Down the Frozen River

Tag: Sergei Bobrovsky

  • Bruins strike quick in, 4-2, victory against Panthers

    Bruins strike quick in, 4-2, victory against Panthers

    Though Jake DeBrusk had the eventual game-winning goal in the second period, Erik Haula and Taylor Hall stole the show within a six-second span back in the first period as the Boston Bruins beat the Florida Panthers, 4-2, Tuesday night at TD Garden.

    Linus Ullmark (25-10-2, 2.51 goals-against average, .914 save percentage in 40 games played) made 19 saves on 21 shots against in the win for Boston.

    Florida goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky (39-7-3, 2.67 goals-against average, .912 save percentage in 54 games played), stopped 34 out of 37 shots faced in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 50-25-5 (105 points) on the season and remain in command of the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, as well as 4th in the Atlantic Division.

    The Panthers fell to 57-17-6 (120 points) overall, but sit atop the Eastern Conference, as well as the Atlantic, having clinched the best record this side of the Mississippi River however many days ago now.

    Florida is also still in command of the Presidents’ Trophy race with the Colorado Avalanche (56-18-6, 118 points) just two points behind. Both teams have two games remaining on their schedules.

    The B’s, meanwhile reached the 50-win plateau for the first time since 2017-18 and finished their regular season series against the Panthers with a 2-1-0 record over three matchups in 2021-22.

    Boston went 2-0-1 against Florida in 2019-20, and did not face the Panthers in 2020-21, due to the temporarily realigned divisions amidst the condensed 56-game schedule in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

    The Bruins were without Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Jesper Frödén (lower body) on Tuesday, while David Pastrnak and Hampus Lindholm returned to action after serving as healthy scratches in Sunday night’s, 5-3, victory in Montréal.

    Pastrnak was back in his regular role on the second line with Marc McLaughlin coming out of the lineup and Tomáš Nosek reverting back to his fourth line center spot.

    Meanwhile, Lindholm suited up alongside Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk went back to the second pairing with Brandon Carlo with Mike Reilly joining McLaughlin, Josh Brown and Anton Blidh on the list of healthy scratches against Florida.

    Prior to puck drop, the Bruins presented their 2021-22 team awards as McAvoy was named this year’s Eddie Shore Award winner, Pastrnak took home the Elizabeth Dufresne Award honors for 2021-22 and Nick Foligno was named the recipient of the John P. Bucyk Award.

    Patrice Bergeron (Third Star), Brad Marchand (Second Star) and Pastrnak (First Star) were named the 98.5 The Sports Hub Three Star Award winners for the season.

    Thursday night before the B’s host the Buffalo Sabres, Boston– together with NESN– will present the NESN 7th Player Award as voted on by the fans to this year’s winner.

    After Tuesday night’s win, fans in attendance witnessed a modified version of the annual “Shirts Off Our Backs” ceremony with players skating to a team representative, taking off their jersey, signing it and having said representative bring it over to the lucky winner from the crowd.

    Early in the opening frame, Haula cross checked Anthony Duclair and presented the Panthers with the first power play of the night at 5:41 of the first period.

    Florida didn’t convert on the skater advantage, but they were able to capitalize in the vulnerable minute after special teams action as Gustav Forsling (10) flung a shot with eyes towards the net and past Ullmark on the glove side to give the Panthers a, 1-0, lead at 8:00 of the first period.

    Forsling’s goal was unassisted.

    Late in the opening frame, Hall fed Pastrnak with a lead pass into the attacking zone before Pastrnak drove the rubber biscuit to the net, deked and sent a backhand pass through the slot to Haula as the center was crashing the high slot from the right side.

    Haula (18) blasted a one-timer past Bobrovsky and tied the game, 1-1, at 16:18, while Pastrnak (35) and Hall (40) notched the assists.

    Six seconds after the ensuing faceoff– which the Panthers won, mind you– Pastrnak intercepted a pass and sent Hall (19) into the offensive zone on a breakaway where No. 71 in black and gold promptly beat Bobrovsky on the glove side to give Boston their first lead of the night, 2-1.

    Pastrnak (36) had the only assist on Hall’s goal at 16:18 of the first period and Haula and Hall combined for a pair of goals in a span of six seconds– marking the second-fastest two-goal span in franchise history, trailing Ray Getliffe and Leroy Goldsworthy’s pair of goals five seconds apart on Jan. 4, 1938, in a, 6-3, win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Garden.

    A couple minutes later, a scrum ensued after a stoppage, yielding minor infractions for roughing for Joe Thornton, Nosek, Derek Forbort and Patric Hornqvist.

    There was no ensuing skater advantage for either team, however.

    About a minute later, though, Carlo slashed Duclair and cut a rut to the penalty box at 19:50.

    Florida’s power play didn’t take long before Sam Reinhart (32) sent a puck off the iron before collecting his own rebound and slidding it behind Ullmark while the Bruins goaltender was momentarily confused and searched behind his leg pads for the puck that was now already in the back of the twine.

    Claude Giroux (44) and Duclair (26) tallied the assists on Reinhart’s power-play goal as the Panthers tied the game, 2-2, at 19:59 of the opening frame.

    Heading into the first intermission, the score was tied, 2-2, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 13-11.

    Florida held the advantage in blocked shots (5-3), while the Bruins led in takeaways (3-2), giveaways (3-1) and faceoff win percentage (52-48).

    Both teams managed 11 hits apiece, while only the Panthers had seen any time on the skater advantage– having gone 1-for-2 on the power play through one period.

    Early in the middle frame, Bergeron worked a pass up along the boards to Marchand, who fired a quick shot on goal that generated a rebound for DeBrusk as he crashed the net.

    DeBrusk (24) buried the loose puck and gave Boston a, 3-2, lead at 4:59 of the second period as a result.

    Marchand (46) and Bergeron (38) were credited with the assists on the tally.

    Moments later, Thornton tripped McAvoy and presented the Bruins with their first power play as a result at 11:49 of the second period.

    Boston promptly failed to convert on the skater advantage and fell to 0-for-34 on their last 34 power play opportunities.

    Through 40 minutes of action, the B’s led the Panthers, 3-2, on the scoreboard and, 22-18, in shots on goal, including a, 9-7, advantage in the second period alone.

    Boston also led in faceoff win% (59-42), while Florida took control in blocked shots (7-4), takeaways (7-5) and giveaways (7-4).

    Both teams had 21 hits aside, while the Panthers were 1-for-2 and the Bruins were 0-for-1 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    Early in the third period, the Panthers tweeted that Anton Lundell (upper body) and Radko Gudas (lower body) would not return to the night’s action due to injuries.

    Forsling sent an errant puck over the glass and out of play at 6:46 of the third period and received an automatic delay of game infraction as a result.

    Boston, however, failed to convert on the resulting power play and would do so once more when Sam Bennett hooked Lindholm and cut a rut to the box at 8:49.

    Despite special teams continuing to fall by the wayside (the Bruins are 0-for-36 on their last 36 power plays), the B’s managed to limit Florida to just three shots on goal in the third period alone.

    Panthers interim head coach, Andrew Brunette, pulled his goaltender with 3:24 remaining in the action to muster some semblance of an effort in the offensive zone with a 6-on-5 advantage.

    Marchand (32), however, had other ideas and ended a 12-game goalless drought– tallying the 793rd point of his NHL career in the process and tying Wayne Cashman for the seventh-most points in Bruins franchise history as a result on an empty net goal at 16:55.

    Bergeron (39) had the only assist and Boston took a, 4-2, lead with only minutes to spare in Tuesday night’s action.

    Brunette used his timeout with 1:36 remaining and pulled Bobrovsky for an extra attacker again shortly thereafter, but the B’s kept the Panthers from cutting into the lead and the final horn sounded with a resounding, 4-2, victorious effort for the Bruins.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 38-21, including a, 16-3, advantage in the third period alone.

    The B’s also led in blocked shots (12-5) and faceoff win% (55-45), while Florida left TD Garden leading in giveaways (9-5) and hits (30-27).

    The Panthers went 1-for-2 on the power play, while the Bruins went 0-for-3 on the skater advantage Tuesday night.

    Boston has now won five out of their last six games and is on a three-game winning streak as a result.

    The B’s improved to 14-16-3 (8-8-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 16-6-2 (7-3-1 at home) when tied after the first period and 32-1-3 (15-1-1 at home) when leading after two periods this season.

    Florida fell to 33-8-2 (14-5-2 on the road) when scoring first, 15-9-2 (7-5-2 on the road) when tied after one and 11-15-1 (4-9-1 on the road) when trailing after the second period in 2021-22.

    The Bruins host the Buffalo Sabres Thursday night in the final home game of the regular season before visiting the Toronto Maple Leafs Friday night on the road.

    The 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs are set to begin on May 2nd with the First Round schedule yet to be announced.

