Welcome to the dance, Golden Knights.
Vegas made history in Game 1 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, nabbing their first postseason goal, win, and shutout. The Los Angeles Kings present them with the purest, most terrifying playoff experience in Game 2, however, as this 1-1 contest is headed to double overtime.
Update: Now another first: they won their first overtime game, edging the Kings 2-1 in double OT. James Neal set the table for Erik Haula, who followed up a 29-goal campaign with this enormous tally:
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The Golden Knights are also getting a taste of a cruel postseason experience: dominating long stretches of play but failing to beat a keyed-in goaltender. In this case, Jonathan Quick is showing why he’s one of the NHL’s most accomplished playoff netminders, nullifying a Vegas attack that’s occasionally racking up twice as many chances.
You might as well get your favorite nervous GIFs and emoticons ready.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.
Friday’s games
Flyers 5, Penguins 1 (Series tied 1-1)
What a difference a game makes. After getting throttled 7-0 in Game 1, the Flyers responded, tying the series via an impressive 5-1 effort. Philly’s top line responded, and Brian Elliottwent from goat to great. The best news for the Penguins might be that Kris Letang‘s potential injury might not be as bad as it looked.
Jets 4, Wild 1 (Jets lead series 2-0)
For a while, it seemed like Game 2 would be a carbon copy of Game 1: Devan Dubnyk almost steals it, but Winnipeg wills its way to a close win. Instead, the Jets flew by in the third period. They dominated the game by just about every measure, leaving the Minnesota despondent.
Golden Knights 2, Kings 1 [double OT] (Golden Knights lead series 2-0)
It really looked like Jonathan Quick would drag Los Angeles into triple-overtime against Vegas. The Golden Knights dominated play, generating a gaudy 56-30 shots on goal advantage (and it only gets more disproportionate as you dig deeper), yet Quick was incredibly sharp. Erik Haula finally scored the overtime game-winner with less than five minutes remaining in the second OT.
[NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoff Hub]
Three Stars
1. Jonathan Quick, Kings: This wasn’t just the longest game in Golden Knights history (duh), it was also the longest for the Kings. Quick was ridiculous, making 54 out of 56 saves, a mix of quality chances and volume shots. He was incredible, and was on task in Game 1, carrying over one of his best-ever regular season runs to the playoffs. Unfortunately, the Kings have scored a solitary goal in two games (and, the real-time equivalent of almost three), so Quick remains winless so far during the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
2.Sean Couturier, Flyers: Elliott deserves all of that praise, but the Flyers’ breakthrough forward was excellent in Game 2. He scored a goal and two assists, with his helper on Nolan Patrick‘s first-career postseason goal standing out as borderline obscene:
Game 2 ended in regulation, yet Couturier – a forward – logged a ridiculous 27:15 of ice time on Friday, including a bit more than five minutes shorthanded.
3. Brian Elliott, Flyers: It’s not like the Penguins took it easy in Game 2 because of their Game 1 output. And it’s not just that the Penguins warped the stats when the score was getting out of hand. Pittsburgh generated 11 shots on goal in the first period and then 12 in each of the second and third, yet only Patric Hornqvist scored against Elliott, who ultimately made 34 out of 35 saves.
There were some really tough ones, including stopping Crosby on about as clean a breakaway as you’ll enjoy in a playoff game:
MISC.
Some comic relief from Connor Hellebuyck:
Marc-Andre Fleury‘s had it easy compared to Jonathan Quick, but this has been quite the start to the postseason for a goalie piling up accolades:
People said it was “only a game,” but you really do need to give the Flyers credit for bouncing back from such a beating.
Patrik Laine is a treat … unless he’s beating you.
Take a look at that Haula game-winner for Vegas, a nice reminder of how impressive the Golden Knights were in transition essentially all night long.
