This post is provided courtesy of the NHL and NHL Network.

BOSTON 2, CHICAGO 0; BOS leads 2-1
Daniel Paille’s goal at 2:13 of the second period held up as the game-winner and Tuukka Rask made 28 saves for his third shutout of the postseason.

Visit NHL.com and tune to NHL Network for all of the latest playoff news, highlights and analysis.

LIFE OF PAI
Boston forward Daniel Paille scored his second game-winning goal in as many games, becoming the first player since 2006 – and only the second in the last 17 years – to record game-winning goals in consecutive Stanley Cup Final games (Edmonton’s Fernando Pisani, vs. Carolina in Games 5 and 6).

Someone scored consecutive game-winners in each of four straight Finals from 1992 through 1995: Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux in 1992, Montreal’s John LeClair in 1993, NY Rangers’ Glenn Anderson in 1994 and New Jersey’s Neal Broten in 1995. Each of their teams went on to win the Stanley Cup. (Elias)

Paille now has four goals in 19 games this postseason. He had four goals in 46 career playoff games entering 2013.

Three of Paille’s four goals in the 2013 postseason have been game-winners, tying him with teammate Nathan Horton and San Jose’s Logan Couture for second in the League. Paille had no playoff game-winning goals entering 2013.

TUUKKA TIME
Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask made 28 saves to post his third shutout of the playoffs, tying him with Los Angeles’ Jonathan Quick for the postseason lead. Rask also leads all netminders in wins (14), goals-against average (1.64) and save percentage (.946) in 19 starts.

Rask has allowed no more than one goal in each of Boston’s last eight victories dating to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. He has a 0.57 goals-against average, .980 save percentage and three shutouts in those wins.

Rask’s shutout marks the first blank sheet of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final. There were only three shutouts in the 12 Stanley Cup Finals contested from 1987 through 1998 (one each in 1991, 1992 and 1996), but there have been 23 in the 14 Finals since then, with at least one in every series except 2010, when Chicago beat Philadelphia in six games. (Elias)

RECORD-SETTING WIN
With Boston’s victory, home teams improved to 58-25 (.699) in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, setting the NHL record for most wins by home clubs in a single postseason. The previous mark of 57 was set in 92 games during the 1991 postseason. The last time home teams had a winning percentage of .600 or higher during the Stanley Cup Playoffs was in 1993, when they went 52-33 (.612).

BRUINS ROLL AT HOME
Boston won its seventh consecutive home game, marking the second-longest home winning streak in the 2013 playoffs (Los Angeles: 8 games). The Bruins improved to 8-2 at home this postseason, where they have outscored opponents, 28-17.

Boston has won each of its four Stanley Cup Final games contested at TD Garden, outscoring the opposition, 19-3 (17-3 vs. Vancouver in 2011, 2-0 vs. Chicago in 2013).

DOMINANT IN THE CIRCLE
Led by forward Patrice Bergeron, who won 24-of-28 draws, the Bruins dominated the face-off circle in Game 3, posting a 71.4% winning percentage (40-16). The Bruins led the League in face-off winning percentage during the regular season (56.4%) and now have passed San Jose into first place among 2013 playoff clubs (56.1%).

Bergeron was the League’s top individual face-off performer during the regular season, posting a 62.1% success rate. He also leads the League in the postseason (62.7%).

In addition to his face-off prowess, Bergeron tallied Boston’s insurance goal in Game 3. He has 4-2—6, including one game-winning goal, in his past six games.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Boston denied all five Chicago power plays in Game 3 and now has killed off 27 consecutive penalties dating to Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, including all 11 Blackhawk opportunities through the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final. The Bruins have an 88.9% penalty-kill rate during the 2013 playoffs (56-for-63), including an 88.6% mark at home (31-for-35).

Chicago went 0-for-5 on the power play in Game 3 and has not scored a power-play goal in its last 20 chances dating to Game 2 of the Western Conference Final. The Blackhawks have an 11.3% power-play success rate this postseason (7-for-62), including a 3.7% mark on the road (1-for-27).

SURPRISE DEBUT
Chicago forward Ben Smith made his 2013 postseason debut following a late scratch of Marian Hossa. The 24-year-old Smith has strong ties to the New England area – he grew up in Avon, Conn., earned First Team All-New England honors in high school at The Westminster School (Simsbury, Conn.) and won two national championships in four years at Boston College (2008, 2010).

