Author Archives: Anoop Uppal

Caps and Ovi Eliminated

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(The Score, NHL)

The Carolina Hurricanes have eliminated the Washington Capitals in five games at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. The win secured an eastern conference finals birth for the 3rd time in 7 years. The Hurricanes will now wait for tomorrows result between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers. 

The game last night was a tight one like almost all the games before it in this series. The hurricanes jumped out to an early 1-0 lead but the Caps answered back as Anthony Beauviler scored to tie the game up. Nothing much happened after that even going into the late stages of the 3rd it looked like this game was destined for OT. 

Carolinas Andrei Svechnikov carried the puck into the boards just before the corner. The time was running out there were less than 3 minutes left, Svechnikov played a harmless shot from a sharp angle which ended up beating a surprised Logan Thompson. Just like that a game which looked poised for OT now looked poised for a Canes series win and a Eastern Conference Finals birth. The Caps pulled the goalie in a desperate attempt to save there season. They had some chances but nothing was concrete as there hopes kept dwindling as the time ticked down, and then it came the final nail in the coffin. Seth Jarvis puts the puck into the empty net sealing the Caps fate and eliminating them from the playoffs. In my prediction before this game i had thought the Caps would do enough and edge out a victory in OT. That did not happen i also said that the Caps needed more production from Tom Wilson that also did not happen. No one stepped up in this series for Washington and you cant expect a 39 year old Alexander Ovechkin to carry this team like he has in the years before this. It is a sad end to a great unexpected season for the Caps.

Freddy Anderson kept up his great play this series saving 18/19 shots this game he had a .947 save percentage in this game, and a .937 save percentage these entire playoffs. If the Hurricanes can finally get pasted the Conference Finals and make it to play for Lord Stanley he will be the main reason why. The Canes have a great shot as we could be headed for a rematch of the 2023 conference finals if Florida advances. The Hurricanes have been swept each times in there most recent Conference Finals appearances they will be looking to change that. 

Canada continue there dominant run at the World Championships

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(Photo, IIHF)

Team Canada continues is dominant run at the World Championships with a 5-1 victory over Austria earlier this morning. This win means Canada stays undefeated in Group A having amassed 12 points the max amount of points they can have for 4 games played. They are tied with Team Sweden at the top of Group A. 

From the final score you might think that this was all Canadian domination to be fair it was all Canadian domination, but the Austrians were the ones who struck first in this game. Montreal Canadians prospect Vinzez Rohrer scored giving the Austrians a 1-0 lead. https://x.com/IIHFHockey/status/1923088948269605062

Benjamin Baumgartner chipped the puck by Canadian defender Travis Sanhiem then the puck went onto the stick of Brian Lebler who quickly got the puck to Rohrer who went down one on one with Marc-Andre Fleury and he got the better of the future Hall of Famer and gave the Austrians there 2nd ever lead in international play against Canada. The Austrians Skated off the ice after the frist period with a shocking 1-0 lead. The thing is though Hockey games do not end after just 20 minutes. 

The Canadians quickly struck back on the power play in the 2nd period as Nathan MacKinnon tied the game at 1. The Canadians were not done there though, as later in the period MacKinnon wired one past the Austrian goaltender giving Canada there first lead of the night. The Austrian goalie who was phenomenal this game by the way had to deal with 52 shots saved 47 of them. The Canadians would add on three more goals this game, goals coming from, Travis Konecny, Will Cuylle, and Canadian Captain Sidney Crosby. On defence veteran Brandan Montour had a great game with 3 assists and Canadians defence man Mike Matheson logged a game high 18:46 of ice time. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury had a good game stopping 15 of the 16 shots he faced and who knows how many games the legend has left as this is the last ever Hockey tournament he will ever play in after announcing his retirement from the NHL earlier this year. 

Austria will try to rebound as they have only picked up 2 points in there 4 games of the tournament they have played so far. They will play France in there next match up. Canadas matchups become a little bit harder now as they play The Slovaks in there next game as they continue to fight for top spot in Group A. 

