Stanley Cup Playoffs - Conference Finals Review

Stanley Cup Playoffs - Conference Finals Review

We entered the second round with many predicting a repeat final four of Pittsburgh, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. Two out of the four are heading home, for a holiday retreat or golf course. Chicago and Los Angeles are heading for the Conference finals again and if Chicago repeat as Western Conference champions they'll defend their Stanley Cup against a team whose last appearance in the cup final ending with them lifting the legendary trophy, Montreal in 1993, when they beat LA, and the New York Rangers in 1994, when they beat Vancouver.

Stanley Cup Playoffs - Second Round Review

Stanley Cup Playoffs - Second Round Review

Round one was so good it's hard to imagine how the second round could ramp up the intensity. Before we get started on the second round matchups we must say goodbye to eight teams. The Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, St Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and, like the inevitability of a Tim Peel intent to blow call we say goodbye to the true nearly men of the league, the San Jose Sharks.

Stanley Cup Playoffs - First Round Review

Stanley Cup Playoffs - First Round Review

The opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is the most exciting, most unpredictable round of the playoffs. For me it all starts with the opening montage Tim Thompson of CBC's Hockey Night in Canada puts together that airs before the first game of the playoffs. This year he went with Metallica's For Whom The Bell Tolls for the backing track to accompany the clip montage which I think doesn't hold a candle last years that featured The Who's Baba O'Riley. 

Sochi 2014: Tournament in review

Sochi 2014: Tournament in review

The dust has settled on yet another Olympic hockey tournament, and for the 2nd consecutive games the Canadians have taken the top prize. But first we're going to look at what happened in the knockout phase (The next logical step after last weeks preview).

Stars - best of Wednesday 27th November

Stars is our daily look at the previous night's action in the NHL and who stood out amongst the rest.

First, Happy Thanksgiving to all Americans. Enjoy the day whilst the rest of the world go to work.

Back to a full program in the NHL last night with 13 games played, and for the joy of fans, after the last few days of dominant goaltending it was literally raining goals last night.

And it was an emotional night in Florida, as the Philadelphia Flyers visited the Tampa Bay Lightning with Bolts legend Vinny Lecavalier and another former Bolts favourite in Steve Downie on the team.

FIRST STAR

 

Evgeni Malkin - PITTSBURGH PENGUINS vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Another two goal, one assist performance here. Malkin's effort came as the Pens fought back from 4-1 and 5-3 down to beat the Leafs 6-5 in a shootout. His assist and 2nd goal were the Pens 4th and 5th goals. He also scored the game sealing goal in the shootout.



SECOND STAR

 

Victor Hedman - TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING vs Philadelphia Flyers

Hedman had a point on each of Tampa's first three goals, scorer of the 1st & 3rd, plus an assist on the 2nd.

Here's his first goal. Ray Emery and goalie's everywhere, watch with caution. This may cause harm to your health.



THIRD STAR

Patrick Kane - CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS vs Calgary Flames

Kane played the hero with the game winner on a clever backhand shot. He scored the first Blackhawks goal in what turned out to be a two goal night for him.




Honourable Mentions

Tomas Tatar did this.....



Sean Monahan continues to impress and had a nice goal on a wrist shot.......



Brendan Gallagher is now one goal short of hitting double digits for the 2nd consecutive season. This ripper on the PP, the number one PP on the road, was his 9th of the campaign....



Brad Richards scored a long range goal for the Rangers on Tim Thomas.....




MY PICKS

3-2 for me last night. Pittsburgh, St Louis and San Jose with the wins.


NOTE: Yesterday's "The Night Ahead" will be the last one for the foreseeable future. Unless somebody else would like to write it everyday.

Stars - best of Monday 25th November

Stars is our daily look at the previous night's action in the NHL and who stood out amongst the rest.

FIRST STAR

 

Martin St Louis - TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING vs New York Rangers

It was a big night for Marty. It was his 1000th game in the NHL and he celebrated the best way he knows. By scoring twice and assisting on another.

