FTS - 5/1/09

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Sami Saves the Day

Canucks D Sami Salo scores the game winner with 1:13 remaining after the Canucks blew a three goal lead in the 3rd period

(Photo Credit - Vancouver Sun)

(3) Vancouver Canucks (1-0) over the (4) Chicago Blackhawks (0-1) 5-3

The blood was still oozing out of five stitches above Kyle Wellwood's left eye and a fat lower lip, and yet the Canucks forward couldn't stop smiling. Wellwood had two assists, drew five power plays, lost one tooth and chipped another, but his biggest play in Vancouver's 5-3 series-opening victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night didn't show up on the score sheet. Wellwood made the pass that started a 4-on-1 rush, and defenseman Sami Salo finished the play by banging in a rebound with 1:13 remaining, putting the Canucks back ahead after blowing a three-goal lead in the third period. Ryan Johnson scored into an empty net with 15.5 seconds left to secure the Game 1 win.

"It's definitely not fun to have these marks on your face, but in the playoffs it feels all right," Wellwood said. "These aren't something you worry about too much, they get you attention more than anything." After rallying with two goals by Patrick Kane and a tying marker from David Bolland with 5:29 left, the Blackhawks coughed up the puck on a late 4-on-2 rush of their own. Wellwood jumped on it and fed ahead to Mason Raymond, who sent a cross-ice pass to Steve Bernier for a one-timer that was stopped by a sliding Nikolai Khabibulin, leaving Salo alone to hammer in the rebound. Wellwood was especially happy to see the puck go in after turning the puck over for Chicago's 4-on-2. "When I got it back I just threw it to Mase and me and Sami somehow were ahead of all their guys, too, so we just started heading toward the net and Sami put it in," said Wellwood, who was hit near the eye by Andrew Ladd's stick in the first period and in the mouth by Kane's in the second. Pavol Demitra scored on a power play, and Henrik Sedin and Ryan Kesler added even-strength goals for Vancouver, which has gone 16-1-1 at home since February.

After Chicago rallied twice from three-goal deficits in its six-game series win over Calgary, Kane got the Blackhawks' rally started 1:01 into the third, pouncing on a loose puck in the slot and roofing a quick shot over Roberto Luongo's shoulder. Kane cut it to one on a power-play rebound of Brent Seabrook's point shot, and Bolland tied it on another rebound off a long Duncan Keith shot. "We had a great third period to start off. One mistake and it ends up in the back of your net," Kane said. "It's not going to be as easy as Calgary. They're a faster-paced team and we've got to keep up with them.

Khabibulin made 22 saves, including three great ones to keep it close early in the third period. He hasn't beaten the Canucks since Jan. 26, 1998, with Phoenix, and didn't talk after the game, leaving teammates to answer for him. "He makes a great stop [on Bernier] but when you've got four guys going to the net and one guy defending, it's tough to keep that one out," Seabrook said about the winning goal. "We've got to be focused every time we're on the ice."

The Canucks' power play, however, looked rusty early, failing to record a shot after Ladd got a 4-minute penalty for cutting Wellwood. But on the next shift, Wellwood walked around Keith to draw a hooking penalty, and Demitra opened the scoring after a nice passing play started by Wellwood. Henrik Sedin doubled the lead 5 minutes into the second, and Kesler made it 3-0 with 5 minutes left in the period, banging Wellwood's pass from behind the net. "Kyle was our best player on the ice," Canucks coach Allan Vigneault said about the baby-faced Wellwood. "At least now he looks like a hockey player."

Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinal series is Saturday night in Vancouver.
What we saw in Game 1 was what we should expect out of this series each and every game. Physical play from both sides, good rushes, and solid goaltending all happened last night. That being said, both teams need to take a lesson from Game 1. If you're the Canucks, it's pretty obvious: DON'T BLOW A THREE GOAL LEAD AFTER TWO PERIODS! The Blackhawks are a young, energetic team. If you give a group like that 2nd life, 9 times out of 10, they'll come back and beat you. The Canucks aren't so much better than Chicago that they can afford to do that again in this series. If you're the Blackhawks, you can't take that many penalties and put yourself in a position where you're decreasing the amount of even strength time against a goalie like Luongo. I think this will be a series where the home team wins every game.

