Tag: David Pastrnak

  • Game Recap – 11/16/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Boston Bruins

    Game Recap – 11/16/2019 – Washington Capitals v. Boston Bruins

    Washington Capitals (14-3-4 32pts) v. Boston Bruins (12-3-4 28pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    Shipping up to Boston after a disappointing showing at home the night before against the Montreal Canadiens, the Washington Capitals look to rebound against the Bruins. In the first period the Capitals would get a powerplay opportunity near the half way point of the period, but their struggles from the night before continued as they were unable to handle the puck well, and squandered their powerplay. Then shortly after the powerplay ended for the Capitals, the Bruins would strike as Danton Heinen would feed a beautiful pass across the slot to Charlie Coyle to bank in his fourth goal of the season to give the Bruins the one goal lead. However, the Capitals would respond as Travis Boyd, who was recalled from Hershey earlier in the day, would cut through the slot area and redirect a John Carlson point blast to get his first of the season and tie the game at one.

     

    In the second period the Bruins would fail to capitalize on the remaining time left on their powerplay from the first period, but once it was over the Bruins would still respond anyways as David Pastrnak would score off a bad angle to retake the one goal lead over the Capitals. The Capitals would get a powerplay opportunity a little later, but would not do anything substantial with it. The Bruins would earn another powerplay as well, and just like the Capitals were unable to make anything of the opportunity.

     

    In the third period there wouldn’t be a lot outside of Tom Wilson and Zdeno Chara both getting minors for roughing until the final minute of regulation as the Capitals would pull Braden Holtby and a slick pass from behind the net to TJ Oshie who would bury it to tie the game at two and send the game to overtime. After a scoreless extra five minutes the game would head to the shootout. After being tied at one goal each after the first three rounds, Jakub Vrana would undress Jaroslav Halak to score the winning goal in the shootout and give the Capitals the 3-2 victory.

     

    Lineups:

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

    Richard Panik — Lars Eller — Garnet Hathaway

    Brendan Leipsic — Chandler Stephenson — Travis Boyd

    Michal Kempny — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Radko Gudas

    Jonas Siegenthaler — Nick Jensen

    Braden Holtby

    Vitek Vanecek

    Scratched: None

    Injured: Nic Dowd (upper body), Carl Hagelin (upper body)

     

    Boston Bruins:

    Brad Marchand — David Krejci — David Pastrnak

    Anders Bjork — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

    Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Chris Wagner

    Trent Frederic — Par Lindholm — Paul Carey

    Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

    Matt Grzelcyk — Brandon Carlo

    Urho Vaakanainen — Connor Clifton

    Jaroslav Halak

    Tuukka Rask

    Scratched: Steven Kampfer

    Injured: Torey Krug (upper body), Jake DeBrusk (lower body), Brett Ritchie (upper body), David Backes (upper body), Zach Senyshyn (lower body), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), Kevan Miller (knee), John Moore (shoulder), Patrice Bergeron (lower body)

     

    First Period:

    BOS Penalty – 8:03 – David Pastrnak 2 minutes for Hooking

    BOS Goal – 11:32 – Charlie Coyle (4) from Danton Heinen (5) and Charlie McAvoy (5)

    WAS Goal – 14:27 – Travis Boyd (1) from John Carlson (24) and Brendan Leipsic (5)

    WAS Penalty – 19:21 – Radko Gudas 2 minutes for Hooking

     

    End of 1st

    11-16 at BOS.png

     

    Second Period:

    BOS Goal – 3:30 – David Pastrnak (17) from Charlie McAvoy (6) and David Krejci (9)

    BOS Penalty – 4:42 – Danton Heinen 2 minutes for Hooking

    WAS Penalty – 10:05 – Brendan Leipsic 2 minutes for Tripping

    WAS Penalty – 19:44 – Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 minutes for Cross Checking

     

    End of 2nd

    11-16 at BOS-2.png

     

    Third Period:

    BOS Penalty – 13:59 – Zdeno Chara 2 minutes for Roughing

    WAS Penalty – 13:59 – Tom Wilson 2 minutes for Roughing

    WAS Goal – 19:01 – TJ Oshie (10) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (11) and Nicklas Backstrom (13)

     

    End of 3rd

    11-16 at BOS-3.png

     

    Overtime:

    N/A

     

    Shootout:

    1 – WAS – TJ Oshie – Save

    1 – BOS – Charlie Coyle – Goal

    2 – WAS – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Miss

    2 – BOS – David Pastrnak – Save

    3 – WAS – Nicklas Backstrom – Goal

    3 – BOS – Brad Marchand – Save

    4 – WAS – Alex Ovechkin – Save

    4 – BOS – David Krejci – Save

    5 – WAS – Jakub Vrana – Goal

    5 – BOS – Chris Wagner – Save

     

    Final

    11-16 at BOS-4.png

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (15-3-4 34pts) v. Anaheim (9-9-2 20pts)

    Boston (12-3-5 29pts) @ New Jersey (6-8-4 16pts)

  • NHL Three Stars of October

    NHL Three Stars of October

    Today the National Hockey League announced their Three Stars of the Month for the month of October.

     

    First Star – John Carlson (D, Washington Capitals)

    • Carlson lead all defensemen in goals (7), assists (16), and points (23) while also ranking third in the NHL in scoring in 14 games played. Carlson would be a catalyst for the Capitals to have the best October in franchise history (9-2-3 21pts), and only one blueliner in NHL history had more points than Carlson in a single October and that would be Calgary’s Al MacInnis in 1990.

    Oct Carlson

     

    Second Star – David Pastrnak (RW, Boston Bruins)

    • Pastrnak shared the League lead in goals with 12 and was second overall in points with 24 in 12 games played to help the Bruins to the top of the Atlantic Division, which was also a franchise best for the month of October. Paastrnak would compile all of his points during a 10 game streak to close the month.

    Oct Pastrnak

     

    Third Star – Leon Draisaitl (C, Edmonton Oilers)

    • Draisaitl led the NHL in scoring (12g, 13a, 25p) in 14 games played to lead the Oilers to first place in the Pacific Division. Draisaitl would open the month with an eight game point streak , and then closed the month with points in four straight games.

    Oct Draisaitl

     

    *All Graphics courtesy of the NHL.

     

  • NHL Three Stars of the Week for Oct. 14th – Oct. 20th

    NHL Three Stars of the Week for Oct. 14th – Oct. 20th

    Today the National Hockey League announced their Three Stars of the Week for the week of October 14th through 20th.

     

    First Star – David Pastrnak (RW, Boston Bruins)

    • Pastrnak lead the NHL in goals (7) and points (9) for the week, and recorded multiple points in all three games played to aid the Bruins in a week that saw them go 1-0-2. On October 14th against Anaheim Pastrnal scored all four goals in their 4-2 victory, then against Tampa Bay on October 17th he would record two goals and an assist. Then on October 19th Pastrnak would record a goal and an assist against Toronto.

    1 David Pastrnak

     

    Second Star – John Carlson (D, Washington Capitals)

    • Carlson lead the NHL with seven assists and ranked second in points with eight in four games to help the Capitals go 2-1-1 for the week. On October 14th Carlson would record an assist in Washington’s loss to Colorado, then on October 16th Carlson would record a goal and two assists against Toronto. On October 18th He would then three assists in the Capitals win over the New York Rangers, and in Chicago on October 20th Carlson would record one more assist.

    2 John Carlson

     

    Third Star – Carter Hutton (G, Buffalo Sabres)

    • Hutton would go perfect in his two games for the Sabres as he would stop all 72 shots faced to record back to back shutouts for the week as the Sabres would go 3-1-0 for the week. Hutton would earn his 12th career shutout on October 14th against Dallas, and then he would set a franchise record for saves in a regular season shutout with 47 saves on October 17th against Los Angeles to record his 13th career shutout.

    3 Carter Hutton

     

    *All Graphics courtesy of the NHL.

     

    Sponsored by:

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  • Stanley Cup Final Game 6 – Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

    Stanley Cup Final Game 6 – Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

    Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

    Game 6 – STL Leads 3-2

     

    Game Recap:

    Coming into Game 6 in St. Louis the Blues will look to close out the Stanley Cup Final at home with the decisive fourth victory, but the Boston Bruins are highly motivated to send the series back to Boston for Game 7  after the controversial ending to Game 5. In the first period to start the game both teams would trade chances, but then penalties would come into play as at first the Bruins would get a delay of game penalty when Sean Kuraly would accidently shoot the puck over the boards. The Blues would not be able to capitalize on the powerplay, and then would take not one, but two penalties themselves to give the Bruins a two man advantage that would see David Pastrnak feed Brad Marchand the one timer for the first goal of the game and give the Bruins the 1-0 lead.

