A Day in the NHL: Chase for the Cup, Day 5

Needless to say, this Pittsburgh/Philadelphia series boiled over yesterday like everyone expected it to. Let’s start with the scoring: Jordan Staal made it 1-0 Penguins before Max Talbot and Danny Briere (x2) gave Philly a 3-1 lead. James Neal and Matt Read traded goals after that to make it 4-2 after one. The teams traded goals in the second Neal and Read started things off with their second goals of the night, while Staal added another before Wayne Simmonds scored to make it 6-4. In the third, it was simply Claude Giroux and Talbot scoring to make it an 8-4 final.

Now to the penalties. In the first there were three sets of off-setting roughing penalties handed out, while Kris Letang and Kimmo Timonen (Yes, you read that right) and Claude Giroux and Sidney Crosby (again…correct) squared off. In addition to that, Brayden Schenn was run by Arron Asham (who was given a game misconduct) after Schenn destroyed Paul Martin. Oh, and Crosby started a bunch of this by flicking away Jakub Voracek’s glove and picking some of the fights. In the second there were just four minors handed out, but they made up for that in the third. At 15:18 of the third with Philly up 7-4, things boiled over. James Neal took a run at two Flyers (Sean Couturier and Giroux), before another scrum ensued, where Crosby instigated some fun with Schenn and Scott Hartnell, who Craig Adams would come in and fight. 148 minutes in penalties were assesed.
Penguins 4 vs Flyers 8 – Flyers lead series 3-0

The Nashville Predators had never won in Detroit during the playoffs, but they’d have to change that to take a lead in their first-round series with Detroit. Things started well when Shea Weber’s second of the playoffs gave the Preds a 1-0 lead through one. Kevin Klein would make it 2-0, and after Pavel Datsyuk brought his team to within one off of a beautiful strip of Roman Jossi behind the net, Johan Franzen would one-time a puck past Pekka Rinne, but a tenth-of-a-second too late. Instead of tying the game, the goal was disallowed and the Wings carried a power play into the third.. They wouldn’t score, and Sergei Kostitsyn would snap one past Jimmy Howard with 3:30 left to make it 3-1. Henrik Zetterberg would cut it to 3-2, but that was all Nashville needed. 41 saves from Rinne led the Preds to the victory and a 2-1 series lead. Both Kevin Klein and Pavel Datsyuk finished the game with a goal an an assist.
Predators 3 vs Red Wings 2 – Predators lead series 2-1

The Florida Panthers had been a long time between playoff wins. In fact, 1997 was the last time the team won a playoff game and they were looking to avoid a 2-0 hole against the New Jersey Devils. Stephen Weiss took things upon himself early, as he scored 23 seconds in to give the Cats a 1-0 lead, and then added his second 1:12 into the second for a 2-0 lead. Marcel Goc would chip in to make it 3-0, but the Devils were far from dead. 48 seconds into the third, Travis Zajac made it 2-1, and just over a minute later Ilya Kovalchuk’s first playoff goal since 2010 made it 3-2. That’s as close as the Devils would get though, as Thomas Fleischmann iced it with an empty-netter just before the buzzer for a 4-2 win. Goc would add a goal and an assist for his own two-point night to join Weiss, as Jose Theodore made 23 saves for the victory, his first playoff win since 2008.
Devils 2 vs Panthers 4 – Series tied 1-1

Vancouver watched last year as the Chicago Blackhawks nearly came back from a 3-0 hole in the first round, and they certainly didn’t want to put themselves in a position to have to do that last night. The Canucks made a change last night, benching Roberto Luongo in favour of Cory Schneider, but maybe the guy they should have tried to get out of the crease was Jonathan Quick. The Canucks outshot the Los Angeles Kings 11-5 in the first and 14-6 in the second, but Quick stopped everything thrown his way. It was much of the same in the third as Schneider and Quick went save-for-save until Dustin Brown’s fourth of the series made it 1-0 Kings. L.A. would hold on, with Quick making 16 saves in the third period and 41 overall for the shutout and the 1-0 win. The shutout was Quick’s second of his playoff career, as his opponent Schneider faced just 20 shots on the night, stopping 19.
Canucks 0 vs Kings 1 – Kings lead series 3-0

What’s on Tonight?

All three series in action tonight are tied at one apiece. The New York Rangers/Ottawa Senators series makes it’s first stop in Ottawa for Game 3, the Boston Bruins make their way to Washington for Game 3 with the Capitals, and the San Jose Sharks welcome the St. Louis Blues to the Shark Tank to see who can take the upper hand in their series.

Injury Bug

Dustin Brown delivered a hit to Henrik Sedin last night that forced Sedin to leave the game. He did return soon after that however, and it’s not expected to be a lingering issue. Staying with the Sedin’s, Daniel did not make the trip to LA.

Brian Elliott will start Game Three for the St. Louis Blues after Jaroslav Halak suffered a lower-body injury in Game 2 against the Sharks. Elliott made 17 saves in just under 39 minutes of action in Game 2 as the two combined for a 3-0 shutout.

Daniel Alfredsson has a concussion, and it’s unsure whether or not he’ll play in Game 3 between the Sens and Rangers. He did take part in the pre-game skate though.

New and Notes

Let’s just call this suspension corner shall we? Carl Hagelin of the New York Rangers gets a three game suspension for the hit that caused Alfredsson’s concussion. Matt Carkner get’s one game for punching an unsuspecting Brian Boyle. Andrew Shaw’s hearing for his ‘fly-by’ of Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith is expected to happen Monday.

Three Stars of the Night

1. Jonathan Quick, LA:  41 saves, W
2. Danny Briere, PHI: 2 goals, 1 assist, +1, 6/7 on faceoffs
3. Stephen Weiss, FLA: 2 goals, 2 PPG, +1