Off Wing Opinion

Montreal 2 Boston 0: Two years ago in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, ex-Boston Bruins defenseman Kyle McLaren KO'd Montreal Canadiens winger Richard Zednik with a vicious elbow to the head, ending his season immediately. Last night, Zednik returned the favor, scoring twice to give Montreal a 2-0 win, and a 4-3 series victory over the Bruins. It marked the first time in franchise history that the storied Habitants won a series after trailing 3-1. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ledger, it marked the first time in team history that the Bruins had ever blown a 3-1 series lead.

In the Boston Globe:, Michael Holley reviews the psychodrama that is Bruins hockey:

The final was 2-0, and it's still hard to figure out what's more frustrating. Is it losing to the hated team that the organization's fathers and grandfathers also lost to? Is it the biggest playoff collapse in franchise history? Or is it the feeling that the 104-point regular season is as useless this morning as one of those Mylar blankets from yesterday's Marathon?

A few minutes after it was over, all you could hear was a cluster of cheering fans from Montreal. You never forget those sounds, especially when all you want is silence. This was the season in which the prodigal Bruins began moving toward reconciliation with many of their hardened fans. They made it as far as the front porch, but now it seems as if they've run off for the hills again.

No one is going to forget this.

The next question for Boston: where do you apportion blame for this loss? You can't tag Captain Joe Thornton, who played the entire series shot up with pain killers. You can't blame goalie Andrew Raycroft, who did all he could to keep Boston in the series.

Who else? How about the General Manager, who did everything he could at the trade deadline to upgrade the lineup? Can you blame the rookie coach, who helped put together a 100-point season that all came to naught?

I have no answers. Just like the Bruins didn't when it came to a relentless Canadiens team that shook off failure, tightend up defensively, and had one incredible line (Zednik, Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev) carry them to victory. It marked the second time in three seasons that the Habs had disposed Boston in the first round -- both times from the depths of the playoff bracket.

Montreal now gets Tampa Bay, a series that promises to be lots of fun.

Montreal wins series 4-3.

Calgary 3 Vancouver 2 OT: Oh how I tried to stay up to catch the end of this game. But as time wore on, and the clock passed Midnight in the East, I couldn't help but begin to waver. I got half-way through the second period, and got to see Jarome Iginla, a comparitive youngster turning into a playoff monster before our eyes, score the first goal of the game.

At that moment, even though much of the action had flowed up and down the ice, one goal seemed like more than enough. I made my way to bed, but took the laptop along and propped it open in my darkened bedroom to pull down the audio stream of the radio broadcast from Calgary, and a broadcast team giddy with disbelief that they might actually make it to the second round.

So I laid down and listened in the dark, listened as the widely-despised Matt Cooke tied it up for Vancouver, and the energy seemed to suddenly leave the play-by-play duo. Their mood lifed again as the man-child Iginla (could he really have been traded for Joe Nieuwendyk?) fought through check after check in my mind's eye to give Calgary the lead again, 2-1.

The ground must be shaking back in Viking, I thought.

But then, tragedy once more, as Cooke, the Jim Leyritz of the NHL, tied it up again with less than six seconds to go.

That was all I could take. I closed my laptop, resigned to the fact that I would have to wait till morning for the result.

Of course, the joke was ultimately on me, as it only took Iginla 1:25 to find Martin Gelinas with the pass that earned the Flames a trip to Detroit.

Calgary wins series, 4-3.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 20th, 2004 at 6:40 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

The first round pretenders continued to fall over the weekend, with the Islanders walking the plank first on Friday in Tampa. For the first time since Game Two of the series the Islanders put in an honest effort, but it was all for naught when Isles defenseman Kenny Jonsson turned the puck over the Fredrik Modin at the Islanders blue line in OT. A few seconds later it was all over, courtesy of a Martin St. Louis rising cannon shot that rocketed over Rick DiPietro's shoulder and into the net for a 3-2 Tampa Bay win, and a 4-1 series victory. While the Lightning advance to the second round, the Islanders now face an offseason where nearly all of their players are no longer under contract, save for the highly paid but low-producing Alexi Yashin and Michael Peca.

Joining the Islanders on the first tee at Bethpage Black this week are their neighbors in New Jersey, who meekly laid down their defense of the Cup with a 3-1 loss to Philly on Saturday. It was only a day later that the Devils announced that head coach Pat Burns has Colon Cancer -- leading the Devils into a postseason with more questions than any in their recent history.