     

    In the second period the Blues would come out with a bit more step in their game, and would draw two penalties against the Bruins for two powerplays that saw them control the tempo very well. However, the Blues would not be able to capitalize on either opportunity, but they would continue their strong play. The Bruins would be able to hold off the Blues off of the hard work of Tuukka Rask and take their 1-0 lead into the second intermission.

     

    Going into the third period the Bruins would grow their lead to two when Brandon Carlo would get off a point shot that would take a rough bounce off the ice and squeak past Jordan Binnington to make it 2-0 for the Bruins early in the third. Then in the midway point of the third, Karson Kuhlman would rip a wicked wrist shot past Binnington to make it 3-0 for the Bruins as they would really push this game out of reach for the Blues. However, the Blues would respond off of an offensive zone faceoff when Ryan O’Reilly would get the rebound in front of the net and we would think Rask would make the save, but Toronto would call down to say that the puck went into the net and the Blues get back into this game as O’Reilly would be credited with his seventh of the playoffs and cut the Bruins lead to two. But the Bruins would not relent as Sean Kuraly would force a turnover behind the Blues net as he would get the puck to Brad Marchand who would feed David Pastrnak the puck would then make his move and get the puck over Binnington to regain the three goal lead, and then to seal the deal Zdeno Chara would lob the puck over into the Blues net to make it 5-1 to seal the Bruins Game 6 victory and force Game 7 on Wednesday night.

     

    Lineups:

    Boston Bruins:

    Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

    Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — Karson Kuhlman

    Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

    Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari

    Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

    Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

    John Moore — Connor Clifton

    Tuukka Rask

    Jaroslav Halak

    Scratched: Steven Kampfer, David Backes

    Injured: Matt Grzelcyk (concussion protocol), Chris Wagner (upper body), Kevan Miller (lower body)

     

    St. Louis Blues:

    Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

    Zach Sanford — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

    Pat Maroon — Tyler Bozak — Robert Thomas

    Sammy Blais — Oskar Sundqvist — Alexander Steen

    Carl Gunnarsson — Alex Pietrangelo

    Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

    Vince Dunn — Robert Bortuzzo

    Jordan Binnington

    Jake Allen

    Scratched: Joel Edmundson, Robby Fabbri, Michael Del Zotto, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn, Ville Husso, Jordan Nolan

    Injured: None

    Suspended: Ivan Barbashev

     

    First Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 2:42 – Sean Kuraly 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    Blues Penalty – 7:17 – Brayden Schenn 2 minutes for Boarding

    Blues Penalty – 8:19 – Ryan O’Reilly 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    Bruins PPG – 8:40 – Brad Marchand (9) from David Pastrnak (10) and Torey Krug (16)

    Bruins Penalty – 18:21 – Zdeno Chara 2 minutes for Interference

     

    End of 1st – BOS – 1       STL – 0

    Shots              11                10

    Faceoffs         07                10

    Hits               10                  09

    PP                 1/2                 0/2

     

    Second Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 9:11 – Brad Marchand 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins Penalty – 13:43 – Charlie McAvoy 2 minutes for Tripping

     

    End of 2nd – BOS – 1        STL – 0

    Shots               20                 19

    Faceoffs          17                 22

    Hits                 19                  23

    PP                   1/2                  0/4

     

    Third Period:

    Bruins Goal  -2:31 – Brandon Carlo (2) from Jake DeBrusk (7)

    Bruins Goal – 10:15 – Karson Kuhlman (1) from David Krejci (11)

    Blues Goal – 12:01 – Ryan O’Reilly (7) from Alex Pietrangelo (15) and David Perron (8)

    Bruins Goal – 14:06 – David Pastrnak (9) from Brad Marchand (14) and Sean Kuraly (6)

    Bruins ENG – 17:41 – Zdeno Chara (2) from unassisted

    Blues Penalty – 19:38 – Sammy Blais 2 minutes for Slashing

    Blues Penalty – 19:38 – Sammy Blais 2 minutes for Roughing

    Bruins Penalty – 19:38 – Connor Clifton 2 minutes for Roughing

    Blues Penalty – 19:43 – Robert Bortuzzo 2 minutes for Cross Checking

     

