Down the Frozen River

Tag: St. Louis Blues

  • 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Now with some spice!

    Thursday night’s action brought us a close, 2-0, win for the Florida Panthers over the Tampa Bay Lightning– stealing home ice advantage in the process heading back to Florida for Games 3 and 4 with a 2-0 series lead for the Cats.

    What’s more, it also brought a 3-0 series lead for the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Ottawa Senators as an unlikely hero scored the game-winning overtime goal in Game 3 on the road.

    Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov continued their hot streaks for the Minnesota Wild as they downed the Vegas Golden Knights, 5-2, and took a 2-1 series lead in the process.

    Finally, the St. Louis Blues blew out the Winnipeg Jets, 7-2, which is bad news for Connor Hellebuyck fans as the Jets netminder was pulled from the action and good news for Hellebuyck haters, I guess. At least Winnipeg still leads that series 2-1, however.

    Now it’s a battle

    Just the other day I asked if the “Battle of Florida” actually kind of sucks and it’s good to see both teams are rejecting the hypothesis.

    Game 2 was a low scoring battle of attrition. Then Brandon Hagel went and threw gasoline on the fire.

    Now, I didn’t mean for someone to do that and go about making an illegal check rendering a five-minute major for interference and knocking Aleksander Barkov out of the game in the process.

    I want to note I’m a fan of heavy hockey, not bullshit hockey.

    A physical presence is always a good thing and a corresponding immediate response to it via fisticuffs is sometimes necessary and encouraged under heavy hockey pretenses. Unlike in bullshit hockey where premeditated or staged fighting occurs at, say, the opening puck drop of a 4 Nations Face-Off game between the U.S. and Canada.

    Heavy hockey is a grind and something to pride oneself on when the final score reads in your favor. Bullshit hockey is a five-minute major penalty in the waiting and possible other supplemental discipline upon a hearing.

    The latter tends to lead to being embarrassed in the next matchup too when it matters most– at least as Team USA found out.

    Now, I’m not saying that fighting isn’t part of the game or anything. Quite the contrary. It’s always been part of the game– as a penalty.

    You run the risk of being penalized and you will be penalized for shedding the gloves in an attempt to enact vigilante justice.

    Yet, big, clean hits are always perfectly legal and well within the range of “normal expectations and teetering on the edge of ‘the line’ or whatever.”

    The best way to handle something like Hagel’s illegal check? Score more goals than his team. Then win the next game for good measure too.

    In fact, make it a living hell for the opposing team. Finish every check. Capitalize on as many scoring chances as possible.

    Anyway, the Panthers still won Thursday night, 2-0, courtesy of a goal from the red-hot defender, Nate Schmidt, and an empty-net goal from Sam Bennett in the dying seconds of the game for insurance.

    Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside all 19 shots that he faced for his fourth career Stanley Cup Playoffs shutout in 96 postseason games. Bobrovsky has now recorded at least one shutout in each of the last three postseason runs for Florida and currently has a 1.00 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage to boot.

    Tampa spent a lot of time in the attacking zone with no results on the scoreboard and Jake Guentzel sent a rebound through the crease behind Bobrovsky and out the other side at one point late in the action too.

    The Bolts dropped home ice advantage and despite only trailing 2-0 in the series are basically in a do-or-die situation heading into Game 3 Saturday on the road.

    For the Panthers, their focus has to remain on the bigger picture– score goals and beat the Lightning on the scoreboard. Don’t try to settle the score, but let Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand do the talking (and walk the walk). A 3-0 series lead is within reach and can be accomplished with some home cooking.

    After writing this, Tampa forward, Brandon Hagel, was suspended by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for one game for interference against Florida forward, Aleksander Barkov. Hagel can return to the series in Game 4.

    Sonny and Cher approaching

    Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, in overtime in a playoff game.

    Unlike in Game 2 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, this time the Leafs did it in Game 3 on the road from Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa sorry, Kanata (well, technically it’s still Ottawa– it’s just 30 minutes from downtown Ottawa).

    Toronto now has a 3-0 series lead heading into Saturday night for Game 4 and can sweep the Senators while on the road and become the first team to advance to the Second Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Claude Giroux kicked off the night’s scoring to give the Senators a, 1-0, at 1:38 of the middle frame.

    Almost midway through the period, however, Matthew Knies had other plans and evened it up, 1-1, at 8:31 of the second period.

    Nobody else could muster anything on the scoreboard through the second intermission.

    Then it happened.

    A mere 32 seconds into the final frame of regulation, Leafs forward, Mitch Marner, fed Auston Matthews a pass with his golden stick while Ottawa’s goaltender, Linus Ullmark, was caught looking the other way and had no idea the puck was now briefly on Matthews’ stick.

    Matthews sent a one-timer behind Ullmark’s back to give Toronto their first lead of the night, 2-1, and people will still find a way to complain about Marner despite his offensive awareness and playmaking abilities.

    In any case, he’s due for a surefire raise this summer. Where he’ll be getting his new salary from, however, remains to be seen.

    Midway through the period, Brady Tkachuk carried the Sens into the attacking zone and proved Ottawa wouldn’t go down without a fight as he tallied a wrist shot goal on a breakaway from the faceoff circle– top shelf blocker side while using Maple Leafs defender, Brandon Carlo, as a screen– and tied the game, 2-2.

    Giroux picked up the primary assist as the home crowd came alive at 11:22 of the third period.

    But nobody could seal the deal on a regulation victory thereafter.

    Signed as a free agent by the Anaheim Ducks on March 7, 2019, before making his NHL debut during the 2020-21 season, Simon Benoit joined the Maple Leafs via free agency on August 28, 2023, and has recorded just six goals in 279 career regular season games.

    Benoit notched his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal in his 10th career postseason game.

    It also happened to be the game-winning goal at 1:19 of the overtime period.

    See, Benoit received a pass off the kickplate from Matthews– who had just won an offensive zone faceoff– then blasted a slap shot from the point with eyes past Ullmark.

    Benoit had served as the screen and had the only assist on Max Domi’s overtime goal in Game 2. This time in Game 3, he was the hero.

    For the first time since the 2001 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal, the Leafs have the chance to sweep a postseason series. Coincidentally, that 2001 series also happened to be against the Senators.

    Toronto can also improve to 5-0 in all-time playoff series’ against Ottawa with a win in Game 4 on Saturday, having most recently beaten the Senators in seven games in the 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal.

    Meanwhile, Sens head coach, Travis Green, has a difficult task ahead of him– besides the obvious “reverse sweep” attempt, Green has to contemplate starting Ullmark in Game 4 or, perhaps, looking to someone like Leevi Meriläinen to tend the crease.

    Meriläinen has never appeared in the postseason before and went 8-3-1 in 12 games (11 starts) with a 1.99 GAA, a .925 SV% and three shutouts in that span this season.

    Either way, it’s do or die at home for Ottawa and they look very much on their deathbed.

    Xceling in the Wild?

    Xcel Energy Center is getting a new naming rights partner next season and the Minnesota Wild opened up the 2025 postseason on home ice with a, 5-2, win in Game 3 of their First Round matchup with the Vegas Golden Knights.

