Los Angeles vs New York - Kings take stranglehold on Cup final #hockey #playoff #kings #rangers

source : faceoff.com

Preconceptions about the lopsided potential of this Stanley Cup final — hastily revised after the first two games — appear to have been correct after all.

The Los Angeles Kings, arguably lucky to win either, let alone both, of their home games to start the series, dominated every phase of Game 3 Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

It was 3-0 on the scoreboard, it is 3-0 in games, and soon, to use an old newspaper symbol for “end of story” it will be -30- for the New York Rangers.

Jeff Carter supplied the dagger — opening scoring with 0.8 seconds left in the first period — and goalie Jonathan Quick the exclamation point.

Jake Muzzin and Mike Richards added second-period goals, and the Kings shut it down after that.
New York outshot the visitors 32-15 and it couldn’t have mattered less, because the Kings got three exceptional bounces, one on each of their goals, and Quick was there to clean up their rare mistakes with a performance reminiscent of his 2012 Conn Smythe Trophy form.

“That was our hockey, that was our team tonight,” said Kings centre Jarret Stoll. “We wanted to get the lead and stifle them, stay on top of them.

“The games have been so back-and-forth and nail-biting, I’m sure for fans, people watching the games. But we were feeling it, we were rolling our lines, 25-35 seconds (shifts), just keeping the tempo high.”

The coast-to-coast change of venue altered the tone almost immediately, and the teams settled into a tight-checking pattern more familiar to both.

“This is the game that we want to play,” said defenceman Matt Greene. “We don’t want to get into shootouts. Obviously the come-from-behind wins are not going to last.”

The shots were 3-3 through the first period until its very last split-second when Justin Williams — yes, him again — found Carter unchecked in the slot and Carter’s snap shot glanced off the skate of a sliding Dan Girardi and in and out of Henrik Lundqvist’s glove.

The clock showed 0.0 but the red light was on, and the replay revealed the puck crossed the line with 0.8 seconds left. The Garden went quiet as 18,006 jaws dropped simultaneously. Make that 18,007, because New York coach Alain Vigneault’s did, too, and he cast his eyes heavenward as if to say:
“Aren’t you finished yet?”

On Muzzin’s goal, his shot glanced off Rangers’ Marty St. Louis, who was trying to block it, and handcuffed Lundqvist. Richards scored on a 2-on-1 late in the period when his attempted pass to Kyle Clifford was batted right back onto his stick by defenceman Ryan McDonagh and Lundqvist could ony watch helpessly as Richards buried it … and very likely, buried the Rangers along with it.

“Well, you try to stay positive right now, but it’s tough,” said Lundqvist, who simply has not got a break in this series. “We are doing a lot of good things but you look at the goals and we put two in our own net and it was just a tough play on the third one.

“At some point, you are going to need some puck luck and we don’t have any right now. It feels like they have all of it.

“It doesn’t matter what you think you deserve out there, you just have to find a way to win games, and that’s what they have been doing.”

Quick, meanwhile, made two other-worldly stick saves, one on Mats Zuccarello in the first period, another on Derick Brassard in the second, and was all over the puck, tracking it through traffic, gambling and winning when he charged out to cut angles, never giving up on scrambles.

Zuccarello could have changed the feel of the game had he scored 12 minutes in, with Quick down and out. But with an open net at his feet, the diminutive Norwegian was foiled by Quick’s desperate dive, and the puck glanced off the goaltender’s paddle and out the other side.

“I don’t know how … did he save it?” said Stoll. “Empty net, it was 0-0 at the time, those are saves you need, and that’s the type of goalie he is. He’s the best in the world. He’s going to come up with those saves sometimes, it doesn’t surprise us.

“He was great for us tonight, he did everything we needed him to do, when we needed it. The power plays that they had (Rangers were 0-for-6), coming up with pucks, battling like he was, side to side and out, challenging …”

L.A. captain Dustin Brown thinks the size of the stage appeals to Quick.

"I think it definitely plays a part, being on this type of stage, being from this area," said Brown. "I think it's a big deal to anybody who plays here. I think also the guy at the other end of the ice is a very good goaltender as well and I think that motivates Quickie because he's a competitor."

The Kings, looking fresher than in either of the two games in L.A., kept the pedal down in the third period and didn't allow the Rangers even a breath of life.

“Well, we’re used to the travel the day before. Obviously, being in the West, we do it a lot. We moved past all that fatigue part of it a couple of days ago,” said L.A. coach Darryl Sutter.
Now, it’s just about finishing.

The Kings had New Jersey down 3-0 in games two seasons ago, and had to go six games to win it.
“I haven’t even thought about that,” Sutter said. “Has nothing to do with this series. I mean, hell, we
got thrown under the bus by everybody on earth seven weeks ago.”

That’s when they were down 0-3 to San Jose, the first of their seven-game marathons.

They hadn’t done anything the easy way yet … until Monday night.

Vigneault was asked what he would tell his players, considering what they face in Game 4.

"Well," he said, "I'm going to take the night to figure it out."