SERIES PREVIEWS

(2) RED WINGS vs. (8) DUCKS
by Andrew Bogusch
As San Jose learned in round one, the ‘8’ next to the Ducks’ name means absolutely nothing. Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry-Bobby Ryan plus Scott Niedermayer-Chris Pronger plus Jonas Hiller makes beating Anaheim four times in seven games an extremely difficult task. Fortunately for the Red Wings, and unfortunately for the Ducks, Detroit is not the playoff-inept Sharks.

This series should closely resemble the teams’ meeting in the 2007 Western Conference finals, especially since many of the key participants remain. Two springs ago, the Ducks and Wings made two trips to overtime and saw five of six games decided by two goals or less. And let’s not forget the nastiness that peaked with Chris Pronger’s high hit on Tomas Holmstrom.

Detroit’s initial concern this time is solving Hiller, who posted two shutouts, a 1.65 GAA and a .957 save percentage against the Sharks in his first ever playoff series. Chris Osgood’s résumé boasts multiple Stanley Cups, but he had questions to answer as the postseason began as well. And he answered them, resoundingly, with 76 saves on 78 shots in Games 1-3.

Both goalies will count on their respective coaches to play the matchup game correctly. Anaheim will split Niedermayer and Pronger to better handle the waves of Detroit forwards, while the Wings want Niklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski against the Getzlaf line as often as possible. The coach that wins the proverbial chess match will most likely be the coach of the team moving onto the conference finals.

#2 Washington Capitals vs. #4 Pittsburgh Penguins
by Chris Carrano

Regular Season
10/16/08- WAS 4, @ PIT 3
01/14/09- WAS 6, @ PIT 3
02/22/09- @ WAS 5, PIT 2
03/08/09- PIT 4, @ WAS 3 (SO)

The Gary Bettman Invitational kicks off tomorrow afternoon at 1p.m. at the Verizon Center in Washington DC. Its Sid the Kid and his underdog Pittsburgh Penguins against Alexander the Great and the Southeastern Division champion Washington Capitals. The leagues past two Hart Trophy winners will square off during the post-season for the first time. The two teams met four times over the course of the regular season and in each game you could cut the tension with the knife. There was plenty of pushing, shoving and jawing and there is sure to be much more of that during this series. The Capitals won three of the four games, only losing once to the Penguins in a shootout. Washington showed off their offensive prowess as they outscored the Penguins 18-12 during the season.

Will the Penguins offense rattle Simeon Varlamov? Jose Theodore was in net for Washington during the regular season and this will be the first time rookie sensation Simeon Varlamov will face the Penguins. Unlike the dismal offense that he faced in the first round against the Rangers, Varlamov will surely be tested against the likes of Evgeni Malkin (35G, 78A) and Sidney Crosby (33G, 70A), first and third respectively in the points standings, and not to mention the other veteran players on the Penguins. Varlamov has shown that he does not wilt under pressure and he did make some spectacular saves in the first round, including several in Game 7 in the few times the Rangers tested him. Varlamov will also have to stay sharp as he will have to play on back to back nights for the first time in his NHL career if this series goes past four games.

Can Fleury be better against the Caps than he was during the season? Alexander Ovechkin had six points (4G, 2A) against the Penguins during the season, and he led the league in scoring with 56 goals. But he is not the only player that can generate offense. Alexander Semin came alive against the Rangers with eight points (5G, 3A) and the Capitals also have Mike Green who led all defense men in the NHL with 31 goals and 42 assists this season. The Pens will also have to lookout for a surging Tom Poti (2G, 4A) and Niklas Backstrom (7A) who have shown that they can move the puck around and create scoring chances.

Will history repeat? The Capitals and Penguins have met seven times in the playoffs and the Penguins have won six of those meetings. The Penguins have a 26-16 record against the Capitals during the post-season. The two teams last met during the 2000-2001 season and Penguins disposed of the Capitals in six games. Washington coach Bruce Boudreau tried to down play that fact by stating, "All winning streaks have to come to an end, and usually all grief-stricken fans have got to be excited one day. So hopefully we can turn it around."

