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Tag: Stanley Cup Playoffs

  • Stanley Cup Finals Preview – The Boston Bruins

    Stanley Cup Finals Preview – The Boston Bruins

    It has finally come, the rematch of 49 years ago has arrived. the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals is etched in history of Bobby Orr flying through the sky after scoring the game winning goal for the Boston Bruins over the St. Louis Blues. Now it is time for these two to face eachother again.

     

    For the Boston Bruins this will be their third appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals this decade as they won the Stanley Cup in 2011 over the Vancouver Canucks, and then lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013. The Bruins will look to close the decade with their second Stanley Cup victory over the Blues.

     

    How Did They Get Here?

    The Bruins in the first round went to a full seven game series with their long time rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs. Then in the second round the Bruins were able to best the Columbus Blue Jackets in six games, and in the Conference Finals they would sweep the Carolina Hurricanes in four games.

     

    Offense:

    In the regular season the Bruins averaged 3.134 Goals Forward, while in the playoffs they have been lead by their top offensive players with Brad Marchand has been leading the way with 7 goals, 11 assists for 18 points. Plus the Bruins have been getting contributions from David Pastrnak (7g, 8a, 15p), David Krejci (4g, 10a, 14p), Patrice Bergeron (8g, 5a, 13p), and trade deadline pickup Charlie Coyle (6g, 6a, 12p). The Bruins top guys have been shut down in the first two rounds of the playoffs, but once they got heated up or found a way to break through the system the other teams utilized, there was nothing that could stop them.

     

    Defense:

    On defense the Bruins allowed 2.585 Goals Against per game, and are lead by their captain Zdeno Chara (1g, 2a, 3p) with a +11. Also the Bruins defense has been contributing offensively this postseason led by Torey Krug with 1 goal, and 11 assists for 12 points. Plus the Bruins have been getting contributions from their young defenders in Charlie McAvoy (1g, 6a, 7p +9), and Matt Grzelcyk (3g, 4a, 7p -2), and from their top forwards as well as both Bergeron and Coyle are +8 and +9 respectively.

     

    Goaltending:

    For the Bruins they have been getting solid goaltending from Tuukka Rask in all 17 games that they have played this postseason. Rask is 12-5 with a 1.84 GAA and a .942 Save Percentage. Rask has also recorded two shutouts this postseason.

     

    Special Teams:

    Powerplay – 50.7% (10th in Regular Season)

    Penalty Kill – 79.9% (16th in Regular Season)

    The Bruins are atop the league this postseason scoring on 34% of their powerplay opportunities. Also the Bruins are third during the postseason with a 86.3% on the penalty kill.

     

    Final Thoughts:

    It’s going to be interesting to see how the Bruins come out of the gate in Game 1 as they will have been off for 11 days at that point. While they have been doing scrimmages to stay fresh, it’s not the same as the real deal. Also there is the storyline now of the sweeps. Starting with the New York Islanders sweeping the Pittsburgh Penguins, then getting swept by the Hurricanes, and then the Bruins sweeping Carolina. Does that mean St. Louis is going to sweep the Bruins? Probably not, but there’s still a chance for it to happen.

     

    Prediction: Blues in 6

     

    Thank you for following TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

     

    TXHT’s Stanley Cup Finals coverage sponsored by:

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  • WCF Game 5 Recap – St. Louis Blues v. San Jose Sharks

    WCF Game 5 Recap – St. Louis Blues v. San Jose Sharks

    St. Louis Blues v. San Jose Sharks

    Game 5 – Series Tied 2-2

     

    Game Recap:

    Heading into Game 5 both the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues would look to win the first game of a now best of three series, and to start off both teams would trade a total of 5 odd man chances only to attribute to two hit posts and no goals scored. However, after the five minute mark Erik Karlsson would try to clear the puck up the boards and out of the zone, but it would take a weird bounce and stqy in the zone and go right to Oskar Lundqvist who would bomb it past Martin Jones to make it 1-0 for the visiting Blues.

     

    Going into the second period the Blues would put on a forechecking clinic on the Sharks and it would lead to two goals. First goal had Vladimir Tarasenko getting a shot on goal only for Martin Jones to play the rebound right to Jaden Schwartz who would shoot it right into the open net. Then Tarasenko would be at it again as he would get fouled by Brent Burns while on a breakaway to receive a penalty shot, which Tarasenko would score on to make it a commanding 3-0 lead.

