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Stanley Cup Playoff Buzz: Tight races top to bottom in Western Conference – NHL.com

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Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz, a daily look at the races for the 2020 NHL postseason. There are 26 days left in the regular season and the races in each conference are wide open.

Here is a look at the NHL standings and everything else that could impact the playoff picture.

Thought of the day

The Western Conference is wild

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With an overtime goal from Kevin Fiala on Sunday, the Minnesota Wild defeated the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 and leapfrogged one point ahead of the Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks into the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

Welcome to the wild Western Conference, where the Wild hold the first wild card with 77 points and the Canucks, who have 76, hold the second wild card via tiebreakers ahead of the Predators (one more regulation/overtime win) and the Jets (played one game fewer). The Arizona Coyotes are two points behind the Canucks, Predators and Jets.

The picture will look different after the Jets play the Coyotes at Bell MTS Place on Monday (8 p.m. ET; TSN 3, FS-A, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV). If the Jets win, they’ll jump into the first wild card. A Coyotes regulation win would put them in a four-way tie in points with the Canucks, Predators and Jets for the second wild card. (The Canucks would hold the tiebreakers.)

If Winnipeg gets one point with an overtime or shootout loss, it will move into the second wild card (Minnesota would hold the first wild card because it has played fewer games), one point ahead of Vancouver, Nashville and Arizona.

Then it could all change again Tuesday, when the Predators play the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre and the Canucks play the New York Islanders at Rogers Arena.

The potential daily reshuffling of the teams makes the Western Conference wild card race compelling. It almost makes you forget that the division races in the West also are tight.

The Vegas Golden Knights lead the Edmonton Oilers by two points for first in the Pacific Division heading into their showdown at Rogers Place on Monday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV). In the Central Division, the St. Louis Blues, who play the Florida Panthers at Enterprise Center on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NHLN, SNE, SNO, SNP, FS-MW, FS-F, NHL.TV), are in first, two points ahead of the Colorado Avalanche, who play the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center (10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-W; ALT2, NHL.TV).

It will all add up to plenty of late-night scoreboard watching through the end of the regular season April 4.

— Tom Gulitti, NHL.com Staff Writer

About last night

There were seven games Sunday, all with playoff implications:

Minnesota Wild 5, Anaheim Ducks 4 (OT): Kevin Fiala scored his second power-play goal with 59 seconds left in overtime, and the Wild moved one point ahead of the Vancouver Canucks, Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. The Wild are five points behind the third-place Dallas Stars in the Central Division.

Columbus Blue Jackets 2, Vancouver Canucks 1: Elvis Merzlikins made 26 saves and the Blue Jackets moved two points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders for the first wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Canucks dropped into a tie for the second wild card in the West with the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets.

St. Louis Blues 2, Chicago Blackhawks 0: The Blues maintained their two-point lead on the Colorado Avalanche in the Central with their ninth win in their past 10 games (9-1-0).

Colorado Avalanche 4, San Jose Sharks 3: Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog each had a goal and two assists for Colorado, which remained two points behind the Blues and moved eight points ahead of the Stars for second in the Central.

Carolina Hurricanes 6, Pittsburgh Penguins 2: Morgan Geekie had two goals and an assist in his NHL debut for Carolina, which moved into a tie with the Islanders for the second wild card in the East. The Penguins, third in the Metropolitan Division, remained five points behind the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals and are three points ahead of the fourth-place Blue Jackets.

Detroit Red Wings 5, Tampa Bay Lightning 4 (SO): The Lightning moved within six points of the first-place Boston Bruins and 13 points ahead of the third-place Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division.

Vegas Golden Knights 5, Calgary Flames 3: Shea Theodore broke a tie with 1:10 remaining in the third period, and the Golden Knights moved into sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division. They are two points ahead of the Edmonton Oilers, and five points ahead of the third-place Flames.

If playoffs started Monday

Here is a look at the matchups for the first round as they stand entering games Monday:

Eastern Conference

(1A) Boston Bruins vs. (WC2) Carolina Hurricanes

(1M) Washington Capitals vs. (WC1) Columbus Blue Jackets

(2A) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (3A) Toronto Maple Leafs

(2M) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (3M) Pittsburgh Penguins

Western Conference

(1C) St. Louis Blues vs. (WC2) Vancouver Canucks

(1P) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (WC1) Minnesota Wild

(2C) Colorado Avalanche vs. (3C) Dallas Stars

(2P) Edmonton Oilers vs. (3P) Calgary Flames

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Shane Pinto has a goal, three assists as the Senators roll over the Sabres – Sportsnet.ca

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Here’s what we know about the allegations against Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara

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LOS ANGELES –

Only a week has passed since the Los Angeles Dodgers abruptly fired Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter and constant companion of their new $700 million slugger, Shohei Ohtani.

But the biggest story of baseball’s spring is still murky — and shocking — as the regular season begins in earnest Thursday.

The scandal encompasses gambling, alleged theft, extensive deceit and the breakup of an enduring partnership between the majors’ biggest star and his right-hand man. Investigations are underway by the IRS and Major League Baseball, and Ohtani publicly laid out a version of events Monday that placed the responsibility entirely on Mizuhara.

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Here are the basics as Ohtani and the Dodgers prepare for their home opener against St. Louis on Thursday:

Why was Ippei Mizuhara fired by the Dodgers?

Ohtani claims his close friend repeatedly took money from his accounts to fund his illegal sports gambling habit. Ohtani also says he was completely unaware of the “massive theft,” as his lawyers termed it, until Mizuhara confessed to him and the Dodgers last week in South Korea, where the team opened its regular season against the San Diego Padres.

