Browsing: period

Up until Saturday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, the Nashville Predators didn’t have a lot of issues when it came to starting off games.

In four of their first five games of the season, if Nashville wasn’t scoring in the first period, it was scoring the first goal of the game. The 7-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs was the only game out of the first five where the Predators didn’t have a first-period goal or score the first of the match.

Facing off against the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winners, the Winnipeg Jets, following that trend would’ve been critical for the Predators to keep pace with Winnipeg. That did not happen.

Steven Stamkos took a hooking penalty a minute into the game, allowing the third-best power play in the NHL to go to work and take a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.

Halfway through the period, Nino Niederreiter snuck past the defense and scored on a breakaway to make it 2-0 Winnipeg. Six minutes after that, Brady Skjei was called for hooking.

A disastrous first period put the Predators in a hole that they were unable to dig themselves out of, falling to Winnipeg, 4-1.

“We didn’t start on time,” Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said. “We took a bad penalty right away against a really good power play and made a mental mistake on the second goal. It was a lot of things we’ve haven’t done this year so far that crept into the game a little bit.”

The Predators struggled to get the offense going in the first period as well, getting outshot 11-5 before registering 10 more shots in the second period. To Nashville’s credit, outside of a bad fight by Michael McCarron and a slashing peanlty by Roman Josi that led to a Jets goal in third period, the Predators evened out the game.

Throughout this four-game road trip, where the Predators posted a 1-2-1 record, Nashville has shown flashes that they can be a good team and play complete periods.

“You see the images of when we play a certain way and it’s a good picture,” Brunette said. “For us, going forward, we need to be a little more consistent with that from the puck drop. For the most part, through this trip, we have been.”

The biggest thing the Predators need to avoid is bad habits from last season. The power play needs to improve as it is sitting at a low 8.7% efficiency. Its offense needs to start scoring more, as its 15 goals for in six games is tied for the 10th lowest in the league.

Then there’s the penalty minutes. The Predators are smack dab in the middle of the league with 49 penalty minutes in six games, but it’s about the type of penalties that are taken and when.

McCarron, who was one of the league leaders in penalties and led the Predators in fights last season with nine, squared off against Logan Stanley when the Predators were down 2-0 in the second period.

While McCarron was likely trying to “fire up” the Predators, Nashville was playing predominantly better already than in the first period. It outshot Winnipeg 15-4 and went to the power play three times.

Returning to Nashville with a balanced 2-2-2 record, the Predators have a five-game home stand to take advantage of and potentially turn things around halfway through the first month of play.

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Robertsonâ€s goal came at 4:11 of the third period, and was the second of three third-period goals for the Rangers (3-3-1). It was the defencemanâ€s sixth career game.

Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller and Artemi Panarin also scored for New York, who moved to 3-0-1 on the road this season. Adam Fox had two assists, and Panarin added three helpers. Jonathan Quick made 20 saves.

The Rangers comeback came after the Canadiens (4-2-0) scored twice in the first 3:42 with goals from Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki. Both goals came before the Rangers registered their first shot on goal. Noah Dobson added his first goal as a Canadien in the third period. Samuel Montembeault made 18 saves.

The loss was Montrealâ€s first in five games, including their first three games at home.

Montreal had to recall Owen Beck on an emergency basis before the game and Joe Veleno also made his season debut after the team announced injuries to Kaiden Guhle, Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach earlier in the day.

Rangers: Despite not scoring a single goal at home in three games to start the season, New York moved to 3-0-1 with 15 goals scored on the road.

Canadiens: Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield both extended their point streaks to five games with Montrealâ€s two first-period goals. Both have eight points in that span.

The Rangers scored three goals in 5:51 of the third period to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead they wouldnâ€t relinquish.

With one goal and two assists, Artemi Panarin now has 32 points (8G, 24A) in 24 games against the Canadiens in his career, including 10 straight games in Montreal dating back to the 2017-18 season.

Rangers: Host the Minnesota Wild on Monday.

Canadiens: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.

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SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…

SHOW SUMMARY:ÂThis installment of the PWTorch VIP Vault jumps back to three episodes of the Real Deal with Pat McNeill from Sept 13, 20, and 27, 2007.

Sept. 13: This week on the Real Deal, Pat McNeill gloats about being right about Hornswoggle being Vince McMahon’s “son,” Pat’s prediction on when the next boom period will be for pro wrestling, WWE statement about Chris Benoit’s concussion history, Sandman’s WWE release, the Indy Lineup of the Week, and more.

Sept. 20: This week on the Real Deal, Pat McNeill explains how wrestling promotions can create new stars, using small words. Plus all the latest semi-important wrestling stories of the day including Rey Mysterio’s homecoming, TNA hiring more ex-WWE wrestlers, a Zach Gowen sighting, and how NOT to book the long-awaited reunion of a well-known tag team. Speaking of how not to book, one of the worst indy promoters of our generation is spotlighted in our Indy Lineup of the Week. Pat answers Listener Mail questions on Triple H and Tito Santana.

Sept. 27: This week on the Real Deal, Pat McNeill offers his services to WWE. No, really. Plus all the latest semi-important wrestling stories of the day including the scoop on next month’s big WWE DVD release, a poorly timed injury causes problems for TNA, a couple of former Shimmer wrestlers hit the big time, and ECW’s rating bottoms out at TNA levels. ROH talent and a former WWE Diva go back to Ohio in our Indy Lineup of the Week. Pat answers Listener Mail questions on Mike Modest and the mysterious Raw promo.