  • Florida Panthers 2021-22 Season Preview

    Florida Panthers 2021-22 Season Preview

    2020-21 record 37-14-5, 79 points

    2nd in the Discover NHL Central Division

    Eliminated in the First Round by Tampa

    Additions: F Zac Dalpe, F Maxim Mamin, F Sam Reinhart (acquired from BUF), F Joe Thornton, G Christopher Gibson

    Subtractions: F Alexander Wennberg (signed with SEA), D Vladislav Kolyachonok (traded to ARI), D Anton Strålman (traded to ARI), D Keith Yandle (buyout), G Chris Driedger (expansion, SEA), G Devon Levi (traded to BUF)

    Still Unsigned: None

    Re-signed: F Sam Bennett, F Anthony Duclair, F Juho Lammikko, F Carter Verhaeghe, D Lucas Carlsson, D Kevin Connauton, D Gustav Forsling, D Noah Juulsen, D Brandon Montour, D Chase Priskie, G Sam Montembeault

    Offseason Analysis: The Panthers made the playoffs in 1996 and 1997, then spent quite a few years in-between without playing a postseason game in back-to-back years before making the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifier (losing in four games in a best-of-five series to the New York Islanders) and taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2021 First Round.

    Florida hasn’t won a playoff series since they eliminated the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7 of the 1996 Eastern Conference Final.

    Unlike the time between then and now, the Panthers are legitimately on the rise.

    Head coach, Joel Quenneville, has a tendency to keep a team’s composure together and make them competitive from year-to-year on the ice, but General Manager, Bill Zito, has the tough job of ensuring the chemistry works off the ice and under the salary cap too.

    Luckily for him, all he had to do this summer was stay the course.

    Though they lost in six games to the Lightning in the first ever “Battle of Florida”, the Panthers got a taste of what makes champions, champions, and gained valuable experience in the postseason department.

    Zito bought out Keith Yandle, brought in Joe Thornton for the bottom-six via free agency, acquired Sam Reinhart (and signed him to an extension) and traded Anton Strålman to the Arizona Coyotes in his biggest moves of the summer.

    The emergence of Mackenzie Weegar and the return of Aaron Ekblad pre-empted a spot in the top-six for Yandle with Brandon Montour, Markus Nutivaara and Radko Gudas garnering more time under Quenneville’s masterplan.

    Meanwhile, Strålman’s departure opened up $5.500 million in cap space for Zito to spend elsewhere– like on Reinhart’s three-year extension worth $6.500 million per season, for example.

    Reinhart was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a 2022 1st round pick and goalie, Devon Levi, on July 24th– two days before Zito flipped Strålman with Vladislav Kolyachonok to the Coyotes for a 2023 7th round pick.

    Despite a horrible 2020-21 season for the Sabres as a whole, Reinhart chipped in 40 points (25 goals, 15 assists) in 54 games as one of the bright spots in an otherwise dreary year.

    One season in Toronto was enough for Thornton as his Maple Leafs tenure produced 5-15–20 totals in 44 games. At least now that he’s in Florida it’ll be 1) warmer for surfing year-round and 2) better overall.

    With about $1.330 million in cap space, Zito has room to keep adding the missing link (if there even is one) by the time the trade deadline rolls around.

    Offseason Grade: A-

    Hockey is weird in that once a team starts showing signs of forward progress sometimes they go off the deep end and make tons of moves that make no sense from season-to-season.

    Zito is sharp enough to stay the course and add– bolstering his top-six forward group with Reinhart and providing Florida with the best chance to succeed for the first time this millennium.

    That said, there’s always the Sergei Bobrovsky factor, but Spencer Knight should help ease Bobrovsky’s workload if he isn’t already the starting goaltender to begin with for the Panthers in 2021-22.

    Chris Driedger leaving for the Seattle Kraken was inevitable, but Florida was wise enough to stockpile goaltending depth in Sam Montembeault and Knight over the last couple of seasons.

  • Let’s pretend to be the Seattle Kraken

    Let’s pretend to be the Seattle Kraken

    The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft welcomes the Seattle Kraken to the league as its 32nd member club Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 in the United States and Sportsnet in Canada.

    Because of a lot going on right now, this mock expansion draft got delayed until the day of the actual draft and ultimately is arbitrary. If there’s even one prediction right here, then Kraken General Manager, Ron Francis, apparently reads DTFR.

    We’ll make that assumption, thank you very much.

    Seattle has run numerous mock drafts at this point and gone through many scenarios, but who would’ve imagined that players like Alex Ovechkin, Ondrej Palat and more would be available?

    Of course, keep in mind that the Kraken have to spend between 60-100% of the previous season’s salary cap ($81.500 million).

    For the sake of keeping things simple here, we’ve provided some built-in scenarios that would allow Seattle to be cap compliant as a result of the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.

    The Kraken will be selecting one player from 30 NHL clubs as the Vegas Golden Knights are exempt from this round of expansion. The 30 other teams had the option to protect seven forwards, three defenders and one goaltender or any combination of eight skaters and one goaltender.

    For more on the protection and exposure requirements, check out the protected lists and 2021 NHL Expansion Draft rules.

    The majority of this was written before the leaked selections were revealed, so let’s just pretend we’re all in an alternate universe for a bit longer.

    ANAHEIM DUCKS

    LD/RD Haydn Fleury

    25-years-old, 1 year left, $1.300 million cap hit

    Fleury was dealt to Anaheim at the trade deadline as the Carolina Hurricanes feared they would probably lose him anyway to former Canes GM Ron Francis at the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.

    Turns out their fears were based in reality as the Ducks experience déjà vu that harkens back to when they lost Shea Theodore to the Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.

    Fleury had 3-1–4 totals in 47 games for Anaheim and Carolina in 2020-21.

    ARIZONA COYOTES

    RW/LW Christian Fischer

    24, 1 year left, $1.000 million cap hit

    Fischer (3-8–11 totals in 52 games) is a safe bet for Seattle as he’s entering his prime and carries a low-risk, high-reward type of contract with the expectation that he could blossom into an attractive bottom-six forward.

    It’s either that, or he’ll be a sweetener in another transaction as the deadline approaches if there’s a team looking to bolster their depth.

    BOSTON BRUINS

    LD/RD Connor Clifton

    26, 2 years left, $1.000 million cap hit

    Boston is more than likely going to lose a defender– whether it’s Clifton, Jeremy Lauzon or Jakub Zboril– rather than a forward, like Nick Ritchie, for example. Between Clifton and Lauzon, the Kraken can’t go wrong.

    If they’d prefer the younger of the two, then Lauzon is your choice. Of course, if Seattle is looking for an NHL ready bottom-pairing and/or seventh defender, then look no further than the hard-hitting Clifton (1-6–7 totals in 44 games) despite his 5-foot-11, 175-pound frame.

    BUFFALO SABRES

    LD Jake McCabe

    27, pending-unrestricted free agent, $2.850 million cap hit in 2020-21

    Like more than a few players in Buffalo this offseason, McCabe could benefit from a change of scenery and can be best utilized as a bottom-pairing or depth defender.

    Perhaps the Kraken can’t come to an agreement on a new contract or they find a way to flip him at the Expansion Draft– ether way, Seattle’s looking to get more out of his 1-2–3 totals in 13 games in 2020-21.

    CALGARY FLAMES

    LD Mark Giordano

    37, 1 year remaining, $6.750 million cap hit

    Though Seattle wouldn’t go wrong with either Milan Lucic or Giordano in terms of drafting leadership out of the Flames’ dressing room, it turns out the Kraken liked the Golden Knights’ model enough and pried a veteran defender out of Calgary to lead the first generation Kraken roster.

    With 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 56 games in 2020-21, a Mark Messier Leadership Award and a James Norris Memorial Trophy under his belt in 2019-20 and 2018-19, respectively, Giordano’s had a late career resurgence and could prove to be an effective piece on Seattle’s blue line.

    CAROLINA HURRICANES

    RD Dougie Hamilton

    28, pending-UFA, $5.750 million cap hit in 2020-21

    Hamilton arrived to Carolina after Francis left the organization, but that doesn’t rule out the six degrees of Kevin Bacon factor here, which allows the Kraken to select the right-shot defender that had 10-32–42 totals in 55 games this season.

    Though he’s a pending-UFA, Seattle has the space to get creative with either a new contract or the ability to trade his negotiating rights for more assets before free agency begins on July 28th.

    CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

    LD/RD Calvin de Haan

    30, 1 year left, $4.550 million cap hit

    de Haan’s (1-9–10 totals in 44 games) been a journeyman for three out of the last four seasons having gone from the New York Islanders in 2017-18, to the Hurricanes in 2018-19, then Chicago from 2019-present.

    He’d either play a bigger role with Seattle or would continue wracking up the airline rewards points by being used as trade bait for another club in the offseason similar to how the Golden Knights used Marc Methot and David Schlemko in their Expansion Draft year.

    COLORADO AVALANCHE

    LW/C Gabriel Landeskog

    28, pending-UFA, $5.571 million cap hit in 2020-21

    Vegas was wheeling and dealing at the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft and Seattle will likely be doing the same in this year’s 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, so why not take a chance on Landeskog and see what happens?

    At best, he sticks around. At worst, you trade his negotiating rights before July 28th or play it safe and claim Joonas Donskoi instead to provide yourself with some quality top-nine forward depth.

    Landeskog, however, brings his 20-32–52 totals in 54 games this season, as well as his leadership qualities as the current captain in Colorado to Seattle if he were to sign a long-term extension to guide the Kraken through their formative years. He’d be the surefire captain for the new club, no doubt.

    COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

    C/LW Max Domi

    26, 1 year left, $5.300 million cap hit

    Columbus took a gamble and it didn’t pay off as Domi’s 44 points (17 goals, 27 assists) in 71 games with the Montréal Canadiens in 2019-20, faltered to 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) in 54 games with the Blue Jackets in 2020-21.

