Down the Frozen River

Tag: Barclay Goodrow

  • Bruins drop Black Friday matinée to Rangers, 5-2

    Bruins drop Black Friday matinée to Rangers, 5-2

    For the first time since the 2003-04 regular season, ABC played host to a national broadcast of a National Hockey League game as the Boston Bruins lost, 5-2, to the New York Rangers in their 500th consecutive sellout at TD Garden on Friday afternoon.

    New York scored three unanswered goals in the third period (including an empty net goal) to pull ahead and never look back as Igor Shesterkin (11-3-2, 2.22 goals-against average, .923 save percentage in 16 games played) made 34 saves on 36 shots faced for the win.

    Boston goaltender, Jeremy Swayman (6-4-0, 2.42 goals-against average, .908 save percentage in 10 games played), stopped 26 out of 30 shots against in the loss.

    The Bruins dropped to 10-7-0 (20 points) on the season and remain in command of 5th place in the Atlantic Division, while the Rangers improved to 13-4-3 (29 points) and sit 3rd in the Metropolitan Division despite tying the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals in points.

    Carolina owns the tiebreaker for 1st place in the division currently, by virtue of having played in one game fewer than the Capitals at the time of this writing.

    Washington sits ahead of New York by virtue of the same thing, though the Caps are in action on Friday night and would slip to 3rd in the Metropolitan Division with a loss in regulation.

    The B’s also fell to 6-3-0 at home this season in nine games at TD Garden, while the Rangers improved to 8-3-2 on road ice in 13 away games thus far.

    Boston went 5-3-0 against New York last season.

    The Bruins were without Trent Frederic (upper body) on Friday, while head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made one minor change to his lineup from Wednesday night’s, 5-1, win in Buffalo to Friday afternoon’s matinée matchup with the Rangers.

    Cassidy swapped centers on the third and fourth lines– promoting Tomáš Nosek to the top-nine and demoting Erik Haula to the bottom line.

    Connor Clifton and Karson Kuhlman were Boston’s healthy scratches in the press box on Friday afternoon.

    Ryan Lindgren lifted David Pastrnak’s stick and Pastrnak’s stick ended up catching Lindgren in the face, yielding a high sticking infraction for No. 88 in black and gold and the afternoon’s first power play opportunity for the Rangers at 6:25 of the first period.

    New York wasn’t able to convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

    Moments later, Chris Kreider cut a rut to the penalty box for interference at 10:55, but Boston wasn’t able to muster anything on the resulting power play– even when they had 10 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage as Adam Fox caught Craig Smith with a high stick at 12:45.

    Instead, however, Smith (2) scored in the vulnerable minute after a power play one second after Fox emerged from the box to bring the Rangers back to even strength.

    Smith’s goal was unassisted and beat Shesterkin up high to give the Bruins a, 1-0, lead at 14:46 of the first period after Jacob Trouba botched a clearing attempt for New York.

    In the dying seconds of the opening frame, however, the Rangers responded as Dryden Hunt worked the puck deep past the goal line near the endboards and flipped a pass to Artemi Panarin before Panarin setup Ryan Strome (3) in the slot for a goal– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.

    Panarin (16) and Hunt (2) tallied the assists on Strome’s goal at 19:54.

    Entering the first intermission, the game was tied, 1-1, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 17-5.

    The Rangers held the advantage in blocked shots (5-1) and hits (5-4), while the Bruins led in takeaways (2-1), giveaways (2-0) and faceoff win percentage (63-38).

    New York was 0/1 and Boston was 0/2 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    Less than a minute into the second period, Brad Marchand caught Trouba with a hook (despite it actually looking to be a simple stick lift on second glance) and was sent to the sin bin 17 seconds after emerging from the first intermission.

    The Blue Shirts weren’t able to score on the ensuing power play, though.

    Moments later, Pastrnak won a draw in the attacking zone back to Marchand whereby Marchand moved the puck to Matt Grzelcyk as the Boston defender snuck in from the point to feed Patrice Bergeron (8) point blank for a goal.

    Grzelcyk (3) and Marchand (14) were credited with the assists as the Bruins pulled ahead once more, 2-1, at 6:51 of the second period.

    Midway through the second, however, Swayman struggled with his rebound control and inadvertently kicked the puck directly to Hunt in the slot while Hunt was crashing the net instead of sending the rubber biscuit off to the boards or covering it up.

    Hunt (2) buried the loose biscuit into the mostly empty twine and destroyed the in-net camera with a precise shot, while Lindgren (2) and Fox (16) tallied the assists.

    The Rangers had tied the game, 2-2, at 12:33, but followed up their surge in momentum with a high sticking infraction by Panarin at 14:37.

    Luckily for New York, the Bruins weren’t on top of things on their resulting power play.

    At least Swayman was able to stop Mika Zibanejad with a diving paddle save on a cross-slot one-timer in between Hunt’s goal and Panarin’s penalty in what might earn recognition as “the save of the year”.

    Rangers head coach, Gerard Gallant, briefly pulled Shesterkin out of the net for an extra attacker with 1.4 seconds remaining on the clock on an attacking zone faceoff, but New York wasn’t able to recreate the magic of their quick goal in the dying seconds of the first period as the horn sounded to commence the second intermission.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the two teams were tied, 2-2, on the scoreboard, despite Boston leading in total shots on goal, 29-24, after tailing New York, 19-12, in shots on net in the second period alone.

    The Rangers held onto the advantage in blocked shots (9-3), giveaways (7-5) and hits (15-9) after two periods, while the B’s led in faceoff win% (64-36).

    Both teams had four takeaways each and neither team could find the back of the net on the power play as New York was 0/2 and Boston was 0/3 on the skater advantage.

    Kreider thought he had scored the goal of the season early in the third period when he wrapped around the back of the net and lobbed a shot attempt behind Swayman’s shoulders– lacrosse style– off the crossbar and through the crease, but official review determined that he had, in fact, not scored the go-ahead goal.

    Andrei Svechnikov’s records are still resting at ease with Carolina.

    Instead, midway through the final frame, Panarin (5) bunted a redirection shot from point blank past Swayman while crashing the net on a reception from Julien Gauthier.

    Gauthier (2) and Strome (2) had the assists and the Rangers had their first lead of the afternoon, 3-2, at 11:35 of the third period.

    About five minutes later, New York extended their lead to two-goals as Gauthier setup Alexis Lafrenière (5) on a 2-on-1 against Bruins defender, Charlie McAvoy, for the high blocker side goal on a catch and release shot by Lafrenière.

    Gauthier (3) and Fox (17) notched the assists as the Rangers went up, 4-2, on the scorebaord at 16:22 of the third period.

    With 2:37 remaining in regulation, Cassidy pulled his netminder for an extra attacker, but it was ultimately to no avail.

    McAvoy tripped up Kevin Rooney with an errant leg at 19:03 and Barclay Goodrow did not take the aggressive infraction lightly– delivering a swift cross check in return to McAvoy before a scrum ensued.

    The two teams finished the afternoon at 4-on-4 after McAvoy and Goodrow worked their way into their respective boxes at 19:03.

    Finally, Trouba (3) buried an empty net goal after winning a battle behind his own net and flipping the puck down the length of the ice from his own zone.

    Patrik Nemeth (2) had the only assist on Trouba’s goal as the Rangers sealed the deal on their, 5-2, victory at 19:48 of the third period.

    After the goal, Marchand and Panarin exchange words from their benches leading to Panarin taking off one of his gloves and chucking it at Marchand while a linesman stood in the crossfire.

    Both players received misconducts and were sent to their dressing rooms with an early dismissal at 19:48.

    At the horn, the Rangers had won, 5-2, despite finishing the afternoon trailing in shots on goal, 36-31, to Boston.

