FTS 4/17/09: Playoffs, Night 2

photo credit: AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

DUCKS TAKE OPENER IN SAN JOSE

Here they go again. The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Sharks could not get a puck through Jonas Hiller in his playoff debut Thursday night and lost Game 1 to Anaheim, 2-0. Hiller stopped 35 San Jose shots and helped the Ducks kill off six power plays. Ryan Getzlaf setup Scott Niedermayer’s man-advantage goal early in the second period and scored himself with 2:25 to play. Game 2 is Sunday night.

BLACKHAWKS EXTINGUISH FLAMES IN OVERTIME

The Blackhawks needed an extra 12 seconds to earn their first playoff victory in seven years Thursday night at United Center. They erased two one-goal deficits in regulation, then had Martin Havlat score on the first shot of overtime to defeat the Flames, 3-2. It was the third-fastest OT goal in NHL playoff history and was Havlat’s second tally of the night. He forced overtime by scoring off his own rebound with 5:33 left in the third period. Cam Barker, David Moss and Mike Cammalleri scored the other goals in regulation. Nikolai Khabibulin turned away 23 stops to improve to 22-5-2 lifetime versus Calgary. Game 2 is Saturday night.

BRUINS OUTSLUG CANADIENS IN GAME ONE

After blowing a two-goal first period lead, the Bruins retook the lead for good on Zdeno Chara’s goal at 11:15 of the third period. Phil Kessel scored into an empty net, his second goal of the night, to provide the 4-2 final score. After Kessel’s empty-netter is where this game got interesting as Maxim Lapierre took Kessel after he scored, prompting Milan Lucic to jump Lapierre. The two sides also came together at the final horn with Mike Komisarek bloodying Matt Hunwick’s right eye with a few rabbit punches.

David Krejci also scored for Boston, while Chris Higgins and Alex Kovalev scored for Montreal, which is now 0-4-0 in Beantown this season. Tim Thomas made 26 saves. Carey Price had 35, but fell to 5-7 in the playoffs. Game 2 is Saturday night.

RED WINGS INTRODUCE BLUE JACKETS TO PLAYOFF HOCKEY

Jonathan Ericsson, Niklas Kronwall and Johan Franzen scored during a nine-minute stretch bridging the second and third periods to lead Detroit past Columbus, 4-1, at Joe Louis Arena. The Blue Jackets looked steady in their first ever playoff game until Manny Malhotra deflected Ericsson’s point shot with a glove into his own net. Kronwall scored 48 seconds later to seemingly put Columbus away. Jiri Hudler and R.J. Umberger were your other goal scorers. Steve Mason stopped 30 Jacket shots, while Chris Osgood made 20 in his 261st playoff appearance. Game 2 is Saturday night.

IN OTHER NEWS…

The Minnesota Wild are not renewing the contract of President & General Manager Doug Risebrough. The decision from owner Craig Leipold came five days after head coach Jacques Lemaire stepped down. Lemaire and Risebrough had led the organization for all 10 years of its existence. Leipold said he decided Risebrough’s fate a month ago, with a long playoff run capable of saving his job. The Wild are missing the postseason after winning the Northwest Division last season.

Flyers winger Daniel Carcillo has been suspended for Game 2 in Pittsburgh because he butt-ended Penguins center Maxime Talbot in the closing seconds of the opener. Philadelphia head coach John Stevens was also fined $10,000. The League says it will not tolerate teams trying to “send a message” late in playoff games.

FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE

Flyers @ Penguins 7:00pm ET (Versus/CBC, PIT leads, 1-0)
Hurricanes @ Devils 7:30 (TSN, NJ leads, 1-0)
Blues @ Canucks (Versus/CBC, VAN leads, 1-0)

FTS - 4/16/09

TOP STORY

DUBIOUS!

