First Round Playoffs "Wrap Around"
Eastern Conference
1. Pittsburgh Penguins
8. New York Islanders
Pens win in 6
This series was a lot closer than many
thought. Brooks Orpik's Game 6 overtime shot from the point
eliminated the New York Islanders. New York came to play and gave the
Pens all they could handle but eventually fell short in six games.
Pittsburgh is the favorite to come out of the East and they looked
great, except for their goal tending. Thomas Vokoun got the starts in
Games 5 and 6 over a struggling Marc-Andre Fleury. If the Pens can
get their goal tending situation straight, they will be an even
tougher team to knock out in these playoffs.
Goal Leaders:
Pittsburgh –Pascal Dupuis – 5
Pittsburgh – Sidney Crosby – 3
New York – John Tavares – 3 – 1
game winner
New York – Kyle Okposo – 3 – 1
game winner
Assist Leaders:
Pittsburgh – Evegeni Malkin – 9
Pittsburgh – Jarome Iginla – 7
Pittsburgh – Sidney Crosby – 6
New York – Michael Grabner – 3
New York – Mark Streit - 3
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2. Montreal Canadiens
7. Ottawa Senators
Sens win in 5
One year removed from finishing dead
last in the Eastern Conference, the Montreal Canadiens had an
impressive regular season and finished with the second seed.
Unfortunately for the Habs, that success did not carry over into the
post-season. These two rivals filled the series with animosity and trash talk.
Ottawa took care of Montreal easily though, defeating them in 5
games.
Goal Leaders:
Ottawa – Kyle Turris – 3 – 1 game
winner
Ottawa – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – 3 –
1 game winner
Ottawa – Cory Conacher – 3 – 1
game winner
Montreal – P.K. Subban - 2
Assist Leaders:
Ottawa – Erik Karlsson – 5
Montreal – Tomas Plekanec - 4
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3. Washington Capitals
6. New York Rangers
Rangers win in 7
This series was back and forth
throughout with each home team winning their games until Game 7.
Stellar goal tending from Henrik Lundqvist throughout the series,
especially in Games 6 & 7 is one of the main reasons why the
Rangers advanced. After allowing an overtime goal in Game 5,
Lundqvist came out on fire in Game 6. He turned away 27 shots as the
Rangers won 1 – 0. In Game 7 he was even better, stopping 35 shots
and again posting a shutout in a 5 – 0 Rangers win. Lundqvist has
not been beaten in six consecutive periods. The Rangers are a team
that is balanced offensively and if Rick Nash and Brad Richards can
begin to produce, with Lundqvist turning away pucks, they will be
almost unbeatable in a seven games series.
Goal Leaders:
Washington – Mike Green – 2 – 1
game winner
New York - Derek Stepan – 2 – 2
game winners
New York – Derick Brassard – 2 –
1 game winner
New York - Arron Asham – 2 – 1 game
winner
Assist Leaders:
New York – Derick Brassard – 7
New York – Mats Zuccarello – 4
Washington – Mathieu Perreault – 3
Washington – Joel Ward - 3
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4. Boston Bruins
5. Toronto Maple Leafs
Bruins win in 7
Wow. What a series. What a Game 7. The
Bruins were strong early in the series and went up 3 – 1 on the Leafs with a chance to close them out on home ice in Game 5.
Toronto battled hard and pulled out a 2 – 1 victory to force Game 6
back in Canada. In Game 6, Leafs goalie James Reimer stole the show!
Stopping 29 out of 30 shots, Reimer made sure that this series would
go 7.
Game 7 (This game was so crazy it
deserves its own paragraph)
This game was one of the craziest Game
7's in NHL history. The first two periods were pretty even on both
sides and the second ended with a 2 – 1 lead for the Leafs. When
the third began, no one had any idea what was in store. Phil Kessel
tapped in a Nazem Kadri shot that hit the post to extend the Leafs
lead to 3 – 1. Three minutes later, Kadri scored one of his own and
the Leafs were sitting pretty, up three with under 15 minutes to go.
With about 11 minutes to go in the game, Nathan Horton put one past
Reimer to cut the lead to 4 – 2. The game stayed that way until
1:22 in the third, when a scramble out in front left Milan Lucic on
the receiving end of his second goal of the playoffs. The Bruins then
called a time-out to gather their thoughts. On the ensuing face-off,
Boston (who dominated face-offs all series) won the puck and gained
the Toronto zone. With the net pulled, the Bruins cycled the puck.
David Krejci slide the puck to Patrice Bergeron on the point. He
hesitated just a little and then fired a laser past Reimer's blocker
side. Two goals, 31 seconds apart, both under 1:30 in the third
period of GAME 7. Crazy! The score would stand 4 – 4 when the
regulation horn sounded. With momentum now on their side, and the
Bruins faithful cheering them on, Boston started the overtime period
high on confidence. Six minutes and five seconds into the extra
frame, Patrice Bergeron scored his second of the game and sent the
Boston Bruins to the Semi-Finals.
