X75 Productions

Category: NHL

  • Playoff Preview-Round 2: Colorado Avalanche v.s San Jose Sharks

    Playoff Preview-Round 2: Colorado Avalanche v.s San Jose Sharks

    Tonight begins round 2 for the Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks. Each team recently came off satisfying and emotional series wins over their respective opponents. Let’s see how each team got here.

     

    COLORADO AVALANCHE:

     

    The Avalanche are coming off a huge upset over former number one seeded Calgary Flames. Colorado won the series in five games over Calgary. The Avalanche won four straight after losing game 1 to win the series. The Avalanche defeated the Flames in Game 5 in a dominate fashion by winning 5-1. Stars of the series for the Avs featured Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, & especially goaltender Phillip Grubauer shined as his play in between the pipes carried them onto round 2.

     

    SAN JOSE SHARKS:

     

    The San Jose Sharks are coming off a long and emotional seven game series between them and the Vegas Golden Knights. The Sharks won the series in a very dramatic fashion. The Golden Knights has a 3-0 lead until a controversial 5 minute major cross checking was called against the Knight. San Jose would covert on the major penalty four times to take a 4-3 lead. However, Vegas ties the game with under a minute to go to force overtime in a game 7. The Sharks however won the series on a goal by Barclay Goodrow as he drove towards the net.

     

    Prediction:

    San Jose in 7 games: this series WILL go the distance and I envision another dramatic series win for the Sharks. Destiny seems to be on the side of the Sharks this postseason after many playoff failures past. Colorado will push the limits but, the playoff tested Sharks’ experience will shine as they advance to the Western Conference Finals.

     

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

  • 2019 NHL Playoffs: Round 2 Preview: Carolina Hurricanes vs New York Islanders

    2019 NHL Playoffs: Round 2 Preview: Carolina Hurricanes vs New York Islanders

    The first round of the playoffs came to its final conclusion yesterday. With the second round set, it’s time to take a look at the match up for these two teams.

    New York Islanders First Round

    The New York Islanders played the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round. Handily sweeping them in four games. The Islanders outscored the Penguins in the series by a combined score of 14-6. Only Game 1 of the series was close, going to overtime; the other games were just dominating play by the Islanders.

    Carolina Hurricanes First Round

    The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Washington Capitals in seven games in the first round. The series saw the Hurricanes barely outscored in the series, the combined score being 19-20. However, the team has heart and soul, and used it to beat the Stanley Cup Champions.

    That being said, let’s see how these two Metro division rivals matched up against each other in the regular season.

    In the regular season series, saw the Islanders win 3 out of the 4 games against the Hurricanes. In the first game of the regular season, these two teams squared off on 10/4 which saw the Islanders come out on top in OT with a 2-1 victory. A couple of weeks later, the Islanders would get a 2-1 win in regulation on 10/28. These two teams would not see each other for another month, and when they finally met again on 11/24, the Islanders were once again victorious by a score of 4-1. It would not be until the new year when these two teams would meet again. This coming when the Hurricanes were playing a lot better hockey, and they were rewarded with a 4-3 victory against the Islanders.

    Keys to Victory for the Islanders

    • Goaltending: Robin Lehner was spectacular against the Penguins all series, and will need to continue his stellar play.
    • Defense: The shot blocking and defensive play in the series against the Penguins was also spectacular. It’s one of the biggest reasons why the Islanders dominated play, so far in the playoffs.
    • Secondary Scoring: The Islanders got contributions from all over the line up and that’s always important in the playoffs.

    Players to Watch

    Devon Toews (D)

    Jordan Eberle (F)

    Robin Lehner (G)

     

    Keys to Victory for the Hurricanes

    Goaltending: Petr Mrázek was downright awesome at times during the series with the Capitals, he stood on his head and kept the Hurricanes in the game. If the Canes want to pull off another upset, he needs to play just as well as he has been.

    Home Ice Advantage: I would have kept this for the Islanders, however because they are now playing at Barclay’s Center, it’s not quite as good as Nassau Coliseum. However, PNC Arena in Raleigh is noisy and raucous, and there is a reason why the Hurricanes are undefeated in their barn so far in the playoffs.

