STANLEY CUP UPDATE
What The Puck?!
Written by Chase Howard
Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images
1st Branch
Stanley Cup Finals Update
Well well, it’s official, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a stranglehold on this year's Stanley Cup Final as they have gone up 3-0 in the best of seven series against the Montreal Canadiens. The Lightning came out roaring while the Canadiens seemed a little flustered by the bright lights in the first game of the Stanley Cup Final; a 5-1 Lightning victory that never seemed in doubt. Game two was a very different story as Montreal controlled the puck throughout and the game got increasingly chippier with every minute that passed. The turning point of this game was certainly when, with barely a second left on the second-period clock, Blake Coleman broke the 1-1 tie for the Tampa Bay Lightning on what I would say is the definition of a highlight-reel goal, especially considering the magnitude. Despite the Canadiens having 43 shots (the most the Lightning have allowed this postseason) and holding the advantage in time of possession, it was the Lightning who came out with a 3-1 victory. On the strength of Coleman's goal, Ondrej Palat turning a Joel Edmundson giveaway into a quick goal, and Andrej Vasilevskiy standing tall for 42 saves. “I think these guys are very opportunistic and very lethal offensively if you do make mistakes in certain areas," said Montreal assistant Luke Richardson, who has coached the Canadiens for six straight games since Dominique Ducharme tested positive for COVID-19 on June 18. In-Game Three Ducharme was back behind the bench, but he may not have heard his assistant’s quote. Tyler Johnson scored twice; Nikita Kucherov continued his outstanding scoring pace with a goal and an assist on the way to the 6-3 Lightning victory. For a minute there it seemed in doubt as Nick Suzuki made it 4-2 before a miscue led Johnson to get his second, and without missing a beat Corey Perry banged one in to keep it close.
However, this ebb was contrasted by the inevitable flow when a very foolish turnover led to Coleman putting the sixth and final goal away. This marks the second game in a row that a big Montreal turnover led to a Tampa goal and killed comeback momentum. Overall the theme of this series has been how opportune Tampa Bay’s offense proves to be, making the Canadiens consistently pay for turnovers, especially those sourced at either blue line, both of which are classically known as big hockey faux pas. The contrast in the content and result of game 2 in this series may prove to be Montreal’s undoing unless they can manage to dig their way out of this 3-0 series hole, a feat only accomplished by the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, who overcame such a deficit to beat The Detroit Red Wings.
Original Prediction Lighting in 6
Current Series Record 3-0 Lighting
2nd Branch
We have a trade people
We have our first confirmed trade since April as the Nashville Predators have traded winger Victor Arvidsson to the Los Angeles Kings for a 2021 second-round pick and a 2022 third-rounder. The Swedish native scored 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in 50 games this season; he did not play the final five games because of an upper-body injury. Arvidsson scored 61 points in consecutive seasons (2016-18), then scored his NHL career-high 34 goals in 58 games in 2018-19. That was followed by 53 points (25 goals, 28 assists) in 107 games the past two seasons. This is only Arvidsson’s second career team as he was selected by Nashville in the fourth round (No. 112) in the 2014 NHL Draft. The Predators now have eight selections in the upcoming draft, which will take place July 23-24.
3rd Branch
Awards and All-Stars
As previously suspected on this blog and by most people who saw a game this season, Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers officially won the Hart and Ted Lindsay awards this week, becoming only the second unanimous winner of the Hart in its 97-year history of the award (the other being the great Wayne Gretzky). In case you do not recall, McDavid led the NHL with 105 points (33 goals, 72 assists), 21 ahead of teammate Leon Draisaitl. McDavid led the NHL in assists, even-strength points (68), and power-play points (37), and was second in goals and game-winning goals (11). He has now led the league in scoring three times in his six seasons (100 points in 2016-17; 108 in 2017-18). The Professional Hockey Writers Association conducted voting for Hart before the postseason began, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche were the runners-up. The NHL Players’ Association prior to the postseason did the Ted Lindsay Award voting, the runners-up were again Auston Matthews and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Adam Fox of the New York Rangers won this year's Norris award as the league's best defenseman after a breakout season, beating out second-place Cale Makar (Avalanche) and third place Victor Headman (Lightning). Fox was second among defensemen with 47 points (five goals, 42 assists), one behind Tyson Barrie of the Edmonton Oilers (plays with McDavid, must be nice). The 23-year-old was plus-19 in 55 games and led the Rangers in average ice time per game (24:42), three minutes more than any other defenseman. He scored 23 power-play points, second to Hedman (24), had 102 blocked shots, and was third in takeaways (38).
