They revere tradition here, from the four Stanley Cup banners — now about four decades old — to the newer hallmarks of Islanders Hockey, namely: hang in there, get some gigantic saves, grind out a tight win.
Brad Marchand stomped on the script.
As Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov was trying to steal Game 3 in a duel with Tuukka Rask on Thursday night, Marchand sent a shot from outside the left circle, some 6 feet before the goal line. It floated over Varlamov’s glove, top corner, far side, at 3:36 of overtime.
A sniper’s touch. The final: Bruins 2, Islanders 1, a 2-1 series lead for the Black and Gold, and a chance to take a commanding lead in Game 4 on Saturday night.
“Any puck,” said Marchand, who scored his third career playoff OT winner, “has a chance to go in.”
At least one Detroit Red Wing will return from the World Championship with a medal.
Defensemen Troy Stecher and Moritz Seider helped their teams to quarterfinal victories Thursday in Latvia and a spot in Saturday’s semifinals.
Canada, with Stecher, defeated Russia 2-1 in overtime and will face the United States on Saturday (7:15 a.m. ET, NHL Network). Germany, with Seider, edged Switzerland 3-2 in a shootout to advance against Finland on Saturday (11:15 a.m. ET, NHL Network).
Andrew Mangiapane (Calgary) scored the winning goal for Canada. Stecher made it possible by taking a drop pass just inside the blue line, making two nifty moves to elude defenders and sending a backhand pass across the front of the net for a one-timer.
Stecher led his team in ice time (25:51).
Seider logged 23:07, second on his team, in ice time. Leon Gawanke scored the tying goal with 44 seconds remaining in the third period.
“I think we were the better team from the beginning,” Seider said in a story posted on iihf.com. “There was no doubt that we were going to win that game. We can be very proud of ourselves.
* Twenty of the 54 games contested in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs have required overtime (37.1%) after both games on Thursday went to extra time. Despite being early in the Second Round, the 20 overtime games this postseason are already tied for the 11th-highest total in a single playoff year in Stanley Cup Playoffs history.
* Nail-biting games have become a common occurrence in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Overall, 27 of the 54 games contested this postseason have been decided by a one-goal margin (50.0%).
* With each of their teams competing in crucial Game 3s, Brad Marchand and Jordan Staal each scored their second overtime goal of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Boston Bruins/New York Islanders tied at 1-1 while the Tampa Bay Lightning will try to go up 3-0 on the Carolina Hurricanes. Petr Mrazek in net for the Canes.
Zach Parise said he plans on attending training camp for the Minnesota Wild next season even though his role with the team remains unclear.
Parise said he will speak with Wild general manager Bill Guerin and coach Dean Evason during the offseason. The 36-year-old forward has four seasons left on a 13-year, $98 million contract ($7.54 million average annual value) he signed with Minnesota on July 4, 2012.
"You never sign a deal and not fully intend on seeing it through," Parise said Tuesday. "I understand things change, but from my standpoint, I've always enjoyed playing here.
"So no ... I don't want to play anywhere else. … I've got the term left on my deal, and I plan on being here in training camp next year. I haven't been told otherwise. That's my intention and I don't want speculate any other way."
RIGA, Lativa – Colin Blackwell (North Andover, Mass.) and Conor Garland (Scituate, Mass.) scored twice and Cal Peterson (Waterloo, Iowa) made 27 saves to help the U.S. to a 6-1 win here over Slovakia in quarterfinal play at the 2021 IIHF Men’s World Championship.
“I’m just happy for the guys. We’re facing some adversity here with injuries, and to see that pull the group even closer, I couldn’t be prouder of them,” said head coach Jack Capuano. “We’ll see how tonight’s games shake out before knowing our next opponent, but our group is excited to know we have a chance to play for a medal and make some history.”
NEW YORK (June 3, 2021) – Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov, Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic and Dallas Stars left wing Jason Robertson are the three finalists for the 2020‑21 Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded “to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition,” the National Hockey League announced today.
Members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association submitted ballots for the Calder Trophy after the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters designated as finalists. The winners of the 2021 NHL Awards presented by Bridgestone will be revealed during the Stanley Cup Semifinals and Stanley Cup Final, with exact dates, format and times to be announced.
Following are the finalists for the Calder Trophy, in alphabetical order:
Many prognosticators, myself included, have experienced the same challenges NHL teams have in terms of seeing players live and in-person. As a result, and with the number of games played varying widely across leagues, this draft should be the most random I’ve ever been a part of — and randomness is entertaining....
Anyway, as of Wednesday night’s lottery results, here’s how I anticipate the top half of the first round of the draft to go.
6. Detroit Red Wings: William Eklund, LW: The Wings have taken an abundance of D the past couple years, and have a great connection to Sweden. Why not go to the most improved draft eligible player in all of Europe?
* Mikko Rantanen, with points in each of his last 16 playoff games dating to 2020, scored the overtime winner and handed Vegas its first-ever 2-0 series deficit.
* The Canadiens collected their fourth straight win and took a 1-0 lead in their Second Round series with the Jets.
* The Sabres and Kraken own the first and second overall drafting positions, respectively, for the First Round of the 2021 NHL Draft as a result of Wednesday’s 2021 NHL Draft Lottery Drawing.
SECAUCUS, N.J. (June 2, 2021) -- The Buffalo Sabres and Seattle Kraken own the first and second overall drafting positions, respectively, for the First Round of the 2021 NHL Draft as a result of the 2021 NHL Draft Lottery Drawing, conducted this evening at NHL Network's Secaucus, N.J., studio.
Participants in the Draft Lottery included the expansion Kraken, who begin play in the 2021-22 season, and Clubs that did not qualify for this season's Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Two draws were held: the first drawing determined the club selecting first overall and the second drawing determined the club selecting second overall. Once a club was assigned a pick, it was ineligible for further participation in subsequent drawings.
The order of selection for the first 15* drafting positions in the First Round, only, of the 2021 NHL Draft is as follows:
NEW YORK (June 2, 2021) – The 2021 NHL Draft Lottery, used to determine the order of selection for picks 1-16 in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft, will be conducted at NHL Network’s Secaucus, N.J., studio tonight – Wednesday, June 2 – at 7 p.m. ET.
The event will be broadcast live on NBCSN and NHL Network in the U.S. as well as Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada.
The general manager of the winning team will be available to media via Zoom during the first intermission of Game 1 of the Second Round series between the Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens (details below).
If you missed it in an earlier post, the odds for the lottery is listed below.
Also, The Word on Woodward is streaming a draft lottery show. I am not going to embed it but you can watch it here.
added 7:17pm, Wings wil pick 6th in the NHL Draft.
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