Power-play magic.
Putting together a pretty passing sequence on the man advantage, the Pittsburgh Penguins gained a two-goal lead Thursday over the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 5.
Captain Sidney Crosby cashed in for the Penguins, capitalizing on a low angle shot to push Pittsburgh's lead to 4-2.
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In nine career elimination games, Rust has 7 goals and 1 assist. Not bad. Not bad at all. pic.twitter.com/CB5TyBO4Hn
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 21, 2017
Get to the front of the net, and good things will happen.
That's what Bryan Rust discovered anew after banging in his second goal of Game 5 off a Sergei Bobrovsky rebound.
As the Pittsburgh Penguins' tweet pointed out, Rust is developing a knack for scoring in elimination games.
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Artturi Lehkonen is out there getting things done.
The Montreal Canadiens rookie forward scored a first-period goal in Game 5 after completely outmuscling the New York Rangers defense and beating Henrik Lundqvist on the wraparound.
This after stealing the puck from Marc Staal earlier in the shift to keep the play alive in the offensive zone.
Lehkonen now has two goals in the first five playoff games of his NHL career.
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Kessel with the snipe! pic.twitter.com/RTkae5bgxW
— SI NHL (@SI_NHL) April 20, 2017
Phil Kessel brought the crowd to their feet.
The Pittsburgh Penguins forward fired home a familiar shot Thursday, beating Columbus Blue Jackets netminder Sergei Bobrovsky with a quick wrist shot from the circle.
The tally marked Kessel's second of the series.
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L'arrêt de Carey Price en début de match #Habs #coupestanley pic.twitter.com/rbnoC6fOcV
— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) April 20, 2017
Carey Price was doing Carey Price-like things early in Game 5. After a defensive breakdown led to a two-on-one, the Canadiens goaltender robbed Rangers winger Mats Zuccarello with a beautiful toe save.
In a series featuring two of the best netminders of all time, goals have come at a premium. An early marker from the Rangers would have no doubt gone a long way toward securing a Game 5 victory.
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The Boston Bruins trail 3-1 in a best-of-seven series with the Ottawa Senators. Had the results been reversed, there would be a lot more buzz surrounding the play of 19-year-old defenseman Charlie McAvoy.
McAvoy made his NHL debut in Game 1, and instantly earned the trust of head coach Bruce Cassidy by logging 24:11 minutes of ice time - second only to Zdeno Chara.
McAvoy has gone on to play 27:47 in Game 2, 24:44 in Game 3, and a team-high 25:03 in Game 4. Mind you, Games 2 and 3 went to overtime, but both ended relatively quickly.
With numerous injuries on Boston's blue line - most notably to Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo, who have yet to play in the series - McAvoy's ice time has partially been out of necessity, but he's also earned every minute with exceptional play from the back end.
Playing defense is hard. Defensemen almost always take longer to develop than forwards since it's such a tough position to play at a young age. It's partially why general managers prefer to use early-round draft picks on forwards, because they will make an impact sooner.
This makes what McAvoy is doing all that more impressive. In fact, only eight teenage defensemen have suited up during the playoffs since 1998-99, when Hockey Reference began to track average time on ice.
| Player | Year | Games | ATOI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luca Sbisa (PHI) | 08-09 | 1 | 5:37 |
| Erik Karlsson (OTT) | 09-10 | 6 | 25:52 |
| Cam Fowler (ANA) | 10-11 | 6 | 22:14 |
| Jonas Brodin (MIN) | 12-13 | 5 | 26:23 |
| Dougie Hamilton (BOS) | 12-13 | 7 | 15:47 |
| Olli Maatta (PIT) | 13-14 | 13 | 18:05 |
| Zach Werenski (CLB) | 16-17 | 3 | 23:29 |
| McAvoy (BOS) | 16-17 | 4 | 25:26 |
What all those defensemen had, which McAvoy doesn't, is the experience of already playing a full NHL season. In fact, McAvoy had only played four games in the AHL prior to his NHL debut. He was thrown right into the fire, but he has answered the bell.