     

    In the third period the Sharks would not do themselves any favors as they would take two penalties on the same play which would lead to Jaden Schwartz scoring his second of the game when he would chip the puck over Martin Jones to make it 4-0. Then much later in the period the Blues would continue their attack on a injury depleted Sharks team as Vladimir Tarasenko and Schwartz would tag team in the Sharks zone as Schwartz would score his third of the game, and second hat trick of the playoffs, to make it a 5-0 victory and give the Blues the 3-2 series lead heading into Game 6 Tuesday night in St. Louis.

     

    Lineups:

    St. Louis Blues:

    Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

    Sammy Blais — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

    Pat Maroon — Tyler Bozak — Robert Thomas

    Ivan Barbashev — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexander Steen

    Joel Edmundson — Alex Pietrangelo

    Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

    Carl Gunnarsson — Robert Bortuzzo

    Jordan Binnington

    Jake Allen

    Scratched: Robby Fabbri, Michael Del Zotto, Zach Sanford, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn, Ville Husso

    Injured: Vince Dunn (upper body)

     

    San Jose Sharks:

    Timo Meier — Logan Couture — Gustav Nyquist

    Evander Kane — Tomas Hertl — Joe Pavelski

    Melker Karlsson — Joe Thornton — Kevin Labanc

    Joonas Donskoi — Barclay Goodrow — Micheal Haley

    Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Brent Burns

    Brenden Dillon — Erik Karlsson

    Joakim Ryan — Justin Braun

    Martin Jones

    Aaron Dell

    Scratched: Dylan Gambrell, Tim Heed, Lukas Radil, Radim Simek, Antti Suomela, Marcus Sorensen

     

    First Period:

    Blues Goal – 5:50 – Oskar Sundqvist (4) from unassisted

    Blues Penalty – 15:18 – Jay Bouwmeester 2 minutes for Delay of Game

     

    End of 1st – STL – 1       SJ – 0

    Shots              04                11

    Faceoffs         10                08

    Hits               18                  13

    PP                 0/0                 0/1

     

    Second Period:

    Blues Goal – 3:05 – Jaden Schwartz (10) from unassisted

    Blues Penalty Shot – 6:53 – Vladimir Tarasenko – Goal (7)

    Sharks Penalty – 10:43 – Joonas Donskoi double minor for High Sticking

    Blues Penalty – 11:23 – Tyler Bozak 2 minutes for Hooking

     

    End of 2nd – STL – 3        SJ – 0

    Shots               24                 16

    Faceoffs          23                 18

    Hits                 28                  35

    PP                   0/2                  0/1

     

    Third Period:

    Sharks Penalty – 1:55 – Barclay Goodrow 2 minutes for Roughing

    Sharks Penalty – 1:55 – Micheal Haley 2 minutes for Interference

    Blues PPG – 2:19 – Jaden Schwartz (11) from David Perron (6) and Vladimir Tarasenko (4)

    Sharks Penalty – 7:13 – Micheal Haley 2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct

    Sharks Penalty – 7:13 – Micheal Haley 10 minute Misconduct

    Sharks Penalty – 8:35 – Timo Meier 2 minutes for Tripping

    Blues Penalty – 13:12 – Joel Edmundson 2 minutes for Slashing

    Blues Goal – 16:02 – Jaden Schwartz (12) from Vladimir Tarasenko (5)

    Sharks Penalty – 17:13 – Evander Kane 2 minutes for Goalie Interference

    Sharks Penalty – 17:13 – Evander Kane 2 minutes for Slashing

    Sharks Penalty – 17:13 – Evander Kane 10 minute Misconduct

     

    End of 3rd – STL – 5         SJ – 0

    Shots              40                   21

    Faceoffs        36                    27

    Hits               34                     52

    PP                 1/8                   0/2

     

    Next Up:

    Game 6 – STL/SJ Leads Series 3-2

     

    Thank you for following TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

  • WCF Game 4 Recap – San Jose Sharks v. St. Louis Blues

    WCF Game 4 Recap – San Jose Sharks v. St. Louis Blues

    San Jose Sharks v. St. Louis Blues

    Game 4 – SJ Leads 2-1

     

    Game Recap:

    Going into Game 4 the St. Louis Blues come into their home barn with a chip on their shoulder after how Game 3 ended in overtime in the San Jose Sharks favor, and it wouldn’t take long either for the Blues as Ivan Barbashev would get the puck on net and past Martin Jones to make it 1-0 35 seconds into the game. Then later in the period on their second powerplay opportunity the Blues would strike again as Justin Braun would inadvertently kick the puck between Jones’ legs to give the Blues a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.

     

    Going into the second period both teams would share opportunities, and also featuring a Sharks powerplay that they could not do anything with. Both teams would get some godd chances at both ends, but the game would remain 2-0 going into the second intermission.

