The hits. The saves. The goals. There's just nothing like the Stanley Cup playoffs. Here's how night #1 went down:
DETROIT RED WINGS 4, PHOENIX COYOTES 2 Detroit leads series 1-0
Detroit's annual goal is to win the last game of the Stanley Cup playoffs. They won the first thanks to goaltending and special teams. Jimmy Howard carried the Wings through the 1st period, and Phoenix was unable to capitalize on some early power play opportunities, including a 5-on-3. In the 2nd, Detroit scored a power play goal, and another goal just after a power play expired. Players like Datsyuk and Franzen were engineered for the playoffs.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS 3, TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 0 Pittsburgh leads series 1-0
M.A. Fleury was all over the place, stopping 32 shots for his 5th career playoff shutout. Kovalev and Arron Asham did the scoring, plus Chris Kunitz added an empty-netter. The power play reliant Lightning only had 1 power play opportunity. Stamkos was held to one shot, and met Mr. Brooks Orpik.
WASHINGTON CAPITALS 2, NEW YORK RANGERS 1 (OT) Washington leads series 1-0
The Rangers were on their way to a 1-0 shutout over the Caps. Late in the 3rd, Lundqvist locks up a puck between his thighs, Ovechkin pokes at it, the ref is tardy with his whistle, the puck rolls across the line. Then after almost a full period of OT, fatigue catches up with Marc Staal who gives the puck away to Jason Arnott. Then Alexander Semin scores the winner. Without Ryan Callahan, the Rangers might be in serious trouble.
VANCOUVER CANUCKS 2, CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS 0 Vancouver leads series 1-0
Roberto Luongo was brilliant. 32 stunning saves. His 2nd career playoff shutout. Chicago held the Sedins scoreless, but weren't able to do much offensively themselves. This Blackhawks team is just completely different without Dustin Byfuglien driving the engine. Sharp, Kane, and Toews need to show up.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS 4, ANAHEIM DUCKS 1 Nashville leads series 1-0
Mike Fisher scored twice with an assist, Shea Weber had a few big hits and a power play goal, but the star of the game was Pekka Rinne, who made an unbelievable kick save to keep the game at 1-0. As you might expect from a blowout, there was some ugliness at the end. The Ducks collected 32 penalty minutes in the last 15 seconds.
We don't get to see the Western Conference teams very often in Boston. It's a shame that we play Florida and Atlanta far more often than Detroit, Chicago, Vancouver, or even San Jose.
#1 VANCOUVER CANUCKS vs. #8 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS The defending champion Hawks were victimized by the salary cap in the off-season, which I think will do the NHL more long-term harm than good, and that's why they barely made it in as an 8 seed. Vancouver have been electric all year. #1 in goals scored, goals against, power play, and #3 in penalty kill. The Sedin-Samuellson line totaled 78 goals. Then Ryan Kesler added 41 more from the 2nd line. Luongo had a brilliant year, and on paper, the Canucks have to be favorites to win it all. The Hawks also boast plenty of weapons, but their goaltending is untried, and their defense is suspect. Vancouver wins in 6 high scoring games.
#2 SAN JOSE SHARKS vs. #7 LOS ANGELES KINGS The Pacific Division sent 4 teams to the postseason and these are two of them. They split the season series 3-3. And while San Jose has dangerous scorers like Marleau, Thornton, Pavelski, Heatley, and 22 year old Logan Couture (who scored 32 goals), I have my doubts. The Sharks are perennial postseason failures. Their offense depends a great deal on the power play, and LA has an excellent penalty kill. The Kings also have Jonathan Quick. I don't think LA has the offense to go very far, but they do have enough defense to stop San Jose. Kings in 7.
#3 DETROIT RED WINGS vs. #6 PHOENIX COYOTES Detroit made the playoffs for the 18th straight season. They can score, but their defense and goaltending is shaky. Zetterberg's health is a question mark, but the Wings can deploy plenty of other weapons. Not to mention a roll call of strong, experienced forwards. Datsyuk, Franzen, Cleary, Bertuzzi, Draper. And it's the same on defense. Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart. Phoenix doesn't have many recognizable skaters. Even goalie Ilya Bryzgalov had an off year. Phoenix are solid 5-on-5, but have an anemic power play and a gaping penalty kill. That will be their undoing. Detroit wins in 5.