Los Angeles vs New York : Puck luck? Kings masters of the breaks #hockey #nhl #playoffs #rangers #kings

source : faceoff.com

The topic was luck. Puck luck, hit-the-goalpost luck, go-in-off-a-defenceman’s-skate luck, referee’s-mistake luck.

Craig Simpson tells the story of the 1990 Stanley Cup final in Boston, Game 1, the Bruins and Edmonton Oilers tied 2-2.

“It was the long game, remember?” said Jim Hughson’s Hockey Night in Canada sidekick.
“Sure, the Petr Klima, triple-overtime game,” a reporter said.

“Yeah, well in the second overtime, I was backchecking on, I think, Randy Burridge, and I remember being behind him on the perfect angle to see his shot going toward the net, and I said, ‘S—t, it’s over,’” Simpson said late Saturday evening.

“It was going in, Billy (Oiler goalie Ranford) never saw it coming, and all of a sudden it hit the knob of his stick…”

The conversation had started because of the Los Angeles Kings’ seemingly inexhaustible resourcefulness in winning from behind in these playoffs — coming from 2-0 down in three straight games now, and winning them all, including Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Final over the luckless New York Rangers.

But what about the Kings? If the Rangers are luckless, what part of the bigger picture of L.A.’s fairy tale series of comeback wins is played by pure, unadulterated luck?

Reporters are reluctant to give it the credit it deserves now and then, when it is a particularly integral part of turning a key game or even a whole series on its ear.

And it always sounds a little weak when a player or coach on the losing side speaks of luck, so not many go there. But every one of them knows it decides plenty of games.

Two playoff seasons in a row, Chicago captain Jonathan Toews has referred to bounces, and how the Hawks just had to keep grinding on, because sooner or later the bounces were going to go their way.

A year ago, they finally did, in the final against Boston.

This spring, not so much. Not against the Kings, anyway, who won Game 7 of the Western Conference final out of nowhere, it seemed, on a random Alec Martinez shot through a maze of bodies in overtime that struck Chicago defenceman Nick Leddy on the hip and deflected upward, over goalie Corey Crawford, sending the Kings on to the Cup final.

This, after going down three games to none against San Jose in the first round, and trailing Anaheim 3-2 in the second.

And now, they are doing it again — not lucking their way to 4-3 and 5-4 overtime wins in the first two games against New York, exactly, but ….

Think about the odds of Ranger defenceman Dan Girardi losing his balance and falling down, handing the puck to Mike Richards, who changed his mind while heading for the bench and accepted the gift, feeding Justin Williams for the winner in Game 1.

Think about the width of the goal’s frame by which two Rangers failed to score on Jonathan Quick in Game 2, and the two non-calls that went L.A.’s way: the goalie interference on Dwight King’s goal early in the third period, and the puck-over-the-glass by Martinez moments before Dustin Brown deflected Willie Mitchell’s point shot past Henrik Lundqvist in double overtime.

It has happened over and over again. The Kings are being outplayed badly early, then like magic the puck’s in the other team’s net, and they rally.

And they know it’s playing with fire, and they keep on doing it.

“I guess you look at the results, but … are we playing good or are we not?” veteran centre Jarret Stoll said, in a near-confession Saturday.

“Right now we’re doing a lot of things that aren’t in our game, haven’t been in our game for years here. We’re getting away with it, I think, right now. We’ve got to be honest with how we’re playing.”
One man’s luck is another man’s moxie, but what the Kings are doing is historic. They’re the first team ever to win three straight playoff games after being down 2-0. They’re the first team to be up 2-0 in a Stanley Cup final without ever having held the lead. They have not led in their past 229 minutes and 15 seconds, since midway through the third period of Game 6 against Chicago.
That’s no formula for success, and neither is playing the maximum 21 games to get to the Cup final, then going to overtime in the first two against New York.

Both teams looked dead on their feet in the second OT Saturday, and even L.A. coach Darryl Sutter said he was concerned about fatigue.

“Darn right. Thought about it late in the third, and I thought about it in the first overtime,” Sutter said. “Takes its toll. Always does. There’s a lot of guys that played a lot of minutes. It’s like, what have we played, 23 games? That’s a lot.”

By any fair standard, the Rangers ought to have at least split the games in L.A., if not won them both.
They have put the Kings on their heels early with speed and opportunism, forced them to turn over pucks and mishandle routine passes, and like every other team L.A. has faced in these playoffs, they have exposed a shockingly ordinary team defence — shocking, because L.A. won the Jennings Trophy as the league’s top defensive team in the regular season.

“I don’t know what the heck is going on,” admitted defenceman Jake Muzzin. “I don’t know what it is. Having a lot of experience, a lot of belief and confidence that we can come back. And we’ve been doing it.

“Having Quickie in the net helping us when we need him is huge, and gives us momentum and we’ve been able to capitalize.”

But even Quick has been porous by his 2012 Conn Smythe Trophy standards. The same goalie who backstopped the Kings’ run to the Cup with a 1.41 goals-against average and .946 save percentage, allowing just 29 goals in 20 games that spring, is now sitting at a 2.80 GAA, .906 SV percentage and has surrendered 65 goals in 23 games.

