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belowthegoalline

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  1. belowthegoalline
    Thanks for reading! Check out Below the Goal Line for more exclusive content!
     
    NHL Game Updates:
     
    Toronto Maple Leafs @ New York Islanders, Auston Matthews scores with less than four minutes left to break a tie game. The Maple Leafs, who clinched a playoff spot, won 5-4.
     
    Tampa Bay Lightning @ New York Rangers, The Lightning score five straight goals to win 7-3 over the Rangers. This was a homecoming of sorts for Lightning players Ryan MDonagh, Dan Giardi, and J.T. Miller, but it Cederic Paquette and Brayden Point who each had two goals in the winning effort.
     
    Carolina Hurricanes @ Washington Capitals, The Capitals are in the playoffs, but they lose a big game against the Hurricanes. While this had little playoff implications for Carolina, the Caps could had added to their Metro Division lead.
     
    Chicago Blackhawks @ Colorado Avalanche, Not as good of a night for the Blackhawks as Thursday night (where emergency goalie Scott Foster came in and stole the show). Colorado continues their playoff push with a 5-0 victory. Bad news: Semyon Varlamov gets hurt with just a few minutes remaining.
     
    St. Louis Blues @ Vegas Golden Knights, Vegas inched closer to a Pacific Division crown in this one, winning 4-3 in overtime. A loss by the San Jose Sharks tomorrow and the Golden Knights clinch their first ever division title. They did it again on the strength of William Karlsson (41st goal) and Jonathan Marchessault (2 goals, 75th point).
     
    Los Angeles Kings v Anaheim Ducks:
     
    The Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks have been fighting for the third spot in the Pacific Division all season. Tonight's match-up features two teams from southern California facing off in what might decide which team takes on the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the playoffs.
     
    John Gibson made the start for the Ducks. He has had a real strong season for Anaheim when healthy. Gibson sits 8th in the NHL among goalies who have played more than 20 games this season with a .926 save percentage. The Ducks, who at times struggle to score, will look to lean on their talented goalie to make the playoffs and hopefully make a deep run.
     
    The Ducks goalie was superb in this one, as the Ducks won to maintain their playoff spot. Gibson stopped 28 of 29 shots. The lone goal against was on a first period shot by Drew Doughty. Doughty gets the puck at the point, and is able to skate in to the faceoff circle and fire a puck that John Gibson never sees thanks to a huge screen in front.
     
    The Kings, who occupy the third spot in the Pacific Division, also rely on their goalie for their success. Jonathan Quick was equally as good in this game for the Kings. Quick made 31 saves, including several strong scoring chances when the Kings turned the puck over.
     
    The biggest save of the game by Quick was a sprawling save off Jakob Silfverberg in the second period. Quick makes an initial save off a Ducks' shot, and the puck find Silfverberg all alone just a few feet outside of the Kings' crease. Quick slides over and gets his catching glove on the puck to thwart the Ducks scoring chance.
     
    The Ducks were able to tie the game in the second period, when Nick Ritchie is able to put home a rebound. Francois Beauchemin takes a shot from the point. Quick makes a good save, but leaves a rebound in front that finds Ritchie, who out muscles a couple of Kings players to tap the puck into the Kings' net.
     
    The whole play starts with a great effort by Ondrej Kase. Kase, a second year forward for the Ducks, is strong on the puck below the goal line against several Kings defenders and gets the puck safely to his teammate Beauchemin at the point. Kase really impressed me with his speed and strength on the puck this season, and I think his role on the Ducks will only increase moving forward.
     
    Neither team would find the net in the third period, so we head to overtime. Both teams would pick up a point by heading to overtime, but it would be the Anaheim Ducks who would pick up the extra point. Rickard Rakell darts into the zone and lasers a puck past Quick to win the game.
     
    I'm excited to see both of these teams in the playoffs. Both are fast and physical, and have lots of playoff experience. Either team could make a deep run in this year's playoffs.
     
    Thanks for joining us. Please subscribe for email updates of future posts on the right side of the page (or after the entire article on your mobile devices). Don't forget to check us out on Twitter and Facebook!
     
  2. belowthegoalline
    Please check out the full article at Below the Goal Line. Thanks for reading! Check out the post from Below the Goal Line for an Eastern Conference playoff primer!
     
    Below the Goal Line continues its preview of the NHL race to the playoffs. Last night, we looked at the Eastern Conference. Today, we will look into what's happening in the Western Conference.
     
