Martin St. Louis took a bit of time to break free of the Islanders checking, but when he did it made all the difference. St. Louis scored with a rocket of a shot in Overtime, securing a 3-2 win over the Islanders and sending the Lightning on to the next round of the playoffs. This was the second year in a row and the second year in their history that the Bolts have advanced beyond the first round.
The Islanders accomplished one thing before bowing out for the season; they broke Nickolai Khabibulin’s shut out streak at 145 minutes and nine seconds, as Oleg Kvasha found that elusive back of the Tampa net midway through the first period. Over the firs four games of this series, Khabibulin had stopped an amazing 113 of 115 shots directed at him. 24 more made their way at him tonight, 2 of which found success, but in the end he closed the door in OT giving St. Louis the chance to claim his part of Lightning history.
The Islanders never seemed to get untracked against the Bolts in this series, winning their only game back at the end of Game Two. Rick DiPietro played some good hockey in the nets, but eventually the Lightning found his range. The Lightning took advantage of sloppy clearing and an inability to clear the net on the way to their win. Tampa can now catch a little rest and watch the rest of the Eastern playoffs; from their lofty position as conference champion they await the lowest ranked of the surviving squads.
Whichever team ends up matched up against them, had best get as much film on Khabibulan as possible, somewhere in his game is a weak spot. The Islanders couldn’t find it; success for the next opposition will depend on it.
Saturday, April 17, 2004
Friday, April 16, 2004
Almo says there's no place like home
Is he making a statement about his Leafs playoff chances? Perhaps he feels that the CBA situation is so dire that there will be no more hockey. Maybe Pat Quinn has been too hard on him and he wants to move on. Or it could be that he hears the retirement song playing in his head. Whatever the reason, Alexander Mogilny is letting his feet do the talking, putting his Toronto mansion up for sale.
7 million and 950 thousand dollars will fetch you the Mogilny homestead in the exclusive Bridal Path area of the centre of the universe. 14,000 square feet, 11 bathrooms, eight bedrooms and a sixteen car garage all on 2 acres of land. It’s just the kind of place to come home to after a hard night of getting plowed into the boards at the ACC.
While his scoring touch may have left him temporarily, the golden touch seems to have taken root with him. If he receives the close to 8 million asked for it would make a tidy profit. Mogilny bought the shack. The original purchase price was 5 million 5 hundred and 50 million. Close to a 2.5 million dollar return on his investment.
With a success in finances like that, one can see him giving up the flips at the blue line, for flipping real estate. Those checks don’t leave any bruises the next day.
7 million and 950 thousand dollars will fetch you the Mogilny homestead in the exclusive Bridal Path area of the centre of the universe. 14,000 square feet, 11 bathrooms, eight bedrooms and a sixteen car garage all on 2 acres of land. It’s just the kind of place to come home to after a hard night of getting plowed into the boards at the ACC.
While his scoring touch may have left him temporarily, the golden touch seems to have taken root with him. If he receives the close to 8 million asked for it would make a tidy profit. Mogilny bought the shack. The original purchase price was 5 million 5 hundred and 50 million. Close to a 2.5 million dollar return on his investment.
With a success in finances like that, one can see him giving up the flips at the blue line, for flipping real estate. Those checks don’t leave any bruises the next day.
Advantage Leafs!
Game five goes to Toronto, once again Eddie Belfour shut the door and the Leafs found just enough offence to pick up a win. With Mats Sundin out of the line up, that scoring machine known as Tie Domi picked up the pace, gaining the first goal of the game on Ottawa in the third period. Domi was awarded the goal that went off the skate of Bryan Smolinski and into the Sens net. The goal was set up in the Toronto end actually, as Ottawa botched the job of keeping the puck in at the blue line, Domi taking a Robert Reichel pass into the Ottawa end, where after a few bounces it went in off of Smolinkski. Advantage Leafs.
The game featured the usual hard hitting collisions, as Leaf flew into Senator, or Senator into Leaf. Ottawa had their chances to score but once again sat frustrated as Eddie Belfour collected his third shut out of the series. Belfour turned aside 21 shots on the way to his win, Patrick Lalime only had 19 shots to face, as the Leafs focused more on their forecheck than their scoring attack.
Joe Niewendyk returned to action Friday night, scoring late in the third to salt away the win for Toronto, giving them the momentum going into game 6 in Ottawa on Sunday night. Ottawa did not put it’s speed to use Friday night, nor did they get in front of Belfour as they did two nights ago. Belfour had a clear eye on each and every shot directed at him tonight, as Toronto’s defenders did an excellent job of clearing out the front of the net. For the Leafs it was one of those games that can turn a series around for good, facing bleak prospects prior to the game with team Captain joining the injury parade, many didn’t expect much from the Buds Friday. The total team effort send a message to the Senators and to the Toronto fans, the Leafs have no intention of folding up under a little adversity.
The Senators are now faced with winning two games in a row to advance in the playoffs and winning two games in a row is asking quite a bit in this series that keeps everything close. The daunting task didn’t seem to intimidate Sens captain Daniel Alfreddsson, who stated that Ottawa will win both upcoming games and advance on in the Stanley Cup playoffs. A great display of bravado from the team leader, but unless his co-workers get their game back up a level or two, he may find that his words get thrown back in his face.
Edge of your seat hockey returns again Sunday night, Sens fans are hoping that Alfie is right and that there is still some hockey left for the Sens next Tuesday night as well.
The game featured the usual hard hitting collisions, as Leaf flew into Senator, or Senator into Leaf. Ottawa had their chances to score but once again sat frustrated as Eddie Belfour collected his third shut out of the series. Belfour turned aside 21 shots on the way to his win, Patrick Lalime only had 19 shots to face, as the Leafs focused more on their forecheck than their scoring attack.
Joe Niewendyk returned to action Friday night, scoring late in the third to salt away the win for Toronto, giving them the momentum going into game 6 in Ottawa on Sunday night. Ottawa did not put it’s speed to use Friday night, nor did they get in front of Belfour as they did two nights ago. Belfour had a clear eye on each and every shot directed at him tonight, as Toronto’s defenders did an excellent job of clearing out the front of the net. For the Leafs it was one of those games that can turn a series around for good, facing bleak prospects prior to the game with team Captain joining the injury parade, many didn’t expect much from the Buds Friday. The total team effort send a message to the Senators and to the Toronto fans, the Leafs have no intention of folding up under a little adversity.
The Senators are now faced with winning two games in a row to advance in the playoffs and winning two games in a row is asking quite a bit in this series that keeps everything close. The daunting task didn’t seem to intimidate Sens captain Daniel Alfreddsson, who stated that Ottawa will win both upcoming games and advance on in the Stanley Cup playoffs. A great display of bravado from the team leader, but unless his co-workers get their game back up a level or two, he may find that his words get thrown back in his face.
Edge of your seat hockey returns again Sunday night, Sens fans are hoping that Alfie is right and that there is still some hockey left for the Sens next Tuesday night as well.