    As such, Domi was exposed to the elements and that’s where the Kraken come in to take a flyer on a top-six forward looking for the right system and something to be built around. If all else fails, it’s only one season to get Seattle off the ground and provide a spark.

    DALLAS STARS

    LD/RD Andrej Sekera

    35, 1 year left, $1.500 million cap hit

    Sekera’s five points (three goals, two assists) in 46 games won’t be attracting any buyers for his offensive capabilities from the point, but if it’s a shutdown defender that can play throughout the lineup you need, then he’ll come in handy as a Swiss Army knife of sorts.

    If the Kraken trade from the rest of their plethora of defenders and Sekera remains, it’s not the end of the world. If Seattle sends him packing after claiming him from Dallas, then the Stars won’t have lost that much for nothing with bigger fish to fry.

    Either that or the Kraken could just snag Jamie Oleksiak and call it a day.

    DETROIT RED WINGS

    RW/LW/C Vladislav Namestnikov

    28, 1 year left, $2.000 million cap hit

    Remember when Namestnikov was a household name in a Tampa Bay Lightning uniform? Or when he was a New York Ranger? These days, it seems like he’s been everywhere– especially since he’s suited up for the Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Colorado Avlanche and Red Wings in the last two seasons.

    His best season came in 2017-18, when he amassed 48 points between the Lightning and Rangers in 81 games played, but Namestnikov only managed 8-9–17 totals in 53 games with Detroit this season.

    At $2.000 million for one season, he’s a suitable asset in your bottom-six forward group with a low-cost, high-reward 30-40 point potential at best or easy to move at the deadline at worst.

    EDMONTON OILERS

    RD Adam Larsson

    28, pending-UFA, $4.167 million cap hit in 2020-21

    Larsson (4-6–10 totals in 56 games) is sure to hit the open market on July 28th, but if the Kraken find themselves in position to stake their claim to his negotiating rights and sign him before anyone else can even submit an offer it wouldn’t be unwise.

    At best, Seattle lands a top-four defender. At worst, they avoid having to take something else from the Oilers. James Neal likely isn’t getting another call from an expansion team this time around and Kyle Turris might be the only decent cheap contract if he can find his game again.

    FLORIDA PANTHERS

    G Chris Driedger

    27, pending-UFA, $850,000 cap hit in 2020-21

    Seattle was enchanted by his emergence in the last couple of seasons and with Spencer Knight coming out of the shadows behind Sergei Bobrovksy’s contract in Florida, Driedger finds himself hitting the open waters of Puget Sound and/or free agency.

    Whether or not Driedger’s 14-6-3 record, 2.07 goals-against average and .9217 save percentage in 23 games (23 starts, three shutouts) is a promising sign of things to come or simply a solid mark of defensive work in front of him remains to be seen.

    That said, Driedger is one of the better goaltenders on the open market– if he even makes it there first.

    LOS ANGELES KINGS 

    RW/LW Austin Wagner

    24, 2 years left, $1.133 million cap hit

    Despite having one of the best prospect pools in the league right now, the Kings don’t have too much to offer via expansion, so the Kraken will have to settle for a fourth-liner that has yet to reveal whether or not this is really all that there is to his game.

    Wagner had 4-4–8 totals in 44 games with Los Angeles in 2020-21.

    MINNESOTA WILD

    G Kaapo Kähkönen

    24, 1 year left, $725,000

    The Wild chose to protect Cam Talbot over their future potential starting goaltender in Kähkönen which is good news for Kraken fans and bad news for Minnesota fans.

    Unless Seattle has a deal in place to acquire assets from the Wild to not select Kähkönen, this is a dangerous game for Minnesota GM, Bill Guerin, to play– but then again, he’s put an emphasis on change at the forefront of his tenure in Minnesota’s front office.

    Meanwhile, Kähkönen went 16-8-0 in 24 games (23 starts, two shutouts) and had a 2.88 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage in that span in 2020-21.

    MONTRÉAL CANADIENS

    G Carey Price

    33, 5 years left, $10.500 million cap hit

    Whether or not Price is even being considered by the Kraken hinges upon two things 1) his health and 2) if Seattle and Montréal have already worked out some sort of trade.

    The league has already informed the clubs that they would be circumventing the salary cap if the Kraken select Price, retain 50% of his salary and deal him back to Montréal.

    But, Seattle could take the 2021 Stanley Cup Final runner-up goaltender that amassed a 12-7-5 record in 25 games (25 starts, one shutout) in the regular season and had a 2.64 goals-against average, as well as a .901 save percentage in that span and play him, place him on long-term injured reserve or eat some salary and trade him elsewhere.

    In any case, Price to Seattle would be as big a deal as Marc-Andre Fleury to Vegas in 2017.

    NASHVILLE PREDATORS

    LD Mark Borowiecki

    32, 1 year left, $2.000 million cap hit

    Borowiecki’s 2020-21 campaign was cut short and limited to 22 games due to injury, but don’t let his one assist fool you– he’s a physical defender that will do anything to make a hit, block a shot and lead in the dressing room when he’s not on the ice.

    If he’s healthy, he’d be effective in Seattle as the Kraken look to establish their workplace culture and team identity.

    NEW JERSEY DEVILS

    LW/RW Andreas Johnsson

    26, 2 years left, $3.400 million cap hit

    Johnsson had 43 points in 73 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs in his first full season at the NHL level in 2018-19. He then had just 21 points in 43 games with the Leafs in 2019-20 and 5-6–11 totals in 50 games with the Devils this season.

    In the right situation, he could bounce back. In New Jersey, it doesn’t look like that’d be happening anytime soon– regardless of Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes’ emergence with Ty Smith and Yegor Sharangovich playing a part in the club’s turnaround.

    Some, however, have Mackenzie Blackwood pegged as being selected by the Kraken as they certainly have plenty of goaltenders to choose from and trade thereafter.

    NEW YORK ISLANDERS

    RW/LW Josh Bailey

    31, 3 years left, $5.000 million cap hit

    Bailey had 8-27–35 totals in 54 games with the Islanders this season and would provide some meat in the middle of our hypothetical Kraken roster.

    Between Bailey and Jordan Eberle, however, Seattle can’t go wrong. The former tends to score clutch goals in the playoffs and has a cap hit that’s $500,000 less than the latter, though that’s not much to worry about.

    NEW YORK RANGERS

    RW Julien Gauthier

    23, 1 year left, $775,000 cap hit

    It’s not always about size, but having the option to use a 6-foot-4, 227-pound winger in your lineup certainly will help the Kraken in the physical elements of the game– especially against their rivals in the Pacific Division.

    Gauthier had 2-6–8 totals in 30 games with the Rangers in 2020-21.

    OTTAWA SENATORS

    G Joey Daccord

    24, 2 years left, $750,000 cap hit

    Daccord appeared in eight games (six games) this season as the Senators struggled to stay healthy in the crease and went on to amass a 1-3-1 record in the process with a 3.27 goals-against average and an .897 save percentage in that span– revealing two things 1) he’s a young goaltender and 2) the Sens really need a better roster in front of any and all of their goaltenders.

    But choosing Daccord is O.K. for Seattle since he’ll develop in due time and it takes care of having to pick something else from Ottawa’s scraps.

    PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

    RW/LW Jakub Voracek

    31, 3 years left, $8.250 million cap hit

    Want to get messy? Let’s have the Kraken select Voracek from the Flyers and see what happens!

    No, this isn’t about postgame press conference outbursts or anything (though Voracek was in the right in that regard), but rather, there’s a lot of teams that would take Voracek at a reduced rate and Seattle could make bank off trading him.

    Or they could keep the guy that had 9-34–43 totals in 53 games in 2020-21 and see what happens in 2021-22, but Francis isn’t likely going to take on that big of a contract unless it’s a free agent signing.

    PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

    RW/LW Brandon Tanev

    29, 4 years left, $3.500 million cap hit

    Tanev can skate, hit and compete, so… …in other words, he’s a hockey player. He’s also got the long hair to go with it.

    In 2020-21, he had 7-9–16 totals in 32 games in his second season with the Penguins. Though he was on the cusp of the 30-point plateau with the Winnipeg Jets in 2018-19, Tanev’s career-high 29 points is about the most Seattle could get out of him, but that’s fine for the meat of their lineup.

    SAN JOSE SHARKS

    C Dylan Gambrell

    24, 1 year left, $1.100 million cap hit

    Be honest, did you really want to have to take anything from the Sharks?

    Gambrell matched his career-high in goals (five) and set career-highs in assists (seven) and points (12) in 49 games with San Jose this season, but aside from being young, he’s still very much a fourth liner in the NHL, so the Kraken have that going for them, at least.

    ST. LOUIS BLUES

    RW Vladimir Tarasenko

    29, 2 years left, $7.500 million cap hit

    Name brand power. Seattle would assure themselves of having some top jersey sales if they’d just take Tarasenko and keep him on the roster.

    Then again, he’s missed significant portions of the last two seasons and already wants out of St. Louis, so what’s not to say he won’t be disgruntled about going to a completely new franchise and any growing pains?

    With 4-10–14 totals in 24 games in 2020-21, and 442 points in 531 career NHL games, it’s probably worth at least being in control of his next destination– whether that’s the Kraken or elsewhere.

    TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

    C/LW/RW Yanni Gourde

    29, 4 years left, $5.167 million cap hit

    Gourde is an affordable player to build a brand new roster around, but just how far up the lineup can he play? Will Seattle try to make him like William Karlsson in Vegas’ first year and demand first line minutes or are they comfortable with taking a more conservative approach and, say, making him a second liner at best?

    In any case, 17-19–36 totals in 56 games en route to back-to-back Stanley Cup rings with the Lightning brings the right amount of depth scoring and valuable playoff experience to the Kraken’s roster.

    TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

    LW/C Jared McCann

    25, 1 year left, $2.940 million cap hit

    There was a reason why the Maple Leafs went out and got McCann in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins ahead of the expansion draft, but it clearly wasn’t as an insurance plan in the event that Seattle took Alexander Kerfoot and Toronto needed a new third line center or something.

    Instead, the Leafs left both available and the Kraken took the guy with the better offensive production in 2020-21, as McCann had 14-18–32 totals in 43 games with Pittsburgh, while Kerfoot had 8-15–23 totals in 56 games with Toronto.

    VANCOUVER CANUCKS

    C/RW Zack MacEwen

    25, 1 year left, $825,000

    All of Vancouver’s bad contracts are coming to bite them just as everyone expected. Sure, some attractive salary cap hits were available if the Kraken needed a boost, but for the point scoring output, none of them would’ve made sense in a million years– even as a favor to the Canucks, you know, the closest geographical rival to Seattle.

    Thus, MacEwen’s taking his talents and 1-1–2 totals in 34 games with the Canucks this season to the Kraken, where he’ll become intertwined with some semblance of depth.

    WASHINGTON CAPITALS

    G Vitek Vanecek

    25, 1 year left, $716,667

    Yeah, there’s no way around it, really, but this is the worst thing that could happen for the Capitals short of the Kraken getting bold and taking Alex Ovechkin.

    Vanecek (21-10-4 in 37 games, 36 starts, 2.69 goals-against average, .908 save percentage, two shutouts) provides a great 1A/1B punch with Ilya Samsonov as both goaltenders develop, but since Washington couldn’t get a deal done with the team that plays in Washington (state, that is), then it’s a solid grab for Seattle.

    Whether or not they keep Vanecek in the mix with all the other goaltenders (or any of the other goaltenders, for that matter) remains to be seen.

    WINNIPEG JETS

    RD Dylan DeMelo

    28, 3 years left, $3.000 million

    It’s simple, draft DeMelo from Winnipeg and either end up with a decent top-4 defender or use him as trade bait a la the Vegas way in 2017.

    Nine assists in 52 games won’t get you much offense from the point when DeMelo is on the ice, but his shutdown style and decent cap hit is attractive around the league.

    Total Cap Hit (excluding players already on SEA roster): $80,681,666

    Average age: 27.7 years old

    Seattle won’t actually be spending to the cap from the expansion draft alone kind of like how the Golden Knights did in 2017, but in this mock draft, let’s get crazy.

    Spend every penny and sell high, why not!?!

    Yes, Price carries a hefty price tag, but that doesn’t have to be your problem if you find a team desperate enough for goaltending. Imagine trading Price to the Maple Leafs and watching all of Québec sit through the uneasiness of another Toronto-Montréal matchup in the postseason by the time his contract expires.

    Or just imagine all of the possible side deals from taking a team that’s loaded with talent and stripping it down to the essentials, plus a foundation for the future.

    Ron Francis is kind of good at that.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Both teams managed four giveaways each heading into overtime.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    For just the 4th time in the last 15 years, the defending Stanley Cup champion has jumped out to a 2-0 series lead as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers, 3-1, on road ice in Game 2 on Tuesday.

    Tampa’s victory at BB&T Center dismantled Florida’s home ice advantage and cemented the Bolts’ legacy as a dominant team in the postseason, while Andrei Vasilevskiy (2-0, 2.52 goals-against average, .931 save percentage in two games played) made 32 saves on 33 shots against for a .970 save percentage in the win.

    Panthers goaltender, Chris Driedger (0-1, 2.07 goals-against average, .929 save percentage in one game played), made his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut and turned aside 26 out of 28 shots faced in the loss.

    Florida’s head coach, Joel Quenneville, opted to start Driedger over Sergei Bobrovsky after Bobrovsky’s poor showing in Game 1 and, though Game 2 was no better in the end result, Driedger had a solid night with the exception of the first period.

    Steven Stamkos (1) kicked off the game’s scoring on a shot that was intended to be the completion of a give-and-go attempt, but ended up deflecting off of former Lightning defender– turned current Panthers defender– Anton Stralman, and into the twine.

    Alex Killorn (1) and David Savard (1) had the assists on Stamkos’ accidental goal as the Bolts pulled ahead, 1-0, at 4:52 of the first period.

    Late in the opening frame, the Lightning extended their lead to two-goals after Brayden Point rang the crossbar to the right of the goal frame before Ondrej Palat (1) buried the rebound over Driedger’s blocker side far to the left inside the goalframe.

    Point (1) and Nikita Kucherov (2) tallied the assists on Palat’s goal as Tampa took a, 2-0, lead at 14:57.

    Heading into the first intermission, the Bolts led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and, 15-9, in shots on goal.

    Tampa also held the advantage in takeaways (5-1) and hits (18-14), while Florida led in giveaways (9-6) and faceoff win percentage (61-39). Both teams had three blocked shots each and had yet to see any action on the power play entering the middle frame.

    MacKenzie Weegar send the puck over the glass and received an automatic delay of game infraction 31 seconds into the second period, presenting the Lightning with the night’s first power play.

    Tampa’s power play was no match for Florida’s penalty kill, however.

    The Panthers got their first chance on the skater advantage at 11:33 of the second period when Point was sent to the box for holding.

    Though Florida did not capitalize on the resulting 5-on-4 action, the Panthers did catch the Lightning in the vulnerable minute after special teams action as Mason Marchment (1) buried a shot pass redirection behind Vasilevskiy to cut Tampa’s lead in half, 2-1.

    Carter Verhaeghe (1) and Aleksander Barkov (1) had the assists on Marchment’s goal at 14:21.

    Finally, after a scrum at the horn signaling the start of the second intermission, Weegar was assessed a roughing minor for hitting Blake Coleman from behind after the whistle at 20:00 of the second period.

    Through 40 minutes of action, the Bolts led the Panthers, 2-1, on the scoreboard, despite both teams amassing 20 shots on goal each. Florida, however, had an, 11-4, advantage in shots on goal in the second period alone.

    Florida also held the lead in blocked shots (11-10) and giveaways (13-12), while Tampa led in takeaways (8-7) and hits (28-26). Both teams were 50-50 in faceoff win% and 0/1 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    Kucherov tripped Anthony Duclair at 1:08 of the third period, which resulted in 52 seconds of 4-on-4 action before an abbreviated power play for the Panthers ultimately came up empty handed.

    Midway through the third, Pat Maroon tripped Stralman and presented Florida with their last power play at 9:06.

    The Panthers couldn’t muster anything on the ensuing skater advantage.

    With 2:17 remaining in the action, Quenneville pulled Driedger for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail– especially after Yanni Gourde (1) picked off a pass and fired the rubber biscuit into the empty net from the neutral zone at 18:35 of the third period.

    Gourde’s goal was unassisted and gave Tampa some insurance with a, 3-1, lead.

    Seconds later, Marchment and Erik Cernak got into a heated exchange, delivering some cross checks to one another and rough play, yielding roughing minors for each, while Ryan Lomberg picked up a roughing minor of his own– giving Tampa one last power play for the night.

    Lomberg also received a ten-minute misconduct as all of the penalties were announced at 18:53 of the third period.

    At the final horn, the Lightning had won Game 2 by a score of, 3-1, and taken a 2-0 series lead in their 2021 First Round matchup with the Panthers.

    Florida finished the night leading in shots on goal, 33-29, including a, 12-9, advantage in the third period alone.

    The Panthers also wrapped up Tuesday night’s action leading in giveaways (21-19) and faceoff win% (51-49), while Tampa exited the building with the lead in blocked shots (15-13) and hits (42-37).

    Florida finished the night 0/3 on the power play, while the Bolts went 0/2 on the skater advantage.

    The Lightning take a 2-0 series lead back to Amalie Arena on Thursday for Game 3 on home ice. Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 6:30 p.m. ET and fans in the United States can tune to USA Network for national coverage, while those in Canada can catch the action on FX Canada.

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

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

    Brayden Point had a pair of goals to tie, then win the game for the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-4, over the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center in Game 1 of their 2021 First Round matchup on Sunday.

    The Bolts stole a game on the road and took a 1-0 series lead as a result.

    Andrei Vasilevskiy (1-0, 4.07 goals-against average, .897 save percentage in one game played) made 35 saves on 39 shots against in Sunday night’s barnburner victory for Tampa.

    Meanwhile, Florida netminder, Sergei Bobrovsky (0-1, 5.08 goals-against average, .875 save percentage in one game played), stopped 35 out of 40 shots faced in the loss.

    The Panthers and Lightning are meeting for the first time in a postseason series as the two clubs had never met before in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, despite being located in the same state (let alone the same division).

    Florida enters the 2021 First Round having made their 7th postseason appearance in franchise history. The Panthers haven’t won a playoff series since 1996.

