Islanders & NHL Playoff News: Beau on the move?; Colorado dominates Game 2, Tampa Bay dominates Game 3

Apologies, folks, for the great delay in putting up a new post. We hope that you had a happy Father’s Day and Juneteenth.

The hockey we watched over the long weekend was explosive but lopsided, which is the danger we encounter when both teams have strong offenses. While it was a spectacle to watch the Tampa Bay Lightning lose a Stanley Cup Final game by seven goals, a result like that is never in doubt. At that point, you just watch to see if a brawl breaks out.

Game 3, in which the Bolts blew out the Colorado Avalanche, featured some late-game airing of grievances. The Isles’ Great Bambino, Devon Toews, probably stirred the pot more than anyone with a cross-check to Nikita Kucherov that knocked the Lightning star out of the game—though it was late in the game, and again, the result was not changing.

More than anything, I’m just happy that the Final won’t end in a sweep. Sweeps are duds for everyone except fans of the sweeping team.

Islanders Bits

• Anthony Beauvillier has made his way into Daily Faceoff’s Trade Targets list. [DFO] Kevin Kurz examines the possibility that Beauvillier is moved, perhaps in a deal for Jakob Chychrun. [The Athletic]
• Bryan Trottier is one of the legendary former NHLers serving as a coach in the new 3ICE league in Las Vegas. It’s all three-on-three hockey. [Newsday]
• The Islanders celebrated Father’s Day by honoring Long Island hockey dads and sharing their stories. [Islanders]
• Steve Webb and other Islanders staffers volunteered with Island Harvest and Stop & Shop on Friday, fighting hunger. [Islanders]
• This (Two) Day(s Ago) in Isles History: Ryan Pulock makes one of the greatest game-saving stops of all time in the dying seconds of Game 4 to hold on to the victory and tie the Semifinal 2-2 (2021).
• Stan Fischler penned an ode to Pat LaFontaine, a superstar with a heart of gold. [Maven’s Memories]

Stanley Cup Final

• On Saturday night, the Avalanche scored seven goals and conceded zero. [NHL] Last night, the Lightning scored four goals in the second period to chase Darcy Kuemper. [NHL]
• After that loss, it is unclear if the Avs will go back to Kuemper or if they will go with Pavel Francouz, who acquitted himself decently in the sweep of the Edmonton Oilers in the West Final. [NHL] In other words, we may have a goalie controversy. [ESPN]
• The Lightning did all that without Brayden Point, too. He missed Game 3, and coach Jon Cooper offered no update on Point. [NHL]
• Nick Paul scored the game-winner on his first shift of the second period after an awkward fall from a hit ended his first period. Gutsy play, as they say. [Sportsnet]
• This series was always going to have swings, and the Lightning just swung the momentum pendulum heavily in their favor. Now you wonder if doubt creeps into Colorado’s heads. [The Athletic]
• Nathan MacKinnon has yet to score a goal in this series. Peculiar! And the Avalanche have done the proverbial letting-them-back-in. [Sportsnet]
• As I hinted above, Toews cross-checked Kucherov late in the third period. He got him low and from behind, and it looked like Kucherov pulled something. Kucherov did not return. The Bolts called out the hit as “dangerous.” [Sportsnet] In the beginning of the video at the bottom of the frame, you can see a little bit of Kucherov cross-checking Toews just before the rush in which Kucherov was hurt got started.

Elsewhere

• Peter DeBoer: next coach of the Dallas Stars. That sounds about right. As always, though, it isn’t a done deal until you put pen to paper. [The Athletic]
• The Vancouver Canucks won the Andrei Kuzmenko sweepstakes, earning the former KHL star’s services for a year. [Sportsnet]
• Nick Backstrom underwent left hip resurfacing surgery, the Washington Capitals announced. That doesn’t sound fun. [ESPN]