’s first power play to the Hurricanes at 2:02 of the first period.

The Canes were not successful on their first skater advantage of the game.

Moments later, Nashville defender, Mattias Ekholm, tripped Warren Foegele and presented Carolina with another power play at 7:17 of the opening frame.

The Hurricanes wouldn’t waste much time on the ensuing skater advantage before Aho (1) received a pass from Andrei Svechnikov through the high slot and one-timed the puck into the back of the twine.

Svechnikov (1) and Dougie Hamilton (1) had the assists on Aho’s power-play goal and Carolina took a, 1-0, lead at 8:03.

The Predators got their first skater advantage of the night at 8:47 when Vincent Trocheck roughed up Benning, but the Preds weren’t able to convert on the power play.

Nor did Nashville have any success on the skater advantage moments later when Hamilton was penalized for interference at 13:04.

No, the Preds also didn’t score on the power play at 15:59 when Aho roughed Haula and again the Predators were powerless on the advantage at 19:03 when Jordan Staal cut a rut to the sin bin for interference.

Heading into the first intermission, the Hurricanes led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and were outshooting Nashville, 10-9.

Carolina also led in blocked shots (4-2), takeaways (2-1), giveaways (5-3) and hits (20-18), while the Predators dominated the faceoff dot in faceoff win percentage (57-44).

Nashville was 0/4 and the Canes were 0/2 on the power play entering the middle frame.

Ryan Johansen got tangled up with Svechnikov as the two forwards exchanged pleasantries and received roughing minors at 4:16 of the second period.

After two minutes of 4-on-4 action, the two teams resumed full strength with cooler heads (for a few minutes anyway).

Brett Pesce was penalized for holding at 8:34, but Nashville continued to struggle on the power play as Nedeljkovic stood tall in the crease for Carolina.

Viktor Arvidsson took a trip to the box at 9:38 for interference, but the Hurricanes couldn’t muster anything on the resulting power play.

Shortly thereafter, Benning and Jordan Martinook got into a heated exchange, yielding roughing minors at 12:03 of the second period and plunging the game into another pair of minutes at 4-on-4.

Late in the period, Nino Niederreiter hooked Richardson, but the Preds couldn’t get anything going on the ensuing power play at 16:37.

Through 40 minutes of action, the Hurricanes held onto their, 1-0, lead on the scoreboard despite Nashville pulling ahead in shots on goal, 24-20, including a, 15-10, advantage in the second period alone.

Carolina held the lead in blocked shots (10-6), giveaways (11-10) and hits (36-32), while the Predators had the advantage in takeaways (5-3) and faceoff win% (56-44).

Nashville was 0/6 on the power play, while the Canes were 1/3 on the skater advantage heading into the final frame.

Foegele sent the puck over the glass and out of play, yielding an automatic delay of game infraction almost midway through the third period at 9:24.

The Preds couldn’t capitalize on the resulting power play.

Late in the period, Hynes pulled Saros for an extra attacker, but Carolina worked to clear the puck out of their own zone.

Pesce dumped the puck deep– missing the empty net– but didn’t ice the puck as Aho (2) charged into the attacking zone, pounced on the loose puck and buried the rubber biscuit into the net to give Carolina a two-goal lead.

Pesce (3) had the only assist on Aho’s second goal of the night and the Hurricanes led, 2-0, at 19:07 of the third period.

Less than a minute later, Foegele (1) worked the puck behind the goal line and wrapped around the net, sending an errant puck off of Ryan Ellis’ skate and through Saros for a three-goal lead.

Jesper Fast (1) had the only assist on Foegele’s insurance goal as the Canes made it, 3-0, at 19:32.

At the final horn, Carolina had secured a 2-0 series lead with a, 3-0, win as Nedeljkovic recorded the shutout– his first career postseason shutout.

The Predators finished the night leading in shots on goal, 32-31, despite Carolina leading in shots on goal in the third period alone, 11-8.

Nashville also wrapped up Wednesday night’s action with the lead in giveaways (19-16) and faceoff win% (53-48), while the Canes finished the night leading in blocked shots (17-10) and hits (52-39).

The Preds went 0/7 and the Canes went 1/3 on the power play in Game 2.

The Hurricanes lead the series 2-0 as the venue shifts to Bridgestone Arena for Game 3 in Nashville on Friday. Puck drop is expected a little after 7 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can tune to national coverage on USA Network, while those in Canada can watch the action on FXX-Canada or TVAS2.

May 20, 2021
Smith lifts Bruins over Capitals, 3-2, in double OT

Craig Smith caught Ilya Samsonov mishandling the puck and wrapped around the net to give the Boston Bruins a 2-1 series lead in their, 3-2, double overtime victory over the Washington Capitals in Game 3 of their 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round matchup on Wednesday at TD Garden.

Tuukka Rask (2-1, 2.27 goals-against average, .926 save percentage in three games played) made 35 saves on 37 shots faced in what became the 12th consecutive postseason game between the two clubs to be decided by one-goal.

Oh and the Bruins had not led all night until the final result.

Samsonov (0-1, 2.09 goals-against average, .930 save percentage in one game played), meanwhile, turned aside 40 out of 43 shots against in the loss for the Capitals.

Boston was without the services of Ondrej Kase (upper body), John Moore (hip) and Jeremy Lauzon (upper body) on Wednesday.

Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Monday night’s, 4-3, overtime win in Game 2 to Wednesday night’s Game 3.

The B’s had a long list of healthy scratches, taxi squad members and injured players including, Nick Wolff, Trent Frederic, Greg McKegg, Zach Senyshyn, Jack Studnicka, Moore, Kase, Jaroslav Halak, Steven Kampfer, Cameron Hughes, Jack Ahcan, Lauzon, Urho Vaakanainen, Oskar Steen, Jakub Zboril, Callum Booth, Dan Vladar, Anton Blidh, Karson Kuhlman and Jarred Tinordi on Wednesday.

At the other end of the rink, Evgeny Kuznetsov returned to the lineup for Washington, while Samsonov made his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut in the crease.

Craig Anderson did not get the start in Game 3 due to “body maintenance” according to Capitals head coach, Peter Laviolette, while Lars Eller (lower body) missed Wednesday night’s action.

The Caps became the second team in Stanley Cup Playoff history to start three different goaltenders in the team’s first three postseason games, joining the 1986 Winnipeg Jets in doing so.

