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NEWS CLIPPINGS • March 25, 2019

Canes beat Canadiens in overtime on Svechnikov goal

By Chip Alexander

The Carolina Hurricanes’ season is quickly turning from promising and exciting to special.

There’s no denying it now. The Canes are feeling it. They’re getting closer to what so many have wanted for so many years -- a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs, with all the postseason perks, tailgates and community goodwill that comes with it.

They’re not there yet. But games like the one Sunday against the Montreal Canadiens make so much seem possible.

Trailing 1-0 with less than six minutes left in regulation, with Habs goalie Carey Price a rock in net, turning away every threat, the Canes found a way to win.

First, defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk tied the score with a shot from the point at 14:21 of the third.

Next, rookie Andrei Svechnikov won it in overtime, ripping a shot from the right circle through Price at 3:15 of the extra period.

That rewarded Canes goalie Curtis McElhinney, who doggedly kept it a one-goal game for so long with several high-quality saves of his own and was named the game’s first star.

With 91 points, the Canes (42-26-7) strengthened their hold on the first wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and are two points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are in third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Canes were three points ahead of the Canadiens (40-28-8), in the second wild-card position with 88 points.

The Columbus Blue Jackets, sitting below the playoff cutline with 86 points, won 5-0 at Vancouver on Sunday night.

“A great ending, obviously,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Super exciting game. Overtime could have gone either way, they had some good chances, but obviously we got the win.”

Brind’Amour had no qualms sending out Svechnikov in the overtime, with the extra point on the line.

“You love the confidence he has,” Brind’Amour said. “He feels it and he’s earned the right to be out there.”

With goals in his last two games, Svechnikov has 20 for the season. The No. 2 pick of the 2018 NHL Draft, the Russian has physically and mentally handled all the challenges and grind of playing in the NHL and now is playing his best hockey of the season.

“I’m super-confident right now,” Svechnikov said. “I’m just going out there and playing my game and just enjoying it.”

Svechnikov may enjoy this: he’s the youngest player in franchise history to score an overtime goal at 18 years and 363 days.

Not to overlooked was the hard work of McElhinney. He allowed a first-period goal to Paul Byron after a turnover in the Canes zone -- “A lucky bounce,” Brind’Amour called it -- but didn’t give up another in making 28 saves.

Price faced 40 shots, denying Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen on breakaways in the third period as the Habs looked to protect the 1-0 lead.

“He was phenomenal tonight,” McElhinney said. “Obviously he’s one of the best if not the best in the game in the last little while. He was on it tonight. I was just trying to keep pace with him.”

Van Riemsdyk’s goal was his third of the season and his first since Nov. 27 at Montreal. The puck appeared to glance off the leg of Habs defenseman Jordie Benn.

In the overtime, Jordan Staal outfought Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher for the puck in the neutral zone and got it ahead to Svechnikov. With Justin Faulk making it a two-on-one, Svechnikov kept the puck and fired a heavy shot through Price’s legs for his third game-winning goal of the season.

The Canes fell behind in the first and had just four shots in the second period, when they were badly outplayed. They were totally ineffective on three power plays in the game. But they kept pushing, kept competing. And won.

“You could kind of feel it coming our way,” van Riemsdyk said, “and it did.”

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Carolina Hurricanes fans have something to believe in again and for now, that’s enough

By Sara Civian

Hurricanes original season ticket holder Mike Flanagan remembers June 19, 2006, like it was yesterday. He remembers how the PNC Arena DJ played “The Rising” by Bruce Springsteen, an Aerosmith tune, then the iconic Herb Brooks speech from Miracle. No one dared sit down during that Game 7 — the building itself actually moved— until there was 1:01 left on the clock.

Of course, that was when Justin Williams scored into the Oilers’ empty net to give the Hurricanes their Stanley Cup. That’s when then-captain, now coach Rod Brind’Amour bent over on the ice, overcome with the emotion of winning the Cup for the first time in his 17-year career.

Flanagan had to sit down. He closed his eyes and tried to preserve all the sounds and feelings he knew he was lucky to experience even once in his lifetime. Some sports fans never get The Moment.

But how many sports fans have had to go nine years without even sniffing The Moment?

The Moment is everything. The possibility of experiencing it is what keeps you coming back.

It’s no secret that a small market team with the longest active playoff drought has struggled at times to get butts in seats throughout its decade-long postseason absence. Fans of other teams in an already niche sport that loves eating its own often point out Carolina’s attendance woes as an indictment of the fanbase.

The truth is, the season after the Hurricanes won the Cup, they drew an average of 17,386 fans per game, good for 15th in the league. Even after they lost in the 2002 Cup Final they cracked the 2002-03 attendance Top 20. It wasn’t until 2014-15 — six years of no playoffs — that things went south. The Canes’ attendance dropped to second to last that season and dead last for the next two seasons.

“This is the reality, this is the business problem we have to solve,” Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon told me back in January. “We have to find a way to solve some of it (independent of winning). Part of it comes from winning, but you’re not going to win every single year. … I do believe (as a small-market team) we need to be more interesting and create more entertainment.”

According to VP of Marketing Mike Forman, Hurricanes average attendance has seen a 20 percent increase since rock bottom in 2016-17. This season alone, the attendance average has increased more than 19 percent — from 12,674 (Oct. 4 to Dec. 11) to 15,114 (Dec. 14 to March 23).

It’s impossible to pinpoint exactly how much each individual variable impacts attendance. It’s more like a bunch of little things combining with the big thing at the right time for the Hurricanes and their fans these days. The accessibility and competency of the marketing and social media teams can’t be understated. Brind’Amour as coach and Williams as

captain go without saying. Dundon and Hurricanes GM Don Waddell have been careful to make sure players they add and subtract are for the best in terms of off-ice morale. Things like the Storm Surge, post-game jams and the existence of Jordan Martinook have all moved the needle.

The fans are showing up and getting rewarded with an on-ice catharsis in the form of two functional goalies, 18-year-old overtime heroes, and the Canes winning games they probably shouldn’t.

“It’s been like this for a couple months now,” Brind’Amour described the PNC Arena crowd after the 2-1 overtime win over Montreal. “You feel it. When we score a goal it shakes you. I love it, I love it. These people deserve to have some fun. We’ve had a lot of years here where it wasn’t too exciting. They stuck with us, and I think we’re providing an exciting brand of hockey. It sure is exciting. It’s not necessarily how we draw it up, but it’s electric in here.”

Despite baseless claims from some that the Canes “still aren’t drawing,” it’s a fact their attendance numbers have improved. As essential as that’s been, the passion basically exploding out of those who sat there through the dark years matters just as much. When the floodgates opened in the third period of the Hurricanes’ 5-1 win over the Wild on Saturday, a “We want playoffs” chant broke out.

Did Teuvo Teravainen hear it as he scored his beauty of a goal?

“Yeah,” he told me. “Oh yeah. That was fun. The fans are really getting into it. They’re helping us. I feel it. Times have been really good lately.”

How about Trevor van Riemsdyk?

“Yeah,” he smiled. “You could hear those going. It’s exciting. It was a great crowd again. It makes it a little easier for the game to snowball in your direction.”

“It’s awesome,” said Brett Pesce, who has been particularly excellent in this playoff push. “Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever had as much fun playing hockey. You’re playing for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. That’s a dream for sure.”

Like the fans who have waited so dreadfully long just to sniff The Moment, Pesce has waited his whole career.

Now it’s right there, just like it had been for years. The difference now is hard to pinpoint, but it’s all about expectations.

The first day of the season, I said something in passing to Williams about how the “obvious goal is to make the playoffs.”

He corrected me mid-sentence.

“That shouldn’t, just, that shouldn’t even be the goal,” he said. “You should expect to do it. Our goal shouldn’t be to make the playoffs. That’s not great. As far as goals, you try to make them, maintain them, then make new ones.”

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Now, the fans expect to show up and see this team compete.

After what I can only describe as the worst power play of the season Sunday (and not for just the Hurricanes, more like in the entire NHL) the Canes got booed on their own ice.

All of it is back — the expectations, the building coming alive, the boos indicating higher expectations, the possibility of a sniff of The Moment.

“We want playoffs” shouldn’t be the goal, but really, it’s all this fanbase is asking. For the first time in nine years, they’re starting to believe it could happen.

Flanagan and the rest of Section 328 joked that for the past few years, planning the last tailgate of the regular season had been feeling like planning a wake.

As I was walking out of their tailgate and into the game Sunday, I said I’d see them at the last tailgate of the season April 4.

“Of the regular season,” somebody screamed.

Correction noted.

It’s about time.

20 Questions with Brian Burke: On hunting internet trolls, the Kessel trade and evicting ‘Brass Bonanza’

By Sean Fitz-Gerald

Brian Burke took his seat at the head of a boardroom table high inside the CBC’s downtown Toronto headquarters, laid his wallet, his phone and his Starbucks cup in front of him, and discussed how his nicknames have evolved through the years.

It began with his hair colour.

“My secretary could tell what era people were calling from,” he said. “My high school football buddies called me ‘Red.’ My rugby buddies from Harvard called me ‘Red.’”

For a while, he was also known as Shaft, because the hat he wore in college reminded people of the film. When his professional hockey teammates called, they requested him through his more broadly familiar nickname: Burkie.

The hat and red hair are both gone, but “Burkie” has maintained its ubiquity in hockey circles, especially in Canada, where the nickname’s owner is settling into his new mass media home. Burke has signed on for (at least) two years at Sportsnet, where he appears online, on television and on radio.

At 63, he has already spent a lifetime in the game. He was one of the first player agents to move into a management role. He had a brief stop as general manager in Hartford. He won a Stanley Cup with Anaheim, and he has worked with three of Canada’s seven NHL teams, with stints in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary.

Before moving onto his next stop, Burke took time to field 20 Questions from The Athletic, talking about stomping out internet trolls, revisiting the Phil Kessel trade and erasing “Brass Bonanza.”

1. What do you think Ron Wilson was trying to say, in 2003, when he told a reporter: “Brian is like a Hemingway character”?

Well, I think it was a compliment. I hope it was. I’m not a huge Hemingway fan. I’ve read virtually everything he’s written. I took an American literature course where he was featured, and my professor, the late Roger Pearson, loved Hemingway. He was his favourite author in history. I think Hemingway was grossly overrated. The summer I turned pro, I fished with (Pearson) a lot. And all we would do in the boat

is argue about different works of Hemingway — and catch fish and drink beer. (Smiles)

2. Which hunting trophy would be your Stanley Cup?

I’m just a bird hunter. I’m not a big-game hunter. I’m not a trophy hunter. I have shot one deer. I was at a lodge where they asked me to. They needed some meat and they asked me to take a deer, and I did. But I’m more a bird guy — turkeys, pheasants, geese, ducks. My favourite is ducks.

3. You have described yourself as having “a bit of the geek gene” as a longtime bird-watcher. How do you reconcile that with your hobby of also sometimes shooting at them?

That really bothered my mother when she was alive. I have bird feeders in my backyard. I love songbirds. I can identify, probably, 60 or 70 birds just by their call. I can look once and probably identify 100 songbirds or birds of prey. But I still don’t see a conflict. It used to bother my mother. She said, “I can’t believe you love birds so much and you still shoot them.”

4. Are you a good shot?

I make great shots, and I make poor shots. I have a target-shooting charity event in Calgary, and I came in second two years ago, with some really good shooters. There are mechanics to shooting: Your feet, your stance, where you put your hands. When I focus on my mechanics, I’m a good shot. I make great shots. And then I miss birds that you could knock down with a brick.

5. Give me Brian Burke’s perfect weekend in the wilderness.

I have a hunting property in Calgary that I kept. I sold my house in Calgary, but I have a hunting property an hour north. A perfect hunting day would be doing a grain field hunt in the morning, come back and have some lunch, and then hunt ducks over water with dogs in the afternoon. And then sit down and have a drink and watch hockey at night.

6. Gord Stellick said you spoke with him shortly after he was fired as assistant general manager of the New York Rangers in 1991. What did you offer to do for him?

I felt badly. I’ll tell you an interesting story that will tell you a lot about Gary Bettman. I just called Gord and said, “Hey, you’re a great guy, you’ll be back on your feet no problem.” And I didn’t realize how few people back then called you

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when you got gassed. When I worked at the league, I think it was Phil Esposito who got fired, and Bettman came into my office and said, “Have you talked to Phil?” And I said, “Not yet.” And he said, “Well you got to call him — you’ve got to call these guys when they get fired and give them some hope and tell them there’s another job waiting.” And Gary was really empathetic about it. He said, “These guys are lost when they get fired.”

7. Stellick told me he was alone in an apartment in New York, and that even though he only knew you on a professional basis, you offered to help him financially.

(Burke takes a sip from his Starbucks and nods.) I didn’t know what his financial circumstances were. I made that offer to someone the other day. Just said, “Let me know if things get tight financially — if you need help, let me know.”

8. How does a person who offers to help out a distant colleague, donates a horse to the Toronto Police Service and sleeps outside to raise money for charity end up in so many high-profile personal feuds?

Well, I never start any of these personal feuds. It’s interesting. My relationship with the media through my career has been excellent. The media respect that I give them time. I’m colourful. I’m honest. When we used to finish the GM meetings, all the other GMs would wait until I left. They knew the minute I walked out, I would be surrounded and they could slip out. They still joke about it. I was just at the GM meeting in Florida, being honoured as a former GM, and they were all like, “Burkie, we miss you here — now we have to talk to the media.” Most of my feuds were on behalf of a teammate or my coach. I don’t care what people write about me. So very seldom do I get into a feud over something someone says about me. Because I don’t care. Usually, I’m picking up a cudgel for my coach, or one of my players. And I will always do that.

9. Don Cherry went on air to say you tried to get him fired in 2012. Was he mistaken?

Yes.

10. How?

There was a board of governors meeting. And it wasn’t just the Toronto Maple Leafs. Almost all the Canadian teams focused on the negativity from CBC. I think what got back to Don was, “Oh, Brian Burke’s trying to get you and Ron MacLean fired.” That’s not what the point of the meeting was. The point of the meeting was personal attacks were being allowed. I talked for Toronto, and then Vancouver seconded everything I said. Then Ottawa jumped in. So it wasn’t just Brian Burke, and it wasn’t to get anyone fired. It was just to stop the personal attacks. I’m actually a big fan of Don Cherry’s.

11. One legal fight you launched, against internet trolls in 2013, seemed to be ahead of its time in light of so much of today’s online discourse. How was that case resolved?

Well, it changed the law in Canada. Let’s say you write something scurrilous. You post an internet post that says I’m a convicted poacher. Not true. The process of suing somebody used to be that I have to find out who you are. So you’ve got a screen name — Fitzy-something — I’ve got to

find you. To get an internet account, you’ve got to sign up with a provider. You’ve got to have a name and an address. And the judge in that case ruled, “No, if you’re slandered on the internet, you can serve these people on the internet.” So it changed the law in Canada. We got apologies and retractions from everyone involved. We didn’t go after anyone monetarily, because that wasn’t the point. I didn’t want any money. I just wanted this to stop. I thought the attacks were more unfair to the other party involved than to me.

12. This September marks the 10-year anniversary of the trade that brought Phil Kessel to Toronto. If we hopped in a time machine, would you still make the deal?

(Answers quickly) Yes. What I felt at the time was, we had price-point fatigue in Toronto. We had the highest ticket prices in the league, we weren’t very good, and we didn’t have any stars. And I don’t think you can win without stars. I’ve had stars everywhere I’ve ever gone. What we didn’t count on was the pick being that high. We talked about it. We said, “What if it’s Taylor Hall? What if it’s Tyler Seguin?” And we were like, “No.” We thought the best we would pick would be 10. We really believed our team was going to take a step. And that was the 18-wheeler year. That’s where everything went wrong and we ended up giving them a much higher pick than we wanted to. In retrospect, I probably would have lottery-protected it. But teams weren’t doing that back then, and I was confident in our group.

13. Has the salary cap taken the fun out of being a general manager?

A little bit. Two things have happened. One is: The salary cap has made it harder to do things. It used to be, when your team lost five in a row, you could shuffle the deck, make a couple of small trades and try to help your coach. You can’t do that anymore. So it’s taken some of the fun out. It’s also raised the stakes, though, which is kind of fun, too. Now, it’s not who’s got the most money, it’s who’s got the most managerial ability?

14. The Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup in June: What is Brian Burke doing that night?

Well, I’ll be working, hopefully. But afterwards? I’d go to a bar and join the party. I think it’d be great for the city. I think there’s this perception that when you get fired by a team you want them to do poorly, and that’s just not the case. I’m a season ticket holder here. I live here. It would be a wonderful thing for this city to have a Stanley Cup champion. I don’t think they’re going to do it. I don’t think they’re there yet. But I would be celebrating like everyone else.

15. How long until we see you working for another NHL team?

I don’t see that. I like what I’m doing. I think I’m going to keep doing this. I like it.

16. Question 16 …

(Burke cuts in.) By the way, there’s no “out” in my contract. I don’t have an out, where I could go back to a team. I signed a two-year deal with Sportsnet, and I’m staying. I intend to make this a second career.

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17. What was so wrong with “Brass Bonanza” that you erased it as the Hartford Whalers’ goal song?

My players came to me. This is one where I have been maligned and castigated for eliminating it as a goal song. The players came to me and said, ‘It’s like a college fight song, it’s embarrassing, can you get rid of it?’ That’s why I got rid of it. It was so unpopular, I couldn’t believe the strength of the reaction. And to this day, people bring it up, “Brian Burke got rid of ‘Brass Bonanza.’” I’m like, “Well, I’m not going to hang out the players who came to me — but it was my players who came to me.”

18. You and Don Cherry have both criticized the Hurricanes’ postgame celebration — he called them a “bunch of jerks” and you called it “peewee garbage stuff” — but has any of it started to grow on you?

No. No. I think it’s embarrassing. I’m not going to change my view on it. I think it’s getting worse. The more choreographed and elaborate it is, the more embarrassing it is to me. The first couple were kind of spontaneous and I let it go. Now? I think it’s absurd. And by the way, I think Don and I speak for 85 percent of the fan base in Canada. I think the average Canadian can’t stand it.

19. Where does a Massachusetts/Minnesota Democrat fall on the spectrum of Canadian politics?

I have never voted for a Republican, and probably never will. I am a believer in the Democratic platform. So I’m a fiscal conservative, but a social activist. I’m a feminist. I’m an environmentalist. I’m a social activist. I don’t know where that leaves me in Canadian politics, but I’m a Democrat, for sure.

20. Complete the following sentence: “By the time I’m done …”

I used to say to my kids — I stopped saying it after Brendan’s funeral — “Who’s going to come to your funeral, and what are they going to say? They’re not going to talk about big houses or fancy cars, or how much money you had in the bank. They’re going to talk about, were you a good dad? Were you a good husband? Were you a good teammate? Were you active in the community? Did you make a difference where you lived?” And at my funeral — which I hope is a long way off — that’s what I hope people talk about: “This guy made a difference, in every city that he lived in and worked in.”

DGB weekend power rankings: Thinning the wildcard herd and the Sabres make history

By Sean McIndoe

With less than two weeks to go in the regular season, let’s skip the gimmicks and get straight to figuring out where we’re at after a busy weekend on the wildcard bubble.

First things first: While we did our best this week to spread some optimism among the eight teams that were chasing playoff spots, we can safely narrow down that list now. The Flyers are done, thanks to a pair of weekend losses. So are the Panthers, who lost in regulation to the Bruins. And the Oilers and Canucks are also done. None of those teams are mathematically eliminated, but they’re close enough that they’d need a miracle. Chicago’s close to that point too; we’ll get to them in a bit more detail down below.

That leaves us with a more manageable group still in the wildcard race. In the East, it’s down to the Blue Jackets, Canadiens and Hurricanes, with two spots up for grabs. The Habs and Canes hold them right now, and they met last night in one of those games that Columbus fans just knew was going to go to overtime and summon the loser point fairy. It did, with the Hurricanes taking the two points on Andrei Svechnikov’s winner.

That left the Blue Jackets facing a must-win in Vancouver and they got the job done with a 5-0 win. That capped off a week-long road trip which saw them lose three straight and their grip on a wildcard spot, and after going all-in at the trade deadline, Columbus is dangerously close to falling out of the race. The good news is that they host the Habs on Thursday, in what will be the biggest game of the year and maybe even of the Tortorella/Kekalainen era – not to mention the one that determines whether it continues.

Out west, the feel-good Coyotes are flatlining, losing five straight to cough up their hold on a wildcard spot and fall two

points back. The only good news is that they haven’t lost as much ground during that streak as you might think; the Stars have lost four of five while the Wild have lost six of eight. Only the Avalanche are hot, winning four straight before having their streak snapped in OT by the Hawks last night.

Where does that leave us? In the East, the Blue Jackets still control their own destiny, although a loss to the Canadiens this week would just about spell the end. As for the Habs and Hurricanes, remember that seeding matters here, a lot – the first wildcard spot earns a matchup with the Metro winner while the second spot gets the Lightning. That could be the difference between having a real shot at winning a round and just being happy to be there.

In the West, the Coyotes still hold most of the card thanks to a schedule that serves up the Hawks, Avalanche and Wild this week. Meanwhile, the Stars head out on a four-game Western Canadian road trip that starts tonight in Winnipeg, so they’ve got their work cut out for them.

By this time next week, both races could be settled. Or both could be even tighter. Or one of those teams I just said was dead and buried could be back in the hunt, and gosh, if that happens I sure some of their fans will drop by to remind me.

For now, let’s get to this week’s rankings, where we had more movement than usual in the top five and something very weird in the bottom five …

Road to the Cup

The five teams that look like they’re headed towards a summer of keg stands and fountain pool parties.

Before we get to the top five, I thought last night’s fishing-themed Storm Surge was just OK. Saturday’s version was fun, though:

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5. Vegas Golden Knights (42-27-6, +27 true goals differential*) – It might seem a little weird to hand a top-five spot to a team that probably won’t even have home ice in the first round. Maybe it is. But the Knights have been rolling since the trade deadline, going 10-1-1 since Mark Stone arrived and scoring five or more goals in five of those games. That includes this week’s impressive 7-3 win over a Sharks team they’ll probably face in round one.

Put simply, at this point I’d pick the Knights to beat the Sharks in a seven-game series, even one that started in San Jose. They have better goaltending, the offense is humming and their defensive game is good enough that they can pitch a 20-shot shutout at the Jets with their backup goalie. They’re not perfect – they lost to the Red Wings on Saturday – but I can’t think of five teams whose odds I like better right now, so they’re in.

4. Winnipeg Jets (45-26-4, +35) – Saturday’s 5-0 win over the Predators was a statement game, one that left even Roman Josi saying things like “they’re just better than us.” More importantly, it left the Jets in great shape to earn the top seed in the division, as they hold a four-point lead, a game in hand and the ROW tie-breaker. That means they should avoid an occasionally scary Blues team that just beat the Lightning and instead start the playoffs against a wildcard opponent they’ll be heavy favorites against.

3. Boston Bruins (46-20-9, +45) – The big news from the weekend was the extension for Zdeno Chara, who’ll return next year on a bonus-laden deal. In the meantime, four straight wins combined with the continuing struggles of the Leafs and with nobody looking especially intimidating in the Metro is enough to nudge the Bruins up a spot to a season-high third in our rankings.

2. Calgary Flames (47-21-7, +62) – They beat the Senators and Canucks this week, and still have a pair of matchups left with each of the Kings and Ducks, as well as a season-closing meeting with the Oilers. That’s a lot of theoretically easy points to bank and if they can avoid taking their foot off the gas, that big showdown with the Sharks next weekend might not end up mattering.

Also, their goaltender can apparently fly now, so they’ve got that going for them.

1. Tampa Bay Lightning (58-14-4, +94) – Earlier this week I ran down the best and worst of the remaining schedule, including the Lightning’s ongoing attempt to break the Red Wings all-time wins record. Unfortunately, Tampa doesn’t play Detroit the rest of the way. But they do play the Canadiens, whose 1976-77 edition hold the points record at 132. The Lightning would need to run the table to tie that mark, and it would be kind of cool if they went into Montreal on April 2 with their chances still alive and the Habs trying to defend their decades-old record.

*Goals differential without counting shootout decisions like the NHL does for some reason.

Not ranked: San Jose Sharks – With the Knights sliding into the top five, the Sharks get bounced out. That ends a streak of ten straight weeks with the Sharks holding down a spot, including multiple weeks where they were as high as number two.

Is it time to panic in San Jose? Not quite – they’re still a very good team, they’re going to the playoffs and they’ll have a legitimate shot to make a long run once they get there. The sky isn’t falling here.

But they’ve lost five straight after they dropped a weekend stunner in Anaheim, which is a major blow for a team that was desperately chasing the Pacific’s top seed in an effort to avoid a deadly first-round matchup with a Knights team that’s looking better every week. Now, not only have the Sharks allowed the Flames to pull away, there’s even a chance that Vegas could catch them for home ice in a series where that could be a factor since neither team is especially that good on the road.

So yeah … no panic, yet. But concern for a veteran team that loaded up for one more big run this year? I think that’s probably reasonable right now.

The bottom five

The five teams that look like they’re headed towards hoping the ping-pong balls deliver Jack Hughes.

They’re not in this week’s bottom five, but I feel like we need to work in a mention of the Oilers here. I think Ken Hitchcock might be just about done with this team, you guys.

That was before they went out and lost to the Senators at home, in case you were wondering. Things are fantastic in Edmonton right now.

5. Buffalo Sabres (31-34-9, -40) – Well, look who’s back.

The Sabres have earned their way back into the bottom five, thanks to a miserable stretch that includes just three wins (and just one in regulation) in their last 18 games. This week, that’s included losing to the Maple Leafs, which nobody does anymore, and giving up 44 shots and seven goals to the Canadiens on Saturday.

What’s interesting is that I’m pretty sure the Sabres are making some power rankings history here. They were already one of the rare teams who could say they’d been in both the top and bottom five in the same season, thanks to what in hindsight was one of my worst rankings of the year. That’s unusual, but it’s happened a handful of times over the six years I’ve been doing this column.

But now the Sabres have gone from the bottom five at the start of the year to the top five in November and then back to the bottom five, all in the same season. I don’t think that’s ever happened before. It probably shouldn’t even be possible. Congratulations to the Sabres, who continue to find new ways to surprise and inspire us.

4. Detroit Red Wings (27-38-10, -51) – Credit where it’s due, they had a decent week that culminated with an impressive road win over the Knights. They get another test tonight in San Jose.

3. New Jersey Devils (28-39-9, -50) – It’s possible that being 20 points out of a playoff spot in March might have broken the Devils.

2. Los Angeles Kings (27-39-8, -57) – If you missed it, be sure to check out Ilya Kovalchuk’s candid comments on a

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miserable season, being a healthy scratch and his thoughts on Willie Desjardins. Spoiler alert: They’re not great.

1. Ottawa Senators (26-43-6, -55) – Hey, remember a few weeks ago when we were half-jokingly suggesting that the Senators had just had their best week of the season because nobody in the organization had publicly humiliated themselves? Those were the good old days.

