The N*if*HL: Trouble A-Bruin
4 years ago
Hello and welcome to the N*if*HL! Since the real thing has been “paused” we’re running daily (well, almost daily) simulations on EA’s NHL20 video game of the NHL schedule as it would have played out through March and into April and the Stanley Cup playoffs with a particular focus on the Winnipeg Jets (this is a Jets fan site after all). You can read the full intro to our “what if” league here and feel free to share this with hockey fans all around.)
The Boston Bruins are cruising to a third ever Presidents Trophy as they cruise through California.
Thanks to back-to-back wins in California over the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings, the B’s are eight points ahead of the @Tampa Bay Lightning both for the Atlantic Division lead as well as the N*if*HL’s overall points race.
Tampa Bay did the @Winnipeg Jets a little bit of a favor, limiting the Vancouver Canucks to a single point in their overtime win out in B.C.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Wild have snuck into a Wild Card spot thanks to a shutout of the Chicago Blackhawks, while the @Nashville Predators continue to struggle a bit.
The Florida Panthers rebounded from their loss in Winnipeg to beat the Buffalo Sabres, but the Toronto Maple Leafs kept pace themselves with a critical win over the New York Islanders. The Leafs remain two points out of a playoff spot after all was said and done on Thursday March, 19.
The Scoreboard
(For March 18, 2020)
Edmonton Oilers | 3 |
| 1st: L. Draisaitl (R. Shehan) (3:38) 2nd: No Scoring 3rd: C. McDavid (Z. Kassian) (8:11) | E. Bear (A. Anthanasiou, J. Archibald) (16:08) | |
Ottawa Senators | 1 |
| 1st: No Scoring 2nd: A. Duclair (C. Brown, T. Chabot) (7:41) 3rd: No Scoring |
Pittsburgh Penguins | 4 |
| 1st: S. Crosby (D.Simon, B. Rust) (PPG) (4:23) 2nd: B. Tanev (Unassisted) (SHG) (9:27) 3rd: P. Marleau (B. Tanev, J. Johnson) (0:52) | B. Rust (E. Malkin, M. Pettersson) (16:08) | |
New York Rangers | 3 |
| 1st: C. Kreider (M. Zibanejad, J. Fast) (2:28) | P. Di Giuseppe (Unassisted) (6:27) 2nd: M. Zibanejad (P. Buchnevich, A. Fox) (11:46) 3rd: No Scoring |
Tampa Bay Lightning (OT) | 3 |
| 1st: T. Johnson (Y. Gourde) (9:02) 2nd: No Scoring 3rd: A. Killorn (N. Kucherov) (12:22) OT: S. Stamkos (B. Point, V. Hedman) (4:19) | |
Vancouver Canucks | 2 |
| 1st: No Scoring 2nd: No Scoring 3rd: B. Horvat (E. Pettersson) (PPG) (1:26) | L. Eriksson (Q. Hughes, T. Toffoli) (7:08) |
Vegas Golden Knights | 0 |
| Coyotes Shutout: Darcy Kuemper – 47 Saves | |
Arizona Coyotes | 3 |
| 1st: No Scoring 2nd: T. Hall (C. Garland) (4:52) | B. Hayton (O. Ekman-Larsson, P. Kessel) (17:24) 3rd: T. Hall (C. Dvorak, C. Garland) (ENG) (19:45) |
Boston Bruins | 5 |
| 1st: K. Kuhlman (D. Krejci, N. Ritchie) (3:48) | D. Pastrnak (B. Marchand, Z. Chara) (5:28) 2nd: A. Bjork (T. Krug, J. DeBrusk) (7:36) 3rd: D. Pastrnak (B. Marchand) (7:25) | P. Bergeron (D. Pastrnak, C. McAvoy) (12:10) | |
