Man, these 5-game schedule days are pretty busy ones, when it comes to blogging them. Luckily, I got a good jump on it on Sunday and it didn't take too long to polish off.It was another crazy day in the playoffs, as some new directions had to be taken, splitting four series from their 1-1 settings and we're still trying to get to know another series. I hate to break it to you though, it was a pretty rough day on the ol' pool, some hard scoring days were abound.
The Coyotes weathered a couple tough storms on the ice in Joe Louis Arena, but once they made it to the 3rd period up 2-1, you could just tell there was a sense of confidence amongst the group and they proved that with a 4-2 win over the Red Wings. The best players in the pool in the game all had 2 points a piece, as Martin Hanzal, Radim Vrbata, Matthew Lombardi and Ilya Bryzgalov got it for the Coyotes, while Henrik Zetterberg picked up 2 points of his own in the loss.
There was little separating the Devils and Flyers on Sunday afternoon, as they split the scoring in the 1st and 2nd period, held each other scoreless in the 3rd period and had to take their game to overtime to settle it. Unlike the earlier game, this time it was the lower seed Flyers taking the game and used home-ice to their advantage, winning the game 3-2 and taking a 2-1 series lead. There was a definite similarity between this game and the early game, as there was only a number of players that picked up a pair of points each and they were Brian Boucher, Mike Richards, Ilya Kovalchuk and Brian Rolston.
The Penguins showed off some scoring muscle against the Senators in their Game Three in Ottawa on Sunday. The Pens scored in each period, including a 2-goal 2nd period to win the game 4-2 and Pittsburgh now holds a 2-1 series lead. Undoubtedly, the star of the game was the biggest fish in the pond, Sidney Crosby, who scored the winning goal and added an assist for a 3-point night. With that big night, Crosby now overtakes Henrik Zetterberg for the pool lead in points (8), which makes the 14 teams that picked him over Alex Ovechkin very happy.
Pittsburgh now has a 2-1 lead in the series, which goes again on Tuesday in Ottawa.
The Blackhawks and Predators only played Game Two of their series on Sunday night and the Predators had th chance to be the only team in the playoffs to take a 2-0 series lead, but unfortunately, they ran into a more determined Chicago team that wanted some retribution for their last game. In stepped Antti Niemi, who made 23 saves for the first Chicago playoff shutout since 1996. It's too bad Niemi isn't the goalie of record on the pool sheet or else that would have been a solid 4 points for someone. It's true, no points were awarded for the win or the shutout in this game and the series is now tied at one. Kind of a bummer, eh?
In Denver, the night finished off with the Avalanche hosting the Sharks, also in a 1-1 series deadlock. It was a battle of wills in the game, that of Craig Anderson's versus that of the Sharks' offense, for a lack of a better match-up. Evgeni Nabokov was also pretty good, but the Avalanche didn't torch him for as many shots, like Anderson was. It was tied 0-0 going into overtime, with Anderson facing 50 shots in the first 60 minutes of the game. And then, just when you thought the Sharks were winding up to start a good breakout out of their own zone, Dan Boyle puts it into his own net, trying to ring the puck around the boards. Game over. Avalanche have a 2-1 series lead, playing again at home on Tuesday night. Anderson, who wasn't taken at all, was credited with 4 points for the shutout, but it doesn't really make any difference.
Game-Winning Goals
Another case for a stolen game-winning goal, as Petr Prucha picked up the eventual winner midway through the 3rd period and it held on. Prucha had a pretty good game against the Red Wings, almost making me regret putting him on the sheet somewhere, possibly in the place of Robert Lang, but what can we do?It was a very pesky game for Dan Carcillo against the Devils, as he won the game for the Flyers in the overtime session, also taking away the bonus point from the pool, drawing another coincidence between this game and the Phoenix/Detroit game. It was really turning into one of those days for the pool.
There was some hope for the hockey pool when Sidney Crosby was eventually credited with the winner in Ottawa on Sunday night, which made the night 1 for 3, when it came to game-winners. Crosby joins all the others with a single bonus point thus far in the pool.
But all those good feelings about the pool were pretty short-lived, as non-pool player, Dave Bolland had scored the first goal of the game between the Blackhawks and the Predators, stealing the bonus point away, as Antti Niemi stole the shutout away as well. That was a pretty lame game, to be honest.
Finally, with Dan Boyle potting an own goal to lose the game for the Sharks last night, credit for the only goal of the game went to the last Avalanche player to touch it... non-pool player, Ryan O'Reilly, was just that guy and that steals yet another bonus point from the pool. Overall, the pool went 1-for-5 in game-winners, which is the worst night by far.
Despite getting the win in overtime, the Avalanche were unlucky enough to lose one of their top forwards in Milan Hejduk, who left after a collision with teammate, Paul Stastny, in the 1st period of Sunday night's game. Hejduk appeared to have taken a shot to the head, but the team would only go so far as to say that Hejduk suffered an upper-body ijury and that his status for Game Four is currently unknown. Hejduk was taken once in the pool, so someone is holding their breath, awaiting good news about his return.
The Phoenix Coyotes suffered a pretty massive blow in their 4-2 win against the Red Wings in Game Three of their series, as Shane Doan had to leave the game with an upper-body injury, not to return. I don't think anyone is going to unbutton their lips about how serious the injury is right away, but even finishing the game was going to be a tough job. Look for a little more information before Game Four, but its still questionable as to how much we'll get. On the plus side, Robert Lang finally slotted into the Coyotes line-up thanks to an injury to Vern Fiddler, which means he made a few poolies happy hearing about his return.
The Sharks had to scratch one of their top scoring forwards on Sunday night, as Box 2 forward Dany Heatley was unable to go against the Avalanche in Game Three. The Sharks were not going to disclose the reason why Heatley was unable to go, but replays from Friday night's Game Two showed that he looked to have suffered a lower-body injury and was barely good enough to skate off the ice under his own power. His status for Tuesday is still unknown as well.Tonight's Games
The schedule remains the same going into Monday's action, as we're back to the 3-game day. All three series will break a 1-1 deadlock, so there is lots on the line on Monday night and hopefully there is plenty of scoring just to show how much these players want to win.
The schedule shows the two early games starting at the same time, but by tonight, you probably have a good idea of which game you want to watch. The Canadiens will host the Capitals, which should be a very entertaining game in an electric atmosphere. The Habs are still in the series and the fans should let them know that.
In the other early game, the series between the Sabres and Bruins shifts to Boston and the TD Garden should also be hopping, knowing that their team has stolen a game from the favoured Sabres in their own building. It sounds like the Sabres will be without Thomas Vanek, so the Bruins have one less weapon to worry about.
Finally, the late game on the West Coast has the Canucks and Kings in Los Angeles, testing out the ambiance of the Staples Center, seeing if it's NHL Playoff material. I would imagine it would be, but this is where young teams really get tested... in front of their own home fans. This has "interesting" written all over it.
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