    Both teams managed to fire seven shots on net each in the third period, however, while New York wrapped up Friday’s action leading in blocked shots (17-4), giveaways (10-5) and hits (23-21).

    The B’s finished the afternoon leading in faceoff win% (57-43).

    There were no penalties that resulted in skater advantages in the third period, so the Rangers finished the day 0/2 on the power play and the Bruins went 0/3.

    Boston dropped to 7-4-0 (4-2-0 at home) when scoring first, 0-4-0 (0-2-0 at home) when tied after one and 2-2-0 (2-1-0 at home) when tied after two periods this season.

    New York improved to 5-4-1 (3-3-0 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 5-0-2 (4-0-2 on the road) when tied after the first period and 6-0-1 (4-0-0 on the road) when tied after two periods in 2021-22.

    The Bruins continue their three-game homestand against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday before hosting the Detroit Red Wings to close out the month of November on Tuesday, Nov. 30th.

    Boston begins the month of December with a one-off road game at Bridgestone Arena against the Nashville Predators next Thursday (Dec. 2nd) before returning home to host the Tampa Bay Lightning for a game next Saturday (Dec. 4th).

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

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

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

    And then Wednesday’s games happened too.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Can Arizona avoid the basement?

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

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

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

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

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

    Yes, really.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Will winning the Presidents’ Trophy hurt Vegas?

    Eh, it’s hard to say.

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

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

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

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

    Is this the toughest division to project?

    Absolutely.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    What does this mean for the Leafs?

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

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

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

    A lot and not a lot has changed since then.

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

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

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

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

    No. Let’s be realistic here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    A little more patience won’t hurt them.

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

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

    As for the Buffalo Sabres, well…

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

    Hopefully.

    Will Tampa win three consecutive Stanley Cup championships?

    Probably not.

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

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

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

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

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

  • Tampa Bay Lightning 2021-22 Season Preview

    Tampa Bay Lightning 2021-22 Season Preview

    2020-21 record 36-17-3, 75 points

    3rd in the Discover NHL Central Division

    Defeated Montréal in the Stanley Cup Final

    Additions: F Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, F Gabriel Dumont, F Remi Elie, F Charles Hudon, F Corey Perry, D Zach Bogosian, D Brent Seabrook (acquired from CHI), D Andrej Sustr, G Brian Elliott, G Maxime Lagacé

    Subtractions: F Alex Barré-Boulet (re-signed, then claimed off waivers by SEA), F Blake Coleman (signed with CGY), F Marian Gaborik (contract expired, informally retired), F Barclay Goodrow (traded to NYR), F Yanni Gourde (expansion, SEA), F Tyler Johnson (traded to CHI), F Ryan Lohin (signed with Charlotte Checkers, AHL), F Mitchell Stephens (traded to DET), F/D Luke Witkowski (signed with DET), D Andreas Borgman (signed with DAL), D Brian Lashoff (signed with DET), D David Savard (signed with MTL), D Luke Schenn (signed with VAN), D Ben Thomas (SHL), G Christopher Gibson (signed with FLA), G Spencer Martin (traded to VAN), G Curtis McElhinney (retired), G Anders Nilsson (retired)

    Still Unsigned: F Boo Nieves

    Re-signed: F Ross Colton, F Boris Katchouk, F Taylor Raddysh, F Gemel Smith, F Otto Somppi, D Fredrik Claesson, D Sean Day, D Cal Foote

    Offseason Analysis: One of the good things about winning the Cup is that the following season’s expectations are wiped clean. Sure, fans and analysts may want to see you win it again in back-to-back seasons, but that’s just icing on the cake and any run that comes up short in the year following a Cup ring can be forgiven.

    Luckily for Tampa, they won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021, so if they don’t happen to become the first team to win three consecutive titles since the New York Islanders won four Stanley Cup rings in a row from 1980-83, that’s fine.

    The Lightning don’t get two straight years of postseason forgiveness, however.

    Rather, the Bolts are on the quest for the first dynasty in the National Hockey League since the Edmonton Oilers won three Cups in four years from 1987-90.

    That’s right, folks, Chicago didn’t have a dynasty when they won in 2010, 2013 and 2015. There’s a few too many years in-between.

    Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy and the rest of the Lightning, however, have a chance of doing something not even Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury with the Pittsburgh Penguins, nor Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Corey Crawford and the rest in Chicago were able to do– win three-straight Stanley Cup Finals.

    Oh and the dynasty thing too, which is a given.

    But success comes with a price in the loss of depth over time– whether it’s because of lower draft picks over time or simply due to salary cap constraints that pressure Cup winners into shipping out some of the glue guys from the team that just won it all in the middle of a summer-long party.

    It is, after all, a business.

    Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow and Yanni Gourde– Tampa’s third line that could be a second line on any other roster– was broken up over the summer.

    Coleman joined the Calgary Flames in free agency, Goodrow was traded to the New York Rangers and Gourde was a victim of the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft– in other words, the first certified star forward in the making for the Seattle Kraken.

    Though the Lightning will miss out on the speed and production of that line in their bottom-six, Tampa is more than ready to promote some bottom-six breakout stars from last season into genuine full-time roles, while also accommodating for general turnover after winning back-to-back Cups.

    Tampa General Manager, Julien BriseBois, signed Corey Perry to a two-year deal worth $1.000 million per season as a low-risk, high-reward veteran that can manage bottom-six minutes with efficiency at this point in his career– yielding 21 points in each of the last two seasons (5-16–21 totals in 57 games with the Dallas Stars in 2019-20, 9-12–21 totals in 49 games with the Montréal Canadiens in 2020-21), while finishing as the first runner up to the Lightning in back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances.

    BriseBois also added Pierre-Édouard Bellemare to the Bolts’ fourth line after Bellemare spent the last two seasons in a Colorado Avalanche uniform, recording 11 points (nine goals, two assists) in 53 games for the Avs last season, as well as a career-high 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) in 69 gamed with Colorado in 2019-20.

    Among internal options to move up into the top-nine or make the fourth line after spending last year on the taxi squad or bouncing around in recent years between stints in the NHL, AHL, Major Junior or college, Ross Colton, Boris Katchouk, Mathieu Joseph, Gemel Smith and Taylor Raddysh all present themselves as options to compete for– if not rotate in and out of– a spot on the fourth line.

    Colton scored the Cup clinching goal in the second period of Game 5 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final– the only goal of the, 1-0, victory over the Canadiens that secured Tampa’s second Cup ring in as many years.

    In 30 games last season, he had 9-3–12 totals. Not bad for a 25-year-old on the rise after spending parts of the last three seasons with the Syracuse Crunch (AHL).

    Joseph managed 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) in 70 games with the Bolts in 2018-19, before being limited to 4-3–7 totals in just 37 games in 2019-20.

    Last season, he bounced back with 19 points (12 goals, seven assists) in 56 games and is sure to continue to mesh well with Tampa’s influx of youth in the bottom-six as a 24-year-old forward.

    Entering 2021-22, Katchouk and Raddysh are still looking to make their NHL debuts, though Raddysh is slated to be in the lineup against Pittsburgh on Opening Night.

    While Tampa sorts out their supporting cast, one thing that’s remained consistent is the Lightning’s top-six as Kucherov returns to regular season action for a full 82-game slate alongside Point and Ondrej Palat on the first line.

    Meanwhile, Anthony Cirelli leads Alex Killorn and Stamkos on the second line as Hedman, Jan Rutta, Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak lead the defenders with Mikhail Sergachev paired alongside Zach Bogosian (he’s back!).

    Curtis McElhinney retired over the summer, though not before BriseBois upgraded his backup goaltender role with Brian Elliott first.

    Elliott’s looking to rebound from a rough stint with the Philadelphia Flyers over the last four seasons, in which he most recently went 15-9-2 with a 3.06 goals-against average, an .889 save percentage and two shutouts in 30 games played.

