(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
The San Jose Sharks came in to LA with a sweep of the Canucks in hand and close to seven days off. They left with 35 shots on goal and not a one making it past Jonathan Quick, who recorded his second shutout of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, his last one coming against St Louis in game 3 on May 5th. Kings’ Defenceman Slava Voynov continued his impressive playoff contributions, netting a late goal in the 1st period from the right point that Niemi couldn’t reach. It was nearly a repeat performance in the 2nd period where a drive from the point by Voynov, off a feed from Jeff Carter was tipped in by Mike Richards, beating the Sharks Netminder, and sealing the fate for San Jose.
The Sharks came out of the gates ready to play and dominated the Kings during much of the opening period. San Jose took their first power play of the game on an interference call on Muzzin at 5:23. It was their cleanest power play of the game, with the Sharks solidly controlling the puck and generating chances in front of the net. Quick would turn aside all of them as San Jose continued to pour on the pressure. With only 12 seconds remaining in the first period, the Sharks would faceoff in the LA zone, win it cleanly but no one in teal was home as Mike Richards jumped in to gather the loose puck. Matt Irwin stepped in at the blueline slowing Richards but leaving the puck behind for Voynov to swoop in and fire one past Niemi putting the Kings up 1-0 heading into the 2nd period.
Los Angeles began to turn up the heat in the second and the Sharks struggled to generate momentum through the neutral zone, the Kings taking away the little space San Jose tried to carve out with an aggressive backcheck. The Sharks resorted to dumping the puck into the offensive zone in an attempt to get pucks to the net, but the Kings backend of Toffoli, Voynov, Martinez and Regehr were quick to tie up Sharks forwards Couture, Marleau and Pavelski and keep San Jose off the scoreboard. The Sharks would go on the power play for the second time when Anze Kopitar tied up Brent Burns on a hooking call. The Kings penalty killers made short work of San Jose’s man advantage, with the Sharks failing to score. Halfway through the second period, the Kings would score again as Mike Richards tipped in a rocket from the right point from Slava Voynov, putting the Sharks in a 2 goal deficit for the first time during the playoffs.
The 3rd period of play brought a more aggressive push from the Sharks, who outshot the Kings 16-4, but Quick remained solid between the pipes despite the heavy traffic around the blue paint and one more power play opportunity for San Jose.
The Sharks next meet LA on Thursday and some loose ends will need to be addressed if San Jose expects to make a run against the reigning Stanley Cup Champions. Can San Jose solve the Quick riddle?
Hart Memorial Trophy: The NHL player judged most valuable to his team
NHL.com
Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins: Crosby had another great year in Pittsburgh. He ranked second in the league in assists with 41 and tied for third in points with 56– he led the Penguins team in both categories as well. He also leads the other nominees in plus/minus ratings. On the other hand, he only had 15 goals. Granted, he was out with a jaw injury for an extended amount of time and Pittsburgh was chock-full of other goal-scorers. It’s extremely impressive that he managed to come second in assists and second in points in the entire league after being out for such a long time in a shortened season. It’s no wonder he is considered the best in the world.
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Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals: Ovi was harshly criticized in the beginning of the season for underperforming. And understandably so. He really kicked it up in the latter half of the year, though, and led his team to third in the east. The Caps success appeared to be strongly based on how well he played. Most notably, he finished the year with the most goals in the league (32). He also tied Sidney Crosby for third most points in the season (56). On top of that, he finished with the most power-play goals and shots on goal in the league. Out of all the Capitals players, Ovechkin led the team in points, goals, shots, and hits. Since this is an MVP award and not an offensive talent award, Ovechkin’s defensive play (or lack-there-of) is of some concern.
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John Tavares of the New York Islanders: Tavares led his team to the playoffs for the first time in six years. In terms of points, Tavares had eleven less than the other two candidates (47). He did, however, have the third most goals in the league (28, which is only 3 less than he had in the 82 game season) behind Ovechkin and Stamkos. He also tied for third in power play goals (9) and as for his 5-on-5 play, he tied for first with 19 even strength goals. In addition, he led the other nominees in game-winning-goals with 5. In terms of his own team, he led the Islanders in points, goals, shootouts, shots, special teams goals, and forward ice time. Easy to say his spot on this list is well-deserved.
