Yesterday’s NHL Scores
Last Night’s News 📰
SWAYING INTO FINLAND: Team USA has added Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman to the roster for the IIHF World Championships in Finland. Swayman went 3-2 with a .911 save percentage (SV%) and 2.63 goals-against average (GAA) in five playoff games for the Bruins and will arrive in time for USA’s game against Great Brittain at 12:20 pm ET today.
BYNG-O!: The finalists for the Lady Byng Trophy are set. Reigning winner Jacob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes will again vie for the award, facing challenges from Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor and Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon.
MINING FOR COLE: Ian Cole had scored one goal in 103 playoff games heading into Wednesday and hadn’t tallied a marker in any game over the past 116 days. That all changed when he threw the puck on net in overtime, giving the Carolina Hurricanes a gritty 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 1.
TKACHUK-ING PUCKS: It was the series most everyone was excited about, and the opener for the 2022 Battle of Alberta did not disappoint. Earning a place in the record books for the fastest pair of goals scored in a playoff game, the Calgary Flames raced to a 2-0 lead 0:51 into the contest. Matthew Tkachuk finished the scoring with a hat trick into an empty net, as the Edmonton Oilers rallied down from four goals twice.
Top Shelf Thursday – Barry Trotz’s Top Landing Spots
Hockey’s biggest free agent on the market is not a player; it’s Barry Trotz. After being fired by Lou Lamoriello on May 9, the sudden event lends itself to the big question of where he will continue his coaching career. We all know he is a hot commodity, and here are three organizations that could have Trotz at the top of their list.
Winnipeg Jets
Why They Should Hire Him: The Jets are in a unique position as they are not in a rebuild but have not finished higher than third in the Central Division since the 2018-19 season. Winnipeg is a team that seems to always be in the mix but cannot reach the next level. Trotz is arguably the best available coach in the league and could be the perfect guy to elevate this team.
Why Trotz Should Pass: The simple answer is there could be better options. Of course, coaching the Jets means returning home, but it’s known that the team has been vocal about their lack of accountability and commitment to playing the right way. Things could get complicated this offseason in Winnipeg, and it may prove to be too much of a headache for Trotz at this juncture.
Vegas Golden Knights
Why They Should Hire Him: Trotz is beloved in the hockey community, while the Vegas Golden Knights became the league’s villains. This organization needs some good PR and adding a coach as respected as Trotz could be the first step in helping repair their image. It also helps that the Golden Knights roster is perfect for Trotz’s defensive system.
Why Trotz Should Pass: There has been a lot of bad press coming out of Vegas. Between the way they treated Marc-André Fleury to Pete DeBoer’s comments about Robin Lehner conflicting with the organization, things are a disaster at the moment. Does Trotz deserve to be handed this mess after being dismissed from the New York Islanders?
Detroit Red Wings
Why They Should Hire Him: The Detroit Red Wings are beginning a new era with young promising talent and a general manager responsible for putting together the two-time Stanley Cup champions in Tampa. Things are on the upswing in Motor City, and adding a coach with a resume like Trotz could be a match made in heaven.
Why Trotz Should Pass: Are the Red Wings still in a rebuild? I guess that is the question. Trotz worked with an aging roster of veterans on Long Island, so why would he want to switch gears and coach a team that finished 25th in the league last season? While this seems like a match made in heaven, the timing may not be suitable for these two to commit to each other.
Deadline Deals Delivering
Every March, the NHL Trade Deadline takes center stage with endless speculation, first about which team needs what and who might get dealt, and then about which clubs successfully fine-tuned their roster for a lengthy Stanley Cup playoff run. At this time of the year, we get to see the live results of those moves.
While they may not necessarily be scoring critical overtime goals a la Josh Manson, here’s how some other deadline pick-ups have been successful in helping their new teams:
Claude Giroux, FLA
Claude Giroux was motivated to chase his first Cup upon arriving in Florida after a blockbuster trade from the Philadelphia Flyers. How motivated? The 34-year-old posted 20 assists and 23 points in 18 games as the Panthers continued to roll despite having locked up the top seed in the Atlantic Division. That momentum has carried over to the postseason, where the veteran of more than 1,000 games has seven points in seven games and a 56.2% success rate in the faceoff circle.
