Sports
Canadiens’ Julien should share some blame for loss to Blackhawks – Sportsnet.ca
MONTREAL — Claude Julien was asked about Charlie Lindgren’s performance in Montreal’s 4-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday and his response was that it was a team effort in losing.
The coach played his role, too. And we’re not talking about his decision to start Lindgren over Carey Price, who had stopped 72 of 73 shots in two wins prior to the game against a Blackhawks team that had scraped out an overtime win in Ottawa the night before while the Canadiens were resting and waiting for them in Montreal.
If the Canadiens started this one completely out of sorts, allowing Zack Smith (he of two goals in 40 games) to score two goals in the first nine minutes — and one in comedic fashion thanks to a miscommunication between Lindgren and Tomas Tatar — it was at least in part because Julien didn’t have them as well-prepared as they should have been.
But perhaps the most confounding thing to happen in this one came after Max Domi took a reckless, careless, selfish (or as Julien later referred to it, useless) roughing penalty on Matthew Highmore at the 10:52 mark of the second period. And no, it wasn’t Julien’s decision to park Domi at the end of Montreal’s bench after Alex DeBrincat scored 35 seconds into the ensuing power play.
The real head-scratcher was the coach’s decision to keep Domi on the bench when Smith went off for high-sticking with 4:36 remaining in the middle period.
Julien was asked after the game about how he decided to toe the line between the message he wanted to send to his player and having to rely on an offensive type while trailing in the game.
“I did what I had to do,” the coach responded. “You take a useless penalty like that, there’s consequences.”
When we asked if he was tempted to motivate Domi by telling him he had cost the team a goal and that it was time for him to go out there and get it back with the power play opportunity, Julien said the following:
“Those questions (about) whatever you guys feel like…I did what I had to do, simple as that. I don’t have to explain it more than I did. It’s not the first time he’s taken a bad penalty. There’s consequences, and sometimes those messages (date back a lot further) than the situation right there. And it doesn’t matter who we put on (for the power play) instead of Max. Max is not the guy that’s going to score goals all the time here, so a power play is a five-man unit. It’s as simple as that.”
And this team is made up of 20 players and five coaches and everyone should wear the blame for a performance Julien classified as the team’s worst in 10 games.
We needn’t remind you the Canadiens had lost eight of 10 prior to Wednesday’s debacle.
For as bad as Montreal had started against Chicago, Phillip Danault scored 54 seconds into the second period to get the Canadiens back to 2-1. And even though Domi’s penalty was so ill-timed, and unquestionably worth more time away from the ice than the 35 seconds he spent in the box, he’s the second-highest scoring player on the team and he has to be out there to give you a chance at turning a 3-1 deficit into 3-2 heading to the third period.
Maybe the game plays out differently thereafter, instead of how it actually did — with the Canadiens allowing a goal to Drake Caggiula and getting out-shot 11-6 in the final frame.
“We weren’t there at all. It’s as simple as that,” Julien said. “They’re a team that has good sticks, which was clearly pointed out before the game, but we weren’t there at all. Not at all. We lost our battles for loose pucks, we made bad decisions, and we didn’t deserve a win at all.”
That’s all true.
And Domi, who had apologized for taking a bad penalty and an unsportsmanlike conduct on top of it for a double-minor in the third period of a 4-3 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils back on Nov. 16, should have known better.
The 25-year-old, who blamed himself on that night, added, “I can’t do that, and it won’t happen again.”
But Domi is a feisty player, a player who always plays on the edge, and there was never a doubt he’d slip up again — even if he had only taken 10 minors this season before roughing up Highmore.
“During the play I certainly wasn’t trying to take a penalty,” he said about Wednesday’s situation. “But I watched the replay and it’s a penalty. So that’s how it goes. Unfortunately, they scored on that. You can’t do that — especially in the situation we’re in right now. It is what it is. Coach’s decision, and obviously I can’t afford to do that.”
There was consistency in Julien’s decision.
In Montreal’s 16th game of the season, he held Canadiens leading scorer Tomas Tatar out for most of the second period and all but four shifts in the third of a 3-2 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 7. This was after Tatar had taken minor penalties nine and 10 of the young season — both of them lazy stick infractions.
The thing is, the Canadiens are in a much more desperate situation now than they were then. They needed to turn their two-game win streak into three on Wednesday.