The one thing he has done is make timely saves late.

But two games in, this year’s final has been a gloriously error-filled, randomly-played treat to watch, and much like the Kings’ previous series, has featured a spate of end-to-end trading of chances and precious little defence.

“They’ve been in three Game 7s and come out on top. They were Stanley Cup champions a couple years ago. They know what it takes to win. They’re getting those good bounces, those good plays in front,” said Girardi.

“We’re just going to have to find a way to, when we have the lead, to hold on to it. We know they’re going to be coming. We need to be ready for that.”

“We played a much better game than in Game 1,” said Ranger D-man Marc Staal. “We had a lot of chances. We hit a couple of posts, a couple that went cross crease and we were an inch or two away from putting the game away.”

There’s an expression curlers use, and golfers: “We were just on the wrong side of the inch.”
That’s the Rangers, two games into this Stanley Cup final, wondering if the luck really does even out in the end.

Of course, there’s another expression that goes: “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”
The Kings ought to have that one painted on their dressing room wall. It’s their stock in trade, and the stock is trending upward.

Kings stun Hawks in OT, advance to Stanley Cup final #hawks #kings #hockey #icehockey #playoffs

source : faceoff.com

The Cockroaches live.

They looked dead enough, down 2-0 early to a Chicago team riding a wave of United Center emotion, but the Los Angeles Kings --- the toughest out in hockey --- rallied from behind three times, and became the first team in NHL history to win three Games 7 on the road in the same playoff year Sunday night, beating the Blackhawks 5-4 in overtime.

It was a shocking end to a series that the Kings once controlled then seemed to have lost, giving up all momentum to the Hawks in Games 5 and 6.

But they simply refused to go away.

Someone calculated that the players in L.A.'s lineup entered Sunday's series finale with a combined Game 7 record of 64-2. They needed every ounce of that savvy and grit, and a little bit of luck, to get past the defending champions.

In the end, it was an innocent-looking wrist shot from the point by Alec Martinez that hit two players --- almost certainly teammate Tyler Toffoli, then Chicago defenceman Nick Leddy's --- before eluding goalie Corey Crawford at 5:47 of overtime.

It was the first Game 7 overtime in a conference final since 1994, when Stephane Matteau was the hero for the New York Rangers.

Martinez was still being credited with the goal long after the game, but whoever got it, it was fittingly a pinballing puck that produced the winner, after an evening of wild, weird bounces accounted for almost every one of the goals.

"It's part of the game," said Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. "The puck was bouncing both ways. We got a few, they got a few."

"We had an opportunity in Game 5 in overtime. That would have been a little easier. But we knew they weren't going down easily. We were fortunate to get out of it. Now we have to get our legs under us."

After three seven-game marathons, it might be tough to do.

"We just have to reset again," said Kings coach Darryl Sutter. "We did it during the regular season. We did it before the Olympics. We did it after the Olympics. We did it before the playoffs started. We did it after Game 7 of the first round, second round. We just have to do it again. Certainly it's a challenge. You play a fresh team."

The Kings return home to face the Rangers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final Wednesday at Staples Centre.

"Great goaltender, great defence, great forwards, great special teams," Sutter said, asked what he knew about the Rangers.

"So, basically you have no chance?" said a reporter.

"Yup. We're up against it again," he said, with the smallest of smiles.

The track meet the Kings said they could not afford to get into with Chicago commenced almost as soon as the puck dropped.

It began the way Game 6 ended, with the highly flammable Patrick Kane dangling and the Kings chasing. Kane set up Brandon Saad from behind the net with a pass out the far side that Saad hammered home before Jonathan Quick could get across.

Then, as these things go, Kane was hit in the back of the legs by Brent Seabrook's shot and the puck caromed right to Jonathan Toews for an open-net tap-in and a 2-0 lead on the power play. It was Kane's ninth point in three games.

But these were, after all, the Kings, and they began to get their licks in from about the time Toffoli hit the goalpost in the 16th minute. In a 51-second stretch, Crawford failed to handle a Dustin Brown shot from the wing and Jeff Carter batted the high rebound out of the air to bring L.A. within one, and Justin Williams --- Mr. Game 7 himself --- had a blocked shot land right on his stick in the slot and scored his seventh Game 7 goal to tie it.

A mere 12 seconds later, a wide-angle shot by Chicago's Patrick Sharp hit Drew Doughty's stick and took a bizarre high bounce over Quick's pad to restore the Hawks' lead.

Quick stopped four shots, and three got past him.

And that was just the first period.

The Kings had just about nothing going on in the second - they were outshot 16-4 --- but put away one of their few chances when Michal Handzus's attempted block of Matt Greene's point shot bounced straight onto Toffoli's stick for another tap-in, and another tie.

Sharp again gave Chicago the lead, scoring through a screen from the point after Quick lost his stick with two minutes left.

But if the series was too good not to have a Game 7, then Game 7 was just too wild and unpredictable not to have overtime. So of course, it did.