    He’s sure to benefit from 1) Tampa’s defense and 2) Vasilevskiy yielding an overwhelming majority of games in the regular season.

    Vasilevskiy produced a 31-10-1 record in 42 games last season with a 2.21 goals-against average, a .925 save percentage and five shutouts in that span.

    As for what else is missing from this summer’s tactical overhaul with the salary cap in mind after winning back-to-back Cups?

    Let’s review all of Tampa’s trades from after the Final through now real quick, shall we?

    Goodrow was dealt to the New York Rangers for a 2022 7th round pick on July 17th, then BriseBois swapped a 2022 4th round pick for a 2021 4th round pick with Montréal at the second day of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft on July 24th.

    A few days later, he cleared out some salary by shipping Tyler Johnson to Chicago with a 2023 2nd round pick for Seabrook’s contract that is currently on the long-term injured reserve thanks to a career-ending injury that renders Seabrook as a forgiven cap hit on the books.

    Mitchell Stephens packed his bags out of Tampa for the Detriot Red Wings in exchange for a 2022 6th round pick on July 30th, then the Lightning sent Spencer Martin to the Vancouver Canucks for future considerations on July 31st.

    Offseason Grade: C

    Down the road, Point’s eight-year extension at $9.500 million per season is an excellent move made by BriseBois, but since that contract goes into effect starting next season (2022-23), it doesn’t sway the offseason grade for 2021.

    If it were just a postseason grade, the Bolts would get an “A”, but since this is a measure of everything that happened after the 2021 Stanley Cup Final and before the 2021-22 season gets underway, well, Tampa had an average summer.

    They filled some holes, shed some salary and were forced to make difficult decisions in other areas thanks to the existence of the salary cap and some key players being healthy for a change as the Lightning embark on their two-time defending Stanley Cup champion season.

    All in all, it’s not too bad to be a fan of the Lightning these days or a member of the organization– as long as you got here before the 2021 Stanley Cup Final wrapped up.

    This isn’t to say that Tampa will be bad by any means, but rather that they’re content with contending for the next few years to come– at least– so if they don’t win three Cup rings in as many years, that’s fine. They’ll be quite alright.

  • New York Rangers 2021-22 Season Preview

    New York Rangers 2021-22 Season Preview

    2020-21 record 27-23-6, 60 points

    5th in the MassMutual NHL East Division

    Missed the postseason for the first time since 2020

    Additions: F Sammy Blais (acquired from STL), F Barclay Goodrow (acquired from TBL), F Dryden Hunt, F Greg McKegg, F Ryan Reaves (acquired from VGK), D Patrik Nemeth, D Jarred Tinordi

    Subtractions: F Colin Blackwell (expansion, SEA), F Pavel Buchnevich (traded to STL), F Phillip Di Giuseppe (signed with VAN), F Brett Howden (traded to VGK), F Patrick Newell (Eliteserien), D Tony DeAngelo (buyout, signed with CAR), D Nick DeSimone (rights acquired from VGK, signed with CGY), D Jack Johnson (signed to a PTO with COL), D Darren Raddysh (signed with TBL), D Yegor Rykov (KHL), D Brendan Smith (signed with CAR)

    Still Unsigned: F Gabriel Fontaine, D Brandon Crawley

    Re-signed: F Filip Chytil, F Julien Gauthier, F Tim Gettinger, F Ty Ronning, D Libor Hajek, G Adam Huska, G Igor Shesterkin

    Offseason Analysis: Well, this offseason happened.

    Because nobody sought vengeance for Tom Wilson’s shenanigans, Rangers owner, James Dolan, arose from his desk and remembered that he owns more than just the New York Knicks.

    Heads were rolling as Chris Drury was instated as New York’s General Manager before last season ended– leaving Jeff Gorton to take a role with NHL Network during the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Gerard Gallant replaced David Quinn behind the bench.

    If the Rangers had a good thing going from the second-half of last season onward, well, they’ve surely burned it to the ground in a scorched-Earth search for guys that’ll punch other guys in the face for their 2021-22 roster.

    Greg McKegg and Dryden Hunt are extra bodies to stockpile with the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) until somebody gets injured or booted out of the Rangers’ lineup because they’re suspended for trying to take Wilson’s head off or something.

    New York was one or two pieces away from being a playoff contender and currently has about $8.872 million in cap space with almost $30 million to spend next summer when pending-restricted free agent, Kaapo Kakko, needs a new deal.

    But for the time being, the Rangers decided to punt.

    Sure, Jack Eichel is still available if the Buffalo Sabres ever decide to trade him one of these days (with or without letting him get his desired surgery done).

    Drury’s logic, however, doesn’t necessarily see a fit for Eichel on the team– I mean, is he even tough enough?!?

    Mika Zibanejad’s name is out there for some reason. He’s not too pleased by the rumor mill churning up whatever it can to excite Rangers fans about a team that took one step forward and two steps back on paper.

    Pavel Buchnevich didn’t have to be traded. But he was.

    Nothing makes sense anymore.

    On July 17th, Drury traded a 2022 7th round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the rights to restricted free agent forward, Barclay Goodrow, then signed Goodrow to a six-year extension worth about $3.642 million per season.

    The 28-year-old had 6-14–20 totals in 55 games last season en route to winning his second-straight Stanley Cup ring with the Lightning, but Buchnevich, 26, had 20-28–48 totals in 54 games.

    Somebody’s got to replace the scoring.

    That same day, Brett Howden was dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights for Nick DeSimone’s rights and a 2022 4th round pick, but DeSimone tested the waters of free agency and signed with the Calgary Flames.

    On July 23rd, Buchnevich was traded to the St. Louis Blues for Sammy Blais and a 2022 2nd round pick.

    Blais had 8-7–15 totals in 36 games for St. Louis last season while battling injury and bouts on the league’s COVID-19 protocol list.

    There’s still 13 points to replace to makeup for trading Buchnevich.

    On July 29th, Drury listened to Gallant’s preferences for a rougher style, if not a personal request for a familiar face as New York traded a 2022 3rd round pick to Vegas for Ryan Reaves, who, at 34-years-old had 1-4–5 totals in 37 games for the Golden Knights.

    Though he kept his penalty minutes relatively low with only 27 minutes spent in the box in 2020-21, he was suspended for two games in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs for his intent to injure then Colorado Avalanche defender, Ryan Graves, on an unnecessary roughing incident in front of Colorado’s own net.

    But hey, an eye for an eye, right?

    If you can’t beat them on the scoreboard– just beat them up instead.

    It’s worked well for the Philadelphia Flyers since 1975.

    Don’t want to fight Goodrow or Reaves? How about Jarred Tinordi on the defense? Maybe Patrik Nemeth?

    Both were signed in free agency– Nemeth to a three-year contract worth $2.500 million per season and Tinordi on a two-year deal with a $900,000 cap hit.

    Ryan Strome and Zibanejad are pending-unrestricted free agents and if Drury’s done enough to alienate them from whatever plan they bought into when the Rangers were on the rise coming out of their recent rebuild, then they’re the biggest pieces of trade bait for the team going into the deadline.

    That’s not what you’d like to hear if you have aspirations of acquiring Eichel, since New York can’t guarantee that either player would want to stick around in Buffalo for longer than this season.

    At the very least, Ryan Lindgren’s three-year extension with a $3.000 million cap hit looks pretty nice on the blue line and Igor Shesterkin’s four-year extension worth $5.667 million per season is good enough to foster healthy competition between Alexandar Georgiev and Shesterkin for the surefire starting goaltender role.

    Offseason Grade: D

    The Rangers didn’t have to do this to themselves and yet, here we are.

    They were a team on the verge of something special with one or two more pieces to go and a little more experience to gain as the younger players learn and grow.

