Down the Frozen River

Tag: Barclays Center

  • 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round Preview: Eastern Conference

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Regular season outcomes:

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

    Schedule:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    *If necessary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Have some compassion, for once.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Regular season outcomes:

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

    Schedule:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    *If necessary

  • Rask’s 35 saves and Bergeron’s OT winner secure, 3-2, win for Boston against Isles

    Patrice Bergeron scored the game-winning power play goal in overtime as the Boston Bruins defeated the New York Islanders, 3-2, at Barclays Center on Saturday night.

    With the goal, the Bruins set a new franchise record for most consecutive games with at least one power play goal (13)– surpassing the previous record (12) set in the 1987-88 season.

    Tuukka Rask (17-4-6 record, 2.27 goals against average, .925 save percentage in 27 games played) made 35 saves on 37 shots against for a .946 SV% in the win for the B’s.

    Islanders goaltender, Semyon Varlamov (15-5-4, 2.33 GAA, .923 SV% in 28 games played) stopped 30 out of 33 shots faced for a .909 SV% in the overtime loss.

    Boston improved to 27-8-11 (65 points) and remained in command of the Atlantic Division, while New York fell to 27-12-4 (58 points) and stagnant in 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division.

    The Bruins improved to 12-6-2 on the road this season in what was Torey Krug’s 500th career NHL game and Sean Kuraly’s 200th career NHL game.

    Kevan Miller (knee) and Connor Clifton (upper body) were the only Bruins out of the lineup due to injury, while Zdeno Chara made his return after missing the last game due to his lingering jaw recovery.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made one change among his forwards– swapping David Backes with Brett Ritchie on the third line.

    Backes, Par Lindholm and Steven Kampfer served as Boston’s healthy scratches against the Isles.

    Early in the opening frame, Mathew Barzal sent the puck back to the point whereby Scott Mayfield (5) sniped a shot into the corner of the twine over Rask’s glove to give the Islanders the first lead of the night, 1-0.

    Barzal (20) and Noah Dobson (3) had the assists on Mayfield’s goal at 4:36 of the first period as New York dominated the first period in shots on net.

    Midway through the opening period, Charlie McAvoy hooked Brock Nelson and was assessed a minor infraction at 12:31.

    The Islanders did not convert on the ensuing power play opportunity.

    Entering the first intermission, New York led, 1-0, despite dominating in shots on goal, 14-5.

    The Isles also led in giveaways (10-7) and hits (10-9), while the Bruins held the advantage in blocked shots (7-2). Both teams had three takeaways aside as the Islanders were the only team to see any time on the skater advantage and went 0/1 through 20 minutes.

    After taking an errant stick down low from Derick Brassard in the first period, Matt Grzelcyk was ruled “unlikely to return to the game” as announced by Boston on their Twitter account early in the middle frame.

    Moments later, the Bruins tied the game, 1-1, on a whacky play whereby Jake DeBrusk (14) poked at a loose puck over Varlamov that had rebounded off of someone in front of the net after McAvoy’s initial shot was blocked.

    Anders Bjork (6) and McAvoy (16) were credited with the assists as Boston evened the score at 8:33 of the second period.

    Late in the period, Mayfield was penalized for roughing against Charlie Coyle, but Boston was not successful on their first power play opportunity of the night.

    Through 40 minutes at Barclays Center, the Bruins and Islanders were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard and, 11-11, in shots on goal in the second period alone.

    New York held the total shots on goal advantage (25-16) and led in faceoff win percentage (52-49).

    Boston held the lead in blocked shots (12-9) and takeaways (4-3), while both teams had 14 giveaways and 17 hits each.

    Heading into the third period, each team was 0/1 on the power play as well.

    John Moore (2) rocketed a shot from the point that redirected off of the skate of former Bruins defender turned current Islanders defender, Johnny Boychuk, and behind Varlamov while Ritchie acted as a screen in front of the goal.

    Danton Heinen (11) and Coyle (15) tallied the assists on Moore’s first goal in 11 games as Boston took their first lead of the night, 2-1, at 5:48 of the third period.

    Less than four minutes later, Barzal (17) deflected the puck through Rask’s five-hole on a slap pass from Josh Bailey– tying the game in the process.

    Bailey (16) had the only assist on Barzal’s goal at 9:33 and the Islanders knotted things up, 2-2.

    With about five minutes remaining in regulation, McAvoy blocked his second Boychuk slap shot of the night and skated off slowly before returning to action.

