• Senators fail to boot Bruins
• Maple Leafs down to last strike
• Should low hits be allowed in hockey?
The Washington Capitals have the Toronto Maple Leafs on the ropes, the Ottawa Senators missed their first chance to knockout the Boston Bruins and the debate over low hits continues.
Here are three things we learned.
Bruins fight off elimination vs. Senators
The Bruins will fight another day after a marathon win against the Senators in Game 5 on Friday. The series now sits at 3-2 for the Sens, with Game 6 set for Sunday afternoon in Boston.
Sean Kuraly was the hero for the Bruins in only his 11th game at the NHL-level.
The 24-year-old scored his first career NHL goal to tie the game 2-2, then finished the contest halfway through the second overtime period with a rebound goal.
Kuraly was put in the lineup to replace veteran forward Ryan Spooner and, based on his performance, it’s safe to assume he’ll hold onto his spot in Game 6.
After the game, Kuraly spoke with Sportsnet’s Christine Simpson about the biggest night of his career.
The Bruins needed 90 minutes to end the game, making this the second longest game of the post-season so far. Tuuka Rask made 41 saves to get the win, the 30th of his NHL playoff career. Rask’s counterpart, Craig Anderson, made 37 saves in the loss.
Sportsnet’s Kristina Rutherford has more in her post-game column.
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Capitals have Maple Leafs on the ropes
The young Maple Leafs are about to face their biggest test yet, after Friday’s Game 5 loss put them down 3-2 to the Capitals.
The hero this time was Justin “Mr. Game 7 (or Game 5)” Williams, who fired a shot five-hole on Frederik Andersen just over one minute into overtime.
These teams have now gone to four overtimes and played in five one-goal games. No matter what the end result is, no one can argue that the Maple Leafs didn’t give the Presidents’ Trophy winners a run for their money.
In the game on Friday, there were penalties aplenty as the teams really start to get under each other’s skin. Below, we’ll take a look at one particular penalty that sparked debate among hockey fans over what type of hits are acceptable.
Heading into Game 6 on Sunday, the Maple Leafs will be battling the Capitals and history. Toronto doesn’t have a great track record when trailing 3-2 in a series.
Despite being down 3-2, the Maple Leafs are a confident bunch. At least head coach Mike Babcock is.
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Should low hits be allowed in the NHL?
Two major hits in Friday’s games sparked debate about low hits in the NHL and whether they should be allowed.
The first hit was thrown by Toronto’s Nazem Kadri on Washington’s Alex Ovechkin. Kadri was given two minutes for tripping and Ovechkin left the game, but returned at the start of the next period.
The second was a hit thrown by Ottawa’s Chris Wideman on Boston’s David Krejci. Krejci left the game and didn’t return due to a lower-body injury. Wideman wasn’t penalized.
The debate over these two different lower-body hits centres on when is it a hip-check and when is it targeting the knees?
In Krejci’s case, the knee is definitely the point of contact and the result was a star player being forced to leave an elimination game.
But the Kadri hit on Ovechkin is in a more grey area. Kadri seems to make contact with Ovechkin’s entire leg, a dangerous play. However, Ovechkin returned to the game and seemed to be okay.
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Don Cherry weighed in with his opinion here. The Hockey Night in Canada panel debated this during the second intermission of the Toronto-Washington game. You can watch that video at the top of this post.
And for a final word on this topic, look no further than Mike Babcock to both clarify and complicate everything.
