Sport-Scan Daily Brief

SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF NHL 8/8/2020 Arizona Coyotes Chicago Blackhawks cont'd 1190372 Arizona Coyotes eliminate Nashville Predators for first 1190403 Lazerus: Alexis who? Blackhawks leave draft lottery playoff series win since 2012 behind with big step forward 1190373 Coyotes riding 'unflappable' goaltender Darcy Kuemper as 1190404 ‘Relief, joy, excitement’: Blackhawks’ Matthew Highmore far as he'll take them in playoffs rides the wave 1190374 Coyotes show resilience and depth in eliminating Predators Colorado Avalanche 1190405 Even in the Edmonton bubble, home-ice advantage Boston Bruins matters for Avalanche 1190375 Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci ’unfit to participate’ in 1190406 Grubauer, Francouz make strong cases to start in net for Friday’s Bruins practice Avs 1190376 For hardcore hockey fans, having playoffs in the summer is cool with them Columbus Blue Jackets 1190377 Here's Bruins' first-round playoff scenario entering Sunday 1190407 Maple Leafs stun Blue Jackets with late flurry, tie series vs. Capitals with power-play goal in OT 1190378 Bruins' Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Jaroslav Halak 1190408 Pierre-Luc Dubois shows just how good he can be in miss Friday's practice carrying Blue Jackets to victory 1190379 Torey Krug admits Bruins are having trouble lighting fire in 1190409 Elvis Merzlikins will start at goalie for Blue Jackets in round-robin format Game 4 vs. Maple Leafs 1190380 How important is getting the No. 3 seed for Bruins? 1190410 Blue Jackets 4, Maple Leafs 3, OT: Five Takeaways 1190381 Bruins are doomed if Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci 1190411 Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella explains his can’t get going frustrations with Pierre-Luc Dubois 1190382 ‘Family’s first’: Why Bruins’ Steve Kampfer changed his 1190412 Stunner! Blue Jackets, down 3-0, rally to shock Maple mind and opted out Leafs 4-3 in Game 3 Buffalo Sabres Dallas Stars 1190383 Ex-Sabre Matt Moulson returns to Hershey on one-year 1190413 Stars forward Tyler Seguin says he spends his bubble AHL contract downtime video chatting with his dogs, playing cards 1190414 Denis Gurianov: Defensive liability or Stars offensive Calgary Flames necessity? 1190384 Who's next? Flames await Round 1 foe for NHL playoffs 1190415 How Miro Heiskanen’s rare poor defensive night led to 1190385 Flames lean on netminder Talbot in bounce-back year Avalanche’s frequent odd-man rushes 1190386 ‘He’s been a heck of a leader for us’: Interim coach Ward 1190416 For new moms Meg Dowling and Katie Fedun, Stars’ helps Flames over first hump restart brings new challenges 1190387 Statement game for Flames: ‘We’re better-suited for 1190417 Different shades: Why the Mavs’ and Stars’ poor restarts playoffs than last year’ mean different things Carolina Hurricanes Detroit Red Wings 1190388 Mrazek or Reimer? That’s still the question as Hurricanes 1190418 In 1963, Detroit Red Wings' made their first draft pick in prepare for next playoff round history: Pete Mahovlich 1190389 Cut, dig, slide, glide: The Hurricanes MVPs might be the 1190419 Red Wings loan Filip Zadina to Czech team HC Ocelari men who sharpen their skates Trinec 1190390 Rematch! Hurricanes’ first-round playoffs opponent narrowed down to two familiar teams Edmonton Oilers 1190391 Duhatschek Notebook: Importance of fit for top picks, best 1190420 It's all over, Edmonton Oilers crash and burn and burst spot for Lafreniere their own bubble 1190392 LeBrun: What’s a fair deal for Rod Brind’Amour, thumbs 1190421 Oilers kicked to curb by Blackhawks in Qualifying series up for bubble protocol 1190422 Chicago Blackhawks burst Edmonton Oilers' bubble 1190423 Oilers out on Elimination Day with 3-2 loss to Blackhawks Chicago Blackhawks 1190424 HUB CITY NOTES: Coyotes earn playoff spot with win 1190393 Blackhawks advance to the 1st round of the NHL playoffs over Predators after beating the Oilers 3-2 in Game 4. ‘The real fun 1190425 The Oilers have some disappointing lessons to learn — 1190394 4 things to watch for in Game 4 of the Blackhawks-Oilers even in season of progress series, including ‘desperation’ in Edmonton and ‘luck 1190426 Replacing Tyler Ennis: Ranking the best left wing and 1190395 Blackhawks notebook: Kirby Dach translating strong backfill Oilers options training camp into playoff success 1190396 Blackhawks fans anxious for playoff hockey: ‘We’re Florida Panthers playing with house money’ 1190427 Florida Panthers disappointing season ends early. More 1190397 Blackhawks eliminate Oilers with Game 4 victory, reach changes coming this offseason? round of 16 in NHL playoffs 1190428 Jonathan Huberdeau is in the lineup for Florida Panthers’ 1190398 Believe it: Hawks oust Oilers with 3-2 win, advance to next must-win Game 4 vs. Islanders round 1190429 Panthers eliminated from playoffs in Game 4 rout 1190399 Blackhawks eliminate Oilers, win first postseason series since 2015 Stanley Cup Final Los Angeles Kings 1190400 What it will take for Blackhawks to close out Oilers in 1190430 KINGS LOAN TOBIAS BJORNFOT TO DJURGARDENS Game 4 (SHL) 1190401 What having no fans at postseason games is like for Blackhawks' Drake Caggiula 1190402 Powers: Corey Crawford gives Crawford-esque performance when it matters most Minnesota Wild Pittsburgh Penguins 1190431 After holding three leads, Wild loses in OT 1190466 Empty Thoughts: The Penguins tried to play the 1190432 Wild-Vancouver Game 4 recap Canadiens’ game but fell short 1190433 Wild's Alex Stalock (vocal) and Canucks' Jacob Markstrom 1190467 Quick playoff exit gives the Penguins a chance at top (quiet) big contrast on ice prospect Alexis Lafreniere 1190434 Wild trying to stave off elimination in Game 4 vs. Canucks 1190468 Penguins unable to solve Canadiens goaltender Carey 1190435 Pushed to the brink, Wild seeks a spark in Game 4 Price 1190436 Wild’s season ends abruptly as Canucks score 11 1190469 Penguins eliminated from playoffs after being upset by the seconds into overtime Canadiens 1190437 The Chatterbox: Alex Stalock, the NHL’s most talkative 1190470 Penguins to start goaltender Tristan Jarry in Game 4 goaltender, won’t shut up 1190471 To stay alive, Penguins must offset Canadiens’ blue line contribution Montreal Canadiens 1190472 Sidney Crosby's birthday ends in disappointment, and a 1190438 Canadiens upset Penguins 2-0 to advance to first round of murky future comes into focus NHL playoffs 1190473 Ron Cook: Penguins cap campaign without fight or 1190439 About Last Night: Habs frustrated the Penguins' best accountability players all series long 1190474 Stick taps, chirps and observations from 1190440 In the Habs' Room: 'Nobody gave us a chance,' Carey Penguins-Canadiens Game 4 Price says 1190475 Canadiens stun Penguins to win qualifying round 1190441 Underdog Canadiens slam door on Penguins with shutout 1190476 Analysis: Penguins' season ends as a dud after fizzling victory down the stretch 1190442 The Canadiens’ X-factor against the Penguins was behind 1190477 Updates and discussion of Penguins-Canadiens Game 4 the bench 1190478 Paul Zeise: Even with a loss, Mike Sullivan’s job is safe — 1190443 What’s done is done: It’s time to embrace the Canadiens as it should be reaching the playoffs 1190479 Tristan Jarry in, Matt Murray out for Penguins-Canadiens 1190444 Penguins bench Matt Murray; Tristan Jarry will start Game Game 4 4 vs. Canadiens 1190480 Matt Vensel's Penguins chat transcript: 08.07.20Associated Press Nashville Predators 1190481 Surreal season ends with Sidney Crosby, Penguins facing 1190445 For Predators, an excruciating finish to a failed season | familiar questions Estes 1190482 Yohe: 10 observations as the Penguins embarrass 1190446 The end comes sooner than expected for Predators after themselves out of the bubble they fall to Coyotes in OT in Game 4 1190483 The worst loss of Sidney Crosby’s career was totally 1190447 Viktor Arvidsson injured, misses final two periods of Game avoidable 4 1190484 Penguins bench Matt Murray; Tristan Jarry will start Game 1190448 How to watch Game 4 between Predators and Arizona 4 vs. Canadiens Coyotes in qualifying series 1190485 Evgeni Malkin ‘not happy’ with his game. Would different 1190449 After another early exit, the Predators are drifting toward shot selection help? irrelevance 1190486 Yohe: On his 33rd birthday, a countdown of Sidney Crosby’s 33 greatest moments New Jersey Devils 1190450 Finding comparable NHL players for the Devils’ top San Jose Sharks prospects 1190487 Ex-Shark Patrick Marleau, Penguins eliminated in NHL qualifying round New York Islanders 1190488 Media column: Remembering Ralph Barbieri and how 1190451 Islanders have to play waiting game when it comes to next KNBR could help foe 1190452 Islanders finish off Panthers to earn Stanley Cup playoffs Seattle Kraken berth 1190489 ‘You never set out to be the trailblazer’: Kraken’s Everett 1190453 Anthony Beauvillier having fun as Islanders advance into Fitzhugh embraces opportunity as NHL’s first Black Stanley Cup Playoffs 1190454 Defenseman Ryan Pulock makes huge save in Islanders' St Louis Blues clinching win against Panthers 1190490 Blues get 2 p.m. start against Dallas; face Calgary or 1190455 Anthony Beauvillier leads Islanders into playoffs with win Vancouver in Round of 16 over Panthers 1190491 Pandemic hockey: With no fans in the stands "it's like a 1190456 Islanders’ task in Game 4 is simple: Stay the course and video game" advance 1190492 Simplicity has been key to Allen's success in Blues goal 1190457 For Isles to stick around, the B&B Boys have to be this good again Tampa Bay Lightning 1190493 Lightning, Flyers set to play for No. 1 seed in Eastern New York Rangers Conference 1190458 Duhatschek Notebook: Importance of fit for top picks, best 1190494 Lightning’s Steven Stamkos to miss Flyers game, spot for Lafreniere uncertain for playoffs’ start 1190495 Flyers top Capitals, will meet Lightning for top seed in East Philadelphia Flyers playoffs 1190459 Flyers-Lightning preview: TV, time, odds, notes 1190496 Why is Steven Stamkos’ playoff status complicated? 1190460 James van Riemsdyk and Shayne Gostisbehere in Flyers lineup, Joel Farabee goes to top line 1190461 Two key players will be out as ‘matured’ Flyers face Tampa Bay with East’s No. 1 seeding on the line 1190462 Jake Voracek out for Flyers, Steven Stamkos sidelined for Lightning in Saturday’s game to decide East’s top se 1190463 The Flyers should have more on their minds than the No. 1 seed 1190464 Flyers say winning top seed remains high priority 1190465 Jakub Voracek out, James van Riemsdyk back and more changes as Flyers aim to win round robin Toronto Maple Leafs Websites 1190497 Leafs send series to Game 5 with 4-3 overtime win over 1190528 The Athletic / How the Kraken’s Everett Fitzhugh became Blue Jackets after stunning three-goal comeback the NHL’s first Black team broadcaster 1190498 Leafs pull a rabbit out of the hat with Game 4 comeback 1190529 The Athletic / The Chatterbox: Alex Stalock, the NHL’s 1190499 The Leafs were down three with four minutes to go, facing most talkative goaltender, won’t shut up elimination. And then came the lightning bolts 1190530 The Athletic / The Zoomies: Gaudreau’s hair, Ovechkin’s 1190500 The Leafs have the talent, and a system that makes new nickname, Reimer’s memories sense. But old habits are hard to break 1190531 The Athletic / ‘Nothing is 100 percent safe’: Beer league 1190501 Stunning comeback leads Leafs to overtime win on goal hockey is back but should you play? by Matthews 1190532 The Athletic / DGB Grab Bag: Week 1 thoughts, a lottery 1190502 Spezza fights, Matthews scores as Maple Leafs idea and Tocchet spaghetti remarkably stay alive 1190533 Sportsnet.ca / Maple Leafs' Big Four rewrite ending to the 1190503 For Leafs to win Friday night and stay alive, mental season in its most dire moment approach will have to be the guide 1190534 Sportsnet.ca / Oilers short on toughness in season-ending 1190504 Toronto (Ohio) cheering for Jackets loss to Blackhawks 1190505 How the Maple Leafs pulled their season back from the 1190535 Sportsnet.ca / Canadiens' kids help lead team to brink improbable series win over Penguins 1190506 Mirtle: After unbeleafable comeback, Maple Leafs can now 1190536 Sportsnet.ca / Maple Leafs’ Jason Spezza will not go rewrite their narrative down without a fight, literally 1190507 Maple Leafs Report Cards: Heroic late effort forces 1190537 Sportsnet.ca / Canucks' blend of youth, veterans soars do-or-die Game 5 Sunday into playoffs ahead of expectations 1190508 Inside the NHL’s battle to maintain Toronto’s ‘sloppy’ ice 1190538 Sportsnet.ca / Jonathan Toews still shines brightest on for 3 games a day hockey's biggest stages 1190539 TSN.CA / Toronto Maple Leafs will need to show some Vancouver Canucks mental toughness 1190523 Canucks 5, Wild 4 (OT): Tanev scores seconds into 1190540 USA TODAY / NHL stars Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid overtime to oust Minnesota going home after qualifying round upsets 1190524 Patrick Johnston: Boeser's gritty net-front presence paying 1190541 USA TODAY / 'Dream come true': Everett Fitzhugh, hired off on Canucks' power play by Seattle Kraken, will be NHL's first Black play-by-pl 1190525 Ed Willes: This series will be remembered for reasons other than playing in August Winnipeg Jets 1190526 Canucks Game Day: A chance tonight to dust off Wild, 1190517 A few bright spots amid gloom after Jets' quick exit clinch real playoff spot 1190518 Short-handed Jets never got to show full potential 1190527 The Armies: Quinn Hughes carries Canucks to series win 1190519 Jets land top 10 pick in 2020 NHL draft 1190520 JETS SNAPSHOTS: Only a few Jets players measured up Vegas Golden Knights in playoff loss to Flames and Ehlers was one of them 1190509 Time set for Golden Knights game against Avalanche on 1190521 Fate, talent shortage, pandemic make it hard to put bow Saturday on Jets' season 1190510 Golden Knights meet Avalanche with No. 1 seed at stake 1190522 Ates: In a season haunted by ghosts, Jets’ whirlwind ends 1190511 Golden Knights winning with depth in playoffs so far without regret 1190512 Alex Tuch doesn’t shy from gritty areas in Golden Knights’ SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129 win 1190513 Former Vegas Golden Knights Entertainment Chief Jonny Greco Is Seattle Kraken’s New Live Entertainment Head Washington Capitals 1190514 Capitals seeking more production from top six as first round creeps closer 1190515 Capitals' Stanley Cup playoff opponent will be Penguins, Hurricanes or Islanders 1190516 Possible playoff opponents for the Capitals are starting to come into focus 1190372 Arizona Coyotes If nothing else, the bubble seemed to allow the Coyotes some solitude from the drama taking place off the ice and around the organization. And although the Coyotes didn't play their sharpest in every minute of every Arizona Coyotes eliminate Nashville Predators for first playoff series win period against the Predators, their resolve was enough to eliminate a since 2012 talented, playoff-tested group in a postseason series.

"We obviously had a discussion that we just had to put it past us," Richardson said of the off-ice distractions around the club. "We just Richard Morin wanted to play and I think we're all sick and tired of the Coyotes being out of the conversion. And I think now we've put ourselves in that.

"I mean, we've been through a lot of crap here and some teams that How were the Coyotes supposed to focus on hockey? needed to mature and grow. It feels like a lot of work came to fruition The Coyotes were already considered underdogs even before the there. We've got a long way to go, but that was a big hurdle for our team tumultuous events that transpired before the team arrived in Edmonton to and it feels really good." participate in the qualifying round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The skinny Just days prior, the Coyotes and John Chayka, the club's president of The score: Coyotes 4, Predators 3 (OT). hockey operations and general manager, experienced a messy divorce and yielded a statement from the Coyotes that said Chayka had "quit" on The series: Coyotes win, 3-1, in the best-of-five series. a talented team, among other things. The goals: Grabner (2), 17:27 1st, from Ekman-Larsson (2); Kessel (1), But after entering the bubble, there were no lapses in focus as the 1:37 2nd, unassisted; Oesterle (1), 4:21 3rd, from Ekman-Larsson (3) Coyotes eliminated the Nashville Predators in the best-of-five series for and Keller (2); Richardson (1), 5:27 OT, Hinostroza (1) and Demers (1). the club's first postseason series win since 2012. The player: Darcy Kuemper. "That's probably the biggest, most important game we've had in a long time in this franchise," Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said after a 4-3 The moment: Richardson's overtime goal to give the Coyotes their first overtime win in Game 4 on Friday. "The resiliency after a lot of things that postseason series win since 2012. has been thrown at the organization on the team, I'm just proud of the The number: 1985 — The series win was the second best-of-five victory guys for dealing with it. in Coyotes/Jets franchise history; the other came in 1985 in a 3-1 series "A lot of stuff happened to this team and we were resilient. It's a big win win over the Calgary Flames. for us." View from the press box couch: Once again, the Coyotes did not have Coyotes forward Brad Richardson scored the overtime winner to send their best stuff for much of this game. In fact, one could argue the the club past the qualifying round of a postseason format that expanded Predators were the better team for most periods in the series. The to accommodate 24 teams. As is tradition after any Coyotes win, a difference was Kuemper, who kept the Coyotes in each game of the coyote pelt was awarded to the player of the game. The previous winner, series. And when the Predators couldn't cash in on their opportunities, goaltender Darcy Kuemper, gave it to Richardson. the Coyotes went the other way and did.

Richardson was fired up addressing the locker room after the win. Up next: Coyotes vs. TBA (Game 1 of 7), TBA, Edmonton.

"Tons of adversity ... We're coming for the real playoffs; let's go!" Song of the night: "Where I Belong" by Simple Plan and State Champs (feat. We the Kings). Still, the win was anything but easy as the Predators fought to keep the series alive. The Coyotes had a 3-2 lead with 30 seconds left in Arizona Republic LOADED: 08.08.2020 regulation but couldn't clear the puck out of their defensive zone and Nashville's Filip Forsberg scored to send the game to overtime.

Tocchet said he usually waits until the seven- or eight-minute mark of an intermission before addressing his team. But after what had just transpired to close out the third period, Tocchet knew he had to be a bit more proactive.

"Hey listen, we’re in this." Tocchet said of his message to the room before overtime. "We get a goal, we win the series."

Tocchet said captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson was the first to take the baton and began barking to his teammates. Others joined in. When Tocchet next saw his players, trekking from the tunnel to the ice for the sudden-death period, nearly everyone was talking.

"The whole team was yelling and screaming as we were walking out," Tocchet said. "I really liked the response of the guys."

The Coyotes also lauded Kuemper's play in the series, with multiple players stating the goaltender was their "best player." Looking at the numbers, it's hard to disagree.

After 49 saves on Friday (his second 40-plus save performance of the series), Kuemper finished with 152 saves in the series to go along with a 2.77 goals allowed average and a .933 save percentage.

"Yeah, he's unbelievable," Coyotes forward Phil Kessel said of Kuemper. "You watch him out there; he makes every save he should. He's why we're moving on."

Kessel along with three other players (Ekman-Larsson, Clayton Keller and Taylor Hall) led the Coyotes with four points in the series. Keller, Christian Dvorak and Michael Grabner paced the Coyotes' scoring with two goals apiece. Only two Coyotes skaters who appeared in all four games did not find the scoresheet at least once. 1190373 Arizona Coyotes teammates. Those are the guys you want to block shots for and 'Kuemps' is that type of guy."

Up next Coyotes riding 'unflappable' goaltender Darcy Kuemper as far as he'll Game 4: Predators at Coyotes, Friday, 11:30 a.m., Edmonton, Fox take them in playoffs Sports Arizona.

Arizona Republic LOADED: 08.08.2020 Richard Morin

If the Coyotes end up making a run in these Stanley Cup Playoffs, there is little doubt that goaltender Darcy Kuemper would be the team's frontrunner for the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded annually to the postseason's top performer.

In fact, after starting three games in the Coyotes' qualifying-round series against the Nashville Predators, Kuemper has arguably been the top goaltender among teams in the expanded postseason.

While leading his team to a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series ahead of Friday's Game 4 matchup, Kuemper entered play Thursday ranked second in saves (103) and save percentage (.928) among goaltenders who had appeared in three games in the format.

To outside observers, that Kuemper has outperformed venerable goaltenders such as Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck, Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky and Nashville's Juuse Saros might come as a surprise.

But for the Coyotes, it's what they've come to expect from Kuemper.

"If you look at the last two or three years," Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said, "we've been trying to play as many pressure games as we can in Arizona. We haven't had too many in the (recent) past. That (Game 3) was as big a pressure game as you're going to get into. Now the next game is going to be the most important pressure game again for 'Kuemps.'

"He's had to do this a lot for us. To me, it's just his attitude: unflappable. Even after Game 2 (loss), he comes to the bench and isn't rattled. I think his mental approach over the last couple of games is excellent."

Kuemper's performance in Game 3 was particularly impressive given he was playing on the second end of a back-to-back and coming off a loss in Game 2 on Tuesday. Kuemper was tested early on Wednesday with an onslaught of shots in the opening 20 minutes.

In fact, Kuemper made 19 of his 39 saves in the first period alone – marking the highest number of saves he had made in a single period all season, and the highest number of saves any goaltender had made in any one playoff period in Coyotes/Jets franchise history.

"It was good to come out and play a solid game," said Kuemper, who has a .923 save percentage in parts of three seasons with the Coyotes. "I think as a team we realized what was on the line and all kind of elevated our play and rose to the occasion. We've put ourselves in a good spot here but our work is not done. We have to expect the next game to be the hardest one."

Now, the Coyotes have a chance for their first playoff series win since 2012. To get there, it will take another strong performance by Kuemper, whom the Coyotes will ride as far as he can take them.

"Feeling great," Kuemper said. "The trainers have been doing a great job helping with our recovery, hydration and nutrition. Yeah, I'm feeling good and ready for the next game already."

As was the case for Game 3, it sounds as though Kuemper won't have his usual tandem partner on the bench in Antti Raanta, who was deemed unfit to play partway through Game 2 and was not expected to practice on Thursday, Tocchet said.

That means third-stringer Adin Hill will again likely serve as Kuemper's backup for what will be an elimination game for the Predators.

Tocchet indicated that the Coyotes have rallied around Kuemper for some time. By all accounts, Kuemper has been reliable, accountable and capable on a daily basis.

"Nothing fazes him," Tocchet said of Kuemper after Thursday's game. "Through the years that I've played, you always have those goalies you want to play for because he's such a great guy. He never blames his 1190374 Arizona Coyotes “The last two games especially, the first eight-to-10 minutes, Darcy kept us in it. That’s the facts,” Tocchet said.

In Game 4, the Coyotes’ young and playoff-inexperienced roster was a Coyotes show resilience and depth in eliminating Predators bit jittery, according to the coach. They needed Kuemper, and he allowed them to shake off those butterflies.

“I felt we had some guys on our team a little nervous, some of the By Kevin Kurz Aug 7, 2020 younger guys, but what Darcy does, he lets the nerves kind of (settle) down in some guys. He had a hell of a series for us. Hell of a series,”

Tocchet said. How do you win an elimination game against a team that, at least on Added Kessel, “You watch him out there, he makes every save he paper, appears to be much deeper and more talented than you are? should. He’s why we’re moving on.” A pair of goals from the fourth line, including the overtime winner, and Perhaps most impressive about their win in Game 4, though, is that the another from a third-pair defenseman is one way to do it. Add in the Coyotes didn’t let Forsberg’s goal with just 32 seconds left in regulation continued steady goaltending of Darcy Kuemper, and that allowed the get them down. Leading 3-2, Richardson won a defensive zone draw to 11th-seeded Coyotes to upset the sixth-seeded Predators in a qualifying- Niklas Hjalmarsson, who failed to clear the zone. Ryan Ellis knocked round series that ended with a 4-3 Arizona win on Friday in Edmonton. down the puck and quickly played it to Forsberg, who zipped a shot over The Coyotes won the best-of-five, 3-1, and will now make their first Kuemper’s far shoulder. appearance in the NHL’s final 16 since 2012. They will play the loser of Tocchet has said more than once that this Coyotes team is a bit quiet Saturday’s Colorado Avalanche-Vegas Golden Knights game in a best- when it comes to chatter on the bench and in the dressing room. That of-seven series. wasn’t the case between the third period and overtime, though, much like The winning goal came from one of the few players who has won a it wasn’t in their win in Game 1, either. Stanley Cup on the Coyotes — Brad Richardson, who was a member of “We were down, I could tell. But then in between periods guys started the 2012 Los Angeles’ Kings championship team (which beat Arizona in chirping, which was good,” Tocchet said. “We needed to get some the Western Conference finals). The 35-year-old, who posted six goals in energy back in that room because, you know, you’re 30 seconds from 59 regular-season games this season, spun off of the Preds’ Ryan clinching the series and all of a sudden you’ve got to get your mind back Johansen to put himself in position in the slot to redirect a Vinnie again. … When we went out (to the ice), the whole team was yelling and Hinostroza feed in front of the net. While his original attempt looked to be screaming as we were walking out, so I really liked the response from the going wide, it bounced off Mattias Ekholm’s leg and popped back to the guys.” blue paint where Richardson easily chipped it over the line with the back of his stick blade at 5:27 of the first overtime. Said Oesterle, “We went back into the locker room and regrouped. Our older guys, (Richardson, Kuemper and Jason Demers) and those guys Earlier in the game, fellow fourth-liner Michael Grabner staked the really stepped up in the locker room and told us it’s our time for someone Coyotes a 1-0 lead with a goal late in the first period. Phil Kessel to be a hero. And Richie came out and was the hero tonight, so we move increased the lead to 2-0, and after the Predators tied it up, third-pair on to Round 1.” defenseman Jordan Oesterle restored the lead with a seeing-eye wrist shot from the point at 4:21 of the third. That would have been the game- The Coyotes also had to overcome a unique big-picture situation, too, winner had the Predators not tied it up with Saros pulled for an extra dealing with the ugly split between the organization and former general attacker in the final minute. manager John Chayka just before departing for the Edmonton bubble. That was something that was talked about within the group prior to the The performances from the Coyotes’ depth players was particularly series, according to Richardson, who is in his fifth season with the team. important in that they didn’t have Nick Schmaltz, their leading scorer in the regular season, due to his getting run over by Vegas’ Ryan Reaves in “We obviously had a discussion, and we had to put it past us,” he said. their exhibition game. Schmaltz is skating again, trying to work his way “We can’t control it, any of the guys in the room or the coaches can’t back, but his availability for the next round is up in the air. really control anything going on behind the scenes. We had to go out and do our jobs and play. Everyone just wanted to play. In the regular season, the Coyotes went 1-1-1 against Vegas, including a 4-1 loss in their most recent meeting on Dec. 28. Against Colorado, the “I think we’re all sick and tired of the Coyotes being out of the Coyotes were 1-0-1, with both games coming before mid-November. The conversation. We at least put ourselves in it now.” Coyotes will need more performances from their depth as they got in Game 4 if they are to have any chance in the upcoming postseason The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 tournament.

“A guy like Jordan Oesterle, he was on the fourth pair. He wasn’t even going to play,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “But as training camp went on, I’m like, ‘This guy has been our best defenseman in camp.’ Him and a couple other guys. I thought he was really good. I love the underdog guys. I thought Oesterle was great. Vinnie doesn’t dress (as a healthy scratch for the first two games), he didn’t pout. He makes a big play on the (overtime) goal. Stanley Cup Playoffs, that’s what it’s all about.”

If there was an MVP in the series, though, it would undoubtedly be Kuemper. The goaltender appears to have picked up right where he left off in the regular season, where he finished third in the NHL in save percentage (.928) and fourth in goals-against average (2.22). He’ll be the Coyotes’ biggest reason for hope entering another series in which they will be significant underdogs.

In the four games against Nashville, including Games 2 and 3 on back- to-back afternoons, Kuemper finished with a .933 save percentage and 2.77 goals-against average. That included 49 saves in Game 4, as the Predators enjoyed a 52-34 advantage in shots on goal.

The first few minutes of Games 3 and 4 were carbon copies of one another. Both times the Predators tilted the ice, peppering Kuemper with shots, but the goalie held the fort and allowed his team to take the lead. That was of particular importance in the series, as there were no lead changes in any of the four games. 1190375 Boston Bruins Kase ready to go Kase will see his first action since joining the team in Toronto last

Saturday. Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci ’unfit to participate’ in Friday’s Bruins “We need him to play,” Cassidy said. “He’s going to go over the boards practice when it’s his turn and hopefully he can pick it up quick as he’s missed some time.”

By Julian Benbow Updated August 7, 2020, 7:34 p.m. As the Bruins look for a spark offensively, Kase could be an answer on the second line.

“He looks good,” Cassidy said. “He’s making some plays. He’s got some After an offday Thursday following their loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, jump. I think the first three days were tough on him for obvious reasons. the Bruins’ top two centers — Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci — Now he’s been at it probably — I don’t want to speak out of turn — but I’ll missed practice Friday and coach Bruce Cassidy’s explanation for their say about a full week here. You can see he’s a little more natural just absences was that they were “unfit to participate.” with everything he does.

Cassidy said he expected the issues to be short term and was certain “My expectation is he’ll have lots of energy, he’ll fight the puck a little like they would be available Saturday. all our guys did early on their first game back because of the speed of the game that’s going on around them. You just can’t replicate that.” Cassidy put goalie Jaroslav Halak in the same category as his two top- liners. With one game left Sunday against the Washington Capitals in the Cassidy said he’ll keep a close eye on Kase’s minutes to make sure he round-robin portion of the NHL restart, Cassidy admitted it was a bit doesn’t overextend, but he wants him to be aggressive. frustrating not having his roster at full strength. “I anticipate he’ll get some shots,” Cassidy said. “He’s been doing that in “We’re just going to coach through it and keep playing,” Cassidy said. practice. He thins shot first, so we could use some of that right now.”

With Bergeron and Krejci out, Jack Studnicka and Trent Frederic skated Pastrnak piles up shots with the first line while Par Lindholm and Ondrej Kase filled the hole in the second line. Cassidy had hoped to get Kase some reps with Krejci The Bruins’ need to fire off shots wasn’t lost on David Pastrnak. In the and Jake DeBrusk during practice but looked on the bright side. loss to the Lightning, Pastrnak let 16 shots fly. He put five on goal and had nine blocked, and didn’t find the net. But the sheer volume was an “I look at it as the younger guys, if they’re forced in later for whatever indicator that he was returning to form after taking just five shots against reason, are getting reps with good players,” Cassidy said. “So there’s the Flyers. always a benefit. We look at kind of the glass-half-full side of it. We anticipate [Saturday] we’ll have our full group, but until we do then we’ll “That’s my job, to shoot the puck,” Pastrnak said. “So obviously from the just keep trying to make it work. past game, I haven’t done it. More so my main focus was put the puck on net. You know that’s one of the things that gets me going personally. It “I’d like to see our group together, see what it looks like first of all, all didn’t bounce our way, but I think overall the game against Tampa was together. But until that happens we’re just going to fit people in for pretty good.” practice or games if need be where I best think they can help us and go from there.” Cassidy stressed how important it will be for the line of Pastrnak, Bergeron, and Brad Marchand to be effective. Since returning to play last week, the Bruins haven’t looked like the team that ran away with the Presidents’ Cup before the league was shut down “Listen, that line hasn’t produced for us,” Cassidy said. “Typically when by the COVID-19 pandemic in March. They dropped their round-robin they don’t for extended periods of time, we’ll have trouble winning and opener to the Flyers, 4-1 last Sunday, then fell to Tampa Bay 3-2. that’s fair to say. The top of our lineup hasn’t been scoring much for us. They’re still very much trying to find their rhythm. That’ll have to change or we’ll have to defend better.”

“Obviously this whole training camp, we haven’t had lines together The time off may have led to some rust in terms of structure, position, consistently,” Cassidy said. “I think everyone’s aware of that. I think it’s and support for each other away from the puck, which Cassidy said is been discussed for different reasons. Will it affect us in the postseason? understandable. What he knows about them, though, is that they look for Time will tell.” solutions themselves, diving into film for answers.

Seeding up for grabs “I don’t have a lot of worries about that No. 1 line finding their game,” Cassidy said. “I think they’ve proven in the past they can get it going in The Bruins came into the restart with a guaranteed playoff spot, but the playoffs and that’s what I think will happen.” Sunday’s game will determine whether they go in as the third or fourth seed. Boston Globe LOADED: 08.08.2020

With a win, the Bruins would be the No. 3 seed and face the seventh- seeded Islanders. Otherwise, they would grab the No. 4 seed and face the sixth-seeded Hurricanes.

While the Bruins had hoped to use their first three games to regroup and prepare for a run at the Stanley Cup, Cassidy saw some upside in being in a situation with higher stakes.

“The approach going into this whole thing was get ready for the playoffs,” Cassidy said. “We had hoped that, hey, we could have a great start and use this game as a maintenance game if need be or see where we’re at in the seeding and all that stuff. It’s a little bit unpredictable not only for our position but who we’re going to play.”

“Yes, there is something at stake, I think that’ll make our players a little more focused. But I’ve said all along, the major part of their focus is on Game 1, our first postseason game.”

For defenseman Torey Krug, the goal for the round-robin finale is still to build momentum.

“Ultimately, I think no matter where you end up, you’re playing four pretty good teams,” Krug said. “In order to win the Stanley Cup, you’ve got to beat them all. The seeding isn’t too much of an issue for us. I think we’re just trying to focus on our game.” 1190376 Boston Bruins Nonetheless, he was surprised how quickly he adjusted once NBC and NESN began airing the Bruins action in Toronto. You can take hockey out of winter, but not the winter out of hockey fans.

For hardcore hockey fans, having playoffs in the summer is cool with “They dropped the puck and, bang, I was hooked,” said Steele. “I think them they’ve still got things to work out in the broadcast, especially the sound, and it’s kind of weird with no one in the stands. But it’s a new world and we’re all adjusting. I hope it works out. I admire the effort.”

By Kevin Paul Dupont Globe Staff,Updated August 7, 2020, 11:23 a.m. Dave Goucher grew up in Rhode Island, played the game through high school, and landed his breakthrough job when he became the Bruins

radio play-by-play announcer on WBZ and later 98.5 The Sports Hub. He Adjustment period? Forget that, says Mayor Marty Walsh. Hizzoner is knows hockey in the heat. In the summer of 2017, he packed up for Las ready for some hockey. Vegas to become the TV voice of the Golden Knights.

Granted, it may be the dog days of summer, and he’ll admit it’s “kind of Goucher has embraced the desert life and certainly hasn’t missed the strange” that the Bruins are now in Toronto for the start of the Stanley perils of a sometimes snowy commute to the Garden. But even a guy Cup playoffs, but Walsh has long appreciated what he calls the “beauty who has adjusted well to life making his career inside an arena just off of playoff hockey.” the Vegas Strip finds Stanley Cup play in August a bit odd.

“Oh God, I’m in,” he said the other day, rejecting any notion that “For sure,” he said, speaking from his home in Summerlin, Nev. “I think summertime pucks might require some acclimatizing. “It’s the playoffs. it’s strange because, for instance, tomorrow it’s going to be 105 degrees Every shift counts.” when the Golden Knights play in Edmonton.”

The Bruins, who returned to the rink last month after a protracted COVID- His best frame of reference, said Goucher, is his childhood experience 19 hiatus that began in March, on Sunday will learn their first-round playing summer hockey, when an hour or two in the local rink offered opponent for the traditional Stanley Cup action — four rounds of best-of- sweet respite from the heat. seven play — that will commence Tuesday or Wednesday. “I loved it, because back in Rhode Island, the heat and humidity in July Like virtually the entirety of the sports world, little about the NHL is and August would be just through the roof,” he recalled. “For those normal amid these pandemic times. Every sport has been forced to couple of hours, you could get out of the heat and humidity and jump into adjust, rework schedules, find new fits on the entertainment calendar. the cooler of an ice rink for a reprieve.” Stanley Cup hockey typically wraps up in June, and here’s the NHL, Desert heat certainly hasn’t prevented the locals from embracing the rolling out a postseason schedule slated to last into early October. NHL product. Every Golden Knights home game has been sold out since “It is weird,” acknowledged Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. “Typically this they opened the doors in October 2017, and the thermometer can still time of year you are golfing, you’re on vacation. Your kids’ activities are spike high in fall and spring when they’re in residence at T Mobile Arena. completely different. You are in swimming pools now. In winter, it’s dark, No question, said Goucher, Vegas fans will be engaged from the drop of it’s cold, it feels like more of a grind.” the puck. Some of the Bruins players acknowledged that their bodies and minds “I think they can’t wait,” he said. “Remember, they’re the only game in have felt out of synch with the circadian rhythms of the game. July and town. We’ll see what happens when the [NFL’s] Raiders start play here. August are usually set aside for rest and recovery — long summer days But I think people here miss live sports. But more than that, they miss the filled with rounds of golf or battered ankles and shins dangling in Golden Knights. They are the team and the game.” therapeutic waters alongside offseason homes. These games count “Now all of a sudden, middle of summer, here you are getting amped up for the playoffs,” said Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask. “I think mentally and Red Sox infielder Michael Chavis, who grew up in Georgia, has grown physically it is just very odd.” accustomed to sports being out of synch.

Cassidy and his charges are not alone in their thinking. “It’s a little bit different,” he said, contemplating hockey overlapping the traditional baseball months. “But it’s 2020. Everything is weird at this Jeremy Reiner, Channel 7′s chief meteorologist and an avid sports fan point. I feel like if you see something normal, that’s weird. I’m actually dating to his childhood days in the Berkshires, was building TV graphics happy that I’m not watching cartoons and there’s sports to watch.” last week to track tropical storm Isaias. While charting the storm’s path last Thursday, he glanced over occasionally at NESN for updates on the Richard Johnson, the founding curator of the Sports Museum, is eager Bruins-Blue Jackets exhibition game in Toronto. for the Bruins playoffs to begin. He’ll admit the season may be out of synch, but he believes the live games, even with no fans in the building, “There I am, listening to Jack [Edwards] and Brick [Andy Brickley],” will be a welcome sign of normalcy. mused Reiner, “and I’m thinking it’s just so surreal that I’m building this tropical graphic — a summer weather graphic — and I’m hearing those “We’re just in this strange world now,” he said. “I mean, what a year. two guys talk about the [Stanley Cup] and listening to hockey.” Please, whoever’s in charge here, could you ease off the throttle a little bit?” Reiner said that during “this horrific COVID experience” he has been looking for any “pockets” of normalcy. Johnson grew up in Worcester and has been a lifelong NHL fan, from the days when he and his brother battled ferociously at table hockey, Maple “So for me,” he said, “it’s been the sports.” Leafs in blue and Canadiens in red. ‘It’s a new world’ He has caught some of the Bruins’ preliminary action in Toronto and Allan Steele, a Bruins season ticket-holder for the last quarter-century, figures they’ll be OK once some of their “Leo Labine DNA” becomes was skeptical when he first heard the league’s plans to calls players back evident. Labine, a right winger with requisite snarl, played here in the to training camps in July and kick off the postseason in August. ’50s.

It wasn’t so much the dichotomy of summer heat and manmade winter Asked if summer Stanley Cup play felt somewhat askew, Johnson said, ice that threw him. Steele, 61, grew accustomed to that over the four “A little bit, I guess. But it reminds me more than a little bit of the 1972 years (1999-2003) he was co-owner of the ECHL’s Greensboro (N.C.) Summit Series when the Canadian boys were in training camp right now Generals. He knew the mix could be successful. with Harry Sinden, training for [Valeri] Kharlamov and [Vladislav] Tretiak.

“It’s just that when I think of the soundtrack of summer around here, I “That’s the vibe I’m getting — that there’s some significant hockey being think of baseball, not hockey,” said Steele, who lives in Medford and still played and we need to pay attention.” plays Saturday night pickup hockey much of the year with a bunch of Back at City Hall, Mayor Walsh, a Bruins season ticket-holder for their pals. “Hockey seems too fast for summer. You don’t think of it as a last 5-6 years at the old Garden, is hunkering down for a long Cup run. beers-and-barbecue thing.” “I think it’s great for the sport,” said Walsh. “I think a lot of people who are tired of watching Netflix, and the same old stuff every day, will be watching. This will be their chance to see what hockey’s all about.”

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Here's Bruins' first-round playoff scenario entering Sunday vs. Capitals

By Justin Leger August 07, 2020 6:52 PM

The Boston Bruins' potential first-round playoff matchups are laid out for them as they prepare for Sunday's game against the Washington Capitals.

The Montreal Canadiens upset the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, thus eliminating the Pens from playoff contention. That means the B's will either begin their Stanley Cup run against the New York Islanders or the Carolina Hurricanes.

If the Bruins beat the Capitals on Sunday, they'll face the Islanders in the first round. If they lose, they'll face the Hurricanes.

Carolina comes off three straight convincing wins over the New York Rangers in the Toronto bubble. As for the Isles, they took three out of four from the Florida Panthers.

Either way, the B's will have a tough test in Round 1, and their fate will be determined by their final round-robin matchup on Sunday.

Boston currently is 0-2 in Toronto, falling 4-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers and then 3-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. In order to gain some momentum heading into the postseason, there's no doubt the Bruins will need to show more of a sense of urgency than they have in the bubble to this point.

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Bruins' Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Jaroslav Halak miss Friday's practice

By Joe Haggerty August 07, 2020 6:06 PM

Bruins players Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Jaroslav Halak were all missing from Friday’s practice in the Toronto bubble while “unfit to participate”, but all are expected to be back for Sunday’s round-robin showdown with the Washington Capitals.

Cassidy called it a “short-term thing” and expected all three players would be ready to practice on Saturday ahead of their final round-robin game this weekend.

“We anticipate [on Saturday] we’ll have our full group, but until we’ll just keep trying to make it work,” said Bruce Cassidy. “Obviously this whole training camp we haven’t had lines together consistently for different reasons. Will it affect us in the postseason? Time will tell.

“I’d like to see our group together to see what it looks like…all together. But until that happens we’re going to fit people in together for practices and games where they can best help us and then go from there.”

It will be the first time the entire Bruins group will be healthy, ready and available to play and Bruce Cassidy indicated that both Ondrej Kase and defenseman Connor Clifton should get in their first game action of the last two weeks.

Clifton will likely play in place of rookie D-man Jeremy Lauzon in order to get him some game action prior to next week’s playoff games, and Kase will be expected to knock the rust off after being set behind while spending a month in quarantine at the beginning of the NHL’s Return to Play.

“He looks good. He’s making some plays. He’s got some jump,” said Cassidy of Kase in practice this week. “I think the first three days were tough on him for obvious reasons and now he’s been at it for a full week. You can see he’s a little more natural with everything he does. He’s got quick hands.

“My anticipation is he’ll have lots of energy and he’ll fight the puck like a lot of our guys early on in their first game back because of the speed. I anticipate he’ll get some shots because he’s been shot-first in practice and we could use a little more of that. We need him to play. Hopefully he can pick it up quick because he’s missed some time. We have every intention of using him in Game 1 [next week], we just have to see where he’s at [against the Capitals]. Hopefully he’s ready to go.”

With Kase and Clifton expected to play on Sunday, the Bruins will have everybody they expect to use on their roster with at least some game action under their belt and ready to play whoever their opponent ends up being whether it’s the Islanders, Penguins or Hurricanes based on the way things play out this weekend.

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Torey Krug admits Bruins are having trouble lighting fire in round-robin format

By Joe Haggerty August 07, 2020 3:00 PM

If you feel like the Bruins have been futilely searching for motivation during this entire Toronto bubble hockey situation to date, it's not your overactive imagination.

Bruins defenseman Torey Krug confirmed that to NBC Sports Boston during an exclusive zoom call on Thursday when he talked about the struggle to ratchet up the urgency in round robin games with no real playoff consequences, and the difficulty of generating emotion and momentum in an empty arena during a time when playoff hockey crowds are usually at their fever pitch.

The Bruins have lost all three games they have played over the last two weeks in Toronto -- one exhibition against the Blue Jackets and two round robin games against the Flyers and Lightning -- but mercifully will wrap up the round robin with a Sunday showdown against the Washington Capitals. The good news is that the No. 3 seed in the East will be on the line in that game, so there will be something to play for between Eastern Conference powers in Boston and Washington.

The Bruins have gradually elevated their intensity level over the last two weeks, but Krug confirmed that it’s been a bit of a struggle for the Black and Gold.

“It’s all part of the situation. Whether it’s right or wrong, the mentality is tough [to elevate] when it’s not do-or-die and you know you’re not getting sent home,” Krug admitted. “We do sit and talk as a group and whether it’s the first or the fourth seed, it does not matter who you are going to be playing … It’s going to be tough. We went through all the teams yesterday and it just doesn’t matter.

“That being said we’re working our way into that playoff mode of hockey and trying to get our head wrapped around it.

“Empty buildings are a lot different than when guys say, ‘When you’re on the ice it doesn’t matter and you block everything out.’ It’s really tough to generate momentum or energize a group, especially when you’re down by one or two goals. Whether it’s right or wrong, it’s just matter of fact. We’re in a situation where it doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We’ve got to show up the next time we’re on the ice. It’s been tough, but I think we’re moving in the right direction.”

The Bruins finally showed flickers of their playoff mode a couple of days ago as tempers flared and intensity elevated against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Those were encouraging signs as the Bruins have been forced to become self-motivators in every way during this unique Stanley Cup playoff journey.

The good news: That shouldn’t be required next week when the real playoffs begin and everything is on the line for every remaining team.

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How important is getting the No. 3 seed for Bruins?

By DJ Bean August 07, 2020 10:30 AM

After losing the first two games of the round robin, the Bruins have only two places they can finish in the Eastern Conference's seeding: third or fourth.

So while Sunday's round-robin finale against the Capitals will mean more than one last chance to get into a rhythm before the playoffs. It will determine who they end up facing in the first round.

Trying to figure out whether the Bruins should aim for the No. 3 or No. 4 seed is a bit of a headache. After going through the scenarios and for sure getting that headache, it would very much be worth it to grab that No. 3 seed, assuming the current play-in series hold as is.

If there are no comebacks in the five-gamers, the No. 1 seed would get the No. 12 Canadiens and the No. 2 seed would get the Blue Jackets. The No. 3 seed would get the Islanders and the No. 4 seed would get the Hurricanes.

A potential decisive Game 5 for the Penguins and Canadiens would be Saturday night, meaning that by the time the Bruins and Capitals play each other for third place Sunday, they'll know who awaits the loser (either Pittsburgh or Carolina). Furthermore, the Flyers and Lightning play for first place Saturday, so the 3 and 4 seed would be able to do some light projections as to whom they might get in the second round.

Neither Pittsburgh nor Carolina are desirable opponents, but let's say Pittsburgh comes back and wins. That would mean if the Bruins win and get the No. 3 seed, they get Carolina, and if they lose, they get Pittsburgh.

That's a yucky scenario either way. Pittsburgh, despite not being the toughest matchup for Boston, is a recent back-to-back Cup winner and will have just found life after coming from behind to win their series. Carolina is loaded on the back end, which would be difficult for a Boston team that is rail thin offensively. The Hurricanes can also score, as they were 11th in the NHL in goals per game this season and added up front at the trade deadline. With the way the Bruins are currently playing, that would be a very difficult series.

The Bruins should hope two things happen: First, the Canadiens hold on to sink the Penguins. Then, Boston does the unthinkable and wins a hockey game when they play the Caps. Though there was plenty to like about the Islanders' roster at the stoppage (J.G. Pageau was a good pickup), having seen the Bruins' issues, the Islanders would be a far preferable matchup to getting Carolina.

Really, if the Bruins could get the No. 3 seed, the Islanders could be just the opponent for them in the first round as they get their act together. Like the Bruins, the Islanders are strong down the middle, but they're even worse on the wing than Boston. The Bruins' defense and Tuukka Rask would theoretically handle business against the NHL's 22nd ranked offense while the Bruins try to figure out which wings to assign to centers David Krejci and Charlie Coyle.

A lot can change in the meantime, but there's more to be gained from a win Sunday than learning that winning is indeed possible. The Bruins shouldn't want Carolina (or Pittsburgh). They should want the Islanders and that No. 3 seed.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190381 Boston Bruins “He looks good,” Cassidy said. “He’s making some plays. He’s got some jump. The first three days were tough on him for obvious reasons. He’s been at it for about a full week here. He’s more natural at everything he does.” Bruins are doomed if Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci can’t get going Kase will be Krejci’s third different right wing in three games. Jack Studnicka took the first turn against the Flyers. Karson Kuhlman got the nod against the Lightning. By Fluto Shinzawa Aug 7, 2020 The churn has been similar on Krejci’s left side. Jake DeBrusk was the

No. 2 left wing in the opener. Cassidy knocked DeBrusk down to No. 3 Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci missed practice on Friday. Bruce right wing on Wednesday and gave Nick Ritchie the second-line ride. Cassidy declared both centers unfit to participate. The coach expected DeBrusk, ghostly so far, most likely will be back on Krejci’s left flank on both of them to be available for Saturday’s practice and Sunday’s round- Sunday. robin finale against Washington. “Our whole training camp, we haven’t had our lines together The truth is that neither made much of an appearance against consistently,” Cassidy said. “Will it affect us in the postseason? Time will Philadelphia and Tampa Bay. tell. I’d like to see our group together and see what it looks like all together.” The two centers have a history of pulling the postseason chain. They entered 2019-20 with 103 playoff points apiece. Only Ray Bourque (161) Turnstiles on both wings have not been kind to Krejci. But the center has has more in team history. done little to discourage Cassidy from tinkering. In 26:46 of five-on-five play, Krejci has totaled a 39.58 CF percentage. Only Zdeno Chara (38.1) Krejci has led the league in playoff scoring twice (23 in 2010-11, 26 in has been worse. The absence of possession is especially startling given 2012-13). Every postseason, whether it’s Cassidy or Claude Julien, that Krejci has started six shifts in the offensive zone and none in his own Bergeron’s coaches have had the luxury of deploying an all-situations end. center to excel in whatever role they require. Regardless of the reasons for their troubles, the result is the following for So far this year, Bergeron, 35, and Krejci, 34, have been weak links. Bergeron and Krejci: Not good enough.

After two round-robin games, Bergeron has no goals and one assist. The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 Bergeron recorded his lone point off a set faceoff play against Tampa, winning a right-side drop against Yanni Gourde that led to a Charlie McAvoy point strike.

Krejci is pointless. Bergeron and Krejci each have one five-on-five shot.

“The line hasn’t produced for us,” Cassidy said of the top unit of Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. “Typically, when they don’t for extended periods of time, we have trouble winning. That’s fair to say. The top of the lineup hasn’t been scoring much for us. That’ll have to change. Or we just have to defend better.”

The Bruins have three goals through two games. Chris Wagner has two of them. If this trend continues, the Bruins will not be long for the bubble.

One reason for the top two centers’ quiet play might be chemistry. Pastrnak did not skate a single shift with Marchand and Bergeron during training camp. Perhaps because of their lack of reps, the first-liners are out of rhythm, although they were slightly better against the Lightning.

They’ve thrown pucks into danger. They’ve been caught too low in the offensive zone. Their spacing has been distanced. Though Pastrnak launched 16 pucks on Andrei Vasilevskiy, neither Marchand nor Bergeron could mimic their linemate in terms of volume or accuracy.

“Stop on pucks, get closer together a little bit,” Pastrnak said of how his line could generate more chances. “It felt like we haven’t played for a really long time. We just need to go back to some small details and start from zero. Get closer together. Every time we play together as a three- or five-man unit closer to each other, it’s easier to play. When you have that support, you spend time with the puck way more.”

If Bergeron — who has now missed his second practice in a week — is cleared to practice on Saturday and play on Sunday, Cassidy will not lose sleep about his first line. The unit is due for video work on Saturday. Such sessions usually help the group sort out its troubles.

“I don’t have a lot of worries about the No. 1 line finding their game,” Cassidy said. “They’ve proven in the past they get it going in the playoffs. That’s what I expect will happen.”

Cassidy might not have as much faith in the No. 2 line. As usual, it’s been under construction.

Ondrej Kase, acquired to be Krejci’s sidecar, shared 54:46 of five-on-five time with his center following his arrival, according to Natural Stat Trick. It didn’t go well. They were on for zero goals for and two against. They were just under break-even in attempted shots (49.51 Corsi For rating).

It was 54:46 more than they spent together during camp.

Kase, parked for all but one day of Phase 3, did not dress against Philadelphia or Tampa. The plan is for Kase to make his round-robin debut next to Krejci on Sunday. 1190382 Boston Bruins was in Boston. It turned out to be a wise investment. During the first months of quarantine, the treadmill and a set of kettlebells, loaned by a friend, got heavy use in Kampfer’s garage.

‘Family’s first’: Why Bruins’ Steve Kampfer changed his mind and opted When Florida began its reopening, Kampfer asked his trainer if they out could run through one-on-one workouts before he opened his gym to other customers. His trainer agreed.

Kampfer left his house at 5:15 a.m. He arrived at the gym 45 minutes By Fluto Shinzawa Aug 7, 2020 later. By 7:45 a.m., Kampfer had completed his workout, 15 minutes before the gym opened. Later, when a nearby rink became available,

Kampfer jumped at the opportunity. By the end of June, Steve Kampfer couldn’t wait to play. On June 27, Kampfer returned to Boston. He had to quarantine for 14 Kampfer, who spent the shutdown at his offseason home in Hollywood, days because he was coming from Florida. Kampfer visited Warrior Ice Fla., had driven back to Boston, with one overnight stop, for training Arena for testing, which was required of any player intending to camp with wife, Tara, and son, Teddy. Workouts on a treadmill, in the participate in the voluntary workouts of Phase 2. He ran outside to gym and on the ice kept him fit. NHLPA calls, which had become more maintain his fitness. optimistic about reviving the 2019-20 season, had Kampfer excited. “I was ready to go,” Kampfer said. “I’d been skating in Florida for almost On July 10, the NHL and NHLPA ratified an extension to the collective a month with a skating coach. Personally, I was ready to get back and be bargaining agreement and a return to play. Three days later, camp with the guys.” opened at Warrior Ice Arena. Changing his mind By then, Kampfer had changed his mind. By his admission, Kampfer is an overanalyzer. He read and watched Opting out everything about the coronavirus. He could not help but wonder if he was doing the right thing. In 2018-19, Kampfer made three postseason appearances. He played in Game 3 of the first round when Connor Clifton was unavailable. Kampfer Kampfer talked to his parents. He consulted one of his best friends, who got the call for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final following Charlie is a primary care physician. Kampfer discussed his situation with a McAvoy’s suspension. He played in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final neighbor who is an emergency room doctor at Miami’s Jackson Memorial because of Matt Grzelcyk’s concussion. Hospital.

This season, the 31-year-old would have served as the ninth By his count, seven torturous days in July passed while he and Tara defenseman behind Clifton and John Moore. He would be in the Toronto considered pros and cons. bubble, checking in on Tara and Teddy. “Lot of sleepless nights,” Kampfer said. “You’re up talking about it. It’s Instead, the family is back in Hollywood. They do not venture beyond weighing on you. The hardest thing was for me to be the guy that just their community aside from trips for essentials. It is Groundhog Day. backed out with everyone not knowing why. But this is a very real situation for us, especially with the underlying conditions.” “We’re pretty much homebodies right now,” Kampfer said. “We go to the grocery store. We make a CVS trip during the week. Other than that, it’s, Kampfer was going back and forth not just as a husband and father, but ‘All right, let’s go for a walk today.’” also as a hockey player. As a rule, those in his profession always consider the team before the individual. Fighting through adversity is a On June 20, 2019, eight days after the Bruins lost Game 7 to the Blues, badge of honor. Kampfer has seen Zdeno Chara play with a broken jaw the Kampfers welcomed their first child. Teddy was born with a heart and Patrice Bergeron fight through a broken rib. defect. Tara also has a heart defect. They are at risk of complications from COVID-19. “You play through injuries. You play through a lot of things,” Kampfer said. “That was one of the hardest points. You want to play. You want to The scenario that kept Kampfer up at night was Tara or Teddy be there with the guys and contribute in whatever way they ask of you. contracting the virus while he was in Toronto. Because of their But at some times, and this was one of them, family’s first. I don’t think if conditions, he could not take that chance. you go around that room and ask anybody, they wouldn’t say family’s first in their book. Everyone looks out for their families. It was just my one Tara, Teddy and Steve Kampfer (Courtesy of Steve Kampfer) time I had to do that before hockey.” “If Tara happened to get it, then you have to remove Teddy from the The night before Kampfer made up his mind, Alex Schall, his agent, situation because you don’t want him to get sick,” Kampfer said. “Who’s counseled him to sleep on his decision. Rest didn’t come easily. Kampfer going to be able to be there at that time to take care of them?” didn’t fall asleep until 2 a.m. Kampfer knows he made the right call. Teammates, bosses and friends The following morning, Kampfer looked at Teddy. around the league confirmed his choice with their calls and texts, saying they respected his decision. “My son was smiling,” Kampfer recalled. “He was giddy as all get-out in the morning. That’s when I knew that was the best decision for us at the Kampfer’s choice, however, was the opposite of the one he was once time.” prepared to make. Kampfer called Schall to tell him he would opt out. Then he called Preparing to return general manager Don Sweeney, coach Bruce Cassidy, Chara, Bergeron When the NHL closed its doors March 12, Kampfer’s wife and son were and Tuukka Rask, who are all fathers. Then he sent a group text to his in Florida, where Tara was attending a fishing tournament. Two days teammates, explaining his decision. later, Kampfer joined his family. By Kampfer’s recollection, it was about a “I got a lot of calls right away from guys, saying, ‘We respect your month into the shutdown when he and his wife comprehended how decision,’” Kampfer said. “I think a lot of guys on the team knew what dangerous the virus could be to at-risk families. was going on, especially when Teddy was born. People say the Boston “It doesn’t discriminate against anybody,” Kampfer said. “If you get it, you Bruins are a very close-knit team. That’s very true. Guys do care about get it. If you get it, you can be in the hospital. That’s when it became very each other. They care about each other’s kids and families. Everyone real for us.” was extremely supportive.”

Kampfer gladly accepted homemade N95 masks made by a family friend. Kampfer joined Karl Alzner, Sven Baertschi, Mike Green, Travis Hamonic When he got together with his mother, father and sister, who live in Palm and Roman Polak as players who opted out. He doesn’t know whether Beach Gardens, it was on the driveway. more players had reservations about returning but ultimately went with the flow. At the same time, Kampfer had to prepare for returning to play, whenever that would be. It just so happened that in January, Kampfer had ordered I asked Kampfer if the sport’s culture of team first and personal sacrifice a Peloton treadmill. His father took delivery of it in Florida while Kampfer needed bending. He said no. “I don’t think you’ll see a change in the hockey culture of playing through anything,” Kampfer said. “That’s just the DNA of us as athletes.”

Staying connected

Kampfer is signed through 2021 at $800,000 annually. He took about 10 days off from working out after he opted out. He has resumed his workouts. Kampfer plans to return to his gym once Florida’s case numbers decline.

Meanwhile, Kampfer is watching hockey. He is talking with Providence coach Jay Leach and assistant Ryan Mougenel. He’s staying in touch with some of his teammates in the bubble, for their sake and for his.

“I still miss the camaraderie of the locker room, the joking around,” Kampfer said. “That part is an empty void now. I’m not in the locker room. I’m not able to experience what’s going on with them. I’ve talked to a couple guys to check in, mental wellness checks for guys stuck in the bubble. If they want to talk, I’ve got my phone on me. I’m bored as shit here, too.”

Teddy, now 13 months, is fast on his feet. His mom and dad make sure to take him to the community pool, which seems to correlate with a longer nap. Teddy loves riding in the golf cart Kampfer purchased early in the shutdown. Plastic golf clubs and hockey sticks are usually in his grasp.

The Kampfers expanded their bubble to include a couple, similarly cautious about the virus, with a young daughter. Their children have had playdates, their first because of the shutdown.

“He never played with another kid,” Kampfer said of Teddy. “He didn’t know how to interact with them. So we’re trying to teach them how to play with each other.”

It’s in those times that Kampfer remembers he’s a father before he’s a hockey player. He rather likes it.

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190383 Buffalo Sabres

Ex-Sabre Matt Moulson returns to Hershey on one-year AHL contract

Lance Lysowski Aug 7, 2020 Updated 15 hrs ago

Matt Moulson played parts of five seasons with the Sabres from 2013 to 2017.

Matt Moulson accomplished his goal to play at least 1,000 professional hockey games and now he’ll turn his attention to winning his first championship.

Moulson, who has not played a game in the NHL since he left the Buffalo Sabres in December 2017, signed a one-year AHL contract Friday with the Hershey Bears. Moulson, 36, was selected an AHL all-star this past season and totaled 22 goals with 41 points in 62 games with the Bears.

Moulson reached the 1,000-game milestone Jan. 24 with Hershey and had played 650 games in the NHL before the Sabres loaned him to the Ontario Reign. However, Moulson has yet to win a championship since he made his professional debut with the Manchester Monarchs in 2006.

Though Moulson’s production in Buffalo did not match his five-year, $25 million contract, he mentored current Sabres captain Jack Eichel and other young players on the roster. Eichel, the team’s top draft choice in 2015, lived with Moulson’s family upon arriving in Buffalo.

Moulson first came to Buffalo on Oct. 27, 2013, when the Sabres acquired him and two draft picks from the New York Islanders in exchange for Thomas Vanek. Moulson scored two goals in his first game, but with the Sabres out of playoff contention, he was traded to Minnesota less than five months later.

Moulson returned to the Sabres as an unrestricted free agent in July 2014 and he served as an alternate captain during the tank season that led to the drafting of Eichel. Moulson totaled only 35 goals in 253 regular- season games after signing the contract.

Following a 14-game pointless drought to start the 2017-18 season, Moulson was placed on waivers. The Sabres’ new regime, led by then- General Manager Jason Botterill, did not want a veteran taking playing time away from prospects in Rochester, so Moulson was loaned to Ontario, the Los Angeles Kings’ top minor-league affiliate.

Moulson was paid approximately $7.95 million to only play 14 games with the Sabres from the start of the 2017-18 season through the end of his contract June 30, 2019. He has scored 68 goals in 179 regular-season games since returning to the AHL.

Buffalo News LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190384 Calgary Flames points in 34 career games against the Calgary crew, while Joe Pavelski has 50 points in 55 games and Seguin has 22 points in 23 games. This isn’t an “easy” matchup by any stretch of the imagination.

Who's next? Flames await Round 1 foe for NHL playoffs Calgary Sun: LOADED: 08.08.2020

Daniel Austin

Published:August 7, 2020

Updated:August 7, 2020 7:55 PM MDT

It’s down to two.

At the start of the day on Friday, the Calgary Flames only knew that they could wind up playing any of the top-four seeds in the Western Conference when the first round of the playoffs kicks off.

With qualification-series-clinching wins from the Arizona Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks, though, the list of possible opponents for the Flames was cut in two. The Calgary crew can’t finish any worse than the sixth seed in the Western Conference, and that means they’ll be facing off against either the reigning Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues or the Dallas Stars.

Those two teams are actually set to square off Sunday, so the Flames likely won’t know who they’re matched-up with until then. But here’s a look at where both potential opponents are at:

ST. LOUIS BLUES

Regular season record: 42-19-10 (1st in Central Division)

Goal differential: +32 (2nd in Western Conference)

Flames’ record in their last seven head-to-head games: 2 wins, 5 losses (1 in overtime, 1 in a shootout)

How they’ve looked in qualifying: The Blues are 0-2 in the qualifying round, but both games were close — including a 2-1 loss at the buzzer to the Avalanche. Giving up three third-period goals to the Golden Knights in a loss on Thursday night was concerning, though.

What’s the story? The Blues happen to be the reigning Stanley Cup champions, so they’re definitely not a team that anybody should be hoping to see in the first round of the playoffs.

The Blues also won all three of their head-to-head matchups with the Flames this season, although it’s worth noting that one of those games ended in a shootout and another went to overtime. With the exception of a 5-0 Blues victory on Nov. 21 that prompted a closed-door, players-only meeting for the Calgarians, it’s not as if the Flames got dominated when they took the ice with the Blues this season.

DALLAS STARS

Regular season record: 37-24-8 (3rd in Central Division)

Goal differential: +3 (8th in Western Conference)

Flames’ record in their last seven head-to-head games: 2 wins, 5 losses (1 in overtime)

How they’ve looked in qualifying: The Stars haven’t looked great since they arrived in Edmonton for the restart. They lost a close one against the Golden Knights in their opener but were thoroughly outplayed by the Avalanche in a 4-0 loss on Wednesday night. The best they can hope for is the three-seed with a win over the Blues on Sunday.

What’s the story? The truth is, if the Flames could choose which of their four potential opponents they could play in the first round, it would probably be the ice-cold Stars.

The Dallas crew was on a six-game losing skid when COVID-19 shut down NHL operations and have lost both their games since returning to play. The Stars are capable of finding another gear and beating anybody, but it hasn’t happened for a while now.

The Flames have also won two of their three matchups against Tyler Seguin & Co. this season, including a convincing 5-1 victory on Dec. 22.

It’s worth noting, though, that the Stars’ top offensive weapons have tended to feast on the Flames in the past. Jamie Benn has picked up 33 1190385 Calgary Flames It’s an odd year — nothing about life these days is normal. But Talbot, through it all, has displayed a quiet, calm nature, and it started the time he arrived with the Flames last fall after signing a one-year deal worth US$2.75-million with the Flames on July 1. Flames lean on netminder Talbot in bounce-back year He quietly worked with Calgary’s goaltending coach Jordan Sigalet to find his game again while Rittich was busy with No. 1 netminding duties. When the time came and Rittich struggled after appearing at the NHL All- Kristen Anderson, Postmedia Star Game, Talbot helped steady the waters and was arguably looking Published:August 7, 2020 like the go-to guy at the time of the NHL pause in March.

Updated:August 7, 2020 8:26 PM MDT Flames goalie Cam Talbot pauses at the bench area during Calgary Flames practice in Calgary on Tuesday, March 10, 2020.

Talbot remained committed to his craft during the uncertainty, continuing After outplaying counterpart David Rittich during the NHL’s ‘Return To to work out daily and skate with his longtime goaltending coach Pat Di Play’ training camp, Cam Talbot won the right to be given the starter’s job Pronio in Hamilton at the Grainger Training Centre. on the night before Game 1. Throughout the series, it showed. Life hadn’t always looked so effortless for Cam Talbot. “It’s been a long journey,” agreed Talbot, in the moments following his Think back to over a year ago, well before the 33-year-old netminder third career playoff shutout and the second series-clinching shutout in from Caledonia, Ont., backstopped the Calgary Flames to a best-of-five Flames history following in Miikka Kiprusoff’s footsteps, who did so in series win over the Winnipeg Jets in four games, which was completed Game 6 of the 2004 Western Conference semifinals. “Last year, the last by a 4-0 shutout Thursday in Game 4 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifying couple years, didn’t really go the way I wanted it to. I was looking for that Round. kind-of redemption year. When you look at this lineup and I had the opportunity to sign here, it was kind of a no-brainer to play behind a “I don’t think you can move him at that salary. I just don’t think he’s group like this. moveable,” longtime GM-turned-Sportsnet analyst Brian Burke told Edmonton Oilers radio in January of 2019. “I knew that if I could come in and get back to playing my game and get some confidence back, I could prove I can be a starting goaltender in this “I don’t think anyone is going to take a UFA that is making that kind of league. It was a huge confidence boost for me when the coaching staff money and hope he gets his game straightened out for the last month of and the guys had the confidence in me to go with me in Game 1. I just the year.” tried to go in and give us a chance to win and make that decision look At the time, Talbot, who was carrying a heavy US$4.166-million cap hit like a good one. I’ve gotta thank them for that opportunity, and I’m trying was ranked 29 out of 29 National Hockey League goaltenders with a .896 to take it and run with it for now.” save percentage among those having played more than 25 games. Talbot has earned it, and there’s no question who their starting A few days later, the now-gone Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli went all-in on goaltender will be for Game 1 of the first-round which will start as early as netminder Mikko Koskinen and offered him a three-year deal worth an Tuesday at Edmonton’s Rogers Place. average cap hit of $4.5-million per year. ICE CHIPS: Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson fired the last shot That pretty much summed up what the organization thought, back then, in the Battle of Alberta for the 2019-20 campaign. Just minutes after the of Talbot who was a soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. Oilers were eliminated Friday by the Chicago Blackhawks, bounced from the bubble in their own city, Andersson retweeted a post from a week Chiarelli, of course, was fired a few days after that. ago from @EASPORTSNHL, revealing the Oilers had captured the Talbot, meanwhile, was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Anthony Stanley Cup in their annual video-game simulation. Didn’t quite turn out Stolarz and would become part of an odd, three-goalie tandem with Brian that way, and the 23-year-old Andersson didn’t pass up this opportunity Elliott and Carter Hart. for one last jab at the arch-rivals.

His final numbers were not flattering: an 11-17-3 record, a bloated 3.40 After a quiet celebration in their team suite at Sutton Place in the NHL’s goals-against average and an .892 save percentage. Western Conference bubble on Thursday night — with a “couple of cold ones” as Flames forward Milan Lucic said post-game — the team took a Back in Edmonton for a different purpose, in an unprecedented scenario well-deserved media-free day-off on Friday. They’ll be back on the ice due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and on a different team, Talbot has Saturday to prepare for the next series. been full of confidence this past week. Talbot, who has 19 career playoff games under his belt, knows this grind. After outplaying counterpart David Rittich during the NHL’s ‘Return To Play’ training camp following the pause, he won the right to be given the “This is just one step in the big picture,” the proud father to twin toddlers starter’s job on the night before Game 1. Landon and Sloan, who are currently with wife Kelly back home. “We knew this was going to be a hard-fought series, and we’re going to be And while he had help from his teammates who produced on the power better off for it, playing in these qualifying rounds and we’re going to be a play, displayed a significant commitment to defence and managed the little more battle-tested. The guys in this room gained some valuable emotions of the game in the series against the Jets, Talbot did his part by playoff experience in this round. After we lost Game 2, we talked about out-playing Vezina Trophy nominee Connor Hellebuyck. establishing our game in Game 3, and we were able to do that. (Thursday) we wanted to make sure we didn’t have a let-down. Every As a result, he posted a tidy 1.51 GAA and a stellar .945 save game was a step for us and building that belief system in our room. percentage. “This was a huge team effort and something we need to move forward Calgary Flames head coach Geoff Ward on Wednesday, February 5, with valuable experience in all situations.” 2020. Calgary Sun: LOADED: 08.08.2020 “When we had breakdowns, our goaltender was huge,” said Flames head coach Geoff Ward on Thursday night after his squad finished off the Jets. “Through the course of the series, he was our best player. And you need really good goaltending at this time of the year — he gave it to us. But I thought our team defence was a real key for us on top of the goaltending.”

The Flames now await their next opponent, currently competing in the seeding round of the Stanley Cup qualifiers which could be either the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues or Dallas Stars. 1190386 Calgary Flames Ward, who won a Stanley Cup as an assistant with the Boston Bruins in 2011, brings a sense of calm and steady. For a team with a history of post-season shortcomings, including a swift see-ya despite top-seed status last spring, that is an important asset. ‘He’s been a heck of a leader for us’: Interim coach Ward helps Flames over first hump Although he had never previously worked as a head coach at the NHL level, it seems the former school-teacher feels like he has nothing to prove. It’s not about him, and that’s a good thing.

Wes Gilbertson “I think he has done a really job of us buying into one another, buying into the system, making us believe in ourselves and believe in each other,” Published:August 7, 2020 said Lucic, who goes way back with Ward — they sipped champagne Updated:August 7, 2020 8:27 PM MDT together with the Bruins. “Yeah, the systems and Xs and Os and all that type of stuff is there, but from a motivating standpoint and bringing the guys together and making us believe in it all, I think that’s the biggest thing he’s done. EDMONTON — Geoff Ward has now accomplished what a pair of predecessors could not — he’s helped the Calgary Flames over that first “I think Wardo has done a really good job of making everyone feel hump, guiding his team to a series win. important and embrace their role.”

In doing so, Ward has also continued to make a heck of a case to lose Since so much of the coaching happens behind closed doors, it’s the ‘interim’ tag from his job title. sometime hard to judge the strengths and weaknesses of the skipper.

In his bid to become the Flames’ full-time head coach, this is the ultimate Glen Gulutzan was supposedly too nice. One bizarre stick-tossing tirade reference. did not change that narrative.

“The one thing I will say is he’s brought our group way closer together,” Peters, who lost his job amid allegations of past misconduct, was said captain Mark Giordano after his club advanced through the NHL’s supposedly too much of a hard-ass. first-of-its-kind play-in round with a 4-0 shutout in Thursday’s clincher against the Winnipeg Jets. “He’s just a guy who demands respect. He Ward, who was actually short-listed for the interview process when has been there and he’s won before, so his words carry a lot of weight.” Gulutzan was hired and then brought aboard as an associate on Peters’ staff, may be the happy-medium. This is a squad that doesn’t boast a lot of been-there, done-that. ICE CHIPS: Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson fired the last shot Before grounding the Jets in their best-of-five play-in, the Flames hadn’t in the Battle of Alberta for the 2019-20 campaign. Just minutes after the won a postseason series since 2015 and then not for a decade-plus prior Oilers were eliminated Friday by the Chicago Blackhawks, bounced from to that. the bubble in their own city, Andersson retweeted a post from a week ago from @EASPORTSNHL, revealing the Oilers had captured the While the Stanley Cup qualifiers don’t count as a playoff round, it’s not an Stanley Cup in their annual video-game simulation. Didn’t quite turn out insignificant feat to be the guys on the smiling side of the handshake line, that way, and the 23-year-old Andersson didn’t pass up this opportunity now an exchange of gloves-on fist-bumps due to the COVID-19 for one last jab at the arch-rivals. pandemic. On the same day that Peters’ resignation — that was the official wording “That’s a huge step for us,” Ward agreed after Thursday’s win. “It’s a big, — was announced, he cranked the tunes in practice to lighten the mood, big step.” realizing the boys hadn’t been having a whole bunch of fun at the rink. In There’s a lot of credit to go around for Calgary’s ouster of the injury- the weeks that followed, he cranked up a stale offence while also making riddled Jets. some important adjustments to their defensive posture.

Cam Talbot didn’t have to steal any of his three victories, but the 33-year- Along the way, he has delivered some well-timed rips, too. He old netminder — told on the eve of Game 1 that he had earned the questioned their compete during a February funk, warning then they starting job — outduelled Vezina Trophy favourite Connor Hellebuyck at wouldn’t have any playoff success if they didn’t get that sorted. the opposite end. Some fans would like the Flames to chase a big-name (and big-budget) The top trio of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm coach like Gerard Gallant or Peter Laviolette, but the current boss is combined for five goals, albeit two into an empty net, and a dozen points really creating something. It’s telling that when you ask the skating stars against the Winnipeggers. More important was their commitment to their about his impact, it’s as much about work environment and relationships defensive coverage, their hustle while back-tracking and Johnny as forechecking structure and defensive details. Hockey’s willingness to absorb the occasional crunch to keep the puck “We tightened up quite a bit, and you can see we’re not giving up nearly moving in the right direction. as many chances,” Talbot said after his 31-save shutout in Game 4 at an Matthew Tkachuk became the centre of attention after a controversial empty Rogers Place. “We pack it into the middle of the ice really well, collision with Mark Scheifele, but he didn’t get caught up in the extra- and we don’t give a whole lot of chances from the middle. We’re doing a curricular activity. In fact, he wound up drawing five penalties. You could great job of forcing guys to the outside, forcing guys to the top, and then make a case for either of Tkachuk’s linemates, Mikael Backlund and guys are getting in shooting lanes, blocking shots and forcing them to go Andrew Mangiapane, as the most effective forward in the series. back to below the goal-line. So we’re not giving up a ton of Grade A chances. And in Thursday’s Game 4, the third line of Sam Bennett, Dillon Dube and Milan Lucic took their turn as difference-makers. Lucic scrapped, “But in the room, too, (Ward) is such a good motivator. He’s a calming Dube and Bennett both scored and all three tossed their weight around. influence. He’ll give you the kick in the ass when you need it, but he’ll also praise you when the time is needed. He’s been a heck of a leader Throughout the series, the Flames’ blue-line brigade was solid. From this for us and a lot of the credit has to go to him stepping into that role and vantage point, TJ Brodie and Rasmus Andersson were the best of the really owning it.” bunch. Credit to him for accomplishing what two of his predecessors couldn’t. Just be sure to give some credit to the boss, too. The Flames are over the first hump. Their next opponent will be either Ward, promoted from associate to interim head coach after the Bill the defending champion St. Louis Blues or the Dallas Stars. Either way, Peters controversy in late November, picked the right puck-stopper. the crew from Calgary will be considered the underdogs.

The 58-year-old had his team prepared, hardly a sure-thing after a Ward will tell you the task is far from finished. prolonged pause due to the pandemic. True, but it’s looking more and more like this job is his to keep, without If his group was guilty of taking the injury-riddled Jets lightly in Game 2, the ‘interim’ title. he ensured that it didn’t happen twice. Calgary Sun: LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190387 Calgary Flames Coach Geoff Ward played a hunch, starting the line — with Elias Lindholm temporarily subbing in for Dubé — Thursday.

The three forwards took it from there. Statement game for Flames: ‘We’re better-suited for playoffs than last The Hoosli Ukrainian Male Chorus had barely finished its rendition of “O year’ Canada” when Lucic, ignoring the dropped puck, skated over the centre line to box with Nathan Beaulieu. The heavier man, Lucic threw down the Jets blueliner. By Scott Cruickshank Aug 7, 2020 Exactly two seconds had elapsed.

Three minutes later, Dubé muscled to the net’s front, shrugged off the For months, 15 to be exact, the Colorado series sat there, waiting to be checking attention of Nick Shore, whacked once at the puck, then twice, properly addressed. before seeing it spin behind goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

Which allowed it time to fester. Around the city, given the magnitude of That stood up as the winning goal, the series-sealing goal. the letdown, it remained a gripping point. But the third-liners were hardly done. With .07 of a second remaining in How the Avalanche had run over the favoured Calgary Flames. the first period, Bennett slammed in a rebound to make it 2-0. That marked his eighth goal in 24 postseason dates. How the Avs had outclassed them, outhustled them. Their influence was undeniable. Bennett ended up dishing out a game- How they had exposed them. high eight hits. Dubé ended up collecting a game-high seven shots on In the aftermath, few members were spared second-guessing. The first net. line’s ability to act under pressure was questioned. The springtime And Lucic? In addition to going 5-for-8 at the faceoff dot, he earned an backslides of Mark Giordano and Matthew Tkachuk were noted. assist — which meant he was the only player on either side who The makeup of the club was criticized — by insiders. Like, actual managed to pick up a point in each game of the series. insiders. But, afterward, nobody was talking about his soft touch. Inquiring minds “I think the core has it, they can do it, but you need to add a few pieces were curious about what could’ve possibly led to a taffy-pull two ticks into still,” Michael Frolik told reporters on garbage-bag day. “I think we need the contest. more bigger bodies in the lineup going forward and the meanness and “I was lining up for the draw and he came over and asked me. I said, the hardness to be in the playoffs.” ‘Effin’ rights, let’s go’ — and that’s what happened,” explained Lucic. Perceived deficiencies, a real assortment of them, hung over the Flames. “You understand what Nate’s trying to do. He’s trying to show that they’re And there they stayed — unconfronted — for the entirety of the 2019-20 ready to play and they’re not going to go down without a fight. For me, regular season. you just want to show that you’re ready to play and you’re not going to back down from their push, no matter if it’s a fight or whatever.” And so it was — nearing midnight on a Thursday in August, from inside a bubble at a neutral site — Giordano was once again asked to explain in Lucic’s postseason odometer now clicks to 118 appearances — and his own words what the viewing audience had just witnessed. Ward’s been on hand for most of them. Meaning he’s learned to trust the hulking winger’s instincts. In a postseason twist, the Flames captain got to smile through his answers — and got to put to rest that unseemly episode with the Avs. So if Lucic thinks mauling Beaulieu is the proper way forward, who is Finally. Ward to argue?

Giordano tipped his cap to Colorado’s undeniable “star power” — its “He’s got a real strong feel for stuff like that … he finds a way to supply a speed, its skill — and offered one more take on the tired topic. big moment,” said the coach. “He’s able to become that emotional leader and just put a team on his back. Tonight, he just said, ‘Look it. Here we “The big bodies pushed us out of that series,” he said. “If you look at our go. You guys can follow me.’ And we did.” team today, that’s not going to happen with the way we’re built right now.” Bennett, meanwhile, was singlemindedly cutting a swath through the guys in navy blue. Particularly stiff was his second-period jolting of Cody Allow the man his moment. Eakin. For the series, he was credited with 22 belts — a total that leads the NHL postseason. Basking in the glow of the convincing 4-0 triumph — which vaults the Flames through the qualifying round and into the Sweet 16 — Giordano “I thought he was fantastic,” said Ward. “One thing about Sam, he didn’t said he was buoyed by the ground-standing display against the Winnipeg let up on any hits. He continues to just finish checks, go to the hard Jets. areas. I think he’s really settled in with the guys on that line. They’ve got a real good chemistry going right now. He gave us the same thing every They’d made a point. shift for the whole series.” “We’ve been saying it all year,” said Giordano, “and I think in this series If Bennett’s maintained pace is noteworthy for the coach, so, too, was we proved that we’re better-suited for playoffs than last year.” Dubé’s emergence. Ward quite rightly called him “outstanding.” Start with the usual suspects, whose performances were significantly Of course, on the night of their most important game of the year, it wasn’t enhanced from the roll-over of April 2019. That matters. a three-man show for the Flames. (Indeed, in the series, they got goals The play-in series opened with Tkachuk introducing himself to the Jets, from 11 different players.) There was Tkachuk blocking shots with his lip. rattling the Manitobans and even being accused of intentionally injuring There was Johnny Gaudreau hustling back to make a splendid defensive star forward Mark Scheifele. The Flames won that night. After suffering a parry on a seemingly home-free Jack Roslovic. slender loss, Calgary’s top-end talent wrenched control of Game 3, with “Being able to lock it down in that game was a big step for our group,” the first and second lines exhibiting their bountiful gifts en route to a said Dubé. “Just being able to withstand their push … with their season breezy triumph. on the line. It’s a big step, being able to weather that storm.” And Thursday, with a chance to clinch their first series in five years, the Cam Talbot played a starring role in that. Calgarians’ new-fangled third unit rolled. Its sleeves-up handiwork was rowdy — yes, a striking departure from recent playoffs. His spiffy series line was 3-1, 1.51 GAA, .945.

Ingredients include what Frolik said the Flames needed — and what “This is just one step in the big picture,” said Talbot. “We knew that this Giordano says the team now possesses. Milan Lucic, 6-foot-3 and 231 was going to be a hard-fought series. Guys in this room gained valuable pounds, and Dillon Dubé, fearlessly rambunctious, sandwiched centre playoff experience in this round. Every game was a step for us … Sam Bennett, who had been the most engaged soul against the Avs all building that belief system in our room.” those months ago. Last summer, Talbot accepted a one-year deal in Calgary to get a chance to prove to the hockey world that he can still be an NHL starter. Guess what? Banking his third postseason shutout, the 33-year-old looks dialled in.

“It’s been a long journey,” said Talbot. “The last couple years didn’t really go the way I wanted them to. I was looking for that redemption year.”

Another way to look at his work? “Through the course of the series he was our best player,” said Ward. “You need really good goaltending at this time of year. He gave it to us.”

Postgame, the victors planned to retire to a boardroom at Sutton Place, where they’d uncap a “couple of cold ones,” according to Lucic.

“We’ll hang out, have a few laughs, and enjoy it,” said Giordano. “Probably have a good day off (Friday), then get right back at it. We’re enjoying the process. We’re enjoying the bubble.”

An occasion worth celebrating, this is the Flames’ first series win since beating the Vancouver Canucks 2015 and only their second since the 2004 run.

“It’s a huge step in the right direction for our team, especially closing it out on our first opportunity to do that,” said Lucic. “You know what? We’ve talked this whole time about how hard we worked to prepare ourselves for this series. I think it showed. We’ve got to do a lot of the same things and stay focused on what we did well, because it just gets tougher from here on in.

“We’re looking forward to the next step — even though we don’t know who we’re playing yet.”

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190388 Carolina Hurricanes “Guys were pawing all over the place,” Reimer said. But Reimer and the Canes held strong, again. Mrazek won the first two

games of the series and Reimer the third as the Rangers scored just four Mrazek or Reimer? That’s still the question as Hurricanes prepare for goals on 88 shots. That’s getting it done. next playoff round “Our goalies were awesome,” Canes center Sebastian Aho said. “We’re happy to have two hot goalies.”

BY CHIP ALEXANDER MRAZEK OR REIMER IN THE NEXT ROUND?

AUGUST 07, 2020 03:27 PM , And what now? Mrazek or Reimer?

“I don’t really have a plan for the next round,” Brind’Amour said on his media call Friday. “I don’t know when we’re starting or who we’re playing. James Reimer was recently discussing goaltending play and the Do I anticipate both guys playing? Yeah, I do.” inevitable ebbs and flows that come with the stressful position. Brind’Amour also anticipates having injured defenseman Dougie “Confidence is a tough one,” he said. “When you have it, the puck is Hamilton back. Hamilton has returned to practice, which Brind’Amour massive and the plays slow down.” said Friday was “a good sign for us.”

So it was Tuesday for Reimer and the Carolina Hurricanes as they As for the opponent, the Canes will play either the Boston Bruins or the finished off the New York Rangers in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. Washington Capitals, with the first game scheduled for Tuesday. As Reimer saw 38 shots and confidently stopped 37 in the Canes’ 4-1 Brind’Amour said, “We know a couple of opponents very, very well.” victory that made it a three-game sweep of the postseason qualifying series. Mrazek faced both the Caps and Bruins in last year’s playoffs, mixing good with the bad — the Canes beat the Caps in seven games and lost There was a time in Game 3 when the play was anything but slow. to the Bruins in four straight in the Eastern Conference finals. During a frenzied few moments late in the second period, with seemingly everyone on the ice crammed around the Canes net, Reimer stopped a Reimer, 32, was with the Florida Panthers at the time, awaiting his fate. shot, got a diving stop from defenseman Sami Vatanen, then shoved Once considered the goalie the Panthers envisioned succeeding veteran across the crease to get his stick on another Rangers shot. Roberto Luongo, he was aware the Panthers were looking to sign free agent goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and that he would be dealt to free up “Crazy,” Reimer said of the sequence after the game. salary cap space.

Crazy good. Reimer, given the start by Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour, Reimer was traded to Carolina, a part of the deal that sent goalie Scott was at his best in the game. The Rangers soon were done. The Canes Darling and a draft pick to Florida, where Darling had his contract bought were moving on. out.

Sounds simple enough but nothing has ever been quite that simple for “His reputation as being a solid character and great human being is Reimer, the pride of Morweena, Manitoba, which has a listed population something we already knew before we got him,” Brind’Amour said. of 150 but is smaller according to Reimer’s mother. Reimer was solid in the regular season before the NHL pause. He was “Fifty people,” Marlene Reimer said this season. sharp in training camp, sharp Tuesday. Now he is headed to the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. From such beginnings, Reimer became the starting goalie for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He also was the starting goalie in Game 7 of their 2013 “We all love hockey but playoff hockey is the best,” Reimer said. “It’s the playoff series in Boston, when the Leafs blew a three-goal lead in the most fun. Nothing can touch it.” third period and lost in overtime to the Bruins. News Observer LOADED: 08.08.2020 Talk about ebbs and flows. Try chewing on that for seven years.

“You never want to have a game like we did against Boston that time,” Canes defenseman Jake Gardiner, once Reimer’s Leafs teammate, said Friday. “It was a historic game, one that no one’s ever going to forget. For him to come back, bounce back and make the saves the way he did basically stole us the game. It was impressive and great for him.”

Reimer’s last game in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena was pretty painful, too. Reimer was the starting goalie for the Hurricanes against the Leafs on Feb. 22. Reimer was injured, forced out of the game. Then Petr Mrazek was injured.

In came David Ayres, the emergency backup goalie, to save the day, making saves, making himself a national hockey hero, helping the Canes to a victory. He left the ice to cheers, from Leafs fans.

So here Reimer was Tuesday, back on the ice and playing in the arena again. No fans, not during the pandemic. Competing for a Stanley Cup — in August.

“It’s not what you dreamed of,” Reimer said. “Fans are what bring real excitement to the games. But I think as an athlete and as a team we’re pulling for each other. You want to do the best for yourself, your team, for your family back home. So many people made sacrifices for you.”

The Reimers did. Marlene Reimer recalls the lengthy drives to and from practices, to the junior hockey games in Manitoba. James, she said, did “dashboard homework on the way home in the dark.” It’s a long road to the NHL, she said.

Marlene Reimer, in an interview this season, said she sometimes covers her eyes when she gets anxious during games and it probably was that way Tuesday, late in the second period. The score was tied 1-1. The Rangers, desperate for a win, were throwing everything at Reimer. The crease became a crowded place. 1190389 Carolina Hurricanes dare you to try me one-on-one. Give me everything you got. Test me.’ That’s how you get to that point where you’re that confident.”

STAYING SHARP Cut, dig, slide, glide: The Hurricanes MVPs might be the men who On any given day, Hurricanes equipment managers Bob Gorman and sharpen their skates Jorge Alves split the sharpening. Gorman, who along with Skip Cunningham has been on the equipment staff since the team moved to North Carolina, handles all the players at five-eighths, about half the BY LUKE DECOCK team. Alves, the team’s longtime practice goalie, took over the other half when Tatomir retired in 2012. AUGUST 07, 2020 08:52 AM , They sharpen every skate in the afternoon before every game, a process

that takes them about an hour, each manager with their own sharpening How many times did Wally Tatomir try to talk Rod Brind’Amour into machine. The machines aren’t complicated — there’s a grinding wheel putting a little less edge on his skates? Too many to count. Over and set horizontally and the equipment manager moves the skate, on its side, over again. Brind’Amour would never budge. along it by hand — but there’s an art to doing it right. The Hurricanes lug two sharpening machines along with them on the road. In his playing days, Brind’Amour liked his skates sharpened with a half- inch radius hollow, a relatively deep gap between the two edges of each Bigger, heavier players typically like less hollow, because they dig into blade. Tatomir, who was for many years the Carolina Hurricanes’ the ice enough already. Smaller, lighter players like more, for more grip. equipment manager and skate-sharpener in chief, wanted Brind’Amour to But there are always exceptions, whether Brind’Amour’s half-inch or switch to a shallower hollow, one that would dig in less and allow skinny Martin Necas’ one inch. Hedican started his career at three- Brind’Amour to glide more on the ice. But Brind’Amour always fought eighths but found his “legs were fried” and spent most of his career at back. five-eighths. He wanted to go deeper, like many other superlative skaters, but never felt comfortable. “From my standpoint, I always loved to be able to feel the ice and cut and not slide on it,” the current Hurricanes head coach said. “I always liked “I could never do that because I was more of a stop-and-start guy, my skates sharp.” particularly in the defensive zone,” Hedican said. “If you’re taking a second or two to stop because your skate blades are 1 1/4, now you’re The relationship between NHL players and their blades is a delicate one, sliding to a stop instead of digging in the ice.” as sensitive and vital as the interface between the blades and the ice itself. A hockey skate doesn’t have a single edge, like a knife. It’s a 3- Goalies are, as usual, their own operation. When Martin Brodeur starred millimeter-wide piece of steel hollowed out down the middle in an in the league, most goalies had a very shallow hollow, for shuffling from inverted U to create two edges. An NHL player uses both edges on both side to side. Brodeur had a very deep hollow, for digging in and pushing skates, like a skier shifting weight from side to side during turns. off and getting up from his knees. Now, that’s the standard.

Most recreational players just want their skates sharpened. OK, fine. An Petr Mrazek has the deepest hollow on the team at a quarter inch and NHL player knows exactly how deep his hollow is. Players measure it in wants Alves to hand-hone even that to a finer edge. James Reimer is fractions of inches, shorthand for the geometry of how the middle of the second at three-eighths. blade is cut away, but it is counter-intuitive to how it works: A larger “It’s funny,” Alves said. “When I came up it was one era and one style of hollow, like one inch, leaves a shallow arc between the two edges, slick play and I literally never liked to get my skates sharpened. They were and almost flat, better for gliding and expending less effort. A smaller always too sharp, no matter what it was. That’s how I felt. Then I went in radius, a half-inch or smaller, cuts a deep, more rounded furrow with the Marine Corps and didn’t play for four years and a lot had changed, sharp edges that dig into the ice for tighter turns and more agility, at the with goaltending styles and everything else. I ended up going deeper, cost of more friction. too. It’s changed a lot over the years, and it could probably change Then there’s balance, also known as rocker. That’s how much of the again.” skate blade actually sits on the ice at any time. Most blades come from The equipment managers will sometimes change hollows without telling the factory with a broad natural curve from toe to heel. The Hurricanes — players, especially in warmer buildings where the ice is softer. A five- and most other NHL teams — grind a flat edge onto them that controls eighths player may get his skates sharpened to three-quarters before a not only how much steel is in contact with the ice at any time but where game in Tampa, whether he asks for it or not. A few Hurricanes players on the blade the contact is, another matter of player preference. Some have already backed off in Toronto, where the ice has been soft from like more blade on the ice, some like less and some like to be pitched playoff-bubble overuse, in hopes their blades dig in a little less. forward on their toes or sit back on their heels. Others are less concerned about their blades, under any circumstance. “I think everybody’s pretty particular with their skates and blades,” Hurricanes forward Vincent Trochek said. “I get mine cut at a half (inch) “I don’t really think about that stuff at all,” Hurricanes defenseman Joel most times, unless the ice is a little dull. I have my rocker set a little bit Edmundson said. “I’m at five-eighths, every time.” forward, leaning forward.” BLADE RUNNERS Factor in the wide variety of ice temperatures and consistencies players encounter from building to building and even period to period in the NHL, The reason for all that tinkering, even by such tiny fractions of an inch: It and equipment managers spend more hours working on the little pieces matters. of steel at the bottom of the skate than just about anything else. Some “It’s hard to understand how much of a difference it makes,” former players notice every little adjustment. Maybe most players. Hurricanes center Matt Cullen said. “It’s more than what kind of a shoe Like a golfer tinkering with swing weight or shaft flex or grip size, or a you’re wearing. You can change your posture on the ice. You can race-car driver being able to feel a tire that’s slightly out of balance or flat, change how well you glide on the ice. You can change how well you turn. the connection between skate and ice is fundamental to a hockey It makes an incredible difference as you adjust this.” player’s ability to perform, down to the most minute detail. Once skates are sharpened, they’re not done. They need to be balanced, “If you can think of the brain not only attaching to the end of the stick something that’s only become standard in the past 20 years or so. that’s attached to your hands, but also that 50 millimeters that’s on the Tatomir holds the patent on the Pro Skate Balance machine the ice, this is a connected circuit between your brain and the feeling that’s Hurricanes and several other NHL teams use. Others use one of its created within your feet and your hands,” said former Hurricanes competitors, like Maximum Edge or Prosharp or CAG One. While the defenseman Bret Hedican, one of the NHL’s smoothest skaters in his radius of a hollow is measured in inches, balance is measured in day. millimeters — two numbers, measuring how many millimeters forward of center the blade starts to curve toward the toe and how many millimeters “That circuit, when things aren’t right, doesn’t feel good. ... But when I of blade in total are on the ice. In equipment manager speak, former had the power under me, when I could feel every stride I took, I had Hurricanes center Kevyn Adams was a 35/65 with a half-inch cut. power, and it was right where I needed it to be, I was like, ‘I dare you. I “If you put more millimeters on your blade, now you can back off on the Sami Kapanen showed up with a standard curve on his blade and started hollow,” Tatomir said. “You can put less hollow on there now and you at 25/50. Then 30/60. Then ended up at 40/80, a ton of blade in constant don’t have to work as hard. We proved that with different players.” contact with the ice, more than three inches of it.

