Monthly Archives: April 2017
Watch: Oilers’ Larsson goes end-to-end for Game 1 winner
Adam Larsson to the rescue.
The Edmonton Oilers defenseman channeled his inner Taylor Hall in Game 1 against the Anaheim Ducks, banking in his second goal of the night with less than five minutes remaining.
It was Larsson's first career two-goal game, and his late marker held up as the winner in a 5-3 victory for Edmonton.
His first of the contest gave the Oilers a 3-1 lead earlier in the third before before the Ducks scored twice in less than 90 seconds to tie it.
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Grant Fuhr rips ‘horsesh-t’ goalie interference call on Slepyshev
Tell us how you really feel, Grant.
Former Edmonton Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr took aim at the officiating during Game 1 of the Oilers' second-round series against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night.
Oilers forward Anton Slepyshev was assessed a goalie interference minor after barreling into John Gibson on a scoring chance in the second period.
Fuhr is obviously biased, and he's surely used to seeing former teammate Glenn Anderson crashing the net like that back in their heyday, but goaltenders are a little more protected by the rulebook these days.
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Jake Allen takes blame for Nashville’s game-winning goal
Blues goaltender Jake Allen gambled on a poke check with five minutes left in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals, and it backfired.
Allen attempted to swipe the puck out of harm's way, but Nashville's Vernon Fiddler beat him to it and squeaked the puck through his five-hole.
After the tilt, Allen admitted that "a little mistake by me cost" the Blues the game, according to James O'Brien of NBC Sports.
Though Game 1 is crucial in any playoff series, his teammates will probably forgive him quite easily. Allen stood on his head in the first round against Minnesota, posting a .956 save percentage and a 1.47 goals-against average in five games.
Allen will get a chance to redeem himself in Game 2 on Friday night.
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Subban keeps raising his game in the playoffs
P.K. Subban takes his game to another level in the postseason.
The Nashville Predators defenseman was all over the ice in Game 1 against the St. Louis Blues, scoring a goal and adding a pair of assists in a 4-3 victory Wednesday night.
Related: Subban's blasts from the point lead to 3 Predators goals
He almost had another goal, too, but his empty-netter was waved off because the Predators were offside.
Subban's big night gave him five points in five playoff games this spring and continued a trend of increased production come postseason time.
Subban chipped in a pair of helpers in the Predators' opening-round sweep of the Chicago Blackhawks.
He notched 11 goals and 27 assists in 55 playoff games with the Montreal Canadiens over five seasons.
The star blue-liner certainly enjoys the limelight.
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Watch: Fiddler pokes loose puck past Allen for game-winning goal
Vernon Fiddler, a 14-year NHL veteran, scored the game-winning goal for the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
The tally came with five minutes remaining in the game after the St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester failed to clear the puck out of the zone.
Given that it's just Fiddler's fifth career playoff goal and his first career playoff game-winning goal, his celebration may have been in the vault for a while:
The two teams will square off in Game 2 on Friday night.
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Watch: Subban’s blasts from the point lead to 3 Predators goals
Predators defenseman P.K. Subban is putting the team on his back in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinal.
Three of his blasts from the point have led to all three of Nashville's goals heading into the third period, starting with Colin Wilson's tip on Subban's point shot to give the Preds the lead.
Subban then blasted one by Jake Allen for his first playoff goal as a member of the Predators:
Subban wasn't done just yet, though. This point shot led to a juicy rebound for Filip Forsberg to bury home.
In classic Subban fashion, all three goals were followed by exuberant celebrations. This flair is part of why he is one of the league's most exciting players.
Subban's three points set a Predators record for points in a playoff game by a defenseman.
This after Sportsnet's Kelly Hrudey classified Subban as a "three-four type defenseman" and compared him to Dion Phaneuf. Well, Subban has sure showed him.
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Predators’ Fiala hospitalized after hard fall into boards
Nashville Predators forward Kevin Fiala left Wednesday's Game 1 against the St. Louis Blues on a stretcher after falling hard into the boards following a hit by Robert Bortuzzo.
The game was delayed several minutes while arena officials waited for an ambulance to arrive.
Fiala, who was alert and in stable condition, was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation, according to Predators spokesman Brooks Bratten.
The 20-year-old winger scored twice in Nashville's first-round sweep of the Chicago Blackhawks.
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Blake, Stevens on board with re-tooling Kings’ analytical approach
Rob Blake and John Stevens will leave no stone unturned in their quest to return the Los Angeles Kings to contention.
After missing the playoffs in two of the past three seasons, the Kings opted to clean house by letting go of Stanley Cup architects Dean Lombardi and Darryl Sutter, and the newly appointed duo of Blake and Stevens aim to continue, as well as adjust, Los Angeles' strong directive toward analytics.
Since the 2011-12 season - which ended with the Kings winning their first title - Los Angeles owns the NHL's best Corsi-for percentage (55.7 percent). Despite leading the league in that category again this season, the Kings couldn't score.
Blake mentioned he and Stevens looked at the location of the Kings shots rather than volume, and how the club generates shots off the rush and in the slot.
"We've been at the bottom of the league in that statistically throughout the last season here, so there needs to be an emphasis and a detail on the change in that aspect," Blake told Kings Insider Jon Rosen.
"We were at the bottom of controlled entry, goals off controlled entry. We were near the bottom at getting the puck to the slot whether we were skating it or passing it so there were a lot of things that, the way goals are being scored now, that we weren't having success in."
Jeff Carter and Tanner Pearson were the only Kings to score more than 20 goals this season, and Los Angeles as a whole ranked 25th in goals for (199) and dead last in team shooting percentage at five on five (6.26 percent).
While all stats will be looked at diligently by the Kings' new regime, analytics won't be the be all end all.
"Yeah, and there's a lot of things, but you've got to be careful," Stevens said. "Like sometimes, is it a high volume number, or is it a percentage number? And some team might have a bad percentage, but the volume's high, so you've go to make sure you know what you're looking at and some of it is dictated by style of play."
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Babcock, McLellan, Tortorella named Jack Adams Award finalists
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock, Edmonton Oilers bench boss Todd McLellan, and John Tortorella of the Columbus Blue Jackets have been named finalists for the Jack Adams Award.
The honor is given annually to the coach judged to have contributed the most to his team's success.
Under Babcock, the Leafs made the playoffs for the first time since 2013, and for the first time in a non-lockout season since 2004 after finishing dead last in the league in 2015-16. He's never won this award, but was a finalist in 2008 and 2014 with the Detroit Red Wings.
McLellan led the Oilers into the postseason for the first time since 2006, and kept them in the hunt for the Pacific Division title until the final day of the regular season. He was also nominated in 2009 while with the San Jose Sharks.
Tortorella helped the Blue Jackets set franchise records for wins and points in a season. Columbus finished with the fourth-best record in the NHL after posting the fourth-worst mark in 2015-16. He's a four-time finalist who won the award in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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