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Reports of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ demise have been greatly exaggerated.
After dropping Game 1 of their opening round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a very lopsided game, the Leafs have come to play in Game 2.
The Leafs currently hold a 3-0 lead over the Lightning through 20 minutes and fans at Scotiabank Arena in downtown Toronto are absolutely ROCKING the building!
Let’s goooooooo!
UPDATE: No Hedman tonight for the Lightning.
HUGE break for the Leafs.
Read below for our earlier report on this developing story.
In case you missed it in Game 1 of the opening round playoff series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs, Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman left the game with a suspected lower body injury.
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was pretty tight lipped on Hedman’s status following the game, but this morning he did announce that Hedman would take morning skate today and would be a game-time decision for today.
Needless to say that if Hedman can’t play this evening, it would be a HUGE advantage for the hometown Leafs.
The New York Rangers kept dominating the New Jersey Devils in Game 2, getting a 5-1 statement win again and taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the series as it now shifts to Madison Square Garden.
The Devils weren’t happy about it and it definitely showed in the second part of the third period. Tempers blew up with less than 10 minutes with the Rangers cruising late in the game. It kicked off with Devils’ fourth-line center Michael McLeod and New York defenseman Braden Schneider getting into a big fight with both landing haymakers, and led to absolute mayhem with 10 misconducts getting handed out before the final buzzer, almost all at once.
The night ended early for Rangers’ Barclay Goodrow, Jimmy Vesey, Niko Mikkola, Tyler Motte and Adam Fox. The Devils lost Brendan Smith, Nathan Bastian, Kevin Bahl, Miles Wood and Timo Meier to misconducts.
That was a busy third frame for the officials who did not want to lose control of the game as the Devils attempted to set the stage for the third contest this weekend.
Despite the officials trying to get a hold of things before the final buzzer, it still managed to turn into a gong show and got 10 misconducts on the stat sheet.
Game 3 takes place Saturday night in the Big Apple, with tempers probably still boiling from the Rangers’ commanding wins in Devils’ territory.
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About midway through Game 2 in their opening round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Winnipeg Jets and the Vegas Golden Knights are finally beginning to look and behave like themselves.
The Golden Knights looked sluggish in Game 1, dropping a 5-1 decision and then again this evening got off to a slow start in Game 2. Winnipeg entered the 2nd period with a 1-0 lead, but Vegas has since turned it on and, in fact, they’ve taken a 2-1 lead thanks to superstar Jack Eichel’s first career playoff tally:
It only took him 8 seasons!
UPDATE: It’s now 2-2 and if you’re not watching do yourself a favor and flip it on. Fantastic game!
As CBC color commentator Gary Galley just put it, we’ve got a “Spicy Night” in Vegas, a place that’s maybe seen more spicy nights than anywhere else on Earth.
The Winnipeg Jets are currently pouring the hot sauce all over the Vegas Golden Knights, up 1-0 in the series and absolutely in control of things in the early goings of Game 2. The Jets currently hold a 1-0 lead through 1 period this evening.
And with tension running high, you just know there’s going to be some bad blood and fisticuffs.
Check out Jets veteran forward Blake Wheeler kicking off a “full on brawl” in Vegas as Jets insider Mike McIntyre put it:
Take a look:
So… how about them Seattle Kraken?
The sophomore expansion club has the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche on the ropes through four periods in their opening round Stanley Cup Playoff matchup.
In Game 1, it was a textbook playoff road game from the Kraken in their first every playoff game. This evening, they look even better. In fact, they look so good that they’re trying to get some action from the Avs faithful in Denver.
Take a look at Kraken forward Brandon Tanev sniping the game’s second goal and then blowing a kiss to a female Avs fan in the front row:
Pucker up, baby! That’s some real Rockstar kinda shit right there from Tanev lol
The Toronto Maple Leafs needed to rebound in a huge way after Tuesday night’s embarrassing 7-3 setback at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of their first round Stanley Cup Playoffs series. And they did so in spades tonight at Scotiabank Arena, led by captain John Tavares.
