Down the Frozen River

Tag: 2001 Stanley Cup Playoffs

  • Your Team Will Rise/Fail: 2021-22 Standings Projections

    It is time. The 2021-22 season is upon us.

    Technically it already started, but we’ll ignore the fact that the Pittsburgh Penguins spoiled the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 2021 Stanley Cup champion banner night with a, 6-2, victory on the road before the Vegas Golden Knights held off a Seattle Kraken comeback in a, 4-3, win at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday night.

    And then Wednesday’s games happened too.

    Let’s hit the “reset” button for a second and pretend the 2021-22 is about to get underway. All 32 National Hockey League teams have a chance at clinching 16 available playoff berths.

    Any of the 16 teams that make the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs could etch 52 names from their roster, front office and organization on the Stanley Cup next June.

    The usual divisions– Atlantic, Central, Metropolitan and Pacific– have returned as have the Eastern Conference and Western Conference. The regular playoff format is back (three teams per division, two wild cards per conference qualify, plus the Conference Finals round returns in place of the Stanley Cup Semfinals in 2021).

    A full 82-game regular season schedule is slated from October through the end of April with a three-week break in February for the 2022 All Star Game in Las Vegas and the 2022 Winter Games taking precedence before a return to NHL action down the stretch with the postseason kicking off in May like last year and the 2022-23 season likely returning to the pre-pandemic timeline (2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs starting in April).

    The 2022 NHL Entry Draft will be in Montréal on July 7th and 8th, while free agency begins on July 13th, but between now and then, we’ve got the 2021-22 regular season to enjoy.

    Using last season’s team goals for and team goals against, plus some other “magic numbers” as part of an expected points model, we’re able to project what 2021-22 could be for all 32 teams (yes, even the Seattle Kraken, despite this year being their first season)– though you’ll have to pretend there were no transactions made in the offseason.

    In other words, don’t think that any of what you’re about to see is set in stone– view it more as a suggestion for a possible outcome.

    Also, please remember my degree is in communication, so any math beyond figuring out “goals + assists = season point totals” doesn’t exist.

    In a normal year (like from 2017-18 to 2018-19, for example), you just take all the data from the 82-game schedule for each team plug it into a formula in a spreadsheet, then line things up accordingly in each division.

    However, just like how the shortened 2019-20 season disrupted the regular process for projecting a 2020-21 standings outlook, going from last season’s stats in a 56-game schedule to projecting a regular 82-game season in 2021-22 necessitated the use of forecasting point pace as part of the formula.

    As for Seattle, a simple means of taking the NHL stats from last season for every player on their roster and plugging it in for a 2021-22 result is exactly what I did.

    We’re all just making it up as we go along, folks. These are projections. They are not absolutes.

    For the sake of keeping it simple, here’s a look at how things could go (but probably not) in each division for the upcoming 2021-22 season.

    The overall vibe of the Central Division for 2021-22 is that it’s just more of exactly what you’d expect. The Colorado Avalanche are lightyears ahead of everyone else, while Kirill Kaprizov and the Minnesota Wild continue to be on the rise and everyone else fights for what they can earn.

    Meanwhile, the jury is still out on whether or not the Winnipeg Jets can breakthrough as Canada’s team and break the Canadian curse (become the first Canadian club to win the Cup since 1993).

    Will Colorado finally break through the Second Round and win the Cup?

    Are the Avalanche just the Toronto Maple Leafs but with a little more success? My column:

    No, but really, it’s worth asking if the Avs making it back to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2002, is more like Toronto’s struggle to make it out of the First Round for the first time since 2004, or is Colorado’s struggle more like the Washington Capitals pre-2018?

    The Caps won three Presidents’ Trophies in 2009-10, 2015-16 and 2016-17, but couldn’t make it past the Second Round– let alone the Pittsburgh Penguins– until they finally did and ended up surging in momentum all the way to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

    Colorado, on the other hand, has already won the Cup twice (1996 and 2001) and also has three Presidents’ Trophies to their name in 1996-97, 2000-01 and 2020-21, so if recent history has anything to tell us it’s that yet another team with high expectations for at least a few seasons now only to come up short could very well go on to win it all after winning the Presidents’ Trophy the previous year.

    Either that or they’ll have to win it in back-to-back seasons like Washington did before they won the Cup in 2018.

    Then again, the Tampa Bay Lightning tied the Detroit Red Wings’ record for most wins in the regular season (62), securing the Presidents’ Trophy in the process in 2018-19, then got swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2019 First Round.

    The very next year, however, Tampa kicked off back-to-back Cup rings in 2020 and 2021, to be where they are now as the two-time defending champions likely standing in the path as the only other favorites outside of the Avalanche this season.

    Anyway, the Avs mostly kept things the same from last season to this season, losing Joonas Donskoi to the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, Brandon Saad to the St. Louis Blues in free agency and making minor swaps among replacement level bottom-six forwards and bottom-pairing defenders.

    Oh, then there’s this whole thing about how Philipp Grubauer left for Seattle in free agency too, so Colorado acquired Darcy Kuemper from the Arizona Coyotes.

    Between Dallas, Nashville and St. Louis, who will realistically make the playoffs?

    The Stars are projected to finish with about 94 points, the Predators sit at 92 points and the Blues are around 91 points in this one projection, but don’t let the points alone be your deciding factor.

    Given the strength of the Central Division compared to the Pacific Division, you can bet on five teams making out of the Central among Western Conference playoff berths.

    As such, the spread is the difference maker between these three teams expected to be in the wild card hunt– it’s going to come down to the wire one way or another.

    Dallas bolstered their goaltending depth by signing Braden Holtby, Nashville traded Ryan Ellis to the Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis is… …better than last season on paper?

    I mean, the Blues signed Saad, acquired Pavel Buchnevich from the New York Rangers in exchange for Sammy Blais, let Seattle claim Vince Dunn at the expansion draft and let Mike Hoffman walk to the Montréal Canadiens in July.

    You could say they took a hit here or there, but those aren’t “nobody names” by any means, however.

    If Jordan Binnington and Ville Husso can stabilize things in the crease, then St. Louis has a better situation than the Predators.

