It came as a shock to New York Rangers forward Martin St. Louis, when his mother suddenly passed away just days before Mother’s Day. When France St. Louis died of a heart attack at the age of 63, her son had just arrived in Pittsburgh for Game 5 of the series. He immediately flew to Montreal to be with his family, only to rejoin his team the next day for the game.
On Mother’s Day his father and sister were in attendance as St. Louis scored a memorable first goal in the team’s win at Madison Square Garden. Everyone knew at that moment, that goal was scored for his mother. His team has rallied around him since his mother’s death. A number of players acknowledged that her untimely passing gave the Rangers a new appreciation for things having little to do with hockey.
“Him showing up and coming back for us was a real inspiration,” forward Brad Richards said. “I hate talking about it because he lost his mom. We’d rather have her back and not rallied around that. It deserves to be talked about it, but at the same time it’s still a tough time for their family.”
The funeral was supposed to be on Saturday, which now has become the date of Game 1 of the Rangers-Canadiens series in Montreal. Since the game could not be changed, the funeral had to be. So on Sunday, as a team, the Rangers will rally around St. Louis once again as they attend the funeral. The bond a hockey team shares is a unique one, and this is just one more example of how true that is.
After the Pittsburgh Penguins loss on Tuesday night, many speculated that come next season head coach Dan Bylsma would not be behind the bench. So when Bob McKenzie tweeted that the Pens were going to fire Bylsma along with General Manager, Ray Shero, it did not come as a surprise. What did come as a surprise, however, was that the press conference was not about letting both men go, but instead just Ray Shero.
At the 11:30 press conference, Penguins president David Morehouse, announced that Ray Shero was out, and that current assistant General Manager, Jason Botterill, was going to be interim GM. He is also a candidate for the full-time position.
The search has officially begun for the new GM, but the team is not targeting anyone in particular other than Jason Botterill. It will be the new GM who will evaluate Dan Bylsma and his future with the team. At that time he will also look at the rest of the coaching staff.
“Our ownership group led by Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle felt that it was time to move the franchise in a new direction,” Morehouse said. “Like our fans, they have been very disappointed with our early exits from the playoffs. They made this decision because we believe new leadership can help us get back on track to achieve our goal of winning the Stanley Cup.”
This change comes after five consecutive seasons of being eliminated by a lower-seeded team. Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle agreed that the team needed new leadership in the general manager’s office. They hope it will bring a new approach and new energy to help the team return to championship form.
“We’ve had success in the regular season. We have a good team,” Morehouse said. “This is a lot different than a team that needs to have a complete overhaul and a revamping, that has missed the playoffs for consecutive years. We’re a team that’s a good team that has high expectations and want to get better.”
The Penguins have no time frame to hire the new GM, but they would like to make the decision before the 2014 Draft which is set to be held on June 27-28. If no decision is made by that time, the team is comfortable with Jason Botterill making the decisions.
“We want to do it as quickly as possible to have the new GM and do the evaluation process as fast as we can, but we’re not going to rush it because of the draft,” Morehouse said. “With Jason Botterill and with our scouting staff in place and [assistant to the general manager] Tom Fitzgerald, we have a group in place that can take of us for the draft.”
Prior to the Penguins, Shero was GM of the Nashville Predators, but was hired by the Penguins in May 2006 as a replacement for Craig Patrick. Thanks to him, the Penguins qualified for the playoffs in eight straight seasons, won two Eastern Conference titles and the 2009 Stanley Cup. He became popular with fans for his agressive approach at the NHL Trade Deadline bringing in Marian Hossa, Billy Guerin, and Jarome Iglina, throughout his tenure.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Penguins had the second-best record in the NHL during Shero’s tenure as GM (373-193-56), trailing only the San Jose Sharks (371-179-72).
“We thank Ray for his work and we wish him and his family nothing but the best.”
