2017-18 NHL Hockey Season Thread

[BroadwayBomber55]

2018 IIHF World Championships - Preliminary Round Robin

May 12, 2018

From IIHF.com

Group A
Slovakia 3–4 (OT) Sweden
Austria 4–0 Belarus
Russia 4–3 Switzerland

Notes:
- Sweden advances to the Quarterfinals.
- Belarus is relegated to 2019 IIHF World Championship Division I A.

Group B
Latvia 3–1 Germany
Denmark 3–1 South Korea
Canada 1–5 Finland

Notes:
- United States advances to Quarterfinals.
- Germany will not be relegated.

[BroadwayBomber55]

The Winnipeg Jets take Game 1 of their Western Conference Finals series against the Vegas Golden Knights, doubling them up 4-2 inside Bell MTS Place.

The Jets raced out to a 3-0 lead nearly eight minutes into the game.

Dustin Byfuglien got the party started with his fifth goal of the playoffs 1:05 into the game to give Winnipeg a 1-0 lead.

Patrik Laine made the Golden Knights pay with his one timer backdoor on the power play at 6:49 to make it 2-0 Jets.

The Jets had a third goal disallowed at 7:35 when Joel Armia thought to interfere with Marc-Andre Fleury in the crease, but Paul Maurice challenged the call.

The Situation Room in Toronto determined that it was a good goal where contact with Fleury by Armia occurred after the puck was deflected into the net.
https://www.nhl.com/news/vegas-golde...?tid=277729160

Vegas got on the board at 8:10 of the first period as Brayden McNabb struck on a delayed penalty as the Jets take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.

Winnipeg restored their three-goal lead on the power play as Mark Scheifele scored his 12th goal at 9:54 to make it 4-1.

Scheifele currently leads all players with that 12th goal and Blake Wheeler had his third assist of the game.

William Karlsson scored his fifth goal of the playoffs on the power play at 15:55 to cut Winnipeg's lead to 4-2 after two periods.

However, Connor Hellebuyck held down the fort with 19 saves as there were no goals scored in the third period.

Game 2 on Monday from Bell MTS Place.

[BroadwayBomber55]

Meanwhile in the American Hockey League, the 2018 AHL Calder Cup playoffs is down to their Frozen Four.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, it is a battle between two #1 seeds.

The Toronto Maple Leafs AHL affiliate and MacGregor Kilpatrick trophy winners, the Toronto Marlies take on the Philadelphia Flyers' AHL team, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to see who will be the Eastern Conference representative in the Calder Cup finals.

Trevor Moore, Andreas Johansson and the Marlies swept the Tampa Bay Lightning AHL affiliate Syracuse Crunch in four straight to take the North Division playoff bracket.

As for Alex Lyon, Christ Conner and the Phantoms, they eliminated the Carolina Hurricanes' AHL squad, the Charlotte Checkers in five games to take the Atlantic Division bracket including a historical win in Game 4 inside Bojgangles' Coliseum.

The Phantoms won the longest game in AHL history as Game 4 of the Atlantic Division Finals took 86:48 of overtime as Lehigh Valley edged Charlotte 2-1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jyOL3XDAqQ

Alex Krushelnyski scored the winner at 6:48 of the fifth overtime period and Lyon made 94 saves on 95 shots.

The previous record was 82:58 in 2008 and it also featured the Flyers and Hurricanes AHL affiliates where the Philadelphia Phantoms edged the Albany River Rats 3-2 in Game 5 of their 2008 East Division semifinals encounter.
https://theahl.com/marathon-men-phan...-ahl-game-ever

In the Western Conference Finals, it was underdog stories as the Chicago Blackhawks' AHL squad, the Rockford Icehogs and the Dallas Stars' AHL squad, the Texas Stars meet to see who will be the Western Conference representative in the 2018 Calder Cup finals.

Chris DiDomenico leads all AHL players in playoff points with 11 as the Icehogs swept their first two playoff series against the top seed of the Central Division bracket in the Chicago Wolves, the Vegas Golden Knights' AHL affiliate, in the Central Division semifinals 3-0 and swept the second seeded Manitoba Moose in the Central Division final 4-0.

