sport-scan daily brief - nhl.comflyers.nhl.com/v2/ext/01 - flyers nhl clips/04.18.2014 nhlc.pdf ·...

SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF NHL 4/18/2014

Anaheim Ducks 741379 Wounded Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf expects to play in Game 2 741380 Ducks' Getzlaf to play in Game 2 despite face laceration 741381 Whicker: When heat's on, Ducks' Andersen stays cool 741382 Ducks' Getzlaf expected to play in Game 2 741383 Ducks vs. Stars, Game 1: The Morning After 741384 Despite injuries, Ducks looking for more against Stars

Boston Bruins 741385 Chara vs. Nyquist is the Most Pivotal Matchup for Series against Detroit 741386 Bruins-Red Wings: 5 keys to the series 741387 Bruins Notebook: Claude Julien muzzles ’dog talk 741388 Bruins on power trip with man-up unit 741389 Bruins-Red Wings playoff matchups 741390 Key factor on the line for the Bruins 741391 Bruins shop pops up by TD Garden today 741392 Dramatic opening act: Detroit Red Wings pose latest 1st-round challenge 741393 Bruins set for fresh start after regular season 741394 Bruins still skating shorthanded

Buffalo Sabres 741395 Sabres’ ride reveals a lot in the rearview 741396 Turd Burger can't match the Slug as Sabres fail to crack Top 25 in jersey sales on NHL website

Calgary Flames 741397 These six guys show there's reason for optimism in Calgary

Chicago Blackhawks 741398 Hawks lost this one early 741399 Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane hook up early 741400 T.J. Oshie out, but Vladimir Tarasenko back for Blues 741401 Blues beat Blackhawks 4-3 in triple overtime 741402 Blackhawks' Toews raring to go vs. Blues 741403 Blues' Oshie, Berglund out for Game 1 741404 Kane says he won't be limited by knee brace 741405 Playoff lies and the lying liars who tell them 741406 Game 1 stings, but talented Blackhawks should win series 741407 Blackhawks lose Game 1, fall to Blues in 3 OT 741409 Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane make quick impact in opener 741410 Patrick Kane adjusting to knee brace for playoffs 741411 Coaching rivals Quenneville, Hitchcock: Big winners with mutual respect 741413 Another Stanley Cup solidifies Blackhawks as a dynasty 741414 Blues’ Tarasenko applauded by his coach 741415 Kane braced for playoffs 741416 Blackhawks give away chance to steal Game 1 741417 Blues top Hawks 4-3 in triple OT 741418 Blues Oshie ruled out for tonight 741419 For Hawks and Blues, history always matters 741420 Game 1: Blackhawks outlasted by Blues in triple overtime 741421 Five things to watch in Game 1 of Blackhawks-Blues 741422 Blackhawks, Blues put injuries behind for playoff series 741423 Road Warriors: Blackhawks hope to play spoilers in St. Louis 741424 Blues kicking off series with a clean slate 741425 Konroyd's keys to Game 1 between Blackhawks-Blues 741426 Blues' Oshie, Berglund out Game 1 vs. Blackhawks

Colorado Avalanche 741427 Ilya Bryzgalov, Minnesota Wild goalie, is no stranger to Avalanche 741428 Avalanche, Paul Stastny smokin' hot in Game 1 741429 : Erik Johnson makes like speedskater Dan Jansen, saving the day 741430 Tyson Barrie again delivers late for Colorado Avalanche 741431 Playing big role in series as Wild defenseman 741432 Paul Stastny OT goal gives Colorado Avalanche victory over Minnesota Wild in Game 1 741433 Colorado Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild Game 1 Live Blog 741434 How Patrick Roy's outburst in season's first game set the tone 741435 Colorado College product Nate Prosser to make NHL playoff debut vs. Avs 741436 Avs face Wild goalie Ilya Bryzgalov for 1st time this season in Game 1 741437 Avalanche-Wild postgame, Game 1 of playoffs: A minor miracle 741438 Paul Stastny scores consecutive goals to lead Avalanche to 5-4 OT victory over Wild

Columbus Blue Jackets 741439 Blue Jackets notebook: Youth will help Jackets this time, Boll says 741440 Penguins' Fleury hangs tough after shaky beginning 741441 Michael Arace commentary: Jackets in bad mood after big lead slips away

Dallas Stars 741442 One Stars player makes list of top-selling NHL jerseys 741443 Need to know: Stars' Cody Eakin to face Saku Koivu again, will he be up to the challenge again? 741444 Stars coach Lindy Ruff won't disclose injured defenseman Brenden Dillon's status: We'll see Friday 741445 Puck to face won't stop Ducks' Ryan Getzlaf from returning for Game 2 741446 Stars hit video room for extensive review, think they've fixed problems that plagued them in Game 1 741447 Sherrington: Ducks have upper hand in series, but Stars future looks bright 741448 Cowlishaw: Why I think, at this point, the Stars will be the next Dallas team to win a championship 741449 Cowlishaw: Here's what the Stars have to do to win Game 2 741450 Thursday practice update: Anaheim's Getzlaf (face) expected to play in Game 2, while Stars Dillon (lower body 741451 D-FW TV sports ratings: More watched Mavericks than Rangers, Stars on wild Wednesday night 741452 Heika: Stars-Ducks Game 1 was like watching clarinet lesson 741453 Stars struggle to show poise; Kari Lehtonen unimpressive in Game 1 loss to Ducks

Detroit Red Wings 741454 Henrik Zetterberg skates with Detroit Red Wings teammates for 30 minutes, aims for more 741455 Staff predictions: After long, tough series, Bruins likely to beat Detroit Red Wings 741456 Red Wings, Bruins rekindle playoff rivalry that blazed in 1940s, '50s 741457 For Tomas Tatar, and Red Wings, patience pays off 741458 Red Wings vs. Bruins: How they match up

Red Wings cont'd 741459 Detroit News predictions: Bruins will bounce Red Wings 741460 Red Wings' Danny DeKeyser grows quickly into role 741461 Red Wings' Darren Helm relishes another shot at the Stanley Cup playoffs 741462 Red Wings need 'Mule' to carry heavier scoring load 741463 Coach Mike Babcock tinkering with Red Wings lines 741464 Henrik Zetterberg skates for 30 minutes at Red Wings practice 741465 Red Wings counting on a healthy Darren Helm to be a difference-maker vs. Bruins with speed, tenacity 741466 Detroit Red Wings have little chance of beating Boston Bruins, according to media predictions 741467 Red Wings links: Detroit blueprint helps Boston Bruins become model NHL franchise 741468 Red Wings could give Bruins trouble by getting into a run-and-gun series, say NBC analysts 741469 Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg skates with teammates, calls it a 'good first step' 741470 Red Wings-Bruins matchups: Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston has the edge in most categories 741471 Red Wings rookies well-prepared for pressures of playoff hockey, will play key role vs. Bruins 741472 Wings' motto: ‘They can't hit what they can't catch' 741473 Zetterberg making progess as he skates with team

Edmonton Oilers 741474 John MacKinnon: Edmonton Oil Kings mantra — best defence is a good offence 741475 Edmonton Oilers farm team controls destiny in hunt for playoff berth 741476 Ben Scrivens getting first shot at playing for Canada 741477 Jones: NHL's best scoreboard will be in Edmonton's downtown arena

Los Angeles Kings 741478 No power to the Kings in playoff-opening loss to Sharks 741479 Kings drop playoff opener to Sharks, 6-3 741480 Kings prove powerless in losing Game 1 to San Jose 741481 Kings' Toffoli gaining Sutter's trust 741482 Breakdowns, sloppy play dooms Kings in Game 1 loss to Sharks 741483 Kings notes: Drew Doughty happy to rejoin Los Angeles’ lineup 741484 April 17 postgame notes 741485 April 17 postgame quotes: Darryl Sutter 741486 April 17 postgame quotes: Dustin Brown, Willie Mitchell 741487 Game 1: Los Angeles at San Jose 741488 Game 1 Preview: Los Angeles at San Jose 741489 Doughty: “I’ll be playing the exact same as usual” 741490 Richards’ playoff success contrasts with recent drought 741491 April 17 morning skate quotes: Darryl Sutter 741492 Beard-A-Thon, Platelets for Playoffs, watch parties 741493 Good morning, San Jose

Minnesota Wild 741494 Colorado rallies in third, beats Wild in OT of Game 1 741495 Wild's Heatley ready if needed 741496 Brunette recalls being a hero for Wild in Roy's final game 741497 Postgame: Wild gives Game 1 away 741498 Avs captain Landeskog sets an example for teammates 741499 Wild notes: Giguere fondly remembers dominance of 2003 playoffs 741500 Goal-scorers thrive early, until Stastny shines late 741501 Game 1 recap: Colorado 5, Wild 4 (OT) 741502 Olympian puts 'Miracle on Ice' gold medal on auction block 741503 Wild's goalie shuffle 741504 Wild falter, but they gave as good as they got 741505 Avalanche 5, Wild 4: Minnesota blows lead, loses playoff opener in OT 741506 Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper deemed better, but not ready

Wild cont'd 741507 Tom Powers: Expecting Blackhawks, Avs vow not to take Wild lightly 741508 Nate Prosser heard call of the Wild

Montreal Canadiens 741509 Habs hope Stamkos doesn’t strike twice ahead of game two 741510 Fleury, Price make strong statements on opening night 741511 Habs’ Weise lives dream with OT goal in Game 1

New Jersey Devils 741512 NHL Playoffs 2014: Should Devils fans root for Flyers or Rangers in first-round series? 741513 Lou Lamoriello sees irony in how Devils' Albany affiliate made AHL playoffs via shootout

New York Rangers 741514 Brad Richards helps propel NY Rangers past Flyers, 4-1, in Game 1 741515 Anton Stralman may not power the NY Rangers' attack, but 'defense first' serves him well 741516 NY Rangers dominate game, but it doesn't show until Carl Hagelin's bloody lip 741517 Alexander Steen scores game-winner to lift Blues over Blackhawks in triple overtime 741518 After Hit to Mouth, Rangers Draw First Blood 741519 In a Reunion, 2 Rangers and a Flyer Recall Glory 741520 Flyers Make No Secret About Testing Rangers’ McDonagh 741521 Rangers roll past chippy Flyers for Game 1 win 741522 Flyers alter game plan to pound Rangers’ McDonagh 741523 Ticket-hoarding Rangers fans set to invade Philadelphia 741524 Rangers 4, Flyers 1: Sticking to the game plan 741525 Richards, St. Louis will have to get past old friend Lecavalier; Mason to join Flyers in N.Y. 741526 Fast takes “maintenance morning” for Rangers 741529 Rangers notebook: Ryan McDonagh shakes off rust in Game 1 741530 Rangers' Brad Richards stars in Game 1 after sitting in playoffs last year 741531 Lightning finally strikes for Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis 741532 Rangers break it open in third period to beat Flyers in Game 1 741533 Rangers' Ryan McDonagh shakes the rust off 741534 Injured Flyers goalie Steve Mason comes to New York 741535 Rangers lineup: Ryan McDonagh in, Raphael Diaz out 741536 Game 1: Rangers-Flyers in review 741537 Game 1: Rangers 4, Flyers 1 … post-game notes & quotes 741538 Game 1: Flyers at Rangers … It’s Go Time! 741539 Game 1: Rangers-Flyers … Five things to watch 741540 Rangers’ Rick Nash ready to get it started

Philadelphia Flyers 741541 Punchless Flyers blow chance to take series lead in NY 741542 Emery's excellence wasted by late meltdown 741543 Rookie mistake leads to Flyers' defeat in Game 1 741544 Flyers, Rangers continue proud tradition of dislike 741545 McCaffery: Flyers did not allow Emery to save them from failing 741546 Flyers perform same old song and dance at Garden 741547 Lecavalier sees familiar faces on Rangers bench 741548 Akeson's penalty proves to be Flyers' undoing 741549 Carcillo, Rinaldo are in some ways mirror Images 741550 Injury Update: Mason to join Flyers in New York 741551 Offensive woes continue for Flyers 741552 Flyers give up 3 goals in third in loss 741553 Emery gets no help as Flyers fall 741554 FLYER NOTES: Lecavalier pushing friendships aside 741555 Akeson's first trip to New York City is for playoff debut 741556 Game 1: Flyers — Rangers GAMEDAY

Phoenix Coyotes 741557 Coyotes still wait for Martin Hanzal to play full year 741558 NHL first-round playoff schedule

Pittsburgh Penguins 741559 Penguins' Bylsma and Blue Jackets' Richards know each other well 741560 Plum native Umberger inching closer to making return for Blue Jackets 741561 Undersized rookie Gibbons is blur on ice for Penguins 741562 Pens insider: Penalty killing a concern in Stanley Cup playoffs 741563 Penguins notebook: Playoff series could trigger rivalry at last 741564 Ryan Johansen's skills keep Penguins on full alert 741565 Ron Cook: All eyes on Marc-Andre Fleury once again 741566 Third-line dance likely to continue for Penguins 741567 Gene Collier: Game 1 looked very different

San Jose Sharks 741568 Purdy: Torres' return worth the wait for Sharks 741569 Sharks beat Kings in Game 1 of playoffs 741570 San Jose Sharks get results from Raffi Torres, Tomas Hertl in lineup 741571 Power outage leaves SAP Center dark before Sharks playoff opener 741572 Sharks will start Antti Niemi in goal 741573 Purdy: Ranking the hottest NorCal-SoCal sports rivalries 741574 Sharks' Raffi Torres will play 741575 Sharks open playoffs with win over Kings 741576 Sharks-Kings series promises high drama 741577 Rewind: Two strong periods enough for Sharks in Game 1 win 741578 Expect the Kings to push back in Game 2 vs. Sharks 741579 Instant Replay: Fiery Sharks storm past Kings in Game 1

St Louis Blues 741580 Bluenotes: Oshie misses opener, return is uncertain 741581 Kane, Toews appear to be in top form 741582 Steen wins it for Blues in third overtime 741583 Blues beat Blackhawks 4-3 in 3 OTs 741584 Steen goal lifts Blues past Blackhawks in third overtime 741585 Tarasenko makes instant impact in first game back for Blues

Tampa Bay Lightning 741586 Bolts look to pick up pieces tonight 741587 Fennelly: Lindback needs to step up game for Bolts 741588 Few tickets remaining for Bolts-Canadiens Game 2 741589 Bolts notes: LW Palat’s Game 2 status uncertain 741590 Jon Cooper: Game 1 worse on review 741591 Inexperienced Lightning hopes to grow up in a hurry 741592 Small additions help Canadiens in big way 741593 To score, Lightning learns it must shoot 741594 Steven Stamkos deals well with great expectations

Toronto Maple Leafs 741595 Hockey analytics: How does momentum help NHL teams heading into playoffs? 741596 Why didn't the Leafs call up T.J. Brennan?

Vancouver Canucks 741598 Canucks report card 2013-14: The fans give out their grades

Washington Capitals 741597 Capitals season review: Defensemen

Websites 741599 ESPN / Pens know they can't take the Jackets' bait 741600 ESPN / Blue Jackets loving every playoff minute 741601 ESPN / Commish salutes Brendan Shanahan 741602 FOXSports.com / Ducks youth stepping up 741603 FOXSports.com / Ducks' Getzlaf expected to play after taking puck to face 741604 NBCSports.com / NHL waiting for NHLPA ‘to sign off’ on World Cup of Hockey 741605 CNN/Sports Illustrated / Avs stage late-game rally to take Game 1 from Wild in overtime 741606 CNN/Sports Illustrated / Rangers take advantage of the power play to win Game 1 over Flyers 741607 CNN/Sports Illustrated / Blues outlast Blackhawks to win Game 1 in a triple overtime thriller 741608 CNN/Sports Illustrated / Sharks get to Jonathan Quick, Kings early, hang on for 6-3 Game 1 Win 741609 CNN/Sports Illustrated / Top Line: Sidney Crosby dives again; Is shotblocking worth it? More links 741610 TSN.CA Kerry Fraser/ What's the standard for officiating in the playoffs? 741611 USA TODAY / Inexperienced Blue Jackets aren't intimidated 741612 YAHOO SPORTS / Blues survive triple-overtime roller-coaster for much-needed Game 1 victory over Blackhawks 741613 YAHOO SPORTS / The Stanley Cup is in the details for devoted Blues goalie Ryan Miller SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129

741379 Anaheim Ducks

Wounded Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf expects to play in Game 2

By Lance Pugmire

6:33 PM PDT, April 17, 2014

Consider this the leader setting the tone.

Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf — two days after he was smashed by a puck that did so much damage to the left side of his face that doctors quit counting the stitches required to close the wound — expects to pop in some aspirin and play Friday in Game 2 of the first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars.

"If I saw my captain take a puck in the face and come back the next day, I'd want to play as hard as I possibly can," Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said Thursday.

Getzlaf, the Ducks' regular-season scoring leader (31 goals, 56 assists, 87 points), scored a first-period goal and was protecting the team's 4-3 victory with 16.3 seconds left after the Stars pulled goalie Kari Lehtonen for an extra attacker. A shot by Dallas points leader Tyler Seguin hit Getzlaf, knocking him to the ice before a trainer rushed to his side and applied a towel to the gash.

The Ducks announced before a morning practice Thursday that Getzlaf suffered a "deep facial laceration," but that X-rays were negative and that he is expected to play. Getzlaf did not participate in the practice.

"He's a tough guy," said Corey Perry, Getzlaf's first-line mate. "If it's nothing serious, he's going to be in there. He's a competitor, a warrior and will do anything to help his team win."

Another ache

Matt Beleskey had a goal and assist Wednesday, but he left the game after less than 12 minutes of ice time because of a lower-body injury.

Beleskey didn't skate Thursday and said he would try again Friday — "I'll try to walk," he cracked — but if he's unable, the most likely substitute to play alongside Getzlaf and Perry will be another tough, big body, Patrick Maroon.

Power timing

Despite inconsistency with power-play scoring that left them ranked 22nd in the NHL, the Ducks struck in their playoff opener for their first multi-goal game with a man advantage since Jan. 15.

"Simple plays, moving pucks and winning battles," Perry said. "That's the key to a good power play. First one, we won the puck in the corner, great pass by 'Patty' [Maroon] to get it over to 'Matty' [Perreault]. The other one was a great shot [by Beleskey]. All those plays are effective but simple."

Paying the price

The 21 shifts by Ducks forward Daniel Winnik was a testament to the value of grunt work. He provided high energy in penalty killing and had a last-minute takeaway that ended the Stars' desperate attempt to tie.

"That's my role, that's what they ask me to do — whatever you can to keep the puck out of the net," Winnik said. "Dive in front of a shot, dive for the loose puck, battle. A lot of it is 'remain calm.' In those situations, the tendency is to be a little overzealous. That's where you get into trouble, running to a spot that you're not supposed to be in. If you play in your area, it usually works out."

Winnik said the showing is the Ducks' first answer to questions about their killer instinct after blowing 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 first-round series leads to Detroit last year.

"We were four minutes away from going [to the second intermission] with a 4-0 lead, all of a sudden they get those two power plays … or it's a completely different outcome," Winnik said. "I don't think there's anything that says, 'no killer instinct.' We still won by a goal."

LA Times: LOADED: 04.18.2014


Ducks' Getzlaf to play in Game 2 despite face laceration

BY ERIC STEPHENS / STAFF WRITER

Published: April 17, 2014 Updated: 8:37 p.m.

ANAHEIM – Just as a collective gasp came from an overflow Honda Center crowd the moment a speeding puck hit the captain’s face Wednesday night, the Ducks let out an equally sizable sigh of relief one day later.

A slap shot left Ryan Getzlaf with a deep cut near his cheek but it won’t keep him from playing in Game 2 on Friday night as the Ducks will seek to take the first two games of the best-of-7 Western Conference quarterfinal series against Dallas.

The Ducks said X-rays taken on Getzlaf after their 4-3 Game 1 victory were normal. Getzlaf was struck by a Tyler Seguin slap shot with 16.3 seconds remaining. He fell to the ice, got up quickly and immediately headed to the locker room.

A Ducks official said Getzlaf needed “numerous stitches” to close the laceration. Getzlaf, who did not speak to reporters Thursday, is on painkillers but did not need additional treatment after being tended to late Wednesday night.

It was clear among the Ducks that a sigh of relief was let out when learning their big star wasn't more seriously injured.

“It’s your leader,” Coach Bruce Boudreau said. “Your captain. When Sidney Crosby went down with his broken jaw, I’m sure all the Penguins were going, ‘Oh, my goodness.’ We got lucky in that one. And hopefully it doesn't happen again.”

Getzlaf had a goal and an assist in the 4-3 victory, and he clearly was the team's most valuable player through the season. He likely will be a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP after finishing second to only Crosby in points.

The sight of their felled leader rushing straight to the trainer's table for medical attention dimmed the victory celebration for the Ducks afterward.

“It was a weird mood in the locker room,” defenseman Cam Fowler said. “After our first playoff win, there wasn’t a bunch of high-fives and music playing and everything. I think there was a lot of concern about him. Because we know how important he is to our team.

“We were just all hoping and praying that he was OK. He ended up being fine. But it was a tough moment after the game. A lot of concern for sure.”

Defenseman Ben Lovejoy said the team learned soon after the game ended that Getzlaf, whom he calls their “heart and soul.” would not be hurt long term.

“We knew right way,” Lovejoy said. “It’s a scary situation when anybody takes a puck in the face. Particularly a guy that is important to our team as he is. He will be back.

“Luckily he’s married. He's got a couple of kids. He's not out trying to impress people with his face. This is playoff hockey. I think he looks very good.”

The Ducks will have Getzlaf on the ice but could be without left wing Matt Beleskey, who also had a goal and an assist as he has become a good fit alongside Getzlaf and Perry on the top line.

Beleskey left the game in the third period because of a lower-body injury he said has been something he’s dealt with all season. His status for Game 2 will depend on whether he is able to skate Friday morning after not being able to practice.

Orange County Register: LOADED: 04.18.2014


Whicker: When heat's on, Ducks' Andersen stays cool

BY MARK WHICKER

SPORTS COLUMNIST

[email protected]


ANAHEIM – Stress? This isn’t stress. These are skilled professionals working in front of Frederik Andersen, clearing his rebounds, blocking shots with their feet and faces, hoisting opponents out of your sight lines.

Andersen, the Ducks’ rookie goaltender, is often asked to explain his serenity. It’s natural, of course, but he also remembers when his net felt more like a bomb shelter.

In 2008 Andersen was one of the goalies for Team Denmark in the World Juniors. The Danes gave up 38 goals in six games, and lost to Sweden, 10-1. Andersen’s goals-against was 5.63.

“Obviously you’re a little overmatched there,” Andersen said. “Pretty much every team we played was stocked up with prospects. It was tough.

“But you could see what it took when you play against the best players in the world. We were just there for the experience. Getting there was big for us, for a small country.”

Getting here is, too.

Andersen won his first playoff game Wednesday, 4-3, over Dallas. Earlier Wednesday, Lars Eller scored for Montreal in a 5-4 victory over Tampa Bay.

There were seven Danish skaters in the NHL this year, four of whom scored 10 or more goals, and Andersen, redhaired and 6-foot-4, was the only goaltender. He is matter-of-fact about it, but at times a semblance of a smile appears, an acknowledgment of the ground he has covered.

In 25 games, Andersen played his way onto some Calder Trophy ballots. He went 20-5 with a .923 save percentage. He has started 10 times since the end of February, and when he held up in San Jose and St. Louis and other menacing locales, Bruce Boudreau thought he was viable for the playoffs.

It doesn’t mean Jonas Hiller won’t resurface at some point, and there’s always John Gibson. But Andersen will be only 25 when next season begins. Even if Hiller leaves in free agency, the Ducks will have two inexpensive No. 1 goaltenders.

Andersen’s father, Ernst, was a goalie in the Danish League. Frederik played center as a kid, which is why he strongly moves the puck into the neutral zone.

Although he looked up to Patrick Roy and Henrik Lundqvist, his real lodestar was Frans Nielsen, 30, the Islander who has the NHL’s highest-ever success rate in shootouts. Nielsen and Andersen are both from the town of Herning, and Nielsen’s dad is a renowned Danish coach.

“Frans is a good guy to look up to because he is a class act,” Andersen said. “It helped to know him personally. His little brother was a goalie, about three years older than me, so I thought I wanted to be a goalie, too. When I did, I didn’t want to come out of the net.”

Andersen played in the Danish League for three years. In 2010 he and Denmark put the horror of 2008 behind them. At the World Championships, Andersen got the net against Finland, with Pekka Rinne, and made 36 saves in a 4-1 upset. Scouts were there.

“I think that’s why I got drafted by Carolina,” Andersen said.



Ducks' Getzlaf expected to play in Game 2

April 17th, 2014, 10:51 am ·

· posted by ERIC STEPHENS

ANAHEIM - Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf suffered a deep facial laceration when he was hit by a slap shot Wednesday, but the team said Thursday that X-rays were negative and he is expected to play in Game 2 on Friday against the Dallas Stars.

Getlzaf took a shot to the cheek with 16.3 seconds remaining in the Ducks' Game 1 victory. He hit the ice, got up quickly and immediately headed to the locker room.

A Ducks official said Getzlaf needed "numerous stitches" to close the laceration. Getzlaf, who did not practice Thursday and didn't speak to reporters, is on painkillers but did not need additional treatment after being tended to late Wednesday night.

It was clear among the Ducks that a sigh of relief was let out when learning that Getzlaf wasn't more seriously injured.

"It’s your leader," Coach Bruce Boudreau said. "Your captain. When Sidney Crosby went down with his broken jaw [last season], I’m sure all the Penguins were going, 'Oh, my goodness.' We got lucky in that one. And hopefully it doesn't happen again."

Getlzaf had a goal and an assist in the 4-3 victory, and he clearly was the team's most valuable player through the season. He likely will be a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP after finishing second to only Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby in points.

The sight of their felled leader rushing straight to the trainer's table for medical attention dimmed the victory celebration for the Ducks afterward.

"It was a weird mood in the locker room," defenseman Cam Fowler said. "After our first playoff win, there wasn’t a bunch of high-fives and music playing and everyhting. I think there was a lot of concern about him. Because we know how important he is to our team.

"We were just all hoping and praying that he was OK. He ended up being fine. But it was a tough moment after the game. A lot of concern for sure."

Defenseman Ben Lovejoy said the team learned soon after the game ended that Getzlaf, whom he calls their "heart and soul", would not be hurt long term.

"We knew right way," Lovejoy said. "It’s a scary situation when anybody takes a puck in the face. Particularly a guy that is important to our team as he is. He will be back.

"Luckily he’s married. He's got a couple of kids. He's not out trying to impress people with his face. This is playoff hockey. I think he looks very good."

Boudreau is long past being surprised by Getzlaf's leadership, whether with him blocking shots in the final seconds of a one-goal game or his desire to be right back in the lineup for Game 2.

"It’s why he is who he is," Boudreau said. "Why he’s the captain. Why he’s won two gold medals and a Stanley Cup. And he’s not 30.

"He’s learned from the Scotty Niedermayers and the Chris Prongers that were here before him. He's a battler and a gamer. He won't look too pretty but he's going to be playing."

Said linemate Corey Perry: "He’s a competitior. He's a warrior. He’ll do anything to help his team win."



Ducks vs. Stars, Game 1: The Morning After

By MARK WHICKER

SPORTS COLUMNIST

Published: April 17, 2014 Updated: 1:23 a.m.

Ducks 4, Stars 3 in Game 1 on Wednesday night.

And now ...The Morning After:

• Darryl Sutter always says the NHL is a "3-2 league." Three goals won no playoff games on Opening Night. The scores were 5-4 (overtime), 4-3 and 4-3. Only three teams (Anaheim, Chicago, Boston) averaged over three goals in the regular season.

• The Ducks suffered two penalties for too many men on the ice, and the second one gave Dallas the 5-on-3 it needed to start digging out from 0-4. Jamie Benn did the honors and the Stars flew through the final 25 minutes.

• Rookie Valeri Nichushkin looked as dangerous as any Dallas player and was the only one to get a plus-2. He was plus-20 for the season.

• Saku Koivu and Mathieu Perreault combined to win 24 of 35 faceoffs.

• Had Dallas won, its unsung hero would have been Alex Goligoski, who somehow came back to barely impede Patrick Maroon’s scoring attempt against a wide-open net in the third period. That allowed the Stars to keep enough hope to cut the lead to 4-3.

• Ryan Getzlaf kept paying the piper for blocking shots. The second time he left the ice, he didn’t come back, after a Tyler Seguin shot rose to whack him in the jaw. But it was a brilliant game for the captain, who let out a loud huzzah when he scored the second half on the Ducks’ rush.

• Corey Perry led the Ducks with six shots on goal but did not score a goal. When he scored in the regular season, the Ducks were 28-2-5.

• The backhand pass in traffic, from below the goal line into the low slot, is becoming a major staple of Patrick Maroon’s game.

• The Ducks also were 23-5-4 when they scored a power play goal, and they got two in Game 1. They’ve only done that twice since Nov. 22.

• Their record in one-goal games, counting this one: A fanciful 28-4—8.

• Asked how important Game 1 was, Bruce Boudreau said, “Well, we won it last year.” The Ducks also scored two power play goals in that 3-1 victory over Detroit, which didn’t keep them from losing the series. If they win Friday, they will have a 2-0 series lead for the first time since they jumped the San Jose Sharks in 2009 and beat them twice in HP Pavilion. They eventually won in six.

• Ben Lovejoy and Bryan Allen led the Ducks with five blocks apiece. Getzlaf had four.

• Jamie Benn’s only goal came on a 5 on 3, but Seguin scored on a deflection to cut the lead to 4-3, and there were signs in the third period that they’ll be more comfortable jousting with Getzlaf & Co. on Friday night.



Despite injuries, Ducks looking for more against Stars

By Elliott Teaford, Daily Breeze

Posted: 04/17/14, 7:05 PM PDT |

Faceoff: 7 p.m., Friday, Honda Center

TV/Radio: Prime, 710-AM

Update: Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf is expected to play in Game 2 after suffering a deep facial laceration in the cheek when he was struck by a shot from the Stars’ Tyler Seguin in the closing seconds of a 4-3 Anaheim victory in Game 1 on Wednesday. Getzlaf underwent X-rays, which were negative, and needed numerous stitches to mend the wound. ... Ducks winger Matt Beleskey’s status wasn’t immediately certain. He suffered a lower-body injury after recording a goal and an assist. ... The Ducks hope to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series before it shifts to Dallas for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Wednesday. ... Getzlaf, Beleskey, Kyle Palmieri and Mathieu Perreault scored as the Ducks built a four-goal lead in Game 1. Goaltender Frederik Andersen was impressive in his Stanley Cup playoffs debut, stopping 32 shots.

LA Daily News: LOADED: 04.18.2014

741385 Boston Bruins

Chara vs. Nyquist is the Most Pivotal Matchup for Series against Detroit

Jerard Fagerberg

Boston.com Correspondent

April 17, 2014 8:22 AM

Speed kills.

It may be a cliché, but in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, nothing could be more true. With Henrik Zetterberg still on IR and Pavel Datsyuk just returning to the ice, the greatest weapon Detroit Red Wings will have against the Boston Bruins defense is fleet-footed youngster Gustav Nyquist.

His counter will be B's captain and chief minute-muncher Zdeno Chara. And, well, we all know how well that worked out last time.

Despite the fact that Nyquist only has 18 playoff games under his belt, the Swedish winger owns the hottest stick in the NHL, scoring 21 points in the final 22 games of the season. He's played Greg Jennings to the ailing Red Wings, putting the team on his back for a tooth-and-nail fight to the playoffs. Experience or not, it’s difficult to squash momentum like that.

Chara, one of the most hardest hittin' d-men in the league, is tasked with shutting down the streaking 24-year-old. The 37-year-old colossus boasts a plus-33 postseason plus/minus since joining the Bruins in '07. However, Big Z’s effectiveness is waning with age - as evidenced by his performance in last year's Stanley Cup Finals, where he saw his differential fall to minus-6 in the three games prior to elimination.

He was, by the end, the league’s biggest turnstyle. And Bruins fans should be wary of a similar fault in the Slovak machine.

Blueline buddy Dennis Seidenberg is still on the mend, so Chara will command even bigger minutes on the back end in this series. With Nyquist skating on Detroit’s first line, this is a mismatch that Mike Babcock and Co. should be hasty to exploit.

Perhaps the answer is pairing Nyquist against fellow speedster Torey Krug, who, though not known for his defensive prowess, could at least keep pace with the Detroit forward. Or perhaps stingy backchecking from Patrice Bergeron or smashmouth corner play by Milan Lucic could keep Nyquist on a leash.

Either way, the Bruins need something to supplement the 1-on-1 with Chara because, if there’s one Red Wing who can turn Chara’s stick into a 65-inch feather duster, it’s Gustav Nyquist.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Nyquist had only played four playoff games in his career when he has in fact played 18.

Boston Globe LOADED: 04.18.2014


Bruins-Red Wings: 5 keys to the series

Friday, April 18, 2014

Stephen Harris

1. Tuukka Rask has to be at his best

Las Vegas oddsmakers tabbed Tuukka Rask as the NHL player most likely to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. The league’s best goaltender in the regular season, he must play to that level of excellence if the B’s hope to collect 16 wins in the coming weeks.

2. B’s young defensemen must be playoff-ready

Torey Krug (15), Matt Bartkowski (7), Dougie Hamilton (7) and Kevan Miller (0) have a combined 29 games of playoff experience. But the four youngsters have to be smart and sound and protect the puck wisely against the very fast and skillful Detroit forwards.

3. Finally have a good playoff power play

Special teams are supposed to be crucial in the postseason. But the Bruins defied accepted wisdom in reaching Cup finals in 2013 and 2011 despite having a weak power play: They ranked eighth last year with an 11-for-63 (17.5 percent) showing, and 14th in 2011 at 10-for-88 (11.4 percent). The B’s power play, which jumped from 26th to third this regular season, has to stay strong in the playoffs.

4. Forecheck, forecheck, forecheck

The key to the Claude Julien system is the forecheck. The B’s have to avoid turnovers and get pucks deep, behind the Detroit defense. Then it’s about the heavy forecheck cycle and keeping the puck in the Red Wings’ end. The best way to contain the Wings’ speed is never to give them the time and space to attack.

5. It’s David Krejci Time

The Bruins No. 1 center has regularly raised his game in the postseason, with 29-44--73 totals and a plus-31 in 81 career games. He had 9-17--26 in 22 games last year, and 12-11--23 in 25 2011 games. If he and linemates Milan Lucic and Jarome Iginla are productive, that probably means the B’s are in

Boston Herald LOADED: 04.18.2014


Bruins Notebook: Claude Julien muzzles ’dog talk


Steve Conroy

As the Presidents’ Trophy winner, the Bruins were bound to be a favorite in just about any series, but especially against a No.  8 seed — even if that seed is the Detroit Red Wings.

But coach Claude Julien had heard enough about the Red Wings being underdogs.

“I think that it is pretty obvious to us that they want to play the underdog card, which is not surprising,” said Julien. “We just have to go out there and not care about whatever they say. And when we say respect, it’s probably because we’re not letting them fool us with that underdog card and they don’t have the players, etc.

“So we’ve to just go out there and play our game,” Julien continued. “I know (Detriot coach Mike Babcock) has players and he has players that have done extremely well for him. The guy that, right now, is a question mark for him is (Henrik) Zetterberg. Other than that, those young players have done a good job even if the (Daniel) Clearys and the (Todd) Bertuzzis may be question marks for them as far as being in the lineup. But I think he has a pretty good lineup and he has a lot of choices. So that’s how I look at it.”

Julien sounded a little sick of hearing how banged up the Wings are because the B’s are dealing with injury issues of their own right now.

Chris Kelly (back spasms), Daniel Paille (concussion-like symptoms) and Matt Bartkowski (flu) — three players the B’s thought would be in the Game 1 lineup a week ago — have not practiced this week. It’s a good bet they will be scratched tonight, but Julien wasn’t ready to confirm that yet.

“I don’t know that it’s official yet, on any of that stuff,” said Julien. “(Yesterday) was another day where we added another player, so we’ll see what (today) brings. It’s hard for me to start giving you my lineup when I don’t know what’s going to happen day-to-day, so hopefully it continues to improve, which it has this week, and we’ll go from there.”

Defenseman Kevan Miller, who missed two practice days this week with the bug that made its way though the room earlier in the week, returned to practice yesterday.

Meanwhile, Jordan Caron skated in Paille’s place on the fourth line, Justin Florek skated for Kelly on the third line and Andrej Meszaros will replace Bartkowski if the young defenseman can’t go.

Off-ice challenge

While ailing players were given much-needed rest, it was not an ideal week of practice and preparation for the B’s.

“It’s created a bit of a challenge,” said Julien. “There’s no doubt we could’ve started certain things a little earlier, but we had to wait for players to get back and so on and so forth. But we’ve got everything accomplished. We just had to kind of move things around a little bit, and as you saw in the first practice, with three lines and five (defensemen), it didn’t give us a chance to work on too much. But (Wednesday) we did a lot and then (yesterday) again we just wanted to touch up certain things of our game.

“Right now, it’s about really getting ready for Game 1. So as much as it was a challenge, in my mind, we’ve managed to do what we wanted to. So hopefully it doesn’t set us back for Game 1.”

Postseason first

Reilly Smith will be making his playoff debut tonight, but Julien is not overly concerned about how he’ll handle it.

“I don’t think that he gets overly excited to a point where it effects him. He’s pretty even keeled. Like I said before, if there’s anything, he has a tendency to get hard on himself and he demands and expects a lot, but I don’t think this is going to be an issue for him,” said Julien. “And he’s got two linemates (Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand) there that have enough experience that they’ll be able to help him out along the way there, if that ever happens. But I’ll deal with that situation if I see it happening.

“It’s easy enough to have a conversation with players — I’ve done it before, had lots of practice last year with those young guys coming up from Providence and playing in their first playoffs, and we handled it well. Those are not things that I anticipate being major issues.” .  .  .

According to reports out of Detroit, Zetterberg skated in the Wings’ practice yesterday for about 30 minutes, but did not participate in contact drills. He’s not expected to be available for this round of the playoffs, but has not been ruled out.



Bruins on power trip with man-up unit


Matt Kalman

This is the time of year when the Bruins power play typically joins the traffic, weather and New Hampshire on the list of things people in Boston most like to make jokes about.

However, nobody’s laughing anymore about the Bruins man-advantage. Coach Claude Julien and his staff, who took a ton of heat for a power play that didn’t finish in the top half of the league (and was an abysmal 26th in 2013) the past three years, finally got the right personnel and put them in the right positions to be successful in 2013-14.

The Bruins enter Game 1 of their first-round series with the Detroit Red Wings tonight at the Garden fresh off finishing third in the league in power-play efficiency at 21.7 percent. There are several reasons for the Bruins’ improved power play, starting with the stability young defensemen Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton have provided as quarterbacks on separate units.

“I think it’s been a complete group effort. I think early in the year our unit was clicking a bit, and you take a lot of pride in that, especially when that’s a role of mine, to come in and improve the power play,” said Krug, whose addition to the lineup helped the Bruins to a respectable 17.5 percent success rate in the 2013 playoffs. “It’s fun to watch all the weapons that we have and they’re capitalizing on goals. Hopefully in the playoffs, we have two units clicking at the same time.”

The B’s two groups have different looks, with Krug’s quintet relying more on shots from the point getting through for newcomer Jarome Iginla and returnees Milan Lucic and Zdeno Chara, a regular at forward on the power play for the first time this season, to tip or chase. Center David Krejci slid back from the half wall to the point with Krug this season in a change of roles from the past.

“Yeah, I don’t have many options to make some plays (as on the half wall), but when you have Z in front of the net, you don’t feel like you have to make those saucer passes and stuff. You just want to shoot it,” Krejci said.

The other quintet can get shots through from the point off the sticks of Hamilton and young forward Reilly Smith, but it relies more on finesse play from forwards Patrice Bergeron, Loui Eriksson and Carl Soderberg. Newcomers Eriksson and Soderberg are able to make high-skill plays even when given little room. Smith played the point in the AHL last season and it didn’t take long for the Bruins to send him there during his first NHL season.

“He has good vision, he has poise with the puck and the reason we put him there was because of that. We felt he really had a good view of the ice and could find players early on,” Julien said of Smith.

Although there are differences between the two groups, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock sees similarities between them.

“Size,” Babcock recently told the Detroit media. “Their ability to retrieve pucks. Everybody in the National Hockey League — off a faceoff, off a puck put off the wall, off a shot — tries to put as much pressure as they can on you. The bigger you are, the more you can handle.”

For once, the B’s power play enters the playoffs as a source of concern for opponents rather than criticism for observers.



Bruins-Red Wings playoff matchups


Steve Conroy

The West is best, or so we’ve been told all season. And the Western Conference is indeed chock full of strong, heavy teams.

But it’s a good bet that the Bruins don’t feel particularly lucky to be in the Eastern Conference right now. Their reward for winning the Presidents’ Trophy is a date with the Detroit Red Wings, a team that is in a wild card position due to injuries and an organization considered by many to be the gold standard. That was proven again this season when they plugged in players from their AHL franchise in Grand Rapids and watched them perform, sometimes exceptionally.

Bottom line: The B’s know they can’t afford to look past the Wings, a team to which they lost 3-of-4 this season.

This is an Original Six matchup, but one that’s bereft of recent history and animosity. The last time they met in the playoffs was 1957. We here in Boston may not yet have strong feelings toward the Wings, who have risen in prominence while in the Western Conference the last two decades, but make no mistake: Two weeks from now, you’ll feel something for these Wings — hate, fear, respect, whatever it may be. That’s what happens in the playoffs.

Here’s a look at the matchups:

FORWARDS

BRUINS

Milan Lucic David Krejci Jarome Iginla

Brad Marchand Patrice Bergeron Reilly Smith

JUSTIN FLOREK

Chris Kelly Carl Soderberg

Loui Eriksson

JORDAN CARON

Daniel Paille

Gregory Campbell

Shawn Thornton

RED WINGS

Justin Abdelkader Pavel Datsyuk Johan Franzen

Tomas Tatar Riley Sheahan Gustav Nyquist

Tomas Jurco Darren Helm Daniel Alfredsson

Drew Miller Luke Glendening David Legwand

Skinny: It can easily be argued that Datsyuk, when healthy, is the best player in the world. Nyquist, who started the season in the AHL, was one of the best players in the league in the second half, scoring 23 goals over a 28-game span. His last goal of the regular season was his game-winner against the Bruins, and he went his final six games without a tally. We’ll see if it’s just a cold snap or if he’s returned to earth. Both Helm and Abdelkader have the kind of speed that can change a game. And while the Wings aren’t known as a physical team, they’re rugged enough to get to the net. See Franzen, Johan. Alfredsson has helped mitigate the lengthy losses of Datsyuk, who returned last week from a knee injury, and Henrik Zetterberg, who is expected to miss most, if not all, of the first round.

While the Wings have speed and skill, the Bruins have brawn, skill and balance. The team-leader in points, Krejci (69), was tied for 19th in the NHL. Nevertheless, the Bruins were third in the league in goals per game (3.15). They had seven players with 19 goals or more — Iginla and Bergeron both had 30 — and six with a plus-minus of 28 or more (Krejci, Bergeron and Marchand were 1-2-3 in the league). This time, at least, that

firepower should win out against a so-so Detroit defense. However, if Kelly (back spasms) and Paille (possible concussion) are out for long, and Zetterberg can return before this series is out, all bets are off.

Edge:

Bruins

DEFENSE

BRUINS

Zdeno Chara Dougie Hamilton

ANDREJ MESZAROS

Matt Bartkowski

Johnny Boychuk

Torey Krug Kevan Miller

RED WINGS

Niklas Kronwall Brendan Smith

Danny DeKeyser Kyle Quincey

Jakub Kindl Brian Lashoff

Skinny: Kronwall is the pick of this group, and when he’s on the ice, the B’s need to be aware. He has the ability to knock players out of the lineup. His partner of late, Smith, has some good offensive skills but is susceptible to turnovers. At one point this season he was even moved up to forward. The 24-year-old DeKeyser is developing into a player who could be a stalwart on the blue line for years to come. Quincey was a minus-14 in the first two months of the season, but he’s gotten a little better as the season’s gone on.

The B’s, meanwhile, have managed to not only survive the loss of Dennis Seidenbeg, but maintain their stingy ways. Bartkowski may not have stepped right into the veteran’s skates — and Andrej Meszaros may likely get the nod in Game 1, if for no other reason than Bartkowski has been battling the flu — but the B’s have handled the loss of Seidenberg with their usual stellar team defense. They’ve allowed just 2.08 goals-per-game, second in the NHL. Miller has emerged as a perfect replacement for the injured Adam McQuaid. At times, he’s taken late-game shifts with Chara. Hamilton may not yet be a No. 1 defenseman, but he’s showing signs that he could get there.

Edge:

Bruins

GOALTENDING

BRUINS

Tuukka Rask

Chad Johnson

RED WINGS

Jimmy Howard

Jonas Gustavsson

Skinny: Howard is a very good goalie, despite his pedestrian numbers (2.66 GAA, .910 save percentage). But Rask is the favorite for the Vezina Trophy for good reason. He led the league in shutouts (7) and was in the top five in save percentage (.930, second) and goals against (2.04, fourth). A year ago, the question was whether Rask could hold up over the long haul of the playoffs, but he answered that with a run to the Finals. No such questions exist this time around.

Edge:

Bruins

SPECIAL TEAMS

Skinny: The B’s revamped things on their long-suffering power play with marvelous results. After years of struggles, the B’s PP was ranked third in the league with a 21.7 percent success rate while the Red Wings were in the bottom half of the league (18th) with a 17.7 percent rate. On the penalty

kill, a handful of really bad games landed the B’s eighth in the league with an 83.6 percent kill rate while the Wings finished 12th at 83 percent. Keep in mind, the Wings earned 52 more power plays then the B’s this season, while Detroit had to kill 32 more penalties than the B’s.

Edge:

Bruins

COACHING

BRUINS

Claude Julien

RED WINGS

Mike Babcock

Skinny: At long last, Julien is now appreciated in this city as being one of the best coaches in the league, and deservedly so. But he just might be going up against the best in Babcock. He’s been to the Finals three times, twice with Detroit and once with Anaheim, and has won the Cup once to go along with two Game 7 defeats. He’s also coached two Olympic gold medal-winning teams (Julien assisted on the second one).

But this season may have been his finest coaching job, getting the injury-strapped Wings into the playoffs despite long-term injuries to several stars. For his part, Julien had to deal with the sizable loss of both Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid. Both coaches deserve some consideration for the Jack Adams, but Julien himself said recently that Babcock was worthy of the award this year.

Edge:

Red Wings

THE PICK

Bruins in 7:

The first round is often the most difficult and, though the B’s earned most of the checkmarks here, the Wings are a tenacious bunch. They beat favored Anaheim as a seventh seed last year and took eventual champion Chicago to seven games.

STATS

Playoff history

1941: Bruins, 4-0 (Finals)

1942: Detroit, 2-0 (Semifinals)

1943: Detroit, 4-0 (Finals)

1945: Detroit, 4-3 (Semifinals)

1946: Bruins, 4-1 (Semifinals)



Boston vs. Detroit this season

BOS DET

Home record31-7-3 18-13-10

Road record23-12-6 21-15-5

Goals per game3.15 2.65

Goals against per game2.08 2.70

Power play21.7% 17.7%

Penalty kill83.6% 83%

Blocked shots1051 1014

Hits2008 1621

Giveaways 608 602

Takeaways552 512

Faceoffs51.6% 50.8%

Plus/minusplus-80 minus-4

PIMs per game10.8 8.8

Major penalties46 9

Minor penalties292 311



Key factor on the line for the Bruins


Steve Conroy

The Bruins would not have raised the Stanley Cup in 2011 if not for the third line of Chris Kelly, Michael Ryder and Rich Peverley. The trio was especially effective in the life-and-death struggle with the Canadiens in the first round.

Now the B’s, who’ll get down to business tonight in Game 1 against the Detroit Red Wings at the Garden, hope their current third line can do what that ’11 version did.

In the regular season, the third line of center Carl Soderberg, left winger Kelly and right winger Loui Eriksson helped turn the Bruins from just another good team at the top of the league to one that most pundits view as the Stanley Cup favorite.

But whether that success can carry into the postseason remains to be seen. Complicating matters is that Kelly is battling a wonky back and is a question mark for tonight. He missed the last three regular season games and has not practiced all week.

In his stead has been rookie Justin Florek, called up from Providence this week. The trio played one meaningless game together in the regular-season finale in New Jersey, so coach Claude Julien had no idea what we might see tonight if that’s the third line the B’s play.

“All I know is that (Florek’s) been a good player when he’s been called up a few games,” the coach said. “So sometimes you put guys together but you haven’t seen them much, so you hope it’s going to turn out well. But like everybody else, I’m not guaranteeing anything because I don’t know either. So hopefully it works out, and if not, as a coach, you’ve got to do something and find a solution.”

If Kelly can’t play, that would be a loss, both for the speed of the line and on the penalty kill, not to mention the fact his experience and leadership would be missed.

“We don’t know yet, but for sure, (Kelly) is an important player for us and we hope he’s back,” said Soderberg. “But it looks now like we’re playing with Flo and he’s a great skater, strong, and he can win battles. We’ve got to help him and find our game.”

As a fresh-faced rookie, the 6-foot-4, 199-pound Florek is straight out of central casting with his buzz cut and perma-smile. He opened eyes in Providence with a 19-goal season as well as a successful three-game stint in Boston earlier this season in which he had a goal and an assist.

“They’re two great guys to play with,” said Florek, “and they’re making it easy for me as well. I’m just looking forward to it and hopefully building chemistry along the way. Hopefully, if I do get the chance, we can do some damage in the playoffs.”

As with the longtime pairs of Patrice Bergeron-Brad Marchand and David Krejci-Milan Lucic, Soderberg and Eriksson have developed some good chemistry. Soderberg’s game blossomed since he moved to center for good in January while Eriksson, who battled though two concussions, began to flourish when playing with his Swedish countryman.

“It may be the style we play when we were a little bit younger, keeping the puck and making small passes to each other,” said Eriksson about his chemistry with Soderberg. “He’s a great player with the puck and with his big body he can make really good plays. We’re just trying to build on every game and every practice.”

Eriksson will be in the postseason for the first time since 2008.

“It’s been a while since I played in the playoffs and I think this is a good team to get back in it with,” he said. “They’re an experienced team and they know what it takes to win and I’m just happy to be a part of it. I think they’ll help me out and I’m looking forward to it.”

Soderberg got a small taste of the playoffs last year after he came over from Sweden in March.

However, he’s far more prepared to contribute this season.

“I’m in better shape now for sure, but I think the biggest thing last year was that I didn’t play games before I got here and it was hard to find your game right away,” said Soderberg. “Playoff hockey, everyone’s battling a little harder, but it’s still a hockey game. They’re going to battle hard, we’re going to battle hard, but we just have to keep calm and focus on the game.”



Bruins shop pops up by TD Garden today


Kathryn Breen

Just in time for the Bruins’ first playoff game, a unique shopping experience for fans is springing up today outside the TD Garden.

As part of a partnership between the team and Reebok, the first Bruins pop-up shop will open at 4:30 p.m. and stay open until the end of tonight’s game against the Detroit Red Wings.

The pop-up shop is in a large shipping container and will carry a variety of items from playoff apparel to headgear to jerseys. Fans can also enjoy pregame events and giveaways, including photos in front of a Bruins backdrop and prizes, said Keith Leach, NHL market director for Reebok International.

“A large amount of people will have access without having to go into the stadium itself,” Leach said of the location next to North Station.

The Reebok-supplied merchandise will include specially designed Bruins graphics only available at the shop and in the team store. Similar pop-up shops appeared in Los Angeles and Chicago during their Stadium Series promotions, but this will be a first for Bruins fans.

The shop will open before each home Bruins playoff game and, depending on the public’s interest, Bruins management may also decide to keep the shop open during away games, Leach said.



Dramatic opening act: Detroit Red Wings pose latest 1st-round challenge

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Stephen Harris

It is often said the first roundof the Stanley Cup playoffs is the hardest.

That could well be the case for the Bruins, who have been rewarded for compiling the best record in the National Hockey League during the regular season by drawing the talented and experienced Detroit Red Wings as their opening-round opponent, starting tonight at the Garden.

In the first playoff meeting between the Original Six teams since 1957, the Bruins are widely favored to win the series — and, indeed, the Cup. But they face a formidable challenge right out of the gate. It’s hardly the first time.

In each of the last three playoffs — two of which resulted in the Bruins reaching the Cup final — the team’s first-round series went to seven hard-fought games. They won two and lost one, but really, a bounce here or there might have created three different results.

Does anyone expect anything different this time around?

“Every first round for us has been a challenge,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien after his injury- and illness-weakened team skated yesterday at the Garden.

“It’s an issue that (exists) around the league,” said Julien. “I said (Wednesday) I heard about 40 percent of the series are upsets in the first round. So it happens to a lot of teams.

“You have (favored) teams that have high expectations; you have (underdog) teams that have nothing to lose and everything to gain. So that certainly makes that first round a challenge in itself. So we certainly learned from all those Game 7s that we’ve had to go through in the first round.”

The Bruins survived a Game 7 thriller against Montreal in 2011 on Nathan Horton’s overtime goal. The following year they exited in similar fashion, as Washington’s Joel Ward scored in OT to end Game 7. And last year, of course, the B’s needed a miracle to rally from two goals down with 1:22 left — then beat Toronto on Patrice Bergeron’s OT goal.

This year, perhaps the Bruins will roll through the playoffs just as they rolled through the league the last three months — going 25-4-7 in their last 36 games. There’s hardly any guarantee that’s how will it go, but that’s kind of what Boston fans expect.

And the Bruins are well aware of that. They know what’s expected.

“I think we added a little extra pressure on ourselves this year by finishing first,” said Brad Marchand. “There are a lot of big expectations coming out of that.

“But right now every team is in the same position: We’re all at Square One. We have a lot of work to do. Every team starts with exactly the same opportunity to win a series. We’re all at 0-0, and whoever plays better comes out on top.

“We have to make sure we use our experience to our advantage. We have been in a lot of Game 7s the past few years. We’ve got to be prepared for a long series and make sure we come to the rink every day ready to play.”

The last thing the Bruins players want to be thinking about in the run-up to tonight’s playoff opener is winning the Cup — not even if that’s what so many fans are already anticipating.

“We’re not thinking we have to (win the Cup),” said Marchand. “We want to. We want to win the Cup. Everybody wants to. But there’s a long process to do that. You can’t look too far ahead; you’ve got to take it game-by-game, especially with a team like Detroit. They’re a phenomenal team. They won more games than we did against each other this year. We have a huge job ahead of us.”

The series figures to be a clash of different hockey styles. To put it simply: The fast and talented Wings vs. the grinding and physical B’s.

“There are two different styles,” said Marchand. “It should make for an interesting series. They’re a great team over there — a lot of skill and they like to play with the puck. We like to play physical and grind it out. It’ll be interesting to see which way it goes.

“For us, we have to focus on what we do best and not worry too much about them. Just play our game and let them adapt to us. I think we play our best when we’re doing that. Just play our system. We’ve got to be sure we establish that early.”

Just as the Bruins have, along with their grit and ability to grind teams physically, plenty of speed and talent, the Red Wings are not some soft, Euro-style club.

“No, no, they’re not,” said Marchand. “They play a skilled game, but they’ve got guys who are going to battle; they’ve got a lot of big forwards, big (defensemen), and they come at you hard. So when we push on them, and they push back, I’m sure it’s going to make for a fun series.”

There’s also, obviously, a great deal of mutual respect and admiration between these squads. Will that mean universally clean and gentlemanly play in this series?

Geez, we hope not.

“We play our best when we’re emotionally involved,” said Marchand. “If we’re getting upset and running around a bit, it makes us a good team. We’ve got to find a way to do that, and hopefully we can establish that early.”

Playing with a passion and maybe a good dose of hatred makes the Bruins a much better team. Maybe if they can get the emotions cranked up early, they’ll never have to worry about a Game 7.



Bruins set for fresh start after regular season


Associated Press

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins won the Presidents' Trophy by leading the NHL with 117 points.

Another number shows just how much, or little, that means.

"I heard about 40 percent of the series are upsets in the first round," Boston coach Claude Julien said.

"You have teams that have high expectations. You have teams that have nothing to lose and everything to gain. So that certainly makes that first round a challenge."

That begins for top-seeded Boston on Friday night against eighth-seeded Detroit.

The Red Wings had 24 fewer points in the regular season but went 3-1 against the Bruins, a sign that Detroit's speedy, puck-possession style can overcome Boston's physical approach.

"I think we're complete," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "I think we're way better than people think."

A glance at the past three seasons should convince the Bruins not to take a first-round opponent lightly.

They had the better seed in each of those series, but played the full seven games in all of them including a loss to Washington in 2012.

"We certainly learned from all those Game 7s that we've had to go through in the first round that it is important to be on top of your game at the end of the year and not limp in to the playoffs," Julien said, "which I thought we did at times after we solidified our playoff spot."

Another lesson could keep the Bruins from losing focus. They scored the third-most goals in the NHL this season, but Pittsburgh led the league a year earlier then got just two goals in a four-game sweep at the hands of Boston in the Eastern Conference final.

"I feel comfortable with the fact that we have some depth at scoring this year, a little bit more than we did last year," Julien said. "We really limited Pittsburgh to very few goals with a lot of goal scorers there.

"So, again, nothing is guaranteed in the playoffs. You've got to work for your goals. Just because you got them during the season doesn't mean you're necessarily going to get them automatically in the playoffs."

The Bruins lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games in last year's Stanley Cup final. Expectations are for Boston, the 2011 Cup winners, to make another solid run at the title.

"All of the pressure is going to be on them," Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard said. "They've got to win, we're not supposed to. We've got to make it as hard as possible on them."

Five other things to look for when two members of the Original Six meet in the first round:

INJURY LIST: Center Henrik Zetterberg (back surgery) and defenseman Jonathan Ericsson (broken finger) are expected to miss the series for Detroit. "We were always shooting for Round 2," Zetterberg said. "If it's just before that I will be happy." Bruins forward Chris Kelly (back) and Daniel Paille (head) missed practice Thursday. "Hopefully, it continues to improve, which it has this week," Julien said.

GOALIE MATCHUP: Boston has the edge in goal with Tuukka Rask, who led the NHL with seven shutouts and was second with a 9.30 save percentage. Howard was 36th with a 9.10 save percentage while posting two shutouts. But Boston had a better defense in front of Rask, despite the loss of Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid for much of the season. Seidenberg is expected to miss the playoffs, while McQuaid's return is uncertain.

POWER PLAY: Boston improved its power play this season and finished third by scoring on 21.7 percent of its chances. Detroit was 18th at 17.7 percent. "They have two different looks," Babcock said. "They have a spread power play in the one group and an overload with (Patrice) Bergeron high in the other. ... They can't run, go crazy on the power play for us to have success."

HUNGRY IGINLA: Still an outstanding scorer at age 36, Boston right wing Jarome Iginla has never won a Stanley Cup in 15 seasons with Calgary and last year when he was traded from the Flames to Pittsburgh. Detroit, in the playoffs for the 23rd straight time, will have its hands full trying to stop him, left wing Milan Lucic and center David Krejci on Boston's top line. "This is as good a chance as I believe I've had" to win the Stanley Cup, said Iginla, whose 30 goals tied Bergeron for the team lead.

OLYMPIC REUNION: Bruins forward Loui Eriksson played with Red Wings defensemen Niklas Kronwall and Eriksson and forwards Zetterberg and Daniel Alfredsson on Sweden's team that won the silver medal at the Olympics. Babcock was head coach and Julien was an assistant for Canada's team that won the gold medal. "What Claude does is he's well prepared, he's a good man, treats people well, he's a high-end coach," Babcock said, "and you know they've built something special that they're good year after year after year."



Bruins still skating shorthanded


Steve Conroy

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Detroit Red Wings is a little more than 24 hours away and, right now at least, it looks like the B's won't have three players that they expected to be in the lineup a week ago.

Daniel Paille (possible concussion), Chris Kelly (back spasms) and Matt Bartkowski (possible flu) all missed practice today and, at this stage, it's a good bet they won't go in Game 1. Coach Claude Julien was not ready to make any announcements on any of those players, however.

"I don't know if it's official yet on any of that stuff. Today was another day where we added another player, so we'll see what tomorrow brings. It's hard for me to start giving you my lineup when we don't know what's happening from day-to-day. Hopefully we'll continue to improve, which it has this week and we'll go from there," said Julien.

The B's did get Kevan Miller back today. The defenseman had missed two days of practice with the suspected flu bug.

Justin Florek continued to hold down Kelly's spot on the third line with Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson while Jordan Caron was in Paille's spot with Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton.

If both Kelly and Paille are unable to go, it would mean the B's take rather sizable hit in the speed department. It would also mean the loss of two regular penalty killers, which in turn could mean the B's would have to call on David Krejci and Jarome Iginla to do a little more of that work.

On the back end, Andrej Meszaros would plug in if Bartkowski couldn't go.

An already tough series is looking just little more difficult.


741395 Buffalo Sabres

Sabres’ ride reveals a lot in the rearview

By Mike Harrington | News Sports Columnist | @BNHarrington | Google+

on April 17, 2014 - 11:12 PM

To cover the worst season by an NHL club in the last 14 years – and probably the most bizarre campaign of any Buffalo sports team ever – the oddball places I drove through included North Dakota, West Virginia, Florida’s Alligator Alley and Alberta’s Deerfoot Trail while watching the most spectacular sunrise of my life. Airports and hotels were numerous, goals were not, but the whole thing was still one wacky ride.

So you think I’m going to stop talking hockey now just because I covered a 30th-place team? Right when it gets good? No chance. I’ve got plenty of ice chips and numerology floating through my head:

• The standings and the record-low goals-for total pretty much told the story of the Sabres’ season, but some of their other numbers are shockingly poor. Their 150 goals were not just the lowest in the post-expansion era dating to 1967, but were actually the fewest in a full season since Boston had 147 in a 70-game campaign in 1955-56.

The Sabres led after one period an NHL-low 12 times in 82 games, going 4-6-2 in those games for a .333 winning percentage. No other team was below .556 and there were 23 teams over .700 when leading after one.

The Sabres were just 9-15-7 when scoring first, for a .290 percentage. Edmonton was next lowest at .486 and there were 14 teams over .700.

The Sabres were 6-0-3 when leading after two periods. No other team led after 40 minutes fewer than 16 times or won fewer than 15 games. There were 25 teams that won at least 21 games in those spots. Staggering stuff but not hard to fathom for a team that won 11 games in regulation out of 82.

Clear moral: If you don’t score, you don’t get leads, you never add on in the rare times you have them and you don’t hold them. Draft scorers.

• How about a Tim Murray news conference every day? Even if there’s no information, it would be worth it just from the entertainment end.

• But on the subject of information, here’s my annual shake of the head about the way the Sabres treat it. Everyone knew Ted Nolan’s assistant coaches were getting fired. It had been reported on the radio and in this newspaper. A couple of them were even saying their good-byes the last few days on the side.

The Sabres should have announced their dismissal at their wrap-up presser Tuesday. To have Nolan say there’s still “evaluation” going on and then to announce the whackings the next day without comment was completely disingenuous. Sure smells like the Sabres were just hoping they could win the lottery and have a full day of “positive” news, as well as keeping the coach from answering questions on the decision.

Credibility continues to be a problem for this organization. What else did they flat-out lie about during that presser? Time will tell.

• The Columbus Blue Jackets have played 13 seasons, made the playoffs just twice and have lost all five postseason games they played. In the Sabres’ first 13 seasons, they qualified for the playoffs 10 times, captured nine series and won 41 playoff games.

• The Sabres have four former captains playing for other teams in the playoffs in Daniel Briere, Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek and Steve Ott. That’s pretty hard to do.

• Speaking of Briere and Vanek, they sure looked good in Montreal’s opener against Tampa. No surprise in either case. Briere, of course, has a long history of clutch playoff performances and his assist on Dale Weise’s overtime goal was his 110th career playoff point in 109 games. He ended the regular season with 299 career goals and 684 points.

Vanek, meanwhile, torments Tampa. He has 25 goals and 40 points in 36 regular-season games against the Lightning. He has 277 career goals and should join Briere in the 300 club next season.

• The analytics hounds have been railing in glee over the way they correctly projected the Toronto Maple Leafs’ brutal puck possession numbers would

eventually catch up to them. You don’t hear them much, of course, when their theories don’t mesh, but I digress.

Good advanced numbers pointed to the Los Angeles Kings having a long playoff run in 2012 and it resulted in a Stanley Cup. The Kings are at the top of lots of charts again this spring, and it would be no shock to see them get out of the West.

• It has been a long time since I’ve seen a hockey player joyously smile about being in the NHL as much as Sabres goalie Nathan Lieuwen did the last three weeks.

The kid was an ECHL goalie, worked hard in Rochester to wrest the starting job from Matt Hackett, got an unexpected call to the NHL and then got to start at home in Vancouver.

Lieuwen got taken out by a cheap elbow to the head from Philadelphia’s Jay Rosehill that caused a concussion and you wondered if it was career-threatening, since Lieuwen dealt with concussion issues from a car accident as a teenager. So it was great to chat with him on locker cleanout day, see he was still smiling about his season and hear he could play for Rochester if the Amerks keep advancing in the Calder Cup playoffs.

• On the Amerks front, you know Murray is thrilled that they have pushed their way into the postseason, and there will be plenty of celebration tonight in Blue Cross Arena in the final home game of the regular season.

With a good roster augmented by the likes of Mark Pysyk, Johan Larsson, Rasmus Ristolainen, Mikhail Grigorenko, Nick Deslauriers and Andrey Makarov, the Amerks rate as a decent AHL dark horse.

Now the sobering news: The Amerks are likely headed to the 2-7 matchup in the AHL West against defending Cup champion Grand Rapids, and the Detroit affiliate has owned Rochester this year. The Griffins took all four meetings by a combined 21-4, including an 8-1 shellacking in the season opener at BCA and a 5-1 domination Feb. 8 in First Niagara Center.

Buffalo News LOADED: 04.18.2014

741396 Buffalo Sabres

Turd Burger can't match the Slug as Sabres fail to crack Top 25 in jersey sales on NHL website

April 17, 2014 - 12:55 PM

By John Vogl

When the Sabres rolled out radically different jerseys in 2006, fans didn't really like the "slug" design. It didn't stop them from buying them, though, as the Sabres dominated the sales chart on NHL.com.

A redesign failed to work this time.

The Sabres rolled out new third jerseys this season, and they were met with insults and sales apathy. Dubbed the "Turd Burger" after Sabres President Ted Black said he'd put them on a bun and eat them if sales failed, the dual-colored sweaters failed to make the Top 25 on Shop.NHL.com, according to the league's media relations department.

Jerseys

While the jersey itself failed to capture the fans' imagination and pocketbooks, sales were also doomed by a lack of stars in Buffalo. Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, Ryan Miller and Maxim Afinogenov were among those who had legions of jersey-buying faithful in 2006-07, when the Sabres went to the Eastern Conference finals for a second straight time. The key players in Buffalo this season were Miller, Steve Ott and Thomas Vanek, but it was clear they wouldn't be with the rebuilding organization for long. Fans had no clear-cut favorite to put on their back for the long term.

Buffalo News LOADED: 04.18.2014

741397 Calgary Flames

These six guys show there's reason for optimism in Calgary

By WES GILBERTSON ,Calgary Sun

First posted: Thursday, April 17, 2014 07:07 PM MDT | Updated: Thursday, April 17, 2014 09:44 PM MDT

Does a 27th-place team deserve its own all-star squad? Probably not.

The consensus, however, on the 2013-14 edition of the Calgary Flames is that the just-completed season was highlighted by signs of progress and plenty of positives for the future of the Saddledome-dwellers.

With that in mind, meet the Flames' Ya-Gotta-Believe Team -- three forwards, two defencemen and a netminder who provide the most hope that the rebuild is on the right track. When the Flames climb back into the playoff picture, these guys will likely be big reasons for it.

A credit to the current cast of Flames, these weren't the only candidates.

Fearless shot-blocker Lance Bouma is blossoming into the type of blood-and-guts guy that every wannabe contender needs on their roster. Skilled centre Markus Granlund, steady defenceman Tyler Wotherspoon and Hobey Baker Award-winner Johnny Gaudreau also showed well in short stints with the Flames late in the season, but they were left out because of a limited sample-size.

Without further ado, here's your Calgary Flames' Ya-Gotta-Believe Team for 2013-14 ...

FORWARDS

Mikael Backlund

Flames head coach Bob Hartley was guilty of a bit of hyperbole when he claimed last month Backlund is "starting to be probably one of the best two-way centremen in this league."

It's true, though, that Backlund has emerged as the Flames' best two-way centre, and that's a good place to start.

Depending on who you believe, it's possible the only reason Backlund is still on Calgary's roster -- let alone the Ya-Gotta-Believe Team -- is there were no attractive bids when he was dangled as trade bait in November.

He's not going anywhere now. The Flames' first-round pick in the '07 NHL Draft, Backlund scored a career-high 18 goals and likely would have had more if not for a late-season hand injury. More impressive, the 25-year-old had most of those tallies while matched up against the top line from the opposition.

Backlund's breakout season is evidence it's far too early to give up on 21-year-old Sven Baertschi, the skilled left-winger who is toiling at AHL Abbotsford.

Joe Colborne

You could probably hear a collective 'Huh?!?' from fans in Calgary when Flames president of hockey operations Brian Burke told reporters he hoped to mould Colborne -- the local lad he'd acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs -- into the second coming of defensive-minded faceoff specialist David Steckel.

After spending most of this season in the minor leagues, Steckel might be trying to figure out how he can be the next coming of Colborne.

Although the Calgary-raised centre had skated in only 16 NHL games prior to this season, the Flames gave Colborne an opportunity to prove he could be a full-timer and he didn't let it go to waste.

He scored 10 goals, was effective in shootouts and seems to have found a home on the right wing. Best of all, it's encouraging to think that at 24, this could be the summer he's able to add some more muscle to his 6-foot-5 frame.

Sean Monahan

The Flames insisted prior to the '13 NHL Draft in New Jersey they would be cashing in the sixth-overall pick on a guy who was ready for big-league duties right away.

They called Monahan's name, and the skilled centre certainly held up his end of the bargain.

Monahan scored six times over his first eight outings at the NHL level, making it impossible for the Flames to return him to the OHL's Ottawa 67's for another junior campaign.

Although everybody knew he wouldn't be able to maintain that torrid pace, Monahan hit the 20-goal plateau, becoming the first Flames rookie to reach that mark since Dion Phaneuf in '05-06 and the first freshman forward since eventual face-of-the-franchise Jarome Iginla in '96-97. In fact, Monahan's 22 tallies this season is the most by a Flames rookie since '89-90.

The 19-year-old not only showed he can score in this league, he has all the makings of a reliable two-way centre.

DEFENCEMEN

Mark Giordano

At 30, Giordano doesn't exactly fit the age bracket you'd normally have in mind for the Ya-Gotta-Believe Team.

The reason he was a no-brainer is the example he sets in his role as captain.

Even if Giordano's best years are behind him by the time the Flames' youngsters hit their prime, there's little doubt his leadership will have a lasting impact.

Since the 'C' was stitched on his jersey in September, it's been oh-so-clear Giordano is the heartbeat of this hockey team. When your captain is among your hardest workers and is willing to sacrifice his body at all times, everybody else follows.

Further reason for optimism, Giordano found another level this season, establishing new career-highs with 14 goals and 47 points and even earning the attention of Team Canada's braintrust before the '14 Sochi Olympics. All indications are he has lots of good hockey left in him.

TJ Brodie

Giordano's defence partner on the ice is also his sidekick on our Ya-Gotta-Believe Team.

The more you watch Brodie, the more you'll marvel at his skating ability and his knack for using his wheels to escape potentially disastrous situations in the defensive zone.

The 23-year-old settled for a two-year bridge contract as a restricted free agent last summer, but he's proving he's worth a long-term investment, and the Flames won't mind forking over big bucks if he continues to blossom into a bonafide top-pairing blueliner.

Before missing Sunday's season finale in Vancouver due to an undisclosed injury, Brodie had the Flames' longest active ironman streak, at 128 games. He also ranked third on the team this season with 27 assists, which is more than double his previous career-high.

The coaching staff has been pestering Brodie -- admittedly a pass-first sort -- to pull the trigger more often, and his goal totals should rise as he puts more emphasis on shooting instead of looking to tee up a teammate.

GOALIE

Joni Ortio

I don't know much about puck-stopping mechanics, but you don't need pads in your garage or a Vezina Trophy on your mantle to be wowed by Ortio's composure and mental makeup.

The 23-year-old doesn't seem to get rattled, and that's a great sign for a young goalie.

You could argue the netminder for the Ya-Gotta-Believe Team should be Karri Ramo, who was stellar during the final stretch and -- at 27 -- is the same age Miikka Kiprusoff was when he made the leap from unknown to often-unbeatable.

Ortio, though, is the most fascinating of Calgary's puck-stopping candidates.

In a nine-game audition with the Flames (I know, small sample-size), he posted a 4-4 record and a 2.51 goals-against average.

Ortio was also named the team MVP for the AHL's Abbotsford Heat, but he could return to the farm -- wherever it is -- next season because the Flames want him to continue to see a ton of pucks instead of serve as a backup.

Calgary Sun: LOADED: 04.18.2014

741398 Chicago Blackhawks

Hawks lost this one early

Steve Rosenbloom

The RosenBlog

12:21 AM CDT, April 18, 2014

You know what was aggravating about the Blackhawks?

A lack of killer instinct, that’s what.

They didn’t need to go to two overtimes in the playoff opener against the Blues because Jonathan Toews got hurt in each one. This, mind you, coming in the captain’s first game back from injury.

And they most certainly didn’t need the third overtime because they gave up the goal that won it for the Blues.

But still, the most aggravating part was the Hawks could’ve won this game four periods earlier.

Should’ve won this game four periods earlier.

The Hawks held a 3-2 lead and had enough opportunities to make it, I don’t know, 6-2 and see ya later.

Before the period was half over, the Hawks created at least four great chances in about four minutes, any one of which likely would’ve chased Ryan Miller from the Blues net.

But no.

Patrick Sharp, Nick Leddy and Patrick Kane all failed to bury the puck and bury Miller. That's what those guys are there for: to bury pucks and goalies.

The Hawks created a couple other scrambles in front, but they got nothing against a goalie who got a sarcastic cheer in his home building on his first save of the second period after allowing three goals on seven shots in the first 20 minutes.

The Hawks blew a chance to run Miller not only from the game but also maybe the series. That’s how fragile the Blues goalie seemed to be after losing his last five games in the regular season to go along with a save percentage of .865.

Then the Hawks turned so bad that they couldn’t even get off shots, with the likes of Sharp and Duncan Keith failing to catch passes and control the puck.

The Hawks lost all aggressiveness and puck possession in the third period, conceding two-thirds of the ice and of course the Blues banged in the tying goal late.

And if all that wasn’t aggravating enough, the Hawks blew power plays in each of the first two overtimes.

The Hawks are faster and more talented than the Blues. They have to be more dangerous with the puck. They have to be sharper moving it and deadlier shooting it.

They failed badly in Game 1. Miller found his game in the second period. The Hawks let him. Champs should have a killer instinct long before overtime.

Chicago Tribune LOADED: 04.18.2014


Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane hook up early

By Chris Hine, Chicago Tribune reporter

12:37 AM CDT, April 18, 2014

ST. LOUIS — For the first time in his career, Patrick Kane is playing with a knee brace.

With only a few weeks to get ready for the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Blackhawks winger has done all he could to get accustomed to it — walking, skating, working out with it most of his waking hours.

And even some of the hours he wasn't awake.

"He sleeps with it," said Bryan Bickell, who is no stranger to knee braces. "I was like I don't want to do that — I want to sleep."

For Kane and captain Jonathan Toews, Thursday was their long-awaited return to the ice from injury with Game 1 of the opening round NHL playoff series with the Blues representing a necessary adjustment period for both. Kane insisted before the game his new equipment would not be a bother.

"As I play a little bit more hopefully I get comfortable with playing again," Kane said. "I was a little nervous and anxious before the game to get back."

He's certainly comfortable enough, even though the Hawks dropped a 4-3 decision early in the third overtime period. If there was a silver lining from the defeat, it's that Toews and Kane seemed close to peak form after weeks of rehab and rest.

"They're fine," coach Joel Quenneville said. "Kaner made several nice plays, scored a nice goal. Jonny had nice plays as well. Both looked like they hadn't missed much at all. They were ready to go."

Late in the first period Toews found Kane streaking behind the Blues defense for a breakaway goal that gave the Hawks a 3-2 lead. Kane flicked a shot past Blues goaltender Ryan Miller for a seemingly easy score.

Toews and Kane seemed no worse for the wear early, but the overtimes were not especially kind to Toews. He seemed shaken up after an apparent slash from Blues center Steve Ott in the first overtime.

He returned for the second extra session but was rattled again after a pair of hits from Roman Polak and Ryan Reaves, who drew a penalty for his hit and left Toews bleeding from his face and grabbing the injured left arm that kept him out of the final six games of the regular season. But he returned and finished the game. He left the dressing room gingerly after the game.

Contrast that with before the game, when both Toews and Kane cracked smiles when asked how it felt, after weeks of rehab, to take the ice again.

"After a while, you get sick of skating with the assistant coaches, all the workouts and the amount of time you're spending at the rink just rehabbing, trying to get better," Kane said. "It was a good process for me. It's something maybe you look back on and learn from."

Said Toews: "I'm as confident as ever."

They just need to keep that confidence up for the rest of the Hawks.

"We're going to keep the morale and keep the feeling in the locker room positive and feeling good," Toews said. "Let this one sink in and maybe we can be a little bit ticked about it for a few moments here and then tonight and tomorrow it's time to move on and get ready for the next one."



T.J. Oshie out, but Vladimir Tarasenko back for Blues

By Chris Kuc and Chris Hine, Tribune reporters

9:11 PM CDT, April 17, 2014

ST. LOUIS — While the Blues were without one of their top players in T.J. Oshie for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Blackhawks, they did get the unexpected return of Vladimir Tarasenko.

The forward was expected to miss six weeks after surgery on his broken right thumb suffered in a game March 15, but Tarasenko made a quick recovery and opened on a line with Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Sobotka Thursday night at Scottrade Center and scored the Blues' second goal in the first period.

"(Tarasenko) deserves an awful lot of credit," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "He did the double extra duty to be physically conditioned and ready to play. He has worked extra hard to be in the best shape of his life right now, which is going to allow him to keep up at this time of year. Originally, it was no-go for the first round and now you're seeing a guy play Game 1, which is really significant."

Oshie, meanwhile, participated in the morning skate but missed his third consecutive game after suffering an upper-body injury April 10. The winger finished second on the Blues in scoring with 60 points (21 goals, 39 assists). Also sidelined for the Blues was center Patrik Berglund (upper body).

Time to shine: It's the playoffs. That means for the Hawks' benefit, it's time for Bryan Bickell to justify the four-year, $16 million contract he signed in the offseason after a dynamite playoff run last season.

It has been an up-and-down season for Bickell, but he and Hawks coach Joel Quenneville liked the way Bickell had been playing recently.

"I'm comfortable with where my game is," Bickell said. "From the start it was a struggle but the last couple of weeks it's getting better and better."

Bickell said his approach won't change much from the regular season.

"There aren't going to be many tic-tac-toe plays," Bickell said. "It's going to be getting the puck to the net and getting the second opportunities."

Cut above: Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad are sporting racing stripes on the sides of their heads after getting what is becoming an annual pre-playoffs haircut.

"I don't think it has anything to do with how we play as a team," Kane said. But after awhile when you're winning with this type of haircut, it's kind of something you have to go back to."

Shocking to no one is the fact teammate Jonathan Toews, aka Captain Serious, did not participate despite Kane's urging.

"He tried, but I know better than that," Toews said with a smile. "That's his thing. I'll let him have it."

On display: The Hawks' morning skate in advance of Game 3 on Monday at the United Center will be streamed live on chicagoblackhawks.com and on mobile devices via the team's official app beginning at 10 a.m.



Blues beat Blackhawks 4-3 in triple overtime

By Chris Kuc, Chicago Tribune reporter

12:58 AM CDT, April 18, 2014

ST. LOUIS — Buckle up, Blackhawks fans, this has the makings of some kind of thrill ride.

Trailing the defending Stanley Cup champions late in regulation, the Blues rallied for a 4-3 victory in triple-overtime in Game 1 of the first round of the NHL playoffs Thursday night at Scottrade Center.

The Hawks were within 1 minute, 45 seconds of seizing home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series when Jaden Schwartz scored to tie it up and Alexander Steen eventually notched the game-winner 26 seconds into the third extra period as the Blues snapped a six-game losing skid that ended their regular season.

In a game that pretty much had everything from highlight-reel goals to crunching hits to acrobatic saves, the Blues drew first blood — literally — in the series that will continue Saturday with Game 2 in St. Louis.

"It's not fun to lose those ones," Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said afterward, blood flowing from above his right eye. "When you go the length of a game like that you want to find a way to win. It's disappointing but it's a long series."

Adam Cracknell and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for the Blues while goaltender Ryan Miller out-dueled Corey Crawford to earn the victory.

Brent Seabrook had a goal and an assist, Patrick Kane and Johnny Oduya scored and Toews added two assists for the Hawks but it wasn't enough.

"It was definitely a tough loss," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "We had a couple of opportunities, really good looks and it's obviously disappointing at the end of the game.

"We have to find a way to win a game in here. It's going to be exciting about the opportunity that's in front of us, knowing we have to keep getting better every game."

It was a breakneck pace from opening puck drop and the crowd of 19,423 roared with every check and missed opportunity. The Blues stayed true to form and hit everything that moved to control the pace early on.

Cracknell opened the scoring when he banged in a rebound of a Chris Porter shot. Oduya answered when the defenseman controlled the puck, took advantage of open ice to move into the left circle and ripped a shot that Miller got a piece of but watched as it trickled across the line.

The Hawks cashed in on a power play a short time later when Kris Versteeg showed great patience with the puck as he skated behind the Hawks net with his head up. The winger eventually found Seabrook pinching in and fed the defenseman with a pass that Seabrook fired past Miller with a one-timer.

The Blues tied it 2-2 on Tarasenko's score from the slot and then Kane and Toews worked magic to swing the momentum toward the Hawks.

Kane made his way behind the Blues defense and Toews hit him with a stretch pass that sent Kane in on Miller on a breakaway. The veteran goalie never moved as Kane rifled a shot through his pads.

The second period was quite a bit more low-key as neither team scored. The Hawks' defense was particularly stingy as it held the Blues to just three shots on goal. Two of them, however, were excellent scoring chances but Crawford came up big with stops on Tarasenko and Steve Ott, respectively.

The Hawks were closing in on the victory when Schwartz chipped in a backhander in the waning minutes.

The overtimes were a roller-coaster ride, including when Versteeg beat Miller with a shot but Blues teammate Maxim Lapierre made the save while down in the crease. In the second OT, Miller stoned Patrick Sharp on a breakaway.

"I think we needed it to show that stretch we had to finish the season is behind us," Miller said. "But we have to understand they're a very talented team. It took us a hard-fought game to squeeze out a victory. They have a ton of talent and they have the experience of winning."

Twice during the overtimes Toews was doubled-over in pain on the bench after hits, and once had to have blood flowing from his nose stopped after a check from the Blues' Ryan Reaves.

Steen ended it when he flipped in a shot from in close to end the longest game in Blues history.

"Every game is like that with Chicago and us," Steen said. "We said it before the series started: This is going to be a heck of a series."

Said Toews: "It was a tough game and I think we were good at not giving up too many chances. But when we did, they were pretty high-quality chances and obviously that ended up hurting us.

"It was one of those first games that could go either way. We'll find a way to put it behind us and we'll be even better in the next game."

Toews said the Blues' physical play, which included big hits along the boards and some chippiness after whistles was not a surprise.

"It's what we expected," Toews said. "We can work on returning the favor a little bit. But for the most part, we did a good job of staying away from stuff after the whistle and found a way to draw penalties. We just have to try and find a way to take advantage of the power plays."



Blackhawks' Toews raring to go vs. Blues

By Chris Kuc

Tribune reporter

2:07 PM CDT, April 17, 2014

ST. LOUIS -- Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews declared himself 100 percent ready both physically and mentally for Game 1 of the playoffs.

Toews and the Hawks kick off a best-of-seven series against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night at Scottrade Center and the captain was champing at the bit to hit the ice after sitting out the last six games of the regular season with an upper-body injury.

'I don’t feel like I’ve missed out or lost on anything," Toews said after Thursday's morning skate. "It was just a short while to not be playing games, and I've been skating for the last week. I feel great and I have a lot of energy, not only physically but mentally. I think we’re all excited to play our first playoff game (Thursday night). It should be a lot of fun to get back at it."

Toews was injured when he was crunched into the boards by the Pittsburgh Penguins' Brooks Orpik during a game March 30. Toews said the time off could prove to be beneficial.

"I never want to miss games -- I don’t think anyone does -- but in a way, it’s helped me prepare for this series and to be ready to play the best hockey I’ve played all year," he said. "I feel I’m ready to do that."



Blues' Oshie, Berglund out for Game 1

By Chris Hine, Tribune reporter

1:34 PM CDT, April 17, 2014

ST. LOUIS -- Much like the Blackhawks, the Blues were hoping to get healthy in time for the playoffs.

But that won't be the case for St. Louis, who will be without forwards T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said.

Oshie skated with the team Thursday morning, but Hitchcock said he would not play because of an upper-body injury. Berglund is also out because of an upper-body injury.

In a bit of surprising news for the Blues, winger Vladimir Tarasenko will play for the first time after undergoing hand surgery that has kept him out since March 15.

Captain David Backes (foot) said he is ready to play even though he is wearing a walking cast when not on skates.



Kane says he won't be limited by knee brace

By Chris Hine, Tribune reporter

1:31 PM CDT, April 17, 2014

ST. LOUIS -- Patrick Kane never has played with a brace on his knee, but he has several teammates that have.

So over the past few weeks, Kane has consulted with them on how to handle the brace he is wearing to help protect his left knee.

And after skating eight or nine times with it, Kane said he won't be limited by the cumbersome brace in Game 1 against the Blues on Thursday night.

