Category: NHL

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Len Shapiro : Hurricanes up 2-0 with series going back to MSG; Oilers-Flames take game 3 to Calgary; Aves take a 2-1 lead over St Louis

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On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Len:

Carolina Hurricanes’ Brendan Smith, center, celebrates his goal with teammates Sebastian Aho (20) and Teuvo Teravainen (86) in second period action at PNC Arena in Raleigh in game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Fri May 20, 2022 (AP News photo)

#1 The Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta stopped 21 shots on his way to a 2-0 shutout Friday night his first playoff shutout in game 2 of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The win puts the Hurricanes up 2-0 over the New York Rangers.

#2 After watching the first two games of this series how concerned does the proposition of going down in the first two games have to be for Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant and can the Rangers consider going back to MSG for the next two games a chance to get back into this thing?

#3 Last Wednesday the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames battled to a 9-6 Flames win. The Flames had to breath a sigh a relief in that one up 3-1 they gave up four goals in the second period to the Oilers but came back to win game 1.

#4 In game 2 on Friday night the Oilers had an opportune moment when the Oilers Zach Hyman took advantage of a break away in the middle of the third period with the score tied at 3-3. Hyman got a shot over the glove of the Flames goaltender Jakob Markstrom to put the Oilers ahead 4-3 at 10:14.

#5 A thriller in Denver the Colorado Avalanche get a big win taking it to the St Louis Blues with a game 3 win the Blues were up front but the Avalanche came back to overtake the Blues 5-3 and take a 2-1 series lead. The Avalanche got two goals from Artturi Lehkonen.

Len Shapiro filled in Matt Harrington for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcasts heard each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Len Shapiro: Lightning eliminate Leafs in game 7; Canes Domi scores twice in 2-1 win; plus more

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Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) celebrates with teammate Victor Hedman (77) after knocking the Toronto Maple Leafs out of the second round of the NHL Stanley Cup in Toronto in game 7 on Sat May 14, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Len:

#1 One thing you can say about the Tampa Bay Lightning their like a boom a rang just was soon as you thought they were done they come back.

#2 The Bolts got help from one player who did all the work Nicholas Paul who scored twice that was all Tampa Bay need to eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs four games to three in the best of four out of seven in a 2-1 game seven win to advance.

#3 The Carolina Hurricane’s Max Domi had a pair of goals and an assist which help defeat the Boston Bruins 3-2 in Carolina. It was a series where the home team won each of the games as the Canes won the series 4-3.

#4 Rounding off Saturday night’s action the Edmonton Oilers shutout the Los Angeles Kings in game 7 in Edmonton 2-0. Oilers goalie Mike Smith stopped all 29 Kings shots for the win.

#5 The Oilers Connor McDavid and Cody Ceci scored a goal a piece both goals turned out to be critical for the Edmonton win.

#6 Evander Kane has been a big value for the Oilers in the regular season and in the playoff push, in hindsight do you think the San Jose Sharks who put him up for free agency might be thinking that they made a mistake letting Kane get away?

Join Len for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcasts each weekend at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Matt Harrington: Rangers stay alive with 5-3 win over Penguins; Panthers eliminate Capitals; plus more

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New York Rangers center Mike Zibanejad congratulates left winger Chris Kreider after a goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the second period at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Fri May 13, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The New York Rangers avoided getting eliminated as Chris Krieder scored a third period goal at 1:28 that broke a 3-3 deadlock with a shot from the left point that deflected off the Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Louis Domigue for the score. The Rangers would win it 5-3 tying the series at 3-3.

# 2 The Florida Panthers advanced to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 4-3 overtime win over the Washington Capitals at the Capital Center. The Panthers Carter Verhaeghe scored at 2:46 in overtime for the game winning shot.

#3 The Dallas Stars defeated the Calgary Flames on Friday to tie up the series 3-3 with a 4-2 win. The Stars Joe Pavelski said that they are a confident group that can play through tight games and the Stars have been competitive in the playoffs.

#4 The Boston Bruins avoided elimination on Thursday with a win to tied up the series with the Carolina Hurricanes 3-3. Both teams meet again today for a 1:30 pm PDT puck drop.

