The Toronto Maple Leafs have been eliminated, and the final round-robin games have determined the definitive pieces of the puzzle while winning both conferences. The matchups for the quarterfinals of the Playoffs of Stanley Cup 2020 have been set. So let’s put an arc around the opening round and look forward to surviving teams and some really interesting series.
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About last night …
Columbus Blue Jackets 3, Toronto Maple Leafs 0 (CBJ wins, 3-2)
Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe loaded in line with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and John Tavares. They earned a combined $ 47.8 million this season. They failed to score a point in an elimination game. Joonas Korpisalo made 33 saves, replacing an injured Elvis Merzlikins, and the Jackets advanced to the round of 16 when the Leafs were eliminated. That, in summary: The Leafs blow a 3-0 lead in Game 3; rally of a 3-0 deficit to win Game 4; and then revealed that they were just extending the rage with a punch-less Game 5 loss that was all but crying when Frederik Andersen gave a soft second goal to the Jackets’ Liam Foudy. Full review.
Washington Capitals 2, Boston Bruins 1
Goals from TJ Oshie and Tom Wilson earned the Capitals a first-round date with the New York Islanders and Barry Trotz, the coach who led the Caps to their only Stanley Cup. “It’s something that will obviously be a great matchup for the Washington Capitals and New York Islanders. It’s not Barry Trotz vs. Todd Reirden or any of that type of thing,” said Capitals coach Todd Reirden, who was an assistant under Trotz. The Bruins entered the round robin as the top seed in the East and the NHL’s best regular season team. They leave after losing all three games, with a first-round matchup against No. 6-seeded Carolina up. Full review.
Dallas Stars 2, St. Louis Blues 1 (SO)
Joe Pavelski’s goal with Anton Khudobin drew the game, and Denis Gurianov was the only player to score in the shootout to give the Stars a round of robin. Khudobin and Jake Allen dueled in the final game for both teams in the warm-up round. The Stars deserve a series against Calgary. The defending champions meanwhile went winless in the round robin and play Vancouver. Full review.
Question of the Day: Could the Lightning have been without Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman?
The last Tampa Bay game of the round robin saw Victor Hedman leave at 9:28 of the first period after twisting his leg restlessly. Steven Stamkos missed the very round robin with a lower body injury. “We do not know how long this will last. But if your perennial Norris Trophy finalist is out, that will cause a hole. But we have dealt with injuries before,” said coach Jon Cooper. “We need to get around the wagons.”
Look at the first round
Eastern Conference
No. 1 Philadelphia Flyers vs. Now. 12 Montreal Canadiens
No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. No. 9 Columbus Blue Jackets
No. 3 Washington Capitals vs. No. 7 New York Islanders
No. 4 Boston Bruins vs. Now. 5 Carolina Hurricanes
Western Conference
No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. No. 12 Chicago Blackhawks
No. 2 Colorado Avalanche vs. Now. 11 Arizona Coyotes
No. 3 Dallas Stars vs. No. 8 Calgary Flames
No. 4 St. Louis Blues Vs. Now. 7 Vancouver Canucks
Best theme for the next round: Revenge
It’s amazing how things turned out for the NHL, considering the randomness of replay. Barry Trotz gets a shot to take down the Capitals, the organization that nickel-and-dimed him after he coached them to the Stanley Cup 2018. The injured Lightning takes on the team that beat them last season, the Blue Jackets , hovered. Robin Lehner, when he gets the wrinkle in Vegas, joins the Blackhawks, the team that went from trade to trade date. The Hurricanes are looking for someone to get over to the Bruins, who eliminated them in the final round of the conference.
Best match-vs.-player matchup: Carey Price vs. Carter Hart
The Canadiens goaltender was the difference maker that Pittsburgh feared he might be in taking out the Penguins in the qualifying round. Prize has been the standard bearer for the Canadian national team since 2014, in the Olympic Games and the World Cup. Carter Hart, 21, is one of the favorites to grab Price’s torch. A real “not so fast, kids” vibe here.
Greatest sweeping potential: Golden Knights vs. Blackhawks
No disrespect meant for the Blackhawks, who earned their way here with the stunning overhaul of the Edmonton Oilers. But the Knights are deeper, defend better and certainly have better goaltending than Chicago’s qualifying game. Vegas found his striker at the end of the season and put it through in the round robin.
Greatest overpowering potential: Blue jackets vs lightning
This is almost standard. There are concerns that Tampa could be without Stamkos and Hedman. The Jackets have the utmost confidence in the world that they can defeat this team after defeating them last postseason. Columbus played the kind of hockey they played last season to eliminate the Leafs. While there is something to be said for the Lightning being counted here and attracting the surprise, the jackets have the best transmission potential.
Greatest potential for a Game 7: Stars vs Flames
The Flames took care of an injured Winnipeg Jets squad in the qualifying game. Now they are up against a Dallas team that plays games with low events and keeps the score close: a 2.58 goals-for-average and a 2.52-goals-against average. This could be a gravel to the very end.
Biggest X-factor player: Darcy Kuemper
The Coyotes goalkeeper was the reason they eliminated the Nashville Predators. The Avalanche are the superior team on paper. But, it could be argued that Nashville was too. For Arizona to move forward, it will have to be on Kuemper’s shoulders. And he already has one series profit on his credit.
Laws of the day
Carolina Hurricanes over Boston Bruins (Series, +120). The Bruins did not see themselves as themselves in the round robin. The Hurricanes have the hottest line in the tournament, get Dougie Hamilton back and apparently have a little revenge on their minds. There’s always a chance that the Bruins will find their game now that the “playoffs” have begun. But there is also a chance that this Canes team is just a smidge better now that Andrei Svechnikov is right.
Three stars
1. Joonas Korpisalo, G, Columbus Blue Jackets. File this under “a good problem to have.” Korpisalo made 33 saves to exclude the Leafs. Elvis Merzlikins came in during Game 3 and bailed out the jackets. As John Tortorella said, “We are not in the bubble here if it is not for those two boys.”
2. Joe Pavelski, C, Dallas Stars. This is why the Stars have signed Joe Pavelski. His goal to ban the game late in the third period sent the game into overtime, where Dallas would win in a shootout. It was his second goal of the round robin tournament. He is a key player in the next round.
3. Braden Holtby, G, capitals of Washington. While his regular season has been up and down, this is probably a good time to remember that Holtby is a stupid good postseason goalkeeper. He made 30 saves to earn his 49th win of the season and ban Glenn Hall for 21st in NHL history.
Quote of the day
“I’m apparently not even focused on them. But it’s the next thing on the calendar for us.” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe unveiled his draft lottery 2.0 on Monday, as Toronto now has a 12.5% shot at winning the chance to make up Alexis Lafrenière.
Social post of the day
Thanks … to all the fans in the stands today! 😂🤣 #StanleyCup Round of Robin pic.twitter.com/eZBSw6KegO
– NHL (@NHL) August 9, 2020
The NHL continues to successfully fight the bitter reality of playing in empty arenas – with dad jokes.
Controversy of the day
The round robin saw the two best teams tumble in the regular season after the No. 4 seed in their respective conferences. The Boston Bruins (100 points) and St. Louis Blues (94) points were no. 1-seeds when the season was paused on March 12th. Should three losses undertake the entirety of their regular season performances? Or will this ultimately benefit the finalists of last year’s Stanley Cup by lighting fires among them?
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