The big story in this series so far has been John Gibson, who has played well in his playoff debut. There’s been so much talk about him, the LA Kings Twitter account had a little fun prior to the game.
But alas, the Anaheim Ducks’ young rookie proved fallible as the goal that held up as the game winner was very stoppable. The puck just barely squeaked between Gibson’s pads and into the back of the net.
First Period:
Pretty back and forth action, but the Kings held an edge with the ice slightly tilted towards Anaheim’s end. Jake Muzzin made up for his poor performance in Game 5 by opening the scoring in Game 6. He tapped the puck into the empty net after a playoff points leader Anze Kopitar set him up with a slick, no-look pass. Gibson came out to play the puck and his pass intended for Ryan Getzlaf went directly to Marian Gaborik. Fortunately for Gibson, the puck bounced over Gaborik’s stick and the error didn’t wind up a goal against. Both teams traded penalties but neither was able to capitalize on the man advantage. The score remained 1-0 going into the first intermission.
Second Period:
The Kings were undisciplined to start the period, taking two penalties close together but were fortunate Anaheim didn’t score. With just over six minutes left in the second period, Justin Williams found a streaking Trevor Lewis at the blue line. Ducks defensemen Bryan Allen and Hampus Lindholm afforded him copious amounts of time and space and he wristed a shot on net. The puck just managed to sneak under Gibson and held up as the eventual game winning goal. It was a soft goal that Gibson would probably like back, but sometimes you’re rewarded for hard work. Lewis has arguably been one of the best, most consistent forwards over the past two games. He had a lot of hustle and made some great plays (if only for his teammates to completely forget how to play hockey entirely in Game 5).
Anaheim responded well to being down two goals. On the next shift, Alec Martinez was pressured into turning the puck over in front of his own net. Jonathan Quick just barely got a piece of a Saku Koivu‘s shot and fortunately for him, the post got the other piece of the shot. Matt Greene bailed his goaltender out by clearing the puck out of the crease. A minute later, rookie Tanner Pearson gave the puck away in the neutral zone. Kyle Palmieri got a step on Jeff Schultz and beat Quick on a wraparound attempt, who was a tad slow to cover the post.
LA had a couple more glorious chances on a late power play but just couldn’t finish.
Third Period:
By far the closest period to date in the series. Both teams had chances but found little room to maneuver on the ice. Anaheim had a strong push in the final 90 seconds but couldn’t get anything past Quick.
Keys to Victory
The Kings received contributions from several guys outside the top players. Jake Muzzin and Trevor Lewis both scored goals while Matt Greene had a very good game with some timely blocks and made life very difficult for Anaheim’s forwards.
Greene decks Perreault into last week. 2 minutes? Well worth it.
He did end up with a penalty, but it was such a good hit, it was definitely worth the minor infraction. Kyle Clifford also had an outstanding game after being scratched in Game 5. He hit hard, was good on the forecheck and used his speed to penetrate through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone.
The real key to the win was LA playing its game: Low scoring, hard hitting, good defense, solid possession and excellent goaltending.
Despite leading for about 80% of the game the Kings still dominated possession, they out-attempted the Ducks 50-35 at evens.
As the Fenwick (all shot attempts except for blocked shots) chart shows, the Kings were dominating possession from early on the in the game. The longer you play keep away with the puck, the less time and fewer opportunities your opponent will have to score. LA very much embraced that mentality and came out the gate firing everything at Gibson. On Wednesday night, their efforts were rewarded with two goals.
When Anaheim did have the puck, LA was very good at blocking shots, redirecting them and getting sticks into lanes. They collapsed well in front of Quick, who had a very good night as he was able to track pucks through traffic and elevate his game from where it was in the team’s past three losses. The Kings will need to take what they did in this game and repeat it if they hope to win the series.
Game 7
The first ever Freeway Faceoff is all tied up at three games each and is going to a Game 7. The Ducks have home ice and will look to take advantage of last change up while the Kings will look to get back to their winning ways on the road.
