Tag: Brayden Point

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NHL Nick's Net Playoff Recaps

Lightning strike three times in Game 4, Bruins on verge of being eliminated

For the first time since 2018, the Tampa Bay Lightning are on the doorstep of making an appearance in the Eastern Conference Final after beating the Boston Bruins, 3-1, on Saturday in Game 4 of their 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round series.

The Lightning hold a, 3-1, series lead heading into Game 5 from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Monday and can eliminate the Bruins with a win.

The last time Tampa made the Eastern Conference Final, they beat Boston in five games to get there. History repeats itself.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (9-3 in 12 games this postseason, 1.98 goals against average, .927 save percentage) made 29 saves on 30 shots against for a .967 SV% in the win for the Bolts.

B’s netminder, Jaroslav Halak (4-4 in eight games this postseason, 2.94 GAA, .900 SV%) stopped 23 out of 26 shots faced for an .885 SV% in the loss.

After Wednesday’s, 7-1, loss in Game 3, Bruce Cassidy made a few changes to his lineup for Saturday’s Game 4.

First, Cassidy went back to dressing 12 forwards and six defenders, then he re-inserted Karson Kuhlman and Connor Clifton into the lineup while taking Jeremy Lauzon and John Moore back out of the lineup.

Kuhlman took the right side of the third line with Charlie Coyle at center and Nick Ritchie on the left wing, while Clifton resumed his role on the third defensive pairing with Matt Grzelcyk.

Sean Kuraly (unfit to participate) was still out of the lineup on Saturday with an injury.

Boston’s long list of scratches included Anders Bjork, Zach Senyshyn, Moore, Maxime Lagacé, Kuraly, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Jack Studnicka, Lauzon and Trent Frederic.

Jon Cooper kept his lineup the same for the Lightning, so once again Tampa’s scratches included Mathieu Joseph, Carter Verhaeghe, Ryan McDonagh, Jan Rutta, Mitchell Stevens, Steven Stamkos, Alexander Volkov and Scott Wedgewood.

Midway through the opening frame, Chris Wagner turned the puck over in the neutral zone, which led to an entry into the attacking zone for Brayden Point whereby the Lightning worked the puck deep.

Torey Krug made a great effort to breakup an initial scoring chance, but then the rest of his teammates were caught looking on as Ondrej Palat (3) snuck into the slot for a one-timer over Halak’s blocker, off the crossbar and in to give Tampa a, 1-0, lead at 8:59 of the first period.

Point (10) had the only assist on Palat’s goal as Palat extended his goal scoring streak to three games and is now one game shy of matching the longest goal streak in Lightning postseason history.

Stamkos (2015 and 2018), Vincent Lecavalier (2007) and Martin St. Louis (2003) hold the record with a four-game goal scoring streak in the playoffs for the Bolts.

A few minutes later, Brandon Carlo slashed Nikita Kucherov and was assessed a minor infraction at 11:44, yielding the game’s first power play to the Lightning.

Boston killed Carlo’s minor with ease and resumed 5-on-5 action until Cedric Paquette hit Kuhlman along the boards and Ritchie took exception to it– dropping the gloves, grabbing Paquette and delivering a few jabs while Paquette would not budge to defend himself.

Though a minor for boarding could have been called in the eyes of the Bruin, none of the refs’ arms were in the air for a delayed call and, instead, Ritchie was the only player on the way to the box for roughing.

The Lightning didn’t bring the thunder on the ensuing power play, however.

As the opening frame came to a close, David Pastrnak fought hard for a loose puck until the horn sounded and the period was over, which led to Erik Cernak promptly responding and picking up a two-minute minor for roughing at 20:00 of the first period.

Through one period in Saturday’s action, Tampa held onto a, 1-0, lead on the scoreboard, despite being outshot by Boston, 9-8.

The Bolts had the advantage in blocked shots (3-2), takeaways (2-0) and giveaways (5-4), while the B’s led in hits (21-17) and faceoff win percentage (69-31).

Tampa was 0/2 on the power play heading into the first intermission. Boston had yet to see any time on the skater advantage entering the middle frame.

Clifton cross checked Blake Coleman and was sent to the box to kick things off in the middle frame at 5:46 of the second period.

The Lightning did not score on the ensuing power play, however.

A little past the halfway point, though, the Bolts extended their lead when Palat (4) fired a one-timer that caught a piece of Halak’s glove and floated behind the Bruins goaltender.

Anthony Cirelli (3) and Kucherov (11) had the assists on Palat’s second goal of the game and Tampa led, 2-0, at 12:29 of the second period.

About a minute later, Ritchie hit Gourde from behind and received a five-minute major for boarding at 13:32, while Gourde took some time to get up off the ice and get his bearings.

Late in the ensuing skater advantage, Victor Hedman (4) sent a shot that deflected off of Par Lindholm while the Bruins forward was trying to block the shot, then took a wacky bounce up in the air and apexed over Halak’s blocker side before landing in the net.

Tyler Johnson (3) and Kucherov (12) tallied the assists on Hedman’s goal and the Lightning led, 3-0, at 18:04 of the second period.

Just 59 seconds later, Zach Bogosian was penalized for holding the stick and sent to the box at 19:03, but even with the skater advantage bleeding over into the final frame of regulation, Boston was powerless on the power play thus far in the action.

Through 40 minutes of play on Saturday afternoon, Tampa led Boston, 3-0, on the scoreboard and, 20-19, in shots on goal– including a, 12-10, advantage in the second period alone.

The Bolts held the lead in blocked shots (12-6) and takeaways (5-2), while the B’s led in hits (34-30) and faceoff win% (70-30).

Both teams had seven giveaways aside.

Entering the second intermission, Tampa was 1/5 on the power play, while Boston was 0/2 on the skater advantage.

Coleman hooked Pastrnak 54 seconds into the third period and presented Boston with a 5-on-3 advantage for 10 seconds before returning to a regular 5-on-4 advantage for the remainder of Coleman’s minor infraction.

The Bruins came up empty on both advantages.

Moments later, Ritchie and Barclay Goodrow exchanged fisticuffs in what was the third fight of the postseason for Boston (all against Tampa, including one in the Round Robin) at 4:01 of the third period.

