NHL free agency can be a difficult thing for general managers to navigate. They think they are adding the missing piece to their Stanley Cup puzzle but are often times overpaying a player who will one day have to bought out or traded. Sometimes, though, teams make it work. Here we take a look at the winners and losers of the 2019 NHL free agency period. This is ONLY focusing on free agents and not the draft or trades.
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Buffalo Sabres: winner
t has been a strong offseason for the Sabres, who re-signed Jeff Skinner and added Jimmy Vesey and Colin Miller via trade. They also dipped into the free agency pool by getting Marcus Johansson on a cheap deal from the Boston Bruins. They are still probably a long way from the playoffs, but they took a nice step closer this summer. 2 of 23
Calgary Flames: loser
The Flames had one major flaw on their roster during the 2018-19 season in net: goalie. They attempted to address it but did so in a rather disappointing way by signing Cam Talbot, statistically one of the worst goalies in the NHL this past season, to a one-year contract. Maybe getting out of Edmonton and playing behind a better defensive team will help. If it doesn’t, it is an inadequate offseason for the Flames. 3 of 23
Carolina Hurricanes: winner
The Hurricanes picked up Ryan Dzingel on a cheap, short-term deal and also managed to lock up Sebastian Aho on a long-term contract thanks to some help from the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens’ weak offer sheet attempt was an easy match for the Hurricanes and helped them avoid a summer of negotiating with their franchise player. 4 of 23
Chicago Blackhawks: winner
Stan Bowman has been a busy man this offseason, trying to get the Blackhawks back to the playoffs, making multiple trades and adding one fairly significant free agent. That was goalie Robin Lehner, a Vezina Trophy finalist from this past season with the New York Islanders. Lehner will be a great complement to Corey Crawford and a fantastic insurance policy if Crawford is injured again. 5 of 23
Colorado Avalanche: winner
The Avalanche are building a powerhouse in Denver. They made a blockbuster trade with Toronto to get Nazem Kadri while also adding Andre Burakovsky and Joonas Donskoi to help round out their forward depth. This is a Stanley Cup contender right now and is only going to get better, plus Colorado still has more salary cap space than almost every other team in the league.
Columbus Blue Jackets: loser
Gustav Nyquist was a nice addition at a decent value, but the free agency exodus that saw Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel walk out the door leaves several significant holes on the roster.
Two gifted running backs — Shaun Alexander and LaDainian Tomlinson — won the Associated Press NFL MVP Award in consecutive seasons, 2005-2006. Since then, 11 of the past 12 MVPs have been quarterbacks, including 2018 top dog Patrick Mahomes who earned 41 of the 50 first-place votes. Fellow quarterback Drew Brees finished second. So Adrian Peterson’s 2012 season — less than a year removed from a torn ACL — remains the last time somebody other than an NFL quarterback hoisted the NFL MVP hardware.
Spoiler alert: Based on the favorites to win the 2019 MVP, don’t expect this trend to change anytime soon.
Odds via Bovada
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Cam Newton
Odds: +2,500 2018 Stats: 3,395 pass yards, 24 TDs and 13 INTs | 488 rush yards and four TDs
A shoulder injury may have cost Newton the final two games on paper, but anybody who watched the Panthers quarterback grind out the 2018 season knows it cost the team much more. Carolina started the season 6-2 and in a prime position to reach the playoffs. However, the severity of Newton’s shoulder injury prevented him from throwing balls down field and allowed defenses to cheat up and play the underneath routes. After the hot start, the Panthers lost seven of their last eight games. Newton had offseason surgery to repair the shoulder, and he’s expected to be back at 100 percent by the start of the season. His MVP chances ride on improved play of DJ Moore, Jarius Wright and a healthy Greg Olsen. The veteran tight end has missed 16 games over the past two seasons due to injury, but when healthy he’s Cam’s most trusted target. If Olsen misses time, running back Christian McCaffrey’s MVP odds could be just as high as Cam’s. 3 of 16
Rivers may be the NFL equivalent of MLB’s Cal Ripken. The Chargers ironman has not missed a game for 13 consecutive seasons. While the league has gone to great lengths to protect the quarterback, the fact Rivers hasn’t sustained a serious injury over the past 208 games is nothing short of a miracle. Led by Keenan Allen, his receiving corps remains intact and receives a slight upgrade with the full-time return of tight end Hunter Henry who missed the 2018 regular season with a torn ACL. The one constant who is missing as of press time is Melvin Gordon. The Chargers starting running back is holding out in hopes of a new contract. If Gordon’s holdout lingers into the regular season, Rivers’ odds of winning the 2019 MVP should take a notable hit. 4 of 16
Jimmy Garoppolo
Odds: +3,300 2018 stats: 718 pass yards, five TDs and three INTs (in only three games due to torn ACL)
