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The Dallas Stars are one of seven teams in the Western Conference that have already clinched a spot in the postseason, but that doesn’t mean that the last three games of the season are meaningless for the team.

The Stars are battling with the St. Louis Blues for the top spot in the Central Division and the Western Conference. If Dallas should claim the number one spot in the West, then they would have home ice advantage through the Western Conference Finals, should they get there. The Washington Capitals won the Presidents Trophy and will have home ice through the playoffs including the Stanley Cup Final, should they make it that far. Dallas and St. Louis do not face each other in their remaining regular season games. The Stars are without a few key players due to injury: Tyler Seguin, Jason Demers, Kris Russell and Mattias Janmark. Steve Ott, Jay Bouwmeester and Carl Gunnarsson, who could return for the Blues next game.

St. Louis has a game in hand on Dallas, but have a four point deficit to overcome in the final games of the regular season. The Stars only have three games remaining against the Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche and the Nashville Predators. Dallas has one road game and two home games to play. The Blues have four games left against the Colorado Avalanche, Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals. Of those four games, two are at home and two will be played on the road.

The strength of the Stars has been the offense. They have five players with 50 or more points, including Jamie Benn, who leads the team with 88 points. Six players have 15 or more goals and three of those players have 30 or more goals. St. Louis has been riding the defense and goaltending while only giving up 188 goals against on the season. There have been some injuries to the goalies, Jake Allen and Brian Elliott, but  both have stepped up when called upon. They have combined for 10 shutouts on the season.

The battle for first place in the West and Central Division could come down to the last game of the season, but neither team will just hand it to the other.

 

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BOSTON, MA – Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney announced today, March 30, that the team has recalled forwards Austin Czarnik and Seth Griffith from Providence on an emergency basis. This is the first career NHL recall for Czarnik. Both players will join Boston on Wednesday for their 11 am practice in Wilmington.

IMG_5897

Austin Czarnik

Czarnik has skated in 59 games with Providence in 2015-16, tallying 15 goals and 37 assists for 52 points with a plus-13 rating. The 5’9”, 167-pound forward ranks 10th in the AHL in assists and 17th in points in his rookie season with the P-Bruins.

Prior to joining Providence, Czarnik finished up his senior season at Miami University (Ohio) in 2014-15, appearing in 40 games while registering nine goals (tied for fifth on the team) and 36 assists (led the team) for 45 points (led the team) with a plus-five rating. The forward led the Redhawks the previous three seasons (2012-14) in both assists and points.

At the collegiate level with the Redhawks, the 23-year-old competed in 159 games and racked up 46 goals and 123 assists for 169 points (1.06 points per game average). Czarnik was named a Hobey Baker finalist in 2012-13 and served as team captain for his junior and senior campaigns.

The Washington, Michigan native signed an entry-level contract with the Bruins on March 31, 2015.

Seth Griffith

Seth Griffith

Griffith has played in 51 games with Providence in 2015-16, recording 22 goals and 45 assists for 67 points with 32 penalty minutes and a plus-12 rating. The 23-year-old forward leads the AHL in points and is third in the league in points this season. In 2014-15, he skated in 39 games, tallying 12 goals and 19 assists for 31 points, and in his first season with the P-Bruins in 2013-14, the 5’9”, 191-pound forward posted 20 goals and 30 assists for 50 points in 69 games.

Griffith, 23, has also appeared in 32 games with the Boston Bruins over two seasons from 2014-16, totaling six goals and five assists for 11 points.

The Wallaceburg, Ontario native was originally drafted by the Bruins in the fifth round (131st overall) of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

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NORTH CHARLESTON, SC-Kelly Zajac notched a goal and two assists, and Derek DeBlois scored in his first game back from the American Hockey League (AHL) to lead the South Carolina Stingrays (40-18-6-3) to a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Gladiators (31-29-5-2) Tuesday night at the North Charleston Coliseum. The Stingrays claimed the victory in a physical affair that saw the two teams combine for 106 penalty minutes, including 77 from South Carolina. 

Kelly Zajac

Kelly Zajac

The Stingrays jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the chippy game. Just a few hours after being returned to South Carolina from Lake Erie of the AHL, DeBlois opened the scoring. South Carolina’s Nick Jones chipped the puck behind the net to DeBlois. He walked out from behind the net and snapped a shot over the glove of Atlanta netminder Matt Ginn to make it 1-0 at 12:21 of the first period. Zajac also assisted.

