Nick's Sports World

The St. Louis Blues are 2019 Stanley Cup Champions after a 4-1 win in Game 7 over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night at TD Garden in Boston.

The Blues ended their 52-year (51 seasons) drought without a title as they hadn’t even won a Stanley Cup Final game since joining the league as part of the 1967 expansion. This was their fourth Final appearance. The other three times came in their first three years of existence (1968-70) but they were swept each time.

The Bruins forced a Game 7 after dominating Game 6 in St. Louis on Sunday night. But the Blues bounced back as they dominated Game 7. After going over 16 minutes without a shot in the first period of Game 7, the Blues scored two goals in the final minutes and led 2-0 through the second period. Although the Bruins outshot the Blues, they couldn’t get by St. Louis’ star rookie goalie Jordan Binnington, who led the Blues through a remarkable second half of the season going from last place in the entire league on Jan. 3 to Cup champions five months later.

St. Louis went 16-10 overall in the playoffs, beating the Winnipeg Jets in six games in the first round, the Dallas Stars in another seven-game series in the second round, and got by the San Jose Sharks in six games in the Western Conference Final to reach their first Stanley Cup Final in 39 years. The Bruins ended up with a 15-9 record after defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets and Carolina Hurricanes in seven, six, and four games respectively.

Ryan O’Reilly was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for the most valuable player of the playoffs, scoring eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points in 26 games. Binnington was also mentioned as a candidate for the MVP, posting a 2.46 GAA and .914 save percentage.

The Blues are the fourth team of the past decade to end a long drought without a Stanley Cup. The Blackhawks ended a 49-year drought in 2010, and won twice more in 2013 and 2015, the Los Angeles Kings won their first two Stanley Cups in franchise history in 2012 and 2014, and the Washington Capitals won their first ever Cup last year. There are six teams with 30 or more seasons without a Stanley Cup. Maybe one of those droughts will end next season, which will get underway in the fall.

Sixteen teams to eight teams, but not the eight teams that most predicted. The first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs came to an end on Wednesday night after a third Game 7 concluded. Shockingly, all four division leaders from the regular season were eliminated in the first round, the first time that has ever happened since the NHL started the division format over 50 years ago. The most surprising upset was the Columbus Blue Jackets’ series sweep over the Tampa Bay Lightning, who were the top team in the NHL after a record-tying 62-win season. Needless to say, a lot of people’s prediction brackets were ruined after that first round.

The three Canadian teams who qualified for the postseason were all eliminated. The Toronto Maple Leafs once again fell to the Boston Bruins in seven games, just like last year and in 2013. The Calgary Flames, the number one team in the West, lost in five games to the Colorado Avalanche, and the Winnipeg Jets lost to the St. Louis Blues in six games. The streak of a Canadian team winning the Stanley Cup extends another year, with the last Canadian win being the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.

Another surprising series sweep was the New York Islanders over the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have won two of the last three Stanley Cups. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was held to just one point in the series.

In one of the craziest Game 7 comebacks, the San Jose Sharks eliminated last year’s “cinderella” team, the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas led 3-0 into the third period but ended up losing 5-4 in overtime in Game 7.

The other two division winners that were eliminated in the first round were the Nashville Predators and the Washington Capitals. The Predators lost to the Dallas Stars in six games, and the Capitals lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime in the third Game 7 of the round on Wednesday night.

Here’s a look ahead to the second round:

Columbus Blue Jackets (WC2) vs. Boston Bruins (A2):

The Blue Jackets surprised everyone by sweeping the Lightning in the opening round, especially after being down 3-0 in Game 1. Columbus are better than people think, although they’re in the second wild-card spot. The Bruins finished in second place in the Atlantic division and got past the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games. Boston won the season series 2-1. This series begins on Thursday.

Carolina Hurricanes (WC1) vs. New York Islanders (M2):

The Hurricanes were another team that had an upset over a division winner, they edged the Washington Capitals in overtime in Game 7. The Islanders have been waiting for their second-round opponent after sweeping the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.  The Islanders won the season series 3-1. Game 1 is on Friday in Brooklyn.