The Markus Naslund and Brandon Dubinsky celebrate the eventual game winner midway through the 3rd period

(Photo Credit - AP)

(7) New York Rangers (1-0) over the (2) Washington Capitals (0-1) 4-3

The New York Rangers managed to steal home ice from the Washington Capitals (for now) at the Verizon Center last night, and the word "steal" would be an understatement. The Rangers blew a two goal lead, Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves and the league's best penalty kill frantically stopped 5 of 7 power plays to take one in the Phone Booth.

"We took too many penalties," Tortorella said. "It's just too dangerous with that group they put out there. But I thought our penalty killers did everything they possibly could, especially at the end when he had two penalties to kill. Our power play is going to have to score for us to stay in there."

Brandon Dubinsky scored the game winning goal with 8:17 remaining in the 3rd period on a great move that crossed up Capitals defenseman Jeff Schultz and beat Capitals goalie Jose Theodore high. "Just wasn't good enough," said Theodore, who stopped only 17 of 21 shots. There's times when you sit there, you need the save, and he didn't make the save when we needed it," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said.

Boudreau said he didn't pull Theodore because "you never want to look like you're panicking and that's what that would have looked like," but the coach didn't rule out playing rookie Simeon Varlamov in Game 2 on Saturday -- a stunning admission considering that Varlamov has played in only six career NHL games. "There's a chance anything could happen," Boudreau said. "When you lose, you make changes."

Scott Gomez had a goal and two assists, Nik Antropov and Naslund each had a goal and an assist for the Rangers. Antropov and Naslund scored power-play goals on back-to-back shots to give New York a 3-1 lead in the second period, a pleasant development for a team whose power play ranked 29th in the league. New York scored more than one man-advantage goal only once in its final 12 regular season games.

The other big note about this game was Rangers captain Chris Drury being scratched right before the game. He missed the last game of the regular season with an undisclosed injury and went out for warm ups, but went to the locker room a few minutes in to the skate. Coach Tortorella expects him to play in Game 2, which will be Saturday at 2PM on NBC.


The Rangers can't expect to win games playing the way they did last night. That being said, they stole the win, scored when it mattered, and managed to keep up with the Capitals frantic pace through some decent stretches of the games. For everyone that said this would be a quick series, get ready for this one to got at least six.

OTHER PLAYOFF ACTION...

(4) Pittsburgh Penguins (1-0) over the (5) Philadelphia Flyers (0-1) 4-1
The Penguins got a goal and an assist each from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and shut down the frustrated Flyers' for a 4-1 victory. Penguins goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, idle for long stretches in the first two periods as his teammates controlled play at the other end, made 26 saves to help the Penguins win their fourth consecutive conference playoff series opener.

Flyers fans, be very worried. Not only did you lose home ice to a team that's a pain in your ass, the Penguins outplayed you in EVERY aspect of Game 1. The one that stood out most to me was the physicality. The Flyers are more physical than just about every team in the league, and the Penguins brought the beating and banging to the Flyers. The Flyers may have slipped in to a slump at the worst time and this could be over very quickly for the boys from Broad Street. Game 2 is Friday night in Pittsburgh.

(3) New Jersey Devils (1-0) over the (6) Carolina Hurricanes (0-1) 4-1
Zach Parise and Jamie Langen- brunner each had a goal and an assist and the Devils dominated from start to finish with a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in the opening game of their best-of-seven first-round playoffs series Wednesday night.

"It's step one," Parise said. "It's going to be a long series. You've got the start somewhere and the effort was there from everybody. It was a good way for us to start." Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, who set the regular-season record for NHL career wins last month, was closing in on his 23rd career playoff shutout when Ray Whitney scored on a rebound. He finished with 18 saves in winning for the 96th time in the postseason.


I predicted Devils in 5 and that prediction looks to be good after last night. The Devils were the wrost match-up for the Hurricanes, and just like the Flyers, they are cooling off at the wrong time.