Crawford couldn't capture another fairly harmless wrist shot by Brown, and all the Hawks ignored the playoffs' leading goal scorer, Marian Gaborik, who cruised through the crease and deposited the puck into the net with 7:17 left to make it 4-4.

And somehow, thanks mostly to a couple of ninja-like saves by Quick, one of them on Andrew Shaw with 5.3 seconds left in regulation, the Kings got it into extra time.

There were 51 goals scored in the series, and the Kings gave up 23. They surrendered only 30 in their entire 20-game Stanley Cup run in 2012.

But they're at 21 games and still kicking.

"This was probably the most emotional seven games I've ever played, because of how games were won and lost and series leads back and forth," said Brown, the Kings' captain .

"I mean you have the last two Stanley cup champions and a great result for the NHL because the hockey was good. I mean it was sloppy but it was exciting.

"I think last year they smacked us around. Five games but it could have been four. I think we are a better team this year and evenly matched. I don't think it was revenge. It's weird in the sense that we played them back to back years but I think the respect on each side is very high."

"I don't know if that game shows that it's tough to repeat as a champion," said Sharp. "I think everybody knows it's tough to win a Stanley Cup, whether you won it the previous year or not. Tonight was two good teams with a lot of guys who've gone the distance and won Stanley Cups before. Both sides had that experience and it was a pretty entertaining game."

"That was an amazing series, it really was," said Doughty, the best player in the series. "It's even better that we won it, obviously, but that was just a hard fought battle out there. Both teams played pretty honest, there wasn't any diving, there wasn't guys cheating. It was just an honest series, battles in the corners, a lot of goals. There was everything in this series. It was a lot of fun. I hope the next series can feel the same way."

Top 10: Stocks rising in the playoffs #hockey #playoffs #stanleycup #top10

source : dobbersports.com


Which players have sent their fantasy stock through the roof these playoffs?

Every playoffs, there are always a few guys who play much better than expected in the postseason.
Deservedly or not, this brings their stock up tremendously in fantasy hockey. In keeper pools, you have to pay more to acquire these guys, and in one-year leagues, these guys are snapped up earlier than you might imagine.

Last season, we saw guys like Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Bryan Bickell creep up draft lists in fantasy hockey. In other postseasons, we’ve seen players like Ville Leino and James van Riemsdyk increase their value with great playoff runs. Players like Leino serve as cautionary tales when using playoff success as a predictor, but it is worth examining who will get the biggest boost from their performances.

That being said, here are 10 guys who have seen their value increase this year.


10. Lars Eller

While his linemates are slowly deteriorating — Rene Bourque has one goal in his last seven games, while Brian Gionta has just one assist in that time — Eller has been one of the Habs bright spots game in and game out. His five goals lead the Habs this postseason, while his 11 points is second on the team. He’s second on the team with a plus-four. Many are wondering if he can keep this up over a full season, but owners of Eller have to be pleased with how he’s been performing this postseason.



9. Torey Krug

The legend of Krug in the playoffs continues to grow. The rookie seems to have a knack of stepping up in the playoffs, and he certainly made sure he did so this postseason as well. Krug posted two goals and 10 points, which was enough to lead the Bruins. He was one of the key cogs in comebacks against Montreal in the second round. And the 23-year-old’s value has undoubtedly risen this postseason.


8. Paul Stastny

After eight seasons in the league, it’s still difficult for fantasy owners to figure out Paul Stastny. Is he a 70-point guy, or a 50-point guy? The playoffs may have owners thinking it’s more of the former than the latter. He scored five goals and 10 points in a first-round loss, both leading the Avalanche. As an unrestricted free agent, he definitely earned himself some more money with his playoffs, and increased his trade value in fantasy as well.


7. Nick Bonino

Bonino seemed to have a knack of stepping up in important playoff games. In the first round against Dallas, he scored two goals in a series-clinching Game 6 victory. In the second round against the Kings, Bonino had a goal and three assists in the last five games. Many fantasy hockey enthusiasts have been waiting for years for Bonino to break out, and after this postseason, they may have been rewarded for their patience.


6. P.K. Subban

While it may seem weird to have a superstar on this list, Subban has gone from a great fantasy defenceman to own to almost an untouchable. Subban’s 12 points leads all dmen, and his swagger has either people love or hate him more, depending on how you feel about his beforehand. He doesn’t shy away from the big moment, and the trust head coach Michel Therrien has shown Subban in the playoffs speaks well for the future. If you were trying to trade for him before the playoffs started, expect to have to pay a lot more now.


5. Jack Johnson

Johnson has been a tough guy to figure out. While he’s not the best defensively —a career minus-97 and never a season where he’s been a plus-player —there’s no doubt he’s got a bomb from the point. However, in the last seven years, he’s only cracked 40 points once. This season was disappointing, with just 33 points and a minus-seven. However, he was superb in the first round against the Penguins. He had points in five of the six games, and finished with three goals and four assists, three of which came on the power play.


