[h=1]<yt-formatted-string class="style-scope ytd-video-primary-info-renderer" style="--yt-endpoint-color:hsl(206.1, 79.3%, 52.7%);">NHL Highlights | Penguins vs. Flyers, Game 6 - Apr. 22, 2018.</yt-formatted-string>[/h]
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[FONT="]It's a Second Round match up.
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Barzal wins this
he is a treat to watch. So graceful, a BEAUTIFUL skater. Kinda like Jeff Skinner
Barzal has been working with Victor Kraatz , an Olympian figure skater. He credits Kraatz's efforts;
“I’ve always been a pretty good skater. It’s been one of the better assets of my game from a young age, but the last two seasons I’ve really worked on my speed and gotten faster,” Barzal says of his summer edgework sessions with Kraatz.
“That took my game to the next level.”
Vegas fans ready to cash in 'miracle' Cup wagers.
Leave it to a team in Las Vegas to defy the odds.
The expansion Vegas Golden Knights have gone from the largest underdog in NHL preseason wagering to just 12 wins away from perhaps the most unexpected championship in pro sports history. They've converted hordes of nonbelievers during their 109-point season, a record for a first-year franchise. But Montreal's Kar Yung Tom believed in them even before a single player had been added to the roster.
He believed in them enough to put $200 on the Golden Knights at 200-to-1 odds to win the Stanley Cup in their first season. His betting slip is worth $40,000 if they do.
"They have a reasonable shot. They're insane at home. I just wish they won the Presidents' Trophy, because that would have made me more confident," he said, adding that he intends to fly in for a game if they're close to the Cup.
Tom is one of hundreds of people who bet on the Golden Knights at inflated odds to win the Stanley Cup and now look like prophets of profit as the team enters the second round against the San Jose Sharks as the odds-on favorite to win the Cup, at 9-2. Some locked them in at 200-1, others at between 150-1 and 100-1. According to the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, there are just 13 fans who managed to lock the Golden Knights in at 500-1 from Oct. 4 to 8.
In speaking to some of them, it's clear there were motivations that go beyond this being a lark or the sports equivalent of a lottery drawing.
Tom, a media coordinator for Face To Face Games in Montreal, was in Las Vegas for a competitive Magic: The Gathering tournament. He had a healthy showing at the poker table while in town for the event, so he decided to put $200 on a futures bet for the Knights to win the Cup. It's something he has had success with, actually, winning on previous preseason Cup wagers for the Los Angeles Kings and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Vegas team, at those odds, seemed like a good prospect.
"I was really excited by all these articles about what their team might look like after the draft," said Tom, referencing one piece by Dom Luszczyszyn in The Athletic that projected what the roster might look like before the expansion draft.
Then the expansion draft happened and Tom figured his bet wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.
"I was disappointed when they drafted their team. People were making fun of me, saying I should burn the ticket because they drafted, like, infinite depth defensemen. I thought it was dead money," he said. "Although not anymore."
Tom believes the Knights can win, but he's also a realist. So Tom decided to hedge his bet, inviting some friends to buy in on the action. "The Jets and Predators scare me to death," he said. He has received roughly $2,000 from his "investors" and is still in line to win over $20,000 himself if Vegas hoists the Cup.
Brian Bélisle from Quebec got the Knights at 250-1 for $20 and was a believer because of the way the NHL altered its expansion draft rules in their favor.
"I knew they would be a good team when the rules of the expansion draft were revealed. And with the parity in the league now, every team have their chances," he said. "It feels good to be close to a big win like this. It would be my biggest win in sports betting."
Matthew Boyer of Las Vegas doesn't bet futures. He hadn't watched hockey since he was 12 years old. The Knights convinced him to do both, and his $11 bet at 150-1 on Oct. 13 will net him $1,650 if they win the Cup.
"I feel really good. People are always talking about how they wish they could have gotten the Knights at like 100-1, and I'm like, 'I got it, I got it!' I tell everyone any time it's bought up. It's a proud moment of my life. Which is really sad, but it's still a proud moment, yeah," Boyer said.
Boyer made the bet at time when Las Vegas was in the midst of emotional turmoil following the mass shooting in the city on Oct. 1. The Knights' first home game was a celebration of hockey arriving in Las Vegas, but more than that, it was a memorial and tribute to those affected by the shooting. It bonded the team to the fans, and the fans -- like Boyer -- to the team.
"It's hard to explain, really. But watching the Knights ... I didn't know anything about hockey, but they looked so good. And I'm like, how can the odds be 200-1? So it was a combination of that and the whole city just rallying around them, getting caught up in them, being Vegas Strong. It was inspiring," said Boyer, who works in the oil industry.
