What a fucking weekend…I mean seriously, playoff hockey is back baby!!! Incredible action all weekend long between the round robin games and the actual playoff qualifier games. A total of 10 games between Saturday and Sunday as the quest for the Stanley Cup began.
Did you miss any of the action? Well that’s what I’m here for folks. While most were enjoying the beautiful summer weather, ya boy was planted on his couch watching all of this weekends hockey action. So let’s recap what went down as here are the results from Saturday and Sunday…
Saturdays Results:
GAME 1:
Carolina Hurricanes- 3 vs New York Rangers- 2
GAME 1:
Chicago Blackhawks- 6 vs Edmonton Oilers- 4
GAME 1:
New York Islanders- 2 vs Florida Panthers- 1
GAME 1:
Montreal Canadiens- 3 vs Pittsburgh Penguins- 2(Overtime)
GAME 1:
Calgary Flames-4 vs Winnipeg Jets- 1
Sundays Results:
GAME 1:
Arizona Coyotes- 4 vs Nashville Predators- 3
Round Robin:
Philadelphia Flyers- 4 vs Boston Bruins- 1
Round Robin:
Colorado Avalanche- 2 vs St. Louis Blues- 1
GAME 1:
Toronto Maple Leafs- 0 vs Columbus Blue Jackets- 2
GAME 1:
Minnesota Wild- 3 vs Vancouver Canucks- 0
Biggest Takeaways-
The Rangers and Hurricanes series kicked the weekend off on the right foot with how physical it was. Not gonna lie I had very little interest in that series before game 1 but those two teams delivered and game 2 should be electric.
Image-Canes Twitter
Carey Price did exactly what I thought he would do and he stole a game for the Canadiens. As much as I enjoy watching the Penguins lose, I’m simply hoping they win this series so they have zero chance at the first overall pick. I’ll give the Habs credit as they were able to keep up with the Pens, but I have a feeling game 2 will have a different outcome.
Image-Habs Twitter
The Blackhawks arent dead yet? A team that has no business being here picked up an impressive win over the Oilers. Now maybe I’ve been putting too much faith in McDavid being able to carry that team. They didn’t look to hot and their going to need a lot more out of everyone else and their goalie if they want to win this series.
Image-Blackhawks Twitter
The Panthers and Islanders game was as boring as the score and I’m not gonna lie I may have been out in the pool downing some beers while this one was going on…hopefully game 2 is more exciting.
Image-Islanders Twitter
I love watching the Flames games, I think it’s the combination of how much I missed watching a late night hockey game and the physical play that they bring. I mean this game was entertaining from start to finish. Unfortunately for the Jets they lost Mark Schiefele after he was hit by Matthew Tkachuk and had his leg cut. As of this writing I haven’t heard a full update on him but you’ll get my full thoughts on the hit and an update on him this Thursday on the Ginger Thread Podcast.
Image-Flames Twitter
Sundays action started in the west with the Yotes shocking the Preds. The Coyotes looked real good and got a few lucky bounces that helped lead them to victory. The Preds need to get their legs under them to get back into this series.
Image-Coyotes Twitter
Boston STINKS. That’s right I said it, they looked horrible in the exhibition game and they looked good for a total of maybe 10 minutes during their game against my Flyers. Cattah Haht is dialed in and looked calm, cool, and collected in his first ever playoff start. A fluke goal off his defensemans skate was the only one that got past him. If you still want to be an idiot and not take notice then I don’t what else to do to help you. This Flyers team is good and they are dangerous. I feel it in my bones this team is going to do something special and I can not wait.
Buzzer beater? Thought that was only a thing in basketball. Not the case though as Nazem Kadri scored as time expired in the third period to give the Avs the 2-1 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Blues. For being a low scoring game it was very entertaining and the Avs have set themselves up nicely in the early stages of the round robin.
We had a good ole fashioned goalie duel between the Leafs and Jackets. Scoreless after two periods something had to give. It only took 30 seconds for Can Atkinson to break the scoreless tie for the Blue Jackets. They would hold that lead until the end and would tack on an empty net goal to beat the Leafs in front of their hometown crowd of zero…
Image-Jackets Twitter
The last game of the weekend between the Nucks and Wild. This one had an edge to it right away and I loved it. Most probably thought that this game was put at the end of the night because it wasn’t going to be very interesting. Boy were they wrong, excitement from start to finish with plenty of physical playoff hockey. The Wild got the scoring started took the early lead and Alex Stalock made sure they kept it that way. A shutout in his first career playoff game as the Wild picked up the 3-0 win.
Image-Wild Twitter
Monday’s Games
GAME 2: Rangers vs Hurricanes-12:00pm
GAME 2: Jets vs Flames-2:30pm
ROUND ROBIN: Capitals vs Lightning-4:00pm
ROUND ROBIN: Stars vs Golden Knights-6:30pm
GAME 2: Canadiens vs Penguins-8:00pm
GAME 2: Oilers vs Blackhawks-10:30pm
Make sure you heck out all the exciting playoff action coming up and if you’re a loser and decided not to watch, don’t worry I’ll have you covered and i’ll catch you up to speed.
Featured Image-myself