"Once you get used to it you’re fine," Kane said. "There’s guys that have probably played with this type of thing their whole career and even guys on our team that have played with it. I think you kind of get used to it as you start playing and skating with it."

Kane said he has full range of motion and can do everything he could do without wearing the brace.

"I feel like the same player," Kane said. "Once you kind of get into skating with the puck game situations like we’ve done in practices here, it’s kind of the last thing on my mind."



Playoff lies and the lying liars who tell them

Steve Rosenbloom

The RosenBlog

8:55 AM CDT, April 17, 2014

Everybody lies in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It’s a tradition older than playoff beards and booing Gary Bettman.

Injuries, player availability, the opponent, strategy -- you name it. Everybody lies.

If you didn’t know that Al Franken was writing about politics, you’d think his book “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them,’’ was about NHL teams in the postseason.

And so, in advance of Blackhawks-Blues on Thursday night, St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock had some things to say, and while he’s espousing a truism, there’s a whiff of untruthfulness about the way he wants his team to start the series.

OK, maybe more than a whiff.

The Hawks are a skilled team. They’re all about finesse. They don’t hit much, but they have won two Stanley Cups by absorbing them and displaying the discipline not to do something stupid.

Then there are the Blues, a big roughousing bunch. They have some skill, but it’s born of a desire to hit. They want to pound opponents. They want to deliver punishment, especially when it comes to the Hawks. They also can go stupid on you just like that.

But no, Hitchcock said, the Blues won’t go out of their way to try to beat up the Hawks.

“We have a design to our play, and when we get outside our play, we get beat,’’ Hitchcock said. “I think winning in the playoffs is about playing within yourself, but it’s also about playing within yourself as far as the system of play you play. When you start searching out body contact, or you start to think you can intimidate people with body contact, you’re wrong.’’

Wait, Hitchcock wants us to believe the Blues will back off, even though Patrick Kane has a sore knee and Jonathan Toews has a bad arm or shoulder?

Even though Marian Hossa always has something wrong?

Even though the Blues don’t have near the number of game-breaking players as the Hawks?

Sorry, not buying it.

The Blues always play as if they can’t beat the Hawks without beating them up. The Blues don’t score off the rush as much as they forecheck deep and create chances by winning board battles. But you can get caught if you miss the hit, and there go the Hawks with a home-run pass or an odd-man break.

Teams that have success against the Hawks rely less on forechecking than on clogging up the neutral zone to slow them down and disrupt their puck-possession game.

That takes precision and discipline, and here are the Blues, built to hit and built to hit in the Hawks’ end with whatever’s handy -- shoulder, fist, stick.

But Hitchcock wants the world to believe the Blues won’t pound and pummel and try to ruin every Hawks skill player. Yeah, right.

“From our standpoint, we have to play the right way and hope for good results,’’ Hitchcock said. “But going out and thinking we’re going to intimidate the Chicago Blackhawks is nuts. They’ve seen all of that before and they just play right through it.’’

Yep, the Hawks have played through that style. Played through all the talk, too.

Wear Kevlar just the same.



Game 1 stings, but talented Blackhawks should win series

BY RICK MORRISSEY Sports Columnist April 17, 2014 10:36PM

Updated: April 18, 2014 12:32AM

ST. LOUIS – If this series goes seven games, no one is going to survive.

Not the Blackhawks. Not the Blues. Not the viewing audience. And definitively not Hawks coach Joel Quenneville and his nether region.

A wildly entertaining, thoroughly exhausting night of hockey ended 26 seconds into the third overtime Thursday, with Alexander Steen beating Corey Crawford to give the Blues a 4-3 victory.

It was a game that threatened to go on forever. It was a game that tested physical and emotional limits.

It was also only Game 1 of a first-round series. Jeez.

Nobody wanted to give in. Certainly not the two goalies. Crawford and the Blues’ Ryan Miller were spectacular, trading big save after big save long into the night.

There were huge hits and lots of players with no concern for their own personal safety.

Raw emotion? Yeah, there was some of that too. Quenneville wanted a delay-of-game penalty in the second overtime. He was so incensed when there wasn’t a call, he grabbed his crotch with his right hand, a gesture a national TV camera caught. Officially, it was a lower-body protest. Unofficially, it was classic clutch-and-grab hockey, the message being, “I’ve got your no-call right here.’’

That’s how this series is going to be. Down and dirty. That would seem to favor the Blues, the rougher team, but I don’t think so. Talent usually wins out. The Hawks are more talented than the Blues. The good citizens of St. Louis might look upon that as a declaration of war rather than a declarative sentence. It’s not. It’s just the truth.

In hockey, a sport that looks down on all things pretentious, the word “talent’’ can be code for “soft” or “precious’’ or “wouldn’t know a check from a Chihuahua.’’

In this case, it means precisely what it’s supposed to mean. The Hawks are the more talented team and the team that should win this series.

Will they? I don’t know. It’s very possible that the puck won’t bounce their way, as the cliché goes. But all things being equal, the Hawks should come out of this alive and well. Remember, the visiting team took the home team to three overtimes.

“Let this one sink in and maybe we can be ticked off about it for a few moments here, but then tonight and tomorrow, it’s time to move on and get ready for the next one,’’ Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said.

If the Hawks can keep buzzing around the puck the way they did Thursday night and if they can get this Crawford for the rest of the playoffs, they’ll be lifting the Stanley Cup over their heads again in June. It’s really that simple. And that difficult.

A wild, amped-up first period served notice that both teams had something to prove. And in hindsight, it made perfect sense. The Blues were coming off a six-game losing streak and wanted to prove that it was a fluke. The Hawks had two players, Patrick Kane and Toews, who were itching to play again after injuries had caused them to miss the last 12 and six regular-season games, respectively.

What you had were two teams ready to explode. After 20 minutes of action and a 3-2 Hawks lead, you could be excused for thinking, “Why didn’t I see this coming?’’

It was the kind of period, and game, the Hawks want to play – fast and frenetic. Provided St. Louis doesn’t smear them all over the boards, it’s the kind of style that can get the Hawks past the team that was the league’s best for much of the season.

If Toews and Kane are any indication, there isn’t a whole lot of downside to resting players toward the end of the season. What’s not to like about fresh skaters? Rust? I didn’t see any rust. I saw two players who were everywhere on the ice.

The Hawks went into the first intermission with that 3-2 lead, thanks to a late breakaway goal by Kane, who took Toews’ long, pinpoint pass and beat Miller with a wicked wrist shot. It was a beautiful thing.

They were on the way to victory until the Blues’ Jaden Schwartz scored with 1:45 left in the regulation. And thus began a bedtime story that threatened have no ending.

The good news for the Hawks?

“I still think we can be better,’’ Kane said. “So that’s the exciting part going forward.’’

The Blues played their brand of hockey, which skates the fine line between misdemeanor and felony. Muscle works. But it doesn’t trump talent.

Crawford made two “SportsCenter’’ Top Ten-worthy saves in the second period. First, he made a sprawling save on a Vladimir Tarasenko shot. Then he stopped Steve Ott point blank, smothering a wrist shot that would have brought down a lesser goalie.

What a night.

“Good morning,’’ Hitchcock said to reporters after the game, and truer words have not been spoken.

It was an arduous, draining game of hockey. Game 2 is Saturday afternoon. Get some sleep.

Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 04.18.2014


Blackhawks lose Game 1, fall to Blues in 3 OT

BY MARK LAZERUS Staff Reporter April 17, 2014 9:38PM


ST. LOUIS — His face a bit bloodied, his shoulders a bit stooped, Jonathan Toews sat at his locker stall — he usually stands up, but hundred-minute hockey games take their toll — and tried to process and put in the past the Blackhawks’ 4-3 triple-overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues in Thursday night’s first-round opener.

“Let this one sink in, and maybe we can be ticked off about it for a few moments here,” Toews said. “But then tonight and tomorrow, it’s time to move on and get ready for the next one.”

The next one will be here soon — Saturday afternoon, less than 40 hours after Thursday’s marathon ended with Alexander Steen’s goal 26 seconds into the third overtime.

The good news? The Hawks found that switch they’ve been waiting to flip.

The bad news? So did the Blues.

Looking nothing like the team that largely coasted to the regular-season finish line, and an awful lot like the team that marched to its second Stanley Cup in four years last spring, the Hawks opened their championship defense with an impressive and emphatic first two periods in Game 1.

But looking nothing like the team that lost its last six games and was shut out in its final two, the Blues took the body early, controlled the puck late and sent the game to overtime — and then double overtime, and then triple overtime — with Jaden Schwartz’s goal with 1:45 left in regulation, eventually setting the stage for Steen’s heroics.

It was the eighth straight time the Hawks lost the first road game of a playoff series.

It also set the tone for what promises to be a riveting and rollicking series.

Whether it was Toews hitting Patrick Kane with an 80-foot stretch pass for a breakaway goal; or Niklas Hjalmarsson and Duncan Keith blocking shots on the penalty kill and logging more than 40 minutes each; or Corey Crawford making several highlight-reel saves; or the Hawks spending nearly the entire second period in the Blues zone; the Hawks were crisp, sharp and energized.

But it still wasn’t enough.

Unlike last season, when the Hawks faced the overmatched Minnesota Wild in the first round and coasted to an uninspired five-game victory, this series — as expected — ratcheted up the intensity right away. The crowd was loud, the tension was thick, and the Blues came out doing exactly what everyone expected — hitting. On one early shift, David Backes took a run at Toews but missed, then tangled with Hjalmarsson in the Hawks crease, drilled Johnny Oduya along the boards at center ice, then got a piece of Toews in the far corner.

That’s how the Blues wanted to play. The last thing Ken Hitchcock wanted was to get into the kind of track meets that highlighted Wednesday’s opening slate of games.

“Usually the first game in the series is pretty hectic,” he said.

No kidding.

The Blues, who hadn’t scored a goal in more than 148 minutes and who hadn’t scored an even-strength goal in more than 222 minutes, got the start they desperately needed after losing their final six games of the season. Adam Cracknell muscled in a rebound at 4:40 of the first period to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead and send Scottrade Center — for once fully dominated by hometown fans — into a tizzy.

Johnny Oduya tied it at 11:14, and Brent Seabrook — who craftily drew an interference penalty on Barret Jackman — scored a power-play goal two minutes later for a 2-1 Hawks lead.

The Blues responded three minutes later, as Vladimir Tarasenko — making a surprisingly early return from a broken hand suffered on March 15 — snapped a shot past Corey Crawford for a 2-2 tie.

Kane — making his own return from an injury suffered in mid-March — capped the wild first period with a breakaway goal, peeling away from the play before the Hawks even had the puck, then taking a tremendous stretch pass from Toews en route to the net.

Kane played 28:31 in his return, tallying a team-high six shots on goal.

“I felt all right,” he said. “I think as you play a little bit more, hopefully you get a little more comfortable with playing again. I was a little nervous and anxious before the game to be back, and to play a game, but it felt good being out there and hopefully I just keep getting better.”

Both teams — and both goalies — settled down after the wild first. Miller stopped the next 35 shots he faced, and Crawford was brilliant, including two spectacular saves on the only two shots he faced in the second period.

“He was huge,” Toews said. “When they were getting their chances, they were great chances that probably should have gone in. He made some huge glove saves and huge, stretched-out pad saves. He made some big saves for us that kept us in the game and we wouldn’t have had a chance to win without him.”

But the Hawks started losing the possession game in a high-pace, high-tension third, content to sit on the lead rather than try to put the game away. As he often does, Joel Quenneville put Michal Rozsival on the power play point in the third instead of Patrick Sharp, a safer choice but a less offensive-minded one. Kane admitted the Hawks were playing to protect the lead, not extend it.

“Especially the last 5-10 minutes,” he said. “Definitely would have been nice to get another one to give us a little bit of insurance.”

They almost made it, but Schwartz managed to beat Crawford on a backhander with 1:45 left in the game to tie it at 3-3.

In the first overtime, the Hawks had the best chance, but Kris Versteeg’s shot was stopped at the goal line by a leg save not by Miller, but forward Maxim Lapierre. The chances kept piling up in the second overtime, including Alex Pietrangelo whiffing on a bouncing puck with an open net in front of him, and Miller stopping Patrick Sharp on a breakaway.

Then, suddenly, it was over, as Steen trailed his own shot and one-timed a drop pass from Steve Ott past Crawford just 26 seconds into the third overtime.

The game took nearly five hours, but — based on the physical play, the high-end scoring chances and the stellar goaltending — the series is just getting started.

“You’ve got to move ahead,” Quenneville said. “We knew it was going to be a tough series right from the start. This was an illustration — six periods of two teams leaving it out there.”



Game 1 stings, but talented Blackhawks should win series

BY RICK MORRISSEY Sports Columnist April 17, 2014 10:36PM


ST. LOUIS – If this series goes seven games, no one is going to survive.

Not the Blackhawks. Not the Blues. Not the viewing audience. And definitively not Hawks coach Joel Quenneville and his nether region.

A wildly entertaining, thoroughly exhausting night of hockey ended 26 seconds into the third overtime Thursday, with Alexander Steen beating Corey Crawford to give the Blues a 4-3 victory.

It was a game that threatened to go on forever. It was a game that tested physical and emotional limits.

It was also only Game 1 of a first-round series. Jeez.

Nobody wanted to give in. Certainly not the two goalies. Crawford and the Blues’ Ryan Miller were spectacular, trading big save after big save long into the night.

There were huge hits and lots of players with no concern for their own personal safety.

Raw emotion? Yeah, there was some of that too. Quenneville wanted a delay-of-game penalty in the second overtime. He was so incensed when there wasn’t a call, he grabbed his crotch with his right hand, a gesture a national TV camera caught. Officially, it was a lower-body protest. Unofficially, it was classic clutch-and-grab hockey, the message being, “I’ve got your no-call right here.’’

That’s how this series is going to be. Down and dirty. That would seem to favor the Blues, the rougher team, but I don’t think so. Talent usually wins out. The Hawks are more talented than the Blues. The good citizens of St. Louis might look upon that as a declaration of war rather than a declarative sentence. It’s not. It’s just the truth.

In hockey, a sport that looks down on all things pretentious, the word “talent’’ can be code for “soft” or “precious’’ or “wouldn’t know a check from a Chihuahua.’’

In this case, it means precisely what it’s supposed to mean. The Hawks are the more talented team and the team that should win this series.

Will they? I don’t know. It’s very possible that the puck won’t bounce their way, as the cliché goes. But all things being equal, the Hawks should come out of this alive and well. Remember, the visiting team took the home team to three overtimes.

“Let this one sink in and maybe we can be ticked off about it for a few moments here, but then tonight and tomorrow, it’s time to move on and get ready for the next one,’’ Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said.

If the Hawks can keep buzzing around the puck the way they did Thursday night and if they can get this Crawford for the rest of the playoffs, they’ll be lifting the Stanley Cup over their heads again in June. It’s really that simple. And that difficult.

A wild, amped-up first period served notice that both teams had something to prove. And in hindsight, it made perfect sense. The Blues were coming off a six-game losing streak and wanted to prove that it was a fluke. The Hawks had two players, Patrick Kane and Toews, who were itching to play again after injuries had caused them to miss the last 12 and six regular-season games, respectively.

What you had were two teams ready to explode. After 20 minutes of action and a 3-2 Hawks lead, you could be excused for thinking, “Why didn’t I see this coming?’’

It was the kind of period, and game, the Hawks want to play – fast and frenetic. Provided St. Louis doesn’t smear them all over the boards, it’s the kind of style that can get the Hawks past the team that was the league’s best for much of the season.

If Toews and Kane are any indication, there isn’t a whole lot of downside to resting players toward the end of the season. What’s not to like about fresh skaters? Rust? I didn’t see any rust. I saw two players who were everywhere on the ice.

The Hawks went into the first intermission with that 3-2 lead, thanks to a late breakaway goal by Kane, who took Toews’ long, pinpoint pass and beat Miller with a wicked wrist shot. It was a beautiful thing.

They were on the way to victory until the Blues’ Jaden Schwartz scored with 1:45 left in the regulation. And thus began a bedtime story that threatened have no ending.

The good news for the Hawks?

“I still think we can be better,’’ Kane said. “So that’s the exciting part going forward.’’

The Blues played their brand of hockey, which skates the fine line between misdemeanor and felony. Muscle works. But it doesn’t trump talent.

Crawford made two “SportsCenter’’ Top Ten-worthy saves in the second period. First, he made a sprawling save on a Vladimir Tarasenko shot. Then he stopped Steve Ott point blank, smothering a wrist shot that would have brought down a lesser goalie.

What a night.

“Good morning,’’ Hitchcock said to reporters after the game, and truer words have not been spoken.

It was an arduous, draining game of hockey. Game 2 is Saturday afternoon. Get some sleep.



Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane make quick impact in opener

BY MARK POTASH Staff Reporter April 17, 2014 10:28PM


ST. LOUIS — Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane wanted more hockey, and they got it.

Eager to return to the ice after missing significant time with injuries, Toews and Kane probably got more ice time than they bargained for in the Blackhawks’ 4-3 triple-overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.

But both made an immediate impact. Toews, who did not play in the final six regular-season games because of an upper-body injury, had two assists and Kane, who missed the final 12 games because of a sprained knee, scored a goal as the Blackhawks took a 3-2 lead after one period.

Toews in particular had an eventful evening that got rougher as the game ensued. He was slashed in the ankle by Steven Ott in the first overtime. And he was drilled into the boards by Ryan Reaves in the second overtime — a play that drew blood on Toews’ face and a roughing penalty on Reaves.

Toews appeared shaken if not injured after the hit by Reaves, but returned to the ice moments later and finished the period. Toews had two assists and was a plus-one in 32:11 of ice time. He had four shots on goal and won 21 of 31 faceoffs.

Kane and Toews were never better than when the collaborated on a tie-breaking goal as the Hawks were completing a penalty kill for the 3-2 lead with 1:36 left in the period.

It a perfect example of the anticipation and teamwork that makes both players among the best in the NHL, Kane peeled off into the offensive zone as the Blues were about to lose possession in the Hawks’ zone. Toews gained control of the puck in his end and fired a pinpoint stretch pass to Kane at the blue line. Kane did the rest, beating Ryan Miller for the tie-breaking goal.

Toews also had a secondary assist, passing to Brandon Saad, whose cross-ice pass led to Johnny Oduya’s goal from inside the left faceoff circle that tied the game at 1 with 8:46 left in the first period.

Both players said they felt more rested and energized after sitting out.

“I feel great and I have a lot of energy, not only physically but mentally,’’ Toews said. “We’re all excited to play our first playoff game. Should be a lot of fun to get back at it.’’

Regardless of the outcome, the opener against the Blues was a significantly stronger effort than previous playoff openers.

“The last couple of practices we’ve had are probably some of the best we’ve had all year,’’ Toews said. “You can definitely tell that the guys are ready to go. It shows when we’re flying around, having fun, all the guys are laughing and at the same time we’re focused and ready to play best hockey we’ve played all year.’’



Patrick Kane adjusting to knee brace for playoffs



ST. LOUIS — The brace is on Patrick Kane’s knee, but it’s not in his head.

“I don’t feel limited,” the Blackhawks winger said after the morning skate Thursday. “I feel like the same player. Once you kind of get into skating with the puck and game situations like we’ve done in practices here, it’s kind of the last thing on my mind. When you’re out there playing and skating around, it’s not like I’m thinking, ‘How does my brace feel?’  ”

Kane — who was injured when St. Louis’ Brenden Morrow fell on his left leg March 19 at the United Center — has done everything he can to get used to the brace. He has skated “probably eight or nine times” with it. He asked several other Hawks who wear knee braces for advice on how to play with one.

He even slept with it a few nights.

“That’s the thing you want to do when you have a knee brace, is get used to it and make it part of your element,” Bryan Bickell said. “It kind of sucks the first time, but you get used to it.”

Bickell started wearing a brace on his right knee when he was hurt in the Western Conference finals last season. Then he added one to his left knee when he was hurt early this season. He struggled to come back from the latest one and said adapting to the brace was a factor.

“Maybe a couple of weeks,” he said. “It’s probably like a new pair of skates.”

Kane, of course, plays a different kind of game than Bickell. Kane’s game is based on speed and agility, which allow him to not only create scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates, but to avoid contact — a particularly useful skill against the bruising Blues.

Kane doesn’t know how long he’ll have to wear the brace or even if he’ll have to wear it next season and beyond. But he’s not terribly concerned about it.

“Once you get used to it, you’re fine,” Kane said. “It’s something a lot of guys have to deal with. It’s just my first time dealing with it. You kind of learn as you go along.”



Coaching rivals Quenneville, Hitchcock: Big winners with mutual respect



ST. LOUIS — Joel Quenne-ville and Ken Hitchcock have matched wits since the late 1990s, when Hitchcock’s Dallas Stars beat Quenneville’s St. Louis Blues en route to the Stanley Cup in 1999. Quenneville is the NHL’s third-winningest coach with 706 regular-season victories. Hitchcock is seventh (second among active coaches) with 648.

The mutual respect has piled up with all those victories. Quenneville said Hitchcock’s teams “always play hard, and the right way.” And the more -loquacious Hitchcock raved about his counterpart.

“I just think he’s, if not the best, he’s one of the best matchup guys in the world,” Hitchcock said. “And I don’t mean matchup like he’s going to have the right people on the ice against your players. He knows exactly which players do well in what zone, where they should start, where they should finish. He knows how to build his own lineup.

“He has really adapted. It’s not just adapting to the players, it’s adapting to the information that’s provided to you through -analytics. He does a great job in the way he plays his team.

“And it’s a significant challenge for all of us. Because he’s not going to make mistakes. He’s not going to make errors. And that’s the sign of a very mature coach, that can have the right players on the ice at the right time, all the time. And that’s what the challenge is for us, to be able to match that.”

Injury update

T.J. Oshie (believed to be a concussion) and Patrik Berglund (upper body) missed Game 1 with injuries. But the Blues got a big lift from Vladimir Tarasenko’s return. Tarasenko was expected to miss the series with a broken hand suffered on March 15. The 21-goal scorer just got his cast off this week. Hitchcock said Tarasenko faced no limitations, and that he deserved credit for feverishly working himself back into the lineup.

“You’re talking 6-7 hours a day at the rink, 2-2  1/2 hours a day on the ice,” Hitchcock said. “Mostly by himself. … He’s had to do this pretty much all on his own.”

Calling for backup

The Hawks recalled goaltender Mac Carruth from Rockford as a precautionary measure. Corey Crawford and Antti Raanta are fine, and Carruth didn’t even participate in Thursday’s morning skate. But should one go down during a game, the Hawks don’t want to be left with just one goalie.

“We just wanted a third goalie here,” Quenneville said.



Blackhawks lose Game 1, fall to Blues in 3 OT



ST. LOUIS — His face a bit bloodied, his shoulders a bit stooped, Jonathan Toews sat at his locker stall — he usually stands up, but hundred-minute hockey games take their toll — and tried to process and put in the past the Blackhawks’ 4-3 triple-overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues in Thursday night’s first-round opener.

“Let this one sink in, and maybe we can be ticked off about it for a few moments here,” Toews said. “But then tonight and tomorrow, it’s time to move on and get ready for the next one.”

The next one will be here soon — Saturday afternoon, less than 40 hours after Thursday’s marathon ended with Alexander Steen’s goal 26 seconds into the third overtime.

The good news? The Hawks found that switch they’ve been waiting to flip.

The bad news? So did the Blues.

Looking nothing like the team that largely coasted to the regular-season finish line, and an awful lot like the team that marched to its second Stanley Cup in four years last spring, the Hawks opened their championship defense with an impressive and emphatic first two periods in Game 1.

But looking nothing like the team that lost its last six games and was shut out in its final two, the Blues took the body early, controlled the puck late and sent the game to overtime — and then double overtime, and then triple overtime — with Jaden Schwartz’s goal with 1:45 left in regulation, eventually setting the stage for Steen’s heroics.

It was the eighth straight time the Hawks lost the first road game of a playoff series.

It also set the tone for what promises to be a riveting and rollicking series.

Whether it was Toews hitting Patrick Kane with an 80-foot stretch pass for a breakaway goal; or Niklas Hjalmarsson and Duncan Keith blocking shots on the penalty kill and logging more than 40 minutes each; or Corey Crawford making several highlight-reel saves; or the Hawks spending nearly the entire second period in the Blues zone; the Hawks were crisp, sharp and energized.

But it still wasn’t enough.

Unlike last season, when the Hawks faced the overmatched Minnesota Wild in the first round and coasted to an uninspired five-game victory, this series — as expected — ratcheted up the intensity right away. The crowd was loud, the tension was thick, and the Blues came out doing exactly what everyone expected — hitting. On one early shift, David Backes took a run at Toews but missed, then tangled with Hjalmarsson in the Hawks crease, drilled Johnny Oduya along the boards at center ice, then got a piece of Toews in the far corner.

That’s how the Blues wanted to play. The last thing Ken Hitchcock wanted was to get into the kind of track meets that highlighted Wednesday’s opening slate of games.

“Usually the first game in the series is pretty hectic,” he said.

No kidding.

The Blues, who hadn’t scored a goal in more than 148 minutes and who hadn’t scored an even-strength goal in more than 222 minutes, got the start they desperately needed after losing their final six games of the season. Adam Cracknell muscled in a rebound at 4:40 of the first period to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead and send Scottrade Center — for once fully dominated by hometown fans — into a tizzy.

Johnny Oduya tied it at 11:14, and Brent Seabrook — who craftily drew an interference penalty on Barret Jackman — scored a power-play goal two minutes later for a 2-1 Hawks lead.

The Blues responded three minutes later, as Vladimir Tarasenko — making a surprisingly early return from a broken hand suffered on March 15 — snapped a shot past Corey Crawford for a 2-2 tie.

Kane — making his own return from an injury suffered in mid-March — capped the wild first period with a breakaway goal, peeling away from the play before the Hawks even had the puck, then taking a tremendous stretch pass from Toews en route to the net.

Kane played 28:31 in his return, tallying a team-high six shots on goal.

“I felt all right,” he said. “I think as you play a little bit more, hopefully you get a little more comfortable with playing again. I was a little nervous and anxious before the game to be back, and to play a game, but it felt good being out there and hopefully I just keep getting better.”

Both teams — and both goalies — settled down after the wild first. Miller stopped the next 35 shots he faced, and Crawford was brilliant, including two spectacular saves on the only two shots he faced in the second period.

“He was huge,” Toews said. “When they were getting their chances, they were great chances that probably should have gone in. He made some huge glove saves and huge, stretched-out pad saves. He made some big saves for us that kept us in the game and we wouldn’t have had a chance to win without him.”

But the Hawks started losing the possession game in a high-pace, high-tension third, content to sit on the lead rather than try to put the game away. As he often does, Joel Quenneville put Michal Rozsival on the power play point in the third instead of Patrick Sharp, a safer choice but a less offensive-minded one. Kane admitted the Hawks were playing to protect the lead, not extend it.

“Especially the last 5-10 minutes,” he said. “Definitely would have been nice to get another one to give us a little bit of insurance.”

They almost made it, but Schwartz managed to beat Crawford on a backhander with 1:45 left in the game to tie it at 3-3.

In the first overtime, the Hawks had the best chance, but Kris Versteeg’s shot was stopped at the goal line by a leg save not by Miller, but forward Maxim Lapierre. The chances kept piling up in the second overtime, including Alex Pietrangelo whiffing on a bouncing puck with an open net in front of him, and Miller stopping Patrick Sharp on a breakaway.

Then, suddenly, it was over, as Steen trailed his own shot and one-timed a drop pass from Steve Ott past Crawford just 26 seconds into the third overtime.

The game took nearly five hours, but — based on the physical play, the high-end scoring chances and the stellar goaltending — the series is just getting started.

“You’ve got to move ahead,” Quenneville said. “We knew it was going to be a tough series right from the start. This was an illustration — six periods of two teams leaving it out there.”



Another Stanley Cup solidifies Blackhawks as a dynasty

BY RICK TELANDER [email protected] | @ricktelander April 16, 2014 10:47PM

Updated: April 17, 2014 5:13PM

You hate to say it, but the entire regular season that just whizzed by means almost nothing.

It was fun watching the Blackhawks do what they did — to hear the infectious-like-a-disease chorus to “Chelsea Dagger” again and again — but the playoffs are where history is made.

And if the Blackhawks can win the Stanley Cup this season, it will mark them as a dynasty.

It’s that simple.

You win three Cups in five seasons, including possible back-to-back Cups? You’re a dynasty. Maybe you’re not the Shangs or the Mings, but you’re more than a hiccup.

Do the Blackhawks want to play the nasty Blues in the opening round, starting in St. Louis on -Thursday night?

It doesn’t really matter. To win the Cup, you beat whomever steps in front of you for the next two months. At some point, you’ve beaten everybody who’s beaten everybody else.

The Blackhawks have not had a losing season since 2006-07. They had losing seasons in eight of the nine years before that.

All that we can call the Dark Days. They were the final croaks of the Blackhawks in their world that was better suited to “Game of Thrones’’ shenanigans than Internet-era sports.

“Old-time hockey’’ was the theme of the William W. Wirtz/Bob Pulford era. Hunter/Gatherer era would have been better. Or “TV? What’s TV?’’ era.

Patriarch Bill Wirtz passed away on Sept. 26, 2007, and everything changed. That same year, a snot-nosed little kid named Patrick Kane joined the team. So did a teenaged, mature-beyond-his-years center named Jonathan Toews.

It’s no coincidence that six months after Bill Wirtz’s death, the Blackhawks announced that, for the first time in team history, they would televise the entire 82-game regular-season schedule, plus the playoffs.

The seeds to the possible dynasty were planted, and early sprouts had broken through to the sunlight. The franchise that had been named the worst in professional sports by ESPN in 2004 would abruptly be en route to becoming perhaps the best.

That first Stanley Cup title in 2010 was a surprise, since it broke nearly a half-century drought. The one last year proved that the Blackhawks were not a one-hit wonder. Indeed, they have gone 269-129-60 in the last five seasons. Win one this season and declare this place Hockeyville, USA.

Kane and Toews were injured at the end of this season, but now they’re back. A team that sometimes seems so good that it becomes disinterested or saves itself for the frantic final minutes of close games now must know what’s up.

And that is: Your guns are all loaded, take the prize.

It’s funny to look back on photos of Kane and Toews from their rookie season. They were kids. They could pass for high school students, which they almost were. If Kane had a whisker on his face, it was lonely.

And now they have amassed so many awards, from Olympic medals to names etched on the big Cup itself, that it almost seems trivial that Kane won the Conn Smythe Trophy last year as the MVP of the playoffs and Toews won the Frank J. Selke Award as the outstanding defensive forward in the league.

How many more trophies can this pair add to their personal stashes? But more important, how many more team championships can they add?

For every dynasty, there are figures who stand out through the bright lights. You remember Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen from the Bulls’ championship dynasty; Walter Payton and Jim McMahon from the 1985 Super Bowl Bears; Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra from those old Yankees champs.

Same can be true for Kane and Toews. They have great teammates around them, from Marian Hossa to Duncan Keith to Patrick Sharp to goaltender Corey Crawford. The Bulls’ dynasty had coach Phil Jackson; the Bears had Mike Ditka; and, yes, the Hawks have Joel “Coach Q’’ -Quenneville.

It’s all doable. Not easy. But possible. Likely even painful. There’s a bull’s-eye on the chest of every Blackhawks star. They are the defending champs, after all. As Kane said of being singled out for special treatment by the Blues, “I would expect that, even if I wasn’t coming back from injury.’’

No, it’ll be hard, very hard. And long.

But no dynasty was easy. And none was built in a day.



Blues’ Tarasenko applauded by his coach

By Mike Spellman

For the past few days everyone seemed focused on the health of injured Blues stars T.J. Oshie, who didn't play Thursday, and David Backes, who did.

Kind of lost in the shuffle was the return of St. Louis forward Vladimir Tarasenko, who had been out of action 15 games with a hand injury that was supposed to keep him out six weeks but wouldn't be denied a chance to play in Game 1 against the Blackhawks.

"You're talking 6-7 hours a day at the rink," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock marveled about Tarasenko's rehab regimen. "He's basically had two practices with somebody and now he's going to play in a playoff game."

Tarasenko looked like he hadn't missed a beat, especially early on. He thwarted a Hawks swarm in the early minutes by laying out to block a Duncan Keith shot.

Then later in the period he took a sweet pass from Kevin Shattenkirk and one-timed one past Corey Crawford to tie the game at 2-2.

Winning 'em over:

Any time Brandon Bollig plays in St. Louis it's a big deal. But in a playoff game?

Forget it.

"The fact that we're here in the postseason now and it's a whole new ballgame makes the atmosphere that much more special," said Bollig, who was born and raised in suburban St. Louis. "As the minutes and hours go by and we get closer to game time I'm more excited."

And each time back Bollig seems to be winning over more and more converts.

"All my buddies and family members have converted pretty quickly. I'm doing what I can to get other people, too," he said. "It's pretty funny to see what people have to say when they're going to work and they're rooting for me and their co-workers are rooting for the Blues.

"It's all in good fun."

He's back:

It was no surprise to see defenseman Michal Rozsival in the lineup for Game 1.

"It's a situation we're comfortable with him in all areas," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "You can play him in all situations. He can absorb more workload than he normally would in the course of a season and it keeps him fresh, keeps him ready."

Daily Herald Times LOADED: 04.18.2014


Kane braced for playoffs

By Mike Spellman

Bryan Bickell knows all about what it's like to try to play while wearing a knee brace. He has been there, done that -- on each knee, to boot.

So when the news broke that Patrick Kane will continue wearing a brace throughout the postseason, who better to go to than Bickell?

"Absolutely, I've talked to five, six, seven guys that have them on our team, how they wear them, what feels best, what helps them out the most," Kane said. "It's something a lot of guys have to deal with. It's just my first time dealing with it, and you kind of learn as you go along."

If Bickell had just one piece of advice for Kane, what would it be? "The thing you want to do when you have a knee brace is get used to it and make it part of your element," he said.

"That's just what Kane has done, wearing it constantly during his extensive rehab and even sleeping with it on a few times.

"I was like I don't want to do that," Bickell continued, shaking his head at the thought. "I want to sleep."

Though Kane was a bit anxious about playing with the brace for the first time Thursday night, he sounded optimistic before Game 1 that the extra gear wouldn't be an impediment.

"It'll be different once you get into a game setting, game atmosphere," he said. "For me personally, I try to feel out how it feels, but overall it feels really good lately. I don't have any worries.

"I still feel like I'm skating the same."

No. 88 looked just fine when he skated in on a breakaway late in the first period and beat Ryan Miller to put the Hawks up 3-2.

Coach Joel Quenneville was even more definitive when asked if Kane will have any limitations because of the brace.

"None," he said. "He's skated very well. The first couple of days he was on the ice he looked like he had some jump in his stride. He's been on about 10 days since then. He seems like he's comfortable. We're happy with the way he's progressed."



Blackhawks give away chance to steal Game 1

By Barry Rozner

The defending Stanley Cup champs have plenty of experience handling adversity.

And they'll need all of their knowledge right out of the box.

The Blackhawks missed a golden opportunity to steal Game 1 in St. Louis as the Blues rallied at the end of regulation and then won it 4-3 only 26 seconds into the third overtime with Alex Steen beating Corey Crawford to end the playoff marathon.

Steve Ott was something of an afterthought in the huge deal that brought goaltender Ryan Miller to St. Louis at the deadline, but it was Ott who made a sweet dish to Steen for the game-winner.

Crawford was brilliant for the Hawks, who took a 3-2 lead into the third but played most of the period in their own end, relying almost entirely on their goaltender.

With the Blues outshooting the Hawks 14-6, it was only a matter of time, and Jaden Schwartz finally beat Crawford with 1:45 left in regulation to tie the game at 3-3.

St. Louis was the better team the first three periods, but the Hawks took over and had the better chances through the first two extra sessions.

Still, Hawks coach Joel Quenneville is going to want his team to play with that pace to start Game 2 on Saturday afternoon. "We were close to getting to done (in regulation)," Quenneville said. "We're gonna have to find a way to win one here."

Miller was acquired for the expressed purpose of leading the Blues to the Stanley Cup Final, but he was bad down the stretch of the regular season as his team went to pieces, and it was more of the same early in Game 1 of the playoffs Thursday night.

Miller had an awful 20 minutes in a wild first period that saw the Blackhawks take a 3-2 lead on only 7 shots.

"Usually, the first game teams tend to feel each other out a little bit," said Patrick Kane. "Pretty wild first period."

The Blues struck first with a fourth-line goal, the Hawks got the next two from their defense _ Johnny Oduya and Brent Seabrook _ on brilliant passes from Brandon Saad and Kris Versteeg, but a Marcus Kruger turnover led to the tying goal and it was 2-2 when St. Louis went to the power play.

The Hawks were fortunate to escape unscathed and just as the penalty kill ended, Jonathan Toews made a 90-foot pass up the middle to spring Kane, who walked in and fired it between the legs of a frozen Miller for a 3-2 Hawks lead late in the first.

"I saw their defense ahead of me and it was just a great pass by Johnny," Kane said. "It was a pretty good feeling after being out a bit to score one."

Early in the second on a routine save, Miller got a sarcastic ovation from the St. Louis faithful, hardly what he expected from the home crowd.

The 33-year-old Miller was the star of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver but hadn't been in a postseason contest since 2011 when Buffalo went out in the first round for the second straight year.

Miller, however, turned his game around and stopped several point-blank chances in overtime, including a couple on a late power play in the fourth period and a break by Patrick Sharp in the second overtime.

In general, the Hawks looked a bit slow in regulation but picked up their play in overtime, a pace Quenneville will want to see for three periods -- or more -- come Saturday.

Quenneville hoped the Hawks would flip the switch early this playoff season after a sluggish start a year ago.

Instead, they've allowed a broken team with a battered goalie to regain confidence and take a 1-0 series lead, and they have to play again 36 hours after a 100-minute game and a heartbreaking defeat.

Adversity, once again, is their middle name.



Blues top Hawks 4-3 in triple OT

By Assoicated Press

ST. LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored at 26 seconds of the third overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 4-3 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks on Thursday night.

Steen beat Corey Crawford off a pair of short passes from Steve Ott and David Backes to cap the longest overtime game in franchise history.

Ryan Miller blanked the Blackhawks after Patrick Kane scored on a breakaway to put Chicago up 3-2 late in the first period.

Both teams face a short turnaround with Game 2 Saturday afternoon.



Blues Oshie ruled out for tonight

By Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues have ruled out forward T.J. Oshie for their playoff opener against the Blackhawks, but Vladimir Tarasenko is set to return after missing 15 games with a broken thumb.

Coach Ken Hitchcock also says forward Patrik Berglund will not play in Game 1 on Thursday night. He had no update on Oshie, who missed practice Wednesday.

Tarasenko is returning about two weeks ahead of schedule.

"He deserves an awful lot of credit. He's worked extra hard to be in the best shape of his life," coach Ken Hitchcock said after the morning skate.

The Blues got several other players back from injuries. Forwards David Backes, Vladimir Sobotka and Brenden Morrow and defensemen Barret Jackman and Alex Pietrangelo all missed the regular season finale.



For Hawks and Blues, history always matters

By Bob Verdi

ST. LOUIS -- Inseparable if not intimate, the Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues shall renew spring snarls when they commence the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs here Thursday night.

This will mark the 11th postseason series between these spirited rivals -- but first since 2002 -- and it occurs earlier than expected. The Blackhawks seemed destined to open defense of their Cup championship against the Colorado Avalanche, who surged to seize the Central Division title while the Blues absorbed 6 straight losses.

When they culminated a deal with Buffalo for Ryan Miller, a world-class goalie, and the Sabres' captain, Steve Ott, the Blues had sights on winning the division, the Western Conference and perhaps their first Cup. But they have incurred several injuries, which doesn't mean they won't be dangerous and in ill-humor.

Expect nothing less, for momentum can be a disguise. In 1980, burdened by a (still) record 16 consecutive playoff losses, the Blackhawks swept St. Louis in a best-of-five series. In 1989, although 14 games under .500, the Blackhawks tiptoed into the tournament on Troy Murray's overtime goal on the last night of the regular season.

They then upset Detroit and St. Louis before bowing to the Calgary Flames, who won the Cup. Jeremy Roenick, lightly raced at age 19, starred in a typically truculent set against the Blues. During a scrum, Glen Featherstone cross-checked Roenick, dislodging several of the youngster's teeth. He showed them to referee Kerry Fraser, who tagged Featherstone with a major penalty. The Blackhawks scored 2 goals in eight seconds, Roenick tallied later, and the shocked Blues were eliminated in five games.

The Blackhawks have confronted only ancient adversaries Montreal and Detroit more often than the Blues in the playoffs, not that the calendar matters. When it's Chicago vs. St. Louis on ice, the games are often angry. Witness the contentious 1991 "St. Patrick's Day Massacre" at the Stadium, where 278 penalty minutes and 17 misconducts were assessed. Dave Manson vs. Scott Stevens was a featured bout, but there was quite the undercard.

Familiarity breeds enmity, and for all the permutations in National Hockey League alignments, the Blackhawks and Blues have grown apart while grouped together over decades. Since 1970, when the Blackhawks left a division comprised of Original Six franchises to join six expansion teams, the Blackhawks and Blues have been in the same division. Appellations changed -- West, Smythe, Norris, Central -- but not the attitude.

During the 1950s, hardly a festive time for hockey in Chicago, the Blackhawks played a few "home" games in St. Louis and there was even talk of them relocating there. Later, the Blackhawks revived, won a Cup in 1961, and placed a farm team in St. Louis. Phil Esposito, Dennis Hull and Pat Stapleton were among future stars on the Braves.

In 1967, the Blues debuted as the NHL grew to 12 franchises. The Blackhawks did not protect Glenn Hall, assuming the iconic goalie would retire. But the Blues made him an offer he couldn't refuse, and "he put hockey in St. Louis on the map," according to Scotty Bowman, who also did his part. Bowman, the Blackhawks' senior advisor to hockey operations, began his Hall of Fame coaching career in St. Louis.

The Blues, with wobbly finances, were sold to a group that planned to move them to Saskatoon, would you believe. But they are now solid, and for much of this season, were at or near the top in a stacked Western Conference. The Blackhawks amassed 107 points -- tied for the most in franchise history -- yet finished third in the division and fifth in the conference.

"What was the last team with 107 points that had to open the playoffs on the road?" wondered Hawks head coach Joel Quenneville, who remains the winningest coach in Blues annals.

Granted, with points more available in games that extend beyond 60 minutes, NHL standings have a different look than yesteryear. Still, the Blackhawks played the equivalent of one-and-a-half regular seasons since

the 2012-13 lockout was resolved and lost only 28 times in regulation. They dropped their first three games to St. Louis this year, two via shootouts, and won the last two. But, unable to fashion an overtime victory until their final home date, the Blackhawks missed out on precious points.

"This season is amazing," offered Hall of Fame legend Wayne Gretzky. "I played on some of the greatest teams of all time in Edmonton, and still we managed to lose 20 or so games every season. But the league then didn't have the parity you see now."

Indeed, six of eight teams qualifying for the playoffs from the Western Conference accumulated 100 or more points. As the Blackhawks embark on their sixth straight postseason, one thing is for sure in the wild West: within two weeks, four good teams will be gone, beards barely visible.

•  Editor's note: As part of an alliance with the Blackhawks, the Daily Herald will offer occasional reports by Team Historian Bob Verdi, who writes for the team's website at www.chicagoblackhawks.com.



Game 1: Blackhawks outlasted by Blues in triple overtime

Tracey Myers

April 17, 2014, 11:45 pm

ST. LOUIS – The Chicago Blackhawks were 105 seconds away from their first victory at Scotttrade Center this season. It was for their taking, but one the St. Louis Blues were willing to fight them for in those waning regulation moments.

Once again, the Blues found a way to force overtime. And once again, the Blues sent the Blackhawks out of their building frustrated.

Jaden Schwartz scored with 1:45 remaining in regulation and Alexander Steen scored the winner just 26 seconds into the third overtime as the Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in Game 1 of their first-round series on Thursday night. The Blues take a 1-0 lead in the series, which will resume on Saturday with a 2 p.m. CT start.

[WATCH: Patrick Kane scores breakaway tiebreaker]

The Blackhawks saw good things from Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who were playing their first game since suffering their respective injuries. Kane’s breakaway goal with 1:36 remaining in the first period gave the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead they would hold until Schwartz’s goal. Toews had two assists; Brent Seabrook had a power-play goal and an assist. Corey Crawford was also strong, stopping 48 of 52 shots.

But it was nevertheless a bitter pill to swallow for the Blackhawks, who looked to be reversing the last-minute losing trend in St. Louis that they started early in the regular season.

“Obviously you’re sitting there close,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “They get momentum scoring late (in regulation), but we were close to getting it done. It’s just like the last two games in this building this year.”

Losing any game hurts, especially in the postseason. Losing those lengthy games sting that much more. But the Blackhawks weren’t hanging their heads too low.

“It’s not fun to lose those ones. You go the length of a game like that, you want to find a way to win. It’s disappointing but this is a long series,” Toews said. “It was a tough game, but I think we were good at not giving up too many chances. When we did, they were pretty high-quality chances and that ended up hurting us. We had our share of our own to try to find a way to win.”

The Blackhawks certainly had their opportunities to either lengthen their lead in regulation or win it in overtime. Kris Versteeg’s extra-time shot was stopped not by Ryan Miller, but by Maxim Lapierre, who was behind Miller on that particular play. Patrick Sharp had a breakaway attempt late in the second overtime, but Miller grabbed it. Miller stopped 39 of 42 in the victory.

Still, the Blackhawks were optimistic entering that third overtime.

“We had some chances, especially in the first overtime,” said Kane, who added he felt “all right” in his first game in a month. “I think all of us thought we were going to go out and win it, especially in the third. But they made a nice play on the goal.”

Indeed, the Blues did everything right and the Blackhawks did a couple little things wrong as Steen won it for the Blues.

The Blues weren’t kidding when they said they put that late six-game losing streak behind them. Still, the Blackhawks have dealt with the ups and downs of the postseason before. They know they’ll have to put this one behind them quick. On Saturday, they’ll have to try once again to win a game here this season – or postseason.

“It stings right now, obviously,” Kane said. “The big thing for us is we have to realize it’s only one game. We have a quick turnaround with the afternoon game coming up; that’s the best part about it. We’ll try to figure out what we can do better and hopefully come back and win Game 2.”

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 04.18.2014


Five things to watch in Game 1 of Blackhawks-Blues

Tracey Myers

April 17, 2014, 4:00 pm

ST. LOUIS — Finally, we’re getting ready for Game 1 between the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues.

That’s the one problem with those few days between the regular season and the start of the playoffs: it just seems like there are too many of them. True, we’re speaking not only as hockey fans, but also as playoff hockey fans. It’s a different game; it’s more dramatic, it’s more fun, it’s livelier and yet it’s tighter. We were reminded of that with Wednesday night’s games, all of which were decided by one goal.

But enough about them: it’s time for a good, old-fashioned physical Blues-Blackhawks series for all the marbles, or at least a first round’s worth of them. So while you get your game-watching plans all set, we look at the Five Things to watch for in tonight’s Game 1 between the Blackhawks and Blues.

1. Start fast and start strong. Oh, we’ve written this so many times we should have it on a save/get key — our old-school media members will know exactly what I mean by that one. We wrote earlier on Thursday how pivotal this Game 1 is for the Blackhawks. The Blues are a little vulnerable right now. They’re still coming off more injuries than the Blackhawks right now. The Blackhawks have to take advantage and tilt the home-ice edge from the Blues, right now.

2. Beware of Backes. Yes, David Backes is coming off a foot injury; he was one of several Blues to miss late regular-season games. Perhaps it affects his game, which is as physical as they come in the NHL. But we’re guessing Backes will be bringing as much of that bruising quality as he can, especially early in this season. The Blackhawks have set up their lines to put some bigger bodies with their stars, especially with Patrick Kane. But they have to be prepared for Backes to hit and hit hard regardless.

3. Second line: find that chemistry again. Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa and Michal Handzus have played together outside of the postseason, but that’s when the trio really hit its stride in 2013. They all know each other well, be it as former teammates (Sharp and Handzus in Philadelphia) or as countrymen (Handzus and Hossa and their native Slovakia). Handzus had a tough regular season but needs to be the postseason presence he was in 2013.

4. Repeat your last two regular-season games vs. the Blues. Coach Ken Hitchcock talked Thursday about how the Blackhawks hemmed his team in its own zone more in the last two games, both Blackhawks victories. Actually, they were both sizeable Blackhawks victories (4-0 and 4-2). The Blackhawks want to take that blueprint into this series, starting tonight.

5. Our pick to click for tonight is Jonathan Toews. In interviews these past few days, you could see in the captain’s eyes that he’s ready for this. He’s feeling good, he’s gotten some rest and we think it shows in Game 1.



Blackhawks, Blues put injuries behind for playoff series

Tracey Myers

April 17, 2014, 3:30 pm

ST. LOUIS — The names of recently injured players dot both the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues lineups.

Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews will play their first games after missing time down the stretch. The Blues won’t have Patrik Berglund and T.J. Oshie but they’ll have several others returning. The big questions are there: how will the recently injured parties react and are they all healthy enough to be playing? We’ll see about the former, and guys usually just deal with the latter.

“It’s an 82-game grind to get here. It’s the playoffs,” said Blues forward Brenden Morrow, who had a foot injury late in the regular season. “Once that puck drops, you don’t feel the pain.”

Everyone plays with something at some point during the postseason. But to start the playoffs coming off injuries could be a little tougher. Some players may not find their pre-injury game right away. Some players will have to shake off some rust. How everyone reacts will be evident soon, as the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues play Game 1 of their first-round series tonight.

Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko, who suffered a hand injury that required surgery, hasn’t played since March 15. Coach Ken Hitchcock praised his young forward for putting in the work to return for Game 1, which is ahead of schedule. But Hitchcock said it’s still going to be a challenge.

“He's never played in a playoff game very much and secondly, he's missed a lot of time. We understand that part; but between the training staff and his commitment to conditioning knowing that the injury he had would allow him to play right away, he himself deserves an awful lot of credit,” Hitchcock said. “He has worked extra hard to be in the best shape of his life right now, which is going to allow him to keep up at this time of year."

Kane suffered his left-knee injury on March 19 and worked to get himself ready, although his return comes on schedule. Still, adjustments have to be made; Kane’s been skating with a brace for about 10 days now and will probably wear it for a bit. But he said he won’t be thinking about it much.

“It’s kind of the last thing on my mind when you’re out there playing and skating,” he said. “It’s not like I’m thinking, ‘How’s my brace feeling?’ You’re thinking about the play and making the right ones. It’s something I have to deal with, but I’m really not worried about it.”

Toews wasn’t off nearly as long; his left arm/shoulder injury kept him out about two weeks. The Blackhawks captain doesn’t look at his injury, or off time from it, as a liability.

“It’s helped me prepare for this series and to be ready to play the best hockey I’ve played all year,” he said. “I feel I’m ready to do that.”



Road Warriors: Blackhawks hope to play spoilers in St. Louis

Tracey Myers

April 17, 2014, 2:45 pm

�ST. LOUIS – You hear it all the time, probably because it’s said all the time: Game 1 of a playoff series is pivotal.

Well in this series, it’s really, really important, especially to the Chicago Blackhawks – that’s our opinion, anyway. Because for a team that’s starting on the road against a St. Louis Blues squad coming off a bad regular-season finish, a Game 1 victory could set the tone for the rest of the series.

[TONIGHT ON CSN: Game 1 -- Blackhawks at Blues]

The Blackhawks are looking to wrestle home-ice advantage away from the Blues, and they could do it with a victory Thursday night at Scottrade Center. The Blackhawks obviously did fine away from home last postseason, although their first games away from the United Center weren’t so great. They lost every Game 3 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Difference is, they went into that game either up 2-0 or tied 1-1 off the first two games.

Getting down 1-0 to this Blues team could make for one difficult series, so the Blackhawks have to come out quick. Patrick Kane said there can’t be a long feeling-out process.

“I think maybe in the past we’ve been in a situation where maybe we've been feeling out the other team too much instead of going out and playing our style of game and taking it to them. We can learn from that, especially with the experience in this room,” Kane said. “We can get ourselves back to playing the way we’re used to on the road. It’s been a successful part of our game for a long time, just how well we’ve played on the road. No one’s real worried that we weren’t starting at home.”

Coach Joel Quenneville said the Blackhawks have to make their mark quickly.

“Trying to get the momentum in a game or series is important in establishing yourself,” he said. “We want to make sure we’re ready to play the right way. We want to be hard to play against. We want to make sure every shift is going to be important. The game is going to evolve but we know the team over there is going to be playing hard and is going to make it hard on us. We have to be resilient in a lot of ways in getting through it, knowing we can’t be distracted in going to where we need to go to be successful.”

The Blackhawks are in a different position this postseason: they’re not the home-ice team throughout like 2013. But that’s OK with them. They know the game they have to come with, right away, and they’re hoping to have it.

[ALSO: Blackhawks: Role players will prove critical in playoffs]

“Tonight I think we can just feel like we’re almost the underdog and just go out there and try to upset them in their building,” Jonathan Toews said. “They obviously want to get off to a good start in this series playing at home and take advantage of these two games they have at home. And we’ll try to be the spoilers.”



Blues kicking off series with a clean slate

Tracey Myers

April 17, 2014, 2:15 pm

ST. LOUIS — Steve Ott has been here before, part of a playoff team coming off a late regular-season slump.

Ott and fellow St. Louis Blues forward Brenden Morrow were part of a 2007-08 Dallas Stars squad that went 1-8-2 in March of that season, plummeting them from a home-ice spot to fifth in the West. They went all the way to the Western Conference Finals that year.

The moral of the story: the late regular-season results have no relation to the playoff ones.

“The clichés of starting at zero is a straight fact,” he said. “Obviously both teams had a great regular season, but everything starts at scratch in the playoffs. There are unlikely heroes every single night, guys who raise their level of play. It’s that magical time of year that everybody wants to be a part of.”

The Blues didn’t end the regular season well, but they’ve erased that and are focused on this first-round series vs. the Chicago Blackhawks, which begins tonight at Scottrade Center. It was a forgettable late March/early April for the Blues; with injuries mounting, they lost six straight and the Central Division title. Sure, they would’ve liked it to end better. It didn’t, and they’re over it.

“Everyone’s stats are wiped clear,” Morrow said. “We’re not the best power play in the league, we’re not the worst. It’s a fresh start. We’d rather have had some momentum, confidence from the way the season started, but that’s not the hand we were dealt. You move on, you stay positive, you get healthy and have a fresh start.”

The Blues will have a healthier postseason start than they did at the regular-season finish. All but Patrik Berglund and T.J. Oshie are back in the lineup tonight. As for those dismal late-season thoughts, those are gone, too.

“We’ve put in a lot of work the last couple of days to flush those last couple weeks out, get rid of those thoughts,” Morrow said. “It’s a fresh start. We played a great 75 games and we’ll draw back on those thoughts.”

The slate is wiped clean for both teams. For the Blues, it’s erasing the negative of the end and looking to build some postseason positives, fast.

“We won 52 games this year; I don’t think we’ve forgotten what that feels like,” Blues captain David Backes said. “We started to run out of steam, bodies at the end of the year. That’s not the case after some great rest, some great work by the training staff. We’ll have all hands on deck and we’ll play with tons of energy. We’ve got a group that’s refocused and ready to go.”



Konroyd's keys to Game 1 between Blackhawks-Blues

April 17, 2014, 1:45 pm

Steve Konroyd

1. Weather an early St. Louis storm: Just think about it — the team with the best record in the entire NHL in mid March not only loses out on the President’s Trophy, but also the Division title and must now start against the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Things are not well in St. Louis, and the players are very aware. They’ve taken a beating from the press, the media, the fans, and let’s not forget about their coaches. They’ve got a lot to prove, and will try to prove it in the first 10 minutes of this game.

2. Get to Miller with second and third chance opportunities: Ryan Miller is an elite goaltender. He won seven of his first eight games with the St. Louis Blues in early March. Since then, it’s been a different story. He’s lost five of his last six starts and carries an .856 save percentage through his last five games. Miller seems deep in his net and down an awful lot right now. Chicago needs to shoot early and often, with people on Miller’s doorstep and buzzing around for rebounds. He tends to over-slide, so if you pick up a rebound and nothing’s open upstairs, change your angle cause he’s a “lunger”.

3. Use your speed and passing to break an aggressive Blues team: St. Louis is known as a big and heavy team that is strong on the puck. When they don’t have it, they use their aggressive forecheck and physical play to get it back. The Blackhawks are good at exploiting over aggressive teams. They get them out of position and use their speed and passing to get scoring chances. This has to happen tonight to slow down a physical Blues team. You might have to take a hit, but make sure you are making the right play and you will get St. Louis out of position.



Blues' Oshie, Berglund out Game 1 vs. Blackhawks

April 17, 2014, 11:45 am

Nina Falcone

Earlier in the week, St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock said he expects all of his injured players to be back on the ice at some point during their opening playoff round against the Chicago Blackhawks.

On Thursday he told reporters that forwards David Backes and Vladimir Tarasenko would return for Game 1. T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund, however, would not.

Oshie has been out of the Blues' lineup for a week now with concussion-like symptoms after taking a hit to the head from Minnesota's Mike Rupp. He's joined his teammates on the ice the past two days, but said earlier that he wouldn't rush his return if there was a chance of furthering the injury.

Without Oshie and Berglund, the Blues will have quite a bit of shuffling to do throughout their lines. Expect newly-acquired forward Steve Ott to move up to the top line with David Backes and Alexander Steen.

Catch all of tonight's Game 1 action between the Blackhawks and Blues on Comcast SportsNet beginning at 5 p.m. with a special Blackhawks edition of SportsTalk Live. Puck drops in St. Louis at 7 p.m.


741427 Colorado Avalanche

Ilya Bryzgalov, Minnesota Wild goalie, is no stranger to Avalanche

Mike Chambers, The Denver Post Posted: 04/18/2014 12:01:00 AM MDT

Updated: 04/18/2014 01:40:58 AM MDT

Wild G Ilya Bryzgalov 2014

The Avalanche had not faced Minnesota Wild goalkeeper Ilya Bryzgalov all season until Game 1 on Thursday. (Associated Press file)

Apr 18:

Hochman: Erik Johnson makes like speedskater Dan Jansen, saving the day

Kiszla: Avalanche, Paul Stastny smokin' hot in Game 1

Tyson Barrie again delivers late for Colorado Avalanche

Apr 17:

Paul Stastny OT goal gives Colorado Avalanche victory over Minnesota Wild in Game 1

Colorado Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild Game 1 Live Blog

Hochman: How Patrick Roy's outburst in season's first game set the tone

Colorado College product Nate Prosser to make NHL playoff debut vs. Avs

While the Avalanche had not faced Wild goalie Ilya Bryzgalov all season until Game 1 of their first-round series against Minnesota on Thursday night, some Avs personnel are familiar with him.

Bryzgalov was a pupil of Avs goaltenders coach Francois Allaire for parts of five seasons in Anaheim, from 2001-08, and he shared the Ducks' net at times with Avs backup Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

"We have a lot of info on him," Avs coach Patrick Roy said of Bryzgalov.

Roy said the Avalanche respects Bryzgalov, who has played for three NHL teams since the start of last season.

"He played really well for them down the stretch," Roy said. "I watched a few games and he made some great saves and kept their team in some games. He's certainly a reason why they had that little push at the end."

Giguere shared the nets in Anaheim with Bryzgalov for nearly three seasons, ending in 2008. Giguere usually was the starter and Bryzgalov the backup.

Giguere said Bryzgalov was a good teammate with the Ducks.

"He was great. Bryz keeps it light in the room; you never have a boring moment with Bryz around," Giguere said.

Mitchell still out. Earlier in the week, there was a glimmer of hope that John Mitchell might be able to play Game 1 of the Avalanche's playoff series with Minnesota, but that hope disappeared early Thursday.

"He's still a day-to-day situation. He will be re-evaluated daily," Roy said at the morning skate.

Mitchell, the Avs' third-line center and occasional fill-in on the top two lines at any position, suffered what is likely to be a concussion last week against Vancouver and has not skated at practice since. Roy earlier in the week said Mitchell had been feeling better and he might be able to play at some point at least against the Wild.

Special rookie. Wild coach Mike Yeo, like most experts throughout the league, is convinced Avs rookie Nathan Mac- Kinnon will continue to have a grand career.

MacKinnon, only 18, led NHL rookies in virtually every scoring category during the regular season and is the overwhelming favorite to win the Calder Trophy as the league's rookie of the year.

"He's a very dynamic player. This is a guy you have to be incredibly impressed with," Yeo said of MacKinnon, who amassed 24 goals and 63 points while playing all 82 regular-season games. "His rookie season, his ability to come in and really have the impact he's had. His speed, and the way he's able to generate so quickly — it doesn't take much — it's not like it takes him a long time to build it up. There's a loose puck and he's jumping on it, and his first couple of strides are so explosive." Adrian Dater and Mike Chambers, The Denver Post

Helping handful. The Avs drew the first penalty, scored the first goal and outshot (8-7) and outhit (21-14) Minnesota in the first period.

Tough and savvy. Colorado's Erik Johnson played like a No. 1 defenseman on a playoff team, combining a ruggedness to his skilled game. He had 16:38 of ice time after two periods and had 30:22 for the game.

O'Reilly "Factor." NHL takeaway leader Ryan O'Reilly, right, scored and assisted on the Avs' second and third goals. "Factor" caused a turnover in the Wild's end that led to Jamie McGinn's goal that got the Avs within 4-3. Mike Chambers, The Denver Post

First period: Even after one

Gabe Landeskog scored the Avalanche's first goal of the playoffs at 13:14 of the first period, zipping a low wrist shot past Wild goalie Ilya Bryzgalov off a beautiful feed in front of the net from Paul Stastny. The lead didn't last long. About two minutes later, Charlie Coyle found a top-shelf opening by Semyon Varlamov after the Avalanche goalie was unable to get a handle on a loose puck in front of the net.

Penalties: McCormick, Min, double minor (high-sticking), 5:05; MacKinnon, Col (high-sticking), 5:59.

***

Second period: Wild onslaught

Erik Haula scored Minnesota's second goal of the period after breaking away from the blue line and sliding the puck under Varlamov's pads to give the Wild a 3-2 lead at 16:08. About two minutes later, Kyle Brodziak lifted a shot over the right shoulder of Varlamov to give the Wild a two-goal edge. Ryan O'Reilly's slapshot briefly tied the score at 2-2, but it was only offense the Avs could muster.

Penalties: Koivu, Min (delay of game), 8:11; Hejda, Col (interference), 10:33; Parise, Min (goaltender interference), 12:24; Johnson, Col (roughing), 12:24; Cliche, Col (interference), 18:41.

***

Third period: Avs net equalizer

With all hope seemingly lost, the Avalanche did what it has done so many times during this magical season. Paul Stastny lifted a rebound high past Bryzgalov with just 13.4 seconds left to tie the game and send it to overtime. Colorado had hope midway through the period thanks to Jamie McGinn, who scored on an assist from Ryan O'Reilly to cut the deficit to 4-3. Varlamov made 11 saves in the period.

Penalties: Veilleux, Min (hooking), 5:04; Cooke, Min (roughing), 9:06; Holden, Col (roughing), 9:06.

***

Overtime: More power to Paul

The hero of the night saved his most dramatic moment for last. Stastny, who scored the final goal of regulation, added the game-winner at 7:27 in overtime, straight under Bryzgalov's pads off a swift feed behind the net from rookie forward Nathan MacKinnon, who was everywhere in his first playoff game.

Roy meter: A look at Patrick Roy's day in the playoffs

Thursday: Roy joked about some Chicago Blackhawks fans who might have needed to unload tickets for this series on eBay. When playoff tickets went on sale a couple of weeks ago, everyone thought the Avs would be playing the Blackhawks in the first round — and judging by the number of red Chicago jerseys in the other games with the Avs this season at the Pepsi Center, probably more than a few Illinois transplants bought tickets.

But when St. Louis faltered down the stretch and the Avs finished first in the Central Division, the Blues were forced to play Chicago instead. "I haven't checked eBay today, but maybe I should," Roy said. "But we're not worried

about not having our fans in the stands. All year long, we wanted to please our fans and give them this." Adrian Dater, The Denver Post

Momentum killers

The Avs scored first — 13:14 into the game — but the Wild answered 2:06 later to take away the momentum. Minnesota did that again in the second period, going ahead 3-2 just 1:56 after the Avs tied it 2-2.

Poor middle frame. The Avs were outshot 12-6 and outscored 3-1 in the second period.

Power outage. The Avs had a four-minute power play in the first, but two minutes were shaved off when Nathan MacKinnon was whistled for high sticking. Colorado finished 0-for-4 on the power play through regulation.

Denver Post: LOADED: 04.18.2014


Avalanche, Paul Stastny smokin' hot in Game 1

By Mark Kiszla

The Denver Post

Posted: 04/18/2014 12:01:00 AM MDT

Updated: 04/18/2014 01:43:33 AM MDT

Paul Stastny celebrated his game-winning goal in overtime of Game 1.

Apr 18:

Hochman: Erik Johnson makes like speedskater Dan Jansen, saving the day

Ilya Bryzgalov, Minnesota Wild goalie, is no stranger to Avalanche


Apr 17:



Hochman: How Patrick Roy's outburst in season's first game set the tone


There's no truth to the rumor that Game 1 of this playoff series between the Avs and the Minnesota Wild was why marijuana was legalized in Colorado.

At 7 minutes, 27 seconds into overtime, center Paul Stastny blasted home a goal to make it Colorado 5, Minnesota 4, in a game the Avs had absolutely no business winning.

"That's the kind of game you dream of winning when you're a kid," Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson said Thursday.

Whoa, dude.

"We just wanted to finish the job," added Stastny, his eyes as wide as a kid's on Christmas morning.

Smoke 'em if you've got 'em. Overtime in the NHL playoffs can turn anybody into a cannibist.

Trailing by a goal with 3 minutes, 1 second remaining in the third period, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy pulled his goalie, summoning Semyon Varlamov to the bench, risking an empty net to give Colorado a man advantage on the attack.

It was audacious.

It smelled of desperation.

And, some way, some how, it worked.

It took Johnson chasing down a shot at Colorado's empty net like a man scrambling across a windy parking lot to grab a $50 bill. So credit Johnson with a save so memorable it will instantly be part of franchise lore.

"We were 2 inches away from losing that game," said Stastny, saluting Johnson's play.

It caused every heart in the Pepsi Center to skip a beat.

Down to the final 14 seconds of regulation time, Stastny slipped the puck by Minnesota goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, a space case as big as the universe.

"I didn't even know how much time was left," Stastny admitted. "But the crowd gets so loud, you know time is running out."

If you trust Bryzgalov to nail down a victory under pressure, can I interest you in a great deal on a black hole somewhere beyond Pluto?

A football town got all dressed up and attended its first NHL playoff game in four years. Why not us? For much of the evening, it was more like: What the heck? Nobody told Denverites they were going to see the Avalanche of 2011. For more than two periods, the guys in burgundy and blue were painful to watch.

The Avs of Roy were confident and freewheeling all season long, while establishing themselves as the feel-good, didn't-see-this-coming surprise story of the NHL.

But playoff hockey is not freewheeling. Playoff hockey will find every shadow of doubt in a player's soul. A hard-earned, home-ice advantage can be gone in a blink of an eye, or in a three-goal period, like the Wild blitz that rocked Colorado in the second period of this best-of-seven series.

On a Colorado team with defensive issues, Varlamov had saved the Avalanche's bacon all season. In appreciation, the Avs immediately threw Varly from the pan into the fire during Game 1.

At the Colorado blue line, #whynotus opened the postseason #withoutaclue. When Minnesota winger Erik Haula walked in on a defenseless Varlamov to put the Wild ahead 3-2 at 16:08 of the second period, there quickly ceased to be a celebration for the Avs, who got down to tense, tough work.

Teenage sensation Nathan MacKinnon has the stuff that can leave an arena in breathless awe. His beautiful pass to set up a score by Avs teammate Ryan O'Reilly was suitable for framing. It was one of three assists for the rookie.

But experience counts for something in the NHL playoffs. The Wild can stand behind Zach Parise, who has been there and done that from the Stanley Cup Finals to the Winter Olympics.

In a series where there will be no love lost and no holds barred, the Avalanche need a veteran like Stastny to step up and earn his $6.6 million salary. That's not criticism. In the playoffs, a money player absolutely must be worth every cent.

That gap-toothed smile plastered across the face of Stastny after the game-winning goal?

Priceless.



: Erik Johnson makes like speedskater Dan Jansen, saving the day

By Benjamin Hochman

The Denver Post

Posted: 04/18/2014 12:17:53 AM MDT

Updated: 04/18/2014 01:35:36 AM MDT

He was no longer a hockey player. He was a speed skater.

The former Olympian was now Dan Jansen or something, chasing his dream — no, like, literally chasing.

"At first, I was like — there's no way this is going to go in after he flipped it (down ice)," said Erik Johnson, Colorado's Minnesota kid, of Thursday's empty-net shot-attempt. "And then I see it take a turn, and I'm going - I got to get on my horse here. Originally, I didn't think I was going to get there. It kind of slowed down, and I got there right at the last second."

With 1:32 left in Thursday's Game 1 playoff matchup, and the Avalanche down 4-3, the defenseman Johnson saved the game with a save unlike any other — diving toward the empty net and knocking away the puck, while knocking the net and stopping play.

On Friday, surely the talk of the town will be Paul Statsny.

But Johnson, playing against his childhood team, kept the Avs in the game, allowing Statsny to be the hero.

And here's what I loved about it: Johnson had been playing pretty poorly. He made a dumb pass earlier that led to a Minnesota Wild goal. He looked like the Blues' Erik Johnson out there. But the theme of this magical team is finding ways to win. Patrick Roy says it every day, probably in his sleep, too. And Johnson was a microcosm of his team — played just an OK game but clawed and gnawed and found a way at the end.

"My first game, I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous," said the No. 1 overall pick in 2006, who was making his first postseason appearance. "In the second period I got more comfortable. The biggest thing was I wasn't moving my feet early, but I did that in the third, creating more chances and got the game under my belt."

Erik Johnson saved the puck from the Colorado Avalanche’s empty net against the Minnesota Wild during the third period of Game 1.

I don't think the Avs think they should have won this one. But they did, 5-4, thanks to Stastny's game-tying goal (assisted by Johnson) and then a Stastny game-winner, as the Pespi Center fizzed and overflowed with joy. Even the Nuggets' Ty Lawson, wearing an Avs sweater in the first row, pounded on the glass like he was just Ty from Stapleton, a Denverite caught up in the night.

"We believe in ourselves," Roy said, "and sometimes you're not playing your best game, but a quality of our team is we found a way to win this game. And that's what you want in the playoffs.

"I like how resilient we were. You can have all types of plans, but if your team is resilient, that's the key."

Colorado was off. The Avs seemed like they were playing not to lose for stretches. The Avs were poor on the power play, they looked lost scrambling on the penalty kill, they made some head-scratching decisions and Brad Malone is probably having flashbacks of that other Minnesota Erik, Erik Haula, zooming past him for a goal.

No one admits they want to play from behind, but it's as if the Avs play sharper when they are. They did it again Thursday night, just like they did so many times this Avalanche April. And maybe May at this point.




By Terry Frei

The Denver Post

Posted: 04/18/2014 12:01:00 AM MDT

Updated: 04/18/2014 01:59:05 AM MDT

Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie — listed at 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds — never is going to be known for dislodging power forwards from in front of the net, or for other high-impact physical work in the defensive zone.

The trick for a coaching staff, and for Barrie himself, is to live with that and take advantage of what he can do offensively. Colorado coach Patrick Roy recently mused that Barrie reminded him of Sandis Ozolinsh, whose offensive spark from the blue line — and that territorial term was best used loosely, given the Latvian's wanderings — was so important in the Avalanche's 1996 Stanley Cup run.

Barrie had 13 goals in the regular season, including three in overtime. That's the most goals for a Colorado defenseman since John-Michael Liles, also a diminutive No. 4, had 14 in 2006-07. The mandate from Roy in the first-round series against the Minnesota Wild is for Barrie to not tighten up too much because it's the postseason — his first NHL postseason.

"As far as jumping in the play or anything, they haven't reeled me back, so I think it's going to be a 'read' for me," Barrie, 22, said Thursday, before he had two assists in the Avalanche's stunning 5-4 overtime victory in Game 1. He added, "I'm not going to change my game too much."

Roy said he wanted Barrie "to play with the clock. That's the only thing I'm asking of Tyson. If we're up by one goal, think about the game, think about the score before jumping. If we're down one goal, then he has to go, we're chasing goals."

In the win, on a second-period 4-on-4, Barrie carried the puck up ice, passed to Nathan MacKinnon and ended up with an assist when Ryan O'Reilly scored. Then he also had an assist on Paul Stastny's game-winner at 7:27 of overtime.

"I think that exceeded expectations," Barrie said after the game. "That was amazing. The fans were unbelievable, and I thought that they set the tone for us right away. I thought we did a great job battling back, and it's like a dream come true go to a Stanley Cup game overtime and win it."

Colorado's top defense pairing of Erik Johnson and Jan Hejda struggled, and that can't be a pattern if the Avalanche is going to win the series. Barrie will be out at even strength with Nate Guenin, and he's on the point with the first power-play unit.

This comes at the end of a season for Barrie that began ominously, when he was sent down to Lake Erie on Nov. 4 and stayed there two weeks. Barrie's father, Len, played 184 NHL games as a center after scoring an eye-popping 85 goals in his final season of major junior with Kamloops. But Len also spent considerable time in the minors and in Europe before later briefly becoming a part-owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning. His son was hoping to become entrenched in the NHL, and seems to have done so after this productive season.

As came into play in Game 1, the one change in the NHL postseason is that the 4-on-4, five-minute overtime — with its open ice — is history until next season. "It's a different format," Barrie conceded of the limitless overtime, " but you can still end the game."

He didn't end it with a goal this time, but was part of the game-ending play, getting the puck to MacKinnon, who set up Stastny. Barrie was knocked to the ice in the slot on the sequence . "I couldn't see 'Stas,' " Barrie said. " I could just see the puck go in the back of the net, so I just popped right back up. I was so excited."



Playing big role in series as Wild defenseman

By Mike Chambers

The Denver Post

Posted: 04/18/2014 12:01:00 AM MDT

Updated: 04/18/2014 12:50:22 AM MDT

Avalanche rookie forward Nathan MacKinnon checks Nate Prosser of the Minnesota Wild into goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov during the first period Thursday.

Nate Prosser's fine day would only have been better if the Minnesota Wild hadn't blown a two-goal lead in the third period before falling to the Avalanche 5-4 in overtime Thursday.

The Minnesota defenseman, a native of Elk River, Minn., made his NHL playoff debut in the state where he played his college hockey.

Prosser, 27, played four years at Colorado College before embarking on an impressive professional career as an undrafted free agent. He was among the Wild's six-man defensive corps Thursday. Unfortunately for the visitors, they couldn't hold a two-goal lead.

"I thought we played a really good game," said Wild defenseman Ryan Suter. "We gave up one on a turnover (in the third period) and then they were coming, they got the momentum. It's too bad to lose that way, but that's how the playoffs are and we have to bounce back."

Minnesota had a 4-2 lead entering the third period, and a 4-3 lead late before Paul Stastny scored the tying goal with 13.4 seconds left.

"That's playoff hockey. There's disappointments and clearly that's one tonight," said Wild coach Mike Yeo.

After Colorado cut the Wild's lead to 4-3, Yeo said he wasn't happy with how his team played. "We didn't go a particulary great job of reestablishing momentum," he said. "We weren't aggressive enough."

In the overtime, Yeo said his team wasn't nearly as aggressive as it needed to be.

The mood was much different in the Wild postgame locker room than after the morning skate.

"I'm all smiles right now and ready to go," Prosser said after the morning skate. "It's my first playoff game, and (NHL postseason) experience, so wherever it was going to be was going to be exciting for me."

The 6-foot-2 Prosser has played in 53-of-82 games for the Wild in his 126-game NHL career. Yeo said Prosser is an "overachiever," but meant that as a compliment because the sometimes opposing defenseman naturally elevates his game when the stakes are high. He logged 10:09 in the first two periods Thursday.

Prosser, who signed a free-agent contract with Minnesota in 2010 after his senior season at CC, is considered a light-middleweight fighter. He served five fighting majors this season.

He had a handful of fans in the stands for his playoff debut.

"I still have some buddies around the Denver area," Prosser said. "It's always fun coming back to Colorado. I enjoyed my four years down at CC. Great time, great city."

Prosser was recruited to Colorado College by coach Scott Owens, who stepped down last month after 15 years following a turbulent 7-24-6 season. A year ago, longtime University of Denver coach George Gwozdecky was fired after 19 years.

"It's crazy. I didn't see that happening," Prosser said of the departures of Owens and Gwozdecky. "Changes happen, it's part of the game. Maybe it will be good for the teams, maybe it won't. We'll see."

Mike Chambers: [email protected] or twitter.com/mikechambers

Momentum killers

The Avs scored first — 13:14 into the game — but the Wild answered 2:06 later to take away the momentum. Minnesota did that again in the second period, going ahead 3-2 just 1:56 after the Avs tied it 2-2.

Poor middle frame. The Avs were outshot 12-6 and outscored 3-1 in the second period.

Power outage. The Avs had a four-minute power play in the first, but two minutes were shaved off when Nathan MacKinnon was whistled for high sticking. Colorado finished 0-for-4 on the power play through regulation.




By Adrian Dater

The Denver Post

Posted: 04/17/2014 10:57:29 PM MDT

Updated: 04/18/2014 01:23:02 AM MDT

The #WhyNotUs Avalanche seemed to be headed toward a #BecauseThat'sWhy answer from the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series Thursday night.

A team that appeared nervous much of the night in a favored, home-ice role against the Wild regrouped to pull out a nearly miraculous 5-4 overtime victory at a sold-out, delirious Pepsi Center.

Paul Stastny tied the score with 13.4 seconds in regulation, then won the game at 7:27 of overtime. Game 2 is Saturday night, also at the Pepsi Center.

Erik Johnson made the inspirational play of the game for the Avalanche with 1:32 left in regulation — then contributed to Stastny's tying goal, sending the series opener into overtime.

Paul Stastny celebrates his game-tying 4-4 goal with teammates against the Minnesota Wild with 13.4 seconds to play during the third period.

With the Wild leading 4-3, and the Avs with an empty net, Johnson crashed into the goalpost and swiped away the puck to prevent a goal that likely would have clinched the win for the Wild. After that stunning save, Avs coach Patrick Roy called a timeout and drew up strategy, but fortunate bounces also helped Colorado pull off Stastny's tying goal.

After the Wild had control of the puck but failed to clear it out of the Avs' zone, Johnson's attempted shot against Wild goalie Ilya Bryzgalov deflected off to the right side to Stastny, who had time and space to get off a shot past a late-sliding Bryzgalov. Tie game, 4-4. Overtime.

At that point, the #WhyNotUs Avs team of the regular season seemed back.

"What a comeback!" Johnson said. "That's the kind of stuff you dream of when you're a kid, winning playoff games like that."

About his game-saving play, Johnson said: "At first, I didn't think it had enough speed, then I didn't think I was going to be able to get to it in time."

Roy breathed a sigh of relief, along with the Colorado fans, when Johnson saved the day.

"Johnson's play was certainly a key moment," Roy said. "There were a lot of key moments. Sometimes you don't always play your best game, but we found a way to win. I liked how resilient we were. You could have all kinds of plans you want, but when your team is resilient like that, it was the key. I think this win will give us some momentum going forward."

The loose, no-pressure underdog Avs of the regular season seemed nervous and uncomfortable in the role of home-ice favorites for much of the first two periods, especially the second.

"We had a lot of guys playing their first playoff game and maybe we were a little nervous at first," Statsny said. "I think we started playing more of our game in the end."

The Avs, good at protecting leads with smart, fundamental team defense and goaltending during the regular season, made a few uncharacteristic mistakes that allowed Minnesota to take a 4-2, second-period lead. One of the biggest miscues was a slow line change that the Wild took advantage of for a tiebreaking goal by forward Erik Haula with 3:52 left in the second period, nearly four minutes after Colorado's Ryan O'Reilly scored on a slap shot to make it a 2-2 game. That goal got the Pepsi Center rocking.

With the Avs' fourth line scrambling to get on the ice following a line change, Haula was alone on the left side near the Avs' blue line and accepted a lead pass from teammate Jonas Brodin. He sneaked down the

left side with a step on the field and slipped a shot through the 5-hole of Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov to make it 3-2.

Just 2:04 later, the Avs made another fundamental mistake and the Wild made them pay — again. Kyle Brodziak scored at 18:15 after Avs defenders Johnson and Jan Hejda were in the corner playing a puck.

But they didn't take control of it, allowing Matt Cooke to sneak in and slip a pass out front that Brodziak easily converted for a 4-2 lead.

The Pepsi Center crowd fell silent at that point, but came alive again with just under 13 minutes remaining in the third period, when Jamie McGinn scored on a rebound to cut the Wild's lead to 4-3. O'Reilly set up that goal, stealing a lazy pass by Brodziak to feed McGinn.

It got a lot louder at the end of regulation. Roy pulled Varla- mov with 3:01 left — and the Avs peppered Bryzgalov in a wild finish.

"Any time you come back like that in a playoff game, luck is on your side," Johnson said. "Yeah, we played a good game toward the end. We'll take it, but we realize we have to play a lot better and they outplayed us."

Avalanche's three stars

Paul Stastny

Avalanche center got the game-tying goal in the final seconds of regulation, then the game-ender in overtime. A game for the ages.

Nathan MacKinnon

Avalanche rookie had three assists in the Colorado come-from-behind win, showing why he was a deserving No. 1 pick.

Ryan O'Reilly

Back at center, he had a goal and an assist for Colorado. His steal of a Kyle Brodziak pass was huge in getting Colorado back in the game.




By Mike Chambers

The Denver Post

Posted: 04/17/2014 07:23:53 PM MDT

Updated: 04/18/2014 01:42:59 AM MDT

Tickets are being sold across the street at a premium price, white pompoms adorn every seat and security appears tighter.

On a mobile device? View the live blog here

The Pepsi Center has a playoff feel, and the Stanley Cup playoffs have indeed returned to Denver for the first time in four years.

The Avalanche is hosting the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of their best-of-seven playoff series, starting at 7:30 p.m. Game 2 is Saturday night, also at the Pepsi Center.

Fans at the Pepsi Center cheer for the Avalanche in Game 1.

Central Division champion Colorado, seeded No. 2 overall in the Western Conference, will play without centers Matt Duchene (knee injury) and John Mitchell (concussion). The No. 7 Wild, which finished fourth in the Central Division, is relatively healthy for the first time in weeks.

The nod goes to Minnesota in the health department, but two things that favor the Avs are goaltending and chemistry. Semyon Varlamov brings a franchise-record 41 regular-season victories into Game 1. And the close-knit Avs have jelled into an NHL giant after finishing dead last in the Western Conference a year ago.

Let the fun begin.



How Patrick Roy's outburst in season's first game set the tone

By Benjamin Hochman

The Denver Post

Posted: 04/17/2014 01:53:33 PM MDT

Updated: 04/17/2014 10:13:17 PM MDT

He was in the eye of the storm — and was, really, the eye of the storm.

Cameraman John Almering, watching and recording Patrick Roy's first game as the Avalanche coach, was suddenly in the middle of the dream season's definitive highlight, a highlight he recorded ... and is forever in.

"The first thing I remember him saying," Almering recalled, "was '(BLEEP) YOOOOOOOU!' "

You've surely seen the image — a screaming Roy twice shoving the glass partition at the Anaheim Ducks coach, a moment that set the tone for the Roy era. But watch again — there's the camera dude, basically caught between the partition and Patrick, being flung back and forth while somehow maintaining the shot with his large camera.

On Thursday night, the Central Division champion Avs will host Game 1 of the playoff series against the Minnesota Wild, a perfect time to revisit the genesis of this season's Avalanche and its attitude.

Almering, 35, is a freelance broadcast camera operator, and he was hired the day before the opener by Altitude TV. He received a unique assignment. The legendary Roy was back with the team, so the station wanted to record his every move in his first game. So Almering was stationed in the corner of the Avs bench, right next to the partition.

"The other cameraman and I were talking, and he said, 'This is really a historical event — this footage could end up really being something,' " Almering said. "I shot the whole game, and they wanted me to be sure to get Roy's reaction for his first goal as a coach, and he really didn't have a reaction, he really didn't do a lot. During the game, he was chirping on the bench, all good stuff, but nothing really remarkable happened.

But at the end of the game, the Ducks players were jawing at him behind my back, and he started walking away, and I was like, 'Well, OK, that's it. That was a fun night.'

"But something happened and a switch just flipped, and he all of a sudden turned around, walked back yelling. He was so fired up, and I was already standing on a pile of my own cable, so I was already on unsteady footing. I just kind of held the shot, and all of a sudden he shoves the glass, it rebounds and hits me in the head. I was the only thing really holding it up at that point. So all of a sudden I have the glass hitting me in the head and him yelling in front of me. It was just chaos. It was amazing to see that passion. That's really what he brings to the game, and I think everybody now realizes that."

Almering ultimately walked back to the truck dock, and a technical director hollered: "Hey Hollywood! You're going to be all over SportsCenter!"

Indeed, the highlight went viral, and soon Almering's Facebook page "blew up" as he described it. The video shows Almering as a rag doll amid the avalanche that was the Avalanche coach. It was classic.

"On Facebook I wrote — it was my first time on SportsCenter on both sides of the camera," said Almering, an Avs fan who graduated from the University of Denver the same day Roy and the team won the Stanley Cup in 2001. "Somebody told me that they asked him on the radio about the camera guy, and he was like, 'He had the best seat in the house!' And I agree."




By Mike Chambers

The Denver Post

Posted: 04/17/2014 01:01:53 PM MDT

Updated: 04/17/2014 06:08:15 PM MDT

It's a special day for Nate Prosser.

The Minnesota Wild defenseman, a native of Elk River, Minn., will make his NHL playoff debut in the state where he played his college hockey. Prosser, 27, played four years at Colorado College before embarking on an impressive professional career as an undrafted free agent.