     

    In the third period it would be special teams striking again, but this time for the Sharks as Brent Burns would bomb a shot through Jordan Binnington and Tomas Hertl would tap the puck in to make it 2-1 on the powerplay. Then in the final two minutes of the game the Sharks would pull Jones for the extra attacker and they would force great pressure in the Blues zone, but the Blues would withstand the surge and take Game 4 2-1 to tie the series at two games a piece.

     

    Lineups:

    San Jose Sharks:

    Timo Meier — Logan Couture – Gustav Nyquist

    Evander Kane — Tomas Hertl — Joe Pavelski

    Melker Karlsson — Joe Thornton — Kevin Labanc

    Marcus Sorensen — Barclay Goodrow — Joonas Donskoi

    Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Brent Burns

    Brenden Dillon — Erik Karlsson

    Joakim Ryan — Justin Braun

    Martin Jones

    Aaron Dell

    Scratched: Micheal Haley, Dylan Gambrell, Tim Heed, Lukas Radil, Radim Simek, Antti Suomela

     

    St. Louis Blues:

    Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

    Sammy Blais — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

    Pat Maroon — Tyler Bozak — Robert Thomas

    Ivan Barbashev — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexander Steen

    Joel Edmundson — Alex Pietrangelo

    Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

    Carl Gunnarsson — Robert Bortuzzo

    Jordan Binnington

    Jake Allen

    Scratched: Robby Fabbri, Michael Del Zotto, Zach Sanford, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn, Chris Butler, Ville Husso

    Injured: Vince Dunn (upper body)

     

    First Period:

    Blues Goal – :35 – Ivan Barbashev (1) from unassisted

    Sharks Penalty- 5:09 – Brenden Dillon 2 minutes for Holding

    Sharks Penalty – 17:44 – Timo Meier 2 minutes for Hooking

    Blues PPG – 17:53 – Tyler Bozak (4) from Pat Maroon (4) and Vladimir Tarasenko (3)

     

    End of 1st – SJ – 0       STL – 2

    Shots              09                10

    Faceoffs         11                09

    Hits               11                  15

    PP                 0/0                 1/2

     

    Second Period:

    Blues Penalty – 5:41 – Sammy Blais 2 minutes for Hooking

    Blues Penalty – 8:24 – Brayden Schenn 2 minutes for Roughing

    Sharks Penalty – 8:24 – Marc-Edouard Vlasic 2 minutes for Slashing

     

    End of 2nd – SJ – 0        STL – 2

    Shots               20                 18

    Faceoffs          18                 18

    Hits                 14                  24

    PP                   0/1                  1/2

     

    Third Period:

    Sharks Penalty – 4:35 – Brenden Dillon 2 minutes for High Sticking

    Blues Penalty – 6:01 – Alex Pietrangelo 2 minutes for Interference

    Sharks PPG – Tomas Hertl (10) from Brent Burns (11) and Erik Karlsson (14)

    Blues Penalty – 9:52 – Ivan Barbashev 2 minutes for Tripping

    Sharks Penalty – 12:33 – Bench (Kevin Labanc) 2 minutes for Too Many Men

     

    End of 3rd – SJ – 1         STL – 2

    Shots              30                   22

    Faceoffs        27                    32

    Hits               15                     29

    PP                 1/3                    1/4

     

    Next Up:

    Game 5 – Series Tied 2-2

     

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

  • ECF Game 4 – Boston Bruins v. Carolina Hurricanes

    ECF Game 4 – Boston Bruins v. Carolina Hurricanes

    Boston Bruins v. Carolina Hurricanes

    Game 4 – BOS Leads 3-0

     

    Game Recap:

    Heading into Game 4 with the potential to clinch the series in Carolina, the Boston Bruins will have to do it without their captain and veteran defenseman Zdeno Chara who is listed as “day to day”.

    In the first period both teams would trade chances, and both teams would get at least one powerplay opportunity each, but neither would capitalize on their opportunities.

     

    Going into the second period the Carolina Hurricanes would shoot themselves in the foot when they would take a too many men on the ice penalty, and the Bruins would take advantage as David Pastrnak would get the puck past Curtis McElhinney to make it 1-0 less than five minutes into the period. Then much later in the second period, Carolina would get themselves into penalty trouble again as Patrice Bergeron would score from the slot area as McElhinney did not have a chance on the shot.

     

    Going into the third period it would be do or die for the Hurricanes, and despite their best efforts a turnover in their own zone midway through the period would push the game more out of reach as David Pastrnak would exhibit great patience to feed Patrice Bergeron for his second goal of the game to make it 3-0.