#5 The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs face off at 4:00 pm PDT as the series is tied at 3-3.

#6 Kings-Oilers battle in Edmonton tonight at 7:00 pm PDT as this series is tied 3-3 everything on the line tonight.

Join Matt throughout the NHL Stanley Cup postseason for analysis on the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Marleau retires from hockey after setting Sharks franchise records

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Former San Jose Sharks forward Patrick Marleau who retires from hockey after 23 years, set a number of San Jose franchise records and will have his number 12 eventually retired and hoisted in the SAP Center rafters. (photo from NHL.com)

On the Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Former San Jose Shark, Toronto Marple Leaf, Pittsburgh Penguin Patrick Marleau announced his retirement after 23 seasons in the NHL. Marleau in a press conference at SAP Center on Tuesday said it was bittersweet but he has a lot to look forward to.

#2 Marleau also said that if you had told him as a kid skating on a frozen pond in Saskatchewan that he would break the games played record held by Gordy Howe he would have thought you were crazy.

#3 Len talk about his number 12 being retired by the Sharks in the future and having his jersey raised in the rafters at SAP Center for future fans to see.

#4 He has records set for the Sharks franchise records in goals, points, even strength goals, power play goals, shots, games played, also he played in 910 consecutive games from Apr 9, 2009 to May 12, 2001.

#5 Len after Marleau left the Sharks after playing in San Jose 1997-98 to 2016-17, he went to play in his native country Canada for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2017-18 to 2018-19 before moving onto the Pittsburgh Penguins 2019-20 and then his final season with the Sharks 2020-21 to round out his career in hockey.

Join Len for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Stars go up 2-1 on Flames; Caps Ovechkin scores in 6-1 win over Florida; plus more

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The Dallas Stars Joe Pavelski (16) and Vladislav Namestinkov (92) celebrate Pavelski’s goal as the Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) is on his back looking up in Dallas on Sat May 7, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len:

#1 The Dallas Stars Joe Pavelski scored twice to break ties in two consecutive playoff games against the Calgary Flames. Pavelski has been very instrumental in helping the Stars and in particular on Saturday in game 3 as the Stars go up 2-1.

#2 The Edmonton Oilers lead the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 and their two wins came after two defining victories 6-0 in game two on Wednesday and game three 8-2 on Friday. Both teams meet up again for game three on Monday night.

#3 One of the big games Saturday the Washington Capitals in game 3 gained on the Florida Panthers going up 2-1 in the series with a 6-1 win on Saturday. The Caps goal scoring help from Alex Ovechkin who scored his first goal of the playoffs.

#4 The Colorado Avalanche went up on the Nashville Predators 3-0 with a convincing 7-3 win in game 3. The Aves have a shot at sweeping this series on Monday night. The Aves Gabriel Landeskog scored twice with two assists.

#5 The Pittsburgh Penguins took a 2-1 lead on the New York Rangers as the Pens Damon Heimen got the go ahead goal at 11:02 in the third period. The Pens got the three goal win 7-4 win at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

Join Len for the NHL podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Matt Harrington: Bruins win a game push past Hurricanes 4-2; Leafs pour it on Lighting in 5-2 win; Caps get huge win over Panthers 6-1

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Boston Bruins’ Charlie Coyle (13) scores on Carolina Hurricanes’ Pyotr Kochetkov (52) during the first period of Game 3 at TD Garden in Boston on Fri May 6, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Boston Bruins came into the TD Waterhouse Garden down 2-0 knowing if they’d drop Friday night’s third game they’d have their backs to the wall going into a game four down 3-0 such was not the case as he B’s saved themselves but cutting the visiting Carolina Hurricanes lead down to 2-1.

#2 Matt, talk about Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman and how crucial was he stopping 25 shots and allowing two goals in the 4-2 win.

#3 The Bruins Brad Marchand scored a goal and had two assists and David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle scored and had an assist for the Bruins how important were these guys in game 3.

