These are desperate times for the St. Louis Blues.
The Blues, winless in five games so far in Edmonton, might bench Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Jordan Binnington for Game 3 of their best-of-seven first-round Western Conference playoff series against the Vancouver Canucks.
Blues coach Craig Berube was noncommittal when asked if he would start Jake Allen in net on Sunday night.
"That's something I'll discuss (Saturday) with the coaching staff," Berube said after a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 2 Friday. "That's as far as I'm going to take that."
The Blues entered the postseason with the best record in the conference but lost all three of their games in the round-robin -- dropping to the fourth seed -- and the first two games against the fifth-seeded Canucks.
Binnington has allowed nine goals on 47 shots in two games against Vancouver, including four on 25 shots in Game 2. He's 0-4 with a 4.27 goals-against average and .862 save percentage in the playoffs.
Allen made 37 saves in a 2-1 shootout loss to Dallas in the round-robin portion of the postseason.
"I think there's concern all around," Berube said when asked about Binnington's past few starts. "That's too many goals just in general. It's not just the goalie, it's the whole team."
Canucks center Bo Horvat has a league-leading six goals in the postseason. He has four goals in the first two games against St. Louis, including a power-play goal in Game 1 and a short-handed goal in Game 2 before scoring the winner Friday on a breakaway at 5:55 of overtime.
"Don't give him breakaways," Berube said. "... You've got to keep him in front of you. We can't let him beat us one-on-one. You've got to defend that. That's it. Simple."
Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said he thought Friday's game was the team's best since arriving in Edmonton.
"Sometimes you've just got to keep playing and eventually things turn. Is it frustrating? Yeah, sure, but we don't really care what people think outside our locker room," Pietrangelo said. "We had a lot of noise last year, and look at what we did.
"It's a new year, obviously. We don't want to keep going back to last year, but the core of this group went through that together, and we know how to bounce back from these things."
The Blues showed that late in regulation Friday, as David Perron and Jaden Schwartz combined to tip home Pietrangelo's point shot with 6.4 seconds left to force overtime.
But that still wasn't enough against the Canucks, who got a goal and an assist from Elias Pettersson and 34 saves by Jacob Markstrom.
"It's definitely a good response by the guys," said Canucks forward Tanner Pearson, who scored in the second period. "... To let the late one in, it could have taken the wind out of us, but we regrouped in the room, came out strong, and finished it off."
The Canucks have won five straight games since losing Game 1 to the Minnesota Wild in the best-of-five qualifiers.
"Since we're here, we want to win," Pearson said. "It's a lot of fun winning this time of year. The more you do it, the more you come closer to what you've dreamed of as a kid. We've been on the right side of things for a bit now, and we got to keep our heads in it and focus on getting the next one."
The first round of the 2020 NBA playoffs are set to begin on Monday, Aug. 17.
The matchups for the First Round of the 2020 NBA playoffs are set.
The seeding in each conference was determined after teams completed their final eight games of the regular season of the restart in Orlando, Fla. The Portland Trail Blazers claimed the last spot of the upcoming postseason after defeating the Memphis Grizzlies in a play-in game for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
Each series will be played every other day in the bubble with the traditional best-of-seven playoff format. The NBA Finals are currently scheduled to end no later than Oct. 13, though later rounds could be moved up based on previous outcomes.
Here are the full NBA playoff matchups for the First Round and the schedule for each series. The First Round will begin on Monday, Aug. 17.
For the second time in four days Sunday, FC Dallas will host FC Nashville as the teams add games to their schedule after missing out on playing in the MLS Is Back tournament due to an outbreak of positive COVID-19 cases.
Both teams and the Major League Soccer, though, are hoping for a better reaction from fans as the players and teams continue to present a unified front for social justice.
FC Nashville's first victory in club history Wednesday was relegated to little more than a footnote as some spectators booed the teams taking a knee during the national anthem before the match to protest police brutality and systemic racism. Some other fans among the 3,000 - the first to see a match among any North American sports league since COVID-19 shuttered sports in March - also threw objects.
FC Dallas defender Reggie Cannon - who was subject to racist abuse on social media after the match -- did not mince words describing his emotions post-match.
"I think it was absolutely disgusting," the 22-year-old said. "You've got fans booing you for people taking a stand for what they believe in. Millions of other people support this cause and we discussed with every other team and the league what we're going to do and we've got fans booing us in our own stadium.
How disgraceful is that? Honestly, for lack of a better word, it pissed me off. You can't even have support from your own fans in your own stadium. It's baffling to me."
FC Dallas CEO Clark Hunt and team president Dan Hunt released a statement unequivocally backing Cannon, noting "The racist comments and death threats he has received are repulsive and unacceptable. There is no place in our sport, or in our country for that matter, for the kind of horrific vitriol Reggie has had to endure."
The MLS also released a statement backing the players "who peacefully protest on behalf of equality and social justice."
On the pitch, the teams were fairly even until David Accam took off on a run through the middle third, cut inside into the penalty area and lashed a shot from 15 yards through a defender's legs and inside the right post in the 86th minute. Despite the nearly five-month layoff, FC Nashville (1-2-0) did keep most of its defensive posture it showed pre-pandemic in losses to Atlanta United and MLS Is Back winner Portland.
"It was a huge relief," keeper Joe Willis told The Tennessean about getting the team's first win. "I thought we were pretty good defensive today and really organized. (Dallas) got behind us a couple times, but for the most part, we defended as a unit, stayed compact and it made it very hard for them to beat us.
"When you do that for 85 minutes, and then have someone like David, who has a moment of brilliance and puts one in the back of the net, it's a huge weight off your shoulders and a huge relief."
After using a 3-5-2 formation for much of the match, it would not be surprising to see Hoops coach Luchi Gonzalez revert back to his side's usual 4-3-3 alignment. It is uncertain if striker Zdenek Ondrasek and midfielder Paxton Pomykal will crack the first XI after being used as substitutes Wednesday, but FC Dallas were lacking in the final third without them despite having possession for nearly two-thirds of the contest.
Though he will not be available for this contest, FC Dallas did sign attacking midfielder Andres Ricuarte on loan from Independiente Medellin, where he totaled 12 goals and 23 assists in 98 matches in the Colombian first division.