He will be in the Wild's lineup for Thursday's Game 1 first-round series against the Avalanche at the Pepsi Center.

"I'm all smiles right now and ready to go tonight," Prosser said from Minnesota's locker room after the morning skate. "It's my first playoff game, and (NHL postseason) experience, so wherever it was going to be was going to be exciting for me."

The 6-foot-2 Prosser has played in 53 of 82 games for the Wild in his 126-game NHL career. Wild coach Mike Yeo said Prosser is an "overachiever," but meant that as a compliment because the sometimes opposing defenseman naturally elevates his game when the stakes are high.

Prosser, who signed a free-agent contract with Minnesota in 2010 after his senior season at CC, is considered a light-middleweight fighter. He served five fighting majors this season.

He will have a handful of fans in the stands for his playoff debut.

"I still have some buddies around the Denver area who will be coming tonight," Prosser said. "It's always fun coming back to Colorado. I enjoyed my four years down at CC. Great time, great city."

Prosser was recruited to Colorado College by coach Scott Owens, who stepped down last month after 15 years following a turbulent 7-24-6 season. A year ago, longtime University of Denver coach George Gwozdecky was fired after 19 years.

"It's crazy. I didn't see that happening," Prosser said of the departures of Owens and Gwozdecky. "Changes happen, it's part of the game. Maybe it will be good for the teams, maybe it won't. We'll see."

Nate Prosser of the Minnesota Wild, right, played four years at Colorado College.

Nate Prosser of the Minnesota Wild, right, played four years at Colorado College. (Getty Images file)

Footnote. Yeo said John Curry will serve as Ilya Bryzgalov's backup in goal for the Wild, which also has rookie Darcy Kuemper available.



Avs face Wild goalie Ilya Bryzgalov for 1st time this season in Game 1

By Adrian Dater

The Denver Post

Posted: 04/17/2014 12:52:57 PM MDT

Updated: 04/17/2014 02:35:07 PM MDT

The Avalanche will be facing a goalie it hasn't seen all season in Ilya Bryzgalov when it begins a first-round playoff series Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center. But Bryzgalov is not a stranger to the Avs' coaching staff.

"We have a lot of info on him," Avs coach Patrick Roy said after his team's morning skate.

The Avs' goaltending coach, Francois Allaire, had Bryzgalov as a pupil for parts of five seasons with the Anaheim Ducks from 2001-08. Like he has been with Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov (and Roy in the 1980s), Allaire was credited with developing Bryzgalov into a top-notch goalie.

Avs backup goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere also played several years alongside Bryzgalov in Anaheim.

Roy said the Avs have to respect Bryzgalov's talent, though his ability has been somewhat maligned the last couple of years, as he's played for three NHL teams since last season.

"He played really well for them down the stretch," Roy said. "I watched a few gams and he made some great saves and kept their team in some games. He's certainly a reason why they had that little push at the end."

On the morning of the team's first playoff game in four years, excitement was easy to spot in the Avs' dressing room. Rookie Nathan MacKinnon compared it to feelings he's had on Christmas mornings, and Ryan O'Reilly — on the last Avs team that made the playoffs in 2010 — agreed.

"It's exciting. I think we're coming in with a lot of confidence," O'Reilly said. "It's going to be a tough game tonight. But at the same time, it's nice to be back in a race for a Cup."

Roy said center John Mitchell (upper body) wouldn't play in Game 1, but that he will be re-evaluated on a daily basis. With Mitchell and Matt Duchene (knee) out, the Avs enter Game 1 without two of their top three centers.

Marc-Andre Cliche will center a third line with Max Talbot and Cody McLeod.

TOUT: Avs rookie Nathan MacKinnon comments on first playoff game

"I think our line has had some good scoring chances lately," Cliche said. "I know I can't change my game too much though. I have to finish my check and get the puck deep and be good in my own end first."

Fans going to the game will see white pompoms in their seats, with an Avs logo on the handle.



Avalanche-Wild postgame, Game 1 of playoffs: A minor miracle

By Adrian Dater

The Denver Post

Adrian Dater

By now, I should have known better right? I literally had my finger just over the button to push “send” on a story that would tell the sad news of the Avalanche’s first playoff game against Minnesota. I had almost pushed send twice before that, especially when the puck shot by Erik Haula was headed toward the empty net in what likely would have been a 5-3 Wild win.

But with the clock almost about to hit :10 left in regulation, it looked like the final would only be 4-3, with the Wild stealing home-ice away after one game.

Then, the finger went into “erase” mode. Nobody knew at first where Paul Stastny’s shot went, but the crowd noise kept building until it was obvious: the puck was top shelf cookies behind Ilya Bryzgalov, where (as ESPN’s John Buccigross says, “where mom keeps the thin mints”). Tie game, on to OT and, well, we knew what the #WhyNotUs would do from there didn’t we?

Stastny won it at 7:27 of OT, not long after Jason Pominville hit the post with a shot. Tyson Barrie and Nathan MacKinnon made outstanding passes leading up to Stastny’s one-timer past Breezer. It’s 1-0, when pretty much from the middle of the second period on it seemed like just one of those nights for an Avs team that looked nervous much of the time I thought and just too fundamentally unsound to win.

To me, Johnson’s save of that puck from the empty net was the play of the night, one sure to be replayed much in the coming 48 hours or so until Game 2. That was one of those inspirational plays that a team can rally behind.

Let’s admit this though: while I don’t want to use the word “lucky” to describe this win, I’ll go with “fortunate.” I think that’s a fair assessment.

The Wild could have wrapped the game up a couple of times, one of them when Mikael Granlund had a partially open net against Semyon Varlamov (29 saves), but elected to pass across instead. A goal there, and it’s back to a 5-3 game late for the Wild. Marc-Andre Cliche made a diving stop of Granlund’s pass and Varly smothered it from there.

The Wild could have probably wrapped it up right before Stastny’s goal, too, but Jared Spurgeon failed to make a pretty easy clear of the puck. The Avs got all the bounces on Stasty’s tying goal, with the puck ricocheting to the right side after Johnson’s attempted shot.

The fact is, the Avs are going to need to be better than they were tonight, but I also think this: they were a really nervous bunch those first two periods, just not in sync at all, kind of running around a lot and trying to do too much and not playing a calmer brand of hockey.

I think once the Avs got that underdog mentality back, that nothing-to-lose feeling after being down 4-2, they tapped back into their inner selves and started to put a lot of pressure on the Wild.

Let’s also admit: having to do without Matt Duchene and John Mitchell is a tough chore for this club. Tonight, there were several times where I thought “A Duchene right there, and the Avs probably put that puck in” instead of some plays where a lack of finish was evident. Mitchell’s defensive play and puck possession time was sorely missed tonight too, though I thought Cliche did a decent job, especially defensively in his stead.

All the Avs players talked about the need to be better in Game 2. We’ll see what happens. The Avs may need Varlamov to go back to his Vezina-worthy self to win a bit more comfortably. He seemed to be fighting the puck a bit tonight too, though the defense in front of him was spotty at times, especially that fourth Wild goal by Kyle Brodziak, where Johnson and Jan Hejda (a tough night) were caught standing in the corner and the front of the net was vacated.

I told you the playoffs would require some deep-breathing exercises to handle. And this was just the first game.



Paul Stastny scores consecutive goals to lead Avalanche to 5-4 OT victory over Wild

By Mike Chambers

The Denver Post

Avalanche, erik johnson, Gabe Landeskog, Game 1 Stanley Cup playoffs, Mike Chambers, Minnesota Wild, NHL, Paul Stastny, Ryan Suter

Adrian Dater’s evolving game story from the Avalanche’s 5-4 overtime victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 is here. We’ll soon have a smorgasbord of reading material from yours truly, Mark Kiszla, Terry Frei and Benjamin Hochman.

Paul Stastny’s numbers: two goals on two shots, game-opening assist and plus-1 in 25:42. Only captain and linemate Gabe Landeskog (25:56) played more among Avs forwards. Ryan O’Reilly (goal, assist) played 25:18. Defenseman Erik Johnson led Colorado with what I believe is his career high (30:22). Only Wild defenseman Ryan Suter (31:11) spent more time on the ice.

“What a comeback,” said Johnson, who was continually cool under pressure in the third period and OT and might have saved the game by making a last-second clear of Minnesota’s empty-net bid at the end of regulation. “That’s the kind of stuff you dream of when you’re a kid, winning playoff games like that.”

Landeskog, who scored the first goal of the game, said he also had a lot of fun. “It was unbelievable. What a game, and that atmosphere. It was unbelievable. Avs fans, keep it up, and I know they certainly will.”

Said Suter: “I thought we played a really good game. We gave up one on a turnover (in the third period) and then they were coming, they got the momentum. It’s too bad to lose that way but that’s how the playoffs are and we have to bounce back.”

Suter played on two U.S. Olympic teams with Stastny. “He’s obviously a really good player. He’s good on the faceoff circle, good on the power play and he’s just the total package. He plays hard at both ends of the ice.”

The Avs, of course, trailed 4-2 heading into the third. O’Reilly’s D-zone steal led to Jamie McGinn’s rebound goal to make it 4-3 with 12:47 to go in regulation. Stastny forced OT with 14 seconds to go off a Johnson blast.

Rookie sensation Nathan MacKinnon “quietly” contributed three assists, including the primary one on the GWG.

“Any time you come back like that in a playoff game, luck is on your side,” Johnson said. “Yeah, we played a good game towards the end. We’ll take it but we realize we have a lot better to give and they outplayed us.”


741439 Columbus Blue Jackets

Blue Jackets notebook: Youth will help Jackets this time, Boll says

By Shawn Mitchell The Columbus Dispatch • Thursday April 17, 2014 5:28 AM

PITTSBURGH — Only three Blue Jackets players were around for the team’s other playoff appearance, a fact that makes it tough to compare this postseason with the one in 2009.

But youth is on the Blue Jackets’ side this time, right wing Jared Boll said.

“This team definitely has a lot left in the tank,” said Boll, the longest tenured player on the team. “There are a lot of young guys here, but they have a lot left to give.”

Tired legs and minds were a factor five years ago, when the Blue Jackets — including Boll, R.J. Umberger and Fedor Tyutin — were swept by the Detroit Red Wings in the first round.

There were signs that the 2009 Jackets — including Calder Trophy-winning goaltender Steve Mason — had left their best hockey behind by the time the playoffs began. They were 1-2-2 in their final five games of the regular season and slid to the seventh spot in the Western Conference. That team had players with considerably more playoff experience.

“There are so many young guys (now), but they play like they are older than they are,” Boll said. “Boone (Jenner), (Ryan) Murray, (David Savard) — all those guys.“

Still, the Jackets entered last night’s game with a combined 251 playoff games among them. The Penguins had 1,154.

“You have to start sometime,” said Boll, whose only postseason game before last night was the series opener in 2009. “All those (Penguins) were in the same shoes once.”

All good

Blue Jackets center Mark Letestu played 11 playoff games for the Penguins in 2010 and 2011 but said he was nervous yesterday “just because of the gravity of the situation, of the Stanley Cup playoffs.”

“But there are always going to be nerves,” he said. “If there’s not, there is probably something wrong with you.”

Letestu said he carried no ill will into Game 1, despite being traded by the Penguins to the Blue Jackets in 2011 for a fourth-round draft pick in 2012. The Penguins used the pick on forward Matia Marcantuoni, a mid-level prospect who made his pro debut last weekend for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the American Hockey League.

Letestu, meanwhile, has morphed into the Jackets’ most versatile player, capable of skating on any forward line at any position. He is a regular on the power play and penalty kill.

“They had some really skilled centermen playing in front of me, and maybe I just didn’t fit (in Pittsburgh),” he said. “But players change. They evolve. Now, I am what I am and I’m happy to be here.”

Another move

The Penguins reassigned forward Chris Conner to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for a conditioning assignment. Conner had missed 40 games because of a foot injury. He was the fourth player sent down by the Penguins in the past two days.

Slap shots

Defensemen Nick Schultz and Dalton Prout, forward Matt Frattin and goaltender Jeremy Smith were the Blue Jackets’ healthy scratches. … Injured Jackets R.J. Umberger (upper body) and Nick Foligno (knee) participated in the final portion of yesterday’s morning skate. … The Blue Jackets are scheduled to practice at 11 a.m. this morning at Nationwide Arena. The practice will be closed to the public. They will return to Pittsburgh on Friday afternoon.

Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 04.18.2014


Penguins' Fleury hangs tough after shaky beginning

By Shawn Mitchell The Columbus Dispatch • Thursday April 17, 2014 5:27 AM

PITTSBURGH — Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has found humor in the rancor surrounding the postseason struggles of goaltender and longtime teammate Marc-Andre Fleury.

“I think the way he’s played speaks for itself,” Crosby said before a first-round series against the Blue Jackets began with a 4-3 Penguins victory last night at the Consol Energy Center. “I think me having to defend him at this point is pretty funny. He’s done everything he’s had to do to bounce back.”

That would be winning 39 games — second most in the NHL— and backstopping the Penguins to a 109-point season after losing his starting job just four games into a 15-game playoff run last season.Fleury started the Penguins’ previous playoff run with a 26-save shutout win over the New York Islanders.

He fell short of matching that performance last night but played well enough to walk away with a win. Fleury — at times shaky, at times superb — stopped 31 of 34 shots and improved his career playoff record to 46-34.

“It feels nice to be up 1-0, I’ll tell you that,” Fleury said.

After Jack Johnson (even strength) and Mark Letestu (power play) scored for the Blue Jackets in the first period, the Penguins fell behind 3-1 when Derek MacKenzie scored on a short-handed breakaway just 43 seconds into the second. But Fleury kept his cool.

“Stay relaxed, stay calm,” Fleury said. “Just try to focus on the next shot, stopping the next one and going from there. We have a team that can come back in games, and we did tonight.”

Fleury made 20 saves in the final two periods. His highlights included a denial of David Savard, who let loose a rocket shot from open ice, as well as a poke-check disruption of a breakaway by Matt Calvert in the final minute of the second period.

“We gave up a breakaway there, and he made a big save,” Crosby said. “They (Fleury and Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky) did a good job making some big saves. I’m sure it’s a battle we’ll continue to see.”

Bobrovsky made 28 saves but gave up the winner when Brandon Sutter beat him from the right circle with a shot that zipped under Bobrovsky’s right arm.

“I don’t want to talk about goals,” Bobrovsky said. “It’s a long series, and it’s only the start. That’s a good team, good players. But we can play with them.”



Michael Arace commentary: Jackets in bad mood after big lead slips away

By Michael Arace The Columbus Dispatch • Thursday April 17, 2014 5:27 AM

PITTSBURGH — Forget the Blue Jackets’ past, and all those terrible teams, and all those mediocre teams. Forget the one playoff team they had before, the one that got swept.

And while we’re at it, forget about the buildup to these playoffs. Forget all that stuff about the Blue Jackets being young and naive, and how they had no idea what was about to hit them in the playoffs.

In the present, in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, the Jackets were at least the equal of their vaunted opponent. The Jackets established their manic forecheck, played the game they wanted to play and stood up to a hostile, standing-room crowd of 18,646 at the Consol Energy Center.

And they let it get away.

They blew two leads, got sloppy with the puck and lost 4-3. Forget everything else: They had this game, the Penguins took it away, and to a certain degree, the Blue Jackets facilitated it.

“Experience? Bull----,” Jackets center Ryan Johansen said.

Johansen is 21 years old. He was among 11 Blue Jackets players who experienced their first playoff game last night, against Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and the rest of the star-studded Penguins. So what.

“We gave away the hockey game tonight,” Johansen said. “We had a comfortable lead and let them back in it. We didn’t have the poise with the puck in our own zone and through the neutral zone. We were rushing plays.”

Well said, that, and good for Johansen for saying it. Dismiss this specter of the baby Jackets and focus on what is important.

This is important:

“When we got the first goal, the whole bench said, ‘We can play with these guys,’ ” Johansen said.

Of course they can. They did. They will.

Defenseman Jack Johnson staked the Blue Jackets to a 1-0 lead early in the first period. Forward Mark Letestu answered a Penguins goal with a beautiful put-back late in the first.

Asked whether he thought the Jackets “surprised” the Penguins, Johnson snapped: “I don’t know why we would. We’re a pretty good hockey team, too.”

Forward Derek MacKenzie stunned the crowd, and brought the Blue Jackets bench to its feet, with a short-handed goal only 43 seconds into the second period. The Blue Jackets were executing their game plan to near-perfection, and here they had a 3-1 lead.

Then followed two penalties: one for interference on Johnson and another for tripping on Fedor Tyutin. The Penguins scored two power-play goals within a span of 45 seconds. That is what the Pens can do.

They also can transition, which they did in the third period, when the Blue Jackets stuttered with the puck and became prone to counterattack. Brandon Sutter scored the winning goal on a two-on-one rush at 8:18 of the period. It was a shot that Sergei Bobrovsky often gobbles up, but this one snuck under his right arm.

“It is a learning experience, but we’re here to win,” coach Todd Richards said. “We’re not here just to go to school.”

And this is what they learned last night:

“If we’re turning pucks over, we’re feeding right into what they want,” Richards said. “Our strength is creating scoring chances by playing in their zone, and we didn’t execute the way we needed to. And we’ve got to play better Saturday.”

Forget about the Blue Jackets’ youth, and remember they have nothing to lose. That is the way they are approaching it. Last night, they found out they could play with the Penguins. There was no intimidation. They had the game in hand. They were foisting their style on the Penguins.

Then they lost their way.

They were stung, and the good news is they felt it. They thought they should have won. That is proper thinking.


741442 Dallas Stars

One Stars player makes list of top-selling NHL jerseys

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

SPORTSDAYDFW.COM

Published: 17 April 2014 10:24 PM

Updated: 17 April 2014 10:24 PM

The NHL released its list of top-selling jerseys on Thursday and one Star, Tyler Seguin, made the list.

Seguin ranked No. 18 on the list, sandwiched between St. Louis' T.J. Oshie and San Jose's Joe Pavelski. The rankings were determined by the number of jerseys sold at the NHL's official online store, shop.nhl.com. The amount of jerseys sold for each player were not listed.

Dallas Morning News LOADED: 04.18.2014

741443 Dallas Stars

Need to know: Stars' Cody Eakin to face Saku Koivu again, will he be up to the challenge again?

MIKE HEIKA

Staff Writer

[email protected]



Stars at Anaheim Ducks

9 p.m. today (FSSW, 1310 AM)

Key matchup: Saku Koivu vs. Cody Eakin

This is one of the matchups Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau is seeking, and it had mixed results in Game 1. Koivu went 14-5 in the faceoff circle, while Eakin went 5-15. However, Eakin had an assist and was plus-1, while Koivu was minus-2.

Key number: .758

That’s the winning percentage for NHL teams playing in seven-game series who win Game 1 at home, according to www.whowins.com.

Injuries

Stars: D Brenden Dillon (lower body) is questionable. C Rich Peverley (heart) is out.

Ducks: LW Matt Beleskey (lower body) is questionable. D Sheldon Souray (wrist) and RW Tim Jackman (hand) are out.

Notable

Anaheim won 4-3 on Wednesday and has a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. ... Anaheim went 2-for-5 on the power play in Game 1, while Dallas went 1-for-5. ... Alex Goligoski logged a game-high 28:39 on Wednesday. Trevor Daley played 26:14. ... The Stars have defenseman Kevin Connauton as a possible replacement if they decide to make a change on defense. ... Stars rookie defenseman Patrik Nemeth had a game-high five hits in Game 1. ... Anaheim blocked 21 shots in Game 1, the Stars blocked 12. ... Stars LW Jamie Benn had a goal, five shots on goal and five hits in Game 1.


741444 Dallas Stars

Stars coach Lindy Ruff won't disclose injured defenseman Brenden Dillon's status: We'll see Friday

MIKE HEIKA

Staff Writer

[email protected]



The Stars held an optional skate, but defenseman Brenden Dillon (lower body) did not participate. Dillon was injured in Friday’s game against St. Louis and has not skated since. Stars coach Lindy Ruff has a policy of not divulging injury information during the playoffs, and said Dillon simply is “day-to-day.”

Asked if the 23-year-old defenseman was close to skating, Ruff quipped: “Well, the room is approximately 150 feet from the rink, so that means he's close.”

Asked if Dillon can traverse that 150 feet soon, Ruff replied: “We'll see tomorrow.”

Dillon's presence is missed in a lot of ways. Rookie Patrik Nemeth moved up to the second pair and took Dillon's place. Nemeth played 19:20, but the Stars didn't have the balance they have had in previous weeks. Alex Goligoski had to log 28:39 while Trevor Daley had 26:14.

The third pair of Aaron Rome (8:51) and Sergei Gonchar (11:28 with 2:19 on the power play) clearly was not used as much as Nemeth and Gonchar have been used previously.

In addition, the move of Nemeth to the second pair means Jordie Benn has to move to the right side, with which he is unfamiliar, and that created some problems for him.

Bottom line, the defense will be in a lot better shape if Dillon can play.

“We miss the quality ice time he takes,” Ruff said of Dillon. “We're taking him out and putting in a guy who has six or seven games in the league [Nemeth]. For the most part, we've got a lot of guys who have very little experience or none, and in [Dillon’s] case he's at least got a season and a half, which is better than six or seven games."

Briefly: Ducks forward Matt Beleskey, who had a goal and assist in Game 1, did not practice Thursday and is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Beleskey could skate in the morning, and the Ducks are listing him as a game-time decision. ... Stars forward Colton Sceviour did not skate Thursday but said he has no lingering effects from a collision with the boards in Game 1. He said he is fine and ready to play in Game 2. ... Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Kari Lehtonen, Trevor Daley, Alex Goligoski, Dillon and Sceviour did not skate at the Stars’ optional practice.


741445 Dallas Stars

Puck to face won't stop Ducks' Ryan Getzlaf from returning for Game 2

MIKE HEIKA

Staff Writer

[email protected]



ANAHEIM, Calif. — Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf didn’t skate Thursday after taking a puck in the face in Game 1, but the Ducks said Getzlaf did not suffer any bone damage and is expected to play in Game 2 on Friday.

Getzlaf was hit in the face by a hard Tyler Seguin shot in the final minute of Anaheim’s 4-3 victory in Game 1. He suffered lacerations and left the ice immediately. He took several stitches to close the cuts.

“That's why he is who he is,” Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. “That's why he's won two gold medals and a Stanley Cup. He's learned from the Scotty Niedermayers and the Chris Prongers that were here before him. He's a battler and a gamer. It won’t look too pretty, but he’s going to be playing.”

Getzlaf led the Ducks in scoring during the regular season and finished second in the NHL with 87 points (31 goals, 56 assists) in 77 games. He played 20:50 in Game 1, had a goal and an assist and was credited with four blocked shots. He also went 11-for-22 in the faceoff circle.

“He’s definitely the biggest part of our team, and it would certainly be a big loss if he went down,” defenseman Cam Fowler said. “I’ve seen him take his fair share of bumps and bruises, and he always bounces back. It’s a good thing for our leader to show that. We know he’ll be there for us no matter what.”


741446 Dallas Stars

Stars hit video room for extensive review, think they've fixed problems that plagued them in Game 1

MIKE HEIKA

Staff Writer

[email protected]



ANAHEIM, Calif. — Alex Goligoski and Vernon Fiddler were deep in conversation 10 minutes after the Stars lost Game 1 of their first-round playoff series to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.

The two veterans were talking intensely and even walked over to the dry erase board to make their points.

“It’s what you have to do in the playoffs,” Goligoski said. “We have to find a way to be better on the penalty kill, so that’s what we were talking about. How do we fix this before the next game?”

The beauty of playoff hockey is you get to see the same opponent over and over. It’s a test of your physical strength, but even more a test of your mental strength and guile. That’s what Thursday was about for the Stars. They had an optional skate, but spent a ton of time on videos and whiteboard work.

“I think I had the longest video session of the year today,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “We were mostly positive, but you need that peer pressure among players to help correct mistakes and help your teammates get going in the right direction.”

Which takes you back to the Fiddler and Goligoski conversation. Both players rely on intelligence and anticipation to do their respective jobs, and they said they like the fact that they will be challenged by the same players Friday. Anaheim scored twice on the power play in Game 1. Patrick Maroon slipped a deadly pass through the slot to Mathieu Perrault on the first one to set up an easy goal, and Matt Beleskey camped out in front of Kari Lehtonen on the second. In both instances, the Stars could have cut down passing lanes.

“It’s like a chess match, and you have to anticipate and change things,” Fiddler said. “When you’ve been around for a while, you notice things that you didn’t notice before. I mean, I don’t remember noticing those things my first couple of years, and I definitely do now. When you’ve got experience, you try to use that to your advantage.”

Ruff said he believes just getting through Game 1 was a good experience. When the game started, the Stars were clearly revved up and maybe a little too excited. That allowed Anaheim to make some smart plays in transition and catch the Stars in overaggressive places.

“I didn’t like our possession game,” Ruff said. “We were impatient. We were in a hurry to put the puck in a place where we didn’t need to. We were trying to get to the wrong place too fast.”

Now, he believes the team will have a little more composure in Game 2. Not only will they be able to breathe a little more after cutting a 4-0 deficit to 4-3 in Game 1, they’ll have learned some lessons in the classroom.

“I do like this process” said veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who has played in 136 NHL playoff games. “That’s what the playoffs are all about. You have a chance to answer your questions. So many times, you make adjustments on yourself, but you’re playing a different team with a different system the next night. Here, you get to really see the other team and you know what you have to do.”

Every player can be a hero, and every play can change the series.

“You look at the plays they scored on, and if we can get a stick down or a skate in the way, then the pass doesn’t go through,” Goligoski said. “That’s all it takes.”

Oh yeah, and there’s a couple of other things that can help you when playing in a series — things such as regret, anger and determination — things that were cultivated in Game 1.

“The players get to experience the day after a loss,” Ruff said. “That’s the experience of being in the playoffs. It’s the best-of-7, you lose a big game and now you’re facing a game where we can shift momentum back in our favor. That’s something our team needs to experience, and I’m banking on the fact that we’ve been able to bounce back from a lot of tough situations this year.”


741447 Dallas Stars

Sherrington: Ducks have upper hand in series, but Stars future looks bright

Kevin Sherrington

SportsDayDFW.com



Catch SportsDay On Air twice per week on Fox Sports Southwest, when Dallas Morning News experts discuss hot sports topics from the Cowboys, Mavericks, Stars, Rangers, high schools and colleges (check our TV listings for air times). Here are some highlights from Thursday's episode featuring Kevin Sherrington and David Moore.

On if the Dallas Stars can win their playoff series

Sherrington: "Yeah, being down 4-0 and coming back to score three goals is a good sign. It would have been nice to stop that breakaway goal early, but it didn't happen that way. The fact that they are young, talented, fast, and skate well all bodes very well for the Stars. Maybe not in this series, but it certainly does for the future."

Moore: "They weren't ready early. That was clear. You can't give up leads that quickly in the playoffs and consistently fight back from it. Anaheim is a team that went out last year when they were favored. They were better prepared emotionally for this series than last year. They have been through it and it's fresh in their memory. The Stars have to compete, keep the games close, and take the lead early in order to be able to win this series. They don't have enough fire power after the first line and Letmen is not playing strongly enough to keep them in games. They are going to have to get to some early leads and equalize the series pretty soon."

On whether the Stars can win Game 2 on the road Friday

Sherrington: "There is always that possibility and they have the fire power to do it. The problem is the Ducks have everything the Stars have and more. That's not a good sign. If Letman plays really well and stays on his head because there is not enough protection in front of him. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin both need to play great, but they have to outscore them. It's not going to be a 2-1 game. It has to be 5-4 or something like that. They need to start well from the opening gun and carry it out."

On Anaheim going with a young goalie

Moore: "It was a gusty move that could have backfired, but it did not. Their was pressure after last year and their primary goal tender was not playing well down the stretch. Just to have the strength of conviction to go out of the norm and put a rookie in this situation is a very, very difficult move to make. If it backfires and Dallas wins that first game, he gets criticism for a poor coaching decision. It was great decision because it worked out, but the risk/reward factor was huge for him."


741448 Dallas Stars

Cowlishaw: Why I think, at this point, the Stars will be the next Dallas team to win a championship

Tim Cowlishaw

SPORTSDAYDFW.COM



Columnist Tim Cowlishaw held a live chat on Thursday. Here are some highlights.

Which Dallas team do you honestly see taking the next championship? I would lean towards the Rangers if they could just stay healthy, but Dirk won't go out without a fight, the Stars are on the rise, and the Cowboys well...

At this point, the Stars are the most likely pick because of their young talent up front and because hockey is the least predictable of the four major sports. The Rangers -- fully healthy -- are still a better team than the Stars. So are the Mavericks, but the NBA doesn't hand out championships to No. 8 seeds. If the Rangers got their pitching back intact by June, they could make a run if Fielder is hitting and Beltre is healthy. Lot of ifs. That's why I'd say Stars. Did I forget to mention the Cowboys? No, I did not.

Can Kari Lehtonen overcome another rough playoff start?

That's a great question. I thought the team looked nervous and certainly he did as well in the first 5-6 minutes last night. Now that that is behind them and they are down, how do they respond? I will be surprised if Lehtonen doesn't -- for the most part -- play well in this series. If he doesn't, it gives this team something else to ponder this off-season (while waiting for the Jack Campbell Era to begin).

At any point did you think Kari would get pulled? Had he given up another goal, that could have put Dallas in a horrible position. Appreciate Lindy's confidence, because I was getting worried.

Good question, when it was 4-0 in the second, I was thinking about that. What does Lindy do if it gets to 5? Or do you just sit Lehtonen and let him watch the third period? But then the Stars made it a 4-2 game very quickly before the end of the second period, and you certainly wouldn't pull your goalie at that point. We'll see what happens, he needs to be a lot better in Game 2.

Experience matters little if you make stupid penalties. Has Gonchar been a complete bust? I don't even see the guy he's supposed to be mentoring (Val) making strides.

Complete. And with one year to go at another $5 million. I was among those standing and applauding Jim Nill for the signing. We were all wrong.


741449 Dallas Stars

Cowlishaw: Here's what the Stars have to do to win Game 2

Tim Cowlishaw

SPORTSDAYDFW.COM



Columnist Tim Cowlishaw held a live chat on Thursday. Here are some highlights.

What makes the Stars a winner in Game 2 that they couldn't do in Game 1?

Better play from the support players. Benn and Seguin can't play a heck of a lot better than they did in Game 1. On the other hand, Lehtonen can be a lot better than he was. You hate to put it all on the goalie, but his next good playoff game will be his first. So that needs to start in Game 2.

The Stars fought back against the best team in hockey and almost pulled it off. What do they need to do to get that "W"?

Beyond the obvious -- scoring first -- I think coming out and being physical, killing a couple Ducks penalties to show they're capable of that, getting a few big saves from Lehtonen so he can deliver the message he's ready to step up...all that stuff works. A first-period goal from Cole or Chiasson or anybody not named Benn or Seguin would be huge.

Of all the Game 1 losses the Stars could endure, was that the best scenario? Start slow and stupid but leave the ice feeling good about your last 20 minutes?

I don't know. I think you might feel better if you had a lead and you let it slip away. At least you knew you were there. When you come back from a big deficit, there's always a question of how much the favored home team leading 4-0 just let down. So I wouldn't make too much of this "big comeback'' angle. The Stars need to play better throughout their lineup. I thought Benn and Seguin were right there, close to being the best pair on the ice but the rest of the team wasn't in place. Will see what happens in Game 2.

Can Brenden Dillon save the day?

Never thought he would be so sorely missed. The Stars need to shore up their defense for sure but there's no word on when he's going to be back from his "lower body" injury. Dallas needs to score the first goal Friday, get the Ducks back on their heels a bit. But Anaheim is really good as we saw last night.


741450 Dallas Stars

Thursday practice update: Anaheim's Getzlaf (face) expected to play in Game 2, while Stars Dillon (lower body injury) still out

MIKE HEIKA

Staff Writer



ANAHEIM, Calif. _ The Stars held an optional practice Thursday afternoon at Honda Center, and probably 70 percent of the team skated.

Staying off the ice were: Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Kari Lehtonen, Alex Goligoski, Trevor Daley, Brenden Dillon and Colton Sceviour. Dillon has a lower body injury and hasn't skated since leaving Friday's game against St. Louis in Dallas. He rode the bike today, but isn't talking about the injury.

Stars coach Lindy Ruff was matter of fact in saying Dillon is still day to day. "Nothing's changed," he said.

Asked if Dillon is close to skating, Ruff replied with a smile: "Well, the room is approximately 150 feet from the rink, so that means he's close."

Asked if Dillon can traverse that 150 feet soon, Ruff replied: "We'll see tomorrow."

Dillon's presence is missed in a lot of ways. Rookie Patrik Nemeth moved up to the second pair and took Dillon's place. Nemeth played 19:20, but the Stars didn't have the balance they have had in previous weeks and Alex Goligoski had to log 28:39 while Trevor Daley had 26:14.

The third pair of Aaron Rome (8:51) and Sergei Gonchar (11:28 with 2:19 on the power play) clearly was not used as much as Nemeth and Gonchar have been used previously.

In addition, the move of Nemeth to the second pair means Jordie Benn has to move to right side, where he is unfamiliar, and that created some problems for him.

Bottom line, the defense will be in a lot better shape if Dillon can play.

"We miss the quality ice time he takes," Ruff said of Dillon. "We're taking him out and putting in a guy who has six or seven games in the league. For the most part, we've got a lot of guys who have very little experience or none, and in his case he's at least got a season and a half, which is better than six or seven."

Anaheim had good news in that captain Ryan Getzlaf did not suffer and bone damage when he was hit in teh face by a Tyler Seguin slapshot. Getzlaf received multiple stitches, but the Ducks released a statement saying Getzlaf is expected to play Friday in Game 2.

"That's why he is who he is," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "That's why he's won two gold medals and a Stanley Cup, and he's not 30. He's learned from the Scotty Niedermayers and the Chris Prongers that were here before him too. He's a battler and a gamer. It won't look too pretty, but he's going to be playing."

Getzlaf did not skate and was not available to the media.

Matt Beleskey also did not skate for Anaheim with a lower body injury. He had a goal and an assist in Game 1. He's a game-time decision for Game 2.

Stars forward Colton Sceviour also had a goal and an assist in Game 1. He had a rough collision with the boards, but returned to play. He was held out of practice Thursday, but said he's OK.

"I kind of just hit hard and got it a little shaken up," Sceviour said. "It's nothing that affects me now."


741451 Dallas Stars

D-FW TV sports ratings: More watched Mavericks than Rangers, Stars on wild Wednesday night

By BARRY HORN

Sports Media Columnist



Here are the TV ratings from Wednesday night's D-FW sports tripleheader:

Mavericks overtime loss to Grizzlies on KTXA (Channel 21): 3.6

Rangers ninth-inning comeback win over Mariners on Fox Sports Southwest-Plus: 2.9

Stars Game 1 playoff loss to the Ducks on Fox Sports Southwest: 1.0

The big winner for the night was Wheel of Fortune on KTVT (Channel 11): 7.2


741452 Dallas Stars

Heika: Stars-Ducks Game 1 was like watching clarinet lesson

MIKE HEIKA

Staff Writer

Published: 17 April 2014 03:07 AM


Cody Eastwood takes you through the twists and turns of a very strange return to the playoffs for your Dallas Stars. Check out his Stars Rewind here.

The Stars are basically kids when it comes to playoff hockey, and anyone who has kids knows how tough that can be.

Try teaching them to play a clarinet or drive a car or skate, and there are going to be some rough moments in there. But pretty soon the squeaks turn into sweet music, the herky-jerky braking smooths out, and you're not washing "ice pants" after every visit to the rink. It's a pretty amazing transformation, and it happens incredibly quick sometimes.

Like Wednesday with the Stars.

That early-going hockey was filled with enthusiasm and want-to, but was rudimentary in its mistakes. You can talk all the analytics you want, but the Stars were not the better team. Anaheim was calm and poised, Anaheim won the battles, Anaheim played very smart hockey.

They had been here before, so they knew how. Say what you want about the Ducks' first-round defeat last season as the No. 2 seed, but they lost to Detroit and they lost in seven games. Three of the four losses were in overtime. This team has been under pressure before. And heck, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry have won a Stanley Cup.

They've been through their growing pains, they've had their lessons already.

But the Stars haven't. Tyler Seguin has been to three consecutive playoff and was an important part of a Boston team that went to the Finals last season, but who else? Erik Cole's last trip was in 2009 with Carolina. Trevor Daley's in 2008 with the Stars, Alex Goligoski's was in 2010 with Pittsburgh. Vern Fiddler, Ray Whitney and Sergei Gonchar were in the playoffs more recently, but they aren't really the core players of the team.

No, a bunch of those core player guys were playing their first playoff game, and it showed at times.

But the kids were fast studies. Seguin finished with five shots on goal and 11 shot attempts. Jamie Benn finished with five shots on goal and nine shot attempts. Yes, that duo helped Anaheim roll up 21 blocked shots, and that was a problem at times. Too often, the Stars were so aggressive in the offensive zone that the blocked shots led to odd-man rushes going in the opposite direction. Too often, the Stars pinched at the wrong time and got caught up ice.

In the end, the stats balanced out for the Stars. Shots were 35-35. Hits were 28-27 Anaheim. The Ducks had a 46-37 advantage in faceoffs, but also had 13 giveaways to eight for the Stars. It was probably a pretty clear indication that it really was a 4-3 game.

How it got that way told a very different story. The Ducks were opportunistic, Kari Lehtonen was a little overwhelmed and Anaheim grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first period. The Ducks pushed that to 4-0 in the second period on their second power play goal of the night, and that looked like the end of the school day.

Dallas failed its first test and probably wanted to leave immediately to work on some extra credit at home.

But Stars coaches and players decided to do their homework while still at school, and that worked out very well. Anaheim took two penalties in the second period, and Dallas capitalized. Jamie Benn tallied a power play marker, and Colton Sceviour chipped in the kind of fluky goal he's known for in the minors.

The great thing about fluky goals, though, is they usually result from a pretty smart play or the very least a bit of hard work. Jordie Benn and Cody Eakin worked the wall well, and Sceviour found an open place in the ice. His release was quick and it caught Frederik Andersen by surprise.

That served two purposes: 1). It cut the deficit to 4-2. 2). It convinced the Stars that they could beat the rookie goalie.

Two goals in 1:33, that's an omen right there.

And just like when your kid moves up to first chair or passes his driving test, a certain amount of confidence comes with that. Dallas fought hard down the stretch and made it a 1-goal game on Tyler Seguin's redirection with 6:07 remaining. They forced the Ducks to face a flurry in the end with the game on the line. And while that might keep this team focused for Game 2, the Stars will take the positive mojo they grabbed a hold of.

It was definitely needed.

Now, you can say the Stars did this when the Ducks had gone into a protective shell. You can say the Stars did this when they had nothing to lose. You can say it's sort of like when you let your kids get some momentum going before you crush their spirit in your backyard game of Marco Polo.

No matter how it unfolded, the Stars came back. They overcame a challenge and they passed the second part of the test.

Now, they can go forward and try to replicate the last 30 minutes. Now, they can go forward and try to control the entire game when the other team isn't nursing a four-goal lead.

That's the beauty of the playoffs…there is time to learn.

And when you're a kid in the playoffs, you love that fact. You want to get out there and start your next lesson as quickly as possible.

For the Stars, Friday's exam is highly anticipated.


741453 Dallas Stars

Stars struggle to show poise; Kari Lehtonen unimpressive in Game 1 loss to Ducks

MIKE HEIKA

Staff Writer

[email protected]

Published: 17 April 2014 12:49 AM

Updated: 17 April 2014 09:34 AM

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Stars showed their inexperience early, and their desire late as they opened the playoffs with a 4-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks Wednesday at Honda Center.

Dallas was back in the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and gave up a goal 1:53 into the game. The Stars got down 4-0, but rallied late and had goalie Kari Lehtonen pulled with a chance to tie the game.

“The way we finished was how we wanted to play the full game,” said center Tyler Seguin, who scored the third goal for the Stars. “I definitely liked our attitude out there.”

The Ducks are the No. 1 seed in the West and the Stars the No. 8, so a win by Dallas would be considered an upset. The Stars did some good things in their playoff opener, but you just had to go back to that start as the worst possible thing that could happen to Dallas.

Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen went 8-3-0 down the stretch, while Anaheim veteran Jonas Hiller has struggled. The Ducks even made the controversial decision to start rookie Frederik Andersen. But Lehtonen was less than impressive, and Andersen held the Stars off the board on three first period power plays.

And that was just the start of the problems.

Dallas’ crew of playoff novices struggled with the compete level of the game, and simply didn’t show a lot of poise. Anaheim, meanwhile, displayed the hunger created from a first-round playoff exit last season and the confidence forged by the second best record in hockey this season at 54-20-8. The Stars attacked and won the battle of the shock clock, but the Ducks won the one-on-one battles along the boards and made smart plays at smart times.

Nick Bonino made deft pass through a splain Stars defender to an open Kyle Palmieri in transition early in the game. Palmieri slipped a backhand through Lehtonen’s pads, and Ducks had the all-important first goal. Anahem was 31-5-6 when scoring first this season coming into the game.

“If you make that save you feel great and go from there, but today I wasn’t able to do that and it was a tougher go from there,” said Lehtonen.

Andersen, who finished 20-5-0 in his rookie campaign, then joined the Ducks penalty killers and sucked momentum out of the Dallas attack by foiling 5:11 in man advantage time. Then, at the 12:49 mark, Anaheim came up with a fluky goal that was earned with hard work. Matt Beleskey put a shot on goal and knocked Kari Lehtonen’s mask askew, and Ryan Getzlaf knocked the puck in for a 2-0 lead.

The Ducks made it 3-0 on a late power play in the first period and 4-0 on another power play in the second.

At that point, the outcome seemed decided.

“I think we were controlling play first 12 minutes, I felt we were playing well, but they seemed to get the better scoring chances,” Lehtonen said. “Some days it goes like that. They’re a great team and when they get good opportunity they use it.”

But just when all looks lost, the Stars rallied. Jamie Benn scored on a two-man advantage in the second period, as he deposited a rebound in the back of the net and finally made Andersen look mortal. Colton Sceviour then spun and fired a slippery shot 1:33 later, and he actually made Andersen look foolish.

The Ducks earned a couple of power plays in the third period and almost scored twice. Corey Perry ripped a shot off the crossbar, and Lehtonen was helped by a teammate on one scramble. On the other end of the ice, the Stars at least seemed comfortable with the puck on their sticks.

After their second kill in the third period, the Stars scored on a Seguin tip in with 6:07 remaining to make it 4-3. Dallas pushed for a tying goal with the net empty, but fell just short. It was a sign that maybe this playoff experience won’t be so disappointing after all.

“We were working hard,” Seguin said. “It’s going to be a long series, and we just have to bounce back and get ready for our next game.”


741454 Detroit Red Wings

Henrik Zetterberg skates with Detroit Red Wings teammates for 30 minutes, aims for more

1:59 PM, April 17, 2014 |

By George Sipple

Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

Captain Henrik Zetterberg skated with Detroit Red Wings teammates for about 30 minutes today at Joe Louis Arena but reiterated that he likely won’t be ready to play in a game until the second round of the NHL playoffs.

“You just have to take it step by step,” Zetterberg said.

He said it was fun to be back on the ice but admitted that he didn’t do much. He plans to skate longer Friday in Boston, during the team’s morning skate. He hopes to be able to participate in some contact drills later in the week.

“Good for him,” coach Mike Babcock said when asked about Zetterberg skating. “I saw him at Nick Lidstrom’s retirement March 6, and he couldn’t walk. He hobbled his way out onto the ice. Now he’s out there skating. That’s a long way in a short period of time.

“Anyone that’s been injured and off a good chunk of time, when they arrive back, they see how fast everything is. It’s hard. That’s the tough thing about injuries — even when you get the guys back, they’re not themselves. They wear the same number, but they don’t do what they did because it’s just too hard.”

Friday marks the eight-week mark following his Feb. 21 back surgery in New York. Zetterberg returned home early from the Sochi Olympics to have the surgery, after his back flared up the day after he played in Sweden's first game.

Note: Babcock said the team’s game plan doesn’t change much from the regular season to the playoffs.

“We understand the competition level takes a turn up,” he said. “Refereeing, these guys want to referee in the finals, so refereeing gets tighter. Just watching last night, (the) nervousness of some of the players early in games and some of the goaltenders can be a factor. But as far as our game plan and our plan to execute will be very similar to what we’ve done.”

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 04.18.2014


Staff predictions: After long, tough series, Bruins likely to beat Detroit Red Wings

12:46 PM, April 17, 2014 |

Detroit Free Press staff

We’ve always heard how much easier it would be for the Detroit Red Wings in the playoffs if they were in the Eastern Conference. Well, here’s a chance to prove that theory.

The Red Wings, in their first postseason since switching conferences, are the final seed in the East and will play the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in the first round. Game 1 is Friday (7:30 p.m., FSD).

If you don’t have the patience to watch the best-of-seven series, our panel of experts is here to tell you how it will unfold:

Helene St. James

Red Wings in seven: The Wings did not beat the Bruins three times in the regular season by fluke. Now the Wings are healthier, and they enter with four better overall lines than they have had all season. If the Wings use their speed, they can counter the Bruins' size advantage and get second-chance shots on goalie Tuukka Rask. Discipline is tantamount, and the Wings cannot afford to be cute when they get power plays. The Bruins have the pressure of being the favorite, another factor that could work to Detroit's advantage.

George Sipple

Bruins in six: There's no shame in losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion. The Wings might prove to be a tough out, but the Bruins will prove that they are the best team in the NHL.

Mitch Albom

Bruins in seven: The Wings have done well to get to this point, and they are hardly a No. 8 seed. But Boston is a No. 1 seed, for sure, and squeezing the ice and roughing you up even without the puck is the kind of stuff that wears an opponent down in a long series. I see a brave effort, but this hasn't been the Wings' luckiest year, and it might end that same way.

Drew Sharp

Bruins in seven: The season already is a success because the Wings extended their consecutive-playoffs streak to 23 years, despite having the fifth-highest number of man games lost in the NHL this year. Can the Wings' defense quickly and efficiently get the puck out of their own end? Boston's plan is to get the puck in deep in the Wings' zone and batter the Wings' inconsistent defense with a physically aggressive forecheck.

Jeff Seidel

Bruins in six: The Wings have a chance if goalie Jimmy Howard stands on his head and their young players reach a new level. But Boston is too big, too physical, too talented and too experienced.

Join us for a live blog during every Red Wings playoff game at freep.com/sports. And come back at 11 a.m. Monday for a live chat with FSD analyst Chris Osgood.

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 04.18.2014


Red Wings, Bruins rekindle playoff rivalry that blazed in 1940s, '50s

Gregg Krupa

The Detroit News

April 18, 2014 at 1:00 am

Detroit — It is as if they approach each other in the Stanley Cup Playoffs now as strangers.

The first meeting in the playoffs since 1957 between two of the Original Six, the Red Wings and Bruins, begins today after four regular-season games and only sporadic play since 1982.

In the six previous decades, beginning when the Red Wings joined the NHL in 1926, they were intimates. Many fans at Olympia Stadium considered the Bruins their third great rival, after the Canadiens and Maple Leafs.

The emblems of the teams signify cities long known as two of the best sports towns in the country: a winged automobile wheel and a spoked-B symbolic of “The Hub.”

They played each other 12 or 14 times each season. And from 1941-57, when the Great Depression ended, World War II raged and Detroit became famous as The Arsenal of Democracy and then a boomtown, they met seven times in the Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Bruins won four series and 19 of the 33 games despite the greater achievements, generally, by the Red Wings in the NHL.

Both teams are back in the same conference. As the Red Wings restore their roster on the fly and the Bruins skate as one of the best lineups in their history, the rivalry seems destined to rekindle.

In April 1941, it buzzed.

Playoff rivalry is born

With striking autoworkers scrapping with security and police at the Ford Motor Company’s massive River Rouge plant and Nazi aggression splitting Greece in two, the Red Wings and Bruins faced each other for the first time in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Like this season, Boston was heavily favored. The Bruins outscored the Red Wings by 53 goals during the regular season and did not lose to them. They had not lost to the Red Wings in Boston in four years.

“It’s about time we did win a game,” said Jimmy Orlando, a defenseman and the Red Wings enforcer.

It did not start well for the Red Wings, even though left wing Carl Liscombe, who played nine seasons for the Wings and scored 137 goals and assisted on 140 in 373 career games, opened the scoring.

The Bruins entered the series on two days rest, while the Red Wings had sat for nearly a week.

“We were in great shape but we couldn’t seem to wake up,” Liscombe said. “If they had just started to belt us around early, it would have done a lot of good.”

Sid Abel, whose career as player, captain, coach, general manager and broadcaster runs through Red Wings history like an essential artery, had Bruins goaltender Frank Brimsek down and out in the last minute and could not, with the straight-blade sticks of the day, lift the puck.

“I’m absolutely certain that if we had tied it up we’d have beaten them in overtime,” Abel said. “They were dog-tired at the finish.”

The Bruins won, 3-2.

Asked if his highly touted club could beat the Red Wings, Art Ross, general manager and on-and-off coach of the Bruins for 30 years, said, “Absolutely not!”

“I think we’ll win,” Ross said. “But to predict four straight against a team like the Wings would be silly.”

Bitter sweep

As is the case in 2014, the Bruins were overwhelmingly talented.

One forward line was particularly daunting, and it had a moniker so impolitic that it could never be used today, “The Kraut Line.” Three players of German descent, Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer, all childhood friends from Kitchener, Ontario, comprised the unit.

Schmidt, like Abel, was a fine playmaker and goal scorer who led his team to Stanley Cups, served as captain, coach and general manager and is in the Hockey Hall of Fame. He scored three goals and assisted on four in the 1941 Finals.

The Red Wings had perhaps their only other true shot at the Bruins in the second game, but Brimsek sparkled in a 2-1 victory.

Born in Minnesota, Brimsek was among few Americans in the NHL.

Owing to his achievements keeping goal, his nickname was “Mr. Zero.”

It was as if Jack Adams, the cantankerous coach and general manager of the Red Wings, could spit.

“Brimsek kept them from scoring four in the first period,” Adams then told The News. “I can’t expect my boys to play any harder.”

They returned to Olympia, but the Red Wings could do no better.

It was the first sweep of a best-of-seven Finals. It also was the last Bruins Cup for 29 years.

The next season, the Red Wings avenged the loss, only to suffer one of the greatest humiliations of any team in any sport.

In the last season before the start of the Original Six era, they beat the Bruins two straight, 6-4 and 3-1, in a three-game quarterfinal, required because the Brooklyn Americans were a seventh team in the NHL and five made the playoffs.

In the Finals, the Red Wings ran up a 3-0 lead on the Maple Leafs and infamously lost the next four.

Revenge is sweep

By 1943, they were primed for redemption.

In the Stanley Cup Finals — as B-24 Liberators from the Willow Run Bomber Plant were beginning to hit the Nazi arms plants inside of Germany and Victory Gardens dotting the city — the Red Wings played the Bruins.

This time, the series opened at Olympia, and a headline in The News the morning after Game 1 told the story.

“6-2, Wings Greatest Playoff Performance.”

“It was as easy as shooting sitting ducks,” said Modere “Mud” Bruneteau, who scored the first playoff hat trick in Red Wings history.

Elementary, Bruneteau explained. He skated with Abel.

“Each time I had a perfect pass,” he said. “That’s playing real hockey, don’t forget. I made all my goals on fine passes from Abel.”

With the Bruins reeling, even before a second loss in Detroit, Ross complained about his team playing too many games in too few days. He wanted to postpone Game 3, the first in Boston, on Tuesday.

“We’ve had five tough games with Montreal in the semifinal series,” Ross said. “We expected a chance to rest before coming to Detroit, but the Red Wings hurried us into the Finals.”

In a compromise, the games were played Wednesday and Thursday.

Don Grosso, a checking forward much of his career, added the second Red Wings hat trick Wednesday. Goaltender Johnny Mowers shut out the Bruins both days.

The stocky player from Niagara Falls stopped 30 shots in the fourth and final game, one with his head. The Red Wings managed 18 in the game.

With blood pouring from a gash under one eye, The News reported, Mowers refused attention and did not receive stitches until the team train pulled out of South Station in Boston.

Within weeks of the game, the whole Kraut Line, Mowers, Brimsek and several other players for both teams were fighting the Nazis or Japanese.

By the time Mowers returned two years later, the game was out of him. He played seven more times in the NHL, twice in the AHL and retired.

Goalie shuffling

The Red Wings and Bruins faced each other in the 1945 and 1946 semifinals. The Red Wings won 4-3 in 1945, Ted Lindsay’s first season with the team. The Bruins won 4-1 in 1946.

With Gordie Howe, Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio and other stars in the lineup in the 1950s, the Red Wings won four Stanley Cups, 1950, 1952, 1954 and 1955.

They would face the Bruins twice in the semifinals. Both times, the Bruins ended the Red Wings hopes for more Cups, 4-2 in 1953 and 4-1 in 1957.

The era began the obsession with goaltenders in Detroit, as Adams created a revolving door at the position. In the wake of losing Mowers, Harry Lumley, Terry Sawchuk and Glenn Hall were all in and out of the net; playing well, but eventually banished, nonetheless.

When Adams traded Sawchuk to the Bruins in favor of the developing young Hall, it may have cost the Red Wings the 1957 Stanley Cup.

Eventually, Hall would perform brilliantly in a long, iron-man career for the Blackhawks. But he was just learning in 1957.

After the series, Adams’ contempt for Hall and other players was clear, and it provided the basis for tearing apart a dominant roster in the next few seasons.

Hall was traded to the Blackhawks with Lindsay, whom Adams had libeled publicly for attempting to organize the players’ association.

To retrieve Sawchuk, amid a fan revolt, Adams traded a workmanlike but developing young forward, Johnny Bucyk, to the Bruins.

Sawchuk played well in his return, but was never quite as good.

Bucyk became the backbone of the Bruins for 21 seasons, scoring 556 goals and 813 assists in 1,540 NHL games.

Red Wings fans of a certain age still believe that if Sawchuk and Bucyk had remained with the teams of Howe, Lindsay and Delvecchio throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, Detroit would not have begun a 42-year Stanley Cup drought.

As they begin play today in their first series in 57 years, the Red Wings have 11 Stanley Cups, the Bruins six, and Boston has a 4-3 lead in head-to-head meetings in the playoffs.

Boston vs. Detroit

All games on FSD unless noted

Today: at Boston, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday: at Boston, 3 p.m. NBC

Tuesday: at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 24: at Detroit, 8 p.m.

x-Saturday, April 26: at Boston, 3 p.m. NBC

x-Monday, April 28: at Detroit

x-Wednesday, April 30: at Boston

x-if necessary

Detroit News LOADED: 04.18.2014


For Tomas Tatar, and Red Wings, patience pays off

John Niyo

April 18, 2014 at 1:00 am

Detroit — Tomas Tatar was here and then he was gone.

And while he was there, he couldn’t help but wonder. Not just what he was missing. But what the Red Wings were missing, too, with the feisty goal scorer exiled to Grand Rapids a month before the Stanley Cup Playoffs began last spring.

“It was a pretty rough ending to the season,” Tatar said, reflecting on last year’s disappointment on the eve of his NHL postseason debut in Boston. “In my mind, I thought I could be here. So it was really hard to focus and stay with it, being in Grand Rapids. I got a little frustrated, I won’t lie.”

Truth is, Tatar took out his frustrations on the rest of the American Hockey League, carrying the Griffins to a Calder Cup championship and earning playoff MVP honors as he led the league with 16 goals in 24 games. He used the demotion as “a spark,” he says, and almost immediately started lighting it up.

“That’s where he really took his game to another level,” said Red Wings general manager Ken Holland, who had no choice this season but to elevate Tatar, who was out of minor-league options, to a full-time role in Detroit.

No excuse, either, though from the start of his time in this organization, the Red Wings always had viewed Tatar as another potential draft-day steal: A first-round talent they’d snagged late in the second round in 2009.

He impressed right away in Grand Rapids as the youngest player in the AHL, having bypassed the OHL, where he would’ve played for the Plymouth Whalers on a line with Tyler Seguin, the top prospect in the 2010 draft.

Tatar was one of the Griffins’ top two scorers the next two seasons, played well for his native Slovakia at a pair of World Championships, and in a brief stint in Detroit he actually scored his first NHL goal in his first game — on his first shot, no less.

But when he began the lockout-shortened 2013 season still mired in the minors, he started to get a bit impatient.

“I was thinking, ‘What would happen if I’m on a different team? What would happen if I’d already played a year in the NHL?’ ” he said. “I was, for sure, thinking that.”

But now?

“At this moment,” Tatar says, “if you ask me, ‘Would I change anything?’ No, I probably wouldn’t.”

Worth the wait

That’s because he’s finally getting his shot, and making something of it, playing on a line with fellow youngsters Riley Sheahen and either Gustav Nyquist or Tomas Jurco.

It’s a line that’ll need to be a difference-maker if the Red Wings are going to make a serious upset bid against the Presidents’ Trophy winners. The Bruins boast the deepest forward corps in the league, a Vezina Trophy candidate in net, and a blue line anchored by monster defenseman Zdeno Chara.

And rookies, as we all know, often struggle out of the gate in the playoffs.

“But these kids have played in the Calder Cup — it’s playoff hockey,” coach Mike Babcock insisted. “I’m not concerned about them one bit. They know you have to battle for every inch of the ice.”

Every minute of ice time, too, which helps prepare them for this. Or at least that’s the Red Wings’ age-old strategy, however outdated it might seem today.

Tatar got a taste of the NHL last season, acquitting himself well enough with four goals in 18 games before getting sent down, effectively exchanging roster spots with Nyquist. A bit too careless, both with the puck and his defensive responsibilities — that was the issue.

Last fall, with a logjam of veterans in front of him, Tatar still had to get past that. He began the season as a healthy scratch in eight of the Wings’ first nine games.

“You have to be able to earn the coach’s trust, and at the start of the year I had to wait for my chance,” said Tatar, who finally scored his first goal Oct. 30 — a winner at Vancouver that ended a four-game skid for Detroit. “My chance came, and I held it. You have to build that trust and that’s what I’ve been doing.”

Ready to shine

What he does is what every team needs this time of year. Tatar plays with passion, and he scores goals, finishing second on the team with 19 this season. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound winger has good instincts and better hands, and he’s eager to play in traffic. Too eager, at times.

“The stage doesn’t affect him,” said Holland, who often compares Tatar to ex-Wings forward Jiri Hudler. “He loves to play hockey. He wants the puck. He wants to be the guy. And he wants to score.”

The stage is set for him to do just that now. He laughed Wednesday when a reporter jokingly asked him about making a run at back-to-back playoff MVP honors. But he got serious when he talked about the opportunity that awaits.

“Obviously, it’s the playoffs — this is what you battle for,” Tatar said. “But so far it hasn’t hit me. I’m not nervous. I’m just going to take it like another game. I’m really looking forward to it. I can’t wait.”

This time, thankfully, he won’t have to.



Red Wings vs. Bruins: How they match up

Ted Kulfan

The Detroit News

April 18, 2014 at 1:00 am

Who has the edge? Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News breaks down the Red Wings-Bruins series in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs:

Red Wings forwards vs. Bruins defense

Boston: Zdeno Chara (6-foot-9) and Dougie Hamilton (6-5) cover a lot of ice and play sound defense. Chara, in particular, can be a punishing physical presence when the opportunity arises. Johnny Boychuk has an eye-opening plus-31 rating, while the rookie tandem of Torey Krug (Livonia) and Kevan Miller is excelling.

Detroit: Mike Babcock isn’t bashful about switching personnel. If you go by this week’s practices, Pavel Datsyuk is centering Justin Abdelkader and Gustav Nyquist; Darren Helm is between Daniel Alfredsson and Johan Franzen; Riley Sheahan is centering Tomas Tatar and Tomas Jurco (most consistent line for months); and Luke Glendening is between Drew Miller and David Legwand.

Edge: Even

Red Wings defense vs. Bruins forwards

Boston: The top line of David Krejci (led postseason scoring two of last three years) centering Milan Lucic and Jarome Iginla has arguably been one of the top lines in the NHL. Patrice Bergeron (Selke favorite) between Brad Marchand and Reilly Smith are versatile; Carl Soderberg centering Justin Florek and Loui Eriksson can score in limited minutes; and Gregory Campbell between Jordan Caron and Shawn Thornton can grind.

Detroit: The defense was largely spared from injuries until late (i.e. Jonathan Ericsson). Niklas Kronwall and Brendan Smith have been the top pairing, but will be tested playing Boston’s big forwards. Danny DeKeyser and Kyle Quincey are a minute-munching pair that has the ability to stop the opposing top lines. The pair of Brian Lashoff and Jakub Kindl has been steady.

Edge: Bruins

Goaltending

Boston: Tuukka Rask was fourth in the league with a 2.04 goals-against average, second with a .930 save percentage, first with seven shutouts and fifth with 36 victories. He showed in last season’s playoffs he has capability to take the Bruins deep.

Detroit: Jimmy Howard didn’t have a consistent season, but supplied steady goaltending down the stretch. He loves to be challenged, and he will be in this series, facing the league’s best team.

Edge: Bruins

Special teams

Boston: The power play was third in the league (21.7 percent) and the penalty kill was eighth (83.6 percent). Zdeno Chara is a 6-9 screen impossible to look through, while Torey Krug has a strong, accurate shot. Jarome Iginla has hurt the Red Wings with his one-timer.

Detroit: Injuries riddled the lineup throughout the season, but special teams remained competitive. The penalty kill was 12th in the league (83.0 percent) and the power play was 18th (17.7 percent). They’ll be tested against the big Bruins power play. Having Pavel Datsyuk (knee) back helps the power play.

Edge: Bruins



Detroit News predictions: Bruins will bounce Red Wings

Staff

April 18, 2014 at 1:00 am

The Detroit News

Chicago Blackhawks v Boston Bruins

Gregg Krupa, Ted Kulfan, John Niyo and Bob Wojnowski of The Detroit News offer their expert opinions on how the Red Wings will fare in their first-round series against the Bruins:

Krupa: The Bruins are strong in all facets of the game, but occasionally susceptible to speed. The Red Wings had good luck during the season against goalie Tuukka Rask. Bruins in seven.

Kulfan: Boston won the Presidents Trophy for a reason. The Bruins are deep and physical, and when you look at their lineup, there are no glaring weaknesses. This will be a difficult test for the Red Wings. The Wings might prove to be a tough out, but eventually, they'll be bumped out of the first round. Bruins in six.

Niyo: Boston has struggled out of the gate the last two playoffs, so the Wings have to hope that trend continues. But the deepest forward corps in the league will be too much to handle over a seven-game series. Bruins in six.

Wojnowski: The Bruins are big, much bigger than a speed bump. The Wings are as fast as they've ever been, but they won't score much on Tuukka Rask. If they play patiently and defensively in front of Jimmy Howard, they have a shot. Bruins in seven.



Red Wings' Danny DeKeyser grows quickly into role

David Goricki

The Detroit News

April 17, 2014 at 9:14 pm

Detroit — One look at Danny DeKeyser, and you see a seasoned veteran.

Fact is, the reliable, solid defenseman is really in his rookie year with the Red Wings.

“Great growth,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said of DeKeyser, who had a plus-10 rating in 65 games. “He plays huge minutes for us (averaging 21 minutes 38 seconds). That’s one of the guys we wore out and so it’s great to have him freshened up.”

DeKeyser, who played in 11 regular-season games and two playoff games (hand injury) a year ago out of Western Michigan, could be a key for the Red Wings as they open the Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight against the Bruins.

He played a key role in a 3-2 victory over the Bruins on April 2, with an assist, three hits, two blocks and a plus-1 rating in 23:17 ice time.

“He’s been phenomenal for how big and tall he is,” Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist said of the 6-foot-3, 190-pound DeKeyser. “It’s hard to get a forecheck on him because he’s so fast back and skates so well and can really move the puck. He’s had the opportunity to show what he has on the power play as well, and he’s been real good out there on the point and has a good shot.”

So, where does DeKeyser feel he has progressed?

“I think just making some different reads on the ice, being more confident with the puck and just trying to take care of my own zone a little bit,” DeKeyser said. “Being here the whole year, going through a training camp and that kind of thing helped me out. I learned a lot from this year and what it’s going to take to be a good pro for many years to come.”

DeKeyser, who grew up in Macomb County, has been paired with Kyle Quincey as the Red Wings earned their 23rd consecutive postseason appearance.

And as they head into this series, he knows that pairing will have to toughen up even more.

“We started playing a couple of months ago,” DeKeyser said of his pairing. “Due to some injuries and stuff they kind of had to reshuffle the D a little bit. We kind of gained a little bit of a chemistry and kind of know how to read off of each other.”

It also helps that several of the Red Wings gained playoff experience last season in Grand Rapids.

The Griffins, led by MVP Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist, won the Calder Cup.

“I think that was some really good playoff hockey, and a lot of us that are in this room were down there last year so we had a good taste,” said DeKeyser, who returned from his hand injury to play for the Griffins in the championship series.

The Bruins, however, aren’t a part of the AHL.

The Bruins are the best team in the NHL and boast size — like 6-foot-9, 255-pound Zdeno Chara — and skill — like former Michigan State standout Torey Krug (14 goals) and goaltender Tuukka Rask (36-15-6, 2.04 goals-against-average, .930 save percentage).

“They have four lines that they can roll out anytime,” DeKeyser said. “They have some really solid defensemen back there and some younger D, actually now they’ve been rolling in the past couple of years, and two really good goalies and that makes them a tough team.”



Red Wings' Darren Helm relishes another shot at the Stanley Cup playoffs

David Goricki

The Detroit News

April 17, 2014 at 7:35 pm

Darren Helm was sidelined eight games with a concussion in March, but has played the last 13 games, scoring five goals, including a hat trick in a 4-2 win at Toronto March 29.

Darren Helm was sidelined eight games with a concussion in March, but has played the last 13 games, scoring five goals, including a hat trick in a 4-2 win at Toronto March 29. (David Guralnick / Detroit News)

Wings center Darren Helm feels fortunate to have the opportunity to be playing in the playoffs again.

Helm played just one game last season because of a back injury, missing the postseason. He sat out the first 14 games this season (back, groin injuries).

Helm was also sidelined eight games with a concussion in March, but has played the last 13 games, scoring five goals, including a hat trick in a 4-2 win at Toronto March 29.

“I feel good now and I'm looking forward and excited to get this opportunity to play another playoff game since it's been awhile for myself," Helm said. "It was pretty frustrating (last season). I was healthy during the lockout, then a couple of days before my back goes out. I had tons of optimism throughout the regular season whether I'd come back or not. I just couldn't figure it out. I got the chance to watch a lot of younger players come up and do incredible things and that was real exciting to watch, but it was just one time in my career I wasn't able to participate and help the team.

"It's a new chapter now. Whenever you have something going for a long time and you lose it for awhile you gain appreciation for it and I think that happens with anything in life. For myself, hockey is one of the biggest loves of my life and when you miss that for awhile you realize how much you take it for granted."

Helm isn't taking anything for granted anymore. He was on the ice during practice with Daniel Alfredsson and Tomas Jurco Thursday, a day after he practiced with Alfredsson and Johan Franzen.

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock knows Helm is a difference-maker when healthy.

"Well, obviously Helmer is a huge part of the team and can be a very, very special player and is going to be that much better next year because he will have the first opportunity he’s had to train in years during the summer," Babcock said. "With his speed and tenacity he can really help us out and we feel his game is coming. But, anytime you’ve had as much time as Helmer has had off and Pav (Datsyuk) off your fitness can’t be the same, it’s just impossible, but these guys have really worked hard and trained hard to maximize the time they’ve been healthy to try and help the team.”



Red Wings need 'Mule' to carry heavier scoring load

David Goricki

Detroit News

April 17, 2014 at 4:45 pm

Johan Franzen has been known for having big playoff series during his career with the Wings, highlighted by his 13 postseason goals during the Wings’ Stanley Cup run in 2008, followed by 12 more to spark the Wings’ run to the Cup Finals in 2009.

Well, Franzen will more than likely be needed to put the puck in the back of the net for the Wings to get past the Bruins in their playoff series, which opens Friday. He has scored just one goal in his last 18 games.

“Thanks for reminding me,” Franzen said when told of the stat. “Even if I’m not scoring, that’s not why I go out and play games, to score goals. I have a lot of things to do before that, it’s not even fifth on the list probably when you go out for a game.

“I think I’ve been playing really good down the stretch and not getting goals and many points. I think I could have easily had at least 10 more points the last 15 games, but it’s just not happening. I think I’ve played really well and I was happy with my game.”

Franzen, who has 16 goals in 54 games, was sidelined for a long stretch prior to the Olympic break with a concussion. He returned after the break and had 11 points (six goals, five assists) in five games from Feb. 26-March 7, but the one-goal (seven points), 18-game stretch followed. Still, Franzen had three assists in his last four games before sitting out Sunday’s regular-season finale at St. Louis.

So, what does Franzen plan on doing to spark his game?

“Just try to play a straightaway game and play hard on the puck and get the puck deep,” Franzen said. “We just need to be strong on the puck and have Abbie (Justin Abdelkader) strong in the corners and try to help him out there as well.”



Coach Mike Babcock tinkering with Red Wings lines

David Goricki

The Detroit News

April 17, 2014 at 4:37 pm

Detroit — So will it be the Pavel Datsyuk-Justin Abdelkader-Johan Franzen line out on the ice in the opener of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series Friday? Or will it be the Datsyuk-Abdelkader-Gustav Nyquist line going against the Bruins in Boston? Or will it be the … well, you get the picture.

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock has used the last few days to work on lines while preparing the underdog Wings for the Bruins, owners of the President’s Trophy for the NHL’s top team during the regular season.

Datsyuk was joined by Abdelkader and Franzen during Thursday’s practice, a day after Datsyuk and Abdelkader skated with Nyquist.

“In my mind I have three ways that we can go so I’ve been trying to go through those so you’re always prepared,” Babcock said. “You’re trying to see in advance for adjustments so you try to do that.

“We think in their building (Bruins center Patrice) Bergeron’s going to play against Pav (Datsyuk) and (6-foot-9 defenseman Zdeno) Chara as well so we can load up that line or we can have a couple different lines, depending on what you want. So you try to go through all those nuances that are going to take place in a game and have a plan of adjustments if it’s not going the way you want it.”

Babcock became even more familiar with Bergeron’s game while guiding Canada to the gold medal in the Olympics a couple of months ago in Russia. Bergeron went from role player to a top line performer for Canada, then carried the success over to the Bruins where he has 17 points (11 goals, six assists) in his last 13 games, scoring 30 goals with a career-high plus-38 rating for the season.

Bergeron, one of the best two-way centers, plays on a line with Brad Marchand (25 goals).

Babcock was happy to have the long rest before the playoffs, saying: “I think that the lower seed, the more detailed-oriented they can be to try and close the gap is important. We know Boston now and you can throw all that stuff out, too. The puck’s going to be dropped and whoever wants it the most is going to win, but at least we’re prepared.”



Henrik Zetterberg skates for 30 minutes at Red Wings practice

David Goricki

The Detroit News

April 17, 2014 at 1:00 am

Detroit – Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg was out on the ice Thursday morning during practice.

Zetterberg doesn’t plan on playing during the Eastern Conference series against the Boston Bruins. He hopes the Red Wings advance to the second-round so he can play.

Zetterberg, who had back surgery in late February, was on the ice for 30 minutes, but didn’t participate in any contact drills.

“I think today is just one of the steps that I have to take," Zetterberg said. "You have to take it step by step and I think today was just one of the steps. It was fun to be out with the boys again. I didn’t do that much today, but it felt good and I’m looking forward to next time.”

Zetterberg has spent time getting in shape in the gym and on the bike while rehabbing from the surgery. Now, he is taking the next step in his journey to play again.

“It’s basically training camp all over again,” Zetterberg said. “I’ve been out two months and I’m getting used to everything again. The only difference is the first game back will be the playoffs, not the first game of the regular season.”

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock was pleased to see Zetterberg on the ice, but knows he is a long way from still being the impact player that had 16 goals and 48 points with a team-high plus-19 rating before the injury in the Olympics.

“Good for him,” said Babcock of Zetterberg. “I saw him at Nick Lidstrom’s retirement March 6 and he couldn’t walk and now he’s out there skating and that’s a long way in a short period of time. The tough part about injuries is you can only get guys back, but they’re not themselves. They are wearing the same numbers, but they don’t do what they did. It’s just too hard.”



Red Wings counting on a healthy Darren Helm to be a difference-maker vs. Bruins with speed, tenacity

Ansar Khan | [email protected] By Ansar Khan | [email protected]

on April 18, 2014 at 1:03 AM, updated April 18, 2014 at 1:04 AM

DETROIT – It has been a while since Darren Helm appeared in a playoff game for the Detroit Red Wings. His coach and teammates haven’t forgotten how valuable he can be, especially this time of year.

“Huge difference,” defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “Helm is a bit of an engine for us, the way he plays, with the energy he brings. Stuff like that is contagious.”

The speedy center will play in his first postseason game in more than two years Friday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.

“He’s going to be extremely important, especially with his speed on the penalty kill, getting up ice, disrupting power plays,” goaltender Jimmy Howard said. “Just his speed is dangerous enough. Having him in the lineup just makes our top forward lines that much stronger.

“He can flat out fly, with or without the puck. With a team as big as Boston it’s going to be a key.”

Helm will center a line with Daniel Alfredsson and Tomas Jurco.

Helm’s most recent playoff game was on April 11, 2012, in Game 1 of the opening round at Nashville. His night, and his season, ended early in the first period when he suffered lacerated tendons in his forearm after being cut by Alexander Radulov’s skate.

Last year, a back injury limited Helm to just one regular season game.

“Helm is a bit of an engine for us, the way he plays, with the energy he brings. Stuff like that is contagious.” -- Niklas Kronwall

“I spent the one night (in the hospital) and I was out the next morning at 8 a.m. -- two hours of surgery,” Helm said. “Luckily they had an unbelievable hand doctor there and he put me back together and I owe a lot to him. But that was a real fluky thing.

“The back just wasn’t in the cards last season. I didn’t expect that to happen at all and didn’t expect it to last as long as it did. That was the hardest one for me.”

Helm appeared in 65 consecutive playoff games before missing the past 18.

“It wasn’t easy to miss those playoff runs, especially last year, which was really exciting to watch, seeing what the guys did and almost what they accomplished there with the young guys (losing to Chicago in Game 7 of the second round),” Helm said. “Now I got the chance again to get into this lineup with this younger team that we have, exciting team, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Helm’s injury problems continued this season; he missed significant chunks of games with back, shoulder, groin and concussion issues.

He still managed to equal his career-high total in goals (12) in just 42 games, including his first career hat trick on March 29 in Toronto.

“Helmer is a huge part of our team and can be a very, very special player,” coach Mike Babcock said. “He’s going to be that much better next year because he’ll have the first opportunities to train for years in the summer.

“But with his speed and his tenacity, he’s got to play a simple game and go out there and help us out. We feel that as games come, anytime you have as much time as Helmer off, or even Pav off, your fitness can’t be the same as it was, it’s just impossible. But these guys have really worked hard and really tried hard to maximize the time they’ve had healthy and to be able to help the team.”

Michigan Live LOADED: 04.18.2014


Detroit Red Wings have little chance of beating Boston Bruins, according to media predictions

Brendan Savage | [email protected] By Brendan Savage | [email protected]

on April 17, 2014 at 6:27 PM, updated April 17, 2014 at 6:33 PM

BOSTON – Not many of the hockey world's so-called experts are giving the Detroit Red Wings much of a chance in their Stanley Cup playoff series with the Boston Bruins.

MLive.com scoured the Internet for predictions and of the more than 60 we found, only three people are picking the Red Wings to upset the regular-season champion Bruins in the first-round series that begins Friday night in Boston.

Jim Hoban of the Toronto Globe and Mail picks the Red Wings to beat the Bruins in seven games, Sports Illustrated's Allan Muir likes the Red Wings as well and Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press is predicting Detroit will oust the Bruins in seven games.

St. James went so far as to predict the Red Wings would win the Stanley Cup by beating the Los Angeles Kings and that Pavel Datsyuk would be named the MVP of the playoffs.

How's that for confidence?

Here's a look at how hockey writers around North America see the Red Wings-Bruins series playing out:

• Ansar Khan, MLive.com: Boston in 7

• Brendan Savage, MLive.com: Boston in 5

• Chuck Pleiness, Macomb Daily: Boston in 6

• Bob Duff, Windsor Star: Boston.

• Ted Kulfan, Detroit News: Boston in 6

• George Sipple, Detroit Free Press: Boston in 6

• Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press: Boston in 6

• Drew Sharp, Detroit Free Press: Boston in 7

• Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press: Boston in 7

• Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press: Detroit in 7

• Fluto Shinzawa, Boston Globe: Boston in 6

• Amalie Benjamin, Boston Globe: Boston in 6

• Kevin Paul Dupont, Boston Globe: Boston in 6

• Jim Hoban, Boston Globe: Detroit in 7

• Kevin Allen, USA Today: Boston

• Mark Hayes, USA Today: Boston

• Brad Windsor, USA Today: Boston

• Greg Wyshynski, Yahoo! Sports: Boston

• Tim Campbell, Winnipeg Free Press: Boston

• James Mirtle, Toronto Globe and Mail: Boston in 7

• Brian Stubits, CBSSports.com: Boston in 7

• Chris Peters, CBSSports.com: Boston in 5

• Dennis Dodd, CBSSports.com: Boston in 6

• Sean Hartnett, CBS New York: Boston in 6

• Scott Cullen, TSN.ca: Boston in 6

• Tim Wharnsby, CBC.ca: Boston in 7

• Stephen Whyno, Canadian Press: Boston in 7

• Craig Custance, ESPN.com: Boston in 6

• Daniel Friedman, CBS New York: Boston in 7

• Sean Gentille, Sporting News: Boston in 5

• The Hockey News: Boston in 5

• D.J. Bean, WEEI Boston: Boston in 6

• Craig Morgan, FoxSports.com: Boston in 5

• Joe McDonald, ESPN Boston: Boston in 6

• Corey Masisak, NHL.com: Boston.

• Arpon Basu, NHL.com: Boston.

• Dan Rosen, NHL.com: Boston.

• Tal Pinchevsky, NHL.com: Boston.

• Adam Kimelman, NHL.com: Boston.

• Mike Morreale, NHL.com: Boston.

• Shawn Roarke, NHL.com: Boston.

• Kathryn Tappen, NHL.com: Boston.

• Allan Muir, Sports Illustrated: Detroit.

• Brian Cazeneuva, Sports Illustrated: Boston

• Sarak Kwak, Sports Illustrated: Boston

• Michael Blinn, Sports Illustrated: Boston

• Sam Page, Sports Illustrated: Boston

• Gabriel Baumbaertner, Sports Illustrated: Boston.

• John Buccigross, ESPN.com: Boston in 7

• Scott Burnside, ESPN.com: Boston in 6

• Linda Cohn, ESPN.com: Boston in 6

• Sarah Goldstein, ESPN.com: Boston in 6

• Paul Grant, ESPN.com: Boston in 6

• Tim Kavanagh, ESPN.com: Boston in 7

• Pierre LeBrun, ESPN.com: Boston in 6

• Steve Levy, ESPN.com: Boston in 7

• Barry Merose, ESPN.com: Boston in 6

• Scott Powers, ESPN.com: Boston in 6

• Katie Strang, ESPN.com: Boston in 7

• Nicholas Goss, NESN.com: Boston in 5

• Michael Russo, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Boston in 5

• Pat Caputo, The Oakland Press: Boston in 6



Red Wings links: Detroit blueprint helps Boston Bruins become model NHL franchise

Josh Slagter | [email protected] By Josh Slagter | [email protected]


The Detroit Red Wings made the NHL playoffs for a 23rd consecutive season (and won four Stanley Cups in that span), so it makes sense they'd be a franchise others around the league would like to emulate.

That was exactly the plan of Peter Chiarelli, who took over as the Boston Bruins' general manager before the 2006-07 season.

The Bruins lost in the Stanley Cup finals to Chicago last season after winning it all in 2011. Boston won the Presidents' Trophy this season and is the favorite to win the Cup again.

"I have great respect for that organization. Great respect for (general manager) Kenny Holland, (coach) Mike Babcock, the Ilitch family. I followed them for a lot of years — maybe that long, 23 years," Chiarelli said Monday.

"Kenny, I got to know him a little better during the (2014 Sochi) Olympics. He's very bright. He looks at things a lot of different ways, a lot of different angles, to get a solution. And then you can see that in their (player) development. They like developing people in the minors, but they also find players elsewhere in trades and in free agents, and that's what we try and do. I have respect for Mike Babcock. He's a really sharp guy. I got to sit in on their coaches meetings in advance of the Olympics and during the Olympics, and he's very, very bright."

A writer at Boston.com dubbed the Red Wings "the (San Antonio) Spurs of the NHL."

"It's a fitting nod to what they do. It also means they are to hockey what the Patriots are to the NFL. They are always in the hunt, and very often atop the lists of the teams you do not want to play," writes Boston.com's Chad Finn.

Here are some other Red Wings-Bruins links:

NHL.com: A complete series preview, matching up the teams' forwards, defensemen, goalies, etc. The Red Wings can win if … "The young players continue to excel in pressure situations, (Pavel) Datsyuk and the other veterans pave a path for them, and (Jimmy) Howard remains consistently sharp between the pipes."

USAToday.com: Kevin Allen says Detroit must play its best defensive hockey in order to upset Boston. "They won't win without exception goaltending and defensive play." Allen picks the Bruins to win in seven.

Yahoo.com: Among the 16 playoff teams, Nicholas J. Cotsonika ranks Detroit 12th overall, with the caveat "Beware the Wings," citing the team's first-round upset of Anaheim in last year's playoffs and the battle with eventual champion Chicago in the second.

SI.com: Michael Blinn picks the Bruins to win in six games. "Detroit and its crew of talented forwards have been a thorn in Boston’s side all season. But the Wings’ frantic stretch run — coupled with the fact that the Bruins were able to give their star players some nights off toward the end of the regular season — will catch up to them. Howard is capable of stealing a game or two, but it won’t be enough to fend off a rough-and-ready Boston team that is built for the playoffs."

ESPN.com: Craig Custance says Henrik Zetterberg has a chance to be a hero if he can make it back during this first-round series. "It's asking a lot of Zetterberg to jump into the thick of a playoff series without playing a minute of NHL action since Feb. 8 and still be effective, but he's such a smart, savvy player that if he plays he will be a difference-maker." (Zetterberg said Tuesday he hopes to begin skating with Detroit today.)



Red Wings could give Bruins trouble by getting into a run-and-gun series, say NBC analysts

Brendan Savage | [email protected] By Brendan Savage | [email protected]


DETROIT – According to the old cliché, defense wins championships and that might indeed ultimately prove to be true in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

But when it comes to the Detroit Red Wings experiencing success in the opening round against the Boston Bruins, it might be more about offense, according to NBC Sports analyst Ed Olczyk.

Specially, can the Red Wings use their youth and speed to lure the Bruins into a run-and-gun game and prevent them from taking advantage of their size and physicality?

"This is a much younger, quicker team," Olczyk said this week in a national conference call. "I think that's the way that they have to play. They're not going to be a physical team. They've got some guys who can bang around and I'm sure Niklas Kronwall is going to look for one of those big hits along the boards just inside the Bruins' offensive zone.

"But to me that will be a real big key, can the Red Wings manage the puck well enough and can they play a fast game and try to keep it a real quick game? There's no doubt that the Bruins are the team to beat for sure and rightfully so. The Bruins can come in four lines and the size and the depth and the leadership of Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara, but to me is can the Red Wings be able to play that real fast game to maybe get the Bruins on the run a little bit?

"Force them to be a little bit more wide open, try to open up the game. So that to me will really be a key to the series ... can the Red Wings play a quick game? Because if it becomes a station-to-station, grind-it-out game you're feeding literally right into the Bruins."

Olczyk's collegue Pierre McGuire agreed about the speed factor and thinks Red Wings coach Mike Babcock could be a difference maker as much as any of his players.

Although the Red Wings are heavy underdogs, Babcock has seen first-hand that regular-season records don't always mean much in the postseason.

His first Red Wings team in 2005-06 had 124 points during the regular season and finished first overall but were upset in six games by No. 8 seed Edmonton in the opening round.

"Craig MacTavish that year was probably the most creative coach of any coach in the National Hockey League" that year, McGuire said. "He got his team within one game of winning the Stanley Cup. They lost in Game 7 in Carolina, and in the first round they beat Detroit and the reason why they beat Detroit was they were the most creative.

"If Mike Babcock, who I personally believe is the most creative in the league right now, can get creative, he can cause the Bruins some problems. I still think the Bruins are the favorite but Detroit can cause some problems."

McGuire thinks playoff experience could also be an advantage – perhaps for the Red Wings.

Boston might have won the Stanley Cup three years ago but eight current Red Wings were with the Grand Rapids Griffins a year ago when they won the AHL championship.

Granted, the Calder Cup isn't the Stanley Cup. But it might be the next-best thing.

"One of the things I like about the Wings is a lot of the young players ... won a championship last year ... and they were really important players," McGuire said. "Tomas Tatar was the Most Valuable Player of the American Hockey League playoffs. Gustav Nyquist went down there and did some very good things. Riley Sheahan had a phenomenal playoff after having a tough start to the year.

"Joakim Andersson is another one that has had tremendous success at the American Hockey League level. Luke Glendening, who was never even drafted coming out of the University of Michigan, has become a huge energy player. I see Glendening and I think of Kris Draper and what he was able to do when he played for the Red Wings playing with (Kirk) Maltby and (Darren) McCarty.

"Tomas Jurco is another one."



Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg skates with teammates, calls it a 'good first step'



DETROIT – Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg skated with the team today for the first time since before the Olympic break.

Zetterberg practiced for about 30 minutes with teammates.

“It was fun to be out there today; I didn’t do that much but hopefully I can do more tomorrow,” Zetterberg said. “It felt good.”

Zetterberg, who underwent back surgery on Feb. 21, hasn’t ruled out returning late in the first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins but indicated that his goal was to be back for the second round, if the Red Wings advance.

“I think that time-wise we were shooting for Round 2 if everything goes well, so just got to take it step-by0step here and day-by-day and increase intensity every day and hopefully in a couple days maybe I can do some more battling drills,” Zetterberg said.

