Down the Frozen River

Tag: Alex Killorn

  • Bolts eliminate Panthers in Game 6 shutout at home, 4-0

    Bolts eliminate Panthers in Game 6 shutout at home, 4-0

    The defending Stanley Cup champions are on their way to the Second Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs after shutting out the Florida Panthers, 4-0, on home ice at Amalie Arena on Wednesday.

    That’s right, the Tampa Bay Lightning have emerged victorious in the “Battle of Florida” in six games (4-2) in what was Andrei Vasilevskiy’s first shutout the postseason, as well as the second of his career.

    Vasilevskiy (4-2, 2.64 goals-against average, .929 save percentage in six games) turned aside all 29 shots that he faced in the shutout win for the Lightning.

    Spencer Knight (1-1, 2.07 goals-against average, .933 save percentage in two games played) made 20 saves on 23 shots against in the loss for the Panthers.

    Knight made his second straight start in net because, well, have you seen the other options Florida has in the crease?

    Meanwhile, Barclay Goodrow returned to the lineup for Tampa– making his series debut in the process, while Luke Schenn was scratched.

    Tyler Johnson raced to the puck to beat a looming icing call before sending a quick pass to the low slot where Pat Maroon (1) tapped the rubber biscuit behind Knight to make it, 1-0, Lightning at 6:16 of the first period.

    Johnson (1) and Mikhail Sergachev (2) tallied the assists on Tampa’s first goal of the night– which, just like in Game 5, also happened to be on the first shot of the night for the Bolts.

    Late in the period, Panthers defender, Brandon Montour hooked Brayden Point and presented the Lightning with a power play at 18:55 that would spill over into the middle frame.

    After one period of action at Amalie Arena, Tampa led, 1-0, on the scoreboard– much to the pleasure of the home crowd– while both teams had eight shots on goal apiece.

    Florida led in takeaways (2-0) and faceoff win percentage (69-31), while the Bolts led in giveaways (3-2) and hits (15-13) entering the first intermission.

    Only the Lightning had seen any time on the power play and they were 0/1 heading into the middle frame.

    Ryan McDonagh caught Aleksander Barkov with a high stick at 1:53 of the second period and presented Florida with a skater advantage as a result.

    The Panthers couldn’t muster anything on the ensuing power play, however.

    Midway through the middle frame, Sam Bennett was assessed a roughing infraction at 12:53.

    This time, the Lightning made sure to capitalize on the resulting skater advantage as Steven Stamkos (3) sent a one-timer over Knight’s blocker after Nikita Kucherov worked a pass to Victor Hedman for the one touch pass to Stamkos for the power-play goal.

    Hedman (8) and Kucherov (7) notched the assists as Tampa extended their lead to, 2-0, at 13:27 of the second period.

    Less than a couple of minutes later, Sergachev cut a rut to the sin bin for cross checking Patric Hornqvist at 15:05. Florida did not score on the resulting power play.

    Through 40 minutes of action, the Lightning led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, despite trailing the Panthers in shots on goal, 19-15.

    Florida held the advantage in shots on net in the second period alone, 11-7, and led in blocked shots (8-7) as well as faceoff win% (61-39). Meanwhile, Tampa held the lead in takeaways (5-3) and hits (25-21) as both teams managed to have four giveaways each entering the second intermission.

    The Panthers were 0/2 and the Lightning were 1/2 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    Late in the third period, Point (4) was patient with the puck as he crept into the slot whereby his patience paid off with a deke and a goal as Knight overcommitted and the Lightning took a, 3-0, lead as a result.

    Kucherov (8) and Erik Cernak (3) had the assists on Point’s goal at 14:36.

    With nothing left to lose, Panthers head coach, Joel Quenneville, pulled his netminder for an extra attacker with about four minutes left in the game.

    Nevertheless, Tampa wired a shot into the back of the empty net as Alex Killorn (4) redirected a pass from Cernak for the extra insurance marker.

    Cernak (4) and Stamkos (5) each recorded their second points of the night with the primary and secondary assists, respectively, as the Bolts grabbed a, 4-0, lead at 18:18 of the third period.

    About a minute later, Frank Vatrano took out his frustration on Cernak with a slash at 19:35, presenting the Lightning with one more power play for the evening, though it would go by the wayside as the final horn sounded 25 seconds later.

    Tampa sealed the deal on a, 4-0, shutout victory to win the series 4-2– eliminating the Panthers in the process, despite finishing the night trailing in shots on goal, 29-24.

    Florida held the advantage in shots on in the third period alone (10-9) as well as faceoff win% (53-47), while the Lightning finished Wednesday night’s action leading in blocked shots (13-12) and hits (32-27).

    Both teams managed to have five giveaways each, while the Panthers finished 0/2 on the skater advantage and the Bolts went 1/3 on the power play in Game 6.

    With the series wrapped up in six games (4-2) for the Lightning on Wednesday, Tampa awaits the winner of the Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators series as their opponent in the Second Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    The Hurricanes lead their series with the Predators 3-2 and can wrap things up on the road in Nashville on Thursday.

  • Bolts can eliminate Panthers in Game 5 with 3-1 series lead after, 6-2, win in Game 4

    Bolts can eliminate Panthers in Game 5 with 3-1 series lead after, 6-2, win in Game 4

    The Tampa Bay Lightning had an efficient day in the office, scoring six goals on 26 shots to beat the Florida Panthers, 6-2, in Game 4 of their 2021 First Round matchup at Amalie Arena on Saturday afternoon.

    Andrei Vasilevskiy (3-1, 3.18 goals-against average, .919 save percentage in four games played) made 39 saves on 41 shots against in the win for the Lightning as he and his Bolts teammates grabbed a 3-1 series lead over Florida with the chance to eliminate the Panthers on the road in Game 5.

    Panthers goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky (1-2, 5.36 goals-against average, .841 save percentage in three games played) made nine saves on 14 shots faced before he was replaced by Chris Driedger after allowing five goals in 27:15 time on ice.

    Driedger (0-1, 3.72 goals-against average, .871 save percentage in three games played) stopped 11 out of 12 shots against for no decision in relief for Florida.

    Game 4 was pretty much the opposite of Game 3 in net for the Panthers as Bobrovsky earned the start after relieving Driedger in a, 6-5, comeback win in overtime on Thursday night– only this time Driedger replaced Bobrovsky and Florida dropped Saturday’s effort, 6-2.

    Yanni Gourde and Jonathan Huberdeau exchanged pleasantries as the intrastate rivals picked up right where they left off all series long and received roughing minors at 2:23 of the first period.

    Less than a minute later– in the ensuing 4-on-4 action– Alex Killorn worked the puck up to Anthony Cirelli through the neutral zone, leading Cirelli into the attacking zone on a breakaway whereby Cirelli (2) beat Bobrovsky five-hole to give the Lightning a, 1-0, lead.

    Killorn (3) and Erik Cernak (1) had the assists as Tampa struck first at 3:00 of the opening frame.

    Minutes later, Mikhail Sergachev passed the puck along the point to Nikita Kucherov who sent a shot towards the net that Gourde (2) tipped past Bobrovsky to extend Tampa’s lead to two-goals.

    Kucherov (4) and Sergachev (1) tallied the assists on Gourde’s goal and the Bolts pulled ahead, 2-0, at 7:24.

    About half-a-minute later, Gourde received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and presented the Panthers with their first power play of the afternoon at 7:55.

    It didn’t take Florida long to capitalize on the skater advantage as Aleksander Barkov sent a pass to Sam Bennett, who fired the puck off of Patric Hornqvist as Hornqvist stood in front of Vasilevskiy acting as a screen.

    The puck bounced off Hornqvist to Huberdeau (2) who beat Vasilevskiy to the rubber biscuit and buried it into the twine as the Lightning goaltender dove across the crease in desperation.

    Hornqvist (2) and Bennett (3) had the assists on Huberdeau’s power-play goal as the Panthers cut Tampa’s lead in half, 2-1, at 8:49.

    Late in the period, Cernak fired a slap shot from the point that Ondrej Palat (2) deflected past Bobrovsky to make it a, 3-1, lead for the Bolts at 16:45 of the first period.

    After 20 minutes of action, the Lightning led, 3-1, on the scoreboard, despite Florida leading in shots on goal, 15-7.

    Tampa held the advantage in blocked shots (4-2), takeaways (4-0), giveaways (1-0), hits (18-15) and faceoff win percentage (53-47).

    The Panthers were 1/1 on the power play and the Lightning had yet to see the skater advantage heading into the middle frame.

    Anthony Duclair was sent to the box for holding at 4:27 of the second period, yielding a power play to Tampa for the first time Saturday afternoon as a result.

    It didn’t take the Bolts long to strike on the skater advantage as Kucherov sent a shot pass to Killorn (2) for the doorstep redirection as the Lightning extended their lead, 4-1, at 5:41.