A blade comes from the factory curved on a 10-foot radius, with a gentle “I’ll never forget, one time he said, ‘Wally, can you tip me forward a little curve but still a curve. The PSB machine mills it down to a flat edge to a more?’ ” Tatomir said. “I put five more millimeters on the front. He did one player’s precise specifications. The hollow and balance numbers — and circle two times around, nodded his head and was the fastest skater in the date of the last sharpening — are written in black Sharpie marker on the league that year.” the blade-holder of every Hurricanes skate. LIVING ON THE EDGE It’s not something to which much attention is paid at the lower levels of hockey. When Alves was a minor-league goalie — he’s famous for Keeping blades properly sharpened is an all-the-time thing for Gorman appearing, briefly, in a game for the Hurricanes on New Year’s Eve 2016, and Alves. Players frequently bump skates during games and lose their back when teams were allowed to dress their own emergency goalies — edge. Some players want their skates sharpened between periods, or in his teammates would come to him with questions about their equipment. some cases even between shifts. Typically, Alves is the one who handles in-game sharpening while Gorman continues to man the stick rack. Most didn’t know what their hollow was, let alone what it should have been. Alves ended up surreptitiously sharpening a few of his teammates’ “Last time we were here in Toronto, I probably sharpened throughout the skates. Now, there’s always a bit of an awakening when recent draft game, and with it being the whole (emergency goalie) David Ayers thing, picks arrive for prospect camps and get their blades balanced for the first I was running around back there like crazy getting him set up,” Alves time. said. “It was just nonstop, four or five pair a period I was sharpening. Obviously, playoff hockey gets like that, too. They’re grinding in the “Some of these young kids come up and they don’t really know what’s corners with blades hitting each other. That’s how they lose edges. You going on with their steel,” Alves said. “They’ve never asked anybody. go blade-to-blade with somebody else chasing the puck and the guy’s They don’t really know. You kind of sit down with the player, you analyze right next to you making the same stride, and when those skate blades the way they skate, you analyze their stride, you kind of look and make touch each other you can lose an entire edge.” suggestions.” That used to be a big deal when the blade was fixed to the skate; a When Cullen was a rookie with the Anaheim Ducks in 1997, teammate player would have to walk off the bench, take off his skate and wait for it Teemu Selanne pulled him aside after practice one day and asked him if to be sharpened. Now, the blades themselves swap out. All a player has he knew what his hollow was. Cullen, two years removed from high to do is stand up facing the ice, put his foot on the bench behind him and school, had no idea. Selanne told him it looked way too sharp to him, wait for Alves or Gorman to swap in a new one. The Hurricanes travel walked Cullen to the equipment room and asked the manager to put a with a complete set of properly sharpened and balanced replacement seven-eighths hollow on them. (Cullen hadn’t considered until now, more blades for every player, each in its own pocket in a case that goes on the than two decades later, how bad his skating must have looked to the Hall bench during games. of Famer.) Cullen played on seven-eighths for the rest of his career. That doesn’t just save time. It saves money. In equipment manager “He said, ‘Cully, do you like to glide?’ and walked me through it,” Cullen math, a player making $8 million a season gets about $2,500 a shift. Not said. “With a flatter hollow, you glide better, fatigue less, it’s easier on having to leave the bench and miss a shift saves thousands. But even your body, your joints, your hips, your knees. I tried it, and it was an eye- with the quick-change blades, it’s not immediate. opening experience. You feel so much better on the ice. Then I left it alone until I got to Carolina, and Wally was on another world as far as “It does happen where a guy comes off and says, “I need new steel,” and how advanced he was on the cutting of the steel.” then it’s a power play and he pulls his skate out of your hand,” Alves said. Cullen arrived in Carolina in 2005 to find a franchise on the cutting edge of this technology. Tatomir was able to move the center of his blades Some players are more particular than others. Dougie Hamilton doesn’t back and tip him forward a bit, which Cullen felt drastically improved his just tweak his hollow and balance; he’ll actually ask Alves to make agility ahead of what turned out to be the best season of his career. Just minute adjustments to how the blade is angled relative to his skate boot. about everyone in the NHL does it now — Tatomir’s machines are in Hedican could sense even the most minute deviations in his balance and almost every equipment room — but Tatomir swears balancing played a still sends his skates to Tatomir for sharpening (five-eighths, 25/50), even huge role in the team’s success in 2002, when the Hurricanes were just for his own recreational use. ahead of the curve, no pun intended. It isn’t uncommon for Jordan Staal to have his skates sharpened multiple Hedican arrived in January of that season and, for the first time, could times during a game. Other players can play several shifts on dull, count on his skates feeling right. Over the course of his career, he had mangled blades without complaint. That latter group isn’t necessarily who struggled to get his blades exactly the way he wanted them. It was you might think, grinders plodding away: It often includes some of the almost like he lacked the words to express what he needed. Tatomir had better skaters, who have an innate sense of how to avoid a dull edge the vernacular. without sacrificing performance.

“With Wally, I finally had somebody that understood my language,” “A good example of a guy who would wait for the next period is Jaccob Hedican said. “I could tell him, ‘I feel like I’m in a perfect scenario right Slavin,” Alves said. “Slavin’s a guy who would just wait it out. Brett now with my hollow. Every time I push off, I’m exactly over the middle of Pesce, he would skate on crap the whole game and not realize it. ‘Pesh,’ my skate where I can garner the most power, right to the last little snap of his steel takes a beating and he just skates right through it.” the ankle where the point of the blade digs in.’ When I could feel that last As for Brind’Amour today, he’s not even sure what his hollow is these little snap and push, I knew my skates were just right. And Wally could days, for the little bit of skating he does in practice or with his kids. replicate what that felt like and make sure it felt like that every day. I wanted to kiss him on the forehead.” “I don’t remember the last time I had my skates sharpened,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how I’m doing it now.” In those old days, when the Hurricanes were one of very few teams actually doing it, players would arrive in a trade, put on their newly But Cullen knows. All three of his sons play hockey in Minnesota. Cullen sharpened skates and suddenly feel faster. When Ron Francis came to bought one of Tatomir’s balancing machines, and he sharpens and the Hurricanes in 1998, Tatomir balanced his skates to 35/65, giving him balances his sons’ skates himself. He has to do it often. They’re 13, 11 more blade on the ice with Francis’ usual three-quarter inch cut. Francis and 10, and they’re growing so fast they rarely stay in the same skates went out for a spin and said it felt great, and he could do with less hollow. for long.

By the time they were done tweaking, Francis’ blades were almost flat, “I’ve turned into a skate guy,” Cullen said. “It makes such a difference. with a very shallow 1 ½-inch hollow, like an old-time goalie. I’ve seen it with young kids, with my own kids. It makes such a difference.” “I only wanted to go to an inch,” Tatomir said, but with Francis approaching 40, the glide mattered more than the grip. Cullen’s eldest, Brooks, just got new skates. Cullen put them on the machine immediately. Brooks is a 30/55 with a seven-eighths cut, balanced back of center so he tips forward a little. Just like his father. News Observer LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190390 Carolina Hurricanes

Rematch! Hurricanes’ first-round playoffs opponent narrowed down to two familiar teams

BY CHIP ALEXANDER

AUGUST 07, 2020 07:36 AM ,

The Carolina Hurricanes don’t know who’ll they face in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.

What the Canes do know is that it will be either the Washington Capitals or the Boston Bruins. And either way, it will be a rematch from last year’s playoffs.

The Canes finished off a three-game sweep of the New York Rangers on Tuesday in Toronto, winning their best-of-five qualifying round series. That earned them a spot in the 16-team Stanley Cup playoffs and a first- round matchup against one of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Caps and Bruins have been competing in a three-game round robin tournament to determine the top four seeds. The Lightning and Flyers both are 2-0-0 while the Caps are 0-1-1 and the Bruins 0-2-0.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, seeded fifth in the Eastern Conference, were ousted Friday by the 12th-seeded Montreal Canadiens in their qualifying round. The Canadiens, the 12th seeds, won 2-0 on Friday.

The Canes, who were seeded sixth, moved up to No. 5 and will play the No. 4 seed. The Caps face the Bruins in their final round-robin game, with the loser facing the Canes.

The first-round games are scheduled to begin Tuesday at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.

A year ago, the Canes knocked out the Caps in the opening round of the playoffs, winning a Game 7 thriller in a second overtime. Carolina swept the New York Islanders in the second round to move into the Eastern Conference finals against Boston, only to be swept by the Bruins.

“You know your opponent, whether it’s Washington or Boston, it’s pretty clear we know these are two of the best teams in the league,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Friday in his media call. “We know we’re up against it. I still think it’s about right now making sure our game is sharp.”

The Canes could have defenseman Dougie Hamilton back in the lineup. Brind’Amour said. Hamilton was injured during postseason training camp in Raleigh and not able to play in the Rangers series, but has returned to practice in Toronto.

“I’m not sure 100 percent when he’ll be ready,” Brind’Amour said. “It’s on him, kind of. We’re gauging it off how he feels. You hope four to five days from now he’ll be that much better.”

News Observer LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190391 Carolina Hurricanes The coach can put you in different spots, manage your ice time and if you’re looking a little overwhelmed at times, he can manage that.

“The other thing about going to an organization where there’s more Duhatschek Notebook: Importance of fit for top picks, best spot for pressure, sometimes, it’s about selling tickets. That inevitably becomes Lafreniere part of the equation. By going to a place-holder team, he just gets to go and play. There’s none of this, ‘he’s the face of the franchise going forward stuff.’ I think it’s phenomenal for Alexis, and for whatever team gets him, because it will allow him to be better.” By Eric Duhatschek Aug 7, 2020 Button cited the Rangers as the sort of team where Lafreniere could

make a seamless transition because they already appear to be turning The New York Rangers were the first team to see action last Saturday in the corner on their rebuild. The Rangers currently have an MVP finalist in the NHL’s qualifying round – and four days later, they were also the first Artemi Panarin, plus one of the new emerging stars in the game, Mika team heading for the exits, eliminated from play on Tuesday after being Zibanejad, set at the top of the lineup. Additionally, they have another swept in three games by last year’s Eastern Conference finalists, the young player, Kaapo Kakko, No. 2 overall last year, who wasn’t rushed Carolina Hurricanes. by the organization and was afforded the chance to develop at his own pace. Normally, this would represent devastating news for everyone with a vested interest in the Rangers’ outcome — management, coaches, “The Rangers have got some really good players – and (adding players and fans. But that’s during a normal year, in a regular playoff, Lafreniere) would just push them further along the path,” Button said. where there are no silver linings associated with a quick exit — no “It’s always amazing for me to see development. Kirby Dach in Chicago. reasons to do anything but mope and fall back on the old axiom, “there’s Chicago moved from 12 to 3 (in the draft lottery) to get him. They had no always next year.” chance to get Kirby Dach at 12. Kirby, to me, was Ryan Getzlaf-like as a However, in the summer of 2020, in a world turned upside down, there’s prospect. Now, you watch him, during the course of this year, he was in a tiny bit of light at the end of what would normally be a very dark tunnel. development mode with Chicago. But I’ll tell you what, he’s in a whole It’s all because a “place-holder” team won the first phase of the NHL different space now. Where do you find that guy? It’s the same with Draft lottery, meaning there is a consolation prize awaiting one of the Dallas and Miro Heiskanen. They go from eight to three. You don’t get lucky losers — the chance to land the first overall selection in the annual Miro Heiskanen at eight.” draft and secure a potentially franchise-altering talent. The Andrei Svechnikov example It may not necessarily lessen the immediate sting of the loss, but it does To Button’s point about teams jumping up in the draft lottery, beginning in create an extra layer of intrigue that will all come to a head on Monday 2014-15, the NHL changed the weighting system previously used, evening when one of the eight eliminated teams is going to win Phase 2 reducing the odds of winning the lottery for the four lowest-ranked teams of the draft lottery and start to ponder life with Alexis Lafreniere in the and increasing the odds for the other non-playoff teams. There have fold. been some noticeable leaps ever since, though arguably, the biggest If you want a detailed look at Lafreniere’s upside, you can read colleague winner since the system changed may have been Carolina in 2018. Corey Pronman’s scouting report on the presumptive No. 1 pick. That year, the Hurricanes jumped from No. 11 to No. 2, which allowed But in a nutshell, there is a wide consensus that his impact will be high – them to select Andrei Svechnikov, the young Russian, who had 72 points and practically immediate. in 44 games during his draft season for the Barrie Colts.

With a few notable exceptions that we’ll explore below, the one common The Hurricanes’ current general manager Don Waddell was also the first element for the vast majority of players drafted first overall in the last half- GM of the Atlanta Thrashers when they came into the league in 1999-00. century is they almost always land with a bad team — a team that earned The Thrashers were part of an aggressive NHL expansion that saw four a high selection in the draft because of a dismal season on the ice. teams added over a three-year period, and thus, didn’t get much player That’s what the draft was originally designed to do, even the NHL playing help from the established teams in their expansion draft. It meant the field. The hope is if you land the No. 1 overall selection, that prospect will players they harvested at the top end of the draft – everyone from Patrik eventually help lead your team out of the wilderness. Stefan to Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk – got thrown right into the fire.

But what if, this year, that top prospect happens to land on a team that’s Waddell agrees that there is a difference when a blue-chip prospect goes already out of the woods and just had a bad (or unlucky) week, coming to a team and doesn’t necessarily have to be The Guy from the moment off a four-and-a-half-month layoff? What then? he arrives. Instead of immediately ceding him a spot in their top six, the Hurricanes fed Svechnikov into the lineup gradually. So far, the results Now, instead of almost immediately being asked to carry a heavy load, have been remarkable. that player might be able to ease into his NHL transition in a more protected role. “With Andrei, if you go back and look when he started out last year, he was playing eight-to-10 minutes a night,” said Waddell. “He was playing In turn, that could theoretically reduce the pressure that can occasionally basically a third-line role. We all knew he had a special talent, but when overwhelm even the surest of sure things. you’re talking about an 18, 19-year-old kid, we didn’t know how fast he’s going to come. I give the coaches a lot of credit. In Andrei’s situation, Because let’s face it: Sometimes, the hardest part about joining a he’d missed most of the year before. In January is when he hurt his wrist floundering franchise is how crushing that weight of expectation can be. and didn’t play the rest of the year. Not everybody thrives when asked to be a difference maker almost right away. You wonder if that’s what contributed to the struggles of Alexandre “Because he hadn’t played hockey for seven or eight months, we brought Daigle (first overall to Ottawa in 1993) – the idea that the teenager from him along slowly. We talked about it a lot. We said, ‘we’ll let him develop Victoriaville would lead the Senators to respectability; and sooner would at his own pace’ and not force him into a top-six role. Probably after 25 or have been better than later. It just didn’t happen for Daigle. It didn’t help 30 games, he really started to show a lot of progress and he continued to Vincent Lecavalier in the early stages of his career to be compared to get more ice time. But in the end, last year, he averaged about 15 Michael Jordan by Tampa ownership on his draft day. Lecavalier minutes of ice time. It wasn’t like he had to play 20 or 25 minutes like eventually persevered and found his way to greatness (though never at back in my years with Kovalchuk and Heatley. If they weren’t on the ice, Jordan’s level). we had no chance of ever scoring a goal, so they played a lot of minutes.

But it’s an interesting phenomenon to ponder, ahead of Monday night’s “So, you learn watching through the years. I always say, ‘pay attention to Phase 2 draft lottery draw. the successful franchises and the successful GMs’ because you can learn things. Every day in this business you can learn new things.” “There’s no doubt in my mind that, for one of those place-holder teams, being able to get Lafreniere is not only going to help them, it’s also going Just before joining Atlanta, Waddell worked in the Detroit Red Wings to help Lafreniere,” former NHL GM Craig Button said, who now acts as organization and said he learned a lot from watching its two senior the chief scout for TSN. “I believe Lafreniere is a 60-point guy, Year 1, in executives, Ken Holland and Jim Devellano, work. the NHL. Now, if he ends up on a better team, maybe that’s 70 points. “Detroit had always run a good organization, from the NHL team to the make players on entry-level contracts so attractive that the value of a way to how they handled their prospects, and they wound up winning franchise-altering No. 1 draft choice is practically incalculable – assuming four or five Cups in a 12-year span,” Waddell said. “You take things from the prospect lives up to his potential. all those lessons. “You look at Nathan MacKinnon now. He’s a superstar. He was the “It’s hard to go from being a bad team to a good team overnight. One rookie of the year but in his first four years in the league, there were player is not going to do it for you. You have to have the surrounding signs that he was going to be a really good player, but not that he was parts. So, it’s important to keep the pressure off those guys. Everybody necessarily a superstar. So, what ends up happening? They draft (Mikko) handles pressure differently. The more you can let them develop at their Rantanen. They get some other players – and boom, he goes to another own pace, the better they’re going to be for you.” level.

The history book “That’s what New Jersey has to hope for. They need players to help Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. Because, as good as they are, they’re not It won’t be completely unprecedented if Lafreniere lands with a good going to be as good as they can be, without the supporting cast.” team. Let’s talk about Pittsburgh and Edmonton Probably the best illustration of a top prospect going to a team that was already very good came at the 1971 draft, when the Montreal Canadiens Not all draft classes are necessarily alike at the very top, which is why made a trade with the California Golden Seals to acquire their choice. not every player selected first overall in a draft will necessarily have the The deal was actually consummated some 13 months previously, in May same long-lasting impact on a franchise. of 1970, when Montreal sent one of its first-rounders in the ’70 draft, plus a promising player that couldn’t quite crack their star-studded lineup For example, 15 years ago, after the 2004-05 NHL season was (Ernie Hicke) to California, for the Seals’ 1971 first-rounder. completely lost to a lockout, every team had a shot at the first overall pick in a weighted draft lottery – and it came to a final two, and the Pittsburgh The Seals, like all the teams that came into the NHL during the 1967-68 Penguins were the lucky winners; earning the right to draft Sidney expansion, didn’t get much talent in the beginning, were struggling at the Crosby. box office and thus, were in desperate need of immediate NHL help. How did that work out for them? Three Stanley Cup championships, the By contrast, Montreal was in a position to think big-picture, long-term face of the franchise … I could go on, but you get the picture. It was a thoughts and had their eye on a prospect named Guy Lafleur, then a time when a lottery win changed the fortunes of an entire organization for highly prized junior from the Quebec Remparts. But just to ensure that a decade-and-a-half and counting. California finished in the Western Conference basement, midway through the 1970-71 season, the Canadiens sent reinforcements (in the form of To further reaffirm the point, you only need to assess the Edmonton Ralph Backstrom) to the Los Angeles Kings to make them more Oilers’ draft record from 2010 to 2015 to see the many different competitive. outcomes that are possible if you’re gifted with four No. 1 overall picks in a six-year span. You can harvest a generational talent (Connor McDavid In the end, Montreal got what it wanted – a chance to draft a next- in 2015); a future MVP (Taylor Hall in 2010); a solid, professional NHLer generation Francophone superstar who, admittedly, needed a couple of (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in 2011) and sometimes even a puzzling, years to find his NHL footing before exploding into greatness. perplexing bust (Nail Yakupov in 2012).

But that ’71 Canadiens team was coming off a Stanley Cup But there is a distinction between drafting a quality, serviceable NHLer championship in mid-May of that year and then had the luxury of adding and a difference maker, according to Button. Difference makers the first overall pick in the draft less than a month later. ultimately help lead you to championships.

In hindsight, it’s hard to imagine that anyone thought that sort of a trade “I always try to frame it using other sports as an example,” Button said. was a good idea. “Where would the Kansas City Chiefs be without Patrick Mahomes? All I know is, the Kansas City Chiefs are a really good team. But they wouldn’t The reality is, it was a far more common practice in the early days of the be where they’re at now without Patrick Mahomes. Look at the Baltimore draft, when teams – generally speaking – put a far greater value on the Ravens. They’re a good team, well-coached. But where would they be bird in the hand, the NHL-ready player, than some down-the-road without Lamar Jackson? They’re difference makers.” prospect. Over and over again, you saw it happen – teams willing to sacrifice future potential in what was almost always the futile hope of And finally … getting better in the here-and-now. Playoffs have a way of calling attention to players that slip through the In 1975, the Flyers – in the midst of their Broad St. Bullies years and on cracks sometimes in the regular season, where fans tend to focus on the heels of consecutive Stanley Cup championships – traded Bill their local squads and something big needs to happen before they get at Clement and Don McLean along with the 18th overall pick to all interested in the larger picture. This leads to a phenomenon I have Washington, for what turned out to be the first overall pick in the variously called playoff hero-of-the-week or hero-of-the-moment and upcoming draft. there’s been a few examples already of unsung heroes, really stepping up. Carolina’s Jordan Martinook, for example, drew six penalties in the The Flyers then selected Mel Bridgman, who became a solid versatile opening round. One of the foot soldiers on the Hurricanes, he had a NHL player, and whose personality and playing style fit the Flyers’ quietly effective under-the-radar performance in the opening round program to an absolute tee. Considering that ’75 wasn’t a really against New York. memorable draft either – the best three selections were probably Dave Taylor, at 210; Willi Plett at 80 and Pierre Mondou at 15 – landing In the Calgary-Winnipeg series, the Jets were badly undermined by the Bridgman turned out to be an astute move. He, like Lafleur, could settle loss to injury of two of their top four forwards, Mark Scheifele and Patrik in on a team that already had Bobby Clarke, Reggie Leach, Bill Barber Laine, which tilted a No. 8 versus No. 9 matchup between two teams that and others on the roster and helped them stay an elite team for another were virtually tied in the regular-season standings in favor of the Flames. half-dozen years. But the one thing that few anticipated was Calgary winning the goaltending battle, given that Winnipeg had the likely Vezina Trophy Montreal had the first overall pick again in 1980, thanks to a deal with the winner, Connor Hellebuyck, between he pipes and Calgary’s choice was Colorado Rockies and that outcome would have been far more one-sided virtually a coin flip between the nominal No. 1, David Rittich, and the 1a too if they hadn’t selected the very serviceable Doug Wickenheiser over choice, Cam Talbot, who had the better numbers after Jan. 1. the future Hall of Fame (and local favorite) Denis Savard. Interim head coach Geoff Ward made a bold call – opting to go with In 1983, coming off a 96-point season and a trip to the conference final, Talbot, and Talbot rewarded his faith with sparkling consistency the Minnesota North Stars landed the first overall pick in a one-sided throughout the series (a 1.51 GAA, a .945 save percentage, a shutout in trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins and selected Brian Lawton. How bad Thursday night’s 4-0 series clincher). would that deal have looked if the Stars had chosen any of the players available at three, four or nine (future Hall of Famers Pat LaFontaine, But five days in, arguably no one fits the bill better than defenceman Jeff Steve Yzerman and Cam Neely)? Petry of the 12th-seeded Montreal Canadiens, who produced the game- winning goals in Game 1 and 3 of the series. They didn’t just pinball in These were hard lessons learned, which is why teams rarely go down that path anymore in the modern era NHL, where salary-cap constraints accidentally either. They were creative offensive plays that demonstrated Petry’s high hockey IQ.

Probably everyone in Edmonton is asking now: Why did we let Petry go and who did we get for him anyway?

I was curious myself so I looked it up – and it wasn’t as bad as you might think. Montreal sent a second- and fourth-rounder to the Oilers at the 2015 trading deadline to land Petry for their playoff push, which that season, lasted 12 games. Petry ultimately signed an extension with the Canadiens – six years, at an average annual value of $5.5 million, which coincidentally expires after this season, making him an unrestricted free agent at an opportune time.

Edmonton, meanwhile, flipped that second-rounder to the Rangers in the Talbot trade, who subsequently traded it to Washington, which drafted Jonas Siegenthaler with the pick.

But Edmonton did secure Caleb Jones with the fourth-rounder, and the younger brother of Columbus’s Seth Jones looks as if he’ll be a fixture for years to come.

And while Montreal’s trio of Petry, Shea Weber and Ben Chiarot will never be confused with Savard, Lapointe and Robinson, they have been phenomenally effective thus far against the Penguins.

Weber looks rejuvenated, the time off recovering from injuries looks as if he’s had a chance to properly heal.

So much of the focus in Winnipeg this season was how devastating it was to lose the entire right side of last year’s defence – Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Myers, Jacob Trouba. Less of a fuss was made over Chiarot’s departure as a free agent. But he, like Petry, is opening eyes now – Button noting how “Hockey Night in Canada’s” Kevin Bieksa colorfully characterized Chiarot as the oldest of old-school players, not a 180- pound quinoa-eating modern-day defencemen, but a 225-pound, meat- eating physical force. Useful, at this time, when the going occasionally gets rough.

The Jets, meanwhile, were the second team after the Rangers to be eliminated in the qualifying round, a year chock full of adversity that ended the way it began – with a lot of try, but not a lot of finish. They look like a franchise due for a little bit of good fortune. Maybe they’re the ones that land Lafreniere.

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190392 Carolina Hurricanes certainly not normal times. With the uncertainty created by the pandemic, you have to wonder if some of those negotiations are stalled or not; or if there’s new language in those contracts protecting owners from further pandemic damage. LeBrun: What’s a fair deal for Rod Brind’Amour, thumbs up for bubble protocol When it comes to Brind’Amour, I think there’s enough goodwill and mutual desire to keep him where he wants to be, in Carolina.

Coaches in the bubble By Pierre LeBrun Aug 7, 2020 Back in late June, I wrote a story about older NHL coaches and their concerns with COVID-19 and life in the bubble.

With each achievement realized by the Carolina Hurricanes, Rod Dallas Stars head coach Rick Bowness, the oldest head coach in the Brind’Amour’s stock skyrockets, the sweep of the New York Rangers in NHL at 65, was particularly thoughtful, telling me at the time that he was the qualifying round being the latest example. nervous and thinking about it all the time.

It just so happens that after this Stanley Cup tournament, he will entering Not only was his mind put at his ease once he entered the bubble in the final year of his contract, multiple sources have confirmed. Edmonton, but I was also surprised he chose not to wear a mask behind Furthermore, so too are the deals for his entire coaching staff. the bench.

I asked ‘Canes owner Tom Dundon via text message this week what his “That’s a tribute to the great job the league has done with mandatory intentions were in regards to Brind’Amour’s contract status. masks and testing every day, checking temperatures every morning,’’ Bowness said via text message this week. “As long as we have no “He is the best,’’ Dundon responded on Tuesday night, shortly after his positive results, I’m OK with no mask.’’ team won Game 3 over the Rangers. Claude Julien, who turned 60 this past April, had also expressed some It’s hard to believe that Dundon won’t do all that he can to extend concern to me at the time, but clearly he’s also comfortable with the tight Brind’Amour. The respect for his coach is evident. NHL bubble protocol as he has also decided not to wear a mask behind But to be blunt, under this ownership, the Hurricanes organization has at the bench. times shown a willingness to be tough when it comes to negotiating Only one coach from the 24 tournament teams chose to opt-out, Mike contracts for its front-office staff, not to mention what happened with Kitchen, the veteran assistant with the Florida Panthers. He made the broadcaster John Forslund. decision early, on July 13, the first day of camp. I spoke with him about it Still, and maybe I’m being naive here, Brind’Amour’s situation is on a in June, and it was clear then that he had some reservations, as he whole other level. The ‘Canes won’t mess around. should. Kitchen’s pointed out that he was about to become a grandfather for the first time and also had other considerations weighing on him. No What may help Dundon is that Brind’Amour has previously stated that he one, and I mean no one, should second-guess his decision to opt-out. doesn’t fancy himself coaching anywhere else. In a fantastic piece on the ‘Canes coach written by Scott Burnside back in February, Brind’Amour As for wearing masks or not, I do wish coaches had decided to wear couldn’t have been more clear about that: masks behind the bench during games. Which is easy for me to say from my lofty perch, I know. And I get that wearing a mask might make it hard “I don’t see myself doing this long-term. And I don’t see myself doing it to communicate with players. anywhere else,” Brind’Amour said. “I took this job for this purpose, to kind of see if I could help to get us back on track and I don’t think my heart But it’s a bit odd to me that the NHL is forcing GMs and any front office would be in it anywhere else. That’d be hard to do. I get it. I get it why staff sitting in the stands/suites during games to wear a mask, but not the coaches coach one and then the next day they’re trading the hat, and I coaches who seemingly would be more at risk behind the bench. just don’t think I could do that. It wouldn’t be real.” Again, I think it speaks to the confidence coaches have for the NHL’s Not great in regards to Brind’Amour’s negotiating stance. And maybe the tight protocols and testing inside the bubble, that they feel that safe financial aspect of a deal doesn’t concern him — he did make good enough to not wear a mask. money as a player. The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 Still, there’s the principle of it all. In an era where coaches’ salaries have risen dramatically, what constitutes a fair offer?

Joel Quenneville is the highest active paid coach at around $6 million a year, then you’ve got the likes of Claude Julien, Alain Vigneault and Todd McLellan all at $5 million a year. Barry Trotz makes $4 million a year, Ralph Krueger $3.9 million, Pete DeBoer is at $3.25 million (Vegas picked up the last year of his San Jose deal and tacked on two additional seasons at the same salary) and Jon Cooper is at $3 million, among others.

Now, Brind’Amour hasn’t been behind the bench for as long as most of those guys, but his track record with Carolina is rather amazing.

“I’m generally not a big believer in hiring a guy to coach your NHL club who’s never been a head coach at any level,’’ began one rival Eastern Conference team executive. “However, this guy has proven me wrong. He clearly has the pulse of his team and they play for him like few coaches in the game.’’

I don’t know for sure how much Brind’Amour makes but we can assume that since he was a rookie head coach when he took over from Bill Peters in May 2018, he would have been paid accordingly (near the bottom), which is only fair for a first-time head coach.

By the way, Brind’Amour won’t be the only coach entering next season in the last year of their deal. Rick Tocchet, Jeremy Colliton, John Tortorella and Travis Green are also on that list with one year left at the conclusion of this tournament.

Under normal circumstances, a team would want to decide on its head coach at least one year before the end of the deal. But these are most 1190393 Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks advance to the 1st round of the NHL playoffs after beating the Oilers 3-2 in Game 4. ‘The real fun begins,’ Jonathan Toews says.

By PHIL THOMPSON

AUG 07, 2020 AT 9:12 PM

No need to use the “play-in” disclaimer anymore, the Chicago Blackhawks officially are a playoff team.

The 12th-seeded Hawks beat the No. 5 Edmonton Oilers 3-2 Friday night on a third-period strike by Dominik Kubalik to advance to the Western Conference first round, where, as the lowest seed, they’ll play the winner of Saturday’s round-robin game between the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights.

“To be honest, I didn’t take a look at the net,” Kubalik said. “I was just trying to shoot it as quick as possible and take a one-timer if I can.”

Kubalik is the first Hawks rookie to score multiple game-winning goals in a postseason.

It’s the first time the Hawks have won a postseason series since winning the 2015 Stanley Cup. They were swept by the Nashville Predators in their 2017 first-round series and lost to the St. Louis Blues in seven games in the first round of the 2016 playoffs.

The Hawks are now 57-30-3 in potential series-clinching games.

The Hawks were down 1-0 on Josh Archibald’s goal 45 seconds into the game, but they answered with first-period goals by Brandon Saad and Matthew Highmore, who snuck a deflection into the net for the second straight game.

“Across our lineup guys stepped up their game,” Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. “Got a lot of young guys, not a ton of playoff experience, showing what they can do.”

Corey Crawford had an outstanding second period, facing 15 shots — with six high-danger chances, according to NaturalStatTrick.com — stopping all but a goal by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins seconds after an Oilers power play expired. The Hawks had just nine shots on Mikko Koskinen in the period after putting up 12 in the first.

Alex DeBrincat drew a five-minute major for boarding Ethan Bear in the second period, but Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse killed off two minutes of his team’s power play by interfering with Drake Caggiula.

The Hawks got lucky in the third when Andreas Athanasiou hit the post on an open shot on Crawford’s left side.

Crawford came up big again in the period when he gloved what looked like a sure rebound goal by Zack Kassian.

Crawford had 43 saves in the game, including all eight shots he faced during Oilers power plays.

“I felt better each game, playing each game, seeing different scenarios,” Crawford said.

The Hawks got a power play with two minutes remaining after the Oilers were called for too many men on the ice but opted to kill the clock.

The series victory was significant not only because the Hawks pulled off an unlikely upset as the No. 12 seed. The win showed the team’s championship window hasn’t shut just yet, Toews said.

“There’s always going to be maybe unwarranted praise and criticism,” he said. “Our core group has always done a good job of not listening to either. ... We were pretty eager to get this chance and show what we can do. Technically, we just made the playoffs now, so the real fun begins.”

Chicago Tribune LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190394 Chicago Blackhawks Goal No. 4: Toews gets credit for the game-winner. “The guy’s shooting it from a real bad angle and it goes off Bearsy’s (Ethan Bear) stick and in,” Tippett said. Angle aside, he’s correct.

4 things to watch for in Game 4 of the Blackhawks-Oilers series, Bottom line, “it’s not like we’re giving up a ton of chances,” Tippett said. including ‘desperation’ in Edmonton and ‘lucky bounces’ for Jonathan If Tippett’s overall point is that the Hawks benefited from generous Toews and Co. bounces and shouldn’t expect to be as fortunate in Game 4, that’s valid. But he should also acknowledge that Toews and other Hawks hit the goalposts on several shots that were just a hair from going in. By PHIL THOMPSON Oilers winger Alex Chiasson put it best: “We can all sit here and dwell (on AUG 07, 2020 AT 6:30 AM it) and say that was a quite few lucky bounces, but at the end of the day our game wasn’t as good as it needed to be, and we need to address

that.” The Edmonton Oilers expected a fight from the Chicago Blackhawks, but 2. The Hawks can’t count on getting as many penalties in the future — now the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference qualifiers finds itself in an not that they capitalize on them anyway. elimination game Friday night with the Hawks up 2-1 in the best-of five series. Whether the Hawks have gotten quick whistles in their favor, the Oilers just have been reckless or a combination of both, look for Edmonton to “We knew Chicago was not going to get down easy, so we have to step it tighten up that area. up here,” Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom said Thursday. “I think we’re up to the challenge.” The Hawks had three power-play opportunities in each of the first two periods in Game 3 — a total of 9 minutes, 10 seconds with the man The Hawks would expect nothing less in Game 4. Blackhawks forward advantage — and scored on only one of those six chances. They went 3- Brandon Saad said the Oilers have a “killer instinct” when they’re down. for-6 in Game 1′s victory and 0-for-4 in the Game 2 loss. “We know when your back’s against the wall, it’s a do-or-die situation, so Edmonton has racked up 16 penalties in three games. for us it’s just having that same mentality,” Saad said. “… Just matching that intensity and knowing it’s going to take a full 60 minutes of hard “We spent 21 minutes of the first 40 in the box,” Edmonton’s Alex work.” Chiasson said. “It’s hard to win like that in the playoffs. It changes all the momentum of the game.” “Desperation,” Hawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. “It’ll probably be their best game of the series, so we have to prepare for that.” The penalty kill also expends a lot of energy for the Oilers and limits ice time for Connor McDavid, who has spent just 32 seconds on the penalty- Oilers center Tyler Ennis was injured in Game 3 and has been ruled out killing unit. indefinitely, so Edmonton loses a player it can move around the lineup. “I’m not going to sit here and criticize the calls, but we’ve just got to be Still, Oilers coach Dave Tippett likes the way his team has performed in smart,” Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom said. back-to-back games this season and called for someone to step up in Ennis’ place. Tippett said his team can do better.

“We know we have to go out and play well as a group,” Tippett said. “If “We took some penalties (Wednesday) night,” he said. “There were some we don’t, we probably won’t play again.” that I didn’t think were very good calls, but there were some that were just poor plays on our part.” Here are four things to watch for in Game 4. Conversely, the Oilers have done a great job clogging shooting lanes and 1. ‘Dirty goals.’ Lucky bounces. Whatever you call them, the Hawks might blocking shots on the penalty kill, so the Hawks have some things to need to beat Edmonton’s defense the old-fashioned way in Game 4. figure out on their power play, such as taking better shots and more of Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton watches his team play the Oilers them. during the first period in Game 3 of the Western Conference qualification “Just moving the puck quick, getting the puck in there and coming up with round on Aug. 5, 2020, in Edmonton, Alberta. rebounds,” Colliton said. “They’ve scored their goals by getting the puck With due respect to Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton, who praised the around the net. That’s a pretty good recipe. As far as our approach, we’re “dirty goals” his team scored in Game 3, Oilers coach Dave Tippett looking to keep working to get better. No reason to overthink it.” seemed to imply Thursday that it was something else: bad bounces for 3. Kirby Dach and Alex DeBrincat were rewarded with more ice time. his team. Expect that to continue. Let’s break it down. Blackhawks forwards Dominik Kubalik, from left, Jonathan Toews and Goal No. 1: With Kirby Dach screening, Olli Maatta sneaks in a long- Kirby Dach celebrate a goal against the Oilers on Aug. 1, 2020, in range slap shot in the first period. “If you see the shot that he scored on, Edmonton, Alberta. that puck was going 2 feet wide and hit the back of Rusty’s (Kris Russell) The Hawks have gotten good results from running Patrick Kane out there leg and found a way in,” Tippett said. Sorry, but that’s a generous view of with Alex DeBrincat and Dach, and they’re going to stick with it. Russell’s effect on the puck. Even if it didn’t graze his leg — and it’s not clear on video that it did — the puck looks like it would’ve gone cleanly Through the first three games of the series, that line’s share of expected between his legs. goals when they’re on the ice is 55%. Kane’s usual line with Dylan Strome and Alex Nylander has been 45%. Goal No. 2: Toews scores a power-play goal with 5 seconds left in the first. “You look at the five-on-three goal we gave up — first of all it’s a DeBrincat and Dach, who assisted on Toews’ first goal, also received poor, poor call — but that being said, you’ve got to kill it off,” Tippett said. more ice time in Game 3 than Game 2. DeBrincat played five more “We do a pretty good job of killing it off, then it’s a puck that bounces minutes and Dach registered four. Although some of that was a function around, hits Toews in the shin pad and finds its way in.” Even Toews of the Hawks getting power-play opportunities, their five on five time has didn’t appear to be aware of the goal at first, so that’s fair. gone up.

Goal No. 3: Matthew Highmore deflects in a game-tying goal. “(Zack) “We just thought Kirby and Alex were really good in Game 2 and we’re Kassian wasn’t in the lane — ended up getting deflected and going in,” just trying to be flexible with our lines and play the guys who are going Tippett said. “Those are things we’re not giving up a ton of chances, just more,” Colliton said. “It’s an opportunity to give those two more ice time, unfortunate breaks that they found a stick and found the back of the net.” and they deserve it and they played really well.” Not sure what Tippett’s point is here. Taking advantage of a defensive breakdown and redirecting a puck to fool the goalie is what teams try to 4. Will Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl be paired more on the same do all the time, isn’t it? line? Edmonton coach Dave Tippett said, “We talk about those things every day. We weigh all the different options.

“I’m not going to tell you what we’re going to do. I don’t know why I would do that.”

Tippett said he’ll base it on the combination that shows a good flow and rhythm.

McDavid, Draisaitl and Kailer Yamamoto were on the ice for Draisaitl’s second-period goal in Game 3. Mostly, however, they’ve split the time evenly, about 15 minutes per game in five-on-five situations.

“McDavid and Draisaitl are playing half the even-strength minutes, almost,” Colliton said. “It’s going to need a full-team effort to defend. We’re paying attention who’s on the ice, but it’s too big a job (defensively) for one group to do.”

They’ve had success together during the regular season, but separating them also stretches the Hawks defense and gives both stars more room to operate.

Whichever linemates they’re paired with — including each other — they’re a threat.

“No matter what line’s out there, we just got to be aware of those guys,” Hawks forward Ryan Carpenter said. “McDavid just does such a good job of creating speed in the neutral zone and Draisaitl’s so strong, makes a ton of plays.”

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Blackhawks notebook: Kirby Dach translating strong training camp into playoff success

By Ben Pope Aug 7, 2020, 9:05pm CDT

On Dec. 29 of this season, rookie center Kirby Dach played 20 minutes, 32 seconds in the Blackhawks’ 3-2 shootout victory against the Blue Jackets.

Heading into his first playoff run this summer, that was the most ice time Dach had seen in an NHL game.

And then in Game 3 on Wednesday against the Oilers in Edmonton, coach Jeremy Colliton united Dach with wings Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat and sent them out for shift after shift after shift.

Dach ended up leading all Hawks forwards with a whopping 23 minutes, 21 seconds of ice time, shattering his previous high from that game against the Blue Jackets. He followed that up with 19 minutes, 24 seconds Friday.

‘‘We just thought Kirby and Alex were really good in Game 2, and we’re just trying to be flexible with our lines and play the guys who are going more,’’ Colliton said. ‘‘It’s an opportunity to give those two more ice time, and they deserve it. They played really well.’’

Dach’s production and on-ice impact has risen in proportion to his playing time and the trust he has received from the coaching staff.

He notched four points — all assists — in the qualifying-round series, becoming the first Hawks rookie since Eddie Olczyk in 1985 to get at least a point in each of his first three postseason appearances. Moreover, the Hawks out-chanced the Oilers 24-22 and outscored them 4-1 with Dach on the ice.

‘‘You could see all season long how they developed and just got better as the year went on,’’ wing Brandon Saad said recently about Dach and rookie defenseman Adam Boqvist.

Dach also got his first NHL penalty-killing experience in the series. And while the penalty kill struggled against the Oilers’ stacked power play, Dach’s inclusion on it represents the next step in his development as a two-way center.

‘‘He got better as the year went on, he loves responsibility and he thrives on it,’’ Colliton said. ‘‘We knew, based on how he looked in training camp, that he was ready to take a bigger role here. He’s been great. He’s been as advertised.’’

NHL using ‘thicker’ ice

Wing Alex Chiasson offered an interesting observation during the Oilers’ media availability Thursday, commenting on the ice conditions at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

‘‘They’ve had to make it a little bit thicker to make sure the ice is good for all days,’’ Chiasson told reporters. ‘‘Obviously, when you get to the third game, it’s a little more snowy and bouncy, but that goes for both teams. I think they have done a good job with the ice.’’

The ice conditions have been a frequent talking point, considering Rogers Place and Scotiabank Arena in Toronto normally wouldn’t host more than a game a day — generally with a day or more in between — but now are hosting three a day every day.

Games 2 and 3 of the Hawks-Oilers series were the final games played at Rogers Place on their respective days. Game 4 was the second of three.

The rate of games per day might be a little lighter in the next round.

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Blackhawks fans anxious for playoff hockey: ‘We’re playing with house money’

By Manny Ramos _ Aug 7, 2020, 8:57pm CDT

It was like 2015 all over again.

The Chicago Blackhawks vying for a chance to bring the Stanley Cup home. Fans filing into bars, slamming beers and eating burgers.

The lingering pandemic seemed almost forgotten — but temperature checks and signs encouraging mask-wearing were quick reminders.

Tony Vittal and Jim Moore shared a table near a window at the WestEnd, 1326 W. Madison St., chatting moments before the puck dropped. The Blackhawks would go on to win, closing out the series against the Edmonton Oilers.

“We’re fired up. It’s like we’re playing with house money — they don’t belong here, they shouldn’t be here — but we’re excited,” Vittal said. “It’s almost like the first season ended and now we are playing a whole new season.”

Nate Campbell, Jessica LaPorte and Eric Baumgartner enjoyed beer and wings at WestEnd’s sidewalk patio, the game playing on several TVs near their table. They were excited to remember when the United Center hosted playoff hockey and a global pandemic hadn’t disrupted the nation.

“It’s a little sense of fake normalcy, I guess you can say,” LaPorte said. “It’s just fun to see them playing like how they used too especially with all those goals they made in the last game.”

Campbell said it’s “shocking” the Hawks are in the position they are — but now, he added, they have a real shot at the Stanley Cup.

“It’s exciting because we’ve sucked for a few years,” Campbell said raising his beer and laughing.

Frank Trovato was watching the game at the outdoor patio of Vintage Bar, 1449 W. Taylor St. He’s been a Hawks fan for over 12 years now and the thought of playoff hockey is thrilling.

“It’s a bit of euphoria, I have to say, because even though they shouldn’t be here, they have as good of a chance as anyone,” Trovato said. “We’ve seen the lowest seed beating the highest seed a lot of times in the NHL, so anything can happen.”

Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190397 Chicago Blackhawks ‘‘There’s always going to be maybe unwarranted praise and criticism,’’ Toews said. ‘‘I don’t think any of that’s fazed us. We were pretty eager to get this chance and show what we can do. Technically, we just made the playoffs now, so the real fun begins.’’ Blackhawks eliminate Oilers with Game 4 victory, reach round of 16 in NHL playoffs Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 08.08.2020

By Ben Pope Aug 7, 2020, 8:31pm CDT

Through the dark, cold days of winter, as the Blackhawks staggered through brief winning streaks and longer losing streaks, coach Jeremy Colliton constantly maintained his team was playoff-caliber.

On Friday, as the final seconds ticked off the Hawks’ series-clinching 3-2 victory against the Oilers, Colliton saw that vision proved a reality.

‘‘The message has been that if you’re willing to approach the game a certain way and have a mentality that you’re willing to put the team before yourself, you can win,’’ Colliton said. ‘‘It’s been so rewarding to see our team embrace that.’’

For the first time since 2015, the Hawks have won a postseason series. For the first time since 2017, they have made it into the NHL’s field of 16 official playoff teams.

And for the first time since Colliton replaced Joel Quenneville as the Hawks’ coach in November 2018, his ambitious goals for his team appear realistically attainable.

‘‘[In] mid-December, there was a marked difference in our approach and just the commitment of the guys,’’ Colliton said. ‘‘We got better as the year went on after that point. [I’m] grateful that we’ve been able to continue that process here in the summer.’’

The 12th-seeded Hawks advanced to a conventional best-of-seven series against the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, which will be determined by the winner of the Avalanche-Golden Knights game Saturday.

For now, however, they can look back on their four games against the Oilers as the moment where their old guard and new generation learned how to win together.

‘‘For us, it didn’t really matter what seed we were,’’ said captain Jonathan Toews, who assisted on Dominik Kubalik’s tiebreaking goal with 11:30 left. ‘‘Across our lineup, guys stepped up their game. [We’ve] got a lot of young guys who don’t maybe have a ton of playoff experience showing what they can do. That gets you going and motivates you more than anything.’’

On Kubalik’s game-winner, Toews outworked Oilers defenseman Ethan Bear for a loose puck. He then passed to Kubalik, who lifted a wrist shot past Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen from the slot.

‘‘To be honest, I didn’t even take a look at the net,’’ Kubalik said. ‘‘I was just trying to shoot it as quick as possible.’’

Goalie Corey Crawford, who was rusty through the first three games after barely returning from COVID-19 in time for the Hawks’ trip to Edmonton, shook off his rust to put together arguably one of the best performances of his playoff career.

Crawford put a goal in the first minute of the game out of his mind and finished with 43 saves, highlighted by numerous stops on wave after wave of desperate Oilers attacks as time wound down.

His heroics helped the Hawks overcome deficits of 71-47 in shots and 43-25 in scoring chances — 29-10 and 19-6, respectively, in the third period alone.

‘‘I felt way better each game, playing each game and just seeing different scenarios and situations,’’ Crawford said. ‘‘Once you get more of that, just the better you feel. Tonight was obviously better.’’

‘‘He was our best player,’’ Kubalik said.

The Oilers threatened until the buzzer, whistling a shot just wide with mere seconds left on the clock. But the final horn marked the start of what the Hawks hope will be a special playoff run to surprise everyone but themselves. 1190398 Chicago Blackhawks "Holding your breath there," Saad said. "They got a good look at the net and he just missed it by a little bit. ... Just thankful he missed."

And the Hawks, no doubt, are thankful to be moving on to the Sweet Believe it: Hawks oust Oilers with 3-2 win, advance to next round Sixteen where they will face the Golden Knights or Avalanche.

For now, though, they'll savor a sweet victory.

John Dietz "We were pretty eager to get this chance and show what we can do," Toews said. "Technically we just made the playoffs now, so the real fun Updated8/7/2020 10:39 PM begins."

Daily Herald Times LOADED: 08.08.2020 In the end, tenacity trumped talent.

That pretty much sums up why the Blackhawks are moving on in the Stanley Cup playoffs, while Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the sloppy, turnover-prone Edmonton Oilers are headed home.

The Hawks' relentless veteran core teamed up with their up-and-coming youngsters -- including dynamic rookie scoring machine Dominik Kubalik -- and sent the Oilers packing with a series-clinching 3-2 victory in Game 4 at Edmonton on Friday.

Kubalik netted the game-winner off a pass from captain Jonathan Toews with 11:30 remaining. Corey Crawford played his best game of the series, making 41 saves. And let's not forget the penalty killers, who stood tall during 5 Edmonton power plays, one of which was a five- minute major early in the second period that could have spelled disaster.

Brandon Saad and Matthew Highmore also scored for the Hawks, who will now face Vegas or Colorado in a best-of-seven series.

"Really proud of how we competed," said coach Jeremy Colliton. "Right from the first game, we showed we were ready and committed to doing the little things that give you a chance to win."

Said Toews, who had 2 assists: "Across our lineup, guys stepped up their game. Got a lot of young guys who don't have a ton of playoff experience showing what they can do. That gets you going and motivates you more than anything."

Of all the big names, it was Crawford who shined brightest -- and especially in the third period when he turned away 18 shots.

Perhaps the biggest save came with 8:01 remaining when Crawford -- laying almost on his stomach -- somehow got the tip of his glove on a Zack Kassian shot from just a few feet away.

In the second period, Crawford turned away a blast from James Neal by barely sliding to his right in time and later deflected an Oscar Klefbom shot with his left leg while trying to deal with traffic right in front of him.

There were also countless pucks laying in the crease or clanking off the post, any of which could have ended up behind Crawford and completely flipped the script.

"Our D men -- our forwards too -- everyone was helping out in our zone," Crawford said. "I mean it's a total team effort."

Edmonton struck first when Josh Archibald beat Crawford just 45 seconds in. It was the third time in the series that the Oilers took a 1-0 lead in less than three minutes.

But Dave Tippett's squad started getting sloppy and the Hawks made them pay.

Saad tied things up at 5:16 of the first period, and Highmore scored for the second time in as many games by tipping a Duncan Keith shot into the net at 7:56.

Edmonton tied it up again at 2:02 of the second period, and 30 seconds later the refs called a five-minute major on Alex DeBrincat for his hit on Ethan Bear.

Edmonton should have had five minutes on the power play to score as many goals as possible, but the Oilers remained their own worst enemy as Darnell Nurse was whistled for interference at 4:48. That meant 4-on- 4 hockey for two minutes, and the Hawks escaped completely unscathed.

Edmonton, which took a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty with just 2:03 remaining, managed to get the puck into the Hawks' offensive zone in the waning seconds, but a late blast by Darnell Nurse sailed wide and that was that. 1190399 Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks eliminate Oilers, win first postseason series since 2015 Stanley Cup Final

By Charlie Roumeliotis August 07, 2020 8:28 PM

For the first time since the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, the Blackhawks have won a postseason series. And they're officially moving on to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Blackhawks defeated the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers on Friday to pull off the upset in the best-of-five series. They went into the tournament as the No. 12 seed in the Western Conference and were serious about making noise as an underdog.

With the series win, the Blackhawks secured the No. 8 seed in the West. They will face the winner of Saturday's game against the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche, which will determine the No. 1 seed.

The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs will be a traditional best-of- seven series.

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What it will take for Blackhawks to close out Oilers in Game 4

By Charlie Roumeliotis August 07, 2020 9:45 AM

The Blackhawks have been in this position before.

No, I'm not talking about the dynasty era days when they were one game away from closing out a postseason series. This is a different team and different circumstances.

I'm talking about knowing what it's like coming off an emotional win and responding the right way in the next one.

After stunning the No. 5-seeded Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, the Blackhawks had a letdown performance in Game 2. They had a bounce-back effort in Game 3 thanks to some late- game heroics, putting themselves in position on Friday to win their first postseason series for the first time since the 2015 Stanley Cup Final.

And if they want to do that, the Blackhawks must learn from their approach in Game 2.

"They have that killer instinct when they're down a game, and now they're on the brink of elimination, so that was an important lesson for our team," Brandon Saad said. "We have to match that intensity going into [Friday], knowing their backs are against the wall and we've got to have that same mentality against them."

Click to download the MyTeams App for the latest Blackhawks news and analysis.

Head coach Jeremy Colliton said after Game 1 that he expected the Oilers to come out desperate in Game 2 and they did. But the Blackhawks didn't match that intensity.

That can't be the case in Game 4.

"It’ll probably be their best game of the series, so we have to prepare for that," Colliton said. "Hopefully we've learned a lesson from our approach in Game 2. It’s not just going to happen. We have to be ready from the start, have the details, have a work ethic away from the puck. We need everyone going to have a good chance to win."

The game plan for the Blackhawks to win Game 4 is simple: stay out of the penalty box, capitalize on their power-play opportunities and keep the game at even strength as much as possible. It's easier said than done, but that's the formula to beating the Oilers.

"We know when your back's against the wall, it's a do-or-die situation," Saad said. "So for us, it's just having that same mentality, not looking at it like we have a lead in the series but — just like last game — putting in the hard work for 60 minutes, knowing you're going to have some success with doing the right things and sticking with it all game, and that's what happened last game. Just matching that intensity and knowing it's going to take a full 60 minutes of hard work."

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What having no fans at postseason games is like for Blackhawks' Drake Caggiula

By Scott King August 07, 2020 9:18 AM

Watching at home, the NHL's 24-team postseason hasn't disappointed at all. The games are a fast-paced, intense display of high-end talent like in any postseason and we're still just in the qualifying round.

The league putting tarps over the seats and even adding canned crowd noise helps you forget live fans have been taken out of the equation.

Click to download the MyTeams App for the latest Blackhawks news and analysis.

For the players on the ice, sometimes the absence of the game's fans is hard to ignore.

Blackhawks forward Drake Caggiula has experienced the fanless games as both a player and spectator. He played in Game 1 and 3 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers against the Oilers, but missed Game 2 after being suspended for an illegal check to the head of Edmonton forward Tyler Ennis.

Related: What being teammates with Connor McDavid was like for Blackhawks' Drake Caggiula

"It's definitely different watching or even playing without fans," Caggiula said earlier in the week. "You see a mad scramble in front of the net and it's pretty quiet out there and typically that's when fans are oohing and ahhing and cheering and chaos ensues and sometimes you can build off the momentum.

"Maybe you're down a goal or two and you score a goal and the crowd gets into it and you can kind of feed off that energy and obviously that's not there, you got to create your own energy, you got to find that within your own locker room. Sometimes that can be difficult, especially if the game gets a little bit out of reach. You have to find ways to keep yourself involved and keep your energy up and find that from within and not be looking for the others (to)."

The Blackhawks lead the series against the Oilers 2-1 with Game 4 scheduled for Friday at 5:45 p.m. CT.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190402 Chicago Blackhawks different scenarios and situations. Once you get more of that, just the better you feel. I mean tonight was obviously better.”

It obviously was. Crawford was everywhere he needed to be. He made Powers: Corey Crawford gives Crawford-esque performance when it saves through screens. He made saves on rebounds. He made the easy matters most saves, the hard saves and everything in between. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Oilers had 20 scoring chances and 10 high-danger chances in five-on-five play over the last two periods. Those numbers were 32 and 15 if you include all situations. The Oilers didn’t put all of By Scott Powers Aug 7, 2020 those opportunities on net, but you get an idea of what sort of looks they were getting.

Corey Crawford didn’t exactly look like himself for the Blackhawks over Crawford stood tall through them all and notched his 51st career NHL the first three games of the Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying-round series. Stanley Cup playoffs victory.

Some of that was the Oilers’ doing. Their skill, power play and total “He’s a huge part of our team and he played real well today,” Kubalik offense can make NHL goalies look inadequate. A goalie can be left said. “Obviously try to help him, but we gave up too many penalties today simply shrugging in the aftermath of a puck coming off Connor McDavid so I’m really happy that he shut the door today and I thought he was our or Leon Draisaitl’s stick. best player.”

The other part was Crawford was returning from an aggressive and You can judge for yourself. Sit back and enjoy most of Crawford’s most unpredictable virus in COVID-19. We’ve all read the many symptoms at noticeable saves over the last two periods. this point and know what the virus can do. It can be mild for some, but Crawford won’t be happy with the rebound control on this one, but he severe and potentially deadly for others. The virus can attack and cause was in position to make the second save. havoc on one’s lungs. It’s something most of us rightfully fear. The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 Crawford feared it, too, especially after he contracted it. He watched the news. He heard and read the same things we did. There was no telling how his body would respond. His age and health were to his advantage, but nothing was guaranteed. He’d have to wait and see.

The reality is Crawford didn’t know if he’d be playing for the Blackhawks in this series. His teammates didn’t know. Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton didn’t know. Crawford had to take care of himself and hope for the best, and the Blackhawks had to prepare potentially to play without him.

“It was kind of tough luck to get that right before we were starting camp,” Crawford said. “Would have liked to have more time to get ready, but I guess it was over with and I was starting to feel better at the right time and able to start practicing hard and get into the first game.”

Can you imagine now, Crawford not playing in this series? Everything could have played out much differently. He still could be in Chicago. Nothing against Malcolm Subban or Collin Delia, but not many goalies have Crawford’s ability.

Certainly few are capable and have proved time after time to be able to rise to the challenge of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Although Crawford wasn’t Crawford for those first three games and the Blackhawks got by while he was working out the kinks, he emerged when it mattered most and shut down the Oilers’ high-powered offense.

In the end, Crawford was Crawford.

The Oilers had scored moments after a power play at 2:02 of the second period to tie the score at 2-2. There was no telling if the game would end up 3-2 or 8-6 considering the two teams had combined for 26 goals in the first three games, but that next goal seemed quite important.

The fact is the Oilers never got a next goal. Crawford denied the Oilers’ last 34 shots on net over the final 37 minutes and 58 seconds. He stopped shot after shot after shot and gave the Blackhawks the chance to take the game and the series.

Jonathan Toews capitalized on that opportunity, won a puck battle, found Dominik Kubalik and Kubalik buried the go-ahead goal at 8:30 of the third period. From there, the Oilers consistently pushed for the equalizing goal, and Crawford didn’t relent. He stood strong and made his net impenetrable.

Crawford had finally rediscovered rhythm. He was seeing the puck and reacting much like he was before the pause. He’d say after the game he still didn’t feel completely in sync yet, but he was a lot closer to that than he had been in the previous three games. The fact he wasn’t more of an open door earlier in the series was somewhat surprising. After recovering from the virus, he had gotten one practice in Chicago, a handful more in Edmonton, a period and a half in an exhibition game and then thrown into an elimination series.

“Obviously it wasn’t the best scenario,” Crawford said. “I would have liked to have had a few more weeks of practice and see more pucks coming into the series. But it is what it is. Just trying to work hard to be ready. I think I felt way better each game, playing each game and just seeing 1190403 Chicago Blackhawks And those veterans? They’re getting a welcome reminder about what they’re playing for, what they’re training for, what they’re all about. And they’re passing it on.

Lazerus: Alexis who? Blackhawks leave draft lottery behind with big step “You need your leadership group to help push the message of how we’re forward going to win,” Colliton said before Game 4. “Our guys have done a really good job, particularly in the second half of the season and as we’ve gone into the playoffs here, holding each other accountable and being an example to young players (for) how we have to act if we’re going to have By Mark Lazerus Aug 7, 2020 a chance to win. (The veterans) know the feeling of being a champion and (that) the sacrifices you have to make are worth it. That knowledge is really important at times like these.” I know you’re out there. There’s no way of knowing how a series against the Avs or Knights will You’ve been jaded about this whole 24-team tournament from the turn out. I’m not going to sugarcoat it: It doesn’t look good. Colorado and beginning. It doesn’t count, you said. It’s all a joke, you said. The Vegas are championship-caliber teams. The Blackhawks are not. The Blackhawks didn’t earn this, you said. And the moment Bill Daly flipped Avs are set up to go on an early-2010s Blackhawks-like run, with gobs of over a big card with the NHL logo on it in late June, you instantly started young talent locked up long term. Vegas was in the Stanley Cup Final talking about tanking for a 12.5 percent chance at the top pick. Bench just two years ago. The Blackhawks, meanwhile, were the 23rd-best Corey Crawford, you snarked. Leave Patrick Kane home, you joked. team. Winning is losing, and losing is winning, you philosophized. But, hey, the 24th-best team just knocked off the Pittsburgh Penguins, And now, as the Blackhawks celebrate a 3-1 qualifying-series victory and you can be sure the Canadiens aren’t lamenting their inability to land over the star-studded Edmonton Oilers — capped by a stomach-twisting the home-province Lafrenière (OK, some of their fans might be, but the 3-2 victory in Game 4 on Friday night — you’re openly lamenting that the Canadiens also don’t have the young talent in the lineup and on the way draft lottery will go on without you. You’re committing to the bit. Bravo. that the Blackhawks do).

But come on. Be honest. Now that you’ve gotten sucked back in, you see Every day the Blackhawks get to stay in the bubble is invaluable. This how ridiculous that nonsense is, right? qualifying series — two very flawed teams playing very meaningful hockey — was a heck of a start. It’s wild and woolly, it’s fun, and it’s a Would you really rather be sitting on your couch Monday night, hoping hell of a lot tenser than the regular season. But it’s not exactly playoff- that some ping-pong balls fall your way, putting all your hope into an 18- caliber hockey. For all their skill and special teams prowess, the Oilers year-old savior? Or would you rather be mentally steeling yourself for the don’t strike fear into the hearts of anyone. But another four to seven beautiful, soul-searing agony of a seven-game series in the Stanley Cup games against a truly elite team will expedite the learning process and playoffs proper for the first time in three long years? In other words, do make the Blackhawks that much more ready the next time. They won’t be you want a 12.5 percent chance at landing Alexis Lafrenière, or do you wide-eyed first-timers taking their first steps. They’ll be playoff-tested want the Avalanche or the Golden Knights? veterans looking to take the next step. Remember, this isn’t some King Solomon situation. Lose in the qualifying And come on, this is hockey. Stranger things have happened than round and you don’t get one-eighth of Lafrenière and however many Chicago over Colorado or Vegas. points he puts up in his career. The overwhelming odds are you end up picking 10th or 11th, anyway. If someone offered you a guaranteed Miller Maybe the Blackhawks didn’t truly belong here. But you can’t say that Lite or a 1-in-8 chance at a glass of Pappy Van Winkle, you’re probably anymore. Whatever label you want to affix to this round, the Blackhawks taking the beer. Because you’re a Blackhawks fan, and, man, you are have won a playoff series. They belong in the Round of 16 because they parched. played their way in. Leave the draft lottery for the losers. Sit back and enjoy another two weeks of indescribable angst. Hell, even if you land Lafrenière, what are you promised? Jack Hughes didn’t exactly transform the New Jersey Devils this past year, did he? It’s fun for you and it’s good for them. Kirby Dach, projected to go anywhere from third to 10th, was far more impressive and made much more of an impact. The NHL Draft is still a The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 crapshoot. But playoff hockey is real. It’s tangible. It’s great and it’s horrible and it’s exhilarating and it’s exhausting and it makes you want to puke and it makes you feel alive.

Let’s go beyond the “this is fun and, dammit, everyone deserves it after five months in quarantine” argument. The stress might be breaking you as a fan, but it’s making this team as players. We like to think of the Blackhawks as these aging warriors in search of one last shot at glory, but they’re quite the opposite. All those Stanley Cups are confined to five guys — Kane, Crawford, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Brandon Saad. Plus, Olli Maatta has a couple from his days in Pittsburgh. The rest of the team can barely grow playoff stubble.

The Blackhawks are the youngest of the 24 teams in the tournament, even with those “old” guys wrecking the curve. And every period, every shift, is on-the-job training. Dach is learning the hard way that he needs to be more assertive and can’t defer to Kane just because Kane’s been here before. Alex DeBrincat is learning the hard way about how important discipline is; his five-minute boarding major on Ethan Bear in the second period Friday could have cost his team the game. Dylan Strome and Alex Nylander are getting their feet wet and learning they need to dive all the way in and start playing with aggression, not timidity. Adam Boqvist is getting an education from a postseason master in Keith, his partner, who’s in his ear constantly. Matthew Highmore is learning to ride the roller coaster of emotions that is the postseason. Dominik Kubalik is learning that raw goal-scoring skill translates to the postseason and that confidence is everything; he had the winner in Game 4 off a terrific play by the rejuvenated Toews. Even Jeremy Colliton is a newbie, and he’s learning how to adjust and exploit matchups over the course of a series. 1190404 Chicago Blackhawks stay even-keeled. For me, it’s something I’m getting better at. I’m generally tougher on myself, but really credit my linemates last night for keeping not only our line in it but myself and making sure we knew the job wasn’t done, and there was plenty of time to get it back.” ‘Relief, joy, excitement’: Blackhawks’ Matthew Highmore rides the wave Time was running out in the third period, though. The Blackhawks were trailing 3-2 when Highmore and his linemates jumped over the boards for a neutral-zone faceoff with 6:16 remaining in the third period. The Oilers By Scott Powers Aug 7, 2020 won the faceoff, and Highmore broke up a pass in the neutral zone and gave the Blackhawks possession.

Matthew Highmore would have had to try to be a good roommate in the The Blackhawks dumped the puck into the offensive zone and began early hours of Thursday if these were ordinary times. pressuring on the forecheck. Kampf and Highmore forced the puck along the boards, and the Oilers had their own miscue with the puck. Carpenter Highmore shared a room with a Blackhawks teammate on the road was the first to the loose puck, passed it to Maatta on the left side of the throughout the regular season, but considering the ongoing pandemic blue line and he passed it to Koekkoek on the other side of the line. and the protocols for life inside the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs bubble, Highmore has his own room. Koekkoek was waiting for it with his stick pulled back and fired a low one- timer at the net. Highmore had skated from the boards to near the net That came in handy after Game 3 of the qualifying-round series against while that was happening. Facing away from the net, he reached out his the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night. When Highmore got back to stick, made contact with the puck and directed it over Oilers goalie Mikko his room in the early hours of Thursday, he was in no way sleepy. He Koskinen’s right shoulder. was wired. “I think you have to kind of anticipate it a little bit,” Highmore said of the “I think everybody was pretty fired up after that game,” Highmore said redirection. “Just kind of knowing whether it’s from practice or just after laughing on Thursday afternoon. “We hung tough, got the job done. watching tape, knowing how someone shoots the puck or where their But probably one of the harder nights to fall asleep after a game, for tendencies are just so you can kind of get a bit of a jump on it to get your sure.” stick on it.”

Highmore spent those extra hours awake replaying the game and his All that worked out perfectly for Highmore. After tipping the puck, he individual performance in his head and on a screen. He said he had turned around, saw the result, threw his arms into the air and pumped his watched the game three to four times before noon Thursday. fist while dropping to a knee in celebration.

Thursday was mainly about resetting for Highmore and the Blackhawks His night had dramatically changed. as they prepare for the difficult task of attempting to close out the series on Friday, but Highmore was willing to go down memory lane about his “Last night, it was a lot of relief,” Highmore said. “We were pushing to get previous night one more time. that back. We had plenty of guys who had lots of chances. It was just a lot of relief, joy, excitement and a 3-3 game in Game 3 of the playoffs. It No Blackhawks player certainly felt the highs and the lows Highmore was a big moment for us.” experienced in Game 3. The lows were winning out for most of the evening, too. Asked if it was the biggest goal he had ever scored, Highmore had to think about it. He hadn’t really considered it. On the Oilers’ first goal, Blackhawks center David Kampf won a defensive faceoff, and Highmore was first to the puck. As planned, he “To date, probably, yeah,” Highmore said. “With the magnitude of the knocked it softly behind him and looked to create a loose puck for a situation, kind of the time left on the clock, yeah, it was probably the teammate. The sequence didn’t play out as the Blackhawks hoped, and biggest goal.” the puck bounced away from defensemen Olli Maatta and then Slater Highmore defended on a few shifts and helped preserve the tie and then Koekkoek, and it ended up quickly on Leon Draisaitl’s stick and in the the lead when Jonathan Toews scored. For a player who is as team- net. oriented as anyone on the Blackhawks, Highmore was only going to “We’re trying to bump it behind the net,” Highmore said. “It’s just kind of enjoy his accomplishment if they won. It did, and that adrenaline fed into sitting there and somebody has to make a play on it. Unfortunately, it his late night. kind of hopped around and there wasn’t a whole lot we could do about it. When Highmore returned to the hotel, it was too late to talk to anyone, We just have to be cleaner, myself included.” but he had plenty of congratulatory text messages to read. And finally The goal erased the Blackhawks’ 1-0 lead in the first period. A period around 3:15 a.m. MT, he drifted off into sleep. later, another mishap by Highmore and the fourth line allowed the Oilers The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 to even the score at 2-2 after another Blackhawks lead.

The Oilers’ second goal was much harder for Highmore to swallow. The Blackhawks were working the puck around in their defensive zone to organize a breakout, and Highmore received a pass with no one in his vicinity. Highmore got the puck, then was going to pass it across the ice to Maatta and make his way into the neutral zone. But the pass never occurred. Highmore drifted to his left and swung his stick to connect with the puck, but the puck wasn’t where he expected it to be. He missed, and the Oilers jumped on his mistake. Within a few seconds, the Oilers had scored again

“I just whiffed on it,” Highmore said. “I thought I had full control of it. Unfortunately, I didn’t and just kind of went downhill from there.”

Highmore’s game could have remained downhill. Two things happened to prevent that. One, Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton kept playing him and his line. Two, Highmore didn’t get lost in what already happened and fought to remain optimistic.

Those events weren’t a given. Plenty of coaches have sat players and lines for less, especially in big games. On the second point, Highmore isn’t a kid at 24, but he is still a rookie and it was still his first taste of the playoffs. The turnover could have easily crushed his confidence.

“I think it’s something everybody works on throughout their career,” Highmore said. “Highs and lows throughout a game, you have to kind of 1190405 Colorado Avalanche

Even in the Edmonton bubble, home-ice advantage matters for Avalanche

By MIKE CHAMBERS | PUBLISHED: August 7, 2020 at 4:52 p.m. | UPDATED: August 7, 2020 at 7:42 p.m.

Obscure but seemingly important factors surround the Avalanche’s third and final round-robin tuneup for the traditional 16-team Stanley Cup playoffs.

With a victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, the Avs will be the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed and have “home-ice” advantage throughout the conference playoffs, beginning against No. 8 Chicago. If they lose Saturday, Vegas gets the top spot and Colorado will be No. 2 and open against No. 7 Arizona, with “home-ice” advantage against every team except the Knights.

The Blackhawks and Coyotes each advanced from the qualifying round Friday, upsetting Edmonton and Nashville, respectively, in four games.

With no fans allowed in Edmonton because of the coronavirus pandemic, the home team’s only advantage will be having last change — thus dictating matchups before every faceoff.

But for the Avs, the No. 1 seed is a goal they established in October before the season opener at Pepsi Center. They thought a lot about that after losing Game 7 of a second-round series at San Jose in 2019.

“It’s been our goal since the start of the year,” Avs winger Mikko Rantanen said after practice Friday. “So we have a good opportunity. One more win and we have it. That’s our main goal and we’re focused.”

“It’s huge,” center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare added. “I know we’re still in the bubble but it’s still important. It’s going to be important down the stretch.”

The Avs and the Knights are both 2-0 in the bubble, each defeating St. Louis and Dallas in regulation. Colorado has outscored its two foes 6-1, while Vegas has been more run-and-gun, winning 5-3 and 6-4 with third- period comebacks.

The Avalanche blasted the Knights by 6-1 and 7-3 scores during the regular season, with both games at T-Mobile Arena.

“It’s going to be intense,” Bellemare, a former Knight, said of the rubber match between the teams.

Avs coach Jared Bednar declined to reveal his linuep or starting goalie against the Knights. Philipp Grubauer started against St. Louis and Pavel Francouz got the shutout against Dallas. Saturday’s starter will likely be the guy who starts Game 1 of the first-round series.

Bednar, like his players, said beating Vegas is important for a variety of reasons.

“That goal kind of helped drive our consistency throughout the year,” he said of the No. 1 seed. “To have one game remaining and that’s still a milestone that we can reach, it’s good — it’s good to have our team succeed when we set goals, whether they’re short-term or long-term goals. So whether it’s symbolic (or more) — I do think there are advantages, for sure, to have the home ice (with) last change and being able to pursue some matchups if we want to.

“So I see some significance there, but for me, it’s more just having our team work towards something and make sure that we’re playing our best to try to achieve the goals we set out to do. That’s the last one from the regular season so hopefully, it’s something we can attain.”

Denver Post: LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190406 Colorado Avalanche likes of Patrick Roy (18 times), David Aebischer (one), Craig Anderson (one), Dan Bouchard (one) and Grubauer (one).

Francouz said he wasn't the least bit nervous, which had him on edge. Grubauer, Francouz make strong cases to start in net for Avs “That kind of scared me because usually I’m pretty nervous,” he said. “I was a little bit afraid of that. It didn’t affect my performance. I don’t even know why but I felt pretty comfortable.” By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer Aug 6, 2020 Updated Aug 6, 2020 Bednar certainly feels comfortable putting either goaltender in net.

“The fact is that Frankie is pushing him and helping (Grubauer) play Jared Bednar intends to ride the hot goaltender throughout the playoffs. better and he’s helping Frankie play better. It’s a healthy relationship,” Bednar said. “It’s just having trust in two guys and someone’s got to have The only thing: Which one? the net. If he does a really good job, he’s likely to stay in.” The Colorado Avalanche coach has a goalie situation of the good variety LOADED: 08.08.2020 with Pavel Francouz and Phlipp Grubauer presenting strong cases to be the the No. 1 goaltender.

Grubauer’s case: Not only the starter for last season’s playoff run but was lights out in the first game of the round-robin format against the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues.

Francouz’s counter-argument: Had the lower goals-against average during the regular season and posted a shutout victory over Dallas on Wednesday.

“It’s not rocket science,” Bednar said of his decision.

In this instance, it just might be that complicated.

Both have compelling arguments.

Bednar maintained that he’s going to pick the goaltender based on the following criteria: How rested they are and their confidence level in net.

For now, Grubauer grabs the lead based on the fact he was the starting goaltender when he wasn't injured (he missed 20 games). But Francouz has made this an awfully close race.

“It’s a good problem to have,” said Bednar, whose team is 2-0 in round- robin play to decide the top four seeds and can secure the No. 1 spot with a win against Vegas on Saturday. “We’ll make our decisions on who’s going to start as quickly as we can to give our guys the time they need to prepare.”

The team obviously has confidence in both given their level of play. The two goaltenders have each other's back, too.

"I don’t think there’s a competition between Frankie and me,” Grubauer said last month when the team went through training camp in Colorado. “It’s a competition between the Colorado Avalanche and the St. Louis Blues, or whoever we’re going to face. So whoever gets the call between the pipes has got to do his job. If you’re not in the next game, the next guy’s got to step up.”

Grubauer began the season as the starter before going through a rash of injuries. That opened the net for Francouz, the 30-year-old from Czech Republic who signed with the Avalanche as a free agent in 2018 and inked a two-year extension in February.

Before the season was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it appeared Francouz would be the starter with Grubauer sidelined with a lower-body injury. Although, Grubauer contended he was nearing a return.

Bednar has the utmost confidence in Grubauer given the 28-year-old from Germany helped the Avalanche upset Calgary, the top seed in the West, last season in the playoffs before being eliminated by San Jose in Game 7. Grubauer also was a backup on the Washington Capitals team that hoisted the Cup in 2018.

Grubauer was stellar in his start against the Blues. He allowed a first- period goal and nothing else, paving the way for Nazem Kadri to score with 0.1 seconds on the clock in a 2-1 comeback victory.

Then there’s Francouz, who finished tied for fifth in the NHL in save percentage (.923) and seventh in goals-against average (2.41) during the regular season. Then he allowed nothing to get by him during his first postseason appearance. He made 27 stops during a 4-0 win against Dallas.

He's the first goaltender in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history to record a shutout in his postseason debut. Not only that, but he becomes the sixth goaltender in franchise history to notch a shutout, joining the 1190407 Columbus Blue Jackets

Maple Leafs stun Blue Jackets with late flurry, tie series with power-play goal in OT

Brian Hedger

Aug 7, 2020 at 11:13 PM

Twenty-four hours after the Blue Jackets stung the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime, the favor was returned in equally stunning fashion Friday night at Scotiabank Arena.

A day after the Maple Leafs coughed up a 3-0 lead and lost on four unanswered goals by the Jackets, they did it themselves just in the nick of time – winning Game 4 to even a best-of-five series at two games apiece with a 4-3 victory in overtime.

Auston Matthews scored 13:10 into overtime to end it with a one-timer on a power play, rewarding the Maple Leafs for scoring three goals in a span of 3:34 at the end of regulation to tie it at 3 with goalie Frederik Andersen on the bench for all three goals.

It was a stunning turn of events for the Blue Jackets, who were cruising toward a victory that would have clinched the series in four games to advance out of the NHL’s playoff qualifying round.

Less than two minutes after Boone Jenner gave Columbus a 3-0 lead with his first goal of the series, Toronto’s comeback began. William Nylander cut it to 3-1 with 3:57 left, poking the puck through the pads of goalie Elvis Merzlikins, before Maple Leafs captain John Tavares made it 3-2 just 51 seconds later.

Just 12 seconds after Cam Atkinson missed an open net in the Toronto end, Tavares ripped a wrist shot into to the top left corner over Merzlikin’s shoulder to make Columbus nervous.

Pierre-Luc Dubois, the Blue Jackets’ hero from Game 3, then missed a long shot at the Maple Leafs’ vacant net with 1:38 left – setting up the tying goal scored by Toronto’s Zach Hyman with 22.2 left in regulation.

Atkinson, Vladislav Gavrikov and Jenner scored the goals for the Blue Jackets, while Merzlikins made his first NHL start – a day after making 21 saves in relief of Joonas Korpisalo to win Game 3.

The Blue Jackets played without defenseman Ryan Murray, who was replaced in the lineup by Scott Harrington for undisclosed reasons, and defenseman Zach Werenski left the game after an apparent injury late in regulation.

Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190408 Columbus Blue Jackets those opportunities. (He) put us all on his back (in Game 3) and it was good to see."

Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 08.08.2020 Pierre-Luc Dubois shows just how good he can be in carrying Blue Jackets to victory

Brian Hedger

Aug 7, 2020 at 2:04 PM

It was all right there on display.

The size, the speed, the hands, the shot and the overall skill of Pierre- Luc Dubois allowed the Blue Jackets’ muscle-bound 22-year-old center to take over a game the Toronto Maple Leafs were dominating Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena.

Trailing 3-0 near the middle in the second period, the Blue Jackets needed a spark to get their engine running. Changing goalies helped, switching from Joonas Korpisalo to Elvis Merzlikins just to shake things up, but in retrospect – a day after the Jackets’ impressive 4-3 overtime victory in Game 3 of a best-of-five – Dubois’ emergence loomed largest.

Nicknamed "Beast Boy," by his teammates, Dubois let his inner beast out of its cage in that second period. It romped and stomped around the ice, catching the Maple Leafs off-guard and eventually catching them napping late in overtime.

"Every game, you try to be a difference-maker, whether it’s offensively or defensively," said Dubois, whose inconsistent play and production led to verbal sparring matches most of the season with Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella. "When you’re down 3-0, defensive plays are big to keep you in it. … But at some point, you need to score. And it was a team effort (in Game 3)."

While that was true of the Jackets’ comeback – the third time in franchise history they’ve overcome a three-goal playoff deficit and won – that team effort was spearheaded by one large dude. Sensing his team’s hopes slipping, as the Maple Leafs did whatever they wanted with the puck, a 6- foot-3, 218-pound mountain on ice skates did something about it.

And when he did, what was revealed most was proof that Tortorella is correct by saying Dubois has what it takes to become an elite two-way NHL centers. The Blue Jackets just have to coax it out of him more often.

"Luc’s a good player," Tortorella said after Game 3, putting it mildly after watching Dubois score three goals for his first career playoff hat trick and also the first of its kind in franchise history.

"If we’re going to succeed, he needs to be a big part of it consistently. I thought a lot of other people chipped in, too. He makes some big plays with his body, his big body, as far as taking pucks to the net, so we’re going to need that from him (Friday in Game 4)."

Looking further down the line, the Jackets need it from him no matter how long this playoff journey lasts. They’re also going to need it in the years ahead, after Dubois signs his first large contract in the coming months and continues to grow in a potential leadership role. That’s the kind of talent he has, and it creeps out intermittently rather than frightening opposing coaches on a regular basis.

Dubois had a solid season in his third NHL campaign, finishing with 18 goals, 31 assists and 49 points in 70 games, but the sense that more was possible was ever-present. In fact, it became a tug-of-war with Tortorella that lasted most of the season, finally boiling over in a verbal spat in Game 2 on Tuesday.

Caught in its entirety on Sportsnet’s broadcast, which was shown in Canada and available to U.S. viewers through the NHL’s streaming service, the heated exchange before the third period became its own storyline Wednesday. A day later, Dubois went full "Beast Boy" mode and we found out why.

That was the player the Jackets need to see more consistently.

"I just think with Luc, if he wants to be a difference-maker, a game- changer, one of the best players in the league ... he has all the capabilities, all the tools," said veteran Cam Atkinson. "It’s not always going to go your way, but it’s those moments where you capitalize on 1190409 Columbus Blue Jackets

Elvis Merzlikins will start at goalie for Blue Jackets in Game 4 vs. Maple Leafs

Brian Hedger

Aug 7, 2020 at 12:35 PM

This time, Elvis Merzlikins will get more time to prepare for his second taste of playoff hockey.

The Blue Jackets’ goalie will get a chance to help his team clinch a best- of-five series against the Toronto Maple Leafs by starting Game 4 on Friday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

The decision was revealed Friday afternoon by coach John Tortorella, who also gave Merzlikins his first playoff appearance in relief of Joonas Korpisalo in Game 3 on Thursday – a stunning 4-3 overtime victory for the Jackets after overcoming a 3-0 deficit.

Merzlikins stopped all 21 shots he faced in that win, which put the Blue Jackets up 2-1 in the series and gave them a chance to close it out in Game 4. Should the Maple Leafs even it two games apiece with a win Friday, the deciding game will be played Sunday.

Merzlikins replaced Korpisalo at 8:48 of the second period in Game 3, after rookie Nick Robertson’s gave the Maple Leafs a 3-0 lead with his first NHL goal on a shot from the left wing. Despite entering the game cold, Merzlikins was sharp from beginning to end in his appearance, keeping Toronto at three goals and allowing the Blue Jackets to climb back into it.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored two of this three goals in regulation to tie the game, along with a goal from Seth Jones in the third, and the 22-year old center earned the franchise’s first playoff hat trick with a backhand shot off a breakaway late in overtime to win it.

Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190410 Columbus Blue Jackets showing him belt out his usual rendition of the U.S. and Canadian anthems from his home in Ohio.

Thousands of Blue Jackets fans across the state – and, let’s face it, Blue Jackets 4, Maple Leafs 3, OT: Five Takeaways probably remote parts of North America too – welcomed his presence on their television screens the only way they know how, bellowing out a hearty "Leo!" after hearing his name.

Brian Hedger There are probably many neighbors wondering just what the heck that racket was next door last night, and that was before Dubois lifted a Aug 7, 2020 at 7:39 AM backhand over Frederik Andersen’s shoulder in overtime. That goal, had it occurred in a packed Nationwide Arena, would’ve had the ice covered in hats. They would’ve needed a front-end scoop attached to ice guru Ian Those who stayed up may have a question in their mind today. Huffman’s Zamboni just to clean them all up.

"Did that really just happen … again?" Instead, thanks to a new reality of life in a pandemic, countless hats were probably flung individually off decks, patios, balconies, couches etc., Those who didn’t make it to the end of the Blue Jackets’ 4-3 victory which sufficed. Thursday night, when Pierre-Luc Dubois scored late in overtime to fully overcome an early 3-0 deficit and notch the first playoff hat trick in It was quite a moment in Blue Jackets history. franchise history, may have a slightly different inquiry. It was quite a scene, too, watching Dubois get swarmed with hugs and "Seriously ... they did it again?" high-fives just two days after his heated exchange with Tortorella was shown on Sportsnet’s Canadian-based television broadcast. The short answer works for both: "Yep, they sure did." "Stuff like that happens," Dubois said, quietly speaking into a microphone Despite falling behind by three goals not even halfway into the second during a postgame video conference with reporters. "I played good the period, despite having circles skated around them by the Maple Leafs – first game, and (Game 2), I just wanted to forget about that one – push sometimes the literal variety – and despite every conscious, living soul that one under the rug." who inhabits the "hockey universe," expecting them to fold … the Blue Jackets didn’t. What better way than torching the opponents’ goalie for three gorgeous goals? They persisted, again, just as they did one year, four months and six days earlier in Tampa, Fla., stunning another high-powered offensive Andersen didn’t stand much of a chance at stopping any of Dubois’ team that built a quick 3-0 lead on them. tallies, from the one-timer that sailed over his prone body to make it 3-1 in the second period to a quick wrister that beat him to the far side for an The Tampa Bay Lightning were shocked after that one, an unthinkable 4- equalizer in the third. The backhand in OT, well, that was absolutely 3 comeback triumph for the Jackets to start the playoffs at Amalie Arena. scorched into the upper part of the net for the win. The Toronto Maple Leafs now know the feeling. Game, set, match. Bing, bang, boom … a hat trick, a huge victory and Historical stuff like that isn’t supposed to repeat, at least not this soon, the Jackets’ prized Civil War era Kepi hat, given by players to their but here we are again. "player of the game," briefly sat on Dubois’ head in the locker room. Yes, it’s a different year. Yes, it’s a different opponent, plus a different A spat on the bench, you say? What spat? The Jackets’ bench? shade of blue and white on Toronto’s uniforms. There are also different circumstances this time, not the least of which being two NHL quarantine "I think people make a bigger deal out of it than it should be," said "bubbles" hosting the playoffs after the league was paused nearly five Tortorella, whose normal coloring had returned to his face. "We’re months for the COVID-19 pandemic. coaching our players. We’re coaching all our players, and sometimes certain things happen and you have to coach ’em. I’m not so sure that Otherwise? has anything to do with tonight. I just think ‘Luc’ played a really good Oops, they did it again. hockey game and had some great concentration."

Pierre-Luc Dubois charged to the forefront and led the comeback with a Funny he should mention that, because Dubois missed the net on two hat trick, three goals, including the winner with just 1:36 left in overtime. If good scoring chances before scoring his first goal. He could’ve had four you’re keeping track, that is one goal for every shade of purple imbued goals and helped the Jackets avoid overtime altogether, but what fun on the face of coach John Tortorella during an explosive spat with his top would that have been? center during Game 2 on Tuesday. Revenge of the Seth Is this really happening? Did they really pull this dark magic off again? When you play a sport where the premise is to slide around a sheet of The answers are "yes" and "yes," of course, and now – statistically ice with razor blades on your feet, whacking around a small, frozen disc speaking – the Blue Jackets have a 75 percent chance of clinching this in the shape of a Hostess Ding Dong, you’re going to have some weird best-of-five series, either tonight in Game 4 or Sunday in a winner-take- stuff happen. all Game 5. That’s especially true in late summer, when the NHL is usually on a According to the NHL, teams that have won the third game in a five- collective fishing trip rather than competing for the Stanley Cup. This is game series, after splitting the first two, have won 21 of 28 series in the long way of saying that hockey is filled with weird bounces and "puck league history (21-7). luck," and Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones was on the wrong end of it late the first period. And if you are just waking up to this news, it’s probably a lot to process. A slap shot from the blue line in the Columbus zone, taken by Toronto You’re going to need a few hundred video replays to actually believe it, defenseman Cody Ceci during a Jackets power play, wound up in the net so clear time for that in your schedule, and before you do … here are five after bouncing off Jones’ left shin. Chalk that one up to the "hockey takeaways from the Jackets’ latest playoff shocker: gods," who clearly had it in for Jones on that one and Blue Jackets goalie ‘P-L D’ nets 1, 2 and 3 Joonas Korpisalo in general.

The Blue Jackets, technically speaking, were the "home" team at Korpisalo had no chance to stop it. He didn’t even see it. Scotiabank Arena for the first time in the series. He allowed two more goals in the second, was given a quick hook after As such, the NHL tried to make Toronto seem as close to home as the Maple Leafs took a 3-0 lead on a goal by rookie Nick Robertson – an possible, short of rolling out a cannon or seating super fan "Captain Blue unfair exit for a guy who battled his behind off for two-plus games while Jacket" behind coach John Tortorella. Before the game, they even threw Toronto tried to steal the Jackets’ lunch money, not to mention the puck. it to anthem singer Leo Welsh on the video screens above the ice, Merzlikins came rolling in hot off the bench, despite being called in cold, and the comeback started shortly thereafter. Jones, meanwhile, had some revenge to exact for Ceci’s goal – which he did at 7:27 of the third. Here’s another one: he was so good in Game 1 that he earned a 28-save His pinpoint wrist shot, taken from the lower half of the right face-off shutout to give the Blue Jackets a critical 1-0 lead in the series. circle, ripped into the net just under the crossbar to make Andersen sweat. And here is a fact about Merzlikins: he was even better than Korpisalo after being thrust into the starting role this season, when his counterpart It cut the Maple Leafs’ lead to 3-2, setting the stage for Dubois’ second missed two months with a torn meniscus. goal to tie it 3:22 later. Also, his name is Elvis and he has a propensity to play like a rock star It was a fitting way to even the score with the "hockey gods" on a night when the stakes are high. Merzlikins didn’t allow a single goal, making 21 when Jones was masterful while skating a game-high 32:40. He was saves, and the Jackets steadily worked their way back into the game. tagged for giving the puck away three times, but also credited with three shots, seven attempts, two hits and five blocked shots – including one at "The goaltending change … it certainly wasn’t due to Korpi’s play," the left post in overtime that almost certainly prevented a goal. Tortorella said. "But you go down 3-0 and you’re playing back-to-back (games). I have to start thinking sometimes. I need to get ready for the If you’re looking for reasons the Blue Jackets will find a way to win the next game, also, especially in these back-to-back situations. And we series in one of these next two games, look no further than Jones. He’s have tremendous faith in Elvis. He’s a really good goalie. So, it gave us a fully back from his ankle surgery in February and shows it almost every chance to catch our breath. I think that’s one of the biggest things we shift. needed to do was just stop and slow it down a little bit, because it was getting away from us." Ride those horses, ‘Torts’ Merzlikins slowed things down too. Tortorella is nothing if not a man of his word, and he vowed during the Jackets’ training camp to play his top guys a ton in this series. "It’s my first (NHL playoff) experience," he said. "It was hard, obviously. I didn’t put any pressure on myself. I mean, uh, we were down (3-0), so I The short nature of it, five games, doesn’t allow much time to let guys didn’t have the pressure on myself … I just tried to play my game and get find their rhythms by playing through slumps, so it’s pedal to the medal quicker into the game, get every shot, glove every single puck." from the get-go. Who will start Game 4? First one to three victories survives. The other enters the Alexis Lafreniere sweepstakes in the NHL’s special lottery draw Monday to Both guys have proven that it shouldn’t matter, because they’re both determine which of eight teams that lose in the qualifying round gets the capable of great things. Merzlikins is a touch better at playing the puck top pick. around the net, which can negate an opposing forecheck, but you never know who Tortorella will go with until he announces the decision. Trying to avoid that fate, Tortorella deployed his biggest weapons a lot and kept others on the bench for long stretches. That should happen Friday, mid-to-late morning. Until then, you have probably have some videos to watch. Rookie forward Emil Bemstrom, for instance, played a total of just 7:48 and didn’t log a single shift in the third period. Alexander Wennberg, who Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 08.08.2020 started the game as a top-six center, also rode the pine, playing a total of 8:51 while getting one shift in both the third period and OT. Rookie Eric Robinson’s ice time was also restrained (9:02), though he did get three shifts in overtime after skating one in the third.

Are lineup changes in the offing?

We’ll find out soon.

Young guns, cagey vets

None of the Blue Jackets’ rookies scored goals, like Robertson did for Toronto at age 18, but Texier and Liam Foudy contributed significantly.

Foudy finished with a minus-1 plus/minus rating, but logged a solid 18:18 in the third playoff game of his brief NHL career, while Texier played a whopping 25:50 at left wing on Dubois’ line. He also earned a primary assist on Dubois’ OT winner with a long saucer pass to create a short breakaway for his center.

Columbus got strong contributions from several veterans too, including two assists for Cam Atkinson, a team-high eight shots by Boone Jenner, a 55% face-off win rate from Riley Nash and captain Nick Foligno’s six hits in 24:00. Foligno also made a great diving play to nix a developing breakaway for Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews.

That’s how great comebacks draw life.

"We’ve been in a lot of situations where we go into overtime or we’re down by two or three, and that’s just the resilient group that we have in the locker room," Atkinson said. "All the older guys kind of hold it together between periods and into overtime, and you’re never out of the fight."

The goalie switch

We can’t forget about Elvis.

Nor should we forget about ‘Korpi,’ who was excellent in the first two games and ran into a buzz saw – not to mention poor luck – Thursday. The fact Tortorella felt comfortable enough to go to his bullpen not even halfway through the game, trailing by three goals, tells you everything you need to know about the unheralded strength the Blue Jackets have in net.

Here is a fact about Korpisalo: he was so good as the Jackets’ starter this season that he earned an invitation to the Metropolitan Division’s roster for the NHL All-Star game in January. 1190411 Columbus Blue Jackets

Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella explains his frustrations with Pierre- Luc Dubois

Brian Hedger

Aug 7, 2020 at 6:15 AM

It might have shocked those who didn’t know the whole story.

The sight of Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella laying into center Pierre- Luc Dubois on the bench and Dubois dishing it right back certainly raised eyebrows Tuesday, after the spat was shown during a Sportsnet broadcast.

Taking place shortly before the third period of Game 2 between the Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs, who won 3-0 to split the first two games in a best-of-five series, the exchange got people talking.

Dubois and Tortorella, however, weren’t among them. Dubois hasn’t spoken with reporters since the incident, and Tortorella wasn’t directly asked about it Wednesday in a video conference with reporters. He was asked about Dubois, though, and his answer was a continuation of a conflict that has simmered for a while.

“It’s a process,” Tortorella said, when asked how Dubois responds to adversity during games. “He’s a young player, still learning to understand momentum swings in games, what is needed in certain situations when things aren’t going right for him or the team. … It doesn’t surprise me. It happens with all young players.”

This particular young player, however, is like his coach in one big regard. He has a strong will that isn’t easily broken. So Tortorella and Dubois have played “tug-of-war" in this regard much of this season.

Tortorella is on one end, pulling and prodding Dubois to become one of the NHL’s top two-way centers. Dubois is tugging at the other end with the resolute belief that playing so much defense in Tortorella’s system is holding him back offensively.

They had a couple of notable clashes during the regular season, played out with public comments, and Tortorella picked it back up during the Jackets’ two-week training camp to prepare for the postseason.

It’s interesting to note that Dubois was one of five Blue Jackets skaters who were caught in the Maple Leafs’ zone after Toronto captain John Tavares made it 2-0 on a breakaway early in the third period — after the verbal confrontation on the Columbus bench.

It might amount to nothing, but it’s a situation that will be watched even more closely now.

Lottery announcement

The NHL announced it will conduct the second portion of its two-part draft lottery Monday. It’s the first event of its kind, which the league concocted in response to the 24-team playoff format it is using to conclude the season.

The first portion of the draft, held in June, placed eight teams into draft slots ranging from second to eighth. A “placeholder” got the first pick, which prompted the second draw. All eight teams that lose in the qualifying round will get one lottery ball in the drawing, which means a 12.5% chance for each to win.

Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190412 Columbus Blue Jackets The Blue Jackets have played 33 postseason games in the franchise’s history. In three of those games, they’ve come back from 3-0 deficits to win 4-3.

Stunner! Blue Jackets, down 3-0, rally to shock Maple Leafs 4-3 in Game The last time it happened was last spring, when the Blue Jackets fell 3 behind Tampa Bay 3-0 in Game 1 of their first-round series and roared back to win. It was a memory they could lean on Thursday night.

“It’s the resilience we have in the locker room,” said Cam Atkinson, who By Aaron Portzline Aug 7, 2020 assisted on Dubois’ first two goals. “The older guys hold things together, but you’re never out of the fight. That was a heck of a game for us.”

The Blue Jackets hadn’t come back from a three-goal deficit all season. COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ten observations from the Blue Jackets’ 4-3 Maybe they were just waiting for the right time. overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday at Scotiabank Arena: “We’ve grown as a team,” Tortorella said. “As I said when we made the playoffs a few years ago, the more and more experience you get, the 1. Big man, big night more you understand about certain things, momentum swings, all the The defining image of the Blue Jackets’ ugly Game 2 loss on Tuesday things that come with it. was that of No. 1 center Pierre-Luc Dubois getting berated on the bench “I’m telling you, though. I’m not sure what’s best: total experience in by coach John Tortorella early in the third period. Dubois could only take playoff hockey, or just youth and dumbness. We have a lot of young kids so much before he returned fire, drawing another earful from the veteran on this team. I don’t think anybody is afraid of the situation at all.” coach. The franchise’s first three-goal comeback in the playoffs came on April It is often said that Dubois plays best when he plays angry, and on 23, 2014, against Pittsburgh, when Brandon Dubinsky scored late to tie Thursday he looked right pissed against the Toronto Maple Leafs. the game and Columbus won 4-3 in overtime on Nick Foligno’s game- Dubois had the first playoff hat trick in franchise history, his third goal winner. coming on a breakaway at 18:24 of overtime to give Columbus a 4-3 4. Calling Elvis victory — and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series — after falling behind 3-0 midway through the game. Tortorella warned his goaltenders that he wouldn’t show much patience during this best-of-five series. So, when Toronto rookie Nick Robertson “Stuff like that happens,” Dubois said of his spat with Tortorella. “I played scored at 8:48 of the second — a blaster from the left circle to make it 3- a good first game. Obviously the last game … I want to forget about that 0 — the hook came out for Joonas Korpisalo. one, push it under the rug. Yes, Korpisalo probably should have stopped Robertson’s shot, but that “Coming into today, if you’re lacking motivation, I don’t think you’re in the was his only blemish in the series. He’d been the Blue Jackets’ best right spot, playing the right sport. Everybody was motivated tonight. We player in Games 1 and 2, recording the first playoff shutout in franchise went down 3-0, but everybody kept believing in it.” history in Game 1. Dubois scored at 11:39 of the second period to make it 3-1, burying a “The goaltending change … it certainly wasn’t due to Korpi’s play,” one-timer off a Zach Werenski pass. After a Seth Jones goal early in the Tortorella said. “But you got down 3-0 and you’re playing back-to-back … third (3-2), Dubois scored again off the rush at 10:49 to tie it 3-3. I have to start thinking … I need to get ready for the next game, also, The game-winner came near the end of an overtime period that had been especially in these back-to-back situations.” dominated by the highly skilled Leafs. Korpisalo stopped 12-of-15 shots in 28:48 of playing time when Elvis Rookie Alexandre Texier stipped the puck off the stick of Leafs star Merzlikins came in from the bullpen, ice-cold, to make his NHL center John Tavares in the defensive zone and started a rush with postseason debut. Dubois. A perfect saucer pass off Texier’s backhand allowed Dubois to All Merzlikins did was stop all 21 shots he faced. He made a strong read split the Toronto defense and pull away. shortly after entering the game, coming out of the net to play a puck and Dubois roofed the puck off his backhand, beating Maple Leafs goaltender defuse a possible breakaway by Toronto’s Kasperi Kapanen. Frederik Andersen to his glove side. “It’s my first experience,” Merzlikins said. “It was hard, obviously, but I “(Dubois) is a good player,” Tortorella said. “If we’re going to succeed, he didn’t put any pressure on myself. I just tried to play my game and get needs to be a big part of it consistently. I thought a lot of other people quickly into it. Follow every shot, follow every single puck. Obviously, the chipped in here tonight, too, but he made some big plays with his body — game is much faster than the regular season, so that was something his big body — taking pucks to the net. We’re going to need that from new. him (in Game 4). “But it should be harder. You should be a little bit more nervous.” “The exchange (on the bench) … people make a bigger deal out of it Before this qualifying series began, a burning topic in Columbus was than it should be. We’re coaching our players. We’re coaching all our whether Korpisalo or Merzlikins would start the series. Tortorella players. Sometimes certain things happen, and you have to coach ’em. suggested on his weekly radio show last month that he expected both to I’m not so sure that had anything to do with tonight. I just though Luc play in the series. played a really good hockey game and had some great concentration.” He was right. 2. A place in history “We have tremendous faith in Elvis,” Tortorella said. “He’s a really good Dubois became the sixth player to score an overtime game-winner in the goalie. playoffs for the Blue Jackets, joining Matt Calvert (tw0), Nick Foligno, Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchene. Duchene’s came last spring against “(The change) gave us a chance to catch our breath. That’s the biggest Boston. thing it gave us a chance to do, just stop and slow it down a little bit because it was getting away from us.” “I didn’t really see what happened before Tex got it,” Dubois said. “That’s the only thing I remember. (Texier) made a nice play right away, a nice 5. Starring on a big stage little saucer up the middle of the ice to get me free on my breakaway. That was a hell of a play by him.” Was Thursday Dubois’ coming-out party on the NHL stage? To this point, he is best known for being the surprise No. 3 overall pick by Columbus Dubois is only the 10th NHL player over the last 27 years to complete a general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen at the 2016 draft. playoff hat trick with an OT game-winner. Dubois has had a strong first three seasons in the NHL, but he has also 3. Shades of Tampa Bay been wildly inconsistent. One day he looks like a bona fide No. 1 center. The next — like Game 2 — he gets lost and frustrated. “With Luc, he wants to be a difference-maker, a game-changer, one of 8. Shortening the bench the best players in the league,” Atkinson said. “He has all the capabilities, all the tools. (Thursday) he showed it. Tortorella played Alexander Wennberg and Eric Robinson one shift each in the third period. Emil Bemstrom didn’t skate at all in the third. “It’s not always going to go your way, but it’s those moments where you have to capitalize. Big-time players step up in big times, in crucial The Blue Jackets started to create some momentum, and Tortorella situations. Sure enough: hat trick. He put us all on his back.” wanted to maximize it, so he started double-shifting Dubois’ line — with Texier to his left and Atkinson to the right — using them against Tavares Dubois had one previous career hat trick, but in the regular season: and against the Maple Leafs’ fourth line. March 29, 2018, at Calgary. Dubois played 27:30, while Atkinson drew a whopping 30:09 and Texier DUBOIS WITH THE FINISH, THE , AND THE GWG #CBJ 25:50. The Jackets also had two defensemen over 30 minutes: Jones PIC.TWITTER.COM/PRRXJZEEEL (32:40) and Werenski (31:18).