    The Stars, meanwhile, should benefit from a longer season where more of their core guys– like Tyler Seguin, for example– are healthy. Last season’s COVID-19 outbreak to kick things off in January really killed Dallas’ momentum as a team on the verge of being in the 2021 postseason.

    Dallas should get back into the swing of things and St. Louis should be able to stay relevant for at least another year, but how hard the Preds rely on Juuse Saros as their starting goaltender will dictate whether or not they’re able to play spoiler with David Rittich as their backup since Pekka Rinne retired.

    Can Arizona avoid the basement?

    Anything is possible at this point. Loui Eriksson and Andrew Ladd were scoring goals in the postseason, so a fresh start could be just what both players needed for the last few years at least.

    That said, Coyotes General Manager, Bill Armstrong, gave a Masterclass™️ in how to go about rebuilding by selling everything over the summer and taking on “bad” contracts with only one or two years remaining in hopes of playing just well enough to be bad enough without making it look obvious that you’re aiming to win the 2022 NHL Draft Lottery.

    The Pacific Division is the new Scotia NHL North Division from last season. In other words, it’s the worst– which is great news for the Seattle Kraken as the league’s schedule allots more division play than any other opponents (though the Kraken will play every other team in the league at least twice).

    Seattle’s riding the waves of new-age expansion, while the Vegas Golden Knights lead the charge for the Presidents’ Trophy campaign in 2021-22.

    Wait, Seattle in 2nd in the Pacific, really?

    Yes, really.

    The Kraken have a great front office that goes beyond just Ron Francis as General Manager and have done their due diligence in scouting the best talent available to try to replicate the success of the Vegas Golden Knights’ inaugural season in 2017-18, as well as grow beyond just 2021-22.

    That said, Seattle probably isn’t going to make it out of the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, even if they have to face the Edmonton Oilers according to this projection.

    It’s a best case scenario for the NHL’s newest expansion team to be in the weakest division, but aside from having recent Stanley Cup champions Yanni Gourde, Philipp Grubauer, Jaden Schwartz and Dunn on their roster, the Kraken have a plethora of players that are relatively inexperienced with deep postseason runs.

    Head coach, Dave Hakstol, also hasn’t had the consistency of making the playoffs and making it out of the First Round in his NHL coaching days, but as a team that, again, is looking to develop long-term success, these are mere growing pains Francis and Co. are willing to accept as the fan base grows.

    Why aren’t the Kings making the cut this year when everyone else says they’ll be the most improved?

    The simple answer is that everyone’s overrating Los Angeles when it comes to the “ready now” factor.

    Sure, Kings General Manager, Rob Blake, did a good thing by getting Viktor Arvidsson in a trade with Nashville this summer to solidify his top-six forward group and signed Alex Edler to fortify his defense, but Los Angeles’ goaltending leaves something to be desired.

    Here’s hoping Jonathan Quick can find a little resurgence at this point in his career, while Cal Petersen continues to come into his own.

    If Los Angeles has any injuries– and they already have with Arvidsson likely missing some time due to an injury in the last preseason game– they’re already close enough to the bubble that they’ll only fall further behind.

    That said, if the Kings don’t make it back to the postseason hunt in 2022, there’s a good chance they make it in 2023.

    Los Angeles is improving, but by how much remains to be seen.

    Will winning the Presidents’ Trophy hurt Vegas?

    Eh, it’s hard to say.

    The Golden Knights have packed in just about every type of heartbreak since their inception in 2017, that fans of other franchises have only experienced over the course of at least 50 years, so if Vegas pulls out the Presidents’ Trophy win in 2021-22, don’t be surprised when the inevitable happens and they win the Cup instead of doing what most other Presidents’ Trophy winners in the salary cap era have done.

    Only the 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings and Chicago in 2012-13, have been able to win the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup since the salary cap was introduced ahead of the 2005-06 season.

    Vegas would probably join Detroit and Chicago in doing so just so the Hockey Gods can spite us again.

    It’s not easy to be in the Metropolitan Division these days because, well, let’s save that for the three questions below.

    Is this the toughest division to project?

    Absolutely.

    The Carolina Hurricanes decided to just get rid of a few parts and pieces that helped make them good for the last few seasons, so they’re bound to regress even with Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Teuvo Teräväinen and Martin Necas still existing.

    The Pittsburgh Penguins since 2009, have always found a way to be near the top of the division standings by the end of the regular season no matter whether or not you believe they’ll inevitably miss the playoffs for the first time since 2006, so anything could happen there.

    The New York Islanders have made back-to-back appearances in the Eastern Conference Final, so I’d expect them to be good.

    The Washington Capitals are better than the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers, at least, but are probably the only team on the bubble if the New Jersey Devils can come out of nowhere and be competitive this season after signing Dougie Hamilton, Tomas Tatar and Jonathan Bernier in the offseason.

    Meanwhile, it’s time for a short rebuild in Columbus as the Blue Jackets would be quite pleased with a top draft pick in 2022.

    What if Chris Drury never was promoted as General Manager of the Rangers?

    They’d still fire David Quinn and hire Gerard Gallant. I don’t think that’s such a bad idea, but they’d definitely reconsider about 90% of the roster decisions made this summer.

    There’s no reason why the Rangers have to go down this path and yet, here they are, fumbling at the one-yard line and possibly plunging their franchise back into the Dark Ages of another rebuild. Or is it the same ongoing rebuild?

    What about a team to watch like New Jersey, for example?

    I’m big on the Devils this season for some strange reason.

    Maybe it’s because a part of me deep down misses the trap game of the 1990s and 2000s that led to Stanley Cups for New Jersey in 1995, 2000 and 2003.

    Maybe it’s because they signed Hamilton, Tatar, Bernier and acquired Ryan Graves from the Colorado Avalanche as a supporting cast for Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Pavel Zacha, Yegor Sharangovich, Ty Smith and friends.

    Seriously, the Devils should be good in the next few seasons, but this year could be the biggest stride forward in terms of their improvement from the basement to their development as a playoff contender.

    First, pour one out for Jack Eichel. Now, let’s move on and talk about everyone else.

    What does this mean for the Leafs?

    Just like how the Stars, Preds and Blues are all right on top of one another in the Central Division standings, the Atlantic Division is stacked from 1st through 4th, so though Toronto leads the way in this projection, I wouldn’t feel too comfortable as a Leafs fan.

