Lightning hold on to take commanding 3-1 series lead on Blue Jackets

By Adam GretzAug 17, 2020, 5:57 PM EDT

The Tampa Bay Lightning are one step closer to moving on in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Thanks to their 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday afternoon, they now have a commanding 3-1 lead in their First Round series and will have a chance to close it out on Wednesday afternoon. That would go a long way toward erasing the bitter taste that last year’s First Round meeting between these two has certainly left behind.

For the Lightning, this game was all about the trio of Barclay Goodrow, Blake Coleman, and Yanni Gourde.

That line was their best one way all day and seemed to be the only line that was able to push the pace. They scored both of Tampa Bay’s goals during a five-minute stretch early in the second period and completely shut down the Blue Jackets offense when they were on the ice. When that unit was on the ice the Lightning attempted 14 of the 19 total shot attempts, outscored Columbus 2-0, and dominated the scoring chances.

When that line was off the ice it was all Columbus.

Depth lines like this are incredibly important come playoff time because no team’s star players are going to be able to carry the offense every single night. There has to be a third (and sometimes) fourth line that can pick up the slack, and Tampa Bay received that in a big way on Monday.

Two of those players (Goodrow and Coleman) were acquired by the Lightning at the trade deadline in separate deals with San Jose and New Jersey.

[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

As for Columbus, well, this game has to feel like another punch to the gut in what has been an incredibly close series on the scoreboard.

Through four games the Lightning have only outscored the Blue Jackets by a 9-8 margin. All three Lightning wins have been by a single goal, including the five overtime thriller in Game 1 and Monday’s Game 4 win that pushed Columbus to the brink of elimination. What has to make Monday’s game so frustrating from a Blue Jackets perspective is that this was probably their best, most complete, and most impressive effort of the series. In Game 3 if felt as if Tampa Bay was starting to take over and show its dominance. Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella wondered after the game if his team had simply hit a wall.

But they came out on Monday and spent much of the afternoon getting the better of the play. At times in the second and third periods it seemed liked Tampa Bay was barely holding on.

Making matters worse for Columbus is that just when it looked as if it was going to get off to a great start with an early Oliver Bjorkstrand goal, an offside challenge from Tampa Bay negated it and kept the game scoreless.

You can see that play in the video below.

There is no way to tell how Monday’s game would have gone had that goal stood, but it was a frustrating start to what ended up being a frustrating game for the Blue Jackets.

Now they find themselves in a position where they have to win three games in a row to move on.

As long as Joonas Korpisalo keeps playing the way he has in goal (and he was great again on Monday) they are going to have a chance, but they are going to need to find a way to generate a little more consistent offense on Andrei Vasileskiy and Tampa Bay’s defense to pull this off.

No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. No. 7 Columbus Blue Jackets (TB leads 3-1)

Tuesday, Aug. 11: Lightning 3, Blue Jackets 2 (5OT) (recap)
Thursday, Aug. 13: Blue Jackets 3, Lightning 1 (recap)
Saturday, Aug. 15: Lightning 3, Blue Jackets 2 (recap)
Monday, Aug. 17: Lightning 2, Blue Jackets 1
Wednesday, Aug. 19: Columbus at Tampa Bay, 12 p.m. ET – NBCSN
*Friday, Aug. 21: Tampa Bay at Columbus – TBD
*Saturday, Aug. 22: Columbus at Tampa Bay – TBD

MORE:
• Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round schedule

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

Surging Stars on cusp of first Stanley Cup Final in 20 years

Associated PressSep 14, 2020, 1:00 PM EDT

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The Dallas Stars were fourth in the Western Conference when the NHL season paused for the pandemic.

Dallas hovered under the radar in the postseason bubble, particularly after losing two of three round-robin games.

Given little chance against Colorado in the second round of the playoffs, the Stars pushed the Avalanche around and right back to the Rockies. Still considered the underdog against top-seeded Vegas, they have shut down the deep Vegas Golden Knights to move within a game of the Stanley Cup Final.

Seems these Stars like life in the bubble.

”As we’ve gone here, we’ve continued to find ways to win and that shows you’re a good team,” Stars center Andrew Cogliano said Sunday. ”It’s not going to be perfect every night, but it seems like we have a lot of guys who buy in on a nightly basis and understand what their roles are, really do what they need to do to win games.”

Anton Khudobin may be at the top of that list.

The veteran goalie bounced around six teams in 11 NHL seasons, the past two in Dallas. Khudobin had a solid regular season, going 16-8-4 with a 2.22 goals-against average, and has been stellar in the Edmonton bubble after a few shaky starts early.

