Bruins Embarrassed in Winter Classic

The stage was set. The game was back outdoors in the league’s annual contest. In arguably the most anticipated regular season matchup, the Bruins had every reason to be amped up for the renewal of their historic rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens.

That simply wasn’t the case on New Year’s Day.

The Bruins came out flat in a 5-1 beat down in Friday’s 2016 Winter Classic in Foxborough with more than 67,000 fans at Gillette Stadium. It was a complete and utter manhandling on the national stage. The loss is now the fourth in five games for the Bruins, who find themselves three points behind Montreal in the division.

With only two points on the line, the game always seems to bring out the best in the two teams vying for supremacy outdoors. That simply wasn’t the case for the Black and Gold. The Bruins are now the first team to lose the game by more than two goals.

It was a game that went downhill from puck drop for the Bruins. While the Canadiens seemed determined and focused, the Bruins appeared as though they never made it through Route 1 traffic. More importantly, as defensemen Torey Krug put it, the 2016 Winter Classic will always be looked back on as disappointing and embarrassing for the Bruins.

“We didn’t represent the Bruins or the city of Boston very well today,” Krug told The Boston Globe. “It’s always what-ifs, I mean forever now it’s going to be a game we’re not very proud of and we’re always going to look back and be embarrassed about.

“We just didn’t do a good job of responding. I thought emotionally it was there for them and it wasn’t for us, and when the other team scores a goal or a big play happens, we need our best players to step up and make something happen for us and unfortunately we were just waiting around tonight and it’s not acceptable.”

Such a degrading loss grants skepticism, but not towards the head coach.

Coach Claude Julien can take fault for his team’s performance, but is not the one to blame. His troops couldn’t find their game for the entire match. While the team was emotionally invested in the game, they were never actively present. The Bruins lost nearly every battle. They allowed the Canadiens to dominate the pace of the game. Montreal controlled the neutral zone. They were first on every puck.

The coach can only do so much.

When players need to step up, such as Seth Griffith and Alexander Khokhlachev – who were promoted up to the varsity squad to replace injured David Krejci and suspended Brad Marchand – they’re presence must be felt.

Both Griffith and Khokhlachev were virtually invisible in the Winter Classic. Neither forward could make something happen on their adjusted lines. On the man advantage, Griffith had big shoes to fill in place of the skilled Krejci, a task that simple couldn’t be done.

While injury and suspension called for revisions on the forward lines, the Bruins needed to adapt. Julien, who is in the mix for the Jack Adams Award, needed his men to play big and a 200-foot effort. He needed his call-ups and his veterans to step up. The result was a losing effort.

The game had a losing taste to it for Bruins fans after one period, in which the Bruins only recorded 3 shots to Montreal’s 14. Montreal was playing the outdoor game against traditional methods. When teams enter an outdoor game, they typically resort to conservative play due to ice conditions and sun glare.

There will be more chipping up the boards, more dump and chases, and more neutral zone battles. The Canadien’s didn’t bother to shy away from their game. They stuck to what they do best: be fast and be aggressive. While the Bruins tried to chip pucks in and out of their zone, a Canadien was right there to match them and win battles.

While the Bruins can’t allow such a loss to fester, they also can’t look past their mistakes. Julien and company will have their hands full with replacing Krejci and Marchand, who will miss the next two games due to suspension.

Jesse Puljujarvi Pranks Finnish Youth Team

One of the top-rated prospects entering the 2016 NHL Entry Draft is Finnish forward Jesse Puljujarvi.

Puljujarvi pulled a prank on a Finnish youth team recently, dressing up as an old man who can’t skate and going out into their scrimmage after being introduced as Viljio who “played ice hockey in his youth.”

After stumbling around for a while, the coach asks if he’d maybe like a different stick and then Puljujarvi turns his skills on and starts to school the kids, showcasing his incredible stick-handling skills.

It’s pretty fun, even if it looks a lot like the prank Peter Forsberg pulled on a beer league team in Sweden back in November.

Puljujarvi is ranked anywhere from third to fifth overall in most scouting rankings. The 17-year-old is having a great year playing in Finland’s top league with Kärpät, where’s he’s put up five goals and 12 points in 31 games in a mens’ league.

He’ll be suiting up in the 2016 World Junior Championship, which starts on December 26, playing for the host team, Finland.