The current corps of the Ducks does not have much experience with Game 7’s. Their series versus the Detroit Red Wings last year ended in heartbreak as they lost at home. The Kings, however, have quite a few players who are perfect in Game 7, including Justin Williams (5-0; 5 goals scored and 5 assists), Marian Gaborik and Mike Richards. The only player in the Kings’ current lineup that did not experience Game 7 in San Jose was Jeff Schultz, but he was traveling with the team at the time.
The final game in the Freeway Faceoff series will take place on Friday, May 16th, 2014 at 6PM PT/9 PM ET. But the winner won’t have it easy.
If the Kings win Game 7, their reward is a 4-hour flight and a game 39 hours later. You’re the best, Gary.
The series victor will immediately hop on a plane to face the defending champs Chicago Blackhawks in a matinee game on Sunday, May 18th, 2014 at 3 PM ET/12 PM PT.
Before the Penguins even lost Game 7 against the Rangers this year, rumors were already swirling that Dan Bylsma, head coach for the Penguins, was running on borrowed time. Once they lost, rumors of Bylsma’s firing had gone from rumors to foregone conclusions.
But is that the right move, or premature? It would certainly make some fans happy, but it may not be the best move for the Penguins.
The fact of the matter is, Dan Bylsma is a good coach. Under him the Penguins have had excellent regular seasons for five years in a row. He was a Jack Adams winner in 2011. He was chosen to lead Team USA at the 2014 Olympics and lead them to some great victories, most notably the famous shootout win over Russia. This year he not only became the fastest coach in NHL history to get to 250 wins, but he lead a Penguins team that was absolutely ravaged by injury to finishing the Eastern Conference second only to the Bruins, who won the President’s Trophy.
Bylsma certainly has his shortcomings, though. Most notably, he tends to favor players with experience over players with skill, often to the detriment of training new talent. This, especially with an aging Pens offensive core, is a worry. And when things go wrong under Bylsma, games don’t just go a little wrong, they go very wrong.
Still, Bylsma is a high-caliber coach, and replacing coaches like that is difficult. Few coaches are consistently better than him, and most of those coaches are happily installed elsewhere. There have been some rumors swirling that Mike Babcock (of the Detroit Red Wings and Team Canada in the Sochi Olympics) may be interested in the position, and that would be a suitable replacement. But unless that’s true, most likely whoever took over coaching from Bylsma would be a downgrade in terms of skill when you consider who is available on the market.
Those who don’t like Bylsma would say that his regular-season success means very little when considering his lack of post-season success, and it’s true that the two years the Penguins went out in the first round were unacceptable. However, in the past two years Bylsma has lead his team past the first round, including last year when they went to the conference final.
Moreover, I don’t subscribe to the idea that the only way to have a successful season is to win the Cup. All things being equal, each team has a 3.33% chance of winning the Cup at the outset of any year, and that’s assuming that all teams have an equal chance. It’s true that the Penguins always have a greater chance with talent like Crosby and Malkin leading them, but winning the Cup is never likely, or something any fanbase should take for granted. What can and should be expected of the Penguins in a Crosby/Malkin era is that they are perennial strong contenders. It’s safe to think that, if both Crosby and Malkin are healthy, the team should be able to make it to at least the second round. Both of these are things that Bylsma has, with pretty good consistency, achieved. But to expect a Cup dynasty and to lay that at the feet of any coach is an extremely tall order.
