Three things we’re talking about today when we’re talking about the Caps… It’s impossible to overstate how important the Caps’ puck management – specifically in their own end – is likely to be to their chances at success in this series. We’ve seen what happens when they’re sloppy And now they’re facing a team that absolutely feasts on that slop: As unreliable as giveaways and takeaways are as stats… that chart tells a very believable story if you’re a little confused as to the difference between the two I like to think of it as a giveaway is me dropping my wallet and you picking it up and a takeaway is you reaching into my pocket and taking it.) That dovetails nicely with something we talked about the other day regarding shot quality and Carolina’s willingness to shoot from anywhere to create rebounds and sustained pressure rather than opting to try to create higher-quality chances from the jump: Dump pucks in, forecheck like honeybadgers on cocaine, shoot from anywhere. As Spencer Carbery said, “They are constantly getting people around your net and pucks are going there and then they get the second [shot] As if that wasn’t warning enough for the importance of defensive-zone puck management how about Logan Thompson’s regular-season handling of low-danger shots On top of that, of the 40 goalies who played 1500 five-on-five minutes this season, only five yielded rebound attempts against at a higher rate than Thompson (interestingly enough Charlie Lindgren had the League’s best mark in that metric so you can’t just chalk it up to Caps defensemen not clearing rebounds) Thompson’s season was really “a tale of two seasons,” and his first-round performance resembled the better of those two but it’s still something to keep an eye on: where Carolina preys on its opponents plays into Thompson’s weaknesses in net (in aggregate) this season Unless this series becomes a special teams duel (no thank you) it’s likely going to come down to the Caps’ puck management in their own end and Thompson’s performance And the ‘Canes may be happy to take their chances with that We’ve established that getting out of the defensive zone cleanly is of the utmost importance to the Caps. But who does that fall on? The indispensable Corey Sznajder (podcast guest extraordinaire) tracked the Caps’ first-round series and his five-on-five zone-exit data is below but first a quick explainer on it from Sznajder: which is when the defending player skates back to retrieve a dump-in or a loose puck to start an exit I track whether they cleanly retrieve the puck or turn it over (botched retrieval) they can move the puck to a teammate within the zone or make an exit attempt themselves These are categorized by exits with possession (passes or carries) missed passes) and failed exits (turnovers The player who retrieved the puck as well as the player who made the zone exit are given credit for these plays we can develop some stats looking at how often each defenseman is at facilitating zone exits one of which is “retrievals leading to exits” which are how often a defenseman’s successful retrieval leads to a successful exit (an exit with possession or a clear that the forechecking team doesn’t retrieve) Basically a way to show how good each defenseman is at evading pressure to solve problems with the puck even if they aren’t the players exiting the zone bad the Caps’ defensemen were in terms of exits with possession percentage (the column by which the data is sorted) Jayden Struble was at 60% in a tiny sample and the other Habs blueliners fell between 20 and 38 percent As is the fact that John Carlson hit double digits in both botched retrievals (turnovers) and failed exits (“turnovers 10 botched retrievals and 10 failed exits; Roy and Jakob Chychrun combined for 96 retrievals and fewer botched retrievals and failed exits Carlson had 40 puck retrievals; the Caps exited the zone with possession ten times If we look at successful retrieval percentage (DZ Retrievals minus Botched Retrievals above divided by DZ Retrievals) and Exit with Possession percentage… No major retrieval issues… except for Carlson but then those ugly “Exit with Possession” numbers There’s so much data to slice and dice first being that John Carlson needs to be better with the puck and Jakob Chychrun should probably be retrieving pucks as often as possible in that pair But this isn’t about one player or even one position Zone exits are a team effort – forwards being in the right place to be exit options instead of flying the zone early and the goalie directing traffic and helping his blueliners when he plays the puck it makes a world of difference; when they’re not it’s likely to land them in a world of trouble play alongside Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson or Connor McMichael on a wildly successful-in-the-regular-season second line (and then what to do with McMichael or Wilson) maybe slot in on the third line to give snake-bitten rookie Ryan Leonard a break or perhaps grab a fourth-line spot swapping in for Taylor Raddysh That’s how versatile – and important – Protas is to this team at five-on-five He is a fixer – put him on any line and that line gets better Here’s how Big Pro fared in the top-six during the regular season (holding Ovechkin-Strome as a constant): Spencer Carbery opted for that last option (in for Raddysh on the fourth line) opting to ease Protas back into the lineup without disrupting any of the other three lines I thought [Protas] was good,” says Carbery his puck touches – for the most part – were good; I thought he gave us some good shifts on the penalty kill but I would say more related to him just missing a bunch of time and getting plugged right into a competitive playoff series So I was happy with the way that he played.” “The reason we put him [on the Dowd line] – well a couple of reasons – is [Anthony Beauvillier] has had a lot of success playing with [Dylan Strome and Alex Ovechkin] so we feel really comfortable with that line right now,” says Carbery Dowd is a really easy centerman to play with and to come back into the lineup with And Pro is so versatile – from being able to play top six penalty kill – so when he looks at the lineup and sees where he is here’s what I’ve got to do tonight at a high level playing with Nic Dowd.’ “And I thought their chemistry [led to] some good [offensive] zone shifts and a couple of good scoring chances that they created I think it was the most productive Dowd’s line has been in the series and hopefully he only gets better from there and continues to feel more and more comfortable.” it was perhaps a little surprising to see Protas sticking with that line as the Caps practiced ahead of their second-round series: outscoring Montreal 4-to-1 in Round 1 (despite an expected goals-for percentage just under 50% and Beauvillier has been a key contributor to that with a goal and four assists (on the four goals noted plus the primary assist on a Strome goal with Leonard on the ice before he could hop over the boards for Ovechkin) It’s a perfectly defensible decision… for now And Carbery seems to know it won’t be for too long: “[Protas] getting that game under his belt us having success and winning the game,” says Carbery “I think that’ll give him some confidence and as we move along here into the Carolina series I think his game and his role will become more impactful and more significant as we move along.” See, here’s the deal – playing Protas on one of your two preferred shutdown lines at home against a one-line team works so your lineup needs a bit more balance (read: defensive awareness throughout) in order to not get cooked especially when a defensively deficient line can be targeted on the road So will Protas start Game 1 against the ‘Canes on the fourth line with the second and fourth lines matching Carolina’s top two trios But at some point before the puck drops on Game 3 in Raleigh you’d think Protas would find his way back to the Strome-Ovechkin line with Beauvillier dropping down to the Dowd line Otherwise it might be open season on that Ovechkin line Aliaksei Protas doesn’t necessarily fix that by himself We’re back with Monday Musings after an electric weekend all over Iowa State Softball has officially earned its third 30-win season in program history It’s remarkable what coach Jamie Pinkerton and his squad did this season in Big 12 play and wanted my fix for Iowa State sports after the end of the college hoops season I often turned to softball to see the Cyclones could capture lightning in a bottle I thought the aspect of how the non-conference schedule was set up (and it’s only gotten weirder with conference realignment) The Cycloneers thing reached its peak – and I think many are still following that slant of things – but nothing has been able to top this year since a decade before I was alive The Cyclones came back to beat Baylor twice after dropping the first game to the Bears 10-0 in the series They will now turn to the Big 12 Tournament I feel good about Iowa State’s odds of making the national tournament – or regional as they call it This is all from what I can tell, but there’s a bracketology under the College Sports Madness banner that has had the Cyclones moving up in recent weeks They first appeared a month ago as a team in the No I’ll have more later this week on where they’re slated It seems that all this guy does is talk shit He’s a total hockey player on a basketball court and it’s made me appreciate him even more than I ever thought I could making a statement that his Indiana team is here to play Here’s the remaining schedule for Haliburton and the Pacers in round 2: Iowa State quarterback commit Jett Thomalla received his invitation to the Elite 11 camp extended to the top quarterback prospects in the country and four-star prospect out of Millard South High School in Omaha committed to Iowa State just nine days ago.  