The Knights have already made Boyer a profit. Like many fans, he was wagering on them throughout the regular season.
"Early in the season, I crushed it. I just got goose bumps thinking about it. They were plus-$200 every night," he said.
Boyer has felt goose bumps since the Knights made the playoffs too. Not because he has money on the team. But because they're his team.
"I've never experienced something like this. I never had a team to call my own. Everything that happens, it feels like it's happening to me. I didn't grow up rooting for a team. Now, with them here, it's almost like they were born. Like a child. It's really weird," Boyer said.
Ken Boehlke has been a Knights fan since before they were the Knights, and before they were even formally a team. His site, SinBin.vegas, tracked the progress of owner Bill Foley's journey to secure the expansion franchise. He wagered on the Knights to win the Stanley Cup this season back in January 2017 -- six months before the expansion draft.
"I made the bet because I thought it would be funny, and a keepsake," said Boehlke, who wagered $5 at 100-1 on the Knights. It was one of several futures bets he made on the Knights, with varying degrees of silliness: His favorite was whether the Knights would finish with more points than Atlanta Falconsrunning back Devonta Freeman would have rushing yards in Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots. Freeman had 75 rushing yards. The Golden Knights were a 109-point team.
His plan was to place a futures bet on the Knights to win the Cup in each of their first six seasons, as Foley said he expected the team to win the championship in its sixth season.
It might happen a heck of a lot quicker than that.
"I said they were going to make the playoffs before Thanksgiving, when they beat up Anaheim in Anaheim," Boehlke said. "I think it's foolish to pick against them. You're better off being safe and saying that they're going to win the Cup; if you're wrong, then you were wrong 45 times before. But honestly, deep down, I think they're going to win."
For some it was a goof, for some it was a spiritual thing, for others it was a smart play based on what the Golden Knights could do in a parity-filled league. Whatever the motivation, there are fans riding along on this expansion team's journey, inching closer to a long shot jackpot with each victory. As the Vegas players dream of winning the Stanley Cup, these fans can't help but dream about what'll happen if they do.
Bélisle said he'll transfer the money to a Cup wager next year but also put some cash down for a boat.
Tom said he has a more immediate need for the $20,000 he could collect from a Golden Knights' championship: "I'm actually getting married this year. This would help a lot."
If there was ever a more compelling reason for a honeymoon in Las Vegas, we haven't seen it.
Leave it to a team in Las Vegas to defy the odds.
The expansion Vegas Golden Knights have gone from the largest underdog in NHL preseason wagering to just 12 wins away from perhaps the most unexpected championship in pro sports history. They've converted hordes of nonbelievers during their 109-point season, a record for a first-year franchise. But Montreal's Kar Yung Tom believed in them even before a single player had been added to the roster.
He believed in them enough to put $200 on the Golden Knights at 200-to-1 odds to win the Stanley Cup in their first season. His betting slip is worth $40,000 if they do.
"They have a reasonable shot. They're insane at home. I just wish they won the Presidents' Trophy, because that would have made me more confident," he said, adding that he intends to fly in for a game if they're close to the Cup.
Tom is one of hundreds of people who bet on the Golden Knights at inflated odds to win the Stanley Cup and now look like prophets of profit as the team enters the second round against the San Jose Sharks as the odds-on favorite to win the Cup, at 9-2. Some locked them in at 200-1, others at between 150-1 and 100-1. According to the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, there are just 13 fans who managed to lock the Golden Knights in at 500-1 from Oct. 4 to 8.
In speaking to some of them, it's clear there were motivations that go beyond this being a lark or the sports equivalent of a lottery drawing.
Tom, a media coordinator for Face To Face Games in Montreal, was in Las Vegas for a competitive Magic: The Gathering tournament. He had a healthy showing at the poker table while in town for the event, so he decided to put $200 on a futures bet for the Knights to win the Cup. It's something he has had success with, actually, winning on previous preseason Cup wagers for the Los Angeles Kings and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Vegas team, at those odds, seemed like a good prospect.
"I was really excited by all these articles about what their team might look like after the draft," said Tom, referencing one piece by Dom Luszczyszyn in The Athletic that projected what the roster might look like before the expansion draft.
Then the expansion draft happened and Tom figured his bet wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.
"I was disappointed when they drafted their team. People were making fun of me, saying I should burn the ticket because they drafted, like, infinite depth defensemen. I thought it was dead money," he said. "Although not anymore."
Tom believes the Knights can win, but he's also a realist. So Tom decided to hedge his bet, inviting some friends to buy in on the action. "The Jets and Predators scare me to death," he said. He has received roughly $2,000 from his "investors" and is still in line to win over $20,000 himself if Vegas hoists the Cup.