    The stinger caused a brief scare for the Bruins– having already lost Grzelcyk for the night in the first period on the blue line.

    After 60 minutes of regulation, the game went to overtime with the score tied, 2-2, and New York leading in shots on goal (37-30), despite Boston holding the advantage in shots on net in the third period alone (14-12).

    The Islanders led in hits (30-29) and faceoff win% (52-48) heading into overtime, while the Bruins led in blocked shots (18-17) and giveaways (20-17).

    Both teams had five takeaways and were 0/1 on the power play entering the extra frame.

    Cassidy elected to start David Krejci, Brad Marchand and McAvoy in overtime, while Isles head coach, Barry Trotz, went with Anthony Beauvillier, Nelson and Nick Leddy.

    Just 40 seconds into the overtime period, Nelson trailed Marchand and tripped up the Bruins winger, yielding a power play to Boston and the 4-on-3 advantage for the B’s as a result.

    While on the ensuing power play, Casey Cizikas blocked a shot from David Pastrnak and went down only for play to continue a few more seconds before the officials determined a stoppage was necessary to tend to the injured Cizikas.

    Shortly thereafter, the Bruins worked back into the attacking zone on the skater advantage after New York cleared the puck down the length of the ice.

    Krug fed Bergeron (19) in his usual bumper role as No. 37 in black and gold scored the game-winner at 1:33 of the overtime period.

    Krug (26) and Rask (2) had the assists on Bergeron’s power play goal as the Bruins took home the, 3-2, victory on the road in the first game at Barclays Center in about six weeks.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal in the overtime period, 3-0, but trailing to New York in the final shot totals, 37-33.

    The Islanders managed to finish the night leading in blocked shots (19-18), hits (31-29) and faceoff win% (54-46) despite the overtime loss. They also went 0/1 on their only skater advantage opportunity of the game.

    The B’s wrapped up Saturday night with the advantage in giveaways (20-17) and went 1/2 on the power play.

    New York fell to 7-3 overall in overtime this season.

    The Bruins improved to 1-3-3 when trailing after the first period and 8-2-3 when tied after two periods this season as a result of the win. The B’s are now 3-4 in overtime this season.

    Boston continues their three-game road trip (1-0-0) on Monday (Jan. 13th) in Philadelphia for a meeting with the Flyers before finishing up their current road trip in Columbus on Tuesday (Jan. 14th).

    The Bruins return home to face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 16th before facing the Penguins in Pittsburgh for the second game their home-and-home matchup and finish up their game action before the All-Star break with a home game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 21st.

  • DTFR Podcast #176- A Day Late

    DTFR Podcast #176- A Day Late

    The new format of the DTFR Podcast is introduced as Dustin Byfuglien is out for an extended period of time, Louis Domingue was traded, Scott Sabourin suffered a scary injury and the New York Islanders are on a nine-game winning streak.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • New York Islanders 2019-20 Season Preview

    New York Islanders

    48-27-7, 103 points, 2nd in the Metropolitan Division

    Eliminated in the Second Round by Carolina

    Additions: F Derick Brassard, D Luca Sbisa (signed to a PTO), G Semyon Varlamov

    Subtractions: F Steve Bernier (signed with Bridgeport, AHL), F Valtteri Filppula (signed with DET), F Stephen Gionta (retired), F Mike Sislo (DEL), F John Steven (signed with Bridgeport, AHL), G Robin Lehner (signed with CHI), G Jeremy Smith (KHL)

    Still Unsigned: D Dennis Seidenberg

    Re-signed: F Anthony Beauvillier, F Michael Dal Colle, F Josh Ho-Sang, F Tom Kuhnhackl, F Anders Lee

    Offseason Analysis: The New York Islanders turned heads last season after losing a franchise player in free agency. Head coach, Barry Trotz, is always capable of making something out of nothing– even if that something only gets you to the Second Round.

    New York swept the Pittsburgh Penguins in four games in the First Round, then were swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in the Second Round– just as everyone expected heading into 2018-19, right?

    Isles GM Lou Lamoriello followed up last season’s forward progress with a mixed result in the offseason.

    While he signed Anders Lee to a long-term, seven-year extension worth $7.000 million per season, Lamoriello also kicked out one of last season’s heroes.

    Robin Lehner wanted to get a deal done with New York, but when Lamoriello thought he was getting Artemi Panarin at a long-term deal with a lot of money, plans didn’t include Lehner into the equation.