    Kucherov (6) and Victor Hedman (7) had the assists on Killorn’s power-play goal as the Lightning continued their offensive onslaught on the scoreboard with their sixth power-play goal of the series.

    Less than two minutes later, Killorn (3) tallied his second goal of the afternoon as Cirelli chipped the puck into the attacking zone before Steven Stamkos dished a pass to Killorn for the goal.

    Stamkos (3) and Cirelli (2) notched the assists on Killorn’s second goal of the game as the Bolts pulled ahead, 5-1, at 7:15 of the second period.

    After giving up five goals before the midpoint of the afternoon, Panthers head coach, Joel Quenneville, replaced Bobrovsky with Driedger to try to light a spark under his players.

    Pat Maroon boarded Frank Vatrano about a minute later and presented Florida with another power play at 8:23 of the middle frame.

    The Panthers weren’t on the skater advantage for that long as Carter Verhaeghe checked Cirelli away from the puck and was assessed an interference minor at 8:37.

    Florida went back on the advantage as Cernak was penalized for roughing at 8:56, yielding a rare 4-on-3 power play to the Panthers for a 1:28 span.

    Minutes later, Ryan Lomberg was checked from behind into Vasilevskiy and proceeded to antagonize Tampa in the crease after the whistle.

    Lomberg and Sergachev each received roughing minors at 13:41 and plunged the game into two minutes of 4-on-4 action before Hedman hooked Verhaeghe at 15:36 and presented Florida with five seconds of another 4-on-3 advantage before an abbreviated regular 5-on-4 power play.

    Late in the period, Sergachev caught Vatrano with a high stick at 17:45 and the Panthers went back on the power play.

    This time Florida capitalized on the skater advantage as Verhaeghe (2) received a pass, pulled the puck to his backhand and elevated the rubber biscuit over Vasilevskiy and under the bar.

    Barkov (4) and Huberdeau (6) had the assists on Verhaeghe’s power-play goal as the Panthers trailed, 5-2, at 18:45 of the second period.

    Less than a minute later, Kucherov ran into Driedger and received a minor infraction for goaltender interference at 19:27, providing Florida with a power play that would extend into the final frame.

    Through 40 minutes of action, Tampa led, 5-2, on the scoreboard despite trailing the Panthers, 34-18, in shots on goal. Florida held a, 19-11, advantage in shots on goal in the second period alone.

    The Bolts continued to dominated in just about everything else, however, leading in blocked shots (5-3), takeaways (5-2), giveaways (2-1) and hits (28-26), while the Panthers led in faceoff win% (51-49).

    Florida was 2/6 and Tampa was 1/1 on the power play heading into the final period.

    Radko Gudas elbowed Ross Colton early in the third period and the Lighting went on the power play at 4:00 of the final frame.

    Tampa made quick work of the skater advantage as they tallied another power-play goal– this time from Kucherov (3) on a one-timer– to make it, 6-2, for the Bolts.

    Stamkos (4) and Killorn (4) had the assists on Kucherov’s power-play goal at 4:47 of the third period.

    There were no more goals for the rest of Saturday afternoon’s action at Amalie Arena, but both clubs traded power play opportunities and dealt heavy blows that could affect the lineups for Game 5 on Monday.

    Jan Rutta cross checked Owen Tippett at 8:23, so Florida pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker with nothing else left to lose on the ensuing power play.

    Then Cernak got slashed and took a minute to get back on his skaters as Hornqvist was the offender and sent to the sin bin at 9:58, yielding 25 seconds of 4-on-4 action before an abbreviated power play for the Lightning.

    Minutes later, Duclair gave Kucherov a quick slash behind the knee, leaving Kucherov injured on the ice, clutching his left leg before skating off on his own, without putting much weight on his knee.

    Duclair was assessed a minor for slashing at 10:57 and the Lightning had a 5-on-3 advantage for a little less than a minute as a result.

    Hornqvist later hit Sergachev shoulder-to-shoulder and sent the Bolts defender flying face first into the boards, leaving Sergachev hurting a bit.

    Seconds later, Maroon and Hornqvist each received misconducts and had their nights come to an end at 16:24 of the third period.

    Late in the game, Lomberg received a roughing minor at 17:05, as the Lightning wrapped things up with one more power play for the afternoon.

    At the final horn, Tampa had won, 6-2, despite finishing Saturday’s action trailing in shots on goal, 41-26. The Lightning had actually led in shots on goal in the third period alone, 8-7.

    The Bolts had the advantage in blocked shots (12-6), while Florida finished the day’s effort leading in giveaways (3-2), hits (37-33) and faceoff win% (55-45).

    The Panthers went 2/7 and the Lightning went 2/4 on the power play in Saturday’s effort.

    Tampa takes a 3-1 series lead heading back to Sunrise, Florida where the Panthers face elimination on home ice in Game 5 on Monday.

    Puck drop from BB&T Center is set for a little after 8 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can tune in to national coverage on CNBC, while those in Canada can catch the action on FX-CA or TVAS.

  • Panthers complete, 6-5, OT comeback in Game 3 win on the road

    Panthers complete, 6-5, OT comeback in Game 3 win on the road

    Ryan Lomberg emerged as an unlikely protagonist– scoring the game-winning goal early in overtime at Amalie Arena on Thursday– while Sergei Bobrovsky looked solid in relief of Chris Driedger as the Florida Panthers staged a third period comeback capped by a, 6-5, overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 of their 2021 First Round series.

    Bobrovsky (1-1, 3.53 goals-against average, .898 save percentage in two games played) stopped all nine shots that he faced in relief (25:56 time on ice) en route to the victory for the Panthers.

    Meanwhile, Driedger (0-1, 4.29 goals-against average, .860 save percentage in two games played) stopped 17 out of 22 shots faced for no decision in 40:00 time on ice.

    Lightning goaltender, Andrei Vasilevskiy (2-1, 3.57 goals-against average, .908 save percentage in three games played), made 41 saves on 47 shots against in the loss.

    Keith Yandle was a healthy scratch for Florida and Sam Bennett returned from his one game suspension for a hit from behind on Blake Coleman in Game 1.

    Bennett (1) sent a one-timed redirection on the backhand past Vasilevskiy to give Florida an early, 1-0, lead at 4:31 of the first period.

    Jonathan Huberdeau (3) and Owen Tippett (2) tallied the assists as the Panthers jumped on the scoreboard first while on the road.

    Less than a few minutes later, Radko Gudas (1) stayed on the puck after his initial shot was blocked and wired the rubber biscuit past Vasilevskiy’s glove side to give the Panthers a two-goal lead.

    Gustav Forsling (1) and Huberdeau (4) had the assists on Gudas’ first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal and Florida led, 2-0, at 7:05 of the opening frame.

    There were no penalties in the first period, so after 20 minutes of action, the Panthers led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and, 12-10, in shots on goal entering the first intermission.

    Florida also held the advantage in blocked shots (4-3), while Tampa led in takeaways (4-0), giveaways (3-1), hits (20-15) and faceoff win percentage (58-42).

    Anthony Cirelli (1) buried a rebound from point blank to cut Florida’s lead in half, 2-1, and put the Lightning on the scoreboard as Victor Hedman (4) and Alex Killorn (2) tabbed the assists on Cirelli’s goal at 1:57 of the second period.

    Moments later, Ross Colton (1) won a battle in the attacking zone and sent a shot over Driedger’s glove with Yanni Gourde acting as a screen on the doorstep for his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal.

    Coleman (1) had the only assist on Colton’s goal as the Bolts tied the game, 2-2, at 5:46 of the middle frame.

    Tampa took control of the game (at least for the time being) with their third unanswered goal in a span of 6:41 as Steven Stamkos (2) sent a redirection from the low slot past Driedger after Ryan McDonagh snagged a turnover and entered the zone, setting up Stamkos with the primary assist on the goal– his third helper of the postseason.

    Stamkos’ goal at 8:38 put the Bolts ahead, 3-2.

    Tampa defender, Jan Rutta, presented Florida with the night’s first power play after interfering with Forsling away from the puck, but the Panthers couldn’t muster anything on the resulting skater advantage at 10:38.

    Coleman and Bennett tangled up with one another and each received roughing minors at 11:17, but the number of skaters on the ice was unaffected.

    Late in the Panthers’ power play, Alex Wennberg (1) sent a shot off of Hedman that squeaked past Vasilevskiy’s glove side to even things up, 3-3, at 12:34.

    MacKenzie Weegar (1) and Tippett (3) tallied the assists on Wennberg’s goal, but the action didn’t remain tied for long.

    Mason Marchment hooked Stamkos at 13:46 and presented the Lightning with their first power play of the night.

    The Bolts capitalized on the resulting skater advantage as Brayden Point (3) let go of a one-timer off the iron and in from the bumper to make it.

    Nikita Kucherov (3) and Hedman (5) had the assists on Point’s power-play goal and Tampa pulled ahead, 4-3, at 14:17 of the second period.