— ALISON (@ALISONL) AUGUST 7, 2020 Robinson, Bemstrom and Wennberg saw spot duty in overtime.

“He’s a good player,” Tortorella said. “We’re trying to get consistency out When Thursday’s game ended, the Blue Jackets were already within 20 of him, trying to teach him what it is to be a pro in all situations. hours of Friday’s faceoff. They won’t practice Friday morning in Toronto, Obviously, he was a big part of it tonight.” opting instead to have a team meeting at 11:30 a.m.

Dubois had 10 shot attempts (six on goal), three hits, and won 9-of-23 9. A ridiculous stat faceoffs. His 36 shifts were the most of any forward in the game. This is silly. The Blue Jackets have allowed a short-handed goal in seven “Luc’s a big body, a big frame,” said Jones, who squares off against him of their 33 playoff games, but they’re 5-2 in those games. frequently in practice. “Strong as an ox down low in the corners. His puck The Leafs took a 1-0 lead on Ceci’s short-handed goal off Jones’ boot at protection is off the charts. He’s a handful for any defenseman because 18:52 of the first period. he always finds a way to muscle you off and make plays. “We were OK,” Tortorella said. “It took us a little while to find our game. “He matches up against any centerman in this league when he’s at the We were kind of going in increments as far as the level we played. We top of his game. We love having him on our side.” certainly weren’t playing at a level high enough early on. 6. A different look for Dubois “We got unlucky on their first goal. We just try to keep on playing.” Tortorella loves to say that he “doesn’t chase matchups,” but it’s Ceci is the first Toronto defenseman to score short-handed in the interesting to note that Dubois had a different matchup for most of Game playoffs since Jim McKenny on April 9, 1972, versus Boston. 3. 10. Leaf pile The Leafs were the home club in Games 1 and 2, meaning Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe had the last change during stoppages. That is, the The Blue Jackets made only one lineup change, putting defenseman Blue Jackets had to put their skaters on the ice first, allowing the Leafs to Markus Nutivaara on the third pairing in Dean Kukan’s place. … The counter with their preferred matchup. Leafs will play the rest of the series without defenseman Jake Muzzin, who was injured at the end of Tuesday’s game. Martin Marinčin replaced Keefe wanted Auston Matthews’ line to check Dubois’ line, and he mostly Muzzin in the lineup. … The Blue Jackets are 1-0 in the playoffs when got the matchup. On 24 occasions over Games 1 and 2, Dubois was sent they have a chance to eliminate an opponent. out for a faceoff, either at the start of a period or after a stoppage. In 17 of those, Matthews was on the ice with him. The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 But on Thursday, when Tortorella had the last change, he used Dubois almost exclusively against Tavares’ line. Only twice did Tortorella send Dubois over the boards when Matthews’ line was sent out first.

The Blue Jackets, as the home team, will have the last change again on Friday. The Leafs would be the home club if Sunday’s Game 5 is necessary.

7. Pick your spot

In the miracle Game 1 comeback against Tampa Bay last spring, Jones scored the game-winning goal in the third period. He had a massive role in Thursday’s win, too.

At 7:27 of the third, Jones was given plenty of time and space in the right circle as a pile of bodies battled for space in front of Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen.

Toronto defenseman Travis Dermott was fronting the play on the angle with Jones, while Foligno came through stumbling and falling to the ice after getting tripped. Leafs center Alex Kerfoot was in the low slot, too, and Columbus forward Gustav Nyquist watched from the doorstep to Andersen’s left.

Through all of this, Jones found the corner of the net above Andersen’s left shoulder, zipping the puck home through a narrow pass.

It helped make up for a tough start to the night for Jones. The Leafs’ first goal was scored by Toronto defenseman Cody Ceci, whose shot caromed off one of Jones’ skates before careening past Korpisalo.

“Down 3-0, it’s never a spot you want to be in,” Jones said. “But we stayed with it, started playing some good hockey late second and third period, and got ourselves back into it.

“Overtime wasn’t our best, but we found a way to stick together, played some solid defense, blocked some shots and ultimately got a chance and P-L didn’t miss.” 1190413 Dallas Stars “I told Bowness right after warmup, just so there’s no surprises really. And then I made an announcement to the team and that’s when [Jason] Dickinson jumped on board.”

Stars forward Tyler Seguin says he spends his bubble downtime video Dallas Morning News LOADED: 08.08.2020 chatting with his dogs, playing cards

By SportsDay Staff8:46 PM on Aug 7, 2020 CDT

Stars forward Tyler Seguin joined The Hardline on Sportsradio 96.7 FM/1310 The Ticket [KTCK-AM] to discuss the NHL bubble, the Stars’ performance and more. Answers have been edited for clarity.

How has the NHL bubble been for you so far?

Tyler Seguin: “[The bubble is] very safe, very comfortable, and pretty boring I guess. There’s not much to do. It’s just a lot of hockey and playing cards and video games, watching hockey games and practicing.

“It’s kind of what you expected and there’s fun in that as well. But it definitely feels very safe in here so it’s good.”

Have you always been a big video game guy?

Seguin: “I think I played video games once before quarantine started and I was bored in quarantine and then I got here. It’s one of the things we do here so I’ve been playing a lot because there’s only so many things we can do.”

Have you been FaceTiming with your dogs?

Seguin: “Oh yeah, lots of FaceTiming with the dogs. It’s funny though, when you FaceTime with the dogs. On the phone you talk to them and they can’t really hear you, I don’t know why, but on the iPad they react when I’m talking. So it’s kind of funny.”

What kind of leisure activities does the NHL have set up for y’all in the bubble?

Seguin: “We have a golf simulator. So that’s been used quite a bit by the guys. There’s four of them set up at the rink and obviously our hotel is attached to the rink so guys will walk over. I think there’s about 100 courses on the simulator that you can play, so you can play kind of anywhere.

“One two-week period that we’re up here I believe we’ll be allowed to go golfing and maybe fishing. That will be in a secure environment, not mingling with anyone else obviously who’s not in the bubble. So that will be something to look forward to as well.”

Do you ever actually go see any other teams play?

Seguin: “Yeah we were watching some guys from Chicago play the other day just because they said they’d be done in 10 minutes, [we had] typical hockey banter with some of the guys’ hockey swings.

“It’s a little strange seeing every player in the league, or at least the teams staying in the hotel. There’s nowhere to hide from whether it’s a coach or another team or a GM. So it’s an interesting dynamic. It’s a mix of a tournament growing up and almost just an All-Star game always being with other teams.

“It’s been different for sure.”

Did you have a conversation with Jim Nill before the first game that you were thinking about kneeling during the national anthems?

Seguin: “I haven’t talked to specifically Jim Nill about it, but before I do anything like that I talk to the head of our PR Tom Holly. So he was the first guy I reached out to just to say my own thoughts and personal beliefs and how I feel.

“It was a direction I was going to go in and support and he said ‘OK.’ Before, I said in an interview after the game, I wasn’t in my head saying I’m going out there to kneel. I talked to Ryan Reaves in the warmup and he said what he was doing. I was all on board and 100% in.

“So before I did that I talked to [interim head coach Rick] Bowness and Jamie Benn. I went to Jamie Benn in the warmup and told him what I was going to do just to give him a heads up. He said ‘OK, all good.’ 1190414 Dallas Stars If you want positive thinking, Seguin was better Wednesday than he was Monday against Vegas. Against the Golden Knights, Seguin didn’t register a shot attempt for the first time in 2 1/2 years and ate a minus-3 rating. His line with Benn and Denis Gurianov was trounced at 5 on 5. Denis Gurianov: Defensive liability or Stars offensive necessity? Against the Avalanche, Jamie Benn, Roope Hintz and Seguin were the Stars’ best line if you judge them by possession numbers. In their 11:16 of 5 on 5 time, the Stars outshot the Avs 8-3. According to Natural Stat By Matthew DeFranks6:43 PM on Aug 6, 2020 CDT Trick, the line held a 5-1 advantage in scoring chances and a 0.31-0.16 edge in expected goals.

Stars forward Denis Gurianov played 13:22 on Wednesday, and his Analytics are fine, but the Stars need results from Seguin and Benn. 11:52 of ice time at 5 on 5 ranked seventh among the 12 Stars forwards. Dallas Morning News LOADED: 08.08.2020 A reminder that Gurianov was also the Stars’ leading goal-scorer this season, with 20 goals.

So for a team that is goalless in eight of nine periods since arriving in Edmonton, it would make sense to play the leading goal scorer more, right? Let’s look at some notable plays from Gurianov’s night Wednesday.

Play 1: This was the Stars’ best offensive chance of the night, and it wasn’t because of puck possession in the offensive zone or cycling along the boards. It was because Gurianov is one of the fastest players in the world and he found a soft spot in the Colorado defense. It’s the type of chance that Gurianov has buried plenty of times this season, but one he couldn’t sneak past Pavel Francouz on Wednesday. That play also accounted for all of Gurianov’s shot attempts on Wednesday.

Play 2: Gurianov misses a clear way to exit the zone when Esa Lindell shovels a pass to him at the blue line. Instead of putting a stick on it and carrying it, he lets it slide and the Avs keep it in the zone. Because it looked like a zone exit, Thomas Harley starts up the ice, which leaves him out of position when Matt Calvert gains possession. And it leaves Lindell in desperation mode trying to cover Nathan MacKinnon. He takes a penalty and Cale Makar scores on the ensuing power play.

Play 3: Gurianov does a good job of covering for Jamie Oleksiak, who activated lower in the offensive zone. That’s nice that he notices he needs to be at the blue line. When the puck goes the other way, though, he essentially takes himself out of the play by shading towards the boards, and then he fails to stop the pass out of the zone. It turns into a 2 on 1 and Khudobin makes a save on MacKinnon’s backhand.

Play 4: The Stars lose the faceoff and Gurianov jumps out on center J.T. Compher and pushes him to the boards. Since Gurianov went there, center Jason Dickinson goes out to the defenseman, where wingers like Gurianov typically are. But once the puck goes to the blue line, Gurianov leaves Compher to chase the puck. The puck goes back to Compher and Lindell leaves Joonas Donskoi in front of the net to close down Compher. Khudobin stymies a Donskoi tip from close range.

Play 5: The Stars’ defensive zone coverage was all over the place here, so it’s tough to truly say what Gurianov’s role was without breaking it down with the team. At the very least, Gurianov got caught watching Ryan Graves and forgot that he was responsible for MacKinnon sneaking down the wing. Later in the shift, Rantanen turns on Gurianov and sets up Cale Makar for a scoring chance.

The Stars coaching staff definitely saw Gurianov’s mistakes, and those are ones that were dangerous to commit.

Should Bowness be more forgiving of defensive errors since his team’s offense needs help and its goaltending is solid? Yes, absolutely. Offensively challenged teams should live with mistakes if the tradeoff is the threat of instant offense whenever that player is on the ice.

But coaches generally equate playing well defensively to being trustworthy, and Gurianov didn’t show that on Wednesday.

Looking for 91: Tyler Seguin was fine on Wednesday night. He wasn’t a defensive liability. He had five shots on goal. He was around scoring areas, and he was able to fire one-timers. Seguin didn’t impact the game positively or negatively. He was fine.

For Jason Dickinson or Andrew Cogliano or Corey Perry or Blake Comeau, fine is good enough. Seguin? Fine isn’t good enough. The Stars don’t pay him $9.85 million a year for him to be defensively responsible and score every now and then. Seguin knows how much better he can be, and the Stars shouldn’t have to look for ways to get Seguin and Benn ($9.5 million) going offensively. 1190415 Dallas Stars shot attempts, 61% of shots on goal, 66% of expected goals and 66% of scoring chances. The Stars have not allowed a 5 on 5 goal with Oleksiak- Heiskanen on the ice.

How Miro Heiskanen’s rare poor defensive night led to Avalanche’s Dallas Morning News LOADED: 08.08.2020 frequent odd-man rushes

By Matthew DeFranks6:28 PM on Aug 6, 2020 CDT

The Stars need to shape up, that much was clear after Colorado trounced them in a 4-0 loss on Wednesday night.

Dallas looked out of sync and slow against the Avalanche, an unfortunate sequel to its third-period collapse against Vegas on Monday. The team has flaws that are becoming more apparent against elevated competition, but they still have one more chance to right the ship Sunday when the play the Blues in the final game of the Western Conference round robin.

There was still plenty more to take away from the Stars’ loss to the Colorado. Here are some of those.

Zooming by: It was obvious that the Avalanche were creating plenty of offense in transition, given the plentiful odd-man rushes against the Stars on Wednesday. But it’s hard to recognize just how many Dallas gave up without seeing them all consecutively. Well, now is your chance.

Sometimes, it was a defenseman flubbing the puck in the neutral zone that gave the Avs numbers (Thomas Harley was guilty). Sometimes, a forward was out of position covering for a defenseman (Denis Gurianov). Sometimes, a defenseman was flat footed at the offensive blue line (Andrej Sekera).

The player most responsible for the Avalanche’s speed game was an unexpected source: Miro Heiskanen.

In trying to keep pucks in the offensive zone, Heiskanen’s shots bounced into the neutral zone and sprung the Avs. Mikko Rantanen spun off Heiskanen at the red line, causing Tyler Seguin to take a tripping penalty defending Rantanen — and Colorado scored right as Seguin was released from the penalty box. Matt Nieto blew past Heiskanen on his way to the net. And Heiskanen lost the puck on a failed pinch that allowed Colorado to go the other way.

The Stars will live with Heiskanen’s mistakes simply because they don’t pile up often like they did Wednesday night. He is typically so good at reading the game and understanding when to push and when to hold. Plus, when he does make a mistake in the offensive or neutral zone, his skating is usually good enough to mask the error.

But Heiskanen and the rest of the Stars asked Anton Khudobin to do too much on Wednesday night. Without Khudobin’s heroics, the result is even more lopsided than a four-goal loss.

It also means that Khudobin is free to react any way he sees fit to the defense the Stars played in front of him.

Khudobin’s performance was the brightest spot on an otherwise forgettable night for Dallas, and bodes well for his play in the rest of the postseason. With a possible condensed schedule (each qualifying series has at least one back-to-back in it) in the first round of the playoffs, the Stars could look at Khudobin more than they normally would during a typical postseason.

Then there’s the Ben Bishop issue. Bishop was deemed unfit to play Wednesday night, meaning Jake Oettinger served as Khudobin’s backup. Bishop also missed three practices during training camp and one in Edmonton before he was ruled out against the Avalanche. Stars interim coach Rick Bowness said the team hoped Bishop would be available Sunday against St. Louis, a key tune up for the Stars to see where Bishop’s game is at before the first round.

Oleksiak again: Jamie Oleksiak has been a pleasant surprise for the Stars in their three games in Edmonton, following up a strong game against Nashville with a goal against Vegas and another strong performance against Colorado.

He set up Jamie Benn’s best scoring chance Wednesday, and impressively shut down Nathan MacKinnon in transition.

Oleksiak and partner Miro Heiskanen have formed the Stars’ best defensive pairing in Edmonton at 5 on 5, with the Stars controlling 53% of 1190416 Dallas Stars team for the season — and both managed giving birth during a pandemic.

The similar paths led to a natural friendship for the couples. The Feduns For new moms Meg Dowling and Katie Fedun, Stars’ restart brings new hosted the Dowling’s gender reveal party, and the Dowlings later challenges returned the favor.

“We’ve had a lot of things in common to talk about with Justin and Taylor having similar roles,” Meg Dowling said. “It’s going to be fun to have By Sean Shapiro Aug 7, 2020 some of those conversations about and more things in common to talk about with the kids and as they grow up, whenever the next season does

start.” Geographically, Meg and Perri Dowling aren’t far from Justin Dowling. There have been differences, though. When Perri was born, the Feduns The Dowlings live in Cochrane, Alberta, three hours south of Edmonton, watched the Dowling’s dogs, Jett and Pearl, while Meg gave birth. This where Justin and the Dallas Stars have been taking part in the NHL’s was earlier in the pandemic, when masks weren’t a universal postseason tournament. In normal times, this would be an ideal setup for requirement and some hospitals were still allowing visitors in the the family. But with the NHL in a proverbial bubble from the outside maternity ward. A month later, when Bowden was born, masks were a world, Meg and four-month-old Perri haven’t been able to see Justin requirement for everyone, and partners were the only ones allowed into since he left for NHL training camp on June 27. the hospital with the mother.

“I’ve thought so many times about just going down to the bubble and “It was a scary time,” Fedun said. “I actually remember not going to the stopping the car, holding Perri up just yelling, ‘Look how big she is now!'” last game (on March 10) before the stoppage because I was starting to Meg Dowling said. “I could be like the crazy person at the gate, but not be so careful and worried about COVID-19 and what that could mean to trying to get in, just showing Perri to her dad.” a pregnancy. The hospital we felt safe at, but it was an interesting time before just trying to stay as safe as possible. That’s something we still Meg says she’s been joking about making that drive – for now– but it has have to do.” been a major adjustment as a first-time mom suddenly having her husband away from her for an undetermined amount of time. On July 30, Bowden watched his dad play for the first time when Taylor was in the lineup for Dallas’ exhibition game against the Nashville “There are so many little things he’s missing out on as far as milestones, Predators. Katie dressed Bowden in a Stars jersey with Fedun’s No. 42 and I’m missing out on so many things that he helped with,” Meg said. on the back. “Just little things. One of the things that was a silver lining (of the stoppage) was he was able to be there for everything early after Perri “He actually paid attention; I think it was the easiest tummy time we’ve was born, but now it’s just the two of us. had, he was distracted,” Fedun said. “But I never thought the first time he’d watch his dad would be on TV in a bubble with us in Pennsylvania.” “I’ve gained so much more respect for single moms. My mother is one, and she had three kids; there have been a couple times I’ve stopped and It’s just one of many surprises they’ve weathered as parents during the told her, ‘Thank you,’ and ‘How did you do this with three kids?'” NHL bubble.

Katie Fedun, wife of Stars defenseman Taylor Fedun, is going through The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 something similar back in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Their first child, a boy named Bowden, was born on April 23.

“Him having to leave was super difficult for more than one reason,” Katie said. “Having him around and being able to have those moments when it was just the three of us, it was really good bonding for us. For him to leave it was tough on me, not having him around to be able to help and it’s been tough to have him miss some of these moments because the little man seems to change every day.”

FaceTime has helped, and both wives have been trying to document every little first that their husbands are missing. According to them, Bowden and Perri both seem to recognize their dads’ voices over the phone or computer.

“I was so worried she would forget him,” Meg said. “Really worried that he would come back and she’d have no idea who he was. At least with FaceTime I feel like she’s been able to hear him and know, ‘That’s my dad.'”

Both Dowling and Fedun have turned to their extended family after their husbands left for NHL training camp in late June. Fedun moved in with her parents in Pennsylvania, while Dowling’s seen her mom and Justin’s parents visit frequently.

“It’s good to have some more adult conversation, on top of the help they’ve been able to provide,” Katie said. “If we didn’t have family around us, I’m not really sure how I’d be able to manage everything.”

Meg has already had one major “gong show event” while her husband was in the bubble when their dog, Pearl, got sick around 3 a.m. Meg sent a text to her mother-in-law, Sheri, to see if she could watch Perri, not expecting a response. Sure enough, as Meg was about to load Perri into the car, Sheri responded and made her way over to watch her granddaughter.

“It was a mess,” Dowling said. “But we figured it out.”

The Dowling and Fedun families have similar stories in Dallas. Both Taylor and Justin are full-time NHLers but are on the peripheries of the roster as the 13th forward and the seventh defensemen, respectively. Both Meg and Katie were thrilled when their husbands got the housing letter before the 2019-20 season — that’s the NHL sign you’ve made the 1190417 Dallas Stars for the next decade. Dallas has the luxury of taking the negatives and chipping away at them as “learning experiences” instead of stacking them as bricks of frustration.

Different shades: Why the Mavs’ and Stars’ poor restarts mean different “We’ve got to balance the positives and the negatives,” Carlisle said. “I things think it’s important to always reinforce positive things that you’re doing.”

Expectations are the complete opposite when it comes to the Stars. While the Stars have some young talent — most notably Miro Heiskanen, By Saad Yousuf Aug 7, 2020 Denis Gurianov and Roope Hintz — to carry the team long term, you don’t sign 35-year-old Joe Pavelski in free agency if you aren’t trying to

win with a sense of urgency. With every passing day, the likes of After months without sports, the near-simultaneous NBA and NHL Pavelski, Jamie Benn and Ben Bishop are only getting older. The Stars restarts figured to bring joy to fans across the country. After several are coming off a season in which they took the eventual Stanley Cup games of play, however, there may be less of it in Dallas than other champions to double-overtime in Game 7 of the second round. Relatively places. Both the Mavericks and the Stars now find themselves playing speaking, the only next step up for this team would be the conference meaningless games that nevertheless count in the standings. And neither finals. They are squarely in their championship window, but forget team is playing them especially well. winning playoff series — they can’t manage to win a single game right now. For the Mavericks, the eight-game seeding schedule held more importance before it started, when hopes of catching the Houston These differences in expectations ultimately lead to a difference in how Rockets or Oklahoma City Thunder in the standings were alive. A 1-3 the results are processed. When the Mavericks lose, it’s a setback. The start has all but solidified the seventh seed, making the remaining games team is built around 21-year-old and 25-year-old superstars, and no a glorified preseason that just happens to count in the record books. That game result over the next month will squash the optimism of the doesn’t mean head coach Rick Carlisle is taking the slate lightly. upcoming years. When the Stars lose, it’s easier to view that one outcome as a sign of a larger problem: that the window will only remain “We want to win games here,” Carlisle said. “We’re not going to take any open for so much longer and that the team may not have the right mix of risks, medically. We’re going to try to get ourselves ready to play in the players to capitalize on it. playoffs but we do want to win games here. We feel it’s really important to do that.” Hope is a powerful feeling. It helps provide perspective for the present while marching on towards the future. This year’s Mavericks, despite Meanwhile, the Stars are playing a three-game round-robin to help their struggles, exude hope. The Stars, on the other hand, have been a decide their spot among the top four seeds. With the possibility of No. 1 classic case of “overpromise, then under deliver.” Dallas sports and No. 2 officially eliminated following an 0-2 start, No. 4 is the likely slot collectively may be going through a rough stretch since sports returned for the Stars. Even with that, the Stars will be in the playoffs when this (we won’t even address the Rangers here), but as the Mavericks and stage of the NHL restart is over, playing one of the teams competing in Stars stand to prove, not all disappointment is dressed the same. the qualifier schedule. The games count, but they aren’t the end-all, be- all. Regardless, interim head coach Rick Bowness said he’s approaching The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 things as though the season is on the line.

“To us, the playoffs started today,” Bowness said on Saturday. “We want to approach this as it is the playoffs, so the meeting this morning focused on that. The urgency and the intensity of the playoffs has started.”

Perhaps the most maddening commonality between the two teams is the lack of change. For all of the unknown that COVID-19 has brought in its unwelcomed presence in this world, the Mavericks and Stars have been consistent to their core, for better or for worse. The Mavericks came out of the gate with two painful losses, faltering in the clutch as they have been doing for much of the season pre-COVID. Meanwhile, aside from one three-goal scoring outburst against Vegas, the Stars offense has gone missing during the NHL bubble in Edmonton.

While these similarities exist, the overall vibe for the two teams couldn’t possibly be more different. The Mavericks are led by Carlisle, a championship coach, one of the longest-tenured coaches in his league. He has a proven championship track record and has shown the ability to not just adapt to changing nature of his sport but in some cases, lead way. While Bowness has had stints as head coach in the past, none of his stops have been successful. He was thrust into his current position due to unforeseen circumstances and has struggled to make productive adjustments.

But when you talk about glaring differences in these two situations, it all begins with expectations.

Depending on who you asked before the season, the Mavericks were expected to either put up a good fight for a playoff spot or maybe just squeak their way in. Instead, they were in the driver’s seat to lock up the seventh seed even before the season stoppage and didn’t take long to make it official in the Orlando bubble. Against a team other than the Los Angeles Clippers, their likely playoff opponent, Dallas might even be considered a classic “you don’t want to see them in the playoffs” team. And even against the defensively stout Clippers, the Mavericks look poised to provide entertaining games, though the overall series likely won’t be too dramatic.

The Mavericks are playing with house money, and this is likely the last year that’ll be the case for quite a long time. Success in the seeding schedule, or even winning a playoff game, is a bonus after a season ahead of schedule; the objective here is to watch this wildly young and entertaining team gain valuable postseason experience that can aid them 1190418 Detroit Red Wings Mahovlich segued to a new career as a color commentator for the Adirondack Red Wings, working alongside play-by-play man Dave Strader.

In 1963, Detroit Red Wings' made their first draft pick in history: Pete Detroit Free Press LOADED: 08.08.2020 Mahovlich

Helene St. James, Published 6:00 a.m. ET Aug. 7, 2020 | Updated 12:12 p.m. ET Aug. 7, 2020

General manager Steve Yzerman holds 10 picks in the 2020 draft, four of them in the first two rounds.

The NHL draft has changed over the years, expanding and contracting to where it is today as a seven-round, two-day event. At the first NHL draft, though, in 1963, there were only four rounds and teams could pass on a pick to a competitor. That’s the subject of this edition of Detroit Red Wings Revisited.

It was in the days of the Original Six, when what was then called the amateur draft was instituted to create a more equal opportunity for teams to acquire promising young players. Previously, NHL teams would sponsor amateur players, essentially buying their rights.

The Montreal Canadiens had the first pick, and chose Garry Monahan. The Wings were next and chose Pete Mahovlich, a 16-year-old forward (and the younger brother of Frank Mahovlich, a future Hockey Hall of Famer). When their turn came in Round 2, the Wings picked Bill Cosburn. He never played in the NHL — but then neither did any other player drafted in the second round.

It wasn’t exactly a strong draft class (remember, most young players had already been snapped up via sponsorships). The Wings didn’t even both making picks in the third and fourth rounds, deferring them to the next team. The order was Montreal-Detroit-Boston-New York-Chicago- Toronto. By the fourth round, only the Canadiens, Bruins, Rangers and Maple Leafs made selections. Of the 21 players selected, only five played in the NHL: Monahan, Mahovlich, Walt McKechnie, Jim McKenny and Gerry Meehan.

More Red Wings Revisited:

Wings were bummed when they drafted Steve Yzerman in 1983

The Leafs made the best picks. Their first-round choice, McKechnie, played 955 games in the NHL (321 of them with the Wings). Toronto’s third-round pick, McKenny, went on to log 604 games in the league. Their fourth-round pick, Meehan — the last player picked — played 670 games.

Mahovlich made his NHL debut Dec. 28, 1965, earning an assist in a game at Boston. He struggled to be a consistent threat offensively, and spent time with the Wings and in the minor leagues. During the 1967-68 season, Frank Mahovlich, already a four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Leafs, joined the Wings. Frank starred on a line with Gordie Howe and Alex Delvecchio, scoring a team-high and career-best 49 goals in 1968-69.

Pete had four points. He spent 34 games that season with the Fort Worth Wings, where he had 36 points.

It wasn’t until his 1969-70 move to the powerhouse Montreal Canadiens that Pete’s NHL career took flight. He regularly topped 30 goals a season, and topped 100 points in 1974-75 and ’75-76. Known for his deft puckhandling, “Little M,” as he was nicknamed (because his brother was “Big M,” — Pete was 6-foot-5, 220 pounds in his playing days), recorded 82 assists in 1974-75, when he played on a line with Guy Lafleur and Steve Shutt.

Mahovlich spent two seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, from 1977- 79, before another stint with the Wings. He recorded 16 goals in 1979-80, then finished his NHL career as he’d started it, splitting the 1980-81 season between the Wings and the minors. In 1982, the Wings bought out Mahovlich’s contract. In a 16-year NHL career with the Wings, Canadiens and Penguins, Mahovlich produced 773 points in 884 games. He was the only one from the ’63 draft to win a Stanley Cup, doing so four times with Montreal between 1971 and '77. 1190419 Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings loan Filip Zadina to Czech team HC Ocelari Trinec

Updated Aug 07, 2020; Posted Aug 07, 2020

By Lauren Williams

To give some of their young talent more opportunity to develop, the Red Wings have reached an agreement that would loan Filip Zadina to HC Ocelari Trinec.

Zadina, selected sixth overall in 2018, but has been limited since Feb. 1 because of a fractured ankle. He played in 28 games for the Red Wings this past season and scored eight goals with seven assists.

He was close to returning when the NHL season went on hiatus in March.

HC Ocelari Trinec, where Zadina’s father is an assistant coach, starts its season on Oct. 7.

Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider, the Wings’ top pick in 2019 (No. 6 overall), was loaned to his former German League team, Mannheim, earlier this week.

Seider played the entire 2019-20 season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, where he had 22 points in 49 games and a -5 rating.

The NHL’s 2020-21 season is tentatively scheduled to begin on Dec. 1, with training camps possibly beginning Nov. 17.

Michigan Live LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190420 Edmonton Oilers It’s mind boggling. The Oilers were firmly in second place in the division and fifth in the conference when the NHL shut down in March. They were a playoff team all year long. So it’s must be tough to wrap their heads around missing the playoffs. It's all over, Edmonton Oilers crash and burn and burst their own bubble “It’s been a weird year, I think everyone can say that,” said McDavid. “Coming back from a pause you never know what it’s’ going to be like. I thought we had a good training camp, everyone was ready to go. Robert Tychkowski “And then you lose three of four and you don’t get in, that’s the way it Published:August 7, 2020 goes.” Updated:August 7, 2020 10:43 PM MDT And that’s the way it went.

“It’s frustrating because we expected better,” said head coach Dave If a hockey team is going to lose a playoff series, the one thing it needs Tippett. “In the regular season we overachieved a little bit and in this to know is that it played its best and lost to a better team. playoff series it seems like we underachieved.”

That’s the one thing that can help it get through the summer. The hurt from this one is going to take a long time to wear off. And no matter what happens in the regular season next year, no matter how And that’s the one thing that’s going to haunt the Edmonton Oilers from many points the Oilers get or how many individual trophies they win, from now until next year. now until they win a playoff series, there is going to be a lingering doubt about whether or not this group has the stomach to get it done in the They didn’t play their best. They have to walk away from their qualifying post-season. series loss to the Chicago Blackhawks knowing they still had more to give, but never got around to giving it. “At the end of the day you play this game to give yourself a chance to win a Stanley Cup and we’re sitting here after a qualifying not even in the “We’re not happy at all,” said defenceman Darnell Nurse, after the Oilers playoffs,” said Nurse. “You can talk about the strides (as a team) all you were eliminated with a 3-2 Game 4 loss. “We all thought we had more to want. but none of us are happy.” give. We didn’t bring what was necessary to win. Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 08.08.2020 “That’s a good veteran team with a lot of guys who’ve won Cups, who played important roles on teams that have won Cups, and we didn’t bring enough to match it.

“The most intensity we had was when we played that exhibition game against Calgary.”

That’s a tough reality to accept, that you didn’t go down swinging, that you didn’t empty the tank and give it everything you have, but that’s the reality everyone saw for those four games against a 12th place opponent.

The game the Oilers put out there made no sense. For too many stretches of too many games it looked like it was just another regular season game in January, and not a very good one at that.

“I thought we had our moments,” said captain Connor McDavid. “Game 1 was a wash, Game 2 was ours. Game 3. (Bad) bounces. And tonight, whatever. They were really good, give them credit.”

Fans expected to see the Oilers pressure with their explosive offence and relentless pressure, to play with the kind of desperation and hunger that made them one of the most exciting teams in the league. But they never got to see much of that through the first four games and that’s why there won’t be a fifth.

“It’s little mistakes that we had way too many of,” said Leon Draisaitl. “Throughout the lineup, just too many little mistakes that can’t happen at this time of year. We never really got our A game going.

“Without that, this league is too good to beat anyone. It’s very frustrating.”

Even in the elimination game, they score the first goal on the first shift, they get the start they need … and then nothing. They didn’t get another shot on goal for 10 minutes.

In a deciding game, when you need to be storming out and grabbing a game by the throat, that’s not acceptable.

“We came up short,” said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “There’s not much left to say. You guys watched all the games. The other night could have gone our way, this one could have gone our way, too. But the bottom line is they didn’t and now we’re done. There’s not much to say at this point.”

So that’s it, all of the air has been let out of Edmonton’s bubble. The experience of a lifetime that the city and province invested so much in is over in seven days.

“It stings right now,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “We came in with the right mindset, we had a great training camp and it just didn’t happen for us.

“There’s not much to say right now. We got beat. It’s disappointing. It’s tough to swallow right now.” 1190421 Edmonton Oilers wheelhouse of the rookie winger who had a free-look—a metaphor for the series.

The Hawks won more battles and the Oilers didn’t get good enough Oilers kicked to curb by Blackhawks in Qualifying series goaltending. They gave up fewer than 10 scoring chances five-on-five in Games 3 and 4, but they kept shooting themselves in the foot.

“We made critical mistakes and didn’t get the saves at the right time. You Jim Matheson, have to find ways to win games, not find ways to lose games,” said Tippett. “I think our team competed hard, we got lots of try but have a lot Published:August 7, 2020 of growing to do … because what we think is competing hard isn’t hard Updated:August 7, 2020 10:41 PM MDT enough to win in the playoffs.”

Koskinen and Mike Smith, who started Game 1, are huge but neither stood tall in this series. They didn’t lose it, but they didn’t steal any One life to live just became no life to live for the Edmonton Oilers. games either. Neither goalie looked anywhere near as cool or collected as they did coming into this hub tournament in the middle of a pandemic. The 12th-seed Chicago Blackhawks burst the hub city home team’s bubble Friday, kicking the malfunctioning Oilers to the Stanley Cup Not that Corey Crawford looked like the Cup winner much of the series, tournament curb with a 3-2 win in Game 4, and really, the Oilers didn’t but he did on Black Friday, especially in the second half of the game, even get to the playoffs which is 16 teams on any other year. Not 24 finishing with 41 stops, many in wild goalmouth flurries. teams. He got lucky before Kubalik’s goal when Andreas Athanasiou had a wide- The Oilers didn’t even last a week; there was no hubba, hubba headline open net and shovelled it wide, again the story of his time as an Oiler. because their overall game was nowhere near as pretty as it looked for His skating battery never runs out, but after scoring in his first game after much of regular-season. the Feb. 24 trade, he went the last 12 without one.

More commotion than emotion, never a good thing in the playoffs. And so, so the Oilers are out, a crushing blow to the Oilers Entertainment Group who fought to get Edmonton as the Western hub for the 12 teams. Oiler defenceman Darnell Nurse said the Oilers never got the intensity level up to where it was, say, against Calgary in the tournament tune-up. This ’n that: Oilers defenceman Adam Larsson again was absent with an Their battle-level was in and out against a Chicago team that has a undisclosed injury. When Bear also got hurt, that left a big hole for right- toolbox full of skill but isn’t big and doesn’t play tough, but has Jonathan shot D with only Matt Benning left for much of the second period … Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Brandon Saad, who know how William Lagesson took the pre-game warmup as a seventh defenceman to win. but he didn’t dress. Neither did winger Patrick Russell. Instead they went with the speedier Gaetan Haas on the fourth line at centre … McDavid Toews was terrific, even better than the usual Oiler giant-killer Kane had had his teeth looked at after Kampf flipped puck and hit him in the mouth a quiet four games by his standards. in the second period. “The big part of our focus was to bring that intensity but the most we had Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 08.08.2020 was the exhibition game with Calgary … but it shouldn’t matter who you’re playing against at this time of year,” said Nurse.

“Well, we can’t play Calgary every game,” said Connor McDavid, who had 10 points in the series.

“End of this day, you play to give yourself a chance at the Stanley Cup and we didn’t even get to the playoffs, the round of 16, losing in the qualifier. You can talk about strides all you want but no one’s happy,” said Nurse.

And, so we now have to know how to spell Lafreniere?

The Oilers are sadly in the draft lottery, again, with a 12.5 per cent chance at getting a shot at Alexei Lafreniere, the gifted left-winger.

They aren’t alone. So is Pittsburgh, also out. Toronto rallied to stay alive against Columbus but Winnipeg’s also done.

McDavid, Draisaitl, Crosby, Malkin, Scheifele, Laine … That’s a lot of star power short-circuited in the play-in round, underscoring how tenuous best-of-fives are.

“We never really got our A-game going,” said Draisaitl, who had six points.

The Oilers looked shell-shocked in Game 1, coach Dave Tippett’s words, and there’s not a lot of runway left when you lose the opener. They scored on the first shift in two of the games and two and-a-half minutes into another game, they got ample offence out of McDavid and Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who scored on a power play while Josh Archibald got the game’s first goal 45 seconds in.

But they didn’t do the job as a team when they didn’t have the puck, and it cost them dearly against a team just happy to be here.

“It’s frustrating, for sure we expected better … we overachieved a bit in regular season and it feels like we underachieved in this series,” said Tippett, whose team was only one win from being in the round-robin seeding portion, rather than Dallas, and now they’re crushingly done.

Hawks’ rookie Dominik Kubalik, who had five points in the series opener, squeezed one through Mikko Koskinen eight minutes into the third for the knife to the Oilers heart. Toews, the best player in the series, out-fought a game Ethan Bear, who came back from being battle shaken up after being plowed into the glass by Alex DeBrincat, to get the puck into the 1190422 Edmonton Oilers into Drake Caggiula at the Blackhawks bench on his way to retrieve the puck in his own zone.

After falling behind in the third, the Oilers pressed for the tying goal and Chicago Blackhawks burst Edmonton Oilers' bubble Leon Draisaitl had the best chance with a point-blank shot late, but was turned away by Crawford.

With 2:03 left in the game, the Oilers were assessed a minor for too- Derek Van Diest many-men when there was a mix-up at the bench with Koskinen being pulled for the extra attacker. The Oilers were able to pull Koskinen to play Published:August 8, 2020 even strength in the last minute but could not score the tying goal. Updated:August 8, 2020 12:57 AM MDT “I think we’re ahead of where we started at the start of training camp last year, but there is lots of work to be done,” Tippett said. “We have good pieces on this group, but we talk about at the start of the year we want to The season is over for the Edmonton Oilers, their bubble has been burst. play real meaningful games we wanted the chance to be a playoff team and we tried to earn the right to do that and didn’t get that done in this After showing so much promise during the regular season, the Oilers five-game series so there is still a lot of work to be done.” lasted less than a week into the NHL’s Return to Play format, losing 3-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday and falling 3-1 in the best-of-five The Blackhawks will move on to face the top team in the Western qualifying series. Conference, currently being determined in a round-robin seeding tournament. The Stanley Cup Playoffs will take place at Rogers Place without the Oilers, who now have a chance to earn the first overall pick in the NHL “It was great way to end the series, obviously it was a big challenge Entry Draft again, to be determined on Monday. they’re a team with as good a players as you’ll find in the league,” said Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton. “But I’m really proud of how we “Tonight you can’t tell me they out-battled us, we had way more chances competed right from the first game we showed we were ready and than they did,” said Oilers head coach Dave Tippett. “But we made some committed to the little things that you need to win.” critical mistakes and they ended up in back of our net. Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 08.08.2020 “It’s frustrating, because they (players) expected better. In the regular season, I felt maybe we overachieved a little bit and in the play-in series we underachieved.”

Dominik Kubalik scored the game-winner for the Blackhawks with 11:30 to play in the third period, taking a pass in tight from Jonathan Toews and beating goaltender Mikko Koskinen. Toews won a puck battle against rookie defenceman Ethan Bear at the side of the net to gain possession and slid it out front to a wide-open Kubalik.

Brandon Saad and Matthew Highmore also scored for the Blackhawks and Corey Crawford made 41 saves. Josh Archibald and Ryan Nugent- Hopkins scored for the Oilers. Mikko Koskinen made 25 saves.

“I’m happy that I scored it’s always nice when you get on the board,” Kubalik said. “It’s a team win and we’re off to the next round so that’s good.”

Archibald scored 45 seconds into the game off an outstanding pass from Connor McDavid.

Skating down the right boards back towards the blue line, the Oilers captain threw a no-look pass across to Archibald who one-timed a shot past Crawford.

The Blackhawks responded less than five minutes later when Saad collected a rebound, went around the net and wrapped the puck in, beating Koskinen to the other side.

Highmore gave Chicago the lead less than three minutes later, tipping in a Duncan Keith point shot in past Koskinen. The Blackhawks came close to extending their lead later in the period when Alex Nylander hit the post on a shot from the slot.

The Oilers went into the period down 2-1, but started it on the power play. Koskinen make a short-handed breakaway save on David Kampf to keep the deficit at one goal. The save was magnified when Nugent- Hopkins scored two seconds after the Blackhawks penalty to Highmore for high-sticking had expired to tie the game 2-2.

“We came in with the right mindset, we had a great training camp it just didn’t happen for us,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “There is not much to say right now, we got beat, it’s disappointing. I thought other than the first game, we worked hard. Our intensity level was up when it needed to be. They want to play a skill game and they capitalized on their opportunities. It’s tough to swallow right now we’re going to have a lot of time to think about this.”

Shortly after tying the game, the Oilers were awarded a five-minute power play when Alex DeBrincat drove Bear into the boards from behind. DeBrincat was ejected for the hit.

The Oilers were unable to capitalize, however, as the power play was cut short by a questionable interference penalty on Darnell Nurse who ran 1190423 Edmonton Oilers A lost faceoff. An Oscar Klefbom giveaway. Kris Russell out of position. And Mikko Koskinen unable to get across the crease to the far post of a wrap-around. That’s a mistake by just about everybody on the ice.

Oilers out on Elimination Day with 3-2 loss to Blackhawks A play generated from the point after a fire drill in front of Koskinen and the Blackhawks had their 13th point of a four-game series produced by a defenceman.

Terry Jones And so it went.

Published:August 7, 2020 For the series McDavid produced five goals, four assists and nine points. Nugent-Hopkins had two goals, six assists and eight points. Draisaitl had Updated:August 7, 2020 10:43 PM MDT three goals, three assists and six points.

For their playoff careers McDavid now has 11 goals and 25 points, They died on do-or-die day. Draisaitl 12 goals and 28 points.

They were eliminated on Elimination Day. The Oilers almost came back and won it. But they didn’t. Not enough Oilers were good enough, experienced enough or were prepared to pay Failure to attend to detail, giveaways in their own end, continually the price you have to pay in the playoffs. allowing the Chicago Blackhawks to produce points from the point and not being able to generate secondary scoring were only a few of the long It’ll be a long four months until we see them again. You’re on Ken list of failings. Holland.

Combined that resulted in their early checkout of the J.W. Marriott in the Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 08.08.2020 bubble of Edmonton’s Hub City as a result of a 3-2 loss to the 23rd seed in the tournament.

They’ll have the rest of August and September to follow the fascinating coronavirus pandemic tournament as it’s played out in their own city until NHL commissioner Gary Bettman presents the Stanley Cup in Rogers Place.

Too many players not named Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins failed to either produce points, win battles, or just not make mistake after mistake. Half of them will have trouble telling themselves they made a positive contribution to the team.

The Oilers thus entered the Alexis Lafreniere Sweepstakes with a 3-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks Friday.

The New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets were already entered in Monday’s eight-ticket Alexis Lafreniere NHL Draft Lottery with a 12.5 percent chance of getting the next superstar of the sport when elimination day dawned in the best-of-five Qualifying Round series.

Arguably just as big a story as the hockey was the phenomenal Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation 50-50 raffle that had sold out of tickets at a world record $5,417,130 after the draw hit the server provider’s maximum allowable ticket sales two days earlier. With expanded capacity there were all sorts of early-day website crashing problems but a new record total of $6.6 million worth of 50-50 tickets had been sold by the end of the second period with upwards of $3.3 million to the winner. It sat at $7.5 million after the game ended.

The Florida Panthers crashed early and went out quietly, 4-1, against ex- Oiler Jordan Eberle and the New York Islanders.

But the Nashville Predators did not load easily into the No. 4 gate for the Lafreniere Derby, scoring in the final minute of regulation. Ex-Oiler No. 1 overall pick Taylor Hall was able to finally win a playoff series when Brad Richardson scored the overtime winner for the Phoenix Coyotes.

The do or die was not trending well when the Montreal Canadiens, the 24th-seeded team in the tournament, for the first time not getting the winning goal from ex-Oiler Jeff Petrie, scored late and then again into an empty net to eliminate the Pittsburgh Penguins with 2-0 win.

To this point it was ‘die, die, die’ on a day that six teams faced elimination with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Minnesota Wild to face their fate in the night caps.

Despite the Coyotes-Predators game being the first overtime game in Rogers Place, the Edmonton-Chicago 4:45 p.m. scheduled game was only delayed 17 minutes.

Josh Archibald gave the Oilers some secondary scoring they’d been missing. One of 10 members of the team who had register double figures in goals during the regular season and hadn’t scored in the playoffs, Archibald took a pass from McDavid to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead.

But then it was a return to the same flaws that had been sewering their series from the start. 1190424 Edmonton Oilers The Predators probably deserved a better fate, arguably outplaying the Coyotes in every period of the series, but unable to extend it to a fifth- and-deciding game.

HUB CITY NOTES: Coyotes earn playoff spot with win over Predators Nashville outshot Arizona 40-28 in a 4-1 loss in Game 3 and fired 54 shots on Kuemper in Game 4. It appeared as though the Predators had dodged a bullet when Forsberg scored with 31.9 seconds left to send the game into overtime Friday, but Richardson sent them packing. Derek Van Diest “I think when you look at how the series played out, you have to give our Published:August 7, 2020 players credit,” said Predators head coach John Hynes. “They played the Updated:August 7, 2020 6:48 PM MDT right way, they played with structure, and unfortunately, in a few games we couldn’t get the extra goal. But it wasn’t for lack of effort, lack of opportunities or lack of chances or zone time. We just couldn’t find a way to solve Kuemper as much as we threw at him.” The Arizona Coyotes are heading to the NHL Playoffs for the first time in eight years, dating back to when current Edmonton Oilers coach Dave Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 08.08.2020 Tippett was behind their bench.

Brad Richardson scored 5:27 into overtime to give the Coyotes a 4-3 victory and a 3-1 best-of-five series win in their qualifier against the Nashville Predators. Arizona move on to the playoffs against one of the four Western Conference teams currently playing a round-robin seeding tournament.

“On the play, I think Vinnie (Hinostroza) had it and I kind of just rolled off my check and he saw me backdoor,” Richardson said. “I think it hit my shin pad and it was just kind of laying there and I hung in there and put it in.

“It feels amazing, obviously. They got a late one in the third period, but we stuck with it and we got a big win.”

The Coyotes were out-shot 52-34 in the contest, but goaltender Darcy Kuemper was outstanding again, particularly early when the Predators stormed out of the gate. Nashville had 15 shots in the first, 16 in the second, and 17 in the third as they fell behind 2-0 and then 3-2.

Kuemper was beaten with 31. 9 seconds left in the third period on a shot from Filip Forsberg from the left face-off circle. Forsberg one-timed a shot after Predators defenceman Ryan Ellis was able to control a clearing attempt just inside the blue line with his glove and quickly fed it across the ice.

“We went back in the locker room and regrouped,” said Coyotes defenceman Jordan Oesterle, a one-time Oiler, who scored the go-ahead goal in the third. “Our older guys really stepped up and told us it was our time for someone to be a hero and Richy came out and was the hero of the night and now we move on to Round 1.”

In overtime, both teams traded chances before Richardson found a loose puck in the crease and was able to shovel it past goaltender Juuse Saros. Michael Grabner scored with 2:33 left in the first period to give Arizona the lead and Phil Kessel made it 2-0 at 1:37 of the second period.

“Throughout the year we’ve had some resiliency and a little bit of noise with this club, that’s a microcosm for us to be able to deal with that little bit of adversity,” said Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet, who saw his general manager John Chayka quit on the eve of the Return to Play tournament. “That’s a hell of a play by Ellis and Forsberg is a hell of a player. We were down, I could tell, but then in between periods guys started chirping again, which was good. We needed to get some energy back in that room, because you’re 30 seconds from clinching the series again and you have to get your mind back again.”

Matt Duchene scored on the power play at 4:29 of the second to cut the lead to 2-1 and Viktor Arvidsson tied it for the Predators just under four minutes later.

The Coyotes were ranked 11th heading into the qualifying series and were four points back of a Wild Card spot in the Western Conference when play was halted on March 12 due to concerns with the COVID-19. The Predators were in a Wild Card position when play was halted and were the sixth-ranked team in the qualifiers.

“I think we just did a good job and we’re all feeling pretty good,” Kuemper said. “Anytime you can win a series it’s a big accomplishment. We just went out against a really talented team — they have so much skill over there — but we rose to the occasion and were able to win the series. We’re all feeling pretty good, we’re going to enjoy it and start focusing on the next round.”

DESERVE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT 1190425 Edmonton Oilers Nurse said the Oilers weren’t intense enough against the Blackhawks, adding he and his teammates were at their best in that regard in the exhibition game last Tuesday against the provincial-rival Flames.

The Oilers have some disappointing lessons to learn — even in season “I thought we had more to give,” he said. “We didn’t bring what was of progress necessary to win.”

“I thought we had our moments in this series,” McDavid added. “We can’t play Calgary every night to bring it. We have to figure it out.” By Daniel Nugent-Bowman Aug 7, 2020 Poor series result aside, this season should prove the Oilers are on the right track.

Dave Tippett summed up the dichotomy of the Oilers’ 2019-20 season Tippett, with the help of his coaching staff, came in last May and turned succinctly and appropriately after they were eliminated from the the penalty kill from the league’s second-worst to its second-best. The postseason by the Blackhawks. power play went from very good to historically good – even if it surprisingly went 0-for-5 Friday and failed to score on the DeBrincat “It’s frustrating because we expected better,” the coach said. “In the major. regular season, we overachieved a little bit. It feels like in this play-in series, we underachieved.” There was a lot to like from the Oilers this season, even if it’s hard to grasp right now. Make no mistake, the Oilers losing in the qualifier series against the 12th- seeded Blackhawks is an upset. Probably even a big one, with due “We’re ahead of where we started at the start of training camp last year. respect to the three-time defending champs from last decade. That’s the positive. But there’s lots of work to be done,” Tippett said. “We want to be an upper-echelon team. We want to be consistent in that year The flip side of the coin is that the Oilers were near locks to make the to year. We obviously have more work to do to get there.” normal 16-team playoffs when the season was halted March 12. That’s a spot few around the league thought they’d be in when the season began Tippett got surprising performances out of Yamamoto and Bear, two last fall. rookies. He also had the world’s best player and an MVP finalist playing on separate lines from January onward. That made the Oilers a deeper Instead, they finished fifth in the Western Conference by points and better team. percentage. The one thing left to question is whether he should have removed All that did, however, was leave them with a different type of Nugent-Hopkins from a unit with Draisaitl and Yamamoto late in the disappointment than they’re accustomed to feeling. season and for the playoffs. He didn’t deviate from his plan of having “You play this game to give yourself a chance to win the Stanley Cup. Nugent-Hopkins with McDavid until the last few minutes of Game 4. We’re sitting here after a qualifier (series) not in the playoffs – not even in “You need balance throughout your lineup. We need that to become an the top 16,” defenceman Darnell Nurse said. “You can talk about the elite team,” Tippett said. “We want to win for a long time. I believe that strides all you want; I don’t think anyone’s happy.” you have pairs on lines that you can get going. “We came up short,” forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added. “There’s not “You can’t be a one-line team and expect to win on a consistent basis. much left to say.” We’re trying to balance our team to win long term.” The Oilers had their chances in the series, especially Friday when Tippett That could make the Oilers scarier next season and beyond. (Although thought they dominated in the back half of the game. They had 59 Nugent-Hopkins is scheduled to be a free agent next offseason.) percent of the shot attempts in the game, including 70 percent in the third period. GM Ken Holland last improved the Oilers by tinkering since last May, mostly by making depth moves. This series showed he must do more. They probably deserved a better fate in Game 4 – just as they probably deserved a better fate two nights earlier when two deflected point shots Adding another offensive winger has long been a priority, at least caused a one-goal lead to evaporate in the last six minutes. externally. Judging by Tippett’s comments, obtaining that player is a necessity for him to feel comfortable using Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins and The small details cost them dearly as the series reached its crescendo. Yamamoto on the same line again regularly. A failure to get into the shooting lanes or box out opponents in front of A top-four defenceman seems imperative, too, especially with Adam their own net. An inability of either goaltender to make a timely save. Larsson’s inconsistent output during the season and struggles (in two Losing a key battle and not having a teammate around to offer support. games) during the Chicago series. The latter was their undoing in the third period Friday. At least one more bottom-six forward and a goaltender to replace UFA Ethan Bear – banged up earlier in the game after being on the receiving Mike Smith would be ideal. That’s a big to-do list in a flat-cap world. end of a dangerous hit from Alex DeBrincat – was outmuscled for a puck Even with the holes on the roster, the Oilers should have had enough to by Jonathan Toews to the right of goalie Mikko Koskinen. The beat the Blackhawks. Blackhawks captain fed Dominik Kubalik, unfettered after Leon Draisaitl left him alone, for the eventual winner with 12:30 left in regulation. But predicting how postseason series will wind up is difficult enough at the best of times. It’s proved to be especially chaotic this summer after a “That’s the way it went for us,” Tippett said. long layoff and with games being held in an unprecedented bubble “It’s little mistakes that we had way too many of,” Draisaitl said. “That’s environment. (See: the Canadiens dispatching the Penguins in four throughout the lineup. games in the Eastern hub.)

“Just too many little mistakes that just can’t happen this time of year. We McDavid thought the Oilers were ready to go during their July camp. It never really got our A-game going.” wasn’t meant to be.

Largely, the problems that plagued the Oilers this season hurt them Steps were made in Edmonton this season. But in the end, it comes again in the series. down to lessons that still need to be learned.

Connor McDavid, Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins combined for 23 points – “We’ve got a lot of growing to do,” Tippett said. “What we think is recording in nine, eight and six, respectively. No other Oiler had more competing hard isn’t hard enough to win in the playoffs.” than three. Kailer Yamamoto, so excellent after a late December call-up The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 with 26 points in 27 games, was held pointless.

Although they had a 53.6 Corsi-for percentage as a team at 5-on-5, they were outscored 12-9 in that department during the series. The Oilers were one of the league’s worst teams at 5-on-5 during the regular season. It’s an area that needs vast improvement. 1190426 Edmonton Oilers He was played with Gaetan Haas and Josh Archibald during the exhibition game, Archibald and Riley Sheahan in Game 1, and Sheahan and Zack Kassian for the last two contests until Ennis went down.

Replacing Tyler Ennis: Ranking the best left wing and backfill Oilers Because he doesn’t kill penalties and is part of a second power-play unit options that seldom sees the ice, Athanasiou has played just 30 minutes during this series with all but 32 seconds of it coming at 5-on-5.

He played 11:29 in Game 3 – and that was after a third-period bump in By Daniel Nugent-Bowman Aug 7, 2020 ice time.

Athanasiou hasn’t contributed offensively yet, but at least the Oilers are carrying the play when he’s on the ice. He has a 59 Corsi-for percentage The Oilers were dealt a sizable blow as Tyler Ennis left Wednesday at 5-on-5. night’s game for good late in the second period without putting any pressure on his right leg. There is some familiarity beyond Wednesday’s third period for Athanasiou with Draisaitl and Yamamoto. He spent the first week of The news became worse half a day later. training camp last month with the two players before Tippett swapped Coach Dave Tippett said the left winger is out indefinitely, meaning he’ll him out in favour of Ennis. be sidelined for at least the remainder of the best-of-five qualifier against Athanasiou has a $3 million cap hit and is a restricted free agent with the Blackhawks. The series will end by Saturday at the latest – and that’s arbitration rights. He needs to start producing quickly or there’s a strong if the Oilers keep their season alive in Game 4 on Friday. likelihood that he’s not retained. “Enzo was a good player for us,” Tippett said. “He’s a smart player. He Ryan Nugent-Hopkins moves the puck. He’ll be missed out of our lineup.” Is it time to reunite one of the most productive lines in the NHL over the Ennis was crumped into the boards by Chicago rookie Kirby Dach behind back half of the season? Again, Tippett skirted the question when asked the Edmonton net, halting play at 16:45 of the middle frame. He Thursday. appeared to turn just as Dach delivered the check. The effectiveness of the Nugent-Hopkins, Draisaitl and Yamamoto trio Ennis writhed in pain the moment he hit the ice and needed assistance since the start of January has been well documented. Just a reminder: getting to the dressing room. Tippett was irate about the lack of a they managed a 52.1 Corsi-for percentage and a 77.8 percent goal share penalty, claiming it was the same type of hit Kailer Yamamoto made in nearly 318 minutes together at 5-on-5 from Jan. 1 through season’s against Blackhawks defenceman Connor Murphy earlier in the period end. that resulted in a boarding call. Ideally, the Oilers could clone Nugent-Hopkins, so Draisaitl and McDavid Acquired at the trade deadline from Ottawa for a 2021 fifth-round pick, could have him on their respective left sides. Removing Nugent-Hopkins Ennis had two goals and two assists through nine regular season games from McDavid’s line creates a major hole there. before the pause in March. He was a regular top-six player. Now, there are nights like Game 2 when McDavid’s linemates are He’d been playing with Leon Draisaitl and Yamamoto in the Chicago basically inconsequential. Usually, however, he needs a little help — like series until his injury Wednesday and contributed a goal and an assist every superstar does. through almost eight periods. The Oilers really have only two trusted scoring options on the wing at 5- “He’s come in and filled a lot of needs in our lineup,” winger Alex on-5. Giving them both to Draisaitl has worked before and briefly after the Chiasson said. “He’s a guy that can move up and down the lines. He can Ennis acquisition. Asking McDavid to do more himself seems to be a play with skilled players. He’s a shifty guy. He’s a great guy in the locker riskier proposition at playoff time. room. James Neal or Alex Chiasson “That’s a tough loss for us.” Both have been reasonably effective in the playoffs at 5-on-5 through And now there’s a hole in the lineup that needs filling. three games. They’ve played roughly 28 minutes apiece, have Corsi-for “What it is is an opportunity for somebody else,” Tippett said. “It’s gonna percentages above 50 and have each scored a goal. be more minutes for somebody. We need them to get in there and do the Neal didn’t even play nine minutes with Draisaitl when both teams are at job.” even strength during the season, so it would be odd for Tippett to try As with most injuries, the Oilers will not only need to slot in someone in them together now. He did play more than 122 minutes with McDavid Ennis’ spot — they must backfill his replacement’s place in the lineup, and they produced a 53.3 Corsi-for percentage in the process – albeit too. Here’s a ranking of the options available for each case: while being outscored 7-6. A Neal-McDavid combo seems much more plausible than a Neal-Draisaitl pairing, even if neither is particularly likely. Replacing Ennis Chiasson played 570 minutes with Draisaitl last season but only 75 Andreas Athanasiou minutes in 2019-20. (Chiasson actually spent more time, 87 minutes, with McDavid.) Yamamoto would probably have to move to left wing if Tippett Even though he wouldn’t elaborate Thursday, Tippett tipped his hand by chooses to reunite Chiasson and Draisaitl. moving Athanasiou up after Ennis’ injury in Game 3. He also indicated after the game that Athanasiou is the leading candidate to continuing Tippett has been enthralled with the line of Neal, Chiasson and Jujhar filling in in Ennis’ absence. Khaira since he put them together in early March. Would he dare break them up? That would make the most sense from a speed and skill perspective. Backfilling the lineup Like Ennis, Athanasiou was acquired on Jan. 24 by GM Ken Holland in the hopes of providing more scoring punch. Gaetan Haas

The cost was steep — a second-round pick in each of the next two drafts Haas is the best and most versatile forward available. — for a 25-year-old player (he turned 26 Thursday) coming off a 30-goal campaign with the Red Wings in 2018-19. He’s played on the second unit power play. He killed penalties during the exhibition game when Sheahan was out of the lineup, and Tippett said he The return on those two high draft picks hasn’t been very good so far. could do it in the postseason. He’s also the only right-handed centre on the roster to appear in NHL games this season. Athanasiou had a goal and a helper in his Oilers debut the day after he was acquired while skating with Ennis and Connor McDavid. He hasn’t The only issue is he hasn’t played Ennis’ position of left wing. That would found the scoresheet since and was slowly pushed down the lineup in have to change or else Sheahan or Khaira would have to be moved to the games that followed. the left side. Khaira, of course, played the whole season there until the acquisitions of Ennis and Athanasiou pushed him to the middle in March. Joakim Nygard

Nygard is the best natural left winger among the Black Aces. He also hasn’t played a game since the end of January, when he broke his hand while blocking a shot against Calgary.

Nygard could fill Ennis’ role (or, more specifically, Athanasiou’s if he’s moved up) in that he’s a winger with speed with second power play abilities. He’s also had success with Sheahan, which would be the obvious spot for him if Athanasiou remains on Draisaitl’s line.

Patrick Russell

Russell played in the exhibition last Tuesday, although he only played a few minutes. (He still managed a goal and an assist.)

Russell can play both wings and can kill penalties. He’s known for his smart and tenacious effort along the boards. He’d be no more than the 12th forward if called upon.

Tyler Benson

After a standout AHL rookie campaign last season, Benson appeared in seven games for his hometown team in 2019-20 and registered one assist.

It’s more likely Benson gets into the lineup compared to fellow AHL teammates Ryan McLeod and Cooper Marody considering the positional need and NHL experience this season.

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190427 Florida Panthers He took the COVID shutdown to settle in at his new home and arrived for the postseason as the anchor Florida hoped it was getting. On Friday, he faced 37 shots and stopped 33, including three in quick succession on a penalty kill in the second period to keep the Panthers down 2-1. He first Florida Panthers disappointing season ends early. More changes coming blocked a slap shot coming from his right side and turned away a this offseason? rebound attempt right in front him, then dove to his left to deny Barzal as he barreled in to shoot at an open net.

Bobrovsky absolutely robs Lee and Barzal pic.twitter.com/UXOgaX3Cz3 BY DAVID WILSON — Rob Taub (@RTaub_) August 7, 2020 AUGUST 07, 2020 02:39 PM , The goalie finished his first postseason in Florida with a .908 save

percentage and 3.00 goals against average. This season was supposed to usher in a new era for the Florida “He had a lot of pressure on him with the signing of the deal and Panthers. expectations are high,” Quenneville said. “I like how he battled in that Joel Quenneville’s arrival in the offseason was supposed to mark a second period there. ... We’re still in the hockey game there and he did culture change for the Panthers, who have only won a postseason once what he had to do.” in their 27-year history. Sergei Bobrovsky’s was supposed to finally bring Beauvillier’s second goal was all New York needed. Less than four a superstar to Florida and elevate a once-promising young core toward minutes after Beauvillier scored his first, Barzal caught the Panthers sustained success after three straight years missing the Stanley Cup making a line change and extended his own shift to take advantage. The playoffs. All-Star center charged down the right side of the ice and drew the The Panthers’ season was once thrilling in the first half of the year and undermanned defense his way. Beauvillier was wide open on the other then massively disappointing as they slipped out of the playoff picture side of the net and Barzal fed his left wing for another goal with 4:50 left after the All-Star break. Florida was even given second life when the in the period. COVID-19 pandemic led the NHL to expand its postseason to 24 teams. Every other goal Bobrovsky allowed Friday came after a defensive On Friday, the flameout was all too familiar. The Panthers, after breakdown like this one. extending their season a few more days by winning Wednesday, fell THE BAD: THE OFFENSE behind by two goals early against the New York Islanders in Game 4 of a five-game series and tumbled out of the qualifying round with a 5-1 loss For about 19 minutes, the first was the worst period Florida played in the in Toronto. For the fourth season in a row, Florida will be drafting in the entire expanded postseason. The Panthers managed just four even- lottery after the Islanders finished off the 3-1 series win to keep the strength shots and spent most of the time backed up in their own zone, Panthers out of the traditional 16-team playoffs. Now even more save for a pair of power-play opportunities. organizational changes loom. The power play was about all Florida could count on in the playoffs this “It’s a process,” Bobrovsky said. “You can’t jump right away to the roof. year. It went 3 for 9 with the extra man in the first three games, then We have to make some steps, baby steps, toward our goal. added another goal in the first period Friday. All-Star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau fed a pass across the goal mouth to winger Mike Hoffman, Those first two goals for New York at came in the span of less than four who ripped home his third goal of the series from inside the right faceoff minutes in the first period. Although Florida answered on the power play circle to cut the Islanders’ lead to 2-1 with 1:03 left in the first. before the end of the period, the deficit was too much to make up for the Panthers, who were never able to come back at any point in the best-of-5 It was all Florida managed Friday, though. The Panthers went 1 for 2 on series against the defensive-minded Islanders at Scotiabank Arena. the power play in the in the first period, but finished just 1 for 5 after putting just one shot on goal across their final three opportunities. New In Game 1, Florida fell behind by two goals and couldn’t quite climb back York ultimately outshot Florida, 38-25, and the Panthers managed just 18 in the third period. In Game 2, the Panthers blew a lead in the second shots in 5-on-5 action as the Islanders added three more goals in the period and could never regroup after New York took the lead. On second and third periods, including an empty-net goal in the final Wednesday, Florida once again found a deficit insurmountable and the minutes. season ended familiarly short of the Cup playoffs. Florida, which averaged 3.35 goals per game in the regular, finished its THE GOOD: SERGEI BOBROVSKY quick trip to the postseason with just seven goals in four games. The Anthony Beauviller scored first with 8:27 left in the first period after the Panthers never outshot New York. Even the power play finished just 4 for Panthers botched a clear attempt. The forward scored again with 4:50 14. left in the period after Florida’s defense conceded a 2-on-1 rush for Last offseason, general manager Dale Tallon made major changes Beauvillier and Matthew Barzal. The Panthers were quickly in a 2-0 hole through free agency, but couldn’t escape the shadow of his own mistakes and playing their worst period of the series. and the organization’s longstanding structural issues. Now he faces his Beauvillier’s first goal was soft. The Islanders got a second chance at an own reckoning: The general manager, Sportsnet reported, is on his way attack after Florida failed to clear the zone and Beauvillier found himself out. to the right of the goal with his back to the net. The left-handed Canadian “We had to be a lot better,” center Aleksander Barkov said. “We just flipped a backhanded, no-look, no-angle shot at the net, just trying to didn’t do it.” create some chaos. Bobrovsky left his five-hole open, though, and the puck rattled over his stick, off his skate, through his legs and into net. Miami Herald LOADED: 08.08.2020 “I was looking at the middle. There was a guy coming to the slot, so I didn’t expect that,” Bobrovsky said. “If we rewind that, I would do the same thing, o it’s just one of those things where you have to find a way and not let those in, but, again, it is what it is. Mistakes is mistakes. It’s a game of mistakes.”

It was the first time in the expanded postseason Bobrovsky, who had been so reliable through the first three games of the series, reverted to his massively disappointing regular-season form.

Last year, the Panthers handed Bobrovsky a seven-year, $70-million deal, making him one of the highest paid goalies in the NHL. The two- time Vezina Trophy winner responded with his worst regular season since his second year in the league, giving up 3.23 goals per game with a meager .900 save percentage. 1190428 Florida Panthers

Jonathan Huberdeau is in the lineup for Florida Panthers’ must-win Game 4 vs. Islanders

BY DAVID WILSON

AUGUST 07, 2020 12:15 PM

Jonathan Huberdeau is in the lineup for the Florida Panthers for their must-win Game 4 against the New York Islanders.

The All-Star left wing, who missed the final five minutes of Game 3 because of an apparent right leg injury, is slotting into his usual spot on the Panthers’ top line Friday at Scotiabank Arena as Florida needs a win to force a winner-take-all Game 5 on Sunday.

Huberdeau’s injury was serious enough for coach Joel Quenneville to have some reservations about his star winger’s status for Game 3 of the qualifying round. After practice Thursday in Toronto, the coach didn’t commit to having Huberdeau in his lineup Friday, although he was optimistic.

“Good progress today,” Quenneville said, “and right now we’re looking for him to be ready.”

The progress was good enough for him to get right back on the ice for Game 4 of this best-of-5 series with the Panthers trailing 2-1. Florida is also keeping its top line intact from Wednesday: Huberdeau is at left wing, Aleksander Barkov is at center and Noel Acciari, usually a lower- line center, is at right wing.

One of the only consistent parts of the Panthers’ lineup in this series has been the Huberdeau-Barkov combination. The two forwards have typically played together, but Quenneville split them up at the end of the regular season before reuniting them ahead of Game 1 on Saturday. Both have already scored goals in the series.

Huberdeau was Florida’s top scorer in the regular season, leading the Panthers with 78 points and earning an All-Star nod. The 27-year-old Canadian also led the team with 55 assists, to go along with 23 goals. He posted a plus-minus of plus-5.

He had also been one of Florida’s top offensive performers in the first three games of this five-game series. Huberdeau scored the Panthers’ first goal in the series in the third period of their Game 1 loss and followed it up with an assist in their Game 2 loss Tuesday. He’s one of only four players with multiple points for Florida and his seven shots are second most among Panthers forwards.

Miami Herald LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190429 Florida Panthers “That was a really, really tough bounce,” said Barkov, referring to his missed opportunity. “It would’ve been a huge goal for us. Obviously, you look back on it, it should’ve been a goal like 10 times out of 10. But the defenseman made a really good play, and I was just unlucky.” Panthers eliminated from playoffs in Game 4 rout The Islanders fired 31 shots on net through two periods, and 38 overall, two days after managing just 22 against Florida.

By JOHN WAWROW The offensive-minded Panthers had difficulty generating goals against the tight-checking Islanders. After finishing sixth in the NHL in averaging ASSOCIATED PRESS |AUG 07, 2020 AT 4:47 PM 3.3 goals per game, Florida scored just seven this series — and only three in even-strength situations.

TORONTO — Anthony Beauvillier scored twice, and the New York NOTES: Isles RW Leo Komarov made his playoff debut, replacing Tom Islanders beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 to clinch an NHL best-of-five Kuhnhackl. ... Huberdeau played after failing to finish Game 3, in which preliminary round playoff series in four games on Friday. he appeared shaken up following a collision with teammate Noel Acciari. ... The Panthers’ victory in Game 3 marked just the third time they’ve won Mike Hoffman scored his Florida-leading third goal and fifth point of the when facing elimination. Florida had lost five straight elimination games series, while Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky proved inconsistent in since overcoming 3-2 series deficit against Pittsburgh in 1996 Eastern stopping 33 shots. Conference finals.

Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal had a goal and assist each in a game Sun Sentinel LOADED: 08.08.2020 the Islanders never trailed. Defenseman Ryan Pulock made a diving stick save to prevent Florida’s Aleksander Barkov from scoring into an open side to maintain New York’s 3-1 lead midway through the second period.

Semyon Varlamov stopped 24 shots, Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored an empty-netter, and the Eastern Conference’s seventh-seeded Islanders bounced back from a 3-2 loss in Game 3 on Wednesday.

New York will open the best-of-seven first-round series against a yet to be determined opponent next week.

[Popular in Sports] Heat’s Butler, Nunn out Saturday, Dragic questionable; Spoelstra addresses tough times »

The 10th-seeded Panthers wound up one-and-done for their fifth consecutive postseason appearance, and eliminated for the second straight time by the Islanders. New York needed six games to eliminate the Panthers in a best-of-seven first-round series in 2016.

Florida hasn’t won a playoff series since making its first postseason appearance in 1996, when the team reached the Stanley Cup Final only to be swept by Colorado.

The Islanders are making their second consecutive playoff appearance in two years under coach Barry Trotz, and only sixth since the 2004-05 NHL lockout. New York swept Pittsburgh in the first round last year before being swept by Carolina in the second.

The Islanders caught the Panthers napping in building a 2-0 lead on Beauvillier's two goals.

New York’s 2015 first-round draft pick opened the scoring 11:33 in when he shoveled a bad-angle, no-look backhander from the right of the net and had the puck bank in off the inside of Bobrovsky’s right pad.

Some four minutes later, Barzal drew most of the Panthers’ attention by skating the puck up the right wing, and set up Beauvillier, who was driving in alone up the middle.

[Popular in Sports] Heat’s Butler, Nunn out Saturday, Dragic questionable; Spoelstra addresses tough times »

“I tried to do my best. I tried to stay focused and tried to stay with it,” Bobrovsky said, acknowledging the mistake he made in allowing the opening goal. “We have to learn and move on and get better for next season.”

Hoffman, with his third goal and fifth point of the series, cut New York’s lead to 2-1 with 1:19 left in the period, and 12 seconds after Islanders forward Jordan Eberle was penalized for hooking. Jonathan Huberdeau fed the puck through the crease to Hoffman, who one-timed it in from the right side.

Nelson made it 3-1 by converting Josh Bailey’s cross-ice pass into the right circle 12:01 into the second period, and 14 seconds after the Panthers were penalized for too many men.

Florida had a golden opportunity to get that goal back 25 seconds later. With Varlamov out of position, Barkov had an open right side of the net to shoot at only to have Pulock dive across and deflect Barkov’s backhander over the net. 1190430 Los Angeles Kings

KINGS LOAN TOBIAS BJORNFOT TO DJURGARDENS (SHL)

BY ZACH DOOLEY AUGUST 7, 2020

The LA Kings announced this afternoon that defenseman Tobias Bjornfot has been loaned to Djurgardens (SHL) to begin the 2020-21 season.

To add a bit of context, this is a move from the Kings to get Bjornfot into on-ice action during training camp with Djurgardens, as well as game action in the SHL before the start of the 2020-21 North American season. The SHL is currently slated to begin its 2020-21 season on September 19. This allows for Bjornfot to get back into playing games, in one of the world’s top leagues, while training at a high level in advance of Kings training camp.

The plan from there would be for the Kings to recall Bjornfot to NHL training camp when the time comes.

Bjornfot, 19, made his NHL debut with the Kings last season and was scoreless in three games before being assigned to Ontario. In 44 games with the Reign, the 6-0, 195-pound defenseman registered 19 points (6- 13=19) and led the team with a plus-13 rating. The native of Upplands Vasby, Sweden was selected in the first round, 22nd overall, in the 2019 NHL Draft.

LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190431 Minnesota Wild Pearson’s goal — a quick response that counted as the Wild’s first 5-on- 5 goal of the series. The goal was also Staal’s fifth point against the Canucks.

After holding three leads, Wild loses in OT In the second, the Wild doubled its lead when Joel Eriksson Ek pounced on a rebound off a Zach Parise deflection for his career postseason goal at 5:38. Defenseman Jonas Brodin earned his second assist of the game on the play. By Sarah McLellan Star Tribune AUGUST 8, 2020 — 3:05AM It was a poised reaction to a dicey few minutes for the Wild, as Stalock

got caught without his stick and the Canucks hemmed the Wild in its EDMONTON, ALBERTA — They waited. zone.

For months, Wild players were in limbo — standing by to find out if they’d The hard-earned advantage, however, was short-lived. get a chance to continue the climb they began before the season was Just 1:42 later, Brandon Sutter poked in a puck that bounced behind interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. Stalock and by 8:43, the game was tied at 3. Rookie standout Quinn Then once it was confirmed they would be coming back, they had to wait Hughes record his first goal of the tournament when his point shot on the some more. power play sailed through traffic and behind Stalock.

The team had to get through another edition of training camp and then Vancouver finished 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Wild went 1-for- relocate to Edmonton and settle in there before the group could really get 5. going. That equalizer by Hughes seemed to tilt the ice in the Canucks favor, but And yet after all that buildup and planning and anticipation, the Wild was the Wild weathered the pressure and managed to go into a make-or- still left waiting — to shake hands and offer fist bumps to Vancouver break third period with a lead after rookie Nico Sturm’s shot off the rush players once they were done celebrating moving on from the Stanley at 19:08 trickled between Markstrom and the near post. Cup qualifiers. Sturm joined teammate Jordan Greenway as the only two players in The Wild was bounced from the bubble Friday night, getting eliminated team history to score their first NHL goals in the postseason; this was just after a 5-4 overtime loss to the Canucks in Game 4 at Rogers Place to his second postseason appearance after he debuted in Game 3’s 3-0 fade 3-1 in the best-of-five series that wrapped the season so soon after loss. it returned. But the significance of his goal was downgraded when the Canucks “It’s tough to take in right now,” defenseman Jared Spurgeon said. “It’s retaliated late in the third, with Horvat capitalizing on busted coverage by pretty quick to get going, and then all of a sudden it’s done. We put in a the Wild. lot of work and to end that quickly definitely stings.” “We didn’t think we gave them much,” Evason said. “Just a couple Vancouver’s Christopher Tanev scored from the point just 11 seconds glaring breakdowns ended up in our net, and that’s the game of hockey. into overtime to cap off the latest Canucks comeback that started after You make mistakes sometimes, and we made a couple mistakes that captain Bo Horvat was left all alone in front to bury a Tanner Pearson ended up in the back of our net.” pass with 5:46 to go in the third to tie the game at 4. After eking out the rest of the third, the Wild had a chance to regroup It was the third blown lead of the game by the Wild, a missed opportunity before overtime and start fresh in the new period. that only added to the frustration of such an early exit. But after a Mikko Koivu faceoff win, the puck rolled into the Wild’s zone “When you lead, especially with the type of group we have, you expect to and it never left — getting stopped up the boards before Tanev buried it get the job done and [have] the right result at the end of the night,” center in the Wild’s net. Eric Staal said. “Credit them, they kept coming and kept attacking and And then the game was over quickly after it restarted, just like the Wild’s were able to cash in on a couple broken plays and a couple of good season. plays. “It was pretty shocking for everybody,” Parise said. “Anytime your season “Disappointing finish, for sure, especially how quickly in overtime. We ends just like that, it’s, I don’t know the word for it. It’s not an enjoyable wanted to have a little longer of a crack at it. It stinks.” moment.” One blow to the Wild came before the puck even drop. Star Tribune LOADED: 08.08.2020 No. 1 defenseman Ryan Suter was inactive and had been since the final stages of the third period of Game 3, not playing in the last 6:51. After the game, coach Dean Evason said Suter was unavailable.

“To have his leadership, his veteran presence, his heaviness down low in front of the net, he’s a tough guy to play against,” Evason said. “Absolutely sorely missed in our lineup.”

Matt Bartkowski took the empty seat on the blue line, but it was the Wild’s regulars who looked ready to pick up the slack.

Similar to Game 1, there was an early fight with Ryan Hartman dropping the gloves with Jake Virtanen only 1:36 into the first period — a tussle that boosted both benches but especially the Wild.

Barely a minute later, the team opened the scoring on the power play when Luke Kunin crashed the net and stuffed the puck short-side on goalie Jacob Markstrom at 2:58 for his second goal of the series. His other one was also a special-teams specialty, a shorthanded goal in Game 2’s 4-3 loss.

The tally also snapped a 0-for-14 funk on the power play for the Wild.

Vancouver tied it at 1 by 12:52 when Pearson sneaked in for a partial breakaway that he buried behind goalie Alex Stalock, who ended up making 26 saves. Markstrom had 25.

But the Wild exited the period on top after Staal sent a top-shelf shot in a tight corner over Markstrom’s right shoulder only 41 seconds following 1190432 Minnesota Wild

Wild-Vancouver Game 4 recap

AUGUST 8, 2020 — 2:50AM

SARAH McLELLAN

GAME 4 RECAP

STAR TRIBUNE’S THREE STARS

1. Christopher Tanev, Canucks: The defenseman delivered the series- clinching goal in overtime.

2. Bo Horvat, Canucks: The captain scored the game-tying goal late in the third period and added two assists.

3. Jonas Brodin, Wild: The defenseman assisted on two goals in an expanded role with Ryan Suter out.

BY THE NUMBERS

1 Power-play goal by the Wild to open the scoring and stop a 0-for-14 skid.

2 Goals by the Wild at 5-on-5, the team’s first in the series.

3 Blown leads by the Wild.

8-11 The Wild’s all-time playoff record.

Star Tribune LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190433 Minnesota Wild “As time marches on, you only get so many cracks so I was disappointed for him to see them lose.

“But give Carolina credit. They played really well. They’re looking really Wild's Alex Stalock (vocal) and Canucks' Jacob Markstrom (quiet) big good right now. It’s time for Marc to recharge and, for whenever we start contrast on ice again, I’m sure he’ll be prepared and ready to go.

“But it was fun watching the both of them compete. I think Carolina looks like a really solid team right now.” By Sarah McLellan AUGUST 8, 2020 — 1:54AM Lineup update

Defenseman Ryan Suter (undisclosed) did not play in Game 4 after EDMONTON, ALBERTA – Even when the play has drifted away from the missing the final 6 minutes, 51 seconds of Game 3 on Thursday. Wild’s zone in its best-of-five, qualifying-round series against the Canucks, it’s been hard to forget about who’s guarding the team’s net. Evason did not have an update on Suter’s status after Game 3, and the team didn’t hold any media availability ahead of Game 4. That’s because goalie Alex Stalock is constantly communicating with Wild players, supportive dialogue that’s emerged as the soundtrack of Without Suter, the Wild subbed in Matt Bartkowski. He suited up next to the series without fans in the seats inside Rogers Place to drown out the Brad Hunt on the third defensive pairing, while Carson Soucy was chitchat. promoted to the top duo alongside Jared Spurgeon.

“Al is very vocal,” winger Marcus Foligno said, “and I think it kind of gets This was Bartkowski’s first NHL game since Dec. 31, 2018, when he us fired up. From Day 1 since I’ve met him, he’s one of the most outgoing drew in for the Wild against Pittsburgh. guys, so he’s just like that on the ice. It’s fun to play in front of a guy like Bartkowski had 19 games of playoff experience with Boston and Calgary. that.” The Wild also kept Nico Sturm on the fourth line after he made his NHL When the Wild is on a power play, players don’t need to look up at the postseason debut Thursday. He scored the Wild’s fourth goal Friday. scoreboard to see how much time is left. That meant Ryan Donato was scratched for a second straight game. Stalock, who started Game 4 of the series Friday, will regularly call out Star Tribune LOADED: 08.08.2020 updates so his teammates know when to expect someone exiting the penalty box — reassurance that pressure isn’t imminent.

And while instructions like these may be normal for a chatterbox like Stalock, not every goalie is as loquacious.

Take Stalock’s counterpart at the other end of the rink, Jacob Markstrom, who is a much quieter presence in the crease for Vancouver.

“[Stalock] works so hard day in and day out,” Foligno said. “But he’s smart. He lets guys know, defense know. It’s an easy game back there for our ‘D’ when they have to go and retrieve pucks. He plays a lot of pucks, too, and then he does such a great job with that as well. You tend to see a little bit opposite ends with Markstrom and Al. But for us, we’re happy to be playing for that guy.”

Familiar foe

They may be competitors on the ice, but that doesn’t mean the Wild and Canucks have avoided each other in other parts of the bubble.

The Wild actually has had to walk past Vancouver’s setup daily to get to its meal rooms, and coach Dean Evason has chatted with Vancouver bench boss Travis Green outside of games — the two both played for Team Canada at the 1997 World Championships.

“Obviously, we’re not giving each other secrets, but, yeah, you can still talk to somebody,” Evason said.

“It’s not like the old days. But, again, once the puck’s dropped, you’re competing and you’re battling to win the hockey game.”

And despite catching glimpses of the opposition off the ice, Foligno said the Wild hasn’t paid close attention to the Canucks to gain more insight into how banged up they are from the series.

“It is what it is,” he said. “Everyone’s kind of seeing each other and, you’re seeing everyone.

‘There’s only one way out, one way in our hotel, so everyone has pretty much the same time on game day to be at the rink and it is what it is. You gotta put your head down, keep walking and then bring it to the ice.”

Brother vs. brother

Carolina knocked out the New York Rangers on Tuesday in their play-in series, meaning there was one less Staal brother in the tournament with Marc Staal (Rangers) getting sent home and Jordan (Hurricanes) advancing to the next round.

“I have talked to them both,” Wild center Eric Staal said. “It was fun watching, but to see New York eliminated as quickly as they were was tough for Marc. Obviously, he’s a competitor and a guy who wants to win a Stanley Cup before his career is over. We’ve been around for a little while. 1190434 Minnesota Wild

Wild trying to stave off elimination in Game 4 vs. Canucks

By Sarah McLellan AUGUST 7, 2020 — 12:40PM

EDMONTON, Alberta – The months of uncertainty, a second edition of training camp and then relocating to a bubble in Edmonton, all of that could end up culminating in just four games for the Wild unless the team staves off elimination Friday night when it takes on the Canucks in the best-of-five play-in series.

Puck drop for Game 4 is 9:45 p.m., barely a day after Vancouver blanked the Wild 3-0 in Game 3 on Thursday afternoon.

“Right back at them,” winger Marcus Foligno said.

Perhaps the urgency of a must-win game will help the Wild, the reality of what’s at stake perfectly clear. But the team still has some questions to answer.

First of all, will Ryan Suter play? The defenseman left the action late in the third period Thursday and did not return. Coach Dean Evason didn’t have an update on Suter’s status after the game, and the team didn’t hold media availability before Game 4.

If he can’t go, Matt Bartkowski seems to be next in line on the depth chart.

The other issue with the Wild is its scoring woes; not only has the team yet to convert at 5-on-5 through three games, but the power play is in a 0-for-14 rut.

Whether or not the offense gets going will likely decide the Wild’s fate.

“We just have to be smart with the puck and maybe a little more patience and get some get some shots on the net,” winger Kevin Fiala said.

Projected lineup:

Jordan Greenway-Eric Staal-Kevin Fiala

Zach Parise-Joel Eriksson Ek-Luke Kunin

Marcus Foligno-Alex Galchenyuk-Mats Zuccarello

Ryan Donato-Mikko Koivu-Ryan Hartman

Ryan Suter-Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba

Carson Soucy-Brad Hunt

Alex Stalock

Key numbers:

2-1: Record for the Wild all-time in the second game of a back-to-back in the playoffs.

39: Hits in Game 3 by the Wild.

0: Power play goals for the Wild in its last 14 opportunities.

3: Assists by Quinn Hughes in Game 3 to set the Canucks franchise record for most points in a playoff game by a rookie defenseman.

2: Goals over the last two games for Burnsville’s Brock Boeser.

About the Canucks:

After his first career shutout in the playoffs Thursday, Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom improved his save percentage in the postseason to .946. His goals-against average is 1.68. Vancouver continues to have the edge in faceoffs, with its 55.8 percent efficiency among the best in the playoffs. Captain Bo Horvat has been the team’s leader in that department, winning 57.4 percent of the faceoffs he’s taken. The Canucks have also blocked more shots in the series than the Wild at 49; the Wild has 36.

Star Tribune LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190435 Minnesota Wild

Pushed to the brink, Wild seeks a spark in Game 4

By Randy Johnson AUGUST 7, 2020 — 8:30AM

With 13:50 left in the third period of Thursday afternoon’s Game 3 of qualifying series and the Wild trailing Vancouver by a pair of goals, a break in the action enabled the Wild broadcast production team to hawk some product.

Kirill Kaprizov sweaters, folks, are available online from the Hockey Lodge.

If only Kaprizov himself was available to the Wild for this series in Edmonton. The Russian goal-scoring phenom, who signed with the team this summer but isn’t allowed to play until next season, is sorely what Minnesota is missing in an offense that’s suddenly gone AWOL.

The Wild lost 3-0 to the Canucks and now trails the best-of-five series two games to one, with the possibility of Minnesota’s season ending early Saturday morning. Friday’s Game 4 is another late one, a 9:45 p.m. start.

The series isn’t over, but one must wonder if the Canucks took Minnesota’s best punch in Game 1 and discovered that the easiest way to frustrate the Wild is to repeatedly send it on the power play.

The past two games have been an exercise in aggravation for the Wild with the man advantage. Minnesota followed up Tuesday’s 0-for-6 power-play effort with a 0-for-7 clunker on Thursday. That’s in stark contrast to Game 1, when the Wild scored two power-play goals, needing only 3 seconds of man-advantage time to score the first, then a period later only 31 seconds to score its second.

On Thursday, both teams took 11 penalties for 22 minutes, and the difference was the Canucks converted on their chances and the Wild couldn’t.

Jordan Greenway’s ill-advised slash of Zack MacEwen on a puck battle along the center-ice boards led to Brock Boeser’s backhanded rebound goal that gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead in the second.

Down 2-0 in the third after Antoine Roussel pounced on defenseman Brad Hunt’s fumbled puck for a breakaway goal, the Wild needed to show some discipline. Instead, Minnesota’s best if not only offensive threat, Kevin Fiala, landed in the penalty box for four minutes. He received two roughing minors for throwing an elbow at Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom and his actions in the resulting kerfuffle. Later, Fiala’s slash of Boeser led to the Canucks’ final goal, on a power play.

“We took bad penalties,’’ Wild coach Dean Evason said. “We’ve talked about it as a group. We talked about at the start here. Every coach talks about. We’ve talked until we’re blue in the face about staying off the referees and not taking bad penalties.’’

The message, it appears, wasn’t received.

The constant time on either the power play or penalty kill didn’t help the Wild’s five-on-five game, which remains without goal in the series. Minnesota hasn’t been able to take advantage of its depth the past two games because of all the special teams time.

“We’re such a good five-on-five team, and whenever we can roll four lines, we’re really good,’’ Wild forward Marcus Foligno said. “We’re kind of getting stung by that.’’

The Wild now has only one path to make the 16-team playoff field: Beat Vancouver on Friday and do it again on Sunday. If not, Minnesota will leave the Edmonton bubble and return home with a one-in-eight chance to win the No. 1 overall draft pick, expected to be Alexis Lafreniere, in Monday’s phase two of the draft lottery.

“Desperate hockey,’’ Foligno said when asked how the Wild needs to play Friday. “… There’s not one guy in there that’s thinking about going home.’’

Star Tribune LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190436 Minnesota Wild Less than a minute later, Staal put the Wild back in front with a goal from a wide angle. It was the first time this series that goaltender Jacob Markstrom looked a little shaky between the pipes, and the Wild tested him at every turn. Wild’s season ends abruptly as Canucks score 11 seconds into overtime That trend continued into the second period, and Joel Eriksson Ek took advantage by collecting a rebound in front and firing the puck into the back of the net to help the Wild increase the lead. By DANE MIZUTANI | PUBLISHED: August 8, 2020 at 1:10 a.m. | UPDATED: August 8, 2020 at 2:31 a.m. While it looked like the Wild might run away with the win at that point, the Canucks quickly responded with a pair of goals. That scoring flurry

started when center Brandon Sutter batted a puck out of midair past After waiting nearly 150 days for their season to resume, the Wild only Stalock and continued when defenseman Quinn Hughes uncorked a got to experience a couple of weeks of life inside the NHL’s bubble. blistering shot from the high slot.

That was determined on Friday night at Rogers Place as the Wild bowed All of a sudden the Wild looked like they were on the ropes. That was out of the postseason with a heartbreaking 5-4 overtime loss to the until Sturm gave them new life late in the second period with the first goal Vancouver Canucks in Edmonton, Alberta. of his playoff career.

It was a back-and-forth game, and while the Wild hung tough to force He rushed up the left side of the ice and fired a shot that had no business overtime, defenseman Chris Tanev abruptly ended their season by finding the back of the net. Not that Sturm minded. They don’t ask how, netting the game-winner for the Canucks a mere 11 seconds into the right? extra session. That paved the way for the third period, and with the Wild trying to kill the “It was pretty disheartening for everyone,” Zach Parise said. “To lose 11 clock, the Canucks tied the game when captain Bo Horvat hammered seconds in overtime, it was pretty shocking for everyone. Anytime the home a puck from alone in front. season ends like that, it’s, I don’t know the word for it. It’s not an “We didn’t think we gave them much,” Evason said. “Just a couple of enjoyable moment, I guess.” glaring breakdowns ended up in our net. That’s the game of hockey. You That feeling resonated on the face of every player that chatted postgame. make mistakes sometimes, and we made a couple mistakes that ended Eric Staal sat like a statue with a blank stare on his face. Alex Stalock up in the back of our net.” removed his hat a few times and shook his head in exasperation. Jared That forced overtime, where Tanev ultimately played hero for the Spurgeon spoke in a hushed tone about what could’ve been. Canucks and simultaneously sent the Wild packing. “It’s tough to take in right now,” Spurgeon said. “All of a sudden it’s done. It’s still unclear when next season will start with the coronavirus We put in a lot of work. To end that quickly definitely stings.” pandemic still very much a part of everyday life. That said, the Wild vow These past few months were a whirlwind, and that might be the toughest to be ready whenever it does. part about this whole thing. “You don’t really know what’s ahead for this next season,” Spurgeon There was so much anticipation leading up to the postseason after the said. “I’m sure when it does start, we’ll have this in the back of our minds NHL shut down on March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic. There and want to get off to a good start so that we are in a better position was so much planning that went into the NHL’s bubble. There was so going forward.” much hope from every team that got a second chance at the hoisting the Pioneer Press LOADED: 08.08.2020 Stanley Cup.

All for not, as the Wild return to the Twin Cities with nothing to show for their efforts.

“I think we expected to stay here a little bit longer and were hoping for better results,” Staal said. “Just feels pretty sudden to go out like this.”

Asked about his message postgame, coach Dean Evason said he kept things short and sweet.

“There’s never anything intelligent we can say in those situations,” Evason said. “We just said how proud we were of them and how we battled right from the first day of training camp.”

Even before the puck dropped in a win-or-go-home matchup on Friday night, the uphill climb for the Wild got tougher as Ryan Suter sat out with an undisclosed injury.

Luckily for the Wild, they have been stellar in the face of adversity this season, and that proved to be the case once again with seemingly everyone stepping up on this particular night.

Whether it was Jonas Brodin playing the game of his life in both ends, or Kevin Fiala continuing to be dynamic up and down the ice, or Nico Sturm scoring the biggest goal of his young NHL career, the Wild got a little something from everyone.

In the end, though, it wasn’t enough.

While the result obviously wasn’t what the Wild wanted, the fight was impressive. That much was evident from the onset.

Maybe sensing the Wild needed something to take the edge off facing a must-win situation, Ryan Hartman dropped the gloves in the early stages of the first period, and Luke Kunin promptly rewarded him with a goal barely a minute later.

That lead only lasted about 10 minutes, though, as the Canucks responded with a goal from winger Tanner Person on the rush. 1190437 Minnesota Wild “Right up, right up!” he suggested to Ryan Suter on a first-period dump in, since Suter had a winger down the ice but his back to the oncoming forechecker.

The Chatterbox: Alex Stalock, the NHL’s most talkative goaltender, won’t “Time, time, time,” Stalock noted to a defender turning at his own blue shut up line, with forwards still stuck in an offside position in Vancouver’s end. The “time, time, time” call is particularly common for Stalock. It’s his way of noting — almost constantly — to his teammates to take their time, that they have more time than they might think to make a play. By Thomas Drance Aug 7, 2020 Stalock also repeatedly verbalizes his advocacy for the referee to blow

the whistle for icing. In the first period on Thursday, at one point, the puck EDMONTON — Vancouver Canucks forward J.T. Miller looked back at slid down to his end, shot in from just about the red line. the Wild net before he stepped onto the bench. “Ice, ice, ice!” Stalock said to the referee. “Nope!” came the “Hey, why don’t you shut the fuck up, buddy?” Miller chirped at the straightforward, no-nonsense reply from the on-ice official. opposing goaltender. On a more obvious icing, Stalock added to teammate Carson Soucy, Miller’s chirp was borne of a sequence late in the second period of “You’ve got it! You’ve got it!” It was an indication that Soucy didn’t need Thursday afternoon’s qualifying round Game 3 between the Canucks and to race in, he was winning the race by a mile and could comfortably the Minnesota Wild. Miller had lingered like a poacher on the Wild blue conserve energy and glide. line, hoping for a Hail Mary pass as his linemates changed. “Al is very vocal,” understated Wild forward Marcus Foligno on Thursday. “Watch the change,” came an urgent call from Wild goaltender Alex “And I think it kind of gets us fired up. From Day One since I’ve met him, Stalock to his teammates. “Watch the change!” A Wild defender turned he’s one of the most outgoing guys, so he’s just like that on the ice. It’s and skated back to Miller, who, foiled, expressed his frustration at fun to play in front of a guy like that. He works so hard day in and day Stalock and returned to the bench. out, but he’s smart. He lets guys know, let’s the defense know.

It was a revealing sequence. Stalock is a motormouth, the goaltending “It’s an easy game back there for our D when they have to go and fraternity’s resident chatterbox. He’s not just tending net for the Wild in retrieve blocks. He plays a lot of pucks too and then he does such a the qualifying round, he’s directing traffic. great job with that as well. For us, we’re happy to be playing for that guy.”