This week, not so much, as owner Eugene Melnyk’s attempt at a mini media tour went poorly. He did his usual first stop in Toronto, where he managed to suggest that he was only concerned about “real fans.” He followed that up with a rare appearance with an Ottawa outlet, and managed to launch a petty public feud with one of the city’s most popular media voices and take potshots at a rival that’s nearly 40 points ahead in the standings in the same 25-minute segment. Solid work all around.

First things first. While there are plenty of Ottawa fans who wish Melnyk would stay quiet, he’s also been criticized for hiding from the media. He’s the boss, after all and if there’s a plan in place then he should have a role in selling the vision. So credit to him for speaking up. It continues to be deeply weird that he refuses to deal with his own team’s rightsholder, but at least he spoke to someone. It’s good that he’s delivering the message.

The problem is that the message was almost entirely nonsense. Claiming that you’re only worried about the real fans isn’t a strategy that worked especially well for the Oilers and it won’t play well in Ottawa, where it will come as news to disgruntled diehards that they apparently no longer count. Going after Ian Mendes is a joke, and if the organization truly feels that the Ottawa media is too harsh on them then hockey gods help them if they ever wind up someplace like Montreal.

But if I’m a Senators fan, my biggest concern isn’t with some hurt feelings in the media or poorly chosen words about the fan base. It’s that Melnyk and company might actually believe what they’re selling. That they really do think that their last place team is a victim of too much negativity and that all the criticism they’re hearing is only coming from fake fans and mean-spirited media members nursing grudges. That the plan is great, that they’re executing it seamlessly, and that everyone who matters thinks they’re doing a wonderful job, just like all those nice people who signed up to Twitter this month to defend the team against anyone who isn’t loyal enough. That they’re in full-scale denial.

I’m not a Senators fan. But I am a Maple Leafs fan and I’ve seen this movie before, more than once. I remember the

Dave Nonis era, for example, when the Leafs’ brain trust was convinced that their possession game wasn’t as bad as all the stats said because they had their own made-up numbers that said they were doing great. When that team predictably face-planted a year later, they swore that it was only because third-liner Dave Bolland had been hurt. They were living in fantasyland. Not to put too fine a point on it, but that era was an utter disaster, and things didn’t turn around until Brendan Shanahan showed up and started firing pretty much everyone who had anything to do with it.

Nobody’s going to fire Eugene Melnyk, so that doesn’t leave Senators fans with much optimism beyond hoping that this is all just a clumsy attempt at PR spin from an owner who knows things are a mess and just doesn’t want to say so publicly. It’s not often that “the owner is lying to us” is the best option, but that’s basically where we’re at in Ottawa right now.

In related news, “the Ottawa Senators have become an attractive destination for hockey executives”.

Not ranked: Chicago Blackhawks – Well, that should pretty much do it.

The Hawks came into the weekend knowing what they needed to do: Sweep the Avalanche, preferably in regulation. They failed to do that, letting Colorado take three points and now they’re done.

We think. After all, this is the 2018-19 Blackhawks, who have already been the subject of multiple eulogies that were interrupted by their playoff hopes sitting up in the casket and happily waving to the gathered mourners.

But now it’s too late. Whether or not they’re good enough to be worthy of a playoff spot, they’ve just run out of time. They’re five points back with just seven games to play and would need to pass three teams. It’s over. Certainly. Probably.

So now what? Do we look at the big picture, of a team that lost more than it won and cost one of the most successful coaches in history his job? Maybe we should focus more on the second half, as Jeremy Colliton found his feet and the team started to at least occasionally look like a playoff contender. Is that enough? It might have to be.

In the meantime, they’ve got a tough three-game road trip starting tomorrow in Arizona that they’ll no doubt sweep to get right back into the race, just to mess with us. Let’s close the casket but agree not to nail it shut until next week.

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Gold: Canes rally, beat Montreal in overtime, 2-1

By Adam Gold radio host 99.9 the Fan

Some things are just supposed to happen.

The Carolina Hurricanes were obviously supposed to beat the Montreal Canadiens at PNC Arena Sunday night. How else would you explain Trevor van Riemsdyk scoring the game-tying goal — his first in 50 games — off the leg of Montreal defenseman Jordie Benn, with 5:39 left in regulation. Especially, on a night when it didn’t appear that anything was getting by Carey Price.

The last time van Riemsdyk scored? November 21, in Montreal, in a 2-1 Hurricanes win in which Curtis McElhinney was the star in the Canes’ net. Well, that’s what happened again, thanks to TvR and the soon-to-be 19-year old Andrei Svechnikov. The hard-charging rookie, who will turn 19 on Tuesday, picked up a loose puck just outside the Montreal blue line in overtime and sniped a wrist shot between the pads of Price at 3:15 of the extra period and the Canes skated away with two points. Two, that the Canadiens absolutely needed.

By now it’s fairly evident that the Carolina Hurricanes are supposed to make the playoffs. The win snapped Montreal’s 3-game winning streak and pushed the Canes out to a 3-point lead on the Habs — with a game in hand — with just 7 games to play. Columbus was a winner in Vancouver, so the cushion over the Blue Jackets remains at 5-points heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.

The Hurricanes need only stay ahead of one of them to return to the post season for the first time since 2009, but this team isn’t afraid to aim higher. The Hurricanes still think there’s a ladder to climb. Pittsburgh is just two points in front of Carolina, the Islanders are only four clear of the Canes, who have games in hand on each.

If it sounds like I’m doing a “team of destiny” thing, let me make myself clear. I don’t believe in that kind of magic. The Hurricanes are destined to make the playoffs — and maybe do serious damage in them — because they are simply good enough. Carolina is an eye-opening 27-9-2 since beating the Flyers in Raleigh on New Year’s Eve. Had they done that in the first 38 games we’d be calling them outstanding.

Well, this sample size is now officially longer than their 15-17-5 (37 games) start to the season so maybe this is closer to what they really are rather than the team that couldn’t shoot straight for three months. It’s okay to admit it, to say it out loud, the Carolina Hurricanes are good at hockey. Really good.

Good teams have good, if not great, goaltending. McElhinney Sunday night, Petr Mrazek Saturday, and whomever the coaching staff decides will start the front half of a home-and-home set with Washington on Tuesday will

almost certainly give his team a chance to win the game that night. Then the other guy will do the same on Thursday back in Raleigh.

Good teams get scoring throughout the line up. Sebastian Aho, the team’s All Star, hasn’t scored a goal in seven games. That’s okay, Svechnikov has four to go along with a pair of assists in that stretch. Jordan Staal has three, while Dougie Hamilton, Lucas Wallmark and Justin Williams all have two. As a result, the Hurricanes are 5-2 during Aho’s “goal drought”.

Good team, really good. And, that’s why Thursday night’s loss to Tampa made Captain Williams so angry. This team is good enough to beat any team in the league, and the feeling in that locker room was that they gave the Lightning too much respect.

The bounce back, wins over the Wild and Canadiens in a span of 27 hours, is all the proof you need. The Canes are no longer playing to get INTO the post season — though it obviously has not been made official, and likely won’t become so for at least another handful of games. Rod Brind’Amour’s team is trying to advance up the Metropolitan Division standings.

Because that’s what good teams do this time of year, when the playoffs roll around.

McElhinney won his 19th game of the season (career high) in his 29th start of the year (also a career best). There were many who thought that Brind’Amour and goaltending coach Mike Bales should have stuck with Mrazek after Saturday night’s performance. But, Mac’s career numbers against Montreal — of a 1.79 goals against average and a save percentage of .947 — certainly did not take a hit. Curtis yielded just one goal in making 28 saves in the win. Those numbers did NOT take a hit.

Carolina’s magic number to clinch a playoff bid is 10 points. Any combination of 10 Hurricanes points or those that the Blue Jackets fail to secure that adds up to 10 puts the Hurricanes in the tournament for the first time in 10 years.

The Canes are 12-3-1 in the second half of back-to-back games. They’ve won nine straight in that department.

Jordan Staal has a dozen points (4g8a) in 14 games since returning to the line up.

Carolina was 0 for 3 on the power play on Sunday. They’ve gone seven straight games without a man advantage goal and are just 2 for 29 in March.

The Hurricanes will play in Washington on Tuesday before returning to PNC Arena Thursday for another game against the Capitals. Carolina will then play the Flyers on Saturday before jetting off to Pittsburgh on Sunday.

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Recap: Canes Rally Over Habs in OT

van Riemsdyk ties it late, Svechnikov wins it in overtime

by Michael Smith

It took a shot to tie the game and a shot to win it, and the Carolina Hurricanes got them both in a 2-1 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

Trevor van Riemsdyk got the Canes on the board with the game-tying goal late in regulation, and Andrei Svechnikov snagged the extra point for his team with the game-winner in overtime.

Here are five takeaways from an electric Sunday night of hockey in Raleigh.

One

This has been said before: Good teams find a way to win.

Again on Sunday, the Hurricanes found a way to win. Yes, this team is good, and the Canes are continuing to write a seemingly improbable success story since the start of the new year.

"It starts with Roddy. He shows a lot of belief in us, and it kind of just trickles its way down," van Riemsdyk said. "When he says he knows we're a playoff team, he knows we can make a run and do some damage, you believe it in his voice. That's huge, and we've got great leadership."

Two

As frustrating as the second period was, when the Hurricanes didn't register a shot on goal until there was 5:26 left in the period, and as maddening as the third period was at times, when every shot and every chance was being turned away by Carey Price, all it was going to take was a shot to tie the game.

And that's what the Canes got: A simple point shot off the stick of van Riemsdyk that beat Price through traffic and equalized the score with 5:39 left in regulation.

"We were talking about just getting pucks to the net after that second [period]. I don't think we had many shots on goal. That was our focus. I just threw it there, and I think it hit off them and went it," van Riemsdyk said. "It felt like one of those nights where it was going to take something like that to beat Price."

"There have been some tough games and tough periods, but we've just hung in there," Curtis McElhinney said. "We came out pretty strong in the third, and it ends up just being a puck thrown from the blue line that takes a bounce or hits something and goes in."

"It didn't look like it was going to happen," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "That's what it was going to take. We got the bounce. We'll definitely take it."

Fitting, too, that on Pride Night, the Hurricanes' Hockey is for Everyone ambassador would score a big-time goal, just his third of the season.

"That's what great about this team: We don't really care who scores it or who's getting on the stat sheet, as long as we win," van Riemsdyk said. "As I'm sure the crowd can see, we're having a lot of fun out there. The crowd was great again tonight, and I think we fed on that in the third."

Three

18 years and 363 days. That's the age of the Canes' second overall draft pick from 2018, Svechnikov, who is now the youngest player in franchise history to score a goal in overtime.

Jordan Staal won a board battle with Brendan Gallagher in the neutral zone to poke the puck ahead to Svechnikov, who walked in with Justin Faulk on a 2-on-1 rush. Faulk opened himself up for the pass, but Svechnikov held onto the puck and buried his shot through Price's five-hole.

A dramatic finish for the rookie's 20th goal of the season.

"You love the confidence he has. He feels it," Brind'Amour said. "He's earned the right to be out there. That's the whole key."

Four

These takeaways are all for naught had it not been for the stellar play of McElhinney in net.

Just as the Canes tied the game on a fortuitous bounce, so too did the Canadiens open the scoring with one of their own, as Paul Byron banged home a bouncing puck at the top of the crease.

McElhinney stopped the other 28 shots he faced, a collection that included a breakaway stop on Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the second period and a big and timely save on Tomas Tatar's partial breakaway early in the third.

"He played an unbelievable game," Svechnikov said. "He helped us win the game, for sure."

"He was solid. He made some huge saves, especially in the third when we were pressing a little," Brind'Amour said. "He went toe-to-toe with the best goalie in the world and certainly didn't take a back seat."

Five

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The Canes have been playing playoff-type hockey since the turn of the calendar. This was another one of those atmospheres, both on the ice and in the stands. And, in fending off the Canadiens, the Canes create some more distance between the two teams (and Columbus, now on the outside looking in) in the standings.

The Canes haven't punched their ticket to the postseason just yet, but with 91 points and just seven games to play, that moment is likely not far off.

"You feel it when we score a goal. It shakes you. I love it. I love it," Brind'Amour said of the energy in the building. "These people deserve to have some fun. We've had a lot of years here where it wasn't too exciting. They've stuck with us, and I think we're providing an entertaining brand of hockey."

Up Next

The Hurricanes will face the Washington Capitals in a home-and-home set that begins Tuesday in The District.

Projected Lineup: Canadiens vs. Hurricanes

McElhinney takes to the crease vs. Habs

by Michael Smith

The Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens meet in a battle of teams vying for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference.

Curtis McElhinney will start in net for the Canes, who close out a five-game homestand.

Here is the projected lineup for the Hurricanes.

Forwards

Niederreiter-Aho-Williams Svechnikov-Staal-Teravainen

Ferland-Wallmark-Martinook McGinn-McKegg-Maenalanen

Defense

Slavin-Hamilton Pesce-Faulk de Haan-van Riemsdyk

Goalies

McElhinney Mrazek

Scratches: Foegele (healthy)

Note: Lineup subject to change prior to opening faceoff.

Hurricanes top Canadiens in OT, pad lead in Eastern wild-card race

Svechnikov completes comeback at 3:15 for Carolina, which has won four of five

by Kurt Dusterberg / NHL.com Correspondent

Svechnikov's overtime winner

Andrei Svechnikov picks up the puck at the blue line and snaps a shot through the legs of Carey Price to win it in overtime for the Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes extended their lead in the Eastern Conference wild-card race after rallying for a 2-1 overtime win against the Montreal Canadiens at PNC Arena on Sunday.

The Hurricanes (42-26-7), who have won two in a row and four of their past five games, lead the Canadiens by three points for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs and are two points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for third place

in the Metropolitan Division. Curtis McElhinney made 28 saves.

"[Canadiens goalie Carey Price] was the phenomenal tonight," McElhinney said. "Obviously, he's the one of the best, if not the best, in the game for the last little while. It's always fun playing against him. I was just trying to keep pace with him. It's just nice to be on the right side of it."

Price made 38 saves for the Canadiens (40-28-8), who had won three in a row and are two points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card.

"This was our third game in four nights and I thought the fatigue factor caught up," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. "I started seeing it midway through the second period. We just hung on through the third period. When you pick up seven points out of eight, it's a good week."

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Andrei Svechnikov won it at 3:15 of overtime on a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Price five-hole.

"We are throwing [Svechnikov] out there in key situations now and in overtime," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "I love the confidence he has. He's earned the right to be out there, that's the whole key. Huge goal."

Trevor van Riemsdyk tied it 1-1 at 14:21 of the third period after his shot from the right point deflected in off Canadiens defenseman Jordie Benn.

"They have a winger coming out, (so) just get it by that guy," van Riemsdyk said. "Then hopefully we've got bodies at the net, which we did, and we got lucky. It felt like one of those nights where it was going to take something like that to beat Price. He's an unbelievable goalie."

Paul Byron gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 14:58 of the first period. After Nate Thompson forced a turnover on Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen, Brendan Gallagher's shot redirected off Teravainen's stick to the front of the net for a tap-in by Byron.

Montreal outshot Carolina 9-4 in the second period, but McElhinney made a glove save on Gallagher at 7:54 with the Canadiens on a power play before stopping Thompson coming down the slot 30 seconds later.

"He's calm, there's no nerves to his game," Brind'Amour said. "I think that settles our group down. It's been like that all year. I can't say enough good things. He went toe-to-toe with the best goalie in the world and he certainly didn't take a back seat."

Price's best saves came in the third period when he stopped a five-hole attempt by Sebastian Aho on a breakaway at 4:29, then forced Teravainen wide on a breakaway at 11:06.

They said it

"It would have been nice to get the win and reward [Price] with two points. He stood on his head and played well for us. There were chances we could have capitalized on and we didn't, but you can't think about those." -- Canadiens captain Shea Weber

"I felt like it was a little hole there and I tried to shoot (at) it. I'm super confident right now." -- Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov

Need to know

Byron is the 10th Canadiens player with at least 30 points this season, the first time Montreal has had 10 players reach that mark since 2005-06. … Svechnikov is the youngest player in Carolina/Hartford Whalers history to score an overtime goal (18 years, 363 days). He has scored all 20 of his goals at even strength. … The Hurricanes are 12-3-1 in the second of back-to-back games this season, including winning 10 straight.

What's next

Canadiens: Host the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TSN2, RDS, FS-F, NHL.TV)

Hurricanes: At the Washington Capitals on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NBCSWA, NHL.TV)

Hurricanes go 'Fishin' in the Dark' for latest Storm Surge

After big victory, team celebrates with classic country tune

by Dan O'Leary

Hurricanes' fishing celebration

The Hurricanes celebrate their overtime victory against the Canadiens by going fishing in their latest Storm Surge

Don't call PNC Arena looking for the Carolina Hurricanes after their 2-1 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens.

They've gone fishing. In the dark, apparently.

The theme of the latest Storm Surge was the song "Fishin' In the Dark" by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

As the 1987 country tune blared, the lights in the arena went out and the Hurricanes actually went fishing in the dark.

Defensemen Calvin de Haan and Trevor van Riemsdyk caught forward Jordan Martinook while defenseman Justin Faulk reeled in forward Lucas Wallmark, who gets extra points for flopping around like a fish on the ice.

The celebration comes one night after the team's celebrated homage to March Madness.

Keep doing you, guys.

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Svechnikov scores in overtime, Carolina beats Montreal 2-1

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Andrei Svechnikov scored with 1:45 left in overtime as the Carolina Hurricanes rallied to beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 Sunday night in a matchup with Eastern Conference playoff implications.

Carolina’s Trevor van Riemsdyk scored the tying goal with 5:39 remaining, and Svechnikov ended it with a wrist shot in the extra session. Curtis McElhinney stopped 28 shots.

With the win, Carolina remained alone in the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Montreal squandered a chance to move into a tie with Carolina with a win.

Paul Byron scored in the first period, and Carey Price stopped 38 of 40 shots as Montreal had its three-game winning streak snapped.

Montreal controlled play most of the way before a sudden turn in the final minutes.

The Canadiens got the scoring started when Brendan Gallagher fired a shot from the left faceoff circle that was deflected by Teuvo Teravainen. But the rolling puck went straight to Byron along the far post, and he buried it.

The Canadiens had other chances, too. Jeff Petry hit the post in the first period, and in the second, Tomas Tatar also hit a post. Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a breakaway denied by McElhinney and Nate Thompson’s point-blank shot in the crease after a turnover was stuffed by McElhinney, as well.

The Hurricanes didn’t get their first shot on net in the second period until there was 5:27 left.

They Hurricanes finally put pressure on in the third period, but couldn’t solve Price. Sebastain Aho was robbed of two prime scoring chances, and Teravainen couldn’t convert a breakaway with just under nine minutes remaining.

But just when it looked as if Price was headed to a shutout, van Riemdsyk sent a wrist shot from the point through traffic that found the bottom left corner of the net. It was a critical goal from an improbable source in van Riemsdyk, who scored for just the third time this season.

There was back-and-forth play at the start of overtime before the Hurricanes settled in and held possession. After jumping off the boards in a line change, Teravainen took a pass from Jordan Staal and whipped it under Price, giving Carolina a crucial win as it seeks to end its nine-year playoff drought.

NOTES: The Hurricanes improved to 12-3-1 in the second game of back-to-backs this season. ... Price was starting on back-to-back nights and for the third time in four days. ... The game was broadcast on Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples Television Network in Plains Cree, the first time an NHL broadcast has aired in the Indigenous language.

UP NEXT

Canadiens: Host Florida on Tuesday.

Hurricanes: At Washington on Tuesday.

Breaking down Eastern and Western Conference wild-card races

Andrew Berkshire

We’re down to crunch time now in the 2018-19 NHL regular season, with only a handful of games left for each team, and the playoff picture has narrowed considerably.

Gone are the pie in the sky ideas that Edmonton, Chicago, or Vancouver might make a run in the West. The last two wild card spots in the conference are a battle between four clubs now: the Dallas Stars, Arizona Coyotes, Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche.

Over in the East, the race has been fairly clear for a long stretch now. A few weeks ago it appeared that the Pittsburgh Penguins were going to be in a four-team stretch drive, but a red-hot streak has put them four points clear of the wild card. That leaves the East’s wild card spots up for grabs between

the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets and Montreal Canadiens.

A lot of what’s left in the season comes down to the math of how points are dolled out in the NHL. It’s easy to look at the Blue Jackets and think that since they’re only a few points out with eight games left, there’s enough time to make up ground. However, you also have to account for how many points the Canadiens and Hurricanes are going to accumulate over that time.

Using season-long points percentages for each team, it’s easy enough to estimate how many points should be accumulated over the remainder of the season, and from there we can estimate how many points each team would need, should their opponents play at their season averages.

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What jumps out right away is that the Hurricanes are essentially a lock at this point. Assuming all tiebreakers stay the same, Carolina needs to collect four points of 16 available in order to essentially clinch a spot as at least the second wild card team in the East.

Dallas is in a similarly strong position; the Stars need just four points as well, though they have just seven games to do so. Still, you would expect getting four points of an available 14 should be a relatively easy task for Dallas.

The Avalanche and Canadiens need six and seven points, respectively, and based on how they’ve played so far this season each team should be able to hit those marks in the games they have remaining. Both teams hold the last wild card spot in their respective conference and control their own destinies. If they play well enough, they’ll make it in.

The teams that are in tough here are the Blue Jackets, Coyotes, and Wild. Of those teams, Arizona is in the strongest position; they need to play just over a half-point better than their season average. The Blue Jackets and Wild both need to add an extra win over their points pace in order to make it in.

How things shake out over the last stretch of the season is going to have a lot to do with the strength of schedule each team has left. We can contrast that with how they’ve played this season, as well as by how they’ve played over the last 25 games to get a more recent idea.

We could use a variety of statistics to compare these teams, but we have almost a full season’s worth of data, and we know that what it’s all going to come down to in this last stretch is goals. There’s not enough time to count on regressing to any means, so let’s focus in on outscoring opponents in all situations.

Once again, Carolina has this on lockdown. The Hurricanes have scored 60 per cent of the goals in their past 25 games, and all season long they’re the only team of this group over 52 per cent. Their opponents are tougher than average, but I can’t see it mattering here. I think it’s very safe to say Carolina will make the playoffs.

Dallas hasn’t been playing nearly as strong as Carolina, but the Stars have improved over their season average of late, and their strength of opposition is below average. They’re probably as close to a lock without clinching as you can get.

On the other side of the table are the Minnesota Wild, who face the second-strongest opposition to end their season of any team fighting for a spot, and they’ve been downright horrible over their last 25 games. I doubt there’s enough time to turn that ship around, so they’re highly unlikely to make it.

The Avalanche face higher than average competition by a little bit, but they’ve been a strong team all season and have been even better lately. That makes them by far the favourite to secure the second wild card spot in the West.

Arizona has improved lately as well, but they’re still getting outscored, and even an average level of competition from opponents probably isn’t enough to overtake Colorado in the next couple weeks.

While they hold a three-point advantage, the Canadiens face a tough road to end the season. Of their seven remaining games, only one team has a negative goal differential, and only two have a lower goal differential than Montreal. Luckily for them, one of those teams is the Blue Jackets. The Canadiens have been playing well of late, but this is still a tighter battle than some believe.

Luckily for the Canadiens and their fans, the Blue Jackets have fallen off big time recently, because aside from having a game in hand, Columbus also has a far weaker schedule than their rivals from Montreal.

Only four of the Blue Jackets’ remaining eight opponents have a positive goal differential this season, and one of those four is Montreal, who is essentially dead-even with Columbus’ own season-long goal differential.

If the Jackets are to beat every team with a negative goal differential they face, and take that game against Montreal in regulation, they have a real shot at squeaking in. The problem is, they just haven’t played well lately. This is the race to watch though, because I think everything else is close to settled.

The Buzzer: Hurricanes fish for another win celebration

By James O'Brien

Three Stars

1. Robin Lehner

Both the Islanders and Coyotes had incentive to win on Sunday, but only the Isles could score any goals, as Lehner continues his fantastic season.

Lehner earned his fifth shutout of 2018-19 by stopping all 31 shots by Arizona. He’s pushed his excellent save percentage to .928 on the season, improving to a 22-12-5 record. On a day full of strong goalie performances – even by those who lost, such as Philipp Grubauer – Lehner stood out as the brightest of the bright.

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It’s truly remarkable to see the goaltending the Isles have enjoyed from Lehner and Thomas Greiss.

2. Josh Anderson

It’s tempting to run with the goaltending theme, as Sergei Bobrovsky‘s up-and-down season persisted with another very “up” moment: a shutout, his seventh of 2018-19. Yet, Bob only needed to make 21 saves against the lowly Canucks to do so.

Of the Blue Jackets who contributed to an absolutely crucial win, Anderson had the best game, scoring two goals and one assist.

The first of Anderson’s two goals ended up being the game-winner, while he enjoyed a +4 rating, fired three SOG, and delivered one hit. He was also reasonably close to a hat trick, but just missed on that attempt.

It turns out the Blue Jackets can be pretty dangerous when they get at least a few bounces.

3. Braden Holtby

The Capitals maintained their lead on the Metro Division title despite Lehner pitching a shutout because Holtby was his steady self.

Holtby stopped 35 out of 36 shots in this win, only allowing a power-play goal on Sunday. After losing despite only allowing two goals in his last appearance against the Wild, Holtby improved to 28-19-5 record on the season. With two more victories, Holtby will generate his fifth consecutive 30+ win season.

How did the Hurricanes celebrate their latest win?

Carolina went fishing. Goofy-fun:

Highlights of the Night

Duncan Keith already impressed in containing Nathan MacKinnon during an overtime one-on-one chance, and that outdid himself with a tremendous game-winner:

Lehner’s been a revelation for the Islanders this season, and he could do worse than showing this clip when it comes time for contract negotiations:

Factoids

Barry Trotz looks nearly certain to win the Jack Adams this season, and while it won’t be a lifetime achievement award, reaching his 1,600th game coached is a reminder that he’s already enjoyed an incredible career.

Andrei Svechnikov became the youngest overtime goal-scorer in Hurricanes history, as he found the net two days before his 19th birthday. The second pick of the 2018 NHL Draft also reached the 20-goal mark with that tally.

Scores

WSH 3 – PHI 1 NYI 2 – ARI 0 CAR 2 – MTL 1 (OT) CHI 2 – COL 1 (OT) CBJ 5 – VAN 0

Carolina Hurricanes feel the spirit of March Madness with on-ice basketball celebration

Somebody check on Don Cherry

by Pete Blackburn

With all due respect to Saturday's slate of NCAA Tournament games, the best basketball highlight of the day may have come from the NHL.

That's thanks to the Carolina Hurricanes, who decided to celebrate their 5-1 win over the Minnesota Wild with an amazing tribute to March Madness. They went all-out and committed to the celebration, bringing a basketball and a hoop out onto the ice and then running a full sequence that concluded with a dunk from defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk. Yes, an actual dunk from a player wearing hockey skates.

The Hurricanes have been running these crazy postgame celebrations all year long, leading some people to brand them as a "bunch of jerks" -- a label they've since embraced.