#4 The Toronto Maple Leafs came into this game with grit playing against one of the toughest teams in the NHL the Tampa Bay Lightning in this round 1 as they came away with a three goal 5-2 win. The Leafs scored twice in the first and third periods and goaltender Jack Campbell stopped 32 shots and allowed to two goals.

#5 The Leafs now lead the Lightning 2-1 in the best of seven series. For the Bolts goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 34 shots a good number but allowed three goals. Was this game a matter of Vasilevskiy just not being on his game or was the Leafs offense just that good and had their way with the Lightning defense?

Join Matt Saturdays for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Raanta stops 35 shots in Canes 5-1 win over Bruins; Leafs Campbell shuts out Bolts 5-0; plus more

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Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta (32) tries to stop the puck on a Boston Bruins shot in game 1 of the first round of the Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Playoffs at PNC in Pittsburgh on Mon May 2, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len:

#1 The Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta stopped 35 shots as the Hurricanes won game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Boston Bruins 5-1 in the Eastern Conference first round in Pittsburgh’s PNC Arena. It was Ranata’s first NHL playoff game.

#2 The Toronto Maple Leafs let themselves be know in game 1 of the first round of the playoffs with a 5-0 shutout over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Austin Matthews scored twice for Toronto. The Leafs Mitchell Marner scored a goal and had two assists and goaltender Jack Campbell stopped 23 shots.

#3 Len, talk about the St Louis Blues who blanked the Minnesota Wild. The Blues were 13-1-1 since 2019-20 season. They really have the Wild’s number. Dave Peron had a hat trick and the Wild had six power play attempts and they did not score. Ville Hasso in goal for St Louis faced 37 shots and stopped all of them for the shutout.

#4 The Nashville Predators Juuse Saros will sit out for games 1 and 2 against the Colorado Avalanche because of a lower body injury. Saros missed the last two games of the regular season for the Predators how much will the Preds miss Saros out of the line up.

#5 After suffering an upper body injury and missing three games the Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is on the radar to play in game 1 in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Florida Panthers.

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Len Shapiro: Detroit will not renew Blashill’s contract done after six seasons; Four playoffs games open Monday night

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Former Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill stands behind the bench during the 2021-22 season did not get his contract renewed and will not be returning next season after six years with Detroit (file photo nhl.com)

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Len:

#1 The Detroit Red Wings have announced they will not renew head coach Jeff Blashill’s contract, Blashill was the second longest running head coach in the NHL his downfall most likely was the Red Wings had not made it to the post season in six seasons.

#2 The Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is seeking a second opinion on his surgically repaired knee. Price might have to consider retirement and he last played on Friday night against a mighty Florida Panthers team at the Bell Centre in a 10-2 laugher. Price was key in the contest stopping 37 shots and allowing two goals. Does Price have enough in the tank to return next season for the Canadiens?

#3 Len four playoff games scheduled for Monday night we’ll take them one at a time the first one, the Boston Bruins who are coming off a season ending loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 and the Carolina Hurricanes finished the regular season winning six straight games.

#4 The Tampa Bay Lightning always a favorite to win the Stanley Cup Final will go up against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Tampa Bay drilled the New York Islanders on Friday 6-4. The Lightning finished the season winning five of their last six games. The Leafs won three straight to end the season taking out the Boston Bruins on Friday 5-2. The series opens in Toronto with the Lightning and Leafs.

#5 The St Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild will open up their best of seven series at Target Arena tonight. The Blues had a eight game winning streak between April 2 to 17th. The Blues have had quiet a season going 49-22-11. For the Minnesota Wild a great closing to their regular season winning seven of their last eight games with a 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche this series could be one for the ages the way these two teams have battled.

#6 The Los Angeles Kings will be battling the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of their playoff series which opens up at Rogers Place in Edmonton tonight. The Kings have won five of their last six games to end the 2021-22 season going 44-27-11. The Oilers won six of their last eight to close out the season and were 49-27-6. Len how do you see these two teams matching up for Monday night.

