But wanting a piece of Ryan Reaves and go as far as trying to pull him off the bench to fight him? That’s ambitious.
Haley wasn’t happy after Reaves destroyed Melker Karlsson with a big hit right in front of the San Jose Sharks bench in the first period of Friday’s meeting with Reaves’ Vegas Golden Knights.
Reaves took a quick look at his handy work before going off on a line change. Haley, who was also on the ice, didn’t seem to care and went after Reaves, throwing a punch at one of the toughest — if not the toughest — men in the NHL.
Haley ended up taking a roughing penalty on the play. Reaves got a good laugh in, seeming quite amused at the whole ordeal.
This is a matchup that could feature in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and judging by this one, it would be a fantastic series.
NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Sunday night’s matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights. Coverage begins at 10 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
Like the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader on NBCSN, the second features a team whose playoff hopes are on life-support at the moment.
The Edmonton Oilers scored a big win last night, 3-2 in overtime against the Arizona Coyotes — but only gained a point after not being able to close Arizona out in regulation. The Oilers are seven points back of the idle Coyotes and have a game in hand, so theoretically, a win vs. Vegas in the second half of a back to back would place them within five points.
“I’ve liked our game coming back from the bye week, minus a couple of hiccups here and there,” Connor McDavid said after the game. “We haven’t necessarily been rewarded by it, but we are starting to now.”
McDavid will be featured on Star Sunday. He had his hand in all three of Edmonton’s goals on Saturday, including potting the game-winner in overtime. Oilers head coach Ken Hitchcock called it a “typical Connor game” and said, “he wasn’t going to be denied.”
McDavid is on a run of seven straight multi-point games, matching the longest streak of the season, which is shared by Auston Matthews and Nikita Kucherov. The 22-year-old is average 1.54 points per game, which would be a career-high. Thus, he’s on pace to set a new career-high in points. He had 108 last season and enters Sunday with 103. He’s set a new career-high in points in every season he’s played in the NHL.
Vegas enters the day firmly entrenched in third place in the Pacific Division, where they sit five points up on the Arizona Coyotes with a game in hand. Their current form has seen them win of seven of their past eight, erasing a spell prior to it where they lost six-of-seven.
The reason for the turn around has been an uptick in scoring and a downtick in goals allowed — usually a pretty good mixture for finding success.
“When we play our best hockey, it starts in the defensive end, and that’s really important to our group,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said after their win against Dallas on Friday. “I don’t want us to be a high-flying team. I want us to be a good, solid team and find ways to grind out wins like we did tonight.”
Part of the scoring has come from Mark Stone, who went from having one assist in his first four games with his new team to having two goals and three assists in over his past four outings.
“I’m starting to settle in,” Stone said. “It’s been pretty easy so far. Teammates have been really good with me. You almost get that feeling that you’ve been here for a lot longer than you have. Even though I’ve been here for two weeks, I’m starting to get a lot of familiarity.”
Marc-Andre Fleury will be the focus of Star Sunday for the Golden Knights.
Fleury leads the NHL with 35 wins and eight shutouts this season and is currently riding a six-game winning streak.
Inside Fleury’s 6-game winning streak
– 0.83 GAA, .973 SV%, 2 shutouts
– 5 goals allowed on 183 shots
– Has not allowed more than 2 goals in a game
– Wins over DAL (2x), VAN (2x), CGY, ANA
Chris Cuthbert (play-by-play) and Shane Hnidy (‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst) will have the call from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
Mark Stone had six goals in his final six games with the Ottawa Senators prior to his departure to Vegas on trade deadline day.
But heading into Saturday night, he had nothing but a couple of assists in his first five games with his new club, one he will be with for quite some time after signing and eight-year deal to stay with the team.
The goal drought ended early in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks, however, as Stone cleaned up the trash in front of the opposing goal to grab his first market in the black and gold threads.
By the time the period was through, the Golden Knight had fired five past Jacob Markstrom, who was chased at the 14:17 mark of the frame. Stone picked up an assist on Paul Stastny‘s goal for his first multipoint game.
Vegas hasn’t seemed to need Stone scoring lately — they’ve won five straight and are well on their way to No. 6. But with $76 million invested in him now for a long time to come, it’s good to see him get back in the scoring column.