    The Maple Leafs played in the worst of the four divisions last year in the temporarily realigned divisions in wake of the ongoing pandemic.

    No, it’s not just because they played all the other Canadian teams across 56 games, but rather it’s due to the fact that they haven’t been able to matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and even the Boston Bruins since the 2019-20 season.

    A lot and not a lot has changed since then.

    Tampa is still dominant as ever, Florida has emerged as a team that’s on the rise and Boston is unpredictable in that– much like the Penguins– it could really go either way with the Bruins this season.

    So now Toronto has to take on better competition within their own division and square off with teams like the Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, New York Islanders and others that emerge towards the top of the standings outside of the Canadian teams that the Leafs are all too familiar with at this point.

    That said, Toronto still has a great chance at winning the Atlantic Division regular season title or finishing 2nd and having home ice advantage in the First Round for the second-straight postseason.

    Can anyone other than Toronto, Florida, Tampa or Boston make it out of the Atlantic this year?

    No. Let’s be realistic here.

    The Montréal Canadiens made it to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final despite being below .500 in the standings because every division produced four playoff berths and intra-divisional play through two rounds.

    In 2020, they upset the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Qualifier despite finishing right at .500.

    In any other non-pandemic timeline, the Canadiens would still be looking for their first playoff appearance since they lost to the New York Rangers in six games in the 2017 First Round.

    That’s not to say that Nick Suzuki can’t lead the Habs back to glory, but rather that they need to improve all-around in the regular season and peaking in performance in the playoffs.

    Though the Ottawa Senators promised unprecedented success from 2021-25, it’s looking like it’ll realistically be anytime between 2024-25 as in the 2024-25 season itself at this point.

    Ottawa’s goaltending needs to improve, their defense could use some tweaks and the Sens are banking on their offense getting their feet underneath them and bursting in production in the coming years.

    A little more patience won’t hurt them.

    The same can be said for the Detroit Red Wings in that Red Wings fans already know– trust in General Manager, Steve Yzerman, is paramount. He’ll work his magic.

    It just takes a little time to build a solid foundation and the first floor is almost ready to start going up.

    As for the Buffalo Sabres, well…

    At least they’ll hopefully give Rick Jeanneret a proper send-off before he retires as their play-by-play announcer for the last 51 years on television.

    Hopefully.

    Will Tampa win three consecutive Stanley Cup championships?

    Probably not.

    I’m not ruling it out entirely, but the Lightning have a better chance of winning three Cups in four years than they do three Cups in as many years as things stand currently.

    The loss of their entire third line (Blake Coleman, Yanni Gourde and Barclay Goodrow) from last season to this season is sure to leave a mark on the development and restructuring of their bottom-six forwards.

    That said, Tampa’s top-six forwards still exist and, if you haven’t already noticed, they’re very good on their own, but the best teams in the playoffs have four lines that can roll without a doubt and the Bolts might just be off the ball for a year in terms of depth.

    Alright, if you’ve made it this far, thanks for your patience. By now the season’s already going on a few days into the 2021-22 calendar, so the two of us (or more if you’re reading this to a group) should probably get back to watching games.

    Stay tuned for more forecasts for both standings and assorted teams throughout the season.

  • Colorado Avalanche 2021-22 Season Preview

    Colorado Avalanche 2021-22 Season Preview

    2020-21 record 39-13-4, 82 points

    1st in the Honda NHL West Division

    Eliminated in the Second Round by Vegas

    Additions: F Darren Helm, F Mikhail Maltsev (acquired from NJD), F Dylan Sikura, D Jordan Gross, D Jack Johnson (signed to a PTO), D Kurtis MacDermid (acquired from SEA), D Stefan Matteau, D Roland McKeown, D Ryan Murray, G Darcy Kuemper (acquired from ARI)

    Subtractions: F Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (signed with TBL), F Matt Calvert (retired), F Joonas Donskoi (expansion, SEA), F Sheldon Dries (signed with VAN), F Ty Lewis (retired), F Liam O’Brien (signed with Tucson Roadrunners, AHL), F Brandon Saad (signed with STL), F Miikka Salomäki (SHL), F Carl Söderberg (SHL), F Mike Vecchione (signed with WSH), D Kyle Burroughs (signed with VAN), D Ryan Graves (traded to NJD), D Patrik Nemeth (signed with NYR), D Dan Renouf (signed with DET), D Conor Timmins (traded to ARI), G Philipp Grubauer (signed with SEA), G Peyton Jones (signed with Colorado Eagles, AHL), G Adam Werner (signed with CGY)

    Still Unsigned: F Travis Barron, G Devan Dubnyk

    Re-signed: F Tyson Jost, F Gabriel Landeskog, F Jayson Megna, F Kiefer Sherwood, D Dennis Gilbert, D Cale Makar, G Jonas Johansson

    Offseason Analysis: If next spring doesn’t bring the desired results to Colorado, it’ll be 20 years since the Avalanche last made an appearance in the Western Conference Final.

    Back in 2002, the Detroit Red Wings were in the prime of their dominance and the Red Wings-Avalanche rivalry was red hot as the two teams went at it for not only regular season titles, but Stanley Cup rings as well.

    Colorado had won in 1996 and 2001, Detroit won in 1997, 1998 and would do so again in 2002, as well as 2008– five years after Patrick Roy played his last National Hockey League game.

    In the 2002 Western Conference Final, the defending Stanley Cup champion Avs were once again the team to beat, but the Red Wings took the series in seven games and went on to win the Cup.

    Since then, both teams have had a bit of a falling out.

    When Joe Sakic took over as General Manager of the Avalanche, the goal was simple– return the franchise to its glory days.

    The bump in the road that was the 2016-17 season brought the team the 4th overall pick after losing in the draft lottery, yet at 4th overall in 2017, Colorado selected their biggest game-changing defender since the acquisition of Ray Bourque in Cale Makar.

    Sakic turned his attention to a Makar extension when it seemed like things had gone south with keeping captain, Gabriel Landeskog, in town.

    The 22-year-old defender signed a six-year extension worth $9.000 million per season after finishing second in Norris Trophy voting to New York Rangers defender, Adam Fox, for the 2020-21 season.