     

    Lineups:

    Boston Bruins:

    Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

    Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — David Backes

    Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

    Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari

    Matt Grzelcyk — Charlie McAvoy

    Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

    John Moore — Connor Clifton

    Tuukka Rask

    Jaroslav Halak

    Scratched: Steven Kampfer, Karson Kuhlman

    Injured: Chris Wagner (right arm), Kevan Miller (lower body), Zdeno Chara (day to day)

     

    Carolina Hurricanes:

    Andrei Svechnikov — Sebastian Aho — Teuvo Teravainen

    Nino Niederreiter — Jordan Staal — Justin Williams

    Warren Foegele – Lucas Wallmark — Brock McGinn

    Micheal Ferland — Greg McKegg — Saku Maenalanen

    Jaccob Slavin — Dougie Hamilton

    Brett Pesce — Justin Faulk

    Haydn Fleury — Calvin de Haan

    Curtis McElhinney

    Petr Mrazek

    Scratched: Jake Bean, Patrick Brown

    Injured: Jordan Martinook (lower body), Trevor van Riemsdyk (left shoulder)

     

    First Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 1:18 – Matt Grzelcyk 2 minutes fot Tripping

    Hurricanes Penalty – 10:35 – Nino Niederreiter 2 minutes for Slashing

    Bruins Penalty – 12:19 – Charlie Coyle 2 minutes for Interference

     

    End of 1st – BOS – 0       CAR – 0

    Shots              10                13

    Faceoffs         12                10

    Hits               08                  07

    PP                 0/1                 0/2

     

    Second Period:

    Hurricanes Penalty – 4:26 – Bench (Justin Williams) 2 minutes for Too Many Men

    Bruins PPG – 4:46 – David Pastrnak (7) from Brad Marchand (11) and Torey Krug (11)

    Hurricanes Penalty – 18:10 – Greg McKegg 2 minutes for Goalie Interference

    Bruins PPG – 18:34 – Patrice Bergeron (7) from David Pastrnak (7)

     

    End of 2nd – BOS – 2        CAR – 0

    Shots               18                 18

    Faceoffs          25                 23

    Hits                 15                  19

    PP                   2/3                  0/2

     

    Third Period:

    Bruins Goal – 10:32 – Patrice Bergeron (8) from David Pastrnak (8)

    Bruins ENG – 17:43 – Brad Marchand (7) from Patrice Bergeron (5) and David Krejci (10)

     

    End of 3rd – BOS – 4         CAR – 0

    Shots              23                   24

    Faceoffs        35                    31

    Hits               17                     33

    PP                 2/3                    0/2

     

    Next Up:

    Stanley Cup Finals – Boston v. STL/SJ

     

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

  • WCF Game 3 Recap – San Jose Sharks v. St. Louis Blues

    WCF Game 3 Recap – San Jose Sharks v. St. Louis Blues

    The St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks started out about the same way all the games these playoffs have for the Blues – without them. The Blues mustered only four shots the entire period en route to a 2-0 deficit. Erik Karlsson scored the first goal (unassisted), followed by Joe Thornton’s first of the game.

    The second period was entirely different. Alex Steen opened the scoring to cut the lead to 2-1. Thornton netted his second of the game to increase San Jose’s lead back to 2, but the much maligned (unfairly, to this writer), Vladimir Tarasenko brought the Blues back to 3-2. Now, the game got really fun. David Perron committed what should have been a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass, but it was missed by the referees (of note, it is very fun to see Peter DeBoer’s incredulous face). He then proceeded to score the next two goals to give the Blues a 4-3 lead entering the third.

    The Blues generally outplayed the Sharks in the third, with no team scoring until about 1 minute left, where Couture tied the game at 4, after a series of laughable, contemptuous icings by Alex Pietrangelo, then a poor defense play by him. I generally think Petro is a wonderful player, but he has been simply bad this series.

     

    Hey everyone! Michael here. Aryan asked me to take over and cover the overtime period(s) of this tightly contested Game 3 between the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues.

     

    In overtime both teams would trade chances in the first five minutes of the extra period, but then on a controversial play that saw Timo Meier bat the puck with his hand in front of the Blues net to Gustav Nyquist who would then pass it to Erik Karlsson who would shoot the puck past Jordan Binnington to win the game 5-4 in overtime and take the 2-1 series lead.

     

    Clearly a hand pass by Meier, but unfortunately this is not a reviewable play and the fact that all four officials missed this call the goal cannot be reversed. St. Louis got the short end on this one and will be motivation going into Game 4.