Some storylines have emerged in Eastern Conference playoff series between the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers as they head into Game 3 in Toronto knotted at one win each.
The Canadiens have found a source of inspiration -- playing for coach Claude Julien, who returned home to Montreal on Thursday after feeling chest pains and having a stent surgically placed in a coronary artery. Julien's team responded Friday with a 5-0 pasting of the Flyers in Game 2.
"It's hard anytime someone who is part of your team is sick or in the hospital," Canadiens defenseman Ben Chiarot told reporters. "Claude steers the ship for us. We are wishing him well and hope he is recovering. We'll play for him as hard as we can."
Tomas Tatar, a top-liner who had no points in five postseason games before Friday, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi each scored twice. Kotkaniemi has been a go-to player in this tournament and leads Montreal with four goals.
"He's playing with a lot of confidence," teammate Max Domi said of Kotkaniemi.
So is -- no surprise -- Montreal veteran goaltender Carey Price, who made 30 saves Friday in his seventh career playoff shutout. That story line is not new.
"Carey is our best player every single night," Chariot said. "He's a rock for us and is continuing to do that."
For the Flyers, meanwhile, the story is about a lack of production from expected sources.
Travis Konecny, Kevin Hayes, Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk, who were Philadelphia's top five scorers in the regular season, have no goals this postseason. In addition, Konecny left in the third period Friday after blocking a shot.
"You need your top players to be driving the bus," Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said. "I know their intentions are good, but it has to transform on the ice."
Philadelphia, in general, will be looking to redeem itself after something of a no-show in Game 2.
"We got our butts kicked in all facets of the game," Vigneault said. "We have to turn the page, move on and get ready for the next one."
A little bulletin board fodder emerged after the Canadiens, up 5-0 in the third period, put their top power play unit on the ice.
Giroux, the Flyers' captain, noticed.
"Yeah I saw that, but ... no comment on that," he said.
His coach did comment.
"We had embarrassed ourselves enough," Vigneault said. "I don't think we needed to get embarrassed more, so I'm going to make sure we're very aware of that next game."
Kirk Muller, Montreal's associate head coach who is running the bench in Julien's absence, insisted he was just using a postseason playbook. In addition, the Canadiens were 0-for-12 on the power play during their four-game win against Pittsburgh in the qualifying round and it could be argued that top unit needed to continue to gain confidence.
"I'd never disrespect anybody, but we're in the playoffs," Muller said.
Julien is not expected back before the next round of the playoffs, assuming the eighth-seeded Canadiens can knock off the top-seeded Flyers in the Eastern Conference bracket.
"We want to keep this thing rolling so we get Claude back here," Muller said. "We've got a group of guys that want to do well for Claude."
Coming off a game in which they did everything right other than score goals -- and, of course, win -- the Dallas Stars head into a crucial Game 4 clash against the Calgary Flames on Sunday with confidence.
The Stars, who trail the Stanley Cup playoff opening-round series 2-1, had a dominating performance in Friday's 2-0 loss but feel more of the same will mean a different result in Edmonton.
"We probably played better (Friday) than we did (Thursday)," coach Rick Bowness said, comparing his club's 5-4 win in Game 2 on Thursday. "The scoring opportunities were unreal. (Flames goalie Cam) Talbot was great, so give him a lot of credit. I think we missed the net far too many (times). Some of our best scoring chances were missing the net. It's hard to explain that one. We hit goal posts, we missed open nets."
Talbot made 35 saves for the Flames in a brilliant performance in Game 3 of the best-of-seven series, but the Stars were guilty of all kinds of missed opportunities, too.
Dallas had a 35-23 advantage in shot attempts and dominated time of possession, but couldn't find the mark. The Stars hit a few posts and missed the net more often than not.
"A lot of good looks, just didn't find the back of the net," said Tyler Seguin, who has gone nine games without scoring a goal. "A lot of positive to look at, just got to maybe put more shots on net. I think we missed the net a couple times and I missed high and wide a few times. We've got to be getting some more rebounds."
Dallas will be playing for the fifth time in eight days.
Meanwhile, the Flames are staring at a golden opportunity to take a stranglehold on the series, with Talbot's last performance providing a huge confidence boost.
"I've always thought he's a great goalie," said Tobias Rieder, who was a teammate of Talbot's with the Edmonton Oilers in 2018-19. "Obviously, everybody has an off year ... everybody knows he can play better. But he's just been outstanding. If he's on his game, he's one of the best goalies in the league. That's how I knew him before and that's how I feel he was in Edmonton. He stole games for us there, too."
That said, the Flames are well aware that regularly expecting superhuman performances from their goaltender is not the way to a Stanley Cup.
"You learn from your past, your mistakes," said forward Mikael Backlund, whose shorthanded goal was the game winner on Friday. "It's our job now to come out Sunday and do a better job, play better. We all know we can be better. I don't think we've played our best game yet this series. Against Winnipeg, we had some really solid games. I don't think we're there yet.
"I think it shows strength, too, to find a way to win games. You need that in the playoffs. You need a really good goalie, which we've had all along. And you also need to find ways to win. It doesn't matter how you play as long as you win in the playoffs."
Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk, who missed Game 3 due to injury, is listed as day-to-day.
The last time the Washington Capitals lost the first two games of a playoff series, it was April 2018. They won the next four games to advance beyond the first round. And then they went on to win the Stanley Cup.
The head coach of the team that's put the Capitals in a 2-0 hole this time was on the Washington bench then.
A familiar face -- and a familiar system -- has put the Capitals in the familiar hole they'll try to begin climbing out of Sunday afternoon, when Washington faces the New York Islanders in Game 3 of an Eastern Conference quarterfinals series in Toronto.
The Islanders took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series Friday night when they scored three goals in a span of 3:58 in the second period before adding two goals late in the third in a 5-2 victory.
The loss leaves a steep hill to climb for the Capitals. NHL teams ahead two games to none have won a best-of-seven series 86.4 percent of the time.
But no one knows what it's like the other 13.6 percent of the time quite like the Capitals, who have played in the most recent two series in which a team won after coming back from an 0-2 deficit. Last season, Washington won the first two games of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Carolina Hurricanes before falling in seven games.
And in 2018, the Capitals lost the first two games of a first-round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets before winning the next four to begin a run that ended with Washington holding aloft the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.
