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The New York Islanders hope to keep things rolling after their thrilling Double OT win Tuesday night and force a winner take all Game 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Edmonton Bubble tonight. If they can’t, the Bolts will advance to face the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Finals, just like everyone* predicted.
*No one predicted this.
But after coming off that big win, I am sure things are looking good for the Islanders to do it again and... oh, really? Huh.
The @TBLightning are 4-0 this postseason in the game immediately following a loss.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) September 16, 2020
The only playoff year in which they did not suffer consecutive losses was 2004, when the franchise claimed its first-ever #StanleyCup. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/OTEAY9BYB2
That... doesn’t seem optimal.
It looks like Brayden Point might be a game time decision on whether he’s ready to go, but should the Lightning advance, it looks like they may be getting a pretty big reinforcement:
Steven Stamkos participated in what looked like a very optional #TBLightning practice today. https://t.co/GjV9qzRiVT pic.twitter.com/O0ZHHBPKLc
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) September 16, 2020
In the meantime, they’re trying not to let this blown opportunity shake them:
Verhaeghe & Palat on the goal that was called back, feeling confident in our group, and Carter's year with us. #TBLvsNYI pic.twitter.com/GOCyF9AxFO
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) September 16, 2020
One thing that helped the Islanders keep their season alive? The return of Johnny Boychuk to their lineup for Game 5:
Johnny Boychuk injected the #Isles lineup with his fearless veteran presence and his infectious commitment to executing Islander hockey.
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) September 16, 2020
Read more about Boychuk’s Game 5 impact https://t.co/1rJypmHyNm
It will be interesting to see how Tampa responds to this adversity, something they haven’t had much of in this pandemic post-season.
Yesterday saw a trade that left a lot of people scratching their heads (unless you were a Buffalo Sabres fan, that is) as Eric Staal was shuffled off to Buffalo for Marcus Johansson in a move that makes absolutely no sense at all.
The #Sabres made their first trade of the offseason yesterday evening, dealing Marcus Johansson to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Eric Staal. @DBtBAnth dives into what the deal means for Buffalo in 2020-21. https://t.co/RnIgrie2KO
— Die By The Blade (@diebytheblade) September 17, 2020
Not only is Minnesota getting back an inferior player, but they’ve taken on a bigger cap hit in the process. Great news for the Sabres, though, unless Staal decides to retire rather than play in Buffalo...
Pierre LeBrun on TSN1040:
— Ranting Ron Show (@RantingRon716) September 17, 2020
"One rumor that's always been out there has been that if (Eric) Staal got traded, he was going to just retire."
In the meantime, our condolences to our pals over at Hockey Wildnerness, and apologies for the Canucks breaking Bill Guerin’s brain.
Meanwhile, it looks like Henrik Lundqvist’s days with the New York Rangers are over:
A Walkthrough of the Rangers’ Rationale for the Impending Lundqvist Buyout https://t.co/xXYHeTwCrj
— Blueshirt Banter (@BlueshirtBanter) September 16, 2020
And this really seems to confirm it:
Hajek blowing up Hank's future with the NYR in a Czech interview.https://t.co/OmtcyV4NJ9 pic.twitter.com/3kALY6YGlL
— Baamboo22 (@Baamboo22) September 16, 2020
The pandemic is forcing the IIHF to make more tournament cancellations, though there is word that the World Juniors, which will be hosted by Canada, will be played in a bubble similar to what we saw with the NHL Playoffs.
The IIHF cancels the men's U20 World Championship tournaments (except top-level #WorldJuniors) and the U18 Women's World Championship tournaments due to the situation with the #COVID19 pandemic.
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) September 17, 2020
➡️ https://t.co/u4PiflgO1j
Robert Hradil / HHOF-IIHF Images pic.twitter.com/ETRDj0T87z
CANUCKS NEWS
Travis Green made an appearance on the Ray and Dregs podcast:
#Canucks Travis Green from @rayanddregs Ep. 41 on the one thing players don't get about coaches.
— The Ray & Dregs Hockey Podcast (@rayanddregs) September 17, 2020
Enjoy the full convo with Travis on https://t.co/TytXPY6ZXy or YouTube: https://t.co/gUOtNyWukV
Presented by @SureHealthCan pic.twitter.com/7I5BHosIpF
The Canucks are trying to get a deal done with Tyler Toffoli, but iMac has some thoughts on that:
On Tyler Toffoli: "I do think he's the kind of player that you risk overpaying for, because statistically in his last contract, I think it was .54 points per game."@imacSportsnet joins @danriccio_ and @RandipJanda to talk #Canucks sticking to the cap.https://t.co/07gMQgzGwk
— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) September 16, 2020
And should they bring him back? Well, I gotta say this suggests it might be a good idea:
If you would like a visual for why the #Canucks should re-sign Tyler Toffoli, this @HockeyViz isolated impact shot map is pretty compelling. pic.twitter.com/MfA8XDMasf
— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis) September 15, 2020
The Taco King was on SN650 to give Christopher Tanev some love:
On Chris Tanev: "He's like one of the smartest players out there I've ever played with, he always knows where to be, he puts his body on the line every night."@eddielack joins @danriccio_ and @RandipJanda discuss reasons the #Canucks should keep Tanev.https://t.co/gnUaVJmho7
— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) September 17, 2020
Doesn’t this guy make you wanna run through brick walls for this team?
"The people say the future, future, future but we’re almost there. The time is now. We can play with the top teams in the league"
— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) September 17, 2020
Quinn Hughes with @JamesCybulski and @psolkowski#Canuckshttps://t.co/aJ8PC8Duxj
With the Minnesota Wild re-signing Jonas Brodin, some feel this makes the Matt Dumba to Vancouver thing an inevitability. It better not be at the expense of Brock Boeser, because that is literally Jim Benning trying to one up Bill Guerin for dumbest trade of the year:
An a Wednesday night edition of #RobFaiNationRadio, @RobFai doesn't want to hear ANY MORE stupid trade suggestions.
— TSN Radio Vancouver (@TSN1040) September 17, 2020
Join the show on #TSN1040 and via https://t.co/RndpxTpj0G pic.twitter.com/jNREk30QIB
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