Marc Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights won the Vezina trophy as this year's best netminder. Fleury, who won the award for the first time in his 17-season NHL career (also his first nomination), was 26-10-0 and third in the NHL in wins and shutouts (six). The Quebec native finished third in goals-against average (1.98) and save percentage (.928) among goalies to play at least 20 games. He started the season 5-0-0 and ended with a win in each of his final nine starts. Andrej Vasilevsky of the Tampa Bay Lightning was second and Phillip Grubauer of the Colorado Avalanche was third as the other finalists for the award, which was voted on by NHL general managers before the postseason began.
Kirill Kaprizov of the Minnesota Wild has won the Calder Award as this year's top rookie. The Russian native is the first Wild player to win the award; he fell just one vote short of being a unanimous selection. The 24-year-old forward led rookies in goals (27), points (51), power-play goals (8), and shots on goal (157) in 55 games. Kaprizov led the Wild in goals, points, points per game (0.93), and overtime goals (two). Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars and Alex Nedeljkovic of the Carolina Hurricanes finished second and third respectively.
Overall from our awards update picks two weeks ago we went 6/7 on the NHL awards not too shabby (damn Lady Byng).
Quick hits
After an extensive search, the Arizona Coyotes have found their man as Andre Tourigny was hired as head coach on Thursday. The 47-year-old replaces Rick Tocchet after four seasons, the Coyotes (24-26-6) failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the eight-team Honda West Division. Tourigny signed on for a three-year contract. He has coached Ottawa in the Ontario Hockey League for the past four seasons and is a two-time OHL Coach of the Year (2018-19, 2019-20). The Canadian native was an assistant at the 2021 IIHF World Championship, where he helped Canada win the tournament, and coached Canada to second place at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Joel Eriksson Ek of the Minnesota Wild signed an eight-year; $42 million contracts to stay in Minnesota on Friday. It has an average annual value of $5.25 million. The 24-year old set new NHL career-highs this season in goals (19), points (30), plus-minus (plus-16), and face-off percentage (47.1) in 56 regular-season games. Eriksson Ek helped the Wild qualify for the postseason for the eighth time in nine years and scored three points in their first-round loss to Vegas in seven games. Ek, who averaged a career-high 17:03 of ice time per game this season, finished fourth in voting for the Selke Trophy, which is presented annually to the best defensive forward in the NHL. Back on June 3rd, Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin said The biggest priority is signing (forward Kirill) Kaprizov, signing Ek and signing (forward Kevin) Fiala," Check number one, my friend.
At least according to his agent, it appears that Jack Eichel in the Buffalo Sabres is on the road to reconciliation. The Sabres captain and Buffalo have not agreed on treatment for a herniated disk that ended his season in March. Eichel has expressed interest in surgery; the Sabres have said their doctors aren't comfortable with a procedure that has not been performed on an NHL player, preferring an approach of rest and rehab. There has apparently been a high degree of communication and the two sides are reportedly working towards a solution. At least for now this will keep a lid on the Eichel trade rumors, either way, the treatment goes I wish Eichel a speedy and safe recovery.
Special Note - All of us at SportsTree were greatly saddened to hear about the passing of Bruins star David Pasternak's son this week, as Pasternak has requested his privacy be respected at this difficult time that is all that will be said on the matter. Our deepest condolences to Mr. Pasternak and his Girlfriend.
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