    The Wild took a 2-1 series lead in the process and chased Adin Hill from the net after 40 minutes in favor of Akira Schmid.

    Zeev Buium recorded his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs point via the primary assist on Kirill Kaprizov’s power-play goal to give Minnesota a, 1-0, lead just a few minutes into the game Thursday night.

    Matt Boldy notched the secondary assist on the goal and, like Kaprizov, remained hot the rest of the night.

    Hill lost his focus a few minutes later after Wild forward, Justin Brazeau, sent the puck around the boards in the attacking zone. Hill went to play the puck in the trapezoid– stopping the rubber biscuit for a few seconds before going right back up the boards and directly to… …Brazeau.

    Brazeau eagerly worked the puck back down low to Yakov Trenin, who fed Marco Rossi in the slot for a one-timer goal while Hill was caught playing catch up.

    The goal marked the first of Rossi’s postseason career and gave the Wild a, 2-0, lead at 6:51 of the opening frame.

    Midway through the period, however, Alex Pietrangelo willed Vegas back into the game– if only for a little while, anyway.

    Pietrangelo received a pass from Noah Hanifin and rushed the attacking zone before unloading an old-school slap shot through Filip Gustavsson’s five-hole to cut Minnesota’s lead in half, 2-1.

    Midway through the second period, however, Boldy re-extended Minnesota’s lead to two-goals with a wrist shot goal.

    Then in the dying seconds of the period, the Wild struck gold on the power play. Again.

    This time Kaprizov put the puck in the back of the twine on a deflection to send the Wild into the second intermission with a, 4-1, lead.

    That goal was enough for Golden Knights head coach, Bruce Cassidy, to make a change in net and utilize the services of Schmid for the rest of the night.

    Midway through the final frame, the Golden Knights were shorthanded and Reilly Smith made it a two-goal game again, but Vegas couldn’t do anything else to erase the, 4-2, deficit.

    Boldy rang the post from way downtown while Schmid was on the bench for an extra attacker, but Marcus Foligno followed Boldy’s effort up with a surefire empty-net goal while shorthanded. Mostly because he skated the puck into the attacking zone and everything.

    Vegas finds themselves in a “must-win” situation entering Game 4 Saturday in light of the fact that the Golden Knights split Games 1 and 2 on home ice.

    Minnesota, meanwhile, can take a commanding 3-1 series lead with a win in front of their home crowd Saturday and try to eliminate Vegas on the road in Game 5.

    Of note, The Athletic‘s Michael Russo pointed out that Boldy and Kaprizov became the first Wild players in franchise history with multiple points in each of Minnesota’s first three postseason games. Eric Staal had multiple points in a two-game streak back in 2020.

    Hat’s all folks!

    Lately– and I haven’t had a chance to look at the swath of data, so I’m just going off of the “eye test” here– it seems like teams that have a blowout win in a series go on to win the series more times than not.

    Well, the St. Louis Blues ran away with a, 7-2, victory over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 3 in front of St. Louis’ home crowd at Enterprise Center Thursday.

    Pavel Buchnevich scored a power-play goal 48 seconds into the night, then added two more goals– including one more on the power play– to complete the hat trick and give the Blues a, 4-1, lead at 5:24 of the third period.

    Then the flood gates opened and Connor Hellebuyck was chased from the net and replaced by Eric Comrie as Winnipeg head coach, Scott Arniel, tried to wake up his team.

    Hellebuyck didn’t help himself, admittedly, after mishandling the puck with pressure bearing down on him from Blues forward, Robert Thomas, in the trapezoid leading to a gift goal for Buchnevich for the hat trick on a grab and go effort.

    The long story short is that “playoff Hellebuyck” might be back and the Jets couldn’t score (or defend, really) and that’s a dangerous combination for Winnipeg’s hopes in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Especially after their best season in franchise history– having won the Central Division, clinched the best record in the Western Conference and league courtesy of the Presidents’ Trophy for the first time ever.

    It’s not quite a 2007 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal collapse like when the Atlanta Thrashers were swept by the New York Rangers after winning the Southeast Division title in their only playoff appearance before relocating to Winnipeg in 2011, but…

    The feeling is awfully familiar.

  • 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Third night’s a charm

    The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs continued Monday night with a pair of ones and twos– as in “Game 1s and 2s.”

    First, the Montréal Canadiens paid a visit to the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of their First Round series from Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

    The St. Louis Blues took on the Winnipeg Jets in Game 2 of their series from Canada Life Centre.

    Later on, the Colorado Avalanche visited the Dallas Stars for Game 2 of their series at American Airlines Center before the Edmonton Oilers opened up their First Round matchup with the Los Angeles Kings on the road at crypto.com Arena.

    Shoutout to Dave Goucher, by the way.

    The play-by-play voice of the Vegas Golden Knights took to X (formerly Twitter) to defend the good, hard-working people of regional sports networks not just for his own Scripps Sports crew, but across the entire National Hockey League in the face of some remarks from ESPN’s John Buccigross.

    History doesn’t repeat itself

    In 2010, Tomáš Plekanec was the overtime hero for Montréal in Game 1 as the eighth seed Habs beat the first seed Capitals and later toppled Washington in a seven-game series upset.

    In 2025, none of the Canadiens skaters could be like Plekanec and recreate the magic as the second wild card in the Eastern Conference in overtime in Game 1 against the Caps.

    Instead, Alex Ovechkin added to his storied career with his first-ever game-winning goal in overtime in a Stanley Cup Playoff game.

    That’s right, folks, the National Hockey League’s all-time regular season goal scoring leader hadn’t scored an overtime-winner in the postseason before Monday night.

    The ESPN broadcast had just finished highlighting a shot of Ovechkin on screen before the face off prior to his game-winning goal because of course that would happen.

    It was written and produced by the Hockey Gods. Absolute cinema.

    It only took 45 postseason overtime games, but Ovechkin finally has what has eluded him longer than getting a Stanley Cup ring and surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s 894 goal mark.

    Ovechkin also kicked off the night’s scoring late in the first period with a power-play goal to put Washington ahead, 1-0, at 18:34.

    Midway through the second period, Anthony Beauvillier– a clutch playoff performer reminiscent of the likes of Michael Ryder, Joonas Donskoi and my other personal favorite “glue guys” that always seemed to show up when it mattered most– made it a, 2-0, lead for the Capitals at 12:09 of the middle frame.

    Dylan Strome was off to a hot start with two assists and would finish the night with three assists– playing a helping hand in all three Washington goals and becoming the 19th player in Capitals history to record three assists in a playoff game (with John Carlson having been the most recent Capital to do so on April 11, 2019).

    Washington and Montréal were pretty evenly matched despite the Caps’ two-goal lead through 40 minutes.

    The Capitals led in shots on goal 23-21 entering the final frame, then pretty much forgot that there’s three periods in hockey.

    The Canadiens outshot the Capitals 14-7 in the third period alone and with it scored a pair of goals about five minutes apart from one another.

    Cole Caufield put the Habs on the scoreboard thanks to some good puck luck that bounced his way for an easy tally.