    Almost two-and-a-half minutes later, Gudas hooked Ondrej Palat and presented the Lightning with another power play at 16:48.

    Once again, late in the ensuing skater advantage the Bolts pocketed a power-play goal as Killorn (1) caught a pass from Hedman and slid the rubber biscuit underneath Driedger’s paddle to make it, 5-3, Tampa at 18:17.

    After two periods of action in Tampa, the Lightning led, 5-3, on the scoreboard, despite the Panthers outshooting the Bolts, 29-22, including a, 17-12, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Lightning held the lead in blocked shots (9-8), takeaways (5-3) and faceoff win% (58-42), while Florida led in hits (36-28).

    Both teams had four giveaways each, while the Panthers were 1/1 and the Bolts were 2/2 on the power play entering the second intermission.

    Panthers head coach, Joel Quenneville, replaced Driedger with Bobrovsky for the third period as Driedger allowed five goals on 22 shots.

    Needless to say, while Bobrovsky stopped all nine shots that he would face in the remainder of the night’s action– Florida’s defense tightened up and suppressed the Lightning’s attack.

    Palat boarded Marchment 41 seconds into the third period and the Panthers went on the power play early in the final frame of regulation as a result.

    It didn’t take long for Huberdeau to get a shot towards the net that Patric Hornqvist (1) unintentionally redirected with his skate to bring Florida within one.

    Huberdeau (5) and Aleksander Barkov (3) had the assists on Hornqvist’s power-play goal as the Panthers trailed, 5-4, at 1:45 of the third period.

    Late in the period, Hedman turned the puck over to the point, whereby Hornqvist dished it to Wennberg, then Forsling (1) who threw it through Vailevskiy’s five-hole for his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal– tying the game, 5-5, in the process.

    Wennberg (1) and Hornqvist (1) notched the assists on Forsling’s goal at 16:53 of the third period.

    Despite their surge in momentum, Florida had to kill off a minor infraction for cross checking when Anthony Duclair got tangled up with Killorn at 19:37.

    Tampa’s power play would carry over into the extra frame, but ultimately was powerless as the Panthers killed it off.

    Through 60 minutes of action at Amalie Arena on Thursday, the Panthers and Lightning were tied, 5-5, on the scoreboard, despite Florida leading in shots on goal, 43-28, including a, 14-6, advantage in the third period alone.

    The Panthers led a complete shutdown of Tampa’s potent offense in the final 20-minutes and then some.

    The Bolts still led in blocked shots (14-8), takeaways (7-5) and faceoff win% (52-48), while Florida held the advantage in hits (46-38).

    Both teams managed four giveaways each heading into overtime.

    As there were no penalties called in the extra period, Florida finished 2/2 and Tampa went 2/3 on the power play in Game 3.

    Early in the extra frame, Florida won a faceoff in their own zone and worked the puck from Gudas to Frank Vatrano, then hit up Lomberg as he broke through Tampa’s defense and emerged with a quick breakaway as he was running out of runway.

    Lomberg (1) shot the puck through Vasilevskiy– under the Tampa netminder’s glove– and into the back of the twine for his first career postseason goal and the game-winner in overtime.

    Vatrano (1) and Gudas (1) earned the assists on Lomberg’s game-winner at 5:56 of the overtime period as the Panthers won, 6-5.

    Florida cut Tampa’s series lead in half, 2-1, as a result as Lomberg– who scored two goals in 34 games with the Panthers in regular season– earned First Star honors for the night.

    The Panthers finished Thursday night leading in shots on goal, 47-31, including a, 4-3, advantage in the overtime period alone.

    Tampa finished the action leading in blocked shots (16-9), giveaways (5-4) and faceoff win% (52-48), while Florida wrapped things up with the lead in hits (46-40).

    The Lightning have a chance to take a commanding 3-1 series lead on home ice in Game 4 at Amalie Arena on Saturday.

    Puck drop is expected to be a little after 12:30 p.m. ET and viewers looking for national coverage in the United States can tune to CNBC, while those in Canada can catch the action on SN or TVAS2.

  • Lightning storm to 2-0 series lead in Game 2 victory

    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.

  • Point strikes twice as Lightning beat Panthers, 5-4, in Game 1

    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.

  • Khudobin, Stars steal Game 1, lead Bolts 1-0 in series

    Four different goal scorers and goaltender, Anton Khudobin, helped the Dallas Stars take Game 1 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, 4-1, over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night inside the National Hockey League’s Edmonton bubble at Rogers Place.

    For the first time since the 1919 Stanley Cup Final, the NHL is playing for the Cup in the middle of a global pandemic that rivals the scale and impact of the 1918 influenza pandemic.

    This time, the league is determined on deciding a champion, unlike how the Pacific Coast Hockey Association’s Seattle Metropolitans and NHL’s Montreal Canadiens were forced to cancel their series– tied 2-2-1 through five games– due to an influenza outbreak among several players from both clubs that resulted in the death of Habs star, Joe Hall, from pneumonia brought on by the flu.

    In the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL rolls on with the fourth, final and most important round of the playoffs after a five month stoppage that cut the 2019-20 regular season short prompted the expanded 24-team postseason format for 2020.

    It all comes down to this– the 2020 Stanley Cup Final.

    Jamie Oleksiak scored the eventual game-winning goal midway through the second period, while Khudobin (13-6, 2.54 goals against average, .923 save percentage in 20 games this postseason) turned aside 35 out of 36 shots faced for a .972 SV% in the win for Dallas.

    Andrei Vasilevksiy (14-6, 1.88 GAA, .929 SV% in 20 games this postseason) made 16 saves on 19 shots against for an .842 SV% in the loss for the Lightning.

    For the first time in league history, two of the three southernmost based franchises are playing for the Cup in the northernmost city in the league.

    The Stars last won a Cup in 1999, while the Lightning last won a Cup in 2004, as both teams entered Game 1 with the hopes of setting the tone in their favor.

    Dallas’ interim head coach, Rick Bowness, opted to roll four complete forward lines instead of mimicking Tampa Bay’s head coach, Jon Cooper’s plans with 11 forwards and seven defenders.

    Bowness kept Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov together on his first line with Mattias Janmark, Joe Pavelski and Denis Gurianov rounding out his top-six forwards.

    Joel Kiviranta, Roope Hintz and Corey Perry lined up on the third line with Andrew Cogliano, Jason Dickinson and Blake Comeau comprising of Dallas’ fourth line trio.

    On defense, Esa Lindell and John Klingberg remained Dallas’ top pairing with Oleksiak and Miro Heiskanen completing the top-four blue liners, as well as Joel Hanley and Andrej Sekera rounding out the bottom defensive pairing.

    Once again, Jake Oettinger served as Khudobin’s backup on the bench as Ben Bishop remained “unfit to play” joining a long list of scratches for the Stars, including Radek Faksa, Nick Caamano, Jason Robertson, Stephen Johns, Bishop, Justin Dowling, Landon Bow, Taylor Fedun, Gavin Bayreuther, Thomas Harley and Ty Dellandrea.

    Cooper’s Lightning lineup was comprised of Ondrej Palat at the left side of Brayden Point on the first line with Nikita Kucherov in his usual role on right wing, while Alex Killorn, Anthony Cirelli and Tyler Johnson completed the top-six forwards for the Bolts.

    Barclay Goodrow, Yanni Gourde and Blake Coleman were on the third line as usual, while Pat Maroon and Cedric Paquette were the only fourth line forwards suited up to complete the 11 forwards and seven defenders dressed by Cooper.

    On defense, Victor Hedman and Kevin Shatternkirk remained paired, while Mikhail Sergachev, Erik Cernak, Ryan McDonagh, Zach Bogosian and Luke Schenn all took turns rotating shifts.

    Curtis McElhinney served as Vasilevskiy’s backup netminder, while Tampa’s list of scratches in Game 1 included Mathieu Jospeh, Carter Verhaeghe, Scott Wedgewood, Jan Rutta, Braydon Coburn, Mitchell Stephens, Steven Stamkos and Alexander Volkov.

    That’s right, Stamkos is still out of the lineup since having core muscle surgery in mid-March, skating in June, then missing training camp in July prior to the 2020 postseason.

    Hanley (1) opened the series’ scoring with a snipe shot over Vasilevskiy’s blocker side into the top corner of the twine to give the Stars a, 1-0, lead at 5:40 of the first period, while Hintz (10) recorded the only assisted on the goal after Kiviranta pressured the Lightning well enough to keep the puck in Dallas’ offensive zone.

    Moments later, Maroon and Oleksiak were engaged in a scrum that yielded roughing minors to both players at 8:08 of the opening frame and presented both teams with 4-on-4 action for a pair of minutes.

    Midway through the first period, Gourde (6) lucked out in front of Khudobin with a right place, right time shot that he banked off a Dallas defender and between the Stars netminder and the goalpost to tie the game, 1-1, at 12:32.

    Coleman (7) and Goodrow (5) recorded the assists on Tampa’s only goal of the game Saturday night.