The 33-year-old goaltender is far and away the most vocal and talkative Playing behind one of the stingiest defensive clubs in hockey, all Stalock netminder in the NHL’s Western bubble. In the qualifying round, Stalock has to do is inspire that basic level of confidence. Backstopping the team has spent the games talking like an indulgent podcast host. that permitted scoring chances against at the lowest rate in the NHL, Stalock doesn’t necessarily need to steal games, he just needs to be It’s a constant flow of directions to his team, appeals to the referees and competent, reliable. detailed alerts to defenders about the factors up ice that they might not be able to see. And he is. He’s done it for the Wild ever since supplanting Devan Dubnyk as their most regular starter in midseason and he’s done it with a certain, And reading the clock, which Stalock does ad nauseam, particularly studied swagger. toward the end of periods or Wild power-play opportunities. Alex Stalock career stats On a Wild man-advantage chance in the first period of Thursday afternoon’s Game 3, time was running off the clock. With ten seconds San Jose Sharks remaining, the familiar call rang out from Minnesota’s end of the rink. 2010-16 “Ten!” Stalock shouted. Five seconds later, “Five!” 62 As the power-play opportunity died off and the clock hit zero, 150 feet 147 away from the play in the other end, Stalock could be heard shouting to alert his teammates. 2.37

“Ox, ox, ox,” he cried, before adding the more common beaver tail of his .911 goalie stick against the ice. 24-19-7 Alex Stalock Toronto Maple Leafs Some of what Stalock says in-game is instructive, some of it is trash talk, all of it is wholly unique. 2016

“Keep your head up!” he admonished Canucks star Elias Pettersson after 0 Pettersson was dropped by a Matt Dumba cross-check in a first-period 3 net-front battle. NA Even as the Game of Chirps has come to dominate the live soundtrack of qualifying-round games in the Western bubble, goaltenders are more NA often seen than heard. Behind the mask, you rarely hear a goaltender speak or shout to his teammates while the play is live. NA

Stalock’s perpetual, energetic uttering at his teammates is the Minnesota Wild pronounced exception. He encourages, cajoles and scans the ice 2016-20 constantly, alerting teammates to every small detail. 89 “Good job, boys,” Stalock said after the Wild cleared the puck following a period of sustained Canucks pressure in the offensive end, then, noting 50 that Brock Boeser was cherrypicking at the blue line, he called to Dumba, “Stay! Stay!” 2.77

“Behind you, behind you!” he called a few shifts later — sounding very .908 much like a skittish moviegoer taking in a slasher flick — at Wild 37-30-11 defender Brad Hunt, as a Canucks forward chased the defender from behind in the neutral zone. Totals 2010-20 151

200

2.61

.909

61-49-18

It makes sense that Stalock approaches things differently. At six-feet tall, he’s undersized by the standards of contemporary, shooting guard-sized NHL goaltenders. He’s also 33 years old and has played in more American League games than NHL games in his professional career. The 38 games he appeared in during the pandemic-abbreviated 2019-20 campaign with the Wild represent a career-high for Stalock at the NHL level.

Stalock has had to earn every start, every relief appearance, every power-play countdown. So it makes sense that he’d do things a bit differently.

He’s had to adapt. He’s carved out a more vocal, cerebral style that’s wholly unique among playoff starters in the Western Conference.

“Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah!” he screamed late in the first period, as Ryan Hartman blew by Canucks forward Tanner Pearson. Then, tellingly, as his Wild teammates transitioned, he beseeched them to communicate.

“Talk to each other!” Stalock yelled.

It was as if the Wild starter was enunciating the entirety of his hockey philosophy, in a condensed form suitable to be screamed to his teammates on the breakout.

With the detail that obviously informs how Stalock sees the game and the relentlessness of his on-ice gift of gab, Stalock has future coach or broadcaster written all over him. Especially because this approach is nothing new for the journeyman goaltender.

It’s just a facet of Stalock’s personality and goaltending style that has been brought to the surface by the empty-arena environment within the Western Phase 4 Secure Zone.

And so, as another Wild power-play opportunity was frittered away on Thursday, you could hear their goaltender yelling at Rogers Place, his shouts as clear as the slap of the puck hitting a stick, and louder than the wispy crunch of skates cutting into the ice.

“One-thirty!” Stalock yelled with 90 seconds to go on the power play. “Forty-five!”

“Ten! Five! Ox, ox, ox!”

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190438 Montreal Canadiens Byron sped down the left wing moments later and fired a slapshot that hit the post. Jarry followed that with his best save of the game as he robbed Gallagher with the glove after a brilliant pass from Tomas Tatar.

Canadiens upset Penguins 2-0 to advance to first round of NHL playoffs Weber, essentially playing every other shift, anchored the Montreal defence. With the consistent Price between the pipes, the underdog Canadiens played with determination and poise.

Gregory Strong “Just having him back there, he’s the backbone for us,” Weber said. “He’s so solid every night and that allows us to play with confidence and

not be worried about giving up chances.” Barely making the cut for the NHL’s 24-team return to play, few hockey The Canadiens got the Penguins’ attention with a 3-2 overtime win in observers gave the Montreal Canadiens much of a chance in the Game 1. A listless Montreal effort followed as Pittsburgh pulled even with qualification round against the Pittsburgh Penguins. a 3-1 victory. The Habs used it as motivation and it paid off with a stunning upset that Jeff Petry scored his second game-winning goal of the qualifying round to secured their place in the first round of the playoffs. give Montreal a 4-3 victory on Wednesday. Artturi Lehkonen scored with 4:11 left in the third period and Shea Weber “We’re believing in ourselves,” said Montreal head coach Claude Julien. iced it with an empty-netter as Montreal blanked Pittsburgh 2-0 on Friday “We’re having fun with it. I think we’re enjoying the success that we’re night at Scotiabank Arena. having right now but we also know that the next round will be against a Carey Price made 22 saves for the shutout as the 12th-seeded top-seeded team and we’re going to have to be even better. Canadiens took the best-of-five qualifier series in four games. “We have an opportunity here to grow and we can’t ask for a better “I think we all took it with a grain of salt and went out there and just tried occasion.” to prove everybody wrong,” Price said. Montreal entered the series with a 31-31-9 record, the worst mark of the After 55 minutes without a goal, Montreal took advantage of a costly 24 teams to make the post-season. Pittsburgh (40-23-6), meanwhile, had turnover by Brandon Tanev in the Pittsburgh zone. Ben Chiarot pinched the seventh-best points percentage in the league (. 623) when play was on the play and Tanev swung the puck into the slot. stopped last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lehkonen corralled it and fed it to Paul Byron, who drew three Penguins The NHL last used a best-of-five format in 1986. to him as he skated behind the net. Byron backhanded a pass in front to Globe And Mail LOADED: 08.08.2020 Lehkonen for the one-timer past netminder Tristan Jarry.

“I just had to tap it in towards the net and luckily it found the net,” Lehkonen said.

Weber’s insurance goal came with 31.8 seconds left. Montreal will play the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round.

The 12th-seeded Canadiens last reached the first round of the NHL playoffs in 2017, a six-game loss to the New York Rangers. The Penguins won their second straight Stanley Cup that year.

“Everybody was kind of counting us (out) so of course it feels good to win this series,” Lehkonen said. “But it was one series. Now we’ve got to enjoy this for a moment and then move on.”

Jarry made 20 saves in his first career post-season start. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan turned to the all-star netminder as a replacement for Matt Murray, who has lost eight of his last nine post-season starts.

The Penguins were seeded fifth but turned in a surprisingly flat performance in an elimination game. Big guns like Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, who turned 33 on Friday, were simply shut down.

“Listen it’s a three out of five and anything can happen,” Crosby said. “We did some good things but we didn’t do enough. Give them credit. They played really well.”

The lone positive is Pittsburgh now has a 12.5 per cent chance of landing the first pick in the second phase of the NHL Draft lottery on Monday.

As the home team, the Canadiens were given the full pre-game video treatment in the fan-free arena. A Kanye West-Depeche Mode mash-up provided the soundtrack for a Montreal highlight pack on the big screens.

The Penguins were aggressive at the outset and were nearly rewarded when Patric Hornqvist fired a shot from a poor angle that beat Price over the left shoulder but hit the post.

Pittsburgh was rather quiet after that and seemed to lack urgency. Montreal pressed on occasion but seemed generally tentative as well.

The Penguins had their first power play midway through the second period but seemed completely lost with the man advantage. Montreal actually had the better chances while short-handed.

It was the Canadiens who seemed more motivated to start the third. Brendan Gallagher was sent in alone in the opening minute but he couldn’t beat Jarry. 1190439 Montreal Canadiens Montreal Gazette LOADED: 08.08.2020

About Last Night: Habs frustrated the Penguins' best players all series long

Julian McKenzie Publishing date:Aug 08, 2020

The Montreal Canadiens gifted Sidney Crosby a present for his 33rd birthday: a series loss and subsequent elimination from postseason contention.

It was a surprise upset that went against many pundits’ opinions, predictions, and proclamations, as the Penguins were left to waddle home after losing their series to the Canadiens. The same Canadiens who lost four times to the league-worst Detroit Red Wings this season.

But that was months ago. This is a different team.

A team that definitely took notice of everyone slighting them ahead of the pandemic postseason.

“A little bit. Everybody was kind of counting us out. So it feels good to win this series,” Habs forward Artturri Lehkonen said postgame.

“Yeah, we were definitely all motivated going into the series,” Habs goaltender Carey Price said.

The Penguins’ offensive firepower did not show up at critical moments in this series. Game 2 was their best offering, and despite scoring in Games 1 and 3, the Habs were unfazed.

Despite scoring twice in the series, Crosby found himself being marked by any defenceman who would take him. Nick Suzuki even challenged #87 head-to-head on several occasions and did more than survive.

Brendan Gallagher might not have scored in this series, but we know he did his work trying to upset Crosby whenever he was on the ice.

We can’t forget about Carey Price, who also got into the head of the three-time Stanley Cup champion.

“It’s just two guys competing out there. Both guys caring about what they’re doing and feeling passionate about what they’re doing,” Price said. “It’s just part of the game. I thought the guys in front of me were the guys that were giving them the gears.”

Crosby’s teammate, Evgeni Malkin, had a series to forget. One lone assist in four games with no goals to show for it. A -3 as well, if you’re into plus/minus. Who would’ve thought that he would’ve been held in check by the Habs, including work from Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki?

Guentzel had three points in the first two games but was erased in Games 3 and 4. Zucker scored twice in the series, but his production wasn’t sufficient.

The Penguins’ top-six forwards were supposed to be better than the Canadiens’ own and they didn’t play well enough to win.

Montreal’s defending was lights out in Game 4, stopping plays in their own zone before clearing the puck. One highlight in particular for me: Nick Suzuki stealing the puck from Penguins defenceman Kris Letang while the latter handled the puck in the offensive zone. Suzuki then sped up ice and tried a shot on net.

Unrelated: I wondered if Pittsburgh’s fortunes would have been different had they started Tristan Jarry in Game 1 of this series?

The more I think about it, I think the Habs would have beaten them anyway.

Doesn’t Matter, Had Lehks

The above statistic is a true statistic.

Even from his days in Sweden with Frölunda SC, has had a knack for playing his best hockey in the postseason.

We shouldn’t have been all that surprised, with that logic, that he might’ve scored the game-winning goal in Game 4. 1190440 Montreal Canadiens

In the Habs' Room: 'Nobody gave us a chance,' Carey Price says

Pat Hickey • Publishing date:Aug 08, 2020

TORONTO — Not many people believed the Canadiens could beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in their NHL Return to Play qualifying round series, but Montreal goaltender Carey Price said he was grateful for a chance to prove them wrong.

“We know we backed in and nobody gave us a chance, but we took that with a grain of salt and proved them wrong,” Price said Friday after he made 22 saves to shut out the Penguins 2-0 at Scotiabank Arena. That gave the Canadiens a 3-1 victory in the best-of-five series and a spot in the first round of the playoffs. They will face the winner of Saturday’s Tampa Bay-Philadelphia game in a best-of-seven series.

When the NHL season was paused in March, the Canadiens were on their way to missing the playoffs for a third consecutive season. But they were given a second chance when the NHL came up with a 24-team tournament format and the last team selected for the tournament rode a solid defence to an upset over the more experienced and heavily- favoured Penguins.

A line change by Claude Julien midway through Game 3 Wednesday was instrumental in the series win. He placed defensive centre Phil Danault between Artturi Lehkonen and Paul Byron. He was looking for solid defence against Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but they also provided some timely offence.

Byron scored the tying goal in the comeback victory in Game 3 and he set up Lehkonen for the only goal the Canadiens would need Friday.

“Paulie did all the work on that goal,” Lehkonen said. “He carried the puck behind the goal line and got a pass to me and I just had to tap it in.”

Lehkonen said it didn’t take long for the trio to find some chemistry. He noted that he and Danault are together on the penalty-kill, while Danault and Byron have been linemates in the past.

Limiting Crosby and Malkin was a crucial part of the Montreal game plan. Crosby scored in each of the first two games and had an assist in Game 3, while a frustrated Malkin was limited to one assist in the series. It seemed that every time Malkin had the puck, he found Shea Weber or Ben Chiarot in his face.

“It’s a five-man unit out there, but one of our goals was to be hard on their top guys,” said Weber, who added an empty-net goal Friday. “They have a lot of skill and speed, but we have some size on our back end and we wanted to make sure we were physical and taking away their time and space.”

The Danault line did its part by slowing the Penguins’ breakouts.

“We’re just trying to get on them,” Lehkonen said. “We’re a fast team. Paulie’s one of the fastest guys in the NHL so we used that speed to get on their (defencemen) and try to create turnovers.”

“I always felt we had good leadership,” Julien said. “We’re a young team. We had some areas we wanted to see improve during the season and we have an opportunity here in the playoffs. Say what you want, whether it was ignorance from a young group that didn’t know any better, we believed in our team, we’re having fun with it. We’re enjoying the win today, but we have to be even better when the next series starts because we’ll be facing one of the top seeds and we’ll have our hands full.”

Montreal Gazette LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190441 Montreal Canadiens

Underdog Canadiens slam door on Penguins with shutout victory

Pat Hickey • Publishing date:Aug 07, 2020

TORONTO — Artturi Lehkonen spoiled Sidney Crosby’s 33rd birthday when he scored at 15:49 of the third period to break a scoreless tie and lead the Canadiens to a 2-0 win over Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins Friday afternoon at Scotiabank Arena.

The victory gave the Canadiens a 3-1 edge in the best-of-five qualifying round series and they advance to the first round in the NHL Return to Play tournament against the winner of Saturday’s Tampa Bay- Philadelphia game. That series will be best-of-seven,

Paul Byron set up the winner when he skated wide around a defender, took the puck behind the net and passed out front to Lehkonen, who was stationed on Tristan Jarry’s doorstep,

Carey Price, who was outstanding throughout the series, made 22 saves for the shutout.

Shea Weber added an empty-net goal for the final margin.

The Canadiens opened things up to start the third period and they employed what should have been the obvious strategy, which was to put lots of pressure on goaltender Jarry, who was making his first career playoff appearance. Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan decided to go with the inexperienced Jarry after Matt Murray gave up a bad goal to Jeff Petry, which proved to be the winner Wednesday night in Game 3.

The Canadiens had two good scoring chances in the first four minutes of the third, but Byron hit a post and Jarry plucked an attempt by Brendan Gallagher out of the air.

In the first two periods, the Canadiens seemed to be borrowing a page from their Dec. 10 playbook. On that day, they beat the Penguins 4-1 in Pittsburgh and that prompted Penguins owner Mario Lemieux to suggest that the Canadiens’ style of pay was “boring hockey.”

The Penguins enjoyed the edge in a tight-checking first period. Pittsburgh outshot Montreal 8-5 and had the best scoring chance when defenceman Brian Dumoulin unleashed a shot from the slot that hit Price in the chest.

The Canadiens had the only power play of the period and it was another disappointment. The Canadiens, who showed a semblance of competence with the extra man in Game 3, never established a presence in the Pittsburgh zone and the Penguins’ Bryan Rust had the only shot on goal.

It’s difficult to believe the teams could serve up a more boring period, but it was more of the same in the second with the Canadiens having a 6-5 edge in shots, Each team had a power play, but again, there were no shots with the extra man. Nick Suzuki had a short-handed shot with Joel Armia in the penalty box.

The Penguins finally had some power-play shots early in the third period, but Price made three saves, including one on Crosby from the left faceoff circle.

Julien came up with a surprise when he announced Alex Belzile would replace the injured Jake Evans on the fourth line. The 28-year-old Belzile was making his first NHL appearance.

Montreal Gazette LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190442 Montreal Canadiens basically ignoring the question. “I thought we really developed into a defensive cluster and made it more difficult for them to come up the ice. And we were just competing in our end.”

The Canadiens’ X-factor against the Penguins was behind the bench Julien saw the same thing. So did the shot maps on Friday.

The Penguins were credited with three high-danger scoring chances in just over 50 minutes of 5-on-5 play. The line of Danault, Artturi Lehkonen By Arpon Basu Aug 7, 2020 and Paul Byron were dominant at times, especially in the third period, primarily matched up against Evgeni Malkin. They produced the winning

goal, of course, but they also outshot the Penguins 9-4, outchanced them No rational observer could argue anyone other than Carey Price was 8-2 and didn’t allow a single high-danger scoring chance against. most responsible for the Canadiens eliminating the Pittsburgh Penguins Danault’s work in particular was outstanding, but the line meshed so well from the playoffs Friday night, and that is not the argument that will be and so quickly. It essentially gave Julien what Danault’s old line provided, made here, because that would be crazy. except he was able to use his two most productive wingers with Suzuki Price was outstanding in every game. He gave the Canadiens a chance. instead, giving him some much-needed help in his matchup with Sidney But we all knew Price would not be able to do it alone, and he didn’t. This Crosby. was a team win, and no game in the series was more of a team win than But overall, there was a defensive commitment from the Canadiens in Game 4’s 2-0 shutout of the Penguins. Game 4 that was unlike what we have seen from this team this season. And the person who deserves a ton of credit for this team playing like a The occasional odd-man rush slipped through the cracks, but the team is Claude Julien. There are definitely decisions he made in this Canadiens did not give the Penguins a whole lot of opportunities. And series that led to some head scratching, and winning the series doesn’t while the lack of urgency from a team with Stanley Cup pedigree facing necessarily make those decisions any more wise. But as a whole, Julien elimination was somewhat startling, maybe it was that defensive had a very high batting average in the series, and none of his decisions commitment that slowly sucked the life out of them as the game wore on. were more important than his move to juggle his top three centres in the And it was there right from the start. middle of Game 3 with the Canadiens down 3-1 in the game and staring We don’t often see five Canadiens sweaters defending the house like at the possibility – or probability – of going down 2-1 in the series. this, but it was a common occurrence Friday night. Breaking up the top line of Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault and Brendan “I thought we did an excellent job of defending; we didn’t give them Gallagher is not something just any coach would do; not with that line much,” Julien said. “We knew their backs were against the wall, they being the one constant this team has had for two seasons; not with that were going to be desperate, but I thought defensively we did a great job.” line being one of the best possession lines in the NHL, a quality Julien would need against these Penguins. Prior to the series, if you were to Finally, there is the Max Domi situation. The one decision Julien made ask what was the one factor besides Price that could lead the Canadiens that elicited the most criticism was playing Domi, the team’s leading to an improbable victory, most people would probably have said that top scorer a year ago, on the fourth line. Julien insisted it wasn’t a defensive line. role — that Domi would be relied upon to provide offence. But really what he was doing was providing one element on that fourth line that could Breaking them up was not only gutsy, but it also changed so much of give him some assurance it would spend some time in the offensive how Julien usually manages a game. That line typically starts and zone. It didn’t happen much, but Julien insisted every day how he finishes every period for him. They take all the important faceoffs and needed four lines rolling in order to win, and playing Domi in that spot they face all the most dangerous opponents. Everything the Canadiens gave him the best chance to do so. do up front revolves around how that line is deployed. Then suddenly, that changed, and Julien adapted how he managed his bench as a result. It wasn’t an easy decision. Julien surely knew he would be criticized for it. But he did it anyway. Which brings us to another area where Julien showed some courage: The deployment of Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Though many And if you think Domi – now officially about to make his NHl playoff debut will probably say he had no choice, the amount of trust he put in Suzuki – was upset about it, look no further than this tweet. Does this look like a and Kotkaniemi to fill big roles is still to be commended. Because if he man who’s worried about his own ice time to you? was really concerned that his two 20-year-old centres couldn’t handle the job, he would have tried to hide them more than he did. But he didn’t do “You know Max Domi, he barely had 10 minutes of ice time tonight,” that. Right from the start of training camp, Julien appeared to be actively Julien said, “but they were 10 important minutes.” attempting to boost their confidence, saying at every opportunity (and he Julien is far from a perfect coach. He has his blind spots, for sure. But in had many) how much faith he had in them. this series, the matchup behind the bench looked like a mismatch. You We can’t know to what extent Julien was pumping their tires behind the had Mike Sullivan with his two Stanley Cup rings in the last five years. scenes as well, but Suzuki and Kotkaniemi played with such a high And you had Julien, who last won a playoff series in 2014. degree of confidence, it is hard to imagine Julien didn’t have a little But after the series, you had Sullivan saying stuff like this: “I thought the something do with it. Maybe it was just a reflection of the confidence he first two games we played extremely well. I thought the first game might was putting in them simply through their usage, but as the series went have been our best. We didn’t get the power play going in Game 1, but on, Suzuki and Kotkaniemi looked less and less like young players and every other aspect of our game was pretty good. We needed our best more like, well, players. tonight and didn’t get it.” “I think those guys have taken huge steps, even in the pause for the Sullivan was outcoached in this series. There should be no doubt about three months, I think they’ve gotten even better,” Shea Weber said. “I’m that. Julien made adjustments, he fine-tuned his system to account for not sure how, without playing games, but they’ve obviously done work at the elite talent on the other side, and he limited the ice time of his third home whether it’s off the ice or skating, they’ve definitely gotten better defence pairing, unlike Sullivan who kept insisting on throwing Justin and they’ve been a big help for us.” Schultz and Jack Johnson on time after time, no matter how ineffective Suzuki and Kotkaniemi deserve a lot of credit for whatever it is they did they were, no matter how bad they looked. He stuck with Matt Murray too during the break to get ready for this training camp, there is no doubt. But long. He was unable to get a pulse out of Malkin in the last two games. Julien deserves some credit, as well. He was unable to make the counter-adjustments to Julien’s adjustments.

From Price’s perspective, however, there is more reason for Julien to be Julien still has work to do. He will need to make more adjustments if proud of his work in the series, because when your world-class goalie these Canadiens are to make it beyond the first round of the official says stuff like this, it should be worn like a badge of honour by any playoffs. But, for now, he’s gotten the most out of an imperfect group. He coach. has empowered his two youngest players to take on prominent roles. He has massaged one of his most gifted offensive players into accepting Especially this coach. a lesser role, and he’s established a structure that made life easier on his best player as the series wore on. “I thought, overall, our structure got better,” Price said when asked if he felt he was getting in the Penguins’ heads as the series went along, Your work is not done, but for now, you can take a bow, Claude Julien. The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190443 Montreal Canadiens no hostile crowds, no travel, no massive media coverage, none of the things that really make the playoffs the playoffs aside from the competition on the ice (and even that isn’t the same because playing after an 82-game season is altogether different from what is happening What’s done is done: It’s time to embrace the Canadiens reaching the now). playoffs But on this point, I can admit I was totally wrong, especially with how this series played out for the Canadiens. With Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki centring what are essentially the Canadiens’ top two offensive By Arpon Basu Aug 7, 2020 lines by the end of this series, there is significant growth going on there and a taste of what’s to come in the future for this team. In fact, maybe that future is closer than we once thought. The two 20-year-olds just went First off, let me just say I get it. up against Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin regularly and looked good doing it. What was considered the biggest Canadiens weakness in the From Day 1 of the NHL’s return to play plan, I have harped on how none series didn’t exactly turn out to be a strength, but the mere fact it wasn’t of this is beneficial to the Canadiens. In fact, I harped on it before Day 1. their downfall is very promising for Suzuki and Kotkaniemi. Then I did it again on Day 1. For the Canadiens, a higher draft pick would be more beneficial to their long-term team-building than an artificial In Kotkaniemi’s case, in particular, this has been a way to salvage a playoff run, such as the one they are about to embark on after eliminating nightmare season and show the organization he did not take what the Pittsburgh Penguins with a Game 4 win Friday. happened this year sitting down. His offseason work ethic was publicly questioned at one point by Marc Bergevin, he had minor knee surgery at And this was before we knew the right to draft Alexis Lafrenière would be the end of last season, a core injury at the end of training camp, a in play, with the Penguins now holding a 12.5 percent chance of landing concussion in December and a spleen injury while playing for the Laval that No. 1 overall pick, which would make everyone’s head explode in Rocket in March. Montreal. Then he turned 20 in July. He is so young, he is roughly two percent I conducted a Twitter poll Thursday to see how Canadiens fans would older now than he was when he played his last game in March. He’s still feel if they were to advance. This is not a scientific poll by any means, developing physically, mentally and on the ice. The Canadiens have a lot but still, the results are rather telling with nearly 3,600 respondents in invested in Kotkaniemi, and him making the most of this opportunity to eight hours. shine on a big stage the way he has bodes very well for his career. The Having nearly 56 percent of voters say they would be caught somewhere more he and Suzuki get to play here, the better off the Canadiens will be. between happiness and anger if the Canadiens made the playoffs is not Of course, you could still argue that none of those things make up for the how this is supposed to work. You are a fan of a team, your team wins, infusion of talent the Canadiens could have added with either Lafrenière you should be happy. But the NHL holding the draft lottery before the or whoever they would have drafted with the No. 9 pick, and that play-in created this dynamic, not only in Montreal but in many other cities probably remains true. I get it. around the league. It is most acute in Montreal however because of what Lafrenière would represent to the Canadiens, the homegrown star the But here’s the thing; that’s not happening anymore. It’s over. That ship team has been seeking for decades. has sailed.

So yes, I get it. And, shockingly enough, Canadiens coach Claude Julien Instead, what you are left with is a Canadiens team that just knocked out gets it too. the fifth-best team in the NHL based on points percentage, a team that was looking to cement its status as a cap-era dynasty, a team that was a “That’s totally normal. Totally normal. There’s no issues there,” Julien legitimate contender for the Stanley Cup. And as a result, the Canadiens said back on July 2. “I think everybody’s got their opinions and they’re are in the playoffs for the first time since 2017. entitled to it because some fans, and rightfully so, get excited about the possibility of having that guy there. But imagine if we didn’t win the first You can criticize it as being artificial or bogus or deserving of an asterisk, round and we don’t get Lafrenière. How are the fans going to react then? and if you said the Canadiens should not take this victory to mean they no longer have flaws, I would wholeheartedly agree with you. But this is “You know it’s one of those situations where, as an organization and as a the current reality: The Canadiens have a hot goalie, they have youth team, as a group of players, coaching staff, everybody, we go out there playing over their heads, they have belief in themselves and they have to win and we go out there to try and move forward here and the best an opportunity. way to move forward is to do the best we can.” That is how the players and coaching staff are seeing this whole thing. I would say many fans would have been happy to have the No. 9 overall As an opportunity. So instead of lamenting what could have been, pick as a consolation prize if the Canadiens didn’t land Lafrenière, but perhaps simply embracing what is currently happening would be the now they will pick no higher than No. 16 and, if they go on a run here, better way to go. that pick might be in the late 20s. The difference between the No. 9 and No. 16 picks in the draft might not seem all that different. Statistically Just try to remember that when the Penguins win the draft lottery speaking, there is about a 34 percent difference in value between the two Monday. picks, according to our Dom Luszczyszyn. And in more tangible terms specific to this draft year, our Marc Antoine Godin looked at the real The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 difference between the two picks in terms of actual prospects available.

But here’s the thing, all that is over now, and I think Canadiens fans would be best served by simply accepting that and enjoying what is happening here with this team. What’s done is done, and nothing will change that. So why not look at the positives of this situation and run with it?

First and foremost, there is Carey Price. We haven’t seen him this dominant in years, and this bodes well for the franchise in the years to come. If anything, it shows how well Price can perform when he’s not being driven into the ground by overuse. So if the Canadiens were still on the fence about the need to invest in a competent backup for Price for next season, maybe one benefit of this run will be that they will no longer need convincing. The Canadiens can have this version of Carey Price if they want him, they just need to find someone who can win games when Price is resting.

Furthermore, I didn’t buy the notion that the Canadiens’ young players would benefit and grow from this playoff experience, because I figured this is not in fact playoff experience. It is bubble playoff experience, with 1190444 Montreal Canadiens

Penguins bench Matt Murray; Tristan Jarry will start Game 4 vs. Canadiens

By Rob Rossi Aug 7, 2020

Desperate times call for a different goalie.

Tristan Jarry will replace Matt Murray as the Penguins goalie for Game 4 against the Montreal Canadiens. Coach Mike Sullivan announced his decision during a call with reporters Friday morning.

“We have complete trust and confidence in both of our guys,” Sullivan said, also adding he wouldn’t divulge details of any conversations he had with Jarry or Murray regarding this decision.

The Penguins and Canadiens are scheduled to play at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto at 4 p.m.

The Penguins trail the best-of-five series, 2-1. A win Friday would extend their Stanley Cup qualifying-round series to a decisive game Saturday.

The Athletic reporter earlier that multiple Penguins sources said Sullivan was thought to be considering a goalie change Thursday. The Penguins lost a 3-1 lead in Game 3 on Wednesday night, and the Canadiens’ rally included a couple of goals that Murray probably would have liked to have back.

Jarry was on the trade market a year ago this time, but the Penguins couldn’t find suitable offers. He arrived at training camp third on the depth chart behind Murray and Casey DeSmith. But a salary-cap crunch and the Penguins’ unwillingness to potentially lose Jarry on waivers earned him a spot on the opening roster.

He turned that spot into a breakout season.

Read Stephen J. Nesbitt’s in-depth story on Jarry’s upbringing.

Improved practice habits from a 2018-19 season spent in the AHL carried over for Jarry, whose athleticism and puck-handling stood out during limited starts over the opening six weeks of this past NHL season.

Eventually, Jarry supplanted Murray, a two-time Cup winner, in late November. His standout performances fueled the Penguins’ most successful stretch of the regular season. He was named an All-Star.

Despite a distinct difference in statistics, Jarry and Murray began to alternate starts in mid-January and into March.

Before the NHL shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Murray appeared to have taken the lead in the battle for the No. 1 role. Murray started Games 1-3 against Montreal, with mixed results.

Win or lose, Jarry earning the start in Game 4 will only intensify doubt as to if Murray has a future in Pittsburgh. A restricted free agent this upcoming offseason, Murray likely will command a raise over his current cap value ($3.75 million) even though he would be coming off a career- worst 2019-20 season. Similar in ages, though not NHL experience, Murray and Jarry would each like to be a No. 1 next season instead of splitting duties, as they likely would with the Penguins.

Jarry will be the first Penguins goalie to make his postseason debut with the club facing elimination since Frank Pietrangelo started Game 6 of a 1991 Patrick Division semifinal series. That game was significant for extending the opening round to a decisive seventh game, which the Penguins won in Pittsburgh. They went on to win the Cup for the first time.

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190445 Nashville Predators This team was built for the long haul as a consistent, stable operation with familiar pieces and an unshakeable core that might require maintenance each offseason but not an extensive renovation.

For Predators, an excruciating finish to a failed season | Estes But that was with a belief that all the pieces were in place to contend for a Stanley Cup.

I’m unsure if that’s still the case. Gentry Estes Because if you wanted a stable, smooth ride, this season wasn’t that — Published 6:09 PM EDT Aug 7, 2020 long before a pandemic. Other than superstar captain Roman Josi, you couldn't feel certain about who’d be effective any game, including the

team’s goalies. This will be the season the transition in goal from Pekka Yes, the Predators lost to the Arizona Coyotes. Yes, they flopped in the Rinne to Juuse Saros actually transpired, but for most of the season, that NHL’s bubble. was more out of desperation than preference.

But tell me, who has heard of Alexis Lafreniere? Earmarked as the next Former coach Peter Laviolette’s tenure ended, too, indicating how NHL superstar, he’ll be taken with the first pick in this year’s draft. Eight frustrated Poile – who has rarely changed coaches – had become with teams can win that first pick in Monday’s lottery. Courtesy of losing to the the team's form and how few options he had roster-wise to fix it. Coyotes, the Predators are one of them. I like John Hynes. He did some good things after his January arrival. But So hey, there’s that. even with the benefit of an extra training camp in recent weeks, you can’t say Hynes' impact was that substantial in the end. He didn’t change the And … mediocre path the team was already skating.

I just can’t. So what now?

I tried, Predators fans, but I’m not going to be able to cheer you up. Not Cleaning house might make sense. Is it likely, though? Would Poile give after such an irritating series to cap such a failure of a season. All the up on a roster he’s assembled and likes so much? At the very least, an clouds, silver lining or not, look terribly gloomy after a 4-3 overtime loss in unsatisfying season like this one will necessitate a long reexamination of Friday’s elimination game, which had been extended by Filip Forsberg's everything that was believed to be true about the Predators and their thrilling goal in the final minute of regulation. much-respected personnel.

Once that happened, it seems like things may have finally shifted the Something still needs to change. The most troubling part for the Predators' way. Predators – going back to January and even before that – is that no one seems to realize what that is. Turns out, the Predators’ season died in Edmonton as it had lived – hinting at much more than this team delivered. They’ll have plenty of time to try to figure it out, though, while the NHL keeps playing in the coming weeks. The Predators could have won this series. They looked the more formidable team. They consistently had all kinds of scoring chances that Tennessean LOADED: 08.08.2020 somehow didn’t go in the net.

Every game in the series, the Predators had more shots on goal than the Coyotes. In Game 1, the Predators tallied 43 of them. In Game 3, the gap was 40 shots to 28. In Game 4, it was 52-34.

Losses. All three times.

"We played well enough to win," Forsberg said, "but we've got to find that little extra to win."

For a fan, it had to be maddening to watch. Yet it was familiar, too. This team has been chasing “should have” all season without catching it.

For these Predators, it was merely the continuation of a season-long trend: Eternal hope unrealized.

This season’s obituary will scream of underachievement. The Predators’ roster was expected to be among the best in the NHL and instead got its coach fired in January and didn’t finish among the league’s final 16 playoff teams.

Yes, they were capable of more. They knew it. We knew it. Seems like all of hockey knew it.

Never happened, though, and the reasons why are what general manager David Poile is going to have to figure out when turning attention to a new year and a new run at a first Stanley Cup that looks further away than it has in a while.

At their best, these Predators were capable of beating the league’s best and, other times, incapable of beating anyone. Thing is, you didn’t know which team was going to show, not just each night but each minute. They’d shrink from challenges in tougher moments, allowing bad moments to get worse, earning the label of a soft team — mentally and physically.

I’m unsure how Poile corrects that in one offseason.

I’m unsure how he navigates a balance sheet without much flexibility and expensive long-term contracts for forwards – Ryan Johansen, Matt Duchene, Kyle Turris – who didn’t justify their hefty price tags on the ice this season. 1190446 Nashville Predators "It's going to be a tough decision to make," Hynes said after Game 3 of who he would play in goal. "But the good part of that is you can't go wrong with either guy."

The end comes sooner than expected for Predators after they fall to The only lineup change the Predators made was swapping centers Nick Coyotes in OT in Game 4 Bonino and Kyle Turris, pushing Bonino to the second line with Matt Duchene and Mikael Granlund and moving Turris to the third line with Rocco Grimaldi and Craig Smith.

Paul Skrbina Hynes made very few lineup changes during the series, feeling his team was playing the right way but not being rewarded.

'We're in and around the net a lot," he told Fox Sports Tennessee. "We The first "the end" for the Predators occurred March 12, when the NHL have to do a little bit better job screening (Coyotes goalie Darcy paused the season indefinitely in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kuemper) .. take his eyes away. The pause put the season on the bubble before the season resumed "I don't think it's a big change, just small details we can be better at." inside "bubbles" in Edmonton and Toronto nearly five months later with an with an unprecedented 24-team playoff format. Now they face an offseason that no doubt will feature some changes, such as what will happen with unrestricted free agents Smith and Predators coach John Hynes balked when it was suggested the second Granlund. "the end" glared at the Predators on Friday, when they faced the Coyotes in an elimination game of their five-game, play-in series at Rogers Place. One thing is for sure: The second "the end" occurred way sooner than the Predators had hoped. "We're also 60 minutes from getting into Game 5," he said after Game 3. Tennessean LOADED: 08.08.2020 Actually it was more than 60.

But the Predators couldn't walk the walk and back up their coach's talk. They fell 4-3 in overtime to the Coyotes, despite the best efforts of Filip Forsberg, who tied the score 3-all with 32 seconds left in regulation, ending their postseason stay against a team that likely wouldn't have qualified for the playoffs had the regular season been played to its conclusion. Brad Richardson scored the winning goal at 5:27 of overtime.

The Predators are 6-13 all-time in elimination games.

"You can't fake confidence," Hynes told Fox Sports Tennessee before Friday's game. "We believe in how were playing."

Now they face more than three months of not playing, to ponder next season. To prepare for yet another training camp just months after their second of this season.

Camps are scheduled to open Nov. 17, with the season beginning Dec. 1.

"You have to love these (elimination) games," Hynes said. "The most competitive men come out in the most competitive games."

This game lived up to that.

The first goal for the Predators was scoring the first goal Friday, in hopes of improving their chances of survival in the series. The team that had scored first had won the first three games of the series.

But similar to Game 3, when the Predators outplayed the Coyotes early and had the first 11 shots on goal before watching the Arizona score on its first, Nashville had 10 of the first 11 shots. But Arizona scored on its eighth shot for a 1-0 lead thanks to Michael Grabner at 17:27 of the first period.

"The first goal is really important," captain Roman Josi told reporters before the game. "You saw the couple games ... the team that scored the first one has a pretty good chance of winning the game."

After hitting the post three times, including twice by Ryan Ellis, the Predators' first goal came in the second period off the stick of Matt Duchene, who cost the Predators a go-ahead goal Wednesday when he was called offside in the third.

Viktor Arvidsson scored for the third straight game to tie it 2-2 at 8:26 of the second, continuing the hot play of the reunited top line that also includes Ryan Johansen (four-game point streak) and Forsberg.

Arvidsson took a shot to the rib cage off the stick of Mattias Ekholm late in the second and didn't return. The speedy forward played a good chunk of the end of the regular season while nursing a knee injury suffered as a result of a cross-check by the Blues' Robert Bortuzzo but said he finally felt 100% after the long layoff.

Juuse Saros stretched his streak of playoff starts in goal to four Friday. He ended Pekka Rinne's consecutive playoff starts streak at 89 in Game 1 of the series. Rinne didn't play in the series. 1190447 Nashville Predators

Viktor Arvidsson injured, misses final two periods of Game 4

Nick Gray

Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson did not come out of the locker room to begin the third period of Game 4 against the Arizona Coyotes on Friday in Edmonton.

In the final minute of the second period, Arvidsson took a puck to the rib cage off the stick of Mattias Ekholm as the Predators were pushing to break a 2-2 tie. Arvidsson was doubled over as play continued, and slowly made his way to the Preds' bench during a play stoppage.

The Predators' television broadcast said as the third period began that Arvidsson was not on the Nashville bench. Nashville began the third period with 11 forwards.

Arvidsson also missed the overtime period, where the Coyotes won the game and the series off of a Brad Richardson goal.

Arvidsson scored the game-tying goal earlier in the second period and has three goals in the series.

Tennessean LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190448 Nashville Predators

How to watch Game 4 between Predators and Arizona Coyotes in qualifying series

Nick Gray

The Nashville Predators must be in must-win mode on Friday.

Arizona holds a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five qualifying series, with Game 4 upcoming. Nashville must win the next two games to stay alive in the postseason.

Here's how you can watch Game 4:

Predators vs. Arizona Coyotes Game 4 TV info

When: 1:30 p.m. Central, Friday

Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Radio: 102.5 FM (Click here for radio affiliates)

TV: Fox Sports Tennessee (Click here for channel information), NHL Network (nationally; blacked out in Nashville)

Streaming: NHL.tv, Fox Sports Go app

Tennessean LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190449 Nashville Predators have flopped. (Duchene called his first season “up and down” after posting 42 points in 66 games.)

When Poile made those moves, most of them were considered shrewd, After another early exit, the Predators are drifting toward irrelevance and it is easy to second-guess them in retrospect. But it remains perplexing that productive players suddenly become ineffective upon joining the Predators. At this point, it is not a coincidence.

By Adam Vingan Aug 7, 2020 Poile hired John Hynes in January to get more out of the Predators’ top players. Early returns are mixed, though it is hard to fully evaluate Hynes,

who is under contract through 2022, based on 28 regular-season games The Predators are not a Stanley Cup contender. After being eliminated in and four postseason games that were separated by five months because the qualifying round by the Arizona Coyotes, that much is clear. of a global pandemic.

They are also not a bad team. Yes, they underachieved, but objectively, Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis had high praise for Hynes. their roster is more talented than those of the dregs of the NHL. “I think in the past, when we got down and we struggled at times, we So what are they? That is not a question we should have to be asking caved,” Ellis said. “I think we are our own worst enemy at times. I think if about a group that has largely stayed together over the past several it was the old team in a lot of the situations we were just put in, we years. But after another disappointing showing in the playoffs, we are wouldn’t have looked or played as hard as we did. (Hynes) has been forced to confront reality. great for this group. You can really start to feel a change in a lot of guys’ games and the overall team game. It’s a much different feeling than it The Predators, who were built to win championships, are languishing in has been in recent games, really.” mediocrity and drifting toward irrelevance. The Predators finished the series with a 59-55 edge in slot shots on net It was one thing when they were bounced from the playoffs as low- and 31:14-25:23 advantage in offensive-zone possession time, according budget underdogs in the early days of the franchise. It is an entirely to Sportlogiq. Their inability to convert those scoring chances into goals different thing now, when the payroll and internal expectations are high. highlighted their lack of top-level forward talent.

Within the NHL landscape, the Predators are just sort of there. No team Poile, the architect of a perennially underachieving team in the playoffs, wants to be stuck in the middle — not good enough to win the Stanley has lost the benefit of the doubt. Cup but not bad enough to replenish the roster with lottery picks. (At least the Predators will have a shot at securing the No. 1 pick during the The Predators have, too. Since appearing in the Stanley Cup Final three draft lottery Monday.) years ago, they have been trending downward in the postseason, culminating with a four-game qualifying-round loss to a team that had not The average age of the roster that the Predators brought to Edmonton reached the playoffs in eight years. was 28.5, making it the second-oldest among the 24 teams that resumed the season. (It should be noted that 37-year-olds Pekka Rinne and Dan “If you look (back at) the Colorado series into the Winnipeg series (in Hamhuis inflate that statistic.) 2018) and then last year with Dallas, I don’t think we were proud of any of those series,” Ellis said. “But this seemed like a different group. I think Average age of NHL postseason teams as soon as we came into camp, from Game 1 here, it just seemed like a different feeling, a different group. New York Islanders “Give Arizona credit. They played well. Their goaltending was 28.9 spectacular. But in my opinion, I think we thoroughly outplayed them in a Nashville Predators lot of areas, not on the scoresheet. I couldn’t be prouder of this group. We’re in a pandemic, and the way this group responded, coming in 28.5 through training camp and into this bubble, if you asked me (if we) Pittsburgh Penguins would’ve gotten that kind of play out of this group, I don’t know if after the last couple series (that) I would’ve believed it. 28.2 “I think there is a new sense of belief and pride in that room right now.” Tampa Bay Lightning The Predators can believe that. But why should we? 28.2 The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 Minnesota Wild

28.1

When assessing the Predators’ bloated salary-cap situation and unremarkable farm system, there is no clear path toward improvement.

Although Rinne and Roman Josi are the only players with active no-trade protection, several others are locked into long-term, big-money contracts that would be difficult to move under normal circumstances, but even more so with a flat cap.

Ryan Johansen rebounded from a hugely disappointing regular season with a strong performance against the Coyotes, but he was still a 36- point player in 68 games with an $8 million salary. Matt Duchene, who had a good game Friday but otherwise stood out for the wrong reasons in the playoffs, is not going to be traded one year after the Predators signed him to a seven-year, $56 million contract.

The Predators would be smart to buy out Kyle Turris, who was never really a fit. They should also move on from Mikael Granlund, a pending free agent who was a non-factor for most of his time with the team.

It’s shaping up to be another critical offseason for Predators general manager David Poile, who seems to have lost his proverbial fastball.

Since receiving near-universal praise for trading Shea Weber for P.K. Subban in June 2016, many of Poile’s big moves to put the Predators over the top — Turris, Granlund, Ryan Hartman, Wayne Simmonds — 1190450 New Jersey Devils Masisak: Given that New Jersey’s current top five forwards (Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Kyle Palmieri, Nikita Gusev and Jesper Bratt) are all shy of 6 feet and 190 pounds, Foote filled multiple holes in the organization when the Devils traded for him in February. He gave them Finding comparable NHL players for the Devils’ top prospects another young forward with top-six potential (if he’s not the only one in the system, he’s at least the one with the best chance of reaching that

status), but also one with size. It’s easy to envision him working down By Corey Masisak and Scott Wheeler Aug 7, 2020 low, winning the puck back for the likes of Hughes and Bratt and finding a home in front of the net on the top power-play unit.

Reilly Walsh, D, Harvard (NCAA) One task that scouting directors and general managers like to do the least is compare prospects to NHL players, at least in public with a Comparable: Alex Goligoski camera or a digital recording device nearby. Wheeler: Walsh is never going to be a high-usage, all-situations type. He One task that NHL fans, broadcasters and sports writers alike enjoy probably doesn’t have the defensive acumen off the rush or within his doing is comparing prospects to NHL players. What’s more fun than own zone to be relied upon in that kind of a way. But he’s unquestionably seeing a fourth-round pick score twice in a rookie camp scrimmage and gifted with the puck, he does an excellent job putting pucks into space for dreaming of him being the club’s next homegrown all-star, or trying to his teammates, he can lead rushes as a carrier and he gives you a decide which 400-goal scorer his skating stride and body type remind power-play option — even at the NHL level. You don’t have to log 20- you of? plus minutes a night to play an important role on an NHL team. I don’t think Walsh is ever going to average the 22:37 that Goligoski has across We’ve divided the Devils’ top 30 prospects into six tiers over the past two more than a decade in the NHL, but I’m not terribly confident that days, first with Nos. 30-13 and then the top 12. Now for an added bonus, Goligoski should have been pulling those kind of minutes either, despite we’ve enlisted The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler to find a comparable NHL his obvious offensive talent. As with Smith, this is definitely a ceiling player for each of New Jersey’s top young talents. outcome more than a floor.

Among the players listed are an underrated defensemen in the NHL, a Masisak: Becoming a right-handed Butcher type might not seem like a former 40-goal scorer, a pending unrestricted free agent who could be a high ceiling. While Butcher did rack up a bunch of points on the power- good fit in Newark and one of the most popular players in recent play as a rookie, he also had 19 even-strength assists in 2017-18. No franchise history. Devils defenseman has had more than 19 assists at even strength since Brian Rafalski left in 2007 (Andy Greene also had 19 in 2009-10). The Ty Smith, D, Spokane (WHL) Devils might already have Butcher and Smith should arrive before Walsh Comparable: Nate Schmidt (if he signs before August 2021), but that doesn’t mean a player with Walsh’s skill set will be a surplus to the Devils. Wheeler: Schmidt is an inch taller and about 15 pounds heavier than Smith, but the notable differences mostly stop there, and Smith should Kevin Bahl, D, Ottawa (OHL) continue to get stronger as he matures. Otherwise, they’re a lot alike. Comparable: Nikita Zadorov Both rely on a calculated approach with the puck and repetition to create their offense. They’ve both always produced in line with the best Wheeler: There aren’t many players who carry the kind of weight around offensive defensemen of their age group without ever playing a high-risk, that Bahl does on the ice, and they tend to be slow and sluggish when try-things style. And they’re both reliable defenders in their own end who they do (see: Roman Polak), so it’s hard to build out a comparable for can be challenged to play big minutes despite not having the physical Bahl. I think there’s some Brandon Carlo in his game in terms of that element you typically see in top-of-the-lineup players. Schmidt is plus-level skater and tower who never really produced at lower levels but definitely the high-end outcome for Smith, so take this with a grain of salt covers a lot of ice with his feet and stick, swallowing up carriers in the as Smith is the No. 1 defenseman on one of the league’s best teams, but process. But Carlo doesn’t have the meanness that Bahl does, which it also took Schmidt a few seasons at the pro level to get there. I suspect brings me to Nikita Zadorov as the logical fit. Bahl’s never going to be a Smith follows the same kind of trajectory. big point producer at the next level if he makes it, and Zadorov had to learn that same lesson and adjust his play accordingly. Today, Zadorov’s Masisak: When Vegas stunned everyone with a successful season and a punishing physical presence who chips in at both ends and has run to the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season, the idea that rounded into a more reliable defensive player than the highly touted one Schmidt could be a legitimate first-pairing defenseman in the NHL who entered the league back in 2014. Bahl has the tools to potentially do blossomed. He went from putting up good underlying numbers in a the same in time. limited role for Washington to playing 22 minutes a night for the Golden Knights. He still hasn’t put up traditional stats that pop (career highs are Masisak: The Devils were short on big defensemen, both at the NHL nine goals and 36 points), but Schmidt’s all-around work and ability to level and in the system a couple of years ago. They’ve drafted Michael ignite his club’s transition game has been worth nearly 25 goals above Vukojevic and Xavier Bernard in the past two drafts (but didn’t sign replacement level over the past three seasons, according to Evolving- Bernard), signed a couple of big, undrafted players (Colby Sissions and Hockey (27th among NHL defensemen). Jeremy Groleau) and then traded for Bahl in November. Toss in Nikita Okhotyuk, who is medium-sized but plays with an edge, and the club now Smith’s best-case scenario seems to be matching a player like Schmidt, has a bunch of guys who could make the defense corps bigger. How a solid No. 2 or even a low-end No. 1 in the right situation. The most many of them are going to be able to move the puck and get the team likely end result is becoming an offensive catalyst on a second pairing. out of danger well enough to stick in the NHL? A best-case scenario And the slightly disappointing, but still valuable, end result is a career might be two of them, with Bahl the most likely to advance past third- similar to Will Butcher’s first two seasons as a third-pairing defender, pairing responsibilities. eating up easier matchups with the ability to hold his own in slightly tougher minutes. Tyce Thompson, F, Providence (NCAA)

Nolan Foote, F, Kelowna (WHL) Comparable: Jack Roslovic

Comparable: James Neal Wheeler: Thompson and Roslovic share a lot, particularly in their approach to the game. If there’s a noticeable difference, I would say that Wheeler: This one almost feels perfect, like it doesn’t need any though Thompson is the lighter of the two players by about 15 pounds, explanation. Stylistically, if you’re familiar with Neal’s game you’re he’s definitely the more physical of the two. Otherwise, they’re both familiar with Foote’s. Their strengths are the same in terms of their ability driven, north-south playmakers who do their scoring by getting to the to shoot the puck and — at least in Neal’s prime — play along the wall. front of the net but are at their best when involving their linemates and Their weaknesses are the same, in terms of their skating mechanics keeping their feet moving to stay active. I suspect Thompson follows a being a little inefficient (though Foote’s have improved). They’re both left similar timeline to Roslovic too, spending a year or two in the AHL before shots and 200-plus pounds. They’re both always going to be reliant on working his way into a complementary role in the middle of an NHL their linemates (Neal’s success in his career has had much to do with the lineup. playmakers he has supported). I mean … Masisak: Thompson has probably made the biggest jump among New Graeme Clarke, F, Ottawa (OHL) Jersey’s prospects since the beginning of the 2019-20 season. He had a huge season with the Friars, and given that he’s a a little older than a Comparable: Adam Henrique traditional sophomore, I thought he might turn pro. His dad is an AHL Wheeler: Clarke was the toughest player to find a proper comparable for coach with the Islanders, so the decision to stay for another year was here, and I’m not even sure that Henrique fits the mold like I’d like him to. well-informed. Last summer, Roslovic seemed like an interesting trade Clarke is a north-south player who is a one-shot threat from anywhere in target as a young player stuck further down the depth chart than he the offensive zone but does most of his work trailing the play into the slot should have been, but he played five minutes more per game this past as F3. He’s also an able forechecker who has enough skill to make the season and started to fulfill some of his potential. little bump plays he needs to help play a give-and-go style off the rush or Janne Kuokkanen, F, Binghamton (AHL) the wall. But he lacks creativity and, though his skating has improved and should continue to improve because he has the athleticism, he’s never Comparable: Jesper Fast going to be a great playmaker. There’s no question that pucks pop off of his stick or that he can lean into his snap shot just as effectively as he Wheeler: Kuokkanen’s skill level doesn’t pop like you might expect out of can his curl and drag. But is there enough dimension for him to become a player who has produced like he has in the AHL in the last three years the consistent 20-30 goal scorer that Henrique has been virtually his relative to his age group. He’s an excellent creator for his linemates, entire career? I’m not sure. I do think Clarke has a lot more to give doing a great job to play off of them and play into their strengths as a though. passer. He always has his head on a swivel and does a great job identifying and executing through seams. But he plays a quiet, physical Masisak: Insert the “Leo DiCaprio pointing at the TV screen” meme for game and he’s never going to be a volume shooter or scorer, so there’s Devils fans here. Clarke has been a pure goal scorer for a long time. He no surprise he hasn’t been able to carve out a niche in the NHL. I think scored 82 goals in 81 games one year for the Toronto Marlboros, with he’s probably best-suited as a primary carrier on a third line and second Hughes as his center. power play in the NHL. After spending a couple of years in the SHL and a couple more in the AHL, Fast has found carved out a similar role with the Nick Merkley, F, Binghamton (AHL) Rangers, where he’s also an assistant captain. Comparable: Budget Tyson Jost

Masisak: The Devils have several openings in the lineup at forward, and Wheeler: It’s hard when you’re 5-foot-10 and a little sluggish in your Kuokkanen will enter training camp as one of the best bets to grab one of stride to overcome both of those things working against you unless you them. That could mean a place on any of the four lines at this point, and have elite skill. Then conundrum with Merkley has never been about a spot next to Hischier or Hughes can’t be ruled out (particularly if New whether he’s talented or strong enough. He’s heavy on the puck for his Jersey decided to give Bratt, Gusev and Pavel Zacha some more time size and he sees the ice really well, which helps him drive lines as a together). passer. But the fear has always been that he’s not quite talented enough I’ve likened Fast to Blake Coleman, as the Rangers’ jack-of-all-trades and that he may be another name in a long list of them who was a player, maybe without some of the overtly pest-like shenanigans. Fast is dominant junior and AHL player but ultimately a tweener at the NHL still tough to play against and versatile. He’s also a UFA and could fill a level. The top of that ceiling probably looks something like Tyson Jost’s couple of needs for the Devils if he’s willing to move across the Hudson game, where he’s a highly touted prospect who becomes a third-line River, including being a mentor for several of their young forwards. contributor because he lacks that next gear offensively.

Aarne Talvitie, F, Penn State (NCAA) Masisak: Merkley, like Kuokkanen, will come to training camp as a favorite to stick with the club unless Fitzgerald has a very active Comparable: Budget Alex Steen offseason. After multiple major knee injuries, just having a healthy, productive season this year was an important step. The Devils have Wheeler: Minus the tinted visor, Steen and Talvitie play similarly styled needed lots of reinforcements from Binghamton over the past couple of games. They’re heavy for their size and they play games on the puck that seasons, and Merkley’s first few games marked one of the better first reflect that, they’ve always been counted on as leaders and consistent impressions that any of the B-Devils have made. shift-to-shift players who don’t cheat, and they’ve got dangerous release shots (Talvitie needs to use his more at the college level), but they’re The Athletic LOADED: also unselfish. On a lower line, they can carry the load. Higher in the lineup, they can shape-shift reasonably well as versatile role players. Talvitie’s odds of having the kind of career that Steen has had are long, so this is more about approach and skill set than projection, but I still believe Talvitie has another gear to find in college.

Masisak: Before the knee injury, I thought Talvitie also had a chance to be like Coleman, a versatile player who enjoyed mixing it up but could also score enough goals to be a middle-six forward. He didn’t have the extra gear that Coleman did, and now after blowing out his knee and having some of the typical ups and downs this season on his road to recovery, Talvitie is going to need to prove he can skate well enough to stick in the NHL. He’s one of a few prospects in the system who might take advantage of the long layoff the most. It’s a big year for him at Penn State, which will have a much different looking lineup.

Nikita Okhotyuk, D, Ottawa (OHL)

Comparable: Mark Borowiecki

Wheeler: Finding a match that feels right can be really hard with many of these kids. This one wasn’t. Okhotyuk’s never going to have the offensive tools you’d expect out of an NHL defenseman, but he plays as hard as anyone, he’s a huge shot blocker, he’s a lockdown presence in his own zone, he finishes every check. That’s rarely enough in today’s NHL, but Borowiecki has made a career out of it, scraping by just long enough to find his groove and become a fan favorite in a depth role/on the penalty kill.

Masisak: Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald called Okhotyuk a “throwback” defenseman and a character guy. Borowiecki was one of the first few players who came to mind for me after that description. Maybe it’s the Ottawa connection. If he’s as interesting off the ice as Borowiecki is, this beat writer will consider him a valuable addition to the dressing room. 1190451 New York Islanders

Islanders have to play waiting game when it comes to next foe

By Mollie WalkerAugust 8, 2020 | 2:54am

The Islanders will need to wait and see who they’ll face in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Islanders are the No. 6 seed after their 5-1 win over the Panthers to close out the series and, with the Canadiens finishing off the Penguins on Friday, the Islanders will face the winner of Sunday’s Capitals-Bruins round-robin game.

“We have a lot of confidence in our game,” defenseman Ryan Pulock said on a Zoom call. “The style that we play, we know that if we can play our way and to our identity that it gives us a chance to win every night.

“Our focus was on this series coming in. We got that job done. Now it’s going to be regroup and see who we play. Just go back to work.”

Islanders coach Barry Trotz inserted Leo Komarov into the lineup in place of Tom Kuhnhackl for Game 4 to bolster the team’s penalty kill.

It worked.

“Leo is prepared. I think when we were starting this process we figured Leo would be in the lineup and then obviously he got injured in the Phase 2 part of it [restart],” Trotz said. “He’s worked really hard, he feels very confident that he can come back now and play.

“We just felt obviously Florida’s power play is tremendous, it’s all-world, it’s dangerous on every element. We felt that Leo is a veteran guy, he’s a heavier guy than maybe Tommy. He felt like he was ready so we said let’s put him in.”

Komarov’s presence on the penalty kill suppressed Florida’s dynamic power play four-out-of-five times Friday.

Komarov didn’t participate with the varsity during Phase 3 training camp 2.0 as he battled through an undisclosed injury that kept him off the ice for the first two days, instead skating with the group of extras toward the end. He wore a full-caged helmet in camp and again on the ice Friday in his series debut.

“We knew we had to step up in special teams, such a big part of this series for us,” Pulock said. “They got that one and we were trying to keep making adjustments, trying to get the job done. Leo stepping in did a great job for us tonight, good on the kill.”

As a result of the Islanders moving on to the official playoffs, the Senators receive the team’s first-round pick as part of the Jean-Gabriel Pageau trade.

If the Islanders win the Stanley Cup, the Senators will also receive the Isles’ third-round draft pick. Pageau finished the play-in series against Florida with three goals.

New York Post LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190452 New York Islanders to-back highlight-reel saves on Anders Lee and Barzal on put-back attempts off rebounds.

The Panthers were then called for too-many-men on the ice and tic-tac- Islanders finish off Panthers to earn Stanley Cup playoffs berth toe passing from the Islanders resulted in Nelson putting it away from the right circle to make it 3-1 at 8:01 of the middle frame.

The Islanders buckled down in the third until Barzal’s goal off the rush By Mollie WalkerAugust 7, 2020 | 2:57pm | Updated gave them a 4-1 advantage. Pageau chipped in an empty netter at 17:17 after the Panthers pulled Bobrovsky with four minutes left in regulation.

New York Post LOADED: 08.08.2020 Islanders coach Barry Trotz wanted his team to find its killer instinct for Game 4, and boy, were they lethal.

With a 5-1 win Friday afternoon, the Islanders knocked the Panthers out of the best-of-five qualifying round and punched their ticket to the first round of the 16-team Stanley Cup playoffs. The win at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto allowed the Islanders to secure their second straight appearance in the first round. They face the winner of Sunday’s Capitals- Bruins game in the next round.

“We had only one goal: To be the better team and win a hockey game,” Trotz said on a Zoom call. “There was no ‘me’ in anybody, it was all ‘we.’ Everybody was, as I use the term, pulling on the rope. I didn’t have any passengers, and our bench would not allow anybody to be a passenger, which is a great sign.”

After swinging and missing on their chance to complete the sweep in Game 3 after going up 2-0 in the series, the Islanders refused to let the final win of the series get away a second time. Left winger Anthony Beauvillier jump-started the Islanders with two goals, 3 minutes and 38 seconds apart, in the first period to create a margin the Panthers chased for a majority of the game.

Then a back-breaking goal from Mathew Barzal, his first of the series, at 10:34 of the third officially put the game out of reach at 4-1 before J-G Pageau chipped in an empty-netter to seal the Panthers’ eviction from the bubble. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov turned aside 24 of the 25 shots he faced.

“I think we all know as a group that the style of our play isn’t flashy but we trust and believe in one another,” said Brock Nelson, who registered his second goal of the series to make it 3-1 in the second period and added an assist in Friday’s win. “Every line can go out there and contribute five-on-five and is also responsible defensively against anybody on the other side.”

Ryan Pulock denied the Panthers a chance to get back into the game. He made a spectacular diving play to deflect a tap-in by Aleksander Barkov with this stick, preventing the Panthers from cutting the lead to a goal midway through the second period.

“To me, it was one of those defining moments,” Trotz said.

Trotz inserted Leo Komarov into the lineup in place of Tom Kuhnhackl to bolster the Islanders’ penalty kill, which proved effective as they killed off three of the Panthers’ four man-advantage opportunities.

The Islanders came out with a shoot-first mentality and immediately tested Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

Beauvillier sent a surprise backhanded shot that flipped through Bobrovsky’s pads to put the Islanders up 1-0 at 11:32. Varlamov came up with a big save on Barkov on the other end in the next shift.

“I was just trying to get it on net and I got a good bounce there, we got fortunate on that goal and it was huge for us to play with the lead,” Beauvillier said. “We played the right way today and it’s getting us into the playoffs.”

After catching Florida on a bad change, Barzal sent a crisp pass on the odd-man rush for Beauvillier to slam home for a 2-0 lead at 15:10. Barzal was stifled with three minutes left in the first, splitting defenders in the Panthers zone and getting a shot off that Bobrovsky had to deflect away. It capped the 23-year-old’s best period of the series.

The Islanders’ momentum slipped away just as quickly as it came after Jordan Eberle was called for hooking Keith Yandle at 18:29. Twelve seconds into the man-advantage, Mike Hoffman capitalized to make it a one-goal game.

Bobrovsky kept the Panthers in it early in the second after a long shot from Pulock put the puck right in front of the netminder, who made back- 1190453 New York Islanders skating on the puck. He’s working. He’s just focused on his job in that moment, and I think that’s the maturity of a good young player in Beau.

“I think earlier, maybe a year or two back, if he wasn’t having any Anthony Beauvillier having fun as Islanders advance into Stanley Cup production, he worried too much about that rather than just playing well. Playoffs [Now] he’s just worried about, ‘I’m just going to go out and play my best,’ and he’s getting rewarded with playing very well.”

Sounds like fun. Updated August 7, 2020 5:58 PM Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 08.08.2020 STAFF

Are the Islanders having fun yet? Well, yes, now that you mention it . . .

That is exactly what it looked like they were having on Friday as they brushed aside the Panthers, 5-1, to conclude a 3-1 series win in the qualifying round and advance to the more traditional, 16-team NHL playoff tournament.

But just to drive home the point, their best player in the series was seen on the bench with the following message written on the grip of his hockey stick: HAVE FUN.

“Sometimes it’s good to remind yourself a little bit why you’re doing this,” Anthony Beauvillier said after scoring the first two goals in the clincher. “I’ve been writing that on my stick for over six, seven years now . . . It’s just something I do every time.”

At this point, both Beauvillier and teammate Mathew Barzal, seated beside him in Toronto, were smiling, seemingly amused that an old quirk from the former’s junior hockey days suddenly had become a thing in a video news conference.

But this is the playoffs, where everything becomes a thing, and the way Beauvillier is playing he could continue to be a thing against better opponents in later rounds.

To this point, Barzal has been the brighter star between the two men born two weeks apart in 1997 and selected 12 spots apart in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft.

But Beauvillier seemed from the beginning of the series against the Panthers to be playing at a different speed than his teammates and opponents.

He showed his spunk in a Game 3 loss on Wednesday when he set up a J-G Pageau goal by dumping in the puck during a line change, ignoring said line change to follow the puck into the zone and retake it, then find Pageau.

“You can see how he can affect the game with his speed, shift in and shift out,” his linemate, Brock Nelson, said between Games 3 and 4. “He works extremely hard and plays a quick game. He’s been a catalyst and a guy we can feed off of for energy.”

Beauvillier again was active from the start on Friday and scored the game’s first goal when he backhanded the puck from the goal line at an unworkable angle in the general direction of the net.

It fooled goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and went in between his legs. “I literally was just trying to get it on net and got a good bounce there, and got fortunate on that goal,” he said.

Later in the first period, Barzal got tied up in the corner, ended up remaining on the ice after Beauvillier had arrived on a line change, then found Beauvillier with a lovely pass for a goal past the sprawling Bobrovsky.

“Obviously, Beau’s been shining here for us,” Nelson said later.

Beauvillier tied for the team high with five shots on goal on Friday and finished the series with 16. He had three goals and two assists.

Even though Beauvillier has been a fairly productive player in four NHL seasons, including goals totals of 21, 18 and 18 the past three regular seasons, he has been streaky.

There is no telling whether this streak will continue into next week, but if it does, the Islanders will be a more dangerous challenge for their higher- seeded opponent to be determined.

“I just think right now Beau is just enjoying playing good hockey, and he’s being rewarded for it with production,” coach Barry Trotz said. “He’s 1190454 New York Islanders

Defenseman Ryan Pulock makes huge save in Islanders' clinching win against Panthers

By Andrew Gross

Updated August 7, 2020 5:13 PM

Goalie Semyon Varlamov was solid in making 24 saves. But the Islanders’ best stop in Friday’s 5-1 Game 4 win over the Panthers to clinch their best-of-five qualifying series at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto came from defenseman Ryan Pulock.

“It was one of those defining moments,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said.

Pulock stretched out his stick to stop Panthers top-line center Aleksander Barkov from converting with a look at an open net from the right post at 8:29 of the second period. The Islanders had just gone up 3-1 on Brock Nelson’s power-play goal 28 seconds earlier.

“That was a key moment in the game,” Islanders No. 1 center Mathew Barzal said. “It tilted the ice.”

Anthony Beauvillier scored two goals as the Islanders beat the Florida Panthers, 5-1, in Game 4 of their best-of-five qualifying series on Aug. 7, 2020, to advance to the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs. Credit: NY Islanders

“We had a good little battle going,” Pulock said. “He was able to spin off of me. I ended up on the wrong side. He had a wide-open net. It was a desperation play. It ended up a pretty big play and, after that, we started to take it over.”

Pulock had a team-high six of the Islanders’ 31 blocked shots in 19:04 of ice time and had a secondary assist on Anthony Beauvillier’s second goal to finish with a goal and three assists in the series.

Komarov returns

The lone lineup change Trotz made for Game 4 was inserting agitating right wing Leo Komarov for the first time in the series. Komarov took Tom Kuhnhackl’s spot on Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s third line with Derick Brassard.

Komarov missed almost all of Training Camp 2.0 after suffering a facial injury during the voluntary, small-group workouts that began on June 8, and wore a full birdcage mask for Game 4.

He logged 12:44 with an assist and 2:02 of shorthanded time as the Islanders killed off four of the Panthers’ five power plays after Florida went 2-for-5 on the man advantage in its 3-2 win in Wednesday’s Game 3.

“When we were starting this process, we figured Leo would be in the lineup but then he got injured in Phase 2,” Trotz said. “Florida’s power play is tremendous. We felt that Leo was a veteran guy and maybe a heavier guy than Tommy.”

Cost of winning

The Islanders’ win means their first-round pick in this year’s draft will officially be sent to the Senators as part of their trade deadline deal for Pageau. The pick was top-three protected and the eight teams eliminated from the qualifying series will participate in the second phase of the NHL Draft Lottery on Monday night to determine the No. 1 overall selection.

Notes & quotes

Beauvillier and Pageau tied for the team-high with three goals apiece in the series…Defenseman Devon Toews and Josh Bailey shared the team lead with four assists…Beauvillier and Toews were the only players to have at least one point in each of the four games…As it did on the eve of this series, the Empire State Building shone with orange and blue lights on Friday night to honor the Islanders.

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190455 New York Islanders take advantage of a poor Panthers’ line change to give the Islanders a 2- 0 lead at 15:10 of the period.

The Islanders dominated the first period five-on-five, outshooting the Anthony Beauvillier leads Islanders into playoffs with win over Panthers Panthers 15-4 at even strength but Jordan Eberle’s careless hooking penalty on Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle in the offensive zone at 18:29 of the first period led to Mike Hoffman’s power-play goal just 12 seconds later. By Andrew Gross Eberle sprung Barzal up ice for his first goal in the series, making it 4-1 at Updated August 7, 2020 7:27 PM 10:34 of the third period. Pageau added an empty-netter at 17:17.

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 08.08.2020 The Islanders have accomplished very little toward their ultimate goal. But given the unique circumstances of this NHL postseason and the pandemic-filled four-and-a-half months that led up to it, their four-game win over the Panthers and how well they played in the best-of-five qualifying series is an impressive accomplishment.

They emphatically clinched the series and a berth in the NHL’s 16-team playoffs with a 5-1 win in Friday’s Game 4 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto as Anthony Beauvillier scored twice and the Islanders’ penalty kill neutralized the Panthers’ potent power play, for the most part. In a nod to the times, the teams just bumped fists with their gloves still on during the traditional, post-series handshake line.

“It was a heck of a series,” top-line center Mathew Barzal said. “We know we just punched our ticket to the dance and it’s just starting. We know the intensity is going to get ramped up.”

Now,the Islanders wait to find out their first-round opponent. They will face the third seed, which will be the winner of Sunday’s round-robin game between the Bruins and Capitals

The top four finishers in the Eastern Conference during the regular season that was halted on March 12 because of COVID-19 are playing a round-robin concurrent to the qualifying series to determine seeding.

Last season, the Islanders' first under the management tandem of president/general manager Lou Lamoriello and coach Barry Trotz, they swept the Penguins in the first round before being swept by the Hurricanes. They’re obviously aiming higher this season.

“We have a lot of confidence in our game and the style we play,” said defenseman Ryan Pulock, who made a momentum-turning play as he stretched out his stick to keep Panthers top-line center Aleksander Barkov from converting on an open look at the net just 28 seconds after Brock Nelson’s power-play goal had given the Islanders a 3-1 lead at 8:01 of the second period.

“We know if we can play our way and to our identity, it gives us a chance to win every night,” Pulock added. “Our focus was on this series coming in. We got that job done. The ultimate goal is the Stanley Cup. It’s just one day at a time to work toward that goal.”

The Islanders went 1-for-3 on the power play and the Panthers were 1- for-5. Four of the Panthers’ seven goals in the series came on the man advantage.

Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 33 shots for the Panthers.

The complete effort in both ends mirrored the way the Islanders played during a franchise-record 15-0-2 streak from Oct. 12-Nov. 23. But the Islanders were on an 0-3-4 skid when the season was paused. The unplanned time off – small-group, voluntary workouts resumed on June 8 and Training Camp 2.0 began on July 13 – allowed defenseman Adam Pelech and center Casey Cizikas to return healthy and trade acquisitions Jean-Gabriel Pageau and defenseman Andy Greene to get more comfortable with their new teammates.

“Right across the board, for most of the teams in this play-in and the playoffs, a lot of credit goes to the players and the staff,” Trotz said. “Understanding the importance of what this is and embracing what this is. You’re seeing the NHL at a great level right now. You didn’t know what you’d expect but the players have dialed it in.”

The Islanders took a 2-0 lead on two first-period goals by Beauvillier, his first career, multi-point postseason performance.

Beauvillier surprised Panthers Bobrovsky with a backhander from the right that deflected in off the netminder’s right pad to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 11:32 of the first period. He then took a feed from Barzal to 1190456 New York Islanders

Islanders’ task in Game 4 is simple: Stay the course and advance

By Arthur Staple Aug 7, 2020

THE IN-LAWS WITH POWER AND WIFI, N.Y. — The only team that can eliminate the Islanders on Friday is the Islanders.

Game 3 was a disappointment, but only because the Islanders did it to themselves when they had a chance to sweep away the Panthers. A trio of poor-decision penalties (puck over glass, too many men and Semyon Varlamov playing the puck outside the trapezoid) gave the Panthers life and they scored two power-play goals. Sergei Bobrovsky was good again, as he’s been throughout the series, but it still wouldn’t have been enough had the Islanders played more of Game 3 at five-on-five, as they did in taking a 2-0 series lead.

Florida’s power play is certainly better, even though both teams have three power-play goals through three games (the Panthers basically have four, considering Mike Hoffman’s Game 2 goal came before Anthony Beauvillier fully got back in the play). The Panthers have leaned heavily on Hoffman, Keith Yandle, Evgenii Dadonov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov, who comprise the top power-play unit and have scored 13 of the 16 total points the Panthers have posted so far this series.

Joel Quenneville said Huberdeau, who missed the final 5:02 of Game 3, would be ready for Game 4; if the Panthers have to go without him or have their best player this season compromised, that puts the Islanders even farther ahead in this matchup. Depth players on Florida’s side have shuffled in and out. Frank Vatrano and Brett Connolly have been invisible; Mike Matheson, a top-four defenseman in the second season of an eight-year, $39-million deal, was scratched for Game 3 after two brutal games.

Compare the Panthers’ top-heavy, power-play driven offense with what the Isles have done: even-strength goals from all four lines, three power- play goals driven primarily by what you’d consider the second unit (the one without Mathew Barzal) and pretty good balance among their six defensemen. Subbing Andy Greene in for the injured Johnny Boychuk, whom Barry Trotz said still hasn’t skated since taking Matheson’s shoulder to his head in Game 1, has been the right call. Greene has steadied Nick Leddy and that pair has been on the ice for 11 high-danger chances for and just three against (courtesy of Natural Stat Trick).

There are some reasons to worry. The Devon Toews-Scott Mayfield pair has been outshot and out-chanced badly at even strength, and the Mayfield-Adam Pelech penalty kill pair hasn’t been able to dull Florida’s power-play impact. Matt Martin had a key Game 2 goal, the first postseason goal by any member of the Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck line since 2016, but that line has been worked over a bit at 5v5. Cizikas (13-for-39, 33.3 percent) and Brock Nelson (14-for-37, 37.8 percent), the two centers who take the bulk of the Islanders draws, have been dominated in the circle.

And it’s fair to question Trotz on the decision to start Varlamov over the rested Thomas Greiss on Wednesday. Varlamov wasn’t bad, but his brain fart seconds into the third led to the go-ahead Panthers goal. Seeing the Hurricanes easily transition from Petr Mrazek to James Reimer and complete the sweep of the Rangers on Wednesday night might have stung Trotz a bit, given he rode with Varlamov on a back to back. It will surely be Varlamov again on Friday and the Islanders will hope to end this series and give their goalie a few days off.

They don’t really have to hope, though. Just keep doing what they’ve been doing, cut out the poor decisions and keep the Panthers chasing them at even strength. The Islanders did that in the bulk of the first two games and got themselves to the brink. One more game of that and they’ll have some bubble down time before the next round begins.

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190457 New York Islanders the first few games of the series, but he was the most dangerous player on the ice on Friday.

“We had some scrimmage games that were pretty high paced, but you’re For Isles to stick around, the B&B Boys have to be this good again getting your points and it’s 80-85 percent, maybe,” Barzal said. “You get in the real game it’s a different ballgame. Little more crosschecks, little more physical play, guys coming back harder on the back check. First few games, for myself, I had to adapt — I forgot almost how hard it is to By Arthur Staple Aug 7, 2020 score and get to the net. How hard guys play you one on one.

“Beau’s line, lot of the forwards, they came out hard and played that way. This is surely what Garth Snow had in mind when he altered the course For myself, it took me a game or two to get that touch and feel back. Feel of the franchise on June 26, 2015: Mathew Barzal and Anthony like I found it a little bit tonight. I really liked our intensity and how hard Beauvillier, the B&B kids, leading the Islanders through the postseason. we played.”

Snow came into that draft — at the Panthers’ arena in South Florida, Even though the shot share (48 percent) and scoring chance share (51.8 ironically enough — with no first-round pick, having sent away what percent) were pedestrian for Barzal’s line, the biggest number was the ended up as the No. 21 selection to complete the ill-fated swap with the zero under goals against at five on five — Barzal, like so many elite Sabres for Thomas Vanek 20 months earlier. The Islanders were in a young talents, can sometimes be forgetful without the puck if the chances different place by the time the 2015 draft rolled around, on the upswing aren’t coming or aren’t going in. That he was on for no goals against this after a 101-point season, and Snow was in a position to wheel and deal series may say something about where his head’s at. to start securing the team’s future. “That’s our identity, kind of what we preach,” he said. “Just being strong The first trade of that night will go down as one of the biggest robberies in defensively. That comes first for us.” the last 25 years of NHL general managing: Snow sent Griffin Reinhart, The next challenge will be far more difficult. The Panthers’ superb power the fourth overall pick of the 2012 draft who had yet to see any play was 4 for 14 in this series and a fifth goal, from Game 2, came just meaningful NHL time (and still hasn’t), to the Oilers for the 16th and 33rd two seconds after Beauvillier exited the penalty box. Florida barely put up picks. The trade likely only happened because the Bruins, who owned a struggle five on five and the Islanders’ moribund power play was almost picks 13-15, failed to take Barzal with any of them; the Islanders had as good as Florida’s, going 4 for 16 in the series. Barzal in the top 5 on their own board and not only managed to make a lopsided trade for the ages, they got the steal of the Connor McDavid- So the Islanders will need the energy and creativity the B&B Boys Jack Eichel draft all the way at No. 16. showed this week. At both ends of the ice.

But Snow wasn’t done. He took that 33rd pick, packaged the 72nd pick “Beau is just enjoying playing good hockey,” Trotz said. “He’s focused on with it — gotten from those same Panthers at the 2014 draft — and his job in that moment. That’s the maturity of a good young player. traded back into the first round with the Lightning to No. 28. It’s a move Maybe a year or two back if he wasn’t having any production, he’d be Snow made a couple of other times during his dozen years at the Isles worried about that and not playing well. helm, with good (Brock Nelson, 30th overall, 2010) and not-so-good (Josh Ho-Sang, 28th overall, 2014) results. “Mathew continually makes steps forward in his overall game. He understands the importance of focusing on the moment, getting his On this night in South Florida, Snow took Beauvillier, a short but compete level really high. Today he kicked it up in terms of the overall physically developed scorer from the Quebec League. All eyes were on compete level. He played fast, he was hard to handle.” Barzal after that night — one Isles executive grabbed this reporter by the shoulders when the first night ended and said, “Someone’s getting The Athletic LOADED: fucking fired for this!” in reference to Barzal slipping to 16 — but it was Beauvillier who made the Islanders as a 19-year-old in 2016-17, while Barzal lasted two games and took three penalties in one of them. One of those minors was for playing the puck with his skates still in the penalty box.

Snow is gone but his plan remains. And inside the Toronto bubble, the B&B boys — the Bubble Boys? — showed themselves in Game 4 on Friday to be the best things the Islanders have going for them as they cruised past the Panthers and into the playoffs proper.

Beauvillier continued his torrid series, scoring the first two goals of the game to give him three and five points in the four games. He brought his speed and energy and added a dash of confidence, something that hasn’t always been there during his four NHL seasons. He was demoted for two games midway through the 2017-18 season and responded with eight goals in his next seven games. In Barry Trotz’s first season, Beauvillier had 1-0-1 in his first 16 games before a hat trick against the Rangers snapped his season awake.

“My first year, his first 20, 21 games were a struggle,” Trotz said. “From that point on, he’s a guy who’s becoming a better pro year in and year out. He’s always had the skill, he’s always had the confidence, it’s just feeling you can do the job over a long period of time.”

Ever since the Islanders touched down in Toronto, Beauvillier has been flying. He was the best player on the ice in the exhibition win over the Rangers and followed that with the eventual game-winner in Game 1 against the Panthers. His line, with Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey, was so dominant at even strength — 60 percent of the shots and 56.5 percent of the scoring chances when on together, according to Natural Stat Trick — that Panthers coach Joel Quenneville used his last change in Game 4 to put the Aleksander Barkov-Noel Acciari-Jonathan Huberdeau trio on against Beauvillier’s line, not Barzal’s.

And that ended up helping Barzal break out. He admitted after Game 4 that the unique return-to-play scenario left him a little unsure of himself in 1190458 New York Rangers The coach can put you in different spots, manage your ice time and if you’re looking a little overwhelmed at times, he can manage that.

“The other thing about going to an organization where there’s more Duhatschek Notebook: Importance of fit for top picks, best spot for pressure, sometimes, it’s about selling tickets. That inevitably becomes Lafreniere part of the equation. By going to a place-holder team, he just gets to go and play. There’s none of this, ‘he’s the face of the franchise going forward stuff.’ I think it’s phenomenal for Alexis, and for whatever team gets him, because it will allow him to be better.” By Eric Duhatschek Aug 7, 2020 Button cited the Rangers as the sort of team where Lafreniere could

make a seamless transition because they already appear to be turning The New York Rangers were the first team to see action last Saturday in the corner on their rebuild. The Rangers currently have an MVP finalist in the NHL’s qualifying round – and four days later, they were also the first Artemi Panarin, plus one of the new emerging stars in the game, Mika team heading for the exits, eliminated from play on Tuesday after being Zibanejad, set at the top of the lineup. Additionally, they have another swept in three games by last year’s Eastern Conference finalists, the young player, Kaapo Kakko, No. 2 overall last year, who wasn’t rushed Carolina Hurricanes. by the organization and was afforded the chance to develop at his own pace. Normally, this would represent devastating news for everyone with a vested interest in the Rangers’ outcome — management, coaches, “The Rangers have got some really good players – and (adding players and fans. But that’s during a normal year, in a regular playoff, Lafreniere) would just push them further along the path,” Button said. where there are no silver linings associated with a quick exit — no “It’s always amazing for me to see development. Kirby Dach in Chicago. reasons to do anything but mope and fall back on the old axiom, “there’s Chicago moved from 12 to 3 (in the draft lottery) to get him. They had no always next year.” chance to get Kirby Dach at 12. Kirby, to me, was Ryan Getzlaf-like as a However, in the summer of 2020, in a world turned upside down, there’s prospect. Now, you watch him, during the course of this year, he was in a tiny bit of light at the end of what would normally be a very dark tunnel. development mode with Chicago. But I’ll tell you what, he’s in a whole It’s all because a “place-holder” team won the first phase of the NHL different space now. Where do you find that guy? It’s the same with Draft lottery, meaning there is a consolation prize awaiting one of the Dallas and Miro Heiskanen. They go from eight to three. You don’t get lucky losers — the chance to land the first overall selection in the annual Miro Heiskanen at eight.” draft and secure a potentially franchise-altering talent. The Andrei Svechnikov example It may not necessarily lessen the immediate sting of the loss, but it does To Button’s point about teams jumping up in the draft lottery, beginning in create an extra layer of intrigue that will all come to a head on Monday 2014-15, the NHL changed the weighting system previously used, evening when one of the eight eliminated teams is going to win Phase 2 reducing the odds of winning the lottery for the four lowest-ranked teams of the draft lottery and start to ponder life with Alexis Lafreniere in the and increasing the odds for the other non-playoff teams. There have fold. been some noticeable leaps ever since, though arguably, the biggest If you want a detailed look at Lafreniere’s upside, you can read colleague winner since the system changed may have been Carolina in 2018. Corey Pronman’s scouting report on the presumptive No. 1 pick. That year, the Hurricanes jumped from No. 11 to No. 2, which allowed But in a nutshell, there is a wide consensus that his impact will be high – them to select Andrei Svechnikov, the young Russian, who had 72 points and practically immediate. in 44 games during his draft season for the Barrie Colts.

With a few notable exceptions that we’ll explore below, the one common The Hurricanes’ current general manager Don Waddell was also the first element for the vast majority of players drafted first overall in the last half- GM of the Atlanta Thrashers when they came into the league in 1999-00. century is they almost always land with a bad team — a team that earned The Thrashers were part of an aggressive NHL expansion that saw four a high selection in the draft because of a dismal season on the ice. teams added over a three-year period, and thus, didn’t get much player That’s what the draft was originally designed to do, even the NHL playing help from the established teams in their expansion draft. It meant the field. The hope is if you land the No. 1 overall selection, that prospect will players they harvested at the top end of the draft – everyone from Patrik eventually help lead your team out of the wilderness. Stefan to Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk – got thrown right into the fire.

But what if, this year, that top prospect happens to land on a team that’s Waddell agrees that there is a difference when a blue-chip prospect goes already out of the woods and just had a bad (or unlucky) week, coming to a team and doesn’t necessarily have to be The Guy from the moment off a four-and-a-half-month layoff? What then? he arrives. Instead of immediately ceding him a spot in their top six, the Hurricanes fed Svechnikov into the lineup gradually. So far, the results Now, instead of almost immediately being asked to carry a heavy load, have been remarkable. that player might be able to ease into his NHL transition in a more protected role. “With Andrei, if you go back and look when he started out last year, he was playing eight-to-10 minutes a night,” said Waddell. “He was playing In turn, that could theoretically reduce the pressure that can occasionally basically a third-line role. We all knew he had a special talent, but when overwhelm even the surest of sure things. you’re talking about an 18, 19-year-old kid, we didn’t know how fast he’s going to come. I give the coaches a lot of credit. In Andrei’s situation, Because let’s face it: Sometimes, the hardest part about joining a he’d missed most of the year before. In January is when he hurt his wrist floundering franchise is how crushing that weight of expectation can be. and didn’t play the rest of the year. Not everybody thrives when asked to be a difference maker almost right away. You wonder if that’s what contributed to the struggles of Alexandre “Because he hadn’t played hockey for seven or eight months, we brought Daigle (first overall to Ottawa in 1993) – the idea that the teenager from him along slowly. We talked about it a lot. We said, ‘we’ll let him develop Victoriaville would lead the Senators to respectability; and sooner would at his own pace’ and not force him into a top-six role. Probably after 25 or have been better than later. It just didn’t happen for Daigle. It didn’t help 30 games, he really started to show a lot of progress and he continued to Vincent Lecavalier in the early stages of his career to be compared to get more ice time. But in the end, last year, he averaged about 15 Michael Jordan by Tampa ownership on his draft day. Lecavalier minutes of ice time. It wasn’t like he had to play 20 or 25 minutes like eventually persevered and found his way to greatness (though never at back in my years with Kovalchuk and Heatley. If they weren’t on the ice, Jordan’s level). we had no chance of ever scoring a goal, so they played a lot of minutes.

But it’s an interesting phenomenon to ponder, ahead of Monday night’s “So, you learn watching through the years. I always say, ‘pay attention to Phase 2 draft lottery draw. the successful franchises and the successful GMs’ because you can learn things. Every day in this business you can learn new things.” “There’s no doubt in my mind that, for one of those place-holder teams, being able to get Lafreniere is not only going to help them, it’s also going Just before joining Atlanta, Waddell worked in the Detroit Red Wings to help Lafreniere,” former NHL GM Craig Button said, who now acts as organization and said he learned a lot from watching its two senior the chief scout for TSN. “I believe Lafreniere is a 60-point guy, Year 1, in executives, Ken Holland and Jim Devellano, work. the NHL. Now, if he ends up on a better team, maybe that’s 70 points. “Detroit had always run a good organization, from the NHL team to the make players on entry-level contracts so attractive that the value of a way to how they handled their prospects, and they wound up winning franchise-altering No. 1 draft choice is practically incalculable – assuming four or five Cups in a 12-year span,” Waddell said. “You take things from the prospect lives up to his potential. all those lessons. “You look at Nathan MacKinnon now. He’s a superstar. He was the “It’s hard to go from being a bad team to a good team overnight. One rookie of the year but in his first four years in the league, there were player is not going to do it for you. You have to have the surrounding signs that he was going to be a really good player, but not that he was parts. So, it’s important to keep the pressure off those guys. Everybody necessarily a superstar. So, what ends up happening? They draft (Mikko) handles pressure differently. The more you can let them develop at their Rantanen. They get some other players – and boom, he goes to another own pace, the better they’re going to be for you.” level.

The history book “That’s what New Jersey has to hope for. They need players to help Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. Because, as good as they are, they’re not It won’t be completely unprecedented if Lafreniere lands with a good going to be as good as they can be, without the supporting cast.” team. Let’s talk about Pittsburgh and Edmonton Probably the best illustration of a top prospect going to a team that was already very good came at the 1971 draft, when the Montreal Canadiens Not all draft classes are necessarily alike at the very top, which is why made a trade with the California Golden Seals to acquire their choice. not every player selected first overall in a draft will necessarily have the The deal was actually consummated some 13 months previously, in May same long-lasting impact on a franchise. of 1970, when Montreal sent one of its first-rounders in the ’70 draft, plus a promising player that couldn’t quite crack their star-studded lineup For example, 15 years ago, after the 2004-05 NHL season was (Ernie Hicke) to California, for the Seals’ 1971 first-rounder. completely lost to a lockout, every team had a shot at the first overall pick in a weighted draft lottery – and it came to a final two, and the Pittsburgh The Seals, like all the teams that came into the NHL during the 1967-68 Penguins were the lucky winners; earning the right to draft Sidney expansion, didn’t get much talent in the beginning, were struggling at the Crosby. box office and thus, were in desperate need of immediate NHL help. How did that work out for them? Three Stanley Cup championships, the By contrast, Montreal was in a position to think big-picture, long-term face of the franchise … I could go on, but you get the picture. It was a thoughts and had their eye on a prospect named Guy Lafleur, then a time when a lottery win changed the fortunes of an entire organization for highly prized junior from the Quebec Remparts. But just to ensure that a decade-and-a-half and counting. California finished in the Western Conference basement, midway through the 1970-71 season, the Canadiens sent reinforcements (in the form of To further reaffirm the point, you only need to assess the Edmonton Ralph Backstrom) to the Los Angeles Kings to make them more Oilers’ draft record from 2010 to 2015 to see the many different competitive. outcomes that are possible if you’re gifted with four No. 1 overall picks in a six-year span. You can harvest a generational talent (Connor McDavid In the end, Montreal got what it wanted – a chance to draft a next- in 2015); a future MVP (Taylor Hall in 2010); a solid, professional NHLer generation Francophone superstar who, admittedly, needed a couple of (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in 2011) and sometimes even a puzzling, years to find his NHL footing before exploding into greatness. perplexing bust (Nail Yakupov in 2012).

But that ’71 Canadiens team was coming off a Stanley Cup But there is a distinction between drafting a quality, serviceable NHLer championship in mid-May of that year and then had the luxury of adding and a difference maker, according to Button. Difference makers the first overall pick in the draft less than a month later. ultimately help lead you to championships.

In hindsight, it’s hard to imagine that anyone thought that sort of a trade “I always try to frame it using other sports as an example,” Button said. was a good idea. “Where would the Kansas City Chiefs be without Patrick Mahomes? All I know is, the Kansas City Chiefs are a really good team. But they wouldn’t The reality is, it was a far more common practice in the early days of the be where they’re at now without Patrick Mahomes. Look at the Baltimore draft, when teams – generally speaking – put a far greater value on the Ravens. They’re a good team, well-coached. But where would they be bird in the hand, the NHL-ready player, than some down-the-road without Lamar Jackson? They’re difference makers.” prospect. Over and over again, you saw it happen – teams willing to sacrifice future potential in what was almost always the futile hope of And finally … getting better in the here-and-now. Playoffs have a way of calling attention to players that slip through the In 1975, the Flyers – in the midst of their Broad St. Bullies years and on cracks sometimes in the regular season, where fans tend to focus on the heels of consecutive Stanley Cup championships – traded Bill their local squads and something big needs to happen before they get at Clement and Don McLean along with the 18th overall pick to all interested in the larger picture. This leads to a phenomenon I have Washington, for what turned out to be the first overall pick in the variously called playoff hero-of-the-week or hero-of-the-moment and upcoming draft. there’s been a few examples already of unsung heroes, really stepping up. Carolina’s Jordan Martinook, for example, drew six penalties in the The Flyers then selected Mel Bridgman, who became a solid versatile opening round. One of the foot soldiers on the Hurricanes, he had a NHL player, and whose personality and playing style fit the Flyers’ quietly effective under-the-radar performance in the opening round program to an absolute tee. Considering that ’75 wasn’t a really against New York. memorable draft either – the best three selections were probably Dave Taylor, at 210; Willi Plett at 80 and Pierre Mondou at 15 – landing In the Calgary-Winnipeg series, the Jets were badly undermined by the Bridgman turned out to be an astute move. He, like Lafleur, could settle loss to injury of two of their top four forwards, Mark Scheifele and Patrik in on a team that already had Bobby Clarke, Reggie Leach, Bill Barber Laine, which tilted a No. 8 versus No. 9 matchup between two teams that and others on the roster and helped them stay an elite team for another were virtually tied in the regular-season standings in favor of the Flames. half-dozen years. But the one thing that few anticipated was Calgary winning the goaltending battle, given that Winnipeg had the likely Vezina Trophy Montreal had the first overall pick again in 1980, thanks to a deal with the winner, Connor Hellebuyck, between he pipes and Calgary’s choice was Colorado Rockies and that outcome would have been far more one-sided virtually a coin flip between the nominal No. 1, David Rittich, and the 1a too if they hadn’t selected the very serviceable Doug Wickenheiser over choice, Cam Talbot, who had the better numbers after Jan. 1. the future Hall of Fame (and local favorite) Denis Savard. Interim head coach Geoff Ward made a bold call – opting to go with In 1983, coming off a 96-point season and a trip to the conference final, Talbot, and Talbot rewarded his faith with sparkling consistency the Minnesota North Stars landed the first overall pick in a one-sided throughout the series (a 1.51 GAA, a .945 save percentage, a shutout in trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins and selected Brian Lawton. How bad Thursday night’s 4-0 series clincher). would that deal have looked if the Stars had chosen any of the players available at three, four or nine (future Hall of Famers Pat LaFontaine, But five days in, arguably no one fits the bill better than defenceman Jeff Steve Yzerman and Cam Neely)? Petry of the 12th-seeded Montreal Canadiens, who produced the game- winning goals in Game 1 and 3 of the series. They didn’t just pinball in These were hard lessons learned, which is why teams rarely go down that path anymore in the modern era NHL, where salary-cap constraints accidentally either. They were creative offensive plays that demonstrated Petry’s high hockey IQ.

Probably everyone in Edmonton is asking now: Why did we let Petry go and who did we get for him anyway?

I was curious myself so I looked it up – and it wasn’t as bad as you might think. Montreal sent a second- and fourth-rounder to the Oilers at the 2015 trading deadline to land Petry for their playoff push, which that season, lasted 12 games. Petry ultimately signed an extension with the Canadiens – six years, at an average annual value of $5.5 million, which coincidentally expires after this season, making him an unrestricted free agent at an opportune time.

Edmonton, meanwhile, flipped that second-rounder to the Rangers in the Talbot trade, who subsequently traded it to Washington, which drafted Jonas Siegenthaler with the pick.

But Edmonton did secure Caleb Jones with the fourth-rounder, and the younger brother of Columbus’s Seth Jones looks as if he’ll be a fixture for years to come.

And while Montreal’s trio of Petry, Shea Weber and Ben Chiarot will never be confused with Savard, Lapointe and Robinson, they have been phenomenally effective thus far against the Penguins.

Weber looks rejuvenated, the time off recovering from injuries looks as if he’s had a chance to properly heal.

So much of the focus in Winnipeg this season was how devastating it was to lose the entire right side of last year’s defence – Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Myers, Jacob Trouba. Less of a fuss was made over Chiarot’s departure as a free agent. But he, like Petry, is opening eyes now – Button noting how “Hockey Night in Canada’s” Kevin Bieksa colorfully characterized Chiarot as the oldest of old-school players, not a 180- pound quinoa-eating modern-day defencemen, but a 225-pound, meat- eating physical force. Useful, at this time, when the going occasionally gets rough.

The Jets, meanwhile, were the second team after the Rangers to be eliminated in the qualifying round, a year chock full of adversity that ended the way it began – with a lot of try, but not a lot of finish. They look like a franchise due for a little bit of good fortune. Maybe they’re the ones that land Lafreniere.

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190459 Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers-Lightning preview: TV, time, odds, notes

by Ed Barkowitz

Flyers (2-0-0) vs. Tampa Bay (2-0-0)

When: Saturday, 8 p.m.

Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto

TV: NBC. Radio: 97.5 FM.

What: Round-robin finale for both teams. The winner gets the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed. Loser gets the second seed.

Season series: The Lightning won both meetings, including a 1-0 game at the Wells Fargo Center, where the puck got tangled in Matt Niskanen’s skates before Pat Maroon pushed it past Carter Hart. In the rematch at Tampa, the Flyers nearly rebounded from a 3-0 deficit before losing 5-3. The Flyers killed all nine power-plays over the two games, a span of 14 minutes, 42 seconds. Still, that’s a dangerous way to live. The Flyers’ power-play went 2-for-8.

» Jan. 11: Lightning, 1-0 | Feb. 15: Lightning, 5-3

About the Lightning: The Lightning have been pointing to this year’s playoffs after getting swept in the first round last season. They just didn’t think they’d have to wait until August. ... Andrei Vasilevskiy will start in net, but backup Curtis McElhinney might be brought in just to get some work. ... Reigning MVP Nikita Kucherov is +65 over the last three regular seasons and -9 the last three playoffs. He has 20 points in 20 career games against the Flyers (4 goals, 16 assists). .. Team captain Steven Stamkos (lower-body) will not play. ... Coach Jon Cooper has tried two partners for All-Star defenseman Victor Hedman. Zach Bogosian played opposite Hedman in their first round-robin game, Jan Rutta the second.

From the books: DraftKings had Tampa at -132, Flyers +115 as of Friday afternoon. FanDuel was -140/+120.

History lesson: This will be the first postseason game between these clubs since the Lightning beat the Flyers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2004. The Lightning beat the Flames to win their only Stanley Cup.

The last word: NBC analyst Eddie Olczyk said that, aside from goaltending, there is one catalyst that makes the difference for Jon Cooper’s team. “To me, Kucherov is the key for this team,” Olczyk said. “If it’s going for him, you know what you’re going to get. But when it’s not, that’s where he’s got to really buckle down and just do what he needs to do to contribute. To me, he’s the whole key moving forward for the Tampa Bay Lightning.”

Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190460 Philadelphia Flyers

James van Riemsdyk and Shayne Gostisbehere in Flyers lineup, Joel Farabee goes to top line

by Sam Carchidi

James van Riemsdyk will get a chance to show he belongs in the lineup when the Flyers meet Tampa Bay on Saturday to determine the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed.

The veteran left winger did not play in the Flyers’ 3-1 round-robin win over Washington on Thursday.

Earlier in the week, coach Alain Vigneault said he “needed more” from van Riemsdyk. He toned down his criticism Friday, saying his decision Thursday was “less about benching James than looking at the big picture. Yes, James had been just OK so far after having, in my estimation, a real strong training camp.”

Vigneault said he wanted to get the physical and speedy Connor Bunnaman into the game and thought it was a good matchup for him against the Capitals. Bunnaman and linemates Nate Thompson and Tyler Pitlick did a solid job when matched against Alex Ovechkin’s physical line.

Van Riemsdyk, who had 19 goals and 40 points in 66 games this season, was asked if the benching would serve as a motivation.

“For me, when I look back on my career and playing in the playoffs, I’ve had success in the past and my approach is going to stay the same,” he said. “Try to be the best player I can be and maximize every day. That’s always been the way I approach things no matter what.

“I mean, I love the game, and we have a great team and a great shot this year. My motivation and my approach remains consistent day in and day out, no matter if I have a day that doesn’t go your way or if you have a day where things are going well.”

The Central Jersey native said he was “doing the little things right,” before the benching, but he would like to be more creative and productive.

Van Riemsdyk, 31, will be on the third line with center Derek Grant and right winger Nic Aube-Kubel.

In other moves, rookie Joel Farabee will go to the top line to replace Jake Voracek, who is ill or injured, and Shayne Gostisbehere will be the No. 6 defenseman as steady Robert Hagg comes out of the lineup.

Gostisbehere has had more mobility since recovering from two knee surgeries over the last seven months, and he figures to get work on a power play that is 0-for-8 after the two round-robin games. The Flyers spent more time than usual on their power play at practice Friday in Toronto.

Breakaways

Former Flyers defensemen Braydon Coburn and Luke Schenn were extras at Tampa’s practice Friday. Pat Maroon, a former Flyers farmhand, was not on the ice for the Lightning. … Ivan Provorov had two points but was minus-4 in the two regular-season games against Tampa Bay.

Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190461 Philadelphia Flyers In the goalie matchup, Hart, a blossoming player, will face Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy, a Vezina finalist and a proven star.

In Tampa’s 1-0 win, Vasilevskiy made 23 saves and former Flyers Two key players will be out as ‘matured’ Flyers face Tampa Bay with farmhand Pat Maroon had the lone goal against Hart. It was Game 45 East’s No. 1 seeding on the line and the first time the Flyers were shut out.

Vasilevskiy went 2-0 with a 1.50 GAA and .946 save percentage against the Flyers. Hart was 0-2 with a 2.61 GAA and .902 save percentage this by Sam Carchidi season against Tampa Bay.

The Flyers defense excelled in the first two round-robin games, a 4-1 win over Boston, followed by the 3-1 victory over Washington. The Flyers have gained the respect of Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper, coach of the team they will face Saturday in a game to determine the Eastern “We’ve been good and tough without the puck,” Niskanen said. “Our Conference’s top seed. forwards are really working hard to come back and back-pressure. Suffocating [teams]. Teams probably don’t feel like they have a lot of The winner of the 8 p.m. round-robin matchup in Toronto will get the No. space right now against us.” 1 seed and face surprising Montreal in the opening round of the playoffs; the loser will be seeded No. 2 and will meet the Columbus-Toronto Both teams say that the game is important, that they want to finish No. 1 survivor. in the seedings. They also understand it’s not critical.

“They’re an explosive team, they’re a dynamic team,” Cooper said in a In the 14 playoffs since 2006, the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed did Zoom interview with reporters Friday from Toronto. “They’ve got the kid not reach the Stanley Cup Final. [Carter Hart] in net there who has really matured.”

Cooper noted he has coached a handful of Flyers in tournaments, such as Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux, and Travis Konecny, “and I know Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 08.08.2020 what their DNA is. They’ve matured as a team, and I think AV [coach Alain Vigneault] has done a really good job in that regard.

“They were always a little bit of a wild card. The emotions of games could take over with them, but from what I’ve seen, there now is a maturity in their game, and you throw in that confidence with some of the budding stars they have on the blue line, we shouldn’t be surprised what they reeled off” at the end of the season. “And most definitely are going to be a force here in the Eastern Conference.”

Both teams will be missing top-line forwards: Jake Voracek and Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos, who has 23 goals and 43 points in 34 career games against the Flyers.

Voracek, who played Thursday in the 3-1 win over Washington, is out with an unknown injury or illness, and Vigneault is not allowed to give details because of the NHL’s postseason protocol. Stamkos continues to be sidelined by an apparent leg injury.

The Flyers will make several changes in their lineup:

Rookie Joel Farabee will move to the top line, alongside Couturier and Giroux, because of Voracek’s absence.

Left winger James van Riemsdyk, benched in the last game, will return to the lineup and take Farabee’s spot on the third line.

Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere will replace Robert Hagg and will be paired with Justin Braun. Gostisbehere will probably play on the power play. Farabee and van Riemsdyk are other power-play options.

The loss of Voracek weakens the top line and the No. 1 power-play unit.

“Jake’s one of our best players,” Hart said. “… The last couple games, everybody’s been rolling and stepping up. I’m sure we’ll have someone who will step up and play hard [Saturday].”

Voracek has a “unique skill set, a veteran guy that’s been around and played in some big games,” defesneman Matt Niskanen said, adding that the players had to “keep chugging forward with the guys we have.”

Vigneault reiterated that in the round-robin tournament there is a “balance between winning and getting our team ready” for the playoffs, which start Tuesday for some teams.

Getting the No. 1 seed and having the home-ice advantage and the last line change, Vigneault said, “is a fairly important thing.”

The Flyers and Lightning are each 2-0 in the round-robin tournament. Including the end of the regular season, the Flyers have won 11 of their last 12 games, making them the league’s hottest team.

To continue their run, they will have to defeat a Lightning team that won both regular-season matchups: 1-0 and 5-3 (with an empty-netter).

The Bolts are “obviously a highly skilled team,” Vigneault said, and they have “gotten a little bit grittier” than in the past. 1190462 Philadelphia Flyers

Jake Voracek out for Flyers, Steven Stamkos sidelined for Lightning in Saturday’s game to decide East’s top seeding

by Sam Carchidi

Two keys players -- Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos and Flyers top-line right winger Jake Voracek -- will miss Saturday’s showdown that will determine the Eastern Conference’s top seed.

Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said Voracek was unavailable and, under NHL guidelines, he was not allowed to elaborate. Rookie Joel Farabee will play on the Flyers’ top line. He may also see time on the top power play. Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere will be paired with Justin Braun on the third unit and is also a power-play option.

Vigneault also announced that James van Riemsdyk will return to the lineup.

Stamkos, the Bolts’ 30-year-old captain, had fully recovered from core- muscle surgery in early March when he suffered another lower-body injury (reported to be his leg) during voluntary workouts before Training Camp 2.0.

Cooper said Stamkos is still rehabbing his latest injury and is out indefinitely.

He had 29 goals and 66 points in 57 regular-season games. In 70 career playoff games, he has 23 goals, 53 points, and a minus-12 rating.

Stamkos has been a Flyers killer in his career, collecting 23 goals and 43 points in 34 games against Philadelphia.

Without Stamkos, Tampa Bay has defeated Washington, 3-2, in a shootout, and Boston, 3-2, in the round-robin tourney.

The Flyers and Lightning are both 2-0 in the three-game tournament. Saturday’s winner will be the No. 1 seed in the conference playoffs, while the loser will be the No. 2 seed.

Entering the tourney, the Bolts were the No. 2 seed and the Flyers were No. 4.

On Saturday, Carter Hart will face Tampa’s Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is one of three Vezina finalists for the league’s top goalie.

Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190463 Philadelphia Flyers Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 08.08.2020

The Flyers should have more on their minds than the No. 1 seed

by Ed Barkowitz

There’s a very good reason the clichés come flying out whenever you ask a hockey player about playoff seeding. They know their history.

The Flyers have a chance to get the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed with a win Saturday over Tampa Bay. They have shot up from the fourth seed in this unique tournament. After impressive wins over Boston and Washington, now it’s time to go for that top seed, right?

“I think it’s just important to play the right way,” Sean Couturier said, “and keep building on this momentum we’re gaining right now.”

In the 14 playoffs since 2006, you know how many of the Eastern Conference’s top seeds made it to the Stanley Cup Finals?

Zero.

In the West, it’s three.

The Flyers are looking to win their first Stanley Cup since 1975. Follow along with analysis in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday.

Coach Alain Vigneault said earlier this week that he’d like to get defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere and maybe Mark Friedman into a game. Counting the July 28 exhibition, Ghost has played in three NHL games since Jan. 8. Friedman has played in two since Jan. 16.

The urgency to get the top seed is mitigated by the opportunity to get some others into the lineup. It’s why Connor Bunnaman replaced James van Riemsdyk on Thursday. Joel Farabee stepped in for injured winger Michael Raffl.

“If you do expect your team to have a long playoff push, obviously things have to fall into place,” Vigneault said Thursday night. “But you do need some depth, and tonight I was very happy with getting Joel in, and getting Bunny in. I thought both of those young men played well.”

They did. Bunnaman drew a penalty (and was whistled for a questionable one), and Farabee had a couple of scoring chances and was active on the forecheck.

Saturday also offers a chance to get another look at the power-play, which is 0-for-9 and where Gostisbehere would be most useful. Not to impugn the top six defensemen and their contributions in allowing just four goals in three games.

Vigneault regularly includes the exhibition game against Pittsburgh in his evaluations of his team. It could be a slight clue on how he feels about the round-robin games that actually count.

Tampa Bay has similar decisions to make. Team captain Steven Stamkos (lower-body injury) hasn’t played a game in Toronto, and coach Jon Cooper said he wanted to get backup goalie Curtis McElhinney into a game. Is he going to bench Andrei Vasilevskiy?

The NHL has given out the President’s Trophy to the best team during the regular season since 1985-86. Vigneault won it twice while he was in Vancouver. In 2010-11, the Canucks reached Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The following year, they were knocked out in the first round.

Seven of the last eight teams to win the Eastern Conference didn’t even win their division, which includes Vigneault’s 2013-14 Rangers. It’s six of eight in the West, including defending champion St. Louis, which finished third in the Central Division last season. The Blues beat Boston, which placed second to Tampa Bay last season in the Atlantic.

The Lightning were easily the best team in the regular season last year. Then they were swept by Columbus in the first round. Calgary, the top team in the West, also was knocked out in the first round.

“Yeah, we want to win,” Couturier said. “We want to finish with the highest possible seed. But I think as long as we’re at our best once the real playoffs start, that’s the biggest thing, I think.”

1190464 Philadelphia Flyers Niskanen downplayed the situation, comparing the conditions to what you would find in a regular playoff scenario in April and May.

“It’s fine to skate on,″ he said. “The puck seems to be bouncing a bit. Flyers say winning top seed remains high priority You’ve seen even the highest skill players have it (the puck) bounce over there sticks at times. That happens a lot in the playoffs anyway.″

By Wayne Fish www.flyingfishhockey.com Burlington County Times LOADED: 08.08.2020 Posted at 3:35 AM

While the top seed in the East might sound rather glamorous, there really isn’t much advantage to winning home-ice advantage.

Unless of course one believes the last line change in the upcoming playoffs is a big deal.

When the Flyers take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday in the round-robin tournament finale, it won’t be like they’re trying to secure the odd game at the roaring Wells Fargo Center in a best-of-seven series.

That said, a win over the powerhouse Florida team certainly would do wonders for their confidence.

Coach Alain Vigneault continues to insist there’s a balance between wanting to win and making sure he has his most efficient 18 skaters and one goalie primed for that first real playoff game, whichever opponent they might face.

Considering the Flyers came into this competition as the No. 4 seed (with nothing to lose), the perspective might have changed a bit.

“We’ve won our first two (Boston, Washington), tomorrow the winner of us and Tampa will be the No. 1 seed,″ Vigneault acknowledged in a Zoom call from Toronto on Friday. “That means you will have last change throughout our conference competition, which is a fairly important thing.

“It’s definitely a game that both teams are trying to win.″

Even with a loss to Tampa, the Flyers would still hold the No. 2 seed throughout the Eastern Conference competition.

Goaltender Carter Hart got his feet wet as far as playoffs go in the win over Boston, so some of the nerves, if any, should be gone.

Hart is such a fierce competitor, he sounds like he doesn’t want to concede anything.

“For sure, we want to get the top seed and finish first in the conference,″ Hart said. “We just have to prepare as always; they’re a good team (which went 2-0 against the Flyers this season). They have a lot of skill on their team, guys who can make some plays.″

Tampa won the Presidents’ Trophy for the 2018-19 season (highest point total in regular season) and was considered by many to be a strong contender for the Stanley Cup.

Then the Lightning ran into a buzzsaw by the name of the Columbus Blue Jackets and were sent packing in a stunning four-game sweep.

So there could be an element of chasing redemption for the Bolts, who finished just behind Boston in the Atlantic Division standings this season.

Tampa Bay likes to jump on teams early, something of which Hart is mindful.

“They have skill but we just have to go out and play our game,″ he said. “We have guys who have skill as well.″

Hart and Matt Niskanen concur it was OK to invite 24 teams to the tournament this season because of the pandemic but there are so many games to be played it just isn’t practical to keep doing this year-in, year- out.

“My personal opinion, no (for 24),″ Niskanen said. “It’s fine for the extreme circumstances. They did the best they could out of a crappy situation. But if everything else was normal, I like the normal year.″

Besides, adding an extra round just increases the risk of injury.

The ice at Scotiabank Arena has been criticized for being a bit choppy but what would do expect when you play hockey in early August with the thermometer pushing 90? 1190465 Philadelphia Flyers where things are going well, you go to the next day and you have to do it all over again.”

On the defensive side of things, Shayne Gostisbehere will draw into the Jakub Voracek out, James van Riemsdyk back and more changes as lineup for Robert Hagg. Vigneault and his coaching staff had wanted to Flyers aim to win round robin get Gostisbehere some action in the round robin. They trust the 27-year- old defenseman who could give a boost to the Flyers' power play, which is 0 for 8 through the round robin. Expect to see Hagg back with Justin Braun when the first round begins. By Jordan Hall

August 07, 2020 5:45 PM Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 08.08.2020

With the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed up for grabs Saturday, the Flyers' No. 1 line will look differently and the reason for why is unknown.

What we do know is Jakub Voracek will not play in the Flyers' round- robin finale against the Lightning at Scotiabank Arena.

"He's not available," Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said Friday in a video interview, "that's all I can say for tomorrow."

As we learned during training camp when Voracek was absent from a scrimmage, there will be various levels of weirdness, uncertainty and inevitable speculation when a player is unavailable. Because of a mutual agreement between the NHL and NHLPA to respect an individual player's right to medical privacy during this time, clubs are not allowed to release specifications for any injuries/illnesses in the return-to-play 24- team tournament.

Naturally, time will tell about the severity of or length of time needed to return for Voracek's undisclosed absence.

Regardless, not having Voracek hurts the Flyers' chances to win the round robin. If the Flyers beat Tampa Bay, they'll secure the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed in the first round of the playoffs, which is slated to begin next Tuesday. If the Flyers lose to the Lightning, they'll settle for the No. 2 seed. The team has won its first two round-robin games by a combined score of 7-2 over the Bruins and Capitals.

When the Flyers started rolling in November of the regular season, Voracek was one of the club's best players. Since Nov. 1, the facilitating winger had 47 points (eight goals, 39 assists) and a plus-14 rating in 58 games. He finished the regular season with a team-best 44 helpers, 56 points and a plus-14 mark in 69 games.

"Jake's got a unique skill set, a veteran guy that's been around and has played in some big games," Matt Niskanen said Friday in a video interview. "We'll welcome him when he comes back. In the meantime, keep chugging forward with the guys we have."

The Flyers will chug forward with 20-year-old rookie winger Joel Farabee climbing to an exciting spot in the lineup. He'll play on the first line with Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier, while James van Riemsdyk will return to the lineup after being interestingly scratched for the Flyers' 3-1 win Thursday over the Capitals. Connor Bunnaman, a 22-year-old forward who will likely be an extra come the first round if the Flyers are healthy, played in van Riemsdyk's place.

"It was less about benching James than looking at the big picture," Vigneault said. "Yes, James had been OK, just OK so far, after having in my estimation a real strong training camp. But I wanted to get Joel in, I also wanted to get Bunny in at some point, and I felt with the opposition, that it was the right time. Probably less to do with benching, more to do with the big picture."

The 31-year-old van Riemsdyk will join the third line. Vigneault is known to communicate with his players when they're taken out of the lineup or there's a notable change. The two-time 30-goal scorer wouldn't disclose the message between the player and coach, but van Riemsdyk was positive Friday, taking everything in stride.

“With those types of conversations, generally like to keep those in- house," van Riemsdyk said.

“For me, I look back at my career and playing in the playoffs and all these things, I’ve had success doing that in the past. My approach is going to stay the same and try to be the best player I can be and maximize every day. That’s always the way I approach things no matter what, I love the game. We have a great team and have a great shot this year, so my motivation and approach remains consistent day in and day out. No matter if you have a day that doesn’t go your way or if you have a day 1190466 Pittsburgh Penguins • Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin led the game with four shots. • Forward Jonathan Drouin and Lehkonen each led the Canadiens with

three shots. Empty Thoughts: The Penguins tried to play the Canadiens’ game but fell • Letang led the game with 26:09 of ice time on 34 shifts. short • Defenseman Jeff Petry led the Canadiens with 24:42 of ice time on 29

shifts. SETH RORABAUGH • Faceoffs were even, 26-26 (50 percent). Saturday, August 8, 2020 3:32 a.m. • Crosby was 13 for 22 (59 percent).

• Canadiens forward Philip Danault was 9 for 14 (64 percent). Observations from the Penguins’ 2-0 loss to the Canadiens: • Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson, Letang, Danault and Canadiens There will be plenty of time to dissect this franchise’s malfunctions over defenseman Ben Chiarot each led the game with three blocked shots. the past 28 months and how they’ve fallen from the league’s upper tier of Randomly speaking true Stanley Cup contenders. In fact, there will be three months to do that before training camps open in mid-November (as planned). • Jarry got the start in place of Matt Murray. In his first career playoff game, Jarry might have been his team’s best player. Not that the For the moment, this space will be devoted to what went wrong in the Canadiens bombarded him with a high volume of shots but he was tested immediate sense and why the deep and experienced Penguins fell so with quite a few high danger chances. Even just 30 seconds in, he had to meekly to the limited and naive Montreal Canadiens. stop Canadiens forward Tomas Tatar in tight. His finest moment might In a sense, one team settled into its style of play quite easily while the have been a breakaway glove save on Canadiens forward Brendan other couldn’t locate its game with a map. Gallagher 3:29 into the third period.

The Canadiens wanted nothing to do with a wide open series. And why • This is nothing new but the Penguins’ power play was just a mess, would they given their minimal skill? Additionally, with a mostly choppy particularly their first chance. They could barely get the puck into the ice surface due to the amount of games being played in Scotiabank offensive zone. Overall, the power play was just a disjointed endeavor Arena on a daily basis as well as the heat of August, the Canadiens were over these four games. like pigs in slop. They were at home. • The Penguins shuffled their lines quite a bit for this game. Most notably, The Penguins? They looked like a speed skating relay team trying to zip Jared McCann returned to the lineup and centered the “third” line with around in sand. By Game 4, facing elimination, they tried to adopt a Patrick Marleau and Conor Sheary. Aside from a few solid shifts in the similar approach as the Canadiens, playing a very safe, conservative third period, there was little notable about this line. game and they just didn’t look at ease doing that while the Canadiens • The right wings on the top three lines got mixed around. Bryan Rust were very much in their comfort zone. was bumped to the top line with Crosby while forward Patric Hornqvist To paraphrase Bane in “The Dark Knight Rises,” the Penguins thought skated with Malkin to start the contest. By the start of the third period, ugly hockey on bad ice could be their ally in Game 4. But they merely Sheary was back with Crosby. There was little, if any, evidence those adopted that approach. The Canadiens were born in it, molded by it. changes had any positive effect.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan often likes to speak of his team having a • McCann had minimal impact upon his return. He logged 10:34 of ice “swagger” when his players are executing their methods perfectly. time on 15 shifts, recorded one shot and was 3 for 7 on faceoffs.

Short of a few infrequent instances, the Penguins didn’t have swagger • This was a really quiet series for Malkin. Yes, he led the team with 21 during much of this series. They stumbled while trying to find a new way shots but it would be a stretch to say he looked dangerous with many of to strut. his offensive chances. He finished the series with one assist and no goals. “I thought Game 1, we played really well,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said. “We came out hard and obviously, to play as well as we did • Crosby was a little less inert. He did have some big goals in Games 1 and to get as many chance and to lose that one, that hurts. But that and 2. But he was also below the considerable standards expected of happens in the playoffs. You look at (Game 3), you get a 3-1 lead, we him. It’s not 100 percent certain he was completely healed from whatever don’t get the next (goal), we let them back in and we give them hope. If ailment sidelined him for much of training camp but he never seemed to we shut them down for the rest of that (second) period, we’re looking at find his top gear consistently this series. probably a totally different situation. It doesn’t take much. It’s a short • It wasn’t quite as troublesome in Game 4 as it had been earlier in the series and things kind of swung in their favor with them being able to series, but the third defensive duo of Jack Johnson and Justin Schultz come back in that game. had a four games. After being on the ice for the first and winning goals in “Both teams played pretty tight. There were some chances on both sides Game 1, they were defending on the Canadiens’ first three goals in and they got one late. But, I would say Game 1, we probably got to our Game 3. game the best but you’ve got to get better as the series goes on.” They played a combined 43:27 of common five-on-five ice time in the What Happened series according to Natural Stat Trick. In contrast, the Canadiens’ very limited third duo of Victor Mete and Xavier Ouellet logged 38:57 of ice After two scoreless periods, the Canadiens struck late in the third period time. to win this game essentially at 15:49 of the third period. Following a defensive zone turnover by Penguins forward Brandon Tanev, The Canadiens seemed to realize the risks of playing Mete and Ouellet Canadiens forward Paul Byron deked his way through a handful of too much and largely sheltered them. Meanwhile, the Penguins were Penguins defenders in the offensive zone and went deep to the right of willing to let Johnson and Schultz play through their deficiencies. the cage. Drawing goaltender Tristan Jarry out of position, Byron • If this is it for Schultz in Pittsburgh, what a rotten way to complete his backhanded a pass to above the crease where forward Artturi Lehkonen otherwise strong tenure with the Penguins. floated out of the attention of Penguins defensemen Kris Letang and Justin Schultz then swatted in a forehand shot for his first goal of the • This might be it for Patrick Marleau as an NHLer. If so, what an postseason. Byron had the lone assist. unremarkable finale to a marvelous career.

At 19:28 of the third, defenseman Shea Weber airmailed an empty net Every player was impacted negatively by the league’s hiatus as far as goal to secure victory. There were no assists. conditioning goes. But it’s might have impacted his 40-year-body more than others. In discussions with other older players over the years such Statistically speaking as Jaromir Jagr or Matt Cullen, a common theme from them with regards • Shots were even, 22-22. to long layoffs for something like an injury, a work stoppage or even an offseason is that it takes so much longer to regain proper conditioning. It’s hard to imagine a four-month break, much of which was spent off the lost to the Bruins, 3-2, in 1980, the St. Louis Blues, 3-2, in 1981 and the ice due to quarantine restrictions, was ideal for Marleau. Islanders, 3-2, in 1982.

• After calling seemingly any stray stick which ventured into the zip code Publicly speaking of an opponent’s hands in the first four games, the officials really let a lot go in this game. There were only four penalties total in this contest. • Crosby was asked how the Penguins get back to the place where they were as Stanley Cup champions and his answer kind of veered off to the • When the Canadiens traded away popular defenseman P.K. Subban to unique circumstances of this tournament: the Nashville Predators in the 2017 offseason and got back an older player in Weber in return, critics in Montreal were livid and saw the “That’s a tough question. Listen, it’s a (best-of-five series) and anything Canadiens getting fleece. Unfairly or not, Weber became something of a can happen. We did some good things. Did we do enough? No. Give public enemy simply for being traded. After this performance in this them credit. They played really well and got some big plays throughout series, particularly the last two games, he might be a civic treasure. the four games. It’s a pretty broad question with the injuries that we had throughout the year and this was the situation that we were faced with. • Between Weber (6-foot-4, 230 pounds) and his partner Ben Chiarot (6- We would have loved a better outcome. It’s hard to really tie it all in. It’s foot-3, 225 pounds), the Penguins had not been impeded by a tough basically like starting off fresh. It’s hard to really draw off the whole physical defensive duo since they ran into the Boston Bruins and their season as a whole when there’s a four-month break and you start all top pair of Zdeno Chara (6-foot-9, 250 pounds) and Dennis Seidenberg over again. The year as whole, we did a whole lot of things leading up to (6-foot, 199 pounds) in the 2013 Eastern Conference final. For the past this. But this is a whole separate thing and we didn’t play well enough to several seasons, the Penguins have devoured defenseman with those win.” dimensions. • Letang still has faith in this core group, even as it approaches its mid- • Speaking of those Bruins, allow this series to serve a reminder that 30s: Montreal’s Claude Julien is a really good coach. He had two months to dissect a superior Penguins team and figured out a way to shut down the “We still believe in the core group of this team. We have a lot in the tank. likes of Crosby and Malkin. Again. It’s hard to come up with an argument We’re going to keep playing hard and give everything for the Penguins. that the Canadiens didn’t have the better coaching in this series. We have to be better. This year, we didn’t play good enough to win but we felt comfortable with the guys that we had.” • Montreal’s Carey Price was as advertised. He was a rock in net for his team this series and rarely seemed beleaguered by the Penguins’ • Sullivan thinks there’s still something left in this group. His reaction offense. Granted, the Penguins didn’t bombard him the way they when asked if he felt the window was closing on their ability to be a true probably are capable of, but he just seemed like he was in total control of contender: this from the start of Game 1. “I don’t believe that. These guys are still elite players. I believe in this • Canadiens rookie forward Alex Belzile made his NHL debut at the age core. They’re such character guys. They’re elite hockey players and I still of 28 in this contest. Primarily playing on the fourth line, he logged 8:22 think there’s elite play left in them. So, that’s just what I believe. of ice time on 14 shifts, one shot attempt and one blocked shot. He Obviously, at some point, everybody’s window closes. So you could played 407 games in the minor leagues (239 in the AHL and 168 in the argue that with any team in the league. But I strongly believe this group ECHL) before playing his first NHL game and doing it in a high-pressure has a lot of elite hockey.” scenario. What a remarkable story. • Crosby wasn’t ready to answer big picture questions about the team • No matter what team he’s on, whether it’s the Canadiens, Buffalo when asked about the core moving towards its mid-30s: Sabres or Calgary Flames, Bryon always seems to give the Penguins “With age, that’s a possibility. But I think this year, I can only speak fits. He had four points (one goal, three assists) this series. personally, obviously, I would have liked to stay a little bit healthier and • What’s even more disappointing with this result from the Penguins’ play a full season. It’s been a tough year and a half not playing a lot of perspective is that the Canadiens’ top offensive forwards really didn’t hockey with a long (2019) offseason, then only playing 20 games (before contribute much this series. Their leading scorer during the regular a core muscle injury) and coming back for a short period then having this season, Tatar, had no points this series. Gallagher, one of the NHL’s (hiatus due to the coronavirus). It would be nice to get into a rhythm and best net-front presences, had one assist. obviously, it would have been great to play meaningful games now. But it’s a really hard one to evaluate. That’s the honest truth as far as trying • So much of this comes off as random. Not necessarily the Penguins’ to break this all down. It’s a tough one to break down overall.” result specifically, but this tournament. Every NHL team involved has been asked to go from hibernation to warp speed in a short, finite period • Sullivan wasn’t ready either to look at the big picture: of time. And to do it in two neutral sites during the heat of August. “I haven’t even given it much thought at this point. We just lost the series. The NHL’s other 5-12 series between the Edmonton Oilers and Chicago It’s disappointing, it’s emotional. We care, we all care. It’s emotional. I’m Blackhawks had a similar result with the Blackhawks pulling off a wild not trying to dodge (the) question. I just don’t know if I’m prepared to upset. answer it with a valid answer. I’m sure we’ll all have to go back and look at the experience and try to evaluate it and assess it and see where we’ll The Penguins should be good enough to beat the Canadiens under any go.” circumstances. There’s no excuse for them being humiliated like this. At the same time, there might not be many viable reasons this happened as • Letang didn’t really want to tie what happened in the regular season to it did. the postseason due to the long hiatus:

Historically speaking “We had good moments but you’re talking about like seven months ago, eight months ago. I don’t think you can associate what just happened to • He wasn’t quite Bruins goaltender Tuuka Rask in 2013 or even New the regular season. The break that we just witnessed was longer than an York Islanders goaltender Robin Lehner 16 months ago, but Price had offseason. I thought guys prepared themselves well but when the puck one of the best save percentages in a postseason series ever against the dropped, I think we faced a well-balanced team with a great goaltender Penguins: that played better than us. You have to evaluate the season and the playoffs (as) two different things.” • Speaking of Rask, he had the last postseason of the shutout of the Penguins in Game 4 of the 2013 Eastern Conference final. He made 26 • Sullivan echoed Crosby’s sentiment that the team played well early in saves in a 1-0 home victory. the series but failed to improve:

• The Canadiens remain undefeated in postseason series against the “I thought the first two games, we played extremely well. The first game Penguins. They previously defeated the Penguins in a 1998 Eastern might have been our best. We didn’t get the power play going in Game 1 Conference quarterfinal series (4-2) and a 2010 Eastern Conference but every other aspect of our game was pretty good. We needed our best quarterfinal series (4-3) tonight and we didn’t get it.”

• The Penguins have never won a best-of-five series. Their previous • Sullivan dismissed any notion that playing Price set the Penguins up for defeats came in preliminary round series during the early 1980s. They failure: “I don’t think it’s a trap. I said before the series started that we had a lot of respect for Montreal and how good they are. And I meant that sincerely. These guys are all good players, they’re NHL players. They’ve got a lot of young talent on the team that’s starting to take a next step. They’ve got great leadership with some of their defensemen and they have an elite goaltender. We knew this was going to be a hard series. I don’t think any of us had any thought otherwise. We knew it was going to be a hard series. We knew we were going to have to play well in order to win.”

• Weber spoke about the naive nature of his younger teammates:

“It’s fun to watch. Everybody talked before the series about how much more experience (the Penguins) had than us. I almost thought it was kind of a good thing. Maybe these young guys didn’t even realize how big a deal it was and they stepped up. Guys played really well, and against two of the top centers in the league. To say the least, guys did a great job. There’s a lot of work left to do but I think those guys took huge steps, even the pause for the (four) months.”

• Weber on Price’s presence:

“Just having him back there, he’s the backbone for us. He’s so solid every night. That allows us to play with confidence, not be worried about giving up chances. Obviously, we want to maintain the structure that we’ve had. We were a lot tighter than we have been in the past and kept a lot of stuff to the outside. So I think knowing having him back there and the way he plays the pucks on (dump-in attempts) and the rebound control he had in the series helped, not only the (defensemen) but everybody.”

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Quick playoff exit gives the Penguins a chance at top prospect Alexis Lafreniere

SETH RORABAUGH

Friday, August 7, 2020 10:52 p.m.

The Penguins’ season-ending 2-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 of their qualifying round series in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena brought clarity to one of the conditional transactions they made prior to February’s trade deadline.

And it introduced plenty of intrigue to another.

The conditional draft pick they dealt to the San Jose Sharks for forward Patrick Marleau on Feb. 24 will remain a third-round draft selection in the 2021 draft. Had the Penguins won the Stanley Cup this postseason, that draft pick would have upgraded to a second-rounder.

The draft pick they sent to the Minnesota Wild for forward Jason Zucker on Feb. 11 remains unresolved.

The bundle of assets the Penguins sent to Minnesota included a first- round pick in either 2020 or 2021. Per the original conditions of the transaction, the Penguins had the option of determining which year that pick would be if they missed the playoffs. After the NHL reconfigured its postseason format and the draft lottery format due its hiatus resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, the Penguins now have a 12.5% chance of landing the top overall selection in this year’s draft.

The NHL will hold Phase 2 of the draft lottery at 6 p.m. Monday and will determine the selection order for the top overall pick as well as selections nine through 15.

Following Monday, the Penguins will have seven days to determine if they will retain this year’s pick and instead send their 2021 first-rounder to the Wild.

Forward Alexis Lafreniere, a forward with the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, is considered the favorite to be drafted No. 1 overall. The draft is scheduled to be held Oct. 9-10 and will be staged remotely.

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Penguins unable to solve Canadiens goaltender Carey Price

SETH RORABAUGH

Friday, August 7, 2020 10:33 p.m.

As stunning as the Penguins’ loss to the Montreal Canadiens was in the qualifying round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, it wasn’t surprising that Canadiens franchise goaltender Carey Price was one of the primary reasons for the result.

It might be a stretch to say Price was tested in Game 4, but he made 22 saves in a 2-0 victory at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena that clinched the best-of-five series, 3-1. It was his sixth career postseason shutout.

For the series, Price made 126 saves on 133 shots for a save percentage of .947. That mark is the sixth-best percentage by a goaltender in a playoff series against the Penguins all time.

“Game 1, he was really, really good,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said via video conference from Toronto. “We threw a lot at him. We had some quality chances. I think he just made some timely saves. I don’t think we were passing up shots. Looking back, we hit some posts. He just played really well.

“We know he’s a great goalie. I don’t think it was a matter of trying to play around him. But he did what we expected him to do and he gave his team a chance to win. Unfortunately, we didn’t do a good enough job of putting pucks in the net or when we got a lead, building on it. That’s what you need to do against any team but especially in this situation.”

Price’s teammates sung his praises following the game.

“Just having him back there, he’s the backbone for us,” defenseman Shea Weber said. “He’s so solid every night. That allows us to play with confidence, not be worried about giving up chances. Obviously, we want to maintain the structure that we’ve had. We were a lot tighter than we have been in the past and kept a lot of stuff to the outside. So I think knowing having him back there and the way he plays the pucks on (dump-in attempts) and the rebound control he had in the series helped, not only the (defensemen) but everybody.”

Note: Penguins forward Jared McCann returned to the lineup for Game 4 after being a healthy scratch in Game 3. He logged 10 minutes, 34 seconds of ice time on 15 shifts, had one shot and was 3 for 10 (30 percent) in the faceoff circle.

Tribune Review LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190469 Pittsburgh Penguins

Penguins eliminated from playoffs after being upset by the Canadiens

SETH RORABAUGH

Friday, August 7, 2020 6:35 p.m.

basic principle he professes to abide by.

What players will give his team the best chance to win?

On Friday, he deemed goaltender Tristan Jarry the most worthy candidate of his options in net in achieving that overlying goal of victory.

And sure enough, Jarry validated his coach’s endorsement by making 20 saves in his postseason debut.

It wasn’t enough, however, as the Penguins’ season came to an end after they lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 2-0, in Game 4 of their qualifying round series.

Montreal claimed the best-of-five series, 3-1, and advanced to the first round of the postseason while the Penguins will move on to a second consecutive offseason full of uncertainty after another disappointing postseason that fell short of even the most modest of expectations.

Of course, the only expectations that matter come from the upper tiers of management. And its oft-stated goal is nothing short of the Stanley Cup.

After winning that prize in 2016 and 2017, the Penguins have failed to move past the second round in each of the three past postseasons. In fact, they have regressed during that span.

After being dispatched by the Washington Capitals in the second round in 2018, the Penguins were swept by the New York Islanders in the first round in 2019. This season, they fell in the qualifying round to a Canadiens squad that was the NHL’s 24th-best team in the regular season based on record and was only included in the postseason tournament because of the NHL jury-rigging a format deemed necessary by the league’s four-month coronavirus hiatus.

How the organization moves on from this humiliating loss is merely speculation at this point. General manager Jim Rutherford and company will have the better part of three months to adjust this roster as training camps for the 2020-21 season aren’t scheduled to begin until mid- November.

“I haven’t even given it much thought at this point,” Sullivan said via video conference from Toronto. “We just lost the series. It’s disappointing. It’s emotional. We care. We all care. It’s emotional. I’m not trying to dodge (the) question. I just don’t know if I’m prepared to answer it with a valid answer. I’m sure we’ll all have to go back and look at the experience and try to evaluate it and assess it and see where we’ll go.”

“It’s a really hard one to evaluate,” captain Sidney Crosby said. “That’s the honest truth as far as trying to break this all down. It’s a tough one to break down overall.”

The Penguins may have limited routes to go. With the NHL’s salary cap remaining flat at $81.5 million, the team will have considerable decisions to make on the futures of restricted free agents such as Jarry and the goaltender he replaced in Game 4, Matt Murray.

Jarry was sturdy throughout most of a contest that saw both squads offer a mostly safe, conservative game. Canadiens forward Artturi Lehkonen didn’t score the first goal until 15:49 of the third. An empty-net score by Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber at the 19:28 mark secured victory and sent the Penguins into a very unclear offseason.

“We still believe in the core group of this team,” defenseman Kris Letang said. “We have a lot in the tank. We’re going to keep playing hard and give everything for the Penguins. We have to be better.”

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Penguins to start goaltender Tristan Jarry in Game 4

SETH RORABAUGH

Friday, August 7, 2020 10:54 a.m.

With their season on the line, the Penguins will start goaltender Tristan Jarry for Friday’s Game 4 of their qualifying round series against the Montreal Canadiens in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.

Coach Mike Sullivan announced Jarry as his starter via video conference from Toronto but declined to get into specifics as to why the decision was made to replace incumbent starter Matt Murray.

Jarry will be making his postseason debut. During the regular season, Jarry appeared in 33 games and had a 20-12-1 record along with a 2.43 goals against average, a .921 save percentage and was selected for the NHL’s All-Star Game event in January.

In the first three games of the series, Murray had a 1-2 record along with a 2.50 goals against average and a .914 save percentage. During a 4-3 loss in Game 3 on Wednesday, Murray made 27 saves on 31 shots.

Jarry and Murray largely served as a platoon during the second half of the regular season.

The Canadiens have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series entering Game 4.

“We believe in the group that we have,” Sullivan said. “This group has accomplished an awful lot in their careers and they’ve been on both sides of it. They understand what’s stake. They know where we’re at. Now, we’ve just got to go out and play. We have to put our best game on the ice and they know that.”

Notes:

• Sullivan did not identify any other potential lineup changes.

• The Canadiens are expected to start franchise goaltender Carey Price. In three games this series, he has a 2-1 record along with a 2.19 goals against average and a .937 save percentage.

• Rookie forward Alex Belzile is expected to replace forward Jack Evans in the Canadiens’ lineup. In Game 3, Evans left the contest during the second period after suffering an apparent head injury.

• The game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

Tribune Review LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190471 Pittsburgh Penguins Hopefully, it’s not our only playoff conversation with Seth. But click below just in case it is.

To stay alive, Penguins must offset Canadiens’ blue line contribution Tribune Review LOADED: 08.08.2020

TIM BENZ

Friday, August 7, 2020 6:29 a.m.

Whatever you pick, you aren’t wrong.

Just about any complaint you want to raise about the Pittsburgh Penguins in their preliminary-round series against the Montreal Canadiens, you are right.

• They aren’t scoring enough.

• They are getting out-worked.

• They are getting out-coached.

• Montreal’s goalie has been better.

• The “third” line stinks.

• The power play was brutal the first two games.

Yup. All that is true.

So, don’t assume I’m advancing this as the biggest reason why the Penguins are facing elimination Friday in their best-of-five series.

But it is a big deal.

Montreal’s blue line is completely outplaying the Penguins’. And it’s not even close.

Look at the Canadiens’ 4-3 victory in Game 3. Ben Chiarot was a plus-4 with two assists. Jeff Petry scored the game-winning goal. Shea Weber had a goal and two assists.

“We have to keep playing below the goal line and keep pucks deep all the time,” Penguins winger Patric Hornqvist said Thursday. “They have three defensemen (Weber, Chiarot, Petry) who play a lot of minutes. So every time we have a chance to get a lick on them, make life hard for those three. Keep battling for pucks, and hold onto the puck a little bit more in the offensive zone. And keep taking it to the net.”

Meanwhile, for the Penguins, Kris Letang had four giveaways in Game 3. John Marino was beaten down the wall to set up one of the Canadiens’ goals. Jack Johnson was a minus-3. Justin Schultz was a minus-2.

None of the Penguins defensemen have a goal. None of them have more than one assist. Kris Letang has 81 minutes of ice time and no points.

“Whenever we play tight to our forwards and give support to them down low, we can pinch down,” defenseman Marcus Pettersson said. “Really be hard to play against. Come wave after wave and follow up on plays. (If we do that), we are a hard team to play against.”

That being said, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan doesn’t want to see the Penguins defensemen force the issue offensively.

“They have to take what the game gives them,” Sullivan after practice Thursday. “When we have the chance to get pucks on the net from the offensive blue line, they have to hit the net and get the pucks down in that area and give guys an opportunity to get a stick on it — or potentially a next-play rebound opportunity.”

Sullivan says the defensemen also have to absorb the flow of the offense on the fly as well.

“They have to pick their spots on the rush,” Sullivan said. “They have to get involved. We have to present a four-man attack as often as we can.”

In Friday’s “Breakfast With Benz” podcast, TribLIVE Penguins beat writer Seth Rorabaugh joins me to talk about the blue line mismatch.

We also get into what decision Mike Sullivan will — and should — make in goal between Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry. We analyze what should be done with Patrick Marleau. And we talk about if Hornqvist should be elevated to a bigger role five-on-five. 1190472 Pittsburgh Penguins “It’s been a tough year and a half,” Crosby said. “Not playing a lot of hockey with the long offseason, only playing 20 games, coming back for a short period and then having this.”

Sidney Crosby's birthday ends in disappointment, and a murky future That’s what’s particularly disappointing about this early exit. The pause comes into focus gave the club enviable depth and somewhat unexpected health, most notably with Jake Guentzel. There's no guarantee the Penguins will have this many players healthy and in their prime at the same moment again, at least not in this championship window. MIKE DEFABO Crosby missed about half of training camp with an ailment the club has Pittsburgh Post-Gazette not disclosed publicly. He still was the Penguins’ best player by far in the AUG 7, 2020 10:45 PM series, tallying two of the seven goals himself and adding an assist on the third.

But was he ever really 100%? With the puck on his stick and the series on its edge, Sidney Crosby rifled a shot at Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price. If he's healthy, Crosby will find a way to evolve his game and remain one of the elite players in the league as long as he's on the ice. However, with For a fleeting moment, if you were waiting for it, there it was. The spark. a salary cap crunch and an uncertain offseason ahead, who else will be at the table when Crosby blows out the candles on 34? When the NHL announced the Penguins would play Game 4 of the qualifying round on August 7, the dots connected themselves. Number “I have the privilege to watch him every day up close and personal and 87, who was born in 1987, would play on his lucky day, 8/7. Maybe the see him go through the challenges that this league presents," Sullivan Penguins would win 8-7, some joked. Or perhaps he’d score a game- said. "He’s such a motivated player. I’ve never been around a player as winner at 8:07. motivated and driven as he is.

Someone forgot to blow out the candles. “He’s enjoyed a lot of success. He’s an accomplished player. But he’s so driven for more.” Penguins center Sidney Crosby, left, congratulates Canadiens goaltender Carey Price after the Canadiens defeated the Penguins in third playoff game Friday, Aug. 7, 2020, in Toronto. Post Gazette LOADED: 08.08.2020 Crosby’s shot clanged off the crossbar. Soon, the series and the season came crashing down with a 2-0 shutout loss.

Forget the cake. The fact that the big day coincided with what some are calling the biggest disappointment in Penguins postseason history instead highlights an unpleasant reality. At some point, we no longer celebrate birthdays; we tolerate them.

At 33, Sid is hardly a kid anymore. One more year on this Earth means one year closer to the end of his NHL career.

He’s not the only member of the Penguins’ core with more candles to blow out on the birthday cake. Evgeni Malkin celebrated his 34th birthday in the bubble on July 31. Kris Letang, who sat alongside Crosby during the postgame press conference, is 33.

What this core group has accomplished shouldn’t be overlooked or understated. They’ve added three more banners to a storied hockey franchise’s championship tradition, sparked the longest active playoff streak in the NHL and reinvigorated a fan base to create a sellout streak that dates back to Valentine’s Day in 2007.

But how long can it last?

Trying to define and quantify a so-called “championship window” can be a fool’s errand. However, with the back-to-back Stanley Cup runs slipping further into the rearview mirror and back-to-back four-game disappointments in the forefront, it’s fair to start wondering.

Kris Letang, left, Evgeni Malkin, center, and Sidney Crosby after losing to the Montreal Canadiens.

“Obviously, at some point, everybody’s window closes,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “You could argue that with any team in the league. But I strongly believe this group has a lot of elite hockey [left].”

In their own ways, all three showed it this year. Letang was an All-Star this season. Malkin enjoyed a bounce-back year during which only four players tallied more points on a per-game basis.

And Crosby?

As recently as 2018-19, the captain finished second in the Hart Trophy voting, proving that even as he entered his early 30s there was plenty left in the tank when he's healthy.

However, his setbacks have come in waves. The Penguins got swept out of the 2019 postseason. The shortest postseason of his career led to the longest offseason. Just as he began a training camp of redemption, Crosby suffered a core muscle injury. He played through it, in part because the Penguins were already so injured. But by mid-November, it was time to go under the knife. 1190473 Pittsburgh Penguins The Penguins won their first nine playoff series under Sullivan on their way to hoisting the Cup in 2017 and 2018. Since then, they have lost three consecutive series and are 1-9 in their past 10 postseason games.

Ron Cook: Penguins cap campaign without fight or accountability This latest collapse would have been predictable if we had been paying close attention. The team lost eight of 11 games before the coronavirus shutdown and was, to use Sullivan’s word at the time, “disconnected.” It never recovered. RON COOK Is it just me, or have the Penguins gone from proud champions to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette embarrassed losers in the blink of an eye? AUG 7, 2020 8:55 PM It happens.

Teams get old, even teams that have won multiple Cups. Players lose This is the Montreal team that burst the Penguins’ bubble in Toronto: their speed and maybe their hunger to win. It happened to the great Detroit teams of Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Nicklas Lidstrom, “I think it’ll be Pens in 2. Joking. Sort of,” Montreal Gazette columnist the great Los Angeles teams of Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik and Drew Brendan Kelly wrote before the best-of-five qualifying round series after Doughty and the great Chicago teams of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane watching the wretched Canadiens during the regular season. and Duncan Keith (despite what the Blackhawks did to the heavily favored Edmonton Oilers in these playoffs). This is the Montreal team that handed the Penguins their most humiliating playoff exit in franchise history. Well, at least since last It’s not outrageous to think it’s happening to the Penguins, despite season: protestations from Sullivan:

Sidney Crosby skates off after he knocked over Montreal goalie Carey “I think these guys are still elite players. I believe in this core. I still think Price on Aug. 7, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. there is elite play left.”

“We’re playing an experienced team. They’ve won Stanley Cups, they It’s easy to find reasons for the three losses to Montreal. The power play know how to win. We have what we have,” Montreal coach Claude Julien was 0-for-7 in Game 1. There was no pushback after the Canadiens said after the Canadiens beat the Penguins in overtime in Game 1. scored twice to wipe out that 3-1 lead in Game 3 and Matt Murray gave up the hideous winning goal to Jeff Petry with 5 ½ minutes left. No one — It wasn’t supposed to end like this, the Penguins 2-0 losers in Game 4, not Crosby, Evgeni Malkin or Jake Guentzel — could beat goaltender going down and out with barely a fight. Carey Price in Game 4. Malkin had just one assist in the series. The third But it did. line did next-to-nothing despite significant tinkering by Sullivan. The third defensive pair of Jack Johnson and Justin Schultz was a combined It was supposed to be the biggest mismatch of the qualifying round, a minus-8. Penguins team that had 86 points during the season against a Montreal club that finished with 40 losses in 71 games and traded assets at the Sullivan also had a rough series for reasons that went beyond the third- trade deadline. line woes. He was no match for Julien, which probably also should have been predictable. Sullivan did no better against Julien’s Canadiens than But it wasn’t. Dan Bylsma did against Julien’s Boston Bruins in the 2013 Eastern There have been other monumental postseason collapses in Penguins Conference final. Those Penguins scored just two goals in the four-game history. The 1975 team blew a 3-0 series lead to the New York Islanders. sweep. The great 1993 team, which won an NHL-record 17 consecutive games There is one significant difference: late in the season, finished with 119 points and was trying to win a third consecutive Cup, lost the final two games to the Islanders, who had 32 Those Bruins were good enough to make it to the Cup final. These fewer points. And, of course, the 2019 team was swept away by the Canadiens will be dispatched quickly in the next round. Islanders in the first round, scoring just six goals in the four losses. Those Sullivan and his Penguins had no explanation for coming up so small. Islanders were promptly swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in the next round. Only those lame excuses.

This collapse felt worse.

Penguins center Sidney Crosby, left, congratulates Canadiens Post Gazette LOADED: 08.08.2020 goaltender Carey Price after the Canadiens defeated the Penguins in third playoff game Friday, Aug. 7, 2020, in Toronto.

Matt Vensel

Analysis: Penguins' season ends as a dud after fizzling down the stretch

Here’s what the Penguins had in the final five periods of the series after blowing a 3-1 lead in Game 3 on Wednesday night in a 4-3 loss: No game, no fight, no heart.

Here’s what the Penguins had after the Game 4 loss: Plenty of excuses.

“Listen, it’s three-of-five and anything can happen,” Sidney Crosby said.

What happened was that the Canadiens, the better-prepared team, outplayed the Penguins in just about every way to ruin Crosby’s 33rd birthday Friday.

“The break that we just witnessed was longer than the offseason,” Kris Letang said.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t the Canadiens also sidelined for 4½ months because of COVID-19?

“It’s just an indication of how hard it is to win,” Mike Sullivan said.

That doesn’t make you feel much better, right? It certainly doesn’t justify losing to a team as bad as the Canadiens. 1190474 Pittsburgh Penguins • Line changes: The Penguins shook up the top-six, moving Hornqvist to the Malkin line and Rust to the Crosby line. At least in theory, it made sense on a number of levels. The Penguins have talked all series about needing to create more traffic in front. Elevating Hornqvist to the top-six Stick taps, chirps and observations from Penguins-Canadiens Game 4 gave him a chance to play more minutes and in more high-leverage situations. Sticking him with Malkin meant it didn’t sacrifice Crosby’s

speed. MIKE DEFABO • Post but no cigar: Carey Price has been sensational all series. He got a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette little help from the iron. Hornqvist hit the post in the first. Later, Crosby rifled a shot on the power play with the game still scoreless that hit the AUG 7, 2020 7:17 PM crossbar.

Next up: Tip the housekeeping and make sure you have your passport. It’s time to go home, where lots of big offseason decisions await. The Penguins’ bubble has burst. A team that entered the postseason with the seventh-best winning percentage in the league dropped Game 4 of the qualifying round, 2-0. They’ve now played just eight playoff games in two years. Post Gazette LOADED: 08.08.2020

It was over when: Canadiens captain Shea Weber ended the game — and the series — when he whipped a puck into the empty net.

Turning point: During a delayed penalty, the Penguins lost Artturi Lehkonen in front of the net. With four white jerseys flat-footed in front of the net, Paul Byron fed the puck from behind the goal line to Lehkonen.

Sidney Crosby skates off after he knocked over Montreal goalie Carey Price on Aug. 7, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario.

Stick taps:

Jarry’s All-Star save: Tristan Jarry robbed Brendan Gallagher’s breakaway attempt with an athletic glove save early in the third. The save early in the third period kept the game scoreless but couldn’t steal the series.

The PK does it again: The Penguins penalty kill wasn’t just good this series, it was dominant. Through four games, the Canadiens were 0-for- 12.

Zucker’s hustle: Malkin’s turnover on the power play sent the Canadiens soaring up the ice on a breakaway. But the speedy Jason Zucker raced back to break up the opportunity.

Chirps:

Missing Malkin: The Penguins won Stanley Cups thanks to the league’s most-lethal one-two punch. The second part of that never connected. Malkin tallied tons of chances, but in the end he had more penalty minutes (six) than points (one).

The Marleau experiment: The Penguins acquired Patrick Marleau on deadline day with a chance to cap his storied career with the one thing that’s eluded him: a Stanley Cup. But what could have been a good story turned into a failed experiment. He added four more playoff games to his postseason tally but not much more.

No defense: Kris Letang, Justin Schultz, Brandon Tanev and Teddy Blueger were all standing in front of the net. But no one picked up Lehkonen on the game-winning goal.

They said it:

“It’s been a tough year and a half, not playing a lot of hockey with a long offseason and only playing 20 games, coming back for a short period and having this. It’d be nice to get in a rhythm. Obviously, it would have been great to play meaningful games right now.” — Sidney Crosby

“I don’t think you can associate what just happened to our regular season. The break that we just witnessed is longer than the offseason. I thought guys prepared themselves well. But when the puck dropped, we faced a well-balanced team with a great goaltender that played better than us.” — Kris Letang

“We still believe in the core croup of this team. I think we have a lot in the tank. We’re going to keep playing hard and give everything for the Penguins.” — Letang

“I believe in this core. They’re such character guys. They’re elite hockey players. I still think there’s elite play left in them.” — Mike Sullivan

Kris Letang, left, Evgeni Malkin, center, and Sidney Crosby after losing to the Montreal Canadiens.

News, notes and observations: 1190475 Pittsburgh Penguins

Canadiens stun Penguins to win qualifying round

Staff Report

ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUG 7, 2020 6:43 PM

Artturi Lehkonen flipped a shot past Tristan Jarry with 4:11 remaining to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a stunning 2-0 victory over the Penguins on Friday, clinching their first playoff berth in three years.

Paul Byron took advantage of a Penguins turnover, darted behind the Penguins net and then slipped a pass to Lehkonen in front. The 25-year- old Lehkonen found enough space between four Pittsburgh players to slip the puck into the open net.

The Penguins mustered little down the stretch and Shea Weber added an empty-net goal in the final seconds as the 12th-seeded Canadiens captured the best-of-five qualifying round over fifth-seeded Pittsburgh in four games.

Carey Price stopped 22 shots to collect his sixth career playoff shutout. Montreal will advance to the first round of the playoffs against either Tampa Bay or Philadelphia.

Canadiens right wing Joel Armia levels Penguins left wing Conor Sheary on Friday.

Stick taps, chirps and observations from Penguins-Canadiens Game 4

Tristan Jarry made 20 saves in his first career playoff start, including a stellar glove save to thwart a breakaway by Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher early in the third period. Pittsburgh’s star-laden lineup, including captain Sidney Crosby, provided little support.

Crosby failed to record a point on his 33rd birthday. Neither did anybody else for the Penguins, whose consecutive Stanley Cup wins in 2016 and 2017 seem like an increasingly smaller speck in the rearview mirror. The Penguins have lost nine of their last 10 playoff games dating to the second round of the 2018 postseason against Washington.

His team badly outplayed in the final minutes of a 4-3 loss in Game 3 — a contest in which the Penguins blew a two-goal lead and looked listless as the clock ticked down — Penguins coach Mike Sullivan turned to Jarry in search of a spark.

The 25-year-old was an unlikely All-Star in February thanks to a stellar first half that helped the Penguins stay afloat despite a series of injuries to high-profile players, Crosby chief among them.

Yet, Jarry had struggled before the shutdown created by the COVID-19 pandemic, losing each of his last four starts. He tried to keep sharp while back home in western Canada, using his two English Mastiffs as training partners during the extended layoff.

While Jarry was sharp in his first start in five months, for long stretches there was little jump from the Penguins against the last team to enter the expanded 24-team tournament.

The Canadiens, who were in the process of playing out the string before the “pause” and the ensuing fallout put them in postseason position, were only too happy to slow the game down. Still, they generated most of the quality scoring chances and Lehkonen’s winner came at the end of another sloppy sequence by the Penguins.

Kris Letang wraps around the net of teammate Tristan Jarry during the first period of Game 4.

Post Gazette LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190476 Pittsburgh Penguins What the heck happened to this veteran team? How could they go out like this?

Maybe it’s as simple as this — the Penguins weren’t as good as we Analysis: Penguins' season ends as a dud after fizzling down the stretch thought, not as special as everyone within a proud organization believed back in January.

Perhaps they were winning too frequently in unsustainable ways, MATT VENSEL propped up by crazy comebacks and a few weeks of gangbusters goaltending from Jarry. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Looking back, it all seemed to start unraveling Jan. 21, when they no- AUG 7, 2020 6:36 PM showed in the game before the All-Star break, a 3-0 loss in Philadelphia. The Penguins got away from the little things — making smart decisions at both blue lines, hounding opponents to get back the puck, five guys It was early January, and no team in the NHL was scarier than the skating as one all over the ice. Penguins. General manager Jim Rutherford gave up a first-round pick and a top They headed out west and rolled through three playoff teams, including prospect to get Jason Zucker. Three more forwards arrived at the trade two that finished the pandemic-shortened season among the Western deadline. But the downward spiral continued. They went 3-8-0 before the Conference’s top three. Evgeni Malkin was on fire. Tristan Jarry was COVID-19 pandemic shut down the sports world March 12, while the bulletproof. And Sidney Crosby was on the trip, just about ready to rock Penguins watched on from a Columbus, Ohio, hotel. following a three-month injury absence. Sullivan had four months to find fixes. But even more stuff got busted They didn’t have their A game on a Jan. 10 night in Colorado. Matt against the Canadiens, a team with less talent but more hunger, structure Murray let a lob from the neutral zone skip by him. The Penguins allowed and speed. the Avalanche to tie it with 31 seconds left. It didn’t matter. Mike Sullivan’s squad won anyway. Crosby and Letang, despite all the warning signs we saw in February and March, pointed to the four-month pandemic pause as the cause of this “I just think that’s an indication of the type of team we’re becoming,” he early exit. said. “We did some pretty good things with the amount of injuries we had Sidney Crosby skates off after he knocked over Montreal goalie Carey throughout the year. This is the situation we were faced with. I would Price on Aug. 7, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. have loved a better outcome,” Crosby, the captain, said. “But … it’s hard to really draw off the whole season when there’s a four-month break and No team was more resilient then. They won despite significant injuries to you start all over again.” so many key players. They won after trailing by three goals. They won a couple when they coughed up similar leads. Bad period? Bad bounce? Now Sullivan and Rutherford — who are both expected to be back — will Bad call? Bad goal? So what? get four months to make difficult decisions about the direction of the franchise. They were that horror movie villain who kept popping up, kept coming back. And just like that, the killer instinct was gone. The Penguins were “I believe in this core,” Sullivan said, adding, “At some point, everybody’s unmasked. window closes. … But I strongly believe this group has a lot of elite hockey [left].” The stunning collapse became complete Friday, when they fell, 2-0, to a Canadiens team that in a normal year wouldn’t have come close to But it is fairly obvious the Penguins can’t bring back basically the same making the playoff field. Montreal, the 24th seed in the NHL’s expanded group next season and expect a different result. Significant roster moves 24-team postseason, took the best-of-five qualifying-round series, 3-1. need to be made if they are to squeeze one more Stanley Cup out of Crosby and Malkin. It may mean the departure of a few more fan “I think when the puck dropped, we faced a well-balanced team with a favorites from the 2016 and 2017 runs. great goaltender that played better than us,” Kris Letang said. “I think that’s what happened.” Will the Penguins move on from Murray three years after they chose him over Marc-Andre Fleury? Could Letang be dangled in a trade to allow After the Penguins collapsed in Game 3, blowing a 3-1 lead in the them to shake up the core? Will Rutherford, with little salary cap space, second period, they played a tight, cautious style during Game 4. The think even bigger? Canadiens didn’t mind, and the whole afternoon sure felt a lot like a triple-overtime playoff game. The GM fumed last April after a first-round loss to the New York Islanders, but an early playoff exit wasn’t a surprise to him. That team Late in one of their most uneventful games of the season, Brandon never came together. Tanev made the critical mistake. Tanev, the spark plug the Penguins signed last summer to give this aging team more juice, made a blind This one did. Then, seemingly overnight and without explanation, it fell pass into the middle inside Pittsburgh’s zone. Montreal’s Paul Bryon apart. picked it off and found Artturi Lehkonen in front.

Kris Letang, left, Evgeni Malkin, center, and Sidney Crosby after losing to the Montreal Canadiens. Post Gazette LOADED: 08.08.2020

That gut-punch goal, scored on Jarry with 4:11 left in regulation, held up.

“You look at last game, we had a 3-1 lead. We don’t get the next [goal], we let them back in it and we gave them hope,” Crosby said. “[If] we shut them down for the rest of that period, we’re looking at probably a totally different situation. It doesn’t take much. It’s a short series and things kind of swung in their favor.”

The Penguins during the series got just eight pucks past former MVP Carey Price, who also used his sublime stick-handling to neutralize their forecheck.

The Penguins have now scored three goals or fewer in each of their last 14 playoff games. The last time they got four or more was their 8-5 win over the Philadelphia Flyers that closed out their first-round series victory in the 2018 playoffs. The New York Islanders gave up just six goals to them in last year’s embarrassing sweep. 1190477 Pittsburgh Penguins Bob: The Pen's don't seem to have any energy or urgency. I just don't understand it.

Sports Harder: Geno you're more use to your team on the ice then in the Updates and discussion of Penguins-Canadiens Game 4 box. Enough with the boo boo face

pozone: They need to charge the net maybe bump Price. Jarry looks great! Staff Report Guest: All the intensity of the 3 rd period of an exhibition game. PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE Guest: Pens looking slow at this point AUG 7, 2020 4:47 PM Guest: How bout that PP ladies and gentlemen!

Mark: If there were a stat for "puck battles lost" Pens would clock in at @ Post-Gazette sports: Any predictions for today? 5%

Scott: No way they lose on The Kid's birthday! Mark: or 95% actually

Mike DeFabo: I think you're right, Scott. Wouldn't it be wild if 10 years Guest: Is there a shoot out if tied after 3? from now we're talking about the 8/7 game that started the run? The Pens will need to be smarter with the puck, get more production from the Post-Gazette sports: Nope. Overtime. Malkin line and stop hemorrhaging scoring chances from the third pairing Mark: Rust certainly cannot play any worse. He's been a complete non- for that to happen. Oh, and the third line has to do something - anything factor, so why not? at all. But at least today, I think they can bounce back and force a Game 5. Guest: Really surprised in an elimination game that the Pens are allowing Montréal to outwork them GPT: Any word on other lineup changes, besides goalie? Guest: Geez I could have cleaned out my basement Mike DeFabo: No word yet. The lineup usually comes out about 10-15 minute before puck drop. If Sullivan wants to make a few tweaks, the Guest: Sheary third line could be a little different. Maybe we see Evan Rodrigues at center between McCann and Hornqvist/Sheary. Or a promotion for Rick Hays: Turkey Is On The Table. Let's Go Pens. Hornqvist to the top line. If he wants to completely blow things up, I'd be Mark: Well, I guess I was right. Tanev was the x-factor... interested to see that Guentzel-Malkin-Rust line back together. They carried the team in November and December. Guest: wish I was surprised but the Pens haven’t showed up today

Scott: Pens 5-2 Guest: A fine organization but clearly need to make some changes

Mike DeFabo: Any other predictions? Guest: Alexis Lafreniere

Artturi Lehkonen is congratulated by teammates after he scored in the Mark: Time to blow this team up...from the top down. third period against the Penguins. Jerry: I’ve never seen such a disinterested response in an elimination Guest: Jake and Rust both score today game.

Mike DeFabo: Jake has been knocking on the door all series. He led all Guest: Out to pasture they go. skaters with five high-danger scoring chances in Game 3. And remember in Game 1 he had that power play opportunity from the slot that hit the Guest: When your "stars" don't show up all series, especially in an post. Seems like he's due. elimination game...you got issues.

GPT: Oh boy... They better win now

GPT: Really thought they'd go McCann-ERod-Sheary for that third line. Post Gazette LOADED: 08.08.2020 As for the 3rd pairing. Welp....

Jerry: Regardless of how this series turns out, I think the unpleasant truth now realized is that the window for the Penguins, as currently constructed, is closed. Too much money allocated to too few aging stars. Crosby is untouchable - he has to retire a Penguin. He’s the face of the franchise, and even when he’s no longer their top player, he’ll still put fans in seats. But everyone else except Marino (yes even #71) has to be available for the right return. Agree or disagree?

Mike DeFabo: The window is closing, sure. But I wouldn't call it closed.

Crosby makes $8.7 million, which is extremely affordable. He's had rough injury luck this year. When healthy, he's still among the game's best. For me, it's not about how much money they're spending, it's if those older players with big contracts can produce. Malkin did in the regular season. He's not now.

That said, the salary cap crunch will likely force the Penguins to move some pieces this offseason. I could see them making a decision and picking one goalie with Jarry and Murray both set to become RFAs. They might also have to unload a contract. Hornqvist or Letang would be my two best bets for trade bait, given their age and salary-cap hits.

GPT: Time for a drink, can't watch this sober. Let's go Pens!

SylApps: I'm with you, GPT...

SylApps: What do we read into no changes on the 3rd D pairing? Sully 'sticking by his guys' or he didn't prefer the alternatives?

Post-Gazette sports: Perhaps a little of both. 1190478 Pittsburgh Penguins

Paul Zeise: Even with a loss, Mike Sullivan’s job is safe — as it should be

PAUL ZEISE

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

AUG 7, 2020 12:22 PM

A Penguins’ series loss to the Canadiens would be their worst playoff loss in a long, long time, maybe ever, as Montreal was one of the worst teams to qualify for the NHL’s modified postseason.

Naturally, there has been talk that maybe Mike Sullivan is on the hot seat and even needs to be fired, that perhaps his message has gotten a little stale. That could be true, but my guess is that it is not.

The problem the Penguins have isn’t coaching or that Sullivan has lost his fastball or isn’t doing a good job. If they lose to Montreal, or even if they win the series then lose in the next round, it will be time for all of us to face this reality: Maybe they just aren’t that good anymore.

It’s a reality that every dynasty or highly successful team has had to face over the course of history. I am as guilty as anyone as ignoring this as I picked them to win the Stanley Cup.

Kris Letang wraps around the net of teammate Tristan Jarry during the first period of Game 4.

But my vantage point is that of the team that answered the bell every time in 2016 and 2017 in winning back-to-back Stanley Cups. That team hasn’t been around for quite some time now. Those teams were blessed with speed and young, hungry players.

This team isn’t faster than most of their opponents anymore. The stars are getting old on hockey years, and Matt Murray, who was magical during the Cup runs, just got benched.

Sullivan has done an excellent job this year and while he wasn’t a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, many people think he should have been. He did an incredible job of managing the roster through a rash of injuries and roster changes and kept the team in playoff position. He juggled two goalies who both think they should be starters, and that’s not always easy. And his boss, Jim Rutherford, has called him “my coach” and “the best coach in the NHL.”

Does that sound like a general manager with an itchy trigger finger hoping to fire a coach? I don’t think so ,and frankly, I can’t imagine Mario Lemieux or the rest of the ownership group is ready to move on from Sullivan, either. He has won two Stanley Cups and while that doesn’t give him a lifetime contract, it does buy him some time other coaches might not have.

Sullivan, however, will have some questions to answer if the Penguins lose to Montreal, but that’s true of the whole organization. This is a team that might need to be broken up a little bit and perhaps even think about trading one of its aging stars to try and get some younger, fresher legs.

If they are eliminated, Sullivan deserves time to get things right and more importantly he deserves the chance to guide the Penguins through what seems to be an inevitable rebuild over the next few years.

Post Gazette LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190479 Pittsburgh Penguins

Tristan Jarry in, Matt Murray out for Penguins-Canadiens Game 4

MATT VENSEL

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

AUG 7, 2020 10:36 AM

Facing elimination Friday, the Penguins are turning to Tristan Jarry.

Coach Mike Sullivan announced Friday morning that Jarry, a first-time All-Star this season, will replace two-time Cup-winning goalie Matt Murray between the pipes. The Penguins must beat the Montreal Canadiens in Friday’s Game 4 to extend their five-game qualifying-round series. The deciding game would be Saturday.

“We have complete trust and confidence in both of our guys,” Sullivan added.

Murray started the first three games of the series, allowing eight goals on 93 shots to post a solid .914 save percentage. But he has looked shaky at times and in Game 3 gave up the eventual game-winner from too sharp an angle.

Kris Letang wraps around the net of teammate Tristan Jarry during the first period of Game 4.

Sullivan was asked Thursday about the potential risk of making changes before an elimination game. The coach, perhaps tipping his hand, replied, “One could argue there’s an element of risk associated with not making a change, as well.”

Jarry was the NHL’s hottest goalie in December, going 8-1-0 with three shutouts and an otherworldly .947 save percentage. During that stretch, Jarry set the team record for its longest shutout streak. But from Jan 1. on, he went 7-7-1 with a .901 save percentage, and his numbers were a tick below those of Murray.

Jarry lost his last four starts of the regular season. Three were against teams that did not make the expanded, 24-team playoff field. He allowed 18 goals in those games and got rocked for six goals in his last start, a March 8 loss at home.

Sullivan said Jarry’s practice habits “drastically improved” in his breakthrough season. The coaching staff identified that as a focus for Jarry this season after he was prone to mental lapses in games and practices in his first years as a pro.

And now that “maturity,” as Sullivan put it, gave the coach the confidence to turn to Jarry in this spot despite the goalie not starting a game in five months.

“He’s much more mature in his daily approach every day,” Sullivan said. “His work habits in practice have been terrific all year and consistent. I think those types of habits transfer to a game environment. Tristan deserves a lot of credit for how hard he’s worked on his game and where he’s at today. He’s a real good goalie.”

After a long layoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 25-year-old did look sharp during the postseason training camp and played well in the July 28 exhibition tune-up against the Flyers.

Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan

Now Jarry must step in and try to match the play of Montreal’s star goalie Carey Price to keep this once-promising Penguins season alive. No pressure.

Post Gazette LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190480 Pittsburgh Penguins Sunner in the sunshine: Hi Matt! Along with Jarry starting, I would scratch Marleau and put McCann back in and scratch Johnson for Ruhwedel,and move Hornqvist to Crosby’s line and move Sheary to the 3rd line. What say you? Matt Vensel's Penguins chat transcript: 08.07.20Associated Press Matt Vensel: We could very well see this if Sullivan wants to rock the boat but not tip it over. I do think it’s more likely we see Chad Ruhwedel play over Juuso Riikola, even if it means that Ruhwedel, a righty, would MATT VENSEL have to play on his off side. I also wouldn’t rule out the Penguins Pittsburgh Post-Gazette swapping out both members of the bottom pair. As for McCann, get him back in. I’m curious to see what Evan Rodrigues can do, too. AUG 7, 2020 11:54 AM Zach Smith: If we win today, what time do we play tomorrow?

Matt Vensel: Zach, that has not been announced yet. But I’m guessing Matt Vensel: Good morning, Pens fans. As Geno said yesterday, “It’s not they’d want Sidney Crosby playing a winner-take-all game on primetime. over.” He was actually referring to these PG morning skate chats. Happy to talk hockey with you guys at least one more time. Go ahead and leave Go to section your questions or your hot lineup takes now. We’ll start at 11. pozone: Sheary has been laying on the ice way to much for me. He may Matt Vensel: Hold off on your goalie questions. Mike Sullivan says it’s bring speed but it has been useless. Marleau has brought nothing. Tristan. Schultz is outa here after this season. I see Murray gone also. What say you? Matt Vensel: Gonna get this party started a few minutes early. Fire away, folks. Matt Vensel: I’ve touched on some of this above but will chime in on Conor Sheary and Justin Schultz. I agree that Sheary needs to do more Mike: Morning Matt. I don’t see any reason not to start Jarry. Better stick with this opportunity. Yeah, he is fast, but it’s not as impactful when he handling goalie who can get to dump in and clear it. Also doesnt let up stays to the outside on the rush. Unless they blow everything up, the only the loose juicy rebounds as much as Murray. This game will determine real alternative in my eyes is Patric Hornqvist. Think that’s worth a shot this year and the future team moving forward. Depending what happens because it could improve two lines at once. Stick Sheary on the third line this could be last year for a lot of this team. Malkin saying it not over. OK and maybe that line does a little more with him as their primary puck- put the puck in the net then. Quit looking for the pretty goal. lugger. As for Schultz, he’s been just as bad as Jack Johnson or pretty close. Barring a huge turnaround from both the team and Schultz here, Matt Vensel: Mike, Tristan’s stickhandling is a helpful tool but I think its it’s hard to envision him being back. impact has became exaggerated over time. The main thing for a goalie will always be stopping the puck. We’ll see how Jarry fares. His last start Sunner in the sunshine: How about Rodrigues getting a shot on the 3rd was March 8. Sullivan just raved about how Jarry’s practice habits line in place of Marleau? Something needs to spark that line. “drastically improved” this year, which is one reason why he had confidence in putting the 25-year-old in this spot. Matt Vensel: I would like to see Rodrigues get a chance but it kind of depends on the other moves Sullivan wants to make. If he wants to keep GSMP: I’m firm believer that you win with your stars and a player like the Crosby, Malkin and Teddy Blueger lines as is, I say make the third Malkin needs to be better for the Penguins to win. With that said, Jack line McCann-Rodrigues-Hornqvist. If they do promote Hornqvist, maybe Johnson and Patrick Marleau should not be in the lineup. It’s not their you go Sheary-McCann-Rodrigues on that line. Marleau is not helping fault the Penguins are facing elimination but the team needs better right now and Sam Lafferty can’t be trusted. Great story. Can still production out of those roster spots. improve. But it’s clear playing him in Game 3 was a mistake.

Matt Vensel: This is a reasonable take. In my eyes, Evgeni Malkin and Rick: Matt his speedy linemates, Jason Zucker and Bryan Rust, were really dangerous in Games 1 and 2. I still can’t believe they didn’t get multiple Matt Vensel: Rick! pucks past Carey Price. They were not great at 5-on-5 in Game 3, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan though Malkin did have that sweet assist and Zucker scored on the power play. As for Marleau and Johnson, I’d guess at least one will sit Paul Zeise today. Paul Zeise: Even with a loss, Mike Sullivan’s job is safe — as it should be Mark: Hi Matt: The Pens have lost the initiative--as they did last year, as they did when Giroux hit Crosby in the first minute in 2012, and as they Rick: Nice Move by Coach Sullivan putting Jarry in net. However quite have again in this series. So what the heck--I’ll make a bold prediction. risky at this stage. Should he have replaced Murray in net after the third The x-factor here is Tanev. If he can channel his inner Max Talbot, goal in game three just to change up the momentum? there’s a chance the team will follow. If not, I just don’t see how this Matt Vensel: I’d think changing goalies during that game would be far rudderless team straightens its prow... riskier than making a switch now. Yanking the starter when it’s 3-3 with Matt Vensel: Mark, that’s a great call. Brandon Tanev is definitely not 25 minutes left in a huge game would scream “panic” to me. There’s a dogging it out there, but the Penguins need him to be in full-on “Turbo” fine line between sparking the team and making them squeeze their mode today. He doesn’t need to be throwing punches or face-washing sticks harder. Making the change now is certainly defensible. dudes. Just drive everyone nuts with his hustle and wheels. Guest: With Jarry getting the start today. Do you see Murray playing Kris Letang wraps around the net of teammate Tristan Jarry during the elsewhere next season ? first period of Game 4. Matt Vensel: I wrote at length about the long-term goalie situation during Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the pause and everything that’s in there remains relevant today. I’d encourage you to give it a read if you haven’t. https://www.post- Updates and discussion of Penguins-Canadiens Game 4 gazette.com/sports/penguins/2020/04/13/pittsburgh-pen... chrisv: What say you to reuniting the Pens’ best line this season: Matt Vensel: To answer your question directly here, I’d say it’s definitely Guentzel-Malkin-Rust? And skating Zucker and Hornqvist with Crosby? on the table. If Jarry doesn’t come through either and the Pens suffer this Or does this kind of tinkering not really matter at this point? embarrassing series loss, whether Murray is back next season will probably depend on money. He is a restricted free agent this fall. Matt Vensel: That’s an idea that Mike DeFabo and I kicked around on the North Shore Drive podcast. Mike was the one who brought that up, chrisv: Bench Johnson for Riikola? Bench Schultz for Ruhwedel? Or stay noting how awesome Guentzel, Malkin and Rust were for the six weeks with one or both vets and hope they wake up? or so before Guentzel went down. That would be a massive overhaul to the lineup, though. I’m sure Sullivan and his staff talked about it. We’ll Matt Vensel: It’s an interesting decision, Chris. I think we can all agree see just how much they feel they need to shake things up. that something needs to change with the third pair. I defended Jack Johnson a little bit after Game 3 by pointing out that other guys screwed up on those goals, too. But Jack sure does seem to be standing there every time the goalie pulls the puck of the net, doesn’t he? As I noted Matt Vensel: As I wrote the other night, if you think the Pens lost that above, I’d guess they go with Ruhwedel over Riikola if they remove game solely because of Jack, you’ve got tunnel vision. https://www.post- Johnson. But I’m curious to see if they swap out the whole pair. Keep in gazette.com/sports/penguins/2020/08/06/Penguins-probl... mind that Riikola and Ruhwedel have been together a ton in practice all season and presumably up in the Toronto hub. That familiarity could BF: We unloaded all the muscle, the only one hitting anything out the is factor into Sullivan’s decision. Tanev. Sure miss Chris Kunitz in his prime... We need some grit from these guys!! Guest: Hi Matt, do pens win today or do they roll over like they did against the Islanders ? They seem to have no fire in them Matt Vensel: The Penguins want their identity to be speed with equal parts skill and tenacity. If they flame out for a second straight season, it is Matt Vensel: Well, I thought the Pens would blow the doors off the time for Mike Sullivan to at least consider tweaking that formula. Canadiens in Game 3. So I’d probably look elsewhere for a prediction! JC: On ice for 5 goals against out of 8 total, my calculations say that Ln: If the pens loose this series is there playoff streak officially over? tunnel vision is clear. Haha just saying, not trying to be rude because I respect you just playful banter. Matt Vensel: No. The NHL ruled that the qualifying round is considered playoffs. Matt Vensel: The Jack thing is frustrating to me in the sense that some fans and at least a couple of media members whom I respect want to say 66fan: good morning Matt— doubt this will happen but if it’s me, I’m that Jack is the only reason they lose, that he is the worst player in the overhauling the lines. put Guentzel back with Malkin and Rust. Zucker league and has the worst contract when none of those things are true. and Hornqvist should play with Sid. scratch Marleau... Guentzel was Look, he’s been bad. The signing was bad. And he’s hurt the Penguins actually having a better year (points per game) with Geno than he has this series. But saying he’s the worst player in hockey history is with Sid, maybe this gets Malkin going + it puts Hornqvist in a position to inaccurate. It’s a tad bit more nuanced than that. make him more effective. what say you? Mike: Matt - If the Pens lose today, what is the future of this team? Does Matt Vensel: You’re not the only one to suggest this. Check out my GMJR begin to break up the core and start a rebuild? answer above. Matt Vensel: Mike, if the Penguins lose today, we will have a lot of Rick: matt, content on that topic in the coming days. But, yeah, if they lose like this, Matt Vensel: Rick! you have to expect significant change. They will NOT rebuild. As long as they have Crosby and Malkin (who by the way was one of the top 10-15 C Price: So I’m hearing crickets from all the geniuses who opined that I players in hockey this season), they are going to go for it. They will was overrated, including some scribes from the city of 3 rivers. consider major changes to put different pieces around them and we could see more fan favorites from the recent Cup runs depart. But, first Matt Vensel: I would absolutely love it if Carey Price’s regular gameday things first, there is a game today and maybe tomorrow. Geno says, “It’s routine was logging online and chirping fans and media from other cities. not over.” We’ll see if the Pens back that up and survive this scare. Zach Smith: Rodrigues-Lafferty-Hornqvist on the 3rd line? Matt Vensel: OK, that’s it for today. Appreciate all the questions and the Matt Vensel: Zach, I say this as nicely as possible: Did you watch Game friendly back-and-forth. You guys know your stuff. We’ll do it again 3? Lafferty got benched for a while and that line got buried on the ice. tomorrow morning if the Pens win today. Enjoy the game. 4 p.m. start!

Guest: You brought up a good point on your podcast about Simon and Bjugstad could have helped this team . Those 2 with Hornqvist last year Post Gazette LOADED: 08.08.2020 were a great third line and that lack of depth could be part of the problem .

Matt Vensel: I don’t mind Simon as a player but I think the Bjugstad loss was bigger than people think, maybe because he was forgotten after all those injuries. The Penguins didn’t score a ton with Bjugstad on the ice last year. But his lines hogged the puck and didn’t give up much the other way. At least that line could be skating to a draw.

Guest: Do you think the pens are too arrogant or stubborn where they think they can just show up and win ? There is something wrong with their psychy right now , how else to you explain that unemotional game on wed ?

Matt Vensel: If I could explain it, the Penguins would put me on their payroll.

Ln: philly (this pains me to admit), Tampa and Carolina look much better than the pens right now and I don’t see how they beat them . Given that , and I hate to say this , but are the pens better off loosing this series and at least getting a chance at lottery since cup is probably out of reach ?

Matt Vensel: Look, I know there have been warning signs with this team since late January and their effort in the second half of Game 3 was alarming. But they still have Crosby and Malkin. As long as they do, they can and should go for it, not wave the white flag and take the 12.5% chance of landing a prospect in Alexis Lafreniere who is promising but not projected to be a generational-type talent.

Matt Vensel: Now’s not the time to get into it, but if the Pens did lose to the Habs and win the lottery Monday, I’m extremely intrigued by the idea of trading that pick and veterans to really shake up the team’s core. chrisv: Can we all pitch in and buy the team a bunch of double espressos for the intermissions tonight?

Matt Vensel: Good luck getting those across the border, let alone into the hub!

JC: Does it matter who is in net if Johnson still gets a jersey? 1190481 Pittsburgh Penguins That would be the same Lemieux who is French Canadian and was coveted by the Canadiens. Can’t make this stuff up.

Anyway, Crosby could barely hide his annoyance with the best-of-five Surreal season ends with Sidney Crosby, Penguins facing familiar format from the time the NHL and NHLPA agreed to it — it has not been questions implemented since the 1980s — and determined it would exist for the initial round of its expanded postseason.

Of course, the postseason hadn’t merely been expanded. It had been By Rob Rossi dramatically altered, as had the world, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On what would be the final day of the shortened regular season, the The game. Perhaps the series. Maybe the future. Penguins were seventh and the Canadiens 24th in the standings. Going There seemed to be a lot more than merely a puck on Sidney Crosby’s by those standings, the Penguins would have opened a best-of-seven stick blade as afternoon turned to evening Friday. After a nifty move to series against the Flyers in Philadelphia. give himself a good look and a shooting lane, Crosby reached back, The seeding probably couldn’t have worked out any better for the ripped and … watched in disbelief as a rising puck eluded Carey Price Penguins. but not the crossbar. The Flyers had been the hottest team before the shutdown. They have Clang went that chance. been the class of the dozen clubs from the Eastern Conference that Clunk went this season. qualified for entry into Toronto’s bubble. They present an intriguing mix of veterans at the end of their primes and younger players coming into their Closed went the window? own, the latter group spearheaded by goalie Carter Hart. Their entire coaching staff has experience being the big boss behind a bench. Crosby conceded to not knowing what to make of anything — another blink-and-miss-it postseason, another playoff stunner, another offseason Would seeing Crosby, long their chief tormentor, have spooked the offering uncertainty — after the Penguins again stuck around for only four Flyers? Maybe. of the games that really matter in the NHL. But seeing Crosby didn’t spook the Canadiens, and the most they had At least they won one of those games this time. going for them was Price — a goaltender without equal among those in the qualifying round. Years from now — perhaps at his jersey retirement in Pittsburgh or his Hockey Hall of Fame enshrinement in Toronto — Crosby might have had Still, the difference between a best-of-five and best-of-seven is immense. enough time to process the absurdity that had become reality after a 2-0 Crosby seemed to realize it way before anybody else, even though this loss to the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena on Friday afternoon. was his first one with a shot at the Cup on the line.

The Penguins had just been handed the worst series defeat of their 30 The firsts have never been all that kind to Crosby — aside from being the during his captaincy. Somehow, though, they appeared to have more first pick in 2005. going for them than after being swept from the opening round the previous postseason. He was not picked by Canada to play in the first Winter Olympics for which he was eligible. Indeed, the Penguins, a win-now franchise that added at the trade deadline to chase the Stanley Cup, have been knocked off by the His first season ended without a trip to the playoffs or the Calder Trophy. Canadiens, a looking-ahead franchise that had sold at the same deadline His first playoff appearance was over in five games. to chase the NHL’s next franchise savior. Now, the Penguins could add Alexis Lafrenière, the most heralded French Canadian prospect in a His first Cup final ended in a loss. generation and a winger who starred for the same junior club that delivered Crosby to Pittsburgh. His first 50th goal was later awarded to another teammate.

It was not a scenario anybody had predicted. It is not a story anybody His first Winter Classic in Pittsburgh ended with him concussed. would believe. His first time being swept was in a conference final. Nor did Crosby seem to believe it — anything and/or whatever — when Nothing if not superstitious, there had to be part of Crosby who knew how speaking with the media within minutes of the Penguins’ defeat on Friday his first best-of-five was going to turn out. Just like all the others firsts, afternoon. Asked how the Penguins, winners of the most playoff games most likely. and tied with the Blackhawks for three titles in the NHL’s salary cap era, could get back to being an elite contender following three defeats in four Then it did, in the most unlikeliest of ways. postseason series since their Cup wins in 2016 and 2017, Crosby said, “I think that’s a tough question.” The Canadiens’ presumed only chance against the Penguins was for Price to steal the series. Instead, the Penguins’ only win against the It was not one he was unprepared to answer, however. Canadiens occurred in Price’s best game.

Though it is dangerous to read between the lines from the most media- Aside from the opening 10 minutes of Game 1, the Penguins did not savvy icon in Pittsburgh, if not NHL, history, Crosby’s words were hardly force Price’s hand in their three losses. In Game 4, the Penguins did not off the cuff. force anything — even a heavy workload from their best players with the season at stake. “Listen, it’s a three out of five and anything can happen. Did we do enough? No. Give them credit. But I think that’s a pretty broad question.” Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins’ other stalwart superstar, each played about their respective postseason averages, but well below what That it was. would be expected of game-changing former MVPs in a must-win playoff Surely, too, everybody from Crosby to coach Mike Sullivan to general game. manager Jim Rutherford will be able to answer it more suitably when the Malkin’s sensational regular season might well be forgotten by another empty feeling of a once-promising season ending in an empty building miserable postseason. He might not even be able to retreat to Moscow to subsides over the next few days. If Crosby was suggesting Friday that regroup, as he did last summer to what had been superb results before the Penguins should not overreact to what happened inside Toronto’s the Penguins arrived in Toronto. bubble — well, he is mature beyond most 33-year-old men. This pandemic might mess with the Penguins even after it forced them Oh, right: Crosby turned 33 on Friday. His gift was being booted from the into a second hiatus. playoffs by the very franchise for which he cheered as a boy, not to mention the one that drafted his father the same year the Penguins That first hiatus was thought to be a big break. They had time for players picked Mario Lemieux. to get healthy after so many were injured during the regular season. When healthy, the Penguins firmly believed they possessed a mixture of skill, depth, experience and resiliency that would be hard to beat in a seven-game series.

Maybe that was true. They had to get to one first.

“I would have loved a better outcome,” Crosby said. “It’s hard to tie it all in. It’s basically like starting fresh. It’s hard to draw on the season as a whole when there’s a four-month break. This is a whole separate thing.

“We didn’t play good enough to win.”

They did not, and they shouldn’t have needed to win games against the Canadiens, either. And that had nothing to do with being subjected to the qualifying round. The Penguins subjected themselves to that fate by somehow being worse after Crosby returned from another bad-luck first.

That would be the first in-season surgery of his NHL career.

Sure, he needed oral surgery to repair a broken jaw in the lockout- shortened 2013 season. That was not the same as undergoing a procedure to repair core muscles damaged when he aggravated a sports hernia injury in early November.

Crosby knew he was dealing with the dreaded sports hernia issue in training camp in September. He had considered having it repaired in October, but injuries to several forwards — specifically Malkin and Nick Bjugstad (then slotted as the Penguins’ third-line center) — convinced him to delay as long as possible.

He chose the Penguins over himself, and they were better for it.

Crosby was never the same after an understated-but-brilliant October. The increased workload appeared to wear on him before he was injured. He returned in mid-January and proceeded to rack up 11 goals and 19 assists in 24 games, but his minus-7 rating symbolized the Penguins’ regression from sound, two-way performances that had been consistent during his absence.

Their decline was in no way his fault.

It hardly makes sense that the Penguins, who were fourth in points percentage and second in expected goals against per 60 minutes, and had been dominant in puck possession, backslid when Crosby came back. It still doesn’t.

What about 2020 has made sense? Perhaps the Penguins, who during the previous year equally ended up disgusting and delighting their Hall of Fame GM and two-time Cup-winning coach, were just caught in some cosmic cluster of senselessness.

Or has time caught up with their Cup core? Crosby was asked that question after the loss to Montreal — and his first few words raised eyebrows everywhere from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, to Pittsburgh.

“It’s a possibility,” he said.

“I can only speak personally. I would have liked to have stayed healthier. It’s been a tough year. Only playing for a short period, then having this. It would have been nice to get into a rhythm. It’s just a hard one to evaluate.

“That’s the truth as far as trying to break this one down.”

On his birthday, the unquestioned player of his generation faced elimination against the team of his youth. The game was goalless. The Penguins were on the power play. The puck was on their captain’s blade.

They and he would have had it no other way given the situation.

Somehow, hitting crossbar instead of finding twine seemed about right for the Penguins and Crosby. This season, at least.

Surreal.

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190482 Pittsburgh Penguins So, too, was one sequence in particular. With less than three minutes remaining, the rested Penguins had an offensive zone faceoff in Montreal territory after a TV timeout. After. Sullivan sent Jared McCann out for the draw. No Crosby. No Malkin. Teddy Blueger then hopped over the Yohe: 10 observations as the Penguins embarrass themselves out of the boards shortly thereafter. bubble Wow.

I get it. Crosby and Malkin would be on the ice when the goaltender was By Josh Yohe pulled a shift later. But I don’t understand why one of them wasn’t on the ice for an offensive zone draw in that circumstance. It’s baffling. They’re Aug 7, 2020 getting older, but they aren’t that old. If offense was that hard to come by — and it was — the bench should have been shortened. They should have played on the same line in the third period, and both should have The Penguins, so horrified by their 2019 Stanley Cup playoff departure at played 10 minutes in that period. the hands of the Islanders in a humiliating sweep, tried with all of their might to make this season different. • Sullivan made the right call to start Tristan Jarry and the youngster responded with a strong performance. The goal wasn’t his fault. Before For so long, it was a better version of the Penguins that was on display. then, he stopped a Brendan Gallagher breakaway and was forced to Then, in a late-season slump and again following a four-month season make more top-notch saves than Carey Price, who was never under stoppage, all of their might disappeared. And they looked every bit as siege. feeble as they did last spring. The only mistake Sullivan made in that regard was not starting Jarry in The Montreal Canadiens, a seller at the trade deadline who entered the Game 1. He played at a higher level than Matt Murray all season, and tournament with the 24th-best record, dictated play Friday afternoon in that continued into the postseason. In between, Jarry was the better Toronto, suffocating the punchless Penguins in a 2-0 decision that has goalie in training camp. Yes, it’s a small sample size, but Jarry is produced more questions than answers. currently a superior goaltender to Murray. There are 11 months’ worth of evidence dating to training camp in September. Here are 10 observations on a stunningly impotent performance from a team that might well be declining. There is a strong chance Murray has played his final game with the Penguins, and they should be fine with Jarry as their No. 1 goaltender. • I hold coach Mike Sullivan in the highest regard, but he didn’t have a good series. At all. • Sometimes you notice little things in a game that indicate a team simply isn’t there mentally. It happened in the third period, shortly before The Penguins never looked comfortable or polished in the neutral zone, Montreal took a lead that felt inevitable. Jarry had lost his stick and it was continually being stood up at the Montreal blue line. When they did dump behind the net. Kris Letang had the puck close to the Penguins’ goal with the puck deep, they barely won puck battles, rarely entered the zone with no Canadiens players in the vicinity. Instead of taking his time so Jarry speed and, generally speaking, didn’t appear to have a plan. If Sullivan could get his stick, or skating the puck out of danger and deep into made tactical adjustments, they weren’t apparent to the naked eye. Montreal territory, Letang tried to execute a ridiculous pass through the Whatever adjustments he made weren’t effective. middle of the ice. The pass was intercepted and Jarry was faced to deal I won’t blame Sullivan for his players’ apparent lack of hunger. That’s not with pressure while his stick was behind the net. on him. Chuck Noll once said, “It’s not my job to motivate, it’s my job to It’s the little things sometimes. For all of Letang’s physical greatness, he direct motivated individuals.” commits mental errors more regularly than other elite players. Sullivan, however, made some incredibly suspect decisions in this series • The lack of urgency from the Penguins on Friday was disturbing. How and was at a loss for words on more than one occasion following games. many good looks did they register? Crosby hit the crossbar on a power That is never the case with him and indicates how miffed he must have play in the third period. Jake Guentzel had a good look or two. Patric been. Hornqvist hit the post from a bad angle. That was about it. • I don’t understand Sullivan’s handling of the blue line, nor the minutes They either played timidly, or afraid, or they just didn’t care. Given the that were dished out. Jack Johnson and Justin Schultz are brutal respect I have for them, I’d like to assume they cared. But really, together. We knew that entering the series. I don’t fancy myself as an everything is in play right now. It was an inept performance, one of the advanced statistics person, but the metrics and the eye test have always most embarrassing in franchise history. Never in the Crosby era have the told us the two struggle together. Penguins looked so soft, so indifferent and so physically inferior. In the first three games of the series, Johnson was on the ice for five of Guentzel and Conor Sheary spent more time on the ice than on their the seven goals against. Schultz was on the ice for four. Both players skates in this series. And they weren’t alone. were responsible for multiple goals against. In Game 4, Schultz was on • I feel bad for Brandon Tanev. It was his turnover that led to the winning the ice and out of position for the winning goal. goal. Tanev plays hard and is anything but soft. In fact, he should have It’s bad enough they were still dressing in every game. It’s even worse been given an elevated role. He’s not a fourth-line player. He’s they were left together. Schultz and Marcus Pettersson thrived together, something more. as did Johnson and John Marino. But the numbers I find most Turnovers happen. Mistakes happen. He’s a really good player and was concerning: In Game 4, Schultz and Johnson combined for more even- an excellent signing for Jim Rutherford. He’s about the last player I’d strength minutes (31:48) than Pettersson and Marino did (30:44). have guessed to turn the puck over in that situation, but that’s how things Marino was their best defenseman in the series and might be their best went for the Penguins during their short bubble stint in Toronto. defenseman overall. How in the world is he playing less than Johnson • I’m not in the excuse-making business, and I’m not about to start now. and Schultz? Or even a comparable amount of time? That is on Sullivan The Penguins were awful the past two games. Embarrassingly so. They and Jacques Martin. It’s inexcusable. The coaching staff believed Chad were awful in the 2019 playoffs. They ended the regular season in a Ruhwedel was playing at a high level in January and February. He terrible funk. Those are indisputable things. should have been in the lineup. And more to the point, Schultz and Johnson, if they were going to be in the lineup, should have had their I will say, however, gauging anything from a postseason played in August minutes badly reduced. They never did, and it makes zero sense. following a four-month break is difficult. Honestly, I don’t know how Rutherford will go about assessing the performance. I don’t know how he • Another coaching complaint (and I realize the way the Penguins played should go about it, either. On one hand, it’s easy to say the Penguins are it probably wouldn’t have mattered, but still … ): How about how the in decline. They probably are. forwards were deployed? Still, Rutherford put together an impressive team on paper. What Crosby and Malkin failed to play 20 minutes. In an elimination game. happened in Toronto shouldn’t have happened, but it did. Can we blame When the Penguins were failing to muster offense. What, exactly, were any of this on the fact hockey is being played in August with no fans? It they being saved for? The distribution of minutes was bizarre. has to be a different, uncomfortable thing for the players. When analyzing what happened, we can’t ignore that. But will Rutherford ignore it?

• I don’t believe Crosby was operating at 100 percent in this series. I don’t believe he has been for quite a while. He was healthy enough to play, and he was reasonably effective but didn’t play at the level you’d expect from him.

Remember, the sports hernia surgery he underwent in November wasn’t an immediate reaction to an injury. Crosby was first bothered by it during the 2018-19 season and was in considerable discomfort in training camp in September. He thought about having the surgery then, but upon seeing how banged up the Penguins were entering the season, he decided to tough it out. Crosby played brilliantly in October, carrying the Penguins while Malkin was out of the lineup, as were four other forwards.

It finally caught up to Crosby and he needs time to completely rest. He won’t have to play another game until December or January, which is probably a good thing for his body. Hell of a birthday for the captain, though. Yikes. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him more dejected after a playoff loss, at least not since 2013 in Boston. He wanted to make a run and thought the Penguins could do it.

As for Malkin, he never looked right in this series. Not by a long shot. That is stunning to me because of what I saw from him during the entire season and in training camp. He was superb. He was the Malkin of old. And then, when the games started, he just looked old. He needed to be considerably better.

• So, where do the Penguins go from here? That’s a question we will analyze in the coming days and weeks at The Athletic. It’s a proud franchise filled with big pockets and even bigger talent. But in the past couple of years, there is a touch of autumn evident. Maybe more than a touch.

What happened against Montreal was inexplicable. The Canadiens played hard and have a great coach and a great goaltender. But on paper, they had no business beating the Penguins in three out of four games. In the final two games, the Canadiens were clearly the better team.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are broken. If Father Time is the culprit, then enormous changes are required. If it’s something else, the organization needs to examine it and make appropriate decisions, and quickly, because the grandest era of Penguins hockey appears to be in the rearview mirror. What lies ahead remains a mystery, but if the future looks anything like it did Friday, the Penguins should be concerned.