Alex Ovechkin was penalized for interference at 2:20 of the first period and presented Boston with the first power play of the night.

The B’s did not capitalize on the ensuing skater advantage, however, and followed suit with a pair of penalties of their one– Mike Reilly for high sticking at 7:38, as well as a bench minor for too many skaters on the ice at 10:34– shortly after killing off Reilly’s infraction.

Nick Ritchie served the bench minor as the Capitals failed to muster anything on back-to-back power plays.

Washington defender, Zdeno Chara, caught former teammate in Boston, Charlie Coyle, with a slash while the two battled for a puck in the corner of the Bruins’ attacking zone, yielding a power play for the B’s at 13:18.

Boston’s skater advantage soon became a 5-on-3 advantage as John Carlson sent the puck clear over the glass and induced an automatic delay of game minor at 14:24.

The Bruins weren’t able to convert on the two-skater advantage.

Finally, late in the opening frame, Sean Kuraly tripped Ovechkin and the Bruins were forced to kill off a minor infraction at 17:25.

Heading into the first intermission, the score was still tied, 0-0, despite Boston outshooting Washington, 10-4.

The Capitals dominated in just about everything else, leading in blocked shots (6-3), takeaways (4-2), giveaways (5-4) and hits (13-12), while both teams managed to split faceoff win percentage in the first period, 50-50.

Both clubs were 0/3 on the power play entering the middle frame.

Early in the second period, Nic Dowd blocked a shot from David Pastrnak and briefly went down the tunnel after hardly putting any weight on one of his legs.

Dowd would return later in the period and, of course, score a goal, but first Brad Marchand took an unsportsmanlike minor at 6:56 of the second period, presenting the Capitals with another skater advantage opportunity.

Late in the ensuing power play, Washington worked the puck deep into the attacking zone while Ovechkin (1) snuck into the slot, received a pass and fired a one-timer far on the glove side and just under the crossbar.

Anthony Mantha (2) had the only assist on Ovechkin’s power-play goal at 8:21 of the second period and Washington jumped ahead, 1-0, in Game 3.

Less than a minute later, however, the Bruins responded as Smith setup Taylor Hall with a behind the back pass to No. 71 in black and gold as Hall (2) spun around counterclockwise in front of the crease, pulled the puck from his backhand to his forehand and roofed a shout over the blocker, top-shelf.

Smith (2) and Kevan Miller (1) tallied the assists as Hall tied the game, 1-1, at 9:17.

Late in the period, Matt Grzelcyk caught Ovechkin with a high stick behind the Boston net and presented Washington with another power play at 15:45.

Shortly after killing Grzelcyk’s minor, the Bruins were caught in the vulnerable minute on a giveaway while botching an exit out of their own zone.

Garnet Hathaway fed Dowd with a shot pass under Reilly’s leg while the Bruins defender dove to breakup the passing lane that Dowd (2) redirected while crashing the slot to put the Capitals back in command, 2-1, at 18:15 of the second period.

Hathaway (1) had the only assist on the effort.

Through 40 minutes of action on Wednesday, the Caps led the B’s, 2-1, on the scoreboard despite Boston outshooting Washington, 21-20, in total shots on goal.

The Capitals, however, outshot the Bruins, 16-11, in the second period alone and led in blocked shots (9-6), takeaways (7-6) and hits (32-28), while Boston held the advantage in giveaways (8-7).

Washington was 1/5 on the power play, while the B’s were still 0/3 on the skater advantage heading into the final frame of regulation.

Daniel Carr tripped Coyle at 3:25 of the third period, but the Bruins couldn’t get anything going on the resulting power play.

Boston had another chance on the skater advantage when Dowd caught Charlie McAvoy with a high stick at 11:00 of the final frame of regulation and this time the B’s capitalized on the power play.

Marchand (2) batted the puck out of mid-air off of a deflection from Patrice Bergeron that can best be described as a flubbed shot and/or a whiff.

Anyway, Bergeron (1) and McAvoy (2) had the assists on Marchand’s power-play goal as the Bruins tied the action, 2-2, despite lacking a sustained offensive effort in the third period.

Through 60 minutes, the score remained even, 2-2, despite Washington outshooting Boston, 29-24, including a, 9-3, advantage in the third period alone.

The Capitals led in blocked shots (15-9), takeaways (12-8), hits (46-42) and faceoff win% (53-47), while the B’s led in giveaways (11-8).

Both teams were 1/5 on the power play heading into the first overtime period.

The refs had put their whistles away in the initial extra frame, yielding end-to-end action with more clutching and grabbing allowed as the two clubs swapped chances– though the Bruins dominated possession and shots on goal in the overtime alone.

Laviolette started Nicklas Backstrom, Tom Wilson, Mantha, Dmitry Orlov and Carlson, while Cassidy countered with David Krejci, Smith, Hall, Reilly and Brandon Carlo at the opening draw in the extra frame.

After 80 minutes of high intensity skating, the Bruins and Capitals were still tied, 2-2, on the scoreboard, despite Boston holding the advantage in shots on goal, 41-34, including a, 17-5, advantage in the first overtime period alone.

Washington led in blocked shots (19-12), takeaways (15-11) and faceoff win% (52-48) through four peirods, while the B’s led in giveaways (12-9) and hits (58-55).

Both teams were still 1/5 on the power play heading into the second overtime period.

At the dawn of double overtime, Laviolette and Cassidy started the same lines that they had thrown out on the ice to kickoff the first overtime.

Backstrom, Wilson and Mantha were countered by Krejci, Hall and Smith.

On defense, Laviolette offered Brenden Dillon and Justin Schultz, while Cassidy tossed out Reilly and Carlo once more.

Marchand nearly ended it, then Pastrnak had a breakaway, but misfired as he took a stick to the midsection, then crashed into the endboards and was slow to get up.

He did not miss a shift, though, and no penalty was called.

Moments later, Samsonov misplayed the puck in the trapezoid assuming one of his defenders might scoop it up right as Smith never gave up on the play, however.

Smith (1) wrapped the rubber biscuit around the net and slid it behind the Caps netminder for the game-winning goal at 5:48 of the second overtime period.

The individual effort was unassisted and provided Boston with a 2-1 series lead thanks to their, 3-2, double overtime victory in Game 3 on Wednesday.