    Then Panarin signed with the New York Rangers and Lehner was ready to go back to the Islanders, but Lamoriello had already moved on and locked up Semyon Varlamov to a four-year, $20.000 million contract.

    For the same price Lehner got paid by the Chicago Blackhawks, Lamoriello got an additional three years out of Varlamov.

    One of these things, however, just isn’t like the other.

    Lehner, 28, won the William M. Jennings Trophy with Thomas Greiss last season and nabbed the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy with a bounce-back performance in the crease, amassing a 2.13 goals against average and a .930 save percentage in 46 games for New York last season, while battling addiction and mental health issues.

    Varlamov, 31, had a 2.87 GAA and a .909 SV% in 49 games with the Colorado Avalanche last season and has not had a sub-2.50 GAA since the 2013-14 season, in which he recorded a 2.41 GAA in 63 games for the Avs.

    Aside from that, the Islanders are getting older without utilizing all of their youth options and they haven’t made a trade since July 2018.

    Offseason Grade: C

    It was an average offseason for New York as the Islanders continue to be praised for their future visions at Belmont Park, the fact that an additional seven games were switched from Barclays Center to NYCB Live/Nassau Coliseum and the fact that Lamoriello did next to nothing out of the ordinary.

    One goaltender in, one goaltender out. The rest of the moves were par for the course. Nothing flashy– just like how they’ll keep playing this season.

  • 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round Preview: Eastern Conference

    How’s your bracket doing? Not great? Well, you should have taken my advice for the last round (except for Calgary and Tampa). Maybe you’ll nail the Second Chance Bracket the NHL is offering.

    Or maybe you won’t.

    Regardless, the First Round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs is over and the Second Round starts on Thursday. As such, let’s take a look at every matchup like we did for the last round.

    A2 Boston Bruins (49-24-9, 107 points) vs EWC2 Columbus Blue Jackets (47-31-4, 98 points)

    The Bruins went 2-1-0 against the Blue Jackets in the regular season and matched Columbus’ intensity at times throughout all three games in the season series.

    Boston is coming off a seven game series win over the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second year in a row and is getting more than enough production from their bottom six forwards as of late.

    Charlie Coyle has consistently been the best player on the ice for the B’s– going hard to the corners and dirty areas, carrying the puck and adding 3-1–4 totals (tied for 5th on the roster in scoring).

    As usual, Brad Marchand leads the Bruins this postseason in goals, assists and points with 4-5–9 totals entering the Second Round, while the rest of the first line– Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak— has five and six points, respectively.

    But wait, what’s that? Bruce Cassidy moved Pastrnak to the second line right wing with Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci and promoted Danton Heinen to the first line right wing?

    Yes, short of Krejci and Pastrnak’s performance in the First Round matchup, the B’s are looking to get a little more from DeBrusk (one goal against Toronto) against Columbus.

    Tuukka Rask (4-3-0 record, 2.31 goals against average, .928 save percentage in seven games this postseason) has been solid in his last few starts and looks to maintain momentum as things get going with the Blue Jackets.

    For the first time in franchise history, Columbus advanced past the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Not only that, but they rocketed past the Tampa Bay Lightning– sweeping the 2018-19 President’s Trophy winners with the best regular season record of 62-16-4 (tying the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings for the most wins in a season) in just four postseason games.

    Blue Jackets head coach, John Tortorella, is quite familiar with what it takes to knockoff one of the best teams already heading into the Second Round and he has a Stanley Cup championship to his name with the (you guessed it) 2004 Lightning.

    Columbus is led by trade deadline acquisition, Matt Duchene, in scoring with sevens points (three goals, four assists) in four games this postseason.

    Pending-UFA this July, Artemi Panarin, is 2nd on the roster with 2-3–5 totals, followed by a three-way tie for 3rd between Cam Atkinson, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Seth Jones with four points.

    The Blue Jackets have a lot of speed and firepower and they have guys like, former Bruin, Riley Nash on their penalty kill.

    Though he finished the regular season with a career-worst 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 78 games played (ignoring his nine points in 32 games in the lockout shortened 2012-13 season and previous one point in five games in 2011-12), Nash has reached the back of the twine once already in the playoffs.

    After recording a career-high and league-best nine shutouts in the regular season, Sergei Bobrovsky (4-0-0, 2.01 GAA, .932 SV% in four games this postseason) has the upper hand in goaltending– statistically speaking, of course.

