Hockey

Mama, there goes that man again. In only his second career playoff game, defenseman Torey Krug scored his second goal in as many games and added an assist for his first career multi-point night. The Bruins went on to the 5-2 victory over the New York Rangers and took a 2-0 series lead. Zdeno Chara described how important it is to see the young defensemen contribute in a game like this. “It’s the same question and it’s nice to get contribution from players that are not always putting numbers on the board,” said the Bruins captain. “Torey Krug scored a goal, Johnny Boychuk got a goal so we have different people stepping up. That’s important.” Krug is supposed to be a band-aid until Dennis Seidenberg, Wade Redden and (or) Andrew Ference return from injury , but how can you bench this kid? In addition to his two points, the rookie blue-liner had two shots on net in a very solid 12:56 of ice time. It was as if he played in this moment before. If you have never seen an impactful 12:56 of ice time, you certainly did today with Krug. His composure, nifty foot work, confidence with the puck was a thing of beauty. Krug had a phenomenal year in Providence under Bruce Cassidy. He tallied 13 goals while dishing out 32 assists, but his two goals in two games for the big club in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs do not compare. He is showing he belongs at this level. He has given the B’s exactly what they needed in the absence of the three veteran defensemen: skill and offense on the blue-line. Consider this: Krug has now more goals than teammate Tyler Seguin and Rangers stud Rick Nash. That is something to think about for a second. Fellow defenseman Johnny Boychuk chimed in on how pleased he is with his “Three Little Baby Bear” defensemen including Krug. “They’ve been doing a good job all of the young guys coming in and stepping their game up,” Boychuk said. “Torey scored again tonight and gets an assist. Dougie gets an assist and Bart (Matt Bartkowski) plays well. We need them to step up for us to have a good chance to win the game with a couple of our veterans out and they’ve been doing a good job by keeping it simple, getting shots through and scoring when they get that chance.” It is one thing playing on the adrenaline in front of your home crowd, but it is another playing in a hostile environment in New York at Madison Square Garden. Krug is up for the challenge, and at this point, it looks like nothing will stop him. The post Player of the Game: Bruins-Rangers Game 2 appeared first on Bruins Daily.

hahahaha sorry we put this game on our Tumblr and forgot to post the recap here last game. Follow that shit if you can. Game 1 felt a little bit like a joke. The semifinals, now, feels like the center of a very dangerous storm. We're used to an NHL where things are not what they seem, where we march through surreal forests made of light with strangers and enemies. The idea that we could be doing something right is very frightening and not okay. NBC starts the broadcast by trying to do a graphic about Vokoun's shutout streak (going on 60 minutes) so things might be getting back to normal. God the speed of playoff hockey. And the NBC mics pick up the gasps of CEC so much better than ROOT. It's like we're right there. Hands on the glass. Crying and spitting. PAUL MACLEAN SPEAKING WORDS: A FILM BY WERNER HERZOG For the first time it really feels like the playoffs. Neal was wide open early on and while his shot was big and good and scary not much was going on. Kris Letang is skating like God. Something feels just. . .right. Sidney Crosby hopped on the ice and decided he was going to take a little stroll around Erik Karlsson. Karlsson was basically meaningless on that play. Bye bye. Sid Snipe. Anderson can't even deal. God The shrieks gif from Pensblog: Couple of beats later you hear the iron when Malkin hits the pipe. KOUUUUNNN chants raining down for routine saves. Pens get the first PP but it kind of makes the Pens look more human. Ottawa in their dicks. Looks more like even strength. Marc Methot gets a penalty for roughing after the next TV timeout though. Don't get too comfortable boys. Malkin almost scores but it dies dramatically short of the goal line. Pens get all kinds of confused retrieving in their own zone and they even allow a shorthanded chance. Come on assholes. Paul Martin keeps his chin strong and manly and manages to not let his pocket get picked behind the net. And also saves a sure shorty breakaway when three Senators attack him in the high slot. God damn, Paul Martin. Your balls. Gonch sighting: Gene eventually hooks someone because the Sens are fighting back. C'mon Gene baby don't you do us like this. Oddly the Senators power play doesn't look as oddly impotent as the Pens one. Turris has all kinds of room down by the goal line. Wham bam: fuck so, those power plays guys. Sounds like a turning point. Also hahahaha remember that "shutout streak" NBC good job NBC you figured out the secret. Vokoun looks intense behind his mask, like he has realized the dream is up, and it's time to do some more serious work. But I mean we have Sid, which apparently Anderson finds difficult to deal with. Sid beat him because his body language was faking pass pass pass. Anderson bought that little twitch. Pens finding their legs again ever so slowly as a result of this moment in which Anderson has been exposed as average. 2-1 what a period, you guys Early second, Karlsson completes his fucked up bildungsroman by hooking Neal on his way to the goal. GOOD JOB ERIK GOOD JOB ARE YOU SURE YOU ARE OKAY WE REALLY WISH YOU WEREN'T LIKE THIS WE WISH YOU WERE BETTER WE ARE SO SORRY THAT AN ACCIDENT BEFELL YOUR PERFECT BODY PP city. Wasn't even thinking about it because of how bad the last two were. They were that bad. Sid wins the faceoff a bit dirty. Malkin to Letang up top to Sid at the top of the left circle to HOLY SHIT WHAT A SHOT. This whole game so far has just been Sid proving that Anderson can't do this right now. And who is this guy? Robin Lehner? We haven't heard of him so he'll probably play his balls off. Good for you, boo. Lehner takes his first shot of his playoff career, an absolutely nasty little look from Dupuis after Cooke ran some kind of crazy cyle. Never mind that 2-goal lead though. Colin Greening proves to be The Most Dangerous Senator by coming off and scoring an easy goal on the rush. don't even want to dignify with a real pic jeez. 3-2 Neal and Iggy get a