    Leadership: Justin Williams, aka Mr. Game 7, is the unquestioned leader in that locker room. The team plays well, when he plays well. He has the experience and it’s gonna be needed in this round as well.

    Players to Watch

    Petr Mrázek (G)

    Justin Williams (F)

    Sebastian Aho (F)

     

    Game 1 of the series starts tomorrow at 7p in Barclay’s Center. The game will be on NBCSN.

    Should be interesting to see if there is any rust on the Islanders squad, as they have not played a game since 4/16 when they swept the Pens.

     

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

  • TXHT Post Mortem – A Caps Fan’s Point of View

    TXHT Post Mortem – A Caps Fan’s Point of View

    With the Washington Capitals 2018-19 season over, there are a lot of opinions about the team, but we here at TXHT look to our good friend John Chick who wrote an amazing Post Mortem to this season.

     

    John, the floor is yours good sir…

     

    Here’s my post-mortem, for what it’s worth:

    1. Despite the sudden crowning of Barry Trotz as hockey’s version of Bill Belichick, he was one game away from being fired last year as the Caps coach. Reirden’s Caps won their division, so if it’s time to fire Reirden, then John Cooper in Tampa should’ve already been fired, along with Vegas’ coach. I loved Trotz, but let’s do a little deeper analysis than “Fire the Coach”, which seems to be the social media norm.

    2. For whatever reason, the Caps forgot how to win in the playoffs, choosing the ‘fancy’ goals over the dirty goals. Carolina had 3 players funneling to the net on every shot. The Caps usually chose not to shoot, and when they did, they rarely had more than one player anywhere near the net.

    3. The Caps also reverted to the old form of having the stars perform well enough to win, and the rest of the team serving as spectators. They won the Cup last year specifically because all four lines contributed, so opponents couldn’t just concern themselves with shutting down the first line.

    4. Losing Kempny was big. What I liked about him most is that he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot, so while he wasn’t at the same level as Nate Schmidt, he was equivalent. Nick Jensen doesn’t shoot, so we essentially have one defenseman who can (or more importantly)/will shoot. Having a big shot like Carlson isn’t even necessary – just put it on net.

    5. The slingshot – doesn’t work. They also used to place Oshie or someone else right in the slot on the PP which gave it another wrinkle and made the defense lay off Ovie. No idea why they tried to fix something that wasn’t broken.

    6. And finally – The Caps are the 2018 Stanley Cup Champions – something I thought I’d never live to see. They get a pass from me for getting bounced in the first round by what turned out to be a good team.

     

    John is a good friend of Michael, Aryan, and Chris.

     

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

  • St. Louis Blues – Dallas Stars Game 1 Recap

    St. Louis Blues – Dallas Stars Game 1 Recap

    Game 1 of the Blues-Stars second round series saw St. Louis take a 1-0 with a goal by unlikely scorer, Robby Fabbri. Play was relatively even through the rest of the first, and the Blues took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

    The second period brought more action with Jason Spezza capitalizing on a great pass to barely get the puck by Jordan Binnington and tie the game at 1. This lead was short-lived though when Vladimir Tarasenko drew a penalty on Roman Polak, then proceeded to immediately score.

    Leading 2-1 in the third period, Tarasenko scored one of the more spectacular goals I have seen:

    Jamie Benn managed to score a goal late to make it 3-2, but it was meaningless – not only because it should not have counted since the referee blew the whistle prior to the puck entering the net, but then signaled a goal, and Toronto’s review team, um, concurred, but also that they were not able to tie it at 3, despite a few chances at the end.

    The next game is Saturday at 3PM Eastern in St. Louis.

     

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

  • Columbus Blue Jackets vs Boston Bruins – Round 2 – Game 1 Recap

    Columbus Blue Jackets vs Boston Bruins – Round 2 – Game 1 Recap

    Game Recap:

    Bruins came to play in the first period outshooting Columbus 14-4 and killing off two Blue Jacket Powerplays and scoring what seemingly was a goal Sergei Bobrovsky would love to have back to complete an almost perfect 1st period on home ice. Columbus looks a step behind which could be a case of rust – after having such a long layoff.