Brian Bélisle from Quebec got the Knights at 250-1 for $20 and was a believer because of the way the NHL altered its expansion draft rules in their favor.
"I knew they would be a good team when the rules of the expansion draft were revealed. And with the parity in the league now, every team have their chances," he said. "It feels good to be close to a big win like this. It would be my biggest win in sports betting."
Matthew Boyer of Las Vegas doesn't bet futures. He hadn't watched hockey since he was 12 years old. The Knights convinced him to do both, and his $11 bet at 150-1 on Oct. 13 will net him $1,650 if they win the Cup.
"I feel really good. People are always talking about how they wish they could have gotten the Knights at like 100-1, and I'm like, 'I got it, I got it!' I tell everyone any time it's bought up. It's a proud moment of my life. Which is really sad, but it's still a proud moment, yeah," Boyer said.
Boyer made the bet at time when Las Vegas was in the midst of emotional turmoil following the mass shooting in the city on Oct. 1. The Knights' first home game was a celebration of hockey arriving in Las Vegas, but more than that, it was a memorial and tribute to those affected by the shooting. It bonded the team to the fans, and the fans -- like Boyer -- to the team.
"It's hard to explain, really. But watching the Knights ... I didn't know anything about hockey, but they looked so good. And I'm like, how can the odds be 200-1? So it was a combination of that and the whole city just rallying around them, getting caught up in them, being Vegas Strong. It was inspiring," said Boyer, who works in the oil industry.
The Knights have already made Boyer a profit. Like many fans, he was wagering on them throughout the regular season.
"Early in the season, I crushed it. I just got goose bumps thinking about it. They were plus-$200 every night," he said.
Boyer has felt goose bumps since the Knights made the playoffs too. Not because he has money on the team. But because they're his team.
"I've never experienced something like this. I never had a team to call my own. Everything that happens, it feels like it's happening to me. I didn't grow up rooting for a team. Now, with them here, it's almost like they were born. Like a child. It's really weird," Boyer said.
Ken Boehlke has been a Knights fan since before they were the Knights, and before they were even formally a team. His site, SinBin.vegas, tracked the progress of owner Bill Foley's journey to secure the expansion franchise. He wagered on the Knights to win the Stanley Cup this season back in January 2017 -- six months before the expansion draft.
"I made the bet because I thought it would be funny, and a keepsake," said Boehlke, who wagered $5 at 100-1 on the Knights. It was one of several futures bets he made on the Knights, with varying degrees of silliness: His favorite was whether the Knights would finish with more points than Atlanta Falconsrunning back Devonta Freeman would have rushing yards in Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots. Freeman had 75 rushing yards. The Golden Knights were a 109-point team.
His plan was to place a futures bet on the Knights to win the Cup in each of their first six seasons, as Foley said he expected the team to win the championship in its sixth season.
It might happen a heck of a lot quicker than that.
"I said they were going to make the playoffs before Thanksgiving, when they beat up Anaheim in Anaheim," Boehlke said. "I think it's foolish to pick against them. You're better off being safe and saying that they're going to win the Cup; if you're wrong, then you were wrong 45 times before. But honestly, deep down, I think they're going to win."
For some it was a goof, for some it was a spiritual thing, for others it was a smart play based on what the Golden Knights could do in a parity-filled league. Whatever the motivation, there are fans riding along on this expansion team's journey, inching closer to a long shot jackpot with each victory. As the Vegas players dream of winning the Stanley Cup, these fans can't help but dream about what'll happen if they do.
Bélisle said he'll transfer the money to a Cup wager next year but also put some cash down for a boat.
Tom said he has a more immediate need for the $20,000 he could collect from a Golden Knights' championship: "I'm actually getting married this year. This would help a lot."
If there was ever a more compelling reason for a honeymoon in Las Vegas, we haven't seen it.
Sean Couturier plays through torn MCL, posts hat trick in Flyers' loss.
Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier added another chapter to the book on hockey player toughness, scoring three goals and assisting on two others -- while playing on a torn MCL.
Couturier's effort wasn't enough to keep the Flyers from getting eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs with an 8-5 loss to Pittsburgh, but it will no doubt earn him respect across the NHL.
Couturier injured his right knee in a practice collision with a teammate Tuesday and missed Game 4 of the series. But with his team down 3-1 in the series, he returned and scored the game winner in Game 5 on Friday, before his encore performance in Game 6 Sunday was overshadowed by a four-goal outburst from Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel.