Burned
The Flames came into GM Place Thursday night and sent the Canucks a message, you can’t out hit us, you can’t outplay us and tonight you can’t outscore us. The Flames played a dominating style of hockey, controlling the play in the Canuck end, clogging the lanes and clearing the front of their own net, making sure that Miika Kiprusoff could see every puck coming at him. Vancouver started out rather tentative and really didn’t get any consistent pressure on the Flames until late in the game. The low scoring final tally of 2-1 in favour of the Flames indicative of the close checking and solid goaltending offered up in game five.
Vancouver coach Marc Crawford showed little faith in Johan Hedberg after his embarrassing loss in Calgary two nights ago, starting Alex Auld recently called up from the Moose as an emergency back up, Thursday night, Auld was the goalie the Canucks were hanging their hopes on. And for the first period he did his best to make Crawford proud, holding the line against the Flames as they had a number of good opportunities to score in the first twenty minutes.
With no goals scored in the first, Craig Conroy opened the scoring at the four minute mark, as the Flames enjoyed a power play advantage. The goal served to quiet the usually rabid GM Place crowd. Henrik Sedin got them back into the game at the 16 minute mark when he deflected a Sami Salo shot into the net behind Kiprusoff, Vancouver’s first goal in 115 minutes of play. The teams traded off opportunities for the rest of the second and into the third before, Jarome Iginla put away what would go on to become the winning goal. Iginla tagged an Andrew Ferrence shot, which then appeared to go in off of Mattias Ohlund’s skate into the net behind Auld.
The Canucks put the pressure on in the third, out shooting the Flames 12-2, but Kiprusoff continued his mastery over the Canuck snipers shutting them down as time expired. The Flames taking a 3 game to 2 lead back to Calgary for game six. A win on Saturday night will send the Flames off to second round for the first time since 1989, the year they won the Stanley Cup. The Canucks will be anxious to ruin the party, they would much prefer to have the Flames make one more trip to BC before they are finished playing this year. Game Six should be a wild one, one team playing for its lives, the other putting its hard work ethic on display for the hometown fans, a chance to reward them for their long suffering support.
Vancouver coach Marc Crawford showed little faith in Johan Hedberg after his embarrassing loss in Calgary two nights ago, starting Alex Auld recently called up from the Moose as an emergency back up, Thursday night, Auld was the goalie the Canucks were hanging their hopes on. And for the first period he did his best to make Crawford proud, holding the line against the Flames as they had a number of good opportunities to score in the first twenty minutes.
With no goals scored in the first, Craig Conroy opened the scoring at the four minute mark, as the Flames enjoyed a power play advantage. The goal served to quiet the usually rabid GM Place crowd. Henrik Sedin got them back into the game at the 16 minute mark when he deflected a Sami Salo shot into the net behind Kiprusoff, Vancouver’s first goal in 115 minutes of play. The teams traded off opportunities for the rest of the second and into the third before, Jarome Iginla put away what would go on to become the winning goal. Iginla tagged an Andrew Ferrence shot, which then appeared to go in off of Mattias Ohlund’s skate into the net behind Auld.
The Canucks put the pressure on in the third, out shooting the Flames 12-2, but Kiprusoff continued his mastery over the Canuck snipers shutting them down as time expired. The Flames taking a 3 game to 2 lead back to Calgary for game six. A win on Saturday night will send the Flames off to second round for the first time since 1989, the year they won the Stanley Cup. The Canucks will be anxious to ruin the party, they would much prefer to have the Flames make one more trip to BC before they are finished playing this year. Game Six should be a wild one, one team playing for its lives, the other putting its hard work ethic on display for the hometown fans, a chance to reward them for their long suffering support.
New Dogs, New Tricks. Old Dogs, Old Tricks
The Red Wings have had enough, thank you very much! That seems to be the tone of Thursday nights thrashing of the Nashville Predators at the Joe. Detroit came out flying in game five, taking the play to the Predators right off the bat, not giving them a chance to get comfortable in the play and matching their speed for the first time in the series.
Detroit’s younger legs kept the play in the Nashville end of the rink for the early part of the first, and the Wings took advantage of that by scoring two quick goals setting the tone of the game. Pavel Datsuyk set up two beautiful goals in the first seven minutes, as Henrik Zetterberg and Brett Hull capitalized on laser passes to put the puck past the previously hard to beat Tomas Vokoun. Brendan Shanahan added on more before the first period ended, giving the Wings a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Nicklas Lidstrom picked up the pace again in the second, putting the Wings ahead by 4 goals midway through the game. Nashville got a goal back with 37 seconds to go in the second as Sergei Zholtok scored on the power play, but that would be it for the Predators on this night. The teams played scoreless hockey in the third, as Tomas Vokoun bore down and closed the door but far too late for this game.
Curtis Joseph started in his first playoff game of the series, facing 19 shots as he worked his way back into game shape following his ankle injury prior to the playoff start.
Vokoun had 27 shots to deal with as Detroit played the game as if it were a perpetual overtime game. For Vokoun the blitz of goals was quite a change of pace from what he was used to in the previous two games. Heading into game five he had stopped 83 of 84 shots made by Red Wing shooters and had gone 78 minutes before the Wings finally found the mark.
For the Predators it’s time to regroup and get back to the style of play that they utilized back in Nashville, the hometown fans get one more night to cheer on their heroes as the Wings and Preds meet for game six on Saturday afternoon. If the Red Wings have their way there will not be any need for Nashville to keep their hotel rooms open for next Monday night.
Detroit’s younger legs kept the play in the Nashville end of the rink for the early part of the first, and the Wings took advantage of that by scoring two quick goals setting the tone of the game. Pavel Datsuyk set up two beautiful goals in the first seven minutes, as Henrik Zetterberg and Brett Hull capitalized on laser passes to put the puck past the previously hard to beat Tomas Vokoun. Brendan Shanahan added on more before the first period ended, giving the Wings a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Nicklas Lidstrom picked up the pace again in the second, putting the Wings ahead by 4 goals midway through the game. Nashville got a goal back with 37 seconds to go in the second as Sergei Zholtok scored on the power play, but that would be it for the Predators on this night. The teams played scoreless hockey in the third, as Tomas Vokoun bore down and closed the door but far too late for this game.
Curtis Joseph started in his first playoff game of the series, facing 19 shots as he worked his way back into game shape following his ankle injury prior to the playoff start.
Vokoun had 27 shots to deal with as Detroit played the game as if it were a perpetual overtime game. For Vokoun the blitz of goals was quite a change of pace from what he was used to in the previous two games. Heading into game five he had stopped 83 of 84 shots made by Red Wing shooters and had gone 78 minutes before the Wings finally found the mark.
For the Predators it’s time to regroup and get back to the style of play that they utilized back in Nashville, the hometown fans get one more night to cheer on their heroes as the Wings and Preds meet for game six on Saturday afternoon. If the Red Wings have their way there will not be any need for Nashville to keep their hotel rooms open for next Monday night.
