X75 Productions

Category: 2019 NHL Stanley Cup

  • Game Recap- Round 2 – Game 2: Colorado Avalanche v.s San Jose Sharks

    Game Recap- Round 2 – Game 2: Colorado Avalanche v.s San Jose Sharks

    Game Recap:

    Tonight resumes play of this best of 7 series between the Colorado Avalanche & San Jose Sharks. The Sharks previously won game one on Friday night by a score of 5-2 to take an early 1-0 series lead. In the first. San Jose would get on the scoreboard first as Evander Kane would put in the rebound off a Brent Burns shot from the point in front of the net. That would be the only goal for the first period. San Jose Sharks will take a 1-0 lead after the first period.

    In the second period, the Avalanche score twice to take the lead. The Avs first goal came off of a deflection by Gabriel Landeskog on a shot from the point by Tyson Barrie. Colorado’s second goal came from Tyson Barrie as he skated towards the right circle and blasted it past Sharks Goalie Martin Jones. At the end of two periods, the Colorado Avalanche would take a 2-1 leading going into the third period.

    Colorado would add onto their lead in the third period. Matt Nieto added his third goal of the playoffs. Nieto put the puck in the back of the net on his backhand on a very gritty type of effort. However, San Jose would get back to within one goal as Brent Burns lifted the puck over Avalanche goalie Phillip Grubauer’s glove hand. The Avalanche would add an empty net goal by Nathan MacKinnon. Except, San Jose got back within one on a Power Play goal by Brent Burns with ten seconds left in the game. Unfortunately, it was too late for the Sharks to tie the game up. Colorado would go onto win 4-3. The Avalanche evened up the series with the Sharks at one game a piece going into game three.

    Line Ups:

    Colorado Avalanche

    San Jose Sharks

    First Period Highlights:

    Second Period Highlights:

    Third Period Highlights:

    Final Stats:

    COL- 4    SJ-3

    Shot:            32          32

    Hits:             28          25

    Face Offs:  48.4%   51.6%

    Power Play: 0/2       1/3

    Next Up:

    Game 3: Tuesday April 30th, 2019 @ 10pm EST

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

  • 2019 NHL Playoffs: Round 2 Game 2: Hurricanes Pull Off Another Road Victory

    2019 NHL Playoffs: Round 2 Game 2: Hurricanes Pull Off Another Road Victory

    Game 2 of the second round between the New York Islanders and the Carolina Hurricanes took place today on nationwide TV, on NBC. The Islanders were looking to tie up the series before it heads back to Raleigh, while the Hurricanes were looking to extend their series lead.

    The game started off well for the Islanders, as a little over halfway in the first period, the Isles would grab the lead. The goal would come from Matthew Barzal, and it would be his first of the playoffs. The puck would bounce off of Jaccob Slavin’s stick and beat Petr Mrázek and go into the net. Then, the Islanders would then finish off the period with a 1-0 lead.

    There would be no scoring between the two teams in the second period. The Islanders outshot the Hurricanes 13-9 in the period. Also, only two penalties were called in the period, both going against the Islanders, in which their penalty kill were successful in killing off the penalties.

    In the third period, the Hurricanes would nab a quick goal 17 seconds into the period. It came from Carolina hot man, Warren Foegele, who shot the puck from the right circle beating Robin Lehner. It would be Foegele’s fifth goal of the playoffs.

    Shortly after, slightly over a minute into the period, the Hurricanes would grab another quick goal. This time it came from Nino Niederreiter, it would be his first goal of the playoffs, and it could not come at a better time.

    The Hurricanes would then hold on to win the period and the game, and take a 2-0 series lead heading back to Raleigh.

     

    Things to note, that Petr Mrázek went down injured in the second period and it was Curtis McElhinney who would come on in relief. The Hurricanes were dealt another injury as Saku Maenalanen would depart from the game early. Also Trevor van Riemsdyk left the game early as well.