A minute later, Luke Schenn hooked Pastrnak at 5:05.

In the dying seconds of the power play, Jake DeBrusk (4) slipped a shot through Vasilevskiy’s five-hole while Ondrej Kase acted as a screen in front of the Tampa Bay netminder to disrupt the shutout.

Coyle (2) and Grzelcyk (1) were credited with the assists on DeBrusk’s power-play goal and the Bruins trailed, 3-1, at 7:04 of the third period.

It was the last event on the scoresheet for the afternoon– save for Boston’s timeout during a stoppage with 1:23 remaining in the game after pulling Halak for an extra attacker with about 2:13 to go.

The Bruins couldn’t muster a pair of goals and the Lightning were unsuccessful at scoring on the empty net, but Tampa emerged victorious, regardless, at the sound of the final horn.

The Lightning had won, 3-1, and taken a, 3-1, series lead while finishing Saturday’s Game 4 effort with the advantage in blocked shots (16-13), hits (45-38) and giveaways (11-10).

Boston, despite finishing the afternoon for the first time in the series leading in the final total shots on goal, 30-26, faces being eliminated in Game 5 on Monday.

The Bruins also finished Saturday’s effort leading in faceoff win% (65-35) and went 1/4 on the power play, while the Bolts were 1/5 on the skater advantage.

Tampa is, 6-0, all time when leading a series, 3-1. Teams with a, 3-1, series lead are 284-29 all time in the best of seven format in NHL history.

With the loss, the Bruins fell to 2-4 when trailing after one and 1-5 when trailing after two periods in the 2020 postseason.

Fans in the United States can catch Monday’s Game 5 on NBCSN at 7 p.m. ET, while those in Canada can tune to CBC, SN or TVAS.

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NHL Nick's Net Playoff Recaps

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Both teams had five giveaways each after two periods.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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NHL Nick's Net Previews

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

Categories
NHL Nick's Net Playoff Recaps

Palat, Lightning strike Bruins with, 4-3, overtime win in Game 2, tie series, 1-1

Ondrej Palat scored the game-winning goal in overtime as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Boston Bruins, 4-3, in Game 2 of their Second Round series on Tuesday.

Palat scored almost five minutes into the overtime period at Scotiabank Arena inside the National Hockey League’s Eastern Conference bubble in Toronto to tie the best-of-seven game series, 1-1.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (7-3 in 10 games this postseason, 2.15 goals against average, .921 save percentage) made 22 saves on 25 shots against for an .880 SV% in the win for the Lightning.

Bruins netminder, Jaroslav Halak (4-2 in six games this postseason, 2.50 GAA, .916 SV%) stopped 36 out of 40 shots faced for a .916 SV% in the loss.

Bruce Cassidy made no changes to Boston’s lineup from Sunday’s, 3-2, win in Game 1 to Tuesday night’s matchup in Game 2.

Zach Senyshyn, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Maxime Lagacé, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Jack Studnicka, Jeremy Lauzon, Trent Frederic and Karson Kuhlman remained scratched for the Bruins.

With Ryan McDonagh (unfit to play, undisclosed injury) out of the lineup for the Bolts in Game 2, Lightning head coach, Jon Cooper, dressed seven defenders– inserting Braydon Coburn and Luke Schenn on the blue line, while striking Carter Verhaeghe and McDonagh from the lineup.

Tampa’s list of scratches on Tuesday included Mathieu Joseph, Verhaeghe, McDonagh, Jan Rutta, Mitchell Stephens, Steven Stamkos, Alexander Volkov and Scott Wedgewood.

Stamkos remains out after core muscle surgery in March, then leaving practice in mid-July.

Patrice Bergeron surpassed Wayne Cashman for participating in the third-most playoff games as a Bruins player in his 146th career postseason game.

Only Ray Bourque (180 games) and Zdeno Chara (147) have played in more Stanley Cup Playoff games while wearing the spoked-B in their career. David Krejci is currently fifth in franchise history with 142 career postseason games with Boston.

Early in the game the Bruins had the puck down low in the zone and worked the puck out from behind the net on goal when Nick Ritchie (1) banked a loose puck off of Vasilevskiy’s leg and trickled one through the five-hole to give Boston the game’s first goal.

Anders Bjork (1) had the only assist as the B’s jumped out to a, 1-0, lead at 3:14 of the first period.

Less than a couple of minutes later, the Lightning thought they had tied the game when Barclay Goodrow tipped a shot off of Halak’s mask and into the twine, but Cassidy used a coach’s challenge on the basis that the Bolts entered the offensive zone offside prior to the goal.

After review, the call on the ice was reversed as Brayden Point wasn’t fast enough to clear the zone before Tampa re-entered and had been offside before the goal was scored.

Boston still had the, 1-0, lead after the stoppage at 5:04.

About 30 seconds later, the two teams were struck with 4-on-4 action when Cedric Paquette and Matt Grzelcyk exchanged pleasantries after Halak froze the puck at 5:32.

Paquette went to the box with a slashing minor, while Grzelcyk was dealt a roughing infraction.

Midway through the opening frame, Zach Bogosian led Blake Coleman on a 2-on-0 rush after getting past Boston’s defense, subsequently feeding Coleman (2) for the redirection through Halak’s five-hole to tie the game, 1-1, at 12:42 of the first period.

Bogosian (3) and Goodrow (2) tallied the assists on Coleman’s first goal of the game.

About five minutes later, Alex Killorn caught Brad Marchand with a high stick and was sent to the box at 17:15, but the Bruins failed to convert on their first power play opportunity of the night.

Entering the first intermission, the game was tied, 1-1, despite Tampa holding the advantage in shots on goal, 11-9.

Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (5-2), hits (22-16) and faceoff win percentage (55-46), while the Bolts led in takeaways (2-1) and giveaways (7-1).

Tampa had yet to see time on the skater advantage, while the Bruins were 0/1 on the power play heading into the dressing room after 20 minutes of play.

Early in the middle frame, Sean Kuraly cut a rut to the sin bin for slashing Nikita Kucherov at 6:40 of the second period.