Battlin Back Habs
Montreal won’t roll over and die, that message was sent to the Bruins at the Fleet Centre Thursday night, as the Habs stayed alive with a 5-1 victory over Boston. Coming out and playing with a purpose they dominated the Bruins for a good portion of the game, finding the magic key to Andrew Raycroft in the Bruin net. The Bruins fans who probably thought they would be celebrating a series clinching victory sat stunned as the Canadiens seemed to score at will.
The tough hitting of this series continued with both teams trading off hits as the game progressed. But the Bruins tended to get carried away with the toughness part of the game, playing an undisciplined style taking too many bad penalties, giving Montreal the chance to stay alive.
For Montreal it was a night when everything came together, the Habs who should probably have entered game five tied with the Bruins at least, were able to regroup after Game Four’s disappointing end. Game Four goat Alexi Kovalev factored into the scoring of game five, scoring his playoff leading fourth goal of the series on the way to the victory. Kovalev can’t wait for the puck to drop on Saturday night in front of the hometown crowd at the Bell Centre.
Jose Theodore recaptured his form in this game, the first one in which it can be said he outplayed Andrew Raycroft. Theodore kept the Habs in the game in the early stages, with save after save. The Habs rewarded him for his help by slowly building up their lead and shutting down the Bruin attack.
Scoring for Montreal Thursday night were Yanic Perrault, Alexei Kovalev, Richard Zednick, Saku Koivu and Craig Rivet. Glen Murray netted the only goal for the B’s, who still lead the series 3 games to 2, but must be the team feeling the pressure heading into game number six on Saturday night. They have watched Montreal refuse to go away and actually the Habs have taken away the play in the last three games, slowly building up their momentum in each one.
Boston coach Mike Sullivan will be working on the Bruins ability to counter the Montreal defensive stylings, a system that effectively shuts down the oncoming rush before it can get organized. He also will have to stress the need for team discipline; badly timed penalties could be the downfall of the Bruins in game six.
Montreal clawed their way back into the series on Thursday; Saturday could be the game that puts them in the driver’s seat for a game seven showdown back in Boston next week.
The tough hitting of this series continued with both teams trading off hits as the game progressed. But the Bruins tended to get carried away with the toughness part of the game, playing an undisciplined style taking too many bad penalties, giving Montreal the chance to stay alive.
For Montreal it was a night when everything came together, the Habs who should probably have entered game five tied with the Bruins at least, were able to regroup after Game Four’s disappointing end. Game Four goat Alexi Kovalev factored into the scoring of game five, scoring his playoff leading fourth goal of the series on the way to the victory. Kovalev can’t wait for the puck to drop on Saturday night in front of the hometown crowd at the Bell Centre.
Jose Theodore recaptured his form in this game, the first one in which it can be said he outplayed Andrew Raycroft. Theodore kept the Habs in the game in the early stages, with save after save. The Habs rewarded him for his help by slowly building up their lead and shutting down the Bruin attack.
Scoring for Montreal Thursday night were Yanic Perrault, Alexei Kovalev, Richard Zednick, Saku Koivu and Craig Rivet. Glen Murray netted the only goal for the B’s, who still lead the series 3 games to 2, but must be the team feeling the pressure heading into game number six on Saturday night. They have watched Montreal refuse to go away and actually the Habs have taken away the play in the last three games, slowly building up their momentum in each one.
Boston coach Mike Sullivan will be working on the Bruins ability to counter the Montreal defensive stylings, a system that effectively shuts down the oncoming rush before it can get organized. He also will have to stress the need for team discipline; badly timed penalties could be the downfall of the Bruins in game six.
Montreal clawed their way back into the series on Thursday; Saturday could be the game that puts them in the driver’s seat for a game seven showdown back in Boston next week.
Bye Bye Blues
The first casualty of the NHL Playoff derby are the St. Louis Blues, their players the first this playoff season to line up and shake hands. Blues players wrapping their season by wishing the San Jose Sharks well as they continue the journey. It took the Sharks only five games to dismiss the Blues, Evgeni Nabokov once again the story of the series, St. Louis controlled most of the play through the game, missing a few empty nets but mostly watched Nabokov lay waste to any dreams of further play this year.
The San Jose goaltender faced 21 shots in the 3-1 victory, several of them in the late minutes of the third period as St. Louis desperately tried to tie the score to send the game to overtime. But down by a two goal deficit it ended up a lost cause, San Jose’s defense providing Nabokov with enough support to send the Blues packing.
San Jose received goals from Mark Smith, Mike Ricci and Brad Stuart. The lone St. Louis goal came from Brian Savage but it wasn’t enough and the Blues just couldn’t find the holes on Nabokov to get the win to stay alive.
For San Jose this has been quite a turn around year, from last years 14th place finish, the Sharks have become the number 3 seed in the West this year. With a team high 104 points, they quickly proved in this series that they are for real this year. The Sharks now get almost one week of rest before they find out who the next competitor will be. One thing they know for sure, Game 1 will be back at the Shark tank all that’s missing is the name of the next bait.
The San Jose goaltender faced 21 shots in the 3-1 victory, several of them in the late minutes of the third period as St. Louis desperately tried to tie the score to send the game to overtime. But down by a two goal deficit it ended up a lost cause, San Jose’s defense providing Nabokov with enough support to send the Blues packing.
San Jose received goals from Mark Smith, Mike Ricci and Brad Stuart. The lone St. Louis goal came from Brian Savage but it wasn’t enough and the Blues just couldn’t find the holes on Nabokov to get the win to stay alive.
For San Jose this has been quite a turn around year, from last years 14th place finish, the Sharks have become the number 3 seed in the West this year. With a team high 104 points, they quickly proved in this series that they are for real this year. The Sharks now get almost one week of rest before they find out who the next competitor will be. One thing they know for sure, Game 1 will be back at the Shark tank all that’s missing is the name of the next bait.
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Through the eyes of the Hubble, a dying star called Dallas
The Folks at NASA down the road in Houston have a sighting! It’s the last vestiges of the Dallas Stars as they wobble their way out of the playoff orbit for 2004. The late season charge of the stars has bogged down in this playoff run, with Dallas looking tired and unable to contend with the Avalanche offense. Dallas has given up the first two goals in every game this playoff year, a statistic that explains the predicament they find themselves in as they head for game five in Denver Friday night.
Dallas took the game to double overtime Wednesday night, but in the end it was the same result, a victory for the Avs who now take a commanding 3 games to 1 lead in the series.
Once again Colorado goaltender David Aebischer rewarded GM Pierre Lacroix for his loyalty, stopping 41 Dallas shots, 27 of them in the second period. While he continued to give up untimely goals allowing the Stars back into the game, though both goals really weren’t his fault, on the whole he had a pretty decent game shutting the door in both overtime frames. The key for Colorado has been the ability to get their scoring attack back on track. Milan Hejduk and Joe Sakic both scored in regulation time, relatively unknown rookie Marek Svatos scoring the winner at 5:18 of double overtime with a shot from the face off circle to send the Avs home with the 3-2 win.
