A San Jose Sharks goal was taken away in controversial fashion Saturday night in Game 5 of their second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche.
Kevin Labanc's first-period marker was waved off because referee Tim Peel handed Sharks forward Timo Meier a high-sticking penalty seconds before the goal. However, replays appeared to show Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie lifting Meier's stick into Colorado forward Mikko Rantanen's face.
Making matters worse for San Jose, here's where Peel was when he made the call:
And here's where the other referee, Marc Joannette, was positioned. He didn't call a penalty.
"Hi, I'm Marc Joannette. That's me signaling a goal was scored. I was literally standing a few feet away from where a high sticking infraction may have happened. I didn't call anything. My partner Tim Peel is standing basically at center ice and made the call. He's the best." pic.twitter.com/s8LRqKxKx4
The NHL's explanation simply stated the penalty was called before the goal, but the league didn't provide further rationale.
From NHL: At 7:04 of the First Period in the Avalanche/Sharks game, the Referees informed the Situation Room that prior to the puck entering the Colorado net a minor penalty had been assessed to Timo Meier for high sticking. No goal San Jose. #Avs
Don Cherry isn't backing down from his criticism of the Carolina Hurricanes, and now he's taking aim at their supporters.
On Saturday night during his "Coach's Corner" segment, the "Hockey Night in Canada" pundit began discussing the team by reiterating his disapproval over the regular-season "Storm Surge" and was baffled that his previous "bunch of jerks" criticism was adopted by the club as a rallying cry.
"I don't understand this. I said this up in Canada and it goes down in there," Cherry said. "And it's a funny thing. They know that it's the wrong thing to do or they'd do it in the playoffs."
The 85-year-old analyst then took a shot at the Hurricanes' attendance.
"I'm told the owner said, 'Entertain the crowd,' and they still draw 13-to-14,000 people," Cherry said. "And these people that are here now, now (that) they're winning (are) front-running fans as far as I'm concerned."
When asked by broadcast partner Ron MacLean whether it's hard not to enjoy it now, Cherry was dismissive.
"I don't embrace nothing," he answered. "I said they look like a bunch of jerks being a fish in the water, (miming) a bowling ball. This is professional hockey and no sport in the world does it except them. It came down from the top (that), 'I want to entertain the fans.' The fans there now, the 17-and-18,000, they're front-runners. They're there because they win. Not because they act like fish."
The Hurricanes fired back shortly thereafter, making a clear reference to Cherry based on the "Star Wars"-themed suit he was wearing during his segment.
Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon heaped heavy praise on head coach Rod Brind'Amour after their club finished off a sweep of the New York Islanders on Friday night to advance to the Eastern Conference Final.
Dundon promoted Brind'Amour to the head coaching position last May after Bill Peters resigned about three weeks earlier. Brind'Amour had been an assistant and development coach with Carolina prior to his promotion, joining the staff in 2011.
The Hurricanes posted a 46-29-7 record under Brind'Amour in the 2018-19 regular season, improving by 10 wins compared to Peters' fourth and final campaign in 2017-18 when Carolina went 36-35-11 and missed the playoffs.
The Carolina Hurricanes may have shelved the "Storm Surge," but they're certainly not done surging. On Friday, the plucky outfit that waited until the third-last day of the regular season to clinch a postseason spot became the first club to advance to the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Following a seven-game battle with the Washington Capitals, the Hurricanes needed only four contests to dispose of the New York Islanders, winning 5-2 at PNC Arena in Raleigh. A franchise-record crowd of 19,495 chanted "SWEEP! SWEEP! SWEEP!" during the third period.
Mike Stobe / Getty Images
Head coach Rod Brind'Amour and captain Justin Williams both deserve heaps of credit for guiding such an inexperienced group to the Eastern Conference Final. It's difficult to quantify, sure, but nobody should be doubting the tandem's influence on this special Cinderella run.
That being said, let's take a look at three quantifiable reasons why the Canes are moving on:
Goaltending duo shuts the door
It's safe to say that the "use two goalies" strategy wasn't in Brind'Amour's pre-series playbook, but he ended up relying upon both of Carolina's netminders to win the matchup.