Yes, even after reaching double overtime, the game still managed to end before midnight thanks to a 6:30 p.m. ET start.

The Bruins finished the night leading in shots on goal, 43-37, despite being outshot, 3-2, in the second overtime itself.

Washington wrapped up the action leading in blocked shots (20-14) and faceoff win% (52-48), while Boston led in giveaways (12-10) and hits (60-57).

The two each clubs finished 1/5 on the power play.

The Bruins improved to 2-1 when tied after the first period, 1-1 when allowing the game’s first goal, 1-0 when trailing after two periods, 2-1 when tied after three periods and 1-0 when tied after the first overtime in this postseason.

The Capitals, meanwhile, dropped to 1-2 when tied after one, 1-1 when scoring the game’s first goal, 0-1 when leading after two, 1-2 when tied after three and 0-1 when tied after the first overtime in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Boston leads the series 2-1 with the chance to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in Game 4 on Friday night on home ice.

Puck drop at TD Garden is expected a little after 6:30 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can tune to NBCSN for national coverage, while those in Canada have the option to choose from SN360, SNE, SNO, SNP or TVAS depending on where you live.

May 19, 2021
Tuch ties series against former team in, 3-1, Vegas victory

Alex Tuch had a pair of goals– including the game-winner– as the Vegas Golden Knights tied their 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round matchup with the Minnesota Wild in a, 3-1, win at T-Mobile Arena in Game 2.

The series is now tied 1-1 as Marc-Andre Fleury (1-1, 0.98 goals-against average, .969 save percentage in two games played) made 34 saves on 35 shots faced in the win for Vegas on Tuesday.

Wild goaltender, Cam Talbot (1-1, 1.48 goals-against average, .957 save percentage in two games played) turned aside 25 out of 28 shots against in the loss.

Once more, the Golden Knights were without the services of Max Pacioretty on Tuesday.

No goals were scored in the opening frame, but there was one thing on the event sheet thanks to Alec Martinez’s hooking penalty at 4:13 of the first period.

Minnesota did not convert on the ensuing power play, however.

After 20 minutes of action, the score still read, 0-0, while the Wild led in shots on goal, 17-10.

The Golden Knights held the advantage in takeaways (4-2), giveaways (3-2), hits (20-14) and faceoff win percentage (53-47), while Minnesota led in blocked shots (6-5).

Only the Wild had seen any time on the skater advantage, though they were 0/1 on the power play heading into the first intermission.

Midway through the middle frame, Matt Dumba (1) opened the game’s scoring with a shot from the point that beat Fleury over the blocker while Marcus Foligno acted as a screen in front of the crease.

Jonas Brodin (1) and Jordan Greenway (2) had the primary and secondary assists, respectively, on Dumba’s goal as the Wild jumped out to a, 1-0, lead at 12:07 of the second period.

It wasn’t long before Vegas evened things up, however.

In fact, just 18 seconds after Dumba notched his fourth career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal, the Golden Knights shifted momentum their way as Reilly Smith fed Jonathan Marchessault while entering the zone.

Marchessault (1) snapped a shot over Talbot’s glove, off the post and into the back of the twine to tie the game, 1-1, at 12:25.

Smith (1) and William Karlsson (1) had the assists on Marchessault’s goal.

Less than a few minutes later, Ian Cole tripped William Carrier and presented the Golden Knights with their first power play of the night at 15:04 of the second period. Vegas did not convert on the resulting skater advantage, however.

Minnesota was caught in the vulnerable minute after special teams play, though, as Alex Pietrangelo kickstarted a rush, whereby Mattias Janmark found Tuch (1) for his first goal of the night– giving the Golden Knights their first lead thus far in the series.

Janmark (1) and Pietrangelo (1) had the assists as Vegas took the lead, 2-1, on Tuch’s first goal of the game at 17:19.

Heading into the second intermission, the Golden Knights led, 2-1, on the scoreboard, despite trailing, 27-22, in shots on goal (Vegas had the advantage in second period shots on goal alone, though, 12-10).

The Wild led in blocked shots (21-10), while Vegas dominated in takeaways (8-4), giveaways (8-5), hits (44-32) and faceoff win% (52-48).

Both teams were 0/1 on the power play heading into the final frame Tuesday night.

Dumba and Pietrangelo got tangled up almost midway through the third period and received roughing infractions at 7:50 of the final frame, yielding 4-on-4 action for a pair of minutes.

With 1:53 left in the action, Wild head coach, Dean Evason, pulled Talbot for an extra attacker only to lose the 6-on-5 advantage shortly thereafter when Kirill Kaprizov got a stick underneath Marchessault and tripped up the Golden Knights forward at 18:30 of the third period.

It didn’t take Vegas long for Chandler Stephenson to to pinch along the boards, work the puck below the goal line, then send a pass to Tuch (2) in the low slot for a one-timer off of Talbot’s pad and through the short side.

Stephenson (1) and Mark Stone (1) tallied the assists on Tuch’s power-play goal and the Golden Knights led, 3-1, at 19:07.

Talbot vacated the crease once again with 52.3 seconds left but it was to no avail as the seconds ticked down until the final horn sounded and Vegas had officially sealed the deal on a, 3-1, win in Game 2– tying their best-of-seven series with Minnesota 1-1.

The Wild finished the night leading in shots on goal, 35-28, including an, 8-6, advantage in the third period alone.

Minnesota also held the advantage in blocked shots (26-20), while the Golden Knights dominated in just about every other category, including giveaways (11-7), hits (63-46) and faceoff win% (60-40).

Vegas finished 1/2 on the power play, while the Wild went 0/1 on the skater advantage on Tuesday.

The series is tied 1-1 heading into Minnesota for Game 3 at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday. Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 9:30 p.m. ET and fans in the United States can tune to NBCSN for national coverage, while those in Canada can catch the action on SN360 or TVAS2.

May 19, 2021
Lightning storm to 2-0 series lead in Game 2 victory

For just the 4th time in the last 15 years, the defending Stanley Cup champion has jumped out to a 2-0 series lead as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers, 3-1, on road ice in Game 2 on Tuesday.

Tampa’s victory at BB&T Center dismantled Florida’s home ice advantage and cemented the Bolts’ legacy as a dominant team in the postseason, while Andrei Vasilevskiy (2-0, 2.52 goals-against average, .931 save percentage in two games played) made 32 saves on 33 shots against for a .970 save percentage in the win.

