Nick reacts to coaching changes, the draft lottery and the First Round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs already in progress while providing an update.
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By: Nick Lanciani
Martin Jones and the San Jose Sharks never looked back after taking a 3-2 lead on a goal from Melker Karlsson in the first period, as Jones made 44 saves and the Sharks added an empty net goal to win 4-2 in Game 5 at CONSOL Energy Center on Thursday night.
Jones’s 44 saves came on 46 shots against with a .957 SV% in the sixty minute effort. Meanwhile Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender, Matt Murray, amassed 18 saves on 21 shots faced. In 58:43 TOI, Murray walked away with a .857 SV% despite entering Game 5 with a 2.09 GAA and a .925 SV% through his first 19 playoff starts this postseason.
Earlier in the day on Thursday it was confirmed that Tomas Hertl would not be in San Jose’s lineup once again, and that he remains day-to-day with a lower body injury.
Game 5 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Final kicked off with the fastest four goals scored by either team in Stanley Cup Final history. It only took 2:53 for the Sharks to make it 2-0, but at 5:06 of the first period, the Penguins had tied the game, 2-2.
Brent Burns kicked off the goal scoring just 1:04 into the night with his 7th goal of the playoffs on a wrist shot that beat Matt Murray. Melker Karlsson (2) and Logan Couture (19) picked up the assists as Couture began what would be a three point twenty minute effort on the goal. The 1-0 lead was San Jose’s first in-game lead of the series.
Couture capitalized on a redirection for his 9th goal of the postseason at 2:53 of the first period. Justin Braun had fired a shot that Couture knocked down just enough to change its destination from a routine save to a twine-seeking missile. Braun notched his 5th assist of the playoffs on the goal and the Sharks led 2-0.
Shortly thereafter, Dainius Zubrus sent the puck over the glass and consequently received an automatic minor penalty for delay of game. While on the power play, Phil Kessel sent a beauty of a pass to Evgeni Malkin, as Malkin fired a wrist shot past Martin Jones to cut the San Jose’s lead in half. Pittsburgh had successfully converted on the power play with Malkin’s 6th goal of the playoffs and his second power play goal in as many games. Kessel (12) and Kris Letang (12) were credited with the primary and secondary assists at 4:44 of the 1st.
Carl Hagelin scored the tying goal 5:06 into the opening period. Nick Bonino fired a shot that Hagelin in turn redirected past Jones for his 6th goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Bonino was credited with the only assist on the goal (his 14th of the postseason).
With the score tied at two San Jose had to endure a crucial penalty kill after Brent Burns caught Brian Dumoulin with a high stick nearly midway through the period; at a time where all of the momentum had appeared to have swung 180 degrees in favor of the Penguins.
But the Sharks penalty kill, as well as the goaltending of Jones, worked effectively and San Jose prevailed unscathed by the Pittsburgh power play that had already scored on their first opportunity of the night.
At 14:47 of the first period, Karlsson received the puck from Couture and sent a wrist shot past Murray for his 5th goal of the postseason and gave the Sharks their second lead of the night. Couture (20) and Brenden Dillon (2) had the assists on the goal that made it 3-2 San Jose. Couture’s assist on Karlsson’s goal capped off his three-point night.
As the period came to a close, the Sharks held onto the one goal lead heading into the first intermission. In the first four games of the series both teams had only totaled five goals, but in the first period alone of Game 5, both teams yielded five goals combined on the scoreboard.
The Penguins outshot the Sharks (15-7) and led in faceoff wins (15-10), giveaways (2-1), takeaways (5-4) and blocked shots (9-4). Both teams had 13 hits aside after twenty minutes of play. San Jose had yet to see time on the man advantage and Pittsburgh converted on one of their two man advantage opportunities of the first period.
A scoreless second period encountered two penalties and numerous desperation saves from Jones. Pittsburgh served and killed off a bench minor for too many men at 5:58 of the period, while San Jose killed off Karlsson’s slashing minor that was assigned at 10:30 of the 2nd.
With forty minutes in the books the Sharks still led 3-2 despite trailing the Penguins in shots on goal 32-15. Both teams tied in hits (23-23) and blocked shots (10-10) after two periods.
Meanwhile the Penguins led in faceoff wins (24-23), giveaways (4-2) and takeaways (7-5) after two. San Jose went 0/1 on the power play and Pittsburgh had gone 1/3 on the power play entering the second intermission.