    He is in the midst of his postseason career-best performance, but he has faced the Bruins before in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2011 as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers. That year, Boston swept Philly and went on to win the Cup, while Bobrovsky suffered two losses in three starts (six games played) and amassed a 3.23 GAA and .877 SV%.

    He was just a rookie, but if anyone’s done their research on how to beat Bobrovsky it might just be the Bruins. In his two starts against Boston this season (March 12th and April 2nd) he allowed four goals in each game.

    Granted, the playoffs are a different breed from the regular season, Boston should still find a way to deal with Tortorella’s all-in crew in six games.

    Regular season outcomes:

    6-2 BOS at Nationwide Arena on April 2nd, 2-1 F/OT BOS at TD Garden on March 16th, 7-4 CBJ at Nationwide Arena on March 12th

    Schedule:

    4/25- Game 1 CBJ @ BOS 7 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS

    4/27- Game 2 CBJ @ BOS 8 PM ET on NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS

    4/30- Game 3 BOS @ CBJ 7 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS

    5/2- Game 4 BOS @ CBJ 7:30 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS

    5/4- Game 5 CBJ @ BOS 7:15 PM ET on NBC, TVAS*

    5/6- Game 6 BOS @ CBJ*

    5/8- Game 7 CBJ @ BOS*

    *If necessary

    M2 New York Islanders (48-27-7, 103 points) vs EWC1 Carolina Hurricanes (46-29-7, 99 points)

    New York went 3-1-0 against Carolina in the regular season, but don’t let that influence anything.

    The Islanders split their games against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the regular season, then went on to sweep them in the First Round and the Hurricanes lost every game against the Washington Capitals in the regular season, but defeated the defending Stanley Cup champions in seven games.

    Welcome to the playoffs.

    Barry Trotz is in his first season behind the bench of the Islanders and brought his usual anchor of a defensive style, while General Manager Lou Lamoriello brought some stability to the front office, as well as the roster as New York said “goodbye” to John Tavares last July.

    The Isles led the Metropolitan Division at times this season, but faltered late in February and March to 2nd place in the division standings.

    Yet, this team has almost always performed better when just about everyone is counting them out.

    When Tavares left, many experts didn’t see anything that could make up for the hole in the roster.

    When the puck dropped against the Penguins in the First Round, many thought Pittsburgh’s three Cups in the last ten years would have brought more than enough experience to outperform the defending Stanley Cup champion head coach.

    New York has been led by Jordan Eberle in scoring this postseason as the former Edmonton Oiler has amassed a goal a game and six points (four goals, two assists) in four playoff games this year.

    As for Mathew Barzal? He leads the team in assists with five.

    Josh Bailey and Valtteri Filppula each have four points through four games.

    In goal, Robin Lehner (4-0-0, 1.47 GAA, .956 SV% in four games played this postseason) is blazing through his prior struggles in the crease in his first postseason as a starting goaltender.

    It’s a team effort that’s gotten the Isles this far. But it’s also a team effort that’s let the Hurricanes into the Second Round.

    Making their first postseason appearance since 2009, Carolina entered Game 7 in Washington boasting a 4-0 record in such games since relocating from Hartford.

    The Canes trailed 2-0, and 3-1, but they forced overtime and won the game, 4-3, in double overtime– improving to 5-0, since the Whalers last existed, in Game 7s and knocking off Alex Ovechkin and his pals.

    For the 19th time in the last 20 postseasons, there won’t be a repeat champion.

    Rod Brind’Amour won a Cup with Carolina as player in 2006. He’s in his first season behind the bench as the Hurricanes head coach and joined Dallas Stars head coach, Jim Montgomery, as the only rookie coaches this season to advance to the Second Round.

    Brind’Amour’s lineup has been led from the back-end out with Jaccob Slavin leading in scoring with nine assists in seven postseason games.

    Warren Foegele leads the team in goals with four and is tied for 2nd in scoring with Jordan Staal and Dougie Hamilton on the roster. Each player has six points this postseason.

    The man that scored the series clinching goal against the Caps, Brock McGinn, has 2-3–5 totals, as does Sebastian Aho, in seven games.

    In the crease, Petr Mrazek (4-3-0, 2.53 GAA, .899 SV% in seven games played this postseason) has battened down the hatches for the Canes.

