NASHVILLE — Brad Marchand’s tongue was on everyone’s, well, tongue Saturday morning, as the lickin’ he laid on Ryan Callahan was the topic du jour prior to Game 5 of Nashville-Winnipeg.
"As a team, just the guys, we were talking about it all morning, How would we react? How would you react?" said Nashville’s Ryan Johansen. "I was hoping (Ryan) Callahan would score in overtime, and skate around with his tongue out. I was hoping for something like that."
The league spoke with Marchand and Bruins GM Don Sweeney on Saturday, threatening supplementary discipline if Marchand licks another player. So far this season, Marchand kissed Toronto’s Leo Komarov in the regular season, and then licked him in their Round 1 series. Then, he licked Tampa’s Callahan Friday night.
What would the Jets’ Adam Lowry do if Marchand ever licked him?
"Probably punch him in the face," Lowry said smirking.
In all our years covering the game, we’ve asked questions about various indiscretions, from spitting, to bleeding, to biting, to beard stroking. But licking?
"To be honest, it might be the last thing that would ever come to my mind," said Kyle Turris. "I’ve never thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to lick somebody or somebody is going to lick me.’ It’s just kind of a weird thing. It crosses the line. It’s gross."
Said P.K. Subban: "At the end of the day, he plays the game hard, he’s one of the best players in the league. It doesn’t matter what people want to say about him, the guy gets it done on the ice."
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There is actually a series to contend with here, one that saw a sea change in the style of play in Nashville’s 2-1 Game 4 win. The Preds got out to a 2-0 lead and ceased to attack, clogging up the neutral zone in a fashion that would have ex-coach Jacque Lemaire — a.k.a. The Mad Trapper — proud.
So what do we get Saturday night? Some more 5-4 hockey, or another 2-1 snoozer?
It likely depends on who scores first.
"They got out to that 2-0 lead and kind of sat on it. Clogged up the neutral zone, tried to slow the game down," said Lowry. "If we have the lead, you’re not going to see that defensive play by then. They’ll try and open things up."
The big scam here is the Predators saying they didn’t change a thing in their game. That they just played the same way they always do.
You don’t have the highest scoring defence in the NHL and win the Presidents Trophy by trapping your way to 2-1 results.
"We just play the same way that we played all year," assured Subban. "You’ve got to take care of your own zone, you got to take care of the neutral one especially and make it tough for skilled forward’s coming through. And they got a lot of skilled forwards. We just got to stick to the game plan and execute it. I think execution is going to be the difference for the rest of the playoffs."
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Mathieu Perreault, who hasn’t seen game action since Mikko Koivu checked his shoulder out of place in the Jets’ playoff opener, is healthy and ready to inject a fresh dose of energy into Winnipeg’s lineup.
While Paul Maurice won’t confirm any lineup changes, Perreault, a 17-goal man this season, should bring a mix of physicality and present yet another scoring threat.
"I’m 100 per cent. I don’t feel it when I shoot at all. I’ve been grinding and bumping the last two days, battling against the boards, and not once where I felt a tweak or had a setback," Perreault said.
"You get so nervous [watching]. At 4-4 [in Game 3], they get that breakaway, I literally didn’t look. That’s how painful it is to watch from up there."
Maurice estimates the Jets have only had the luxury of icing a full, healthy lineup once all season prior to Saturday night.
"You’re taking guys out that are an important part of your group and still are. That’s always a challenge. But it’s exciting. We’ve waited for it," Maurice said.
"We’ll get everybody out there tonight and let ’er rip."
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Although veteran Scott Hartnell delivered the physical impact Peter Laviolette was hoping for in Nashville’s Game 4 road victory, the sense is that the speedier Kevin Fiala will return to the lineup Saturday.
Hartnell, 36, quipped that keeping up with the pace of the Jets’ play felt like a Wingate test.
"Listen," coach Laviolette said. "Kevin is a good player. Scott Hartnell is a good offensive player. Kevin is a guy that has been part of the fabric of our team. Whatever lineup goes out on the ice tonight, there’s confidence that lineup will deliver."
Fiala scored the double-overtime winner here in Game 2, but for the most part the Predators’ second line, centred by Kyle Turris, has been relatively quiet this post-season.
"I’ve just got to better, you know?" Fiala said. "Just be more competitive, better strides and win more puck battles and just help the team out more."
NASHVILLE — Kyle Connor made a move in the first period Saturday that signalled to Jets captain Blake Wheeler his linemate was going to have a big night.
Head coach Paul Maurice saw the same thing.
The rookie winger didn’t disappoint, and now Winnipeg is one win away from the Western Conference final.