Andrew Copp, NYR
Andrew Copp was already well on pace to achieve new career-high numbers when he went from Winnipeg to the New York Rangers, but the breakout season reached a whole new level on Broadway, with Copp tallying eight goals and 18 points in just 16 games. He has continued to deliver in the playoffs at nearly a point-per-game pace, with four goals and seven points through eight games.
Max Domi, CAR & Nick Paul, TBL
I acknowledge that it might be a bit of a cop-out to link two players together like this, but deadline additions Max Domi and Nick Paul share the distinction of being clutch Game 7 performers that lifted their new teams into the second round. Domi somehow managed to record two goals and an assist in under 13 minutes of ice time to help Carolina oust the Boston Bruins, while Tampa’s Paul scored both of his team’s goals in a 2-1 road win that sent the Toronto Maple Leafs packing.
Working (Playoff) Overtime
On Tuesday night, Colorado Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson scored the game-winning goal in overtime of Colorado’s 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues. The Game 1 winner was the first postseason goal of the 30-year-old’s career, which has included 27 playoff games.
There is no bigger goal than one in overtime of a playoff game, and while some players, like Manson, step up as unlikely heroes, others have provided that crucial goal several times during their careers. Here are the NHL players with the most postseason overtime goals.
Joe Sakic – 8
Sakic provided the overtime winner eight times in 172 postseason games (44 OT) during his 20-year NHL career. The Hall-of-Fame center, who won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and 2001, has the most playoff overtime points in NHL history (14) and is tied for the most playoff overtime assists (6). Sakic’s first overtime playoff goal came on April 25, 1996, and his last one on April 9, 2008, in the then-39-year-old’s final year in the NHL. His eight overtime winners included a Game 5 tally in the 2001 Western Conference Final against St. Louis that sent the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup Final, and back-to-back game winners in 2004 against the San Jose Sharks in the conference semifinals.
Maurice Richard – 6
Just as he did on the list of players with the most playoff hat tricks, Richard sits second on the list of most postseason overtime goals. The Canadiens legend played in 132 playoff games during his 18-year career, with 29 going into overtime. Richard first found the back of the net in overtime of a playoff game on March 30, 1946. His final act of postseason heroism came 12 years later, on April 17, 1958. As a member of the mid-1900s Canadiens squad that won eight championships, Richard scored three overtime winners in the Cup Final and one that sent Montreal to the Final.
Glenn Anderson, Patrick Kane & Corey Perry – 5
After Sakic and Richard, the list gets a bit crowded. Three players have won a playoff game in overtime on five occasions, and 15 players sit behind them with four. Anderson, a Hall-of-Famer who played 16 seasons in the NHL, the majority with the Edmonton Oilers, logged 225 career postseason games (38 OT). He scored three playoff overtime goals with Edmonton, one with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and one with the Blues.
Kane, the long-time Chicago Blackhawks star, has appeared in 136 career postseason games, 39 in overtime. He had probably the most important goal of anyone on this list, winning the 2010 Stanley Cup with an overtime goal in Game 6 against the Philadelphia Flyers. Two of his other four overtime playoff goals were also series clinchers.
Perry, who had a goal and an assist in the Tamp Bay Lightning’s Game 1 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, has appeared in 175 career playoff games (and counting), going into overtime in 42 of them. His first four came with the Anaheim Ducks, while his most recent occurred in 2020 when he was a member of the Dallas Stars.
Stanley Cup Playoffs Bracket
Stanley Cup Playoffs Leading Scorers
Today’s NHL Schedule
- Today’s newsletter was edited by Kyle Knopp, with contributions by Ben Fisher, Kristy Flannery, and Brooke LoFurno.
- Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.
- Give us a hand spreading the Morning Skate! Please forward this email to a hockey-loving friend today.
- Want more ways to talk hockey with The Hockey Writers? Join the discussion on Discord!
