Quick re-cap of last night’s games before I preview the remaining three series today.
Versus nationally televised the Coyotes at Red Wings game, with all sorts of talk about relocation during the breaks. The ‘Yotes must’ve let that under their skin, because after a quick Kyle Turris goal, the Red Wings absolutely dominated. The turning point was a hooking call on Ed Jovanovski late in the second period. Jovo did not hook Tomas Holmstrom; instead Holmstrom held Jovo’s stick under his arm, making it appear to be a hooking call. After Brian Rafalski scored on the resulting power play, you could practically feel the fight go out of the ’Yotes.
Of course, not converting on six powerplay attempts probably didn’t help, either.
Versus segued into the Rangers at Capitals game after the game in Detroit ended. It was 1-0 Rangers for most of the game until Alex Ovechkin shoved the puck past Ranger netminder Henrik Lundqvist. The goaltenders duel lasted until the final minute of the first overtime when Alex Semin ended his playoff drought with a snapper past Lundqvist to put the Caps up 1-0 in the series.
In one of two non-nationally televised games (presumably because the Pens are sans Crosby, because WHY would anyone want to watch Steven Stamkos?) the Bolts traveled to CONSOL to take on the Penguins. The playoff inexperience of the coach and most of the players showed. Stamkos allowed himself to back off after a massive hit from Brooks Orpik – the team never got back on track. I highly suggest the recap over at The Pensblog for afternoon reading.
Canucks 2, Blackhawks 0
This was the game scheduled to come after the Yotes/Wings game was over. People tuning in to see their Blackhawks or their Canucks were treated instead to studio analysis of the end of the 1-1 regulation tie that the Rangers and Capitals were in, and then were further treated with the overtime. They got to watch less than a minute of the first period, which was swell, because that’s when both of Vancouver;’s goals were scored.
That’s a pretty big fail, Versus. You want that TV contract next time it comes up, fix this.
We got a couple of shutouts, a goalie duel, and two domination games last night, so there was a little something for everyone. The only road team to win yesterday, the Predators dominated the Ducks. Countless times this season the Ducks allowed themselves to get blown out because of defense. The only reason this game wasn’t a blowout is because Nashville’s offense is one of the lowest scoring in the league.
Dan Ellis had some problems, as he was pulled at the start of the third period after allowing three goals on 20 shots. Ray Emery came in, who stopped all of three shots that he faced.