There is a moment in any game when the home team is losing where there is a shift in the emotional electricity. In today’s Boston Bruins game against the Detroit Red Wings, that moment came in the third period. Having entered the third period playing four-on-four from carry-over matching roughing penalties to the Bruins’ David Krejci and the Red Wings’ Jakub Kindl, it was hoped that the open space might help the Bruins break open and get a goal, being down 3-1 at that point. It didn’t happen.
And when 4:49 into the third, the Wings’ Niklas Kronwall was called for hooking and seven seconds later, Detroit’s Daniel Cleary was sent to the bin for tripping, the Garden faithful hope that the 5-on-3 would help open the scoring floodgates for the Bruins. No matter where the Bruins shot at the goal though, the puck either bounced or was blocked by goalie Jonas Gustavsson. It was clear at that point that the pucks were simply magnetically opposed to the net behind the Red Wings’ goalie. There were moments during today’s game when the fans sat open-mouthed watching chance after chance miss the inside of the posts to slap the twine at the back of the net.
Unlike earlier games last season when the Bruins were down by two or more and the third period was winding down, the fans stayed in their seats. It was clear that they were hoping for another miraculous comeback from behind as had been witnessed during Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the first round of the 2013 playoffs. And, having been shown on the Garden HDX the scenes from the Patriots come from behind and then the Red Sox same over the weekend, it was understandable that there was that hope.
When Milan Lucic scored the 100th goal of his career, to bring the Bruins to within one, the crowd at TD Garden erupted in such a cheer; it was clear that they were hoping another miracle was on its way. There was still 1:20 left in the game. Even Jack Edwards, in his NESN play-by-play, questioned if there was “another miracle in the books.” Unfortunately, it was not to be this time for the Bruins. Perhaps it was the sports gods’ way of evening the playing field a bit. After all, it wouldn’t seem quite fair if all of Boston’s teams came from behind and won in the same weekend. It’s just a shame that it was the Bruins’ fans who had to experience the loss.
When Brad Marchand was asked, after the game, about the way the team had played, he said “Yeah I think that’s what happens in hockey. You’re not going to be perfect every night and every shift and mistakes happen and that’s just what happened out there tonight. I don’t think we expect to play a perfect game and like I said they’re just really good at capitalizing on opportunities.”
And capitalize the Red Wings did. After all, when the likes of Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are on the ice and a player fans on the play, they will take the puck and make the other team pay. And they did 11:33 into the game when, unfortunately, Patrice Bergeron fanned on an opportunity to move the puck into the corner.
The Bruins fans shouldn’t worry though. The season is young and with the changes to the team, it will take some time for all the lines to get that chemistry. And it is better for them to perhaps stop pressing so much to score and just let that chemistry happen. When it does, the other teams will need to watch out, because the Bruins will not only bring that strong, defensive play that they do so well, but also the scoring machine will begin.
There are still some positives to be taken away from this game. Though the Red Wings won in the face off dot 24 to 22, Patrice Bergeron won 10 of the 16 he saw for an impressive 63% and he saw the most faceoffs of any center in the game. Today also marked the 500th NHL game of right-winger Shawn Thornton, and he actually had the first shot on goal in today’s game. Finally, as part of the Bruins 90 Years celebrations, the fans at today’s game got to see not only a Bruins legend, but a hockey legend, when Milt Schmidt dropped the ceremonial puck before the beginning of the game.
The team has Tuesday off, but they will be back practicing on Wednesday and Julien said the team would be ready for Thursday when they travel south to play the Florida Panthers in Miami
Perhaps the dreamiest Chicago Blackhawk, Patrick Sharp, is credited with another significant assist.
His wife, Abby, gave birth to their second daughter Sunday night, bringing even more beauty into the Windy City.
Sadie Ellen was born around 6 p.m. on an off-day, though Patrick has told media he’d miss a game. Luckily, the only thing he had to miss was someone else’s athletic effort.
“I missed that fourth-quarter drive by (New England Patriots quarterback) Tom Brady but I’ll sacrifice that,” Sharp said to laughs. “It was awesome timing. Both my daughters are ‘Hawks fans, I guess; (born) on an off day, both of them. I couldn’t be happier. Everybody’s healthy. It couldn’t have been a better day.”
Sadie’s big sister, Madelyn, was born in December, 2011–a lucky night for her dad in more than one way. Not only did he become a first-time dad, he also scored the game-winning overtime goal against the Islanders.
Maybe Sadie can bring that 200th career goal in for her dad!
Either way, we can expect even more adorable Sharp family moments.
