Blues & Stars Done, Rangers Go Ahead

There has been no lack of intrigue in the Rangers/Flyers series, as there continues to be a lack of certainty on both sides.  The Rangers, however, were able to hang on to a 3-1 2nd period lead, making them feel a little bit more certain about what they have to do in Game Six, after a 4-2 win.

The Flyers were able to make things close, bringing the score back to 3-2 with only 89 seconds to go in the game, already with an empty-net, but the Rangers were able to seal it with an empty-netter, with only 15 ticks left on the clock.  Philadelphia wasn't great for most of the game, but in those last few minutes, they at least had some push to the finish.

Players of note for the blueshirts... well, there's only one.  Henrik Lundqvist made 24 saves for the win, getting the 2 points for his poolies.

The series will shift back to Philadelphia for Tuesday night, 5:30pm Mountain Time, where the Flyers will need to find a win at home to force Game Seven, which would likely go on Thursday night, if necessary.

After stealing a win away in St. Louis on Friday night, the Chicago Blackhawks were taking this series back home to their house, with the opportunity to close it out.

That's exactly what they did... with style.

A 1-1 game going into the 3rd period and you would have probably said, this game was going exactly the way this series has gone, tight right to the finish.  The Blackhawks made sure that wasn't going to be the case, as Jonathan Toews scored 44 seconds into the final frame and then the wheels came off for the St. Louis Blues, as they gave up three more goals in the 3rd period and with the blink of an eye, the Blues were knocked out of the playoffs.

For the Blackhawks, Duncan Keith led the way with a goal and 3 assists in the game, followed by Toews, Brent Seabrook (in his return from suspension) and Corey Crawford, each picking up 2 points for their poolies in the game.

It may have come as a little bit of a surprise, but it appears that Kris Versteeg was a healthy scratch for the deciding game of the series. Versteeg, taken seven times in the hockey pool, has only picked up 2 assists in the five games he was able to dress in, so it may have been a matter of a lack of offense and a need for a better two-way game from his replacement Joakim Nordstrom.  It will be interesting to see how Versteeg gets used further down the line in these playoffs.

With the St. Louis elimination, there were 44 picks dropped off of the pool.  Kevin Shattenkirk was the most popular Blues player in the pool, taken 10 times throughout the pool.  The number of teams that still have 24 players left on their squad dropped down from 24 to 14 after the Blues have been stroked off the list and the number of teams that have dropped below 21 players has increased from four to nine.

I had all my preparations done with the Dallas Stars up 3-1 after one on the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night.  I didn't think much of the Ducks' game through the 2nd period, but shame on me for getting a picture of Trevor Daley ready for this post, as the Ducks came back from a 4-2 deficit in the 3rd period.

The Stars held that 2-goal lead deep into the 3rd period, when the Ducks pulled their goalie with a few minutes to play.  Nick Bonino scored right away, with over two minutes to play in regulation and then they kept pouring on the pressure, scoring to tie up the game with 24 ticks left on the clock.

The comeback was made complete by the overtime winner, less than three minutes into the extra frame, as Bonino capitalized on an open opportunity, sending the Ducks through to the next round and breaking the Stars' hearts, which were yearning for a Game Seven.

Bonino was the star of the game for the hockey pool, scoring the pair of goals, including the winner for 3 points.  Jonas Hiller came into the game in relief of Fredrik Andersen, who was pulled after the 4-2 goal, and got the win for 2 points in the standings.  Teemu Selanne and Corey Perry each had 2 points to compliment the sheet as well.

A couple of roster notes for the Ducks, in regards to the hockey pool, as Mathieu Perreault was held out of the line-up due to injury, while Hampus Lindholm was a healthy scratch in the game.  Both players received reasonable followings in the selection numbers this year, but neither played a part in the series decider.  They will likely have a few nights to figure out how they'll line-up for the Kings or the Sharks, as they finish their series this week.

As for the newly-eliminated Stars, 21 picks were stricken from the record, including Tyler Seguin and Trevor Daley, who each had 4 picks each to lead the team.  Needless to say, they were not favoured in this pool.

11 teams in the pool are still perfect with 24 players remaining on their squads, with still a few series left to be decided.  Shane H. is now at the bottom of the ranks, in terms of remaining players, as he is the only one that sits at 15 players left, while Scott G.'s #1 team has 18 left.  14 teams have less than 21 players in total, so this round has already taken its toll on the pool.