#4 ANAHEIM DUCKS vs. #5 NASHVILLE PREDATORS The Predators were 3rd in goals against, and 21st in attendance. The Ducks had the 3rd best power play, and were 26th in attendance. Two of the best players in the NHL will duel each other in this series. And they'll finally be able to do it in front of full houses. Anaheim's Corey Perry scored 50 goals, with 48 assists. Nashville's Pekka Rinne had a 2.12 GAA and a .930 SV%. The Ducks have some weapons beside Perry, including George Parros' bristling black mustache.
But Anaheim's offensive output depends too much on getting power play points. The Predators also have Shea Weber, a burly defenseman who also scored 16 times this year. I'm picking Rinne and the Preds in 6.
It's difficult to not pick Detroit to win the West. But they're old. They don't have the goaltending. I think this is finally the year for Vancouver to shine and go all the way to the finals.
This game literally put me to sleep. Give soome credit to Jonas Hiller, who stopped 45 shots. But how many of those shots were any good? How many were aimed well? Have the Bruins ever seen this picture:
And if so, are they capable of hitting those targets, and at least forcing a goalie to do work to stop the puck?
The Bruins like to play a cycling offense, passing the puck around in the offensive zone. Strangely, their plan is to get the puck to the defensemen on the blue-line (60 feet from the net), instead of trying to pass the puck to the high slot or the faceoff circles (12 to 20 feet from the net). Then the defensemen blast a shot, and the Bruins hope it gets deflected.
This kind of close your eyes and shoot offense might be the best the Bruins can do, I'm afraid. Because so many of the forwards lack the puck skills to do anything else. Is it me, or do the Bruins seem to have the most trouble passing the puck without bouncing it over their teammates sticks? Concurrently, they also seem to have the most trouble handling a bouncing puck.
The guys who do have puck skills, typically lack the strength and physical presence to win battles.
I'd like to see the Bruins try to move their bodies around in their offensive cycling. That confuses the opponents, leads to missed assignments, and gets the goalie moving.
In the off-season, the Bruins' offense needs to be completely restructured and retooled. There's too many "playmaking" centers, and not enough play finishing wingers. Instead of trying to build 4 solid lines, the B's should try to assemble 2 very good lines. And they need forwards who can do multiple things, not just good passers, or good battlers, or fast skaters.
Both Bergeron and Recchi play the game the right way. However, they're both branch players. They're missing pieces to teams with strong cores. The Bruins do not have a strong core.
The B's have a few days off to sit in the corner and think about what they've done (1-3-1 in their last 5) before hosting Atlanta on Thursday.
Tim Thomas is starting tonight, which means there is a good chance the Bruins will win tonight. The important thing for the Bruins is to get off to a fast start. So far this season the Bruins are 12-0-0 when leading after the first period, which makes sense, since they are a defensive team.
The Bruins offense still is not flowing. Maybe I overrated the talent they have, but I still believe if Savard can get it going it out ignite the rest of the team. I don't know how long they can go through this season relying on Thomas to keep bailing them out, and if that offense doesn't get it going they will be in a lot of trouble.
The Bruins are 6-1-2 in their last 9 homes games, so I expect a win tonight, but Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller has won both of his starts against Boston and is 4-1-0 with a 1.93 GAA in his last five starts overall. Yet, they are still only 6-9-1 on the road, so this is one the Bruins should win.
Bruins win 3-1 Player of the Game: Savard Game starts at 7:30pm on Versus.
Toronto made 2 trades this weekend. The deal is the Maple Leafs get Jean-Sebastien Giguere from the Anaheim Ducks for Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala. Then they turned around and got Dion Phaneuf from the slumping Calgary Flames. So, why is this terrible news for the Bruins?
Well, if you can remember when the Bruins traded Kessel to Toronto this got 2 first round pick, one of which was thought to be a top 3 pick, but with these deals the Leafs could very well climb the rankings, which will lower the Bruins pick in the draft. The question is what are the Bruins going to do about it?
