My take on the NHL Playoffs

April 29 2008

After winning the first two games in Pittsburgh, the Penguins were in control of their series with the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist was not himself in the first two games of the series. He seemed to be battling the puck and ended up to deep in his net and not challenging and penquin shooters.
Game three was the same as the previous two with Lundqvist still playing to deep in the net. New York out shot the Penquins in the game 39-17 but still ended up loosing by a score of 4-3. Pittsburgh was up 2-0 after the first period but the Rangers took control of the game in the second period and managed to tie the game up at 2-2. Then the Rangers Ryan Hollweg got a little too aggressive and took a foolish boarding penalty. Pittsburgh scored on the resulting power play and took the momentum back from the New York squad. The penalty proved to be the turning point in the game and Holliwig never saw the ice again for the rest of the game. With that the Penquins went up in the series 3-0.
Stick a fork in the Rangers as they are done.



In game 3 the score was tied at zeros until the last minute of the 1st period when, while killing a penalty, Patrick Marlowe got a breakaway and scored to make it 1-0. The score stayed that way until Dallas got a 5-3 power play early in the 3rd which they capitalized on to tie it at 1-1. Dallas then got a penalty shot but Nabokov stopped it and the game remained tied.
Dallas owned the third period and through everything at the sharks. San Jose seemed to be playing nervous hockey and were worried about making mistakes. They did manage to hold the fort though and get the game into overtime.
In the overtime San Jose ended up icing the puck with their 4th line on the ice. Ron Wilson called a time out to try and rest his troops. It did not help because the Stars sent out their top line against the Sharks 4th line. San Jose lost the draw and got caught running around. They never got the puck back until they were fishing it out of their net after the O.T. winner at 4:37. A shot by Nordstrom from the point deflected off Jeremy Roenick, who was attempting to block it, and went into the top left corner of the net.


May 1 2008

Pens and Rangers

The Rangers came out and started very strong as they had to because their backs were against the wall. It was win or go home. The first thing I noticed was that Henrik Lundqvist was standing up better and coming out of the net a bit better. Cutting the angles down better and playing with much more confidence. The Rangers were rewarded for their hard work with a goal by Jaromir Jagr about 16 minutes into the second period. Just after the goal Evgeny Malkin was awarded a penalty shot but Lundqvist shut him down. Then Dubinsky made it 2-0 about one minute into the 3rd period. Jagr added an empty netter to seal the deal and the Rangers stayed alive to fight one more day. The Rangers will still be toast.

This game was the first bit of adversity the young Pens had faced in the playoffs this year and they showed some frustration. Michel Terrion’s job now as the coach is to re-focus his young players again and have them fight through and not let the frustration fester.



Detroit and Colorado

The Ave’s are all banged up and would have needed to be completely healthy to take a run at the Red Wings. They are missing too many key players to have any chance. So I think, they have the fork in them as well cause their done. No Ryan Smith, no Peter Forsberg, no Paul Stasny. Half of their offence is on the shelf. In the game Colorado turned the puck over way to much and against a team like Detroit, which usually means it will end up in your net. Detroit is likely one of the two best teams in the league at counter attacking. The other is Pittsburgh who I happen to think will be playing Detroit for the cup.
Anyway the puck did end up in the Ave’s net, 3-1 after one period, then two quick ones in the second pretty well sealed it. The final score was 8-2. Colorado done like dinner, four straight. Now Detroit can rest up and watch Dallas and San Jose beat the crap out of each other, hoping their series will go 7.

May 2 2008

Dallas and San Jose

Dallas was in complete control of the game and was up 2-0, with two goals by Brendon Morrow called back, the first was ruled to have been kicked in, while the second was gloved in. The gloved one was the right call but the kicked in goal should have counted. The Sharks were completely listless for two periods and looked dead in the water, pardon the pun. They had turned the puck over to many times to count (about 18) without it really costing them.
Then 6 minutes into the 3rd period Dallas turned the puck over and it was in their net. Then 4 minutes later, Jeremy Roenick (who was hitting everything in sight) made a beautiful pass to spring Brian Campbell and he fired a rocket wrist shot into the top corner.
The game then went into overtime and one minute and five seconds in Joe Rafalski won it for San Jose, with a shot over Marty Turco’s shoulder on the short side. That occurred from another Dallas turn over. You got to love this game, San Jose does nothing but turn the puck over for the first half of the game and is golden, Dallas turns it over maybe 4 times all game and twice it ends up in their net. 3-2 final and back to Dallas. for game 6.

May 3 2008

Montreal and Philly

I am not going to dwell much on this game. Bottom line is “No guts no glory”. Montreal showed that just because you a good team in the regular season, the playoffs are completely different. If you don’t go hard in the corners and in front of the net, “the dirty areas” of the ice, you will not win in the playoffs. Plain and simple, end of story. Montreal was faster and had a deeper line up than the flyers, but had no BALLS and played on the perimeter. Now they are golfing.

May 4 2008

New York at Pittsburgh

Henrik Lundqvist was back to his old self and was holding the fort, keeping his team in the game. It was only 1-0 Pittsburgh half way through the game and the only reason the Rangers were still in it was because of Lundqvist. The Pens were bussing all around the Ranger net after Hossa’s power play goal. Malkin then scored to make it 2-0 with a quick backhand over a surprised Lundqvist’s shoulder. The puck deflected off a Ranger defenseman’s stick.
The Rangers came out strong in the third and carried the play, tied the game and sent it into overtime. Marion Hossa scored the game and series winner.
The Penguin’s will now play the Flyers in the Eastern Conference final. Pittsburgh should win and get to the cup final. Philly played Pittsburgh tough all year though and took the season series 5-3. The flyers may try and rough up the young pens but guys like Gary Roberts and George Larque won’t let that happen.




May 4 2008

San Jose at Dallas

Well this game was “Hudson Bay Rules” in the first period as the ref’s let them play and bang each other about. Dallas scored first but the bottom line in the whole series was that Marty Turco out played Vezina Trophy candidate Nabokov. This was especially true in the first three games of the series.
Dallas has matched San Jose physically in the series even though they were giving up an average of ten pounds per man. San Jose tied the game just over one minute into the third period. Detroit was home resting, rubbing their hands together and hoping that the series would go seven games and they would bang each other up so the winner of the series would be softened up for them. Right at the end of the third period Brendon Morrow layed a huge hit on Milan Muholick and he did not return for the overtime.
In the overtime Nabokov robbed Brad Richards with the save of the playoffs, coming across post to post to grab his shot with his glove. Nabokov should leave the puck alone because his is no Marty Turco, when it comes to handling the puck.
Dallas wins the game and the series at about the 11 minute mark of the fourth overtime period after Brian Campbell took a tripping penalty. The series did not go seven by it may as well have. Of the six games played, four of them went into overtime.

May 8 2008

Dallas at Detroit

As expected Dallas did not have any legs in this game after their grueling series with San Jose. Detroit got up 4-0 and coasted home with a 4-1 win. Dallas had better wake up and have a much better effort on Saturday because they can’t afford to be down two games to a team like Detroit. Needless to say, even before this game I am picking a Pittsburgh vs. Detroit cup final.

May 9 2008

Philly at Pittsburgh

There was not much to this game and both teams looked sluggish after there layoff. Pittsburgh started to take it up a notch in the second half of the game and won 4-2