Eastern Conference Final Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning attempt to win their second straight Eastern Conference title against the Pittsburgh Penguins, seeking their first conference crown since winning the Stanley Cup in 2009. Who takes it? Let’s find out, shall we? How'd They Get Here? The prevailing narrative appears to be the Tampa Bay … [Read more...]

Conn Smythe Watch: Who’s the playoff MVP as final four are set? The San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins are the last four teams standing in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They’ve all received big performances from players en route to the conference finals – but which ones are worthy of being called the most valuable? Here’s how we see the field … [Read more...]

Sharks rout Preds in Game 7, reach West finals Two Game 7s in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs sounded like it was going to be a great time, and then both games turned into absolute blowouts very, very quickly. Just one night after the St. Louis Blues punched their ticket to the Western Conference finals with a huge win over the Dallas Stars, the San Jose Sharks completed the … [Read more...]

Shea Weber's struggles magnified in Nashville's Game 7 loss SAN JOSE, Calif. – Shea Weber took the blame for his poor Game 7 performance. He knew after his Nashville Predators were downed 5-0 by the San Jose Sharks that only he could answer for his showing, which included a minus-3 and being on ice for all of the Sharks’ goals in the loss. “It was tough. It was a tough night,” Weber … [Read more...]

Sharks dominate Predators, reach conference final with Game 7 win SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks never gave the Nashville Predators a chance in Game 7 of their second-round series. There was never a moment of worry in SAP Center or any thought San Jose would allow the scrappy Predators to prevent them on their quest to show this team was different than past playoff flameouts. The … [Read more...]

Huge if True: New York Islanders and big offseason changes The very, very, very good news for Garth Snow as he heads into this summer is that Travis Hamonic no longer wants to be traded. The reason he wanted to go, it seems, is that a close family member had a bit of a health crisis, but is now perhaps out of the woods. And therefore, Hamonic is more than happy to stay with the Islanders … [Read more...]

Predators embrace elimination scenario again SAN JOSE, Calif. – It was hard to gauge the mood of the Nashville Predators before Game 7 against the San Jose Sharks. The Predators did not skate, likely in part because of the early 6 p.m. local start time, and held media availability at an open courtyard at the team hotel with select players and coach Peter Laviolette. Because of this there was … [Read more...]

Dallas Stars goaltending exposed as smoldering dumpster fire; so now what? As the St. Louis Blues put the finishing touches on their 6-1 Game 7 embarrassment of the Dallas Stars, fans at American Airlines Center rose to their feet. They waved towels. They cheered loudly. It was quite a scene. And it’s the thing you expect to see from a franchise that’s still in participation ribbon mode … [Read more...]

Blues rout Stars in Game 7, advance to Western Conference Final A three-goal first period powered the St. Louis Blues to a 6-1 win in Game 7 over the Dallas Stars to send them to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2001. It was a quick start for St. Louis after Robby Fabbri’s second goal of the series gave the Blues  a 1-0 lead 5:23 into the game. It appeared the Stars had … [Read more...]

Blues chase Kari Lehtonen after three-goal first period in Game 7 Much like Brian Elliott in Game 6, Wednesday night's Game 7 did not get off to the best of starts for Kari Lehtonen and the Dallas Stars. By the time the second period began, the St. Louis Blues held a 3-0 lead and Antti Niemi was already in goal. The Blues opened the scoring with a power play goal 5:23 into the game. Troy … [Read more...]