Nate Duffett Articles - Page 4

The Vegas Golden Knights’ second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers should’ve been a long, drawn-out battle that stole hockey fans’ attention. It was also a chance to see Jack Eichel vs. Connor McDavid, a rivalry that dates back to their draft year. However, after the Oilers went on the road and took a shocking 2-0 […]

Auston Matthews has seen every playoff disappointment imaginable during his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and his struggles in Game 5 contributed to one of the worst moments of his career. Matthews hasn’t scored yet in the series, and Maple Leafs fans started to fight back on Wednesday night. First, they threw two Matthews […]

Toronto Maple Leafs fans are sick of listening to the excuses in post-game press conferences during the playoffs. One of the reasons they fired Sheldon Keefe and hired Craig Berube was his more no-nonsense attitude. While some Maple Leafs players had the same old comments after their Game 5 loss to the Florida Panthers, Berube […]

The Philadelphia Flyers made their first significant summer addition after hiring Rick Tocchet as their new head coach. Tocchet, a former Flyer from his playing days, finally returns to his old stomping grounds for the first time in his coaching career. It’s a special day for Tocchet, and he broke the silence on his return […]

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been in this position before, and the Florida Panthers present a difficult challenge. It’s slowly starting to slip away from the Leafs after taking a 2-0 series lead, and they must turn it around in a crucial Game 5. Craig Berube might want to look at some lineup changes for […]

Sidney Crosby is in a difficult position with the Pittsburgh Penguins’ head coach situation. His longtime friend and coach, Mike Sullivan, parted ways with the organization after the season and will now run the bench for the New York Rangers. Rick Tocchet is one of the Penguins’ rumored targets. He also has had a good […]

It’s hard not to feel bad for Calvin Pickard after bad injury luck could’ve cost him his starting opportunity. The Edmonton Oilers’ second-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights was shaping into an incredible story for Pickard. He won six games in a row dating back to Game 3 of Round 1, and had a […]

The Dallas Stars have been doing just fine without Miro Heiskanen as he recovers from an injury, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to see him return as soon as possible. The star defenseman will make the Stars even better, and if fellow countryman Mikko Rantanen keeps performing like he is, there might not […]

Believe it or not, Mikko Rantanen had another three-point night in the Dallas Stars’ Game 3 win over the Winnipeg Jets. He assisted on Roope Hintz’s opening goal, grabbed another assist on Alexander Petrovic’s controversial go-ahead marker, and then added one of his own to pad the lead. It’s hard to believe how well Rantanen […]

The Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets were tied in Game 3 when Alexander Petrovic directed a puck towards the net with his foot. The puck passed Connor Hellebuyck, which led the officials to review whether the Stars’ defenseman used a kicking motion to score the goal. While the commentators believed it would be called a […]

Mason Marchment might want to keep his phone on after Game 3 against the Winnipeg Jets, as the Dallas Stars forward could be on the wrong side of a referee incident. The Stars were already sour entering this game after getting shut out in Game 2, and the refereeing in Game 3 didn’t help. Marchment […]

Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard? It’s a question that Edmonton Oilers fans were preparing to mull over for the next two days. They hoped Pickard was close enough to a return that he could be the Oilers’ starting goalie for Game 4. However, Kris Knoblauch decided not to keep anyone in suspense and made the […]

Who was to blame for Reilly Smith’s game-winning goal for the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3? Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner hasn’t been a popular player for the fans this season, and people took the opportunity to make fun of his positioning on Smith’s goal. However, the puck was going wide if Leon Draisaitl […]

The Vegas Golden Knights were lucky to squeak out a win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 after the injury to Mark Stone. Stone missed the final 47 minutes of the game after colliding with Corey Perry, and there wasn’t much of an update from Bruce Cassidy about his captain’s status. “The potential loss […]

It’s the nature of sports that people will pile on your mistakes before they praise your accomplishments. The Edmonton Oilers wouldn’t have been in Game 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights without Leon Draisaitl’s two assists, but it was his own goal with 0.4 seconds remaining that everyone is talking about. The game looked destined […]

Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights fans were preparing for overtime after a wild start to Game 3 when it took a stunning turn with 0.4 seconds remaining in regulation. Reilly Smith threw a prayer towards the net that was going wide, but Leon Draisaitl put his blade in front of the puck and tipped […]

The Edmonton Oilers couldn’t have been in a better spot after the first eight minutes of Game 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights. Corey Perry scored two goals to give them the lead, and a 3-0 series lead was on the horizon. However, everyone forgot one crucial detail: Stuart Skinner was in the Oilers’ net […]

The Vegas Golden Knights crawled back into Game 3 against the Edmonton Oilers after going down by two, but they’ll finish the rest without Mark Stone after an apparent injury. Stone suffered what looked like a head injury when he fell to the ice and was clipped in the head by a knee from Corey […]

There’s no one having more fun in the Stanley Cup Playoffs than Edmonton Oilers forward Corey Perry. He got promoted to the team’s top line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and he is also playing in front of the net on the first powerplay unit. It’s a recipe for the veteran to get plenty […]

Sometimes, a team doesn’t have good vibes against a particular team or in a specific setting, and that’s what is going on with the Washington Capitals in their second-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Capitals and Hurricanes haven’t met in the playoffs since 2019, but a disturbing trend is beginning to form for the […]