An eventful, save filled, third period saw its crescendo in the last six minutes of regulation, when Hagelin took a penalty for hooking at 14:04 of the third, giving the Sharks their second power play of the night. While Pittsburgh kept the puck out of their defensive zone for the most part on the ensuing penalty kill, the Sharks had a couple phenomenal scoring rushes while being outshot by a 2:1 ratio.
With about 90 seconds left on the clock Penguins head coach, Mike Sullivan, instructed Murray to vacate the net in favor of an extra attacker. In turn, Pittsburgh would take a timeout shortly after a stoppage in play, to try to rest their key players and draw up a surefire way of tying the game.
Whatever plan the Penguins drew up, they could not execute, as the Sharks eventually cleared the zone and Joe Pavelski tallied his first goal of the series on an empty net. Pavelski’s 14th goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is now the 3rd most in a postseason by a U.S. born player (behind Kevin Stevens’ 17 goals in 1991 with Pittsburgh and Joe Mullen’s 16 goals in 1989 with the Calgary Flames). Joe Thornton had the sole assist— his 18th of the playoffs— on Pavelski’s goal.
With about four seconds left in the game and after a whistle for a routine cover up by Jones, Sidney Crosby and Marc-Edouard Vlasic got into it a bit as the rest of the skaters on the ice gathered in a scrum. Crosby and Vlasic each received roughing minors and the game became a 4-on-4 battle for the remaining seconds on the clock in regulation.
Time ticked down and the Sharks walked away with a 4-2 victory in Pittsburgh.
Thursday night’s win was San Jose’s 6th road win of the postseason, which surpassed their previous franchise record set back in 2004. Likewise, the Sharks improved to 9-0 in this postseason when leading after two periods. The Penguins fell to 0-5 while trailing after forty minutes.
Pittsburgh led in shots on goal (46-22), hits (32-30), giveaways (10-2) and takeaways (7-5) at the final horn of Game 5 and San Jose led in faceoff wins (36-34) and blocked shots (17-10). The Sharks finished the night 0/2 on the man advantage and the Penguins went 1/3.
With the win in Game 5, San Jose became just the 15th team to win Game 5 while trailing 3-1 in the series (in 33 of such series’ in NHL history). Pittsburgh now leads the 2016 Stanley Cup Final three games to two (3-2) heading into Game 6 at SAP Center in San Jose.
A win for the Penguins in Game 6 on Sunday would clinch their fourth Stanley Cup championship in franchise history. Meanwhile a win at home for the Sharks would send the series back to Pittsburgh for a Game 7 on Wednesday, June 15th.
Game 6 is Sunday night at SAP Center in San Jose. Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 8:00 PM ET and the game can be viewed on NBC in the United States, as well as on CBC and TVA Sports in Canada.
By: Nick Lanciani
The San Jose Sharks thumped the Nashville Predators 5-0 in Game 7 of their 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round matchup.
Logan Couture had a three point night and Joe Pavelski scored the game winning goal while Martin Jones made 20 saves on 20 shots faced en route to the shutout victory on Thursday night at SAP Center in San Jose.
Jones became the fourth Sharks goaltender in franchise history to record a playoff shutout and became the first San Jose goalie to do so in a Game 7. Not only that, but it was the first Game 7 of Jones’s career.
Pekka Rinne made 21 saves on 26 shots against for a .808 SV% in the loss and was pulled in the third period after the Sharks scored their fifth goal of the evening. Rinne’s replacement, Carter Hutton, notched one save on one shot on goal in 16:06 TOI.
With the win, San Jose advanced to the Western Conference Final and will face the St. Louis Blues in the next round of the playoffs. It is the Sharks first appearance in the Western Conference Final since 2011 and their fourth overall (2004, 2010, 2011 and 2016).
Entering Thursday night it was the 13th playoff game in 25 days for the Nashville Predators, who were 3-0 when facing elimination this postseason until Thursday’s outcome. It was just the second Game 7 in Predators franchise history, with their first Game 7 having been a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on road ice in Round One of this year’s playoffs.
Sharks forward, Matt Nieto, was out of the lineup for Game 7 due to an undisclosed injury. As a result, Tommy Wingels was inserted into the lineup for the first time in two games after being a healthy scratch. San Jose entered the night 3-0 at home in the series and finished 4-0 at home in the series, while Nashville fell to 0-8 in all-time playoff games at SAP Center. Peter Laviolette’s five straight Game 7 winning streak was snapped and his record as a head coach in Game 7s fell to 5-2 (1-1 with Nashville) with the 5-0 outcome.
