Category Archives: The Morning Scrum

Interesting things that happened last night in hockey.

Player of the Night, The Morning Scrum

The Morning Scrum for May 7, 2013

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Player of the Night: Derick Brassard, New York Rangers. The former 6th overall pick in 2006 is getting his first taste of playoff action this year after coming over at the trade deadline from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Brassard was productive for the Rangers in the regular season with 11 points in 13 games and after two pointless games, he exploded with a 3 point night in Game 3. It was a crucial win for the Rangers to prevent them from going down 3 games to 0 against the Washington Capitals. Brassard setup Brian Boyle to tie the game in the first period and put the Rangers ahead on the powerplay early in the second. Brassard again helped give New York the lead in the third when he fed Arron Asham out front for a goal. It was a back and forth game all night long until Derek Stepan’s goal stood up as the 4-3 winner.

Poundworthy Performances: Milan Lucic (Bruins) has gone from getting scratched late in the season to six points in three playoff games. Lucic, Krejci and Horton combined for 2 goals and 8 points on the night. Chris Kelly went an amazing 12 for 15 (80%) on face-offs. Pavel Datsyuk was dangerous all night long for the Wings and tied the game with a great shot. T.J. Oshie (Blues) scored a pair against the Kings.

T.J. Oshie is newly Shnarped Verified. Download the App and send him a pound!

Hit of the Night: Palmieri Gets Kronwall’d

The Blue Paint: Tuukka Rask (Bruins) stopped 45 of 47 shots in the 5-2 win over the Leafs. Jimmy Howard stopped 31 shots in Detroit’s 3-2 OT win over Anaheim. Jonas Hiller made 46 saves in defeat.

First Goals: Adam McQuaid (Bruins) scored his first career playoff goal in his 35th game. Jake Gardiner (Leafs), Derick Brassard (Rangers), and Brendan Smith (Red Wings) all scored their first playoff goals.

Tweet of the Night: @jamiebenn14

Other notes: Marc Staal returned to the lineup for the first time since going down with the eye injury on March 5th. A referee had a little difficulty getting out his announcement during the Kings & Blues game. Barrett Jackman was more than a little confused about a penalty call. The great opening video by Hockey Night in Canada for the Leafs and Bruins game. Paul MacLean’s doppelgänger is ready for Game 4. Jonathan Huberdeau, Brandon Saad and Brendan Gallagher are the finalists for the Calder Trophy.

Make sure you vote in our Gutsiest Playoff Moment Tournament!

Player of the Night, The Morning Scrum

The Morning Scrum for May 6, 2013

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Player of the Night: Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Ottawa Senators. The Stanley Cup Playoffs produce some great stories like a local kid from Ottawa scoring his first playoff goal and completing a hat trick on the same night. Jean-Gabriel Pageau was a 4th round pick in 2011 and played his junior hockey with the Gatineau Olympiques and Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the QMJHL. This year, Pageau managed to stick with the Binghamton Senators where he put up 7 goals in 69 games. Due to all the injuries that Ottawa suffered, he was called up to the main club late in the regular season and managed to make a good enough impression to crack the starting lineup for the playoffs.

On Sunday night, Pageau earned a hat trick in his first playoff game in Ottawa and all it cost him was a tooth. After Pageau broke in and fired a shot by Carey Price for his first playoff goal, his teammates mobbed him. Pageau could be seen looking around and we soon saw him picking up his tooth from a pool of blood on the ice! During the play, Pageau had taken a high stick from PK Subban that knocked his tooth loose. After the game, he was quoted as saying that he’d happily lose another tooth if it meant winning the next game…

Poundworthy Performances: Logan Couture (Sharks) had a huge 4 point night with two goals and two assists against the Canucks. Joe Pavelski added 2 goals and an assist. Chris Kunitz (Penguins) scored twice and added an assist. Kunitz’s second was the OT winner for the Pens. Sydney Crosby collected three assists. The Islanders rallied from 4-2 down against the Penguins on goals from Kyle Okposo and John Tavares. Daniel Alfredsson keeps on producing for the Senators as he had a goal & two assists against Montreal.

Tilt of the Night: Habs & Sens game gets wild

The game between the Canadiens and Senators got out of control on the scoreboard, the ice and the benches as over 200 penalty minutes were handed out. With the Senators up huge in the third period, frustrations boiled over to the point that Senators coach Paul MacLean called a timeout late with a 6-1 lead. Montreal coach Michel Therrien called it classless while MacLean seemed to be responding to all the fights that he felt were initiated by Montreal.