He said it’s hard not to push himself to get back sooner.

“A little bit, but I think you just have to take it step-by-step,” Zetterberg said. “I got the medical team looking after me, too, and they will pull me out when they think it’s time but I think today I was probably out there for 30 minutes and tomorrow I have a morning skate and hopefully I can get out there a little bit more and still feel good.”

He said his conditioning level feels good so far.

“But I also haven’t done that much out there,” Zetterberg said. “I’ve been doing more stuff in the gym and on the bike but it’s different to go out and skate.

"It’s basically training camp all over again. I’ve been out for two months and that’s basically what a summer is for us normally, so it’s just getting used to everything as far as skating. Only difference is your first game is the playoffs, not Game 1 of the regular season.”

Coach Mike Babcock said Zetterberg has come a long way in a short time.

"I saw him at Nick Lidstrom’s retirement March 6 and he couldn’t walk," Babcock said. "He hobbled his way out onto the ice. Now he’s out there skating.

"Anyone that’s been injured and off a good chunk of time when they arrive back they see how fast everything is. It’s hard. That’s the tough thing about injuries, even when you get the guys back they’re not themselves. They wear the same number, but they don’t do what they did because it’s just too hard."

Meanwhile, defenseman Jonathan Ericsson skated for about 25 minutes before practice. It was his first time on the ice since having surgery March 19 to repair broken fingers and a partially torn tendon in his left hand.

He is not likely to return in the first round.

Babcock reverted back to his previous line combinations after shuffling them up in Wednesday’s practice:

Johan Franzen-Pavel Datsyuk-Justin Abdelkader

Tomas Tatar-Riley Sheahan-Gustav Nyquist

Tomas Jurco-Darren Helm-Daniel Alfredsson

Drew Miller-Luke Glendening-David Legwand

Joakim Andersson and Todd Bertuzzi (rotating in, appear to be healthy scratches)

Henrik Zetterberg (injured)

Brendan Smith-Niklas Kronwall

Kyle Quincey-Danny DeKeyser

Brian Lashoff-Jakub Kindl

Jimmy Howard

Jonas Gustavsson



Red Wings-Bruins matchups: Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston has the edge in most categories


on April 17, 2014 at 10:02 AM, updated April 17, 2014 at 12:24 PM

DETROIT – Here's a look at the matchup between the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins, who meet in an Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff series starting Friday:

Records: Boston 54-19-9, 117 points, first seed in Eastern Conference; Detroit 39-28-15, 93 points, second wild card.

Bruins-logo

Forwards: The Bruins are big, deep and skilled. Six forwards tallied 51 or more points (the Red Wings had none) and all were plus-28 or better. David Krejci led the way with 69 points. Veteran Jarome Iginla, seeking his first Stanley Cup, was hot down the stretch and finished with 30 goals. Their linemate, Milan Lucic, combines skill and toughness (24 goals, 59 points). Patrice Bergeron (30 goals) is one of the best two-way forwards in the league. Small but gritty Brad Marchand gets under the opposition’s skin and Reilly Smith, the brother of Detroit defenseman Brendan, emerged as a productive top-six forward. The Bruins have a good group of role players led by Chris Kelly and Gregory Campbell.

Kids called up from Grand Rapids (Gustav Nyquist, Riley Sheahan, Tomas Jurco) gave the Red Wings much-needed depth, speed, energy and offense. Nyquist was a late-season force, scoring 23 goals from Jan. 20 to April 2 and finishing with a team-leading 28. Young Tomas Tatar has good hands around the net, scoring 19 goals. Pavel Datsyuk improved over the final six games after returning from a knee injury and could be close to his usual dominant form. Inconsistent Johan Franzen slumped late (one goal in final 18 games), but is capable of getting on a hot streak. Daniel Alfredsson, 41, tied for team lead with 49 points and is hungry for his first Cup. Darren Helm, injured the past two playoffs, can be a difference-maker with his speed, tenacity and ability to chip in some offense. Captain Henrik Zetterberg (back surgery) is hoping to return late in the series, but it seems doubtful.

Edge: Bruins

Bruins-logo

Defense: Zdeno Chara, with his 6-foot-9 frame, poses problems at both ends of the ice. He’s tough to deal with in the Boston zone and can be a force on the power play, either with his booming point shot or as a net-front presence. Johnny Boychuk is big and physical. Dougie Hamilton and rookie Torey Krug are good puck-movers who add an element of skill.

The Red Wings miss top-pair defenseman Jonathan Ericsson (broken finger), who’s not likely to return in the series. His absence puts more of an onus on Niklas Kronwall, who tied for the team lead with 49 points and usually steps up his physical game in the postseason. His young partner, Brendan Smith, must avoid taking too many risks. The second pairing of Danny DeKeyser and Kyle Quincey has been steady – Quincey improved the second half. The third pairing of Jakub Kindl and Brian Lashoff needs to be better.

Edge: Bruins

Bruins-logo

Goaltending: Tuukka Rask helped the Bruins reach the Stanley Cup finals last year (they lost to Chicago). He followed up with a strong season that is sure to earn him a Vezina Trophy nomination (36-15-6, 2.04 goals-against average, .930 save percentage).

Jimmy Howard struggled with consistency issues much of the season, following a strong outing with a mediocre game. He played better down the stretch, going 7-2-1. He will need to steal a couple of games for the Red Wings to have a chance.

Edge: Bruins

Bruins-logo

Special teams: The Bruins ranked among the league’s top 10 in power play (third at 21.7 percent) and penalty kill (eighth at 83.6 percent).

Chara led the way with 10 power-play goals. He has a cannon for a shot but has been used mostly as a net-front screen.

The Red Wings were 18th on the power play (17.7 percent), struggling at times gaining clean entries, particularly when Zetterberg and Datsyuk were out of the lineup. Having Datsyuk back helps. Niklas Kronwall has more than half of his points (25-of-49) on the power play.

Detroit’s penalty kill (12th at 83.0 percent) was almost as good as Boston’s.

Edge: Bruins

Intangibles: The Red Wings won the season series 3-1, giving them confidence that they can hang with the team that posted the best record in the NHL. The pressure will be on Boston, which played a lot of meaningless games down the stretch after wrapping up the top spot in the East. The Red Wings were in “playoff mode” until the final week, battling for every point. They could carry over that intensity into this series.

Edge: Red Wings

Coaching: Claude Julien was one of Mike Babcock’s assistants for Team Canada at the Olympics. Like Babcock, he has his team structured and organized and gets the most out of his players, reaching the Cup finals twice in the past three seasons (they won the Cup in 2011).

Babcock did one of his best coaching jobs to steer this injury-ravaged team into the playoffs with a patchwork lineup on many nights. Several young players showed tremendous growth.

Edge: Red Wings

Overall: Upsets are common in the Stanley Cup playoffs, particularly the dangerous first round. But can the Red Wings, without Zetterberg and with Datsyuk possibly not in peak form, beat the big, deep and talented Bruins? That makes it much tougher.

Bruins in 7.



Red Wings rookies well-prepared for pressures of playoff hockey, will play key role vs. Bruins


on April 17, 2014 at 6:01 AM, updated April 17, 2014 at 12:16 PM

DETROIT – Until the Detroit Red Wings’ rookies and young players experience the Stanley Cup playoffs, they can’t truly know what it’s like – the tense moments in one-goal games, sudden-death overtime, elimination games.

It will be more pressure than they have ever dealt with in their hockey lives.

But they won’t be diving in unprepared Friday in Game 1 against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.

These kids led the Grand Rapids Griffins to the AHL’s Calder Cup championship last year. And the injury-riddled Red Wings couldn’t have extended their playoff streak to 23 seasons without their contributions this season.

Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheahan, Tomas Jurco and Luke Glendening will be making their NHL postseason debut. It will be just the third playoff game for Danny DeKeyser and the third playoff run for Gustav Nyquist.

“The kids have played in the Calder Cup; it’s playoff hockey. I’m not concerned about them one bit,” coach Mike Babcock said. “They know you have to battle for every inch of the ice.

“They’ve given us offense and played good defensively. In saying that, we got to get them to take care of the puck; sometimes they’re careless with the puck. But other than that they’ve been excellent.”

Nyquist led the team with 28 goals, and his 48 points were one fewer than team leaders Daniel Alfredsson and Niklas Kronwall – despite playing only 57 games after spending the first six weeks of the season in Grand Rapids due to salary-cap constraints. He appeared in all 14 playoff games for Detroit last season and scored in overtime of Game 2 vs. Anaheim in the first round.

“The kids have played in the Calder Cup; it’s playoff hockey. I’m not concerned about them one bit." -- Mike Babcock

Tatar, the AHL playoff MVP of 2013, scored 19 goals in his first full NHL season.

Sheahan, who filled the second-line center spot the second half of the season in Detroit, proved to be a solid two-way player who contributed more offense than many expected (nine goals, 24 points in 42 games).

Jurco has a good combination of skill and size that he utilized well to collect eight goals and 15 points in 36 games.

Glendening played 56 games as an abrasive fourth-line center, checker and penalty killer.

“Sometimes when you put kids in and they aren’t ready it turns out to be bad for the team and you start to lose your confidence as an athlete and you have to go backwards to regain that confidence,” general manager Ken Holland said. “Fortunately, the kids have played well. That’s not a concern for me.”

Said center Darren Helm: "The young guys add a big element to the team -- excitement, energy -- gets everybody going. They’re going to be important guys in the playoffs."

This is the youngest team the Red Wings have taken into the playoffs in a long time. Youth brings fresh legs and speed. That will be important against the big, physical, veteran-laden Bruins.

“All those kids just love to play hockey, they’re just having fun,” Red Wings forward Johan Franzen said. “They want the puck, they’re skating good and they’re strong on the puck.

“I think they’re ready for the playoffs. They’ve been playing great for us. It’s going to be fun to see what they can bring.”

Tatar is approaching it like the AHL playoffs.

“I’m really glad we went that far (with the Griffins in 2013); it gave us experience because now I know how certain situations will feel,” Tatar said. “I’m not taking it any different than AHL playoffs. I know this is a big league, but it’s just as tough (to win in AHL) as it is here. It’s a long way to the Cup.”

The young players credited Grand Rapids coach Jeff Blashill, named on Tuesday as the AHL coach of the year, for having them NHL-ready -- ahead of schedule in several cases.

“He’s preparing us the right way to be as ready as we can when we jump into the NHL,” Jurco said.

Said Nyquist: “I think it’s just another example of how Detroit as an organization works with their prospects and really has them ready to play up here. … When you’re a Red Wing, you’re expected to win.”

The kids have gotten a crash course in the 'Red Wing Way' -- the culture that has been created over the past two decades and the demand and expectation for success.

“I’m a big believer that when you get a young player, and four or five years later, if he isn’t a good pro, it’s on your watch, it’s your responsibility,” Babcock said. “If they don’t have enough personal drive to become a good one, then make sure they’re in someone else’s organization.

“But the ones that stay in your (organization) have to be pros, every-dayers, have to be consistent in their effort. Your performance isn’t always what you want it to be but your effort and your professionalism has to be, and that’s something you can control.”



Wings' motto: ‘They can't hit what they can't catch'

By Chuck Pleiness, The Macomb Daily

Posted: 04/17/14, 5:17 PM EDT |

DETROIT >> The Detroit Red Wings’ motto heading into their first round series with the Boston Bruins seems to be, ‘They can’t hit what they can’t catch.’

“They are a hard, big and strong team,” Tomas Tatar said. “If you want to avoid a hit you have to be fast and move the puck fast, skate a lot, just try to beat the D by your speed.

“We have lots of fast guys,” Tatar continued. “That’s why I think the Bruins have a problem with us. We just have to use it against them. It’s going to be a hard matchup, but that’s what we’ve got to do.”

“We’re a pretty speedy team and that’s been in our game plan to use our speed,” Gustav Nyquist said. “Of course that’s something we’re going to try to use. They can skate as well. They’re probably a little bit bigger as a team than us, so we’ll try to skate as much as possible.”

“Their physical-ness from top to bottom,” Jimmy Howard said when asked what he feared the most from the Bruins. “Seems like every single guy is over 6-foot, 200 pounds and can skate. They’re physical. We’re going to have to cut guys off and not allow them to get on top of our defensemen.”

“We need to use our speed to slow them down, stay above their players, cut guys off, don’t give them anything easy,” Darren Helm said. “Get a good forecheck going and run their D. It’s going to be important. The more time we spend in their zone the better. It’s going to be a tough series.”

As big and burly as the Bruins seem to be, they only ranked 13th at the end of the regular season in hits with 2,008.

“No,” Johan Franzen said when asked if he was worried about the physical style Boston plays. “We’ve been talking about that for the last nine years that I’ve played here in the playoffs, how tough all of the other teams are but that’s usually not a problem for us.”

“I don’t think it worries us at all,” Niklas Kronwall said. “We’ve played big teams in the past. I don’t think that’s been a factor when we played those teams. We have to utilize our speed and try and play as physical as we can and be heavy on the puck.”

The Wings finished 13 spots below in hits, totaling 1,621.

“You only have speed if you execute. If you don’t execute you have no speed,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “Their focus will be to take our speed away by getting on the forecheck and making sure we don’t execute. Our focus will be first-time execution so we can have speed so we can play in their zone.

“They’re a big team and they want to be as physical and heavy as much as they can be,” Babcock added. “When you’re a quick team you want to get on them.”

The influx of young skaters due to injuries has helped the Wings’ speed game and they’ll need all of it going against a big, deep and skilled group of Bruin forwards, six of which had 51 points or more this season.

The Bruins rank third in the NHL in goals per game (3.15), while Detroit was 16th (2.65).

Boston’s blue line is just as intimidating led by 6-foot-9 Zdeno Chara.

“I think we’re actually a harder team than we’ve ever been since I’ve been here,” Babcock said. “I think we have the ability to play heavy. We have some smaller type players that have the ability to be physical. What sets them aside from anyone else is (Milan) Lucic and Chara. They have them, we don’t, but we have a lot of big bodies as well.”

If the Wings are able to get through all that they have a world class goalie to contend with in Tuukka Rask, who’s almost assured of earning a Vezina Trophy nomination.

The Wings did win the season series 3-1 with Boston, outscoring the Bruins, who have appeared in the Stanley Cup final two of the last three seasons, 13-9 in the process.

“It doesn’t mean much now, but we know that we can play with them,” Franzen said. “They also have a strong playoff history here lately. They’ve been going far for many years now so they know how to win in the playoffs, but so do we. It’s going to be a tough matchup and there are going to be some good games.”

“We’ve shown that we can handle the physicality,” Nyquist said. “They’re a good team and it’s going to be a challenge for us. They play physical but we’ve shown we can handle that in the past. That’s obviously something that we’re going to have to be ready for.”

This is the first meeting in the playoffs between this Original Six teams since 1957. The Bruins have won four of the series.

Send comments to [email protected] and visit his blog at redwingsfront.wordpress.com

Macomb Daily LOADED: 04.18.2014


Zetterberg making progess as he skates with team

By Chuck Pleiness, The Macomb Daily

Posted: 04/17/14, 5:11 PM EDT |

DETROIT >> Henrik Zetterberg took another step in right direction.

The Wings’ captain took part in his first practice with the team Thursday at Joe Louis Arena, skating roughly 30 minutes.

“I think today is just one of the steps that I have to take,” Zetterberg said. “I have to start skating with the team a little bit. I didn’t do that much but hopefully I can do more tomorrow.”

Zetterberg took part in just about every drill Wings coach Mike Babcock ran, but stood along the boards while special teams were worked on.

“It felt good,” Zetterberg added. “It’s fun to be out there with the boys again. The stuff I did felt good and I’m looking forward to next time.”

Zetterberg underwent successful surgery on Feb. 21 in New York to remove part of a disc which was rubbing against a nerve, which caused severe back pain.

“I’ve got the medical team looking after me too and they will pull me out when they think it’s time,” Zetterberg said. “Hopefully I can get out there a little bit more and still feel good.”

Zetterberg has been sidelined since the Winter Olympics after playing just one game with Sweden.

The possibility of him being ready to return to the lineup in the first round against the Boston Bruins appears unlikely, but he hasn’t ruled it out.

“I think that time-wise we are shooting for round two if everything goes well,” Zetterberg said. “We’re taking it day-by-day, increasing the intensity every day and hopefully in a couple days maybe I can do some more battling drills.”

Despite playing in just 45 of the Wings’ 82 games this season, Zetterberg finished tied for third on the team in points with 48.

“I saw him at Nick Lidstrom’s retirement March 6 and he couldn’t walk,” Babcock said. “He hobbled his way out onto the ice. Now he’s out there skating. That’s a long way in a short period of time. Anyone that’s been injured and off a good chunk of time when they arrive back they see how fast everything is. That’s the tough thing about injuries, even when you get the guys back they’re not themselves. They wear the same number, but they don’t do what they did because it’s just too hard.”

Zetterberg, 33, missed 11 games in December with a slightly herniated disc. He also missed two games in January due to it.

Zetterberg began having issues with his back in 2008, which made him miss the All-Star game.

In 2007, he injured his vertebra and missed several weeks.

After the whistle

The Wings are bracing themselves for scrums after the whistle with the Bruins.

“They have guys that like to get in there,” Jimmy Howard said. “Seems like after every whistle, from highlights I’ve seen, there’s a scrum. We just have to make sure to play whistle to whistle and not get into any of that stuff.”

That was something the team has addressed and is prepared for.

“We’re going to try to stay out of it,” Johan Franzen said. “We don’t need to get into any of that. (If) they want that and if we can stay away from it it’s going to frustrate them a little bit.”

Franzen is a player that’s been known to muck it up after a whistle.

“It depends on what kind of mood you’re in at the moment,” Franzen said. “Sometimes you’re so pissed at yourself or whatever, not playing good

enough or something like that and it’s tough to turn the other cheek and walk away. But I’ll do my best.”

This and that

Jonathan Ericsson skated on his own for about 25 minutes.

He’s been out since having successful surgery to stabilize his fractured finger and repair a partially torn tendon on March 19.

Babcock again reiterated how good having three days of practice was for this team.

“We needed to get some guys healthy,” Babcock said. “We’ve had seven D all year, but then most of the year someone has been hurt so we’ve been wearing on six D in practice and in games instead of having eight. That was good to freshen up that group. We had some that were bumped and bruised.

“The lower seed, the more detailed orientated they can be to close the gap is good as well,” Babcock continued. “We know Boston now, but you can throw that stuff out too because once the puck is dropped it’s whoever wants it the most in the end is going to win. That’s how it happens. A least we’re prepared.”

The team re-assigned defensemen Xavier Ouellet and Ryan Sproul back to Grand Rapids after getting them up to seed on their system.

Send comments to [email protected] and visit his blog at redwingsfront.wordpress.com

Macomb Daily LOADED: 04.18.2014

741474 Edmonton Oilers

John MacKinnon: Edmonton Oil Kings mantra — best defence is a good offence

By MacKinnon, Edmonton JournalApril 17, 2014

EDMONTON — For defencemen, managing risk and reward once was a simple equation.

If you were Bobby Orr, Guy Lapointe or Brad Park, you went ahead, you took chances, you joined the rush. Heck, you led the rush, in Orr’s case.

But if you were just about anybody else, you stayed at home, you hit people, you separated them from the puck, passed it off or chipped it out. You didn’t do anything creative. You knew your place.

Those days are not just long gone, it’s almost impossible to re-imagine them.

And these days? Well, check out an Edmonton Oil Kings game and you’ll routinely see defencemen joining the rush as if they were a fourth forward, which they pretty much are, if the numbers are favourable and the situation warrants.

As the Oil Kings prepare to play the Medicine Hat Tigers in the Eastern Conference best-of-seven final series, three of their blue-liners — Cody Corbett (four goals, five assists, nine points); Ashton Sautner and Dysin Mayo (each with eight points) — were in the top 10 on the scoring list for WHL defencemen.

Griffin Reinhart, the club’s wheelhorse defenceman and team captain, and a two-time member of Canada’s national junior team, is 13th on the scoring list with six points, including five assists.

Any of the Oil Kings defencemen is likely to jump up into the rush or to pinch in from the blue-line at any moment. And yet, through nine playoff games, both Corbett and Mayo are plus 11.

Risk?

Sautner produced 42 points in the regular season, while recording a plus 59, second best in the WHL, playing alongside Reinhart, who was chosen fourth overall at the 2013 NHL draft by the New York Islanders.

What risk?

“Our guys take a lot of pride in what they do,” said Steve Hamilton, the Oil Kings’ associate head coach. “I’ve always believed that the backbone of any hockey team comes through the back end. It’s the important foundation that you build on.

“Our guys have been very receptive to growth and new ideas and just making their game better.”

Hamilton wants the contribution the defencemen make to the offence to be seamless.

“Off the rush, we treat them like a number,” Hamilton said. “If you’re entering with the puck, you’re a No. 1 (forward or defenceman) ... sometimes as a defenceman, you outlet the puck early or off the rush, and then you’re expected to fill the two spot, which is going through to the net. That’s just part of the responsibilities.”

The offence, in effect, comes in waves, which makes it more difficult to defend.

“We should have a contribution on every goal,” Hamilton said. “We should have an assist, or we should be involved as much as we can. A third of the offence should come through the back end.”

To that end, the Oil Kings strive to keep the puck alive offensively, whether that means managing the puck along the blue line, or pinching at the appropriate time and keeping pressure (on the opponent), being available for an outlet pass from a winger who has won a puck battle in the corner, and so on.

Hamilton believes today’s defenceman must be a versatile player, must be able to contribute offensively, even if it’s just finding a way to get the puck through to the net with a shot “that wouldn’t break a pane of glass.”

The 20-year-old Corbett, for one, is talented and versatile enough to have produced 61 points during the regular season, including 17 goals. The undrafted rearguard’s play helped secure him a three-year, entry-level contract with the Colorado Avalanche, in the bargain.

As you would expect, the Oil Kings defencemen love being turned loose — within a defined structure — to contribute on offence.

“Yeah, that’s something that (Hamilton) really encourages us to do,” Corbett said. “In the last few years, we’ve had a lot of defencemen who have had 30, 40, 50 points in a season.

“It’s fun. I love getting points and I love scoring, being in on the plays, being on the power play. It’s just something that I’ll hopefully keep doing for the rest of my career.”

Mayo, who got his feet wet with the Oil Kings last season as a 16-year-old, chipped in with 35 points playing alongside Corbett most of this season. At 17, in his draft year, Mayo is skilled at managing risk and reward.

“You’ve always got to be aware of where your partner is on the ice, and make sure not both of you guys are jumping up into the play at the same time,” Mayo said, laughing. “That’s happened a few times this year, but I don’t think it cost us.”

What has helped Mayo, for one, has been the increased ice time he has received when, for example, Reinhart was away at the World Junior Hockey Championship.

“You kind of get more confidence playing more minutes,” Mayo said. “You try new things and if they work for you, you keep doing them.”

And if the young defencemen make mistakes, from time to time?

“(The coaches are) fine with it, as long as you’re learning from (mistakes).”

The evidence clearly points to the Oil Kings defensive corps being both talented and quick studies.

“We have to have a little bit of structure to our game, in terms of positioning,” Sautner said. “As far as being an offensive guy, they want those guys to jump in and chip in and help out the forwards when we can.

“Obviously, guys on the back end have had good years. We’ve proved that we can jump up like that. And when we can, we will.”

Buckle up.

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 04.18.2014


Edmonton Oilers farm team controls destiny in hunt for playoff berth

By Jim Matheson, Edmonton JournalApril 17, 2014

EDMONTON — Oklahoma City Barons head coach Todd Nelson pointedly says his team’s playoff prospects looked “pretty grim” two months ago.

But if the Edmonton Oilers’ farm club can get three points in two games against the lowly Iowa Wild this weekend, they clinch an American Hockey League post-season berth for a fourth straight year.

This may be Nelson’s best coaching job — there have been 150 different transactions with players coming and going — but they currently hold the eighth playoff spot in the West.

The Barons have 79 points; both the Rockford Ice Hogs (the Chicago Blackhawks’ farm team) and the Charlotte Checkers (the Carolina Hurricanes’ farm team) have 77.

If the Barons win Friday on Mark Arcobello Bobblehead Night — the real thing is out for another week or so with a sprained shoulder — Rockford will be eliminated from post-season contention because the Barons hold the tiebreaker with them.

If OKC wins Friday against Iowa (the Minnesota Wild’s affiliate), and Charlotte loses to Milwaukee, the Barons are in and they don’t have worry about Saturday’s game with the Wild. Bottom line: they still control their destiny after what Nelson called “the first stinker in two months” after a 2-1 loss to the Texas Stars Wednesday. If they make the playoffs, they’ll be playing the Stars in a best-of-five first-round series.

“I had a spirited conversation in the dressing room after the first period (in which his team recorded two shots) but it was like gasoline on a fire. It didn’t work well,” said Nelson. “They tried, but they looked tired. The only guy who played well was the goalie (Richard Bachman).”

Nelson has some injury concerns. You know that sore knee Tyler Pitlick was carrying around the last few weeks with the Oilers after blocking a shot?

It turns out he was playing with a broken kneecap.

Defencemen Denis Grebeshkov busted his foot about 10 days ago playing soccer at the morning skate.

Throw in Arcobello, and that’s three key players definitely out.

What Nelson won’t be doing, however, is taking defenceman Darnell Nurse out.

The top Oilers prospect outside the NHL has played three games for the Barons down the stretch as a partner to Taylor Fedun, and he’s getting lots of minutes in a playoff drive as the first defence pairing.

Nurse joined the team after his junior Sault Ste. Marie Geyhounds were bounced from the Ontario Hockey League playoffs.

Hehasn’t been overwhelmed by the step up in calibre.

“I’ve liked him. He’s been strong in the corners and he’s getting some (second unit) power play time,” said Nelson.

Nurse said he’s had to get to know his teammates quickly, but that the adjustment “hasn’t been unbearable.”

“I was already in good shape (after playoffs with the Soo),” Nurse said. “I’ve had so much fun in the five or six days I’ve been here. It’s a great experience. I’m challenging myself to be a better player.”

Nurse has a terrific security blanket in blue-line partner Fedun, who is just finishing up his second pro season.

“He’s made my job easier. He’s a special player,” said Nurse.

ON THE BENCH: Defenceman Oscar Klefbom, who hurt his hand/arm late in the Oilers season, is also iffy for Friday’s game. If he can’t go, college free-agent signee Jordan Oesterle will play ... Nelson is inserting Kale Kessy, Travis Ewanyk and Greg Chase as an energy line. Kessy and Ewanyk have been spectators for awhile. He’s taken out the little Quinnipiac

University twins Connor and Kellen Jones and centre Jack Combs for Ewanyk’s line ... Centre Ben Eager is out of the lineup and back at his home in Chicago, where his wife is expected to soon give birth.



Ben Scrivens getting first shot at playing for Canada

April 17, 2014. 7:38 pm • Section: Oil Spills

Jim Matheson

Isn’t this interesting?

Edmonton Oilers’ goalie Ben Scrivens and the beleagured James Reimer, the one-time Toronto Maple Leafs’ tandem, have answered the bell to be Canada’s world championship goalies barring, say, Stanley Cup winner Corey Crawford becoming available if the Chicago Blackhawks lose their first-round series to the St. Louis Blues.

Scrivens, who joins Oilers’ winger David Perron, on the list of 20 players named for the tournament in Minsk, Belarus next month, has never played for Canada. Reimer has worn the Maple Leaf and the maple leaf at the worlds before. Unless a higher profile Canadian goalie is eliminated in the playoffs–Carey Price won’t go because he’s already won his gold at the Olympics–the two ex Leaf buddies will handle the net.

Canadian GM Rob Blake can add another five players before the tournament starts.

He’s got seven defencemen and 11 forwards on his list as of now, along with Scrivens and Reimer in net.

Scrivens, who was traded from the Leafs to Los Angeles last summer so Toronto could get their No.1 Jonathan Bernier, had a much better season than Reimer. He played 40 games here (traded for a draft pick) and in LA with a .922 save percentage, 2.55 average and four shutouts including the out-of-this-world 59 shot effort against San Jose Sharks at the end of January. Reimer, who was the scapegoat for the Leafs tumble down the stretch even though he had lots of company, had a rocky 3.29 average and .912 save percentage in 34 games.

Here’s the list of the invited for the Canadian team:

Defence:

Kevin Bieksa and Jason Garrison (Vancouver), Ryan Ellis (Nashville), Morgan Rielly (Toronto), Marc Methot (Ottawa), Tyler Myers (Buffalo) and Eric Gudbranson (Florida).

Forwards: Perron, Troy Brouwer, Jason Chimera and Joel Ward (Washington, Cody Hodgson (Buffalo), Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida), Sean Monahan (Calgary), Kyle Turris (Ottawa), Mark Scheifele (Winnipeg), Nazem Kadri (Toronto), Alex Burrows (Vancouver)..

Bieksa, Garrison, Brouwer and Ward haven’t played for Canada before, like Scrivens.



Jones: NHL's best scoreboard will be in Edmonton's downtown arena

By Terry Jones ,Edmonton Sun

First posted: Thursday, April 17, 2014 07:39 AM MDT | Updated: Thursday, April 17, 2014 11:55 AM MDT

The first thing that you'll see when you look inside Rogers Place will be the scoreboard.

There will be wow factors in dozens of different directions. But it will be hard to miss the big wow in the centre of the building.

It will be THE scoreboard in the National Hockey League.

That title currently belongs to the one in Denver.

"It's Denver plus," said Bob Black, executive vice-president of Katz Group.

"The difference between this board and Denver is that this is a cube as opposed to the rectangle they have in Denver. This board is bigger than they have in Denver. And it's about five times as big, in terms of video area, as the board they currently have at Rexall Place.

"Denver has high resolution for the sides but the image on the end is smaller and not high definition."

The next thing you'll see is the seats. In Rexall Place they are 17-19 inches wide. In Rogers Place, they'll be 19-22 inches wide.

On the mezzanine level are areas for club patrons.

"Just as we have the River Cree Club at Rexall Place, we have created clubs on both the north side and the south side of the building that will service the population in the lower bowl," said Black.

To access the clubs you go up instead of down to event level. And you don't have to take the stairs.

There's 15 elevators in the building. And 15 escalators.

"We are anticipating that somewhere in the order of 70% to 75% of the population will enter through the Winter Garden, that they'll come from the downtown core and enter through the Winter Garden," said Rick Daviss, executive director of the arena district project for the City.

"What we've done on the main concourse is create a much more generous circulation area than currently exists at Rexall Place. There aren't the kind of pinch points that we get in the current facility," said Black.

"The other things we wanted to ensure is that at all levels of the building we created food and beverage locations where you had a view into the bowl, where you could sit down or stand and have the social opportunities to mix and mingle," added Black.

"Another feature is the windows in the building, windows which go all the way around. The main concourse and the upper concourse both have glass," said Davis.

Up another level is the suite level.

"Unlike the current building, where the suites are at the top of the lower bowl, the suites are above the main concourse. But they are cantilevered out so that the suites project out over the bowl below to bring them closer to the ice."

Nobody is going to jump up in front of you when something exciting happens.

The suites are deeper and much better appointed.

"Because Edmonton's marketplace is basically small-to medium-size corporations, there's real market for a four-to six-seat product. Instead of having part ownership of a big suite where you might have 10 games a year, you would have full ownership of a smaller premium product."

Go up to the loge level and there are three tiers, first a drink rail with chairs on casters, then two levels of half-moon tables with bar stools, all available

as season tickets. There's 1,100 seats there and it says here those might be the first spots in the building to go.

"They'll have the feeling of being in a sports bar, except that you can see the ice to see the game live and in person," said Black.

Finally, there's the upper concourse.

"Many arenas have a design where the top of the seats is right at an end wall and you enter below and you walk up to your seats. We wanted to create a design where we had a separate concourse at the top of the building and people go down to their seats," said Daviss.

"We didn't want the people in the upper bowl to have a lesser level of service in the food and beverage and washroom facilities. And again we've set it up so that there are areas of neighborhoods around that concourse," said Black.

"It was really Daryl Katz vision that every fan would have that premium experience, not just the lower bowl," said Daviss.

Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 04.18.2014

741478 Los Angeles Kings

No power to the Kings in playoff-opening loss to Sharks

Helene Elliott

11:30 PM PDT, April 17, 2014

SAN JOSE -- A power outage darkened the SAP Center on Thursday night shortly before the Kings and San Jose Sharks were scheduled to warm up for their playoff opener, leaving the crowd murmuring in confusion and forcing antsy players to wait in corridors illuminated by dim backup lights while they wondered what to do next.

About six minutes later the lights came back on and the teams took to the ice. For the Kings, everything went downhill from there.

Their 6-3 loss to the Sharks was by far their worst this season. Not necessarily by margin of defeat, but by their abandonment of all the principles that won them the Jennings trophy for allowing the fewest goals during the regular season while racking up 100 points to finish third in the tough Pacific Division.

SUMMARY: San Jose Sharks 6, Kings 3

The Sharks dominated from the outset and scored twice in the final minute of the first period, routinely forcing the Kings into committing turnovers that became outnumbered rushes. The Kings put no pressure on San Jose goaltender Antti Niemi until the third period, when they scored all three of their goals. By then, San Jose had built a 5-0 lead.

“It wasn't an ideal start. They scored three goals and in the second period we were just out of position and giving up a lot of odd-man rushes and making mistakes,” Kings winger Marian Gaborik said. “When it was 3-0 we tried to make something happen, but we just couldn't play our game.”

The Sharks had a lot to do with that.

The Kings' defensemen looked too slow against San Jose's speedy forwards, and the Kings' forwards were too meek against a team that took the body at every opportunity. Coach Darryl Sutter's decision to pull Jonathan Quick after two periods was an act of mercy, one he later said he wished he had performed sooner.

“First period chasing the puck. You're not going to beat a team like that chasing the puck around the ice,” Sutter said.

“Coming into a building like this you have to be prepared to face a little bit of an onslaught in the first part of the game. And obviously I didn't do a good enough job of getting our players prepared for that.”

Sutter need not have taken the blame for the defeat of a team that includes 16 players who were part of the Kings' 2012 Stanley Cup run. Defenseman Willie Mitchell, one of those holdovers, said players failed to carry out the game plan.

“I know every one of us want to come out — this is the Stanley Cup playoffs, this is what it's all about — and have a great start, and we didn't,” Mitchell said. “And we didn't execute well and you get behind that many that early against a good hockey club it's really tough to come back. We'd better learn from our mistakes and have a much better effort in Game 2.”

No matter the score, it still counts as one loss. And don't forget that the Kings lost the first two games of their first-round series against St. Louis last spring before winning the next four and, eventually, advancing to the Western Conference finals.

But it's the way the Kings lost Thursday that should concern them. That, and the fact the Sharks accomplished their goal of denting Quick's air of invincibility.

After the morning skate, Sharks captain Joe Thornton was asked what the key would be for San Jose.

“Score some goals on Quick,” Thornton said. “I think he's the backbone of that team over there and we only scored 10 goals against him in the second round last year, in seven games. We've got to score some goals on him and keep them off the board as well.”

Almost prophetic. They scored more goals Thursday than they totaled in the first three games of their playoff series last season, a series in which Quick shut them out twice. But the Kings had home-ice advantage in that series, in which every game was won by the home team. They don't have that advantage this time.

Late Thursday, the Sharks' parent company, Sharks Sports and Entertainment, issued a statement saying the cause of the pregame power outage was unknown. The Kings have until Sunday, when Game 2 will be played in San Jose, to figure out the cause of their in-game power outage.



Kings drop playoff opener to Sharks, 6-3

By Lisa Dillman

11:05 PM PDT, April 17, 2014

SAN JOSE — This was like a nasty flashback, one bad journey into the darkness for Kings fans.

The loyal old-timers have scar tissue around the old wound — long ago playoff blowouts, losses to the likes of the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames in the late '80s and early '90s.

Undoubtedly, the latest cut will take time to heal. The Kings were thoroughly outplayed in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals as the San Jose Sharks defeated them, 6-3, at the SAP Center on Thursday night.

SUMMARY: San Jose Sharks 6, Kings 3

Game 2 is in San Jose on Sunday. The Kings will have two days to digest what happened in Game 1, an unraveling that started when they gave up two goals in the final minute of the first period.

San Jose led 3-0 after one period and 5-0 after two.

A power outage at the SAP Center for about six minutes delayed the start of the pregame warmup but did not affect the start of the game. Officials released a statement about the outage, saying the cause was unknown.

The Kings' inability to get going until the third period was nearly as mysterious.

"I think we weren't ready to start," Kings captain Dustin Brown said. "They got up to a 3-0 lead, and sloppy play, turnovers, bad changes, odd-man rushes. We probably gave up more odd-man rushes in the first period than we have in the last ... I don't know. When you give a team like that opportunities on the odd-man, they're going to make you pay and that's what they did.

"It was more of the same in the second."

The team helping starting goalie Jonathan Quick win the William M. Jennings Trophy in the regular season — given to the goaltender or goaltenders allowing the fewest goals — looked like mere stand-ins in Game 1.

"Not a start we wanted," Kings defenseman Willie Mitchell said. "No doubt about that. We know this club plays well in this building and in order to have success against them early on you got to do the right things with the puck and we didn't do that and paid the price dearly for it."

The Kings have prided themselves on not giving up so many odd-man rushes. Mitchell said the problems went beyond that in Game 1.

"It's all over the ice," he said. "We didn't execute. They had more jump than we did. Sometimes there's no rhyme or reason for us."

Quick, who faced 28 shots, was not around for the third period as Kings Coach Darryl Sutter showed some mercy and had rookie Martin Jones play the final 20 minutes. San Jose scored its final goal, an empty-netter, when the Kings pulled Jones for an extra attacker.

Replacing Quick with Jones seemed to jolt the Kings out of their malaise and they scored twice in the first seven minutes of the third to create some possible carryover for Game 2. Defenseman Jake Muzzin ended San Jose goalie Antti Niemi's shutout bid when his shot from the left point got through traffic at 2 minutes 1 second.

The second Kings' goal also came from a defenseman with Slava Voynov scoring at 6:55, an unassisted effort from the right circle. Forward Trevor Lewis cut the Sharks' lead to two goals when he scored with 6:01 remaining.

Until the third period, it had been all Sharks.

San Jose received critical boosts from two players who have been on the outside looking in for most of the season: rookie Tomas Hertl and Raffi

Torres. Hertl scored once and added an assist. Hertl only returned to the lineup last week after months of rehabilitation of his knee.

Hertl required surgery after a knee-on-knee collision with Brown on Dec. 19 and left no doubt about his feelings for the Kings, telling Bay Area reporters: "I not much like L.A."

Torres scored to make it 4-0 for the Sharks at 12:57 of the second period and his inclusion in the lineup was a mild surprise. The injured Torres had missed the final 17 games of the regular season.

"I could have gone out there and played, but I didn't think I was at the level where I needed to play at," he said after Thursday's morning skate. "Playoffs is a different story. You have to elevate your game. It's about digging deep and looking and staring in the other guy's eyes and going to work."

Torres was a controversial figure in the rugged series between the Kings and the Sharks last season. The Kings won the second-round series in seven games and Torres was suspended for six games in that series for his hit on Kings center Jarret Stoll, who suffered a concussion.

Sharks Coach Todd McLellan knows the 6-3 victory means a 1-0 lead, and little more, in the best-of-seven series and spoke about what the Kings did in the first round in 2013 against the St. Louis Blues.

"We only have to look back to last year," he said. "They went to St. Louis and went down 2-0 and still came back and won four straight. They’re a very good hockey club for a reason and they showed it in the third period tonight."



Kings prove powerless in losing Game 1 to San Jose

BY RICH HAMMOND / STAFF WRITER


SAN JOSE – The power went out before the game. The Kings, collectively, blew a fuse in the first period.

The Kings hit with aplomb Thursday night, but they couldn’t skate, shoot or defend with much acumen. That’s why this first-round playoff series, expected to be close and exciting, started with a clunker, as the San Jose Sharks scored three first-period goals and beat the Kings, 6-3, in Game 1 at SAP Center.

A brief pre-warmup power outage didn’t affect the start of the game, unfortunately for the Kings, who played a dreadful first period at both ends. The Sharks scored twice in the final minute for a 3-0 lead.

“We just didn't execute,” Kings defenseman Willie Mitchell said. “They had more jump than we did. ... We better learn from our mistakes.”

Jonathan Quick, arguably the NHL’s best goalie, got pulled after two periods, and after the Sharks held a 5-0 lead on 28 shots. The Kings allowed the lowest number of goals in the NHL this season.

The Kings finally awoke in the third period, got goals from Jake Muzzin, Slava Voynov and Trevor Lewis, and made it a two-goal game with six minutes left, but Brent Burns scored a final-minute empty-net goal.

The Kings had played 40 consecutive playoff games without allowing five goals. It last happened against San Jose, during the first round in 2011. This game, like that one, was a wide-ranging meltdown.

“First period, we were chasing the puck,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. “You're not going to beat a team like that when you're just chasing the puck around the ice.”

Too often, the Kings were sloppy with the puck, and couldn’t retain possession in the offensive zone. On defense, the Kings seemed focused on establishing a physical tone with big neutral-zone body checks along the boards. They succeeded, but they also opened up ice for the opportunistic Sharks.

San Jose, with a deep group of scoring forwards, capitalized early and often. Joe Thornton scored three minutes into the game, followed by Tomas Hertl, Patrick Marleau, Raffi Torres and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The Sharks took control with two late first-period goals, both on easy net-front tap-ins, and took a 3-0 lead. Hertl scored with 52 seconds remaining and Marleau scored with four seconds remaining.

Special teams didn’t help the Kings. They went 0 for 3 on the power play, with only three shots on goal, and allowed two shorthanded shots. Vlasic’s second-period power-play goal made it a 5-0 game.



Kings' Toffoli gaining Sutter's trust

BY RICH HAMMOND / STAFF WRITER


SAN JOSE – Darryl Sutter reacts to rookies the way most people respond to gum on a bottom of a shoe.

The Kings coach, he of the soft heart and gruff exterior, often grumbles and sneers at the idea that young players might be counted on as major contributors. At the same time, he encourages them, guides them and gives them opportunities. It’s tough love, and Tyler Toffoli is slowly but steadily earning Sutter’s trust.

“You have to be prepared to battle,” Toffoli said. “I’m trying to.”

Toffoli played Game 1 of the first-round series against San Jose as a third-line winger, next to veterans Dustin Brown and Jarret Stoll. A high-profile role? Perhaps not, but certainly an important one.

Two years ago, during the Kings’ run to the Stanley Cup, their third line of Stoll, Dwight King and Trevor Lewis played an underrated role as a defense-first line that periodically contributed goals.

The current line is more offensive-minded. Brown is a former 30-goal scorer and, if all breaks right, Toffoli might be headed in that direction. He turns 22 next week and his young career is on a nice trajectory.

Last year, the Kings called up Toffoli from the AHL near the end of the regular season. He played in only two first-round games against St. Louis, but then played in 10 of the 11 games against San Jose and Chicago. Toffoli scored his first playoff goal in Game 3 against San Jose, and had an assist in Game 2.

“I think I can of know what to expect,” Toffoli said. “I know what the crowd will be like. I know how (the Sharks) play. It helps a little, but at the same time, you still have to bring the intensity.”

Toffoli got called up from the AHL three weeks into this season, and he stuck. He primarily played a third- or fourth-line role, but even spent some time on the second line alongside talented scorer Jeff Carter.

That’s a sign of Sutter’s trust, as is the inclusion in the playoff lineup.

“You never want to get too high or too low on yourself,” Toffoli said. “You just try to stay even. When you feel that (Sutter is) confident in you, you have to keep playing well and keep showing him why he should trust you.”

BLACKOUT

Approximately 45 minutes before the opening faceoff, SAP Center went dark because of a power outage.

Emergency lights came on after about 10 seconds, and full power was restored five minutes later. The game started at 7:45 p.m., as scheduled. The only real impact of the outage came during warmups, when players skated and shot in silence, without the usual loud, thumping music.



Breakdowns, sloppy play dooms Kings in Game 1 loss to Sharks


Posted: 04/17/14, 10:33 PM PDT | Updated: 35 mins ago

SAN JOSE — The names and numbers looked familiar on the backs of the Kings’ uniforms for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday at the SAP Center. Quick, Kopitar, Doughty, Carter, Gaborik, Regehr, Brown.

Yes, those were the Kings.

No, those weren’t the Kings.

Something went haywire with the Kings, the NHL’s best defensive team during the regular season, during a disastrous 6-3 loss to the opportunistic Sharks. Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is Sunday in San Jose and the Kings have until then to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it.

Actually, there was little doubt what went wrong.

“Sloppy play, turnovers, bad (line) changes, odd-man rushes,” Kings captain Dustin Brown said, ticking off the list of mistakes and misplays of the opening two periods. “We gave up more odd-man rushes in the first period than we’ve had in the last ...”

“Month?” a reporter offered.

“Yeah,” Brown said.

The Kings left Joe Thornton alone in front of Jonathan Quick’s net in the opening minutes.

Thornton scored.

The Kings left Tomas Hertl unmarked near the left post late in the first period.

Hertl scored.

The Kings left Patrick Marleau alone near the left post later in the first.

Marleau scored.

The Kings left Raffi Torres open in the slot midway through the second.

Torres scored.

The Kings left Marc-Edouard Vlasic open in the high slot late in the second.

Vlasic scored.

Notice a trend?

Quick wasn’t sharp, but he sure didn’t get much help from his teammates, who seemed bent on handling the puck as if it was toxic. It recalled the long, lost days of the so-called “Escort Service” of the 1980s, when Kings opponents were afforded chance after chance after chance.

“Not the start we wanted, no doubt about that,” Kings defenseman Willie Mitchell said. “We paid the price dearly for it. We didn’t execute. They had more jump than we did. I know each any every one of wants to come out and have a great start. It’s the Stanley Cup playoffs, that’s what it’s all about.”

The Kings played a disorganized brand of hockey from the moments leading up to Thornton’s redirection of Joe Pavelski’s backhander in the slot. The Kings were mesmerized by Brent Burns skating along left wing. Pavelski out-muscled Slava Voynov to deliver a shot from the slot.

No one picked up Thornton and the Kings were down 1-0 after only 3 minutes, 6 seconds.

The Sharks led 3-0 after the first period and by 5-0 after two.

Quick took a seat for the third period and rookie Martin Jones came on in relief, making his playoff debut. Jake Muzzin, Slava Voynov Trevor Lewis tallied third-period goal to cut the deficit to 5-3 and make the final score look a bit more respectable.

“I think every period counts in a series,” Brown said of the Kings’ third-period play, when they outshot the Sharks 16-5 and took advantage of San Jose’s lackluster play. “It’s something we can build on, but it’s not something I want to say is encouraging.”

Asked what the Kings must do in order to rebound Sunday, Brown said, “Eliminate turnovers and sloppy play. Whatever you want to use as an adjective, we just weren’t ready to play. With their offensive firepower, when we play into their hands like that, the score should be that way.”



Kings notes: Drew Doughty happy to rejoin Los Angeles’ lineup


Posted: 04/17/14, 10:09 PM PDT | Updated: 1 min ago

SAN JOSE – Kings defenseman Drew Doughty can be funny and goofy and serious and analytical when speaking with reporters. He showed a different side of his personality in the hours before the Kings faced the San Jose Sharks in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

Doughty was angry and defiant when discussing the shoulder injury that sidelined him for the final four regular-season games. He spoke in a determined tone after returning to the scene his injury, which happened during a routine check of the Sharks’ Tyler Kennedy on April 3.

Doughty returned to the Kings’ lineup and played in all sorts of situations, teaming with usual defense partner Jake Muzzin. Doughty played a regular shift and there was no sign of the injury that sidelined him for games against Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and the Ducks.

“I really hate missing games, actually,” Doughty said. “It sucks watching your team play and especially when we were losing three out of four, knowing I could be out there helping us win games. That’s really frustrating. It sucked, but I think the coaches and medical staff made the right decision.”

Doughty discounted the notion that his absence might be better in the long run, giving him an opportunity to rest and recuperate for what the Kings hope will be a deep playoff run. The final four games were inconsequential since the Kings were locked into third place in the Pacific Division.

“Even though I wasn’t playing any games, it’s harder mentally when you’re hurt rather than when you’re playing,” said Doughty, a likely candidate for the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman. “It just sucks when you’re not playing, bottom line.

“Trying to come back and get back into shape is tough. You’re going home and you’re more tired when you’re hurt than your are when you’re playing. Yeah, I hated it and I hope I don’t have to do it again any time soon.

“I’m going to play my natural game. I love to compete. I don’t like to get out-competed. So, there’s no way I’m going into those corners soft or thinking I might get hurt. I’m going to be playing my exact same game as usual.”

Raffi Torres returned to the San Jose lineup for Game 1 after sitting out since March 8 because of soreness in his surgically-repaired knee. Torres’ participation was deemed a game-time decision, but Sharks coach Todd McLellan made the decision after the morning skate.

Meanwhile, rookie Tomas Hertl was in the lineup, too, after playing only the final two regular-season games after sitting out for three months following a knee-to-knee collision with the Kings’ Dustin Brown in a game Dec. 19 at Staples Center.

This is the third playoff series between the Kings and the Sharks in the past four seasons. The Kings defeated the Sharks in the second round last spring in a bruising seven-game series in which the home team won all seven contests. The Sharks beat the Kings 4-2 in a first-round series in 2011.



April 17 postgame notes

Posted by JonRosen on April 18, 2014

-With the loss, Los Angeles fell to 6-8 all-time against San Jose in the playoffs, a history that includes a road record of 2-4. The Kings are 94-127 all-time in the playoffs and 40-76 on the road.

-The Kings fell to 17-27 all-time in Game 1s. They are 6-20 in playoff series when losing a Game 1. Los Angeles defeated St. Louis but lost to Chicago when dropping Game 1 in last year’s playoffs.

-Thursday’s game ended a streak of 10 straight one-goal road games in the series.

-The Kings suffered their first three-goal playoff loss since falling 6-3 at home to San Jose in Game 4 of the 2011 Western Conference Quarterfinals. The 6-3 loss was also the last game that Los Angeles and their opponent combined for nine goals.

-Including playoffs, home teams are 21-1-1 in the last 23 games between the Kings and Sharks.

-Slava Voynov has a five-game playoff point streak (3-4=7). He has nine points (4-5=9) in his last nine playoff games.

-Jeff Carter has a five-game playoff point streak (1-5=6).

-The two teams were credited with a combined 121 hits (Los Angeles – 69; San Jose – 52). Anze Kopitar finished with a game-high nine hits. Dustin Brown and Robyn Regehr were credited with eight hits. For the Sharks, Raffi Torres recorded seven hits, while Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns were credited with six hits.

-Los Angeles attempted 58 shots (34 on net, 19 attempts blocked, 5 missed net). San Jose attempted 65 shots (33 on net, 16 attempts blocked, 16 missed net)

-The Kings won 35-of-68 faceoffs (51%). Among regular performers, Mike Richards won 8-of-15, Anze Kopitar won 9-of-18, Trevor Lewis won 2-of-5, Jarret Stoll won 11-of-19, and Jeff Carter won 5-of-10.

The Kings are scheduled to practice at Toyota Sports Center at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, April 18.

LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 04.18.2014


April 17 postgame quotes: Darryl Sutter


On the turnovers and odd-man rushes:

First period, chasing the puck. You’re not going to beat a team like that chasing the puck around the ice.

On whether momentum can transfer from the third period into Game 2:

Yeah. That’s why they call it a series, Jon.

On what led to the turnovers:

It’s a combination. First off, coming into a building like this, you have to be prepared to face a little bit of an onslaught in the first part of the game, and obviously I didn’t do a good enough job of getting our players prepared for that.

On “a good game” for Jonathan Quick despite the goals against:

You’re the one who said it, not me. Was it a question? [Reoprter: How did you think he played?] I think I could’ve made the decision earlier.



April 17 postgame quotes: Dustin Brown, Willie Mitchell

Posted by James Nicholson on April 17, 2014

April 17, 2014 10:57 pm

Dustin Brown, on San Jose’s late first period goals:

We were just sloppy. I think we were sloppy, other than maybe our first shift of the game. I turned the puck over on the third one, which can’t happen. We had a bad change on the second. When you give their team odd-man opportunities that’s what happens.

Brown, on the second period:

We weren’t ready to go from the start. Just trying to play catch up, we were really sloppy. When you’re sloppy against a team like that, and they’re good on the forecheck and can cause turnovers when you’re not sharp, they’re going to get a lot of chances. It could have been a lot more. Quickie made some big saves.

Brown, on the third period creating momentum for Game Two:

I think it stops game-to-game, but more so just wearing. It’s a series and every chance you get to finish a check, rub a guy out, make it harder on them, tire them down, it pays dividends later. We needed a third period like that.

Willie Mitchell, on what contributed to the loss:

There is no rhyme or reason for it. I know these guys, every one of us, want to come out – it’s the Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s what it’s all about – and have a great start. And we didn’t, and we didn’t execute well. You get behind that many, that early against a good hockey club it’s really tough to come back. We better learn from our mistakes so we can have a much better effort here in Game Two.

Mitchell, on the effort in the third period:

We want to play our best hockey and if we play our best hockey, we feel we can beat anyone. So, we were just looking to get our [stuff] together.



Game 1: Los Angeles at San Jose

Posted by James Nicholson on April 17, 2014

April 17, 2014 7:02 pm

San Jose Sharks 6, Los Angeles Kings 3

Final

Radio Feed

LA Kings Insider Preview

The Royal Half Gameday

Boxscore

Ice Tracker

SOG: LAK – 33; SJS – 32

PP: LAK – 0/3; SJS – 1/3

First Period

1) SJS – Joe Thornton (1) (Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns), 3:06

2) SJS – Tomas Hertl (1) (James Sheppard, Tommy Wingels), 19:08

3) SJS – Patrick Marleau (1) (Matt Nieto, James Sheppard), 19:56

Second Period

4) SJS – Raffi Torres (1) (Mike Brown, Marc Edouard-Vlasic), 12:57

5) SJS PPG – Marc-Edouard Vlasic (1) (Tomas Hertl, Logan Couture), 16:29

Third Period

6) LAK – Jakes Muzzin (1) (Anze Kopitar), 2:01

7) LAK – Slava Voynov (1) (Unassisted), 6:55

8) LAK – Trevor Lewis (1) (Jeff Carter,Robyn Regehr ), 13:59

9) SJS EN – Brent Burns (1) (Unassisted), 19:05

(3) Los Angeles Kings (0-0) at (2) San Jose Sharks (0-0)

Thursday, April 17, 2014, 7:30 p.m. PT

SAP Center, San Jose, CA

Referees: #34 Brad Meier, #11 Kelly Sutherland

Linesmen: #94 Bryan Pancich, #57 Jay Sharrers

FOX Sports West, NBCSN, CBC, KEIB 1150 AM

LAK starters: G Jonathan Quick, D Jake Muzzin, D Drew Doughty, LW Dwight King, C Mike Richards, RW Jeff Carter

LAK scratches: D Matt Greene, F Linden Vey, F Tanner Pearson

SJS starters: G Antti Niemi, D Justin Braun, D Brad Stuart, LW Joe Pavelski, C Joe Thornton, RW Brent Burns

SJS scratches: F Marty Havlat, F Adam Burish, F Bracken Kearns, D Matt Irwin, D Matt Tennyson, F Tyler Kennedy



Game 1 Preview: Los Angeles at San Jose


April 17, 2014 4:34 pm

(3) Los Angeles Kings (0-0) at (2) San Jose Sharks (0-0)

Thursday, April 17, 2014, 7:30 p.m. PT

SAP Center, San Jose, CA

Referees: #34 Brad Meier, #11 Kelly Sutherland

Linesmen: #94 Bryan Pancich, #57 Jay Sharrers

FOX Sports West, NBCSN, CBC, KEIB 1150 AM

Los Angeles Projected Starting Goaltender – Jonathan Quick

2013-14 Playoffs: 0 GP (0 GS) / 0-0 record / 0.00 GAA / .000 Sv% / 0 SHO

Career, Playoffs: 50 (50) / 29-21 / 2.03 / .929 / 7

Versus San Jose, Playoffs: 13 (13) / 6-7 / 2.25 / .931 / 3

Last Playoff Game vs San Jose: 5/28/13 / 60 MP / 25-26 shots / 2-1 W

San Jose Projected Starting Goaltender – Antti Niemi

2013-14 Playoffs: 0 GP (0 GS) / 0-0-0 record / 0.00 GAA / .000 Sv% / 0 SHO

Career, Playoffs: 56 (56) / 32-23 / 2.65 / .909 / 2

Versus Los Angeles, Playoffs: 13 (13) / 7-6 / 2.74 / .897 / 0

Last Playoff Game vs Los Angeles: 5/28/13 / 58 MP / 16-18 shots / 1-2 L

2013-14 Los Angeles Leaders (regular season)

Total Points: Anze Kopitar (29-41=70)

Goals: Anze Kopitar (29-41=70)

Assists: Anze Kopitar (29-41=70)

Plus/Minus: Anze Kopitar (+34; 29-41=70)

Penalty Minutes: Kyle Clifford (81; 3-5=8)

Time On Ice: Drew Doughty (25:42; 10-27=37)

2013-14 San Jose Leaders (regular season)

Total Points: Joe Pavelski (41-38=79)

Goals: Joe Pavelski (41-38=79)

Assists: Joe Thornton (11-65=76)

Plus/Minus: Marc-Edouard Vlasic (+31; 5-19=24)

Penalty Minutes: Andrew Desjardins (86; 3-14=17)

Time On Ice: Dan Boyle (21:16; 12-24=36)

Rankings and Statistics (regular season)

Goals/Game: LAK – 26 / 2.42; SJS – t-6 / 2.92

Goals Against/Game: LAK – 1 / 2.05; SJS – 5 / 2.35

Power Play: LAK – 27 / 15.1%; SJS – t-19 / 17.2%

Penalty Kill: LAK – 11 / 83.1%; SJS – 6 / 84.9%

Shots/Game: LAK – 7 / 31.6; SJS – 1 / 34.8

Shots Against/Game: LAK – 2 / 26.2; SJS – 6 / 27.8

Faceoffs: LAK – t-2 / 52.8%; SJS – t-2 / 52.8%

Save Percentage: LAK – 2 / .922; SJS – t-7 / .915

181113675_LOS_ANGELES_KINGS_V_SAN_JOSE_SHARKS

Los Angeles Projected Lineup

Marian Gaborik – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams

Dwight King – Mike Richards – Jeff Carter

Tyler Toffoli – Jarret Stoll – Dustin Brown

Kyle Clifford – Trevor Lewis – Jordan Nolan

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty

Robyn Regehr – Slava Voynov

Willie Mitchell – Alec Martinez

Jonathan Quick

Martin Jones

Level of confidence in projected lines: B+. Jonathan Quick left the ice first, not that there was any question whether he’d start. Tanner Pearson and Linden Vey remained on for extra work and are not expected to play tonight. Matt Greene and Willie Mitchell left the ice at relatively the same time, though given recent pairings, it is expected that Mitchell and Martinez will be paired together, and Greene will be the odd-man out. Don’t be surprised to see any number of the three extra skaters take part in warm-ups.

Notes and milestones: Los Angeles is 6-7 all-time against San Jose in the playoffs, a mark that includes a road record of 2-4. The Kings have lost all four overtime games to the Sharks in their shared playoff history. … Los Angeles is 94-126 all-time in the playoffs, though they are 25-13 in their last 38 games and have won six of their last seven playoff series. … The Kings are 17-26 all-time in Game 1s, though they have won five of their last seven. They are 11-6 in series when winning a Game 1 and 6-20 in series when losing a Game 1. … In best-of-seven series without home ice advantage, the Kings have won 11 of 28 playoff series. … Los Angeles has a combined 1,009 games of playoff experience and a total of 17 Stanley Cups. 16 players were on Los Angeles’ roster during their 2012 Cup run. … Last season, five of eight teams that opened the playoffs on the road ended up advancing to the second round. … Since the 2012 playoffs, Jonathan Quick is 25-13 with a 1.62 goals-against average and .940 save percentage. He is the Kings’ all-time playoff record holder in wins (29), GAA (2.03), Sv% (.929) and shutouts (7). His 1.94 goals-against average on the road in the playoffs since 2009 is tied for the best in the NHL with Henrik Lundqvist. … Anze Kopitar ranks ninth all-time in franchise playoff scoring with 34 points (13-21=34) in 44 games. He trails Bernie Nicholls (16-21=37) and Tony Granato (13-24=37), who are tied for seventh place, by three points. … Kings with playoff overtime game-winning goals include Anze Kopitar (2), Jarret Stoll (2), Slava Voynov, Marian Gaborik and Jeff Carter. … Darryl Sutter ranks eighth in NHL history with 139 games coached and is tied for 11th place with St. Louis’ Ken Hitchcock with 72 playoff wins.

Los Angeles Kings v San Jose Sharks

San Jose Projected Lines

Joe Pavelski – Joe Thornton – Brent Burns

Patrick Marleau – Logan Couture – Matt Nieto

Tomas Hertl – James Sheppard – Tommy Wingels

Raffi Torres – Andrew Desjardins – Marty Havlat

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Jason Demers

Justin Braun – Brad Stuart

Scott Hannan – Dan Boyle

Antti Niemi

Alex Stalock

Notes and milestones: Since the 2004 postseason, only Detroit’s total of 21 playoff series surpass San Jose’s total of 19. The Red Wings and Sharks are the only NHL teams to have made the playoffs in each of the last 10 seasons. … San Jose is 15-15 all-time in Game 1s and has won two consecutive Game 1s at home. … Including playoffs, 12 of the last 34 games between the Kings and Sharks have required overtime. … Including playoffs, home teams are 20-1-1 in the last 22 games between these two teams. … San Jose has a combined 1,259 games of postseason

experience and five Stanley Cups (Brad Stuart, Dan Boyle, Adam Burish, Tyler Kennedy and Antti Niemi). … Sharks with playoff overtime game-winning goals include Patrick Marleau (3), Joe Pavelski (3), Logan Couture, Joe Thornton and Raffi Torres. … Antti Niemi is 11-2 in playoff overtimes with a 0.89 goals-against average and .970 save percentage, having stopped 65 of 67 shots.

181111312_Los_Angeles_Kings_v_San_Jose_Sharks



Doughty: “I’ll be playing the exact same as usual”


April 17, 2014 3:45 pm

On whether he’ll have to make any adjustments:

No, I will play my normal game. I play physical in the D-zone and I’m going to continue to do that. That’s part of my game. That’s part of my natural game. I love to compete. I don’t like to get out-competed, so there is no way I’m going into those corners soft thinking I might get hurt. I’ll be playing the exact same as usual.

On the familiarity between the teams making for an exciting series:

Yeah, I think both of our teams are very, very good teams. I think we could’ve met later down the road no problem if we weren’t facing each other right now. I think we’re two of the best teams in the Western Conference. Because we do play each other, we know exactly what to expect. We know each and every single player on that team. We know exactly how they play and what they do. Both teams are going to be very, very prepared for this series and it just comes down to who wants it more and who is going to out-compete the other team.

On what type of team atmosphere he looks for at the beginning of a series:

Just going into the series knowing we can beat the team. I think that’s important. I know every single one of us in here believe that we can win this series and that we’re a better team. That’s what you need. You need to be excited to play this team with this rivalry building. We are excited to play this team and we want nothing more than to beat them every single game and beat them handily. We know that’s not going to be possible. It’s going to be tough to do. The boys are ready to go. We’re just excited. The pre-game skate there…everyone was flying, everyone was having a lot of fun. That’s exactly what you want going into it.

On what has changed with the team since winning the Stanley Cup:

Just the guys that have kind of been in the organization, they’ve had to step up. Like you said, Scuds is gone and Muzz stepped up. He’s playing unbelievable and I loved playing with him. Obviously, I miss Scuds at certain times but Muzz is filling his shoes just perfectly and he has a lot of upside. Obviously getting Gabby, now we have one of the best natural goal scorers in the NHL and he’s going to put pucks in the net for us and that’s what we need. That first line is clicking together. So I think that first line is stronger for sure, than it was back a few years ago. We’ve got some of those young guys like Toffoli and stuff who are just stepping up to the plate. They’re going to come up big. They’re big game players and I know he’s really relishing this opportunity.



Richards’ playoff success contrasts with recent drought


April 17, 2014 2:33 pm

Juan Ocampo / National Hockey LeagueMike Richards, as noted in an LAKings.com feature last spring, has this “playoff hockey” thing figured out.

Highly instrumental to Los Angeles’ success during the 2012 Stanley Cup run, the intelligent two-way forward finished one point off the team lead in 2013 playoff scoring despite missing three games in the Chicago series. Since beginning his major junior career in 2001-02 with the Kitchener Rangers, Richards has played won 22 playoff series in 12 junior and professional seasons. He won the OHL Championship in 2003, the gold medal at the 2005 World Junior Championships, a Calder Cup championship in 2005 with the Philadelphia Phantoms and a gold medal at the 2010 Olympics in addition to his 2012 Stanley Cup triumph.

Is there any different approach to playing in a playoff game, as opposed to a regular season game?

“I’m not really sure, to be honest. I don’t know. You just approach it the same way. Sometimes pucks go in, sometimes they don’t. Hopefully they go in.

Though he has averaged 0.79 points per game in the playoffs and 0.71 points per game in the regular season throughout his NHL career, there are a different set of circumstances heading into this first round series. Richards was held without a point over his last nine regular season games and hasn’t recorded an assist since the first game after the Olympic break, a 6-4 win at Colorado. Despite a strong first half, Richards’ 0.50 point per game rate was the lowest since his rookie season; a very low 7.0 shooting percentage – less than half of his 2012-13 shooting percentage – was partially to blame.

Though Richards was shifted alongside Kyle Clifford and Trevor Lewis when the team hosted Florida on March 22 against Florida and spent much of the remainder of the regular season in a depth role during five on five play, he still earned regular special teams time and saw late-season opportunities alongside Jeff Carter, whom he’ll center tonight. Dwight King will skate to Richards’ left.

“You know what? We did it every game in the last month,” Darryl Sutter said of Richards skating alongside Carter. “I know at the morning skate everybody calls it the lines, right, but as you know, that’s very seldom. He didn’t get moved up or back or anything. Mike Richards is our most experienced forward in terms of playoffs, and he always plays his best when we expect him to.”

As for the playoffs, the statistics certainly back up the eye tests. What has made Richards such a valuable postseason commodity?

“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s always exciting when you’re excited to play hockey. That’s when you play your best. Obviously playoffs are exciting with the atmosphere. You just build up that hatred throughout the series and that will to win is obviously there. I think that helps a little bit.”

Joe Thornton, on facing Mike Richards in the playoffs:

Mike Richards, on whether the Kings are confident given last year’s series victory:

I’m not sure. I think we’re a confident team. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. You can throw last year out the window. This year, I thought every game we played was close. Just the confidence we bring in is the confidence we kind of built for ourselves over the course of the year.

Richards, on playing in the SAP Center:

It’s loud. They’re passionate fans, that’s for sure. It’s always a tough building to play in, even when I came here when I was in Philly. It’s always loud and especially when we play them here with LA. It’s a tough building to play in and they’ve earned the right to get home ice advantage and we’re excited to get this game going here.

Richards, on the team’s success on the road:

Obviously, you want to start at home. I guess that they earned the right to have home ice advantage and we have to take a game here. It doesn’t matter when it is. We have to win in this building if we’re going to have success. This is a tough building to play in and a tough team to play against in their building. We’re going to have our hands full.

Richards, on how the Torres-Stoll and Brown-Hertl history affects this series:

I don’t think it impacts very much to be honest. Everyone has got a fresh slate. We’re two good teams playing against each other to move on. It doesn’t matter what happened in the past. We have to be ready with our A-game if we’re going to have success. It’s a really good team over there. They’ve got some big players and just a solid lineup really from goaltender down. We’re going to have our hands full.

169806556CC00024_Los_Angele



April 17 morning skate quotes: Darryl Sutter


April 17, 2014 1:29 pm

On the “factors” in the Los Angeles – San Jose series:

The team that wins four games is going to win the series. [Reporter: Does it come down, though, to smaller details?] I think…[that’s] not specific to this series. I think every series comes down to that.

On referencing how close the teams are after winning Game 7 last year:

There are a lot of similarities when you do it, not just this year – last year, last few years, regular season, playoffs. There are a lot of similarities in the two teams…and both teams have done really well, when you look at it. It’s close, I think.

On whether San Jose could offer a surprise despite how much Los Angeles has seen them:

I don’t think system-wise that either team is going to do that because of how good they are. There’s a reason you get here, and there are reasons you have such good regular seasons, and there are reasons that you have playoff spots clinched with a few games left. I mean, what happens at playoff time, a lot of times what separates winners and losers is not the team part of it. It’s the individual part of it. So there’s somebody that steps up and goes to another level or somebody that doesn’t, but it’s usually at the end when you call it a surprise or whatever that is. That’s usually what happens.

On his comfort of rolling four lines:

Well, if there’s one difference in the teams throughout the year, is clearly the lineups weren’t the same throughout the year. It’s probably fair in the regular season, but I don’t know if that’s fair in the playoffs because if teams are healthy, then generally their top checker plays against a top player, or a top defensemen plays against a top offensive player – that line match-up, however it may be. We match up down the middle, we think, with them, and the Sharks have the ability of moving Pavelski to that third line, to that center position, if they want. So if they do it, then we have to be ready for that. We still feel that with Stoll and Kopi and Mike and Lewie that we can match up there.

On Los Angeles and San Jose’s puck possession tendencies:

Well, that’s a good thing for both teams. That’s the game that everybody’s trying to play. That’s why both teams are successful. I know you guys are into that now for whatever reason, so if it’s a one percent or two percent difference, at the end of the night, you’ll go, ‘Oh, that’s the difference.’ One percent. Hockey percentages – some of them are not very good when you look at it. You can be 52%, or you can actually be 20%. If you look at all of them, some of the stats, if it’s just based on that, are not very good.



Beard-A-Thon, Platelets for Playoffs, watch parties


April 17, 2014 9:10 am

BEARD-A-THON: If you’ve ever wondered, yes, it is possible to raise money for the Kings Care Foundation while looking like Jeff Carter.

Once again this playoff season, Kings fans are being asked to “grow one for the team.”

It’s very easy. Fans can visit and register at LAKings.com/beardathon, throw away their razors and shaving cream, and encourage family and friends to support their playoff beards via pledges. Over two million dollars have been raised for NHL team charities since the Beard-A-Thon campaign began in 2009.

See if you can grow a more voluptuous beard than LAKI correspondent James Nicholson. Support a worthy clause. And always keep the Kings Care Foundation in mind.

PLATELETS FOR PLAYOFFS: Kings fans are also encouraged to donate platelets at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. This platelet drive, which began on Monday, will run through April 21. Fans who donate will be entered to win two playoff tickets to Game 4, which takes place on Thursday, April 24.

Because platelet donations take two or three hours to complete, donors are requested to schedule their appointments in advance. Available times are Monday through Friday at 7:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:15 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1 p.m., 1:45 p.m. and 2:30 p.m, and on Saturday until 12:15 p.m.

To schedule an appointment, or for any questions, email [email protected] or call (323) 361-2441. The LA Kings Ice Crew will also be on hand at CHLA to help promote this playoff season of giving.

WATCH PARTIES: The LA Kings Ice Crew will also be at Hooters in Downtown L.A. tonight and Sunday night to host official Kings watch parties.

The Downtown L.A. Hooters is located opposite Staples Center at 1248 S. Figueroa St. Courtesy of Staples Center, there will be free parking in Lot C at the corner of Chick Hearn Ct. and LA Live Way. There will also be $10 parking in Lot 6.

Bailey will join the party and assist in free giveaways and a raffle with proceeds that benefit the Kings Care Foundation. The party kicks off at 6:30 p.m. and features food and drink specials.



Good morning, San Jose


Good morning, San Jose, and good morning, Northern California. Similar to the travel schedule between Games 3 and 4 in last year’s second round schedule, the Kings are commuting back to Los Angeles after the game tonight and will return once again on Saturday to avoid any potential lethargy of standing over their Game 2 golf shot for an extra day. This does not mean that there will be an extra Good morning, San Jose piece, because I’m actually flying up early Sunday morning and won’t have the expanse of a large window to gaze out of and shoot these widely acclaimed hastily taken photographs of life immediately outside the team hotel.

I didn’t fly with the team yesterday, either, and likely broke an FAA rule in capturing this video:

We landed on a different runway than the team plane usually lands, so the SAP Center and the western edge of downtown was more visible from the left side of the plane than during most landings. The right side of the plane affords a much more vivid view of the tall buildings upon approach, as the airport is immediately northwest of the city center.

There are no more Highlighted Local Artists from here on out. That’s a regular season feature in Good morning posts, and Game 1 of the playoffs takes place tonight. After the Sharks skate at 10:00 a.m., the Kings will take the ice at 11:30 for their morning skate. Interviews, lineup notes, and other morning bits will be posted between now and noon, while the afternoon will be comprised of the general gameday what-have-you, with an additional interview thrown in. There’s lots more to come on a busy day in the Bay Area…

2014-04-17 08.06.01 (640x480)


741494 Minnesota Wild

Colorado rallies in third, beats Wild in OT of Game 1

Article by: Michael Russo

Star Tribune

April 18, 2014 - 1:36 AM

DENVER – It was a tale of three games for the Wild.

In the first 20 minutes Thursday night, the Colorado Avalanche delivered blow after blow as the fast, aggressive team tried to set a physical tone by going after the Wild’s more diminutive players.

But the Wild absorbed those thumps, got through Round 1, adjusted impressively and delivered a second-round, three-goal effort to seemingly take control of Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

And then the third period came around.

The Wild managed the puck terribly and the Avalanche capitalized, rallying from a two-goal deficit to force overtime — the tying goal came with 13.4 seconds left — before completing the comeback, 5-4, at the Pepsi Center.

Paul Stastny, who also scored the tying goal, buried Nathan MacKinnon’s setup between Ilya Bryzgalov’s legs 7 minutes, 27 seconds into overtime. It came after the Wild several times failed to clear the zone during an extended shift in its end.

“We were in the driver’s seat going into the third period,” Wild forward Zach Parise said. “Even throughout the period, we were in a good spot. We can’t let that happen. We’ve got to lock it down there.”

Colorado rookie coach Patrick Roy so knows the importance of Game 1, he pulled goalie Semyon Varlamov with his down 4-3 with 3:01 left for an extra attacker. Teams that win Game 1 in a best-of-seven playoff series in the NHL hold an all-time series record of 417-190 (68.7 percent).

“We were defending pretty well and I think he recognized that they would have to push and they did,” coach Mike Yeo said. “Clearly it was a good move.”

The Wild came inches from scoring an empty-netter when rookie Erik Haula, who scored his first career goal in the second period, flipped a puck high out of the defensive zone.

But hustling Erik Johnson raced down and just stopped the puck from crossing the line. His momentum also knocked the net off the moorings, preventing Matt Cooke from scoring an empty-netter.

The referees must have felt Johnson’s momentum caused it to occur because they didn’t call a penalty, nor awarded a goal. Plus, the ensuing faceoff was bizarrely in the neutral zone instead of Colorado’s end.

Yeo never got an explanation as to why.

“[Referees]didn’t want to talk,” defenseman Ryan Suter.

Johnson’s save proved huge. Soon after defenseman Jared Spurgeon failed to clear the zone, the Avs tied the score when Johnson’s shot’s caromed off Bryzgalov and right to Stastny.

In overtime, the Wild had a couple of good chances, none bigger than Jason Pominville hitting the post. The Wild finally got caught on a line shift, the Avs pressured, Tyson Barrie skated away from Pominville, got the puck to Nathan MacKinnon and the 18-year-old wheeled behind the net to set up his third goal of the night.

“Playoff hockey, there are disappointments, and clearly that was one,” Yeo said.

The Wild got goals from Charlie Coyle, Suter, Haula and Kyle Brodziak. Haula and Brodziak scored their first career playoff goals 2:04 apart late in the second.

But Brodziak handed it right back when after the Wild killed off its fourth power play of the game, he coughed up the puck under no duress. Moments later, Jamie McGinn made it 4-3.

That made for frantic final 13 minutes and highlighted a game in which the Wild managed the puck poorly during several critical junctures. On the tying goal, all Spurgeon had to do was flip the puck out of the defensive zone and the Wild would carry a 1-0 lead into Saturday’s Game 2.

“That for me has got to be the focus,” Yeo said, referring to being better with the puck and pressuring more aggressively in the defensive zone.

That’s not easy against a fast, skilled Avs team. But the Wild knows it must respond.

“It’s a race to four,” veteran forward Matt Cooke said. “This is one win. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and we’re in this for the long haul.”

Star Tribune LOADED: 04.18.2014


Wild's Heatley ready if needed

Michael Russo

April 18, 2014 - 1:12 AM

DENVER – No Wild player has scored more in the playoffs than Dany Heatley, but the veteran didn’t crack the lineup in Game 1 Thursday night against the Colorado Avalanche.

Heatley, who scored 12 goals and had 28 points in 76 regular-season games and was a minus-18, was scratched in seven of the Wild’s final nine games. The Wild went 5-1-1 in the games he sat.

“Just the way the end of the year went, I was scratched in Phoenix and we kind of went on a tear, so it is what it is,” Heatley said. “I’ll stay ready. If I get in, I’ll be ready to go.”

Heatley, 33, who ranks 12th among active NHLers with 372 regular-season goals, has impressed teammates with how professional he has been the past few weeks.

“For a guy that’s done what he’s done in his career and has accomplished more than most of us in here and probably 95 percent of the guys in this league, it’s got to be tough to be filtered out of the lineup,” defenseman Clayton Stoner said. “But he says as long as we’re winning, he’s happy. That’s the type of attitude that you expect from one of your leaders.”

Heatley has shown no outward signs of moping or being a distraction.

“Trust me, yeah, it stinks. Of course, you want to play,” Heatley said. “I love playing in the playoffs. I think this is going to be a good series, I think this is going to be a fun series and you want to be a part of it. But at the same time, [coach Mike Yeo’s] putting the lineup in that he feels gives us the best chance to win.”

Heatley, who has 15 goals and 57 points in 66 playoff games and went to the Stanley Cup Finals with Ottawa in 2007, knows the lineup can change quickly in the playoffs because of injury, losses or poor performance.

“They generally do,” he said. “Whatever happens, happens. If nothing happens, we’ll see. I’m just practicing hard and trying to stay sharp.”



Brunette recalls being a hero for Wild in Roy's final game

Article by: CHIP SCOGGINS

Star Tribune

April 18, 2014 - 1:12 AM

DENVER – Andrew Brunette stood maybe 50 feet from the greatest individual moment of his hockey career Thursday morning.

“I think about it every time I come in here,” he said. “Right over there.”

He nodded to the spot on the ice inside Pepsi Center where he scored his overtime goal in Game 7 of the 2003 playoffs as the sixth-seeded Wild stunned the third-seeded Colorado Avalanche in the first round.

Brunette’s game-winner still ranks as the top moment in Wild history, and it captured the essence of that spunky group of overachievers that defied odds by advancing to the Western Conference finals.

“Just being with that group of guys at that time was pretty special,” said Brunette, who now works as an advisor/assistant coach with the Wild. “You only get so many chances in your career to be with a group like that and do some of the things we did. I think you cherished it going through it, but looking back, you cherish it even more.”

Brunette reflected on that unexpected postseason run a few hours before the Wild and Avalanche opened their playoff series. In a touch of irony, Colorado is coached by Patrick Roy, the goalie that Brunette beat with a backhander.

The Hall of Fame goalie retired after that game.

“He probably said, ‘If that guy can score on me, it’s time for me to hang ’em up,’  ” Brunette joked.

Said Roy: “I was hoping it wasn’t my last game, but when the game was over, I knew [my career] was over. My decision was made.”

Brunette said he’s never talked to Roy about their shared moment, not even when Brunette played three seasons for the Avs from 2005-06 to 2007-08. He scored 119 of his 268 regular-season goals in two stints for the Wild, from 2001-02 to 2003-04 and from 2008-09 to 2010-11.

Brunette’s only regret is that he doesn’t have a memento from that playoff goal.

“No stick, no puck,” he said.

He dropped his stick during the celebration and never retrieved it. He has no clue what happened to the puck.

Brunette has stayed connected to the game through coaching. He agreed to oversee the Wild’s power play this season. He misses being a player, though, a feeling he describes as living in a “fog.”

“I think a lot of days you still think you can play a little bit or wished you played,” he said. “It’s hard to get over that when you’re watching [as a coach]. I think it definitely takes some time. I think I’m starting to slowly get out of the fog a bit, but there’s still days that you miss it.”



Postgame: Wild gives Game 1 away

Blog Post by: Michael Russo

April 18, 2014 - 1:18 AM

13.4 seconds!

The Wild was 13.4 seconds away from being up 1-0 in this series against Colorado.

Instead, the Wild gave up the tying goal to Paul Stastny with 13.4 left, then another to Stastny in overtime to find itself trailing 1-0 in the series this morning.

Just a brutal loss when you consider the Wild rallied from a 1-0 deficit, recovered from giving up a tying goal in the second and carried a 4-2 lead into the third.

The Wild, as Zach Parise said, was in the driver’s seat. But then, after the Wild killed off a fourth Colorado power play, Jamie McGinn scored nine seconds later.

Why? Kyle Brodziak, under no pressure, coughed up the puck. Brodziak, a minus-3, was the player who had given the Wild a 4-2 lead, scoring 2:04 after Erik Haula scored the go-ahead goal in a well-played, three-goal period by the Wild.

There were so many “little things” that cost the Wild. Turnovers galore, the biggest coming in the waning seconds when Jared Spurgeon failed to get the puck out.

In overtime, Jason Pominville hit the pipe. Remember, in Game 1 last year in Chicago, Jason Zucker hit the post prior to the Blackhawks winning that game. Chicago went on to win the series in five games.

On Colorado’s winning goal, the Wild got pinned in the zone dead tired. Then, not only did they fail to clear a few times, it lost a few board battles. Gabriel Landeskog popped it up top, Tyson Barrie sped away from Pominville, Nathan MacKinnon wheeled away from Jonas Brodin, and after Matt Cooke accidentally tripped up Max Talbot before he slid into Brodziak to take all three out, MacKinnon fed a wide-open Stastny for the winner through Ilya Bryzgalov’s wickets.

Ugly.

Ugly because the Wild had so much control of this contest and survived a first period in which Colorado did its best to set a physical tone, especially against Mikael Granlund and Brodin.

The Wild adjusted well in the second, got its forecheck going and seemed to take control.

Even in the third, I never got the Wild was in prevent mode. It continued to attack. But there’s no doubt after Brodziak’s cough-up, the Wild was on its heels, especially in the D zone.

The shame of this game is in the third period, you saw how fast and aggressive and absolutely skilled the Avs’ forwards were. It would have been gigantic if the Wild could have pulled out this victory.

Now, suddenly, there’s all this doubt. Yeo believed the Wild can pressure more aggressively defensively, and boy, the Wild better.

Couple other notable things in the game:

-- Bryzgalov gave up five goals on 31 shots. He was hung out to dry at times, and Yeo said this can't be pinned on him. Of course, Yeo's got no other options in net, so he better stand up for his goalie and pray he gets back into the net feeling confident.

--Granlund passing up a shot in the third period after a terrific Pominville setup by forcing a pass with the net empty.

-- The Wild’s inability to score an empty-net goal despite Patrick Roy making the gutsy move to pull Semyon Varlamov with 3:01 left down by one. Erik Haula came oh-so close when he flipped a puck from the

defensive blue line the length of the ice. But Erik Johnson raced it down and pulled it back from within a few inches of a 5-3 Wild lead.

His momentum knocked the net off the moorings AFTER he saved it, so the Wild wouldn’t be awarded a goal there. Since he didn’t deliberately do it, there is no penalty or awarded goal when Cooke had a shot at an empty-net. The whistle had blown. Yes, Mikko Koivu got a delay of game penalty earlier in the game, but the refs rules it was deliberate.

The refs also put the faceoff in the neutral zone rather than inside much to the chagrin of the Wild. The belief is it’s because the defensemen just into the fray after Colorado went after Cooke for him shooting the puck at Johnson.

The Wild was still upset it didn’t get an explanation on either decision, but again, it sounds like both were the right calls. And the faceoff position made no difference in the game’s outcome.

The Wild better regroup Friday. Talk then. I may clean this blog up and make it more readable in the morning after I get a night sleep and watch this game again.



Avs captain Landeskog sets an example for teammates

Article by: MICHAEL KELLY

Special to the Star Tribune

April 18, 2014 - 1:12 AM

DENVER – Gabriel Landeskog was a surprising pick as the Colorado Avalanche captain last season, but he showed what kind of leader he is in his first NHL playoff game.

Landeskog set the early tone Thursday for his team in Game 1 of its Western Conference quarterfinal series with the Wild, which the Avalanche won 5-4 in overtime. His goal at 13 minutes, 14 seconds of the first period gave Colorado a 1-0 lead.

“It kind of gets that monkey off your back, especially coming in Game 1,” Landeskog said, referring to scoring the first goal. “You want to come out and be that presence out there. For me, that’s playing physical and scoring a goal.”

He showed his physical side when he delivered a big hit on Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin just before his goal. Landeskog said that helped settle any nerves he felt at the start.

“A lot of people when they go into a game are nervous, they say take a hit or give a hit. That’s kind of the mentality,” Landeskog said. “You get roughed up and you get right into it. That was the feeling tonight.”

Landeskog quickly proved he was deserving of being named captain at age 19, becoming the youngest captain in NHL history just 15 months after he was the second pick in the 2011 NHL entry draft.

There were older and safer picks for the position — Paul Stastny, Erik Johnson and Matt Duchene were established young veterans — but what might have looked like a gimmicky choice at the time turned out to be the right one.

“Even at 18 years old, he was comfortable speaking up and he showed a lot of character and leadership,” said Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Colorado’s 36-year-old backup goaltender. “It was the right move at the time.”

His tenure got off to a rough start. After the lockout ended in January 2013, the Avalanche won just 16 games in the 48-game season and finished 29th out of 30 NHL teams.

“It was hard my first year being on a losing team,” Landeskog said. “Being so young, too. You hear that when the team plays well it’s easy to be a leader but when times are rough, it’s harder.

“This season, I wouldn’t say [it’s been] easy, but I’ve gone about my business and done my thing and worked hard and tried to be an example.”