SECOND STAR

 

Ben Bishop - TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING vs New York Rangers

Bishop had a 37 save shutout on a night when the skaters in front of him put goals passed two Rangers goaltenders.


THIRD STAR

 

James Neal - PITTSBURGH PENGUINS vs Boston Bruins

Neal had a huge night in the Pens 4-3 OT defeat. He picked up two goals and as assist. His goals bought the Penguins back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game. His assist came with a couple of seconds left as he threw the puck to the front of the net and watched on as Kunitz moved it on to Crosby, who scored with 0.3 seconds left to send it to OT.

 

Honourable Mentions

Ryan Johansen had two goals (5th and 6th) in the Blue Jackets 6-0 win in Toronto...... Tim Thomas went 38/39 for a .974 SV%...... Loui Eriksson had a goal and two assists in the Bruins win, including a secondary assist on the game winner..... Andrew Shaw had two goals and an assist as the Blackhawks overcame Edmonton....... Corey Crawford had a .960 SV% in the game, stopping 24 shots from 25...... Ben Scrivens gave up two goals off of 39 shots faced for a .949 SV% and had this four save effort to help the team to victory.

Daniel Sedin received a high stick to the face in Vancouver's loss at home to LA. He responded by pulling out his tooth

 

 

 

MY PICKS

2-3 on the night with St Louis and LA winning.

Stars - best of Saturday 23rd November

Stars is our daily look at the previous night's action in the NHL and who stood out amongst the rest.
It seems Saturday was all about the goalies showing us what they're all about. So, in a night that no skater recorded more than two points, all of Saturday's stars are goaltenders.

FIRST STAR

James Reimer - TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS vs Washington Capitals

Reimer had 49 saves from 50 shots against the Capitals, as the Leafs went on to win 2-1 in the shootout and condemn the Caps to a third straight loss. The goals were scored by David Clarkson and Alex Ovechkin.

This is the one, outstanding shot that beat Reimer.

SECOND STAR

 

Jonas Hiller - ANAHEIM DUCKS vs Phoenix Coyotes

The Ducks became the first team to inflict a regulation defeat on the Coyotes in Arizona this season, and Jonas Hiller played a big part in that. With 42 saves on 44 shots for a .955 SV% he helped the Ducks secure a 4-2 win.

THIRD STAR

 

Ben Scrivens - LOS ANGELES KINGS vs Colorado Avalanche

Scrivens was on the losing side last night but as he saved 32 shots before surrendering enough net for Jamie McGinn to win it for the Avs in overtime. Any other night and his .970 SV% would lift any team to a victory but the Kings came up against a Semyon Varlamov in brick wall form.

 

Honourable Mentions

Three more goalies will get a mention here. Cam Talbot, Niklas Backstrom and Martin Brodeur. Talbot shutout the Predators in a 2-0 win for the Rangers, but only faced 17 shots. Backstrom posted a .949 SV%, saving 37 shots from 39 and stopped 3 of 4 shooters in a 3-2 shootout win for the Wild over the Jets. Marty had 28 saves in a 2-1 defeat for the Devils in San Jose. Brodeur also pulled off a save of the week contender on Logan Couture.

Max Pacioretty, Dustin Penner, David Backes and James Neal were the night's top scorers each netting two goals.

Eric Boulton of the Islanders scored his first goal in 72 games in Philadelphia last night.

A few minutes into the 3rd period in Vancouver, Patrick Sharp had a shot from the blue line that hit all three posts. The Blackhawks went on to win 2-1 with goals from Shaw and Kruger.

 

 

 

MY PICKS

2-3 last night. Again the Canadiens win after I pick them to lose. I only got Anaheim and Chicago right.

