After winning the Stanley Cup with the Capitals, Barry Trotz joined the Islanders and turned the worst defensive team in the NHL into the best the following season. He then led them to back-to-back conference finals. As good a head coach as there is.
The Montreal Canadiens have never finished a season with a minus goal differential in triple digits.
The streak lives on.
Habs came into the final game of the season at -107.
They beat the best team in the league 10-2 and finish -99.
Leon Draisaitl is one of eight players in the NHL with over 100 end-to-end rushes this season (skating puck from DZ into OZ). He had a game-high 8 last night. This was a beauty...
It's time for the Colorado Avalanche to take the next step. And what I mean by that is to start playing the Super Mario sound effects whenever Nathan MacKinnon gets the puck.
Gardiner makes for an easy scapegoat and I'm sure some Maple Leafs fans will be happy to see him go. He's not why they lost Game 7 or the series and the blueline will be worse without him next year. Be careful what you wish for.
The Islanders lost out on Panarin but they aren’t done big-game hunting yet. Offer sheet is a very real possibility and Marner is the most likely target.
Outrageous Quinn Hughes stat of the day..
7 defensemen have between 30 and 40 minutes of puck on stick possession in the offensive zone this season. (Makar, Josi, Bouchard, Karlsson, Matheson, Fox and Dahlin).
No d-man is in the 40’s.
Quinn Hughes = 54:27.
VAN vs CHI tonight.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is tied for 8th in league scoring. He’s never scored 70 points in a season and is on pace for 98. The only Canadian born player with more points right now is Connor McDavid.
Quinn Hughes appreciation tweet:
10 for 10 on outlet passes (including 1 from his stomach).
21 for 22 on passes in the offensive zone.
Bank, strech pass to set up Horvat OT goal.
#Canucks
Reminder for the nervous Maple Leafs fans out there. Your team leads the league in scoring chances, slot shots, cycle chances and rebound chances. They won’t be averaging 2 goals per game for long.
The Maple Leafs, Lightning, Hurricanes, Devils and Rangers all with points percentages north of .640.
Two of those teams will not win a playoff round this year.
Sergei Bobrovsky is the biggest reason the Panthers are one win away from the Stanley Cup Final, but he's not the only reason. Give Paul Maurice credit for recognizing in July what his team had to become to have success in April, May and June...
Hey
@Senators
fans....Tim Stutzle last night...
2 goals, 1 assist...
OZ puck possession: 2:26
Total puck possession: 4:05
Controlled Entries: 19
Controlled Exits: 17
No player has had more OZ possession or controlled zone entries in a World Junior game in the last 4 years.
722 players have played in the NHL this season. Connor McDavid has more points that over half of them in 2 periods tonight. Only reason he's in the NHL is because there isn't a better league.
The Islanders remain one of my favorite teams to watch. Attention to detail is off the charts. A team greater than the sum of its parts. Coliseum is rocking.
If you don’t think Miro Heiskanen was a top-5 rookie in the league this year, at best you didn’t watch the Stars play very often, at worst you may not understand the game of hockey very well. Neither ideal.
The arena in Edmonton just tested a montage of Predators fans pointing and chanting "It's all your fault." Let me tell you - when you're one of about 5 people in an empty building, pretty much shatters all your confidence. 😂
How pumped are
#Canucks
fans about Quinn Hughes! Will make such a difference for Van's transition game. Since joining the team, he has more than double the amount of zone exits than any other Canucks D...
Zone Exits
Since March 28
1. Hughes - 32
2. Edler - 15
3. Hutton - 14
So, Leon Draisaitl in the 4 games McDavid has been out...
7 assists, 10 points.
One of the best passers in the game, he's completed 25 passes into the slot - most in the NHL by 9.
The rest of Edmonton's forwards have combined to complete 23.
Oilers are 1st in the Pacific.
#MVP
A month into the season the Senators were 2-12-1. Could have gone into autopilot at that point. Since, Ottawa is 18-15-4. That .541 points % is 15th in the league.
For three-quarters of the season the Sens have been better than MTL, WPG, DAL, STL
Credit to DJ Smith and the team.
Auston Matthews is the best 5-on-5 goal scorer in the NHL. John Tavares saw a 4 point bump playing with Marner in Toronto last season - Marner saw a 25 point bump. There’s more to it than that but can’t blame Toronto for not offering Marner Matthews money / term.
TOR has made seven and eight year offers in the $11M AAV universe but because it’s a lower AAV and longer term than Auston Matthews, it hasn’t been palatable to Marner.
Hart Trophy goes to player 'most valuable to his team.' I'd say the favourite right now is the guy who's...
2nd in goals, 4th in points
18 more points than next closest teammate
1st in end-to-end rushes
1st in OZ puck possession & has a bottom-5 team last yr 2nd in division. ⬇️
Corey Crawford was a top-10 goalie last season. As far as tandems go, Blackwood / Crawford is going to be one of the better ones in the NHL next season.
#NJDevils
.
The Islanders dump the puck in at a higher rate than any team in the playoffs. Put it in a place where you have a chance to battle / get it back, create a chance, score a goal. Place and chase. I may be the only non-Islanders fan who loves watching this team play.
In addition to being one of the most elusive defenecmen in the league, Quinn Hughes is also pretty decent when it comes to snapping the puck around. Most passes + highest accuracy in the playoffs = more 🍎🍎🍎than an orchard.
Islanders didn't give the Lightning anything off-the-rush. Literally. Rush chances were 9-0 NYI. Four of them came in a less than five-minute span in the 2nd period capped by Mat Barzal's goal. Clinical.
One of the most impressive things about Quinn Hughes......The combination of volume & quality.