(3) Vancouver Canucks (1-0) over the (6) St. Louis Blues (0-1) 2-1
Special teams were supposed to be the Blues strong point coming in to the series. They got their chances, but it was the Canucks who capitalized on their chances. Daniel Sedin scored the first goal on a delayed penalty and set up Sami Salo's power-play marker, and Roberto Luongo made the best of his 25 saves while killing off a 5-on-3 to help the Canucks take Game 1 at GM Place. the Canucks killed off the first six St. Louis power plays. Brad Boyes finally scored on the seventh power play with 1:44 left in the second period to pull the Blues within a goal. But that was the lone bright spot for St. Louis special teams. "I don't think we can be in the box six, seven times in the game, we all know that," said Luongo. "They are a good special teams team and we talked about that, so I expect us to be a little less penalized next game." Vancouver, 14-1-1 at home since Feb. 1, hosts Game 2 of Friday night.

On a sadder note, Canucks LW Taylor Pyatt hasn't rejoined the team since fiancee Carly Bragnalo was killed in a car crash April 3 while vacationing with family in Jamaica. Bragnalo's funeral was Tuesday in Thunder Bay, Ontario.


What the St. Louis Bues did to get in to the playoffs was great. They went on a run to vault themselves from worst in the West to 6th, but theyran in to a brick wall known as Roberto Luongo. Luongo is playinig with that swagger he has when he is at the top of his game. Unless St. Louis responds in Game 2, this could be a very short series.

OTHER NEWS

-After eight seasons behind the Edmonton Oilers' bench and three straight seasons without a playoff berth, Craig MacTavish has been relieved of his duties as head coach. "We both agree that it is time for a change," said Oilers' general manager Steve Tambellini at a news conference in Edmonton on Wednesday. MacTavish led the team to a disappointing 38-35-9 record this season as the Oilers finished 11th in the Western Conference. The news comes just weeks after team owner Darryl Katz sent a text message to Oilers radio analyst Bob Stauffer during a pre-game show on April 2 that stated, "MacT is not going anywhere." MacTavish is leaving the organization entirely and the search begins immediately for his replacement The Oilers will consider all options including both experienced NHL coaches and younger coaches. After finishing ninth in the conference last season, the Oilers came into this campaign with high hopes that their young talent would propel them to higher levels. But a lack of scoring, inconsistent goaltending and a difficult schedule in the early going set the club back this season. "This is the right thing for Craig, and the right thing for the Edmonton Oilers," Tambellini added. "This does not absolve the players and their performance, or lack thereof." Winger Ales Hemsky led the team in scoring with 66 points, followed by defencemen Sheldon Souray and forward Shawn Horcoff - who each had 53 points. Nowhere among the leaders were youngsters Sam Gagner (41 points), Andrew Cogliano (38 points) or Dustin Penner (37 points) - three players considered as the future of the franchise. Penner, who signed a five-year, $21.25 million contract before the 2007-08 season, drew the ire of MacTavish in November and was a healthy scratch on several occasions. "MacTavish felt it was time to move on in the best interests of the organization," Oilers president Kevin Lowe told TSN. "He really felt he couldn't do any more with the group.'' Defenceman Steve Staios said the writing was on the wall. "I'm not really that surprised because of where we've been the last few years," he told THE CANADIAN PRESS. "This is probably just the start." The Oilers also began the season rotating goaltenders Dwayne Roloson, Mathieu Garon and Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers before settling on Roloson for the second half of the season. The schedule didn't do the Oilers any favours early on, with the team playing 16 of its first 23 games on the road. Ironically, the Oilers finished the year with a better record on the road, 20-18-3, than they did at home, 18-17-6. In 2005-06, MacTavish led the Oilers to their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final since 1990 as Edmonton fell in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes.