Naysayers may point to the Lemieux/Jagr era of Pittsburgh sports and try to draw a parallel between them and Crosby/Malkin, but they played in a very different time. The salary cap, for example, did not exist back then, meaning that teams could load up on good players and didn’t have to worry about balancing a team while also balancing the salaries of two major stars. Naysayers might also point to Stan Bowman and Joel Quenville’s Chicago Blackhawks as a growing dynasty with two superstars, but their dynasty may be short-lived – both Kane and Toews’ contracts will be up after next season and both will no doubt be looking for raises, which may put the integrity of the rest of the team in jeopardy. The Blackhawks also don’t have a singular defensive superstar like Kris Letang, whose salary makes balancing a team even harder. Mathematics simply make crafting a Stanley Cup-winning roster extremely difficult, and as any hockey fan can tell you, good rosters and good coaching are not enough to win the Stanley Cup alone. If they were, after all, wouldn’t the St. Louis Blues still be in the playoffs right now? What’s really needed to get far in the playoffs is a heavy dose of luck, which the Penguins have been short on for years. They ran especially short this year, between injuries and facing two Vezina-winning goaltenders in the first two rounds, one of whom all but stole a win from under them.
The real question that no sports pundit knows the answer to, no matter how much they claim to, is this: has Bylsma lost the room? Because that is the only question that matters. No coach, no matter how good they are, can lead a team once they’ve lost them. Losing the faith of the players in the room is the best and, probably, the only real metric of when a coach should or should not be let go. And as much as sports media can speculate and claim to know what goes on in a locker room, the fact is, no one really knows what’s happening with the Penguins behind closed doors. And unless we know that, it’s hard to know whether it’s time to replace Dan Bylsma or not.
The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins and the Providence Bruins are facing off in the second round for the second straight season. But, this time, the Bruins came in as the 7th seed and the Penguins have home-ice advantage, seeded just higher at 6th coming into the post season. The format had the teams play the first two games in Wilkes-Barre. They split the games and headed to Providence for the next three.
Game 3 started off with the Bruins having to make a slight roster adjustment. With Bobby Robins serving the first game of his suspension, Tyler Randall got back into the line-up. During Game 2, the teams combined for 138 minutes of penalties. Although Game 3 was nowhere near that level, it was the Bruins that started off spending more time on the penalty kill than they would have liked.
The first frame came to a close without either team managing to get on the board. Arguably the best chances for the Bruins came during those penalty kills. Bruins forwards Ryan Spooner and Craig Cunningham were using their speed to generate opportunities. Penguins goalie Peter Mannino saw 8 shots while Bruins goalie Niklas Svedberg saw only 4 shots.
In the second period, the Penguins were the first to finally get on the board. Veteran Chuck Kobasew beat Svedberg and that seemed to provide just the spark that the Bruins needed. They had looked like they were playing a little on their heels before that goal. But the offense did not come right away. At 15:16, while on the power play, rookie Seth Griffith put the puck past Mannino to tie the game. Less then three minutes later, Joe Morrow added a tally of his own and put the Bruins ahead for the first time in Game 3.
The score stood at 2-1 in favor of the Bruins when the second intermission came around. It seemed that Providence had gained all the momentum despite only being up by one goal. When the third period came around, it only took 15 seconds from to increase their lead. This time it was defenseman Blake Partlett. But the Bruins were not done, less than a minute later, rookie Alexander Khokhlachev notched his team leading 5th goal of the post season.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, the Penguins were not ready to give up quite so easily. Veteran Tom Kostopolous showed his leadership as he beat Svedberg to cut the lead down to 4-2. After him, Simon Despres and Conor Sheary followed suit, scoring goals just two minutes apart from each other. That gave the Penguins a tie with six minutes to go in regulation.
With just over two minutes remaining, the Bruins took what could have amounted to a costly bench minor for too many men. Despite a flurry of shots, the score remained the same and the teams headed to overtime for the first time in the series.
The first overtime saw the most shots of any of the periods last night. The teams combined for 25 total shots on net but could not get anything past either goalie. It was obvious that their legs were starting to get tired and they were moving a little slower than they had been to start. Game 3 went to a second overtime and that was where they would finally get their winner. At the 6:32 mark of the second period, Simon Despres notched his second of the night and only second of the postseason.
