Lightning Round: Tampa Bay will face Boston in the second round

After the Philadelphia Flyers eliminated the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night, it became clear that the Tampa Bay Lightning’s opponent for the second round of playoffs will be the Boston Bruins. The NHL has already released the schedule for the second round: the first game will be played tomorrow on August 23 at 8:00 PM ET. You can check the schedule for the rest of the series below:

Both teams have already met in Toronto about two weeks ago during the round robin portion of the post season. Back then the Bolts defeated the Bruins, preventing Boston’s comeback after blowing a 2-0 lead.

On their way to the second round, the Bruins succeeded against the Carolina Hurricanes, beating them 4-1. David Krejci leads the team in assists (6) and point (9) and tied with Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk for the most goals (3) on the roster. Jaroslav Halak, who has become a starter after Tuukka Rask opted out of the rest of postseason, has been so far solid for the Bruins, recording a .912 save percentage and 2.29 goals against average.

The Lightning have won the regular season series 3-1-0, including the last time they met, which ended with a big brawl involving many players from both sides. The only loss happened on March 3 when the Bolts were defeated 2-1 at Amalie Arena

The last postseason meeting between this teams occurred during the 2018 NHL Playoffs also in the second round. Boston defeated Tampa Bay in Game One while the line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak dominated the Lightning, combining for eleven points in 6-2 victory. After this loss the Bolts managed to neutralize the Bruins top line, winning four games in a row and advancing to the Eastern Conference Final.

Yesterday’s Results

Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 Montreal Canadiens – Flyers win series 4-2

The Flyers defeated the Habs in Game Six and advanced to the second round for the first time in eight years. Philadelphia took the lead early in the game, when Ivan Provorov’s shot from the top of left circle ended up in Carey Price net after a rebound off Shea Weber’s leg. Just five minutes later Kevin Hayes doubled the score, giving the Flyers a 2-0 lead. Nick Suzuki cut the lead to one goal with a power play goal during the first period, but Michael Raffl’s goal returned the two-goal advantage for the Flyers in the second. Suzuki managed to score another goal, but the Flyers kept the lead till the end of the game. The Flyers will face the New York Islanders in the second round.

St. Louis Blues 2-6 Vancouver Canucks – Canucks win series 4-2

The Blues collapsed during the second period of Game Six, allowing three goals in six minutes. Jordan Binnington was replaced by Jake Allen after the fourth goal ended up in his net. Alled didn’t have as big of a workload as Binnington, but still allowed one goal on six shots. Jaden Schwartz scored twice for the Blues in the third period, but the Canucks responded with a two goals by Tyler Motte and eliminated the 2019 Stanley Cup winner from this year’s postseason. The Canucks second round’s opponent are the Vegas Golden Knights.

Today’s Game

Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche

8:00 PM ET; NBC, CBC, TVAS, SN

The second round of 2020 NHL playoffs is starting today with a Dallas vs. Colorado game. In their previous game in Edmonton, the Avalanche shut down the Stars 4-0, however since that moment the Stars have found a way to reload their offense, scoring 14 goals in the last three games.

Other News and Notes

All second rounds pairs in one picture

Syracuse.com published a short profile of a new Syracuse Crunch forward Nikita Pavlychev

Pavlychev has respectable offensive skills, posting seven goals and seven assists in 27 games for the Nittany Lions last season. But he knows he’s going to have to play to the pounding strength of his 225-pound body to make it in the AHL.

Following a very poor apology from NBC’s Mike Milbury, who recently made a misogynistic remark during the Washington Capitals vs. New York Islanders broadcast, Katie Strang of the Athletic have wrote a piece, openly asking why did it happen again [The Athletic, paid content]

Remember that already during this NHL playoffs, Milbury degraded women’s hockey with such casual aplomb that he may as well have been dissecting a penalty-killing shift or neutral-zone forecheck. And it’s more than just misogyny. Milbury also reacted with extreme insensitivity when Toronto’s Jake Muzzin was seriously injured, down on the ice and vulnerable. Milbury suggested it wouldn’t hurt if he stayed down to take a whistle. Muzzin was soon stretchered off and taken to the hospital. Additionally, he criticized Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask for leaving the bubble to be with his family, questioning his commitment to his team.

Later NBC removed Milbury from yesterday’s Montreal vs Philadelphia broadcast

Pat Maroon has remained the only player who can become a back-to-back Stanley Cup winner this year

The Dallas Stars coach Rick Bowness shared an experience from living in the “bubble“

Peter DeBoer, however, has a strong argument for these unusual conditions