Even Larry David understands that, bad penalties aside, goal scorers need to be on the ice in crunch time.
Considering how they played against Chicago, it might not have mattered who came out on that failed power play while Domi was stapled to the bench.
But Domi has 11 points on the man-advantage this season, nearly twice what Nick Cousins, Jordan Weal and Artturi Lehkonen (six points) have combined for in that department, and he was highly motivated to make up for his error.
“Of course,” Domi said. “I think we’re all sitting there (wanting to do that)…”
But Julien made his decision and held firm to it. He could have gone all the way with it by sitting Domi out for the rest of the game, but with only 20 minutes left for the Canadiens to come back he decided to play him — making the decision to leave him off that power play late in the second even more curious.
We have been outspoken about the job he’s done under the circumstances he’s had to deal with this season. We believe he’s done as well as anyone could with the roster he’s had and the injuries the Canadiens have been hit with.
But Julien’s decision on Wednesday played a role in Montreal’s loss to Chicago, and he should share some of the blame for the outcome.
Sports
Utah NHL owner Smith says season ticket deposits now top 20,000 – TSN
Owner Ryan Smith told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun Friday that Utah’s NHL team has received just over 20,000 season-ticket deposits.
The news comes less than 24 hours after the NHL’s Board of Governors unanimously approved sale of the Arizona Coyotes from Alex Meruelo to Smith and subsequent relocation to Salt Lake City for the 2024-25 season.
<twitter-embed blockquotehtml="
Just got off the phone after doing an interview with Utah NHL owner Ryan Smith and he said the updated total is now at just over 20,000 season-ticket deposits.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun)
April 19, 2024“>
The team is expected play out of the Delta Center in the city’s downtown core, the home of the Utah Jazz, which currently has about 12,000 unobstructed seats for hockey. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Thursday Smith and his ownership group will raise the seating capacity to about 17,000 after renovations.
“As everyone knows, Utah is a vibrant and thriving state, and we are thrilled to be a part of it,” Bettman said in a statement. “We are also delighted to welcome Ashley and Ryan Smith to the NHL family and know they will be great stewards of the game in Utah. We thank them for working so collaboratively with the League to resolve a complex situation in this unprecedented and beneficial way.
“The NHL’s belief in Arizona has never wavered. We thank Alex Meruelo for his commitment to the franchise and Arizona, and we fully support his ongoing efforts to secure a new home in the desert for the Coyotes. We also want to acknowledge the loyal hockey fans of Arizona, who have supported their team with dedication for nearly three decades while growing the game.”
The move ends years of uncertainty surrounding the Coyotes franchise and wraps up a nearly three-decade existence of mostly poor on-ice results and chronic mismanagement over the course of multiple owners.
Utah’s team will not carry over the Coyotes moniker and will instead develop a new brand identity. LeBrun reported on Thursday’s edition of Insider Trading the franchise may take until beyond the start of next season to pick a team name and Smith has hired a firm to look into branding for the NHL’s newest franchise.
The Coyotes finished the 2023-24 campaign 36-41-5, missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth time in a row and 11th time in the past 12 seasons.
Sports
Marchand says Maple Leafs are Bruins’ ‘biggest rival’ ahead of 1st-round series – NHL.com
BOSTON – Forget Boston Bruins-Montreal Canadiens.
For Brad Marchand, right now, it’s all about Bruins-Toronto Maple Leafs.
“You see the excitement they have all throughout Canada when they’re in playoffs,” Marchand said Thursday. “Makes it a lot of fun to play them. And I think, just with the history we’ve had with them recently, they’re probably our biggest rival right now over the last decade.
“They’ve probably surpassed Montreal and any other team with kind of where our rivalry’s gone, just because we’ve both been so competitive with each other, and we’ve had a few playoff series. It definitely brings the emotion, the intensity, up in the games and the excitement for the fans.
“It’s a lot of fun to play them.”
The Bruins and Maple Leafs will renew their rivalry in their first round series, which starts Saturday at TD Garden (8 p.m. ET; TBS, truTV, MAX, SN, CBC, TVAS). They’ll be familiar opponents.
Over the past 11 seasons, the Bruins have faced the Maple Leafs four times in the postseason, starting with the epic 2013 matchup in the first round. That resulted in an all-time instant classic, the Game 7 in which the Bruins were down 4-1 in the third period and came roaring back for an overtime win that helped propel them to the Stanely Cup Final.