Last season helped him grow into the job. “I said from Day 1, when they named me the captain, I wasn’t going to be the perfect captain,” he said.

“A lot [is] put on your shoulders, but I like that. That’s who I am. I feel good with that responsibility and I feel good being that guy where guys look to you. It’s something that makes me better.”

The responsibility hasn’t impacted his play. Landeskog set personal highs in goals (26), assists (39) and points (65) in 81 games this season.

“I’ve grown so much as a person in the year and a half since I was named the captain,” Landeskog said.

So has the Avalanche. “He really put his stamp on this team,” Giguere said.

And now he can add playoff experience to his résumé.

“It beat all my expectations,” Landeskog said. “Now first game is out of the way.”



Wild notes: Giguere fondly remembers dominance of 2003 playoffs

Article by: Michael Russo

Star Tribune

April 18, 2014 - 1:09 AM

DENVER – Jean-Sebastien Giguere won a Stanley Cup with Anaheim in 2007, but the Colorado Avalanche backup goalie said the best stretch of his career as a goaltender came during the 2003 Western Conference finals against the Wild.

Giguere recorded three consecutive shutouts to open the series and had a shutout streak of 212 minutes, 43 seconds before Andrew Brunette scored the Wild’s only goal in Game 4 as the Ducks swept the series.

“You kind of feel unbeatable at that point,” said Giguere, who stopped 122 of 123 shots in the series. “You’re so in the zone and everything seems to hit you and you get lucky a lot of the times, too. It was probably the most fun I’ve had playing.”

Giguere went on to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP despite losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. In fact, the Wild’s Mike Rupp scored the Cup-clinching goal for the New Jersey Devils.

“Personally, three shutouts in a row is not a bad thing in that series, but at the end of the day, winning is what matters and is what’s fun and we didn’t do it that year,” Giguere said.

Giguere would, however, in 2007 with Wild goalie Ilya Bryz- galov as his Anaheim backup. Eleven years later, Bryzgalov is trying to lead the Wild to its first playoff-series victory in 11 years.

“He keeps everything light and fun, and you never have a boring day with Bryz around,” said the 36-year-old Giguere, who might be considering retirement after this season. “He was a good kid. He was trying to make his place as a No. 1 goalie in the league and he gave me a run for my money, that’s for sure. He made me better because I had to play good if I wanted to keep playing.

“It’s been a tough year for the goalies in Minnesota. What did they have, five? It’s tough to hear what [Josh Harding] went through with [multiple sclerosis], especially with how great he was playing. But this gives Bryz a chance to show everybody again that he can be a No. 1 goalie.”

Johnson a fan of Suter

Colorado’s Erik Johnson, a Bloomington native and former Gopher, finally emerged as a top defenseman this season after being drafted No. 1 overall by St. Louis back in 2006.

For his money, Johnson said nobody in the league plays that position better than the Wild’s Ryan Suter right now.

“I love his game,” Johnson said. “In my opinion, I think he’s the best D-man in the league. Not only can he play half the game or more for you, he’s just kind of a cool, calm, collected guy back there. It seems like when he’s on the ice, their team plays with a lot more poise. He’s definitely my pick for the Norris Trophy and he was last year, too. I just think he’s a terrific player.”

Suter led the NHL in minutes played for a season consecutive season. His average time on ice of 29 minutes, 24 seconds was the highest by any NHL player since the 2001-02 season (the Blues’ Chris Pronger, 29:28).

“The thing that impresses me is, most guys have to pace themselves to play that much,” Johnson said. “He seems like he’s just doing it effortless. That might be farm boy strong from him working on the farm all summer in Wisconsin, which I know he does.”

Etc.

•  Defenseman Christian Folin, who had an assist and was plus-3 in his NHL debut in the second-to-last regular-season game against St. Louis, has returned to the University of Massachusetts-Lowell to finish some classes and pack up his life.

Folin, who is not eligible to play in the playoffs, is expected to return to the Wild next week for practices. As is custom when an AHL affiliate’s season has ended during the NHL playoffs, the Wild also is expected to call up a handful of Iowa Wild players Tuesday to begin practicing separately from Wild sessions.

• Forward Justin Fontaine and defenseman Jon Blum were scratched for the Wild.

• John Curry backed up Bryzgalov, but Wild coach Mike Yeo said Darcy Kuemper is getting closer to returning from injury.

• Avs coach Patrick Roy admitted that Colorado had been pre-scouting Chicago, which seemed its destined first-round opponent, until the Avalanche surged (and the Blues plummeted) to win the Central Division.

“We thought we would play Chicago just like everybody else, and probably the 6,000 people who bought tickets here as well,” Roy joked.



Goal-scorers thrive early, until Stastny shines late

Article by: CHIP SCOGGINS

Star Tribune

April 18, 2014 - 1:08 AM

DENVER – The Wild had this one within its grasp. So agonizingly close to a Game 1 playoff victory — 14 ticks of the clock to be exact.

And then this happened: A furious scramble, a shot through traffic, a rebound and finally, a goal.

Paul Stastny delivered a walloping gut-punch by banging in a rebound past Ilya Bryzgalov to give the Colorado Avalanche new hope and new life with a score-tying goal with 13.4 seconds left Thursday night at Pepsi Center.

And then came Stastny’s second chance to shine.

The alternate captain chipped in the game-winner with 12 minutes, 33 seconds left in overtime to give the Avs a 5-4 victory in a doozy of a series opener.

If Game 1 was any indication, this series promises to be physical and testy and hard-nosed and, well, pick any adjective that describes two teams mauling each other for 60-plus minutes. This one could produce some genuine bad blood before it’s over.

In a game stuffed full of tense sequences, the most important came when the Wild’s Erik Haula flipped a puck down the ice toward Colorado’s vacant net late in regulation. Defenseman Erik Johnson skated as fast as possible to flick the puck out of harm’s way at the last possible second before it crossed the goal line.

That hustle play saved the game and set up Stastny’s heroics.

For two periods, the game’s primary story line focused on the Wild’s ability to generate offense. The Wild scored three times in the second period — by three different players — to build a 4-2 lead.

Believe it or not, this was the same Wild team that scored only 207 goals this season, second-fewest among the 16 playoff teams. Only Los Angeles generated fewer with 206.

The Wild made it look textbook, though, especially with that second-period flurry. Ryan Suter scored from the point on the power play. On the second one, Erik Haula turned on his jets to beat a defender and create enough separation to get off his shot.

Even long-suffering Kyle Brodziak got into the action, truly a telltale sign that the offense was rolling. Brodziak buried a perfect pass from Matt Cooke from behind the goal.

“You want to bury your chances as much as you can, but as long as we’re playing our game and throwing pucks at the net, it’s going to come,” said Charlie Coyle, who scored a first-period goal to tie the score at 1-1.

Playoff hockey is a rough-and-tumble product, which makes scoring goals even more difficult. But the Wild is better equipped now to avoid offensive droughts. This lineup has more capable scorers, guys who bring more firepower than what the Wild trotted out in a playoff series against Chicago last year.

Jason Pominville is healthy and coming off a 30-goal season. Mikael Granlund brings some playmaking ability. Trade deadline pickup Matt Moulson is a proven scorer. Nino Niederreiter is an upgrade.

As Game 1 revealed, the Wild has more than only one line, more than only one or two scorers.

The Wild still can’t afford to get into a run-and-gun shootout with Colorado. The Avalanche has too much speed and skill for that. The Avs forwards are something special at top speed. They are relentless.

Ultimately, the Wild failed to contain them until the end. The visitors needed 14 more seconds and the mood inside their dressing room would have felt markedly different.

“That’s playoff hockey,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said. “There’s disappointments and clearly that is one.”



Game 1 recap: Colorado 5, Wild 4 (OT)

MICHAEL RUSSO

April 18, 2014 - 12:42 AM

Game 1 recap

Star Tribune’s three stars

1. Paul Stastny, Avalanche: Scored the tying goal with 13.4 seconds left in the third and the winner 7:27 into overtime.

2. Nathan MacKinnon, Avalanche: The 18-year-old had three assists, including the setup on the overtime winner.

3. Matt Cooke, Wild: Assisted on Kyle Brodziak’s goal, six hits, played a mean brand of hockey and terrific on the Wild’s 4-for-4 penalty kill.

Turning point

With 13.4 seconds remaining and an extra Avalanche attacker on, Stastny tied the score to force overtime after Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon’s turnover moments before kept the puck in the zone.

By the numbers

1 Career playoff goals for Wild forwards Charlie Coyle, Erik Haula and Brodziak.

72 Percent of faceoffs won by Wild captain Mikko Koivu (18 of 25).

31:11 Game-high ice time for Wild defenseman Ryan Suter.

30-17 The home team’s record in last year’s first round.

59 Home victories in 86 games during last year’s playoffs, an NHL record.



Olympian puts 'Miracle on Ice' gold medal on auction block

Article by: Paul Walsh

Star Tribune

April 17, 2014 - 11:48 PM

One of the “Miracle on Ice” gold medals is about to go on the auction block. Mark Pavelich, an Iron Ranger who helped Team USA beat the Soviets on the way to Olympic gold in 1980, is selling his medal through a Dallas auction house.

Bids, first online and by e-mail, will be taken beginning April 25 through Heritage Auctions, which bills itself as the world’s largest auctioneer of collectibles. Bidding then goes live and ends May 16.

There has been one other gold medal from that team auctioned, according to Heritage. That one was awarded to Mark Wells, who was dealing with health problems and sold it to a private buyer for $40,000. That buyer then commissioned Heritage, which sold it in 2010 for $310,700.

Bidding for Pavelich’s medal will start at $62,500, but Heritage sports director Chris Ivy sees $250,000 as “the floor” with “a lot of spirited bidding beyond that.”

“We were contacted by Mark, probably 18 months ago,” Ivy said. “He was curious about the value, initially.”

Bidding opened for Wells’ medal at $100,000, Ivy said, adding that the threefold final sales figure paid by the still-anonymous winner “was a pretty surprising and strong number.”

Ivy said Pavelich, 56, is not in any financial distress. “He’s doing fine,” Ivy said. “It’s something that he wants to help his kids out with education, the trust and that kind of thing.”

Pavelich earned two assists in the stirring 1980 semifinal victory in Lake Placid over the Soviet Union, one of them on the game-winning goal by fellow forward Mike Eruzione.

“He won it, he knows it and he doesn’t need the medal to prove that,” Eruzione, the team’s captain, said in an interview Thursday. “You hate to see it, but we are all grown men. Good luck to him, and I hope it means a lot of money.”

Eruzione said he expects other team members will join Wells and Pavelich in cashing in their medals, but as for himself: “I will never sell my medal as long as I’m alive.”

He said he sold off all of his other Olympic mementos, jerseys included, and keeps the medal in a bank safe deposit box because “it’s worth a lot of money. I can’t display it anywhere.”

The “Miracle on Ice” team’s feat has ranked among the greatest Olympic accomplishments in U.S. history, in particular because of the all-amateur team’s unthinkable victory over the heavily favored and well-financed Soviets.

Pavelich was among many Minnesotans on the team and its staff, which was coached by the legendary Herb Brooks.

Their story was turned into the Hollywood hit “Miracle” in 2004.

Pavelich is from Eveleth, skated for the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs and played in the NHL, mostly for the New York Rangers and then the Minnesota North Stars and finally the San Jose Sharks for two games in the 1991-1992 season. He now lives near Lutsen and works in land development.

Pavelich has been the most private of the “Miracle” team members. While Eruzione has made a living touring and speaking, and others make appearances from time to time, Pavelich has stayed out of the limelight.

Details of the auction can be found at http://tinyurl.com/oafgoub.



Wild's goalie shuffle

Staff

April 16, 2014 - 8:57 PM

wild’s goalie shuffle

Josh Harding led the NHL in goals-against average (1.65) and saves percentage (.933), but he played in only 29 games before missing the second half of the season because of symptoms related to multiple sclerosis. Harding feels well enough to practice but did not travel.

Niklas Backstrom signed a three-year contract to be the team’s No. 1 goalie. He played in 21 games (3.02, .899), struggled with abdominal issues, and had core muscle surgery in late March.

Darcy Kuemper came up from Iowa of the AHL to take over as the No. 1 in January. He played well for two months but lost his final five starts in March. Kuemper suffered an upper-body injury in practice late in the season but has returned and could play.

Ilya Bryzgalov was acquired at the trade deadline from Edmonton to back up Kuemper down the stretch. Bryzgalov worked into the lineup when Kuemper faltered, then took over when Kuemper was injured.

John Curry was signed during the peak of the Wild goalie injuries and won his only start, last week. He could be Bryzgalov’s backup Thursday night if Kuemper isn’t ready.



Wild falter, but they gave as good as they got

By Tom Powers

[email protected]

Posted: 04/18/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated: 04/18/2014 12:47:13 AM CDT

DENVER -- Now this is more like the playoffs we remember.

Last year's opening-round series against the Chicago Blackhawks was more of an exception than the rule. The super-skilled Blackhawks didn't need to waste a lot of early energy breathing fire against the Wild. Instead, they sort of cruised through the matchup en route to the Stanley Cup.

But now we have two evenly matched teams barking, jabbing and trying to run each other out of the rink. Grrrrrr ... take that! This time, the standard rules of playoff engagement apply. The Wild and Avalanche engaged in a real thriller in Game 1 at Pepsi Center on Thursday night, with Colorado winning 5-4 in overtime. But clearly the best is yet to come. Both sides now are officially fed up with each other.

"For sure you saw a lot of scrums," Mike Yeo said. "There was a lot of crosschecks and stuff that they were trying to initiate. But I thought that physically we had some guys that stepped up. We had some guys who were ready to play hard on the body. But I know we have another level we can get to in that department."

I can't wait.

And the way the Wild lost, coughing up a two-goal lead in the third period and then biting the dust in overtime, is going to stick in their craw. They made some critical mistakes in the third. Yet they still nearly clinched it on what appeared to be a sure empty-netter by Erik Haula from far down the ice. However, Colorado's Erik Johnson raced down, sprawled and swept the puck away about two inches from the goal line.

Johnson also knocked the net off and Yeo couldn't understand why a penalty wasn't called. Furthermore, the Wild had possession of the puck and there was no goaltender in for Colorado. Yet the whistle blew and the faceoff came outside of the zone. It was puzzling, especially since Mikko Koivu was called for a penalty earlier in the game for knocking the net off its posts.

"I just didn't get an explanation," Yeo said.

The refs wouldn't even talk to him. So now the Wild are ticked at the refs, too.

"A lot of what-could-have-beens," Zach Parise said. "It was intense."

Parise once even rammed into the opposing goaltender. Clayton Stoner patrolled the crease area like a big cop walking his beat. Charley Coyle put his large frame to good use. And Matt Cooke, in his element, might even have been firing a pea shooter from the bench at passing skaters.

Take that! Oh yeah? Try this on for size. Why I ought to ...

It was very entertaining and sort of nostalgic, even though there isn't much out and out fighting anymore.

"Obviously, that's game if it goes in," Haula said of his almost empty net goal. "And then they tie it up with 13 seconds left. That's playoff hockey and now we've just got to bounce back."

The contest started off more cautious than contentious as both sides seemed hell bent on not making any critical mistakes early. But the emotion ratcheted up as the clock ticked onward. In fact, it was a big hit, one of the legal variety, that led to the first goal.

In the battle between the two Russian goaltenders -- Ilya Bryzgalov and Semyon Varlamov -- it was the Avalanche who first broke through the Iron Curtain. A hard hit bounced Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin off the back wall. Brodin got the heck knocked out of him on Thursday night. This time, the puck came loose and Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog put it in the net.

But the Wild have developed to where a goal against doesn't send them into a panic. By the end of the second period, they had a 4-2 lead and the Avalanche on their heels. Colorado appeared to have buckled at the knees, but eventually rallied to win. So it was a lost opportunity for Minnesota.

It was exciting start to what promises to be a good series. Emotions already are raw. The players are testy. And a good time will be had by all.

Pioneer Press LOADED: 04.18.2014


Avalanche 5, Wild 4: Minnesota blows lead, loses playoff opener in OT

By Chad Graff

[email protected]

Posted: 04/18/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated: 04/18/2014 12:57:27 AM CDT

DENVER -- The Wild have talked about their resiliency and ability to overcome adversity so much it's become cliche.

But after Game 1 of their opening-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night, that resiliency will be tested in a big way.

The Wild blew a 4-2 lead in the third period and suffered a 5-4 overtime loss in the first game of the best-of-seven series. In a game they were in control of, the Wild let it slip away.

"We have to learn from it and learn that the game's not over until it's over," defenseman Ryan Suter said. "You have to finish the games, and (we have to) be ready for the next one."

The Wild's loss came in crushing fashion, largely thanks to Paul Stastny.

Charlie Coyle (3) of the Minnesota Wild scores a game-tying goal on goalie Semyon Varlamov (1) of the Colorado Avalanche as Gabriel Landeskog (92)

Colorado's second-line center scored the tying goal with 13.4 seconds remaining in regulation and the game-winner 7:27 into overtime.

The maddening part for the Wild wasn't so much that they lost. It was that they lost a game they should have won. Through two periods, there was little more the Wild could have done.

Through regulation, they outshot the Avs 30-28, and that was after the Avs pulled goalie Semyon Varlamov with three minutes remaining in the third period.

With Minnesota clinging to a 4-3 lead, Stastny fired a rebound past Ilya Bryzgalov with 13.4 seconds remaining in regulation.

As the Pepsi Center shook with the thunder of a playoff crowd celebrating, Bryzgalov remained on both knees, staring at the ice.

Finally, he picked himself up, and the Wild went to the locker room to prep for overtime.

But after another Stastny goal, all the Wild's hard work and strong play went for nothing.

"I've got no problem with his game," coach Mike Yeo said after Bryzgalov allowed five goals in the second consecutive game. "This one cannot be pinned on him."

The Wild carried a 4-2 lead into the third period, largely because of a dominating second period that yielded three goals. They controlled the puck possession game and seemed poised for a win.

Instead, the Wild were too passive in the third period as the Avs created traffic in front of the net, eventually leading to the game-tying rebound goal.

"I just know that there's another level," Yeo said. "I thought we were on our heels a little in our 'D' zone."

Late in the third period, Erik Haula flipped a puck over the defense, and it slowly skidded toward the net. As it was inches from crossing the goal line for what would have been the Wild's fifth goal, Avs defenseman Erik Johnson raced back and swept it from the crease. In the process, he dislodged the net, something the Wild's Mikko Koivu was penalized for in the second period. In addition, the ensuing faceoff came out of the Wild's offensive zone and into the neutral zone. Suter and Yeo both said they didn't receive an explanation from referees.

"Didn't really get an explanation," Yeo said. "We got called for a penalty earlier in the game on something similar."

The Wild got goals from the third and fourth lines, and the top unit provided two more as Minnesota jumped to the two-goal lead. Haula scored and Kyle Brodziak added another to put the Wild up 4-2 in the second.

But it was Brodziak's bad turnover in the third period that got the Avs' run started. His outlet pass was picked off and led to Jamie McGinn's goal at the doorstep, which cut the Wild lead to 4-3.

After that, in two scrambles, Stastny flipped the outcome.

Now, the Wild have a 1-0 series deficit to overcome after a game in which they played well for most of the night.

They were been resilient during rough stretches in December when coach Yeo's job was on the line and when they lost nine of 12 in March to put playoff positioning on the line.

But overcoming the crushing loss Thursday will be the biggest test of the season for a resilient bunch.

"It's one win," said Matt Cooke, who recorded six hits. "It's a race to four. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. We're in it for the long haul."



Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper deemed better, but not ready

By Chad Graff

[email protected]

Posted: 04/17/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated: 04/17/2014 06:34:43 PM CDT

DENVER -- Darcy Kuemper's road back from an injury is nearing completion, but the goalie's recovery wasn't swift enough to warrant a spot in the Wild's Game 1 lineup.

As Minnesota opened their first-round playoff series here against the Colorado Avalanche, coach Mike Yeo opted to use John Curry as Ilya Bryzgalov's backup, scratching Kuemper for the seventh straight game.

"Kuemper has only had a couple practices, but he's feeling a lot better," Yeo said. "He's just not at a place yet where we feel comfortable putting him in a uniform for (Game 1)."

Kuemper hasn't appeared in a game since March 27. He suffered an undisclosed injury during the morning skate for a 3-2, shootout victory at Los Angeles on March 31. On Thursday, he practiced with teammates for the third straight day.

If healthy, the team would prefer to have the tandem of Bryzgalov and Kuemper in net; Curry, 30, has appeared in just six NHL games.

"Whenever they're comfortable with me getting in there I think is what it comes down to," Kuemper said Wednesday. "And whenever that is, I'm going to be really excited."

Kuemper has more of a track record with the coaching staff than Curry, who has started just one game for the Wild this season, and would have a better chance of appearing in a game if Bryzgalov faltered.

In 26 appearances this season, Kuemper has posted a .915 save percentage and 2.43 goals-against average.

"Just to be back out there with the guys is a good feeling," Kuemper said. "There's a little bit of rust to work through, but I don't feel that far off."



Tom Powers: Expecting Blackhawks, Avs vow not to take Wild lightly

By Tom Powers

[email protected]

Posted: 04/17/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated: 04/17/2014 11:51:09 PM CDT

DENVER -- It's fair to say that the Colorado Avalanche never expected to be playing the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the playoffs.

They all were sure they would be facing the Chicago Blackhawks, last season's Stanley Cup champions. Even avid Blackhawks fans were convinced of it, swooping in and buying about 6,000 tickets for games at the Pepsi Center. But suddenly the regular season was over, the playoff cake was wheeled in and out popped the Wild.

Surprise!

Blackhawks fans have flooded the online markets trying to dump their tickets.

"Yeah, you're right; we thought we would play Chicago," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "Just like everybody else, and probably the 6,000 (Chicago) people who bought the tickets as well. At the same time, this is the beauty of our game. Things like this happen.

"Obviously we're playing against a very good team, a team that played really well at the end. I mean, a lot of people thought they could be in trouble at some point, and they won big games."

That's all true, but the Avs would be crazy not to prefer the Wild over the accomplished Blackhawks.

"We were definitely kind of preparing for Chicago since about three weeks or so ago," said defenseman Tyson Barrie. "We were fortunate to be able to catch St. Louis. That was a big goal for us, to try to win the division. We ended up getting Minnesota. We're not going to take them lightly at all. We know how well they've been playing.

"But, yeah, we kind of thought we were going to play Chicago."

Even as the Wild surged down the stretch to solidify their playoff berth, the Avalanche caught fire and surprisingly overtook everybody for first place in the Central Division. They went 8-1-2 over the final weeks to blow past stumbling St. Louis and grab the top spot.

"It was a good turn of events," said forward P.A. Parenteau.

It would appear so. This probably will be a protracted series, but the Wild don't carry the same credentials as the defending Cup champs.

"I think that there's no question that when they looked with a couple of weeks left in the season, they probably had their sights set on Chicago," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "I think that they would all admit that if they had their opportunity to play us they would probably choose that over facing Chicago in the first round."

Well, they wouldn't admit it. But, yes, they no doubt feel that way.

"That doesn't mean they don't have respect for us," Yeo added. "But I think that, obviously, that's just the way they're looking at it."

"Well, I didn't care," said Bloomington native and former Gopher Erik Johnson. "It's funny. I think the last two weeks leading up to the end of the season, we all thought we'd play Chicago. I assume Minnesota thought they'd play St. Louis or Anaheim. How quickly things can change.

"For me and our group, personally, we didn't care who we played. We were just concerned about getting home ice, and that's what we accomplished."

The Wild were 1-3-1 against the Avs, but the Avs were 4-0-1 against the Wild. Part of the fun of OT losses.

"I think we'd be in trouble if we looked at how we did against the Wild during the regular season," Johnson said. "We had success against them, but I

don't think that really matters coming into the series here. I think they're looking at it the same way."



Nate Prosser heard call of the Wild

By Chad Graff

[email protected]

Posted: 04/17/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated: 04/17/2014 11:52:09 PM CDT

DENVER -- To fully appreciate where he is, Nate Prosser only needs to look back four months, when the Wild defenseman was a healthy scratch in 13 straight games over four weeks.

He was the blue line's forgotten man. Or, rather, the one determined not good enough.

But when injuries decimated the lineup in January, Prosser played regularly and well. That's why he's set to make his Stanley Cup Playoff debut Thursday in Game 1 here against the Avalanche.

"There have been a lot of peaks and valleys this year, and that goes with every player in the league," Prosser said after Thursday's morning skate at Pepsi Center. "You fight through adversity all the time, and that was the situation I was put in. I just wanted to stay positive and be ready and be a good team guy.

"Just to be a part of the group right now and play in the playoffs is unbelievable."

The night before his first playoff appearance, Prosser spent time watching the three playoff series that opened Wednesday. He of course has consulted with playoff-tested teammates, but he wanted to watch what he was about to face.

A few things jumped out.

"Just how physical it is, the speed, everything is ramped up a notch and we've got to be ready to do that," Prosser said. "Everyone has to take their game to the next level to have success in the playoffs."

Prosser has been a mainstay for most of the past three months after filling ably when Jared Spurgeon and Marco Scandella went down with injuries. Thursday was set to be his 14th straight game in the lineup.

"I can't say that I'm surprised, because this is what he's always done," coach Mike Yeo said. "I want to be careful how I say it because I want to say he's an overachiever, but I don't want it to sound as a slight.

"It's a great compliment to him because there are guys that might skate faster, there are guys who might shoot the puck harder, but we're talking about a guy who always finds a way to elevate his game, always finds a way to go out and be effective.

"(I've been) very pleased with him and what he's brought to the table this year. Much has been talked about with what we've had to dal with -- with our goaltending and guys have had to step up. But we forget that at certain times of the year, we've lost (Keith) Ballard, we've lost (Clayton) Stoner, we've lost Spurgeon, we've lost Scandella. And so for a guy like Prosser to come in and prove himself and play the way that he has was huge for us getting here."


741509 Montreal Canadiens

Habs hope Stamkos doesn’t strike twice ahead of game two

SEAN GORDON

TAMPA — The Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Apr. 17 2014, 7:24 PM EDT

Last updated Friday, Apr. 18 2014, 2:36 AM EDT

Occasionally super slo-mo is required to gain a full appreciation of genius.

The deft hands of Tampa Bay Lightning centre Steven Stamkos are hard to follow in real time, so go back, look at the tape, and prepare to marvel.

It’s the second period of the playoff opener between the Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens, just after the 13 minute mark, Stamkos gathers a pass near his own net and starts taking hard strides up the right side.

Montreal Canadiens' P.K. Subban is checked into the boards by Tampa Bay Lightning's Ondrej Palat during first period NHL action Tuesday, November 12, 2013 in Montreal.

HOCKEY

Video: Pundits look ahead to Habs playoff series vs. Lightning

Toronto Maple Leafs winger Joffrey Lupul during the Leafs practice at the Mastercard Centre in Toronto on May 30, 2013.

Hockey Video

Video: Lupul says Leafs leadership can come from younger players

He blows past Habs winger Brandon Prust, then fires a shot as Alexei Emelin tries to close him down.

As Howie Meeker might say, stop it right there.

Close examination reveals the puck is bobbling and stands on end, flat against his blade, when the wrist-shot motion begins.

As Montreal goalie Carey Price perceptibly shifts his weight to his left, presumably anticipating that Stamkos will keep skating toward the goal line, the 24-year-old gives the merest of flicks with his wrist to settle the puck – remember, he has already started shooting – and fires a rocket blocker side.

Better positioning from Price certainly sees him parry it, but let’s also give a little credit to a world-class player, shall we?

There’s a reason why Stamkos has scored 233 goals since 2008 (only Alex Ovechkin, who has played 24 more games, has more).

When linemate Tyler Johnson was asked whether he ever catches himself admiring Stamkos on the ice, he said: “Just about every shift, yeah.”

Rookie Lightning forward J.T. Brown said in his estimation Stamkos’ singular talent is pulling off delicate skill plays at top-line racing speed.

Stamkos’s second-period goal was just one entry in the canon.

“It’s great because he’s moving. He’s not standing still, getting the puck. When you’re moving you have so many other things to think about – he has to have his eyes up, he’s got to pick a spot, he has too many things at once. It’s hands, wrist, his stick. He’s going 100 miles an hour,” said Brown. “It’s subtle, just a subtle little movement, if he doesn’t settle it, it might not go where he wants it. And he’s got a guy on him. If you gave me 20 seconds to do it, I could probably do it too. But to do it all in one motion, all in one stride, it’s pretty special.”

Prior to the series curtain-raiser, Stamkos talked about his injury-blighted season and the added pressure of leading the team into the playoffs as captain.

“I know I have to be a leader and lead by example out there on the ice at both ends of the rink. Especially coming back from the injury this year, I was just trying to simplify the game and I think we’ve been able to do that as a team,” he said.

The Toronto-area native still sports a reminder of the broken leg he suffered in Boston on Nov. 11, which cost him the chance to play at the Olympics.

It’s fashioned out of athletic tape – lots of it – and starts mid-shin on his right leg and heads toe-ward.

Tampa coach Jon Cooper said this week that his captain has only really started looking like himself over the past five or six games. That Price, one of the best goalies in the world, was undone by a small positional error reveals just how closely Stamkos has to be watched; there’s little margin for error.

Habs defenceman P.K. Subban said Montreal will have to play tighter to his childhood friend.

“He doesn’t like it when you’re in his face, he doesn’t like it when you know where he is, and when you’re aware. Good players like him, they find ways to be invisible on the ice and then they appear when they have to appear,” Subban said, later adding, “You’re looking over your shoulder, the next thing you know the puck’s between your legs and he’s tapping it in back-door.”

Subban and Stamkos were World Junior teammates, but their acquaintance goes back to when they were eight years old.

“We played for the North York Canadiens, actually – the same crest that I wear today, he wore at one point, so maybe you want to let him know about it … we won a city championship together, I think we lost two or three games all year,” he said.

While the Habs don’t have anyone of Stamkos’ stature down the middle, they do have a healthy dose of skill on their third and fourth line.

And if they are to counter the threat posed by one of the game’s most gifted sniper, it will happen the way it did Wednesday, when third-line centre Lars Eller scored and set up another goal, and nominal fourth-line pivot Daniel Brière orchestrated Dale Weise’s overtime winner.

Eller, in particular, stands to be an important figure.

The injury Eller suffered in the first period of the playoffs a year ago robbed the Habs of much-needed offensive balance, and despite long stretches of ineffectiveness this season, coach Michel Therrien said “he has an important role.”

As the Habs look to exploit Tampa’s bottom-six forwards and depth defencemen, the fact that Eller got off to a flyer is an encouraging sign.

“I always had it in me,” the Dane said. “I just got it back.”

Globe And Mail LOADED: 04.18.2014


Fleury, Price make strong statements on opening night

DAVID SHOALTS

The Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Apr. 17 2014, 9:48 AM EDT

Last updated Thursday, Apr. 17 2014, 9:50 AM EDT

The first game of the NHL playoffs turned into a night when some goaltenders with big question marks above them supplied definitive answers.

Marc-Andre Fleury and Carey Price were the most notable of the group as each man was subject to finger-pointing in years past because of their teams’ untimely exit from the playoffs. Anaheim Ducks rookie Frederik Andersen did not have to face the Dallas Stars with that weight around his neck. But Andersen still had his doubters when head coach Bruce Boudreau elected to start the 24-year-old Dane over veteran Jonas Hiller, who faltered at the end of the regular season.

Dallas Stars centre Cody Eakin (20) and defenseman Jordie Benn (24) and right wing Alex Chiasson (12) celebrate the win over the St. Louis Blues at the American Airlines Center. The Stars shut out the Blues 3-0 and clinched the final playoff spot in the western conference.

Podcast

Eight questions to ponder as the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin

Montreal Canadiens right wing Brian Gionta celebrates after his short-handed goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period of Game 1 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series on Wednesday, April 16, 2014, in Tampa, Fla

Interactive

2014 NHL playoff tracker

All three men silenced the critics Wednesday night. Fleury stepped up in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ come-from-behind 4-3 win over the raw but determined Columbus Blue Jackets. Price was there when needed in the Montreal Canadiens’ 5-4 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning and Andersen helped the Ducks hang on to edge the Stars 4-3.

There was more than an element of Gerry Cheevers to the games of all three goaltenders. Someone once wrote of the old Boston Bruins battler of the late 1960s and early 1970s that Cheevers would look up from his cigar and Racing Form midway through the third period, notice his teammates were leading 6-4 and slam the door shut.

And so it went Thursday. Fleury, Price and Andersen could all be questioned for at least one of the goals they surrendered but when crunch time came all three made the necessary big saves.

This was especially important for Fleury, whose meltdowns in the postseason since his spectacular work in leading the Penguins to the 2009 Stanley Cup made his position increasingly tenuous. Tomas Vokoun had to take over in the 2013 playoffs and recovered from the season-long effects of a blood clot in time to take up a foreboding presence in the Penguins dressing room this week.

However, after Fleury’s 31 saves against the Blue Jackets, whose feisty performance gave the Penguins fits, it looks like Vokoun will remain a healthy scratch this spring. Columbus did crash and bang its way to a 3-1 lead but that was due mostly to the mistakes of Fleury’s teammates.

After the Penguins righted themselves with a couple of quick goals from their explosive power play, Fleury gave them some memories from 2009. He made two big saves at close range in the last minute of the second period with the score tied 3-3 and another late in the third when the Penguins were protecting their one-goal lead. That one produced something else that had not been seen much since 2009: chants of “Fleury, Fleury,” from the Pittsburgh fans.

“Very big,” Sidney Crosby said of Fleury's performance. “We made some big mistakes. He had to bail us out a few times. But you don't win the playoffs without goaltending like that.”

Price’s solid work in Team Canada’s gold-medal effort at the Sochi Olympics in February eased the anxiety somewhat over his comportment in big games. But before the Canadiens-Lightning series opened, there were lots of mentions of Price’s struggles a year ago in the Habs’ first-round loss to the Ottawa Senators.

Those looking only at the statistics from Thursday’s Montreal win would have the same questions. Price allowed four goals on Tampa’s first 16 shots while his teammates fired 44 at Lightning backup goaltender Anders Lindback, who stood up well in place of the injured Ben Bishop. But it was a wild back-and-forth game when defence was thrown to the wind. It seemed almost all of the Bolts’ shots came on odd-man rushes or other great chances.

In overtime, though, Price played, in the famous words of that loquacious old goalie Arturs Irbe, “like wall.”

By comparison, Andersen had it easy in the early stages of his playoff debut. The Ducks got him a 4-0 lead midway through the game. Then the Stars started chipping away and it was 4-3 with a little more than six minutes left in the third period.

That was as far as it went. Andersen made several big saves to preserve both the win and his spot as the Ducks’ new No. 1 goaltender.

Globe And Mail LOADED: 04.18.2014


Habs’ Weise lives dream with OT goal in Game 1

Posted by Stu Cowan

When Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin acquired forward Dale Weise from the Vancouver Canucks in February in exchange for defenceman Raphael Diaz, the happiest man in Canada might have been Weise’s father.

Miles Weise, a warehouse manager in Winnipeg, is a lifelong Habs fan and dreamed that one day his boy might play for the Canadiens. When he spoke to his son after the trade in February, Miles told him: “My little boy is going to play on the Montreal Canadiens.”

“And he said ‘dreams do come true, eh Dad?’ ” Miles told The Gazette’s Brenda Branswell after the trade. “I’m just on top of the world.”

Miles – and Canadiens fans – were on top of the world again Wednesday night when Weise scored in overtime as the Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. Game 2 is Friday night in Tampa (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, TSN Radio 690).

GM Bergevin was caught by television cameras doing a dance in a loge after Weise’s goal. The dance is now being called The Marcarena or the Bergevin Boogie by many fans on Twitter.

“It was a good feeling,” Weise told reporters in Tampa after scoring the OT winner. “I can’t remember the last time I scored an overtime goal, but this has to be the biggest goal of my career.”

The Canadiens practised Thursday afternoon in Tampa with all the players on the ice, including Travis Moen, who is still recovering from a concussion and won’t be available for Game 2. The Canadiens spent time working on a power play that went 0-for-2 in Game 1 and is now 0-for-25 in the last nine games.

The Lightning practised before the Canadiens and injured goalie Ben Bishop was on the ice but didn’t take any shots. Coach Jon Cooper said he didn’t expect to see his No. 1 goalie, who has an elbow injury, back in net “any time soon.”

“This morning he skated in full pads and stuff like that,” Cooper told reporters in Tampa. “I don’t think we’re going to see Bishop any time soon, but I don’t know what soon is. This series would have to extend a little bit for him to come in.”

Weise, who started skating when he was 3, grew up as a Habs fan in Winnipeg and his father bought him a Canadiens scoreboard light for his bedroom.

“I bought it for him when he was a little kid and it’s still in his room,” his father told Branswell in February.

Miles Weise’s favourite Habs player was Guy Lafleur and “I almost had tears in my eyes,” he told Branswell after seeing his son in a Canadiens jersey for the first time after the trade.

If there were tears Wednesday night, they were tears of joy.

The Gazette’s Pat Hickey reports that Hall of Famer Phil Esposito, who now works as a radio analyst for Lightning games, drew Weise’s name for the media winning-goal pool before Game 1.

“Who the hell is Weise?” Esposito said as he threw away the piece of paper with Weise’s name on it.

The prize was $180.

Montreal Gazette LOADED: 04.18.2014

741512 New Jersey Devils

NHL Playoffs 2014: Should Devils fans root for Flyers or Rangers in first-round series?

Charles Curtis/NJ.com By Charles Curtis/NJ.com


One first-round matchup of the Stanley Cup playoffs is insult to injury for the Devils, who missed out on the postseason: The Rangers will square off against the Flyers.

Yes, the Devils' top two rivals will play to move on and, no, they can't both lose.

That's why were here to help you decide which team to pull for. Here are three reasons to root for each team:

Which team will you root for in the Rangers-Flyers playoff series?

WHY YOU SHOULD ROOT FOR THE FLYERS

1. How many times do we really have to hear Rangers fans inexplicably trying to compare Henrik Lundqvist to Martin Brodeur?

2. It is an absolute injustice to hear Doc Emrick get excited about anything involving the Rangers.

3. When have you ever rooted for the Rangers in your lifetime?

WHY YOU SHOULD ROOT FOR THE RANGERS

1. If you want both teams gone as soon as possible, then you want the Rangers playing the Penguins in Round 2. Why? Because the Flyers are the ones more likely to beat the Pens -- they won the season series, they are 10-3 lifetime in Pittsburgh's building, and they even have recent playoff success vs. the Penguins.

2. Is there a better comeback to vicious Philly fans than simply saying, "Hey, how long has it been since the Flyers have won a Cup?"

3. The Flyers have a fan base in half the state of New Jersey. But the Devils are Jersey's true team.

OK, so maybe it's not that easy to figure out who you should root for. Take our poll on the right anyway, and let us know in the comments section why you made your selection.

Star Ledger LOADED: 04.18.2014

741513 New Jersey Devils

Lou Lamoriello sees irony in how Devils' Albany affiliate made AHL playoffs via shootout

Rich Chere/The Star-Ledger By Rich Chere/The Star-Ledger

on April 17, 2014 at 10:12 AM, updated April 17, 2014 at 10:51 AM

Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello could only shake his head.

After seeing the Devils go 0-13 in shootouts this season, Lamoriello watched as the club's minor league affiliate in Albany, N.Y., clinched an AHL playoff spot with a shootout victory.

It is the first time Albany has been in the playoffs since 2009-10, when the operation was located in Lowell, Mass.

"How ironic, huh?" Lamoriello said.

Albany, which clinched via a 3-2 victory over Portland, was trailing by a goal in the shootout. However, Stefan Matteau and Mike Sislo both scored to win it.

It was Sislo, you may recall, who was called upon by the Devils in the ninth round of their April 1 shootout in Buffalo. He needed to score to send it to a 10th round, but was unable.

So how avidly will Lamoriello pursue a shootout specialist this offseason? The Devils have lost an NHL-record 17 in a row going back to last season.

"You cannot just go looking for a shootout player," Lamoriello cautioned. "But, because of our situation this year, subconsciously when you're looking at different people one of the areas you will look at as far as what his assets are is how did he do in shootouts?

"If it came down to two players totally equally, everything the same, and we had to make a judgement on which player we wanted to make an offer, if one had a better shootout record I think common sense would prevail in what you're going to do."

Most of the league's top shootout performers, such as T.J, Oshie of St. Louis, Tyler Bozak of Toronto, David Desharnais of Montreal, James vanRiemsdyk of Toronto and Joffrey Lupul of Toronto, are signed through next season.

Michal Handzus, who has scored on 45.2 percent of his shootouts, is unrestricted.

Lamoriello pointed out that the Devils have had solid shootout performers.

"We go on statistics on success of players against goalies. We look at all of that," Lamoriello said. "That's why you saw Ryane Clowe used on shots. He had one of the highest success rates in shootouts in San Jose.

"From year to year it changes. Coming into this season Patrik (Elias) had one of the highest percentages."

Elias was 0-for-8 in shootouts this season. He was 22-for-57 before this season.

Albany's shootout win raised the team's record to 39-25-5-8, tying the club's record for most wins. The 91 points are the most in team history.

* * *

Lamoriello is now conducting exit interviews with players.

"This is a reflection time and trying to keep a steady head," he said. "No knee jerk reactions."

Star Ledger LOADED: 04.18.2014

741514 New York Rangers

Brad Richards helps propel NY Rangers past Flyers, 4-1, in Game 1

BY Pat Leonard

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Updated: Friday, April 18, 2014, 1:36 AM

NYC PAPERS OUT. Social media use restricted to low res file max 184 x 128 pixels and 72 dpi Howard Simmons/New York Daily News Brad Richards celebrates his third-period goal, giving the Rangers their first lead of the game.

Buy out this, Slats.

Rangers center Brad Richards — the team’s behind-the-scenes captain whose age and contract could cause GM Glen Sather to cut ties this offseason — buried a power-play goal and assisted on another 47 seconds apart in the third period to lift the Rangers to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series at the Garden.

Severing ties with Richards’ $6.7 million annual cap hit through the 2019-20 season has been considered a formality in Sather’s final opportunity to pull the plug, and yet, if Richards, 33, produces as well as he speaks for the team in the locker room, the question remains: With a rising NHL salary-cap ceiling, will he stick around?

“Ever since he’s shown up here, you can see in the way he approaches the game: He’s so smart mentally, real wise in his experience, and he just steps up in big moments,” defenseman Ryan McDonagh said of Richards, who had three points, including a helper on linemate Carl Hagelin’s insurance tally.

Richards, the MVP of the 2004 Stanley Cup champion Lightning, is skipping right over last spring’s forgettable benching for the final two games of the Rangers’ second-round exit by then-coach John Tortorella, who was also his coach in Tampa Bay.

NYC PAPERS OUT. Social media use restricted to low res file max 184 x 128 pixels and 72 dpi Robert Sabo/New York Daily News Mats Zuccarello gets the Blueshirts started with a first-period goal and they never look back.

“I really don’t need to talk much about last year,” Richards said when asked how his emotions Thursday compared to 2013’s career-low moment. “I’ve had lots of good years. There’s no need to talk about one bad one.”

Nor was there reason to talk about early jitters from McDonagh in his first game since an April 1 shoulder injury. Same goes for center Derek Stepan, who scored off Richards’ assist at 9:09 of the third period to make it 3-1.

Flyers rookie Jason Akeson had drawn blood from Hagelin’s lip with a high stick, leading to a four-minute double-minor penalty on which the Blueshirts, helped by a Rick Nash assist, separated themselves on a night when they outshot Philadelphia, 36-15.

“A lot of guys felt good. A lot of guys had their legs. I felt like there could have been other plays that could have gone our way, but anytime you’re involved in a big goal, you hear the crowd behind you and it makes you feel a little different out there,” Richards said of setting up Stepan immediately after his own goal. “That’s what momentum is, and that’s what you’ve got to try to ride.”

NYC PAPERS OUT. Social media use restricted to low res file max 184 x 128 pixels and 72 dpi Howard Simmons/New York Daily News Mets ace Matt Harvey (bottom r.) and teammate Jon Niese (top r.) take in the Rangers game.

A rarely tested Henrik Lundqvist (14 saves) allowed the game’s first goal 7:28 into the game on the Flyers’ first shot. Andrew MacDonald’s slap shot ticked off Martin St. Louis’ stick after McDonagh’s turnover to Philly forward Scott Hartnell.

However, Rangers top regular-season scorer Mats Zuccarello tied it up just over three minutes later, beating Flyers backup goalie Ray Emery (32 saves), who started due to an upper-body injury to Steve Mason.

“We come in here for two games, we have to get one,” Emery said. “We would like to get one. We thought it might be that one, but I guess it’ll be the next one.”

Game 2 will be Sunday at noon at the Garden.

Get Adobe Flash player

Emery was no match for a Rangers power play that went 2-for-6 on Thursday after finishing the regular season 6-of-57 in its final 18 games.

On Hagelin’s goal with 4:08 left in the game, rookie Jesper Fast recorded his first career NHL assist in his postseason debut.

The Flyers have history against them. The Rangers now have won nine straight games over the Flyers at the Garden dating back to a 4-2 loss on Feb. 20, 2011.

Mason is skating on Friday in New York and could return to the Flyers’ net for Game 2, but Philadelphia’s offense will need to show up regardless. The Rangers allowed only one Flyers shot on goal in Thursday’s third period, the lowest opponent total since May 7, 1994, in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semis against Washington.

The Flyers’ 15 shots on goal were the fewest allowed by the Rangers in a playoff game since May 23, 2012, against the Devils. That was due in large part to the play of fourth-liners Brian Boyle, Dominic Moore and Derek Dorsett, who held Flyers star Claude Giroux and winger Jake Voracek without a shot on Lundqvist.

“We were doing the right things again,” Boyle said. “I mean, we have to start putting our own chances in the net, though, too. Thankfully we didn’t need them tonight.”

New York Daily News LOADED: 04.18.2014


Anton Stralman may not power the NY Rangers' attack, but 'defense first' serves him well

BY Pat Leonard

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, April 17, 2014, 1:18 PM

The Rangers’ top goal-scoring defenseman in their first-round 2011 series win over Ottawa wasn’t Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal or even Michael Del Zotto (remember him?).

It was Anton Stralman, this year’s top-four defenseman who can’t buy his way onto Alain Vigneault’s power play despite cracking into the NHL with his offense and scoring two power play goals in Games 2 and 4 against the Senators two years ago for ex-coach John Tortorella.

“That was my first playoffs, and I remember I was a little nervous when I first got out there,” Stralman said Thursday morning at the Garden. “Everyone said how different the games are, but I remember after a few shifts, you realize the game is the same as it always is. I got a few goals there. The first one I think was a little lucky, but it was good to help the team.”

Entering Game 1 Thursday night of this year’s first round Stanley Cup Playoffs series against the Philadelphia Flyers, Stralman probably had a better chance of becoming left-handed than he did of logging time on the man advantage.

Vigneault said in November he was “not quite sure (Stralman) is power play material,” and the coach backed up his opinion by giving trade deadline acquisition Raphael Diaz (24:12) more total power play time in 11 games than he did to Stralman (22:28) in 81.

Still, the true measure of Stralman’s individual growth is that his reduced offensive zone time has not diminished his effect on the game. With Tortorella cracking the whip for two seasons, Stralman focused hard on thinking and playing ‘defense first,’ and now that’s who he is, and the Blueshirts are better for it.

“That’s become a part of my identity even more than my offensive game,” said Stralman, a Swede originally drafted 216th overall in the seventh round of the 2005 NHL draft by Toronto. “I would like to be more involved offensively, but I thought I was getting closer to it at the end of the (regular season).”

0 Adam Hunger/USA Today Sports Anton Stralman (6) celebrates a rare goal, tallying here against the Colorado Avalanche in February.

Stralman’s one goal and 12 assists this season don’t exactly jump off the page, but a lot of that has to do with his not playing on the power play. Meanwhile, he has one of the team’s most accurate shots from the point; he is one of only two Rangers defensemen, along with Girardi, to play 81 of 82 games this regular season; and his plus-nine rating is second behind only McDonagh on the team’s blue line.

“He’s played well,” Staal, Stralman’s defensive partner most of the season, said Wednesday. “A couple of years ago I played most of the year with him and Del Zotto, and now we’ve played together all year long. I think as a pair we’ve improved throughout the year. He’s been solid.”

Stralman will be an unrestricted free agent after these playoffs. In March, his agent, Marc Levine, told the Daily News that a report of Stralman rejecting a three-year, $9 million contract offer from the Rangers was “false.” Still, so what if he had?

Glen Sather may have traded Del Zotto for Kevin Klein’s $2.9 million annual contract through 2017-18 believing he got a top-four defenseman from Nashville, but Stralman clearly is the superior player, and $3 million a year now is beginning to look like a low-ball offer.

Vigneault may not see Stralman’s offensive upside, but even the head coach can’t deny his confidence in Stralman’s defensive abilities. On Thursday morning, he was asked if he would feel comfortable on shifts when McDonagh and Girardi weren’t matched against the Flyers’ top offensive line.

“If for whatever reason they’re not out there, Marc Staal is a great defender also and he’s played top minutes against top players with Stralman on ‘D,’” Vigneault said. “So we’re very comfortable. We feel we’ve got two pairs there that can play against anybody.”



NY Rangers dominate game, but it doesn't show until Carl Hagelin's bloody lip

BY Filip Bondy

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Friday, April 18, 2014, 1:19 AM

NYC PAPERS OUT. Social media use restricted to low res file max 184 x 128 pixels and 72 dpi Howard Simmons/New York Daily News Carl Hagelin scores a third-period goal, but it is his bloody lip that seems to ring the Rangers bell Thursday at the Garden.

They gave Star of the Game to Brad Richards on Thursday night, but really it was the right upper lip of Carl Hagelin that deserved a standing ovation from the Garden crowd after the 4-1 playoff victory.

That lip bled mightily right on cue, from Jason Akeson’s sloppy high stick at 7:35 of the third period, when Game 1 was still tied, 1-1, and it seemed as if the Rangers couldn’t beat Ray Emery, or his goal posts, no matter how many shots they slung at him.

But then Hagelin’s lip sacrificed just enough plasma, the refs sent Akeson to the box for four minutes and everything changed in a hurry.

“He got me pretty good, but I’ll take that,” Hagelin said, his lip still cut and swollen after the game. “You’re ready to take one for the team. (The refs) had to look. There was a lot of blood.”

If this were the Rangers of last year, who knows if they’d take advantage of such a crimson opportunity? But these Rangers, trained hard and properly in the power play by associate coach Scott Arniel, started whipping around the puck in swift, pretty fashion. And when Emery couldn’t keep up with the tic-tac-toe passes, Richards and then Derek Stepan both scored on the man advantage to break open this game.

New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault directing team. Howard Simmons/New York Daily News Alain Vigneault sees his power play do a splendid job against the Flyers in Game 1.

“The power play did what it had to do,” Alain Vigneault said. “It produced.”

Under John Tortorella, that power play failed miserably last year and likely cost him his job. He just never seemed to emphasize it enough, went into strict denial and never bothered focusing on the problem. The Rangers were ranked 23rd in the league during the regular season, then went a disastrous 4-for-44 (9.1%) during two rounds of the playoffs.

They improved to 15th this season under Vigneault, struggling a bit late in the year. You would never have known that watching them play at such a remarkable pace on Thursday.

“Obviously when you get an opportunity like that in the third you want to try to get something on the board,” Ryan McDonagh said. “It was just great puck movement. Everyone started getting shots, getting some pucks on the net. We’ve got to continue to take what’s given on those.”

NYC PAPERS OUT. Social media use restricted to low res file max 184 x 128 pixels and 72 dpi Howard Simmons/New York Daily News Brad Richards is the star of the game, but a little blood really gets the Rangers boiling.

The Rangers completely dominated this game, although the scoreboard stubbornly refused to reflect the flow of play until Hagelin’s lip took charge. Until then, Game 1 declined to follow the pregame script. You know that big edge the Rangers were supposed to have in net? Instead, the Flyers’ much-maligned emergency goalie, Emery, niftily turned aside a barrage of seven shots at the start before Philly finally slapped its first shot at Henrik Lundqvist — who promptly whiffed.

You know all those power-play opportunities the Rangers were going to have against the league’s most penalized team? They got only a single, one-man advantage over the first two periods.

The Rangers dominated possession, held a shot advantage of more than 2-to-1, and still this game could have gone either way. Emery made some nice saves and was rescued twice by the posts.

Then, finally, Akeson fell and lost control of his stick. Hagelin’s lip did its thing. Emery’s luck ran out on the power play, when he suddenly looked like a backup goaltender.

Get Adobe Flash player

Meanwhile, Lundqvist steadied himself, made some fine saves, and the Rangers protected their home ice. On paper, at least, they have become solid favorites in this series, with a big edge in net.

This might not have been the case at all if this series had been held back in November, when Lundqvist was enduring a rare tentative stretch. To Glen Sather’s credit, the Rangers general manager didn’t hesitate in giving Lundqvist a seven-year, $59.5 million contract that seemed to kick-start the goalie’s recovery.

“The turning point was in December,” Lundqvist said. “I worked very hard on the ice; technically I had to get back to basic stuff. Now my game is in the right place.”

Vigneault, who came within a game of winning the 2011 Stanley Cup, has had enough experience with these series to remain calm and steady in the face of extreme pressure, and an obstinate tie game. He rolled his four lines again, as promised, kept up the pressure.

“When we play fast, like when we go north, south quick, we are tough to handle,” Vigneault said. “That’s what we did tonight.”

Skate fast. Bleed when necessary. Sounds like a plan, against these Flyers.



Alexander Steen scores game-winner to lift Blues over Blackhawks in triple overtime

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Friday, April 18, 2014, 1:18 AM

ST. LOUIS (AP) - The St. Louis Blues went the distance, and then some, to get the jump on the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Alexander Steen scored at 26 seconds of the third overtime to cap the longest playoff game in franchise history and give the Blues a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Thursday night.

Steen beat Corey Crawford off a pair of short passes from Steve Ott and David Backes to end the marathon. Blues coach Ken Hitchcock greeted reporters for the postgame news conference with a hearty "Good morning."

"It's big. We want to start this series off on a good note," Steen said. "Especially at home in front of our fans."

Ryan Miller made 39 saves and blanked the Blackhawks after Patrick Kane scored on a breakaway to put Chicago up 3-2 late in the first period.

Jaden Schwartz tied it with 1:45 to go in regulation to send the game into overtime.

Alex Pietrangelo logged 44 minutes, 8 seconds of ice time. Two Blackhawks, Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson, played more than 40 minutes.

Hitchcock called Miller "a difference-maker."

"From the second period on, I thought he was great," Hitchcock said. "Both goalies were outstanding."

<p> Alexander Steen finds the back fo the net to win Game 1 for the Blues. </p> Chris Lee/AP Alexander Steen finds the back fo the net to win Game 1 for the Blues.

Crawford made 48 saves for Chicago. The Blackhawks weren't panicking.

"I think the big thing for us is we have to realize it's only one game and we've got a quick turnaround coming back," Kane said. "That's the best part about it, we get right back at it.

Game 2 is Saturday afternoon.

"We've got to move ahead," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "We knew it was going to be a tough series from the start. We almost got through it."

The Blues' previous longest overtime game was a 4-3 loss at Detroit in 1984 that extended 37 minutes, 7 seven seconds. The home record for a playoff overtime game was 33:49 of extra time in a 5-4 win over Chicago on April 20, 1989.

St. Louis had to kill off delay-of-game penalties for shooting the puck into the stands in the first two overtimes and Quenneville argued vehemently for a second delay of game that would have given Chicago a 5-on-3 advantage in the first OT. The Blackhawks killed off a holding penalty in the second overtime.

Jonathan Toews, like Kane back from a lengthy injury absence, had two assists for Chicago.

Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko and Adam Cracknell all scored their first playoff goal for the Blues.

<p> Jaden Schwartz celebrates a game-tying goal against the Blackhawks on Thursday.</p> Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images Jaden Schwartz celebrates a game-tying goal against the Blackhawks on Thursday.

The Blackhawks kept the Blues pinned in their own zone for 2:10 during the first overtime, and Maxim Lapierre made the save of the session getting his body on a drive by Kris Versteeg with less than two minutes remaining.

Tarasenko was among the best players coming off a 15-game absence because of a broken thumb.

Cracknell tapped in a rebound early in the first to end a scoring drought of 148 minutes and 39 seconds for a team that got shut out the last two games of the regular season.

Kane scored his 30th career playoff goal after catching the defense napping at the end of a St. Louis power play, beating Miller off a long lead pass from Toews for a 3-2 lead at 18:24 of the first.

Miller allowed three goals on just seven shots in the first with defensemen Johnny Oduya and Brent Seabrook also scoring for Chicago.

"They had a couple of nice shots in the first, but I had to come out and battle," Miller said. "Luckily I got ahold of a few of them."

St. Louis' top line of David Backes, Steen and Ott was a combined minus-5 in the first. Ott was a bit of surprise, considering he was minus-7 during the Blues' six-game losing streak to end the regular season.

Crawford faced just three shots in the second, but needed big saves to thwart Tarasenko and Ott. He made glove saves on drives by Steen and Tarasenko not long before Schwartz got the equalizer.



After Hit to Mouth, Rangers Draw First Blood

By JEFF Z. KLEINAPRIL 17, 2014

The Rangers took full advantage of a rookie’s mistake and a teammate’s bloodied mouth to break open their Stanley Cup opener Thursday night.

Forward Carl Hagelin was cruising up the left-wing boards in the third period of a 1-1 game with Philadelphia when he dumped the puck into the Flyers’ zone from the red line and was rammed by forward Jason Akeson.

Akeson — with two games of N.H.L. experience, one last season and one this year — fell as he delivered his check, and his stick whacked Hagelin in the face.

Hagelin staggered, blood flowing from his mouth, and skated toward the referee to show him the blood on his glove. Akeson was sent off with a double minor for high-sticking.

The Rangers’ power play went to work. Brad Richards scored at 8 minutes 22 seconds, and 47 seconds later, Derek Stepan connected to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead.

“The power play did what it had to do,” Rangers Coach Alain Vigneault said. “It produced.”

The game was as good as over, and the Flyers duly fell apart. Hagelin — sore mouth and all — added a goal to cap a 4-1 victory at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers outshot the Flyers by 13-1 in the final period and by 36-15 over all. The Flyers gave them an astonishing five power plays in the period.

“He got me pretty good, but I will take that,” Hagelin said after emerging from the trainers’ room. “We got four minutes of power play, and we did a great job scoring on our chances.”

He said he made sure the referee saw what had happened.

“They kind of have to look at you to see if there is blood, and there was a lot of blood,” he said.

A crestfallen Akeson said: “I went to hit him, and my back leg swung out, and my stick came up. To watch them score was a sick feeling. It’s not like I went out there to take a four-minute penalty.”

Until the lightning strikes, the contest had been close. While the Rangers controlled the puck, they could not direct many shots at goaltender Ray Emery.

“They played strong,” Stepan said. “I felt like a lot of our looks were from the outside.”

Richards, who finished with a goal and two assists, said: “You can’t get frustrated, especially in Game 1. We’ve talked about the power play at this time of year, and it won us the game.”

It was the Rangers’ ninth straight victory over the Flyers at the Garden. Game 2 will be played Sunday afternoon.

The Flyers opened the scoring on their first shot of the game, when defenseman Andrew MacDonald’s slap shot deflected past Henrik Lundqvist at 7:28 of the first period. Scott Hartnell started the play by bumping defenseman Ryan McDonagh off the puck.

Less than four minutes later, the Rangers tied the score when Benoit Pouliot won the puck behind the Flyers’ net and centered it to Mats Zuccarello, the Rangers’ top scorer this season. Zuccarello scored on his own rebound.

Vigneault played a game of rope-a-dope against the Flyers, the N.H.L.’s most penalized team during the regular season, and in the long run it worked.

Many had predicted the Flyers would play chippy hockey against the more finesse-oriented Rangers. But the Rangers committed the first provocative acts.

One minute into the game and well behind the play, Pouliot took a huge detour that took him right into the Philadelphia crease, where he gave Emery a gratuitous bump. A few seconds later, Richards, a former Lady Byng Trophy winner, slugged Sean Couturier as he emerged from a protracted puck battle at the corner boards. After the period ended, Dan Girardi bumped Hartnell into the boards.

None of those plays drew a penalty, but it was if the Rangers were goading the Flyers to react. After that, the Rangers kept their composure; eventually, the Flyers lost theirs.

“We’ve been a disciplined team all year long,” Vigneault said. “It shouldn’t surprise anybody that we play whistle to whistle and a smart, hard game.”

Flyers Coach Craig Berube could only rue Akeson’s penalty, and how it turned the tide.

“That shift the four-minute penalty was on, everyone thought we were coming,” he said. “Akeson played a pretty good game, but you’ve got to control your stick.”

McDonagh was expected to go up against the Flyers’ top scorer, Claude Giroux, for most of the night after playing 67 of Giroux’s 88 shifts in the teams’ four regular-season meetings.

But McDonagh was coming back from a shoulder injury that kept him out five games, and he looked rusty in the early going, especially on the goal that Hartnell set up. Marc Staal and Anton Stralman wound up playing about as often against the Flyers’ top line — Giroux, Hartnell and Jakub Voracek — as the McDonagh-Girardi pairing.

“I was not myself,” McDonagh said. “But the guys stayed positive with me, and I found a way to contribute.”

SLAP SHOTS

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 14 shots, and Ray Emery stopped 32.

NY Times LOADED: 04.18.2014


In a Reunion, 2 Rangers and a Flyer Recall Glory

By ALLAN KREDAAPRIL 17, 2014

Ten years ago, Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier were integral to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup run.

They wear different uniforms now, but they will be together on the ice again during the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Richards and St. Louis will be in Rangers blue, Lecavalier in the Philadelphia Flyers’ orange and black.

Richards, the first to leave Tampa Bay in a 2008 trade to Dallas, scored the go-ahead goal with a man advantage at 8 minutes 22 seconds of the third period. St. Louis recorded an assist. The two assisted on Derek Stepan’s power-play goal 47 seconds later, and Richards also assisted on Carl Hagelin’s goal, which completed the scoring in the Rangers’ 4-1 victory.

“We talked about the power play, this time of year, and it won us this game,” Richards said.

Still, Richards, 33, could not help but reminisce before the series opener about the seven-game triumph over the Calgary Flames in 2004 that gave the Lightning their lone championship.

“I never would have thought 10 years ago, when we were skating around with the Cup, that this would be where we are now,” said Richards, who signed with the Rangers as a free agent in July 2011. “When you win the Cup, you think you’ll be together forever so it’s a little hard to believe all three of us are on different teams.”

St. Louis, 38, who joined the Rangers in a trade for Ryan Callahan last month, played alongside Lecavalier for the Lightning last season, when Tampa Bay missed the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons. Lecavalier’s contract was bought out by the Lightning after the season and he signed with the Flyers.

Lecavalier and St. Louis were teammates for 12 seasons with the Lightning, putting up stellar numbers annually but unable to recapture the glory of 2004, when the former Rangers coach John Tortorella was behind Tampa Bay’s bench.

This season, Lecavalier, 33, scored 20 goals in a supporting role for the Flyers, who are meeting the Rangers for the 11th time in the playoffs but for the first time since 1997. Philadelphia won six of the 10 previous series.

Lecavalier and Richards have a bond extending back decades. They met when they were 14 and excelled with the same junior team, Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior League.

“Obviously, I’ve known Brad a long time and it’ll be fun to play against him in the playoffs all these years later,” Lecavalier said. “Both of those guys are really good guys and really clutch players. We have to play them hard like any guys on the Rangers.”

In his first 19 games with the Rangers, St. Louis had one goal and seven assists. But he had the kind of dynamic impact the Rangers had envisioned in his first home playoff game with two key assists.

“Obviously, the energy in the building, for me, the first playoff game here, it was awesome,” St. Louis said. “I just couldn’t wait to get that first shift out of the way. We’re really happy with the result, and we have to focus on the next game.”

Rangers Coach Alain Vigneault expressed gratitude for veterans like St. Louis and Richards, who know what is required to capture the Stanley Cup.

“Without a doubt, those two players have been sharing their experience with the rest of our group,” Vigneault said. “They will be key contributors.”

So far, Vigneault’s prophecy is proving correct.

“You know you have some of the experience that you’ve gained along the way to share,” St. Louis added. “For us, we’re trying to earn it every day. That’s what we focus on.”



Flyers Make No Secret About Testing Rangers’ McDonagh

By JEFF Z. KLEINAPRIL 17, 2014

When it comes to a game between the Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers, punishment is an almost inevitable theme. The run-up to Game 1 of their first-round N.H.L. playoff series Thursday at Madison Square Garden is no exception.

The Flyers have spoken openly in the days leading up to the series opener about their intention to test Ryan McDonagh, the Rangers’ top defenseman who recently recovered from a shoulder injury, by dumping the puck into his corner and body-checking him as often as possible.

McDonagh, who missed the last five games of the season, said he was fully healed and not concerned about being targeted by the Flyers.

But after Philadelphia’s morning skate, Wayne Simmonds became the latest Flyer to talk about how they planned to handle McDonagh.

“He’s a great defenseman,” Simmonds said, then expanded his discussion to include defensemen Dan Girardi and Marc Staal. “A guy like him, Girardi, Staal — you’ve got to get the puck behind them and punish them.”

Reporters pressed the Flyers on whether there would be extra animosity in the series, given the longstanding rivalry between the two clubs.

“We respect each other as persons,” the Flyers’ captain, Claude Giroux, said. “But the more hate there is between players, the better hockey it’ll be.”

LINEUP QUESTIONS Jesper Fast did not take part in the Rangers’ morning skate, but Coach Alain Vigneault said his absence was maintenance related rather than an indication that he would not be in the lineup for Game 1.

Fast’s absence raised speculation that the fourth-line wing Daniel Carcillo would be inserted into the lineup, an indication that the Rangers may take a potentially pugilistic approach against the Flyers. That would have been out of character for a Vigneault-coached team.

Fast, a rookie wing, has taken the injured Chris Kreider’s place on a line with Brad Richards and Carl Hagelin over the last three games of the schedule. He has been ineffective in his 11 games this season, scoring no points and going minus-5.

GOALIE ISSUES The Flyers’ No. 1 goalie, Steve Mason, is out for Game 1 with an unspecified upper-body injury and did not make the trip to New York, but Coach Craig Berube said Mason would join the team Friday. Berube added that he was not certain whether Mason would be available for Game 2 Sunday afternoon.

Mason, whose .917 save percentage was 21st among the N.H.L.'s 51 regular netminders in the regular season, was hurt in a goal-mouth collision in the next-to-last game of the season. His place will be taken in Game 1 by the backup Ray Emery, whose .903 save percentage ranked 43rd in the league.

Emery’s backup will be the second-year pro Calvin Heeter, whose only N.H.L. game was the Flyers’ season finale. He gave up 5 goals on 33 shots in an overtime loss.

HOT TICKET Various secondary ticket markets are reporting strong demand for the Rangers-Flyers series, especially from Rangers fans.

TicketCity reported Wednesday that the average ticket price for a series game on the secondary market is $199, 45 percent more than the league average for a first-round game. The company said that demand for games at Madison Square Garden was 80 percent higher than at the Flyers’ rink, the Wells Fargo Center.

Another company that tracks the secondary ticket market, SeatGeek, reported that an unusually large percentage of Game 3 and 4 ticket shoppers are traveling Rangers fans. The company reported that 32 percent of buyers for those games at the Wells Fargo Center come from the New York metropolitan area, while 4 percent of the buyers for Games 1 and 2 at Madison Square Garden come from the Philadelphia area.



Rangers roll past chippy Flyers for Game 1 win

By Brett Cyrgalis

April 17, 2014 | 10:19pm

This was all supposed to be about discipline, and it turned out being about gravity.

That’s because as Flyers rookie Jason Akeson fell to the Garden ice midway through the third period of Game 1 on Thursday night, his stick flew wildly upward, hard into the upper lip of the Rangers’ Carl Hagelin, and it drew blood in more ways than one.

Because on the ensuing double-minor, the Rangers scored two power-play goals in a span of 47 seconds, setting themselves on a route to a 4-1 win and a 1-0 lead in this first-round Stanley Cup playoff series.

“We talked about power play this time of year, and when you get four minutes in the third period of a 1-1 playoff game, if you don’t score or don’t get momentum there, it can go the other way fast,” said Brad Richards, who was outstanding in scoring the first of those goals and setting up the other on a slick feed to Derek Stepan, which made the game 3-1 with 10:51 remaining. “One was huge, and to go back out and get the other one, that won us the game.”

What won the Rangers the game, and what will now allow them to head into Game 2 on Easter Sunday at noon with a boatload of confidence, is the Flyers were never able to get under their skin. This Turnpike rivalry was supposed to be one full of fury and angst, and the way the Rangers responded was mostly by turning a cold cheek to the whole matter.

“It’s the playoffs, so obviously it’s going to be a little bit of scrums and stuff like that,” said Mats Zuccarello, that persistent little sparkplug playing his way into the hearts of the fans and who tied the game 1-1 midway through the first period after Andrew MacDonald had given the Flyers the early lead. “So you can’t let that frustrate you.”

The Flyers came in knowing their No. 1 goalie, Steve Mason, was back at home nursing what is believed to be a concussion, and veteran backup Ray Emery was going to need some support. Instead, what they did was live up to their regular-season precedent as the most penalized team in the NHL, taking a total of six minors, with three of them just venting frustration after Akeson had made his fatal mistake.

And the only time the Rangers ever showed any type of slip in discipline was when Zuccarello found himself burying Machael Raffl’s head into the ice early in the second — a penalty that was wiped out by way of Brayden Schenn taking an off-setting high-stick call on Derick Brassard.

“We’ve been a disciplined team all year long,” said Rangers coach Alain Vigneault, his team the ninth-least penalized team in the league and whose club finished things off when Hagelin batted in a rebound with 4:08 remaining. “It shouldn’t surprise anybody that we play whistle-to-whistle and a smart, hard game. It’s been one of our strengths all year long and it’s not going to change now.”

That restraint allowed the Flyers to be the ones to make the crucial mistake, one only capitalized on because of the execution of the Blueshirts’ power play, with Richards and his old running mate Martin St. Louis dictating.

In his first postseason game with the Rangers, St. Louis had two assists to couple with Richards’ goal and two assists. The only two players on the team who have won a Stanley Cup, together with the Lightning in 2004, led the way.

“It’s nice to get that first one out of the way and end up on the good side of things,” St. Louis said. “Now we’re just going to try building up. There are plenty of areas to get better at, and we’ll focus on Game 2.”

New York Post LOADED: 04.18.2014


Flyers alter game plan to pound Rangers’ McDonagh

By Larry Brooks

April 17, 2014 | 3:14pm

Question: Do you know the difference between Bobby Orr and Ryan McDonagh?

Answer: The Bruins would never have traded the rights to Orr to the Rangers in exchange for Scott Gomez.

Well, that difference among many.

And yet, as the Flyers approached Thursday’s Garden opener of their opening-round playoff series against the Blueshirts, one can be excused for wondering if Philadelphia’s coaching staff had super-imposed the No. 4 onto the back of McDonagh’s jersey given the emphasis the club seemed to be placing on the Rangers’ best player.

Indeed, coach Craig Berube reportedly had instructed his first line consisting of Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and Jakub Voracek to change its preferred style of rush-hockey to a form of dump-and-crash in order to: a) protect against offensive blue line turnovers that would trigger McDonagh leading the transition; and, b) wear down McDonagh by pounding the defenseman whenever he goes back to play the puck below the goal line.

“We want to get the puck behind [McDonagh] and force him to go 200 feet,” Hartnell said following the morning skate. “We want to be physical against him every chance we get, so we can wear him down over seven games.

“The last time we played here, he was the definite difference in that game. You have to know where he is at all times.”

The Flyers lost 3-1 to the Blueshirts in their final regular-season meeting March 26 at the Garden. McDonagh’s work included a signature snipe from 30 feet that gave his team a second period 2-0 lead in the Rangers’ and Henrik Lundqvist’s eighth straight victory over the Flyers in Manhattan.

The match ended with a nasty confrontation between McDonagh and Wayne Simmonds that featured a series of cross-checks and chops, with the Flyers winger slashing the defenseman’s left glove off his hand.

“I gave as good as I got,” McDonagh told The Post a few days later. “It’s part of it.”

Simmonds, always a force against the Rangers, will be on his horse seeking to take a piece out of every Rangers defenseman at every opportunity.

“If we get in there and do our jobs, hopefully they won’t want to go back for the puck by Game 2,” the winger said.

Fred Shero’s Flyers dumped the puck incessantly in Orr’s corner in the 1974 Finals, thus forcing him to turn, retreat and then navigate the length of the rink in what became an upset six-game Philadelphia victory.

Shero’s Rangers employed the same strategy against the Islanders’ Denis Potvin in the 1979 Cup semifinals in what became an upset six-game victory for the Blueshirts.

But neither time did the strategy signal a dramatic departure in style from those clubs’ approach during the regular season. But insisting that Giroux, who closed with a rush to finish third in the NHL scoring race with 86 points (28-58) in large part because he is so deadly on the rush, give up possession of the puck would seem a risky bit of business.

The Rangers, meanwhile, were not planning on deviating much at all. Coach Alain Vigneault had said earlier in the week the Blueshirts would stick with what had gotten them to the playoffs.

“We want to consistently play a fast-paced game in which we roll four lines and three defense pairs. That’s our strength,” Vigneault said. “That’s how we play. I’m comfortable with that.”

That’s the way Vigneault coached in Vancouver for the previous seven years. That’s the way he told the Rangers he intended to coach this season.

“Alain told us from Day One that the ice time would be a bit spread out,” Brad Richards said. “Everybody wants to play 22 minutes, but we’ve bought into this all year as a team and it helped us stay fresh down the stretch of an Olympic year where the schedule was compressed.

“That’s our team. We’re sticking to what got us here.”

As the home team, the Rangers would have the last change. If that was to their advantage following a season in which the Blueshirts won fewer than half of their games at the Garden (20-17-4), their biggest advantage might just have been the Flyers’ preoccupation with McDonagh.

Now if the Rangers’ MVP would fly through the air after scoring an overtime winner from in front.



Ticket-hoarding Rangers fans set to invade Philadelphia

By Dave Blezow

April 17, 2014 | 9:49am

Savvy Rangers fans are taking their show on the road for the first-round series against the Flyers.

According to SeatGeek.com, there is a huge gap in the prices for tickets already sold on the secondary market between the games slated for Madison Square Garden and those at Wells Fargo Center. The games in New York (Games 1, 2 and, if necessary, 5 and 7) are averaging a sale price of $257.03, while the games in Philly (Games 3, 4 and, if necessary, 6) are averaging $131.63.

“So far, 30 percent of ticket buyers for [Games 3 and 4] have come from the NYC metro area,” said SeatGeek’s Connor Gregoire. “By comparison, only 4 percent of ticket buyers for Games 1 and 2 at MSG have come from the Philly metro area.

“Based on those numbers, it’s fair to expect much more of a Rangers-fan invasion in Philadelphia than vice versa.”

The series gets under way Thursday night at the Garden.



Rangers 4, Flyers 1: Sticking to the game plan

Posted by Andrew Gross on 04/17 at 11:38 PM

If there was any one thing the Rangers were most pleased with after taking a 1-0 series lead over the Flyers in their Eastern Conference first-round matchup with a 4-1 win Thursday night at Madison Square Garden was that they stuck to what they wanted to do.

“There was no other thought other than keep control of the puck and keep getting it behind them,” said Brad Richards, who had a goal and two assists. “In a series, sometimes just having the puck and wearing them out can benefit later in the game so that was our main goal. We’d like to get more pucks to the net.”

Two of the best numbers are that the Rangers were 2 for 5 on the power play - with goals by Richards and Derek Stepan 47 seconds apart with Jason Akeson in the box for a double-minor high-sticking Carl Hagelin (whose lip had some crusted blood and was a little puffy but, otherwise, he was fine after the game) and the Flyers were 0 for 1.

The discipline the Rangers said they needed before the series was in full force.

“You can’t,” defenseman Marc Staal said of not having discipline in this series. “They’re too good on t he power play so you’re discipline has to be there all the time. You can’t take dumb penalties. I thought, for the most part tonight, we were smart.”

Coach Alain Vigneault seemed surprised that anybody would be surprised the Rangers were able to maintain their discipline.

“We’ve been a disciplined team all year long,” Vigneault said. “It shouldn’t surprise anybody that we play whistle to whistle and a smart, hard game. That’s been one of our strengths all year long.”

Vigneault did draw some laughs when asked about Ryan McDonagh’s somewhat slow start to the game after missing the last five regular-season games due to an injured left shoulder.

“I feel I should have played him at the beginning at Montreal,” said Vigneault, who rested McDonagh an extra game despite both him and the No. 1 defenseman saying he was 100 percent for Saturday’s 1-0 loss to the Canadiens in the regular-season finale. “That’s what I was thinking. He found his hands. He found his rhythm. He’s been out for a couple of weeks. That’s normal. He did get better.

04.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.201404.18.2014

Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AGrossRecord

Follow the Record Sports Staff at twitter.com/TheRecordSports

“I just didn’t quite feel myself,” said McDonagh, who still ended up playing a team-high 22:42. “I wasn’t feeling the puck or my legs as much. As we went into the second, I just calmed myself down and really just tried to keep it simple and took what was given and felt like myself the rest of the game.”

Vigneault briefly took McDonagh off the team’s top defense pairing in the first period after his turnover led to the Flyers’ goal, but he had him back with usual partner Dan Girardi to start the second period.

The other positive to the game was that despite the Rangers heading into the third period tied at 1 despite a huge puck-possession advantage, there was no visible frustration.

The Rangers just kept doing what they needed to do.

“I don’t know, I don’t think you can have frustration,” Richards said. “At any given time, momentum can change. You just try to keep momentum, try to keep the pucks on net. You can’t get frustrated, especially in Game 1. If you get frustrated in Game 1 it’s going to be a long wait trying to win a series. So it was all determination, trying to do the things we talked about in the game plan and you try not to give them momentum at least.”

If Richards and St. Louis can produce as they did in the third period, it bodes well for the Rangers in making a longer playoff run.

Vigneault said a good part of what made the Rangers tick tonight was using their speed in an effective north-south manner and, in that regard, Richards is not the first guy you’d think of. There was one four-on-four rush in the second period where Richards, though he started out ahead of the pack, was caught and passed by just about everyone on the ice as he skated through the neutral zone.

But Richards played with confidence and saw the ice well.

So, of course, Richards was asked about last season, specifically about being a healthy scratch for the Rangers’ final two playoff games in their five-game second-round loss to the Bruins that ultimately cost John Tortorella his job.

“I really don’t need to talk much about last year,” Richards said. “I’ll talk about tonight. It’s different but I’ve had lots of good years. I don’t need to talk about one bad one.”

As for the Flyers, they, too, want to stick to their game plan. They tried to get under the Rangers’ skin tonight but the Rangers were too disciplined.

“I thought we were in good position tied going into the third and obviously we would like to have a better third period but it’s a long series,” said goalie Ray Emery, who was not a problem at all for the Flyers tonight. “We come in here for two games, we have to get one. We would like to get one. We thought it might be that one but I guess it’ll be the next one.”

Flyers usual starter Steve Mason, out with an upper-body injury that has sparked some speculation it’s a concussion, will skate on his own on Friday in Manhattan.

“You look at the game, we didn’t get a lot of shots (15, including one in the third period) but we did a lot of good things and there is a reason why there are seven games,” captain Claude Giroux added. “We need to see what we did wrong and we’ll be ready for Game 2.”

Bergen Record LOADED: 04.18.2014


Richards, St. Louis will have to get past old friend Lecavalier; Mason to join Flyers in N.Y.

By Tom Gulitti

Ten years ago, Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier helped the Tampa Bay Lightning capture the Stanley Cup. Tonight, they’ll be on opposite sides of a heated rivalry in Game 1 of a first-round playoff series at Madison Square Garden.

Richards, who will turn 34 on May 2, and St. Louis, 38, are teammates on the Rangers now after St. Louis came to New York in the trade that sent Ryan Callahan to Tampa Bay on March 5. Lecavalier, who will turn 34 on Monday, is in his first season with the Philadelphia Flyers after having his contract bought out by the Lightning last summer.

“Who would have thought 10 years ago skating around with the Cup that this would be 10 years (later)?” Richards said this morning. “When you win, you kind of think you’ll be there forever and now all three of us are different teams and it’s very strange.”

“It’s definitely a little weird, but I think we’re past that,” St. Louis said. “We’re focusing on tonight’s game.”

Richards and Lecavalier have known each other since they were 14 years old playing for Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. They also were junior teammates with Rimouski in the QMJML.

“I’ve known them for a long time,” Lecavalier said. “With Brad, we go back to ’94 playing high school together and playing juniors and in the NHL, so we’ve known each other for a long time. It’s going to be fun to play against them.”

They still stay in touch and exchanged texts over the course of the season.

“But not in the past few days,” Lecavalier said.

As fun as their run to the Stanley Cup was a decade ago with the Lightning, Richards says he and St. Louis aren’t dwelling on the past.

“You can’t think 10 years ago,” Richards said. “That’s a different game, different team, different people. Everything’s so different now. This is a new quest that we want to accomplish together here and we’re happy we’re happy to be able to be on the same team again. But this is a whole new accomplishment we’re trying to get to.”

Still, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said the Stanley Cup experience Richards and St. Louis have from the Lightning days is invaluable to his team.

“Without out a doubt,” Vigneault said. “Those two players have been sharing their experience with the rest of our group. They both know the momentums you can get during a game and during a series and without a doubt they’re going to key contributors here as we move forward.”

On the other side, Lecavalier knows St. Louis and Richards are two of the players the Flyers are going to need to stop to win the series.

“They’re guys we’ll definitely have to watch. They’ve done it in the past and they’re two clutch, really good players. We have to be physical on them, play them hard, play them hard like any other guys on the team and play our game, play the way we know how to play.”

***

Flyers No. 1 goaltender Steve Mason is out tonight with what the club is calling an “upper body” injury (suspected concussion), but has improved to the point that he will join the team in New York Friday.

“He is doing better again today and he’ll be joining the hockey team,” Flyers coach Craig Berube said.

When asked if Mason could possibly play in Game 2 Sunday afternoon, Berube said, “I don’t know.”

With Mason out, Ray Emery, 31, will make his first postseason appearance since the 2011 playoffs with Anaheim against Nashville. Emery played in six games (five starts) in that series for the Ducks.

That’s Emery only NHL playoff experience since the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals with Ottawa. Emery has a Stanley Cup ring from serving as Chicago’s backup last season, but did not see any postseason action with the Blackhawks.

Still, Berube says the Flyers have complete confidence in him.

“He’s won a Cup, he’s been in the Final with Ottawa, he’s played a lot of good hockey,” Berube said. “He’s played a lot of good hockey for us. We’ve put him in different situations this year, more on the road early on, and he’s responded really well.

“Ray’s won a lot of big games over his career, he’s got a lot of experience and he really enjoys the challenge.”

***

The Rangers know they will have to maintain discipline in this series with the Flyers’ penchant for trying to get opponents off their game by dragging them into after-the-whistle activities.

“Philadelphia gets the reputation of that, but they want to win, they want to be disciplined, they want to be on the power play,” Richards said. “I think every first round, it doesn’t matter where you play or what team you’re on, it’s always a little bit emotional at times. Everybody is so excited to get started and it seems like that first round the team that can keep their composure the most and play whistle to whistle and do things that are less reactive and more calm, that usually helps in the long run.”

***

The Rangers have won eight consecutive games over the Flyers at Madison Square Garden (all in regulation), outscoring them 31-9 over a run that began with a 7-0 victory on March 6, 2011.

“That’s a detail that we can’t be focusing on. We’ve got to focus on our game,” Flyers captain Claude Giroux said. “It doesn’t matter what happened in the past. Playoff hockey is a different game, too. Obviously, we’re aware of the stat, but we’re looking to change that.”

Giroux, who will see a lot tonight again of the Rangers defense pair of Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi, has no goals, three assists and a minus-7 defensive rating in the Flyers’ eight-game losing streak at the Garden.

“It’s some teams you just can’t find a way to find the back of the net and some teams it’s just a couple of bounces and it goes in. So, we can’t be reading into this stat too much. We’ve just got to worry about playing.”

***

Vigneault on the importance of the match-ups in this series:

“We’ve been pretty consistent as far as playing a fast paced game and those are our strengths, that’s how we play. And going into this series, we’re comfortable the way we play, we know how Philly’s going to play. It’s going be a good series. I’m sure they’re going to try to put their best game on the ice and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

Vigneault on rolling four lines:

“I look at Philly and they play four lines. They’ve got a pretty good fourth line right now that’s got a good identity and has been playing some good hockey for them. They’re going to do what they think is best and we’re going to do what we think is best for our team. It should be a lot of fun.”



Fast takes “maintenance morning” for Rangers

By Tom Gulitti

Right wing Jesper Fast, who most expected to be in the Rangers’ for Game 1 of their first round playoff series against Philadelphia tonight, did not participate in the team’s morning skate today at Madison Square Garden.

Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said that Fast took a “maintenance morning” and that does not mean he won’t play tonight. Daniel Carcillo appeared to be the guy that would take Fast’s place if he doesn’t play as he did not stay on for extra work at the end of the skate, but Carcillo said he had “no idea” if he is tonight and Vigneault said specifically that Carcillo is not in for Fast.

The Rangers did not do set line combinations or defense pairs today, so there were no clues there of the lineup tonight, but center J.T. Miller and defensemen Raphael Diaz and Justin Falk stayed on for extra skating, so they appear to be out.

Henrik Lundqvist will start in net tonight against Ray Emery for the Flyers with Steve Mason out with what the team is calling an upper-body injury (supsected concussion).

(I am filling in for Andrew Gross this morning because he had a family obiligation. He will be here for the game tonight.—TG)



Richards, St. Louis will have to get past old friend Lecavalier; Mason to join Flyers in N.Y.

By Tom Gulitti

Ten years ago, Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier helped the Tampa Bay Lightning capture the Stanley Cup. Tonight, they’ll be on opposite sides of a heated rivalry in Game 1 of a first-round playoff series at Madison Square Garden.

