The award, introduced in 2006-07, recognizes "the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season and who plays a leading role in his community growing the game of hockey."
Fans, teams, and NHL personnel are asked to suggest nominees, but former NHL great Mark Messier selects the finalists and picks the winner, who will be announced at the NHL Awards in June.
After the Bruins initially seemed poised to wrap up their first-round matchup with the Maple Leafs in four, Toronto clawed its way back to force a winner-take-all Game 7 on Wednesday night in Boston.
This series has been similar to the first-round meeting between these two clubs in 2013, with the Bruins taking a 3-1 stranglehold once again, only to see the Leafs even things up in Game 6. Maple Leafs fans are painfully aware of how that series ended, but a new year brings new hope.
Leafs-Bruins is the only opening-round series to go the full seven games in 2018, with the winner set to face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round. Here are the three keys to Game 7:
The three laid waste to the Maple Leafs in the first two games of the series, putting up a combined 20 points. After six games, the trio has combined for 23 points and a whopping 64 shots. However, as seen below, the Maple Leafs managed to contain the Bruins' top line in Games 3, 5, and 6 - and, not surprisingly, skated off with the W in those contests:
Game #
Pastrnak Points
Marchand Points
Bergeron Points
1
3
2
1
2
6
4
4
3
0
0
0
4
2
1
DNP
5
0
0
0
6
0
0
0
On the flip side, Bergeron, Marchand, and Pastrnak need to rekindle some of their magic from Games 1 and 2 if the Bruins hope to advance beyond Wednesday.
Andersen vs. Rask
After getting off to what seemed like a very uneven start to the series, the Maple Leafs - spearheaded by Frederik Andersen - have evened out the battle in the crease.
Both goalies have three wins - Andersen has one fewer loss due to the time of his pull in Game 2 - and each have been yanked at one point in the series. Rask, however, has allowed two fewer goals across 19 extra minutes.
Goalie
W
L
GAA
SV%
Times Pulled
Rask
3
3
2.74
.909
1
Andersen
3
2
3.30
.909
1
Andersen has one-upped Rask during the last four games, however, having put up a .936 save percentage and a 2.28 goals-against average, compared to the Boston netminder's marks of .894 and 3.18, respectively.
But with this series down to just one game, and potentially one goal, whichever team moves onto Round 2 will be largely contingent on who stands larger in the crease.
Discipline
After the Maple Leafs nearly gave up their 4-1 lead to the Bruins in Game 5 on the back of a parade of penalties, Mike Babcock preached the importance of discipline ahead of Game 6
"Stay out of the penalty box. We were in there, if I'm not mistaken, six times (in Game 5)," Babcock said. "The game was going perfect and then there was a parade to the box. Stay out of the penalty box."
The Bruins' power play is currently firing at a success rate of 31.6 percent, good enough for the second-best mark in the postseason. That means the Maple Leafs, in response, are icing the second-worst penalty kill.
The Bruins have capitalized on six of their 19 power plays. And of those six goals, two have stood up as game-winners.
What's more concerning for the Maple Leafs is that they've taken 16 of those 19 penalties in games played in Boston, and all six of the Bruins' power-play goals have come at TD Garden.
It's also important to point out that the Maple Leafs' power play has been no slouch, either. With a 23.1 percent success rate, Toronto's power play is tied for the fifth-best efficiency and it's been even better on the road, firing at a 25 percent clip.
With that being said, James van Riemsdyk has been the only Maple Leaf to score a power-play goal in this series (he has three), so now's the time for Toronto to get a little more from its special teams.
Kucherov delivered the devastating blow late in the first period. The hit went unpunished and sidelined Vatanen for the remainder of the game and the decisive Game 5, in which the Lightning won the series.
Greene on being pairs with Sami Vatanen: “He’s fierce. He battles...It’s unfortunate what happened at the end of his season.”
Jeff Vinik likes multi-overtime games, especially when they involve his next opponent.
The Tampa Bay Lightning owner, whose club is waiting for its second-round matching after knocking out the New Jersey Devils in Round 1, hopes whichever team the Lightning ultimately face won't have the easiest time getting there.
The Lightning wrapped up their first-round series in five games, meaning the team has had plenty of down time to rest and prepare for the next matchup. Clearly, neither the Bruins nor the Maple Leafs have enjoyed the same luxury.
The three clubs were separated by just eight points in the regular season.
It's playoff time, folks. To get you prepared, we break down each of the Western Conference's second-round series. (Advanced stats at 5-on-5 courtesy: Corsica)
Predators 1C vs. Jets 2C
Predators
Stat
Jets
4-2
Round 1 record
4-1
7
Goal differential
7
54.59% (2nd)
5-on-5 Corsi %
58.87% (1st)
9.26% (3rd)
Shooting percentage
7.95% (8th)
.923 (8th)
Save percentage
.941 (5th)
101.57 (6th)
PDO
102.06 (5th)
Colton Sissons & Austin Watson (7)
Leading scorer
Mark Scheifele & Dustin Byfuglien (5)
It'll be a Battle of the Titans in this second-round series. The Predators and Jets finished first and second league-wide, while their regular-season meet ups were always competitive. One key to the series could be the Predators' Pekka Rinne, who was only average in Round 1 against the Colorado Avalanche, while Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck put up a far superior performance in eliminating the Minnesota Wild.