Connor buried the first two playoff goals of his career and added an assist as the Jets defeated the Nashville Predators 6-2 to take a 3-2 lead in their second-round series.
"So happy for him," Wheeler, who wound up with three assists, said of Connor. "A young player used to putting the puck in net … when it doesn’t happen right away, especially in your first taste of playoff action, it can be tough to stay with it. But his confidence hasn’t wavered a bit.
"Tonight was his turn."
The 21-year-old scored 31 goals to pace all rookies in 2017-18, but had failed to connect in nine post-season games before his explosion in Game 5.
"I don’t lose sleep," Connor said. "The bottom line is team success.
"If the team is winning, everybody’s happy."
Maurice reunited Connor with Wheeler and Mark Scheifele — the trio combined for eight points Saturday — following a 2-1 loss in Game 4 after moving him to the second unit with Paul Stastny and Patrik Laine for the last five periods of the series.
"He plays at a certain rate, a certain cadence," Maurice said of that move Connor made at the blue line in the first. "That set him up, I thought, for the rest of the game. You can play not to make mistakes, that’s fine, we all want to play smart hockey. But those kind of players, your really highly skilled guys, have to have a certain amount of (confidence) in their game.
"When there’s nerves, there’s not as much of that. I think he kind of pushed through it on that play."
Scheifele and Dustin Byfuglien had a goal and an assist each for Winnipeg, while Stastny and Mathieu Perreault also scored.
Connor Hellebuyck made 38 saves — he was especially strong in a first period dominated by the hosts — with Nikolaj Ehlers adding two assists.
Yannick Weber and Ryan Johansen replied for Nashville. Pekka Rinne stopped 20 of 26 shots before getting pulled in favour of Juuse Saros, who finished with five saves.
"It just seemed like every time we made a mistake it ended up in our net," Predators defenceman P.K. Subban said.
The Jets will look to close out the series in Game 6 at home on Monday.
Game 7, if necessary, would be back in Nashville on Thursday.
Scoreless through the first 27 minutes, the teams exploded for six goals in a stretch of just over 10 minutes in the second period.
Stastny put Winnipeg up 1-0 at 7:44 when Patrik Laine’s shot from the left faceoff dot deflected off the Jets centre and past Rinne for his fourth of the playoffs.
The Predators tied it at 11:08 when Weber jumped on a turnover and moved in on an odd-man rush before roofing a shot past Hellebuyck’s glove for the defenceman’s first playoff goal since 2011.
But Connor restored Winnipeg’s lead 1:22 later when he popped a loose puck upstairs off a scramble in front after some good work from Scheifele.
Byfuglien then made it 3-1 at 14:35 with his fourth of the series when he blasted a shot through traffic past Rinne before Connor stretched the advantage to 4-1 at with 2:59 left in the period when he took a slick feed from Wheeler at side of Nashville’s goal.
The Jets got the game’s first power play on the next shift, but Johansen raced the other way on a 2-on-1 and beat Hellebuyck shortside for his fifth only 58 seconds later.
But Scheifele put any thoughts of a comeback to bed just 28 seconds into the third when he finished off a pass into the slot from Connor for his ninth after a great setup from the first-year winger.
Perrault then banged home his first off a lucky bounce on a power play to end Rinne’s night at 6:23.
After the Jets secured a crazy 7-4 comeback victory in Game 3 on home ice — there were 25 goals scored between the clubs in the first three outings — the Predators battened down the hatches defensively in Game 4, stifling Winnipeg’s speed through the neutral zone in a 2-1 win that evened the series.
"You tell your hockey team what you want from them," Maurice said of his message ahead of Saturday. "I’m not talking about play hard, skate hard. That’s not it. We have a certain way that we play. That’s what you want. There’s a certain freedom. It’s not casual by any means.
"It’s a hard-on-the-puck game. It’s a bit like Kyle Connor’s game. We have to do some things with the puck. We can’t be afraid to make mistakes. That’s all you want."
Notes: Rinne was also pulled in Game 1. … Perreault, out since the opener of Winnipeg’s first-round series with the Minnesota Wild, took the place of veteran winger Matt Hendricks. … Kevin Fiala drew in for the Predators after getting scratched for Game 4 in favour of veteran forward Scott Hartnell.
THE A-League Grand Final descended into chaos in its final minutes after Newcastle Jets star Roy O’Donovan was sent off for a flying head kick to Melbourne Victory goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas.
The 32-year-old O’Donovan tried leaping through the air in a final attempt to snag a goal for the home side — who were trailling 1-0 — after a free kick was taken in the 94th minute.
His boot sailed into Thomas’ face and smashed the 25-year-old to the ground.