     

    3 Stars of the Game

    Third Star: Matthew Barzal

    Second Star: Warren Foegele

    First Star: Nino Niederreiter

     

    Boxscore

    https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/car-vs-nyi/2019/04/28/2018030222#game=2018030222,game_state=final

     

    Game 3 of the series will be at PNC Arena in Raleigh on May 1st at 7p on NBCSN.

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

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

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

    Game Recap:

    Bruins came to play in the first period of game two. Controlling the majority of possession and capitalizing on their only powerplay opportunity courtesy of Matt Grzelcyk 1st of the playoffs.

    Columbus jumped right back into the mix courtesy of Artemi Panarin who scored twice in the 2nd frame, while David Pastrnak scored for Boston in between the two Panarin goals.

    The third period would bring some back and forth play but no goals. Just back and forth which would lead us to overtime again for the 2nd period.

    The overtime would be back and forth all period with Rask making some brilliant saves and Bobrovsky doing the same. But nobody could find the back of the net. Second OT will bring the next opportunity.

    In the second overtime, the Blue Jackets would get a powerplay and capitalize on a rebound goal from Matt Duchene to tie the best of 7 series at one and head back to Boston.

    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 – 6:29 – Josh Anderson, 2 minutes for Interference

    Boston PP Goal – 7:50 – Matt Grzelcyk (1) assisted by Charlie McAvoy (4) and David Krejci (4)

    Boston Penalty – 20:00 – Brad Marchand, 2 minutes for Cross Checking

    End of 1st – CBJ – 0       BOS – 1

    Shots              6               9

    Faceoffs         8/23           15/23

    Hits               18                  15

    PP                 0/1                 1/1

    Second Period:

    Columbus Goal – 1:03 – Artemi Panarin (3) assisted by Seth Jones (5) and Cam Atkinson (3)

    Boston Goal – 2:01 – David Pastrnak (3) assisted by Charlie Coyle (2) and Marcus Johansson (3)

    Boston Penalty – 6:36 – Zdeno Chara, 2 minutes for Tripping

    Columbus Penalty – 7:37 – Josh Anderson, 4 minutes for High Sticking

    Columbus Goal – 8:01 – Artemi Panarin (4) assisted by Seth Jones (6)

    End of 2nd – CBJ- 2        BOS- 2

    Shots               19                 13

    Faceoffs        23/45           22/45

    Hits                36                  30

    PP                   1/2                  1/3

    Third Period:

    Columbus Penalty – 10:48 – Cam Atkinson, 2 minutes for Tripping

    End of 3rd – CBJ – 2         BOS – 2

    Shots              26                   21

    Faceoffs      27/58             31/58

    Hits               42                    35

    PP                 1/2                   1/4

    Overtime Period 1:

     Boston Penalty – 10:48 – Charlie McAvoy, 2 minutes for High Sticking

    End of OT – CBJ – 2         BOS – 2

    Shots              36                   31

    Faceoffs      35/81             46/81

    Hits               49                    42

    PP                 1/3                   1/4

    Overtime Period 2:

    Columbus Goal – 3:42 – Matt Duchene (4) assisted by Artemi Panarin (5) and Cam Atkinson (4)

    End of OT – CBJ – 3         BOS – 2

    Shots              41                   31

    Faceoffs      36/85            49/85

    Hits               49                    42

    PP                 2/4                  1/4

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

  • St. Louis Blues – Dallas Stars Game 2 Recap

    St. Louis Blues – Dallas Stars Game 2 Recap

    The Blues and Stars had an eventful first period, with Roope Hintz scoring early to make it 1-0:

    Suffice it to say, the Blues should not have allowed this goal.

    Dallas extended their lead to 2-0 on a goal by Miro Heiskanen:

    Suffice it to say, the Blues should not have allowed this goal, redux.

    While Colton Parayko cut the lead to 2-1, the Stars put away much hope of a comeback with Mattias Janmark helping Dallas reclaim a 2 goal lead:

    Suffice. It. To. Say…well, you know.

    The Blues played rather poorly in the second but managed to keep the score at 3-1. Jaden Schwartz scored early in the third to give the Blues some life, but St. Louis’s complete, and honestly baffling, inability to do anything on the power play (0/5 today), quelled any thoughts of a comeback, as Hintz added his second as an empty netter with 3 seconds left.