4. Brad Richards

This guy was a top candidate for an amnesty buyout not too long ago. Now the Rangers have won nine games in the postseason, and Richards has been a big part of the reason why. While Rick Nash has been shooting blanks, Richards has been carrying the load. His five goals lead all Rangers, and his 10 points are tied for second. His two power play goals and six power play points also leads the Rangers, as does his two game-winning goals. He’s not only reviving his hockey career in New York, but in many fantasy leagues as well.


3. Erik Huala

The rookie seemed to come out of nowhere to help put a fright in the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round. Announcers were raving about his blazing speed, as he found himself in the clear on numerous opportunities. After a disappointing first round where he had just one goal and one assist, Huala turned it on in the second round. In six games against the Hawks, the 23-year-old had three goals and two assists and was a plus-three. He was also given a nice compliment from Patrick Kane, which didn’t hurt.


2. Ilya Bryzgalov

Last summer, Bryz was bought by the Flyers, and things were looking bleak as he wasn’t even signed by an NHL team at the start of the season. He eventually signed with the Oilers, where he was underwhelming, before being dealt to the Wild. He was the backup at the start of the playoffs, but thanks to injuries, started the entire second round against the Hawks. It’s weird. He lost four of six games, and only faced more than 21 shots on two occasions, but because he played excellent in a couple of games, many believe he’ll be a good (or at least affordable) pickup next season in fantasy leagues.


1. Marian Gaborik

While some are still concerned by Gaborik’s injury history — and rightfully so — many poolies are salivating over Gaborik’s playoffs. There’s never been denying his talent, but Gaborik has also never played with anyone as talented as Anze Kopitar. After scoring 16 points in 19 games with the Kings in the regular season, Gaborik is following that up with one of the best postseasons of any player. His nine goals is tops in the league, and his 15 points in 15 games is tied for second. Even the most optimistic Gaborik fan couldn’t have seen this coming, and if Gaborik re-signs in L.A. this summer, his stock should go through the roof.

Montreal vs Boston : Price shutout sends Canadiens to Game 7

source : faceoff.com

The skinny: The Canadiens forced a seventh and deciding game in their Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Boston Bruins when they defeated the Bruins 4-0 Monday night at the Bell Centre. Carey Price made 26 saves for his first shutout of the playoffs. Thomas Vanek scored a power-play goal and added a second goal while Tuukka Rask was leaving the ice for an extra attacker. Lars Eller and Max Pacioretty each scored once.

Out of the shadows: Pacioretty and Vanek have been invisible for large parts of this series but they scored goals in a 2:36 span late in the second period to give the Canadiens a 3-0 lead. Pacioretty scored his first goal of the series and second of the playoffs when he caught Zdeno Chara sleeping and took a stretch pass from Nathan Beaulieu. He beat Tuukka Rask through the five-hole at 15:24. Vanek added a power-play goal at 17:39. Andrei Markov got the puck to the net and Pacioretty had a swipe at it before Vanek scored during a scramble in front.

First strike: In a series where the first goal has been important, the Canadiens took a 1-0 lead when Eller scored an unassisted goal at 2:11 of the opening period. When the Bruins tried to reverse the puck behind their net, rookie Kevin Miller was unable to control the pass and the puck bounced out in front of the net. Rask dove to reach the loose puck but he was unable to control it and Eller scored when he put a backhander under the shaft of Rask’s stick.

Close calls: The Canadiens were hemmed into their own end for nearly five minutes in the second period after P.K. Subban took a penalty for holding the stick. The Canadiens successfully killed the penalty but the Bruins kept the pressure on and squandered their best scoring chance when Milan Lucic missed an open net. The Bruins also missed an opportunity in the first period when Loui Eriksson hit the crossbar on the tail end of an odd-man rush. The Bruins thought they had a goal at 11:05 of the third period when Jarome Iginla deflected a puck in front. The puck went behind Price but David Desharnais batted the puck away as it bounced along the goal line.

Juggling the lineup: Beaulieu was a surprise addition to the Canadiens’ lineup. Beaulieu finished the season with the Hamilton Bulldogs and hadn’t played a game since April 19. He was making his first playoff appearance at the pro level. Coach Michel Therrien also brought Daniel Brière back into the lineup after a one-game absence. He replaced Travis Moen.

What’s next: The series moves to the TD Garden for the deciding Game 7 Wednesday night (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, TSN Radio 690). The winner will advance to the Eastern Conference final against the winner of Tuesday night’s game between the New York Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Canadiens : Daniel Brière est-il sous-utilisé par Michel Therrien?

source : toutsurlehockey.com

Le quatre juillet dernier, le Canadien de Montréal annonçait la signature du vétéran qui était âgé de 35 ans à ce moment, Daniel Brière, sous les termes d'un contrat de deux saisons. À l'époque, Brière avait divulgué qu'il désirait porter les couleurs du tricolore. Or, en date du 9 mai 2014, Brière est-il encore en accord avec cette affirmation? Lors de la saison régulière 2013-2014, Brière a joué en moyenne seulement 12 minutes et 46 secondes par rencontre pour une production totale de 25 points en 69 parties. Par le passé, le petit attaquant a été utilisé sur une base régulière par ses anciens entraîneurs-chefs sur les deux premières unités offensives lui conférant un temps de glace supérieur. À titre indicatif, lors de la campagne 2012-2013, Brière a disputé 16 minutes et 3 secondes de temps de jeu en saison régulière alors qu'il portait l'uniforme des Flyers de Philadelphie.