Factoid of the Night
Matt Murray‘s shutout streak ended with less than a minute remaining in the first period, and then things really began to crumble for the goalie and the Penguins. Still, what a run it was …
Saturday’s schedule
New Jersey Devils at Tampa Bay Lightning, 3 p.m. ET (CNBC/NBC)
Colorado Avalanche at Nashville Predators, 3 p.m. ET (CNBC/NBC)
Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Bruins, 8 p.m. ET (NBC)
San Jose Sharks at Anaheim Ducks, 10:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN)
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.
PITTSBURGH — After being dominated in all phases of the game on Wednesday night Philadelphia Flyers coach Dave Hakstol decided he was going to come back on Friday with the exact same lineup. Same players. Same line combinations. Same defense pairings. And, perhaps most notably, the same goalie.
It took a lot of faith and confidence in his team to not make any changes after such an emphatic loss, especially in the playoffs. Most coaches would have changed something between Games 1 and 2 because, well, that’s just what you do when you lose a game, whether it’s actually needed or not.
He was rewarded for that confidence and faith with a 5-1 Flyers win that saw them even their first-round series with the Pittsburgh Penguins at one game apiece.
It is almost never any one particular thing that goes into a win, and on Friday there was a lot that went right for the Flyers that went wrong in the first game.
Sean Couturier played a fantastic game and finished with three points. A lot of their young players had huge games (Ivan Provorov had two points; Nolan Patrick and Travis Konecny both scored goals). But the simple fact starting goalie Brian Elliott was able to bounce back after giving up five goals on only 19 shots in Game 1 (the fifth time in five meetings this season that the Penguins had scored at least five goals against the Flyers) before getting pulled and play the game he did may have been the single biggest factor in the win.
After the game Elliott was asked how much it meant to him to have Hakstol stick with him after such a tough first game, especially while still recovering from an injury that kept him out of the lineup for 25 games.
“Whenever you get that start you want to take advantage of that opportunity,” said Elliott. “It’s special to get a start, it’s special to get starts in the playoffs and carry a team and try to be the block in the wall behind them. The way the guys played tonight in front of me, we blocked I don’t know how many more shots tonight than we did the other night. That is key for me and allows me to stay calm and confident as well.”
To his last point the Flyers were actually credited with two fewer blocked shots on Friday, but that’s really not important — if he thinks it gave him more confidence, so be it.
But early on it still looked like he was off of his game.
He whiffed on two long distance Patric Hornqvist shots that rang off the goal post to his left, and even on bad angle shots he seemed to be fighting the puck a little bit. At that point it seemed like it was only a matter of time until he let one in and the dam would once again burst.
But the real turning point, and the point in the game where it seemed obvious that it was going to be a better night for Elliott and the Flyers, came when he stopped Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, fresh off of a Game 1 hat trick, on a breakaway midway through the second period to preserve what was at the time a two-goal Flyers lead. A goal there could have sent the game in a completely different direction. Instead, Elliott calmly snagged Crosby’s backhand out of the air and kept the Penguins off the board.
“You don’t really have that much time to think,” Elliott said when asked what his mindset was on that play. “You just try to be aggressive and play it just like any other breakaway. He’s got a lot of moves I’m sure, and you just try to stay one step ahead as best you can.”
From that point on Elliott looked like a completely different goalie, and even when he seemed to be beaten things still managed to go his way. Like in the closing seconds of the second period Crosby was standing by himself alongside a wide open net and inexplicably fired it through the other side of the crease, completing missing a chance to get the Penguins on the board.
When the Penguins managed to put the puck on net he stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced in what was one of the best postseason performances of his career. Given that it came 48 hours after one of his worst playoff performances he faced a lot of questions about personal pride and wanting to make a statement after the game.
[Related: Flyers tie series, Penguins may haved dodged Letang injury]
“I don’t know if it was about pride,” said Elliott. “I think it was just about a response. I think to a man we knew we didn’t play a playoff game last game here in Game 1. I think we needed to just come out and have that intensity that we have had in the past two-to-three weeks of the season just to make it here. It was a little weird last game and I just think tonight everybody came out and played their role really well and we played a great team game.”