Panthers goaltender, Chris Driedger (0-1, 2.07 goals-against average, .929 save percentage in one game played), made his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut and turned aside 26 out of 28 shots faced in the loss.

Florida’s head coach, Joel Quenneville, opted to start Driedger over Sergei Bobrovsky after Bobrovsky’s poor showing in Game 1 and, though Game 2 was no better in the end result, Driedger had a solid night with the exception of the first period.

Steven Stamkos (1) kicked off the game’s scoring on a shot that was intended to be the completion of a give-and-go attempt, but ended up deflecting off of former Lightning defender– turned current Panthers defender– Anton Stralman, and into the twine.

Alex Killorn (1) and David Savard (1) had the assists on Stamkos’ accidental goal as the Bolts pulled ahead, 1-0, at 4:52 of the first period.

Late in the opening frame, the Lightning extended their lead to two-goals after Brayden Point rang the crossbar to the right of the goal frame before Ondrej Palat (1) buried the rebound over Driedger’s blocker side far to the left inside the goalframe.

Point (1) and Nikita Kucherov (2) tallied the assists on Palat’s goal as Tampa took a, 2-0, lead at 14:57.

Heading into the first intermission, the Bolts led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and, 15-9, in shots on goal.

Tampa also held the advantage in takeaways (5-1) and hits (18-14), while Florida led in giveaways (9-6) and faceoff win percentage (61-39). Both teams had three blocked shots each and had yet to see any action on the power play entering the middle frame.

MacKenzie Weegar send the puck over the glass and received an automatic delay of game infraction 31 seconds into the second period, presenting the Lightning with the night’s first power play.

Tampa’s power play was no match for Florida’s penalty kill, however.

The Panthers got their first chance on the skater advantage at 11:33 of the second period when Point was sent to the box for holding.

Though Florida did not capitalize on the resulting 5-on-4 action, the Panthers did catch the Lightning in the vulnerable minute after special teams action as Mason Marchment (1) buried a shot pass redirection behind Vasilevskiy to cut Tampa’s lead in half, 2-1.

Carter Verhaeghe (1) and Aleksander Barkov (1) had the assists on Marchment’s goal at 14:21.

Finally, after a scrum at the horn signaling the start of the second intermission, Weegar was assessed a roughing minor for hitting Blake Coleman from behind after the whistle at 20:00 of the second period.

Through 40 minutes of action, the Bolts led the Panthers, 2-1, on the scoreboard, despite both teams amassing 20 shots on goal each. Florida, however, had an, 11-4, advantage in shots on goal in the second period alone.

Florida also held the lead in blocked shots (11-10) and giveaways (13-12), while Tampa led in takeaways (8-7) and hits (28-26). Both teams were 50-50 in faceoff win% and 0/1 on the power play heading into the final frame.

Kucherov tripped Anthony Duclair at 1:08 of the third period, which resulted in 52 seconds of 4-on-4 action before an abbreviated power play for the Panthers ultimately came up empty handed.

Midway through the third, Pat Maroon tripped Stralman and presented Florida with their last power play at 9:06.

The Panthers couldn’t muster anything on the ensuing skater advantage.

With 2:17 remaining in the action, Quenneville pulled Driedger for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail– especially after Yanni Gourde (1) picked off a pass and fired the rubber biscuit into the empty net from the neutral zone at 18:35 of the third period.

Gourde’s goal was unassisted and gave Tampa some insurance with a, 3-1, lead.

Seconds later, Marchment and Erik Cernak got into a heated exchange, delivering some cross checks to one another and rough play, yielding roughing minors for each, while Ryan Lomberg picked up a roughing minor of his own– giving Tampa one last power play for the night.

Lomberg also received a ten-minute misconduct as all of the penalties were announced at 18:53 of the third period.

At the final horn, the Lightning had won Game 2 by a score of, 3-1, and taken a 2-0 series lead in their 2021 First Round matchup with the Panthers.

Florida finished the night leading in shots on goal, 33-29, including a, 12-9, advantage in the third period alone.

The Panthers also wrapped up Tuesday night’s action leading in giveaways (21-19) and faceoff win% (51-49), while Tampa exited the building with the lead in blocked shots (15-13) and hits (42-37).

Florida finished the night 0/3 on the power play, while the Bolts went 0/2 on the skater advantage.

The Lightning take a 2-0 series lead back to Amalie Arena on Thursday for Game 3 on home ice. Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 6:30 p.m. ET and fans in the United States can tune to USA Network for national coverage, while those in Canada can catch the action on FX Canada.

May 19, 2021
Pittsburgh Penguins Tie Up The Series Before Heading To Enemy Territory

Seymon Varlamov returned to the Islanders lineup with Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin remained out. The series is now tied at 1 after the Pittsburgh Penguins held the New York Islanders to a 2-1 game. It was quite the chippy game with excellent commentary provided by Brandon Tanev. You can always count on him for those one liners. Back to hockey.

Pittsburgh outplayed the Islanders on Sunday but managed to lose in overtime. Tonight was a different story. They came out of the gate scoring their only two goals in the first period. Bryan Rust had his first of the postseason completely unassisted. Trade deadline acquisition, Jeff Carter scored about ten minutes later, making the Los Angelos Kings wonder, why would any team ever trade Jeff Carter?

Pittsburgh’s offense was silenced the remainder of the night. Varmalov had 42 saves on 44 shots in his return. Tristan Jarry had quite the game himself, allowing just one goal on 36 shots. His glove might have been his best friend tonight. Can we award it a star? The Penguins would win 52% of the faceoffs and outshoot the Isles, 45-38. The Islanders dominated the game with 46 hits and 16 blocks. There was a scary moment where Brian Dumoulin was thrown into the boards by Jean-Gabriel Pageue and had to leave the game. He would return to the bench but you absolutely hate to see plays like that. Thankfully, Tanex was there to lighten the mood with a few choice words for the Islanders.

The two face off again on Thursday back on Long Island. Tonight’s win was crucial for the Penguins as they looked to avoid being down two before heading into enemy territory.

The key factors to this series is both teams need to shoot. They can’t hesitate and overthink their movements. Goaltending has to stay steady for Pittsburgh as they head to Long Island. Jarry seemed a bit more secure in himself this evening and you need that to continue. The Islanders desperately need their offense to come alive. Mat Barzal’s magic appears to be dimmed at the moment with 0 points through two games. Will home ice change that?