As for the Stars, Brian Flynn and company used overtime to win the Pacific Division bracket as they upended the Los Angeles Kings' AHL side, the Ontario Reign, 3-1 and the Pacific Division champions and the best regular season team in the West, the Tucson Roadrunners, 4-1, to reach the Frozen Four.

Four of those seven wins by the Stars came in overtime.

The Conference Finals schedule
The Western Conference Finals start on May 18 while the Eastern Conference Finals start May 19.
https://theahl.com/2018-conference-finals-schedules

[BroadwayBomber55]

New GM in T.O.: Toronto Maple Leafs name Toronto Marlies GM Kyle Dubas their new GM
https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/...neral-manager/

[BroadwayBomber55]

2018 IIHF World Championships - Preliminary Round Robin

May 13, 2018

From IIHF.com

Group A
France 0–6 Czech Republic
Switzerland 3–5 Sweden
- Russia and Czech Republic advance to the Quarterfinals alongside Sweden.

Group B
Norway 3–9 United States
Germany 3–2 (OT) Finland
- Finland advance to the Quarterfinals alongside the United States.
- Germany eliminated from Knockout stage qualification.

[BroadwayBomber55]

The Washington Capitals are still sizzling.

Alex Ovechkin and the Caps head back to D.C. up 2-0 after outscoring the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-0 in the final two periods in a 6-2 rout inside Amalie Arena.

Tom Wilson helped Washington draw first blood 28 seconds into the game as the Caps led 1-0.

However, the Lightning scored two power play goals in the period to take a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

Brayden Point tied the game at 1-1 at 7:08 and Steven Stamkos made it 2-1 at 10:22.

But it was all Caps from the second period onwards.

Devante Smith-Pelly tied the game at 2-2 at 2:50 of the second period.

Lars Eller gave Washington their second lead of the game at 3-2 at 18:58 and Evgeny Kuznetsov made it 4-2 Caps with three seconds to go.

Ovechkin made it 5-2 at 3:34 of the third period and Brett Connolly scored Washington's sixth and final goal at 12:57 as the Caps go to 7-1 on the road in this postseason.

Braden Holtby was another Caps hero with 33 saves.

Game 3 in Capital One Arena on Tuesday.

[BroadwayBomber55]

We have a split in the Western Conference Finals.

The Vegas Golden Knights take Game 2 in a 3-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets to send the series back to T-Mobile Arena for Games 3 and 4 on Wednesday and Friday.

Tomas Tatar, who has struggled since coming to Sin City, scored his first goal of the playoffs at 13:23 of the first period to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead.

Jonathan Marchessault gave Vegas a 2-0 lead with his fifth goal of the playoffs at 17:22 as Gerard Gallant's men were up 2-0 after the first period.

After a scoreless second period, the Winnipeg Jets got the Bell MTS Place crowd in the game as Kyle Connor delivered on the power play at 7:17 of the third period to cut the deficit to one, 2-1.

However, Marchessault replied for the Knights at 8:45 for his second goal of the game as his team hanged on for the win.

Marc-Andre Fleury was another hero with 30 saves.

[BroadwayBomber55]

2018 IIHF World Championships - Preliminary Round Robin

May 14, 2018

From IIHF.com

Group A
Russia 4–0 Slovakia
Czech Republic 4–3 Austria

Group B
South Korea 0–3 Norway
Canada 2–1(OT) Latvia
- South Korea relegated to 2019 IIHF World Championships Division 1 A.

[BroadwayBomber55]

2018 IIHF World Championships - Group Stages

Standings Heading into final preliminary round games on May 15

From IIHF.com

Tiebreakers
1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.

Notes:
- Top 4 teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals.
- The bottom teams from each group are relegated to 2019 Division I except for Slovakia.
http://www.iihf.com/fileadmin/user_u...Bylaws_web.pdf

Group A
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts
1 Sweden 6 5 1 0 0 28 8 +20 17
2 Russia 6 5 0 1 0 31 7 +24 16
3 Czech Republic 7 3 3 0 1 27 15 +12 15
4 Switzerland 6 2 1 1 2 20 18 +2 9
5 Slovakia 6 2 0 2 2 12 16 −4 8
6 France 6 2 0 0 4 12 24 −12 6
7 Austria 7 1 0 1 5 13 30 −17 4
8 Belarus 6 0 0 0 6 4 29 −25 0

Notes:
- Sweden, Russia and Czech Republic qualify for the quarterfinals.
- Austria eliminated.
- Belarus eliminated and relegated.

