We had five playoff games last night in the NHL. Four teams were looking to take 3 games to 1 leads, four were looking to even up their best of seven series at 2-2. One series finally switched venues for the 1st time. Let's take a look at what happened.
Phoenix vs. Detroit:
The talk going into Game 3 was about how poorly the Red Wings played against the Coyotes on Sunday, especially goaltender Jimmy Howard who let in a couple questionable goals. After giving up the 4th goal against Phoenix Howard laid on the ice in disbelief. As a Wings fan this brought a flashback to former goalie Manny Legace.
In Game 5 of the 2006 Western Conference Quarterfinals the Red Wings were deadlocked against the Edmonton Oilers 2-2 going into Game 5. Legace had looked shaky early in the series and in Game 5 he gave up the 1st goal to Oilers forward Shawn Horcoff. After giving up the goal Legace just laid there on the ice looking defeated. At this point I knew he didn't mentally have what it took to play goalie for the Wings in the post-season. The Wings ended up losing the series in six games.
Lucky for me last night Howard was brilliant in net for Detroit turning away all 29 shots by Phoenix. Henrik Zetteberg scored two goals last night and Pavel Datsyuk added one in between to give the Wings a 3-0 win over the Coyotes. Game 5 is set for Friday night in Phoenix and if the Coyotes want to win this series they had better find a way to win Game 5. Since 1997 the Red Wings have won nine game fives when the series is tied at 2-2. They have gone on to win eight of those series. I like the Wings chances to win this series if they win Game 5.
Pittsburgh vs. Ottawa:
When the Senators took Game 1 it caught the Penguins off guard. Since then Pittsburgh has been on a roll winning three in a row against Ottawa including last night's game, a 7-4 victory. Sidney Crosby scored two goals last night giving him a total of 11 points this post-season leading all scorers. I'll say this about Crosby, at 22 years old he has accomplished more as the face of the NHL than LeBron James has as the face of the NBA. The Penguins hold a 3 games to 1 lead in the series and will head back to Pittsburgh to try and wrap up the series on Thursday.
New Jersey vs. Philadelphia:
When I saw that Philly won five of six games from Jersey this past season I dismissed it because I still thought Jersey was the better team. Well Philadelphia won Game 4 last night by a score of 4-1 to take a 3 games to 1 lead over the Devils, pushing them to the brink of elimination.
Despite having a 3-1 lead in the series I'm guessing there is cautious optimism in Philly. Why you ask? Back in 2000 the Flyers had a 3-1 series lead against the Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals only to lose the series in seven games and miss a chance to play for the Stanley Cup. The goalie for the Flyers in 2000, Brian Boucher. The goalie for the Flyers in this series, Brian Boucher who became a journeyman & backup goaltender for a number of teams during the last ten years. I'm still picking Jersey in this one, mostly because of my personal bias against the Flyers, but Jeresy better find a way to score more goals if they want to win.
Chicago vs. Nashville:
This series finally shifted to Nashville for Game 3 of the series but the same problem that haunted Chicago in Games 1 & 2 has followed them to Game 3, they can't beat Pekka Rinne. Rinne stopped 26 of the 27 shots that he faced from the Blackhawks while Joel Ward, David Legwand, Shea Weber, & Martin Erat scored to give Nashville a 4-1 win over Chicago. Nashville leads the series 2 games to 1 and have played better than the Blackhawks in all three games. I still think this one goes seven games but if Chicago wants to win this series they better find a way to win Game 4.
San Jose vs. Colorado:
Most fans were wondering how the Sharks would react after losing Game 3 because of an own goal in overtime. For the 3rd game in a row this one went to Overtime but this time the Sharks got the victory thanks to Joe Pavelski's wrist shot at 10:24 to give them a 2-1 win. The series is now tied 2-2 with Game 5 being on Thursday night.
What is amazing is that Colorado could have easily have swept this series because Craig Anderson has been brilliant in goal for the Avalanche. The Sharks forwards have been held to two or less goals in three of the four games this series. In Game two the Sharks scored six goals but needed overtime to win because they gave up five goals. Talent-wise this series shouldn't be even but because Anderson has been outplaying Nabokov in net we are tied at 2-2 waiting for Game 5 on Thursday. I'm still waiting for the Sharks to show up and prove they are the better team. At this point I'm not sure it is going to happen.
We have three games on the schedule for tonight. Washington, Boston, & Los Angeles all are looking to take 3 games to 1 series leads over their respective opponents Montreal, Buffalo, & Vancouver. My quick predictions for tonight is Washington defeats Montreal to take a 3-1 lead while Buffalo & Vancouver win tonight to even their series.
Thanks for reading & enjoy the hockey.
Two things...
ReplyDeleteOne, love the Sid/LeBron comparison. Ironic that LeBron is so much more recognizable outside the core fans of his sport. Another failure of the NHL's.
Two, I think San Jose's going to win that series for precisely the reasons you stated. Anderson's been brilliant, yet the Sharks have still found a way to tie it at 2. That says to me that if Anderson slips even a little bit, SJ rolls.
I still think they should ditch the Teal.
The Sid/LeBron comparison may become a future column at some point. Stay tuned.
ReplyDeleteAs for San Jose I still expect them to win the series but as long as Anderson keeps playing well in net for the Avs the Sharks are in trouble. What they need is a game where they win 5-0 & Nabokov looks brilliant in net while the opposing goalie gets hung out to dry.