Viktor Arvidsson took the game’s first penalty at 8:22 of the first period for sending the puck over the glass. Arvidsson’s delay of game minor gave San Jose their first power play of the night and it didn’t take them long to capitalize on the man advantage. Joe Pavelski wristed one past Rinne for his 9th goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs and gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 9:02 of the first period. Patrick Marleau (5) and Joe Thornton (8) picked up the primary and secondary assists on Pavelski’s goal.
The goal was just Pavelski’s 2nd career Game 7 goal and tied a Sharks postseason record for most goals in a playoff year with nine.
It was apparent in the first eight minutes that the Sharks were grabbing momentum of Game 7 when they had already fired numerous shots on goal before Nashville got their first shot on Jones.
In keeping with the home ice, home crowd fueled momentum; Joel Ward received a pass from Melker Karlsson that sent him in on a breakaway towards Rinne. Ward deked and slid the puck underneath Rinne’s five-hole to give San Jose a 2-0 lead at 16:51 of the period. Karlsson (1) and Marc-Edouard Vlasic (7) assisted on Ward’s goal— his 3rd in five-career Game 7s.
To finish off the first period, Shea Weber took an interference minor that would extend into the second period for 38 seconds.
After twenty minutes of play the Sharks led 2-0 on the scoreboard and outshot the Predators 17-3. San Jose also lead in faceoff wins (15-7) and takeaways (5-0), while Nashville led in hits (16-14) and giveaways (8-5).
Both teams blocked seven shots in the first period and Nashville has yet to see time on the man advantage, while the Sharks were 1/2 on the power play.
Logan Couture extended his two-game point streak to three games with a quick goal 36 seconds into the second period that put San Jose on top 3-0. Couture capitalized on a Shea Weber mishap (that seemed to be a theme of the night) and put his seventh goal of the playoffs through Rinne’s five-hole. With two assists in the third period, Couture not only extended his point streak, but added to his already five goals and three assists (now make that six goals and five assists) in the series.
His 11 points in the series passed Igor Larionov’s 1994 Sharks franchise record of ten points in a single postseason series.
Fed up with his own play and Nashville’s general lack of effort, Mattias Ekholm went undisciplined at the end of the second period and cross checked Tommy Wingels. Ekholm received a minor penalty that would be served in its entirety to start the third period.
But it didn’t take long for San Jose to capitalize on their third chance on the power play as Joe Thornton sent a backhanded puck in the twine 32 seconds into the third period. Thornton’s 3rd goal of the playoffs was assisted by Couture (9) and made it 4-0 Sharks.
In keeping with the hometown momentum, San Jose pressured the Predators early in the third, resulting in another goal at 3:54 of the period. Joonas Donskoi sent the puck to Couture who then found Patrick Marleau for a snap shot that beat Rinne and made it 5-0 Sharks in the third period. Marleau’s 4th goal of the playoffs was enough to chase Rinne from the net, but not before Rinne swung his stick twice at the net to break it and a third time as he threw it behind him, before skating off the ice to be replaced by Hutton.
Marleau’s goal was assisted by Couture (10) and Donskoi (5).
At 14:34 of the third, Justin Braun took the Sharks first penalty of the night for interfering with Colin Wilson. Nashville was unable to amount anything on their only power play of the night and Jones and the Sharks went on to hold the 5-0 lead through the end of the game.
With the shutout, Wilson’s seven-game point streak had been snapped, along with his 4-5-9 totals in that span and James Neal’s four-game point streak came to an end as well for the Preds.
San Jose finished the night leading in shots on goal (27-20), takeaways (10-4) and blocked shots (22-12). Nashville ended the night leading in hits (46-31), faceoff wins (32-31) and giveaways (21-12). The Sharks went 2/3 on the power play, while the Predators went 0/1.
While Couture had a three-point night and Marleau, Thornton and Vlasic each had two-point nights, top Nashville defensive pair, Weber and Roman Josi finished the night as minus-3’s.
Despite trailing in shots on goal in periods one and two (17-3 and 6-5, respectively), Nashville outshot San Jose 12-4 in the third period.
With the series outcome, the team that scores first in Game 7s improved to 123-42 (.745) all-time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (4-0 this postseason). San Jose improved to 8-0 when Pavelski records at least a point and the home team won all seven games in the series, which was just the fourth such occurrence in the last 20 years (with the other times being the 2013 Conference Semifinals between Los Angeles and San Jose, the 2003 Stanley Cup Final between New Jersey and Anaheim and the 2002 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals between Toronto and the New York Islanders).