    Makar had 44 points (eight goals, 36 assists) in 44 games– exactly a point-a-game in his sophomore campaign, limited again due to injury after amassing 12-38–50 totals in 57 games in his first NHL season in 2019-20.

    Sakic signed Makar to an extension on July 24th and then in the 11th hour as free agency drew near, signed Landeskog to an eight-year extension worth $7.000 million per season.

    The 28-year-old captain was Colorado’s 2011 1st round pick (2nd overall) and has 218-294–512 totals in 687 games since making his league debut in the 2011-12 season with the Avs.

    Landeskog had a promising 52-point season (22 goals, 30 assists) in 82 games in his first year in the league, then the 2012-13 48-game lockout shortened season kept him to 9-8–17 totals in 36 games.

    The Avalanche missed out on the playoffs from 2011-13, but in 2014, Colorado squared off against the Minnesota Wild in the First Round– only to lose in seven games.

    That playoff series, however, was the first taste of playoff hockey for Nathan MacKinnon and went decently for Landeskog as well.

    After amassing 65 points (26 goals, 39 assists) in 81 games in the regular season, Landeskog had 3-1–4 totals in the seven-game series against the Wild.

    Then his production dropped to 59 points in 82 games in 2014-15, and 53 points in 75 games in 2015-16– coinciding with Colorado’s fall from grace.

    In the dismal 2016-17 campaign for the Avalanche, in which the team amassed 48 points on the season with a 22-56-4 record, Landeskog had just 33 points (18 goals, 15 assists) and had a minus-25 rating.

    But the Avs have made the playoffs every season since then– succumbing to the Nashville Predators in six games in the 2018 First Round, bowing out to the San Jose Sharks in seven games in the 2019 Second Round, losing to the Dallas Stars in seven games in the 2020 Second Round and dropping out in six games against the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2021 Second Round.

    In that span, Landeskog’s had a career resurgence. He had 62 points in 78 games in 2017-18, 75 points in 73 games in 2018-19, 44 points in 54 games while battling injury and the COVID-19 pandemic shortened regular season in 2019-20, as well as 52 points in 54 games in last season’s 56-game regular season schedule.

    Some say his resurgence can be accredited to the emergence of Colorado’s dominant first line with MacKinnon at center, Landeskog at left wing and Mikko Rantanen at right wing, but then how can that attribute to his own individual playoff success?

    Landeskog had seven points (four goals, three assists) in six postseason games in 2018, 3-5–8 totals in Colorado’s 12-game 2019 Stanley Cup Playoff experience, 2-11–13 totals in 14 games during their 2020 Stanley Cup Playoff bubble run and 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in ten games in the Avalanche’s 2021 postseason run.

    It’s plain to see that whereas MacKinnon is the superstar forward, Landeskog is the lifeblood of the organization– both as the captain and as a clutch performer when it matters most.

    Landeskog’s reasonable cap hit should take some pressure off of Sakic as he negotiates extensions with MacKinnon after the 2022-23 season and Rantanen after the 2024-25 season, when the salary cap ceiling is expected to have risen due to the increased revenue from the current U.S. broadcasting rights packages.

    Two big pieces were taken care of, so naturally Sakic set his sights on Philipp Grubauer… …who chose to leave for the Seattle Kraken in free agency.

    Grubauer signed a six-year contract worth $5.900 million per season with the Kraken on July 28th– the day that free agency began and a week after Seattle claimed Joonas Donskoi from the Avs in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.

    Last season, Grubauer went 30-9-1 in 40 games played, had seven shutouts (tied for the most with New York Islanders goaltender, Semyon Varlamov) and amassed a 1.95 goals-against average, as well as a .922 save percentage in that span.

    It was a breakout year for the 29-year-old goaltender, so why not cash in while you can?

    The downside for Colorado, however, is that it left them briefly with uncertainty in the crease until they acquired Darcy Kuemper from the Arizona Coyotes later that same day.

    Sakic worked the phones quite a bit this summer between agents and fellow general managers.

    On July 15th, Colorado swapped defender, Ryan Graves, with the New Jersey Devils for forward, Mikhail Maltsev, and a 2021 2nd round pick (from NYI via NJD- 61st overall, Sean Behrens).

    On July 27th, Sakic sent a 2023 4th round pick to the Kraken for defender, Kurtis MacDermid, whose father, Paul, played for the Québec Nordiques from 1993-95.f

    After losing Grubauer to Seattle in free agency, Sakic dealt defender, Conor Timmins, a 2022 1st round pick and a conditional 2024 3rd round pick to the Coyotes for Kuemper.

    Much like Linus Ullmark going from the Buffalo Sabres to the Boston Bruins via free agency this summer, it’s hard to tell what to expect out of Kuemper in an Avalanche uniform.

    He should be better considering the overall quality and depth of defenders on Colorado’s blue line a la Ullmark’s upgrade from Buffalo’s defense to Boston’s defense in front of him.

    That said, Kuemper hasn’t really been a starting goaltender for long. It’s a risk, like when Colorado sought after Grubauer in the first place from the Washington Capitals a few summers ago.

    In his first season as a starter, Kuemper went 27-20-8 in 55 games with Arizona– notching five shutouts and recording a 2.33 goals-against average, as well as a .925 save percentage. Good stuff.

    In 2019-20, he went 16-11-2 in 29 games, had two shutouts and yielded a 2.22 goals-against average, as well as a .928 save percentage.

    Last season, he went 10-11-3 in 27 games, dropping to a 2.56 goals-against average, a .907 save percentage and once again recording two shutouts.

    Kuemper is 31-years-old and made his league debut with the Minnesota Wild back in the 2012-13 season– the same season that Grubauer broke into the league with the Capitals, albeit two years younger in age.

    How will a full 82-game schedule as the starting netminder with Pavel Francouz returning from an injury that prevented him from being the backup in Colorado last season impact Kuemper’s performance in the crease?

    There’s kind of a lot at stake here. No pressure or anything, but the Avalanche are trying to win the Cup now rather than later.

    Speaking of “win-now” mode, the loss of Donskoi, Brandon Saad and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare puts Colorado in a difficult spot.