The Blue Paint: Josh Harding (Wild) recorded his first career playoff win, stopping 25 of 27 in a 3-2 OT win. Craig Anderson (Senators) made 33 saves in a 6-1 win. Antti Niemi stopped 28 shots in San Jose’s 5-2 win. Roberto Luongo stopped all 10 shots he faced after coming in for Cory Schneider.

First Goals: Jason Zucker’s first playoff goal for the Wild was the overtime winner. John Tavares and Casey Cizkias (Islanders) scored their first playoff goals against the Penguins. Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Senators) scored his first, second and third playoff goals against the Habs. Johnny Oduya (Hawks) scored his first playoff goal in his 27th game.

Tweet of the Night: @amartinez_27

Other notes: Montreal’s bench was greatly reduced by the end of the night as was Ottawa’s bench. Josh Gorges took a slap shot at Kyle Turris. Justin Abdelkader (Red Wings) was suspended two games. Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story is running on the Hallmark Channel. Former NHL’er Bates Battaglia won the Amazing Race reality TV show.

Make sure you vote in our Gutsiest Playoff Moment Tournament!

AHL Calder Cup Playoffs: With their season on the line, the Providence Bruins rallied from a 4-3 deficit to beat the Hershey Bears 5-4 and force a deciding Game Five. Shnarped verified Carter Camper lit the lamp three times for the hat trick including the game winning goal with just over a minute remaining in regulation.

Carter Camper is Shnarped Verified. Download the App and send him a pound!

ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs: Reading overcame Cincinnati in overtime on a goal from Alex Berry. Reading is up 2-0 with the series heading back to Cincinnati on Wednesday. Stockton beat Idaho in overtime on a goal from Andrew Clark. Stockton took both road games over the weekend so they head back home with a 2-0 lead over the Steelheads.

Player of the Night, The Morning Scrum

The Morning Scrum for May 3, 2013

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Player of the Night: Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators. It’s incredible that just a few weeks ago, nobody thought this kid was even going to play again until next season. Yet here he is back in the lineup and leading all skaters in ice time with over 29 minutes. Karlsson opened the scoring by rushing the puck up the ice, dishing it off and tipping in a pass from Kyle Turris. Karlsson added an assist, fired five shots on net, and blocked three himself. The Senators are a completely different team with Karlsson in the lineup and combined with the goaltending of Craig Anderson, they looked very dangerous on Thursday night.

Wings Clip Ducks Comeback: Detroit went up 3-0 on the Ducks early in the second period. Veteran Saku Koivu got the Ducks on the board with a PPG to give them some hope but when Johan Franzen scored his second of the game just 20 seconds into the third period, it seemed like Detroit had this one in the bag. Suddenly Anaheim made a furious comeback starting with a strong power move by Ryan Getzlaf. Five minutes later, Kyle Palmieri beat Jimmy Howard over the glove to cut the lead to one. Five minutes after that, Bobby Ryan tipped one in to knot the game up at 4-4. The Ducks had come all the way back to force the game into overtime. The comeback wasn’t meant to be as Sheldon Souray took a slashing penalty late in the third period and Detroit’s Gustav Nyquist won it in OT. Nyquist’s goal was setup by a great play from Valtteri Filppula.

Poundworthy Performances: Veteran defenseman Marc Methot, known more for shutting down the opposition, had a goal and an assist for the Sens. David Backes continued to frustrate Anze Kopitar all game long and Barret Jackman scored the huge winner in the dying seconds for the St. Louis Blues. Alex Ovechkin was his usual self against the Rangers taking lots of shots, finishing his checks and scoring a goal. Kyle Palmieri netted a goal and an assist for the Ducks.

The Blue Paint: Craig Anderson’s 48 saves were a franchise record for the Ottawa Senators. A breakaway save by Anderson.  Braden Holtby turned away 35 and was the first star for the Washington Capitals. Brian Elliott made 28 saves in the Blues 2-1 win. Jonas Hiller made a ridiculous save late in the third period.

Controversial Hit: Eric Gryba on Lars Eller

Take a look at the cover of the Ottawa Sun.
In other hitting news, PK Subban caught Chris Neil with a great one.

First Goals: Barrett Jackman’s game winning goal was the first playoff goal of his long career. Carl Hagelin scored his first after going 17 without a goal last year. Marc Methot, Jakob Silfverberg, and Guillaume Latendresse all scored their first playoff goals for the Sens. Damien Brunner and Gustav Nyquist scored their firsts for the Red Wings with Nyquist’s being the OT winner. Kyle Palmieri scored his first playoff goal for the Ducks. Brendan Gallagher scored his first for the Habs.

Brendan Gallagher is Shnarped Verified. Download the App and send him a pound!