The Hubble will be trained on the sky over Denver Friday night, the fading light in the sky most likely goes dark that night. The Stars destined to disappear into that black hole of the Pepsi Centre. Call the Hubble telescope, these stars are dying!
Dallas took the game to double overtime Wednesday night, but in the end it was the same result, a victory for the Avs who now take a commanding 3 games to 1 lead in the series.
Once again Colorado goaltender David Aebischer rewarded GM Pierre Lacroix for his loyalty, stopping 41 Dallas shots, 27 of them in the second period. While he continued to give up untimely goals allowing the Stars back into the game, though both goals really weren’t his fault, on the whole he had a pretty decent game shutting the door in both overtime frames. The key for Colorado has been the ability to get their scoring attack back on track. Milan Hejduk and Joe Sakic both scored in regulation time, relatively unknown rookie Marek Svatos scoring the winner at 5:18 of double overtime with a shot from the face off circle to send the Avs home with the 3-2 win.
The Hubble will be trained on the sky over Denver Friday night, the fading light in the sky most likely goes dark that night. The Stars destined to disappear into that black hole of the Pepsi Centre. Call the Hubble telescope, these stars are dying!
Champions on the Brink
It’s never easy to repeat as a champion in any sport. It’s not possible if you can’t get your act together. The Devils are having their problems scoring at one end and stopping the goals at the other. Not a particularly good combination if you want to have your named etched upon Lord Stanley’s Drinking bowl.
Robert Esche is making Bob Clarke a lot more relaxed in the skybox as the series moves along. Wednesday night he made 35 consecutive saves, shutting out the New Jersey Devils, backstopping the Flyers to a 3-0 victory and a 3-1 lead in the Philly-New Jersey quarterfinal.
The Devils can take a bit of comfort in the hockey history books; they came back from a similar 3-1 deficit in the 2000 Stanley Cup march. Mainly on the strength of an insurmountable performance from Martin Brodeur.
The way this series is going it looks like Esche is the more likely of the two goaltenders that will be shutting the door. Esche’s performance Wednesday night was simply dominating, shot after shot deflected away or snagged by a catching mitt, none making it behind him.
After losing game three, Flyer coach Ken Hitchcock changed up his lines a bit, moving Keith Primeau in between Mark Recchi and John Leclair. Hictchcock also moved Michal Handzus on to the line of Simon Gagne and Sami Kapanen. That combination found success early in the first period as all three were involved in Kim Johnnson’s first goal of the game. Alexei Zhamnov and Keith Primeau both finished off the scoring for the Flyers in the third, the result sending the Devils to the brink of elimination.
Game five comes up on Friday night; the Flyers will be wanting to finish New Jersey off as soon as possible. They only need look back to the video of 2000 to realize what can happen if you let the Devils get a sniff of a chance.
Robert Esche is making Bob Clarke a lot more relaxed in the skybox as the series moves along. Wednesday night he made 35 consecutive saves, shutting out the New Jersey Devils, backstopping the Flyers to a 3-0 victory and a 3-1 lead in the Philly-New Jersey quarterfinal.
The Devils can take a bit of comfort in the hockey history books; they came back from a similar 3-1 deficit in the 2000 Stanley Cup march. Mainly on the strength of an insurmountable performance from Martin Brodeur.
The way this series is going it looks like Esche is the more likely of the two goaltenders that will be shutting the door. Esche’s performance Wednesday night was simply dominating, shot after shot deflected away or snagged by a catching mitt, none making it behind him.
After losing game three, Flyer coach Ken Hitchcock changed up his lines a bit, moving Keith Primeau in between Mark Recchi and John Leclair. Hictchcock also moved Michal Handzus on to the line of Simon Gagne and Sami Kapanen. That combination found success early in the first period as all three were involved in Kim Johnnson’s first goal of the game. Alexei Zhamnov and Keith Primeau both finished off the scoring for the Flyers in the third, the result sending the Devils to the brink of elimination.
Game five comes up on Friday night; the Flyers will be wanting to finish New Jersey off as soon as possible. They only need look back to the video of 2000 to realize what can happen if you let the Devils get a sniff of a chance.
Kahbibulin
The Tampa Bay Lightning are getting awfully comfortable at the Nassau Coliseum in this playoff season. For the second game in a row, Nikolai Kahbibulin shut the door on the New York Islanders, turning aside 32 shots leading the Bolts to a second straight 3-0 win over the Islanders. A win that gives the Lightning a strangle hold on the Islanders with a 3 game to1 lead, going into game 5 in Tampa Friday night.
Martin St. Louis once again regained his scoring touch putting the all important first goal behind Rick DiPietro at 10 minutes of the first period. The Islanders controlled the play for most of the first period, outplaying and out chancing the Lightning but by the first period buzzer a lead in shots of 12-6 was for naught, the score on the board was Tampa 1-Islanders 0.
The Lightning picked up the pace in the second getting their second goal of the game when Ruslan Fedotenko found his mark on DiPietro. Frederik Modin collected a goal in the third finishing off the Tampa scoring for the night with a goal at 1:34 off of a pass from St. Louis.
But again the night belonged to Nikolai; the Tampa goaltender frustrated the Islanders time and time again, collecting his third shut out in this series. It marked the first time in Islanders history that they have had three shut outs go against them in the playoffs.
The way that Kahbibulin is playing, the smart money would be on one more shutout before the Islanders season comes to an end.
Martin St. Louis once again regained his scoring touch putting the all important first goal behind Rick DiPietro at 10 minutes of the first period. The Islanders controlled the play for most of the first period, outplaying and out chancing the Lightning but by the first period buzzer a lead in shots of 12-6 was for naught, the score on the board was Tampa 1-Islanders 0.
The Lightning picked up the pace in the second getting their second goal of the game when Ruslan Fedotenko found his mark on DiPietro. Frederik Modin collected a goal in the third finishing off the Tampa scoring for the night with a goal at 1:34 off of a pass from St. Louis.
But again the night belonged to Nikolai; the Tampa goaltender frustrated the Islanders time and time again, collecting his third shut out in this series. It marked the first time in Islanders history that they have had three shut outs go against them in the playoffs.
The way that Kahbibulin is playing, the smart money would be on one more shutout before the Islanders season comes to an end.
Thanks Almo!
Every once and a while an opposing player provides the ammunition for a team to come together, rethink their attack and well, make him eat his words.
Today’s contributor to the “should have kept his mouth shut” club is that Maple Leaf Dale Carnegie graduate, Alexander Mogilny.
Almo did some out loud thinking with Rosie Dimanno of the Toronto Star offering up his opinion that the Sens maybe just didn’t have the heart of a champion. The newly loquacious Almo went further, suggesting that the Ottawa club just may not be mentally tough enough to be a Stanley Cup contender.
Tapping his chest Almo declared, “You don’t get to be one of the top teams, without having it here”.