Dallas Stars (WC1) vs. St. Louis Blues (C3):

The Stars won their series against the Nashville Predators in six games, and the Blues beat the Jets, also in six games. The home team won only once in the Blues’ series. The Stars were down 2-1 in their series but won three straight to advance. Dallas won the season series 3-1. St. Louis will host Game 1 on Thursday night.

Colorado Avalanche (WC2) vs. San Jose Sharks (P2):

Colorado took down the West’s top team, the Calgary Flames in five games after being shutout in Game 1. The Sharks beat the Golden Knights after a crazy Game 7 on Tuesday night. San Jose won the season series 3-0 and will host Game 1 on Friday.

After one of the craziest opening rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, we will see if the second round is just as crazy and exciting.

Sources:

-All stats/info from NHL.com

The Boston Bruins tied their first-round series versus the Toronto Maple Leafs at two after a 6-4 win in Game 4 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Wednesday night.

David Pastrnak scored two goals in the second period and Brad Marchand had a goal and two assists as the Bruins regained home-ice advantage after losing Game 1 at home.

The Bruins had a quick start as they scored just 3:03 into the game when Charlie McAvoy scored on the power play. Just over three minutes later, Brad Marchand scored his second goal of the series to make it 2-0. But the Leafs cut Boston’s lead in half when Zach Hyman tipped Morgan Rielly’s shot in past Tuukka Rask with just 2:05 remaining in the first period.

Toronto tied it early in the second period on a goal from Auston Matthews just over a minute in. But then Pastrnak and the Bruins took over, scoring three unanswered goals. Pastrnak scored the first two in the second, one on the power play. 42-year-old Zdeno Chara scored unassisted in the third to make it 5-2 Boston.

But Toronto wasn’t done there. The Leafs came back with two goals, another one from Matthews, and one from Travis Dermott, in a span of 1:35 in the third to come within one but it was too little too late as Boston also added an empty-netter with just two seconds left to make it a 6-4 win for the Bruins.

The Leafs outshot Boston 42-31. Rask had 38 saves for the Bruins, Frederik Andersen had 25 saves for Toronto.

The series is tied 2-2. Game 5 is Friday night back at TD Garden in Boston.

Sources:

-All stats/info from NHL.com

Auston Matthews and Andreas Johnsson each had a goal and an assist as the Toronto Maple Leafs now have a 2-1 series lead after a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins in Game 3 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Monday night.

The Leafs had two power play goals in the second period after failing to score on the man-advantage in the first two games. Matthews recorded his first two points of the series, scoring a goal that put Toronto up 2-1 and adding an assist on Johnsson’s game-winning goal. Both of those goals came on the power play.

All goals came in the second period. Trevor Moore opened the scoring with assists from Morgan Rielly and Tyler Ennis. But just 52 seconds later, David Krejci tied it for Boston. After the two power-play goals from Toronto, Charlie Coyle brought the Bruins within one, scoring a power-play goal of their own with just 38 seconds remaining in the second period.

Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask almost had to leave the game in the second period when John Tavares was pushed into Rask by Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy. Rask stayed in the game and made 31 saves, despite the loss. His counterpart Frederik Andersen made 34 saves for the win.

It wasn’t all positive news for Toronto on Monday though, as Nazem Kadri was suspended for the remainder of the series for a cross-check on Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk late in Game 2. Kadri was also suspended in last year’s playoff series versus Boston, although it was just three games.

Game 4 is Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena.

Sources:

-All stats/info from NHL.com

The Boston Bruins tied their best-of-seven series after they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 in Game 2 at TD Garden in Boston on Saturday night.

Charlie Coyle, Danton Heinen, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron all scored for the Bruins, who outshot the Leafs 14-7 in the opening period. Nazem Kadri scored Toronto’s only goal, which came in the third period.

Coyle opened the scoring just 4:44 into the opening frame when he scored on a pass from David Backes. Marchand made it 2-0 later on in the first. David Pastrnak and Torey Krug got the assists on the second goal. Heinen scored unassisted 10:39 into the second period after William Nylander had an odd giveaway right next to his own net. Bergeron’s second goal of the series came late in the third period, which sealed the win for Boston.