    End of 3rd – BOS – 5         STL – 1

    Shots              32                   29

    Faceoffs        26                    37

    Hits               27                     29

    PP                 1/2                    0/4

     

    Next Up:

    Game 7 – Series Tied 3-3

     

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  • Stanley Cup Final Game 3 – Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

    Stanley Cup Final Game 3 – Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

    Boston Bruins v. St. Louis Blues

    Game 3 – Series Tied 1-1

     

    Game Recap:

    Heading into the Game 3 the St. Louis Bues come home with the momentum in the corner after taking Game 2 in boston to even the series with the Bruins. The game would start off physically, and would see the Blues start with five straight shots, but when they had the chance to take the lead while on the powerplay they failed to do so. The Bruins on the other hand would not let their opportunity be squandered as Patrice Bergeron would redirect a Torey Krug point shot past Jordan Binnington to take the 1-0 lead. That goal would open the flood gates as the Bruins would score two more this period starting with Marcus Johansson feeding Charlie Coyle a one timer to make it a two goal lead. Then Sean Kuraly would shoot one right through the five hole of Binnington to make it 3-0. However, the Blues would challenge as it seemed Joakim Nordstrom was in the Blues’s zone before the puck was, but after review it was shown that Joel Edmundson pushed the puck back into the zone thus nullifying the offsides call.

     

    Going into the second period the Bruins would strike again in the first minute of the period as David Pastrnak would collect the rebound in front of the net and backhand it past Binnington to make it 4-0. However, the Blues would finally get on the board as Ivan Barbashev would net his second of the playoffs to cut the lead to three, but the Bruins would respond again on their third powerplay as Torey Krug would shoot one past Binnington to get their four goal lead back and would force Craig Berube to put Jake Allen in net for the Blues as the Bruins lead 5-1 going into the second intermission.

     

    In the third period things would get very chippy as we would see three penalties called in the first 91 seconds. Then Zdeno Chara would take an ill advised roughing call which would lead to a Colton Parayko powerplay goal to cut the Bruins lead to three. Then late in the period Noel Acciari would score on the empty net to ice the game, but Alex Pietrangelo would take a stupid slashing penalty and the Bruins would go a perfect 4 for 4 on the powerplay when Marcus Johansson would score on the powerplay off of the one timer from Torey Krug. Boston would win the game 7-2 to take the 2-1 series lead.

     

    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

    Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

    Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

    John Moore — Connor Clifton

    Tuukka Rask

    Jaroslav Halak

    Scratched: Steven Kampfer, Karson Kuhlman

    Injured: Matt Grzelcyk (upper body) Chris Wagner (upper body), Kevan Miller (lower body)

     

    St. Louis Blues:

    Jaden Schwartz — Brayden Schenn — Vladimir Tarasenko

    Sammy Blais — Ryan O’Reilly — David Perron

    Patrick Maroon — Tyler Bozak — Robby Fabbri

    Zach Sanford — Ivan Barbashev — Alexander Steen

    Carl Gunnarsson — Alex Pietrangelo

    Jay Bouwmeester — Colton Parayko

    Joel Edmundson — Robert Bortuzzo

    Jordan Binnington

    Jake Allen

    Scratched: Michael Del Zotto, Mackenzie MacEachern, Chris Thorburn , Ville Husso

    Injured: Vince Dunn (upper body), Robert Thomas (undisclosed)

    Suspended: Oskar Sundqvist

     

    First Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 1:02 – Jake DeBrusk 2 minutes for Kneeing

    Blues Penalty – 10:26 – David Perron 2 minutes for Interference

    Bruins PPG – 10:47 – Patrice Bergeron (9) from Torey Krug (12) and Jake DeBrusk (6)

    Bruins Penalty – 14:22 – Connor Clifton 2 minutes for Roughing

    Blues Penalty – 14:22 – Ivan Barbashev 2 minutes Unsportsmanlike Conduct

    Bruins Goal – 17:40 – Charlie Coyle (8) from Marcus Johansson (7) and Danton Heinen (6)

    Bruins Goal – 19:50 – Sean Kuraly (4) from Joakim Nordstrom (4)

    Blues Penalty – 19:50 – Bench (David Perron) 2 minutes for Delay of Game

     