Tweet of the Night: Craig Anderson

Other notes: Rene Bourque scored a great backhand goal for the Habs. Eric Himelfarb’s goal was voted the Goal of the Year in the Swedish Elite League. “Not so crazy now, am?” ESPN The Magazine does a feature looking back on Eric Lindros’ battles with concussions. Roberto Luongo will start Game Two for the Vancouver Canucks because Cory Schneider is still day-to-day. Dan DeKeyser suffered a broken thumb and is done for the year. Adam Foote’s son was drafted by the Kelowna Rockets. Andrew Ference was suspended one game for his hit on Mikhail Grabovski in Game One. Mike Kostka has a broken finger for the Leafs. Todd Bertuzzi returned to the lineup for the Red Wings.

Make sure you vote in our Gutsiest Playoff Moment Tournament!

AHL Calder Cup Playoffs: Ondrej Palat played the hero for the Syracuse Crunch by scoring late in regulation to tie the game against Portland and then again late in overtime to win it. The win gave the Crunch a 3-0 sweep of the Pirates. David Meckler scored the winner for the Manchester Monarch as they staved off elimination against the Springfield Falcons. The Falcons still lead the series 2-1. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins completed the sweep of the Binghamton Senators with a 3-2 win.

ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs: The Conference Finals begin tonight!

Player of the Night, The Morning Scrum

The Morning Scrum for May 2, 2013

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Player of the Night: David Krejci, Boston Bruins. The player who led the Bruins in scoring during their Stanley Cup run in 2011 was back at it again on Wednesday night. Krejci scored a goal and added two assists in Boston’s 4-1 demolition of the Leafs. The depth of the Bruins was on display as Patrice Bergeron’s line took the task of shutting down Phil Kessel’s line; freeing up Krejci, Lucic and Horton to do the damage offensively.

Poundworthy Performances: Pascal Dupuis continued to show that he’s no just a product of Sidney Crosby as he scored two greasy goals for the Penguins. Logan Couture sniped in a PPG to tie the game and setup Patrick Marleau’s insurance marker as his San Jose Sharks became the first road team to win. Couture also drew three penalties and won 56% of his faceoffs. Joe Pavelski, Jussi Jokinen, Evgeni Malkin, Jarome Iginla and Milan Lucic all had two assist games.

Logan Couture is Shnarped Verified. Download the App and send him a pound!

‘O’ from ‘D’: Defencemen were big contributors in the games last night. Wade Redden and Johnny Boychuk both scored for the Bruins. For Redden, it was his first playoff goal since 2007. Kris Letang scored a powerplay goal for the Penguins. Dan Boyle scored for the Sharks and Kevin Bieksa was credited with Vancouver’s only goal, which Raffi Torres accidentally put into his own net.

Tough Ride for Tavares: The Islanders young superstar was targeted all night long by the battle tested Penguins. The line of Brenden Morrow, Brandon Sutter, and Matt Cooke made life difficult for him at every opportunity.  Letang’s hit and Morrow’s hit.

The Blue Paint: Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26 shots for the 6th playoff shutout of his career. Tuukka Rask made 19 saves in the Bruins 4-1 win. Roberto Luongo got the nod for the Canucks over the injured Cory Schneider and made this excellent save on Martin Havlat. Antti Niemi carried his strong play from the regular season over into the playoffs with 29 saves in the 3-1 Sharks win. Evgeni Nabokov was yanked after allowing 4 goals on 15 shots. It was probably for the best considering a hard shot he took right to the head.

Controversial Hits
Andrew Ference’s elbow on Mikhail Grabovski
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Aq5kTC2XpY
Marty Reasoner’s kneeing major on Jussi Jokinen

First Goals: Beau Bennett and Tanner Glass both scored their first ever playoff goals for the Penguins. Bennett in his first playoff game and Glass in his 25th.

Other notes: Sidney Crosby sat out the game for the Penguins and judging by their performance, he can take his time coming back. James van Riemsdyk sticks Brad Marchand a little low and Marchand takes a swing at him [.gif]. Alex Ovechkin rockin’ out to Drake [Russian Machine Never Breaks]. A fan in the front row of the Bruins-Leafs games gets his beer knocked over right on his pants.

Make sure you vote in our Gutsiest Playoff Moment Tournament!

AHL Calder Cup Playoffs: The Toronto Marlies are the first team through the Conference Quarterfinals as they completed a sweep of the Rochester Americans with a 3-2 OT win. Will Acton scored the OT winner. Grand Rapids’ 4-2 win over Houston gives them a 2-1 edge in the series. Charlotte rolled over Oklahoma City by a score of 6-1 to go up 2-1 in that series. Shnarped verified Chris Terry scored a pair to lead the way for the Checkers and goalie Rob Madore made 37 saves. The Texas Stars shutout the Milwaukee Admirals 2-0 to take a 2-1 series lead. Christopher Nilstrop made 21 saves for the shutout and Shnarped verified Kevin Connauton added an insurance marker on the PP.