Khudobin has been a big reason the Stars lead Vegas 3-1, frustrating the Golden Knights with one spectacular save after another. He shut out Vegas in Game 1, stopped 38 shots in Game 3 and made three of his 32 saves during the Golden Knights’ late third period 5-on-3 in Saturday night’s series-controlling 2-1 win.

Behind Khudobin, the Stars can clinch their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 20 years Monday in Edmonton.

”He’s going to battle right till the end,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. ”That’s why the guys love playing in front of him.”

The Golden Knights’ goal – well, outside of winning – will be to get more traffic in front of Dallas’ goalie. The Stars were outshot 33-20 by Vegas in Game 4 and the Golden Knights have more overall in the series, yet are on the cusp of being sent back to the desert.

Vegas has had plenty of good chances in Game 4 – and the series, for that matter – but Khudobin is in a zone where if he sees it, he saves it. The Golden Knights need to get in his line of sight more if they’re going to stretch the Western Conference final to at least one more game.

”You can analyze this to death, but you can’t coach the puck into the net,” Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. ”When a goalie’s hot, he can’t see it, he can’t stop it. We have to get bodies there.”

Once the bodies are there, the Golden Knights have to find the lanes to get pucks through.

They’ve been inconsistent at it so far in this series.

Vegas has the massive shot advantage, but many of the shots are coming from the outside or where Khudobin has a direct line of sight. The Golden Knights’ shooters not only have to pick the right spots to shoot from, but the right moment to shoot – not easy when the Stars are trying to harass them off the puck.

”You’ve got to put the puck in a spot for the forwards to get a rebound and you’ve got to shoot for certain purposes,” Vegas defenseman Zach Whitecloud said. ”But as far as our back end, we trust our forwards to get to the net and they’re doing a good job and it’s on us to get pucks through, get them through quickly and get them through at the right times and give them a chance to have the first opportunity for a tip and obviously second chances, too.”

Do that and the Golden Knights can extend the series. Fail and the Stars will be headed to the Stanley Cup Final.

Flames name Geoff Ward head coach, removing interim tag

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By Adam GretzSep 14, 2020, 12:58 PM EDT

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The Calgary Flames announced on Monday that they have removed the interim tag from Geoff Ward, officially naming him the team’s head coach.

Terms of the contract were not announced by the team, but Pierre LeBrun reports Ward’s contract is a two-year deal.

He is the team’s fourth different head coach since the start of the 2015-16 season.

Ward had been serving as the Flames’ interim coach since late November when he took over for former coach Bill Peters. Peters had resigned from the team after his previous misconduct (including the use of a racial slur against former player Akim Aliu in the AHL, as well as physical incidents in Carolina) had been revealed. Before taking over on an interim basis Ward had been serving as an associate head coach with the Flames.

[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

With Ward behind the bench the Flames closed out the 2019-20 regular season with a 24-15-3 record to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

That regular season record under Ward’s watch was the fourth-best mark in the Western Conference during that time.

The Flames ended up beating the Winnipeg Jets (3-1) in the qualifying round before being eliminated in the First Round by the Dallas Stars.

This marks the first time in more than a decade that the Flames qualified for the playoffs in consecutive seasons.

MORE STANLEY CUP COVERAGE:
• Stanley Cup Playoffs Conference Final schedule

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

NHL Power Rankings: Point takes over top spot in Conn Smythe race

By Adam GretzSep 14, 2020, 12:44 PM EDT

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It is time again for the NHL Power Rankings and the 2020 Conn Smythe Watch. We not only have a new leader at the top this week, but also a new contender making a strong push and rapid climb in the rankings.

Tampa’ Brayden Point takes over the No. 1 spot this week, jumping over Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen, as he has helped the Lightning get to within a win of the Stanley Cup Final.

Also making an appearance this week for the first time is Dallas goalie Anton Khudobin.

Who else makes this week’s NHL Power Rankings list?

To the rankings!

1. Brayden Point, Tampa Bay Lightning. He has at least one point in all but two of his games this postseason, and in one of those two games he only played eight minutes before leaving with injury. He has six multi-point games, two-game winning goals (both in overtime, including one series-clincher) and has been the best and most impactful player on a team that is one win away from the Stanley Cup Final.

2. Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars. After a long run at the top Heiskanen drops down one spot. That drop has more to do with what the guy now ahead of him has done recently than anything Heiskanen has or has not done. He is still the best overall defenseman going in the playoffs and the best skater on the Dallas roster.

