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Category: NHL

  • April 24th, 2019 — News and Notes

    April 24th, 2019 — News and Notes

    Today is Wednesday, April 24th, 2019, and these are your news and notes

     

    There were two contests in Stanley Cup playoff action.

     

     

    BOSTON 5, Toronto 1 (Boston wins series 4-3)

     

    Game 7. 4-3 BOS

     

     

    The Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs last night by the score of 5-1 and would go on to win this series in 7 games.  The Boston Bruins will now face the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second round.

     

    Steve Gardiner has your full recap of the contest between the Bruins and the Maple Leafs here or at the following page.

     

     

    SAN JOSE 5, Vegas 4 (OT) (San Jose wins series 4-3)

     

    The San Jose Sharks defeated the Vegas Golden Knights by the score of 5-4 in overtime and they would go on to win the series.  The San Jose Sharks will now face off against the Colorado Avalanche in the second round.

     

    Today in Stanley Cup playoff action is a win or go home for either the Carolina Hurricanes or the Washington Capitals.  The action kicks off at 7:30 p.m., ET.

     

     

    Second round action kicks off tomorrow (Thursday night).  The second round schedule is posted below with the either Carolina or Washington advancing.

     

     

    The full second round schedule will be made public later tonight.

     

    For more news, notes, information, and stats, you can check out the NHL’s Morning Skate report, which is posted below.

     

     

     

    For TXHT’s extensive 2019 Stanley Cup playoff action, please click here.

  • April 23rd, 2019 — News and Notes

    April 23rd, 2019 — News and Notes

    Today is Tuesday, April 23rd, 2019, and these are your notes.

     

    There were two games in action yesterday.

     

    CAROLINA 5, Washington 2 (Series is tied at 3-3)

     

    Game 6. 3-3 Tie

     

    The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Washington Capitals yesterday to tie this series 3-3 with the win or go home game taking place tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m., ET at Capital One Arena.

     

    Michael Lindenbaum has your full recap of the contest between the Capitals and Hurricanes here.

     

    DALLAS 2, Nashville 1 (OT) (Dallas wins series 4-2)

     

    The Dallas Stars would defeat the Nashville Predators last night 2-1 in overtime to win the series and the Stars will now go on to face the St. Louis Blues in the second round.

     

    Dickson Kendrick has your full recap of the contest between the Predators and the Stars here.

     

    Today’s schedule of games:

     

    *Note: All images are the property of the NHL, NHL Public Relations, and their respective owners unless otherwise noted.

     

    For more news, notes, information, and stats, check out the NHL’s Morning Skate report at the following link.

     

     

    For TXHT’s extensive 2019 Stanley Cup playoff coverage, please go to txhthockey.com/2019-nhl-playoffs/

  • Gameday Recap: Nashville Predators vs. Dallas Stars (First Round: Game 6)

    Gameday Recap: Nashville Predators vs. Dallas Stars (First Round: Game 6)

    Nashville Predators at Dallas Stars
    Game 6: Dallas Stars lead the series 3-2

     

    Game Recap:
    The first period starts out with Nashville’s Filip Forsberg getting a shot on goal early and had a great block save by Dallas goaltender Ben Bishop.  A few minutes later, Calle Jarnkrok breakout down the ice to try and score a early goal but Bishop takes the puck into the chest and getting a save to stop the clock for a faceoff in Dallas’ zone.  At the 5:47 mark, Nashville’s Austin Watson would score his first goal of the postseason, with P.K. Subban and Nick Bonino earning assists on the goal.  Dallas’ Jamie Benn would try to tie the contest, but the puck would bounce right off the crossbar.  After that, Nashville would spend time trying to keep the puck away from the Stars.  We get a whistle with 8:16 left in the period after a wrist shot by Jamie Benn, which would get a save from Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne.  WIth 6:42 left in the period, there would be a scrum in front of Dallas’ net after a hit from Nashville’s Brian Boyle, who is a little over a week removed from an appendectomy.  A majority of this period has seen the Nashville Predators get a lot of shots and scoring chances against the Stars.  At the 14:55 mark in the period, Nashville goes on the power play when Dallas’ Mats Zuccarello gets called for a tripping penalty.  Austin Watson would get called for with 2:07 left in the period for an illegal check to the head to send the Stars to their first power play of the game.  Dallas would spend the majority of the power play and the last last two minutes trying to get the puck past Pekka Rinne after several good looks.  Look for the Stars in the second period to attack the net and create as much havoc as possible for Rinne.  Going into the second period, Nashville needs to play a crisp game and get the puck past Bishop.

