The Ditch part deux

NEW YORK - Winnipeg Jets left wing Kyle Connor, Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos and Colorado Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer have been named the NHL's "Three Stars" for the week ending March 24.



FIRST STAR - KYLE CONNOR, LW, WINNIPEG JETS
Connor paced the NHL with 5-3-8 in four games to help the Central Division-leading Jets (45-26-4, 94 points) pick up three wins and clinch their second consecutive playoff berth. Connor registered 1-1-2 in each of his first two outings, a 3-2 victory against the Los Angeles Kings March 18 and a 3-0 triumph over the Anaheim Ducks March 20. After being held off the scoresheet in a 5-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights March 21, Connor (3-1-4) bounced back with his first career hat trick - as well as his third career four-point performance - in a 5-0 win against the Nashville Predators March 23. In doing so, the 22-year-old Shelby Township, Mich., native - who sits third on Winnipeg in scoring - reached the 30-goal milestone for the second straight season and also hit the 60-point mark for the first time in his three NHL campaigns (32 29-61 in 75 GP).



SECOND STAR - STEVEN STAMKOS, C, TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Stamkos ranked second in the League with 4-4-8 in four contests as the Lightning (58 14-4, 120 points) also earned three victories to secure their first Presidents' Trophy in franchise history. Stamkos opened the week by becoming Tampa Bay's all-time leading goal scorer, potting his 384th career goal in a 4-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes March 18 to surpass Vincent Lecavalier for the most in team history. Stamkos then recorded 1-2-3 in each of his next two games, a 5-4 overtime victory against the Washington Capitals March 20 and a 6-3 triumph over the Carolina Hurricanes March 21. He added one goal in a 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues March 23. The 29-year-old Markham, Ont., native places sixth in the NHL with 39 goals and 10th with 89 points in 76 total outings this season (39-50-89).



THIRD STAR - PHILIPP GRUBAUER, G, COLORADO AVALANCHE
Grubauer topped the NHL with 149 saves (on 155 SA), compiling a 3-0-1 record, 1.49 goals-against average and .961 save percentage to lift the Avalanche (34-29-13, 81 points) into the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Grubauer yielded one goal in each of his first two starts, making 36 saves in a 3-1 victory against the Minnesota Wild March 19 and 44 stops in a 3-1 triumph over the Dallas Stars March 21. He then split a home-and-home series against the Chicago Blackhawks, turning aside 29 attempts in a 4-2 win March 23 and making 40 saves in a 2-1 overtime loss March 24. The 27-year-old Rosenheim, Germany, native has appeared in 33 total games this season, matching a career high with 15 wins to go along with a 2.71 goals-against average, .914 save percentage and three shutouts.

 

Tight race for the 8th seed with CBJ and the habs, both teams winning by shutouts.

 

Still 1 period to go for each.

 

CBJ 3-0 over the isles with 3 mins left in the game.

Habs 5-0 over the panthers, end of 2nd.

 

Tartar sauce has 25 goals.

 

Panthers now using 3 goalies, what a shitshow

 

hey the flyers used 8 or 9 this year for a new record and most of them all sucked! haha.

btw-i don't even know who the hell "TARTAR SAUCE" is, but I love that nickname. haha.

 

Tomas Tatar

 

Unless luongos injured, they're carrying 3 goalies.

 

ok. after what the flyers did this year with 9 goalies, im over the whole goalie swapping and carrying 3 goalies etc.

 

They're still stuck on a tight budget. Maybe ownership will let them have a few more pesos if they get a few playoff games.

 

PHLYERS are a hot mess.
Last time they won a playoff series, Timmonen, Briere, Hartnell, and Jagr were team leaders. Coburn and Carle were heavy lifters at the blueline.
The current core hasn't figured much out.

Hopefully PHI departs with anything associated with Snider, fanboys for any pre lindros player, or 70s glory. Too much talent in the organization and too many huge contract decisions to make to keep letting the same type of clown show pick directions.