    After one period of play, the score remained tied, 1-1, while Dallas held the advantage in shots on goal, 5-4, as well as in takeaways (3-1), hits (25-23) and faceoff win percentage (58-42).

    The Bolts led in blocked shots (9-3) and giveaways (2-0) entering the first intermission while neither team had seen any action on the skater advantage.

    Early in the middle frame, Coleman was sent to the penalty box for slashing Dickinson at 1:09 of the second period.

    Dallas wasn’t able to convert on their first power play of the night, however.

    The Stars also didn’t capitalize on the skater advantage again moments later when Coleman hooked Dickinson and cut a rut to the sin bin at 6:54.

    Oleksiak (5) scooped up his own rebound and roofed the puck from point blank over Vasilevskiy’s blocker side to give Dallas the lead for the second time of the night, as well as the eventual game-winning goal, 2-1, at 12:30 of the second period.

    Radulov (7) and Heiskanen (18) tallied the assists as Heiskanen tied the second-most assists in a postseason in Stars franchise history with the secondary helper on the goal.

    Oleksiak, in the meantime, has five goals in his last 22 games, while he had just four goals in his last 124 games (regular season and postseason combined).

    Late in the period, Kiviranta (5) scored on another rebound that the Tampa netminder failed to contain to give Dallas an insurance goal, as well as a two-goal lead, 3-1, at 19:32 of the middle frame.

    Lindell (6) and Klingberg (14) had the assists on the first year Stars forward’s goal.

    At the sound of the horn to conclude 40 minutes of play, Maroon shot the puck into Dallas’ bench and received a 10-minute misconduct as a result– officially at 20 minutes of the second period.

    The Stars carried a, 3-1, lead into the second intermission, while they also led the Lightning in shots on goal, 18-14– including a, 13-10, advantage in the second period alone.

    Dallas also led in takeaways (4-2) and faceoff win% (52-48), while Tampa held the advantage in blocked shots (18-10), giveaways (8-4) and hits (44-39).

    The Stars were 0/2 on the power play, while the Bolts still had yet to see time on the skater advantage entering the third period.

    Meanwhile, Hanley and Oleksiak were the first pair of Dallas defenders to score a goal in a Stanley Cup Final game since Derian Hatcher and Craig Ludwig did so for the Stars in Game 2 of the 1999 Stanley Cup Final.

    Oleksiak’s goal also marked the 15th goal from the blue line for Dallas, which leads all teams in the 2020 postseason.

    Early in the final frame, the Lightning received their first power play of the night when Klingberg hooked Killorn and was sent to the box at 4:52 of the third period.

    The Bolts were not successful on the ensuing power play, however.

    Nor did they score while Comeau was in the box for an automatic delay of game penalty for sending the puck over the glass at 9:08.

    The Lightning also didn’t capitalize on their third power play in a row after Seguin tripped Kucherov at 12:56.

    With 4:01 remaining in the game, Cooper pulled Vasilevskiy for an extra attacker, but the Bolts soon had a faceoff in their own zone and had to replace the vacant crease with Vasilevskiy’s talents.

    As the time ticked down to about 2:31 to go, Vasilevskiy jettisoned the blue paint for the bench to give Tampa a 6-on-5 advantage once more, but Dickinson (1) hit the empty net soon thereafter to secure the, 4-1, victory for the Stars.

    Comeau (5) and Janmark (6) tallied the assists on Dickinson’s empty net goal at 18:42 of the third period.

    Dallas wrapped up the action with the, 4-1, win and a 1-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final, as well as the advantage in blocked shots (26-18) and faceoff win% (51-49).

    Meanwhile, Tampa finished Saturday night leading in shots on goal, 36-20– including a, 22-2, advantage in the third period alone.

    The Lightning also finished the night leading in giveaways (10-9) and hits (56-50), while both teams failed to record a power play goal.

    Tampa went 0/3 and Dallas went 0/2 on the skater advantage.

    Bowness improved to 14-9 behind the bench in the postseason for the Stars, while Cooper fell to 50-38 all time with Tampa in the playoffs.

    Meanwhile, the team that wins Game 1 in a best-of-seven game series usually wins the series about 69% of the time– that wasn’t the case for the Boston Bruins last year, however, who won Game 1 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final against the St. Louis Blues, then went on to lose the series in seven games on home ice.

    The Stars, however, are 22-9 all time when leading a best-of-seven series 1-0.

    The Stars take their 1-0 series lead into Game 2 on Monday night. Puck drop in Edmonton is scheduled for a little after 8 p.m. ET and fans in the United States can tune to NBCSN to catch the action, while those in Canada have their choice of CBC, SN or TVAS.

  • Take Five: Five takeaways from Game 2 of the 2020 Eastern Conference Final

    The New York Islanders scored the game’s first goal and dominated 40 minutes of play on Wednesday night– then they forgot that hockey is a three period, 60-minute, game because the Tampa Bay Lightning took a 2-0 series lead thanks to Nikita Kucherov’s game-winning goal with nine seconds left in the game.

    Tampa won, 2-1, despite finishing the night trailing in shots on goal, 28-21.

    This time it wasn’t all New York’s fault– well, except for some missed opportunities on the skater advantage, including a five-minute power play after Alex Killorn received a major and a game misconduct for boarding Islanders forward, Brock Nelson, early in the first period.

    Game 3 is Friday night at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network in the United States and on CBC, SN, as well as TVAS across Canada.

    1. Can anyone stop Victor Hedman from scoring?

    Does Victor Hedman even play defense anymore (spoiler alert: he does)? But seriously though, Hedman has seven goals this postseason, which is a lot for a player coming from the point.

    The Lightning defender has the second-most goals scored on his team– trailing Brayden Point’s eight tallies this postseason.

    The next closest Bolts defender(s)? Kevin Shattenkirk and Ryan McDonagh with one goal.

    Both Hedman and Shattenkirk have played in 15 games this postseason, while McDonagh’s been limited to 12 games due to injury.

    Anyway, the moral of the story is that Hedman has the second-most goals on the Lightning this postseason (and is a defender). That is all.

    Oh, P.S., he extended his goal streak to four games and trails only Paul Coffey for the longest such run in a postseason among defenders. Coffey had a five-game goal streak in the 1983 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Now go warm the kettle.

    2. Did the Islanders get to play their game?

    If Game 1 was all Tampa, then Game 2 was all New York.

    The Islanders limited the Lightning to 21 shots, but still found a way to lose like how they dropped three games one way or another in their seven-game Second Round series against the Philadelphia Flyers.

    Don’t actually look those stats up to find out if I’m right or not, since the real point I’m trying to make here is that the Isles play a “boring” game that suppresses offense– sometimes to the point that they’ve prevented their own opportunities and let a close game slip away.

    With some adjustments from Islanders head coach, Barry Trotz, and a full 60-minute effort from his players, New York looks poised to continue to pressure the Bolts to the utmost of their ability as long as they meet or exceed their compete level from Game 2.

    The fact that the Lightning didn’t blow the Islanders away in two games in-a-row means that New York willed the game their way more, which can only be to their benefit.

    Well, most of the time.

    3. Can Nikita Kucherov be stopped?

    Kucherov is doing his usual thing– scoring all the time, despite trailing Point in team scoring by a point.

    Point has 8-15–23 totals in 15 games this postseason, while Kucherov had the game-winning goal at 19:51 of the third period to net his 22nd point in this year’s playoffs.

    He has six goals and– a team leading– 16 assists in 15 games, which should be enough to remind even the most casual fans that Steven Stamkos is not the entirety of the Lightning roster.

    It’s no surprise that Kucherov, Point and Hedman’s presence in their usual roles have led Tampa– along with their goaltender, Andrei Vasilevskiy– to greatness despite missing their captain in Stamkos due to abdominal muscle surgery since mid-March.

    Maybe hockey is a collective action sport, you know, like a team sport.

    Maybe you need a team. We’re a team.

    Lightning players not named “Stamkos” are quoting Ottawa Senators General Manager, Pierre Dorion, on one thing that makes them great this [post]season.

    4. Not bad, keep Semyon Varlamov in net.

    Losing a game doesn’t sound great, but allowing two goals on roughly the usual amount of shots against by the end of two periods in a game isn’t the worst thing in the world and wasn’t indicative of Semyon Varlamov’s ability to bounce back after hitting a rough patch at the tail-end of the Second Round and the “Game 1 That Must Not Be Named” in Islanders lore.

    Despite making 19 saves on 21 shots against on Wednesday, Varlamov’s goals against average dropped to a 2.21, while his save percentage remained stagnant at a .913.

    He still has two shutouts going for him in his back pocket, which, once again, Vasilevskiy has yet to do strangely.

    Is this one of those “only in 2020” things?

    5. Isles in a “must win” scenario.

    Going back to No. 2, let’s face it, the Islanders are in a “must win” scenario, otherwise they’ll practically be eliminated in Game 3.