    Then Montréal’s other longtime veteran– a relative term for such a young team– Nick Suzuki pounced on a loose puck amidst a mad scramble with bodies all over the ice and Washington goaltender, Logan Thompson, wildly out of position– far from the familiar blue paint of the crease.

    Suzuki tied the game, 2-2, as the Canadiens had the Capitals holding on for dear life through the end of regulation.

    And then it happened.

    Just 2:26 into the extra frame after a 15-minute overtime intermission, Ovechkin sent the Washington fans home happy– especially since there was plenty of time to catch the Metro.

    If you subtract Nicklas Bäckström and T.J. Oshie’s postseason experience, Washington entered the First Round with 776 games of playoff experience under their belt across the entire roster.

    Montréal only had 385 games of playoff experience with none of those games stemming from a single goaltender entering Monday.

    But neither of these teams have really meshed in a playoff environment like this.

    The Capitals significantly overhauled their roster between their four-game exit in the 2024 First Round to the New York Rangers and the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    The Canadiens have been working towards getting back into the postseason, though might have been ahead of schedule in their arrival this spring.

    Despite attaining the best record in the Eastern Conference, Washington hasn’t faced the adversity of being a Stanley Cup favorite and thus forced to defend their honor in a while.

    Did this season pry the Cup window back open in Ovechkin’s twilight– well, biologically speaking, anyway– or are we witnessing a happy accident in the making?

    Both teams will progress further going into next year from having attained a playoff berth and gaining the experience from this matchup, regardless of who wins.

    More first line heroics for Winnipeg

    While depth scoring is paramount, sometimes all you really need to win a playoff game is more goals than the other team and doing so thanks to your best players.

    Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves on 22 shots faced for a .955 save percentage in the, 2-1, win in Game 2 for Winnipeg, while Mark Scheifele continued to cement his status as a Jets legend and Kyle Connor added the game-winner early in the final frame.

    Scheifele notched his 23rd career Stanley Cup Playoff goal– the most in Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise history– and gave the Jets a, 1-0, lead late in the first period.

    The Jets defenders came to play in Game 2 with some dominant shifts and big hits as Logan Stanley imprinted his opponents along the glass and Dylan Samberg cleared the slot to bail out Hellebuyck when it mattered most.

    Blues forward, Jimmy Snuggerud, tied the action, 1-1, on a power-play goal in the last second of the opening frame– beating Hellebucyk’s blocker side in the process for his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal, but that was all the offense that St. Louis would get Monday night.

    Luke Schenn led Winnipeg’s defenders in hits with seven, while Stanley amassed three, Neal Pionk and Samberg each had two and Josh Morrissey had one.

    Only Dylan DeMelo failed to record a hit from the Jets’ blue line, while David Gustafsson, Scheifele, Nino Niederreiter and Connor were the only forwards without a hit in the action.

    Snuggerud and Jordan Kyrou were the only Blues forwards without a hit, while Tyler Tucker and Justin Faulk were the only St. Louis defenders to record at least one hit (Tucker had four).

    Winnipeg led the physical aspect of the game in the first period, but St. Louis responded with vengeance in the middle period as Brayden Schenn and Jake Neighbours led the charge with five hits each by the end of the night.

    If Game 1 was more speed and skill based, then Game 2 was more of a calculated response with a booming physical presence crunching both Jets and Blues players in the process.

    Hellebuyck and Jordan Binnington both locked in, which is good news if you like low scoring goalie battles in postseason action.

    Early in the final frame, Scheifele worked the puck low from the trapezoid to Cole Perfetti, who promptly setup Connor for the one-timer in the slot to give the Jets the, 2-1, lead 1:43 into the third period.

    Winnipeg takes a 2-0 series lead heading back to St. Louis for Games 3 and 4 and is doing everything they need to be doing so far: (1) ensure your star players are performing, (2) get some depth scoring, (3) Hellebuyck dials in and (4) don’t let up the pressure, like, at all.

    St. Louis is doing… …whatever Jim Montgomery is doing while singing along with “Your Love” on the bench (love that for him, though– we could all use a little more fun in the midst of our workdays).

    There’s no Point in warmup, but there was Landeskog

    Famously, Brayden Point plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning and I’m referencing Elliotte Friedman’s tweet from back in the day, but Gabriel Landeskog did take part in warmup for the Colorado Avalanche for the first time since June 26, 2022.

    Landeskog did not, however, dress for Game 2 Monday night in Dallas.

    Instead, Ross Colton wasn’t good to go and Miles Wood drew into the lineup for the Avs, while Landeskog’s return will have to wait for Game 3 in Denver at the earliest.

    Nathan MacKinnon grabbed a quick, 1-0, lead for Colorado with a power-play goal before Tyler Seguin tied the game, 1-1, with a power-play goal of his own for the Stars in the last minute of the opening frame.

    Thomas Harley fanned on a shot attempt while traffic blocked Mackenzie Blackwood’s sight lines on Harley’s recuperated effort and the Dallas defender scored on the far, glove side– giving the Stars a, 2-1, lead.

    But the Avalanche continued to get the most out of their depth as Jack Drury tied things up 62 seconds after Harley’s goal.

    A couple of huge penalty kills led to a shift in momentum for Colorado and Logan O’Connor sent a backhand top shelf while falling to give the Avs a, 3-2, lead with 32.1 seconds left in the middle frame.

    The goal was O’Connor’s first goal in 22 postseason games and his second career Stanley Cup Playoff goal in the process.

    In the playoffs, it’s important for your top six forwards to do their job and maximize depth scoring as much as possible when you can take it.

    Outside of MacKinnon’s goal, Colorado’s top six forwards weren’t doing enough to maximize their depth contributions and get the desired results of a team looking to sap the Stars of their home ice advantage.

    Just past the midpoint of the final frame, Evgenii Dadonov reminded everyone that age is just a number as the 36-year-old Russian forward collected a garbage goal– pocketing a rebound to tie the game, 3-3, with 9:47 remaining in regulation.

    Both goaltenders faced a barrage of shots Monday as Blackwood turned aside 35 out of 39 shots faced in the overtime loss– good enough for an .897 save percentage– while Jake Oettinger made 34 saves on 37 shots against for a .919 SV% in the win.

    Blackwood made a hell of a save on Mason Marchment early in the extra frame, but it wasn’t enough to rally his teammates as the Stars continued to surge as the game progressed.

    Colin Blackwell– inserted into Dallas’ lineup for Game 2 in place of Mavrik Bourque– pounced on a loose puck before roofing it short side over Blackwood’s glove and under the bar after Sam Steel screened the Colorado goaltender and the Avs defenders were out of position.

    Clearly, if Avalanche head coach, Jared Bednar, utilizes Landeskog in his lineup for Game 3, Colorado can continue the trend of “guys who just made their debut this postseason scoring the game-winning goal” in this series.

    The Stars dictated the pace of Game 2 more than they did in Game 1, which if they’re able to do in Game 3 on Wednesday (9:30p ET on ESPN, SN360, TVAS2, Victory+, ALT) in front of a raucous crowd in enemy territory could be a good sign moving forward.