    End of 1st – BOS – 3       STL – 0

    Shots              12                08

    Faceoffs         12                08

    Hits               16                  14

    PP                 1/1                 0/1

     

    Second Period:

    Bruins PPG – :41 – David Pastrnak (8) from Torey Krug (13) and Patrice Bergeron (6)

    Bruins Penalty – 7:37 – Charlie McAvoy 2 minutes for Slashing

    Bruins Penalty – 7:37 – Zdeno Chara 2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct

    Blues Penalty – 7:37 – Pat Maroon 2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct

    Blues Goal – 11:05 – Ivan Barbashev (3) from Zach Sanford (1) and Alexander Steen (3)

    Blues Penalty – 11:41 – Colton Parayko 2 minutes for High Sticking

    Bruins PPG – 12:12 – Torey Krug (2) from Brad Marchand (12 and Patrice Bergeron (7)

     

    End of 2nd – BOS – 5        STL – 1

    Shots               20                 18

    Faceoffs          21                 17

    Hits                 25                  27

    PP                   3/3                  0/2

     

    Third Period:

    Blues Penalty – :54 – David Perron 2 minutes for Roughing

    Bruins Penalty – :54 – Connor Clifton 2 minutes for Cross Checking

    Bruins Penalty – 1:31 – Brandon Carlo 2 minutes for Interference

    Bruins Penalty – 5:18 – Zdeno Chara 2 minutes for Roughing

    Blues PPG – 5:24 – Colton Parayko (2) from Ryan O’Reilly (13) and Tyler Bozak (7)

    Bruins Penalty – 6:04 – Jake DeBrusk 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    Bruins ENG – 18:12 – Noel Acciari (2) from Joakim Nordstrom (5)

    Blues Penalty – 18:12 – Alex Pietrangelo 2 minutes for Slashing

    Bruins PPG – 1:35 – Marcus Johansson (4) from Torey Krug (14) and Connor Clifton (3)

     

    End of 3rd – BOS – 7         STL – 2

    Shots              24                   29

    Faceoffs        30                    24

    Hits               29                     35

    PP                 4/4                    1/5

     

    Next Up:

    Game 4 – BOS Leads 2-1

     

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  • 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.

  • Eastern Conference Finals Preview – Carolina Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins

    Eastern Conference Finals Preview – Carolina Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins

    Eastern Conference Finals

    Carolina Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins

     

    Regular Season Series:

    CAR 1-0-1 (Playoffs 8-3)

    BOS 2-1-0 (Playoffs 8-5)

     

    How they got here:

    Carolina defeated the Washington Capitals 4-3 in the first round, and then swept the New York Islanders 4-0 in the second round.

     

    Boston defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in the first round, and then defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2 in the second round.

     

    A Deeper Look at the Series:

    Offense:

    For the Carolina Hurricanes this postseason they had a lot of players playing in the playoffs for the first time in their careers, and outside of the veteran leadership of Jordan Staal and Justin Williams they have also received contributions from their young stars of Teuvo Teravainen and Sebastian Aho. The biggest surprise this season has been the rise of rookie forward Warren Foegele who has recorded 5 goals and 4 assists for 9 points in the postseason so far.

     

    For the veteran Boston Bruins they have received contributions from all of their top players including Brad Marchand who leads the way with 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points this postseason. However, despite their contributions this postseason, the Columbus Blue Jackets last round showed how you can keep the top players of the Bruins quite for an extended amout of time throughout the series. Unfortunately for the Blue Jackets they faltered near the end and the likes of Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak would take over and lead the Bruins back to the Eastern Conference Finals.

     

    Defense:

    On defense for the Hurricanes they have been lead quietly by Jaccob Slavin who leads the team in points with 11 this postseason, but all 11 points have been assists for Slavin and it has shown as he has been a jolt for kick startig the Hurricanes offense. The Hurricanes have also gained contributions from Dougie Hamilton, Justin Faulk and Brett Pesce who combined have 19 points (4 goals and 15 assists) this postseason. With these four players firing on all cylinders, it makes the Hurricanes defense a dangerous one to contain in regards to moving the play up the ice and into the offensive zone.