Pink Puck Pick: John Tavares. This was a tough call with Ovechkin coming in a close second. As for Crosby, since the Penguins had such a solid team all around, they could have done just as well without him (and proved that when he was out with a jaw injury). So if the trophy was for “most valuable player overall in the league”, yes, then it would go to Crosby. On the other hand, Ovechkin led the Capitals’ late season push for the playoffs and Tavares was the biggest reason the Islanders made the playoffs for the first time in six years. Tavares led his team in almost all offensive categories and showed up in a lot of the “Top Ten” lists for the entire league. Not to mention, he was consistently productive throughout the whole season unlike Ovi.
What do you do when your favorite team is out of the playoffs? Do you watch anyway hoping that the teams you dislike lose, do you watch just for the love of the game, or do you go and enjoy other activities?
With the shortened season, we are so used to being able to watch a hockey game every day and our favorite teams practically ever other day. The playoffs are going to be going further into the warmer months this year as well, so do you stay in and watch the playoffs or go outside and enjoy the weather?
I for one have other interests once May rolls around, like Baseball and Auto Racing, so I tend to stray away from the winter sports and get on to the summer sports and warmer weather. Now don’t get me wrong, I will always love hockey first and I don’t necessarily mind that it is going on in June. However, when one thinks of hockey, we associate the game with winter and cold weather. I am frankly sick of the cold weather and ready for the warmth that summer brings and I am also ready for those sports that take you outside.
Whether your team is still in the hunt for the elusive Stanley Cup or your team is already teeing off, what do you, as a fan, do now?
A collective Leafs Nation will be on the edge of their seats tonight as the Buds battle Boston for Game 7. Shake the Magic Eight Ball – can Toronto come back from a 3-1 series deficit to take Boston at home? All signs point to yes.
The Bruins may have the experience edge (they are competing in a Game 7 for the eighth time in the past six seasons) but the Leafs have momentum. Having won both games 5 and 6, Toronto is on a high. Historically, teams that have taken these games have a 24-23 final game record. And Toronto seems to thrive at TD Gardens winning the last two games on the road. But a lot depends on which Boston team shows up. As head coach Claude Julien told reporters after game 6, his team has been Jekyll and Hyde all season. Memories of the 2010 collapse against the Flyers still haunt the club.
Toronto goalie James Reimer could be the X-factor in this deciding game. Reimer has been on fire under pressure inspiring his team to step it up but the Leafs need to come out and dominate tonight to take the Bruins fans out of the equation.
Maybe fate is smiling down on the Boys in Blue – Due to mechanical problems with their charter plane, Boston was forced to spend the night in Toronto before flying out this morning. The Maple Leafs flew to Boston immediately after Sunday’s 2-1 win.
For the first time since April 7, 1959 the two teams will meet for Game 7 and, whatever the outcome, it promises to be a spectacle.
Toronto Maple Leafs secured themselves a spot in tonight’s Game 7, after beating Boston 2-1 during game 6. The bad luck continued for the Bruins as they were stranded in Toronto on Sunday evening. The team returned home this morning and will aim to find a way to persevere in a series that should have been a “lock”.
Statement from Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli: “Late during tonight’s game we were made aware that there was a malfunction with our airplane. As a result we are staying in Toronto on Sunday night and the team will travel to Boston on Monday morning.”
No strangers to rising above Game 7 elimination, the Bruins will hope to best the Leafs and advance another round in the quest for the Cup. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
The Springfield Falcons hosted game 2 of the second round against the Syracuse Crunch Saturday night. They were hoping for a different outcome from Friday, but did not have that luck. An early deficit and a number of penalties proved impossible obstacles to overcome for the Falcons.
The Crunch got started early once again. Just 36 seconds into the game, Boone Jenner took a penalty that sent Syracuse to the power play. At the 1:02 mark in the first, Richard Panik capitalized on the opportunity with a goal assisted by Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson. The early burst would not stop there, though, as the Crunch also put the second shot on goal into the net. Mike Angelidis earned credit for the goal that appeared to bounce off him after JT Brown took the initial shot. The goals were just 13 seconds apart.
“They’re too skilled for us to take that many penalties,” Head Coach Brad Larsen said. “The execution was better tonight, but it’s special teams that’s been a problem. They had 3 power play goals.”
After two goals on the first two shots, the Falcons seemed to get the game calmed down a little bit and started generating some chances of their own. Finally, with about 5 minutes to go in the period, the Falcons were able to close the gap to 2-1. Dalton Prout took a hard shot from the blue line and Ryan Russell was able to put it in the net, despite attempts from the Crunch defense.