    Dallas can’t get caught up in the emotion of the game, but rather needs to stay focused on the unfinished task at hand– getting back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2020, and winning it for the first time since 1999.

    Colorado, meanwhile, could use a tremendous boost from the potential return of Landeskog in front of their home crowd and what Avs fan wouldn’t want to see him score in his first game back since Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final? Especially if it plays a pivotal role of taking command of a 2-1 series lead.

    Phillip Danault is probably a little tired of the Oilers

    For a guy that alleged the Edmonton Oilers were trying to hurt the Los Angeles Kings in their final meeting in the regular season to disrupt Los Angeles’ chances of (a) getting home ice in their divisional matchup and (b) potential long-term success in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, Phillip Danault sure played like a guy that was pissed.

    And it’s not like you can blame him when the Oilers have had the Kings’ number eight times in their 10 previous postseason series’– let alone for the last three years in the First Round in progressively fewer games each time.

    Edmonton eliminated Los Angeles in seven games in 2022, six games in 2023, and five games in 2024, and each time it seemed like the Kings lost their footing more and more– even on their own ice.

    But not Monday.

    “Not one more day.” — Phillip Danault, probably

    The Kings had a, 4-0, lead late in the second period. Danault had his first goal of the game at 17:43 of the middle frame, mind you, to give Los Angeles and all but in the bag effort for the night.

    Then it looked like Kings head coach, Jim Hiller, might need to utilize a bag skate for his players to shake off whatever colossal collapse of Maple Leaf-sized proportions they were about to encounter.

    Leon Draisaitl planted the seeds of doubt when he scored at 19:54 of the second period to get the Oilers on the scoreboard, 4-1.

    Mattias Janmark scored at 2:19 of the third period to pull Edmonton to within two. How’s that for a wake up call?

    “No worries, Kevin Fiala’s got this.” — Kings fans everywhere, probably after Fiala scored a little more than two minutes after Janmark’s tally

    BUT THEN

    Corey Perry notched his 55th career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal to pull Edmonton back to within two goals of tying the game at 7:43.

    Maybe start to panic a little? But then again, there was still plenty of time left on the clock for Kris Knoblauch to pull Stuart Skinner for an extra skater and, well, Los Angeles would surely put it away by then, right? Right!?

    Zach Hyman made it a one-goal game, 5-4, at 17:56. Connor McDavid once again put his team on his back and tied the game, 5-5, less than a minute later in the chaos.

    Uh oh. The Kings were on their backs again at the hands of the Oilers. Surely the inevitable was looming.

    Nope.

    Trevor Moore rushed into the attacking zone on a lead pass from Vladislav Gavrikov and dropped the puck back to Danault.

    Danault fluttered a knucklepuck shot past Skinner 46 seconds after McDavid knotted things up.

    Danault’s goal at 19:18 of the third period was the latest that anyone in Kings history has scored a game-winning goal in the postseason.

    Los Angeles had done it. They had one, 6-5.

    But it’s only Game 1. The recent trend would’ve indicated that the Oilers were going to pull of the sweep this year, but it’s at least going to take five games now. A gentleman’s sweep.

    Unless the Kings have anything to say about it.

    They just might– especially if Andrei Kuzmenko, Quinton Byfield, Adrian Kempe, Danault and Fiala keep scoring. They also might want a little more effort from their defenders in Game 2 (I’m sure Darcy Kuemper would appreciate that as well).

    Oh, but shoutout to Oilers forward, Jeff Skinner, by the way for making his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut after playing in 1,078 regular season games before doing so. That ended the longest active postseason appearance drought.

    The Kings still took Game 1, though.

  • 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs: First day takeaways

    The first night of action in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs is in the books and if you didn’t get a chance to watch, you missed out on some fun Saturday.

    First, the Winnipeg Jets rallied on home ice to beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-3, in Game 1 of their First Round matchup after trailing, 3-2, entering the third period at Canada Life Centre.

    Then the Colorado Avalanche took advantage of the Dallas Stars’ recent streak of bad luck in Game 1s and secured a, 5-1, victory on the road as the two teams opened up their series at American Airlines Center.

    Whiteout conditions

    Winnipeg takes a 1-0 series lead over St. Louis entering Game 2 Monday night (7:30p ET on ESPN2, CBC, TVAS2, FDSNSW) and is poised to take a commanding 2-0 series lead provided they– you know– maintain their home ice advantage.

    The Jets won 30 out of their 41 home games in the regular season and spread out their scoring pretty evenly in Game 1 with goals from Mark Scheifele, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Alex Iafallo, Kyle Connor and Adam Lowry.

    You may say “but, wait, three out of five of their goals came from the stereotypical first line forwards, isn’t that a little concerning?” and, well, you need your top six forwards to produce this time of year without question.

    Scheifele’s goal came on the power play and he later added an assist– giving him Winnipeg’s all-time leading playoff scorer status, having entered Saturday night tied with Blake Wheeler at 39 points.

    Scheifele now has 41 career Stanley Cup Playoff points with the Jets in 43 games compared to Wheeler’s 39 in 44 games.

    Meanwhile, Iafallo is getting off on the right foot and needs to continue to be a factor throughout the series. The Jets had an early exit in five games against the Avalanche in the 2024 First Round and Iafallo only had one assist in that span.

    Connor led the team in regular season scoring with 41-56–97 totals in 82 games– establishing career-highs in assists and points in the process– and is expected to be a point per game type of player.

    Lowry added an empty net goal from the third line and Anderson-Dolan picked up his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal in Game 1 as a fourth line winger.

    Here’s hoping the positive momentum continues this time around against the Blues.

    If anything, the second line was quiet with clutch postseason scorer, Nino Niederreiter, and his linemates, Vladislav Namestnikov and Cole Perfetti recording just three shots combined– one for Niederreiter and two for Perfetti. But, hey, fourth line center, Morgan Barron, failed to record a shot on goal.

    At the other end of the rink, St. Louis got ahead at 9:31 of the first period courtesy of Robert Thomas opening up postseason scoring with a power-play goal and cast doubt in the minds of weary Jets fans that have watched countless Vezina Trophy-winning (and worthy) regular seasons from Connor Hellebuyck come to a screeching halt.

    Despite Oskar Sundqvist tying the game in the final two minutes of the middle frame and 26-year-old phenom, Jordan Kyrou, capitalizing on another power play to give the Blues a, 3-2, lead at 1:13 of the third period, St. Louis couldn’t hold on as Winnipeg played the long game.

    By the end of the night, the Blues became undisciplined and both teams engaged in sending and receiving messages ahead of Game 2.

    If there’s one thing St. Louis head coach, Jim Montgomery, can’t afford to do ahead of Monday night– it’s lose the room.

    Montgomery’s tenure in Boston saw the Bruins lose focus on the big picture time and time again as they lost in the 2023 First Round and 2024 Second Round to the Florida Panthers– blowing a 3-1 series lead in the former.

