Month: April 2019

This is one performance Gavin DeGraw will likely never forget.

Singing the national anthem Saturday before Game 5 of the first-round, Stanley Cup Playoffs series between the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars, the “I Don’t Want to Be” crooner took a spill on the ice before the puck dropped.

Following the slip seen ’round the NHL, DeGraw confirmed he was fine.

“I didn’t realize singing the national anthem was a full-contact sport. #ImOkay ?: @codyslusher,” DeGraw wrote Saturday on Instagram.

Unfortunately for the Predators, DeGraw didn’t bring the home team much luck as Nashville fell to Dallas, 5-3. The Stars currently lead the series, 3-2.

So now it appears as if it is down to one…one candidate to succeed Glen Sather as Rangers president in the wake of Steve Yzerman’s decision to return to Detroit to become general manager of the Red Wings team he captained to three-Cup glory a couple of decades ago.

That one candidate is John Davidson, and the inference drawn here from the Rangers’ inaction since Sather disclosed his intention to move into a senior adviser’s role on April 4 is that they have a pretty darn good idea that JD is coming once his pesky Blue Jackets exit the playoff stage, even if that might not be until the middle of June.

If not, this makes no sense.

Actually, this makes little sense regardless.

Not for a minute am I suggesting that the Blueshirts would go wrong with Davidson, who has 13 years of experience in the same role for the Blues and Blue Jackets, overseeing revivals of both mid-market franchises. He checks all the boxes. He is a natural for the job. He has been away for a while, but this is home.

Still, the vacancy in the executive suite has created an opportunity for the Rangers to speak to an array of interested, qualified candidates with progressive agendas who might have caught Garden chairman Jim Dolan’s ear. This was an opportunity for ownership to listen to critiques of the organization from persons inside the industry. This was the chance for a fact-finding mission.

But other than reaching out to Yzerman, whom we’re told recently informed the Rangers that he had essentially committed to another endeavor, the Rangers have been idle on this front even as GM Jeff Gorton and his personnel people go about the critical business of scouting and are preparing for the organizational meetings that will commence at Sather’s Western White House on May 5. The Rangers apparently have identified their man and see no need to cast a wider net.

The incoming president will have a huge job that will entail far more than simply being the conduit/buffer between Dolan and Gorton. The president will establish the vision beyond simply reinforcing the rebuild operation. Does coming away with the second-overall pick in the 2019 draft empower the Rangers to accelerate the process or does holding a gem in their pocket instead enable the organization to decelerate?

Is this the time for the Rangers to be bold and consider an offer sheet for either Brayden Point or Mitch Marner if either gets to July 1? By the way, Columbus never offer-sheeted anyone, but threats to extend one to Brandon Saad when the Blackhawks were in a severe cap bind following 2014-15 led to an essentially forced trade in which the winger went to the Jackets. (Two years later, Saad went back to Chicago in a deal for a fellow named Artemi Panarin).

The organization’s infrastructure needs to be rebuilt, re-imagined and expanded just the way the Garden itself was over that three-year period earlier this decade. The operation in Hartford requires a dramatic overhaul. There is no cap on the amount of money a team can invest in scouting, the minor league system, an analytics department or sports science. This is where the Garden can flex its financial muscle. There is no reason in the world that the Rangers should not have the model next-gen operation. No reason why the Rangers should not become the US version of the Maple Leafs, who have been trend setters since Brendan Shanahan assumed the presidency in April of 2014.

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This isn’t about Gorton’s ability to do the job. Rather, this is about installing someone who will enhance the GM’s ability to train his focus all but exclusively on what he does best. And that is to focus on procuring players. His July 2016 deal in which the Blueshirts acquired Mika Zibanejad and a second-rounder for Derick Brassard and a seventh has been a grand slam. The trade for Antti Raanta was a steal. Getting Ryan Strome for Ryan Spooner represents a low-grade swindle of the Oilers. The deadline deals of the last two seasons seem to have yielded at least equitable returns.

We don’t quite know about the drafts chaired with Gorton’s blessing by Gord Clark. Lias Andersson’s selection at seventh-overall two years ago is a sticky wicket, but even as No. 50 has been less than advertised through 49 NHL games at age 20, no player drafted soon after has broken out, either. The Vitali Kravtsov choice at ninth-overall last year appears on track.

The Rangers are not seeking a new general manager. They are seeking a president who will transform and modernize the operation that’s been mom-and-pop in a lot of ways. At least that’s what I’d recommend. And Davidson could be exactly the right man for the job. Probably is.

But he had better be, and he had better be coming, because the Rangers haven’t considered the alternative(s).