May 15 Games
Switzerland – France
Belarus – Slovakia
Russia – Sweden

Group B
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts
1 United States 6 4 2 0 0 37 10 +27 16
2 Finland 6 4 0 1 1 32 9 +23 13
3 Canada 6 3 1 1 1 29 12 +17 12
4 Denmark 6 3 1 0 2 13 16 −3 11
5 Latvia 6 2 1 2 1 15 16 −1 10
6 Germany 6 1 1 2 2 16 17 −1 7
7 Norway 7 1 1 1 4 13 31 −18 6
8 South Korea 7 0 0 0 7 4 48 −44 0

Notes:
- United States, Finland and Canada qualify for the quarterfinals.
- Germany and Norway are eliminated.
- South Korea eliminated and relegated.

May 15 Games
Finland – United States
Canada – Germany
Latvia – Denmark

[RhodyYanksFan]

Big Buff is big.

https://deadspin.com/my-favorite-sub...ing-1826037876

Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien is a big boy. Listed at 6-foot-5, 260 pounds, I would call him an immovable object if not for the fact that he’s usually moving toward you. And it’s gonna go badly for you.

Hell, it’s gonna go badly for you even if you’re the one with all the momentum. From Game 1, here’s Alex Tuch—at 6-foot-4 and 222, no small fry—trying to hit Byfuglien when he should be off-balance.

[BroadwayBomber55]

2018 IIHF World Championships - Preliminary Round Robin

May 15, 2018

From IIHF.com

Group A
Switzerland 5–1 France
Belarus 4–7 Slovakia
Russia 1–3 Sweden

Group B
Finland 6–2 United States
Canada 3–0 Germany
Latvia 1–0 Denmark

[BroadwayBomber55]

2018 IIHF World Championships - Playoff Round

Quarterfinals Fixtures: May 17, 2018

From IIHF.com

Royal Arena, Copenhagen
16:15 Russia v. Canada
20:15 Sweden v. Latvia

Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning
16:15 United States v. Czech Republic
20:15 Finland v. Switzerland

[Donnybaseball72]

2018 IIHF World Championships - Playoff Round

Quarterfinals Fixtures: May 17, 2018

From IIHF.com

Royal Arena, Copenhagen
16:15 Russia v. Canada
20:15 Sweden v. Latvia

Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning
16:15 United States v. Czech Republic
20:15 Finland v. Switzerland

Sucks that USA and Canada are playing at the same time since only one network his covering the games. I assume we get the USA game on the NHL network.

[BroadwayBomber55]

The Tampa Bay Lightning get on the board in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Bolts take Game 3 inside Capital One Arena from D.C. doubling up the Washington Capitals, 4-2.

Victor Hedman led the way with a goal and two assists and Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point each chipped in with a goal and assist.

Andrei Vasilevskiy was another Tampa Bay hero with 36 saves.

The Bolts won the special teams battles as they went 2/5 on the power play and killed all three Washington power plays.

Game 4 in D.C. on Thursday.

[BroadwayBomber55]

The Vegas Golden Knights continue to rewrite history in their inaugural season.

Gerard Gallant and the Knights win Game 3 over the Winnipeg Jets inside T-Mobile Arena, 4-2, to lead the Western Conference Finals series 2-1.

Jonathan Marchessault got the T-Mobile Arena crowd rocking with his opener 35 seconds into the game as Vegas led 1-0 after the first period.

Mark Scheifele tied the game at 1-1 at 5:28 of the second period on an incredible tip in off a Blake Wheeler pass.

However, Vegas regained the lead 12 seconds later as Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck had a turnover and Erik Haula found James Neal closing in for his fourth goal of the playoffs as the Knights led 2-1.

The Knights went up a deuce, 3-1 when Alex Tuch scored his fifth goal of the playoffs at 8:13 as Vegas took that lead after two periods.

The Jets refused to give up though as Schiefele scored his second of the game 18 seconds into the third period as Vegas' lead was cut to 3-2.

Schiefele has 14 goals this postseason so far.

Hellebuyck helped the Jets stay in the game with 26 saves, but Marchessault sealed the win with 2.7 seconds to go with an empty netter for his second of the game.

Marc-Andre Fleury continues to be stellar in net for Vegas with 33 saves.