The teams do not get much of a break to think about the game or rest as they are back at it tomorrow (Friday, May 16th). Game 5 will be on Saturday, May 17th. The Penguins currently have a 2-1 series lead. Last season when the teams played, Providence took the first three games only to have Wilkes-Barre/Scranton battle back and win the last four. What will happen this season?
Game 7’s are inevitably heartbreaking for someone, you hope it won’t be the team you’ve covered for the entire season, because no one wants hockey to end. For Game 7, the entire day was spent in Boston — pre-game skate(s), lunch, pre-game, game, post-game. That means an entire day with a functional, comfortable and appropriate outfit. Back to basics and yellow for the start of the day, and a minimal switch to be game ready… it’s all about throwing a few light weight items into your bag in the event you’ll need them and picking an outfit that consists of layering, such as a sweater and throwing on a jacket — a simple change with an entirely new look.
Breakdown:
Dark wash jeans, Forever 21, $10.80
White long sleeve t-shirt, Marshalls, $16.99
Yellow lightweight sweater, Wet Seal, clearance, $6
Black wedges, Rue 21, clearance, $10
Silver knotted bead necklace, DIY project made during Round 1 while watching hockey of course!
Black blazer, Forever 21, $12.80, not pictured
Media Tip: On lengthy days, combine all prior media tips. Pack flats, water, mints, tissues, Advil, chargers, etc, etc… you never know what you may need and being over prepared is better than being under.
Game Seven. It encompasses all that is the hockey spirit. Passion, physicality and the will to win, the epic series-deciding affair doesn’t get better than two hated rivals squaring off, with a chance to clinch an Eastern Conference Final birth. From Game one to Game six, the series has had it all. Story lines abundant, with Boston’s finishing struggles leading the way- on Wednesday, when needed the most, the home team’s stars remained invisible, and the team still couldn’t find a way.
The depth that had gotten the Bruins this far, at least come playoff time, also carried over their Game six struggles, making for the most disappointing exit possible for the black and gold. With both the stars and depth missing in action, the Bruins Game seven effort versus Montreal is inexplicable. Never would you expect this Bruins team- the President’s Trophy winner and arguably best Boston team in recent memory- to go down like this. Getting outscored 7-1 in the final two games of the series when needing only one win is unacceptable.
Finish is the key word here. The Bruins struggle to finish. It’s fact. Yes, they’ve won a cup; and yes, they’ve been back a second time. But a constant theme in recent years- from the “first round and out” to the “cup contending” Bruins- is the inability to finish, and its hurt them. Finishing chances is what strangled the Bruins in this series, and an embarrassing Game six effort is what ultimately derailed them.
“I think the one thing that really hurt us probably moving forward is we had a lot of first-year players in our lineup and you could see tonight that there was a lot of nervousness,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said of his team postgame. “I don’t think we played badly but we certainly weren’t playing as well as we could to be a team that would move ahead. So no doubt it’s a disappointing night for us, but at the same time I think our young guys this year did a great job of stepping in for some serious injuries to certain of our players and had a real good season. So maybe it came back to haunt us a little bit, but certainly not disappointed with our team.”
It’s true. The young defense, the hiccups, misplays by both Kevan Miller and Matt Bartkowski stand out as crucial turning points in particular games and in this series.
“They did get the early goal again like they did in Game 6, and certainly those things really hurt us again,” Julien said. “Young player missing his assignment as far as awareness, and they get that early goal in the first couple minutes of the period. So those are things we have to face and look at and say, you know what? That’s of our own doing and we have to live with that.”
It wasn’t just the young guys though. The combination of their struggles paired with the top guy’s inconsistencies is what really killed this team. The top line trio of Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Jarome Iginla struggled the most- uncharacteristic mistakes being made by all three players all series long. Iginla had his chances, especially in the last two games, but couldn’t net the big goal at the right time.