It was all surreal, right down to the Penguins fading quickly in the early evening, their season ending with no fans at a neutral site at 6:29 p.m. on a Friday. What was even more surreal was seeing a group that has produced so many wondrous memories looking so eager to carry on with its respective summers.

Never have they lost while looking so bad.

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190483 Pittsburgh Penguins It should’ve been, at least. The worst ones always seem to be. So, the focus turns forward. They’ve got a 12.5 percent chance at landing

one of the best draft-year wingers in recent history — the Canadiens had The worst loss of Sidney Crosby’s career was totally avoidable their eye on Alexis Lafreniere until Friday afternoon. Funny how that turns out. The job should be Jarry’s, after three mediocre-to-bad seasons from Murray. Whether he’s on the roster at all is a major question. A year-older John Marino, a still-productive veteran core, a still-remarkable By Sean Gentille group of top-six forwards … there are reasons to think they could run this Aug 7, 2020 back in the fall. Truly, it feels like they’re in a better spot now than after the 2019 sweep by the Islanders. That was a system meltdown; this, in a vacuum, was more about bad luck, brutal play by a couple and average play by too many. Whatever we’re supposed to call the next round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Phil Kessel is in it — and the Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t. In the moment, it was tough to see how that group — flawed from the start, Kessel included — could’ve beaten the Islanders. This time, the Whether irony, poetic justice or coincidence, a few hours after Kessel issues were more obvious. They were either ignored or addressed too scored a goal in the Coyotes’ qualifying-round win over Nashville, the late. Penguins were done. For the second straight year, their postseason was finished after four games. So, failure? Regret? Whatever the Penguins want to call it, it’s bad. And it didn’t need to be this way. This year was a little different — they won a game. It was also a lot worse. The most brutal, pointless series loss of the Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin era? Yep. The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 Doesn’t it have to be? Think about it. In 2010, a team of robots and the Red Army couldn’t have solved Jaroslav Halak. The Capitals had already failed.

2012 against the Flyers? A clown show on both sides, featuring some strain of communicable rage virus that Philly harnessed a little more effectively.

2013 against the Bruins? Those were the Bruins. In 2014, an outmatched team ran out of gas after going up 3-1 against the Rangers.

There’s no good playoff series loss — just degrees of badness. The worst ones are the ones that feel preventable. And it’s tough to remember any that felt more preventable than whatever we just watched.

Start at the end of the regular season; complain about the five-game series as much as you want, and the players were and remain annoyed by the format. The solution, though? Don’t lose eight of 11 down the stretch. If they scrape together four more points in that run — maybe against the three worst teams in the Western Conference, maybe against the Buffalo Sabres — this is never an issue. It never has a chance to be.

And even when it turned into an issue, after fate was taken out of their hands, they still were gifted a matchup against the 24th-best team in the NHL. The 24th-best team in the NHL. This wasn’t a 4-5 matchup. This was a team designated by its coach as special, led by two of the best players on Earth — elite, if aging — against a group that finished fifth in a bad division, with 71 points in 71 games and a minus-9 goal differential. The Penguins bought Patrick Marleau, Evan Rodrigues and Conor Sheary at the trade deadline. The Canadiens sold.

Still, we knew if they lost, how it’d look; Carey Price would be great. The Penguins’ power play would be terrible. Bounces wouldn’t be with them. And the Canadiens were going to exploit their weak spots: Matt Murray in his current form and a third pairing that shouldn’t have existed.

Seeing that come to pass in Game 1 could’ve been a gift. It was their worst-case scenario borne out, yes, and some elements were outside their control, sure. Playoff hockey is voodoo, and so are goaltenders. Sullivan couldn’t buy bounces. He could control who was in his lineup, though, and he could control how much they played. Jack Johnson? For more than 17 minutes in Game 1, in between being on the ice for three even-strength goals? That’s preventable.

As for Murray, starting him initially made sense. He has a short leash, or so we all said. Turns out it was a little too long. The right moment for the Tristan Jarry pivot was after the Canadiens’ third goal in Game 3. It doubly felt that way after Murray shrugged a short-side, zero-angle shot into the net for Montreal’s game-winner.

And it triply felt that way in Game 4; Jarry wasn’t just their best player. He might’ve been their only good player. That’s a guy who should’ve been starting his fourth career playoff game, not his first.

So, no, it didn’t need to be like this — but they made it this way, and then, whether it was nerves, resignation or some combination of the two, played an elimination game that could’ve doubled as a Tuesday night in December. It was lifeless, it was baffling and it seemed impossible until we were in the middle of it. 1190484 Pittsburgh Penguins

Penguins bench Matt Murray; Tristan Jarry will start Game 4 vs. Canadiens

By Rob Rossi

Aug 7, 2020

Desperate times call for a different goalie.

Tristan Jarry will replace Matt Murray as the Penguins goalie for Game 4 against the Montreal Canadiens. Coach Mike Sullivan announced his decision during a call with reporters Friday morning.

“We have complete trust and confidence in both of our guys,” Sullivan said, also adding he wouldn’t divulge details of any conversations he had with Jarry or Murray regarding this decision.

The Penguins and Canadiens are scheduled to play at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto at 4 p.m.

The Penguins trail the best-of-five series, 2-1. A win Friday would extend their Stanley Cup qualifying-round series to a decisive game Saturday.

The Athletic reporter earlier that multiple Penguins sources said Sullivan was thought to be considering a goalie change Thursday. The Penguins lost a 3-1 lead in Game 3 on Wednesday night, and the Canadiens’ rally included a couple of goals that Murray probably would have liked to have back.

Jarry was on the trade market a year ago this time, but the Penguins couldn’t find suitable offers. He arrived at training camp third on the depth chart behind Murray and Casey DeSmith. But a salary-cap crunch and the Penguins’ unwillingness to potentially lose Jarry on waivers earned him a spot on the opening roster.

He turned that spot into a breakout season.

Read Stephen J. Nesbitt’s in-depth story on Jarry’s upbringing.

Improved practice habits from a 2018-19 season spent in the AHL carried over for Jarry, whose athleticism and puck-handling stood out during limited starts over the opening six weeks of this past NHL season.

Eventually, Jarry supplanted Murray, a two-time Cup winner, in late November. His standout performances fueled the Penguins’ most successful stretch of the regular season. He was named an All-Star.

Despite a distinct difference in statistics, Jarry and Murray began to alternate starts in mid-January and into March.

Before the NHL shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Murray appeared to have taken the lead in the battle for the No. 1 role. Murray started Games 1-3 against Montreal, with mixed results.

Win or lose, Jarry earning the start in Game 4 will only intensify doubt as to if Murray has a future in Pittsburgh. A restricted free agent this upcoming offseason, Murray likely will command a raise over his current cap value ($3.75 million) even though he would be coming off a career- worst 2019-20 season. Similar in ages, though not NHL experience, Murray and Jarry would each like to be a No. 1 next season instead of splitting duties, as they likely would with the Penguins.

Jarry will be the first Penguins goalie to make his postseason debut with the club facing elimination since Frank Pietrangelo started Game 6 of a 1991 Patrick Division semifinal series. That game was significant for extending the opening round to a decisive seventh game, which the Penguins won in Pittsburgh. They went on to win the Cup for the first time.

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190485 Pittsburgh Penguins The Penguins are 1-6 dating to last postseason. Malkin is a minus-3 over that span and has added only four points to his career total of 169 in the playoffs. Only teammate Sidney Crosby has more postseason points than Malkin among active NHL players. Evgeni Malkin ‘not happy’ with his game. Would different shot selection help? Given how he dedicated himself personally and professionally last summer — a process Malkin described in detail to The Athletic — another poor playoff performance would not sit well with the only current player to have twice led a postseason in scoring. By Rob Rossi “I’m not happy with my game,” Malkin said Thursday. He added that Aug 7, 2020 Game 4, which the Penguins need to win Friday afternoon to avoid elimination, is “a huge game for me.”

Evgeni Malkin has better to give. He has more to show, too. No hints

No, not effort. Postseason practices are often closed to the public. They’ve been that way to the media in the NHL’s bubble cities, too. Clearly, Malkin is emotionally invested in the Penguins’ qualifying-round series against the Montreal Canadiens. More than any player, Malkin has Though the prohibition of media is part of approved protocol amid the publicly touted the Penguins as possessing Stanley Cup potential. COVID-19 pandemic, some coaches have permitted on-site media relations personnel to share select details of practices. Coach Mike But they’re only a contender with the most dynamic offensive player — Sullivan has resisted any such urges during the Penguins’ time in the and Malkin showed during the regular season he remains that player — bubble. diversifying his shot selection. And Malkin has yet to change up things against the Canadiens. Tough luck for anybody hoping to hear about potential lineup alterations for Game 4. Sullivan said that all players participated in practice Or perhaps they have not allowed him the chances to change. Thursday but acknowledged he saw no benefit in sharing any other details with reporters. “They play unbelievable in the defensive zone,” Malkin said Thursday after the Penguins practiced in Toronto. “All five (players) try to block Team sources told The Athletic that Sullivan was likely to notify either your shots. We respect that.” Matt Murray or Tristan Jarry of his decision for the Game 4 starter “sometime Thursday night.” The sources said Sullivan had not tipped his Also citing Montreal’s Carey Price, whom Malkin called “the best goalie in hand, but they believed he was “thinking a lot about making a change” the league right now, probably,” the Penguins’ leading regular-season from Murray to Jarry. scorer lamented what has become obvious through three games of this series. An All-Star this past season, Jarry has never played in a Stanley Cup playoff game. Murray, a two-time Cup winner, made his 50th career “It’s not easy to score,” Malkin said. postseason start in Game 3 and surrendered at least three goals for the Malkin has taken 17 shots against Price and hasn’t scored. A dozen of 11th time since finishing the 2017 Cup Final with consecutive shutouts. those were wrist shots, three were slap shots and two were deflections. Matt Murray in Stanley Cup playoffs Malkin has yet to score with a snap shot, backhander or tip in the series. 2016-17 He was much more successful at mixing shots during the regular season, during which he finished with the fourth-highest goals per 60 minutes at 29-21 five-on-five (1.19) — part of an NHL-best 3.43 points per 60 at five-on- five. 2.18

Evgeni Malkin's regular-season shots .921

Wrist 2018-current

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Slap Sullivan said Games 4 and 5 being on consecutive days had never influenced his plan for which goalie would get the call for Friday, nor had 31 the result of Game 3.

2 The Penguins have resisted playing Murray in both ends of games on consecutive days. That has been partly because of his injury history, but 6.5 also due to Murray not favoring the situation. Snap No Penguins goalie has made his first postseason start in an elimination 29 game since Frank Pietrangelo, who forced a Game 7 by beating the Devils in New Jersey in a Patrick Division semifinal series in 1991. 6 Been better 20.7 Sullivan’s arrival in December 2015 changed the course of history in Backhand Pittsburgh. He inherited a floundering squad and turned into one that 20 would ultimately match a franchise record with nine consecutive postseason series victories. 2 A crucial aspect of the Penguins’ postseason success under Sullivan has 10 been their performances in Game 4s of series. There is a noticeable difference between his tenure and the years of the Crosby era that Tip/deflection preceded Sullivan.

8

2 The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 25 1190486 Pittsburgh Penguins At only 19, Crosby easily won the scoring title with a career-high 120 points and won his first Hart Trophy. It’s safe to say that season triggered his ascent to being the NHL’s best player, a title he would maintain for more than a decade, probably longer than any player in NHL history. Yohe: On his 33rd birthday, a countdown of Sidney Crosby’s 33 greatest moments That wouldn’t be his final trip to the NHL Awards.

26. Falling with grace, Jan. 27, 2007

By Josh Yohe Arguably one of the greatest goals of his career came when Crosby scored while falling in Arizona. Watch a lot of hockey, and you’ll never Aug 7, 2020 12 see a goal quite like it.

25. Safe at home, Jan. 7, 2007

Sidney Crosby turns 33 on Friday and, while many years of his NHL Crosby had a particular penchant for highlight-reel goals in his younger career surely remain, he’s produced enough moments to last a lifetime. days, and few were more impressive than that one. Crosby went sliding along the ice for a Mark Recchi pass and somehow directed it into the Given his obsession with the number 87, he’d probably prefer we list his net in one of his most spectacular moments. 87 greatest moments. But that would be a little excessive. Let’s keep it to 33. 24. The speech, May 10, 2016

Here’s a look at his 33 greatest moments. The Penguins were up in their series against Washington, 3-2, and had taken a 3-0 lead in Game 6 in Pittsburgh. Then, the Capitals roared back 33. Number retired in Rimouski and evened the score, thanks largely to the Penguins taking three What a privilege it was to cover that event in September. Crosby was penalties in which they shot the puck over the glass. I’ll let Ian Cole take pretty overwhelmed with emotion and, while it’s undeniable Crosby is an it from here: icon in Pittsburgh and his native Nova Scotia, I’ve never witnessed an “So, it was silent in the locker room before overtime. We couldn’t believe outpouring of affection for him like that. He played his junior hockey for we’d blown that game. We were in shock. No one said anything for the two seasons in Rimouski and the love on display for him was like nothing first 10 minutes and I was worried about how things were going to go. I’ve ever seen. Then, all of a sudden, Sid stands up, looks at us all and says, ‘We’re 32. All-Star Game MVP, Jan. 27, 2019 better than this fucking team. Let’s end it.’ You have to realize, he doesn’t say things like that very often. But he did. And it made us all feel better.” All-Star Games aren’t what they used to be. And for that matter, Crosby rarely appears in them. But he did show up for the event in San Jose and Nick Bonino scored in overtime to end the Capitals. won the NHL All-Star Game MVP for the first time. 23. The perfect pass, June 12, 2016 It’s about the only thing he had never won, so that alone makes it It was assumed by many that Crosby would hand the Stanley Cup to relevant. Pascal Dupuis if the Penguins won it all against the Sharks in 2016. That 31. Dueling hat tricks, May 4, 2009 would have been a fine selection as Dupuis was forced to retire earlier that season but was still with the team. Much is made of the Crosby/Alex Ovechkin hat trick from Game 2 of the classic 2009 series. And rightfully so. You don’t see hat tricks in Few people knew, however, Trevor Daley’s mom was dying in a Toronto postseason games very often, so for two superstars to pull it off in the hospital. Crosby knew. She died days later but, before she did, she got to same contest was something else. watch Crosby hand her son the Stanley Cup.

Ovechkin’s Capitals won the battle that night, but Crosby’s Penguins won 22. Fifty with conviction, April 11, 2010 the war. Crosby scored 51 goals during the 2009-10 season, the highest total of 30. Point No. 1,000 in style, Feb. 16, 2017 his career. He scored two goals on his final game of the regular season, a game in which he scored five points in the opening 29 minutes on Long At 29, Crosby, who had already missed more than two seasons’ worth of Island. He needed eight points that afternoon to win the scoring title and, games to injury, still recorded his 1,000th career point. He set up Chris for a while, it felt like he’d pull it off. Kunitz, perhaps his favorite linemate, to notch the milestone. Nonetheless, it was a memorable day for him. Later that evening, Crosby beat the Winnipeg Jets in overtime in one of his many memorable performances at PPG Paints Arena. 21. Crosby the coach, June 1, 2016

29. A Hart with some vengeance, June 24, 2014 Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final was in overtime when the Penguins had a faceoff in San Jose territory. Crosby drew up a play before the draw, That MVP was an important one for Crosby. One year earlier, he should telling Letang he’d win the faceoff in his direction and for the defenseman have won the Hart Trophy but remarkably lost out on the award to to hold onto the puck for a moment before directing it to Conor Sheary, Ovechkin. Crosby missed the final month of the season with a broken jaw who would be open. The play worked to perfection, as indicated by the and still narrowly missed out on the scoring title, which he was running grin on Crosby’s face following the goal. away with, in 2013. He told people in the organization he was going to win the scoring title and the Hart Trophy the next season and not show 20. Spezza’d, April 16, 2010 up in Las Vegas for the NHL Awards, given how furious he was about the Poor Jason Spezza. With Game 2 of the first-round series knotted at 1 voting. late in the third period, Spezza tried to keep up with Crosby behind the Crosby, though, is the ultimate gentleman and naturally showed up for Ottawa net. And tried. And tried. But eventually, Crosby broke loose with the NHL Awards. He did, however, keep his word by winning the Art an exceptional display of strength and skating, setting up Letang for the Ross and Hart trophies. winner.

28. NHL Top 100 19. The curveball goal, May 16, 2016

It was a no-brainer. Of course, so was Evgeni Malkin’s inclusion, which Great players often don’t score postseason overtime goals. Mario somehow didn’t happen. Lemieux, Mark Messier and Gordie Howe amazingly never scored one. Crosby never had, either, until that night. Malkin’s exclusion is now synonymous with the NHL’s Top 100 list, but Crosby was named to that group, and it was an impressive moment for The Penguins lost Game 1 at home to Tampa Bay and blew a 2-0 lead in him, given he was still seven months shy of his 30th birthday when the Game 2. Early in overtime, however, Crosby received a pass from Bryan team was announced. Rust and fired a rocket of a shot that appeared to curve into the net after initially looking to be headed wide. Really, just watch the replay. 27. A teenager’s ascent, June 14, 2007 He picked a great time for his only overtime playoff goal. 18. First home game, first goal, Oct. 8, 2005 opening shift when he drew a penalty and then hit the post, nearly scoring a spectacular goal. It wasn’t the prettiest goal he’d score in Pittsburgh, but it was the first and it came in his first game at the Civic Arena. Quite simply, peak Crosby was on display that night in an unforgettable performance. Crosby jammed home a power-play goal in the second period against the Boston Bruins (and head coach Mike Sullivan) to set the Igloo into a 9. World Cup for a world power, Sept. 29, 2016 frenzy during part of his three-point home debut. Never has Crosby been more dominant than at the World Cup of Hockey 17. Sunshine State statement, May 24, 2016 in 2016. The same can be said of Canada. The Penguins had just won the Stanley Cup and were about to win another. In between, Crosby was Following the morning skate before Game 6 of the 2016 Eastern by far the dominant figure in a tournament that showcased the greatest Conference finals, Crosby and Malkin sat together in the locker room in players. silence. They’d failed in the playoffs for five straight seasons and were on the brink of elimination. It was possibly his final international performance on Canadian soil. If so, it will serve as a spectacular reminder of how great he was in his prime. Crosby responded by scoring one of the greatest goals of his career in leading the Penguins to a 5-2 victory. 8. Celebration in Sochi, Feb. 23, 2014

16. Happy homecoming, May 28, 2008 It was a special moment for Crosby because he was Canada’s captain for the 2014 Olympics. There had been some debate regarding whether The Penguins lost the series, but Crosby’s performance in Game 3 of the Crosby or Jonathan Toews would hold that honor but Crosby got the nod. 2008 Stanley Cup Final shouldn’t be forgotten. Detroit won the first two games of the series at Joe Louis Arena and, after Lemieux dropped the He didn’t have a great tournament, but he saved his best game for when puck during the pregame ceremony, Crosby scored twice as the the gold medal was on the line. Crosby beat Henrik Lundqvist on a Penguins won, 3-2, in their first Stanley Cup Final home game since breakaway and set up Penguins linemate Chris Kunitz, leading Canada 1992. to a 3-0 win over Sweden.

15. The knockout punch, May 13, 2009 Being the captain of Canada and winning the Olympic gold medal in Russia? Yeah, that’s a big deal. Earlier in Game 7 against the Capitals, Marc-Andre Fleury made one of two iconic saves that spring, including a breakaway denial of Ovechkin. 7. Shootout in the snow, Jan. 1, 2008 With the Penguins leading 5-1 in the third period — Crosby started the scoring in the opening period — Crosby found himself on a breakaway The Winter Classic has become a big deal for the NHL and it was the first from 100 feet and made no mistake, burying the Capitals in the first one. Talk about imagery. The game’s best player, at 20, winning the first Game 7 of his career. Winter Classic in a shootout with snow falling. It was a perfect scene in Buffalo and, for some casual sports fans who were giving hockey a try for 14. Captain Crosby, May 31, 2007 the first time that day, it marked their introduction to Crosby.

Crosby, at 19 (and 297 days), was named the youngest captain in NHL It was a classic moment. history. That is noteworthy because, while Crosby is generally considered among the five or 10 greatest players ever, one of the things 6. An enemy is born, Nov. 16, 2005 that has always made him special is his freakish precociousness. Even In Crosby’s second game in Philadelphia during his rookie season, as a teenager, he was different and a leader the franchise could build Derian Hatcher knocked out a few of Crosby’s teeth courtesy of some around. stick work. Hatcher wasn’t penalized. Crosby slammed his stick against 13. Making history, April 17, 2006 the boards upon seeing no penalty was called and was assessed a penalty for the complaint. The Philadelphia crowd roared with delight. In an otherwise meaningless game, Crosby set up Ryan Malone and the assist gave him 100 points. He finished the season with 102 points and, Crosby ended the game with a breakaway goal in overtime and didn’t more importantly, became the youngest player to record 100 points in a even smile after he scored, defiance pouring from his face. From that season. moment, Philadelphia hated him, and he hated the city right back. Ken Hitchcock commented after the game that he didn’t notice Crosby all The Penguins weren’t good that season but, by the end of it, Crosby had game except for the breakaway. become a completely dominant player. Crosby has made sure Philadelphia has noticed him ever since. 12. Welcome to the Crosby Show, Canada, Nov. 10, 2005 5. The way to San Jose, June 12, 2016 Gord Miller’s now-famous call still rings true 15 years later. Crosby’s rookie season was forgettable in some ways simply because the Crosby needed the championship and the Conn Smythe Trophy for some Penguins were awful, but there were plenty of signature moments. One validation, believe it or not. The Penguins had failed to win the Stanley of them happened that night in a game that was on national television in Cup in six consecutive postseason appearances. He was already a Canada. great, but to be considered among the greats, one must win the Cup more than once. The first shootout ever in Pittsburgh ended with Crosby roofing a backhand shot over Jose Theodore, giving the Penguins the win against There was a great sense of relief when Crosby raised the Cup in San the team Crosby grew up loving. Of note, Lemieux scored his final NHL Jose, as he would never be considered a one-hit wonder after winning it. goal in the first period, making it a true passing-of-the-torch moment. 4. Repeat complete, June 11, 2017

11. The four-leaf clover, July 22, 2005 Winning the Stanley Cup will rank high on this list, but when Crosby Craig Patrick kept a four-leaf clover in his hand during the 2005 NHL raised the Cup in Nashville that Sunday night, it felt as though his legend Draft Lottery. It was good luck, or, maybe it was always the Penguins’ reached a loftier status. Jim Rutherford said that night Crosby was now destiny to have generational players. “one of the four greatest players of all time,” ranking him alongside Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr. By the end of that summer day, phones were ringing off the hook at the Civic Arena. Crosby was going to be a member of the Penguins. Rutherford may well be correct.

At that point, the Penguins were struggling financially and still hoping to 3. F— yeah, Nov. 21, 2011 secure a new arena. Hockey in Pittsburgh was no sure thing. Then the Crosby’s concussion issues in 2011 put his career in danger. He missed Penguins won the lottery and the prodigy was coming to town. almost an entire year because of the condition, finally returning to action 10. The perfect game, June 8, 2017 against the Islanders. While he played only eight games before missing another three months, there was something special about that evening If I could pick the greatest game Crosby ever played in, I’d pick Game 5 that has stood the test of time. of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final against Nashville. He didn’t score but he didn’t have to. With the series tied, Crosby took control during the Crosby scored a goal on his second shift, erupting with an uncharacteristic display of emotion after scoring the goal. He later had another goal and set up two others. It was a magical performance as mere mortals don’t miss that much action and then produce four points upon their return. It was, in a world, Lemieux-esque.

2. The Kid and the Cup, June 12, 2009

Crosby didn’t play much of a role because he injured a knee halfway through and skated one more shift during the remainder of the game. Yet it didn’t matter. He had plenty of strength to raise the Stanley Cup above his 21-year-old shoulders, the youngest captain ever to hoist the Cup.

Crosby and the Penguins arrived well ahead of schedule and Crosby had only been legally allowed to drink in the United States for 10 months as he raised the Cup at Joe Louis Arena that night.

1. Golden Goal, Feb. 28, 2010

Crosby’s heroics in a Penguins sweater are the stuff of legend, but there really can’t be any other choice. “The Golden Goal” is possibly the most famous in hockey and possibly the most important.

It wasn’t a Crosby-esque performance during the Olympics. He played well, but he wasn’t dominant by any stretch. Right when his team — and, make no mistake, his country, because that game was everything to Canadian hockey fans — needed him, there he was, the puck on the blade of his stick, history to follow. It was Canada, hosting the Olympics for the only time of Crosby’s career, in the gold medal game against its blossoming rival in overtime. There will probably never be a moment quite like it.

The United States was becoming a powerful hockey presence and, while it remains that, it plateaued internationally from that point on. Another powerful hockey presence — Sidney Patrick Crosby — was also blossoming, and that moment triggered a dominant decade of Canadian hockey, thanks largely to the signature moment of his career.

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190487 San Jose Sharks

Ex-Shark Patrick Marleau, Penguins eliminated in NHL qualifying round

By Brian Witt

August 07, 2020 6:38 PM

Sharks legend Patrick Marleau might have had his last decent chance to win a Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL restart. Hopefully he gets another opportunity, because it ain't happening this year.

The fifth-seeded Penguins were stunned and upset by the 12-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the qualifying round after the Habs advanced to the playoffs with a 3-1 series victory on Friday. Pittsburgh lost Game 1 and was never able to recover, thanks in large part to Montreal goalie Carey Price.

The Penguins scored just eight goals in the series, none of which were deposited by Marleau. In fact, the long-time Shark didn't record a single point across the four games. The Penguins acquired him at the trade deadline in exchange for what is now confirmed to be a 2021 third-round draft pick, as San Jose wanted to give him an opportunity to check that last box on his career résumé.

Marleau now will become an unrestricted free agent. It has been widely presumed that if he indeed returns for a 23rd NHL season, it might come in a third go-around with the Sharks. San Jose finished dead last in the Western Conference this season, but the Sharks' record was largely impacted by injuries and they certainly could return to the playoffs next year.

Really, it would only be fitting if Marleau ended his career in teal.

As for the Sharks, the qualifying round has gone nearly as well as they could have hoped for. Of the four Pacific Division teams that were involved, only the Edmonton Oilers failed to advance.

Due to the wacky 2020 NHL draft lottery, each team eliminated in the qualifying round has a 12.5 percent chance to land the No. 1 overall pick. Whichever team lands it is widely expected to use it on consensus top prospect Alexis Lafreniere.

So, there's an 87.5 percent chance -- barring trades -- that Lafreniere won't immediately end up in the Sharks' division.

Given the season they had, they'll take any win they can get.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190488 San Jose Sharks Maybe throw in some of the many times when Barbieri and Tolbert would crack each other up and get so goofy that their producer, Brian Smith, was forced to play “Yakety Sax.” Those moments were great, too. There were so many others, including … Media column: Remembering Ralph Barbieri and how KNBR could help • Every time Tolbert would poke fun at Barbieri for previously driving, and frequently referencing, a Mazda Miata. Barbieri would always take the bait: “It was a fun little car!” By Steve Berman • The time when Barbieri badgered then-Giants closer Brian Wilson to the Aug 7, 2020 point where Wilson could do nothing but sigh and say, “Alright, Ralph.”

• Barry Zito calling into Gary Radnich’s show and referring to Barbieri as Bill Simmons gets a lot of credit for creating an entire genre for sports “the butter knife.” media personalities who approach everything through the lens of a rabid • Those Amici’s ads that would last longer than two full commercial fan, and rightly so. But his style was really an extension of sports talk breaks combined, during which Barbieri would explain why he’s the radio. East Coast giants WEEI and WFAN certainly had a huge influence expert on New York-style pizza, exactly what led him to approach the on Simmons’ style. For me, and several others who grew up in or around owners of the pizzeria to advertise their product, and his vegetarian the Bay Area, the place we heard voices like that was on KNBR. And lifestyle, all while making sure to emphasize the correct pronunciation of Ralph Barbieri was the standard. “minestrone.” Barbieri, along with Gary Radnich and to a lesser extent Pete Franklin, • A couple of Barbieri stories, courtesy of our Dan Brown: helped build KNBR. But Radnich was already an established and very popular sports anchor when he started his radio career, and Franklin was When Susan (Slusser, Dan’s wife and longtime San Francisco Chronicle there to show San Francisco how it was done back East. And neither sportswriter) got hired by the Chronicle, back in the late 1990s, one of Radnich (who always positioned himself above the fray) nor Franklin was her first jobs was doing a radio/TV column. She wrote something about a diehard fan of Bay Area teams. Franklin enjoyed yelling “Up yours!” at Ralph that was otherwise flattering but joked about his “long-winded the Cowboys, but that was nothing compared to Barbieri, essentially a questions.” jersey-adorned sports talk show caller who got to speak for four hours each day. Ralph took umbrage to that. I know this because I came home to find an angry message on our answering machine. It began with, “Susan, just for Without Barbieri, you wouldn’t have had Larry Krueger eviscerating the your edification …” and it filled up until the machine cut him off with a Giants after losses on “SportsPhone 680” or Damon Bruce doing the beeeeep! same years later. Barbieri was the first voice of the angry fan in the Bay Area, and the audience knew that he took the responsibility to apply And then he filled up another message. And then another. pressure on the local teams and those who ran them very seriously. And that’s how Ralph made his point that he was unfairly On Monday, we went over a lot of what made Barbieri the KNBR pillar mischaracterized as being long-winded. that he was, his personality quirks, how his career evolved and really The second story … peaked alongside Tom Tolbert. What was missing, and what has unfortunately vanished into the ether, is what made Barbieri a must-listen I didn’t know Ralph during his heyday and the first time I ever talked to for so many years. And this goes beyond his combativeness or his him was when I called to get his reaction to being pushed out the door by thorough style of asking questions. KNBR. He had to be careful, of course, because of the legal situation surrounding his termination. His rants were all-timers. Simply amazing, even if you disagreed with his premise. Check that — especially if you disagreed with his premise. He So he decided to respond in the form of a statement. “I’m going to give was a Giants fan first and foremost, but he was also strident in his views you something,” he said, “but you have to use it in full. You have to use about the 49ers, Sharks and Warriors. He mostly ignored the A’s and the entire statement. It will be short, but you have to use the whole thing.” Raiders, of course (other than to rip Al Davis semi-regularly). But when it came to his favorite teams, he’d excoriate them like the most rabid of This seemed reasonable, and I was thrilled to be getting a response at all callers might, then remind the listening audience that his passion came — so I agreed to the terms. And when he said a short statement, I from being Italian … as if any of us could ever forget that. envisioned that it’d be something like, “I am proud of my legacy and KNBR and look forward to the facts of the matter coming to light. I will KNBR posted one such rant after Tim Lincecum was removed from a miss my listeners and of course my radio partner Tom Tolbert.” game during his first Cy Young season. Barbieri happened to attend that game, which added some kindling to the inferno. It was NOTHING like that, of course. It was hundreds of words of perfect Barbieri prose — erudite and full of resolve. It was great — but also a Here’s the thing: KNBR admitted in this post that the station has the nightmare for a writer who was just looking to drop in a pithy quote at archives. Audio of Barbieri from all of those years is there. Sure, sports deadline. (This was at about 9:30 p.m.) Worse, he wasn’t much of an media outlets aren’t as desperate for content now as they were a few email guy, so he read the whole thing to me over the phone and then weeks ago. But how about an entire day — or at least several hours — of made me repeat it back to him. Barbieri’s best rants from over the years to make up for the fact that he never had a farewell show? It was so long, in fact, that we wound up printing his “short statement” as a separate story with its own headline. I would absolutely listen (and record) hours of his most bombastic tirades about Armando Benítez, Paraag Marathe’s replay-review challenge But, as was always the case with Ralph, it was totally worth it. decisions, the Giants not signing Vladimir Guerrero and why the 49ers • A reliable source told me that Barbieri’s nearly 5,000-word obituary — should go with Steve Young over Joe Montana. Or his reactions to the which filled up an entire page of the San Francisco Chronicle — may O.J. Simpson verdict, Latrell Sprewell’s altercation with P.J. Carlesimo, have been written years ago by Barbieri himself and that it may have cost the Loma Prieta earthquake, Roger Craig’s fumble in the NFC $25,000 to run in the paper. Championship Game in January 1991, the 2002 World Series … the list goes on and on, a lot like Barbieri’s many monologues. It was all the way back in late-1993 when Mitch Juricich and John Abendroth started hosting “Hooked on Golf” on KNBR, and the show’s Though we will always hear Barbieri’s voice echo in our memories, the final episode will air on Sunday from 7-9 a.m. unique way he put words together was part of his allure. And we can’t quite get a totally accurate picture of Barbieri’s sports radio essence “It was absolutely amazing in the fact that it lasted as long as it did,” unless we’re actually listening to those recordings. Juricich said during a Thursday phone conversation. “We were on for 27 years on the biggest station in this market, in the fourth biggest market in So help us out, KNBR. Yes, it’s a lot of work to comb through all of that the country. I mean, just two guys talking about golf. And for it to last that audio and edit the best bits. But even though sports talk radio thrives as long was phenomenal. a live, reactionary medium, with enough promotion, a day of Ralph’s rants would attract listeners. “Now, why does something end? Well, everything ends. My next birthday, I’ll be 73. I think John is 68. There are some health issues. The last couple years, we’ve only been on for like three months, and then a gambling show bought our hour from KNBR during football season. And they pay KNBR a lot of money. We get that, we get that. But I think that’s going to be the trend going forward. Because once gambling is legal in California — I don’t know that has gotten there yet — but the airwaves, I think, are going to be inundated with gambling shows.”

After looking back at a broadcasting career that allowed him to tour and play golf courses throughout the region, he couldn’t be more thankful.

“Top of the list, everyone at KNBR,” Juricich said. “From the management to the engineers to the board ops to all the other guys that had the big-time shows, they were just so great to us. As were PGA professionals in the area. Public relations firms were great to us. Sales reps with different products. It was just amazing how many people were so nice to us, that advertised with us. Golf courses, and the general managers and the administration of golf courses were great to us. We used to do remote broadcasts from golf courses, and they were happy to pay us to do that. And you know they saw the value and it was very, very flattering. We’re thankful for all of those people. The reason I don’t mention any names is, if you start mentioning a name, you’re going to irritate somebody. But those people out there that I’m saying ‘thank you’ to know who they are, they do and we just we couldn’t have done it without them.”

Juricich was nervous about leaving anyone out, to the point where he called back several minutes after our conversation to make sure that he thanked the local media for their kindness as well.

Juricich and Abendroth also had a televised version of “Hooked on Golf” that was syndicated throughout the country. It’s been shown on all kinds of iterations of our regional sports network, from SportsChannel to Fox SportsNet to NBC Sports Bay Area. Juricich remembers their annual meetings with Ted Griggs — now working in Connecticut as the president, group leader and strategic production & programming for all of the NBC Sports Regional Networks — back when Griggs was the president of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.

“I’ll never forget it. It was kind of like the State of the Union,” Juricich remembered. “So he sits at the head of the table. He goes, ‘Well, let’s get started. You guys still want to do the show, don’t ya?’ We said, ‘Yeah.’ ‘All right, let’s grab some lunch.’ That was our negotiation. Here’s the kicker. He goes, ‘Oh, by the way, you guys aren’t planning on losing any weight are you?’ And I said, ‘What?’ And he goes, ‘We think that’s part of the charm.’ So I asked him, ‘So you don’t want me to lose weight. Could you write that down for my doctor and my wife?'”

Juricich has no regrets. OK, he has one. He would’ve loved to be able to cover the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park now underway, but wasn’t able to get a credential due to the restrictions on attendance (no fans, almost no media) stemming from the pandemic.

“There’s just something in your mind that says it’s time,” Juricich said. “I just wish we could have done our last show from Harding Park, where we both grew up playing. (Abendroth) obviously better than me. But, be that as it may, I’m going to be doing the last show from my bedroom.”

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190489 Seattle Kraken games on the road and then you’re back at 5 a.m., and he’d have to be in the office at 7 a.m. to do his public relations job with the team.

“But it was his tapes that got him hired. His passion for the game and his ‘You never set out to be the trailblazer’: Kraken’s Everett Fitzhugh body of work.” embraces opportunity as NHL’s first Black team broadcaster The pioneering hire made big waves around the NHL in the midst of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Everett Fitzhugh has become the first Black team broadcaster in NHL David Amber, a Black studio host for Hockey Night in Canada and NHL history after the Kraken announced Friday he'll join their on-air crew for on Sportsnet — formerly with ESPN — applauded the move. the team's planned October 2021 launch. “Seattle has been very good being ahead of the curve,” Amber said. As a minor-league hockey broadcaster in Cincinnati, Everett Fitzhugh “They’ve done a good job of identifying qualified candidates who happen would go on frequent road trips to Indianapolis, where he’d regularly to be visible minorities, that can do a good job to add to the diversity of encounter a young Black hockey fan named Desmond fist-bumping the sport. And maybe in this case, have a voice that comes at things players outside the visiting team’s locker room. through a different lens.”

“His Dad came up to me and said, ‘We listen to you sometimes and we Amber, among the first hockey TV studio hosts of color, said: “You’d be enjoy listening to you,’ and that was really cool,” Fitzhugh, 31, said surprised at how many times kids have come up to me. And even adults Friday, just after the Seattle Kraken announced it had made him the first have come up to me and said, ‘Oh, man it’s really great to see you out Black team broadcaster in NHL history. “I have had a few Black fans there in the game we love and in a prominent role. either in Cincinnati, or on the road, who find what I do and who I am. “That’s an awesome thing. I remember back to when I was a kid and I “You never set out to be the trailblazer,” he added. “But any time you’re would see Mark Jones, Mike Tirico, Fred Hickman and John Saunders able to inspire someone — and if there is someone out there who wants and I’d say, ‘Wow, I’d love to follow in their footsteps. And once to get into hockey or into broadcasting — being that example is really a someone’s there and is doing it, you don’t think it’s something you’re special privilege. It’s something you never get used to. But it’s something incapable of.” I enjoy doing.” Fitzhugh spent Friday getting “sore thumbs” from responding to all the Now, he’ll get to do it on a major stage after five seasons calling radio text messages from well-wishers. He admits it’s been tough keeping his play-by-play with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones and previously the new job a secret and not “shout it from the mountaintops” to anyone but Youngstown Phantoms of the junior United States Hockey League and close confidants in recent weeks. his Bowling Green State University alma matter. Fitzhugh was one of “I don’t think it’s truly hit me yet,” Fitzhugh said. “These past few weeks three broadcast hires announced by the Kraken; they’ve also added I’ve been saying to myself, ‘This is it, you’ve made the NHL.’ And Jonny Greco from the Madison Square Garden company and the Vegas everyone that I’ve told, my family, my fiancee’s family and all of my Golden Knights before that as their senior vice-president of live friends, they’ve been so supportive and so happy for me. entertainment and game presentation while Lamont Buford, previously with the Arizona Coyotes, is the team’s vice president of game “But today, I kind of had that smack in the face moment that said: ‘Man, presentation. you’re doing something really big here.’ ”

For now, Fitzhugh’s exact role has yet to be determined as the Kraken continues to build out its broadcast crew. The Detroit native will certainly do radio, possibly as a play-by-play commentator, and perhaps some By Geoff Baker television once the expansion team takes the ice in October 2021. Seattle Times LOADED: 08.08.2020 “As far as I know, my main job here in the interim is going to be a lot of content, a lot of video pieces, a lot of speaking engagements,” he said. “I’m going to be getting out in the community a lot. Just really helping to promote and hype up this team as they get set to play next year. After that, it’s a very fluid situation. That’s about all I know. I’m hoping there are some more opportunities down the road and some chances there.”

It’s an NHL leap he’d previously only dreamed of. He’d played baseball as a child. But he got turned on to hockey in Detroit as a third grader when seeing Black players Mike Grier and Georges Laraque with the Edmonton Oilers and soon began following the team through CBC broadcasts from the affiliate across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario.

Still, it wasn’t until a surprise email from Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke in February that Fitzhugh realized how close his dream was to becoming reality. Leiweke had just seen a feature story about McHugh in The Athletic before emailing him about a potential job opportunity that could materialize.

“I wasn’t sure it was real,” Fitzhugh said.

Leiweke said he’d looked up Fitzhugh’s email on the Cyclones website and told him: “Hey, I’m the CEO, if you’d like to catch up sometime I’m cheering you on in your career. He wrote me back, we talked.”

The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the team’s broadcast hiring plans. But in the interim, Leiweke heard from a few more people about Fitzhugh, including “a glowing recommendation” from legendary lead NBC hockey announcer Mike Emrick.

Leiweke finally got back to Fitzhugh in May to have him apply for the broadcast opening. By June, they did some virtual interviews and then invited Fitzhugh and his fiancée out to Seattle for in-person interviews last month before offering him the job about 2½ weeks ago.

“We loved his fire, his passion for the game,” Leiweke said. “It’s a little bit of an improbable journey for him. In the ECHL, you’re riding the bus to 1190490 St Louis Blues

Blues get 2 p.m. start against Dallas; face Calgary or Vancouver in Round of 16

Jim Thomas

EDMONTON, Alberta _ After three 5:30 p.m. Central starts at Rogers Place, the Blues get their first chance at playing on fresh ice in Sunday’s round-robin finale Dallas. The NHL announced late Friday night that the Blues-Stars contest will start at 2 p.m. Central, meaning it’s the first game of the day at the Edmonton hub.

As you may recall, the teams met in a dramatic second-round playoff series last season, with the Blues winning in seven games on hometown hero Pat Maroon’s game-winning goal in double-overtime of a 4-3 game.

Both teams are 0-2 in the round-robin here in Edmonton, with the Blues losing 2-1 to Colorado and 6-4 to Vegas. Both those games had 5:30 p.m. starts, as did the Blues' exhibition contest against Chicago.

Dallas lost to Vegas 5-3 and to Colorado 4-0. The winner of Sunday’s game gets the No. 3 seed for the remainder of the postseason; the loser gets the No. 4 seed.

The Blues will play either Calgary or Vancouver in the Round of 16 next week. The Blues went 1-1-1 against Vancouver and 3-0 against Calgary during the regular season _ with four of those six games on the road. If the Blues defeat Dallas, they get the No. 3 seed in the West and face No. 8 seed Calgary. If they lose to Dallas, they get the No. 4 seed and face No. 7 Vancouver.

The eight teams in the West bracket are set for the Round of 16: Arizona, Calgary, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, St. Louis, Vancouver, Vegas.

St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190491 St Louis Blues scoreboard screen, waving his towel as a recording of Blues’ season- ticket holders counted off each goal. “One, two, three, four.”

It looked like Towel Man was on a ladder at home, with a ceiling fan Pandemic hockey: With no fans in the stands "it's like a video game" overhead.

“You do notice it a little bit, but when you’re playing you don’t really pay attention to that sort of stuff, you know what I mean?” Brouwer said. Jim Thomas Not even when Towel Man did the count after Brouwer scored the Blues’ fourth goal?

EDMONTON, Alberta — It’s 15-minute walk from the media hotel to “I didn’t notice that one,” Brouwer said. “I heard the gong (horn) or Rogers Place — three blocks up and two blocks over. A few homeless whatever it is, but I didn’t pay that much attention to that aspect of it.” people congregate near the rink, a not-infrequent sight around many downtown arenas these days. So it didn’t feel like he was playing at Enterprise?

No one else is around Rogers Place. No cars pulling into the surface lot. “No definitely not,” Brouwer said. No fans wearing team colors, walking with anticipation toward the After all, but how do you replace 18,096 screaming fans? entrances. No scalpers. No snarled game-day traffic. Well, you don’t. There’s a hockey game today in Edmonton — three of them actually. But you’d never know it. “It’s quiet,” coach Craig Berube said. “Obviously people can hear things; there’s nobody in the building. I normally don’t yell at referees, so I don’t No line at the media entrance. As you check in, someone takes your think I’m too worried about that.” temperature and asks a series of questions unlike anything heard at a sports venue before. It’s quiet in the traditional — or non-pandemic — press box area, where each team has their own section for watching games. • Have you recently experienced fever or chills, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing? “You can hear everything on the ice,” said defenseman Jake Walman, who has watched from that vantage point as a Blues’ healthy scratch. • Have you recently experienced fatigue, muscle or body aches, “You can hear like even the little conversations on the ice. So it’s kinda headaches? cool. Even in the stands you can hear everything.” • Have you experienced recent loss of taste or smell, a sore throat, Things like players yelling “Go! Go! Go!” when they want a teammate to congestion or running nose? start a rush up the ice. Or “Hey! Hey!” when they’re open and want the • Have you been exposed recently to anyone with COVID-19 or anyone puck. Of course, there’s the occasional expletive — usually the one who has displayed COVID-19 symptoms? starting with the letter “F” — that can be heard loud and clear.

And so on. With each “no” answer, the temperature-taker checks a box “Especially the stoppages in play and the TV timeouts, it’s weird,” Ryan on a printed form. Once the temperature checks out OK, it’s an escalator O’Reilly said. “You kind of hear every little thing. You know on the ice, ride and then up an elevator to the seventh floor of Rogers Place. too, with no fans — the communication, you can hear a lot clearer. Which is different. It’s very unique.” But the final destination is not the press box, it’s the concourse on the upper deck of the arena. Signs point you in the right direction, roped off Every sound seems amplified. The thump of a slapshot off the goalie’s areas prevent you from going in the wrong direction. Socially-distanced pads. Stick taps for the anthems, an injured player, or after a fight. Stick workers — all wearing masks — make sure you’re headed the right way striking puck. Skates changing direction on ice. Shots don’t just ring off as well. the post, they clang.

The “press box” actually isn’t the press box, it’s a makeshift area below If you include players, team personnel, ice crew, security, NHL support the pre-pandemic press box behind the last row of seats. staff and media, there’s maybe 200-300 people in the building. Media are not allowed on the event level/locker room area postgame. There’s no one here for the Blues-Vegas game. No one in the press area, and obviously no one in the stands. Instead, there are a couple of curtained off areas near the makeshift press box. Any media members at the rink get to ask the first few Other than the Post-Dispatch, there are only three other U.S. media questions — looking into a camera so the players down below can see outlets represented here: the Minneapolis Star, the New York Times and them. Then media at remote locations, mainly from the team’s home Colorado Hockey Now. Chalk it up to the mandatory 14-day coronavirus cities, get their crack via Zoom. quarantine for foreign citizens entering Canada. The NHL has tried to have fun with this. During the Blues’ round-robin There were four Canadian teams here when the tournament started — opener against Colorado, the PA announcer made the following Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Winnipeg. So when those teams are announcement late in the game. playing, there may be eight or 10 writers. Otherwise, slim pickings. “Tonight’s attendance is zero. But thank you for watching at home.” Watching a game with a mask on is problematical for those who wear eyeglasses. They constantly fog up. Rolled up tissue paper under the Prior to Thursday’s contest against the Golden Knights, this advisory was mask between nose and glasses helps. posted on the scoreboard: “The Wave is strictly prohibited at tonight’s game.” The NHL has done just about everything possible to create atmosphere, from the large video screens installed in the arena, to covering the lower- There was this announcement at the conclusion of Wednesday’s Dallas- deck seats with tarps, to piping in crowd noise, and adding any “home Colorado game: “At the conclusion of tonight’s game, please exit your crowd” touches it can. couch safely. And we thank you for watching from home.”

The Blues were the designated home team for the first time in Thursday’s Welcome to the NHL’s Pandemic Playoffs. 6-4 loss to Vegas. James Bertels, who frequently sings the U.S. and “It kind of feels like I’m in a video game,” Jordan Binnington said. Canadian national anthems at Blues home games accompanying himself on the acoustic guitar, was shown on the Rogers Place video board And with EA Sports providing some of the artificial crowd noise, he’s not singing the anthem, presumably from St. Louis. far off.

Jeremy Boyer, the organist at Enterprise Center, similarly was shown on the board doing his thing from time to time during the game. St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 08.08.2020 The “power play song” was played when the Blues had the man advantage. After a Blues goal, the one and only Towel Man was on the 1190492 St Louis Blues

Simplicity has been key to Allen's success in Blues goal

Tom Timmermann

Blues coach Craig Berube has said he was looking to get both of his goalies into games during the round-robin portion of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and he confirmed to the team’s broadcasters Thursday that Jake Allen will get the call on Sunday when the Blues close out that round against Dallas.

Backup goalies usually see ice time in the postseason only when something goes wrong, but with the long layoff and the luxury afforded by the non-elimination quality of the round-robins — though judging by the Blues’ play it may not be that much of a luxury — Berube is taking the opportunity to get his No. 2 some work.

It’s not that big a drop for the Blues to turn to Allen. In fact, in some ways, it’s not a drop at all. Allen, who turned 30 on Friday, had a better goals- against average than Jordan Binnington (2.15 to 2.56) and a better save percentage (.927 to .912). Binnington had more success, however, with a 30-13-7 record to Allen’s 12-6-3.

“I tried to build off what I did in the second half of the previous season,” Allen said. “I thought the second half of the previous year was probably the best hockey prior to that I played. I tried to keep my game as simple as possible and carry that game over. We had a short summer so the game wasn’t too far removed from us and I worked with (goalie coach) Dave (Alexander) quite extensively in trying to keep my game in a solid structure. I found in the second half of the year that we won (the Stanley Cup), my game was pretty solid and I tried to keep building off that and improving every day and being ready to go.

“My starts are a little bit few and far between and I had to stay sharp and I was proud of myself for staying in there all the time and being ready for the boys and that’s going to be kind of the same mindset going into this playoff round here.”

Allen, who lost his starting job to Binnington last season, got in only one game in the Cup run, coming in late in the second period of Game 3 against the Bruins and finishing out the Blues’ 7-2 loss. While the play-in games have shown that coaches haven’t hesitated to change goalies, it’s going to take a lot to knock Binnington out of the net for the Blues and Allen knows that.

“I’m going to take that mindset I had last year of just being ready all the time,” Allen said. “I think we had a good thing going last year with me and Binner and I’ll be ready to be there for him and the boys whenever they need me. It’s definitely going to be interesting.”

Colton Parayko scored twice against Vegas on Thursday, moving him up on one list and tying him for the first on another among Blues defensemen.

Parayko became just the fourth Blues defenseman to have two goals in a playoff game. The others were Alexander Khavanov, who scored twice against Vancouver in Game 1 of the first round in 2003, Al MacInnis, who did it against Game 3 of the second round series with Detroit in 1998 and Charlie Bourgeois, in Game 1 of the second round vs. Toronto in 1986.

The two goals gave Parayko eight postseason goals in his career and jumped him over Alex Pietrangelo and Paul Cavallini into fourth all time for the Blues, behind MacInnis with 14 and Chris Pronger and Jeff Brown with 10.

St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190493 Tampa Bay Lightning

Lightning, Flyers set to play for No. 1 seed in Eastern Conference

Mari Faiello Sports Trending and Outdoors Reporter

The Lightning have something to play for in their final round-robin game. Their matchup against the Flyers on Saturday determines the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Philadelphia enters the game (8 p.m., NBC, 970-AM) with the same 2-0 record as Tampa Bay in the round robin for playoff seeding. The Flyers defeated the Capitals 3-1 on Thursday and the Bruins 4-1 on Sunday.

Philadelphia has a full team with all the pieces working together cohesively. It doesn’t have many stars, but that’s part of the Flyers’ success. Everyone is forced to step up.

The Lightning are the only team in the conference that the Flyers did not pick up at least one point against during the abbreviated regular season.

With the teams resuming the season in bubble cities because of the coronavirus, getting the No. 1 seed doesn’t have the typical benefits it would bring in a normal postseason, such as home-ice advantage through at least the conference playoffs. But teams designated as the home teams still set matchups with the last line change, which Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said is worth noting.

“For us, it’s all about gaining momentum going into the playoffs,” Hedman said. “That’s where we go in with the mentality (Saturday) is to win the game and continue to work on the things we need to improve on and keep doing the things that we’ve been doing good so far.”

Looking ahead

Friday was a busy day for the league. Six teams faced elimination in the playoff qualifiers.

In the Eastern Conference, the Islanders defeated the Panthers 5-1, winning the best-of-five series 3-1 to make the 16-team playoffs. The Canadiens also earned a playoff spot, beating the Penguins 2-0 to win the series 3-1.

The Maple Leafs, facing elimination against the Blue Jackets, came back from 3-0 down in the last four minutes of regulation and won 4-3 in overtime to force Game 5 in that series Sunday.

What that means for the Lightning is if they win Saturday, they get the No. 1 seed and face the Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs, which begins next week. If the Lightning lose Saturday, they get the No. 2 seed and face the Jackets-Leafs winner.

Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190494 Tampa Bay Lightning

Lightning’s Steven Stamkos to miss Flyers game, uncertain for playoffs’ start

Mari Faiello Sports Trending and Outdoors Reporter

Lightning coach Jon Cooper has officially ruled out captain Steven Stamkos for Saturday’s final round-robin game against the Flyers, which will determine the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

“Injuries are unpredictable,” Cooper said. “If there’s somebody that is working harder than him, I have not seen it in trying to get back.”

Stamkos suffered a leg injury during voluntary on-ice workouts while the NHL season was paused due to concerns related to the coronavirus.

After two weeks of training camp — in which Stamkos did not skate a full session — he had been skating with the team off and on in Toronto. He did not skate with the other forward lines on Tuesday.

“(Stamkos is) rehabbing,” Cooper said. “Our staff has been working with him on a daily basis. In situations like this, you never know.”

Cooper said before the team left for the bubble that Stamkos playing in all of the games leading up to the playoffs wasn’t the expectation. He was, however, hopeful that he’d get some playing time in multiple round- robin games.

“He’s eager to come back,” Cooper said. “Clearly, we want him to come back.”

Stamkos did not skate in Friday’s practice, nor did forward Pat Maroon and defenseman Jan Rutta (who blocked a shot against the Bruins), per the team. The three were “unfit to play.”

Zach Bogosian skated with Victor Hedman in the defense pairings, and Carter Verhaeghe joined Cedric Paquette and Mitchell Stephens on the fourth line in the practice.

Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190495 Tampa Bay Lightning

Flyers top Capitals, will meet Lightning for top seed in East playoffs

Staff Report

TORONTO — The Flyers played like a team making a run as the best in the East before the NHL shutdown.

With hockey back, the streaking Flyers just might get there. With one more win, against the Lightning on Saturday, they’ll earn the top seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs in coach Alain Vigneault’s first season.

“I like our work ethic. I like how we’re trying to play the smart way,” Vigneault said.

Philadelphia was smart and tough Thursday against Washington, and the line of Scott Laughton, Kevin Hayes and Travis Konecny sparked the Flyers to a 3-1 win in round-robin play for playoff seeding.

Laughton had two goals and an assist. Hayes had three assists, and Konecny had two assists.

“They’re certainly without a doubt our best line at the moment,” Vigneault said.

The Flyers have won 11 of their last 12 games dating to Feb. 18, but it’s their two victories so far in the round-robin series among the top four teams in the East that have the Flyers believing they can go far.

The Flyers won nine straight games before losing their final one before the March 12 coronavirus shutdown. They have resumed the season with wins over Boston and Washington, and can’t finish worse than second in the Eastern Conference.

The winner of the Lightning-Flyers game Saturday earns the top seed in the East.

“So far, so good,” Hayes said.

Vigneault, who led the Rangers and Canucks to the Stanley Cup final, has made all the right moves in his first season on the bench in Philadelphia. The outlook is suddenly bright for a franchise going on 45 years without a championship.

Travis Sanheim also scored and Brian Elliott stopped 16 shots to keep the Flyers perfect this season (4-0-1) against the Capitals. Washington’s Alex Ovechkin has failed to score against the Flyers this season.

“We’re still looking for that extra gear that we all know we have,” Capitals right wing T.J. Oshie said. “The point of these games obviously is for the seeding, but for us personally we need to get our game where we need it to be.”

Travis Boyd scored for the Capitals on a deflection in the third to make it 3-1. Washington is 0-2 in the restart.

“We have to handle ourselves a little bit better emotionally,” forward Nic Dowd said of the Capitals’ seven penalties.

The Flyers scratched slumping forward James van Riemsdyk.

Capitals defenseman John Carlson also did not play. Carlson has not played since he left in the third period of a July 29 exhibition game against the Hurricanes.

The Capitals play the Bruins on Sunday for the No. 3 seed.

Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190496 Tampa Bay Lightning “Any time you have a surgery, there’s going to be things that are certainly connected with one another,” Stamkos said. “I would just call it ebbs and flows of going through a rehab. Obviously, I’ve had a few unfortunate surgeries over the years — I know what to expect. There was a stretch Why is Steven Stamkos’ playoff status complicated? for four-to-five weeks where just a couple of guys were allowed to skate and I was feeling really good. Obviously, there was no contact, no game-

like situations, and during that time I was feeling good, then kind of hit a By Joe Smith little rut.”

Aug 7, 2020 Taylor can relate. He had his surgery done in February, wiping out the rest of the season with the Rangers. He then played the first half the season the next year before it “blew up on me” and he had to shut it down. Taylor signed with the Lightning in 2001 and played a key role in When Tim Taylor had core surgery two decades ago, the former their 2004 Stanley Cup run before getting named captain in 2006. He Lightning captain got sobering news from his surgeon. said the core injury was something he had to do daily maintenance with It was Dr. William Meyer, who is nationally-renown for the procedure. The head athletic trainer Tommy Mulligan, who is still with the team. The doctor told the then 30-year-old center that for every 10 players with this abdominal and core muscles are so pivotal in every hockey move, from injury, two or three never make it back. They just retire. their skating to shooting, that it’s difficult to “take it easy” on it.

“It’s that big,” Taylor recalled. “You’re stretching and pulling in every action you make skating,” Taylor said. “It’s not like a shoulder where you can leave it alone for a while. Taylor, now director of player development for the Blues, admits he’s You’re constantly pulling and stretching those muscles and releasing on never heard of a player who didn’t return from core surgery, with Sidney the sore spot. Crosby, Patrice Bergeron among many stars who have bounced back and still play at a high level. “You’re compensating the whole time too. It’s like when you hurt your back, then your knee hurts because you try to protect that area. It takes But the fact Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, five months removed some time to come back.” from surgery, may still not be ready for the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs next Tuesday underscores how complex and challenging the Taylor stressed that every player is different when it comes to recovery recovery is for this abdominal-area injury. from core surgery, partly because the types of tears, repairs can be different. But from those NHL players we spoke with, including former “It’s very hard, because you never really feel comfortable that first year Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman, call it a “very, very frustrating with it,” Taylor said by phone on Friday. “There’s always something injury.” nagging, especially for a player based on quickness and speed. It took me almost a full year to two years to get over it.” “From my experience with it, it’s a quite long recovery period for going back to normal,” Stralman said in March. “It’s not really until about this Stamkos, 30, had been hopeful to play in one of the team’s three round- time of year that I actually can go off the ice and know that I won’t feel it robin games this week, but was ruled out for Saturday’s finale against the and have pain from it. It’s just scar tissue build-up, everything is all over Flyers, which will determine the Eastern Conference’s top seed. He the place. You have to fight through it.” appeared headed in the right direction last week, when he was a full participant in three straight practices. But Stamkos hasn’t been a full Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who had the procedure in the participant since, and didn’t skate with the team Friday. When asked this summer of 2018, noted that unlike defensemen, who do a lot of their week if there had been a setback, coach Jon Cooper has referred to the skating backward, forwards like Stamkos really are driving that core with ebbs and flows of the rehab. their powerful skating and shooting.

On Friday, an exasperated Cooper tried to put Stamkos questions to rest, “Every stride, you want to give 100 percent max effort for a turn or a shot saying the captain is out “indefinitely until he’s not.” That’s a far cry from or a hit,” McDonagh said. “If you’re not able to get up to top speed or put what GM Julien BriseBois said a month ago at the start of camp, that all your strength, you’ll take a hit wrong or not shoot it. Your core is the when there is games, Stamkos will be ready. base of your strength. It’s really important to take care of it.”

“Injuries are unpredictable,” Cooper said. “And if there’s somebody that’s McDonagh came back after his surgery and had one of his better working harder than him I’ve not seen it, in terms of trying to get back. seasons last year, including getting his name on some Norris Trophy He’s rehabbing. Our staff has been working with him on a daily basis. In ballots. This year, McDonagh has dealt with a few other injuries, situations like this, you never know. including a broken foot, but said the core issue hasn’t been a big factor.

“Just to put all this to bed, don’t ask any more questions about Stamkos. “You’ve got to trust your training staff, and listen to yourself — take it one When he’s ready to come back, I’ll be the first to tell you. But there’s no step at a time,” McDonagh said. “It’s like summer training. You can’t just use speculating anymore. As of right now, he’s out indefinitely until he’s jump to the finish line. You’re not squatting a ton or lifting a ton. Just take not. I’ll be the person to let you know when that is. But you should know baby steps.” he’s working his tail off and he’s eager to come back. Clearly we want Fans may be frustrated or worried that Stamkos isn’t ready to play. There him to come back, so when that time is right, we’ll let you know.” have been some critical on social media, and that seems unfair. Stamkos If it sounds like Cooper doesn’t know when Stamkos will play, it’s has been through several significant injuries in his career, from a broken because the All-Star likely doesn’t know, either. This is not crafty leg to a torn meniscus to a blood clot. Yet Stamkos has continued to play gamesmanship by the Lightning to keep their opponents guessing. at a high level, with 98 points and 45 goals in 2018-19 (his most since Stamkos’ presence on the ice changes the entire complexion of the scoring 60 in 2011-12). This season, Stamkos had 66 points in 57 games team, as Fox Sports analyst Brian Engblom says, so if he was healthy (29 goals), including passing the 400-career goal milestone. and able to practice on the first power play and top-six, they’d want him Is Stamkos frustrated that he’s not ready to play? There’s no doubt. But out there. teammates say that the captain hasn’t let that impact his mood around When Stamkos had the procedure March 2 in St. Louis, performed by Dr. the group and in the room. They believe Stamkos will return to form and Michael Brunt at Washington University, the team announced that rehab be a difference-maker. and recovery were anticipated to last six-to-eight weeks. That initially was “We’re very confident,” said Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, one devastating to Stamkos, who thought he might have to miss part or all of of Stamkos’ closest friends. “Stammer has been battling through injuries the first round of the playoffs, which were scheduled for early April. for a long time now. He’s always managed to come back and be even The pandemic-related NHL shutdown gave Stamkos several more more of a complete player. The energy he brings to this team, and just months to recover, and he took full advantage of the ice time he could the positive attitude he brings to the locker room every day, it doesn’t have before suffering another lower-body injury during Phase 2. matter if he hadn’t played in a few months, he still brings the right attitude BriseBois initially said it was a “new” injury, but Stamkos pointed out that to the rink. You never get to see him being lonely or having a bad mood it was related to the core surgery. around the guys. “I think that says a lot about the kind of guy that he is, to this team and they’ve ended up in the back of our net. Goalies are always the hardest the leader he is to us. He’s always had a team-first attitude. It doesn’t on themselves but we’ve got guys in front of them and we’ve got to get in matter if he’s playing or not, he always brings that to the locker room and the road of some of these shots. And when they’re tipped and deflected, it rubs off on guys, makes us better. It’s awesome to see the mentality he it’s tough because you don’t know where they’re going.” brings to our group. Formidable Flyers Bogosian or Rutta? The Lightning play the Flyers Saturday, with the winner getting the top The Lightning don’t have many decisions they’ll have to make on their seed in the Eastern Conference. Home ice doesn’t mean as much with lineup, even if Stamkos is indeed out for Game 1 of the first round. no fans in the stands, but it still gives you the advantage of having the last line change for better matchups. The Flyers were the hottest team in But one of the only ones they had to figure out was who would be the league for the second half of the season, and looked great in beating Hedman’s partner in the top pair? Veteran Zach Bogosian earned his both the Capitals and Bruins this week. shot with a strong camp, saying he feels better than he did in four-to-five years after having more time to recover from last summer’s hip surgery. “They’re an explosive team and they’re a dynamic team,” Cooper said. But Jan Rutta had been Hedman’s primary partner for most of this year, “They’ve got the kid in net (Carter Hart) who has really matured. I and a good one, before he suffered a lower-body injury in February. coached a few of their players in the world championship and I know what their DNA is. They’ve just matured as a team, (Coach Alain Bogosian played in Monday’s game against the Capitals, and Rutta Vigneault) has done a really good job in that regard. Because they were played Wednesday. Both played pretty well overall. But it seems like always like a wild card, they could let the emotions of the game take injuries might make the decision for Tampa Bay, as Rutta was one of over. But what I see now is maturity in their game. You throw that three players to miss Friday’s practice (Stamkos and Pat Maroon). confidence throw that confidence and some of their budding stars they There’s no official updates on players in the bubble other than being have on the blue line and can’t be surprised they reeled off 10, 11 in a “unfit to play,” but you wonder if the shot Rutta blocked during a third- row. They’re most definitely going to be a force in the Eastern period penally kill might have led to an injury. Bogosian practiced with Conference.” Hedman Friday.

I asked Cooper Friday where they were in Bogosian vs. Rutta? The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 “Well, it’s a good luxury to have,” Cooper said. “The problem is other things get in the way, when guys get nicked up, that’s going to have a little bit of say what happens as well. Both guys have shown well and hope they’re both going to be healthy enough to play. We’ve got some depth at that position. We at least know they can both be a positive for our team. So, now, I’m not looking at one guy playing over the other, just seeing, ‘Can the guys play and can they help our team?’ And both of the guys have.”

For what it’s worth, Hedman said it “doesn’t really matter” which one he plays with. He said they both are big defensemen who make strong first passes. He can read well off both. It’s all about the Norris winner playing his game, anyways.

“I’m doing my job, it doesn’t matter who I’m paired with,” Hedman said. “You go out there and get the job done. I don’t think it changes what I bring to this team. I still have to play my game, the only difference is the guy next to me. At the end of the day, it comes down to making hockey reads and doing what I do best which is skating and using my speed and reach out there.”

Vasilevskiy’s “seeing-eye singles”

For the most part, Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has been sharp during the round-robin games.

It’s hard to complain when you give up just two goals apiece to the Bruins and Capitals. The Lightning don’t win Monday’s game against Washington without Vasilevskiy’s big saves in overtime (the one on Alex Ovechkin, for example) or the shootout.

But there has been one surprising part of Vasilevskiy’s game in that he’s allowed a few goals where he made initial save, but the puck trickled through his pads to the goal line. A couple of times a Lightning player had saved a goal with his stick in the crease, like Maroon did on Monday.

If you watch the video, there are a couple of them where there’s traffic moving in front of Vasilevskiy, another where there might have been a subtle tip. Cooper acknowledged there have been a few of those odd goals, but pointed to the fact that the defensemen and forwards need to do a better job in front of Vasilevskiy in terms of blocking those point shots or boxing out screens.

“Little bit of seeing-eye singles,” Cooper said. “It’s hard to say. On (Charlie) McAvoy’s one (Wednesday), there are guys blowing by with their sticks coming at (Vasilevskiy). It’s tough when pucks are tipped. The best you can do is almost hoping your body position (is right) and you’re staying calm in net. He’s had a couple of bad breaks, but I’ve been really happy with his game.

“Look at the third period in both games, that’s when you need your goalie and he’s been there for us. Those are ones where if our forward blocks the shots, we’re not talking about it. But as soon as the puck gets past you, you don’t box out right and someone gets a stick on it.We’ve got to make sure we’re on it. We’ve missed a couple of assignments and 1190497 Toronto Maple Leafs Merzlikins was making his first start in the NHL playoffs and picked up right where he left off on Thursday when he entered the game in relief of Joonas Korpisalo. Merzlikins, who made 21 saves in the Blue Jackets 4- 3 victory, stopped 15 shots in the first period and 16 more in the second. Leafs send series to Game 5 with 4-3 overtime win over Blue Jackets In the third, he stopped only five of eight attempts. He ended up stopping after stunning three-goal comeback 49 of 53 on the night.

Early in the game, he was magnificent. At the beginning, he slid across the crease and blocked a shot by Nick Robertson with his pad, another Marty Klinkenberg time he dived to cover up a puck that Pierre Engvall nearly tapped into the corner of the net. Near the end of the first period he denied shots on a power play by Mitch Marner and Tavares. One night after blowing a three-goal lead in the third period, the Toronto Maple Leafs staged a remarkable comeback to even their playoff Only 24 hours earlier, the Maple Leafs were on the verge of pushing the qualifying series with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday at Scotiabank Blue Jackets to the brink. Four goals later, their positions were reversed. Arena. “It’s a funny game sometimes,” Keefe said. Auston Matthews scored with 6:50 left in the first overtime period to give Columbus, which would have failed to make the playoffs if the field had Toronto the 4-3 victory. The Maple Leafs trailed 3-0 late in the third not been expanded from 16 to 24 teams, had them on the ropes and then period before erupting for three goals, the last by Zach Hyman, which they made a Houdini-like escape. tied the game with only 22 seconds remaining. “There is always a belief on our team,” Nick Foligno, the Blue Jackets All of this occurred one night after Toronto blew a 3-0 lead in the third captain, said earlier Friday. He was called for a tripping penalty in and lost 4-3 in overtime. overtime that led to the Toronto goal. After the game ended, he was The best-of-five series is now tied at two wins each, with the deciding shouting at the referees. “You thrive when you feel comfortable in game to be played on Sunday. The winner advances to the opening uncomfortable situations. We embrace that. It is something that drives us round of the full 16-team Stanley Cup tournament. every game.”

“I can’t say I have ever been part of something like that,” Matthews said Perhaps the Maple Leafs have been overcomplicating things. They have afterward. “This group has to be unbelievably proud of each other. I don’t a lot of moving parts with all of those high-priced players. The Blue know what to say. What an amazing comeback.” Jackets are not so encumbered.

Toronto was less than four minutes away from elimination when it staged “We just play,” Columbus coach John Tortorella said. “We don’t overthink a rally that was as electrifying as Thursday’s meltdown. It pulled goalie things. It is not adjustments and this, that, and the other thing. We just try Frederik Andersen to put another attacker on the ice, and then scored to go out and play the game the right way.” three times rapid-fire to force an extra time. Friday night, Toronto did, too. It saved its season. William Nylander beat Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins with 3:57 Matthews had a goal and two assists, Tavares had a goal and an assist, remaining, and then John Tavares scored 51 seconds later. Zach Hyman Marner had two assists, and Hyman had a goal and an assist. tapped in the tying goal in with just 22 seconds left. “This series is as tight as it can be,” Hyman said. The Maple Leafs are now one victory from winning a postseason series for the first time since 2004, and still have faint hopes of winning their first Looking forward to Sunday, he said, “We have to be ready for a battle.” Stanley Cup since 1967.

“It was pretty remarkable to be a part of,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said afterward. “One we got one [goal] we kept pushing. We’ve got new life Globe And Mail LOADED: 08.08.2020 right now. We were getting CPR there for a little bit.”

Instead of a victory march, the 2019-20 campaign has been an uphill climb into a stiff wind from the beginning. Mike Babcock was fired as coach after a poor start. The results were slightly better with Keefe in charge but inconsistency remained a problem along with a lack of drive.

Toronto has swung back and forth from being dominating to being dominated even in this series, and at times both in the same game.

A year ago, the Blue Jackets ousted the Tampa Bay Lightning, who had won the President’s Trophy for the most points during the regular season, in a four-game sweep. They had the Maple Leafs so frustrated that Jason Spezza and Alex Kerfoot, neither much of a pugilist, squared off in bouts with opposing players.

Columbus got goals from Cam Atkinson, Vladislav Gavrikov and Boone Jenner.

Atkinson, who scored the winner in Game 1, put the Blue Jackets ahead when he snapped a puck past Andersen from 14 feet away. The goal was set up by a sharp pass across the crease by Pierre-Luc Dubois. Gavrikov found the net from 47 feet away early in the second. David Savard and Alexander Texier had the assists.

Jenner added the third with 5:42 left. At that point, it appeared bleak. After the goal, Toronto’s defenceman Morgan Rielly broke his stick in half on the bench.

Then the magic of the playoffs reared its head.

The Maple Leafs pulled Andersen after Jenner’s goal and put an extra attacker on the ice. Nylander beat Elvis Merzlikins with 3:57 remaining, and then came the goals from Tavares and Hyman.

“They weren’t going to quit,” Keefe said. 1190498 Toronto Maple Leafs If Babcock was the one going down here, that would’ve given management the freedom to fire him in the off-season and start fresh. There are no more fresh starts now. Now now and not ever.

Leafs pull a rabbit out of the hat with Game 4 comeback A side-effect of firing Babcock – one no one will start seriously considering until this season is done one way or the other - is introduce the concept of ‘change’ into this Leafs team for the first time.

Cathal Kelly Until now, there was faith that time would do the trick. As the young core got older, it would get better. More important, it would become more

mature, less flaky, less likely to turtle once things got tough. Auston Matthews and his Toronto Maple Leafs teammates celebrate his That impression now depends entirely on one game – Sunday’s decider. game winning goal at 13:10 in overtime to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round If the Leafs take it, they have – huzzah! – won a (faux) playoff series. at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Aug. 7, 2020. There is only one city in the world where that allows a squad full of luxuriously rewarded superstars to celebrate like they’ve achieved Once again, the Toronto Maple Leafs are playing their dangerous game. something, and fortunately the Leafs play in it. That game isn’t hockey. The Leafs play that all the time, at wildly Maybe there’s something to the ‘monkey on the back’ theory. Maybe the disparate levels of skill and engagement. Leafs just have to get off the launch pad in order to break orbit. It’s that On Friday night, they had one of their ‘Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize we were sort of magical thinking that makes this market simultaneously the best getting paid to do this’ games. After sleepwalking through the first 56 and worst in the world. minutes of play, Toronto woke up in the final four. But since this is a newspaper column, let’s focus on worst-case Down three goals? No problem. scenarios. Having given people hope, let’s say the Leafs lose. Let’s say they lose badly – either blown out or (worse) on some horrible lapse in Pull the goalie and go to town? Just like they drew it up in practice. the final minutes of the game.

An overtime winner? Auston Matthews, obviously. That will make people angry. For the first time in a while, it will make them angry enough that they expect the team to change. The top guy on It says something wonderful and awful about the past decade of Toronto most hit lists will be (insert Goat-du-Jour here). He’s a) been largely hockey that this 4-3 win was probably the best game of all of it. invisible in this series; b) makes a lot of money, which bothers people Now we move on to Sunday and what would represent the greatest and c) has the sort of contract that can be moved. playoff triumph in recent Leafs history. Admittedly, that’s not a high bar. This isn’t because people think the Goat-du-Jour is to blame for this still- It’s not even a bar. But it would be something. theoretical loss. He isn’t. It’s because they want the team to prove to But that dangerous game the Leafs are playing is flirting with them they feel bad for losing, and the easiest way to do that is by competence. If the Leafs manage that – and I would strongly caution punishing someone for it. them to think very hard about this next step – that will create The Leafs aren’t going to trade Goat-du-Jour because they know to a expectations. certainty that they are not getting back as much quality as they’ve giving Those expectations will continue to grow in the next few hours. Should away. And, more important, because they don’t want to start going down they lose on Sunday, those now quite large expectations will become the road of giving angry fans what they want. Once you start that, you bitterness. And bitterness is what turns the hockey audience in Toronto can’t stop. into a frothing mob. Then people get really upset. Everyone on this Leafs team not named Morgan Rielly has never seen And now Shanahan and Dubas find themselves where so many of their this town when it gets like this. For the past few years, they’ve had a soft predecessors ended up – fighting off their own fanbase as well as their ride. ‘Lost again? I bet that hurts. You’ll be better next time, champ. We opponents. believe in you.’ This is how expectations get you in trouble. The Leafs created some The Leafs have never given anyone a reason to believe. They continue huge ones on Friday night. Now they have until Sunday to clean this to make the same mistakes, lose the same sorts of games and trot out mess up. exactly the same excuses. ‘Just didn’t have it’; ‘disappointed in ourselves’; ‘try to learn from this and come back better’.

And people have accepted that. Globe And Mail LOADED: 08.08.2020 Much of that is connected to the primary philosophy that management has banged into the heads of Toronto fans – that they will no longer trade players or fire coaches just because you are upset. This is the team you’ve got, so like it or lump it.

This has been the key virtue of the Brendan Shanahan era – stability. But at a certain point, if you haven’t made any progress, stability begins to look like stasis.

One thing changed this year. The club broke its own rule. Firing Mike Babcock made it clear that the Leafs will make major changes if enough pressure is applied.

Unusually, in that case, Babcock was the one applying the pressure. He was asked to make small changes to his style and refused. What had come off as self-belief early in his tenure now began to resemble egoism and pig-headedness. And so an example was made.

History teaches us that after you’ve made an example of one person, you tend to make a few more before you’ve finished.

We still don’t know if firing Babcock was the right idea. If the Leafs end up losing this series, it wasn’t. They could’ve lost just as easily with Babcock playing the fourth line all night as you did with Sheldon Keefe giving the kids the keys to the car. 1190499 Toronto Maple Leafs “You know what? I think we played a good game today,” said Keefe. “Obviously we don’t like how we got behind early ... so it was a tough road for us today. But our guys played really hard. It wasn’t perfect, but our guys played with heart and it was nice to see them get rewarded.” The Leafs were down three with four minutes to go, facing elimination. And then came the lightning bolts The organization had wanted all year to see how this team would react to the real pressure: How do you stick together when you’re down, and how do you stay cool when you’re up? How do you play up to the moment? Great teams walk those lines. The Leafs hadn’t done it at all. They waited By Bruce Arthur Columnist a long time, but they found the combination. Fri., Aug. 7, 2020 “Probably some of the craziest events that I’ve ever seen, or been a part of,” said Nylander.

It was over, probably. The Toronto Maple Leafs would have been getting And now they’re alive, with Game 5 Sunday. This was probably booed if there had been fans in the building, in a normal year. It hasn’t something like what the Bruins fan base felt like in 2013 against the been a normal year, of course. It’s been a weird one. Leafs, when their players were sitting on the bench in the third period of Game 7 wondering who was going to get traded. Merzlikins, who faced And little is stranger than the Leafs completing the comeback, rather than 53 shots, had been superb. Spezza had fought in the second period, and watching it happen to them. Toronto had gone down 3-0 with 5:42 left. the fact that the 37-year-old felt he had to, in an elimination game, was Morgan Rielly had nobody to pass to, turned the puck over and watched an indictment of his teammates. His better contribution, though, was that the life drain from the season. The Leafs pulled their goalie. Sure. Toronto’s fourth line was charged up and in Columbus’s end about three quarters of the time. That was Spezza and Kyle Clifford and Pierre And then came the lightning bolts. With the pressure on, William Engvall giving everything. Nylander jammed in a rebound with 3:57 left: 3-1. Hey, lots of time left. But the Leafs didn’t press Columbus until they did, and the lightning bolts “It would have been so disappointing, of course, for it to end the way that came when talent and urgency were married together, and mostly it it was looking like it was going to,” said Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe. made you wonder why they waited so long. “But I mean, this is a funny game. Funny, funny game. And I think there’s been times in this series where we haven’t been rewarded as we should But maybe that wasn’t a shock. All season this has been an uneven have, and we had a little bit of good fortune today, as a result of our team. In December, they quit in Philly and Andersen said, “I think we’ve resilience.” got to be more proud than that. Hopefully we can respond, and show what kind of character we have.” In February, Toronto got strafed in It was six days into these proto-playoffs, and the Leafs were facing Pittsburgh and Tavares said, “I don’t know what else we need in front of elimination in an empty pandemic arena. All season the Leafs waited for us to motivate us.” In March, they got blanked in California and Matthews the end, to find out what was there. Sometimes they looked incredible. said, “I think we’re kind of, you know, one foot in the door, one foot out as Sometimes they looked bored. Sometimes they looked like they were far as the way we want to play. And I think we just all need to be 100 per what they essentially are: a work in progress, with a sky-high ceiling and cent in.” There were a lot of quotes like that, all year. a humiliating floor. They had spent 55 minutes not scoring — getting shots, sure, but not scoring. And now it was 3-1. And then there were the high points, and this was the highest so far. There’s a great team in there, maybe, probably, possibly. Unless, of So the Leafs put Frederik Andersen back on the bench and got another, course, they flop in Game 5. It’s still all hanging in the air. within a minute: John Tavares got a puck in the slot and slung it top corner. They still had 3:06 left. It wasn’t over, somehow. “I think to develop mental toughness you need to go through experiences,” said Columbus coach John Tortorella before the game. “I think once we got one, we just wanted to keep pushing and keep “Do you fall in a fetal position or do you handle it head-on? Do you pressing, and we got two,” said Auston Matthews. “(With the extra succeed, do you fail? All those things I think you learn through the attacker), find space, have some guys coming in downhill. They play tight experiences of it. It’s not from coaching; it’s from players experiencing to the net, five guys inside, and when we got six guys out there we did a certain situations. The mental part of the game, to me, far outweighs the pretty good job of spreading them out and having a guy at the net.” X’s and O’s of the game right now. We do try to coach it quite a bit, a lot They hadn’t had an overwhelming push; they hadn’t controlled the game. more than X’s and O’s. But then it falls on the players, how they handle Columbus had scored four minutes into the first, and five minutes into the it.” second, and again in the third. The Blue Jackets had scored the last “I think a lot of the work for situations like this doesn’t just come in to seven goals in the series. And finally the Leafs were truly pushing, what you say or what you do today,” said Keefe beforehand. “We’ve throwing pucks at the net, retrieving them like hounds, and trying again. talked about mental toughness and the need to push through when With 23 seconds left Matthews found Zach Hyman on a cross-ice pass, things are difficult; we talked about that all throughout the pause, and and Hyman snuck a puck between the pads of Elvis Merzlikins, and it really since day one of training camp. I think the work for that is done in was tied. advance, and we get a chance today to utilize it.” “I got it off my skate and just tried to throw it at the net,” said Hyman. “I It amounted to nothing, until it didn’t. When you have enough talent thought Auston was going to shoot it, too. maybe anything can happen, and a season of inconsistent habits can be “I think it’s natural that those thoughts creep in when they score the third saved because you finally put all that talent together, and the pucks went goal. But just keep your foot on the gas ... And the belief grows, and in. The Toronto Maple Leafs have stared into the abyss, and they are grows, and grows. You give yourself a chance. You keep putting pucks alive. Game 5 is Sunday, and anything can happen. This team is still on the net. And then we tied it up with (23 seconds), and Matts got the somewhere between the sky-high ceiling and the humiliating floor, with a OT winner, and we still have life.” chance remaining at either one.

All three goals were the production of the same talent overload lineup: “We’ve got new life now. We were getting CPR for a while there, and we Matthews, Tavares, Nylander, Mitch Marner, Hyman, Rielly. The Blue found our way back,” said Keefe. Jackets were without top pair defenceman Zach Werenski, who had left “And here we go.” the game. But this was extraordinary.

“I’ve never been a part of anything like that,” said the 37-year-old Jason Spezza, after his 84th playoff game. Toronto Star LOADED: 08.08.2020 And in overtime, after everyone threw everything at the net, Columbus’s Nick Foligno took a tripping penalty by putting his stick blade under Rielly’s skate, and off the faceoff it happened fast: Rielly to Marner to Tavares to Matthews, who stopped the clocks with 6:50 left. The Leafs won 4-3. And this best-of-five series will be settled Sunday in Toronto. 1190500 Toronto Maple Leafs “I think to develop mental toughness you need to go through experiences,” said Columbus coach John Tortorella. “Do you fall in a fetal position, or do you handle it head-on? Do you succeed, do you fail? All those things I think you learn through the experiences of it. It’s not from The Leafs have the talent, and a system that makes sense. But old coaching; it’s from players experiencing certain situations. The mental habits are hard to break part of the game to me far outweighs the X’s and O’s of the game right now. We do try to coach it quite a bit, a lot more than X’s and O’s. But

then it falls on the players, how they handle it.” By Bruce Arthur Columnist “I think it’s on the coach to frame it correctly and share the right Fri., Aug. 7, 2020 messages,” said Keefe. “I think a lot of the work for situations like this doesn’t just come in to what you say or what you do today. We’ve talked about mental toughness and the need to push through when things are difficult; we talked about that all throughout the pause, and really since “We’ve been through adventures like this before,” said coach Sheldon day one of training camp. I think the work for that is done in advance, and Keefe after the collapse, but before the elimination game. He talked we get a chance today to utilize it.” about his Leafs team’s mindset and mentality. It wasn’t the first time. None of it was, really. Before this series, general manager Kyle Dubas said, “I think obviously the objective stuff — the talent level of the group — there’s never been a When the Leafs lost Game 6 against Washington three years ago, it was question. It’s been the maturing and the mindset of the group that we a measurement of their unreadiness for the moment. When they lost know we have to take some strides in.” Game 7 against Boston the year after that, it was another signpost. When they lost Game 7 against Boston last year — after freezing for a This team will grow eventually, or it will disappoint. Every loss is scar while in Game 6, with a chance to seal the series — it was another. tissue, but not all scar tissue helps, and Friday the Leafs had a chance to extend this strange, promising, disappointing season. Friday night was a And then came this bumpy regular season, where the old coach got fired, small sample sized cumulation of everything that came before it. And all the new coach was aligned with the front office and gave the superstars that was left was a question of which habits, good or bad, applied. what they wanted, and they tried to build something specific and sturdy. And going into Game 4 of a best-of-five with the Columbus Blue Jackets and trailing 2-1, the Leafs had built a year in which their significant promise was obscured by persistent bad habits. Toronto Star LOADED: 08.08.2020

“We’ve set ourselves up to win most games that we’ve played since I’ve been here, we’ve been in good spots. We haven’t always dealt with it the best,” said Keefe late in December, a few weeks after he replaced Mike Babcock. “That’s not just new since I’ve been here. It’s just some things that we have to work at, and it’s a mindset.”

The issues aren’t all the same, but there are themes. Keefe wants them to be a great defensive team in two ways: limiting shots in the danger areas, and by being a great and judicious possession team — given the freedom to try things, but the responsibility to clean them up afterwards if things go wrong.

“I think if you really look at it, a lot of our issues that have come up that have cost us goals against, it’s easy to say they’re defensive issues, because you know it’s going into our net,” said Keefe in January. “But we think they’re offensive issues. They’re turning the puck over in a bad spot, and you can’t have any structure defensively when you turn the puck over in a bad spot.”

On three of those Columbus goals in Game 3 — all but the power-play marker in the second period from Pierre-Luc Dubois — the Leafs turned the puck over in the offensive zone first, and couldn’t recover from the mistakes in time. They were fixable mistakes, really — turnovers by Justin Holl and Alex Kerfoot on the second Columbus goal, winger Kasperi Kapanen failing to dive back on that third-period pinch by defenceman Travis Dermott on the third goal, centre John Tavares trying to shoot late and defenceman Tyson Barrie ejecting into outer space on the winning goal.

But they were mistakes, and Toronto paid. The Blue Jackets scored in the first four minutes in Game 4. It looked familiar.

Habits can be good or bad. In February, Toronto got strafed in Pittsburgh, and John Tavares said, “I don’t know what else we need in front of us to motivate us,” and then they beat Pittsburgh in the rematch and lost to an emergency backup goalie. In March, they flopped on a trip through punchless California and Auston Matthews said, “I think it’s just stringing together 60 minutes, playing a complete game on both sides of the puck. I think when adversity hits, you’ve got to be better in responding, when the momentum shifts. But you know, there’s really no excuses.” He said, “I think we’re kind of, you know, one foot in the door, one foot out as far as the way we want to play. And I think we just all need to be 100 per cent in.”

And once they had the 3-1 lead you could see the Leafs loosen up too much, like yarn stretched too far. There’s a great team in there, maybe, probably, possibly. There is so much talent, and a system that does make sense. And under pressure in a very short series, they made just enough familiar mistakes to push themselves to the edge of elimination against a team which, on the whole, they had outplayed. As a result, there was a lot of talk before Game 4 about how teams think. 1190501 Toronto Maple Leafs “I think we played a good game. We don’t like we got behind early, it’s a much more difficult team to play against when you’re behind. It was a tough road for us.

Stunning comeback leads Leafs to overtime win on goal by Matthews “It wasn’t perfect, but our guys played really hard. It was nice to see them get rewarded.”

Not even in the world of the coronavirus pandemic, with daily life Terry Koshan upended and upheaval everywhere, however, can the Leafs break from the norm. Aug 08, 2020 As general manager Kyle Dubas said at the trade deadline in February,

the Leafs are a Jekyll and Hyde group. So the Maple Leafs have heart. The Leafs were bad in an overtime loss in Game 3 on Thursday after And plenty of it, apparently. they dominated in a shutout win in Game 2.

Don’t blame us if we had started to wonder. On Friday night, they packed both sides of themselves into one game, and for another two days at least, bubble life will continue. After all, this club can look great on paper, but not always so on the ice. Facing elimination, Keefe shifted some people around. They reversed their post-season fortunes completely on Friday night. Tavares, Matthews and Marner were put together and got production The Leafs mounted a stunning rally at Scotiabank Arena, erasing a 3-0 going late in regulation. Columbus Blue Jackets lead late in the third period to win 4-3 in overtime and force a deciding Game 5 of the qualifying round on Sunday at 8 p.m. Nick Robertson initially was moved up to the second line to play with Tavares and Nylander; Ilya Mikheyev, who hasn’t been able to translate Auston Matthews scored the Game 4 winner at 13:10 of the extra period a strong camp into offence, was dropped to the third line with Alex to tie the best-of-five series 2-2. With Nick Foligno serving a tripping Kerfoot and Kasperi Kapanen. minor, Matthews took a pass from John Tavares and ripped a shot past Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins. On the blue line, Martin Marincin was paired with Justin Holl, while Travis Dermott skated alongside Tyson Barrie. “I don’t really know what to feel in the moment, to be honest,” Matthews said of his winner. “I think your mind goes blank. For the first time in the series, the Leafs gave up a goal in the first period, as Columbus took a 1-0 lead at 3:58. “It’s a credit to every single guy on our team for just sticking with it for battling back and just not quitting. Atkinson beat Andersen after taking a pass from Game 3 hero Pierre-Luc Dubois on an odd-man rush. “Down 3-0 with just a few minutes left, I think that’s a testament to each guy in this locker room. Everybody should be extremely proud of each The Leafs got nothing on Merzlikins in the opening 20 chances, though other.” they did have chances. Robertson and Pierre Engvall were among those stopped on the doorstep as Merzlikins made 15 saves in the first period. And this from Leafs veteran Jason Spezza on the shocking comeback: Columbus had 13 shots on Andersen in the first. “I’ve never been part of anything like that. With the firepower we have, we are never out of it. There’s a great sense of belief in our group. We Gavrikov made it 2-0 at 4:40 of the second when his shot was deflected stuck with it and got some big goals by some big players.” by Marner and up over Andersen’s left shoulder.

The winner came on the Leafs’ 53rd shot of the game. The Leafs got the A fight involving Spezza and the Jackets’ Dean Kukan in the second power play when Foligno tripped Morgan Rielly deep in the Toronto end. period brought respect from the Leafs bench. The fourth line of Engvall between Kyle Clifford and Spezza had a strong night. From the Columbus bench, we could hear coach John Tortorella yell when the penalty was called: “No way! Are you f—ing kidding me!?” “Jason Spezza just did not want our season to end,” Keefe said of his 37- year-old fourth-liner. “You see the fight, that’s playoff hockey. Said Tortorella about his team’s collapse: “I’m not going to explain it.” “We have new life here now. We were getting CPR there for a little bit, Tortorella said he had no update on defenceman Zach Werenski, who and we found our way back, and here we go.” did not play after the midway point of the third period.

Toronto appeared to be toast as Merzlikins shut the door through two periods, with Columbus building a two-goal lead with contributions from Toronto Sun LOADED: 08.08.2020 Cam Atkinson and Vladislav Gavrikov.

And that became a three-goal lead when Boone Jenner scored at 14:18 of the third.

But goals by William Nylander, Tavares and Zach Hyman in the final four minutes tied the game.

All of the Leafs’ three goals in the rally came with goalie Frederik Andersen on the bench in favour of an extra skater. Hyman tied the game at 19:37 when he slid a low shot past Merzlikins after taking a pass from Matthews.

Mitch Marner and Matthews each had two assists in the final minutes of regulation.

The Leafs’ big four of Tavares, Matthews, Marner and Nylander had a total of seven points in the series before the third period. In the third and overtime, the four put up a total of 10 points.

Nylander got the uprising going at 16:03 when he jammed the puck into the net from a scramble; at 16:54, Tavares scored from the slot.

“Just the resilience of our team,” coach Sheldon Keefe said when he was asked what he will remember most about the comeback. “And how it put new life in our group. It was pretty remarkable to be a part of it. 1190502 Toronto Maple Leafs all they had to was kill three minutes of clock to advance to the next round of Stanley Cup playoffs.

It didn’t happen to Toronto on Thursday. It didn’t happen to Columbus on Spezza fights, Matthews scores as Maple Leafs remarkably stay alive Friday. And who knows now — how you can possibly predict? — what might happen Sunday night.

The Leafs didn’t come out strong on Friday night. They seemed unwilling Steve Simmons to battle, unwilling to match the Jackets loose puck for loose puck. One team had desperation. The other, the Leafs, seemed laissez-faire. And Aug 08, 2020 without fight.

Until there was a fight. The hug on the ice mattered. It was a moment. It was more than an The seventh fight of Spezza’s career. Seven in 17 years. One of them acknowledgment. against Carlo Colaiacovo. The third fight in a decade. The crowd, had there been one, would have gone crazy. There was a purpose to the glove-dropping. It isn’t what Spezza does. With Jason Spezza jumping off the bench and virtually into the arms of He understands the game, his role, and what might change a game. He Auston Matthews. saw a reason to try something. He tried it.

One scored the overtime goal to bring the Maple Leafs all the way back It woke up the Leafs bench. in this best-of-five series against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It didn’t provide three goals to tie the game. The talent took care of that. The other, Spezza, the unlikely fourth-liner, providing some life for the William Nylander scored and John Tavares ripped a shot not long after rather limp Leafs when it looked like their season was about to come to that. And it didn’t look like the Leafs would have the opportunity to get an inauspicious ending. one more goal.

I wouldn’t know how to explain what happened Friday night at Scotiabank To keep the series alive. Arena if the same thing hadn’t happened on Thursday night. Just in But a combination of Columbus errors, a rare weak goal on Elvis reverse. Merzlikins, and Zach Hyman being desperate enough to shoot when it The Leafs had Game 3 won and somehow lost it. mattered meant there would be overtime. Before Matthews won the game at 13:10 of overtime. The big guys coming through for the Leafs. The Jackets had Game 4 — and the series won — and somehow lost the Matthews scoring. Mitch Marner setting up three scores. Nylander with a game. goal and an assists. Tavares with a goal and an assist.

Matthews, the goal-scorer who had been rather invisible for two periods, A crazy ending of sorts to a crazy series not yet completed. We know came to life in the third and scored the winner in overtime off a pass from there will be a winner Sunday night. We don’t know who, and certainly John Tavares. after all this, we don’t know how.

The Leafs, not competing, not matching the Blue Jackets on battles for loose pucks, not looking, frankly, like they cared at all, suddenly got into the game after Spezza, who doesn’t fight, dropped his gloves against Toronto Sun LOADED: 08.08.2020 Columbus defenceman Dean Kukan. Those who don’t believe fighting matters would dispute what happened here — and I’m often on that page — but not Friday night.

Not after what happened once Spezza decided to wake up his team of high priced sleeping giants.

And the Leafs, down and almost out in the third period, trailing 3-0, just like they had led in Game 3, scored once, then twice, then three times, the final goal coming with 23 seconds left in the series, with the Leafs about to be eliminated and instead an overtime period.

A chance to come back. A chance to salvage what hasn’t been a pretty or impressive performance against the Blue Jackets, except for the final three minutes and 44 seconds of regulation play Friday night that inspired the drive and effort that brought Toronto out for the overtime they basically dominated.

Matthews had a chance in the first 20 seconds of overtime and another chance about five seconds later and the puck was following him in a way it hadn’t for most of the series. He was doing what Matthews does when he’s at his best, changing games, altering outcomes, scoring goals others cannot.

And now a best-of-five is a best-of-one.

Sunday night.

Winner take all.

A tennis-like series, back and forth and back and forth, and may the last big serve win.

The Jackets shut out the Leafs and dominated Game 1. The Leafs shut out the Jackets and dominated Game 2. And then the 3-0 games, the Leafs losing in overtime having led by three. And the Jackets losing in overtime having led by three.

And it must hurt Columbus just a little — and maybe more than that — that they had this thing won, had it all figured out, it seemed, were dominating on the loose pucks and in the important areas of the ice. And 1190503 Toronto Maple Leafs

For Leafs to win Friday night and stay alive, mental approach will have to be the guide

Terry Koshan

Aug 07, 2020

John Tortorella had some pertinent questions on Friday morning.

It’s on the shoulders of the Maple Leafs to respond correctly, and if not, bubble life will end on Friday night and the Leafs can start their summer vacation.

Tortorella, the coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, was asked where the mental toughness of a hockey team might have its roots.

“You need to go through experiences,” Tortorella said. “Do you fall in (a) fetal position or do you handle it head on? Do you succeed, do you fail? All those things, I think you learn through the experiences of it. It’s not from coaching, it’s from players experiencing certain situations.

“The mental part of the game, to me, far outweighs the Xs and Os of the game right now. We do try to coach it quite a bit, a lot more than Xs and Os, but then it falls on the players, how they handle it.”

The Leafs haven’t handled it well in the past, having bowed out of the Stanley Cup playoffs in the first round in each the past three years.

One of these days, the Leafs will grasp mental toughness, right? Or is that too much to assume?

There’s no telling which Leafs team might take the ice on Friday night, facing elimination in Game 4 of the qualifying round against the Blue Jackets at Scotiabank Arena.

After dominating in Game 2 in a shutout win, the Leafs weren’t great in Game 3 on Thursday night and then fell apart completely, blowing a 3-0 lead to lose 4-3 in overtime.

Remember, this is a Leafs team that general manager Kyle Dubas back in February partly described as having a “Jekyll and Hyde” identity. The hope inside the organization was that the club had grown and had matured during the pause, but the difference in the level of play in Games 2 and 3 suggests otherwise.

“We just need to get back to what we were doing in Games 1 and 2,” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “That’s why I was so disappointed (in Game 3).

“We talk about the purpose and the plan of how we play, that’s what we’ve been talking about since Day 1 of camp and I thought we did a really good job of that in both Games 1 and 2. One goal against in those two games really sets us up for success and I thought there was a departure from that (in Game 3), and that’s why I didn’t feel good about it, right from the start in terms of how we were playing.

“Once we had the lead, it should have been over. Today is a new day, a new opportunity here for us to push back and get back on track.

“We established a purpose to what we want to do on every shift and with the puck, and with our structure, we established that before the series began and I thought we really showed that well in Games 1 and 2 and got away from it.”

