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”

Accept my apology with this adorable bunny

Sometimes, real life takes over and there’s no way to avoid it. So, apologies from me for getting this up a day late. Hopefully these ridiculous tweets will make up for it!

» Continue reading “They Said WHAT- Late Edition”

The Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens series has officially disproved the sentiment “Canadians are all polite”. Seven goals and a few fights later it turns out that the Senators and the Canadiens would rather have a Sunday night smackdown than a hockey game. So I guess you could say that their version of polite is to wait to score until the clock starts.

The first period kicked off with three penalties, one for » Continue reading “Hockey Or Sunday Night Smackdown? Sens Pummel Habs 6-1″

Keep making those amazing passes. Maybe at some point the Wild will catch on. Nevermind. (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

A lot of people picked the Blackhawks to sweep the Wild. I knew they wouldn’t. Today, the Wild got their win…in overtime. Look, no disrespect to the Wild but this season, the Blackhawks are a better team. It shows in the standings and it should show on the ice.

By now, you’ve read the recaps so I won’t bore you with that. Instead, I give to you the two Blackhawks goals scored by defense off of passes by Patrick Kane:

» Continue reading “Wild Avoid Being Swept, Beat Hawks To Make Series 2-1″

Quick earned his first shutout during this year’s playoffs tonight.

The Los Angeles Kings won the third game of their first round series against the St. Louis Blues. Jonathan Quick pitched his first shutout of the playoffs, and the skaters in front of him scored the one goal necessary to earn the win.

This was yet another physical game between these two teams. It’s not surprising, when one considers that physical play always ramps up during the playoffs, and it’s even less surprising when one considers the hard-nosed hockey style these two teams play on a regular basis. There was only one puck that got past a goaltender in this game, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the goal was the result of some greasy play in the crease. At one point, there were eight players in Brian Elliott’s crease, not including Brian Elliott himself. Elliott sprawled, and tried to snag the puck. It slid just out of his reach and the crowd in front of him thinned almost as quickly as it had formed. As Elliott pulled himself back into a standing position, Slava Voynov fired a puck far post, and Elliott, still stumbling, was unable to grab it. It was one of those tough goals, where the goalie didn’t have a chance to get set, but there wasn’t any direct interference at the moment when the puck crossed the line, so it was an legal goal, if an unfair one.

Obviously this was a big win for the Kings. Had they lost, they would have been down three games to none, and they would have faced elimination for the remainder of the series. Instead, they find themselves down two to one in games. It’s not ideal, but it certainly isn’t the hole they could be facing. I imagine each team is hoping to finish this series in as few games as possible (that will allow them to make it to the next round). There were 92 hits in tonight’s game, and these clubs are only going to dislike each other more and more with each shift.

Hi Patrick Sharp! Thanks for scoring two goals, including the game winner, tonight! (Photo: Kevin Carlson/flickr)

In game one of this series, the Blackhawks were nice to the Wild and let them stay in the game. Tonight, they remembered they were a number one seed who won the President’s Trophy and therefore weren’t expected to do that.

For instance, unlike in game one, the Blackhawks actually showed up to the start of this game. Corey Crawford saved the first shot he saw (which was better than his numbers earlier in the week) and the Blackhawks were getting good chances on Josh Harding. A little less than five minutes into the period, Patrick Kane pulled a new trick out of his bag – he literally kicked the puck into the net. Pretty sure he was trying to kick it to his stick and then put it in but it missed the middle part and went straight into the net. Obviously it didn’t count but he had the right idea.

Three and a half minutes later, the Hawks put the puck in legally as Michael Frolik buried an Andrew Shaw rebound for his first of the playoffs. Seven minutes later the Hawks were given a chance to extend their lead while on the power play but…well for those who read my stuff about the Rangers, you know I call their power play a power kill. I’m pretty sure I can use the same term when it comes to a Blackhawks power play.

The first period ended with the Hawks still having a 1-0 lead and a 17-7 edge in shots. I said the boys showed up to this first period.

» Continue reading “Harding Great But Hawks Better As Series Shifts West”

Michalek tallied the Sens only goal. (Photo: Dinur Blum/flickr)

If the Ottawa Senators pulled the wool over the Montreal Canadiens last night, the Canadiens pulled the ice out from under the Senators tonight. The Senators just could not get their skates under them, leaving the game open for Montreal to take.

Montreal dominated right from the first period, putting nearly twice the shots on goal than the Senators. It was the second period where Montreal showed even more so that they were not to be trifled with. » Continue reading “A Tooth For A Tooth: Habs Tie Series With Senators”