    The last time Carolina won a Game 7 on the road in overtime, they beat the Boston Bruins in the 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals. There’s no reason not to believe in a team after what we’ve witnessed from that said organization which has promised others to Take Warning all season long.

    It’s ten years in the making, but the Hurricanes will get back to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since they last appeared in that round against the Penguins in 2009 (Pittsburgh swept the series to advance to the Stanley Cup Final).

    Carolina will defeat the Islanders in six games and meet up with the Bruins in the 2019 Eastern Conference Final.

    PNC Arena is louder than Barclays Center– and overall better– and it’s shame the Islanders can’t just keep using the NYCB Live for the Second Round.

    #CanesIn6

    Regular season outcomes:

    4-3 CAR at NYCB Live/Nassau Coliseum on Jan. 8th, 4-1 NYI at Barclays Center on Nov. 24th, 2-1 NYI at PNC Arena on Oct. 28th, 2-1 F/OT NYI at PNC Arena on Oct. 4th

    Schedule:

    4/26- Game 1 CAR @ NYI 7 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS

    4/28- Game 2 CAR @ NYI 3 PM ET on NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS

    5/1- Game 3 NYI @ CAR 7 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS

    5/3- Game 4 NYI @ CAR 7 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS

    5/5- Game 5 CAR @ NYI*

    5/7- Game 6 NYI @ CAR*

    5/8- Game 7 CAR @ NYI*

    *If necessary

  • 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round Preview: Eastern Conference

    *cue Andy Williams*

    It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

    The Stanley Cup Playoffs have returned and all is right with the world (unless your team missed the postseason).

    In the past, we here at Down the Frozen River have covered every game of every series.

    This year, we’re mixing it up a bit– starting with this preview of every First Round series in the Eastern Conference, continuing with a followup preview of every First Round series in the Western Conference and as much analysis as possible on the DTFR Podcast in addition to the blog.

    Ch-ch-ch-changes are inevitable and yours truly cannot cover all 16 teams in the postseason alone.

    A1 Tampa Bay Lightning (62-14-6, 128 points) vs EWC2 Columbus Blue Jackets (47-31-4, 98 points)

    The Tampa Bay Lightning clinched the President’s Trophy (for the first time in franchise history) by mid-March and finished with the 4th most points in a season in NHL history, while star forward, Nikita Kucherov, amassed 128 points (the most by a Russian born player in a season) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (39-10-4 record, 2.40 goals against average, .925 save percentage in 53 games played) turned in a Vezina Trophy worthy performance in the crease.

    Oh yeah and Steven Stamkos had 45 goals.

    The Bolts also tied the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings for most wins in a regular season (62).

    Backup goaltender, Louis Domingue (21-5-0, 2.88 GAA, .908 SV% in 26 GP) posted respectable numbers as well in the Lightning’s thunderous run through the season.

    Tampa has home ice throughout the playoffs and kicks things off with a First Round matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets, who punched their ticket to the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a, 3-2, shootout victory over the New York Rangers last Friday– eliminating the Montreal Canadiens from postseason contention in the process.

    Columbus was all over the Metropolitan Division this season, but went all-in at the trade deadline, adding Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, Adam McQuaid and Keith Kinkaid for the stretch run.

    Duchene and Dzingel quickly fit in to their respective top-nine roles, while McQuaid struggled to find a suitor on the blue line at first in his return to the organization that originally drafted him 55th overall in the 2005 NHL Draft before he was traded to the Boston Bruins and broke into the league with the B’s in 2009-10.

    Kinkaid was added solely for goaltending depth as pending-unrestricted free agent, Sergei Bobrovsky (37-24-1, 2.58 GAA, .913 SV% in 62 GP) led the league with nine shutouts on the season.

    Blue Jackets backup goaltender, Joonas Korpisalo (10-7-3, 2.95 GAA, .897 SV% in 27 GP) hit some rough patches at times, but found a way to dig his team out from the backend when necessary.

    In the grand scheme of things, the Bolts won the season series, 3-0-0, and outscored Columbus, 17-3, in that span.

    While many consider Columbus as a Stanley Cup Playoffs pushover– given the franchise has never won a series– Blue Jackets head coach, John Tortorella always poses a tough challenge that can wear down his opponent.

    Lightning head coach, Jon Cooper, earns his own merit in his ability to keep his players cool, calm, collected and always in comeback mode, but it’s not unfathomable to see the Blue Jackets pestering Tampa about as much– if not more than– Columbus did to Washington in last season’s First Round matchup.

