It’s no secret that upcoming free agent John Tavares has been meeting with teams this week in LA. Five to be exact; The Leafs, Bruins, Sharks, Stars and Lightning as well as phone calls with at least three other teams.
Each team will present a different package to Tavares, who is the most coveted free agent on the market.
Rumours are flying, the insiders are tweeting, and bloggers are writing. It’s the offseason, baby.
Last year, the Vegas Expansion Draft was the talk of the league as every team looked to avoid losing a key piece. It was expected to be one of the craziest offseasons in NHL history, but honestly, it was underwhelming.
This year, it won’t be an expansion draft making noise, it will be the number of star players who could be on the move. John Tavares and John Carlson are top-tier NHL talent and both will likely hit the UFA market come July 1. You also have names like Erik Karlsson, Ryan O’Reilly, and Max Pacioretty on the trading block.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone if we see more than a few big splashes this summer, but which teams could be the busiest? Here’s my list:
On day 23 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs two teams have come within one win of reaching their respective Conference Finals. In a night full of offense….and maybe a lick or two…Tampa Bay found a way to win their third straight while the hottest expansion team in sports stood tall with their MVP goaltender.
Here’s how it went down:
Any type of goal is a good one in OT.
Dan Girardi just scored an important one for a 3-1 series lead for the @TBLightning. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/Wi3rCXahXW
— NHL (@NHL) May 5, 2018
The Tampa Bay Lightning out shot the Bruins 104-73 through the first three games of the series and have kept the pressure up throughout. Tuukka Rask was the one solid piece that had kept the Bruins in the series.
Boston seemed to be equalling Tampa Bay’s pressure early, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Lightning from taking the early lead.
Brayden Point used his speed to steal the puck in the neutral zone and skate his way through both Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy on his way to making a move around Rask, scoring his third of the playoffs.
The Lightning would add to their lead less than five minutes later. After two consecutive Bruins’ penalties, Tampa Bay would score on the powerplay. Nikita Kucherov would score his sixth of the playoffs one-timing a pass from Victor Hedman past Rask for the 2-0 lead.
With a powerplay of their own, Boston would cut the lead in half. Torey Krug would blast a shot from the point and it would deflect in the air and to the right of Andrei Vasilevskiy where David Pastrnak was waiting to clean up the rebound and make it a 2-1 game with under four minutes left.
The Bruins controlled the pace of play in the second and would tie the game in the period.
Tyler Johnson took a tripping penalty 43 seconds into the second. On the man-advantage Patrice Bergeron buried his fifth of the playoffs, down low in the slot to tie the game at two.
Boston’s special team’s units were producing all night. While short-handed Brad Marchand took the puck from his own zone and skated up ice and threw the puck on net. Patrice Bergeron skated up in front of the net and tipped it past Vasilevskiy for his second of the game and a 3-2 Bruins lead.
Tampa Bay tied things up with seven minutes left. On a questionable play where it looked like Nikita Kucherov pulled Charlie McAvoy down with one arm, behind the Bruins’ net, the Lightning were able to capitalize.
On the questionable play, JT Miller took the puck up the side boards and made a pass into the slot where Steven Stamkos one-timed a shot past Rask, for his third of the playoffs and his second of the series. The Captain’s goal was enough to send the game into OT.
Captain @RealStamkos91 to the rescue.
Oh, and a lethal one-timer too. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/liye0rwqWt
— NHL (@NHL) May 5, 2018
A little over three minutes into the OT period, Dan Girardi became the hero for Tampa Bay. Giradi set up down low in front of Tuukka Rask and deflected the puck that was thrown on net by Alex Killorn for the game winner, giving Tampa Bay a 3-1 strangle hold on the series.
The Lightning were finally outshot by the Bruins and for the first time in the series, held to under 30 shots. However, they never stopped fighting and it’s starting to look like their speed may be too much for Boston.
In side news, Brad Marchand was up to his usual antics as replays found him getting a little too close with Ryan Callahan. It appeared as though Marchand licked Callahan’s face after the whistle, following some aggressive hits were thrown. Torey Krug also left the game after going into boards hard, feet first. The injury did not look good and Krug did not return.
Tampa Bay can knock Boston out of the playoffs and move onto the Eastern Conference Final on Sunday at 1 p.m. MT from Amalie Arena.
Angles? Not needed for @EHaula. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/6rXv4TxrGH
— NHL (@NHL) May 5, 2018
In a series that has gone back and fourth from the start, this has turned out to be one of the more exciting series with both teams generating a total of 348 shots and two of the four previous games going into overtime.
Vegas made some line-up changes coming into Game 5, playing some players who hadn’t played yet in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Luca Sbisa drew in for John Merrill, while Oscar Lindberg got the nod over Tomas Nosek. Tomas Tatar was injured and replaced with Ryan Carpenter.