The saying goes, “we don’t know what we don’t know,” and when it comes to Jimmy G. what we don’t know outweighs his elite hype. Garoppolo has yet to play in more than six regular-season games and missed the final 13 games of the 2018 season with a torn ACL. So the 2019 season will be a fresh canvas on which to either paint a masterpiece and fill in those unknown gaps OR post pedestrian stats as he has through his first nine games as the 49ers quarterback: 12:8 TD:INT ratio. If you’re looking for a reason to back this long shot, Kyle Shanahan’s offensive schemes will benefit — not hurt — Jimmy G’s shot at the 2019 MVP. 5 of 16
Ryan was one of only four quarterbacks last season to finish with more than 600 pass attempts. Aside from a pass-first offense, the primary reason his pass attempts reached a three-year high is due to a host of injuries on the defensive side of the ball, which turned the secondary into Swiss-cheese city, and opponents racked up early leads. So Ryan, Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley (10 TDs as a rookie) and others spent most of the game in rally mode via the pass. If the defense can stay healthy, the Falcons are one of those squads that could flip the script and qualify for the playoffs one year after missing them. Ryan is as consistent as they come and despite turning 30 years old, Jones will go down as one of the top targets in NFL history. 6 of 16
Without Le’Veon Bell last season, Roethlisberger led the NFL in completions (career-high), attempts (career-high), passing yards (career-high) and pass yards per game. The loss of both Bell and Antonio Brown will no doubt change the Steelers’ offensive dynamic, but don’t sleep on wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster to fill Brown’s shoes as Big Ben’s primary receiver in addition to a healthy running game of James Connor and Jaylen Samuels behind one of the NFL’s best offensive lines. While many believe the AFC North torch has been passed to Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns, an MVP season by Roethlisberger would mute any chance of that happening. 7 of 16
Deshaun Watson
Odds: +2,000 2018 Stats: 4,165 pass yards, 26 TDs and nine INTs | 551 rush yards and five TDs
The good news for Watson is that he’ll probably compete for an NFL MVP one day. The bad news is that unless his offensive line play improves 1,000 percent, he won’t be among the 2019 MVP finalists. Remember: Despite mobility that rivals Russell Wilson, Watson was sacked a league-high 62 times. To be fair some of those sacks were no doubt Watson’s fault. However, as of early August, head coach Bill O’Brien admits he still doesn’t know who will start on the offensive line. How does this not get addressed in the offseason? Forget Watson’s MVP chances. The Texans could find themselves on the outside looking in come playoff time. 8 of 16
The Chicago Bears 2018 defense ranked first in points allowed and against the rush, third in turnover differential (+12) and seventh against the pass. Its pass offense ranked outside the top 20. So the obvious question becomes where can Trubisky improve in his third year when the top three receiving targets remain the same and the Bears front office elected to shake up the running back depth chart after averaging 121 rush yards per game last season (11 th)? It’s a loaded question. Despite an above-average arm and 421 rush yards and three rush TDs last season, it’s hard to fathom Trubisky making enough of a statistical leap toward MVP when the most valuable players — plural — on the team likely reside on the defensive side of the ball. 9 of 16
Because the Seahawks averaged a league-leading 160 yards per game last season, Wilson’s passing totals were the lowest since 2014. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but for the Seahawks to make another Super Bowl run, the offense needs to find a consistent passing game aside from Wilson running for his life on third and long. Wilson was sacked 51 times last season, but that total could have been higher if not for his elite mobility out of the pocket. So the offensive line play must improve, and Pete Carroll needs to find lighting in a bottle with second-round draft pick DK Metcalf. The 6-foot-4, 228-pound receiver out of Ole Miss is a polarizing brand, but Wilson has no choice but to embrace the rookie because without Doug Baldwin, No. 3’s primary target is 5-foot-11, 175-pound speedster Tyler Lockett. 10 of 16
Wentz’s 2017 season was cut short due to an ACL tear, and he missed the final three games of the 2018 season with a stress fracture in his back. The knock of Wentz is that these annual ailments date back to high school. However, when you place the injury history on the back burner and assess a potential 16-game campaign for the Eagles quarterback, it’s evident he has the talent and players around him to make a run at an MVP and Super Bowl title. One guy who will help him reach those goals is DeSean Jackson. The speedy, downfield receiver returns to Philadelphia at age 32 and should allow for Alshon Jeffery and Nelson Agholor to enjoy softer coverages this season. Also, the arrival of Jordan Howard should improve the Eagles 28 th-ranked running game of a season ago, which should also boost Wentz’s MVP odds.