He’ll become the sixth Cyclone quarterback to participate in the event.Cyclones in the Elite 11 Cyclones to compete in Elite 11Grant Rohach I wanted to do a normal quick hits from the week – but when I saw how much of a dud WWE Smackdown was in Des Moines and how much I loathe having to have another thought on Deion Sanders’ kid I’m just going to spotlight one thing what happened this weekend twice has only happened three other times 2 goal comebacks in the 3rd period to win a game 7 in NHL history:First 106 years: 3Last 2 days: 2 #StanleyCupPlayoffs — Dominic Moore (@mooredom) May 5, 2025 and it felt near impossible to switch the energy in that game but that’s what makes this sport special The sexiest goal ever scored in the history of hockey. pic.twitter.com/hznvAv0AjG — Connor Ferguson (@cfchangs9) May 4, 2025 The Winnipeg Jets looked dead in the water with the latter coming in the final two seconds.  That’s a buzzer beater the NBA fans haven’t seen this playoffs The Jets went on to win and we’ll have another war in the second round between them and Dallas THE JETS TIE IT WITH 1.6 SECONDS LEFT IN THE GAME 🤯 PANDEMONIUM IN WINNIPEG, WE GOT GAME 7 OVERTIME 😱 pic.twitter.com/iIWCyUeq2p — B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 5, 2025 Watching professionals play this sport while they are walking on egg shells is one of the coolest things to see in sports Everything changes when one mistake *will* ruin your season I hope you and your friends park it next to the TV this week and watch the second round The NHL says the Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights will face off early Thursday evening in St Currently, Vegas leads the series 3-2 after defeating the Wild on Tuesday night in overtime Thursday’s game will air on ESPN. However, tickets are still available and start at $80. You can CLICK HERE to buy them Whoever wins will face either the Edmonton Oilers or the Los Angeles Kings You can find additional Wild coverage from KSTP Sports by CLICKING HERE Any person with disabilities who needs help accessing the content of the FCC Public File may contact KSTP via our online form or call 651-646-5555 To say Gina Rome and Ashley Hufford have their dream job would be a little misleading — it wasn't a job they knew they could dream of before they had it Rome is the team's digital asset librarian Both have master's degrees in library sciences They always assumed their degrees would take them down more traditional librarian paths And they did for a while — until the Kraken went looking for a couple of more academic types to help them record team history RELATED: Rising from the deep: How the Kraken broke the ice on hockey in Seattle That includes full footage of every Kraken game plus community events and miscellaneous team lore like when Climate Pledge Arena was being built Rome and Hufford are the keepers of more than 300,000 digital assets and that's after just four seasons since the Kraken started playing "We get half a terabyte of media per home game," Rome said According to the file hosting service Dropbox half a terabyte comes out to about 125,000 photos or 125 movies or 250 hours of HD video or more than 3 million pages of documents if we didn't exist and we didn't have this system there'd just be hard drives piling up," Hufford said RELATED: Evoking the spirit of the Kraken That's why some professional sports teams have hired professional librarians to manage their digital media Recent Super Bowl champions the Philadelphia Eagles have a digital asset librarian That's because librarians have the skills to arrange and access the team's assets in a more methodical way than your average marketing specialist They're also sorting through them to pick the best of the best for any given need Rome had about two hours to pull a dozen videos for the pre-game footage The clips you see on the news or in highlight reels If you want shots of kids in the crowd going crazy for the Kraken You want a compilation of Jordan Eberle for his 1,000th game because our fans are really diverse," Hufford said I want to make sure that we're picking out things that reflect who we are as a group." "There's a little bit of power there," Rome added referring to the role they play in the image projected to Seattle and the hockey world at-large RELATED: Seattle Now: A Kraken fan's miraculous save It's