The Night Ahead - Saturday 23rd November 2013

In "The Night Ahead" we take a look at a selection (well, five) of the upcoming games for the evening (early hours here in the UK) and add a preview and opinion on the match ups.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS @ MONTREAL CANADIENS

Both teams picked up wins last night. Sidney Crosby picked up his 250th NHL goal on the game winner against the Islanders whilst the Habs won in Washington. A win that included a first goal in 26 regular season and playoff games for David Desharnais.

It's the first meeting between the two this season. Back in March they fought out an epic 7-6 OT game at the Bell Centre with Pittsburgh coming out on top thanks to a Chris Kunitz goal.

The in form Penguins look amazingly strong right now. The Habs win last night was only their 4th in November.

I'll go Pens win.

OTTAWA SENATORS @ DETROIT RED WINGS

Daniel Alfredsson welcomes his former team to his new home in first meeting since free agent departure.

Alfie signing with Detroit and then saying he has a better chance at glory now probably takes silver for "departure that really hurt the fan base" in the 2013 offseason. Ilya Kovalchuk, I'm looking at you buddy. Alfie is doing fine in "HOCKEYTOWN" with three goals and two assists in 19 games this season. The Red Wings, like the aforementioned Canadiens, are having a November to forget. They narrowly beat the Carolina Hurricanes to snap a SEVEN game losing streak. Luckily for them five of those were either in overtime or a shootout which means despite the dip they still find themselves in a playoff spot, five points (see) ahead of the New York Rangers, currently the best team looking up in the East.

Ottawa are also on the outside looking in, which is strange when you consider what they did with so many injuries last year. Now Karlsson, Michalek and Spezza are all having solid minutes and playing every night they seem like they can't click. Is that the effect of the Alfredsson loss? They also lost veteran defenseman Sergie Gonchar to the Dallas Stars. Can two veterans leaving usurp the progress of the "pesky" Sens?

I'm taking Detroit in this one but should be wary that back in October the Sens routed them 6-1 at The Joe.

ANAHEIM DUCKS @ PHOENIX COYOTES

With the Ducks OT win against Tampa Bay last night they moved into 1st place in the West and the entire league. Phoenix have quietly gone about their business as the one of lesser covered teams in the league. Led by Martin Hanzal, Shane Doan, Radim Vrbata and Keith Yandle, on 19, 17, 17 & 17 points respectively, they have gone 8-1-2 in their last 11, the one regulation defeat? 5-2 to Anaheim......

This is the sort of game that screams overtime and I'm taking the Ducks.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS @ VANCOUVER CANUCKS

The reigning Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks go into enemy territory tonight. A rivalry born from recently intense playoff match ups. They head to the Pacific Northwest on shaky form. Sweeping away most teams that come their way, led by Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa, they have also suffered thrashings at the hands of division rivals Nashville and Colorado.

Vancouver had an impressive win when they welcomed the Blue Jackets last night but before that it's not been a great time for them losing five in a row.

The Canucks might be back on form and depending on how the Blackhawks play this could be a tight fought classic or a rout. I'm going with the champs here.

COLORADO AVALANCHE @ LOS ANGELES KINGS

LA go into tonight having gone 7-1-2 in their last 10. The losses coming in regulation to Nashville, in a shootout to Buffalo, and in overtime in their last game at home to the New Jersey Devils.

It's the first meeting between the two this season. Colorado have been one of surprises this year and under new coach Patrick Roy, have enjoyed great defensive play and fantastic performances from their goalies.

They both have over 30 points this season and find themselves amongst the lower seeds in the playoff picture. A testament to the sheer strength of that conference this year.

Colorado's attack is led by Matt Duchene, Paul Stastny and captain Gabriel Landeskog. Number one draft pick Nathan McKinnon has also contributed well with three goals and ten assists. You wouldn't be surprised to here Anze Kopitar, Justin Williams, Mike Richards and Drew Doughty lead the way in goals and assists for LA.

Gotta take a home win in this one. Unless they get a stellar goalie performance Colorado seem to come unstuck against some of the leagues better teams.


Tonight's picks: Pittsburgh, Detroit, Anaheim, Chicago, LA.