Playoff Hockey Baby! What a way to start the Stanley Cup! We have controversy, we have fights, we have short-handed goals, we have electric tic-tac-toe passing and we have BIG hits! This is exactly why the NHL Playoffs are better than any other sport around. Most of my rant today will focus on the Carolina Hurricanes v Boston Bruins game two so as an ode to Warner Wolfe…..”LET’S GO TO THE VIDEO TAPE!”
BOS 2 @ CAR 5 (CAR leads 2-0)
Boston came out buzzing in game two. They controlled puck possession and owned the scoring chances, however Raanta continued to look strong in net. The shots at that point were Boston 6 and Carolina 2 and then the world turns on its head. For some reason David Pastrnak decides to kick and two hand punch Antti Raanta in an innocent dump in attempt. Absolutely Bizarre! Does he feel he has to step up and take over the “pest” role because Marchand has decided that he’s going to sleep during the playoffs or what? It was uncharacteristic and it was poor effort and execution. Either way, all the momentum that Boston had gained in the first period was flushed down the toilet. Not much later Jordan Staal gave a beautiful cross ice pass to Jasper Fast to give Carolina the initial lead. And two minutes later Jaccob Slavin avoided a slap shot from the point by jump straddling the puck and tipping it at the same time. You could see the air deflating from the Boston players. Carolina started the second period on 5-on-3 and Sebastian Aho tallied his second of the night. Boston finally got on the board with a Power Play goal by Patrice Bergeron. And just when you thought Boston might have something to grasp onto that’s when Carolina showed that they can hammer players too but they can do it legally. Andrei Svechnikov absolutely destroys Hampus Lindholm. It was clean as clean can be, square into his chest, hands low, he didn’t come from across the ice, he just happened to be in front of the crease and anticipated Lindholm’s forward progress. Two things that I noticed….1) Eric Haula who’s been running around this series trying to be a tough guy was the closest Bruin to Svechnikov and you know what he did? He pussed out and skated away that’s what he did. Whatever Haula, wuss! 2) While Svechnikov was in the box, Brandon Carlo was serving in the other box and you see a verbal exchange between the two. I only assume Carlo was saying “You’re gonna have to answer for that hit” and Andrei confidently nods his head and says “I know”. YES! My new favorite Hurricane is 6”2’, 195 lbs Andrei Svechnikov. Ask Vince Dunn of the Seattle Kraken whether Andrei can handle himself. *Searches Andrei Svechnikov vs Vince Dunn Nov 24, 2021. DO NOT search Alex Ovechkin. And at this point you think the teams will now settle down? Nope, THE RAT now decides to make his presence known by cross checking goalie in relief Pyotr Kochetkov (did Carolina draft him because of his vowel to consonants ratio that the Hurricane have for all their players?). Was Pyotr scared? No, sir! He goes back at Rat and pushes him in the face to which Marchand two hands the Carolina goalie across the arm. Man you can’t make this stuff up! Boston is better suited for the WWE than the NHL. Good bye Boston, you have no defense, you have no goalie and you have no wins. Carolina is the more skilled, classy and talented team and they’ll move on!
TB 5 @ TOR 3 (Tied 1-1)
I don’t think anyone was surprised with this outcome. We knew that Tampa wasn’t going to lie down that easily. Too many veteran players to allow one loss to effect the overall outcome. And as mentioned in an earlier article, the Lightning have lost some pretty lopsided affairs this year but they continue to bounce back. Toronto kept motoring in the beginning of the game. Lots of pressure and lots of chances. They could have come out of the first period unscathed if not for a close clearing chance that was barely kept in and with a second left Hedman found himself alone with the puck and Campbell anticipating in the wrong direction, Victor Hedman tucked the puck in at the buzzer. Toronto had an opportunity to show that they aren’t going to be the Toronto of the past when they doubled down with an offensive push to start the second. Multiple shots from every angle and Timothy Liljegren’s eyeball must have been the size of saucers as he sees a wide open net. Vasilevskiy is literally looking in the wrong direction as the puck leaves Liljegren’s stick. But in a “DID YOU SEE THAT” moment, Andrei comes up with the save of the game! And like in all fairy tales, Tampa Bay on the next play get a breakaway goal by Corey Perry. Poor Wayne Simmons then takes two different penalties in which Tampa Bay scores on and the game is 5-1. Toronto makes a good effort to score two more but they ran out of time. A couple of things to consider, Toronto had a bunch of bad bounces and Campbell looked uncomfortable in net a lot of the game, slow to his spots and lazy with his glove. This opens the door to doubt and the dreaded five letter word… C-H-O-K-E. You can hear Toronto Head Coach Sheldon Keefe screaming to General Manager Kyle Dubas… Get our sports psychologist on the phone immediately!!!! Game three ought to be interesting!
STL 2 @ MIN 6 (Tied 1-1)
Eriksson Ek had the fans throwing their caps on the ice for a short lived hat-trick which got called back for offsides, but in that same final period Krill Kaprizov did score his third of the game which drew two lonely hats, oh well. Minnesota did a good job of creating chances and finishing them to even the series. Fluery looked better but I can’t lie there were still times where he looked bad. You do have to love that St. Louis pulled their goalie with SEVEN minutes left in the game, welcome to the NEW NHL. Game three ought to be interesting!
LA 0 @ EDM 6 (Tied 1-1)
Hockey can be a funny game at times and you’ll also hear “It’s a game of bounces”, well Jonathan Quick didn’t get very lucky with those bounces. Multiple Edmonton goals were bad bounces that he couldn’t control. He kept his composure and the veteran player that he is will look to start over again in Los Angeles on Friday. Mike Smith also had his fair share of bounces which were off the post. Multiple times, shots or deflections went careening off goal posts or slipped behind him which were swept away to safety. Edmonton looked like the team we were hoping for and now that they’ve shown that they can bounce back from a tough loss, the next test will be can they win on the road. Cue canned comment… “game three ought to be interesting!”
PICKS for Friday
CAR ML (+114) and -PL (+270)
TB ML (-110) and Over 6.5 (+102)
STL ML (-110) and Over 5.5 (-175)
EDM ML (-141)
OVERALL RECORD (11-10)
Net -$57
Thursday (4-3) -$119
NYR ML (W) +$100, Florida -PL (W) +$100, Fla/Wash Over (L) -$138, Colorado -PL (L) -$150, Col/Nash Over (L) -$131, Dallas +PL (W) +$100, Dall/Cgy Under (W) +$100