Islanders goalie Robin Lehner is one of the three finalists for the Masterton Trophy, awarded to the “player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.”

Come the ceremony in June, Lehner almost assuredly will be the winner.

Having come back from substance abuse and mental-health issues, Lehner has turned around not only his career, but also his life.

Islanders president Lou Lamoriello took a bit of a flier in signing the 27-year-old Swede to a one-year, $1.5 million deal this summer, and Lehner has delivered.

Lehner, a 6-foot-4, 240-pounder, went 25-13-5 with a 2.13 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage, the best regular-season number in Islanders history. He started all four games in the team’s first-round playoff sweep of the Penguins, giving up just six goals on 136 shots for a 1.47 GAA and .956 save percentage.

“You’re most proud of what he’s done as a person,” Lamoriello said. “How he’s handled whatever his past was and whatever [did] go wrong, and he’s addressed that. He had to address that.”

Lehner split time with Thomas Greiss in the regular season. The two got their names on the Jennings Trophy when the Islanders finished first in the league in goals against, just one year after the club was last in the league.

Most important, Lehner has his life back on track and his career has followed, soon to be acknowledged with a prestigious award.

“It’s a huge honor,” Lehner said. “It wouldn’t be possible without all the pieces around me, starting with my family and friends. Going throughout this whole team, the relationship me and Greisser had all year, pushing each other, supporting each other.… Everyone from Lou down, the whole organization has been great.”

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Winger Cal Clutterbuck missed practice after he left Game 4 with an undisclosed injury, but Lamoriello said it was just a maintenance day and he should be ready to play when the second round starts. Defenseman Scott Mayfield also was held off for maintenance, but there are no concerns about either’s availability.

“While we have this time, we’re going to give them a couple more days off,” Lamoriello said. “But they’re fine. They’ll be back whenever our trainer feels it is the right thing.”

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The Islanders, after days off Wednesday and Thursday, had a relatively hard practice Friday. That likely will continue until a start date for the next round is clear. Coach Barry Trotz even said there might be some scrimmaging.

“We’re trying to keep the rhythm,” Trotz said. “We’ll be prepared, don’t worry.”

PITTSBURGH — Most of the Islanders’ statistics have gone down under first-year head coach Barry Trotz, which hasn’t been a problem because of how much winning they’ve done. So much so, they are on the verge of sweeping the Penguins in their first-round series if they can pick up a win in Game 4 on Tuesday night.

But there was one player whose stat line has improved dramatically, and who was as happy as his stone-cold demeanor could convey that Trotz brought with him a defense-first attitude that took the team from worst in the league in goals-against to first.

That would be defenseman Nick Leddy, who was coming off the worst plus-minus season in franchise history — and one of the worst in recent league history — before posting an even-rating this regular season for a team that finished second in the Metropolitan Division.

Leddy, renowned for his skating ability and offensive instincts, finished last year with a minus-42 rating, meaning he was on the ice for 42 more goals-against than he was goals-for. There have been only 156 individual seasons in NHL history in which a player has gone minus-40 or worse, and Leddy’s minus-42 was the worst since Rico Fata went minus-46 for the Penguins in 2003-04.

Of course, it’s a stat that has many flaws in evaluating individual performance. A lot of coaching staffs now track their own “analytics,” which can show which player or players made the mistake that led to a goal against. But boy, that number for Leddy was still unsightly.

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“The plus-minus, it’s a stat that shows some stuff, but at the same time, it’s five guys on the ice,” Trotz said Tuesday morning. “A lot of times when I go through chances, like anybody else, the analytics — we do our own analytics as coaches, and you go through the chances, and sometimes guys get a minus for a certain player’s mistake or read, or whatever, and all five guys get it.

“If you were to break it down from a coaching staff, you can figure out — and this is how we try to do it — where did it go south on that goal against? Was it one player, was it two players, was it our structure, what is our protocols? A lot of times you can go back to one or two players not doing their job. That’s where it breaks down. But everybody gets a minus, even though maybe four or five guys did their job.”

And yet it’s still clear that Leddy’s individual play has improved dramatically.

Under coach Doug Weight last season, the Islanders were scatterbrained defensively. Leddy played the most minutes of anyone on the team (22:25 per game) over his 80 games, and this while he was also matching up against the top opposition, playing the top power play, and being on the ice when his own net is empty in hopes of scoring a tying goal with the extra attacker. That can end up in a lot of goals-against.

Maybe more important, it also ended up in Leddy losing some confidence. He hardly had ample opportunity to execute an end-to-end rush that is one of the strengths of his skating ability, and when he spent entire shifts defending, it wore on him.