In Game 1, starter Petr Mrazek went save for save with Islanders No. 1 netminder Robin Lehner in a 1-0, 31-save overtime win. Then, Mrazek went down with a right-leg injury 26 minutes into Game 2. It could have been disastrous, but backup Curtis McElhinney had other plans.
McElhinney - a 35-year-old October waiver pickup who had two playoff contests to his name prior to Game 2 and carries a sub-$1-million salary cap hit - went on to save 71 of 75 shots to close out the series. He was dialed in.
Icon Sportswire / Getty Images
While New York's goalies - Lehner for the majority of the series, and Thomas Greiss for half of Game 4 - played well and shouldn't be blamed for the quick exit, Carolina's unexpected platoon had a steadying impact on the outcome of the series.
Case in point: NaturalStatTrick.com houses a metric called expected goals. It's an advanced statistic which uses shot-location data to calculate how many goals a team should be expected to score over a specific time period. The formula pegs the Isles at 11.6 expected goals in four games, yet Barry Trotz's squad actually buried just five on Mrazek and McElhinney.
Moving forward, since Mrazek's availability is up in the air, it's uncertain who will be between the pipes for Game 1 of the next round. Fortunately for Carolina, the Boston-Columbus series, which is tied 2-2, could go the distance. A week of rest may be huge.
Barzal never shook off the shackles
The Isles were a dominant defensive team during the regular season, allowing the fewest goals in the league. Conversely, they didn't have a potent offensive attack, and that discrepancy haunted them against Carolina.
Mat Barzal, a menace with the puck on his stick and the only New York skater to hit 60 points this season, was mostly held in check. He registered just 11 shots on goal, seven high-danger shot attempts, zero assists, and two power-play goals.
The goalies definitely contributed, but which skaters shut down the Isles' deadliest weapon? Here's the ice-time distribution for the six-man crew that kept Barzal scoreless at five-on-five:
PLAYER
TOI
Teravainen - F
24:43
Slavin - D
24:18
Faulk - D
22:25
Hamilton - D
22:04
Niederreiter - F
21:13
Staal - F
21:01
Overall, the Isles - a hardworking team which has an offensive identity strongly linked to creating scoring chances off the forecheck and cycle - were unable to generate a ton of prime looks during five-on-five action, namely in Games 3 and 4. Carolina made sure New York couldn't access the middle of the ice and crash the opposing crease area as it had done all season long.
The Isles scored a grand total of five goals - three on the power play and two at even strength - or roughly 1.25 per game. Unless you're competing in the Dead Puck Era, that's simply not going to cut it in an NHL playoff series.
Production from just about everyone
An impressive 16 Carolina skaters recorded at least one point in this series. And nine of them scored a goal ... or two ... or three.
It was longtime Cane Jordan Staal in Game 1. Newcomers Warren Foegele and Nino Niederreiter in a 2-1 second game. A mix - Teuvo Teravainen twice, Justin Faulk, Williams, and Sebastian Aho - in a 5-2 third contest. And then Aho, Teravainen, and Williams again, plus fourth-liner Greg McKegg and recently injured Andrei Svechnikov in the clincher.
Grant Halverson / Getty Images
Carolina scoring often? OK then. It's quite the development, really, given the franchise's recent history. It typically doesn't cash in on its chances; aside from goaltending, it's been the team's downfall for years.
The playoffs have been different: the Hurricanes are scoring on 10 percent of their shots. Corsi kings for the better part of the analytics era, they are enjoying a nice run of shooting success.
Mind you, it's no fluke. For one, Jaccob Slavin has been an unbelievable distributor this postseason and has registered 11 assists in 11 games. Every forward line is feeding off the puck-moving ability of Slavin and other defensemen, bolting straight for the mucky parts of the ice with or without the puck. And, against the Isles specifically, the entire Canes attack targeted the home-plate area and managed to capitalize on seemingly every net-front chance.
When the final buzzer rang Friday, the numbers told a neat story: Carolina scored all 12 of its second-round goals from the money spot - below the hash marks and between the faceoff dots. Nothing from the outside, or from the point. All hard-earned, high-percentage goals.
The team that gave itself a strong chance to win every single game won this series. There should be no surprise about the Canes' sweep. They earned it.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly acknowledged the Seattle-based franchise has dealt with arena construction delays but said the expansion team is still in the mix to host the draft in 2021, according to Tim Booth of The Associated Press.
