The season has ended for the Boston Bruins, knocked out of the NHL playoffs yesterday with a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning and once again Boston was unable to get any kind of offense going during five on five play.
The B's did strike first, with David Krejci knocking home a one-timer on a feed from Charlie McAvoy during a Bruins power play, but once the Lightning tied the game in the second period and then went ahead for good on a J.T. Miller goal, the Bruins desperately tried but could not get the equalizer before an empty net goal sealed their fate.
The Bruins had trouble getting any kind of flow going through the neutral zone, held in check by an aggressive Tampa forecheck, but like in every game of the series save game one, Boston could not generate offense without the aid of a man advantage. Much of that falls on the failures of players on the second, third, and fourth lines, while relying too heavily on the number one trio of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak. Coach Bruce Cassidy was forced to juggle the lines and even split that trio up for stretches to try to get a spark from other players but the B's couldn't break through, and some responsibility has to also be laid at the skates of players like Marchand, who will be remembered more in this series for trying to lick the face of opposing players in rather than scoring big goals.
But even with the disappointing five-game ouster in round two it's easy to lose sight of the fact that a lot of people who write and chat about hockey didn't think the Bruins would even make the playoffs this year. Instead, they finished just one point behind Tampa for the best record in the eastern conference and they were hampered by injuries yet again to key players, including young defenseman Brandon Carlo, who was injured and lost for the playoffs just before they started and the B's were also without their most mobile defenseman Torey Krug for yesterday's game after he was injured in game four. I'd also like to have seen what might have happened had the Bruins not been victimized by some terrible officiating in that game four, when their one goal lead late in the game evaporated when a non-call on McAvoy, hauled down by Steven Stamkos around the Boston net, led to Tampa's tying goal in a game they then won in overtime.
But the Lightning did outplay Boston in this series, and will now move on to face either the Washington Capitals or the Pittsburgh Penguins in the eastern conference finals.
The clock refuses to strike midnight for the Cinderella Las Vegas Golden Knights. The greatest expansion team in the history of any sport now has a chance to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals after eliminating the San Jose Skarks in six games with a 3-0 win last night. Fourth shut out of the playoffs for veteran goalie Mac Andre Fleury, who stopped 28 shots in the clinching win.
In Major League Baseball, the two hottest teams in baseball who also happen to be the greatest rivals in the game, will meet Tuesday night in the Bronx for a series that could produce a new leader in the American League's eastern division.
The Boston Red Sox come into tomorrow night's game against the NY Yankees with the best record in the majors, but the Yankees have won 15 of their last 16 games, and sit just one game behind Boston as the teams get ready to rumble Tuesday.
The Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 6-1 yesterday, getting a season-high 12 strike-outs from ace Chris Sale, who wishes he didn't need five days if rest so he could appear in the Yankees series. Sandy Leon hit a three run homer to give Sale plenty of support, and J.D. Martinez also went yard for the Red Sox, one of his patented opposite field blasts and his 8th of the year. The only blemish in this one occurred when Mookie Betts, the MVP for the Red Sox so far this season, was hit on the upper shoulder with a throw by the Texas first baseman who was trying to throw Mookie out at second. Betts was safe, but got up holding his wrist, although the word is he has a contusion in his shoulder, and np word yet whether he'll be able to play in game one against the Yankees.
Meanwhile, the Yankees made history while beating the Cleveland Indians when rookie sensation Gleyber Torres eclipsed a fellow named Mickey Mantle to become the youngest Yankee ever to hit a walk-off home run, his three run blast in the bottom of the 9th handing the Yankees a 7-4 win. If that wasn't impressive enough for the Yankee youth movement, Domingo German made his major league debut on the mound and all he did was throw a no-hitter through six innings before being lifted. The Indians scored four runs after that against the Yankee bullpen but New York battled back to tie the game when Cleveland closer Cody Allen was brought to get a 5-out save and struggled to do so, yielding three runs before the Yanks rallied in the 9th and ended it on the historic blast by Torres. Drew Pomeranz will face Luis Severino in the series starting tomorrow at The Stadium.
The NY Mets have finished a homestand they'd rather forget, going 0-6 after falling to the Colorado Rockies 3-2 yesterday. Ian Desmond hit two home runs to power the Rockies, who overcame a 2-0 deficit to tie the game att two before Desmond went deep off Noah Syndergaard in the 8th for the winning margin. The Rockies have won 5 in a row.
The Toronto Blue Jays got a gift in the bottom of the 9th when Tampa Bay Rays closer Alex Colome uncorked a wild pitch scoring Kevin Pillar with the winning run in a 2-1 Toronto victory.
In the NBA playoffs, Chris Paul scored 27 points, leading the Houston Rockets to a 100-87 win over the Utah Jazz and a three games to one series lead. The Golden State Warriors are also up three games to one in the series against the New Orleans Pelicans after a 118-92 romp behind 38 points from Kevin Durant.