The Stingrays would add two more goals in the second period. Zajac would score his sixth goal of the season on the power play at11:02. DeBlois made a perfect cross-ice pass to Zajac on the right wing. His one-time shot hit the top corner of the net over Ginn’s shoulder. 
 
Zajac would factor in on the third goal, feeding Spencer Humphries on the power play at 12:40. The defenseman’s shot was deflected in front of the goal by Stephan Vigier past Ginn to make it 3-0. The goal was Vigier’s team-leading 24th goal of the year. 
 
After several large scrums put the Stingrays shorthanded, the Gladiators struck on the power play in the third period to make it 3-1. Thomas Frazee deflected a Max Everson shot under the pad of South Carolina’s Vitek Vanecek at 10:59.
 
Just when Atlanta appeared to be in striking distance, Patrick Gaul scored an insurance goal to put the Stingrays back up by three. The forward cut down the right wing side and snapped a shot past the blocker of Ginn for his sixth goal of the season at 15:30 to make it 4-1. 
 
A late goal from Jacob Bolton at 18:59 was not enough for Atlanta in the defeat. The Gladiators outshot the Stingrays 29-23. South Carolina was 2-for-4 on the power play while Atlanta was 2-for-8.
 
The game saw three fights and four 10-minute misconducts as South Carolina moved to 8-3-1-0 versus Atlanta this season. The two teams meet again to finish the season series on April 6. 

The Stingrays, just two points behind Toledo for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, host the final two home games of the regular season this weekend. Friday is SAIC/USO Night featuring a Drawstring Bag Giveaway to the first 1,000 fans at 7:05 p.m. versus Orlando. Friday is also a Rays 4 Pack Night, featuring 4 tickets, 4 sodas, 4 hot dogs and one large popcorn for just $65! Saturday is the club’s final home game of the regular season versus Orlando at 7:05 p.m. It is Fan Appreciation Night presented by The Post and Courier featuring FREE parking. That night, fans could win one of five Stingrays authentic throwback jerseys to be given away at the game! Also, raffle tickets will be available to win a jersey off the back of a Stingrays player. For more information, call the Stingrays at 843-744-2248.

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(photo: Garen M.)

The Philadelphia Flyers have eight games left in the regular season and will need to win as many games as they can since they are trying to get into the playoffs. The Flyers are in a battle with the Detroit Red Wings for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Flyers will be coming off of a four-game road trip to face the Winnipeg Jets on Monday, March 28. Philadelphia will have to be careful and try not to have a let-down game after coming home from playing four on the road. The Orange and Black will need to stay focused and be engaged right from the opening face off, no matter who gets the start in the crease for them. The Jets will be trying to play the role of spoiler and keep Philadelphia from getting those all important two points. The Flyers will need to take advantage of scoring chances and get traffic in front of the opposing goalie since Winnipeg gives up almost three goals per game.

If the opportunity is available for someone in orange and black to shoot the puck – then they need to get it on net rather than try to make the extra pass. This will be another chance for Philadelphia’s number one power play unit to get rolling since the Jets have only killed off 78.5% of the penalties that they’ve taken this season. The power play unit for the Flyers has really been struggling lately, and in order to have any success down the stretch it is imperative they get it going again. Winnipeg doesn’t have that many come-from-behind wins, especially if they are down after the second period, so the Flyers will need to grab an early lead and keep building on it so they can exploit this weakness in the final frame.

Next up for the Flyers are the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night at home. The Capitals have been struggling of late, so the Flyers need to take advantage of the Caps’ recent slump. Washington has already clinched a playoff spot and the Eastern Conference top spot, but they are still trying to clinch the President’s Trophy awarded to the team with the most points at the end of the season. The Flyers will need to come out with energy and establish their fore-checking game early. Philadelphia will also need to play a smart team game defensively and avoid the turnovers, because Washington has four lines that can score.

The Flyers will also need to stay out of the penalty box, limiting the Capitals power play units and time with the man advantage; shoot the puck whenever there is an open lane, not make the extra pass; and get as much traffic as they can in front of the opposing goalie.

The Ottawa Senators, another team playing in spoiler mode, will come to Philadelphia on Saturday for a matinée game. The Flyers will need to watch out for the Senators speed and refuse to let this become another “trap” game. The Orange and Black will need to get the puck to the net since the Senators do allow almost three goals against per game. This will be another chance for the first power play unit of Philadelphia to get going again, since Ottawa only kills off 75.5% of the penalties that they’ve taken this season. The Flyers will need to avoid costly turnovers and mistakes in their own end and the neutral zone, because the speed of the Senators players can turn the transition opportunities into dangerous odd man rushes.