I think they should bring Bryzgalov back too.

 

Jeff Cox‏ @JeffCoxSports


Per multiple sources, Harvard junior D Adam Fox will return for senior season, opting not to sign with Carolina Hurricanes. Favors becoming free agent next summer. Great news for Crimson and college hockey as a whole.

 

Florida is a freaking trainwreck.

Is Vinnie's son still running things? Dale is bad...might have mentioned that in previous years.
9 years with Dale, and 2 first round exits to show for it. They're actually spending money most years too, contrary to popular belief. They just suck at how they spend it. I think they'll finish spending 10+/- 2 million more than Carolina.

They have some assets, but they don't know how to develop...so they phu%^ed. I've always wanted to see Florida do well, so it hurts.

 

Marleau will be in 6th place all by himself next time he dresses.

This is why I was thinking about Phlyers:

Frank Seravalli‏Verified account @frank_seravalli Mar 25
Hearing #Flyers first-round pick Joel Farabee has informed Boston Univ. he is turning pro. Expected to sign today after fantastic freshman season, Hockey East rookie of the year.

 

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   Jeremy RutherfordVerified account @jprutherford
   
   Former Edmonton and Boston GM Peter Chiarelli back for the second straight game, watching from the Blues management booth with GM Doug Armstrong. Not sure of the role/potential role, but Army has a track record of this with Bob Gainey, Dave Tippet, etc.
   
   20 replies 11 retweets 52 likes
   
   
   
   

 

Kovalchuk's tears about getting scratched on Thursday cracked me up.

Good job Willie!

 

Tell me about it.

"Trainwreck" is right. Forward position clearly has enough talent to be competitive. Defense and goalie positions, as of this season, were bad / average, but in a position to be fixed. Team has a ton of talented prospects at F, and absolutely nothing in the D or G cupboard, including the NHL roster. It should have been easy to move F prospect talent for talent at D and G (teams were begging for Borgstrom this time last year, apparently), and yet, absolutely nothing.

When Josh Brown and Ian McCoshen were given real playing time, and with each other, they were great. Why? Because they didn't have this coaching staff f***ing up how they were playing, yet. Of course, that didn't last. Top 3 D-men for this team are among the top 10 in the league in turnovers. Matheson at 1, Ekblad around 5, Yandle around but not less than 10. That's more than lacking talent - that's fucking coaching. It's unacceptable, and it's been obvious from the get-go.

The coaching staff is clearly to blame for the on-ice results, and isn't changing anything. The front office is clearly to blame for the complete lack of talent at D and G, and isn't changing anything.

They need to go. I would argue that Barkov is the best player in the league - at worst, that argument ends with the agreement that he's top 3-5. How awful it is that this team is wasting his and others' talents in the prime of their careers is exceeded only by the fact that they don't seem to have any solutions in place.

Lots of disappointment, around here. With the way the team has played this past week or so, I think it's more than just that they've given up, while going up against playoff teams - I think they're trying to show enough to get this staff fired. That's far more conspiracy theorist than you'll ever find me go, but it's very obvious that, as soon as this team was actually out of it, they stopped playing hockey. You don't stop when your job is on the line - but if it's someone else's job...

I'm looking forward to changes. Here's to hoping.

 

?? how are they a hot mess ? come this summer - close to $20+ million in open cap space. GM promises to be front and center for Panarin. goalie of the future was found in Carter Hart. Many prospects are flourishes in their leagues. 4 out of 6 defensive men were still young and under the age of 25 and 3 under the age of 23. You do realize they were in dead LAST by December, right? Until mid-March, they were the second hottest team in the league. They fire Hextall and his clown coach Hakstol, and made a run from last to the 9th seed overall in the Conference. Not too bad considering where they were.

Just worry about your Blackhawks. BTW FWIW-the Flyers and their "hot mess" have more points than the Blackhawks do.