    One thing that has remained true throughout their franchise history is that whenever Tampa takes a 3-0 or 3-1 series lead, the Lightning will close things out in Game 4 or 5.

    Even if New York splits the next two games it wouldn’t do them any good.

    No team has comeback to beat the Lightning if Tampa has a 3-1 series lead and the Bolts have had a 3-1 series lead, what like, seven or eight times in their history– including approximately all of them against the Boston Bruins in the Second Round in two out of the last three postseasons.

    The playoffs are all about momentum and, despite losing in Game 2, the Isles took some of the thunder out of the Lightning, but now they need to figure out how to make it rain in Games 3 and 4.

  • Bolts advance to the Eastern Conference Final with, 3-2, 2OT win over Bruins in Game 5

    Victor Hedman scored the game-winning goal in double overtime to catapult the Tampa Bay Lightning into the 2020 Eastern Conference Final with a, 3-2, victory over the Boston Bruins in Game 5 of their Second Round series.

    Tampa emerged victorious in the series, 4-1, while Boston is heading home from the Scotiabank Arena bubble in Toronto empty handed.

    For the first time since 2018, the Lightning are back in the Eastern Conference Final, which, coincidentally also featured a five-game series win against the Bruins in the Second Round to advance to the Eastern Conference Final.

    With the series win on Monday, Tampa improved to 2-1 in all-time postseason series meetings against Boston.

    Andrei Vasilevskiy (9-4 in 13 games this postseason, 1.91 goals against average, .931 save percentage) made 45 saves on 47 shots against for a .957 SV% in the win for the Bolts.

    Meanwhile, Jaroslav Halak (4-5 in nine games this postseason, 2.76 GAA, .902 SV%) stopped 32 out of 35 shots faced for a .914 SV% in the loss for the Bruins.

    Bruce Cassidy made a few necessary adjustments to his lineup with Sean Kuraly, Nick Ritchie and Chris Wagner out due to injury (officially, “unfit to participate”).

    With Kuraly missing his third game of the series, Par Lindholm remained as the fourth line center with Karson Kuhlman taking Wagner’s spot at right wing while Joakim Nordstrom remained on the left side.

    Jack Studnicka was back in the lineup and took over Kuhlman’s spot on the right side of the third line with Anders Bjork also back in action on the left side of Charlie Coyle.

    Kuraly, Ritchie and Wagner were all “unfit to participate”, while Boston’s list of scratches also included Zach Senyshyn, John Moore, Maxime Lagacé, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Jeremy Lauzon and Trent Frederic.

    Jon Cooper made one change to Tampa’s lineup for Game 5, re-inserting Ryan McDonagh on the blue line after the defender had been out since Game 1 with an injury.

    As a result, Braydon Coburn joined Mathieu Joseph, Carter Verhaeghe, Jan Rutta, Mitchell Stephens, Steven Stamkos, Alexander Volkov and Scott Wedgewood among the Lightning’s scratches on Monday.

    David Krejci tied Wayne Cashman for the fourth most postseason games played in a Bruins uniform with 145.

    Meanwhile, Cassidy now holds a 27-28 (.491 winning percentage) record in the postseason behind the bench with Boston.

    He is 29-32 overall as an NHL head coach in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (Cassidy was the head coach of the Washington Capitals for parts of two seasons from 2002-04, leading Washington to a 2-4 record in six postseason games outside his tenure with the Bruins).

    2020 marks the sixth appearance (previous, 2004, 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2018) in the Eastern Conference Final for the Lightning since their first season in the NHL in 1992-93.

    As a fun fact, Tampa spent their first season in the Campbell Conference (what is now known as the Western Conference) before moving to the Eastern Conference for the 1993-94 season and beyond.

    Midway through the opening frame Nikita Kucherov tried to sneak behind Zdeno Chara while skating through the low slot in front of the net before the two collided without Chara knowing the Lightning forward was there, thereby lending both players to lose their balance.

    In the process, the Bruins captain caught Kucherov with a high stick, while an errant puck hit Chara in the leg/skate as an unintentional blocked shot that left both players falling to the ice– Kucherov for the stick to the face, Chara for the shot to the leg/foot.

    Chara was sent to the box with a double-minor for high sticking at 12:48 of the first period and despite having a four-minute power play, the Lightning weren’t able to score on the skater advantage.

    Late in the period, Barclay Goodrow got a stick around David Pastrnak and hooked the Bruins forward, yielding a power play to Boston in the closing minutes of the opening frame at 17:46, but the B’s didn’t convert on the advantage.

    The game was still tied, 0-0, after one period despite the Bruins holding an advantage in shots on goal, 8-5.

    Boston also held the lead in blocked shots (10-4), while Tampa led in hits (14-10) and faceoff win percentage (59-41) heading into the first intermission.

    Both teams had two takeaways and two giveaways aside, while the Lightning were 0/2 and the Bruins were 0/1 on the power play entering the middle frame.

    Early in the middle frame, Ondrej Palat (5) redirected a shot from Kevin Shattenkirk over Halak’s shoulder on the glove side, off the bar and into the twine to give Tampa the, 1-0, lead, while tying the longest postseason goal scoring streak in Lightning franchise history as Palat has scored at least one goal in the last four games.

    Palat (2020), Stamkos (2015 and 2018), Vincent Lecavalier (2007) and Martin St. Louis (2003) are all tied for the team record with goals in at least four-straight playoff games for the Bolts.

    Meanwhile, Shattenkirk (4) and Blake Coleman (4) had the assists on Palat’s goal at 4:21 of the second period.

    Midway through the period, Kucherov tripped Charlie McAvoy and was sent to the box at 10:44, presenting Boston with their second power play of the night.

    Krejci sent a pass to Pastrnak (3) for the one-timer from the dot to Vasilevskiy’s right side– beating the Bolts goaltender on the blocker side and tying the game, 1-1, with a power-play goal at 12:38 of the second period.

    Krejci (8) and Patrice Bergeron (6) yielded the assists while Pastrnak recorded his 20th career postseason goal in his 52nd career Stanley Cup Playoff game.

    Only three players in Bruins history required fewer games to reach 20 goals in the playoffs– Barry Pederson (24 games), Gregg Sheppard (32) and Bobby Orr (50)– while Pastrnak has 20-33–53 totals in 52 games.

    About four minutes later, Matt Grzelcyk hooked Goodrow at 16:13 and the Lightning went on the power play for the third time Monday night.

    Tampa’s skater advantage was cut short when Yanni Gourde hooked McAvoy at 16:56 and presented each team with a 1:17 span of 4-on-4 action before the Bruins had a brief 5-on-4 power play afterwards.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the B’s and Bolts were tied, 1-1, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 23-13– including a, 15-8, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Bruins also held the lead in takeaways (3-2), while the Lightning led in blocked shots (16-12), giveaways (7-6), hits (29-22) and faceoff win% (54-46) heading into the second intermission.

    Tampa was 0/3 and Boston was 1/3 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.

    Kucherov wasn’t available for the Bolts in the third period onward while an undisclosed injury kept him out for the rest of the night.

    Meanwhile, Cedric Paquette ran McAvoy from behind into the boards– worthy of at least a minor for boarding, given the standards defined in the series, but instead received no penalty whatsoever while McAvoy needed assistance from a trainer and a teammate before returning late in the third period.

    Midway through the final frame of regulation, Hedman sent a shot with eyes from the point that was redirected by Anthony Cirelli (2) off of Halak’s blocker and stick before it found the twine to give Tampa the, 2-1, lead at 12:03 of the third period.

    Hedman (4) and Brayden Point (11) tallied the assists on Cirelli’s goal as the Lightning grabbed the lead once more and settled into their game for a few minutes.

    McAvoy returned to Boston’s bench with 4:20 left in the third period, then the team rallied to tie the game, 2-2, at 17:27 of the third when Krejci (4) guided the puck into the open twine while Vasilevksiy was behind the play after Chara faked the goaltender and sent a pass to Krejci on the doorstep instead.

    Chara (2) and Connor Clifton (2) collected the assists on Krejci’s game-tying goal and the B’s yanked enough momentum to carry themselves into overtime while earning a power play when Hedman tripped Ondrej Kase at 18:04.

    After 60 minutes of action, the Bruins and Lightning were tied, 2-2, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 35-21– including a, 12-8, advantage in the third period alone.

    Boston also led in takeaways (3-2) and giveaways (11-9), while Tampa led in blocked shots (24-20), hits (40-34) and faceoff win% (59-41).

    The Lightning were 0/3 and the Bruins were 1/4 on the power play heading into the first overtime period.

    Cassidy opted to start Brad Marchand, Bergeron and Kase as his forwards, while sending out Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo on defense.

    Cooper kicked things off in overtime with Coleman, Goodrow, Erik Cernak and McDonagh on the penalty kill before Hedman returned from the box and the Lightning could make a line change.