The team had not divulged the nature of Couturier's injury, but he told reporters after Sunday's elimination that he had torn his MCL, and that while it would not require surgery, it likely would have meant a four-week absence had it been the regular season.
"It's tough, because we lost, obviously," Couturier said. "I just tried to lay it all out there, and give it all I had. It's too bad we didn't come with the result we wanted."
Couturier opened the scoring in Game 6 with a goal just 2:15 into the first period, then scored early again -- at the 0:40 mark of the second period -- to push the Flyers back into the lead at 3-2. But by the time he completed his hat trick late in the third period, Guentzel and the Penguins had the game all but tucked away.
Couturier finished Philadelphia's brief postseason with 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists) in the five games he played. He had 31 goals and 76 points while playing all 82 regular-season games.
Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier added another chapter to the book on hockey player toughness, scoring three goals and assisting on two others -- while playing on a torn MCL.
Couturier's effort wasn't enough to keep the Flyers from getting eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs with an 8-5 loss to Pittsburgh, but it will no doubt earn him respect across the NHL.
Couturier injured his right knee in a practice collision with a teammate Tuesday and missed Game 4 of the series. But with his team down 3-1 in the series, he returned and scored the game winner in Game 5 on Friday, before his encore performance in Game 6 Sunday was overshadowed by a four-goal outburst from Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel.
The team had not divulged the nature of Couturier's injury, but he told reporters after Sunday's elimination that he had torn his MCL, and that while it would not require surgery, it likely would have meant a four-week absence had it been the regular season.
"It's tough, because we lost, obviously," Couturier said. "I just tried to lay it all out there, and give it all I had. It's too bad we didn't come with the result we wanted."
Couturier opened the scoring in Game 6 with a goal just 2:15 into the first period, then scored early again -- at the 0:40 mark of the second period -- to push the Flyers back into the lead at 3-2. But by the time he completed his hat trick late in the third period, Guentzel and the Penguins had the game all but tucked away.
Couturier finished Philadelphia's brief postseason with 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists) in the five games he played. He had 31 goals and 76 points while playing all 82 regular-season games.
Jake Guentzel second player in NHL history to score four straight goals in playoff game.
When one of a team's top players is out of the lineup, someone needs to step up -- a challenge that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel took upon himself Sunday.
With superstar Evgeni Malkin sitting out Game 6 with a lower-body injury, second-year player Guentzel took over, scoring four consecutive goals to propel the Penguins from a 4-3 deficit to a 7-4 lead and an eventual 8-5 victory to clinch their first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Guentzel is only the second player in NHL history to score four consecutive goals -- a streak uninterrupted by either team -- in a playoff game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Tim Kerr of the Philadelphia Flyers also did it in Game 3 of the 1985 quarterfinals against the New York Rangers.
Guentzel, 23, tied the game at 4-4 with 54 seconds left in the second period off a Flyers turnover. He scored 30 seconds into the third for the lead off another giveaway, and sealed one more lopsided win over the Flyers with two goals 10 seconds apart later in the period.
"He has the ability to play his best when the stakes are the highest. We have a team that does that. They embrace adversity. They embrace the struggle. Our team doesn't get rattled. They embrace the challenge," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.
Guentzel is the third Penguin -- along with Mario Lemieux and Kevin Stevens -- and the 35th player overall to score four times in a playoff game.
The last player to do it was Ottawa's Jean-Gabriel Pageau, last season against the Rangers.
When one of a team's top players is out of the lineup, someone needs to step up -- a challenge that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel took upon himself Sunday.
With superstar Evgeni Malkin sitting out Game 6 with a lower-body injury, second-year player Guentzel took over, scoring four consecutive goals to propel the Penguins from a 4-3 deficit to a 7-4 lead and an eventual 8-5 victory to clinch their first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Guentzel is only the second player in NHL history to score four consecutive goals -- a streak uninterrupted by either team -- in a playoff game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Tim Kerr of the Philadelphia Flyers also did it in Game 3 of the 1985 quarterfinals against the New York Rangers.
Guentzel, 23, tied the game at 4-4 with 54 seconds left in the second period off a Flyers turnover. He scored 30 seconds into the third for the lead off another giveaway, and sealed one more lopsided win over the Flyers with two goals 10 seconds apart later in the period.
"He has the ability to play his best when the stakes are the highest. We have a team that does that. They embrace adversity. They embrace the struggle. Our team doesn't get rattled. They embrace the challenge," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.
Guentzel is the third Penguin -- along with Mario Lemieux and Kevin Stevens -- and the 35th player overall to score four times in a playoff game.
The last player to do it was Ottawa's Jean-Gabriel Pageau, last season against the Rangers.