Tuukka Rask bounced back after a rocky Game 1. The Finnish goaltender made 30 saves in the win. Frederik Andersen didn’t play as well as he did in Game 1, allowing four goals on 41 shots.

Toronto’s offense was slowed down by Boston’s defense on Saturday night, after the Leafs scored four in Game 1. The Bruins offense rebounded after scoring just one goal on Thursday night.

Although Boston played much better than Toronto for most of the game, the Leafs are now in a better position than they were in last year’s playoff series versus Boston, as the Bruins dominantly won the first two games a year ago.

Toronto returns home with a 1-1 series tie. It is now a best-of-five and the Leafs have home-ice advantage for the rest of the series. Game 3 is Monday night at Scotiabank Arena.

Sources:

-All stats/info courtesy of NHL.com

Redemption.

Well, sort of. The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t had much success against the Boston Bruins the last two playoff series in 2013 and 2018, as the Bruins won both of those series, both in seven games with Game 7 being in Boston both times. In 2013, there was the terrible 4-1 blown lead by the Leafs, and last year they were embarrassed in a 7-4 loss in Game 7 in Boston.

But, it was a different story on Thursday night as the Maple Leafs beat the Bruins 4-1 at TD Garden in Boston in Game 1. In the last two series, Boston had won Game 1 at home, but not this time.

Mitch Marner led the way with two goals, one on a penalty shot, with William Nylander also scoring on a breakaway in the second period. John Tavares added an empty-net goal in the third to seal the deal for the Maple Leafs.

Toronto’s goalie Frederik Andersen played well, stopping 32 of 33 shots to get the Leafs a much-needed Game 1 win.

The Leafs were facing a lot of adversity heading into this series because of the recent playoff history between these two teams. Even though the last two series went the distance, Boston just always seemed to get the better of Toronto.

The Leafs haven’t won Game 1 of a playoff series since 2003.  Now, they will have a 1-1 series tie at worst when they return home for Game 3 next week.

The Leafs lead the series 1-0. Game 2 goes Saturday night in Boston.

Sources:

-All stats/info courtesy of NHL.com

The Montreal Canadiens just missed the playoffs after the 2018-2019 season came to an end despite their 6-5 shootout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the season finale. The Canadiens finished 44-30-8 and were just three points shy of making the playoffs after failing to make it a year ago.

Montreal wasn’t even expected to be close to the playoffs when the season began last October. They were still a young team, who didn’t have enough scoring, and would have to rely a lot on star goalie Carey Price, who has “carried” them in years previous. But, after surprising starts from the likes of newly acquired Max Domi, and the 18-year old they drafted last June, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the Canadiens were in the playoff hunt for most of the season.

In his first season as a Hab, Domi ended up leading the team in points with 72 (28 goals, 44 assists) in 82 games. Kotkaniemi played in 79 of the 82 games, scoring 11 goals, and adding 23 assists for 34 points. The 18-year-old impressed many in Montreal. Brendan Gallagher led the teams in goals with 33 in his seventh season with the team.

Jeff Petry led the way for defenseman, with 13 goals and 33 assists for 46 points, and appeared in all 82 games. Despite playing in only 58 games due to injury, Shea Weber was also a contributing factor on the blueline both offensively, (14 goals, 19 assists) and defensively.

Price started 64 games, but appeared in 66 games, posting a 35-24-6 record with four shutouts, a 2.49 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. A strong season, but it wasn’t enough to get Montreal into the postseason.

Their worst streak of the season was a five-game losing streak which happened at the end of November, right around the time that Weber made his return from injury. They played well down the stretch going 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, but two losses to the teams they were chasing, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Carolina Hurricanes, cost them their shot at the playoffs.

All in all, it was a positive season in Montreal. They still need more scoring, and may need to touch up their defense a little, but if Domi and Gallagher play like they did this season and Price can have another MVP season like a few years ago, we could see the playoffs back in Montreal one year from now.

Sources:

-Stats courtesy of NHL.com

The Toronto Blue Jays have traded their star centre fielder Kevin Pillar, to somewhere a bit closer to home.

The West Hills, California native was traded to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday in exchange for two right-handed pitchers, Juan De Paula and Derek Law, as well as infielder Alen Hanson.