    After all, the Blue Jackets did lead that series, 2-0.

    That said, this is Tampa’s year for a Cup run or bust. The Lightning should win the series in six games.

    Regular season outcomes:

    5-1 TBL at Nationwide Arena on Feb. 18th, 4-0 TBL at Amalie Arena on Jan. 8th, 8-2 TBL at Amalie Arena on Oct. 13th

    Schedule:

    4/10- Game 1 CBJ @ TBL 7 PM ET on USA , SN360, TVAS

    4/12- Game 2 CBJ @ TBL 7 PM ET on CNBC, SN360, TVAS

    4/14- Game 3 TBL @ CBJ 7 PM ET on NBCSN, SN360, TVAS

    4/16- Game 4 TBL @ CBJ 7 PM ET on CNBC, SN360, TVAS

    4/19- Game 5 CBJ @ TBL*

    4/21- Game 6 TBL @ CBJ*

    4/23- Game 7 CBJ @ TBL*

    *If necessary

    A2 Boston Bruins (49-24-9, 107 points) vs A3 Toronto Maple Leafs (46-28-8, 100 points)

    For the second season in a row, the Boston Bruins are hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs in the First Round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Despite being without Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara at one point this season, the Bruins rallied from their 12th defenseman on up through the rest of the lineup to finish one win shy of consecutive 50-win seasons in Bruce Cassidy‘s third season (second full season) as head coach.

    Speaking of Bergeron, however, the perfect two-way center finished the season with a career-high in points (79) and matched his career-high in goals (32) while battling injury early in the season. Bergeron’s 32-47–79 totals came in just 65 games. That’s only one more game played than last season for No. 37 in black-and-gold.

    Meanwhile, his linemates, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak each reached milestones of their own. Marchand reached the 100-point plateau this season and became the first Bruin to do so since Joe Thornton recorded 101 points in 2002-03.

    The “Little Ball of Hate” also set a career-high in assists (64) and was not suspended in 79 games played this season (he was rested for the final two games in the regular season and missed one game due to injury).

    Pastrnak set a career-high in goals (38) and points (81) despite missing time due to a left thumb injury and being limited to 66 games played.

    The B’s were led in net this season by Tuukka Rask (27-13-5, 2.48 GAA, .912 SV% in 46 GP) and Jaroslav Halak (22-11-4, 2.34 GAA, .922 SV% in 40 GP) in a 1A/1B scenario. For the first time since the 1989-90 season, Boston had two goaltenders with 20-plus wins.

    Back north in Toronto, the Maple Leafs added a formidable center in John Tavares in free agency and his presence was immediate, notching career-highs in goals (47 ) and points (88) in 82 games.

    Auston Matthews (37-36–73 totals in 68 games) and Mitch Marner (26-68–94 totals in 82 games) continued to their thing as the $11.634 million man (starting next season) and the soon to be at least $10.000 million boy wonder man.

    Maple Leafs General Manager, Kyle Dubas, added Jake Muzzin in January in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings in effort to shore up his blue line, however, questions remain as to how head coach, Mike Babcock will limit time on ice for veterans, like Ron Hainsey, and mix in more opportunities for Morgan Rielly (20-52–72 totals in 82 games) in his breakout season.

    Boston won the season series, 3-1-0, outscoring Toronto, 16-10, in that span.

    Some experts are picking the Bruins in five games. They also said similar things in 2013 and 2018. This series is going six games (at least), with Boston overcoming the Maple Leafs defense in Game 7, once again.

    To their credit, Toronto always makes things interesting in what’s likely to be the most unpredictable First Round matchup.

    Regular season outcomes:

    3-2 BOS at Scotiabank Arena on Jan. 12th, 6-3 BOS at TD Garden on Dec. 8th, 4-2 TOR at Scotiabank Arena on Nov. 26th, 5-1 BOS at TD Garden on Nov. 10th

    Schedule:

    4/11- Game 1 TOR @ BOS 7 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS

    4/13- Game 2 TOR @ BOS 8 PM ET on NBC, CBC, TVAS

    4/15- Game 3 BOS @ TOR 7 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, TVAS

    4/17- Game 4 BOS @ TOR 7 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, TVAS

    4/19- Game 5 TOR @ BOS*

    4/21- Game 6 BOS @ TOR*

    4/23- Game 7 TOR @ BOS*

    *If necessary

    M1 Washington Capitals (48-26-8, 104 points) vs EWC1 Carolina Hurricanes (46-29-7, 99 points)

    Just as everyone expected, the Washington Capitals led the Metropolitan Division with 104 points after Barry Trotz left for the head coaching job on Long Island. Did I mention the Capitals are the defending Stanley Cup champions?