If the Flyers want to keep pace with everyone else in the playoff race, then they’ll need to buckle down and play well against the teams that are below them in the standings.

 

 

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Thursday night’s game began with a wonderful tribute honoring head coach Claude Julien for having the most regular season wins in franchise history for the Boston Bruins. He was given a trip to Walt Disney World for he and his family, and a lovely black and gold watch from Royal Jewelers of Andover, Massachusetts. It was clear that Julien was touched, especially by the many congratulatory messages from Boston icons and coaches around the NHL that played on the Jumbotron. Sometimes such openings play out in a sluggish beginning by the Bruins, but such was not the case with the first period.

While the Bruins got two power plays during the first period and outshot the Florida Panthers, when the horn sounded to end the first neither team had scored. What was heartening to see was the strength of the overall play of the Bruins, holding up the Panthers as they entered the neutral zone and having some quality shifts throughout the period. What wasn’t good to see was the number of giveaways from those wearing black and gold—five—while the Panthers didn’t have any.

The second period saw the Bruins score first off the stick of Ryan Spooner, but the goal was the result of some strong puck protection by Frank Vatrano—who got an assist along with Loui Eriksson. It wasn’t long though before the Cats tied it up, as Reilly Smith, who was traded to Florida by Boston in exchange for Jimmy Hayes, got it past Tuukka Rask. And then about five minutes later the Panthers went up on a shorthander from Vincent Trocheck. The second saw the Panthers outshoot the Bruins. The Bruins also added another five giveaways signaling some sloppy play, while again the Panthers had none.

Traditionally this season, the third period has been a strong one for the Bruins, and it looked like they tried to start the period off that way. As the period continued, the ice was certainly becoming level in regard to shots on goal, though neither team had anything really to show for it. Then at 8:03 it looked like on a rebound Patrice Bergeron was able to get the puck in and tie the game. From his vantage point he felt it was in. However, the play would go to review—not as a result of a coach’s challenge—and five minutes later, after much discussion with Toronto, the “no goal” call on the ice was upheld. This despite what appeared to many, including many hockey fans who are definitely not fans of the Bruins, that the puck had indeed been in. To add insult to injury, within a minute the Bruins were whistled for too many men on the ice. While they were able to make the penalty kill, as soon as Vatrano, who sat for the bench minor, exited the box, the Panthers got their third goal of the game. And then as the clock was counting down the last minute and the Bruins net was empty Florida would put the dagger in with an empty netter.

As the players pointed out after the game, at this point of the season, it’s important to simply put this game behind and focus on the seven remaining games.

“You know I wouldn’t take anything from this game. Just going to start fresh. Just forget what happened before and just worry, I mean focus, on the next seven games, game by game,” David Krejci said. “Like I said, we’re not even in the playoffs yet, so just take it game by game and whatever happened in the past happened but we have to look forward here.”

The Bruins have four road games and then will finish the regular season with three homestands beginning April 5 with the Carolina Hurricanes followed by the Detroit Red Wings on April 7 and finally playing host to the Ottawa Senators on April 9. They are still in a playoff position, but they have got to get some wins, as there is little margin now and they could quickly find themselves on the outside if they can’t figure out what has gone wrong with the last five games.

Postgame interviews with both teams:

https://youtu.be/4Er151jT0nc

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BOSTON, MA – Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney announced today, March 24, that with the conclusion of his Western Hockey League season with the Tri-City Americans, defenseman Brandon Carlo has been reassigned to the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League. Carlo is expected to begin practicing with the P-Bruins Thursday, March 24.

New contract for the Rookie Carlo

Brandon Carlo (Photo: Alan Sullivan)

Carlo skated in 52 games with the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 2015-16, recording five goals and 22 assists for 27 points with 94 penalty minutes. Last season, he played in 63 games with the Americans, compiling four goals and 21 assists for 25 points with 90 penalty minutes, and was selected to play in the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. In 2013-14, his first season with Tri-City, Carlo skated in 71 games and produced three goals and 10 assists for 13 points with 66 penalty minutes.

The 6’5”, 203-pound defenseman has twice represented the United States in international play at the World Junior Championships in 2015 and 2016. He skated in five games for the U.S. at the 2015 World Junior Championships and recorded one assist. At the 2016 World Junior Championships, Carlo played in seven games and tallied two goals and two assists for four points with a plus-nine rating to help the U.S. earn the bronze medal.