    Midway through the first overtime period, Krejci tripped up Alex Killorn and was sent to the box at 10:27, but Tampa wasn’t able to capitalize on the power play in sudden death overtime.

    Through 80 minutes of hockey on Monday night, the Bruins led in shots on goal, 46-28, despite the score remaining even at, 2-2, entering the second overtime.

    Boston held the, 11-7, advantage in shots on goal in the first overtime period alone, while also leading in giveaways (15-11) entering the fourth intermission.

    Tampa led in blocked shots (30-29), takeaways (5-3), hits (50-46) and faceoff win% (59-41) heading into the second overtime.

    With no penalties called in the second overtime, the Bolts finished 0/4 and the B’s finished 1/4 on the power play on Monday.

    Cassidy began the second overtime with Marchand, Bergeron, Kase, Clifton and Grzlecyk, while Cooper matched with Goodrow, Gourde, Coleman, Cernak and Mikhail Sergachev.

    Both teams went back and forth until the ice was scrapped during a stoppage with 9:51 remaining in double overtime.

    Moments later, Hedman (5) slipped a shot through Halak while Pat Maroon acted as a screen in front of the Boston netminder and sent the Lightning to the Eastern Conference Final while eliminating the Bruins with the, 3-2, game-winning goal at 14:10 of the double-overtime period.

    Shattenkirk (5) and Point (12) tabbed the assists on the game-winning goal as the Bolts wrapped up the series.

    Boston finished Monday night’s action leading in shots on goal, 47-35, despite trailing Tampa, 7-1, in shots on net in the second overtime period alone.

    Tampa finished the night leading in blocked shots (35-34), hits (56-53) and faceoff win% (60-40), while Boston wrapped up the night leading in giveaways (21-12) in addition to their advantage in shots on goal.

    With the win, the Lightning improved to 4-0 in overtime (5-0 past regulation this postseason– they went 1-0 in shootouts in the Round Robin), while the Bruins fell to 1-2 in overtime as they were ousted from the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Tampa improved to 20-8, while Boston fell to 59-77-3 in all-time overtime postseason games.

    The Bruins also fell to 2-3 when tied after one period, 1-3 when tied after two periods and 1-2 when tied after three periods in the 2020 postseason.

    While Tampa moves on and will likely travel to Edmonton to play in the Eastern Conference Final (though there is a plan to begin the series in Toronto if the Western Conference’s Second Round matchups take too long and/or the Lightning cannot travel to Rogers Place just yet), Boston will leave the Toronto bubble and disperse for the 2020 offseason with the future uncertain.

    Chara is 43-years-old and may retire, Krug is a pending-unrestricted free agent looking for a big payday as a 29-year-old defender in his prime, while Jake DeBrusk and Grzelcyk are pending-restricted free agents.

    Additionally, Nordstrom is a pending-UFA who may or may not be back due to Boston’s plethora of bottom-six talent, while Kevan Miller will likely be riding into the sunset after not playing since May 2019 due to multiple knee injuries that kept him out of 2019-20 action.

  • Lightning rout Bruins, 7-1, in Game 3, lead series, 2-1

    In a game that is ultimately meaningless, the Tampa Bay Lightning crushed the Boston Bruins, 7-1, in Game 3 of their 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round series at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

    Prior to the game, while most other professional sports leagues witnessed their players go on strike against police brutality and systemic racism, the NHL had a “moment of reflection” and completely missed the mark– but what else is there to really expect from a sport that took 60 years from the time Willie O’Ree broke the game’s color barrier in 1958, until his election to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018?

    Teams and players made statements intent to “learn and grow” in the aftermath of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and many of those teams and players haven’t learned a thing.

    You either make a whole hearted attempt (and struggle at times as learning can be a process) or you don’t make one at all and remain ignorant because ignorance is not bliss– it’s ignorance.

    Andrei Vasilevskiy (8-3 in 11 games this postseason, 2.06 goals against average, .924 save percentage) made 23 saves on 24 shots against for a .958 SV% in the win for the Lightning.

    Bruins netminder, Jaroslav Halak (4-3 in seven games this postseason, 2.92 GAA, .903 SV%) stopped 12 out of 16 shots faced for a .750 SV% in 31:18 time on ice in the loss before being replaced by Dan Vladar (0-0 in one game this postseason, 6.21 GAA, .800 SV%), who made 12 saves on 15 shots in 28:42 TOI.

    The 23-year-old native of Czech Republic, Vladar made his NHL debut and became the first goalie to make his league debut in the playoffs since Jake Allen did so with the St. Louis Blues on April 30, 2012.

    Vladar was also the first goaltender in B’s franchise history to make his NHL debut in the postseason.

    With the win on Wednesday, Tampa takes a, 2-1, series lead heading into Game 4 on Friday.

    With Sean Kuraly “unfit to participate” and seven defenders announced as part of Boston’s game plan ahead of the action on Wednesday, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, juggled his lines with his top-six serving in their usual capacity, while working Nick Ritchie and Charlie Coyle with a rotation of possible right wing options on the third line as Par Lindholm slotted into the fourth line center role for Kuraly.

    On defense, Jeremy Lauzon and John Moore joined the fray for Boston, splitting time with the usual defenders in Zdeno Chara, Charlie McAvoy, Torey Krug, Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk.

    Anders Bjork and Connor Clifton joined the long list of scratches for the Bruins, which included Zach Senyshyn, Maxime Lagacé, Kuraly, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Jack Studnicka, Trent Frederic and Karson Kuhlman on Wednesday.

    The Bolts rolled forward with seven defenders for the second game in-a-row, while Jon Cooper’s list of scratches included Mathieu Joseph, Carter Verhaeghe, Ryan McDonagh, Jan Rutta, Mitchell Stephens, Steven Stamkos, Alexander Volkov and Scott Wedgewood.

    McDonagh (unfit to play) missed his second game of the series with an undisclosed injury.

    Carlo tripped Alex Killorn and was sent to the penalty box at 37 seconds into the first period, yielding the first power play of the game to the Lightning.

    Tampa didn’t score on their first skater advantage, however, but it wouldn’t take them long before they got their special teams going.

    At 12:17 of the first period, Ritchie slashed Kevin Shattenkirk and cut a rut to the sin bin.

    The Bolts made sure to take advantage of the skater advantage the second time, however, as Ondrej Palat (2) sent a one-timer that deflected off of Chara’s stick and went past Halak’s glove side to give Tampa their first power-play goal of the postseason.

    Mikhail Sergachev (2) and Nikita Kucherov (8) had the assists as the Lightning jumped out to the, 1-0, lead at 12:46 of the first period.

    Prior to Palat’s power-play goal, the Bolts were 0/16 on the power play in the 2020 postseason.

    Yanni Gourde (3) made it a, 2-0, lead 15 seconds after Palat opened the game’s scoring when he was able to break in free of any Bruins defenders, held onto the puck long enough for Halak to commit, then roofed it into the twine while Lauzon was inadvertently held up by an on-ice official near the blue line.

    Blake Coleman (3) and Erik Cernak (2) tabbed the assists on Gourde’s goal at 13:01, as the Lightning set a new postseason franchise record for the fastest back-to-back goals.

    Entering the first intermission, Tampa held a, 2-0, lead on the scoreboard, despite trailing Boston in shots on goal, 8-7.

    The Bruins led in blocked shots (5-4), takeaways (1-0) and hits (19-18), while the Lightning had the advantage in giveaways (4-3) and faceoff win percentage (56-44).

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

    Patrice Bergeron caught Palat with a high stick and was assessed a minor infraction at 1:18 of the second peirod.

    Once again, Boston’s penalty kill was no match for the Lightning’s power play as Sergachev (1) crept in from the point to blast a one-timer from the slot over Halak’s leg pad, but under his glove hand to make it a three-goal game.

    Kucherov (9) and Brayden Point (8) had the assists on Sergachev’s power-play goal and the Lightning led, 3-0, at 2:14 of the second period.

    About a minute later, Zach Bogosian tripped Brad Marchand and was sent to the box– giving Boston their first power play opportunity of the night at 3:41.

    On the ensuing power play, Krug sent an intentional shot pass in Marchand’s direction as Marchand (7) accidentally on purpose was in the right place at the right time for the deflection from the side of the crease to score Boston’s only goal of the night.

    Krug (6) and David Pastrnak (7) had the assists on Marchand’s power-play goal and the Bruins trailed, 3-1, at 4:56 of the second period.

    Moments later, McAvoy took things over the line with Kucherov and presented the Lightning with yet another power play while No. 73 in black and gold went to the box for roughing at 8:18.

    Tampa’s skater advantage didn’t take long as Killorn (3) pocketed a rebound while falling as a result of a net front battle with Moore to give the Bolts a, 4-1, lead at 8:35.

    Palat (4) and Kucherov (10) nabbed the assists on Killorn’s power-play goal.

    The world feed from Toronto cut to Vladar dressed in full gear and ready to enter the game after Killorn’s goal, but Boston’s backup goaltender wouldn’t make his NHL debut until the next stoppage about a few minutes later.