Watch the prank in the video above.

Here are a couple of goals that the 17-year-old has scored this season playing in the Finnish Liiga.
https://youtu.be/5UlDvyMt5hk
https://youtu.be/U9_yfE_986A

RELATED: Every NHL Team’s Prospects in the 2016 World Junior Championship

Islanders 2015 in Review: 3 Seconds to Home Ice

The Islanders finished the 2014-15 season tied with the Washington Capitals with 101 points. The Caps held the tiebreaker due to their 2-0-2 season series record vs the Isles. Home-ice advantage turned out to be key as the Caps defeated the Isles 2-1 in Game 7. New York had plenty of opportunities throughout the season to secure another point.

April 7 at Philadelphia

The Islanders limped into that Tuesday night’s game losing 13 of their last 20 games. Early in to the third period it looked like they were on their way to another defeat. New York battled back from a 4-1 deficit as Anders Lee’s second goal of the game tied it with just 28 seconds left. The Isles were 28 seconds from a point and also a playoff berth. The Flyers’ Bradyen Schenn came across center ice and threw an innocent wrist shot just above the left face-off circle and passed Jaroslav Halak for a 5-4 Flyers win.

https://youtu.be/r5yLLqRErw4

That loss was not the sole reason why the team failed to secure a fourth home playoff game in a series for the first time since the 1987-88 season. It was just the most dramatic.

http://gty.im/457858074

Backup Goalies

While Halak had a career season (38-17-4, 2.43 GAA and .914 save pct.), His understudies did not. General manager Garth Snow thought he finally found a capable backup in Chad Johnson. Snow signed Johnson to a two-year contract worth $2.6 million dollars. Johnson struggled big time (8-8-1, 3.08 GAA and .889 save pct.) He allowed 3 or more goals in 10 of his 17 starts. He was shipped off to Buffalo at the deadline for Michal Neuvirth. He did not fare much better as he allowed 3 or more goals in 4 of his 5 Islander starts. The team got just 9 wins out of their three backups.

The Worst Lead in Hockey

The Islanders have had trouble in the past closing out games, especially ones with a multiple-goal lead. They were 0-3-3 last season when giving up a two-goal lead, half of those were with a three-goal lead. Kevin Poulin was recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League to replace Halak who sustained a lower-body injury. The Isles carried a 3-0 lead into the third period vs the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres scored on three straight shots in 5:12 to force overtime. Poulin allowed the lone shootout goal and the Isles failed to secure the second point. It was Poulin’s lone start of the season.

Perhaps the worst of all came in the final regular season game at the Nassau Coliseum. The Isles bounced back following the Flyers debacle to defeat the Penguins and clinch a playoff spot. Second place in the Metropolitan division was not out of reach. They needed to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets, who overcame a two-goal deficit to beat the Isles in a shootout a week earlier. Another point lost. Emotions ran high that night as former Islander legends were in attendance and the crowd was rocking. New York had a 3-1 lead with ten minutes left in the third period. Columbus scored two goals in 90 seconds to tie the game. The Isles regained the lead with just over four minutes left in regulation as Nikolai Kulemin scored his 15th of the season. Unfortunately the home team gave up the lead with 90 seconds left to force overtime. Cam Atkinson’s goal in the shootout secure home ice for the Washington Capitals.

A lesson learned here is that every point, whether in October or April, is equally as valuable.

 

Finn Nets Hat Trick in 44 Seconds

Juha Leimu, a Finnish defenseman for the Lahti Pelicans, made Finnish Liiga history this week when he scored a natural hat trick in just 44 seconds.

The hat trick was aided by the Pelicans being on a 5-on-3 power play following a pair of game misconducts. They would put in another tally during that power play, giving them four goals in just under 1:50.

It ultimately wasn’t enough, with them falling to JYP 6-5 in the end.

Leimu is Lahti’s leading scorer — thus the gold helmet — and his hat trick sets a record, besting Erkki Suokko’s 50-second hat trick in 1961.

RELATED: Canada Cuts Four From World Junior Roster

Rasmus Ristolainen Records First Hat Trick

If you don’t know who Rasmus Ristolainen is by now, maybe you should pay more attention.