“It was probably very difficult year,” Trotz said. “We talked during the summer and during training camp. I always felt he was a really good defender. [I said,] ‘Don’t look at those numbers. We’re going to have a lot better numbers this year. You’re still going to get a lot of primary matchups.’ And he bought into that.”

And so Leddy ditched “the green jacket,” as the worst plus-minus in the league is referred to in homage to The Masters. And he had been a big part of the Islanders’ defensive turnaround.

“He defends harder than people probably think, especially around the cage, and in the corners, he can contain the best people in the league. He doesn’t get enough credit for being able to do that,” Trotz said.

“He’s been a steady veteran presence for us all year. He’s a little bit under the radar when it comes to the top defensemen in the league.”

There was a conversation between two good friends after Game 4 in Pittsburgh when Thomas Hickey knew his chance was coming to get into the Islanders’ lineup and make his postseason debut this year.

Fellow defenseman Johnny Boychuk might not have known the severity of his left foot/leg injury just yet, suffered in the second period of that game when he blocked a shot and couldn’t return, but he knew that he was going to be out for a while, and he knew that his buddy Hickey was going to get his shot.

So when team president Lou Lamoriello announced on Friday that Boychuk would miss three-to-four weeks, it was Hickey who was more than likely to be the beneficiary whenever their second-round series begins. They face the winner of the Capitals-Hurricanes contest with their best-of-seven currently tied 2-2, while the Islanders relax and practice.

“He’s excited for me,” Hickey told The Post on Friday. “It takes a lot of people to achieve the ultimate goal, hopefully we can play long enough where we see him back in a uniform this year. We wish him the speediest recovery. He’s a guy whose presence will be with us even though he’s on the shelf.”

Hickey knows first-hand about injuries, as he missed close to three months after suffering a concussion on a hit into the boards back on Dec. 17 in Denver. When he was finally ready to return in March, the Islanders’ defensive pairs were pretty well set and he played seven of the final 15 games.

But he has been working very hard after practices and all during the team’s first-round sweep of the Penguins with the other scratches — Luca Sbisa, Dennis Seidenberg, Ross Johnston and Michael Dal Colle.

“I certainly feel prepared and ready,” Hickey said of playing in the most exciting time of the season. “As far as the on-ice product, I think it’s simpler now than it’s ever been. Just get that puck going north and play for one another. I think that’s pretty simple to hop back into. Not saying it’s going to be easy, but I believe in myself and I know where my game is, I just can’t wait to be part of the in-game product.”

This is a testament to the roster depth that Lamoriello has established on the back end, with young players Devon Toews, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield all playing prominent roles. But especially in the playoffs, injuries are commonplace and Lamoriello is prepared to deal with it.

“It’s not unexpected. These things happen,” Lamoriello said. “You can’t let it get in the way, and that’s why you have players that are working as hard as they do, who are not in the lineup, to be ready. Because they know that these types of situations will inevitably come about. Obviously it did for us. But we have veteran players to fill those roles.”

First-year coach Barry Trotz is also familiar with Hickey, having played him in every game of the first three months before the concussion. There is a comfort there that a lot of teams might not have when reaching into the depths of their organization at a time like this.

“He’s an intelligent player,” Trotz said. “He defends well, he’s got high courage, [good] first pass. He’s highly competitive. He’s got a lot of the attributes that you want. We’re very blessed to have a player of his caliber coming into the lineup. You’re not reaching for someone wondering if he can play. He can play.”

Eventually, the second round is going to start and Hickey is going to get in there. And that is what he has worked for, and the Islanders are hoping they don’t miss a beat.

“I go to bed and wake up saying that every day — stay prepared,” Hickey said. “To accomplish the things we want to accomplish, there are going to be bumps and bruises and nicks along the away. That’s just the reality. If there’s not, you’re probably not getting to the ultimate goal. It’s all part of it.”

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Jack Hughes is out to clear any lingering doubts.

The projected No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL draft, Hughes is ripping it up for the US at the U-18 World Championship in Sweden. The 17-year-old center posted four goals and a record-tying seven points in the Americans’ 12-5 win over Slovakia on Friday.

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He’s now one point back of linemate Cole Caufield (also a projected top-10 pick) in tournament scoring with eight points through two games, as Friday’s performance will sure make hockey fans in the Tri-State area happy, with the Devils and Rangers hold the top two picks in the June draft.