 

We got a Game 7

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(Photo: The Oklahoman, NBA)

The Denver Nuggets defeat the OKC Thunder 119 to 107 in the Western Conference Semi Finals, Denver defend home court and now will play in a decisive game 7 in Paycom Centre in Oklahoma City. 

Despite reports coming out before the game of Jamal Murray being sick it did not look like that one bit. Murray had 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists he did all of this on 9-19 shooting this was arguably his best game of the series and he saved it for a moment Denver needed it. Nikola Jokic dropped 29 points 14 rebounds and 8 assists on a very efficient 9-14 shooting. The big boys showed up tonight for Denver, but so did the un known ones. 2nd year player Julian Strawther went on a tear in the 3rd quarter seemingly out of nowhere the sophomore player had 15 points in the game and was 3-4 from beyond the arc. Without him the Nuggets do not keep there season alive. 

Foul trouble early in the 2nd quarter everything was going right for the Thunder but in the 2nd quarter OKC star player and MVP canidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got into massive foul trouble he committed 4 fouls in the 2nd quarter. Fans were outraged saying things like “the league wants a game 7”. Gilgeous-Alexander had to be subbed out and OKCs offence went dry. The Nuggets ended the quarter on a big run and went into the half only being down 3 points. SGA was not the only one in foul trouble though as teammates Jalen Williams and Isiah Hartstein were also in trouble with the refs. Denver really started to pull away in the 4th quarter OKC tried there best to stop the bleeding but there shots were just not falling down. The Thunder at one point were on a streak of missing 12 threes in a row in the game. 

The supporting cast for Gilgeous-Alexander did not come through for him and OKC fellow star teammate Jalen Williams had a terrible game, Williams shot 3-16 with only 6 points. A game were OKC really needed Williams to step it up he could not lets hope he does much better in game 7. Chet Holmgren the 3rd member of the Thunders big 3 he had a decent game having 19 points on 8-14 shooting. His 3 point shot could use some work though as he shot 2-7 from beyond the arc and air balled 2 three point shots in the 4th quarter.  https://x.com/jokicgoatic15/status/1923189769170821291

Game 7 will go down Saturday night who do you got Denver or OKC?  

Jets keep season alive

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(Photo: The Hockey News, NHL)

The Winnipeg Jets avoided elimination and stayed alive in the playoffs with a 4-0 victory over the Dallas Stars in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinal series Thursday night. With their backs to the wall, the Jets played a complete game at Canada Life Centre, cutting the series deficit to 3-2 and forcing a massive Game 6 in Dallas.

Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was massive in the win stopping all 22 shots he faced for his second shutout of the series and fifth of his playoff career. The performance extended his home shutout streak to 143 minutes and 22 seconds. Which begs the question why is he so bad on the road?, if the Jets want to keep there season alive they are going to need to win there first playoff game on the road.

Offensively the Jets were led by Nikolaj Ehlers who scored two goals, and Mark Scheifele who had a goal and an assist. Vladislav Namestnikov also found the net and Kyle Connor and Neal Pionk had two assists apiece. Winnipeg’s power play, which had been a challenge in the earlier portion of the series, came through twice pointing to improved special teams play at HOME as the Jets still need to figure out there play on the road.

The Jets’ defense was equally good, effectively closing down the Stars’ offense and keeping them at bay with there scoring opportunities. Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger made 31 saves, but the Stars were not able to generate much offensive pressure. Even though he let in 3 goals Oettinger really stood on his head for most of this game. This game was really over but with 6 minutes left in the 3rd period as the Jets were leading comfortably, but then all of a sudden Mark Scheifele and Dallas captain Jamie Benn started to argue. The refs came in betwwen the 2 and out of no where Benn threw a sucker punch at Mark and was immediately kicked out of the game a dirty act by a player who has a history of doing dirty things. https://x.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1923231264741413277

This victory gives the Jets some of there confidence back in the series and will look to carry this into Game 6. A win in Dallas would force a deciding Game 7 back in Winnipeg, where the Jets have been dynamite in the postseason, but first the Jets need to win on the road which they have not been dynamite this season. Game 6 will be played Saturday night. 