Hughes possesses the puck more than anyone by far but also makes fewer mistakes than anyone. He's turned the puck over on just under 8% of his total possessions - best in the NHL. To…
Surprised to see so many split opinions on that Rielly play. They got it right. The image going around of the puck over the line was after play was dead. You can see puck move over the line as Bobrosvky gets up. There’s no angle when the play is live showing the puck in the net.
This pass from Leon Draisaitl in overtime was ridiculous.
Backhand sauce for days.
Some numbers from last season that show why he's one of the best passers in the game ⬇️
What does championship hockey look like? ⬇️
This was all in the final 5 minutes while Tampa Bay was protecting a 1-goal lead in an elimination game. Lightning gave up 2 shots on goal, both from the perimeter.
Last night’s Vegas vs Edmonton game is a good example of why every broadcast should be using data beyond shots on goal in telling the story of the game…
Shots: 28-28
Slot Shots: 16-4 VGK
Rush Chances: 8-1 VGK
Score: 4-0 VGK
Always been a believer Georgiev can thrive in a bigger role. He's going from a below average defensive team to one of the best. Smart team makes a smart move.
Alex Ovechkin leads the league in points and has 9 more points at even-strength than anyone else.
He didn't crack the top-100 in ES points last season and hasn't cracked the top-10 in 10 years.
He's 36 and 1,200+ games into his career.
Unreal
Alex Ovechkin leads the league in even-strength goals & points. Only 1 of his 18 goals via PP 1-timer.
Auston Matthews leads the league in rebound scoring chances, 2nd in rebound goals.
Two of the best goal scorers on the planet. Patented shots but also adaptable & versatile.
Scoring 49 goals in 53 games is absurd. Doing it while being one of the most impactful forwards in the league without the puck is even more impressive. That commitment to defence also helps Auston Matthews produce as much as he does offensively .
@NHLNetwork
#OntheFly
Goals Saved Above Expected - Games 3-5 of the
#StanleyCup
Final...
Vasilevskiy: +6.9
Kuemper: -2.9
Game 6 will likely be another night of Vasilevskiy needing to be a superstar and Kuemper just needing to stop what he should.
The Winnipeg Jets are the real deal. Nasty top-6. Defencemen that can defend and produce offence. Rockstar goalie. Rick Bowness should be right in the mix for coach of the year at this point.
In his 39th game, Auston Matthews has 9 more goals than anyone else. That's ridiculous. Gotta think the only guy with a chance of catching him is Connor Brown.
Incredible accomplishments from Edmonton tonight…
Connor McDavid gets his 100th assist.
Klim Kostin was not on the ice for a goal against despite playing 18 minutes in a 9-2 loss.
Shesterkin is in a league of his own when it comes to bombing the puck up ice...
Goalie Stretch Pass Attempts (Beyond Red Line)
1. Shesterkin: 29
2. Hofer: 12
3. Markstrom: 10
@Sportlogiq
Igor Shesterkin gets the assist 🍏 with this high awareness play to get it to Panarin who finds Kreider alone in front for the 3️⃣ goal lead!! 🚨🚨🚨
@NYRangers
|
#NYR
And with that, my time in Edmonton has come to an end. 36 days and at least that many games. What a blast is was to cover the first 3 rounds here and to work with so many talented people at NHL Network. Pretty excited to see my family, hope they remember me.
Breadman was dishing. Completed 51 passes in the offensive zone and had the puck on his stick 2:17 in the attacking end - both most by a player in a game this season.
What happened to Connor Hellebuyck? There's more than one answer but give the Avs credit for being on top of him all series.
Colorado scored 10 goals with a screen, most of any team. Hellebuyck finished with a save % of .737 on screened shots - last among goalies with at least 2…
Nikita Kucherov enters play tonight with a 45 point lead over his next highest scoring teammate. It's the 3rd largest gap in the salary cap era.
#NHLStats
Now let’s see how the Marner contract impacts other negotiations. It’s believed Tampa’s last offer to Brayden Point was around three years and $5.7 M AAV... both sides far apart.
I've said it before and I'll say it again...
The only thing boring about the Islanders is that other teams can't score on them. That team is so in sync it's scary. Love the way they play.
There isn't a better powerplay entry guy in the league.
End-to-End Rushes (from DZ into OZ)
On the Powerplay
MacKinnon - 103
McDavid - 88
Suzuki - 56
*Also, MacKinnon missed 12 games.
Today, in crazy but true...
Jonathan Marchessault has 12 goals in his last 12 games, yet Leon Draisaitl, who scored his last playoff goal over a month ago, still has more than anyone.
@bgoodrow23
@TomGulittiNHL
Don’t listen to this crap, Barclay. You know what it took. You lived it and you’re a champion for life now. Congratulations! 👊
Taylor Hall won the Hart Trophy (player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team) in 2018 by scoring 41 more points than anyone on his team, lifting the Devils into the playoffs - 2nd wild card, 97 points. He finished 6th in the scoring race with 93 points.
Kucherov this…
Great addition by the
@Canucks
, landing Nate Schmidt. Play-driving defenceman who snaps a hell of a first pass. Canucks like to stretch the ice coming out of the DZ - will be a good fit. Fans in Vancouver are going to like this guy.
1 forward ranked top-25 in the following..
*min. 750 mins at 5v5
Goals For% (24th)
XG For% (5th)
Strength of Opponent (17th)
Puck Battle Wins (2nd)
Puck Recoveries (10th)
Blocked Passes (5th)
Stick Checks (5th)
Turnover Rate (16th)
PK TOI (4th)
He was not named a Selke finalist
The Selke Trophy finalists were just revealed on
@Sportsnet
Hockey Central: Patrice Bergeron (for a record ninth time), Sean Couturier and Ryan O'Reilly.