He only has one point and five shots on goal, but has an excellent 5v5 Corsi For percentage of 54.11, according to Corsica.Hockey. This is the 17th best CF% among defensemen in the playoffs.
Possession stats like Corsi are great, but they rarely tell the whole story.
You'd think logging over 25 minutes a game would expose a 19-year-old defenseman like McAvoy, but that hasn't been the case. He has taken exceptional care of the puck with only one giveaway in the series, according to Hockey Reference.
In addition to only giving the puck away just once in 102 minutes of ice time, he has also recorded four takeaways, tied for fifth-most in the playoffs.
Yet, what stats don't tell you is simply how composed McAvoy looks with the puck. He looks like a 10-year veteran out there. He wants the puck on his stick and wants to be the defenseman to make the first pass out of the zone.
Even if the Bruins wind up getting eliminated in Friday's Game 5, fans in Boston can look forward to having a stalwart on the back end for many years to come.
Having McAvoy paired with Chara makes it all the more fitting, as the 40-year-old is essentially passing the torch to the kid as the next great defenseman in Bruins history.
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Columbus Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno will miss Game 5 against the Pittsburgh Penguins due to a lower-body injury, the team announced Thursday.
Foligno has recorded two assists in the series.
Veteran forward Scott Hartnell will draw into the lineup in his place.
Hartnell was a healthy scratch for Game 4 after registering zero points through the first three games of the series.
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Columbus Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno will miss Game 5 against the Pittsburgh Penguins due to a lower-body injury, the team announced Thursday.
Foligno has recorded two assists in the series.
Veteran forward Scott Hartnell will draw into the lineup in his place.
Hartnell was a healthy scratch for Game 4 after registering zero points through the first three games of the series.
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With no shortage of star rookies to choose from, three have risen to the top as the NHL's Calder Trophy finalists.
Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets, and Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets are all in the running for the award given to the most proficient player in his first year of competition in the NHL.
Matthews and Laine were drafted first and second overall, respectively, at the 2016 draft, and finished in the same positions in regards to the rookie scoring race.
The Toronto center recorded 40 goals and 29 assists in 82 games, and while Laine, a winger, trailed in total numbers (36 goals, 28 assists in 73 games), his 0.88 points per game was slightly higher than Matthews' 0.84.
Werenski, the eighth overall selection at the 2015 NHL Draft, led rookie defensemen in goals (11), assists (36) and points (47) in 78 games.
The NHL Awards will be handed out on June 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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University of Denver coach Jim Montgomery will be among the candidates to interview for the head coaching job with the Florida Panthers.
"I have spoken to Florida and I will meet with Florida over the next week to 10 days," Montgomery told Mike Chambers of The Denver Post.
Tom Rowe coached the Panthers last season but has since moved into an advisory role with the organization. The shakeup also saw Dale Tallon re-appointed as general manager.
Rowe replaced former bench boss Gerald Gallant in November, posting a 24-26-10 record as interim coach. The Panthers missed the postseason by 14 points.
Montgomery, 47, has coached Denver the last four seasons, winning the Frozen Four earlier this month. A former NHL center, Montgomery last skated in 2002-03 with the Dallas Stars.
"In life there are only so many opportunities and you have to listen. But it's going to have to take the perfect situation for me to leave Denver," Montgomery added. "There is no indication from Florida that I'm their No. 1 guy - or No. 2 or No. 3 guy. I'm just going to sit and talk with them."
Panthers prospect Henrik Borgstrom, who the club selected 23rd overall in last year's draft, is already familiar with Montgomery, having played under him this year at Denver. Borgstrom finished the season with 43 points in 37 games.
Montgomery wouldn't be the only bench boss to make the jump from the collegiate ranks in recent seasons. Philadelphia Flyers coach Dave Hakstoll was head coach at the University of North Dakota for more than a decade before accepting Philadelphia's top job in 2015.
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