Now these are pretty tough words, especially from a guy who has gone rather silent on the scoreboard of late. At last count Mogilny was four games into this series without a point, and -1 for his team, then again he’s had other things on his mind. The last time Mogilny was involved in a Stanley Cup final was with the Devils in 2000, been a while there Almo, been a while. Ah yes it wouldn’t be the same, without that wonderful arrogance that everyone loves about the Blue and White Buds.
With the series now tied at 2 games a piece and the Sens outscoring the Leafs by a margin of 8-7, only the saving grace of Ed Belfour is between the Buds and the Budweiser by the pool.
Had it been Ed Belfour making the heart statement, well even a Sens fan would listen to the words of a guy that plays like Yoda. But coming from Mogilny the words are more like something coming from Yogi.
Thanks for the incentive Almo, see you in Game five. Maybe you could find your way toward the net sometime before game 6.
Today’s contributor to the “should have kept his mouth shut” club is that Maple Leaf Dale Carnegie graduate, Alexander Mogilny.
Almo did some out loud thinking with Rosie Dimanno of the Toronto Star offering up his opinion that the Sens maybe just didn’t have the heart of a champion. The newly loquacious Almo went further, suggesting that the Ottawa club just may not be mentally tough enough to be a Stanley Cup contender.
Tapping his chest Almo declared, “You don’t get to be one of the top teams, without having it here”.
Now these are pretty tough words, especially from a guy who has gone rather silent on the scoreboard of late. At last count Mogilny was four games into this series without a point, and -1 for his team, then again he’s had other things on his mind. The last time Mogilny was involved in a Stanley Cup final was with the Devils in 2000, been a while there Almo, been a while. Ah yes it wouldn’t be the same, without that wonderful arrogance that everyone loves about the Blue and White Buds.
With the series now tied at 2 games a piece and the Sens outscoring the Leafs by a margin of 8-7, only the saving grace of Ed Belfour is between the Buds and the Budweiser by the pool.
Had it been Ed Belfour making the heart statement, well even a Sens fan would listen to the words of a guy that plays like Yoda. But coming from Mogilny the words are more like something coming from Yogi.
Thanks for the incentive Almo, see you in Game five. Maybe you could find your way toward the net sometime before game 6.
Tearing down the Belfour Wall!
Game four started out much like games two and three did before it, Belfour making the saves and the Leafs getting a goal. A scenario that in the last two games has resulted in a low scoring Leaf wins. Leaving frustrated Senators to look at their sticks and then to the sky asking why and when?
The Why was simple, it was yet another amazing performance of Eddie Belfour. The When as it turned out would be April 14, 2004 at the Corel Centre. Wednesday night the Sens, as they say got their groove back.
Game four brought a few changes to that familiar Pat Quinn plot line. With Daniel Aldredsson leading the way, finding the score sheet with a goal and an assist, it was Toronto that was faced with catch up hockey and tonight they didn’t have the horses to do it.
The Senators refused to panic when Gary Roberts got the all important first goal for Toronto; they came back and showed their hometown fans that any talk of a quick exit was unnecessary. The Sens, out hit, out skated, out shot and out scored a suddenly old looking Toronto team. Belfour appeared merely ordinary in game four, largely due to the Senator attack of constantly being able to keep somebody in front or close to the front of the Leaf net, running a screen, clogging up the defense or ready to bat in a rebound. The Sens found their playbook and stuck to it in Game four.
With less than 40 seconds to go in the first period Daniel Alfredsson converted a Martin Havlat pass into a goal, the first one behind Belfour in 157 minutes. They probably heard the sigh of relief and the resulting celebration all the way back at the Air Canada Centre. Marian Hossa regained his scoring touch in the second putting a beauty of a shot behind Belfour at 13:15 of the second. After that, the Sens were in total control, winning the physical battles and using smart puck control strategy though the rest of the second and third periods. The battered and cut Todd White scored the spirit crushing third goal in the third period, followed up by a power play marker by Chris Phillips, cementing the 4-1 victory.
Belfour faced 36 shots in his first loss since game one. Patrick Lalime came up big in the Sens net, making the kind of saves that Belfour made the past two games, shutting down the Leafs after the Roberts goal, making 22 saves on the night.
Injuries are starting to catch up with the grey beards in blue, Joe Nieuwendyk did not dress due to a suspected back injury, Mats Sundin and Darcy Tucker both left the game in the third period with undisclosed injuries. With a day to nurse their various ails and with a pivotal game five on the line it’s expected all will return in two nights if at all possible. But the longer the series goes the older the Leafs look, the quicker those nagging little injuries become bigger problems. Simply put; they won't be able to keep the pace of the younger Sens much longer.
Game four is always the momentum game, if you win it you find yourself primed for the best 2 out of 3 showdown to come. Now that the Sens have broken through the Belfour wall, they can get back to the free wheeling style of hockey that found them success this past year. For Toronto an already overworked Belfour now is no longer invincible, something that will weigh on the minds of his team mates. No longer will a 1-0 lead be considered the end of the game, the Sens know they can fill the net again. Bring on Game 5!
The Why was simple, it was yet another amazing performance of Eddie Belfour. The When as it turned out would be April 14, 2004 at the Corel Centre. Wednesday night the Sens, as they say got their groove back.
Game four brought a few changes to that familiar Pat Quinn plot line. With Daniel Aldredsson leading the way, finding the score sheet with a goal and an assist, it was Toronto that was faced with catch up hockey and tonight they didn’t have the horses to do it.
The Senators refused to panic when Gary Roberts got the all important first goal for Toronto; they came back and showed their hometown fans that any talk of a quick exit was unnecessary. The Sens, out hit, out skated, out shot and out scored a suddenly old looking Toronto team. Belfour appeared merely ordinary in game four, largely due to the Senator attack of constantly being able to keep somebody in front or close to the front of the Leaf net, running a screen, clogging up the defense or ready to bat in a rebound. The Sens found their playbook and stuck to it in Game four.
With less than 40 seconds to go in the first period Daniel Alfredsson converted a Martin Havlat pass into a goal, the first one behind Belfour in 157 minutes. They probably heard the sigh of relief and the resulting celebration all the way back at the Air Canada Centre. Marian Hossa regained his scoring touch in the second putting a beauty of a shot behind Belfour at 13:15 of the second. After that, the Sens were in total control, winning the physical battles and using smart puck control strategy though the rest of the second and third periods. The battered and cut Todd White scored the spirit crushing third goal in the third period, followed up by a power play marker by Chris Phillips, cementing the 4-1 victory.
Belfour faced 36 shots in his first loss since game one. Patrick Lalime came up big in the Sens net, making the kind of saves that Belfour made the past two games, shutting down the Leafs after the Roberts goal, making 22 saves on the night.
Injuries are starting to catch up with the grey beards in blue, Joe Nieuwendyk did not dress due to a suspected back injury, Mats Sundin and Darcy Tucker both left the game in the third period with undisclosed injuries. With a day to nurse their various ails and with a pivotal game five on the line it’s expected all will return in two nights if at all possible. But the longer the series goes the older the Leafs look, the quicker those nagging little injuries become bigger problems. Simply put; they won't be able to keep the pace of the younger Sens much longer.