    While Joel Hofer had a .921 save percentage on the season against Winnipeg– turning aside 70 out of the 76 shots he faced in three matchups while Jordan Binnington turned in an .875 SV% stopping 21 out of 24 shots against in one game against the Jets back in October– Binnington has the proven track record of taking over a playoff series both in the stat lines and in the opponents’ heads.

    Whereas the last two years saw Montgomery and his players scrambling to wrap their minds around Florida’s antics, the Blues could be the Panthers this time around. All Montgomery has to do is not screw it up.

    And, unfortunately for U.S. hockey fans, there’s the “big game” factor for Binnington in that he did win the 4 Nations Face-Off as Canada’s goaltender back in February, so he’s bound to steal Hellebuyck’s thunder again if St. Louis can channel their antagonistic qualities for the better.

    Meanwhile, in Dallas…

    The Colorado Avalanche are good. There’s a reason why they won the Stanley Cup in 2022, and remain a Cup contender from year-to-year since then.

    The Dallas Stars should be good. There’s a reason why they went out and added Mikko Rantanen ahead of the trade deadline last month and made it to the Western Conference Final in 2023 and 2024.

    All of this, of course, after losing in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

    Since that Cup Final, however, the Stars haven’t been able to get over the hump that is the Western Conference Final and, well, Game 1s.

    Dallas has now dropped eight consecutive series-opening games. The last time they won a Game 1 was actually that 2020 Stanley Cup Final against Tampa, when they had a, 4-1, victory in Edmonton during the pandemic-infused “bubble” playoffs.

    The bad news? Game 1 isn’t Dallas’ thing.

    The good news? History is on their side.

    The Stars dropped Game 1 against the Avalanche, 4-3, in overtime last year on home ice in their 2024 Second Round matchup. They went on to win the next three games before losing Game 5, but won Game 6, 2-1, in double overtime on the road in Denver– courtesy of former Colorado forward, Matt Duchene’s game-winner.

    Dallas also holds the 4-2 series advantage against the Avalanche in their lifetime having beaten Colorado in seven games in the 1999 Western Conference Final and 2000 Western Conference Final, as well as seven games in the 2020 Second Round and six games in the 2024 Second Round.

    Jake Oettinger is the type of goaltender that can get better as the series goes on. He nearly stole the 2022 First Round series against the Calgary Flames in a Game 7 on road ice.

    Oettinger faced 67 shots against and made 64 saves that night in the process before Johnny Gaudreau sent the Flames onto the Second Round with a game-winning overtime goal.

    We probably– and by probably, I mean we shouldn’t see Jamie Benn on a line with Rantanen again in this series and if Dallas can find a way to get by without Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen, the Stars will get better depth throughout the lineup as they return to full health by the Second Round.

    Well, assuming they get there. Rantanen should probably try not to have another minus-two plus/minus rating Monday night (9:30p ET on ESPN, SN360, TVAS-D, Victory+, ALT).

    Nathan MacKinnon notched two goals in Colorado’s, 5-1, victory Saturday night and usual playoff performers, Devon Toews and Artturi Lehkonen, found ways to get on the scoreboard as well– albeit Lehkonen in a rather unconventional, though unintentional manner.

    If the Stars can figure out how to (1) remain undisciplined because Cale Makar is a penalty drawing machine and (2) uh, stop MacKinnon and Makar while in the process shutting down Colorado’s heavily invested in depth at the trade deadline, then Dallas can go back to Colorado even in the series 1-1.

    The problem is that even if you shutdown MacKinnon’s line which includes Martin Nečas, the Avalanche still have Brock Nelson, Jack Drury and Charlie Coyle working their middle six while waiting for the potential return of Gabriel Landeskog for the first time in Colorado’s lineup since Landeskog raised the Cup above his head in late June 2022.

    Avs netminder, Mackenzie Blackwood, however, is largely untested.

    Both teams only managed 24 shots on goal aside in Game 1 and Blackwood is still new to playoff hockey even if he is now past his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut heading into Game 2.

    Dallas really has to come out on all cylinders Monday otherwise it could a short series.

    Even on an off night for MacKinnon– he’s still one of the top two, three or four best players in the world depending on whether or not Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl or Nikita Kucherov are also playing that night for their respective teams.

  • 2022 NHL Entry Draft Round 1 Recap

    2022 NHL Entry Draft Round 1 Recap

    Round 1 of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft was held Thursday night at Bell Centre in Montréal, Québec marking the first time since the 2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver that the selections were made in person in front of a live audience as the 2020 and 2021 editions of the draft were held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Coverage of this year’s first round began Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN and streaming on ESPN+ in the United States, as well as on SN and TVAS in Canada.

    Rounds 2-7 will be televised on NHL Network and ESPN+ in the U.S., while viewers in Canada can tune to SN or TVAS starting at 11 a.m. ET Friday morning.

    Here’s a quick recap of the First Round in case you had other things going on Thursday night.

    2022 NHL Entry Draft Round 1

    1. Montréal Canadiens – LW Juraj Slafkovsky, TPS (Liiga)
    2. New Jersey Devils – D Simon Nemec, Nitra (Slovakia)
    3. Arizona Coyotes – C Logan Cooley, USA U-18 (USHL)
    4. Seattle Kraken – C Shane Wright, Kingston (OHL)
    5. Philadelphia Flyers – C/LW Cutter Gauthier, USA U-18 (USHL)
    6. Columbus Blue Jackets (from Chicago) – D David Jiricek, Plzen (Extraliga)
    7. Chicago (from Ottawa Senators) – D Kevin Korchinski, Seattle (WHL)
    8. Detroit Red Wings – C Marco Kasper, Rögle BK (SHL)
    9. Buffalo Sabres – C Matthew Savoie, Winnipeg (WHL)
    10. Anaheim Ducks – D Pavel Mintyukov, Saginaw (OHL)
    11. Arizona Coyotes (from San Jose Sharks) – C Conor Geekie, Winnipeg (WHL)
    12. Columbus Blue Jackets – D Denton Mateychuk, Moose Jaw (WHL)
    13. Chicago (from New York Islanders via Montréal Canadiens) – C Frank Nazar, USA-U18 (USHL)
    14. Winnipeg Jets – RW Rutger McGroarty, USA U-18 (USHL)
    15. Vancouver Canucks – RW Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Djurgårdens IF (SHL)
    16. Buffalo Sabres (from Vegas Golden Knights) – C Noah Ostlund, Djurgårdens IF (SHL)
    17. Nashville Predators – RW Joakim Kemell, JYP (Liiga)
    18. Dallas Stars – D Lian Bichsel, Leksands IF (SHL)
    19. Minnesota Wild (from Los Angeles Kings) – LW Liam Ohgren, Djurgårdens IF (SHL)
    20. Washington Capitals – RW Ivan Miroshnichenko, Omsk Krylia (Russia)
    21. Pittsburgh Penguins – D Owen Pickering, Swift Current (WHL)
    22. Anaheim Ducks (from Boston Bruins) – C Nathan Gaucher, Québec (QMJHL)
    23. St. Louis Blues – RW Jimmy Snuggerud, USA U-18 (USHL)
    24. Minnesota Wild – RW Danila Yurov, Magnitogorsk (Russia)
    25. Chicago (from Toronto Maple Leafs) – D Sam Rinzel, Chaska (High School- Minnesota)
    26. Montréal Canadiens (from Calgary Flames) – RW Filip Mesar, Poprad (Slovakia)
    27. San Jose Sharks (from Carolina Hurricanes via Montréal Canadiens and Arizona Coyotes) – C Filip Bystedt, Linköping HC (SHL)
    28. Buffalo Sabres (from Florida Panthers) – C Jiri Kulich, Karlovy Vary (Extraliga)
    29. Arizona Coyotes (from Edmonton Oilers) – D Maveric Lamoureux, Drummondville (QMJHL)
    30. Winnipeg Jets (from New York Rangers) – C Brad Lambert, Pelicans (Liiga)
    31. Tampa Bay Lightning – LW Isaac Howard, USA U-18 (USHL)
    32. Edmonton Oilers (from Colorado Avalanche via Arizona Coyotes) – LW Reid Schaefer, Seattle (WHL)