Elswhere on Saturday, Detroit finally rid us of the meddlesome Predators, downing them 2-0 on Saturday afternoon, and securing a 4-2 series win. I had planned to watch the game at home here in Northern Virginia, but the local ABC affiliate decided to switch coverage to the Flyers-Devils at the last minute. Unfortunately, nobody was home at Comcast Cable, and they continued the blackout the NHL Center Ice feed of the Detroit-Nashville game. The result: two channels airing the Devils-Flyers game, just the situation the anachronistic television blackout rules were devised to avoid.

Note to the NHL: If I pay to see all of the games, you shouldn't be blacking out any broadcast. Besides, are your ratings so high these days that it even matters?

That same afternoon, the Avalanche finished off the Stars, 5-1, taking their series 4-1, and blasting my own Stanley Cup prediction out of the water. It's hard to believe that the Stars went into the third period tied, 1-1. It was then that the wheels came off, and another Pierre Lacroix hidden treasure, Marek Svatos, got a chance to prove that the presence of Paul Kariya and Teemue Selanne in the Colorado lineup are rather superfluous.

Fortunately, we still have three series left alive, and a trio of Game Seven showdowns over the next two nights. On Saturday, Les Habintants held off Boston once more, 5-2, to force a Game Seven back in Boston on Monday night. With the back to back wins, and the realization that two of Boston's victories came in OT, the series has taken on a whole new complexion. Off Wing reader Jerry from Drummondville, Quebec, says that Montreal's Claude Julien is cleary outcoaching Boston's Mike Sullivan, nullifying Boston's top line, and freeing Alex Kovalev to become a playoff monster.

Later that night, completing a beautiful Hockey Night In Canada, the Flames stormed back from a 4-0 deficit to tie the Canucks in regulation, only to eventually lose in the third OT courtesy of Brendan Morrisson, 5-4.

I know the hockey gods are smiling upon us. Why? Because they let the Battle of Ontario get to a seventh game. First, Ed Belfour authored another 2-0 shutout of the Senators on Friday, and then we were treated to another multiple OT game, with Mike Fisher finally ending the pain in the third OT, giving Ottawa a 2-1 win.

But the mighty city of Toronto remains defiant:

"It was a hard-fought game," Leafs forward Joe Nieuwendyk said as he scurried for the team bus. "We would have liked to end it now but this is no time to hang our heads.

"It just shows the importance of winning that final regular-season game."

Nieuwendyk was referring to the Leafs' 6-0 blowout of the Sens on April 3, a victory that allowed Toronto to finish one point ahead of Ottawa in the Eastern Division standings.

The result was home-ice advantage for Toronto in the first round, an edge the Leafs now will attempt to exploit.

"That's what you play 82 games for," defenceman Bryan McCabe said. "It's something you hope you don't have to use, but now that we're in this position we'll take it."

Of course, we would have never gotten to OT had Ottawa's Patrick Lalime not made a wonderful pad save in the closing moments of regulation to get the Senators into OT in the first place. Unfortunately, we have to wait until Tuesday night for Game Seven.

For readers looking for news on the Mike Danton arrest, and the accompanying speculation about his personal life, click here, here, and here.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 19th, 2004 at 6:49 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Montreal 5 Boston 1: If you were looking for an act of defiance from Montreal, you couldn't ask for much better. And how about Alex Kovalev holding his own in the slot, helmetless, as a high slapper rocketed past him from the point? Not a complete redemption, the Habs will have to come back and win the series for that, but just enough to erase any hard feelings in the locker room:

Kovalev scored what proved to be the winning goal that made it 2-0 when he beat [Andrew] Raycroft from the right side after Koivu sent him into the clear at 7:39 of the second period.

"It feels great," Kovalev said. "Some people have given up on us, but as long as we believe, that's all that counts."

Kovalev took some heat from Julien and defenceman Sheldon Souray for stopping after he was slashed in the second overtime Tuesday night. That led to the Bruins' winning goal by Murray.

But Julien said any suggestions of a rift in the team were incorrect.

"We went through a lot of situations this year that have tested the team chemistry and team unity," Julien said. "We are a young team that has matured. Tonight, we wanted to have a good game so we could play Game 6 in Montreal."

Once again, we should take a moment to single out Canadiens GM Bob Gainey for the job he's done this season. What was a team that should have finished out of the money is giving the Eastern Conference's second seed an incredible fight. Remember, it didn't take Gainey all that long to get Dallas to the Cup, and with a new economic order just around the corner in the NHL, it might not be long before we see Les Habitantes battling in the Finals once more.

Boston leads series 3-2.

Detroit 4 Nashville 1: With a chance to strike terror into the hearts of Michiganders from the border crossing at Windsor to the chilly environs of the UP, the Predators came up as small as they could manage. Tomas Vokoun, so brilliant in the previous two games, gave up a goal on the first shot he faced, three of the first eight in total. Few teams come back from a deficit like that in the regular season. In a playoff game, it's a death sentence. As for his counterpart, the much maligned Curtis Joseph, he was hardly challenged, stopping 19 of the 20 shots he faced.