After the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Islanders, Florida Panthers and Colorado Avalanche all made huge pitches to try and convince Artemi Panarin to join their squads, it ends up being the New York Rangers who will acquire his services moving forward. The Rangers have agreed to terms on a seven-year, $81.5M deal with Panarin.
Panarin, 27, was the consensus No. 1 in our Top 50 UFAs this season and will immediately become the highest-paid winger in the entire NHL. His cap hit is will be more than $1M higher than Patrick Kane’s $10.5M from several years ago and well ahead of the recent market set by Nikita Kucherov and Mark Stone at $9.5M. Part of that is the fact that he actually got to unrestricted free agency, but there is good reason to think he will be able to perform at a high level for quite some time.
In the four years he has played in North America, the originally undrafted Panarin has only gotten better. Setting a career high with 87 points last season in just 79 games, he proved that he could create offense with any type of linemate and established himself as a legitimate superstar in the NHL. That’s exactly what the Rangers were waiting for and have now had quite the summer. They already traded for both Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba to improve their blue line and drafted Kaapo Kakko second overall. Panarin’s contract is extremely expensive but also puts the Rangers in line to compete for the playoffs as soon as next season.
Ryan O’Reilly has joined impressive company in the Stanley Cup record books.
O’Reilly scored the first goal of Game 7 on Wednesday to give his St. Louis Blues a 1-0 lead over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. That was the fourth straight Stanley Cup Final game in which O’Reilly had scored, something last accomplished by Wayne Gretzky in 1985.
Prior to Ryan O’Reilly, the last player to score a goal in four consecutive Stanley Cup Final games was Wayne Gretzky in 1985 (Games 2-5, Oilers vs. Flyers). O’Reilly is the first player in NHL history to score in Games 4, 5, 6, and 7 of a Stanley Cup Final series. #StanleyCup
Alex Pietrangelo added another goal with seven seconds left in the period to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead through the first period.
O’Reilly actually has five goals in four games as he scored twice in the Blues’ Game 4 win. For his performance in the Final, as well as the rest of the postseason, O’Reilly was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Blues hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup for the first time in franchise history.
The St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins rolled into the Stanley Cup playoffs as two of the NHL’s best teams in the second half of the 2018-19 season. They were so good that going back to Jan. 1 the only team that had a better points percentage than the Blues and Bruins was the Presidents’ Trophy winning Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Blues and Bruins not only had success in the standings, but they also looked like championship-level teams with the way they played, controlling possession, playing great defensively, getting great goaltending and finding secondary scoring to go with their dynamic top line players.
Both teams have continued that level of play throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and now they are meeting in a rematch of the 1970 series that was won on Bobby Orr’s legendary overtime goal. With the series set to begin, let us take a look at some of the most important names you need to know.
Those include the star players, the goalies, the coaches and a group of people who do not actually play for either team.
Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins — Everything with the Bruins revolves around Marchand. He is their best offensive player and one of the most productive in the entire NHL. He is a top-tier goalscorer and an excellent playmaker, and he combines all of that with an outstanding defensive game that makes him one of the most complete players in the league. He is also almost certainly going to do something — maybe even several things — that draw the ire of the Blues and their fans or pretty much anyone that is not a Bruins fan. Along with being a top-10 offensive player, he is also the most effective pest and agitator in the league. Sometimes he takes that heel role a little too far and gets himself in trouble, running the risk of an ejection or a suspension (or actually getting ejected or suspended), but it is a part of his game and it is not going anywhere. One way or another he will be one of the main attractions in this series.
