NHL Playoffs Roundup: Lightning Show They Won't Be Bullied in OT Win over Isles

The play that ended the game made a huge statement: The Tampa Bay Lightning can’t be bullied. In fact, they can employ some intimidation tactics of their own. 

Brian Boyle of the Bolts hammered Thomas Hickey at the New York Islanders' blue line in overtime and then started a rush that ended when he found himself all alone with a loose puck at the side of the net.

Boyle's gift of a game-winner for the 5-4 victory put the Lightning ahead 2-1 in the second-round series.

“He’s everything you want at this time of year,” Sportsnet analyst Nick Kypreos said of Boyle on the broadcast afterward.

Of course, Boyle was all alone because the man who should have been covering him was Hickey, and he had been knocked out of the play by the hit.

Big hits—two of them—became the focus of this game and potentially the series going forward.

One was the heavy blast on Hickey courtesy of Boyle. It initially looked like the impact started on the body, but the NHL will surely review it repeatedly given the number of headshots that have already taken place in these playoffs. It may also have been late.

After the contest, Islanders head coach Jack Capuano suggested Boyle will be suspended for a game. He also vented to the media about the fact play was allowed to continue.

Hickey initiated another hit that impacted the game, obliterating Jonathan Drouin with a violent blow in the second period. It left the 21-year-old looking woozy, so few expected the talented playmaker to return.

Drouin did come back late in the third period, however. Not only did he return, but he set up the tying goal with a perfect pass to Nikita Kucherov to force overtime.

Debate over whether or not Drouin should have been allowed to come back began immediately.

“I was astonished to see him back,” analyst Kelly Hrudey said on the CBC broadcast. “I didn’t think there was any chance we were going to see him back.”

Kypreos was impressed with the young player’s determination but wondered if his return should have been allowed to happen.

“You’re really caught between doing the right thing and making sure you’re taking care of your future,” he said. “But at the same time, how do you not sit there and call this guy a warrior and a hero and all that. I’m not a doctor. I’m not playing one on TV, but there was some sort of brain trauma on that play.”

Boyle was impressed his teammate was able to return and make such an important play—one he was able to top in overtime.

“We hadn’t seen him for a while. He took a good hit cutting to the middle. But he came back in a big way I think setting up that tying goal,” Boyle said in a postgame interview with Chris Simpson on CBC. “It was a lot of momentum swings. We didn’t give up. They didn’t either.”

All three of the major players involved in the hits could potentially be sitting for the next contest or beyond.

Drouin will be medically scrutinized to ensure he isn’t suffering from symptoms of a concussion. Even if he passed tests at the rink, symptoms can surface over the coming hours or days.

Boyle and Hickey, meanwhile, will both await word on whether the head office deems their body checks legal.

Until then, fans will await Game 4—which, based on the first three games of this series, should be another great one.

Top Guns Lead the Way As Predators Get On the Board vs. Sharks

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

In Martin Jones’ defense, those were some pretty heavy shots.

The San Jose Sharks goaltender didn’t have a great night in a 4-1 loss to the Nashville Predators in Game 3, but he can at least be happy his Sharks have a 2-1 series lead after dominating the first two games on home ice.

In Tuesday’s contest, Jones can take solace from the fact the Predators got huge performances from stars like Shea Weber, James Neal and Filip Forsberg to cut into that cushion and make him look like a first-year starting goaltender for maybe the first time in these playoffs.

Stopping just 21 of the 25 shots he faced on the night, Jones went to the dressing room with a save percentage of just .840—his lowest of the playoffs so far.

But on at least two of them, only someone out of the Marvel Superhero universe might have had a chance to make a save.

Patrick Marleau put the Sharks up 1-0 on a breakaway goal in the first period.

In the second, Neal netted his third goal of the postseason with an absolute laser of a one-timer from a bad angle at the bottom of the circle to Jones’ glove side. It found the slimmest of holes over the shoulder and into the top of the net, tying the game at one goal apiece.

The Preds piled on with Weber scoring his first of the series and third of the playoffs, jumping on a loose puck from the high slot and ripping his trademark slap shot high over the glove of Jones. This shot could break bones from that proximity.

Colin Wilson added insurance early in the third period, taking advantage of a fortunate bounce off of the end boards to put the rebound into an empty net on the broken play.

And late in the frame, Forsberg made sure there would be no Sharks comeback with his second of the playoffs—a power-play snipe that hit the crossbar on the way in.

It was a much-needed goal from Forsberg, who had gone seven straight games without a point. The signs of life from the Predators stars was a great sign for the underdogs, but you can expect the Sharks to bounce back with a ferocious effort in Game 4.

Tuesday’s loss was just their first on the road in the 2016 playoffs.

They had an off night as a group, although they didn’t allow much in the way of shots and seemed to be victimized on every mistake. The Preds scored twice on the power play and got contributions from their biggest shooters.

That trend will have to continue for the Predators to even the series.

Goaltender Carousel Proving Costly as Blues Beat up on Stars

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

The goaltending situation in Dallas is dizzying.

A number of teams have changed netminders from game to game in these playoffs, but none do it mid-contest the way the Stars have with Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen, especially in the last two games of their second-round series against the St. Louis Blues. 

The platoon can’t be having a positive effect on the players in front of those two backstops, and Tuesday’s Game 3 in St. Louis certainly backed up that notion. The Blues blistered the Stars, 6-1, to take a 2-1 series lead.

It didn’t matter which of the two were between the pipes for the Stars; pucks were filling the nets.

Niemi started the game after playing relatively well in relief of Lehtonen in a Game 2 overtime loss, but he was gone early in the second period after allowing three goals against on a dozen shots.

"

Why not change the goalie after every Blues goal?

— Dennis Bernstein (@DennisTFP) May 4, 2016"

Alex Steen, David Backes and Troy Brouwer all beat Niemi.

Interestingly enough, both Backes and Steen scored again later against Lehtonen, along with Vladimir Tarasenko, who finished off a tic-tac-toe play by using Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski’s skate as the toe to give the Blues a crushing 4-1 lead before the four-minute mark in the second period—just over a minute after Brouwer’s goal.

While the Stars net has become a sideshow of sorts, it’s the defensive play in front of them that has swung momentum heavily in favor of the Blues as they get set to play a second game on home ice Thursday.

The Stars blocked just eight shots on the night, and the Blues were feasting on the likes of John Klingberg and Goligoski in their own zone. The former finished a team-worst minus-three on the night, with the Blues scoring two of their six on the power play.

No doubt head coach Lindy Ruff will wait to announce his starter for the next game until the last possible minute. But at this point, does it even matter?

Lehtonen has a goals-against average of 2.70 and a save percentage of .903. Niemi has a 3.33 GAA and .872 save percentage.

Even with the porous defense in front of them, those individual numbers have to be better for the Stars to have any shot at advancing against a well-rounded and deep Blues squad.