    Columbus took a step forward in the second period taking their game up a notch and controlling most of the play. Upping their physicality and getting into the face of Rask.

    The third period would bring some real excitement with the Blue Jackets making an epic comeback in a matter of 13 seconds to take a 2-1 lead into the last 5 minutes of the period. That’s where Boston native Charlie Coyle would take over this game, Scoring with  5 minutes left to tie the game and take it to overtime.

    The overtime would be all Boston and once again Charlie Coyle would seal the deal 5 minutes into the overtime period and give the Bruins  1-0 lead in the best of seven series.

    Lineups:

    Bruins 

    Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

    Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — Marcus Johansson

    Danton Heinen — Charlie Coyle — Karson Kuhlman

    Sean Kuraly — Joakim Nordstrom — Noel Acciari

     

    Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

    Brandon Carlo — Torey Krug

    Matt Grzelcyk — John Moore

     

    Tuukka Rask

    Jaroslav Halak

    Scratched: Steven Kampfer

    Injuries: Connor Clifton

     

    Columbus

    Artemi Panarin — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Olivier Bjorkstrand

    Ryan Dzingle — Matt Duchene — Cam Atkinson

    Alexandre Texier — Nick Foligno — Josh Anderson

    Riley Nash — Boone Jenner — Brandon Dubinsky

     

    Zach Werenski — Seth Jones

    Dean Kukan — David Savard

    Scott Harrington — Adam Clendening

     

    Sergei Bobrovsky

    Joonas Korpisalo

    Scratched: Alexander Wennberg,

    Injuries: Ryan Murray, Markus Nutivaara, Adam McQuaid

    GameDay:

    First Period:

    Columbus Penalty – 3:19 – Scott Harrington, 2 minutes for Tripping

    Boston Penalty – 4:37 – Marcus Johansson, 2 minutes for Too Many Men

    Boston Penalty – 9:20 – Charlie Coyle, 2 minutes for Hooking

    Boston SH Goal – 10:34 – Noel Acciari (1) assisted by Charlie McAvoy (3)

    End of 1st – CBJ – 0       BOS – 1

    Shots              4                14

    Faceoffs         6/15            9/15

    Hits               13                  12

    PP                 0/2                 0/1

    Second Period:

    Columbus Penalty – 2:56 – Riley Nash, 2 minutes for Tripping

    Boston Penalty – 5:16 – David Krejci, 2 minutes for Tripping

    Boston Penalty – 14:47 – Patrice Bergeron, 2 minutes for Hooking

    Columbus Penalty – 18:48 – Zach Werenski, 2 minutes for Interference

    End of 2nd – CBJ- 0        BOS- 1

    Shots               14                 20

    Faceoffs        19/38           19/38

    Hits                 25                  18

    PP                   0/4                  0/3

    Third Period:

    Columbus Penalty – 1:20 – Boone Jenner, 2 minutes for Holding

    Columbus Goal – 7:39 – Riley Nash  (2) assisted by Seth Jones (3) and Boone Jenner (3)

    Columbus Goal – 7:52 – Pierre-Luc Dubois (2) assisted by Artemi Panarin (4) and Seth Jones (4)

    Boston Goal – 15:25 – Charlie Coyle (4) assisted by Marcus Johansson (1) and Torey Krug (4)

    End of 3rd – CBJ – 2         BOS – 2

    Shots              21                   33

    Faceoffs      26/56             30/56

    Hits               37                     28

    PP                 0/4                   0/4

    Overtime Period:

    Boston Goal – 5:15 – Charlie Coyle (5) assisted by Marcus Johansson (2) and Danton Heinen (3)

    End of OT – CBJ – 2         BOS – 3

    Shots              22                   37

    Faceoffs      26/56             30/56

    Hits               40                    31

    PP                 0/4                   0/4

     

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

  • St. Louis Blues – Dallas Stars Round 2 Preview

    St. Louis Blues – Dallas Stars Round 2 Preview

    Mike: “Ok, Blues – Stars preview, you’re up.”

    Me: “Oh…uh…I wasn’t really expecting the Blues to win, so I think I used up all the words I know in the last preview.”