Game four is always the momentum game, if you win it you find yourself primed for the best 2 out of 3 showdown to come. Now that the Sens have broken through the Belfour wall, they can get back to the free wheeling style of hockey that found them success this past year. For Toronto an already overworked Belfour now is no longer invincible, something that will weigh on the minds of his team mates. No longer will a 1-0 lead be considered the end of the game, the Sens know they can fill the net again. Bring on Game 5!
Red Hot Flames burn Canucks
Suddenly we were transported back to the start of March, a Canuck team that looked totally lost and unsure of what to do next. If fans were raving about the rebuilt Canuck lineup a few nights ago, they were wondering where everybody went on Tuesday.
Johan Hedberg who was replacing Dan Cloutier in the Canuck net found out the hard way that if your team mates aren't on the same page, you're going to have a very long night. And long it was as the Flames out hit, out played and out scored the Canucks 4-0, taking the series back to Vancouver tied at two games each.
Miika Kiprusoff collected his first NHL playoff shutout stopping all 20 of the shots directed his way by Canucshootersrs. His Calgary team mates doing their best to keep the Canucks off of their previously successful game plan of hitting in the corners and forcing turnovers. It was Calgary doing the hitting in this one, the two long time rivals featuring a number of crushing checks into the boards to send a message or two.
One of those sending out a message was Jarome Iginla, having tired of Mattias Ohlund's pounding of game three, Iginla took the game to Ohlund crushing him into the boards at the Saddledome. The Iginla/Ohlund feud has been one of the underlying aspects of this highly entertaining series.
For Calgary it was the first home game win in the playoffs in eleven tries. Attempt number twelve is guaranteed for Saturday night, If Vancouver doesn't recapture some of the urgency of the last two weeks of the regular season, they may end up hanging around in the fields until the preseason starts up again in early fall.
All tied up at two now, the series effectively becomes a best of three series. Hot goaltending and discipline can be the keys to winning, Calgary proved they had both in game four.
The Vancouver fans might be getting just a little bit nervous about the total breakdown of support in Game four. The Flames scored two goals in 27 seconds, a situation the Canucks cannot let happen again if they have any hopes of putting the Flames on the sidelines for the season. If they want to turn things around fast, the Canucks of one week ago had best report for duty on Thursday night, if the Canucks that were on the ice Tuesday show up, Calgary is going to enjoy their stay on the West coast.
Johan Hedberg who was replacing Dan Cloutier in the Canuck net found out the hard way that if your team mates aren't on the same page, you're going to have a very long night. And long it was as the Flames out hit, out played and out scored the Canucks 4-0, taking the series back to Vancouver tied at two games each.
Miika Kiprusoff collected his first NHL playoff shutout stopping all 20 of the shots directed his way by Canucshootersrs. His Calgary team mates doing their best to keep the Canucks off of their previously successful game plan of hitting in the corners and forcing turnovers. It was Calgary doing the hitting in this one, the two long time rivals featuring a number of crushing checks into the boards to send a message or two.
One of those sending out a message was Jarome Iginla, having tired of Mattias Ohlund's pounding of game three, Iginla took the game to Ohlund crushing him into the boards at the Saddledome. The Iginla/Ohlund feud has been one of the underlying aspects of this highly entertaining series.
For Calgary it was the first home game win in the playoffs in eleven tries. Attempt number twelve is guaranteed for Saturday night, If Vancouver doesn't recapture some of the urgency of the last two weeks of the regular season, they may end up hanging around in the fields until the preseason starts up again in early fall.
All tied up at two now, the series effectively becomes a best of three series. Hot goaltending and discipline can be the keys to winning, Calgary proved they had both in game four.
The Vancouver fans might be getting just a little bit nervous about the total breakdown of support in Game four. The Flames scored two goals in 27 seconds, a situation the Canucks cannot let happen again if they have any hopes of putting the Flames on the sidelines for the season. If they want to turn things around fast, the Canucks of one week ago had best report for duty on Thursday night, if the Canucks that were on the ice Tuesday show up, Calgary is going to enjoy their stay on the West coast.
The Sharks Giveth and the Sharks taketh away
Two nights ago the San Jose Sharks gave the St. Louis Blues a tiny glimpse of daylight, Tuesday night they turned off the lights and closed the blinds. San Jose took control of the second period spending most of it firing shots at St. Louis goaltender Chris Osgood, eventually scoring twice snapping a tie game and sending them onto the third with a 3-1 lead
The Blues pulled to within one goal in the third and then had many missed opportunities to score as time wound down, but could not convert.
San Jose Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov had 25 shots at his end of the rink scrambling to keep his team in the game as the Blues applied pressure in the third. Chris Osgood handled 24 shots but came up short as the Sharks outscored the Blues 4-3. The teams return to San Jose where the Sharks will have the chance to put the Blues away in front of a home audience.
St Louis squandered their chances to get back into the series and may end up paying the price for that come Thursday night.
The Blues pulled to within one goal in the third and then had many missed opportunities to score as time wound down, but could not convert.
San Jose Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov had 25 shots at his end of the rink scrambling to keep his team in the game as the Blues applied pressure in the third. Chris Osgood handled 24 shots but came up short as the Sharks outscored the Blues 4-3. The teams return to San Jose where the Sharks will have the chance to put the Blues away in front of a home audience.
St Louis squandered their chances to get back into the series and may end up paying the price for that come Thursday night.
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
From hero to Goat
Alex Kovalev went from the thrill of near victory to obvious agony of defeat Tuesday night, as he watched Glen Murray score at 9:27 of double over time. A goal that not only won an exciting game for the B’s, but put them in the drivers seat of their playoff match up with Montreal.
Kovalev took a slash on the hand and abandoned the puck near his own end as he shook his hand in pain lobbying for a penalty. While he was doing his bit to try and shame the refs into a call he collided with Montreal defenseman Sheldon Souray, allowing Murray to take a partial breakaway in on Jose Theodore. Murray’s low shot found the mark, the Bruins celebrated and the Canadiens began to think of what could have been. In the dressing room there wasn’t much left to the imagination about how the Habs felt about Kovalev’s abandonment of the puck in a double OT game. As far as the Bruins were concerned it was just bad karma for the Habs after the Mike Ribeiro “injury” of two nights ago. Many a Bruin suggesting that the refs were not inclined to be fooled twice by the same team in one series.
Montreal held a 3-2 lead going into the last thirty seconds of the third period; a poor clearing attempt resulted in a Boston opportunity for Mike Knuble who barely got the puck over the goal line behind Jose Theodore, before it bounced back out. After a review with the off ice officials the goal was counted and it was off to overtime. One extra frame settled nothing and it took half of the second one before the Bruins scored and took a commanding 3 games to 1 lead over the Habs going back to Boston.
For Kovalev it was a terrible way to end what had been a pretty good debut in a Hab playoff uniform. His two goals on Sunday night got the Habs back into the series, now his miscue on OT may be the one play that eventually eliminates them.
