Shane Malloy from Hockey Prospect Radio chats with Dan and Sat about hockey fandoms, scouting, and who the Canucks should target in the draft.
This podcast was produced by Ben Basran.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
Abbotsford Canucks GM Ryan Johnson joins Dan and Sat to discuss yesterday's playoff win. The guys also talk about building a playoff contender.
This podcast was produced by Ben Basran.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman isn't in the lineup for Game 2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday and is considered day-to-day, the team announced.
Hedman missed the final two periods of Game 1 after suffering an undisclosed injury.
The Maple Leafs put up an absolute dud in the opening game of the series. They were very slow out of the gate and took a needless five-minute major as soon as they started to crawl back into the game, which turned a potentially close contest into an embarrassing blowout loss.
Not everything to come from that game was bad for the team, though. The Lightning suffered some injuries along the way.
Mikey Eyssimont and Erik Cernak were ruled out for tonight's game, while Victor Hedman's status is up in the air after he left Game 1 with an injury. Even if he plays, it's safe to assume he'll be well short of 100%.
Eyssimont is a solid depth winger, but his absence isn't overly consequential. However, the losses of Cernak - and perhaps Hedman - are massive.
With Ryan McDonagh and Jan Rutta departing last offseason, this team isn't nearly as deep on defense as it used to be. The Lightning are already dressing and handing important minutes to guys like Nick Perbix and Darren Raddysh.
A case could be made for Cernak being the team's best in-zone defender. Even if Hedman is able to go, losing Cernak makes an already top-heavy blue line even more so.
The Maple Leafs have had a couple days to chew on a disastrous Game 1 performance. They know the importance of this game and, with Tampa's injuries on defense, have a golden opportunity to even the series.
I expect Toronto to come out with a much better effort and take care of business without the help of overtime.
Bet: Maple Leafs in regulation (-110)
William Nylander over 3.5 shots (+105)
Nylander is quietly on a nice shooting run at home. He registered four shots or more in 19 of the past 30 games in Toronto - including in Game 1.
He enjoyed a lot of success against the Bolts this season. Through four games, Nylander piled up 23 shots while going over his shot total in each meeting.
Nylander attempted no fewer than seven shots in any game against the Lightning. With that kind of volume, it's no coincidence he gets the job done on such a consistent basis.
I expect the Maple Leafs to play with purpose and pile up the shots in this contest. With Cernak, and potentially Hedman, out of the lineup, the Lightning just don't have the horses defensively.
Whether the Lightning win or lose, I think they're going to spend a lot of time on their heels absorbing shots. Expect plenty of them to come off Nylander's stick.
Nathan MacKinnon over 4.5 shots (-132)
MacKinnon is an unstoppable force at home. Dating back to last year, he recorded five shots or more in nine of 12 playoff games in which he logged 20-plus minutes.
As we saw in Game 1, the Kraken are a solid team that won't just roll over. These games are going to be competitive, meaning MacKinnon will see a lot of ice.
It doesn't much matter who the opponent is; MacKinnon is extremely efficient as a shot generator, so if the usage is there, the shots will be too.
MacKinnon attempted 11 shots and hit the target seven times in 20 minutes of ice last time out. There's no reason he can't put forth a similar stat line in a crucial game for the Avalanche.
Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.
Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was his own harshest critic after he struggled in his side's 7-3 setback to the Dallas Stars in Game 2 on Wednesday night.
"Embarrassing on my part, giving up seven goals like that in the playoffs," Fleury said, according to The Athletic's Michael Russo.
He added, "I want to come in and give a chance to my team to stay in the game and win. That's not what I did. I gave up too many goals. I think we had to open up to try to come back in the game, and we gave up more chances, but bottom line, I didn't make any good, key saves in the game."
Fleury made 24 saves on 31 shots for a .774 save percentage in the contest as the Stars evened up the first-round series. The three-time Stanley Cup champion allowed 3.83 goals above expected at all strengths, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Filip Gustavsson, Fleury's 24-year-old running mate, manned the crease for Game 1 during Minnesota's 3-2 victory in double overtime. Gustavsson made 51 stops and played for just over 92 minutes.
Fleury was disappointed he didn't follow in his partner's footsteps.
"Wish I could've stepped up, give him a break and give him a win to keep going," he said.
Fleury continued, "He was tremendous, awesome that last game. I just wanted to do my part and my job tonight ... and I didn't. That pissed me off."
Gustavsson and Fleury largely shared the crease during the regular season, but the elder statesman made the bulk of the starts:
Goalie
Starts
Record
Sv%
GAA
Fleury
45
24-16-4
.908
2.85
Gustavsson
37
22-9-7
.931
2.10
Wild head coach Dean Evason briefly touched on his decision to switch goalies after Game 2.
"It's just, it's what we do, right?" he said. "We've done it all year. The game, nothing was on Flower tonight. It was all on us."
Fleury started the first five games of the Wild's first-round clash against the St. Louis Blues last season, but Minnesota switched to Cam Talbot during the team's do-or-die Game 6 after the 2021 Vezina Trophy winner conceded four goals in back-to-back outings.
The Wild will get a chance to retake their lead on the Stars during Game 3 on Friday as the series heads to Minnesota.
Alexandar Georgiev rode the pine last spring as Igor Shesterkin backstopped the Rangers to the conference finals. The Lightning eliminated New York, then lost the championship series to the Avalanche, who dealt draft picks to land Georgiev so that he could help them defend the Stanley Cup.
Filip Gustavsson pondered returning to his native Sweden when his North American pro career got off to a middling start. Shaky for much of his time with the Senators, Gustavsson was traded to the Wild last summer, and his stock has soared ever since.