Of course, that year the Capitals' head coach was Barry Trotz, who left the team following the Stanley Cup victory, was named the Islanders' head coach days later and has overseen New York's transformation from one of the least-disciplined teams in the NHL into one of its stingiest. So Washington knows there's an extra layer of difficulty in its quest to repeat history.
"We know the system, we watch the video," said Capitals star center Alex Ovechkin, who scored both of Washington's goals Friday night. "We all know how to play against those kind of teams."
The Islanders' system was most impressively on display in the third period Friday. New York gave up the first seven shots of the third but spent most of the final 10 minutes smothering the Capitals deep in their own zone before scoring twice on worn-down Washington in the final three minutes.
"I like our third period," Trotz said. "You look at the strength down low -- Anders Lee, who's our captain, he kept the puck down there for about 30 seconds.
"That's how you win. The guys are committed to that effort."
With Friday's win, the Islanders improved to 8-0 when scoring at least three goals in the playoffs under Trotz and 8-2 when allowing two goals or fewer.
The Islanders, who are 5-1 in Toronto after beating the Florida Panthers in four games in a qualifying-round series, are up 2-0 in the first round for the second straight year. New York swept the Pittsburgh Penguins last April.
"It doesn't get any easier from here. They have a championship pedigree over there," Islanders right winger Matt Martin said. "It's just going to get harder and harder from here, so we've got to be ready and we've got to stay true to our game as much as possible. Hopefully, at the end of the day, that's enough."
Sixteen more Victorians have died from COVID-19, with the death toll across the state passing 300 since the pandemic began. There was 279 new cases of coronavirus announced on Sunday morning, continuing the state's downward trend of cases over the past week.
After minor repairs, the Bulimba to Teneriffe ferry will be back in action for the start of the working week, but the other eight cross-river ferries will require more TLC.
Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton clinched a record-extending 92nd career pole position in a Mercedes front-row lockout with teammate Valtteri Bottas at the Spanish Grand Prix.
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Sixteen more Victorians have died from COVID-19, with the death toll across the state passing 300 since the pandemic began. There was 279 new cases of coronavirus announced on Sunday morning, continuing the state's downward trend of cases over the past week.
from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News Read More
After minor repairs, the Bulimba to Teneriffe ferry will be back in action for the start of the working week, but the other eight cross-river ferries will require more TLC.
from Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News Read More
Jennifer Brady will face Jil Teichmann in Sunday's title match.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Jennifer Brady reached the first WTA final of her career by using a power-based game to beat 16-year-old Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday at the Top Seed Open, the first tennis tournament in the United States since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Brady, a 25-year-old based in Florida, will face Jil Teichmann, a 23-year-old left-hander from Switzerland, in Sunday's title match.
Neither finalist has dropped a set at the hard-court tuneup for the US Open, which starts Aug. 31 in New York.
Brady has ceded a total of just 17 games through four matches and was broken only once -- by Gauff. In their match, Brady hit eight aces and won 22 of 26 first-serve points.
"If I'm able to serve well, I'm able to start the point aggressive, start it in my favor, looking for forehands and be in control of the point from the very first shot," Brady said.
Gauff eliminated the No. 2 and No. 8 seeds earlier in the tournament.
"I couldn't ask for a better first week back," Gauff said. "I mean, the whole goal is just to be in the prime for the US Open, and these are good stepping stones."
Teichmann reached the third final of her career -- and first on a hard court -- by eliminating Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-2 in the day's opening semifinal.
The 116th-ranked Rogers, who is from South Carolina, was coming off a quarterfinal upset of Serena Williams on Friday.
Both of Teichmann's previous WTA titles came on clay in 2019, at Palermo, Italy, and Prague.
"Everyone thinks I'm just a clay-court player. I think I've proven now that it's not only this way,'' Teichmann said. "I've been feeling great on hard courts since, let's say, the beginning of the year.''
As for her 2-0 record in past WTA finals, Teichmann said: "That doesn't mean anything, (but) for sure, I'm going to the final confident.''
She broke Rogers to open the second set Saturday and then faced one key moment while serving up 3-2. Teichmann was down love-40, but erased each of those three break points, held serve and didn't cede another game.
MINSK, BELARUS - Thousands of demonstrators in Belarus took to the streets again Saturday to demand that the country's authoritarian leader resign after a presidential vote they called fraudulent.
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New Zealand has confirmed seven new coronavirus cases, with six of those people linked to the Auckland cluster and the seventh case under investigation.
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No. 116 Shelby Rogers defeated No. 1 Serena Williams on Friday in three sets at the Top Seed Open.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Entering Friday, Serena Williams had played 967 tour-level singles matches as a professional, with just four losses against opponents ranked outside the top 100 — and none in eight years.
Well, it’s time to add to that list: Williams was beaten by No. 116 Shelby Rogers 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the Top Seed Open quarterfinals.
“It’s good to know,” Williams said, “I can play a lot, lot, lot better.”
She’ll want to do so soon: The U.S. Open begins Aug. 31.
Rogers, who is from South Carolina, took six of the last eight points Friday after trailing 3-1 in the tiebreaker to collect only her third career victory over a top-10 opponent.
She also reached her first WTA semifinal since 2016. Need to go even further back in the record books to find this sort of tournament exit for former No. 1 Williams: The owner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles hadn’t bowed out against someone so low in the rankings since No. 111 Virginie Razzano stunned her at the 2012 French Open.
Shortly after that, Williams teamed up with coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who still works with her and was among the few people in the stands Friday — fans are not allowed at the first tennis tournament in the U.S. since the outset of the coronavirus pandemic.
It had happened only three other times, including in qualifying at Quebec City all the way back in 1995, when Williams was making her professional debut at age 14. Now she’s 38; Rogers is 27.
“It’s every kid’s dream when they’re growing up, watching her play, to be able to do something like that,” Rogers said. “Weird circumstances, weird setting, but a win is a win and I know we’re all just happy to be back playing.”
Later Friday, 16-year-old American Coco Gauff reached her second WTA semifinal with quite a comeback. One point from trailing by a set and two breaks, Gauff won 10 of the last 11 games to eliminate No. 8 seed Ons Jabeur 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Gauff was down 4-2 in the second set and facing a break point, but Jabeur sailed a backhand long. That was enough to let Gauff back into the match and she soon took full control.