Montreal had pretty good control of the flow of this game and probably should have won the game in regulation time. The Habs having lost in the way that they did will weigh on them heavily in game five. Which may work to the Bruins advantage, if they can score a quick goal or two in game five, this series may not go much further?
Kovalev took a slash on the hand and abandoned the puck near his own end as he shook his hand in pain lobbying for a penalty. While he was doing his bit to try and shame the refs into a call he collided with Montreal defenseman Sheldon Souray, allowing Murray to take a partial breakaway in on Jose Theodore. Murray’s low shot found the mark, the Bruins celebrated and the Canadiens began to think of what could have been. In the dressing room there wasn’t much left to the imagination about how the Habs felt about Kovalev’s abandonment of the puck in a double OT game. As far as the Bruins were concerned it was just bad karma for the Habs after the Mike Ribeiro “injury” of two nights ago. Many a Bruin suggesting that the refs were not inclined to be fooled twice by the same team in one series.
Montreal held a 3-2 lead going into the last thirty seconds of the third period; a poor clearing attempt resulted in a Boston opportunity for Mike Knuble who barely got the puck over the goal line behind Jose Theodore, before it bounced back out. After a review with the off ice officials the goal was counted and it was off to overtime. One extra frame settled nothing and it took half of the second one before the Bruins scored and took a commanding 3 games to 1 lead over the Habs going back to Boston.
For Kovalev it was a terrible way to end what had been a pretty good debut in a Hab playoff uniform. His two goals on Sunday night got the Habs back into the series, now his miscue on OT may be the one play that eventually eliminates them.
Montreal had pretty good control of the flow of this game and probably should have won the game in regulation time. The Habs having lost in the way that they did will weigh on them heavily in game five. Which may work to the Bruins advantage, if they can score a quick goal or two in game five, this series may not go much further?
Cat Scratch Fever!
Even the Motor City Madman himself must be thinking that these Predators are starting to become trouble. Tomas Vokoun continued to have some fun with his new found friends from Detroit. Facing 41 shots Vokoun frustrated each and every one of the Red Wing shooters, collecting a 2-0 shutout as the Predators tied up their best of seven series at 2 wins each. It was Vokoun's first career playoff shutout and the faithful of the Gaylord Entertainment Centre were ready to help him celebrate!
Detroit’s power play once again let them down, the Wings went 0-5 on Tuesday night and have only scored once in 20 extra man scenarios in the series. The highly productive Red Wing offense of the regular season has sputtered at times (usually in the first two periods of each game) , been out hit and run into a wall named Vokoun. The Predators goaltender has faced 83 shots since the series arrived in Music City, the Predators outscoring the Wings 6-1 in the two games, sending the Wings back to Detroit with their tails between their legs.
Manny Legace held the loneliest corner of the hallway by the bench for the last period of the game. After letting three goals in on ten shots, Head coach Dave Lewis replaced him with Curtis Joseph after goal number three went in at 2:04 of the third. Already the questions are being prepared, who will start game five. Cujo or Legace. Expect the Wings to turn to Joseph for the all important fifth game.
For the Wings there are ominous flashbacks to a guy named Giguere, the Mighty Duck goaltender last year caught this kind of a wave and sent the Red Wings packing on the way to the Stanley Cup finals. Nashville can only hope they can ride Vokoun’s jetstream just a little bit further along.
Game five goes in two nights time at the Joe. Detroit needs to come out with much more emotion, take to the ice and play as if they may be eliminated with a loss. Then again that’s not too far from the truth, the way the Preds are handling the Wings in Nashville, a win in game five may as well be considered the series finale. A game six in Nashville will be as close to a guaranteed win night as Nashville might ever hope for.
Detroit’s power play once again let them down, the Wings went 0-5 on Tuesday night and have only scored once in 20 extra man scenarios in the series. The highly productive Red Wing offense of the regular season has sputtered at times (usually in the first two periods of each game) , been out hit and run into a wall named Vokoun. The Predators goaltender has faced 83 shots since the series arrived in Music City, the Predators outscoring the Wings 6-1 in the two games, sending the Wings back to Detroit with their tails between their legs.
Manny Legace held the loneliest corner of the hallway by the bench for the last period of the game. After letting three goals in on ten shots, Head coach Dave Lewis replaced him with Curtis Joseph after goal number three went in at 2:04 of the third. Already the questions are being prepared, who will start game five. Cujo or Legace. Expect the Wings to turn to Joseph for the all important fifth game.
For the Wings there are ominous flashbacks to a guy named Giguere, the Mighty Duck goaltender last year caught this kind of a wave and sent the Red Wings packing on the way to the Stanley Cup finals. Nashville can only hope they can ride Vokoun’s jetstream just a little bit further along.
Game five goes in two nights time at the Joe. Detroit needs to come out with much more emotion, take to the ice and play as if they may be eliminated with a loss. Then again that’s not too far from the truth, the way the Preds are handling the Wings in Nashville, a win in game five may as well be considered the series finale. A game six in Nashville will be as close to a guaranteed win night as Nashville might ever hope for.
Lower Body, Day to Day!
In the playoffs the injury list is slightly more protected than the membership list of a Liberal nomination meeting. The slightest hint of a detail, sending the entire team on a hunt for the traitor intent on sabotaging the teams run for the Cup.
CSIS should have this much success in keeping state secrets, Dan Cloutier returned to Vancouver for observation without his Vancouver team mates in tow. The fate of Vancouver’s starting goaltender in the hands of doctors apparently sworn to secrecy.
Cloutier left game three late in the first period, when he twisted his right knee or leg in a very awkward position, struggling to leave the ice, ending up on crutches by the end of the night. Vancouver listing his injury status as a lower body injury, despite the television replays clearly showing his knee over and over again. Loose lips sink ships and all that.
For the Canucks the puck gets tossed to Johan Hedberg, who has been hot and cold this year with the team. His relief appearance for Cloutier seemed to spur the Canucks on to victory on Saturday night. And to a man they have stated that they have full faith in Hedberg to carry them the distance.
With Cloutier’s status uncertain Alex Auld has been given the back up duties moving from the skybox to the end of the Canuck bench. Depending on how long Cloutier is away we may have seen the last of him in the playoffs. Should he only be out of the line up for a short period of time it would be a hard decision to take a successful Hedberg out of the line up. A hot goaltender is the one intangible that opposition teams have the most trouble with. If he keeps winning, the Canuck playoff run will most likely be continued with Hedberg between the pipes.
Saturday was his first appearance in the playoffs since he played for Pittsburgh three years ago, a season where he went on an amazing run with the Pens, before losing out to New Jersey in the Eastern final. The Canucks hope he can recapture that magic and extend things by just one more series.
CSIS should have this much success in keeping state secrets, Dan Cloutier returned to Vancouver for observation without his Vancouver team mates in tow. The fate of Vancouver’s starting goaltender in the hands of doctors apparently sworn to secrecy.