     

    The second period of this contest would have a bit of rough action with good hits and lot of post whistle jabs, but there would not be any penalties called because of that action.  After great shots by the Predators, the Stars break out down the ice with Comeau getting his second goal of the playoffs to tie the game at the 5:20 mark in the period.  After that goal, Dallas nearly took the lead before a kickout save by Rinne.  At the 8:02 mark in the period, Blake Comeau gets called for a Delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass, giving Nashville their second power play of the contest.  On the power play, Nashville is unable to take advantage as the Stars will clear the puck.  Thus far, the Predators are the only team to not register a goal in the postseason.  The Stars are all over Nashville, as they are not letting the Predators get anything going.  The only player getting anything done in this game to this point is Rocco Grimaldi.  Dallas Jason Dickinson would later be called for an elbowing penalty, Nashville’s third of the contest.  The second period was a rather sluggish one, and look for the third period to be full of action.

     

    Going into the third, Dallas almost made it a 2-1 game but the puck would ring right off the crossbar and some Stars players thought that the puck would make it in the net but after a replay, the puck barely missed the net.  The action has gone fast in this period with a lot of whistles not being blown.  Action has been good with both teams getting good chances with a few odd-man rushes occurring as well.  Colton Sissons of the Predators would breakout down the ice, but would get stopped by Bishop.  In turn, Dallas would get a breakaway chance, but they would also miss another chance to make it a 2-1 Stars lead.  A clean period would be played until Dallas’ Blake Comeau would be called for tripping at the 18:03 mark, giving Nashville their fourth power play of the night.  The third period would come to an end with Nashville having 7 seconds left on the power play, going into overtime.

     

    In overtime, the Stars would kill the power play and they would get a couple looks at the net.  Overtime play in the first five minutes would see both teams get good shots at the net but there would also be great physicality between the two clubs at each other’s end of the ice.  Much like the third period, there would be a lot action, without a lot of whistles being blown to halt play.  The Dallas Stars would win the game with 2:58 left in the contest when John Klingberg would score, sending the Stars to the second round.

     

    Dallas now faces the St. Louis Blues in the Second Round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

     

     

    Nashville Predators Lines and Defencive Pairings

    Filip Forsberg-Ryan Johansen-Viktor Arvidsson

    Mikael Granlund-Kyle Turris-Rocco Grimaldi

    Calle Jarnkrok-Colton Sissons-Craig Smith

    Brian Boyle-Nick Bonino-Austin Watson

    Roman Josi-Ryan Ellis

    Mattias Ekholm-P.K. Subban

    Dan Hamhuis-Dante Fabbro

    Pekka Rinne

    Juusa Saros

    Injured:  Wayne Simmonds (lower body)

    Scratched: Miikka Salomaki, Rem Pitlick, Zac Rinaldo, Cody McLeod, Matt Irwin, Yannick Weber, Frederick Gaudreau

     

    Dallas Stars Lines and Defensive Pairings

    Jamie Benn-Tyler Seguin-Alexander Radulov

    Jason Dickinson-Roope Hintz-Mats Zuccarello

    Andrew Cogliano-Radek Faksa-Blake Comeau

    Justin Dowling-Jason Spezza-Valeri Nichushkin

    Esa Lindell-John Klingberg

    Miro Heiskanen-Roman Polak

    Jamie Oleksiak-Ben Lovejoy

    Ben Bishop

    Anton Khudobin

    Injuries: Stephen Johns (upper body), Marc Methot (lower body), Martin Hanzal (back), Brett Ritchie (hand), Mattias Janmark (lower body)

    Scratched: Julius Honka, Jason Spezza, Taylor Fedun, Landon Bow, Valeri Nichushkin