How would you like to be rattling around inside Joseph's brain case these days. You finish last season as the goat, bearing the brunt of the blame for Detroit's first round exit against Anaheim. You start the following season with an injury, and lose your starting job to one of the greatest goalies to ever play the game -- an eventuality that your teammates in Detroit seemed to welcome. Your waived, and nobody takes you. You play in the minors and you never complain. You get injured again, and lose your starting job to everybody's good guy backup pal. He flames out on the road, and you get your job back.

I know the Red Wings nominated Steve Thomas for the Masterson Trophy this season, but if there was any justice in the world, they would have nominated Joseph. Nashville gets another shot on Saturday.

Detroit leads series 3-2.

Calgary 2 Vancouver 1: Do we need anymore evidence that Darryl Sutter wasn't the problem in San Jose last season? Calgary has played with toughness and consistency all season long, and are a mirror image of the demeanor of their coach, a man who in turn helped turn the name Sutter into a brand world-reknowned for delivering Western Canadian grit.

How much do I love the Sutter brothers and everything they stand for. Darryl, Brian, Brent, Duane, Rich, Ron. Could they have been born anywhere outside of Viking, Alberta? Here's the Calgary Herald's George Johnson:

"I have great admiration for Darryl Sutter,'' [Canucks head coach Mark] Crawford began at his daily media briefing Wednesday. "I like his personality. I like the way his teams compete. But it's none of my business what he does with his team. I've got my own style.''

For starters, the wine/red-coloured pullover style. Very smart. Very form-fitting. Very Granville Street. The only way the far more, uh, shall we say, conservative Sutter would be caught dead in it is if he was actually caught dead in it -- for burial purposes, in which he obviously had no choice, say 40-odd years from now.

Now he's got his team one win away from their first series victory since the Mulroney days. I say he nails it in Game Six.

Calgary leades series 3-2.

San Jose 3 St. Louis 1: I had some initial thoughts after the Sharks finished off the Blues late last night (or early this morning, if like me you're parked in the Eastern Time Zone), and don't really have all that much to add. On last night's ESPN broadcast, the consensus seemed to be that St. Louis didn't have anything left in the tank after having to survive a late rush for the playoffs -- quite an achievement considering the team was without Al MacInnis and Barrett Jackman for most of the season.

But even without those players, the Blues still boasted Norris Trophy winner and former NHL MVP Chris Pronger, two-time fifty goal scorer Keith Tkachuk, former 100 point scorer Doug Weight, and quality centerman Pavol Demitra. A lineup like that ought to place better than seventh, and with CBA Armageddon just around the corner, we've probably seen the last stanza for this arrangement of the Blues. Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch summed it up this way:

Was anybody really shocked by what happened during the past week?

We thought not. Blues Nation has become conditioned to this playoff futility. The Blues always get into the playoffs and they always fall well short of the ultimate goal.

Sure, it's great to reach postseason play every season. But the Blues have reached the Final Four just twice since 1970. This franchise hasn't come close to bringing the Stanley Cup to St. Louis.

And as we know, with their first two Cup appearances coming immediately in the aftermath of expansion and realignment, those achievements have to come with something of an asterisk. The fans in St. Louis, who have shown nothing but undying loyalty to the Blues (like they do with all their sports teams) deserve better.

San Jose wins series 4-1.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 16th, 2004 at 7:26 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Tampa Bay 3 New York 0: Things are looking grim for the Islanders, who essentially lost this series the moment Martin St. Louis decided to shut the door on them:

St. Louis was held without a point in the first two games, when the teams split victories at Tampa Bay. But he had two goals Monday and took the steam out of the crowd again Wednesday when he turned an Islanders power play into a 1-0 lead for the Lightning.

New York defenseman Kenny Jonsson curled back into his zone but lost the puck when pestered by St. Louis, who got clear in the slot and sent a shot between the pads of Rick DiPietro 10:30 in.

"That was a big goal," said St. Louis, who scored 38 in the regular season. "I'm happy not just to strip him but to finish the play as well."

Jonsson is generally known as New York's steadiest defenseman. New York hasn't scored since Jason Blake potted an empty net goal in the waning moments of Game Two, as Nikolai Khabibulin has looked superhuman, posting three shutouts in the series.

When the team that had the second best home record in the league gets shutout 6-0 in two games on home ice, you know something is deeply wrong. Now, ownership on Long Island needs to be asking some tough questions of GM Mike Milbury. A third consecutive postseason appearance is on the verge of resulting in a third consecutive first round exit, and "Mad Mike" is simply running out of excuses.