    Instead, New York chose to go in the opposite direction– to overreact rather than react accordingly. A few irrational decisions means is the difference between middle of the road insanity and making the playoffs.

    It seems like the Rangers are destined for the former once again in 2021-22.

  • Habs hold off elimination in overtime victory at home

    Habs hold off elimination in overtime victory at home

    For the first time since 1993, the Montréal Canadiens won a game in the Stanley Cup Final as Josh Anderson scored the game-winning goal almost four minutes into overtime to lift the Habs over the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2, on Monday night at Bell Centre.

    As a result of the loss, the Lightning hold onto a 3-1 series lead with their next chance to clinch back-to-back Cups on Wednesday night in front of their home fans at Amalie Arena in Game 5.

    Carey Price (13-8, 2.34 goals-against average, .922 save percentage in 21 games played) stopped 32 out of 34 shots faced in the win for Montréal.

    Tampa goaltender, Andrei Vasilevskiy (15-7, 1.99 goals-against average, .935 save percentage in 22 games played), made 18 saves on 21 shots against in the loss.

    Canadiens head coach, Dominique Ducharme, replaced Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jon Merrill and Erik Gustafsson in his lineup with Jake Evans, Alex Romanov and Brett Kulak.

    Ducharme put Romanov on the left side of Kulak on the third defensive pairing and switched up his top-nine forwards– promoting Tyler Toffoli to the left side of the first line with Phillip Danault at center and Brendan Gallagher on right wing, while Anderson was promoted to the second line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield remaining in place.

    Meanwhile, Evans took over at center on the third line with Paul Byron on his left wing and Artturi Lehkonen on his right side.

    Alex Killorn entered Monday night as a “game-time decision” according to Tampa’s head coach, Jon Cooper, and took part in warmup for the Lightning– but did not take part in any line rushes, so Cooper made no changes to his lineup from Game 3.

    Attendance at Bell Centre was once again limited by the Québec provincial government and local health administrations and officially read as 3,500 fans for Game 4 as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues around the globe.

    Past the midpoint of the opening frame, Tampa led Montréal in shots on goal, 10-1.

    Unfortunately for the Lightning’s potent offense and shutdown defense, the Canadiens’ second shot on net was a goal.

    The Bolts botched an effort to move the puck out of their own zone, while the Habs sustained pressure leading to a give-and-go for Suzuki and Caufield, whereby Suzuki then rid himself of the puck on a pass to Anderson (4) through the low slot from the trapezoid for a one-timer goal and the, 1-0, lead.

    Suzuki (9) and Caufield (7) tallied the assists on Anderson’s goal as the Canadiens struck first at 15:39 of the first period and their first at any point in the series– ending a span of 255:39 without trailing for the Lightning since Game 7 against the New York Islanders in the 2021 Stanley Cup Semifinals round.

    Less than a minute later, Evans and Brayden Point were off to the penalty box together as Evans was assessed an interference infraction and Point was given two-minutes for roughing at 16:33 of the first period.

    The two clubs almost got through a pair of minutes at 4-on-4 without any issue before Joel Edmundson caught Blake Coleman with a slash at 17:59, yielding a 4-on-3 advantage for Tampa for 34 seconds before the remainder of an abbreviated 5-on-4 advantage for the Lightning would commence.

    While on the ensuing power play, Point rang the post as the Bolts tried to even things up, but failed to convert on the advantage.

    At the horn, both benches converged at center ice as the players were about to go back to the dressing rooms for the first intermission, but first exchanged some pleasantries.

    Pat Maroon and Edmundson both received unsportsmanlike minors at 20:00 of the first period, which resulted in 4-on-4 action to start the middle frame.

    After one period, Montréal led, 1-0, on the scoreboard, despite Tampa holding a, 12-5, advantage in shots on goal.

    The Habs led in blocked shots (5-3) and giveaways (7-2), while the Bolts held the advantage in takeaways (3-1), hits (15-13) and faceoff win percentage (79-21).

    Tampa had the only skater advantage in the opening frame and went 0/1, while Montréal had yet to see time on the power play.

    The Canadiens got their first chance on the skater advantage at 5:50 of the second period as Point caught Lehkonen with a high stick and cut a rut to the sin bin as a result.

    The Habs failed to convert on the power play.

    Moments later, Corey Perry cut a rut to the box for hooking Tyler Johnson at 9:43, but once again the Lightning couldn’t muster anything on the advantage.

    Nor could the Bolts get anything going when Joel Armia tripped up Mathieu Joseph at 14:28 and presented Tampa with another power play as a result– despite Victor Hedman ringing the iron on a heavy shot.

    Late in the period, Jeff Petry failed to clear the zone on a pass that was broken up by Ryan McDonagh.

    The puck deflected off of McDonagh’s stick and sailed through the air to Coleman who worked it to McDonagh in the slot on a short pass as the Tampa defender pinched and dropped the rubber biscuit back to Barclay Goodrow (2) for the one-timer past Price while the Canadiens goaltender was out of position.

    McDonagh (7) and Coleman (8) notched the assists as the Lightning tied it, 1-1, at 17:20 of the second period.

    Entering the second intermission, the Bolts and Habs were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard despite Tampa leading in shots on net, 20-14, through 40 minutes of action.

    Montréal, however, held the advantage in shots in the second period alone, 9-8, and led in giveaways (14-7), while the Lightning led in hits (30-28) after two periods.

    Both teams had six blocked shots each, three takeaways each and split faceoff win%, 50-50, entering the final frame of regulation.

    Tampa was 0/3 and Montréal was 0/1 on the power play heading into the third frame.

    Almost midway into the final frame of regulation, Petry, Ben Chiarot, Anderson, Goodrow, Coleman and Yanni Gourde all received matching roughing minors for a scrum after the whistle at 7:42 of the third period.

    The six skaters wouldn’t come out of the box for over six minutes as there weren’t many stoppages before their penalties expired.

    About a minute after the six skaters went into the box, Romanov (1) wired a shot through traffic into the twine over Vasilevskiy’s blocker and just under the bar as Lehkonen skated by the Tampa netminder acting as a screen.

    Evans (1) had the only assist on Romanov’s goal and the Habs took a, 2-1, lead at 8:48 of the third period, while Romanov became the youngest (21 years, 180 days) Canadiens defender in franchise history to score a goal in the Stanley Cup Final.

    About five minutes later, Joseph led Maroon on a rush the other way from their own blue line into the attacking zone whereby Joseph setup Maroon (2) for a shot pass redirection goal to tie the game, 2-2, at 13:47.

    Joseph (2) and Johnson (3) had the assists on Maroon’s goal.

    Moments later, Nikita Kucherov hit the post– the third time of the night that Tampa registered a shot attempt off the iron– as the Bolts almost took the lead for the first time of the night.

    Late in the period, off an attacking zone faceoff, Shea Weber caught Ondrej Palat with a stick to the face and drew some blood, yielding a four-minute double minor penalty at 18:59 of the third period.

    Tampa’s advantage would spill over into the overtime period, but like the rest of the night, the Lightning couldn’t score on the skater advantage.

    After regulation the Bolts and Habs were knotted up, 2-2, on the scoreboard despite Tampa holding the advantage in shots on goal, 30-19, including a, 10-5, advantage in the third period alone.

    Montréal held the lead in blocked shots (17-15), takeaways (7-4), giveaways (19-13) and faceoff win% (55-46), while Tampa led in hits (36-34).

    As there were no penalties called in overtime, the Lightning finished the night 0/5 on the power play, while the Canadiens went 0/1.

    Tampa nearly allowed a shorthanded goal when Hedman blew a tire along the blue line and failed to keep the puck in the attacking zone while Danault and Suzuki were off to the races and generated a one-timer on Vasilevskiy that the Lightning goaltender turned aside.

    As the Habs surged in momentum and the Bolts got off to a slow start in the extra frame, Cooper used his timeout after a stoppage with 17:33 remaining in overtime.