a fire hose — or maybe a snow machine — of content coming at Rome and Hufford during the season 'How do you handle having such a boring job?'" Rome said Make no mistake: Rome and Hufford are fans They both happen to be from Michigan and big-time Detroit Red Wings families you don't escape winter and hockey," Hufford said She recalled playing on a frozen pond on a friend's farm and the majesty of the Red Wings' old Joe Louis Arena While Hufford grew up "in the middle of nowhere" in Central Michigan And she grew up there at the perfect time for a budding hockey fan and the Red Wings were on a tear that culminated in back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 1997 and 1998 They also had what was considered one of the greatest regular seasons in NHL history in the 1995-96 season when the Red Wings won 62 regularly scheduled games beating the record previously set by the 1976–77 Montreal Canadiens RELATED: Seattle Kraken and the soundtrack of a hockey game "We were like the center of the hockey universe for a couple of years," Rome said We've all got to switch places on the couch Hockey was something she shared with both her father and her grandfather "My dad was the first person I emailed from my Kraken email account," Rome said and father and daughter text through the game The Red Wings won both matches against the Kraken this season "My feeling is one of my teams is gonna win," Rome said Rome and Hufford's connection to the Kraken goes far beyond the team paying them It's clear they've adopted the team as their own and cheer them on at every turn (even from the press bridge where people aren't really supposed to cheer for anyone) They said it's been an honor to help develop the brand and public image of the Kraken "The energy of being in the place where all the operations happen and to know that you're all working toward a goal to just bring people together through sports Rome also happens to be on the local roller derby scene "I never knew that this could be my life," she said Seattle's hockey scene is growing even more the Professional Women's Hockey League announced Seattle will get a professional women's team this year Seattle will be one of the new league's first West Coast teams and the eighth to sign on RELATED: Seattle to get professional women's hockey team this year Rome and Hufford spoke to KUOW the day before the announcement, but they were hopeful it was coming. "That would be very exciting," Rome said, with a sly smile. "People need something exciting to rally around, and sports is such a great vehicle for that." Katie joined KUOW's online team as an editor and reporter in 2024, after serving three years as senior producer of the local Morning Edition program. She has covered a variety of local topics, including the Seattle City Council, elections, and breaking news. She also brings readers some levity with a weekly news quiz. KUOW is Seattle’s NPR news station. We are an independent, nonprofit news organization that produces award-winning journalism, innovative podcasts, engaging community events, and more. © 2025 BVM Sports. Best Version Media, LLC. particularly involving goalie Logan Thompson Core players need to improve their exit strategies; statistics indicate that defensemen have struggled in facilitating clean zone exits Rookie Aliaksei Protas's versatility may help balance lines but adjustments are necessary to meet the challenges posed by the Hurricanes adjustments to the lineup may be made to enhance defensive awareness and balance across all lines Protas could shift back to a primary scoring line to bolster defense against Carolina’s depth The Capitals must prioritize improving puck management and defensive strategies to progress in the playoffs particularly against a well-rounded opponent like Carolina or risk being exploited during critical moments The summary of the linked article was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence technology from OpenAI We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it OK Privacy policy Hockey Forums The Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs face off in Game 1 of the NHL Playoffs Second Round at Scotiabank Arena on Monday Here is our prediction for who will clinch the win in this NHL Playoffs Second Round contest Sign up for ESPN+ today to watch 1,000+ out-of-market NHL games Think the Panthers will bring home the victory in this matchup? Or will the Maple Leafs pull it out? Bet on the winner at BetMGM Place your bets on any NHL matchup at BetMGM. Sign up today using our link. Bet on this or any NHL matchup at BetMGM. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER from the very conventional to the more modern Ancient reports tell of a time when circuses were all about real and a fat man in a red suit (not Santa) presiding over it all as trapeze artists zoomed overhead Acts such as Cirque Du Soleil changed perceptions of circus some time ago In this preview of a number of the shows appearing over the coming weeks Revel Puck pitch their big top and give us a taster of what they have to offer the circus visitor in 2025 Hosted by a female ringmaster (Ringmistress Ringperson?) who seems enthusiastic but is let down by a slightly iffy sound system the first couple of acts actually feel rather like throw-backs to an earlier era audience members are invited to enter the ring and shine torches on two artists as they perform some dance and acrobatic moves apparently illustrating themes of trust and risk If this is the first time you’ve seen someone stand on another person’s shoulders there’s a chance you might find this impressive Next up was a roller-skater dancing around the ring and then spinning some hula hoops around her body but didn’t strike me as particularly original Things look up as we move towards the end of the short first half A pair of dancers inhabit big top tent-style props while dancing to East 17’s House of Love but their act is lifted by the originality of the performance and the ingenious use of their props This is followed by two more dancers with enormous balloons attached to their heads into which they proceed to immerse their whole bodies the concept isn’t complicated but the imagination and brio of the act make it hilarious and joyful things take a queer turn and it feels like we are definitely in 21st century Brighton at last With a lot of young children in the audience I imagine there will have been several “interesting” family conversations after the show and if this served as an early introduction to life outside the heteronormative bubble I saw one boy of maybe 10 or 12 with his eyes wide as saucers and hands clamped over his mouth in amazement as the gorgeous Lucinda B whose vertiginous platform heels are impressive enough performs an acrobatic striptease which left her in nothing but glittery nipple tassels and modesty pouch That kid is unlikely to forget the experience in a hurry and hopefully his parents will have used it as the start of a constructive conversation The Revel Puck Circus runs throughout Brighton Fringe provides a showcase for both traditional and edgier circus acts so visitors should have no trouble finding themselves something which suits their particular tastes The Revel Puck Circus plays until 1 June at Brighton Fringe 2025) – The newest addition to the Las Vegas youth hockey landscape the Vegas Golden Knights High School Hockey League will drop the puck on its inaugural season this Sunday The league, which is the first of its kind in the Las Vegas Valley where players will represent the areas in which they live, features eight teams in the Major Division and eight corresponding teams in the Minor Division. It is co-ed and includes 320 high school aged players (birthyears 2008-11). Knight Life previewed the new league in last week’s episode The following are the teams and areas each represents: PT and will take place at three facilities: This week’s featured Game of the Week will pit the Northmen against the Blue Diamond Tigers at 6:20 p.m Each Sunday evening the Game of the Week at City National Arena will feature national anthems in-game player interviews and other enhancements For more information on the VGK High School Hockey League, including a game schedule and updated standings once play begins, visit americafirstcenter.com Navigate every nook and cranny in DC’s oldest Get the scoop on what's happening in Georgetown Learn more about the organization that enhances Georgetown’s commercial district Join CUT by Wolfgang Puck (1050 31st St NW) for A Night with Wolfgang on Wednesday Meet the culinary legend and embark on a journey through four decades of his iconic dishes Savor a curated selection of his signature creations then enjoy an intimate conversation with the chef A portion of proceeds will support Hope for Henry a nonprofit dedicated to reinventing the pediatric patient experience for hospitalized children and their families Get the weekly scoop on sales & events in Georgetown The Kings entered Game 6 in Edmonton with their backs against wall after falling to the Oilers in the three previous games that losing streak was extended to four games after 60 minutes of play on Thursday night as the Kings fell 6-4 and were eliminated from the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs by a count of 4-2 in the best-of-seven series Game 6 began about as well as you could’ve drawn it up for the Kings as Quinton Byfield found the back of the net just 79 seconds after the opening puck drop