Come from behind wins stood out as a major story line in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. In fact, 20 of the 47 post season games saw a team overcome a one goal deficit to win (five multi-goal comebacks). The Canucks, Jets and Predators all felt the sting of blowing up in crucial situations. Here’s a brief look at each of the eight Conference quarter-finals.
Calgary over Vancouver 4-2: Interesting that most of the Canucks fans preferred Calgary in round one and not LA. Well, how did that work out? The wise old saying “be careful what you wish for” haunted Vancouver. The Canucks can spin their season however they want, but they got beat by a team with less talent but much more feistiness, combativeness and aggressiveness.
Michael Ferland alone had 23 hits in the three games in Calgary, more than twice any of the Canucks. Nobody likes to lose to a team below them in the standings, but blowing a 3-0 lead in your last game of the season to a division rival is inexcusable. The Vancouver defence looked slow and run-down as they had trouble with Calgary’s fore-checking and speed.
When Ryan Miller finally got a chance to start, he was shaky, particularly with rebound control. The Sedins showed up, but the Flames big line of Hudler, Monahan and Gaudreau wasn’t intimated at all. This series was a classic case of the harder working team coming out on top. There is no substitute for desire, hustle, pride and perseverance.
In the end, a team building for the future ousted a team clinging to its past. The core of the Canucks are in their mid-30’s (Hamhuis, Burrows Bieksa, Sedins, and Vrbata). One could see the emotion and “hurt” during Henrik’s Saturday post-game interview as it is becoming evident that “father time” is catching up to Vancouver.
Anaheim over Winnipeg 4-0: The Jets fans were second to none but Winnipeg collapsed. Anaheim became the first team to win the first three games of the series despite trailing after two periods in each of those contests. The Jets scored first in game four but stumbled again. The Ducks had six players average at least one point per game.
Chicago over Nashville 4-2: Crazy that Cory Crawford started game one and finished game six yet it was unheralded rookie goalie Scott Darling that played a major role in the Hawks triumph. The Predators took a page out of the Jets book by melting in the big moment. Chicago won the opener after trailing by three goals and closed it out in the 6th game by erasing a two goal deficit. Two of the Chicago wins came in overtime.
Minnesota over St Louis 4-2: Like most teams that won in the first round, the Wild had the better goalie. Devan Dubnyk was much sharper than the Blues surprise starter Jake Allen. Minnesota’s Zack Parise (seven points) showed superb leadership with a strong two way game. St. Louis will look to make significant changes after a first round exit for a third consecutive year.
Montreal over Ottawa 4-2: Carey Price again demonstrated why he is the NHL’s top goalie. Price
finished the six games with a .939 save percentage and a 1.94 GAA. He was at his best in game six with a 43 save shutout. Price helps cover up the Habs scoring weakness. The Senators arguably had the strongest performance among the six teams that went out in six games or less.
NY Rangers over Pittsburgh 4-1: At least the Penguins can’t blame Marc Andre Fleury for the loss (.927 save percentage 2.12 GAA). Evgeni Malkin stated the Penguins were “not good enough.” That may be true, but he should look in the mirror. Malkin was held pointless in a playoff series for the second time. Each of the Rangers victories were by a 2-1 score, the last two in overtime.
Washington over NY Islanders 4-3: The Capitals prevailed as the better team advanced. How do the Islanders only manage 11 shots, none from their best player John Tavares, in the deciding game? The Islanders sad sack power-play was 0-for-14. Make it 22 years and counting since the Islanders won a playoff series (seven straight first round defeats).
Tampa Bay over Detroit 4-3: Ben Bishop took a back seat to Detroit rookie Petr Mrazek until the most important game of the series. Bishop silenced his critics, at least temporarily, when he delivered a 31 save shutout in the 2-0 game seven victory. Lightning erased a three games to two deficit, despite Steven Stamkos doing his best disappearing act (no goals).
Round two, the Conference semis, began Thursday. You can forgive Canucks fans if they are cheering for the Ducks against the Flames and enjoyed Anaheim’s 6-1 convincing victory in the opener. It’s not that they like Anaheim, it’s that they despise Calgary.
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I was stunned to find out the Prince George Free Press is shutting down. My column has appeared in the Free Press each Friday for the last 10 years. There are some very talented hard working people that should be commended for putting out a quality community newspaper each week. All the best to the employees in their search for employment.
From the Quote Rack:
The Philadelphia Eagles have worked their home schedule around the Pope’s visit—but many of their fans plan to show up and boo him anyway.
So why was Bill Belichick staring so obviously at model Chrissy Teigen? Someone told him she was a real airhead.
Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
So what was the difference between the Toronto Raptors and the Toronto Maple Leafs this year? About a week.
Due to the riots in Baltimore, Wednesday’s White Sox-Orioles game was closed to the public. So players on both teams got a chance to see what it felt like to play in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.
Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
Due to ongoing rioting and security concerns in Baltimore, the Orioles and White Sox did not admit any fans to their game on Wednesday. They have now challenged Miami Marlins fans to beat that attendance record.
It’s now Gone Daddy. Go Daddy is dropping its NASCAR sponsorship for Danica Patrick.
Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver (http://alwaysfunny.com/)
And in case you missed it:
Australian jockey Blake Shinn stood up in a last-second bid to overtake the leader, and his pants fell down. Might be the first time a horse placed while its rider just showed.
A Montreal restaurant has created a Stanley Cup made from 20 pounds of bacon. Why? To commemorate a ham-pionship?
Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com
Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the Goat. His column appears Fridays on myprincegeorgenow.com. Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected]
Follow him on twitter: @Hartley_Miller