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The San Jose Sharks were back at the SAP Center on Wednesday night as they hosted the Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks fell to the Ducks in their first road trip of the preseason earlier this week. The Sharks ran with a fairly light roster during their trip to Southern California, but tonight they brought a lineup that looks more like what weâ€ll see on opening night against the Vegas Golden Knights next week.

The first thing I noticed during the game was Cam Lundâ€s effort level. He lost his stick in the defensive zone, blocked a shot, then had a good attempt at clearing the puck without his stick; however, the Ducks quickly regained possession in their offensive zone. Regardless of the outcome, it was a smart play by the 21-year-old forward.

The Sharks tested Anaheim goaltender Calle Clang early in the game; however, he made an incredible split-save to deny the Sharks†scoring opportunity. He also got some help from the post, as at one point, Tyler Toffoli got a breakaway opportunity that hit the inside of the post before launching into the corner.

Both teams took a penalty in the first period, but neither power play was either to take advantage, and it remained 0-0 heading into the first intermission.

Yaroslav Askarov would be forced to make a save quickly to start the second period; however, he wouldnâ€t be able to deny Beckett Sennecke just over a minute into the period, as the 19-year-old forward would make it 1-0 in favor of the visitors. Alex Wennberg was called for slashing a couple of minutes later. The Sharks would kill off the penalty, but moments later, Drew Helleson would find Sam Colangelo behind the Sharks†defense, and the Massachusetts native would make it 2-0 for the Ducks.

Things continued to spiral as Cutter Gauthier scored 7:55 into the period, scoring his second of the preseason and making it 3-0 for the visitors. In less than eight minutes, the Sharks went from a tied hockey game to a three-goal deficit. Even though itâ€s a preseason matchup, head coach Ryan Warsofsky certainly wasnâ€t going to be happy with his team slipping up in such a major fashion.

Dmitri Orlov was stripped of the puck on an offensive zone entry, allowing the Ducks to rush the other way for a 2-on-1. Luckily for the team in teal, Askarov was able to deny the attack and keep the Sharks†deficit at three goals.

The Ducks†Frank Vatrano was called for hooking at 13:46 in the period, but Anaheim maintained a perfect penalty kill by shutting the Sharks down for two minutes. The Sharks†power play got another opportunity with just over a minute left in the period as Stian Solberg was called for a puck-over-glass delay of game penalty. After a couple of close calls for Clang, the Sharks were unable to find the net before the end of the second period.

It didnâ€t take long for the Sharks to get on the board in the third period,as a Will Smith slap shot deflected off of Clang into the crease, where William Eklund put it away after it touched Tyler Toffoli, making it a 3-1 Ducks lead. After the goal, things started to get a bit chippy as a scrum broke out in the corner, which saw Vincent Desharnais go after Pavel Mintyukov after he exchanged cross-checks with Eklund. Desharnais and Mintyukov got coincidental minor penalties, while Eklund was also penalized for cross-checking, giving the Ducks a power play. It would be cut short, though, as Olen Zellweger was called for a penalty 30 seconds later.

Philipp Kurashev nearly scored, causing the goal horn to go off and play to stop for a moment, as the goal appeared to go into the net; however, it was waved off and ruled to be off the post and out. Moments later, Kurashev would get his point as heâ€d find Jeff Skinner, who fired off a wide-open one-timer to reduce the Ducks†lead to a single goal. Sennecke had a breakaway opportunity just under eight minutes into the period, but a decent defensive play by a trailing Shakir Mukhamadullin helped Askarov turn the shot aside.

The Sharks†power play got another opportunity with 8:53 remaining in regulation, as Ross Johnston was penalized for interference. Toffoli hit the post again early in the power play, but the Sharks would fail to get another quality scoring opportunity during the two minutes.

The Sharks maintained solid offensive pressure shortly after pulling their goaltender, but eventually Egor Sidorov would put away the empty-net goal and put the game out of reach.  Vatrano then scored a second empty-netter. The Sharks played well, outside of an eight-minute stretch in the second period, but that short amount of time created too big a deficit for them to overcome, as they fell 5-2.

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WWE

CM Punk has conceded that quitting WWE in 2014 was hard on his relationship with his wife, AJ Lee, who was still with the company at the time.

Punk walked out of WWE in 2014 after being disgruntled with his standing in the promotion, but Lee continued on, eventually leaving WWE — and pro wrestling — in March 2015. In his recent appearance on Kevin Hart’s “Cold As Balls” show, Punk admitted that 2014–15 was a difficult year for him and Lee, but they eventually found a way to keep their relationship intact.

“It was difficult because when I left, she was still with the company for a year. That was a hard year for us, relationship-wise. But it made everything after that so much easier,” he said. “Her understanding the business now that I’m back in it, and when she has important stuff to do — like she had a short film debut at Tribeca Film Festival — she can go do that, I can watch our dog, Larry, and when I’m here with you, freezing my nuts off, she’s at home watching Larry. I found my person. She is 100% my partner.”

The show was seemingly filmed before Lee’s return to WWE, which happened on the September 5 edition of “WWE SmackDown,” in Chicago. Ever since he returned to WWE, Punk has been asked numerous times whether Lee would rejoin the promotion, denying each time that she has any interest in getting back in the ring.Â

Punk even claimed that he and Lee would never work together even in movie or television projects. However, when Lee finally returned to WWE, she came to her husband’s aid in his feud with Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch, sharing the ring with Punk at Wrestlepalooza in her return match.Â

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SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)… SHOW SUMMARY: In this week’s The Fix…