NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 19, 2020

by | Aug 19, 2020 | News, NHL | 8 comments

The Golden Knights eliminate the Blackhawks, the Capitals stave off elimination by the Isles, the Flyers and Stars are on the verge of advancing,  and the hockey world mourns Dale Hawerchuk in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

GAME RECAPS

NHL.COM: Alex Tuch’s third-period goal snapped a 3-3 tie as the Vegas Golden Knights edged the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 to win Game 5 and their opening-round series. The Golden Knights overcame 2-0 and 3-2 deficit. Max Pacioretty had a goal and an assist for Vegas, who face the Western Conference’s lowest-remaining seed in the next round.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: A well-earned series victory by the Golden Knights over a plucky, but over-matched Blackhawks club. Vegas dominated the play through most of this series and probably would’ve swept it if not for Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford, who likely earned a new contract with the Hawks following his strong postseason play.

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (NHL Images).

The Washington Capitals avoided being swept by the New York Islanders as they rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 win in Game 4 of their first-round series. Evgeny Kuznetsov sparked the comeback by cutting the deficit to 2-1, setting the stage for Alex Ovechkin’s game-tying and game-winning goals. Isles winger Cal Clutterbuck left the game in the second period following a low hit by Capitals defenseman Radko Gudas. An update on his condition is expected today.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Isles seemed to have this game in the bag after taking a 2-0 lead into the second period, but their energy sagged as the desperate Capitals fought back, dominating the Isles at even strength. It’ll be interesting to see if the Caps can maintain that energy in Game 5 on Thursday.

Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Carter Hart become the second-youngest goaltender in NHL history to post back-to-back playoff shutouts as he and his teammates blanked the Montreal Canadiens 2-0 in Game 4 of their first-round series. Hart made 29 saves while Michael Raffl and Philippe Myers scored.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Follow this link for my take of Game 4. The Flyers lead the series 3-1 and can wrap things up tonight in Game 5.

The Dallas Stars took a 3-2 series lead over the Calgary Flames by hanging on for a 2-1 victory in Game 5. John Klingberg’s third-period goal held up as the winner while Anton Khudobin made 28 saves.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Stars have done a good job stifling the Flames’ top scorers. Johnny Gaudreau has just three points (two of those in one game) while Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm have been limited to two assists each. The Flames also miss feisty sidelined winger Matthew Tkachuk.

HEADLINES

WINNIPEG SUN: Dale Hawerchuk passed away at age 57 from stomach cancer. The Hall-of-Famer spent 16 seasons with the Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues, and Philadelphia Flyers, amassing 518 goals and 1,409 points in 1,188 games. It was with the Jets that he had his best seasons, with six 100-plus point seasons in nine years in Winnipeg, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1981-82. He also played for Team Canada in their memorable 1987 Canada Cup series with the Soviet Union. Hawerchuk went on to coach the OHL’s Barrie Colts from 2010-11 until his illness forced him to step down in 2019.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: My condolences to Hawerchuk’s family and friends. He was overshadowed during his prime by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, but he was among the NHL’s top centers during the 1980s, as well as the Jets’ franchise player.

STLTODAY.COM: Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko has returned to St. Louis to have his surgically-repaired left shoulder reevaluated. He won’t return for the remainder of his club’s series against the Vancouver Canucks and could be sidelined even longer.

NBC SPORTS BOSTON: There’s a chance Bruins winger David Pastrnak could suit up for today’s Game 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes. He’s been sidelined with an undisclosed injury since Game 1.

 







8 Comments

  1. Sad news

    Hearts and prayers out to the Hawerchuk family.

    Dale; RIP.

    Thanks for all you’ve given to the hockey world; thanks for all you have given everywhere.

    I’ve never been to Winnipeg; but a city mourns today.

    You will be tremendously missed

    😔

  2. A nation of hockey fans weep.
    He was something special.

  3. Re Habs and Flames on the cusp of elimination…. me thinks both series will be extended

    Kudos on your performance Hart

    Goalies surely headlining stories in first round

    Congrats to Knights. Truly out hustled and out-chanced Hawks in the series. Crawford did Yeoman’s work. Couldn’t stay up to watch so I got up at 5 to watch balance on PVR.

    I was fairly confident that Caps wouldn’t succumb to a sweep… come back to win the series… no. Winning game 5 is a fair chance

    Me thinks Bolts; Bruins and Avs close it out today; Habs stave off elimination

    PVR set

  4. Vegas looks real good them and Avalanche would make a great series. Loves watching Hawerchuk knew they would always have their hands full beating Oilers so cheered hard for him in international events. Dale was great player died way to early but brought a lot of joy to a lot of people’s lives. Hearing stories of friends he called to say goodbye was heart breaking.RIP

  5. Just read a comment from Gallagher about being benched.

    Didn’t know he was, and wow

  6. What’s the deal with VGK playing Lehner over MAF? I don’t think Lehner has looked “great” in the series. They are certainly acting like he the starter moving forward. Seem’s like MAF’s nice guy reputation has lost him a job twice now. It sucks from an individual career standpoint. He fell behind Lundqvist when he started sharing the net in Pitt. He is 23 wins away from passing Belfour and Luongo and 86 wins from passing Roy for 2nd all-time. He has averaged about 30 wins per season over the past few years. Sucks if he doesn’t keep a starting role somewhere . he can still play IMO

  7. The first professional hockey game I ever attended was the Oilers-Jets in his sophomore season.
    Dale Hawerchuk was a sit-up and watch player every shift.

    Rest In Peace

  8. Why the Islanders didn’t have Ross The Boss in the lineup last night was interesting