Game 4 on Friday inside T-Mobile Arena.

[BroadwayBomber55]

Meanwhile in the first two quarterfinal matches in the 2018 IIHF World Championships in Denmark...

The United States and Canada punched their ticket to the semifinals.

Team USA edged out the Czech Republic, 3-2, to punch their ticket to the Frozen Four.

Patrick Kane and Cam Atkinson gave the Americans a 2-0 lead in the first period.

However, the Czechs equalized at 2-2 after two periods as Michal Repik got his team on the board 4:56 of the second period at and Martin Necas struck on the power play at 10:55.

Pavel Francouz kept his team in the game with 28 saves.

But Kane beat him at 6:58 of the third period to send the Americans to the semifinals on Saturday where they await the winner of Sweden and Latvia.

As for the Canadians, they needed overtime to outlast a pesky Russia 5-4.

Connor McDavid had two assists in Canada's 2-0 first half flurry as Colton Parayko struck on the power play at 4:45 of the first period and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made it 2-0 with his power play tally at 11:51 of the second period.

The Russians refused to quit though.

Ilya Mikheyev gave Russia a lifeline at 12:53 and Alexander Barabanov completed Russia's second period dominance with a goal on a delayed penalty at 17:32 as the game headed to the third period tied 2-2.

Kyle Turris made it 3-2 Canada at 7:32 of the third period before Russia made it 3-3 when Sergei Barabanov struck at 8:44.

Pierre-Luc Dubois made it 4-3 Canada at 12:36 before Russia forced overtime when Artem Anisimov replied for the Russians at 14:34.

Russian goalie Igor Shestyorkin had 37 saves in the game, but Ryan O'Reilly beat him on the power play at 4:57 of the first overtime period.

McDavid had three assists in the game, all on Canada's three goals with the man advantage.

Canada awaits the winner of Finland-Switzerland in the semifinals.

[BroadwayBomber55]

Oliver Ekman-Larsson was one of Sweden's heroes as they will take on the United States in the first semifinals.

Sweden held off a late Latvian charge 3-2.

Ekman-Larsson had a goal and assist and Anders Nilsson had 22 saves.

Latvian goalie Elvis Merzļikins had 31 saves in a losing effort.

Meanwhile, Switzerland edged Finland 3-2 to book a semifinal date with Canada.

Mikko Rantanen's goal and assist wasn't enough for the Finns as the Swiss scored three goals in the second period to pull away.

Enzo Corvi, Joel Vermin and Gregory Hofmann lit the red lamp as Harri Sateri was stunned.

Leonardo Genoni was another Swiss hero had 32 saves.

[BroadwayBomber55]

2018 IIHF World Championships - Playoff Round

Semifinals Fixtures: May 19, 2018

From IIHF.com

Royal Arena, Copenhagen
15:15 Sweden v. United States
19:15 Canada v. Switzerland

[BroadwayBomber55]

It's now a best-of-three in the Eastern Conference Finals!

The Tampa Bay Lightning regained home ice as they won two games at Capital One Arena over the Washington Capitals after a 4-2 victory in Game 2.

Should the Caps lose this series, it will be the 11th time in their history two blow a two-game best-of-series lead and lose the series.

Dmitry Orlov helped the Caps surface first though when he unleashed a laser beam from close range 4:28 into the game to give Washington a 1-0 lead.

However, the Bolts scored the next two goals of the game to take a 2-1 lead after the first 20 minutes.

Brayden Point tied the game at 1-1 at 5:38, 1:10 after Orlov opened the scoring for his seventh of the playoffs and the Lightning power play continues to stay hot when Steven Stamkos scored his seventh of the playoffs at 8:32/

Washington made it a 2-2 game after two periods in reply as Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his 10th of the postseason at 5:18 of the second period.

But Alex Killorn untied the game at 11:57 of the third period for his fifth of the postseason and Anthony Cirelli sealed it with an empty netter with two seconds go.

Tampa Bay netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy had another stellar game with 36 saves.

Game 5 inside Tampa Bay's Amalie Arena on Saturday with the series tied 2-2.

[BroadwayBomber55]

The Vegas Golden Knights are one win away from playing in the Stanley Cup Finals!

Gerard Gallant and the Knights take a 3-1 Western Conference Finals series lead holding off the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 in Game 4 inside T-Mobile Arena.