Does this make the pick expendable? Because before the Bruins had stated that they were unwilling to trade that pick, but if it is not a top 3 pick, why not go out and deal it if you can make your team better?
These trades really could change the Bruins look at their team. Instead of sitting back and waiting for the draft maybe they will trade this pick. Just something to keep an eye on in the next couple weeks, because how the Maple Leafs play from here on out will directly affect the Bruins.
An inspired 2nd period effort was wasted by the Bruins last night in Anaheim. Down 1-0 after 1, Zdeno Chara led the Bruins' 3 goal charge, and they ended the period up 3-2. Then the 3rd saw your typical Bruins' silliness, and another 2 points were pickpocketed from the Bruins.
Part of me is kind of glad that all the "Tuukka Time" people out there actually saw why Tim Thomas is still clearly the Bruins' #1. The goal Rask allowed in the 2nd was entirely his fault, as his greatest weakness was exploited: indecisiveness handling the puck. Rask was lost with the puck behind the net, turned the puck over, and was out of balance and out of position until Matt Beleskey put him out of his misery.
There was some good to take out of this one. Chara harnessed his rage from the end of the 1st into a goal in the 2nd, and some excellent play in all three zones. Sturm was excellent, scoring his 15th. Satan has proven to be a real nice pickup. And Hunwick made an intelligent offensive play to score his 6th of the season.
But there was also a great deal of negatives. Wideman got his 3rd delay of game penalty of the season for chipping the puck over the defensive zone glass. That's inexcusable.
Ryder feels the need to count to 3 before doing anything with the puck. He hesitated on a golden chance to tie it in the 3rd, eventually shooting and knocking the puck around the post.
David Krejci... nuf said.
Bruins have another tough one tonight in San Jose.
The B's utterly dominated the 1st period of play. Even though they only had a 1-0 advantage to show for it, they put 19 shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes. They only had 15 for the rest of the game. Give credit to Jonas Hiller for keeping the Ducks in this one early.
The problem with the Bruins in this young season isn't heart or fire. It's focus. They weren't focused in the Washington game. They were focused in Carolina, and focused for 20 minutes last night. Then they just stopped. Perhaps it was complacency, perhaps it was over-confidence. But even though they were up 1-0, they played like they were up 4-0, or down by 4.
Hunwick and Sturm committed silly penalties. Light stuff, but the kind of stuff that's clearly against the rules and is almost always called. Pair of power play goals and Anaheim was up 2-1 only 3:36 into the 2nd. I miss PJ Axelsson.
The Bruins looked awful from that point on. Impotent power plays. Really dumb turnover. I've seen college hockey games between a drunk team and a sober team. The Bruins looked buzzed.
Hopefully they recover with some maintained, consistent, slow-burning fire. They host the worst team in hockey Saturday night when the Islanders come to town.
The Bruins have every reason to feel good about this game tonight. Boston smoked Carolina 7-2 on Saturday and now they are facing a team they blew out 6-0 last season. The Ducks looked awful in their first game of the season losing 4-1 to San Jose. The Ducks played better to open their road trip Tuesday at Minnesota, but blew a 3-0 lead in the third period and lost 4-3 in overtime.
The key for Boston is how their defense plays. In their first game of the season the defense came out flat and seemed to be beaten to the puck in their own end all game. Tonight I want to see that physically dominating defense we saw against Carolina. The other concern for the Bruins is the play of the penalty killers. During the first game of the season the loss of PJ was never more evident, though they were much better in their 2nd game of the season I still have more worries early in the season about that group. Still, I expect the Bruins to come out strong tonight and take care of business.
"Longtime Montreal Canadiens captain Saku Koivu has signed a one-year contract with Anaheim, the Ducks announced Wednesday. "Saku Koivu's character and leadership qualities are unquestioned," Ducks general manager Bob Murray said. "He is a skilled playmaker and we are thrilled to add him to our team (Sportsline)."
Koivu has been a good player for a long time, and it will be really strange to see him wearing another jersey. The Canadiens are rebuilding from scratch, and I really think they will be bad for the next 2-3 years. This has to be crushing for Canadiens fans since he is tied for the longest running captain in their history. The Ducks have a very solid team, and could be very interesting to watch next season...
