The Monday Morning Quarterback: Stanley Cup

Showing posts with label Stanley Cup. Show all posts

09 March, 2019

Lightning First Team to Clinch Stanley Cup Playoff Berth

The Monday Morning Quarterback 6:04 AM No comments:

[ PHOTO: THE WASHINGTON POST ]

March 9, 2019

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Lightning first team to clinch Stanley Cup Playoff berth
The Tampa Bay Lightning became the first team to clinch a berth in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs when the Montreal Canadiens lost 8-2 to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. The Lightning (51-13-4) can finish no worse than third in the Atlantic Division. They lead the Boston Bruins by 15 points for first in the division.

Stanley Cup Playoff Chase Predictions

The Monday Morning Quarterback 5:57 AM No comments:

[ PHOTO: CBS SPORTS ]

Stanley Cup Playoff Chase Predictions

NHL WCF: Vegas Wins Game 2, Golden Knights, Jets Head to Sin City Tied at 1

The Monday Morning Quarterback 2:43 AM

[ PHOTO: VICTORIA TIMES COLONIST ]

May 15, 2018

Steve Carp, Las Vegas Review-Journal

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Jonathan Marchessault changed the dynamic of the Western Conference Final with two backhanded flicks of his stick.

The Golden Knights’ forward backed up his words with a pair of goals and helped the Knights take home-ice away from the Winnipeg Jets in a 3-1 win that evened the series at one game apiece.

Momentum and the series now shifts for the Knights to Game 3 at 6 p.m. Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena.

“We showed the hockey world we have earned the right to be here,” Marchessault said. “We’re definitely satisfied with our effort. Everyone showed up.”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY FROM THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Golden Knights' Cinderella Story Continues with Trip to Conference Final

The Monday Morning Quarterback 5:03 PM

[ PHOTO: THE OKLAHOMAN ]

May 8, 2018

Kevin Allen, USA Today

If you placed a $100 bet on the expansion Vegas Golden Knights when they were listed at 500/1 odds to win the Stanley Cup, you'd have no confusion about who to root for in the NHL playoffs.

The Golden Knights moved a step closer to this unlikely occurrence when they knocked off the San Jose Sharks 3-0 in Game 6 Sunday night to win their second-round series and earn a trip to the Western Conference final. They even caught a break Sunday when Nate Schmidt was awarded a goal that originally was missed by on-ice officials but was caught after the fact on replay.

Vegas will face the winner of the Winnipeg Jets-Nashville Predators series, which the Jets lead 3-2 heading into Monday's Game 6 in Winnipeg.

Even if you have no money riding on the Golden Knights, here are five reasons why you should root for them to win the Stanley Cup:

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY FROM USA TODAY

Eastern Conference Finals Preview: Capitals-Lightning

The Monday Morning Quarterback 4:23 PM

[ PHOTO: THE WASHINGTON POST ]

May 8, 2018

Roger Mooney, Tampa Bay Times

It was fitting the Capitals, tormented for so long by the Penguins, were the team to put an end to the Penguins' Stanley Cup reign.

Their reward: A date with the top-seeded Lightning in the Eastern Conference final.

The best-of-seven series will be the third postseason meeting between the two teams. The Lightning won both, taking the 2003 Eastern Conference quarterfinal in six games and the 2011 conference semifinal in four.

History, however, means little to the Caps, who snapped a streak of seven-straight postseason series losses to the Penguins that dated back to the 1995 conference quarterfinal. Not this year, anyway.

The Caps advance to their third conference finals. They beat the Sabres in six in 1998 before being swept by the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals. In 1990, the Caps were swept by the Bruins in the ECF.

The Caps reached this round after beating the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins on Monday in Pittsburgh 2-1 on an overtime goal by Evgeny Kuznetsov.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY FROM THE TAMPA BAY TIMES

Caps Eliminate Pens, Move on to East Finals

The Monday Morning Quarterback 4:01 PM

[ PHOTO: THE WASHINGTON TIMES ]

May 8, 2018
Will Graves, Associated Press

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A cathartic celebration 20 years in the making began with a poke of Evgeny Kuznetsov's stick. It built as the puck that Kuznetsov tapped away from Sidney Crosby made its way to Washington Capitals teammate Alexander Ovechkin.

It neared its crescendo as Ovechkin flipped it back to Kuznetsov, who at this point had split two Penguins and was streaking toward the Pittsburgh net. And it culminated jubilantly and unexpectedly in the corner moments later, with the puck in the net and Kuznetsov's teammates mobbing him after he ended two decades of frustration with a flick of the Russian's wrist.

The ghosts of past playoff failures, many of them at the hands of the Penguins, were gone. Dispatched over the course of six games of grit and guile, the last a 2-1 overtime win in Game 6 on Monday night that gave Washington a 4-2 series victory and a spot in the Eastern Conference finals against Tampa Bay.

"It's pretty emotional," Kuznetsov said after his seventh goal of the playoffs 5:27 into overtime pushed the Capitals into the NHL's final four for just the third time in franchise history. "I don't really have a word for it."