    Vladar didn’t get much support from his teammates after they had already let down one goaltender for the night.

    Point (6) scored on a breakaway on the one chance Tampa had immediately after Boston mustered a rush the other way and made it a four-goal game as he extended the Lightning’s lead to, 5-1, at 15:23 of the second period.

    Killorn (3) and Sergachev (3) had the assists on Point’s goal while Vladar made a desperate sprawling effort to stop the prominent young star for the Bolts, but came up a little bit short.

    As soon as the puck was in the back of the net, Krug and Tyler Johnson were going at it in the other end exchanging fisticuffs and receiving fighting majors in what was Boston’s second fight this postseason and first since Krug dropped the gloves with Coleman on Aug. 5th in the Round Robin action.

    As Johnson fell to the ice, he smashed face first and proceeded with caution down the tunnel, but eventually returned to the game’s action without issue.

    A few minutes later, Killorn (4) notched his second goal of the game again on a rebound after Lauzon and Grzelcyk blew their defensive coverage in their own zone.

    Gourde (4) and Bogosian (4) had the assists on Killorn’s goal and the Bolts led, 6-1, at 18:01 of the second period.

    Through 40 minutes of action on Wednesday, the Lightning led, 6-1, on the scoreboard and, 25-16, in shots on goal– including an, 18-8, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Bolts also led in blocked shots (10-9), takeaways (4-2) and faceoff win% (58-43), while the Bruins led in hits (37-31).

    Both teams had five giveaways each after two periods.

    Tampa was 3/4 and Boston was 1/1 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    Kucherov (4) kicked things off in the final frame with a goal through Vladar’s five-hole to make it, 7-1, and tie Martin St. Louis’ franchise record for most playoff goals scored with his 33rd career Stanley Cup Playoff goal in a Lightning uniform.

    Point (9) had the only assist on Kucherov’s goal at 3:58 of the third period.

    Midway through the third, McAvoy and Kucherov got into another bit of a scuffle, but only McAvoy was penalized with a roughing minor and a misconduct at exactly 10:00 of the third period.

    Boston killed Tampa’s string of three consecutive conversions on the power play and resumed even strength without any issues.

    Late in the period, however, Bergeron sent the puck out of play and clear over the glass without any deflections, yielding an automatic delay of game penalty at 16:42.

    Tampa’s ensuing power play was cut short three seconds into their advantage as Cedric Paquette was called for interference at 16:45.

    While skating at 4-on-4, Coleman and David Krejci exchanged pleasantries, which yielded a 4-on-3 advantage for the Bruins after Coleman was hit with two roughing minors, while Krejci received only one roughing minor at 18:07 of the third period.

    Krug received an early dismissal 15 seconds later after sending a puck with a little too much force in the direction of a linesman after an offside call at 18:22, and was given a misconduct, as well as a trip to the dressing room.

    At the final horn, the Lightning had won, 7-1, and took a, 2-1, series lead in what was Boston’s worst deficit since losing, 9-3, in Buffalo against the Sabres on April 29, 1992 in the 1992 Adams Division Semifinal.

    Tampa finished the game leading in shots on goal (31-24), blocked shots (15-12), giveaways (10-7) and faceoff win% (55-45), while Boston wrapped up Wednesday night’s action with the advantage in hits (50-40).

    The Bolts finished 3/6 and the B’s finished 1/3 on the power play.

    Boston fell to 2-3 when trailing after one period and 1-4 when trailing after two periods in the 2020 posteason.

    Game 4 is scheduled for Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET at Scotiabank Arena in the Toronto bubble. Viewers in the United States can tune to USA Network to catch the action, while those in Canada can choose from CBC, SN or TVAS.

  • 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round Preview: Eastern Conference

    The turnaround from the Qualifier to the First Round was too quick to get this out of the way (other than on the podcast), but at least the league and broadcasting partners gave us all a day or two between the First and Second Round– oh.

    By the time that you’ll be reading this, all four Second Round series’ will have played at least one game, while some might have already played through two games.

    Fear not, though, the series winner and other basic notes entering the Second Round were written down before puck drop and before the rest of the words in this post were filled around them.

    Once again, this postseason is unpredictable– and that’s besides whatever happens on the ice.

    At any point in time things could be shutdown again, because– you know– of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

    The players, coaches, team and league staff, as well as broadcasting crews and essential arena/hotel employees have all been in the bubble for almost a month now.

    There aren’t enough words to express how taxing on the mind the isolation really is, despite teammates being in the bubble together, etc.

    None on the league staff or team staff will see their families, romantic partners, roommates back home, etc. until they’re either eliminated or heading home with the Stanley Cup in their arms *fingers crossed*.

    Luckily, the league’s made it this far into Phase 4 with no positive tests for COVID-19 out of the thousands of tests they’ve conducted.

    For one reason or another (TV broadcast deals, probably), they’ve decided to make the Second Round feature a multitude of “back-to-backs”– that’s two games in two nights, whereas normally by this point in the playoffs there’s always (except for extenuating arena availability circumstances) a day off between each game in a series.

    Alas, being in two bubble cities (Edmonton and Toronto), the league can do whatever it wants.

    For now, let’s focus on the Eastern Conference teams in the Second Round.

    As a reminder, the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final will be held at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, if everything goes according to plan. All Eastern Conference games before then, however, will take place at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario.

    Sadly, families won’t allowed to join the players in the Conference Finals and beyond as was first anticipated at the beginning of the bubble.

    (1) Philadelphia Flyers (41-21-7, 89 points) vs (6) New York Islanders (35-23-10, 80 points)

    Philadelphia: 69 games played, .645 points percentage, 31 regulation wins.

    N.Y. Islanders: 68 games played, .588 points percentage, 24 regulation wins.

    In his first season as head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, Alain Vigneault led the team from finishing in fourth place in the Eastern Conference by points percentage at the stoppage to securing the top seed in the East as a result of an undefeated Round Robin performance in what can only be described as wild a ride as the year 2020 has been.

    No, the Flyers haven’t had as many lows as what 2020 has brought to the world, but they’ve been on fire as of late– since February, really– so maybe the universe is collapsing only because Philadelphia has what might be their greatest chance at winning the Cup for the first time since 1975.

    Oh and they have a legitimate goaltender, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

    The Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens in six games in the First Round to advance to their Second Round matchup with the New York Islanders and– as has been the trend with 2020– nobody quite knows what to expect going into this series.

    Travis Konecny led Philly in scoring in the regular season with 24-37–61 totals in 66 games before the ongoing pandemic shortened the season. Sean Couturier had the second-most points with 59 in 69 games and Jakub Voracek was third on the roster in scoring with 56 points in 69 games.

    Thus far in the postseason, Voracek leads the team entering the Second Round with eight points (four goals, four assists) in eight games. Kevin Hayes has 1-6–7 totals in nine games, while Scott Laughton and Couturier each have five points entering Philly’s matchup with the Islanders.

    In the regular season, Carter Hart led the way in the crease with a 24-13-3 record in 43 games (40 starts), one shutout, as well as a 2.42 goals against average and a .914 save percentage in that span.

    Brian Elliott forged a 16-7-4 record in 31 games (27 starts), with a 2.87 GAA, an .899 SV% and two shutouts as Philadelphia’s backup, while Alex Lyon made three appearances (two starts) and had a 3.55 GAA, as well as an .890 SV% in the process.

    Entering the Second Round, Hart has a 6-2-0 record in eight games with a 1.71 GAA, a .943 SV% and two shutouts in the process, while Elliott made one start and one relief appearance (two games) for a 1-0-0 record with a 1.47 GAA and a .913 SV%.

    At the other end of the ice, the New York Islanders overcame the Florida Panthers in four games (3-1) in their best of five Qualifier series, then defeated the Washington Capitals in five games (4-1) in the First Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs to line themselves up with the Flyers in the Second Round.

    Mathew Barzal led the charge for the Isles with 19-41–60 totals in 68 games this season with Brock Nelson (54 points in 68 games), Anders Lee (43 points in 68 games) and Josh Bailey (43 points in 68 games) at the forefront of New York’s offense in 2019-20.

    Thus far in the postseason, Bailey’s emerged as the Islanders’ points leader with 2-8–10 totals in nine games, while Anthony Beauvillier entered Game 1 against Philadelphia hot on his tail with 6-3–9 totals in nine games.

    Meanwhile, Nelson and Barzal each had seven points in nine games for the third most points on the team in the 2020 postseason.

    In the crease, Semyon Varlamov went 19-14-6 in 45 games (39 starts) in the regular season with a 2.62 GAA and a .914 SV%, as well as two shutouts in that span, while Thomas Greiss backed Varlamov up with a 16-9-4 record in 31 games (29 starts), a 2.74 GAA and a .913 SV%.

    Varlamov has a 7-2 record in nine games entering the Second Round with one shutout, as well as a 1.67 GAA and a .934 SV% in that span.