Tampa Bay leads series 3-1.

Philadelphia 3 New Jersey 1: This battle of the turnpike is all over except for the shouting, and it looks like Flyers goalie Robert Esche is going to get the lion's share of the credit. He had another 35 saves last night, and in light of the Flyers' history of having their goaltending self-destruct in the playoffs every year, it's hard to fault anyone for the kudos Eshce is getting:

Martin Brodeur has won three Stanley Cups. He recognizes when a goalie steals a game in the postseason.

Last night after the Flyers pushed the defending Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils to the brink of first-round extinction, Brodeur paid 26-year-old Flyers goalie Robert Esche his highest compliment.

"The only reason they won this game is because of Esche," Brodeur said.

Philadelphia leads series 3-1.

Ottawa 4 Toronto 1: After two straight shutouts, Ed Belfour came back down to earth as the Senators knotted the series at two games a piece. Life won't get any easier for the geriatric Leafs, who added Mats Sundin to the injured list right beside Joe Nieuwendyk.

According to the Toronto Star's Rosie Dimanno, that means the Leafs might have to rely more on center Nik Antropov:

But the fact remains that, with Sundin's status unclear and Joe Nieuwendyk having preceded the team to Toronto earlier in the day

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 15th, 2004 at 7:46 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Nashville 3 Detroit 0: Back at the start of the playoffs, I didn't think that Manny Legace was going to be able to get it done in net for the Red Wings, but I never imagined his vulnerabilities would be displayed as dramatically as last night. Before giving way to Curtis Joseph, Legace gave up three goals on only 10 shots. Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice, Tomas Vokoun stopped 41 Detroit shots for his first playoff shutout. That's what called "stealing a game" in the vernacular of the National Hockey League, and it's what you need if you're going to go anywhere in the playoffs.

But here's the bigger story: does anyone really believe that things will get any better under Curtis Joseph? I've heard before that the Wings locker room was solidly behind the decision to go with Legace as the postseason starter. What's worse for Detroit, is that Nashville hasn't been out of any of the four games in the series. The script is looking familiar to Mitch Albom:

And here we are again, this time the Nashville Predators -- whose entire payroll could fit in Mike Ilitch's tie pin -- pulling even with the best team in hockey, and shrinking Detroit's Stanley Cup dream to a best-of-three series. A 3-0 loss in a town better known for picks than pucks? It's not funny. It's not cute. And we're all going to stay after school until we get this right.

Unfortunately, this won't be an open book test, as we're down to a best of three series. I'm sensing panic in Detroit.

Series tied, 2-2.

Boston 4 Montreal 3 2OT: Ah, the agony they must be feeling in Montreal this morning. First, Boston ties the score with 30.7 seconds remaining on shot that was re-directed by the Bruins' Mike Knuble, and then they lose the game in the second OT period courtesy of a monumental screw up by Alex Kovalev:

Murray beat goalie Jose Theodore with a wrist shot after Montreal's Kovalev -- who scored his third goal in two games in regulation -- collided with teammate Sheldon Souray in the neutral zone.

"The puck was just laying there for me," Murray said.

Kovalev was shaking his hand after appearing to be slashed on the glove by Travis Green and lost sight of the puck -- and Souray and Murray.

"There's nothing you can say about that," said Kovalev, whose right hand was wrapped in a bag of ice. "We ended up in the middle of the ice, and Sheldon ended up losing the puck."

Canadiens coach Claude Julien felt Kovalev made a bad decision.

"I think that when the referees don't call a penalty on a play, you can't stop playing," Julien said. "They decided not to call it, and then they collided. Murray got the breakaway, and he doesn't miss many of those.

"It's a crappy way to lose a game"

Souray also felt Kovalev should have been more concerned about playing the puck.

"It's crazy," Souray said. "I was just caught by surprise that he left the puck there and there was no one behind me. It's frustrating that it happened right now, in a game that was so important."

I think it must be pretty chilly in the Canadiens locker room right about now. Think anyone is going to be talking to Kovalev at practice today?

Boston leads series 3-1.

San Jose 4 St. Louis 3: Alexander Korolyuk and Scott Thornton both scored twice as the Sharks took control of the series in St. Louis. The Sharks did have one anxious moment in the third period:

Evgeni Nabokov's biggest save Tuesday in Game 4 of the first-round series with St. Louis might have been the one he didn't see.

During a goal-mouth scramble in the third period, Blues forward Scott Mellanby had a yawning net in which to shoot but instead fired the puck into the numbers on the Sharks goalie's back.