Some thrilling Game 7 action last night, and only one of the top 4 teams from the regular season is in the final 4.
DETROIT RED WINGS 4, ANAHEIM DUCKS 3 ***Detroit wins series 4-3*** What the Ducks did in this series and their triumph over San Jose is simply stunning. The game was tied until 3 minutes remained in the 3rd. But what Detroit has been able to accomplish the past 15 years is astounding. This is the 8th time in that stretch that they've made it to the Conference Finals. And with the Bruins out, there's not much to challenge them but their own weaknesses (allowing too many goals).
CAROLINA HURRICANES 3, BOSTON BRUINS 2 (OT) ***Carolina wins series 4-3*** The Boston Bruins have never comeback from a 3-1 series deficit and won. History is a bitch. But an even bigger bitch is Scott Walker, who scored the winning goal in the final moments of the OT period. Byron Bitz and Milan Lucic scored crease goals for the B's. But Boston was 0 for 4 on the power play, and were 2 for 27 (7.4%) in the series. But the Bruins aren't old, and they aren't running into big free agency trouble, so they will be back.
The Conference Semis start Sunday. Detroit faces Chicago in a divisional and Original 6 rivalry. And Carolina faces Pittsburgh in a small market "who the fuck cares?" rivalry.
Three of the four Conference Semifinal series will be going the full 7, as the B's and Ducks both stayed alive.
BOSTON BRUINS 4, CAROLINA HURRICANES 2 (Series tied 3-3) The Bruins came out to a quick start in this one, with Mark Recchi scoring his 50th career playoff goal 2:01 into the game. Steve Montador added another 3 minutes later, and Tim Thomas made some huge Hasekian saves to keep it a 2-0 game. Carolina showed life in the 2nd, but the B's forechecked and crashed the net, going into the 3rd period with a 4-2 lead. Tim Thomas and the B's survived an onslaught in the 3rd, and the series will go back to Boston.
Game 7 is Thursday night at 8.
ANAHEIM DUCKS 2, DETROIT RED WINGS 1 (Series tied 3-3) Whatever the outcome of Game 7 in this series, the 8th seeded Ducks should be credited for putting on quite a show. The Red Wings poured it on in the 3rd period with 18 shots on goal. Johan Franzen had a tip-in power play goal, but the Ducks wouldn't quit. Then after the whistle, about four or five fights broke out. Rob Niedermayer flat-out elbowed Pavel Datsyuk in the jaw, but I doubt the NHL will do anything about it.
DETROIT RED WINGS 4, ANAHEIM DUCKS 1 (Detroit leads series 3-2) The Wings score goals. The Wings score a lot of goals. And is there anyone more fortunate than Chris Osgood? He stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced. Johan Franzen, Jiri Hudler, Darren Helm, and Henrik Zetterberg scored for Detroit. Zetterberg also had 2 assists, and a hot fiance:
BOSTON BRUINS 4, CAROLINA HURRICANES 0 (Carolina leads series 3-2) The Bruins faced elimination for the first time this postseason, and they faced it well. Carolina forgot to show up, and didn't get a shot off until halfway thru the 1st. Phil Kessel had 2 goals, Marc Savard 2 assists, and Milan Lucic a goal and an assist. But the Bruins' already battered defensemen took another shot, a cheap shot. Scott Walker sucked punched Aaron Ward in the face, and Ward might have a broken orbital bone. Tim Thomas stopped all 19 shots he faced for his first career playoff shutout, putting him 22 behind Patrick Roy.
Monday's games: 7:00 PM - Capitals @ Penguins (Penguins lead series 3-2) - Vs 9:00 PM - Canucks @ Blackhawks (Blackhawks lead series 3-2) - Vs
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS 2, VANCOUVER CANUCKS 1 (OT) (Series tied 2-2) The Blackhawks saved themselves from falling into a 3-1 hole. Chicago's Old Faitfhful playoff hero Martin Havlat scored a late goal in the 3rd. Then Andrew Ladd won it early in the overtime. Only 15 total shots on goal from Vancouver in an unforgivably wretched offensive performance.