Report: Roy a 'strong candidate' for Colorado job

The word killer instinct has been used around the Bruins a lot lately, especially after the Bruins failed to close out their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Games 5 and 6 after jumping out to a three games to one lead. For the first two periods of Game 2 it looked like the Bruins would once again lack that killer instinct and have difficulty extending their series lead over the New York Rangers, but thankfully for the Bruins they found the killer instinct they needed in the third period. The Bruins jumped out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to Torey Krug’s second playoff goal in as many games, but the lead wouldn’t last long as Ryan Callahan would tie things up less than three minutes later. The Bruins would bounce back just 2:24 into the second stanza thanks to some hard work by Gregory Campbell, but once again the Bruins would give it right back, this time 56 seconds later thanks to Rick Nash’s first playoff goal of the season. Johnny Boychuk’s wrister from the high slot gave the Bruins their third lead of the night, but this time the Bruins killer instinct would kick in, and the Black and Gold would never look back after carrying a 3-2 lead into the third period. The Bruins extended their lead to two, and then three thanks to third period goals by Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic as the Bruins did a great job putting the Rangers away when they needed to. “Well you know we talked about it before we went out there in the third period, and we just had to make sure that we played to win” said Bruins head coach Claude Julien. “I didn’t want our guys playing on their heels, and you hear me say that a lot. I don’t like our team when we play on our heels and we’re just trying to protect a one goal lead. We’ve got to extend the lead and extend it even more before we even think about protecting it.” The Bruins had trouble all season long getting that next goal as they were famous in the regular season for blowing third period leads. So obviously getting two in the third was a welcoming sight for Marchand and the Bruins. “It’s always good to get a couple-goal lead early in the third there” Marchand said. “The regular season is a completely different game. They always say you can’t turn the switch on in the playoffs, but guys care a lot more in playoff time. They really bear down and try harder in the playoffs. I think that’s just what’s happening right now. Guys are really trying to stay focused on doing their job in the third period” added Marchand. The Rangers had some big chances in the second and third to tie the game or cut into the Bruins lead and pull some momentum in their favor, but Tuukka Rask did a great job shutting the door on the Rangers. “Yeah, that’s what you have to do sometimes. We were not at our best in the second period. We gave up a lot of odd man opportunities and a lot of turnovers and stuff” said Rask who made 25 saves in the second and third periods. Against a team like the Rangers getting that next goal to extend your lead is never easy to do as the Bruins saw early in the game, but thanks to killer instinct in the third period on this night it was indeed easy. Game 3 is Tuesday night in New York. The post Killer instinct propels Bruins to victory in Game 2 appeared first on Bruins Daily.

