Hockey Rambling

Two games of playoff pucks on Thursday. The Rangers become the first team to advance to the conference final, while a last-minute goal in regulation places the Canucks one win away from their own trip to the conference final. Rangers 5, Hurricanes 3 (Rangers win series 4-2) With a 3-1 lead after two periods, the [...]

Prior to Game 4, Colorado got some bad news regarding Valeri Nichushkin but there was also a surprise scratch in Devon Toews. The good news is that Toews was back in the lineup for Game 5 and he is certainly one of the most important cogs of the team after Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. [...]

I would have thought that Valeri Nichushkin’s suspension (discussed by Cliffy yesterday) would have made room in the lineup for another black-ace scorer on the wing in Nikolai Kovalenko. Kovalenko put up excellent numbers in the KHL this year, but has only gotten a very limited look in the post-season here, playing a total of [...]

The NHL announced Carson Soucy is suspended one game for his cross-check on Connor McDavid on Sunday night while Nikita Zadorov got a $5000 fine for another cross-check on McDavid a split-second before the Soucy cross-check. There seems to be a theme here but I can’t quite put my finger on it… * Filip Chytil [...]

Panthers 3, Bruins 2 (Panthers lead series 3-1) What a difference a week can make. Last Monday, the Bruins had stolen both Game 1 and home-ice advantage in their second-round series with the Panthers. Three-straight losses later and Boston is on the brink of elimination, heading to enemy territory for a do-or-die Game 5.  After [...]

There were two games of playoff pucks on Saturday: Game 4 of the NY Rangers/Carolina series, and Game 3 of the Colorado/Dallas series. Hurricanes 4, Rangers 3 (Rangers lead series 3-1) Brady Skjei’s goal with just over three minutes left in regulation gave the Hurricanes the lead for good in Game 4, preventing a Rangers [...]

Two games of playoff pucks on Friday. Let’s get to it. Panthers 6, Bruins 2 (Panthers lead series 2-1) After a fight-filled Game 2, the two teams were on much better behavior in Game 3, combining for just 16 penalty minutes. However, 12 of those minutes were from the Bruins, and the Panthers made them [...]

New York took a stranglehold of their second-round series with a 3-2 overtime win in Carolina. The Rangers are now up 3-0 in the matchup and have a chance to close things out Saturday night back in Raleigh. Alexis Lafreniere and Artemi Panarin both had a goal and an assist with the latter tallying the [...]

Travis Green was introduced as the new coach for Ottawa on Wednesday. I wrote about his time in Vancouver and why he could be good for the top Senators skaters in the fantasy game. It is a very interesting offseason ahead in Ottawa and, by happenstance, I wrote about their 2023-24 season and their future [...]

The NHL’s draft lottery yesterday was anti-climactic, with the San Jose Sharks winning the first overall selection, and the Chicago Blackhawks winning the second overall pick – exactly where they were slotted before the lottery. That means no teams changed position, not even Detroit, who always seems to find a way to drop. https://twitter.com/wyshynski/status/1787979897362637252 It’s [...]