Certes, les performances par le passé de Daniel Brière en séries éliminatoires ont certainement contribué à son embauche en juillet dernier. En carrière, le joueur natif de Gatineau cumule 113 points en 116 parties lors des séries d'après saison. Toutefois, lors des quatre premières parties contre les Bruins de Boston, Brière a été l'un des attaquants les moins utilisés totalisant une moyenne de 8 minutes et 55 secondes de temps de glace. C'est très peu pour un joueur qui a la capacité de produire dans les moments les plus importants. Hier soir, Daniel Brière a été l'avant qui a obtenu le moins de temps de glace avec un temps de jeu de 8 minutes et 2 secondes.

Pourtant lors des deux dernières parties, le trio composé de Gallagher-Desharnais-Pacioretty à de la difficulté à générer de l'offensive. Therrien a certes eu du flair lors de la partie numéro trois en plaçant le jeune Michael Bournival aux côtés de Plekanec et Vanek. Néanmoins, malgré qu'il ait dirigé quatre lancers au filet lors du match d'hier soir, le jeune homme de 21 ans a semblé nerveux sur plusieurs situations de jeu. À maintes reprises, le hockeyeur avait encore de l'espace devant lui pour surprendre Tuukka Rask, mais celui-ci a précipité ses lancers. Reste qu'il est à se demander si Michel Therrien ne devrait pas offrir une promotion à Daniel Brière en vue du match numéro cinq en plaçant celui-ci soit sur le trio de Desharnais ou sur le trio de Tomas Plekanec. Sans quoi, il faudra remettre en question l'embauche de Daniel Brière effectuée en juillet dernier par Marc Bergevin.

Boston vs Montreal : Bruins will be better in Game 4, Julien says

Source : faceoff.com

The Boston Bruins have only played with the lead in one game so far in their playoff series against the Canadiens — and even that was a short-lived experience last Saturday, despite the 5-3 score in their favour.

“It’s something that we haven’t been able to do for very long. It’s certainly one of the things we have to rectify,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said Wednesday at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard, where the team held an optional practice.

Getting shots through is another.

The Canadiens blocked more shots (29) on Tuesday in their 4-2 win than the Bruins got through (28), Julien said.

“We talked about trying to play with the lead, we talk about getting shots through and those are all adjustments that you have to make here as you move forward,” Julien said.

He also predicted his team would be better in Game 4 on Thursday (7:30 p.m., CBC, RDS, TSN Radio 690) at the Bell Centre.

“We’re a group that’s confident,” Julien said. “But we also have guys right now that are a little frustrated with themselves.

“They know they have to be better. They’re going to be better (Thursday) and that’s the confidence we have in our group. And that’s the way we’ve been in the past. And you’ve got to rely on those
guys to come up tomorrow and play the kind of game that they can.

“It’s a 2-1 series. It’s not the end of the world here. We’ve just got to battle back,” he added.

“There’s no reason to panic. We haven’t in the past and we’re not about to panic now.”
Near the end of the game with the Bruins pressing in the Canadiens’ zone, the net came off its moorings when defenceman P.K. Subban skated by, bumping into it. There was no penalty called on the play. When asked whether he thought it was done intentionally, Julien said: “This is all stuff that we can’t control.

“Referees make those calls and you move forward. ... If we rely on referees to give us the breaks than we certainly don’t have our focus in the right place,” the Bruins coach added.

“We need to make our own breaks. We have to look at ourselves and say listen did we play well enough (Tuesday) to win that game and we didn’t. So we can look at all this little stuff on the side that is something that we don’t control and complain about it. That’s not what we do. We have to be honest here and tell ourselves that we need to be better.”

Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli viewed Boston’s last game as “a game of frustration.”
“It’s a game of inches and consequently a game of details. So we have to be better at it,” Chiarelli said,.

“And we’re good at that. I think we’re a good team. We break out well. I think our neutral zone is good. I think our forecheck is good — it wasn’t as good as it should be, but that happens. So it’s a long series and we’ll see where it goes.”

Chiarelli declined to comment on Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask’s game. He called Rask, who is a finalist for the Vézina Trophy this season, perhaps one of the top two goaltenders in the world.

“I would expect him to play well and he’s one of many that have to play better,” the GM said.
Chiarelli said he believed the Bruins have to keep more focus on the details.

“I was asked about finding (shooting) lanes — to me, that’s detail you’ve got to be able to see the lane and to move to where the lane is,” he said. “The sustaining forecheck. It’s really meat and potatoes for us. It’s like sustaining a forecheck, wearing teams down.

“When we’re at the top of our game, that’s what we do. We haven’t done it yet.”