     

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

  • 2019 NHL Playoffs: Round 3 Game 3: Bruins Win In Raleigh; Take Commanding Lead In The Series

    2019 NHL Playoffs: Round 3 Game 3: Bruins Win In Raleigh; Take Commanding Lead In The Series

    The Carolina Hurricanes hosted the Boston Bruins in Raleigh tonight. The Bruins came into the game with a 2-0 lead in the series, and both victories were in convincing fashion. The Hurricanes came to tonight’s game to try and take advantage of their home ice; as coming into tonight, they are undefeated at PNC Arena.

     

    In the first period, the Hurricanes came out flying, trying to capitalize on the momentum of home ice, but the Bruins weathered the storm. The first period would have no scoring, but the Hurricanes out-shot the Bruins 20-6. The period also featured a ton of penalties between the two teams. The Bruins took six penalties and the Hurricanes took four penalties, with both team’s PK units taking care of business.

     

    All the scoring in this game happened in the second period. The Bruins would quickly strike first in the period, at a little over a minute in. It would be Chris Wagner, who would notch his second goal of the playoffs.

     

    The Bruins would proceed to take a 2-0 lead in the game about five minutes later, when everyone’s favorite hockey player Brad Marchand would notch his sixth goal of the playoffs. A back hand shot in the slot, beating McElhinney.

     

    The Hurricanes would get one back, as seven minutes later Calvin de Haan would notch his first goal of the playoffs with a nice slap shot goal from the circle, beating Rask five hole. The goal would be de Haan’s first career playoff goal. The period would end 2-1 in favor of the Bruins.

     

    In the third period the Bruins held on as the Hurricanes would throw 10 more shots at Rask, who stopped them all. As Boston’s defense again made the difference in seeing out the 2-1 victory and the win would give the Bruins a commanding 3-0 series lead. For the Hurricanes this loss represents the first loss at home for them in the playoffs.

     

    Game 4 will be on Thursday at PNC Arena in Raleigh, where the Hurricanes will look to avoid the sweep.

     

    Boxscore

    https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-car/2019/05/14/2018030313#game=2018030313,game_state=final

     

    3 Stars of the Game

    Tuukka Rask

    Chris Wagner

    Calvin de Haan

     

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

  • St. Louis Blues vs San Jose Sharks – Round 3 – Game 2 Recap

    St. Louis Blues vs San Jose Sharks – Round 3 – Game 2 Recap

    Game Recap:

    The Blues came out from the gate determined to not hang their goalie Jordan Binnington out to dry like they did some many times in game one and it worked. The Blues came out and pressured in the first part of the period and scored the only goalie thanks to Blues potential Conn Smythe Candidate Jaden Schwartz. But the Blues couldn’t keep the Sharks at bay and they stormed back in the second half of the period with some pressure but couldn’t solve Binnington who I am sure was determined not to have another game like game 1.

    The 2nd period would be the Logan Couture show as the penalties would begin to ramp up against San Jose, St.Louis would score once via Vince Dunn but Couture would score a goal Short-Handed to get the Sharks on the board and then would score less than 2 minutes later to tie the game at two apiece in the second period. But the Blues wouldn’t just lay down and die with less than 4 minutes left in the second tough guy defencemen Robert Bortuzzo would score to reinstate the St. Louis Blues lead heading into the 3rd period.

    The 3rd period would be a swapping of penalties for both teams as they would both end up with no powerplay goals on the night. But with the Sharks pressing for the tying goal late the Blues Oskar Sundqvist would give the Blues some insurance with just over 3 minutes remaining and eventually seal the series tie at one apiece.

    Lineups:

    St. Louis

    Jaden Schwartz – Brayden Schenn – Vladimir Tarasenko

    Sammy Blais – Ryan O’Reilly – David Perron

    Pat Maroon – Tyler Bozak – Christian Thomas

    Ivan Barbashev – Oskar Sundqvist – Alex Steen

     

    Joel Edmundson – Alex Pietrangelo

    Jay Bouwmeester – Colton Parayko

    Vince Dunn – Robert Bortuzzo

     

    Jordan Binnington

    Jake Allen

    Scratched: None

    Injuries: Carl Gunnarsson (Upper Body)

     

    San Jose

    Scratched:  None

    Injuries: Radek Simek

     

    GameDay:

    First Period:

    St.Louis Goal – 2:34 – Jaden Schwartz (10) assisted by Vladimir Tarasenko (2) and Joel Edmundson (4)