That would prove to be the model and, in the intervening years, the Bruins have beaten them in each of the three subsequent series, including going to a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference First Round in 2018 and 2019.
Which could easily be where this series is going.
“Offensively they’re a gifted hockey club,” Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said Thursday. “They present a lot of challenges down around the netfront area. We’re going to have to be really sharp there. We’re a pretty good team defensively when we stick to what our principles are. So I expect it to be a tight series overall.”
But if anyone knows the Maple Leafs — and what to expect — it’s Marchand. In his career, he’s played 146 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, 11th most of any active player. Twenty-one of those games have come against the Maple Leafs, games in which Marchand has 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists).
“They’re always extremely competitive,” Marchand said. “You never know which way the series is going to go. But that’s what you want. That’s what you love about hockey is the competition aspect. They’re real competitors over there, especially the way they’re built right now. So it’s going to be a lot of fun, and that’s what playoffs is about. It’s about the best teams going head-to-head.”
But even though the history favors the Bruins — including having won each of the past six playoff matchups, dating back to the NHL’s expansion era in 1967-68 and each of the four regular-season games in 2023-24 — Marchand is throwing that out the window.
“That means nothing,” he said.
The Maple Leafs bring the No. 2 offense in the NHL into their series, having scored 3.63 goals per game. They were led by Auston Matthews and his 69 goals this season, a new record for him and for the franchise.
“You have to be hard on a guy like that and limit his time and space with the puck,” forward Charlie Coyle said. “He’s really good at getting in position to receive the puck and he’s got linemates who can put it right on his tape for him. You’ve just got to know where he is, especially in our D zone. He likes to loop away after cycling it and kind of find that sweet spot coming down Broadway there in the middle. It’s not just a one-person job.”
Nor is Matthews their only threat.
“They have a lot of great players, skill players, who play hard and can be very dangerous around the net and create scoring opportunities,” forward Charlie Coyle said. “You’ve just got to be aware of who’s out there and who you’re against, who you’re matched up against, and play hard. Also, too, we’ve got to focus on our game and what we do well and when we do that, we trust each other and have that belief in each other, we’re a pretty good hockey team.”
Especially against the Maple Leafs.
Marchand, who grew up in Halifax loving the Maple Leafs, still gets a thrill to see their alumni walking around Scotiabank Arena in the playoffs. And it’s even more special to be on the ice with them, to be competing against them — even more so when the Bruins keep winning.
But that certainly doesn’t mean this series will be easy.
“They’ll be a [heck] of a challenge,” Marchand said.
Sports
NHL sets Round 1 schedule for 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Daily Faceoff
The chase for Lord Stanley’s silver chalice will begin on Saturday.
After what could be described as the most exciting season in NHL history that saw heartbreaks and last-ditch efforts to clinch playoff spots, players and staff now get ready as 16 teams go to battle.
We saw the Vancouver Canucks have a massive year and finish first in the Pacific Division with captain Quinn Hughes leading all defensemen in points. The Winnipeg Jets set a franchise record for most points. The Nashville Predators went on a franchise-record winning streak in order to lock themselves into a Wild Card spot, and the Washington Capitals clinched the last Wild Card spot in the East after a wild finish that saw the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers see their playoff hopes crumble in front of them.
While Auston Matthews missed out on scoring 70 goals, Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid and Tampa Bay Lightning standout Nikita Kucherov became the first players since 1990-91 to record 100 assists in a single season. They joined Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr as the only players to do so.
With the bracket set, it’s time to expect the unexpected.
