THE ROUNDUP- PLAYOFF EDITION- APR 22/19

BOSTON BRUINS 4 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS 2- (Series tied 3-3)

Much like the Canucks in 2011, the Leafs just seem to want to make it more difficult on themselves. How else can you explain the no-show they pulled when they had a chance to finally overcome the demonic entity that is the Boston Bruins? Now it comes down to the worst case scenario for them: being forced to win a Game 7 on the road. At least when the Canucks had their Game 7 they were in Rogers Arena. Not so fortunate for the Leafs, who will be in enemy territory, listening to the long suffering Boston sports fans screaming obscenities at them in that charming New England accent. They’ve been getting good goaltending throughout the series from Frederik Andersen and are throwing it away. Look, it’s not like I actually like the Leafs. Sure, there’s lots to like about the current incarnation of the team, and they can be fun to watch. But I know this is about evil and one of these teams is far less evil than the other. This is what is about what is best for the game itself. The biggest problem facing the Leafs? They can be the better team and completely outplay the Bruins in Game 7 but if they take more than one penalty in the game there’s a more than 50% chance they end up losing because of it. It’s almost literally the worst penalty kill I have ever seen. The Bruins are scoring at will on it and if they win this series, that will be the reason why. Game 7 goes Tuesday night in Boston.

SAN JOSE SHARKS 2 VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS 1 (2OT)- (Series tied 3-3)

So far in the first round there hasn’t been a lot of overtime, and they’ve been solved fairly quickly until last night’s contest. After the win in Game 5, Tomas Hertl came right out and said this:

And with their season on the line, in the 2nd OT and shorthanded, Hertl delivered a little bit of NHL history:

This was the first time in NHL history that someone scored a shorthanded goal in a game that had gone beyond the 2nd OT. It’s one of those records you’d think would have happened at least once in over 100 years, right?

Anyway, full credit to the Sharks and especially Martin Jones, who outright stole that game last night. The Sharks now have a chance to win a series after being down 3 games to 1 for the first time in their history. The Golden Knights were the better team last night and apart from the Jonathan Marchessault goal that tied it up, have nothing to show for it. Also, can we talk about how bad Shea Theodore and Marc Andre Fleury both looked on that goal? I mean, maybe Theodore is letting Hertl get the shot off, relying on his goaltender to make the save and not risking a potential deflection that changes the direction of the shot. Fleury flat out whiffs on what was not a hard shot at all, though and it makes Theodore’s decision look even worse. Engage the man, there’s no way he should have gotten off a clean shot with you right there. Game 7 goes Tuesday night in the Shark Tank and should be fun to watch.