Two New York teams in two nights. Two wins. Is Chicago still the “Second City?”
After defeating the Islanders Friday, the Blackhawks tallied a 2-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres Saturday.
About halfway through the first, Ben Smith redirected a shot from Brent Seabrook, getting the Hawks on the board early. Smith played on the fourth line, scoring his first goal of the year but earning his second point in two nights.
He was also rattled by a rough hit from behind from Steve Ott later in the first.
“I thought [Smith] had a good game, nice to see him score and I thought that line played well too,” Quenneville told media. “The other lines, we’re generating a lot of high-quality stuff, but we’ve got nothing to show for it.”
Not quite “nothing.”
Patrick Kane scored on a Power Play (quite a feat for Chicago!) against his hometown team at 19:35 in the second period. It was a Patrick-to-Patrick play with an assist from Sharp. This was Kane’s fourth goal in five games.
But, otherwise, Sabres goalie Ryan Miller held strong, stopping 38 of 40 shots.
In the third, the Sabres outshot the Hawks 13-3, yielding one goal by Drew Stafford, and threatening to make things exciting for a Chicago team with a penchant for losing leads late in games.
“We had some chances to make it 3-1 tonight,” Kane said. “I don’t think we got the shots that we wanted, or didn’t get them through to the net, so hopefully it will come as the season goes on. I think we have a lot of confidence from what we did last year in these close games to come out and win them, so hopefully we’ll get better at preserving the lead a little bit.
“It would be nice to score that third goal. I think sometimes you might think about that too much. You start thinking too much on the offensive side and we’re giving up more chances defensively. We’ve got to be better at that.”
It seemed apparent the team was trying to set up Patrick Sharp for that third goal. That would have made 200 career goals the same night as his 600th game. He’s also expecting a second baby girl any day.
The Blackhawks take on the Hurricanes Tuesday.
By Lee Durocher
Wheelchair hockey is a sport played by everybody across this great nation of ours. There aren’t any leagues, or any superstars. The players just for the sheer love of the game and the players can copy their favourite players (be it defence or center or even a goalie) this sport is like shinny it’s all honour system. Wheelchair hockey is a sport with a history and some prestige but mostly it’s all about honour.
This history of this sport is it was in the Cerebral Palsy games and even did a stint in the Paralympics once. Each province had their team and each major city had a team. These teams weren’t sponsored, they only why a player would get sponsorship is if he or she the national teams. Which was good for the player – he or she had gear. That’s a bit of history of wheelchair hockey – the prestige part about wheelchair hockey was in the Paralympics and the players had something to play for other than pride – which was good from a player’s aspect.
Speaking from a player’s aspect I have played during the years of prestige – I had the honour to wear the red maple leaf but it was during the Boycott in 1980 in L.A. I also played for the sheer love of the game on a team – it was like shinny. Due to the lack of interest the prestige died out this in turn was one of the things that caused the end of wheelchair hockey in the Paralympics. I played for a rec team for a few years I decided to quit. Now I’m between the pipes in my backyard facing my niece – that’s what I call fun. I still wish wheelchair hockey had the prestige it had. Not for me though but for younger generation.
The younger generation has nothing to really play for: No provincials – no nationals, and no Paralympics. They play for pride and that’s it – the teams are nothing more than bear league teams which are too bad – because some of the players on those teams are pretty good they could make any national squad easy. The younger generation has nothing which is sad for the sport.
The sport of wheelchair hockey has gone from the prestige of a possible Paralympic sport to a rec sport. Which is killing the sport, and these organizations don’t even know it. The sport which I so proudly played is slowly going to be extinct soon. Already the Paralympics have forgotten about it – it’s like the forgotten sport.
In conclusion wheelchair hockey shouldn’t ever be forgotten this way – there are many different community programs from a WHL teams in cities. They could help this sport survive and bring this sport back to the prestige as it were. But for now wheelchair hockey is on the way to extinction like the Dinosaurs which is sad to say about a sport which was held in such prestige and glory.
Wishing all of our Canadian friends (and we have quite a few), a very Happy Thanksgiving! Eat some food, enjoy your family and friends and maybe watch a little hockey also, Bruins face the Red Wings at 1pm and the Sabres host the Wild at 7:30.
For all of our American friends, in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue… enjoy your Columbus Day.
From the Pink Puck family to yours, happy happy happy whatever it is you’re celebrating.