     

    The Bruins major contributions offensively have come from Torey Krug (1 goal and 8 points) and Charlie McAvoy (1 goal and 6 points) from the blueline, but their overall core which is lead by captain Zdeno Chara has been solid throughout the majority of these playoffs. However, going into Game 1 the Bruins will be without McAvoy who will be serving a ome game suspension for his hit to the head of Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson in Game 7 last round, so the Bruins are going to need to step up in his absence for Game 1.

     

    Goaltending:

    For the Hurricanes they have relied on both of their horses from the regular season in Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney. Mrazek, who is the team’s number one goaltender has a 5-3 record with a 2.22 GAA and a .913 save percentage, while McElhinney has a 3-0 record with a 1.56 GAA and a .947 save percentage since coming in when Mrazek went down with a lower body injury. The Hurricanes hope to have Mrazek between the pipes for Game 1, but McElhinney is ready to answer the call when needed.

     

    For the Bruins they have their stalwart Tuukka Rask who in these playoffs have an 8-5 record with a 2.02 GAA and a .938 save percentage as he has been the backbone for the Bruins this postseason.

     

    Goaltending will be one of the biggest keys this series, and could also be the determining factor.

     

    Special Teams:

    CAR – PP 17.8%     PK 81.6%

    BOS – PP 25.9%     PK 79.9%

     

    For special teams this could be considered a wash as both teams are on the opposite end of the spectrum in regards to powerplay and penalty kill. During the regular season the Bruins had a better powerplay, but on the penalty kill the Hurricanes were the better team. One edge I would give to the Hurricanes would be their penalty kill as seeing it in person, against the Bruins for Hartford Whalers Night, they utilize their young, fast players along with their grizzled defenders to kill penalties, and with players like Teravainen and Aho on the kill that can score shorthanded, that can give the Hurricanes a slight edge.

     

    Prediction: CAR in 6

     

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

  • Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Boston Bruins – Game 4 Recap

    Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Boston Bruins – Game 4 Recap

    With a commanding 3-1 lead within their grasp, the Columbus Blue Jackets could smell blood in the water. Nationwide arena was ready for a huge jackets victory to put them within a win of the Eastern Conference final. The time was now… until it wasn’t
    The Boston Bruins had other ideas.

    The Blue Jackets held the powerful line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak in check the past few games but Pastrnak would strike just 3:33 into the game. A beautiful cross ice feed from Charlie McAvoy would lead to a Pastrnak blast from the circle to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. The Jackets needed to play harder against that line but the Bruins would make them pay in just a few short minutes once again.

    The power trio of Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak would make their prescense felt again at 7:18 of the 1st period. Marchand would streak down the wing and wire a perfect pass to a pinching Bergeron who would rip a wrister past Bobrovsky for the Bruins’ second goal of the game and second of the first period. The Blue Jackets were in dire straits early and the Bruins we’re jumping on them. The Jackets needed a spark and it came in the form of Artemi Panarin.

    At 8:46 of the 1st period, Panarin wristed a shot up and over Tuukka Rask to cut the Blue Jackets deficit in half. After going to the front of the net, a rebound would zone right in on Panarin’s stick and he would hammer the shot over Rask. The Jackets had the spark they needed and it was time to get this game under control. The Bruins would keep the Jackets in check and then drive the dagger into their hearts in the 3rd period.

    After a hard fought second period with some great action from both teams, the Bruins would strike again at 8:40 of the 3rd period. A rebound after a big shot from the point would find Sean Kuraly in front of net. Kuraly would wrist the puck past Bobrovsky and give the Bruins a huge 3-1 lead. Time was running out for the Blue Jackets? Could they dig down and find two goals to send it to overtime? Bergeron would strike again to stop any hope of a comeback.

    At 17:30 of the 3rd period, Bergeron would seal the Bruins victory with their fourth goal of the game and his second of the night. After a rocket of a shot from David Pastrnak, Bergeron would tap home the rebound of the shot for a power play goal and a 4-1 Bruins lead. The Bruins’ game four victory has tied the series at two games a piece with the series now becoming a best of three the rest of the way.

    Game Five is Saturday night in Boston. Keep it right here on Txhthockey.com for all the hockey news

  • Winter Classic Recap – 1/1/2019 – Boston Bruins v. Chicago Blackhawks

    Winter Classic Recap – 1/1/2019 – Boston Bruins v. Chicago Blackhawks

    Boston Bruins (21-14-4 46pts) v. Chicago Blackhawks (15-20-6 36pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    For the 11th Annual Winter Classic, the host Chicago Blackhawks would fall to the Boston Bruins 4-2 at the historic Notre Dame Stadium. This was a tightly contested game that showed great play in the net for both Tuukka Rask and Cam Ward, but it would be Sean Kuraly would bat in the loose puck to score the game winner for the Bruins.