Anaheim Ducks | 2 |
| 1st: K. Sherwood (R. Getzlaf, J. Manson) (19:28) 2nd: No Scoring 3rd: D. Heinen (A. Henrique, B. Guhle) (6:39) |
(For March 19, 2020)
New York Islanders | 3 |
| 1st: A. Lee (D. Brassard, J. Eberle) (9:26) 2nd: M. Dal Colle (J. Pageau) (4:38) 3rd: J. Pageau (A. Lee, B. Nelson) (2:47) | |
Toronto Maple Leafs | 4 |
| 1st: A. Kerfoot (K. Kapanen, P. Engvall) (13:58) 2nd: Z. Hyman (R. Sandin, A. Matthews) (9:51) | W. Nylander (J. Tavares, A. Matthews) (PPG) (14:20) 3rd: A. Matthews (M. Marner, J. Holl) (2:21) |
Buffalo Sabres | 1 |
| 1st: No Scoring 2nd: No Scoring 3rd: J. Eichel (S. Reinhart, D. Kahun) (0:29) | |
Florida Panthers | 2 |
| 1st: J. Huberdeau (N. Acciari, K. Yandle) (8:11) | A. Barkov (M. Hoffman, J. Huberdeau) (16:04) 2nd: No Scoring 3rd: No Scoring |
Calgary Flames | 3 |
| 1st: M. Backlund (M. Tkachuk, E. Lindholm) (2:50) | T. Brodie (M. Giordano, A. Mangiapane) (13:29) 2nd: No Scoring 3rd: M. Lucic (D. Ryan, E. Gustafsson) (14:19) | |
New Jersey Devils | 2 |
| 1st: J. Bratt (P. Zacha, N. Gusev) (4:52) 2nd: K. Palmieri (N. Hischier) (PPG) (7:28) 3rd: No Scoring |
St. Louis Blues | 4 |
| 1st: A. Steen (O. Sundqvist, J. Kyrou) (1:20) | J. Schwartz (A. Pietrangelo) (13:29) 2nd: Z. Stanford (R. Thomas) (2:78) 3rd: A. Pietrangelo (C. Gunnarsson, R. O’Reilly) (19:19) | |
Carolina Hurricanes (SO) | 5 |
| 1st: N. Niederreiter (M. Necas, J. Slavin) (3:28) | S. Aho (A. Svechnikov, T. Teravainen) (4:19) 2nd: K. Palmieri (N. Niederreiter) (PPG) (7:28) 3rd: R. Dzingel (J. Staal, B. McGinn) (6:40) SO: Carolina wins 3-1 |
Washington Capitals | 3 |
| 1st: C. Hagelin (L. Eller, I. Kovalchuk) (4:08) | T. Oshie (J. Carlson, N. Backstrom) (8:26) 2nd: No Scoring 3rd: A. Ovechkin (J. Varana, T. Oshie) (PPG) (ENG)(19:49) | |
Columbus Blue Jackets | 1 |
| 1st: P. Dubois (N. Foligno, Z. Werenski) (9:41) 2nd: No Scoring 3rd: No Scoring |
Colorado Avalanche | 5 |
| 1st: J. Donskoi (J. Compher, T. Jost) (0:42) | N. MacKinnon (G. Landeskog, T. Jost) (11:10) 2nd: G. Landeskog (N. MacKinnon, A. Burakovsky) (6:31) | N. MacKinnon (G. Landeskog, T. Jost) (18:30) 3rd: C. Makar (G. Landeskog) (PPG) (3:19) | |
Nashville Predators | 2 |
| 1st: R. Johansen (M. Granlund, F. Forsberg) (17:33) 2nd: No Scoring 3rd: R. Josi (Unassisted) (6:28) |
Minnesota Wild | 3 |
| 1st: No Scoring 2nd: K. Fiala (M. Koivu, A. Galchenyuk) (4:50) | E. Staal (J. Greenway, M. Dumba) (14:51) 3rd: Z. Parise (R. Suter) (7:23) | |
Chicago Blackhawks | 0 |
| Wild Shutout: Devan Dubnyk – 31 Saves |
Boston Bruins | 3 |
| 1st: No Scoring 2nd: J. Debrusk (Unassisted) (7:26) 3rd: M. Grzelcyk (A. Bjork, N. Ritchie) (0:27) | D. Pastrnak (P. Bergeron, B. Marchand) (PPG) (8:10) | |
Los Angeles Kings | 2 |
| 1st: M. Frk (A. Iafallo, A. Kopitar) (11:33) 2nd: D. Brown (A. Iafallo) (1:07) 3rd: No Scoring |