Keefe said the staff is “discussing some shifts to our lineup” but would not elaborate. Options might include defenceman Rasmus Sandin or forward Nic Petan.

We know there’s no way the Leafs will be able to fully replace defenceman Jake Muzzin, who will sit again after he was injured in Game 2.

Elvis Merzlikins, who stopped all 21 shots he faced in relief of Joonas Korpisalo in Game 3, will start in goal for Columbus, Tortorella confirmed.

Toronto Sun LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190504 Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto (Ohio) cheering for Jackets

Lance Hornby

Publishing date:Aug 07, 2020

Born in Toronto, raised on the Blue Jackets.

Yes, there are fans out there with that lineage, though we should explain they mostly live in Toronto, Ohio, two hours east of Columbus. The ‘other’ Toronto, nestled on the Ohio River, has a population of about 5,000 and when the title tides are coming in, such as the World Series champion Blue Jay and last year’s Raptors, they share the pride. But this first-ever playoff series between the Maple Leafs and Jackets has meant choosing sides.

“Of course the Jackets will win, but I seeing it go the distance,” said River Pappas, a 20-year-old fan whose mother owns Smitty’s Sports Pub in town. “I’m no bandwagon jumper, I liked the Jackets before they started winning last year (upsetting Tampa Bay in playoffs) back to the time they started getting good with Bob (Sergei Bobrovsky) in net.

“I was at Game 4 at Nationwide Arena last year when they beat the Lightning, it was incredible to be there for the first playoff series win in their history.”

Citizens in the former town of Newburg’s Landing and later, Sloanes Station, voted to change their name in 1881, backing civic leader Thomas M. Daniels’ assertion that the new Canadian city, then just 48, was ‘a place worth emulating’.

“When I’m away from home and asked where I’m from, I say Toronto and almost everyone says ‘you don’t sound Canadian’,” Pappas laughed in a phone interview. “But when the Raptors won, I bought a championship shirt online that included ‘Toronto, World Champions’ and I liked that play on words.”

But Pappas, a wrestler in his junior year at Fairmont State University across the water in West Virginia, admits he’s something of a rebel in Toronto, which maintains a longer loyalty to the Penguins.

“Pittsburgh is just a half hour away,” reminded his mom, Stephanie Elverb, from behind the bar taps at Smitty’s. “If I have the Jackets game on TV here, there’s a few people, but the bigger viewing party is for the Penguins.”

Elverd was a sportswriter from Steubenville, Ohio, who left the business to buy Smitty. Despite River’s attempts to back the home state NHL team, her allegiance is to Mario Lemieux.

“When the Jackets came into the league (in 2000), the Penguins made a big push to keep this area theirs. (Executives) Eddie Johnston and Craig Patrick came through here a lot.”

But she’s well aware of the bond of the two Torontos and knows some Leaf connections, too.

“One of my favourite Penguins was (Scarborough, Ont., native) Larry Murphy. When I used to go to old Mellon Arena (the Igloo) for games, you’d see the players come and go with $80,000 cars, but Larry drove an old ragtop Mustang sh–box. We respected him for that.

“And (the late Leaf coach) John Brophy coached the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL near here. The Leafs came down for a mini-camp many years ago.”

Toronto Sun LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190505 Toronto Maple Leafs Tavares wins the draw and the Leafs goalie is gone, replaced by Nylander.

It’s Matthews who enters the zone with the puck on his tape. The man How the Maple Leafs pulled their season back from the brink who scored 47 goals during the long-ago regular season is not looking for his own shot at this moment. No, he’s scanning the ice, with Seth Jones hovering in nearby airspace. The 22-year-old has Rielly open at the point, and Marner waiting with stick on the ice, also close by. But it’s By Jonas Siegel Tavares, moving quietly into the high slot, who gets his attention — and Aug 7, 2020 the puck. The Leafs captain snaps a laser high over the block of Merzlikins.

Matthews delivers what’s arguably his most important assist in the NHL With just under six minutes to go in regulation of Game 4, Morgan Rielly to that point. returns to the Maple Leafs bench in anger. “The belief starts to grow,” Hyman says of the feeling on the Leafs bench Rielly has just coughed up the puck to Nick Foligno in his own zone, at that point. “It grows, it grows and then you give yourself a chance.” prompting the apparent 3-0 dagger from Boone Jenner. He slams the bench door repeatedly upon arrival, and delivers three, maybe four good Again, there’s not much in the way of celebration. punches to the inside of the bench — still angry and clearly frustrated. The Leafs buried eight goals with their net empty during the regular He’s broken his stick in the process. season: three by Matthews, a pair by Tavares and one each from Hyman, Nylander and the now-injured Andreas Johnsson. It’s something The longest-serving member of the Leafs seems to know what that third that gets practised, if not all the time. goal from the Blue Jackets means: another season over for his team — far sooner than expected. And in embarrassing fashion. A day earlier, a “I think it’s kinda find space, have some guys coming in downhill,” 3-0 deficit disappears in a 4-3 overtime loss. Matthews explains of the strategy. “The way (the Blue Jackets) play 5- on-5 — obviously they’re very tight to the net and they kinda play five “Once they got the third goal, obviously it’s pretty grim,” Leafs coach guys inside. When we got the six guys out there, I thought that we did a Sheldon Keefe says afterward. “You’re obviously in very tough.” pretty good job of just spreading them out and had a guy at the net able to sneak a couple in there.” “I think it’s natural that those thoughts start to creep in when they score the third goal,” Zach Hyman adds, “but you just put your foot on the gas, Three minutes and six seconds remain and suddenly, the Leafs are only keep going, it’s not over until the time runs out.” down one.

To that point in the game, the Leafs have shown nothing to suggest they Keefe brings out what had been the Leafs’ most effective line of the will bring their season back from the brink and rally to beat Columbus. night: the fourth unit of Jason Spezza, Pierre Engvall and Kyle Clifford. Until they do. It’s rarely a good thing when a fourth line is driving the actions, but that’s the way it’s been for the Leafs in Game 4. “Probably some of the craziest events that I’ve ever seen, or been a part of actually,” William Nylander says. The Leafs coach is trying everything on this night to create a spark. He plants 18-year-old Nick Robertson onto the left side of Nylander and The first goal Tavares to start the game. He scraps that to begin the second though. During the TV timeout, his team down 3-0, the head coach of the Leafs Kasperi Kapanen replaces Robertson as Nylander slides back to left gathers his team in tight. In particular, a very exclusive group has wing from right wing. huddled around Keefe and Paul McFarland, the Leafs assistant coach, But that doesn’t take either. who’s dishing out instructions on a whiteboard. The six players who will hop onto the ice to try to save the Leafs’ season crowd in. It’s not long before Keefe digs into his bag of tricks and comes up with what Tyson Barrie described last month as an “All Star Game” line — Four minutes and 18 seconds are left, but the Leafs net is now empty. one featuring Tavares, Matthews, and Marner. Meanwhile, Nylander Frederik Andersen has been called to the bench. On the ice are five slides to centre alongside Kapanen and Hyman. forwards: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Nylander, John Tavares and Hyman. Keefe had played around with that look too during Phase 3 of the NHL’s Return to Play. The lone defenceman out for a draw in the Jackets end is Rielly. But it’s to no avail. “Obviously, we had to pull the goaltender a lot earlier than you would normally want to,” Keefe says. “We just thought coming out of the TV At one point on the bench, Marner, with his helmet off, is pointing timeout, and the fact that we needed three goals and our best guys were emphatically to something on an iPad that McFarland is clutching as fresh, it just made sense.” Matthews looks on. The Leafs are out of sync. The coaching staff spends the first intermission trying, desperately, to perk up a group that’s come Columbus ices the puck almost immediately. Another draw in enemy out surprisingly flat. terrain for the Leafs and now the puck has landed in what used to be the crowd. Tavares lines up for a third faceoff with Riley Nash, and while the “Columbus was doing a terrific job of really clogging things up in the Jackets centre gets credit for winning the third draw in a row, it’s Hyman neutral zone so we didn’t have a lot of life going,” Keefe says. who jumps on it first. He pokes the puck off the boards to Marner, who plays it to the point for Rielly. He sends it back to Marner, who fires it low The Leafs coach turns the defence upside too. Rielly is playing with on net — more pass into traffic than shot. Hyman tracks it down and Barrie. Dermott, who started the game with Barrie, is now taking shifts drops a nifty backhand pass to Nylander just outside the blue paint. with Holl.

Nylander doesn’t get everything on his shot, but somehow, it manages to It gets chippy not long after Spezza urges Dean Kukan into a scrap. It’s trickle through Elvis Merzlikins. only the seventh ever fight in the NHL for the former No. 2 overall pick, according to hockeyfights.com. (Among Spezza’s past opponents: former The celebration is muted. There are no smiles among the Leafs. Their Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf and another former Leafs defenceman, season is still very much in jeopardy. Carlo Colaiacovo.)

“I think once we got one, pretty quickly there we just wanted to keep “Jason Spezza just did not want our season to end today and he played pushing and keep pressing,” Matthews says afterward. with that level of urgency,” Keefe says after.

The Leafs trail by two. Three minutes and 57 seconds remain. The Leafs bench howls in support watching Spezza trade blows with Kukan. The heat finally kicks up between two teams playing for the The second goal second time in less than 24 hours. Four forwards — Matthews, Marner, Hyman and Tavares — line up with Rielly at centre ice. Andersen is back in the net, though not for long. Rielly and Holl take exception when Pierre-Luc Dubois, a rising star in It’s Rielly who keeps the puck in at the left point as the power play gets this series, takes an extra poke at Andersen smothering a puck. Kerfoot underway. Then it continues around the world, first to Marner on the half- and Kapanen get into it with opposing Blue Jackets. wall, then to Tavares on the dot of the left faceoff circle. Returning the favour from earlier, he spots Matthews wide-open on the weak-side for a But not much changes for the Leafs. one-time blast that’s going nowhere but the back of the net.

The third goal Through the first three games of the series, the Jackets have all but It’s with about one minute and 47 seconds left that Keefe raises his right eliminated the Matthews’ weapon on the power play: He’d had just a hand and signals for Andersen to come to the bench again — one last single shot on three attempts. But not here, not now. time — for the extra attacker. It’s not until Marner is zipping through the “I don’t really know what to really feel in the moment, to be honest,” neutral zone that he does so. Matthews says of scoring.

Again, it’s Nylander who hops on. It’s his 12th goal in 24 career playoff games.

The NHL’s second-best shot blocker on defence during the regular “I think your mind just kind of goes blank,” he continues of the feeling, season, David Savard steps in front of attempts by Tavares and Marner. “and I think it’s a credit to every single guy on our team for just sticking The Jackets come the other way and very nearly knock the Leafs out for with it, battling back and just not quitting down 3-0 with a couple minutes good. But with the net behind him empty, Rielly stops a Gustav Nyquist left. I think that’s a testament to each guy in this locker room and I think jab. everybody should be extremely proud of each other.”

Nylander fumbles around with the puck in his own zone. Then he’s finally The Leafs have life again. blasting up ice and into the Blue Jackets end. It’s Hyman he finds, and it’s Matthews that he eventually spots. Merzlikins thinks the shot is Asked what he’ll remember most about the night his team staved off coming right away from one of the league’s deadliest shooters. He tries elimination in incredible fashion, Keefe responds, “Just the resilience of to gaze around traffic to see it. our team and how it just put new life in our group. It was pretty remarkable to be a part of it.” But Matthews looks only briefly to the net. What he quickly spots instead to his left is Hyman, with space to shoot in the left faceoff circle. Matthews was headed for a career-high in assists before the season stopped. He fires an even better pass than the one to Tavares a few The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 moments earlier.

“I thought he was going to shoot it too,” Hyman says afterward of Matthews.

Hyman receives the pass on his left skate. He kicks it to his stick and doesn’t get much on a shot that still goes right through the Blue Jackets goaltender.

“JT had a great screen and it went in,” Hyman says of Tavares’ impact on the goal. “It was crazy.”

The Leafs have tied the score at three. Twenty-three seconds remain in regulation. A night after their own 3-0 lead was vanquished, they’ve come all the way back from 3-0 themselves to force overtime.

The winner

“Emotions were high obviously when you come back from three that late, but there’s still a job to be done,” Hyman says of the chatter in between the third period and OT.

Keefe sticks with his All-Star Game line of Matthews, Tavares and Marner to start OT, along with Rielly and Barrie on the back-end. With no Zach Werenski around due to an apparent injury, Jackets coach John Tortorella starts the extra frame with his second pair of Savard and Vladislav Gavrikov on defence.

Matthews lands two quick chances, both of which are stopped. He finishes the night with 10 shots.

Travis Dermott gets in front of one of the Blue Jackets attempts, which draws loud approval from the Leafs bench. It’s one of three blocked shots on the night for the 23-year-old.

It was Foligno who stole the puck from Rielly when all appeared lost for the Leafs, but now it’s Rielly who gets the upper hand 13 minutes into OT. At first, it seems as though Foligno won’t be called for tripping — his stick mixed up in Rielly’s skates as the Leafs defender tracks a puck down.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” someone from one of the benches yells.

It seems like a response from the Leafs group to the apparent no-call. Others in the building contend it was Tortorella, angry with the penalty that Foligno ultimately does draw. “He stepped on my stick,” Foligno says angrily to the officials as he skates to the box.

Barrie has been the point man on the Leafs No. 1 power play unit since Keefe took over as Leafs coach, but it’s Rielly who stays out now alongside Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares. He totalled more than 32 minutes in Game 3 a night earlier and has crossed the 30-minute plateau once again in Game 4, including 10:28 of the third period. He’ll finish the game approaching 34 minutes — the most of any player on the ice. 1190506 Toronto Maple Leafs The 6-on-5 comeback crew. (John E. Sokolowski / USA Today) The sixsome of Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, William

Nylander, Zach Hyman and Morgan Rielly played the vast majority of the Mirtle: After unbeleafable comeback, Maple Leafs can now rewrite their final 4 minutes and 18 seconds of the game, after Keefe’s very early narrative goalie pull. They methodically picked apart the Blue Jackets, working the puck low and getting it to the net again and again.

But they directed only six pucks at the net in that time. Three were By James Mirtle blocked. The other three went in.

Aug 7, 2020 In fact, the Leafs had just three shots on goal in the final 10 1/2 minutes of regulation, and they all beat netminder Elvis Merzlikins, who hadn’t

allowed a goal in the previous 57 shots he had faced to that point. Good lord. What did we witness here on Friday night? That flurry forced overtime, where a rare extra-frame power play led to A game we’ll be talking about for years. An incredible, ridiculous, Matthews’ winner – his team-leading sixth point of the series. nonsensical hockey game. Now we’re on to a winner-take-all Game 5 on Sunday night. A true Maple Leafs miracle. I said off the top this game would be talked about for years, and I think Let’s face it, the Leafs were dead and gone in Game 4. Down 3-0 with that will hold up. But for it to really redefine this bizarre 2019-20 season, four minutes left in an elimination game after a listless performance for and go down in Leafs lore as more than a bit of trivia, they need to close most of the night. out the series with a win.

At that moment, they had only a 0.15 percent chance of coming back. At They need to make Round 1 of the playoffs, for it to truly matter. And that moment, their season was effectively over, ended by an underdog show that they realize the task isn’t done, arriving at Game 5 ready to Columbus Blue Jackets team in only four games. play the game of their lives.

And the ugly postmortems were about to be written about a lost year and I’ll be honest: I was sitting in front of my laptop most of Friday night, a lot of wasted talent. watching the Leafs struggle to get anything going, and planning out an article about the year that was. It was going to be an autopsy of sorts on Everyone still talks about the Meltdown in Beantown back in 2013, when the train wreck, given all the turmoil and disappointment they’d managed the Leafs blew a 4-1 lead in Game 7, but the Bruins’ three-goal to cram into 74 hockey games. comeback that year took place over the course of 11 minutes at the end of the third period. The coaching change. The bad backups. The injuries. The losing.

It was remarkable and unprecedented, yes, but still, the craziness of The story of this Leafs team, up until those final four minutes of Game 4, what happened at Scotiabank Arena on Friday surpassed it in some has been one of a group of underachievers. Of a young team that’s been ways. This Leafs’ comeback lasted just 3 minutes and 34 seconds – all of called immature by both its coach and general manager. A talented it with the goalie pulled and Toronto’s best players on the ice. roster, yes, but one without the ability to deliver a consistent work ethic or identity. Crazier still was the fact that the Leafs hadn’t scored in the series in more than 105 minutes when William Nylander’s goal started the unlikely rally. Game 3’s ugly collapse was fully in character.

Toronto didn’t look buried and gone only because it was so late in the This one, however, was not. game. The Leafs also couldn’t buy a goal, going back to midway through “They clearly wanted it more than us,” Blue Jackets veteran Cam Game 3, when rookie Nick Robertson had given them their own 3-0 lead. Atkinson said postgame. That they then blew. That’s just not a phrase we’ve heard a lot about the 2019-20 Maple Unsurprisingly, this series has now set a record for comebacks and Leafs. blown leads. One that likely never will be broken. The tying goal goes in. (John E. Sokolowski / USA Today) “I’ve never been a part of anything like that,” said Jason Spezza, the It sounds asinine to bring an entire season down to one game. Crazy Leafs’ 37-year-old greybeard and fifth-oldest player still active in these bounces can happen and outcomes aren’t always deserved. Underdogs playoffs. “With the firepower we have with these guys, the way they can win – as we’ve seen the past few days – all the time in this league. put the puck in the net, we’re never out of it and there’s a great sense of belief in our group and we stuck with it the whole way and got some big But the Leafs have spent most of the season earning the poor reviews goals by some big players.” and their doubters. Digging out of a hole they created in Game 4 was impressive given how unlikely it was, but it doesn’t erase what came “We’ve got new life here now,” coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We were before. getting CPR there for a little bit and then we found our way back. Here we go.” Get through Game 5, and into a playoff series with one of the big players in the Eastern Conference in the next round, and the Leafs will have that Jonas is writing our comprehensive breakdown of how they pulled off chance. their 4-3 win Friday, so I won’t dig in in great detail here. But it’s worth mentioning some of the team’s most experienced players, Spezza and They’ll have the chance to redefine who they are and how we think of Kyle Clifford, who kept the Leafs in the fight through the early portion of them. And to finally pay back their young GM, who has put so much faith the game when almost nothing was going their way. in (and spent so much cap space on) them, with little to show for it to date. The Leafs’ fourth line – which had played just three minutes in a game early in this series – kept going over the boards again and again and I promised on social media earlier Friday I would end my column this dominating. Spezza even dropped the gloves in a desperate attempt to way, so here goes: ignite a fire in his teammates, one of the only times he’s fought in his more than 1,100-game career. “The 18 wheeler was going off the cliff again … and then it grew wings. And it soared into the sky, like a glorious flying Winnebago.” In a game where Toronto had shown so little through the first 55-odd minutes, it was something to build off of. And it gave Keefe at least one It really did. But stay tuned for Sunday night, when we’ll see just where line he could rely on to own the offensive zone and wear down it’s headed. Columbus.

The rookie coach took the line blender to everyone else, however, The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 ultimately settling on putting together his three $11 million stars. And late in the game, they were the ones who finally broke through. 1190507 Toronto Maple Leafs There are a lot of people in this city who want you to believe that star talent isn’t the foundation of a winning hockey club, but let me tell you, it’s nice having players who can make those kinds of plays.

Maple Leafs Report Cards: Heroic late effort forces do-or-die Game 5 Morgan Rielly (LD, #44) — So this happened. Sunday That was the end of the Leafs’ season. We all tweeted about it, made jokes to our friends, probably even laughed out loud as it was happening. I don’t know how Rielly was able to turn things around after that, but he By Ian Tulloch found a way. The Leafs out-chanced Columbus 15-7 with him on the ice at even strength, including a drawn penalty that resulted in the game- Aug 7, 2020 winning power play goal in overtime.

William Nylander (RW, #88) —I love the way Cassie Campbell summed Welcome to cheering for the Toronto Maple Leafs. up his game. Sometimes his calmness with the puck is infuriating – “you’re down by a goal with 40 seconds left, GO!” – but it’s that patience Disappointing effort in an elimination playoff game? Check. Comical error and confidence in himself that’s made him such an elite puck mover at late in the third period leading to a goal against? Check. Magically finding the NHL level. He’s one of the few Leafs who have been able to create a way to score three goals in 3:34? You bet your ass they did. scoring opportunities off the rush against Columbus, an area where they allowed the fewest chances this season. I don’t think any of us will ever fully understand this team. They oscillate from embarrassing to dominant in a matter of seconds. He also scored another goal from the slot.

Player reports “Perimeter Willy” at his finest.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Travis Dermott (LD, #23) — Offensively, I found myself getting frustrated with Dermott. At one point it looked as though he could have fired a quick Game Ball : Auston Matthews (C, #34) — In sports, there are shot into an empty net with Elvis Merzlikins on the ground, but hesitated. moments when you need your best player to find a way to win. It doesn’t In transition, though, this was one of Dermott’s better games as a Leaf. matter how much you’re losing by, how much time is left on the clock, or He was dictating play in overtime, settling down pucks behind the net and your chances of winning (0.5 percent, according to MoneyPuck.com). All starting Toronto’s breakout. He also might have saved the game with this that matters is that you find a way to impose your will on the opposition crucial block. and get the job done. With Jake Muzzin out of the lineup, Dermott was one of the four After a frustrating 56 minutes of hockey, Matthews put the team on his defencemen Keefe leaned on in the extra period. This was a big moment back. He found Tavares in the slot to help get Toronto their second goal for him – and he didn’t disappoint. of the game. Then he made a pass across the seam to Zach Hyman when everyone watching assumed he was going to shoot it, including the Frederik Andersen (G, #31) — Does this game prove that Andersen can Columbus Blue Jackets. get you a big win in a playoff series? Asking for a friend.

This team doesn’t make any sense. I’ll never understand how they’re ⭐⭐ able to blow such easy games and come back from impossible situations, but they live to see another day, and it’s mostly because of The Third Line — I thought Kevin Bieksa put it best: “Toronto’s fourth line No. 34. is outplaying its third line.” That doesn’t mean I disliked what I saw from Ilya Mikheyev on the forecheck or Kasperi Kapanen off the rush, but The Fourth Line — This was Toronto’s best line by far on Friday night, you’d like to see a little bit more from Toronto’s depth forwards. which helps explain why the team wasn’t able to generate much throughout the majority of Game 4. When the trio of Kyle Clifford, Pierre Nick Robertson (LW, #89) — One of my biggest concerns with Robertson Engvall and Jason Spezza were on the ice, Toronto absolutely is how much time he’s spent on the ice in his first few NHL games. I love dominated play. his creativity with the puck, confidence in his shot, and his feistiness when he’s going into a puck battle, but it’s felt like he has a balance Clifford did an excellent job applying pressure on the forecheck. Engvall rating of negative 99. was able to weave through the neutral zone with his speed and help the team gain the offensive zone. Spezza was using his vision to find open That’s an unfortunate play, but Robertson needs to stay on his feet more teammates in dangerous areas, most notably Tyson Barrie in the slot, often. This isn’t the only time he’s taken a spill in these playoffs. who zinged the puck off the crossbar late in the game. Cody Ceci (RD, #83) — He made a few really nice plays early in the They were Toronto’s second most trusted group at even strength apart game, completing a slip pass to Tavares off the rush to create a 2-on-1. from the Matthews-Tavares-Marner power line, and honestly, it was the He also dangled Gustav Nyquist at the blue line in the offensive zone, right decision. which I doubt he expected.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ That wasn’t enough for Ceci. He needed to try something truly special in overtime. Zach Hyman (LW, #11) — After writing a paragraph about Hyman’s Justin Holl (RD, #3) — To be honest, he looked a bit outmatched when disappointing play in this series, losing most of the battles in the “Hyman he was defending the rush in this game, getting beat to the outside far areas” of the ice, I quickly had to mash the delete button and find a way too easily. I’ve been trying to figure out what Justin Holl is at the NHL to reword things. level for a while now this season. Is he a No. 4 D on a Cup contender? He made a great play at the side of the net to set up William Nylander for Maybe more of a No. 5? He’s certainly not someone I’d want as the Toronto’s first goal of the game, then scored the game-tying goal a primary guy on a pairing against top-six competition, which is why I liked couple minutes later. I still think he needs to make a bigger impact at him a lot better alongside Rielly in overtime. Can we please see more of five-on-five if the Leafs are going to have any chance of advancing deep those two together? They actually played really well off of each other. into this tournament, but credit where credit’s due: Hyman stepped up Coaching Staff — When nothing is working, I love that Sheldon Keefe is big-time in a clutch situation. willing to try out some different looks. We saw a lot of Matthews-Tavares- ⭐⭐⭐ Marner in the second and third periods alongside Rielly-Barrie in offensive situations. We saw Rielly get a look on PP1, where he ended John Tavares (C, #91) — After sleepwalking his way through the first half up gaining the zone en route to the game-winning goal. We even saw an of the game, Tavares was able to get himself into open ice a few times 18-year-old start in a top six role in an elimination playoff game. on the power play. Nothing materialized until the final four minutes of the game, which is when Tavares really kicked things into gear. If you scroll Some things worked better than others, but we have to give Toronto’s back up to the Matthews section, you’ll see an absolute snipe from coaching staff some credit for putting their talent in the best position to Tavares on the second goal and a beautiful saucer pass on the game- win. Now, if only they could play with some level of consistency. winner. Martin Marincin (LD, #52) — He managed to play 13:28 of playoff hockey without falling flat on his face, so let’s give him some credit. Every other defenceman played at least 20 minutes, which gives you an idea of how much the coaching staff trusts him – about as much as the fan base does.

⭐

Tyson Barrie (RD, #94) — With the season on the line and Toronto in desperate need of a goal, their prized return in the Nazem Kadri trade was sitting on the bench — and it felt like the right decision. As much as I want to root for Barrie, he hasn’t been able to make skilled plays in open space to help Toronto create dangerous chances in this series.

Mitch Marner (RW, #16) — Late in the third period, I was going through Leafs Twitter. The general consensus was that Toronto needed to move Marner’s $11 million cap hit in the offseason. Frankly, I can understand the frustration. He’s really struggled to break down Columbus’ structure in this series, which is the main reason you pay Marner that kind of money.

The Leafs were obviously able to pull off a miraculous comeback, but that was mostly because of Matthews going into Beast Mode – and a lot of luck if we’re being honest. Marner needs to find a way to make a bigger impact offensively if he’s going to justify that contract.

Heat Map

Here’s a quick look at where each team’s shots were coming from, courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.

The Leafs weren’t able to generate much at five-on-five in this game. Their six-on-five play on the other hand…

Game Score

Game score is a metric developed by The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn to quickly measure a player’s performance in a single game.

It’s not perfect, but it can help give us a decent idea of how well players performed in a particular game based on their numbers — although I’d always recommend combining stats with video, since single-game numbers can be wonky.

Matthews at the top, Ceci at the bottom. I’d say that looks about right to me.

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190508 Toronto Maple Leafs pipes, lowering the temperature of the concrete slab. Water is poured over and bonds to the concrete slab as it freezes.

NHL ice makers strive for what Dupre calls “hard and fast” ice so the Inside the NHL’s battle to maintain Toronto’s ‘sloppy’ ice for 3 games a puck can glide, free of bumps, ruts or snow buildup on the surface. day The key is finding the right balance between temperature and humidity. “Hard and fast” ice requires the temperature at ice level to stay in the approximate range of 22 to 26 degrees Fahrenheit (about -4 degrees By Joshua Kloke and James Mirtle Celsius).

Aug 7, 2020 Any warmer and the ice gets “soft,” creating conditions preferred by figure skaters. Any colder and the ice becomes brittle, causing it to crack

and chip, making it more likely that deep ruts will form. Alex Kerfoot had just played one of his better games of the season, Derek King, the NHL’s senior manager of facility operations, is the man scoring two goals in a 4-2 exhibition win over the Montreal Canadiens, currently in charge of the surface in Toronto. He said this week that the but he still wanted to see changes. temperature has, for the most part, stayed in the heart of the desired “The ice was sloppy,” the Toronto Maple Leafs forward said, “and it was range (hovering between 23 and 24 degrees Fahrenheit). The humidity in hard to make plays.” the city, however, has been far more of an issue.

More than a week into the NHL’s return, the reviews of Scotiabank Arena On Tuesday between the day’s first and second games, King said there ice quality remain mixed. was 54 percent humidity in the building, which is, in his estimation, “a little high.” Dupre said typically humidity levels should be below 45 “It’s not great,” Canadiens defenceman Shea Weber said after the percent, though this can be difficult to achieve in some markets and Canadiens’ 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this week. arenas.

“The ice wore down as the game went on,” Canadiens defenceman Brett “The humidity affects the ice surface more than anything else,” Dupre Kulak added. said.

“You get three games in a day and the ice isn’t going to be great. And it High humidity levels can cause the snow on top of the ice surface to be wasn’t great. But that’s part of it,” New York Islanders defenceman Ryan so dense that small snowballs can begin to form. This can make the puck Pulock said. skip and roll when a player makes a pass or tries to stickhandle.

Hosting three hockey games a day in Toronto’s August heat was bound “You want that snow to be light and airy,” Dupre said. If not, “it starts to to create challenges for the NHL’s ice makers. But there have been far stick and it affects the puck.” fewer complaints in Edmonton, where Rogers Place – one of the newest buildings in the league – is attempting the same feat. Dupre appreciates the challenge King and his crew have ahead of him because of how unprecedented this situation is. The combination of three Complaints about Scotiabank Arena’s ice, however, are not new. The games per day and the time of year is something the NHL has rarely had playing surface that’s home to hockey’s richest franchise was a point of to deal with, especially in a building that’s now more than 20 years old. contention long before the pandemic forced the current makeshift situation. Scotiabank Arena, which opened in 1999 as the Air Canada Centre, is the 18th oldest arena in the NHL. But it’s no dinosaur. Over the past several seasons, The Athletic has had conversations with multiple Leafs players and executives about the quality of the ice. Many The arena’s owner, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, also had a did not want to speak publicly out of respect for those working in their new central dehumidification system installed for $4 million back in 2013, home arena, but from their perspective, it’s clear, their home ice is not the second such upgrade in the building’s lifespan. It was designed solely among the better surfaces in the NHL. to improve the humidity levels in the arena and, therefore, the ice quality.

Some players said the poor ice quality is noticeable and can impact play. Toronto’s arena is typically one of the busiest in the world, with multiple Some thought more breaks to shovel the surface would help. Others sports tenants and regular concerts. In pre-pandemic times, it was not noted how the snow builds up quickly. unusual for the ice surface to be covered for several days at a time, which created additional challenges. “Probably too quickly,” one player said. Having nearly 20,000 fans enter and leave the building every day also “Mushy” was a term used by players repeatedly. allows more outside humidity in, even when NHL games aren’t scheduled. This month, however, Scotiabank Arena’s ice is under more scrutiny than ever before. Dozens of pivotal playoff games are taking place there, “Even though (Scotiabank Arena) is getting older, they have not been shy sometimes back-to-back-to-back, which has created the rink’s greatest about investing money,” Richard Peddie said, the former President and challenge yet. On Friday, three teams will face elimination in games over CEO of MLSE who had a hand in building the arena during his tenure an eight-hour span. The most important day of the play-in yet comes on (between 1998 and 2011). “A lot of the buildings run into trouble because the heels of three games on Thursday, the last of which went nearly four people don’t invest in them. And that’s never been the problem in periods as the hometown Maple Leafs suffered an OT loss at the hands Toronto.” of the Blue Jackets. One former member of Leafs management from the John Ferguson Jr. As the games and playoffs wear on, creating a good, consistent ice era said they tried hard to deal with the ice issue even back then, as they surface will be integral for players to showcase their skills and play a fast, felt it limited their home-ice advantage. exciting style, rather than having games devolve into sluggish, defensive battles. “When I worked there, it was an issue with humidity,” said the executive, who declined to be identified. “We spent a few million on a new Even in the best of circumstances, making NHL-quality ice is no easy dehumidifier system up on the roof.” task. While the quality of the ice surface was often discussed, however, “There’s a lot more science that goes into making the ice than just Peddie doesn’t believe it was ever as bad as some made it out to be. He making water freeze,” Jared Dupre said, the ice technician at PNC also denied the long-held fan theory that MLSE keeps the building too Arena, home of the Carolina Hurricanes. warm to appease the well-heeled fans in the platinum seats.

You start with a concrete slab. Embedded in the concrete is a grid of “Ice quality has always been a discussion,” Peddie said of his time with cooling pipes. Those cooling pipes are connected to a refrigeration the Leafs. “I’m not going to say it’s always been an issue. I learned to system in an isolated mechanical room hidden somewhere in the bowels compare doing ice kind of like it was art and science. It was kind of like of the arena. That compressor system cools a glycol solution – a similar creating the best putting green. liquid to what’s found in a car radiator – which then flows through the “We had issues. We invested in upgrades – state of the art, at the time. “Comments that we’re getting firsthand is that ice conditions are good,” In fall and spring, the temperature is an issue. And humidity in the King said. “Better than some of the players and officials have expected.” building (is a problem) when you’ve got 19,000 people all throwing out 98 degrees. It seems to be a little subjective. And dare I say the ice is better Indeed, many players have said they expected worse and have made a when you’re winning and not as good when you’re losing.” point of giving the ice makers credit for doing a tough job under less than ideal conditions. This week, even without any fans in the building, Scotiabank Arena’s new dehumidification system has been running at full tilt. “I thought it was going to be horrible, but it wasn’t too bad. The first 10 minutes were pretty clean and then the last 10 get pretty choppy,” New Toronto has experienced intermittent rain and thunderstorms throughout York Rangers defenceman Marc Staal said. the week, which can increase the humidity level outside. That’s one reason why the ice in Toronto may be worse than in Edmonton. “It’s not perfect. I don’t think any of us were expecting it to be perfect,” Leafs defenceman Justin Holl said. He added that the ice has improved King and his team have been trying to keep the building “as tight as they since the team’s exhibition game last week. can” by limiting the number of open doors. That has been much easier with no fans coming in and out, as only between 250 and 450 people are “Everyone’s doing as good as they can,” Weber said. “Obviously the in the arena at any one time. weather outside is warm and humid, and there’s a lot of games in the day.” But combating humidity is only part of the unique challenge King and the 18-person ice crew are facing. He arrives at the arena before 8 a.m. – Like so many other elements of life in the NHL’s bubble, the ice isn’t four hours before the first game – and doesn’t leave until one hour after always perfect. But there is an understanding that every player will be the final game, which can be close to midnight. affected in a similar way.

The night before a game, the ice crew will do a depth measurement on “The ice wasn’t great,” Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck said. “But the the ice by drilling into 24 different spots on the ice to gauge how deep it beauty of this situation is that everyone’s playing on the same sheet.” is. They then choose how and where to build the ice back up.

During a season, ice surfaces across NHL arenas typically measure at The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 about 1¼ inch. Multiple contests a day necessitates thicker ice.

According to King, the Scotiabank Arena ice will measure anywhere between 1½ inch and 1¾ inches “just to help us through those three games a day.”

King estimates the ice will typically lose anywhere between ¼ and ½ inch during a day, so they’ll need to build that back up with multiple Zamboni floods. The ice will be flooded before each game, during every intermission and after each game.

When ice thickness is increased with floods, however, it can be difficult to maintain an optimal ice temperature. The flooding puts an increased load on the refrigeration system, which makes it more difficult to maintain the desired, colder ice temperature.

The warmer the top of the ice surface, the more the thick snow builds and the quicker the ice quality degrades.

It’s a constant battle that requires a detailed and consistent maintenance plan.

“It’s attention to detail and staying on the course that we have,” King said. “It’s a repetitive thing.”

During the day, King estimates he and his crew have 66 minutes between games to prepare for the next contest. The ice is immediately resurfaced after the final whistle.

It’s a race against time. So far, King says he’s winning.

“We’ve got the timing down to 38 minutes on the clock (before the next game starts),” King said.

Besides the August humidity and so many floods, another factor that outside experts say might impact ice quality is the increase of television lighting and screens the NHL is using for these games.

Typical arena lighting can heat the ice and have an adverse effect on it to begin with. That’s why the main lights are only brought up right before puck drop and are generally lowered during intermissions. Then you add to that the large screens that have been brought in to supplement the lack of fans, and it’s a unique environment.

King said his crew has paid close attention to those new screens and worked closely with game production crews to adjust the brightness. He doesn’t anticipate they will affect the ice quality.

Still, for the remainder of the Stanley Cup playoffs in Toronto, King will remain in constant communication with NHL ice master Dan Craig, who is currently working at Rogers Place in Edmonton. King says Craig’s experience is invaluable, pointing out that he has worked Olympic hockey tournaments before and understands the challenges presented by multiple games per day.

While there have been some player complaints about Scotiabank Arena’s ice in the media, King says the feedback he has received has been generally positive. 1190509 Vegas Golden Knights

Time set for Golden Knights game against Avalanche on Saturday

By David Schoen Las Vegas Review-Journal

August 7, 2020 - 7:45 PM

The Golden Knights’ round-robin playoff game against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday is scheduled to begin at noon Pacific time, the league announced.

The game will be broadcast on NBC.

The winner receives the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and will face the Chicago Blackhawks in the quarterfinal round.

LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190510 Vegas Golden Knights Defenseman Nate Schmidt failed to clear leading to the first goal Thursday, and Chandler Stephenson coughed up the puck along the wall before the Blues’ second. The Knights also were unable to manage the puck before Troy Brouwer gave St. Louis a 4-3 lead in the second period. Golden Knights meet Avalanche with No. 1 seed at stake “Our goal right from day one of camp was to try and get the first seed, and we’ve got an opportunity to do that,” DeBoer said. “We’ve set ourselves up to do that. Let’s take advantage of it.” By David Schoen Las Vegas Review-Journal

August 7, 2020 - 1:11 PM LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 08.08.2020 Updated August 7, 2020 - 8:56 PM

Because of their work in the first two games of the round robin, the Golden Knights can do no worse than finish as the No. 2 seed for the upcoming Western Conference quarterfinals.

But coach Pete DeBoer would like to avoid as many potholes as possible on their postseason journey.

“The higher the seed, the easier path you get. That’s the reality,” DeBoer said during a video news conference Friday. “There isn’t an easy path once the playoffs start, but there’s definitely some paths that are a little easier than others.”

The Knights face Colorado, which also is undefeated in round-robin play, Saturday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, with the winner earning the conference’s No. 1 seed.

If the Knights win, they would face Chicago in the opening round. With a loss, they would play Arizona.

Since this year’s playoffs are reseeded as part of the NHL’s return-to- play agreement, that gives the No. 1 seed the advantage of facing the lowest remaining seed in every round.

The higher seed gets “home-ice advantage” in the playoffs for four games of the best-of-seven series, which includes the last line change. DeBoer also noted it comes with other small benefits, such as using the home dressing room.

“It’s important for us. I think we have a lot to gain with these extra games before the series start,” right wing Reilly Smith said. “We came in with the mindset that we want to win every one of them. We want to get that No. 1 seed because it changes a lot with seeding as the rounds play on. We’re focused, we’re ready and we’re excited about the challenges.”

Robin Lehner is expected to be in net for the Knights, as DeBoer continues to alternate his goaltenders. He made 24 saves in Monday’s 5- 3 victory over Dallas to open the round robin.

Left wing Max Pacioretty’s status remains unclear after he missed both round-robin games and the exhibition. The Knights’ leading scorer during the regular season has not practiced with the team since July 19 because of a “minor injury” that is not related to a positive COVID-19 test.

According to the Phase Four protocol, Pacioretty is not required to quarantine if he travels to Edmonton on a charter flight, but he must pass a COVID-19 test to be cleared. He must quarantine in his hotel room for four days until four negative tests are confirmed if he flies commercial.

“He’s really close. That’s all I can tell you for now,” DeBoer said. “But basically, I said he was on the horizon last time we talked about him, and he’s closer than that this time.”

Colorado, which is led by Hart Trophy finalist Nathan MacKinnon, dominated the two regular-season matchups. The Avalanche won 6-1 on Oct. 25 and 7-3 on Dec. 23 behind two goals from former Knights center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.

The Avalanche sneaked past St. Louis in the round-robin opener when Nazem Kadri scored with one-tenth of a second remaining in regulation and then steamrolled Dallas 4-0.

“We didn’t have our best games against Colorado, there’s no doubt about that,” Smith said. “The best thing we can do against a team like that is defend smartly and quickly. Those are a couple things that we’ll try to implement and really try to slow them down, especially through the neutral zone.”

The Knights have outscored their two round-robin opponents 7-0 in the third period, but must clean up the defensive-zone turnovers that plagued them against St. Louis. 1190511 Vegas Golden Knights

Golden Knights winning with depth in playoffs so far

By Ben Gotz Las Vegas Review-Journal

August 7, 2020 - 12:06 PM

The Golden Knights are 3-0 in Edmonton, Alberta, so far and scored six goals against the defending Stanley Cup champions Thursday.

Not bad for a team without its leading scorer. Max Pacioretty is “really close” to joining the team, coach Pete DeBoer said Friday, but the Knights have had to start the postseason without him.

In his absence, the team is spreading out its scoring and doing just fine.

“We’re deep,” said right wing Mark Stone, who has four points in Edmonton. “We’re deep at defense. We’re deep at forward. We’re deep at goal. We know there’s going to be guys contributing at different times.”

The Knights had 11 players record a point in Thursday’s 6-4 against the St. Louis Blues after 10 got on the scoresheet Monday against the Dallas Stars. Only center Paul Stastny, left wing Jonathan Marchessault and defenseman Alec Martinez don’t have a point in the round robin yet, and Martinez hit the post twice versus the Blues.

“I think if you want to be successful this time of year and in the playoffs, you have to have scoring by committee,” said Martinez, who has won two Stanley Cups. “I’m very impressed (by our depth) and just hope I can chip in a little bit too.”

The most encouraging sign is the play of the third line. It’s been a season-long sore spot, but left wing Nick Cousins (one goal, five assists), rookie center Nicolas Roy (four assists) and right wing Alex Tuch (three goals, one assist) have impressed through three games.

“We have to have three lines that are dangerous offensively,” DeBoer said. “It’s starting to feel like we have that. Obviously, Pacioretty back in the lineup helps us there, too. You forget quickly your leading scorer has been out of the lineup. I think that’s what’s been impressive for me about the way we’ve played and the offense we’ve generated is we’ve done it without our leading scorer in the lineup. That’s a good sign.”

DeBoer has been alternating goaltenders Marc-Andre Fleury and Robin Lehner this postseason, and he didn’t rule out continuing to do that once the Knights’ first-round series begins. DeBoer said he wants to keep an open mind because he’s heard teams might play on back-to-back days in the early rounds of the playoffs.

All eight NHL play-in series have at least one scheduled back-to-back.

“It’s such a unique year, such a unique format,” DeBoer said. “For me, everything’s on the table in that regard.”

Martinez and right wing Reilly Smith both said Friday the Rogers Place ice in Edmonton, Alberta, has been a little soft and snowy since it’s hosting up to three NHL games a day.

The Knights have played the second game of the day at the arena for their exhibition and two round-robin contests.

“The ice is going to be a little bit bouncy,” Smith said. “The simpler you can make it and the more direct, I think it bodes well for our group.”

Ex-Knights vice president of entertainment and production Jonny Greco was hired by the Seattle Kraken on Friday.

Greco, who helped shape the Knights’ widely praised in-game presentation at T-Mobile Arena, will now put his touch on another expansion franchise. He left Las Vegas in November to take a job with Madison Square Garden.

LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190512 Vegas Golden Knights DeBoer also praised the Knights forwards for offering puck support and cover to make it possible for the defensemen to jump into the play.

“He’s really harping on having that fourth guy in the rush, utilizing the net- Alex Tuch doesn’t shy from gritty areas in Golden Knights’ win front D on our breakouts and trying to just jump up there,” Theodore said. “He wants us pinching hard, coming down the walls and keeping pucks alive. I think it translates to great offensive zone time. If we can keep that up, we should be pretty good.” By David Schoen Las Vegas Review-Journal 2. Shaky performance August 7, 2020 - 7:00 am Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury never appeared to settle in, starting with David

Perron’s goal on the first shot he faced about four minutes in. Fleury While defenseman Zach Whitecloud was busy scoring the tying goal for finished with a .765 save percentage. the Golden Knights on Thursday, Alex Tuch was in the opposite corner St. Louis scored on four of its first 12 shots, and Fleury is sure to want trading shoves with St. Louis’ Vince Dunn. two, maybe three, of them back. A few seconds earlier, Tuch appeared to catch Dunn with a high stick In addition to Perron’s shot that appeared to catch Fleury off-guard, while forechecking and the Blues defenseman retaliated by riding him Colton Parayko left him stranded well out of the net before tucking in a hard into the boards, then followed up with a series of cross-checks to wraparound for St. Louis’ third goal. the shoulder. Fleury got a piece of Parayko’s high-danger chance on the second goal, But Tuch absorbed the punishment from the 6-foot, 203-pound Dunn and and he had no chance on St. Louis’ fourth after the Knights failed to clear managed to tie up St. Louis’ MacKenzie MacEachern at the same time, the zone and Troy Brouwer was left uncovered on the weak side. allowing Nicolas Roy a free path behind the net to set up the goal. Robin Lehner is expected to start the Knights’ final round-robin game That was a theme throughout the Knights’ 6-4 round-robin victory at before DeBoer names a starter for Game 1 of the Western Conference Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, as Tuch consistently went to the quarterfinals. gritty areas of the ice to create offense. “I think they were a little fortunate, (Fleury) was a little misfortune on a The 6-4, 220-pound power forward had two goals in the second period, couple of them,” DeBoer said. “Part of that is you have to give them both from just outside the blue paint of the goalie’s crease, to go with his credit. That’s why they’re the defending champs.” physical play that helped set up Whitecloud’s first career NHL tally. 3. Freeze frame Tuch was originally credited with an assist on that play, but it was later changed to Nick Cousins. The Knights came out on the right side of a video review for the second straight game when Theodore’s first goal was upheld at 6:50 of the “I think that whole third line. I thought Nic Roy, too, and (Cousins), those second period. guys, they hop over the boards, they’re not just killing time,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “They’re looking to create offense and score, and they can St. Louis challenged that Jonathan Marchessault was offside as Stone be dangerous. When (Tuch) is playing like that, he’s a hard guy to entered the zone with the puck on the power play. TV replays showed handle.” the play was within inches, and after a long review, the call on the ice of a goal stood. Tuch had an injury-filled regular season and appeared in 42 of the Knights’ 71 games. But DeBoer called him an X-factor before the playoffs According to the NHL’s Situation Room, “There was no conclusive and noted his combination of size and speed can be a mismatch against evidence to determine whether Vegas’ Jonathan Marchessault was opposing third lines. offside prior to Shea Theodore’s goal.”

After he scored on a seeing-eye shot from a steep angle in the exhibition game against Arizona on July 30, Tuch’s goals against defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis measured a combined 14 feet from the net. LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 08.08.2020

On the first, Tuch was allowed to drive to the net when Blues forward Tyler Bozak lost coverage. He banged home the rebound from close range after Nick Holden’s drive from the point was stopped by Blues goalie Jordan Binnington.

Less than three minutes later on the power play, Tuch broke free from St. Louis defenseman Robert Bortuzzo in the slot and flipped a backhand past Binnington to give the Knights a short-lived 3-2 advantage.

In two postseason games, the third line with Tuch, Cousins and Roy have combined for two goals and five assists.

“That’s an honor to be called that, but I’m not really too worried about being the X-factor,” Tuch said. “I’m just trying to go in and work hard as I can every game and just try to be a difference maker every shift.”

Here are three more takeaways from the win:

1. Activation nation

Half of the Knights’ offense against St. Louis came from defensemen, as Shea Theodore tallied twice on long-range wrist shots to go with Whitecloud’s goal.

That somewhat overshadowed Brayden McNabb’s pass that threaded the needle to Mark Stone for the go-ahead goal with 7:29 to play.

“The play (McNabb) made tonight was a fantastic play to (Stone) at a great time,” DeBoer said.

Five of the six defensemen recorded a point, as Alec Martinez was the only blueliner not to find the scoresheet. And he hit the post on a third- period power play. 1190513 Vegas Golden Knights

Former Vegas Golden Knights Entertainment Chief Jonny Greco Is Seattle Kraken’s New Live Entertainment Head

August 7, 2020

By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com

Jonny Greco, who oversaw the Vegas Golden Knights’ uber-dramatic in- arena entertainment at T-Mobile Arena, is back with a new NHL expansion team.

This time, Greco will be working for the new Seattle Kraken, the National Hockey League’s 32nd team.

“Yes sir! Headed to the Pacific Northwest. Incredible honor for sure,” Greco wrote to LVSportsBiz.com Friday.

Greco is the Kraken’s new senior vice president of live entertainment and game presentation. “After the sport of hockey itself, we want to make an indelible impression on fans when the lights go out or the goal horn sounds or what goal song plays,” Greco said by phone to NHL.com Thursday. “It’s all about listening to Kraken fans and figuring out how to create the memories.”

LVSportsBiz.com LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190514 Washington Capitals Panik was on a roll before the pause, with his move to the fourth line giving the Capitals a needed boost. He played seven regular season games on the fourth line, where he was bumped after Ilya Kovalchuk arrived in Washington in late February. In that time, he ranked second on Capitals seeking more production from top six as first round creeps the team in points, trailing only Ovechkin. closer

Washington Post LOADED: 08.08.2020 By Samantha Pell

August 7, 2020 at 5:27 PM EDT

TORONTO — The Washington Capitals have not played their best hockey in the bubble. With temporary missing pieces on the blue line and among their bottom six forwards, the team’s offensive leaders, especially in the top six, have failed to compensate for the gaping holes.

Since Alex Ovechkin’s two-goal night against the Carolina Hurricanes in the team’s lone exhibition game last week, the captain has taken a combined five shots on goal in the team’s past two games: a 3-2 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning and a 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Nicklas Backstrom, who did not practice Friday, had only two shots on goal between both contests. Backstrom led all forwards in ice time Thursday.

Jakub Vrana, who has five shots on goal through two games, was gifted clear breakaway attempts in both round-robin games but still couldn’t flip one past either Andrei Vasilevskiy or Brian Elliott.

Even when Evgeny Kuznetsov looked to be in postseason form, scoring both in the exhibition game and the Tampa Bay contest, he appeared to be benched in the last half of the third period of Washington’s game against Philadelphia. His last shift came with 11:23 left in the third period, when Kuznetsov was caught standing in front of the net for Scott Laughlin’s second goal of the night.

“There is definitely certain areas that we can be better,” Vrana said regarding offensive opportunities. “Use each other a little bit more. We have been creating some chances. They didn’t go in for us so far; definitely we could be more effective. It is just the start for us right now. We getting better, and I know with our group we are going to feel more comfortable and more confidence in the next games coming up here.”

The Capitals’ top two lines, which are the same as on the 2018 Stanley Cup-winning team, have yet to find a rhythm, and the result has been a lack of offensive chances. Additionally, with so many undisciplined penalties at the start of Thursday’s game against the Flyers, the Capitals recorded their first shot nine minutes into the contest. A team that is built on so much offensive firepower has gone flat.

It’s eerily similar to the Capitals’ play shortly before the league’s shutdown, when Washington underachieved. In early March, the Capitals lost to the Flyers in a game with Metropolitan Division ramifications. And in late February, Washington fell to the last-place New Jersey Devils. Five months later, the Capitals’ offense is lacking, and with undisciplined play on both sides of the ice, the team is struggling to create opportunities.

“[In the summer] no one is really playing for real, and then you get out here and it is a lot harder,” T.J. Oshie said Thursday night. “You have to work a lot harder to score goals. You got to work harder to get in position to score goals, and things happen a lot faster. So we definitely need more offense. If not goals then at least chances and momentum from the top six here.”

Despite the Capitals’ recent struggles, many in hockey continue to praise Washington, which has veteran leadership and experience. That group includes Tampa Bay Coach Jon Cooper, who called Washington “outstanding.”

“I thought the Capitals were a sleeping giant [before the pause]. … That is an amazing array of firepower and talent,” NBC analyst Pierre McGuire said earlier in the week. “I think they really do have a legitimate chance. The thing about it is that nobody knows the matchups and nobody knows how everyone is going to respond after the break, which makes it a little bit more difficult. But I think Washington is a legitimate contender, a big- time contender.”

The Capitals have relied on their depth players to produce in the first two round-robin matchups; Richard Panik scored against the Lightning, and Travis Boyd had a third-period goal against the Flyers. 1190515 Washington Capitals

Capitals' Stanley Cup playoff opponent will be Penguins, Hurricanes or Islanders

By J.J. Regan

August 07, 2020 3:18 PM

With the New York Islanders' defeat of the Florida Panthers on Friday, the field of possible playoff opponents for the Capitals in the first round has been narrowed down to three.

Washington is guaranteed to finish in the bottom half of the round robin standings. Since the teams are reseeded in each round, the Caps will play one of the two top seeds coming out of the qualifying round. The Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders were the No. 6 and 7 seeds respectively heading into the postseason and have already won their series to advance to the first round. The only team seeded higher, the Pittsburgh Penguins, trail the Montreal Canadiens 2 games to 1. If they rally to win, Pittsburgh will finish as the highest seed out of the qualifying round with Carolina as the second-highest.

Exactly which seed the Caps will play has yet to be determined. Washington has one final round robin game against the Boston Bruins. The winner of that game will claim the 3-seed in the East while the loser will bump down to 4.

So it's down to the Penguins, Hurricanes or Islanders. Those are three teams with whom the Caps have a lot of history.

The Washington-Pittsburgh rivalry has been one of the top rivalries in the league since Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby began playing. The last time the Caps faced Pittsburgh was in 2018. Washington was victorious for just the second time in 11 postseason meetings and went on to win the Stanley Cup. The Caps played the Hurricanes in the first round last season as defending champs, but their quest for a second Cup was short-lived as Carolina upset them in seven games. As for the Islanders, former head coach Barry Trotz is now behind the bench in Long Island meaning that would be a series with plenty of intrigue.

Should the Penguins lose on Friday, the will be eliminated and suddenly the field for the Caps will be trimmed down to two teams. Washington's final round robin game will be Sunday against the Boston Bruins.

Washington Times LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190516 Washington Capitals

Possible playoff opponents for the Capitals are starting to come into focus

By J.J. Regan

With their 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, the Capitals' playoff future is starting to come into focus. Washington has only one game remaining and can finish in either third or fourth in the round robin standings. That limits the number of possible playoff opponents for the Caps when the games really start to matter.

First, before talking about who the Caps may play, it is important to remember why. Under the NHL's regular format, a normal year would see teams advance in a bracket, meaning each team knows going in they will be playing the winner of a specific matchup if they advance. This year, the NHL is going back to its old format of re-seeding after each round. This makes determining matchups a bit harder to figure out.

Here's what we know. The Caps are going to finish in the bottom half of the round robin meaning they will play one of the highest two seeded teams coming out of the qualifying round. The Carolina Hurricanes swept their qualifying round series against the New York Rangers. As the No. 6 seed coming in, Carolina is going to be one of the top two qualifying round teams.

Washington's final seed will be determined by Sunday's game against the Boston Bruins. A win in regulation, overtime or a shootout will mean the Caps are No. 3, while a loss in any fashion will bump them down to No. 4.

The simplest scenario for Washington is that If the Pittsburgh Penguins rally to win their series against the Montreal Canadiens, the Caps are guaranteed to play either Pittsburgh or Carolina as the No. 5 and 6 seeds, respectively. It gets a little trickier if the Penguins lose. If that happens, the Hurricanes become the top qualifying team and will play No. 4. The top team behind them then becomes No. 6 which, as of now, could be the New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs or the Columbus Blue Jackets.

So a rematch with the Hurricanes is a definite possibility for the Caps, as is a matchup with the rival Penguins.

Washington Times LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190517 Winnipeg Jets Another strong showing came from Jack Roslovic, who didn’t manage to score in the series, but showed that he may be ready to carry a line if given the chance. He was one of only a handful of players who maintained a positive differential in slot passes and shot attempts while A few bright spots amid gloom after Jets' quick exit they were on the ice.

Josh Morrissey also bounced back a fair amount from a season of struggles without Jacob Trouba, so again, there’s a starting block to build By: Andrew Berkshire on. Posted: 08/7/2020 3:00 PM The way forward for the Jets is a little murky without too many prospects pushing their way through and into the lineup right away, but this year’s draft could change that quickly. Clearly, upgrades are needed on Based on the underlying numbers coming into the series, this result for defence, and there may need to be some strategic rethinking of how the the Winnipeg Jets was likely inevitable. It was only Connor Hellebuyck, team wants to play in order to take some of the stress off goaltending, some talented scorers, and elbow grease throughout the lineup that kept but there are pieces that fit well here, if they can fill in the gaps in the the Jets punching above expectations all season long despite coming puzzle. into the season with Josh Morrissey and a bunch of question marks on defence.

Viewed from a wide angle in retrospect, bowing out in four games to the Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 08.08.2020 Calgary Flames isn’t a bad result. But for a team that is only shortly removed from being a Stanley Cup contender, the loss still clearly stings.

Even worse is imagining what might have been different had Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine not been injured in Game 1.

Aside from the injuries, what went wrong for the Jets against the Flames?

One of the issues the team had was that goals were going in at a higher rate than they had needed to deal with this season. Hellebuyck has always hovered around league average from the inner slot, but made up for it by being exceptional from the high slot and perimeter — meaning that if teams were going to beat him, they’d need to earn it and likely get in his kitchen.

In the playoffs, his strengths remained, he was absurdly great from the high slot and even managed to save all but one shot from the perimeter. But the Flames relentlessly hounded him at the net front and the Jets had no answer for that. Hellebuyck did his best to mitigate the damage by cutting down his rebound rate by about eight per cent, but the Flames owned too much territory in front of him in the series.

One example of the impact of the Flames’ net-front presence is in how often Hellebuyck faced shots through a screen. In the regular season, the Jets allowed 5.65 screened shots-against per 60 minutes, but against the Flames that number grew to 8.62.

That may not seem like much, but it made Hellebuyck’s job more difficult in stopping initial pucks and in controlling where rebounds went — not to mention tracking the puck on the rebound to get into strong position for a second save. Despite Hellebuyck holding strong outside of the net front, it wasn’t enough.

Without Hellebuyck holding the fort, the Jets’ poor control of play that has plagued them all season long was exposed further, and without Scheifele and Laine, they couldn’t score their way out of trouble.

The Jets tried to overcome the territorial domination of the Flames by creating more one-timers to get Flames’ goaltender Cam Talbot moving side to side and expose more net, but without their two top snipers in the lineup, that proved difficult.

Unfortunately, not a single skater on the Jets was able to pull the team over even in inner slot shots while they were on the ice. The only regular managing to get to 50 per cent was Andrew Copp, who had a great series that just wasn’t enough.

There are however, a few positives to take from the series, as disheartening as it may be. The line of Blake Wheeler between Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers in Game 4 was able to exert positive control over shot attempts, shots on net and slot passes. The trio controlled about 60 per cent of the slot passes while they were on the ice, a rarity for Connor, who is usually all offence and no defence.

The play of Ehlers was certainly a big reason why that line was so strong, but the resurgence of Blake Wheeler after trending downward the previous few seasons continued in the playoffs. For a player signed to big money and turning 34 at the end of the month, his bounce-back defensive season is big plus for the future of the Jets. It gives them the ability to try to create another competitive window, now that they know where they stand going into the off-season. 1190518 Winnipeg Jets "I think we had about nine guys out, and I remember being on the airplane thinking, ‘This team can’t play harder than it’s playing. We can play better, sure. We can play smarter, maybe, but they can’t play harder than they’re playing,’" said Maurice. Short-handed Jets never got to show full potential "And the painful part of it all was we felt like we had just kind of survived it and then got healthy and had a rhythm going, and had a schedule that was favorable because our prior schedule had not been favorable at all, By: Mike McIntyre then the pause. It was extraordinary, to say the least, the circumstances Posted: 08/7/2020 6:17 AM | Last Modified: 08/7/2020 4:05 PM | Updates that we were all in now, but par for the course, actually, for the Winnipeg Jets, for the year that we’ve had."

Ah yes, the pause, in mid-March, when the Jets suddenly had everybody EDMONTON — Frustration. Anger. Disappointment. Sadness. Self-pity. except Little back, had added Dylan DeMelo and Cody Eakin at the trade Winnipeg Jets players, and no doubt fans, are likely fighting a tidal wave deadline for depth, and had reeled off a season-high four wins in a row. of emotions after the most unusual season in franchise history came to a There was hope they could pick up where they left off when the 24-team painful end late Thursday night inside the bubble in Edmonton. Stanley Cup tournament began last weekend, and maybe they could have had they not lost 25 per cent of their regular forwards in the first For a third straight playoffs, a Jets team that seemed to have plenty of game, including arguably their two most important ones. promise came up short in its ultimate quest for a Stanley Cup. And there's a convincing argument to be made that the dream is getting Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor will take some blame, considering the further and further away. A third-round exit in 2018. A first-round demise two highest-paid players on the team had but two combined assists in 2019. And now, not even making it out of a made-up play-in round in between them in four games. Go ahead and blast them for their lack of 2020, getting outscored 16-6 in the process. production, sure, but I would never question their compete. Same goes for goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who got outplayed by veteran Cam Talbot "So the feeling we have now is complete emptiness," coach Paul Maurice at the other end. said during his post-game media availability at Rogers Place, just minutes after Winnipeg was dumped 4-0 by Calgary to drop their best-of- "We left our hearts out there," Hellebuyck said. five qualifying series in four games. Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice talks to (from left) Patrik Laine Before we put the body on the table, pull out the scalpel and perform the (29), Nikolaj Ehlers (27) and Cody Eakin (20) during practice at their NHL post-mortem, there's another feeling that should come to mind when you summer training camp on July 23. Laine sprained his hand in the Jets' think of the Jets: Pride. first game of the playoffs, taking him off the roster for the series.

This current crop of players had it in spades, and it was evident pretty Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice talks to (from left) Patrik Laine much every night they took the ice, win or lose. There was plenty to (29), Nikolaj Ehlers (27) and Cody Eakin (20) during practice at their NHL question about the club throughout a season that was filled with some summer training camp on July 23. Laine sprained his hand in the Jets' peaks and plenty of valleys, but effort was never one of them. They first game of the playoffs, taking him off the roster for the series. busted their tails right to the bitter end, even when the deck was stacked heavily against them. "You lose two of your best players, it makes it tough to really accomplish what you want to as a team. The guys that played this series, there’s "It just never seemed like there was an easy night for us in the NHL," nothing left in the tank. Our team left it all out there," added Wheeler. said Adam Lowry. There's no question this is weighing especially heavy on the captain, who No, there certainly wasn't, and that was never more apparent than the will turn 34 later this month and realizes the number of shots he has left past week here in the NHL's hockey hub, which started with so much at a championship are dwindling. promise and ended in predictable agony. "It was a year that was a test from Day 1. I couldn’t be more proud of this In reality, this series was over barley five minutes into Game 1, when top team. Realistically there are plenty of opportunities for us to fold it in and centre Mark Scheifele was taken out on a questionable hit by Calgary's chalk it up to a lost season and move on to next year," said Wheeler. Matthew Tkachuk. Maurice revealed his best overall forward suffered a "crushing" injury to his leg that was going to keep him out of the lineup "I would say I’m proud and I’m very disappointed that we just couldn’t indefinitely, but fortunately did no long-term damage to his Achilles. catch a break. I’m not saying that this series gets flipped on its head by having Mark and Patty — you’ve got to give Calgary a lot of credit — but Throw in sniper Patrik Laine spraining his hand later that same game and I would have loved to have played a series with those two guys and seen the promising Mason Appleton injuring his shoulder — both were at least how that would have shaken out. Put our best foot forward and from two weeks away from a return according to Maurice — and the Jets went there you never know what’s gonna happen." from hopeful to in a massive hole in the blink of an eye. Amidst the doom and gloom were some silver linings in this all-too-short All of that is on top of losing Bryan Little to a potentially career-ending series against the Flames, including the impressive play of Lowry, Nikolaj head injury last November, having top defenceman Dustin Byfuglien bail Ehlers, Andrew Copp, Jansen Harkins and Tucker Poolman. on them just days before training camp last fall, and having to bid goodbye to Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, Ben Chiarot and Brandon Tanev It will now be incumbent on general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff to find in free agency last summer due to salary cap constraints. a way to re-tool his roster to surround a solid core with better depth. He should have some salary cap room to play with, depending on what he It's a shame we never got to see these Jets at their full potential when the does with a number of pending free agents, including seven who were in stakes were highest. the lineup on Thursday night: DeMelo, Eakin, Dmitry Kulikov, Nathan Beaulieu, Gabriel Bourque, Logan Shaw and Nick Shore. "It starts from July 1 last year to August 6. I’ve never had a team go through what this group’s been through, the loss of just key people and If he can do that, there's no reason the window of opportunity can't then the injuries on top of that," said Maurice, who described Thursday's remain open for a few more seasons. Because in the end, the try level game as typical of the entire season: a shorthanded squad giving it their was always there. The talent level, once ravaged by injuries and all, but getting little in the way of tangible results. departures, was not.

"They played as hard as they could, they truly did. The bench was right, "I've never had a season like this where you'd faced so much adversity they were supportive of each other, they were cheering the good plays, and not quit, right? That's how you should value yourself — how hard you they were hanging with each other. Then we got behind it and they didn’t compete in dire circumstances — and we just had a year of it," said quit. They just kept fighting and grinding, and that was our year." Maurice.

Always the storyteller, Maurice shared one from January, when the Jets "I think that we had an incredibly resilient group this year and I think they were in the middle of a tough losing streak while their lineup was, did what they could here. I think that... we're thin almost coming in some naturally, decimated by injuries. ways and then the injuries certainly hurt us. But no. This tournament at the end will be viewed in my mind exactly the way the entire year was. They fought till the end and did what they could." And that, folks, can go right on the headstone of the 2019-20 Jets.

Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 08.08.2020 1190519 Winnipeg Jets

Jets land top 10 pick in 2020 NHL draft

Scott Billeck

August 7, 2020 9:14 PM CDT

The Winnipeg Jets will pick inside the top 10 at the 2020 NHL Draft.

The only question that remains now is where.

With the Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes all advancing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs proper with respective wins in their qualifying round series, the Jets are guaranteed to pick either first overall, ninth overall or 10th overall.

That will be determined on Monday, when the NHL determines for a second and final time, the order for the 2020 draft.

Winnipeg will have a 12.5% chance at that No. 1 pick and Alex Lafreniere. They share those odds with each of the seven other teams that have been (or are yet to be) eliminated from the qualifying round.

If the Jets don’t win the lottery, then where they pick will be determined by their Central Divison rival Minnesota Wild.

The Jets will pick in the ninth spot if Minnesota wins their play-in series against the Vancouver Canucks, or loses it but wins the draft lottery.

The Jets will pick 10th if Minnesota loses their play-in series against the Canucks and doesn’t win the lottery, and the Jets don’t win the lottery.

Picks 1-8 were determined last month. The placeholder team (one of the teams in the qualifying round) in the 12th spot won the lottery, ensuring there was a consolation prize for the eight teams that failed to make it into the traditional 16-team playoff tournament.

The irony here is that, if the season would have finished at the pause and the draft was held based on the final standings, the Jets would have held the 12th overall pick and would have moved into the first overall position.

Winnipeg Sun LOADED 08.08.2020 1190520 Winnipeg Jets With the Jets’ season now over it would appear prospects are good for all three players to be ready for the 2020-21 training camp, which is scheduled to begin in November, pandemic permitting.

JETS SNAPSHOTS: Only a few Jets players measured up in playoff loss SPECIAL MEMORIES to Flames and Ehlers was one of them Jets fans are no doubt disappointed that their team bowed out of the playoffs so quickly this year and they have good reason to be.

Ted Wyman Just two years ago, the Jets made it to the Western Conference final and were thought to be a team that was ready to come back and contend for August 7, 2020 6:25 PM CDT the Stanley Cup for a few years.

Instead, they lost in the first round of the playoffs in 2018-19 and then in the qualifying round this year. They’ve lost three straight playoff series EDMONTON — There were not a whole lot of positives for the Winnipeg and seven straight home playoff games — counting the two that were Jets in their best-of-five NHL playoff qualifying round loss to the Calgary played at the neutral site in Edmonton this year. Flames. Still, there are a lot of players who will remember this as a special season They suffered crushing injuries, resoundingly lost three of the four games because the team went through so much and still gave itself a chance to and were beaten in every aspect of the series. be successful. The Flames had better scoring, better defence, better goaltending, better “We faced a lot of adversity throughout the year, whether it was kind of special teams, better physicality and better production from their very losing a lot of guys in free agency or other circumstances,” Lowry said. best players. “And then throughout the year to injury. If you were picking the five best performers in the series, they’d all be “It just never seemed like there was an easy night for us in the NHL. The Calgary players — including goaltender Cam Talbot, who outplayed Jets guys really bonded this year and really came together as a team. We had Vezina Trophy favourite Connor Hellebuyck by a wide margin. a lot of fun together and unfortunately, we weren’t able to put together If you had to pick the Jets’ best players in the series, you’d point to the some wins. likes of grinders Andrew Copp and Adam Lowry and maybe even speedy “If you look at our team, we had finally gotten healthy and were excited rookie Jansen Harkins. going into this and really excited to see what we could do. Then you have Perhaps the best of them all was winger Nikolaj Ehlers, who came into some major injuries up front and you lose some firepower. the series as a notoriously unproductive playoff performer. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go on that run that we had envisioned. Ehlers scored a game-winning goal — his first ever in the playoffs — by I just think coming to the rink every day, you know what, it’s a pretty going to a tough area in front of the net on a power play to get a tip on a special group. When you get along as well as we did, you see the guys Neal Pionk point shot, and used his speed to score the opening goal in hanging around away from the rink and it’s not just pockets of five or six Game 3. guys. It’s the whole team. That’s really special.”

Clearly, Jets head coach Paul Maurice was impressed with the slight-but- DRAFT LOTTERY ON TAP skilled Dane. The Jets will now turn their attention to Phase 2 of the NHL draft lottery “Dynamic in a grinder’s series,” Maurice said. “So that’s a pretty good on Monday. defensive team they’ve got and they play a hard defensive game which a The Jets and the seven other teams eliminated from the qualifying round year ago, Nikky would not have excelled in. will have an equal 12.5% chance of winning the first overall pick and the “But that happened for him in January, I thought really, this year. He right to draft potential superstar Alexis Lafreniere out of the Quebec started to get it right, how hard it is every shift and you need to train your junior league. body and your mind to play a certain style of game so that when the It’s a nice opportunity for the Jets, who could use some good fortune playoffs come, you can do it. after an entire year of bad luck. “He excelled and he was behind it a little bit (in training camp). There In the aftermath of Thursday’s 4-0 loss to the Flames that ended the Jets wasn’t a whole lot he could do in Denmark, but man he played hard and season, Maurice was not ready to look at that particularly silver lining. he was dynamic at times and he got his confidence. And I think he was maybe carrying the weight of not scoring in the playoffs and fortunately, I “I’m going to have to give that one a little time before I appreciate the hope he gets to carry this forward.” value of it,” he said.

INJURY UPDATES POOLMAN IMPRESSES

Maurice revealed after the series that centre Mark Scheifele suffered an Another player who left a strong impression on Maurice in the series was Achilles tendon injury in the first five minutes of Game 1. defenceman Tucker Poolman.

Scheifele went down in a ton of pain after going into the boards with Poolman played his first full season in the NHL, got a real taste of playoff Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk. action, and performed admirably.

The Jets believed Tkachuk intentionally lifted his skate and brought it He also blocked a shot with his face in Game 3, but came back in the down on the back of Scheifele’s leg, though Maurice said the injury is not same game and was one of the Jets’ better defencemen in Game 4. a cut and it doesn’t appear to be a tear either. “I’ll tell you what, you can start him right back at training camp, too, a guy “It was a crushing injury,” Maurice said. “It was not a cut, it was a crush.” trying to make the NHL for the first time,” Maurice said. “Early on he played with Josh Morrissey for a long period of time as a rookie against Scheifele missed the rest of the series, as did wingers Patrik Laine and the other team’s best and we spent a lot of time coming off the bench Mason Appleton, who were also injured in Game 1. going, ‘Man, this guy played great for us.’ “We don’t think there’s long-term concerns,” Maurice said. “We don’t “He’s a big, strong, mobile defenceman that developed later in his career. think there’s any Achilles damage (with Schiefele). So he’ll heal. “Tucker was fantastic in this tournament and that’s a bullet hole to the “Patrik sprained his hand and it’s his top hand on his stick. So he couldn’t face. That’s a cut straight through his cheek and still blocking shots hold his stick. Mason Appleton suffered a shoulder injury, but none of (Thursday night). There are some things (about this series) that just those are long-term, but they’re all two-to-three weeks minimum. I really upset you to no end but there are some things, when you take a step shouldn’t say that with Mark because we’ve got to get more imaging back, you’ll take a look at some of the men that you think you get to done with Mark, but we think with Patrik and Mason that it’s a two- or move forward with and be pretty pleased.” three-week injury.” THE LAST WORD Finally, Maurice weighed in one more time on the series of unfortunate events that was the Jets season.

He traced it all the way back to July 1, 2019 — when the Jets lost key players Tyler Myers, Ben Chiarot and Brandon Tanev to free agency — to a training camp that was conducted without star players Kyle Connor and Laine (contract negotiations), to the surprise absence and subsequent retirement of Dustin Byfuglien, to the season-ending injury suffered by veteran centre Bryan Little to the horribly timed injuries suffered by Scheifele and Laine just as the playoffs were getting underway.

“This one’s not like any other,” Maurice said. “Truly. I’ve never had a season like this where you’d faced so much adversity and not quit, right?

“That’s how you should value yourself — how hard you compete in dire circumstances — and we just had a year of it. So the feeling we have now is complete emptiness. The payoff is nothing. Other than we’ll find it in a couple of weeks, a couple of months — the growth of some of these young men that will learn to be stronger, heavier players in the playoffs and will develop.”

Winnipeg Sun LOADED 08.08.2020 1190521 Winnipeg Jets I’ll tell you what was going through my mind as the Jets season ended on Thursday.

Two pictures: In one, defenceman Dustin Byfuglien was parked in a boat Fate, talent shortage, pandemic make it hard to put bow on Jets' season under the moonlight, perhaps trying to snag a late-night meal out of some lake somewhere, completely oblivious to what was happening.

I saw a fishing buddy check his phone and mention the result. In my Paul Friesen thought-dream, Byfuglien simply shrugged and turned his attention back to his line. August 7, 2020 4:49 PM CDT The other picture that popped in my mind was of centre Bryan Little,

sitting in front of the flat screen at home, his hopes for his teammates It was unlike any Winnipeg Jets season in hockey history, and so is the dashed. job of recapping it. As he turned off the TV, a flicker of concern for his career flashed, but How do you wrap up such a messy story? only for a second, as if he quickly changed the channel.

Not in a neat little box, that’s for sure. These two mental pictures are complete fabrications, of course. But, to me at least, they sum up the season that was for the Jets. Usually you can choose one off the sportswriter’s shelf. They have labels like ‘Not Enough Talent,’ or ‘Too Many Bad Attitudes,’ or ‘Lack of Heart.’ Byfuglien bailing on the team on the eve of training camp was a bomb Then there’s the always-popular, It’s the ‘Coach’s Fault.’ Oh, and ‘Poor shell that left shrapnel to step around months later. Goaltending.’ Sure, the Jets got much of his missing offence from Neal Pionk. But None of those are a perfect fit for this edition of the Jets, although there those are just numbers. are a few pieces from that first one you could certainly use. The defence The rest — Byfuglien’s intimidation factor, his knack for breaking up a and the bottom forwards aren’t contender material. tense situation with his what’s-the-big-deal attitude, simply his presence But we’re not talking about being Stanley Cup contenders, here. We’re — were holes left unfilled. talking about simply getting past Calgary and into the actual playoffs Little’s loss due to a concerning ear and head injury serves as a where, as they say, anything can happen. microcosm of a season in which the Jets should have just installed a Instead, four games and poof — they’re gone. Hardly worth the time and turnstile in the trainer’s room. effort it took to come back during the pandemic. The constant parade of bodies became almost comical, the seriousness One neat little box up on that writer’s shelf is covered in dust and hidden of Little’s situation notwithstanding. at the back. That tells you how often I use it. So yeah, injuries were a factor. Hate it, actually. It goes against every instinct I’ve ever leaned on. But there was something missing, too. Some talent, for sure. But also It’s the one labelled ‘Too Many Injuries,’ and the only time I pull that out some other stuff. to write a team’s obituary is when a football team has lost its starting A little piece of each box, I guess you could say. quarterback. And I’m having a hard time wrapping it all up. That’s the one position in sports that can make or break a season, even if the Blue Bombers blew holes in that rule by being the Grey Cup champion exception last fall. Winnipeg Sun LOADED 08.08.2020 But I digress.

Like I said, I don’t pull that box out often. Can’t remember the last time I did.

And I’m looking up at it right now and still not reaching for it.

No doubt injuries played a role in the Jets’ demise. Only a fool would insist otherwise.

I don’t need to hear the number of man-games lost or see the size of the roster used this season to know that Lady Luck had it in for this crew from the beginning.

The Jets did well, astonishingly well, to combat all the broken bones and pulled muscles and not fade into oblivion much sooner.

They were rewarded, after the interminable pandemic shutdown, with a spot in the qualifying series, one of 24 teams with a shot at capping this unorthodox campaign with the most unorthodox of championships.

Healthy at last, they said.

We should have known better.

Fate didn’t reset just because of COVID-19. And in the Jets’ first game, she reminded everyone what this season was all about: A test of resolve.

This time Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine felt her sting. But this time the Jets didn’t respond. Perhaps that well was dry by the time of the shutdown and there wasn’t enough bonding time to replenish it.

The whole qualifying series thing felt a bit like the exhibition season, which by a hockey player’s internal clock is exactly what it should have been.

Instead of a beginning, it’s the end. Painful, strange and abrupt, all at once. 1190522 Winnipeg Jets signed Anthony Bitetto in the offseason and then claimed Carl Dahlstrom and Luca Sbisa off of waivers instead. It was the patchwork of patience; had Byfuglien returned, Winnipeg would have the cap space to reintegrate him. Ates: In a season haunted by ghosts, Jets’ whirlwind ends without regret But he didn’t and Cheveldayoff was forced to wait until February to add players who would be thrust into important roles.

By Murat Ates When he did, it was Dylan DeMelo, the cheaper of his two acquisitions – and a must-sign this offseason, if you’re looking to fix Winnipeg’s defence Aug 7, 2020 – who had the bigger impact. Local product – and good, proud Winnipegger – Cody Eakin had a smaller impact. He was never going to be Little or Paul Stastny or even Kevin Hayes but he was miscast by Adam Lowry was one of Winnipeg’s best players throughout its 3-1 Maurice as a second-line center, where his ineffectiveness hurt the series loss to Calgary. playoff Jets.

With a goal, two assists, nine shots, eight hits and the best possession It was Eakin, along with Mathieu Perreault, who glided behind Sam stats on the team, he was one of the few Jets who seemed to be able to Bennett on the Flames’ backbreaking 2-0 goal in Game 4, scored with wear Calgary down and create real scoring chances. just 0.3 seconds left in the first period. Perreault finished the series with no points and two shots; Eakin finished it with the same stat line and one Then, when that wasn’t enough, and the series ended anyway, Lowry fewer shot. summed up the pain and the pride of the Jets’ tumultuous return to play better than anyone else could. While Winnipeg’s bottom six did produce some special moments – notably, Lowry’s all-around play, Jansen Harkins’ breakaway goal and “I think the best way to sum it up is ‘a whirlwind,'” Lowry patiently Andrew Copp’s promotion into the top six – there were ghosts there too. elucidated. “You work so hard, you put in the time and the effort to try and put your best foot forward under these difficult circumstances. And I And while more than one fan has lamented on Twitter that “if only think we all did that — there’s no one hanging their head in our locker Byfuglien were here …” while casting a digital side-eye towards Tkachuk, room. We had some really tough circumstances we were faced with, and whose five postseason penalties drawn leads the NHL, the man whose we came out and played really hard.” absence was as earth-shattering as his thunderous body checks did not represent Winnipeg’s biggest ghost. Those tough circumstances are well known. Just five minutes and thirty- nine seconds into the first period of Game 1 against Calgary, Mark The most haunting playoff apparitions of all were Connor and Blake Scheifele was hit into the boards by Matthew Tkachuk. Scheifele crashed Wheeler, whose 138 points in 142 games between them during the to the ice, where his pain audibly resonated through the mostly empty regular season turned into one assist each against Calgary. arena for several minutes. Those in the building heard the referee call for a stretcher while a teammate yelled for Scheifele to stay down and Paul These are Winnipeg’s premier players – their leaders in the dressing Maurice exclaimed, “Fuck off, fuck off, fuck off!” room and on the scoresheet – and neither found a way to impose his will on the Flames defence. Wheeler tried but failed to find the speed or It was Scheifele’s third – and last – shift of the series. Patrik Laine was bulldozing style that has led to 5-on-5 dominance for so many seasons. next, spraining his left wrist in a third-period collision with Mark Giordano, Connor fought the puck in the defensive zone, disappeared for stretches and Mason Appleton – who finished the game – became the third offensively and then seemed to be heating up as the series rolled along. Winnipeg player to play in Game 1 and no other. We now know Appleton But there was no ignition, no patented Connor finish. suffered a shoulder injury and that he and Laine are looking at two-to- three weeks of recovery time. Winnipeg was supposed to have the better forwards. Calgary was supposed to have the better defence. Connor Hellebuyck was supposed Scheifele, meanwhile, escaped without a cut to his Achilles tendon. to steal a game. Scheifele, Laine and Appleton were supposed to stay Maurice doesn’t think the injury will be long term but cautioned that it will healthy. require more imaging in the coming days. And Winnipeg’s special teams were supposed to be better than minus- Those, plus Tucker Poolman’s brave Game 3 shot block – with his face – four, an average of one free extra goal per game. and the even braver series of shot blocks he made after suffering that injury, are the biggest, most physical pains we knew about. In the end, not enough of those predictions came true. They too became ghosts. As Lowry said, the Jets did have some tough circumstances — new ones, freshly arrived, just in time for the four-game series that was. The most memorable conversation I had with a Winnipeg Jet this season was December’s one-on-one with Blake Wheeler. As for the “whirlwind?” That began a full year ago. It feels like a lifetime ago, pre-pandemic, pre-pause, pre-bubble. But its From the moment Winnipeg’s season started, it was full of ghosts. lessons remain. Wheeler’s character and leadership are not ghosts.

The ghosts of misconstrued words — when Laine, still unsigned, There was a moment in that conversation when Wheeler, then a center, appeared to criticize teammate Bryan Little in the Finnish press. just as he was on Thursday against Calgary, spoke about giving Laine more looks on the top line. Wheeler acknowledged that his powers may The ghosts of departed players — Jacob Trouba to trade, and Tyler be diminishing, but that his drive to win was only growing more Myers, Ben Chiarot and Brandon Tanev to unrestricted free agency. desperate. The ghosts of unsigned players — the aforementioned Laine, plus Kyle “I still want to be productive, I still want to have an impact on the team, I Connor, when training camp officially began. still want to have a role on the team — that’s just part of human nature The ghost of Dustin Byfuglien — who asked to sit out training camp the and of being a player,” Wheeler said at the time. “But ultimately, if I’m day before it started and then never returned. doing those things and the team isn’t in a position to win, then what’s the point? I mean the clock is ticking whether I want it to or not. Whether it’s And the ghosts of so many injured players, from Bryan Little’s freak puck- five years from now or eight years from now. I’m on the back nine of my to-the-head accident to Mark Letestu’s myocarditis, Mason Appleton’s career, for sure, so that’s all that matters.” football injury, Sami Niku’s car crash and ensuing soccer injury and Nathan Beaulieu’s many broken bones. In the published version of the piece, I shorten my response to There is a sincerity here. The most haunting of all of these was Byfuglien (from a storyline perspective; Little’s still uncertain prognosis is the most worrisome in In reality, there was a pregnant pause. We were seated beside each reality.) other at his stall in the middle of Winnipeg’s dressing room at Bell MTS Place. Not only did the Byfuglien saga rob the team of its best defenceman, Kevin Cheveldayoff’s continued hope regarding a Byfuglien return tied up When Wheeler is being particularly conscientious with his words, he has his $7.6 million cap hit and prevented a call-to-arms via trade. The Jets a habit of breaking eye contact — as if he needs to put the room and its reporters and their microphones aside for a minute while sorting out He is, however, ready to show pride in his team. exactly what it is he wants to say. He’s an articulate speaker and it is apparent that he is hyper-conscious of the reach that his words, as Because despite every injury or giveaway or missed piece of coverage, captain of the Winnipeg Jets, can have. the Winnipeg Jets did stick together this season.

Wheeler pointed his head at the floor and looked within himself when he “They played as hard as they could, they truly did,” Maurice said. “The said “The clock is ticking whether I want it to or not. Whether it’s five bench was right, they were supportive of each other, they were cheering years from now or eight years from now.” the good plays, they were hanging with each other. Then we got behind it and they didn’t quit. They just kept fighting and grinding, and that was our But when he landed on “that’s all that matters,” he turned back towards year.” me with a look that felt like a challenge. I can say with clarity of memory that it felt like he was saying, “Winning is everything to me. Do you dare “We lose back-to-back games in Carolina and Columbus this year, I think doubt that?” we had about nine guys out, and I remember being on the airplane thinking, ‘This team can’t play harder than it’s playing. We can play And then a beat went by. I considered everything that I just heard as better, sure. We can play smarter, maybe, but they can’t play harder than Wheeler waited. they’re playing.’”

After all of the years of being criminally underrated, the multiple coaches, Yes, this team was haunted by ghosts — but it won’t be haunted by getting drafted by Phoenix and traded by Boston and watching as regret. Winnipeg trusted the draft and development process, plus the intense determination which permeates Wheeler’s every move — did I have any “I’ve never had a season like this where you’d faced so much adversity reason to doubt him? and not quit, right? That’s how you should value yourself. How hard you compete in dire circumstances, and we just had a year of it.” “I believe you,” I said. The most articulate words of the day were Lowry’s, so let us end Another beat went by before “There is a sincerity here.” Winnipeg’s qualifying round with him.

He continued: “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go on that run that we had envisioned,” Lowry said. “I just think coming to the rink every day, you know what, it’s “I think I would have told you the same answer five years ago — or a pretty special group. When you get along as well as we did, you see whenever — but I still needed a contract. I still needed other things. But the guys hanging around away from the rink and it’s not just pockets of I’ve been blessed by this organization. There’s a lot of things that go into five or six guys. It’s the whole team. That’s really special.” being a pro athlete that I’m lucky I don’t have to worry about. I’ve been given those great opportunities and been taken care of so well by these Whether a shrewd offseason can turn all of this camaraderie into tangible guys that, the fact is: the only thing I care about is winning.” results or not, is a topic we’ll dive into in the coming days.

Winnipeg did not do a lot of winning this season.

And in the postseason it won just once. The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020

For a team that was in the conference finals two years ago, and nearly claimed home-ice advantage in last year’s playoffs, this lack of winning is a problem.

Winnipeg is not going to fire Paul Maurice or Kevin Cheveldayoff. Those jobs, two of the longest tenures in the NHL, are safe.

But Winnipeg does have work to do.

The version of the Jets that played with a healthy Little in 2018 and 2019 made deadline day acquisitions for Stastny and Hayes. There was a need there, even before the affable, even-keeled leader endured his season-ending injury. We do not yet have clarity about Little’s future but, with or without him, the Jets need help in the middle. Meanwhile, Eakin was not and is not a top-six impact player but he is an unrestricted free agent. So too are Nick Shore and Mark Letestu.

The Jets are in a little bit of trouble here, not because any of those players have the impact of Scheifele, but because they leave behind a reminder of an obvious need.

The defence needs help in a similarly obvious way. While it is exciting that Dylan Samberg and Ville Heinola are appearing on the horizon and Niku’s loss of his waiver exemption might finally mean he gets an extended look, DeMelo has to be seen as a must-sign solution to an ailing top four. The only other defencemen who even have contracts signed for next season are the two aforementioned prospects plus Josh Morrissey, Neal Pionk, Tucker Poolman and Carl Dahlstrom.

Winnipeg’s defence needs DeMelo and then some.

All of this will play out against the backdrop of a delayed start to next season and the looming expansion draft, where it will take some side- room dealing to keep the Jets from losing a useful forward.

In the meantime, the first off-ice concern, other than health, is the draft lottery on Monday evening. Winnipeg suddenly has a 12.5 percent chance to draft first overall and the right to add Alexis Lafrenière. We considered that possibility — and a series of ensuing opportunities here.

For his part, Maurice says he’s not ready to explore that particular kind of silver lining.

“Yeah …” he began with a long pause. “I’m going to have to give that one a little time before I appreciate the value of it.” 1190523 Vancouver Canucks “Marky doesn’t give himself enough credit,” said Horvat. “He’s been a brick wall for us all year. We wouldn’t be in this position without him.”

Between Kunin’s goal and Pearson’s goal in the first period, the Canucks Canucks 5, Wild 4 (OT): Tanev scores seconds into overtime to oust outshot the Wild 11-2. After Eriksson Ek’s goal, they struck twice in just Minnesota over a minute on goals by Brandon Sutter and Hughes.

Horvat and Tanev both finished with three points.

ED WILLES “I actually picked (Tanev) in the pool, so I’m happy about that,” Canucks head coach said of his rearguard, who scored all of two goals in the August 8, 2020 12:31 AM PDT regular season.

Lots of heat from the get-go

EDMONTON — It was nine years and a lot of pain in the making but the After a lethargic start to Game 3, the opening three minutes on Friday Vancouver Canucks have finally won a postseason series. night produced a fight between Jake Virtanen and Ryan Hartman, another in a series of penalties to Tyler Myers and a power-play goal for Here’s what we learned from their 5-4 overtime win over the Minnesota the Wild. Wild on Friday night. Moments after Myers was sent off with his eighth minor of the series, Canucks show pluck in comeback Kunin took the puck to the net from the face-off and stuffed it past Elephants give birth with less effort, but after gift-wrapping a 3-1 lead for Markstrom. the Wild in the second period, then allowing a go-ahead goal late in the No Suter for Wild, Olli’s first for Canucks middle frame, the Canucks came back on Bo Horvat’s late goal in the third before Chris Tanev won it just 11 seconds into overtime. Tanev’s Minnesota played without Suter, who was out with an undisclosed injury. long wrist shot beat Wild goalie Alex Stalock. Suter averaged a team-high 24:08 over the first three games of the series. The veteran defenceman also picked up two assists and was a standout the whole game. Tanev and Alex Edler are the only two remaining For the Canucks, rookie Olli Juolevi played his first NHL game. The fifth Canucks from the team that beat San Jose in the 2011 Western overall pick in the 2016 draft was a late substitute for Oscar Fantenberg. Conference final. “To be honest, the coaches were probably more nervous than him,” “It’s fun to win,” said Tanev. “The puck just bounced over their winger’s Green said of Juolevi. “I haven’t seen him a lot. We just felt he was the stick. I walked to the middle and I was shooting for (J.T. Miller’s) stick. He guy to go in. just missed it. I don’t know if that fooled the goalie.” “You never forget the first NHL game you play.” “Chris is the heart and soul of this team,” said Quinn Hughes, Tanev’s rookie defensive partner. “It was awesome to see him score there.”

Along the way to extra fun, the Canucks survived a substandard outing Vancouver Province: LOADED: 08.08.2020 by all-star goalie Jacob Markstrom and an inexplicable penchant for taking bad penalties, but still found a way against a Wild team that took the lead three times but couldn’t close the deal.

“Obviously this franchise has been through a lot,” said Horvat. “The last four years of missing the playoffs, we’ve taken it to heart. We wanted to come out and prove ourselves.

“We’ve got a lot more work to do. This is just the first series of many. We can’t wait till the next one.”

Vancouver takes the fifth

The Canucks’ series win leaves them as the fifth seed in the West. Calgary (eighth seed) Arizona (11th) and Chicago (12th) all advanced, which means the Canucks jumped a couple of spots after starting the qualifying round as the seventh seed.

Edmonton (fifth), Nashville (sixth) and Winnipeg (ninth) have all been eliminated.

The Canucks will meet the winner of the St. Louis-Dallas round-robin game on Sunday. The Western Conference quarterfinals are scheduled to start on Tuesday.

Marky was off the mark

Markstrom was the team’s MVP and an all-star this year, but he picked a bad time to have one of his worst outings of the season. The Wild, who were playing without team captain and blue-line leader Ryan Suter, opened the scoring three minutes in on a goal by Ryan Hartman, then built a 4-3 lead through two periods.

The four goals came on 21 shots. Nico Sturm’s go-ahead goal late in the second frame came from a sharp angle and went through Markstrom. Eric Staal’s goal late in the first, after Tanner Pearson had tied the game, also came from a sharp angle.

Joel Eriksson Ek scored the third goal when Markstrom failed to control the rebound. Markstrom, however, stopped all seven shots in the third period, including a big pad save off Matt Dumba.

“I think our team played a great game and I’m so happy we won,” Markstrom said with a straight face when asked about his performance. “I’d like to thank all the players for scoring one more goal than I let in.” 1190524 Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Province: LOADED: 08.08.2020

Patrick Johnston: Boeser's gritty net-front presence paying off on Canucks' power play

PATRICK JOHNSTON

August 7, 2020 10:10 PM PDT

There were two major reasons the Vancouver Canucks won Game 3 of their Stanley Cup qualifier Thursday: the outstanding work of netminder Jacob Markstrom — and the shot-blockers in front of him — and their power play.

Markstrom’s story we know well.

After a shaky 3-0 loss in Game 1 against the Minnesota Wild last Sunday, where Markstrom gave up a bad goal and the Canucks had just one power-play opportunity, Markstrom rediscovered his form in Games 2 and 3.

With Vancouver’s defensive base restored, the Canucks also found themselves on the power play. They scored three goals, including two in Thursday’s 3-0 win at Rogers Place in Edmonton to grab a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.

That they scored with the extra man isn’t a big surprise as they had the fourth-ranked power play during the NHL regular season. But against the Wild, they’ve kicked it up a gear.

And it’s not necessarily about Brock Boeser being restored to the first power-play unit after Tyler Toffoli’s foot injury. (Ironic, given that Toffoli was acquired after Boeser was knocked from the lineup in February with damaged rib cartilage.)

Really, it’s mostly about increased shot volume from the Canucks’ power play as a whole. Compared to their man-advantage rate during the regular season, the Canucks are getting off nearly two more shot attempts per minute against the Wild.

Not every shot is created the same — shots from the outside are low quality, while shots from the slot are far more likely to become goals — but more shots mean more scoring opportunities. And extra shots on goal means additional chances for rebounds and tipping shots.

Rookie defenceman Quinn Hughes has proven to be more adept at getting point shots through to the net than Alex Edler, creating chances for tips by the net-front man and the man in the slot — Bo Horvat’s goal in Game 2 a prime example — while putting J.T. Miller on the left side has added movement on the opposite side from Elias Pettersson, opening space for his notorious one-timers.

The net-front man’s job is to create havoc in front of the opposing netminder, to make it harder for him to see the puck, to be ready to tip hard shots from the outside and find rebounds.

“Picking up garbage,” a smiling Boeser said after Thursday’s win, using an age-old analogy for the kind of goals that get scored from on top of the crease. With Toffoli out of action, he’s playing the role of net-front man.

It’s not a role that Boeser has filled often. Toffoli is known for being an in- tight scorer, picking up goals on top of the crease and in the slot, while Boeser’s powerful wrist shot gives him a reputation for scoring goals more from the faceoff dots than from in close.

Boeser’s efforts in front, which earned him a goal off a rebound Thursday, drew praise from his coach after the game.

“You want to score at this time of year, you can’t just wait for a shot, sometimes you’ve just got to get your nose dirty and find a way to score,” Travis Green said.

“I think because of him maturing as a player, he’s able to stand in there. It sounds easier than it is, to go stand in front of the net while someone is taking a slapshot … you’ve got to have a little bit of grit in your game to do it.”

1190525 Vancouver Canucks With all that, the biggest story for the Canucks concerns the players who are driving the bus and that applies to this series and the team’s long- term development. A review of the Game 3 scoresheet reveals Quinn Hughes assisted on all three Canucks’ goals and Boeser and Elias Ed Willes: This series will be remembered for reasons other than playing Pettersson both picked up a goal and an assist, which is telling. in August But it’s the way the young core has produced that’s the headline here.

Pettersson has been a revelation. Built along the lines of a one-iron, the ED WILLES belief was he could be pushed out of the series and the Wild certainly endorsed that presumption. He was steamrolled by Zach Parise in Game August 7, 2020 1:41 PM PDT 2. He was pushed headfirst into the boards on a dangerous play by Ryan Hartman in Game 3. But, far from shying away from the violence, he seems to have drawn strength from it without detracting from his skill EDMONTON — The Vancouver Canucks, who appear to have taken to game. this playoff thing all the way around, went right to the cliché handbook before Game 4 of their series with the Minnesota Wild on Friday night. “You can tell Petey has some bite to him,” Tyler Myers said approvingly.

The final game is the hardest to win, they said. They’ll be a desperate Green, meanwhile, has raved about the growth in Boeser’s game, how team and we’ll have to play our best game, they said. This is still a long he’s evolving from a sniper to a gritty, well-rounded pro. Both his goals series, they said. have come from the battleground area in front of the net.

Now all that, while excruciatingly banal, is true. But so’s this: If the “What I love right now is he’s really bought into the other parts of the Canucks had written down everything they hoped to take out of their first game,” said Green. post-season series in five years, they’d have ticked every box by now. It’s As for Hughes, he has assisted on the last four Canucks goals before not just the 2-1 lead in games. It’s not just goalie Jacob Markstrom’s Game 4 while leading his team in ice time through the first three games shutout in Game 3. And it’s not just the performance of the special as a 20-year-old rookie. teams, which have gone a long way in changing the complexion of this series. Read that last sentence again slowly.

All that’s important but the larger development lies elsewhere in a certain The point is no one knew how the Canucks’ young stars were going to indefinable area that has to do with growth and maturity. To date, 10 of react to the hurly-burly of the post-season, especially against a Wild team the Canucks have suited up in the first post-season games of their career that is loaded with veterans. It figures those vets will still be heard from and while its impossible to quantify what they’ve learned to date, the and this series can still take an unforeseen turn. evidence suggests it’s meaningful. But it’s also impossible to measure everything the men of Green have Those players have also played a leading role in bringing their team to gained from their first exposure to the post-season. One way or another, the brink of advancement. By the time you read this, you’ll know if coach this series will be remembered by this group for reasons other than Travis Green’s squad completed their mission. But no matter where this playing in August in an empty building. series goes from here, the young Canucks will be carrying around its effects for a while.