The Los Angeles Kings are starting to look like their old selves again. They stole two points in Minnesota, winning in a shootout, after turning in a less than ideal performance; dropped the game in Winnipeg; couldn’t find their offense (or any semblance of a team performance, capped off perfectly by Jonathan Quick’s infamous gaffe) versus the Rangers in their home opener; barely held on for a 4-3 win over Ottawa (nearly blowing a 3-0 lead); followed by scraping out a 2-1 shootout victory over the Canes on Friday.
In the Sunday matinee performance, Kings showed off their elite puck possession skills and were able to withstand pressure exerted by Florida’s gifted, young offense.
Extraskater.com’s chart shows that overall, Kings fairly well dominated Corsi (goals + saves + missed shots + blocks). The Fenwick (goals + saves + missed shots, but no blocks) was a little closer, however, Kings still came out on top with a fairly decent margin.
Panthers Stat Kings
0 Goals 3
32 Corsi 54
27 Fenwick 39
20 Shots 29
5v5 (54.0 min played)
0 Goals 3
28 Corsi 51
24 Fenwick 36
17 Shots 27
5v5 close (28.9 min played)
0 Goals 2
18 Corsi 31
15 Fenwick 24
10 Shots 18
5v5 tied (22.8 min played)
0 Goals 1
16 Corsi 24
13 Fenwick 17
9 Shots 13
From looking at this chart above, the Corsi and Fenwick were extremely close and nearly identical while the score was still tied until Daniel Carcillo recorded his first goal as King almost nine minutes into the second period. That goal seemed to breathe life into the Kings as they applied even stronger pressure and were rewarded just about seven minutes later when Justin Williams forced a turnover inside the Panthers’ zone before finishing off a give-and-go from Kopitar for his 500th career point. From there on out, the Kings’ extended their Corsi and ran away with the game from a puck possession stand point.
It was arguably their best game of this still young season as they limited offensive chances against and held the Panthers to just 20 shots on goal.
| Period |
Totals |
EV |
PP |
5v3 PP |
SH |
5v3 SH |
| 1 |
5 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2 |
6 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| 3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
The table above shows the away team’s (in this case, the Kings’) total scoring chances by period. Through four minutes of PK time, the Kings surrendered only one scoring chance. In the first period, they had a total of 5 chances and only gave up 3. The third period scoring chances can be attributed to score effects when the Kings were already up 2-0. (In other words, the Panthers would be pressing harder and the Kings’ defense would be
Ben Scrivens, in his first start as a King, wasn’t extensively tested but he made accurate reads and was solid when he needed to be. His last shutout actually came against Florida and his luck proved to hold up as he managed to keep the Panthers off the board through the entire 60 minutes.
Los Angeles will host the Panthers on Saturday, March 22 at 1pm.
The Hartford Wolf Pack played a home and home series against the Adirondack Phantoms on Friday and Saturday night. These were the first two games out of ten times the teams meet this season and that showed as they took to twitter to battle it out before the games even started. The fans following either team ate it up, deciding for themselves which team came out on top of that war.
Friday night’s game was in Hartford and the teams combined for 100 minutes in penalties. It started early, just over two minutes into the game, when two separate fights broke out. Adirondack’s Zack FitzGerald took on Hartford’s Shawn O’Donnell. Hartford enforcer Dylan McIlrath fought Derek Mathers at the same time. Later that same period, Adirondack’s Mark Alt started on Hartford’s Brandon Mashinter. The second period was not any calmer than the first with FitzGerald shedding his gloves again, this time to take on Hartford’s Stu Bickel. Hartford’s McIlrath found himself with a second fighting major on the night when he took on Ben Holmstrom later that period. In the third period, things turned to a scene out of Slap Shot. Hartford’s Michael Haley bent down, sending Adirondack’s Oliver Lauridsen flying over his back. The ensuing fight would be the final of the night, with both players getting extra penalties.
With all of that fighting, fans might have have expecting fireworks in the scoring as well. But, they certainly got an exciting game. Hartford opened up the scoring in the first with a powerplay goal from Chris Kreider. But, Adirondack followed with two of their own. Bruno Gervais added a powerplay tally as well before Rob Bordson shot one home unassisted.
In the second period, Adirondack jumped out to a 3-1 lead with a goal from Michael Raffl. But, McIlrath brought it back to 3-2 before getting into his second fight of the game. Hartford’s JT Miller tied it up early in the second. The seesaw continued when Chris VandeVelde put Adirondack back on top just a few minutes later. Although the Wolf Pack were easily outshot, they kept the shot count close in the third and eventually, Danny Kristo was rewarded by tying the game up once again.