The Lightning did not score on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

Late in the period, Palat caught Connor Clifton with a high stick and was sent to the box at 14:14, yielding a power play to the Bruins.

Almost 20 seconds into the power play, David Pastrnak sent an intentional shot pass to Marchand (5) for a redirection from the side of the crease past Vasilevskiy to give Boston a, 2-1, lead at 14:33 of the second period.

Pastrnak (5) and Torey Krug (5) tallied the assists on Marchand’s power-play goal, but the B’s wouldn’t hold the lead for long.

Less than a minute after giving up a goal on the penalty kill, the Lightning scored at 5-on-5 to tie the game, 2-2, when Kucherov (3) tipped a shot from Kevin Shattenkirk past Halak’s blocker side.

Shattenkirk (3) and Point (7) nabbed the assists on Kucherov’s goal at 15:28.

Moments later, Victor Hedman was sent to the box for holding at 17:40, but Boston wasn’t able to muster anything on the ensuing skater advantage.

Through 40 minutes of play in Game 2, the game was tied, 2-2.

Tampa led in shots on goal, 23-16– including a, 12-7, advantage in the second period alone– as well as in takeaways (3-2), giveaways (9-5) and faceoff win% (52-48).

Entering the second intermission, the Bruins held the advantage in blocked shots (11-6) and hits (35-29).

The Bolts were 0/1 and the B’s were 1/3 on the power play heading into the final frame.

Clifton was charged with an interference minor to kick off the final frame of regulation 35 seconds into the third period, presenting the Lightning with another power play, but the Bolts had no thunder on the skater advantage.

Midway through the third, Coleman (3) broke through Boston’s defense with Clifton on his tail and fired a shot that plunked its way through Halak’s five-hole and trickled over the goal line to give Tampa their first lead of the night at 10:40 of the third period.

Hedman (3) had the only assist on Coleman’s second goal of the night and the Bruins trailed for the first time on Tuesday, 3-2.

Almost six minutes later, Marchand (6) notched his second goal of the game on a setup from Kuraly’s one touch pass across the slot to Marchand at the doorstep for the one-timer over Vasilevskiy’s outstretched leg pad.

Kuraly (2) and Pastrnak (6) tallied the assists on Marchand’s goal– tying the game, 3-3, at 16:02.

At the end of regulation, the game was even on the scoreboard, 3-3, while the Lightning held the advantage in shots on goal, 31-24, despite both teams recording eight shots on net in the third period alone.

Boston led in blocked shots (23-18), while Tampa led in takeaways (5-4), giveaways (15-7) and faceoff win% (52-48).

Both teams had 43 hits aside, while the Bolts were 0/2 and the B’s were 1/3 on the power play heading into overtime.

From the drop of the puck in the extra frame, the Lightning dominated– a trend that had been apparent all night, despite whatever the scoreboard read.

After the Bruins botched several attempts to clear their own zone or work a pass to one of their own teammates instead of giving it away, the Lightning thundered their way to the crease and scored on a loose puck after Palat (1) found a rebound and pocketed the rubber biscuit over Halak’s pad on the short side.

Yannie Gourde (3) and Pat Maroon (2) had the assists on Palat’s game-winning goal at 4:40 of the overtime period as the Lightning came away with the, 4-3, victory in Game 2– tying the series, 1-1, in the process.

Tampa finished the night leading in shots on goal, 40-25– including a, 9-1, advantage in overtime alone– as well as in giveaways, 15-10.

Boston wrapped up Game 2 with the advantage in blocked shots (27-18), hits (47-43) and faceoff win% (52-48).

The Bolts finished 0/2 and the B’s finished 1/3 on the power play Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, all seven of Tampa Bay’s wins in the postseason have been by one-goal.

Tuesday’s victory gave Vasilevskiy his 22nd career Stanley Cup Playoffs win– establishing a new Lightning franchise record in the process, having surpassed the previous record set by Nikolai Khabibulin and Ben Bishop (21 career playoff wins in a Bolts uniform).

The Lightning improved to 3-0 in overtime this postseason, while the Bruins fell to 1-1, as well as 28-3 all time in the postseason when Marchand scores at least one goal.

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

Game 3 is set for Wednesday night with the Bruins designated as the home team at Scotiabank Arena. Puck drop is expected a little after 8 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can tune to NBCSN to catch the action, while those in Canada can view the game on CBC, SN or TVAS.

Categories
NHL Nick's Net Playoff Recaps

Bruins roar to, 3-2, victory in Game 1 against Tampa

Brad Marchand had a pair of points– including the eventual de facto game-winning goal– as the Boston Bruins defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Sunday night in Game 1 of their 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round matchup.

Jaroslav Halak (4-1 in five games this postseason, 2.23 goals against average, .921 save percentage) made 35 saves on 37 shots faced for a .946 SV% in the win for the Bruins.

Lightning goaltender, Andrei Vasilevskiy (6-3 in nine games this postseason, 2.09 GAA, .925 SV%) stopped 28 out of 31 shots for a .903 SV% in the loss.

For the first time since the Lightning beat the Bruins in five games in the 2018 Second Round, the two clubs meet once again in the Stanley Cup Playoffs– and it just so happens to also be the Second Round.

Both teams are 1-1 in all time postseason series’ against one another, as Boston defeated Tampa in seven games in the 2011 Eastern Conference Final prior to their five game ousting at the hands of the Bolts in 2018.

B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, re-inserted Anders Bjork and Nick Ritchie into his lineup– with Bjork to the right and Ritchie to the left of Charlie Coyle on the third line– while Jack Studnicka and Par Lindholm were scratched.

As a result of the “new” third line from Game 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes in the First Round to Game 1 against the Lightning in the Second Round, Sean Kuraly was once again in his usual role as the fourth line center.

Cassidy made no other changes to his lineup and opted to start Kuraly’s line against Tampa’s energy line.

Boston’s long list of scratches included Zach Senyshyn, Lindholm, John Moore, Maxime Lagacé, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Studnicka, Jeremy Lauzon, Trent Frederic and Karson Kuhlman.

Tampa’s long list of scratches for Sunday’s matchup included Luke Schenn, Mathieu Joseph, Jan Rutta, Braydon Coburn, Mitchell Stephens, Steven Stamkos, Alexander Volkov and Scott Wedgewood.