     

     

    First Period:

    Nashville Goal: Austin Watson (1) assisted by P.K. Subban (2) and Nick Bonino (3)  —  5:47

    Dallas Penalty: Mats Zuccarello for Tripping  —  2 min minor  —  14:55

     

    End of 1st – NSH – 1       DAL – 0

    Shots              19                10

    Faceoffs         10                09

    Hits                 09                15

    PP                   0/1                 0/1

     

     

     

    Second Period:

    Dallas Goal: Blake Comeau (2) assisted by Radek Faksa (1) —  5:20

    Dallas Penalty: Blake Comeau for Delay of game  —  2 min penalty  —  8:02

    Dallas Penalty: Jason Dickinson for Elbowing  —  2 min penalty  —  15:32

     

    End of 2nd – NSH – 1       DAL – 1

    Shots              32                23

    Faceoffs         25                23

    Hits                 22                23

    PP                   0/3                 0/1

     

     

     

    Third Period:

    Dallas Penalty: Blake Comeau for Tripping  —  2 min minor  —  18:07

     

    End of 3rd– NSH – 1       DAL – 1

    Shots              40                37

    Faceoffs         35                28

    Hits               32                  31

    PP                   0/4*              0/1

    *7 seconds remain in PP

     

    1st OT Period:

    Dallas Goal: John Klingberg (1) assisted by Alexander Raduolv (2) and Tyler Seguin (4)   —  17:02

     

    End of OT– NSH – 1       DAL – 2

    Shots              48                51

    Faceoffs         45                33

    Hits                37                 41

    PP                   0/4              0/1

     

    For TXHT’s extensive 2019 Stanley Cup playoff coverage, you can click here to check out game recaps and series previews.

  • Game Recap – 1st Rd. Game 6 – Washington Capitals v. Carolina Hurricanes

    Game Recap – 1st Rd. Game 6 – Washington Capitals v. Carolina Hurricanes

    Washington Capitals v. Carolina Hurricanes

    Capitals Lead 3-2

     

    Game Recap:

    The Washington Capitals enter Game 6 looking to earn their first road win of the postseason as they also look to close out their series against the Hurricanes in Carolina. The Capitals would not need long as Brett Connolly would net his second of the playoffs when he would recieve a behind the night pass from Lars Eller, and Connolly would move to the front of the net area and roof over Petr Mrazek’s glove to make it 1-0. Then after a failed powerplay attempt, the Hurricanes would take advantage of a bad line change by the Capitals as Warren Foegele would score his fourth of the playoffs to tie the game at one. However, the Capitals would regaim the lead as Alex Ovechkin would dangle past a sliding Jaccob Slavin then rip the puck past Mrazek to make it 2-1 going into the second intermission.

     

    Going into the second period the Hurricanes would force the play in the Capitals zone, and after slashing Jonas Siegenthaler in the hands Sebastian Aho would do a nice dish to Teuvo Teravainen who would score his second of the playoffs to tie the game at two. As the period went on the Capitals would get two powerplay opportunities, but poor entry decisions would cost the Capitals on both powerplays.

     

    In the third period the Capitals would try to force the rush, but the Hurricanes would suffocate the Capitals and with the puck bouncing around in the slot area Jordan Staal would get the puck past Bradem Holtby to give the Hurricanes the lead for the first time in this game and also create the first lead change all season. Then the Capitals wouldvforce some good pressure to where they thought they scored, however, the goal would be waved off due to Alex Ovechkin’s contact with Petr Mrazek that pushed the puck in the net. Shortly after Justin Williams would tip a point shot from Brett Pesce past Braden Holtby to increase their lead to 4-2. Then on a very moronic decision by head coach Todd Reirden, Dougie Hamilton would score an empty net goal to ice this game and force a Game 7 with a 5-2 victory.