There have been some really great celebrations throughout the year, but this may be the best of them all. It also may be the most dangerous of them all when you consider the risks of having one of your blue liners go airborne for a basketball dunk, but nobody got hurt and we can all fully enjoy this wonderful display. (Okay, maybe not all of us; Don Cherry will likely need your thoughts and prayers at this time.)

Now it's time to start asking the question: Are the Hurricanes the best basketball team in North Carolina this March?

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Carolina Hurricanes pull out all the stops for Pride Night

Stan Temming

The Carolina Hurricanes aren’t messing around when it comes to celebrating Pride Night.

Before hosting the Montreal Canadiens at PNC Arena on Sunday, the name of the team’s Twitter account was changed to ‘Hockey Is For Everyone.’

On top of the rainbow tape used during warmups, the team released a touching video about the impact and importance of sport in the LGBTQ community.

“It’s important to me that everyone feels welcome coming into the locker room,” said Trevor van Riemsdyk, Carolina’s Hockey is for Everyone ambassador. “It’s a place that everyone should feel safe and welcome to be who they are.”

“Growing up as a gay fan, the Hurricanes — and hockey in general — just kind of provided me a chance to get away from the things I was going through,” said Chris Moore, a supporter of the team. “So, that’s why I think it’s really important.”

Proceeds from an auction organized by the team will benefit LGBTQ organizations in North Carolina.

The contest had some major playoff implications. The two squads entered the game sitting in the Eastern Conference wild card spots. The Hurricanes were five point up on the Columbus Blue Jackets before puck drop; the Canadiens only three.

Down 1-0, van Riemsdyk’s third goal of the season tied the game up before Andrei Svechnikov scored the overtime winner for Carolina.

Hurricanes break Price’s shutout late, defeat the Canadiens in overtime of a must-win game

An unexpected source of offense and an 18-year-old who’s breaking out before our very eyes led Carolina to late heroics and a huge overtime win.

By Brett Finger

RALEIGH — Sunday night was a must-win affair for the Carolina Hurricanes, and for about 55 minutes, it looked like it was going to be another one of “those games”.

The night after their exciting 5-1 beatdown of the Minnesota Wild, the Canes were chasing the visiting Montreal Canadiens, seemingly all night, until some late heroics transpired that only add to what has been an unbelievable season full of righting the wrongs of recent years.

The first period’s shot clock told a slightly different story than what actually happened.

From the jump, Carolina pummeled Carey Price with shots on net, but the problem was that very few of them had any real chance of going in the net. The few grade-A’s they had either got whipped wide or blocked by a Montreal player. The Habs dominated the shooting lanes in the opening 20 and kept the Canes to the outside with relative ease.

Not capitalizing on a Shea Weber tripping minor also hurt, but not quite as much as when Greg McKegg entered the offensive zone like a freight train and got the puck in front of the net to Brock McGinn, who missed the wide open net and couldn’t get the Canes on the board.

All of a few moments later, the Canadiens got a chance of their own and were able to capitalize. A turnover from Teuvo Teravainen in the defensive zone quickly resulted into a backdoor tap-in goal for Paul Byron. His 15th of the season made it a 1-0 game, and that score held through the remaining minutes of the first period.

Despite owning a 21-13 lead in shots on net, the Canes found themselves searching for answers during the first intermission.

And they didn’t find them.

The second period on Sunday was one of the most lifeless periods of Hurricanes hockey all season, as it took the home team 14:34 of in-game time to get a shot on net in the middle frame. On the bright side, they also held the Canadiens off the board, though it was less about how stellar they were, defensively, and more about how big Curtis McElhinney came up. Jaccob Slavin also saved a shot from Tomas Tatar from going into a wide-open net at the end of a sequence that resulted in McElhinney being down and out.

The Canes ended up with four shots in the middle frame, compared to Montreal’s nine.

There was a noticeable uptick in energy from Carolina in the third period, but as time went on, it just looked like a goal wouldn’t be in the cards for the Canes. Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen both had breakaway chances get thwarted by Carey Price, who remained perfect through the majority of the third period.

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Then, all of a sudden, he wasn’t perfect anymore.

With just 5:39 left on the clock of what was looking like a hopeless game, a long-ranger floater from Trevor van Riemsdyk, Carolina’s ambassador for Hockey is For Everyone night, deflected off of a Montreal player in front and right by Price.

That was what pushed this game to overtime, and after a number of chances for the Hurricanes, who largely controlled the 3-on-3 portion of the game, it was Andrei Svechnikov who ended the hockey game.

Somehow, the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday evening. In a big-time playoff-level game, the Canes dug deep, got a bounce, and ultimately did what they needed to do in order to secure a massive win over the Habs, who are now tracking slightly further behind the Canes in the playoff race.

None of it would’ve been possible, had it not been for Curtis McElhinney holding the fort all night, ultimately stopping 28 of 29 in the win.

Next, the Hurricanes will travel to Washington on Tuesday to start their home-and-home set with the Capitals. Another pair of huge games for the Canes, who continue to fly high as they near the end of March.

Postgame Quotes

Trevor van Riemsdyk

[On how the game transpired] Obviously, we knew it was going to be a playoff-type game. They got a nice little bounce, for them, on the first one, and that’s playoff hockey. You don’t know if it’s going to be in the first two minutes of a game that you get the game-winner or late in the game when you tie it up, so you just gotta stick with it. That’s what Roddy said, especially after the second where it kinda got away from us and we got away from the things that make us successful. In the third, we really tried to focus on that. I thought we had a really good third, and it carried on into overtime.

[On his game-tying goal late in the third period] (I was) just mainly thinking to get it on net. They had a winger coming out, just to get it by that guy and hopefully we have bodies at the net, which we did. Then we got lucky, I don’t even know what it hit. It felt like one of those nights where it was going to take something like that to beat Price.

[On the slow second period] Yeah, they’re a really good team. You have to give them credit. They play with a lot of skill and a lot of speed, and that’s tough, but I think a few times we just didn’t put pucks in good places or give ourselves good opportunities. It felt like we couldn’t get on top of them or hem them in at all. We kinda talked about it between periods, and then in the third we did a better job of placing puck and keeping it away from Price, a little bit, and it led to more zone time.

[On if it was appropriate that he scored the game-tying goal on Hockey is For Everyone night] Yeah, I don’t know. I think that’s what’s great about this team. We don’t really care who scores and who’s getting on the stat sheet, as long as we win. I’m sure the crowd can see, we’re having a lot of fun out there. The crowd was great again tonight, and we fed off of that in the third period when we kinda built the game up and felt it coming out way.

Curtis McElhinney

[On staying level-headed through games] I just don’t think we’ve ever gotten down about a situation. We’ve had some tough games and tough periods where we’ve kinda just stuck in there. I think we showed that tonight, after the second period, we came out strong in the third and it ends up being a puck thrown from the blue line that takes a bounce and goes in. That’s kinda just the way the game is right now.

[On the emotions of the game, going back and forth with Price] It feels great. There’s no better feeling than when you put an effort out there and you’re getting all of the saves and you’re on the right side of it. Price was great tonight. I thought we had some great looks on him, but we just couldn’t find a way to get one by him. That’s why he’s one of the elite goalies in the league. This was a fun one tonight.

[On not putting a ceiling on what this team can accomplish] At this point of the year, all bets are off. As long as you get in and give yourself an opportunity to be in the playoffs, that’s all you can ask for and anything can happen at that point. I’ve liked the way that we’ve come out here. Some of our younger guys are rounding out there game. We got a goal from a young guys tonight (Svechnikov) in overtime. I mean, that’s a big-time play.

Rod Brind’Amour

[On the dramatics of the game] I’ll say... A great ending, obviously. Super exciting game, good third period for us, but a terrible second. The first period was great, second period was awful, and the third period looked the way we needed it to look like and, obviously, overtime could’ve gone either way, but we got the big win.

[On McElhinney’s game] The goal we gave up was a lucky bounce. That was the only one they got. He was solid and made some huge saves, especially in the third when we were pressing and giving up a little. Both goalies (McElhinney and Mrazek) have been great.

[On Svechnikov having these big moments] It’s been coming, right? We have been saying it all year and, obviously, throwing him out there in key situations and overtime. You love the confidence that he has, he feels it and he has earned the right to be out there - you build and build. Huge goal.

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Carolina Hurricanes vs. Montreal Canadiens: Game Preview and Discussion

The Carolina Hurricanes take on the streaking Montreal Canadiens in Raleigh after a big win against Minnesota last night.

By Andrew Ahr

Carolina Hurricanes (41-26-7) vs. Montreal Canadiens (39-28-6)

Sunday, March 23, 2019 - 7:00 PM ET PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC

TV: Fox Sports Carolinas Radio: 99.9 The Fan

SBN Opponent: Eyes on the Prize

The Canes enter the second leg of a back-to-back tonight, one night after a resounding win over the Wild. They take on the Montreal Canadiens, who sit just two points behind Carolina in the second wild card spot.

Vital Statistics

Category Hurricanes Canadiens

Record 41-26-7 40-28-7

Points 89 87

Division Rank 4 Metro 4 Atlantic

Conference Rank 7 EC 8 EC

Last 10 Games 6-3-1 5-5-0

Streak Won 1 Won 2

Goals/Game 2.99 2.99

Goals Against/Game 2.74 2.89

Shots/Game 34.7 33.9

Shots Against/Game 28.6 30.9

Faceoff % 48.7% 49.0%

Power Play % (Rank) 16.7% (24) 12.6% (31)

Penalty Kill % (Rank) 81.6% (8) 80.5% (T16)

ES Corsi For % 54.68% 54.31%

ES PDO 99.5 100.2

Category Hurricanes Canadiens

PIM/Game 7:48 8:39

Goaltender #1

Category Petr Mrazek Carey Price

Record 20-13-3 32-22-5

Save % .911 .916

GAA 2.46 2.52

Goaltender #2

Category Curtis McElhinney Antti Niemi

Record 18-9-2 8-6-2

Save % .913 .887

GAA 2.59 3.78

Game Notes

Tonight is the Canes’ annual Pride Night, part of the NHL’s Hockey Is For Everyone initiative. Canes defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk will serve as the team’s ambassador and is hyped:

The Canes secured a huge win over the Wild last night. Their 19-8-3 record against the Western Conference this season broke a franchise record for wins against the Western/Campbell Conference.

Tonight’s matchup is the third and final game between the two teams this season. The teams have split their first two games thus far this season.

The Canes have picked up wins in six of their last eight games against Montreal.

With a win last night, the Hurricanes have improved their record to 26-9-2 in their last 37 games. That’s second-best in the NHL in that frame.

Carey Price got the start in last night’s win against Buffalo, but he will likely start again tonight in a big game for both teams.

Projected Lineups

Hurricanes

Nino Niederreiter - Sebastian Aho - Justin Williams Andrei Svechnikov - Jordan Staal - Teuvo Teravainen

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Micheal Ferland - Lucas Wallmark - Jordan Martinook Saku Mananlanen - Greg McKegg - Brock McGinn

Jaccob Slavin - Dougie Hamilton Brett Pesce - Justin Faulk Calvin de Haan - Trevor van Riemsdyk

Curtis McElhinney Petr Mrazek

Injuries and scratches: Warren Foegele (healthy)

Canadiens

Tomas Tatar - Phillip Danault - Brendan Gallagher Artturi Lehkonen - Max Domi - Andrew Shaw Jonathan Drouin - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Joel Armia Paul Byron - Nate Thompson - Jordan Weal

Victor Mete - Shea Weber Brett Kulak - Jeff Petry Jordie Benn - Christian Folin

Carey Price Antti Niemi

Canes rout Wild behind Teravainen, PNC crowd

Alec Sawyer, Assistant Sports Editor

Carolina Hurricanes right wing Teuvo Teravainen skates past the Minnesota Wild goalie and scores on Saturday, March 23, 2019 in PNC Arena. Teravainen also had two assists against the Wild. The Hurricanes beat the Wild 5-1.

In their final inter-conference matchup of the season, the Carolina Hurricanes took care of business, beating the Minnesota Wild 5-1 inside of a loud PNC Arena Saturday night.

Forward Teuvo Teravainen was the Canes' (41-26-7) best player throughout the game, scoring one goal and setting up two more to move his season point total to 70. The Hurricanes also got goals from forwards Jordan Staal, Andrei Svechnikov and Lucas Wallmark, as well as defenseman Brett Pesce, in the thrashing of the Wild (35-32-9).

“[Teravainen] was pretty impressive,” head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “High-end plays. He’s also taking his game to another level on the defensive side of things this year. But those plays he can make, he’s capable of those high-end offensive plays, and tonight you saw them.”

Petr Mrazek stopped 24 of 25 shots faced in net for the Hurricanes, getting beat only once by former Hurricane Eric Staal on the power play. Devan Dubnyk had a much rougher night in net for Minnesota, stopping 28 of 33 shots faced.

Carolina broke through with the game’s first goal, as Jordan Staal scored on a redirection a few minutes into the second period. Canes defenseman Justin Faulk blasted a shot from the point, and Staal changed the puck’s direction with his skate to put it past Dubnyk. It was Staal’s ninth goal of the season.

“Jordan is what we were missing,” Brind’Amour said. “With him being back, it just gives us a lot more depth. [Staal’s line] has been really, really solid every game.”

Teravainen was credited with an assist on the play for feeding Faulk, his 50th assist of the year. Teravainen became the first Hurricane to accomplish that feat since the 2008-09 season.

The Canes doubled their lead just two and a half minutes later, as Pesce sniped one past Dubnyk. Canes captain Justin Williams fed Pesce into open ice, and the defenseman sniped from the circle to make it 2-0.

Canes forward Sebastian Aho was credited with an assist as well, giving him his 50th of the season to join Teravainen. The duo are the first Carolina teammates to both tally 50 assists in the same year since Ray Whitney and Brind’Amour did it in the 2006-07 season. Williams also reached a landmark on the goal, as his assist to set up Pesce was the 300th point of his Canes’ career.

The Wild cut the Carolina lead in half with 11:04 left in the second, as Eric Staal ripped a shot from a tight angle past Mrazek. Staal’s goal came three minutes into a four-minute power play for Minnesota, after Canes forward Micheal Ferland caught Wild defenseman Anthony Bitetto with a stick to the face.

Svechnikov doubled the Canes lead a few minutes into the final frame, slotting a beautiful shot over the shoulder of Dubnyk. Teravainen fought to win the puck on the boards, and fed it back to Svechnikov cutting across the ice, who fired the puck into the roof of the net to make it 3-1.

Wallmark made it 4-1 with his 10th goal of the season, finishing off a phenomenal pass from Ferland, who fed it across the ice from the corner right to the stick of Wallmark. The Canes center slotted a one-timer over Dubnyk’s right shoulder.

A fantastic individual effort from Teravainen moved the lead to 5-1. Teravainen intercepted the puck on the attacking blue line, and used a great stick move to fool Dubnyk and slot home his 19th goal of the season.

“We got a couple and then got a couple more,” Teravainen said. “When you score goals, you get some confidence and it’s more fun to play when you’re scoring some goals and you have the lead.”

The Canes poured three goals on the Wild in the final period to seal the game, after blowing a third-period lead against

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the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night. For Brind’Amour, the finish Saturday was something to be proud of.

“That was the way to play in the third,” Brind’Amour said. “That was a tough game. Both teams, we knew coming in how good they had been playing, and they were grinding. They’re into playoff mode and they were limiting their opponent's chances and playing tough. I was proud of the guys today, that we hung in there even though it was a tough game, and then opened it up in the third.”

The win for the Canes was a vital one, as it maintained a two-point lead over the Montreal Canadiens, who also won Saturday, for the Eastern Conference’s top wild card spot, although the Canes have a game in hand. The win also pushed the Canes lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final playoff spot in the East to five points.

The crowd in PNC was raucous throughout the night, raining down “We want playoffs” chants in the final minutes of the

game. For a Canes team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2009, the atmosphere in the building is growing as the end of that streak is becoming more of a possibility.

“That was fun. Our fans are really getting into it and helping us, so it was nice to hear,” Teravainen said. “The fans have been really good lately. We’re trying to play good for them too. Hopefully, we can keep building here.”

Carolina will be back in action Sunday night for an important affair, as the Canes will host Montreal in PNC Arena with huge playoff implications on the line.

“Every game we get closer to the end becomes the bigger and bigger game,” Pesce said. “It’s awesome. Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever had as much fun playing hockey because you’re playing for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. That’s a dream for sure. We’re confident in our group though, and looking forward to the end.”

McElhinney, Svechnikov outlast Price as Hurricanes fend off Canadiens in OT

Rookie scores game-winner and improves Carolina’s wildcard standing

Peter Koutroumpis

RALEIGH, N.C. – The Carolina Hurricanes gave themselves some more breathing room following a 2-1 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday.

A 28-save performance by goaltender Curtis McElhinney highlighted a well-contested battle with counterpart Carey Price who made 38 stops as the Hurricanes gained a point on the Habs in the Eastern Conference wildcard standings.

Trevor van Riemsdyk and Andrei Svechnikov scored for Carolina while Paul Byron tallied Montreal’s lone marker.

“They’re a pretty fast, highly skilled team that once they get rollin’, can generate a lot of stuff pretty easily,” McElhinney said.

“He (Price) was phenomenal tonight. Obviously, he’s a one of the best, if not the best, in the game the last little while. It’s always fun playin’ against him. He was on it tonight. I was just tryin’ to keep pace with him.”

Roller coaster ride

Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour was happy with the result.

However, for the first 55 minutes, it didn’t look like the Hurricanes’ efforts to beat Price would ever pay off.

“A great ending obviously,” Brind’Amour said.

“Super exciting game – good third period for us, but terrible second. It was kind of a tale of two games. The first period was great, second period was awful, and third period we looked like what we needed to look like.”

After outshooting the Habs 21-13 in the opening period, the Hurricanes were on the receiving end of a second period that required McEelhinney to withstand a barrage of quality shots before the offense reasserted itself late in regulation.

To an extent, it resembled a similar one-game battle the two teams had in Montreal back on Nov. 27, one which McElhinney also won, tying a career-high 48-save effort.

However, instead of the Habs turning up the heat in the third, it was the Hurricanes who did so to even the score.

Good things come to those who wait

Byron’s goal came at the 14:58 mark of the first when he found himself the recipient of a deflected shot from the point that ended up in the low slot that he put away into a yawning net with McElhinney out of position.

The Canadiens carried that 1-0 lead for the majority of the game until van Riemsdyk matched it with his point shot that caromed off a Montreal defender and past Price with 5:39 remaining in the third.

“We were talkin’ about getting pucks to the net. After the second, I don’t think we had that many shots on goal, so that was our focus,” the Carolina defenseman said.

“I just threw it there, I think it hit off them, and it went in.”

Supporting the leader

While leading scorer Sebastian Aho couldn’t beat Price with three solid shot attempts on goal and extended his current goalless drought to seven games, Svechnikov helped fill the void.

Aho helped Carolina maintain puck possession in the Montreal zone for much of the early part of the overtime period until the 18-year old rookie along with Jordan Staal and Justin Faulk took to the ice on a change.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Not long after, Staal tipped the puck forward, winning a battle along the center-ice boards with Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher.

Svechnikov picked it up near the Habs blue line with full speed and didn’t think twice about shooting on Price as he found the gap between the keeper’s pads and scored his 20th goal of the season at the 3:15 mark.

Just a matter of time

The Russian forward became the youngest player in franchise history to post an overtime goal, his career first.

It was also his third goal in his last five games played.

Carolina has won four of those, and not coincidentally, he’s been a big part of that success during the team’s current playoff push.

“I’m super confident right now,” Svechnikov said of his play.

“I go out there and play my game and just enjoy.”

Brind’Amour concurred.

“It’s been comin’, right? We’ve been sayin’ it all year,” the coach said.

“Throwin’ him out in key situations – in overtime. You love the confidence that he has. He feels it. He’s earned the right to be out there.”

Every win is valuable now

With seven games remaining, Carolina holds the first wildcard spot, three points ahead of Montreal with one game in-hand in the conference, and two points with a game in-hand behind third place Pittsburgh in the Metropolitan Division.

With Columbus on the outside looking in and seven points behind their wildcard spot, the Hurricanes need to continue to accumulate points in order to increase that separation.

In doing so, they will end the NHL’s longest current playoff appearance drought of nine years.

Checkers Keep Rolling With 6-2 Win Over Wolf Pack

Written by Kate Swartwout

The Checkers wrapped up their six-game home stand with a resounding 6-2 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack. Charlotte’s offense continued to fire with five different skaters tallying goals, which extended the team’s point streak to seven games (6-0-1). Tomas Jurco opened the scoring early, followed by a Jake Bean rip from the blue line and an Aleksi Saarela snipe from the dot to give the Checkers a 3-0 lead at the end of the first 20 minutes. After a short stretch in the middle frame - where Hartford managed to claw back to within one - a goal-line save by Dennis Robertson swung the momentum back in the Checkers’ favor. Shortly after, Andrew Poturalski threw a shot on net and Morgan Geekie expertly tipped it into the top corner to make it 4-2. To round out the second period, Nicolas Roy muscled his way through the face-off and tucked it five-hole to extend the lead to three. Saarela closed out the scoring in the third period with his second goal of the game to bring the final score to 6-2. The Checkers go on the road for a three-game series that includes two games against the second-place Bridgeport Sound Tigers before returning to Charlotte for the last stretch of home games of the regular season.

QUOTES

Coach Mike Vellucci on the game I thought we played pretty good. We had a really good start in that third period and took it to them really good, and then got a loose in the second period and had big turnovers that cost us goals. We settled down at the end of the second. Vellucci on getting six even-strength goals tonight after zero yesterday We just played smarter. We were way loose last night and today we were smarter with the puck and got to the right areas and shared it amongst each other rather than trying to do it ourselves. I was really happy with the five-on-five. Vellucci on settling the team down in the second period I didn’t have to say much. The captains and the leaders took over and said the right things on the bench. As a coach, when they do that and you don’t have to say anything, that makes it a lot easier knowing that the team is in good hands with our leadership Vellucci on playing two of the next three at second-place Bridgeport We’ve just got to continue to play well. We’ve got to treat everything like it’s a playoff game because you’ve got to be as used to playing these games as possible. They’re hunting for us, they’re hard games, they’re always physical games and we’ve got to be ready for them. Vellucci on Clark Bishop leaving the game on the opening

CAROLINA HURRICANES


faceoff Bish got hit in the eye so he’s going to be out for a while. Nothing that they’re telling us is too serious, but we’ve just got to make sure that he’s alright. Jake Bean on having three consecutive two-point games It’s nice for it to go in every now and then. It’s just not getting too high or too low. I’ve got to try to continue to get shots on net, make opportunities for everyone else and make guys the around me better. Patrick Brown on the game I thought we played a great team game aside from about seven minutes in the second period. We had three or four lines going even though we were short a couple (players), but everyone was buzzing and [Tokarski] held us in there when we were struggling. Brown on what’s working for the team offensively Mike (Vellucci) has been great and has really honed in on what we were struggling with. Now we’re just crashing the net and trying to get pucks to the net instead of trying to make the nice play. We’re getting pucks to the net and it’s working so we’ll just stick with that.

NOTES

The Checkers extended their point streak to seven games (6-0-1 since March 10), tying their longest of the season … The Checkers’ franchise record point streak at home extended to 10 games (9-0-1 since Feb. 22) … Saarela recorded his fourth two-goal game of the season. He has nine points in his last nine games, eight of which are goals … Jake Bean had a goal and two assists to record his third consecutive two-point game … Playing against his former team, Tokarski improved to 3-0-0 as a Checker with just four total goals allowed … Jurco’s goal gave him nine points in 10 games as a Checker … The Checkers’ run of nine straight games with a power-play goal came to an end as they went 0-for-2, though their sixth goal tonight came just five seconds after an opportunity expired … The Checkers are 12-2-1 against Hartford over the last two seasons … Clark Bishop left the game with an injury following the opening faceoff and did not return … Forward Julien Gauthier missed the game due to illness … Forwards Steven Lorentz and Zack Stortini and defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti were healthy extras.

UP NEXT

The Checkers hit the road for a three-game stretch that will take them to Bridgeport on Wednesday, Hartford on Friday and then back to Bridgeport on Saturday.

TODAY’S LINKS https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/article228349899.html#storylink=cpy

https://theathletic.com/885528/2019/03/25/carolina-hurricanes-fans-have-something-to-believe-in-again-and-for-now-thats-enough/ https://theathletic.com/883535/2019/03/25/20-questions-with-brian-burke-on-hunting-internet-trolls-the-kessel-trade-and-evicting-brass-bonanza/

https://theathletic.com/885818/2019/03/25/dgb-weekend-power-rankings-thinning-the-wildcard-heard-and-the-sabres-make-history/ https://www.wralsportsfan.com/gold-canes-rally-beat-montreal-in-overtime-2-1/18282214/

https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/recap-canes-rally-over-canadiens-in-overtime/c-306104780 https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/projected-lineup-montreal-canadiens-carolina-hurricanes/c-306100080

https://www.nhl.com/news/montreal-canadiens-carolina-hurricanes-game-recap/c-306097116 https://www.nhl.com/news/carolina-hurricanes-go-fishing-in-latest-storm-surge-celebration/c-306109250

https://apnews.com/ac0ca0d0b62f4a5ba7b934c34d3b6cdf https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/breaking-eastern-western-conference-wild-card-contenders/

https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2019/03/25/the-buzzer-hurricanes-fish-for-another-win-celebration/ https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/news/carolina-hurricanes-feel-the-spirit-of-march-madness-with-on-ice-basketball-celebration/

https://sports.yahoo.com/carolina-hurricanes-rebrand-social-media-pages-pride-night-002656703.html https://www.canescountry.com/2019/3/24/18280031/carolina-hurricanes-break-prices-shutout-late-defeat-montreal-canadiens-in-overtime-

svechnikov https://www.canescountry.com/2019/3/24/18279629/carolina-hurricanes-vs-montreal-canadiens-game-preview-schedule-time-how-to-watch-

discussion http://www.technicianonline.com/sports/article_80450012-4ddb-11e9-bd46-fb06e257db0f.html

http://trianglesportsnet.com/carolina-hockey-network/mcelhinney-svechnikov-outlast-price-as-hurricanes-fend-off-canadiens-in-ot/ http://gocheckers.com/game-recaps/checkers-keep-rolling-with-6-2-win-over-wolf-pack

CAROLINA HURRICANES


1137411 Carolina Hurricanes

Canes beat Canadiens in overtime on Svechnikov goal

BY CHIP ALEXANDER

MARCH 24, 2019 09:55 PM

RALEIGH

The Carolina Hurricanes’ season is quickly turning from promising and exciting to special.

There’s no denying it now. The Canes are feeling it. They’re getting closer to what so many have wanted for so many years -- a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs, with all the postseason perks, tailgates and community goodwill that come with it.

They’re not there yet. But games like the one Sunday against the

Montreal Canadiens make so much seem possible.

Trailing 1-0 with less than six minutes left in regulation, with Habs goalie

Carey Price a rock in net, turning away every threat, the Canes found a way to win.

First, defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk tied the score with a shot from the point at 14:21 of the third.