DETROIT RED WINGS 6, ANAHEIM DUCKS 3 (Series tied 2-2) Detroit's firepower came out to play in Game 4. Johan Franzen had a pair of 1st period goals. Marian Hossa woke up in the 2nd with 2 goals. The Wings scored enough to chase Jonas Hiller from Anaheim's net, and perhaps they've raised some doubts in the young Switzerlander's head. Games like this are why Detroit is so hard to put away. Way too many weapons.
Friday's games: 7:00 PM - Capitals @ Penguins (Capitals lead series 2-1) - Vs 7:30 PM - Bruins @ Hurricanes (Hurricanes lead series 2-1) - NESN
Wild wild Western Conference action. No comeback for Chicago this time, and Detroit gets a bad break.
VANCOUVER CANUCKS 3, CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS 1 (Vancouver leads series 2-1) Vancouver once again took an early lead over Chicago, but this time they didn't choke. The inconsistencies of Chicago's Khabibulin were apparent in this one, and the 36 year old Russian might be worn out. Roberto Luongo, on the other hand, was back to his solid self. Henrik Sedin had his 4th goal of the playoffs and his brother Daniel had an assist.
ANAHEIM DUCKS 2, DETROIT RED WINGS 1 (Anaheim leads series 2-1) The Ducks are 6-3 this postseason, pretty goddamned impressive when you consider the quality of their competition, and how many road games they've had to play. Teemu Selanne scored for Anaheim in the 1st and veteran Scott Niedermayer scored in the 2nd. Detroit stepped things up, and peppered Jonas Hiller with 35 shots, just in the final 2/3 of the game. Very late in the 3rd, Marian Hossa appeared to knock in a loose puck to tie it up (would have been the 40 goal scorers first playoff point), BUT the ref lost sight of the puck and blew and early whistle. It happens. It just sucks to happen with 1 minute left of a 1 goal playoff game. Then again, Detroit had decided to only play half a hockey game, so I have little sympathy for them.
Wednesday night's games: 7:00 PM - Capitals @ Penguins (Capitals lead series 2-0) - Vs 7:30 PM - Bruins @ Hurricanes (Series tied 1-1) - NESN
The last two unbeaten teams in the playoffs fell yesterday, one just barely went down, the other was harshly beaten.
ANAHEIM DUCKS 4, DETROIT RED WINGS 3 (3OT) (Series tied 1-1) 101 minutes and 15 seconds of hockey in this one. And you thought the triple OT between the Celtics and Bulls was long. Jonas Hiller, the Swiss Wunderkind, made 59 saves for the Ducks, who didn't look like the best team in overtime, but got the goal. And Detroit only led for 2:16 of those 101 minutes, so the Chris Osgood loving excuse makers can go screw themselves. The Ducks beat the Wings, deal with it. Ducks fly together.
CAROLINA HURRICANES 3, BOSTON BRUINS 0 (Series tied 1-1) Cam Ward shutout the Bruins, giving them their first goose egg since March 10th. The B's didn't dominate the crease like they did in Game 1. They yielded the neutral zone far too easily, seemingly out of fear of Carolina's counterattack. The Bruins, who are an extremely adaptive and versatile team, adapted too easily to Carolina. Instead of fighting for control of the crease, the B's simply gave it to Carolina when the Canes clogged the middle. Perimeter hockey is not going to beat Cam Ward.
Monday night's games: 7:00 PM - Penguins @ Capitals (Capitals lead series 1-0) - Vs.
Eastern Conference: #1 BOSTON BRUINS vs. #6 CAROLINA HURRICANES Bruins/Whalers, could it have been anyone else but the old Whalers? The Bruins and Hurricanes/Whalers have met 4 times in the playoffs, and the B's have come out on top each time. The B's and Canes met 4 times this season, and the B's came out on top each time (scores: 4-2, 4-2, 5-1, 5-1). BUT, the Hurricanes won 18 of 25 games after their last loss to the Bruins. They just handled the Devils' defense, and they seem to have a bit of magic and tons of momentum on their side.
But I think the Bruins matchup beautifully against this team. Bruins in 5.