    Mike: “…”

    Me: “…”

    Hello round 2, it’s been a while. The Blues and Stars met four times during the regular season, with the Blues winning just one game. Before digging deeper into the season series, as someone who has been referred to as both ‘intelligent’ and ‘artificial’, I’m always one to extol the virtues of algorithmic literacy.  I always look for hockey analysis rooted in metrics (albeit arcane, for now), rather than atavistic practices like ‘hockey guys’ simply spouting platitudes like ‘this team will win because they want it more,’ as if by fiat. To that end, Micah Blake McCurdy (Twitter @IneffectiveMath), who focuses on hockey analytics and data visualization, did a remarkable job predicting first round series (and showing that Tampa Bay was not the Cup favorite all ‘experts’ seemed to think they were). Let’s check in with Mr. McCurdy regarding the second round:

    54% Dallas, 46% St. Louis? Whatever, what does this guy know? This is hockey, not bean-counting.

    While the Stars did take 3 out of 4 games during the regular season, similar to last series against the Jets, this does not tell the whole story, because the Blues were rarely at full-strength. In the first game, on January 8, the Blues were without Jordan “sangfroid” Binnington, and this was a particularly ignominious defeat for Jake Allen:

    Though Allen did play well after he blew the game, it was not enough. Binnington did start the next 3 games (winning just 1), but the Blues were without Brayden Schenn – a critical part of the top line at the time – for both of the losses. Now I’m not saying that Schenn’s presence is going to be a panacea for the Blues’ struggles against the Stars, but he will absolutely make a big difference.

    Aside from Schenn (and the always-noted goaltending battle), the keys to the series essentially boil down to:

    1. Will Vladimir Tarasenko score? and
    2. Will Jamie Benn not score?

    Benn scored 5 goals in the Stars’ three wins, so keeping him at least relatively off the scoresheet is critical to the Blues’ success. Similarly, Tarasenko seems to rise to the occasion against Dallas, scoring 3 goals this season.

    It’s as simple as that. I’m taking the Blues in 6, and once again, if that happens, I’ll tell you that I’m omniscient (oh, by the way, the Blues won the last series, so allow me to say it: I’m omniscient), but as always, if I’m wrong, let’s not talk about it.

    Ultimately, I believe this is going to be a hard fought series, with neither team really having the upper-hand. If the Blues happen to lose, I’ll be upset, but I will not feel angry or indignant unless one of their fans happens to speak derisively about one particular topic:

    Ok. Fine. It’s on now.

     

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

  • 2019 NHL Playoffs – 2nd Round Preview – Columbus Blue Jackets v. Boston Bruins

    2019 NHL Playoffs – 2nd Round Preview – Columbus Blue Jackets v. Boston Bruins

    Matchup:

    Columbus Blue Jackets(47-31-4, 5th in Metro) vs Boston Bruins (49-24-9, 2nd in Atlantic)

    Regular Season Series: 3 – 1 Boston with 16 goals scored and 1-3 for Toronto with 10 goals scored

    Outlook:

    Boston:

    The Bruins walk into a new situation as they have never played the Blue Jackets in the playoffs. But you know what to expect from the Bruins hard in your face hockey. The only question that stands for Boston is how much will that affect this series as Columbus Player enjoy the physical aspects of the game.

    Columbus:

    The Blue Jackets went on a 7-3-0 run to end the season to solidify the last wild card spot in the East. From there, they walked into a series against the number one team in the league the Tampa Bay Lightning and shut them down. Let’s put it this way, the highest scoring team in the league scored 3 in the first game and then the Blue Jackets fought back with 4 to win the first game. Since the Lightning scored 3 in the first game they were held to 5 goals the rest of the series. The acquisitions of Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingle are paying huge dividends finally with Duchene leading the team in scoring and  Dzingle playing a pivotal role in the changing games.

    Game Changers:

    Brad Marchand – Marchand tallied 100 points for the first time in his career this season and he looks better than ever. His ability to annoy and put tremendous amounts of points make him the perfect playoff player.

    Nick Foligno – Foligno may not be a flashy goal scorer but he’s like Marchand in many ways. He comes to play every night plays physically and scorer dirty goals. Expect him to have a huge impact on this series.