Richards, who will turn 34 on May 2, and St. Louis, 38, are teammates on the Rangers now after St. Louis came to New York in the trade that sent Ryan Callahan to Tampa Bay on March 5. Lecavalier, who will turn 34 on Monday, is in his first season with the Philadelphia Flyers after having his contract bought out by the Lightning last summer.

“Who would have thought 10 years ago skating around with the Cup that this would be 10 years (later)?” Richards said this morning. “When you win, you kind of think you’ll be there forever and now all three of us are different teams and it’s very strange.”

“It’s definitely a little weird, but I think we’re past that,” St. Louis said. “We’re focusing on tonight’s game.”

Richards and Lecavalier have known each other since they were 14 years old playing for Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. They also were junior teammates with Rimouski in the QMJML.

“I’ve known them for a long time,” Lecavalier said. “With Brad, we go back to ’94 playing high school together and playing juniors and in the NHL, so we’ve known each other for a long time. It’s going to be fun to play against them.”

They still stay in touch and exchanged texts over the course of the season.

“But not in the past few days,” Lecavalier said.

As fun as their run to the Stanley Cup was a decade ago with the Lightning, Richards says he and St. Louis aren’t dwelling on the past.

“You can’t think 10 years ago,” Richards said. “That’s a different game, different team, different people. Everything’s so different now. This is a new quest that we want to accomplish together here and we’re happy we’re happy to be able to be on the same team again. But this is a whole new accomplishment we’re trying to get to.”

Still, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said the Stanley Cup experience Richards and St. Louis have from the Lightning days is invaluable to his team.

“Without out a doubt,” Vigneault said. “Those two players have been sharing their experience with the rest of our group. They both know the momentums you can get during a game and during a series and without a doubt they’re going to key contributors here as we move forward.”

On the other side, Lecavalier knows St. Louis and Richards are two of the players the Flyers are going to need to stop to win the series.

“They’re guys we’ll definitely have to watch. They’ve done it in the past and they’re two clutch, really good players. We have to be physical on them, play them hard, play them hard like any other guys on the team and play our game, play the way we know how to play.”

***

Flyers No. 1 goaltender Steve Mason is out tonight with what the club is calling an “upper body” injury (suspected concussion), but has improved to the point that he will join the team in New York Friday.

“He is doing better again today and he’ll be joining the hockey team,” Flyers coach Craig Berube said.

When asked if Mason could possibly play in Game 2 Sunday afternoon, Berube said, “I don’t know.”

With Mason out, Ray Emery, 31, will make his first postseason appearance since the 2011 playoffs with Anaheim against Nashville. Emery played in six games (five starts) in that series for the Ducks.

That’s Emery only NHL playoff experience since the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals with Ottawa. Emery has a Stanley Cup ring from serving as Chicago’s backup last season, but did not see any postseason action with the Blackhawks.

Still, Berube says the Flyers have complete confidence in him.

“He’s won a Cup, he’s been in the Final with Ottawa, he’s played a lot of good hockey,” Berube said. “He’s played a lot of good hockey for us. We’ve put him in different situations this year, more on the road early on, and he’s responded really well.

“Ray’s won a lot of big games over his career, he’s got a lot of experience and he really enjoys the challenge.”

***

The Rangers know they will have to maintain discipline in this series with the Flyers’ penchant for trying to get opponents off their game by dragging them into after-the-whistle activities.

“Philadelphia gets the reputation of that, but they want to win, they want to be disciplined, they want to be on the power play,” Richards said. “I think every first round, it doesn’t matter where you play or what team you’re on, it’s always a little bit emotional at times. Everybody is so excited to get started and it seems like that first round the team that can keep their composure the most and play whistle to whistle and do things that are less reactive and more calm, that usually helps in the long run.”

***

The Rangers have won eight consecutive games over the Flyers at Madison Square Garden (all in regulation), outscoring them 31-9 over a run that began with a 7-0 victory on March 6, 2011.

“That’s a detail that we can’t be focusing on. We’ve got to focus on our game,” Flyers captain Claude Giroux said. “It doesn’t matter what happened in the past. Playoff hockey is a different game, too. Obviously, we’re aware of the stat, but we’re looking to change that.”

Giroux, who will see a lot tonight again of the Rangers defense pair of Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi, has no goals, three assists and a minus-7 defensive rating in the Flyers’ eight-game losing streak at the Garden.

“It’s some teams you just can’t find a way to find the back of the net and some teams it’s just a couple of bounces and it goes in. So, we can’t be reading into this stat too much. We’ve just got to worry about playing.”

***

Vigneault on the importance of the match-ups in this series:

“We’ve been pretty consistent as far as playing a fast paced game and those are our strengths, that’s how we play. And going into this series, we’re comfortable the way we play, we know how Philly’s going to play. It’s going be a good series. I’m sure they’re going to try to put their best game on the ice and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

Vigneault on rolling four lines:

“I look at Philly and they play four lines. They’ve got a pretty good fourth line right now that’s got a good identity and has been playing some good hockey for them. They’re going to do what they think is best and we’re going to do what we think is best for our team. It should be a lot of fun.”



Fast takes “maintenance morning” for Rangers

By Tom Gulitti

Right wing Jesper Fast, who most expected to be in the Rangers’ for Game 1 of their first round playoff series against Philadelphia tonight, did not participate in the team’s morning skate today at Madison Square Garden.

Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said that Fast took a “maintenance morning” and that does not mean he won’t play tonight. Daniel Carcillo appeared to be the guy that would take Fast’s place if he doesn’t play as he did not stay on for extra work at the end of the skate, but Carcillo said he had “no idea” if he is tonight and Vigneault said specifically that Carcillo is not in for Fast.

The Rangers did not do set line combinations or defense pairs today, so there were no clues there of the lineup tonight, but center J.T. Miller and defensemen Raphael Diaz and Justin Falk stayed on for extra skating, so they appear to be out.

Henrik Lundqvist will start in net tonight against Ray Emery for the Flyers with Steve Mason out with what the team is calling an upper-body injury (supsected concussion).

(I am filling in for Andrew Gross this morning because he had a family obiligation. He will be here for the game tonight.—TG)

Posted by Andrew Gross on 04/17 at 10:44 AM



Rangers notebook: Ryan McDonagh shakes off rust in Game 1

April 18, 2014 Last updated: Friday, April 18, 2014, 1:21 AM

—Tom Gulitti and Andrew Gross

The Record

Ryan’s rust

After sitting out the past five games of the regular season with a left shoulder injury, Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh was a bit rusty at the start of the game before feeling more comfortable over the last two periods.

"I just didn’t quite feel myself," said McDonagh, who still ended up playing a team-high 22:42. "I wasn’t feeling the puck or my legs as much. As we went into the second, I just calmed myself down and really just tried to keep it simple and took what was given and felt like myself the rest of the game."

Rangers coach Alain Vigneault admitted he was thinking in the first period that maybe he shouldn’t have held McDonagh out of the team’s regular-season finale on Saturday in Montreal. Vigneault briefly took McDonagh off the team’s top defense pairing in the first period after his turnover led to the Flyers’ goal, but he had him back with usual partner Dan Girardi to start the second period.

"Then, obviously, he got better," Vigneault said. "He found his hands, he found rhythm. He had been out for probably a couple weeks between games. That’s a little long. But he did get better, he got more confidence and he’s only going to get better as we move forward here."

Mason in N.Y.

Flyers No. 1 goaltender Steve Mason sat out Game 1 with what the team is calling an upper-body injury (suspected concussion), but improved to the point that he traveled to New York on Thursday and was at the Garden in time for the opening faceoff.

"He is doing better again today," Flyers coach Craig Berube said.

When asked if Mason could possibly play in Game 2 Sunday afternoon, Berube said, "I don’t know." But Mason is scheduled to skate on his own today.

Briefs

Rookie Jesper Fast had an assist and four hits in 11:32 as he made his NHL playoff debut. … Rick Nash had a game-high seven shots – mainly from the perimeter – and Richards had six shots. … Fourth-line left wing Brian Boyle had four shots, four hits and three takeaways.



Rangers' Brad Richards stars in Game 1 after sitting in playoffs last year

April 18, 2014 Last updated: Friday, April 18, 2014, 1:21 AM

By TOM GULITTI

STAFF WRITER

The Record

NEW YORK — No one could blame Brad Richards for wanting to forget about last season.

Always a player that was counted on to perform in the big moments the playoffs provide, Richards found himself watching from the press box as a healthy scratch for the last two games of the Rangers’ second-round loss to Boston.

Having survived off-season consideration to buy out the final seven seasons on his nine-year, $60 million contract, Richards is back to being a prominent postseason performer for the Blueshirts. Richards’ third period power-play goal Thursday night gave the Rangers the lead and he later added a pair of assists in a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

"That’s why he’s here," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "He’s an experienced player that’s been through the wars before and I expect him to share his knowledge and bring that to the table every night."

Vigneault was not the coach that scratched Richards last season. That was John Tortorella, who had previously had a tight bond with the 33-year-old center when they won the Stanley Cup together in Tampa Bay in 2004.

Richards was the Conn Smythe winner as the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs that season, but struggled last season and when Tortorella made the tough decision to sit him against the Bruins it probably changed their friendship forever.

"I really don’t need to talk much about last year," Richards said. "I’ll talk about tonight. It’s different, but I’ve had lots of good years. I don’t need to talk about one bad one.

When Tortorella was fired after last season, Richards got a fresh start and came back with a renewed positive attitude that helped him put up 20 goals and 31 assists in the regular season. Then, when the playoffs began Thursday night, he came through like he has so many times before.

With the score tied 1-1, Philadelphia’s Jason Akeson received a four-minute double minor for high sticking Carl Hagelin 7:35 into the third. The Rangers cashed in 47 seconds later with Richards scoring from the right circle for his 29th career playoff goal.

Only 47 seconds after that, Richards found Derek Stepan alone at the left edge of the crease for another power-play goal. Hagelin then put home a Richards’ rebound with 4:08 left to complete the scoring.

"We’ve talked about power play at this time of the year and it won us a game," Richards said. "If you can get four minutes in the third period of a 1-1 game, you don’t score, don’t get momentum there, it can go the other way quick and they can build momentum there. One [goal] was huge. To go out and get the other one, obviously, that won us the game.

Richards’ former Tampa Bay teammate, Martin St. Louis, had a pair of assists.

"Those guys are big-time players," defenseman Dan Girardi said. "When they start get going, we’re doing good things as a team and they led the way [Thursday]."



Lightning finally strikes for Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis

April 17, 2014 11:38 PM By ARTHUR STAPLE [email protected]

Brad Richards of the Rangers celebrates his third-period

Brad Richards of the Rangers celebrates his third-period power play goal against the Philadelphia Flyers with his teammate Martin St. Louis during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, April 17, 2014. (Credit: Jim McIsaac)

It was fair to wonder at times during Martin St. Louis' 19 regular-season games as a Ranger whether surrendering as much as his new team did to get the 38-year-old was a wise move.

Just as it has been fair to wonder, ever since one of John Tortorella's final acts as Rangers coach was to make him a healthy scratch last spring, whether Brad Richards needs to be here for the long, long term of the six years remaining on his contract.

But the postseason, in which Richards and St. Louis made their mark a decade ago with Tortorella and the Lightning, is supposed to be their time. And if Game 1 of the Tampa twosome is any indication, their reunion was a pretty shrewd move.

Richards scored the winning goal and added two assists, all in the third period, and St. Louis assisted on both ends of the game-turning four-minute power play in the third Thursday night.

After two-plus periods of puck possession without much to show for it, Richards and St. Louis rode to the rescue against the Flyers. Game 1 to the Rangers, 4-1.

"He's a big piece for us," Richards said of his old friend from the Lightning. "He's been running power plays his whole career. It took a while to integrate into how we play and what we need to do, but you come into this time of the year with a clean slate. He's here for one reason, and that's to try and win in the playoffs."

That may have been lost in the haze of missed opportunities during St. Louis' month with the Rangers. Since he arrived in the captain swap for Ryan Callahan plus the Rangers' 2015 first-rounder (and potentially their 2014 first-rounder if the Rangers make the conference finals), the Rangers' decent power play had gone 7-for-61, which is something quite less than decent. St. Louis' one goal and seven assists didn't look too strong, either.

But in Game 1, St. Louis and Richards looked altogether different. St. Louis parked in the slot to try to score off Rick Nash's no-look feed; the puck caromed off Kimmo Timonen's skate and went right to Richards in the off-wing circle, and he fired it past Ray Emery.

Just 47 seconds later, St. Louis was now in that off-wing circle, his power-play office. He fed Richards at the point, and his diagonal feed to Derek Stepan undressed every Flyer on the ice.

Another setup by Richards for Carl Hagelin later in the third sealed the deal.

It was the sort of night for Richards that he produced during the Rangers' 2012 conference final run, coming up big in the biggest moments.

It also was a good way to erase Richards' last playoff memory of Tortorella scratching his go-to guy for Games 4 and 5 of the second-round loss to the Bruins, a move that forever damaged the coach-star relationship and helped usher Tortorella out and the Alain Vigneault era in.

"You can't get frustrated, especially in Game 1," Richards said.

There was pregame talk of that 2004 Stanley Cup in Tampa, with Richards and St. Louis in the home blues and Vinny Lecavalier across the way for the Flyers. Those three were Tortorella's stars 10 years ago, two homegrown stars and one Calgary castoff in St. Louis who worked hard to reach the pinnacle.

"Who would have thought 10 years ago skating around with the Cup that this would be 10 years [later]?" Richards said. "When you win, you kind of think you'll be there forever, and now all three of us are with different teams and it's very strange."

But Richards and St. Louis are reunited, a Tampa twosome instead of a trio. Lecavalier, like most of his Flyers teammates, was invisible in Game 1. But Richards and St. Louis were very much visible, front and center in a game the Rangers had to have, given their near-total control of it.

It's good to win the first one, of course. It's better to win it the way the Rangers did, with their Tampa twosome leading the charge.

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 04.18.2014


Rangers break it open in third period to beat Flyers in Game 1

Originally published: April 17, 2014 10:30 PM

Updated: April 18, 2014 12:19 AM

By STEVE ZIPAY [email protected]

The Rangers' home streak against the Flyers continues, and it couldn't have come at a worse time for Philadelphia.

With power-play goals by Brad Richards and Derek Stepan 47 seconds apart in the third period Thursday night, the Rangers decked the Flyers for the ninth consecutive time at Madison Square Garden, 4-1.

But this one counted more than the others.

The goals, which cracked open a 1-1 game in which the Rangers controlled play but could not dent backup goaltender Ray Emery more than once through the first two periods, propelled the Blueshirts to a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Metropolitan Division semifinal series. Game 2 is Sunday at the Garden.

The importance of the victory, which included a 36-15 edge in shots, cannot be understated. The Rangers made the visitors pay for their lack of discipline, and that could force the Flyers to play more cautiously. And the Rangers are 21-6 in playoff series in which they win the opening game at home.

The momentum ramped up for them when Flyers rookie Jason Akeson fell while checking Carl Hagelin, his stick cut Hagelin's lip and the Rangers were awarded a four-minute man-advantage at 7:35 of the third.

"You could see they were on a mission," Hagelin said. "That goal by Richie really helped our confidence, and we got another right after."

Richards, who had a goal and two assists, had the game-winner at 8:22. Martin St. Louis' shot glanced off Kimmo Timonen's skate and went right to Richards, who ripped a shot past Emery from the right circle. Richards and St. Louis, who was playing his first playoff game as a Ranger, then worked the puck to Stepan at the left post at 9:09. Hagelin finished the Flyers off with 4:08 left. The shots were 13-1 Rangers in the third period.

The Rangers used speed to create rushes from the neutral zone and to keep the puck in the defensive zone, as the Flyers couldn't generate any forechecking. "They just pound it back in our end . . . I didn't feel we skated well enough at all," Flyers coach Craig Berube said.

"We controlled the game," said Mats Zuccarello, who darted for his own rebound and backhanded it past Emery at 10:53 of the first period to tie it at 1.

The Rangers outshot the Flyers 14-6 in the first period but came away with a 1-1 tie. Scott Hartnell flattened Ryan McDonagh on the forecheck down low and former Islanders defenseman Andrew MacDonald cranked a slap shot that deflected off the stick of St. Louis and off Henrik Lundqvist's arm for a 1-0 lead at 7:28.

"Everyone had the feeling it was going to come if we kept playing the same way," Zuccarello said.

In the second period, the Rangers were all over the Flyers, but they mostly settled for long shots that were handled by Emery, subbing for the injured Steve Mason. The best chance came at 5:30 when Derick Brassard's wrister from the right circle beat Emery on the stick side and clanged the post.

The rugged play -- and the chirping and jabbing -- continued. The Flyers were credited with 37 hits, the Rangers 32.

In the previous four regular- season games, the team that had scored first won. But after Zuccarello's goal, the Rangers kept pressing.

"One [power-play] goal was huge," Richards said, "but to be able to go back out there and get the other one, that won us the game."



Rangers' Ryan McDonagh shakes the rust off



By STEVE ZIPAY [email protected]

After missing two weeks with an injured shoulder, Ryan McDonagh was rusty and had a troublesome first period.

"I was not myself, not making good plays with the puck, turning it over, not moving my feet," the defenseman said. "You get a little nervous. They were coming hard."

Indeed, the Flyers scored when McDonagh was hammered by Scott Hartnell, who took the puck and started the play that led to a 1-0 lead at 7:28.

But McDonagh, who played 22:42, settled down after Mats Zuccarello's goal tied it at 10:55. "Zukie helped me with that big response,'' he said. "I'm just glad I was able to find my game a little bit in the second and third."

Coach Alain Vigneault, who decided to give McDonagh an extra game to rest by not playing him in the season finale against the Canadiens last Saturday, even though McDonagh asked to play, could laugh about it after Game 1.

"I feel I should have played him at the beginning in Montreal," Vigneault said. "He got better. He found his hands and found his rhythm. He had been out for a couple weeks, so that's normal. He got more confident and he's only going to get better as we move forward."

Rangers fans in Philly

An unusually large number of Rangers fans are expected to attend Games 3 and 4 in Philadelphia. According to SeatGeek, which tracks tickets resold on the secondary market, 32 percent of ticket-buyers for the games at Wells Fargo Center are from the New York metropolitan area. Only 4 percent of ticket-buyers for Game 1 and 2 are from the Philly metro area. That's because, SeatGeek reports, the average price of Game 1 and 2 tickets is $248.51; Games 3 and 4 average $131.35.

Blue notes

The last time the Rangers beat the Flyers in a playoff game was April 12, 1987 . . . The Rangers have won 10 of the last 14 playoff series openers at home . . . In his first NHL playoff game, Jesper Fast assisted on Hagelin's goal.



Injured Flyers goalie Steve Mason comes to New York



By BYSTEVE ZIPAY [email protected]

Goalie Steve Mason, who missed Game 1 with an upper-body injury sustained when he was knocked backward and his head and neck hit the ice in the Flyers' season finale, is "doing better" and rejoined the team Thursday night, arriving by train from Philadelphia.

Coach Craig Berube said Mason, who won 33 games for the Flyers and two of three against the Rangers this season, will not practice today. He did not know if he will be ready to play in Sunday's Game 2.

Even if Mason, who has a 2.50 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage, doesn't start Game 2, he might be able to back up Ray Emery, who started Game 1 last night. Cal Heeter, who has one NHL start, was his backup.

Berube expressed confidence in Emery, who was 9-12-2 this season with a 2.96 GAA and .903 save percentage.

"He's got experience; he's won a Cup [as a backup with Chicago], he's been to the Finals with Ottawa," Berube said. "He's played a lot of good hockey this year for us. We put him in different situations this year on the road . . . and he's responded really well. Ray's won a lot of big games over his career. He's got a lot of experience and really enjoys the challenge."



Rangers lineup: Ryan McDonagh in, Raphael Diaz out

Thursday April 17, 2014 11:44 AM By Steve Zipay

Although rookie Jesper Fast did not join his teammates in the morning skate here at Madison Square Garden, it appears that he will dress for his first NHL playoff game.

Asked if Dan Carcillo would be in for Fast, coach Alain Vigneault said “No” and explained that it was a “maintenance morning” for the Swedish right wing. J.T. Miller, Raphael Diaz and Justin Falk remained on the ice late with assistant coaches, so they are expected to be healthy scratches.

If that stands, the Rangers lineup will be:

Nash-Stepan-St. Louis;

Pouliot-Brassard-Zuccarello;

Hagelin-Richards-Fast;

Boyle-DMoore-Dorsett.

The d-pairs:

McDonagh-Girardi;

Staal-Stralman;

JMoore-Klein.

And Henrik Lundqvist in goal.

Some quotes from Vigneault and players coming up shortly…

Arthur Staple is covering the Flyers for us this series, so check his tweets and stories on that front.



Game 1: Rangers-Flyers in review

18 April 2014, 4:43 am by Carp in Game review Hockey New York Rangers NHL Philadelphia Flyers Rangers Report Stanley Cup playoffs - 4 Comments

Philadelphia Flyers v New York Rangers - Game One

Thoughts:

1) I wrote a whole column about the power play (click here to see it) and the type of weapon and deterrent it can be. You know, we always hear about teams that win Stanley Cups without a good power play—Boston most recently. But how many teams have not won a Cup, or have been eliminated early, because they didn’t have a good power play? As this series goes on, that power play will make the Flyers think twice, at least while the game is close.Philadelphia Flyers v New York Rangers - Game One

2) That said, I didn’t think the Rangers backed down at all. I thought they were physical. I thought they took hits to make plays. I thought they were effective with their hits, even if not tossing monstrous haymakers other than one by Brian Boyle and one by Kevin Klein. They took a whack and gave a slash. It was another onions game. That also said, I thought the Flyers handled the Rangers speed pretty well. The Rangers controlled play, but didn’t dominate. Philly kept them to the outside in the offensive zone, even while the Rangers owned the puck at times. And the Flys blocked a lot of shots.

3) What gets overlooked in this game, I think, was that penalty kill early third with Ryan McDonagh in the box. Marc Staal blocked a couple of shots, Henrik Lundqvist was solid, and maybe that was the difference in the game. If the Flyers score there—and what an opportunity it was when they got the second shift with Anton Stralman on the left and Klein on the right—who knows?

4) Be thankful that the Jason Akeson that caught Carl Hagelin was so blatant, because the fine officiating crew for this game apparently threw out the experimental rule book that had been in use for the previous, oh, 82 games.Philadelphia Flyers v New York Rangers - Game One

5) Wonder what the Rangers’ record might have looked like with a power play humming the last 30 games, when they racked up a ton of wins with a power play that had stalled. Also, when they cashed in both ends of the double minor, did anybody else think about Joel Ward in that playoff game against Washington in 2012?

6) Of course, the first shot had to go in, right? It deflected off Martin St. Louis’s skate and past Lundqvist, after a turnover by, of all people, Ryan McDonagh, forced by Scott Hartnell. Lundqvist didn’t see a lot more rubber, but he was as perfect as you could be the rest of the way. The Rangers had a lot more chances at Ray Emery, who was pretty good himself, though he didn’t see much traffic or rebound or close-range shots until the third.

7) Daily Nash-O-Meter. I thought Rick Nash had some good wheels, I thought he did the smart thing by firing from all over on Emery. He was solid on the power play in the third. Was somewhat involved. He didn’t score, so, you know … but I liked this game that any of the games he played against Boston last spring. His center, Derek Stepan had the goal and just missed picking top corner on Emery in the second. He’s been solid for a long stretch of games now.

8) Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis. Richards was having himself a good game long before the goal and two assists. He rubbed out some Flyers—didn’t knock them into the third row, but finished some checks and sealed some plays along the wall. Let’s face it, there were plenty of times this season and last when you’d be pretty damn happy with that kind of effort. Showed up in the D-zone, too. His goal was pretty special. His assists were too. And his linemates at even strength—Carl Hagelin and Jesper Fast—were very noticable too. St. Louis also had a bunch of chances to go w ith his two assists. Seemed Flyers got a little bitty piece of a couple of his Grade A chances, just enough to send them wide.

9) The “No. 1 line” came to play. Derick Brassard was good in all areas, hit a pipe, fought Timonen in front on the 1-1 goal by Mats Zuccarello. Those two and Pouliot probably battled as hard as anybody in the game.

Zuccarello did take a retaliation penalty, but Brassard drew one, hit a pipe, and got the Flyers’ attention more than once.

10) Early on, McDonagh was obviously rusty and felt off—he admitted it—and I thought John Moore struggled. Klein had a ferocious hit, was involved in some rough stuff. Not a bad night. I thought Dan Girardi and Hartnell, as per their usual, did some nice hacking and slashing away from the puck.

11) I don’t like reviews where you go up and down the lineup and say, “he was good, he was good …” but for about the 40th time since December, the fourth line—Brian Boyle, Dominic Moore, Derek Dorsett—had a wildly effective game for the Rangers. If Boyle had even a mediocre pair of mitts he’d be worth that $2.5M he supposedly wants, because, man he was strong in this game. All three were (Boyle’s been good in the first round the previous two springs, too). That line saw a fair deal of Claude Giroux’s line, and in case you weren’t counting, Giroux and Jakub Vorachek combined for zero shots on goal. Credit to McDonagh and Girardi for that, too.

12) Alain Vigeanult sure won the matchup game all around, didn’t he? And Craig Berube the rookie kept throwing Zac Rinaldo over the boards. Must be a Philly thing. Though, in fairness, the game could easily have gone the other way. Vigneault got off that nasty schneid in which he’d lost 10 of his last 11 playoff games in Vancouver.

13) Happy Anniversary. Fifteen years ago today, The Great One played his final NHL game, right on the Garden’s ice.

*************************************

My Three Rangers Stars:Philadelphia Flyers v New York Rangers - Game One

1. Brad Richards.

2. Marc Staal.

3. Martin St. Louis.

*************************************

Kenny Albert’s Three Rangers Stars:

1. Brad Richards.

2. Martin St. Louis.

3. Mats Zuccarello.

*************************************

Josh Thomson, 26’s Three Rangers Stars:

1. Brad Richards.

2. Mats Zuccarello.

3. Rick Nash.

Rockland Journal News: LOADED: 04.18.2014


Game 1: Rangers 4, Flyers 1 … post-game notes & quotes

17 April 2014, 11:20 pm by Carp in Hockey New York Rangers NHL Philadelphia Flyers Post-game notes Rangers Report Stanley Cup playoffs - 167 Comments

Philadelphia Flyers v New York Rangers - Game One

Post-game notes & quotes courtesy of the NYR:

Game 1: Rangers 4, Flyers 1.

Click here for boxscore.

Team notes:

- The Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1, tonight at Madison Square Garden in Game 1 of the Metropolitan Division Semifinals, to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

- The last time the Blueshirts defeated the Flyers in a playoff game at MSG was on Apr. 12, 1987, in Game 4 of the Patrick Division Semifinals.

- The Rangers extended their winning streak against the Flyers at Madison Square Garden to nine games, dating back to Mar. 6, 2011. New York has outscored Philadelphia, 35-10, over the span, tallying at least four goals in six of the nine victories, and allowing two goals or less in all nine contests.

- New York has won each of the last four Game 1s they have played at home, dating back to a 4-2 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on Apr. 12, 2012 vs. Ottawa. The Rangers have won 10 of their last 14 Game 1s at home, and have won 21 of 27 playoff series in their history when winning Game 1 at home.

- The Blueshirts were 2-6 (8:23) on the power play in the contest, and tallied a goal on both halves of a double-minor penalty in the third period. The last time the Rangers registered goals on both halves of a double-minor was Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on May 7 vs. Washington (Brad Richards – 19:53 of the third period; Marc Staal – 1:35 of the first overtime period).

- New York outscored Philadelphia, 3-0, and outshot the Flyers, 13-1, in the third period. The last time the Rangers scored three goals in one period in a playoff game was Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on May 19 at New Jersey. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time New York allowed one shot or less in one period in a playoff game was May 7, 1994 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at Washington (zero shots on goal against in the third period).

- The Blueshirts outshot the Flyers, 36-15 in the contest. The 15 shots on goal against were the fewest the Rangers have allowed in a playoff game since May 23, 2012 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals vs. New Jersey (17 shots on goal against).

- The Rangers penalty kill was 1-1 (2:00) in the game. The Blueshirts are 49-52 (94.2%) on the penalty kill in the last 22 overall games, and haven’t allowed a power play goal in their last eight overall games (17 times shorthanded).

Player notes:

- Henrik Lundqvist made 14 saves to record his 31st career playoff victory. The Rangers’ all-time wins leader has posted a 4-0-0 record, along with a 1.00 GAA and a.953 save percentage in his last four Game 1s at MSG. Lundqvist is 9-0-0 with a 1.12 GAA, a .959 SV%, and 2 SO in his last nine games against the Flyers at MSG, and has allowed two goals or fewer in each of the nine contests.

- Brad Richards recorded the game-winning goal on the power play, added two assists, and recorded six shots on goal in 19:03 of ice time. The last time Richards tallied three points in a playoff game was a four-point effort (one goal, three assists) in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals on Apr. 27, 2008, as a member of the Dallas Stars. Richards has recorded four power play points (three goals, one assist) in his last four overall contests.

- Martin St. Louis recorded two power play assists, including one on Brad Richards’ game-winning tally, in 19:18 of ice time in his Rangers playoff debut. The Blueshirts forward has tallied 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in his last 11 playoff games, and has registered nine points (one goal, eight assists) in eight career playoff games against the Flyers. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time that St. Louis assisted on a goal by Brad Richards in the playoffs was on Apr. 16, 2007 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. New Jersey, when the two were teammates with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

- Mats Zuccarello tallied a goal and registered three shots on goal in 16:30 of ice time. The Rangers forward has recorded five points (one goal, four assists) in six career playoff games at Madison Square Garden. Zuccarello has registered a point in 43 of his last 71 overall games (regular season and playoffs), dating back to Oct. 26 at Detroit, registering 60 points (20 goals, 40 assists) over the stretch. Zuccarello has tallied a point in seven of his last 11 playoff games, dating back to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on May 6, 2013 vs. Washington (two goals, six assists over the span).

- Derek Stepan recorded a power play goal, and registered two shots on goal in 19:22 of ice time. The Rangers forward has tallied 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in his last 24 overall games. Stepan has also recorded four points (three goals, one assist) in his last six playoff games.

- Carl Hagelin tallied a goal, recorded three shots on goal, was credited with two hits and blocked two shots in 13:22 of ice time. The Rangers forward has six points (three goals, three assists) in his last 10 playoff contests.

- Jesper Fast recorded an assist, posted a plus-one rating, and tied for the team-high with four hits in 11:32 of ice time in his NHL playoff debut. Fast’s assist was his first career NHL playoff point.

- Benoit Pouliot registered an assist, posted a plus-one rating, and recorded four shots on goal in 15:03 of ice time in his first playoff game as a Ranger. Pouliot has recorded a point in nine of his last 11 overall contests, tallying 10 points (three goals, seven assists) over the span.

- Marc Staal recorded an assist, and led the team with four blocked shots in 19:03 of ice time. The Rangers defenseman has three assists in his last eight overall games.

Quotebook:

Alain Vigneault on the team’s play… “When we play fast, like when we go north, south quick, we are tough to handle. We have a few guys that have good speed and they don’t mind going on the outside. That’s what we did tonight and that’s why we were able to have a pretty good game.”

Brad Richards on tonight’s game… “I think we controlled play, didn’t give them much but probably played a little too much on the outside at times, but that happens. There was no other thought than to keep controlling the puck and keep trying to get it behind them. In a series sometimes having the puck and wearing them out can benefit you later in the game. That was our main goal. We would like to get more pucks to the net and we’ll try to do that.”

Martin St. Louis on the double minor power play in the third period… “I think we understand once we get the power play that it’s a big part of the game. You have to make a difference there. You have to make it count.”



Game 1: Flyers at Rangers … It’s Go Time!

17 April 2014, 6:31 pm by Carp in Hockey It's Go Time! New York Rangers NHL Philadelphia Flyers Rangers Report Stanley Cup playoffs - 863 Comments

Rangers logo

Take Our Poll

Game 1.flyers3

Flyers at Rangers.

The Empire State Building is lit up in orange and black for Mr. Snider.

Ya boys open the playoffs against Philly as the rivals play, as you know, for the first time since the 1997 Eastern Conference finals.

While the Rangers lost 21 of 41 home games this season, they have won eight in a row over the Flyers at MSG.

The big news, of course, is that Ray Emery starts in goal as Steve Mason recovers from what is widely believed to be a concussion.

He will oppose Henrik Lundqvist. Ryan McDonagh returns from his shoulder injury, and Martin St. Louis and Dan Girardi, who were rested in the season finale, go back in, obviously. Jesper Fast is expected to get the start. So Raphael Diaz, Daniel Carcillo, J.T. Miller, Justin Falk and Ryan Haggerty are prucha’d. Subject to change. This is, afterall, the playoffs and nobody’s above shenanigans

*************************************

After the game, vote for the Three Rangers Stars in the poll on the left.

Josh Thomson, 26, is with me throughout the playoffs, so follow him on Twitter: @jthomson22 for additional news, insights, etc.



Game 1: Rangers-Flyers … Five things to watch

17 April 2014, 5:00 pm by Carp in Hockey New York Rangers NHL Philadelphia Flyers Rangers Report Stanley Cup playoffs - 57 Comments

Philadelphia Flyers v New York Rangers

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH:

Goalies: We pretty much know what to expect of Henrik Lundqvist, who has handled the Flyers in his career. We don’t know what to expect of Ray Emery, who will start in place of Steve Mason (probable concussion).

Goons vs. Smurfs: OK, this isn’t the Broad Street Bullies or Herb Brooks’/Ted Sator’s Smurfs. But the Flyers are certainly more rugged than the speedy Rangers, and things might get nasty. It will be interesting to see how the Rangers react.

Home ice: The Rangers were mediocre at the transformed Garden, winning 20 of 41 games this season. But for whatever reason, they have had the Flyers’ number. Philadelphia has lost eight in a row at MSG. The Rangers also led the NHL with 25 road wins.

Power play: If the Flyers step over the line, the Rangers’ best deterrent would be a potent power play. Problem is, since January the Rangers’ power play, which was in the top third of the NHL to that point, has dropped off dramatically.

Game 7s: Three of the Rangers’ last five playoff series in the last two seasons have gone to Game 7s, and the Rangers won them all, including a shutout win in Washington last spring. In fact, the Rangers have never lost a Game 7 at the Garden.



Rangers’ Rick Nash ready to get it started

By Josh Thomson

GREENBURGH – When asked whether the playoffs have arrived too soon after the Olympics for players to properly recharge, Rick Nash laughed.

The Rangers’ winger waited most of his career to play on a consistent contender. He isn’t about to take a chance at the Cup for granted.

“Maybe guys who have won it before, but I’m as hungry as ever to get that championship,” said Nash, whose only other postseason experience before coming to New York was a 2009 first-round sweep. “So there’s no problem like that with me.”

Nash has every reason to enter Thursday night’s playoff opener against the Flyers motivated. Not only has he skated in just 16 playoff games in 11 NHL seasons, the 29-year old struggled through a dreadful first postseason in New York, scoring just one goal in 12 games.

“I think everyone should have a chip on their shoulder to perform, to get the job done,” Nash said. “Last year finished off not the way we wanted it to, so I think it’s important to go into the playoffs with that chip on us.”

Even this season Nash’s production fell short of expectations. He scored three fewer points than last season despite playing 21 more games. Still, he led the Rangers with 26 goals and will be counted on to provide offense after that 2013 disappearance.

Nash said those struggles taught him to remain consistent regardless of the results — or, in his case, in the absence of them.

“I don’t have many playoff games under me to take a lot of experiences from,” he said. “The first time it was four. Last time, it was going to Game 5 in the second round. Each time I can kind of take things from it. Last year it was staying with it when things aren’t going right.”

One advantage playing in the Rangers’ favor is goaltending. They learned Wednesday that backup goalie Ray Emery will start Game 1 for the Flyers rather than Nash’s former Columbus teammate Steve Mason, who is injured.

Emery finished the season just 9-12-2 and hasn’t started a postseason game in three years.

“Honestly, for us, it doesn’t really matter if it’s Mason or Emery,” said Derick Brassard, who returned to practice Wednesday after leaving Tuesday’s skate with a back injury. “They’re both really good goaltenders. Steve had a really good season, but I think Emery’s a goalie who has shown in the past that he can play in the playoffs.”


741541 Philadelphia Flyers

Punchless Flyers blow chance to take series lead in NY

Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted: Friday, April 18, 2014, 2:55 AM

NEW YORK — Many thought the Flyers had little chance Thursday because starter Steve Mason was injured, forcing them to use backup goalie Ray Emery.

Funny thing is, Emery turned out to be the Flyers’ best player.

But it didn’t matter.

It didn’t matter because the Flyers’ top line was invisible, because they gave the Rangers five third-period power plays, and because they made things ridiculously easy for Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

Rangers 4, Flyers 1.

Despite being badly outshot and outworked along the boards, the Flyers went into the third period tied at 1-all and with a chance to steal Game 1. (See story)

And then they reverted to their puzzling late-season form.

In their last seven regular-season games, the Flyers were outscored, 14-5, in the third period.

Fatigue seemed to be the reason. The Flyers finished a killer stretch in which they played their final 17 games — many against elite teams — in 30 days.

Fatigue, however, cannot be blamed for Thursday night’s third-period meltdown.

The Flyers had plenty of rest after the season ended — and even had an extra day before their playoff series opened Thursday in their house of horrors, Madison Square Garden.

In Thursday’s third period, they were outscored, 3-0, and outshot, 13-1. Most of the one-sided play was because the Rangers always seemed to be on the power play in the final 20 minutes.

As a result, the Flyers have now lost nine straight at Madison Square Garden, getting outscored, 35-10.

“I thought we were in a good position, tied going into the third,” Emery said. “Obviously, we would like to have a better third period, but it’s a long series. We come in here for two games. We have to get one. We thought it might be (Thursday), but I guess it’ll be the next one. We have to refocus. I’m confident if we play the way we want, we can get one.”

They won’t win in New York if their first line — Claude Giroux centering Scott Hartnell and Jake Voracek — continues to be a non-factor against the Rangers. Including the regular season, the line has combined for one goal in five games against the Rangers.

“We didn’t support each other as well as we wanted to,” said Giroux, who was shot-less in the game. “We did a lot of good things, but we did a lot of wrong things, too.”

The Rangers’ fourth line of Brian Boyle, Dominic Moore and Derek Dorsett limited the Giroux line to just two shots — both by Hartnell.

Breakaways. Mason will practice Friday in New York, and if all goes well, could return to the lineup for Game 2 Sunday in New York at noon…..Vinny Lecavalier played just 7:42 and was ineffective…..The Rangers allowed the Flyers just one third-period shot, the lowest for one of their playoff opponents since Washington had no shots in a period in a 1994 game.....Rookies Jason Akeson, whose double-minor penalty led to a pair of Ranger PP goals, and Michael Raffl led the Flyers with three shots each.

Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 04.18.2014


Emery's excellence wasted by late meltdown

Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2014 11:26 pm | Updated: 12:24 am, Fri Apr 18, 2014.

Wayne Fish Staff writer

NEW YORK -- Ray Emery might be No. 2 on the Flyers’ depth chart but he’s the No. 1 goaltender when it comes to Stanley Cup playoff experience.

If Steve Mason hadn’t suffered an upper-body injury last Saturday in Pittsburgh, the Flyers probably would have had a tough decision to make: Go with Mason, who’s never started a postseason game, or go with Emery, who’s been to two Stanley Cup finals.

All of Emery’s postseason expertise was on display Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. He was just about the only reason the Flyers were still in a tie game with the Rangers until rookie Jason Akeson’s third period double-minor penalty blunder.

Emery was under siege the entire evening and still managed to stop 32 of 36 shots.

“Ray played unbelievable,’’ Wayne Simmonds said after the Flyers lost Game 1 by a 4-1 score at Madison Square Garden. “He made the saves when he needed to.

“I don’t think he really had a chance on those crossing passes (the two Ranger goals during the Akeson penalty). He played awesome for us.’’

Craig Berube knows all about Emery’s talents in the playoffs.

“I thought he played really well,’’ Berube said.

Emery was left out to dry so many times it became almost a goaltending highlight reel.

The Flyers hope that if Emery gets the Game 2 start, they give him a little more protection.

Emery isn’t the type to complain. He’s now 20-16 all-time in the playoffs, so he obviously doesn’t have a lot of losing on his resume.

“We would like to have a better third period,’’ was about the only negative that Emery had to offer. “It’s a long series, we come in here for two games and we would like to get one.

“(The Rangers) moved the puck pretty well (on the Akeson penalty). They hit some seams. I’d like to make some saves there. They really got momentum off those. I thought we did a lot of good things but we want a better result.’’

Low production

Berube was critical of his top line, which produced only two shots, both by Scott Hartnell. Both Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek came up with zero.

“They didn’t produce,’’ Berube said. “They didn’t shoot pucks. They didn’t get shots on net. They didn’t attack. We had a power play in the third period and we didn’t get a shot. We had a couple missed shots, one blocked, but we’re not getting enough.’’

Berube also thought the Flyers’ skating was way off, making it look like the Rangers were in a higher gear.

“When you turn the puck over like that, they just pound it back in your end and it looks like they’re going to be skating a lot better than us,’’ he said. “I didn’t think we had our legs. I didn’t feel we skated well enough in the game at all. We could skate better.’’

Berube also said the Flyers allowed the Rangers to block too many of their shots in the first period.

Rangers’ take

Speaking of that failed Flyers’ power play at the start of the third period, the Rangers said it might have been the turning point in the game.

“That’s a huge kill,’’ New York defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “It could have really been a big momentum shift and a big turning point in the game. Our guys found a way to kill that and we went right back on the attack and found a way to get some goals.’’

Worth noting

The Flyers’ 15 shots on goal was their fewest in a playoff game since they had 14 vs. Montreal in a 3-2 win in Game 3 of the 2008 Eastern Conference semifinals on April 28, 2008. ... Emery made 32 saves in his first playoff game since April 24, 2011 (for Anaheim, at Nashville).

The Flyers are now 4-10 in Game 1 of playoff series since 2005-06. They’ve come back to win four of those nine series.

Burlington County Times LOADED: 04.18.2014


Rookie mistake leads to Flyers' defeat in Game 1

Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2014 10:25 pm | Updated: 11:08 pm, Thu Apr 17, 2014.


NEW YORK -- Rookie Jason Akeson was put into his first Stanley Cup playoff game by the Flyers with hopes he might be a difference maker.

It turned out he was, but not the way the Flyers had hoped.

A double-minor penalty to Akeson for high-sticking Carl Hagelin in the third period led to Brad Richards' deciding goal and an insurance marker from Derek Stepan.

Those two goals powered the New York Rangers to a 4-1 win Thursday night.

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, which resumes Sunday at noon at Madison Square Garden.

Akeson caught Hagelin in the face and drew blood. On the ensuing first power play, Rick Nash's shot deflected off Kimmo Timonen's skate to Richards for a shot past Ray Emery at 8:21 to break a 1-1 tie.

On the second power play, Stepan was left alone down low and he scored at 9:09 to make it 3-1.

New York added a third goal of the period by Hagelin at 15:52.

The defeat extended the Flyers' losing streak at MSG to nine games, dating back to Feb. 20, 2011.

Philadelphia was outshot 13-1 in the third period and finished the game with only 15 shots.

The low shot total was indicative of the Flyers’ inability to get any forecheck pressure on the Rangers.

But the Flyers were still in it at 1-1 when Akeson made the big mistake. Granted, he was falling to the ice and it was purely accidental. Yet the play was a bit reckless.

“It was unfortunate,’’ Akeson said. “They (teammates) all had my back. They were all saying it’s a seven-game series. That’s the beauty of this sport. There are still six more games. It’s not down to one game.

“I went to hit him and my back leg swung out. My stick came up.’’

Wayne Simmonds was one of the players who reached out to Akeson.

“He was just trying to make a hard play,’’ Simmonds said. “He ends up falling down and his stick comes up. You have to have a short memory in this game. If you don’t, and think too long, it will eat at you.’’

Then came the goals that Akeson had to watch from the penalty box.

“It’s not a good feeling,’’ he said. “It’s not like I went out there to take a four-minute penalty.’’

Coach Craig Berube confirmed that even though his team had been outplayed for two periods, the score was still 1-1 at the time of the incident.

“The third period, I thought we were coming and then we got the four-minute penalty,’’ Berube said. “The game was still there for us. (Akeson) has to be better with his stick. I thought he played a pretty good game. You have to control your stick.’’

Defenseman Andrew MacDonald, who had the only goal for the Flyers, said the Flyers can’t afford to take penalties like they did in the third period.

“We have to be more disciplined,’’ he said. “We didn’t put up many shots. We had a pretty good first but as the game went on, our game kind of fell off.’’

Captain Claude Giroux failed to get a shot on net and his inability to generate offense typified the Flyers’ frustration.

“You look at the game, we didn’t get a lot of shots but we did a lot of good things,’’ Giroux said. “We’ll see what we did wrong and be ready for Game 2.’’

The Flyers jumped on top with the MacDonald goal at 7:28 of the first period.

With Giroux setting a screen in front of Henrik Lundqvist, MacDonald's long blast found its way into the net on the Flyers' first shot of the game.

The Rangers tied it at 10:53. Unchecked in front, Mats Zuccarello fired a shot that Emery managed to block. But the Ranger forward pounced on the rebound and backhanded it past Emery.

New York dominated the second period, getting a lot of pressure on Emery, but the goalie was equal to the task.

Philadelphia failed to get a shot on net in the first six minutes of all three periods.

“Our plan was to chip pucks in,’’ Simmonds said. “As soon as we did, it seemed like they had three guys to our two. So we have to figure that out.’’

And fast.

“It’s frustrating,’’ he said. “You’re not going to beat Lundqvist with 15 shots, that’s for sure."

Short shots

The Flyers’ record for fewest shots in a playoff game is 13 (vs. the New Jersey Devils in 2000).



Flyers, Rangers continue proud tradition of dislike

Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2014 1:12 pm


NEW YORK – One would think that after a 17-year break from playoff confrontations, two hockey franchises could get over a genuine dislike for one another.

Such is not the case with the Flyers and New York Rangers.

The faces may change but the game is still the same – they don’t like us and we don’t like them.

Players acknowledged this at Thursday morning’s skate at Madison Square Garden before Game 1 of the best-of-seven first round series.

“It’s playoff hockey,’’ Claude Giroux explained. “I think we respect each other as persons but coming into hockey, I think it’s a different story.

“The more hatred between players, I think that’s when the series is even better.’’

Wayne Simmonds took that one step further, saying even the Flyers and Rangers fans don’t like each other.

“It’s a good rivalry,’’ Simmonds said. “During the regular season we had some good scrums, some good fights.

“It’s probably an hour and a half drive to get back down to Philly. It’s pretty close. I don’t think the fans like each other. You love playing in games like these – you don’t necessarily like the other team but you respect them.’’

If that means targeting a player like Ranger defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who is recovering from a shoulder injury, then so be it.

“We want to get pucks in deep and grind down their ‘D’,’’ Simmonds said. “It might not be a factor in the first two games but down the line, maybe they don’t want to go back and get that puck. Maybe it does make the difference.

“I don’t think you want to do any harm on any one but I think we have to do our jobs and be physical, whether it’s McDonagh or (Anton) Stralman or (Mark) Staal.’’

/n

Mason improving: Steve Mason, recovering from an upper-body injury suffered in last Saturday’s game at Pittsburgh, is set to rejoin the team on Friday.

Coach Craig Berube said Mason once again showed improvement on Thursday. The Flyers aren’t scheduled to practice on Friday, so Mason probably won’t get any ice time with the team until Saturday.

Game 2 is Sunday. Berube said he didn’t know if Mason would be ready to play.

/n

This game ‘Just for Men:’ Hartnell and Jake Voracek decided to jazz up their playoff beards by dying them a darker color.

What’s up with that?

“We did it yesterday, I couldn’t do it alone,’’ Hartnell said with a grin. “Went to the drug store and got ‘Just for Men.’

“I don’t know if it will catch on with the team but it might bring some goals.’’

Simmonds was asked about Hartnell and Voracek and he had a good chuckle over the question.

“Those guys are ‘gingys,’ (orange hair) they should stick to being gingys,’’ Simmonds said. “They’ve taken upon themselves to (go) black. . .whatever gets them ready gets them ready, right? It doesn’t matter.’’

Giroux is also what one might consider a “gingy’’ but he’s sticking to his natural color for now.

“I haven’t decided yet,’’ he said. “Right now it’s a ‘no.’ It’s a tough look.’’

/n

Rinaldo ready: Traditionally, there isn’t much fighting in the playoffs but if there happens to be a scrap in this series, Zac Rinaldo plans to be ready.

That doesn’t mean he will pore over video. It just means he will have his guard up against a Derek Dorsett or Daniel Carcillo (scratched for Game 1) comes strolling by.

“I’ve never done that (pre-scouting on potential opponents) and never will,’’ he said. “My first time in the league, I had no idea and I still don’t. If there’s someone tough on the roster, I won’t pay attention to it, too much anxiety.’’



McCaffery: Flyers did not allow Emery to save them from failing

By Jack McCaffery, Delaware County Daily Times

Posted: 04/17/14, 11:05 PM EDT |

NEW YORK — In the tenths of seconds between Steve Mason’s fall last weekend and the back of the goaltender’s head crashing into the Pittsburgh ice, Craig Berube was already doing the quick calculation.

His Flyers assured of a playoff spot and thus charged with winning 16 after-hours games in order to proclaim fulfillment, he had to come up with a number.

One.

One game.

One time, in Madison Square Garden of all places that haunt the Flyers, is all he likely would need Ray Emery to play well.

Do that — assuming Mason’s upper-body injury would not linger more than a week — and, maybe then everything else could fit into place.

Do that in the absence of Mason, and the Flyers’ eight-game Madison Square Garden losing streak would be forgotten, they would control the first-round playoff series, they could play with some comfort and they most likely could advance.

And that’s what could have worked Thursday night in Game 1 of the Metro Division playoff series … had the Flyers not done just about everything else wrong in a 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers.

Though Emery hardly was flawless in what likely will be his one playoff game this spring, he was what the Flyers had hoped. He was good enough to keep them involved in a game they seemed too disinterested in winning.

“He played really well,” Berube said. “We obviously didn’t help him in the third period with penalties.”

For more than two periods, Emery proved to be the ideal understudy, playing solidly, but not so spectacularly that it would produce a goaltending controversy. He was caught a hair slow slipping side to side at 10:53 of the first, Mats Zuccarello scoring to tie the game at 1-1, Sean Couturier caught loitering in the slot. But it was at 7:35 of the third that he would be left stranded. That’s when Jason Akeson took a four-minute high-sticking penalty.

The Rangers would score twice. The Flyers would be done. They would wind up with 15 shots, few of them useful, none of them off the stick of Claude Giroux, only one from Andrew MacDonald beating Henrik Lundqvist, and that was from distance, not from in front.

No goalie could have rescued the Flyers with the way they played Thursday.

“They moved it pretty well, hit some seams there and got a couple,” Emery said. “I would like to make some saves. They really got some momentum off of those.”

Emery made 32 saves. Trouble for the Flyers was that Lundqvist needed only to make 14.

“Ray played unbelievable,” Wayne Simmonds said. “He made big saves when he needed to. But they had a four-minute power-play there where they kind of struck. But I don’t think he had a chance on those. There were two crossing passes. But he played well for us.”

He did. And that’s what had to make whatever else was disintegrating around him so discouraging to the Flyers. They were in a position where they had a lead in a game with their No. 2 goaltender playing well … then took scenic drives into the offensive zone, one absurd four-minute penalty and not enough shots to win.

“Ray has got experience,” Berube said. “He has won a Cup. He has been to the finals with Ottawa. We put him in different situations this year on the road, and he’s responded really well. Ray’s won a lot of big games over his career. He’s got a lot of experience, and he really enjoys the challenge.”

That’s what it was Thursday, a challenge to win one time, without Mason, and with that, to win so much more.

Instead, the Flyers gave Emery little help and were forced to hope that Mason can end the losing streak Sunday afternoon. Mason, who wasn’t scheduled to make the trip, arrived in time for the game and was sighted — but never quoted — in the Garden.

“I’m very encouraged,” Berube said. “It is a very good sign. We’re very happy to have him back.”

He is needed now. That’s not because Emery failed in Game 1. It was because too many other Flyers did.

Delaware County Times LOADED: 04.18.2014


Flyers perform same old song and dance at Garden

By Rob Parent, Delaware County Daily Times

Posted: 04/17/14, 10:07 PM EDT | Updated: 1 hr ago

NEW YORK — It would fall to the most inexperienced player in their midst to don the goat horns on another night to forget for the Flyers at Madison Square Garden.

Long before Phantoms promotee Jason Akeson threw his stick into an opposing mouth for an absolute killer of a double-minor penalty in the third period Thursday night, however, the Flyers had largely played to their usual Garden script.

Almost no forechecking success to speak of.

Almost no break in the waves of Rangers freely dancing into their defensive zone.

Almost nothing to speak of in the way of sustained offensive pressure.

Subtract it all up, throw in Rangers power play goals 47 seconds apart by Brad Richards and Derek Stepan while Akeson hung his head in the penalty box, and you have a 4-1 Flyers defeat that for all intents and purposes didn’t look like a playoff game, if only because it looked so much like most of their recent regular season visits here.

Make it nine consecutive losses for the Flyers at the Garden of Doom over the past three-plus years, and for something new put the Flyers down one game in a best-of-7 first-round playoff series.

“They did a good job of getting two goals on the power play, and after their goals, we were trying too hard to get some offense going and got out of position,” Claude Giroux said. “When you look at the game, we didn’t get a whole lot of shots but we did a lot of good things. There’s a reason why there’s seven games. We’ll see what we did wrong, and we’ll be ready for Game 2.”

That comes Sunday at noon, and if loyal Flyers fans are confident that the plot of this first series game — one in which their team was outshot 36-15 by the Rangers — can reverse in two days’ time, there are just as many Rangers fans who would say youse guys must believe in the Easter bunny.

After all, Game 1 didn’t see guys named Giroux, Jake Voracek or Vinny Lecavalier so much as register a shot on the Rangers’ puck basket.

“I thought we were in good position at the start of the third,” said goalie Ray Emery, who spent much of the night being forced to hop around in front of the Flyers’ net. “Obviously, we would have liked to have a better third period. But it’s a long series. We come in here thinking that we’d have to get one. We would like to get one and thought it might be that one, going into the third. But now, I guess it’ll be the next one.”

The Flyers might have been in a 1-1 tie after two periods, but some of the first and essentially all of the second saw pure Ranger domination, and survivalist goaltending of the first order by Emery, playing in place of injured Steve Mason at least for this game.

Then came Akeson’s head-shaking penalty at 7:35 of the third. Not what you want as a young guy making your NHL playoff debut, but almost merciful considering the way this game had been going. It gave the Rangers a clear path to what seemed inevitable.

Shortly after diminutive Phantoms call-up Akeson went off for a four-minute highsticking call after slapping Carl Hagelin in the mouth with a wild stick, Richards scored at 8:22 to make it a 2-1 game.

Graced with the second-half of the power play, Richards wound up at the point and drilled a pinpoint pass across the slot to Stepan, who planted one from the circle at 9:09 for 3-1.

That was about it ... and everybody who played or stumbled through the first two periods seemed to know it.

“I don’t think we had good enough support,” Wayne Simmonds said. “Obviously, it’s frustrating. You’re not going to beat (Rangers goalie) Henrik Lundqvist with 15 shots, that’s for sure.”

Despite the Rangers largely dominating from the first puck drop, the Flyers did enjoy a brief lead. They scored on their first shot on goal of the game, as a puck threaded from the perimeter by Andrew MacDonald found its way past Lundqvist at 7:28 of the first.

But at the 10:53 mark, Emery lost a puck that Mats Zuccarello had shot. A slow Flyers defensive look allowed Zuccarello to swoop in and chip home his own rebound for a 1-1 tie.

The Rangers then commenced to pile it on early, but Emery would keep the tie intact into the first intermission. That he would do the same for the second intermission seemed a bit of a miracle, as almost every shift change seemed to bring on a renewed odd-man rush or avenue of attack into the Flyers’ zone.

Meanwhile, there wasn’t much going the other way. Asked how he thought his top-line players Giroux, Voracek and Scott Hartnell had fared together, Flyers coach Craig Berube said, “They didn’t produce. They didn’t shoot pucks. They didn’t get shots on net. They didn’t attack.”

It seemed only a matter of time until the attack would break through on the other side, and it was Akeson’s penalty that paved the way.

Richards scored and set up Stepan for 3-1. Then Hagelin, shaking off any splinters that might have creased his face, scored off another Richards set-up at 15:52 to make it 4-1.

By then, the Flyers’ frustrations were clearly visible, as Giroux, Zac Rinaldo and Brayden Schenn all took penalties, allowing the Rangers to get plenty of third-period target practice.

So on to Game 2, and the burning question of whether top goalie Mason might be ready to play by then. But considering how the first game went, the Flyers might want to check to see how Ray Emery is feeling first.



Lecavalier sees familiar faces on Rangers bench

By Matthew De George, Delaware County Daily Times

Posted: 04/17/14, 9:08 PM EDT |

NEW YORK — It’s been 10 springs of playoff hockey since Vincent Lecavalier lifted the Stanley Cup at St. Pete Times Forum with his Tampa Bay Lightning teammates.

As fate would have it, the hockey gods have scheduled an impromptu reunion this week between Lecavalier’s Flyers and the New York Rangers. Three of the four remaining NHLers from that Tampa team — Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards — will be on the ice starting Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. (The other, for inquiring minds, is injured Chicago goalie Nikolai Khabibulin.)

The nostalgia isn’t exactly overpowering Lecavalier.

“Those guys are two guys we have to watch out for,” he said Thursday at the Flyers’ morning skate at Madison Square Garden prior to Game 1. “They’re fast and two clutch players and really good players. We have to be physical on them, play them hard like any other guys on that team, and play our game.”

The connections between the three go much deeper than just one run to the Cup. They comprised the nucleus of the Lightning for almost a decade, the shortest stint being Richards’ from 2000-08 (save the lockout year). Both Lecavalier and St. Louis were faces of the Lightning franchise for over a decade before departing within the last 10 months.

For Richards and Lecavalier, the ties go all the way back to their high school days at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Saskatchewan starting in 1994. They were born just 11 days apart in 1980. The pair played together in juniors for Rimouski, and the accounts go that Lecavalier, the first overall draft pick in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, strongly recommended Richards to the club, a request heeded when they took him in the third round (64th overall) in the 1998 draft.

The magic they produced in 2003-04 was undeniable. St. Louis, the undersized project that Calgary gave up on prior to the 2000-01 season, found a home in Tampa Bay, winning the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s high point-getter and the Hart Trophy as MVP.

Richards, who was recognized for his defensive efforts with the Lady Byng Trophy in the regular season, showed his offensive side with 26 points in 23 postseason games as the Lightning outlasted Calgary in seven games.

And all the while, there was Lecavalier, living up to the preordained hype as a leader, one of the alternates to captain Dave Andreychuk on a team where he’d blossomed into a star.

Lecavalier and St. Louis could never quite recapture that spark in subsequent postseasons, and the rebuilding Lightning decided to move on last year, first offering Lecavalier the amnesty buyout last summer that allowed him to sign with the Flyers, then jettisoning St. Louis at the trade deadline to the Rangers in exchange for their captain, Ryan Callahan, and some high draft picks.

While they’ll all get acquainted once again this week, there hasn’t been much communication between them lately, according to Lecavalier.

“We go back with Brad to 94 to playing high school together then juniors and NHL,” Lecavalier said. “Obviously we’ve known each other for a long time, so it’s going to be fun to play them.”

His personal feelings aside, the look at history brings to light what could be Lecavalier’s most vital role on the Flyers this year. He’s one of only three players on the roster to have lifted the Stanley Cup. The others either played a spectator’s role in their Cup run (Ray Emery as the unused backup for the Blackhawks last year) and Hal Gill (who played a pivotal role for the Penguins in 2009, but is highly unlikely to feature for the Flyers this postseason).

That ratchets up the value on Lecavalier’s past experiences and his ability to impart them to a young, skilled Flyers team.

“We talk about it,” Lecavalier said of the postseason experience. “It’s not necessarily someone coming out (and asking), but it’s things we talk about at dinner or something like that. It’s a roller-coaster ride. I remember 2004, you win a big game but then the next game, you might get beat 4-0.

“It’s just a roller-coaster ride. And you’ve got to stay even keel and make sure it’s an even road when you get to the fourth round. It’s just a really long road, so just focus on the Rangers right now, the first game and go from there.”



Akeson's penalty proves to be Flyers' undoing

By Matthew De George, Delaware County Daily Times

and Rob Parent, Delaware County Daily Times

Posted: 04/17/14, 1:48 PM EDT | Updated: 1 hr ago

NEW YORK — After the fact, there wasn’t much that the Flyers’ Jason Akeson could do but watch.

He could only watch as Brad Richards put the New York Rangers in front, watch as Derek Stepan added another goal 47 seconds later, watch from the penalty box as the double-minor that resulted from his high stick of a bloody-mouthed Carl Hagelin spelled the difference in the Flyers’ 4-1 loss in Game 1 of the first round playoff series.

In a nip-and-tuck game where neither team seemed willing or able to take the initiative and stamp any authority, Akeson’s wild flailing slash that found the face of Hagelin at 7:35 of the third period did the trick.

“My back leg kind of swung out,” the 23-year-old said. “... I don’t know what happened, I must have gotten hit or something. But obviously I must have come up (with the stick). It was obviously unfortunate, but it happened.”

The decision to include Akeson in the lineup was certainly one of the last — and in hindsight, most controversial — made by coach Craig Berube. But Akeson showed enough, apparently, in his brief cameo in the regular-season finale where he had an assist to warrant inclusion on the postseason roster. His 24 goals and 64 points in 70 games with the Phantoms certainly played a role.

In a game that featured just two power-plays and four minors over the first 47 minutes, Akeson’s was a game-changer.

The blame, though, didn’t fall solely on the rookie’s shoulders. After all, two defensive lapses — first on former Conn Smythe winner Richards getting to a rebound and firing home from a sharp angle, then Stepan being left by his lonesome on the doorstep to polish off a Richards cross-ice, slap-pass — ultimately did in the Flyers.

“Those kinds of things happen,” defenseman Andrew MacDonald said. “I think as a team, you’ve got to get together and kill that off. Obviously he made a huge block earlier on that shift, he was sliding out to block it at the point. I hope he doesn’t feel too bad about it.”

Berube, who was more disappointed by three subsequent penalties that quashed the Flyers faint comeback hopes, said immediately after the game that he didn’t speak to Akeson about the incident and praised his play earlier in the game.

The uplifting speeches were left up to teammates.

“He’s just trying to make a hard play,” Wayne Simmonds said. “He’s trying to hit and he ends up falling down and his stick comes up. You have to have short memories in this game. If you don’t, things eat at you.”

• • •

Flyers coach Craig Berube said before Thursday night’s playoff opener that injured No. 1 goalie Steve Mason would join the team in New York Friday, although the Flyers weren’t scheduled to practice that day.

Shortly afterward, it was learned Mason was on a train bound for New York. He arrived in time to see Game 1, and although there is no real medical update on him outside of Berube saying “he’s getting better,” Mason may skate Friday and will likely practice with the club at Madison Square Garden Saturday.

“I’m very encouraged,” Berube said of Mason. “That’s a very good sign. We’re very happy to have him back.”

There has been no reclassification of Mason’s injury other than “upper body.”

• • •

The Flyers had Zac Rinaldo back on a fourth line after he missed the final four games of the regular season due to a suspension.

Rinaldo’s presence in the lineup is always entertaining in New York, since one of his Philly predecessors in the agitator category, Dan Carcillo, has made it his business recently to frequently get in Rinaldo’s face when the Flyers and Rangers meet.

Lo and behold, Carcillo was a healthy scratch for Game 1. That didn’t deter him from adding to the hype.

“I think everybody knows the rivalry and everybody knows that it’s going to be heated,” Carcillo said. “We met in games in the regular season, and we know what to expect. It’s not a surprise what the Flyers are all about.”

Of course, Carcillo knows exactly what the Flyers are about. He was a popular fourth-line player for then-coach Peter Laviolette’s team that went to the Stanley Cup finals in 2010.

Carcillo, who played with the Flyers for parts of three seasons, had Berube has an assistant coach who understood his role then.

“I think Craig’s a lot different than Peter,” he said, “so obviously they’re going to have different coaching mentalities.”

For Rinaldo, though, Berube’s thought is that a player who forechecks and annoys for a living has to toe a fine line. That’s something Rinaldo is still trying to perfect. At 29, Carcillo has a little more experience at doing that.

“I think that just comes with experience, knowing where to draw that line and not stepping over it, especially in a series where a penalty can be the difference,” Carcillo said. “With years of experience, you’re able to control your emotions more to feel out when you need to get on them and when you need to play hockey.”



Carcillo, Rinaldo are in some ways mirror Images

Tim Panaccio

April 17, 2014, 2:00 pm

NEW YORK - Don’t let your emotions get the better of you.

That has been a topic of conversation all week by both the Flyers and Rangers as Game 1 of the playoffs open Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

“It’s about playing between the whistles and not getting frustrated into taking undisciplined penalties,” Flyers coach Craig Berube emphasized this week.

Feisty Rangers forward Daniel “Carbomb” Carcillo appeared to be going into the lineup tonight for Jesper Fast, when Fast was given the morning skate off, but Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said not to read into it.

Whether he plays or not, Carcillo is the kind of player who might tangle with someone like Zac Rinaldo at some point in this series.

In many ways, Rinaldo is a younger version of Carcillo, the former Flyer.

Carcillo and Rinaldo twice mixed it up on March 1 when the Flyers defeated the Rangers 4-2 at Wells Fargo Center.

“I don’t recall what got it started, but they are big and they are young and they play a hard game,” Carcillo said. “We have to play our game and not get caught up in the stuff after the whistles.”

Rinaldo, at age 23, is six years younger than Carcillo.

Rinaldo will be back in the lineup tonight after sitting out the final four games of the regular season with a suspension for an illegal hit.

Carcillo says Rinaldo is still learning where the line is and how to influence referees so they don’t see him as someone who’s automatically guilty on the ice.

“With experience comes a little bit of wisdom and you learn when the team needs you to be like that,” Carcillo said. “This time of year, your team does not need you to be like that. You play whistle to whistle and finish your checks.

“Everybody knows that he is going to do that, and I am going to do that. There’s certain guys in this series that will do that all the time. After the whistle stuff, you can’t entertain it.

“His suspensions and stuff, you can see he is still trying to figure it out. It comes with time. You learn what you can do and, hopefully, get some refs on your side which is probably the hardest thing to do.”

Of course, that’s easy to say now. Everyone knows it was Carcillo’s fight against Max Talbot in Game 6 of the 2009 quarterfinals against the Penguins that turned the game around. The Flyers were coasting along, 3-0, when Carcillo beat up Talbot pretty badly. Pittsburgh was so incensed it rallied to win the game, 5-3, and clinched the series in six games.

Sidney Crosby later said Talbot sacrificing himself to Carcillo was the single biggest turning point to the Penguins eventually winning the Stanley Cup.

Rinaldo, who did a pretty good job most of the season drawing penalties instead of taking them, said he’s tried to help his reputation with the officials this season.

“The refs will be a factor who wins and loses a game,” he said. “That was my whole battle even in juniors. Refs didn’t know how I was personally. They just thought I was a goof on the ice, an ass on the ice and an ass off the ice.

“This year, especially, I talked to the refs as a person, as a hockey player-athlete. This was my biggest year stretching the refs out and having them feel me out as a person. Not just as an agitator or hockey player.”

Scott Hartnell said discipline in the series is pivotal, and the Flyers know the officials are going to be watching them extra carefully.

“We haven’t played these guys in the playoffs,” he said. “It’s going to be electric in here and we’re going to have to feed off that and try to

ruin New York’s night – coming out with a simple, hard game.

“Especially myself, you have to play on that edge and be physical. Obviously, between the whistles, nothing up high in the face. Both power plays are dangerous. The team with the cooler heads after the whistles will be rewarded.”

Flyers coach Craig Berube has already gone over that with his team more than once this week.

“If I look at differently as regular season versus playoffs, then I’ll get all [bleeped]-up,” Rinaldo said. “If I just keep it as playing the same way in the regular season and bring it to the playoffs, I think I’ll be all right.”



Injury Update: Mason to join Flyers in New York

Tim Panaccio

April 17, 2014, 1:00 pm

NEW YORK -- Flyers goalie Steve Mason (head injury) won’t be playing in Game 1 and is not currently in Manhattan with teammates. One of those things is about to change.

Coach Craig Berube said Thursday morning that his goaltender has made some improvement and will be joining the club in New York on Friday.

Game 2 at Madison Square Garden is slated for Sunday at noon. Ray Emery will start the series Thursday night for the Flyers.

Could Mason play Game 2?

“I don’t know about that,” Berube replied, adding that Mason would not be working out in Voorhees on Friday.

The Flyers are “off” on Friday but will practice on Saturday. Mason coming to New York would indicate he’ll take practice and see how he feels for Game 2.

Mason appeared to suffer whiplash and/or a possible concussion last weekend in Pittsburgh after Penguins forward Jayson Megna drilled Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald into Mason in the second period, sending the goaltender tumbling backwards into the net.

He struck his head on the ice, as well as his right shoulder.



Offensive woes continue for Flyers

Anthony Coppola, CHL 11 p.m. EDT April 17, 2014

NEW YORK – Goals continue to be something increasingly hard to come by for the Flyers when facing the rival Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

That fact was painfully clear again Thursday night when Philadelphia opened Game 1 of its Metropolitan Division Semifinal clash against New York with a thud, losing 4-1 to fall behind early in the best-of-seven series.

The Flyers barely tested Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, throwing just 15 shots at the New York netminder, including only one in the final period. Defenseman Andrew MacDonald accounted for Philadelphia’s lone goal, as his shot from the point changed directions and beat Lundqvist to give the Flyers a brief 1-0 lead at the 7-minute, 28-second mark of the first period.

From there, offensive production was a major struggle for the orange and black. That’s nothing new for the team lately when traveling to New York. Philadelphia managed just two goals in a pair of road losses to the Rangers during the regular season.

“Obviously, you get a goal fairly early and hopefully you can build off it,” MacDonald said. “We did some good things in the first, but so did they. It was a pretty even first. It kind of seemed as the game went on our play fell off, and it certainly showed on the scoreboard.”

Chipping pucks in behind the Rangers defense and using an aggressive forecheck is a strategy the Flyers talked extensively about using to try and halt New York’s now nine-game home win streak over Philadelphia. Though the Flyers found some success pressuring the Rangers’ blue line in the first period, it was not an area of the game they were able to sustain in Thursday’s series opener.

“I don’t think we had good enough support,” Flyers wing Wayne Simmonds said. “As soon as we got pucks in, it seemed like they had three guys to our two. So, we have to figure that out.”

Philadelphia credited the Rangers defense for making the adjustment and Simmonds added the Flyers don’t plan on bailing on their intent to continue to try and pound New York’s back line with the forecheck.

“You can’t carry the puck into the zone if they’re in your face,” Simmonds said.

Flyers coach Craig Berube was pleased with his team’s jump to start Game 1, but also noted the inability to sustain pressure against New York.

“I thought our forecheck was good in the first period. I thought we did a good job getting in there, being physical, getting pucks,” Berube said. “We let them block too many shots in the first period and didn’t get enough through to the net. I didn’t think we forechecked very well after that.”

If Philadelphia sputters again on offense in Game 2 on Sunday, the team could find itself in a dangerous hole. The Flyers know Thursday’s output isn’t going to cut it.

“Obviously it’s frustrating,” Simmonds said. “You’re not going to beat Lundqvist with 15 shots, that’s for sure.”

That improvement needs to start with Philadelphia’s top line of Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and Jake Voracek. The trio combined for no shots on Thursday.

“They didn’t shoot pucks, they didn’t get shots on net, they didn’t attack,” Berube said of his first-line forwards.

Now the pressure is on the Flyers to respond Sunday and bring the series back to Philadelphia tied 1-1.

“You look at the game, we didn’t get a lot of shots, but we did a lot of good things and there is a reason why there are seven games,” Giroux said.

Courier-Post LOADED: 04.18.2014


Flyers give up 3 goals in third in loss

Dave Isaac, CHL 11 p.m. EDT April 17, 2014

NEW YORK – Jason Akeson thought all was going well, sans some butterflies in the first few shifts of his playoff debut.

By the third period, things went horribly wrong for the rookie who hasn’t been on the team for a full week yet.

What started out as a great shift, and blocking a slapshot from John Moore at the point, ended with him taking a four-minute high-sticking penalty.

The New York Rangers scored twice on the ensuing power play, fueling them to a 4-1 win over the Flyers in Game 1.

“I went to hit him and my back leg kind of swung out,” said Akeson, called up for the last game of the regular season. “I don’t know what happened. I think I got hit or something. My stick came up. It was obviously unfortunate.”

Carl Hagelin was cut on the play, so the Rangers got double the power-play time. Brad Richards and Derek Stepan both lit the lamp, making Akeson feel even worse.

“He’s just trying to make a hard play,” Wayne Simmonds said. “He’s trying to hit. He ends up falling down, and his stick comes up. You’ve got to have short memories in this game. If you dwell on things too long, they’ll eat at you. I went up to Akeson and told him, ‘Have a short memory.’ I think that’s the best thing you can have in this game.”

While they’re at it, the Flyers would like to forget most of the game as well.

They never got a forecheck going, giving them no prayer of helping goalie Ray Emery, who made 32 saves on the night.

Andrew MacDonald gave the Flyers a lead 7:28 into the game, temporarily masking the fact that Emery was under siege for most of the contest.

Mats Zuccarello scored on his own rebound to tie the game at 10:53 of the first period. Emery held the Flyers in the game until four third-period penalties sealed their fate.

“I thought we were in a good position to start the third and obviously we’d like to have a better third period,” Emery said. “It’s a long series. We came in here for two games. We’ve got to get one. We’d like to get one. I thought it might be that one going into the third. We’ll refocus for the next one.”

All the talk leading up to the game was about how much of a drop-off there would be between the injured Steve Mason and Emery.

As it turns out, the goalie was the best player despite an ugly score.

“I thought he did a great job,” said Andrew MacDonald, who scored the Flyers’ only goal. “Even after the power plays they had, the two goals they had were backdoor tap-ins and there’s nothing he could have done about them. I thought he did a great job. Obviously, we have a lot of confidence in him. He did the job for us.”

The Flyers’ 15 shots on net – including just one in the third period – was nowhere near enough to beat Henrik Lundqvist multiple times. It was their lowest shot total in a playoff game since 2008.

The best pressure they had was when MacDonald scored his first career playoff tally. Scott Hartnell crushed Ryan McDonagh with a hit in the corner, forcing a turnover.

“He got the puck to me and I had some time to shoot,” MacDonald said. “I looked up and saw we had some guys going to the net. I think it was a deflection off (Martin) St. Louis’ stick up high and the puck ended up going high and in on Lundqvist.”

For most of the game’s remainder, the Rangers had the puck on a sheet of ice that was tilted toward Emery.

“As D, we’ve got to get back quicker to pucks, make better plays in the neutral zone, control gaps better,” MacDonald said. “These things are very correctable and (things) we’re capable of doing.”

With the loss, the Flyers fall to 4-10 in the first games of playoff series since 2006. In the previous nine losses, the Flyers came back to win the series four times.

“That’s the beauty of this sport,” Akeson said. “There’s still six more games that we can win (the series). It’s not down to one game. We’re just going to look forward to the next one.”

Of course, the Flyers will need to change a lot more than a high-sticking penalty if they’re going to be more successful in Game 2.

“I’ve only been here a little while, but I’ve got a lot of confidence in a lot of these guys here,” Akeson said. “They’re all really good players and I’m certain that we’ll bounce back.”



Emery gets no help as Flyers fall

Dave IsaacCourier-Post 9:51 p.m. EDT April 17, 2014

NEW YORK – All the talk the past few days was how big the drop off would be with Steve Mason injured and Ray Emery forced into the starting role in a playoff series with the New York Rangers.

As it turned out, Emery was the best Flyer despite an ugly score. Three third-period goals helped the Rangers to a 4-1 win in Game 1. The killer was a double-minor to rookie Jason Akeson in the third period that New York took full advantage of.

The Rangers had an early power play and the Flyers held them to only one shot. Emery was sharp in making saves on the game’s first four shots, all from the Rangers. They got early pressure at even strength, also.

Finally, the Flyers had puck possession in the New York end. They kept playing a dump-and-chase game and Scott Hartnell played the latter role. He went into the corner, leveled Ryan McDonagh with a clean hit, retrieved the puck and passed it to Andrew MacDonald at the point.

MacDonald, who is fresh off a six-year, $30 million extension, fired the puck on net and it deflected off a Ranger and past Henrik Lundqvist. The goal at 7:28 was MacDonald’s first career playoff tally. His only prior experience was four games with the New York Islanders last season.

“Hartsy obviously made a great pass from the corner and I just tried to take the lane on the weak side,” MacDonald said. “He got the puck to me and I had some time to shoot. I looked up and saw we had some guys going to the net. I think it was a deflection off (Martin) St. Louis’ stick up high and the puck ended up going high and in on Lundqvist.”

The Flyers’ lead was short-lived. New York really owned the first period. They had a 14-6 lead in shots and carried the puck a ton in the first stanza. When the Flyers did manage to possess the puck, they forced Lundqvist to make difficult saves. That wasn’t enough to keep the Rangers off the board, though.

New York tied it at 10:53 when Mats Zuccarello scored on a rebound. His initial shot hit Kimmo Timonen, who was battling at the side of Emery’s net with Benoit Pouliot. Zuccarello, who led the Rangers in points in the regular season, beat Emery 5-hole.

Late in the period the Flyers had a great chance to get the lead back, but time expired and that momentum was lost. New York took it back in the second period.

From the early stages of the second stanza, the Flyers were playing with fire. They made two high-risk passes in their own zone and lived to tell about it. Still, the ice seem tilted toward Emery and the Flyers were unable to get organized.

Emery erased quite a few mistakes by his teammates in their own zone. Somehow, the Flyers escaped the period without the Rangers taking the lead.

Early in the third period, the Flyers were given a power play, but couldn’t convert on the man advantage with McDonagh in the box. Even on the penalty kill, the Rangers were faster than the Flyers.

The Flyers didn’t even register a shot until the 7:13 mark of the period. At 12:25, Akeson tried throwing a hit on Carl Hagelin and lost the physical battle and high-sticked the Ranger for a four-minute penalty since Hagelin drew blood.

Less than a minute into the power play, Brad Richards had a rebound pop out to him with no Flyer there to defend and he beat Emery high glove side for his 29th career playoff goal.

Derek Stepan scored on the same power play to make it a two-goal game. He also didn’t have much trouble in the Flyers’ zone. No one was anywhere near him on the penalty kill, which had been strong heading into the playoffs.

The quicksand continued when Hagelin scored on a rebound with 4:08 left in the game. Kimmo Timonen had hit the post at the other end before the

Rangers went blazing the other way and Hagelin scored on a rebound. A penalty to Zac Rinaldo had just expired.

For all the energy the Flyers were forced to expend in their own end in the first two periods, they had nothing left in the third period. Emery made 32 saves on the night, but got no help at the other end of the ice.

Without any pressure, Flyers shots were a rarity. They finished with 15, which is nowhere near enough to beat Lundqvist and the Rangers in a playoff game.



FLYER NOTES: Lecavalier pushing friendships aside

Dave Isaac, CHL 7:38 p.m. EDT April 17, 2014

NEW YORK — This is Vinny Lecavalier’s sixth trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Ten years ago, it ended quite well.

He raised hockey’s holy grail with the Tampa Bay Lightning and teammates Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis.

A decade later, Richards and St. Louis moved way up north with the New York Rangers and Lecavalier landed with the Flyers.

“Skating around that night with the Cup, we thought we’d be there forever,” Richards said. “The salary-cap world came in and within two years, that whole team was blown up. We always wanted to win it, but going into the lockout where no one knew the landscape, lots of players had to get dispersed everywhere. That’s the life we live in now.”

Although a championship ring is forever a bond between players, Lecavalier and Richards go back much, much further than the 2004 playoffs.

“We played high school together,” Lecavalier said. “Then we played juniors together then we played NHL together. We’re very good friends. With Marty, I played with him for 12 years. He played against my brother in college. We go way back, as well.”

The three keep tabs on each other. Lecavalier was texting Richards the day of the trade deadline saying he couldn’t believe that St. Louis, the last remaining member of that Stanley Cup team, was also getting shipped out.

“It’s funny in hockey. Things can change quickly,” Lecavalier said. “It was a lockout year and then we came back and there’s five, six, seven, eight guys that weren’t there. It’s part of hockey. It’s part of the business, I guess. You’ve got to move on.”

As a veteran of 15 NHL seasons, that’s not so hard for Lecavalier anymore. Playing against his buddies is old hat, even if it means they probably won’t talk much over the course of a couple weeks.

“This is a playoff series,” Lecavalier said. “We’re playing a game and I want to win. I’m sure they’d answer the same question, they want to win. I’m gonna play hard on them and I’m sure they’d say the same thing.”

The upside of a friend being the opposition is not doing much background research or video review. All the moves and style of play look pretty familiar.

“I haven’t tracked what he does on the ice that much,” Richards said. “I’ve seen him play since I was 14. I don’t have a lot of time to watch his shifts anymore. I know what he’s doing.”

• Mason rejoins Flyers: Injured goalie Steve Mason feels better. He didn’t feel well enough to practice Wednesday with the team, but he took a train to New York Thursday afternoon. The goalie will reportedly skate today.

“I’m very encouraged,” Berube said. “That’s a very good sign. We’re very happy to have him back.”

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren wouldn’t confirm that Mason, 25, suffered a concussion last weekend. Pittsburgh forward Jason Megna tossed defenseman Andrew MacDonald into his own goalie and Mason hit the back of his head on the ice after the contact.

Berube said Mason’s status for Game 2 Sunday is still unclear.

• Voracek, Hartnell create black beard club: Jake Voracek couldn’t help but crack a smile. He knows how odd his facial hair looks. The redhead dyed his beard dark a couple days ago and his linemate, Scott Hartnell decided to join him in a sign of solidarity.

“I couldn’t let him do it alone,” Scott Hartnell said. “After dinner (Wednesday night) I went to the drug store and got some Just For Men. I don’t know if it will catch on with the team, but I couldn’t let him be alone in doing it.”

Don’t expect the third member of the top line, Giroux, to have his membership card stamped anytime soon.

“Right now it’s a, ‘no,’” said Giroux, who similarly dyed his mustache a couple seasons ago. “It’s a tough look.”

• Injury report: Chris VandeVelde was a healthy scratch for the Flyers in Game 1 as were defensemen Hal Gill and Erik Gustafsson. Steve Downie is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. … Former Flyer Dan Carcillo was a healthy scratch for the Rangers.



Akeson's first trip to New York City is for playoff debut

Dave Isaac, Courier-Post 1:01 p.m. EDT April 17, 2014

NEW YORK — As the Flyers train pulled up to New York, Jason Akeson's eyes widened.

"Skyscraper after skyscraper," the 23-year-old winger said. "It's crazy."

It had little to do with the biggest game of his young professional career or even his second NHL call-up. This is Akeson's first time in the Big Apple.

"It's pretty crazy," said Akeson, who leads the Adirondack Phantoms in points by nearly 30 and was called up to the Flyers last Saturday night. "The whole turn of events that happened in the last couple of days is something I'll never forget. That's for sure. Just hoping I'm taking this opportunity and running with it."

It was a one-game audition this season, in a meaningless Game 82, which told Craig Berube Jason Akeson is ready for the playoffs. Akeson's only other NHL experience was Game 82 last season, also when the team had nothing to play for.

In last year's game, Akeson had a goal on his first NHL shot. This time around, he fed Matt Read for a goal against the Carolina Hurricanes. Akeson will remain on that line with Read and Sean Couturier.

Usually it's a defensive trio they Flyers rely on heavily, despite the fact that the spot for Read and Couturier's linemate has been a revolving door all season. Akeson is aware that he'll be expected to play responsible defensively.

"Obviously I know these guys are great checking players," Akeson said. "At the same time they're very skilled and they can put the puck in the net. We've just got to stick to our game-plan and play the way we know we can."

A few days ago, he didn't think he'd be in this spot. He was even surprised he got brought up for the last game of the season.

"I didn't really foresee it coming, but now that it has come and I'm getting that opportunity, I want to take it and run with it," Akeson said.

"It kinda clicked in this morning when we were about to go on the ice. It's gameday. It's pretty cool. It was hard to believe for the last few days, but it's pretty fun."

As an Ottawa native, Akeson has been close friends for years with Claude Giroux. Although the captain pointed out that Akeson has playoff experience in the Ontario Hockey League with the Kitchner Rangers, the Stanley Cup playoffs are just a tad different.

"It's a little different. Just go out there and play the game," Giroux said. "If you try to look at the big picture and you try to do too much that's when you get in trouble."

Berube has shown enough trust to put Akeson on what's arguably his most important line. He's not expecting Akeson to find any trouble.

"I know he's a young guy who hasn't played a whole lot, but Akey will be fine," Berube said. "He's like everybody else. He's gonna be nervous. Everybody's gonna be nervous. That's the way it is. Like anybody else, get skating, get it in deep, take the body and play. He's no different than anybody else."

STEVE MASON TO JOIN THE TEAM FRIDAY

Injured goalie Steve Mason feels better than he did Wednesday, when he didn't take part in practice, and will likely join the team Friday, according to Berube.

The coach said he didn't know yet if Mason would be available to play in Game 2 Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

Mason hasn't practiced with the team since Tuesday, when he was on the ice for about a half hour and left early as was the plan.

VORACEK, HARTNELL CREATE BLACK BEARD CLUB

Jake Voracek couldn't help but crack a smile. He knows how odd his facial hair looks. The redhead dyed his beard dark a couple days ago and his linemate, Scott Hartnell decided to join him in a sign of solidarity.

"I couldn't let him do it alone," Scott Hartnell said. "After dinner (Wednesday night) I went to the drug store and got some Just For Men. I don't know if it will catch on with the team, but I couldn't let him be alone in doing it."

Don't expect the third member of the top line, Giroux, to have his membership card stamped anytime soon.

"Right now it's a, 'no,'" said Giroux, who similarly dyed his mustache a couple seasons ago. "It's a tough look."



