Injury Notes: Miller, Polak, Alzner
The Boston Bruins will welcome back Colin Miller to their lineup against the Ottawa Senators tonight, taking the place of Tommy Cross on the blueline. The Bruins are down 2-1, and have had a myriad of injuries on their back end with Torey Krug, Brandon Carlo and Adam McQuaid all missing time. They’ll hope Miller can help them out, as he’ll skate beside John-Michael Liles tonight.
Here are some more updates from around the league…
- Roman Polak underwent successful surgery yesterday to fix his broken leg, and will now be on a long road to recovery. Tom Gulitti of NHL.com relays that he’ll stay in the hospital for a few days before starting down that road, which will have to include finding a job this summer. Polak will be an unrestricted free agent come July 1st, and with the Maple Leafs likely looking to make improvements on the blue line from this season there may be no room for him. After a brutal start, Polak somewhat turned his game around and should find a role somewhere in the league should he fully recover in time for the start of the season.
- The Washington Capitals have their own injury on the back end, as Karl Alzner will indeed be out for their game tonight. The defenseman skated on his own after practice according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post, which is the first time he’s been on the ice in several days. Alzner will also be a UFA this summer, but unlike Polak will be sure to get several multi-year offers. Though his overall games-played streak was broken when he missed game 3, he has still played in every single Capitals’ regular season game for the past seven seasons. His durability and consistency will be much sought-after around the league.
- The Caps had a scare when Marcus Johansson crashed into Braden Holtby at practice, but all involved said he’s okay and won’t miss any time. After another elite regular season, Holtby hasn’t played up to his lofty playoff past yet, holding just a .914 save percentage through three games. Prior to this year, he had put up a .937 mark in the postseason.
- Paul Stastny was on the ice at Blues’ practice, but he will not play tonight. Stastny hasn’t played yet in the first round series, but is one of the Blues’ most important forwards when healthy. With the Blues up 3-0, they’ll take their time with the centerman.
Snapshots: Harpur, Branch, Krejci
According to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia, Ben Harpur will be in the lineup for the Ottawa Senators tonight after playing a few games down the stretch for the team. He’ll be making his NHL playoff debut just a year after spending time in the ECHL, proving how far he has come during that time. With 27 points in 63 AHL games this year, the 6’6″ Harpur has shown he can do more than just defend, but will be relied upon to replace Mark Borowiecki‘s physical presence against the Boston Bruins.
Harpur will be an option for the Senators next season as a seventh defenseman, especially if the team does lose one of Borowiecki or Chris Wideman in the expansion draft. With Dion Phanuef still holding his no-movement clause, the Senators are actually at risk of losing a more important defender like Marc Methot or Cody Ceci, but will likely ask the former Maple Leaf to waive it prior to the deadline.
- The Flint Firebirds have had a roller-coaster few seasons, but will now install Barclay Branch as their GM according to Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News. The team had to have the OHL step in and install George Burnett at the end of last year after a tumultuous season that saw the league ban the Firebirds’ owner Rolf Nilsen from any hockey operations decisions. Burnett will move into a position with the OHL after stabilizing the franchise—Flint finished 32-28-8 and made it to the playoffs in just their second season.
- The AHL handed out two suspensions today, banning Darren Kramer of the Manitoba Moose for three games and Michael Latta of the Rockford IceHogs for one. Both players will have to serve the suspensions next year, as their seasons have finished without a postseason berth.
- David Krejci will take the warm up for the Boston Bruins tonight according to Joe Haggerty of CSNNE. The center hasn’t played in the first two games of the playoffs, but “feels much better” and will try to go tonight. The Bruins could use him, as they won just 46% of the faceoffs in their game two loss.
Snapshots: Hart, Bjork, Alzner, Ducks
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms will get a boost for their Calder Cup playoff run, as Carter Hart has been reassigned from the Everett Silvertips after being eliminated from the WHL postseason on Friday. Hart, a second-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2016 (the highest goaltender selected) had a tremendous season for Everett, recording a .927 save percentage and posting a goals against average below 2.00 for the first time in his junior career.
Hart is an outstanding goaltending prospect and one that will be welcomed in Lehigh Valley after Anthony Stolarz was ruled out for the playoffs. Stolarz will be out for three to four months with a lower-body injury. Even if Hart does show well at the professional level though, he’ll have a hard time returning next season. At just 18, he’ll have to head to the NHL or back to the WHL next season.