Serie 2014 : Les surprises du premier tour

Source : toutsurlehockey.com

La première ronde des séries est maintenant terminée. Les amateurs de hockey ne pourront pas dire qu'ils ont été déçu du peu d'action qu'il y avait. Plusieurs résultats ont d'ailleurs étonné plus d'un observateur.

Tout d'abord, avec une fiche de 3-1 en saison régulière face au Lightning, peu de gens avaient prédit un balayage du Canadien. La troupe de Michel Therrien a su se défaire de son rival en quatre rencontres profitant de l'absence du gardien numéro un de Tampa Bay.

Aussi, il est à noter l'incroyable combativité que les Stars et les Blue Jackets ont offert. Malgré un résultat négatif pour chacun d'eux, ces équipes qui ont dû affronter des champions de division n'auront jamais baissé les bras et ont tout de même été arracher deux victoires dans leur combat. Il est à ajouter que lors dans la série Penguins-Blue Jackets, aucune équipe aura réussi à préserver son avance de deux buts ou plus lors des quatre premiers matchs.

Mercredi soir, trois matchs ultimes étaient nécessaires pour départager les séries les plus serrées. Tout d'abord, Martin Saint-Louis et les Rangers sont venus à bout de Vincent Lecavalier et les Flyers avec un gain de 2-1. Alain Vigneault a donc réussi à faire oublier à ses partisans son terrible début de saison de 3-7-0. Ensuite, l'Avalanche et le Wild jouaient pour une dernière fois au Colorado. En revenant quatre fois d'un déficit et en inscrivant le but en prolongation, le Wild se sauve avec la victoire et obtient son ticket d'entrée pour le second tour. Finalement, les Kings tentaient de réussir un exploit en complétant une remontée de 0-3 dans la série. Les champions de 2012 ont maintenu leur cadence des trois derniers matchs et humilient les Sharks devant leurs partisans.

Le deuxième tour des séries ne risquent pas d'être plus reposant. Trois des quatre séries sont composés des plus grandes rivalités qui existent autour de la ligue. Premièrement, les Bruins croiseront le fer avec le tricolore, une bataille californienne aura lieu entre Anaheim et Los Angeles et les Penguins et les Rangers réanimera la série de 2008. Bien que les Blackhawks et le Wild aient moins d'histoire, leur opposition promet tout de même d'être forte en émotions.

Eulogy: Remembering the 2013-14 Tampa Bay Lightning

 Source : Yahoo.com

(Ed. Note: As the Stanley Cup Playoffs continue, we're bound to lose some friends along the journey. We've asked for these losers, gone but not forgotten, to be eulogized by the people who knew the teams best: The bloggers who hated them the most. Here is hockey writer Brian Palmer, who inexplicably requested the Tampa Bay Lightning. Again, this was not written by us. Also: This is a roast and you will be offended by it, so don't take it so seriously.)

Ten years ago during the halcyon days of the clutch and grab NHL, the Tampa Bay Lightning captured the imagination of dozens of Central Floridians and convicted felons with a wild run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Led by opportunistic super fan and advanced stats guru Hulk Hogan (A player’s Hogan Rating is calculated by measuring the ratio of shots directed at the net to leg drops, brother), the Bolts beat the Calgary Flames in 7 games to claim the only Stanley Cup in the franchise’s 22-year history.

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“HoganClose rating is the number of Suburban Commando references in the third period of a one goal game”

The NHL responded by shutting the league down for an entire season, hoping the hockey world would be cool about it, and forget that a team from Florida (gross) ever won the Cup. The Lightning franchise has done its part, barely making a peep for the last decade, save for the occasional Len Barrie punch line or bad breakup with a franchise icon.

This year’s edition of the Tampa Bay Lightning has proudly carried on this tradition of anonymity. Swept in four easy games by the Montreal Canadiens, Tampa earns the dishonor of being the first team eliminated from the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Max Pacioretty’s power play game-winning goal with 43 seconds left was the final insult, allowing the Lightning to embrace their destiny to be quickly forgotten by everyone.

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“Who’d we beat in the first round PK?” “I’m not sure Carey. One great player, bad D, mediocre goalie; maybe the Capitals?”

It’s fitting that following a season in which Martin St. Louis, their captain, leading scorer in team history, Napoleon Complex awareness spokesman, and one of only two Lightning players you’ve heard of, demanded a trade, the Lightning will suffer the indignity of being eulogized here by an unknown hockey writer. Tampa just doesn’t inspire strong feelings. They’re hockey’s “meh team”, the Bran Stark storyline of the NHL. They’re just the team you see when your family takes a trip to Disney World during March Break.

But after much digging, I found four reasons to hate the Lightning:

They hate proper grammar: Writing “the Lightning are” just feels weird and wrong.

They ruin divisions: The awesome “Chuck Norris” Division of the 80’s was besmirched when Tampa joined Detroit, Toronto, Minnesota, St. Louis, and Chicago in 1993. Now they play in the Atlantic Division, when they’re clearly on the Gulf of Mexico.
They’re the Dawn Summers of the NHL.

