RTP Daily Thread: August 3rd

From Matt Dumba’s raising his fist in protest, to Nazem Kadri’s dramatic last second-goal, there was much to talk about from last night’s games. Today’s match-ups will have some teams playing game two of their respective series as the tensions of the post-season ratchet up.

Last Night’s Games:

Arizona Coyotes 4, Nashville Predators 3, ARZ leads series 1-0

• The Coyotes raced out to a 4-1 lead on the back of some weird goals, and Darcy Kuemper made 40 saves to help Arizona escape with a 4-3 win and a 1-0 lead in their series with the Preds./

Philadelphia Flyers 4, Boston Bruins 1, Round Robin

• Philadelphia was the better team throughout, as both the Bruins and Flyers looked to shake out the cobwebs before the elimination rounds begin. Michael Raffl seemed to suffer what could be a serious injury and the Bruins’ top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak were rendered ineffective./

Colorado Avalanche 2, St. Louis Blues 1, Round Robin

• Nazem Kadri scored with 0.1 remaining in regulation, and the Avs managed a much-deserved 2-1 victory to begin their play-off seeding round robin. Grubauer stopped 31 of 32 shots in Colorado’s victory./

Columbus Blue Jackets 2, Toronto Maple Leafs 0, CBJ leads series 1-0

• The Jackets used their renowned checking style to great effect in limiting the Maple Leafs’ offensive chances and Joonas Korpisalo stopped the shots that did make their way through as Columubs opened their series against the Maple Leafs with a 2-0 win./

Minnesota Wild 3, Vancouver Canucks 0, MIN leads series 1-0

• Alex Stalock stopped all 28 shots he faced and Jared Spurgeon had a three point night in Minnesota’s series-opening victory. Dumba also very notably raised his fist during both Canadian and American national anthems as he continues his protest in support of Black Lives Matter./

Today’s Match-ups:

New York Rangers @ Carolina Hurricanes, Game 2, 12 pm EST, CAR leads 1-0

• After Mika Zibanejad’s star turn in game 1 wasn’t enough, the Rangers will need more from everyone else if they want to have a chance in their series against the Hurricanes who looked awfully good in Game 1./

Winnipeg Jets @ Calgary Flames, Game 2, 2 pm EST, CGY leads 1-0

• The Jets could be without Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine for game two of their series against Calgary as both were listed as “doubtful”. If neither can dress, this might end up as a short series./

Washington Capitals @ Tampa Bay Lightning, 4 pm EST, Round Robin Series

• The Caps and the Bolts get their first taste of meaningful hockey during the re-start as they begin their round robin games for Eastern Conference seeding./

Dallas Stars @ Vegas Golden Knights, 6:30 pm EST, Round Robin Series

• The Stars and Golden Knights also kick off their round-robin tournament for Western Conference seeding./

Montreal Canadiens @ Pittsburgh Penguins, Game 2, 8:00 pm EST, MTL leads 1-0

• The Habs stole game 1 of their series against the Penguins on the back of a tremendous performance by Carey Price. Does Montreal have enough in the tank to slap together two more wins? We find out more tonight/

Chicago @ Edmonton Oilers, Game 2, 10:30 pm EST, CHI leads 1-0

• Chicago won a 6-4 slugfest in game one that had many asking the same old questions about the Oilers’ depth after Connor McDavid and Leon Draisatl each had three points in the loss. Can Edmonton avoid an embarrassing early exit?/