2017 Draft Lottery

Yesterday was a big day for one team and possibility the biggest disappointment for another. The New Jersey Devils have won the draft lottery! The poor poor poor poor poor poor poor poor poor poor poor poor poor poor poor poor poor Colorado Avalanche who had the worst finish in franchise history and one of the worst finishes in NHL history had a 18% chance to win the lottery which is more than any other team dropped back to 4th overall. There is one bright side for the Avs. This year's draft class isn't that good, but that doesn't mean Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier are bad, they're really good. Also the Flyers moved up 11 spots and will pick 2nd overall. The Stars also moved up (7 spots) and will pick 3rd overall. there is also Timothy Liljegren who is the top defense man in the draft so he's up for grabs. It's crazy to think that these top prospects will be on the Devils, Flyers, and Stars who are all just mediocre teams and now these average teams can be contenders once again. I will list the top 14 picks in the order of the draft. Will the Avalanche trade up? Who will the Devils pick first? Should the NHL keep using the lottery system? stay tuned....
1.Devils
2.Flyers
3.Stars
4.Avalanche
5. Canucks
6.Golden Knights
7.Coyotes
8.Sabres
9.Red Wings
10.Panthers
11.Kings
12.Hurricanes
13.Jets
14.Lightning

Playoffs Day 16

Yesterday in general was absolutely crazy for the NHL. The draft lottery had surprising results and the 2 playoff games we had we just insane. The Penguins crushed the Capitals 6-2 in Washington DC. The game was basically all Penguins and Braden Holtby got pulled and did not start the third period. This loss is a kick in the nuts for the Capitals as they have to go to Pittsburgh and try to get back into the series. Jake Guenztel continued his playoffs success as he got the game wining goal in the 2nd period. The Senators came back from a 2 goal hole with less than 3 minutes left in the game to win in double overtime 6-5 against the Rangers. The god himself Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored 4 freaking goals including the overtime winner. The Rangers had this game in the bag, but as usual could not hold a lead. This is easily the best game of the playoffs so far so you better watch highlights on this one. I'll have a small post about the draft lottery soon today. Will the Capitals get back in the series? Can the Senators get back to the Eastern conference finals? Will Pageau have another good game? stay tuned....

Playoffs Day 15

So yesterday's games were both 1 goal games and one of them had a goalie make 39 saves to steal a game. The Oilers somehow won game 2 against the Ducks in Anaheim to take  2-0 series lead. Andrej Sekera scored just over a minute in and Cam Talbot stole the show from there as he saved 39 out of 40 shots from the Ducks. Patrick Maroon scored the game winner off his skate. The Oilers have a chance to take a 3-0 series lead in Edmonton tomorrow. The Blues tied their series up against the Predators by beating them 3-2. The game was a very hard played one that was very close the entire time. Vladimir Tarasenko scored 2 goals and one of them was the game winner with about 4 minutes to go in the game. The series shift to Nashville where both teams will be looking to take the lead in the series. Will the Ducks solve Cam Talbot? Can the Oilers take a 3-0 series lead? Which team will take the series lead in game 3? stay tuned....

Playoffs Day 14

Round 2 is now fully underway and we got to see 2 games decided by 1 goal. The Senators beat the Rangers 2-1 in Ottawa. The game was close for most of the time until Erik Karlsson scored with less than 5 minutes left in the game to give the Sens a 2-1 lead. The goal was from behind the goal line which makes the goal even more like a punch to the gut for the Rangers. The Penguins beat the Capitals 3-2 in Washington. We got to see Crosby and Ovi score and Crosby got 2 goals in 52 seconds actually. The Capitals than tied the game up at 2, but Nick Bonino with about 6 minutes left in the 3rd got a breakaway and scored which was the game winner. The game had a playoffs like feel for sure and there were many scrums throughout. Can the Senators extend their lead? Can the Capitals tie the series up? Will Crosby have another good game? stay tuned....

Playoffs Day 13

Round 2 has started and it has started with a bang. The away team in both games won in some crazy games. The Predators beat the Blues 4-3 in St.Louis. P.K Subban had an amazing game with the first two goals except the first one turned out to be tipped in. The game went back and forth until it was 3-3, but Vernon Fiddler got the game winner when a shot hit his skates in front of the net and he pushed the puck in the net. Finally some team was able to solve Jake Allen. Kevin Fiala also had a leg injury and had to leave he game so he may be out for a while.  The Oilers stole game 1 against the Ducks by beating them 5-3 in Anaheim. The game was very even until the Oilers exploded in the third period and Adam Larsson got the game winner when he went from coast to coast to shove it past Gibson. Mark Letestu and Adam Larsson both got 2 goals in the game.