Generally speaking, the most exciting parts of the Push for the Playoffs comes in watching teams scratch and claw for postseason survival. There’s a natural draw to do-or-die moments in sports, and jobs could very well be on the line depending upon where teams end up in the wild-card races.
But, for all we know, those teams are merely battling it out to get booted out of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs by the juggernauts at the top of the NHL.
Also, it’s definitely worthwhile to win your division, and thus avoid tough No. 2 vs. No. 3 matchups in the first round. (Hot take: the complaints aren’t going to die down from fans of such teams, including the Maple Leafs.)
That contrast is pretty stark in the Pacific Division, actually.
Avoiding a gamble against Vegas
The Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks are currently in quite a battle for that division title. Calgary’s up a point, but San Jose has a game in hand. The two teams meet just one more time this season (March 31, in San Jose), and it could be so close that it might come down to that contest.
And there’s quite a lot at stake.
With all due respect to the scrappiness of the Wild and other bubble teams (the Pacific Division will most likely draw the second wild-card team), facing Minnesota is a lot more comfortable a thought than trying to get beyond Vegas.
The Golden Knights have often been better than their solid record has indicated for much of this season, and that was before they traded for a true star in Mark Stone. For all we know, the Golden Knights could once again be a force in the games that matter the most, so Calgary and San Jose have some serious incentive to put off such a matchup.
Naturally, winning the division also confers home-ice advantage, likely for the West’s bracket of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
So, there’s quite a bit on the line. Let’s break down the future for each team to get an idea of what’s ahead.
Recent play: Calgary’s been very streaky lately. They’re currently on a four-game losing streak, and they’re usually-explosive offense has been bottled up, with just five goals combined during that stretch.
Before the four-game losing streak, the Flames had won seven games in a row. The streakiness stretches back further than that, too (they had four in a row from Feb. 7-14 after winning four of five from Jan. 18 – Feb. 3). So maybe this team is just going to be hot and cold, which would be especially good news for people who want to talk about the Flames being on fire/getting “doused” when they’re losing.
Remaining schedule, with head-to-head matchup bolded:
Sun., Mar. 10: vs. Vegas
Tue., Mar. 12: vs. New Jersey
Fri., Mar. 15: vs. Rangers
Sat., Mar. 16: @ Winnipeg
Tue., Mar. 19: vs. Columbus
Thu., Mar. 21: vs. Ottawa
Sat., Mar. 23: @ Vancouver
Mon., Mar. 25: vs. Los Angeles
Wed., Mar. 27: vs. Dallas
Fri., Mar. 29: vs. Anaheim Sun., Mar. 31: @ San Jose
Mon., Apr 1: @ Los Angeles
Wed., Apr 3: @ Anaheim
Sat., Apr 6: vs. Edmonton
Some thoughts on that schedule: The rest of March is full of opportunities. The Flames play their next three games at home, but it goes beyond that, with five of six and eight of their next 10 games at home.
With both the Flames and Sharks, it figures to be interesting to see how “checked out” some of their lesser opponents end up being. Calgary faces the lowly Kings and Ducks twice, then finish out against an Oilers team that might not be as hot on April 6 as it is today.
Recent play: The Sharks are currently on a three-game winning streak, and they’ve generally been on an upward trajectory. Going back to a 7-6 OT win against the Capitals on Jan. 22, the Sharks are on an impressive 12-3-1 run in their last 16 games.
One thing to consider is that San Jose is wisely playing it safe with Erik Karlsson‘s injury issues. That’s a smart big-picture move, but it might hurt their chances of winning this race.
Remaining schedule, with head-to-head matchup bolded:
Sat., Mar. 9: vs. St. Louis
Mon., Mar. 11: @ Minnesota
Tue., Mar. 12: @ Winnipeg
Thu., Mar. 14: vs. Florida
Sat., Mar. 16: vs. Nashville
Mon., Mar. 18: vs. Vegas
Thu., Mar. 21: @ Los Angeles
Fri., Mar. 22: @ Anaheim
Mon., Mar. 25: vs.Detroit
Thu., Mar. 28: vs. Chicago
Sat., Mar. 30: vs. Vegas Sun., Mar. 31: vs. Calgary
Tue., Apr. 2: @ Vancouver
Thu., Apr. 4: @ Edmonton
Sat., Apr. 6: vs. Colorado
Some thoughts on that schedule: Broadly and subjectively speaking, the Sharks’ schedule might be a little bit tougher than Calgary’s remaining slate.
