Chase for the Cup: 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round Up for Day One

A bit of a change to the title (and slight ones to the format) for the playoffs. No more quick-hits, as everyone wants to know everything about everybody (every day!), and fantasy leagues don’t really matter anymore so it’s just a top-performer of the evening. All the information about the games is there though so…here come the playoffs!!

The Night that Was:

From the outset of this one, it looked like an upset in the making for Game One. While the rest of the New York Rangers didn’t seem to be showing up, Henrik Lundqvist did through the first two periods and that’s what mattered. Then, Matt Gilroy opened the scoring for the Rangers in the third and really, that could have been it. Midway through the third Alexander Ovechkin poked home a loose puck in Lundqvists’ crease and the play had to be reviewed (the ‘intent to blow the whistle’ rule), but it stood. The game went to overtime where Alexander Semin played hero, scoring the winner with less than two minutes remaining in the first overtime period of the 2011 playoffs. Mike Green earned an assist on Ovechkin’s goal, his first game back since late February, and Michal Neuvirth stopped 24 shots for a 2-1 win and a 1-0 series lead.

The Vancouver Canucks have some playoff demons to exercise against the Chicago Blackhawks…this would be a good start. Despite Chicago coming within a goalpost of scoring five or six times last night, Roberto Luongo stopped all 32 shots that came his way as a trade deadline acquisition proved his worth awfully quickly. Chris Higgins tipped home a Kevin Bieksa point shot just seven minutes in to the game and Jannik Hansen added a breakaway goal three minutes later. There was some extra-curricular action towards the end of this one which could make Game Two very interesting. Vancouver wins 2-0 and leads the series 1-0.

You want extra curriculars? How about the Predators and Ducks series? Yep, that’s right: By the end of the game, the Ducks were digging at Pekka Rinne and abusing him at any opportunity, and the Predators would have none of it, dealing with any (Rocket Richard winner Corey Perry) and all (Jarkko Ruutu and George Parros) Ducks that tried any funny business. Despite that, Rinne still made 27 saves, many of them show-stoppers, in Nashville’s 4-1 win, while his counterpart Dan Ellis wasn’t so lucky, getting pulled after goal number four. Mike Fisher had two goals and an assist, Shea Weber opened the scoring, and Steve Sullivan added one as well while Teemu Selanne had the Ducks only goal. The combined 60 penalty minutes (pretty high for a playoff game), set the table pretty well for Game 2, as Nashville leads the series 1-0.

While this one was hard-hitting (Steven Stamkos was laid out just minutes in to this one), Game One between Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh featured no scoring for the first two periods. In the third, Alex Kovalev played possum on the first goal, getting tripped early in the play and just staying where he was and ripping it past a sprawling Dwayne Roloson and Aaron Asham scored just 20 seconds later on a great individual effort, while Chris Kunitz would add the empty-netter for a 3-0 Penguins’ win. Pittsburgh fired 40 shots on Tampa Bay while Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 series lead.

The Phoenix Coyotes had their sights set on a 1-0 series lead when Kyle Turris opened the scoring at Joe Louis Arena just 2:16 in to the game. But the second was all Detroit where Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen and Brain Rafalski all scored, and Jiri Hudler scored a beautiful goal to open the third period. Radim Vrbata would cut the lead in half with three-quarters of the third period to go, but Phoenix couldn’t scrape out anything else as Detroit held on for a 4-2 win. Ilya Bryzgalov made 32 stops, but two of the goals he let in were very soft, while Jimmy Howard made 26 saves to give the Wings a 1-0 series lead.

The Injury Bug:

-The status of Henrik Zetterberg is still unknown for Game Two. Or it is known and Mike Babcock’s not telling us anything. Probably a bit of both.

–Tomas Kopecky played just two minutes and 22 seconds in Game One before leaving with an injury.

-Chris Pronger is listed as a game-time decision for Game One.

What’s on Tonight?

The Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins get Game One of their highly anticipated series underway in Boston tonight. Buffalo heads to Philadelphia as Game One between the Sabres and Flyers takes place in the City of Brotherly Love. In San Jose, the Sharks host the Los Angeles Kings in the first game of their series.

News and Rumours Around the League:

-A report about the Phoenix Coyotes moving to Winnipeg once their playoff run is over is fabricated, says Bill Daly. We should have a concrete answer and not just a rumour soon though.

Your Top Playoff Performer of the Night:

Marc-Andre Fleury and Roberto Luongo share the award. Both made 32 saves for Game One shutouts in their first round series. Talk about starting off on the right foot.

You can follow Bryan on Twitter at BraynThiel_88.