The Goalies: Tuukka Rask and Jordan Binnington — We mentioned them in our look at the potential X-factors in the series, but they really need to be mentioned again because they will play such an enormous role in who wins this series. Rask is not only playing the best hockey of his career this postseason, but he also is currently putting together one of the single best postseason goaltending performances ever, at least from save percentage and goals against standpoints. He has played on this stage before, backstopping the Bruins to the 2012-13 Stanley Cup Final where they were defeated by the Chicago Blackhawks, but he has yet to be “the man” in net for a championship run. This is obviously his best chance. Binnington, meanwhile, has a far smaller resume and track record at the NHL level but has been one of the most surprising individual success stories in the league. At the start of the year, he was nothing more than an afterthought in the Blues organization and is now one of the biggest reasons the team is playing in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since the 1969-70 season.
Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues — Tarasenko is the Blues’ most dangerous player and is heading into the Stanley Cup Final riding a six-game point streak, finding the score sheet in every single game of the Western Conference Final. Along with being a consistent 35-40 goal-scorer since becoming a regular in the NHL, Tarasenko is also one of the best postseason goalscorers ever. His 0.476 goals per game average in the playoffs is not only higher than his career regular-season total, but it is also second best among all active players and in the top 25 in the history of the league. He had a slow start to the playoffs but has looked unstoppable over the past two weeks.
David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins — One of the biggest reasons the Bruins’ Stanley Cup window reopened over the past couple of years has been the emergence and development of young players like Pastrnak and McAvoy. They needed another wave of talent to come through their system and complement the core of Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Zdeno Chara, and these two have been everything the Bruins could have possibly hoped for them to be. Pastrnak has become one of the top goal-scoring wingers in the NHL (38 goals in only 66 regular-season games this season), while McAvoy is the perfect modern-day No. 1 defender given his skating, ability to jump into the play and lead the rush and overall brilliance.
Jaden Schwartz, St. Louis Blues — After a disappointing regular season that saw him score just 11 goals in 69 games, Schwartz has put together a Conn Smythe-worthy performance in the playoffs, already eclipsing his regular-season total. He is one of just three players in NHL history to have scored at least 10 goals in the playoffs and exceed his regular-season total. He has two hat tricks and two game-winning goals so far this postseason. The referees: Gord Dwyer, Steve Kozari, Wes McCauley, Chris Rooney, Kelly Sutherland — The NHL would probably prefer that you did not know the names of this group, but given the way the playoffs have gone so far you might soon become acquainted with them. Officiating has been the sub-plot of the 2019 postseason due to the controversial calls, missed calls and messed up calls that have severely impacted games. Every round has been affected in some way by the officiating, and the NHL has to be hoping that trend does not continue in the Stanley Cup Final.
The top centers: Patrice Bergeron and Ryan O’Reilly — This series will feature two of the best two-way centers in the NHL when Bergeron (Bruins) and O’Reilly (Blues) go head to head. Bergeron is the standard against whom all other defensive forwards are measured in the NHL right now and is just as dominant with the puck on his stick as he is without it. He will score, he will shut down your top scorer and he will dominate every phase of the game when he is at his best. O’Reilly may not quite be on his level (few players are), but he is not far behind. He, too, blends top-line offense and stellar defensive play and also has the ability and discipline to play big minutes against the league’s best players, play them tough and still stay out the of the penalty box at astonishingly low rate.
Zdeno Chara , 42, might not be the same player he was 10 or even five years ago, but he is still an integral part of the Boston Bruins’ success this season and postseason. When the veteran defenseman was forced to sit out Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, there was some panic from the fan base and likely a little within the organization as well. However, Chara’s teammates buckled down and ended the series in convincing fashion and in doing so bought their captain another 11 days of rest before the Stanley Cup Final. While many assumed that would be enough to get him back on the ice, there was no timeline for his return from an undisclosed injury.
That is until today, when Bruins provided some clarity on Chara’s status. According to NHL.com’s Eric Russo, Chara was back as a full participant in practice today, after only skating and working out over the weekend. Following the full 45-minute session, Chara was feeling good:
It was nice to be out there again, skated [on Sunday] then skated with the team. It was a good practice, good pace. I’m taking it one day at a time. [Tuesday’s] an off day, but get back at it on Wednesday… I’m not gonna lie, watching games is not fun. You want to play them and you want to be involved. For sure it was something that [I] was feeling that kind of anxiousness to play. But guys did a great job, won the game, so that’s great.
Chara is eager to get back in action and, considering his apparent health with a week still to go before puck drop on Game 1, he is well on his way to doing just that. As the respected veteran said, it is “one day at a time” right now, but Chara is certainly on track to be ready for the Stanley Cup Final. As the Bruins wait to see who they’ll be playing, they know that Chara is an important asset regardless. The future Hall of Famer remains one of the more dominating defensive presences in the game and hopes to put his ability and experience to work in pursuit of a second Stanley Cup title.
