When you're Sidney Crosby, you get used to people trying to talk a little trash. But on Sunday, Flyers fans at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center took the gamesmanship to a whole different level.
Pictures of the Pittsburgh Penguins captain's face started to appear in arena urinals during Game 3 of their first-round playoff series, prompting Crosby to be questioned about it following the Penguins' convincing victory. "It’s not the first building that’s happened in,” he said postgame, according to Sportsnet's Kristina Rutherford.
"I don’t know if they stole that idea from somewhere else. But yeah, it’s not the first time that’s happened."
A pilfered idea or not, you can't really hold it against Flyers fans for being a little pissed off with Sid, as No. 87 has torched Philly over the first three games to the tune of four goals and three assists.
The Penguins can earn a 3-1 stranglehold on the series Wednesday night when the puck drops on Game 4. Given how hot Crosby has been, it's safe to say the bathroom-related tactics won't be slowing him down anytime soon.
They held court on home ice in dominant fashion, but as the series resumes in Toronto, there's still much work to be done.
"You want to keep your foot on the gas because this team has had success against us in the past and they've done a good job playing us, especially in their building," Backes said, according to NHL.com's Amalie Benjamin. "Complacency is probably the enemy at the moment, but we need to go start from the puck drop. It's a 0-0 game, and establish ourselves again."
Key to Boston's success has been the play of the top line, as David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand have already combined for 20 points (five goals, 15 assists). For his part, Backes is wary of relying on that formidable trio to keep getting the job done.
"The rest of us, we need to make sure that we're not just saying, 'Well they're going to have another awesome night tonight,'" Backes added. "If we're going to just sit back and wait for them to do it, if there's a night where they just don't have it, or they don't get a bounce or two, we need secondary scoring to step up and make sure we have that."
Backes, who's been to the conference finals only once in his career, has recorded one goal in the playoffs so far.
The 2018 NHL playoffs consist of seven teams who were not in the postseason a year ago. This turnover is evidence of just how much parity is in the league.
While it's unlikely seven non-playoff teams will return to the postseason next year, these three seem likely to do so.
St. Louis Blues
Pending UFAs: Carter Hutton, Kyle Brodziak, Scottie Upshall Projected cap space: $12.3 million Needs: Second-line center, goalie
The Blues missed the playoffs by a single point this year after losing to the Avalanche in the final game of the regular season.
If they believe Robby Fabbri - who missed all of 2017-18 - is better suited for the wing, they need a No. 2 center behind Brayden Schenn. If they can't land one of the top free agent centers - such as John Tavares, Joe Thornton, or even former Blue Paul Stastny - they have blue-chip prospects in Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou who could garner a huge return, or potentially make impacts at the NHL level next year.
Regardless, general manager Doug Armstrong expects to be busy this offseason.
Armstrong made it clear the #stlblues will be active this summer, whether it be free agency or trade market.
The blue line is fine, but if Hutton doesn't return, they will need to add a goaltender as well - ideally one better than Jake Allen.
With good health and a bounce-back year from Vladimir Tarasenko, the Blues are primed to not only return to the playoffs next year, but possibly become one of the better teams in the Western Conference - even in a tough Central Division.
Calgary Flames
Pending UFAs: Matt Stajan, Kris Versteeg, Chris Stewart, Matt Bartkowski Projected cap space: $12.5 million Needs: Top-six winger, scoring depth, backup goalie
The Flames were in a playoff spot for most of the season, but collapsed down the stretch. They were 29-19-8 prior to Mike Smith's injury, but went 8-16-2 the rest of the way.
Calgary needs to invest in a quality backup netminder. Not only for when the injury-prone Smith goes down, but so the 36-year-old can get more games off, which would theoretically help prevent injuries. Smith's cap hit is only $4.25 million, so they shouldn't be afraid to ante up for another goaltender. Anton Khudobin or Jonathan Bernier would fit nicely.
Without a pick in the first three rounds of the draft, Calgary doesn't have much to dangle on the trade market unless they're willing to move one of their top-4 D, so free agency is their best route to find forward depth. David Perron would be a nice fit in their top-six as a skilled, right-handed shot. So too would Thomas Vanek, Derek Ryan, and Michael Grabner, to a lesser extent.
Their defense doesn't need any upgrading. While Travis Hamonic struggled in his first year in Calgary, the Flames can expect him to be better in year two with the club.
A new voice behind the bench wouldn't hurt either, as Glen Gulutzan's temper tantrums likely grew old with his players. Nonetheless, the Flames aren't far from returning to the postseason, despite finishing with only 84 points.
Florida Panthers
Pending UFAs: Radim Vrbata, Connor Brickley Projected cap space: $9.6 million Needs: Second-pairing D, depth
Unlike the previous two teams on this list, the Panthers had a rough first half adjusting to a new coach in Bob Boughner, but were one of the best second half teams, going 24-8-2 in their final 34 games.
While they don't have a whole lot of cap space to work with, they don't really need to add much either. Roberto Luongo and James Reimer are a fine tandem in net; they have three very good defensemen; and a strong forward nucleus.
They could use a second-pairing defenseman which would move Mark Pysyk and Alex Petrovic down to the bottom pairing. Adding another forward or two wouldn't hurt either, but it's not a necessity.
The Panthers are in an Atlantic Division surrounded by three very good teams, and four awful teams. If they can keep their head above water against the top teams, they should have no problem beating up on the four poor teams to punch their ticket to the playoffs.
The expansion franchise took a 3-0 series lead over the Los Angeles Kings with a 3-1 win Sunday, thereby becoming the only team in league history to win each of its first three playoff games in its debut season.
The expansion franchise took a 3-0 series lead over the Los Angeles Kings with a 3-1 win Sunday, thereby becoming the only team in league history to win each of its first three playoff games in its debut season.
Muzzin hasn't played since March 26, suffering an upper-body injury after a hard collision with Calgary Flames forward Micheal Ferland.
The 29-year-old plays an integral role on the Kings' blue line, and chipped in 42 points in 74 games this season while averaging over 21 minutes per night.
It's also worth noting all-star defenseman Drew Doughty is set to return to the ice after serving a one-game suspension - another huge boost for a Kings team that lost the first two games of the series.
Braden Holtby finally made his 2018 playoff debut Sunday as Phillipp Grubauer was pulled after 40 minutes of Game 3 after giving up four goals on 22 shots.
Having jumped out to a 3-1 lead, the Capitals gave up three straight goals in the second period, leading head coach Barry Trotz to go with Holtby for the third.
The Capitals saw a similar situation play out in Game 2, as the team squandered a two-goal advantage before Artemi Panarin ended it in overtime to square the series at a game apiece.