In the semifinals, Gauff will meet Jennifer Brady, who advanced by beating Marie Bouzkova 6-1, 6-2.
Rogers faces Jil Teichmann of Switzerland on Saturday. Teichmann needed seven match points to reach the first hard-court semifinal of her career with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over CiCi Bellis.
The loss to Rogers was the third consecutive three-setter for Williams at the hard-court Top Seed Open. She dropped the opening set of each of the others before coming back to win, including against older sister Venus in the second round.
On Friday, starting after a rain delay of more than two hours, Williams seemed on the way to a much simpler victory. She never faced a break point until serving while trailing 5-4 in the second set.
That’s when things shifted.
Rogers earned three break points — each one a set point — and converted the third when Williams dumped a forehand into the net.
There were no breaks in the third set, and after Williams took the early lead in the tiebreaker, she was her own undoing with miss after miss, including a long backhand return to end it.
“I kind of made it difficult for myself by making a plethora of unforced errors,” Williams said.
With social-distancing rules in place, the players didn’t meet at the net for the customary post-match handshake. As they headed to their sideline seats, Williams smiled. Rogers simply sat down and quickly shook a fist.
The Vegas Golden Knights can take a commanding lead over the Chicago Blackhawks in their Western Conference first-round series with another win on Saturday in Edmonton.
The top-seeded Golden Knights are up 2-0 heading into Game 3 of the best-of-seven series. Resting their bodies before back-to-back games will be key for both teams, and so will the mental preparation.
"Our group knows they want to be here for the long haul, and that's going to be a piece of it," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer told reporters.
DeBoer could face a difficult lineup decision in Game 3.
Max Pacioretty, who led the Golden Knights in goals and points during the regular season, did not play in Game 2. His replacement, Tomas Nosek, left late in the second period and did not return.
DeBoer would only confirm both were "unfit to play," and did not have an update on either player Friday morning.
Pacioretty did not accompany his teammates to Edmonton initially, missing the three round-robin games that Vegas won to clinch the top seed. He played in the 4-1 win in Game 1, but wasn't a factor in the scoring.
If both Pacioretty and Nosek are unable to play in Game 3, the Golden Knights would need to choose among forwards Patrick Brown, Reid Duke, Keegan Kolesar, Peyton Krebs and Gage Quinney, all of whom are reportedly in Edmonton.
The Blackhawks were less than an inch away from tying the series during overtime of Game 2 on Thursday, but Dylan Strome's wrist shot hit the crossbar and deflected to the side of the net.
Little more than five minutes later, Reilly Smith won it 4-3 for Vegas with his third goal of the series.
"Disappointing, because I thought we played hard," Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. "At the same time, we've got to keep improving. We're not out of it. We're going to regroup and come out raring to go in Game 3."
Colliton recognizes that the Blackhawks face a tough task being down 2-0 to a deep and talented team like Vegas. He's looking forward to seeing how his team responds.
"It's a chance to show our character," he said.
Colliton scratched Adam Boqvist in Game 2 and elected to play another rookie defenseman, Lucas Carlsson, who was a minus-2 in 10:33 of ice time.
Boqvist, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, is a minus-3 with no points in five postseason games.
"We're hoping Boqy, with a day of rest, can come back, potentially, with another level for us," Colliton said.
Robin Lehner has started both games in goal for Vegas, but will likely sit one of the back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday.
Marc-Andre Fleury would start in the other game, bringing 79 playoff wins and three Stanley Cup titles on his resume.
"I think I've been clear since we started this that we've got two starters," DeBoer said. "How I roll them out is going to be day to day based on what I feel gives us the best chance to win a game, and win a series. That's not going to change."
The Columbus Blue Jackets made it much easier Thursday on goaltender Joonas Korpisalo in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Now they look to continue that trend over the weekend.
The Blue Jackets evened their best-of-seven series with Tampa Bay at one win apiece behind a strong defensive showing and superb 36-save effort from Korpisalo in a 3-1 win.
The two teams meet in Game 3 on Saturday night at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Korpisalo, 26, stole the show in Game 1 with an NHL-record 85 saves in the fourth-longest game in league history, but coach John Tortorella's group fell 3-2 to Tampa Bay and needed a bounce-back effort in Game 2.
While the goalie was again top notch and put his club in position to win, it was forward Alexander Wennberg executing the most dazzling goal of the playoffs to give Columbus the breathing room it needed late in the contest.
With his team clinging to a 2-1 lead in the third period, the Swedish center took a pass through the neutral zone from rookie Liam Foudy and passed the puck to himself through his legs and off his right skate to smoothly slide around defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk.
Wennberg, who was criticized and demoted to the fourth line by Tortorella in the previous series against Toronto, then beat goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy on the blocker side for the insurance tally with 8:33 remaining.
"It's not often it works that great. I'm happy it did this one time," the 25-year-old Wennberg told reporters.
High-scoring right winger Cam Atkinson and center Nathan Gerbe were both unfit to play and did not dress Thursday, with Emil Bemstrom and Devin Shore drawing into the lineup.
The Lightning lost the battle of special teams, as well -- the Blue Jackets went 1-for-3 on the power play while Tampa Bay was 0-for-2. Though the Lightning outhit them 38-15, Tortorella's defenders filled the shooting lanes in front of Korpisalo and led 21-14 in blocked shots.
Columbus' Pierre-Luc Dubois scored on the power play in Game 1 and Oliver Bjorkstrand tallied a man up in Game 2 -- both occurring on the club's first man advantage.
"They're winning the special-teams battle, and that's on the whole group," said Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh. "We've got to take pride in that and be better. It's something where we've got to be sharp on the first penalty kill. They scored on the first power play in the first game and again here tonight. We've got be really sharp and move fast in our structure."
After outlasting Columbus in Tuesday's epic five-overtime 3-2 victory, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said his side came out the way it wanted to after grabbing an early lead on Nikita Kucherov's marker.
"I think we had an exceptional start, and we did everything we wanted to. We dictated play, and we scored that first goal. To be honest with you, we might've gotten a little comfortable," Cooper said of Kucherov's goal just 5:24 into Game 2.