May 18, 2021
MacKinnon’s pair powers Avs past Blues, 4-1, in Game 1

Cale Makar opened the scoring for the Colorado Avalanche in their, 4-1, victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game 1 of their 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round matchup, but it was Nathan MacKinnon that scored the eventual game-winner as well as an empty net goal and Gabriel Landeskog that had a “Gordie Howe hat trick” in the bout.

Philipp Grubauer (1-0, 1.00 goals-against average, .957 save percentage in one game played) turned aside 22 out of 23 shots in the win for Colorado in front of their home crowd at Ball Arena.

St. Louis goaltender, Jordan Binnington (0-1, 3.05 goals-against average, .939 save percentage in one game played), made 46 saves on 49 shots faced in the loss.

The Avalanche and Blues are meeting for just the second time in Stanley Cup Playoffs history with Colorado having beaten St. Louis in five games in their only previous series matchup in the 2001 Western Conference Final.

Colorado, of course, would go on to win the Cup that year– and their second in franchise history– while the Blues would wait until 2019 for their first Stanley Cup ring.

The Avalanche are making their 26th appearance in the postseason dating back to their days as the Québec Nordiques, while the Blues are appearing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 44th time in their history.

Colorado went 5-3-0 in the regular season against the Blue Notes in 2020-21.

St. Louis was without David Perron for Game 1 as Perron remains in the league’s COVID protocol.

Landeskog and Brayden Schenn kicked things off with an exchange of fisticuffs at 10:47 of the first period after Landeskog took exception for a perceived cheap shot by Schenn directed toward Mikko Rantanen.

The two skaters received fighting majors and were sent to the penalty box.

Moments later, Blues captain, Ryan O’Reilly, tripped MacKinnon and presented Colorado with their first power play of the night at 14:04.

It didn’t take the Avs long to convert on the resulting skater advantage as Rantanen fed Makar a pass off of an attacking zone faceoff, whereby Makar (1) waltzed along the blue line before wiring a shot from the point past Binnington to give the Avalanche a, 1-0, lead.

Rantanen (1) had the only assist on Makar’s power-play goal at 15:15 of the first period.

Entering the first intermission, the Avs led, 1-0, and were outshooting the Blues, 18-5.

St. Louis held the advantage in blocked shots (8-4) and hits (9-7), while Colorado led in giveaways (2-1) and faceoff win percentage (57-44). Both teams had four takeaways aside, while only the Avalanche had seen any time on the skater advantage and were 1/1 in that department heading into the middle frame.

Blues defender, Justin Faulk, caught Avalanche blue liner, Samuel Girard with a slash one minute into the second period.

This time, however, Colorado could not beat the Blue Notes on the ensuing power play.

Ryan Graves sent the puck over the glass and out of play for an automatic delay of game minor infraction at 7:10 of the second period and presented St. Louis with their first power play of the night.

The Blues, however, were no match for Colorado’s penalty kill.

Midway through the middle frame, Sammy Blais hooked Andre Burakovsky at 10:21, but once more the Avalanche were stumped on the power play.

Late in the period, Jordan Kyrou (1) sent a one-timer past Grubauer’s blocker side as Nazem Kadri was separated from the puck in the neutral zone– leading to St. Louis’ break and Colorado’s defense to be out of position.

Ivan Barbashev (1) and Robert Thomas (1) had the assists on Kyrou’s goal as the Blues tied the game, 1-1, at 16:31.

Through 40 minutes of action at Ball Arena, the Avs and Blues were even, 1-1, on the scoreboard, despite Colorado outshooting St. Louis by a 2:1 ratio (32-16, to be exact, including a, 14-11, advantage in the second period alone).

The Avalanche maintained an advantage in takeaways (8-7), giveaways (7-5) and faceoff win% (52-48), while the Blues led in blocked shots (14-11) and hits (16-8).

Colorado was 1/3 and St. Louis was 0/1 on the power play heading into the final frame.

It didn’t take the Avalanche very long to get going in the third period as Rantanen sacrificed his body to absorb a hit while Landeskog pursued a loose puck in the attacking zone.

The two players quickly exchanged touches while Rantanen setup MacKinnon (1) with a pass for the top-shelf one-timer goal.

Rantanen (2) and Landeskog (1) had the assists as Colorado’s first line trio put the Avs ahead, 2-1, 30 seconds into the third period.

Moments later, Graves cut another rut to the sin bin– this time for tripping Blais at 5:32– but the Avalanche’s penalty kill managed to kill off the minor with ease.

A few minute later, Devon Toews sent the puck to Rantanen along the boards, who dealt it back to the point where Girard then moved the rubber biscuit to MacKinnon for a blast from the high slot.

MacKinnon’s shot was deflected by Landeskog (1), however, as the Avalanche captain was battling in front of the net as a screen.

Landeskog’s goal made it, 3-1, Colorado at 8:30 of the third period and MacKinnon (1) and Girard (1) were credited with the assists as Landeskog completed the “Gordie Howe hat trick” (goal, assist and a fight) on the event sheet.

With 1:32 remaining in regulation, Blues head coach, Craig Berube, pulled Binnington for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail as Jared Bednar’s Avalanche kept St. Louis from establishing a prolonged 6-on-5 advantage in the attacking zone.

Landeskog broke up a play with a diving poke check at the blue line that led MacKinnon into a race for the loose puck before MacKinnon (2) scooped it up and buried an empty net goal with punctuation.

It wasn’t just a nonchalant tap-in. It was a statement.

Colorado had taken a three-goal lead, 4-1, with Landeskog (2) earning his third point of the night on MacKinnon’s second goal of the game at 19:20.

As the final horn sounded and a scrum ensued after the, 4-1, victory was complete for the Avalanche in Game 1, Binnington charged down the ice like a bat out of hell looking to fight what we can only assume to have been Grubauer had an on-ice official not grabbed the Blues netminder before he could enter the slot.

Binnington previously charged then San Jose Sharks goaltender turned current Avalanche backup, Devan Dubnyk, earlier in the regular season in the calendar year, 2021.

Though St. Louis came back to beat the Sharks that night, Binnington’s nightmare in the crease didn’t end in Game 1– not at least until he was pulled away and sent to the dressing room with the loss.

