Saturday, In the Pool

It was a great day for hockey, if you were able to sit down and watch it, as the four games of the day were nicely spaced out for everyone to enjoy.  I managed to catch good portions of each game on Saturday, day and night, and the day had everything between a tightly contested period to a horror show of 60 minutes.  In some cases, it really didn't feel like a bunch of playoff games, they were just so loose and not concentrating on defense at all.

The day started off in Detroit, where the Red Wings were looking to go up 2-0 on the Coyotes with a win, taking hold of home-ice advantage in the series.  The Coyotes really needed a good effort from Ilya Bryzgalov in Game Two, if they were going to earn that split.  Sadly, the Coyotes couldn't take full advantage of a shorthanded Red Wings team, as they fell behind early and had no immediate answer for a 3-goal 1st period and another goal early in the 2nd period.  The Coyotes did manage to claw back and make the game interesting, scoring a 4-3 goal in the middle of the 3rd period, but that's as far as they would get in the afternoon game.

The Red Wings managed to get their 2-0 series lead on the back of Pavel Datsyuk, who had a goal and 3 assists for a 4-point afternoon charge.  Tomas Holmstrom scored the winning goal and added an assist for a 3-point effort, while Nicklas Lidstrom and Jimmy Howard also picked up 2 points each.  Remarkably, Datsyuk was only taken five times in the pool this time around, so only a handful of teams managed to collect the biggest prize of this game.

This series will now head back to the desert for Monday night, where the Coyotes will try and conjure up some resistance for their high-powered opponents in their own building.  They did manage to reel a couple of goals back, so they might not be out of this series.

It was anything but a pretty game in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon, as the Flyers and Sabres didn't play too much defense in the 1st period, both sides giving up three goals a piece, but it did tighten up to only give up three goals in the final 40 minutes.  The Flyers managed to pull Game Two out of the fire though, thanks to  a goalie switch in the 1st period and their two 2nd period goals, evening up the series at one with a 5-4 win.

With lots of scoring in the game, that meant that there were many points to be had for the pool... Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist, Daniel Briere scored the eventual winner, while Matt Carle, Andrej Meszaros and Kimmo Timonen each had a pair of assists.  Yes, that goalie switch I had mentioned earlier meant that Brian Boucher picked up his first 2 points of the playoffs with a win and he may have earned a start in Game Three as well.

For the Sabres, Thomas Vanek was the only multiple-point getter on the team, scoring a pair of goals in the game, rewarding the three teams that decided to go with some of the scorers from the Sabres.

The series will now go back to Buffalo and I think the Sabres can be pleased with what they have done with their two games in Philadelphia, earning a split in the series and keeping up with the Flyers in the scoring department.  Two very big things that should lead to a bit more confidence, as they head home for Game Three on Monday night.

It looks like the recipe for success for the Canadiens is working really, really well again for them through two games in Boston, as they not only took home-ice advantage away from the Bruins, they have full home-ice advantage going back to Montreal for Game Three after winning Game Two, 3-1.  Lots of speed and taking space away was key for the Habs on Saturday night and when they were not able to contain the beefy Bruins side, Carey Price was there to bail them out.

Price made 34 saves to earn his second win of these playoffs, while Mike Cammalleri had a goal and an assist as well for his first 2 points of this playoff season.  This is already looking like a bit of an upset, both in this series and in the pool, since Price only has five selections to his name, while Cammalleri only has four.  If the Canadiens can somehow manage their way through this series, there are going to be a lot of frustrated poolies.

The Bruins were playing without their captain, Zdeno Chara, on Saturday night, as Chara was suffering from a virus, which may or may not have been the leading cause of his dehydration and visit to the hospital on Friday night. There was hope that Chara would play in Game Two, but he was a late scratch in the end, much to the delight of the Canadiens.

The Canadiens were not without injury as well, going into Game Two, they were going to be without Andrei Kostitsyn, who blocked a point shot from Chara with his foot in Game One, suffering an injury to that foot.  He was questionable for Saturday's game, but ended up being a scratch as well.  He'll likely be a game-day decision for Game Three.

The Canadiens and Bruins will play Game Three in Montreal on Monday night.  The Bell Centre is going to be rocking with their team up 2-0 in the series, but all it takes is one win from Boston and they are back in it.

In the late game, the all-California match-up between the Sharks and Kings was a little bit one-sided... to the visitor's bench.  The Kings put an excellent 60 minutes together against the Sharks and came away with a 4-0 win and a series split in San Jose.

You may not have noticed him during the regular season, but you sure noticed him last night, as Drew Doughty finished the night with points on all four Kings goals, scoring two of them himself and adding assists on the other two.  Finally, the Doughty we all thought was coming showed up and at no better time as well.  Doughty was not a favourite in Box 8, taken only three times, but he sure cashed in for those teams on Saturday night.

Also having good nights for the Kings were Jonathan Quick, who made 34 saves for his first shutout of the playoffs, picking up 4 points, Jack Johnson scored the winner and added an assist for a 3-point night as well. I'm not sure anyone would have, but if you had all three of these Kings on your team, you picked up a cool 11 points.

This series will resume on Tuesday night in Los Angeles and it has now become a best-of-five series with the Kings somewhat in the driver's seat.

Just for a quick recap of the game-winning goals, Tomas Holmstrom scored for the Red Wings, Daniel Briere for the Flyers, Mathieu Darche for the Canadiens and Jack Johnson for the Kings, meaning three out of four stayed in the pool on Saturday.  We have two teams now tied for the lead in game-winners, the 20th place Flyers Fantatic #1 and Porkies Revenge, who sits in 22nd.  Our new pool leader, 604 To The Cup, is in a tie for 2nd among game-winners with 5 thus far, so there is a level of importance to the bonus points.

Tonight's Games

In an afternoon matinee at Madison Square Gardens, the New York Rangers are looking to keep their heads above water, hoping that some home-cooking and a good crowd can get them back into their series against the Capitals.  Washington leads the series 2-0 and it's a 1pm MT start.

The Bobby Ryan-less Ducks will try and find some extra offense against a stingy Predators team in Nashville in the early evening on Sunday. This series is tied at one and we've seen the best of both teams in the two games in Anaheim, so it will be a matter of who can enforce their own game in Game Three for a swing in the right direction.  This has a 4pm MT start today.

Only one more game on Sunday night, as the Canucks invade the Madhouse on Madison, looking to not shy away from the Blackhawks and their Chelsea Dagger. The Canucks took both games in Vancouver and now the Blackhawks will need to make sure that their building is as inhospitable as possible to keep themselves in this series.  This game gets started at 6pm MT.