Let’s Get Ready to Ruuuuummmble! If the regular season was any indication, this series looks as if it will have more drama than the Caps-Rangers series. Two of the most marketable stars in the NHL are facing off, and the top three point leaders will all be skating on the same sheet of ice. Its no secret that Ovechkin and Crosby have animosity towards each other, and that Ovechkin and Malkin don’t really care for each other either. Despite being roommates and teammates during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, the two Russian superstars have gone at it during the regular season. Ovechkin repeatedly sought out Malkin during their first meeting this season hitting him hard and prompting Malkin to say, “"Ovechkin is a great player, but every time he hits me -- I don't know why.” Malkin responded by hitting Ovechkin during their second meeting this season. “I didn't even see him. It was a cheap hit," Ovechkin said.

Ovechkin and Crosby have gone at it this season as well, even having to be separated at one point. Crosby, who has not taken well to Ovechkin’s showmanship stated, “Like it or lump it, that's what he does. Personally, I don't like it." Alexander Semin has also gotten into the fray. "What's so special about [Crosby]? I don't see anything special there," Semin said in an interview with Yahoo.com.

Prediction
On paper, this series shapes up to be a blockbuster showdown between two top flight teams in the Eastern Conference. It will be interesting to see how Simeon Varlamov will handle the pressure of not only Pittsburgh’s offense, but also the media hype that will surround this series. Also, if Ovechkin isn’t on top of his game providing YouTube highlight goals, the Caps have no need to worry as they have shown that other players can step up and score against great goaltending; they managed to put nine pucks past Henrik Lundquist in two games. Although Fleury has the edge in experience, Varlamov’s lack of can serve him well. He’s only 21 years old and probably didn’t know how high the stakes were for Game 7, and that’s what helped to keep him calm. So amidst all the hype, glitz and drama of this series, when the dust settles Alexander the Great and his army will have conquered the city of Pittsburgh, but not without a hard fought battle. Caps in 7.


OTHER NEWS
-Detroit Red Wings forward Kris Draper says he will miss Games 1 and 2 against the Anaheim Ducks. Draper said Thursday his upper-body injury will be evaluated later this week. He did not play in Detroit's first-round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Draper's plus-minus rating was a team-worst and career-low minus-13 this season for the defending Stanley Cup champions. Second-seeded Detroit will host the eighth-seeded Ducks on Friday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. After Game 2 is played Sunday at Joe Louis Arena, Draper hopes to be cleared to play when the series shifts to California.

-Dmitri Kalinin scored with 56 seconds left in overtime to lift Russia to a 6-5 victory over Sweden on Thursday to open the second round of the hockey world championship. It was Kalinin's second goal of the game. The 28-year-old defenseman was coming off a two-goal season in 73 NHL games for the New York Rangers and Phoenix Coyotes, and had not taken a shot in his first three games of the tournament. "He's got some offensive skills," Russia teammate Ilya Kovalchuk said. "He was in the right place at the right time. It was huge for us because we need to win our pool to be the No. 1 team and play not the best team in the quarterfinals." Also Thursday, Ruslan Salei scored with 25 seconds left in overtime to give Belarus a 3-2 victory over Norway. Canada routed the Czech Republic 5-1 and Latvia rode goalie Edgars Masalskis to a shootout win over Switzerland after the host forced a 1-1 tie with 1:13 left. The victory gave Latvia the edge on Switzerland in a likely chase for the fourth available quarterfinals place from Group E, which includes Russia, the U.S. and Sweden. The U.S. opens its second round program against France on Friday. The second round has split into two groups of six teams with the top four in each advancing to the quarterfinals next week. Results gained in the first round against other teams which advanced will count toward second-stage standings.