    Anyway, Alex Ovechkin scored 51 goals and collected his 8th career Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as a result– though Edmonton Oilers forward, Leon Draisaitl, was hot on his tail with 50 goals this season.

    After the New York Islanders led the Metropolitan Division for what seemed like forever, it’s important to note the Metro was actually anybody’s game from puck drop in October. Here’s the thing, the Carolina Hurricanes were near the top of the division– they’ve been surging all season.

    Speaking of surging, Carolina introduced their “Storm Surge” post-win celebration and the Caniacs loved it.

    For those of you who haven’t been paying attention to the club in Raleigh, Brett Pesce is good. Also, Sebastian Aho (30-53–83 totals in 82 GP), Andrei Svechnikov (20-17–37 totals in 82 GP) and Teuvo Teravainen (21-55–76 totals in 82 games)– they’re pretty good too.

    Washington was led by Braden Holtby (32-19-5, 2.82 GAA, .911 SV% in 59 GP) between the pipes this season and is comforted to know Pheonix Copley (16-7-3, 2.90 GAA, .905 SV% in 27 GP) is quite capable of playing this season’s role of Philipp Grubauer (since traded to the Colorado Avalanche after last season’s Cup celebrations).

    The Canes were led by a duo of goaltenders who were once thought of as an after thought in Curtis McElhinney (20-11-2, 2.58 GAA, .912 SV% in 33 GP) and Petr Mrazek (23-14-3, 2.39 GAA, .914 SV% in 40 GP).

    Though his record might not show it, Mrazek has been hitting his stride for the last month and is locked in. Ride that wave until it crests.

    The Hurricanes had a league-leading ten skaters play in all 82 games. There’s no such thing as playing too much hockey– especially when it’s the first postseason appearance since 2009.

    Last year, the Columbus Blue Jackets gave the Caps some interruptions coming out of the gate.

    Despite Washington having swept the season series, 4-0-0, the Hurricanes kept things close in their most recent matchup with a, 3-2, loss at PNC Arena on March 28th.

    Carolina almost pulled off the victory in a shootout on Dec. 14th, but lost, 6-5, on home ice to the Capitals.

    Washington is beatable. Hurricanes head coach, Rod Brind’Amour knows that, his team just hasn’t done it yet. Caps head coach, Todd Reirden, is also making his postseason debut at the reigns behind the bench for his respective team.

    Though they won the Cup last season– that was then. This is now.

    This series is going seven games and the Hurricanes will make sure there’s no repeat Cup winner this year.

    Regular season outcomes:

    3-2 WSH at PNC Arena on March 28th, 4-1 WSH at Capital One Arena on March 26th, 3-1 WSH at Capital One Arena on Dec. 27th, 6-5 F/SO WSH at PNC Arena on Dec. 14th

    Schedule:

    4/11- Game 1 CAR @ WSH 7:30 PM ET on USA, SN360, TVAS2

    4/13- Game 2 CAR @ WSH 3 PM ET on NBC, SN, TVAS

    4/15- Game 3 WSH @ CAR 7 PM ET on CNBC, SN, TVAS2

    4/18- Game 4 WSH @ CAR 7 PM ET on TBD, SN360, TVAS

    4/20- Game 5 CAR @ WSH*

    4/22- Game 6 WSH @ CAR*

    4/24- Game 7 CAR @ WSH*

    *If necessary

    M2 New York Islanders (48-27-7, 103 points) vs M3 Pittsburgh Penguins (44-26-12, 100 points)

    Barry Trotz figured out how to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins last season with the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals. Trotz is the key. Trotz knows the secret stuff to beat Mike Sullivan and his Penguins.

    That’s why the William M. Jennings Trophy winning duo of Robin Lehner (25-13-5, 2.13 GAA, .930 SV% in 46 GP) and Thomas Greiss (23-14-2, 2.28 GAA, .927 SV% in 43 GP) will backstop the New York Islanders past Pittsburgh in their First Round matchup in six games.

    Am I getting ahead of myself? Probably.

    New York split the season series with the Pens, 2-1-1, with their most recent result against Pittsburgh coming in a, 2-1, shootout loss on Dec. 10th at NYCB Live (that’s the Nassau Coliseum, if you haven’t already heard. The Isles will host their First Round games there).