    Shortly thereafter, Anderson beat Jan Rutta and led a rush the other way with Caufield before the two kept hacking away at the loose puck on a rebound until Anderson (5) slipped it past Vasilevskiy on the short side.

    Caufield (8) had the only assist on the goal at 3:57.

    Montréal took Game 5, 3-2, in overtime and cut Tampa’s series lead to 3-1 as a result.

    Despite losing, the Lightning finished the night with more shots on goal– leading the Canadiens, 34-21, in that department, including a, 4-2, advantage in overtime alone.

    The Habs finished Monday night’s effort leading in blocked shots (19-16), giveaways (20-13) and faceoff win% (52-48), while Tampa exited the building leading in hits (36-35).

    The Bolts are 1-3 in their first attempts to close out a playoff series this postseason– only beating the Carolina Hurricanes on their first try in Game 5 of their Second Round matchup.

    Tampa also had two losses in overtime in games when they had a chance to finish the series, including Game 6 on Long Island against the New York Islanders.

    The Lightning are now 0-4 in overtime this postseason, while Montréal improved to 6-1 past regulation in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs– winning their first game in a Stanley Cup Final when facing elimination for the 12th time in franchise history and first since Game 7 against Chicago in the 1971 Stanley Cup Final.

    Road teams are now 50-41-3 in a Stanley Cup Final game that required overtime after Monday night’s win for the home team Canadiens.

    The most recent team to trail in the Final 3-0 to force a Game 5 was in 2014, when the New York Rangers forced the Los Angeles Kings to a Game 5 at Staples Center that the Kings ended up winning and taking home their second Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

    On Wednesday, the Lightning attempt to repeat Los Angeles’ success in a Game 5 on home ice as they’ll host Montréal at Amalie Arena.

    Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 8 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can tune to NBC, while those in Canada can choose from CBC, SN or TVAS.

  • Lightning one win away from repeating as Stanley Cup champions

    Lightning one win away from repeating as Stanley Cup champions

    The Tampa Bay Lightning are one win away from sweeping the Montréal Canadiens– and winning their third Stanley Cup championship in franchise history in the process– after defeating the Canadiens, 6-3, at Bell Centre on Friday night in Game 3.

    Friday night marked the first Stanley Cup Final game in Montréal since the Habs won it all in Game 5 of their series against the Los Angeles Kings on June 9, 1993.

    Andrei Vasilevskiy (15-6, 1.94 goals-against average, .938 save percentage in 21 games played) made 32 saves on 35 shots against in the win for the Lightning.

    Meanwhile, Canadiens goaltender, Carey Price (12-8, 2.36 goals-against average, .921 save percentage in 20 games played) stopped 24 out of 29 shots faced in the loss.

    Jon Cooper made no changes to his lineup for the Lightning while Alex Killorn remained out of commission due to an undisclosed injury that he sustained while blocking a shot in Game 1.

    Canadiens head coach, Dominique Ducharme, was back behind the bench for the Habs after testing positive for COVID-19 in the last playoff round against the Vegas Golden Knights and self-isolating.

    Ducharme made no adjustments to his lineup, while Luke Richardson returned to his usual role as an assistant coach for Montréal after serving as their temporary leader for the last six games.

    The Québec provincial government made 3,500 seats available for Bell Centre’s seating capacity for Game 3, though it looked like more fans found a way in somehow on the television broadcast.

    Jan Rutta (2) kicked things off with a shot from the point that floated over Price’s shoulder on the blocker side into the twine– giving Tampa a, 1-0, lead at 1:52 of the first period in the process and becoming the first player in NHL history to score a goal (regular season or playoffs) in the month of July.

    Ondrej Palat (7) and Victor Hedman (16) tallied the assists on Rutta’s goal.

    About a minute later, Eric Staal sent the puck over the glass and out of play for an automatic delay of game infraction at 2:54, yielding the night’s first power play to the Lightning in the process.

    It didn’t take the Bolts that long on the skater advantage to convert with a power-play goal from Hedman (2) as the Lightning worked the puck around the attacking zone and back to the defender wearing No. 77.

    He sent a slap shot off of Price, under the glove and into the back of the net to give Tampa a, 2-0, lead at 3:27 of the first period, while Nikita Kucherov (24) and Anthony Cirelli (7) picked up the assists.

    Hedman became the first player in league history to record at least one goal in all 12 calendar months, while Montréal used their timeout to gather their composure.

    Moments later, Blake Coleman went down awkwardly after missing Joel Edmundson on a hit attempt in open ice, but got up under his own power after a whistle and continued to play unscathed for the rest of the night.

    Shortly thereafter, Cole Caufield sniped a shot off of the left post behind Vasilevskiy– beating the Lightning goaltender on the lower right pad– but the puck came back out of the crease and away from the attacking zone.

    Midway through the first period, Phillip Danault (1) held the puck as he entered the zone and sent a shot off of Vasilevskiy that bounced off the left post and right post before finding its way into the net.

    Shea Weber (5) had the only assist on Danault’s goal at 11:16 as the Canadiens cut Tampa’s lead in half, 2-1.

    Late in the period, Mikhail Sergachev caught Artturi Lehkonen away from the puck just far enough from being considered a net front presence to yield an interference infraction at 17:29.

    The Habs were not able to muster anything on the ensuing power play– their first skater advantage of the night.

    Through 20 minutes of action, the Lightning led, 2-1, on the scoreboard, despite the Canadiens holding a, 17-12, advantage in shots on goal.

    Montréal also led in blocked shots (5-4), while Tampa led in giveaways (5-4), hits (21-19) and faceoff win percentage (52-48) entering the first intermission.

    Neither team had recorded a takeaway through one period of play, while the Bolts were 1/1 and the Habs were 0/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    Just like how they got off to a quick start in the first period, the Lightning got off to a fast start in the second period as the Bolts caught the Habs on a poor line change with the long change playing into the end result.

    The Canadiens failed to get the puck deep while trying to change things up, which led to a 2-on-0 heading back the other way for Tampa as Palat setup Kucherov (8) for the backhand redirection goal to make it, 3-1, Lightning at 1:40 of the second period.

    Palat (8) and Erik Cernak (9) tallied the assists on Kucherov’s goal.

    Almost two minutes later, Mathieu Joseph generated a rebound off Price that bounced off of Joseph’s skate right to his teammate in Tyler Johnson as Johnson crashed the net.

    Johnson (3) got a backhand shot on the puck and fluttered the rubber biscuit past Price while the Habs goaltender reacted in desperation.

    Joseph (1) and David Savard (4) notched the assists on Johnson’s goal as the Lightning extended their lead to, 4-1, at 3:33 of the second period.

    Moments later, Cernak sent a shot off the post in the same end that Caufield rang the iron in the opening frame.

    Late in the period, Nick Suzuki (7) went end-to-end with speed and sent a shot under Vasilevskiy’s right leg pad from just inside the faceoff dot on a soft goal to cut Tampa’s lead to two-goals.

    Jeff Petry (6) and Caufield (6) had the helpers on Suzuki’s goal as the Canadiens trailed the Lightning, 4-2, on the scoreboard at 18:04 of the second period.

    Tampa entered the second intermission leading, 4-2, despite trailing in shots on goal to the Habs, 25-21. The Bolts held the advantage in shots on net in the second period alone, however, as they outshot Montréal, 9-8, in the middle frame.

    The Canadiens led in giveaways (15-9), while Tampa dominated in everything else– leading in blocked shots (11-8), takeaways (1-0), hits (36-33) and faceoff win% (54-46) after 40 minutes of action on Friday.

    As there were no penalties called in the second period, the Habs remained 0/1 on the power play, while the Bolts were 1/1 on the skater advantage heading into the final frame of regulation.