    They don’t have the dominant bottom-six players on paper that they had last season that made them as much of a threat as the Golden Knights or Tampa Bay Lightning.

    Instead, they’ll be relying on the emergence of youth in Alex Newhook, Logan O’Connor and Maltsev mixed with a combination of young players getting better in Tyson Jost and J.T. Compher, as well as a veteran in Darren Helm.

    Much like how Saad brought in Cup winning experience to the dressing room last season, however, Helm is doing so for the Avs this season as he happened to be on the 2008 Stanley Cup champion Red Wings– appearing in seven games in the 2007-08 regular season, then 18 postseason games for Detroit in their 2008 Cup run.

    It was Helm’s first taste of NHL action and he already was on top of the mountain. Now 34, he’s looking for more.

    Offseason Grade: B-

    Sakic has a way of taking reclamation projects and maximizing their production in Colorado, though we’ll see if the same effect can be applied to Stefan Matteau and Ryan Murray on the blue line, as well as other moves already mentioned.

    The Avalanche have depth, but do they have enough depth?

    Despite winning the Presidents’ Trophy last season, Colorado finished the 2020-21 regular season with 39 wins– one shy of Vegas (40 wins) for the most in the league– and eliminated in the Second Round by that same Golden Knights team (the Avs won the tiebreaker with 35 regulation wins to Vegas’ 30).

    That said most of the Avalanche roster remains the same and there’s the feeling that one of these year’s they’ll get over the hump and back into the later end of the postseason.

    Super teams don’t always win, but having a (super) consistent performance down the stretch and in the playoffs does and that’s what the Lightning have done best for the last two years– turning it on when it counts and sustaining the pressure.

  • Avalanche sweep Blues, advance to the Second Round in, 5-2, win

    Avalanche sweep Blues, advance to the Second Round in, 5-2, win

    The Colorado Avalanche were the first team to punch their ticket to the Second Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs as they swept the St. Louis Blues with a, 5-2, victory on the road in Game 4 at Enterprise Center on Sunday afternoon.

    Philipp Grubauer (4-0, 1.75 goals-against average, .937 save percentage in four games played) made 18 saves on 20 shots against in the win for Colorado.

    Blues goaltender, Jordan Binnington (0-4, 3.86 goals-against average, .899 save percentage in four games played) stopped 29 out of 32 shots faced in the loss.

    With the series win, the Avs also improved to 2-0 in all time best-of-seven game series matchups with the Blues (Colorado previously eliminated St. Louis in five games in the 2001 Western Conference Final).

    David Perron remained in the league’s COVID protocol for St. Louis and was not available for any game in the series.

    Colorado forward, Nazem Kadri (suspension) appealed his eight-game suspension on Sunday and will away to find out if he’ll still be sitting out for the team’s next six postseason games.

    Late in the opening frame, Mikko Rantanen tripped up Vladimir Tarasenko and presented the Blues with the first power play of the afternoon at 18:41 of the first period.

    St. Louis did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage as the two teams went scoreless through the first 20 minutes of action, tied, 0-0, at the first intermission.

    Colorado held the advantage in shots on goal, 10-6, after one period and led in faceoff win percentage (73-27), while the Blue Notes dominated in just about everything else– leading in blocked shots (9-4), takeaways (3-2), giveaways (4-2) and hits (8-3).

    The Avs had yet to see any action on the skater advantage while St. Louis was 0/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    Tarasenko (1) got a breakaway early in the second period and sent a shot over Grubauer’s glove side to make it, 1-0, St. Louis as the Blues led for the first time in the series.

    Ryan O’Reilly (2) had the only assist on Tarasenko’s goal at 4:25 of the second period.

    Less than a minute later, Carl Soderberg and Torey Krug went at it after Krug slashed Soderberg.

    The two players each received minor infractions– Soderberg for roughing, Krug for slashing– at 5:09 and necessitated two minutes of 4-on-4 action early in the second period.

    Moments later, Niko Mikkola was penalized for roughing at 9:39, presenting Colorado with their first power play of the night.

    Late in the ensuing skater advantage, Cale Makar brough the puck from end-to-end before setting up Brandon Saad (3) for the snap shot over Binnington’s blocker to tie the game, 1-1, at 11:37 of the second period.

    Makar (2) and Grubauer (1) tallied the assists on Saad’s power-play goal.

    A few minutes later, the Avalanche took control of the game as Gabriel Landeskog (2) deflected a shot from the point by Samuel Girard to give the Avs their first lead of the night, 2-1, at 14:53.

    Girard (2) and Rantanen (6) notched the assists on Landeskog’s goal.

    After 40 minutes, Colorado led, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 24-11, in shots on goal, including a, 14-5, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Avs were 1/1 on the power play and the Blues were still 0/1 on the skater advantage.

    Nathan MacKinnon led Rantanen in on a 2-on-1 break-in whereby MacKinnon sent a pass to Rantanen (1) for the catch and release goal on the glove side to make it, 3-1, Colorado.

    MacKinnon (3) and Landeskog (6) tallied the assists on Rantanen’s goal as the Avs extended their lead to two-goals at 4:20 of the third period.

    A few minutes later, Tyson Jost caught Krug with a high stick and cut a rut to the box at 7:29.

    It didn’t take long for the Blues to work the puck from Robert Thomas to O’Reilly back to Thomas and finally over to Tarasenko across the high slot whereby Tarasenko (2) sent the rubber biscuit past Grubauer on the glove side to make it a one-goal game.

    Thomas (3) and O’Reilly (3) had the assists on Tarasenko’s power-play goal as St. Louis trailed, 3-2, at 8:39.

    Late in the period, Mike Hoffman caught MacKinnon with a high stick and drew blood, yielding a four-minute double minor penalty in the process at 18:12.

    Blues head coach, Craig Berube, pulled Binnington for an extra attacker with nothing left to lose as the seconds ticked down.

    MacKinnon (6) buried an empty net power-play goal from the neutral zone for some insurance at 19:04 of third period to make it, 4-2.

    50 seconds later, Valeri Nichushkin (1) added another empty net power-play goal at 19:54 to make it, 5-2, Colorado.

    At the final horn, the Avs had won and eliminated the Blues in four games– completing the sweep on the road at Enterprise Center in the process.