“They’re growing, that’s for sure,” said Green, another playoff rookie Vancouver Province: LOADED: 08.08.2020 who’s acquitted himself well. “We have a young group who haven’t played these kind of games. I think every game gets harder to win as well.

“We’ve talked about it for a few years that our players need to gain experience in these types of games. But we’re just not here to get experience. We want to win these games and this series.”

Again, we won’t know if the Canucks advance until about four in the morning when Game 4 concludes in Edmonton. But what’s transpired to date for the Canucks, both collectively and individually, is noteworthy.

For starters, they’ve looked to be the more experienced team that, given their lineup, is a neat trick. In both Games 2 and 3, the Wild were visibly agitated by the strict officiating standard. Never mind the power plays were 14-13 for the Canucks over those two games.

Wild coach Dean Evason had to call out his troops after both outings for losing their focus. Kevin Fiala, the Wild’s most dangerous forward by a considerable margin, also took a double minor late in the third period when he precipitated a scrum by shooting the puck after the whistle, then bumping into Markstrom. That meant he wasn’t available for a late Wild power play.

So there’s that. But the Canucks’ team game, especially in Game 3, had all the earmarks of an experienced, battle-tested group. Owing to the 12:30 p.m. start, it was clear this would be a ragged, arrhythmic affair but, instead of forcing the issue, the Canucks played a patient game and finally broke through on Brock Boeser’s power-play goal midway through the second period.

Markstrom, meanwhile, was air tight but the statistic that jumped off the scoresheet was 22 blocks for the Canucks as a team, including seven by the underappreciated Tyler Motte.

“They almost put their life on the line,” Antoine Roussel said after Game 3.

Proving once again the post-season isn’t the time for understatement. 1190526 Vancouver Canucks

Canucks Game Day: A chance tonight to dust off Wild, clinch real playoff spot

PATRICK JOHNSTON

August 7, 2020 5:00 AM PDT

THE BIG MATCHUP

Ryan Hartman vs. Elias Pettersson

In Game 2 of this series, Pettersson gave Hartman a push and the Wild winger fell to the ice like a sack of bricks. It seemed he might have injured himself in the process, but he was good to go for practice the next day and then, of course, in Game 3. He’s a classic hockey rat, a player type as old as hockey itself. He tried to take a blindside run at Pettersson in Game 3, but the Canucks’ young star lost his footing and was in a far more vulnerable spot when Hartman arrived with little care for safety. Pettersson escaped the encounter unscathed. Will there be a third “meeting” tonight?

FIVE KEYS TO THE GAME

1. Defensive strength

Jacob Markstrom posted a shutout on Thursday, but gave the credit to his teammates. “Team shutout,” he said.

The Canucks haven’t been defensive dynamos — in fact, it’s the Wild who are known as the specialists in suffocating opposing offences — but they have been in this post-season.

2. Power-play prowess

There were 22 penalties called Thursday, which made for plenty of power-play practice.

The Canucks scored two goals, while the Wild haven’t scored with the man advantage since Game 1. Some of that may be because they’re still using two defencemen on each unit. Their defencemen may be some of the league’s best, but they’re still not as good shooters as their forwards are.

3. More Boes mode

The sniper Brock Boeser is thriving back on Pettersson’s wing. He’s been everywhere, backchecking, forechecking, scoring goals in dirty areas. He’s smiling and having an awesome time playing hockey. That’s great news for the Canucks.

4. Crease crashing

In the first two games of this series the Canucks didn’t have a whole lot of success finding chances on top of the Wild crease. That’s long been a focus for their offence and they were pretty good at it this season. On Thursday, they got 10 high-danger chances according to NaturalStatTrick.com. The Wild managed 11, which is keeping with what they’ve managed to do offensively this series. But, of course, they keep running into Markstrom, who was dominant Thursday and has improved with each game.

5. Back-to-back tilts

It’s never easy for a goalie to start two games back-to-back. In general, the numbers have told us that it’s generally a good idea to split your starters over two games if you’re playing on consecutive days. Goalies just need more time to recover. It’s science. That being said, with Thursday’s game a matinee and Friday’s game another late-evening start, that is a little more rest and recovery time for both starting goalies. You assume the starters will be the same, but might Wild coach Dean Evason be tempted to go with veteran Devan Dubnyk, who has been Alex Stalock’s backup this series?

Vancouver Province: LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190527 Vancouver Canucks Again, we won’t get too far ahead of ourselves. This is still very much a team that needs to piece things together.

But on a night when Quinn Hughes put on a performance for the ages, The Armies: Quinn Hughes carries Canucks to series win on a night when he just seemed to get stronger and stronger and stronger, it’s hard not to get caught up in the idea that the core of this team might have something special going on.

By Wyatt Arndt If anything, they’ve given us another round of hockey to watch and the first playoff series win since they beat the Sharks back when Luongo was Aug 8, 2020 manning the toilets the nets for Vancouver.

And more importantly for the front office, that one series win against In Vancouver sports, things never seem to go easy. Minnesota and the show put on not only by the young stars of the team, but some of the high priced players from the bottom six, has done more 2011 reinforced that point by having the best team this city has ever seen to sell the future of this team than any off-season move could have. fall just short of a Stanley Cup. For Bo Horvat, who has been here for most of the rebuild, finally winning Remember the stats in that Cup Final? Teams that go up 2-0 in a series a playoff series felt good. or 3-2 in a series have huge odds of winning them? Well, Vancouver has never seen a positive stat they don’t love to destroy. They’re like Han “This franchise has been through a lot, and obviously these last four Solo, except never tell them the good odds. years not making the playoffs, we’ve taken it to heart. We wanted to come out and prove ourselves and play hard … to finally get a win under So when Minnesota went up 3-1 in Friday night’s game, you would be our belt and win a playoff series, it definitely feels great.” excused for thinking you were about to watch Minnesota sit back and shut things down like they did so easily in Game 1. Best ruthless aggression

You would be excused for thinking that after Vancouver clawed their way Looking like a young John Cena getting in the face of Kurt Angle, Tyler back into the game and tied it up at 3, only to watch Minnesota score Myers has continued to pile up the penalty minutes to an alarming another soft goal against Markstrom, that you should be planning the degree in this series. appetizers for your Game 5 viewing party. You know it’s gotten bad when Twitter renames you Tyler Minors. Pickles are underrated by the way — they’re the Tyler Motte of any party And it was a Tyler Myers minor penalty that led to the Wild’s first goal. platter. Add in Tyler Myers taking another penalty later in this game (he almost You would also be excused for thinking that even when it went to had three straight games of three penalties each), and he was a very overtime, that the Canucks would find a way to lose and send this series large talking point with Canucks Nation. to a fifth and deciding game. Now, some people defended Myers and claimed a lot of his penalties Things in Vancouver just never end up that easy. weren’t that bad, and were more due to an overzealous official. And to be fair to Myers, he isn’t a guy who gets a ton of penalties each season. But then something surprising happened. But when you get multiple penalties in almost every game of a series, A Chris Tanev point shot went in. you have to think that maybe you need to adjust your style of play. Sure, the Canucks penalty kill looked fantastic against Minnesota, and it gave Chris. Sutter and Motte a lot of stuff to do, which was nice for them. But imagine Tanev. giving 5-7 power plays to a Vegas or a Colorado? That is just tempting fate at that point. Scored. Luckily for Myers, Green accepts the bad with the good, as he still Chris Tanev, a man who was here for the rise and fall of the 2011 core, a managed to get 24 minutes of ice time — which is amazing when you man who has given his blood sweat, tears and teeth to this organization, consider he spent four days in the penalty box. a man who would probably dress up as Fin if the team asked him to, scored one of the biggest goals of his life. Best meme

For Travis Green, it wasn’t too much of a shock. He picked him to score Troy Stecher ended the night with just under 10 minutes of ice time, the winner, after all. which feels quite low. Maybe it speaks to how Green views Troy From Richmond. On a night when Green was trying to ride his best players to “Actually, I picked him in the pool to score, so I’m happy about that,” he close out a series, he chose to give Troy bottom pairing minutes. said. “I think it’s nice that he scored, Tanny doesn’t get a lot of credit for that part of the game, he’s the warrior, he’s been a great mentor for our It will be interesting to see if that trend continues later in the next rounds, young players, great teammate, he’s been there when Vancouver’s had and it’s definitely going to be a talking point if we see the high-priced some pretty good times, and he’s been through some hard times too — Myers continue to pile up the penalty minutes and struggle in his own and he’s been a big part of where we’re trying to go. I’m happy for him for zone any time he plays with a partner whose name doesn’t rhyme with sure.” “views.”

Maybe there is something different about this Canucks team. Maybe this Best role reversal is a team that is showing they might be able to shrug off the long, sad Fear not, Myers fans, he did have one play where he saved Hughes’ history of Vancouver and forge a new history for this team. If the Boston bacon. Here we see Hughes trying to walk the line, as is tradition, only to Red Sox could do it, why not the Vancouver Canucks? see Vince McMahon Ryan Hartman poke the check away from him to get And sure, we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves. Minnesota isn’t exactly a breakaway: a powerhouse team. This series from day one felt very winnable for the Little known fact is that giraffes can run really fast if they get their long Canucks. And it certainly feels like the minute they run into a Colorado or strides on, and in about two strides, give or take, Tyler caught up and Las Vegas team that the jig might be up on this playoff run. No offence to tracked down Ryan Hartman on the play. Even more amazing is Ryan CBC’s favourite son Kevin Fiala, but Nate MacKinnon is a different beast. Hartman didn’t try and drive anyone head-first into the boards afterwards. But with the chaos of this year’s Stanley Cup in full swing, the Canucks Miracles all around! might actually put together a decent run. Their next opponent will either be St. Louis or Dallas, two teams they have a very good chance against. Tanner Pearson had himself a fantastic game, let’s get that out of the way right now. Not just for the goal pictured above, but just for the game Past that, we saw what happened with Winnipeg. We saw what he and fellow Insurance Line members have put together, solidifying a happened with Pittsburgh. Injuries, a hot goalie, lots of things can happen second line that looked downright awful in Game 1. A lot is asked of to help fuel an extended run. anyone who plays with Horvat as they get the tough matchups, so it’s a credit to his game that he has clicked so well with Bo ever since he You know what the best part of every game was? Watching Hughes get started playing with him. the puck and just seeing what he would do with it. And what better showcase of his hockey IQ than seeing him take the lessons learned in The fact that he can end your night on a snipe out of nowhere is just sort Game 1, and using them to find out a way to break down the Minnesota of a bonus. It’s like finding out your jacket has an inside pocket where trap in Game 4. Hughes makes anyone who plays with him a better you can keep your phone. player. If I’m a defenceman on a one-year deal next year, I sign with the I probably should have used a more exciting metaphor. Canucks and pray I play with Quinn so he can stack my resumé.

Best one of those nights And again, it’s not just the offensive wizardy. It’s the defence. How many times did we see him grab a puck in his own end and turn it into a zone I’ve often said that Jacob Markstrom has an unfair task in a way, entry or offensive chance at the other? because he sets the bar so high for himself. He played so tremendously this season that any performance that doesn’t match that level feels like First off, kudos to Tanner Pearson for the accidentally on purpose a disappointment. interference on this play to help Quinn get a clear lane.

It’s the feeling Thomas Drance gets when he leaves the house in a T- Second, look at how good Hughes is. A man literally barrel rolls on the shirt: He sets the bar so high with his clean, crisp suits that when you see ice like he’s on fire after he attempts to guard Hughes. He falls and the him rocking a torn Led Zeppelin shirt you need a moment to yourself to impact of him hitting the boards feels nicer than the knowledge that he come to terms with it. will never play hockey as well as Hughes can. That is magnificent.

But this game wasn’t simply an average game for Markstrom, it was Every single time you see Hughes pick up the puck you have to be aware decidedly below average. He let in three goals that you know he wanted that he can blitz down the ice, beat three or four guys, and set up back, and for a man who holds himself to incredibly high standards, you someone from the Sutter family tree for a chance on net: know he wasn’t happy with his play. Elias Pettersson knows he just has to throw the puck in the general area Best battle of the Erikssons of the ice Quinn is on and he’s going to make something happen:

Yes, that is Myers having trouble corralling a rebound and then a player, And yes, there can be some mistakes. Here he tries to steal the puck while then watching a puck get shot into his net. from Fiala and it leads to a break against:

It’s also some bad luck for Markstrom that he wasn’t able to handle that But it’s that confidence and the fact that 9 out of 10 times Hughes is able rebound in the first place. to make a play in a situation like that that makes him so much fun to watch. After the game, you could tell Markstrom was just happy he got the win on a night when he wasn’t at his best. On one play the team tried to get the puck out of their own zone three times, and each time they got in trouble, they just sent the puck to “I think our team played a great game and I am so happy that we won Hughes to bail them out. and I want to thank all the players that we scored one more goal than I let in, thank God.” He ended the night with over 27 minutes of ice time.

That’s the happiest I have ever heard Markstrom after having a poor Hughes is the best Canucks defenceman in team history. game. No debate. No argument.

Playoff series wins heal all. He is already the greatest Canucks D-man of all time — at age 20.

Best grease is the word Tanev, who has played with and against many fantastic players, had this Not since Groundskeeper Willie demanded he be greased up by the to say about him: lunch lady have we seen a foundational person get into such tight “You guys all know how good he is. He’s going to be the best quarters. defenceman in the league — if he’s not there next year, or the year after The much maligned Brandon Sutter, who has had his Vancouver career he’s going to be there soon. The way he skates, the way he moves the featured in the obituaries seven times, was tremendous this series. puck, he’s a special player. He’s going to be the best player around for a long time coming, and we’re happy he’s on our team.” Injuries have hampered his play a lot over the years in Vancouver, but against Minnesota and thrust into a third-line role once again, he excelled Worst feeling and put on the best hockey we have seen from Brandon in quite some As Kevin points out, it could be a symptom of fatigue. Four games in six time. nights is a lot of hockey, and these are not the types of goals the Scrum Somebody call Baton Rouge because he came to play. Lord typically lets in.

Sutter has been driving hard to the net, finding ways to get his shot off, Patrick Johnston asked Markstrom about fatigue being an issue, and and worked hard along the boards. It’s been pretty much all you can ask while he didn’t bite fully, he did indicate the lack of a practice between of him at this point, and give him full credit for showing up in a big way in morning and night games isn’t his favourite. this series. “I love playing, and we’re really happy we finished the series in four Best hard work works hard instead of taking it to a Game 5 … I also love practising … it’s tough practising when you get an early game and have a back-to-back.” Just a small example but the penalty kill units were very effective this series because of things like this. If it wasn’t Tyler Motte getting up in And who knows, maybe Jean Claude Van Damme was in net for those someone’s grill demanding their lunch money, it was Brandon Sutter goals and we were just watching “Sudden Death 2.” All of this is making Ron MacLean proud as proud can be by outworking and plausible. outhustling his opponent. Best Avengers Assemble

Best Quinn Hughes of House Awesome Captain America Bo Horvat came up huge for the Canucks, scoring the There were a million tweets to choose from about Hughes, but that one biggest goal of his career to date, when he tied the game up late against sums it up perfectly. Just Hughes’ name followed up by what could easily Minnesota. be a lyric from a Lonely Island song about a certain act. Apparently Horvat is inevitable.

This series was a coming out party for Hughes. If anyone benefited from Another thing Horvat is, is elated, as nobody jumped higher after scoring the long break, it was the young Wolverine alumnus. Hughes, who a goal than Bo did last night. looked tired as the season wore on, only got stronger as this series continued. “It was a great job by Huggy keeping it in, and then Tanner keeping it alive in the corner there, made a heck of a pass to me out front. Obviously I was jumping with joy after I saw that go in, he’s had my number pretty much all series … so to see it finally go in the back of the can injure both friend and foe, so when he targeted Pettersson in Game net felt great.” 4 and drove him into the boards, Jake remembered. People from Abbotsford always remember. You cut someone off at the Tim Hortons Bo giving credit to his linemates is nothing new, but we really really need drive-through? You’re gonna fight in beer league later that night. to give credit to Pearson for tracking down the puck, shielding off his check, and finding Bo in the slot for the goal. Just a tremendous job done Anyways, it wasn’t like it was a massive fight, but again, was just another by Tanner. small sign that this is a team that will stick up for itself, and will not be afraid to get greasy. Which for many fans of this team, is a sight for sore Horvat is someone Green always relies on for the hard matchups and eyes. tonight was no different, with Bo putting on a Corsi Wars clinic (21 shots for vs 11 against). You can see the Big Fella getting into the spirit of things, making sure Marcus Foligno knows he isn’t afraid to throw down. On a team in which the pure hockey skill of Boeser, Hughes, Miller and Pettersson can put him in the shadows, Horvat reminded people how Yes, this game wasn’t nearly as chippy as Game 3, but for a series that vital he is to this team as well. was probably the greasiest first-round series out of all of them, you have to give credit to the Canucks for matching their opponent every step of Best winner the way.

Chris. Freakin’. Tanev. Best Surprise

For a guy who showed up on the scene sending the world’s nicest pass In a bigger reveal than the ending of “The Others,” Olli Juolevi was a to Fanner Tanner Glass, to now in the year 2020 end up scoring the first surprise entrant into The Royal Rumble the Canucks lineup. series winner since 2011, it just feels right. A sentiment shared by Markstrom. Oscar Fantenberg and Tyler Myers have had an on-again, off-again relationship with good defence throughout the course of the season so it “I think he’s the guy on our team who gets the least credit, out in the makes sense to break that pairing up in a high stakes game. But it was media, and he does a lot of quiet work, blocking shots, and being an still surprising to see Green tinker with a winning lineup, something he outlet for Huggy so Huggy can play his game. He’s always backing him has been loath to do in the past, especially in a playoff situation. up and saving my behind multiple times … for Chris to get that goal was unbelievable.” That being said, Green sheltered Juolevi heavily, as the young Finn saw just over six minutes of ice time on the night, which is understandable Trying to get Tanev excited about the goal was probably a pipe dream, given the circumstances. He was basically there to give water to Myers but after the game he did at least say it was fun. any time he tired out from taking too many penalties.

“Obviously it’s good to win, it’s fun to win. The puck just bounced over What did the ultimate hype man Green have to say? their wingers stick, and I walked to the middle, I was shooting for Millsy’s stick … and it ended up going in.” “He was solid.”

Best intentions Actually, for once, Travis did hype someone up.

First of all, Pettersson is a heck of a guy, and he apologized on the play “He didn’t seem too nervous. I think to be honest the coaches were more for running into Stalock. Also credit to Stalock, who somehow managed nervous than him. I haven’t seen him a lot but we just felt like he was the not to flail himself away into space, I assume due to a series of ropes and guy to go in. He’d had a good camp, he played heavier than we thought vacuum tubes. he would, moves the puck quick, he’s got a good release on his shot, he didn’t seem intimidated at all … I’m happy for him.” Second, I enjoyed Elias doing the “Are you not entertained?” pose as he looked at the ref for the call. Any time you can pull out something from The playoffs are truly a different beast. “Gladiator” that’s a plus in my books. Imagine Zack MacEwen looking over to JT Miller to see if he gives a thumbs up or thumbs down for a Best way to burn calories fight? That would be downright magical. Markstrom has never been one to shy away from handling the puck Third, as much as it would have been hilarious for Minnesota to lose a outside his crease, but he gave all of Vancouver a heart attack when he series on an unsportsmanlike penalty, I am OK with that one being let go. got caught turning the puck over outside of his crease.

Best Da Da And much like online in EA Sports, he sprinted back to his net and smashed his controller until he found a way to cover the puck. Speaking of Miller, while the Lotto Line got overshadowed by Sutter and Hughes, Jimothy Timothy was still out there doing his thing. At one point Best move he tried to beat four guys and almost pulled it off: I feel like Horvat has perfected moves behind and around the net where But aside from the offensive chances, he was on the back end, laying out he drags a puck around a player. and blocking shots, like a good dad: Best Rooster

I’ve said it once this year and I will say it again, from a compete level, Nobody is better at gamesmanship than Antoine Roussel. Not many Miller is one of my favourite players I have seen play hockey in players can get a goalie to have a long drawn-out conversation with you, Vancouver in many seasons. I’d allude to “the little things” but that has but the Rooster can. already been trademarked for another player, so all I’ll say is Miller is a hell of a hockey player. I assume they were talking about their shared love of early Alanis Morissette songs. Best the first rule of Jake Fight Club Always too hot, never too cold Jake Virtanen started a fight club earlier this year, and if you remember, it sparked off a series of games where everyone seemingly wanted to join You make your best shot too hot to hold in on the fun. Pearson, MacEwen, Tanev, Horvat, it felt like every day a Never too young never too old new player wanted to join the club. For a team that has battled “But are they tough enough?” since the 1994 run ended, this year has felt different You gotta go for gold! in how the team sticks up for itself. Best history Remember last game when Sutter plowed Fiala for touching Markstrom? That one act is something this city has been begging for for years. Roussel has always been so helpful with the Wild, too. He has a history Nobody is asking for frontier justice, nobody needs players to get on of helping with mid-game stretches! horses and strap on six shooters, but they’ve wanted to see pushback Best he tried his best from this team for such a long time.

Well, Jake’s fight was an extension of that, as he targeted Ryan Hartman. Hartman is a player who is chaotic neutral, which means he Loui Eriksson has settled comfortably into the soft spot of Canucks fans’ hearts to the point where if he scores a goal, the internet will explode in happiness.

This series has also highlighted his ability to solidify the second line, which has also helped his stock.

We just need one goal, Loui. Just one.

Best Juolevi Highlight

He only had six minutes, but he didn’t make any glaring mistakes. That’s a solid debut for the rookie.

Best Scrum

Who knew the best scrum on the day would be from the media and not the game?

Best view

Now that, my friends, is a memory that will last a life time.

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190528 Websites The couple walked into the Kraken’s offices in Lower Queen Anne and finally had in-person meetings with those familiar faces he met through Zoom. Boyd, Leiweke and Townsend displayed a disarming approach that made Fitzhugh and Pinto feel at ease, he said. The experience felt The Athletic / How the Kraken’s Everett Fitzhugh became the NHL’s first more like a conversation than an actual job interview. Leiweke and his Black team broadcaster staff talked about their long-term vision for hockey in Seattle. They drove the young couple around the city so they could see what it had to offer.

They went to the Climate Pledge Arena construction site a few blocks By Ryan S. Clark away from the Kraken’s main offices.

Aug 7, 2020 “They even asked Shelly, ‘What are your reservations?'” Fitzhugh recalled. “He told her, ‘This is not just about Everett. We want to make sure everyone’s happy and feels welcomed into the organization.’ That was really cool to share with her, and it helped me feel more comfortable The backstory of how the Seattle Kraken made Everett Fitzhugh the first because it was not just about me.” Black team broadcaster in NHL history started with a reply to an unlikely email. A flight from Seattle back to Cincinnati is a little more than four hours long, and the couple spent much of it thinking about the interview: “Are In February, Fitzhugh, the radio play-by-play announcer for the ECHL’s we going to Seattle? Are we moving? Is this what’s happening.” Cincinnati Cyclones and the only Black broadcaster at any professional level of North American hockey, was the subject of a profile story in The It took a few days, but Townsend called with an official offer that Fitzhugh Athletic. Several people throughout the sport learned about Fitzhugh — accepted in short order. Pinto had the day off from work and was able to and his goal to someday become a play-by-play broadcaster for an NHL witness her fiancé finally achieve his dream. franchise — for the first time. Little did he know that one of the people who read that story was Kraken CEO and Team President Tod Leiweke, “Those next few days were tense until he got the call,” Pinto said. who had already heard about Fitzhugh from NBC’s Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick. “Because I am sappy, I cried when he got the call. I definitely got teary- eyed, and I shed a few tears. … It’s surreal. It’s so exciting because I “I don’t know if Everett has heard that story, but he was definitely on don’t think this could have happened to a better person. Everyone that people’s radar screens,” Leiweke said. meets him in my life — from friends to coworkers — is like, ‘Oh, this guy is fantastic.’ You feel good as soon as he is in your presence.” Leiweke sent Fitzhugh an email, which the announcer initially thought was spam. Only to then realize this was a legitimate correspondence Fitzhugh’s official title is team broadcaster. The franchise is still sorting from an actual NHL executive. Leiweke explained how he liked through broadcast rights deals, but the Kraken wanted to hire Fitzhugh Fitzhugh’s story and that he would like to connect with him about a now anyway. It is possible he could become Seattle’s play-by-play radio potential opportunity with the club. They spoke a few days later in what announcer or serve in another broadcasting role as the team gets closer Fitzhugh described as “an amazing conversation.” to playing in the 2021-22 season. For now, the plan is for Fitzhugh to be one of the faces — and voices — of the Kraken. The plan was for Fitzhugh to fly to Seattle during the summer. COVID-19 slightly altered those plans. Fitzhugh said he thought about reaching out “We’re really active on social media, our digital platforms, and our fans to Leiweke in the following months, but figured conversations would have a great thirst for information,” Leiweke said. “I think they are tired of resume at some point when the franchise that would eventually be hearing from me, and to have another incredible voice and with all the christened the Kraken was ready. In late May, Leiweke emailed Fitzhugh passion we have here, we feel we are in a stage where we need to teach to ask him if he was still interested in working for the team. people about the greatness of the game and the overall greatness of the National Hockey League. You listen to how Everett has called games, Fitzhugh was more than interested. He began the interview process, and how he has done that cannot help but make people feel inspired which included Zoom interviews with Leiweke and senior vice president about hockey.” of communications Katie Townsend, along with youth and community development/training director Kyle Boyd. The team then offered to fly Fitzhugh was one of three hires the Kraken announced on Friday. The Fitzhugh to Seattle in early July for an in-person interview, but Leiweke team also hired Lamont Buford and Johnny Greco as vice president of requested Fitzhugh travel with one more person: his fiancée, Shelly gameday presentation and senior vice president of live entertainment Pinto. and game presentation, respectively. Buford, who is Black, previously served as the senior director of game presentation for the Arizona “It is not a decision that one person makes on their own,” Leiweke said. Coyotes and the director of game entertainment and youth hockey for the “That is a family decision. I wanted both of them to understand what we St. Louis Blues. Greco was in charge of game presentation for the NHL’s were building. We were interviewing him, and he was interviewing us as most recent expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights and previously well.” worked with the Miami Marlins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Cleveland Pinto wrote “SEATTLE” on the couple’s bathroom mirror and on another Cavaliers and World Wrestling Entertainment. Greco was most recently mirror near their front door, putting her future husband’s lifelong dream at Madison Square Garden where he worked for the New York Knicks out into the universe in an attempt to make it manifest. and the New York Rangers.

Flying into Seattle and getting settled there before the interview was Leiweke said it was “really cool” for Fitzhugh to be the first Black team either a smooth process or nerve-racking, depending upon who is telling broadcaster in NHL history, but now the Kraken need to make sure he the story. Fitzhugh said he was focused once he got onto the plane. He has all the resources necessary to be successful. thought about all the things he had done to reach this point, but he also “The fact he represents diversity is terrific, but what we want and hope is employed the hockey cliché of treating the biggest job interview of his life he will be one of the great announcers in the game,” Leiweke said. “He like it was any other interview. That way, his preparation remained the has options, and his name was out there, and I want him to come here same. His future wife, however, maintains that she was working to keep and make beautiful music and help us turn Seattle into a great hockey him calm because he was getting nervous. She was there to reassure town.” him: This was an opportunity he deserved because of the work he put in. Diversity throughout the NHL has become a conversation piece over the It all started growing up a Red Wings fan in Detroit. His friends made fun last few months. Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri, Minnesota of him for being a Black kid who liked hockey, but he did not care Wild defenseman Matthew Dumba and San Jose Sharks winger Evander because the game was his passion. That is why he went to Bowling Kane are among the players of color who have addressed racism with Green State University and served as the men’s hockey team’s play-by- hockey. White players, such as Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin, have play announcer before he went to work for the USHL, then the Cyclones. done the same. Last month, the NHL announced its #WeSkateFor “It was the morning of the interview … he woke up at 4 a.m., and nothing campaign that allows players and teams to decide if they want to is even open,” Pinto said. “He had to lay there for a bit on this big day. It advocate for causes in the fight against racism or in support of those was super intense. But he also had that moment before he walked in like, working on the front lines against COVID-19. ‘OK. I got this.'” Still, the NHL has come under a microscope when compared to other Fitzhugh said having Pinto by his side put him at ease. North American professional leagues. The league is working toward adding more diversity throughout front office roles among its 31 member clubs. The Kraken, who will be the 32nd team, have long made diversity a priority by having minorities and women serve in a variety of roles within the organization. In January, the Kraken stated that 54 percent of their executive vice presidents were women.

Fitzhugh said he is starting to come to terms with being the first Black team broadcaster in NHL history, working through the weight of that realization by practicing goal calls in his head. He is reading every potential expansion draft and thinking about how different names would sound.

“He realizes there is a responsibility that is attached to it and he is excited about that,” Pinto said. “That shows he really is the right person to wear this title.”

But there is also a sobering reality as well. He is prepared to read the comments saying the only reason he got the job was because he was black. It is something Fitzhugh has heard throughout his entire career. Those opinions do not scare him. He joked that a part of him actually enjoys reading negative comments because it only provides more motivation to show that he was the right man for the job.

“I want to be the best, period,” he said. “I know what I want to accomplish. I think the fact that this is a defining moment to be the first Black team broadcaster is something that is really cool and really special. And it has not really fully hit me yet.”

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190529 Websites “Right up, right up!” he suggested to Ryan Suter on a first-period dump in, since Suter had a winger down the ice but his back to the oncoming forechecker.

The Athletic / The Chatterbox: Alex Stalock, the NHL’s most talkative “Time, time, time,” Stalock noted to a defender turning at his own blue goaltender, won’t shut up line, with forwards still stuck in an offside position in Vancouver’s end. The “time, time, time” call is particularly common for Stalock. It’s his way of noting — almost constantly — to his teammates to take their time, that they have more time than they might think to make a play. By Thomas Drance Stalock also repeatedly verbalizes his advocacy for the referee to blow Aug 7, 2020 67 the whistle for icing. In the first period on Thursday, at one point, the puck slid down to his end, shot in from just about the red line.

EDMONTON — Vancouver Canucks forward J.T. Miller looked back at “Ice, ice, ice!” Stalock said to the referee. “Nope!” came the the Wild net before he stepped onto the bench. straightforward, no-nonsense reply from the on-ice official.

“Hey, why don’t you shut the fuck up, buddy?” Miller chirped at the On a more obvious icing, Stalock added to teammate Carson Soucy, opposing goaltender. “You’ve got it! You’ve got it!” It was an indication that Soucy didn’t need to race in, he was winning the race by a mile and could comfortably Miller’s chirp was borne of a sequence late in the second period of conserve energy and glide. Thursday afternoon’s qualifying round Game 3 between the Canucks and the Minnesota Wild. Miller had lingered like a poacher on the Wild blue “Al is very vocal,” understated Wild forward Marcus Foligno on Thursday. line, hoping for a Hail Mary pass as his linemates changed. “And I think it kind of gets us fired up. From Day One since I’ve met him, he’s one of the most outgoing guys, so he’s just like that on the ice. It’s “Watch the change,” came an urgent call from Wild goaltender Alex fun to play in front of a guy like that. He works so hard day in and day Stalock to his teammates. “Watch the change!” A Wild defender turned out, but he’s smart. He lets guys know, let’s the defense know. and skated back to Miller, who, foiled, expressed his frustration at Stalock and returned to the bench. “It’s an easy game back there for our D when they have to go and retrieve blocks. He plays a lot of pucks too and then he does such a It was a revealing sequence. Stalock is a motormouth, the goaltending great job with that as well. For us, we’re happy to be playing for that guy.” fraternity’s resident chatterbox. He’s not just tending net for the Wild in the qualifying round, he’s directing traffic. Playing behind one of the stingiest defensive clubs in hockey, all Stalock has to do is inspire that basic level of confidence. Backstopping the team The 33-year-old goaltender is far and away the most vocal and talkative that permitted scoring chances against at the lowest rate in the NHL, netminder in the NHL’s Western bubble. In the qualifying round, Stalock Stalock doesn’t necessarily need to steal games, he just needs to be has spent the games talking like an indulgent podcast host. competent, reliable.

It’s a constant flow of directions to his team, appeals to the referees and And he is. He’s done it for the Wild ever since supplanting Devan Dubnyk detailed alerts to defenders about the factors up ice that they might not as their most regular starter in midseason and he’s done it with a certain, be able to see. studied swagger.

And reading the clock, which Stalock does ad nauseam, particularly Alex Stalock career stats toward the end of periods or Wild power-play opportunities. San Jose Sharks On a Wild man-advantage chance in the first period of Thursday afternoon’s Game 3, time was running off the clock. With ten seconds 2010-16 remaining, the familiar call rang out from Minnesota’s end of the rink. 62 “Ten!” Stalock shouted. Five seconds later, “Five!” 147 As the power-play opportunity died off and the clock hit zero, 150 feet 2.37 away from the play in the other end, Stalock could be heard shouting to alert his teammates. .911

“Ox, ox, ox,” he cried, before adding the more common beaver tail of his 24-19-7 goalie stick against the ice. Toronto Maple Leafs Alex Stalock 2016 Some of what Stalock says in-game is instructive, some of it is trash talk, all of it is wholly unique. 0

“Keep your head up!” he admonished Canucks star Elias Pettersson after 3 Pettersson was dropped by a Matt Dumba cross-check in a first-period NA net-front battle. NA Even as the Game of Chirps has come to dominate the live soundtrack of qualifying-round games in the Western bubble, goaltenders are more NA often seen than heard. Behind the mask, you rarely hear a goaltender speak or shout to his teammates while the play is live. Minnesota Wild

Stalock’s perpetual, energetic uttering at his teammates is the 2016-20 pronounced exception. He encourages, cajoles and scans the ice 89 constantly, alerting teammates to every small detail. 50 “Good job, boys,” Stalock said after the Wild cleared the puck following a period of sustained Canucks pressure in the offensive end, then, noting 2.77 that Brock Boeser was cherrypicking at the blue line, he called to Dumba, “Stay! Stay!” .908

“Behind you, behind you!” he called a few shifts later — sounding very 37-30-11 much like a skittish moviegoer taking in a slasher flick — at Wild Totals defender Brad Hunt, as a Canucks forward chased the defender from behind in the neutral zone. 2010-20 151

200

2.61

.909

61-49-18

It makes sense that Stalock approaches things differently. At six-feet tall, he’s undersized by the standards of contemporary, shooting guard-sized NHL goaltenders. He’s also 33 years old and has played in more American League games than NHL games in his professional career. The 38 games he appeared in during the pandemic-abbreviated 2019-20 campaign with the Wild represent a career-high for Stalock at the NHL level.

Stalock has had to earn every start, every relief appearance, every power-play countdown. So it makes sense that he’d do things a bit differently.

He’s had to adapt. He’s carved out a more vocal, cerebral style that’s wholly unique among playoff starters in the Western Conference.

“Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah!” he screamed late in the first period, as Ryan Hartman blew by Canucks forward Tanner Pearson. Then, tellingly, as his Wild teammates transitioned, he beseeched them to communicate.

“Talk to each other!” Stalock yelled.

It was as if the Wild starter was enunciating the entirety of his hockey philosophy, in a condensed form suitable to be screamed to his teammates on the breakout.

With the detail that obviously informs how Stalock sees the game and the relentlessness of his on-ice gift of gab, Stalock has future coach or broadcaster written all over him. Especially because this approach is nothing new for the journeyman goaltender.

It’s just a facet of Stalock’s personality and goaltending style that has been brought to the surface by the empty-arena environment within the Western Phase 4 Secure Zone.

And so, as another Wild power-play opportunity was frittered away on Thursday, you could hear their goaltender yelling at Rogers Place, his shouts as clear as the slap of the puck hitting a stick, and louder than the wispy crunch of skates cutting into the ice.

“One-thirty!” Stalock yelled with 90 seconds to go on the power play. “Forty-five!”

“Ten! Five! Ox, ox, ox!”

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190530 Websites “Well, I’m pretty sure it’s pretty important to score the first goal, no matter what, no matter who you’re playing,” Keith said. “So that would help.”

He shrugged his shoulders. Next question. The Athletic / The Zoomies: Gaudreau’s hair, Ovechkin’s new nickname, Best subtle motivation: I’ve listened to more of Arizona Coyotes head Reimer’s memories coach Rick Tocchet over the past week than I ever have. There’s a lot to like about the way he approaches the game and how he is helping prepare a Coyotes team that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2012. By Joshua Kloke “There are situations that are uncomfortable. In playoff hockey, there’s no Aug 7, 2020 flow sometimes. And you’ve got to be ready when there’s not a flow. Your number will be called upon and you have to be ready in those

situations. And that’s what playoff hockey is,” Tocchet said. There is an element of mysteriousness to NHL bubble life. Limited And then Tocchet, who has won three Stanley Cups himself, provided his access to players means reporters and fans are left to see what teams most memorable line when discussing the competition level in the post on their own social media channels and what they discuss in the playoffs. near-daily team press conferences on Zoom. “Sure, the money’s great, but this is why you play.” Is this preferable to in-person access? Of course not. But we’re in the middle of a pandemic, and if you spend enough time digging through the Most pressing need for personal grooming: If you haven’t been following press conferences, you can still learn a fair bit about each team’s the Calgary Flames closely, you should know Johnny Gaudreau’s hair approach, and some of the unique personalities. has been something of a talking point since he returned to training camp and was only legally allowed to go to the Flames rink or his home. We know you don’t have enough time to do that, so we’re taking on that task. We’re watching nearly every Zoom media availability to bring you “There haven’t been barbershops open in New Jersey – it’s been the most colourful, lighthearted and hopefully the most memorable terrible,” Gaudreau said in July. quotes from the interviews during these Stanley Cup playoffs. Borrowing from the late, great Jason Botchford, we’re bringing them to you in an Unfortunately for Gaudreau, while the bubble offers many things to many homage to The Athletties we’re calling The Zoomies. people, it does not offer a barber.

Check back every Friday for the latest edition of The Zoomies, and make And that means the deeper the Flames go in the playoffs, the more sure you’re getting outside and enjoying some sun for our sake. desperate Gaudreau might get. He might have to take measures into his own hands by placing his trust in one of his teammate’s hands. Best new nickname: Perhaps surprisingly, some of the most popular NHL players aren’t often asked about it in scrums. They’ve been the subject of “No barbershops in the bubble,” Gaudreau said. “We’re expecting to be lengthy features throughout their careers. Their highlights have been here for two months, so at some point during those two months, I’m dissected at will. What else is there to say? going to need some scissors and get one of my teammates to chop some off for me. Because it’s getting a little bit outrageous here. That’s the Well, if you’re T.J. Oshie, you can provide a simple but super appropriate story of my hair for the last six months here.” nickname for Alex Ovechkin. Asked about the consensus that arguably the greatest goal-scorer of all-time returned to training camp in great Seated beside him, Flames forward Milan Lucic chuckled in that sort of shape, Oshie said with a smile: “More of the same from the big man.” diabolical way. With the Flames having advanced past the Winnipeg Jets in the qualification round, you wonder if Lucic is getting some ideas. Big personality. Big talent. Big responsibility. Weirdest sentence without context: I was watching a Pittsburgh Penguins From here on in, it’s Alex Ovechkin: Big man. media availability at my kitchen table with my family nearby. I could feel the furrowed brows from across the room when they heard the way “Since the 2018 playoffs, I think he’s brought his game to another level,” Penguins forward Jared McCann described the team’s need to get more Oshie said. “You see it on the ice, in the locker room, with his work ethic. players to the net. It’s been great getting a front-row seat for me and watching his greatness. It’s really been amazing. We’re kind of getting used to his “Obviously we have a lot of good guys around the net with Horny, Rusty ability to go out there and score goals and work, and now, say and do the and Zuck,” said McCann. right things.” This led to a discussion about the hashtag #HockeyPorn and whether Best and worst board gamers: The Carolina Hurricanes not only made a this qualifies. name for themselves these playoffs by becoming the first team to win a qualification round with their 3-0 series win over the New York Rangers The consensus was it does not, but brows remained furrowed. but also because of their preferred team bonding activity: playing Catan. Best goalie-related interactions: Sure, reporters have lost some of the And on Friday morning, we got an update on who is separating rapport with interview subjects when we’re not working face-to-face with themselves from the pack. athletes and coaches.

“I’ve heard Slavo (defenceman Jaccob Slavin) is the guy to beat,” But one thing that hasn’t changed? defenceman Joel Edmundson said. Coaches being protective about voicing their starting goalie decisions. “The worst player is (forward Jordan Martinook),” defenceman Jake Flames coach Geoff Ward certainly was before Game 1 against the Gardiner said. Winnipeg Jets and did not release any information about whether he would start Cam Talbot or David Rittich. Gardiner’s shot at Martinook is notable, given that Martinook seems to be the one running the game. Good to see the Canes are making the most “We’ve narrowed it down to two, and it’s not (third and fourth-string out of life in the bubble. goalies Jon Gillies and Artyom Zagidulin), I can tell you that,” Ward said.

Best “No shit, Sherlock” answer: Duncan Keith is now 37 years old, has Talbot ended up getting the nod, but you have to appreciate why Ward three Stanley Cups to his name, a head of hair that would make an early wouldn’t tell the media which goalie would start. 1990s Eddie Vedder jealous and frankly doesn’t appear to have time for “Quite frankly, they’re going to have to do some work on both guys, not small talk. knowing who’s in for game No. 1. It leaves some uncertainty in their Asked a relevant question about the Edmonton Oilers’ strong record mind,” said Ward. “We have to try to work all angles that we can to gain when scoring first in the regular season and their paltry results after little advantages that we can.” giving up the first goal, the Blackhawks defenceman wanted to hear the Of course, you’re going to get frankness when dealing with Columbus stats again. He then sat stunned and open-mouthed, which could only Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella. It just manifests differently. make teammate Alex DeBrincat grin and turn his head away. Asked about who would start in goal for the team, Tortorella replied: “Korpy’s in.” A follow-up question was cut off after three words. So much of the conversation surrounding the NHL’s return to play has involved the uniqueness of bubble life. But Danault’s comments make me “No,” Tortorella said. “I’m not explaining it. So don’t even go there. want to spare a thought for the many people who are away from their They’re both capable but we’re going with (Joonas Korpisalo).” family right now and won’t be able to enjoy the fruits of their success with Another question followed about the team’s goaltending depth. the people that mean the most to them.

“I’m not asking you about the decision, but just…” said Brian Hedger of “It’s hard,” Danault said. the Columbus Dispatch. Best deadpan answer: By mid-week, things really began to tighten up on Tortorella cut him off: “Yes you are.” these Zoom calls.

I thought a coy smile might follow this statement. I probably haven’t It got me thinking: How easy is it for reporters to stray off-topic during the watched enough Tortorella press conferences. playoffs? And just how responsive are players?

Strangest mispronounced name: Leafs forward Mitch Marner walked into The answers: Very, and barely. a postgame availability alongside goalie Frederik Andersen with the Props to our man in St. Louis, Jeremy Rutherford, for opening a Zoom same bubbly energy he so often has. He made note of the bright lights call with Brayden Schenn, Alex Pietrangelo and Jordan Binnington with a overhead. He smiled as he made more observations. question about Blues prospect Scott Perunovich, though he admittedly But when he took his seat, his tone changed to one of confusion. wanted to get the “off-topic” question in at the end. Not an easy ask.

“From the Maple Leafs, we have Mitch Marnie,” said the host. Rutherford asked the three players if they had any impression of him after he had been skating for a few weeks. Look, I get it. It happens. I’ve been referred to as Josh Cloak-kee multiple times throughout these Zoom calls. Schenn shook his head no before Rutherford’s question was even over: “I wasn’t there at that time.” But in an up-and-down, and sometimes trying season for Marner, it was refreshing to see him handle the harmless mistake with a grin. Pietrangelo: “Nope.”

Best assessment of playing in an empty arena: The biggest talking points Binnington wasn’t going to let Rutherford down though. The 27-year-old through the first week of availabilities were what it would be like to play in has quickly become one of the more likable players in the NHL in just his arenas without fans, and how players would deal with the change. second full season and his answer, dry as hell, but perhaps an ode to the world of hockey clichés in general, is being entered as evidence here. But New York Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov cut through all that very quickly. “Good kid,” Binnington deadpanned, before sitting in silence.

To him, no fans mean fewer distractions. The table erupted in laughter.

“To me, it was easy to adapt to playing with no fans. I feel like there’s no “There’s a quote for you, JR,” Schenn said. extra pressure coming from the fans,” Varlamov said. “I was absolutely Can’t see how that one didn’t make it in Rutherford’s story on fine playing with no fans. I don’t know how the rest of the team feels Perunovich. about it.” Most haunting walk down memory lane: Hurricanes goalie James Reimer Most simplistic takes on bubble life: Beauty in the bubble is in the eye of did not play the first two games of the team’s qualification series. Petr the beholder. Mrazek backstopped the team to two wins, but Reimer got the nod for the Some, like Leafs defenceman Travis Dermott, enjoy how much time a decisive third game and finished off the Rangers in an arena that, for young team can now spend together. He’s gotten some mini-sticks out to most of his career, he called home. battle against forward Andreas Johnsson. Life in the bubble reminds him Asked about what it meant to win the series in Toronto, Reimer, the of playing in a peewee tournament. universally-adored nice guy, didn’t touch much on his old arena.

“It’s taken hockey back to my younger days. It’s exciting having nothing “We all love hockey. But playoff hockey is the best. It’s the most fun. else other than hockey, hockey, hockey going on,” Dermott said. Nothing can touch it. I’ve had some fun and some disappointments here Perhaps a less enthusiastic, but no less appreciated, take came from (in Toronto) in the playoffs,” Reimer said. Vancouver Canucks forward Tyler Toffoli. Beyond the clips of players His tone changed slightly when he was asked what went through his throwing a football around at BMO Field or organized ping-pong mind when his Hurricanes were up 4-1 in a decisive game. tournaments, Toffoli shared another side. Reimer exhaled, loudly, and then made this face: “It just feels like a regular road trip,” Toffoli said. “I don’t do a whole lot when we go on the road. It’s a lot of napping, catching up with my Though he didn’t specifically reference that fateful 5-4 loss to the Boston friends, going out for dinner and then going back to sleep.” Bruins in Game 7 in the first round of the 2013 playoffs when Reimer was a Leaf, it was hard not to read through the lines of his answer. Most heart-wrenching glimpse into life in the bubble: Montreal Canadiens forward Phillip Danault has a young son at home, and has never been “I don’t like to take things for granted no matter how many minutes or shy about his concern about leaving him to play in a hub city for an seconds are left,” Reimer said. extended amount of time. Most indecisive assessment: I don’t think I’m far off in suggesting that the “It really makes no sense, in my head, to distance myself for two months qualification games have been getting a lot more attention than the from my kid,” Danault said in April. games to determine seeding for the top-four teams.

It was generally assumed the Canadiens’ stay in Toronto would be a Vegas Golden Knights forward William Karlsson agreed, to an extent. short one. Up against the Penguins, the 12th seeded-Canadiens weren’t given much of a shot. But they now find themselves up 2-1 and on the “Obviously there’s not as much on the line as the teams playing in the brink of an upset. And Danault’s defensive play has been a reason for qualification right now,” Karlsson said. “But you also want to win every their success. game, so it’s not like you don’t care.”

So how does Danault feel celebrating a big win without his family? Seconds later, defenceman Nick Holden chimed in: “Just mentally, it’s not a win or lose situation.” “It’s part of the game I guess. We’re all in the same boat, all the players. It’s fun to celebrate with your teammates, too. But it hurts. It’s a little Um. different this year. It’s like a team thing. We’re all together,” Danault said. A full three seconds later, Holden had the kind of moment that I’ve been “But it definitely hurts,” Danault said, adding that he wants to know “what having more and more as I get older. He looked to the roof quizzically. my wife and kids are doing at home.” “It’s not a win or lose situation?” Holden whispered to Karlsson in a questioning tone. He shook his head. “That didn’t make any sense,” he said, laughing to himself.

No, it didn’t. But it’s been a long few months of Zoom meetings for a lot of us.

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190531 Websites “We’ve developed this to co-exist with COVID,” St-Aubin said. “We are working on Wave 2 right now, because Wave 2 is obviously the theme everyone is working on in terms of, ‘how do you survive another wave of this stuff?’” The Athletic / ‘Nothing is 100 percent safe’: Beer league hockey is back but should you play? Dr. Isaac Bogoch is an infectious diseases expert based at Toronto General Hospital. He has also been playing organized hockey since he was five years old, and has read some of the rules rec leagues have been publishing this summer. By Sean Fitz-Gerald “This all sort of adds incremental degrees of safety,” Bogoch said. “But Aug 7, 2020 the elephant in the room is the locker room and the bench. It’s tough.”

The dressing room is an enclosed space where players spend more than Some beer league hockey players have been physically distancing for 15 minutes together. Those two elements are known risk factors for the years. transmission of the virus. The bench is another area of concern because players are sitting together, breathing heavily. “We have a guy on my team,” said Ed Mayhew, “before we go on the ice, he says to our goalie, ‘Have a good game, I’ll see you after.’” The best way to prevent COVID-19 from entering the rink, Bogoch said, is the same as it is everywhere else: By suppressing its spread in the As it turns out, optional back-checking might not be a bad policy. surrounding community. If the spread is limited around town, that helps to make life safer inside the rink. Mayhew is an owner of True North Hockey Canada, which is usually home to about 10,000 beer league players in the Greater Toronto Area. “Nothing is 100 percent safe,” he said. “So one of the questions is, ‘how Like recreational hockey operators across Canada, he has spent the do you make it safer.’ And a lot of it just depends on local summer trying to map out plans for a winter season played under the circumstances.” shadow of COVID-19. And those circumstances can change with time, he said. Just because Some players will notice changes in how the game is played, with rules the numbers are low today, that does not mean they will remain that way designed to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. Showers might be through the season. off-limits. Benches might be shorter — but they might also be longer, too, with renovations to accommodate more space between players. “I think everyone needs to take a deep breath in and, ultimately, think about what is their individual risk of getting this infection? Are they are at Post-game handshakes, to say nothing of cherished post-game risk of having a severe outcome if they get this infection?” said Bogoch. beverages, might be put on hold. Skaters cresting into middle age might “Who do you go home to after your Division D, 11 p.m., game?” have to follow the lead of their own children, and change into their gear at home before driving to the rink. Do players live with elderly relatives? Do they have regular contact with other people at higher risk? “After five months of this, I think everyone’s kind of got it drilled in your head: Physical distancing, being safe,” said Mayhew. “We have to put “These are questions that people have to ask themselves,” Bogoch said. some faith into that, too, that people are going to adhere to those “The big question is: Is it worth it?” policies.” Grant Caswell is the owner of South Calgary Recreational Hockey True North sent its return to play protocols to players last month. Players League. He had 32 teams registered last season but is expecting about were told they would not be allowed to play if they — “or anyone in their 20 to return this fall. household” — had symptoms of COVID-19. Game play would continue Players will not have access to the showers inside arenas, he said, which as five-on-five, but teams would not be allowed to dress more than 13 means they would not be able to shower after a morning game. That is a skaters a night. deal-breaker for skaters who sneak in a quick game before work. Skaters would be subject to a “three-second rule” in the crease. They “With all of these taken together, there have been players who’ve just would also be asked to avoid any group celebrations, and would replace said, ‘Look, I’m just going to wait for things to get back to normal,” traditional post-game handshakes with “stick salutes” to their opponent. Caswell said. “All of these have been contributing factors to the size Joey St-Aubin is president and chief executive of Canlan Ice Sports diminishing this year, compared to last year.” Corp., which runs programming for about 100,000 adult recreational One positive is that he has been able to use the pandemic as a players in Canada and the United States. Those leagues will be four-on- springboard to address a longer-standing issue: Spitting. four, rather than five-on-five, and will employ a series of changes on the ice. “Spitting on the bench? You’re getting ejected from the game,” Caswell said. “I made that rule because I think it’s unsanitary, myself. I’ve always Players will not serve time in the penalty box. The price for their infraction hated it. I’ve always gotten in trouble with arenas, cleaning up peoples’ will be a penalty shot for the opposing team. Referees will use electronic spit on the floor. whistles. “But it’s even more unhealthy now.” “There’s the play to compete, and there’s the play to play,” said St-Aubin. “Our model is obviously not going to be the traditional five-on-five game where you’ve got all the rules in play that are going to keep it as competitive as it once was.” The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020

It will still be hockey, though, he said.

“For those who play the game of hockey because of the enjoyment of the game — for the fitness aspect of the game and for the social aspect of the game — all those elements are still there,” he said.

St-Aubin said facilities will have signage inside and outside the rink. An attendant would meet the players outside to ensure they have completed the required pre-screening — which is done online, beforehand — and direct them toward their dressing rooms.

Teams will have access to those rooms 20 minutes before their skate. The showers inside the room will not be turned on. (Under Canlan’s spring/summer program, rosters are capped at nine, which allows for two lines of four and a goaltender.) 1190532 Websites And then, every time a team is eliminated, you tell us whether they won the lottery.

I don’t mean eventually. Like, you do it right there on the ice. The game The Athletic / DGB Grab Bag: Week 1 thoughts, a lottery idea and ends, we do the handshakes or fist bumps or whatever, and then you Tocchet spaghetti make that losing team stay on the ice while we reveal whether or not this series was the one that won the Lafreniere lottery.

I’m not sure exactly what that would look like, although I have some By Sean McIndoe ideas. I’m pretty sure it would involve a bunch of flashing lights and a scoreboard reveal. Maybe you do it with colors, like it’s an old episode of Aug 7, 2020 “The Mole.” Maybe Bill Daly shows up to flip over a big card that says yes or no. Maybe you make the GM come out and open up a giant novelty envelope. Or maybe you have Lafreniere himself show up wearing an From the headlines oversize shirt with a question mark on it that he takes off to reveal either that team’s jersey with his name on the back, or another shirt with an We’re one week into the return of meaningful hockey. If I’m being honest, even bigger question mark. it’s one week more than I thought we might get. At times over the last few months, it felt like all of the planning and bargaining and logistics were Seriously, how excited would you be for the end of each play-in series if futile, because we wouldn’t make it far enough for any of it to pay off. you knew this was coming? You’d switch away from triple overtime in There were just too many ways it could all go bad, and surely something another game to see the lottery reveal. If we were lucky and the first few would trip us up before the finish line. teams weren’t the winner, the building suspense would be crazy. And when a team finally was announced as the winner, it would be Instead, we got hockey back. And not just hockey, but good hockey. I pandemonium. (Plus imagine the shot of the other team’s GM watching it don’t know about you, but I enjoyed the hell out of the last week. Playoff all unfold, pretending to be happy that his team just earned a 1-in-16 hockey in August is deeply weird, but playoff hockey all day long, from chance at the Cup while realizing it cost them an elite prospect he could noon to well past midnight, turns out to be pretty amazing. And it really have built around.) has felt like playoff hockey. Even without the fans, even with four months of rust to shake off, even with too many teams, this still feels amazingly We’re too late for the Rangers, but there’s still time to make this happen. close to the real thing. Preferably by just doing a drawing without the Rangers. Sorry guys, you should have won a game or two like everyone else. So far. We need that caveat, because we’re always one news cycle away from those last two paragraphs turning into a classic “this aged poorly” Also, Lafreniere should have to watch all these games from the rafters take. I get that. We’re one week in, with two months to go. That finish line like he’s nWo-era Sting. that I mentioned is still a long way away. I will not be taking questions at this time. But so far, it’s working. Way back in April, I wrote about some of the problems we’d almost certainly run into even if the NHL did get back on This week’s obscure player is Daryl Evans, because it’s the playoffs, and the ice. None of them have really happened. Injuries? We’ve seen that was when he did his best work. several, but they’re the usual playoff stuff; nobody is tearing groins Evans was a diminutive winger who was drafted by the Kings in the ninth because they’re out of shape. Intensity? It’s been playoff-like for the round of 1980 draft, which was a very good round for obscure player qualifiers and something less than that for the round-robin, but nobody’s alumni, since Evans went three picks after future eight-point playoff hero going through the motions. The quality of play has been strong. The Patrik Sundstrom and three picks ahead of all-name legend Hakan Loob. broadcasters have experimented a bit, but they’ve been fine. The ice has Evans went back to junior for a year and then spent most of 1981-82 in held up. The lack of fans turns out to be something you can get used to, the AHL before getting a late call-up to the big leagues. He had eight even if you have to fake it a bit. And most importantly, no positive points in 14 games, which was enough to earn him regular playing time coronavirus test crisis yet. as the Kings headed to the playoffs. It’s been good. It’s been fun. It’s been better than just about any of us It turned out to be an interesting run. The Kings matched up with the could have expected. We’re still just one week in, but they’re pulling this heavily favored Oilers, and it wasn’t a defensive struggle. The two teams thing off. I can’t find much to complain about, and anyone who reads my combined for a record-setting 18 goals in the opener, and Evans racked stuff knows that’s not something I can say often. up two goals and four points in a Kubalik-ish postseason debut. He Here’s hoping we feel the same in a week, and the week after that, and scored again in a Game 2 loss, but was shut down for the start of Game into October. But against all odds, so far so good. 3. So were his teammates; the Kings trailed 5-0 after two. But they stormed all the way back in what would become known as the Miracle on The three stars of comedy (weird goaltenders edition) Manchester, and Evans scored the overtime winner to set off one of the best celebrations in playoff history. The third star: Henrik Lundqvist – I’m guessing they didn’t do an update for Game 3. The Kings finished the upset in five, and Evans had another goal and two points in the deciding game. He cooled off in a round two loss, but still Be it resolved finished the playoffs with an impressive 13 points in nine games. We’re far enough into the play-in round that teams are being eliminated, He carried some of that scoring touch in 1982-83, playing all 80 games which means attention is turning back to the draft lottery. If you’ve and scoring 40 points. But that would be about it for Evans as a full-time somehow forgotten, we still don’t know who won, and will have to wait NHLer; he’d play just 11 games for the Kings over the next two seasons until the league holds a second drawing on Monday to figure out which before being traded to the Capitals. He’d also get a year with the Leafs in one of the placeholder teams will first get a crack at Alexis Lafreniere. 1986-87, playing two games in the season and one more in the playoffs. A lot of people were mad about how that all worked out. At the time, I He’d play in the AHL and Europe for four more years, but never made it was pretty excited, because I had a bunch of ideas about how the NHL back to the NHL. could handle that second lottery. They could eliminate teams one at a He went scoreless in that playoff game in Toronto, but still finished with time, or figure out a way to draw out the process to ratchet up the drama 13 points in 10 career games, which ranks him eighth all-time in playoff in a made-for-TV spectacle. points-per-game among players with at least 10 appearances, one spot But I’ve had some time to think about it, and I see now that I was wrong. behind Bobby Orr and one ahead of Jari Kurri. I’ve changed my mind, and no longer want the league to do some big He later went into broadcasting, and is the Kings’ radio analyst to this over-the-top TV drawing. That’s silly. It’s beneath us. No, the league day. Not bad for a guy who also apparently found the time to play 20 should do one simple drawing, in a private backroom somewhere. Eight seasons in MLB. balls, pick one, nothing fancy and be done with it. It’s been a weird few weeks for the Arizona Coyotes. Their GM quit, we Specifically, they should do that right now. Like, today. One ball per think, and they’re mad about it. Their best player is about to become a series, pull one, and whoever loses that matchup gets the top pick. UFA. One of their goalies took a puck to the head from a teammate and is hurt. And they’re playing in the middle of the strangest NHL postseason ever, one win away from eliminating the Predators.

And through it all, head coach Rick Tocchet has apparently been able to keep them focused. How does he do it? Well, obviously this is a guy who knows how to win. You might even say he’s figured out the recipe…

This clip is a classic and has been around forever, but if you’ve never seen it before, you’re in for a treat. It’s from some time in the early 90s, presumably early in the 1992-93 season. Tocchet has been in Pittsburgh for less than a year at this point, so Penguins fans may not know him that well. He wants to impress them, so he’s invited them over for a fancy meal.

He’s dressed up, too, rocking the ball cap with the back-to-back Stanley Cups T-shirt tucked into his jeans. It’s a good look, don’t act like it’s not.

Wait, can you wear a back-to-back Cups shirt when you were only on the roster for one of those wins? Is that the NHL equivalent of stolen valor? I’m not sure about this, Rick better distract me with some gourmet cooking.

Specifically, he’s going to be making “the ol’ bachelor meal,” which is apparently also the hockey player staple: Spaghetti. Tocchet has some Italian in him, as the background music very subtly suggests, so get ready to pick up some authentic kitchen tips.

For example: “I got the water boiling.” See, this is good stuff. (Narrator’s voice: The water is not boiling.)

But look, we can all boil water and cook pasta. The real key to an old school Italian masterpiece of a meal is in the sauce. I can’t wait to see what Tocchet’s secret recipe looks like.

(Furiously taking notes.) Open microwave… remove pasta sauce… have pasta sauce. Cool, I’m pretty sure I can do that, going to try it tonight and let you know how it goes.

The background here is fantastic. Apparently the TV station wanted Tocchet to do a full meal, including grocery shopping for fresh ingredients. But he couldn’t be bothered, so instead the convinced them to come over and just watch him microwave frozen sauce from his mom. He would have been 28 when this was filmed, in case you were wondering.

Also, that interview includes the line “And it still haunts me to this day,” just in case you were wondering how his self-awareness skills were.

Look at this guy breaking spaghetti like it’s a GM’s contract.

We learn a few more authentic Italian secrets, like “stir your pasta” and “use olive oil.” We also see Tocchet reading a newspaper, which you kids will just have to trust me is a thing that people used to do. It was kind of like looking at your phone, only it made your fingers smudgy and you weren’t constantly interrupted by strangers calling you an idiot.

He politely offers the camera some spaghetti, the way normal people do, and we’re done. I have to be honest, this clip makes me like Tocchet way more. I love the idea of being approached to do an interesting project and going “Yeah sure that could work, or we could do the same thing except I put absolutely no work into it and it’s bad.” I think I worked with 1992 Rick Tocchet on every group project I ever did in school.

Does he still get chirped about this segment to this day? Absolutely. It’s been a running joke for years, and he was asked about it again just a few months ago. That time, he suggested he might be open to a sequel, which I think we can all agree needs to happen. Let’s get some budget behind this and turn it into the next big Netflix cooking show. Give me Rick Tocchet walking out in full chef’s gear into a fully stocked kitchen, promising to show us how to make authentic Italian pizza, and then just eating a cold slice out of a Dominos box while he reads Ziggy.

Enjoy the playoffs, Rick. And if your players try to give you any crap about your cooking skills, remember that your star player was once confused by laundry, buying milk and a pilot light.

The Athletic LOADED: 08.08.2020 1190533 Websites Every reporter stationed a safe distance apart in the upper bowl was either deleting a story or starting a new one at that very moment.

Matthews completed the unlikely Leafs comeback at 13:10 of overtime. Sportsnet.ca / Maple Leafs' Big Four rewrite ending to the season in its Nick Foligno had been sent to the penalty box for tripping Morgan Rielly most dire moment — a call the Blue Jackets felt was ticky tacky — when the Leafs sniper slipped down from the right point, took a perfect Tavares pass and one- timed it by Merzlikins.

Chris Johnston | @reporterchris “It was really nice and fitting the way that the goal was scored,” said Keefe. “The winning goal, Mitch to JT to Auston.” August 7, 2020, 11:24 PM That was the 10th shot Matthews registered on goal in the game — tying

his career high from a regular-season contest in Chicago on Nov. 10, TORONTO — When I was just a kid who loved going to sporting events, 2019. there was a reason my dad and I never left the arena before the final What’s interesting is he only found himself in that spot, manning the right buzzer sounded. side of the Leafs top power-play unit, after developing a one-timer from We always fundamentally believed that something might happen worth his off side last summer. And he’d been completely nullified there in the staying for. opening three games of this series with just three total shot attempts in 5- on-4 situations before discovering openings by drifting back and forth But now that I’m lucky enough to be paid to attend these games, I’ll let between the point. you in on a dirty little secret: I don’t often think that way. I’m forced to pre- judge the outcomes in order to write a story that can be posted on our It had to be the biggest goal of his career. website within minutes of the game ending. “I don’t really know what to really feel in the moment, to be honest,” said On Friday night, I had written 700 words about the end of the Toronto Matthews. “I think your mind just kind of goes blank and I think it’s a Maple Leafs’ season that will never see the light of day. The first line of credit to every single guy on our team for just sticking with it, battling that story read: “When the end was near, they had nothing left to give.” back and just not quitting down 3-0 with a couple minutes left.

Can you imagine being more wrong? “I think that’s a testament to each guy in this locker-room and I think everybody should be extremely proud of each other.” That’s an indication of how it looked and felt before lightning struck inside an empty Scotiabank Arena. The Leafs were toast. Sheldon Keefe was They had been left for dead and with good reason. The Leafs had blown detonating every bomb in his possession, going to the nuclear option with their own 3-0 lead just 24 hours earlier and didn’t seem to have any John Tavares–Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner shifts and giving Morgan answer for the patient five-man wall the Blue Jackets built around Rielly a look on the top power-play unit instead of Tyson Barrie, and his Merzlikins. team was still digging an even deeper hole. “This is a funny game,” said Keefe. “A funny, funny game.” They allowed Boone Jenner to make it 3-0 for Columbus with less than Might as well play one more. six minutes remaining in regulation. Hand over heart, I’ll stay in my seat until the end of Game 5 and I’ll wait On a night the Leafs were facing elimination, an entire city was thinking for the final buzzer to sound before deciding what my lead is. the same thing. That includes some of the guys paid to be on the visiting bench who were minutes away from checking out of the NHL bubble to take a quick limo ride home. Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 08.08.2020 “I think it’s natural that those thoughts start to creep in when they score the third goal,” said Leafs winger Zach Hyman.

It’s telling where Keefe’s mind went in those most dire moments: To the players who had performed well for him in this summer best-of-five, and were about to go down with the sinking ship.

He didn’t name names but it’s safe to assume Matthews was at the top of the list. He’d played physically and responsibly, logged more minutes for the Leafs than everyone but Rielly, and launched more shots on goal than anyone in the series while hitting more goal posts and crossbars, too.

“I was thinking about some of the great efforts that we’ve had here over the last number of days that I felt maybe we’re not going to be rewarded for it,” said Keefe. “I felt bad about that because I think we have had some individuals that have been really, really great through all of this.”

Then the series got turned upside down. The Leafs scored three goals in the final four minutes of regulation with Frederik Andersen pulled for an extra attacker. Keefe’s Big Four forwards exploded for 10 points combined in the final 17-plus minutes, including the first three-point playoff game of Matthews’ career.

The same six skaters were on ice for the last three shots the team registered in the third period, all of them goals: Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Hyman, Rielly and William Nylander.

Once Nylander snuck a puck behind Elvis Merzlikins at 16:03 of the third period, Tavares fired a perfect shot past him at 16:54 when Matthews found him available in the slot. Hyman extended the Leafs season by making it 3-3 on a shot he squeaked through Merzlikins’ five-hole at 19:37 after Matthews froze the defenders by passing back to him rather than shooting it himself.

“I thought he was going to shoot it, too, and then he came back to me and got it off my skate and just tried to throw it to the net,” said Hyman. “JT had a great screen and it went in. It was crazy.” 1190534 Websites percentage and 3.75 goals against. (How do you lose a series to a goalie posting those stats? Good question.)

Crawford made several huge saves late in Game 4, while Edmonton’s Sportsnet.ca / Oilers short on toughness in season-ending loss to Mikko Koskinen stopped everything you’d expect him to stop, but almost Blackhawks nothing you would not.

Tippett didn’t like his goaltending, and you can’t blame him.

Mark Spector | @sportsnetspec “When you do make mistakes,” he said, “it would be nice to get a couple of extra stops there. August 8, 2020, 12:03 AM “Tonight you can’t tell me that they outbattled us,” Tippett added. “We had way more opportunities than them. But we made some critical mistakes … and it went in the back of our net.” EDMONTON — Dave Tippett sat behind the microphone for six minutes and 30 seconds, talking like a coach who is building something here. Now, after a week of hockey, summer begins again for Oilers fans. And Who still has faith in his club. they will do what they’ve done for far too long now:

Then, the money quote arrived: Watch Monday’s draft lottery in hopes of landing phenom Alexis Lafreniere. “Our team competed hard. We’ve got lots of try,” he began. “But … what we think is competing hard isn’t hard enough to win in the playoffs.” Maybe a first overall pick is what they require to figure out how to bring the real playoffs here to Edmonton. The Edmonton Oilers lost 3-2 on Friday, dropping their Qualifying Round series three games to one to the Chicago Blackhawks, a 12th place team that held a fire sale at the trade deadline. Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 08.08.2020 In a series that was a virtual no-hitter, the Oilers were exposed as a soft team with a limited battle level. They were soft, soft, soft, leaning on skill and power play prowess while the Blackhawks beat them with will and goals from the hard, dirty areas.

If this was basketball, having two of the brightest stars in the game might have gotten them through to Round 1. But alas, it’s hockey, and you have to push people around sometimes.

“We all thought we had more to give,” defenceman Darnell Nurse said. “We didn’t bring what was necessary to win. (Chicago) is a good, veteran team with a lot of guys … who have played important roles on teams that have won Cups. We didn’t bring enough to match it.”

Against a very light Blackhawks lineup, Edmonton was exposed as all skill, no grit.

They played December hockey in August — soft hockey at a time when the game gets hard — and the results were predictable. You’d have thought they could dig out a win in Game 4, with their backs to the wall.

But it wasn’t there, and technically, the Oilers miss the playoffs for the 13th time in the past 14 years — despite having the two top scorers in the game this season.

“The most intensity we had was in the exhibition game when we played Calgary,” lamented Nurse, who should be at the core of any physical exertion by his team. “I’ve got to find a way to bring more of that, and help other guys bring it out.”

From the Stanley Cup Qualifiers to the Stanley Cup Final, livestream every game of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, blackout-free, on Sportsnet NOW.

The game-winning goal was a metaphor for the entire series, as Jonathan Toews won a battle over Ethan Bear and fed a wide open Dominik Kubalik, who scored from six feet out.

“Those are battles that were lost,” admitted Leon Draisaitl, who had six points in the series but was shut out in Game 4. “You have to tie up or win the battle — which we clearly didn’t do. Little mistakes that cost us the game again.

“Little mistakes (that) we had way too many of. Mistakes that can’t happen this time of year. We never really got our A-game going.”

With half of the hockey world gathered here in Edmonton, the Oilers won but a single game of this No. 5 vs. No. 12 matchup, outbattled by Chicago as the Blackhawks showed superior gamesmanship and playoff experience.

The best player in the series wasn’t a 23-year-old Connor McDavid, or a 24-year-old Draisaitl. It was the 32-year-old Toews, who gave a clinic in playoff-level intensity.

And the goaltending matchup that was supposed to favour Edmonton? Corey Crawford cagily won that battle too, despite a pedestrian .891 save 1190535 Websites “I also saw him at the Olympics, and in the World Cup here a few years ago, I’ve seen him at his best often,” Julien said. “He feels good and he’s in his bubble, in his zone. He continues to play big games. And it’s certain that, with a young team, you hope to have good goaltending. But Sportsnet.ca / Canadiens' kids help lead team to improbable series win we got excellent goaltending in this series.” over Penguins The Canadiens got more than that.

They limped out to a series lead and relinquished it quickly. But what Eric Engels | @EricEngels they offered over the final two wins was a stifling performance, and they shocked the Penguins and the rest of the hockey world in the process. August 7, 2020, 6:41 PM And the kids. You just can’t say enough about them.

Suzuki shadowed Crosby all game, holding him to zero scoring chances TORONTO — Kiss the draft lottery goodbye, Montreal Canadiens fans. at 5-on-5. Happy 33rd birthday, Sid. Your team is one of 16 advancing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Kotkaniemi was brilliant throughout. The dream of Alexis Lafreniere in a bleu, blanc et rouge jersey evaporated on Friday—at least until some late-career trade becomes a “Everybody talked before this series about how much more experience possibility—with the Canadiens beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-0 in they had than us,” Weber said. “I almost thought it was kind of a good Game 4. thing these young guys didn’t realize how big a deal it was. They stepped up. Guys played really well against two of the top centres in the league, But he’s just one young player. Let’s think about what this means for the so, to say the least, guys did a good job. other ones who are already with this organization; a monumental upset achieved over a perennial contender has to be considered the most “Those guys took huge steps. Even through the pause over three months valuable experience kids like Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki can they’ve gotten even better. I’m not sure how it would look playing games, gain. but they obviously did work at home—whether it’s off the ice or skating. They’ve definitely gotten better and it’s a big, big help for us.” These two 20-year-olds played pivotal roles in this series, combining for three goals and matching up against the two best centres of an era. How far it could propel the Canadiens is anybody’s guess.

They came out on top. Things only get tougher from here—they always do—and the Canadiens are going to need more from some of their other players. To think they “I’d say that if we didn’t have the contribution of those two players, I’m not won this series without a single goal from co-regular-season leaders sure I’d be here right now having won this series,” said Canadiens head Tomas Tatar and Brendan Gallagher is mind-boggling. coach Claude Julien. ”Those two players made such a difference. It’s certain that our goaltender was excellent. Our three big defenceman It’s a remarkable feat, and the Canadiens are hoping it’s the first of five. played a huge role and were excellent as well. But without the No one outside of their room gave them a puncher’s chance at beating contribution from the rest of the team—and that’s where the youngsters these Penguins, but it’s clear that they believed and that helped them were involved—that’s what made the difference.” score a knockout before the final round.

This was what these Canadiens came here for. What will they take from it?

It’s not what management was pining for after the team stumbled through “It’s not so much what you learn, but it’s what we were able to prove,” its season and was on its way to tumbling lower down in the standings Julien said. “I always felt we had good leadership, good character. We’re when the games came to a screeching halt in March due to the novel a young team. We had some areas there that, during the season, we coronavirus. wanted to see improve. And we’ve got an opportunity, here in the playoffs, to come and play under pressure situations, and what I’ve liked Two years ago, when the Canadiens bottomed out and finished in 28th about our team is how well we handled it. Say what you want, whether place, general manager Marc Bergevin went to the draft lottery and told it’s ignorance from a young group that doesn’t know any better, whatever reporters that the team suffered great pain to get an opportunity at a high you want to call it—and I know [Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John pick. He must have been hoping for the same result this time around— Tortorella] used a different term [on Thursday], but we’re believing in especially with what would amount to as a 1-in-8 chance of drafting a ourselves. We’re having fun and I think we’re enjoying the success that Quebec-born superstar in Lafreniere. we’re having right now. But this is some consolation prize. “But we also know the next round will be against a top-seeded team and “We have an opportunity here to grow, and we can’t ask for a better we’re going to have to be even better.” occasion,” Julien said.

The wheels are already in motion—and not just for Suzuki and Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 08.08.2020 Kotkaniemi, but also for 21-year-olds Ryan Poehling and Cale Fleury. Even if they didn’t see the ice in this series, they’re here in this atmosphere, going through the preparations, soaking in the feeling and knowing they could make their mark moving forward.

That can’t be seen as anything but a positive.

What do you think it did for 22-year-old Victor Mete—who played steadily on Montreal’s third defensive pairing to help contribute to this monumental achievement—who experienced this?

His game improved with every shift, just like Suzuki’s and Kotkaniemi’s did.

They had help. Shea Weber, Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry and Brett Kulak put a blanket on this dynamic Penguins offence. A line of Paul Byron, Artturi Lehkonen and Phillip Danault was a bear for Malkin’s line with Jason Zucker and Patric Hornqvist to contend with, with Lehkonen punctuating their performance by scoring the wining goal with 4:11 remaining in the third period.

Carey Price started this party. The 32-year-old stole Game 1, he stopped 104 of 111 Penguins shots before stopping every one he faced in Game 4 and he vaulted himself back on top of the goaltending food chain. 1190536 Websites on the fourth line and he’s willing to drop the gloves and give our team momentum when we’re down.

“He’s a real leader on our team, and he’s a huge part of our team. We all Sportsnet.ca / Maple Leafs’ Jason Spezza will not go down without a love him.” fight, literally Game 4 was Spezza embracing his new role — critical bit player in the Leafs’ 19-act drama — to an extent that seemed almost impossible.

Luke Fox | @lukefoxjukebox To think: Spezza was healthy-scratched on Opening Night against Ottawa because former coach Mike Babcock believed he wasn’t really August 8, 2020, 2:22 AM interested in being a fourth-liner. As Toronto’s roller-coaster season rolled, Spezza was at risk of being waived due to a salary-cap crunch.

Yet well-spaced forward injuries kept his dream on life support, and a TORONTO – To understand what it means to the Toronto Maple Leafs coaching change secured more ice time. As Keefe has tinkered with his that Jason Spezza picked a fight, chucked his gloves and started fourth unit in this series, benching Frederik Gauthier and Pierre Engvall throwing rights at Dean Kukan’s face with the season looking lost Friday for games, Spezza’s presence has been steady, valued. night, you should know a few things. Spezza has gone out of his way to chat with quiet 18-year-old Nick You should know that Spezza, 37, grew up a Leafs fan in this city and Robertson, closer to Sophia’s age than his, because he remembers what that he agreed to skate minimal minutes here for the lowest amount of it’s like being an OHL phenom wedged into an NHL playoff roster and money the club could legally agree to pay him. just yearning to belong. He’s ditched the suit and tried to embrace the You should know that already this week he’s watched some of his ring- Leafs’ fashion-forward game-day attire. chasing contemporaries, like Henrik Lundqvist and Patrick Marleau, be Now that he’s found a niche, he doesn’t want to crawl out. sent out of the Eastern Conference bubble with, quite literally, no fanfare. “This is a time when experience really pays off. You can be calm in And you should know that he has four daughters aged 10 and under: pressure-packed situations, and I’ve always had good playoff Sophia, Nicola, Anna and Julia. Sometimes he reads them children’s performances,” Spezza said. “This is kind of what you envision — being books authored by Zach Hyman. a piece of a good team and having to be a leader.” When Spezza kissed his girls goodbye and moved into a hotel so close What you don’t envision is three straight 6-on-5 goals, an overtime win yet so impenetrably far away in order to play “road” games like Game 4’s and being on the fun side of an 0-3 comeback 21 hours after being on 4-3 stunner over Columbus, they understood why their father would be the wrong side of one. FaceTime only for two months, best-case scenario. “I’ve never been a part of anything like that,” said Spezza, 17 years deep. “They know Daddy’s got a dream,” Spezza said. “Trying to win a Stanley “With the firepower we have with these guys, the way they can put the Cup as a Maple Leaf is something I dreamed of as a kid.” puck in the net, we’re never out of it. There’s a great sense of belief in This isn’t sacrifice. This is choice. This is opportunity, perhaps his last. our group.”

So, it wasn’t that Spezza got caught up in the emotions of Elimination Sophia, Nicola, Anna and Julia couldn’t be there Friday to press their Night that he fought for just the seventh time in an NHL career that spans faces to the glass and watch one of the most exhilarating wins of Dad’s 1,207 games. It was that — after watching the Maple Leafs give up six career. But the good thing about the bubble? It’s see-through. unanswered goals in the series — he was trying to inject some emotions. “They’ll be watching the games a little more eagerly because they know No way the young guys who affectionately nicknamed him “Vintage” and what has gone into it,” Spezza said. picked his brain for face-off tips could possibly feel as desperate as the “That’s what families are for – you lean on each other in difficult times.” old fourth-liner with no job security for 2020-21. But he could help them come close.

“Just trying to spark the guys,” Spezza explained of the five-minute Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 08.08.2020 major, which drew a chorus of stick slaps from the bench. “Just trying to show some desperation and have some pushback. Without the crowd, you don’t have that. Just trying to create some emotion and play the role that I’m in. Trying to get everyone going.”

Livestream the Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, plus every game of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sportsnet NOW.

Hey, maybe the Maple Leafs’ all-stars wouldn’t have thrown down their historic three-goal, three-minute, goalie-pulled comeback without Spezza’s calculated bit of barbarianism. We’ll never know.

We do know the effort of Spezza’s fourth line — which topped all units by generating 78.57 per cent of shot attempts 5-on-5 — made an impression.

“Jason Spezza just did not want our season to end today. He played with that level of urgency. You see the fight. That’s playoff hockey,” said coach Sheldon Keefe, unprompted. “That’s a guy not wanting to go down — literally — without a fight.”

Hyman, who sniped the tying goal with 22 seconds left in regulation, recently revealed that he and his new bride are going to have a baby this winter. He said he wouldn’t hesitate to call “Spezz” in the middle of the night for parenting tips.

Seeing that fight meant something to Hyman. Spezza got the boys going. Somehow, with less time on the clock, the group’s confidence in a comeback was better in the second intermission than the first.

“He wants it more than anybody,” Hyman said. “He was a first-line player throughout his career, an all-star, Hall of Famer — and now he’s playing 1190537 Websites “I think our team played a great game and I’m so happy we won,” Markstrom said. “I want to thank all the players that they scored one more goal than I let in.”

Sportsnet.ca / Canucks' blend of youth, veterans soars into playoffs “We wanted to come out and prove ourselves and play hard,” Horvat ahead of expectations said. “We’ve got a great group of guys here and to finally get a win under our belt and win a playoff series, it definitely feels great, but we’ve got a lot more work to do. This is only the first series of many, and we can’t wait for the next one.” Iain MacIntyre | @imacSportsnet Four games into the series, this is a different Canucks team than the one August 8, 2020, 3:24 AM that never troubled the Wild while trailing – and losing – the opener. To be fair to Minnesota, they weren’t the same, either, with workhorse defenceman Ryan Suter unable to pay Game 4 due to an undisclosed EDMONTON – The youngest players on the Vancouver Canucks call injury. defenceman Christopher Tanev “dad,” but it only seems like he is old enough to be their father.

The 30-year-old is one of only two Canucks who actually has first-hand Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 08.08.2020 memories of the last time the franchise won a National Hockey League playoff round before “dad” drifted an overtime wrist shot past Minnesota Wild goalie Alex Stalock very late Friday to get Vancouver’s kids out of the qualifying round of this extraordinary Stanley Cup tournament.

Tanev’s goal — nine years after he was a depth player on the Canucks team that went to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final — was scored just 11 seconds into overtime as Vancouver won 5-4 and took the series 3-1 in games.

Rebuilt in the five years since they last made the playoffs, these Canucks feel different than most of the teams that have unsuccessfully chased a Stanley Cup since Vancouver entered the NHL in 1970.

Led by dynamic, young stars Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes and Brock Boeser, supported by a few veterans and some key mid-career players still at their peak, anything seems possible for the Canucks.

Livestream the Canucks in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, plus every game of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sportsnet NOW.

They will play either the St. Louis Blues or Dallas Stars in the next round. And although 2020 seems a little early for Vancouver to be thinking again about trying to win Lord Stanley’s soup tureen, the Canucks have already soared far higher and sooner than anyone predicted when this season began 10 months ago.

“I’m so proud of all our guys,” Canucks general manager Jim Benning said. “They worked and competed the whole series, and when we lost some guys (to injuries), other guys stepped in. They just kept fighting and working. You can’t replace this experience. Hopefully it helps them and makes them ever stronger going forward.”

There were nine Canucks in Friday’s lineup who had never been to the NHL playoffs until this week. Coach Travis Green was new to the post- season, too. This included defenceman Olli Juolevi, who made his NHL debut Friday due to an injury to Oscar Fantenberg.

But it was fitting that after so many lean, losing years for the Canucks, Tanev should score the winner. And that the tying goal with 5:46 remaining in regulation time was scored by 24-year-old captain Bo Horvat, who was set up beautifully by Tanner Pearson, a former Stanley Cup winner in Los Angeles and one of a handful of experienced players brought in by Benning the last couple of years.

Hughes, the 20-year-old Calder Trophy-finalist defenceman, led the Canucks with 27:20 of ice time and had a goal and assist on a night when the veterans otherwise drove the team.

Horvat had two assists to go with his goal, and Pearson also scored. Brandon Sutter scored his first playoff goal in five years as the Canucks rallied from 3-1 and 4-3 deficits against one of the NHL’s best five-on-five teams.

The Wild had looked defensively impenetrable while winning the series- opener 3-0 last Sunday. But the Canucks put together their first three- game playoff win streak since 2011 and on Friday were able to rescue shaky starter Jacob Markstrom, who had done the same for his teammates numerous times during the season.

Markstrom allowed awful goals to Eric Staal and Nico Sturm — whose shot from an acute angle rattled through the goalie’s arm and body to put Minnesota ahead 4-3 with 51 seconds left in the second period. 1190538 Websites “It’s a big challenge, obviously,” Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton said when asked about Toews going up against Draisaitl and McDavid. “But Johnny has been around a long time and he’s got a pretty immaculate track record when he plays in the playoffs. To me, his Sportsnet.ca / Jonathan Toews still shines brightest on hockey's biggest biggest attribute that he has is his compete level. stages “He wins a 50-50 battle on the winning goal and just finds a way to come up with the puck. He came up big for us throughout the series in those situations. He’s a great player.” Ken Wiebe | @WiebesWorld Never mind the fact it took a pandemic to get the Blackhawks into the August 8, 2020, 12:57 AM expanded tournament.

They didn’t make the rules, but they certainly made the most of their EDMONTON – In typical Jonathan Toews fashion, he brushes off a second chance. question about why it seems like the big stage is always where he shines And don’t think for a second that this upset is going to leave the the brightest. Blackhawks in the just-happy-to-be there phase when they meet the The Chicago Blackhawks captain loves winning, but there is almost Vegas Golden Knights or Colorado Avalanche. nothing he hates more than talking about himself. Although times have been tough in the Windy City, this is a franchise that That’s all well and good, but whether you’re looking at the complete body measures success in Stanley Cup banners. of work or his exceptional effort in this Qualifying Round series with the There’s a reason for that. Edmonton Oilers, it’s hard not to talk about Toews’ play. It’s the high standard the core group of Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan In a series that featured two of the best players in the NHL on the Keith and Crawford, who was sensational on Friday in making 43 saves, opposition roster, it was the 13-year veteran that had the biggest impact. has set for the group. Whether it was coming up with big goals, setting up his linemates or With young guys like 2019 first-rounder Kirby Dach and 2018 first- doing the little things like winning draws and blocking shots while rounder Adam Boqvist getting their first taste of the post-season, protecting a one-goal lead, Toews always seemed to be in the middle of advancing in a series like this as the 12th seed is a great way to expedite the action. the development process. On the series-clincher from Dominik Kubalik, it was Toews that took care “Like we all know nowadays, you’ve just got to sneak in there and in that of the dirty work, winning a puck battle down low with Ethan Bear before first round anything can happen,” said Toews, who was the third-overall finding the Calder Trophy nominee alone in the slot for a one-timer at pick in 2006 and has now played 1,075 games, including the post- 8:30 of the third period to snap the 2-2 tie. season. “You see it right now too. For us, it didn’t really matter what seed Game. Set. Match. we were. We knew what we were doing later in the season that helped us play great hockey and win games and we got right back to that. From the Stanley Cup Qualifiers to the Stanley Cup Final, livestream every game of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, blackout-free, on The Blackhawks understand they’re not the same juggernaut they once Sportsnet NOW. were when they sipped from Lord Stanley’s mug with regularity, but they’re determined to show that they’re back on the upswing. “We’ve got a lot of young guys that don’t have a lot of playoff experience showing what they can do — that gets you going and motivates you more This was an important step in shifting the pendulum back in the other than anything,” said Toews, who finished with four goals and seven direction. points in four games. “I’m just trying to do my part to do what I can to As far as sending a message to those who thought this group might not follow suit with the rest of our team.” contend for a while and that maybe it was time to consider breaking up Modesty is a great quality, but with all due respect to the Winnipegger, the band, Toews doesn’t waste much time thinking about those he’s not the one following suit. narratives.

He’s leading the charge. Of that, there is no doubt. “There’s always going to be unwarranted praise and criticism,” said Toews. “Our core group has always done a good job of not listening to “He was one of our best players and not just offensively,” said either. We missed the playoffs for a couple of years and you’re bound to Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford, who made 43 saves in Game 4. “He have people kind of come down on you a little bit. had a big block there in the third [period], when they were pressuring. When a leader is doing that, it just follows throughout the lineup. “I don’t think any of that has phased us. We were pretty eager to get this chance and show what we can do. Technically, we just made the playoffs “He’s won some Cups and he knows how to play in these games.” now. So, the real fun begins. We worked pretty hard in this series to beat a good team and we’re going to have to dig deep and keep finding better Does he ever. and better in the next one.” Toews is no stranger to post-season success. He’s a natural-born As long as Toews is playing at this level and demonstrating that will to winner. win, he’s going to give his team a chance to be competitive. The laundry list of accomplishments is long, but bears repeating. That’s all an underdog squad can really ask for. Two World Junior golds (2006 and 2007), two Olympic golds (2010 and

2014), a World Cup of Hockey title (2016) and another gold from the World Hockey Championship (2007) to go along with three Stanley Cups Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 08.08.2020 with the Blackhawks (2010, 2013 and 2015).

Toss in a Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2010 and a Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in 2012-13 for good measure.

You don’t win that often by accident and that was on full display for Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid to see.

The Oilers’ dynamic duo combined for seven goals and 15 points in the series and enjoyed some personal success, but they’re now waiting for the results of Monday’s NHL Draft Lottery while the Blackhawks are going back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017. 1190539 Websites Keefe revealed that he and the coaching staff tried to get the players on track during intermissions and television timeouts last night, but to no avail.

TSN.CA / Toronto Maple Leafs will need to show some mental toughness "We really let those guys have their way on rushes," said Marner. "Too many three-on-twos, four-on-twos, Freddie [Andersen] came up big for us many times. Forwards and D, we have to talk more and cover each other better and stay above [the puck]. That's what that team does, they Mark Masters kill you on your turnovers."

The absence of defenceman Jake Muzzin, out for the series after that The Maple Leafs and Blue Jackets held media availabilities ahead of scary injury on Tuesday, was felt big time. His veteran presence could Game 4 on Friday. have helped calm things down and Travis Dermott, Muzzin's replacement alongside Justin Holl, got caught up ice on the tying goal in the third Toronto's edge in offensive skill has led to more high-danger chances period. (34-24) and possession (51.72 per cent of shot attempts at even strength), but not wins against Columbus. Having blown a 3-0 lead last "I thought that, as a team, we didn't help our defence as a group," said night, the Leafs have now been pushed to the brink of elimination by the Keefe when asked specifically about Dermott. "And as a group our plucky Blue Jackets. defence didn't help themselves."

A team with championship aspirations is still searching for a Keefe is contemplating some lineup changes for tonight’s do-or-die championship mentality. game.

"We've talked about mental toughness and the need to push through "We're discussing some shifts to our lineup," he acknowledged. when things are difficult," coach Sheldon Keefe said on Friday afternoon. "Obviously, I'm not going to talk about that right now." "We've talked about that throughout the pause and from Day 1 of training After stopping all 21 shots faced in relief last night, Elvis Merzlikins camp, so the work is done in advance and we get a chance today to makes his first career Stanley Cup playoff start for the Jackets in Game utilize it." 4. Keefe viewed Game 3 as a failure on two levels. One, the team did not "He's sure of himself," said Tortorella. "He has that personality that he's play the right way from puck drop. And, two, they couldn't lock things not afraid." down despite building a sizeable lead against the Jackets, who finished tied for 27th in goals per game in the regular season. "He thrives in situations where maybe others don't," observed Foligno. "He loves the spotlight and loves the opportunity he's getting." The collapse felt familiar for a Leafs team that has struggled to find a consistent effort level this season and failed to close out the Bruins last Merzlikins went 0-4-3 with an .889 save percentage to start the season, year despite grabbing an early lead in Game 6. It also felt familiar for the but since Christmas and especially after Joonas Korpisalo went down Jackets, who overcame a 3-0 deficit in Game 1 against the favoured with an injury, the 26-year-old Latvian was lights out. Lightning last year. “Let's face it, when he first started in the National Hockey League he was "The mental part of the game, to me, far outweighs the Xs and Os of the awful," said Tortorella. "And then he grew pretty quickly, started game right now," said Columbus coach John Tortorella, who has guided understanding the League, started respecting the League, which was a his teams to nine series wins in the NHL, including a Stanley Cup in very important bridge for him to cross. He has worked with [goalie coach] 2004. "So that's something that we do try and coach quite a bit, a lot Manny [Legace] on the mental part of the game and has turned into a more than Xs and Os. But then it falls on the players and how they terrific player." handle it ... I think to develop mental toughness you need to go through experiences, and then do you fall in a fetal position or do you handle it Merzlikins went 13-5-5 with a .935 save percentage down the stretch. head on?" One thing the Leafs will need to be aware of is Merzlikins is more Down 3-0 last night, the Jackets handled their situation head on. Seth confident than Korpisalo when it comes to handling the puck. Jones, who accidentally deflected in Toronto’s first goal, made amends Tortorella was quick to pump the brakes when a reporter referred to with his own tally while logging 32 minutes and 40 seconds of ice time. Dubois' Game 3 explosion as a possible "coming-out party." Pierre-Luc Dubois, who was the subject of a Tortorella tongue-lashing in Game 2, responded with the first playoff hat trick in franchise history. "Let's be careful about this 'coming-out party,’” the coach said. "I mean, this is one game. We get too excited about things too quickly. One of the "We've been through a lot as a team over the years and certain things, things we're looking for from our players, and Luc being one of them, is unforeseen things, within the room, within our games," said Jackets consistency." captain Nick Foligno. "I think it's allowed us to grow as a core group and as a team and as leaders on the team. We feel comfortable in these After last night's heroics, Dubois was asked about his heated moment situations and we've always talked about that, how you thrive when you with Tortorella in Game 2. feel comfortable in uncomfortable situations and I think our team is like that. We enjoy that. We embrace that challenge and it's something that "Stuff like that happens," the 22-year-old said. "I played a good first drives us every game." game. Obviously the last game … I want to forget about that one, push it under the rug ... Coming into today, if you’re lacking motivation, I don't For all their warts during this roller-coaster season, the Leafs feel like think you're in the right spot, playing the right sport. Everybody was they've actually responded to adversity fairly well. After every setback, motivated tonight. We went down 3-0, but everybody kept believing." they found a way to get back on track. Before the pause, for example, they got swept by the Western Conference's three worst teams in California before returning home to beat the Lightning 2-1. TSN.CA LOADED: 08.08.2020 "We've been a team that's been bouncing back all year from things that don't go our way," Mitch Marner pointed out on Thursday night. "We've always showed up the next day and played our hearts out."

"We've been through adventures like this with this team before," Keefe noted. "We always come back with a better performance."

Toronto's game plan remains the same, but their ability to execute it remains in question – especially on the defensive side of things.

"We established a purpose to what we want to do on every shift and with the puck and with our structure," Keefe said. "We established that before the series began and in Games 1 and 2 and then got away from it. So, we have to get right back to it." 1190540 Websites

USA TODAY / NHL stars Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid going home after qualifying round upsets

Mike Brehm

USA TODAY

When you invite extra teams to the party, anything can happen.

The NHL expanded the postseason field to 24 teams in a bid to make up for the fact that the regular season had to be cut short by the coronavirus pandemic.

And continuing the trend of NHL playoff upsets, the No. 12-seeded Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks, who wouldn't have made the playoffs under normal circumstances, are advancing after victories in the qualifying round.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Edmonton Oilers are out, leaving stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Connor McDavid and likely MVP Leon Draisaitl sitting home when the first round starts next week.

“It’s a 3-of-5 (series). Anything can happen," Crosby told reporters. "We did some good things, but did we do enough? No, give them credit. They played pretty well.”

The Penguins were the biggest shock because they managed to get healthier during the four-month break with the return of Jake Guentzel from injury. But they were stymied by goalie Carey Price and then by a strong defensive effort in Game 4.

"We knew if it's going to be a 24-team playoff, everybody's going to have a chance," said Artturi Lehkonen, who scored the winning goal for Montreal. "We showed up at camp ready to play."

The Blackhawks and Oilers played a run-and-gun series and while McDavid, Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins combined for 23 points. Edmonton also made mistakes. They took a too many men on the ice penalty with two minutes left in Game 4.

"We made some critical mistakes at the wrong time and they went in the back of our net. ... It's frustrating because we expected better," Oilers coach Dave Tippett told reporters.

Of course, the NHL will still have plenty of star power in the playoffs because Alex Ovechkin, Nathan MacKinnon, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, plus the defending champion St. Louis Blues earned byes during the qualifying round.

Price and the Blackhawks' Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane have advanced. And Auston Matthews and John Tavares remained alive after leading the Toronto Maple Leafs back from a third-period, three-goal deficit to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3, in overtime and force a Game 5 Sunday.

McDavid and Draisaitl are young and will have chances to win titles, but Crosby turned 33 on Friday and Malkin is 34. The Penguins were swept in the first round last year.

But Penguins coach Mike Sullivan is confident that this team remains elite.

“At some point, everyone’s window closes," he told reporters. "You can argue that with any team in the league, but I strongly believe that this group has a lot of elite hockey.”

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USA TODAY / 'Dream come true': Everett Fitzhugh, hired by Seattle Kraken, will be NHL's first Black play-by-play announcer

Aria Gerson

USA TODAY

In 102 years of the NHL, no team has had a full-time Black play-by-play announcer. That will change in 2021.

The Seattle Kraken, an expansion franchise set to begin play in the 2021-22 season, announced Friday that Everett Fitzhugh would be their play-by-play announcer. He previously worked with the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones. In that position, he was the only full-time Black play- by-play announcer in any professional hockey league in North America. He also called a Washington Capitals preseason game in 2018.

"As someone who's worked in hockey for over a decade and who has a long-held passion for broadcast hockey, to be named team broadcaster for a brand-new NHL franchise — particularly one with an organization as strong as the Kraken — is a dream come true," Fitzhugh told NHL.com. "Getting to the NHL has always been my goal. I look forward to serving as the voice for this incredible team and its fans as well as representing the Kraken organization throughout the greater Seattle community."

Diversity has long been a struggle in the NHL. A January report found that there were just 43 players of color in the NHL — less than 5 percent of the league. Since so many broadcasters are former players, that lack of diversity extends to broadcasting as well.

The Kraken's leadership has said it will put a premium on diversity and more than half of its leadership team is female.

“I think it’s about time that we make that a priority in this business – and I’m speaking about the sports business overall,” Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke told Sportsnet in March. “We have made it a priority here and in some ways it’s not the path of least resistance. ... I’m really proud with the progress we’re making. It’s still a work in progress, but I can cite examples of just phenomenal people that have come on our team who represent diversity and who are going to serve us well going forward.”

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