Smith played 10:23 of Game 3, recording one shot on goal, two blocked shots and a -1 rating. He had not played in the postseason since Game 7 of the 2011 Western Conference Quarterfinals versus Vancouver and had not appeared in any NHL game since Chicago’s regular-season finale at St. Louis April 27.

MOVING UP
Boston forward Jaromir Jagr earned the primary assist on Patrice Bergeron’s power-play goal. The assist increased Jagr’s career postseason point total to 197 (78 goals, 119 assists), moving him past Paul Coffey (59-137—196) and into sole possession of fifth place on the NHL’s all-time playoff points list.

Most Career Playoff Points
1. Wayne Gretzky: 122-260—382
2. Mark Messier: 109-186—295
3. Jari Kurri: 106-127—233
4. Glenn Anderson: 93-121—214
5. Jaromir Jagr: 78-119—197
6. Paul Coffey: 59-137—196

SEGUIN STEPS UP
Boston forward Tyler Seguin assisted on the game-winning goal, giving him a helper in each of the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final. That equals his total from the first three rounds of the playoffs, when he recorded 1-3—4 in 16 games.

DID YOU KNOW?
The Bruins have a 2-0 all-time record when holding a 2-1 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final. The Blackhawks are 0-3 lifetime when trailing 2-1 in the Final.

LOOSE PUCKS
The Bruins improved to 4-0 in Game 3s this postseason. The Blackhawks fell to 0-4 . . . Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford made 33 saves, his fifth 30-plus save performance in the 2013 postseason . . . Home teams now have won the past 10 Game 3s in the Stanley Cup Final. The last road team to win a Game 3 in the Final was the 2002 Red Wings over the Hurricanes (3-2 in 3OT) . . . View a time-lapse video of Game 3 in 70 seconds . . . Prospect Nathan MacKinnon was mic’d up when he attended Game 3.

Advertisement

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

7 thoughts on “From NHL Network – Morning Stanley Cup of Joe 6/18/13”

  1. It must humiliate Jack Edwards to no end to play the role of lowly ‘outside-the-locker-room’ interviewer during this series. That’s a chore usually reserved for plebes.

    Like

    1. Pretty sure he’s loving every second of it. We are talking about the guy who paid his own way to Vancouver in 2011 to do the same thing because NESN didn’t want to cover the costs.

      Like

    2. I think Edwards does miss it but, personally, I enjoy the passion he puts into the NESN pre/post. I don’t know if he’s the engine that powers it but NESN, at least this year, is clearly not trying to do their usual “whatever you still have to hand NESN $4 a month even if Dirty Water TV is on” approach that they could do. It’s a complete 180 from what CSNNE offers but this is why competition is good. If you don’t like NESN or Edwards, it is easy enough to flip the dial.

      Also, Edwards has–many times–suggested that the NHL offer an option for a premium stream that has hometown calls. The technology is there (if you watch soccer you know what I mean) and it’s not like they couldn’t charge for people to view the NBC feed/NBC commercials but hometown audio. I’d love to see the NHL innovate and at least try this because it’s not expensive.

      Like

      1. And since hockey is still somewhat of a niche sport compared to basketball, baseball and football, a touch like this would really solidify its fan base.

        Like

        1. Fans win. NESN(or rights holder) win. NHL wins.

          To the people who are so biased, accepting nothing but a hometown call, and think Doc/NBC is “against” the Bruins (a lot of this during the Rangers/Penguins series), they’d be perfect customers. It looks like some of them at least tried to use the radio/dvr method to sync up the 98.5 call with the TV side (sounds like it didn’t require a MIT degree).

          Hockey is niche but I think this would be a big enough hit where other sports are taking it on. You’re telling me that Green Teamers wouldn’t pay to have Tommy and Mike instead of Marv/TNT or Breen/ESPN? People wouldn’t hand over the keys to a Brinks Truck to not have to hear/see Joe Buck or Phil Simms during the game?

          Like

          1. Agreed. And it’s generally not that I find the national announcers to be favoring one team or another–in most cases I’ve found them more or less neutral. But I’m used to the local guys (even Tommy), and they usually know the teams better. No phony “el caballito” remarks. I’d probably pay a premium for that.

            Like

Comments are closed.