“You want to be playing your best at this time of the year,” Iginla said. “And unfortunately you know as a line we weren’t probably as – you know, there was more that we could have been better, but it wasn’t for lack of guys wanting it or desire. But we definitely can feel getting those close one-goal games, and there were lots of them this series. And we feel a lot of responsibility there, for sure.”
Where the Bruins go from here should be interesting.
Dennis Seidenberg will be back. There was apparent “framework of a deal” made during the trade deadline, so a defensemen (Alex Edler of Vancouver?) could be coming in. After an abysmal postseason and general decline in overall play, this might be the end of the “merlot line”. Chris Kelly could be gone. And that’s right, Iginla could be gone as well.
Questions now surround the former President’s Trophy winning turned second-round exiting Boston Bruins. After poor efforts from the first line, fourth line and some young defenders as well, could an actual “shake-up” be in store? Don’t believe they go that far, yet; but the ultimate question rightfully remains- when will this team really learn to finish? To match a team’s Game six desperation and not let it go the full seven? Until then, there will always be room for improvement.
The wave finally crashed Wednesday for the San Jose Sharks. After still waters for over two weeks regarding their epic first round playoff collapse against the LA Kings, Sharks’ owner Hasso Plattner issued the following statement:
“I am very disappointed in the way our team finished the 2013-14 season. Gaining a 3-0 series advantage and being unable to advance is a major blow to our organization and fan base. Our teams have been consistently built to go deep into the playoffs and this goal won’t change.
Doug Wilson and I have met over the past two weeks. He has shared his support of the coaching staff, as well as his recommended changes to our team’s roster, and he has my complete support moving forward.
I want to thank our extremely loyal fans and partners for their continued support and to let them know that we are not satisfied with the status quo of the last several seasons.
I am confident that with the proposed changes, Doug and his staff will build a team we can all be proud of.”
The silence had become unbearable, the fanbase and the news media were restless. Earlier this week , San Jose Mercury News Columnist Mark Purdy called out Plattner’s non response. He noted how although General Manager Doug Wilson had come out in a press conference in support of Head Coach Todd McLellan two days post-playoff mortem, and that league sources had suggested that both Wilson and McLellan would be back along with a significant roster shake-up, no official word had come from the source, Plattner, and that rumors would soon begin to fly.
With this statement from the Sharks owner, it is clear change is coming to the roster at the least. Some, I am sure, would like a philosophical shift with how the team is put together, which would start with GM Wilson. He, however, has Plattner’s “complete support moving forward.” So what then, with the roster needs adjustment? Thornton and Marleau just inked three year deals so it is doubtful they will go anywhere. It seems beyond the realm of possibility to see Marleau finish his career outside of a Sharks sweater (although I’m sure some said that of NJ Devils Brodeur at some point too). Speculation abounds that Havlat could be on the move and Niemi may start the 2014-2015 season minding another team’s pipes after his inconsistent season with the Sharks. Blueliner Dan Boyle will most surely be a player that takes his UFA status and shops around for another team, especially if you look at CSN‘s Kevin Kurz’s projections at who stays or goes on the Sharks blueline.
Let the dialogue begin, the veil of silence has been lifted and it’s time the Sharks became a team that can take their play deep and bring home a Cup to a fanbase that has stuck with the team through its spectacular highs and abominable lows. Those who “Bleed Teal” are patiently waiting, but they only have so much patience for disappointment.
They are yet to show their potential this postseason, but the Blackhawks managed to best the Minnesota Wild in six games to advance to the Western Conference Finals. In the “State of Hockey,” the visitors came out on top.
Committing perhaps one of my biggest ice arena pet peeves, Wild fans chanted “Craw-ford, Craw-ford” soon after puck drop.
But, the goalie wasn’t shaken.
‘‘I could hear it,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s fun. It’s a fun part of hockey, trying to get in my head. I’ve heard it before. Probably won’t be the last time, either. I enjoyed it.’’
They may have actually inspired him.
Crawford stopped 34 of 35 shots in the game–14 in the second period and five in overtime, giving Kane the chance to score.