    Meanwhile, Tampa is making their 13th appearance in the playoffs having won their 2nd Stanley Cup title in 2020.

    Bolts captain, Steven Stamkos, and Lightning forward, Nikita Kucherov, were back from injury in time for Game 1 as Stamkos finished the regular season on injured reserve and Kucherov spent the entire 2020-21 season on long term injured reserve recovering from hip surgery.

    Or salary cap circumvention, if that’s your thing.

    Early in the action, Kucherov and MacKenzie Weegar tangled with one another, resulting in roughing minors for each player at 3:15 of the first period and a pair of minutes at 4-on-4.

    Almost midway into the opening frame, Alex Killorn caught Jonathan Huberdeau with a slash and presented the Panthers with the night’s first power play at 7:18.

    Florida thought they grabbed the game’s first lead when Sam Bennett poked the puck through Vasilevskiy from the doorstep, but the on ice officials immediately ruled Bennett’s actions as incidental goaltender interference– therefore negating the goal that the Panthers thought they had scored.

    Less than a minute later, Blake Coleman (1) went on a shorthanded breakaway and slipped a backhand shot past Bobrovsky to give the Lightning a, 1-0, lead at 7:42 of the first period.

    Yanni Gourde (1) and Ryan McDonagh (1) had the assists on Coleman’s shorthanded goal.

    Less than a couple of minutes later, McDonagh cut a rut to the penalty box for boarding after the Bolts defender hit Panthers forward, Anthony Duclair, from behind at 9:04.

    This time Florida made sure to capitalize on the ensuing skater advantage as Aleksander Barkov won a faceoff back to the point whereby Keith Yandle slid a pass to Huberdeau before Huberdeau then setup Barkov (1) with a pass through the slot for a one-timer goal.

    Huberdeau (1) and Yandle (1) had the assists on Barkov’s power-play goal and the Panthers tied things up, 1-1, at 9:41.

    Late in the period, Barkov and Jan Rutta got into a shoving match and received roughing minors at 14:09, yielding two minutes worth of 4-on-4 action.

    Shortly after both squads received their skater back and resumed 5-on-5 action, the Panthers pulled ahead, 2-1, thanks to a one-timer from the point by former Bolt turned current Florida forward, Carter Verhaeghe (1).

    Barkov (1) and Yandle (2) had the assists on Verhaeghe’s goal as the lead changed for the first time of the night at 16:31 of the first period.

    In the aftermath of the goal celebration, Coleman slashed Frank Vatrano– who received a minor penalty of his own for embellishment.

    There was more 4-on-4 action, as a result, to finish off the opening frame.

    Entering the first intermission, the Panthers led, 2-1, on the scoreboard and dominated in shots on goal, 18-10.

    Florida also held the advantage in blocked shots (7-4), giveaways (3-2) and hits (26-11), while both teams managed to have three takeaways each and were, 50-50, in faceoff win percentage after one period.

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

    Bennett was penalized for holding at 4:27 of the second period, presenting Tampa with their first power play of the night in the process.

    It didn’t take the Bolts long to bring the thunder on the power play as Kucherov (1) rocketed a one-timer from inside the faceoff dot to the left of Bobrovsky over his glove.

    Victor Hedman (1) and Stamkos (1) had the assists on Kucherov’s 37th career Stanley Cup Playoff goal while the Lightning tied the game, 2-2 at 4:58 of the second period.

    Kucherov’s power-play goal would not be the last time that the Bolts struck on the skater advantage.

    About midway through the middle frame, Ondrej Palat caught Patric Hornqvist without the puck and was sent to the box for interference at 7:51.

    Florida’s resulting skater advantage was cut short when Brandon Montour slashed Killorn at 9:33.

    The Panthers managed to kill off Montour’s minor without incident, but found themselves shorthanded yet again when Markus Nutivaara tripped Anthony Cirelli at 12:56.

    This time, in the dying seconds of the ensuing power play, Kucherov (2) sent another one of his patented one-timers past Bobrovsky’s glove side to put the Lightning back on top, 3-2, with a power-play goal.

    Hedman (2) and Stamkos (2) once again had the assists on Kucherov’s goal at 14:51.

    Moments later, as the clock was winding down with about 90 seconds left in the period, Ryan Lomberg and Coleman started going at it after a stoppage in play, yielding roughing minors for each player at 18:30.

    Through 40 minutes of action at BB&T Center, the Lightning led the Panthers, 3-2, on the scoreboard, despite Florida outshooting Tampa, 29-26, in total shots on goal.

    The Bolts actually held the advantage in shots in the second period alone, however, as Tampa outshot Florida, 16-11, in the middle frame.

    Florida dominated in just about everything else, though, heading into the second intermission ahead of the Lightning in blocked shots (15-9), takeaways (5-4), giveaways (7-5), hits (41-23) and faceoff win% (54-46).

    The Panthers were 1/3 and the Lightning were 2/3 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    Huberdeau (1) tallied his first goal of the postseason off of a turnover– turned breakaway– before beating Vasilevskiy with a shot through the Lightning netminder’s five-hole.

    Bennett (1) and Owen Tippett (1) tallied the assists as the Panthers tied the game, 3-3, at 1:27 of the third period on Huberdeau’s goal.

    Florida capitalized on the surge in momentum less than a few minutes later as Tippett (1) one-timed a shot past the Tampa goaltender to give the Panthers a, 4-3, lead at 4:09.

    Huberdeau (2) and Bennett (2) had the assists on Tippett’s first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal.

    About a minute later, Cirelli and Mason Marchment got in a scrum and yielded roughing infractions leading to more 4-on-4 action at 5:39.

    Midway through the third, Bennett was penalized for charging and presented Tampa with a power play at 12:19.

    The Bolts capitalized on the ensuing advantage as Point (1) chipped a slap pass on the far side of the mostly vacant net as Bobrovsky was out of position– tying the game, 4-4, in the process.

    Kucherov (1) and Hedman (3) had the assists on Point’s power-play goal at 13:00 of the third period.

    Almost six minutes later, McDonagh fed Point a lead pass– sending Point into the attacking zone on a breakaway whereby Point (2) slipped the rubber biscuit through Bobrovsky’s five-hole to give the Lightning a, 5-4, lead at 18:46.

    McDonagh (2) had the only assist on what became the game-winning goal as the Panthers had no answer for Tampa, despite pulling Bobrovsky for an extra attacker with about 33.5 seconds left in the action.

    At the final horn, the Lightning had won, 5-4, and stolen Game 1 on the road.

    The Bolts finished the night ahead in shots on goal, 40-39, including a, 14-10, advantage in the third period alone.

    Meanwhile, Florida wrapped up Sunday night’s game leading in blocked shots (17-16) and hits (54-36). Tampa led Game 1 in giveaways (12-9) and faceoff win% (52-48).

    The Panthers finished 1/3 and the Lightning went an impressive 3/4 on the power play in Game 1.

    Tampa takes a 1-0 series lead heading into Game 2 on Tuesday night at BB&T Center.

    Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 8 p.m. ET and fans in the United States can catch national coverage on CNBC, while those in Canada can watch the next part of the Battle of Florida on SNE or TVAS.

  • DTFR Podcast #204- Late For Everything!

    DTFR Podcast #204- Late For Everything!

    Nick and Colby talk about what went wrong for the Toronto Maple Leafs and other teams eliminated in the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifier, as well as preview the already in progress 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round.

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

  • 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifier Preview: Eastern Conference

    Hockey’s back. In August!?! In this economy?!?

    Yes, truer words have never been spoken. Hockey. Is. Back.

    But not in the way you’re probably thinking if you’ve been under a rock for the last– let’s see, what month is it now?

    The National Hockey League paused the 2019-20 regular season on March 12th due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic before canceling the rest of the regular season in late May and announcing a 24-team playoff format for 2020.

    Make no mistake, whether you put an asterisk next to the winners of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final or not– it’ll be the hardest Cup to win since Lord Stanley of Preston announced he’d donate the silver rose bowl to the best hockey team in the world (so Canada) on March 18, 1892.

    Despite all the training world class athletes do in contemporary times, nothing could prepare any athlete to stop playing, go through training camp after months of (in some cases) not being able to skate on any ice, then go full throttle for a championship tournament.

    If anything, the asterisk next to the 2020 Stanley Cup champions will simply be a marker for the challenging times and remarkable feats of athleticism that team went through to put it all together and lift a 35-pound trophy at the end.

    By now you’ve probably heard how the 2020 postseason will work– 24 teams vying for 16 spots, with eight teams (four in each conference) already locked into the playoffs, but fighting for the top-four seeds as the other 16 teams compete in a best-of-five series to punch a ticket into the playoffs.

    Those 16 teams are in the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers, which technically isn’t part of the 2020 postseason according to the NHL, but the individual player and team stats will count towards the playoffs in the record books.

    So for Arizona Coyotes fans, the long standing playoff drought since 2012, technically isn’t over yet. They’d have to beat the Nashville Predators first.

    With all of that in mind, let’s take a look at the Eastern Conference Qualifiers, while the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers sort themselves out.

    All Eastern Conference games will be at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario until the Eastern Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final (both of which will be held in Edmonton, Alberta at Rogers Place).