Join Len Shapiro throughout the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs for podcast coverage at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Matt Harrington: Pens to face Rangers in first round; Sabers overtime win against Blackhawks 3-2; plus more

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Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evan Rodrigues (9) scores on Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender J-F Berube (30) in first period action at PPG Paints in Pittsburgh on Fri Apr 29, 2022 (AP News photo)

NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Pittsburgh Penguins (46-25-11) advanced to the playoffs with a win over the Columbus Blue Jackets (37-38-7) 5-3 on Friday night at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins will face the Rangers for the Eastern Conference first round in game 1.

#2 Both the Buffalo Sabers (32-39-11) and the Chicago Blackhawks (28-42-12) concluded their regular season with the Sabers getting an overtime win over the Blackhawks 3-2 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo Friday. The Blackhawks started out with a 2-0 lead but the Sabers came back and tied it up in the second period 2-2. The Sabers Casey Mittelstadt got the overtime game winning goal at 2:53.

#3 The Boston Bruins lost their last game of the season to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night 5-2 and will face off with the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Leafs will play the Tampa Bay Lightning.

#4 It was the first win for Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price since game 4 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs Finals. It was a landslide of goals scored by the Canadiens 10-2 over the Florida Panthers on Friday night at the Belle Centre. Price stopped 37 shots and it was his 700th start and 712th game with the Canadiens for his 361st career win.

#5 In his first game in five seasons for the Detroit Red Wings goaltender Magnus Hellberg it was like riding a bike you just don’t forget. Hellburg stopped 20 shots by the New Jersey Devils to help in a 5-3 win at the Prudential Center on Friday night. Hellberg played five years in the Kontinental Hockey League before signing an Apr 13th free agent contract with the Red Wings.

Join Matt throughout the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs for the NHL podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Shutout 3-0 by Kraken in Game 82

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Seattle Kraken center Morgan Geekie (67) looks to pass the puck against San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (88) at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Fri Apr 29, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Lisa Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were shutout 3-0 by the Seattle Kraken in the Sharks final game of the 2021-22 season. Yanni Gourde, Adam Larsson and Viktor Rask scored for the Kraken. Chris Driedger made 24 saves for the shut-out win. Kaapo Kahkonen made 28 saves in the loss.

After that game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said of the game: “We just couldn’t get it done tonight. I think you could probably see, it’s no secret, there wasn’t a lot of guys who were sharp.”

Boughner also talked about the season as a whole and what comes next:

“For us, it’s just trying to relish the good times that we’ve had this year and I think there has been plenty of them. I think we know we’re not in the spot that we want to be and we know there’s a ton of improvement and that’s on everybody. That’s not on the players, it’s not just on the players and the coaches it’s everybody. We’ll address that but I think everybody needs a little time away to decompress first.”

Yanni Gourde scored his 21st goal of the season to give the Kraken the lead at 6:17. Dennis Cholowski led the play into the zone up the middle, then passed the puck to Karson Kuhlman on the right wing. Kulman passed it back to Gourde who was trailing Cholowski. As Cholowski screened Kahkonen, Gourde took the shot.

Adam Larsson made it 2-0 at 18:31. Jamie Oleksiak had the puck deep along the right wall and passed it up to Matty Beniers at the point. Beniers made a quick pass to Larsson on the left wing and he scored with a one-timer.

Victor Rask scored into an empty net to make it 3-0 at 19:08 of the third period. Assists went to Riley Sheahan and Will Borgen.

Timo Meier finished the season by blocking a shot to stop an empty net goal at the end of the game.

The Sharks took just one penalty and gave up three shots to the Kraken power play. The Kraken took two penalties close together in the second period, giving the Sharks a five-on-three for a little over a minute. The Sharks got three shots during that power play. In the first period, the Sharks were out-shot 12-4, but bounced back in the second with 11 shots, allowing just six. They lagged again in the third, being out-shot 13-9. The Kraken prevailed in the face-off circle at 58%.

Lane Pedersen was back in the lineup for a last look of the season. He had one shot, one hit and was 40% in the face-off circle in 9:53 of ice time. Jonathan Dahlen was also in the game Friday. He had one blocked shot in 7:32 of ice time.

The Sharks will start next season in Prague, Czech Republic. They will face the Nashville Predators in a pair of games October 7 and 8 as part of the 2022 NHL Global Series.