Things started out fast and physical with both teams flying around and throwing bodies in the opening few minutes.
It took until three seconds left in the first period, but Vegas scored the opening goal of the game. David Perron patiently moved the up the side-wall and made the pass to Shea Theodore who one-timed the puck on net. Erik Haula was set up in front of the net and the puck deflected off him to a wide-open James Neal who buried the rebound for his third of the playoffs.
After Tomas Hertl took an interference penalty Vegas took to the powerplay and Alex Tuch scored his third of the playoffs. Tuch parked his big frame in front of the net and batted in the rebound on a shot blasted on net from Reilly Smith.
The Golden Knights would add a third goal four minutes later. David Perron skated up ice and rocketed a pass to Erik Haula, just missing him. The pass banked off the corner boards and Haula threw the bouncing puck on net on a sharp angle, finding it’s way through Martin Jones for a 3-0 lead.
Vegas would make it 4-0 with Alex Tuch scoring his second of the game off a beautiful saucer pass by Cody Eakin. The goal would chase Martin Jones to the bench after allowing four goals on 31 shots. He was replace by Aaron Dell
The Sharks did spoil the shut-out for Marc-Andre Fleury with Kevin Lebanc roofing one over the glove of Fleury on the powerplay to make it 4-1. Less than two minutes later Tomas Hertl would make it a two-goal game netting his sixth of the playoffs.
The Sharks took one step closer to the come-back crashing the net and through a crowd of bodies Mikkel Boedker scoring his first of the playoffs and the third unanswered goal for San Jose, cutting the lead to 4-3 for Vegas.
Jonathan Marchessault would add an empty net goal to seal the deal for Vegas, delivering a 3-2 series lead.
Marc-Andre Fleury gave another MVP-like performance making XX saves on XX shots including some stops that were simply out of this world. He continues to be a massive part of the Golden Knight’s success as they continue this deep run into the playoffs and now find themselves one win away from the Western Conference Final.
🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌@nabber03 channeling his inner 🌸
🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌 pic.twitter.com/jhe0p3fkjD
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) May 5, 2018
The Golden Knights controlled a majority of this game but San Jose was able to fight back scoring three unanswered goals and almost completed the come-back. Vegas out-shot San Jose but the Sharks had scoring chance after scoring chance turned away by Marc-Andre Fleury. Despite giving up three late goals “The Flower” stood tall when his team needed it most.
Vegas has an opportunity to eliminate the Sharks and move onto the Western Conference Final Sunday at 5:30 MT from SAP Arena in San Jose.
Day 19 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs saw the Tampa Bay Lightning even up the series while getting a redeeming performance out of one of it’s starts and the Vegas Golden Knights sneak out an OT win while relying on another outstanding performance by their all-star goaltender.
Here’s how it went down:
Go on ahead, Johnny!!#TBLvsBOS | #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/Ni8MSvGl3t
— #GoBolts (@TBLightning) May 1, 2018
After losing convincingly in Game 1 by a score of 6-2, Tampa Bay needed to come out strong and fast in Game 2. They did just that outshooting Boston 10-0 through 12 minutes of play. It took 14 minutes for Boston to register their first shot.
In fact, Tampa Bay scored their first goal before the Bruins even registered a shot. Yanni Gourde scored his second of the playoffs on the powerplay, after taking the cross-ice pass from Brayden Point.
Boston would even out the pace of play, in the first getting a two-man advantage with less than six minutes to play. They evened out the shot totals to 10-8 in favour of Tampa Bay and the Bruins did even the score before the second period.
Charlie McAvoy would score his fist of the playoffs on a tic-tac-toe play with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron sending the game into the second period with a 1-1 tie.
After a Bruins turnover in the offensive zone, Brayden Point sped down the ice to catch up to a long pass from Ondrej Palat. Point then set up Tyler Johnson cross-ice in the slot who rifled it past Tuukka Rask for a 2-1 Lightning lead with less than 10 minutes left in the period.
After another Bruins turnover, this time at their blue-line as they were exiting the zone, Point added to his multi-point night with another assist setting up Ondrej Palat, who sniped one past Rask glove side. The extra cushion did not last for long.
With a face-off to the left of the Tampa Bay net after an icing call, Torey Krug scored his third of the playoffs 1:50 after the Palat goal, cutting the lead back down to one with four minutes left in the game.
Brayden Point would go on to score an empty net goal to seal the deal with 25 seconds left in the game. Point finished with four points (1G-3A).
Rask was over-exceptional for the second straight game. He stopped 27 of 30 Lightning shots. In the third period, he kept Boston in the game while Tampa Bay outshot them 13 to 7. It’s a shame the Bruins could not find a way to grab a victory with another outstanding performance by their goaltender.