    Trades made during the first round of the draft:

    • The Montréal Canadiens trade D Alexander Romanov and the 98th overall pick to the New York Islanders for a 2022 1st round pick (13th overall).
    • Montréal traded a 2022 1st round pick (13th overall, originally belonging to the New York Islanders) and a 2022 3rd round pick (66th overall) Chicago for D Kirby Dach.
    • The San Jose Sharks traded a 2022 1st round pick (11th overall) to the Arizona Coyotes for a 2022 1st round pick (27th overall), a 2022 2nd round pick (34th overall) and a 2022 2nd round pick (45th overall).
    • Chicago acquired G Petr Mrázek and a 2022 1st round pick (25th overall) from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2022 2nd round pick (38th overall).
    • The Arizona Coyotes acquired F Zack Kassian, a 2022 1st round pick (29th overall), a 2024 3rd round pick and a 2025 2nd round pick from the Edmonton Oilers for a 2022 1st round pick (32nd overall).

    Trades made earlier in the day prior to the first round of the draft:

    • The Colorado Avalanche acquired G Alexandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers in exchange for a 2022 3rd round pick, a 2022 5th round pick and a 2023 3rd round pick.
    • The Ottawa Senators traded a 2022 1st round pick (7th overall), a 2022 2nd round pick (39th overall) and a 2024 3rd round pick to Chicago for F Alex DeBrincat.
  • DTFR Podcast #251- Florida Men

    DTFR Podcast #251- Florida Men

    Nick and Sean talk about the ongoing 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round matchups. Subscribe to The ScorchStack (this isn’t an ad, we just like them).

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

  • DTFR Podcast #250- Is This The Leafs’ Year (To Get Out Of The First Round)?

    DTFR Podcast #250- Is This The Leafs’ Year (To Get Out Of The First Round)?

    Nick and Cam present cases for James Norris Memorial Trophy, Vezina Trophy and Calder Memorial Trophy finalists and predict how the rest of the 2022 First Round should go.

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

  • Bruins force Game 7 with commanding, 5-2, victory at home

    Bruins force Game 7 with commanding, 5-2, victory at home

    For the 29th time in franchise history (a National Hockey League leading postseason stat), the Boston Bruins are going to a Game 7 in a best-of-seven series after defeating the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-2, Thursday night at TD Garden.

    Whereas recent memory conjures images of Boston’s 2019 Stanley Cup Final Game 7 loss on home ice to the visiting St. Louis Blues, this time around the Bruins will look to be a spoiler on the road in Raleigh, North Carolina and become the first wild card team since the NHL adopted its current playoff format in 2014, to usurp a division winner in their non-traditional division.

    See, the B’s belong to the league’s Atlantic Division, while the Canes exist in the Metropolitan Division.

    Carolina, meanwhile, will have home ice in their first Game 7 against Boston since the Hurricanes upset the Bruins in the 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinal.

    It will also be Carolina’s first Game 7 appearance since they beat the Washington Capitals on the road in their 2019 First Round matchup.

    The last Game 7 victory on home ice for the Hurricanes was, of course, the 2006 Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers.

    Jeremy Swayman (3-1, 2.51 goals-against average, .913 save percentage in four games played) made 23 saves on 25 shots against in the win for Boston Thursday night.

    Meanwhile, Hurricanes goaltender, Antti Raanta (2-2, 2.46 goals-against average, .926 save percentage in five games played), turned aside 29 out of 33 shots faced in the loss.

    Once more, the Bruins were without Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Jesper Frödén (lower body) Thursday night, while Hampus Lindholm returned to the lineup after missing the last few games with an upper body injury.

    Down 3-2 in the series entering Thursday and with Lindholm’s return to action, Boston’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, restructured his lines and defensive pairings to a more familiar look around the trade deadline when the B’s were surging in the regular season.

    Jake DeBrusk went back to the first line right wing with Patrice Bergeron at center and Brad Marchand on left wing, while David Pastrnak was reunited with Taylor Hall and Erik Haula on the second line.

    Trent Frederic returned to the lineup on the third line with Charlie Coyle at center– flanked by Frederic and Craig Smith on his wings.

    Meanwhile, Nick Foligno, Tomáš Nosek and Curtis Lazar returned to their usual roles on the fourth line with Chris Wagner joining the short list of healthy scratches in the press box at TD Garden for Game 6.

    On defense, Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy were reunited, while Mike Reilly suited up alongside Brandon Carlo and Derek Forbort and Connor Clifton’s third pairing went unchanged.

    Wagner and Matt Grzelcyk joined Jack Studnicka, Marc McLaughlin, Steven Fogarty, Troy Grosenick, Josh Brown, Joona Koppanen, Cameron Hughes, Jack Ahcan, Tyler Lewington, Oskar Steen, Nick Wolff, Anton Blidh, Kyle Keyser and Jakub Lauko as Boston’s healthy scratches on Thursday.

    Sebastian Aho kicked things off with a hooking infraction at 12:44 of the first period, but the Bruins couldn’t muster anything on the skater advantage.

    Neither team could score, nor did either club score a goal in the opening frame, rendering it, 0-0, entering the first intermission despite Carolina holding an, 11-8, advantage in shots on goal.

    Boston led in blocked shots (6-3), giveaways (4-0) and faceoff win percentage (62-39), while the Hurricanes held the advantage in hits (22-11).

    Both teams had three takeaways each and had yet to see time on the power play entering the middle frame.

    It didn’t take long for the B’s to jump out ahead first as Marchand (4) received a pass and entered the attacking zone along his off wing before sending a wrist shot high on the short side over Raanta’s glove and under the bar to give the Bruins a, 1-0, lead 46 seconds into the second period.

    Clifton (1) and Coyle (4) notched the assists as Boston scored the game’s first goal for the first time in the series.

    Less than a few minutes later, however, Clifton kicked off a string of penalties for the Bruins when he was assessed a holding minor at 3:23, but Boston made the kill.

    Carolina got a second chance on the power play at 9:08, however, when Frederic tripped Brett Pesce and even had 54 seconds on a 5-on-3 advantage when McAvoy cut a rut to the sin bin hooking Vincent Trocheck at 10:15 of the second period.

