It was a super-busy night in the playoffs on Friday, as there were five games on the schedule, with one series opening up and the others playing Game Two. There was lots of goals, so plenty of points to be had, let's see how it all broke down, shall we? Since there were five games last night, I'll be just breaking down the top player in every game... don't want to keep you here all morning, y'know.Let's start in the desert, where it was a madhouse of a game between the Red Wings and Coyotes. The game felt like it was on a bobsled track the entire way, because it was exceptionally fast and lots of good times were posted. The game finished off as a 7-4 win for the Red Wings, but for the bulk of the game, it was a 1-goal decision, until a late insurance goal and an empty-netter sealed the deal for Detroit. The biggest game of the entire night belonged to Henrik Zetterberg, who registered the first hat-trick of these playoffs and one of those goals went for the game-winner for a 4-point night. As of Saturday morning, I can safely say that Zetterberg has been taken six times among all 54 teams that were registered with the pool. That's an awfully small percentage, so some very big points picked up by only a few teams.
I will have a breakdown of all the players and teams posted in the next day or two, I'm just preparing its presentation. That goes the same for the team pages, they are coming, I promise!
Plenty of scoring in the Sharks and Avalanche that finished up late last night. San Jose had an awfully big fight on their hands, but a late 3rd period goal sent the game to overtime and the overtime hero in that game was Devin Setoguchi, who potted his second goal on the night for the San Jose 6-5 win. Setoguchi wasn't a terribly popular player on the sheet, but he was taken twice, so he came out to be a great little bonus for a couple teams last night.
The Sharks evened that series up at one game a piece as well now, so we'll at least five games after they finish up their trip to Denver.
In the first game of the night, it was another tight game between the Penguins and the Senators. It had more than it's fair share of intensity and excellent plays. There wasn't a great deal of scoring in the game, which would displease the poolies, but I'll tell you, it was a great game to watch. It was a small split for the best players in this game, as Sidney Crosby, Kristopher Letang and Marc-Andre Fleury each came away with 2 points in the pool in the 2-1 win to even up the series. The Penguins were an awfully popular team, so the real movement comes when the Senators score, because not many of them picked this time around.
Series is tied at one in this series as well, going back to Ottawa.
The Devils and Flyers had their series knotted up at one after New Jersey scored to break a tie-game with four minutes to go in the 3rd period and then added an empty-netter to seal the deal for a 5-3 win. I haven't had a chance to watch any of this series yet, it's probably on my list of things to do on Sunday, but it does look like there is plenty of passion in this one. Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias were your big guys in this game, each picking up 3 points for their respective pool teams... Kovalchuk being on two teams and Elias on 12 teams. The Devils have plenty of oomph to make it far in the playoffs, but they have to survive the Flyers, which isn't going to be an easy task.
Finally, the series between the Blackhawks and the Predators opened up on Friday night in Chicago and it was the team from Music City that came out and stunned the home team with a 4-1 win, which included a couple of empty-net goals, really making it a 2-1 win in spirit. Nevertheless, the Predators got into an early lead in the series thanks to J-P Dumont's two goals, including the winner, for a 3-point night. The Predators were not given much of the vote in this pool, only having nine selections in total and Dumont was not one of the players with picks, so his night went for naught in the standings. Chicago is the overwhelming favourite to come out of the West, if you read how the selections play out, taking 96.9% of their possible selections. If you had them to lose in the first round, you're obviously a braver person than I.
Game-Winning Goals
A quick recap of the bonus points given out (or not in one case) from last night's action. Starting from the early game and working to the late game... Kristopher Letang scored the winner in the 3rd for the Penguins to tie up the series; Dainius Zubrus stole a point from the pool by scoring the winner for the Devils to also tie their series; J-P Dumont scored the winner for the Predators, but no one picked him to claim the bonus point; Henrik Zetterberg scored the winner for the Red Wings to some collectors; and Devin Setoguchi also picked up his first bonus point of the playoffs for the Sharks.Five teams now lead the pool with 3 game-winners from their players after three nights in the playoffs. Unfortunately, 21 teams have yet to find the red light in clutch situations, failing to register a bonus point in these playoffs. Still lots of time though.
Play of the Night
This video is going to be source of much debate and speculation in the game for the next week or so, but I am agreeing with the no-call on the ice and the decision by the NHL, as this is a clean North-South hit by Andy Sutton on Jordan Leopold, it's just a real shame that Leopold didn't return to this game.
Of course, that play did lead to an injury, which I should be reporting here. Jordan Leopold did leave the game with the early description of an upper-body injury. I think it is fair to say the word concussion will be used in the next day or two, which will shut down Leopold for at least a week, but I would be expecting a lot more. It's fair to say that we shouldn't be surprised if that finished his playoff run.Tonight's Games
The games get started nice and early, as I'm rushing to get this blog post done before the Boston and Buffalo game starts.
Yes, the Bruins and Sabres will tangle again on Saturday, with the Sabres being up 1-0 in the series. The Bruins will hope to even up the series before heading back to Boston, but the Sabres are one of the favourites in the hockey pool, taking the selection count at 69% to 27% in possible selections. The most popular player in this series, Thomas Vanek, with 23 picks.
At 5pm, a regular Hockey Night In Canada time match-up, but on TSN, the Canadiens look to shock the Capitals again in their own building with another win. That would be a huge coup for Montreal if they could go back home with a 2-0 series lead. I don't expect the Caps to just roll over much here. I can't say that I'm surprised, but the Capitals lead the selections in this series heavily as well, 98.8% to 4.3%. There would be a ton of disappointed people if the Capitals lost so early, but there would be a good number of people would be elated if the Habs snuck through. Alex Ovechkin is the most popular player in the series, he has 39 of a possible 54 selections.
Finally, only one late game from the West Coast, as Game Two goes in Vancouver. The Canucks snuck past the Kings in overtime to take a 1-0 lead, so you have to know that the Kings feel that they aren't very far away from taking a win in the away rink. The Canucks will try to play another strong game on the puck to deter the Kings from a win, so it should be fun to watch. The Canucks have a decided advantage in the selections in this series, having 75.3% of their possible selections to the Kings' 14.2%. It's not as lopsided as some of these series, but there is a definite majority in this one. Roberto Luongo is the most popular goalie in the West and the most popular player in this series... he has 21 picks to his name.
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