Head coach Barry Trotz is looking forward to competing against his old team as his New York Islanders prepare for a clash with the Washington Capitals in the round of 16.
"I think it will be a hell of a series," Trotz said Sunday, according to The Athletic's Tarik El-Bashir. "Both teams are well-equipped to go at each other."
Trotz spent four seasons (2014-2018) as Washington's bench boss and led the Capitals to their first Stanley Cup in his final campaign with them.
The 58-year-old also coached the Capitals to back-to-back Presidents' Trophies in 2016 and 2017, and he earned the Jack Adams Award as the league's top bench boss in the former season.
Trotz won his second Jack Adams Award after his first season in Long Island in 2018-19. Under his tutelage, the Islanders have reached the round of 16 in consecutive campaigns for just the second time in the post-lockout era.
New York owns an 83-50-17 regular-season record over two campaigns with Trotz at the helm.
The Islanders won their play-in series against the Florida Panthers in four games to advance.
TORONTO (AP) T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson scored, Braden Holtby made 30 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 in round-robin play Sunday to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and set up a first-round matchup against former coach Barry Trotz's New York Islanders.
Boston, which won the Presidents' Trophy as the top team during the NHL regular season that was cut short in March, lost all three of its seeding games and fell to fourth in the East. The Bruins will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round in a rematch of the 2019 East final.
Trotz coached Washington to its first Stanley Cup title in franchise history in 2018, then left in a contract dispute. Trotz went to the Islanders, while the Capitals hired his top assistant, Todd Reirden, as head coach. This is the first time they've faced off in a playoff series since.
''It'll be interesting,'' Wilson said. ''We know them well, some personnel and the coaching staff that we're familiar with, obviously a good rivalry, so we're excited for it and ready to go.''
Washington shook off a shootout loss to Tampa Bay and a regulation loss to Philadelphia to continue its years-long dominance of Boston. The Capitals have now won 17 of their past 19 games against the Bruins and by earning the third seed cannot play the top-seeded Flyers until the conference final.
It's unclear whether Norris Trophy finalist John Carlson will be ready for Game 1 against the Islanders after missing the all of round-robin play with an injury. The 30-year-old defenseman went down to the ice awkwardly in Washington's exhibition game vs. Carolina on July 29 and has practiced but not played since.
Jake DeBrusk scored and Tuukka Rask made 23 saves for Boston, which also got an assist from winger Ondrej Kase in his round-robin debut.
NOTES: With Carlson still out, rookie Martin Fehervary made his round-robin debut, replacing Radko Gudas on the Capitals blue line. ... Connor Clifton played on defense for the Bruins in place of Matt Grzelcyk.
Werenski was injured during the third period of Game 4 Friday and didn't return to the game. Murray was scratched after appearing in the first three games of the series.
Hedman has been a Norris Trophy finalist for four straight years, winning the award in 2018. He posted 55 points in 66 contests while averaging over 24 minutes per game this season.
The Lightning were already without captain Steven Stamkos, who's yet to appear in the postseason due to an undisclosed ailment.
The 6-foot-2 blue-liner played 21:24 during Friday's Game 4 overtime loss but exited midway through the third period and did not play in the extra frame. The cause of his injury is unclear.
Werenski has logged 26:42 of ice time per game in the series and has matched up primarily against the Maple Leafs' top talents. He's also contributed one assist while posting a Corsi For of 52.33% at five-on-five.
The 23-year-old was the only NHL defenseman to record 20 goals in 2019-20 and the first rearguard in Blue Jackets history to hit that single-season mark.
After a shocking upset at the hands of the 12th-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the NHL's qualifying round, Sidney Crosby believes the window for the Pittsburgh Penguins' championship core may soon be closing.
"With age, it's a possibility," Crosby said, according to NHL.com's Wes Crosby. "But I can only speak personally. Obviously, I would've liked to stay a little bit healthier and play a full season."
He added: "It's a really hard one to evaluate. That's the honest truth as far as trying to break this all down. It's a tough one to evaluate overall."
Crosby - who turned 33 years old Friday - Evgeni Malkin (34), and Kris Letang (33) have all been with the Penguins during their three Stanley Cup wins since 2009.
The trio has struggled to stay healthy recently. Crosby played in 41 games during the 2019-20 season, while Malkin and Letang appeared in 55 and 61 contests, respectively.
However, head coach Mike Sullivan believes those three players still have years left in the tank.
"I think these guys are still elite players. I believe in this core," Sullivan said. "They're elite hockey players, and I still think there's elite play left in them. So, that's just what I believe. Obviously, at some point, everybody's window closes. ... But I strongly believe that this group has a lot of elite hockey (left)."
Letang echoed his coach's sentiment and said he believes Pittsburgh will contend in the near future.
"I think we still believe in the core group of this team," Letang said. "I think we have a lot left in the tank. We're going to keep playing hard and give everything for the Penguins. I think we have to be better. This year, we didn't play good enough to win, but I feel comfortable with the group of guys that we have."
We've seen plenty of action so far with the first week in the books from the NHL's bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton. All but one series has concluded, and upsets have taken place across the board. There's been no shortage of incredible plays with teams vying for playoff spots and seeding positions. It's been nearly five months since the season was paused on March 12, but it seems as though players haven't missed a step.