Stuart Skinner wears the unconventional jersey number 74 because his older brothers Stephen, Scott, and Sheldon sported similar digits, he told The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman. The youngest of nine siblings, Skinner was the Oilers' second-choice netminder back in the fall, but the spotlight now beams on him alone.
Unproven goaltenders control postseason destinies in the Western Conference. Puck-stoppers with scant playoff experience, like the above trio, Stars prodigy Jake Oettinger, and Kings deadline acquisition Joonas Korpisalo, could wind up deciding who competes for the Cup if they shine or stumble in pressurized moments.
Fans of rival teams are still getting to know them. Half of the West's Game 1 goalies never started in the playoffs before this week. Oettinger and Korpisalo had yet to reach 10 playoff appearances. Gustavsson and Skinner, the West's postseason debutants, are 24 years old - six years younger than Panthers journeyman Alex Lyon, the East bracket's lone newcomer.
Golden Knights rookie Logan Thompson would've been part of this cohort if he didn't aggravate a lower-body injury in March. Vegas is starting Laurent Brossoit in his place instead of Jonathan Quick, the aging former Conn Smythe Trophy recipient whose decline in 2022-23 hastened a broader generational turnover.
Quick and Mike Smith manned the creases in 2022 when the Kings and Oilers clashed in the opening round. Marc-Andre Fleury split starts with Cam Talbot to ill effect as the Wild crashed out of the playoffs in six games. Darcy Kuemper won the Cup with Colorado the month after he turned 32, then departed in free agency when the Avalanche tapped Georgiev as a cheaper, fresh-faced replacement.
The Stars leaned on grizzled thirtysomething goalies - first Kari Lehtonen, then Ben Bishop, then Anton Khudobin - when they won rounds in recent postseasons. Wasting little time, Oettinger, who's also 24, inherited the top job from Khudobin by his second NHL campaign.
Sam Hodde / NHL / Getty Images
West contenders believe in the kids for good reason. Dallas coaches and teammates assured theScore's John Matisz that Oettinger's confidence never wavers. Heroic in defeat against the Flames last year, Oettinger's 64 saves in Game 7 forced double overtime in an epic contest and increased his save percentage in the series to .954.
Oettinger and Georgiev were two of the seven workhorses across the league who made 60 starts in net this season. That duo, Gustavsson, Skinner, and Korpisalo all ranked in the top 15 in goals saved above expected, per Evolving-Hockey. Jack Campbell's .888 save percentage alarmed Edmontonians, but Skinner's .914 denial rate over 48 starts helped restore faith in the Oilers and strengthened his Calder Trophy candidacy.
Skinner has slumped in Edmonton's rematch with Los Angeles, though not egregiously. A one-timer trickled under his glove as Game 1 waned, permitting the Kings to tie the score and eventually prevail in overtime. His inability to seal the post multiple times in Game 2 induced jitters before the Oilers rebounded to win. Both Skinner and Korpisalo have given up six goals in the series despite Edmonton aiming 18 more shots on net.
Korpisalo's playoff exploits include making 85 saves one night in the 2020 bubble - the Lightning beat his Blue Jackets in the fifth OT period - and holding Connor McDavid scoreless on 11 shots in this round. The Kings ranked 31st in team save percentage when they swapped Quick for him on March 1, then ranked fifth in the stat from Korpisalo's debut onward, according to Natural Stat Trick. Leon Draisaitl (three goals) is the only Oiler who's troubled him consistently.
Icon Sportswire / Getty Images
Over in the Stars-Wild matchup, Oettinger's .919 save percentage through two games is strong, while Minnesota's decision to stick steadfast to its goalie rotation backfired Wednesday.
Benching Gustavsson after his 51-save masterpiece keyed a win in double overtime, Wild head coach Dean Evason watched Fleury let in seven goals, some of them stinkers, on 31 shots as Dallas knotted the series. Fleury said postgame that his performance was embarrassing.
The math suggests the Wild should ride Gustavsson, the substantially better goalie this season. His .931 save percentage dwarfed Fleury's .908 mark, and he saved many more goals above expected (24.54 to 0.86) behind the same defense. Gustavsson and Oettinger are the only goalies aged 24 or younger to record 50 saves in the playoffs since 2010, per Stathead. They'll duel in Game 3 and beyond if Evason smartens up.
As with Brossoit, Georgiev's exposure to the playoffs prior to this week was limited to a few periods of mop-up duty. Neither goalie's first start went as planned. Four of Brossoit's former Jets teammates fired pucks past him in the Golden Knights' Game 1 setback. Kraken veteran Philipp Grubauer outshone Georgiev in Seattle's 3-1 win, stopping 10 of the Avalanche's 11 high-danger shots on net as part of a sparkling 34-save effort.
Favored heavily in that series, Colorado needs Grubauer to wilt or Georgiev to stand taller to avoid digging a deep deficit. Connor Hellebuyck, whose 16 saves against Vegas enabled Winnipeg to cruise to victory, familiarized Brossoit with the standard of netminding required to stifle a talented foe.
Long, exhilarating runs remain in reach if these playoff novices uplift their teams in the clutch. The opponent will advance if they falter. Let's see what they can do.
Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour announced forward Teuvo Teravainen is out for the foreseeable future after sustaining a broken hand in Tuesday's overtime win over the New York Islanders.
Teravainen was injured on a slash from Jean-Gabriel Pageau in the third period, and will undergo surgery Thursday.
On another episode of overrated/underrated, Dan and Sat give their thoughts on a wide variety of Canucks topics such as Elias Pettersson, J.T Miller and John and John along with other topics from around the sports world.
This podcast was produced by Ben Basran.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