    There were no penalties called in the final frame and the action picked up late in the period as Johnson (4) scored on another rebound while crashing the net– shoveling the puck into the twine on Price’s blocker side to make it, 5-2, for the Lightning at 15:19 of the third period.

    Johnson’s second goal of the game was unassisted.

    With 4:12 remaining in the game, Ducharme pulled Price for an extra attacker and the Habs went to work on cutting into Tampa’s lead.

    Corey Perry (4) patiently carried the puck from the corner in the attacking zone to between the goal line and inside the faceoff dot, where he wired a shot over Vasilevskiy’s shoulder on the short side under the bar to bring the Canadiens to within two goals.

    Brendan Gallagher (4) and Ben Chiarot (1) had the assists on Perry’s 45th career postseason goal as the Lightning led, 5-3, at 15:58 of the third period.

    Once more, Price vacated the net for an extra attacker, but this time Tampa took full advantage of the open frame in the crease as Barclay Goodrow forced Caufield to turn the puck over off of Petry’s skate whereby Coleman (3) scooped up the loose puck and buried it for an empty net goal.

    Goodrow (4) had the only assist on Coleman’s goal as the Bolts pulled ahead, 6-3, and sealed the deal on their Game 3 victory at 16:48 of the third period.

    At the final horn, the Lightning had taken a 3-0 series lead with a, 6-3, victory despite trailing in shots on goal, 35-30, including a, 10-9, advantage in the third period alone for the Canadiens.

    Montréal wrapped up Friday night’s action leading in giveaways (26-15), while Tampa held the advantage in blocked shots (13-11), hits (46-38) and faceoff win% (51-49).

    Each team had one opportunity on the power play on Friday with the Lightning going 1/1 and the Canadiens finishing 0/1 on the skater advantage.

    The Bolts became the fourth team in the Expansion Era (since 1967-68) to win the first three games in a Stanley Cup Final without trailing, joining the 2012 Los Angeles Kings and the 1977, as well as 1969 Canadiens in doing so.

    Los Angeles went on to eliminate the New Jersey Devils in six games in 2012, to capture their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, while Montréal swept the Boston Bruins in the 1977 Stanley Cup Final and the St. Louis Blues in 1969.

    Tampa can become the first team to sweep their opponent in the Final since the Detroit Red Wings swept the Washington Capitals in 1998.

    The Lightning can win their third Stanley Cup ring in Game 4 on Monday night at Bell Centre in Montréal as the Canadiens look to avoid being eliminated on home ice.

    Puck drop is expected to be a little after 8 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can tune to NBC for the action, while those in Canada can choose from CBC, SN or TVAS for coverage.

  • Lightning yield commanding 2-0 series lead in, 3-1, victory

    Lightning yield commanding 2-0 series lead in, 3-1, victory

    Though they were outshot, 43-23, on the night, Blake Coleman’s eventual game-winning goal with only seconds to spare in the second period and Ondrej Palat’s insurance marker thereafter in the third period were enough to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a, 3-1, win over the Montréal Canadiens on Wednesday.

    Andrei Vasilevskiy (14-6, 1.89 goals-against average, .939 save percentage in 20 games played) made 42 saves on 43 shots against in the Game 2 victory for the Lightning as the Bolts took a 2-0 series lead in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final in front of their home fans at Amalie Arena.

    Canadiens goaltender, Carey Price (12-7, 2.23 goals-against average, .926 save percentage in 19 games played), stopped 20 out of 23 shots faced in the loss.

    Joel Armia returned to the lineup for Montréal on the Canadiens’ fourth line alongside Eric Staal and Corey Perry after missing Game 1. Armia was cleared from COVID protocol on Monday and flew in a private jet to Tampa and was not quite ready to go ahead of the, 5-1, loss in Game 1.

    That was the only change to the lineup for Luke Richardson as Richardson remained at the reigns of the Habs on Wednesday.

    Canadiens head coach, Dominique Ducharme, is expected to return behind the bench on Friday in time for Game 3 at Bell Centre in Montréal, where Ducharme has been isolating since testing positive for COVID-19 last month.

    At the other end of the rink, Alex Killorn missed Game 2 after blocking a shot in Game 1 and playing in limited ice time thereafter. Tyler Johnson was promoted to Tampa’s second line, while Jon Cooper inserted Mathieu Joseph on the Lightning’s fourth line as a result.

    The Bolts hosted 18,600 fans in attendance on Wednesday, which was up from Monday night’s capacity limit of 16,300.

    The Québec provincial government informed the Canadiens on Wednesday night that Bell Centre would be limited to 3,500 fans for Game 3 on Friday– despite the large crowd that is sure to gather outside the arena anyway during the game.

    Habs defender, Jeff Petry, tripped Brayden Point and presented the Lightning with the night’s first power play at 5:29 of the first period.

    Tampa wasn’t able to convert on the skater advantage, however.

    The Bolts had another unsuccessful power play moments later when Paul Byron cut a rut to the penalty box for catching Steven Stamkos with a slash at 9:57.

    Once more, however, Tampa couldn’t score on the advantage.

    Byron later returned to the sin bin for slashing once more at 17:27 of the first period, only this time he took Lightning defender, Erik Cernak, with him as Cernak was assessed a retaliatory cross checking infraction.

    Meanwhile, Ryan McDonagh had caught Phillip Danault with a high stick and drew blood, yielding a four-minute double minor penalty at the same time.

    As a result, Montréal went on a 4-on-3 power play for a pair of minutes before the Canadiens had a run-of-the-mill 5-on-4 skater advantage for the remainder of McDonagh’s minor (which would spill into the middle frame).

    Neither team found the back of the net prior to the first horn of the night to signal the start of the first intermission.

    The score remained, 0-0, despite the Canadiens leading in shots on goal, 13-6.

    The Habs led in blocked shots (8-1), hits (14-11) and faceoff win percentage (53-47), while the Bolts held the advantage in takeaways (5-1) and giveaways (3-1).

    Both teams went 0/2 on the power play through one period on Wednesday.

    Tampa was the first to get on the scoreboard as Johnson worked the puck back to Anthony Cirelli at the point whereby Cirelli (5) sent a floating shot from almost downtown through traffic off of Price’s blocker and under the Canadiens’ goaltender’s arm into the twine.

    Johnson (2) and Jan Rutta (1) tallied the assists on Cirelli’s goal as the Lightning pulled ahead, 1-0, at 6:40 of the second period.

    Cirelli’s goal was just the second shot on net for the Bolts in a span of almost 16 minutes.

    Moments later, Mikhail Sergachev was penalized for interference at 10:03 and presented the Canadiens with another power play.

    This time, Montréal made quick work of the skater advantage– in part, due to a couple lucky bounces.

    Nick Suzuki (6) flipped a backhand shot towards the net as the puck bounced off the ice, caught McDonagh’s stick, changed direction and slipped through Vasilevskiy’s five-hole as Perry acted as a screen in front of the Tampa netminder.

    Suzuki’s power-play goal was unassisted and tied the game, 1-1, at 10:36 of the second period.

    Late in the period, Armia caught Coleman with a high stick at 16:38 and presented the Lightning with another power play.

    Though Tampa wouldn’t score on the skater advantage, they would catch the Canadiens in the vulnerable minute after special teams action as the Habs turned the puck over in the neutral zone.

    Barclay Goodrow chipped the rubber biscuit to himself around Ben Chiarot and entered the attacking zone on a rush with Coleman.

    Goodrow then sent a backhand pass to Coleman (2) for the one-timed swing while diving to reach the puck– connecting on the mid-air rubber and scoring in the process to give the Lightning a, 2-1, lead at 19:58 of the second period.

    It was the first goal for Coleman in 19 games as Goodrow (3) and McDonagh (6) picked up the assists and the Bolts entered the second intermission with the lead on the scoreboard.