Game 1: Flyers — Rangers GAMEDAY

Dave Isaac, Courier-Post 9:02 a.m. EDT April 17, 2014

Tonight: Philadelphia Flyers (0-0) at New York Rangers (0-0)

Site: Madison Square Garden

Time: 7 p.m.

TV: Comcast Sports Net (Jim Jackson, Bill Clement & Steve Coates)

Radio: 97.5 FM, The Fanatic (Tim Saunders & Chris Therien)

Series so far: Tonight marks the first time in 17 years the Flyers will face the New York Rangers in a playoff series. New York has home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series with Game 2 coming Sunday afternoon.

FLYERS PROJECTED LINEUP

Forwards

19-Scott Hartnell (A), 28-Claude Giroux (C), 93-Jake Voracek

12-Michael Raffl, 10-Brayden Schenn, 17-Wayne Simmonds

24-Matt Read, 14-Sean Couturier, 42-Jason Akeson

36-Zac Rinaldo, 40-Vinny Lecavalier, 18-Adam Hall

Defensemen

44-Kimmo Timonen & 5-Braydon Coburn

8-Nick Grossmann & 32-Mark Streit

47-Andrew MacDonald & 22-Luke Schenn

Goalie

29-Ray Emery

RANGERS PROJECTED LINEUP

Forwards

61-Rick Nash, 21-Derek Stepan, 26-Martin St. Louis

67-Benoit Pouliot, 16-Derick Brassard, 36-Mats Zuccarello

62-Carl Hagelin, 19-Brad Richards, 12-Jesper Fast

22-Brian Boyle, 28-Dominic Moore, 15-Derek Dorsett

Defensemen

27-Ryan McDonagh & 5-Dan Girardi

18-Marc Staal & 6-Anton Stralman

17-John Moore & 8-Kevin Klein

Goalie

30-Henrik Lundqvist

TOP SCORERS (regular season)

Flyers: Claude Giroux (28-58-86); Jake Voracek (23-39-62); Wayne Simmonds (29-31-60); Scott Hartnell (20-32-52); Mark Streit (10-34-44).

Rangers: Mats Zuccarello (19-40-59); Derek Stepan (17-40-57); Brad Richards (20-31-51); Derick Brassard (18-27-45); Ryan McDonagh (14-29-43).

GOALIE STATS (regular season)

Flyers: Steve Mason (61 games, 33-18-7, 2.50 GAA, .917 save percentage); Ray Emery (27 games, 9-12-2, 2.96 GAA, .903 save percentage); Cal Heeter (1 game, 0-0-1, 4.69 GAA, .868 save percentage).

Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist (63 games, 33-24-5, 2.36 GAA, .920 save percentage); Cam Talbot (21 games, 12-6-1, 1.64 GAA, .941 save percentage).

FLYERS NOTES

The big story for the Flyers is Ray Emery being thrust into the starter's role. He is in because Steve Mason is day-to-day with an upper-body injury after Pittsburgh's Jayson Megna threw Andrew MacDonald into his own goalie. Emery is 7-2-0 in his career against the Rangers with a 1.87 goals-against average and .936 save percentage. ... Jason Akeson is set to make his NHL playoff debut on a line with Sean Couturier and Matt Read. Although the trio is still expected to be a shutdown line, Akeson adds some offense to the mix. ... The Flyers are 32-36 in franchise history in Game 1 of playoff games.

RANGERS NOTES

Henrik Lundqvist will be a big key for the Blueshirts. He has a 30-37 playoff record in his nine-year career, seven of which have involved playoff action. ... Defenseman Ryan McDonagh will play after suffering a shoulder injury. He'll remain on the top pair with Dan Girardi. ... Martin St. Louis was a key addition for New York at the trade deadline. In his career, the 38 year old has 33 goals and 35 assists in 63 career playoff games.

INJURIES

Flyers: D Chris Pronger is on injured reserve and will miss the entire season with post-concussion syndrome. ... G Steve Mason is day-to-day after suffering a head injury last Saturday in Pittsburgh.

Rangers: F Chris Kreider is out with a hand injury.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Friday: day off

Saturday: practice at Madison Square Garden, 12:30 p.m.

Sunday: Flyers at Rangers, 12 noon

Monday: practice at Skate Zone, 11:30 a.m.

Tuesday: Rangers at Flyers, 8 p.m.

Wednesday: day off

Thursday: practice at Skate Zone, 10:30 a.m.


741557 Phoenix Coyotes

Coyotes still wait for Martin Hanzal to play full year

Sarah McLellan, azcentral sports 7:03 p.m. MST April 17, 2014

When the Coyotes met one last time earlier this week before separating for the summer, they should have offered center Martin Hanzal a stash of bubble wrap after yet another injury-riddled season.

But finding a solution for the injury-prone 6-foot-6 pivot apparently isn't that easy.

"No, you can't do that," coach Dave Tippett said. "He's a good player when he's a hard, heavy player. That's who he has to be. If he doesn't play that way, he's not nearly as effective a player. We expect him to play hard, committed all the time. You just hope that the injury factor doesn't come into play."

In seven seasons of NHL work, Hanzal has yet to string together a complete 82-game campaign. He came close in 2009-10, dressing for 81 games, but since then, Hanzal has failed to top 65.

He reached that plateau this season, losing 15 games to injury and another two to suspension. During the lockout-shortened 2013 season, Hanzal missed only nine games. But from 2010 to 2012, he missed 21 games (including playoffs) in consecutive seasons.

Coyotes leaning toward a careful restructuring

"He's been on strength programs and back programs and groin programs," Tippett said. "There's lots of things you do. Some guys, for some reason, it just breaks down."

In comparison to his peers also drafted in the first round in 2005, Hanzal's 456 career games stand out as an established NHL career — one of approximately 15 from the top 30 who have accomplished that. But in contrast to other centers taken that round, his numbers fall short.

Anze Kopitar has 604 regular-season games on his record for the Los Angeles Kings, highlighted by five full seasons that include the one that just wrapped, but he has one more season in the league than Hanzal does.

Andrew Cogliano is a more appropriate example because he broke into the league at the same time as Hanzal and has never missed a game in seven seasons, splitting 540 games between the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks.

In fairness, although both of these centers do mix a shutdown role into their responsibilities, neither is counted on to be as physically persistent as Hanzal. And that's where these injuries seem to originate.

"I think it's the style of the game I play because I'm trying to be physical," Hanzal said. "I'm trying to get energy for the team. That's what happens."

It's unrealistic to expect the Coyotes to stop asking Hanzal to play that way. When he's been healthy, he's been one of their more valuable forwards because of his ability to be a net-front presence all the while shadowing the other big men up the middle in the Pacific Division, such as Kopitar and San Jose's Joe Thornton.

But when he's missing ice time, as he did for stretches after the Olympic break this past season when dealing with a groin injury, the Coyotes suffer.

"When Marty's on, he touches so many areas of the game and really when you look at the second half, he was a nonfactor in the games," General Manager Don Maloney said.

The team's frustration is certainly matched by Hanzal. He has no qualms carrying out this role for the team, but he, too, hopes he's able to play at full strength more of the time.

"I want to win," he said. "So that's all I'm going to do in the summer time is more thinking and more working out and how to get better."

Arizona Republic LOADED: 04.18.2014

741558 Phoenix Coyotes

NHL first-round playoff schedule

Staff

azcentral sports 3:47 p.m. MST April 17, 2014

The schedule for the first round of the playoffs (all times Arizona time, x-if necessary).

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Anaheim Ducks vs. Dallas Stars

April 18: at Anaheim, 7 p.m., NBC Sports Network

April 21: at Dallas, 6:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network

April 23: at Dallas, 5 p.m., CNBC

x-April 25: at Anaheim, 7:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network

x-April 27: at Dallas, TBD

x-April 29: at Anaheim, TBD

Colorado Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild

April 17: at Colorado, 6:30 p.m., CNBC

April 19: at Colorado, 6:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network

April 21: at Minnesota, 4 p.m., NHL Network

April 24: at Minnesota, 6:30 p.m., CNBC

x-April 26: at Colorado, TBD

x-April 28: at Minnesota, TBD

x-April 30: at Colorado, TBD

San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings

April 17: at San Jose, 7:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network

April 20: at San Jose, 7 p.m., NBC Sports Network

April 22: at Los Angeles, 7 p.m., NBC Sports Network

April 24: at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network

x-April 26: at San Jose, TBD

x-April 28: at Los Angeles, TBD

x-April 30: at San Jose, TBD

St. Louis Blues vs. Chicago Blackhawks

April 17: at St. Louis, 5 p.m., NBC Sports Network

April 19: at St. Louis, noon, NBC

April 21: at Chicago, 5:30 p.m., CNBC

April 23: at Chicago, 6:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network

x-April 25: at St. Louis, 5 p.m., NBC Sports Network

x-April 27: at Chicago, noon, NBC

x-April 29: at St. Louis, TBD

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings

April 18: at Boston, 4:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network

April 20, at Boston, noon, NBC

April 22: at Detroit, 4:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network

April 24: at Detroit, 5 p.m., NBC Sports Network

x-April 26: at Boston, noon, NBC

x-April 28: at Detroit, TBD

x-April 30: at Boston, TBD

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

April 19: at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m., NBC Sports Network

April 21: at Columbus, 4 p.m., NBC Sports Network

April 23: at Columbus, 4 p.m., NBC Sports Network

x-April 26: at Pittsburgh, TBD

x-April 28: at Columbus, TBD

x-April 30 at Pittsburgh, TBD

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens

April 18: at Tampa Bay, 4 p.m., CNBC

April 20: at Montreal, 4 p.m., NBC Sports Network

April 22: at Montreal, 4 p.m., NHL Network

x-April 24: at Tampa Bay, 4 p.m., CNBC

x-April 27: at Montreal, TBD, NBC Sports Network

x-April 29, at Tampa Bay, TBD

New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers

April 17: at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m., CNBC

April 20: at N.Y. Rangers, 9 a.m., NBC

April 22: at Philadelphia, 4 p.m., CNBC

April 25: at Philadelphia, 4 p.m., CNBC

x-April 27: at N.Y. Rangers, 9 a.m., NBC

x-April 29: at Philadelphia, TBD

x-April 30: at N.Y. Rangers, TBD

Arizona Republic LOADED: 04.18.2014

741559 Pittsburgh Penguins

Penguins' Bylsma and Blue Jackets' Richards know each other well

By Josh Yohe

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma and Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards possess an extra 24 hours to find an edge.

The additional day probably won't be enough.

Bylsma and Richards are so familiar with one another that uncovering any mysteries or vulnerabilities in their respective systems seems unlikely before the Penguins host the Blue Jackets in Game 2 of their first-round series Saturday at Consol Energy Center.

“They are so similar system-wise,” said Blue Jackets center Mark Letestu, who played under Bylsma in Pittsburgh. “Adjusting to the practice drills in Columbus wasn't a problem.”

Bylsma and Richards always will be connected.

Richards was the head coach at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton when he hired Bylsma as his assistant.

The two had success together before Richards moved on to become an assistant for the San Jose Sharks. He later became coach of the Minnesota Wild and now the Blue Jackets.

Bylsma had instant success after replace Mike Therrien as Penguins coach in 2009, while Richards appears to be coming into his own as a coach in his second stint.

The respect the duo has for one another is abundantly clear.

“I learned a lot from Dan,” Richards said. “Dan is a very smart man and a smart hockey guy.”

The two coached together in Wilkes-Barre, which creates familiarity.

However, Richards said the time spent with Bylsma and Penguins assistant coach Tony Granato during the past year was particularly valuable.

Bylsma, who coached Team USA in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, decided to tab Richards and Granato as assistants.

Some of the conversations the coaches had during preparation for the Olympics remain fresh in Richards' mind.

“We were speaking freely in those meetings,” Richards said. “I probably learned a lot more from that than in our time together (in Wilkes-Barre). Talking systems, you're able to pick up on things. It's the same for him too.”

The Penguins made some well-documented changes to their system entering the season, implementing a more controlled approach to neutral zone play.

Richards, with a slight smile, explained he is well aware of the changes Bylsma and new Penguins assistant coach Jacques Martin made.

“He's (Bylsma) talked about doing different things in the neutral zone,” said Richards, who said he has read accounts of changes to the Penguins' system.

“I know exactly what he is talking about.”

Letestu insists the two are similar in almost every conceivable way.

“I know they know each other well, and I can tell you that they're both really good at in-game adjustments,” Letestu said. “It's kind of a friendly battle, I guess. They're both player's coaches. I think Dan is more animated at times. He's just a louder personality. Todd's pretty reserved. But they're both a treat to play for.”

Bylsma often speaks fondly of Richards and still remembers when he spoke with Richards for the first time regarding the opening for the assistant coach job in Wilkes-Barre.

“I was standing in the sun porch of my brother-in-law's house in Chicago for the interview,” Bylsma said. “I pace a lot when I talk on the phone, so I had

to buy my brother-in-law a new carpet for his outdoor living space. I remember the interview quite vividly.”

Richards sounds like he remembers everything vividly that Bylsma says about hockey.

Bylsma, of course, knows his opponent just as well.

“I learned an awful lot,” Bylsma said of his time coaching with Richards.

The coaching showdown continues Saturday. It quite clearly remains a friendly showdown.

“It wasn't a fluke that we had success (together),” Richards said. “It was both of us working together. His personality and my personality, we worked well together.”

Tribune Review LOADED: 04.18.2014


Plum native Umberger inching closer to making return for Blue Jackets

By Craig Merz

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Hockey fans in Columbus consider Blue Jackets forward R.J. Umberger one of their own.

He played three seasons in the city at Ohio State (2001-03) before embarking on a professional career that took him to the Philadelphia Flyers before the Blue Jackets acquired him in a trade in June 2008.

Umberger cemented his relationship with the team's followers when he scored the first postseason goal in franchise history on April 16, 2009, against the Detroit Red Wings and he continues to live in Columbus in the offseason with his family.

But Umberger's heart originally belonged to the Penguins as boy growing up in Plum. He led the Mustangs to a state high school hockey title and has fond memories as a 9-year-old of watching on TV with his grandfather when the Penguins won their first Stanley Cup in 1991, then doing it again the following season.

“I watched till the end of the games and then I'd be going crazy as a kid,” he said. “It was the coolest thing in the world to me.”

So imagine how odd it was for Umberger to be sitting in the Consol Energy Center press box Wednesday because of an injury while his current team lost 4-3 to his former favorite club in Game 1 of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“It's kind of weird,” he said. “I'm watching the game and I hear the Pens chant and I go, ‘Wait a minute, I don't like that chant.'

“You grew up with it. It gets etched in your head, but you're sitting there like, ‘It's annoying.' It's a strange feeling. You grow to hate the team you grew up loving.”

It's a situation he hopes does not repeat Saturday in Game 2 on the Penguins' home ice. Umberger had a vigorous workout Thursday during the Blue Jackets' optional practice in Columbus and said he is close to returning from an upper-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup the past four games.

“We're going to see how practice goes Friday for R.J.,” Columbus coach Todd Richards said. “There's a possibility he can play in Game 2.”

Richards would love to have Umberger back in the lineup for his grit and veteran leadership, but there was a point not long ago that the coach had a different opinion of him.

Umberger was a healthy scratch for the first time in his NHL career March 20 at the Montreal Canadiens and sat three of the next six games.

Richards said at the time of the benching that he wanted Umberger to elevate his game, even though he was among the Blue Jackets' top scorers.

Umberger finished the regular season on an eight-game goal-less streak and has one in the past 12 games. With 18 goals, he barely missed scoring at least 20 goals in a season for the sixth time and fifth for Columbus.

That is behind him now as he awaits medical clearance.

“If it was up to me, I would have played last night,” he said Thursday. “Anybody who knows me knows how bad I want to be out there.”

Especially for a playoff game in Pittsburgh.

“I did it once with Philly (in 2008),” he said. “I lost in the semifinals there. You're that close to the Stanley Cup Final. It was hard.

“You want to go to your hometown. I've been getting a lot of calls and texts from people who are rooting us on. People who are diehard Penguins fans are saying they're actually rooting for us. It's good to see the people support you.”



Undersized rookie Gibbons is blur on ice for Penguins

By Chris Adamski

Updated 5 hours ago

Pure, elite-level straight-line speed can do a lot of things for a hockey player.

It can allow him to create turnovers and pressure anxious defensemen. It can allow him to make up for mistakes — and make for offensive opportunities.

World-class speed also can allow an otherwise undersized and moderately skilled player to catch the eyes of scouts, player-personnel types and coaches.

It even can induce the world's best player to campaign for you as a linemate.

“(High-level speed) is something that (Sidney Crosby) has always — always — wanted on his wings,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “And always wanted with the guys he's playing with.”

Crosby's wish, over the past four months largely has been granted in the name of Brian Gibbons. The 5-foot-8 Gibbons, a 26-year-old undrafted rookie, split time this season between the Penguins and AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Yet when he is on the NHL roster and active for a game, he more often than not finds himself on Crosby's right wing.

“Sid's a player that likes and needs his linemates to force the other team with their speed and with getting on defensemen,” Bylsma said Thursday, an off day for players following a 4-3 win against Columbus in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

“(Crosby is) able to read off (speedy wingers' forechecks), and read where the puck's going to go because of that speed. You see that with Pascal (Dupuis), and you certainly see that with Brian Gibbons. It's a situation where he forces other teams with his speed, forces them with the pressure he can put on the puck. And Sid is able to read off that.”

Crosby's longtime right winger, Dupuis, suffered a season-ending knee injury in late December. Since then, the player most often skating on the line with Crosby and left wing Chris Kunitz — when healthy — has been Gibbons.

At first glance, that might seem curious. The best way to take advantage of Crosby's skills — ones that made him the NHL scoring champion and presumptive MVP this season — is to use him with a player who appears to be a diminutive journeyman? Especially when a highly skilled, 6-foot-2 former first-round pick is an option?

Yes — says no better authority than the highly-skilled, 6-foot-2 former first-round pick who began Wednesday's game on Crosby's line but was swapped out for Gibbons after the Crosby-Kunitz line had a pedestrian first period.

“Gibby is much faster than me, so he fits in with those guys really well,” Beau Bennett said.

No player on the team is faster than Gibbons, Byslma said, and he can create havoc on the forecheck and force opponents into mistakes.

“It's definitely one way to… get in position on (an opponent) and then use your speed to kind of get a good angle on them if they're not ready for that speed or just have a bad gap or something like that,” Gibbons said. “Even little things, before the play or if they're not ready for it, that's when (speed) comes into play.

“You've just got to use your strengths and play to your strengths. And my strength is my speed, so I try to use it.”



Pens insider: Penalty killing a concern in Stanley Cup playoffs

By Josh Yohe

The Penguins have a problem.

They are heavily reliant on their special teams — they're statistically average, hardly Stanley Cup-caliber, in five-on-five play this season — but are being betrayed by a historical strength.

Something happened to the Penguins' penalty killing during the Olympic break, and it hasn't been fixed.

Before the break, the Penguins were killing 86.7 percent of their penalties, an outstanding number. Since returning Feb. 27, they have killed only 80.2 percent of their penalties.

The Penguins have allowed a power-play goal in 12 of their past 20 games.

“It is definitely a concern,” right wing Craig Adams said.

Of the 16 teams to qualify for the postseason, the Penguins rank 12th in even-strength scoring differential, making special teams' domination a necessity this spring.

Adams, one of the Penguins' top penalty killers, said players and the coaching staff are “trying to identify” the recent problems.

The loss of right wing Pascal Dupuis was a damaging blow to the penalty-killing unit. With Dupuis in the lineup, the Penguins killed 87.5 percent of their penalties, which was on pace to give the Penguins their second-best penalty-killing season in franchise history.

Without Dupuis, who sustained a season-ending knee injury Dec. 23, the Penguins have killed just 82.5 percent of their penalties.

The penalty-killing unit has deteriorated since the Olympics.

“We were very good up until then,” Adams said.

Adams said he believes the Penguins' penchant for turning the puck over is the primary reason for the decline in penalty kill percentage.

Defenseman Brooks Orpik's turnover led to Columbus center Mark Letestu's power-play goal in Game 1 of the first-round series Wednesday.

“We aren't getting clears when we have the chance,” Adams said. “There will always be times when it's a 50/50 situation and you get the puck out. But there have been times when we have clear control and we're still not getting it out. That's a problem.”

It's a problem that needs solved quickly.



Penguins notebook: Playoff series could trigger rivalry at last

April 17, 2014 11:05 PM

By Shelly Anderson and Dave Molinari / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Game 1 of the Penguins-Columbus playoff series Wednesday wasn't particularly nasty, although it was physical with a combined 75 hits.

By the time the series ends, the teams that play in arenas less than 200 miles apart might inject more emotion into future meetings. Until this season, they were in opposite conferences and played only once or twice a season, if that, and never in the postseason.

The Blue Jackets have moved to the Eastern Conference under NHL realignment and share the Metropolitan Division with the Penguins.

They met five times in the regular season, as many games as the previous four seasons combined.

The Penguins swept those five games, though, and animosity wasn't at a particularly high level.

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma, who played for Los Angeles and Anaheim, believes that, even when teams are close geographically, it sometimes takes a playoff showdown to spark a real rivalry.

"Having them in our division for the first time this year, the proximity, you want to build a rivalry right off the hop," Bylsma said. "I'm not sure -- having played in a place like Anaheim and LA -- you get it without getting a playoff matchup. Once you get that animosity of the playoffs, you're going to have a rivalry."

Columbus center Mark Letestu, who broke into the NHL with the Penguins, agreed.

"This was missing from it -- the playoff series, the moments you can draw back on to make it a rivalry," he said.

"This was needed and, hopefully, this turns it into one."

Penguins fans have flooded the Nationwide Arena stands when the teams have met in Columbus. The Blue Jackets have attempted to stem that flow for this series, which resumes with Game 2 Saturday at Consol Energy Center before shifting west.

For several days, they restricted sales of tickets to Games 3 and 4 to Ohio residents. They announced Thursday they will do the same thing when tickets for a potential Game 6 go on sale next week.

Penguins winger James Neal doesn't blame Columbus for that tactic, but he's not sure it will work.

"I agree with that. Why wouldn't you?" he said of the restriction. "But I think there are a lot of Pittsburgh people who have moved to Ohio. Our fan base is awesome.

"Every building we travel to, it's packed [with Penguins fans]. We enjoy it. We love playing in front of them."

Gibbons' speed suits Crosby

Brian Gibbons replaced Beau Bennett on Sidney Crosby's right side in Game 1, a 4-3 Penguins win and just might hold onto that spot for a while.

Bylsma said Thursday that Gibbons is "the fastest guy on our team," and speed is a quality Crosby craves in his linemates.

"Sid's a player who likes and needs his line and his linemates to force the other team with their speed and with getting on defensemen and being able to read off that," Bylsma said.

"[Gibbons] forces other teams with his speed, forces them with the pressure he can put on the puck. Sid is able to read off that.

"That's something he's always wanted on his wings."

Faceoff issues

The Penguins struggled mightily on faceoffs during the first period of Game 1, winning 7 of 23 (30 percent), but rebounded over the final 40 minutes to finish 40-31 (56 percent).

Bylsma volunteered that "we got drubbed in the first period pretty badly," although he said three of their losses came when a Penguins center intentionally tried to go forward with the puck, rather than pulling back toward a teammate.

He said the success rate improved as coaches got a feel for how individual matchups were playing out, and that as the game progressed, the Penguins did a better job of recovering "50-50" pucks that weren't cleanly controlled by either side.

"We were better with that as the game went on," he said. "Our second and third periods were a lot better."

Columbus coach Todd Richards had a different view.

"I don't think it's the matchups; I think it's the mentality of the faceoffs," he said.

Tip-ins

The Penguins did not hold a practice Thursday. The Blue Jackets, who flew home after Game 1 with two days between games, held an optional practice. ... Injured wingers R.J. Umberger (unspecified) and Nick Foligno (knee) were among those who practiced in Columbus. Umberger, a Plum native, might play Saturday depending on how practice goes for him today, but Foligno won't. ... Crosby had the top-selling jersey via the NHL's web sales this season. Also in the top 25 were Evgeni Malkin (eighth) and Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (25th).

Post Gazette LOADED: 04.18.2014


Ryan Johansen's skills keep Penguins on full alert

April 17, 2014 11:01 PM

By Shelly Anderson / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Ryan Johansen's playoff debut wasn't a big splash, but the Penguins will remain wary of Columbus' strapping top-line center for the rest of their first-round playoff series.

Johansen, 21, had a breakout season, leading the Blue Jackets with 33 goals and 63 points. In Game 1 Wednesday, a 4-3 Penguins win, Johansen had no points, three shots and three of his team's 48 hits. He also blocked two shots, won 10 of 21 faceoffs and had a plus-minus rating of minus-1.

"For guys like myself, we've got to work extra hard if we want to make skill plays, to make time and space for ourselves," was Johansen's take on his first taste of the playoffs.

"Even though we lost, I enjoyed [the game]. It was a good experience."

The Penguins plan to keep a close watch and close gap on Johansen, the fourth overall pick in the 2010 draft who did not reach double figures in goals in either of his first two NHL seasons and split last season between the NHL and the American Hockey League.

"He's got skill," Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen said. "That didn't jump out the first couple of games I played against him a couple of years ago. You could tell he was an NHL player, but I didn't know at that time that he would be capable of this. He's turned out to be a good No. 1 center.

"He can really skate, and he can play at a high pace. He's got really good skill. And he's got a pretty good nose for the net, too. He knows what areas to be in. He's got a knack for finishing.

"He's going to be a handful this series."

The other top-line center in this series has a strong impression of Johansen, too.

Asked if Johansen reminded him of anyone else in the NHL, Sidney Crosby thought for a couple of seconds and came up with Penguins teammate and noted sniper James Neal because of a shared ability to wind up and shoot in traffic.

"Those two guys, you feel like you're pretty close and they get a great shot off," Crosby said. "You don't know how they do it. He's one of those guys. He sees the ice really well, too, so you can't get caught up chasing him too much [or] he's going to find other guys.

"All around, he's really solid. He's got a lot of size, too."

Johansen is 6 feet 3, 226 pounds. He can play with a physical edge -- he had 114 hits in the regular season -- and he's durable. He was one of three Columbus players to appear in all 82 games.

His size is apparent at times in his heavy shot -- "It's got a lot behind it," Crosby said -- but it helps in other ways, too.

"He's starting to realize how big and strong he really is," Blue Jackets defenseman James Wisniewski said. "A lot of times when you have that you can hold onto the puck a little bit more, use his big butt in the corner. It's going to take a pretty strong guy to knock him off the puck."

Johansen saw other forwards selected in the top 10 of his draft class -- Carolina's Jeff Skinner, Edmonton's Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin, now with Dallas -- make an impact more quickly, and that pushed him toward his breakout season.

"I was a step behind in the producing part of it," Johansen said. "It was a big motivation for me this year to put the puck in the net. I think I learned the defensive game well first. Looking back at last year, I thought I did a really good job of playing that checking role and playing in my own zone. This year I'm starting to take over in the offensive zone, which is nice for a skill player to finally do."



Ron Cook: All eyes on Marc-Andre Fleury once again

April 17, 2014 10:22 PM

By Ron Cook / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Laughed out loud Thursday when ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose described Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury as being under more pressure than anyone in the United States.

Melrose was kidding, right?

Maybe not.

There's no arguing the Penguins will be the most scrutinized team in these Stanley Cup playoffs for as long as they last. You're always going to be closely watched if you have the best player in the world, which the Penguins do with Sidney Crosby. There's also no arguing Fleury is facing more pressure than anyone on the hockey club. That goes with his position, No. 1. The heat always is hottest on the goaltender. But it's also because Fleury hasn't played well the past four postseasons. All eyes were on him Wednesday night when the Penguins faced the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 1 at Consol Energy Center. Many, including Melrose, who put the Penguins on "upset alert" because of Fleury's recent history, watched to see if he would fail again.

Fleury didn't.

After a rough start, he stopped the final 20 Columbus shots in a 4-3 win.

At least for one game, he stared down his demons.

"I'm so happy for him that he got the win," defenseman Matt Niskanen said. "It was good to see the smile back on his face. It had been a long time. Man, people were ready to run him out of town, weren't they?"

It seems like yesterday. Fleury, after making 79 consecutive postseason starts, was benched for Tomas Vokoun for Game 5 of the first-round series last spring against the New York Islanders. It was a brutal blow to Fleury's ego. He never got another start even though the Penguins made it to the Eastern Conference final. It was the fourth consecutive playoffs that his save percentage didn't reach .900, the second year in a row that his goals-against average was more than 3.50.

"I felt terrible that it all came down on his shoulders," Niskanen said. "Goals-against are a team statistic. I know I had something to do with it. We all did. We didn't play well in front of him."

The Penguins weren't all that great in front of Fleury Wednesday. Jack Johnson scored the first Columbus goal just 6:20 in when he was left alone for what seemed like hours in front of the net. Derek MacKenzie scored the third short-handed early in the second period on a breakaway after a horrible giveaway by defenseman Kris Letang.

At that point, the Blue Jackets had scored on their second, 12th and 14th shots to take a 3-1 lead. The big home crowd was tense, uneasy. It was hard to predict how Fleury would react. He was terrific in the regular season, winning 39 games and making a strong case as the Penguins' MVP. But he has always been good in the regular season. This was a much bigger moment, a much bigger stage with much brighter lights.

"There was no panic button," Niskanen said. "There was no pouting. There was nothing negative at all. He was just ... sharp."

Fleury admitted to feeling nerves before the puck dropped. "I did, yeah." He said it was fun to get back in goal for a playoff game but called it "stressful." He admitted to having to take a deep breath after MacKenzie's goal. "I tried to relax and stay calm and stay with it. Stop the next one and go from there. The more shots that came, the more comfortable I felt."

Fleury stopped Matt Calvert on a breakaway after Calvert blew by defenseman Olli Maatta in the final minute of the second period when it was 3-3. "They had already scored on a breakaway," Fleury said. "I tried to make sure I stopped one of them."

That save brought the "Fleu-ry! Fleu-ry!" chants from the crowd. So did his outstanding save on Ryan Murray with a minute to go. It must have

sounded like sweet, sweet music to Fleury. "It was a great feeling to get the win at the end," he said.

Fleury has been around a long time, 10 NHL seasons. He has more postseason wins (46) than any goaltender in these playoffs. His name is on the Stanley Cup because of his superb work in the 2009 playoffs.

You might guess Fleury isn't going to get carried away with one win. He certainly isn't taking anything for granted. He knows how quickly things can change for him and the Penguins. A year ago in that Islanders series, he pitched a 5-0 shutout in Game 1 and looked great. But the high didn't last long. He faced 42 shots in Game 2 and lost, 4-3, after the Penguins blew a 3-1 lead. He gave up a touchdown in a 6-4 loss in Game 4 and was done for the season as the team's go-to goaltender.

Fleury might have turned back those demons Wednesday night, but he knows they'll be back Saturday to take another crack at him in Game 2.

"One game at a time. ... One shot at a time," he said, quietly.

Fleury allowed himself a tired smile. He was right, it had been a stressful night. More such nights are ahead, many more, he is hoping. His smile was a combination of joy, exhaustion and relief. But mostly relief.

"It's nice to be up, 1-0, I can tell you that," Fleury said.



Third-line dance likely to continue for Penguins

April 17, 2014 10:18 PM

By Dave Molinari / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma entered Game 1 of the first-round playoff series against Columbus fully expecting to use more than one left winger on his third line.

He just didn't necessarily anticipate that Beau Bennett would be one of them.

Considering how Bennett fit in with Brandon Sutter and Lee Stempniak in the 4-3 victory Wednesday night against the Blue Jackets at Consol Energy Center, it's hard to imagine he won't be back there for Game 2 Saturday night.

Which doesn't mean the assignment will be permanent.

Tanner Glass opened the series on Sutter's left side because of his physicality and responsible defensive game, but Bylsma had been prepared to replace him with Brian Gibbons if circumstances called for an upgrade in speed and skill.

Ultimately, though, Bylsma decided to drop Glass to the fourth line and move Gibbons into the spot Bennett had been filling alongside Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz.

That freed Bennett to join Sutter and Stempniak, a unit that became one of the most successful experiments since Benjamin Franklin tied a key to a kite and took it outside during a rainstorm.

Bylsma said the rationale for using Bennett there was "very similar" to the logic behind the plan he'd had to deploy Gibbons on that line.

Bennett, though, made any further changes needless, at least in the opener.

In addition to scoring the power-play goal that rejuvenated the Penguins after they had slipped into a 3-1 hole, he teamed up with Sutter on a two-on-one break that culminated in Sutter's winning goal.

It's revealing, though, that after the Penguins had gone in front, Bylsma returned Glass to the third line for a shift to guard against the possibility of Columbus pulling even again. That's pretty good evidence that Bylsma won't be shy about swapping left wingers on that line, if circumstances demand it.

Unlike some teams, the Penguins don't cast their third line in a traditional shutdown role.

That's because pitting Sutter's unit against the opposition's top line could keep Sutter and his linemates on the ice for about 20 minutes every game, and those are 20 minutes that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, along with their linemates, would have to spend watching from the bench.

"That's definitely something to think about," Glass said. "Those guys have to get their minutes."

Because the Penguins want to get Crosby and Malkin as much ice time as is practical, the third line is counted on for a solid two-way game, rather than just the stifling defense it might be asked to provide if it were serving in a shutdown role.

That helps to explain the makeup of the line at the start of Game 1.

"They have some scoring on that line," assistant coach Tony Granato said. "They do have some speed on that line. They do have some physicality on that line. [They're] hard to play against, using all three of those parts of the game.

"Lee's one of those guys who's kind of a streaky scorer and who, when he gets in a rhythm offensively, is a pretty darned good offensive player. [Sutter] is another guy who can score some goals.

"Tanner is a guy who's going to crash and bang, and, hopefully, create a lot of net-front presence, and create some stuff on the forecheck. I think it's a good combination."

Even without scoring the winning goal, Sutter's performance in Game 1 was one of his best of 2013-14.

His regular season had been lackluster, perhaps in part because his wingers constantly changed.

The frequent turnover on both sides was, to some extent, a byproduct of the many injuries the Penguins had since training camp because third-liners often are the most qualified fill-ins available when a top-six forward is unable to play.

"With the injuries and stuff, that's been one of the difficult things [for Sutter] because, generally speaking, those are the guys who usually move up or move around," Granato said.

"[Sutter] has been in a position where he's had lots of different combinations. I think he understands that's part of being in that position."

He undoubtedly also realizes that, while the details of the third line's duties might vary depending on the game situation, its bottom-line mission stays the same, regardless of whether Bennett or Glass or anyone else is working on the left side.

"Just to be a line that tries to make a difference every time we're out there," Stempniak said.



Gene Collier: Game 1 looked very different

April 17, 2014 12:39 AM

By Gene Collier / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Wait, this is the playoffs?

Can’t be.

When it’s the playoffs, the Penguins score maybe two goals in a week and exit muttering toward the summer; they don’t score twice in 45 seconds and thrice in the first 40 minutes.

Two-Minute Warning: Penguins silence critics ... for now

Gene Collier has a few words for critics of the Penguins and a few criticisms for the football coach at Ohio State University. (Video by Melissa Tkach; 4/17/2014)

When it’s the playoffs, the Columbus Blue Jackets scatter to an array of beachfront communities; they don’t visit your town and ransack your house and throw your underwear out the window, among other indignities.

“They came hard; they forechecked hard and they were physical,” said Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen, who played such a critical role in the stabilization of Game 1. “In the third, we came out of our zone a little better. Worked the puck out. Their [defense was] pinching, so we knew at some point we’d catch them.”

When it’s the playoffs, the Penguins generally don’t suspect that something good is about to happen.

When it’s the playoffs, the on-ice officials generally display excellent vision and a robust understanding of the hockey rules; they don’t roam about tentatively as though they’re being introduced to the legal protocols of bull-riding.

This isn’t Wes McCauley’s first rodeo is it?

McCauley was the retreating zebra adjacent to Brandon Sutter as the Penguins centerman barreled unimpeded right down Fifth Avenue toward the Columbus net, or he was unimpeded until Fedor Tyutin impeded the snot of out him, raking him to the ice from behind in pretty much a perfect demonstrative seminar of that which results in a penalty shot.

But there was no penalty shot.

Worse, there was no penalty.

Two for mugging?

And yet there was, somehow, a penalty for Rob Scuderi, who had committed exactly one minor penalty all season, as it was determined the Penguins defenseman interfered with the Blue Jackets’ Matt Calvert in the neutral zone. That was fairly amazing as it appeared Calvert had not been interfered with so badly that he couldn’t put Scuderi in a headlock.

When it’s the playoffs, Marc-Andre Fleury often looks about as confident as a cat at a dog show; he doesn’t make back-to-back breath-taking saves in the closing seconds of a period to give the Penguins a chance to spring from a two-goal ditch back onto the postseason highway.

But there was Flower, stopping Mark Letestu at the doorstep with the score tied, 3-3, and 55 seconds left in the middle period, and the Flower was there again not 35 seconds later, when Calvert broke into the zone alone and swept toward the right post. Fleury went to his knees and plopped his right pad directly into the path of the shot that would have put Columbus ahead for the third time.

So really, this is the playoffs?

Can’t be.

When it’s the playoffs, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma stands accused not of maladjustment, but rather of non-adjustment, a strain of ostensible stubbornness disguised as allegiance to his system; he doesn’t shuffle the deck on line changes like a caffeine-pounding Vegas dealer.

But there was Beau Bennett, who had started on the top line, skating with Brandon Sutter on the third line that’s supposed to have a big production problem, and it was Sutter who rifled the winning goal in the third period as the Penguins took the opener of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal, 4-3.

“I thought we needed a little more on the first line next to Sid [Sidney Crosby] and Kuny [Chris Kunitz] after the first period,” Bylsma said. “I thought it was good for Beau Bennett as well to play with Sutter and [Lee] Stempniak. I thought Beau brought that a lot to the third line.”

Crosby appreciated the shuffling.

“Being down two goals, a lot of times you don’t get to correct the mistakes that put you in that situation,” Crosby said. “It was good that everybody stuck with it and it was great when the other power-play unit went out and got the goal to get us within one.”

That was when Niskanen fired one off Bennett’s stick and behind Sergei Bobrovsky to cut the lead to 3-2, and it was Niskanen again blasting away from the left circle to tie it.

“I wouldn’t say putting me on the power play made a lot of difference but I seemed to get some good looks at the net,” said Niskanen, who had a goal and an assist on the power play. “I was trying to find shooting lanes and was able to find Beau’s stick for a nice tip and then just a quick shot that I think surprised them.

“I got to play on the power play a little more [Wednesday night] than I anticipated, but I enjoyed it.”

Perhaps most importantly, Fleury enjoyed it as well. His stop on Ryan Murray with 63 seconds to play and the Penguins protecting that one-goal lead brought a chorus of chants from the assemblage.

When it’s the playoffs, they usually don’t chant “Fleur-ree, Fleur-ree.”

Wasn’t it “Vo-koun, Vo-koun?”

So these so-called playoffs looked suddenly very different.

Perhaps it’s a good thing.


741568 San Jose Sharks

Purdy: Torres' return worth the wait for Sharks

By Mark Purdy

Mercury News Columnist

Posted: 04/17/2014 11:33:45 PM PDT0 Comments | Updated: about 5 hours ago

SAN JOSE -- Raffi Torres scored the goal. Then he released.

In one celebratory moment, Torres released the frustration, the disappointment, the pent-up irritation, and who knows what else -- maybe little teal animals inside his brain scraping their fingernails across a chalkboard. He released it all.

Torres slid along the ice on one knee as the noise inside SAP Center built for the Sharks' 4-0 lead en route to their 6-3 victory Thursday in Game 1 against the Los Angeles Kings. First, Torres pulled his right elbow and fist back in a prolonged pose. He glided for several seconds toward the side boards. Then he shot the fist in the air.

"It's been a long year," he said afterward in the locker room. "It's nice to get in there and contribute ... I just wanted to be in there."

He wasn't there last year for almost all of the Kings-Sharks series, won by Los Angeles in seven. Remember? The only ice time Torres experienced was in the first game. Late in the second period, he slammed into the Kings' Jarret Stoll to draw a penalty. The NHL reviewed the hit, which put Stoll out of action for weeks, and suspended Torres for the rest of the series.

The Sharks thought the suspension was unfair. General manager Doug Wilson was fined by the NHL for criticizing the decision. Torres kept his mouth shut. But after the Sharks were eliminated, an underlying question was whether Torres in the lineup for all seven games instead of just one might have changed the result.

We'll never know. But the Sharks and Kings are so closely matched that the theory is not far-fetched. Torres' game is to collide with skill and create pain or soreness that might lead to an opponent being one step slower and giving up open space for a shot.

"Energy," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said, summing up the essence of Torres' game.

The energy was on hold for most of the winter, as well. Torres wrenched a knee during the preseason and needed surgery, sidelining him until Feb. 27. He came back for a five-game cameo through March 8, then returned to the injured list through the end of the regular season. He was officially back in the lineup only by Thursday morning.

So when he skated onto the rink at SAP Center, all of the stuff from the previous 12 months had to have built up, especially because this was against the Kings, especially because it was another playoff game. Right?

"If I think about all of that, it does nothing for me," Torres said. "I just concentrate on what I have to do. I love playing high-tempo hockey."

The rest of the Sharks played along with the same idea. Knowing that the Kings lead the NHL in hits, the Sharks were determined to make a statement out of the gate. The two teams weren't going to decide the series' toughest team over the first 20 minutes of the series -- but they made an attempt. They combined for 55 hits in the first period, 26 of them by the Sharks.

You can find hockey stats geeks who tell you that hits don't really matter in terms of goal production. But somehow, at the end of the first period with Torres and his teammates basically matching L.A. bang for bang, the Sharks held a 3-0 lead. Torres made it 4-0 and the margin eventually built to 5-0 before the Kings found their footing in the third and closed the gap to make things respectable.

"They're a big strong team," Torres said. "Those guys know how to win. We knew they were going to come back."

A good reminder, is what it was. This was just one game in what will surely be a long series. But if you are seeking for reasons that the Sharks might be able to defeat the Kings this time around, there were really only two

major personnel differences between this spring's version of the beloved Los Tiburones and last year's version. One is rookie Tomas Hertl. The other is Torres.

Neither man played much of the regular season, so it was a mystery how they would integrate themselves into playoff-speed competition. That might have been answered Thursday. Both men were factors in all three zones and both scored goals.

Torres emerged from Thursday's game -- not surprisingly -- with a bruise on his cheek and a slight grin. But the real issue will be how he physically snaps back for Game 2 on Sunday, and the game after that, and the game after that. Is he confident enough that his knee and his body can handle what's ahead?

"If everything goes the way it did tonight, I think so," Torres said. "I'll see how I feel tomorrow. I'll try to get three hours of sleep tonight and see how it goes."

He was joking about the three hours. Or perhaps not. It can't be easy hitting the mattress a few hours after the final horn, with your bones and flesh still throbbing from all that contact and pain.

But for Raffi Torres, after the past 12 months, it had to feel wonderful.

San Jose Mercury News: LOADED: 04.18.2014


Sharks beat Kings in Game 1 of playoffs

By David Pollak

[email protected]

Posted: 04/17/2014 10:22:38 PM PDT

Updated: 04/17/2014 11:45:30 PM PDT

SAN JOSE -- The Sharks scored only 10 goals a year ago in their seven-game playoff series against the Los Angeles Kings and goalie Jonathan Quick.

Thursday night they had half that number in just two periods in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series, then held on for a 6-3 victory over the Kings that saw them plant Quick on the bench after 40 minutes.

"Just a weird night," said Sharks captain Joe Thornton, who scored the first goal. "We got fortunate with a couple of those goals. We just had some fortunate bounces, a couple that were just out of reach. I expect him to be better next game."

It was exactly the kind of physical battle everybody expected between the Western Conference rivals, and San Jose's fourth line of Raffi Torres, Andrew Desjardins and Mike Brown set the tone.

But San Jose's offensive explosion -- the Sharks got a goal from one forward on each of their four lines plus defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- probably wasn't in anybody's script.

Patrick Marleau, Tomas Hertl and Torres also scored on Quick, and Brent Burns hit an empty net for San Jose's final tally. Goalie Antti Niemi stopped the first 19 shots he faced before giving up third-period goals to Jake Muzzin, Slava Voynov and Trevor Lewis.

But don't expect the Sharks to spend too much time admiring this one.

After the game, coach Todd McLellan endorsed the advice he had passed along earlier in the day from associate coach Larry Robinson, who won the Stanley Cup nine times as a player, coach and consultant.

"He said it today -- when a game is over, it's over, regardless of what happens, and it's time to move on," McLellan said. "You can stink the place out or you can be the best you've ever been. It's over, move on. We'll follow the guy with the nine rings."

The Sharks may not have been the best they've ever been, but they definitely were better than they had been in weeks as San Jose scored early and often to set the Kings on their heels.

Los Angeles actually got the first scoring threat just 18 seconds into the game, but Niemi got his pad on a 13-foot wrist shot by Jeff Carter. After that, the opening 20 minutes belonged to the Sharks.

Burns set up San Jose's first goal, zigzagging away from Kings defenseman Robyn Regher and one-handing a pass to Joe Pavelski in the slot. Pavelski sent the puck toward the net, and Thornton was able to tip it past Quick for a 1-0 lead at 3:06.

The Sharks scored two goals 48 seconds apart in the final minute of the first period, with Hertl getting his first goal in the three games since coming back from knee surgery at 19:08 and Marleau finishing off an odd-man rush he started with Matt Nieto to give San Jose a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Torres extended the lead to 4-0 at 12:56 of the second when he converted the rebound of a shot by Vlasic that hit the post, then Vlasic made it a 5-0 game at 16:49 when he capped some precise passing by the second power-play unit by putting the puck through Quick's five-hole.

"They were good periods," McLellan said of the first 40 minutes. "We didn't give up very much, we got on the attack and had everybody involved. I thought our goaltender made some real good saves in those two periods to keep us ahead. Special teams worked well."

His team down 5-0 to start the third after facing 28 San Jose shots, Kings coach Darryl Sutter replaced Quick with backup Martin Jones.

The Kings crept back into the game with Muzzin's goal at 2:01 of the third period after a giveaway by defenseman Jason Demers in his own zone. They closed the gap to 5-2 at 6:55 on a goal by Voynov after Niemi's clearing attempt up the glass failed, and it became a 5-3 game at 13:59 when a shot by Carter went in off Lewis' skate.

McLellan stressed it was only one game in a best-of-seven series.

"We only have to look back to last year," he said. "They went to St. Louis and went down 2-0 and still came back and won four straight."



San Jose Sharks get results from Raffi Torres, Tomas Hertl in lineup

By David Pollak

[email protected]

Posted: 04/17/2014 09:43:51 PM PDT

Updated: 04/17/2014 11:50:26 PM PDT

SAN JOSE -- Rugged forward Raffi Torres and rookie Tomas Hertl were in the Sharks lineup together Thursday night for the first time all season, and both made in impact in Game 1 against the Los Angeles Kings.

"They just bring a lot of energy," captain Joe Thornton said before the game. "With those two guys in the lineup, it definitely gives us a punch in the shoulder."

It also gave the Sharks a pair of goals over the first two periods as Hertl scored at 19:08 of the first and Torres at 12:57 of the second. Torres also had six hits in the game, a good sign that he wasn't letting lingering knee soreness alter his style of play.

San Jose Sharks’ Tomas Hertl (48) celebrates his goal against the Los Angeles Kings in the first period for Game 1 of an NHL hockey first-round

San Jose Sharks' Tomas Hertl (48) celebrates his goal against the Los Angeles Kings in the first period for Game 1 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. on Thursday, April 17, 2014. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) ( Nhat V. Meyer )

"Both are very important players on this team, and we really didn't know if we were going to get them back this year," Thornton said. "We have them both back now, and it's a huge time of the year."

Torres missed the first 59 games of the season after a preseason knee injury in a game against the Anaheim Ducks required surgery. He played five of six games after the Olympic break but hadn't skated in a game since March 8.

Hertl missed 45 games after a knee-on-knee hit from Kings captain Dustin Brown in a Dec. 19 game, but he did return for the final two games of the regular season.

From coach Todd McLellan's perspective, the return of Torres and Hertl "creates some competitiveness amongst our group, and it also allows us to look at different ingredients to make changes as we move forward. The lineup we start with may very well change in Game 2, win or lose. It could be that way for seven games."

A power outage at SAP Center darkened the arena about 45 minutes before the scheduled start Game 1. The bowl of the building was only in total darkness for less than a minute before generators kicked in to provide some light for the several hundred people already in their seats.

The power was restored to the point that the Sharks and Kings came out for warmups at 7:10 p.m., 10 minutes later than scheduled. At this time, the cause of the outage is unknown.

The arena was closer to business as usual at 7:25 p.m. when announcer Danny Miller's booming voice came over the public address system just as the final players were leaving the ice after warmups.

A similar outage occurred at the team's home opener on Oct. 13, 2007, against the Boston Bruins, a game that was played after about a 30-minute delay.

Sharks rookie Matt Nieto's first playoff game was a little extra special because it came against the Kings, the team he cheered for as a kid growing up in Long Beach.

"It's pretty crazy, but it's fun," the 21-year-old forward said. "Any time you play a hometown team you watch growing up, it's pretty cool. I'm pretty excited."

Nieto said he probably had gone to a playoff game or two in Los Angeles.

"Probably between the ages of eight to 12, I went to a lot of games," he said. "A buddy who I played minor hockey with had season tickets, so I would go quite often."

McLellan waited until Thursday morning to confirm that Antti Niemi would start in goal for San Jose, then did what he could to make it seem like a pretty uncomplicated decision.

"He's our go-to guy. Simple as that," the coach said of his netminder, who had struggled at times down the stretch. "He has been our go-to guy for four years, he's our go-to guy in Game 1. I can tell you this, there wasn't near the amount of debate with the four of us in the coaches' room as there was with a whole bunch of you outside the coaches' room. But it was fun."



Power outage leaves SAP Center dark before Sharks playoff opener

By David Pollak

[email protected]

Posted: 04/17/2014 07:15:29 PM PDT

Updated: 04/17/2014 07:43:13 PM PDT

SAN JOSE -- A power outage at SAP Center darkened the arena shortly before 7 p.m. Thursday, about 45 minutes before the scheduled start of the opening game in the playoff series between the Sharks and Los Angeles Kings.

The bowl of the building was only in total darkness for less than a minute before generators kicked in to provide some light for the several hundred people already in their seats.

The power was restored to the point the Sharks and Kings came out for warm-ups at 7:10 p.m., 10 minutes later than scheduled.

The arena was closer to business as usual at 7:25 p.m. when announcer Danny Miller's booming voice came over the public address system just as the final players were leaving the ice after warmups.

The game is expected to begin at 7:45 p.m., exactly on schedule as a seven-minute delay was expected because NBCSN is providing national coverage.

A similar outage occurred at the team's home opener on Oct. 13, 2007 against the Boston Bruins, a game that was played after about a 30-minute delay.

Check back for more on this developing story.



Sharks will start Antti Niemi in goal

By Curtis Pashelka

[email protected]

Posted: 04/17/2014 11:46:29 AM PDT

Updated: 04/17/2014 01:49:10 PM PDT

SAN JOSE -- The expected became official as Antti Niemi will start in goal for the Sharks when they host the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

Sharks coach Todd McLellan confirmed the decision -- which had finalized by the coaching staff some time ago -- to start Niemi over backup Alex Stalock on Thursday morning.

"Excited. It's going to be a great night tonight," Niemi said. "Playing against one of the top teams, it's going to be a hard, fast game."

Niemi had been somewhat inconsistent in recent weeks, going 3-2 over his past five starts. That included getting pulled in a 5-2 loss to Anaheim on April 9 that marked his poorest performance during that stretch. But he shined in a 2-1 victory over Los Angeles on April 3, stopping 26 of 27 shots, and also stopped 30 of 32 shots in San Jose's 3-2 win over Phoenix on Saturday in the team's regular season finale.

"I think it probably had to do with the history and with the time, it looked possible that we might face them," Niemi said of his last start against the Kings. "I enjoy playing against them."

In the three practice days since, the Sharks went over all situations in both the offensive and defensive zones, and Niemi said it felt good to get a bit of time off from games.

Niemi had a 39-17-7 this season with a 2.39 goals against average and a .913 save percentage. Alex Stalock had the better statistics, going 12-5-2 with a 1.87 goals against average and a .932 save percentage. In addition, his more aggressive style of play may have been well-suited to help offset the Kings aggressive forecheck. But he has not started an NHL playoff game before in his career.

Thursday will mark Niemi's 56th playoff start. He has a 32-23 record overall, and a 16-17 record in three seasons with the Sharks.

"He's our go-to guy. Simple as that," McLellan said of Niemi. "He has been our go-to guy for four years, he's our go-to guy in Game 1. I can tell you this, there wasn't near the amount of debate with the four of us in the coaches' room as there was with a whole bunch of you outside the coaches' room. But it was fun."



Purdy: Ranking the hottest NorCal-SoCal sports rivalries

By Mark Purdy

Mercury News Columnist

Posted: 04/17/2014 11:33:25 AM PDT

Updated: 04/17/2014 01:42:13 PM PDT

Northern Californians know many things. Mostly, we know that we are better than Southern Californians. This is an accepted rule of nature that carries over into our sports rivalries.

And this week, with both the Giants and A's playing their SoCal rivals, plus the Sharks and Warriors ready to start playoff series with the Kings and Clippers, we are practically drowning in rivalry stew. That's both delicious and somewhat silly, when you think about it.

Here's why: Most of the teams from NorCal and SoCal consist of athletes from other parts of the country who are purely performing their professional duties. Some of them do get caught up in the California regional loathing spitball fights. Many don't. They do care about winning the games, of course. But often, the fans get more caught up in the rivalry emotions more than the players.

Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin (32) and Golden State Warriors’ Andrew Bogut (12) get in a fight as Cippers’ DeAndre Jordan (6) tries

Los Angeles Clippers' Blake Griffin (32) and Golden State Warriors' Andrew Bogut (12) get in a fight as Cippers' DeAndre Jordan (6) tries to break it up in the second half of a NBA game at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2013. Green was called for a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected of the game in the fourth period of the Warriors 105-103 win. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) ( RAY CHAVEZ )

On the other hand, some of the rivalries do develop with personal animosities toward players on the other teams, based on previous games or the fight for a division title -- or best of all, in postseason matchups.

Given all this, I thought it would be a fun exercise to rank the intensity of the pro sports' NorCal-SoCal rivalries -- in two sets of ratings, one from the players' standpoint and one from fans' standpoint. This is not a scientific ranking, just my seat-of-the-pants opinions. Feel free to discuss and debate.

And no, sad to say, it does not include the arena football rivalry between the San Jose Sabercats and LA Kiss, which stages its first big confrontation on April 26. No data on that one yet.

My intensity ratings:

FOR PLAYERS

1. Sharks vs. Kings -- Trust me, these guys really have developed a dislike for each other. It's no act.

2. Warriors vs. Clippers -- Coming up strong on Sharks-Kings, based on this season's regular-season games.

3. Earthquakes vs. Galaxy -- Never forget soccer. These teams have had some classic confrontations.

The San Jose Sharks’ Brent Burns (88) fight for the puck against Los Angeles Kings Matt Greene (2) in the third period at SAP Center in San Jose,

The San Jose Sharks' Brent Burns (88) fight for the puck against Los Angeles Kings Matt Greene (2) in the third period at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, April 3, 2014. (Josie Lepe/Bay Area News Group) ( Josie Lepe )

4. Giants vs. Dodgers -- So much roster turnover prevents long-term passion from gurgling as much as the other sports.

5. A's vs. Angels -- See above, except even more so.

6. Raiders vs. Chargers -- On the field, this has never developed into as big a rivalry as the others.

FOR FANS

1. Giants vs. Dodgers -- The tragic Bryan Stow incident sobered up the most irrational hatred of both fan bases, but emotions still run hot.

2. Raiders vs. Chargers -- There has been parking lot violence between fans and the games in San Diego are always a tornado of taunting.

3. Sharks vs. Kings -- This is the third playoff series between the teams in the last four years, with fans traveling back and forth, loudly.

4. Earthquakes vs. Galaxy -- Have you been to one of these matchups? Even if you're no soccer fan, you'll be impressed by the passion.

5. Warriors vs. Clippers -- Building into something. Clips fans aren't exactly Dodger fans, though. Next two weeks will be interesting.

6. A's vs. Angels -- Has never caught on between fans the way the two teams' other rivalries have. Come to think of it, who do Angels' fans consider their biggest rivals? (You could ask same of A's fans.)



Sharks' Raffi Torres will play

By Curtis Pashelka

[email protected]

Posted: 04/17/2014 11:28:13 AM PDT

Updated: 04/17/2014 01:25:37 PM PDT

SAN JOSE -- One of the Sharks' most physical players will be back in the lineup for what's expected to be a bruising first-round series as forward Raffi Torres will play Thursday at home against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

Torres, who missed the last 17 games of the regular season as San Jose's coaches and medical staff sought to get him back close to 100 percent, skated on the Sharks' fourth line with Andrew Desjardins and Marty Havlat on Thursday morning.

Torres said he took it day-by-day for the last few weeks of the regular season as he tried to get his body back to where he felt he could play his normal physical style.

The Sharks' training staff "has done a great job getting me to where I am today," Torres said. "Just looking forward to getting out there."

Torres missed all but five games in the regular season after he had surgery in September to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. He returned after the Olympic break and played in five of six games before he missed the rest of the regular season. Torres had three goals and two assists in his five games.

"I felt great," at the time, Torres said about his Feb. 27 return to San Jose's lineup. "Some people might say that it might have been a little too soon, but at the end of the day, I was coming off the break and was comfortable and feeling good, so there was really no reason not to play."

Torres has played in 61 playoff games in his career with 25 points and 62 penalty minutes. He played in the first game of the Western Conference semifinals against the Kings last season, but was suspended by the NHL for the final six games of the series for a hit on Jarret Stoll.

"He's one of those players that can turn a game not necessarily with scoring a goal, but obviously a big hit," Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle said. "He plays with an edge that a lot of players don't. We were unfortunate to lose him last year because of the suspension. He should hopefully bring a spark to this team. It's something we can use."

Torres helped the Sharks sweep the Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the playoffs last year, but his physical presence was missed as San Jose lost to the Kings in seven games.

"We were playing with some energy, we were playing with a strong forecheck game -- which he can be the leader of, never mind just a big part of, he can be the leader of that -- that comes out of the lineup, it affects our group and it probably affects the way (the Kings) think as well," McLellan said. "The same can be said as Jarret Still didn't return for a little while, either. The games were still fairly even."

With Torres' return, forwards Mike Brown, Bracken Kearns and Tyler Kennedy would appear to be healthy scratches. Defenseman Scott Hannan is also back in the lineup tonight, as he was paired with Boyle during the morning skate.

Forward Tomas Hertl, who returned to the lineup last Friday after a nearly four-month absence as he recovered from surgery to repair two ligaments in his right knee, skated on the third line Thursday morning with James Sheppard and Tommy Wingels. Rookie Matt Nieto was on the second line with Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau.

With Torres and Hertl back, McLellan has more options for the third and fourth line than he did for the series against the Kings last year.

With Torres and Hertl, "there's some risk because of their time off and their lack of playing time down the stretch," McLellan said. "but that's a risk we're prepared to take."



Sharks open playoffs with win over Kings

Ross McKeon

Updated 11:38 pm, Thursday, April 17, 2014

To use baseball terminology, the Sharks went hit, run, score Thursday in Game 1 of their playoff rematch against the rival Los Angeles Kings.

San Jose hit everything in sight for two periods while rolling to a 5-0 lead. The Sharks let up on the gas a bit in the third, but still made a strong statement with a 6-3 win at SAP Center to take the lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series.

"We want to play physical, our line especially," Sharks forward Mike Brown said. "We've got to get pucks in deep behind their defenseman and let them know we're coming. And that's what we did right away."

Joe Thornton, Tomas Hertl, Patrick Marleau, Raffi Torres and Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored goals in the first 40 minutes, chasing Los Angeles goalie and playoff nemesis Jonathan Quick in the process. And Brent Burns added an empty-netter with 54.7 left.

"It was a great start, and we'll need that again in Game 2," Vlasic said of Sunday's rematch.

The Kings scored twice in the first seven minutes of the final period, and once more late to make the final respectable. Sharks goalie Antti Niemi stopped 31 shots in the win.

"Everyone knows they lead the league in hits," Vlasic said. "We wanted to be physical as well. We wanted to match their game plan, come out hard, push and dictate the pace."

Limited to only five games during the regular season and none of the final 17, Torres led the hit parade with seven as the Sharks racked up 52 for the game, half coming in the opening 20 minutes when they scored three times.

A turnover by Los Angeles' Jeff Carter sprung a Sharks' 2-on-1 break in the dying seconds of the period. Marleau tapped in a Matt Nieto feed with 3.2 seconds remaining to bring the building to a fever pitch - less than a minute after Hertl scored his first playoff goal with 51.7 seconds left.

The two final-minute goals were preceded by Thornton deflecting in Joe Pavelski's soft backhand drive from the slot at 3:06. Burns prevented an icing call by beating Kings defenseman Robin Regehr to the puck, then fed Pavelski from behind the Los Angeles goal.

"It was nice to get to him early," Vlasic said. "Guys found the back of the net."

The momentum San Jose created with a hard-hitting opening period carried over to the second, and the hosts extended their lead to 5-0 by scoring two more times after the Kings kept the Sharks quiet during the first 10 minutes of the second.

Torres picked up a carom of a Vlasic blast that rang off the left post to beat a screened Quick from the high slot at 12:57 to make it 4-0.

Vlasic, who had a number of close chances earlier, found the back of the net with a drive Quick got a piece of, but not enough to prevent a power-play tally at 16:29.

The hits stood at 52-43 in Los Angeles' favor through two periods, and the Kings held a 24-23 edge in the faceoff circle, but the Sharks certainly took full advantage of their 28-18 edge in shots.

"We wanted to take it to them and not the other way around," Sharks forward James Sheppard said.

Facing a five-goal deficit, Kings coach Darryl Sutter pulled Quick in favor of rookie Martin Jones for the final period.

"We got fortunate to get a couple of those goals," Thornton said.

Lights out: A power outage darkened the building briefly before warm-ups, but did not delay the opening faceoff.

Sharks-Kings

Series: San Jose leads 1-0

Next game: Sunday at SAP Center, 7 p.m. CSNCA

Playoff schedule

Sharks vs. Kings

Game 1: Sharks 6, Kings 3

Sunday: at SAP Center, 7 p.m., CSNCA

Tuesday: at Los Angeles, 7 p.m., CSNCA

Thursday: at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. CSNCA

April 26: at SAP Center*, TBD

April 28: at Los Angeles*, TBD


* - if necessary.

Radio: 98.5, 102.1

San Francisco Chronicle LOADED: 04.18.2014


Sharks-Kings series promises high drama

Ann Killion

Updated 6:10 am, Thursday, April 17, 2014

There's a sports civil war going on this month, a bad blood divide between the Northern and Southern California teams.

But despite strong feeling about the Dodgers, Angels and Clippers, nothing may be nastier than the animosity that exists between the Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings, who open a first-round playoff series Thursday night at SAP Center.

It's a rivalry of knockouts and knockdowns. A year ago, the Kings knocked the Sharks out of the playoffs in seven games. During that series, in Game 1, Raffi Torres knocked out Kings forward Jarret Stoll on a head shot and was suspended for the rest of the series. Two months into this season, Sharks rookie sensation Tomas Hertl suffered a severe knee injury against the Kings, knocked out for 45 regular-season games and only just now back on the ice.

There is bad blood. History. Intensity. High emotion.

"We've played them three of the last four years in the playoffs," Logan Couture said. "They're a California team. Our fans don't like their fans. It's going to be an entertaining series."

The Sharks, who have played the Kings 12 times in the past 11 months, don't really need to study much video for this one.

"We don't think there will be many surprises in this series," head coach Todd McLellan said.

The teams have split the past two playoff series: The Sharks won in 2011 with home-ice advantage; the higher-seeded Kings won last spring in a series in which the home team won every game. In between those two meetings, in 2012, the Kings were crowned Stanley Cup champions, leaving the Sharks as the only California team not to have won a Stanley Cup.

We're so accustomed to the Sharks being in the playoffs, we take it for granted. This is the Sharks' 10th straight playoff season (there were no playoffs because of the lockout in 2005) and their 15th in 16 seasons. They've been underdogs and they've been the trendy Stanley Cup pick. This year, the Sharks are flying somewhat under the radar, which might be a good thing. They are improved on special teams, playoff experienced and, this season, have proven to be resilient, overcoming injuries and disruptions.

But, just like their NBA counterparts in Oakland, the Sharks' biggest disadvantage is playing in their league's Western Conference, which is so deep that many of the playoff teams have the look of Stanley Cup champions. Though the Sharks have home-ice advantage against Los Angeles, the Kings are an excellent team that has beaten the Sharks seven times in those past 12 meetings.

If there's an obvious edge in the matchup for the Kings, it is at goalkeeper. Jonathan Quick is the best goalie in the game. The Sharks can't feel as secure about struggling Antti Niemi - in fact, McLellan won't name a starting goalie until Thursday.

Niemi said he hoped he would learn who was starting Wednesday, or "at the latest Thursday morning. But I'll approach it the same either way."

It's presumed Niemi will be the starter - he won a Stanley Cup as the starter with Chicago in 2010. But Niemi will be on a short leash and backup Alex Stalock will be ready.

A hot goalie is often the key to success in the playoffs.

A hot head is not, which is why the Sharks need to be careful in this series against the Kings.

There is so much emotion and lingering anger between the two teams, it is likely to spill onto the ice. Hertl called the matchup "personal," adding, "for me, it's more motivation because it's L.A." Another rookie, Matt Nieto, who

grew up in Long Beach and went to Kings games as a kid, said he expects an intense series.

"Even when we play in the regular season, guys have that extra motivation to beat them," Nieto said. "It's going to be a great series. It's going to be a battle."

The Sharks can't afford to have their best players spend time in the penalty box, or face suspension. Losing Torres (whose status is still unclear for the playoffs because of a knee injury) in last year's series was a huge blow. The Sharks had swept Vancouver in the first round, and Torres could have been the difference maker in one of those close losses to the Kings.

"There's an emotional level you have to get to in any playoff series," McLellan said. "But there's also a level you can't cross, or you become something that you're not.

"So we will try to get emotionally attached to the game. We want to get excited, ready to play. But emotional control is really important when you talk about discipline and power play situations."

This will be a hard-hitting, hard-fought series and whichever team survives probably will pay a price. Last season, the Kings emerged from their seven-game brawl against the Sharks able to win only one Western Conference finals game against Chicago.

There will be no thoughts of conserving energy for what lies beyond this series.

"You're focused on winning," Joe Pavelski said. "If you're going to leave something on the table, you're not going to make it to the next round."

Nothing will be left on the table. It will all be on the ice.

Playoff schedule

Sharks vs. Kings

Thursday: at SAP Center, 7:30 p.m., CSNCA

Sunday: at SAP Center, 7 p.m., CSNCA

Tuesday: at Los Angeles, 7 p.m., CSNCA

April 24: at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. CSNCA


April 28: at Los Angeles*, TBD


* - if necessary.

Radio: 98.5, 102.1

San Francisco Chronicle LOADED: 04.18.2014


Rewind: Two strong periods enough for Sharks in Game 1 win

April 17, 2014, 11:45 pm

Kevin Kurz

SAN JOSE – For two periods at SAP Center on Thursday night, there wasn’t a whole lot not to like about the Sharks’ game in their playoff opener.

They lit up nemesis Jonathan Quick for five unanswered goals, with each of the four lines factoring in the scoring. They were physical, led by an energized Raffi Torres making his return to the lineup, and Mike Brown, who quickly got under the Kings’ skin. Goalie Antti Niemi wasn’t tested a whole lot, but still made some important saves after a roller coaster regular season.

The Kings dominated the third, but Brent Burns’ empty-net goal ended any thought of a miracle comeback in a 6-3 Sharks win in Game 1.

“Great game. We won,” Todd McLellan said. “We’ll talk about the third period. Obviously, we were a little disappointed there, but for the most part it was a real good game on our behalf.”

Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who had one goal and one assist in the win, said: “First two periods, I don’t think we could have done anything better. But the third period. … We stopped forechecking. We stopped shooting. But the first two periods were great. It was a great start. We’ll need that in Game 2, too.’’

Thornton’s goal got it started early, when he got his stick on Joe Pavelski’s shot from the slot at 3:06 of the first period. Less than two minutes later, the two teams reminded the sellout crowd how much they dislike one another, when Mike Brown drove to the net with the puck and with Slava Voynov, and the pair collided with Quick. An 11-man scrum ensued, and Quick, once he got to his skates again, went after Justin Braun for some reason.

“That’s playoff hockey,” Brown said. “We have to get to the net and get pucks to the net. That’s what I did. It was nothing out of the ordinary of what I would normally do. I was just playing hard.”

The episode was reflective of the way Torres, Brown and Andrew Desjardins skated the entire night.

“They were banging early. You could feel their energy,” Thornton said. “It just excited everybody else. They started the whole momentum shift for us tonight. Just a couple of big bangs, and we got the early lead and really went on from there.”

San Jose held a 28-18 edge in shots on goal after two periods, earning their commanding 5-0 lead on goals from Thornton, Tomas Hertl, Patrick Marleau, Torres and Vlasic. In the third though, the Kings had 16 shots on net – including three that went in – as opposed to just five for the Sharks.

When Trevor Lewis had a Jeff Carter shot deflect in off of his skate at 13:59, making it a 5-3 game, there was a bit of a worrisome feeling on the Sharks’ bench.

“Little bit, little bit,” Thornton said. “We kind of sat back a little bit. You knew they were going to come out and push hard.”

What did Vlasic and the Sharks learn from that final stanza?

“Not to do it. To do what we did in the first two periods would have been much easier,” he said. “We’ve got to do that next game, because they’ll be better.”

Quick was pulled after allowing the first five Sharks goals, and although he was hung out to dry on a few of them, he didn’t look his typical dominant self. But, neither did the rest of the Kings, at least for 40 minutes. Carter had a great look just 17 seconds into the game, but that was really his team's only glorious scoring chance through the first two periods.

Forwards Dustin Brown and Mike Richards combined for zero shots on goal, and were basically invisible the entire night.

The Kings, who flew back to Los Angeles after the game, will have two days to recover, or perhaps stew, and make adjustments before Sunday’s Game 2.

The Sharks will try and quickly move on too, knowing full well they didn’t get the Kings’ best.

“We now leave it alone. It’s over. It’s done,” McLellan said. “Regardless what the score was for and against us, we need to move on now, and prepare to get better and to be ready on Sunday.”

Torres said: "We’re fooling ourselves if we think it’s going to be a quick series. Those guys know how to win, obviously. We know they’re going to bounce back and come out with a big effort."



Expect the Kings to push back in Game 2 vs. Sharks

Ray Ratto

April 17, 2014, 11:30 pm

Let that be a lesson to all of us – pre-playoff series analysis is a game for fools.

What was advertised with almost metaphysical certitude as a taut, pushy, vexatious matchup between the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks began Thursday night, and it took barely 20 minutes to turn it into an odd joke.

San Jose controlled, and occasionally dominated, the evening, scoring thrice in the first period and pulling away from there to exfoliate the Kings, 6-3, in a game that wasn’t as close as the scoreboard implied.

“Well, especially the first two periods,” defenseman and fifth goal-scorer Marc-Edouard Vlasic said with a smile. “The third period, even if you’re up 5-0, you don’t ease up on these guys. You think it comes easily, and you find out.”

Yeah, but . . .

“For the first two periods, I don’t know that we could have done anything better.”

Indeed, San Jose handled their archest of rivals over the first 35 minutes as though this was a February game at home against Edmonton. Inspired by a brief pregame power outage, the Kings played as though the game was on the verge of postponement. They were sloppy in their own end and shockingly slow, both in speed and reaction time, to San Jose’s early rush. If it weren’t for the fact that this was so uncharacteristic for a Los Angeles team in the Darryl Sutter era, one might think that the Sharks had set a series-long tone.

And that is why the natural human impulse to ease off the throttle when a game has been strangled into submission often serves more as a bracing knee in the junction – which is how the Sharks are planning to take the third (or Kings) period.

“We eased off?” fourth-line wing and fourth goal scorer Raffi Torres asked rhetorically. “That’s what it looked like. You can’t sit back against a team like that. You have to keep playing them the whole time they way you intend to play them. You can’t pump the brakes. You’re fooling yourself if you think it’s going to be this kind of series.”

Plus:

“No music out there for a period and a half. It was weird.”

The silence was not an aesthetic choice, but part of the aftermath of the pregame short that darkened the arena and apparently discombobulated the arena juke box, to the relief of all right-thinking people. But the 20-year-old building rallied quickly, powering back up and causing no delay in the start. The grand old San Jose Arena (the pre-extortion name) shrugged off the inconvenience and was back to normal in plenty of time.

Which is more than can be said for the game itself.

That’s the one grand hope for the hyperbole that preceded this series – that there is no momentum between playoff games between relative equals. Nothing kills a budding story line in a series quite like the final horn of a game, because changes get made, tempers are raised, adjustments are forced, and series turn on an edge.

In short, Game 2 cannot logically be like Game 1 unless we have all badly misjudged the relative strengths and weaknesses of these two teams. Game 1 was simply out of the norm, which is why one can almost not trust the way it was played. It wasn’t the result so much as the way it was played – San Jose took 65 total shots on the team that allowed the fewest shots in the league, and though Kings goalie Jonathan Quick was well below his norm, he was not helped by his mates in any material way.

And conversely, the Kings owned the third, outshooting San Jose, 16-5, with all the zone time and chances the Sharks had in the first period. That

made no more sense than the first two periods, except that the Sharks might have pulling their punches at that point.

The Kings flew back to Los Angeles to regroup for Game 2 Sunday. One should assume they shall do so, and that said game will probably feature one-third as many goals and about three times as much grinding.

But if for some reason this is how the series intends to play out, the chant “Beat L.A.” may have to be modified to the more tepid and uninspiring “Discomfort The Amorphous Los Angeles Basin.” To earn a vigorous “Beat L.A.,” this series will have to turn on itself quickly, or forever hold its peace.



Instant Replay: Fiery Sharks storm past Kings in Game 1

Kevin Kurz

April 17, 2014, 9:45 pm

SAN JOSE – The power went out at SAP Center just before warmups on Thursday night. The Los Angeles Kings probably wished it never came back on.

The Sharks dominated their rivals to the south for two periods before holding on in the third in Game 1 of a first round playoff series, skating to a 6-3 victory. Tomas Hertl, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Brent Burns each had one goal and one assist, and six different San Jose players found the back of the net.

San Jose tallied five unanswered goals in taking a commanding lead into the second intermission, before the Kings finally showed some life in the third, scoring three times. It was not enough, though, and the Sharks will try to take a two-games-to-none lead at home on Sunday.

Joe Thornton opened the scoring just over three minutes into the first. A driving Burns held off Robyn Regehr and one-handed a pass to the slot found Joe Pavelski. Pavelski’s attempt was tipped inside the post as goalie Jonathan Quick was looking the other direction.

A pair of goals in the final minute of the first period extended that lead to 3-0. James Sheppard flubbed a one-timer from Tommy Wingels, but the puck trickled to Hertl, who flipped in his first goal since Dec. 12 at 19:08. Then, the Kings turned the puck over in the neutral zone, leading to a rush the other way. A give-and-go between Patrick Marleau and Matt Nieto resulted in a Marleau marker with just 3.2 seconds left before the intermission.

The Sharks seemed to put the game away with two more scores in the second period, making it a 5-0 advantage, both of which involved Vlasic.

The defenseman rang a shot off the goal post that ended up on Raffi Torres’ stick, and the forward, who missed the final 17 games of the regular season, rifled in a shot from the high slot at 12:57.

Vlasic got his goal at 16:29 on the power play, finding Quick’s five-hole moments after partner Jason Demers snuffed out a potential Mike Richards breakaway.

The Kings woke up in the third period and made things interesting. Jake Muzzin put Los Angeles on the board at 2:01, and Slava Voynov outmaneuvered Sheppard before whizzing a wrister past Niemi at 6:55.

Los Angeles came to within two goals at 13:59, when a shot by Jeff Carter deflected in off of Tervor Lewis’ skate. That was as close as the Kings would get, though, despite pulling backup Martin Jones with two and a half minutes to go in regulation. Burns hammered in an empty net goal with 54.7 seconds to go from inside his own blue line.

The game took a nasty turn early, courtesy of the Sharks’ fourth line. Mike Brown drove the net with Voynov defending him less than five minutes into the opening frame, and the pair collided violently with Quick. The ensuing scrum involving all 10 skaters along with Quick resulted in eight minutes of penalties, including a goalie interference minor on Brown.

Special teams

The Sharks were 1-for-3 on the power play while Los Angeles was 0-for-3.

In goal

Niemi made 31 saves, improving to 33-23 in his playoff career.

Only publicly named the starter on Thursday morning, Niemi made several quality saves. In the second period he got his right pad on a Tyler Toffoli attempt when it was still just a 3-0 game, and late in the game smothered an Anze Kopitar shot from the circle with 7:15 to go and the Sharks ahead 5-2.

Quick allowed five goals on 28 shots, taking the loss. Jones, who came on in relief of Quick after the second period, had to make just four saves.

Lineup

Marty Havlat was the Sharks’ healthy scratch, as the Sharks opted for the gritty Brown over Havlat on the fourth line. Matt Irwin, Tyler Kennedy, Bracken Kearns and Matt Tennyson were also out.

Up next

The Sharks host Game 2 on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. before the series shifts to Staples Center for games three and four on April 22 and 24.


741580 St Louis Blues

Bluenotes: Oshie misses opener, return is uncertain

2 hours ago • By Jeremy Rutherford [email protected] 314-444-7135

While T.J. Oshie said he was feeling “pretty good” after skating on Tuesday, he insisted his availability for Game 1 of the Blues-Blackhawks series would be based on how his body responded Wednesday.

Oshie, who was injured on an illegal hit by Minnesota’s Mike Rupp last week, apparently had a setback in his attempt to return to the ice, or the club elected to be cautious.

The Blues winger did participate in the morning skate, but was not part of the line combinations at the practice and afterwards was declared out for the opening game. Patrik Berglund, who is out with an upper-body injury, also did not suit up Thursday.

Oshie’s status for Game 2 Saturday remains uncertain, and although Berglund’s absence is expected to be longer, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock has said all of the injured players have a chance to play in the first round.

One such player, Vladimir Tarasenko, who missed the last 15 games of the regular season following hand surgery, returned Thursday and scored his first career playoff goal. He suffered a broken hand on March 15 in Nashville and was expected to be re-evaluated in six weeks. He returned two weeks early.

“There’s no limitations (on Tarasenko),” Hitchcock said. “He deserves an awful lot of credit. He did the double-extra duty to be physically conditioned to be ready to play.”

With Oshie out, Hitchcock chose to start Steve Ott on the top line with David Backes and Alexander Steen.

“He’s a veteran guy,” Hitchcock said. “He knows how to play at this time of year. This is why we brought him here. We expect him to be a good player for us ... this allows a little more freedom for ‘Steener’ and David based on the way our lineup is configured right now.”

Ott said that he was looking forward to the assignment.

“Being a competitive player that tries to do the right thing and play the right way, I think that’s no different than if you’re with a top guy or a different linemate,” Ott said. “We want to be a hard-to-play-against line.”

LEOPOLD IS SIXTH D-MAN

The Blues settled on Jordan Leopold as their sixth defensemen, in part, because of the matchup with Chicago. He was in the lineup for two of the team’s three wins against the Blackhawks in October.

“We just felt at this time, we needed a more physical presence back there who can still move the puck well but can play with a physical part of the game, control people,” Hitchcock said. “One of the reasons we had success early in the series we spent no time in our zone. In the last two games (both Blues’ losses), Chicago’s done a better job of hemming us in, so we feel ‘Leo’ to start with can help us exit a little bit quicker.”

Leopold appeared in just three of the final 25 games of the season, missing most of them because of an injury.

“It’s a new season, everybody starts fresh and I’m excited to be part of it,” Leopold said.

MORE BLUENOTES

• The Blues re-assigned forward Keith Aucoin to Chicago before the game.

• The club’s healthy scratches for Game 1 were forwards Dmitrij Jaskin and Magnus Paajarvi, along with defensemen Carlo Colaiacovo and Ian Cole.

St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 04.18.2014


Kane, Toews appear to be in top form

3 hours ago • By Dan O’Neill [email protected]

If any questions lingered about how effective Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane might be for the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL Western Conference quarterfinals series, they were answered in Game 1 Thursday at Scottrade Center.

Not only were Toews and Kane effective, they were integral to the Blackhawks' effort in a dramatic 4-3 triple-overtime loss to the Blues.

Toews, who sustained an “upper body” injury on March 30 and missed the final six games of the regular season, assisted on two of the Blackhawks' goals. He introduced himself back into the offense in the first period, starting a play that ended with Johnny Oduya scoring with eight minutes 46 seconds to play in the first period.

Oduya's shot seemed to rattle off someone in front of the net before bouncing past Ryan Miller to tie the score 1-1. Brandon Saad and Toews got assists. And Toews was just warming up.

Another returnee from the injured ranks, Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko, tied the game 2-2 late in the first, sending the Scottrade Center crowd into a frenzy. But moments later, Toews made the kind of play that puts him among the top centers in the game.

He spotted Kane cheating a bit behind the Blues' defense and zipped a long pass that connected with Kane's stick, right on the tape.

The 25-year old Kane did the rest. The slippery forward went down with an injury to his left knee during a game against the Blues on March 19. He missed the last 12 games of the season. But after receiving Toews' stretch-pass, Kane demonstrated he still had the extra gear.

He pulled away from the posse and went in alone on Miller, pouring a shot through the goaltender's legs to give the 'Hawks a 3-2 lead with 1:36 remaining in the first period.

Playing for the first time in nearly a month, Kane put in a full night. He skated through 37 shifts and 28:31 worth of clock time. Kane and Patrick Sharp led the Blackhawks with six shots each at Miller. The overall result wasn't what he hoped for, but he assured a crowd of reporters the reigning Stanley Cup champs remain confident.

“It would have been nice to win, at the same time I still think we can be better,” Kane said. “That's the

exciting part going forward.”

For his part, the 25-year old Toews was playing for the first time in more than two weeks, and he didn't hold back. By the time the dramatic evening ended on Alexander Steen's goal, Toews had worked 48 shifts and 32:27 in clock. He won 11 of 21 faceoffs and fired four shots on goal.

Perhaps Toews' biggest contribution through the first six periods came without the puck. With Chicago netminder Corey Crawford under siege, Toews lifted Tarasenko's stick at the last instant to prevent him from sliding the puck into an open net and end the game. The Blackhawks escaped and stayed in the fight, as the tense series opener went to the decisive third extra session.

In the end, the Blackhawks succumbed, but like Kane, Toews insisted they'll put the outcome behind them and prepare for Game 2.

“I think we're going to keep the feeling on our locker room positive and feeling good,” Toews said. “We'll let this one sink in and be a little ticked off about it for a few moments. But then tonight and tomorrow it's time to move on and get ready for the next one.”

Chicago's dynamic duo was near the top of the NHL scoring charts before they got hurt. Kane finished the regular season with 29 goals and 40 assists, Toews had 28 goals and 40 assists. The two didn't begin skating with the team until Tuesday of this week. But Toews said there was never any doubt in his mind he could recapture his form.

“Absolutely. I never want to miss games,” Toews said. “I don’t think anyone does, but in a way, it’s helped me prepare for this series and to be ready to play the best hockey I’ve played all year. I feel I’m ready to do that.”

To make sure he was prepared, Kane reincarnated his lucky haircut, featuring a mullet with racing stripes on the sides of his head. The hairdo has served him well in playoffs past, as the Blackhawks have captured two championships in the past four years. Moreover, Kane tried to talk the conservative Toews into adopting the look.

“He tried to, but I know better than that,” Toews said. “That’s his thing. I’ll let him have it.”

Kane has tried to grow a more conventional playoff beard, without success. So he has adapted with the playoff hairstyle. “Well, the last few years I’ve cut it short at the beginning of the season and and tried to grow it out for this reason, so it’s been pretty successful in the past,” Kane said. “Hopefully it works again.”

Kane wears something else unusual these days - a brace on his left knee. He indicated the support was uncomfortable at first, but he has gotten used to it. Most important, for one who counts on elusiveness and speed, he said the brace does not hinder his movement.

“I don’t feel limited,” Kane said. “I feel like the same player. Once you kind of get into skating with the puck game situations like we’ve done in practices here, it’s kind of the last thing on my mind, so when you’re out there playing and skating around, it’s not like I’m thinking about how does my brace feel?

“I felt good. Just trying to get my timing back and It should get better as we move forward.”

If Game 1 of the Blackhawks-Blues showdown is any indication, there's no reason for Chicago fans to worry about Kane or Toews.



Steen wins it for Blues in third overtime

2 hours ago • By Jeremy Rutherford [email protected] 314-444-7135

The Blues and Blackhawks hadn't met in the NHL playoffs in a dozen years. They made up for it Thursday with a half-dozen periods officially of breathtaking back-and-forth drama.

In Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series, the clubs combined for 92 shots on goal, 69 hits and 50 blocked shots.

But that didn't include the whiffed shots that could have ended the night, the hitting of the puck into the stands that led to two overtime power plays and a game-saving block by Maxim Lapierre, who was filling the net briefly for Ryan Miller.

In the longest game in Blues' franchise history, topping a 1984 playoff game in which Mark Reeds ended an lengthy evening against Detroit, Alexander Steen capped off a game not soon to be forgotten with a goal 26 seconds into the third overtime for a 4-3 victory over the Blackhawks.

"Well you knew something, 'Steener' is not going to miss it from the ladies tee there," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "He's not going to miss that."

Marking the second consecutive Game 1 of a Blues' playoff series that he's ended with an overtime goal — following last season's shorthanded tally against LA — Steen completed a comeback that gained life when Jaden Schwartz evened the score 3-3 with 1 minutes, 45 seconds left in regulation.

