Another night of playoff hockey is behind us, and what a night it was. 3 of last nights 4 games required overtime, and 1 game made it all the way to period number 5. It's a trend I sure hope continues. The more hockey, the better. With 3 early games, I did a lot of bouncing between them, so my thoughts on the actual gameplay may not be as extensive. Still, I'm sure i'll come up with something to talk about. Let's start in the Big Apple...
(1) New York Rangers vs. Ottawa Senators (8)
NYR 4 - 2 OTT
NYR 1 - 0 OTT
Madison Square Garden was rocking. The Rangers are not unfamiliar with playoff hockey, failing to qualify only once since the lockout. They only squeaked in last year though, and fell to the Capitals in 5 games in round 1. This year is different, and it felt that way last night. The opportunity for the Rangers to win the Cup has never been better. Pittsburgh has been a favorite pick of late, but I feel as if the Rangers aren't given the credit they deserve. They've got offensive firepower, they've got sound defense, and they've got the best goaltender in the league. People keep waiting for them to falter, but it just hasn't happened. They remain the team to beat in the East.
Interestingly, this game was placed on the NHL Network. I guess that's the Rangers penalty for playing against a Canadian opponent. Perhaps it was for the best however, as this was the only game of the night not to go to overtime. Also, despite the result reading 4-2, it really was 4-0. All the big names for New York showed up, with Callahan, Gaborik and Richards scoring. Craig Anderson, despite allowing four goals, played admirably. He'll need to be even better going forward. The Sens would also be wise to shore up their defensive zone play. If they don't come out strong in game 2, the Rangers are likely to run away with this series.
(2) Boston Bruins vs. Washington Capitals (7)
BOS 1 - 0 WSH
BOS 1 - 0 WSH
This is the game I caught the least of, and seeing that Boston won 1-0, I can't say i'm sorry I missed most of it. I've become rather jaded to both teams. The Bruins won the Stanley Cup last year, and the team became the face of the league. The Sabres have the displeasure of playing them 6 times a year, and while those games had an extra bit of intrigue this year thanks to Lucic/Miller, i'd still just as well have the Sabres play someone else. The Bruins are also one of NBC's 7. Washington is another of the NBC 7, along with the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, and Detroit Redwings. The NBC 7, though the term is unofficial, accurately describes which teams will be featured on NBC in abundance. The Sabres were also in a tight race with Washington for the 8th and final playoff spot. As such, i've seen my fair share of Boston and Washington games over the course of the season.
As for the game itself, it appears as if Boston dominated. The final shot count was only 30-17, but at one point was at 27-6. It's a good thing Braden Holtby decided to show up or the game wouldn't have made it past regulation. It was his first career NHL playoff game, and he played big. If 17 shots is all Alex Ovechkin and company can muster, he's going to have to keep it up. Of course, it won't matter how well he plays if his teammates can't find the back of the net. 17 shots on Tim Thomas simply isn't good enough. The most interesting thing to happen in this game though occurred after Chris Kelly netted the over time winner. With the team celebrating behind the Washington net, a pane of glass feel and landed on David Krejci. Good news is he's okay.
(2) St. Louis Blues vs. San Jose Sharks (7)
STL 2 - 3 SJS
STL 0 - 1 SJS
The Western Conference match ups proved to be much more entertaining, starting with San Jose at St. Louis. More than a few people picked San Jose to pull an upset, although I wasn't one to buy into that theory. After last night, they're one game closer to the Cup than St. Louis is. Still, it's not as if one game decides the outcome of a series. Well, unless it's game 7. Or maybe a game 6 if it's the Sabres. Regardless of outcome, I hope this series maintains the intensity of game 1, as it was phenomenal. This game is also the first to make it into double overtime. If they want to play every game into a 5th period they wouldn't get any complaints from me.
Both goaltenders played well, though Antti Niemi faced more rubber, turning away 40 of St Louis's 42 shots. Halak got the start for St. Louis, with Elliott sitting on the bench. Elliott had been nursing an upper body injury, and Halak has more playoff experience. The Sharks attack was spurred by Martin Havat who had been acquired from Minnesota prior to the season. He had a tough year, appearing in just 39 games and scoring only 7 goals. If he keeps up his current pace, he'll pass that total by the end of the series. History shows he's a playoff perform, with 18 points in his previous 16 playoff games. If he heats up, that's great news for the Sharks. Patrik Berglund netted both goals for the Blues. I'm looking forward to game two on Saturday night. The Blues would be wise to win one on home ice before shuffling off to the Shark Tank.
(3) Phoenix Coyotes vs. Chicago Blackhawks (6)
PHX 3 - 2 CHI
PHX 1 - 0 CHI
I've got a bit of a gripe to air with NBC. They've stressed that, for the first time ever, all Stanley Cup Playoffs games are on TV. Now, it's possible they never promised us every minute of every game, but if every game is on TV, it stands to reason that I should be able to watch it in it's entirety. This was not the case in Phoenix. Thanks to an overtime in Boston, that game carried on behind the 10 o'clock start time of Chicago and Phoenix. Wednesday night, when Philly and Pittsburgh headed to OT, the NHL tweeted that they were going to bump VAN/LA to the NHL Network if necessary. Since the game ultimately did not infringe on the 10:30 start time in Vancouver, the NHL announced the game would remain on NBC Sports as originally planned. I assumed this would be common practice, but that appears not to be the case. Hopefully they'll attend to this issue. Surely I can't be the only one upset about it.
Now, for all the smoke blowing I just did, my eyes were firmly glued to the overtime in St. Louis. I did however employ picture-in-picture (PIP) technology to keep tabs on the action until such a time that Havlat scored his 2nd of the night. Once I did turn my attention solely to Phoenix, I was quite impressed. Say what you will about Phoenix not being a hockey market, but they sure did have a great playoff atmosphere. A stable ownership aside, the most pressing issue faced by the Coyotes organization is the lack of a winning product. I'd like to reiterate that they've never won a playoff series since relocating to Glendale in 1996. When hockey isn't ingrained in your culture, you don't flock to a team that can't compete. Winning the division was a good first step, and they're already 1 victory closer to advancing to round 2. I'd also like to note that Taylor Pyatt scored.
My Three Stars of the Night
- Martin Havlat -- SJS -- 2G, 2P
- Mike Smith -- PHX -- 43S, .956 SV%
- This Pane of Glass
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