Tag: Game 2

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Mysterious drama emerges from Golden Knights’ room in first-round series

NHL.com

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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Jon Cooper takes a shot at Mattews, Tavares and O’Reilly!

Press conference / Postgame

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper is focused on the next game, because, as he put it when he addressed the media after his team’s 7-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 2 on Thursday, this is a seven-game series.

Maybe that’s why he targeted his message to the Maple Leafs’ superstars Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Ryan O’Reilly when asked on whether the challenge changed against a team lining up Matthews – Tavares – O’Reilly down the middle. Cooper quickly chirped back:

“How did it change? So how many centers deep are we? Let me ask you that. Give me Point, Cirelli, and Paul all day against anybody in the league.”

While Cooper did not blink with his answer, he might want to take a look at the stats sheet to see that there might be an exception. And it is Game 2. Point, Cirelli, and Paul ended the night with a single point, an assist collected by Point, and an overall rating of -5.

On Toronto’s side, Matthews put up two assists, O’Reilly had one and the captain collected the hat trick.

Want another shot at that question, Cooper?

Game 3 and 4 shift to Tampa Bay, starting with the tie-breaking on Saturday as the series is square at 1.

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Vasilevskiy refused to leave the net despite coach Cooper trying to pull him after 2nd period

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This was the answer the Toronto Maple Leafs needed to send to the Tampa Bay Lightning. And they were loud and clear in Game 2 of their first round series on Thursday night. Captain John Tavares completed the hat trick in a 7-2 victory to bounce back and even the series at 1 in a loud Scotiabank Arena.

However, Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy cannot blame the local fans for not hearing what his head coach Jon Cooper had to say. According to insider Chris Johnston, Cooper attempted to pull Vasilevskiy after two periods, however, the veteran goalie, who has played every second of Lightning post-season action since 2020, refused. He returned to the cage for the last frame and allowed seven goals on 37 shots.

Cooper did not appear offended to have his goalie refuted his suggestion to be replaced in between the pipes, crediting Vasilevskiy for his desire to be better.

“That’s why he’s the best in the world. He’s not coming out.”

However, during the second intermission, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman had a feeling Vasilevskiy would not want to be yanked, seeing that he has a reputation of not being happy with getting replaced in net.

Vasilevskiy might have need the fuel for Game 3, which takes place on Saturday in Tampa. To make things worse for the goalie, he could not count on defenseman Victor Hedman, who was out with undisclosed injury that forced him from Game 1 after one period, as well as blue liner Erik Cernak, who took a hit to the head from forward Michael Bunting that landed the Maple Leafs’ forward a three-game suspension.

Let’s see how Vasilevskiy and the Bolts respond this weekend in Florida.

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Trent Frederic and Ryan Lomberg at the center of disturbing scene in Game 2

Twitter / Broadcast Game 2

It was a chaotic to Game 2 in Boston as the Bruins fell 6-3 to the Florida Panthers who tied up the series at 1 on Wednesday night.

The disturbing scene took place in the final two minutes as Radko Gudas, Nick Foligno and Garnet Hathaway were sent off with game misconducts. It all came to a brutal end when Bruins’ Trent Frederic got tangled up with Ryan Lomberg and both players started throwing punches. Frederic took down the Panthers’ forward, who however reversed their position while down on the ice before reportedly throwing the Bruins’ forward into a choke hold.

The video shows Frederic kicking his legs wildly while linesmen Kyle Flemington flails around trying to separate the two players.

After the game, Frederic was visibly upset, and probably got even more frustrated that there was no supplemental discipline for Lomberg’s actions as it remains unclear on whether he actually choked Frederic.

Frederic commented on the choke hold on Friday after practice: “Couldn’t breathe. Maybe panicked a little too early. But it was getting close there where the lights were going to turn off for a second. I’ve never seen that one.”

You can only imagine that Lomberg will get some special attention and treatment from the Bruins in Game 3.

Game on, boys!

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Tickets still available just hours before Game 2 in Edmonton!

CBC

The Edmonton Oilers stopped playing towards the end of Game 1 of their first round series against the Los Angeles Kings, and fans were so upset with the 4-3 overtime loss that they littered the ice with garbage after the final whistle.

Fans have apparently continued to show their frustration as the Oilers announced just a few hours prior to Game 2 in Edmonton that “a limited number of seats were just released for tonight’s Game 2! “ Which means : we ain’t sold out, please come and fill Rogers Place.

After losing a heartbreaker in Game 1, the Oilers need to get back on track and also will require the support of their home fans to focus on forgetting about the loss and getting the W in the second contest of their first-round series.

Earlier on Wednesday, before the announcement that seats were available, the Oilers demanded fans not throw litter on the ice after a beverage nearly hit Kings captain Anze Kopitar in the aftermath of the series opener. Oilers vice-president Tim Shipton wrote in a statement that Edmonton’s loud and passionate fans give his club a huge home-ice advantage inside Rogers Place, but that they needed to respect the rules. 

“There is zero tolerance for this behaviour and no one wants to get ejected from a playoff game.”

Oilers players understood the fans’ disappointment following the first game, but would prefer not to see flying debris and feel their positive energy throughout the contest. 

Let’s see if the arena is sold out later tonight at puck drop.

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Six misconducts handed out in last 5 minutes of Stars / Wild Game 2!

Bally Sports

While it seemed that everyone was going to get a goal in Game 2 of the first round series between the Minnesota Wild and the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night, there were almost as many misconducts handed out than pucks at the back of Marc-Andre Fleury’s net.

The Stars evened the series at one game a piece thanks to a statement 7-3 win in Game 2, but the ending of that contest was all over the place.

It first started off with almost five minutes to go when Wild star Kirill Kaprizov and Stars’ Max Domi got into it and started swigging heavy blows in front of Dallas’ net. Both were ejected from the rest of the game with misconducts.

Then it was Marcus Foligno and Ryan Reaves’ turns – I guess you’re not surprised – to head down the tunnel before the end of the game with misconducts of their own.

Two more players were then kicked out of the game as Wild’s Brandon Duhaime and Stars captain Jamie Benn were handed misconducts as well.


The referees surely wanted to keep some control on the game as the Wild attempted to set the stage for the third contest of the series, in Minnesota, on Friday night.

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