NHL plus-minus: Crosby scores goal of the year; Bruins facing another late-season slip
The week of NHL action kicked into high-gear with 11 games on the schedule last night. Not only was it a busy night, it was an eventful one as well, so let's take a look at the pluses and minuses from Tuesday.
Plus: Sidney Crosby
https://youtu.be/Twl-2909fCM
The best player in the world scored his 41st goal of the season on Tuesday night and, man, it was something to behold.
Crosby managed to drive right through the middle of the Buffalo Sabres defense and score on a one-handed top-shelf flip from his backhand.
Just look at this.
https://gfycat.com/ForthrightGlisteningFrog
LOOK AT IT.
https://gfycat.com/SpeedyNaughtyHartebeest
That's the best goal of the year so far and, amazingly, I saw a lot of people on Twitter trying to discredit it last night.
https://twitter.com/Kennethcordero3/status/844360849775087616
https://twitter.com/EamusAndy/status/844336365382852609
I understand it's the Sabres and there essentially wasn't a shred of defensive competence on that sequence, but I don't care. Crosby could have been the only player on the ice and going top shelf with a one-handed backhand flick at full speed would still be insane. The strength required for that is bananas.
There were also a number of people blaming Buffalo goalie Robin Lehner for not making the save. Sorry, but I'm not going to fault a guy for not anticipating that absurd shot there. Let's lay it out in a hip new meme:
Did I do that right? Probably not.
Minus: Sidney Crosby
For every ying, there is a yang.
Unfortunately for Ryan O'Reilly, his undercarriage was Crosby's yang on Tuesday.
https://gfycat.com/ReliableEssentialCuckoo
That's certainly one hell of a cheap shot -- god bless hockey players' insistence on assaulting one another's genitalia -- but O'Reilly will probably get a Masterton nomination out of it, so it's all good.
Crosby also had some unfortunate stick work returned his way, as he got clobbered in the face by a high stick from Evander Kane toward the end of night.
https://youtu.be/mA9-jud67y0
The result was this. Yikes.
https://twitter.com/SinBinApparel/status/844363328835256325
No worries, though. I bet this lady is still into him.
https://twitter.com/penguins/status/844332909020545025
Plus: Line Brawls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCnbaWhTOaY
The NHL may not be as hardcore or as violent as it used to be, so every so often tensions spike and we get a brief flashback to "old-time hockey." That happened in New Jersey on Tuesday night when Devils rookie Miles Wood got driven into the stanchion by the Rangers' Nick Holden.
Wood was clearly displeased with the hit and he wanted swift vengeance on Holden, so he dropped the gloves and started whaling on the defenseman. That sparked a legitimate line brawl that saw several pairs dropping the glove and exchanging punches. (Not one of these typical 2017 "line brawls" that features two guys battling while everyone else picks a man and hugs them tenderly until the conclusion of the fight.)
Score one for the old, bloodthirsty fans.
Minus: Boston Bruins
Tuesday night brought the second tough loss for the Bruins in as many nights (and third in a row). Even worse, those two losses came against crucial divisional opponents -- the former being the Maple Leafs, who are just a point back of Boston for the third Atlantic playoff spot (with two games in hand) and the latter being the Senators, who defeated the B's on Tuesday night to increase their lead in the standings to eight points.
It may not yet be time to panic in Boston but this is recent stretch is the worst they've looked under interim head coach Bruce Cassidy. They're losing grip on playoff positioning at a very inopportune time and there are a few hungry teams -- the Leafs, Islanders, and Lightning -- not far behind in the standings.
For a team that has had late season collapses cost them a postseason berth in each of the last two seasons, some concern is warranted. For what it's worth, Cassidy doesn't seem overly haunted by ghosts of Bruins past.
https://twitter.com/HackswithHaggs/status/844374872327368704
At least they got shades of Bobby Orr on this impressive goal from Torey Krug?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uLPhfI3OOM
Plus: Anthony Mantha
https://youtu.be/Rn8IoC0Qk3Y
On the long list of things that are great about three-on-three overtime, the space and freedom it allows for players to showcase their dangles is near the top. Mantha took advantage of that opportunity on Tuesday night in Montreal, where he dragged Alex Galchenyuk and Shea Weber with some nifty stick handling before sniping home the game-winner on Al Montoya.
There haven't been a lot of wonderful things about this season for the Red Wings, who are going to miss the playoffs for the first time in 26 years, but the 22-year-old Mantha's emergence as a key contributor is a silver lining. That OT winner gives him 15 goals on the year.
Minus: Rasmus Ristolainen
https://youtu.be/SZro0XoEL9k
The Sabres defenseman saw his night come to a very premature end when he was given a game misconduct for this check on Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel less than 10 minutes into Tuesday's game in Buffalo.
On one hand, that's certainly interference and an unfortunate hit. Considering that it gave Guentzel a concussion, it might land Ristolainen a suspension from the league as well.
But, on the other hand, it's tough to call this dirty. Ristolainen stepped up on Guentzel assuming he'd be receiving the breakout pass from Sidney Crosby. When a Sabres teammate broke up that pass, Ristolainen was already committed and proceeded to deliver a big hit on an unsuspecting player in a vulnerable position.
https://gfycat.com/CharmingFaroffGrayling
The onus is on Ristolainen to recognize the breakup and avoid a hit like that, but the game is fast and sometimes a split second decision goes the wrong way. In this case, the results were unfortunate for both Ristolainen and Guentzel.