The Toronto native scored his first career playoff hat trick en route to a 7-2 victory, a near complete opposite result of what transpired on Tuesday night. Thanks to his efforts, the series is tied at 1-1 apiece as the two teams will shift for Games 3 and 4 at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, Florida.
The hat trick from Tavares was the first by a Leafs player since Alexander Mogilny accomplished the feat in 2003.
The first round series between the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers is tied up at 1-1 and the latter are aware they needed to take the California rivals seriously.
However, reports emerge that GM Ken Holland may already be considering a significant trade for the summer, despite his team fighting a top opponent in a tight series. According to insider Frank Seravalli, the Oilers could look to trade defenseman Evan Bouchard if he doesn’t agree to a bridge deal for his next contract.
It is clear that the young blue liner will seek a raise coming off his entry-level contract after reaching the 40-point plateau for a second consecutive season, especially thanks to him joining trade-deadline acquisition Mattias Ekholm.
Seravalli doesn’t see a path for a long-term deal for Bouchard, given the Oilers’ salary-cap limitations. Edmonton is tight on money with a projected $8.5 million in cap space with 15 players under contract for 2023-24, per Cap Friendly. The insider believes the Oilers will prefer to sign him to a bridge deal and could offer up a two-year deal worth an annual cap hit of $3.5 million or $4.5 million, with the potential for a more lucrative long-term deal down the road.
However if Bouchard refuses, Seravalli wouldn’t be surprised to see the Oilers attempt to trade him during the summer as the young defenseman lacks arbitration rights.
Imagine if a rival club tempts Bouchard with an offer sheet knowing of the Oilers’ limited salary-cap space? While this is an unlikely scenario that rarely takes place in the NHL, the Oilers are reportedly studying all possible options for Bouchard… even amidst a tight playoff series!
The worst was confirmed for the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday as forward Teuvo Teravainen will be out for the remainder of the team’s series against the New York Islanders, maybe longer, with a fractured hand. Teravainen suffered the injury after receiving a slash to the hand from Islanders forward J.G. Pageau.
Teravainen was the last man standing of the trio with Max Pacioretty and Andrei Svechnikov, both of whom are on injured reserve with season-ending lower-body injuries.That triple force is out of order, which forced the Hurricanes to recall six players: forwards Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev, Jamieson Rees and Ryan Suzuki, defenseman Maxime Lajoie and goaltender Zach Sawchenko from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League (AHL).
The Hurricanes need to feel secure in added depth and while most of these players won’t suit up for a playoff contest, you can never be too sure with the injury bug apparently going around.
After winning both Games 1 and 2 in Raleigh, the Hurricanes will look to keep going away from home in New York, tonight for Game 3.
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The Vegas Golden Knights need to explain this.
On Thursday, it was pointed out and confirmed by many insiders and pundits that goalie Jonathan Quick was a healthy scratch for Game 2 of the first round series against the Winnipeg Jets.
This only adds to the drama already surrounding Quick, who was traded from the Los Angeles Kings prior to the deadline in March in a messy transaction. It came to a sad ending for Quick in LA as he was traded, along with a conditional 2023 first-round draft pick and a third-round pick in 2024 to the Columbus Blue Jackets for goaltender Joonas Korpisalo and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov. The Blue Jackets, clearly aware that Quick didn’t want to compete for a non-contender, was then shipped to Vegas a day later.
Where he know watches the postseason action from the press box…
No one can report what is going on between Quick and the Golden Knights, though the veteran goalie didn’t put up great numbers in the last stretch of the season. He played 10 games and recorded a subpar 3.13 goal-against average and a .901 save percentage. He last played on April 8 against the Dallas Stars and lost in the shootout.
Quick was heartbroken over the trade our of Los Angeles and admitted that he felt disrespected by the club that selected him in 2005 and where he won two Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and 2014.
And as of right now, he is not part of the lineup that could get to another one, this time in Vegas.
The Golden Knights have tied the series at 1-1 against the Jets with Laurent Brossoit in between the pipes and it’d be surprising to see a change ahead of Game 3 on Saturday in Winnipeg.
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