Boston’s Brad Marchand is known for being arguably the biggest instigator in the NHL, and he was back at it on Sunday during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Bruins and Hurricanes.
Marchand took Hurricanes captain Justin Williams down with a high stick late in the second period, and the referees only called a penalty when Williams got in Marchand’s face and yanked his chin strap. Marchand then pointed to the penalty box and taunted Williams by making a “C” with his hand and putting it up to his chest.
Brad Marchand pesters Justin Williams into a penalty — then signals the Carolina captain to the box. pic.twitter.com/0OPveb224V
In other words, Marchand was ridiculing Williams for taking a dumb penalty as his team’s captain. It proved costly, too, as the Bruins scored on the power play to take a commanding 4-0 lead into the third period.
When compared to some of the things Marchand has done to opponents in the past, that was nothing. Williams is just lucky Marchand didn’t lick him.
An NHL career never did materialize for former Chicago Blackhawks top prospect Ville Pokka. After a trade last season took him to the Ottawa Senators organization, he bolted for the KHL and signed with Avangard Omsk in the summer. Pokka has now signed a one-year extension with his KHL club, ending any chance he was going to return to North America this year. Klas Dahlbeck , who played for Chicago as well as the Arizona Coyotes and Carolina Hurricanes, has also re-upped in the KHL, signing a one-year extension with CSKA Moscow.
Pokka, 25, was originally selected 34th overall by the New York Islanders in 2012, but was one of the big pieces sent to Chicago for Nick Leddy in 2014. At that point, the young defenseman looked like a potential star after putting up 27 points in 54 games during his final year in Finland. Pokka got off to a great start with the Rockford IceHogs, and continued to rack up points throughout his minor league career. Unfortunately, his foot speed and defensive awareness were just never enough to earn a chance at the NHL level. He was traded to Ottawa without ever suiting up for Chicago.
Dahlbeck meanwhile was also a Blackhawks prospect for a time, selected by them in the third round of the 2011 draft. He made his debut for the club during the 2014-15 season but was sent to Arizona along with a first-round pick to bring Antoine Vermette to Chicago. He would end up playing 170 NHL games before leaving last season for the KHL, and won a Gagarin Cup with CSKA recently.
With the second round of the NHL playoffs underway, the chances of a perfect bracket are slim to none. According to NHL.com, there are only five perfect brackets remaining.
Because of the chaos, there have been many surprises since the first game of the 2019 NHL playoffs. We look at the biggest shockers of the first round.
Lightning sent home thanks to Blue Jackets
Led by head coach John Tortorella , the Columbus Blue Jackets swept the President’s Trophy winners, even after Tampa’s historical regular season.
The Lightning were one of the best offensive teams in the league this season but were outscored, 19-8, in the series and had scarce offensive output from their best players.
With 128 points during the regular season, Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov registered only two assists in four games for the Bolts.
This is the first time in NHL history that a No. 1 overall seed has been swept in the first round of the playoffs.
The Jets were grounded after six games
After making it to the Western Conference finals last season, the Winnipeg Jets were the most favored Canadian squad to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Jets lost in six games to the St. Louis Blues, who have won 12 of their past 16 games dating back to March 16.
All of Winnipeg’s losses came by one goal, as well as both their victories.
Even in their own arena during Game 5, the Jets allowed three goals in the third period and lost, 3-2.
Some of the league’s top players were shut down
Arguably the best player of the past decade, Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby registered one assist in the playoffs — the lowest postseason point total of his career. He finished with a minus-4 in four games, the worst mark of his postseason career.
Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau also finished with one assist in five games with a minus-2 rating after scoring 99 points in the regular season.
Ryan Johansen had a goal and an assist for the Predators and was not much of a factor, and the Dallas Stars took advantage, taking the series in six games.
Steven Stamkos also had a goal and an assist, with a plus/minus of minus-8. You could say he was a defensive liability for the Lightning.
Golden Knights get robbed in Game 7
Up 3-0 in Game 7, Vegas’ Cody Eakin cross-checked San Jose’s Joe Pavelski to the ice. Eakin was given a 5-minute major and a game misconduct.
San Jose had an unreal comeback, netting four goals on the 5-minute power play to take the lead, with two goals coming from Logan Couture.
The Sharks won with two minutes left in overtime thanks to a goal from Barclay Goodrow, who only played two shifts the entire period.