Playoffs Day 12

Round 1 is over. The Senators and Capitals finished off their series both in overtime and round 2 is set.The Senators beat the Bruins 3-2 in Boston in a very hard fought game. Clarke MacArthur got the overtime winner on a one timer in front of the net. The Senators will be playing the Rangers for round 2. The Capitals beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 in Toronto in overtime. The Leafs scored first in the third, but the Caps tied it later in the period and Marcus Johansson got his second of the night which of course was the OT winner. The Capitals will once again play the Penguins in round 2 and they may be able to get over the hump of round 2 finally. Can the Senators beat the Rangers? Can the Capitals finally get past round 2? What's next for the Maple Leafs and Bruins? stay tuned....

Playoffs Day 11

Well that's three more series that are done. The Blues, Oilers, and Rangers all closed out their series yesterday. The Oilers beat the Sharks 3-1 in San Jose last night to close out the series in 6 games. It was a very close game that had the Sharks out shoot the Oilers 28-21, but Cam Talbot stood strong and had enough goal support to win. Anton Slepyshev got the game winner and the Oilers will face the Ducks for round 2. The Rangers beat the Canadiens in New York 3-1 to win the series in 6 games. Matts Zuccarello had an amazing 2 goal game and got the game winner. This is a huge disappointment for the Canadiens who were looking to go far after missing the playoffs last year, but they just couldn't find a way to win more games. The Rangers will play the winner of the Bruins?Senators series. The Blues beat the Wild in the craziest game of the series. The Wild were down in the third, but scored two goals to force overtime and they kept plying really well, but Dubnyk wet the bed and allowed Mangus Paajarvi to score and win the series for the Blues. The Blues will now play the Predators in round 2 and that should be an amazing series for sure. Could the Sharks have taken game 6? Where was the Canadiens offense? Was the game Devin Dubnyk's fault? stay tuned....

Playoffs Day 10

Both games in the playoffs yesterday went to overtime and both series stand at 3-2. The Capitals beat the Leafs in overtime in Washington on Justin William's goal to give the Caps a 3-2 series lead. The game was very close and Alex Oviechkin got injured in the first, but returned to finish the game. Game 6 is at Air Canada Centre in Toronto where the Leafs will look to stay alive and force a game 7. The Bruin beat the Senators in double overtime to stay alive and force a game 6 back in Boston.The Bruins came back from 2-0 down and had their first goal in overtime disallowed so they scored again and Sean Kuraly was the one to end it. Game 6 will be at TD Garden in Boston where the Bruins can force a game 7. Can the Capitals close out the series? Will the Bruins force a game 7? Is Oviechkin's injury going to affect him later on? stay tuned....

Playoffs Day 9

Two more series closed out last night and two just got even better. The Predators finished the sweep of the Hawks when they beat them 4-1 at home. It was close until the second half of the third where they took over, and Colton Sissions won the game. The Preds will play the Wild or Blues in round 2. The Penguins won their series over the Blue Jackets when they dominated them in game 5 by winning 5-2. Bryan Rust got the game winner for his second of the game and the Pens will play the winner of the Leafs Caps series. The Oilers took a 3-2 series lead at home when they came back and won game 5 4-3 in over time. The Oilers got the first one, but the Sharks got the next 3 so the Oilers rallied and Oscar Klefbom won it in OT. The Rangers took a 3-2 series lead by beating the Canadiens 3-2 on the road. The whole game was back and forth for the Canadiens' favor, but they didn't get a third one since Mika Zibanajad won it in OT. This was perhaps the biggest win of the playoffs for the Rangers so they now can win it a home. Were the Predators good or did the Blackhawks choke? Did the Blue Jackets even stand a chance? Can the Oilers close out the series in San Jose? stay tuned....