Game 1 begins at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Golden Knights 1P vs. Sharks 3P
Golden Knights
Stat
Sharks
4-0
Round 1 record
4-0
4
Goal differential
12
51.69% (6th)
5-on-5 Corsi %
46.83% (13th)
5.21% (14th)
Shooting percentage
11.49% (2nd)
.990 (1st)
Save percentage
.979 (2nd)
104.18 (3rd)
PDO
109.37 (1st)
Reilly Smith (3)
Leading scorer
Joe Pavelski & Logan Couture (5)
Both sides made quick work in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, sweeping away the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, respectively. If Vegas isn't already getting its due credit, it should after taking out a two-time Cup champion. Netminder Marc-Andre Fleury played like a virtual wall, while Sharks goalie Martin Jones was no slouch either. San Jose could also get a boost in the second round should Joe Thornton return from injury.
As NHL teams are eliminated from Stanley Cup contention, theScore NHL freelance writer Katie Brown looks back at the highs and lows of their seasons, along with the biggest questions ahead of 2018-19. The 16th edition focuses on the Los Angeles Kings.
The Good
Career years from Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, and Drew Doughty.Kopitar was the Kings’ leading scorer during the regular season and playoffs. His 92 points were 40 better than his total in the 2016-17 season, and a career high. His 22:05 average ice time was also a career high, and helped him earn yet another Selke Trophy nomination. Brown established personal bests in assists (33) and points (61), while Doughty topped off a 60-point career year by being named a Norris Trophy finalist for a fourth time.
Jonathan Quick's amazing season. Quick won his second Jennings Trophy by helping backstop the Kings to a 2.46 team goals-against average. Their penalty kill finished at an NHL-best 85 percent, thanks in large part to Quick. In the playoffs, he posted his best numbers since the Kings’ 2012 Stanley Cup-winning campaign, with a 1.55 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage. He also set a franchise record by making 54 saves in Game 2's double-overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Daniel Brickley’s dynamic debut. Brickley made his NHL debut for the Kings on April 5, a week after signing a two-year entry-level contract. The defenseman recorded his first NHL point that night against the Minnesota Wild; it was a fitting milestone for Brickley, who had just finished his junior year at Minnesota State and also played for the U.S. at the world championships. He scored 10 goals and 35 points last season and finished with 20 goals and 77 points in 107 career games with the Mavericks.
The Bad
A lack of postseason offense. The Kings scored just three goals in their four-game sweep at the hands of the Golden Knights. Two of those goals came in one game; they were shut out in Games 1 and 4. And the Kings’ most important players didn’t show up. Brown had just one point in the series. Doughty missed Game 2 with a suspension, but it didn’t really matter - he, Jeff Carter, Adrian Kempe, Tyler Toffoli, and Tanner Pearson combined for zero points. Suffice to say it’s impossible to win any game, much less a playoff series, if you can’t score goals.
Missing Derek Forbort and Jake Muzzin. With Muzzin, third on the team with 34 assists, out with an upper-body injury for two games and Forbort out with a lower-body injury for the entirety of the Kings’ short playoff run, coach John Stevens was forced to lean on relatively inexperienced defensemen Oscar Fantenberg, Paul LaDue, and Kevin Gravel. Considering the Kings’ goal-scoring woes in their first-round series, they almost certainly would have fared better had Muzzin been available the entire time.
That dismal home record. The Kings had the second-fewest regular-season home wins of any playoff team with a 23-15-3 record. They lost both home playoff games too, sinking their postseason home record to 0-5 over the last two years.
The Questions
Does Doughty sign another extension in L.A.? Doughty’s eight-year, $56-million deal doesn’t expire until after next season, but he’s allowed to start discussing an extension with the Kings on July 1. Soon after the Kings were eliminated from the playoffs, Doughty made it clear he wants to stay and finish his career in L.A. General manager Rob Blake said negotiating an extension with Doughty is a top priority.
How do they improve? Offensive depth is a major concern for the Kings this offseason. To keep up in today’s NHL, they need scorers beyond Kopitar, Brown, and Carter; only five of their players notched 15 or more goals last season. Center Gabriel Vilardi, the Kings’ first-round pick in 2017, could make the jump next year, among other prospects in the system. Whatever they do, they need to get younger and faster.
Should they rebuild? The Kings were one of the oldest teams in the NHL last season. Their stars aren’t getting any younger, but it doesn’t make sense to tear it all down. Many NHL teams have rebuilt on the fly - keep the core players together, maybe add a couple pieces down the stretch, and make way for younger talent. The Kings would do well to get away from the heavy, Darryl Sutter hockey they played when they won the Cup in 2012 and 2014 and focus on what it takes to win now.