    Advantage Overview:

    Goaltenders:

    Boston

    Tuukka Rask started the season off very low and seemingly lost the number 1 spot to backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak. But after a 19 game point streak where he truly regained his form, there were no more questions. Rask finished 27-12-5, with a 2.42 GAA and .912 save percentage. While Halak put in a solid effort when called upon to hold down the fort, finishing 22-11-4 with a 2.34 GAA and .922 save percentage.

    Columbus

    Sergei Bobrovsky shared the same kind of season that Rask did. Starting off slow and posting numbers much lower numbers than normal.  Bobrovsky’s final numbers were 2.58 GAA and a .913 save percentage. Despite Bobrovsky’s past poor playoff performances he had a bounce back and posted a .932 SV% and 2.01 GAA for Columbus against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

    Advantage: Goaltending overall goes to Boston with Rask. But If we’re talking head to head and this season only. I’d have to give the advantage to Bobrovsky here. This is in no way a knock on Rask but just based off this year’s performance.

    Forwards:

    Boston

    The Bruins are top line heavy after that players drop off considerably. The Bruins have Krecji who has had a revolving door of wingers this season. But rely heavily on that top line and it’s not to say that others are bad players they just aren’t on the level of reliance or scoring ability as Pastrnak, Marchand, and Bergeron. Scoring significantly tales off after the top line for the Bruins but their style of hockey is conducive to that. But during the Toronto series, the Bruins showed that their third line centered by newly acquired center Charlie Coyle can add some much-needed depth scoring to help the 1st and 2nd line.

    Columbus

    Columbus scorers have been flying high with new players Duchene and Dzingle finding their groove but adding those guys to a pretty strong offensive defense and 1st line that can score, a 3rd and 4th line that has shown they can pitch in offensively make this team offensively scary.

    Advantage – Boston, Only because that top line is so deadly offensively and their depth is top notch.

    Defense:

    Boston 

    Bruins have a good defense especially if you’re talking on the defensive side of the game. Offensively not the best but defensively one of the top defenses in the League. Anchored by Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy, through Torey Krug and Kevan Miller, then the 3 remaining in  Matt Grezelcyk,  Brandon Carlo and John Moore.

    Columbus

    Columbus brings a very young defense core, anchored by Seth Jones and Zach Werenski. Jones plays in every situation adding McQuaid to the mix helps on the defensive end. They’ve played tight in their own zone and been good at moving the puck.

    Advantage – Columbus – reasoning is in the Toronto series they were kind of on and off in Boston. One game the defense looked great, next game they looked a bit out of sort. So Columbus for now but this could change.

     

    Projected Lineups

    Bruins 

    Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

    Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — Marcus Johansson

    Danton Heinen — Charlie Coyle — Karson Kuhlman

    Sean Kuraly — Joakim Nordstrom — Noel Acciari

    Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

    Brandon Carlo — Torey Krug

    Matt Grzelcyk — John Moore

    Tuukka Rask

    Jaroslav Halak

    Scratched: Steven Kampfer

    Injuries: Connor Clifton

     

    Columbus

    Artemi Panarin — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Olivier Bjorkstrand

    Ryan Dzingle — Matt Duchene — Cam Atkinson

    Alexandre Texier — Nick Foligno — Josh Anderson

    Riley Nash — Boone Jenner — Brandon Dubinsky

    Zach Werenski — Seth Jones

    Dean Kukan — David Savard

    Scott Harrington — Adam Clendening

    Sergei Bobrovsky

    Joonas Korpisalo

    Scratched: Alexander Wennberg,

    Injuries: Ryan Murray, Markus Nutivaara, Adam McQuaid

     

    Winning Scenarios:

    1. Bruins win if the top line of Pastrnak, Marchand, and Bergeron can show the same ability to tear the Jackets defense apart.
    2. Columbus wins if Bobrovsky continues to play with the confidence he showed in the series against Tampa.

    Overall Edge: Boston, for experience and a team that never gives up

     

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

     

  • TXHT Announces 2nd Round Writers

    TXHT is proud to announce the writers for the 2nd Round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Round1-CBJvs-preview

    Steve Gardiner ( @gardskie11 ) will be the lead writer for the Boston Bruins v. Columbus Blue Jackets series. Steve will be backed up by Russell Hartman ( @russellhartman10 ).