Next, rookie Andrei Svechnikov won it in overtime, ripping a shot from the right circle through Price at 3:15 of the extra period.

With 91 points, the Canes (42-26-7) strengthened their hold on the first

wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They’re three points head of the Canadiens (40-28-8), who are in the second wild-card position with 88 points, and have a game in hand on Montreal.

“A great ending, obviously,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Super

exciting game. Overtime could have gone either way, they had some good chances, but obviously we got the win.”

“You love the confidence he has,” Brind’Amour said. “He feels it and he’s earned the right to be out there.”

With goals in his last two games, Svechnikov has 20 for the season. The No. 2 pick of the 2018 NHL Draft, the Russian has physically and mentally handled all the challenges and grind of playing in the NHL and now is playing his best hockey of the season.

“I’m super-confident right now,” Svechnikov said. “I’m just going out there and playing my game and just enjoying it.”

Svechnikov may enjoy this: he’s the youngest player in franchise history to score an overtime goal at 18 years and 363 days.

Not to overlooked was the hard work of Canes goalie Curtis McElhinney. He allowed a first-period goal to Paul Byron after a turnover in the Canes

zone -- “A lucky bounce,” Brind’Amour called it -- but didn’t give up another in making 28 saves.

Price faced 40 shots, denying Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen on breakaways in the third period as the Habs looked to protect the 1-0 lead.

“He was phenomenal tonight,” McElhinney said. “Obviously he’s one of the best if not the best in the game in the last little while. He was on it tonight. I was just trying to keep pace with him.”

Van Riemsdyk’s goal was his third of the season and his first since Nov.

27 at Montreal. The puck appeared to glance off the leg of Habs defenseman Jordie Benn.

In the overtime, Jordan Staal outfought Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher for the puck in the neutral zone and got it ahead to Svechnikov. With Justin

Faulk making it a two-on-one, Svechnikov kept the puck and fired a heavy shot through Price’s legs for his third game-winning goal of the

season.

The Canes fell behind in the first and had just four shots in the second

period, when they were badly outplayed. They were totally ineffective on three power plays in the game. But they kept pushing, kept competing. And won.

“You could kind of feel it coming our way,” van Riemsdyk said, “and it did.”

News Observer LOADED: 03.25.2019


‘Turbo’ no Canes tough guy but the Finn is tough enough

BY CHIP ALEXANDER

MARCH 24, 2019 10:43 AM

RALEIGH

Teuvo Teravainen agrees with the notion that the more physical he is in

games, the better he plays.

“Sometimes I really get into the game, am strong with the puck and in the battles, and that helps my game for sure,” he said Saturday.

Remember, we’re not talking Micheal Ferland size or tough-guy temperament. Teravainen is listed at 5-11 and 191 pounds and the only time the Carolina Hurricanes winger drops his gloves is between periods or after the game.

But Teravainen played with both skill and a little snarl Saturday against the Minnesota Wild. It was noticeable. So was his line as Teravainen, center Jordan Staal and rookie Andrei Svechnikov combined for three

goals and three assists in a 5-1 win at PNC Arena.

Late in the game, when Svechnikov took a pop from the Wild’s Ryan

Donato near the benches, it was Teravainen who stepped in, having a few words with Donato, defending his teammate.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


The damage had long since been done by then, with Teravainen in the middle of much of it. In the second period, his give-and-go with defenseman Justin Faulk and a deft backhand pass set up Faulk for a shot. Staal and Svechnikov had gone to the front of the net, positioned like twin sentries, the puck going off Staal’s skate and past goalie Devan Dubnyk.

In the third, the Canes won a board battle in the Wild zone that ended with the puck on Teravainen’s stick in the right circle. He again pirouetted through traffic for a quick backhander to Svechnikov, who ripped a shot past Dubnyk for the rookie’s 19th goal -- all at even strength -- this

season.

“Pretty impressive high-end plays,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said.

“He’s also taken his game to another level this year on the defensive side of things.”

With the Canes leading 4-1, Teravainen made a quick break in the

neutral zone to pick off a pass by the Wild’s Greg Pateryn. He swept in on Dubnyk, who first tried to poke the puck away, unsuccessfully, then

gave his paddle a hurl at Teravainen and the puck.

The goal was Teravainen’s 19th of the season and the Finn known as “Turbo” to his teammates now has 51 assists. Make it a three-point game -- Teravainen’s 21st multi-point game of the season, a team best -- and another two points for the Canes (41-26-7), who host the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday.

“I feel like I played pretty good every shift,” Teravainen said. “I feel like I’ve played pretty strong and when I play with the confidence, that’s what usually happens.”

Being used on the penalty kill along with Sebastian Aho, a move

Brind’Amour made in December, has given Teravainen a more aggressive demeanor on the ice. And Brind’Amour’s more recent

decision to move Svechnikov to the Staal line has been a good one.

Teravainen said the game Saturday was their best as a line, and

Svechnikov has benefited from Teravainen’s playmaking ability.

“They’ve been solid every game and I think it’s helped Andrei kind of get

his feet under him, to play with those guys,” Brind’Amour said.

Teravainen, like the rest of the team, feared the worst Thursday when Staal took a hit to the head from Yanni Gourde of the Tampa Bay Lightning and left the game. Staal’s concussion problems have kept him out of a lot of games this season.

Gourde would receive a two-game suspension from the league. Staal has had two goals, returning in the Tampa Bay game to score and then scoring again against the Wild.

“It’s scary, especially since he’s had some issues,” Teravainen said of Staal. “You never want to see a man go down. It’s great to see he’s

good.”

And Brind’Amour said it was good seeing Teravainen step in when

Svechnikov went down from the Donato hit.

“I don’t know that he knew what he was doing,” Brind’Amour said. “But

the guys on this team play for each other. It’s one thing where I don’t necessarily think we want him doing that really, but to me it shows what

the mindset is.”



Whip Wild – Teravainen Tallies 3 Points

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS MARCH 24TH, 2019

RALEIGH, N.C. — Teuvo Teravainen had a goal and two assists and the Carolina Hurricanes kept pace in the playoff race with a 5-1 win over the

Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.

Jordan Staal, Brett Pesce, Andrei Svechnikov and Lucas Wallmark also

scored for Carolina, which picked up its fifth win in seven games to keep its hold on the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot. Petr Mrazek

stopped 24 shots.

The Hurricanes, who own the NHL’s longest playoff drought at nine seasons, have a five-point cushion with eight games to play.

Eric Staal scored and Devyn Dubnyk made 28 saves for the Wild, who dropped out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with the loss and Colorado’s 4-2 win over Chicago. Minnesota played without leading scorer Zach Parise after he took a high stick to the face against Washington on Friday.

The Hurricanes outshot the Wild 34-25 and controlled the tempo from the outset.

The first period was scoreless only because Dubnyk kept it that way, making a string of string of highlight-reel saves_including stopping

Svechnikov on a breakaway_to keep Carolina off the board.

But the Hurricanes finally broke through 3:06 into the second when Justin

Faulk’s shot from the point hit Jordan Staal’s skate in front of the net and redirected through Dubnyk’s legs, and the floodgates opened.

Just over two minutes later, following a Wild turnover at centre ice, Justin Williams fed Pesce at the top of the left faceoff circle and Pesce finished

with a wrister past Dubnyk’s glove into the upper-left corner to make it 2-0.

Eric Staal got Minnesota on the board with a power-play goal midway through the second after Micheal Ferland received a double-minor for high-sticking, but Carolina put it away with three third-period goals.

Svechnikov took a nifty backhand pass from Teravainen in the slot and buried it in the opening minutes of the third to make it a two-goal game again, and Wallmark finished a one-timer from Ferland with 10:51

remaining to all but wrap up the victory.

Teravainen added the final punch when he stole the puck at centre ice

and beat Dubnyk on a breakaway.

NOTES: Teravainen recorded his 50th assist of the season on Jordan

Staal’s goal, and Sebastian Aho recorded his 50th assist on Pesce’s goal. They became the first Hurricanes teammates with 50 assists in the

same season since Rod Brind’Amour and Ray Whitney in 2006-07. … Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek (lower-body injury) missed his sixth straight

game. He is day to day. … Carolina improved to 10-3-1 in its last 14 games. … The Wild have won just three of their past 11 games.

UP NEXT

Wild: Host Nashville on Monday.

Hurricanes: Host Montreal on Sunday.olina Hurricanes


1137497 Washington Capitals

With 35 saves, Braden Holtby leaves the Flyers feeling sick in the Capitals’ 3-1 win

CAROLINA HURRICANES


By Isabelle Khurshudyan March 24 at 4:39 PM

Especially in games such as Sunday afternoon’s, the Washington Capitals are reminded how good they have it. With some players battling

an illness that’s working its way through the dressing room and the team not at its best during a matinee against the Philadelphia Flyers at Capital One Arena, goaltender Braden Holtby single-handedly can make up for all of that.

He made 35 saves in the Capitals’ 3-1 win, which snapped a two-game skid and allowed Washington to stay a point ahead of the New York Islanders atop the Metropolitan Division. After Holtby kept the Capitals

afloat with 19 saves in the second period, his teammates responded with an impressive third, holding Philadelphia to five shots on goal, and

forward Jakub Vrana extended Washington’s lead with a breakaway goal.

“They worked for what they got, but I thought for the most part plays were in my grasp to stop,” Holtby said. “It’s one of those things when you’re in

the [defensive] zone, you’ve got to trust each other, and I thought we did that.”

Vrana’s goal was his 22nd of the season and a testament to the Capitals’ depth: They have twice as many players with at least 20 goals (six) as they finished with a year ago. Of that group, most impressive is forward Tom Wilson, who has eclipsed that mark for the first time despite being suspended for the first 16 games of the season.

Wilson recorded his 22nd goal in 57 games with his deflection of defenseman Nick Jensen’s point shot 3:52 into the game. Wilson is tied with Vrana and right wing T.J. Oshie for the second-most goals on the

team, behind captain Alex Ovechkin’s 48. Wilson scored four goals in four games against the Flyers this season.

This is the first time since 2006-07 that Washington swept the season series against Philadelphia, and with three of those wins coming in

March, the Capitals essentially stunted any postseason hopes the Flyers had. Asked whether the Capitals took some satisfaction in that, Wilson

joked that he didn’t “want to say it on camera.”

“But they would feel the same way if it was reversed,” he added. “It’s always nice this time of year when you’re collecting those points and winning against teams that are playing desperate hockey. They’ve got guys on that side that battle pretty hard, and it’s never fun when you’re in that position. We’ll move forward. Those three games that we played against them the last month, those were big points both ways. We’re happy to have done what we did.”

Washington’s second goal also came on a deflection. After several impressive saves by Holtby, the fourth line moved up the ice, and winger

Travis Boyd went to the front of the net, screening Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott as defenseman Matt Niskanen’s point shot approached.

Boyd tipped it into the net at 10:47 for his fifth goal of the season, extending Washington’s lead to 2-0.

But after the first period was played evenly, Philadelphia had the puck more in the second, largely because the Flyers were awarded three

straight power plays. They eventually capitalized; after a giveaway by Niskanen, Philadelphia’s Jakub Voracek halved Washington’s lead with a

power-play strike from the right faceoff circle at 17:10.

The Capitals had Holtby to thank for still holding the lead at the second intermission.

“You’re going to have nights where maybe you don’t have your ‘A’ game or whatever’s going on,” Boyd said. “If you have a goalie like Holts who can kind of pick up the slack on those nights, it makes things a lot easier for us.”

Sunday was the Capitals’ second straight game without defenseman

Michal Kempny, who is out indefinitely after injuring his left leg in

Wednesday’s overtime loss to the NHL-best Tampa Bay Lightning. Coach Todd Reirden has promised an update on Kempny’s status within the next week, but he’s unlikely to play before the playoffs begin in two weeks. Kempny is averaging more than 19 minutes per game, and Sunday featured some experimentation with how the Capitals will replace him.

Christian Djoos started the game in Kempny’s usual spot, beside top-pairing defenseman John Carlson, but Reirden rotated his blue line as the game went on. While Niskanen and Dmitry Orlov largely stayed together, Reirden tried Brooks Orpik with Carlson, and he also had

Carlson skate on his off, left side with right-handed shot Jensen.

“We’re looking for the right combinations that work for us that can set us

up for future success,” Reirden said. “Just some guys that aren’t 100 percent in terms of sickness-wise, that are low on energy, so you have to

manage those minutes as well. There are a lot of things in play that cause that type of mix-and-match stuff both up front and on our blue

line.”

Fortunately for the Capitals, Holtby seemed to be feeling just fine.

“Kept us in the game until we were able to get some chances and convert on them,” Reirden said. “He was excellent.”

Washington Post LOADED: 03.25.2019


Holtby sharp as Capitals beat Flyers to end losing streak

By Stephen Whyno | AP March 24 at 4:06 PM

WASHINGTON — Even though the Washington Capitals didn’t have peak emotional energy from the drop of the puck, they had Braden Holtby.

They’re used to this by now.

Holtby stopped 35 of the 36 shots he faced to compensate for the slow start by his teammates, and the defending Stanley Cup champions beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 on Sunday afternoon to snap a two-game

skid. The 2016 Vezina Trophy winner was in late-season form to help the Capitals kill off three of four Philadelphia power plays and avoid what

would have been their first three-game losing streak since January.

“That’s a story line that we’re privileged to have sometimes is that when

we’re not at our best, we’ve got one of the best if not the best in the league back there making up for some of our mistakes,” said winger Tom

Wilson, who scored his 22nd goal of the season. “That’s what a goalie’s for. He’s the last line of defense. We’re lucky to have him.”

Travis Boyd and Jakub Vrana also scored for the Capitals, who guaranteed themselves remaining in first place in the Metropolitan Division on Monday when they’re scheduled to visit President Donald Trump at the White House. Holtby is one of two players who have said they will not attend.

Washington lacked some intensity the past two games after a showdown with the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. The Flyers took the play to them at times despite being on the second half of a back-to-back and having their playoff chances reduced to almost none in recent days.

Jakub Voracek scored a power-play goal and Brian Elliott made 27 saves for Philadelphia, which made a run from near the bottom of the league

before running out of gas.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


“We battled hard to get back in the standings and give ourselves a chance to make the playoffs,” Flyers captain Claude Giroux said. “It’s going to be real tough to get in. Two weeks ago, I think we had confidence in our group. We liked the way we were playing, and last two weeks it hasn’t gone our way.”

Washington is trying to avoid an ill-timed slump after losing top-four defenseman Michal Kempny for an indefinite period of time with a lower-body injury. With Kempny out, Capitals coach Todd Reirden mixed up his defensive pairings against the Flyers, moving All-Star John Carlson to his off side to play with fellow righty Nick Jensen.

“I think everyone knows how skilled he is and his capabilities out there, so it’s not surprising that he can play his off side,” Jensen said of

Carlson. “It doesn’t matter who I’m out there with. I think all the D are really great and easy to play with.”

NOTES: The Capitals swept the season series against the Flyers for just the second time in franchise history. ... The start of the game was

delayed several minutes as officials sorted out a lineup discrepancy. Philadelphia initially had Justin Bailey listed as a scratch, but he was in

the lineup in place of Phil Varone. ... Capitals C Evgeny Kuznetsov played after missing Saturday’s practice with an illness and LW Carl Hagelin returned after missing Friday’s game against Minnesota with an illness. ... The sickness going around the team coupled with Kempny’s injury led the Capitals to call up D Tyler Lewington as an extra body. ... Captain Alex Ovechkin remained stuck on 48 goals as he looks for his eighth career 50-goal season.

Washington Post LOADED: 03.25.2019


Holtby, Capitals stave off Flyers to complete season sweep

By Adam Zielonka - The Washington Times - Sunday, March 24, 2019

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are approaching, and Braden Holtby knows it.

After a loss Friday marked by low energy from the whole team, the

Capitals showed up Sunday to end a two-game skid. For the number of shots they faced, it wouldn’t have been possible without their goaltender.

Holtby made 35 saves as the Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 at home, completing a four-game season sweep of their divisional opponent

for the second time ever.

“(Holtby is) a huge, huge reason why we won the game tonight,” Travis

Boyd said. “Some nights you’re gonna have the nights where maybe you don’t have your A-game or whatever’s going on. If you have a goalie like

Holts who can kind of pick up the slack on those nights, it makes things a lot easier for us.”

Holtby said facing the volume of shots he did (36, against Washington’s 30) can help with finding a rhythm in net.

“They came hard,” he said of the Flyers. “Their season kind of was on the line. I thought we did a good job, especially off the rush. We didn’t give them too much 5-on-5. They worked for what they got, but I thought for the most part, plays were in my grasp to stop.

Tom Wilson, Boyd and Jakub Vrana scored for Washington, and Alex Ovechkin was one of five Capitals to record an assist.

The Capitals head into the final two weeks of the regular season hanging onto the Metropolitan Division lead at 44-24-8 (96 points). They will finish

this homestand Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes before taking the final road trip of the season to Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida.

“We’re getting every team’s best game. We know that,” coach Todd Reirden said. “That’s the challenge of the regular season. Then the other things that come along your way, I feel those only help you grow as a group.”

Wilson put the Capitals on the board four minutes in by redirecting a shot from Nick Jensen. The puck hopped in front of the crease at an angle typically seen in basketball bounce passes, and Flyers goalie Brian Elliott couldn’t grab it.

Boyd broke a 25-game goalless streak during the middle period, seconds after he missed a shot from up close. Andre Burakovsky dug the puck out

and around to Matt Niskanen at the blue line, and Boyd hopped a few inches to tip Niskanen’s shot down and under Elliott’s armpit.

“I had a split second there where I was a little frustrated with myself for missing the net completely on the first chance, but it’s a funny game,”

Boyd said. “Sometimes you can be all alone with the goalie and miss the net. Two seconds later, you got an opportunity to tip one and somehow

that one goes in. Regardless, it felt good for me.”

With Michal Kempny out of the lineup indefinitely, due to a lower-body

injury he suffered Wednesday against the Lightning, the Capitals’ defensive pairings have become more fluid. Reirden mixed up the pairs throughout the second period, at one point moving Jensen up with Dmitry Orlov, then with John Carlson. Niskanen skated with Christian Djoos for a spell, another uncommon tandem.

For nearly 40 minutes, the different defensive looks helped keep the Flyers scoreless, although Holtby’s performance had more to do with that. Finally, Philadelphia struck with a power-play goal by Jakub Voracek, and it was 2-1 after the second.

Vrana’s goal came midway through the third on a Flyers neutral zone

turnover. Brett Connolly popped a loose puck ahead to Vrana, uncovered, and he netted his 22nd goal of the season.

Forwards Carl Hagelin and Evgeny Kuznetsov were game-time decisions with illnesses, but both played. In fact, Reirden hinted after the game that

other players were not feeling 100 percent as he discussed the defensive changes.

“We’re looking for the right combinations that work for us that can set us up for future success. Just some guys that aren’t 100 percent, in terms of let’s say sickness-wise that are low on energy. So you have to manage those minutes as well,” he said.

Up next, before playing another game, the Capitals will visit the White House on Monday in honor of winning the Stanley Cup.

Washington Times LOADED: 03.25.2019


Capitals turn experimental as Stanley Cup playoffs approach

By Brian McNally March 24, 2019 5:01 PM

WASHINGTON – The Capitals are sick and they are tired and they are injured and they are experimenting.

That’s the takeaway with six games left to go in the regular season after a 3-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday at Capital One Arena. Todd Reirden mixed his defensive pairs routinely and did the

same in the third period with his forward lines, which led to a goal for Jakub Vrana.

Washington extended its lead in the Metropolitan Division to three points over the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins. But they have

CAROLINA HURRICANES


been forced to look at different options thanks to an injury to defenseman Michal Kempny and illness spreading through the forward ranks at a bad time.

And so that’s how John Carlson started the game on the right side of the top pairing as usual, but was soon on the left side of the ice, with Nick Jensen moving up to replace Christian Djoos. At various times, Brooks Orpik played with Jensen and Djoos on the third pair. Kempny is out indefinitely, so Reirden doesn’t have much time to configure his ideal pairings. And trying to win a division title while doing so is problematic.

“I feel perfectly comfortable playing with any of our D,” said Jensen, who

was acquired just before the NHL trade deadline in late February. “I think they're all capable of playing great defense, and I think they're all really

great D and we tend to all be on the same page a lot of the time. When we're switching up D-pairings there, it might be a little bit of an

adjustment period, but we'll get used to it as it goes down the line as we keep playing with each other.”

They’d rather have Kempny, of course. Washington had turned the tide on shot attempts during the 10 games after Jensen was acquired and the

lineup was stable. It was a good sign heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs. Unfortunately, Kempny is out indefinitely and no one is sure if or when he will return.

“We're looking for the right combinations that work for us that can set us up for future success,” Reirden said. “Just some guys that aren't 100-percent in terms of lets say sickness wise that are low on energy so you have to manage those minutes as well. So there's a lot of things in play that cause for that type of mix and match stuff both with up front and on our blue line.”

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 03.25.2019


Capitals' significant others show off puppies, announce Homeward Trails

donations

By Sammi Silber March 24, 2019 3:29 PM

If you didn't think you could love the Caps more, think again.

With an assist from some puppies, Caps' significant others Katrina Connolly, Paige Dowd, Tasha Maltman and Taylor Pischke announced a

$177,000 donation to Homeward Trails Animal Rescue on the jumbotron during Sunday's 3-1 win over the Flyers.

All of the proceeds came from the Caps' 2019 canine calendars and were donated on behalf of the Monumental Sports & Entertainment

Foundation. Since 2014, the foundation has donated over $400,000 to Homeward Trails through the Capitals' annual canine calendars.

The puppies featured on the jumbotron are all available for adoption.



Capitals earn an ugly, but critical two points in slugfest with Philadelphia

By J.J. Regan March 24, 2019 1:58 PM

WASHINGTON – It wasn't pretty, but it still counts. The Capitals were largely outplayed Sunday by the Philadelphia Flyers but Braden Holtby led the Caps to the 3-1 win and a critical two points.

Washington's lead atop the Metropolitan Division had been trimmed down to one point after Saturday's action. Had the Caps lost in regulation, they could have finished the day dropping to second place if the New York Islanders win their game later in the day. The victory, however, ensures Washington will keep its spot atop the division in the ever-tightening playoff race.

Here are four reasons the Caps won.

A Wilson hit

Tom Wilson has a bad rap around the league, but his physical play can

certainly be an asset to the Caps and that was on display in Washington’s first goal.

Early in the game, the Caps held the puck in the offensive zone. Claude Giroux swept the puck off the stick of Alex Ovechkin and that looked like

it would be the end of that offensive opportunity for Washington. As Giroux went to recover the puck behind the goal line, however, he felt the

pressure of Wilson who knocked him into the boards and turned the puck over right back. Suddenly the Flyers were on their heels.

Wilson fittingly got to finish off the play he started as he got to the front of the net deflected in a shot from Nick Jensen past goalie Brian Elliott.

Travis Boyd’s timely deflection

Philadelphia began to take control of the game in the second period. The Flyers outshot the Caps 20-7 in the middle frame. Besides two 2-on-1 opportunities, neither of which they converted on, there was little offense to speak of for Washington. As the Flyers began to assert themselves, however, Travis Boyd provided a critical tally.

Sean Couturier turned the puck over on a breakout and the Flyers were caught completely out of position. Boyd had a great scoring opportunity

but missed the net. Matt Niskanen cut the puck off at the blue line and threw it back on net. Boyd smartly went to the front of the net after the

shot and was there to deflect it in to give Washington a 2-0 lead.

Not only did that goal prove to be the game-winner, but it also kept the

Caps ahead when Jakub Voracek finally struck on the power play later in the period.

Braden Holtby

When the Caps were on their heels, Holtby was there to shut the door and keep them ahead. The Caps’ netminder was tested 36 times with 20 of those shots on goal coming in the second period alone.

It was not as if the Flyers weren’t pressuring Holtby either. Philadelphia was in his face all game long trying to knock him off his game with physical play. More than once you could see Holtby give a little hack with his goalie stick to a Flyers player after taking perhaps one too many

liberties with the netminder.

Holtby was brilliant in a game in which Washington was largely

outplayed. The Caps do not get this critical win without his effort in net.

Vrana’s breakaway

The Caps held a precarious 2-1 lead heading into the third period. Philadelphia was outplaying them badly and carried that momentum into the final 20 minutes. Brooks Orpik’s roughing penalty was the fourth straight power play for the Flyers and it felt like only a matter of time before Philadelphia would finally get the game-tying tally. Washington managed to kill off the penalty, however, and soon after extended their lead to 3-1 as Jakub Vrana snapped the puck through Elliott’s five-hole.

Brett Connolly tried to hit the puck off the wall and out of the defensive zone, but the puck was stopped at the blue line by defenseman Philippe Myers. Myers attempted to sweep the puck deep, but failed and Connolly

CAROLINA HURRICANES


cut it off and tapped it up to the streaking Vrana who was in behind the defense.

You have to give credit to Philadelphia for not collapsing after Boyd’s goal. After dominating play, going down 2-0 must have been a deflating feeling, but they battled back. Vrana’s goal to restore the two-goal lead, however, was the knockout punch. The Flyers could not battle back after that one.



Don Cherry calls Evgeny Kuznetsov a "jerk" for his bird celebration

By NBC Sports Washington Staff March 24, 2019 10:15 AM

Don Cherry has been part of the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast since 1986 with his segment "Coach's Corner." Typically, he discusses the tough and physical aspects of the game.

But during Saturday's broadcast, Cherry called out Caps center Evgeny

Kuznetsov for his bird-walk celebration.

"Watch the jerk here now after he scores the goal," Cherry said. "He

misses here, he's deep in the end, watch Hedman get the goal. Remember kids, Hockey Night in Canada, karma hockey, it always

comes back, he's not even in the thing, he is a jerk and he inspires the other team. Remember kids, never inspire the other team."

This isn't the first time Cherry has called out Kuznetsov for his celebration. When Kuznetsov scored to tie the Feb. 12th game against

the Columbus Blue Jackets, he celebrated with the birdman celly in front of the Blue Jackets' bench. Columbus gave it right back to Kuzy when they scored the overtime winner.

"He gives ’em that in front of their bench. Watch what Columbus does when they scored. The Birdman," Cherry said. "Watch this in Columbus. You do not make fun of a team when you score. You play the game."

In the Stanley Cup Final, Cherry praised Brayden McNabb for hitting Kuznetsov and potentially injuring him. "You wanna be a wise guy,

remember kids, you wanna jump around, this is what happens to ya," Cherry said. "I used to give them the extra little shot there all the time."

Kuznetsov explained that he does the bird walk celebration because his daughter, Ecenia, is a fan of it. It's inspired by the celebration in the video

game FIFA '18.

And the Capitals are making good use of the celebration, giving away

Kuzy bird walk bobbleheads during their game against the Carolina Hurricanes on March 26.

Not only that, Breaking T made a shirt to commemorate the celebration and insult.

That game could be a battle of the jerks, as Don Cherry called the Carolina Hurricanes a "bunch of jerks" for their Storm Surge celebrations.