Thomas was sent to the deck in agony as the referee closed in to hand O’Donovan a red card.
Grand Final Watch Video Highlights
Twitter exploded at the incredible scene, moments before Melbourne claimed the 2018 title.
Lost for words after that challenge. Absolutely disgraceful. Hang your head in shame O'Donovan. #ALeagueGF — Sacha Pisani (@Sachk0) May 5, 2018
Should get a year for that #ALEAGUEGF — Andrew Eales (@edeales) May 5, 2018
That is absolute thuggery from Roy O’Donovan. Hideous. #ALeagueGF — Carly Adno (@CarlyAdno226) May 5, 2018
Thomas returned to the field with his head wrapped up in bandages and later won the Joe Marston medal as the best player on the field.
‘OBVIOUS ERROR’: VAR CALL SLAMMED
Here we go again. Source: Supplied
The controversial VAR system again reared its head during the biggest game of the 2018 A-League season.
After being awarded a free kick, Melbourne Victory players lined up alongside their Newcastle Jets opponents at the top of the box and as the kick came in it was evident they were standing in an off-side position.
Unfortunately it wasn’t picked up by the technology.
The clear miss left many fans up in arms and to make matters worse for the home sided Jets, it led to the opening goal of the game.
Kosta Barbarouses pounced on a ball inside the penalty box and watched as the ball richoted into the back of the net off of a Jets player.
His strike in the ninth minute was the quickest goal ever recorded in A-League grand final history, much to the dismay of Jets fans.
Aussie legend Robbie Slater teed off at the call in the halftime break. “He’s clearly offside,” he said. “The VAR, having twice got it wrong in the semi-final, have got it wrong again on the biggest possible stage.
“What is the VAR for? You can’t blame the players. It’s an obvious error, there’s not any doubt about it.”
My god, Australian referees are terrible. You have VAR and still can't work out a decision! — Luca Cetta (@l_cetta) May 5, 2018
I follow Victory but VAR is shocking, should of been off side and scores still level, how does it not see that? @secosabi @Singy_5 #AleagueGF — Wayne Siekman (@sambo54111) May 5, 2018
The final insult of the #VAR. Getting a clear offside wrong in the #AleagueGF. What is the point of having the technology if we have no one capable of implementing it correctly. Absolutely criminal. #NEWvMVC — Rob Greenwood (@robgreenwood1) May 5, 2018
In the end, it was Ernie Merrick’s one-time protege turned combatant Kevin Muscat who got the last laugh in a contest that started breathlessly but was shut down by Victory’s experienced campaigners.
While the Jets dominated all the first-half statistics they couldn’t overcome the all-powerful Thomas, whose gargantuan saves inspired his side to exorcise the ghosts of last season’s grand-final penalty-shootout loss to Sydney FC. They went behind early when Leroy George’s swooping free kick found the head of James Donachie, who knocked it down for Barbarouses to fire past Glen Moss via a deflection off Johnny Koutroumbis.
Replays showed Donachie - and two teammates - had been offside, yet the VAR remained silent.
The Jets responded swiftly, raining down on Victory’s goal and navigating a way past every opponent bar the brick wall of Thomas.
Victory crowned champs 4:09
The visiting custodian took a reflex dive to deny Roy O’Donovan’s instinctive flick off a Koutroumbis cross.
Minutes later Thomas topped it, parrying away Riley McGree’s would-be equaliser before recovering in time to divert Jason Hoffman’s point-blank follow-up shot away to safety.
If not for those world-class efforts the Jets would at least have levelled the ledger, finishing a one-sided first half with 11 shots to three. McGree ran the midfield while Socceroo Dimi Petratos and Venezuelan trickster Ronny Vargas exposed Stefan Nigro on the left flank.
But they faded after the break as the Jets’ early momentum fell victim to a staunch Victory defence run by Thomas Deng and James Donachie. The visitors utilised their big-stage experience to close down the game as James Troisi and Terry Antonis began to properly assert themselves. The latter was momentarily felled during an aerial clash with ex-Victory man Daniel Georgievski.
'What's the point of VAR?' 1:19
But it was O’Donovan who really came off worse for wear when he threw himself in the path of Besart Berisha to stop the ball rolling over the goal line and copped a stray elbow the face.
The Irish marksman soon had a swollen lump under his eye but clashed with Thomas soon after, trying to get direction on a header before delivering his horrible kick.
— with AAP
BIZARRE ENTERTAINMENT TURNS HEADS
Well, Newcastle. That surely was something else.
Fans who flocked to the first A-League grand final held at a regional venue were greeted with a left-of-centre opening act before the Newcastle Jets kicked off against the Melbourne Victory.