This came 7 1/2 minutes into the third, and Pavol Demitra had cut the Sharks' lead to 3-2 on the opening shift of the period. If Mellanby had scored, it would have made it 3-3.

The Blues celebrated as if they had scored. The play went to the video booth where it was ruled no goal.

Nabokov, who finished with 22 saves, felt the shot but was unsure what had happened.

``I had no idea,'' Nabokov said. ``I felt it but I didn't know what it was. A stick? And they were really confident; all three of them raised their arms. I was concerned. It was a break obviously.''

Sharks Coach Ron Wilson, though, was sure the right call would be made.

``We have the benefit of having a monitor on the bench like a TiVo unit,'' Wilson said. ``We immediately looked at it so we were cool.''

Wilson is just the sort of guy you'd expect to own a TiVo. Game Five is Thursday night back in San Jose.

San Jose leads series 3-1.

Calgary 4 Vancouver 0: Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff was hardly tested, posting only 20 saves in the shutout win over Vancouver. Biggest moment probably came in the first period, when Jarome Iginla delivered a message hit to Mattias Ohlund. Ohlund had been in Iginla's kitchen all series long, and the two have even exchanged blows, normally a playoff no-no. If you're looking for a difference maker in last night's game, turn to Calgary's Stephane Yelle:

Yelle had been noticeably absent for the series' first three contests with what is believed to be a hip injury.

"I think it goes without saying," Flames head coach Darryl Sutter had retorted earlier in the day when asked if the club missed Yelle, proud owner of a pair of Stanley Cup rings from his days as a member of the Colorado Avalanche.

"A veteran centreman who's been through it and won," continued Sutter, "and is a good faceoff guy, a good penalty-killer, all those things -- he gives you stability. (Yelle's absence) impacts you big time."

Yelle had a shorthanded goal during a second period where Calgary scored three times.

Series tied, 2-2.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 14th, 2004 at 12:26 pm by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Dallas 4 Colorado 3 OT: There's new life in Dallas, as the Stars edged the Avalanche on Steve Ott's game winning goal just 2:11 into the extra session. Ott's goal completed a comeback for the Stars, who needed a goal from Phillipe Boucher with just 4:27 remaining in the third period to tie the score.

Dallas Marty Turco only had 14 saves, but he made the ones he had to. David Aebischer had 28 saves for Colorado, but Dave Krieger of the Rocky Mountain News has some other thoughts:

It is a challenge as old as sport, staying aggressive with a lead, but the Avs, more than most teams, are conditioned not to. Get a two-goal lead in a playoff game, hold a one-goal lead late, and you're good to go.

No more. Aebischer is a fine young goaltender who enjoyed a fine regular season. But in his first playoff game trying to protect a one-goal lead late, he gave up a soft score to tie and another to lose.

Patrick [Roy] isn't back there anymore, and the Avs can no longer play as if he is.

Ouch. For God's sake, it's only one game, Dave.

Colorado leads series, 2-1.

St. Louis 4 San Jose 1: Isn't it funny that at times it seems as if the second-tier deadline acquisitions are the ones that make the biggest difference in the NHL? Whenever anybody talks about the 1980 Islanders, they always talk about Butch Goring -- a great player, but not exactly a Hall of Famer. This is season has a few similar examples: Steve Sullivan in Nashville, Geoff Sanderson in Vancouver, and in St. Louis, Mike Sillinger. Last night, with his team staring down a 2-0 deficit in their series with San Jose, Sillinger scored a hat trick to lead the Blues to a 4-1 victory. It was the first hat trick of his career.

San Jose leads series, 2-1.

Toronto 2 Ottawa 0: For the second game in a row, the story for Toronto was 38-year old goalie Ed Belfour, who stopped 37 Ottawa shots en route to his second straight shutout of the Senators. Overall, Belfour has now kept Ottawa scoreless for 138:21. Greybeards Joe Nieuwendyk and Mats Sundin scored for Toronto. Meanwhile, off the ice, Owen Nolan is healing as fast as he can.

Toronto leads series, 2-1.

Tampa Bay 3 New York 0: In New York of all places, one should always know to never believe your own press clippings. But after the Islanders managed a victory on enemy ice in Tampa in Game Two of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the Lightning, columnists all over New York started shouting as if the series were already over. But nobody told the Lightning, who jumped on top 2-0 in the first few minutes of the game, and took the vaunted Long Island home crowd out of the game almost before it began. Martin St. Louis scored twice, and Nik Khabibulin had 28 saves.

Here's how Newsday's Mark Herrmann saw it:

Maybe it was not such a good commentary that the Islanders believed the best thing they had going for them as they entered Game 3 of their playoff series last night was their quirky home rink. The players can't just feed off the atmosphere, they have to help create it.