Game 2 was mostly a defensive game that started to break out more offensively late. Tampa Bay continued to bring a heavy shot total but this time capitalized on their opportunities and found ways to beat a strong goaltending performance from Tuukka Rask.
You know what this means…#BOLTSWIN pic.twitter.com/Zbe0gEm8LQ
— #GoBolts (@TBLightning) May 1, 2018
The more games that are played in these Stanley Cup Playoffs, the more the series’ start to develop into what we expected. That was more than the case for Game 2 between the Lightning and Bruins.
Game 3 will take place Wednesday night at 5 p.m. MT from TD Garden.
Unbelievable.@WKarlsson71 and the @GoldenKnights have done it again. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/gmqQAvcb9h
— NHL (@NHL) May 1, 2018
San Jose made sure to bring the same pressure and offensive prowess it had in Game 2 early on in Game 3. They outshot Vegas 17-10 in the first period. Marc-Andre Fleury stood tall though, stopping all 17 shots, some in acrobatic fashion as the game entered the second period tied at zero.
Fleury would take a penalty in the second period, for tripping Mikkel Bødker as he came around the net on the wrap-around. On the powerplay, Timo Meier would score his second of the playoffs after Chris Tierney cleaned up a deflection and made the cross-ice pass to set Meier up.
After the goal, things fell apart for the Sharks. They took three penalties in the second period and gave up three goals, two on the powerplay.
The 1-0 lead would not last long as Brenden Dillon would be called for holding putting Vegas on the powerplay. On the man-advantage James Neal set up Colin Miller with the back-door pass for Miller’s second of the playoffs, tying the game 1-1.
Three minutes later Vegas would go right back on the powerplay. Jonathan Marchessault would one-time a pass from Alex Tuch right past Martin Jones and a 2-1 Knights lead with just over six minutes left.
A little over a minute later Vegas would again add to their lead. Reilly Smith tapped one home from the side of the net to give the Knights a two-goal lead headed into the third period.
The Sharks would finally find a way to beat Fleury pulling within one goal with 12 minutes left. Evander Kane sent a lazar of a shot from the face-off circle over the shoulder of Fleury. Vegas challenged goaltender interference with Logan Couture bumping into Fleury, but the play on the ice stayed as called, and the game remained 3-2.
San Jose would fight their way back into the game with Tomas Hertl burying one down low with a bunch of Sharks crashing the net and jumping on the loose puck. Hertl was able to tie the game with just under two minutes left, his fourth of the playoffs.
In OT Marc-Andre Fleury continued his amazing performance robbing Logan Couture point blank in the slot off of a set-up from behind the net. Eight minutes into the OT period the Knights ended the game taking a 2-1 series lead.
MARC-ANDRE FLEURY! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/hZWHXeRBWh
— NHL (@NHL) May 1, 2018
William Karlsson skated up ice and sniped a shot over Martin Jones’ shoulder blocker side. The goal was Karlsson’s fourth of the playoffs.
San Jose has proven to be putting up shot totals at an astronomical level in this series putting up a total of 122 shots through the three games. But if the Golden Knights can keep getting performances from their goaltender like this one it will be a tough series. Fleury made a total of 39 saves on 42 Sharks shots.
For one I hope the rest of the series continues to play out like Game’s 2 and 3 have. Game 4 is set to take place Wednesday at 8 p.m. MT from the SAP Center.
Confirmed.
It’s the @SanJoseSharks and @GoldenKnights meeting up in the Second Round. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/2RO22FEySk
— NHL (@NHL) April 19, 2018
With both these teams sweeping their way into the second round, we didn’t get much of a sample of what they can bring to the table.
However, both teams should make for an exciting and entertaining second round match-up.
Post-series handshake line
WE’RE GOING TO ROUND TWO!!! pic.twitter.com/blJSRZ7d9H
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) April 18, 2018
The Vegas Golden Knights shocked the world by being the best expansion team in its first year than any other to date. They not only broke records in terms of wins, points and by being the first expansion team to make the playoffs but they also became the first to move past the first round.
And they did it in four games.
The Knights faced the veteran savvy, and playoff experienced LA Kings team in the first round. They swept LA by only scoring seven goals through the entire four games and had a powerplay percentage of just 8.3% while holding a staggering 92.3% penalty kill rating.
They were able to do so by only giving up three goals through the series.
Marc-Andre Fleury was the backbone of the Vegas Golden Knights through the first round. The Flower made 127 saves on 130 shots faced from the Kings. That averages out to a .977 SV% (best in the playoffs so far) and a 0.65 GAA.
Reilly Smith led the team with three points (0G-3A) in the first round.
