The hockey world is gearing up for a busy final weekend of the regular season, and Friday was the calm before the storm in the NHL—except unless you’re the Tampa Bay Lightning, that is.
Here’s what we learned in the NHL on Friday night.
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Lightning live on
One night after keeping their playoff hopes alive in Toronto, Tampa needed to do it all again in Montreal Friday night in the NHL’s lone game of the evening.
The game plan was simple: win and your playoff hopes live on; lose and you’re looking at the lottery.
The odds weren’t exactly in Tampa’s favour, with an injury-ravaged roster and plenty of new faces going up against a brick wall at the other end of the ice named Carey Price.
Yet here they are, now two points up on the Islanders and just one behind the Toronto Maple Leafs (who were rooting for the Canadiens Friday night) for the final wild-card spot in the East after defeating the Canadiens 4-2.
So, what does this mean for the Leafs and Islanders as we look ahead to Saturday night?
Toronto and New York both hit the ice on Saturday, with the Maple Leafs taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Islanders battling the New Jersey Devils. The Maple Leafs can still control their own destiny—and everyone else’s, for that matter. A win this weekend means Toronto is in.
If the Leafs lose, however, that’s where things have potential to get messy.
The key for the Islanders to stay in the race on Saturday will be a regulation or overtime win AND a Leafs loss. All three teams play Sunday (Toronto versus Columbus; New York versus Ottawa; and Tampa versus Buffalo) and, if it comes down a three-way tie in both points and ROW when all is said and done, we’ll be looking at each team’s head-to-heads to determine the tie-breaker.
The advantage there? Tampa.
This one’s going right down to the wire.
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Vasilevskiy’s a No. 1
Tampa has been confident in goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy all season—so much so that they traded away UFA-to-be Ben Bishop at the deadline. That confidence paid off on Friday night, with the netminder making some incredible saves to keep the team’s post-season hopes alive.
Friday’s win gives the 22-year-old his first-ever victory in a back-to-back situation. Up until this point, he’d had a 0-4-1 record in those games:
This is Kucherov’s team now
As the Lightning continue to beat the odds, they’re doing so with some fresh faces in the lineup, including Yanni Gourde, who scored twice Friday night.
“I just think it shows the depth of our organization,” Tampa forward Alex Killorn said Friday night. “A ton of guys have gone down with injuries, but it seems like there’s always the next guy that’s willing to step up and help out the team. It’s been contributions from everyone.”
But credit also goes to some of the usual suspects—particularly, Nikita Kucherov.
The winger has been on fire all season, stepping up in the absence of injured captain Steven Stamkos and reaching the 40-goal mark for the first time in his career. The 23-year-old is playing like a seasoned veteran these days, showing up in big-game situations including Friday’s win, in which he had a goal and an assist.
Tampa Bay Lightning on Twitter
40 for 86. #KUUUUUUUCH
Sportsnet’s John Shannon explained what makes Kucherov so great, and why he’s Tampa’s MVP:
Canadiens prepare for weekend of rest
Did you hear that? That was the sound of every single Canadiens fan breathing a sigh of relief that goaltender Carey Price made it out of Friday’s game unscathed.
The matchup didn’t make a difference in terms of Montreal’s playoff outlook. They’ve been locked in to a first-round series against the New York Rangers for a while now.
The next step for the Habs will be getting healthy and well-rested, and they’re making that a priority this weekend.
As far as their bruised-up blue line goes, Weber and Benn look like they’ll be ready to go for Game 1 against the Rangers, but the jury’s still out on the status of Emelin.
USA captures gold
While the battle between the Lightning and Canadiens was the only NHL game going Friday night, it certainly wasn’t the only big hockey game being played.
Team USA defeated Team Canada 3-2 in overtime to win gold at the Women’s World Championship in thrilling fashion thanks to Hilary Knight’s game-winner.
The game definitely captured the attention of the hockey world — and Hockey Twitter, too. NHL clubs and players sent out well-wishes to Team USA on a tournament well-fought:
Tampa Bay Lightning on Twitter
Booooooyah, #TeamUSA! Huge congrats to the #USWNT on taking home the gold at the #2017WWC https://t.co/dVOrg84TYa
Detroit Red Wings on Twitter
Congrats, Ladies! #2017WWC https://t.co/h92MFOIUsy
#LAKings on Twitter
Congratulations #TeamUSA! https://t.co/Qt5N2w0uoV
Vegas Golden Knights on Twitter
Congratulations to the U.S. women’s hockey team for winning #WomensWorlds gold, & the U.S. & Canada for representing hockey so well tonight
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