1137469 Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers’ Jake Voracek on key late-season losses: ‘We choked’

by Sam Carchidi,

WASHINGTON — After Sunday’s 3-1 loss in Washington, Flyers right winger Jake Voracek used the c-word — choked — when describing

some of the team’s critical losses in recent weeks.

The Flyers put together an 18-4-2 run to get within three points of a

playoff spot before fading and losing five of their last seven games and falling out of the race.

Even during their hot streak, they lost crucial games to Montreal and Columbus, teams they are chasing for a playoff berth. In fact, they lost twice to Montreal in critical late-season matchups.

“We had a good push, but unfortunately, anytime we got close — three points, five points — and we played those big teams in front of us [in] those four-point games, we choked,” Voracek said. “We couldn’t find a way to win those big games, and that’s why we are where we are right now.”

The Flyers were seven points behind Montreal for the last wild-card spot entering Sunday night. The Canadiens are playing at Carolina.

Voracek, who reached the 20-goal mark Sunday for the sixth time in the last seven seasons, was asked what he would take out of this season.

“I don’t want to take anything out of this season, to be honest," said the veteran, who is finishing his eighth season with the Flyers. “I had way

higher expectations. I think everybody did before we walked into the locker room in training camp. It’s really disappointing. We have to have a

good look in the mirror and straighten some things out before we come in next year.”

The Flyers got off to a 15-22-6 start before turning around their season, but the damage had been done.

“We put ourselves in that situation. We couldn’t dig ourselves out," Voracek said after firing a team-high six shots Sunday. “There’s no one else to blame but us.”

Do the Flyers need a lot of offseason changes?

“Tough to say. It’s not my decision,” Voracek said. “I’ve got to prepare myself in the summer and come in here in shape and be a better player,

more experienced. Hopefully, we won’t have to focus on digging ourselves out of a hole by December.”

Breakaways

The Flyers were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and are 46-for-51 (90.2

percent) in their last 21 games since Feb. 11. ... Claude Giroux has no goals, but has eight assists in his last nine games. ... Early in the game,

the Flyers switched two of their defensive pairings, as Robert Hagg was with Phil Myers, and Shayne Gostisbehere was with Radko Gudas.

Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 03.25.2019


Flyers fall to Capitals, get swept in season series for second time in history

by Sam Carchidi,

WASHINGTON – For the Flyers, their season is ending the way it started — with too many losses.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


The Flyers played much better than they did the previous day, but their late-season fade continued Sunday afternoon as they dropped a 3-1 decision to Washington at Capital One Arena.

After having one of the NHL’s best records for a stretch of more than two months, the Flyers have lost five of their last seven games to fall out of the Eastern Conference wild-card race. That’s more regulation losses than they had in their previous 24 games, when they went 18-4-2 to climb into the playoff hunt.

Braden Holtby made 35 saves to key the victory for the outplayed Capitals.

“That’s a story line we’re privileged to have sometimes — when we’re not at our best, we’ve got one of the best, if not the best in the league, back

there making up for some of our mistakes,” said Washington right winger Tom Wilson, who gave the Capitals the lead for good with an early goal.

The Flyers’ tragic number for playoff elimination fell to five points — a combination of points Philadelphia fails to gain, and points Montreal does

gain — with six games left. The Flyers are eight points behind the Canadiens, who lost, 2-1, in overtime at Carolina on Sunday night.

The Flyers finished 0-4 against the defending Stanley Cup champion Capitals, the second time they were swept in the series since Washington joined the league in 1974-75. The Caps also won all four games in the 2006-07 series.

In this year’s series, the Caps never trailed at any point in the four games.

The Flyers showed a lot more energy — and had many more quality chances — than in their listless 4-2 home loss Saturday to the Islanders. They outshot the Capitals, 36-30, and had a 74-47 advantage in shot attempts.

“We did a lot of good things. Our D were activating on the rush and I thought we got chances that way,” center Scott Laughton said. “We

played a lot better than we have in this stretch we’ve gone through. If you’re going to take a positive, maybe [take] that. ... But we still lost two

in a row on the weekend. You can’t lose two in a row, especially with the position we’re in.”

“It seems like the harder we try, the deeper we get,” captain Claude Giroux said after he was minus-2 on the afternoon. “I thought we played a pretty solid game. They had two point shots they tipped and found a way to get in.”

Early in the third period, Holtby made two key power-play saves on Jake Voracek (six shots) to keep the Capitals ahead, 2-1. He then made a nice stop on a ticketed drive by Oskar Lindblom after the power play had expired.

With 11:53 left, defenseman Phil Myers couldn’t keep the puck in the offensive zone and Brett Connolly fed Jakub Vrana, who scored on a

breakaway to put the Caps ahead, 3-1.

The Flyers dominated the second period and, while on a power play,

finally solved Holtby as Voracek scored from a bad-angle shot from deep in the right circle near the sideboards. It was Voracek’s 20th goal and it

sliced the Caps’ lead to 2-1 with 2:50 left in the second period.

The Flyers, who had a 20-7 shots advantage in the second period, had

peppered Holtby with seven straight shots before the Caps took advantage of a Sean Couturier turnover and took a 2-0 lead midway

through the stanza. Fourth-line center Travis Boyd scored on a deflection of Matt Niskanen’s shot for his first goal in 25 games.

Brian Elliott (27 saves) had denied Andre Burakovsky and Connolly on separate two-on-ones earlier in the second period.

Wilson had given the Metropolitan-leading Caps a 1-0 lead when he deflected Nick Jensen’s drive past Elliott with 16:08 left in the first. It was Wilson’s fourth goal in four games against the Flyers this season.

“The last two months were like the playoffs for us," Giroux said. “We believed we could make the playoffs. We put ourselves in a position to make the playoffs. The last few weeks, it hasn’t gone our way."

Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 03.25.2019


Claude Giroux’s season assessment already sounds like postmortem

By Wayne Fish / www.flyingfishhockey.com

WASHINGTON — The playoff dream might not be officially over but one look at Claude Giroux’s facial expressions the past two post-games indicates it is.

The Flyers captain got choked up after Saturday’s bitter loss to the New York Islanders at the Wells Fargo Center and his disposition wasn’t much better after Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the Capitals.

If the Flyers don’t make the postseason, it will make it seven years since the Flyers were able to put back-to-back playoff seasons together,

something that has to be eating at the 31-year-old forward.

The question that loomed large in the Flyers’ locker room was: Did that

18-4-2 push simply drain the Flyers too much down the stretch?

Jake Voracek answered that by saying the Flyers didn’t play “big″ enough

in the big games. He even used the “choke″ word.

Giroux’s language wasn’t that strong but clearly he’s frustrated by his team’s inability to get the job done in clutch situations.

Two fairly recent losses to Montreal, one of the teams they had been chasing for a wild card spot, proved particularly vexing.

“Right now, it just feels that the harder we try, the deeper we get,″ Giroux said. “I thought we played a pretty solid game tonight. They had two point shots that were both tipped and find a way to get in.″

At times, the Flyers just look like a team that’s emotionally spent. With

the exception of wins at Pittsburgh and Chicago, they’ve been chasing games from the outset, which is not a formula for success.

“The last two months (during the good run), we knew those were playoff games for us,″ Giroux said. “We battled hard to get back in the standings, give ourselves a chance to make the playoffs. Right now it’s just not going our way.

“It’s not a secret (that) it’s real tough to get in. But not two weeks ago, we had real confidence in our group. We liked the way we were playing. The last two weeks haven’t gone our way.″

So where do the Flyers go from here?

“We can’t lose two in a row, especially in the position we’re in,″ Scott Laughton said.

Voracek has been through this before. It can be frustrating.

“I don’t want to take anything out of this season,″ he said. “I had high

expectations. I think everyone did before we walked into the locker room (back in training camp in September). It’s disappointing. We have to have

a good look in the mirror and straighten some things out here before we come in next year.

“We had a good record (in January and February), it just wasn’t good enough. We put ourselves in that situation, we couldn’t dig ourselves out

of it. There’s no one to blame but us.″

Burlington County Times LOADED: 03.25.2019

CAROLINA HURRICANES



Flyers’ playoff hopes all but over after loss to Caps

By Wayne Fish / www.flyingfishhockey.com

WASHINGTON — Get ready to turn out the lights. The party’s just about over.

After losing to the Capitals on Sunday, the Flyers found themselves still at least seven points out of a playoff spot with only six games to play.

And pending Sunday night’s Montreal at Carolina game, the Flyers could be nine points out, meaning their “tragic″ number could be down to four.

Mathematically, the Flyers might be out of it as early as Wednesday.

By dropping a 3-1 decision at Capital One Arena, the Flyers were swept by the Capitals for only the second time since Washington began NHL play back in 1974-75. The only other time was in 2006-07, the worst season in Flyers’ history.

Truth be told, the Flyers gave it a game effort against the Caps, putting

36 shots on Brayden Holtby and launching a total of 74 if you count missed and blocked shots.

The Flyers have dropped five of their last seven games after a stretch of 18-4-2 going back to Jan. 12.

Having given so much for two months, it was almost inevitable that the Flyers would run out of gas down the stretch, playing teams like the Capitals and the Islanders three times each.

Jake Voracek, facing the reality of the situation, said the Flyers didn’t come up big in the big games and ultimately that led to their downfall.

“We had a good push,″ he acknowledged after the game, “but every time we got close — three points, five points — and played those big teams in front of us (such as Montreal) ... those four-point games, we choked.″

Strong words.

“We couldn’t find a way to win those big games. That’s why we are where we are right now.″

Scott Laughton says the Flyers put enough energy into this effort but Holtby and a tight Washington defense did the job. The Caps aren’t defending Stanley Cup champions for nothing.

“We did a lot of good things,″ Laughton said. “Our defense activated the rush and we got a lot of chances that way, a lot better than in that stretch (2-5) we’ve been going through.

“We were closing on them better (than Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Islanders).″

A power-play goal by Voracek with 2:50 left in the second period pulled the Flyers to within 2-1.

Voracek took advantage of a loose puck in the right circle and rifled a shot past Holtby.

The goal was Voracek’s 20th of the season, giving the Flyers five 20-goal scorers.

Washington jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Dmitrij Jaskin tipped Matt Niskanen’s shot past goaltender Brian Elliott at 3:52.

That made it a quick uphill battle for the Flyers, who are just 15-27-3 when an opponent scores first.

During the middle of the second period, the Flyers dominated play for a good five minutes, with Holtby getting peppered with shots left and right. But when that stretch ended, the Flyers gave up a second goal. This time another Niskanen shot was tipped past Elliott by Travis Boyd at 10:47.

Washington moved to a 3-1 lead at 8:07 of the third period on a Phil Myers bad-luck turnover, leading to a breakaway goal from Jakub Vrana. On the play, it looked like Myers was trying to cover for Robert Hagg, who had pinched in low.

“I tried to keep the puck in there,″ Myers said. “It hopped over my stick.″

Coach Scott Gordon liked the way his team responded and corrected

some things after the difficult loss to the Islanders.

“We were slow (vs. Islanders) closing in the defensive zone,″ Gordon

said. “The opportunities to squash plays before they developed, we didn’t do a very good job of it against the Islanders. That was the difference

today.″

Elliott kept the Flyers in it but had no chance on the Boyd and Vrana

goals.

“I thought the guys did a really good job,″ he said. “Especially coming back from yesterday, bringing the effort that did this afternoon. We generated a lot of chances, just a couple mistakes led to some odd-man rushes. That’s where they got their chances.″

Short shots

There was some confusion at the start of the game when the Flyers submitted a lineup card with Phil Varone’s name on it. The only problem was, Justin Bailey was supposed to be on it. It took a few minutes to straighten things out but no penalty was called. ... The Flyers are off from practice Monday. They don’t play again until Wednesday when they host Toronto.

Burlington County Times LOADED: 03.25.2019


Parent: Voracek, Giroux and Flyers have that familiar empty feeling again

By Rob Parent [email protected] @ReluctantSE on

Twitter 3 hrs ago Comments

WASHINGTON D.C. — Long educated in the art of early-spring fizzles, the Flyers surprisingly did more than merely go through the motions

Sunday afternoon at Capital One Arena, realizing that another playoff miss doesn't necessitate a matching loss of dignity.

So with another season's expiration only a matter of mathematics, the Flyers did their best to act mentally fueled against D.C.'s defending

Stanley Cup champions, but really couldn't carry themselves past the fact that — as they had shown time and again recently — they're really gassed physically.

Still play-acting the part of playoff-position pursuers, the Flyers played about as well as their late-March legs would allow them in a 3-1 defeat to the Capitals, chalking up their fifth loss in seven games while still officially refusing to bow to reality.

Unofficially, the white flag had been recognized and raised the day before anyway.

"It just feels like the harder we try, the deeper we get," Claude Giroux

said. "I thought we played a pretty solid game ... they had two point shots that were both tipped and found a way to get in."

CAROLINA HURRICANES


It really was that close, with a turnover by rookie defenseman Phil Myers leading to a clinching breakaway goal by Washington's Jakub Vrana late in the third period to further dim the season lights.

By nightfall Sunday, Montreal would be playing in Carolina, and with a win by the Habs the Flyers could be nine points out of a playoff spot with just six games to play.

All the new math in the world isn't going to change the summary of that equation. So Jake Voracek thought it was about time for a summary of his own.

"We knew we had to keep pushing to have a chance," said Voracek, who

along with Giroux will be heading for their fourth non-playoff finish as Flyers. "You're going to lose some games ... we had a good push. But

unfortunately, every time we got close, when we got to (within) three points or five points, we played those big teams in front of us. In those

four-point games, we choked. That's why we are where we are right now."

Win, lose or withdraw, all that mattered for the Flyers on this day was putting forth an improved effort over Saturday's downer of a 4-2 home

loss to the Islanders. At least that was achieved, putting up a fight worthy of a team that knows it's not good enough but usually only admits it after the playoff window closes.

That's happened to the Flyers four times in the last seven seasons.

Despite their 18-4-2 comeback charge of February and early March, essentially going from 16 points out to within three points of those Eastern Conference playoff chairs, the tired Flyers are once more going out like lambs being led to slaughter.

"I think we started to play a little better; it just wasn't enough," Voracek said. "We put ourselves in that situation. We couldn't dig ourselves out of

it. There's no one to blame but us."

"It's not a secret, right? It's going to be real tough to get in," Giroux

added. "Two weeks ago I think we had confidence in our group. We liked the way we were playing. But the last two weeks hasn't gone our way."

Word was passed through the team's professional cheerleaders that a flu had devastated the locker room of late, the logical conclusion that these

Flyers should be commended for hanging in there ... even if they really weren't.

That hot take has gone cold fast.

Regardless of the temperature(s) in the room, another late-season bow-out is, as they say, what it is.

"It's tough to make excuses," James van Riemsdyk said. "This time of year you have to find a way to win games. The schedule is what it is. Ultimately, we're just trying to put our best foot forward every day. No one is quitting in here."

Maybe not, but their countdowns are now trained on calendars rather

than hockey standings.

With a new general manager in Chuck Fletcher who keeps his feelings —

and all his words — close to the vest, and an interim head coach in Scott Gordon who likely has no idea where or if he'll be working by June, the

issues for the Flyers now go from spring dreams to those familiar summer realities.

"I don't want to take anything out of this season, to be honest," Voracek said. "We had higher expectations. I think everybody did, before we

walked into the locker room at training camp. It's real disappointing. It sucks. ... We have to have a good look in the mirror, straighten some things out here before we come (back) next year."

Then they get to do it all over again.

Delaware County Times LOADED: 03.25.2019


Why this year's Flyers team has been an analytics nightmare

By John Boruk March 24, 2019 9:30 PM

WASHINGTON — At least the Flyers spared us from the throwaway

cliché of “If we play like this, we’ll win a lot of games this season” following their 3-1 loss to the Capitals on Sunday afternoon (see

observations).

It’a an all-too overused line that is thrown out there when a team dominates in possession time and by outshooting their opponent by a significant margin, only to be on the short end of the final score — much like the Flyers were in Washington.

It’s hardly believable on a number of levels.

First, only the elite teams in the league dominate possession consistently over the course of an 82-game season enough to actually believe that, and secondly, the Flyers have proven when they do play like that, they simply don’t win.

The Flyers have been an analytics nightmare this season when it comes to the metrics of shot totals.

The “Corsi For Percentage” at even strength metric is an easy computation of the team that attempts more shots (shots on goal,

blocked shots and missed shots) than its opponent. Over the course of an 82-game season, the conventional wisdom is that the better Corsi

teams will win a higher percentage of games.

Quite simply, more volume equates to more victories.

For the most part, this season has played out like the proponents of advanced metrics would have hoped for. The top ten teams in the CF% metric are currently occupying a playoff spot, while eight of the bottom 10 teams are currently outside the playoff picture.

Except in the case of the 2018-19 Flyers, who are a completely flawed team in the analytics department.

Sunday’s game was yet another example of the Flyers dominating possession and shot totals only to lose, and the most puzzling part is that

this has been the case all season long.

When outshooting their opponents, the Flyers are a dismal 10-20-2, but

when they’ve been outshot, they’re a head scratching 23-12-6. You’d expect those records to be flipped.

Under interim head coach Scott Gordon, those lopsided shot totals are even more tilted. The Flyers' CF% is 43.7 percent in the team’s wins

under Gordon and nearly even at 50.5 percent in their losses.

By comparison, the Ottawa Senators, as you might expect, own the worst

Corsi For Percentage in the NHL at 45.1 percent, as they’ve played the majority of their games in the defensive zone this season.

But how does one explain the Flyers?

During their eight-game winning streak in January, the team's CF% was a miserable 41.4 percent when rookie Carter Hart was bailing them out on a nightly basis. Throughout their eight-game winless stretch in December and January, it was a very respectable 52.3 percent.

Numbers don’t always tell the whole story.

With the Flyers this season, they seem to be telling us a lie.

They needed to win the majority of games in which they outplayed the opposition, and to win a handful of games when they didn’t.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Jakub Voracek may have summarized it best Sunday: “I don’t want to take anything out of this season, to be honest. I had way higher expectations. I think everybody did. It’s really disappointing. It sucks.”



Capitals 3, Flyers 1: Swept by defending champs as 2018-19 run nearing end

By John Boruk March 24, 2019 3:03 PM

WASHINGTON — The Capitals completed a four-game season sweep of the Flyers for the first time since the 2006-07 season following a 3-1 win Sunday at Capital One Arena.

Back-to-back losses to the Islanders and Capitals will almost ensure the Flyers won’t qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The highest point total the Flyers can finish with is 92, if they can run the table over their final six games.

Here are my observations from Capital One Arena:

• The Flyers entered this game having surrendered an average of 42

shots per game over their last five games — the most they’ve allowed in any five-game stretch this season. Against the Capitals, though, they

were clearly the better team, controlling play as they dominated in shot attempts by an overwhelming 44-10 margin in the second period alone,

but couldn’t generate the game-tying goal. You have to wonder where that energy level was Saturday against the Islanders.

• The Flyers need a Tom Wilson-type player for next season. Wayne Simmonds was that kind of player in his prime, but no longer. The closest they had was Scott Hartnell, who played a similar style.

Wilson was a first-round pick because of his skill level combined with the edge he brings to the ice. The Caps simply don’t win the Stanley Cup without his feisty and chippy play, which was a difference maker in the Cup Final. With his 1-0 goal in this game, Wilson now has a career-high 22 goals this season, four of those against the Flyers.

• Sean Couturier will be my vote for the Bobby Clarke award as the Flyers' MVP this season with his all-around, two-way play, and a second

straight 30-goal season.

However, I don’t think Couturier has had a Selke-worthy season like he

showed in 2017-18 when he finished second to Anze Kopitar. Couturier was nearly flawless last season in his defensive positioning and his puck

management in his end of the ice, but not quite as good this season. He had one of those miscues that led to the Caps' second goal of the game.

• The defensive pairing of Robert Hagg and Radko Gudas had apparently run its course. After the Hagg-Gudas pair looked awful in the game against the Islanders, it wasn't much better in the opening 10 minutes of this game.

The Flyers played much better defensively once interim head coach Scott Gordon paired Hagg with Philippe Myers and Gudas with Shayne Gostisbehere. However, the Flyers were exploited with the fourth line on the ice and Hagg pinching deep with no recognition from the forwards, which led to Jakub Vrana’s breakaway goal.

V's feeling 22 (goals)! #ALLCAPS #CapsFlyers

pic.twitter.com/0srMGbjnsz

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 24, 2019

• Jakub Voracek scored a power-play goal, giving him 20 goals for the season and the sixth time in his last seven seasons in Philadelphia. While Voracek will never be considered a pure goal scorer, this puts him near exclusive company. Only 20 current players have six 20-goal seasons over the last seven seasons.

• Did you catch the delay before the opening faceoff? Phil Varone’s name was on the lineup card submitted to the official scorer, but Varone was a healthy scratch in favor of Justin Bailey. Had the change not been made prior to the faceoff, Bailey would have been ruled ineligible, according to rule 5.2 in the NHL rulebook, and the Flyers would have been forced to

play with 11 forwards (which they’ve done a handful of times over the past month).



Flyers at Capitals: Live stream, storylines, game time and more

By John Boruk March 24, 2019 9:50 AM

Can the Flyers avoid their first sweep to the Capitals since the 2006-07

season?

The Philadelphia Flyers (36-31-8, 80 points) will face the Washington

Capitals (43-24-8, 94 points) for the fourth and final time this season.

The Flyers enter Sunday seven points out of the wild card chase behind

the Montreal Canadiens with seven games remaining in the regular season for both teams.

Other games vital to the Flyers’ playoff chances:

• Montreal at Carolina, 7 p.m.

• Columbus at Vancouver, 10 p.m.

Let's take a look at today's essentials:

• When: 12:30 p.m. EST

• Where: Capital One Center

• Broadcast: NBC

• Live stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the NBC Sports MyTeams app

• After Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Islanders, head coach Scott Gordon now has the same number of regulation losses (15) and overtime losses (4) as Dave Hakstol had this season. However, Gordon has amassed twice as many wins (24 to Hakstol’s 12).

Gordon mentioned that an element of fatigue has set in with a bug spreading its way throughout the locker room, coupled with the Flyers’ high level of play since mid-January.

“I think that we just need to dig down and we all have more, we all have

better, and including myself. I think we just all need to dig down deeper.” - Flyers goaltender Carter Hart.

• Over their past five games the Flyers have allowed an average of 42 shots per game. It’s their most allowed over a five-game stretch this

season.

• Claude Giroux comes into Sunday’s game with a five-game point streak

after adding an assist in a 4-2 loss to the Islanders Saturday.

With that point, Giroux topped 60 assists for the third time and hit the 80-

point mark for the fourth time in his 12-year career.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Since 2011-12, only Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby has more 80-point seasons (6) than Giroux, who’s tied with Toronto’s John Tavares.

• With his goal on Saturday, defenseman Robert Hägg extended his career-best season with five goals and 19 points, more than double his rookie season total of eight points.

• Over the Flyers last eight games the penalty kill has successfully killed off 22 of 23 power play opportunities. Against the Islanders, it was exceptionally good, successfully killing all five chances including 2:35 of a 5-on-3 advantage.

• For winning the 2018 Stanley Cup Championship, the Washington

Capitals will visit the White House Monday. Goaltender Braden Holtby and forward Brett Connolly have declined the invitation and will not join

their teammates.

Projected lineup

Forwards

Oskar Lindblom - Sean Couturier - Claude Giroux

James van Riemsdyk - Nolan Patrick - Jake Voracek

Ryan Hartman - Scott Laughton - Travis Konecny

Michael Raffl - Corban Knight - Justin Bailey

Defensemen

Ivan Provorov - Travis Sanheim

Shayne Gostisbehere - Philippe Myers

Robert Hägg- Radko Gudas

Goalies

Brian Elliott

Carter Hart



No Johnny Boychuk drama, but Jakub Voracek, Flyers honest about their reality

By Jordan Hall March 24, 2019 12:00 AM

The Flyers aren't fooling themselves.

There's a sense of reality setting in with the Flyers that they're running

out of lives and postgame lines. They've lost four of their last six games after making a furious run from Jan. 14 to March 11, going 18-4-2 with a

plus-22 goal differential.

To sustain such a pace over the final 13 games of the regular season

would have been awfully difficult and the Flyers are noticing it, with another nail being hammered into the coffin Saturday afternoon courtesy

of a 4-2 loss to the Islanders (see observations).

Inconsistency has reared its ugly over this 2-4-0 stretch, which has the Flyers seven points out of the Eastern Conference's second wild-card spot with seven games to go (see standings). In particular Saturday, the inconsistency bit the Flyers during the second period. They were outshot 15-5 and the Islanders pinned the Flyers in the defensive zone while taking a 2-1 lead.

Too often have the Flyers been burned by a poor period of play. Saturday was no different despite the Flyers tying the game early in the final stanza.

"Especially today, we were god-awful, oh my God in the second," Jakub Voracek said of the middle period. "I don't think we had a shot in the first 10 minutes. When they get zone time, they do a great job cycling us and keep the puck away from their net. I don't think we were moving well enough in the second period to give ourselves a chance to create something."

The Flyers have tried wiping the slate and turning the page after each

difficult loss, but players are human and realistic, as well. Saturday marked the Flyers' third straight loss at the Wells Fargo Center, which

this team simply could not afford.

"It sucks, that's the feeling right now, they played better than we did the

whole game," Robert Hagg said. "We didn't deserve to win today, so, right now, yes, I have a terrible feeling."

The Islanders stayed away from the drama and decided to instead get the best of the Flyers on the scoreboard. Johnny Boychuk and New York

didn't seek retaliation for Voracek's interference two weeks ago, a play that didn't really warrant retaliation anyway.

But when Boychuk angrily called out Voracek after the collision during the third period of the March 9 game, an attempt at payback was possible Saturday.

"There was no talking about the Voracek thing," Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. "Those two will figure it out down the road, but Johnny is one of those ultimate team guys. He knows how important what we're trying to do is, he knows how important this game was. There was no 'me' in his thought process, it was all about 'we.'"

Boychuk was back in the lineup for the first time since the incident with Voracek. He had been mostly a healthy scratch, so it seemed like a not-

so-coincidental return.

"I expected something was going to happen," Voracek. "It didn't. I'm not

going to say I was unhappy about that. He played a great game.

"We just blew it."

No sugarcoating it, not with where the Flyers are now.



Flyers 5 takeaways: ‘the harder we try, the deeper we get’

Dave Isaac, Cherry Hill Courier-Post Published 4:30 p.m. ET March 24, 2019

WASHINGTON — Going 0-for-2 in a weekend is devastating when the season is on the line.

If Saturday’s loss to the New York Islanders wasn’t the final dagger, a 3-1 defeat to the Washington Capitals on Sunday likely was.

The Flyers haven’t been mathematically eliminated yet. There’s still six games to play and in some alternate universe they might get a world of help from other teams and win all six of those games to sneak into the playoffs.

Even these Flyers know that likely won’t happen.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


“Right now it just feels like the harder we try, the deeper we get,” captain Claude Giroux said. “I thought we played a pretty solid game tonight. They had two point shots they were able to tip and find a way to get in.”