"The second that happens to you, what happens tonight can get you. We kind of lost our mojo a little bit."
On Friday, Cooper had little to say of captain Steven Stamkos, who hasn't participated in the playoffs and doesn't appear to be close to playing.
"He's rehabbing," Cooper said. "That's all I can say."
It was a better performance for the Arizona Coyotes in their Game 2 meeting with the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, but not good enough.
The Coyotes find themselves up against the wall on Saturday afternoon when they meet the Avalanche for Game 3 of their best-of-seven Western Conference opening-round series in Edmonton.
After dropping a 3-0 decision in the series opener, Arizona sustained a 3-2 setback on Friday. Andre Burakovsky scored the go-ahead goal with 2:53 remaining in the third period in the latter contest.
The Coyotes aren't in "must-win" territory yet, but they can ill afford to go down 3-0 in the series and have much of a shot of upsetting the high-octane Avalanche.
The good news for Arizona is it found more of the template to follow heading into Saturday's contest.
"I'm proud of the way they played. They responded. They were in their faces," coach Rick Tocchet said of his charges. "That's more like the way we need to play more consistently. I thought we played a good hockey game."
"You've got to go down swinging and we were in the game. Obviously, the last goal I'm not happy with ... but for the most part we had a chance to win that hockey game."
After a sub-standard outing in the opener, the onus was on the Coyotes to elevate their play. They were every bit as good as the Avalanche on Friday.
"They're a great team and you've got to play a full 60," Arizona forward Conor Garland said. "We made a good push in the third, but came up short."
The Avalanche are well aware their opponents will be looking to find even more juice in the game, but have enough experience to realize it's more important for them to be concerned about themselves.
"We knew they were going to come really hard," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "You read the comments from their coach and from their players about what they felt like that they did or didn't do or needed to do coming into this game. They played hard, they played real well. We needed to ramp up our competitiveness certainly in our defending.
"I never really felt like we played as well as we could for any large proportion of the game. We know we have to be better than that if we want to win (Saturday)."
Both of Colorado's wins in this series have come with late goals, but that can also be a sign of a superior team having what it takes to find a way to win.
"I think they out-competed us in the first (period)," Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon said. "I know it's kind of cliche but it's true -- they outworked us in our D zone. I thought we actually played good offensively. We had some good looks. Some good possession time. Definitely, our compete level will go up (Saturday) and we'll have a better effort."
The big negative for the Avalanche is a wave of injuries.
Joonas Donskoi participated in the warmup on Friday but didn't play, while Vladislav Namestnikov left the game late in the second period and didn't return. Bednar listed both as day-to-day.
Now that defenseman Dougie Hamilton has returned and provided production, the Carolina Hurricanes are feeling even better about their chances in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
The Hurricanes have shaken off the recent hex applied by the Boston Bruins and enter Game 3 of the best-of-seven series tied at 1-1 as the teams prepare to collide Saturday afternoon in Toronto.
"Most teams that don't feel they gave their best in the playoffs usually bounce back the next night," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of the Hurricanes. "That's why they're in the playoffs. ... (Now) it's our turn to push back."
Carolina won 3-2 on Thursday night on Hamilton's tie-breaking goal in the third period.
"It just evens the series," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It's nothing to get overly excited about, but it gets us back to square one."
And it shows that Hamilton, who was having an all-star season until suffering a broken leg in January, is ready to contribute again. His first game back in the lineup came in Wednesday's rescheduled Game 1, so the former Boston player has had a busy stretch since returning to the ice.
"The rust factor you think would be there," Brind'Amour said. "The minutes that he's putting up there, that's something we didn't really expect. With that, he has really answered the bell."
Hamilton adds another dimension for the Hurricanes.
"Dougie shoots the puck pretty well," Cassidy said.
Until Thursday night, Boston had won six consecutive meetings against the Hurricanes, including a four-game sweep of the 2019 Eastern Conference finals and the lone regular-season meeting during this interrupted season.
"Last year they beat us and we have to give it (back) to them," Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov said.
The Bruins will wait to see the status of right winger David Pastrnak, who set up the winning goal in the second overtime of Game 1 and scored earlier in that contest. He missed Game 2 after appearing to be ailing as he left the postgame celebration following the series opener. He's difficult to replace in the lineup, Cassidy said.
"They don't believe it will be long-term thing," the coach said. "It's a day-to-day thing, we hope. We're obviously targeting Saturday at noon. (Without a pregame skate), it will probably be right down to game time."
The Hurricanes have been outplayed in stretches of the first two games. But they've also shown a resilient component, even in the double-overtime setback in Game 1. Game 2 came with challenges as well.
"There's a lot at stake," Brind'Amour said. "Things happen in the game and you have to be able to adapt and fight through it."
Carolina has scored at least three goals in each of its first five postseason games.
Martin Necas supplied two assists on passes for the Hurricanes in Game 2. His play-making ability has shined at times.
"I felt a little bit more comfortable," Necas said. "I still haven't played that many games and every game I feel better."
Boston, which didn't lead in any of its three round-robin games for playoff seeding earlier this month, scored both its goals in Game 2 on power plays after going a combined 0-for-13 on power plays since the season resumed this month.
The Bruins racked up 15 third-period shots Thursday night for their most in any period in the series.
Carolina's offense had a different tempo in the second game.
"They found some ways in there (closer) and they were a little bit more determined to get in there and they got some goals as a result," Cassidy said.
The Hurricanes have received strong goaltending from Petr Mrazek and James Reimer, who logged the Game 2 victory. Brind'Amour has a choice to make.
NEW YORK - The United States failed Friday to get an extension of an expiring U.N. arms embargo against Iran, raising the likelihood that Washington will seek to force a "snapback" of all prior int
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German champions Bayern Munich utterly humiliated Barcelona with an extraordinary 8-2 demolition job that sent them into the Champions League semi-finals.
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The owners of some of Perth's best-known licensed venues are planning a new unique, inner city establishment based on a social darts phenomenon that originated in the United Kingdom.
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RBA governor Philip Lowe says the Victorian virus outbreak has set back national recovery while revealing low rates could be in place for three more years.
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Apple is to launch a dramatic bid to sign up millions of iPhone users for its streaming services as it takes on Amazon Prime and Netflix in a battle to dominate the entertainment industry.