They face some challenges in their next six games, as they face five teams currently positioned in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, plus a Panthers team that’s been pesky. That said, the Sharks could get a nice break to end their regular season, as it’s quite possible that all of the Canucks, Oilers, and Avalanche might have little to play for by April.
It’s worth noting that the Sharks face the Golden Knights twice, while Calgary only draws Vegas one more time before the postseason.
***
Overall, it’s pretty tough to pick a favorite to win the Pacific. Again, it might come down to who wins on March 31, particularly if that game ends in regulation.
As important as it is to be as fresh and healthy as possible come playoff time, the threat of the Golden Knights as a first-round opponent definitely makes it easier to understand why the Flames and Sharks might really step on the gas to win this race.
Everyone is talking about the Tampa Bay Lightning and their record-pace. The Boston Bruins are riding high with an 18-game point streak. The St. Louis Blues started from the bottom and are now in third in the Central. The Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets, San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames are all battling for their respective divisional supremacy.
Meanwhile, quietly in the nation’s capital, the Washington Capitals have won five consecutive games and are tied with the New York Islanders in points atop the Metropolitan Division. Even more quietly out in the desert, the Vegas Golden Knights have also won five straight. Does anybody remember that these were the last two teams standing last season? Because that’s what could very well happen again.
The Caps won back-to-back Presidents’ Trophies in 2015-16 and 2016-17, only to lose in the second round of the playoffs both years to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Penguins. Last season, they won the Metropolitan again but finished third in the East before going on to win their first Cup in franchise history. They’re in a similar position this year, just two points behind Toronto for third in the conference. Perhaps being a bit under the radar is where they thrive.
Washington has also shown the ability to flip a switch and turn back into the defending champions at a moment’s notice. Take last week’s game against Ottawa for example. The Capitals found themselves down 2-0 before they could blink against the lowly Senators early in the first period. But by the time the period was over, the score was tied. By the final buzzer, Washington had won 7-2.
With a league-leading 46 goals, Alex Ovechkin is carrying the offensive load for Washington once again this season. But the Capitals’ recent 5-game winning streak has been a demonstration of the depth that carried them to the Cup last year, as 13 different players have scored a goal and 18 players have registered a point in that span. At the trade deadline, general manager Brian MacLellan did well to bolster that depth by adding defenseman Nick Jensen and forward Carl Hagelin, who have both already made contributions during their brief time in D.C.
Of course, the biggest difference between this Washington team and the one that hoisted the Cup is behind the bench. At the moment, former Capitals coach Barry Trotz and his Islanders seem to be the only thing standing between Todd Reirden and the franchise winning a fourth straight division title.
Out west, while Calgary and San Jose jockey for first place in the Pacific, Vegas has a stranglehold on third in the division. That means they’ll play whichever team finishes second between the Flames and the Sharks in the First Round, a tough match up for whichever team comes up short. Vegas has not lost since the trade deadline, Mark Stone seems to be gelling nicely with the now-healthy Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny, and Marc-Andre Fleury is playing like the Fleury of last postseason, stopping 109 of the 111 shots he faced during his four straight wins.
Very few expected last year’s expansion Vegas team to make a run to the Cup Final, if not for their lack of star power, then certainly for their lack of postseason experience. Well, they now have that star power and after coming three wins away from the Cup last season, there is no lack of playoff wisdom on this Golden Knights roster. Even their new pieces like Stone (2017 with Ottawa), Pacioretty (2014 with Montreal) and Stastny (2016 with St. Louis & 2018 with Winnipeg) have all played in a Conference Final.
Given the Capitals’ previous failures in the playoffs and the Golden Knights’ infancy as a franchise, it was a bit of a shock to see them both facing off for the Stanley Cup last season. Don’t be so surprised if it happens again this year.