    San Jose Penalty – 4:04 – Tomas Hertl, 2 minutes for Tripping

    St. Louis Penalty – 6:34 – Jay Bouwmeester, 2 minutes for Tripping

    San Jose Penalty – 15:46 – Evander Kane, 2 minutes for Tripping

    End of 1st – STL – 1      SJS – 0

    Shots              6                  9

    Faceoffs        6/17          11/17

    Hits                12                9

    PP                 0/2                 0/1

    Second Period:

    St. Louis Goal – 4:16 – Vince Dunn (2) assisted by Ryan O’Reilly (8) and David Perron (5)

    San Jose Penalty – 4:42 – Marcus Sorenson, 2 minutes for Interference

    San Jose SH Goal – 4:55 – Logan Couture (12) unassisted

    San Jose Goal – 6:54 – Logan Couture (13) assisted by Timo Meier (8)

    St. Louis Goal – 16:34 – Robert Bortuzzo (1) assisted by Joel Edmundson (5) and Tyler Bozak (5)

    San Jose Penalty – 19:31- Brendan Dillion, 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    End of 2nd – STL – 3      SJS – 2

    Shots               15                15

    Faceoffs       15/36           21/36

    Hits                24                  18

    PP                   0/4                  0/1

    Third Period:

    St. Louis Penalty – 10:37 – Robert Thomas, 2 minutes for Hooking

    San Jose Penalty – 12:42 – Joe Thornton, 2 minutes for Tripping

    St. Louis Goal – 16:52 – Oskar Sundqvist (3) assisted by Alex Steen (2) and Alex Pietrangelo (10)

    End of 3rd – STL – 4         SJS- 2

    Shots              25                26

    Faceoffs      23/54         31/54

    Hits              35                 28

    PP                 0/5                0/2

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

  • ECF Game 2 – Carolina Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins

    ECF Game 2 – Carolina Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins

    Carolina Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins

    Game 2 – BOS Leads 1-0

     

    Game Recap:

    Coming into Game 2 this afternoon the Carolina Hurricanes look to tie the series at one and take away the home ice advantage from the Boston Bruins. The first half of the period saw the tempo change hands between the two teams, and we alao saw a Hurricanes powerplay that did not generate much offense. Then in the last five minutes of the period Matt Grzelcyk would get one through Petr Mrazek and just over the goal line to score the first goal of the game. The Bruins would not be done there as they would get a late powerplay opportunity and would need only six seconds as Jake DeBrusk would knock in her own rebound and give the Bruins a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.

     

    Going into the second period the Bruins would get themselves into penalty trouble as Patrice Bergeron would take a tripping penalty, but the Hurricanes would squander their opportunity and moments later the Bruins would capitalize as Marcus Johansson would exhibit great patience as he feeds Connor Clifton with the pass for Clifton to bury the puck into a wide open net for his first career playoff goal. Then late in the second period Matt Grzelcyk would strike again, this time on the powerplay to give the Bruins a 4-0 lead going into the second intermission.

     

    Going into the third period the Hurricanes would stick with Petr Mrazek between the pipes, but the Bruins would continue their assault as David Backes would score 70 seconds into the period. Then after killing off their second Patrice Bergeron tripping penalty of the game, it would be Bergeron out of the box and setting up Danton Heinen to make it a commanding 6-0 lead. The Hurricanes would eventually end Tuukka Rask’s shutout bid when Justin Williams would deflect a Justin Faulk poimt shot to make it 6-1. Then the Hurricanes would build on that as they would catch Tuukka Rask cheating to play the puck as he would accidently shoot the puck into Teuvo Teravainen who would shoot it into the wide open net to make it 6-2, but it would be to little too late as the Bruins take Game 2 and the 2-0 series lead.

     

    Lineups:

    Carolina Hurricanes:

    Andrei Svechnikov — Sebastian Aho – Teuvo Teravainen

    Nino Niederreiter — Jordan Staal — Justin Williams

    Warren Foegele – Lucas Wallmark — Brock McGinn

    Jordan Martinook — Greg McKegg — Micheal Ferland

    Jaccob Slavin — Dougie Hamilton

    Brett Pesce — Justin Faulk

    Haydn Fleury — Calvin de Haan

    Petr Mrazek

    Curtis McElhinney

    Scratched: Jake Bean, Patrick Brown

    Injured: Saku Maenalanen (upper body), Trevor van Riemsdyk (left shoulder)

     

    Boston Bruins:

    Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

    Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — David Backes

    Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

    Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Chris Wagner

    Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

    Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

    Matt Grzelcyk — Connor Clifton

    Tuukka Rask

    Jaroslav Halak

    Scratched: Steven Kampfer, Karson Kuhlman, John Moore

    Injured: Kevan Miller (lower body), Noel Acciari (upper body)

