The biggest billing of the evening, Blues vs. Blackhawks, gave us the first triple OT game of the playoffs and, as it often goes in triple OT games, the game was settled on a crucial misplaying of the puck. Im this case, it was the Blackhawks defense allowing a streaking Alex Steen to rip a point-blank shot on a helpless Corey Crawford. It was a hard luck loss for Blackhawks, you can't expect to win games when getting outshot by double-digits in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Major credit should be given to Crawford for keeping the Hawks in the game, but it was ultimately fruitless. Blues up 1-0, without Oshie or Berglund. I suppose the beauty of the 7 game series is that one game won't necessarily crucify a team, but you know the Hawks are kicking themselves after letting that one slip away from them, especially after Lapierre blocked a game-ending goal in OT. Can't wait for game 2, as this first round series has the potential to be one of the all-time greats.
The second, and arguably more exciting OT thriller between the Avs and the Wild proved that taking down Minnesota would be no cakewalk for Colorado. Heck, it took a skin-of-their-teeth comeback effort from Stastny, MacKinnon and Co. to reach overtime. The Avalanche's defense (or lack thereof) may prove to be their undoing. Similarly, Minnesota is going to have to a better job of holding onto the puck if they're planning on going anywhere in the playoffs.
We also saw a tough battle between the Rangers and Flyers, where Ray Emery hung tough for most of the game against the Rangers offensive onslaught. Unfortunately, the Flyers game absolutely imploded in the 3rd, allowing two goals within a minute and only recording one shot on goal in the period. It was a truly pitiful effort, but this comes as no surprise considering the Flyers' play at Madison Square Garden this year. Considering the Rangers have home-ice advantage in the series, the Flyers know they'll have to steal a game on the road to win the series. Expect them to bounce back in Game 2 and play a much closer game, especially if Mason is in net. While Emery did play much better than I expected, having your best goaltender in net gives the entire team more confidence to make aggressive plays, something that Philly will need to do to beat Henrik Lundqvist.
Lastly, and surely least interesting was the Sharks annihilation of the Kings. Snoozefest. Sure, the Sharks's goals were nice (always good to see that Hertl kid do his thing), but the game was never close. Perhaps we were spoiled by the other 6 games (Rangers-Flyers wasn't much better), but the product the Kings trotted out last night was pathetic.
Standouts from Tonight's Games
3 Point Efforts:
Paul Stastny (COL)
2G, 1A
Nathan MacKinnon (COL)
3A
Brad Richards (NYR)
1G, 2A
2 Point Efforts:
Brent Seabrook (CHI)
1G, 1A
Ryan O'Reilly (COL)
1G, 1A
Jamie McGinn (COL)
1G, 1A
Marc-Edouard Vlasic (SJ)
1G, 1A
Tomas Hertl (SJ)
1G, 1A
Brent Burns (SJ)
1G, 1A
Martin St Louis (NYR)
2A
Jonathan Toews (CHI)
2A
Zach Parise (MIN)
2A
Tyson Barrie (COL)
2A
James Sheppard (SJ)
2A
Plays of the Night
Honorable mention to LaPierre's blocked shot to preserve OT
And that's a wrap! Thanks for stopping by. Oh, and go Wings!
Peace,
Jay Willy
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