The 21-year old Buffalo Sabres defenseman has played at the highest level of his young career through the first two months of the season. With four goals and 14 assists heading into action Thursday night, the Turku, Finland native is on pace to record 53 points this season. It would be quite the accomplishment for any young player, let alone a defenseman at this stage of his career.

Ristolainen has shown excellent ability to not only play sound in his own end, but produce in different scenarios in the offensive zone. Fans saw no better example of that than during Buffalo’s game against the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.

Ristolainen tallied three goals in a 12-minute span for the Sabres to record his first-career hat trick. His second and third goals helped draw Buffalo even with the Flames, though they would ultimately fall 4-3.

Ristolainen is the first Sabres defenseman to record a hat trick since Hall of Famer Phil Housley did it in January of 1988 against the New Jersey Devils. For Ristolainen to be in company like Housley, that can only bode well for how is career is going to ultimately turn out.

The budding star is well on his way to elite status in the NHL. It’s time you get to know him.

Patrick Kane Sets Record

Saturday night was a historic one in Los Angeles for United States hockey.

If there was any doubt before, there isn’t anymore. Patrick Kane has cemented himself as one of the greatest American-born hockey players of all-time; he’s well on his way towards becoming the very best.

Kane scored a power-play goal a little more than halfway through the opening period to not only give his Chicago Blackhawks a 1-0 lead, but to also break the record for the longest scoring streak for an American player at 19 games. Kane’s goal broke the tie of an 18-game point streak that was done by Phil Kessel and Eddie Olczyk.

During his 19-game streak, Kane has tallied 11 goals and 20 assists. On the season, Kane has 13 goals and 22 assists. His 35 points is good for a tie for the NHL scoring lead with Dallas Stars superstar Jamie Benn.

Kane is now two games away from tying the Blackhawks franchise point streak record held by the legendary Bobby Hull. As far as the league record for consecutive games with a point, Kane has a long way to go to catch up with the great Wayne Gretzky who recorded at least a point in 51 straight games during the 1983-84 season with the Edmonton Oilers.

Kane’s next chance to continue his streak comes on Tuesday when Chicago hosts the Minnesota Wild. Should he continue it then, he’ll have a chance to tie the team record on Thursday in Ottawa against the Senators.

Colaiacovo Suffers Throat Injury

A “dented trachea”. That’s what Buffalo Sabres defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo is dealing with after his team’s game against the Nashville Predators.

The veteran blueliner was in his zone when he took a crosscheck from Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson right to the throat. Colaiacovo immediately went to the ice in pain, and Arvidsson was assessed a five minute major as well as a game misconduct.

The Sabres took advantage of the opportunity presented to them by tallying twice on the powerplay, once by Jamie McGinn and the other by Sam Reinhart. The latter would turn out to be the deciding goal as the Sabres would pull away by a score of 4-1.

Reinhart finished the game with two goals. Ryan O’Reilly tied Jack Eichel for the team lead with 8 on his empty net goal late in the third period.

Coach Dan Bylsma said that Colaiacovo was doing okay, but didn’t have a full update on his condition other than he was being treated at an area hospital.

Though it hasn’t been announced, Arvidsson is likely to get a hearing with the NHL regarding the incident.

A suspension is almost guaranteed after Columbus forward Brandon Dubinsky was given one just the other day for a similar, yet not as consequential, action on Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby.

WATCH: Penalty Boxes Fill Up In Nashville

*NOTE: The in-game microphones picked up some colorful language. Some may find it inappropriate.*

Saturday night’s blowout between the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets saw it all. It saw the largest victory margin in the NHL this season, a 7-0 win for the Predators and as many penalty minutes — if not more — than some teams have all season long.

Before watching what happened and seeing the hilarity, let’s build up to what happened. The Predators were up 5-0 in the third thanks to an opening frame that saw Nashville scored four goals on nine shots. The Winnipeg rush was blown dead due to an offside, and that’s when an unwritten rule was broken.

Jets forward Mark Scheifele put the puck in the Nashville net well after the whistle, leading to a lot of unhappy players. The first player to go after Scheifele was defenseman Ryan Ellis, and that resulted in everyone getting involved. And because of the fact that teams were in the middle of a line change, there were far more players on the ice than usual.

