Kukla's Korner

Here We Go Again: NHL Playoff Emotions Getting The Best Of Us

Blog: KK Hockey By Monica McAlister

04/19/14 at 09:01 AM ET | Comments (0)

Spring is a wonderful time of renewal. The snow melts away (and with record breaking snowfall locally it is much welcomed) the green growth and flowers appear. By green growth of course the playoff rookies that are making a difference and the annual showing of Marc-André Fleury giving Pittsburgh Penguin fans elevated blood pressure. 

Emotions are the backbone of the NHL for players, fans and in some cases the non cheering media. Be it the No Words commercial, or the videos of players throwing jerseys on the ice or crying when their team either does not make the post season or when they are eliminated from it.  There are huge highs and deep cutting lows on the roller coaster that is the hockey world.  Less than a week into the 2014 NHL Playoffs and that still has not changed. 

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  Tags: monica+mcalister

The Bruins Struggled In Game One

Blog: The Malik Report By Paul

04/19/14 at 08:48 AM ET | Comments (3)

from Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe,

The Bruins’ best players weren’t their best players. The first line combined for four shots on goal. No. 2 right wing Reilly Smith didn’t put a single puck on net. The third line, which had a favorable matchup against Detroit’s No. 3 pairing of Brian Lashoff and Jakub Kindl, didn’t become unglued until the third. It’s never a good sign when Thornton is one of the most dangerous offensive players. But that’s what happens when you’re chasing the game....

The Bruins were the better team when they ragged the puck below the dots in the offensive zone, in the corners, and along the walls. Their beef, smarts, and straight-line skating made them a handful. The Wings’ defensemen are smaller, mobile puck movers. They’re not big. They got in trouble when the Bruins chewed them up in the danger areas.

But the Bruins didn’t jam the puck into those areas enough. They made the game too easy for the Wings.

When the Bruins’ top two lines are rolling, they use the neutral zone as a launching pad. The forwards rev up their wheels and gain momentum as they enter the offensive zone.

If they carry the puck over the blue line, opponents can’t slow them down. If they chip the puck behind the defensemen and into the corners, they have enough speed to retrieve it and start their cycle.

But Detroit turned the neutral zone into quicksand.

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Coaches Talk

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

04/19/14 at 08:01 AM ET | Comments (1)

"I'm pretty confident in this group right now. Every time it looked like we were going on a slide, these guys found a way to rebound."

-Jon Cooper after the Tampa Bay Lightning went down 0-2 to the Montreal Canadiens.  More on the Lightning from Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times.

“We didn’t have the puck enough. When we had it, we’ve got to start putting pucks in the areas where we can get them back. We’ve got to get pucks in areas where once we get it, we can hang on to it. I thought we didn’t play with the puck as much as we normally do, but the one thing about our team tonight — I thought we got better and better as the periods went on.

‘The third period was obviously our best period, but we started playing more of our game in the third period than in the first two. We’ve got to kind of make those adjustments here, and hopefully have three periods more like the third period was, and capitalize on the chances that we had.”

-Claude Julien post-game after the Boston Bruins lost 1-0 to the Detroit Red Wings.  More from Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.

At the end of the night, we handed them their opportunities and their goals. We skated well, the effort was great but we made a couple mistakes that cost us.

-Lindy Ruff, head coach of the Dallas Stars after their 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.  More post-game quotes from Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News.  The Stars are down 0-2 to the Ducks.

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Red Wings-Bruins Game 1 wrap-up and overnight report: Yippee ki-yay, Pavel Datsyuk!

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

04/19/14 at 04:19 AM ET | Comments (5)

The Detroit Red WIngs persevered despite some ugly moments and significant nerves to capture a clutch 1-0 win over the Boston Bruins, with Pavel Datsyuk's goal receiving far more rave reviews than the Lucic spear (or Zdeno Chara's boarding of Brendan Smith, though Tomas Jurco gave as good as Smith got) received finger-wagging, deserved or perhaps somewhat ficticiously.

As for the task I'm facing in trying to "wrap this up"...I would be up until the Wings practice at 12:30 PM today if I was to give the THIRTY-FOUR tabs I've got open their due attention. I really don't know how even the most dedicated Bruins fans follow their team, because it's a frickin' job.

You will not be surprised, however, to hear that Boston.com's Jeff Pini reported that the Bruins felt that the game was indeed "close"...

