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Morning Skate: Buzzer-beaters are the best new hockey trend
The Hurricanes beat the Senators at their own game on Tuesday.
Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Lace ‘em up. Time for the Morning Skate.
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WHERE’S KURT RUSSELL?
At the great risk of starting this newsletter with a cliché, let me say this: what goes around comes around.
A week ago, the Ottawa Senators registered one of the greatest last-gasp comebacks in recent hockey memory: they managed to tie the game with 0.1 seconds left on the clock. That’s about as close as you can cut it. Heck, the Daytona 500 was won by a time gap barely smaller than that. It was a huge point earned by the Senators in a race to the playoffs.
So it’s fitting that they ceded a point a week later due to the same last-second heroics. The Hurricanes never led in the game, but Jeff Skinner pulled off another hockey miracle with 0.3 seconds left:
Carolina went on to win it in overtime, leap-frogging the Senators in the battle for the final Eastern Conference wild card spot. Battles like this happened everywhere on Tuesday; it seemed like no matter which game you tuned into, there were crucial points being earned and playoff opportunities being wasted away. That’s the beauty of the NHL’s playoff stretch run. It’s just the appetizer to the delectable main course we get to dive into from April through June.
WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT
- Dallas got another gut punch yesterday: they gave up a costly point in the race to win the Central Division and even lost a key defenseman for the rest of the season.
- Meanwhile, it’s clear that Alex Galchenyuk has arrived as a force in Montreal.
- The Lightning fell in a goalie duel thanks to two guys named Monster and The Nose.
- Buffalo was the better team in the third period, but it wasn’t enough to down the Rangers.
- But it was enough to make Rangers fans slightly concerned.
- The other team to have a rough third period? The Penguins, who fell in Brooklyn.
- The Red Wings keep looking worse and worse after another loss to the Blue Jackets.
- San Jose basically sleepwalked past the Oilers.
- Nashville points streak keeps living on after win in Winnipeg.
NEWS AND NOTES:
- P.K. Subban met the baby he accidentally hit with a puck. Aw?
- Dallas is crashing and burning as the playoffs near.
- Detroit’s new coaching style just isn’t clicking.
- One of two head shots last night went to Nashville’s Austin Watson.
- The other was from John-Michael Liles, though it’s not clear whether the Bruins defenseman will be suspended.
- Here, watch Dan Girardi pass to the wrong player over and over again on loop. It’s mesmerizing.
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