Just two games today to wrap up the regular season. We begin with...
The New York Islanders welcoming the Philadelphia Flyers. Michal Neuvirth and Thomas Greiss make the starts in goal. New York drew first blood in the first period with a Nikolay Kulemin goal, his ninth of the season, made possible by Calvin de Haan and Ryan Pulock. The Islanders added on with a Matt Martin goal, his tenth of the year, via Pulock and de Haan. Philadelphia got on the board with a Shayne Gostisbehere goal, his seventeenth of the season, coming on the power play from Jakub Voracek and Brayden Schenn. The Flyers tied it with an Evgeny Medvedev power play goal, his fourth of the year, powered by Matt Read and Nick Cousins. Christopher Gibson took over for Greiss to start the second period. Philadelphia gained the lead with a Michael Raffl goal in the second period, his thirteenth of the season, helped along by Scott Laughton and Schenn. The Flyers extended the lead in the third period as Laughton scored his seventh of the year, thanks to Raffl. Philadelphia capped it at 5-2 with an R.J. Umberger goal, his second of the campaign, a power play goal set up by Raffl and Medvedev. The three stars were given to Raffl, Laughton, and Medvedev, while Schenn, de Haan, and Pulock get the honorable mentions.
The final game of the season sees the Washington Capitals bring in the Anaheim Ducks. Frederik Andersen and Philipp Grubauer receive the starting nods in goal. Anaheim got going in the second period with a Corey Perry goal, his thirty-fourth of the season, helped along by Ryan Garbutt. The Ducks added on with a Nick Ritchie goal, his second of the year, guided in by Mike Santorelli and Chris Wagner. This stood for a 2-0 win, with the three stars given to Andersen (24 save shutout), Perry, and Ritchie.
I have a handful of announcements that all sort of met up at this time. First of all, I'd like to thank all the people sticking around from the times I've been included on Puck Daddy. I would also like to give due thanks to Jen Neale, Josh Cooper, Sean Leahy, and Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy for all the work they've done and for the opportunities they've given me to share my work with a wider audience. This has allowed the new Outsider Sports to reach 40,000 page views in its history, dating back to the previous era under the earlier name. This is also my 2,500th post on this blog, which has featured nearly daily work since 2010. Like I said, there's a few milestones to acknowledge.
For the soccer fans hanging around, I am planning on making a change to my coverage. While I've enjoyed following the Premier League for the last two seasons, as I progress towards making a professional living with my writing, I find that the Premier League will be too taxing on me to continue beyond this season. I will finish this season, but do not expect me to take next year's campaign when it begins in August. Instead, I will turn my focus onto the burgeoning American soccer audience, and also finally begin to share my love of women's soccer starting on April 16. I will continue my MLS coverage, but Outsider Sports will also be home to game recaps for the NWSL as they embark on their fourth season with a record ten teams for a US-based women's soccer league. I also take the time to watch every single NWSL game, so you can expect a bit more detail in those posts, as well as the potential for weekly editorial content based on the previous week of games. I'm undecided on if I will incorporate US Women's National Team coverage on here, but it is a possibility. The accessibility of the women's game, as well as a relative lack of coverage compared to the men's game make it an attractive league to follow. If you enjoy soccer, please check out the NWSL on YouTube, where I believe all the games will be broadcast live and uploaded within hours following the live streams.
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the efforts of my good friend Chris Fahlin. He has further helped me expand the reach of Outsider Sports and created more engagement between the blog and Twitter (@OutsiderSports0). While nothing is set in stone as of now, we are planning on creating a podcast that would likely touch on a variety of topics but with a healthy amount of sports discussion from a couple of guys who are very good at shooting the breeze toward one another. I will have more information as that becomes more concrete in planning. I would expect the podcast to be published on a free platform, likely Soundcloud. If anyone has a topic they'd like us to discuss, let me know in the comments or via Twitter.
As always, I will be covering the NHL Playoffs diligently as the teams battle toward the Stanley Cup. As you know, the Gagarin Cup is being playing right now, but this may mark the end of my KHL coverage. When I began KHL coverage in 2012, the league was seen as a viable alternative during the NHL lockout. Four years down the line, the league has seen a lot of turmoil, and while I have really connected with the teams and players, I'm not sure there's any benefit on either side for coverage to be continued. This is a less certain decision than the action I've made on the Premier League. I may be interested in continuing with the KHL come August, and if that happens, you'll know where to find it. For fans of the NWHL and CWHL, I haven't added coverage of those leagues yet because the accessibility is not as simple. I follow the information from afar, but I would be doing the women in those leagues an injustice to try to report on them currently. I would be more apt to commence coverage if a single league emerges.
With all that said, enjoy a quiet couple of days on here and I'll see everyone on Wednesday for the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. As always, you can find me on Twitter @OutsiderSports0.
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