While the place was jumping at the start last night, the Islanders were not. As coach Steve Stirling said of his Islanders, "Everybody was a touch flat."

The Islanders have another chance to impress the home crowd on Wednesday night, when they host Game Four.

Tampa Bay leads series, 2-1.

New Jersey 4 Philadelphia 2: What a difference home ice can make, eh? In this case, coming home was all New Jersey's vaunted 'EGG'line (Patrik Elias, Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta) needed to come back to life. Elias had two goals, Gionta added another, and Gomez had three assists in the Devils win. Martin Brodeur, who had looked rather vulnerable in the first two games in Philly, turned in a credible performance with 23 saves to pull the Devils back into the series. As the blog, Devils Due put it:

Pat Burns, always best when in the comforts at home, was able to match lines and eliminate some of the physical edge that Philly appeared to enjoy in the previous contests

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 13th, 2004 at 7:43 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

For a roundup of Friday night's games, click here.

A fortuitous bounce off a shot by Detroit's Mathieu Schneider gave the Red Wings a 2-1 win on Saturday, and a 2-0 lead in the ir series with the Predators. But it only took 24 hours for Nashville to turn things around, as they won their first home playoff game in franchise history, 3-1. Nashville's Tomas Vokoun had 41 saves, including 22 in the third period, while Adam Hall, who scored the first goal of the series back in Game One, had another goal and an assist for the Predators. The Predators' first goal was scored by David Legwand, who like Hall, grew up in Michigan as a Red Wings fan. Game Four is Tuesday night in Nashville.

Back East, the Maple Leafs cleared up their fans agony, if only for one night, with a 2-0 shutout of Ottawa. Gary Roberts had both Toronto goals, while the ageless Ed Belfour had 31 saves. The Battle of Ontario resumes tonight at 7:00 p.m. EDT in scenic Kanata -- a rink where the Leafs ususally feel pretty comfortable (memo to Senators fans, as an Islanders fan, I understand this pain all too well). Courtesy of a Patrick Marleau hat trick, the Sharks easily dispatched the Blues 3-1 on Saturday to take a 2-0 lead into Game Three tonight in St. Louis. Back in San Jose, the hometown paper is already talking about how a shorter series will benefit the Sharks in the long-run.

On Saturday in Philly, Robert Esche continued to outplay Martin Brodeur, as the Flyers beat the Devils, 3-2. The normally solid Brodeur yielded three goals on only 18 shots, while Esche stopped 24 for Philadelphia. Philly is taking a 2-0 series lead into Game Three tonight in New Jersey. After practice the other day, New Jersey's John Madden said he's feeling the same way he did back in the Spring of 2002, when the Devils dropped the first two games of a first round series to eventual Eastern Conference Champ, Carolina. And in Tampa that same day, the Islanders turned in one of their most complete performances of the season in a 3-0 win over Tampa Bay. Jason Blake scored twice, and Rick DiPietro turned aside all 22 Tampa Bay shots, but the real story was the way the Isles executed the trap almost to perfection -- and I say almost, because they still have a nasty habit of allowing Tampa to spring both Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis straight down the slot for breakaways. Game Three is Monday night back on Long Island.

On Sunday, Alex Kovalev scored twice to lead Montreal to a 3-2 win over Boston, cutting Montreal's deficit in the series to 2-1. And late last night, Vancouver's Johan Hedburg stepped in to replace an injured Dan Cloutier in net, and then lead Vancouver to a 2-1 win over Calgary in Game Three of that series. Game Four is Tuesday night back in Calgary.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 12th, 2004 at 6:48 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Boston 2 Montreal 1 OT: Now this is the kind of overtime match I could get used to, one that puts the sudden into sudden death. Just 1:26 into OT, another Boston Bruins rookie, Patrice Bergeron, put a wrist shot past Jose Theodore to give Boston the victory. But don

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 10th, 2004 at 9:59 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Ottawa 4 Toronto 2: There's panic in Leafdom in the aftermath of Ottawa's 4-2 victory last night at the Air Canada Centre. Instead of the first step on the road to a certain Stanley Cup victory, the Leafs are staring at 1-0 series deficit after yielding a 2-1 lead in the second period to a determined Senators squad. From the Toronto Sun:

Up 2-1 midway through the game, the Leafs were suddenly hit with a Mikael Renberg obstruction penalty ("a phantom call," Quinn said) and nine seconds later by a [Bryan] McCabe slash, which seemed harmless but snapped Marian Hossa's stick. In 38 seconds Wade Redden and Hossa had put the Sens ahead, Redden's goal a five-on-three. Hossa then iced it in the third period with a beauty on a breakaway, leaping over a gambling dive by Ed Belfour and somehow managing to steer the puck into the net.