Hughes and the Americans will match up against Russia on Sunday. It’ll be a chance for him to up his already outrageous season totals, having tallied 29 goals and 71 assists for 100 points in 45 games with the US National Team Development Program this year. That line saw him become the club record-holder with 147 career assists and 216 points in 105 games.

Hughes has long been thought of as the no-brainer top prospect in this year’s draft, though Finnish winger Kaapo Kakko, who aged out of the U-18s, has garnered some attention with a strong season of his own. The Devils, owners of the No. 1 selection, will have their choice, but Hughes is determined to make it a pretty easy one.

Pittsburgh is in the rear-view mirror, which … nah, too easy, no cheap shots here.

Even as the Islanders look forward to Round 2 of the playoffs, coach Barry Trotz identified the aspect of his team’s game that most impressed him during the first-round sweep of the Penguins that concluded Tuesday.

“What I liked is that we didn’t get smaller in the moment and didn’t get emotionally pushed one way or the other,” he said Thursday. “The things that can set you off emotionally, goals or calls, they can be frustrating and can lead to frustration and send you off the wrong way.

“We didn’t allow that. If there was a call we disagreed with, or they got a power play, we stayed very composed on the bench. We didn’t go off the rails, which can happen. We didn’t worry about what happened. We worried about the next moment. So, I liked our focus.”

The Penguins scored first in Game 2, at 10:36 of the second period. The Islanders tied it at 13:25. The Penguins scored first in Game 3, at 12:54 of the first period. The Islanders tied it at 13:22. The Penguins scored first in Game 4, at 0:35 of the first period. The Islanders tied it at 2:09.

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Over the 244:39 of the series, the Islanders trailed for a sum of 4:51, and never for longer than 2:49.

“I think [our poise] developed over the year,” Trotz said. “Early in the year we’d be playing well and a call would go against us or there’d be a goal, and we’d kind of lose our focus for eight or 10 minutes, and I’d go, ‘Why? We’re playing well. [Stuff] happens.’

“As the season developed, we were able to accept those things as just part of the game and not worry about it. I mean, if you’re going to climb the ladder, you just focus on the next rung. That’s the way we’ve been. Nothing that happened [against Pittsburgh] threw us off our game, so that’s probably what stood out the most.”

Trotz also said he was impressed by his team’s low-key celebration of the sweep.

“I took out of it that they’re focused and business-like,” he said. “From my standpoint, they know they didn’t climb the mountain, so they’re not acting like they did. They know the task will get harder and harder.”

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If the Capitals beat the Hurricanes, they will have home ice over the Islanders, but if the Candy Canes prevail, Games 1 and 2 plus the if-necessary Games 5 and 7 would be played in Brooklyn.

Trotz said the staff is still devising plans for how the team will operate on game days with all remaining home games set for Barclays Center.

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No update was provided on the health of Cal Clutterbuck (unidentified issue) and Johnny Boychuk (left foot/leg following a blocked shot).

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Lightning ended up on the wrong side of NHL history, getting swept in the first round of the playoffs after one of the best regular seasons ever.

The Blue Jackets capped a stunning sweep of the Presidents Trophy winners with a 7-3 victory Tuesday night. Tampa Bay became the first team in the expansion era, which began in 1967-68, to go winless in the first round of the playoffs after leading the league in points during the regular season.

And what a season it was. Tampa Bay tied the NHL record for wins with 62 and amassed 128 points, fourth-most in NHL history.

The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, didn’t clinch the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot until the 81st game. But they outplayed the Lightning with a smothering forecheck and stellar goaltending by Sergei Bobrovsky.

Columbus won its first-ever playoff series in its fifth try and advanced to play the winner of the Boston-Toronto series, which the Maple Leafs lead 2-1.

“It was a great series,” wing Josh Anderson said. “That’s the way we want to play.”

Bobrovsky carried the day again for the Blue Jackets, finishing with 30 saves.

With Columbus clinging to a 4-3 lead in the third period, Tampa Bay had wrested the momentum from the Blue Jackets but still couldn’t solve Bobrovsky. The Blue Jackets’ final three goals came late in the period after the Lightning had pulled goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for an extra skater.

Rookie Alexandre Texier, who was brought over after his season ended in the Finnish league, scored his first NHL goal and later added one of the empty-netters. Pierre Luc-Dubois had a goal and a pair of assists.

A dozen different players scored for Columbus in the series

DENVER — Cale Makar didn’t take long to accomplish a little bit of history.

One shot on net, to be precise.

The newly signed Colorado defenseman scored a playoff goal in his NHL debut during Game 3 on Monday night as the Avalanche cruised to a 6-2 win over Calgary, his favorite childhood team.

