Another crazy day of action on Saturday and all three series that had some ice-time couldn't make an adequate decision as to who would lead the series through two games. There was plenty of scoring and we should all be happy with that, but we just have no idea of who is going to come out of these tight series. It's almost too close to call.In the early game on Saturday, it was the Boston Bruins storming the Buffalo net in the 3rd period to help tie the series at one. The Bruins went into the 3rd period down 3-2, only to score three of their own in the last frame to win the game 5-3. Bruins defenseman, Zdeno Chara, was the superstar in the game, scoring two goals, including the winner to lead all players in points.
The Bruins also have their land mine of a pick in Tim Thomas, who was selected as the Bruins goalie for the sheet, long before the playoffs started. It's Tuukka Rask in net for the Bruins to start the playoffs, so if you're expect goalie points from Boston, you will be out of luck.
Well, it took two periods of lazying about before the Washington Capitals came back to play a meaningful game of hockey on Saturday night, but when they did, it was quite the display of offensive talent under the gun. Nicklas Backstrom led the way for the Caps, picking up a hat-trick, including the overtime winner and an assist for a whopping 5-point night. Backstrom now leads all pool players in points early on in these playoffs with 6 points in two games and is also the most popular player in Box 14, with 25 selections.
The Capitals are now running into a major goaltending concern of their own now, as Jose Theodore was pulled from Game Two after letting the first two shots get by him in the first period. I haven't seen or heard any confirmation that Semyon Varlamov has officially replaced Theodore as the number one, but that could be a devastating change in the pool to a lot of people.
The series is now tied up at one game a piece, heading back to Montreal for Monday.
In the late game, it was a real back & forth effort by both the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks, which sent them to overtime for the 2nd straight game. The Kings were able to capitalize on an ill-timed bench minor in overtime to earn the split in Vancouver and take home a 1-1 series back to Los Angeles. Taking top player honours in the game was Anze Kopitar, who picked up the game-winning goal in overtime and an assist for a 3-point night in the pool. Unfortunately for him, he didn't garner any attention in the sheet pool, so his points fell to the wayside last night.
Game-Winning Goals
As you could read above, all three game-winners were scored by pool players, which led them all over the top for their respective teams. Zdeno Chara, Nicklas Backstrom and Anze Kopitar all were exceptionally clutch on Saturday night, evening up each of their series at one game.Only two teams now lead the pool in bonus points after Saturday night's games. 1st place Leon and 4th place Russ each have 4 game-winners in the pool after four nights in the pool, but they are followed by 12 teams with 3 game-winners. It's somewhat surprising to see 12 teams still without a game-winner, since there have been some pretty popular guys scoring the clutch goals.
Last season, the pool leader in game-winning goals finished off with 22, while the pool winner only finished with 15. In 2008, the game-winning goals leader finished with 19, while the pool winner had 16. In 2007, it was 19 and 11, respectively. Just a little food for thought.
The Sabres and a good number of poolies are now without the most popular Sabres player in the hockey pool, as Thomas Vanek has suffered a lower-body injury, thanks to a play in the 1st period of Game Two of the series. He had to leave the game and will be re-evaluated before Game Three, but it's unknown whether or not Vanek will dress. The coaching staff anticipate Vanek to make the trip to Boston, so he won't be far away, if he's good to go.
There was a bit of a shock seeing both Justin Williams and Randy Jones as healthy scratches on Saturday night, because the Kings should be relying heavily on their veterans in such a pressure-packed time of year, but coach Murray thought he didn't get enough out of them in the first game of the series, so they were scratched in favour of some younger legs. I'm not saying that they were the difference, but the Canucks did have a hard night against the Kings.Tonight's Games
Thanks to that Chicago and Nashville series starting late, we continue to have five games on the opposite day of a day with only three games, but what can you do, right? Four series will try and break a deadlock of 1-1 on Sunday, increasing the level of importance by a bit, while the fifth series will only play its second game.
The day starts somewhat early with a start in Detroit, as the Coyotes and Red Wings renew their acquaintances at Joe Louis Arena. The last game was a scoring bonanza and I'm sure there are a lot of people who are wishing for the same sort of performance out of both teams again. Phoenix is led by Derek Morris in these playoffs, he has 5 points going into this game, while the Red Wings are leaning on Henrik Zetterberg, who has 4 points. Each player has their team's bonus point as well.
Next it's the Devils and Flyers in Philadelphia, where there is definitely some bad blood bubbling before battle this afternoon. The Devils stormed back with a 5-3 win in Game Two to earn the tie coming out of the swamp, but the Flyers will be ready for them at home, I'd imagine. Mike Richards leads the series with 5 points, while Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise and Patrik Elias all have 3 points for the Devils. Has that feel of leading by example versus scoring by committee, doesn't it?
Game Three of the day sees the Penguins invade the Senators in Ottawa, trying to build on some of the momentum that they picked up in Game Two, after winning the game 2-1, in a hard fought battle. The Senators are proving that they are not ready to go away, as they fought tooth & nail in the last game and now they have home-ice advantage. Pittsburgh has Sidney Crosby leading the charge once again, as he has 5 points in this series for the pool, while Chris Kelly has the Senators lead in pool points, as he only has 3 points so far.
Game Four of the day is Game Two between the Blackhawks and Predators in Chicago, where the Predators took a surprising Game One win, 4-1. J-P Dumont was the big hero for Nashville, as he will likely have to be again today, with 3 points for his poolies... his 0 poolies. Yes, the Blackhawks are heavy favourites to come out of this series and go to the second round, but for the 9 selections actually made, it would amazing if the Predators slipped through in one of the bigger pool upsets ever.
Finally, the late game tonight has Colorado and San Jose going right back to it after a bit of a shootout in Game Two, where the Sharks took the game 6-5 in overtime. The Avalanche were definitely in that game offensively and will need that kind (or reasonably close to it) of production throughout the series to really make it seems close. Scoring leaders in this series are tied with 4 points a piece, Devin Setoguchi for the Sharks and Chris Stewart for the Avs. This should be a good game as well. Oh hell, they are all good games, aren't they?
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