Pillar was the longest tenured member of the Blue Jays, as he spent the first six seasons of his career in Toronto. The 30-year-old soon became a fan favourite, making highlight-reel catches, earning him the nickname ‘Superman.’

The 30-year-old batted for a .252 average last season with 40 doubles, 15 home runs, and 59 runs batted in (RBI) last season. Over his career Pillar batted for a .260 average, hitting 156 doubles and 55 home runs, appearing in 695 games over six seasons.

Pillar will make his return to Toronto in three weeks from now when the Giants come to the Rogers Centre April 23 and 24.

 

The Montreal Canadiens did their part to stay in the tight playoff race in the Eastern Conference as they beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-1 on Saturday night at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg.

With the win, the Habs (42-29-8) remain tied with the Columbus Blue Jackets, who also won on Saturday night, at 92 points as they fight for one of the two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference. The Jets (45-29-4) have already clinched a spot in the postseason, but failed to gain on the Nashville Predators, who lost Saturday.

Montreal outshot Winnipeg 44-24. Habs goaltender Carey Price stopped 23 of 24 shots for his 34^th win of the season. The Jets netminder, Connor Hellebuyck, stopped 41 of 43 shots in the loss.

The Canadiens had a fast start to the game although they didn’t score until late in the first. With 2:05 left to play, Joel Armia took advantage of a nice passing play, beating Hellebuyck from the slot just eight seconds into a Habs power play. The score remained 1-0 into the second period.

Montreal also scored late in the second, when Jeff Petry scored his 13^th of the season on a one-timer pass from Brett Kulak with just 37 seconds left in the second period. Max Domi got his 43^rd assist of the season on the goal and now has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his last seven games.

Dustin Byfuglien made his return in this one after missing 19 games due to an ankle injury. The Jets struggled to find their game in the first two periods, but they made a big push in the third. Matthew Perreault cut the Canadiens’ lead in half when he scored his 15^th of the year 11:24 into the third period. But, it was too little too late as the Habs added an empty-netter with just 15 seconds left to make it 3-1.

The Habs’ playoff push continues as they are now 5-1-1 in their last seven games and have just three games left in the season, with all of them coming against playoff-bound opponents. They play the Lightning and the Capitals before hosting the Maple Leafs in the season finale next Saturday.

Catch the game’s highlights here.

Sources:

-All stats, info and videos courtesy of NHL.com

 

It was definitely a pitchers’ duel. Jordan Zimmerman vs. Marcus Stroman. They both had very good performances, Stroman had seven strikeouts over seven innings, and Zimmerman didn’t allow a hit until the seventh inning. But, Christin Stewart’s two-run home run in the top of the 10^th inning led the Detroit Tigers to a 2-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto’s season and home opener on MLB’s Opening Day.

It was also new Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo’s managerial debut in the MLB, after spending many years managing in the minors. But his team couldn’t get a win for him on his special day.

Neither team had a hit until the sixth inning. Stroman gave up four walks but struck out the side in the fifth. Stroman pitched seven innings, allowing two hits, allowed no runs, and threw seven strikeouts.

But Zimmerman was even better. He also pitched seven innings, allowing just one hit, no walks and threw four strikeouts.

Blue Jays’ OF Teoscar Hernandez broke Zimmerman’s perfect game bid with a single in the bottom of the seventh inning. Toronto’s only other hit came in the ninth when Brandon Drury also hit a single.

The Jays’ bullpen had a lot of trouble last season, but they had a pretty good start to this season as Joe Biagini and Ken Giles each struck out the side in the eight and ninth innings, respectively. But, Daniel Hudson came in for the top of the 10^th, giving up a double to Niko Goodrum, and then the two-run home run to Stewart, which ended up being the winning runs, as Hudson was handed the loss in this one. Victor Alcantara got the win and the save went to Shane Greene.

This was the Jays’ eighth straight home opener loss. They haven’t won a home opener since 2011, when they beat the Minnesota Twins. They also now have a losing record in home openers of 21-22.

Up Next:

Game two of this four-game series goes Friday night. The starting pitchers will be Matthew Boyd for Detroit and Matt Shoemaker for the Blue Jays.

Sources:

-All stats, info and video courtesy of MLB.com