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Luke Keary has been cleared of internal injuries after being taken to hospital in an ambulance following the Roosters' loss to Melbourne on Thursday night.
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JAKARTA - Indonesia's capital Jakarta extended its social restrictions on Thursday (Aug 13) to stem surging coronavirus transmission as the country reported 2,098 new cases, its governor said. Indonesia has reported 132,816 coronavirus infections and 5,968 deaths. Jakarta logged 608 new cases on Thursday, bringing the total to 27,761, the most in Indonesia's 34 provinces, according to central government data. Governor Anies Baswedan extended restrictions, which see restaurants, places of worship and public transportation operate at limited capacity, to Aug 27. "Through this extension, we, along with the police and the military, will focus on law enforcement, especially on the use of masks among the people," Mr Baswedan said in a statement. Mr Baswedan said 65 per cent of Jakarta's 4,456 isolation beds had been filled. For the latest updates on the coronavirus, visit here.
During President Trump's daily briefing on Thursday, he was asked how the historic peace accord between Israel and the United Arab Emirates would help struggling and persecuted Christians in the Middle East.
Apple is to launch a dramatic bid to sign up millions of iPhone users for its streaming services as it takes on Amazon Prime and Netflix in a battle to dominate the entertainment industry.
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The outdoors retailer applied for millions in emergency funding from the US government intended for struggling small businesses, just days before raising $200 million from its shareholders.
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Adams sent RB Leipzig to the Champions League semifinals and raced to the top of a short list of contenders for the most significant goals scored by Americans in Europe.
Tyler Adams doesn’t score often. But when he does, it’s usually significant.
Before Thursday, the 21-year-old midfielder had scored just seven times since turning pro at 16 with New York Red Bulls II. But one of those was an equalizer for the Red Bulls' senior side in a Concacaf Champions League quarterfinal. Two others came in a 3-3 draw against rival D.C. United. And then there was the game-winner in the U.S. national team’s 1-0 friendly win over Mexico in September 2018.
No U.S. player had ever scored in the Champions League quarterfinal or later. And Adams could become just the second to play in the semis when RB Leipzig meets Paris Saint-Germain at Benfica’s Estádio da Luz on Aug. 18. Recently retired winger DaMarcus Beasley appeared for PSV Eindhoven in the 2005 final four against AC Milan, losing on away goals. (Jovan Kirovski also played for Borussia Dortmund in the 1997 Intercontinental Cup/Club World Cup final).
“We’re really really excited. We know that Paris is obviously a great team,” Adams said following Thursday’s triumph. “Now it’s about recovering in the right way, getting our mentality right and preparing a game plan. But we’re confident in our abilities, like you saw today, so we’re going to bring what we’re capable of."
“It’s so exciting for me, I think, to come in and play in a Champions League game,” he said. “You know for the first six months, when we started the Champions League campaign, I was injured. So it’s a good feeling to get out there, obviously fully fit, and show what I’m capable of.”
Adams was a regular for Leipzig down the stretch of the restarted Bundesliga season as the club finished third, thus qualifying for the 2020-21 Champions League. Then came a three-week break, and finally Adams’s chance to contribute in this season’s competition.
Leipzig had eased past Tottenham Hotspur in the home-and-away round of 16, but Thursday’s quarterfinal would be just one game. And as extra time approached, the quarterfinal turned. RBL’s Marcel Sabitzer hit a stunning, curling, one-time pass from the center circle that split four Atleti defenders and freed left back Angeliño in the left channel. Instead of crossing it toward the two Leipzig players running into the penalty area, the Spaniard smartly cut it back into an open space near the penalty arc. Adams was there and alone. He took a touch, then ripped a shot that was headed toward the left post when it deflected off defender Stefan Savic. Atleti goalkeeper Jan Oblak had no chance.
“It's a deflection, but it counts the same as a regular one so i’ll take it,” Adams said. “For the first 70 minutes, it was a close game. So when I came on, obviously I wanted to bring energy and help the team in any way possible. Getting your first goal [for Leipzig] is a little bit unexpected for me. I’m not a typical goal scorer, but I’m happy I could help the team.”
Help the team, and make history. Adams’s goal may be the biggest by an American abroad, but it’s not the only important one. Here are a few of the more notable entries on that limited list:
John Harkes (Sheffield Wednesday vs. Derby County, 1990)
An American scored England’s goal of the season, and it came off the foot of one of U.S. soccer’s true European pioneers. That’s how you make an impression. Harkes also scored for Wednesday in a losing effort in the 1993 Football League Cup final.
DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven vs. Rosenborg, 2004)
There may not have been a PSV run to the Champions League semis if not for Beasley's goal in the fourth game of the group stage against Rosenborg. His 10th-minute finish, which required him to settle a long pass then round the Rosenborg goalkeeper, lifted PSV to a 1-0 win and the three points it needed to finish second–by a point–in its group (1:38 in the clip above).
Jay DeMerit (Watford vs. Leeds United, 2006)
DeMerit’s incredible rags to riches story was punctuated in the 25th minute of the Football League Championship promotion final against Leeds, as he headed home the opening (and winning) goal from close range. Watford won, 3-0, and DeMerit was bound for the Premier League.
Maurice Edu (Rangers vs. Celtic, 2010)
The midfielder settled a critical Old Firm matchup in the final minute of stoppage time as he latched onto a rebound and lifted Rangers to a critical 1-0 win. There was pandemonium at Ibrox, and Rangers was on its way to a second straight league title.
Clint Dempsey (Fulham vs. Juventus, 2010)
Fulham may have been a Premier League team from London, but it was a minnow compared to mighty Juventus. The disparity was evident for much of their 2009-10 UEFA Europa League round-of-16 series, which Juve led, 4-1 on aggregate, after two minutes of the second leg at Craven Cottage. Then Bobby Zamora scored for Fulham and Zoltán Gera scored twice, setting the stage for Dempsey to score the most scintillating Yanks abroad goal, even if it’s no longer the most important. His audacious chip toward the far post set Fulham on a path toward the final and will always be a massive part of Deuce’s legend.
Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund vs. Benfica, 2017)
Dortmund wound up winning the Champions League round-of-16 series against Benfica, 4-1, on aggregate, but it was Pulisic’s deft chip in the 59th minute of the second leg that broke a deadlock. The goal did more than send BVB on its way—it confirmed the 18-year-old Pulisic as a rising star.