As if the fights weren’t enough, the game ended up going to a shootout where Kristo and Miller came through for Hartford, both scoring and giving the Wolf Pack the 5-4 shootout victory. The teams headed back to Adirondack where they faced off again on Saturday night.
In Saturday’s game, the two teams showed just how strong their rivalry is and still combined for 70 minutes in penalties. They seemed to have gotten most of the fighting out of their systems for the time being, though. Only Hartford’s McIlrath and Adirdondack’s Mathers earned fighting majors in this game. There were a few misconducts assessed though with the referees paying closer attention after the game the night before.
The shots were much closer during the second game. But, despite being outshot, Hartford came out on top once again. JT Miller notched his fourth goal in only his third game. Rookie Tommy Hughes scored his first professional goal while returning Wolf Pack favorite Brodie Dupont got his first of the season. Mark Alt and Ben Holmstrom both chose to keep their gloves on for Saturday night’s game and each scored their first of the season. However, it was not enough as they fell to the Wolf Pack for the second night in a row, this time 3-2 in regulation.
Fans have to wait until December 6th to see the two teams face off again in Adirondack and December 13th to see them again in Hartford. If the first two games are any indication, this is going to be a series to watch this season.
Photo Credit: Hartford Wolf Pack
There is something special about college hockey. There is a speed and intensity that is always present. This early in the season, there is the promise of potential as new players hit the ice for their first collegiate game. And Northeastern University’s second tilt in as many nights against University of Alabama-Huntsville’s Chargers was no exception.
Derick Roy, a Redshirt Freshman, took the ice to defend Northeastern’s net in his first collegiate game. He stood tall in the net and had a poise on the ice that belied it being his first game at this level. He saw a total of 27 shots and saved all but two of them—both goals being power play goals. However, Roy should be pleased with his first outing as he had a save percentage of .931.
After Friday night’s thumping by the Huskies in the first game against UAH, some could have expected an overconfident Northeastern team or a beleaguered Chargers team. However, the play between the two teams on Saturday seemed to have a slightly less tilted ice surface, which should probably be attributed to UAH’s freshman goalie Carmine Guerriero, who was put in Friday night’s game after UAH’s freshman Matt Larose allowed all nine goals. Guerriero saw five shots in his first minute after being put in; which when all said and done, showed Northeastern had peppered the UAH net with 52 shots and outscored them 9-1.
Saturday’s game wasn’t quite as bad, though the shots were still definitely in favor of Northeastern, who continued to dominate with shots on goal through the first two periods with 29 shots to UAH’s 16.
Frustrations and a little lack of self-control are always evident at the college level. Though true of most collegiate teams, many of those playing for both teams are only in their first or second year of college. Some were coming from the USHL (where fighting is allowed) and learning a new system, while others are just trying to get noticed. The Chargers brought with them many of their youngest players. Of their 18 forwards and defensemen, 9 of them are freshman, while 5 are sophomores. Though not quite as many, the NU Huskies had 6 freshman and 6 sophomores on the ice for Saturday’s game.
As a result it was not surprising to see a few penalties called on both teams. UAH saw 8, which included a game misconduct to freshman forward Brent Fletcher, as a result of the five minute major for hitting from behind just three and a half minutes into the game. This also offered the Huskies their first power play goal of the night. The Huskies were hardly angels though, giving as good as they got. They were called for 11 penalties, including the holding penalty called on Dax Lauwers, with just 2:03 left in the game, followed by the hooking penalty called on Colton Saucerman with 47 seconds left. Having pulled their goalie, this in effect gave the Chargers a 6-on-3 power play that could only end in a goal, despite a valiant effort by the few Huskies still on the ice.
And anyone who thinks that college hockey is soft has not sat near the boards as both teams crash into each other in their attempts to knock their opponents off the puck. There were a few bone crushing checks from both sides on Saturday as each side tried to intimidate the other with their brute force.
Northeastern has now started the season with two wins for the second year in a row. However, the team is looking to be a force this year. The additions of the USHL’s Clark Cup-winning Dubuque Fighting Saints’ Matt Benning, Mike Szmatula and John Stevens should assist the Huskies is going much further this year and winning more of their games. In fact, between the two games against the Chargers, these three NU players had a total of 10 points.
Yes, the season is just beginning, and there is a lot more college hockey to be seen. Northeastern’s Huskies are looking to be a dominate team. It should be an interesting ride with the talent they added. And it could be that their strikes on the Chargers are just the beginning of an impressive year.
Prev1...326327328...412Next 
Page 327 of 412