    The Flyers went 0-2-1 in the regular season against the Islanders and– despite being the hottest team since February– now have to face one of the best teams at shutting things down on a night-to-night basis.

    Barry Trotz’ defensive scheme is a game plan for success with the Isles’ makeup, so the Flyers are going to have to pull them away from their go-to lanes.

    Plus there’s the lack of offense to worry about for Philadelphia from their First Round matchup with the Canadiens that, if any of it is leftover for the Second Round, could spell trouble for Philly’s Cup hopes.

    Meanwhile, despite Varlamov’s consistency this postseason, the Flyers have the upper hand in the crease with Hart getting into a rhythm and hitting his stride when it counts.

    This is the fifth time these two clubs have met in the postseason and the Flyers hold the, 3-1, advantage in all time series meetings prior, but there’s a chance New York gets revenge on Philadelphia for the first time since 1980.

    As much as New York could pull off the upset (based on seeding only and disregarding regular season head-to-head performance), the Flyers should be able to put it together and advance to their first Eastern Conference Final since 2010, by wrapping things up in six games.

    Regular season outcomes:

    5-3 NYI at NYCB Live/Nassau Coliseum on Oct. 27th, 4-3 F/SO NYI at Wells Fargo Center on Nov. 16th, 5-3 NYI at Barclays Center on Feb. 11th

    Schedule:

    8/24- Game 1 NYI @ PHI in Toronto 7 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS

    8/26- Game 2 NYI @ PHI in Toronto 3 PM ET on NBCN, SN, TVAS

    8/27- Game 3 PHI @ NYI in Toronto 7 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS

    8/29- Game 4 PHI @ NYI in Toronto 12 PM ET on NBC, SN, TVAS

    8/31- Game 5 NYI @ PHI in Toronto*

    9/2- Game 6 PHI @ NYI in Toronto*

    9/3- Game 7 NYI @ PHI in Toronto*

    *If necessary

    (2) Tampa Bay Lightning (43-21-6, 92 points) vs (4) Boston Bruins (44-14-12, 100 points)

    Tampa: 70 games played, .657 points percentage, 35 regulation wins.

    Boston: 70 games played, .714 points percentage, 38 regulation wins.

    Despite the Boston Bruins clinching the Presidents’ Trophy with the league’s best record in the 2019-20 shortened regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning have the higher seed thanks to a better performance in the 2020 Round Robin.

    Tampa avenged their elimination from last year’s First Round in four games by beating the Columbus Blue Jackets in the five games (4-1) in the 2020 First Round, which included a 5OT victory in Game 1 and a commanding overtime win in Game 5 (that ultimately ended the series, because that’s how a best-of-seven works).

    Nikita Kucherov led the Lightning in the regular season with 33-52–85 totals in 68 games played, while Steven Stamkos had the second-most points on the team (66) despite being limited to 57 games due to injury.

    Brayden Point, meanwhile, had the third most points on the team in the regular season with 25-39–56 totals in 66 games.

    Entering the Second Round, however, Point was in command of Tampa’s scoring leaders with 5-5–10 totals in eight games, while Kucherov had nine points in eight games and a three-way tie for the third most between Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn and Yanni Gourde had yet to be resolved as each had four points prior to Tampa’s series matchup with Boston.

    Oh and nobody knows how long Stamkos will be out since having core muscle surgery in March, then leaving practice in July after supposedly recovering in the allotted six to eight weeks post operation.

    In the crease, Andrei Vasilevskiy led the charge with a 35-14-3 record in 52 games played (all starts), as well as three shutouts, a 2.56 GAA and a .917 SV% in that span.

    His backup, Curtis McElhinney, posted an 8-7-3 record in 18 games with a 2.89 GAA, a .906 SV% and one shutout this season.

    Entering the Second Round, Vasilevskiy was 6-2 in eight games with a 1.98 GAA and a .927 SV%.

    The Lightning have a lot of fire power and a defense that’s good enough to help inflate their goaltender’s win column, regardless of his status as a Vezina Trophy finalist this season– it certainly helps win some games every now and then when the rest of your teammates are limiting your workload for you.

    At the other end of the ice, the Boston Bruins went winless in the Round Robin and failed to record a point in the tournament while Chris Wagner led the team in scoring with a pair of goals over the three Round Robin games.

    Then they flipped the switch and beat the Carolina Hurricanes in five games (4-1) to advance to the Second Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and, well, here they are.

    David Pastrnak shared the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy honors with Alex Ovechkin in 2019-20, as both players scored 48 goals before the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic cut the regular season short.

    Pastrnak also led the Bruins in scoring with 48-47–95 totals in 70 games.

    Brad Marchand was second on the roster with 28-59–87 totals and Patrice Bergeron completed the first line, as well as the top-three trio in scoring with 31-25–56 totals in 61 games in the regular season.

    In the postseason so far, the re-emergence of David “Playoff Krech” Krejci has come to fruition as No. 46 in black-and-gold leads his teammates in playoff scoring with 3-6–9 totals in eight games entering the Second Round.

    Marchand (3-4–7 totals in eight games) and Bergeron (2-4–6 totals in eight games) are second and third on the roster, respectively, in scoring prior to their series matchup with Tampa.

    Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak combined efforts to take home the William M. Jennings Trophy having allowed the fewest combined goals against (174) among goaltender(s) with a minimum of 25 games played in 2019-20.

    Rask finished the regular season with a Vezina Trophy finalist nomination, as well as a 26-8-6 record in 41 games (41 starts), a 2.12 GAA, a .929 SV% and five shutouts in that span.

    Halak went 18-6-6 in 31 games (29 starts) and had a 2.39 GAA, a .919 SV% and three shutouts prior to the pandemic cutting the regular season short.

    Prior to opting out of the rest of the 2020 postseason due to a family medical emergency involving one of his daughters, Rask had a 1-3-0 record in four games (four starts) in the bubble with a 2.57 GAA and a .904 SV% in that span.

    There is no blame for being a good parent and knowing that the right thing to always do is take care of your family first– even if your team is in the middle of what could be their last chance to win a Cup with their current core group of players.

    The last time the league participated in a postseason in a pandemic, several players contracted the flu and one (Montreal Canadiens star, Joe Hall) died a few days after the 1919 Stanley Cup Final was called off from pneumonia as a complication from influenza.

    Have some compassion, for once.

    Halak, in the meantime, enters the Second Round as Boston’s starting goaltender with a 3-1-0 record in four games (four starts), as well as a 2.29 GAA and a .912 SV% in that span.

    In the regular season, the Bruins went 1-2-1 against the Lightning, while the Bolts held a 3-1-0 record against Boston in the season series (their first game back on Oct. 17th being a, 4-3, shootout victory for Tampa).

    Scoring was pretty even at a, 13-10, advantage for the Lightning across all four meetings, despite the Bruins outshooting the Bolts, 139-113, in the four games combined.

    The two clubs are 1-1 all time in two previous postseason meetings, where Boston eliminated Tampa in seven games in the 2011 Eastern Conference Final and the Bolts returned the favor to the Bruins in five games in the 2018 Second Round.

    Two years removed from Boston’s collapsed hopes of a deep run at the hands of the Lightning, the B’s made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019, thanks to the Blue Jackets sweeping the Lightning in the 2019 First Round, then bowing out to Boston in six games in the 2019 Second Round.

    These two Atlantic Division teams are more intertwined than average fan might think and a rivalry has sprung as of, well, really since that 2011 series.

    The Bruins have struggled to handle the Lightning– especially within the last few seasons, at least.

    With everything in mind, it’s also important to remember just how hard it is to go all the way back to the Stanley Cup Final after making it in the previous year– let alone make it out of the First Round after having five months off due to a pandemic.

    If anything, it’s not that Bruins are an “aging team”– so are the Lightning at their core with each and every passing year that Stamkos and Co. have not won a Cup ring.

    If anything, it’s that the Lightning simply are Boston’s Kryptonite like how the Montreal Canadiens once were before the 21st century.

    Boston might be able to win a game or two, but Tampa should really have this series taken care of in six games.

    Regular season outcomes:

    4-3 F/SO TBL at TD Garden on Oct. 17th, 3-2 TBL at Amalie Arena on Dec. 12th, 2-1 BOS at Amalie Arena on March 3rd, 5-3 TBL at TD Garden on March 7th

    Schedule:

    8/23- Game 1 BOS @ TBL in Toronto 8 PM ET on NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS

    8/25- Game 2 BOS @ TBL in Toronto 7 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS

    8/26- Game 3 TBL @ BOS in Toronto 8 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS

    8/28- Game 4 TBL @ BOS in Toronto 7:30 PM ET on USA, CBC, SN, TVAS

    8/30- Game 5 BOS @ TBL in Toronto*

    9/1- Game 6 TBL @ BOS in Toronto*

    9/2- Game 7 BOS @ TBL in Toronto*

    *If necessary