     

    Lineups:

    Boston Bruins:

    Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

    Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson

    Danton Heinen — Sean Kuraly — Chris Wagner

    Joakim Nordstrom — Colby Cave — Noel Acciari

    Zdeno Chara — Brandon Carlo

    Torey Krug — John Moore

    Matt Grzelcyk — Kevan Miller

    Tuukka Rask

    Jaroslav Halak

    Scratched: Steven Kampfer, Ryan Donato

    Injured: Charlie McAvoy (lower body)

    Suspended: David Backes

     

    Chicago Blackhawks:

    Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Dominik Kahun

    Artem Anisimov — Dylan Strome — Patrick Kane

    Alex DeBrincat — David Kampf — Dylan Sikura

    Brendan Perlini — Marcus Kruger — John Hayden

    Duncan Keith — Erik Gustafsson

    Gustav Forsling — Brent Seabrook

    Carl Dahlstrom — Connor Murphy

    Cam Ward

    Collin Delia

    Scratched: Chris Kunitz, Andreas Martinsen

    Injured: Corey Crawford (concussion)

     

    Officials:

     

    First Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 5:52 – Brandon Carlo 2 minutes for Holding

    Blackhawks Goal – 8:30 – Brendan Perlini (5) from David Kampf (10) and Dylan Sikura (3)

    Blackhawks Penalty – 12:05 – Artem Anisimov 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins PPG – 12:38 – David Pastrnak (24) from Patrice Bergeron (20)

    Bruins Penalty – 17:03 – Matt Grzelcyk 2 minutes for High Sticking

     

    End of 1st – BOS – 1       CHI – 1

    Shots              14                12

    Faceoffs         08                09

    Hits               10                  10

    PP                 1/1                 0/2

     

    Analysis:

    Bruins – The Bruins had a good start to the game by generating good zone time that lead to two really good scoring chances. However, after their first penalty kill, they would still give up the first goal of the game, but they would respond by capitalizing on their lone powerplay of the period.

     

    Blackhawks – The Blackhawks played a good solid period that saw them generate chances with their powerplay opportunities, and also score the first goal of the game.

     

    Need to Do:

    Bruins – The Bruins need to continue pressing the play in the Blackhawks zone, and continue to capitalize on their powerplay opportunities.

     

    Blackhawks – The Blackhawks need to do a better job on special teams. They need to generate more traffic in front of Tuukka Rask while on the powerplay, and to lockdown their zone better and force the Bruins to shoot from outside of the slot area while on the penalty kill.

     

    Second Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 2:23 – Sean Kuraly 2 minutes for Hooking

    Blackhawks Goal – 11:24 – Dominik Kahun (5) from Erik Gustafsson (14) and Jonathan Toews (20)

    Blackhawks Penalty – 17:57 – Erik Gustafsson 2 minutes for Roughing

    Bruins PPG – 18:48 – Patrice Bergeron (13) from David Pastrnak (26) and Torey Krug (20)

    Bruins Penalty – 19:50 – Matt Grzelcyk 2 minutes for Hooking

     

    End of 2nd – BOS – 2        CHI – 2

    Shots               24                 28

    Faceoffs          18                 23

    Hits                 20                  21

    PP                   2/2                  0/3

     

    Analysis:

    Bruins – Not a good first half to the second period for the Bruins, but their special teams was a key factor in this period as they killed off another penalty, and scored on their lone powerplay opportunity to tie the game at 2 a piece.

     

    Blackhawks – The Blackhawks dominated the first half of this period generating 12 of the first 16 shots. However, they were unable to capitalize on their lone powerplay of the period, and were scored against on their lone penalty kill of the period as well, going 0 for 2 when down a man.

     

    Need to Do:

    Bruins – The Bruins need to continue with their strong penalty killing, but they need to also play much better at 5 on 5 as they are being dominated by the Blackhawks at even strength.

     

    Blackhawks – The Blackhawks need to start this period strong and make the most of this powerplay that they get to start the period with. Also the Blackhawks need to do a better job of penalty killing if they hope to win this game. Discipline is key.