     

    Round 2 - CARNYI - Preview

    Christopher Vasilas ( @shaggy901516 ) will be the lead writer for the Carolina Hurricanes v. New York Islanders series. Chris will be backed up by Michael Lindenbaum.

     

    Round 2 - DALSTL - Preview

    Aryan Weisenfeld ( @aew328123 ) will be the lead writer for the St. Louis Blues v. Dallas Stars series. Michael will also be the backup writer for this series.

     

    Round1-COLvsSJ preview

    Scott Fairchild ( @sfairchild92d98e75a8f0 ) will be the lead writer for the Colorado Avalanche v. San Jose Sharks series. Scott will be backed up by Dickson Kendrick ( @dkendrick4 ).

     

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

  • Game Recap – 1st Rd. Game 7 – Carolina Hurricanes v. Washington Capitals

    Game Recap – 1st Rd. Game 7 – Carolina Hurricanes v. Washington Capitals

    Carolina Hurricanes v. Washington Capitals

    Series Tied 3-3

     

    Game Recap:

    Heading into the dreaded Game 7, both the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes head into Capital One Arena looking to finish the series with win, and move on to face the idle New York Islanders. To start the game the Capitals would force the play in the Hurricanes which would see Andre Burakovsky forc2 Brett Pesce to cough up the puck and Burakovsky would skate into the slot and rip the puck past Petr Mrazek to make it 1-0 less than three minutes into the game. Then it would be a highly motivated Alex Ovechkin undressing Dougie Hamilton while entering the zone, and Ovechkin would then feed Tom Wilson who would one time it past Mrazek to make it 2-0.

     

    Going into the second period both teams looked to swing the momentum their way, and for a good portion of the period the Capitals would force the play, however, while on the lone powerplay the Capitals would cough it up and Sebastian Aho would get it past Braden Holtby to cut the lead to one. But the Capitals would get their two goal lead back as Evgeny Kuznetsov and Carl Hagelin would team up to give Kuznetsov his first goal of the playoffs, but that too would be short lived as Teuvo Teravainen would get the loose puck in the slot and rip it past Holtby to make it 3-2 Capitals going into the second intermission.

     

    Heading into the third period it would be the Hurricanes buildimg upom the momentum they gained in the second period as less than three minutes into the third frame Jordan Staal would streak down the wing and let go of a beautiful wrist shot past Holtby to tie the game at three. After a lot of back and forth in thebperiod, the game would remained tied after 60 minutes of play.

     

    In the first overtime period of the game it would be all Hurricanes as they dictated the pace of the period and held the Capitals without a shot through the first half of the overtime period. However, the Capitals would escape the first overtime period.

     

    Then in double overtime the Hurricanes would continue their dominant play against the Capitals, and after killing a delay of game penalty it would be Mr. Game 7 himself Justin Williams throwing it on net where Brock McGinn would tip it in past Holtby to win the game and the series 4-3.

     

    Lineups:

    Carolina Hurricanes:

    Nino Niederreiter — Sebastian Aho — Teuvo Teravainen

    Brock McGinn — Jordan Staal — Justin Williams

    Warren Foegele — Lucas Wallmark — Jordan Martinook

    Saku Maenalanen — Greg McKegg — Patrick Brown

    Jaccob Slavin — Dougie Hamilton

    Brett Pesce — Justin Faulk

    Calvin de Haan — Trevor van Riemsdyk

    Petr Mrazek

    Curtis McElhinney

    Scratched: Haydn Fleury

    Injured: Andrei Svechnikov (concussion), Micheal Ferland (upper body)

     

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson

    Carl Hagelin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Jakub Vrana

    Andre Burakovsky — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly

    Chandler Stephenson — Nic Dowd — Devante Smith-Pelly

    Jonas Siegenthaler — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen

    Brooks Orpik — Nick Jensen

    Braden Holtby

    Pheonix Copley

    Scratched: Christian Djoos, Travis Boyd, Dmitrij Jaskin, Parker Milner

    Injured: Michal Kempny (torn left hamstring), T.J. Oshie (upper body)