Christian Pulisic (Chelsea vs. Arsenal, 2020)
Pulisic became the first American man to score in the FA Cup final, one of soccer’s grandest stages, on Aug. 1. Chelsea would end up losing, but the moment when Pulisic gave the Blues an early lead with a slick dribble and finish certainly stands out among goals scored by U.S. players abroad.
Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers is looking at the big picture approaching the postseason.
"We want to win it all," Rivers said. "We've got to improve as a team, we know that, we have work to do. But we're going to the playoffs with that mindset. And that's the only thing that matters right now for us."
First, the Clippers will need to complete the regular season Friday when they face the Oklahoma City Thunder near Orlando.
Both teams are planning to sit key performers to preserve them for the playoffs next week, when the Clippers play the Dallas Mavericks and the Thunder meet the Houston Rockets.
On Wednesday, the Clippers (48-23) clinched the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference with a 124-111 victory over the third-seeded Denver Nuggets. Paul George scored 27 points and Kawhi Leonard had 26 in the win as Los Angeles took control in the fourth quarter and pulled away.
Lou Williams delivered 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting off the bench, while Ivica Zubac finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Zubac converted 7 of 9 shots.
The Clippers might get an additional boost against the Thunder. Center Montrezl Harrell might make his bubble debut, Rivers said. Harrell has yet to play after leaving the facility July 17 for a family emergency. His grandmother died a short time after Harrell left Florida.
Clippers guard Patrick Beverley (calf), who has missed the past four games, will not play against the Thunder, according to ESPN.
The Thunder came back from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Heat 116-115 on Wednesday. Mike Muscala's 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds remaining was the difference for Oklahoma City (44-27). Muscala, who was traded last season by the Clippers to the Lakers for Zubac, hit two 3-pointers in the final 35 seconds for his only points of the game.
"I've got a great deal of respect for Mike Muscala just because he's a total pro and keeps himself ready," said Thunder coach Billy Donovan, according to the club's website. "Whenever he's called upon you know you're going to get a very, very reliable guy. A lot of those second unit guys did a nice job and I think they all learned something from the first half that I think carried over into the second half."
Darius Bazley had 21 points and former Clipper Shai Gilgeous-Alexander contributed 18 for the Thunder, who outscored the Heat 34-15 in the fourth. Danilo Gallinari chipped in 14 points despite a 2-of-10 shooting effort but made all 10 of his free throws.
Thunder point guard Chris Paul, who will not play Friday due to a sprained wrist, said his teammates' forcefulness in the final quarter played a large role in the comeback.
"They just turned up the intensity a little bit," said Paul, according to the team's website. Paul finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. "I went out on the court and just tried to tell them to make guys feel us. You gotta compete. You can't just let guys go wherever they want to go. I think guys did that. They shared the ball and it was fun to see. It was exciting."
Victoria has recorded 372 new coronavirus cases and a further 14 deaths, with epidemiologists cautiously optimistic the state's second wave of infections has turned a corner.
Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to establish full diplomatic ties as part of a U.S.-brokered deal, President Donald Trump announced Thursday.
Trump is calling the agreement th
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The outdoors retailer applied for millions in emergency funding from the US government intended for struggling small businesses, just days before raising $200 million from its shareholders.
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Victoria has recorded 372 new coronavirus cases and a further 14 deaths, with epidemiologists cautiously optimistic the state's second wave of infections has turned a corner.
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The drug that Mesoblast has been trialling on some COVID-19 patients has just got the nod from a US regulator panel for treating children with severe responses to bone marrow transplants.
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Parliament was meant to be dissolved to allow the election to take place, but Jacinda Ardern held off the move until Monday to monitor how the crisis evolves.
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BANGKOK - Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn swore in a new cabinet on Wednesday (Aug 12), calling for "order and peace" but without mentioning recent anti-government student protests that have urged reforms of the powerful monarchy. The ceremony marked the king's first public appearance since the nearly unprecedented calls in two student-led protests for curbing the new powers King Vajiralongkorn has amassed since taking the throne after the death of his father in 2016. The king, as head of state, gave his blessing to the new cabinet members, wishing "good health and wisdom to have the strength to perform your duties according to your oaths". He also expressed a desire "for the happiness of the people, happiness of the public and for order and peace". He did not publicly acknowledge the student protests, some of which defied "lese majeste" laws against insulting the monarchy that carry a maximum 15-year prison sentence.
Appliance manufacturer and retailer Breville has said its range of products is well-suited to the 'new normal' brought on by COVID-19, with sales and profit jumping.
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Goldman Sachs chief David Solomon started 2020 on the back foot. Then the pandemic hit, presenting him with the biggest leadership challenge — and opportunity — of his short time atop the bank.
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The loss comes after Woodside slashed up to $6 billion from the value of its assets last month due to the severity of the pandemic's impact demand for crude oil and LNG.
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Appliance manufacturer and retailer Breville has said its range of products is well-suited to the 'new normal' brought on by COVID-19, with sales and profit jumping.
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Goldman Sachs chief David Solomon started 2020 on the back foot. Then the pandemic hit, presenting him with the biggest leadership challenge — and opportunity — of his short time atop the bank.
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The Bergamo club were moments away from a place in the last four in their first season in Europe's elite club competition before French champions PSG struck twice to grab a 2-1 victory.
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Victoria has recorded 278 new coronavirus cases in the past day, marking a significant decline in daily infections, and a further eight people have been killed by the virus.
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The loss comes after Woodside slashed up to $6 billion from the value of its assets last month due to the severity of the pandemic's impact demand for crude oil and LNG.
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NEW DELHI - Indian tax authorities raided the premises of a few Chinese entities and their associates for money laundering, according to an official statement late on Tuesday (Aug 11), adding to New Delhi's growing discomfort with Beijing after a border clash in June. Since the clash, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has taken steps such as banning some Chinese mobile-phone apps, and tightening the requirements for Chinese investment and participation in government tenders. The statement provided no details on the timing of the raids or on the kind of 'entities' mentioned. Chinese individuals, their allies and a couple of bank employees were involved in money laundering through a series of shell companies, the statement said. "Search action revealed that at the behest of Chinese individuals, more than 40 bank accounts were created in various dummy entities, entering into credits of more than 10 billion rupees (S$180 million) over the period," the statement said. During the raid, the authorities found evidence of transactions involving Hong Kong and US dollars.