Stamkos has not practiced since mid July and has been out of the lineup since having “core muscle surgery” in March. He was originally on track to be sidelined for six-to-eight weeks.

At puck drop, Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara took sole possession of the second-most playoff games in Bruins franchise history as he’s suited up in 146 career Stanley Cup Playoff games in the spoked-B– surpassing Wayne Cashman (145 playoff games in Boston), who’s now tied for third with Patrice Bergeron (who tied Cashman’s number of games on Sunday).

Ray Bourque is the all-time franchise leader with 180 career postseason games as a Bruin.

Less than a minute into the action, Chara was whistled for a cross checking infraction 29 seconds into the first period– yielding the game’s first power play to the Lightning.

Tampa couldn’t convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however, and the officials returned the favor for what was otherwise a thing threshold with a makeup call that was also questionable at best.

Mikhail Sergachev cut a rut to the penalty box for holding Chris Wagner at 11:40, but the Bruins weren’t able to capitalize on their first power play of the night.

Late in the opening frame, however, Brandon Carlo rocketed a shot from the point that Coyle (3) redirected over Vasilevksiy’s blocker into the upper 90 to give Boston the game’s first goal.

Carlo (1) and Marchand (5) tallied the assists on Coyle’s goal as the B’s went ahead, 1-0, at 18:52 of the first period.

Entering the first intermission, Boston led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 15-10.

The Bruins also held the advantage in takeaways (4-3), giveaways (4-0) and hits (18-10), while both teams had five blocked shots aside and were 50-50 in faceoff win percentage.

Each club was 0/1 on the power play after one period, as well.

Early in the middle frame, Victor Hedman tripped up Bjork and was sent to the sin bin at 3:08 of the second period.

While on the ensuing power play, the Bruins were moving the puck around the attacking zone with ease, but just hadn’t quite nailed the timing until David Krejci waited for the right passing lane to open up and fired a pass through the slot for David Pastrnak (2) to score on a one-timer from his usual spot at the faceoff dot to Vasilevskiy’s right side.

Pastrnak’s power-play goal gave Boston the, 2-0, lead and was assisted by Krejci (7) and Torey Krug (4) at 4:34 of the second period.

With the primary assist, Krejci’s ongoing point streak was extended to seven games– the longest since Bergeron’s seven-game point streak for Boston in the 2014 postseason.

About a minute later, Bergeron was sent to the box for holding, presenting the Bolts with a power play opportunity at 5:50 of the middle period.

Tampa didn’t score on the ensuing advantage, however.

Midway through the second period, Wagner was penalized for roughing against Tyler Johnson at 13:36, but once again the Lightning couldn’t muster any thunder on the power play.

Late in the period, Alex Killorn ran through Charlie McAvoy while the Bruins defender didn’t have the puck on his stick.

As a result, Killorn brought upon himself an interference minor at 16:46, but the Bruins didn’t score on the ensuing advantage.

Through 40 minutes of play Sunday night, the B’s led the Bolts, 2-0, on the scoreboard, despite trailing Tampa in shots on goal, 28-22– including an, 18-7, advantage for the Lightning in the second period alone.

The Bruins held the advantage in blocked shots (13-11), takeaways (9-7), giveaways (9-5), hits (29-23) and faceoff win% (59-41), however, as the teams returned to their dressing rooms for the second intermission.

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

Boston’s first line worked the puck deep, Bergeron lifted a stick to free the rubber biscuit, then sent it to Pastrnak for a quick pass to Marchand (3) for the one-timer from point blank while free and clear of any Lightning defenders to make it, 3-0, for the Bruins.

Pastrnak (4) and Bergeron (5) notched the assists on Marchand’s goal at 1:17 of the third period and the B’s had a commanding three-goal lead.

Well, until midway in the third period, but not before both teams skated 4-on-4 for a couple of minutes after Ritchie and Zach Bogosian exchanged brief pleasantries resulting in roughing minors at 2:49 of the third period.

Hedman (2) jumped on a loose puck in the high slot and fired a shot under Halak’s glove while McAvoy inadvertently screened his own goaltender, cutting Boston’s lead back down to two-goals and putting the Lightning on the scoreboard, 3-1, at 8:50 of the third.

Brayden Point (6) and Ondrej Palat (3) tabbed the assists on Hedman’s first goal of the night.

Bolts head coach, Jon Cooper, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker with about 2:29 remaining in the third period and Tampa was able to pull to within one when Hedman (again) fired a shot from the point off of McAvoy in front of his own goaltender while Pat Maroon acted as a screen for the Lightning.

Hedman (3) had his second goal of the night on a deflection off of McAvoy past Halak and the Lightning trailed, 3-2, at 18:46.

Kevin Shattenkirk (2) and Johnson (2) tallied the assists on the goal, but it was too little, too late for Tampa.

Despite vacating the crease for another extra attacker opportunity with one minute left in regulation, the Bruins worked a couple of chances in the offensive zone to hit the open twine, but missed, while the Bolts failed to send the game-tying goal past Halak at the other end.

At the final horn, Boston secured the, 3-2, win in Game 1 and took the, 1-0, series lead, despite trailing in shots on goal, 37-31.

The Bruins finished the night with the advantage in blocked shots (20-19), giveaways (10-9) and faceoff win% (59-42), while the Lightning completed the effort leading in hits (39-37).

Tampa finished 0/3 and Boston went 1/3 on the power play on Sunday, while Marchand tied Ken Hodge and Don Marcotte for ninth on Boston’s all-time postseason goal scoring list with his 34th career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal.

He also tied Bobby Orr for seventh on the team’s all-time list in postseason points with the Bruins with his 91st and 92nd career Stanley Cup Playoff points to aid his 1-1–2 totals in Game 1.

Game 2 is set for Tuesday night in the Toronto bubble with puck drop expected a little after 7 p.m. ET. Viewers in the United States can catch the action on NBCSN, while those in Canada can tune to CBC, SN or TVAS.