-Ron Wilson will have a few familiar faces when he takes the bench behind the U.S. Men's National Team later this month. Toronto Maple Leafs' Jason Blake and Lee Stempniak, Ottawa Senators Nick Foligno and Ryan Shannon and Edmonton Oilers Patrick O'Sullivan were among the first 19 players named to the U.S. Men's National Team that will compete at the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation Men's World Championship in Berne and Zurich-Kloten, Switzerland. The Americans initial list boasts nine players who have previously played in the IIHF Men's World Championship, including Blake, Stempniak, and O'Sullivan, as well as defensemen Keith Ballard (Florida Panthers), Jack Johnson (Los Angeles Kings), and Ryan Suter (Nashville Predators), forwards Dustin Brown (Los Angeles Kings), Drew Stafford (Buffalo Sabres), and goaltender Robert Esche, who is currently playing for the KHL's SKA St. Petersburg. Under the direction of Leafs' general manger Brian Burke, the U.S.'s advisory group charged with leading the selection of players has handpicked 12 players who are 25 years old or younger including Foligno, Johnson, Suter, Brown, O'Sullivan, Stafford, Zach Bogosian (Atlanta Thrashers), Matt Niskanen (Dallas Stars), Peter Harrold (Los Angeles Kings), Kyle Okposo (New York Islanders), and Colin Wilson (Boston University); and goaltender Al Montoya (Phoenix Coyotes). Rounding out the first group of players named to the U.S. roster are defenseman Ron Hainsey (Atlanta Thrashers) and forward Colin Stuart (Atlanta Thrashers). “This is a skilled group of players who will represent the United States well,” said Jim Johannson, assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey. “It is a nice mix of veterans and newcomers to international competition that our National Team Advisory Group is looking forward to watching.” Joining Wilson on the coaching staff are assistant coaches Scott Gordon and Joe Sacco. Gordon is currently the head coach of the New York Islanders, and Sacco is serving as the head coach of the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL. Team USA will face Switzerland on April 21, in a pre-tournament game before beginning play in the 2009 IIHF Men's World Championship on Saturday, April 25, against Latvia.
Both reports courtesy of TSN.CA

TONIGHT'S ACTION:
Gm 1 - (8) Montreal Canadiens @ (1) Boston Bruins - 7PM
Gm 1 - (7) Columbus Blue Jackets @ (2) Detroit Red Wings - 7PM
Gm 1 - (5) Calgary Flames @ (4) Chicago Blackhawks - 8:30PM
Gm 1 - (8) Anaheim Ducks @ (1) San Jose Sharks - 10:30PM

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FTS PLAYOFF PREVIEW - 4/15/09

EASTERN CONFERENCE

(1) BOSTON BRUINS vs (8) MONTREAL CANADIENS

Bruins won season series 5-0-1

Normally when these two teams meet, it's usually the Bruins looking across the ice going "Oh no, not them again". The Canadiens have a 24-7 playoff series record against the B's, but they are about to lose for the eighth time to Boston. The Canadiens are a team in complete shambles right now and are in no shape to take on a juggernaut like the Bruins right now. Boston can score, they can play physical, and have one of the best goalies in the NHL this season in Tim Thomas. Unless the Canadiens power play wakes up and returns to 2007-08 form, Boston has the edge in every aspect of the game. This will be a quick, but painful death for Canadiens fans in their Centennial Season.

Our pick: Bruins in 5

(2) WASHINGTON CAPITALS vs (7) NEW YORK RANGERS
Capitals won season series 3-0-1

The NHL is LOVING this first round match-up. The best player in the NHL playing a team in the #1 market in the country...you can almost here Gary Bettman salivating. He'll get his wishes with a long series between these two teams. When I first looked at this series, the first thing I thought was "Wow, this is the worst first round match-up for the blueshirts". My initial instinct was to pick the Capitals in 6. After a little thought though, the Rangers do have one huge advantage, and that's goaltending. I don't trust Jose Theodore for the Capitals while Henrik Lundqvist may get nominated for the Vezina again. The match-ups to look out for are the Rangers #1 Penalty Kill vs. the Capitals #2 power play. If John Tortorella is smart, he'll have Marc Staal shadowing Alexander Ovechkin all series long. My heart is slightly influencing this pick, but if the Rangers can make this a long series, they have a great chance. The shorter the series, the less likely it is the Rangers win.