Playoffs Day 8

Two teams had the chance to sweep yesterday, but only 1 did it and that was the Anaheim Ducks, you'll see. The Senators took a choke hold on the series against the Bruins when they beat the Bruins 1-0 in Boston and took a 3-1 series lead coming back to Ottawa for game 5 thanks to Bobby Ryan's goal and he's having a great playoffs so far. The Capitals held on to beat the Leafs 5-4 in an insane 1st period where they scored 4 goals and allowed 1. The Caps didn't play well after that since they allowed 3 unanswered goals, but T.J Oshie got the game winner in the third period. Game 5 is in Washington where someone will break the 2-2 tie. The Wild will live to fight another day as the beat the Blues 2-0 in St.Louis for their first win of the series. Charlie Coyle got the game winning goal in the first period. Last but not least the Ducks finished the seep of Calgary who had no chance from the get go. Brian Elliot got pulled after allowing his millionth horrible goal that should have been saved. The Ducks still won 3-1 and Nate Thompson got the game winning goal in the 1st period. Brian Elliot after this poor performance could very well be left unprotected in the expansion draft coming this summer. Today the Penguins and Predators will look to finish their series so tonight's games will be very important. Can the Bruins comeback? Can the Leafs beat the Capitals in Washington again? Was it Brian Elliot's fault for the Flames sweep? stay tuned....

Playoffs Day 7

So yesterday's playoffs had two close games and one not so close. The Rangers beat the Canadiens 2-1 and tied the series at 2. The game was back and forth , but Rick Nash's goal in the 2nd was the game winner. Game 5 will be in Montreal. The Sharks scored a touchdown when they killed the Oilers 7-0 in San Jose. All I can say is once the Sharks started , it was was over and Joe Pavelski got the first goal of the game which was enough to tie the series at 2 and game 5 will be in Edmonton. The Blue Jackets beat the Penguins 5-4 to stay alive in Columbus without Weinberg. The Blue Jackets scored early and always stayed on top the whole game even though the Penguins scored a late goal to make it 5-4. William Karlsson got game winner. The series is now a 3-1 lead for the Penguins who are returning home in Pittsburgh for game 5. Today there are 4 games that are being played so next post will be tomorrow as usual. Can the Rangers take the series lead? Will the Oilers bounce back? Can the Blue Jackets stay alive again? stay tuned.... (photo credit to Puck Daddy)

Playoffs Day 6

Yesterday we had all 4 games go into overtime and two teams go down 3-0 in the series. The Senators took a 2-1 series lead in Boston after they blew a 3-0 lead they had in the second and Bobby Ryan won it in overtime for the 4-3 victory. This series will definitely be close since every game has been a 1 goal game. The Blackhawks got their first 2 goals of the series last night, but of course allowed 2 goals in the third and of course lost in overtime thanks to Kevin Fiala. Looks like my playoff bracket will be completely wrong since the Hawks will most likely be swept in Nashville. The Flames blew a 4-1 lead and lost 5-4 to the Ducks in Calgary to go down 3-0 in the series. The Flames had such an amazing start with all of their goals, but once the smoke came, the fire started as the Ducks just dominated and Corey Perry won it in overtime. The Maple Leafs took a 2-1 series lead when they beat the Capitals in overtime once again 4-1 in Toronto. Auston Matthews scored his first playoff goal like McDavid. The Leafs played an amazing 3rd period and Tyler Bozak deflected JVR's shot for the win. Will the Blackhawks and Flames get swept? Can the Bruins tie the series? Can the Leafs take a 3-1 lead? stay tuned....

Playoffs Day 5

Yesterday's action showed us that we have 2 different 3-0 leads for 2 different teams. The Canadiens took a 2-1 series lead when they beat the Rangers 3-1 at Madison Square Garden. They were up 3-0 until the Rangers got one late, but it didn't matter at that point. Shea Weber got the eventual game winning goal in the third period. The Blues took a 3-0 series lead against the Wild when they beat them 3-1 at home. The Wild throughout the series have out shot the Blues every single game, but have only managed 1 goal a game. Jaden Schwartz once again got the game winning goal in the third and the Blues got an empty net goal to seal the deal. Jake Allen has been absolutely amazing since he has saved 114 out of 117 total shots in the series. The Oilers once again shut out the Sharks, but this time it was only 1-0 at SAP Center. San Jose out shot the Oilers 23-22, but couldn't beat Cam Talbot, Zack Kassian scored the lone goal in the third. Of course I saved the best for last, the Penguins took a 3-0 series lead against the Blue Jackets as they made a great comeback down 3-1 and won 5-4 in overtime. The Jackets were up 11 seconds into the game thanks to Cam Atkinson and they took a 3-1 lead, but Zach Werenski took a puck to the face which caused a Penguins goal, and Zach returned to the ice like a boss. Jake Guentzel the rookie for the Penguins got a hat trick and also got the overtime winner. Can the Blues and Penguins sweep their series? Can the Sharks get a goal against the Oilers? Can the Rangers tie the series? stay tuned....