     

    First Period:

    Capitals Goal – 2:13 – Andre Burakovsky (1) from unassisted

    Capitals Goal – 6:23 – Tom Wilson (3) from Alex Ovechkin (5) and Dmitry Orlov (3)

    Hurricanes Penalty – 13:39 – Greg McKegg 2 minutes for Hooking

    Capitals Penalty – 16:58 – Nicklas Backstrom 2 minutes for Interference

     

    End of 1st – CAR – 0       WAS – 2

    Shots              11                10

    Faceoffs         12                17

    Hits               15                  10

    PP                 0/1                 0/1

     

    Second Period:

    Hurricanes Penalty – 8:35 – Jordan Martinook 2 minutes for Tripping

    Hurricanes SHG – 9:51 – Sebastian Aho (2) from Brett Pesce (2) and Jaccob Slavin (7)

    Capitals Goal – 13:22 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (1) from Carl Hagelin (1)

    Hurricanes Goal – 16:37 – Teuvo Teravainen (3) from Brett Pesce (3) and Brock McGinn (3)

     

    End of 2nd – CAR – 2        WAS – 3

    Shots               19                 19

    Faceoffs          18                 27

    Hits                 30                  21

    PP                   0/1                  0/2

     

    Third Period:

    Hurricanes Goal – 2:56 – Jordan Staal (3) from Jaccob Slavin (8)

     

    End of 3rd – CAR – 3         WAS – 3

    Shots              24                   31

    Faceoffs        22                    31

    Hits               42                     29

    PP                 0/1                    0/2

     

    Overtime:

    N/A

     

    End of OT – CAR – 3         WAS – 3

    Shots              35                   35

    Faceoffs        30                    45

    Hits               51                     40

    PP                 0/1                    0/2

     

    Double Overtime:

    Hurricanes Penalty – 2:02 – Saku Maenalanen 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    Hurricanes Goal – 11:05 – Brock McGinn (2) from Justin Williams (3) and Jaccob Slavin (9)

     

    End of 2OT – CAR – 4         WAS – 3

    Shots              42                   37

    Faceoffs        33                    47

    Hits               60                     43

    PP                 0/1                    0/3

     

    Next Up:

    Carolina Wins Series 4-3

    2nd Round v. NY Islanders

     

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

  • TXHT Opinion – 2 or a 5? You Decide.

    TXHT Opinion – 2 or a 5? You Decide.

    Last night in San Jose for Game 7 between the Sharks and the Vegas Golden Knights, there was a moment in the third period where Sharks forward Joe Pavelski and Knights forward Cody Eakin would take the faceoff against each other in thr Knights zone.

     

    During the faceoff Pavelski and Eakin would battle eachother for the puck that saw Eakin get the physical advantage over Pavelski as he would cross check Pavelski in the chest which would foce him to lose his balance. While losing his balance Pavelski would then get tangled with Knights forward Paul Stastny who would slam Pavelski onto the ice.

     

    As Pavelski fell to the ice, he would hit his head on the ice and would require medical attention. As a result of this play Eakin would be assessed a five minute major for cross checking and a game misconduct. At the time of this play the Knights were up 3-0 and on their way to defeating the Sharks. On the five minute powerplay the Sharks would score four powerplay goals to guide them to their eventual victory.

     

    Now with all of that said, I have to agree with the Golden Knights fans that the call on the play was excessive and that Eakin should have been assessed only a two minute minor for cross checking. Eakin never targeted the head, and the point of contact was Pavelski’s chest, which is where Eakin hit Pavelski with the cross check.

     

    Now as for Stastny, one could argue for a roughing penalty to be called on the same play, but at the same time it looked like a wrong place, wrong time scenario for Stastny on this play. However, a roughing call would have been appropriate on this play.

     

    One of the biggest takeaways is this. Out of all of this, the Golden Knights defeated themselves in Game 7. Instead of focusing on the game and killing off the five minute powerplay to the best of their abilities, they imploded over the penalty call. At the end of the day, that is what costed the Knights the game and ultimately the series.