Catching a slightly fatigued trio of Oilers forwards the Kings quickly pushed the puck north in transition Kevin Fiala found a streaking Byfield crossing into the Oilers zone as Byfield created an in tight breakaway by out-staking a backchecking Leon Draisaitl Byfield went backhand to forehand and beat Calvin Pickard for the game’s opening goal The goal for Byfield marked his third tally of the series while Fiala’s primary assist gave him his sixth point (3-3=6) in as many games Having silenced the crowd with the early goal Evening the score at 1-1 1:45 after the Byfield goal the Oilers converted with chaos ensuing in the in front of the Kings net After a centering attempt through the Kings slot by the Oilers almost ended up the back of the net the Kings were in scramble mode with all five skaters within a stick’s length of the crease Connor Brown then gained possession of the puck just above the slot ripped a wrist shot through the heavy traffic and the puck deflected off of his linemate Adam Henrique’s body and into the net The game was tied 1-1 with 16:56 remaining in the first period The eventful first period swung back in favor of the visitors just 33 seconds later when the Kings took advantage of another clean zone entry on the rush and retook the lead Phillip Danault found a wide open Brandt Clarke in space Clarke walked into the high slot and fired a wrist shot far-side With the Kings back in front with 16:23 to go in the opening period This time only taking 1:42 to knot the game the Oilers converted on their first power play attempt of the Game 6 After sustaining significant zone time in the Kings end Connor McDavid fed an open Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the weakside of the ice and the former first overall draft pick in 2011 roofed Kuemper over the blocker through a net-front screen The game was tied again with 14:05 left in the first The scoring settled down momentarily and the Kings began to establish their effective forecheck that we’d seen in Game’s 1-4 With opportunities continuing to be created on both ends of the ice the Oilers earned their first lead of the game with 7:11 remaining in the first period Coming directly off of an offensive zone face-off win by Nugent-Hopkins Darnell Nurse wristed a shot towards the Kings net and it was Zach Hyman getting his stick on the puck for a deflection that rocketed up and past the high glove side of Kuemper As if the first period didn’t have enough action The middle stanza began with a scoreless first 14:59 but the remaining five minutes saw a total of three more goals an open Nurse received a pass in the slot on a defensive zone breakdown by the Kings and beat Kuemper with a shot inside the goalie’s right arm With the play beginning in Edmonton’s zone the Kings skaters got caught too low resulting in an odd man rush for the Oilers Attempting to chase down the puck carrying Brown both defensemen went to the man with the puck leaving Trent Frederic alone in front of Kuemper Brown was able to get the puck to Frederic and the Oilers trade deadline pickup chipped the puck through Kuemper to make it a 5-2 game with 3:25 to go in the second period Now facing their largest deficit of the series (empty net goals not included) the Kings scored an important goal before period’s end to bring the game back within reach After having been scratched earlier in the series Jordan Spence came up clutch alongside the Kings fourth line who also had a strong game Spence pinched down into the high slot with the Kings in possession of the puck and hammered a shot past the blocker side of Pickard The goal for Spence was his first point of the series while Helenius’ helper was his first career point in the playoffs The Kings pushed hard in the third period trying to erase the two-goal deficit The Kings came extremely close to cutting the Oilers lead in half multiple times midway into the period but Pickard was solid when tested throughout the game and especially in the final period The Kings veterans did come up big with 55 seconds remaining in regulation to cut the Oilers lead to 5-4 Giving the Kings a chance at tying the game in the last minute Drew Doughty unloaded a shot from the blue line and captain Anze Kopitar redirected the puck in route towards the net ultimately finding its way past Pickard and into the net The Kings gained possession in the Oilers zone in the dying seconds of regulation but could not get the puck on net to tie the game The Oilers prevailed with an empty net goal with .8 seconds to go in the game and in doing so knocked the Kings out of the playoffs for the fourth consecutive postseason Kuemper stopped 23 of 28 shots on the night Liz Brown was watching her fiancé play hockey when the unthinkable happened