    The Avalanche finished the afternoon leading in shots on goal, 34-20, including a, 10-9, advantage in the third period alone, while St. Louis dominated in just about everything else, including blocked shots (19-13), giveaways (11-7), hits (20-11) and faceoff win% (53-47).

    The Blue Notes finished 1/2 on the power play, while Colorado went 3/3 on the skater advantage on Sunday.

    The Avs became the first team to win their first four postseason games by at least three goals in each game since the New York Rangers did so in the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    New York, of course, went on to win the Cup that year, for the record.

    The Avalanche won the series 4-0 and await the winner of the other Honda NHL West Division First Round matchup– the Vegas Golden Knights vs. Minnesota Wild series.

    Vegas currently leads their series with the Wild 3-1 with Game 5 on the Golden Knights’ home ice on Monday.

    Having won the Presidents’ Trophy for the 2020-21 season, Colorado will have home ice throughout the playoffs as far as they go.

  • MacKinnon’s pair powers Avs past Blues, 4-1, in Game 1

    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.

  • Bergeron’s game-winner lifts B’s over Canes, 4-3, in 2OT

    Patrice Bergeron ended things much earlier on Wednesday than the National Hockey League’s 4th longest playoff game Tuesday night, but it took double overtime to reach the, 4-3, victory for the Boston Bruins over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of their 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round matchup.

    Tuukka Rask (1-2 in three games played, 2.41 goals against average, .909 save percentage this postseason) made 25 saves on 28 shots against for an .893 SV% in the double overtime win for the Bruins at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario.

    Hurricanes goaltender, Petr Mrazek (2-1 in three games played, 2.09 GAA, .922 SV% this postseason) stopped 36 out of 40 shots faced for a .900 SV% in the loss.

    Game 1 for Boston and Carolina was delayed from Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET until Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. ET due to Tuesday afternoon’s Game 1 matchup between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning requiring five overtime’s to determine a winner (Lightning, 3-2– puck drop was at 3:00 p.m. ET, but the game ended at 9:22 p.m. ET).

    The Hurricanes were without Justin Williams and Sami Vatanen in their lineup as both players were ruled “unfit to play” by Carolina’s head coach, Rod Brind’Amour, about 20 minutes before puck drop.

    On a positive note for Canes fans, Dougie Hamilton was back in action for Carolina after sustaining an injury that kept him out of Carolina’s Qualifier between breaking his left fibula in Columbus on Jan. 16th and Wednesday’s Game 1 against Boston.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from last Sunday’s, 2-1, loss to the Washington Capitals in Boston’s final Round Robin game to Game 1 against Carolina, while Brad Marchand took sole possession of seventh place in franchise history for most playoff games as a Bruin in his 112th career playoff game– surpassing Rick Middleton– at puck drop.

    Boston’s long list of healthy scratches on Wednesday included Zach Senyshyn, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Maxime Lagace, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Jack Studnicka, Connor Clifton, Dan Vladar, Trent Frederic and Karson Kuhlman.

    Boston and Carolina are meeting for the sixth time in the postseason. The Bruins hold the all time series advantage, 4-1, with 19 wins and 11 losses in the process entering Wednesday.

    The B’s beat the Hartford Whalers in seven games in the 1990 Adams Division Semifinal and in six games in the 1991 Adams Division Semifinal, then beat the Hurricanes after the Whalers relocated to North Carolina in six games in the 1999 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal.

    In the last 20 years, however, the Hurricanes defeated the Bruins in seven games in the 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinal, while Boston swept Carolina in four games in the 2019 Eastern Conference Final.

    The Hurricanes made the playoffs after sweeping the New York Rangers in three games in their 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifier series– marking back-to-back postseason appearances for Carolina for the first time since 2001-2002.

    The B’s beat the Canes in the season series 1-0-0 in one prior meeting (a, 2-0, shutout victory for Jaroslav Halak and the Bruins on Dec. 3rd) before the ongoing pandemic shortened the 2019-20 regular season.

    Nino Niederreiter caught Torey Krug with an elbow and presented the Bruins with the game’s first power play at 3:24 of the first period.

    Carolina’s penalty killing unit successfully kept Boston off the scoreboard, however, and did not allow a power-play goal against.

    Almost midway into the opening frame, the Bruins recorded the first shot on goal of the game at 7:03.

    A couple of minutes later, Charlie McAvoy tripped up Morgan Geekie and presented the Hurricanes with a power play opportunity at 9:25, but the Canes did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Fear not, however, as Carolina had swung enough momentum in their favor for the game’s first goal after Warren Foegele broke into the attacking zone.

    Foegele moved the puck to Sebastian Aho, who then cycled it over to Teuvo Teravainen before No. 86 in white and red set up Joel Edmundson (1) for the one-timer goal as Rask had to work laterally across the crease while his Bruins teammates lacked pressure in front of him and gave up the, 1-0, lead to the Hurricanes.

    Teravainen (2) and Aho (6) notched the assists on Edmundson’s first goal of the postseason at 13:02 of the first period.

    Late in the period, however, Bergeron won a faceoff back to Marchand in the offensive zone, whereby Marchand cycled the puck around the faceoff dot before making a quick pass to David Pastrnak (1) for a redirection in the slot past Mrazek– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.

    Marchand (1) and Bergeron (2) tallied the assists on Pastrnak’s goal at 17:45.

    After 20 minutes of play, the the score was tied, 1-1, with the Bruins outshooting the Hurricanes, 9-4.

    Carolina held the advantage in blocked shots (9-6), takeaways (1-0) and hits (18-11), however, while Boston led in giveaways (7-2) and faceoff win percentage (63-37) entering the first intermission.

    Both teams were 0/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    Ondrej Kase was assessed a minor penalty for holding against Hamilton at 1:42 of the second period and sent the Hurricanes back on the power play early in the middle frame.

    Once more, however, the Canes didn’t convert on the skater advantage, however– a pattern that became a trend all afternoon for both teams.

    Moments later, Charlie Coyle (1) buried a loose puck from point blank to give Boston a, 2-1, lead at 4:38 of the second period, except there was just one thing– nobody knew if there had been goaltender interference, a hand pass or if Mrazek had frozen the puck.