While the hockey world questioned the outcome of Game 2 of the Vegas Golden Knights—Edmonton Oilers series, Bruce Cassidy has much more important things to worry about. A controversial “trip” from Viktor Arvidsson sent Brayden McNabb into the boards and injured one of the Golden Knights’ key defensemen. There was no penalty on the play, […]

It isn’t the injury update that Toronto Maple Leafs fans wanted on Saturday morning, but Craig Berube revealed to reporters the latest news on Anthony Stolarz. The Leafs’ starting goaltender has been out of the lineup since Game 1 of the second round after a collision with Florida Panthers’ forward Sam Bennett, and it doesn’t […]

Sidney Crosby is among the greatest hockey players ever, both in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins and internationally with Team Canada. Although his time with the Penguins hasn’t been as great as he’d like over the past few seasons, he turned back the clock with the win at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Crosby captained […]

The Florida Panthers pride themselves on their resilience, but they might’ve dug a deeper hole than they can escape in their playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs dominated the first two games, showing that these playoff chokers might be different this season. If Florida doesn’t figure it out soon and win […]

Why did the Edmonton Oilers fall a game short in last year’s Stanley Cup Final? The main reason was that Connor McDavid put the team on his back, but no one else followed suit. Leon Draisaitl was quiet for most of the last three rounds, which highlighted the Oilers’ lack of depth. In this year’s […]

Blocked shots don’t go on the gamesheet, but Washington Capitals star Tom Wilson would still like to see the scorers pay more attention when putting his body on the line for his team. After the Capitals’ Game 2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, reporters informed Wilson that the scorers credited him with two blocked shots. […]

The Anaheim Ducks turned some heads with the hiring of Joel Quenneville, and it wasn’t for the right reasons after his role in the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks scandal. Quenneville was the head coach for the Blackhawks during the team’s glory years in the early 2010s, but allegations from Kyle Beach in 2021 showed that those […]

All the talk surrounding Game 1 of the series between the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs has been about Sam Bennett and Anthony Stolarz. It should be about the Maple Leafs’ domination through the first two periods or the Panthers’ flipping the switch and nearly mounting a comeback. However, everyone wants to discuss whether […]

The Toronto Maple Leafs feared the worst when Anthony Stolarz left Game 1 against the Florida Panthers with an injury. There was speculation that the concussion spotter took out Stolarz, but we soon learned the real reason. He went to the bench at the television timeout and began vomiting from a possible head injury, which […]

The Carolina Hurricanes lost Frederik Andersen midway through Game 4, which left Pyotr Kochetkov to hold down the fort for the final two games of their series against the New Jersey Devils. Kochetkov did a fine job, stopping 14 of 15 shots in Game 4 and then 31 of 35 in Game 5 for back-to-back […]

Sam Bennett escaped supplemental discipline for his hit on Anthony Stolarz, but could not keep avoiding the media. After last night’s game, the Florida Panthers declined to make Bennett available for comment, but he finally faced the music on Tuesday morning. It makes sense, as the Panthers likely wanted to avoid him saying anything to […]

The Toronto Maple Leafs received bad news on the injury front when Anthony Stolarz had to exit the arena on a stretcher after a Game 1 hit from Sam Bennett. Stolarz exited the game after feeling discomfort during a television timeout, and Joseph Woll replaced him. He was sent to the hospital for further evaluation, […]

No one wants to see anyone get hurt, especially when it’s a former teammate with whom you shared a championship. Aleksander Barkov was in a difficult situation on Monday night, as he had to toe the line of defending his teammate and expressing sympathy for an injured opponent. Barkov was teammates with Sam Bennett and […]

After a controversial collision with Anthony Stolarz, Sam Bennett was under fire again on Monday night. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of their second-round series, but the Stolarz injury overshadowed the victory. He exited the game shortly after the collision, as television cameras caught him throwing up during a […]

After scoring the Florida Panthers’ first goal of the series, Seth Jones was having a good night. However, the Toronto Maple Leafs responded with two goals, taking a 4-1 lead, and then Matthew Knies humbled him with a crushing body check. Knies has been making a name for himself in these playoffs and has been […]

Everything was going right for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals against the Florida Panthers. They led 4-1 on a three-point night for William Nylander, Sergei Bobrovsky was looking beatable, and the Panthers looked like a different team from their first-round series victory. However, midway through the second period, […]

The Ottawa Senators are fresh off their first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, the Senators didn’t waste any time starting their offseason, signing Nikolas Matinpalo to a two-year contract extension on Monday afternoon. The 26-year-old Finnish defenseman played pro in Liiga in his home country for five years before […]

The St. Louis Blues’ first-round playoff loss to the Winnipeg Jets will be one they dwell on for a long time. They made the Jets uncomfortable all series long, notably Connor Hellebuyck, and had them on the ropes. St. Louis took an early 2-0 lead in Game 7 and maintained a two-goal lead heading into […]

Mikko Rantanen was the premier storyline entering the first-round playoff series between the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars. It could’ve easily failed to meet expectations, but it delivered, and then some. The first-round series between these two teams couldn’t have had a better ending if it were written in a Hollywood screenplay, as Rantanen recorded […]