The Boston Bruins became the first team in NHL history to win a Game 7 down by three goals in the third.
Goal Leaders:
Boston – David Krejci – 5 – 1
game winner
Toronto – Phil Kessel – 4 – 2
game winners
Boston – Nathan Horton – 4 – 2
game winners
Toronto – Cody Franson - 3
Toronto – Joffrey Lupul - 3
Assist Leaders:
Boston - David Krejci – 8
Boston - Milan Lucic – 7
Boston - Zdeno Chara - 7
Toronto – James van Riemsdyk – 5
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Western Conference
1. Chicago Blackhawks
8. Minnesota Wild
Blackhawks win in 5
As expected the Blackhawks took care of
business against the Wild in five games. Chicago scored a total of 17
goals in the series, while Minnesota only mustered up 7. Pat Sharp
knotted five goals, two of which were game winners. Pat Kane assisted
on five goals and continues to impress with his skills offensively.
Corey Crawford was strong in goal posting a 1.32 GAA and a .950% save
percentage. The 'Hawks look like a force to be wrecking with in the
West.
Goal Leaders:
Chicago – Patrick Sharp – 5 – 2
game winning goals
Chicago - Marian Hossa – 3
Chicago - Bryan Bickell – 3 – 1
game winner
Assists Leaders:
Chicago – Pat Kane - 5
Chicago – Duncan Keith – 4
Minnesota – Matt Cullen – 3
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2. Anaheim Ducks
7. Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings win in 7
These two teams traded wins until Game
7 when Detroit finally grasped the series. An even series throughout,
four of the seven games saw overtime. In the extra frame, Detroit won
three out of the four. Either team could have advanced but Detroit
proved to be stronger. This very well could be the Red Wings last
chance with their aging team to capture another Stanley Cup. With a
veteran presence of Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Johan
Franzen,Valterri Filppula, mixed together with young guys like,
Damien Brunner, Justin Abdelkader, Gustav Nyquist, and a proven
net-minder in Jimmy Howard, Detroit could be a team to make a run to
the Cup.
Let's all hope that this was not Teemu
Selanne's last playoff series, but at 42 years old, it very well
might have been. I personally would love to see him play live one
more time though.
Goal Leaders:
Anaheim – Ryan Getzlaf – 3
Anaheim – Emerson Etem – 3
Detroit – Henrik Zetterberg – 3 –
1 game winner
Detroit – Johan Franzen – 3
Assist Leaders:
Detroit – Henrik Zetterberg – 5
Detroit – Pavel Datsyuk - 5
Anaheim – Francois Beauchemin – 4
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3. Vancouver Canucks
6. San Jose Sharks
Sharks win in 4
San Jose took care of Vancouver
quickly, almost too quickly. It only took the minimum amount of games
for the Sharks to “bite” the Canucks out of the 2013 NHL
Playoffs. The major story of this series was the goal tending
carousel in Vancouver's net. Roberto Luongo started Games 1 and 2 for the “Nucks while posting 55 saves and given up 6 goals. As the
series changed venues to San Jose, the Canucks decided to make a
switch behind the pipes. Cory Schneider started Game 3 and got lit up, letting in five. Schneider stopped 23 shots on a total of 28. In the
final game of the series, Schneider got the start again and played
better, stopping 43 shots on a total of 47. The Sharks would win 4-3
in overtime to advance to the Semi-Finals.
Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau of San
Jose both scored four goals, while Logan Couture and Joe Thronton had
five assists a piece.
Goal Leaders:
San Jose – Joe Pavelski – 4
San Jose – Patrick Marleau – 4 –
1 game winner
San Jose – Logan Couture – 3
Vancouver – Alexandre Burrows – 2
Vancouver – Ryan Kesler – 2
Assists Leaders:
San Jose – Logan Couture – 5
San Jose – Joe Thornton – 5
San Jose – Joe Pavelski – 4
Vancouver – Henrik Sedin – 3
Vancouver – Daniel Sedin – 3
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4. St. Louis Blues
5. Los Angels Kings
Kings win in 6
After going down 2-0 in the series, the
Kings returned to LA with a vengeance. They ripped off four straight
wins to eliminate St. Louis. LA is built for the playoffs with three
solid centers in Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards, and Jared Stoll. In
addition, their back end with puck moving defensemen Drew Doughty,
Slava Voynov and Rob Scuderi is impressive. Jeff Carter leads the
team in goals with three while Mike Richards leads the team in
assists with five. This team look like it can make a real push at the
Stanley Cup.
Goal Leaders:
Los Angeles – Jeff Carter – 3
St. Louis – Alexander Steen - 3
Assist Leaders:
Los Angeles – Mike Richards – 5
St. Louis – Vladimir Sobotka - 3
*All stats courtesy of NHL.com*