Montreal Canadiens | 3 |
| 1st: J. Armia (N. Suzuki, B. Chiarot) (5:28) 2nd: B. Kulak (J. Drouin, J. Armia) (9:11) 3rd: T. Tatar (B. Gallagher, J. Armia) (3:06) | |
San Jose Sharks (OT) | 4 |
| 1st: A. True (S. Noesen) (12:21) 2nd: T. Meier (J. Thornton, D. Gambrell) (1:33) 3rd: M. Vlasic (N. Gregor, J. Kellman) (17:22) OT: L. Couture (E. kane) (4:17) |
The Standings
(After games played March 19, 2020)
Eastern Conference | ||||||
| Atlantic Division | ||||||
| GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | RoW | |
| Boston Bruins | 74 | 48 | 14 | 12 | 108 | 48 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 74 | 47 | 21 | 6 | 100 | 45 |
| Florida Panthers | 74 | 38 | 28 | 8 | 84 | 35 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 73 | 37 | 27 | 9 | 83 | 36 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 75 | 32 | 32 | 11 | 75 | 28 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 74 | 30 | 36 | 8 | 68 | 28 |
| Ottawa Senators | 74 | 25 | 37 | 12 | 62 | 24 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 74 | 17 | 52 | 5 | 39 | 14 |
| Metropolitan Division | ||||||
| GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | RoW | |
| Washington Capitals | 73 | 45 | 20 | 8 | 98 | 41 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 73 | 43 | 23 | 7 | 93 | 38 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 73 | 43 | 24 | 6 | 92 | 40 |
| Carolina Hurricanes (WC1) | 73 | 42 | 25 | 6 | 90 | 36 |
| New York Islanders (WC2) | 73 | 37 | 25 | 11 | 85 | 34 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 74 | 34 | 25 | 15 | 83 | 34 |
| New York Rangers | 73 | 37 | 31 | 5 | 79 | 36 |
| New Jersey Devils | 74 | 29 | 32 | 13 | 71 | 25 |
Western Conference | ||||||
| Central Division | ||||||
| GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | RoW | |
| St. Louis Blues | 75 | 44 | 20 | 11 | 99 | 42 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 74 | 45 | 21 | 8 | 98 | 44 |
| Dallas Stars | 73 | 39 | 26 | 8 | 86 | 36 |
| Winnipeg Jets (WC1) | 74 | 39 | 29 | 6 | 84 | 36 |
| Minnesota Wild (WC2) | 74 | 37 | 28 | 9 | 83 | 35 |
| Nashville Predators | 73 | 37 | 28 | 8 | 82 | 34 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 74 | 33 | 32 | 9 | 75 | 29 |
| Pacific Division | ||||||
| GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | RoW | |
| Vegas Golden Knights | 75 | 42 | 25 | 8 | 92 | 39 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 75 | 40 | 26 | 9 | 89 | 38 |
| Calgary Flames | 75 | 39 | 29 | 7 | 85 | 32 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 73 | 37 | 28 | 8 | 82 | 33 |
| Arizona Coyotes | 74 | 36 | 29 | 9 | 81 | 31 |
| Anaheim Ducks | 74 | 31 | 34 | 9 | 71 | 26 |
| San Jose Sharks | 74 | 32 | 37 | 5 | 69 | 30 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 73 | 30 | 36 | 7 | 67 | 28 |
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