    Through 40 minutes, Tampa led, 2-1, despite trailing in shots on goal, 29-13. Montréal held a, 16-7, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone.

    The Habs also led in blocked shots (9-6) and faceoff win% (54-46), while the Lightning led in takeaways (9-4), giveaways (4-1) and hits (28-24).

    The Canadiens were 1/3 on the power play and the Bolts were 0/3 on the skater advantage heading into the final frame.

    Joel Edmundson sent a reverse pass off the boards behind his own net intended for Petry, but Palat (5) intercepted the puck and banked it off of Price into the back of the net as the Canadiens defenders miscommunication proved costly at 15:42 of the third period.

    Palat’s unassisted goal gave the Lightning a, 3-1, lead and secured the victory as such.

    Moments later, Montréal pulled Price for an extra skater with about two minutes remaining in the game and used their timeout after a stoppage with 46.7 seconds to go, but it was to no avail.

    At the final horn, Tampa had won, 3-1, and taken a 2-0 series lead as a result.

    The two teams exchanged further pleasantries, yielding a cross checking minor and a misconduct for Cirelli at 20:00 of the third period, as well as a roughing minor and a misconduct for Perry at the same time.

    Montréal finished the night leading in shots on goal, 43-23, including a, 14-10, advantage in the third period alone.

    The Habs exited the building leading in faceoff win% (53-47), while the Bolts wrapped up Wednesday night leading in blocked shots (14-10), giveaways (6-2) and hits (40-36).

    Despite each team receiving a couple infractions to finish off the night, the Canadiens finished 1/3 and the Lightning went 0/3 on the power play in Game 2.

    For the first time in four Stanley Cup Final appearances, Tampa had a 2-0 series lead and didn’t split the series 1-1 through Games 1 and 2.

    Another interesting stat from the night relates to the fact that the Habs fell to 10-4 this postseason when not giving up a goal in the first period. They dominated in shots on goal and have been the best at comebacks this postseason and yet…

    Just not enough on Wednesday, apparently.

    The series shifts to Bell Centre in Montréal on Friday night where the Lightning look to go up 3-0 in the series, while the Canadiens look to win Game 3 and cut Tampa’s series lead to 2-1.

    Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can catch the action on NBC, while those in Canada can choose from CBC, SN or TVAS.

  • Lightning rout Canadiens in Game 1 victory at home

    Lightning rout Canadiens in Game 1 victory at home

    Nikita Kucherov scored a pair of goals as the Tampa Bay Lightning cruised to a, 5-1, victory over the Montréal Canadiens Monday night at Amalie Arena in Game 1 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.

    Andrei Vasilevskiy (13-6, 1.94 goals-against average, .936 save percentage in 19 games) made 18 saves on 19 shots against in the win as the Lightning jumped out to a 1-0 series lead in the Final.

    Habs netminder, Carey Price (12-6, 2.18 goals-against average, .928 save percentage in 18 games played), stopped 22 out of 27 shots faced in the loss.

    Jake Evans returned to the lineup for the Canadiens for the first time since sustaining a concussion on a charge from Mark Scheifele in Game 1 of Montréal’s Second Round series against the Winnipeg Jets.

    Evans missed the last nine games for the Habs.

    Meanwhile, Joel Armia was cleared from COVID protocol on Monday, flew in a private jet to Tampa and participated in warmup, but was not ready to go as a game-time decision.

    Canadiens head coach, Dominique Ducharme, will return to his regular role behind the bench in Montréal for Game 3, since testing positive for COVID-19 on June 18th and self-isolating.

    In accordance with Canadian regulations, Ducharme will did not travel to the United States for Games 1 and 2 in Tampa, so he won’t have to quarantine for another 14 days when the series shifts to Montréal for Games 3 and 4.

    Luke Richardson remains in command for the Habs until Bell Centre hosts its first Stanley Cup Final game.

    16,300 fans filled Amalie Arena on Monday night as Tampa continues to loosen indoor COVID-19 restrictions in attendance in accordance with the NHL’s protocols. It was the largest crowd for a Lightning game since last season.

    Bolts head coach, Jon Cooper, rolled out Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point and Kucherov on his first line, while completing his top-six forward group with Alex Killorn, Anthony Cirelli and Steven Stamkos on the second line.

    Barclay Goodrow, Yanni Gourde and Blake Coleman comprised Tampa’s third line, while Pat Maroon, Tyler Johnson and Ross Colton carried the fourth line.

    On defense, Cooper paired Victor Hedman with Jan Rutta as he’s done all postseason, while Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak served as his second pairing and Mikhail Sergachev was partnered with David Savard on the third defensive pair.

    Richardson countered with Artturi Lehkonen, Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher on his first line, while Tyler Toffoli, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield rounded out Montréal’s top-six forward group.

    Paul Byron, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Josh Anderson skated together on the third line, while Evans, Eric Staal and Corey Perry slotted in on the fourth line.

    On defense, Ben Chiarot suited up alongside Shea Weber, Joel Edmundson was paired with Jeff Petry and Erik Gustafsson skated with Jon Merrill on the third defensive pair for the Habs.

    Cernak (1) opened the series’ scoring with a shot pass redirection goal over Price’s glove to give the Lightning a, 1-0, lead at 6:19 of the first period.

    Palat (6) and Point (7) tallied the assists on Cernak’s first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal in his 46th career postseason game.

    Late in the period, Goodrow cross checked Gallagher and presented the Canadiens with the first power play of the series at 15:21 of the first period.

    Montréal didn’t convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however, as the Lightning remained in command on the scoreboard.

    Tampa got a power play at 19:14 after Chiarot roughed up Kucherov, but the Bolts couldn’t muster anything on the power play despite the split ends of the advantage over the remaining time in the first period and a little more than the opening minute of the middle frame.

    After one period, the Lightning led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 7-5.

    Tampa also held the advantage in takeaways (3-2), while Montréal led in giveaways (3-1), hits (26-19) and faceoff win percentage (56-44).

    Both teams managed to have three blocked shots each and were 0/1 on the power play heading into the first intermission.

    Chiarot sent a shot attempt at the goal frame that deflected off of something and caught the iron to the right of Vasilevskiy’s leg pad, but the Bolts remained in command uninterrupted.

    Moments later, Gallagher turned the puck over in Montréal’s attacking zone, leading to a rush for the Lightning heading back the other way, whereby Goodrow sent a shot that was blocked before Coleman pounced on the loose puck and threw a shot towards the net.

    Coleman’s shot went through Merrill and caught a piece of Gourde (6) as he stood in front of the crease acting as a screen before the rubber biscuit had eyes and made its way through Price’s five-hole to give Tampa a, 2-0, lead.

    Coleman (7) and Goodrow (2) notched the assists on the goal as the Bolts took a two-goal lead at 5:47 of the second period.

    Late in the middle frame, Chiarot played a little pinball after Tampa turned it over and the Habs worked the puck around the attacking zone.

    Chiarot (1) unloaded on a slap shot that deflected off of Cirelli, then McDonagh and slipped behind Vasilevskiy to cut Tampa’s lead in half, 2-1, on the scoreboard at 17:40.

    Kotkaniemi (3) and Weber (4) were credited with the helpers on Chiarot’s first goal of the 2021 postseason for the Canadiens.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the Lightning led, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 19-14, in shots on goal, including a, 12-9, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone.

    Tampa also held the advantage in blocked shots (8-5), takeaways (7-2), giveaways (7-3) and faceoff win% (51-49), while Montréal led in hits (44-41).

    As there were no penalties called in the second period, both teams remained 0/1 on the power play heading into the second intermission.

    Kucherov (6) threw the puck into the slot early in the final frame and Chiarot smacked it out of the air with his glove, but somehow the puck managed to float over Price’s glove and under the bar to give the Lightning a, 3-1, lead at 2:00 of the third period.