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“Things were great before you got here Tampa Bay. Now it’s only intermittently good with frustrating character development.”

Horrible owners: Somehow the Southern parody that called Vincent Lecavalier the “Michael Jordan of hockey” is only the third worst owner in team history. (Yakuza ties and hiring Barry Melrose to coach in 2008 are tied for worst).

They erected a statute of Phil Esposito: Presumably for acquiring Chris Gratton. Twice.

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“This statue has some great stories about the Bobby Orr statue in Boston.”

Now that your blood is boiling with hatred for the Florida team that sucks less often than the other one, let’s remember everyone that contributed to the latest Tampa failure.

General Manager Steve Yzerman

Stevie Y inexplicably didn’t include the moody Martin St. Louis on the initial roster for Canada’s Olympic team, despite being the reigning Art Ross Trophy winner and pleading desperately to be included. This led directly to the messiest divorce this side of Victor Newman (Blatant pandering to Tampa’s senior citizen population, which comprise 75% of the Lightning’s fan base).

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 “What Gary Bettman sees when he looks in the mirror.”

Apparently St. Louis' massive thighs hide a fragile soul, because he immediately demanded a trade closer to his home in the Shire. And because Yzerman skipped the Conflict Resolution class at GM school, he had no choice but to deal the heart and soul of his franchise to the Rangers. In return he got a pending UFA and couple of draft picks that will become players just as Yzerman is becoming the President of Hockey Operations for the Ottawa Senators. (He grew up there! And the Lowe Act, recently passed by Canadian Parliament, requires all Canadian NHL teams to be run by local boys in order to bring about a culture change.)

What brings this to a Mike Milbury level of stupid is that Yzerman weakened his own team for ultimately little gain. St. Louis remains an elite player and having him on Canada’s roster would have been easily defendable. What’s more, Canada was so stacked that John Scott could have been the 13^th forward and they still would have won gold. Have fun explaining the lost playoff revenue to your owner, Stevie!

Head Coach Jon Cooper

Considering the best coach in Lightning history is John “Loose Cannon” Tortorella, the Brian Pillman of NHL bench bosses, Jon Cooper doesn’t really have a lot to live up to in Tampa. Yet after curiously trolling the Habs after going down 2-0 in the series, Montreal scored 11 seconds into Game 3 and never looked back.

As an encore, Cooper decided being down 3-0 was the perfect time to practice his comedy skills by pretending to be a reporter interviewing Steven Stamkos.

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 “The man Louis CK looks up to.”

They lost Game 4 too.

Jon Cooper is going to be a great addition to Sportnet’s 2015 Trade Deadline coverage team.

Last Superstar In Town Steven Stamkos

Selfishly broke his leg and missed half the regular season.
Although he kind of looks like circa 1984 Wayne Gretzky, he probably knows now that it’s easier to lead your team to victory when your teammates are Mark Messier and Jari Kurri and not something called an Ondrej Palat.

Goaltender Ben Bishop

Speaking of selfish injuries, Bishop picked a horrible time to hurt his elbow. Unless of course it was part of his master plan to show Vezina voters how bad Tampa’s defense actually is. Be sure to thank Anders Lindback in your speech too, Big Ben!

Formerly Relevant Ryan Callahan

Faster than you can say “David Clarkson”, pending UFA Ryan Callahan has gone from indispensable captain of the New York Rangers to pointless in 4 playoff games.
Sadly, the Oilers just lowered their July 1^st contract offer to Callahan down to $52.5 million over 7 years.

Other Lightning Forwards

Nope, they didn’t show up here either.

The 2013-14 Tampa Bay Defense Corps

Are Eric Brewer and Sami Salo really part of Tampa’s top six defensemen? Is Joe Reekie back there too? Only the most hardcore Lightning fans would be able to tell you for certain, but he’s working late tonight at Denny’s so you’ll just have to trust me that Brewer and Salo are totally defensemen on a playoff team in 2014. It’s amazing they didn’t lose this series in three games.

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Beers

Victor Hedman’s there too, whose mention would make Lightning fans angry that the team passed on Matt Duchene with the second overall pick in 2009, if they had ever seen a Western Conference game and knew who Matt Duchene was.

Whether old and useless or young and useless, every Tampa defenseman came together to leave Lindback hung out to dry as much as possible. Apparently they didn’t realize that, much like the dancers at Chez Parée, you can make contact with the Montreal forwards.

Final Thoughts

This is the most anyone has ever thought about the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 2013-14 edition of the squad will be quickly forgotten by the hockey world, as well it should be. Not good enough to be lamented, not horrible enough to be interesting, the 2013-14 Tampa Bay Lightning are the most Lightning team that ever Lightninged.

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Brian Palmer (@the_real_palmer) is a freelance hockey writer from London, Ontario. He holds an English degree from the University of Western Ontario, which he parlayed into a cushy Toronto marketing job after only 8 years of bouncing around. Cursed by his father to be a Maple Leafs fan, he now takes pleasure in the misfortunes of other NHL failures.

Humour Vine : Legault dit -Ta yeule- à sa femme (Version non censuré)

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