Daly said the NHL hopes to determine a host at least one year before the event takes place and clarified that it will consider more than just the various buildings around the league when choosing where the draft will be held. He reiterated Gary Bettman's past pledge that Seattle will likely host one eventually.
"There are a lot of logistical issues you have to make sure are squared away before you make a decision like that," he said. "If (Seattle doesn't) get the draft in '21, it's not going to be long before (it hosts) a draft. That's been part of our discussions already. It's really part of the ownership transaction."
The arena at Seattle Center is being renovated to accommodate the new club and officials were hoping it would be ready by early spring 2021, but the project has been slowed by a change in contractors and design delays.
Bettman revealed in January that the NHL promised Seattle an All-Star Game within seven years, while also floating the possibility of a future draft and outdoor game being held there.
The new franchise is scheduled to begin play in the 2021-22 season.
Islanders head coach Barry Trotz tinkered with the idea of starting Greiss with his club facing a 3-0 series deficit but evidently stuck with Lehner, who entered the game with a .946 save percentage in this year's playoffs.
The Vezina Trophy finalist didn't get much help, as the Hurricanes' first goal came off the stick of Isles defenseman Adam Pelech. Lehner was then hung out to dry on a brilliant Carolina passing play for the second goal, and the third marker came off a deflection.
Greiss allowed a goal to Justin Williams on the second shot he faced.
The Islanders tandem allowed the fewest goals (191) in the NHL in the regular season, and their goaltending had been a strength in the playoffs, too. However, New York's attack has offered little support, with just one even-strength goal so far in the second-round series.
The Edmonton Oilers have narrowed their general manager search to one of the most decorated executives of all time.
The Oilers and Detroit Red Wings senior vice president Ken Holland have conducted extensive negotiations for Edmonton's general manager vacancy, sources told Sportsnet's Mark Spector. Holland will have full autonomy to hire and fire at will if he takes the job, Spector added.
Essentially, Holland can take complete control of Edmonton's hockey operations if he wants the job.
Mark Hunter, Sean Burke, and current interim GM Keith Gretzky reportedly remain contingency candidates if Holland declines the position.
The Red Wings won three Stanley Cups during Holland's 22-year run as general manager. But Detroit named Steve Yzerman its new GM and executive vice president on April 19, removing Holland from his position of ultimate hockey operations authority in the process.
The Hurricanes haven't been forced to contend with such an atmosphere during their second-round series against the Islanders, as the first two games were played at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
De Haan, who spent his first five NHL seasons with the Islanders before signing a four-year contract with the Hurricanes last summer, believes the change in venue is to the detriment of his former club.
"It's great for us," De Haan told Newsday's Andrew Gross on Thursday. "It's good for the away team. It kind of negates the home-ice advantage to a certain extent. I've played there (the Coliseum) and it's loud and you do feed off of that. Whether you think of it or not, you do feed off the momentum of the crowd and it seemed to elevate everybody on the bench. But it is what it is. That's Mr. Bettman's decision, so, whatever."
The Islanders split their home games between the two arenas during the regular season. It was announced that their first-round playoff series would be played at the Coliseum, but the remainder of their postseason would take place at the Barclays Center, citing that "Nassau Coliseum does not qualify as an NHL major-league facility."
Playing the one series at the Coliseum required a letter from Nassau County executive Laura Curran to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. The Islanders took full advantage of the two contests played on Long Island, sweeping the Pittsburgh Penguins to begin the playoffs.
Here's a look at the team's arena splits during the regular season:
Arena
Record
Attendance
Max. capacity
Nassau Coliseum
12-7-2
13 514
13 900
Barclays Center
12-6-2
11 248
15 795
New York opened its second-round series against the Hurricanes by dropping two games at the Barclays Center and now finds itself trailing 3-0 with Game 4 slated for Friday in Raleigh.
The Islanders moved to the Barclays Center in 2015 despite the arena being built primarily for basketball. Obstructed seating views and a lengthy commute from Long Island have drawn the ire of fans, while players have complained about poor ice conditions.
Nassau Coliseum, the Islanders' sole home between 1974 and 2015, underwent renovations prior to the 2017-18 season. A $2.1-billion development project at Belmont Park, which includes a 19,000-seat arena for the Islanders, is expected to be ready by 2021.
