Feel relieved, Islanders fans: the Canadiens have eclipsed the 2015 Islanders’ dubious records by recording even fewer shots in a Game 7 than the Islanders did on that terrible night in D.C.
Of course the critical difference is that the Canadiens’ 9 shots (compared to the Islanders’ 11 on that frustrating night opposite Barry Trotz’s Caps) came in a startling 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Florida. So the Canadiens move on to face the Sabres, completing the second-round pairings. And dipshit
Nikita Kucherov, who kept trying to chirp Jakub Dubes all series, goes home with a sad.
The second round began over the weekend, however with a bit of predictability and a bit of theater.
- On the predictability front, I looked at my friend with puzzlement when he said “Hurricanes-Flyers should be a good series.” I don’t have any notion that it will be, and Saturday did not put any doubt in my head when Carolina easily handled Philadelphia, 3-0. [NHL]
- Meanwhile, the opening of Colorado vs. Minnesota was insane. The Avalanche jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first, only to allow Minnesota to get two goals back in just over a minute span. In the second period, the Avs extended their lead to 4-2 only to allow the Wild to come back and tie it at 4-4. That didn’t last long, however, as Colorado retook the lead on the way to a 9-6 (EN) win, with a historic number of individual goal scorers. Cale Makar played only just over a minute in the first after taking a big hit, but returned with some of that magic spray and scored two goals. [NHL]
- The Wild have Quinn Hughes, who was big in Game 1, but they start the series without Jonas Brodin and Joel Eriksson Ek. [NHL]
- Where do the Penguins go from here? [Sportsnet]
- The Leafs have announced their new braintrust, with Mats Sundin as an “executive advisor” and former Coyotes GM John Chayka as the GM. [Sportsnet]
- The Rangers fired their whole AHL coaching staff. [Post]
Islanders News
Copy/paste from 2023, 2024, 2025, and on and on but yes, it would probably be a good idea to fix the Islanders power play. [Newsday]