    (5) Pittsburgh Penguins (40-23-6, 86 points) vs (12) Montreal Canadiens (31-31-9, 71 points)

    Pittsburgh: 69 games played, .623 points percentage, 29 regulation wins.

    Montreal: 71 games played, .500 points percentage, 19 regulation wins.

    The Pittsburgh Penguins were 5th in the Eastern Conference at the time of the pause and being led by Evgeni Malkin with 74 points in 55 games played, while Bryan Rust (56 points in 55 games) and Sidney Crosby 47 points in 41 games) trailed the Russian star on the roster. 

    Yes, Malkin missed 14 games and still amassed 74 points in a season for the Penguins, while Pens head coach, Mike Sullivan, carefully charted the course through a bevy of injuries to bring his team within striking range of the Metropolitan Division lead had the regular season seen its full conclusion.

    The Washington Capitals topped the Metropolitan Division with 90 points. The Philadelphia Flyers had 89. Pittsburgh had 86.

    An annual Stanley Cup contender since Sullivan led the Penguins to back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017 (their second and third since 2009– fourth and fifth in franchise history), Pittsburgh’s goaltending might be the only thing that holds them back from their 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifier matchup with the Montreal Canadiens.

    Matt Murray had a down year with a 2.87 goals against average and an .899 save percentage in 38 games played– his worst goals against average since he had a 2.92 GAA in 49 games in 2017-18 and his worst-career save percentage in a season. Murray finished the shortened season with a 20-11-5 record and one shutout in 38 starts.

    Backup netminder, Tristan Jarry, went 20-12-1 in 33 games played (31 starts) and had a 2.43 GAA, as well as a .921 SV% and three shutouts.

    Murray’s leash through the exhibition games should be a short one, despite his career 2.16 GAA and .921 SV% in 48 Stanley Cup Playoff games. His goals against average reached a career-low 1.70 in 11 games en route to Pittsburgh’s Cup win in 2017, but rose to a 2.43 in 2018 (12 games) and a 3.02 in 2019 (four games) as the Penguins were swept by the New York Islanders in last year’s First Round.

    It’s not that he can’t bounce back, but rather that Sullivan should ride the hotter goaltender and force a little healthy competition if it yields the best in Murray’s game. If not, it’ll either be sink or swim with Jarry in the crease.

    At the other end of the rink, the Montreal Canadiens went .500 this season and were mired in 12th place in the Eastern Conference at the stoppage with what looked like little hope for a late season surge into the postseason, despite leading scorer, Tomas Tatar (22-39–61 totals in 68 games played) and starting goaltender, Carey Price’s best efforts.

    Phillip Danault had the second-most points on the Habs roster this season with 13 goals and 34 assists (47 points) in 71 games played, while Max Domi was third in scoring on the team with 44 points in 71 games.

    Price led Montreal in net with a 27-25-6 record in 58 games played (58 starts), a 2.79 GAA, a .909 SV% and four shutouts this season. Since his 2.23 GAA and .923 SV% in 62 games in 2016-17, Price has not had a goals against average below 2.30 or a save percentage better than .920. He had a 3.11 GAA and a .900 SV% in 49 games in 2017-18, as well as a 2.49 GAA and a .918 SV% in 66 games last season.

    As he approaches his mid-30s and the league shifts more and more towards tandem goaltending, Price shouldn’t be playing more than 50 games in a regular season, but the Canadiens struggled with finding a backup this season.

    Charlie Lindgren went 2-4-0 in six games (six starts) and had a 3.33 GAA, as well as an .888 SV%. Meanwhile, Cayden Primeau went 1-1-0 in two games (both starts) and had a 2.52 GAA and a .931 SV%.

    Keith Kinkaid also made an appearance with six games played (five starts), a 1-1-3 record, a 4.24 GAA and an .875 SV%.

    Claude Julien has over 400 regular season wins as the head coach of the Boston Bruins and won the Cup with the B’s in 2011, but that was nine years ago and he’s three full seasons into his second stint behind the bench as head coach of the Canadiens.

    His teams aren’t known for keeling over and being swept out of the playoffs, so they’ll likely be able to win one as Montreal scratches and claws their way to victory in classic Julien-style blue-collar work ethic fashion, but can he get it done against Pittsburgh in today’s NHL?

    Especially when falling behind the eight ball is even more significant in a best-of-five series than it is in a best-of-seven.

    Price might be fresh, but Pittsburgh’s got an offense and a defense. Plus the Penguins did win two out of their three regular season matchups and Crosby and Malkin are ready to make yet another postseason appearance– regardless of how far things will actually go.

    It’s not out of the question that the Habs will be able to steal a game, but the Penguins should have this series wrapped up in four games and punch their ticket to the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Regular season outcomes:

    4-1 MTL at PPG Paints Arena on Dec. 10th, 3-2 F/OT PIT at Bell Centre on Jan. 4th, 4-1 PIT at PPG Paints Arena on Feb. 14th

    Schedule:

    8/1- Game 1 MTL @ PIT in Toronto 8 PM ET on NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS

    8/3- Game 2 MTL @ PIT in Toronto 8 PM ET NBCSN, SN, TVAS

    8/5- Game 3 PIT @ MTL in Toronto 8 PM ET NBCSN, SN, TVAS

    8/7- Game 4 PIT @ MTL in Toronto*

    8/8- Game 5 MTL @ PIT in Toronto*

    *If necessary

    (6) Carolina Hurricanes (38-25-5, 81 points) vs (11) New York Rangers (37-28-5, 79 points)

    Carolina: 68 games played, .596 points percentage, 27 regulation wins

    N.Y. Rangers: 70 games played, .564 points percentage, 31 regulation wins

    Rod Brind’Amour and the Carolina Hurricanes have their work cut out for them in what just might be the only series that would be an upset if the higher seed wins. The Hurricanes lost all four regular season matchups against the Rangers, despite Sebastian Aho’s team-leading 66 points in 68 games on the season.

    Aho set a new career-high in goals (38) and had a pair of goals against New York this season, but fell shy of establishing a new career-high in points after putting up 83 points in 82 games last season. Of course, a pandemic shortened regular season will have something to do with that.

    Regardless, he was on pace for about 80 points at the time the NHL season was paused.

    Teuvo Teravainen continued to show that he’s one of the most consistent performers in the league with a respectable 48 assists and 63 points in 68 games played as one of Carolina’s more “veteran” players, despite only being 25-years-old.

    Meanwhile, Andrei Svechnikov scored two lacrosse goals this season and managed to improve on all fronts from his rookie season (20-17–37 totals in 82 games last season) with 24 goals and 37 assists (61 points) in 68 games in 2019-20. He was on pace for almost 30 goals and around 73 points in his sophomore season had the pandemic not called it short.

    In goal, David Ayres led the way with– just kidding– Petr Mrazek went 21-16-2 in 40 games this season (38 starts) and had a 2.69 GAA, as well as a .905 SV% and three shutouts. Not great, but not the worst entering the Qualifiers.

    He’ll have to do much better than his 2.73 GAA and .894 SV% in 11 games in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs if he has any hopes of catapulting his team over the Rangers and backstopping them to a deep playoff run like last year.

    That said, Curtis McElhinney was the one that replaced him against the Boston Bruins in the 2019 Eastern Conference Final after Mrazek allowed ten goals against in the series, compared to McElhinney’s five.

    The good news for the Hurricanes, however, is that McElhinney’s numbers have been way off the mark this season and he’s the current backup for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Plus James Reimer exists in Carolina.

    Reimer went 14-6-2 in 25 games for the Canes this season and had a 2.66 GAA, as well as a .914 SV% and three shutouts– so basically he’s the same as Mrazek, only Reimer’s looking for a bigger redemption arc in the postseason than being remembered as the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender in Boston’s epic, 5-4, overtime comeback in the 2013 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal.

    That wasn’t even Reimer’s last appearance in the playoffs, however, as he had a brief stint (29 minutes) with the San Jose Sharks en route to their 2016 Stanley Cup Final appearance.

    Brind’Amour might be wise to use his best defensive game and start Reimer in Game 1 against the Rangers, except Mrazek had an .861 SV% against New York in three games this season, while Reimer had a .792 SV%.

    Advantage… …Mrazek? But on a short leash?

    On the other hand, the New York Rangers enter their Qualifier matchup with the Hurricanes two points behind Carolina in the season standings and three spots behind them in the Metropolitan Division standings that are virtually obsolete this postseason.

    The Hurricanes had 81 points. The Rangers had 79 points. First place through seventh place in the division was separated by 11 points at the time of the stoppage.

    And at that point, 2019-20 Hart Memorial Trophy finalist, Artemi Panarin, had already amassed 32-63–95 totals in 69 games for New York.

    He had nine points (three goals, six assists) against the Hurricanes this season, while Mika Zibanejad sat 20 points behind Panarin in team scoring with 41 goals and 34 assists (75 points) in 57 games– including four goals and three assists against Carolina this season.

    Ryan Strome carried third place honors for the Rangers in scoring this season with 18-41–59 totals in 70 games.

    Rangers head coach, David Quinn, also doesn’t have an easy decision to make with his goaltenders heading to Toronto for their series against Carolina.

    Henrik Lundqvist made three starts against the Canes and went 3-0-0, while stopping 125 shots out of 132 shots against (.947 SV%) in that span.

    Igor Shesterkin made 27 saves on 29 shots against (.931 SV%) in his one start and one win against Carolina this season.