On Thursday, the NHL apologized to the Golden Knights and admitted the referees were incorrect on Eakin’s penalty. That does not change anything for the Golden Knights.
A “Bunch of Jerks” beat the defending champs on the road in Game 7
One of the biggest underdogs in the playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes took the Washington Capitals to double overtime and advanced on a goal from Brock McGinn.
The Caps’ Alex Ovechkin had seven goals in the series but finished with a minus-2. He was a force in the offensive end but not so much on defense.
Warren Foegele led the Canes with four goals. In 77 regular- season games, Foegele had 10 total goals. The third liner has been great in his first playoff series.
The Hurricanes advance to the second round for the first time since 2009, when they made it to the Eastern Conference finals.
It might not have been pretty all the way through, but they got the job done.
For a while, this game was going exactly how Bruins fans hoped it’d go: the Blue Jackets came out rusty, the Bruins came out flying, and an early lead had fans feeling confident.
However, there was an uncomfortable feeling after the first period. You couldn’t help but feel like the Bruins should have done more. A few missed tips, a few bouncing pucks, a few great saves by Sergei Bobrovsky.
Those fears were realized in the third, when Columbus scored two quick “couldn’t do it again if they tried” goals and the Bruins found themselves trailing.
Just when it looked like the Blue Jackets were going to continue their stunning run with another steal, Charlie Coyle scored, then scored again, and all was well in Boston.
The B’s ended up taking Game 1 with a 3-2 OT win, their third playoff win in a row. Here are some thoughts from a wild night at the Garden:
In the first period, it was rust, not rest, for Columbus. The Bruins absolutely rolled the Blue Jackets in the first period. In terms of possession, shot attempts, actual shots…it was a madhouse. The Blue Jackets looked like they were hanging on for dear life, but a combination of Bobrovsky saves and Bruins flubs let the Jackets hang around.
You can’t help but be happy for Charlie Coyle. His turnover inside the defensive blue line led directly to the first Columbus goal. He atoned for that mistake by tying the game late in the third, and then did one better with the OT winner. As Jack Edwards likes to say, guilt is a powerful motivator.
Speaking of Coyle, it’s weird to say, but he’s probably been the Bruins’ best forward in this postseason. Yes, better than Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, etc. Coyle has ended up one the scoresheet many nights, and when he’s been kept off it, he’s been solid in other areas. He’s been great along the boards in the offensive zone, and has done a great job keeping possession for extended stretches.
Tonight must have been fairly sweet for Don Sweeney. His two big acquisitions were the ones that led the way for the Bruins: it was Marcus Johansson to Coyle for the game-tying goal, and Johansson to Coyle for the game-winning goal. BRUINS WIN THE DEADLINE!
In a good sign for the Bruins, Johansson has looked better in the past two games than he did all regular season with the B’s. Bruce Cassidy credited Johansson’s God-given talents after the game, citing his smarts and vision as his best assets. If he’s feeling good and gets rolling, it will be huge for the Bruins.
Tuukka Rask was solid tonight. There was nothing he could do on either of the Columbus goals, and he made some big saves in the middle portion of this game.
David Krejci didn’t play at all in overtime, leaving the game after taking a hit that seemed late and a bit high from Riley Nash. After the game, Cassidy said that he hadn’t talked to Krejci, but that he wasn’t in concussion protocol and is considered day-to-day. He also mentioned that the game ended before Krejci could come back, but kind of implied that he could have returned if the game continued.
Cassidy said postgame that he wasn’t terribly concerned about his top lines, but I’m not sure if I believe him. David Pastrnak has looked off the entire playoffs. Brad Marchand uncharacteristically missed a few golden chances tonight. Jake DeBrusk was quiet.
The only reason the Bruins are still playing? Their bottom-six forwards, oddly enough. It was the fourth line in Game 7 against Toronto, and was Noel Acciari who got things going tonight. As Cassidy implied after the game, if the Bruins can get their big guns going too, look out.
Charlie McAvoy showed another side of his game tonight: he was throwing the body big time. In the third, he got laid out by Josh Anderson behind the Bruin net. He got right up, and then proceeded to throw himself at any Blue Jacket he came across.
The most noticeable Columbus forwards to me tonight were Alexandre Texier, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Josh Anderson. Artemi Panarin was fine, but Cam Atkinson was borderline invisible, except when Marchand stepped on his stick before a faceoff.