    As of this morning, only one team has qualified for the playoffs so far in the Western Conference. That would be the Nashville Predators. With 106 points in 72 games played, the Predators are the likely favorites to be the top overall seed to win the Central Division and finish first in the West. That would match them up with the second Wild Card team that qualifies for the playoffs in the West.
    The Winnipeg Jets are another strong contended in the Central Division. They sit in second place with 98 points in 73 games. They will likely be the second see in the Central, and if that's true, they will face the third team in the Central.
     
    That third team will come down to a race between the Minnesota Wild (90 point in 38 games) and the Colorado Avalanche (87 in 74). Minnesota has a strong, 6-point lead of the fourth team in the Central Division, the reeling Dallas Stars, so they will likely finish in a playoff spot even if it's just a Wild Card spot.
     
    The Avalanche, who have been playing some strong hockey lately, do occupy that first Wild Card position in the Western Conference. After going 6-1-3, they have opened up a two point gap between themselves and the Anaheim Ducks of the Pacific Division. Barring a sudden drop in play, the Avalanche, too, will qualify for the playoffs, but where they will be seeded is still up for debate.
     
    In what would be a preseason surprise, the Vegas Golden Knights lead the Pacific Division with 99 points in 73 games. If you have watched any of the Golden Knights this season, you would not be surprised they occupy a high spot in the Western Conference playoff picture. Vegas is a strong, fast team that makes you pay for your mistakes. They will be interested to follow postseason.
     
    The San Jose Sharks occupy the second spot in the Pacific with 91 points in 73 games. Playing a significant chunk of the season without offensive catalyst Joe Thornton, the Sharks have stuck around and find themselves four points ahead of the rival Los Angeles Kings. The Sharks will likely have home ice against an in-state rival in the first round of the playoffs.
     
    The aforementioned Kings sit in the third spot in the Pacific Division. With with 87 points in 74 games, Los Angeles is just one game ahead of the second Wild Card team, the Anaheim Ducks, who have played one less game. If the can take advantage of the seven remaining games against teams below them in the standings, they will be in a good position to face the Sharks in the first round.
     
    The Dallas Stars sit two points out of the final Wild Card spot occupied by the Ducks. They have been in an absolute free-fall lately, going just 2-5-3 in their last ten. I don't know if they can fix all of their problems in time to qualify for the playoffs.
     
    The St. Louis Blues, who I wrote off a few days ago, are three points back of Anaheim, but are still a contender for a Wild Card spot if the Ducks struggle at all the last few weeks.
     
    Calgary is the only other team with a shot at the postseason. With just 80 points in 74 games, the Flames are six points out of a playoff spot. The offense has been a struggle for the Flames, who aren't deep enough to score with the rest of the playoff hopefuls.
     
    Here is what I see the playoffs looking like in a few weeks: Vegas vs. Los Angeles, San Jose vs. Anaheim, Nashville vs. Colorado, and Winnipeg vs. Minnesota.
     
    This would mean that the Duck pass up the Kings for the third spot in the Pacific, and the Avalanche continue to impress by making the playoffs over the likes of Dallas and St. Louis after a dreadful season last year. Winnipeg will likely overrun the Wild, but it should be interesting match-up, with the winner taking on the Nashville Predators in the next round.
     
    I think the playoff experience from last year from the Predators propel them to conference final, where they will meet the Anaheim Ducks. The heavy game of the Ducks will overcome the injury-riddled Sharks, and their playoff experience will be just too much for the upstart Golden Knights. 
     
    Stay tuned for more on the playoff race. Good luck to everyone the rest of the way!
  3. belowthegoalline
    Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out the latest coverage of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as well as continued coverage of the CHL, NCAA, AHL, and KHL over at www.belowthegoalline.com!
     
    Day 10 of the Stanley Cup Playoff featured three games where each of the series could have ended in Game 5 on Friday night. Check out the entire playoff picture here.
     
    Philadelphia Flyers @ Pittsburgh Penguins
     
    Facing elimination, the Philadelphia Flyers headed into Pittsburgh with a goalie controversy against the Penguins. Michal Neuvirth would make his first start of the series after Brian Elliot could not get the job done in the first four game of this series.
     
    Neuvirth has dealt with injury issues throughout his career, and wasn't even able to back up Elliot in the first few games.
     
    But Neuvirth's return to the net tonight gave the Flyers the boast they needed to pick up the Game 5 win, which forces a Game 6 in Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon.
     
    Flyers captain Claude Giroux scored in the first period to give the road team the 1-0 lead. Giroux's first of the playoffs was the result of the Penguins not playing to their full potential in this game. They were sloppy and didn't seem very interested in this game.
     
    That was until midway through the second period, when the Penguins flipped the switch and dominated the play for much of the middle frame. Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel scored for Pittsburgh in that second period. The Penguins threw 14 shots on Neuvirth in the period.
     