Makar became the seventh player in NHL history and first defenseman to score a goal while making his debut in the Stanley Cup playoffs, according to the NHL communications department. His goal ended up being the game-winner to help the Avalanche grab a 2-1 lead in the first-round series. Game 4 is Wednesday night in Denver.

“He was good. Right from the get-go he was involved,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “He looked calm, cool, collected.”

On his goal, Makar zipped through the neutral zone, called for a drop pass from Nathan MacKinnon and beat Flames goaltender Mike Smith with a wrist shot late in the first period to make it 3-0.

Quickly skating over to congratulate Makar was Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog. Celebrating in the crowd were Makar’s parents.

“It’s a total surreal, pinch-me moment all wrapped into one. It’s insane,” Gary Makar told The Associated Press. “Couldn’t be more excited.”

The 20-year-old Makar signed a three-year deal with Colorado on Sunday — a day after his college season ended when Massachusetts lost in the Frozen Four championship game to Minnesota Duluth.

Wearing No. 8, Makar jumped on the ice early in the first period and was given a loud cheer. Each time he did anything, the crowd cheered.

“You just shake your head,” his father said. “The crowd, every time he gets the puck, guys, he’s just a kid. No expectations.”

Growing up in Calgary, Makar and his family were big Flames fans. He joked they are “fully Avs converted now.”

“It’s a weird feeling going up against the team you grew up loving, but my allegiance lies with the Colorado Avalanche now,” Makar said. “It’s going to be an interesting feeling.”

It may be time to update the apparel, though.

“We’ve got a lot of Flames fans in our family and we probably own everything they make, merchandise-wise,” his father said.

Makar, the fourth-overall draft pick by Colorado in 2017, had 49 points for UMass and won the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s top player. He practiced Monday morning with the Avalanche for the first time. He made an immediate impression, too.

“He’s so smooth and so agile,” MacKinnon said. “You can kind of tell why he was so dominant in college.

“It’s not easy to come into this atmosphere. I don’t know how much he’s going to play or whatever. But he looks great out there.”

As for nerves, Makar was doing his best to keep them at bay.

“I’m just going to go out there and if I play will try to do my thing,” Makar said. “Just go out there and do what they need me to do. I’ll provide offense if I have to and hope to be steady on the defense as well.”

PITTSBURGH — More quiet, more calm, more demure smiles.

The Islanders were just going about their business hours before trying to complete a sweep of the Penguins, up in their first-round, best-of-seven series 3-0 going into Game 4 here on Tuesday night.

That even-keeled demeanor has been one of the club’s strengths all season, so there was no reason for them to change with a chance to end Pittsburgh’s season.

“Same as every other game so far. No different,” coach Barry Trotz said Tuesday morning. “I think you just live for the moment; you live for whatever moment it is. Enjoy it and just play. I think they’ve done a really good job of that.”

After a hard practice Monday, few players took the ice Tuesday morning. Captain Anders Lee spent the time taping his sticks in the locker room like it was a Tuesday in February and there was snow outside, not April with a bright blue Pennsylvania sky.

“Mood’s good,” Lee said before being asked about the difference of an elimination game and those that come before it.

“I think there’s that added importance on all the little things,” he said. “You understand how difficult it’s going to be, with how hard they’re going to play, what they’re going to bring. They’re going to raise their game and we have to match that. There are some expectations that come with that, and it’s just important that we continue on the path that we’ve had throughout the series.”

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There wasn’t much emphasis being put on getting the first goal, as the Islanders scored first in Game 1 but the Penguins scored first in both Games 2 and 3 — all Islanders wins.

“I don’t know if it’s going to matter one way or the other,” Trotz said. “We’ve been scored on first a few times, we’ve scored first. I don’t think it’s a factor.”

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Second-year center Mat Barzal was the only regular to take the ice with the extras, but there was a rather simple explanation why from Trotz.

“He’s young,” Trotz said of the 21-year-old reigning Calder Trophy winner. “He’s just anxious.”

Maybe “excited” was the word Trotz was looking for, because Barzal has not looked one bit anxious this whole series. He had collected at least one assist in each of the first three games, four overall.

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Trotz declared that defenseman Scott Mayfield was “fine” to play after he had missed Monday’s practice for what the team called “maintenance.”

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If Mayfield couldn’t play, it was likely that Thomas Hickey could have stepped in, but Hickey stayed on the ice late with the extras. That included fellow blueliners Luca Sbisa and Dennis Seidenberg, along with forwards Michael Dal Colle and Ross Johnston.

Joining them was backup goalie Thomas Greiss.