Now it clearly wasn’t the most intense altercation between two teams in a one-sided game, but the end result was nevertheless funny. After the penalties were sorted out — almost all of which being unsportsmanlike conduct infractions — there were 13 penalties in total called as a result of the scrum. That led to 12 players in the penalty boxes that aren’t made to hold that many people. It ended up looking like a packed clown car.

When the game was over, 35 penalties had been handed out, totaling a whopping 156 minutes. Even Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne got in on the penalty action for leaving the crease to join the “fun”.

The full penalty listing for the altercation can be found below:

Nashville Pekka Rinne – Leaving the Crease – 2 minutes (Served by James Neal)
Nashville Colin Wilson – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Nashville Mattias Ekholm – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Nashville Mike Fisher – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Nashville James Neal – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Nashville Miikka Salomaki – Cross-checking – 2 minutes
Nashville Ryan Ellis – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Winnipeg Mark Scheifele – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Winnipeg Blake Wheeler – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Winnipeg Jacob Trouba – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Winnipeg Drew Stafford – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Winnipeg Andrew Copp – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes
Winnipeg Mark Stuart – Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 minutes

Connor McDavid Injured

The future of the Edmonton Oilers may be put on hold as residents of the city of Edmonton hold their collective breath because of what transpired on Tuesday night.

During the second period of the Oilers’ contest against the Philadelphia Flyers, McDavid hit his left shoulder into the end boards. McDavid was skating into the Flyers zone, was checked and fell onto the ice. He then slid hard into the boards with Philadelphia defensemen Brandon Manning and Michael Del Zotto on top of him. No penalties were called on the play, which drew the ire of fans in Edmonton.

McDavid would remain on the bench for the final 1:44 of the second period, but did not return for the third period of the game. According to CSN Philadelphia, McDavid was seen with his arm in a sling. He’s going to be out for a prolonged period of time, though a full update will be provided on Wednesday.

The number one overall pick in this past June’s NHL Draft, McDavid is leading all NHL rookies in points with 12 (five goals, seven assists). He has been as good as advertised for the Oilers this season, and any missed time by the 18-year old is a huge loss for the team.

An update on his condition will come as soon as it is available.

 

THW Extra: Montreal’s Hot Start

The Montreal Canadiens are off to one of the best starts in franchise, and league, history. At 9-1-0, the team is firmly in control of the Atlantic Division early on in the season, but can it be sustained?

Max Pacioretty has 11 points, and Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban each have 10. The team has allowed just 17 goals in 10 games — thanks to Carey Price’s 1.75 goals against average — and it appears they are the exact opposite of Murphy’s Law right now. There’s no way this type of production can be kept up throughout the year, right?

In the debut episode of THW Extra, fantasy editor Andrew Forbes talks bout the Canadiens’ hot start, and what players fantasy owners should pick up no matter what. Also, who are the players finding success right now that many may not being paying attention to?

Find out in today’s THW Fantasy Minute.

If you have a question for our Fantasy Editor, tweet us at MikeStrawWrites or AndrewGForbes using the hashtag #THWFantasy. Your question could be answered on the next episode of the THW Fantasy Minute.

The THW Fantasy Minute runs Monday-Friday on TheHockeyWriters.com. If you have any suggestions for improvement, please don’t hesitate to reach out via Twitter with your thoughts and comments. Thank you for watching.

Video: Sam Reinhart Scores First Goal

It took a span of 14 games over two seasons, but Buffalo Sabres rookie Sam Reinhart finally broke the goal threshold for the first time in his career during his team’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.

The 19-year old — also a second-overall draft pick like fellow rookie Jack Eichel — was finally getting his chance on the Sabres’ top line with Ryan O’Reilly and Tyler Ennis. He only took 2:52 to validate that decision by coach Dan Bylsma.

With the puck in the Tampa zone, Reinhart put pressure on Alex Killorn before Ennis took control of the puck. After Ennis’ shot is kicked away by Ben Bishop, the shifty forward sent a pass out in front of the net where Reinhart was waiting to bury the puck.

The goal gave the Sabres an early 1-0 lead, but it would be the only marker they would get on the night. Bishop would stop 31 shots while Vladislav Namestnikov and the aforementioned Killorn would both tally goals to give the Lightning a 2-1 victory.

