Taking a look at all the brackets, the East took a couple steps to finishing as soon as possible, while the West is as tight as some clenched butt cheeks, eh? I wonder if the rest of the series will follow suit on Wednesday night.The Red Wings managed to claw back into a tie in their series with the Coyotes, taking Game Four at home at the Joe, 3-0. It was a good night for Jimmy Howard, who recorded his first career playoff shutout, picking up 4 points in the process. Howard had to make 29 stops for the win.
The series now shifts back to Phoenix on Friday for Game Five.
The Penguins ended up taking both games in Ottawa, re-upping their home ice advantage and taking a 3-1 series lead over the Senators, thanks to a 7-4 win. The star of the night and to a significant part of these playoffs already, Sidney Crosby had 2 goals and 2 assists to lead the way for the Penguins. In the pool, he now has 12 points and is far and away the leader in that department.
Pittsburgh can close out the series at home on Thursday night.
After splitting the series in New Jersey, the Flyers managed to make good use of their home-ice advantage by winning both games at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. The Flyers took Game Four by a score of 4-1, thanks to a big breakout night from Jeff Carter, who had 2 goals, including the winner, and an assist for a 4-point night. Those points last night were his first of the series, so it was a long time coming for him.
The Flyers will have to travel to New Jersey to try and close out this series, but even if they can't, they have a 2-game cushion to take back home for Game Six, if necessary.
In Nashville, the Predators hosted the Blackhawks in their Game Three of the series and it was the hosts that took fine advantage of a lethargic visiting team. The Preds won Game Three by a score of 4-1, taking a 2-1 series lead, thanks to a 4-point night from Nashville's David Legwand, who scored the game-winner and added 2 assists. Legwand was actually good enough for a selection in the pool this time around, so some lucky player picked up a good night from him.
Game Four of the series is in Nashville on Thursday night, where the Blackhawks will try and even that series up as well.
Finally, in Denver, the Sharks managed to climb back into their series with the Avalanche, thanks to another overtime decision, this time in their favour. The Sharks desperately needed a boost after that devastating loss in Game Three and it looks like they found it. Sharks forward, Joe Pavelski, was the hero for his club, scoring the winning goal in overtime and adding an assist on the opening goal by Dan Boyle (which wasn't into his own net). Pavelski was the most popular player in Box 5, so there was a lot of happy campers in that box.
Game Five will also go on Thursday back in San Jose, where the Sharks will look to build on their momentum going forward.
Game-Winning Goals
Well, thanks to the quick recaps, we know who a few of the winning goal scorers are already, but as always, I'm going to go over them, just for those scoring at home.In Detroit, Henrik Zetterberg picked up his 2nd GWG of these playoffs to take the lead in the category already. He's been on fire in these playoffs, hasn't he? For the Penguins in Ottawa, it was Maxime Talbot, who has been a Playoff Pool player before, but with some increased depth, Talbot has been left off, so a point is stolen from the pool. Jeff Carter joined the parade in Philadelphia, David Legwand added one for Nashville and Joe Pavelski had San Jose's. Those were the three we already knew about.
Yes, Zetterberg now leads all players in the pool with 2 game-winners and this guy has been absolutely clutch in the playoffs and the pools, if my mind serves me correctly. I don't have the previous year's numbers with me on hand,but I'm sure he is usually up there in this category on an annual basis.
Both Tony and Kalenab still lead the pool with 6 GWGs in these playoffs and we've just played through the first week of the tournament. That's not bad at all... almost one per night.
A big sigh of relief for all of those teams that had selected Dany Heatley from Box 2 of the sheet, all 16 of you, as he returned to the Sharks line-up from a lower-body injury that kept him out of Game Three. Heatley didn't have any impact on the scoresheet, however, but at least the potential is there for him to pick up some points.Tonight's Games
The Canadiens will try to hang on and extend their hopes a little bit longer, as the Capitals look to push on further in their series, when both teams engage for Game Four in Montreal. The Capitals really took it to the Habs in their own building on Monday night, so it could be about saving face with their fans, more than staying in this series. Nicklas Backstrom leads all players in the series in pool points with 6.
The Bruins have a real opportunity to play spoilers tonight, as they can take a shocking 3-1 series lead over the Sabres with a win on Wednesday night. The Sabres have openly said that they are struggling on offense and since they are without Thomas Vanek due to a lower-body injury, there is just a harder job for the remaining forwards to accomplish. Remarkably, the leading point-getter in the series is Zdeno Chara of the Bruins, who has 4 points in the series.
Finally in the late game, the Kings can take full advantage of their home-ice with a win tonight as well, as they go into Game Four against the Canucks with a 2-1 series lead. The Canucks are in desperate need to sort out some of their defense issues and some of their goaltending problems for this game or else they will be behind the 8-ball going home for Game Five. Both Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson lead this series in points with 5 a piece.
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