Welcome to Art of the Mask, a new video series where theScore sits down with some of the world's top netminders to talk about goalie mask art.
In the inaugural episode, Philipp Grubauer of the Colorado Avalanche runs through his mask's various hockey and non-hockey elements. The amount of detail, from tiny Avs logos to a pop culture reference, might surprise you.
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Mitch Marner’s Thursday began with a healthy dose of self-deprecation.
Ahead of Game 1 against the Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs winger poked fun at his imminent playoff beard, telling a group of reporters assembled in Boston that it's "probably just going to look gross."
The 21-year-old then disappeared from the public eye. Physically, anyway.
Around that time, the New York Times - perhaps the most respected news organization on the planet - published a 1,000-word web article on Marner's path from minor hockey to NHL stardom.
A few hours later, at roughly 6:30 p.m. ET, his mug reappeared in a taped Sportsnet TV feature focused on veteran Patrick Marleau's close relationship with Auston Matthews and Marner, the franchise's tent-pole forwards for the foreseeable future.
It's safe to say that if you were a media-consuming hockey fan on Thursday, you probably would have needed to go out of your way to escape Marner-related frivolity, hype, or aw-shucks behavior.
Kevin Sousa / Getty Images
Next came the much-anticipated opening game in a first-round playoff rematch between fierce Atlantic Division rivals. In front of 17,565 fans inside TD Garden, Marner came roaring out of the gate, because of course he did, notching his team's first two goals in the opening 23 minutes of action.
In the meantime, two separate commercials starring Marner and a Leafs teammate - Apple with Matthews and Visa with William Nylander - aired during breaks in the three-hour broadcast. Finally, at the conclusion of Toronto's convincing 4-1 victory, it was Marner who donned the famous Hockey Night in Canada towel for a walk-off interview with reporter Kyle Bukauskas.
All in all, he finished the night with two goals and a boatload of publicity. Call it the Mitch Marner Hat Trick.
It's been that kind of year for Marner, who's on a trajectory seemingly headed for the moon. Already in 2019, he's appeared in plenty of spots for big or emerging companies like Under Armour, Red Bull, Beats Electronics, Chevrolet, Goodfood, and Intact Insurance. And this summer, he's primed to command eight figures annually as a marquee restricted free agent.
Matthews-Marner Apple commercial / YouTube screen grab
Most importantly for Leafs fans right now is his performance on the ice. And Marner, the club's regular-season points leader with 26 goals and 68 assists in 82 games, was an absolute handful in Game 1.
Late in the first period, he buried a rebound created by his own deflection that hit the post. In the second, he scored on a penalty shot produced moments earlier by his speed and seam-finding ability on the penalty kill. Both tallies beat Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask cleanly.
For the game, the fourth overall pick of the 2015 draft finished tied for first among Leafs in shot attempts with six. He skated for 19 minutes and eight seconds, trailing only Matthews among forwards, and was even deployed in a defensive role by coach Mike Babcock with time winding down in the third period.
Throughout the contest, Marner, John Tavares, and Zach Hyman outdueled the incredibly tough Bruins line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak. They produced more shot attempts, scoring chances, and goal battles at five-on-five despite Boston holding the upper hand with last change. Top Bruins defensemen Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy didn't get caved in, but they failed to minimize the Toronto trio.
At this point, the Hyman-Tavares-Marner trio is simply one of the best in hockey. It may not have the track record or respect of the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak grouping or the power-and-skill blend of Colorado's Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen line, but it can hang with the headliners. All three Toronto players hit new highs in goals and points in the regular season, with Marner driving the bus seemingly every night.
Mark Blinch / Getty Images
Now in his third season, Marner is far from a secret. He's certainly not overrated, and his game is much more than scoring. Case in point: Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper heaped serious praise on the young forward in March, saying Marner's "as smart a player as this league has not only seen this year; has ever seen." What a compliment.