Cloutier left game three late in the first period, when he twisted his right knee or leg in a very awkward position, struggling to leave the ice, ending up on crutches by the end of the night. Vancouver listing his injury status as a lower body injury, despite the television replays clearly showing his knee over and over again. Loose lips sink ships and all that.
For the Canucks the puck gets tossed to Johan Hedberg, who has been hot and cold this year with the team. His relief appearance for Cloutier seemed to spur the Canucks on to victory on Saturday night. And to a man they have stated that they have full faith in Hedberg to carry them the distance.
With Cloutier’s status uncertain Alex Auld has been given the back up duties moving from the skybox to the end of the Canuck bench. Depending on how long Cloutier is away we may have seen the last of him in the playoffs. Should he only be out of the line up for a short period of time it would be a hard decision to take a successful Hedberg out of the line up. A hot goaltender is the one intangible that opposition teams have the most trouble with. If he keeps winning, the Canuck playoff run will most likely be continued with Hedberg between the pipes.
Saturday was his first appearance in the playoffs since he played for Pittsburgh three years ago, a season where he went on an amazing run with the Pens, before losing out to New Jersey in the Eastern final. The Canucks hope he can recapture that magic and extend things by just one more series.
Things to post on a bulletin board
One win and Tomas Vokoun has decided to vent. Vokoun who has confounded the Red Wings has announced he’s tired of listening to the arrogant Detroit Red Wing line up, calling the players in Red nothing but a bunch of whiners.
Vokoun offered up some more uninvited advice to the Wings, suggesting that they seem to be surprised every time they get a penalty. As Vokoun sees it, the Wings are more concerned with the officiating than they are with playing the game.
But the real problem with the Wings may be their power play. A part of the Red Wing game that has gone positively frigid. Including the last four games of the regular season the Wings have gone 1-23 with a man advantage. If they want to give Vokoun some food for thought perhaps making the best of those chances would be helpful.
A team that many expected to make quick work of the Predators has had nothing but trouble from the Nashville cats. If the Wings weren’t thinking about Vokoun before, they surely are now. And if they need a reminder, just check the bulletin board for the thoughts of Chairman Tomas.
Vokoun offered up some more uninvited advice to the Wings, suggesting that they seem to be surprised every time they get a penalty. As Vokoun sees it, the Wings are more concerned with the officiating than they are with playing the game.
But the real problem with the Wings may be their power play. A part of the Red Wing game that has gone positively frigid. Including the last four games of the regular season the Wings have gone 1-23 with a man advantage. If they want to give Vokoun some food for thought perhaps making the best of those chances would be helpful.
A team that many expected to make quick work of the Predators has had nothing but trouble from the Nashville cats. If the Wings weren’t thinking about Vokoun before, they surely are now. And if they need a reminder, just check the bulletin board for the thoughts of Chairman Tomas.
Monday, April 12, 2004
Blues Bite Back
The Sillinger household will be a balloon seller’s paradise whenever the season ends, when Mike Sillinger scored his third goal of the game pacing the Blues to a 4-1 victory over San Jose, a promise made in jest by his wife came to mind. It seems that Slingers’ boys back in Phoenix asked their Dad to score a hat trick this season, an event that would count as the first of his fourteen year career. His wife told the boys that should Dad get the hat trick she’d fill the house with balloons. Sillinger couldn’t have picked a better time to make the Mrs. to pony up the cash for balloons ,as he gave the Blues a chance to turn the negative press reviews around for one game.
Acquired by the Blues from Phoenix in early March, Sillinger was moved onto the Blues top line for game three. Taking shifts with Keith Tkachuk and Pavel Demitra proved to be the spark the Blues needed, as they finally found a way to put some pucks behind Evgeni Nabokov.
Another key for the Blues was the ability to stay out of the penalty box in game three. A marked departure from their behavior in game two when they spent far too much time in the box or trying to settle scores on the ice. By sticking to hockey they have managed to get themselves back into the series.
As Sharks Coach Ron Wilson put it after the game. “It was funny to read how the series was over after game number two”. Now we have to come back better prepared for the next game.”
A definite key for San Jose will be to shut down Sillinger, if they can keep him and his line mates off the score sheet in game four, the only balloons used in celebration will be in a house in Phoenix. For his part Sillinger is hoping he’s away from home until June, with a ring on one hand and a balloon or two in the other.
Acquired by the Blues from Phoenix in early March, Sillinger was moved onto the Blues top line for game three. Taking shifts with Keith Tkachuk and Pavel Demitra proved to be the spark the Blues needed, as they finally found a way to put some pucks behind Evgeni Nabokov.
Another key for the Blues was the ability to stay out of the penalty box in game three. A marked departure from their behavior in game two when they spent far too much time in the box or trying to settle scores on the ice. By sticking to hockey they have managed to get themselves back into the series.
As Sharks Coach Ron Wilson put it after the game. “It was funny to read how the series was over after game number two”. Now we have to come back better prepared for the next game.”
A definite key for San Jose will be to shut down Sillinger, if they can keep him and his line mates off the score sheet in game four, the only balloons used in celebration will be in a house in Phoenix. For his part Sillinger is hoping he’s away from home until June, with a ring on one hand and a balloon or two in the other.
Khabibulin shuts the door
Martin St. Louis finally gets on the score sheet and Nikolai keeps the Islanders off of it. That sums up Game three in the Lightning-Islanders series in Long Island Monday night. Khabibulin collected his second 3-0 shutout in this series turning away 28 Islander shots including a frenzy of action late in the second period. It was that stand that set the tone for the night, Khabibulin sending a message to the Islanders that Game three would not go down as a win for them.
Brad Richards opened the scoring for the Bolts with a goal early in the first period, followed two minutes later by Martin St. Louis first goal of the playoffs. St. Louis like the idea of scoring so much he put another one into the Islander net late in the third. An empty net marker with ten seconds to go in the game.
The Islander fans decided that tough love was the approach to use for their home team, booing them throughout the third period. The backseat coaching did not payoff as the Lightning took control of the game, shutting down any hope of an Islander come back.
The two teams return to the Nassau coliseum on Wednesday, the Lightning hoping to be leaving New York with a 3-1 stranglehold on the series. If the Islanders hope to avoid that scenario they will have to find a way to get back on the score sheet. And solve this riddle known as Khabibulan.
Brad Richards opened the scoring for the Bolts with a goal early in the first period, followed two minutes later by Martin St. Louis first goal of the playoffs. St. Louis like the idea of scoring so much he put another one into the Islander net late in the third. An empty net marker with ten seconds to go in the game.
The Islander fans decided that tough love was the approach to use for their home team, booing them throughout the third period. The backseat coaching did not payoff as the Lightning took control of the game, shutting down any hope of an Islander come back.
The two teams return to the Nassau coliseum on Wednesday, the Lightning hoping to be leaving New York with a 3-1 stranglehold on the series. If the Islanders hope to avoid that scenario they will have to find a way to get back on the score sheet. And solve this riddle known as Khabibulan.
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