Categories
NHL Nick's Net

Lightning strike three times in, 3-2, win against Boston

Is it really August or is it actually just Groundhog Day for the Boston Bruins? The B’s dropped another one, 3-2, to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday in their second game of the Round Robin tournament to determine the No. 1-4 seeds for the Eastern Conference in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (2-0-0, 1.92 goals against average, .933 save percentage in two games) turned aside 25 out of 27 shots faced for a .926 SV% in the win for the Lightning.

Meanwhile, Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (0-1-0, 3.10 GAA, .914 SV% in one game) made 32 saves on 35 shots against for a .914 SV% in the loss at the NHL’s Eastern Conference bubble– Scotiabank Arena– in Toronto, Ontario.

Entering Wednesday, Patrice Bergeron had a day off at practice on Monday, which Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, later clarified to reporters was just a maintenance day, while Rask was back to practice on Monday and returned to the lineup against the Lightning.

Rask mentioned at his media conference call after Monday’s practice that he spent a couple of days quarantined in his hotel room after having a cough and needed to have two negative tests for COVID-19 in order to return.

“I had a cough so I just clicked ‘yes’ on the app and then all kinds of red lights started blinking so I was quarantined for two days. They wanted to do two negative tests after that,” Rask explained to reporters via Zoom.

Nick Ritchie was also back in the lineup after missing last Sunday’s, 4-1, loss against the Philadelphia Flyers, while Ondrej Kase was ruled out of Wednesday’s action against Tampa, but should be good to go against Washington, according to Cassidy.

As a result, Cassidy switched up his middle lines from last Sunday’s matchup with the Flyers to Wednesday’s meeting with the Lightning.

Ritchie took to David Krejci’s left wing with Karson Kuhlman on the other side, while Anders Bjork was on the left side of Charlie Coyle on the third line– with Jake DeBrusk serving as the right winger.

The Bruins made no other changes to their lineup.

Meanwhile, Zach Senyshyn, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Kase, Maxime Lagace, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Jack Studnicka, Connor Clifton, Dan Vladar and Trent Frederic served as Boston’s scratches.

Jon Cooper’s Lightning were without their captain, Steven Stamkos, in the lineup once again. Stamkos has yet to make his Round Robin debut for the Bolts (with their last matchup before the First Round against Philadelphia set for Saturday).

Less than a minute into the action, Jeremy Lauzon was caught trailing Blake Coleman and hooked the Lightning forward, resulting in a power play for the Bolts 43 seconds into the first period.

Tampa was not able to convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

Brayden Point (2) slipped a loose puck through Rask’s five-hole after Rask made the initial save and follow up stop, while the Bruins scrambled to defender after blowing a pair of chances to score at the other end.

Ondrej Palat (1) and Nikita Kucherov (1) tallied the assists on Point’s goal and the Lightning led, 1-0, at 7:33 of the first period.

A few minutes later, the Bruins had too many skaters on the ice and were assessed a bench minor for doing so at 10:19. Ritchie served the bench infraction, but Tampa’s power play struck fast.

Alex Killorn (1) redirected a shot with the back of his skate blade after the puck deflected off of Sean Kuraly’s stick initially off a shot from teh point by Lightning defender, Victor Hedman.

Hedman (1) and Tyler Johnson (1) notched the assists on the goal and the Bolts led, 2-0, at 10:32.

Late in the period, chaos ensued as both teams took issue with one another– culminating in Torey Krug and Coleman exchanging fisticuffs at 17:07, and continuing almost 90 seconds later when Point and Charlie McAvoy shared an embrace and with it roughing minor penalties.

Point earned two roughing infractions, while McAvoy was only charged with one at 18:25, yielding the first power play of the game for Boston, but the Bruins couldn’t hit the twine in the dying minutes of the opening frame.

After one period of play, the Lightning led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, but the B’s held the advantage in shots on goal, 9-8.

Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (6-2), but Tampa had the edge in just about every other statistical category, including takeaways (4-1), hits (13-11) and faceoff win percentage (61-39).

Both teams had one giveaway aside, while the Bolts were 1/2 on the power play and the B’s were 0/1 heading into the first intermission.

Early in the middle frame, Coleman was penalized for interference when he brought down Kuraly while crashing the net at 4:37 of the second period, but (in what was a trend for the afternoon) Boston’s power play wasn’t able to convert on the advantage.

Late in the period McAvoy (1) one-timed a shot from the point on a pass from Krug off a faceoff win by Bergeron and cut Tampa’s lead in half.

Boston was on the board, 2-1, while Krug (1) and Bergeron (1) picked up their first points of the Round Robin games at 16:43.

Entering the second intermission, Tampa was ahead, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 19-18, in shots on goal– including an, 11-9, advantage in the second period alone.

The Lightning led in blocked shots (11-7) and takeaways (5-3) after 40 minutes of action, while the Bruins held the advantage in giveaways (7-3), hits (26-19) and faceoff win% (63-38).

Tampa remained 1/2 on the power play, while Boston dropped to 0/2 on the skater advantage.

Chris Wagner (2) tapped in a loose puck after Zdeno Chara fired a shot that leaked through Vasilevskiy at 1:47 of the third period and the Bruins tied the game, 2-2.

Chara (1) and Kuraly (1) had the assists on Wagner’s goal and Boston swung momentum in their favor– only until about the midpoint of the final frame.

Kucherov tripped Wagner at 5:13 of the third period, but the Bruins didn’t convert on the skater advantage.

Midway through the third, Barclay Goodrow caught Bjork with a charge and was assessed a minor penalty at 10:19. Once more, Boston’s power play couldn’t get anything going and did not convert on the advantage.

From there, momentum shifted back to Tampa as the Bruins let rush after rush enter their own zone.

Yanni Gourde threw the puck on net, Rask made an initial pad save, but Johnson (1) scored on the rebound while Brandon Carlo was trailing behind the play and Krug was defending the other side where the Lightning entered the zone.

Gourde (1) and Killorn (1) collected the assists on Johnson’s game-winning goal and the Bolts grabbed the, 3-2, lead at 18:33 of the third period– with just enough time to hold off any last ditch efforts from Boston.

Cassidy pulled his netminder for an extra attacker with about 1:15 remaining, but it was to no avail as the final horn sounded and the Lightning won, 3-2.