     

    First Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 11:56 – Zdeno Chara 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins Goal – 15:22 – Matt Grzelcyk (2) from Marcus Johansson (5) and Charlie Coyle (4)

    Hurricanes Penalty – 18:26 – Justin Williams 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins PPG – 18:32 – Jake DeBrusk (3) from David Pastrnak (6) and Torey Krug (8)

     

    End of 1st – CAR – 0       BOS – 2

    Shots              06                11

    Faceoffs         08                13

    Hits               14                  20

    PP                 0/1                 1/1

     

    Second Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 1:09 – Patric Bergeron 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins Goal – 3:46 – Connor Clifton (1) from Marcus Johansson (6) and Danton Heinen (5)

    Bruins Penalty – 13:36 – Chris Wagner 2 minutes for Holding

    Hurricanes Penalty – 16:07 – Justin Williams 2 minutes for Holding

    Bruins PPG – 17:56 – Matt Grzelcyk (3) from Charlie Coyle (5) and Torey Krug (9)

     

    End of 2nd – CAR – 0        BOS – 4

    Shots               17                 21

    Faceoffs          18                 21

    Hits                 26                  27

    PP                   0/3                  2/2

     

    Third Period:

    Bruins Goal – 1:10 – David Backes (2) from David Krejci (8) and Torey Krug (10)

    Bruins Penalty – 2:22 – Patrice Bergeron 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins Goal – 4:32 – Danton Heinen (2) from Patrice Bergeron (4) and Charlie Coyle (6)

    Hurricanes Goal – 11:17 – Justin Williams (4) from Justin Faulk (6) and Sebastian Aho (6)

    Hurricanes Goal – 17:32 – Teuvo Teravainen (7) from unassisted

     

    End of 3rd – CAR – 2         BOS – 6

    Shots              23                   25

    Faceoffs        22                    31

    Hits               27                     35

    PP                 0/4                    2/2

     

    Next Up:

    Game 3  – Boston Leads 2-0

     

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

  • St. Louis Blues vs San Jose Sharks – Round 3 – Game 1 Recap

    St. Louis Blues vs San Jose Sharks – Round 3 – Game 1 Recap

    Game Recap:

    The Sharks opened the game with putting it all on the table as Logan Couture put the Sharks on board early. Schwartz would reply later on in the 3rd tying the game at one. But the Sharks would reply again on the powerplay thanks to the Captain Joe Pavelski. Making the score 2-1 Sharks after one.

    The 2nd period would be another bad one for the St. Louis Blues. The Sharks would score 3 more goals to the Blues 1 and then the Blues would take a few more penalties. The same seemed so much out of reach.

    The 3rd period would be a swapping of goals between the Blues and Sharks. A brawl would ensue at the end of the game and a lot of penalties. Expect the Blue to come out with a big game 2.

    Lineups:

    St. Louis

    Jaden Schwartz – Brayden Schenn – Vladimir Tarasenko

    Sammy Blais – Ryan O’Reilly – David Perron

    Pat Maroon – Tyler Bozak – Christian Thomas

    Ivan Barbashev – Oskar Sundqvist – Alex Steen

     

    Joel Edmundson – Alex Pietrangelo

    Jay Bouwmeester – Colton Parayko

    Vince Dunn – Robert Bortuzzo

     

    Jordan Binnington

    Jake Allen

    Scratched: None

    Injuries: Carl Gunnarsson (Upper Body)

     

    San Jose

    Scratched:  None

    Injuries: Radek Simek

     

    GameDay:

    First Period:

    San Jose Goal – 3:31 – Logan Couture (10) assisted by Gustav Nyquist (8) and Timo Meier (8)

    St.Louis Goal – 9:13 – Jaden Schwartz (9) assisted by Vladimir Tarasenko (1) and Brayden Schenn (4)

    St. Louis Penalty – 9:36 – Jay Bouwmeester, 2 minutes for Interference

    San Jose PP Goal – 11:24 – Joe Pavelski (4) assisted by Brent Burns (10) and Erik Karlsson (13)

    St. Louis Penalty – 10:33 – Colton Paryako, 2 minutes for Slashing

    End of 1st – STL – 1      SJS – 2

    Shots              10              9

    Faceoffs        11/27          16/27

    Hits                22                13

    PP                 0/1                 1/2

    Second Period:

    St. Louis Penalty – 2:57 – Tyler Bozak, 2 minutes for Hooking

    San Jose Goal – 7:41 – Kevin Labanc (4) assisted by Joe Thornton (5)