William Karlsson helped Vegas draw first blood 2:25 into the game on the power play for his sixth goal of the playoffs as the Knights led 1-0 after the first period.

Winnipeg got on the board at 9:29 of the second period as Patrik Laine scored his fifth of the playoffs and the second of the series on the power play.

But 43 seconds later, Vegas grabbed a 2-1 lead with a quick reply from Tomas Nosek off a Connor Hellebuyck turnover.

Vegas carried that 2-1 lead into the third period until the Jets tied the game at 2-2 at 5:34.

Tyler Myers wired a shot that looked like Marc-Andre Fleury stopped it, but the NHL situation room in Toronto contacted with referees Brad Meier and Dan O'Halloran to have another look.

Via video review, the shot from Myers completely crossed the goal line and a good goal from Winnipeg was called.
https://www.nhl.com/news/winnipeg-je...?tid=277729160

But the Knights grabbed the lead once again as Reilly Smith took advantage of a Dustin Byfuglien miscue and slotted home top shelf at 13:02 to put Vegas in front 3-2.

The Jets tried to make it 3-3, but Fleury stood on his head again with 35 saves.

Hellebuyck had 26 stops in a losing effort.

Vegas can close it out inside Winnipeg's Bell MTS Place on Sunday. If the Jets win, there will be a Game 6 back in Sin City on Tuesday.

[BroadwayBomber55]

It will be Sweden and Switzerland in the Gold Medal Game of the 2018 IIHF World Championships.

Sweden blanked the United States 6-0 in the semifinal.

Mikael Backlund led the way with three assists and Viktor Arvidsson added a goal and assist.

Anders Nilsson had a 20-save shutout while Keith Kinkaid had 35 saves in a losing effort.

Meanwhile, the Swiss upended Canada 3-2 in the second semifinal.

Sven Andrighetto had two assists on two of the three Swiss goals scored by Tristan Scherwey, Gregory Hofmann and Gaetan Haas where Switzerland once led 3-1 after two periods.

Colton Parayko lured Canada to within one, 3-2 with 2:07 to go in the third period, but Swiss goalie Leonardo Genoni held down the fort with 43 saves.

Team USA and Team Canada will duke it out for bronze.

[BroadwayBomber55]

2018 IIHF World Championships - Medal Round

Fixtures: May 20, 2018

From IIHF.com

All games in Royal Arena, Copenhagen.

Bronze Medal Game
15:45 USA vs. Canada

Gold Medal Game
20:15 Sweden vs. Switzerland

[BroadwayBomber55]

The Tampa Bay Lightning are one win away from a place in the Stanley Cup Finals!

The Lightning edged the Washington Capitals in Game 5 inside Amalie Arena, 3-2, to take a 3-2 Eastern Conference Finals series lead.

Ryan Callahan caused havoc all game long as he forced a turnover from Dmitry Orlov in center ice and fed the puck to Cedric Paquette who helped the Bolts draw first blood 19 seconds into the game.

Ondrej Palat made it 2-0 at 9:04 as Tampa Bay led 2-0 after the first period.

Callahan made it 3-0 33 seconds into the period, but the NHL Situation room in Toronto wanted another look. Replays questioned Callahan punching the puck in with his hand.

The decision on the ice of a goal was upheld.
https://www.nhl.com/news/washington-...?tid=277729160

Washington got on the board at 4:21 as Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his 11th goal of the playoffs deflecting a Matt Niskanen shot into the net.

Alex Ovechkin pulled the Caps to within one 3-2 at 18:24 of the third period, but Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy held down the fort with 28 saves for the victory.

The Lightning can win their third Eastern Conference title if they beat the Capitals in Game 6 inside Capital One Arena in D.C. on Monday.

If Washington wins Game 6, there will be a winner-take-all Game 7 in Tampa on Wednesday.

[BroadwayBomber55]

For the third time in this decade, the United States men's ice hockey team won a medal in the IIHF World Championship tournament.

Jeff Blashill, Patrick Kane and the Americans routed Canada 4-1 to grab the bronze medal.

Chris Kreider led the way with two goals and Kane had an assist to pick up his 20th point in the tournament, leading all scorers.

[ymike673]

For the 25th consecutive season a USA based team will win the Stanley Cup!