Let's take a look at the top 10 plays from across the league until now.
10. Hughes continues to dazzle in postseason
Quinn Hughes may be a rookie, but he was one of the best defensemen in the league this season. His six points in four games lead all blue-liners in the postseason so far. He managed to finally get on the board with his first career playoff goal in Game 4. The 20-year-old simply makes it look easy sometimes, as he wired a wicked wrister top shelf through traffic from high in the zone.
The Montreal Canadiens defenseman scored two of his team's most important goals against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the series. Considering Jeff Petry started just 15% of his shifts at 5-on-5 in the offensive zone during the series, that's pretty impressive. It's hard to choose between his overtime goal in Game 1 or his game-winning goal in Game 3, so here's both.
The Columbus Blue Jackets thought they were down and out in Game 3 of their series against Toronto until Pierre-Luc Dubois decided they weren't. The forward scored two goals to help the Blue Jackets climb out of a 3-0 hole before they eventually tied it. Dubois capped off the night with a pretty backhand goal to complete the hat trick in overtime and recorded the first-ever three-goal night in Columbus postseason history.
These two sequences flew a bit under the radar, but they perfectly showcase some of the reasons Carey Price remains one of the best goalies in the league. Facing one of the league's most dangerous power plays, the Canadiens netminder flawlessly navigates around the crease, keeping his eye on the puck, and, most importantly, keeping it out of the net.
The Carolina Hurricanes netminder started his first postseason game in seven years, and it didn't look like he missed a beat. James Reimer stopped 37 of the 38 shots he faced and made one of the most mesmerizing saves of the qualifying round. With nearly every player on the ice in his crease, the 32-year-old managed to sprawl and get his stick out to deny the Rangers of a sure goal.
The @canes advanced last night, and if you missed it, THIS was one of the most incredible sequences we've seen in a long time.
— #StanleyCup Qualifiers on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) August 5, 2020
5. Aho seals sweep with nifty solo effort
Sebastian Aho turned 23 years old a couple of weeks ago, and it seems like he's getting better and better. He put up eight points in the Hurricanes' three games and helped seal the sweep against the New York Rangers when he potted a pretty solo effort goal in Game 3. He's a threat whenever he steps on the ice, and he's quickly proving why he's one of the best in the league.
— #StanleyCup Qualifiers on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) August 5, 2020
4. Carrier did what?!
William Carrier is a great hockey player, but he definitely isn't known for his elite goal-scoring capabilities. With just 21 goals in 203 career games, the Vegas Golden Knights forward secured his first-ever postseason goal in style. With the clock winding down in a tie game against the Dallas Stars, the gritty forward took a bank pass off the end boards and put it through his legs and into the net.
🤯
What a 🔥 move by William Carrier to lock up the comeback W for Vegas
It seems like every time Connor McDavid steps on the ice, he does something new that blows the minds of hockey fans everywhere. This year's postseason was no different. Yes, he scored a hat trick - big deal. But his second goal was arguably one of the best of his career. In a quick few seconds, he managed to show off his incredible hand-eye coordination to bat a puck down, put his absurd speed on full display, and made Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Olli Maatta look like a minor-league defender.
— #StanleyCup Qualifiers on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) August 4, 2020
2. Kadri beats the buzzer
The stakes may not have been as high as other qualifying-round series since it was just a round-robin game, but Nazem Kadri managed to score one of the most suspenseful goals of the opening round. With less than a second left on the clock, the Colorado Avalanche forward managed to whack one in the net to secure the victory.
The Toronto Maple Leafs looked to be on their way out of the postseason in disappointing fashion once again until they pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in NHL history. The Leafs managed to score three goals with their goalie pulled in the last four minutes of regulation and then won the game in overtime to force a Game 5. Toronto was the third team in NHL history to win a postseason game after overcoming a three-goal deficit in the final four minutes.
Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat is happy to see how far the franchise has come after his team defeated the Minnesota Wild to advance to the round of 16 on Friday.
"This franchise has been through a lot," Horvat said, according to NHL.com's David Satriano. "These last four years, not making the playoffs, we've taken it to heart. We wanted to come out and prove ourselves, play hard. We have a great group of guys here, and to finally get a playoff win under our belt in a playoff series, it definitely feels great, but we've got a lot more work to do."
The Canucks have made the playoffs three times in the last eight seasons and haven't advanced past the first round of the postseason since they were one win away from capturing the franchise's first Stanley Cup in 2011.
Horvat, who was selected ninth overall in the 2014 NHL Draft, has been a big part of the Canucks' rebuild. He leads the team in games played (446), goals (120), and points (275) since his rookie season.
The 25-year-old pointed to goaltender Jacob Markstrom as one of the biggest reasons behind the Canucks' regular-season success and their qualifying series win.
"He's been a brick wall for us all year," Horvat said. "He might want a couple back or one of them back tonight, but you know what, he's been our rock ever since Day 1, and we wouldn't be in this position right now without him."
Markstrom was superb through the first three games of the series, allowing five goals on 92 shots, including a shutout in Game 3. He stopped just 25 of the 29 shots he faced in Game 4.
Vancouver will face the loser of the final round-robin game between the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues in the first round of the NHL's traditional playoff format.