The loss dropped Buffalo to 1-4 on the season. In their five games, the Sabres have just nine goals which is less than two per contest. Buffalo is off under Wednesday when the team returns home from their Florida road trip for a date the rival Toronto Maple Leafs.

Still, despite the loss, Saturday night was no doubt a memorable night for the young Reinhart. With a family bloodline that lives NHL, Reinhart is one of Buffalo’s most anticipated young players, and is expected to be a key contributor to the success of the organization. To finally get the goal, he said afterward, was a big weight lifted off his shoulders.

“It was good. I felt that I’ve been getting a lot of opportunities and to finally see it go in was a relief for sure,” Reinhart told Sabres.com.

Bylsma also added that the way Reinhart played overall on Saturday was good to see. From the chemistry he showed with his linemates to his presence in front of the net, which included a prime opportunity to give Buffalo the lead in the third, the first-year Head Coach had nothing but good things to say of his play.

“Sam gets the goal, I thought that line was pretty good offensively and we saw on the power play with him as well,” he said. “He’s been great at the net.”

Oilers Offence Continues To Fire Blanks

Just two games into their 2015-16 schedule and it appears as though the Edmonton Oilers have already taken to the teachings of their new head coach. For a second consecutive outing, Todd McLellan’s side managed to hold their own against another Central Division powerhouse.


Unfortunately for them, they once again came away empty-handed for their efforts. After dropping a hard-fought 3-1 decision to the St. Louis Blues in their season opener on Thursday night, Edmonton had no luck solving Pekka Rinne and the Nashville Predators on Saturday.  Goals from Craig Smith and Filip Forsberg proved to be more than enough, as they cruised to a 2-0 victory to remain undefeated on the year.

Netminder Cam Talbot followed up his stellar debut in St. Louis with another solid showing, blocking 24 of the 26 pucks fired his way. While the shot clock may have been in favour of the Oilers, 31-26, the former New York Rangers backup was called upon to make a number of crucial stops to keep his team in it. Despite having yet to register his first win in Orange and Blue, the 28-year old has been by far and away his team’s best player through two games.

 

McDavid Has Been Held In Check

Connor McDavid was held off the scoresheet for second straight game, as Edmonton’s offence continues to sputter out of the gate. While the box score may show Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as having scored against the Blues on Thursday, thanks again Alex Pietrangelo, the Oilers have yet to have one of their players actually shot a puck into the net. So much for that high-flying offence everyone was hoping for.

Despite playing the Blues and Predators to what was essentially a standstill on the shot clock, 57-55, both Brian Elliott and Rinne had fairly uneventful evenings. After being gifted a power play marker against St. Louis, the Oilers went 0-for-5 on Saturday night and it cost them the hockey game. In order for this team to have any shot of competing with the better teams in the league, they will have to be among the very best on the man advantage.

[Related Article: Power Play Will Be Key To Oilers Season]

Again, it may still be early but to this point the power play has been a rally killer. For the most part, Edmonton’s zone entries have been downright awful and outside of the kid wearing No. 97 on his back, no one seemed overly interested in winning any sort of puck battle. If you cannot enter the offensive zone and are unwilling to retrieve the puck, chances are your power play isn’t going to be overly effective.

Turnovers, Turnovers, Turnovers

With that said, if not for a terrible giveaway at the Nashville blueline from Andrej Sekera in the dying seconds of period two and a complete brain cramp from Andrew Ference with seven minutes left to play, there is no reason to believe last night’s contest would not have gone into overtime. At this stage of the game, it has to be about small wins and the last two games have been exactly that.

Like every other team in the league, the Oilers make mistakes. To their credit, at least for the time being, they are no longer giving up one point-blank opportunity after another. There is no question part of that is due to the play of their netminder, but it seems to be more than that. While Talbot’s positioning and rebound control have had an immediate impact on this group’s ability to defend, they do seem much calmer in their own skin.

[Related Article: Opening Month Of Season Will Be Critical]

Make no mistake, they still do get caught puck watching and/or overcommitting in certain areas of the ice and but those tendencies are not going to go away overnight. It will take time, but it will come. However, what is rather perplexing is how inept this offence can look. With a talent like Connor McDavid now in place, this group should be stumbling into creating scoring chances and yet nothing. Hopefully, a quick pit stop in Dallas to face the unpredictable Stars is just what the doctor ordered.