Miscellaneous
Well, how's THAT for week one of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers?! Already tons of stories and drama coming out of this past week and you bet your hockey-loving butt we are going to discuss it. Where do we begin?! UNBELEAFABLE! The Toronto Maple Leafs lay a gigantic goose egg in game one against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Where do the Leafs go from here if they can't counter the tight defense and dependable goaltending that John Tortorella commands? (also, him in that fleece turtleneck...zaddy). WHAT ARE YOU DROUIN?! Carey Price's play is making the boys eat their words so far in the Montreal Canadiens' series against the Pittsburgh Penguins DESPITE the horrific play of Jonathan Drouin, Ben Chiarot, and Xavier Ouellet. Sidney Crosby took charge in Game Two and evened the series for the Pens. Ryan Suzuki as well as Jesperi Kotkaniemi have been impressive for the Habs. Will this go the distance? CONNOR MCJESUS RETURNS! After a Game One loss to the Chicago Blackhawks (in which Dominik Kubalik scored a record 5 points in an NHL debut for a rookie), Connor McDavid takes the reigns as he nets a hatty in the second game of the series. Can Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane right the ship for the 'Hawks? Tell you one thing Oilers' fans - just keep Mike Smith away from the net, his impressive playoff performances over the years appear likely over. FLAMING JETS! The Winnipeg Jets and the Calgary Flames are making exciting hockey despite big names missing from the series. Was Paul Maurice accurate in his statement that Matthew Tkachuk's hit on Mark Scheifele was suspendable? No, but we discuss the hit, as well as what on earth, is going on with Patrik Laine? VANCOUVER MILD?! Um...what? It wasn't supposed to be this way. Alex Stalock taking over for Devan Dubnyk was predicted but coming in the clutch with a Minnesota Wild team that was explosive was not, limiting the Vancouver Canucks to just a mere 4 shots in the third period of Game One. Are the Canucks in trouble? RANGERS CAN'T SEEM TO WEATHER THE STORM! Or can they? Down 0-2 in their series against the Carolina Hurricanes, the New York Rangers need as much help as they can get if they want to take this series. There's the Justin Williams/Ryan Strome fight in Game One, the Andrei Svechnikov hat-trick in Game Two, but what of Igor Shestyorkin? Is Henrik Lundqvist the solution for Game 3? Is this how the Cinderella season will end for the New York Rangers?.... Probably, Carolina is just too good right now. YOU'RE ALMOST VOTED OFF THE ISLAND! The New York Islanders have the Florida Panthers up against the wall, up 2-0 in the series. The Florida Panthers are not doing well and it isn't because Sergei Bobrovsky is playing terrible. THE PREDATORS BECOME THE PREY...in Game One! The Nashville Predators surprisingly went with Jusse Saros in net and despite being up 3-0, they lost to the Arizona Coyotes with a 40-save performance from Darcy Kuemper. Can he keep it going? And speaking of the Coyotes, we get to the bottom of the John Chayka situation, the finer details and just who is the mystery team that is pulling the strings. We also have a WRITERS WAR between James Mirtle of The Athletic and Steve Simmons of The Toronto Sun duking it out on Twitter. Like, rate and subscribe to our YouTube channel - FaceOff Hockey Podcast Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faceoffpuckpod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/FaceOffPuckPod @WriterGiovanni @The__Cack @Mike_Lasko Listen to us on: iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/faceoff-hockey-podcast/id1494966703?uo=4 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3l3mZWiyEGLzGRxpPt26H4 Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8xMjA4YWJmOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw== Anchor: https://anchor.fm/face-off-hockey-pod Breaker: https://www.breaker.audio/faceoff Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1494966703/faceoff RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/faceoff-GEqQO4