Mizuhara has given more than one version of his path to this trouble, which was catalyzed by the IRS’ investigation of Mathew Bowyer, an alleged illegal bookmaker. Mizuhara has consistently said he has a gambling addiction, and he abused his close friendship with the Dodgers superstar to feed it.

Did Shohei Ohtani ever bet on sports?

That’s the biggest question to be answered in Major League Baseball’s investigation, and the two-time AL MVP emphatically says he has never gambled on sports or asked anybody to bet on sports for him.

Further, Ohtani said Monday he has never knowingly paid a bookie to cover somebody else’s bets. Mizuhara also said Ohtani does not bet, and Bowyer’s attorney said the same.

Mizuhara told ESPN on March 19 that Ohtani paid his gambling debts at the interpreter’s request, saying the bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football. If that were true, Ohtani could face trouble even if he didn’t make the bets himself — but ESPN said Mizuhara dramatically changed his story the following day, claiming Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred any money to bookmakers.

MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from wagering — even legally — on baseball. They also ban betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.

What’s next for Ohtani?

Ohtani has played in every Dodgers game since the story broke, and he is expected to be their designated hitter in most regular-season games this season while baseball’s investigation continues.

Ohtani says his legal team has alerted authorities to the theft by Mizuhara, although his team has repeatedly declined to say which authorities have been told, according to ESPN.

Ohtani’s new interpreter is Will Ireton, a longtime Dodgers employee and fluent Japanese speaker who has filled several jobs with the team in everything from game preparation and analytics to recruiting free-agent pitches. But Ireton won’t be Ohtani’s constant companion, and manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday he’s optimistic that Ohtani will become closer to his teammates without the “buffer” provided for years by Mizuhara.

What don’t we know?

MLB’s investigation of Ohtani’s role in the events could last weeks or months, and it’s unlikely to be publicized until it’s complete. No one outside of Ohtani’s inner circle knows what it will find or how serious any repercussions could be, and nobody outside the circle is making informed speculation about the process.

One major question looms: How did Mizuhara have enough access to Ohtani’s bank accounts to get the alleged millions without Ohtani knowing? Is the slugger overly trusting, or is he wildly negligent in managing his vast fortune, which includes years of lavish endorsement deals in addition to his baseball salaries? Why didn’t the team around him, including his agent, do more to prevent the possibility of the theft he claims?

Finally, where is Mizuhara? Anybody who knows isn’t saying. He was fired in South Korea and apparently didn’t travel home with the Dodgers. Japanese media have visited his home in Southern California to look for him. Although he was born in Japan, Mizuhara’s life is in the U.S. — but his life will never be the same.

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NHL analyst gets absolutely roasted for ‘insanely rich’ take on Zach Hyman

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They say everyone is entitled to their opinion, but when you’re a member of the media and you share a truly awful take, you’re going to get called out for it.

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That’s what happened when NHL analyst/podcast host Andrew Berkshire decided to post a video on X (formerly known as Twitter) mainly attributing Zach Hyman’s success to the fact that he grew up “insanely rich.”

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The post came on the heels of the Oilers winger reaching the 50-goal milestone for the season and was rightly ripped apart by several notable colleagues, former players and fans in general.

In the video, which has been viewed more than 5.4 million times as of Wednesday morning, begins by stating that he has been in the sports media industry professionally since 2012 and that the industry “has to do a better job of telling truthful stories,” before discounting Hyman’s accomplishment.

“The story that’s being sold right now … is that, you know, if you work hard, if you stick to it, you can get there too, 31-year-old guy finally hits the 50-goal mark, harder worker, all that,” Berkshire said.

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“Yeah, great, except you’re missing the part of the story where Zach Hyman grew up insanely rich.”

Berkshire, who works as an analyst and host with the Steve Dangle Podcast Network, then details how Hyman’s parents bought a league to “guarantee him playing time,” and that he did “exclusive training that only a rich person … could afford.”

“This is a person that has had every single possible advantage to get where they are today,” Berkshire continued, before also bringing up the fact that Hyman has been fortunate enough to play on teams and lines with Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid most of his career.

While Berkshire does state that Hyman is a hard worker and brings grit when he plays, he also discounts it almost immediately.

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“Working hard, everybody works hard. You think every NHLer didn’t get there by working hard?” he asks. “Let’s not build this stupid narrative of ‘work hard, you’ll succeed.’ It’s just not true.

“There are people who’ve worked as hard as Zach Hyman their entire lives and never got a sniff of the American Hockey League, let alone the NHL because they didn’t have the advantages he had.”

Former Leafs defenceman turned NHL analyst Carlo Colaiacovo thought the whole take was ridiculous, posting the following: “Let me tell you something Andrew. You can’t buy your way to the NHL. You definitely can’t buy your way to having the career Hyman has had which includes scoring 50. Pretty ridiculous thing to say.”

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Retired NHLer Bobby Ryan was one of the first to weigh in, calling the opinion “purely false.”

“As someone who has maybe lived on both ends of the ‘financial edge’ I can say this is just purely false. Who cares, he accomplished a feat not many do and to downplay the way it’s reported is just wrong. You show up, do the work, good things happen,” Ryan posted on X.

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Jonathan Goodman, who claims he was Hyman’s personal trainer and tasked with getting the budding pro ready for the combine, had a glowing review of his former pupil’s work ethic.

“Yes, he had advantages. His family was wealthy and father obsessed with his success,” he said. “But the dude worked hard. Harder than anybody I’ve ever seen.”

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But, perhaps another former NHLer, Jason Strudwick said it best, replying to the video by asking: “Did Hyman not sign an autograph for you one time?”

 

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