Playoffs Day 4

Yesterdays games had two thrilling overtime games, a close 1 goal game, and......you'll see. The Ducks once again beat the Flames 3-2 and a big reason for that was an unlucky bounce off of Lance Bouma that gave the Ducks the lead late in the third period. The Ducks lead the series 2-0 heading to Calgary The Predators have yet again shut out the Blackhawks in the United Center, but this time it was 5-0. Pekka Rinne has 2 assists which is more points that the entire Blackhawks team for the entire series and he and the Predators have a 2-0 series lead coming back home. The Senators tied the series against the Bruins in a thrilling 4-3 overtime win in Ottawa and Clarke MacArthur scored for the first time in 2 years since getting two concussions. Dion Phaneuf scored off of a bomb from the point. I saved the best for last because the Maple Leafs beat the Capitals in double overtime in Washington to tie the series. My brackets is already wrong thanks to Kasperi Kapanen who received a no looker pass from Brian Boyle to put it home to win it 4-3 for the Maple Leafs. In other news Matt Calvert got suspended for 1 game after breaking his stick on Tom Kuhnhackl's back and checking him when he was hurt. Somehow he only got suspended for 1 game since that play was extremely dirty and the department of player safety is total trash. Can the Flames tie up the series at home? Can the Leafs take the lead? Will the Blackhawks ever score a goal? stay tuned....

Playoffs Day 3

So yesterday's games were amazing as usual and we now have two series tied at 1 a piece. The Blues and Wild another close game, but Jaden Schwartz scored with about two minutes left in the third to win it. The Wild came close to tying it at the last second, but time went out when Charlie Coyle put the puck in, 2-1 was the final score and the Blues have a 2-0 series lead. That's especially bad news for the Wild since games 3 and 4 are in St.Louis so the Wild need to at least take 1 in St.Louis. The Oilers tied the series up by beating the Sharks 2-0 and Connor McDavid scored his first playoffs goal to extend their lead to 2. The Penguins took at 2-0 series lead against the Blue Jackets by beating them 4-1 and Sidney Crosby goal a goal and an assist coming off game one where he was pointless. The Rangers and Canadiens played the most exciting game of the night when Tomas Plekanec tied the game at 3 with seconds remaining and Alexander Radulov won it in overtime. The game had an insane amount of shots and a very sweet goal by Michael Grabner while on a breakaway. The other series have their second game tonight so obviously my next post will be on Easter. Can the Wild get back in their series? Will the Blue Jackets get back into it at home? Can the Oilers and Canadiens take the lead in their respective series? stay tuned....

Playoffs Day 2

Day 2 of the playoffs had the remaining series start and we had a couple good ones. First off the Predators beat the Blackhawks 1-0 on a goal by Victor Arvidsson even though the Hawks were on offense most of the game. The Capitals beat the Maple Leafs 3-2 on an overtime goal by Tom Wilson. The Caps had to comeback since the Leafs got the first two goals in the first period. The Flames continue to not win in Anaheim as they lost 3-2 in a very exciting game. Tomorrow we have game two of the other series except for the Boston Ottawa one that will be on Saturday along with all the series I just talked about. Can the Blackhawks bounce back? Can the Leafs steal a game in Washington? Can the Flames end their long losing streak in Anaheim? stay tuned....

Playoffs Day 1

So the playoffs are here! Which means I'll be posting a lot now like last year. The Rangers manhandled the Canadiens on the road 2-0 on a game winner by Tanner Glass.The Bruins won 2-1 over the Senators on a late Brad Marchand goal which really makes you hate him even more.The Penguins had o have Marc Andre Fleury start in net when Matt Murray got hurt during warm ups, but it didn't matter since the Penguins won 3-1 even though the Blue Jackets out shot the Penguins 32-29. The Blues ruined the Wild's comeback with a 2-1 overtime victory even though the Wild scored with 30 seconds left in the game to tie it a 1. The Sharks completed their comeback against the Oilers in Edmonton with a 3-2 win with the ot goal being scored by "The Milk Man" Melker Karlsson. The Predators, Blackhawks, Maple Leafs, Capitals, Flames, and Ducks ore on tonight so the next post is tomorrow. Will Matt Murray be able to return to action? CAn the Wild get some more scoring? What will happen tomorrow? stay tuned....