The 19-year-old native of Colorado Springs, Colorado was originally drafted by the Bruins in the second round (37th overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. He was then signed by the Bruins to an entry-level contract on September 25, 2015.

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With their win over the Chicago Blackhawks on March 3, the Boston Bruins head coach, Claude Julien, reached an impressive milestone—his 387th win behind the bench of the Bruins. This victory tied him with Art Ross for most regular season wins in the team’s history. While a definite accomplishment, he would go on to pass Ross for the most regular-season coaching wins when the team took a victory over the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Florida on March 7. So perhaps it is fitting that the organization will honor Julien before Thursday night’s home game against the Panthers with a pregame ceremony.

Claude Julien

Claude Julien

The Blind River, Ontario native was brought to Boston in June 2007 as the 28th head coach of the Bruins’ franchise. Throughout his tenure, there hasn’t been a year where the fans haven’t been demanding he be fired—even the 2010-11 season where the team went all the way, winning the Stanley Cup after a 39-years drought.

Usually when Julien is alerted to a career milestone, he admits to having been unaware of it. He stresses the team and what they are doing and that his focus is on where the team is and what they need to do. However, when told of his achievement his response had more to do with whom he had tied and surpassed than himself.

Art Ross

Art Ross

“The thing that comes to mind is humbling. It really is humbling because this guy here—I said that before, he’s an icon, he’s a legend. I don’t have a trophy named after me,” he said with some humor. “Those are all things that there’s a big difference between Art Ross and myself and the fact that I’ve avoided being fired for the last nine years helps get that many wins here. So, just feel fortunate and most of all obviously humbled by that achievement.”

During this more difficult year, there have been games where many fans believed that the players were tuning out Julien. As a researcher, I go to the source, so what was it that the players saw in Julien? What makes him an effective coach?

“I think he just has a great feel of knowing how to handle every individual, I guess, and finding ways to get everyone going,” Patrice Bergeron shared. “He’s one of those guys that is always—let’s say with one guy you have to go hard at him and other guys you kind of have to take the long road—and he always has a great read for that and he’s always been fair with everyone and that’s why you want to play for a coach like him.”

“I think for me, I’ve had some coaches that get really mad and stuff like that. If you’re not playing well they can be very negative, I guess you can say, and sometimes when we’re not playing well he tries to stay as positive as he can and that’s good for us,” Ryan Spooner added. “He kind of calls it like he sees it in terms of, I guess, the game that I play. I’ve had some ups and some downs here and if I’m not playing well he’ll tell me and if I am playing well then he tells me. So, I think that’s definitely a good thing, for sure.”

“He’s been huge. You know it’s the same thing. It’s about taking the right approach. With me it’s about growing as an individual and whether it’s defensively [Julien’s] given me more responsibility and trying to thrive in that role. He’s definitely given me advice along the way,” agreed Torey Krug.

To those who feel the players tune him out, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Well he’s just so consistent in his approach and you know what he does for us. He gives us a game plan that if we follow it we are able to win a lot of games. Doesn’t matter who is in the lineup, who is out, if guys are injured—you can see that if we stick to our system you know we are able to win a lot of games,” said Krug.

Perhaps Bergeron summed it up best.

“I think everyone wants to go on the ice and leave everything out there for Claude and it’s all in his honor. It’s one of those things where he does the right things and he says the right things at all times and makes us better players and persons.”

High praise from one of the most respected players in the league.

I think everyone wants to go on the ice and leave everything out there for Claude and it’s all in his honor. — Bergeron

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The Philadelphia Flyers are in the middle of a playoff race and have lost an integral part of its team in goalie Michal Neuvirth.

Neuvirth suffered a lower body injury and will be out for at least the next three weeks. The goalie was slated to start against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, but to everyone’s surprise Steve Mason led the team out for warmups and got the start. The Flyers lost the pivotal game 4-1 and dropped to three points behind the Detroit Red Wings for the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia recalled Anthony Stolarz from its American Hockey League Affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to replace Neuvirth on the roster.

Neuvirth couldn’t have gotten hurt at a worse time with the Flyers having four back-to-back situations remaining in the final 12 games of the season. They play six games in the final nine days of the season and four games in the final five days. The last game of the season is a makeup game with the New York Islanders that was originally scheduled in January, but was postponed due to a snow storm that hit the East Coast.

