The Ottawa Senators really should petition to have all of their playoff games at home. Or at least those games played against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Then again, maybe it was the reappearance of Senators forward Jason Spezza that fired up the Sens to play a better game. Either way, the Senators put on a show tonight with a double overtime thriller! » Continue reading “Double OT Thriller In Ottawa: Sens Beat Pens 2-1″

Game Two of Round Two is in the bag for the Ottawa Senators and the Pittsburg Penguins, though not in a way that the Senators appreciate. The Penguins on the other hand, well, nothing says success like a hat trick am I right?

On the bright side, Ottawa came close to taking the Penguins to a guaranteed game five, pushing for the goals to end the game only one goal down, 4-3. The Senators even managed to get the last word in!

The first period kicked off with, of course, a goal from » Continue reading “A Hat Trick For Crosby And No Win Yet For Ottawa”

It kills me to put a picture of someone in that jersey but Howard really was good in this game. Fortunately, he wasn’t good enough. (Photo: Dinur Blum/flickr)

The Blackhawks finally got back on the ice as their series with the Red Wings started….sorry, I fell asleep during that sentence. In all seriousness, the third period was actually entertaining but the first two periods made me wonder if the plan to win the series was to put everyone to sleep. Case in point, even NBC noticed it was quiet in the Madhouse!

Both teams started slow in the first period, combining for five shots through the first ten and a half minutes. Somehow two got in the net as Marian Hossa scored the first of the series on the power play after a beautiful passing play by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp. Good to see the captain on the board early in the series but he’s still looking for his first goal of the playoffs. A little less than two minutes later, the Wings tied it as Damien Brunner got his third of the playoffs.

And then things got boring. I honestly have nothing to say about the remainder of the first period or the second period except to give these two stats – Detroit had the edge in hits in the first period 21-9 while the Hawks had the edge in shots in the second at 17-5. So I guess the Hawks still dominated play while they put the rest of us to sleep.

» Continue reading “Howard Tries But Hawks Take Game One”

Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr

Game One of the Ottawa Senators versus the Pittsburgh Penguins is in the bag folks! And boy was it a dozy for the Ottawa Senators. Despite power play opportunities galore, the Senators just could not make the magic happen in the 4-1 loss tonight.

In spite of Pittsburgh taking the first goal less than three minutes into the first period (thanks to Paul Martin on the power play), Ottawa still managed to rally and tie up the game just before the five minute mark with a wrister from Colin Greening.

Of course this would never stop the Penguins’s Evengi Malkin from tallying at least one goal as he took back the lead at 12:15 of the first.

A high point for the Senators in the first period definitely had to do with overall play from both teams. The Penguins did not launch an all-out attack force per what is expected. On the other hand, the Senators remained quite stately, keeping their defense up and pushing for the net.

The second period is where it really started to go downhill for Ottawa. Generally decent play, but not hard enough to produce points and not enough to keep the killer Penguin power play out of the net in the last two minutes of play. Chris Kunitz managed to get a wrist shot right past Anderson for the goal. » Continue reading “Senators Drop Game One, Penguins Take Early Series Lead”

I’m sure this man is thrilled to be playing the Penguins in the next round. (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

It’s the playoffs which means not a lot of guys are tweeting. That doesn’t mean we didn’t find some great ones over the past couple of days.

First off we have everyone’s favorite Roberto Luongo, aka Strombone, with this one last night after watching James Reimer almost shut out the Boston Bruins:

» Continue reading “They Said What?!? – Injury Questions + Mcflurry Injustice”

Penner gets a lot of flack, but he sure scores some important goals. Photo by Linda Hamilton

If you read anything I write over on Get Higher, you’ll see in today’s post that I officially claim the award for worst blogger this week. Unfortunately, life takes over sometimes. So here, I’ll talk about briefly the Kings last three games (all wins) and then move on to discuss their chances in the second round.

» Continue reading “Kings Advance To Second Round”

Two goals in the series clinching game for this man. (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

It was nice of the Blackhawks to let the Wild win a game but most people didn’t expect this series to get past five games. Tonight, the Blackhawks took care of business by finally looking like the team that won the Presidents’ Trophy this season. Sure Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane still don’t have playoff goals but Toews did finally get two assists tonight for his first points of the playoffs.

It didn’t matter as the Hawks got goals from Marian Hossa in the first, Marcus Kruger, Hossa again and Andrew Shaw in the second plus a 5-on-3 power play goal by Patrick Sharp in the third. Josh Harding started the game but was pulled after Hossa’s second goal to help try and change momentum. It didn’t help.

» Continue reading “Blackhawks Take Care Of Business In Game Five”

Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr

And that’s the series folks! The Ottawa Senators put the beat down on the Montreal Canadiens tonight in a massive 6-1 win to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs! With injuries and power play goals at the center of the night, it comes as little surprise that the Senators pushed their way to a win.

The first period started out looking like a Montreal game » Continue reading “Senators Take Series In Five”

Congrats on becoming a father Duncs! (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

It wasn’t the prettiest win for the Blackhawks but in the playoffs, wins don’t need to be pretty. They just need to happen. And the Blackhawks got their third of the first round.

Before we get to the game, in case you didn’t hear Duncan Keith had a lot happen between game three and game four as he flew home yesterday for the birth of his first child. Colton Duncan Keith was born earlier this morning allowing his father to make it back to Minnesota in time for the game. (Side note: See that link to see what Seabrook had to do with the birth of little Keith.) He then went and lead the Hawks, and all players not named Ryan Suter, in ice time with a little over 23 minutes.

» Continue reading “Crawford Shuts Out Wild To Give Hawks 3-1 Series Lead”

Turris stuns Montreal with overtime goal.

The Montreal Canadiens may have struck early, but the Ottawa Senators made it three strikes late in the game to get the Canadiens out. Now the Senators are up 3-1 in the series and will look for one more win in Montreal later this week to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The first period saw the Canadiens come out strong and looking for » Continue reading “Senators Looks To Advance Thursday After Overtime Stunner”