Cooper was referring to Marner's elusiveness, sky-high hockey IQ, and well-roundedness, and it sounds like Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy might concur. "We need to find an answer to him," Cassidy told reporters after Game 1.
Cassidy, also on Marner: "He has always played well against us, always played hard against us. Years ago I remember Gretzky: “Why doesn’t anybody hit that guy?” Well, it’s not that easy, right? It becomes containment issues." #Leafs
It's still obvious that Matthews, the 6-foot-3, 216-pound goal-scoring machine, is the face of the Maple Leafs franchise and likely to be its next captain. There's no denying that, or goalie Frederik Andersen being the team's regular-season MVP, or Morgan Rielly putting forth a Norris Trophy-caliber season, or Tavares being, well, John Tavares.
But Marner, at least based on recent results, is the most consistent and noteworthy contributor of them all. He stirs the drink and is the ultimate creator of time and space. He's dangerous in all three zones, and his level of play has never dipped when the stakes are high. Following Game 1, he's up to 15 points in 14 career playoff games.
Many pegged Andersen and/or Matthews as the X-factors in this Toronto-Boston series. Which is fair. Upon further review, though, it may be Marner, the guy who has it all going on. "Gross" playoff beard included.
John Matisz is theScore's National Hockey Writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.
Mitch Marner’s Thursday began with a healthy dose of self-deprecation.
Ahead of Game 1 against the Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs winger poked fun at his imminent playoff beard, telling a group of reporters assembled in Boston that it's "probably just going to look gross."
The 21-year-old then disappeared from the public eye. Physically, anyway.
Around that time, the New York Times - perhaps the most respected news organization on the planet - published a 1,000-word web article on Marner's path from minor hockey to NHL stardom.
A few hours later, at roughly 6:30 p.m. ET, his mug reappeared in a taped Sportsnet TV feature focused on veteran Patrick Marleau's close relationship with Auston Matthews and Marner, the franchise's tent-pole forwards for the foreseeable future.
It's safe to say that if you were a media-consuming hockey fan on Thursday, you probably would have needed to go out of your way to escape Marner-related frivolity, hype, or aw-shucks behavior.
Kevin Sousa / Getty Images
Next came the much-anticipated opening game in a first-round playoff rematch between fierce Atlantic Division rivals. In front of 17,565 fans inside TD Garden, Marner came roaring out of the gate, because of course he did, notching his team's first two goals in the opening 23 minutes of action.
In the meantime, two separate commercials starring Marner and a Leafs teammate - Apple with Matthews and Visa with William Nylander - aired during breaks in the three-hour broadcast. Finally, at the conclusion of Toronto's convincing 4-1 victory, it was Marner who donned the famous Hockey Night in Canada towel for a walk-off interview with reporter Kyle Bukauskas.
All in all, he finished the night with two goals and a boatload of publicity. Call it the Mitch Marner Hat Trick.
It's been that kind of year for Marner, who's on a trajectory seemingly headed for the moon. Already in 2019, he's appeared in plenty of spots for big or emerging companies like Under Armour, Red Bull, Beats Electronics, Chevrolet, Goodfood, and Intact Insurance. And this summer, he's primed to command eight figures annually as a marquee restricted free agent.
Matthews-Marner Apple commercial / YouTube screen grab
Most importantly for Leafs fans right now is his performance on the ice. And Marner, the club's regular-season points leader with 26 goals and 68 assists in 82 games, was an absolute handful in Game 1.
Late in the first period, he buried a rebound created by his own deflection that hit the post. In the second, he scored on a penalty shot produced moments earlier by his speed and seam-finding ability on the penalty kill. Both tallies beat Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask cleanly.
For the game, the fourth overall pick of the 2015 draft finished tied for first among Leafs in shot attempts with six. He skated for 19 minutes and eight seconds, trailing only Matthews among forwards, and was even deployed in a defensive role by coach Mike Babcock with time winding down in the third period.