Our pick: Rangers in 7

(3) NEW JERSEY DEVILS vs (6) CAROLINA HURRICANES
Hurricanes won season series 3-1-0

This is the series that will be looked over the most, but will be a fun series to watch while it lasts. Carolina might be the hottest team coming in to the playoffs, but they ran in to the team that will be able to cool them off the best. The Hurricanes are a well-balanced team with great goaltending, so what's the problem? The Devils will beat and bang with Carolina, slow them down, and physically drain the Hurricanes. While this style is nothing new for the Devils, they finally have a legitimate sniper in Zach Parise to score goals so New Jersey doesn't HAVE to win games 2-1. Carolina made a nice run, but drew the one opponent that will have the ability to slow the fast paced 'Canes down.

Our pick: Devils in 6

(4) PITTSBURGH PENGUINS vs (5) PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
Penguins won season series 4-2-0

Of all the first round series, this is the one that will have the most intensity. If you're not an avid hockey fan, one thing you need to know about this series is that the Flyers and Penguins HATE each other with the same venom a la Red Sox-Yankees or Duke-North Carolina. The Flyers loss to the Rangers on Sunday and loss of home ice in the first round clinched the series for the Penguins. Pittsburgh was cruising down the stretch and the Penguins are a very tough team to beat in the Igloo. While the Flyers have a great group of forwards and defenseman, I don't trust goalie Martin Biron. Unless Biron turns in a stellar performance in every game, the Penguins righted the ship at the right time and will eliminate their long time foe.

Our pick: Penguins in 6

WESTERN CONFERENCE

(1) SAN JOSE SHARKS vs (8) ANAHEIM DUCKS

Sharks won season series 4-2-0

We will know immediately if the Sharks are finally built for a deep playoff run thanks to the first all-California postseason series in 40 years. The Ducks are not the typical reward for winning your conference, not to mention compiling the NHL’s best record. Anaheim closed out the regular season on a 10-2-1 splurge, boasts one of the best forward combinations in the game in Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, and still has Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger patrolling the blueline. Aside from San Jose’s mental toughness, the biggest question mark, though, in this series is Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller, who has wrestled away the starting job from Stanley Cup winner J.S. Giguere, but allowed 18 goals over his final six appearances. Thursday night will be Hiller’s first ever playoff game, while Evgeni Nabokov has skated in 59 of them, posting a 2.17 GAA and .917 save percentage.

Our pick: Sharks in 7 because Nabokov will outplay Hiller/Giguere and San Jose’s veteran additions (Dan Boyle, Brad Lukowich, Travis Moen) can cool off the surging Ducks.

(2) DETROIT RED WINGS vs (7) COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

Season Series split 3-3-0

Welcome to the playoffs, Blue Jackets. Here to show you around the place are our defending champions, the Red Wings. Yes, Columbus owns an 8-0 win at Joe Louis Arena this season. Yes, the Red Wings closed the regular season with three straight losses and seven in 10 games. And yes, Chris Osgood and Ty Conklin have been shaky at best in the Detroit net this year. But the Red Wings have the four best players in this series in Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Marian Hossa and Nicklas Lidstrom. That’s too much talent and playoff experience for Rick Nash, Steve Mason and Mike Commodore to overcome.

Our pick: Detroit in 6 games

(3) VANCOUVER CANUCKS vs (6) ST. LOUIS BLUES

Season Series tied 2-2-0

This series is as evenly-matched as any in either conference. Since February 1, the Canucks are 23-7-2; the Blues went 21-7-6. Both offenses are balanced, fairly deep operations and goaltending is the ultimate key for both sides. The main difference between Vancouver and St. Louis comes on special teams. The Blues boast Top 10 outfits on the power play and penalty kill, while the Canuck units rank in the middle of the pack. In a series with quality goaltending, and even though Vancouver clearly has the better of the two, special teams will make the difference, which is why we like the Blues’ improbable run to continue.