The second period started with a continuation of a 5 on 3 situation for Springfield. But, they continued to struggle on the power play and could not even up the score. After that, the Falcons showed an unusual lack of discipline and took 3 minor penalties in just a minute and 28 seconds. The resulting 5 on 3 for Syracuse would not go to waste. Johnson took a shot that easily beat McElhinney high on the glove side. As if to prove how dangerous they can be offensively, the Crunch added a short handed goal to make the score 4-1. After a mishandled pass, Johnson ended up with a breakaway and hand no trouble putting the puck in the net for his second of the night.
But the Falcons were not ready to give up and just 24 seconds after Johnson’s second of the night, Springfield made it a 4-2 game. Cody Goloubef took a slapshot from the blue line that found itself on Andrew Joudrey’s stick before Trent Vogelhuber finally put it past Cedrick Desjardins. It seemed like the momentum might have shifted for the Falcons. With time running out in the second, Dalton Prout had a big hit along the boards that ended up with him getting into a fight with JT Wyman. Prout landed the majority of the punches and easily won the fight. The Falcons have appeared to do well so far this series when it comes to fighting.
“I think you need to bring that aggression to be competitive in games. Any time you don’t have that, your season is ending pretty quickly,” Prout said. “That’s something we don’t have trouble bringing to the table. We’re going to continue to be aggressive.”
Sadly for Springfield, that momentum at the end of the second did not seem to carry over to the third period. Once again they found themselves in trouble on the penalty kill as Johnson got the hat trick and put the Crunch up 5-2. Although the Falcons managed to make it 5-3 shortly after, they were not able to overcome the early deficit. Jenner tipped a slapshot from Nick Holden for the Falcons final goal of the game and that score would hold. Once again, it was a scrappy game, with a lot of pushing after the whistles. The very end of the game was no different with a Falcon and two players from the Crunch earning roughing penalties after the final whistle.
“There are a couple areas we need to tweak, but right off the bat we need to work on discipline,” Larsen said. “We can’t start off down 2-0. That puts you in a difficult position for the rest of the game.”
Syracuse now takes the series back home with the 2-0 lead. The next three games of the best-of-7 series are in Syracuse. This is a tough situation for Springfield to find themselves in, but there are definitely some small changes that the coaching staff will look to make after the first two games. The winner of this series goes on to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Last night, the second round of the playoffs kicked off for the Springfield Falcons and the Syracuse Crunch at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield. It promised to be a good match up as both of the teams won their divisions. The Falcons were coming off a hard fought first round series against the Manchester Monarchs. The Crunch squared off against the Portland Pirates in the first round and had swept them.
The first period started off very physical with both teams hitting and playing a very chippy game. Tensions boiled over just under 5 minutes into the game when a fight broke out between Dalton Prout of the Falcons and Mike Angelidis of the Crunch. It was mostly wrestling without many punches thrown. Angelidis went down first and both of them went off for fighting majors.
Despite not having a clear winner of the fight, it became clear shortly afterwards that the momentum had swung in favor of Syracuse. The Falcons were making some poor decisions with the puck and the Crunch are an offensively talented team that capitalized on those mistakes. Crunch defenseman Mark Barberio struck first. Jonathan Audy-Marchessault had taken a bad penalty and it only took Syracuse 12 seconds for Barberio to get that first one. To add to the momentum, 20 seconds later, the Crunch increased their lead. Richard Panik put the puck into the net through a lot of traffic.
“They’re a dangerous team and we knew that coming in,” Head Coach Brad Larsen said of the Crunch. “If you’re going to give them opportunities like that, they’re going to take advantage of them.”
Things looked like they might turn around for the Falcons. About a minute after the Crunch took a 2-0, the Falcons struck back. Nick Drazenovic, who had been the overtime hero and recorded the game winning goal in the previous series, took a one-time shot that beat Crunch goalie Cedrick Desjardins on the power play. It seemed like it might be an exciting game after all.
However, less than two minutes after Drazenovic cut the lead to 2-1, the Crunch got the goal back. Rookie JT Brown beat Falcons goalie Curtis McElhinney. It was an unprecedented number of goals for all-star McElhinney on so few shots. With under two minutes to go in the period, the Crunch added another goal. This time it was rookie Brett Connolly to score for the Crunch. The Falcons went to the locker room down 4-1, faced with finding a way to turn the game around.
“It was poor execution on the D side of the puck, which is an area we’ve been pretty good on all year,” Larsen said.
The second period started and the Falcons definitely looked stronger than they had looked in the first period. As the hard hitting game continued, another fight broke out. Falcons rookie Michael Chaput hit Philippe Paradis hard into the boards. Paradis got up fast and looked to go after Chaput. Instead, Cody Bass jumped in to defend his teammate. The two exchanged a number of punches, with a slight edge to Bass, before Bass fell to the ice first.