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A…different…take on the Lucic-DeKeyser incident

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

04/19/14 at 12:24 AM ET | Comments (11)

Despite my protestations to the contrary, I was pretty dang happy with the Red Wings' 1-0 win over the Boston Bruins on Friday, and I was also pretty dang happy with the fact that the Wings did not react to the Bruins' "truculence," including this gem from Milan Lucic:

As Mike Babcock told Fox Sports Detroit's Trevor Thompson when asked whether the play should be reviewed: "That's what the league does."

The rest of the league takes notice, however, and Boston.com's Bruins Blog's Jerard Fagerberg has become a figure of some reknown for suggesting that Lucic's play was simply part of "playoff hockey":

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Red Wings prospect news; Mantha, Bertuzzi stake out Conference Final leads; Griffins’ spot in flux

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

04/19/14 at 12:06 AM ET | Comments (0)

The Detroit Red Wings' prospects had (and/or are having) a good night, at least for the most part.

In playoff hockey, in the QMJHL, round 1 of the much-ballyhooed showdown of Jonathan Drouin and Anthony Mantha went to the challenger. Mantha scored a goal, added an assist and finished at +3 as the Val-d'Or Foreurs defeated the Halifax Mooseheads 5-2, taking the first game of the QMJHL conference final.

Mantha now has 11 goals, 6 assists and 17 points in 11 playoff games played.

In playoff hockey, in the OHL, Tyler Bertuzzi had 2 assists as his Guelph Storm defeated the Erie Otters 7-2, taking a 2-games-to-none lead in the OHL's Western Conference Final.

Bertuzzi's posted 7 goals, 6 assists and 13 points in 11 playoff games played;

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Lucic spears DeKeyser, Perry spears Benn, Daley sits on Perry, Yahtzee

Blog: KK Hockey By George Malik

04/18/14 at 11:22 PM ET | Comments (11)

I guess the NHL's annual start-of-the-playoffs crackdown on horizontal stick fouls only counts regarding obstruction and interference, not spearing, stick-swinging or otherwise using one's stick as an instrument of torture.

As noted in the Wings-Bruins quick take, @myregularface showed Milan Lucic spearing Danny DeKeyser in the groin...

And during tonight's Ducks-Stars game, Corey Perry did this to Jamie Benn, per The Score and TSN...

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Unbelievable? No

Blog: Abel to Yzerman By IwoCPO

04/18/14 at 10:06 PM ET | Comments (47)

Just when you think you can't see anything more from this team that will shock you, they give you tonite.  

Stunning.

I guess it was sloppy? That's what George said.  He's more hockey savvy than I am.

To me?

It was perfect. Perfect road hockey. Perfect hockey by an "underdog." Perfect hockey by a team that has been convinced by the world's best coach that they can win this series.

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Red Wings-Bruins Game 1 quick take: Datsyuk, Howard deliver

Blog: The Malik Report By George Malik

04/18/14 at 10:05 PM ET | Comments (61)

The Detroit Red Wings did what they tend to do during playoff games. They struggled on the power play (and oh yes, there was an even-up), they battled like mad to play inefficient hockey--firing 24 shots ON Tuuka Rask and another 30 attempts wide/blocked--they freaked the fan base out with frantic defensive mistakes and baffling over-complicating things to the extreme...

But while a certain Danny DeKeyser had to endure a spear to the groin from a team that apparently believes Detroit is guilty of Deception and Subtle Interference (via  @myregularface)...

Jimmy Howard was superb--yes, Jimmy Howard--he got a lot of help, and then Pavel Datsyuk did this--with 3:01 left in the game (updated with better video):

All of a sudden, all the jitters, all the kids deferring to the point, all the herky-jerky-ding-dong-diggly-dorking around mattered little to nothing at all, because Datsyuk delivers, and Detroit's taken a 1-0 decision in Game 1 of their 1st round series.

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Rangers Need “Killer Instinct” For Their Next Game Against The Flyers

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

04/18/14 at 08:07 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

So now Flyers coach Craig Berube is going to have his team revert to its season-long style of carrying the puck into the Rangers’ zone after Thursday’s misguided game plan that featured chip-and-chase hockey basically blew up in their faces.

Regardless, it is imperative the Rangers seize this moment to not only grab an immediate two-game advantage in the series, but to send the Flyers back to Philadelphia riddled with doubt for Tuesday’s Game 3, seeking a third way to play.

It is imperative the Rangers chow down on a full helping of killer instinct for breakfast before Sunday’s noon faceoff. This is more than about just holding serve. It is about establishing and reinforcing superiority.

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