-If Jaromir Jagr came back to the NHL, he'd be Edmonton bound:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=277073

-Brent Sutter refused to talk about his future as the Devils' coach, instead calling New Jersey's last-minute loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7 of the playoffs the most devastating he's experienced as a player or coach. "I'm not trying to be disrespectful to anybody or anything. It's just that it's not something that I've given it much time at this point," Sutter said Thursday, after the Devils had their final meeting, took exit physicals and a team photograph. Sutter has a year left on his contract, but there have been reports that he's homesick after two seasons in New Jersey and that he might want to return to his farm in western Canada. "You guys have heard a bunch of stuff out there that are rumours, and I told you at that time and I'm saying it again: I evaluate myself at the end of the year and there's a process I go through to do that," he said. "It takes time and I'm going to use time to my advantage." Sutter said he has followed the same routine since becoming a coach in 1999. "This is not a time to discuss that whatsoever," Sutter said. "To be quite honest, I'm still thinking about what transpired to us here less than 48 hours ago. There's a process you go through with that. Like I said, it's been the most difficult thing that's ever happened to me in my hockey career as a player or a coach." Devils President & GM Lou Lamoriello balked about discussing Sutter's future. "I really don't want to get into any of that here," he said. "You had a conversation with Brent. I don't think this is the time to get into anything that's personal." Most Devils players seemed stunned when asked about Sutter coming back. "Is there a question about him coming back?" captain Jamie Langenbrunner said. "I don't know anything about that." The Devils have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs the past two years. While they have won three Stanley Cups since 1995, they have not won since 2003 and have not made it past the conference semifinals since the Cup season.

-Montreal Canadiens forwards Alex Tanguay and Max Pacioretty have had surgery since their season ended and winger Sergei Kostitsyn is scheduled for a procedure this week. Tanguay, who can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, had arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday for a lingering shoulder problem, the team said Thursday. It was not the shoulder that caused him to miss the final two games of Montreal's first-round playoff series against Boston. Doctors told him that one would heal on its own. Pacioretty had an abdominal wall muscle repaired on Wednesday. He missed the Hamilton Bulldogs' first round AHL playoff series with the injury. Kostisyn is to undergo arthroscopic surgery on a shoulder on Friday. All three are expected to be fully healed for the start of training camp in September.

-Detroit's Chris Chelios, Nashville's Steve Sullivan and Florida's Richard Zednik are the finalists for the NHL's Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The award is presented each season to the player who "best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey." Each of the 30 chapters of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association submitted nominations at the conclusion of the regular season. The top three vote-getters were designated as finalists. The winner will be announced June 18 during the NHL's awards ceremony in Las Vegas. Chelios is being recognized for his remarkable longevity. At 47, he is the oldest player in the NHL, and despite diminished ice time, still plays a key leadership role with the Wings. His 1,644 games played are the most among active players and rank fourth in league history. Both Sullivan and Zednik have overcome major injuries. Sullivan missed almost two full years following a back injury suffered in February 2007. Sullivan underwent two back surgeries in attempts to repair a fragmented disc and tried several different cures. But an intensive workout regimen with a strength and conditioning coach finally helped the injury heal and Sullivan returned to the Nashville lineup Jan. 10. Just over a year ago, Zednik lost five pints of blood and required life-saving emergency surgery after his neck was sliced with a skate blade. He returned to the lineup this season, scoring 17 goals and providing experience and leadership to a young Panthers team. A US$2,500 grant from the PHWA is awarded annually to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund, based in Bloomington, Minn., in the name of the Masterton Trophy winner.

-Richard Zednik is apparently celebrating his nomination for the Masterton Trophy by taking his game to Russia. According to a report on RDS.ca, the veteran forward has signed a two-year contract with Yaroslavl of the KHL on Thursday, potentially ending his 12 year NHL career. The contract was announced on the same day that Zednik was named as one of the finalists, for the Bill Masterton Trophy. In 745 career games, Zednik has scored 200 goals and added 179 assists.

-Rangers Head Coach John Tortorella regrets his water bottle throwing incident (as he should):
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=277027

TONIGHT'S ACTION:
Gm 1 - (8) Detroit Red Wings @ (2) Detroit Red Wings - 7PM - Versus
Gm 1 - (6) Carolina Hurricanes @ (1) Boston Bruins - 7:30PM


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Information from the AP and Canadian Press was used in this posting