The Bolts finished the afternoon leading in shots on goal (35-27) and blocked shots (16-10), while the B’s finished with the advantage in giveaways (11-10), hits (31-28) and faceoff win% (61-39).

Tampa finished 1/2 on the skater advantage and Boston went 0/4 on the power play on Wednesday.

The Bruins fell to 0-2-0 in the Round Robin action and can finish no better than 3rd in the seeding with a win against the Washington Capitals in any fashion on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Lightning can all but assure themselves of the No. 1 seed with a win in any fashion against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

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Podcasts

DTFR Podcast #182- Back In A New Year Groove

The DTFR Podcast is back from hiatus as Nick provides a State of the Podcast, reviews a few things from the last couple of months and delves into all of the transactions leading up to the 2020 NHL trade deadline.

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

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NHL Nick's Net

Stamkos scores two in Bolts, 3-2, win over B’s

Steven Stamkos scored a pair of goals– including the eventual game-winner– in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s, 3-2, victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday at Amalie Arena.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (13-8-1 record, 2.78 goals against average, .910 save percentage in 22 games played) made 27 saves on 29 shots against (.931 SV%) in the win for the Lightning.

Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (13-4-3, 2.24 GAA, .926 SV% in 20 games played) stopped 28 out of 31 shots faced for a .926 SV% in the loss.

The B’s fell to 20-7-6 (46 points) on the season, but remain in command of the Atlantic Division, while the Bolts improved to 16-11-3 (35 points) and jumped to 4th place in the Atlantic .

Boston fell to 8-6-1 on the road this season and 2-2-1 in the 2nd game of back-to-backs this season.

The Bruins are now on a five-game losing streak for the first time under head coach, Bruce Cassidy. The last four games have been regulation losses, which marks the first time that Boston has lost four straight games in regulation since the 2016-17 season (when Claude Julien was fired and Cassidy was promoted/hired).

Kevan Miller (knee), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia) and Zach Senyshyn (lower body) were all out of the lineup due to injury against Tampa.

Kuhlman, Senyshyn and Anton Blidh (shoulder– injured in the preseason) have all resumed skating according to Cassidy.

Miller, on the other hand, has not as a result of yet another setback in his recovery.

Cassidy made no adjustments to his forwards from Wednesday night’s, 3-2, loss in Washington to Thursday night’s lineup against the Lightning, but he did replace Connor Clifton on the blue line with John Moore.

Clifton joined Par Lindholm and David Backes as Boston’s short list of healthy scratches in Tampa.

Shortly after puck drop, Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara, squared off with Lightning forward, Pat Maroon, as the two players exchanged fisticuffs 27 seconds into the first period.

Both players received five-minute majors for fighting in what was just the 7th fight this season for Boston and 2nd in as many days as Chara fought Tom Wilson in Washington on Wednesday night.

Moments later, Brad Marchand wrapped around the Tampa net and sent a quick pass to Patrice Bergeron (10) in the low slot whereby the league’s current longest tenured alternate captain slid the rubber biscuit past Vasilevskiy while the Bolts goaltender dropped his stance.

Marchand (30) and Charlie McAvoy (11) notched the assists on Bergeron’s goal at 4:26 of the first period as the Bruins took the, 1-0, lead.

Of note, Bergeron skated in his 1,052nd career NHL game– tying current Boston General Manager, Don Sweeney, for 3rd all time in franchise history.

Only Ray Bourque (1,518) and Johnny Bucyk (1,436) have played in more games in their tenure with the B’s.

Midway through the period, Moore tripped Alex Killorn at 12:44, but the Lightning weren’t able to capitalize on their first power play of the night.

Heading into the first intermission, the Bruins led, 1-0, on the scoreboard, despite being outshot, 7-4, by the Bolts.

Tampa also led in hits (17-9), but Boston led in blocked shots (3-2), takeaways (3-1), giveaways (2-0) and faceoff win percentage (64-36).

Entering the second period, the Lightning were 0/1 on the power play, while the Bruins had yet to see any time on the skater advantage.

Ryan McDonagh kicked things off in the middle frame with an interference minor at 2:12 of the second period, but Boston once again struggled all night long on the power play– failing to convert on their first skater advantage of the night.

About a couple of minutes later, Matt Grzelcyk collided with Anthony Cirelli and inadvertently tripped the Lightning forward, yielding a tripping minor.

But Grzelcyk wasn’t the only skater heading to the penalty box as Kevin Shattenkirk took exception to the trip and tried to fight the Bruins defender.

As a result, Shattenkirk received a roughing infraction and the two teams took each other on at 4-on-4 for two-minutes at 4:48 of the middle frame before resuming full strength.

Moore tripped Killorn once again midway through the second period at 12:29.

This time around, the Bolts’ power play struck fast.

Stamkos (12) wired a shot in the back of the net after Bergeron won the draw back to Chara, but Chara was stripped of the puck along the wall by Nikita Kucherov.

Kucherov (22) had the only assist on Stamkos’ first goal of the game and the Lightning tied it up, 1-1, at 12:35 with the power play goal.

Through 40 minutes of action on Thursday, Tampa and Boston were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard, despite the Lightning leading in shots on goal, 21-16– including a, 14-12, advantage in the second period alone.

The B’s led in blocked shots (10-7), giveaways (4-0) and faceoff win% (55-46) entering the second period, while Tampa led in takeaways (8-6) and hits (23-16).

The Lightning were 1/2 on the skater advantage, while the Bruins were 0/1 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.

Sean Kuraly hooked Mathieu Joseph at 2:43 of the third period and presented Tampa with yet another power play opportunity.

Late on the ensuing skater advantage, Brayden Point (11) scored a one-timer goal to make it, 2-1, Bolts after Rask made the initial glove save on Kucherov before the Bruins couldn’t clear the zone and thus helped Tampa in their efforts for Point’s goal.

Kucherov (23) and Victor Hedman (21) had the assists on Point’s goal at 4:07 and the Lightning were in full command of the game.

Moments later, Stamkos went to the sin bin for hooking McAvoy at 10:28, but Boston was powerless on the power play once again– even after taking a timeout with 8:36 remaining in regulation to draw up a plan.