Depth scoring was a huge contributor to Vegas’ success in moving onto the first round as all seven goals scored for them were by different players. Shea Theodore, Alex Tuch, William Karlsson, James Neal, Erik Haula, Brayden McNabb and Cody Eakin each scored for the Pacific Division Champions.
As mentioned the Knights are productive depth wise with players in every corner of the roster finding ways to be effective. This is the time to look at some of the more experienced guys to step up.
James Neal had two points (1G-1A) in the first round. His only goal came in Game 3 to solidify a 3-0 stranglehold on the series. Playing on the second line with Alex Tuch and Game 2 OT hero Erik Haula could be an opportunity for “Big Game James” to start adding to his career 46 playoff point total.
He rly rly is the Real Deal pic.twitter.com/UtjOEB4lev
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) April 16, 2018
🤝 #DucksHunted pic.twitter.com/5lQV5zohsm
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 19, 2018
The Sharks finished third in the Pacific Division behind the Ducks and Knights but still swept a Ducks team who had been dealing with injuries. The offensive explosion of the Sharks over the past month has been an impressive piece to their early playoff run.
The Sharks scored a total of 16 goals in the first round while only giving up four goals. They had a powerplay percentage of 30% and a penalty kill of 83.3% against the Ducks. San Jose generated an average of 32.3 shots per game.
What’s more impressive is the Ducks averaged 33 shots per game but could only score four goals through four games. Martin Jones was second in SV% and GAA in the first round with a .970 SV% and a 1.00 GAA. Jones had one shutout in the first round while facing the ninth most shots.
Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski led the team in the first round with five points each. Nine players scored a goal for San Jose with Tomas Hertl, Marcus Sorensen and Evander Kane each scoring three goals.
With players like Couture and Pavelski being obvious candidates, I look for production from a newly acquired Shark.
Evander Kane is my player to watch. As mentioned earlier Kane scored three goals in the first round. With this series being more of a defensive battle than the first, it’s understandable that Kane may not light up the scoring sheet.
But with goals most likely being hard to come by with an elite goaltender on the other end of the ice, I see Kane adding to his 18 total points as a Shark and in moments when it will be needed. Pairing him on the first line with Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi will surely see Kane get plenty of ice time and opportunity to come up clutch in big-time situations.
We get it, Evander Kane. You have sick hands. #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/7OqSTXEzCj
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 17, 2018
Goals were not an issue in the regular match-ups for these teams. Vegas outscored San Jose 14-11 through the four games with two of the four going into overtime. Both teams have solidified a much stronger defensive game since the last meeting on March 31, so it will be interesting to see how they match up in the second round.
This could be one of the more exciting series of the second round. It may not be an offensive explosion, but a defensive chess match could lead to a tightly contested battle, leaving you on the edge of your seat. Look for both goaltenders to be lights out with the possibility of plenty of OT with two of the four regular season matchups going into extra frames.
Vegas will depend more on Marc-Andre Fleury with the lack of scoring on their end in the first round, going up against a Sharks team that was able to almost score at will.
In the end, I do see a tooth and nail fight with the Sharks pulling away late in the series with their powerhouse scoring ability.
My Prediction: Sharks in 6 games.
We had a little bit of everything today.
Some great goaltending, plenty of goals, and even said goodbye to another Stanley Cup hopefully.
Better luck next year Anaheim.
Here’s how today went:
The offence wasn’t about to slow down on day six of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Leafs stayed alive to breathe some life back into their playoff hopes; the Devils did the same scoring three unanswered goals, Colorado got some revenge on Nashville lighting them up for five goals, and the Sharks dominated the Ducks for a 3-0 stranglehold on the series.
Heres what happened:
Written by: Liam Horrobin & Ian Sheppard
Apparently, defence doesn’t exist in day four of the Stanley Cup playoffs with 27 goals being scored in the first three games and five in the final game of the night.
Tampa continued to buzz against the Devils, and Nashville nudged out the Avs while the Bruins dismantled the Leafs, and the Sharks outlasted and outmuscled the Ducks.
Here’s how they went:
Previously I looked at the Eastern Conference and previewed the playoff picture. Now it’s time to look at the other side and preview what to expect from the Western Conference. The West is set up with talented teams mixed with veteran groups that have been to the dance before. There are only two teams that I see as favourites to make it all the way, but there’s always a chance for an upset, especially when there are more experienced teams. Here’s a preview of the Western Conference playoffs.
It’s weird how things have gone for the Ottawa Senators. Less than ten months ago this organization almost made the Stanley Cup Finals, a little over three months ago they made a deal for Matt Duchene to try improve the team and then… well… %#!& hit the fan.
It’s gotten to the point where they’re set on dealing arguably the best player their organization has ever seen, and one of the best players in the league. Pure insanity.