Caps Vs. Canes Game 5 preview and predictions

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(Photo: ESPN, NHL)

The Washington Capitals will play a elimination game today against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Caps are down 3-1 in this best of 7 series and the Caps need a big game from all of there team if they want too go play a game 6 in Raleigh, Carolina. 

It all comes down to finishing in this series and the fact is the Hurricanes have been the better finishing team this series. Do not let the series deficit warn you both these teams have had an even amount of chances this series as the Caps have had 39 high danger chances compared to the 40 the Hurricanes have had. The only difference is the finishing it seems like Carolina is the way more effective team at finishing and thats why they hold this commanding 3-1 series lead. The Caps will also need a lot of help from star winger and grit guy Tom Wilson. Wilson has not done much this series outside of his game 3 performance. If they want to win they need Wilson to lock in. 

The Caps head coach Spencer Carbery is trying to shake some things up in his line up tonight as  rumours suggest the Caps will move Connor McMicheal to centre replacing veteran forward Lars Eller. Here is the tweet down below shwing the line ups in practice  https://x.com/sammisilber/status/1922666259428016344

The greatest goal scorer of all time is expected to have a big game tonight by fans as you never know this could be his final playoff game ever, but this team is still very good and i do expect them to make the playoffs next year as well. The Hurricanes goaltender Freddy Anderson has been unbelievable this playoff series as he has only given up 6 goals this whole series in 4 games. Anderson has a .935 save percentage this series. All credit cannot be given to him though as the Canes defence has been shut down all series long. 

I think that this series will follow the events of all the games that have been played this series. This will be a low paced low scoring affair. Both goaltenders will play great and both will not be tested as much in this game. I am predicting no goals in the first 2 periods for either team. This game will go to a double overtime and i think the Capitals will keep there season alive with a Tom Wilson Overtime game winning goal. 

Jays Beat the Rays in a close one

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(Photo: Jays Journal, MLB)

On Wednesday night, the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 3–1 at Rogers Centre, evening the series with there division rival at one game apiece. The victory is the fifth in the last six games for the Blue Jays, leaving them with a season record of 21–21. The Jays will have ANOTHER chance at getting over the .500 mark lets see if they can do it tonight.


The game’s turning point occurred in the sixth inning when catcher Alejandro Kirk smacked a three-run homer off Rays starter Ryan Pepiot, turning a 1–0 deficit into a 3–1 lead. It was Kirk’s third homer of the season. The inning started off from singles by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger. Kirk had two hits in the game, with Guerrero Jr. reaching base three times and also scoring a run.

On the hill, Blue Jays‘ right-hander Chris Bassitt pitched well, allowing just a single run in 5 2/3 innings. Brendon Little was given the win after the Jays took the lead after he started to pitch. The Jays got 4 good innings of relief from there bullpen who has been struggling as of late. Yariel Rodríguez pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Yimi García closed out the ninth for his third save of the season. Each relief pitcher picked up at least 1 strike out giving the Jays a total of 9 strikeouts if you include Chris Bassitt averaging 1 strikeout per inning.

For the Rays, Ryan Pepiot took the loss after a pretty solid effort, giving up only three runs over six innings. The Rays’ only run came in the fourth inning when Brandon Lowe scored on a sacrifice fly by Jonathan Aranda.

The Blue Jays triumphed after a gritty 11–9 loss to the Rays on Tuesday, when Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero launched a ninth-inning grand slam. A much needed rest was given to Jays closer Jeff Hoffman after he has had a rough couple of games. Toronto will attempt to clinch the series in Thursday’s game. The Jays will have Right hander Kevin Gausman on the mound Thursday night he has a 3-3 record this year 3.97 ERA even he will be looking to break the .500 mark. The Jays will be facing Right handed pitcher Zach Littel, Littel is 2-5 this year with an abysmal 4.40 ERA. The Jays have a great chance to finally get pased the .500 mark and be just a half a game back of a Wild Card spot. 