    The Canes, however, failed to convert on the two power plays.

    Haula caught Jesperi Kotkaniemi with a high stick at 13:36 of the second period and presented another power play opportunity that went by the wayside for Carolina.

    At 16:58, Pesce was assessed a holding minor and yielded Boston their second power play of the night.

    Late in the ensuing skater advantage, the B’s worked the puck around the zone enough before Marchand dished a pass back to Pastrnak for a shot attempt from the point that was blocked by a Hurricane before rebounding to Coyle (2) in the slot for the doorstep goal on the forehand.

    Pastrnak (3) and Marchand (7) tallied the assists on Coyle’s power-play goal at 18:04 of the second period and the Bruins had a, 2-0, lead as a result.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the B’s held a two-goal lead going into the second intermission and led, 19-17, in shots on goal, including an, 11-6, advantage in shots in the middle frame alone.

    Boston also dominated in blocked shots (15-9), takeaways (6-3) and faceoff win% (53-47), while Carolina led in giveaways (5-4) and hits (27-21).

    The Hurricanes were 0-for-4 and the Bruins were 1-for-2 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    Carolina struck first in the final frame as Seth Jarvis setup Andrei Svechnikov (2) for a catch and release goal high on the short side past Swayman’s blocker to cut Boston’s lead in half, 2-1.

    Jarvis (2) had the only assist on Svechnikov’s first goal of the game at 3:24 of the third period.

    Less than four minutes later, however, the Bruins responded and re-extended their lead to two-goals after Haula (1) redirected a shot pass into the far corner of the net behind Raanta for a, 3-1, lead at 7:08 of the third period.

    McAvoy (3) had the only assist on Haula’s first goal of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Midway through the third period, Forbort (1) flung a shot from the point with eyes that may have tipped off of a Canes skaters’ stick under Raanta’s blocker side while the Carolina netminder was temporarily without a stick– having dropped it seconds prior.

    Nosek (1) had the only assist on Forbort’s first goal– regular season or playoffs– since Nov. 20th and the Bruins had a, 4-1, lead as a result at 10:43.

    Jaccob Slavin sent an errant puck over the glass and out of play at 12:01, but the B’s failed to capitalize on their last power play opportunity of the night.

    With 4:33 remaining in the action, Hurricanes head coach, Rod Brind’Amour, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but it wasn’t long before Lazar (1) floated a shot from the red line into the empty twine to give Boston a, 5-1, advantage.

    Foligno (1) and Nosek (2) tallied the assists on Lazar’s empty net goal at 15:43 of the third period.

    Less than a minute later, Marchand was assessed a four-minute double-minor penalty for spearing Kotkaniemi while skating past the Carolina forward at 16:20.

    The Hurricanes made relatively quick work of the first power play as Slavin sent the puck to Martin Nečas, who fed Svechnikov (3) for another one-timer goal– this time cutting the deficit from four goals to three.

    Nečas (3) and Slavin (4) had the assists on Svechnikov’s power-play goal– his second goal of the game– at 17:30 of the third period.

    The Bruins killed off the rest of Marchand’s penalty and went on to win, 5-2, at the final horn.

    At the end of the night, Boston left their own ice leading in shots on goal, 34-25, including a, 15-8, advantage in the third period alone, while Carolina dominated in everything else, including blocked shots (18-12), giveaways (10-5), hits (42-34) and faceoff win% (52-48).

    The Hurricanes finished the night 1-for-6 on the power play, while the Bruins went 1-for-3 on the skater advantage.

    The B’s are now 13-14 all time in a Game 6 when trailing in a series 3-2 and are looking to win a best-of-seven series for just the third time in 29 instances of at one point trailing 2-0 in the series heading into Game 3.

    Game 7 is back at PNC Arena in Raleigh Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. ET with the winner clinching the series 4-3 and advancing to the Second Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Viewers in the United States can tune to ESPN, while those in Canada can catch the action on SN360, SNE, SNW, SNP and TVAS.

    Local markets can also watch the game on their corresponding regional networks if so desired.

    Boston will be making their 29th appearance in a Game 7 and enters Saturday with a 15-13 record in 28 prior Game 7 efforts, having most recently lost in a Game 7 on home ice to the St. Louis Blues in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.

    The Bruins lead in Game 7 appearances (28) and are tied with the Montréal Canadiens for the most wins (15), as well as with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the most losses (13).

    Carolina is entering their eighth appearance in a Game 7 Saturday afternoon with a 5-3 record in seven prior instances of a Game 7, having most recently beaten the Washington Capitals on the road in Game 7 of their 2019 First Round series in double overtime.

    The Hurricanes last hosted a Game 7 on home ice in the 2006 Stanley Cup Final when they defeated the Edmonton Oilers to clinch the franchise’s first Stanley Cup championship.

    The Canes are 5-0 in a Game 7 since relocating from Hartford and previously defeated the Bruins on the road in Game 7 of their 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinal series in overtime.

    Coincidentally, that game was also held on May 14th.

  • DTFR Podcast #249- 2022 First Round Preview In Progress (Part 2)

    DTFR Podcast #249- 2022 First Round Preview In Progress (Part 2)

    Nick and Sean preview the Western Conference matchups in the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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

  • Bruins beat Blues in overtime on the road, 3-2

    Bruins beat Blues in overtime on the road, 3-2

    For the first time since Game 6 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, the Boston Bruins paid a visit to Enterprise Center on Tuesday night and snapped the St. Louis Blues’ nine-game winning streak with a, 3-2, overtime victory on the road.

    Charlie McAvoy scored the game-winning goal for Boston less than a minute into the extra frame, while Jeremy Swayman (22-12-3, 2.33 goals-against average, .916 save percentage in 38 games played) made 20 saves on 22 shots against in the win.

    St. Louis goaltender, Ville Husso (24-6-6, 2.46 goals-against average, .923 save percentage in 38 games played) stopped 32 out of 35 shots faced in the overtime loss.

    The Bruins improved to 47-24-5 (99 points) on the season and are now one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning (46-22-8, 100 points) for 3rd in the Atlantic Division, while remaining 4th place in the division and in command of the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

    The Blues, meanwhile, fell to 46-20-11 (103 points) overall and dropped to 3rd in the Central Division as a result of the Minnesota Wild’s, 2-0, victory against the Montréal Canadiens Tuesday night– forcing St. Louis and Minnesota in a tiebreaker that the Wild currently hold by virtue of having played in one fewer game than the Blues so far this season (76 games to St. Louis’ 77).

    Boston finished 1-1-0 in their 2021-22 regular season series against St. Louis having previously gone 1-0-0 in their 2019-20 campaign that was cut short due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (which also prevented the two teams from meeting in the regular season in 2020-21).

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, told reporters ahead of the game that David Pastrnak (undisclosed), Hampus Lindholm (lower body) and Linus Ullmark (undisclosed) would not make the two-game road trip against the Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins and are likely to return next week prior to the conclusion of the regular season.

    As such, the B’s were without Pastrnak, Lindholm and Ullmark in addition to being short Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Jesper Frödén (lower body) on Tuesday.