Tom Wilson and Travis Boyd tipped pucks behind Brian Elliott and Jakub Vrana scored on a breakaway in the third period. Braden Holtby had 35 saves at the other end of the ice.

It’s the kind of game the Flyers could have lived with in November. Not in late March.

“They made us pay. They’re a good team. They made us pay all year, I guess,” said Scott Laughton, referencing the second time the Capitals

had ever swept the season series against the Flyers. “Yeah, we maybe could find more traffic and get pucks in that way but I thought we did

some good things out there.”

There’s not much consolation with six games left and the Flyers have to

play out the string. They could be eliminated as soon as this week.

After an 18-4-2 run from Jan. 14 to March 11, the Flyers have won only

two of the next seven games.

“We knew we had to keep pushing to have a chance,” said Jake Voracek, the Flyers’ lone goal scorer Sunday. “I wouldn’t say it’s tough emotionally. You’re gonna lose some games, unless you’re Tampa and you lose 10 games all year. You’re gonna lose some games. Unfortunately it felt like in that push we had, we had a good push but unfortunately any time we got close to three points, five points and we played those big teams in front of us, those four-point games, we choked. We couldn’t find a way to win those big games and that’s why we are where we are right now.

“I don’t know for the other players or the other guys. For me, it’s the same approach. It’s an NHL hockey game. I’m happy I’m here and

playing hockey in the best league in the (world). That’s the way I look at it. I’m gonna work my (bag) off until Game 82 and we’ll see what’s gonna

happen after.”

Here are four more takeaways from Sunday’s game…

Much better second period

A day after Jake Voracek called the Flyers’ second period against the

Islanders “godawful,” he scored a goal in the middle frame to finally get something tangible for all the work his team did.

The second period saw the Flyers dominate the Capitals 20-7 in shots and 37-9 in shot attempts. In goals, however, they were tied 1-1 in the period and 2-1 in the game.

“I think we put a good effort in in the second,” defenseman Phil Myers said. “I think we played good as a team and when times get tough like that we just gotta stick with it and battle through it. Just gotta learn from that and move on.”

“It’s not bad, to walk away and go into the locker room 2-1 down in

Washington,” Voracek added. “We had a power play in the third in the beginning, a couple of chances there, and then we had to open it up a

little bit unfortunately they came down and scored a breakaway.”

Breaking up the defense

Ever since Jan. 31 in Boston, the Flyers have had Robert Hägg and Radko Gudas together as a defense pair on a regular basis. Unlike the

other two pairs, there’s no puck-mover on that one so it makes sense that two stay-at-home defensemen paired together wouldn’t fare well in

the analytics department.

According to NaturalStatTrick.com, leading up to Sunday’s game the pair of Hägg and Gudas had been together for 398 minutes of play at even strength this season and were a minus-108 in shot attempts. In the second period, the Flyers finally broke that pair up and put Hägg with Myers and Gudas with Shayne Gostisbehere.

“NHL D here. I’m not complaining,” Myers said. “They’re all good defensemen. I like playing with Bob and I thought we had some pretty good chemistry out there. Try to build on that and move forward.”

“I think (assistant coach Rick Wilson) was just mixing and matching based on the matchups and putting one out for certain shifts,” interim coach Scott Gordon added. “There was nothing that was structured as permeant.

“Wils mixes them up. Sometimes he’ll put, depending on what the situation is, he might put one of the pairs out with the other pair because we don’t have the last change. That happens quite frequently on the

road.”

van Riemsdyk wanted in Washington

The Capitals weren’t big fans of James van Riemsdyk in the third period when he appeared to get his stick between the knees of Holtby in a drive-

by behind the Washington net. Holtby made sure to retaliate with a slash once the Flyers forward positioned himself in front to screen the goalie.

JVR pitchforks Braden Holtby in the skate behind the net. Holtby slashes him at the feet as he skates by. pic.twitter.com/As4HjqzbHd

— Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 24, 2019

“I don't know what he was so frustrated about,” Wilson said, “but it's pretty dirty when you go down on a guy’s knees. We’ve played against him for a long time, and he's a good player in this league and I think sometimes emotions just get high. We’ll leave it at that. It's nice to get two points at the end of a night like that, for sure.”

“You just try and protect yourself at this point in the season and make sure you don't get hit and hurt,” Holtby said. “Got lucky at the end when van Riemsdyk tried to push the outside of my knee. That's a dirty play and you just try to block it out and keep playing.”

Lineup malfunction

There was some confusion to start the game when the NHL was under the impression that Phil Varone was playing and Justin Bailey was not.

The Flyers had an extra forward on the ice for warmups, but Bailey took all the line rushes and Varone didn’t take one. On-ice officials huddled before dropping the opening faceoff and the Capitals were pining for a penalty, but no such rule exists.

Rule 5.1 in the NHL’s rule book reads in part “A list of names and numbers of all eligible players must be handed to the Official Scorer before the game, and no change shall be permitted in the list or addition thereto shall be permitted after the commencement of the game.

Prior to the game, if an official (on-ice or off-ice) notices that a player is in uniform but has not been included on the Official Game Report, the Referee shall bring this to the attention of the offending team so that the necessary correction can be made to the Official Game Report (and no penalty is assessed).”

Had they not caught the mistake until after the game had started, the Flyers would have had to roll with 11 forwards. According to Rule 5.2, a

player not listed on the coach’s lineup card is ineligible and it appeared as though Bailey was not.

“There was no name on that roster so…short story, his name wasn’t put on the roster, Bailey’s,” Gordon said. “That’s all.”

Dave Isaac

Courier-Post LOADED: 03.25.2019

1137479 Pittsburgh Penguins

Don’t look now, but Matt Murray has become a workhorse

CAROLINA HURRICANES


JASON MACKEY

MAR 24, 2019 8:31 AM

DALLAS — Matt Murray used the word “sick” to describe teammate

Jared McCann, who delivered the highlight of the night on Saturday.

McCann might not be the only one who fits that description.

Murray has been pretty sick himself, and he might actually be sick enough to enjoy all this work. Saturday was an extremely busy night for

Murray, the result of a poor start for the Penguins and a late push by the Dallas Stars, one that ultimately fell short in Pittsburgh’s 3-2 win.

In all, Murray faced 31 shots, stopped 29 and improved to 7-2-2 in his past 11 starts, during which he has a 2.07 goals-against average and .939 save percentage.

On Saturday, Murray faced a total of 19 high-danger chances, an absolutely absurd number, and he stopped every single one of them.

“I think Matt’s playing his best hockey of the year,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “There’s no doubt.”

There’s also a reason.

And that’s what might make Murray a bit nutty.

In a completely good and ultra-competitive sort of way, as Murray seems

to be relishing the heavy workload.

That 11-start stretch traces back to a key date: March 2, in Montreal,

when Sullivan decided to start Murray on back-to-back nights.

Since then, nobody in the NHL has faced more shots than Murray (360), and nobody has more wins. Going back a few more games, to Feb. 23, nobody has made more than Murray’s 14 starts.

Since March 2, Murray ranks second in high-danger shots faced in all situations (85) and first in saves made (76). His high-danger save percentage of .894 ranks No. 1 among goaltenders who’ve started at least 10 games.

Part of playing Murray more now, Sullivan would explain late Saturday night, involves where the Penguins are at in their season. In October or November, the coach had to think about this being a grind and there being a lot of hockey ahead.

Not so much anymore.

The Penguins need points, and Murray has often provided the best opportunity for them get those. The result has been Murray playing a lot, seeing a ton of shots and seemingly being better for it.

“I talk to [Murray] daily about how he’s feeling,” Sullivan said. “His answer to me every day is the same. He feels good. He feels sharp. He’s confident. He wants to be in the net. And he’s showing it through his play.”

It’s almost as if Murray enjoys the guy. No longer must he look over his shoulder for Marc-Andre Fleury or worry about Casey DeSmith starting against top teams.

It’s a pretty big departure from how Murray was handled prior in his career, when the Penguins seemed careful not to over-tax him or unnecessarily risk injury.

“He’s competing hard,” Sullivan said. “When he’s playing the way he’s

been playing, he’s one of the top goaltenders in the league.”

The whole situation screams learning experience, doesn’t it? The

Penguins played it cautious. They were a little conservative. And for good reason. Murray struggled to stay healthy. You can’t just keep running a guy out there when he gets hurt all the time.

But it seems like Murray has finally solved the Catch 22. He’s playing better because he’s playing more, and they’re playing him more because he’s playing better.

“It’s a little bit different when you have a whole season ahead of you,” Sullivan said. “You’re trying to manage the short-term with the big picture as well.

“I think what we have learned is that Matt can handle a workload. That’s certainly a positive sign from our standpoint. He’s playing really well for us right now.”

‘On our toes’

The Penguins are among the NHL leaders in six-on-five goals allowed, with only three teams having given up more than their seven.

Credit to them, they found a way to solve that problem Saturday: Bryan Rust took a holding penalty with 80 seconds left, turning it into a six-on-four for the Stars, who pulled goaltender Anton Khudobin.

The Penguins have coughed up only one six-on-four goal this season.

“We don’t make it easy on ourselves,” Sidney Crosby said. “Not just six-on-five, had to make it six-on-four and really test ourselves. That was a big kill. Murr made some unbelievable saves all night. It was good to close that one out that way.”

Murray was tremendous on the kill, but a ton of credit should also go to

the skaters in front of him, who were ultra-aggressive in taking away opportunities for the Stars.

The worst thing the Penguins could’ve done in that situation was sit back, and they resisted that temptation.

“I thought our guys did a really good job killing that penalty,” Sullivan said. “I thought we were aggressive. We were on our toes. We did a job

keeping the puck under pressure and not allowing them to get to a setup.

“That’s when I think our team is at its best, when we have that cooperative pressure and we use our quickness and our stick detail and things of that nature to put power plays under pressure.

“That’s an indication of our confidence level that we didn’t sink. We stayed on our toes, and we were aggressive.”

Notes and numbers

• Jake Guentzel’s first-period, power-play goal ended a couple streaks. It

snapped an 0-for-11 slump on the power play, while it served as the first first-period goal the Penguins have scored in seven games.

• The Penguins blocked 17 Dallas shots, including at least one from 12 different skaters.

• Guentzel now needs just two goals over the Penguins’ final six games to reach 40. If he gets there, he’ll become the 20th player in Penguins

history to reach that mark. Only one player aside from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin — James Neal in 2011-12 — has scored 40 since the

beginning of the Crosby/Malkin Era.

Jason Mackey

Post Gazette LOADED: 03.25.2019

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Sportsnet.ca / Takeaways: Canadiens earn valuable point to cap off

positive week

Eric Engels March 24, 2019, 11:26 PM

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Depending on how you see it, the Montreal Canadiens either earned a valuable point in the standings or let a precious one slip away in their overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.

They were less than six minutes from a regulation-time win when Trevor van Riemsdyk took a harmless looking shot that Jordie Benn kicked at and deflected by Carey Price to tie the game 1-1.

In overtime, an inadvertent turnover from Brendan Gallagher gave Andrei Svechnikov a 2-on-1 break. The Russian rookie looked to pass and deceptively fired the puck through Price for his 20th goal of the season.

A tough loss, no doubt. It put Montreal three points behind the Hurricanes

in the standings.

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stream the Blue Jays & MLB, Raptors and NBA Playoffs matchups and more.

On the other side of it, the Canadiens temporarily extended their lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets to four points for the second wild-card

position in the Eastern Conference. A lead that was reduced to two points after Columbus beat the Canucks 5-0 in Vancouver later in the

night.

Meanwhile, let’s get to some takeaways from the one in Carolina.

A backbreaking goal, but not one to blame on Benn

When van Riemsdyk’s shot found its way into Montreal’s net, Price was visibly distraught.

Understandably so. He stood on his head in this game, making highlight-reel save after highlight-reel save.

It started with a 10-beller on Jordan Staal in the first period. In the second, after Montreal had held Carolina to zero shots through the first

14:34 of the frame, Price scrambled to get his pads on dangerous shots from Dougie Hamilton and Nino Niederreiter.

It was in the fifth minute of the third that Price stopped Hurricanes leading scorer Sebastian Aho on a breakaway. He forced their second-leading scorer, Teuvo Teravainen, wide on another one moments later and appeared completely impenetrable until the unfortunate bounce off Benn’s leg found the mesh.

You could tell from Benn’s reaction that he was upset with himself, but he

tried to do what he’s done more than any other Canadiens player this season. He came into Sunday’s game with 119 blocks, and with the game on the line–with the Canadiens clinging to a one-goal lead while getting out-shot 11-3 to that point of the third period–you couldn’t blame him for trying to stop the puck from getting to his net.

It’s worth reminding that Benn successfully did that on two other occasions in the game. Both of them came on the team’s penalty kill as part of an effort that saw the Canadiens limit the Hurricanes to just one shot on net on three power plays.

Too many missed opportunities against Carolina

During that sequence when the Canadiens held Carolina without a shot in the second period, they had multiple chances to build on the lead Paul Byron gave them with his 15th goal of the season.

Hurricanes goaltender Curtis McElhinney made some unbelievable saves. Among them: a right-pad stop on a Jesperi Kotkaniemi breakaway.

And when McElhinney wasn’t the difference, there was Hurricanes defenceman Jaccob Slavin covering an empty net and fending off a

Tomas Tatar shot that appeared to be a sure goal.

It was that kind of game, much like the 2-1 loss the Canadiens suffered

to Carolina back in November—when they recorded 49 shots and 93 attempts.

A weekly deep dive into the biggest hockey news in the world with hosts Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek. New episodes every Thursday.

Hurricanes continue torrid pace

It was in early December when Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon told the Triangle Business Journal that all he wanted to see from his team was more goals.

“I want to lose 5-4, not 2-1. If we lose 5-4, I’ll at least have fun,” he said.

They listened. Well, except for the losing part.

The two goals the Hurricanes scored against Montreal made it 130 goals

since Jan. 1. Only the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning have scored as many since that point.

And Carolina’s record over that time? 26-9-2, which is only second to Tampa (27-7-2).

Taking the positives from the weekend

Sunday’s game was the third in four nights for the Canadiens, and they were travelling late on Saturday after completing their third straight win (a 7-4 conquest of the Buffalo Sabres at the Bell Centre).

Canadiens coach Claude Julien was disappointed with Sunday’s result, but less so with how his team handled its week.

“I think the fatigue factor caught up,” he told reporters after the game. “Midway through the second period we stopped making plays and in the

third, we were just hanging on. But when you pick up seven of eight points, it’s a good week.”

Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 03.25.2019

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Sportsnet.ca / Inferno put exclamation mark on near-perfect season with Clarkson Cup win

Kristina Rutherford | March 24, 2019, 6:54 PM

TORONTO — Long after she’d scored the game-winner, Zoe Hickel still had most of her gear on — including her skates, which were covered by

a set of pink guards. Her helmet and gloves and stick were long gone, though, fired in the air in celebration while she was on the ice.

“The girls are loving it right now,” the Alaska-born Calgary Inferno forward said from under the brim of a Clarkson Cup champions ball cap, of her teammates, who were whooping it up in the dressing room. “I haven’t even gotten undressed yet because we’re having such a good time.”

When fellow Inferno alternate captain Brianne Jenner greeted the gaggle of media assembled at Coca-Cola Coliseum, she said Juno-nominated Shawn Hook was delivering a “private concert” in the dressing room. The

champagne was flowing, too. “Might’ve spilled a bit,” Jenner added, with a grin.

On Sunday, the CWHL’s No. 1 seed put an exclamation mark on a close-to-perfect season that saw them down Montreal in the championship

game, 5-2, for a second Clarkson Cup championship in franchise history.

When the buzzer went, the Inferno players spilled off the bench and piled

atop goalie Alex Rigsby, who faced 25 shots in the final. Jenner used her jersey to wipe away tears, and her eyes watered again as she hoisted

the Clarkson Cup over her head, with most of the 4,696 fans still in the stands to take in the celebration.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


“This has been my family since I’ve been drafted into the league,” said Jenner, who’s been playing in the CWHL since 2015-16, when she won her first Clarkson Cup, and Calgary’s first-ever. On Sunday, she and Calgary earned No. 2.

And what a game it was. A game-tying goal was called back early in the third period, Hickel scored twice for Calgary, Team USA star Brianna Decker wired one home and was named Clarkson Cup MVP, Ann-Sophie Bettez struck twice for Montreal and the league’s best player spent the entire game on Montreal’s bench.

No, Marie-Philip Poulin wasn’t in this game — she couldn’t play, due to a

lower body injury — but the league MVP was one of its biggest stories, still. Poulin skated in the warmup, and spent the whole game standing on

the bench, wearing her full gear. She leaned forward during the game, like a kid who couldn’t wait to go on, a kid who never got that coach’s tap

on the shoulder. She cheered, she high-fived teammates, she clapped with her hockey-gloved hands. She sat on top of the bench during TV

timeouts and waved at the little girls who were waving at her. And she didn’t play a single second.

The captain was the last Montreal player off the bench when it was all over, slowly skating to join her teammates in the crease with goalie Emerance Maschmeyer while DJ Khaled’s All I Do Is Win played over the speakers, followed by — you guessed it — Queen, with We Are The Champions, as the champs celebrated at the other end of the ice.

Poulin went around to each of her teammates and gave them a low fist-bump. The 27-year-old, who’s probably the best player in the world, didn’t play in Montreal’s semi-final series, either — “day-to-day,” according to her team. Poulin didn’t address media after the game, and it’s anyone’s guess as to whether she’ll be ready for the world

championships, which kick off April 4, with the final on April 14. She had been doing to rehab two or three times a day, trying to get back in time for Sunday’s final. It couldn’t be done.

“She was heartbroken, that’s for sure,” said Les Canadiennes associate

coach and former Team Canada star, Caroline Ouellette. “She’s the type of player that craves those big moments, those moments where everything is on the line. She’s our captain, she’s our leader and she’s

the best player in the league, in my opinion, so it was a huge loss for us … In the end it was tough to play Calgary without Marie-Philip Poulin,

and we would have needed everyone to play their best possible game from the start to finish, and unfortunately, we didn’t have that.”

It was probably Montreal’s worst first period all season, in fact. As Bettez put it, “For sure we didn’t play 60 minutes.”

Calgary Inferno’s Zoe Hickel (left) and Tori Hickel celebrate with the trophy. (Chris Young/CP)

The Inferno jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, striking when blueliner Katelyn Gosling made a beauty fake shot pass to Hickel, who re-directed it past Maschmeyer. Inferno defender Halli Krzyzaniak increased that lead with about seven minutes to go in the opening frame, when her point shot through traffic beat Maschmeyer, blocker side.

In the second period, Montreal got some life, created some chances and started to look more like the team that finished second overall in the regular season. A Bettez backhand got past Rigsby, who on Friday won the CWHL’s goalie of the year award, and suddenly Montreal was back in it. But Les Canadiennes couldn’t hang on to that momentum.

Decker extended Calgary’s lead back to two on the power play, with an absolute rocket from the right faceoff dot. As she put it: “I had a great

screen in front and just had to feather it through and make sure I put everything into it.” That she did.

But with a little more than two minutes to go in the second, it was Bettez who got Montreal back into the game, yet again, thanks to a beauty

through-the-legs pass from linemate Hilary Knight, to make it 3-2.

Montreal seemingly tied things up in the opening seconds of the third, when Jill Saulnier put one in from the doorstep, but the goal was called

back — the referees immediately whistled it down, after Knight fell on top of Rigsby. It looked like she was pushed by a Calgary defender, and as Poulin watched the replay on the jumbotron from the bench, she threw out her hands and shook her head.

“I have to see it again, but for me I feel like Hilary Knight was pushed and she didn’t have a chance to get back up and move out of there,” Ouelette said. “And to be honest, from what I saw up there I didn’t think Rigsby could have moved in time to make the save. Obviously that’s a moment where we could have tied the game right there.”

Instead, Calgary extended its lead soon after, when Hickel scored her

second on a feed from Rebecca Johnston, in close. Johnston added the empty-netter with 22 seconds to go, and that was all she wrote.

Montreal could have wondered ‘what if’ on a couple things, Sunday: What if they’d had their captain, who put up a league-leading 50 points in

the regular season? What if that goal hadn’t been called back? But, as Oulette put it: “Bottom line is we had to play catch-up the whole game,

because we didn’t start on time.”

Calgary did, and the Inferno were no doubt the better team. They boast a

league-leading 14 national team players and in the 28-game regular season, suffered just five losses. But though Calgary has been the league’s best for most of the season, it’s been quite a year for the Clarkson Cup champions. At the end of last season, their head coach, Tomas Pacina, resigned after winning the league’s coach of the year award. Then, part-way through this season, his replacement, former Team Canada coach Shannon Miller, walked away while the team was 10-1-1.

“We went through a lot this year,” Jenner said. “Lots of change to see our group, [but] it never threw us off course, all season. To see the way that

our group rallied, to see the way we finished the regular season, on the road in China, and then having a bit of a test in the semifinals and that

didn’t throw us off, either.

“And then coming in tonight and delivering a winning effort, that’s been

us all year, just a team of professionals, and I’m really proud of them.”

There’s no doubt this Inferno team is tight-knit. As Johnston was doing

her post-game interviews, Decker and fellow Team USA star Kacey Bellamy stood on top of a chair and hugged, to try to throw her off her game. Johnston laughed through her answers, then mugged for photos with Decker. In a couple of weeks, they’ll be trying to crush one another at world championships. But for now, they’re CWHL champions and teammates.

Like the North American teams, Montreal and Calgary have also developed a rivalry in the CWHL. These teams have met in the Clarkson Cup final three of the last four years.

“There’s definitely a rivalry there, but in a couple days, a few of them will

be my teammates and I’ll be smiling,” Jenner said, also smiling at this second. “But, it feels pretty good that Calgary got this one.”


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Sportsnet.ca / Schenn the only bright spot in Canucks' lacklustre effort vs. Blue Jackets

Iain MacIntyre | March 25, 2019, 2:03 AM

VANCOUVER — For the second straight night, a team with something to win was too good for the team with merely something to prove.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


There have been a lot of lost weekends during the Vancouver Canucks’ unsuccessful five-decade search for the Stanley Cup. This one extinguished the last, faint embers of their miniscule playoff hopes, as Sunday’s bleak 5-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets piled on top of Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to the Calgary Flames.

This was the Canucks’ last stand.

There was honour in their effort on Saturday, battling to the end against the superior Flames in a taut, playoff-type game. But there was nothing noble about Sunday’s defeat.

After a good first period was undone by a bad goal-against that gave the

Blue Jackets the lead, the Canucks stopped competing in the second period and were bystanders in the third, managing only four shots on net.

With the gimme, the Blue Jackets closed within two points of the Montreal Canadiens in the race for the final playoff spot in the National

Hockey League’s Eastern Conference. The Flames lead the Western Conference.

The way the Canucks played the final 40 minutes on Sunday, they wouldn’t beat anyone in the league.

Vancouver’s best player was probably defenceman Luke Schenn, a minor-league call-up who is trying to save his NHL career. Schenn logged 12 hits. The Blue Jackets had nine.

But with former Canucks coach John Tortorella behind the Columbus bench, we were reminded what he famously said about David Booth being Vancouver’s best player during a loss in Detroit: “Good for him but not good for us.”

It is not good if Luke Schenn is your best player. By the end of the night, the bottom of the Canucks’ Corsi page was clogged with most of Vancouver’s most-skilled forwards. Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser,

Nikolay Goldobin and Sven Baertschi — both just back in the lineup — all saw shot attempts go against them by 2-1 margins as the Blue Jackets

dominated.

“I thought we had a good first period,” veteran Canucks centre Jay

Beagle said. “We stayed direct and played within our system. The second period was bad, obviously. We got away from our game and they

stayed structured. We didn’t compete as hard as we needed to and that was the difference.”

Winger Josh Anderson, who crushed top Canuck defenceman Alex Edler in the numbers without penalty on an early boarding, had two goals and an assist for Columbus, which scored twice in the second period and added two more in the third.

Anderson’s short-side knuckleball that beat Canuck goalie Thatcher Demko at 16:19 of the first period turned out to be the game-winner, as Vancouver was shut out for an NHL-leading 10th time this season.

“We’ve worked really hard this year in a lot of games and we’re starting

to build an identity for our team,” Canucks leader Bo Horvat said. “Tonight wasn’t ourselves and that’s unacceptable. We have to be better

here in the last six games.”

Asked if Saturday’s emotional loss, which dropped the Canucks six

points adrift of the last playoff spot out west, had dispirited the team, Horvat said: “You try not to think about it. Obviously the game against

Calgary was a big game, a must-win. Every game at the end we had to win basically. It was kind of a letdown, but that shouldn’t be an excuse for

us tonight. We just weren’t good enough.”

The return to the lineup of Baertschi and Goldobin spectacularly failed to rouse the Canucks, who also drew no energy from Demko replacing starter Jacob Markstrom in goal, nor defenceman Derrick Pouliot getting another chance to play.

Baertschi, the first-line winger, had missed 63 games this season, including the last 23, due to a concussion. Goldobin sat out the last four

after coach Travis Green yanked the winger from the lineup for the sixth time this season.

Baertschi failed to register a shot in 16:48 of ice time and was on the ice for three of the five Columbus goals, all scored at even strength. Goldobin managed one shot in 16:33 of ice time.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had an injury for that long,” Baertschi said. “Coming back, you realize how fast the game is again. There’s a lot of things I had to get used to today but the first one is over. Missing that many games is not easy. I just want to come back and help the team, play as good as I can and regain that confidence out there.”

Baertschi has two years left on his contract and the only issue about his future with the Canucks is his health. Goldobin, however, is a restricted

free agent after this season and it seemed he might have played his final game in Vancouver until Josh Leivo reported to the rink Sunday feeling

ill.

“I was just waiting; I couldn’t do anything,” Goldobin, who has two goals

in his last 32 games, said of sitting out. “It is hard, but I try and stay positive. I wasn’t playing, but I was working hard in practice. Just trying to

help the team. Do my best.”

The only guy who did that on Sunday was Schenn, the 29-year-old who was sent to the minors this season for the first time in his career but was rescued by the Canucks in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks.

“I just tried to bring something different, I guess, to the table,” Schenn said of his robust game. “Teams like Calgary, Columbus … these teams are too good for us not to be dialled in for the full 60 minutes. You see what happens when you’re not. We’ve got to learn from it. We’ve got another huge week ahead of us.”

The Canucks’ draft-lottery rivals, Anaheim and Los Angeles, visit Rogers

Arena Tuesday and Thursday.


1137516 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / Beyond Headlines: Is 'load management' feasible in NHL?

Chris Johnston |March 24, 2019, 1:31 PM

Ron Hainsey celebrates his 38th birthday today, which is notable if you’re a family member or friend who needs to pass along well-wishes, or the

Toronto Maple Leafs monitoring his workload.

Hainsey’s shown himself to be incredibly durable throughout his career

and is the 10th-oldest player in the league this season. He’s also seen a recent spike in playing time, surpassing 22 minutes in eight of 14 games

dating back to the end of February, when Travis Dermott and Jake Gardiner both went down to injury.