Celtics Keep there season alive

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(Photo: Elite Sports NY, NBA)

In Wednesday night’s must-win Game 5, the Boston Celtics had a dominating 127-102 win over the New York Knicks, keeping their playoff hopes alive even without the abilities of star forward Jayson Tatum. Tatum who had ruptured his right Achilles tendon during Game 4, had surgery earlier this week and will miss the rest of the postseason and possibly the entire 2025-26 season. A sad situation as Tatum was balling out for the Celtics and many players are limited after an Achilles injury so lets hope Tatum can come back stronger in the future. ReplacingTatum, Derrick White led the Celtics in the playoffs with a careerhigh of 34 points, including seven three-pointers. Jaylen Brown scored 26, and the duo combined for 60 points. The Celtics Defence was very tough today and they also got some help has Jalen Brunson picked up 4 fouls in the 3rd quarter and the star player would eventually foul out of the game.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla praised the resilience of the team, saying, “We did what we had to do what we needed to do in order to get it back to New York”. The Celtics are now trailing the series 3-2 with Game 6 on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. It is going to be a tough match up in New York come Friday night i am expecting a big game out of Jalen Brunson come game time in New york.

The Knicks had a chance to close out the series but just could not do it. They kept this game 5 affair close but during the end of the 3rd quarter when Karl Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson got into foul trouble thats when the Celtics really started to pull away. Luke Kornet the Celtics centre also had a MASSIVE game he had 10 points shooting a perfect 5-5 from the field 9 rebounds and 7 blocks. Kornet was making hustle plays and he was really a gread crowd

energizer for the Celtics today. Kornet had not played much this series but Joe Mazzulla might have found a secret weapon for game 6.   

https://x.com/PlayoffCeltics/status/1922821279540736501

The Knicks on the other hand just need to be more disciplined, if they can do that they have a GREAT shot at taking the Celtics out in game 6.  

Golden State go down

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(Photo:UPI, NBA)

The Golden State Warriors’ 2024–25 NBA season ended with a rough 121–110 defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals, earning a 4–1 series loss. The victory ends an weird postseason run by the Warriors after everything looked pretty good but then star player Steph Curry went down things started to change for the worse.


Curry’s unavailability due to a Grade 1 hamstring strain in Game 1 proved to be the turning point. Without their top playmaker and scorer, the Warriors couldn’t provide any offence and there defence looked shot. The game was close up until the 3rd quarter where the T-Wolves really began to pull away. There were some runs that Golden State made but in the end it was not enough.

Game 5 saw the Timberwolves show their depth and effectiveness. Julius Randle led the way with 29 points on 13-of-18 shooting, and Anthony Edwards had a calm 22 points and a season-high 12 assists. Minnesota’s balanced work load and over bearing defence just shook Golden State.

There were positives for Golden State even in loss. Rookie guard Brandin Podziemski took control scoring 28 points on 11-of-19 shooting, and 4-of-6 from three-point range, to add to six rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Moses Moody also lead a mini comeback in the 4th quarter contributed 12 points from the bench all coming in the 4th, showing a glimpse of the team’s promising future.

Head coach Steve Kerr knew the uphill fight the team had to face, with Curry’s  injury and the tough opposition being put up by the Timberwolves. “They‘re a hell of a team. They’ve got shooting everywhere. And that’s the name of the game in the modern NBA,” Kerr said.

The Warriors ended the regular season with a 48–34 record, which secured them the seventh seed in the Western Conference. They won the first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in a hard-fought seven games before falling to the Timberwolves in the semifinals in 5. This group is getting no younger Curry will be 37 next year and Jimmy Butler will be 36 the Warriors maybe got 1 final run in them.

As the off-season begins, the Warriors need to make crucial decisions on there roster. If i am the Warriors I am looking for a way to trade Jonathan Kuminga he is a great player but he just does not fit the role of Steve Kerrs Warrior team. Kuminga should get you a decent return for which you can use to bolster this teams roster or even make there bench stronger. There are a lot of questions still left to be answered but the one question i have is, is this the end of a dynasty? 

