Oh my goodness, ladies and gents! What a great day in hockey!
We had our first OT thriller with Montreal finally getting the winning shot past Anders Lindback, who was put to work all night. Props to the Canadiens for outshooting the Bolts 44-25, but Tampa Bay will have to keep the shot total closer if they want to have a chance in this series.
And, hello, Columbus! Though the final score was no surprise, the Jackets came out firing on all cylinders and managed to outshoot Pittsburg, even! Mark Letestu continues his red-hot scoring streak, with 6 points in his last 6 games, 5 of them being goals. Pretty great for a guy who went undrafted.
For those unfamiliar, Mark played 3 years of juniors and 1 year for Western Michigan in his college years before being signed by a pro club. You might be wondering who took a stab at this fresh-faced Bronco. If you guessed Columbus, you'd be 100% wrong! It was none other than the Pittsburg Penguins, who traded him to Columbus for a fourth round pick in 2011, and now may be a difference maker in this series. Though with that fourth round selection, the Penguins acquired Matia Marcantouni, a consensus top 10 pick known for his blistering speed and physical style, who fell to the 4th round due to a shoulder injury he suffered before the draft. While Matia hasn't cracked the club's AHL roster, the kid's only 20 and could very well become a force once he develops his game further.
Other surprises from that tilt: Marc-Andre outplayed Bobrovsky? Poor Bob. Can't catch a break, much like his entire franchise. Both Sid and Malkin looked great out there. Niskanen continues a hot streak of his own, with 6 points in his last 4 games. Jack Johnson now has 4 points in his last 3 games. James Neal has a quiet night by his standards: no goals, no assists, 2 shots on goal, no dirty hits. Stick to the scoring, James. It's what the fans want! (Well, at least this one.) Beau Bennet, Jussi Jokinen and Brandon Sutter each had a goal, which means good things for the Pens. Whenever you're getting quality production outside of your star players, it bodes well for a deep cup run. You heard it here, first, everyone! I just jinxed the Pens! (Do you hear that? That's the sound of Wings fans rejoicing across the globe).
For the last game of the evening, we got to feel each Ducks fan (There are dozens of them! Dozens!) have a minor heart attack after Ryan Getzlaf took a slapshot to the face. Thankfully, the xray indiciated no structural damage, and Getz will be back for game 2. But before all that took place, we saw the Ducks absolutely steamroll the Stars. Well, at least for the first 30 minutes. For those who've followed the Stars all year, they tend to play their best hockey in the second half of the tilt, and this game was no exception. After digging themselves a 4 goal grave, the Stars battled back and scored 2 at the end of the 2nd period, and brought the deficit to 1 in the 3rd. Despite the Stars' impressive rally, they ended up with the L. Now imagine what would happen if the Stars played a full 60 minutes? In situations such as these, I tend to put blame on the coach, albeit somewhat unfairly. Perhaps the Stars lack of veteran leadership is to blame. Tough to speculate. What's certain is that when the Stars are on, they're a dominant team.
Big surprises: Kari "Stonewall" Lehtonen allowed two goals on the first five shots. Colton Sceviour potted a goal and an assist. Corey Perry was held to an assist. Beleskey got 1G, 1A. Trevor Daley continued his hot streak with an assist, bringing him to 6pts in his last 5 games. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin continued to produce the bulk of the offense with a goal each. Beauchemin had two helpers bringing his total to 4 in his last three games.
Thanks for reading! If you liked what you see, tell your friends! Or maybe just tell Mama Willy so she doesn't feel like I'm wasting my life.
Peace,
Jay Willy
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