- Anders Bjork has been named to Team USA for the upcoming World Championships, joining teammate Cal Petersen from Notre Dame. Bjork is a draft pick of the Boston Bruins, and has been considering leaving school for the professional ranks since Notre Dame was knocked out of the NCAA tournament. The 20-year old enjoyed a breakout season for the Fighting Irish, scoring 52 points in 39 games generally dominating the college ranks. Should he decide to return to school next season, he would be an early favorite for the Hobey Baker award.
- Karl Alzner may not be in the Washington Capitals lineup tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and as Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post points out, that would be the first game he misses in seven years. Alzner has suited up for 540 consecutive regular season games and 59 straight playoff matchups for the Capitals, but has been hampered by a groin injury stemming all the way back to the final game of last year’s playoffs. If he does miss it, Nate Schmidt would return to the lineup and likely skate with John Carlson.
- The Anaheim Ducks are getting healthier, as both Sami Vatanen and Cam Fowler were back on the ice at practice today. Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register reports that the former has control of whether he’ll play in game three of their series with the Calgary Flames, in which the Ducks are leading 2-0. Getting Fowler back would be another big boost for the team, especially since it was these Flames who injured him in the first place. Fowler suffered a knee injury after getting hit by Flames’ captain Mark Giordano in their final meeting of the regular season.
Boston Bruins Recall Tommy Cross, Matt Grzelcyk
The Boston Bruins have brought up some reinforcements for their game against the Ottawa Senators tonight. Both Tommy Cross and Matt Grzelcyk have been recalled on emergency basis. Cross, the captain of the Providence Bruins took part in the morning skate and should be paired with John-Michael Liles tonight, replacing the injured Adam McQuaid.
Cross, 27, was drafted in the second round, 35th overall in 2007 but has played just three games at the NHL level in his entire career. Fighting his way up through almost every level of hockey in the United States, Cross completed four years at Boston College before originally being assigned to the ECHL. A leader everywhere he’s played, he wore a letter (A, then C) on each of his two national college championships, and has captained the P-Bruins for two years. He’ll try to lend that veteran presence to the team, even if it is a brand new stage for him in the NHL playoffs.
Grzelcyk on the other hand is just 23-years old, and just completed his first professional season. Another graduate of a Hockey-East school, Grzelcyk captained Boston University his final two seasons. The undersized defender has excellent puck-moving skills, and racked up 32 points in his rookie AHL season. While he is still young, his experience in NCAA playoff games and the World Juniors in 2014 should help any nerves he may have about making his NHL playoff debut (should he get into the lineup). In two games with Boston this season, he has been held pointless.
Morning Notes: Flames Burn Out, Toronto’s Unlikely Hero, Looking Ahead
Saturday April 15th was a riveting evening of hockey for any fan of the sport. The Blackhawks were dominated 5-0 by the Predators in Game 2, but the other three games were all nail-biters. The Flames looked to take the lead after climbing out of a 2 goal deficit in the 2nd period, but the call on the ice of goalie interference against John Gibson kept the game tied. The Ducks would go on to get a bizarre ricochet goal from the stick of Ryan Getzlaf with just 4:46 remaining in regulation to secure an ugly win, and go up 2-0 in the series.
- The Leafs’ Kasperi Kapanen has not been in the spotlight – the likes of Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Auston Matthews have been so phenomenal that he is easily forgotten in the mix. The promising young crafty forward was the centerpiece of the Phil Kessel deal, which until now, had undoubtedly looked to favor the Penguins. Serving 4th-line duty, the forward had only scored one goal in his 8 games up with big squad this season. In the second overtime of Saturday’s Game 2 versus the Capitals, the forward crept in to the back post as Brian Boyle used his lanky frame to fool the netminder into sealing the near post in anticipation. The result was a gorgeous finish to a game where an unlikely hero was desperately needed. If the forward can build on this huge goal, perhaps he can become an X-factor in a series where they are the underdogs. He seems to be confident in the team’s chances.
- The Senators would not go down quietly. Down 2 goals through 40 minutes, the squad rallied to tie the game with tallies from Chris Wideman and Derick Brassard. As mentioned in an earlier post, Chara’s late regulation delay-of-game penalty proved quite costly, as the Senators capitalized on the powerplay’s momentum and ended the overtime quickly. Dion Phaneuf hammered one home after the team had hit two posts previously in quick succession. The series has been incredibly tight, but surely Bruins fans will lament the lost opportunity, especially in light of their badly bruised defensive squad.
- Four games will take place this Sunday. The Wild will try to avoid going down 3-0 in hostile territory, the Blue Jackets will hope to dodge a similar fate with cannons firing, and the Sharks and Rangers look to go up at home after splitting the first two on the road.