    Sergachev (3) had the only assist on Kucherov’s first goal of the night.

    Minutes later, Staal and Cernak exchanged pleasantries after a stoppage and received roughing minors at 6:30, resulting in a pair of minutes of 4-on-4 action.

    Midway through the third period, Kucherov (7) received a pass from Point on an attacking zone faceoff win and sent a laser of a shot past Price high on the glove side to extend Tampa’s lead to three-goals.

    Point (8) had the only assist on Kucherov’s second goal of the game as the Bolts made it, 4-1, at 11:25 of the third period.

    About a couple minutes later, Coleman took off Gallagher’s helmet after Price froze the puck in Montréal’s own zone and slammed Gallagher into the ice face first, resulting in a bit of a bloody gash on Gallagher’s forehead and yielding a power play to the Canadiens as a result.

    Coleman cut a rut to the box for roughing at 13:42, but the Habs weren’t able to score on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Shortly after killing off Coleman’s minor infraction, the Bolts went on the power play as Kotkaniemi retaliated with a high stick on Cernak at 15:51.

    Edmundson joined Kotkaniemi in the box late in the resulting power play for roughing Gourde at 17:20, yielding a 5-on-3 advantage to the Lightning as a result, whereby Cooper sent out five forwards to make the Habs pay on the scoreboard.

    About 90 seconds later, Tampa struck on the power play when Stamkos (8) blasted a one-timer from his usual spot in the faceoff dot to beat Price on the short side.

    Kucherov (23) and Point (9) tallied the assists on Stamkos’ power-play goal and the Lightning extended their lead, 5-1, at 18:50 of the third period.

    At the final horn, Tampa had taken a 1-0 series lead with a, 5-1, victory over Montréal in Game 1 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.

    The Bolts finished Monday night’s effort leading in shots on goal, 27-19, including an, 8-5, advantage in the third period alone.

    The Lightning also wrapped up Game 1 leading in blocked shots (15-5) and giveaways (9-3), while the Canadiens finished the night leading in hits (58-57).

    Faceoff win% was split evenly, 50-50, while the Habs went 0/2 and the Bolts went 1/3 on the power play.

    Tampa has a chance to take a 2-0 series lead and Montréal’s got a chance to even the series 1-1 on Wednesday night in Game 2 from Amalie Arena.

    Puck drop is set for a little after 8 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can tune to NBCSN for coverage, while those in Canada can choose from CBC, SN or TVAS.

  • Lightning strike twice in, 2-1, victory on the road in Game 1 against Hurricanes

    Lightning strike twice in, 2-1, victory on the road in Game 1 against Hurricanes

    It’s the perfect storm for meteorologists that also like hockey as the Tampa Bay Lightning took Game 1 on the road against the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1, at PNC Arena on Sunday.

    Barclay Goodrow scored the game-winning goal midway through the third period as Andrei Vasilevskiy (5-2, 2.41 goals-against average, .936 save percentage in seven games played) made 37 saves on 38 shots against in the win for Tampa.

    Carolina netminder, Alex Nedeljkovic (4-3, 2.20 goals-against average, .923 save percentage in seven games played) stopped 28 out of 30 shots faced in the loss.

    David Savard (upper body) was out of the lineup for the Lightning, while Nino Niederreiter (undisclosed) was not available for the Hurricanes in Game 1.

    Rod Brind’Amour told reporters after Sunday’s game that Niederreiter might be out for the entire series against Tampa.

    Meanwhile, these two clubs are meeting for the first time in a Stanley Cup Playoff series.

    Midway through the opening frame, the Bolts botched a line change and had too many skaters on the ice, yielding a bench minor for exactly that– sending Pat Maroon to the box to serve the infraction– and presenting Carolina with the game’s first power play at 9:13 of the first period.

    The Hurricanes, however, did not convert on the ensuing advantage.

    Nor did the Canes find the back of the net on the following power play at 14:45 as Nikita Kucherov cut a rut to the penalty box for tripping Sebastian Aho.

    After one period of action in Raleigh, the score remained tied, 0-0, while the Hurricanes outshot the Lightning, 15-12.

    Carolina held the advantage in giveaways (3-2), while Tampa dominated in just about everything else, including blocked shots (4-3), hits (18-13) and faceoff win percentage (63-37).

    Both teams had two takeaways each as the Lightning had yet to see time on the power play and the Hurricanes were 0/2.

    Brock McGinn caught Mikhail Sergachev with a high stick to kickoff the second period with a power play for the Bolts at 6:56.

    Late in the ensuing skater advantage, Victor Hedman sent a shot pass to Brayden Point (5) for the redirection through Nedeljkovic’s five-hole from point blank to give Tampa a, 1-0, lead at 8:15 of the second period.

    Hedman (9) and Kucherov (9) notched the assists on Point’s power-play goal as the Bolts got on the board first.

    Less than a minute later, Tampa was back on the power play as former Lightning forward, turned current Hurricanes player, Cedric Paquette, was penalized for interference at 8:56.

    Tampa’s power play didn’t last long, however, as Kucherov cross checked McGinn at 10:11 and presented both teams with 46 seconds of 4-on-4 action before an abbreviated power play for Carolina.

    Neither team managed to score on the ensuing special teams play and the Lightning got one more chance on the skater advantage late in the middle frame when Dougie Hamilton tripped Point at 15:06.

    In the dying minute of the middle frame, Blake Coleman tripped Jordan Martinook and was sent to the box at 19:47 as a result.

    Through 40 minutes of action, the Lightning led, 1-0, on the scoreboard, despite Carolina holding a, 26-21, advantage in shots on goal, including an, 11-9, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Hurricanes led in blocked shots (14-9), takeaways (6-5) and giveaways (7-6) after two periods, while Tampa led in hits (32-23) and faceoff win% (55-45).

    The Bolts were 1/3 and the Canes were 0/4 on the power play entering the second intermission.

    Carolina started the final frame with 1:48 left on the power play and used all but about seven seconds of it to wire one into the back of the net.

    Jake Bean played catch with Andrei Svechnikov as Svechnikov tossed the puck back to Bean (1) for the shot past Vasilevskiy’s blocker side while Jesper Fast acted as a screen in front of the net.

    Svechnikov (3) and Fast (2) had the assists on Bean’s first career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal as the Hurricanes tied things up, 1-1, at 1:41 of the third period.

    Midway through the period, Anthony Cirelli got a stick up high on Vincent Trocheck and was assessed a minor infraction at 8:04 of the third period.

    Carolina couldn’t score on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

    Moments later, Goodrow (1) beat Nedeljkovic on the short side as the Canes netminder took his pad off the post to fall into the shot with his chest except the Bolts forward sent the puck low– beating Nedeljkovic and putting Tampa ahead, 2-1, at 12:39.

    Coleman (3) had the only assist on Goodrow’s goal.

    The Hurricanes tried to even things up– even after pulling Nedeljkovic for an extra skater with less than two minutes remaining in the game, but they couldn’t muster anything else past Vasilevskiy as the final horn sounded on the night.

    Tampa had won, 2-1, and taken a 1-0 series lead despite being outshot by Carolina, 38-30, in total shots on goal, as well as, 12-9, in shots in the third period alone.

    The Lightning wrapped up Sunday’s action leading in blocked shots (18-16) and hits (37-31), while the Hurricanes led in giveaways (12-7) and faceoff win% (53-47).

    Both teams managed to score a power-play goal as the Bolts went 1/3 and the Canes went 1/5 on the skater advantage in Game 1.

    The Lightning grabbed a 1-0 series lead as a result of stealing Game 1 on the road as the two clubs head into Game 2 on Tuesday night in Raleigh.

    Puck drop at PNC Arena is expected to be around 7:30 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can tune to NBCSN for coverage, while those in Canada can choose from SN or TVAS.

  • 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.