Connor McDavid blanked again as Oilers in trouble, Bruins put Capitals on the brink and more NHL Playoffs action
Anthony Scultore
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Connor McDavid and the entire Oilers squad was shutout last night by the Jets. After a mind-baffling regular season where Edmonton’s captain scored 105 points in 56 games, Winnipeg has now blanked him in two straight.
Connor McDavid’s playoffs stats a bust after two games
Gm 2, Jets 1 vs Oilers 0 OT (Winnipeg leads series 2-0)
First off, let me apologize to any fans of the Winnipeg Jets for making this more about Connor McDavid than the great play of your team. However, after a regular season for the ages, it is stunning that McDavid does not at least have an assist.
Paul Stastny who played in his 1000th game late this season won it for the Jets in OT. The real hero this series has been Connor Hellebuyck who regained his Vezina winning form just in time by stopping all 38 in this one. The Jets will look to grab a stranglehold in this series on Sunday at 7:30 PM ET.
Bruins put Capitals on the brink of elimination
Gm 4, Bruins 4 vs Capitals 1 (Boston leads series 3-1)
The Washington Capitals face elimination after being dominated by the Boston Bruins in game 4. Brad Marchand opened the scoring, but it was two quick strikes in the first 1:03 of the third period that sealed the deal as the B’s won 4-1 to take a 3-1 series lead.
“We wanted it and it showed,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It showed out there. We’ve talked about getting better all the time as we go along, and that includes this series, that includes period to period. … I think we’ve progressively built our game here at home.”
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Boston will look to close out this series in Washington on Sunday starting at 7PM ET.
Rod Brind’Amour flips out about refs as Predators beat Hurricanes in OT
Gm 3, Predators 5 vs Hurricanes 4 2OT (Carolina leads series 2-1)
Rod Brind’Amour is about to get fined again. Last night, the Canes coach had seen enough of lopsided penalty calls. “Nashville’s a phenomenal team but we’re also fighting the refs, plain and simple,” he said. “You can’t tell me two games in a row, we get seven, eight penalties and they get three when the game’s this even? That’s not right. It’s not right.”
In the end, Matt Duchene ended the best game of this series in double OT. Juuse Saros made 52 saves in an Herculean effort to keep the Preds in this contest. Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday at 2:30 PM ET.
Avalanche one game away from sweeping the Blues
Gm 3, Avalanche 5 vs Blues 1 (Colorado leads series 3-0)
Before the game, news came down that Name Kadri would be suspended for 8 games for his high hit on Justin Faulk. Well, the Avalanche didn’t need him as they cruised to a 5-1 win over the Blues. The question now seems to be, “can anyone stay with the Avs?”
Five different players scored for Colorado with Ryan Graves playing the role of offensive star. The defenseman scored the first goal of the contest and added two helpers. Phillip Grubauer made 31 stops and the Avs will look to sweep the Blues on Sunday at 5PM.
“I’m a little surprised, to be honest with you,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “I looked through all the head-shot suspensions for the last year, a lot of two-gamers getting handed out for significant hits to the head. We’ve had some guys put out with hits to the head that are still out with no suspension, so I thought, generally the rule of thumb is playoffs, you get a little less, and he got significantly worse, so it is what it is. We have to deal with it, and we need other guys to step up, and I’m not going to worry about the past.”
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