     

    Lineups:

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Carl Hagelin

    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 (clavicle)

     

    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, Clark Bishop

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

     

    First Period:

    Capitals Goal – 5:06 – Brett Connolly (2) from Lars Eller (2) and Andre Burakovsky (1)

    Capitals Penalty – 8:30 – Nic Dowd 2 minutes for Hooking

    Hurricanes Goal – 10:35 – Warren Foegele (4) from Dougie Hamilton (3) and Jaccob Slavin (6)

    Capitals Goal – 15:12 – Alex Ovechkin (4) from Dmitry Orlov (3) and Matt Niskanen (2)

     

    End of 1st – WAS – 2       CAR – 1

    Shots              07                15

    Faceoffs         11                14

    Hits               18                  20

    PP                 0/0                 0/1

     

    Second Period:

    Hurricanes Goal – 1:56 – Teuvo Teravainen (2) from Sebastian Aho (3)

    Capitals Penalty – 2:36 – Tom Wilson 2 minutes for Slashing

    Hurricanes Penalty – 7:58 – Justin Williams 2 minutes for High Sticking

    Hurricanes Penalty – 15:36 – Nino Niederreiter 2 minutes for High Sticking

    Hurricanes Penalty – 19:29 – Jordan Martinook 2 minutes for Holding

    Capitals Penalty – 19:29 – Dmitry Orlov 2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct

     

    End of 2nd – WAS – 2        CAR – 2

    Shots               13                 24

    Faceoffs          17                 26

    Hits                 37                  30

    PP                   0/2                  0/2

     

    Third Period:

    Hurricanes Goal – 3:51 – Jordan Staal (2) from Brock McGinn (2) and Justin Faulk (3)

    Capitals Penalty – 6:15 – Chandler Stephenson 2 minutes for Tripping

    https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1120502427227127809?s=19

    Hurricanes Goal – 11:58 – Justin Williams (1) from Brett Pesce (1) and Jordan Staal (3)

    Hurricanes ENG – 16:54 – Dougie Hamilton (3) from Jordan Martinook (2)

    Capitals Penalty – 18:52 – Alex Ovechkin 2 minutes for Slashing

    Capitals Penalty – 18:52 – Alex Ovechkin – Misconduct

     

    End of 3rd – WAS – 2         CAR – 5

    Shots              25                   36

    Faceoffs        28                    38

    Hits               45                     38

    PP                 0/2                    0/4

     

    Next Up:

    Game Seven – Series Tied 3-3

     

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

  • April 22nd, 2019 — News and Notes

    April 22nd, 2019 — News and Notes

    Today is Monday, April 22nd, 2019, and these are your news and notes.

     

    There were two games in Stanley Cup playoff action yesterday.

     

     

    Boston 4, TORONTO 2 (Series is tied 3-3)

     

    The Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs yesterday to send the series to a win or go home Game 7.

     

    Steve Gardiner has your full recap of the contest between the Bruins and the Maple Leafs here or at the following link.

     

     

    San Jose 2, VEGAS 1 (2OT) (Series is tied 3-3)

     

    The San Jose Sharks would defeat the Vegas Golden Knights in double OT with a 2-1 to tie their series at 3-3.

     

     

     

     

     

    There are two games taking place today.  First, the Washington Capitals look to advance to the second round when they take ono the Carolina Hurricanes and the Dallas Stars also look to advance when they face off against the Nashville Predators.

     

     

    Don’t forget to check out all of TXHT’s extensive playoff coverage by clicking here.

     

  • April 21st, 2019 — News and Notes

    April 21st, 2019 — News and Notes

    Today is Sunday, April 21st, 2019, and these are your news and notes

     

    There were three Stanley Cup playoffs games  in action yesterday.  All the recaps are written by TXHT’s staff.

     

     

    Dallas 5, NASHVILLE 3 (Dallas leads the series 3-2)

     

    Game 5, 3-2 DAL

     

    The Dallas Stars are one win away from advancing to the second round after they defeated the Nashville Predators yesterday by the score of 5-3.

     

    Dickson Kendrick has your recap of the contest between Dallas and Nashville which you can read here or at the link below.

     

     

    ST. LOUIS 3, Winnipeg 2 (St. Louis wins the series 4-2)

     

    Game 6. 4-2 STL

     

    The St. Louis Blues defeated the Winnipeg Jets by the score of 3-2 and have advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.  The Blues await the winner of the series between the Predators and Stars.

