There is a saying that pops up during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, "Your best players have to be your best players this time of year." I first heard from Barry Melrose on an ESPN broadcast years ago. (You know, when ESPN use to actually care about hockey.) That phrase was true last night in Glendale, Arizona where the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 7-4 to even up their series at one game a piece.
Henrik Zetteberg was the best player on the ice last night scoring his 1st career playoff hat trick, including the game winning goal at 6:06 of the 3rd period off a rebound by a Todd Bertuzzi shot. He also got the Wings 1st goal of the night scoring on a wrist shot at 6:27 of the 2nd period starting a crazy four minutes where the Coyotes and the Red wings traded goals back & forth. Zetteberg put the game on ice with an empty net goal late in the 3rd period. The Red Wings have now won 50 playoff games in a row in which they score four or more goals.
A couple other notes from last night:
The Red Wing defense need to be more aggressive with the Coyotes. A lot of times during the night Phoenix were able to get deep into the offensive zone without being challenged and get quality shots on Jimmy Howard. They have to keep up with the play instead of standing like a pylon for Phoenix to go around.
Iyla Bryzgalov is not to be feared. Now, I'm not going to blame the Phoenix goalie for this loss because it wasn't his fault but it's clear from watching the last two games that he doesn't carry this aura of invincibility that other goaltenders have displayed against the Wings in the past (Jonas Hiller in 09, JS Giguere in 03) A lot of the goals Detroit scored last night were pretty easy. I'm hoping that will carry over into Sunday afternoon.
Justin Abdelkader, I just like this kid. He had a goal in the 3rd period to give the Red Wings a 4-3 lead. Going back to the two goals he scored in the Stanley Cup Finals last season it just seems like he has a flare for the dramatic. I just hope they can find a regular spot for him in the lineup soon.
Other games from last night:
Pittsburgh evened up their series with Ottawa last night winning 2-1. The talk going into the game was that Marc Andre Fleury needed a strong bounce back performance in net for the Penguins. He then proceeded to give up a goal to Peter Regin of Ottawa 18 seconds into the 1st period. Lucky for the Penguins that was the only one he gave up shutting out the Senators the rest of the way.
Sidney Crosby was Pittsburgh's best player last night scoring their 1st goal, helping Fleury out by swatting a puck away that was laying in the crease and getting an assist on the game winning goal by Kris Letang. you can check it out for yourself right here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UcCy82Beo0
New Jersey evened up their series with Philadelphia last night winning by a score of 5-3. This game wasn't n TV so I don't have much to say but the Devils forwards were better than the Flyers forwards. In a series where Jersey has a big edge in goaltending this is important. Philly has to play better than Jersey up front if they want to win this series. Game 3 is on Sunday.
Nashville upsets Chicago 4-1 to take a 1-0 lead in that series. but if you have read this blog you know that this really isn't an upset as I predicted a series win for the Predators. Now this series is far from over and I expect Chicago to come out strong and win Game 2 but the warning shot has been fired. Nashville will not be a pushover in this series and the hawks will have their hands full.
San Jose beat Colorado 6-5 in overtime to tie that series at one game a piece but if I am a Sharks fan I am concerned. The Sharks lost on a bad bounce in Game 1. This is a game where you are suppose to come out and show how good you really are. Instead you let your opponent take you to overtime in a game in which you out shot them 52-22. In fact if it wasn't for Joe Pavelski scoring the game tying goal with 32 seconds to play you are looking at being down 2-0 against a team whose players are probably too young to remember Colorado's previous Stanley Cup wins. The thing that would concern me most if I was a Sharks fan is the fact the Evgeni Nabokov is once again being outplayed in net. This happens every post season for the Sharks and a lot of times it is against a goaltender who is not considered among the elite in the game. This year Craig Anderson is doing the job. The Sharks still have time to prove they are the more dominant team but the Avs are thinking we can play with these guys. if you let a team with less talent than you hang around bad things happen. The Sharks need to be more dominant if they want to go far in the playoffs.
We have three games on tap today. Boston vs. Buffalo at Noon, Montreal at Washington at 6 PM, & Los Angeles vs. Vancouver at 9 PM. Take care and enjoy the hockey.
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