Late in the third, Stamkos (13) sniped a shot from almost center on in the high slot after Boston failed to clear their own zone and witnessed an unfortunate bounce land on the Lightning captain’s stick before he fired the puck over Rask’s glove to give Tampa a two-goal lead at 15:13.

Stamkos’ unassisted effort made it, 3-1, for the Bolts and held up to become the game-winning goal.

He now has six goals in his last four games.

About a minute later, Moore (1) snuck in from the point for the Bruins and received an indirect pass from Anders Bjork before beating Vasilevskiy on the short side and bringing the B’s to within one.

Bjork (5) and Chara (8) had the assists on Moore’s first goal of the season at 16:45 of the third period in his fourth game back since missing the first 28 games due to offseason shoulder surgery.

There was a span of 1:32 between Lightning and Bruins goals, but the Bolts maintained a, 3-2, advantage over Boston and that was all that they needed even after Cassidy pulled Rask for an extra attacker with 1:58 remaining in the game.

At the final horn, Tampa won, 3-2, and handed Boston their fifth loss in a row, despite outshooting the Lightning, 13-10, in the third period alone.

The Bolts finished the night leading in total shots on goal (31-29), as well as hits (32-20), while the B’s finished Thursday night leading in blocked shots (12-10), giveaways (9-4) and faceoff win% (52-48).

The Lightning finished the action 2/3 on the skater advantage, while Boston went 0/2 on the power play in Tampa.

The Bruins fell to 11-3-0 when leading after the first period and 13-5-3 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

Boston wraps up their four-game road trip (0-3-0) Saturday in Sunrise, Florida with a matchup against the Panthers. The Bruins return home for a four-game homestand next Tuesday (Dec. 17th) against the Los Angeles Kings before hosting the New York Islanders (Dec. 19th), Nashville Predators (Dec. 21st) and Washington Capitals (Dec. 23rd).

Categories
NHL Nick's Net

Lightning strike Bruins, 4-3, in shootout victory

Steven Stamkos’ only goal in a shootout was enough to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning over the Boston Bruins, 4-3, on Thursday night at TD Garden.

The Bolts led briefly in the third period before the B’s tied the game almost two minutes later and forced overtime.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (4-1-0, 2.58 goals against average, .921 save percentage in five games played) made 34 saves on 37 shots against for a .919 SV% in the shootout win for Tampa.

Boston goaltender, Tuukka Rask (3-0-1, 1.72 GAA, .946 SV% in four games played) stopped 33 out of 36 shots faced for a .917 SV% in the shootout loss.

The Bruins fell to 5-1-1 (11 points) on the season and temporarily moved into 1st place in the Atlantic Division before the Buffalo Sabres won their late game Thursday night and regained control of the Atlantic.

Meanwhile, the Lightning improved to 4-2-1 (9 points) and moved into 3rd place in the Atlantic, thanks to having more points in fewer games than the Toronto Maple Leafs (Tampa has nine points in seven games, while Toronto has nine points in eight games).

For the seventh time this season, Kevan Miller (knee) and John Moore (shoulder) were out of the action due to injury.

David Krejci (upper body) was also ruled out of Thursday night’s action after sustaining an injury or re-injuring something in Monday afternoon’s meeting with the Anaheim Ducks.

Miller and Moore both skated on their own in red no-contact sweaters before practice Thursday morning, while Krejci’s prognosis is to be determined.

Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, juggled his lines in Krejci’s absence, moving Charlie Coyle and Brett Ritchie up to the second line with Jake DeBrusk (celebrating his 23rd birthday on Thursday) at left wing, while re-inserting Par Lindholm in the lineup at center on the third line and bumping Karson Kuhlman to the third line right wing.

Connor Clifton was also back in the lineup for Boston after serving his time as a healthy scratch against the Ducks.

David Backes and Steven Kampfer were the only healthy scratches for Boston on Thursday.

Midway through the opening frame, Lightning forward, Mikhail Sergachev, was guilty of holding Bruins forward, Brett Ritchie, and was sent to the penalty box at 9:27 of the first period.

Seven seconds into the ensuing power play, Boston’s David Pastrnak (7) struck first on the scoreboard with a power play goal on a one-timer pass from Patrice Bergeron to give the B’s the lead, 1-0, at 9:34.

Bergeron (5) and Torey Krug (4) had the assists on Pastrnak’s goal.

With his 5th consecutive goal for Boston, Pastrnak tied Dunc Fisher for the 2nd most consecutive goals in Bruins franchise history. Glen Murray is the team record holder with six consecutive goals for Boston in the 2003-04 season, while Pastrnak and Fisher each have five in 2019-20 and 1951-52, repsectively.

Less than two minutes later, Sean Kuraly hooked Nikita Kucherov and Tampa went on the skater advantage for the first time of the night.

The Bruins killed off Kuraly’s minor without any major issues.

Moments later, Bergeron was penalized for slashing against Ondrej Palat and cut a rut to the sin bin at 16:09.

Once more, the Bolts weren’t able to convert on the resulting power play.

In the final seconds of the first period, Yanni Gourde flipped the puck through the neutral zone to Brayden Point (3) who entered the attacking zone on a quick breakaway and elevated the puck into the top of the twine to tie the game, 1-1, at 19:59.

Gourde (3) and Victor Hedman (6) notched the assists on Point’s goal as the teams went into the first intermission knotted at, 1-1.

Tampa led in shots on goal (16-11), hits (12-4) and faceoff win percentage (60-40), while Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (4-1) and giveaways (8-4).

Both teams had two takeaways aside after 20 minutes of action.

The Lightning were 0/2 on the skater advantage, while the B’s were 1/1 on the power play heading into the second period.

Bergeron took a beating early in the middle frame as No. 37 in black-and-gold was on the receiving end of consecutive penalties by the Lightning.

First, Carter Verhaeghe tripped Bergeron at 2:15 of the second period, then Gourde interfered with Bergeron at 6:23.

Boston was unsuccessful on their first power play of the second period, but worked their magic while Gourde was in the box.

Bergeron (2) redirected a slap pass from Pastrnak into the twine to give the Bruins their second power play goal of the game and the lead, 2-1.