    Frödén’s injury meant that Curtis Lazar would slide in on the right side of the second line with Tomáš Nosek returning to the lineup to center the fourth line.

    Cassidy made no other changes to his lineup from last Saturday’s, 2-1, victory against Pittsburgh to Tuesday night at Enterprise Center.

    Jack Studnicka, Josh Brown, Jack Ahcan and Anton Blidh made up Boston’s list of healthy scratches in St. Louis.

    Nathan Walker hooked Erik Haula and presented the Bruins with the first power play opportunity of the night at 5:40 of the first period, but Boston wasn’t able to convert on the ensuing skater advantage as it was cut short when Mike Reilly caught Brayden Schenn with a high stick at 6:49.

    The B’s fell to 0-for-26 on the power play in their last 26 opportunities as a result.

    St. Louis didn’t convert on their abbreviated skater advantage as the Bruins made the kill and Reilly returned to the ice from his sixth penalty in his last last games (four of which were, in fact, for high sticking).

    Midway through the opening frame, McAvoy hooked Ryan O’Reilly at 11:11 and presented the Blues with another power play.

    This time St. Louis made quick work of the skater advantage as Pavel Buchnevich (28) redirected a one-touch pass from Vladimir Tarasenko past Swayman to give the Blues a, 1-0, lead at 11:49 of the first period.

    Tarasenko (44) and Jordan Kyrou (43) tallied the assists on Buchnevich’s power-play goal.

    Late in the period, the two teams went into the first intermission at 4-on-4 after Ivan Barbashev and Lazar went into the box for roughing and an unsportsmanlike conduct infraction, respectively, at 19:15.

    The two clubs would resume 5-on-5 action early in the middle frame after the penalties expired.

    After one period, St. Louis led, 1-0, on the scoreboard, despite Boston holding an, 11-8, advantage in shots on goal.

    The Bruins also led in blocked shots (8-3), takeaways (5-3) and faceoff win percentage (57-43), while the Blues led in giveaways (5-1) and hits (12-7).

    St. Louis was 1-for-2 on the power play, while Boston was 0-for-1 on the skater advantage heading into the middle period.

    Jake DeBrusk (23) sent a shot over Husso’s short side under the crossbar and off the back bar in the net before the puck rebounded back out of the twine.

    The goal was waved off at first before a quick official review determined that the rubber biscuit had gone in and out so quickly– rendering an assist to Matt Grzelcyk (20) in the process while DeBrusk tied the game, 1-1, at 1:33 of the second period.

    Almost midway through the middle frame, Haula sent a one-hand pass back to the point where Derek Forbort got a shot off towards the slot that Taylor Hall (17) tipped from below the crossbar past Husso– giving the Bruins their first lead of the night, 2-1, in the process.

    Forbort (10) and Haula (25) notched the assists on Hall’s goal and the B’s had momentum well on their side at 9:44.

    Late in the period, however, Forbort cut a rut to the penalty box for tripping Dakota Joshua, but Boston was able to make the kill on the ensuing infraction and special teams action at 17:00 of the second period.

    In the vulnerable minute thereafter, though, the Blues managed to fling a shot at the net that Robert Thomas (19) tipped while skating through the slot to tie the game, 2-2, at 19:57.

    Buchnevich (43) and Tarasenko (45) had the assists on Thomas’ goal with 2.4 seconds left on the clock in the second period as the Bruins gave up their 19th goal against in the final minute of any period this season.

    Through 40 minutes the score was tied, 2-2, despite Boston holding a decisive advantage in shots on goal, 28-17. The Bruins even outshot the Blues, 17-9, in the second period alone.

    The B’s held the advantage in blocked shots (10-8), takeaways (11-5) and faceoff win% (63-38), while the Blue Notes led in giveaways (8-5) and hits (15-14) heading into the final frame.

    St. Louis was 1-for-3 on the power play while Boston was 0-for-1 on the skater advantage.

    Neither team scored in the third period, while only Barbashev took a penalty at 6:34 for tripping Haula.

    The Bruins fell to 0-for-27 on their last 27 power play opportunities as the skater advantage came and went by the wayside.

    After 60 minutes of regulation, Boston and St. Louis were tied, 2-2, on the scoreboard despite the Bruins holding a, 34-22, advantage in shots on goal– including a, 6-5, advantage in the third period alone.

    The B’s led in takeaways (16-11), hits (22-20) and faceoff win% (59-41), while the Blues led in giveaways (11-4) after three periods.

    Both teams had 13 blocked shots each, while St. Louis finished the night 1-for-3 on the power play and Boston went 0-for-2 on the skater advantage as no penalties were called in the extra frame.

    Cassidy sent out Charlie Coyle, DeBrusk and McAvoy to start the overtime period, while Blues head coach, Craig Berube, countered with Thomas, Tarasenko and Justin Faulk.

    It didn’t take long for the Bruins to nearly blow it, then win it.

    One Boston skater misplayed a loose puck before DeBrusk over-skated it prior to Swayman emerging from the crease to clear it off the boards in the neutral zone while facing pressure from a St. Louis forward.

    The Bruins quickly recovered from their own unforced error and entered the attacking zone on a rush with DeBrusk cutting to the trapezoid rather than shooting the puck prior to sending a pass back to McAvoy (9) as the defender crept into the high slot and snapped a shot past Husso for the game-winning goal.

    DeBrusk (15) and Coyle (26) had the assists on McAvoy’s goal 48 seconds into overtime and the Bruins won, 3-2, almost as quickly as the extra frame began.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 35-22, including a, 1-0, advantage in overtime alone, as well as maintaining their advantage in hits (22-20) and faceoff win% (60-40).

    St. Louis left their own ice with the lead in giveaways (11-4), while both teams managed to amass 13 blocked shots each.

    The Bruins snapped a nine-game winning streak for the Blues in the process on Tuesday night, while improving to 9-3 in overtime this season (11-5 past regulation overall in 2021-22).

    The Blues fell to 3-9 in overtime this season, as well as 5-11 past regulation overall.

    St. Louis also dropped to 27-8-6 (16-4-3 at home) when scoring first, 20-1-4 (14-0-3 at home) when leading after one and 8-4-5 (3-2-3 at home) when tied after two periods in 2021-22.

    Boston improved to 13-15-3 (6-7-2 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 6-13-2 (2-6-1 on the road) when trailing after the first period and 14-5-0 (7-4-0 on the road) when tied after the second period this season.

    The Bruins head to PPG Paints Arena for a matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night before hosting the New York Rangers Saturday afternoon at TD Garden on ABC.

    Boston heads to Montréal on Sunday before hosting Florida and Buffalo next Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, prior to their regular season finale in Toronto next Friday.

  • DTFR Podcast #246- Depth Chart Depth (feat. Sean Reilly)

    DTFR Podcast #246- Depth Chart Depth (feat. Sean Reilly)

    Sean returns to the program to talk about the Boston Bruins, a plethora of injuries around the league, Doug Wilson, the Western Conference wild card race, Mike Bossy and more including an all-new segment where Sean flips the script and asks Nick stuff.

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