    Lundqvist went 10-12-3 on the season in 30 games played (26 starts) with a 3.16 GAA, a .905 SV% and one shutout.

    Shesterkin went 10-2-0 in 12 games played (12 starts) and had a 2.52 GAA, as well as a .932 SV%.

    Oh yeah, and Alexandar Georgiev went 17-14-2 in 34 games (32 starts) while putting up a 3.04 GAA, a .910 SV% and two shutouts.

    One thing is clearer now more than ever before– “King Henrik” is no longer king in “The Big Apple”.

    Shesterkin should receive the nod for the playoffs, but this is just the Qualifier. It technically doesn’t count unless you win three out of the next possible five games.

    In that case, Quinn could rely on Lundqvist to get the job done, then give Shesterkin his first real taste of the NHL’s toughest job– being a goaltender in the playoffs– since Lundqvist has a history for seemingly always having Carolina’s number when it matters most for the Hurricanes.

    Regardless of who’s in net, New York holds all the advantages coming into this series.

    The Rangers scored 17 goals for against Hurricanes and allowed nine goals against over their four games against one another.

    Carolina threw the kitchen sink at New York on net– totaling 161 shots on goal in their four regular season matchups with the Blue Shirts– but Lundqvist was the key difference maker.

    That said, the Hurricanes knocked off the then defending Cup champion Washington Capitals in seven games in last year’s First Round.

    But can Brind’Amour motivate his players enough to get the job done more efficiently when the series is only a best-of-five instead of having the luxury to drag things out all seven games like they did against the Caps?

    And with back-to-back games incorporated in the schedule, conditions are clearly unfavorable for the Hurricanes in their David and Goliath matchup (again, despite being the higher seed).

    One thing that works in their favor? There’s no travel outside the bubble to and from the games, so that’s a plus.

    Knowing how The Hockey Gods work, it’d be foolish not to believe this series won’t go all five games just because. Either that or Carolina will pull off the three-game sweep of the Rangers after losing every single regular season game against New York in 2019-20.

    Flip a coin and that’s your winner– this series might just be a lot closer and more intense than you think.

    Rangers in five, but don’t be surprised if/when Carolina defeats them.

    Sit back and enjoy.

    Regular season outcomes:

    4-2 NYR at PNC Arena on Nov. 7th, 3-2 NYR at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 27th, 5-3 NYR at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 27th, 5-2 NYR at PNC Arena on Feb. 21st

    Schedule:

    8/1- Game 1 NYR @ CAR in Toronto 12 PM ET on NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, SN360, TVAS

    8/3- Game 2 NYR @ CAR in Toronto 12 PM ET on NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, SN360, TVAS

    8/4- Game 3 CAR @ NYR in Toronto 8 PM ET on NBCSN, SN360, TVAS

    8/6- Game 4 CAR @ NYR in Toronto*

    8/8- Game 5 NYR @ CAR in Toronto*

    *If necessary

    (7) New York Islanders (35-23-10, 80 points) vs (10) Florida Panthers (35-26-8, 78 points)

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

    Florida: 69 games played, .565 points percentage, 30 regulation wins

    Barry Trotz is still coaching the trap in today’s NHL, which, honestly, you have to hand it to him. His defense first mindset has turned the New York Islanders into a playoff contender since his arrival last season.

    The only bad thing that’s come with Trotz’s arrival and John Tavares’ departure– a lack of goal scoring.

    It’s no secret that to win games, your team must score more goals than the other team, whether it’s a, 10-9, high-scoring victory or a, 1-0, shutout.

    Unfortunately for Trotz, the Isles ranked ninth in fewest goals for this season with 192, which is the worst among all the Qualifier team. Yes, even Montreal and Chicago each had 212 goals for this season, despite their minus-6 and minus-9 goal differentials, respectively.

    At least the Islanders only allowed one more goal than they scored in the pandemic shortened regular season.

    Anyway, Mathew Barzal led the charge for New York this season with 19-41–60 totals in 68 games played, while Brock Nelson (54 points in 68 games) and Anders Lee (43 points in 68 games) followed suit.

    Barzal was on pace for 23 goals and 72 points this season, which would’ve been a career-high in goals in a season for the young forward only having just completed his third full season. Nevertheless, scoring at least 60 points in three consecutive seasons is respectable.

    Nelson scored 26 goals this season, which marked back to back seasons of at least 20 goals for the 28-year-old. He was on pace for 31 goals in what was already a career-season in the making.

    Lee was on pace for 52 points after putting up 20-23–43 totals in 68 games, which would have given him four consecutive seasons of 50-plus points.

    But it’s not all about what would’ve been for the Islanders, because the future is here in goaltender Ilya Sorokin– oh wait, he can’t play in the 2020 postseason due to the NHL’s Return to Play rulings, which is fine– just means that next year’s looking good for the Isles.

    In net, Semyon Varlamov amassed a 19-14-6 record in 45 games played (39 starts) with a 2.62 GAA and a .914 SV%, as well as two shutouts to go with it.

    Ideally, you’d like a starting goaltender in the NHL to be closer to 2.50, maybe even 2.30 in goals against average and around a .920 in save percentage, but we addressed some of New York’s shortcomings this season– a lack of offense and injuries on defense with Adam Pelech limited to 38 games.

    Thomas Greiss had a 16-9-4 record in 31 games (29 starts) with a 2.74 GAA and a .913 SV% in the process.

    It’s likely his last season on Long Island/in Brooklyn with Sorokin signed for the next couple of seasons, so if he sees any ice time in the series, he’ll have to be better in order to prove his next payday at the expense of another team via free agency in November.

    New York brought in Jean-Gabriel Pageau at the trade deadline from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a conditional 2020 1st round pick (can become a 2021 1st round pick if the Islanders lose in the Qualifier and win the 1st overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft–a.k.a. top-3 lottery protected), a 2020 2nd round pick and a conditional 2022 3rd round pick (if New York wins the Cup in 2020), then signed Pageau to a six-year extension worth $5.000 million per season.

    Though it was all too short to effectively judge Pageau in an Islanders sweater, it’s worth noting he scored two goals in seven games so far. That’s it.

    A boost for the third line, sure, but his effectiveness in a new surrounding remains to be seen, which could be a key to New York defeating the Florida Panthers who lack an important figure in Vincent Trocheck since trading him to the Carolina Hurricanes for Erik Haula, Lucas Wallmark, Chase Priskie and Eetu Luostarinen at the deadline on Feb. 24th.

    Speaking of the Panthers, Florida was led by Jonathan Huberdeau in scoring this season with 23 goals and 55 assists (78 points) in 69 games this season.

    Aleksander Barkov had his fifth consecutive 20-goal season– one season removed from his career-high 35 goals (and 96 points!) last season– and was on pace for 25 tallies this season at the stoppage.

    And bringing up the rear in Florida’s top-three scorers this season was Mike Hoffman with 29 goals and 30 assists (59 points) in 69 games. Hoffman finished one goal shy of back to back 30-goal seasons and was on pace to match his career-high 70 points in a season had the regular season been uninterrupted.

    In goal, Sergei Bobrovsky probably wishes he could ask for a mulligan this season after going 23-19-6 in 50 games played (49 starts) and amassing a 3.23 GAA, as well as a .900 SV% and one shutout.

    Yes, you read that right– one shutout this season. After leading the league with nine shutouts last season, Bobrovsky was far beyond a disappointment in his first year of a seven-year, $70 million contract.

    Meanwhile, Sam Montembeault (5-5-1) started the season as Florida’s backup, but things took a turn after his 3.34 GAA and .890 SV% in 14 games played (nine starts) were no better than Bobrovsky’s career-worst season as a starter.

    Alas, Chris Driedger was called up from the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL) and put up a 7-2-1 record in 12 games played with a 2.05 GAA, a .938 SV% and one shutout in that span.

    The Islanders beat the Panthers in all three regular season matchups this season, but New York has yet to face Driedger.

    A word to the wise for Florida’s head coach, Joel Quenneville– what more could you lose by starting Driedger in Game 1?

    Bobrovsky hasn’t had the form all season and isn’t going into the playoffs as your surefire starter– $10.000 million cap hit or not. Pray he returns to his two-time Vezina Trophy winning ability in time for 2020-21, but for now he hasn’t earned starter duties and your main focus is on winning three games, let alone going for the Cup with whatever you have for a roster.

    The Islanders scored eight goals in their three games against the Panthers this season. They allowed four goals against, while Florida– to their credit– forced New York to a shootout in their first meeting back on Oct. 12th.

    New York had 94 total shots on goal against Florida this season.

    The Panthers had 108 shots against the Islanders.

    It should be a close battle with each team ravaged in some manner– whether by injuries that plagued them all season or lackluster goaltending, neither club is exactly turning heads out there.

    The Panthers lost in six games to the Islanders in the 2016 First Round, but this time around it’s a best of five.

    New York should win in four games as Trotz has more recent playoff success and the more recent playoff experienced roster to go off of than, yes, Quenneville’s three Stanley Cup Rings from the last ten years.

    It’s not that Quenneville can’t pull off the upset, but rather that the Panthers aren’t ready to make a dent in the postseason picture without all the necessary pieces.

    The good news for them, at least, is they have a tried and true coach to guide them through what for now will be some growing pains.

