"The Stack" 5-19-17
It’s finally Friday (TGIF) and The Stack is here with our final blog posting for the week. Likely will be taking Monday, but maybe we’ll get one out there. Time to see what’s in “the stack” one last time this week today, Friday, May 19th:
Ducks blow lead, but rally to beat Predators
The Anaheim Ducks looked like they were in perfect position to even their series up with the Nashville Predators. They were up 2-0 headed into the third period. The third period though is the Predators time to shine at home in the playoffs. They were a +13 in the third period in the postseason. Inexplicably the Ducks started taking bad penalties and giving this game away. It was almost like they didn’t want to win and wanted to give the Predators every opportunity to get back in the game. Fortunately for the Ducks, the Predators power play unit was not very good. They did get on the board though shortly after one of their power plays expired when P.K. Subban shot a laser from the blue line through traffic and past Ducks goalie John Gibson. The Predators were given a golden opportunity just a few moments later when they got a 5-on-3 power play, but the Ducks were extremely aggressive on the penalty kill and the Predators looked a little lackadaisical. That wouldn’t stop the Predators though from tying the game 2-2 with 34 seconds after Filip Forsberg battled for a loose puck and slid it past Gibson. Bridgestone Arena was going crazy. Fans were happy and had to be thinking their team was going to win. Unfortunately that was not meant to be as halfway through overtime Corey Perry threw the puck (not literally, but with his stick…ok shot) on net and it deflected off of Subban’s stick and past Predators goalie Pekka Rinne. Just like that the Ducks were back from the dead and won 3-2 in overtime. This is a tough loss for the Predators. They need to play better in the first couple of periods, especially at home. Now they will have to win at least one game in Anaheim if they want to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
Preakness Stakes preview
Seems like it was but a week ago that the Kentucky Derby was happening. Oh it was only two weeks ago you say? My how times flies. Yes, the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown takes place Saturday at the Preakness Stakes. Always Dreaming is a favorite with 4:5 odds and Classic Empire is on his heels at 3:1 odds. Unlike the Kentucky Derby which saw rains before clearing up Pimlico will be dry. The heat will disappear and I’ll have more of your local forecast on the 8s. No, but in all seriousness I do believe that is in large part why Always Dreaming can’t be deemed a true Triple Crown threat. A muddy track in Louisville made the racing field very wide open. Not a lot of the same horses from the Derby showing up for the Preakness, but I’ll go with Classic Empire to win and end any hopes of a Triple Crown winner this year.
Misc. headlines
I know I shouldn’t talk about him, but LaVar Ball just makes me so mad. He has instantly jumped up to the number one spot on the most despised (hated) list and his antics on Colin Cowherd’s show on Wednesday on FS1 didn’t help. I’m not going to spend much time going into what happened…you can check that out for yourself here, but the bottomline is that LaVar is an asshole and I hope he is gone from our thoughts and views sooner than later. Maybe if people would stopping putting a damn microphone in his hand or by his mouth and inviting them on their shows we wouldn’t have to hear him talk so freaking much. Then again, I’m only helping promote him by talking about him here. Shame on me. Didn’t I say I wouldn’t do this earlier this week? Ugh!
The Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves appear not to like each other very much. After Joey Bats (Bautista) did his bat flipping exercise after a homerun with the Blue Jays down in their game Wednesday night, you knew the Braves would get back at him and they did, plunking him with a pitch in Thursday night’s game. There were many hit batters in the four games between the two teams and what appeared to be plenty of bad blood. Unfortunately these two teams won’t be seeing each other for another three years apart from any spring training games which is bad for us, but good for them. After the Red Sox-Orioles series last week, I think baseball could do without a lot of drama from two teams playing against one another for a while.
Finally, is this Conor McGregror-Floyd Mayweather fight ever going to happen? It appears to be getting closer as McGregor has applied for a boxing license in Nevada. Apparently he has gotten a deal done for the fight with UFC President Dana White. Now we just have to wait Mayweather. After Pacquaio-Mayweather was an extreme disappointment, I am not into this hypothetical bout and even once it becomes official, I still won’t be excited about it. Let’s just get it over with.
Friday’s playoff schedule
NBA
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Boston Celtics 8:30 PM ET TNT (Cavs lead Eastern Conference Finals 1-0)
NHL
Pittsburgh Penguins @ Ottawa Senators 8 PM ET NBCSN (Senators lead Eastern Conference Finals 2-1)
Coming up Monday or Tuesday: NBA & NHL Playoff reaction plus other top stories in sports
Listen to this week's "The Sports Block" podcast here.