Physically, he says he’s feeling great despite playing in all 75 Leafs games so far and weathering the grind of another season. The playoffs are coming soon, but the last thing he’s looking for is extra time off to rest — in part, because he thinks the discussion about implementing NBA-style “load management” isn’t feasible for NHL players and teams.

“It’s easy to say ‘Oh yeah, we’ll rest this guy, this guy, this guy,”’ Hainsey said this week. “Well if you rest a guy and you lose and then all of a sudden — I’m just making up the scenario — now Montreal’s five points

behind you. You don’t know what’s going to happen.”

The Leafs are currently sitting seven points up on Montreal and seven

points behind Boston with seven games remaining. When I pointed out

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that third place in the Atlantic Division was basically secured, Hainsey wasn’t buying it.

“Basically locked into third is not locked into third,” he said. “If someone sits a bunch of guys and loses eight in a row, you’re going to go ‘Well they were basically locked into third’ on TV? That’s not going to be an excuse. That might be your excuse right now, but if something happens — if somebody wins eight in a row or you lose … — it’s happened before.

“No one’s going to be ‘Well they were basically locked into a spot so what the f—?’ It doesn’t work like that, you know that.”

Fair enough. There’s risk in taking anything for granted, in both sports and life.

Hainsey is an avid sports observer and has worked extensively with the NHL Players’ Association over the years, so he’s spent a lot of time

examining these kinds of issues and ideas.

Livestream every game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, blackout-free. Plus

stream the Blue Jays & MLB, Raptors and NBA Playoffs matchups and more.

It’s not so much that he’s against the idea of building in extra rest for players, he just believes the tightly packed nature of the NHL standings makes it unattainable. He noted that having the Tampa Bay Lightning already clinch the Presidents’ Trophy at this stage of the season is the exception, rather than the rule.

“It depends on the scenario,” said Hainsey. “If it’s a scenario where it means nothing, or you’re the [San Antonio] Spurs who f—ing won four times in 10 years and they don’t care if they’re first or second in the conference, or Cleveland, where LeBron’s going to take his chances no matter what. It’s not the same as what we’re all doing.

“Tampa is the first [NHL] team I can remember that has that kind of luxury. It’s the first time it’s happened. It’s not the same scenario, it’s not

comparable. It’s just not. The team in eighth isn’t resting guys in the NBA or seventh or sixth, not that I can remember. It’s been a few teams with

star players who decided they’re going to do one thing.”

With NHL teams now making a bigger investment in sports science,

we’ve seen a noticeable shift in approach over the last few years — sprinkling in more days off during the season, reducing the length of practices, switching to optional morning skates before games and almost never playing the same goalie on back-to-back nights.

But Hainsey thinks a specific set of circumstances need to be in place before a team is able to do something similar with its forwards and defencemen on a regular basis, even if the science already shows additional rest can maximize performance.

“The human body would benefit from a million things, but again … to compare anyone to the Spurs or LeBron, it’s not a comparable scenario

— at least not right now,” said Hainsey. “If this team goes on a five-year run of finals appearances and they finally say ‘We don’t give a s— if

we’re second or third, then it’s a different story.’ But that’s not the case, that’s not the case for anyone. Tampa this one time, but they’ve got guys

who want to score 150 points. Good luck with that.

“Sure, of course, pencil me in for f—ing 10 games off [per year], but we

don’t know: How’s that going to affect everything? I have no idea. Who is going to start taking that risk right now?

“Well no one. The answer is no one. Of 31 teams, so far no one.”

NEW SENS BOSS

The fact the Ottawa Senators are now in the market for a senior figure to oversee the hockey operation should be considered a welcome development for fans with concerns about the direction of the franchise.

It’s merely a coincidence that my friend and colleague Elliotte Friedman unearthed that nugget immediately after owner Eugene Melnyk went on a mini radio tour this week, saying, among other things: “These next six

months are going to be critical for [GM] Pierre [Dorion] and his team and the whole hockey operations to get their act together in a big way…”

The timing isn’t linear here.

The search for a president who will effectively replace the late Bryan Murray has already been going on for a little while in Ottawa, according to sources. The Senators have also made it abundantly clear that Dorion’s job should not be considered in jeopardy because of it.

No, still in the early stages of a rebuild and with a boatload of picks the next three drafts, they are looking to add another experienced voice to what is arguably the smallest front office in the league.

While there are nuances within every individual organization, most teams have four key pieces at the top of their hockey operation pyramid — a

president, a GM and two assistant GMs. In Ottawa, Dorion and new assistant Peter MacTavish have been shouldering the load.

Adding another key figure to the mix should improve the overall operation while giving the Sens someone else who can speak for the organization.

OIL SPILL

It was also a tough PR week in Edmonton after president Bob Nicholson had to apologize to zero-goal, third-line winger Toby Rieder for speaking too freely about his struggles at a season ticket-holder event.

The news won’t stop there.

With the regular season winding down, there is a sense the Oilers search for a new general manager will start to ramp up in the next week or two.

And, as Nick Kypreos reported on “Headlines,” it could also see the team bring in a president above that GM.

While there is no shortage of qualified candidates — Kelly McCrimmon, Mark Hunter, potentially Ken Holland, depending on how things play out

in Detroit this off-season — Edmonton could find itself with competition for the most desirable names.

That’s because the Seattle group hasn’t ruled out bringing in a general manager this spring even though it is still two years away from the June 2021 expansion draft. They aren’t operating on any specific timeline, but want to consider all options in order to best position themselves for Year 1.

PLAYOFF REFORMATTING

As the NHL and NHLPA continue to discuss extending the current divisional playoff format beyond this season — which is almost certain to

happen, on a one-year basis — there seems to be some growing unrest among players about how well it’s working overall.

There is concern about the Boston/Toronto scenario in the Atlantic, where the matchup has basically been set for weeks and diminished the

importance of games down the stretch. There is also a broader concern that the format doesn’t properly reward a good regular season with the

most equitable first- and second-round matchups.

Now in its sixth season of existence, the NHLPA is wondering if the shift away from the 1-8 conference playoffs has had its intended impact economically, and for broadcasters and fans.

While the divisional format is likely to remain for 2019-20, the players don’t seem overly eager to commit to it beyond next season.

Talks are expected to continue this week.


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Sportsnet.ca / Why hockey is more than a pastime for Enoch Cree Nation

CAROLINA HURRICANES


Sonny Sachdeva | March 22, 2019, 12:11 PM

For those who’ve been around long enough to know, the Old Barn is more than a rink. It’s more than the walls that enclose it or the roof that

protects it. It is, rather, the holder of decades upon decades of memories.

“You always have so many stories of what you did there,” says Robert

Cardinal of why the recreation centre affectionately known as the Old Barn means so much to the Enoch Cree Nation, a First Nation in central

Alberta that Rogers Hometown Hockey will celebrate this weekend. “Where you fell down and cut your eye open. Where you scored your first goal. Your first taste of fries and gravy. Everything in that rink just has a

memory…. It’s a place that just develops those memories and keeps it going within the community.”

It’s also, at long last, the home of Enoch’s own minor-hockey organization, the Enoch Cree Hockey Association, for which Cardinal

serves as the bantam director. After going more than three decades without one, Enoch has watched the ECHA proudly restore the

community’s yearning for the game they love.

The revived minor-hockey outfit suited up four teams and 92 players in its first year back in 2015–16. Those numbers jumped to eight teams and 148 players in Year 2, and as high as 10 teams and 176 players in 2017–18.

“That year, we actually had two teams win the minor-hockey league championships,” says ECHA president Jordan Courtepatte. “We were the first all-Indigenous team to win the tournament.”

Four Enoch teams went on to win city championships that season, becoming the first all-Indigenous teams to accomplish that feat as well.

Though the organization scaled back slightly this year — down to eight teams and 158 players — that hasn’t slowed the pace of their on-ice

success.

And yet, as Courtepatte tells it, winning titles was never the primary goal

guiding the effort to relaunch the ECHA. It was simply about giving the community back something they’d long since lost.

Celebrate Our Community. Celebrate Our Game.

Enoch once had another minor-hockey association to call its own, and a noteworthy place among the Albertan hockey world in general.

“Grant Fuhr used to play out in Enoch,” Cardinal says of the Hockey Hall of Famer and former Edmonton Oiler. “We have old pictures of him

playing out here — he came out and he hung out in the community…. We were really doing some big things back then.”

But a lack of volunteers caused the original association to fizzle out in the ’80s, says ECHA treasurer Chase Morin. That meant seeing the Old Barn

booked up primarily by outside organizations. And it meant leaving plenty of kids in the community with few, if any, options to play the game, with other potential possibilities located in rinks reached only by lengthy

drives.

“Everybody loves hockey in Enoch,” Courtepatte says. “All the kids wanted to play hockey. For a lot of them, it was unfortunate that they didn’t have the opportunity to play because of family dynamics — they

had no way to get to the rink. Every year, they’d come in wanting to play hockey and we’d fund them, but they had no way to go…. So that

bothered me quite a bit.”

Years of seeing Enoch’s youth barred from pursuing their passion spurred Courtepatte, who’s also Enoch’s Youth Director, and the rest of the ECHA’s early board of directors to undertake the not-insignificant amount of work required to bring minor hockey back to Enoch. The fruits of their labour have since been easy to spot.

“They say it takes a community to raise a kid and that’s kind of what’s happening here with hockey — it’s bringing our community together,” Courtepatte says. “A lot of the kids are getting this opportunity to play and hopefully it’s helping change their lives around, too.”

Courtepatte was first taught the great force hockey can exert on a kid’s life during his own childhood in the early ’90s, and used that as fuel in the effort to bring back the ECHA.

“What drove me was my own upbringing — it’s similar to a lot of these kids,” Courtepatte says. “To be honest with you, my dad was in and out of jail most of my life. And all my uncles, some of them in and out of

gangs. And I was kind of going down the wrong path, I guess. I was getting in trouble as a kid and my perspective on things was different, as

my role models weren’t the best. I was about 10 years old when I started playing hockey, and I got pretty good at it. It took a couple years to get to

the top level, and my peers changed, the people I hung around with were different, and my goals definitely changed. I wanted to play hockey at all

times.

“I had a good mother, she raised me and my brother by herself — she

set some boundaries and some rules, where I had to go to school and stay out of trouble to play, and that kept me in line, for the most part.”

Hockey eventually carried Courtepatte out to the BCHL — through Burnaby, Alberni Valley and Surrey — before brief stints in college hockey and the pro level. When all was said and done, he returned home to Enoch to run hockey camps and help out with youth programming.

“How it helped me is how I’m hoping it’ll help these kids. Whether it’s one, two, 10, however many we get through to…. Because statistics don’t lie, and in Aboriginal communities there are a lot more barriers and challenges that a lot of the kids go through. And some of them, they don’t

make it through probably, without the support. The way I grew up, I don’t know where I’d be if I didn’t play hockey.”

Others in the community have also taken note of the ECHA’s undeniable impact.

“I’ve seen it personally turn around some of the older kids,” says Morin. “The ones that are going in that bantam and midget age, they were kind

of steering themselves on the wrong path. And hockey’s kind of put them right back in the right direction.”

The Old Barn, which Morin says is now dedicated to the ECHA roughly 80 per cent of the time, has played a key role.

“The community surrounds the ice rink, and it’s a central hub, if you look at it on the map,” Cardinal says. “It’s closest to the main road, it’s closest to our schools, everything like that. So it also is like a life raft for the kids. And I think that’s one of the biggest attributes we have besides a lot of other communities, is that it’s so close.… That really is a difference maker in how they’re going to grow.”

Courtepatte remembers some tougher moments growing up in the sport himself, enduring racism while playing outside of Enoch.

“I was mostly the only Native kid on my team,” he says. “I was told, ‘What are you doing here? Don’t you know Natives can’t play hockey?’ My first

tryouts, I was about 10 or 11, and I had words with this kid — eventually I got kicked off the ice. I left pretty hurt. I started thinking, ‘How many

Native players are there in the NHL?’”

It’s a question that seems easier to answer in the present, Courtepatte

says. Current Enoch Councillor Shane Peacock provided an early role model, getting drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third round of the 1991 NHL draft before enjoying a long career in Germany. But since then, the Indigenous presence in the game has only continued to grow. That shift is sure to play a key role in helping encourage more kids like the ECHA’s own to participate in the sport.

“You see somebody who’s the same as you, grew up in the same conditions, and they’re making it and they’re doing it — that gives you hope,” says Courtepatte.

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Enoch Cree Hockey Association novice Edmonton city champions

Shortly after Enoch Cree Nation revived its minor-hockey association, its novice team won the Edmonton city championship. (Enoch Cree Hockey Association)

Enoch’s been able to get an up-close look at a couple of the game’s most promising Indigenous stars. Ethan Bear, the pride of the Ochapowace First Nation, is a top defensive prospect in the nearby Edmonton Oilers organization, currently dominating in AHL Bakersfield. And Micheal Ferland — the most prominent Cree player in the sport — spent the first four seasons of his career as a fan favourite with the nearby Calgary

Flames before an off-season trade sent him to Carolina last summer.

Both relish the role they play in inspiring youth around the country.

“To be a role model for my own culture and my own people, it truly is an honour,” says Bear. “I try to work my hardest every day and just try to

lead by example, by just hard work and commitment. To know there’s kids looking up to me and there’s people cheering hard for me, it’s

motivating for myself as well.”

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to go back home,” says Ferland. “It’s a

different type of relationship that I have with all my Native friends than I do with my hockey buddies. Even just playing against other Native hockey players in the NHL, you just kind of have a bond already. We don’t even know each other but it’s … it’s hard to explain. It means a lot to me to be able to play for my people.”

The impact of the ECHA’s arrival in Enoch brought back something else that was lost, too, says Cardinal — a renewed connection between the community and its history.

“For years, we’ve always done well at team sports. It’s innate in a lot of Native cultures to be good at a lot of sports, because we did a lot of

hunting, a lot of gathering, a lot of things together,” he says. “This is just one way to be able to gain that cultural aspect back to the community, to

the kids, and kind of connect them with their roots.”

It isn’t simply the team success — the championships that have already

come in the first few years — that hearkens back to these cultural memories, but also the very makeup of each team and how it functions.

“If you look at team dynamics, anybody can see who the best player is. You’re on the ice, you can see who’s faster, who has the best shot, who’s bigger, who’s stronger. And it starts to weed out who the top line is, the second line,” Cardinal explains.

“But some of the other things that happen is you start thinking about who’s smarter with the puck. Who’s thinking two plays ahead. Who’s committed. Who’s feared. Who can be relied on. And those intangible things are the stuff that we’re talking about.

“I don’t want to go way, way back, but you delve into the cultural side and we can say hunting parties, we can say doing sun dances and other

cultural events — who has the knowledge, who has the gifts to be able to do these things.… It brings back lost memories to our kids, whether they

can see it or not.”

Even for those who don’t take the ice but instead watch from the stands,

the return of minor hockey to Enoch has been just as much of a game changer.

“In any community, you have people who maybe don’t get along or bicker amongst themselves, especially in smaller communities. But I found, with

hockey, when we’re playing, it kind of united everybody to be on the same page, all for the same cause, for our youth and our kids. All striving for the same thing, to become a good team and play well to represent the community,” Courtepatte says. “I think that’s one of the bigger parts that you don’t actually really see until you look deeper into it — the main thing is the kids playing, for sure. But when you look at the larger scale of things, it does bring the community together.”


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Sportsnet.ca / Shot Callers: Q&A with Clarence Iron, NHL's first Cree play-by-play man

Luke Fox | March 21, 2019, 3:00 PM

Unless you count that one trip to Meadow Lake (population: 5,344) —

“It’s almost a city” — Clarence Iron hasn’t left the tiny village Pinehouse Lake, Sask., in a year. He hasn’t called a hockey game waged by grown-ups in about a decade.

This morning, the self-proclaimed “over the hill” Iron, edging age 60, sat down in Pinehouse’s cozy CFNK 89.9 FM studio for his daily talk-radio day shift. He broke down the newly released federal budget to his indigenous listenership in Cree, then promoted the Cree Nation’s big 13th annual walleye derby coming up at Montreal Lake ($100,000 grand prize).

On Sunday, he’ll storm out of semi-retirement, find his way south and

make history.

A rare voice of Cree hockey, play-by-play man Iron will team up with

analyst and former NHLer John Chabot, and musician-turned-studio host Earl Wood to broadcast the first-ever NHL game in Plains Cree.

“I still have it,” says Iron of this long-deferred dream come true. “I get excited when I see two teams on the ice and I’m getting ready to call a

game.”

We caught up with Iron over the phone to learn of his remarkable journey

ahead of his boundary-breaking live call of Sunday’s Montreal Canadiens–Carolina Hurricanes as Rogers Hometown Hockey partners with Indigenous broadcaster APTN.

SPORTSNET.CA: What language was spoken in your house as a kid?

CLARENCE IRON: First of all, I put God No. 1. I believe in Jesus. I know He gave me the gift to speak the Cree language. My grandparents, I always think of them. They’re gone now. I was raised by them, and they taught me Cree right at home. That’s where you have to learn your

language. And when you leave home for school, Cree has to be taught there. That’s the only way people will learn their language. Keep

speaking the language. Don’t be shy. There’s lots of people here who know how to speak it, but even with their own people they’re scared to

speak Cree. It’s a generational thing. We were taught at one time not to speak Cree at the residential schools. I myself went to a residential

school, but I kept my Cree language by talking to myself. I used to go in the bush. People would think I was talking to somebody out there, but

that’s how I kept it.

Wow. So you would just go talk to yourself?

Yeah. Like if I was going to the Hudson’s Bay store, a two-mile walk from the residential school, I would be walking by myself and talking as if I was having a conversation with another person. [Gives example in Cree.] I’d say, “Well, I’m going to buy this at the store” in Cree. That’s how I kept my Cree alive. I had a hard time speaking English, to tell you the truth. I had to redo Grade 4 once and Grade 7 again because they told me I was a slow learner. I wasn’t. My English wasn’t up to par. Talk to me in Cree? That’s my No. 1 language. [laughs] I have no problem with that. My English is probably 80 per cent now. I graduated Grade 12, and I took a recreational technology program. I taught phys-ed in our community. I’m originally from Canoe Lake [about 350 kilometres north of Saskatoon].

You have a nickname.

Chi Boy. They know who I am.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


What does that mean?

“Small boy.” My grandpa only spoke one English word. He couldn’t say “Clarence.” He used to say “Chi Boy! Chi Boy!” That was his English word: boy. Everyone heard what my grandpa called me, and my peers at school started using it. [chuckles]

Growing up, who were you a fan of?

I was a fan of the Edmonton Oilers when they were with the World Hockey Association, before they stepped into the NHL. I live close to Edmonton. It’s only about a four-hour drive from where I live, so I’d go watch them play. They were my team all the way. In the NHL, it was the

Leafs. Lanny McDonald was playing. Darryl Sittler was my favourite. I liked the Montreal Canadiens as well — Cournvoyer, Lafleur.

When did you first get interested in calling play-by-play?

Way back in the ’70s. There was no such thing as local radio [in Northern Saskatchewan] back then. Now pretty much everybody has their own radio station in these northern communities. Back in the ’70s I would’ve

loved to have called, but I was still doing it on my own. Nothing professionally taught. I used to listen to Bob Cole, Dan Kelly and Danny

Gallivan. I used to like Danny Gallivan’s style.

What did you like about Gallivan?

He was smooth. He had calls like “cannonading shot!” and “dancing over the blue line!” He made it sound picturesque.

So you’d borrow that feeling?

Yeah, I wanted to follow him in Cree. I say “dances over the blue line” in Cree. I’ll use Guy Lafleur for example. [Iron lets rip an engaged 20-

second Guy LaFleur rush goal call in Cree.]

That’s great. When did you make the jump from practising on your own to

getting in a booth?

The early ’90s. I don’t know exactly what year. It was on radio, not play-by-play. It was just to mention who’s playing, who scored. Then all of a sudden, we started calling a bit of play-by-play. And finally they gave me the mic. I didn’t jump at the mic right away. My colleague — I can’t remember his name — controlled the mic. But one day my boss said, “You try.” He gave me the mic. Little did they know that I used to practise. My boss was surprised: “Hey! You’re a natural.” He thought I was a natural, but it took years of practice. When they gave me the mic in Prince Albert, I started calling play-by-play live on radio. They said, “That guy’s pretty good!” Then I started getting hired. I used to do play-by-play in Prince Albert, North Battleford, Meadow Lake, Regina and Prince George. They had a very good team there; they used to be in the finals pretty much all the time. The Prince George Lumber Kings.

When did you first hear about this opportunity?

My friends saw it on Facebook and contacted me: “Did you see the ad? They’re looking for a Cree announcer. You should go for it.” I didn’t jump

on it right away because I’ve been semi-retired in broadcasting for 10 years. The last time I called hockey was around the year 2000. I came

back to work here in radio in Northern Saskatchewan, and I’ve called minor hockey just for the kids here. They like hearing me, but it’s usually

just on tape after [the game is over]. The odd time I’ll go on the road with them and call play-by-play.

Why did you stop calling in 2000?

I was calling aboriginal hockey tournaments, and it was getting expensive

for them because they had to pay for airtime. I used to call out of La Ronge, but the cost got too much. They liked it. People started wondering why we still didn’t call the games, but it had to do with money.

How did you secure the job after seeing the ad?

I have a bunch of archives of me calling play-by-play on old cassette tapes, so I sent some of them. Mostly, it wasn’t Cree that I called on the tapes; it was an English version. But I found one in Cree, so that’s how

they knew I did some Cree hockey. In between my English calling, I’d throw in some Cree for about two or three minutes, five minutes at the most. People knew I could do it, and my friends were saying, “Apply for it! Apply for it!” Eventually, I did.

Celebrate Our Community. Celebrate Our Game.

Have you ever called an entire game in Cree, or has it always been mixed?

Mixed. But now, with these youngsters here, I’ve called a few games in Cree all the way. But I don’t have tapes of that. I’ll give you an example from back in the ’90s. [Plays a cassette over the phone so I can hear.

Iron’s recorded voice bubbles with pep and flows like an auctioneer.]

What reaction have you received since you secured this gig?

Especially on Facebook, they tell me, “Congratulations, Clarence. I hope you do a good job for our audience, for the indigenous people.” They’re excited as I am. Maybe even more so. They keep asking me where and when is it? What time? But it’s going to be advertised.

How are you preparing for Sunday’s broadcast? Going from local kids’ games to Canadiens-Hurricanes is a leap.

You need to know the names, for sure, and the numbers. If you don’t know the names and numbers, it’s pretty hard to call. I have a system. Every tournament I called, it was always a mix of different players; it’s never the same players. So I used to write the players’ names and numbers in chronological order on paper. I’d start with No. 4, then No. 6, then No. 10. That way I know where to look if I don’t know the name of the player. I learned on my own. No one taught me.

How will Sunday’s broadcast impact the Cree community?

It’s going to open doors, for sure. Even back home here, when I call play-by-play — I call some football and boxing, too — the young people hear

me, and it makes them want to speak Cree. Maybe one of those might grow up to be a play-by-play caller. This is very important because this is

the year of indigenous languages to be recognized. In at least one aspect, I’m helping open doors in the sports world. Our language is very

important. We’re trying to keep it alive. Nothing can stop us. We have the talent, but we were never given the opportunity at a professional level. I

could’ve called NHL, I think, if I was scouted earlier. I knew every player and their number at one time. To know that, it’s very easy to call a game. In the Lafleur days, I knew pretty much everybody. I thought back then I could’ve been a good play-by-play caller in Cree.

How nervous are you for that moment you go live on-air Sunday and make some history?

I’m not nervous. The only thing I was worried about was not knowing the names and the numbers, but I’ve been studying them. I know it’s going to be fast, because it’s the first one. Now, if I had four NHL games to warm-up and the fifth one was live, I’d feel safer. But doing the very first one

live, off the bat? It’s going to be a very fast game. But I like a challenge. I’m not scared. I also was called in to doing a live play-by-play boxing

match in Regina, and whoever won the fight was supposed to advance to a title fight in Las Vegas. So, I’m going for it. It’s exciting. I want to do it

for the indigenous people across Canada, those that will understand Cree. I toured Canada — right across — one time and tried to stop in

every community I could. Some of the dialects, like Ojibwe, are a little different, but the Cree itself, pretty much everybody can understand one

another.

Is there any sense this could lead to future NHL broadcasts in Cree?

I’m healthy. I jog. I play hockey. Until one day they might have a younger person come in, I’m ready for the challenge. If they want to do it every Saturday, Hockey Night in Canada, I challenge it. I might be good for another 10 years. [chuckles]

Hey, Bob Cole is still rolling at 85.

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There’s people out there who are 70 years old and they’re still doing. I’d be good to call.

Anything else you believe is important for people to know?

Well, it’s very important for the younger generation. I hope they get in their mind that one day they can do things on a professional level. Even me, when I was listening to the Punjabi broadcast, I thought, “Well, if these guys can do it, anybody should be able to call play-by-play.” I know it takes skill, and it’ll take time. But I’ve heard 12-year-olds who can speak good Cree. I hope one of those hears this, gets excited, comes on board, and we can help them.


1137519 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / Leafs turn page on mini crisis with persistent effort against Rangers

Luke Fox | March 23, 2019, 10:09 PM

TORONTO — Despite another Saturday-night loss and a further widened gap between the chaser and the chased, the blip of a crisis that was Last

Week with the Toronto Maple Leafs — a hellish, noisy implosion that’ll come and go as quick as a news cycle — is history.

The Leafs may still be taking baby steps, with full knowledge that the time to gallop is only 19 days away, but at least they’re doing that. Seven

days ago, they couldn’t locate their shoes.

Yes, the home side was defeated by a lesser talent, 2-1 in overtime, and

again ran nose-first into the 179 pounds of Bulgarian Brick that is New York Rangers backup Alexandar Georgiev, infuriating Auston Matthews to the point where he smashed his Bauer over the dasher boards.

But for the third consecutive game, Toronto outshot its opposition (45-28) and dominated the run of play, out-attempting the men in front of Georgiev 104-58.

“There were points in the game where it seemed like we had the puck the whole time,” said Matthews, after personally posting a career-high 13

scoring chances.

“That goalie’s just got our number.”

Toronto has dressed the better hockey team all week, even if the results or the goaltending — three points in three outings — didn’t always bear it

out.

The ugliness on and off the ice is in Toronto’s rear-view, and there’s a

firm understanding of what these final seven games before the post-season mean for the Atlantic Division’s No. 3 seed now that Boston has

essentially clinched home ice, rolling all-cylinders past 100 points and ripping through a four-game win streak.

The ramp-up to TD Garden is on.

The Maple Leafs have survived both the late-season swoon and the media “[poop]storm” portion of the schedule (no one uttered a slur on the ice, and the GM and coach have cleared the air, so let’s keep it moving, shall we?).

They have officially entered the please-no-one-else-get-hurt stretch.

“We’re focused on each other on this club, and that’s it,” Matthews said. “So anything, drama or controversy, that goes on in the media or on the

outside, I don’t think anybody in here gives it much thought.”

The sole focus here and now: Staying healthy and sharpening their play in preparation for Game 1 in big, bad, Boston, who’s hung 17 goals over a three-game rip.