     

    Third Period:

    Blackhawks Penalty – 1:03 – Patrick Kane 2 minutes for High Sticking

    Blackhawks Penalty – 1:42 – Artem Anisimov 2 minutes for Tripping

    Blackhawks Penalty – 4:56 – Gustav Forsling 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins Goal – 10:20 – Sean Kuraly (4) from Chris Wagner (3) and Matt Grzelcyk (10)

    Bruins ENG – 19:27 – Brad Marchand (13) from David Krejci (24)

     

    End of 3rd – BOS – 4         CHI – 2

    Shots              36                   38

    Faceoffs        29                    37

    Hits               30                     25

    PP                 2/5                    0/4

     

    Analysis:

    This  was a closer game than it should have been due to Chicago’s lack of discipline this period, but both goaltenders were spectacular. However, it would be the Bruins play overwhelming the Blackhawks to secure the victory.

     

    Next Up:

    Boston (22-14-4 48pts) v. Calgary (24-12-4 52pts)

    Chicago (15-21-6 36pts) @ NY Islanders (21-13-4 46pts)

  • News and Notes: October 24th, 2018

    These are your news and notes for Wednesday, October 24th, 2018

    There were eight games in action last night…

    • In a matchup of two of the highest-scoring player the last three seasons, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins faced off against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.Sidney Crosby netted the game winner in overtime to take down Edmonton 6-5. This contest would also feature a tie five times throughout the game.

      Crosby scored his first two goals of the season and would also net his first goals in a head-to-head matchup. Pittsburgh is 5-0-0 against Edmonton since the start of the 2016-17 season.

      In this contest, Crosby would also register the 14th career regular-season overtime goal, tying Los Angeles Kings Ilya Kovalchuk for second-most by an active player. Both trail Alex Ovechkin, who has 22.

      This contest would also make it the third time this season to feature five tying goals and the second involving the Penguins.

    • David Pastrnak and the Boston Bruins defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-1.Pastrnak would score two goals and two assists and would be only the sixth player in Bruins history to score at least 10 goals in the teams first nine games to start the season. Phil Esposito has the team record to start a season with 14 goals and did that in 10 games to start the 1973-74 season.

      Patrice Bergeron and Pastrnak became the 15th and 16th different players to record at least 15 points or more in the first nine games of a season in franchise history.

    • Montreal Canadiens G Carey Price reached a tie for second place in franchise history for wins by a goaltender when the Canadiens defeated the Calgary Flames 3-2.Price is now tied with Hall of Famer Patrick Roy at 289.

      Price registered 21 saves in the contest.

      For more on this contest, TXHT and Last Word on Sports Armand Kilsvitch has your game recap here.

    • The San Jose Sharks had five different goalscorers as they took down the Nashville Predators 5-4.With the Sharks win, the Predators win streak at five has been snapped. Down by two goals with less than 10 to play, San Jose would score three times. Brent Burns would net the game winner with less than three minutes to play in regulation.

      Burns, who has points in the last six games, registered the 34th game-winner of his career.

    • Arizona Coyotes Christian Fischer achieved his first career hat trick as they defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets by a score of 4-1.Fischer’s hat trick is the 11th to occur thus far on the season.

    Yesterday’s results (Home team is in CAPS):

    • NY RANGERS 5, Florida 2
    • Arizona 4, COLUMBUS 1
    • MONTREAL 3, Calgary 2
    • Boston 4, OTTAWA 1
    • San Jose 5, NASHVILLE 4
    • CHICAGO 3, Anaheim 1
    • DALLAS 4, Los Angeles 2
    • Pittsburgh 6, EDMONTON 5 (OT)

    There are four games taking place tonight:

    Oct_24th_Schedy-23083115.jpg

    Image courtesy of NHL and NHL Public Relations

    For other notes on yesterday’s contests..

    In NHL news…

    • The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced that Ottawa Senators Mark Borowiecki will have a hearing today for his elbowing penalty on Boston’s Urho Vaakanainen last night.
    • The New York Islanders announced today that their contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 28th, 2019 has been moved from Barclays Center to Nassau Coliseum.

     

     

    You can watch TXHT Live next Wednesday at 8p EST on both Twitch and Facebook Live.