Chase for the Cup: 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs Roundup

It was no blowout in Tampa Bay last night as both teams seemed to find their defensive legs again in a big Game Three between the Bolts and Bruins

The Night that Was:

Patrice Bergeron was back in the lineup for the Boston Bruins last night, and it may have provided his teammates with a bit of a spark. Just 1:07 in, the Bruins’ David Krejci scored his seventh of the playoffs to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. The two sides would battle through the rest of the first scoreless, and the second period would stay that way as well before Andrew Ference’s second would double Boston’s advantage. The Bruins would hold on for that 2-0 win as Tim Thomas made 31 saves for the shutout while Bergeron had two shots in 19 minutes of ice time and went 18/28 on faceoffs. Super rookie Tyler Seguin was held scoreless, but was a plus-one with three shots, while Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg were the only Bruins to average more than 20 minutes in ice time, playing a whopping 28:30 each. The Bruins now lead the series 2-1 with things resuming Saturday afternoon at 1:30pm Eastern.

The Injury Bug:

-Jason Demers is doubtful for Game Three against the Canucks because of an upper body injury.

-Mikael Samuelsson underwent surgery yesterday for a sports hernia and to repair his adductor tendon, and he’ll be out for an indefinite amount of time.

What’s on Tonight?

Vancouver heads to San Jose tonight for Game Three in the Western Conference Final with a 2-0 series lead. The game gets underway at 9:00pm Eastern.

News and Rumours Around the League:

-Here’s what we know about the Thrashers-to-Winnipeg: A report surfaced last night saying that there was a deal in place to send the team to Winnipeg, and that an official announcement would be made next Tuesday with Gary Bettman attending the press conference. This came from Canadian newspaper ‘The Globe and Mail’. However, there is no reported deal in place (or signed) between Atlanta Spirit and True North, and there has also been no official approval by the executive committee and the NHL’s Board of Governors. The interesting thing about all of this is that David Thomsen, a key figure in the party purchasing the Thrashers, also owns the Globe and Mail.

-Corey Crawford’s rookie year earned him a brand new three-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. Reports are Chicago’s other goalie Marty Turco still wants to play too.

-Zach Smith and Colin Greening each re-signed with the Ottawa Senators. Greening’s is a three-year deal while Smith’s is a two-year contract.

-The retirement of Freddy Modin was made official yesterday after initial reports had begun surfacing a few days ago. Modin, who had suffered through injury troubles during the final seasons of his career, cited back problems as his reason for retirement.

-Ben Eager will not face a reprimand for his hit on Daniel Sedin in Game Two. You can imagine how happy that makes the Canucks.

-The New York Rangers also signed a pair of OHL’ers as Oshawa’s Christian Thomas and Owen Sound’s Scott Stajcer have signed entry-level deals with the team.

Your Top Playoff Performer of the Night:

Tim Thomas made 31 saves for his first shutout of the playoffs, and his first playoff shutout since May 2009. The 31 stops included a number of highlight reel stops, including a spin-o-rama that you have to see to believe.

You can follow Bryan on Twitter at BryanThiel_88.