Over The Glass: Delay Of Game Penalties And Unintended Consequences
Ever since returning from the lockout season of 2004-05, the league has enacted a wide array of rules with the sole aim of increasing goal totals. In the season of return, the league did away with the two-line pass rule in hopes of allowing more odd-man rushes. Penalties automatically brought the impending draw in front of the offending team’s net. Icings would not allow the offending team to make a change in players, resulting in tired defenders. The NHL created a delay-of-game infraction for shooting the puck over the glass in the defensive zone, regardless of intent, as to increase power plays. Additionally, the league instituted a trapezoid of playable area behind the net for goaltenders, apparently to destroy Martin Brodeur’s dreams of a 20-goal season.
Each of these rules is well-known, and to a new generation of hockey fans, widely accepted as the norm. Hockey has undoubtedly undergone numerous rule alterations since its early inception in Canada, as the roving 6th skater and backward-only passes have long since gone extinct in the name of excitement and simplicity. There is certainly no argument that all rule changes are detrimental – quite the contrary. However, there is undoubtedly a beauty to the game as it exists right now, which is the argument to which many purists adhere. Conversely, the golden scoring era of the 1980s is looked upon with reverence and extreme fondness, for all of its faults and shortcomings in parity and defensive play. Neither extreme fully or honestly represents the counterpoints to his position, and the result is a constant struggle between old-school and new-school, conservative and radical.
In Game 2 of the Ottawa-Boston series earlier this evening, a delay-of-game penalty was called against Zdeno Chara for clearing the puck over the glass with 12 seconds remaining in regulation. Ottawa’s Dion Phaneuf didn’t score on the ensuing powerplay in overtime, but did shortly thereafter, and largely a result of that powerplay’s momentum. The scene is one that was all-too-familiar – nearly any fan can recount a horror story resulting from this rule’s implementation. Pittsburgh nearly suffered a death blow last playoffs when they were forced into overtime following three of these infractions in a row. Although no fan is dissatisfied to see their own squad on the powerplay, the rule feels slightly unjustified and slightly tainted. For all intents and purposes, clearing the puck over the glass effectively achieves the same end as icing the puck. Not allowing line changes seems fair punishment to players who would opt to take the easy route after being hemmed in their own zone. Applying a two-minute penalty, regardless of the intent, seems frivolous and irrational.
It seems only a matter of time before a pivotal series is determined solely by this sort of inadvertent mishap.
Atlantic Notes: Price, Carlo, Krug, Acciari
While Islanders center John Tavares is garnering the most attention publicly among the potential high-end unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2018, Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is set to head into the final year of his contract next season as well. On a radio appearance with Sportsnet 590 in Toronto (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was asked about the possibility of Price hitting the open market (transcription via Fan Rag’s Chris Nichols):
“When I talked to him (GM Marc Bergevin) last year, he basically said he was going to do whatever he could to keep Price. I see no reason why that would have changed. The only reason that you could see them saying, ‘We’re not going to do it,’ is if they decide, ‘You know what? The money is going to be so much that we have to spread ourselves somewhere else. We have to decide to do different things.’
“But I know that every decision he was kind of making was with the idea that he knew he was going to have to pay Carey Price a lot of money, and he was prepared to do it.”
Price will earn $7MM in salary with a cap hit of $6.5MM next season. It’s expected that a new deal for him will likely come in above the $8.5MM cap hit that Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is currently receiving to set the new benchmark for goaltenders around the league.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo is making good progress as he continues to recover from an upper body issue that is believed to be a concussion, reports CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty. Head coach Bruce Cassidy noted that the Bruins are hoping to have him back in the lineup “sooner than later”. He was injured in the final game of the season against Washington after being the only defender to suit up in all 82 regular season contests. There remains no firm timetable for his return to the lineup.
- Also from Haggerty, things don’t appear to be as promising for bellow injured blueliner Torey Krug. Cassidy wouldn’t go as far as calling him anything more than day-to-day at this point (a common refrain at this time of year) but stated that he didn’t want to speculate on his situation. Krug was seen with a brace on his right knee after being injured in the penultimate game of the season against Ottawa. With Colin Miller (lower body) also out and Adam McQuaid (upper body) being banged up today, the blueline depth for the Bruins is really getting tested. As for injured winger Noel Acciari, the team is hopeful that he will be able to dress for Game Three of the series on Monday night. Acciari has skated with the team a couple of times this week but was still in a non-contract jersey on Friday.
Senators Update: Marc Methot, Ryan Dzingel
The Ottawa Senators should welcome the return of two players tonight in Game 2 playoff action against the Boston Bruins. Forward Ryan Dzingel and defenseman Marc Methot may make their 2016-17 playoff debuts after missing game one.