That being the case, Toronto’s schedule has laid out lovely.

The Leafs can take advantage of a soft slate of lottery-bound franchises, many of whom have already waved the white towel, stripping away key components at the trade deadline with an eye toward 2019-20 and beyond.

Beginning with Wednesday’s convincing victory in Buffalo and continuing with Saturday’s point at home to a depleted Rangers squad, the Leafs

have five straight games against teams among the league’s bottom 15.

Next week: Florida, Philadelphia, and Ottawa. All beatable with a decent

effort, even with a banged-up roster and a flu going around.

What these tune-up games lack in atmosphere and stakes they can make up for in opportunity.

A chance for No. 1 goalie Frederik Andersen to regain a confidence that had voters mentioning his name in Vezina conversations until 10 days ago.

A chance to smarten the breakouts, dial in the structure, oil up the power play, and puff up the stats sheet.

“We’ve got a number of guys who haven’t scored in a bit,” said coach

Mike Babcock, following a night of high-danger chances coming up empty. “The way I look at that is, that’s usually going to change.”

A chance to maybe open a game’s scoring, something they failed to do for the seventh consecutive time Saturday.

And, most important, a chance for essential defencemen Travis Dermott (shoulder) and Jake Gardiner (back) to return to full health, and for the

rest of the group to take care of their own end.

The D was Exhibits A, B and C in a team meeting held in Nashville at the beginning of the week.

“At times over the course of a long season, you can lose focus a little bit on what’s important and the proper structure,” Morgan Rielly said. “And the way we play, it’s important to play well defensively. I think we got away from that for a little bit.”

Dermott returned to practice Friday wearing a red, non-contact sweater

and his trademark optimism. He’s still a few skates away and won’t rush things, but he’s close.

Gardiner was back on the ice this week, but only for solo work, and he needed Saturday off after testing his back Friday. There is still no

timeline for his return.

“It’s a huge deal for us,” Babcock said. “Both those guys are good puck-

movers and good players, and we miss ’em.”

The Leafs looked determined, not discouraged, Saturday to find

themselves fighting through an atypically low-scoring affair. Zach Hyman scored his 19th and scrummed it up with passion when linemate John Tavares got cross-checked to the ice by Marc Staal. Matthews kept plugging and firing away through his bad luck and off aim.

“This is our third straight year [in the playoffs], and we want to make sure we’re heading in on the right note,” Matthews said. “Not taking shortcuts.

“Just keep going. We’re good players. Those are eventually going to go in. If it’s not tonight, it’s tomorrow. If it’s not tomorrow, hopefully the next game.”

At worst, these not-so-meaningful matches against softer opponents

could open the door for complacency, but to a man, the Leafs insist they won’t let that happen. They can’t afford to.

“The adversity we faced here a week ago,” Babcock said, “I think it’s a good thing.

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“It’s not supposed to be easy.

“Dig in.”


1137520 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / Canucks taken to school by Flames as playoff hopes keep

slipping

Iain MacIntyre | March 24, 2019, 2:10 AM

VANCOUVER — Still learning how to win, the Vancouver Canucks got a lesson in Hockey 101 on Saturday night.

Well on their way to the Stanley Cup tournament, the Calgary Flames soared to 101 points, hitting triple digits in the National Hockey League standings for the first time since 2006, with a 3-1 victory that might be the last closest thing the Canucks get to an actual playoff game this spring.

The Canucks were unable to extend their desperate five-game unbeaten streak or improve their miniscule playoff chances, which took another hit

earlier Saturday when the Colorado Avalanche beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 to put Vancouver six points down in the wild-card race.

The Flames won wire-to-wire, dominating many shifts territorially despite the Canucks’ eagerness to battle in a game that had a lot of intensity and

a little malice.

“You could feel the excitement in the building tonight and for the most part I thought we competed really well against that team,” Canucks defenceman Alex Biega said. “They’ve got a great combination of skill

and work ethic. I think we matched them on the work ethic, but we made a couple of mistakes, turned the puck over.

“Calgary is getting ready to play playoff hockey and (on Sunday) the Columbus Blue Jackets are going to be desperate because they’re a point or two out. These are the kind of games we want to play in.”

The Canucks conclude their weekend back-to-back games against the Blue Jackets at Rogers Arena.

The Flames will continue their march towards the Pacific Division title

during a three-game homestand that starts Monday against the Los Angeles Kings.

“It’s a big accomplishment so far to get there,” Calgary captain Mark Giordano, who scored one goal and set up two others, said of surpassing

100 points. “We’re proud, but we want to keep going. Keep playing well going into the playoffs and try to solidify the division (title) if we can and

go from there.

“We know we’re going to have to get a lot more than 101 points to win

the division. We’ve put ourselves in a good spot; we just have to keep playing well going into the playoffs.”

There is now a 27-point abyss separating the Canucks and Flames in the standings, but you wouldn’t guess the disparity between the teams by watching their season series.

Vancouver went 3-2 in the five games, although Calgary twice lost beyond regulation so finished the series 2-1-2.

The most remarkable aspect of the Canucks’ surge in March is they went 4-0-1 in their five games prior to Saturday while playing a defence that includes a bottom four of Biega, a depth blueliner who was a regular

healthy scratch until seven weeks ago, and minor-league call-ups Luke Schenn, Ashton Sautner and Guillaume Brisebois.

This patchwork group was outstanding last weekend when the Canucks swept back-to-back road games in Dallas and Chicago. But against Calgary, Vancouver’s defence was exposed. It struggled to make plays out of its end, and chased the speedy Flames around the Canucks’ zone.

Brisebois and Schenn had turnovers that preceded the first two Calgary goals, while Canuck winger Jake Virtanen’s fly-by check on Giordano allowed the Flame to set up Andrew Mangiapane’s one-timer in the slot that made it 3-1 at 7:25 of the third period — about seven minutes after Canuck Brock Boeser’s power-play wrist shot deflected past Calgary goalie Mike Smith.

An astoundingly reckless play by Flames’ star Johnny Gaudreau, who slew-footed Virtanen to the ice on an otherwise harmless sequence, gave

the Canucks a chance to come back.

Gaudreau was angry in the second period when cut in the mouth on a

check by Canuck Bo Horvat, although replays appeared to show the damage was done by the Flame’s own stick, which was a point of contact

on the light hit.

Understandably, the Flames weren’t much interested in the finer details

of the collision. They saw their best player bleeding from a hit and heading to the dressing room for medical attention. They were not happy. Garnet Hathaway immediately tried to engage Horvat, who skated away.

The most interesting running skirmish was Swede on Swede: Canucks super-rookie Elias Pettersson and Flame defenceman Rasmus Andersson, who at 22 is two years old than the Calder Trophy favourite. They became involved behind the play during a change, shortly before Hathaway’s backhand eluded Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom to make it 2-0 at 17:08 of the second period.

“It was just hockey, just a battle,” Pettersson, who went back at Flame

Matthew Tkachuk on a later exchange, said of the physicality. “Two guys who want to do their best to win games. It’s hockey. Of course, the

intensity is much higher now. They’re a top team in the league, a great team. It’s two teams that play hard against each other.”

The Canucks certainly do play hard, just not with the calibre of defencemen the Flames possess.

“You’re always upset when you see your teammate get up slowly,” Giordano said of the Gaudreau incident. “That’s all part of it. We stick together. But for sure, you don’t ever want to see your teammate getting up slowly, especially your top guy. There was some good emotion out there. We knew they were going to bring a game tonight because they’re fighting for that (wild-card) spot.”

“You saw how emotional it was compared to other times,” Boeser said. “There were so many scrums, so it was an emotional game and I thought we played pretty well. But now we’ve got to turn our heads and focus on tomorrow.”

• Although cleared to play, Sven Baertschi was not included in Canucks coach Travis Green’s lineup after missing 22 games due to the effects of

a concussion. But the winger should play Sunday against Columbus. Dynamic defence prospect Quinn Hughes, who hasn’t played since

arriving from the University of Michigan nearly two weeks ago with a bone bruise in his foot, skated on his own Saturday morning but will likely

require at least three more days on the ice before he can make his Canucks debut.


1137521 Websites

TSN.CA / Leafs continue to work through scoring slump

Kristen Shilton

CAROLINA HURRICANES


TSN Toronto reporter Kristen Shilton checks in daily with news and notes on the Maple Leafs, who held a noon practice at MasterCard Centre on Sunday.

The Maple Leafs have not often had trouble putting pucks in the net this season. With seven games to go in the regular season, Toronto has scored 264 goals and sits fourth overall in goals-for per game (3.52).

Lately, though, lighting the lamp has been tough for the Leafs with several of their forwards working through simultaneous scoring slumps. William Nylander has posted zero goals in his last 12 games, Kasperi

Kapanen has one goal in 15, Nazem Kadri has zero goals in 11 games, Andreas Johnsson has one in 14 outings, Patrick Marleau has one in 12,

and Connor Brown has just one goal in 23 games.

“It has to turn,” insisted Mike Babcock after the Leafs’ practice on

Sunday. “We got a number of guys who have [scored] one in a long time. It has to turn. I’m a big believer in process, and when you do good things,

good things will happen.”

It’s not that Toronto hasn’t had chances to score; they’ve actually

generated plenty. In the Leafs’ last three games, they’ve put 113 shots on net, but come away with only five goals and a 1-1-1 record.

Reflecting on why Toronto’s had such difficulty converting, Babcock and Kapanen see the same problem resurfacing.

“I just have to hit the net. If you don’t hit the net, it’s not going to go in,” Kapanen said. “Just have to focus on that, try to fire it on net and not try to pick my corner too much and just be confident with my play and know that I’ve scored before and I’ve been hot, so just have to get back at it.”

“Hit the net on your chances, and don’t put any pressure on yourself; just breathe,” added Babcock. “When it’s not going as good as you want,

there’s no sense overthinking this. It’s simple: pick a spot in the middle of the net, like five-hole, and when you miss [there], it goes in [somewhere

else].”

Toronto did everything but score more than the New York Rangers in

Saturday’s 2-1 overtime loss, peppering goaltender Alexandar Georgiev with 46 shots and getting only one by him. That was better than last

Tuesday, when none of the Leafs’ 22 shots got past Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne.

Kadri, who has played primarily with Marleau and Kapanen recently, has been around long enough to know such stretches of bad puck luck are bound to happen, and aren't necessarily cause for alarm long-term.

“Every single game, we get at least one or two good opportunities to score [on our line], so I think just a matter of staying patient,” said the nine-year NHL veteran. “Try not to get frustrated and force it and do too much. That’s when you start to overcomplicate it and things go south from there, so I think just be patient and I think we’re good players and

it’s bound to come eventually.”

Kapanen admitted he’s already frustrated by his lack of scoring touch,

but trusts Kadri’s assertion it would last for long.

“Nazzy and Patty were giving me every opportunity to score yesterday,

and it’s just been hard lately,” he said. “But eventually the drought will end and goals will come, so I’m not too worried about it.”

Kapanen on missed opportunities: 'I just have to hit the net'

The Maple Leafs' offence has been getting their chances as of late but

haven't been able to find the back of the net as much as they'd like. Mike Babcock knows the scoring will come but is happy with how his team has adjusted their play on the defensive side of the puck.

While the pucks haven’t been going in as often for the Leafs, they are suddenly doing a better job keeping shots (and goals) at bay in their own end.

Over the last three games, the Leafs have limited shots against to 28 or fewer per outing, and registered greater than 50-percent puck possession on each occasion. Having made a collective commitment to being better defensively after ceding 23 goals over four games mid-month, the turnaround is heartening for Toronto.

“When you look at our last three games, we’ve done a way better job defensively, we haven’t given up as much,” said Babcock. "And we’ve also generated a ton of offence. We haven’t scored though.”

It would be easy to suggest that focusing in on defensive improvements has somehow distracted Toronto from its offensive responsibilities, but

that’s counter-intuitive to how better play in their own end will ultimately help the Leafs attack their opponents more.

“The one translates into the other,” said Marleau. “So if we play well defensively, we should be in the other team’s end that much more.”

Ultimately, Kadri said the Leafs should be deriving confidence from how they put that four-game slump behind them, and continue taking pride in

the strides made since. On the season, Toronto has given up the seventh-most shots per game (33) but are trending well below that now.

“The last few games we’ve definitely showed we can be reliable on defence and we’ve only given up 20-28 shots which is pretty incredible,” he said. “We’re trending in the right direction, we just have to make sure we’re responsible with the puck and not giving up odd-man rushes.”

As Ron Hainsey took centre stage to lead the Leafs through stretches at Sunday’s practice, his teammates erupted in a swell of stick taps to honour the blueliner’s 38th birthday.

While not the oldest player on the Leafs’ roster – that would be 39-year-old Marleau – Hainsey has brought a unique presence to Toronto’s dressing room, and continues to play big minutes despite his

comparatively advanced age.

Through 75 games this year, the 16-year NHL veteran has skated

primarily on the Leafs’ top defence pairing with Morgan Rielly, averaging 20:13 time on ice per game and a team-high 2:53 TOI shorthanded per

game. For much of the season, Hainsey was leading the NHL in plus/minus, but has recently slipped to fifth overall at plus-30, which still

paces all Leafs.

“Unbelievable,” surmised Babcock of Hainsey’s longevity in the league. “He’s a good player, still a good player for us, one of the top plus/minus players in the league and has really helped Mo and makes Mo a better player, just because he looks after some of the details when Mo is roaming around. He’s been real good for us, a good guy in the room and a fun guy to have around.”

Hainsey also has something that only he and Jake Muzzin share amongst the Leafs: A Stanley Cup ring, from his time with the 2016-17 Pittsburgh Penguins. Babcock said it’s important this time of year

especially to have players with that on their resume, and he’s leaned heavily on Hainsey to shepherd more of Toronto’s young defencemen

than just Rielly.

Since Jake Gardiner (back) and Travis Dermott (shoulder) have been out

with injuries, Hainsey has been rotating at times with rookie Justin Holl, and his booming voice can be heard from ice level barking instructions

and guiding the freshman around Toronto’s end.

“It’s really important sometimes when you’re starting, especially on

defence because it’s a hard league to play defence in, to have someone who knows what they’re doing,” Babcock said. “It’s not like he just stepped into the league and dominated right away, he had to earn his way. I think those lessons and those life lessons are good to pass on, so good on him.”

Now in his fourth season as head coach of the Leafs, Babcock has endured the less pleasant sides of Toronto’s constant media coverage and the city’s sometimes-stifling expectations. But he still says he wouldn’t want to coach anywhere else.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


“I love being here,” Babcock said, when asked if Toronto is the worst place to be when your team is losing. “[The media] isn’t influencing anything I do. I believe this is the greatest place to play hockey. And expectations are great, so who cares? Just do your job and keep getting better and find joy in your life outside hockey.”

Babcock has often mentioned his interactions with fans on the street and said whether the Leafs are succeeding or struggling, those are overwhelmingly positive.

“I think the expectations of the fans are perfect,” he said. “I walk around town every day. The fans I talk to, that talk to me, are jacked right up

about our hockey club. Why are they jacked up about our team? Because we’re in the running. We got a team. It looks like we got players,

looks like we’re going in the right direction, we think we can really improve our team. That’s what we’re trying to do every day.”

Babcock: 'The expectations of the fans are perfect'

Mike Babcock talks about the Maple Leafs tough week when they lost

three of four games and says the fans had every right to be upset with the club, but he's happy with their bounce back and hopes they can

continue to improve.

TSN.CA LOADED: 03.25.2019

1137522 Websites

TSN.CA / Maple Leafs looking on bright side again after close loss

Kristen Shilton

TORONTO – When the final horn sounded to signal the New York Rangers 2-1 overtime triumph against the Maple Leafs, the home team was in familiar territory: on the losing end of a game they could have won, left determinedly looking at the bright side.

“I know it’s a cliché and I know that we’re all getting tired of it, but I think there are positives to take from [the loss],” said Morgan Rielly. “I think it’s a good thing, the fact that we’re getting opportunities, shots, chances, but that being said, we have to find a way to win these ones.”

Toronto did everything but score more than New York, out-pacing them in shots on net 45-28 and controlling possession at 60 per cent. But just

like he did in the teams’ last meeting on Feb. 10, a 4-1 Leafs' loss, Rangers’ goaltender Alexandr Georgiev was nearly unbeatable. He made

a combined 99 saves in those outings to halt the Leafs’ offensive attack in its track, and stole the extra point again for New York again on

Saturday.

Only earlier this week, Toronto was in a similar boat, peppering Nashville

goaltender Pekka Rinne with 22 shots and dominating possession in a 3-0 loss.

“We’re good players; it’s eventually going to go in,” stressed Auston Matthews. “If it’s not tonight, it’s going to be tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, hopefully the next game. But we’ll just keep playing the way we are, generating these chances. Our whole team, we’re too good to keep generating these chances and not capitalizing on them.”

The Leafs’ started Saturday's game well enough, amassing a quick 7-1 edge in shots and rolling around New York’s end with ease. The Rangers had posted a lowly 1-6-5 record in 12 games prior to facing Toronto, but

were no pushovers either, and the game was still knotted 0-0 through 40 minutes.

Not until 19 seconds into the third period was that stalemate broken, off something of a broken play by the Leafs. A rebound went off Frederik

Andersen and into a cluster of players in the slot, where Pavel

Buchnevich found the puck before Toronto could sweep it out of harm’s way.

That made Saturday the seventh straight game in which the Leafs have given up the first goal.

Toronto pushed back hard from there, but too many attempts to even the score were just off the mark either high or wide. When Zach Hyman finally got rewarded with an equalizer, he was in good position around the net and sent a terrific feed from John Tavares into the mesh.

“I think [Jake Muzzin] made a really good play in the D zone and then got it to John, to Mitch [Marner] and Morgan [Rielly], and then just a shot on

net [by me],” Hyman detailed, “Which is what you’ve got to do when a goalie’s hot.”

Georgiev proved impossible to beat again, and Ryan Strome secured the game’s second point one minute, forty-eight seconds into overtime to

hand Toronto its fifth loss in seven games. But none among the Leafs were hanging their heads.

“When we go back and look at the game, we’re going to see there are lots of good things,” Rielly insisted. “Whether it was puck possession or

opportunities or our structure, there’s going to be good things. We wish we had a little more finish but credit to them; they played well defensively. It is what it is, we’ll move on.”

Toronto also showed continued improvement on the defensive side, limiting its opponent to 30 or fewer shots on net for the third straight game and keeping goals-against at three or fewer per game in that stretch. Considering where the Leafs were a week ago, having allowed 23 goals-against in four games, the strides are promising.

“We are responding really well to the stretch we had before this,” Andersen said. “It’s a really good sign. We’re still putting up a decent

amount of shots, decent amount of chances. I think we just have to be keep at it and accept that this is the way we’re going to be playing

hockey. Eventually they’re going to go in.”

The Leafs can only hope that’s the case. With playoffs just over two

weeks away, Toronto can't afford to have its usually-potent offence in a rut. But taking these baby steps forward defensively could add up to

success down the road, making the current simmering frustrations worthwhile.

“I thought we did a lot of good things tonight, don’t think we got in our own way,” said Mike Babcock. “Obviously a disappointing way to end. I don’t think we were as good tonight as the last two games, but I still thought we had lots of opportunity. I’d like to get us a little more rhythm so we feel better. But I like the process we’re in and I like how hard guys are working.”

Takeaways

Auston’s all-in

On a night where there weren’t many great offensive showings by the Leafs, Matthews put together another terrific performance that fell just

short of landing him on the scoresheet.

In the first period, he was all over Georgiev’s crease, but couldn’t quite

find twine on three separate chances in-tight. Matthews did a good job controlling the puck in the second, generating some quality offensive

zone time that still yielded no goals, but at least provided spurts of momentum for Toronto.

Through two periods, Matthews had three shots on goal but 11 shot attempts, graduating to four shots on net and 16 attempts by the end of the game. And it wasn’t just him that Georgiev was holding at bay; Matthews’ linemates William Nylander and Andreas Johnsson were equally stymied.

Together they pulled in 68 per cent possession and put 10 shots on Georgiev with nothing to show for it. As the third period wound down, that

CAROLINA HURRICANES


line had a series of furious shifts in the offensive zone that had the Rangers on their heels, but New York’s netminder had all the answers.

While Matthews has scored fairly consistently of late for the Leafs, with five goals in his last seven games, Nylander has zero goals in 12 games and Johnsson has one goal in 14 outings. For the Leafs prospects offensively to start shifting, they’ll need more contributions from both of them.

Andersen forging ahead

It’s been a rough couple weeks for Andersen, with only one win to show from his last four starts. For his confidence as much as anything,

Andersen needed to get back on track with a solid showing on Saturday, and that’s mostly what he delivered.

The much less busy goalie in the game, Andersen still started sharp in the first period, making most of his 11 saves of that frame in the second

half when the Rangers took control of the Leafs’ defensive zone.

Through the goalless first and second, perhaps the toughest play

Andersen had to face never really materialized. In the middle frame, the Rangers had a two-on-none rush that they overplayed and never got a

good shot off on. If they had, it would have been a difficult stop for Andersen, but he dodged a bullet as the puck went sliding wide of the net and out of harm’s way.

When Buchnevich did eventually score, Andersen originally looked in position to make the stop, but bodies collapsed into his crease area right before the puck sailed by. When Strome potted the game-winner, it was right after Andersen made a great first stop, and then lost sight of Strome with the puck below the goal line before he banked it into the net off Andersen’s own skate.

Like there is for the Leafs’ snake-bitten shooters, Andersen has plenty of

room to improve before playoffs, at which point he’d like to have recaptured the dominant form exhibited for most of the season. Settling

for a point on Saturday will have to suffice as Andersen’s own small step in the right direction. He finished the game with 26 saves and a .929 save

percentage.

Killer kill

The Leafs’ penalty kill has been one of its strong attributes recently, and Saturday was no exception to that. In the first two periods against New York, Toronto was called for three infractions and its kill only got better tackling each one, keeping pressure off Andersen and generating opportunities the other way.

Marner continues to emerge as Toronto’s star penalty killer, balancing the right amount of aggression with smart reads in his own end.

In finishing 3-for-3 on Saturday, the Leafs moved to 16-for-17 in their last eight games on the kill.

Toronto’s power play hasn’t been quite as successful lately, going 0-for-3

against the Rangers and 0-for-9 in their last three games. The man advantage has been a roller coaster for Toronto all season, toggling

between great highs and plummeting lows. This dip hasn’t been marred by major issues, and the Leafs did have some good looks with the extra

man on Saturday, but their scoring touch has been more lacking there just as it has everywhere else.

With the loss on Saturday, the Leafs move to 6-6 in overtime this season, and remain the only NHL club to not have been involved in a shootout all

year.

Next up

Toronto welcomes in the Florida Panthers on Monday.


1137523 Websites

TSN.CA / Game Day Preview: Canucks vs Blue Jackets

Jeff Paterson

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks (32-33-10) are back in action for a second straight night as they conclude a busy weekend by hosting

the Columbus Blue Jackets (40-30-4) at Rogers Arena. It’s the 11th and final set of back to back games on the schedule this season. The

Canucks are 4-6 in the second games including a 3-2 overtime win in Chicago last Monday.

The Canucks fell 3-1 to the Calgary Flames last night. Brock Boeser scored a power play goal early in the third period to cut Calgary’s lead to 2-1. But that’s as close as the Canucks would get. Boeser has scored in back to back games and three of his past six. His goal last night extended his personal point streak to nine games (4+6=10) while Elias Pettersson picked up an assist and is now on a five-game run (1+5=6).

The Canucks have scored a power play goal in three straight games and are 4/6 (66.7%) over that span. They are now 6 for their last 18 (33.3%) over the past six games. They had six power play goals in the 26 games prior to that.

Last night’s loss snapped the team’s three game win streak leaving the Canucks 4-1-1 in their past six games. They now find themselves six points back of Colorado in the chase for the second and final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference with just seven games remaining on the schedule.

Jacob Markstrom stopped 28 of 31 Calgary shots last night, but it’s expected that Thatcher Demko will get the start tonight. Demko picked up

his second win of the season in his last outing on Monday in Chicago. If he gets the call tonight, this will mark the fourth straight time Demko has

been tapped to appear in the second game of team back to backs (at Arizona, at Edmonton and at Chicago). This will also be just his second

home ice appearance and his first since January 18th against Buffalo. Demko made his NHL debut against the Blue Jackets nearly one year

ago in a 5-4 overtime victory on March 31, 2018.

With no morning skate, the Canucks line-up is unclear. After using the same 18 skaters for the past four games, Travis Green could very well make changes – especially up front where he has three healthy extras: Nikolay Goldobin, Ryan Spooner and Sven Baertschi. If Baertschi draws in, it will mark his return to the line-up for the first time since February 2nd in Colorado. Due to a concussion (30 games) and post-concussion syndrome (currently 23 games), he has been limited to just 22 of the Canucks 75 games this season.

The Blue Jackets have been idle since a 4-1 loss in Edmonton on

Thursday night. Defenseman David Savard opened the scoring midway through the second period before the Oilers rattled off four unanswered

goals. Columbus is 0-2-1 in its past three games with the team’s last victory coming in a 3-0 win against Carolina on March 15th. The Jackets

are 5-7-1 since being one of the busiest teams in the league at the NHL trade deadline.

Matt Duchene has 3+3=6 in 15 games with his new team while Ryan Dzingel has 1+6=7 in 13 games. Cam Atkinson leads CBJ with 38 goals

while Artemi Panarin is the team’s leading scorer with 25+51=76. The team has scraped together just four goals over its past three games.

The Jackets boast the fourth best penalty kill in the NHL (84.2%), but no team has been short-handed less (190 times is tied with Toronto) and no one has given up fewer power play goals (30).

Columbus enters action tonight in ninth in the Eastern Conference just three points behind Montreal in the Wild Card chase. The Jackets hold a game in hand on the Habs and they will face-off against each on

Thursday in Ohio.

CAROLINA HURRICANES


The Blue Jackets have 40 wins on the season with 20 at home (20-16-2) and 20 on the road (20-14-2).

Sergei Bobrovsky did not dress on Thursday in Edmonton due to an upper body injury. However, he practiced with his teammates at UBC yesterday and hopes to be able to start tonight. The Jackets are carrying three goalies on the active roster with Joonas Korpisalo and Keith Kincaid.

The Canucks beat the Blue Jackets 3-2 in their only other meeting of the season on December 11th at Nationwide Arena. Jake Virtanen’s sharp angle shot with 1:46 remaining found its way past Korpisalo and was the

game winner.

POSSIBLE CANUCKS LINE-UP

Pearson-Horvat-Goldobin

Leivo-Pettersson-Boeser

Baertschi-Gaudette-Virtanen

Spooner-Beagle-Motte

Edler-Biega

Brisebois-Stecher

Sautner-Schenn

Demko

POSSIBLE BLUE JACKETS LINE-UP

Panarin-Dubois-Atkinson

Dzingel-Duchene-Anderson

Robinson-Nash-Jenner

Dubinsky-Wennberg-Bjorkstrand

Werenski-Jones

Nutivaara-Savard

Harrington-McQuaid

Bobrovsky


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