[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

3. Anton Khudobin, Dallas Stars. The Conn Smythe Trophy tends to weigh the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final over everything that happens in the first two rounds, and that is what gives Khudobin such a huge jump. After being solid, and at times really good, in the First and Second Rounds, Khudobin has gone into superman mode in the Western Conference Final. He is the single the biggest reason, and maybe the only reason, the Stars are so close to advancing. Without him standing on his head over the first four games of this series it might already be over in Vegas’ favor. Entering Monday’s Game 5 (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN; livestream), he has a .952 save percentage against the Golden Knights, while the Stars have won three games by a single goal. The Stars have scored 1, 3, and 2 goals in those wins. Goaltending is the difference.

4. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning. Kucherov and Point have been a nearly unstoppable duo offensively for the Lightning, and it is because of their dominance that the team has been able to overcome the absence of Steven Stamkos. He has averaged two points per game over his past eight games.

5. Shea Theodore, Vegas Golden Knights. Consistently the most impressive skater in the Vegas lineup, Theodore has been a top offensive threat from the blue line and also helped control the pace of every game when he is on the ice. Their best overall player at the moment.

[NHL Conference Final schedule]

6. Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars. He has been productive, timely, and quite honestly looked like the Jamie Benn of old. He has some fierce Conn Smythe competition within his own team, however.

7. Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning. At one point he had a goal in four consecutive games this postseason for the Lightning. He does not tend to get as many headlines as the forwards, but he is arguably the engine that makes this machine run every season. He is one of the best all-around players in hockey.

8. Brock Nelson, New York Islanders. He took a beating in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final series only to come back in Game 3 and score a huge game-winning goal to keep the Islanders in the series. He has been one of their top offensive players throughout the postseason.

9. Ondrej Palat, Tampa Bay Lightning. Palat is making a late push for the way he has played over the past two rounds. Since the start of the Second Round he has 11 points in nine games, including eight goals.

10. Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders. He is usually the most noticeable Islanders forward, and with 15 points in 20 games has also been one of their most productive. He has had a really strong playoff run and continues to establish himself as the foundational piece for the Islanders organization moving forward.

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

Golden Knights-Stars stream: NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Final

By Sean LeahySep 14, 2020, 11:45 AM EDT

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NBCSN’s coverage of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs continues with Monday’s Western Conference Final matchup between the Golden Knights and Stars. Pre-game coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Watch the Golden Knights-Stars stream on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

After falling behind 1-0 on Alec Martinez’s power play goal in the second period, the Stars rebounded to score twice later in the period. Joe Pavelski tied the game at 1-1 with his ninth goal this postseason. Dallas captain Jamie Benn provided the game winner on his power play tally with 59 seconds left before intermission. Dallas netminder Anton Khudobin, once again, stood tall in goal, stopping 32 of 33 shots.

Khudobin has responded after getting pulled after the second period of Game 2 by stopping 70 of 73 shots he faced in Games 3 and 4. He eclipsed 500 saves in the 2020 postseason with his 32-save outing in Game 4 (527). His 527 saves are the third-most by a Stars/North Stars goaltender in a single playoff year, behind Ed Belfour (606 in 2000 and 574 in 1999).

To extend this series to a Game 6, the Golden Knights will likely need more from some of its big names who have hit cold streaks:

• Jonathan Marchessault: 0 goals in last 10 games
• Reilly Smith: 0 goals in last 10 games
• Max Pacioretty: 0 goals in last 7 games
• Mark Stone: 1 goal in last 8 games

Since the conference format was adopted ahead of the 1981-82 season, teams that hold a 3-1 lead in the Conference Finals own an all-time series record of 34-1.

[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

WHAT: Vegas Golden Knights vs. Dallas Stars
WHERE: Rogers Place – Edmonton
WHEN: Monday, September 14, 8 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
ON THE CALL: John Forslund, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Golden Knights-Stars stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. No. 3 Dallas Stars (DAL leads 3-1)

Stars 1, Golden Knights 0 (recap)
Golden Knights 3, Stars 0 (recap)
Stars 3, Golden Knights 2 [OT] (recap)
Stars 3, Golden Knights 1 (recap)
Game 5: Monday, Sept. 14, 8 p.m. ET – NBCSN (livestream)
*Game 6: Wednesday, Sept. 16, 8 p.m. ET – NBCSN
*Game 7: Friday, Sept. 18, 9 p.m. ET – NBCSN

*if necessary