Tesla will split its stock for the first time in its history so more investors can afford to buy a stake in the electric car pioneer following a meteoric rise in its market value.
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Corporate raider Carl Icahn's bet on the downfall of brick-and-mortar retailers produced a $1.8 billion gain during the June half as they were hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
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The last time the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder met, way back in mid-January in Oklahoma City, it looked like both teams' rosters were about to change significantly.
The Thunder, looking toward a rebuild after offseason trades sent Russell Westbrook and Paul George away, were eyeing the future while the Heat were trying to bolster their roster for a playoff run.
But the rumored deal never took place between the sides that would have sent Danilo Gallinari to Miami.
Oklahoma City held on to Gallinari and has become one of the surprises of this NBA season, going 43-27 heading into the penultimate game of the regular season.
For the Heat, the game could be their only break from facing the Indiana Pacers for a couple weeks.
The Heat and Pacers could wind up playing as many as in nine of 10 games if, as expected, they meet in the first round of the playoffs.
"You can get caught up in all that," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We're trying to get our guys together, get in rhythm, get prepared for the playoffs. We're not even certain we'll play Indiana, so you have to proceed and do what you think is best for the team."
The Heat comes into the game a game up on Indiana for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Miami broke a two-game losing streak with Monday's win over the Pacers and is 3-3 in seeding games.
It was an important win to put the Heat on the doorstep of clinching the No. 4 seed, but it also was important because of the return of Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic from injuries.
Miami could get rookie guard Kendrick Nunn back for Wednesday's game after he missed two games when he left the bubble for personal reasons.
While Nunn has started every game in which he has been available this season, Spoelstra could shake up his lineup with Nunn's return.
Nunn is shooting just 7 of 30 from the floor and 4 of 18 on 3-pointers in his last three games.
The Thunder come into the game just a half-game ahead of Utah for fifth in the Western Conference.
While the Thunder's playoff opponent is still very much up in the air, Oklahoma City is starting to look toward the playoffs.
In Monday's loss to Phoenix, the second of a back-to-back set, Billy Donovan sat out three starters and backup center Nerlens Noel with minor ailments.
The Thunder could get Gallinari, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Steven Adams and Nerlens Noel back for Wednesday's game, though they'll once again be without backup point guard Dennis Schroder.
Schroder has missed the last five games after leaving the bubble for the birth of his second child but recently returned.
With players missing time recently, rookie Darius Bazley has emerged as a key piece of the rotation.
Since the restart, Bazley is shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 49 percent from behind the 3-point line.
Bazley hadn't scored more than 17 points in a game before the season paused, but he has scored a combined 45 points over the last two games.
Despite the excitement created by the qualifying round and reseeding in 2020 postseason, the NHL is steadfast in sticking with its current playoff format.
Pretty sure we can all agree that the NHL’s qualifying round of the playoffs was all kinds of awesome. It certainly played to rave reviews. And after enduring almost five months without hockey, it was exactly what we all needed—a good dose of chaos and mayhem and all kinds of things happening every single night. It was, to borrow a title from William Shakespeare, a midsummer night’s dream.
And, thankfully, we’ll never see it again. The NHL has given every indication and made every promise that this is a one-off that was made necessary by the havoc wreaked on the industry by the coronavirus pandemic and that when things return to normal, so will the NHL’s system for determining and culling its playoff participants.
Just to be certain, I emailed deputy commissioner Bill Daly with the following query: “Just wanted to check, but now that we’ve seen the results of the qualifying series, do you think the league might reconsider its playoff format either by (a) instituting a play-in format of some kind and/or (b) reseeding teams after each round? (Please say no. Please say no.)” And his response to TheHockeyNews.com was blunt and concise: “No and no.”
Even without the qualifying round, the NHL has the best playoff format in professional sports. There has been a significant hue and cry to institute some sort of qualifying round in future years, based primarily on the fact that it was so compelling. But what the qualifying round basically did was replace the first round of the playoffs. Every year in the first round, we see that kind of unpredictability and chaos and we simply got it a little earlier this time around. I stand to be corrected on this, but my prediction is that the first round of the playoffs in 2020 will not be, on the whole, as exciting and compelling as it has been in previous years.
And in reality, the NHL already holds a pre-playoff qualifying tournament. In normal seasons, it goes from October to April, lasts 82 games and is generally referred to as the regular season. Starting in the 2021-22 season, it will be used to narrow the playoff field down to exactly half the teams in the league. That makes every single game important, every lost point a potentially fatal blow. It makes the regular season actually mean something. Is it difficult to make the playoffs in today’s NHL? Absolutely. But it’s supposed to be really, really hard to make the playoffs. Watering down the system by adding even two play-in teams per conference would rob fans of the intrigue and excitement of the last days and weeks of the season.
And as this corner has often said, this is the NHL, not the Port Huron Silver Stick Tournament. There’s nothing wrong with demanding excellence and giving teams very little margin for error. It’s that kind of pressure that creates the demand for trades and other personnel moves that fans find so compelling. If you’re looking for a format that gives out mulligans and second chances, the Ted Reeve Hockey Association’s ‘D’ Division House League Championship is the place to be. If you want to be playing in April, you should be an elite team. If you can’t do that, get better.
As far as going with the No. 1 vs. 8 traditional format and reseeding after each round, that’s another format wrinkle that the NHL has thought through extensively and it likes what it sees. Again, No. 1 vs. 8 and so on would be the nice and fair way to do things, but that’s what the league used to do and it didn’t enhance the division rivalries the way the league would have liked. It does, on occasion, result in two high-seeded teams facing each other in the second round of the playoffs and it sometimes results in a top regular-season team being ousted from the postseason by the time it’s only half over. But the point is that those two teams are actually guaranteed to meet each other. The league has put a priority on divisional rivalries and seeing them early in the playoff is what makes them so special.
Prior to the pandemic, the NHL had hit on a playoff format that was already wildly exciting and the absolute best in North American professional sports. During normal times, it doesn’t need to change a thing.