‘‘You’ve got to give Crawford a lot of credit,’’ Kane said. ‘‘I’m sure he wasn’t too happy with the way we were playing in front of him.’’
But much of the game was keep-away. Both sides were putting their bodies on the line, blocking shots, and trying to come out on top. It was the Wild, though, who favored statistically.
They led in shots 9-8 in the first, 14-8 in the second, and 7-6 in the third. That second period was the most taxing for Chicago.
Coach Joel Quenneville used a timeout to help the team regroup, and ultimately they found a way to stay in the game.
Back and forth it went for another period. The game could easily have gone to either team with the Wild leading in faceoff wins 39-28, hits 20-12, and shots 35-27.
The 1-1 score held through regulation.
Then, again, the Wild took control as overtime opened. Shots were 5-5 before the game-winner.
But, with Crawford playing fortress in the net, the Blackhawks found a prime opportunity about halfway through overtime.
Brent Seabrook fired the puck around the boards in their offensive zone. It took a weird bounce back in front of the net and looked like it could be played by Peter Regin; but Regin himself was played by Ryan Suter, opening the puck for Kane.
This was Kane’s sixth game-winning goal in the playoffs, the fourth that came in overtime. It’s his third-career series-clinching overtime goal, perhaps most notably the one that won the 2010 Stanley Cup in Philadelphia.
“It was exciting to get that opportunity and that chance and whatever it is, if the luck finds me or the heavens above give me some blessings in overtime, I’ll keep taking it,” Kane said. “You know, it’s like Johnny [Toews] always finds a way to score game-winners. We have a bunch of guys that have experience and everyone has done it, but it’s always exciting when you do it.”
These two consecutive wins against the Wild crushed trends that wouldn’t have been favorable for the Hawks. First, Chicago came back to win Sunday after the Wild scored first, something no team had done yet in this round of playoffs. Then, they managed to steal a win on their opponent’s ice, when the previous five victories favored the home team this series.
“We still feel we have another level get to,” Kane said. “It’s exciting to say you didn’t play your best and you still won a series in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. That’s a positive thing going forward.”
Chicago will play the winner of the Anaheim Ducks-L.A. Kings series. Anaheim leads 3-2, with game 7 at 7:30 p.m. CT Wednesday.
Photo credit: Richard Mackson / USA TODAY Sports
On the one hand, this game was not quite as close as it appeared by the final score (4-3 in favor of the Ducks). But on the other hand, the gap was probably not quite as widespread as one might think based on how the final score came about. There’s an old cliche, “I’d rather be lucky than good” and that sort of applies to this game. It’s not that Anaheim didn’t work hard and play a good game; they did. But they also got some fortuitous bounces and good teams will get bounces their way.
The first two minutes of the game had a lot of back and forth action before Anaheim was able to capitalize on a mistake that Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin made. Muzzin blew a tire in the corner and Nick Bonino took advantage, firing the puck past a screened Jonathan Quick.
Trevor Lewis tied the score (renewing Kings fans’ hopes that there was a chance to win this game) at 10:48. A sloppy line change by the Ducks allowed Lewis to enter the zone with speed and ruin John Gibson‘s shutout record after forcing a turnover from Bryan Allen who may have partially screened his goalie and/or may have tipped the puck.
There was more back and forth action after that, but both goalies stood tall. Early in the second period, Justin Williams took a hooking penalty. Devante Smith-Pelly was credited with tipping in Teemu Selanne‘s shot on the ensuing power play. Defenseman Jeff Schultz got caught puck watching and failed to tie up Smith-Pelly while also missing Mathieu Perreault standing behind them.
It was downhill from there as Anaheim scored twice more before the game was even half over.
Goal #3: Alec Martinez attempted to go up the wall to clear his own zone but the man he was trying to pass to was covered by Ryan Getzlaf who passed it to Smith-Pelly who was all alone in the slot. Smith-Pelly deked and scored. That was an ugly mistake by Martinez, but the bigger mistake was allowing an opposing forward to get into the zone alone in the middle of the ice.