    Game 3 is slated for 8PM Eastern in Dallas, Monday night.

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

  • Game Recap-Round 2-Colorado Avalanche v.s San Jose Sharks

    Game Recap-Round 2-Colorado Avalanche v.s San Jose Sharks

    Colorado Avalanche v.s San Jose Sharks

     

    Tonight began Game 1 of the Western Conference semi-finals between the Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks. Each team come off of recent emotional playoffs series victories in Round one over their respective opponents. In the first period the Colorado Avalanche got on the board first on a goal by Gabriel Bourque as he put in the rebound from a Cale Makar shot from the point. About a little over twelve minutes later, San Jose would tie the game on a Gustav Nyquist goal as he put in the loose puck in the back of the net. After the first period, the game would be tied 1-1.

    Colorado would start off the scoring in the second period as Colin Wilson deflected in yet another goal on a set play pass from Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon on the Power Play. However, San Jose would go on to take over the rest of the game. San Jose would get goals from Joe Thornton, Kevin LeBlanc, Brett Burns, & would add an empty net goal in the third period by Timo Meier. San Jose would win Game 1 by a final score of 5-2 and take the early series advantage of 1-0. These two teams face off again Sunday night at 7:30 pm eastern standard time!

    First Period Highlights:

     

    Second Period Highlights:

     

    Third Period Highlights:

     

    Final Stats:  COL-2  SJ-5

    Shots:              28       27

    Hits:                28        26

    Face Offs:      50%     50%

    Power Play:  1/3       0/1

     

    Next Up:

    San Jose leads the series 1-0

    *Game 2: Sunday April 28th, 2019 @ 7:30pm EST

     

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

  • 2019 NHL Playoffs: Round 2 Game 1: Hurricanes Steal Game 1 In OT

    2019 NHL Playoffs: Round 2 Game 1: Hurricanes Steal Game 1 In OT

    The second round of the playoffs began yesterday; however, for these two Metropolitan division rivals, their first game was tonight. It was the first game for the Islanders since April 16th, when they swept the Pittsburgh Penguins. For the Hurricanes, the last game that they played was Wednesday in DC, when they defeated the Washington Capitals in double overtime. The last time that these two teams played against each other though, was all the way back on January 8th. Which saw the Hurricanes come out victorious in that game.

    Game 1 took place at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, and it saw a tightly contested match with great defensive play on both sides and great goaltending from both teams. In the first period, saw great back and forth action from both teams, but unfortunately, no one was able to find the back of the net. The Islanders outshot the Hurricanes 11-9 though.

    In the second period, we saw much of the same as the first period, great back and forth action from both teams. Again, unfortunately there was no scoring between both teams. However the shot count in the second period was even, with both teams registering 12 shots on goal.

    In the third period, we got more of the same as the first two periods. There was no scoring, as I’m sure all of the fans stress levels went up a few notches as the game would head to overtime. It was the Hurricanes who outshot the Islanders in the third period 10-6.

    Also, through three periods of play, both teams penalty kills went perfect. The Hurricanes penalty kill was 5 for 5, and the Islanders penalty kill went 3 for 3.

    In overtime, there were no penalties called on either team. There also wasn’t much shooting going on in the third period either, as the Islanders outshot the Hurricanes 2-1. Everything from both teams was on lockdown. Then four minutes into overtime, a shot came from Nino Niederreiter, which bounced off the back boards and landed on Jordan Staal’s stick. He took a shot which beat Robin Lehner to give the Hurricanes the 1-0 victory in OT and a 1-0 lead in the series.

    This was some absolutely incredible hockey and I hope that there is more to come with this series.

     

    3 Stars of the Game

    Third Star: Petr Mrázek

    Second Star: Robin Lehner

    First Star: Jordan Staal

     

    Boxscore

    https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/car-vs-nyi/2019/04/26/2018030221#game=2018030221,game_state=final

     

    Game 2 action will be this Sunday at 3p on NBC.

     

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

  • 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.