Oilers Advance to the West Finals

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(Photo: The Globe and Mail, NHL)

In a close, back-and-forth Game 5, the Edmonton Oilers registered a 1-0 overtime victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on May 14, 2025, capturing their second-round playoff series and advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive year. The Oilers were very forward moving team even though being shut out until the game winner you could just sense the game slipping from the Knights.

The only goal of the game came at 7:14 of overtime, as Kasperi Kapanen jumped on a scramble in front of the net to score past Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill. https://x.com/NHL/status/1922876246565728299
A very Unlikely hero for the Oilers as this is just Kapanens 2nd game of this postseason campaign , but if he keeps scoring big goals im sure he wont come out of the line up again. 

Goaltender Stuart Skinner was instrumental in securing the victory, registering his second consecutive shutout by saving all 23 shots on goal. The Oilers now face a challenge for there up coming match up who ever it is. Skinner has just posted back to back shut outs but if Calvin Pickard is healthy he is 6-0 these playoffs who do you go with to open your series with?. For me you have to ride the Skinner wave for now and if he loses the net a little too much you can just stick Pickard right back in goal.  
The Golden Knights were without of their captain, Mark Stone, who missed the game due to an injury sustained in game 4. His absence was felt on the both sides of the ice as Vegas struggled to open Edmonton’s defense, maybe if the Knights had Stone this game goes a little differently 

The oilers no await the winner of the Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars. If your Edmenton who do you want as your match up?. If i am Edmonton i would much rather play the Jets than the Stars. The Stars in my opinion are a nightmare match up for the Oilers. The Stars have such a strong team all 4 lines can produce for them and Jake ottinger is proving why he is one of the best Goaltenders in the league these playoffs. No matter who Edmonton gets matched up with they will have to prepare to start the series on the road again. Can the Oilers do the un thinkable and reach a back to back Stanley Cup final I do not have the answers just yet but i do know they are only 4 wins away.    

Maple Leafs get smoked in an embarrassing game 6

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(Photo: Toronto.com, NHL)

The Florida Panther absolutely EMBARRASS the Toronto Maple Leafs in Scotia Bank Arena in this pivotal game 5 in the east semis. Not too toot my own horn i did predict a Panthers win, but i did predict a 4-1 win not a 6-1 win. I also predicted a big night from the Panthers Defence man and that is exactly what happened. The D man stepped it up huge in this game 5 contest. The Leafs are now all of a sudden down 3-2 in this series and will be facing elimination in Sunrise, Florida on Friday night. 

The Panthers offence tonight was RELENTLESS tonight. Florida had 3 defence man score in this game Dimitri Kulikov, Aaron Ekblad and Niko Mikkola found themselves on the score sheet tonight in there biggest game of the year. Sergei Bobrovsky was brilliant when he needed too be especially in the first period. He robbed William Nylander early in the first when the game was 0-0 and then Matthew Knies late in the first when the game was 1-0. After that the leafs really did not have anything going for them. The Panthers were so aggressive and i hate to say they wanted it more but damn the Panthers really wanted it tonight. 

Torontos Joseph Woll was pulled tonight in the 3rd period, but you really cannot blame Woll in this situation when your team just does not come to play. Torontos core 4 of Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander really did not do much but for this game 5 most of the blame has to go on Marner and Matthews. Matthews was a minus 2 tonight he was the main reason the Panthers got on the board in this game. Marner was also a minus 2 and his spin no look pass give away which lead to a Panthers breakout with Mitch Marners guy Jesper Boqvist skating by him and tapping the 3rd goal was just poetic on how this game went. A link down below if you want too see the 3rd goal. https://x.com/Sportsnet/status/1922812349112631463

Matthews in his career has STILL not scored in the 2nd round he has played 10 second round games now, this guy has the highest paid contract in the NHL right now by the way. 

I really do not know what to say for this Leafs team. This was there biggest game in 20 plus years at home and they just laid an egg. I see no way the leafs can win in game 6 but then again the Leafs do love to lose in a game 7.