• Blackhawks can’t solve Pekka Rinne
• Clarke MacArthur, Dion Phaneuf become heroes in Ottawa
• Kasperi Kapanen only scores big goals
Through two home playoff games, things couldn’t be worse for the Chicago Blackhawks.
North of the border, Clarke MacArthur continued his amazing comeback with his first goal in two-years.
And in D.C., Kasperi Kapanen did what he does best by scoring another big goal.
Here are three things we learned.
Pekka Rinne beats Blackhawks at both ends of ice
At this point, Pekka Rinne is just teasing the Chicago Blackhawks.
Not only has the Predators netminder now posted two shutouts against the western conference’s best team, on Saturday he also added two assists, giving him more points than the entire Blackhawks squad this series.
With the Predators winning 5-0 and taking a 2-0 series lead back home to Smashville, the Blackhawks became part of some pretty exclusive history. Although I’m sure they aren’t too happy about it.
Out of the five goals Nashville scored, four came from guys who had never scored in an NHL playoff game before. That includes Harry Zolnierczyk, who has 93 penalty minutes in 84 regular season games, but still fired this nice wrist shot past Corey Crawford.
Game 3 goes Monday. Before the Blackhawks can think about getting back in the series, they need to find a way to hit the back of the net.
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Clarke MacArthur gets first goal in over two years
It’s amazing that Clarke MacArthur is even playing after all the time he’s missed with concussions. And now that he’s scored a goal can someone pass the tissues?
On Saturday against the Bruins, MacArthur picked up his first goal since April 9, 2015 and the crowd went wild.
Asked about the goal after the game, MacArthur said it was the biggest of his career.
“Just because of the length of time it took to get that one,” he said. “Definitely never gonna take my last goal for granted, that’s for sure.”
The Senators certainly didn’t take their opponent for granted either in Game 2. After seeing the Bruins come back and win in Game 1, the Senators put the pedal to the metal Saturday. In fact, Boston didn’t register a shot in overtime before Dion Phaneuf sealed the win for Ottawa.
Sportsnet’s Kristina Rutherford has more on MacArthur and the bounce-back win by the Sens in her post-game column.
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Oh look, another big goal from Kasperi Kapanen
Kasperi Kapanen is 20 years old and has already scored more big goals in his career than most players ever do.
On Saturday, he scored the winner in double-OT as the Toronto Maple Leafs evened their series with the Washington Capitals with a 4-3 win. It was his second of the game, the first being the goal that tied the game 2-2 in the second period.
Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston and Luke Fox broke the game down in great details in their columns, here and here. So let’s just focus on Kapanen’s history of scoring massive goals.
Only one week ago, Kapanen scored a big goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Six minutes into the third period, Kapanen fired home a shot off a rebound to tie that game 3-3. The Maple Leafs ultimately won, guaranteeing them a spot in the playoffs. It was the first goal of his NHL career.
But if you want to go even further back, you’ll find the 2016 world junior hockey championship. There, Kapanen scored the overtime game-winner to give Finland the gold medal on home ice. That goal became so iconic in his home country, it was even featured on a stamp. Not too shabby.
So Maple Leafs fans can get used to seeing Kapanen scoring big goals for a long time to come.
After all, he’s only 20.
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