Hockey Rambling

The Isles took care of business in the opener of their second-round series against the Flyers. Semyon Varlamov posted a 29-save shutout and New York was able to get three past Carter Hart (and one into an empty net). The game wasn't that far out of reach, as the Flyers out-attempted NYI 63-47. However, the [...]

You may have noticed that a lot of European prospects who may or may not have been playing in the AHL or CHL, are being “loaned” to various European Leagues over the past few days. NHL teams are giving their prospects the extra ice time and game experience in the leagues that are opening up [...]

The second round (conference quarterfinals) began on Saturday with the heavily favored Colorado Avalanche taking on the Dallas Stars. To find out how many of our writers chose the Avalanche, see our Experts Panel: Playoff Round 2 Predictions, posted earlier today. Dallas 5, Colorado 3 (Dallas leads series 1-0) Well, how many of us want [...]

With all of the conference quarterfinal series now wrapped up, we now have our conference semifinal playoff matchups set. Eastern Conference Philadelphia vs. NY Islanders Tampa Bay vs. Boston Western Conference Vegas vs. Vancouver Colorado vs. Dallas https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1297028475862351872 Look for our Round 2 Expert Panel playoff picks coming up later this weekend. They may be [...]

Matt Niskanen has been suspended one game for his cross-check to Brendan Gallagher’s face during Game 5 on Wednesday. This is no doubt a light suspension if you consider that the time that Gallagher would likely be out. However, I’ve heard that one game in the playoffs is considered to be worth at least two [...]

Chicago was the first team out of the NHL playoffs (the play-ins don’t count), falling four games to one at the hands of Vegas. The Golden Knights are the deeper team with the better players. This is the result of that kind of matchup. I do wonder about Chicago’s coaching. Starting Game 5 with John [...]

Vladimir Tarasenko has left the NHL playoff bubble to return to St. Louis for further evaluations on his shoulder. At this point, that’s all the information that was given. This is a huge blow for St. Louis’s long-term prospects in this postseason. Their first-round matchup is down to a best-of-three and any team can beat [...]

I believe it was in the middle of the 17th overtime frame in Game 1 of the Bolts - Jackets series that I said whoever won that game would win the series. Well, that prediction is looking clean at this point. On Monday morning, Tampa Bay grabbed a commanding 3-1 series lead over the club [...]

The Caps, recent Stanley Cup Champions, are trying to find an answer to the lockdown team play preached by Washington’s former coach Barry Trotz. Trotz has the Islanders humming, scoring about three-and-a-half goals per game while giving up a stingy sub-two-goals per game. In the playoffs, the Isles lead the NHL in goal differential with [...]

Saturday started with a bombshell with the announcement of Tuukka Rask’s decision to opt out of the NHL’s postseason. This announcement came just hours before the Bruins were set to face Carolina in Game 3. From a human standpoint, I completely understand this decision. Rask has a newborn at home as well as two other [...]