According to Off Wing reader Jeff Grimshaw, "The Leafs got jobbed by the refs." Nevertheless, Hossa's goal is right up there with Robert Lang's score on Wednesday night against Nashville for goal of the tournament. Meanwhile, the Ottawa Citizen is reporting that Senators center Jason Spezza is fuming (subscription required) after being benched for Game One of the Battle of Ontario, Chapter 4.

Ottawa leads series 1-0.

Tampa Bay 3 New York 0: It was a tidy win for the home team in Tampa last night, but the victory was anything but a lightning strike. Instead, the bolts in blue slowly strangled the life out of the Isles like an Anaconda crushing its prey. Meanwhile, when the Isles did penetrate Tampa Bay's side of the ice, they made Tampa Bay goalie Nikolai Khabibulin look like he was wearing a rubber magnet in his chest protector. And credit Brad Richards, who slid across the crease to deny Michael Peca in one scramble in front of the Lightning's net. But the real goat of the evening was Isles defenseman Eric Cairns, who gave away the puck not once, but twice -- each time leading to a Lightning goal (one each from Andre Roy and Ranger-killer Fredrik Modin).

Tampa Bay leads series 1-0.

Philadelphia 3 New Jersey 2: I'd like to tell you something about this game, but the quality of the picture being pumped out of the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia was so poor, it inspired Grimshaw to say, "It looked like it was shot with a Kodak Instamatic." In any case, it seems as if the absence of Scott Stevens is telling, though the New York Post's Larry Brooks had some harsh words for members of the Devils organization who seem to be leaving the door open for Stevens to return to the ice in time for this series:

All cases are different, that's understood. But every time Eric Lindros returns from a concussion, he adapts his game (with varying degrees of success) in order to avoid the high-speed collisions that are so dangerous to an individual returning from a brain injury. Stevens can't do that; initiating high-speed collisions - or the very threat he might do so - constitutes the greatest part of his playoff presence. If Stevens can't hit, if Stevens can't play with absolute abandon, if he can't play fearlessly, he really can't play at all, can he?

Thanks to the esteemed Hockeybird for the link.

Back on the ice in Philly, Robert Esche had 37 saves, and looked solid save for the 35 seconds in the third period when the Devils scored twice.

Philly leads series 1-0.

San Jose 1 St. Louis 0: Niko Dimitrakos may only be the fourth most popular North American of Greek descent to play in the NHL (behind Chris Chelios, Nikos Tselios, and Chris Kolanos), but he's moving up the charts with a bullet after the rookie scored in OT to give San Jose the victory. Evgeni Nabokov had 26 saves, and recorded the second playoff shutout of his career. Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says time is running out on these Blues:

As we all know, time is running out on this very expensive roster. Some sort of economic restructuring looms on the horizon and the days of $60 million payrolls in St. Louis will have to end.

So this may be it. Who knows if we'll even have hockey next season? Let's hope these Blues veterans feel a sense of urgency to make a real run at the Stanley Cup.

Since the winning goal was scored long after I had gone to bed, perhaps it's time to remind my readers how much I loathe playoff overtime, especially if it drags much past one period. Instead, why not break the OT period into two 10-minute halves (more rest makes for more entertaining hockey), and then go to a shootout to decide things. If that offends the purists in my readership, then why not adopt the regular season OT format, and play with four skaters -- thereby allowing teams to shorten their benches even further, and give the players more ice time, and more space to shine.

San Jose leads series 1-0.

Here's the weekend schedule*:

Friday
Montreal @ Boston, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2, CBC)
Dallas @ Colorado, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2, TSN)
Calgary @ Vancouver, 10:30 p.m. (CBC)

Saturday
New York @ Tampa Bay, 3:00 p.m. (ABC, CBC)
Nashville @ Detroit, 3:00 p.m. (ABC, TSN)
St. Louis @ San Jose 3:00 p.m. (ABC)
Ottawa @ Toronto, 7:00 p.m. (CBC, RDS)
New Jersey @ Philly, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2, TSN)

Sunday
Detroit @ Nashville, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN, TSN)
Boston @ Montreal, 7:00 p.m. (CBC, RDS, ESPN2)
Vancouver @ Calgary, 9:30 p.m. (CBC, RDS, ESPN2)
__________________________________________________
*All times are U.S. EDT.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 9th, 2004 at 6:34 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Boston 3 Montreal 0: Andrew Raycrfot shook off whatever pre-playoff jitters he might have had, as he posted 31 saves in a game where Boston seemed to stifle Montreal at every turn -- especially through the first two periods. Ex-Washington Caps Sergei Gonchar and Michael Nylander combined for a pair of goals in the first period, as the Bruins simply made the Canadiens look flat footed and overmatched. And when the Habs finally started to put some shots on Raycroft in the third period, he was more than up to the test. As Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette noted this morning:

As for the Canadiens, who, to give it its most charitable description, didn't show up last night, they'll go as far as Theodore takes them. It always comes down to the goaltenders at this time of the year - and there was no better example of it than last night.