    Brind’Amour made it clear to Hurricanes beat reporters after his media availability that no official had clarified what was or wasn’t called on the ice and offered Carolina’s head coach to “pick one” if he was interested in challenging the ruling on the ice.

    After a failed coach’s challenge by Brind’Amour for a “missed stoppage in the offensive zone”, the call on the ice (goal) was upheld and the Hurricanes were assessed a bench minor for delay of game.

    Brind’Amour’s comments regarding the “joke” of a league earned him a $25,000 fine from the NHL, by the way.

    In his defense, the league’s policy for clearly indicating and communicating what decision(s) have been made on calls by officials needs work (like, for instance, definitively making a call and alerting both coaches of exactly what call was made and options thereafter).

    While shorthanded, however, the Hurricanes benefitted from a blown play from Pastrnak when he tried to force a pass through the neutral zone that Brock McGinn (1) intercepted, made his own breakaway, waltzed into the attacking zone and scored on a backhand over Rask’s glove while Boston’s power play unit trailed behind.

    McGinn’s shorthanded goal tied the game, 2-2, at 4:59 of the second period– 21 seconds after Boston had taken their first lead since arriving in the bubble.

    Midway through the middle period, Andrei Svechnikov caught Pastrnak with a slash and was sent to the sin bin for two minutes at 11:54, but the Bruins didn’t score on the resulting power play.

    Shortly after returning to even strength action, the two teams dropped down to 4-on-4 play for a couple minutes after Jordan Staal and Coyle each received high sticking infractions for antagonizing one another at 14:07.

    Neither team had any issue and resumed full strength action at 16:07.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the score was tied, 2-2, while the Bruins were leading in shots on goal, 21-9.

    Boston held a, 12-5, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone and continued to lead in giveaways (12-6) and faceoff win% (63-37), while Carolina led in blocked shots (16-14), takeaways (5-2) and hits (28-17) entering the second intermission.

    The Hurricanes were 0/2 and the B’s were 0/3 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.

    Less than a minute into the third period, David Krejci (1) received a pass, deked and reached around Mrazek to put the Bruins back into the lead, 3-2.

    Kase (2) and McAvoy (2) collected the assists on Krejci’s goal at 59 seconds of the third period.

    Less than five minutes later, Jeremy Lauzon was guilty of holding against Niederreiter and was assessed a minor infraction at 5:12, but the Hurricanes were powerless on the ensuing skater advantage and couldn’t storm their way to a goal before Lauzon was released from the box.

    They did, however, swing momentum in their favor with sustained pressure in the third period and a shot from Haydn Fleury (1) that had eyes from the point and hit the twine while Carolina worked to screen Rask– tying the game, 3-3, at 9:49 of the third period.

    Vincent Trocheck (1) had the only assist on the goal and the score remained even at, 3-3, through the end of regulation.

    After 60 minutes of play– and for the second consecutive game in the Toronto bubble– overtime was necessary.

    The Bruins were outshooting the Hurricanes, 28-21, and leading in blocked shots (23-20), giveaways (17-9) and faceoff win% (53-48), while Carolina held the advantage in takeaways (8-4) and hits (39-24), as well as shots on goal in the third period alone (12-7).

    Both teams were 0/3 on the power play heading into the first overtime period.

    Midway through the first overtime, McAvoy briefly headed down the tunnel after an awkward collision and fall to the ice, but the Bruins defender made his return and missed little action in the extra frames.

    After letting the players play for quite some time, an official made a call against Carolina when Brady Skjei brought down Coyle with a hold at 18:24 of the overtime period.

    Boston’s power play would extend 24 seconds into the second overtime period, however, as the first overtime came to a close with no final result.

    The two clubs remained tied, 3-3, on the scoreboard, while the B’s led in shots on goal (39-27)– including an, 11-6, advantage in the first overtime alone– as well as blocked shots (29-28), giveaways (22-14) and faceoff win% (57-43).

    Meanwhile, Carolina continued to hold the advantage in takeaways (9-8) and hits (51-32) through 80 minutes of hockey.

    As there were no more penalties called in the game thereafter– and with Boston going scoreless on the power play that extended into the second overtime– the Canes finished 0/3 on the skater advantage, while the Bruins went 0/4 on the afternoon in power play tries.

    Shortly after Carolina killed off Skjei’s minor, however, the Bruins struck fast and ended the game with a quick zone entry from Marchand led to a pass to Pastrnak who then dished a backhand drop pass to Bergeron (1) for the shot that beat Mrazek on the far side, blocker side, and sealed the deal on a victory for Boston in Game 1.

    Pastrnak (1) and Marchand (2) tallied the assists on Bergeron’s game-winning double overtime goal that made the final result read, 4-3, in favor of the Bruins at 1:13 of the second overtime.

    The goal was Bergeron’s fourth career Stanley Cup Playoff overtime goal– the second most among active NHL players (Patrick Kane leads Bergeron with five playoff overtime goals)– and Bergeron’s first since double overtime in Game 3 of the 2013 Eastern Conference Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins on June 5, 2013.

    No. 37 in black and gold is now tied with 15 other NHLers for the fifth most career playoff overtime goals, while Joe Sakic’s eight Stanley Cup Playoff overtime goals remain the most all time (Maurice Richard had six and is second, while Glenn Anderson and Kane are tied for third with five).

    Bergeron also established a record for the most playoff overtime goals in Bruins franchise history, surpassing Mel Hill and Terry O’Reilly, who each had three Stanley Cup Playoff overtime goals in their careers with Boston.

    The league’s current longest tenured alternate captain also passed Johnny Bucyk for fourth among Bruins franchise leaders in all time playoff goals scored with 41.

    Cam Neely (55 playoff goals with Boston), Phil Esposito (46) and Rick Middleton (45) sit ahead of Bergeron in that statistical category.

    The Bruins finished the afternoon with the lead in shots on goal (40-28), blocked shots (30-28), giveaways (22-14) and faceoff win% (56-44), while the Hurricanes ended the game with the advantage in hits (51-32).

    Boston took the, 1-0, series lead with Game 2 scheduled for Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario as part of the NHL’s Phase 4 Return to Play Eastern Conference bubble.

    Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 8 p.m. ET and fans in the United States can tune in on NBCSN, NESN or Fox Sports Carolinas, while those in Canada can catch the action on CBC, SportsNet or TVAS.

  • Crosby’s overtime goal lifts Penguins over Lightning in Game 2

    By: Nick Lanciani 

    Pittsburgh Penguins LogoSidney Crosby scored just 40 seconds into overtime to help the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on home ice at CONSOL Energy Center in Game 2 of the 2016 Eastern Conference Final.

    The goal was Crosby’s first career Stanley Cup Playoff overtime winner and the Penguins improved to 3-1 in games past regulation this postseason. Matt Murray made 19 saves on 21 shots faced for a .905 SV% in the win.

    Despite a tremendous 38 save effort on 41 shots face, Andrei Vasilevskiy’s .927 SV% wasn’t enough for the Lightning to pull off their second straight victory on road ice in the series. Tampa fell to 2-1 in games that have lasted longer than 60 minutes this postseason. With Ben Bishop out of the lineup with a lower body injury, Vasilevskiy was called upon to start in goal. Including Monday night’s effort, Vasilevskiy has never won a playoff game in which he has started through seven career playoff appearances. He’s won twice in relief efforts, however.

    Pittsburgh tied a franchise record, per Elias Sports Bureau, with their third overtime playoff win this year (a team record they’ve recorded in 2001 and most recently in 2009— which was also the year they won their third Stanley Cup).

    Monday night saw the return of Anton Stralman to the lineup for Tampa Bay. Stralman had been out since March 25th with a fractured tibia. Bishop was out of the lineup as expected for the Bolts, but Ryan Callahan was a late scratch due to the flu. Game time decision, Justin Schultz, was in the lineup for the Penguins in Game 2.

    Matt Cullen kicked off a tumultuous first period of scoring with his 4th goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at 4:32 of the first period. Cullen fired a snap shot past Vasilevskiy on the rebound to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Eric Fehr (1) and Tom Kuhnhackl (4) picked up the primary and secondary assists on Cullen’s goal.

    Phil Kessel followed up with a goal of his own a little over five minutes later to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead, just 9:37 into the game. The goal was Kessel’s 6th of the postseason and was assisted by Nick Bonino (9) and Carl Hagelin (5).

    Fans inside CONSOL Energy Center seemed quite pleased with an early two-goal lead, less than half a period into the game, despite the news that the Lightning sent out earlier on Monday that Penguins fans would be asked to remove their Pittsburgh garb if they are seated in certain sections for Games 3 and 4 at Amalie Arena.

    Penalties only seemed to motivate the Tampa Bay Lightning, as they seemed to lead to goals for the Bolts almost three minutes after each penalty kill.

    Alex Killorn took a minor penalty for holding Crosby at 13:23 of the first period and gave Pittsburgh their first power play of the night. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you ask), the Penguins were unable to convert on the man advantage.

    Anton Stralman led a breakout for Tampa and fired a wrist shot on Murray that beat him and cut Pittsburgh’s lead in half to make it 2-1. Stralman scored his first goal in his first game back since being injured. Jonathan Marchessault (1) and Victor Hedman (7) were awarded the assists on Stralman’s goal.

    Unknown-1At 16:53 of the first period, Jonathan Drouin hooked Kessel and was sent to the penalty box. Shortly after being freed from the sin bin, Drouin capitalized on the Lightning’s momentum after a successful penalty kill.

    Drouin received the puck from J.T. Brown and fired a wrist shot past Murray to tie the game at 2 with about 50 seconds left in the period before the first intermission. Matt Carle was given the secondary assist.

    After twenty minutes of play, the Penguins were outshooting the Lightning 14-8 and leading in hits (18-13) and faceoff wins (10-8). Tampa Bay, on the other hand, led in takeaways (2-1) and blocked shots (5-3) after one. Neither team committed an official giveaway, nor had converted on the man advantage, with the Lightning yet to even having seen a power play and the Penguins failing to score on two power play opportunities.

    Ondrej Palat had an excellent scoring chance broken up by Murray as the Pittsburgh netminder tripped up Palat. Kessel served the tripping minor charged to Murray and Tampa went on their first power play of the night at 7:02 of the second period. Tampa was unable to convert on what would be their one and only man advantage on Monday night.

    At one point Vasilevskiy made an unbelievable glove save, flashing the leather and keeping the score tied.

    With forty minutes in the books, the score was still 2-2 and the Lightning had begun to swing some of the game stats in their direction, despite still being outshot (22-15) and outhit (32-25). Tampa was leading in faceoff wins (22-19), takeaways (5-4) and blocked shots (12-7) heading into the third period.

    Despite swapping countless scoring chances and save after save being made and matched at each end by the spectacular effort of the goalies, there were no goals in the third period. There weren’t any penalties either, which led to plenty of action packed transition hockey and breakout opportunities.

    Pittsburgh regained a dominant lead in shots on goal (38-21) after regulation and led in hits (47-36), giveaways (9-3), as well as takeaways (7-5) heading into overtime. The Lightning barely led in faceoff wins (33-32) and held a 17-13 advantage in blocked shots after sixty minutes of play.

    From the puck drop in overtime the Pens entered the offensive zone and fired off two quick shots on Vasilevskiy. Tampa’s defense had struggled to defend in the first half of the first period and showed signs of sluggish play in the first 30 seconds of overtime. But all it took was 40 seconds for the game to be over when Bryan Rust flipped the puck over to Crosby, who in turn riffled a wrist shot by the blocker side of Vasilevskiy for the game-winning overtime goal.

    The goal was Crosby’s 4th of the playoffs and was assisted by Rust (2) and Brian Dumoulin (5).

    The Penguins had won Game 2 by a score of 3-2 and tied the series 1-1 less than a minute into sudden death overtime as they regained some momentum on home ice after dropping Game 1 in the series. The Lightning were grateful to have tied the game— and kept it close— in the manner they did, but yearned for a 2-0 series lead heading home for Game 3, but it wasn’t meant to be.

    And with that, the series shifts to Tampa, Florida for Game 3 at Amalie Arena on Wednesday. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:00 PM ET and the game can be seen on NBCSN for American viewers and on CBC and TVA Sports in Canada.