The NHL has started announcing the names of the finalists for several of their awards. On Tuesday, the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy Finalists were named and Brayden Point was one of them. The other two were New Jersey’s Jack Hughes and Los Angeles’ Anze Kopitar. This is the first major award that Point has been nominated for in his career.
The Lady Byng is awarded to “the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability”.
The 50-goal scorer only had 7 penalty minutes this season, five of which came in the fight shown above against future teammate Mikey Eyssimont. His only other penalty all season long was a slashing penalty against Carolina on November 3rd. Despite playing major minutes throughout his career, Point has never been heavily penalized with his career-high being 33 last season.
If Point was to win, he would be the third Lightning player to win the award following Brad Richards (2003-04) and three-time winner Marty St. Louis (2009-10, 2010-11, and 2012-13). They had at least 12 penalty minutes in each of their trophy-winning seasons.
According to Raw Charge’s GeoFitz, Point would be the first Lady Byng winner with a fighting major on his record in the season that he won since Wayne Gretzky in 1979-80.
If Point wins the Layd Bynd, he'd be the first to win with a More Than a Minor penalty since Wayne Gretzky in 1991-92, who had two games with a 10 minute misconduct, and first to win with a Fighting Major since Wayne Gretzky in 1979-80.
— GeoFitz (@GeoFitz4) May 2, 2023
The winner will be announced at the NHL Awards in Nashville on June 26th.
Lightning News
Three things that went wrong for the Tampa Bay Lightning [Raw Charge]
Despite a few large hiccups during the opening round series, the Lightning almost pulled off the upset. If they had fixed one of the three things mentioned, they may be playing against the Florida Panthers this week.
Five burning questions as Lightning’s season ends [Tampa Bay Times]
‘What will the roster turnover look like?’ is probably the biggest questions for the team this summer. With at least three forward spots, a need for a left-side defenseman, and a back-up goaltender needed, things will be different.
Vasilevskiy mulls training changes following first-round exit [NHL.com]
“As I said after Game 35, my body kind of let me down. To be honest, I didn’t feel that great after that.” A tough season has the Lightning goaltender rethinking his training regimen. We’ll have more from the exit interviews as the week goes on.
WALLY 👏
Stick taps to @WallyD19 on being named our Man of the Year for the fourth time! pic.twitter.com/JxxgNsEr6K
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) May 2, 2023
NHL News
Eight burning questions facing the eliminated teams [Daily Face Off]
How do the Lightning reboot? Seems to be the big question this summer.
So much for home ice advantage, eh?
First round fun facts:
Road teams went 31-19, setting a new NHL record for away wins in a playoff round
Every team won at least once on the road
7 of 8 advancing teams faced a series deficit, tied for most in one round in NHL history
6 of 8 series were clinched on the road
— David Dwork (@DavidDwork) May 2, 2023
NHL names Selke Finalists [NHL.com]
Along with the Lady Byng Finalists, the NHL announced the finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy. Patrice Bergeron, Nico Hischier, and Mitchell Marner are in the running for the award that goes to “the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game”.
Biggest offseason needs for each PHF team [The Hockey News]
The PHF is well into their free agency season and THN takes a look at how each of the eight teams can improve their rosters.
Rangers have few clear options if they fire Gerard Gallant [New York Post]
It seems that nothing warms up a coach’s chair more than an untimely first-round exit. After going all in at the trade deadline, the New York Rangers had nothing but a few first round wins to their credit. So, will they try to run it back with a new head coach?
Florida Panthers 4-2 over Toronto Maple Leafs (Florida leads 1-0)
Florida built a 2-0 lead. Toronto tied it. Then Florida scored twice more to take Game One. Old friend Carter Verhaeghe scored against the team that drafted him, that has to feel nice. Matthew Tkachuk had three assists while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 34 of 36 shots.
Seattle Kraken 5-4 (OT) over Dallas Stars (Seattle leads 1-0)
Seattle jumped out early with 3 goals in 52 seconds in the first period. However, Joe Pavelski, in his first game since getting knocked out of the opening round by Matt Dumba, scored not one, not two, not three, but FOUR goals to drag the Stars to overtime. In OT, old friend Yanni Gourde made the most of a busted play to sling a puck into the back of the net for the win.
Yanni Gourde finds the net for the Kraken win in overtime!!!! pic.twitter.com/r8JHbXHI5I
— Seattle Times Sports (@SeaTimesSports) May 3, 2023