#2 WASHINGTON CAPITALS vs. #4 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS Ovechkin vs. Crosby. The NHL and Versus are drooling over this series. The Caps took 3 of 4 in the season series, and their one loss came in a shootout. Washington looked vulnerable against the Rangers, and they have an untested goalie in between the pipes. Anything is possible, but I think the Caps win a crazy series in 6 games.
But here are the Penguins lesbians:
Western Conference: #2 DETROIT RED WINGS vs. #8 ANAHEIM DUCKS What do the Ducks get as a reward for upsetting the Sharks? A date with the highest scoring team in the NHL. The Wings averaged 3.6 goals a game this season, and 4.5 in their sweep of Columbus. This will put the growing legend of Jonas Hiller to the test.
But the Wings do give up goals, 3.0 per game as a matter of fact, which was 12th most in the NHL. It's also the 4th most among playoff teams. This Achilles heel was partially exposed in Game 4 of their series with the Blue Jackets, when they allowed 5 goals.
Detroit won the season series 3-1, but three of the games were decided by one goal, one in OT. Anaheim presents problems for any team, but Detroit is so relentlessly deep on offense. Shut down even the top two lines, and the third and fourth will score on your defensive scrubs.
Red Wings in 6.
#3 VANCOUVER CANUCKS vs. #4 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS The Blackhawks will shuttle back and forth between Canada once more. Vancouver, on the other hand, has the faith of a nation on its shoulders, as the only team north of the border still in the fray.
Chicago actually had a better record than Vancouver, but the Canucks get home ice thanks to winning their division. Chicago was also 4th in the NHL in goals scored, and surrendered the 5th lowest number of goals in the NHL.
The Blackhawks split the season series, but Vancouver won the final 2 meetings by scores of 7-3 and 4-0. Nikolai Khabibulin looked great against Calgary, but he's prone to inconsistency. His age may also give in. He's started 6 games in a row for the first time all season. He only started 40 games this year. And that's where I see Vancouver, with Roberto Luongo, having a huge edge.
Canucks take this in 7 games, with multiple games going into OT.
CONN SMYTHE WATCH: The Conn Smythe is one of the coolest trophies in sports, and most coveted in hockey. It's given to the MVP of the entire playoffs, and I wish the other sports would give awards like it. Here are the early front-runners for this prestigious trophy:
Roberto Luongo - Vancouver 4 wins, 1.16 GAA, .962 SV%, and 1 shutout in the opening round.
Evgeni Malkin - Pittsburgh 4 goals, 5 assists, 7 hits, and unlike Crosby he was consistent throughout the series, and his goals weren't "junk" goals.
Jonas Hiller - Anaheim 4-2 against the best regular season team in the NHL, 1.65 GAA, .957 SV%, 2 shutouts
Boston broke out of their worst slump of the season by destroying the Panthers 6-1. Tonight the Bruins will try to keep the good times rolling as they face one of the best goalies in the NHL (Jean-Sebastien Giguere), though he has not been as good as he usually is this year with a 3.09 GAA and a record of 16-15-5.
Boston got a nice boost from the return of Ryder, who will be one of the more important players down the stretch. His ability to be a grinder and put the puck in the nets is one of Boston's weaknesses. When you add a player like him or Lucic to players like Kessel, and Savard it just makes the whole offense better.
The Bruins should be able to shut this team down, as they have a far superior team all around. The key, as always, will be making sure they take advantage of the massive amount of opportunities they get every game, and getting solid goaltending from Thomas or Fernandez (who has been struggling lately).
"Anaheim has acquired Ryan Whitney from Pittsburgh for Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangardi. No word on whether Whitney will be available for tonight's game (Boston.com)."
A lot of people in Boston won't really care about this trade, but it does make an interesting scenario for the Ducks. With this trade the Ducks have Pronger, Niedermayer, and Whitney, three defensemen making $17 million total. This likely means that either Chris Pronger or Scott Niedermayer will be dealt before the Wednesday's 3pm trade deadline. There have been rumors that the Bruins are looking for a "puck moving" defensemen. I don't think they will make a move, but this will certainly be on their radar.