     

    Aryan Weisenfeld has your recap of the contest between the Blues and Jets here or at the link below.

     

     

     

    WASHINGTON 6, Carolina 0 (Washington leads the series 3-2)

     

    Game 5. 3-2 WSH

     

    The Washington Capitals crushed the Carolina Hurricanes last night with a 6-0 win and are one win away from facing off against the NY Islanders in the second round.

     

    Michael Lindenbaum was live from the contest between the Capitals and the Hurricanes and you can read the recap of the contest here or at the link posted below.

     

     

    There are two contests taking place today in Stanley Cup playoff action with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights looking to advance to the second round.

     

     

    For more news, notes, information, and stats, you can check out the NHL’s Morning Skate report posted below.

     

     

    You can catch up on all of TXHT’s 2019 Stanley Cup playoff coverage by clicking here.

  • Game Recap – 1st Rd. Game 5 – Carolina Hurricanes v. Washington Capitals

    Game Recap – 1st Rd. Game 5 – Carolina Hurricanes v. Washington Capitals

    Carolina Hurricanes v. Washington Capitals

    Series Tied 2-2

     

    Game Recap:

    The Washington Capitals return home for Game 5 looking to regain their series lead against the Carolina Hurricanes, and things would get chippy right away as Saku Maenalanen would take an ill advised roughig penalty when he would go after Tom Wilson after the whistle. After the Capitals failed powerplay attempt Carolina would get one of their own, but would lose it when Lucas Wallmark would be called for high sticking. On their second powerplay opportunity Nicklas Backstrom would would collect his own rebound and shoot it between Petr Mrazek’s legs to give the Capitals the 1-0 lead.

     

    In the second period the Capitals would get themselves into penalty trouble as they would take three consecutive penalties (though the one on John Carlson for goaltender interference was laughable), however, the Capitals would be perfect on the penalty kill, and after they killed off the third penalty the Capitals would turn on the offense as Alex Ovechkin would come charging and throw a perfet pass to Nicklas Backstrom for his second goal of the game. Then minutes later brett Connolly would net his first goal of the playoffs to make it 3-0.

     

    Going into the third period the Capitals would start with the continuation of their powerplay from the end of the second period, and the Capitals would continue their pressure and Tom Wilson would get Evgeny Kuznetsov’s rebound and get it past the defender and into the empty net with four seconds left on the powerplay to make it 4-0. Then on a breakaway Nic Dowd would be fouled and awarded a penalty shot which he would score on to make it 5-0. Then Lucas Wallmark would take a slashing penalty to which the Capitals would only need two seconds as Alex Ovechkin would rip it right off the faceoff to make it 6-0.

     

    Lineups:

    Carolina Hurricanes:

    Nino Niederreiter — Sebastian Aho — Teuvo Teravainen

    Warren Foegele — Jordan Staal — Justin Williams

    Brock McGinn — Lucas Wallmark — Saku Maenalanen

    Aleksi Saarela — 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), Jordan Martinook (lower body)

     

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Carl Hagelin

    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, Ilya Samsonov

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

     

    First Period:

    Hurricanes Penalty – 1:08 – Saku Maenalanen 2 minutes for Roughing

    Capitals Penalty – 4:41 – Brett Connolly 2 minutes for Hooking

    Hurricanes Penalty – 5:42 – Lucas Wallmark 2 minutes for High Sticking

    Capitals PPG – 7:33 – Nicklas Backstrom (4) from John Carlson (4) and Tom Wilson (2)

     

    End of 1st – CAR – 0       WAS – 1

    Shots              06                10

    Faceoffs         07                12

    Hits               14                  19

    PP                 0/1                 1/2

     

    Second Period:

    Capitals Penalty – 4:18 – Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 minutes for High Sticking

    Capitals Penalty – 7:56 – John Carlson 2 minutes for Goaltender Interference

    Capitals Penalty – 12:02 – Jonas Siegenthaler 2 minutes for Hooking

    Capitals Goal – 14:21 – Nicklas Backstrom (5) from Alex Ovechkin (3)