    Unless 20-goal scorer Noel Acciari pockets a hat trick in three straight games, which sounds quite plausible these days, so who knows!?

    Regular season outcomes:

    3-2 F/SO NYI at NYCB Live/Nassau Coliseum on Oct. 12th, 2-1 NYI at Barclays Center on Nov. 9th, 3-1 NYI at BB&T Center on Dec. 12th

    Schedule:

    8/1- Game 1 FLA @ NYI in Toronto 4 PM ET on NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN1, TVAS

    8/4- Game 2 FLA @ NYI in Toronto 12 PM ET on NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, TVAS

    8/5- Game 3 NYI @ FLA in Toronto 12 PM ET on NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, TVAS

    8/7- Game 4 NYI @ FLA in Toronto*

    8/9- Game 5 FLA @ NYI in Toronto*

    *If necessary

    (8) Toronto Maple Leafs (36-25-9, 81 points) vs (9) Columbus Blue Jackets (33-22-15, 81 points)

    Toronto: 70 games played, .579 points percentage, 28 regulation wins

    Columbus: 70 games played, .579 points percentage, 25 regulation wins

    The Toronto Maple Leafs have home ice advantage and– well, technically, the Qualifier isn’t considered part of the playoffs and there’s a pandemic going on, so no fans are allowed inside the bubble.

    But hey, at least there’s hockey in Canadian New York City, so we’ll take it!

    The Leafs were led by Auston Matthews in scoring this season as the 22-year-old center finished third in the NHL in goals with 47 of them in 70 games played. He had 80 points overall, which established career-highs in both goals and points in his fourth NHL season– and fourth consecutive season with at least 30 goals.

    Oh and for the second time in his young career, Matthews reached the 40-goal plateau and was on the cusp of 50 had it not been for the ongoing pandemic cutting things short. He was on pace for 55 goals at the stoppage.

    Mitchell Marner was second on the Leafs roster in scoring with 16-51–67 totals in 59 games played– surpassing the 50-assist plateau for the second straight season and further proving his vital role as a playmaker on the roster.

    Meanwhile, John Tavares had 26 goals and 34 assists (60 points) in 63 games, which was down from his 47-41–88 totals last season, but then again, he was on pace for 78 points this season had the regular season seen its proper conclusion, so really he wasn’t all that far off from a typical Tavares year.

    As it is, the only time Tavares has ever had less than 50 points in a season was in the lockout shortened, 48-game, 2012-13 season, in which he had 47 points in all 48 games.

    Yeah, he’s pretty good.

    In the crease, the Maple Leafs were led by Frederik Anderson (29-13-7 record in 52 games played, 2.85 GAA, .909 SV%, three shutouts), but hold the phone! What’s this? Toronto acquired a legitimate backup netminder during the season!?!

    That’s right, Jack Campbell (3-2-1 in six games with Toronto, six starts, 2.63 GAA, .915 SV% in that span) is a Maple Leaf and– heaven forbid– is more than capable of bailing out Toronto if things get dire with Andersen.

    Oh and Sheldon Keefe is in charge behind the bench.

    Plus there’s a wild card this year for Toronto that the rest of the league has yet to see– Nick Robertson. You know, the forward that had 55-31–88 totals in 46 games with the Peterborough Petes (OHL) this season and brings both even more speed and skill to the Maple Leafs lineup.

    At the other side of the rink, the Columbus Blue Jackets were battered all season and had a trio of goaltenders at one point as a result, yet somehow, here they are to the surprise of all the experts that had them pegged for 8th place in the Metropolitan Division heading into the 2019-20 season after losing Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel and Sergei Bobrovsky in free agency.

    It’s all just part of the plan.

    Many had them out against the Lightning last year and, well, the Blue Jackets brought the thunder in that series.

    Unfortunately for CBJ fans, they couldn’t bring the cannon through customs, but they were able to bring their leading scorer, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and his 18-31–49 totals in 70 games this season.

    Gustav Nyquist had a respectable 42-point season (15 goals, 27 assists) in 70 games with Columbus after being brought in via free agency, while Zach Werenski was third on the team in scoring with 20 goals and 21 assists (41 points) from the blue line in 63 games.

    Columbus has the better defense on paper, but Toronto’s offense has more than enough firepower to outmatch the Blue Jackets’ best efforts.

    In goal, however, emerged the rise of a new king (but not of rock)– Elvis Merzlikins. Though Joonas Korpisalo (19-12-5, 2.60 GAA, .911 SV%, two shutouts) played in more games (37 played, 35 starts) than Merzlikins, No. 90 in red, white and blue had the better numbers with a 13-9-8 record in 33 games played (31 starts), as well as a 2.35 GAA, a .923 SV% and five shutouts.

    It’s the dawn of a new age in Columbus as a hot, young, goaltending tandem has arrived with the departure of Bobrovsky.

    It’ll be Merzlikins’ biggest test, but the Blue Jackets just might be a lot better off now more than ever riding the hot goaltender.

    Plus they struck down the dragon last spring and made it out of the First Round for the first time in franchise history, so now anything’s possible moving forward.

    On paper this is the most even matchup as both teams finished with 81 points, had 70 games played and went won one out of the two games they played against one another before the pandemic shortened the regular season, but it’s hard to ignore one thing– Tortorella.

    Once more Tortorella is a Jack Adams Award finalist and, oh yeah, he’s kind of responsible for figuring out how to not only beat, but sweep the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2019 First Round– you know, last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winners.

    But a newcomer has entered the chat and that’s Keefe. He led the Toronto Marlies (AHL) to the 2018 Calder Cup championship and many of the players in the Leafs system have encountered his touch in recent years.

    Is Keefe the answer to Toronto’s prayers or will yet another team that’s come into the league since their last Cup in 1967 raise Lord Stanley’s mug over their heads while the Maple Leafs are off somewhere preparing for next season?

    The good news, this isn’t technically the playoffs yet, so that means Toronto’s got a better chance off the bat.

    There’s not as much of a distraction surrounding their opponent (*ahem* for once, it’s not Boston!– yet, anyway), let alone the “hasn’t made it out of the First Round since before the 2004-05 season-long lockout” specter that shadows the Leafs.

    The bad news, they’re the Maple Leafs. Of course only something like a pandemic would throw off any momentum they had going into a possible playoff run, etc.

    Imagine if the Chicago Cubs didn’t win in 2016, or the Boston Red Sox didn’t win in 2004– yeah, that’s how most Toronto fans feel day-in and day-out– no matter how confident– no matter how much belief they have in the team.

    There’s always that chance that something something goes wrong and the curse or whatever remains hanging over the Maple Leafs dressing room and front office.

    Leafs in five, then we’ll see what happens, but Tortorella’s teams aren’t easy to knock off their game. This alone might be Toronto’s greatest test in the Matthews, Marner and Co. Era.

    Mike Babcock’s gone. They’re playing the “new age” game. Can they get it done?

    Regular season outcomes:

    4-1 TOR at Nationwide Arena on Oct. 4th, 4-3 F/OT CBJ at Scotiabank Arena on Oct. 21st

    Schedule:

    8/2- Game 1 CBJ @ TOR 8 PM ET on NHLN, SN, TVAS

    8/4- Game 2 CBJ @ TOR 4 PM ET on NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, TVAS

    8/6- Game 3 TOR @ CBJ in Toronto TBD

    8/7- Game 4 TOR @ CBJ in Toronto*

    8/9- Game 5 CBJ @ TOR*

    *If necessary

    2020 Eastern Conference Round Robin Action

    Here’s a quick glance at the Round Robin schedule for the top-four Eastern Conference teams if you’re not at all interested in the Qualifiers for some reason.

    Again, all games in the Eastern Conference are in Toronto this year and all times Eastern.

    Boston Bruins

    44-14-12, 100 points, 70 GP, .714 PTS%, 38 RW

    Aug. 2nd vs. PHI in Toronto 3 PM ET on NBC, SN, TVAS

    Aug. 5th vs. TBL in Toronto 4 PM ET on NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, TVAS

    Aug. 9th @ WSH in Toronto, TBD

    Tampa Bay Lightning

    43-21-6, 92 points, 70 GP, .657 PTS%, 35 RW

    Aug. 3rd vs. WSH in Toronto 4 PM ET on NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN360, TVAS

    Aug. 5th @ BOS in Toronto 4 PM ET on NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, TVAS

    Aug. 8th vs. PHI in Toronto, TBD

    Washington Capitals

    41-20-8, 90 points, 69 GP, .652 PTS%, 31 RW

    Aug. 3rd @TBL in Toronto 4 PM ET on NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN360, TVAS

    Aug. 6th @ PHI in Toronto, TBD

    Aug. 9th vs. BOS in Toronto, TBD

    Philadelphia Flyers

    41-21-7, 89 points, 69 GP, .645 PTS%, 31 RW

    Aug. 2nd @ BOS in Toronto 3 PM ET on NBC, SN, TVAS

    Aug. 6th vs. WSH in Toronto, TBD

    Aug. 8th @ TBL in Toronto, TBD

  • DTFR Podcast #202- What Are Your Qualifications?/Let’s Get Kraken

    DTFR Podcast #202- What Are Your Qualifications?/Let’s Get Kraken

    Using Qualifiers to enhance this postseason (it’s a breakdown of the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers and Round Robin action). Plus the Seattle Kraken!

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