    St. Louis Goal – 8:58 – Ryan O’Reilly (3) assisted by Logan Couture (6)

    San Jose Goal – 10:24 – Timo Meier (4) assisted by Joe Thornton (5)

    San Jose Penalty – 13:23 – Melker Karlsson, 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    San Jose Goal – 17:34 – Timo Meier (5) assisted by Marc-Edouard Vlasic (4) and Gustav Nyquist

    End of 2nd – STL – 2      SJS – 5

    Shots               19                20

    Faceoffs        21/51           30/51

    Hits                35                  25

    PP                   0/1                  1/3

    Third Period:

    St. Louis Goal – 13:01 – Tyler Bozak (3) assisted by Pat Maroon (2) and Vince Dunn (5)

    San Jose Goal – 17:39 – Logan Couture (11) assisted by Joe Pavelski (4) and Evander Kane (6)

    St. Louis Penalty – 17:55 – Robert Bortuzzo, 5 minutes for Fighting

    San Jose Penalty – 17:55 – Barclay Goodrow, 5 minutes for Fighting

    St. Louis Penalty – 17:55 – Robert Bertuzzo, 2 minutes for Roughing

    San Jose Penalty – 17:55 – Brandon Dillion, 2 minutes for Roughing

    St. Louis Penalty – 17:55 – Robert Bortuzzo, Game Misconduct

    San Jose Penalty – 17:55 – Barclay Goodrow, Game Misconduct

    End of 3rd – STL – 3         SJS- 6

    Shots              31                25

    Faceoffs      31/73         42/73

    Hits              41                 35

    PP                 0/1                1/4

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

  • Western Conference Finals Preview – St. Louis Blues v. San Jose Sharks

    Western Conference Finals Preview – St. Louis Blues v. San Jose Sharks

    After a wild seven game series with the Dallas Stars, the Blues emerged victorious. Saturday, they continue their inexorable march to the Cup against the San Jose Sharks. Before breaking down the series, I’ll have to admit (though often considered a sacrilegious act to hockey fans), that I am a baseball fan and ardent supporter of the St. Louis Cardinals. As such, I noticed a quite interesting parallel between the World Series of 2011 against a Dallas-based team and the second round series with the Stars. Each series had game winners in this order: STL, DAL, STL, DAL, DAL, STL, STL.

    So, instead of recalling the vituperative memories of the last time the Blues and Sharks played in the playoffs, let’s focus on the last time the STL and SF baseball teams played for a premonition:

    Oh. Right.

    Anyway, back to the better sport – the Blues and Sharks finished the regular season with similar point totals, though the Sharks finished two points ahead with 101 and will start the series at home.

    The two teams met three times during the season, with the Blues going 1-1-1, including a 4-0 win and 4-0 loss in November (which, as we’ve seen before, does not really matter because that was before the team learned how to play hockey), as well as a 3-2 overtime loss, in a game without Vladimir Tarasenko.

    Like with any series, there are a number of factors that could be ‘keys to the series’, but quite honestly, there really is only one important one – Martin Jones. Jones is about as bad as Ben Bishop is good, so if the Blues cannot win this series, and score a fair amount of goals, it is completely on them. Though San Jose sports Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson on defense, neither is particularly adept at defense these days. Since Burns, Karlsson, Joe Pavelski, Tomas Hertl, and Logan Couture are quite skillful offensively, the Blues simply need to play as strong of a game defensively as they did in game 7 against Dallas, and bide their time until they get their offensive chances.

    To put how mediocre Jones is in perspective, let’s compare him to the much maligned Jake Allen, who absolutely was not good for the Blues during the season and a major reason for their stodgy start to the here. According to NaturalStatTrick, Martin Jones has a save percentage of .896, while Allen’s is .905. Allen has a GSAA of -5.91, while Jones has an astounding -22.87. GSAA is a metric that basically measures goals saved above average. While -5.91 isn’t great, it’s much better than -22. The only part where Jones beats Allen is in High Danger Save Percentage, with a paltry .806 to .796 edge.

    Of course more goes into an evaluation of a goalie than simply his raw stats, most notably team defense, but at minimum we can conclude that San Jose is not good at keeping the puck out of their own net, and Jones himself is not good when facing high danger shots. If the Blues do not score against Jones, the last thing anyone should be doing is valorizing him, because in all likelihood it will be the shooters that are taking bad shots, as opposed to Jones making great and timely saves.

    That’s basically it. Score goals. Just score goals. Play solid defense. And, above all else, don’t throw the puck in your own net:

    Blues in 6.