    Capitals Goal – 16:11 – Brett Connolly (1) from Alex Ovechkin (4) and Nicklas Backstrom (2)

    Hurricanes Penalty – 19:07 – Sebastian Aho 2 minutes for Tripping

     

    End of 2nd – CAR – 0        WAS – 3

    Shots               21                 17

    Faceoffs          24                 25

    Hits                 22                  31

    PP                   0/4                  1/2*

    *3rd powerplay in progress

     

    Third Period:

    Capitals PPG – 1:04 – Tom Wilson (2) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (4) and John Carlson (5)

    Penalty Shot Goal – 8:57 – Nic Dowd (1)

    Hurricanes Penalty- 10:12 – Lucas Wallmark 2 minutes for Slashing

    Capitals PPG – 10:14 – Alex Ovechkin (3) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (5) and Nicklas Backstrom (3)

    Capitals Penalty – 17:29 – Nick Jensen 2 minutes for Hooking

     

    End of 3rd – CAR – 0         WAS – 6

    Shots              30                   28

    Faceoffs        30                    36

    Hits               32                     47

    PP                 0/5                    3/4

     

    Next Up:

    Game Six –  WAS Leads Series 3-2

     

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

  • Winnipeg Jets vs St. Louis Blues – Game 5 Recap

    Winnipeg Jets vs St. Louis Blues – Game 5 Recap

    The St. Louis Blues came out absolutely firing in Game 5 against the Winnipeg Jets and took the lead within the first 30 seconds, with game 4 hero Jaden Schwartz giving the Blues a 1-0 lead. This was a goal that Connor Hellebuyck should have had. The Blues applied inexorable pressure the rest of the first period, and it actually was Hellebuyck (to my surprise) that kept the Jets in the game.

    The second period brought more of the same, and this time the Blues benefitted by an egregiously stupid penalty by Dustin Byfuglien, who inexplicably punched David Perron on the St. Louis bench. Jaden Schwartz capitalized with his second goal of the night, though not without some controversy.

    Hellebuyck and the rest of the Jets clamored for goalie interference after Pat Maroon made contact with Hellebuyck. I can’t really say it was not interference, but the Jets’ coach wasted their challenge asserting goalie interference on the first goal, so no review took place.

    The third period brought, you guessed it, another goal by Jaden Schwartz.

    The Jets brought a solid effort in the third, especially considering they were held to 11 shots in the first two periods. They fought back and scored two goals late (from Byfuglien and Bryan Little), but it was not enough.

    The Blues move on – while most experts did not see this coming, I’ll link to an analytics guy I like to follow on Twitter (@IneffectiveMath) who did put the Blues, initially, as favorites:

    St. Louis will take on the winner of the Dallas Stars – Nashville Predators series.

  • Gameday Recap: Nashville Predators vs. Dallas Stars (First Round: Game 5)

    Gameday Recap: Nashville Predators vs. Dallas Stars (First Round: Game 5)

    Dallas Stars at Nashville Predators
    (Series tied 2-2)

     

    Game Recap:

    The first period in this game starts off with good possession between both teams in a critical Game 5.  Three minutes into the game, Nashville’s Filip Forsberg had a great chance for a goal but would be called for a slashing penalty mere seconds after his chance to score.  Dallas would go on to be unsuccessful in their first extra man advantage of the afternoon and Nashville would open up the scoring with Rocco Grimaldi scoring his third goal in the postseason at the 6:25 mark of the period.  Ryan Turris would get an excellent chance to score to make it a 2-0 Nashville game but Dallas goaltender Ben Bishop, would make a great stop, and get rid of the puck down the ice.  Dallas would make is a 1-1 game with Jason Dickinson’s first Stanley Cup playoff game at the 13:08 mark and Dallas would narrowly make it a 2-1 game but Predators G Pekka Rinne would have a few good saves.  Nashville was very sloppy in the last ten minutes of the contest, with the costly turnovers that they had.  If Nashville wants to win this game, they need to do a better job of having better puck possession and they need to attack the net.