Less than 30 seconds after the fight, Syracuse scored their fight goal on only their 9th shot. Tyler Johnson, who won the award for most regular season goals, added his third of the playoffs and first of the game to put the Crunch ahead 5-1. With 5 goals on just 9 shots, it was time for Curtis McElhinney to leave the game and Allen York to come in to relieve him.
The Falcons played much better in front of York for the remainder of the second period and all of the third, but they continued to struggle to take quality shots. York came up with some big saves throughout the rest of the game and did not let in any more goals, but the fate of the game had been decided early. Coming back from a 4-1 deficit after the first period proved impossible to overcome. Captain Ryan Craig did add a goal with 1.3 seconds left to go in the game to make it 5-2, but that was where it ended.
It was only the first game of a best of 7 series and that was exactly the way the team was planning to look at it. They had a poor showing in the first period and know that they need to be better. It is likely that they will be hungry as they take the ice again tonight. The Falcons will hope to even up the series before heading to Syracuse for the next three games.
Toronto fans have everything crossed as their Leafs face elimination tonight in Boston. Coming off a heartbreaking OT loss at home on Wednesday, Toronto needs to stay in control – the smallest error could mean the end of their play-off dreams. Game 4 at home was by far the Leafs best performance but to win tonight the Boys in Blue need to make a few changes.
Number 81 needs to go to the net – Phil Kessel is taking it easy on Tuukka Rask. For the Buds to survive Kessel must drive hard and pummel Rask rather than letting shots sail from thirty feet. Goalie James Reimer must be at the top of his game. He’s had a great series so far but the fate of the Leafs lies with his ability to protect between the pipes. Reimer is definitely not the reason Toronto is trailing; Optimus Reim is seeing 41 shots on goal a game. The defence needs to play to a higher level. Without a strong backend advancing is impossible – even Joffery Lupul can’t score enough to save them.
So fans hold their breaths and pray that their team can make it through – sometimes you just have to Be-Leaf.
Vezina Trophy: National Hockey League’s Most Outstanding Goaltender
NHL.com
Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers: The King is up for the Vezina again after winning the trophy last season. Last year, Henrik deserved the nomination and the win. This year, though, it could be argued that there were some goalies who out-performed Lundqvist and got over-looked in the decision process (Tuukka Rask, for one). Along with his 2 shutouts, Lundqvist had a 2.05 goals against average and a .926 save percentage in his 43 starts of the 48-game season. After a shaky start, he helped the Rangers with their late surge in the season and ended the year with a 24-16-3 record (tied for first in the league in wins). It was his play during their rough patches that kept them in the playoff picture.
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Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets: Bobrovsky is the only goalie nominated that did not lead his team into the playoffs. Still, he definitely deserved his spot on this list. He ended his season with the Blue Jackets with a 21-11-6 record. Bobrovsky recorded a .932 save percentage and a 2.00 goals against average. Not to mention, he also had four shutouts in the short season. Compared to the other two goalies nominated, Bobrovsky has them beat in the “Goals against Average” and “Save Percentage” categories. It is pretty impressive for a goalie who was just shipped out of Philly and replaced by Bryzgalov (talk about a slap in the face). Most importantly, he was one of the biggest reasons the Blue Jackets came so close to making the playoffs for the first time in five years. He helped Columbus win 8 out of their last 9 games in the final push for the playoffs. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough, but “Bob” certainly is not to blame.
NHL.com
Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks: Looking at stats, it seems like Niemi had it the toughest out of the goalies nominated. He was ranked third in shots faced and saves made. He also spent more time on the ice than any other goaltender. In all his games played, Niemi had four shutouts during the season (tied for second most in the league). He finished with a 24-12-6 record with the Sharks. That record ties Lundqvist for the most wins in the season. Individually, he posted a .924 save percentage and 2.16 goals against average. He also led the nominated goalies in shootout wins with 8. To put the significance of that in perspective, the Sharks made the playoffs by 2 points. Those extra 8 shootout points made all the difference.
Pink Puck Pick: Sergei Bobrovsky. It was a tough call between Bob and Antti Niemi. They both had a tremendous impact on their teams’ success this season. Even though the Blue Jackets didn’t quite make it into the playoffs, Bobrovsky got his team closer than they had been in the last five years. And considering they were beat out by the always-successful Detroit Red Wings, it was a very impressive year for Columbus. Taking into consideration everything Bobrovsky has been through, from losing his spot in Philly and having to beat out Steve Mason in Columbus, it’s hard not to pick him for the Vezina.
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