AHL Highlights of the Week

ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs: The Conference Finals are set after Reading’s 4-1 win over Florida in Game Seven. The Conference Finals get underway on Friday night with the Stockton Thunder against the Idaho Steelheads in the West and the Reading Royals against the Cincinnati Cyclones in the East.

Player of the Night, The Morning Scrum

The Morning Scrum for May 1, 2013

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Player of the Night: Alexander Steen, St. Louis Blues.  Midway through the first period, Steen opened the scoring for the Blues by snapping home a rebound off the pad of Jonathan Quick.  The Blues poured shots on Quick for the rest of the night and it seemed like Steen’s powerplay goal would be all that St. Louis would need.  That was until Justin Williams beat Brian Elliot high with 31.6 seconds to go in the game.  In overtime, the Blues faced another hurdle when Kevin Shattenkirk got nailed with a double minor for high sticking Dustin Penner.  It looked as if the game might be slipping away for the Blues but Jonathan Quick mishandled the puck behind the net and Steen pounced on it to win the game and put the Blues up 1-0 in the series.

Poundworthy Performances: Bryan Bickell deked out Josh Harding and scored the OT winner for the Blackhawks in their 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild.  Chicago has gone to OT in six of their last seven playoff games.  Cal Clutterbuck scored the opening goal of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.  Ryan Suter (Wild) logged over 41 minutes in the game.  Jay Bouwmeester (Blues) played his first playoff game after 764 regular season games.  Teemu Selanne scored the game winner for the Ducks as they beat the Wings 3-1.  At 42, Selanne ties Mark Recchi as the third oldest player in NHL history to score in the playoffs.

Skate Trouble:Poor Mike Rupp broke his skate and had a little trouble getting to the bench.

Robyn Regehr gets cut by David Backes’ skate and returns to the game

A Surprise Starter: Heading into the series between the Blackhawks and Wild, one of the few reasons people gave for a potential upset was Wild goaltender, Niklas Backstrom.  In the pre-game warmup for Game One, Backstrom lunged for a puck and injured himself.  The Wild turned to Josh Harding, who had only appeared in one NHL game since February 7th.  The 28-year-old goaltender is Minnesota’s nomination for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his ongoing battle with MS.  Harding stepped in and played remarkably well for the underdog Wild by stopping 35 of 37 shots.  It was truly one of the more remarkable moments of the season.

The Blue Paint: Despite his gaffe in overtime, Jonathan Quick turned away 40 shots.  On the other end of the ice, Brian Elliott made 28 in the win.  Corey Crawford looked a little shaky on the first goal but he shut the door after that, making 26 saves.  Jonas Hiller got the nod over Viktor Fasth and was solid stopping 22 of 23 shots.  Jimmy Howard made 24 saves in the loss.

The CPR Line: The playoffs are often a time when role players shine and the St. Louis Blues fourth line of Adam Cracknell, Chris Porter and Ryan Reaves showed that in Game One.  They were relentless on the forecheck and dished out a number of punishing hits.  The line played just under ten minutes but they managed to leave an imprint on the game. Check out Reaves’ two big hits on one shift and one of Cracknell’s big hits.

Adam Cracknell is Shnarped Verified. Download the App and send him a pound!

Other notes:  ESPN’s John Buccigross shared a “heat map” of Alex Ovechkin’s goals this season.  Brandon Saad joined Patrick Kane in getting a playoff mullet this year.  The Predators inked Patric Hornqvist to a five-year, $21.25 million contract.  Sean McIndoe of Grantland put together a great Bandwagon Fan’s Guide to the NHL Playoffs.  Brian Rolston officially announced his retirement from the NHL after 17 seasons.

This is the last time the Detroit Red Wings won a playoff road opener.  Looked like an awesome game!

Make sure you vote in our Gutsiest Playoff Moment Tournament!

ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs : The defending champion Florida Everblades showed that they’re going to be a tough out as they beat the Reading Royals 2-1 to force a Game Seven.  Leigh Salters scored the winner for Florida.  Game Seven goes Wednesday night.  The Cincinnati Cyclones 5-3 win over the Gwinnett Gladiators moved them on to the Eastern Conference Finals.  Mike Embach starred for the Cyclones with a 3 point night.  The Idaho Steelheads defeated the Ontario Reign 5-3 to advance to the Western Conference Finals.  Brett Robinson (Verified) had 2 goals & 1 assist in the win for Idaho.  The Steelheads will meet the Stockton Thunder, who eliminated the Alaska Aces with a 4-3 OT win.  Nik Pokulok iced it in OT for Stockton.