In 31 games played this year, Neuvirth is 17-8-4 and has started 28 of those games. He has a 2.28 goal against average, which is 11th best in the NHL this year. His .925 save percentage is fifth best in the NHL, and he has been towards the top of the league all season in that category. He also has three shutouts on the season. Neuvrith and Mason have been splitting time in the crease of late because coach Dave Hakstol has been going with the hot goalie since the All-Star Break. In his last 10 games played, Neuvirth is 6-2-2 with a .905 save percentage and 24 goals allowed.

Neuvirth has been really good for Philadelphia this season when he has been healthy. He has had trouble staying healthy during the course of his career though. The goaltending position has probably been the most consistent facet of the game for the Flyers this year. The duo of Neuvirth and Steve Mason has been good and have stepped up when needed. They’ve made key saves when needed during games and is one of the main reasons that Philly is still in the playoff race.

Mason will likely get most of the starts down the stretch. He is 17-16-8 on the season with a 2.62 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. He hasn’t played poorly this season but the teams hasn’t been giving him a lot of goal support. This will be his time to show if he can be a true number one goalie in the NHL. Everyone will see what Mason is made of because the Flyers are in the middle of a playoff race with a backup who has zero NHL experience.

One would think that Stolarz would get a shot at starting at least a couple of the games because of the back-to-back situations for the Flyers. He was 19-5-7 with a 2.59 goals against average and a .916 save percentage while down with the Phantoms. He didn’t see any action during his previous call up earlier in the season. He could possibly start, if he stays up with the team, in Arizona, versus the Winnipeg Jets, at home against the Ottawa Senators or at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Those four teams are already out of the playoff race.

The team will really have to buckle down and play good defense in front of the goalies, who will have to keep the puck out of the net, if they want to remain in the playoff hunt.

 

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The Philadelphia Flyers are chasing the Detroit Red Wings for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, which they are currently out of by three points.

Philadelphia will play four games in six days this week, which includes one back-to-back situation. The Flyers play the New York Islanders on Monday night, the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night, the Colorado Avalanche Thursday night and the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night. All four games this week are on the road before returning home next week.

The Islanders are currently occupying a playoff spot in the East and are battling for positioning. The Flyers will need to play a solid, tight checking road game by supporting each other and avoiding turnovers. The Islanders are a deep team and all four lines can score, but are without starting goalie Jaroslav Halak, who is out hurt. Thomas Greiss and Jean-Francois Berube have been splitting the goaltending duties since Halak went down. The Flyers will need to shoot the puck at every opportunity and get some traffic in front of the net to score goals. The Orange and Black will have to outwork the Islanders at even strength since they don’t give up much on the power play or when they’re shorthanded.

The Flyers will face the Blue Jackets on Tuesday night, which is the first of four sets of back-to-back situations for the rest of the year. The Blue Jackets are one of the worst teams in the NHL, but the Flyers need to come in with a working mentality because Columbus isn’t going to just hand them the game. If Philadelphia can shut down the top two lines of Columbus then they have a decent shot at winning. The Flyers will still need to play a good road game, establish the fore-checking game early and be physical with and without the puck. Philadelphia will need to make it hard for Columbus to establish their own fore-checking game and play a solid game in the neutral zone.

The Avalanche are in a similar place as the Flyers and are battling for the final wild card spot out West with the Minnesota Wild. Philadelphia will need to need to stay out of the penalty box because Colorado has the third best home power play in the league. The Flyers penalty kill has been better of late, but they still need to limit the amount of penalties taken. The Avalanche will be a desperate team so the Flyers will have to come out and match their intensity, but play a smart road game. Colorado will give up some shots so Philadelphia needs to take those shots when available and not pass them up, and if on the power play they’ll need to be careful with the passes to the point since the Avalanche have seven shorthanded goals this season.

The Orange and Black will visit the Coyotes on Saturday night, who will try and play spoiler. Arizona has three lines that can score, but the problem has been the defense and goaltending this season. Mike Smith was out a majority of the season but has returned from his injury. If Oliver Ekman-Larsson is back from his injury then the Flyers will have to keep an eye on him since he’s their leading scorer. Philadelphia will need to take advantage of the Coyotes’ weak penalty kill and put pressure on them when on the man advantage since Arizona has allowed 12 short handed goals this year. The Flyers will still need to play a solid road game, and take advantage of playing a non-playoff team since they won’t play many down the stretch.

Every game is crucial to the Flyers down the stretch because they are trying to gain points and move into the last wild card spot in the East.

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