Pastrnak (5) and Brad Marchand (6) tallied the assists on Bergeron’s goal at 7:26.

Shortly after regaining the lead, the Bruins turned the puck over at an inopportune time, leading to a quality scoring chance for the Bolts.

Tampa forward, Alex Killorn, fired a shot that Rask got a chunk of, but couldn’t contain the rebound as Mathieu Joseph (2) pounced on the loose puck for the tap-in goal, tying the game, 2-2.

Killorn (3) and Erik Cernak (1) were credited with the assists on Joseph’s goal at 10:32..

Late in the period, Cernak was charged with a minor for interference against Lindholm at 17:56 and the B’s went on the power play for the fourth time of the night.

Boston was not able to capitalize on the skater advantage, however.

Through 40 minutes of action at TD Garden, the Bruins and Lightning were tied, 2-2, on the scoreboard.

Tampa led in shots on goal (29-21– including a, 13-10, advantage in the second period alone), blocked shots (6-5) and hits (22-9), while Boston led in takeaways (4-3) and giveaways (11-8).

The two clubs were split in faceoff win%, 50-50.

The Bolts were powerless on the power play (0/2) after two periods, while the B’s were 2/4 on the skater advantage heading into the third period.

Midway through the final frame of regulation, Matt Grzelcyk hooked Pat Maroon while trailing the Lightning forward and was sent to the box at 8:25 of the third.

Tampa didn’t convert on their third power play opportunity of the night and the Bruins killed off Grzelcyk’s minor as a result.

After dominating in shots on net, Boston gave up a chance the other way that Kevin Shattenkirk (4) was sure to take advantage of– sending a snap shot over Rask’s glove side from the faceoff dot to give the Lightning their first lead of the night, 3-2, at 15:13 of the third period.

Stamkos (5) and Point (2) recorded the assists on Shattenkirk’s goal.

The Bolts followed up their lead with a quick penalty of their own– Anthony Cirelli was guilty of a minor infraction for tripping Pastrnak at 16:08.

On the ensuing skater advantage, Boston fired everything but the kitchen sink towards the goal, missing the net entirely a couple of times, but proving to be worthy in the long-run.

After Marchand fired a shot off the endboards that caromed back into the slot, Pastrnak (8) sent the puck off of Shattenkirk’s stick and into the net behind Vasilevskiy to tie the game, 3-3, with his 2nd goal of the night.

Marchand (7) and Krug (5) each had a hand in assisting Pastrnak’s power play goal at 16:55.

Boston’s three goals all came on the power play, while Tampa’s weak penalty kill was on full display Thursday night.

At the end of regulation, the score remained tied, 3-3, on the scoreboard, while Tampa held onto a slim advantage in shots on goal, 33-32, despite trailing, 11-4, in shots on goal in the third period alone.

The Lightning maintained an advantage in blocked shots (12-9), takeaways (7-6), giveaways (15-12), hits (29-21) and faceoff win% (53-47) heading into overtime.

The Bolts were 0/3 on the power play, while the B’s were 3/5 on the skater advantage.

Cassidy started Coyle, Pastrnak and Krug in overtime, while Tampa’s head coach, Jon Cooper, opted for Cirelli, Killon and Hedman to kick things off in the five-minute, 3-on-3, OT action.

Neither team scored and Marchand had Point in a headlock in the dying seconds to prevent a last second scoring chance for the Bolts.

He was assessed a roughing penalty at 5:00 of the overtime period, but could still take part in the shootout, because apparently there’s no rule that’d say otherwise.

After the overtime period, the Bruins held the slight advantage in shots on goal, 37-36, including a, 5-3, advantage in overtime alone.

Tampa finished the night with the lead in blocked shots (12-9), giveaways (15-12), hits (31-21) and faceoff win% (53-47), while both teams had seven takeaways aside.

The Lightning finished the night 0/3 on the power play and the B’s went 3/5.

Boston elected to shoot second in the shootout, thereby giving Tampa the first shot of the first round of the shootout.

Cooper sent Hedman to get things started, but the defender was denied by Rask with a blocker save.

Cassidy responded by sending Coyle for the first attempt on Vasilevskiy, but the Tampa netminder wasn’t fooled by Coyle’s deke and made a pad save.

Point made an appearance for the Lightning in the second round of the shootout, but clipped Rask’s blocker and sent the puck wide of the net.

Next up for Boston, Pastrnak flat out missed the goal frame, leaving the shootout tied, 0-0, through two rounds.

Last season’s Art Ross Trophy and Hart Memorial Trophy winner, Kucherov had Tampa’s first shot of the third round of the shootout, but was stopped by Rask with the pad save as Kucherov tried to go five-hole.

In response, Marchand tried to get Vasilevskiy to stretch just far enough that Marchand would’ve eluded the Lightning goaltender, but Vasilevskiy made the save with the right leg pad and kept the shootout even, 0-0, through three rounds.

Finally, Stamkos broke open the scoring in the shootout with a shot high over Rask’s blocker and into the back of the net to give Tampa the, 1-0, advantage– meaning Boston would have to score to extend the shootout.

Celebrating his birthday in style, DeBrusk was given Boston’s last chance in the shootout, but was stopped by Vasilevskiy’s blocker, leaving the Bruins scoreless in the shootout and with the, 4-3, loss in the final boxscore.

Boston wrapped up their three-game homestand 2-0-1 thanks to their shootout loss to Tampa on Thursday.

The Bruins travel to Toronto for a home and home series with the Maple Leafs on Oct. 19th at Scotiabank Arena and Oct. 22nd at TD Garden.

It will be Boston and Toronto’s first meeting since their 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round matchup.

Afterwards, the B’s then have a few days off until they’ll face the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues in a 2019 Stanley Cup Final rematch for the first time this season at home on Oct. 26th.

St. Louis kicks off the first games on back-to-back days for the Bruins this season, as Boston will travel to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Rangers on Oct. 27th before finishing the month on home ice against the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 29th.

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Podcasts

DTFR Podcast #172- Participation Trophies After One Game (Part IV)

The 2019-20 season has begun, so naturally we handed out awards in our 4th Annual Participation Trophies After One Game ceremony.

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