Column: Penguins shine in fight for division
· Yahoo Sports
It has only been a few days but, I am already back with my column.
There is always something to talk about in the world of hockey, so let us get into it.
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Pens’ important comeback
The Pittsburgh Penguins pulled a comeback win in, what is to this point, the most important game of the year.
On Monday, the Penguins headed to Long Island to face the New York Islanders, in a matchup between two Metro teams battling for their playoff lives.
Both teams have been extremely up and down as of late. And with Columbus knocking on the door of a divisional spot and Ottawa and Detroit fighting for a wild card spot, getting two points was paramount.
It all started in the second period for the Penguins, they went down 3-1 around the halfway mark of the period. With how much adversity this team has faced this year, doubt never settled in.
Pittsburgh rallied to score four goals in about six and a half minutes, to force the Islanders to yank starting goalie Ilya Sorokin and grab the 5-3 lead.
The players who played a part in the flurry goals were all additions that were overlooked by many (me included) to start the year.
Anthony Mantha scored two goals and an assist, Parker Wotherspoon and Justin Brazeau had two assists.
Those three’s contributions in Monday’s game and all season, goes to show just how savvy this Penguins turn around has been.
Pittsburgh was not done on the night and added three goals in the third to put the exclamation mark on the game.
With the final goal coming off of Sidney Crosby’s 1,100th career assist. He is only the eight player in NHL history to hit that mark.
The win gave Pittsburgh a huge boost to its playoff hopes, with their odds increasing by 8 percent to make it. Currently, the Penguins are have the highest chance (33.6%) to play the surging Blue Jackets in the playoffs. (Stats according to hockeystats.com)
If the Penguins want to make a playoff run, especially against Columbus, if that is who they face, the team will need to keep up with high energy, gusty wins like this one.
Boston makes PWHL history
The Boston Fleet and goalie Aerin Frankel have made history. The team had three straight shutout wins, for the longest streak in PWHL history.
In the run, Frankel made 74 saves and has not allowed a goal in 191 minutes 1 second.
For the Fleet, the run began with wins over the two expansion teams, Seattle and Vancouver and ended with a win over Toronto.
The shutout streak for Frankel comes during a tremendous season for her. In the PWHL, she is 16-3-0-2 with a ridiculous .954 save percentage and a 1.17 goals against average and seven shutouts, to lead the league in each category.
Frankel’s star performance also came overseas, as she backstopped the United States to an Olympic gold medal. In the Olympics she posted a 5-0 record with a 0.39 goals-against average and a .979 save percentage. She allowed two goals all tournament.
Frankel’s play has also helped Boston become the first team this season to clinch a playoff spot.
Torts and Treliving
I do not know if I understand firing your coach and general manager with less than 10 games to go in a season, but apparently Vegas and Toronto think the idea makes sense.
On Sunday, Vegas fired Stanley Cup winning coach Bruce Cassidy, with only seven games left in its season (as of Tuesday). It is not like the Golden Knights are out of the playoffs, they a pretty comfortably in. But the Knights are underperforming to their standards.
For the first time in their history, the Knights will finish with more total losses than wins. Even so, Vegas is pretty comfortably in a playoff spot and the coach brought in as the replacement is well ... certainly a choice.
Vegas brings in John Tortorella who is more known for his antics rather than being a good coach. Tortorellla is more of a quick fix kind of coach. He will steer a team back on path in the short term, but in the long term he loses the locker room quicker than most.
To be fair, his abrasive attitude and old-timey coaching style does fit the nasty culture Vegas has built.
Considering Tortorella’s contract does not go past the playoffs this year, I would not expect to see him behind the bench after Vegas falls in the playoffs.
It makes me overjoyed to see the Toronto Maple Leafs fall off this season. The first head to roll is GM Brad Treliving.
Treliving was fired on Monday, brining and end to a barely three season reign as general manager. What a reign it was.
Anyone who watched the mess of a team the Calgary Flames were under Treliving could tell you this hire was going to be a disaster.
With the Leafs, Treliving made several moves that were so bad, that they are only rivaled by moves made during Buffalo’s playoff drought. The Brandon Carlo, Scott Laughton and Mitch Marner saga all from just last year come to mind.
Treliving leaves the Leafs in almost the exact same spot he left the Flames. Toronto has a core that has done nothing locked up (Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Morgan Rielly and William Nylander), no prospects, no picks and depth.
The Leafs are expected to miss the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons. The team is facing another crossroads in the Matthews era and the question is, will he stay beyond this contract?
No one has been named as a successor for Treliving yet, but whoever does end up in the role, has a lot of work ahead.