For the seventh straight season, a team from California will be playing in the Western Conference Final. San Jose played in the WCF in 2010 and 2011 against the Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks, respectively, while Los Angeles took on the then Phoenix Coyotes in 2012 and the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2014. The Anaheim Ducks played the Blackhawks in 2015 and San Jose is once again back in the Western Conference Final in 2016.
Game 1 of the 2016 Western Conference Final is scheduled for Sunday night at 8:00 PM EST in St. Louis at Scottrade Center and will be televised on NBCSN in the United States and CBC and TVA Sports in Canada. The St. Louis Blues have home ice advantage and play host to San Jose in Games 1 and 2, as well as 5 and 7 if necessary. The Sharks will host the Blues at SAP Center in Games 3 and 4, and Game 6 if necessary.
By: Nick Lanciani
Many teams chose to retire (or honor) jersey numbers based on extraordinary circumstances, dedication to the organization, or legendary status. With that in mind, what will retired numbers look like around the league in the future? Let’s explore what each team around the NHL might do in the coming seasons for former and/or current players that should see their numbers raised to the rafters someday.
Feel free to speak your mind and drop us a line in the comments or tweet to @DtFrozenRiver using #DTFRNumbersGame.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Current Retired Numbers- None
Recommended Numbers to Retire
4 Vincent Lecavalier
Prior to being bought-out by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the summer of 2013, Vincent Lecavalier was crucial to the heart and soul of the franchise. Lecavalier’s leadership and craft left quite an impact on the Lightning, having won a Stanley Cup in 2004 with the franchise. Throughout Lecavalier’s storied career he has had eight 60-points- or more- seasons, all with Tampa, as he has recently battled a rash of injuries and healthy scratches with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Regardless, Lecavalier remained faithful to the Lightning during his time in Tampa. Rumors had swirled and a trade was nearly complete in 2009, that would have sent him to his hometown team, the Montreal Canadiens, but Lecavalier was determined to stay in Tampa for the rest of his career. He wore number 4 with the Lightning out of respect for two of his all time favorite players- Montreal’s Jean Béliveau and Boston Bruins defenseman, Bobby Orr.
In Tampa, he made number 4 his own. When the time comes for Lecavalier to call it quits, the Lightning will undoubtedly call it quits on using the number 4 and raise it to the rafters of Amalie Arena.
The 1st overall selection of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft was the first success story of all things regarding scouting and player development in Tampa and preceded the 1st overall selection, ten years later, that is the current face of the Lightning- and another center- Steven Stamkos.
26 Martin St. Louis
St. Louis spent so much of his career proving people wrong about size in hockey. When many were calling for the sport to get bigger, taller, and quite possibly stronger (by default), Martin St. Louis with his 5’8” frame and dominated the game in so many underrated ways. We all know how much of a stale taste was left in the mouths of everyone after the way he left Tampa, but we all know that Lightning fans would be the first to welcome him back for his number retirement ceremony. I don’t think we’ll have to wait too long before number 26 is hanging from the rafters of Amalie Arena.
The native of Laval, Quebec did not disappoint over the years. In fact, in the years after winning the Cup in 2004, St. Louis put up some even more impressive regular season scoring numbers. It’s too bad we only got to see this phenomenal advocate of the game play in 9 Stanley Cup Playoffs out of his 17-year career. St. Louis was always the underdog you’d root for, because his foundation of class was taller than anyone else on the ice at all times. His clutch performances with the New York Rangers in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs, although ultimately disappointing in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final, will never be forgotten.
19 Brad Richards
Richards spent the most amount of time with the Tampa Bay Lightning in his entire career and would surely receive consideration for retiring his number in Tampa, where his game stood out better than any other place he’s been since. While his connection between the Lightning and everything he did for them is surely fading, it is important to remember how much of a role he played for Tampa on the road to the 2004 Stanley Cup championship.
Until this year, Brad Richards held many playoff records for the Lightning. His 12-14-26 totals in 23 games played in the 2004 playoffs were never seen before by the franchise and not replicated until Tyler Johnson had 13-10-23 totals in 26 games played in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Ultimately the question that will be asked when considering retiring the number 19 in Tampa will look something like this- does being a valuable member of the franchise’s first championship, merely a little more than a decade in existence, translate into having your number retired regardless of how the rest of your career panned out?
91 Steven Stamkos
There is little question that number 91 will be retired one day by the Lightning. That is as long as they can keep Stamkos around long enough. The only thing that might put retirement celebrations on hold in Tampa is the looming contract extension agreement that may or may not still occur between Steven Stamkos and the Lightning. Again, as long as they have him for longer than the seven years he’s already been with the club, his number is a shoe in someday to be retired by the organization.
Down the Frozen River 
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