But it wasn’t just Game 1 that had to cause some concern for Flyers fans. It is that Elliott had been up-and-down most of the season, while the entire goaltending situation was once again unsettled, a Flyers tradition unlike any other. Then there is the fact that Elliott’s career postseason numbers as a whole — including a forgettable performance in Calgary a year ago — have not been great.
He was also asked about that after the game and whether he was — and still is — out to prove something about himself.
“It’s not about proving anything,” said Elliott. “It’s trying to win a game for your teammates, and your friends, and the guys you spend so much time with together over the year. That is what it’s all about it.”
For all of the things that went for the Flyers on Friday they may need more efforts like this from Elliott if they are going to win this series. They can not give the Penguins four power plays every game or get outshot by a 35-20 margin and expect to win many games by four goals.
If they keep taking penalties and giving up that many shots Elliott is going to have to be the difference in the series.
Does he have that in him the rest of the way? That remains to be seen. But for one night on Friday he certainly did. That performance is a big reason things are even as the series shifts back to Philadelphia on Sunday.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.
It’s early, but so far the Winnipeg Jets look like a juggernaut in going up 2-0 in their first-round series against the Minnesota Wild.
While the Wild can take some solace in the idea that the series switches to Minnesota for Games 3 and 4, falling 4-1 has to be disheartening because of the way this latest contest played out. For the second straight game, Devan Dubnyk kept them in the contest for quite some time; Winnipeg only held a 1-0 lead heading into the third period despite what was a 27-14 edge in shots on goal.
None of that really mattered as Winnipeg just wouldn’t be denied. Again.
[NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoff Hub]
After Game 1, it was noted that the Wild don’t seem suited to trade blows with the Jets, and that story carried over to Friday. Some might even say that Dustin Byfuglien‘s monstrous hit on Mikko Koivu is a quicky synopsis of this one-sided start to the series.
Again, the Wild shouldn’t just roll over here. After all, they went 27-6-8 at home during the regular season. They can look to the Flyers’ turnaround from Game 1 to Game 2 against the Penguins to note how quickly things can turn in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Still, the Jets are a different animal than the Penguins, and some would argue that they are a more balanced, rugged, and frightening team. They’ve given Minnesota very little room to breath in this series, and it shows in the lopsided numbers.
Things got nasty late in Game 2. It’s evident that the Jets have no issue mixing it up, either.
Heading into the postseason, the Jets were still trying to earn their first playoff win since the dawning of the Jets-Thrashers rendition of this franchise. It’s already fair to wonder how many teams will be able to take them down in a best-of-seven series.
Game 3 takes place in Minnesota on Sunday. It airs on USA Network starting at 7 p.m. ET.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.
Update: Kris Letang returned to Game 2 and played quite a bit in the third period. We’ll see if anything changes, but his return to action is the best news of the night so far for Pittsburgh.
That’s because the Flyers bounced back from a 7-0 loss in Game 1 in a big way. Brian Elliott and Sean Couturier enjoyed big bounce-back nights in Game 2, powering Philly to a 5-1 win. Now the first-round series is tied 1-1 as it shifts to Philadelphia.
Stay tuned for more on that contest.
Here’s the potential Letang injury:
Sidney Crosby wasn’t happy about the hit.
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One big selling point for the Pittsburgh Penguins as they aim for a “threepeat” is that they’ve had a healthy Kris Letang in the lineup. That might not last through Game 2 of the first round.
In a truly strange collision, Letang collided hard with Claude Giroux. Giroux seemed to check on Letang immediately afterward, Letang exited the ice right away. It’s a bit puzzling that Letang seemed to be focused on his hand after the hit, but that’s at least how things looked after initial replays.
Video of the collision is coming soon. In the meantime, observe it in GIF form:
So far, Letang has not returned to Game 2 for the Penguins as they try to fight back from a 2-0 lead for Philly.
One of the plays of the game happened in the second period, as Brian Elliott stopped Sidney Crosby on a breakaway. It’s early, but Elliott’s currently authoring a remarkable rebound.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.
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