Boston leads series 1-0.

Detroit 3 Nashville 1: It may be a moment that will haunt Nashville Predators winger Steve Sullivan for the rest of his life: with less than three minutes gone in the opening game of the series against Detroit, Sullivan's Predators already had a 1-0 lead when a Chris Chelios hooked Sullivan as he was breaking in on Wings goalie Manny Legace alone. The ref called for a penalty shot, and a chance for the young Predators to bury the Wings at home.

And who else but Sullivan would the Predators want on the ice? Since his acquisition a few weeks before the trade deadline, Sullivan had become the focal point of Nashville's offense, the engine that helped pull them into the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

But as Sullivan skated toward Legace, you could see a moment's hesitation before he shot the puck wide right -- and a chance to bury the Wings became a rallying point to get the fans at the Joe Louis Arena back in the game. The Predators held on for another period, but ultimately, it was too much to expect, as Detroit exploded for three goals in the third. But as Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press points out, the Predators pose one particular problem for the Wings:

They generated a lot of speed, they generated a lot of scoring chances," coach Dave Lewis said of the Predators. "They put a lot of pressure on you. They hound you down the ice."

Adam Hall's opening-shift goal was just a perfect snapshot of what makes the Predators so dangerous. The puck was loose in Detroit's crease, and before defenseman Nick Lidstrom could cover him or before Manny Legace could slide over to cover the left side of the net, Hall rushed in and tapped the puck home.

A minute and 15 seconds later the Predators almost went up 2-0, only Steve Sullivan shot wide on his penalty attempt. And why did Sullivan get a penalty shot? Because the only way defenseman Chris Chelios could slow him down on a breakaway was to hook his stick around Sullivan's body as Sullivan tore up the middle.

Detroit leads series 1-0.

Colorado 3 Dallas 1: Another playoff newbie, and another case of no worries mate. This time, the prime time performer was Colorado's David Aebischer, who posted 37 saves in the Colorado victory, 20 of them in the third period. Great all-around game for the Avalanche, as they shut out Dallas' power play (0 for 5). As for Marty Turco, he looked all too human, especially in the first period when Colorado jumped on top quickly with two goals from Alex Tanguay and Peter Forsberg. That prompted Paul Willis of the Rocky Mountain News to write:

Granted, the NHL's regular season and postseason are vastly different entities, but the problems that plagued Turco against Colorado during the regular season resurfaced Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

Turco, who went 1-3 and sported an unflattering 3.02 goals-against average vs. Colorado this season, was peppered immediately by the Avalanche, who registered 15 shots in the first period.

Yes, Turco made a sweet sliding save when Milan Hejduk tried to pound home a crossing pass from Andrei Nikolishin 2 minutes into the game. And yes, he made a cat-quick glove save on Alex Tanguay to spurn an Avalanche five-on-three power play later in the period.

But he surrendered two un-Turcolike goals in between.

Colorado leads series 1-0.

Vancouver 5 Calgary 3: No Bertuzzi, no problem. The Canucks scored four power play goals on their way to a hard-fought victory at home. The Flames looked out of sorts at the outset, something that Flames coach Darryl Sutter confirmed after the game:

"Some of our players played a very nervous perimeter game, and they are top players. They can't play that game," Calgary coach Darryl Sutter said.

Without Bertuzzi, Canucks coach Mark Crawford has assigned Martin Rucinsky and Ed Jovanovski the job of creating traffic in front of the net, a role they played to perfection. In other words, they did to Miikka Kiprusoff what the Flames tried, but couldn't do to Dan Cloutier. As Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province explained:

The plan for the Calgary Flames was as subtle as a jolt to the jaw.

Get to Dan Cloutier. Run at him. Run over him. Whatever it took to rattle the Canucks starting goalie would surely be the difference in the opening game of the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal on Wednesday at GM Place. It didn't work.

Vancouver leads series 1-0.

On tap tonight: Tampa Bay-New York, Philly-New Jersey, San Jose-St. Louis, and my favorite of the first round, Toronto-Ottawa. Are you feeling it? I'm feeling it!

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 8th, 2004 at 6:46 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.