Mark Lazerus

Chicago

Senior NHL Writer, The Athletic. Old enough to feel ways about stuff. Sun-Times alum. Northwestern grad. Long Island native. Author. Girl Dad.

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Articles

Jake Oettinger, not Connor Hellebuyck, has to be Team USA's top goalie in Milan

3 days ago | nytimes.com | Mark Lazerus

DALLAS - In those sleepy moments, when the other 11 guys are 150 feet down the ice jockeying for a puck he can barely even make out, Jake Oettinger will just start talking to himself. Out loud. Just make that next save. Make that next save. When possession flips and the mass of humanity starts shifting his way, the puck quickly coming into focus, Oettinger's muscles tense and he gets into his stance - and he keeps on muttering. Just make that one save. Make that one big save.
Stars, Mikko Rantanen gain upper hand on Jets with Game 3 victory: Takeaways

3 days ago | nytimes.com | Mark Lazerus |Murat Ates |Murat Ateş

DALLAS - Winnipeg Jets coach Scott Arniel chuckled when asked before Sunday's game what had worked so well against preposterously hot Mikko Rantanen in a Game 2 shutout of the Dallas Stars. "Well, we're not done with him yet," Arniel said. Not by a long shot. For the fifth time in his last six games, Rantanen had at least three points, chipping in a goal and two assists in Dallas' 5-2 victory over Winnipeg in Game 3 of their second-round series.
Connor Hellebuyck, Jets shut out Stars in Game 2 to even series: Takeaways

5 days ago | nytimes.com | Murat Ates |Murat Ateş |Mark Lazerus

WINNIPEG - Connor Hellebuyck's best game of the playoffs has equalized Round 2. Hellebuyck's 22-save shutout, his first playoff shutout in four years, sends the series back to Dallas tied 1-1. Winnipeg also got goals from Gabriel Vilardi, Nikolaj Ehlers (2) and Adam Lowry to earn the 4-0 win. Hellebuyck's playoff performance has been much maligned.
Oilers re-establishing themselves as true Cup contenders with each gutty win

6 days ago | nytimes.com | Mark Lazerus

LAS VEGAS - There's no such thing as a team of destiny in hockey. The game's too hard, too fluky, too random to be preordained. A quirky bounce off the end boards here, a splintered stick on an open look there, an uncalled penalty here, a miraculous save there, and an entire series can be altered, an entire season derailed in an instant. Especially this early in the postseason, with eight very good teams still very much alive. Everyone has reason to believe this is their year.
Mikko Rantanen records another hat trick, Stars edge Jets in Game 1: Takeaways

6 days ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Murat Ates |Murat Ateş |Mark Lazerus

Share WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Jets can’t stop Mikko Rantanen either.Rantanen, coming off a massive effort in Game 7 of the Dallas Stars’ first-round series, started the second round with another hat trick and helped the Stars to a 3-2 victory over the Jets in Game 1 on Wednesday night at Canada Life Centre.The Stars trailed 1-0 in the second period when Rantanen — often being double-shifted — scored at the 8:43 mark, and then at 14:21, and then at 16:38 (on the power play) to give the Stars a...
Mikko Rantanen records another hat trick, Stars edge Jets in Game 1: Takeaways

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Murat Ates |Murat Ateş |Mark Lazerus

WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets can't stop Mikko Rantanen either. Rantanen, coming off a massive effort in Game 7 of the Dallas Stars' first-round series, started the second round with another hat trick and helped the Stars to a 3-2 victory over the Jets in Game 1 on Wednesday night at Canada Life Centre.
Can Oilers win Stanley Cup with Calvin Pickard or Stuart Skinner? Maybe

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Mark Lazerus

LAS VEGAS - There's something, what's the word, comforting about looking down the bench and seeing Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl sitting there, side by side, mapping out their next shift, their next preposterous offensive attack, their next plot to take over the hockey world. Down a goal? Down two? Flailing a bit defensively, scuffling a bit offensively? Just not your night? Might not matter. Not with those two guys in your lineup.
Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon join Team Canada roster for World Championship

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Rob Rossi |Josh Yohe |Mark Lazerus

Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon will bring their Nova Scotia swagger to the IIHF World Championship in Sweden and Denmark. Crosby was added to Team Canada's roster for the upcoming tournament late Sunday. MacKinnon will also play for Canada, agent Pat Brisson told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. Brisson represents Crosby and MacKinnon. Crosby and MacKinnon are close friends and neighbors in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
'It's pretty shocking'

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Mark Lazerus

DALLAS - Nathan MacKinnon's eyes flashed, his brow narrowed, and suddenly you had just a tiny sense of what it felt like to be a third-pairing defenseman with this beast of a human barreling down on you. The question was simple, but the answer was anything but.
Stars defeat Avalanche in Game 7 thriller, advance to Round 2: Takeaways

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Mark Lazerus

DALLAS - And to think, there was about a week there where the entire hockey world was wondering if Mikko Rantanen was going to show up in this series. Rantanen scored three third-period goals - two herculean solo efforts and en empty-netter - to erase a two-goal deficit, and also assisted on Wyatt Johnston's game-winning power-play goal with 3:56 left to give the Dallas Stars a remarkable 4-2 victory in Game 7 of this titanic first-round series against the Colorado Avalanche.