Colorado finished the night with the advantage in shots on goal, 50-23, including an, 18-7, advantage in the third period alone.

St. Louis, on the other hand, had wrapped up the action leading in blocked shots (19-15), giveaways (8-7), hits (21-16) and faceoff win% (53-47) despite being outplayed.

The Blues went 0/2 and the Avalanche went 1/3 on the power play on Monday.

Colorado takes a 1-0 series lead heading into Game 2 on home ice Wednesday night at Ball Arena. Puck drop is expected a little after 10:30 p.m. ET.

Viewers looking to catch the action in the United States can tune to CNBC for national coverage, while those in Canada can choose from SN360 and TVAS.

May 18, 2021
Marchand lifts Bruins over Capitals, 4-3, in OT, ties series 1-1

Taylor Hall never gave up and tied the game late in the third period, while Brad Marchand ended it 39 seconds into overtime as the Boston Bruins defeated the Washington Capitals, 4-3, in Game 2 at Capital One Arena on Monday.

It was the fastest goal to start a Stanley Cup Playoffs overtime in franchise history– beating Bobby Orr’s iconic 1970 Stanley Cup winning overtime goal by one second– as the Bruins tied the series 1-1 heading back home for Game 3 on Wednesday.

Tuukka Rask (1-1, 2.86 goals-against average, .915 save percentage in two games played) made 36 saves on 39 shots against in the win.

Meanwhile, Capitals netminder, Craig Anderson (1-1, 2.65 goals-against average, .929 save percentage in two games played) stopped 44 out of 48 shots faced in the loss.

The B’s were without the services of Ondrej Kase (upper body), John Moore (hip) and Jeremy Lauzon (upper body) on Monday.

With Lauzon as the newest entry on Boston’s list of injured players, head coach, Bruce Cassidy, inserted Connor Clifton on the third defensive pairing with Kevan Miller.

Among his forwards, Cassidy moved Charlie Coyle back to centering the third line– flanked by Nick Ritchie at left wing and Jake DeBrusk at right wing– while Sean Kuraly was slotted into the fourth line left wing spot with Curtis Lazar at center and Chris Wagner on the right side.

At puck drop, Patrice Bergeron moved into sole possession of the second-most playoff games in a Bruins uniform– suiting up in his 151st career Stanley Cup Playoff game on Monday night and passing former Bruin, turned current Capitals defender, Zdeno Chara, in the process.

David Krejci (146) also surpassed Wayne Cashman (145) for sole possession of the fourth-most postseason games with Boston.

Boston’s long list of healthy scratches, injured players and taxi squad members included Trent Frederic, Moore, Kase, Jaroslav Halak, Steven Kampfer, Jack Ahcan, Lauzon, Jakub Zboril, Callum Booth, Dan Vladar, Anton Blidh, Karson Kuhlman and Jarred Tinordi.

Early in the opening frame, DeBrusk (2) pocketed a catch and release goal while choking up on his stick as Anderson was out of position on a scramble from the doorstep after Coyle wrapped around the net.

Coyle (1) and Ritchie (1) had the assists on DeBrusk’s second goal in as many games this postseason and the Bruins took a, 1-0, lead at 5:05 of the first period.

About a minute later, David Pastrnak was penalized for holding and presented the Capitals with the first power play of the night at 6:19.

Washington made quick work of the resulting skater advantage as T.J. Oshie (1) tipped in a shot from Alex Ovechkin on the short side to tie the game, 1-1 at 6:31.

Ovechkin (2) and John Carlson (1) tallied the assists on Oshie’s power-play goal.

Almost three minutes later, Bergeron (1) one-timed a shot from the high slot in his usual bumper role after Pastrnak leapt to keep the puck onside, then generate the scoring chance by feeding his captain the puck for the goal.

Pastrnak (2) had the only assist on Bergeron’s goal as the Bruins took the lead, 2-1, at 9:21.

Moments later, Nic Dowd tangled with Krejci and presented Boston with another power play as Dowd cut a rut to the penalty box for roughing at 12:46.

The B’s didn’t get that much time on the skater advantage before the 5-on-4 was cut short thanks to a roughing minor that was assessed to Marchand at 13:54, after the Bruins forward retaliated for being pinned by a knee after a stoppage.

After 52 seconds of 4-on-4 action, Washington went on an abbreviated power play and capitalized on the skater advantage as Garnet Hathaway (1) redirected a shot that had eyes through Rask’s five-hole with a heavy net front presence from both teams creating traffic in the slot.

Dmitry Orlov (1) and Lars Eller (1) were credited with the assists on Hathaway’s tying goal at 16:42 as the Caps evened things up, 2-2, on the scoreboard.

Late in the opening frame, Mike Reilly and Conor Sheary exchanged words and shoves and were sent to the box with roughing minors– necessitating 4-on-4 play at 19:50 of the first period and extending into the middle frame.

After one period of action Monday night, the Bruins and Capitals were tied, 2-2, on the scoreboard and knotted up in shots on goal, as well, 18-18.

Boston dominated in blocked shots (7-3), takeaways (3-2) and faceoff win percentage (65-35), while Washington led in giveaways (2-1) and hits (18-14) heading into the first intermission.

The Caps were 1/2 and the B’s were 0/1 on the power play entering the middle frame.

Carlson tripped Hall to present the Bruins with a power play at 6:22 of the second period, but Boston was powerless on the ensuing skater advantage.

Moments later, Eller was spotted heading down the tunnel and did not return to the night’s action.

Midway through the middle frame, Clifton and Tom Wilson got caught up in an open ice hit away from the puck.

Clifton was assessed an interference minor, while Wilson picked up two minutes for embellishment at 13:31. The two clubs skated at 4-on-4 as a result.

It remained 4-on-4 when less than a minute later, Marchand and Anthony Mantha went at it after Anderson froze the puck at 14:11.

Marchand was assessed a slashing infraction, while Mantha picked up a high sticking minor.

Just as both squads resumed full strength at 5-on-5, Craig Smith and Nick Jensen could resist letting go of one another in a net front battle, yielding roughing minors for the two of them at 16:54.

Through 40 minutes of play at Capital One Arena, the score remained tied, 2-2, despite the Bruins leading in shots on goal, 33-27, including a, 15-9, advantage in the second period alone.