Throughout the contest, Marner, John Tavares, and Zach Hyman outdueled the incredibly tough Bruins line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak. They produced more shot attempts, scoring chances, and goal battles at five-on-five despite Boston holding the upper hand with last change. Top Bruins defensemen Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy didn't get caved in, but they failed to minimize the Toronto trio.
At this point, the Hyman-Tavares-Marner trio is simply one of the best in hockey. It may not have the track record or respect of the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak grouping or the power-and-skill blend of Colorado's Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen line, but it can hang with the headliners. All three Toronto players hit new highs in goals and points in the regular season, with Marner driving the bus seemingly every night.
Mark Blinch / Getty Images
Now in his third season, Marner is far from a secret. He's certainly not overrated, and his game is much more than scoring. Case in point: Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper heaped serious praise on the young forward in March, saying Marner's "as smart a player as this league has not only seen this year; has ever seen." What a compliment.
Cooper was referring to Marner's elusiveness, sky-high hockey IQ, and well-roundedness, and it sounds like Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy might concur. "We need to find an answer to him," Cassidy told reporters after Game 1.
Cassidy, also on Marner: "He has always played well against us, always played hard against us. Years ago I remember Gretzky: “Why doesn’t anybody hit that guy?” Well, it’s not that easy, right? It becomes containment issues." #Leafs
It's still obvious that Matthews, the 6-foot-3, 216-pound goal-scoring machine, is the face of the Maple Leafs franchise and likely to be its next captain. There's no denying that, or goalie Frederik Andersen being the team's regular-season MVP, or Morgan Rielly putting forth a Norris Trophy-caliber season, or Tavares being, well, John Tavares.
But Marner, at least based on recent results, is the most consistent and noteworthy contributor of them all. He stirs the drink and is the ultimate creator of time and space. He's dangerous in all three zones, and his level of play has never dipped when the stakes are high. Following Game 1, he's up to 15 points in 14 career playoff games.
Many pegged Andersen and/or Matthews as the X-factors in this Toronto-Boston series. Which is fair. Upon further review, though, it may be Marner, the guy who has it all going on. "Gross" playoff beard included.
John Matisz is theScore's National Hockey Writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.
What many believed to be the Calgary Flames' weakness heading into the postseason turned out to be a strength in Game 1 against the Colorado Avalanche.
Goaltender Mike Smith got the nod for the opener despite a shaky regular season that resulted in a sub .900 save percentage. However, the 37-year-old turned in a 26-save shutout performance, silencing the critics in a 4-0 victory that was tight until the very end.
With chants of "Smitty" raining down at Scotiabank Saddledome, Smith made a number of important stops throughout the game.
"Honestly I've never heard anything like that before in my career," Smith said of the chants, according to Postmedia's Kristen Anderson. "It gives you confidence."
The way Smith was flashing the leather, it's clear confidence was not an issue.
Here's a look at a few of his best stops from the night, beginning with a windmill glove save on Derick Brassard:
While it may not make the highlight reel, Smith's elite puckhandling ability helped slow down the Avalanche's forecheck and mitigated their zone time. He even picked up an assist on Matthew Tkachuk's empty-net goal.
Smith has enjoyed playoff success before. In 2012 - his last postseason run - he led the then-Phoenix Coyotes to the Western Conference Final with a .944 save percentage and a 1.99 goals-against average. In fact, he owns the best postseason save percentage of all time at .947, albeit in a 20-game sample size, according to Sportsnet.
If "Playoff Smitty" is a thing, the Flames could be a scary team to face this postseason.
BOSTON (AP) Mitch Marner scored twice, the second on a short-handed penalty shot to give Toronto the lead for good, and the Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins 4-1 on Thursday night in the opener of their first-round playoff series.
It was Toronto's first postseason penalty shot in 20 years.