Our pick: Blues in 6

(4) CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS vs (5) CALGARY FLAMES
Blackhawks won season series 4-0-0

This is a meeting of teams going in opposite directions: the Blackhawks did not lose in regulation in April (6-0-1), while the Flames lost 11 of their last 18 outings. Calgary hasn’t gotten a goal from Olli Jokinen in 13 games and has questions to answer about the health of Dion Phaneuf, Robyn Regehr, Curtis Glencross, Rene Bourque and Corey Sarich. Chicago is healthy and saw Nikolai Khabibulin allow just seven goals over his final six regular season appearances. The Flames win the experience category in a blowout, but the young Hawks seem mentally stronger at the moment.

Our pick: Chicago in 5



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The Regular Season is Over

photo credit: AP Photo/Jack Dempsey


BLUES EARN 6th-SEED IN WESTERN CONFERENCE

WILL FACE VANCOUVER IN ROUND ONE

In what may be the most overlooked story of the playoff chase, the St. Louis Blues are not only in the postseason for the first time in five years, but they are the 6th-seed after Sunday’s 1-0 defeat of the Avalanche in Denver. Chris Mason made 28 saves for his sixth save of the season, while Brad Boyes scored the only goal six minutes into the opening period. Since mid-February, St. Louis is an NHL-best 25-9-7, including a 9-1-1 push to closeout the season. At 32-45-5, the Avalanche finish with the worst record in the conference for the first time since leaving Quebec in 1995.

Rangers 4 – Flyers 3

Sean Avery and Blair Betts scored in the third period in Philadelphia to give Henrik Lundqvist a career-high 38th victory and to keep the Flyers from gaining the 4th-seed in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia needed just one point to host the Penguins in Round 1, but Martin Biron could not keep the Blueshirts out of the net in the final stanza. The victory meant nothing in terms of the playoffs to the Rangers, who are the 7th-seed and will play Washington.

Bruins 6 – Islanders 2

The Boston offense got one last workout before the playoffs Sunday on Long Island. Phil Kessel led the exercise with three goals and an assist. Tim Thomas made 32 saves for his 36th win of the season. The Islanders hit the finish line with four consecutive losses (26-47-9 overall) to assure themselves the best chance of drafting John Tavares in June.

Blackhawks 3 – Red Wings 0

On the eve of their first playoff game in seven years, the Blackhawks looked sharp Sunday afternoon on national television against the Stanley Cup champions, albeit a team without healthy scratches Marian Hossa, Nicklas Lidstrom and Kris Draper. Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 37 Red Wing shots for his 41st career shutout. Chicago also beat Detroit Saturday to finish the season on a 6-0-1 spurt.

IN OTHER NEWS…

Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin is the Art Ross Trophy winner as the League’s leading scorer with 35 goals and 78 assists for 113 points in 78 games. For the second consecutive year, Alex Ovechkin earns the Maurice Richard Trophy for scoring the most goals (56). And the tandem of Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez in Boston win the Jennings trophy for allowing the fewest goals this season (196).

The Minnesota Wild will hold a press conference Monday morning to say goodbye to head coach Jacques Lemaire. The only man to stand behind the Wild bench, Lemaire decided to step down after an 89-point season. In his eight seasons in the Twin Cities, Lemaire compiled a 291-256-107 record.

Johan Franzen is the latest player to receive a 10-plus-year contract, signing on in Detroit for 11 seasons and $43.5 million dollars. The Red Wings gave Henrik Zetterberg a 12-year pact three months ago. The 29-year-old Franzen scored 34 goals this season and was fourth on the team in points with 59.

Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff will coach the Canadian entry at the World Championships later this month in Switzerland. Nashville’s Barry Trotz and Dallas’ Dave Tippett will be his assistants. Ruff has never coached the Canadian national team.

FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS

(1) BOSTON vs. (8) MONTREAL
(2) WASHINGTON vs. (7) NY RANGERS
(3) NEW JERSEY vs. (6) CAROLINA
(4) PITTSBURGH vs. (5) PHILADELPHIA

(1) SAN JOSE vs. (8) ANAHEIM
(2) DETROIT vs (7) COLUMBUS
(3) VANCOUVER vs. (6) ST. LOUIS
(4) CHICAGO vs. (5) CALGARY