THE ROUNDUP- PLAYOFF EDITION- APR 19/19

CAROLINA HURRICANES 2 WASHINGTON CAPITALS 1- (Series tied 2-2)

The big question in this game was how both team’s would respond to the 5-0 shutout in Game 3. Would we see the Caps say “Enough! Time to put the hammer down!”, or would the Hurricanes, boyed by a fan base that has been energized by the Storm Surge and having an owner that actually gives a crap, help them send the series back to Washington all tied up? It didn’t take us long to find out:

That would hold up til the 2nd, when Teuvo Teravainen takes a hooking penalty and Alex Ovechkin ties it on the PP. Teravainen would make up for it in the dying seconds of the 2nd, scoring his 1st of the post-season, and that would hold up as the GWG. In the 3rd, Warren Foegele shoved TJ Oshie into the boards, and while we await official word on his injury, the Caps are saying he’ll be gone for a while.

Alright, let’s take a look at this one. First, the refs would have been fine to call this 5 for boarding and eject Foegele. He gives Oshie a shove in that dangerous distance from the boards where there’s enough space for Oshie to not be able to brace himself for impact. Foegele should have wrapped him up and rode him into the boards. He doesn’t crosscheck him (which you see being said about the hit from numerous Caps fans on social media). I think it’s entirely possible he gets out of this with a fine from DoPS, but I would be okay with a 1 game suspension. It was a bad decision by Foegele, but not a malicious hit in any way, shape or form. Game 5 goes Saturday night in Washington.

ST LOUIS BLUES 3 WINNIPEG JETS 2- (St Louis leads 3-2)

Unlike the Washington/Carolina series where the home team has held serve every night, the Winnipeg/St Louis series has seen both teams treating home ice advantage like a hot potato. Could the Jets take the lead by bucking the trend? They took a page out of Carolina’s book and got it started early:

They finished the 1st period with a 2-0 lead. It was looking good for the Jets. And then in the 3rd, it all fell apart. An early PPG from Ryan O’Reilly got the Blues rally started, and then Brayden Schenn tied it. So time is winding down and all they have to do is get to OT, where anything can happen, and they’ve already won a game in this series in extra time. So if you want this to work, you can’t do this:

They’ll head to St Louis Saturday for an elimination game, and I suppose the thing they need to remember is that the Blues have faltered at home in this series, so they can hope things stay static and they get another chance to win this in a Game 7 in Winnipeg.

SAN JOSE SHARKS 5 VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2- (Vegas leads 3-2)

Gotta hand it to the Sharks for doing exactly what they needed to do last night. With their season on the line, they needed a bounce back game from Martin Jones and some of their big players to step up. Jones stopped 30 of 32 Vegas shots, and they got 2 goals from Tomas Hertl, and singles from Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture. They’re not out of trouble yet, as they have to battle back again to force a deciding game 7, and they’ll need to do it in Vegas, where the Knights have looked pretty impressive. It’s hard to say it’s an upset if the Sharks come back and win this thing, but Vegas was favoured by most to win this series, and with this starting to look like the year of the upset, why the hell not?