Here is the schedule for Round 1 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs:
Eastern Conference
#A1 Florida Panthers vs. #WC1 Tampa Bay Lightning
Date | Game | Time |
Sunday, April 21 | 1. Tampa at Florida | 12:30 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 23 | 2. Tampa at Florida | 7:30 p.m. ET |
Thursday, April 25 | 3. Florida at Tampa | 7 p.m. ET |
Saturday, April 27 | 4. Florida at Tampa | 5 p.m. ET |
Monday, April 29 | 5. Tampa at Florida | TBD |
Wednesday, May 1 | 6. Florida at Tampa | TBD |
Saturday, May 4 | 7. Tampa at Florida | TBD |
#A2 Boston Bruins vs. #A3 Toronto Maple Leafs
Date | Game | Time |
Saturday, April 20 | 1. Toronto at Boston | 8 p.m. ET |
Monday, April 22 | 2. Toronto at Boston | 7 p.m. ET |
Wednesday, April 24 | 3. Boston at Toronto | 7 p.m. ET |
Saturday, April 27 | 4. Boston at Toronto | 8 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 30 | 5. Toronto at Boston | TBD |
Thursday, May 2 | 6. Boston at Toronto | TBD |
Saturday, May 4 | 7. Toronto at Boston | TBD |
#M1 New York Rangers vs. #WC2 Washington Capitals
Date | Game | Time |
Sunday, April 21 | 1. Washington at New York | 3 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 23 | 2. Washington at New York | 7 p.m. ET |
Friday, April 26 | 2. New York at Washington | 7 p.m. ET |
Sunday, April 28 | 2. New York at Washington | 8 p.m. ET |
Wednesday, May 1 | 2. Washington at New York | TBD |
Friday, May 3 | 2. New York at Washington | TBD |
Sunday, May 5 | 2. Washington at New York | TBD |
#M2 Carolina Hurricanes vs. #M3 New York Islanders
Date | Game | Time |
Saturday, April 20 | 1. New York at Carolina | 5 p.m. ET |
Monday, April 22 | 2. New York at Carolina | 7:30 p.m. ET |
Thursday, April 25 | 3. Carolina at New York | 7:30 p.m. ET |
Saturday, April 27 | 4. Carolina at New York | 2 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 30 | 5. New York at Carolina | TBD |
Thursday, May 2 | 6. Carolina at New York | TBD |
Saturday, May 4 | 7. New York at Carolina | TBD |
Western Conference
#C1 Dallas Stars vs. #WC2 Vegas Golden Knights
Date | Game | Time |
Monday, April 22 | 1. Vegas at Dallas | 9:30 p.m. ET |
Wednesday, April 24 | 2. Vegas at Dallas | 9:30 p.m. ET |
Saturday, April 27 | 3. Dallas at Vegas | 10:30 p.m. ET |
Monday, April 29 | 4. Dallas at Vegas | TBD |
Wednesday, May 1 | 5. Vegas at Dallas | TBD |
Friday, May 3 | 6. Dallas at Vegas | TBD |
Sunday, May 5 | 7. Vegas at Dallas | TBD |
#C2 Winnipeg Jets vs. #C3 Colorado Avalanche
Date | Game | Time |
Sunday, April 21 | 1. Colorado at Winnipeg | 7 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 23 | 2. Colorado at Winnipeg | 9:30 p.m. ET |
Friday, April 26 | 3. Winnipeg at Colorado | 10 p.m. ET |
Sunday, April 28 | 4. Winnipeg at Colorado | 2:30 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 30 | 5. Colorado at Winnipeg | TBD |
Thursday, May 2 | 6. Winnipeg at Colorado | TBD |
Saturday, May 4 | 7. Colorado at Winnipeg | TBD |
#P1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #WC1 Nashville Predators
Date | Game | Time |
Sunday, April 21 | 1. Nashville at Vancouver | 10 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 23 | 2. Nashville at Vancouver | 10 p.m. ET |
Friday, April 26 | 3. Vancouver at Nashville | 7:30 p.m. ET |
Sunday, April 28 | 4. Vancouver at Nashville | 5 p.m. ET |
Tuesday, April 30 | 5. Nashville at Vancouver | TBD |
Friday, May 3 | 6. Vancouver at Nashville | TBD |
Sunday, May 5 | 7. Nashville at Vancouver | TBD |
#P2 Edmonton Oilers vs. #P3 Los Angeles Kings
Date | Game | Time |
Monday, April 22 | 1. Los Angeles at Edmonton | 10 p.m. ET |
Wednesday, April 24 | 2. Los Angeles at Edmonton | 10 p.m. ET |
Friday, April 26 | 3. Edmonton at Los Angeles | 10:30 p.m. ET |
Sunday, April 28 | 4. Edmonton at Los Angeles | 10:30 p.m. ET |
Wednesday, May 1 | 5. Los Angeles at Edmonton | TBD |
Friday, May 3 | 6. Edmonton at Los Angeles | TBD |
Sunday, May 5 | 7. Los Angeles at Edmonton | TBD |
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