The Bruins posted a dominant 5-2 win over the New York Rangers to pull ahead to two games to none in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday night. But Jaromir Jagr didn’t see that fact as enough to warrant a night off. The forward is in the midst of a playoff scoring drought that dates back to his time with the Philadelphia Flyers, and it’s possible he’s hoping to contribute more to the B’s through the rest of the series. Jagr was seen on the ice at TD Garden around 8 PM, more than three hours after the Bruins’ win over the Rangers, in front of 17,565 empty seats practicing alone in a Bruins beanie hat. Check out the dedicated teammate in the photo below. Bruins now in overtime. Almost 8 pm, Jagr on ice, practicing alone with building all but empty. http://t.co/QegQbWVHJI— Kevin Paul Dupont (@GlobeKPD) May 19, 2013

Torres suspended for remainder of semifinal series.

If there’s one part of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s game that rarely gets criticized, it’s the scoring. And that’s not going to surprise anyone, considering the Bolts boasted this year’s first and second ranked scorers league-wide (I say this with apologies to Sidney Crosby fans). Tampa Bay scored 148 goals this season, far and away the most by any non-playoff team, and yet their goal differential was -2 (also the best of non-playoff teams, it should be pointed out). In my last batch of report cards (grading the role players), I touched on the idea that Tampa Bay’s problems can’t be pinned completely on the defense/goaltending. It’s easy to think about hockey in compartments – scorers score, defenders defend, goaltenders tend goal. But it’s not that simple. I would submit to you the argument that the #1 problem for Tampa Bay, the granddaddy of all problems, a veritable Bowser of problems that waits at the end of a long string of Goombas and Koopas if you will, is a lack of defensively responsible forwards. Such thinking makes me wonder if the Bolts don’t have their eye on Sasha Barkov in the upcoming draft. While either Jonathan Drouin or Nate MacKinnon would make a sexier pick, Barkov, just 18, already has a reputation for being defensively aware. But the problem isn’t so simple. The weird fact that haunts the Tampa Bay Lightning is they have a slew of forwards that want to be defensively responsible. April 4, 2013; Raleigh, NC, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos (91) carries the puck against the Carolina Hurricanes at the PNC center. The Lightning defeat the Hurricanes 5-0. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports Let’s use Steven Stamkos as an example. Stamkos has stated that he has a goal to be one of the best two-way forwards in the league. And let me tell you, there’s no lack of will. There’s no laziness in Stamkos’s defensive game. Nor, obviously, is there any lack of talent. And yet time after time he finds himself in slightly the wrong place at slightly the wrong time, and a puck goes into the wrong net. Stamkos, despite scoring more goals than anyone in the league over the last few years, still struggles to break a 0 plus/minus rating. There’s a certain point where these things can’t be chalked up to coincidence. What Stamkos lacks is simple knowledge. He’s a smart guy – it’s going to come over time, but he’s going to need someone, or several someones, to show him the way. I bring this up because it’s going to be a common thread through this examination of Tampa Bay’s scoring forwards. Martin St. Louis led the league in scoring, but he couldn’t break a 0 plus/minus rating. Vincent Lecavalier: -5. Meanwhile, the ratings of the bottom six forwards aren’t that bad when you consider how few goals those lines score (which is in line with their expectations). Bearing all that in mind, let’s have a look at the Lightning scorers. If you’re wondering why I’ve deemed these specific six players scorers, please refer to my article on Role Players for an explanation. The Scorers (Listed numerically…) #4 Vincent Lecavalier (GP) 39 (G) 10 (A)22 (PTS) 32 (+/-)-5 (PIM) 10 (ATOI)17:52 If you’ve read my articles throughout the year, you’ve probably noticed Lecavalier is my favorite whipping boy. And you’ve probably noticed how stellar I thought he played at the first of the season (I maintain that he was Tampa Bay’s best player up until his initial foot injury). What Lecavalier did through those first ten games or so was show us the kind of player he can be. The Bolts need a premiere two-way player, and a big-time physical forward, and for a while Lecavalier was both. There are a lot of theories out there saying Lecavalier’s play dropped off because of a number of injuries he accumulated through the season, ultimate

ShareThis Ottawa Senators take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in game 3 of the NHL Eastern Conference Semi-Finals at Scotiabank Place. ShareThis