    Neuvirth did hold the Penguins' powerplay off the score sheet in this one. He did not allow a goal in five PP opportunities, including four powerplays in the second period.
     
    While you never want to take penalties, this time it paid off. Valtteri Filppula score a late shorthanded goal that really turned the momentum in favor of the Flyers going into the second intermission.
     
    The Penguins came out in the third period with the same attitude they had to start the game. They had trouble connecting on passes, and didn't really seem engaged in a game that could have eliminated the rival Flyers from the playoffs.
     
    They did pick up their play later in the period, but the difference in the game was the Flyers' Sean Couturier, who grabbed a puck at the blueline of the Penguins zone and banked in a goal off of a Penguins' defender. 
     
    That goal made the score 3-2 in favor of the Flyers. Matt Read would pick up an empty net goal to reach our final score of 4-2 in this game. With the win, the Flyers force a Game 6 at home. Pittsburgh now lead 3-2 in the series.
     
    Minnesota Wild @ Winnipeg Jets
     
    Much could have been said about the Winnipeg Jets had they lost this game at home to the Minnesota Wild. Without three of their regular defensemen, as well as impact forwards Nikolaj Ehlers and Mathieu Perreault, everyone probably would have given the Jets a pass for losing this game, especially when they held a 3-1 series lead entering the tilt.
     
    But from the drop of the puck, you could tell the Jets didn't want to play in a Game 6. The Jets dominated the first period with their speed and physicality. The Wild, on the other hand, looked like they had just woken up from their pregame naps.
     
    If you missed the first period, you really didn't need to tune into this game at all. Along with their hard-hitting play, the Jets racked up four goals on start Devan Dubnyk in the first 12 minutes of the opening period.
     
    While I don't particularly blame Dubnyk for the loss in this game, he definitely wasn't his elite playoff goalie self in the first period. 
     
    Jacob Trouba scored 31 seconds into the period on a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle. That is the goal Dubnyk needs to save for his team, but the puck finds the top left corner of the net.
     
    With that goal, the flood gates opened for the Jets. Bryan Little picked up his first of the series at 5:42. Brandon Tanev also scored his first, and Joel Armia knocked Dubnyk out of the game with his first of the series at 11:59 of the first period.
     
    Head coach Bruce Boudreau pulled Dubnyk in favor of backup Alex Stalock in hopes that his team would get a jolt from realizing they left their All-Star goaltender down in this game.
     
    But the move was too little, too late, as the Wild would not muster a single goal in this game, despite outshooting the Jets 30-26. The Jets won Game 5 5-0, and ended the series 4-1 for their first ever playoff series victory in franchise history. They now await the winner of the Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche.
     
    Colorado Avalanche @ Nashville Predators
     
    Speaking of the Avalanche/Predators series, they also played Friday night in Nashville. With a 3-1 series lead, the defending Western Conference Champions could eliminate  Colorado with a win tonight.
     
    This was a spectacular goalie battle, however. Andrew Hammond got the start for the Avalanche, who were looking to avoid elimination for the first time in this series. Vezina Trophy finalist Pekka Rinne got the nod once again for Nashville.
     
    Andrew Hammond was great in this game. The Predators peppered Hammond with 45 shots in the game, including 19 in the third period, but the 30-year-old stood tall, allowing just one goal on all of those Nashville shots.
     
    The Predators goal didn't come until 10:18 of the first period, when Nick Bonino deflected a shot past the Colorado netminder. After a review, Bonino was credited with his first playoff goal as a Predator after it was determined he did not kick the puck into the net. 
     
    Pekka Rinne was also solid in this game. He stopped all 16 Avalanche shots through the first two period of this one, and looked to take home another playoff victory after the Bonino goal.
     
    It wouldn't be that easy for Rinne, however, because the Avalanche pushed back as they tried to avoid elimination. Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog would tie the game with a little over four minutes left in the game. Nathan MacKinnon skated the puck through the zone and pulled Rinne away from the net. MacKinnon found Landeskog in front, who simply tapped home the pass from MacKinnon to tie the game.
     
    Then, the nightmare set in for Rinne and the rest of his Predator teammates. Sven Andrighetto would score with just 1:28 remaining to give the Avalanche the 2-1 lead. Andrighetto was part of a 2-on-1 coming at Pekka Rinne. After a J.T. Compher shot, the rebound came right to Andrighetto for the easy goal.
     
    That would be all the scoring we would see in this game. The Avalanche shock Nashville for the 2-1 win, and force a Game 6 on Sunday night. Nashville still leads the series 3-2 as it shifts back to Colorado.
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