Dancers lit up by LED lights to resemble stickmen performed to a host of 90’s hits, including Blur’s famous “Song 2”.
The wacky display came barely a month after the polarising Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony on the Gold Coast divided fans.
Luckily for Newcastle, the fan feedback was mostly positive for the bombastic display at McDonald Jones Stadium.
At least this is better than the Comm Games opening ceremony #NEWvMVC — Ben Smee (@BenSmee) May 5, 2018
For the past two seasons, the Jets' sack total has ranked among the NFL's bottom five. Seemingly, that would make the pass rush would be an area of concern for the Jets heading into 2018.
But at least so far, two days into rookie minicamp, head coach Todd Bowles isn't worried about improving the Jets' ability to bring down the quarterback.
"I want to see an improvement in wins," said Bowles after Saturday's practice at the team facility in Florham Park. "Sacks is not my concern if we're winning ballgames."
But for the past two seasons, neither of those things have come easily for the Jets. In 2016, the team ranked 29th in the NFL with just 27 sacks; last season, they improved by one spot in the rankings and picked up one extra sack.
How did Darnold perform in camp?
And now, after losing both Sheldon Richardson and Muhammad Wilkerson in the past two offseasons, the Jets' pass rush is bound to look different.
Defensive end Leonard Williams returns to spearhead the rush, but beyond that, the Jets will likely have to get it done with a mix of different players and schemes to generate pressure.
"We've got a little more depth [now]," Bowles said. "We'd like to have given those guys [Richardson and Wilkerson] a little more rest when we had them, but we didn't have as much depth behind them as we have now. So hopefully we can get into a rotation where guys stay fresh all the time."
Part of that rotation will likely be defensive end Nathan Shepherd, the Jets' third-round pick.
On Saturday, Bowles downplayed the transition Shepherd has to make as a 24-year-old jumping from Division 2 Fort Hays State to the NFL. But he was also careful not to heap too much pressure on the rookie, either.
"We expect him to have an impact as a defensive lineman, but sacks come differently for different people," Bowles said. "As long as he does what he's supposed to do, which we're sure he will, he'll get better and we'll see where the pass rush is and where the sacks come."
The Jets also have another new defensive end - sixth-round pick Foley Fatukasi - that could play a role in that rotation.
One of Fatukasi's biggest strengths is his versatility; at UConn, he spent time playing both interior and exterior roles on the defensive line.
But on Saturday, Fatukasi said the one thing he didn't do much of at UConn was play the five-technique - which is where he'd line up if he's deployed as a defensive end in the Jets' 3-4 defense. That leaves him with some work to do, too, in order to get more comfortable matching up against opponents' offensive tackles on a regular basis.
Then there's the Jets' outside linebacker corps, which remains largely unchanged entering 2018. The question is whether Jordan Jenkins, Josh Martin, David Bass and Lorenzo Mauldin - who spent last season on injured reserve - can be more productive this time around.
"I think it's a good competition there from that standpoint, but obviously we need better production from everyone from a sack standpoint," Bowles said. "But it's not about sacks, it's about disrupting the quarterback and we've got a good competition there. We've got guys that we think are capable, we've just got to see who wins the spots."
Interestingly, the thing that might help the Jets' pass rush most isn't a new pass rusher - it's the addition of a lockdown corner in Trumaine Johnson, who signed a five-year, $72.5 million contract in free agency.
"They go hand in hand - the the secondary will help the D-line, the D-line will help the secondary," Bowles said. "I've never seen one without the other, so part of the times we'll get a good pass rush and then some of the time's we'll get good coverage."
Trying to generate pressure without any true marquee pass rushers isn't a new problem for Bowles, who dealt with a similar dilemma during his time as Arizona's defensive coordinator. And in 2013, his first year in that role, the Cardinals tied for sixth in the NFL with 47 sacks.
So for Bowles and defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers, part of the solution will likely come down to creative X's and O's.
"I know what I want to do, Kacy knows what he wants to do, but depending on what you have, you tweak it accordingly," Bowles said. "I think the league figures you out every five years - or at least it comes every three years - and if you don't change accordingly, you're probably going to get caught up and picked on, so we tweaked some things. Some things we can use and some things we can't - different players, different stuff, different things."
And even if all those new pieces and refreshed schemes don't add up to more sacks this season, Bowles says he won't be too concerned about it - so long as there's improvement on other fronts.
"It's not imperative to get more sacks, it's more imperative to stop them from getting first downs, be it if that's sacks or pass breakups, it doesn't matter," Bowles said. "We're not worried about stats, we're just worried about winning games."
Matt Stypulkoski may be reached at mstypulkoski@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @M_Stypulkoski.