    The second period of the contest would start off with Alexander Radulov giving the Stars the 2-1 lead just 40 seconds in.   There would some big hits at center ice between Nashville’s Nick Bonino and Dan Hamhuis and Dallas’ John Klingberg and Mats Zuccarello.  As far as puck possession goes, Filip Forsberg has had costly turnovers happen.  Forsberg, at the 7:14 mark of the second period, has had 3 giveaways in the contest, the most out of all skaters in this contest.  Alexander Radulov would score his second goal in the contest at the 7:41  mark, his second in the contest.  This goal would come from a missed assignment by Kyle Turris and a turnover by Rocco Grimaldi.  Nashville’s Ryan Johansen would bring the Predators within one with Johansen’s goal and about two minutes later, he and Dallas’ Radek Faska would both be called for minor penalties at the 11:52 mark in the period.  Dallas would regain their two goal lead with a goal when the puck went in and out of the net quickly at the 15:56 mark and Nashville’s Mattias Ekholm would be assessed an Unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at the 16:21 mark in the period.  That would be Ekholm’s sixth penalty that he would be assessed in this series.  On the power play, Dallas has a lot of crisp and clean passes to try and make this contest a 5-2 game, but the Stars would be unable to gain a bigger lead on this power play opportunity.   Dallas has been playing a great 40 minutes of hockey and they are one period away from gaining the 3-2 series lead.  Dallas, if they want to win this contest, need to pressure the Predators and take any advantage in flaws that they see on the ice.

    Going into the third period, Dallas’ Jason Dickinson would score his second goal in the contest off of Nashville’s 17th giveaway in the contest and 28 seconds later, Nashville’s Kyle Turris would score his first goal of the postseason.  Nashville would go on their first power play of the contest at 3:39 in the period when Stars D Miro Heiskanen would be called for Hooking on Nashville’s Colton Sissons and the Predators would be unsuccessful on that power play opportunity, only getting off one shot.  The Predators would spend a good majority of the period preventing the Stars from getting down their side of the ice and would do whatever they could score but Ben Bishop would make great stops and saves.  Nashville would pull Pekka Rinne with 2:39 left in the contest but that would not be enough as the Predators would fall in this contest and the Stars would go on to win Game 5 by the score of 5-3

     

     

    Dallas will look to win the series when Game 6 takes place Monday night.

     

    Dallas Stars Lines and Defensive Pairings

    Jamie Benn-Tyler Seguin-Alexander Radulov

    Jason Dickinson-Roope Hintz-mats Zuccarello

    Andrew Cogliano-Radek Faksa-Blake Comeau

    Justin Dowling-Jason Spezza-Valeri Nichushkin

    Esa Lindell-John Klingberg

    Miro Heiskanen-Roman Polak

    Jamie Oleksiak-Ben Lovejoy

    Ben Bishop

    Anton Khudobin

    Injuries: Stephen Johns (upper body), Marc Methot (lower body), Martin Hanzal (back), Brett Ritchie (hand)

    Scratched: Julius Honka, Jason Spezza, Taylor Fedun, Landon Bow, Valeri Nichushkin

     

     

    Nashville Predators Lines and Defencive Pairings

    Filip Forsberg-Ryan Johansen-Viktor Arvidsson

    Mikael Granlund-Colton Sissons-Calle Jarnkrok

    Austin Watson-Nick Bonino-Craig Smith

    Brian Boyle-Kyle Turris-Rocco Grimaldi

    Roman Josi-Ryan Ellis

    Mattias Ekholm-P.K. Subban

    Dan Hamhuis-Dante Fabbro

    Pekka Rinne

    Juusa Saros

    Injured:  Wayne Simmonds (lower body)

    Scratched: Miikka Salomaki, Rem Pitlick, Zac Rinaldo, Cody McLeod, Matt Irwin, Yannick Weber, Frederick Gaudreau

    https://twitter.com/brooksbratten/status/1119674506602217473

    First Period:

     

    Nashville Penalty: Filip Forsberg for Slashing  —  2 min minor  —  3:15

     

    Nashville Goal: Rocco Grimaldi (3) assisted by Roman Josi (1) and Ryan Ellis (3)  —  6:25

     