Methot is suffering from a lacerated finger after being slashed by Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby on March 23rd. He has not played since the injury, but Post Media’s Bruce Garrioch and the Ottawa Citizen’s Ken Warren think he’ll play tonight. Coach Guy Boucher said that decision will be made after the pre-game warm-ups, and that Methot is “more than close.” Ken Warren thinks the Senators will dress seven defenseman in case Methot cannot finish the game.
Ottawa made Dzingel a healthy scratch in game one, but will dress him tonight, reports Ken Warren. Dzingel finished the year with 14G and 18A, but struggled down the stretch with only 2G and 1A in his last twenty games. Boucher initially opted for veteran Tommy Wingels over Dzingel in game one, but Wingels played under ten minutes with no notable effect. In an interview with media today, Boucher expects Dzingel’s speed to complement the Senators’ fast-paced play.
Bruins Notes: Krejci, C. Miller, Morrow, Subban
Fresh off a 2-1 Game One win against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night without three starters in David Krejci, Torey Krug, and Brandon Carlo, it appears that the Boston Bruins will have to line up for Game Two with an even more short-handed roster. While the team has until their matinee puck drop on Saturday to make any official announcement, it sounds as though defenseman Colin Miller will join the growing list of injuries. Miller, who left the previous game after suffering a lower body injury on a trip from Mark Borowiecki, was on the ice for practice today, but left early due to pain and discomfort. After practice, head coach Bruce Cassidy made it sound very unlikely that Miller would be available for the next game.
With Miller out, in addition to Krug and Carlo, Joe Morrow is the next man up to slot in on the blue line. Morrow, a former first-round pick and a piece of the Tyler Seguin trade, has not been able to work his way into regular play time in years with the Bruins. With John-Michael Liles in the fold this season, Morrow was bumped down to eighth on the depth chart and has not played in almost three months. However, the Bruins were able to beat the Senators with just five defenseman for most of Game One, so even a cold Morrow could be an upgrade as Boston looks to take a stranglehold on the series with another road win.
- Having Krejci back would certainly go a long way to help the Bruins take a 2-0 series lead, but Cassidy confirmed that Boston’s highest-paid player will miss another game. Cassidy did add the qualifier that “as of today” he would miss the game, and Krejci did suit up for warm-ups before being a late scratch in Game One, however he missed practice today and all signs point to the Bruins playing is safe with their third-highest scorer.
- As reported earlier, the Bruins have made it official that they have returned goalie Zane McIntyre, who suited up as Tuukka Rask‘s backup for Game One, back to the AHL and has recalled Malcolm Subban on an emergency assignment to serve, fittingly, as an emergency backup should anything cause Rask or Anton Khudobin. Don’t worry Bruins fans, there’s no reason to worry about Rask’s health.
East Notes: Lightning, Subban, Galchenyuk
The Tampa Bay Lightning headed into this season after a fruitful summer, getting Steven Stamkos under contract just before he hit the open market, signing Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn to team-friendly cap numbers and locking in Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy to extensions that start next year. It was an impressive few months for Steve Yzerman and his management group, but he couldn’t rest on his laurels for very long. This season posed new challenges, and this summer would have been even tougher getting Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin under contract with such little cap space.
During the year the young GM moved out Brian Boyle, Ben Bishop and Valtteri Filppula, opening up a bunch of cap room for the summer and for the performance bonuses that several players—including Brayden Point, who came out of nowhere to put up a 40-point season—were now due to receive. He’s accomplished that goal as CapFriendly reports, clearing just enough room to not carry any bonus overages into next year. The Lightning were at risk of almost $1.2MM in penalties, which would have in all likelihood cost them a player. Now he’ll have around $20MM to re-sign Johnson, Palat and Drouin in addition to Andrej Sustr and Jake Dotchin, among others.
- Mark Divver of the Providence Journal reports that Zane McIntyre will head back to the AHL Bruins to start tonight, while Malcolm Subban will be heading to Boston as their emergency goalie. To be clear, that doesn’t mean that Subban will see the ice or that either Boston goaltender is injured, just that he will serve as an insurance policy should one of them go down in warm up—like Matthew Murray did before game 1 for the Penguins.
- Frank Seravalli of TSN opines that the Montreal Canadiens need to find a “finisher” for Alex Galchenyuk if they want him to produce these playoffs. Since he’s been demoted to a line with Steve Ott and Andreas Martinsen, Galchenyuk continues to produce offensive chances but isn’t getting much help from his linemates. It doesn’t seem like Galchenyuk will return to the center ice position under head coach Claude Julien, and will likely have to find a way to impress without the skilled wingers he was once given. If the Canadiens fail to register a goal again however, you can be sure the lines will hit the blender for Game 3.