    Islanders General Manager Lou Lamoriello put together a team without John Tavares. Trotz figured out how to get the most out of his players– guys like Matt Martin, Leo Komarov, Casey Cizikas and even Andrew Ladd (until Ladd got injured)– while playing the trap.

    That same trap won the Cup last season.

    This season, Trotz has Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee as his main attractions instead of names like Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov.

    Long Island residents have long memories– the Penguins are one of their greatest rivals– and the added energy of Tavares’ departure has only fueled more passion all season long.

    Can New York flip the switch from their late season bumps in the road?

    Obviously, Pittsburgh has Sidney Crosby. They also have Evgeni Malkin. Crosby and Malkin are ready to go for another deep postseason run after watching their biggest rival not only beat them in the Second Round last year, but go on to take the Cup out of the hands of the Penguins’ recent streak of dominance in 2016 and 2017.

    Patric Hornqvist is also another silent killer option for Sullivan when his team needs a clutch goal– and that’s on top of Jake Guentzel and Phil Kessel throughout the rest of the lineup.

    The Penguins were led in the crease by Matt Murray (29-14-6, 2.69 GAA, .919 SV% in 50 GP) this season with some helpful bailout backup goaltending from Casey DeSmith (15-11-5, 2.75 GAA, .916 SV% in 36 GP). If Murray shows any signs of wavering, Sullivan shouldn’t have a hard time going to DeSmith to push his team over the edge.

    How will Nick Bjugstad and Jared McCann play into the fold as Jim Rutherford‘s biggest prize acquisitions this season? Who might be the breakout star for Pittsburgh that outshines Crosby in the Conn Smythe Trophy vote?

    Aren’t these questions supposed to be answered in an editorial preview? Sure.

    Regular season outcomes:

    2-1 F/SO PIT at NYCB Live on Dec. 10th, 6-2 PIT at PPG Paints Arena on Dec. 6th, 3-2 F/SO NYI at Barclays Center on Nov. 1st, 6-3 NYI at PPG Paints Arena on Oct. 30th

    Schedule:

    4/10- Game 1 PIT @ NYI 7:30 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, TVAS2

    4/12- Game 2 PIT @ NYI 7:30 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, TVAS2

    4/14- Game 3 NYI @ PIT 12 PM ET on NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS

    4/16- Game 4 NYI @ PIT 7:30 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, TVAS2

    4/18- Game 5 PIT @ NYI*

    4/20- Game 6 NYI @ PIT*

    4/22- Game 7 PIT @ NYI*

  • DTFR Podcast #134- Slinging First Round Picks

    DTFR Podcast #134- Slinging First Round Picks

    The Board of Governors meeting gets underway next week involving the Seattle expansion vote, Bill Peters took a puck to the jaw and Rick Middleton and Vic Hadfield are having their numbers retired this week.

    The Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes made another trade with each other, Karl Alzner is being Wade Redden’ed, Ron Hextall got ousted as the Philadelphia Flyers GM, the Buffalo Sabres win streak reached double digits and the Winnipeg Jets brought back their Heritage Jerseys.

    Nick and Connor also encourage all of Long Island to go to the New York Islanders game at NYCB Live (it’s the Nassau Coliseum) this week and quickly plan a hopeful trip to see Sporting KC play in Atlanta.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • DTFR Podcast #129- Top Line Stars

    DTFR Podcast #129- Top Line Stars

    Nick and Connor talk Alex Tuch’s extension with the Vegas Golden Knights, superstars Auston Matthews, Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid, as well as Charlie McAvoy extension options, the New York Rangers, Boston’s first line vs. Colorado’s top line and the week’s biggest matchup.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • DTFR Podcast #127- Tip Of The Hat(s)

    John Tavares and Patrice Bergeron both had hat tricks in the last week, so Nick and Connor discuss hat trick ethics and more, since celebrations are hot topics these days. Also, everything else that happened in the first week of regular season action.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • Down the Frozen River Podcast #91- Our USA Wins Gold

    Down the Frozen River Podcast #91- Our USA Wins Gold

    After NHLers were not allowed to participate in the 2018 Winter Games, Nick and Connor decided to create USA rosters with NHL players anyway. Also discussed, All-Star weekend, Jaromir Jagr and the Winnipeg Jets.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) and/or on Stitcher.