Goal #4: Under pressure, Jordan Nolan decided to pass the puck up the middle of the ice to Matt Greene. It was a soft chip that bounced over Greene’s stick to a Ducks player who shot the puck. Quick couldn’t handle the rebound and it popped out to Jakob Silfverberg who was able to beat him this time.
So that’s two fortunate bounces for Anaheim, one for LA if you’re keeping track. That’s not to say that they didn’t earn their bounces, but they were still fortuitous.
With two minutes left in the second, Smith-Pelly accidentally hit Drew Doughty in the face with his stick. The referee assessed Smith-Pelly a double minor (apparently he saw blood) and it was just the break LA needed if they had any shot of staging a comeback. Working down low, Jeff Carter shot the puck at Gibson’s far pad, who kicked it out wide as expected. Muzzin got the rebound and threw the puck towards the slot, where Marian Gaborik was waiting and buried it. Now LA was within two goals and they still had an extra power play. Suddenly the odds didn’t seem quite as insurmountable as they had before.
The Kings started the third period with 43 seconds left on the power play but didn’t score. The Ducks retreated into their same defensive shell that worked so well for them in the past two games and were mostly successful. With just under six minutes to go in the game, Anze Kopitar worked the puck into the offensive zone, got it over to Dustin Brown who backhanded it towards the front of the net where were Gaborik and Sami Vatanen were dueling in front. It ended up being a double deflection as Gaborik initially redirected the puck with his stick and it hit Vatanen’s skate, which ended up redirecting it again.
Unfortunately, though, that was as close as they would come. Gibson made some great saves in the dying seconds of the game to stave off any late heroics and keep Anaheim ahead.
Positives for LA:
Their power play was excellent; it generated several chances and was finally rewarded when Gaborik scored
Gibson no longer looks like a world beater. In other words: he’s not unsolvable and it’s possible to get pucks past him
For the most part, they were able to limit Anaheim’s odd man rushes
In general, they looked like a better team than Anaheim when they’re not making so many mistakes or turning the puck over
They found their possession game (score effects notwithstanding, of course)
Negatives for LA:
They were extremely sloppy in their own zone all night. If they expect to win the series, or at the very least force a Game 7, they will need to be sharper and cleaner with their passes and breakouts
There seemed to be collective brain farts at the worst possible moments. How is it that this group of champions who made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals a year after winning it all could possibly forget how to play as a team? What happened to the overall effort that they showed in the Sharks series?
Jonathan Quick did not have a great night. He wasn’t terrible and wasn’t the sole reason they lost, but it’s apparent that he’s going to need to be a whole lot better if his team has a chance of winning
The defensemen often looked lost, as if they weren’t sure what they were doing (except, of course, Drew Doughty)
Injuries have overextended the blue line and the replacements are simply not good enough. Once the season is over, Kings’ GM Dean Lombardi will need to take a long, hard look at his defensive corps. The depth is thin and in case of injuries, a substitute player should at least break even and not hurt the team
It was kind of a weird game in that the Kings were mostly outshooting the Ducks all night, but couldn’t seem to figure out how to beat Gibson.
After Anaheim’s fourth goal, you can really see score effects take over as the Ducks lapsed into a defensive shell. A few mistakes proved costly as LA was forced to chase the game most of the night. They proved that they can beat Anaheim but will need to limit errors and turnovers in order to force a Game 7. The Kings do have the benefit of experience behind them while their southern counterparts can only look back to the Dallas series in Round 1 for guidance.
Dating back to 2011 the Kings are 6-2 when facing elimination
The Kings will attempt to stave off elimination yet again on Wednesday night at 6:30 PM (PT) and force a Game 7, which will be on Friday night at 6 PM (PT). Perhaps the early start will motivate the Kings to show up on time.
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