    Dallas Goal: Jason Dickinson (1) assisted by Roope Hintz (1)  —  13:08

     

     

    End of 1st – DAL – 1       NSH – 1

    Shots              14                09

    Faceoffs         09                07

    Hits                 08                10

    PP                   0/1                 0/0

     

     

     

    Second Period:

     

    Dallas Goal: Alexander Radulov (3) assisted by Tyler Seguin (3)  —  :40

     

    Dallas Goal: Alexander Radulov (4) assisted by Jamie Benn (4) —  7:41

     

    Nashville Goal: Ryan Johansen (1) assisted by Filip Forsberg (1) and Roman Josi (2) —  9:18

     

     

     

    Nashville Penalty: Ryan Johansen for Roughing  —  2 min minor  —  11:52

    Dallas Penalty: Radek Faksa for Slashing  —  2 min minor  —  11:52

    Dallas Goal: Tyler Seguin (2) assisted by Jamie Benn (5)  —  15:54

     

     

    Nashville Penalty: Mattias Ekholm for Unsportsmanlike conduct  —  16:21

     

    End of 2nd– DAL – 4       NSH – 2

    Shots              22                17

    Faceoffs         18                24

    Hits                 19                19

    PP                 0/2                 0/0

     

    Third Period:

    Dallas Goal: Jason Dickinson (2) unassisted —  1:57

    Nashville Goal: Kyle Turris (1) assisted by Mikhail Granlund (1)  —  2:25

    Dallas Penalty: Miro Heiskanen for Hooking  —  2 min minor  —  3:39

     

    End of 3rd – DAL – 5       NSH – 3

    Shots              26                33

    Faceoffs         29                33

    Hits                 24               22

    PP                 0/2                 0/1

     

  • TXHT Opinion – The Impact of the Loss of TJ Oshie

    TXHT Opinion – The Impact of the Loss of TJ Oshie

    Tonight when the Washington Capitals hit the ice to take on the Carolina Hurricanes for Game Five of the First Round of the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Capitals will be doing so without the services of forward TJ Oshie who was injured the other night in Game Four in Carolina by forward Warren Foegele.

     

    Now we can debate the hit that Foegele put on Oshie that caused the injury, but there is no point of doing that because what’s done is done and it’s time to move on and look forward to what the Capitals will need to do without their heart and soul player.

     

    Going into Game Five the Capitals will have to do some line juggling, and have also called up Devante Smith-Pelly from Hershey of the AHL to fill in for Oshie. Here is the Capitals projected lineup for tonight:

    Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Tom Wilson
    Jakub Vrana – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Carl Hagelin
    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

     

    The reuniting of Tom Wilson with the first line of Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom will bring back some of the size and snarl that Wilson brings to the line after being on the second line in game four, and moving Carl Hagelin to Oshie’s normal spot on the second line will add some more speed to the line to compliment Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jakub Vrana. Plus with Hagelin, the second line will gain a player who will play a similar style to that of Oshie’s and will help establish net presence and create some space.

     

    For the bottom six however, the Capitals will need more from them. The line of Andre Burakovsky, Lars Eller, and Brett Connolly were stellar last season in the playoffs and so far in these playoffs have not done a whole lot to help the Capitals this series. Inserting Smith-Pelly back into the lineup on the fourth line with Chandler Stephenson and Nic Dowd will bring back some grit and some needed playoff experience.

     

    On the powerplay it’s time to let Wilson loose and put him in Oshie’s spot. Wilson is a magnet for attention and by putting him in Oshie’s spot in the slot area will force the Hurricanes and other teams to change their focus on how they will penalty kill to adjust for Wilson being in that spot instead of Oshie.

     

    Now with all of this said, there is one thing that needs to be done by the Capitals, and that’s not seek retribution by going after Foegele, but seek retribution by going out and winning thes next two games and winning the series. Next season Foegele can atone for his hit on Oshie that took him out of the playoffs due to injury, but the Capitals need to remain focused on the prize at hand, and that is the Stanley Cup and doing what Oshie said they could do last summer at the parade, and that is “Back to Back.”

     

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

     

    *Feature Graphic courtesy of the Washington Capitals