Frederik Andersen made 37 saves and William Nylander and John Tavares also scored for Toronto, which swiped the home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series as it tries to advance through Boston for the first time in six tries.
Game 2 is Saturday night.
Tuukka Rask stopped 29 shots for Boston, and Patrice Bergeron scored a power-play goal midway through the first on a pass from Brad Marchand. But Marner tied it with about three minutes left in the period, sweeping in a rebound with such force he knocked himself off his skates.
Then, about three minutes into the second and Boston on a power play, the puck popped toward center ice and Marner had a clear path to the goal. When he was just outside the crease, Jake DeBrusk was called for bringing him down from behind, and sending him crashing into Rask.
Marner lined up for the penalty shot, came at Rask from the left side and then slid over to the right faster than the goalie could follow. He flipped the puck into the open net to make it 2-1.
Nazem Kadri sent Nylander off on a breakaway to make it 3-1 with 95 seconds left in the period. Rask came up with a pair of saves in the final minute to keep things from getting out of control, stopping Tavares on a breakaway with 38 seconds left and then a 3-on-1 at the horn.
Boston pulled the goalie with 2:35 left, but Tavares scored off a center-ice faceoff with 79 seconds left.
NOTES: The Leafs have only been awarded four postseason penalty shots, and the only other time they have scored was Mats Sundin against Buffalo on May 29, 1999. ... The Bruins have given up six postseason penalty shots, just two of them successful. The last attempt was by Philadelphia's Ville Leino in 2010. ... The Bruins outshot Toronto 21-14 in the second period, but gave up two goals. ... Toronto trade deadline acquisition Jake Muzzin missed the final regular-season game, but played Thursday and assisted on Marner's first goal.
UP NEXT
Game 2 is Saturday night in Boston before the series moves to Toronto for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Wednesday.
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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports
The KHL's reigning MVP could be Vegas-bound in the near future.
Nikita Gusev's Russian representatives and North American agent J.P. Barry of CAA Sports are working on Gusev's release from SKA St. Petersburg, TSN's Darren Dreger reports.
Gusev is under contract with the KHL club until the end of April, adds Dreger.
The Vegas Golden Knights acquired the 26-year-old's NHL rights from the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2017 expansion draft.
Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant repeatedly stated Thursday that he doesn't know much about Gusev and has "no idea" if the Russian forward will join the NHL team, but the bench boss said he's hopeful it will happen, according to The Athletic's Jesse Granger.
Gusev led the KHL with 82 points in 62 regular-season contests in 2018-19, adding 19 points in 18 playoff games this spring.
CSKA Moscow eliminated SKA St. Petersburg in Game 7 of the KHL's Western Conference Final earlier this week.
Auston Matthews believes he and his Toronto Maple Leafs are more prepared to take on the Boston Bruins in the playoffs this time around.
The Maple Leafs were bounced by the Bruins in seven games last spring, and Matthews faced significant scrutiny after registering just two points in the series. But now, the face of Toronto's franchise feels the club is ready to erase last season's failure.
"Each year you just gain more and more experience and, from our first now to our third year, you just kind of know what to expect going into it," Matthews said. "It's a battle. I think for all of us, like I said the last couple days, we're extremely hungry and we all feel ready for this challenge."
Matthews is entering the playoffs following the most productive regular season of his three-year career. He registered 73 points in 68 games overall and posted a dominant 58 percent possession rate since the start of March.
Game 1 of the highly anticipated series begins at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Goaltending has been the primary question mark for the top-seeded Flames all season as Smith has split starter's duties with David Rittich. Both netminders have posted nearly identical numbers since March 1.
Goalie
Games
Record
Sv %
Smith
9
4-5-0
.904
Rittich
9
5-4-0
.905
Smith presumably gets the nod due to experience; he has 19 career playoff starts while Rittich has none. The 37-year-old also owns an 11-1-4 record and .931 save percentage in 16 career appearances versus the Avalanche.