Boston also held the advantage in blocked shots (10-9), takeaways (4-3) and faceoff win% (62-38), while Washington led in hits (28-17).

Both teams had three giveaways each as the B’s were 0/2 and the Caps were 1/2 on the power play after two periods.

Early in the final frame, Ritchie inadvertently clotheslined Oshie behind the net while battling for a loose puck along the endboards.

Ritchie cut a rut to the sin bin for roughing at 2:05 of the third period as the Capitals went on the power play.

Washington couldn’t muster anything past Boston’s penalty kill, however, and still couldn’t do anything when the B’s gifted the Caps another power play at 4:53 as Hall tripped Sheary.

In the vulnerable minute after special teams action, however, the Capitals went to work on a 2-on-1 while catching Boston’s defense out of position, whereby Orlov was able to setup Hathaway (2) for his second goal of the night on a catch and release effort at 7:04 of the third period.

Orlov (2) and Carl Hagelin (1) notched the assists on Hathaway’s second goal as Washington took their first lead of the night, 3-2, almost midway through the final frame of regulation.

About ten minutes later, Hall (1) kept plugging away at a loose puck in the crease before sliding it over the goal line while chaos surrounded him and everyone hacked and whiffed at the rubber biscuit in the blue paint.

Smith (1) and Matt Grzelcyk (1) had the assists as Hall’s goal tied the game, 3-3, at 17:11.

Boston rode the momentum surge of tying the game late in the final minutes of regulation and entered the dressing room after 60 minutes with the lead in shots on goal, 46-39, including a, 13-12, advantage in the third period alone.

The Bruins also led in takeaways (9-6) and faceoff win% (63-38), while the Capitals held the advantage in blocked shots (19-15) and hits (35-30).

Both teams had four giveaways, while the Caps were 1/4 on the power play and the B’s were 0/2 on the skater advantage heading into the extra frame.

It didn’t take long before Krejci intercepted a clearing attempt from Brenden Dillon and passed the puck across the point to Grzelcyk, whereby the Bruins defender tossed it back across the high slot to Marchand (1) for the one-timer blast from the faceoff dot over Anderson’s glove side as the Washington goaltender dove across the crease.

Grzelcyk (2) and Krejci (1) tallied the assists on Marchand’s game-winning goal 39 seconds into the overtime period and the Bruins took home a, 4-3, victory in Game 2 as a result.

Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 48-39, including a, 1-0, advantage in overtime alone.

The B’s wrapped up Game 2 leading in faceoff win% (63-37), while the Capitals led in blocked shots (19-15), giveaways (7-4) and hits (36-30).

As there were no penalties called in overtime, Washington finished 1/4 and Boston went 0/2 on the power play on Monday night.

Monday night also marked the 11th-straight postseason game decided by one-goal between the two clubs dating back to their 1998 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series– the longest such streak in National Hockey League history.

As a result of their overtime win in Game 2, the Bruins have tied the series 1-1 heading home to TD Garden for Game 3 on Wednesday night in Boston. Puck drop is expected a little after 6:30 p.m. ET and fans in the United States can catch national coverage of the action on NBCSN, while those in Canada can tune to SNE, SNO, SNP, SN360 or TVAS.

May 18, 2021
Carolina Hurricanes Offensive Surge Lead Them To Game 1 Win

PNC Arena welcomed back 12,000 fans for game one against the Nashville Predators. The storm was just a little bit too strong for the Preds to fight off. The Carolina Hurricanes came out on top with a 5-2 win after sixty.

While it was not the best night for the Preds, it was a good night to be Filip Forsberg. He opened the night with a typical Forsberg beauty. The only other Predators goal would come from former Hurricanes player Eric Haula.

The Canes were an offensive force to be reckoned with. Teuvo Teravainen, who missed most of the season with a concussion tied it up. It was quite the third period for the Hurricanes. Nino Niederreiter kicked the door open with the go-ahead goal, making it 3-2. Jordan Staal recorded his second goal of the night before the Predators were forced to pull Juuse Saros. The world is not complete without Andrei Svechnikov meeting the empty net,

Of course, we must give credit where credit is due. Alex Nedeljkovic had 22 saves on 24 shots. “Ned” as Canes fans call him, had himself a season. He earned himself a .932 SV% in a 23 game span. It appears that the Canes have found their guy.

The Canes faced a physical game and they didn’t let that slow them down. The momentum carried through the full sixty minutes of hockey which obviously bodes well for any hockey games, especially in the postseason. There was an arena filled with some of the most passionate fans in the game who were treated to quite the hockey game and will be treated to another great matchup come Wednesday night.

May 17, 2021
Point strikes twice as Lightning beat Panthers, 5-4, in Game 1

Brayden Point had a pair of goals to tie, then win the game for the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-4, over the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center in Game 1 of their 2021 First Round matchup on Sunday.

The Bolts stole a game on the road and took a 1-0 series lead as a result.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (1-0, 4.07 goals-against average, .897 save percentage in one game played) made 35 saves on 39 shots against in Sunday night’s barnburner victory for Tampa.

Meanwhile, Florida netminder, Sergei Bobrovsky (0-1, 5.08 goals-against average, .875 save percentage in one game played), stopped 35 out of 40 shots faced in the loss.

The Panthers and Lightning are meeting for the first time in a postseason series as the two clubs had never met before in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, despite being located in the same state (let alone the same division).

Florida enters the 2021 First Round having made their 7th postseason appearance in franchise history. The Panthers haven’t won a playoff series since 1996.

Meanwhile, Tampa is making their 13th appearance in the playoffs having won their 2nd Stanley Cup title in 2020.

Bolts captain, Steven Stamkos, and Lightning forward, Nikita Kucherov, were back from injury in time for Game 1 as Stamkos finished the regular season on injured reserve and Kucherov spent the entire 2020-21 season on long term injured reserve recovering from hip surgery.

Or salary cap circumvention, if that’s your thing.

Early in the action, Kucherov and MacKenzie Weegar tangled with one another, resulting in roughing minors for each player at 3:15 of the first period and a pair of minutes at 4-on-4.

Almost midway into the opening frame, Alex Killorn caught Jonathan Huberdeau with a slash and presented the Panthers with the night’s first power play at 7:18.

Florida thought they grabbed the game’s first lead when Sam Bennett poked the puck through Vasilevskiy from the doorstep, but the on ice officials immediately ruled Bennett’s actions as incidental goaltender interference– therefore negating the goal that the Panthers thought they had scored.