BOSTON – It’s one of those moments we all remember. Tyler Seguin exploding for two goals and two assists in just one period against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals. After a tough rookie campaign and playoff press box assignment, Seguin exploded onto the hockey scene with an epic Game 2 performance. For anyone drafted first or second overall expectations hit a new level, and considering Seguin’s predecessors, the pressure is even greater on 21-year-old to produce. After struggling to adjust to both the physicality and speed of NHL hockey, and scoring only eleven goals in his first year pro, Seguin made a big jump. Finishing his second season with a team leading 29 goals and 67 points, the Brampton, Ontario native looked to be in route to stardom; he was in line with the likes of Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Taveres, poised to make the huge year three jump. But, it didn’t happen. While 16 goals in a lockout-shortened season is still 30 goal pace, it wasn’t the jump many Bruins fans expected and hoped for- especially after signing a six-year contract extension. The pressure continued to mount after Seguin failed to record a point until the last possible moment of a first round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. His assist, however, came on the Patrice Bergeron Game 7 overtime winner, and was what many thought the needed confidence boost for the young start to rise again. In the first period of Sunday’s Game 2 tilt between the Bruins and Rangers, Seguin’s wheels were on display. He also made his best pass of the playoffs thus far, delaying at the left circle to find the open man, Adam McQuaid, who put a shot on net but was denied by Henrik Lundqvist. It was probably his best period in a while, but looking good and producing are two different things, and Seguin, who had lots of shots on goal in the Toronto series, knows he must start putting up points; and his play went downhill from there. In the second period the young forward was nearly invisible. While other youngster like Torey Krug were once again making noise, both Seguin’s play and time on ice continued to dwindle.  And while unexpected contributions particularly from the back-end are a welcome surprise, they often don’t last and the Bruins’ most “skilled” forward needs to make an appearance. Everyone knows this team is at its best when playing their system to perfection, and rolling four lines is a crucial aspect of that success. If Seguin can elevate his play it could do wonders for Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly, as the speedy trio has the potential to be an impactful unit down the stretch. With a 5-2 victory in the books the Bruins now head to NYC with a commanding 2-0 series lead. As the game went on Seguin’s ice-time dropped dramatically, and he even skated a few shifts with the fourth line. Could Bruins coach Claude Julien be sending a message? Could a healthy scratch be in place? Knowing Julien this seems unlikely, but you could argue the timing is perfect. Being too patient can be faulty, and an explosion like we saw in the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals could be a key factor in closing out the Rangers. Or, maybe Seguin just needs to follow the lead of his Bruins counterpart- Brad Marchand. Some would argue that Marchand was even worse than Seguin in the Toronto series, but he’s flipped the switch come round two in a big way. “Well, he seems to be skating better in regards to that. He might’ve seemed a little slow at times, I think sometimes when you’re over-thinking, you put too much pressure on yourself, it just weighs on you,” Julien said postgame. “Right now, it’s just a matter of going out there, almost the same thing as the young guys, ‘Go out there and play.’ He’s a quick player, he’s a shifty player, and he’s very capable of doing that. He knows defensively tonight there was a couple things, not so much the puck that didn’t make it across on the first goal, but probably how he reacted to coming back. There’s certain things w

As horrible as the 2013 campaign was for the Nashville Predators, since their season ended, things haven’t really been all that bad. On April 29, the Preds retained the fourth pick of the NHL Draft by way of the Colorado Avalanche winning the Draft Lottery, they locked up Patric Hornqvist for five more years and now they have a bronze medalist, a silver medalist and a tournament MVP on their roster. Craig Smith and Team USA took third at the 2013 World Championships beating Finland 3-2 on Sunday morning. The Predators forward finished the tournament with 14 points (4 goals, 10 assists) in 10 games and was second on the team in scoring and third overall in the tournament. Roman Josi, coming off of his first season as Shea Weber‘s defensive partner, tallied nine points (4 goals, 5 assists) in 10 games, led Switzerland in scoring, was the top scoring defenseman, won the silver medal and was named the tournament’s MVP. No Swiss player had ever won an award in the World Championship’s 83-year history. Switzerland hadn’t won a medal since winning bronze in 1953. — PHOTO CREDIT: Sarah Fuqua (used with permission)