Less than a minute later, Blake Coleman (1) went on a shorthanded breakaway and slipped a backhand shot past Bobrovsky to give the Lightning a, 1-0, lead at 7:42 of the first period.

Yanni Gourde (1) and Ryan McDonagh (1) had the assists on Coleman’s shorthanded goal.

Less than a couple of minutes later, McDonagh cut a rut to the penalty box for boarding after the Bolts defender hit Panthers forward, Anthony Duclair, from behind at 9:04.

This time Florida made sure to capitalize on the ensuing skater advantage as Aleksander Barkov won a faceoff back to the point whereby Keith Yandle slid a pass to Huberdeau before Huberdeau then setup Barkov (1) with a pass through the slot for a one-timer goal.

Huberdeau (1) and Yandle (1) had the assists on Barkov’s power-play goal and the Panthers tied things up, 1-1, at 9:41.

Late in the period, Barkov and Jan Rutta got into a shoving match and received roughing minors at 14:09, yielding two minutes worth of 4-on-4 action.

Shortly after both squads received their skater back and resumed 5-on-5 action, the Panthers pulled ahead, 2-1, thanks to a one-timer from the point by former Bolt turned current Florida forward, Carter Verhaeghe (1).

Barkov (1) and Yandle (2) had the assists on Verhaeghe’s goal as the lead changed for the first time of the night at 16:31 of the first period.

In the aftermath of the goal celebration, Coleman slashed Frank Vatrano– who received a minor penalty of his own for embellishment.

There was more 4-on-4 action, as a result, to finish off the opening frame.

Entering the first intermission, the Panthers led, 2-1, on the scoreboard and dominated in shots on goal, 18-10.

Florida also held the advantage in blocked shots (7-4), giveaways (3-2) and hits (26-11), while both teams managed to have three takeaways each and were, 50-50, in faceoff win percentage after one period.

The Panthers were 1/2 on the power play, while the Lightning had yet to see any action on the skater advantage heading into the middle frame.

Bennett was penalized for holding at 4:27 of the second period, presenting Tampa with their first power play of the night in the process.

It didn’t take the Bolts long to bring the thunder on the power play as Kucherov (1) rocketed a one-timer from inside the faceoff dot to the left of Bobrovsky over his glove.

Victor Hedman (1) and Stamkos (1) had the assists on Kucherov’s 37th career Stanley Cup Playoff goal while the Lightning tied the game, 2-2 at 4:58 of the second period.

Kucherov’s power-play goal would not be the last time that the Bolts struck on the skater advantage.

About midway through the middle frame, Ondrej Palat caught Patric Hornqvist without the puck and was sent to the box for interference at 7:51.

Florida’s resulting skater advantage was cut short when Brandon Montour slashed Killorn at 9:33.

The Panthers managed to kill off Montour’s minor without incident, but found themselves shorthanded yet again when Markus Nutivaara tripped Anthony Cirelli at 12:56.

This time, in the dying seconds of the ensuing power play, Kucherov (2) sent another one of his patented one-timers past Bobrovsky’s glove side to put the Lightning back on top, 3-2, with a power-play goal.

Hedman (2) and Stamkos (2) once again had the assists on Kucherov’s goal at 14:51.

Moments later, as the clock was winding down with about 90 seconds left in the period, Ryan Lomberg and Coleman started going at it after a stoppage in play, yielding roughing minors for each player at 18:30.

Through 40 minutes of action at BB&T Center, the Lightning led the Panthers, 3-2, on the scoreboard, despite Florida outshooting Tampa, 29-26, in total shots on goal.

The Bolts actually held the advantage in shots in the second period alone, however, as Tampa outshot Florida, 16-11, in the middle frame.

Florida dominated in just about everything else, though, heading into the second intermission ahead of the Lightning in blocked shots (15-9), takeaways (5-4), giveaways (7-5), hits (41-23) and faceoff win% (54-46).

The Panthers were 1/3 and the Lightning were 2/3 on the power play heading into the final frame.

Huberdeau (1) tallied his first goal of the postseason off of a turnover– turned breakaway– before beating Vasilevskiy with a shot through the Lightning netminder’s five-hole.

Bennett (1) and Owen Tippett (1) tallied the assists as the Panthers tied the game, 3-3, at 1:27 of the third period on Huberdeau’s goal.

Florida capitalized on the surge in momentum less than a few minutes later as Tippett (1) one-timed a shot past the Tampa goaltender to give the Panthers a, 4-3, lead at 4:09.

Huberdeau (2) and Bennett (2) had the assists on Tippett’s first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal.

About a minute later, Cirelli and Mason Marchment got in a scrum and yielded roughing infractions leading to more 4-on-4 action at 5:39.

Midway through the third, Bennett was penalized for charging and presented Tampa with a power play at 12:19.

The Bolts capitalized on the ensuing advantage as Point (1) chipped a slap pass on the far side of the mostly vacant net as Bobrovsky was out of position– tying the game, 4-4, in the process.

Kucherov (1) and Hedman (3) had the assists on Point’s power-play goal at 13:00 of the third period.

Almost six minutes later, McDonagh fed Point a lead pass– sending Point into the attacking zone on a breakaway whereby Point (2) slipped the rubber biscuit through Bobrovsky’s five-hole to give the Lightning a, 5-4, lead at 18:46.

McDonagh (2) had the only assist on what became the game-winning goal as the Panthers had no answer for Tampa, despite pulling Bobrovsky for an extra attacker with about 33.5 seconds left in the action.

At the final horn, the Lightning had won, 5-4, and stolen Game 1 on the road.

The Bolts finished the night ahead in shots on goal, 40-39, including a, 14-10, advantage in the third period alone.

Meanwhile, Florida wrapped up Sunday night’s game leading in blocked shots (17-16) and hits (54-36). Tampa led Game 1 in giveaways (12-9) and faceoff win% (52-48).

The Panthers finished 1/3 and the Lightning went an impressive 3/4 on the power play in Game 1.

Tampa takes a 1-0 series lead heading into Game 2 on Tuesday night at BB&T Center.

Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 8 p.m. ET and fans in the United States can catch national coverage on CNBC, while those in Canada can watch the next part of the Battle of Florida on SNE or TVAS.

May 17, 2021