It allowed the Blues to snap their insufferable six-game losing streak with a victory that took 4 hours, 24 minutes and may take longer from which to recover. The club will need plenty of rest after taking a one game to none lead in the best-of-seven series which resumes with Game 2 on Saturday at 2 p.m.

“Tired like everybody else," Schwartz said afterwards. "It’s a great feeling though when you get that win. It makes it feel like it was worth it. We really stuck together and stuck to the game plan no matter how tired we were and we played as a team and we got rewarded, so it’s a good feeling.”

After allowing three goals on the first seven shots he faced Thursday, Miller made 35 saves to end a personal five-game losing skid and pick up his first playoff win since 2011 with Buffalo.

“You see those saves ... that’s why we brought him here," Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "He’s a big-game goalie and he showed it tonight."

A DVR might have had trouble recording all of the highlights Thursday.

The first period saw five of the game's seven goals, three belonging to Chicago for a 3-2 advantage.

Two-thirds of the Blues' former "CPR" line — Adam Cracknell and Chris Porter — connected for the all-important first goal. Porter backhanded a shot on net, and with Cracknell positioned in the crease, he knocked in the loose puck for his first playoff goal and a 1-0 lead just 4:40 into the game.

Chicago defenseman Johnny Oduya tied the score 1-1 and then Brent Seabrook put the Blackhawks ahead 2-1 on a power-play goal with 5:21 left in the first period.

While the Blues were without injured forwards T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund Thursday, the club did welcome Vladimir Tarasenko back to the lineup after missing 15 games with a hand injury. He made his presence felt in his first game, tying the score 2-2 with his first playoff goal.

Tarasenko took a pin-point pass from defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk in the slot, dropped to a knee and rifled a shot past Chicago goalie Corey Crawford for a 2-2 score just 1:13 after Seabrook’s go-ahead goal.

Tarasenko finished with seven shots on goal, sharing the team lead with Porter.

"Oh he was huge," Hitchcock said of Tarasenko. "I mean, now all of a sudden we look like we're dangerous off the rush again. We've been

struggling with that since he's gone out and a couple of other guys, but we look dangerous off the rush again."

Before the period expired, however, Chicago scored off its own rush, re-opening a 3-2 lead on a breakaway goal by Patrick Kane.

Kane was his sneaky old self, sniffing out the scoring chance. Before teammate Jonathan Toews had a handle on the puck in the Blackhawks' defensive zone, Kane began breaking for the opposite end. He got behind Barret Jackman and Shattenkirk, and after taking a stretch pass from Toews, Kane beat Miller between the legs with 1:36 left in the period.

After a scoreless second period, in which the Blues had only three shots on goal, it appeared Kane's goal might be the difference in the game. But in the third period, on an amazing individual effort, Schwartz pinched along the boards and poked away Oduya’s clearing pass.

Derek Roy pounced on the lose puck and moved it back to Schwartz, who backhanded a shot through Crawford's legs.

"We never stopped working," Schwartz said. "We never stopped believing. There was never a doubt. To stand here and say I knew I was going to score, I'd be lying, but I wanted to do everything I could and it was definitely nice."

The game went to sudden death, where Tarasenko had a chance to end the game with 7:24 left in the first OT but failed on a chance in front.

Seconds later, Vladimir Sobotka was whistled for delay of game after lifting the puck into the stands. Defenseman Jay Bouwmeester helped kill off the Chicago power play, but then headed off to the Blues' locker room due to dehydration.

With 1:45 remaining in the first OT, the Blackhawks nearly quenched their thirst with a goal by Kris Versteeg. Miller was following Toews on the play, coming out of the crease, and that allowed for a partially open net. But as Versteeg wound up for a one-timer, Lapierre jumped between the posts and blocked the shot, knocking it down in front.

"I've got to work on my rebounds a little bit," Lapierre joked.

Bouwmeester didn't play the entire second OT, but the Blues' defense managed without him, with Pietrangelo playing 44:08 — the fourth-highest ice time total in team history.

The Blues even killed off another delay of game penalty, as Ryan Reaves inadvertently hit the puck into the stands.

With 2:40 left in the second OT, the Blues avoided another crisis when Miller stopped Patrick Sharp on a breakaway.

"It was one of those chances that were high-end quality," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "It could’ve been a different story."

The Blues went back to the locker room and refueled on water and bananas.

With Bouwmeester back for the start of the third OT — the first triple-overtime in club history — Backes had the puck behind the Chicago net and fed a backhanded pass in front. It sputtered to Steve Ott, who had Steen behind him calling for a one-timer.

He ended with a drive from the ladies' tees.

"That's an unbelievable play," Steen said. "Both Backes and him, great plays on that goal. It's a big goal. It's big to get off to a 1-0 start (in the series). I thought we did a good job after we settled into the game a little bit and you had your typical Blues-Blackhawks game after that. We said it before the series started. This is going to be a heck of a series."



Blues beat Blackhawks 4-3 in 3 OTs

By R.B. FALLSTROM

AP Sports WriterApril 18, 2014 Updated 29 minutes ago

ST. LOUIS — In the first period, Ryan Miller looked like the goalie who limped home 0-5. For the final 80 minutes, 26 seconds, the St. Louis Blues saw the cool, confident backstop they acquired to make the deep playoff run they've long sought.

Miller allowed three goals on seven shots in the first period, then shut the door on the Chicago Blackhawks to pave the way for Alexander Steen's deciding goal in an epic 4-3, triple-overtime Game 1 victory on Thursday night.

"It's not all about one period," Miller said. "I tried not to change my approach and it's nice to come out on the right side."

Steen scored 26 seconds into the third overtime to cap the longest playoff game in franchise history, beating Corey Crawford off a pair of short passes from Steve Ott and David Backes to end the marathon.

"I didn't know how open he was, obviously," Ott said. "He obviously buried it and the game's over. We stuck with it and we found a way to win it."

The Blues got most of their injured front-line players back for Game 1, then put a six-game losing streak to end the regular season behind them.

"Win, lose or draw, what happened in the third period was we finally saw our team," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said.

The next challenge is finding a way to recover on short rest, with Game 2 on Saturday afternoon. Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo logged 44 minutes, 8 seconds of ice time and two Blackhawks, Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson, played more than 40 minutes.

Miller made 39 saves for the Blues and Crawford had 48 for Chicago.

"I think the big thing for us is we have to realize it's only one game and we've got a quick turnaround coming back," Chicago's Patrick Kane said. "That's the best part about it, we get right back at it."

Kane scored on a breakaway to put Chicago up 3-2 late in the first period. Jaden Schwartz stole the puck to set up his tying goal with 1:45 to go in regulation.

The Blues' previous longest overtime game was a 4-3 loss at Detroit in 1984 that extended 37 minutes, 7 seconds. The home record for a playoff overtime game was 33:49 of extra time in a 5-4 win over Chicago on April 20, 1989.

St. Louis had to kill off delay-of-game penalties for shooting the puck into the stands in the first two overtimes and Chicago coach Joel Quenneville argued vehemently for a second delay of game that would have given Chicago a 5-on-3 advantage in the first OT. The Blackhawks killed off a holding penalty in the second overtime.

Jonathan Toews, like Kane back from a lengthy injury absence, had two assists for Chicago.

Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko and Adam Cracknell all scored their first playoff goal for the Blues.

The Blackhawks kept the Blues pinned in their own zone for 2:10 during the first overtime, and Maxim Lapierre made the save of the session by getting in front of a drive by Kris Versteeg with less than two minutes remaining.

"Guys like me take pride in blocking shots and doing little details," Lapierre said.

Tarasenko was among the best players coming off a 15-game absence because of a broken thumb, tying for the team lead with seven shots.

Cracknell tapped in a rebound early in the first to end a scoring drought of 148 minutes, 39 seconds for a team that got shut out the last two games of the regular season.

Kane scored his 30th career playoff goal after catching the defense napping at the end of a St. Louis power play, beating Miller off a long lead pass from Toews for a 3-2 lead at 18:24 of the first.

Miller allowed three goals on just seven shots in the first with defensemen Johnny Oduya and Brent Seabrook also scoring for Chicago.

"They had a couple of nice shots in the first, but I had to come out and battle," Miller said. "Luckily I got ahold of a few of them."

St. Louis' top line of David Backes, Steen and Ott was a combined minus-5 in the first. Ott was a bit of surprise, considering he was minus-7 during the Blues' six-game losing streak to end the regular season, but was solid the rest of the way.

"He played the way we thought he could play," Hitchcock said. "With that type of energy, that type of focus, he's a good player."

Crawford faced just three shots in the second, but needed big saves to thwart Tarasenko and Ott. He made glove saves on drives by Steen and Tarasenko not long before Schwartz got the equalizer.

NOTES: Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who has the longest consecutive game streak in major sports at 717 games, left in the first overtime and did not return. Hitchcock said Bouwmeester was dehydrated but was fine after the game. ... Oduya and Seabrook combined for 10 goals in the regular season. Oduya's goal was first credited to Versteeg on a deflection. ... The Blues scratched a pair of top forwards, T.J. Oshie (head) and Patrik Burglund (shoulder). ... Kane had two goals and four assists against St. Louis in the regular season and Toews had a goal and three assists.

Belleville News-Democrat LOADED: 04.18.2014


Steen goal lifts Blues past Blackhawks in third overtime

By NORM SANDERS

News-DemocratApril 18, 2014 Updated 3 hours ago

ST. LOUIS — ST. LOUIS -- The longest playoff overtime game in St. Louis Blues franchise history ended 26 seconds into the third overtime Thursday on a goal by Alexander Steen.

Steen's goal gave the Blues a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks and a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series.

"Steener's not going to miss it from the ladies tee," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said of a shot from just a few feet away that beat Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford. "He's not going to miss that."

Steen's goal sent everyone home after 100 minutes, 26 seconds of scintillating playoff hockey --and also ended the Blues' six-game losing streak.

Before Thursday, the longest playoff overtime game for the Blues was a 4-3 victory over Detroit on April 7, 1984. That game lasted 97 minutes, 7 seconds and the Blues won it on a goal by Mark Reeds.

Steen, who scored an overtime game-winner against the Kings last season in Game 1 of the opening round, did it this time in the third OT.

David Backes tracked down a loose puck behind the net and dropped it back to Steve Ott, who flipped it back to Steen.

"Unbelievable play, great play," said Steen, whose goal came at 11:34 p.m. "You kind of had a peek right before (Ott) came in, I felt like he knew I was coming...both Backes and him made great plays on that goal."

The entertaining contest included a combined 94 shots, including 52 by the Blues, and numerous hits and skirmishes and large and small battles throughout the night.

"Win, lose or draw, what happened in the third period was we finally saw our team," Hitchcock said. "Regardless of what happened tonight, to be able to see our team look like that inteh third epriod was a good sign for us."

The Blackhawks got three goals on seven shots during a wild first period Thursday and tried to make a one-goal lead stand up the rest of the way.

It did until Jaden Schwartz helped force a turnover in the corner against Chicago defenseman Johnny Oduya, then whisked a backhander past Corey Crawford with 1 minute, 45 seconds remaining in regulation.

That tied it 3-3 as a standing-room-only crowd of 19,423 exploded in a frenzy of noise.

It was the first career playoff goal by Schwartz, known for his opportunistic playmaking.

"He's stripped so many people of pucks," Hitchcock said. "Fall asleep and he's going to catch you every time. He did it five or six times again tonight."

Blues goalie Ryan Miller allowed three goals on seven shots in the first period, then tightened up considerably after that. He stopped the final 35 shots he saw and 39 of 42 overall.

However, one of the biggest saves of the night was made by Blues center Maxim Lapierre on a shot by Kris Versteeg near the end of the first overtime.

Lapierre wound up behind Miller and managed to get his leg on the shot.

"Lappy bailed me out, I got caught following (Jonathan) Toews on the first play," Miller said. "He was right there to make a save, that's how these kind of games go. You get lucky in a few situations and then you've got to battle through the rest. It was just nice to come out at the end of this with a win."

Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester suffered what some felt might have been an apparent injury during the first overtime, but Hitchcock said after the game that it was "dehydration." Bouwmeester returned for the start of the third overtime period and was on the ice for the game-winning goal.

Bouwmeester's absence left the Blues with only five defensemen for a huge chunk of the overtime sessions. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo played a career-high 44 minutes, 8 seconds and Steen was on the ice for 35:33.

"The adrenaline keeps you going there for a while," Pietrangelo said. "At some point you've got to start thinking not to get caught out there. We did a pretty good job of keeping the shifts short there."

And what were the players doing to keep their energy levels up during the marathon game?

"Gatorade, water, anything you could get," Pietrangelo said. "Apples, strawberries, bananas ... I had some oatmeal after the first (OT)."

The Blues were forced to kill off another Chicago power play in the second overtime, then the Blackhawks killed off one by the Blues.

Miller helped force a third OT when he stopped Chicago's Patrick Sharp late in the second overtime.

Roy and Lapierre each beat Crawford during regulation on shots that hit the goalpost or crossbar. Lapierre rang one off the post with 12:37 remaining in the third period, but Schwartz's goal gave the Blues new life.

The Blues outshot the Blackhawks 14-6 in the third period, limiting the defending Stanley Cup champs to only 21 shots through the end of regulation.

Two of the Blues' six playoff games against the Kings last season also reached overtime with each team winning once.

The Blues won three of the five regular-season meetings against the 'Hawks, but two games between the bitter rivals reached a shootout.

"The rivalry has really grown over the last couple years," Steen said. "We haven't played each other in the playoffs and the games that we've had, there usually seems to be a fight or two in the stands and a fight or two on the ice.

"Should be a good series."

It was a big night for the fourth line as Adam Cracknell scored the first goal and Lapierre and Chris Porter kept making their presence felt. Porter and Vladimir Tarasenko each had a team-high seven shots while Steen and Kevin Shattenkirk had six each.

Cracknell's first playoff goal ended the Blues' scoreless streak from the regular season at 148 minutes, 39 seconds when his hard work in front paid off.

Pietrangelo dived to keep the puck in and Cracknell pounced on the rebound of a backhand shot by Porter 4:40 into the opening period.

A stoked Cracknell celebrated on his knees while pumping his fists. It was his first NHL goal since April 4, 2013, also against Chicago.

The Blackhawks were reeling a bit early under heavy pressure, but scored three times on seven shots in the first period against Miller.

A shot by Oduya got under Miller's leg pad for Chicago's first goal. Versteeg set up the Blackhawks' next goal on the power play from behind the net as he found Brent Seabrook streaking toward the net.

Seabrook's shot appeared to deflect in off the stick of Blues defenseman Roman Polak.

Despite missing the final 15 regular-season games with a right hand injury, Tarasenko netted his first playoff goal with 4:08 remaining in the first period.

Set up by Kevin Shattenkirk in the slot, Tarasenko fired off a quick snap shot that eluded Crawford to tie it 2-2.

Patrick Kane put the 'Hawks back on top with a breakaway goal that came with 1:36 remaining in the opening period, set up by Jonathan Toews.

"I didn't set up the breakaway on Kane very well, as you might have seen," Miller said. "I thought I could get him in a situation where I'd give myself an advantage and it totally backfired."

Early in the second period, the Blues endured back-to-back turnovers. The second came after Ryan Reaves' stick broke, but Miller turned away Patrick Sharp after the 'Hawks forward was in all alone.

Back-to-back Blues turnovers, the second of which came when Ryan Reaves broke his stick, nearly resulted in another Chicago goal. This time Miller turned away Patrick Sharp after Sharp broke in alone.

Crawford held on to the one-goal lead thanks to a pair of sparkling saves in the second period.

He made a sprawling stop to rob Tarasenko, then handled another tough chance on a shot by Ott late in the period.

Hitchcock was excited to see the way the Blues seemed to put the debris of the six-game losing streak behind them.

"I think the players were going to put a lot into this because they didn't want this season to just kind of wilt away," he said. "They're going to put up a fight here and whatever happens, happens. That's a great team over there, but we're going to put up a fight."



Tarasenko makes instant impact in first game back for Blues

By NORM SANDERS

News-DemocratApril 18, 2014 Updated 3 hours ago

ST. LOUIS — Despite missing the final 15 regular-season games with a hand injury, St. Louis Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko was one of the best players on the ice Thursday in Game 1 of their NHL Western Conference first-round playoff series against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Tarasenko wasted little time making an impact, blocking a shot on his first shift and then scoring his first playoff goal later in the opening period.

He nearly scored a second one during the second period, but a sprawling save by Chicago goalie Corey Crawford turned that chance away.

Tarasenko was tied for the Blues' lead with seven shots.

Forwards T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund were ruled out for Game 1 by St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, while forwards David Backes, Tarasenko and Brenden Morrow were given the green light to resume active duty.

Backes centered a line with Alexander Steen and Steve Ott, while Tarasenko was on right wing on a line with left winger Jaden Schwartz and center Vladimir Sobotka.

Morrow was at left wing on the third line with Derek Roy and Ryan Reaves.

Backes and Morrow made the transition from walking boot braces on their feet a few days ago to playing in Game 1, but Tarasenko's journey was a little more involved.

Out for 15 games since March 15 with a significant right hand injury that required surgery, Tarasenko was back in the lineup two weeks ahead of schedule. The team originally announced he would be re-evaluated after six weeks.

"If he doesn't put all the extra work in that he's' done off-ice, on-ice, everywhere, then I don't think we would have been able to play him," Hitchcock said Thursday morning. "There's been some really tough days for him where we've pushed him through the wall on some stuff.

"But all of this was (done) with a chance to play in the playoffs. Originally it was a no-go for the first round and now we're seeing a guy play in Game 1, which is really significant."

Besides being one of the team's top scoring threats with 21 goals and 43 points in 64 games, Tarasenko also makes the power play more dangerous.

Since he had a hand injury, Tarasenko never fell behind in his conditioning and in fact may be in better shape than he was previously.

"There's no limitations," Hitchcock said. "He deserves an awful lot of credit. He did the double-extra duty to be in physical condition to be ready to play. This is going to be a significant challenge for him -- first because he's never played in a playoff game very much and secondly, he's missed a lot of time."

Hitchcock said Tarasenko and the team's training staff both deserve a lot of credit.

"He has worked extra hard to be in the best shape of his life right now, which is going to allow him to keep up at this time of the year," Hitchcock said. "You're talking six, seven hours a day at the rink, 2 or 2 1/2 hours a day on the ice, mostly by himself. He's had two practices with somebody and now he's going to play in a playoff game."

Oshie (upper body injury) practiced with the team Tuesday during an optional workout, but was not on the ice for practice Wednesday. He was on the ice Thursday for the morning skate at Scottrade Center and could be used later in the series.

He was injured April 10 on a hit to the head by Minnesota's Mike Rupp that led to a four-game suspension for Rupp.

Enemy territory

Both teams have loud buildings and raucous fans, so it was no surprise the Scottrade Center energy level was incredible at the start of Game 1.

"They're a different team in this building than they are on the road," Chicago star Patrick Kane said of the Blues. "They feed off the energy of the fans. We don't want to sit back and watch and wait to see what they're going to do and how physical they're going to play.

"I don't think anyone's really intimidated or worried in this room. I think we're all looking forward to playing our style of hockey and trying to bring it to them."

Goalie of the future?

Blues prospect Jake Allen was named the American Hockey League's outstanding goaltender for 2013-14, receiving the Aldedge "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award in voting by coaches, players and media.

The Blues' second-round pick in 2008, Allen leads the AHL in wins (32), goals-against average (2.07) and save percentage (.927) and is tied for the league lead with six shutouts.

His overall record with the AHL's Chicago Wolves is 32-16-3 in 51 games. Allen was the Blues' second-round pick (34th overall) in 2008, earning a spot on the NHL's All-Rookie team last season by going 9-4 with a 2.46 goals-against average with the Blues.

Allen also was named an AHL first-team All-Star.


741586 Tampa Bay Lightning

Bolts look to pick up pieces tonight

By Erik Erlendsson

JASON BEHNKEN/STAFF

TAMPA — The Lightning endured so much drama this season, coach Jon Cooper doesn’t even consider falling behind 1-0 in Tampa Bay’s playoff series against Montreal an adverse situation.

“Adversity, that word went out the door some time ago with our team,’’ Cooper said. “We don’t even use it anymore because it’s the norm. It’s like, ‘Welcome to Tuesday.’ ’’

The day after the Game 1 overtime loss was actually Thursday, but no matter what day it is on the calendar, the Lightning need to be better in tonight’s Game 2 — and they know it.

After a poor performance in the opener, Tampa Bay can ill-afford to head to Montreal stuck in an 0-2 hole. The odds are already stacked against the Lightning, as teams that win the first game of a best-of-seven series have an all-time record of 417-190, a winning percentage of 68.7.

Those odds drop dramatically if a team loses the first two games of a series, with just 37 of 291 teams (12.7 percent) coming back from an 0-2 deficit to win a seven-game series.

Though Tampa Bay has overcome plenty of odds stacked against it and been counted down and out many times, that sort of situation might be too much to overcome.

“We’ve been through a lot of adversity throughout the season, so why wouldn’t we deal with some adversity in the playoffs,’’ alternate captain Nate Thompson said. “You lose Game 1 at home and you know that you can say our backs are against the wall because you don’t want to be down 0-2 heading to Montreal.’’

But because Tampa Bay faced so much this season — the loss of Steven Stamkos for 45 games to a broken leg, having as many as 11 rookies in the lineup at various points, the trade of captain Marty St. Louis, seeing No. 1 goaltender Ben Bishop lost to injury a week before the playoffs — and came through it all to earn home-ice advantage in the opening round of the postseason, the Lightning seem built to stare the situation down without blinking.

“We are a pretty resilient group. I think we are going to be fine,’’ defenseman and alternate captain Eric Brewer said. “There are certainly a few things that we want to shore up, but we are not going to beat the last game into a microdot, it’s not going to do us any favors. We will take what we know and live with it.’’

What Tampa Bay knows is it nearly stole a game despite spending too much time in its own end, turning over pucks with regularity and not making Montreal play enough defense. All three factors were the opposite of what took place during the four-game season series, with the Lightning winning three.

“I was extremely disappointed in the way we played,’’ Cooper said. “Montreal was the far superior team (Wednesday) night. I don’t consider them a far superior team than we are, I think we are extremely close, but in the 78 minutes that we played, they were the better team. In my head, I didn’t see it that way until I watched the tape. Now, in saying that, I believe a lot of their success came all off our colossal errors, and that can’t happen in playoff time.’’

Nerves might have factored into some of those errors, as eight Lightning players made their Stanley Cup playoff debuts. After all the talk of how much different the playoffs are, how the spotlight burns brighter, the hits hurt a little more and the crowd cheers a little louder, with one game in the rear-view mirror, the anticipation turns into expectation following that first taste of the experience.

“Yes, the crowd is louder, it’s a different atmosphere, 200 media people are around — so it is a different atmosphere, but it’s still the same game that we played (during the regular season),” Stamkos said. “So, hopefully the guys can realize that, and that’s the message that they have been told. I

would expect those guys, and just us as a collective group, to be in a better state of mind heading into Game 2.’’

Tampa Tribune LOADED: 04.18.2014


Fennelly: Lindback needs to step up game for Bolts

Staff

TAMPA — If you’re looking for a savior, Lightning fans, avoid looking in the general direction of Ben Bishop.

The MVP of this season was seen at the Forum on Thursday with his left arm mummy wrapped in bandage. Bishop carried an elbow brace. Before Lightning practice, Bishop took the ice in pads and even stopped and caught a few pucks softly tossed his way, which would be a good sign if the Montreal Canadiens didn’t insist on shooting pucks rather than throwing them.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper said don’t expect to see Bishop anytime soon.

“But I don’t know what ‘soon’ is,” Cooper said.

Thanks.

Maybe this doesn’t make Anders Lindback, Bishop’s replacement, a fish in a barrel.

Tough spot, though.

Lindback was the losing goalie in Game 1, his first NHL playoff start. He let in five goals as Montreal took the series opener 5-4 in overtime. It’s not as if Lindback was horrible, but is that really what you build a comeback on, tonight in Game 2?

At least three of those Game 1 goals for Montreal weren’t Lindback’s fault. That includes the OT winner, when Lightning rookie center Cedric Paquette, playing just his third NHL game (tougher spot), got caught behind the net, leaving Montreal’s Dale Weise alone to end things.

Lindback stopped 39 shots and had a better save percentage than Montreal’s Carey Price, who resumed his playoff skittishness and let in four goals in regulation despite facing just 16 shots.

“He’s definitely not the reason we lost,” Bolts center Tyler Johnson said of Lindback. “We really didn’t give him much help.”

Think the Montreal media would be saying that about Price if the Lightning had won?

I guess it’s a matter of expectations.

No, Anders Lindback didn’t lose the game.

But he didn’t win it, either.

He might have to do that once or twice if the Lightning are to take this series.

I’m not at all sure he can.

Do you really have more confidence in Lindback after Game 1?

“Every save you make, every goal you let in, I try to learn something, whether it’s regular season or the playoffs,” Lindback said. “Obviously, it’s going to hurt even more when you let in goals in the playoffs, more crucial times. I’m feeling confident to go back in there (Friday).”

He was superb when he rose from the bench/grave and replaced Bishop last week. He finished off one shutout, then threw one of his own in the shootout win that clinched the home ice the Lightning just lost. Lindback was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week.

The last guy nicknamed Lindy who took off like this landed in Paris in 1927.

But I couldn’t help but think that Bishop might have finished off the Canadiens in Game 1, even if he had been beset by all the “colossal errors” (Cooper’s description) like those in front of Lindback. In four games against Montreal this season, Bishop allowed four goals.

So, how did Lindy do?

“He needed to make a save he probably shouldn’t,” Cooper said. “And you can’t count on your goalies to do that all the time.”

But the Lightning might need a little of what Bishop brought before the Olympic break. There were nights when he took over games.

I’m thinking back to the Lightning run to the Cup 10 years ago — that opening series, after the New York Islanders won Game 2 in Tampa to even the series. Nik Khabibulin won the next two games, on Long Island, with his second and third shutouts of the series.

I’m thinking about 2011, the year the Bolts reached the Eastern Conference finals. In the opening series against Pittsburgh, Dwayne Roloson won Game 7 in Pittsburgh on a 1-0 shutout.

There were saves both those guys made that they shouldn’t have made. That’s what the playoffs are about.

“Obviously, I’m not happy letting in five goals,” Lindback said. “I can only learn from it and look forward to tomorrow.”

He didn’t cost his team the game.

He still might need to win one.

Soon.



Few tickets remaining for Bolts-Canadiens Game 2

Tribune staff

According to the Lightning, Friday’s NHL playoffs game is sold out, with some Student Rush tickets and general seats expected to become available Friday afternoon.

The $25 Student Rush tickets are limited to one per student ID and go on sale 15 minutes before faceoff. For students in Lightning gear, the tickets go on sale 30 minutes before puck drop.

Student Rush seats are sold on a first-come, first-served basis.



Bolts notes: LW Palat’s Game 2 status uncertain

By Roy Cummings

TAMPA — Down 1-0 in their first-round playoff series against Montreal and with lead G Ben Bishop nowhere near ready to come off the shelf, the Lightning are in a tough enough bind as it is.

Now, it appears leading point producer Ondrej Palat might be forced to sit out Game 2 on Friday with an upper body injury.

Palat, a rookie left wing who led the team with 59 points, has been ailing since he took a hit to the head from Columbus D Jack Johnson during the next-to-last game of the regular season. He played the first two periods of the Lightning’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Canadiens in Game 1 on Wednesday, but missed the third period and overtime sessions and did not practice on Thursday.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Palat does not have a concussion, but has absorbed quite a few “physical hits’’ the past few games. A decision on whether he can play Friday won’t be made until game time.

C Alex Killorn, who had 17 goals and 24 assists during the regular season, replaced Palat on the top line with Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson late in Game 1 and in practice Thursday.

That trio played rather well late in the series opener, with Killorn scoring one goal off a Johnson feed and Stamkos scoring another off a breakaway feed from Killorn.

“There’s really no time to gain that chemistry,’’ Stamkos said of the challenge facing the unit. “We have to try to find it right away, so it was nice that Killer and I could do that right away.’’

Upon further review

Watching from his usual spot behind the bench, Cooper wasn’t all that disturbed by the Lightning’s play Wednesday. Later, when his viewpoint changed, so did his opinion.

After watching the tape, Cooper was “extremely disappointed” in the team’s play and said a long string of “colossal errors’’ by the Lightning contributed to the loss.

“Every team makes mistakes, but not the number we made, and in the playoffs that can’t happen,’’ Cooper said. “Eventually, when you keep making those mistakes, it’s going to end up in the back of your net.’’

In addition to giveaways in their own end of the ice, Cooper lamented a lack of puck possession in the offensive end, where Tampa struggled to create shots on goal and scoring chances.

“Pick any (Montreal) line and if you make those guys play 25 or 30 seconds of (defense), they’re not going to have too much going the other way,’’ Cooper said. “The problem was, they were doing that to us.

“And a lot of that was based on us - our entries, being one and done in the (offensive) zone, turning the puck over right away. That’s what got us into trouble, so we need to be a little smarter with the puck.’’

The grind

The Lightning have 11 players in the playoffs for the first time. Many are leaning on veteran playoff performers such as D Eric Brewer for advice on how to respond to a Game 1 loss.

Brewer’s message: stay focused, but relax.

“You want to keep the room serious, but you also want to keep it light at the same time,’’ Brewer said. “I know that’s a bit of a contradiction, but we don’t want to get too (serious) now. We have to focus on what needs to happen, but you don’t want to grind it to a microdot.’’



Jon Cooper: Game 1 worse on review

Damian CristoderoDamian Cristodero, Times Staff Writer

Thursday, April 17, 2014 11:03pm

TAMPA — Cedric Paquette was of two minds after Wednesday's 5-4 overtime loss to the Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

The Lightning rookie center wanted to forget his defensive blunder that led to the winning goal.

"I tried to think about anything else," he said Thursday.

At the same time, "it's a play you have to remember because you don't want to make it again."

What Paquette did was leave the slot in front of the Tampa Bay net and Montreal's Dale Weise uncovered. With defensemen Radko Gudas and Eric Brewer also behind the goal line, Weise had all the time in the world to zip a wrist shot past G Anders Lindback with 1:52 left in the extra period.

"I went the wrong way," Paquette said.

He wasn't alone in doing that. Coach Jon Cooper said after watching the game video that the Lightning played worse than what he first believed.

"I was extremely disappointed in the way we played," he said. "The 78 minutes we played, they were the better team."

Cooper also said some of Montreal's success came because of Tampa Bay's "colossal errors that can't happen at playoff time."

Paquette's was the most visible, but defensemen Victor Hedman and Mike Kostka, among others, were guilty as well.

"But very correctable," Cooper said. "Getting the first game out of the way is going to help the nerves of a lot of our guys. It's the old 'work smarter, not harder,' that's what we have to do."

PALAT UPDATE: Injured rookie Ondrej Palat, who had a team-best 59 regular-season points and left Game 1 early in the third period, will be a game-time decision for Game 2 tonight, Cooper said.

Palat took a knee-to-knee hit from Montreal D P.K. Subban, but Cooper said the injury was to the upper body. That made some wonder if the left wing still was feeling the effects of Friday's hit from Columbus D Jack Johnson. That included contact with Palat's head and kept him out of Sunday's regular-season finale at Washington.

"Maybe partially," Cooper said when asked if Palat's injuries were related. "He's been part of some pretty physical hits the last few games."

Palat does not have a concussion, Cooper said.

BISHOP UPDATE: G Ben Bishop (left elbow) skated on his own in full gear before Thursday's practice, but the main activity of his left hand was catching pucks tossed by assistant trainer Mike Poirier.

Cooper said he did not expect to see Bishop in a game soon but then indicated Bishop might be able to play if the series is "extended a little bit."

That is consistent with what Cooper said before the series.

KILLORN UP: If Palat can't go tonight, Alex Killorn likely will take his spot on left wing with Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson.

The line clicked in Game 1. Killorn had a goal in the third period, and his fake shot and pass set up Stamkos' third-period goal that tied the score 4-4.

The line also was together at Washington when Palat sat out.

"I feel good on that line," Killorn said. "As long as we play fast, we'll be able to create some offensive chances."

Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 04.18.2014


Inexperienced Lightning hopes to grow up in a hurry

Damian CristoderoDamian Cristodero, Times Staff Writer


TAMPA — As it turns out, Lightning right wing J.T. Brown said, a Stanley Cup playoff game isn't that much different from the regular season.

"We're still lacing up our skates the same way," the rookie said.

A cute answer. But it came in response to what might be one of the most critical questions about the Eastern Conference first-round series with the Canadiens:

Does it matter that Tampa Bay has so little playoff experience on its roster?

Of 26 Lightning players eligible to participate in the postseason, 15 entered Wednesday's Game 1 having played zero or one Stanley Cup playoff game. Montreal had just two.

Eleven of those Tampa Bay players were in the lineup for the 5-4 overtime loss, of which coach Jon Cooper said he was "extremely disappointed in the way we played."

That is not all on the inexperienced players. Defenseman Victor Hedman, in his fifth season, did not play well. Neither did Teddy Purcell, in his seventh, or Valtteri Filppula, in his ninth.

Still, Tampa Bay has a lot less institutional knowledge, which can be crucial when things are going badly and a steady hand is needed to settle things down.

"It's hard to know what it's like if you've never seen it or been on the ice when it's going," goalie Anders Lindback said. "It's one thing to watch on TV. It's a big difference to be part of it."

Cooper has been adamant that Lightning players who won the AHL Calder Cup title in 2012 with Norfolk and went to last season's final with Syracuse — 10 did one or both — can draw on those experiences.

"A lot of those guys have won seven of the last eight playoff series they have been part of," he said. "There's a lot to be said for that. Winning is development. I know this is a little bit of a grander stage, but when the puck drops, I don't think our players will be thinking that."

Rookie center Tyler Johnson, who played under Cooper at Norfolk and Syracuse, agreed.

"Playoffs are playoffs. It's do or die," he said. "Obviously, the NHL playoffs, it's faster and the players are better, but the situation as in must-win games, that's pretty much the same."

But there are differences. For Brown, it was the big stage.

"It's a lot more intense," he said. "Everything is magnified. It feels like the game is faster."

And there are distractions. "Look around the (locker) room," second-year wing Alex Killorn said, "There's so much media."

To help process it all, defenseman Mike Kostka said, most important is "what goes on with yourself. If you understand the stakes are higher, you're naturally going to put more pressure on yourself to perform. It's understanding that and dealing with your own preparation and what you need to go through."

Several of Tampa Bay's Stanley Cup playoff newbies did well in Game 1. Killorn and wing Nikita Kucherov scored in their first playoff game.

Lindback, in his second, had 39 saves. Defenseman Radko Gudas, in his first, had nine hits, and Johnson, in his first, had an assist, was 12-for-24 on faceoffs and was plus-1.

On the other hand, center Cedric Paquette, in his first playoff game and third NHL game overall, made a grave defensive error that led to the winning goal.

Mistakes happen to everyone, Brown said.

"That's just an easy way out to say you don't have experience," he said. "We've all been playing so many games this year, it's still the same hockey game. Everyone is inexperienced at one time. I don't think that's an excuse as to why we would lose."

Perhaps, Lindback said, as the team prepared for Game 2 tonight at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, "but we had a lot of guys who played their first playoff game (Wednesday). Now that's out of the way, and we can focus on what we should do."



Small additions help Canadiens in big way

By Philippe Cantin, Montreal Press


Marc Bergevin's reaction after the Canadiens' win Wednesday was nothing short of amusing. So much so that rumor has it he's changing his name to Disco Marc.

With a broad grin, the Canadiens GM waved his arms around and shuffled his feet like he was on a dance floor, celebrating Dale Weise's winning goal in style.

Seconds later the TV showed a face of marble from his Lightning counterpart, Steve Yzerman. Two pictures that summed up all you needed to know about this first meeting.

No, it wasn't just another game. The Stanley Cup playoffs were officially under way.

No matter what player had scored his team's overtime goal, Bergevin would have reacted the same. But he must have been especially pleased to see Weise do it. The success confirms a theory he's a big believer in: the small parts theory.

Recently, in Bergevin's office at the Canadiens' training complex, I brought up the deadline trade that saw the Canadiens get Thomas Vanek, a terrific forward.

"He has helped us a lot," Bergevin said. "And I understand that because of his offensive abilities, people focus on him. But we also brought in two other players before the trade deadline: Dale Weise, who gives us size and speed, and Mike Weaver, who always plays hard and brings depth to our defense.

"When I was with the Chicago Blackhawks, Rick Dudley taught me something: It's often bringing in small parts that improves your team. You're meeting specific needs, and at the end of the day, it all adds up to a big part."

After hanging up his skates, Bergevin got a job with the Blackhawks organization. Dudley, a former Lightning GM, was working for the team. He passed on a few tricks of the trade. So it was no surprise that when Bergevin was appointed Canadiens GM in May 2012, he asked Dudley to be his assistant. The two have worked together ever since.

In Montreal, only diehard hockey fans and card collectors knew Weise when the Canadiens picked him up from Vancouver. The relative anonymity helped the newcomer ease his way onto the new team. Public expectation was negligible.

But then Weise suddenly found himself all alone in front of Anders Lindback's net in Wednesday's overtime. He instinctively shot high, where the Lightning goalie seems less sure of himself. And he won the game for his team. Not bad for a 25-year-old from Winnipeg who's not used to the limelight.

As I watched his teammates throw themselves into his arms, I thought about what Lightning coach Jon Cooper said earlier this week about lesser-known players stepping up in the playoffs to become heroes.

Nobody thought Weise would be that player in Game 1. But that's the beauty of hockey.

Would the Canadiens have won without the recent additions? I don't think so. No other team improved as much between early February and the trade deadline a month later.

Weaver, despite his error on Steven Stamkos' second goal, did a good job. Vanek played inspired hockey and was one of the Canadiens' best players.

Weise, Weaver and Vanek are three parts, big and small, that strengthened a Canadiens team with the playoffs right around the corner. The first two have met specific needs, and the third is a genuine star.

So are the Canadiens bound for glory? … It's best to keep their feet on the ground.

The Lightning will be well-prepared for tonight's Game 2. … A first win is always encouraging, but Bergevin, just like Yzerman, knows that winning a fourth game is the real test.



To score, Lightning learns it must shoot

Joe SmithJoe Smith, Times Staff Writer


TAMPA — The Lightning was efficient in one way Wednesday, scoring four goals on its 16 shots in regulation.

But that type of shooting percentage likely won't hold up over a series against acclaimed Canadiens goaltender Carey Price.

"At the end of the day, you're not going to score too many goals on Carey Price if you don't take enough shots," Lightning defenseman Eric Brewer said.

It's Hockey 101: If you don't shoot, you can't score. The Lightning believed it didn't get enough extended offensive zone pressure during Wednesday's 5-4 overtime loss in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series, something it needs to improve tonight in Game 2.

"If you watched the game (Wednesday), we were in the zone and out of the zone before you'd blink," coach Jon Cooper said. "All that does is swing momentum.

"We've been a pretty good puck-possession team all year. If you make (the Canadiens) play 25, 30 seconds of (defense), they're not going to have much going the other way. The problem is, they were doing that to us."

Bad entries and giveaways led to trouble for Tampa Bay, including defenseman Mike Kostka's turnover near the Canadiens' blue line that quickly turned into an odd-man rush and a goal by Montreal forward Lars Eller in the third period. Including overtime, the Canadiens outshot the Lightning 44-25.

"We're used to being in the offensive zone pretty much the entire game," Lightning center Tyler Johnson said. "So for them to really take that and shove it back at us, they played a great game. They threw a lot of pucks on net, and sometimes we were looking for that pretty play. In the playoffs, that just doesn't happen."

Brewer said it starts with the Lightning getting out of its zone a little cleaner, something it worked on during Thursday's practice. Johnson said Tampa Bay needs to establish a forecheck and sustain pressure. There's a fine line between being too offensive or defensive while with the puck, he said.

Associate coach Rick Bowness believes a key is defensemen getting shots through from the point into the "bogged down" area in front of the net, where many playoff goals are scored. "They're scrambles," Bowness said. "Not a whole lot of pretty plays."

Said center Alex Killorn: "I think that throughout the season, it's come in waves. We've had games where we had a ton of shots, some where we haven't had that many.

"In the playoffs, it's big to get shots on net, especially with a goalie like Carey Price. He's really good at challenging the shooter, but with rebounds, that's where we're going to score most of our goals."



Steven Stamkos deals well with great expectations

Gary SheltonGary Shelton, Times Sports Columnist


At the beginning of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Steven Stamkos started to collect goals … and adjectives.

He was terrific, all right? He was fast, and he was skilled, and he was dangerous. He was tough, and he was combative, and he was explosive. In the biggest of games, Stamkos was the biggest of stars.

And now, what are we to expect?

More.

Tonight in Game 2 against the Canadiens, Stamkos has to stand a little taller. Tonight, he has to reach a little deeper. After all, this is his team, and this is his time. Who else do you expect to be there in the crucial moments late in the game? Where else would you rather have the puck but on his stick? Who else would you trust to tie this series with a single shot?

This is what it is like to be Stamkos. No matter what level of wondrous he has been, the next night his team is going to expect it again.

And again.

"I'm not satisfied unless we win," Stamkos said Thursday, standing in a corridor outside the team's locker room. "I'd trade personal success for team success. It would still be a story if I wasn't producing, but we were winning.

"It's not just me. Collectively we aren't going far as a team if just one player is playing well. We weren't satisfied with our effort (in Wednesday's 5-4 overtime loss in Game 1). The more we watch the tape, the more we see things that we can improve on."

What can Stamkos do better? After all, he scored two goals in Game 1, one on a great shot from the right wing, one on a perfect pass from Alex Killorn. He was prepared to mix it up with Montreal's Andrei Markov in defense of teammate Ondrej Palat.

Tonight? Maybe there is another pass he can make. Maybe there is another hit he can make. Maybe there is an even bigger goal he can score.

Something. Anything.

"When you carry the name Steven Stamkos, you probably have a little extra obligation," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "The standard is a little higher than probably your everyday player. There are a handful of players who have a name that weighs as much as Steven Stamkos'. He didn't ask for that. He made that name for himself in the way he plays.

"If it's a situation where he thinks he's played less than that, it's because he has set the bar so high, it becomes expected of him. That's what makes it tougher for him. Now you've got to play at such an elite level that the second you slip up and play like a mere mortal, it looks like you're not on top of your game. That's tough for him, but it's why he's a superstar."

And so Stamkos, like so many of the other Lightning players, looks for a little bit more going into this game. Anders Lindback has the same search going on. So does Victor Hedman. So do most of the Lightning defenders.

But the great ones are the same. They yearn to be the difference-makers in the bigger games. They want the puck to come to them. They want to put their team over the top.

"Let's not kid ourselves," Stamkos said. "We definitely want this next game. We don't want to go into Montreal in a hole. Hopefully we learned our lessons in Game 1."

Stamkos seems older than his 24 years. There is a perspective to him, a wisdom. There is a reason Cooper says he has blossomed as a leader since inheriting the captain's role after Marty St. Louis was traded in March.

Stamkos shrugged. To him, hockey isn't that different while wearing the "C." He always stood up for teammates before. He always had time to help them with a tip here or there. He always took his role as a leader seriously.

"I've tried not to change too much," Stamkos said. "Sometimes when you do have the letter on your jersey, you overthink it. I've tried not to do that. I've tried to learn from past guys we've had who have been great leaders, and from guys we still have who are great leaders.

"There are more eyes on you. People expect you to be composed in all situations. I've had to rein in my emotions in certain situations. But I haven't had to do too much that I haven't done before."

For Stamkos, it has been an uneven year. He missed 45 games with a broken leg, then spent several weeks trying to chase his former self. Even now he will tell you his leg isn't 100 percent. But it is closer, and these days, he looks like a more comfortable player.

"I don't think I'm to the level I was at before the injury yet," he said. "The goal for me is to feel more confident and comfortable every time I'm on the ice, but it's still going to take a summer of hard training to get the strength back to where it was before."

Even now, however, Stamkos is the most essential member of the Lightning. Even now he is the player other players look to in the most important moments.

Teammate Tyler Johnson was asked Thursday if there are ever times he marvels at the skills that Stamkos has. "Every shift," Johnson said.

The thing is, the Lightning needs him on every one of them. They need every drop of sweat, every ounce of effort.

Tonight, more than ever.


741595 Toronto Maple Leafs

Hockey analytics: How does momentum help NHL teams heading into playoffs?

By: By IJay Palansky and Phil Curry SPECIAL TO THE STAR IJay Palansky Published on Thu Apr 17 2014

In 16 NHL cities that aren’t Toronto, much of the talk over the past few weeks has been about the “momentum” each team carries into the playoffs. During lulls in the game when colour commentators are desperate for something passably intelligent to say, they trot out the good ol’ clichés about how either their club’s strong close to the regular season could be the ticket to post-season glory, or how the team’s stumble to the finish line spells disaster for the second season.

Ordinarily our reactions to trite explanations like these range somewhere between Phil rolling his eyes and IJay wanting to rip off his own ears so he doesn’t have to listen any more (yes, he recognizes that muting the TV would be a less melodramatic solution).

But when it comes to team momentum going into the playoffs, the Department of Hockey Analytics thought there might actually be a kernel of truth in this platitude.

It makes sense that a team’s performance right before the playoffs might be more meaningful than the team’s performance earlier in the year for various reasons.

A struggling team might have important injuries that carry over into the playoffs or a surging team might have gotten healthy.

Maybe a team finally managed to sort out its defensive systems or line combos.

Or maybe players just happened to be riding a natural performance peak – like a runner or swimmer who carefully manages her training so that her performance peaks right at the Olympics.

To test the theory, for every playoff series since 1998 we determined each team’s probability of winning as a function of the regular season point differential between the two teams and their relative “momentum” coming into the playoffs.

We measured momentum by the points each team earned in (a) the last five games of the regular season and (b) the last 10 games of the regular season.

The results are shown in the graph. Each dot represents a single team in a single first round series. The location of each dot reflects the probability that the team would win the series as determined by our model.

As expected, the team with more regular season points was more likely to win each series.

While that’s hardly newsworthy, we were able to quantify just how much it mattered.

For each extra point a team had over its playoff opponent, it was, on average, 1 per cent more likely to win the series. For example, all else equal, a team with 10 more points than its opponent stood about a 60 per cent chance of moving to the next round.

There was also a fairly strong relationship between performance over the last 10 games of the regular season and the likely outcome of the first round of the playoffs. In fact, a single point of difference over the last 10 games meant a 2.2 per cent increase in the likelihood of winning the series — or more than twice as powerful a predictor of playoff success as a point difference over the entire regular season.

So the probability that the team with the 10-point regular season edge would win the series shrinks from 60 per cent to 55.6 per cent if its opponent earned just two more points than it did over the last 10 games.

However, momentum over just the last five games of the season doesn’t seem to matter.

Why do the last 10 games matter but not the last five? That’s hard to say. Possibly because, in the last five games, teams that have locked up a

playoff spot start resting their players, or maybe five games is just too small a sample size to be meaningful.

What does all this mean?

First, since there seems to be no correlation between a team’s performance over the last five games and its playoff performance, it means teams should be less concerned about a little rust at the start of the playoffs and should freely rest their players as the season winds down.

Second, as far this year’s first round match-ups are concerned, in the Eastern Conference it means that the Rangers might be more of a favourite than their 2-point regular season lead over the Flyers indicates, due to their superior record over the last ten games (6-2-2 versus 4-3-3).

In the West, it means that despite the Blues’ late season implosion, their series with the Blackhawks still promises to be a close one, since the Blackhawks had the second worst record of all playoff teams over the last 10 games.

Toronto Star LOADED: 04.18.2014

741596 Toronto Maple Leafs

Why didn't the Leafs call up T.J. Brennan?

By Steve Buffery ,Toronto Sun

First posted: Thursday, April 17, 2014 10:18 PM EDT | Updated: Thursday, April 17, 2014 10:20 PM EDT

TORONTO - T.J. Brennan winning the Eddie Shore Award as the outstanding defenceman in the American Hockey League brings up a pretty obvious question.

Why, if Brennan had such a great season with the Marlies (and he did have a pretty great season), was he never called up by the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Remember the Leafs? The team that stumbled and bumbled right out a playoff spot following the Olympic break. A team that struggled terribly defensively, while also experiencing difficulty scoring at times.

Brennan, who was signed by the Leafs to a one-year deal last year, not only led the Marlies in scoring with 72 points in 74 games (including a team-leading 25 goals), he was third overall in scoring in the AHL — the league’s top D-man in scoring. Could the Leafs not have used a guy like that when things went sour this season? Some fans believe the Leafs definitely could have used Brennan’s offence. Perhaps an injection of offence and enthusiasm, not to mention his cannon of a shot from the point, was just what the doctor ordered for the big team.

But apparently it wasn’t as easy as all that. According to Dave Poulin, the Leafs VP of hockey operations, the Leafs could have called Brennan up from the minors (after he initially cleared waivers at the beginning of the season), but the necessity wasn’t really there — despite the 25-year-old’s tremendous output this year. Poulin said Brennan, a 2007 Buffalo Sabres draft pick, was signed by the organization to provide depth if the Leafs experienced long-term injury problems at the back end. But that never really happened.

“That was the plan,” Poulin. said “And we signed him to a contract that allowed him, once he got through waivers, to provide depth for us at the top level. But through the course of the year, we literally didn’t have any (long-term) injuries amongst our defenceman. It’s unfortunate that T.J. didn’t get an opportunity. It was a challenge, without question, because he got off to just an absolutely crazy start and maintained that through the course of the season — a top-five scorer, a threat on a first-place team and a constant threat on the power play. He had just a tremendous year.”

Another consideration for keeping Brennan in the minors, the organization could have lost the sturdy D-man if they called him up and then tried to send him back. And there was the risk of losing a veteran defenceman to waivers if they tried to replace one with the Leafs with Brennan. Poulin didn’t say as much, but perhaps another reason why such an offensive commodity as Brennan was not utilized by the Leafs this season was because, while they did struggle to score at times, scoring wasn’t as big a problem as their sloppy defensive game — and defence is still a work in progress for Brennan. He’s lights-on the power play, but the Leafs were pretty good on the PP most of the year (finishing 6th in the NHL with a success rate of 19.8%). The Leafs were also 14th in goals scored, averaging 2.7 per game. Brennan’s game is also somewhat similar to a couple of young defencemen already with the big club — Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly. What the Leafs needed more than anything during the 2013-14 campaign were guys responsible on defence. Still, one has to wonder when the Leafs were in the doldrums late in the year, if a player like Brennan might have helped turned things around. For his part, the Willingboro, N.J., native feels no animosity about not being called up. Reached in Utica, N.Y., on Thursday, where the playoff-bound Marlies are wrapping up their regular-season road schedule, Brennan said he has nothing but “huge respect” for the organization.

“There’s no bitterness or anything,” said Brennan, who scored the winning goal in a 5-4 OT win in Binghamton on Wednesday night (he also had two assists). “The Leafs have been great. Obviously it’s very unfortunate that they didn’t make the playoffs, but they were confident with the team they had going in and there weren’t too many injuries on the back end and it just didn’t seem to be the right fit. There was really nothing to complain about.”

Brennan, who has played a total 40 games in the NHL with Buffalo and Florida, said he has learned how to be much more a team player with the Marlies this year and credits his teammates with helping him put together a career year.

“There are so many unsung heroes on this team. Guys like Josh Leivo and my partner Kevin Marshall, who’s probably had about 15 heart attacks this year with me rushing up in the play and him not being sure if I’m going to get back,” Brennan said with a laugh.

Brennan is still unsigned for next season and Poulin said the Leafs will further evaluate their personnel before making a decision on the defenceman. But they are high on their Marlies star.

“He’s still a young man who continues to round out his game and I’m fully confident that he can play in the NHL (as a full-time player),” Poulin said.

Toronto Sun LOADED: 04.18.2014

741597 Washington Capitals

Capitals season review: Defensemen

By Katie Carrera Updated: April 17 at 11:16 am

The Capitals’ biggest weakness this season was their play in their own end. Often unable to clear the puck consistently or engineer a proper breakout, Washington spent far too much time trapped in its own zone, which led to lopsided possession at even strength (47.6 Corsi for percentage, seventh-worst in the league) and a glaring minus-276 shot differential five-on-five.

“Stingy” teams don’t rely solely on their blueliners — success in this area is the result of effort and ability up and down a roster — but that’s where overall defensive competence has to start. Washington lacked depth at defensemen and spent the season patching together journeymen and young prospects and hoping for the best. That’s not the way to pursue a championship or a playoff berth, and it’s why the Capitals’ biggest offseason need is an experienced, stabilizing defensive presence.

“We need to get help on the blue line,” Coach Adam Oates said Monday. “We do.”

All told, 14 defensemen suited up in at least one game for the Capitals this season. What follows is a look at how they fared nd what the future might hold. Breakdowns on the forwards and goaltending will follow over the next few days and, if you missed it, check out the unrestricted free agents here.

Note: All salary cap figures are from Capgeek.com, and the Capitals denied requests to speak to all of the assistant coaches, including Calle Johansson, who has instructed the defensemen the past two seasons.

Mike Green

2014-15 salary cap hit: $6,083, 333 | Age: 28

2013-14 regular season stats: 70GP, 9G, 29A, -16

Not even Oates seems to know exactly what to make of Green, who in his ninth NHL season is neither the offensive catalyst he once was nor the dependable two-way presence many have tried to mold him into. Nonetheless, Green remains a centerpiece of the Capitals’ defense, and for the first time since the 2009-10 season, he played at least 70 games despite missing time because of a concussion and fractured ribs.

He led the Capitals defensemen with 38 points, 23 of which came at even-strength, and boasted the best five-on-five Corsi-for (51.7 percent) on the roster . But far too often this season Green drew attention for all the wrong reasons: glaring giveaways, errant passes, misplaying odd-man rushes or simply being outmaneuvered in his own zone. Despite that impressive Corsi number, five-on-five Green was on the ice for 10 more goals against (53) than he was goals for (43) Washington.

So what do the Capitals want from Green? Under Oates, they don’t want the offensive superstar they just want steady play.

“If he’s cheating to get 30 goals, that’s a terrible message right? And we’re trying to do the same thing with Ovi like we talked about with Ovi – I don’t want that from Greenie,” Oates said. “You got 30 goals, great. But I need you to play correct. He’s got magical skills, we know that, but we need him to be consistent every night.”

This season, the Capitals didn’t get the reliable performance they wanted often enough.

John Carlson

2014-15 salary cap hit: $3,966,666 | Age: 24


In his fourth full NHL season, Carlson became the Capitals’ top defenseman, taking on additional responsibility in all situations and leading the team in average ice time per game at 25:31.

Along with continuing to serve on Washington’s shut-down pairing, Carlson is playing point on the first power play unit and averaging nearly a minute more than he did last season as the team’s leader in average shorthanded ice time per game (3:44 up from 2:53). Handling those increased roles well

through the first three months of the season helped him earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team that competed in Sochi.

However, of the four defensemen who played at least half the season, Carlson had the worst Fenwick for percentage (which measures shot attempt differential, excluding blocked shots) at 46.7 percent during five-on-five play. That’s down from 49.6 percent in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 and 49.1 in 2011-12. When a team’s top defensive pairing can’t move the puck out of their own end and limit opponents’ shots, that’s a trend in the wrong direction.

Karl Alzner

2014-15 salary cap hit: $2.8 million | Age: 25


Reunited with Carlson for much of this season – they played together 72.4 percent of the time – much of the possession woes and shot allowance that were mentioned previously apply to Alzner as well. As the team’s most stay-at-home blueliner, Alzner’s 47.4 Fenwick-for percentage five-on-five is far from ideal. He was a minus-10 at even-strength.

“Big chunks [of time] we had a tough time getting [the puck] out,” Alzner said. “We wanted to always get it out clean, and sometimes it just needed to get out. We were great the last four our five games, but it was a little too late. That just comes down to better execution, being in better positions and get our head up a little bit more.

“For years we just got it out,” Alzner added. “We had speed; we were doing a great job; and this year, it’s one of the questions I don’t know how to answer. We didn’t do it.”

The struggles of Alzner and Carlson at even strength reinforce the need for another stabilizing presence in the defense corps. While they have long-established chemistry, they would benefit from the addition of at least one other blueliner who could handle a significant workload and create more balance regardless of whether they’re working together or on separate units.

Dmitry Orlov

2014-15 salary cap hit: $2 million | Age: 22


After spending the first two months as a yo-yo between AHL Hershey and the Capitals, Orlov made his season debut Nov. 30 at the New York Islanders and missed just two games (because of a suspension) the rest of the season. It was puzzling to see Washington’s top defensive prospect in limbo for so long as the coaching staff auditioned other candidates, but once he was in the NHL mix, Orlov earned more responsibility. He averaged 19:35 per game, fourth-most among the defensemen, and had the second-best Fenwick-for percentage at five-on-five at 50.2.

Orlov also showed chemistry with Green, though, the duo often had a choose-your-own-adventure feel as their combined offensive instincts would occasionally leave them vulnerable in the defensive zone.

That’s been the focus for Oates with Orlov – teaching the young defenseman to take care of his own end and focus on proper positioning rather than offensive production. Orlov would have been a restricted free agent this summer but even after the odd start to the year, he signed a two-year, $4 million contract extension to remain with the Capitals. As promising as Orlov is, there was no greater reminder of his youthful exuberance than on March 2 against Philadelphia when after scoring two goals he took a five-minute major for boarding that changed the course of that critical contest and earned him a suspension.

John Erskine

2014-15 salary cap hit: $1,962,500 | Age: 33


The oldest member of the Capitals’ blueline entered the season still recovering from offseason surgery on his left knee, but that didn’t keep the team from using Erskine the first four games of the season. Erskine was clearly laboring in those early stages and went on to miss more than a month early on.

Despite various stints in the lineup including a lengthy stretch in which he played 24 of 25 contests beginning Dec. 15, he clearly didn’t have full mobility. To be certain, Erskine was never going to win any speed competitions, but that made the additional limitation even more noticeable.

Washington had leaned heavily on Erskine, the only truly gritty member of the group the season before, though, and his absence only further exposed the organization’s lack of blueline depth. Despite choosing not to use him late in the season – Erskine sat out 16 of the final 18 games as a healthy scratch – Oates said he hopes the veteran defenseman can be back in the mix regularly next season.

“He had knee surgery, and I felt like he was always chasing his tail a little bit this year, and I’ve got to tell him that,” Oates said. “But to me, he’s a valuable part. If he’s a healthy man, he’s an asset. Hopefully he can have a good summer conditioning, where he can skate on it and get in shape and be in tip-top form.”

Jack Hillen

2014-15 salary cap hit: $700,000 | Age: 28


The defining characteristic of Hillen’s NHL career is injury. He missed time in 2010 because of a broken jaw while with the Islanders after being struck in the face by a slap shot from Alex Ovechkin. Last season he missed 25 games because of broken ribs after a hit from Vincent Lecavalier. Then this year, he missed 60 games because of a fractured tibial plateau after being checked by Calgary’s Lance Bouma. Then in his 11th game back after returning to the Capitals’ lineup, Hillen collided with Ovechkin on March 25 and suffered a concussion that sidelined him the final nine games.

While undersized, Hillen is a strong skater and in the 36 regular season games he’s played as a Capital these past two seasons, he has shown an ability to help move the puck out of the zone. At this point, Hillen just wants to be able to stay healthy for a full season.

“I’ve got to look at myself. I’ve had too many injuries in my career, I don’t know what’s going on. Is it something I’m doing? I don’t know. You can say it’s bad luck but I don’t know,” Hillen said. “Next year my goal is to stay healthy. I want to play well but I just want to get through a season. The frustration level for me right now is at an all-time high. I feel like I let my team down, I let the coaches down, I let the guys down because I wasn’t able to be out there and help them. I had people say it’s not your fault, it’s bad luck, but mentally I feel like I was letting the team down because I wasn’t able to go out there and play and help them out.”

Connor Carrick

2014-15 salary cap hit: $636,667 | Age: 20


Carrick’s inclusion on the season-opening roster was one of the biggest surprises out of training camp as the Capitals opted to have the junior-eligible rookie turn pro this year. He appeared in the first three games of the season before being assigned to AHL Hershey and went on to compete in the World Junior Championships, but on Jan. 9, Carrick rejoined the Capitals and appeared in 27 consecutive games.

“I felt like I aged 10 years this year,” said Carrick, who was a healthy scratch in nine straight games before playing the final four contests of the year once Green was injured. “I’m really excited to go home for the summer, take back what I learned this year. I’m much more ready for whatever next year brings.”

While it was a significant year for Carrick’s career, there were times where he appeared to be in over his head. He had the second-worst Fenwick for percentage (42.8) among the 22 players who appeared in at least a quarter of the season’s games; only fourth-liner Aaron Volpatti’s was worse. Carrick probably would have benefited from more time playing in the AHL, but time will tell how being thrown into the NHL fire affects him in the long term.

Quick takes:

>> Nate Schmidt: Made his NHL debut this season and appeared in 29 games this season. He stood out among the youthful influx of defensemen in the early stages of the season but even with strong underlying numbers (49.7 percent Fenwick-for) he needed developmental time. Schmidt, who the Capitals signed as an undrafted college free agent in 2013, is a restricted free agent this summer.

>> Steve Oleksy: Last season’s underdog story was a healthy scratch the first two games of the year and then didn’t appear in an NHL game after Jan. 4. While he had moderately more NHL experience than some of the other defensemen the Capitals leaned on, Oleksy’s skating ability was always his most glaring weakness. That deficiency allowed him to be

leapfrogged by numerous players on the depth chart. Even once he was reassigned to the AHL, Oleksy was often a healthy scratch for the Bears.

>> Tyson Strachan: Entering the season with 120 games of NHL experience, he was the most seasoned of those the Capitals rotated in from Hershey, and his size (6-3, 215) also made him stand out among the group. But as he appeared in 18 games over the course of the season, it was clear he wouldn’t serve a greater role than that of occasional fill-in. He is an unrestricted free agent this summer.

>> Patrick Wey: Before he suffered a concussion on March 30 in Nashville in a fight with Rich Clune, the 2009 fourth-round draft pick had quietly impressed those in the organization. His size, steady nature and emphasis on his own zone are viewed as an asset. Assuming the concussion doesn’t have any lingering effects, it will be interesting to see how much NHL time Wey might get next season.

>> Julien Brouillette: He made his NHL debut at age 27 on Feb. 6 but made quite the impression, recording a primary assist and a game-winning goal in his first two games with the Capitals. Expect Brouillette, an unrestricted free agent this summer, to remain an AHL regular moving forward perhaps as an occasional call-up at the NHL level.

>> Alex Urbom: Remember him? Washington picked him up off waivers in early October, played him 20 games, sat him out 16 as a healthy scratch and then he was reclaimed by New Jersey when placed on waivers again for reassignment to the AHL. Any time you think the Capitals’ defensive depth wasn’t questionable this season, recall those three weeks in November where he was in the lineup every night.

>> Cameron Schilling: He struggled in the only game he appeared in with the Capitals this season: at the Bruins on March 6. He’s been a steady presence for Hershey, though, appearing in 68 games often on the Bears’ top defensive pair.

Washington Post LOADED: 04.18.2014

741598 Vancouver Canucks

Canucks report card 2013-14: The fans give out their grades

April 17, 2014. 3:21 pm • Section: The White Towel

Jonathan McDonald

It’s never fun to grade.

After all, you want all the kids to do well. To have studied, to have listened to the teacher, to have been prepared for their tests.

That would be the perfect situation. And then there’s the situation that faced the more than 1,200 Province Sports readers who graded the Canucks’ players’ 2013-14 season.

It was grim. For every hard-working, over-achieving Chris Tanev, you got two middling Sedins. For every pleasant surprise like Mike Santorelli, you got distinctly malodorous surprises in the Alexes: Burrows and Edler.

Vancouver Province: LOADED: 04.18.2014

741599 Websites

ESPN / Pens know they can't take the Jackets' bait

By Scott Burnside

PITTSBURGH -- One of the characteristics of the Pittsburgh Penguins in recent playoff losses has been the under-the-skin factor.

As in, they've let teams get under their skin, fallen out character with retaliatory penalties and become engaged in stuff away from the play.

And while the Columbus Blue Jackets aren't the the Philadelphia Flyers, the Penguins' chief nemesis in this matter (head coach Todd Richards went to great lengths to insist they were going to play their game, not the Flyers' game), they are a team that loves the physical play and their identity is tied up in a physical forecheck.

In Game 1, skilled Penguins defenseman Kris Letang found himself called for a retaliatory slashing penalty in the second period after a particularly hard hit by Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner. The Blue Jackets did not score on the ensuing power play but they did score one goal with the man advantage.

Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma wasn't too pleased with the Letang play and acknowledged as much Thursday, a day the Penguins took off with Game 2 set for Saturday in Pittsburgh.

"He got a message," Bylsma said. "That's something he's got to be better at. And that's something we have to be better [at] as a group."

Skilled players are always going to be targeted, especially in a playoff series, the coach added, and it's up to teams to be prepared for that kind of physical play and accept it as part of the process.

"You have to expect it and deal with it," Bylsma said. "We know it's coming. We have to be better at it in our reaction."

Former NHL defenseman Phil Bourque, a Stanley Cup champion with the Penguins in 1991 and 1992, had an even more blunt assessment of the issue for the Penguins.

"I don't think I can sugarcoat this," Bourque told ESPN.com. "It's got to stop.

"There needs to be a line in the sand drawn that this cannot continue, whether you're playing the Columbus Blue Jackets or anybody else in the playoffs. The retaliation stuff is the stuff that's going to bite you right on the backside. You're going to lose games, you're going to lose games, which [is] going to lead to losing [the] series."

The longtime broadcast analyst speculated that the Blue Jackets will see a reaction like Letang's and increase their efforts to get under the Penguins’ collective skin as this series progresses.

ESPN LOADED: 04.18.2014

741600 Websites

ESPN / Blue Jackets loving every playoff minute

By Scott Burnside

PITTSBURGH -- At the beginning of the season, Columbus Blue Jackets president John Davidson met with his players and talked about opportunity. Not just the opportunity of doing something special this season, but of big-picture opportunities; as in, how many opportunities do players get in their career to be part of something unique, meaningful?

Davidson played in 301 NHL games and in 1979 was with the New York Rangers when they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup finals.

He imagined those kinds of experiences would be within his grasp again and again.

He never made it back to the finals and in fact appeared in only 10 postseason games after that.

"You just don't know," Davidson told ESPN.com.

The Columbus Blue Jackets, a team still searching for their first-ever postseason victory after dropping Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a 4-3 count on Wednesday, are a team that has had precious few moments like this in their history.

This is only their second trip to the postseason, and they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings in the first one. Wednesday night marked the first time they actually held a lead in a playoff game.

So much of the discussion surrounding the Blue Jackets, who earned the top wild-card in the Eastern Conference with a strong second half, has been about seizing the moment, taking it in.

"You've got to embrace the opportunity to play for the big prize, the Stanley Cup," Davidson said.

While they might be a team short on experience -- 11 players in Wednesday's Game 1 had never played in an NHL playoff game and there were a handful of others whose playoff experiences numbered in the single digits -- rest assured, win or lose, the Blue Jackets are soaking up every minute of this trip to the playoff dance.

Perhaps no one is doing more soaking than veteran forward Derek MacKenzie. At 32, he is the senior member of a youthful Columbus team. He has been with the team since 2007, and Wednesday marked his first-ever playoff game as an NHLer. That kind of drought brings with it a lot of introspection, wondering and downright despair.

"I think, personally, there was a time you question whether what you're doing is good enough to help the team get to the playoffs," MacKenzie told ESPN.com. "I think there were some times when, yeah, we felt like it's a long shot or we needed a break. I think the mentality going into this year was, we stick to the game plan and do what we're supposed to and we're going to get there. The way last season ended kind of was a big eye-opener, especially for some of the young guys, and they did a great job stepping up this year.

"Being part of this organization for seven years, you always hoped that you could get to this point, but things happen along the way and you're never sure who's going to be standing there at the end. So, I feel pretty fortunate that I made it through some of the darker days."

They all have their stories, whether it's the top draft picks, such as Ryan Murray or Ryan Johansen, who had a breakout year leading the Blue Jackets in scoring by a wide margin, or veterans who have been cast off by other teams. They have come together in the face of years of disappointment and failure to try to create something different.

Mark Letestu, for instance, began his NHL career with the Pittsburgh Penguins but was traded early in 2011 to Columbus.

"Any time you get traded, you feel like you're not wanted or you're being cast off somewhere else, but I chose to just look at it positively," Letestu told ESPN.com. "At the time, Columbus was a struggling franchise, last place at the time, so I knew I was going somewhere that I knew I was going

to get a chance to play and I had a chance to establish myself as an NHL regular. So the move for my career's been great. Now that we've got ourselves back in the Stanley Cup mix, it couldn't have worked out better.

"I think most guys here are eyes and ears open; we're trying to soak it in as much as possible. I think we did a good job of that last season with the drive for the playoffs and just coming up short. And this year [we] seemed to learn it and got done early, understood the situation and executed. So hopefully guys are eyes and ears open here, learn as much as they can, so in the future we have experiences to draw back on," said Letestu, who finished the season playing his best hockey and picked up a goal in Game 1 on the power play.

Davidson uses a building metaphor, the setting in place of a series of bricks in constructing a team capable of making the playoffs and being a threat.

It requires patience and commitment from the top on down.

Ownership is committed and Davidson -- who came over from St. Louis, where he helped get that franchise back on track after some lean years -- hired Jarmo Kekalainen as his GM.

"He's sturdy," Davidson said of Kekalainen. "We've had a roller-coaster year. There's a lot of roller coaster in a young team. And if you don't have that steadiness, you don't have anything."

Kekalainen said he's pleased for the franchise and the city to be rewarded for their patience through difficult times.

But it's the players who have bought in and made things happen that Kekalainen feels most pleased for.

Head coach Todd Richards is likewise a sturdy fellow, and his team plays a fast, sturdy game that was on display Wednesday night when they out-hit the Penguins by a large margin.

In the two years Davidson's been with the team, he has heard not one complaint about Richards or his staff, which is unusual, given the decisions on ice time and roles that invariably leave some players disappointed or angry.

"He's a straight shooter," Davidson said of his coach.

MacKenzie is, to follow the building imagery, the cement that helps bind those bricks, and his hard-nosed play and his perseverance have resonated in the locker room.

In Game 1, he scored a short-handed goal that at the time gave Columbus a 3-1 lead.

"He's invested a lot," Davidson said. "He's one of the real quality people on the club."

MacKenzie said it's been a lot more fun this spring being around Columbus.

"It's been fun playing at home," he said. "Certainly, again, in years past, you had to explain why you didn't make it or why you didn't get there to a lot of people. Columbus is a great hockey town, an educated hockey town. It’s been nice just going to the zoo with the kids and the odd fan showing their excitement.

"We've been promising it for a long time, and now it's finally here."


741601 Websites

ESPN / Commish salutes Brendan Shanahan

By Scott Burnside

ESPN.com

PITTSBURGH -- Count commissioner Gary Bettman among those who will miss Brendan Shanahan, the Hall of Fame player and former head of player safety who recently took on the post of president of hockey operations for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In an interview with ESPN.com and Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Bettman said Shanahan leaves a lasting legacy with his involvement with the league's player safety department, a position that did not exist until he took it on.

"What I like is that he created it. ... He put in place a series of systems, the department and personnel -- and I believe that we, through the creation of that department, have begun to effectuate a change in the culture of the game in terms of types of hits that are out of the game now. You can show lots of videotape of players not making certain hits that they would have made years ago," Bettman said.

The commissioner called Shanahan's transition from player to executive "phenomenal," adding: "That's a testament to him and the kind of person he is and how hard he works ... he put something in place that transcended him."

Bettman said he hasn't given any thought to who might replace Shanahan long term in the role.

As for any update on the future participation of the NHL in the Olympics, Bettman said the league and players have had zero discussions about what the league's position is going to be moving forward, despite rumblings from some about Olympic-related fatigue.

"You hear some of the clubs suggesting players are tired and worn out," Bettman said. "Particularly you look at teams that had 10 or nine players. (St. Louis Blues coach) Ken Hitchcock was quoted the other day and said they ran out of gas a little bit and they're looking to rejuvenate for the playoffs. It has an impact -- injuries and fatigue."

But while the league and the players were hoping to come to a conclusion on future Olympic participation, as well as a firm plan on the hosting of a World Cup of Hockey -- likely in the fall of 2015 -- within six months or so of the end of the Sochi Games, nothing has been resolved.

"Since we've left Sochi, and I've repeatedly said this, we weren't focused on Olympics anymore. We were focused on the balance of the regular season and playoffs. We haven't given it a moment of thought," Bettman said.


741602 Websites

FOXSports.com / Ducks youth stepping up

Abbey Mastracco

FOX Sports West

APR 17, 2014 9:47p ET

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau would like to argue against his team's youngest players being the "unsung heroes."

Rookies Hampus Lindholm, Patrick Maroon, Frederik Andersen and second-year player Kyle Palmieri might not be as well known as others in the locker room just yet, but in Anaheim, Boudreau's known all along what he's had.

Their strong playoff performances in the first game of the 2014 postseason is simply par for the course.

"It's only Game 1, but any guy on an Eastern (Conference) team is looking at our roster going, 'Who's this guy, who's that guy? Oh my god, where did he come from?'" Boudreau said. "Right now, we like it that way."

Maroon, who scored two goals in the regular season finale and had an assist in Wednesday night's Game 1 win, was someone Boudreau knew about when he was the head coach in Washington D.C. when the 25-year-old left winger was in the Philadelphia Flyers' system. Andersen was so good in his rookie season that he was handed the backup job full time when the Ducks' traded away Viktor Fasth.

Palmieri, also a left winger, has played in only seven postseason games and now has six points after his goal less than two minutes into Wednesday's game.

"He's a playoff guy," Boudreau said. "He was last year...He's done it before, in other leagues in the playoffs, so it doesn't surprise me."

How Freddie fared

A day removed from Andersen's first career postseason win in goal, the consensus is that it was a worthy performance.

Jae C. Hong-AP

Ducks' Getzlaf expected to play after taking puck to face in Game 1

READ MORE

"I thought he played really solid," Boudreau said. "You're not going to stop the back door goal and the second one was screened in and the third one was a great tip. Anything that he could see that he got in front of he stopped."

Boudreau gave no indication as to whether or not he had considered starting veteran goaltender Jonas Hiller or the other rookie, John Gibson, in Friday night's second game of the series. But he also wasn't ready to name Andersen the starter just yet, only saying, "There's a good chance."

For Andersen's part, there's still no nerves. He's never had any nerves when it comes to hockey, even when making the transition from the European game in his native Denmark, to coming to the U.S. He's just not a person that gets nervous easily. Even-keeled most of the time, when asked the last time he felt uneasy about anything in or out of the rink, he could think of only one thing.

"Maybe my driver's license test over here," Andersen said. "It was actually pretty easy but I didn't know what I was going into."

Beleskey update

Top line left wing Matt Beleskey left Wednesday night's game in the third period with an undisclosed lower-body injury and did not skate Thursday. His status is day-to-day.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Ducks avoid late collapse against Stars to take Game 1

READ MORE

"It's going to be every morning, I come in and see how I feel," Beleskey said. "It's playoff time. That's about it."

Since he did not skate Thursday, if he doesn't take morning skate with the team before Friday's game it's unlikely that he will play, per team rules. Should that be the case, Palmieri is a likely replacement as he skated with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry after linemate Dustin Penner was traded to the Capitals the day before the deadline.

However, Boudreau has made no decision. The depth at the forward position gives him several options.

"We haven't had the same lineup in a row all year so I don't think it's going to affect us that much," Boudreau said. "Even though we're going to miss Matt if he doesn't play, because he's been playing well."

FOXSports.com LOADED: 04.18.2014

741603 Websites

FOXSports.com / Ducks' Getzlaf expected to play after taking puck to face

Abbey Mastracco

FOX Sports West

APR 17, 2014 2:21p ET

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Following the Ducks' Game 1 win over the Stars Wednesday night at the Honda Center, there was none of the typical postgame celebrations.

Yes, they won their opening game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but after nearly blowing a four-goal lead, their captain, Ryan Getzlaf, left the game in the final seconds after taking a puck off of his face.

"It was a weird mood after winning your first playoff game," said defenseman Cam Fowler. "You could just sense that there was a little concern, a little tension in the room. It wasn't the high five, listen to music, dancing that you normally get because we were all concerned."

Before Thursday's off-day practice, the Ducks announced that Getzlaf, second in the league behind Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby with 87 points, suffered deep facial lacerations and x-rays for jaw-related injuries came back negative. The center will be able to play in Game 2 Friday night at the Honda Center.

One of the toughest guys I know #warrior #ducks #playoffperformer #saskboy pic.twitter.com/ieVIthEx8D

— Chris Getzlaf (@ChrisGetzlaf) April 17, 2014

"He's our captain, he's been our best player all year, he's what really stirs the drink for us," Fowler said. "So to know and finally find out that he was ok and that it wasn't anything too serious was big for us."

It's unclear as to whether or not he will wear any extra protective face masks, it's not something he has preferred to wear in the past, but head coach Bruce Boudreau said he's not a player that they typically need to monitor heavily when it comes to injuries.

"He obviously got hit in the face with a puck and those things hurt," Boudreau said.

Before leaving the game, he enjoyed a two-point night scoring a rebound goal in the first period.

#NHLDucks Boudreau on Getzlaf: "He's learned from the Scott Niedermayers. This is why he has two Olympic medals and a Stanley Cup."

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) April 17, 2014

While the injury is not serious enough to keep him from playing, apparently, it's not pretty.

"Luckily he's married, he's got a couple of kids, he's not out trying to impress people with his face," said defenseman Ben Lovejoy. "For playoff hockey, I think he looks very good."

With Dallas' top line trying for one final push in an attempt to tie the game at 4-4 and put it into overtime, Tyler Seguin rocketed a slap shot. Getzlaf was in position to block but went down immediately on impact, leaving behind blood on the ice.

#NHLDucks @C_Fowler4 on Getzlaf: "I've seen him take his fair share of bumps and bruises. We know that he'll be there no matter what."

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) April 17, 2014

He earned some extra respect from his teammates with the block.

"Blocking shots takes big balls," Lovejoy said. "And he did that last night."

Said Boudreau, "If I was a player and I saw my captain taking a puck to the face and coming back the next day it would make me do whatever I could to help this team win."

After Friday's Game 2, the Ducks travel to Dallas for Games 3 (Monday, 6p, Prime Ticket) and 4 (Wednesday, 4:30p, Prime Ticket).

FOXSports.com LOADED: 04.18.2014

741604 Websites

NBCSports.com / NHL waiting for NHLPA ‘to sign off’ on World Cup of Hockey

Mike Halford

Apr 17, 2014, 10:33 AM EDT

The NHL isn’t saying if it’ll commit to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, but it sure sounds like the league is making alternate arrangements for an international hockey tournament.

From Wednesday’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review interview with commissioner Gary Bettman:

Trib: Do you still have plans for a World Cup of hockey?

Bettman: It’s something we’ve repeatedly said we’re interested in. We’ve been in discussion with the Players Association, which obviously is our partner in this. We have a pretty good idea of what we want to do. We’re waiting for the PA to sign off.

The World Cup of Hockey was inaugurated in 1996, the successor to the Canada Cup (which went from 1976-91). The key thing to note about the World Cup was that it was sanctioned and organized by the NHL — as opposed to the World Hockey Championships and Olympic tournaments, both of which are run by the IIHF.

The U.S. won the inaugural ’96 World Cup, defeating Canada in the final, before Canada returned to the gold medal game in 2004 and won, beating Finland 3-2.

The tournament hasn’t been played since but, in February, Bettman suggested that resurrecting the World Cup was in the cards.

“The fact of the matter is, whatever we decide to do I believe in the not-too-distant future the NHL and NHLPA will be in a position to talk about other international initiatives that we’re discussing, including bringing back the World Cup,” Bettman said, per NHL.com. “We see international competition on the horizon; it’s really just a question of what the format will be.”

Last May, Russian Hockey Federation president Vladislav Tretiak said the World Cup of Hockey would indeed be coming back, believed to be returning in the summer of 2016.

Recently, Bettman has been very calculated regarding his comments about future Olympic participation. While he hasn’t ruled out going to PyeongChang, he has brought up the fact many NHL clubs complained of player fatigue following the Sochi Games, and that going to the next Olympics isn’t even on the league’s radar at the moment.

“What’s interesting is Chicago, who had 10 Olympians, post-Olympics went through a…losing streak, couple of injuries to key players,” Bettman told SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio. “The coach of St. Louis, Ken Hitchcock was just quoted as saying that he thought his team had run out of gas at the end of the regular season. He had nine players at the Olympics.

“The only thing I can tell you is from the moment the games were over in Sochi, we haven’t given the Olympics a moment’s thought. All we were focused on was the end of our regular season and the playoffs and at some other time we’re going to worry about it. It’s nothing we’re thinking about now.”

NBCSports.com / LOADED: 04.18.2014

741605 Websites

CNN/Sports Illustrated / Avs stage late-game rally to take Game 1 from Wild in overtime

By Jared Crozier

Like most of the first round games early in this playoff season, offense was the big story as the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild combined for 9 goals in their series opener. Normally this would play into the favor of the up-tempo Avalanche, but they struggled at first, trailing 4-2 at the end of the 2nd period. But eventually, the Wild allowed the Avs too many chances and it caught up with them, as Paul Stastny scored the tying goal in the dying seconds of the third period, and then for good measure went on to score the game-winner for the Avs in OT.

Here are some notes and observations from an action-packed Game 1:

• The two teams played relatively tame games during the regular season (including a rare penalty-free game), but that wasn’t the case here, as things amped up early, with many post-whistle scrums. Neither team wanted to give an inch of ice to their opponent, which bodes well for two teams so young, as it shows they understand the intensity required to be successful in the postseason.

• The Avalanche really missed injured centermen Matt Duchene and John Mitchell, especially in the faceoff circle — the Wild won 54.5% of the face-offs. Colorado improved slightly on the draw as the game went on, but it could have been much better with 2 of their 3 best faceoff men in the lineup – Duchene and Mitchell were both over 50% in the faceoff circle during the season. Colorado was able to overcome their absences, but it remained a factor throughout the night.

• There wasn’t any need for the Avalanche to panic, even while down two goals. Even if they had lost the opener, just getting through that first game was key for the young players who were making their NHL playoff debut. Gabriel Landeskog scored his first playoff goal and point while Nathan MacKinnon (3 assists) and Tyson Barrie (2 assists) both picked up multiple points in their NHL playoff debuts.

• Colorado doesn’t have as much internal veteran experience as the Wild, who can draw from the likes of Ryan Suter, Jason Pominville, Matt Cooke and Zach Parise for leadership. Max Talbot and coach Patrick Roy are really the only Avs with a wealth of playoff experience from which to draw from. They gained a measure of that particular intangible with the late comeback, and that kind of win will help them mature even more quickly.

• From the Wild perspective, they gained their much-needed playoff experience last year in losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks. Early on in this game, Minnesota looked comfortable and didn’t chase the game. The Wild accepted what was given to them and took advantage of the Avs’ mistakes, which they knew were inevitable from such a young and inexperienced team. That worked for 40 minutes, but then the roof caved in and they let the opportunity to steal home ice advantage slip away. How they react to this late-game collapse in Game 2 will go a long way in determining whether this will be a long series or whether the Avs will cruise through it.

• People across social media gave a lot of credit to Avalanche coach Patrick Roy for his “gutsy” move to pull the goalie with almost 3 minutes left. However, it came within a couple of inches and an Erik Johnson diving save from backfiring. The “proper” move would be to pull the goalie with 60-90 seconds left in a one-goal game. Three minutes is an eternity to play in front of an empty net, and the Avs didn’t score until there were 13.4 seconds left. Yes, it worked, but that doesn’t mean it was the right call. Still, the fact that it did work means you can expect more gambles from the risk-taking Roy going forward.

CNN/Sports Illustrated LOADED: 04.18.2014

741606 Websites

CNN/Sports Illustrated / Rangers take advantage of the power play to win Game 1 over Flyers

By Sarah Kwak

NEW YORK — This was supposed to be a special day for Flyers winger Jason Akeson — he was playing in his first NHL playoff game, and just his third game in the league overall. It’s one he’ll remember for the rest of his life, though chances are, he’ll want to forget it as soon as tomorrow. Playing on a line with Sean Couterier and Matt Read, the youngster was earning his ice time. He was aggressive, finished his checks — but one, he finished poorly.

The score was knotted at 1-1 midway through the third period of Game 1 at Madison Square Garden Thursday night when the 23-year-old Akeson went in to hit Rangers winger Carl Hagelin on the boards in the neutral zone. He took Hagelin off the puck, but on his way down, Akeson’s stick caught the Ranger high. When a rookie dreams of changing a game with the blade of his stick, this isn’t what he is imagining. Akeson’s stick blade drew blood, and Hagelin drew the double minor.

“[Akeson’s] got to be better with his stick,” Flyers head coach Craig Berube said after the game. “[He] played a pretty good game, but you’ve got to control your stick.”

The penalty was costly. New York’s power play went to work and scored twice in 47 seconds to break the 1-1 tie, as the Rangers went on to take the first game of the series, 4-1.

A few more observations from Thursday night’s game and questions for Sunday’s Game 2:

–We should marvel at how far Brad Richards has come in the last year. Just 11 months ago, the Rangers veteran saw his minutes drop precipitously in Game 7 of the first-round series against Washington. He was a healthy scratch for two games in New York’s second-round series against Boston. The 33-year-old looked like a prime candidate for an offseason compliance buyout, but New York didn’t unload his unwieldy nine-year contract and $6.67 million cap hit. Well, Thursday night, he took a step forward in proving his value. “He had a real good game—at both ends,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “When his line was on the ice, they were real dependable…. And on the power play, obviously, he made two really great plays that permitted us to score both those goals.” From his first shift, Richards looked like he brought some extra oomph to his game for the postseason. He was the key to both power play goals, scoring the first on a one-timer from the right circle and then making the heads-up shot-pass on the second to set up Derek Stepan waiting on the doorstep of Flyers goalie Ray Emery. Richards picked up another assist on the Rangers’ fourth goal, taking a shot that rebounded in tight for Hagelin to put in at 15:52 of the third period. It’s one game, and Richards still shows his years in his legs and his speed, but on Thursday night, the Cup winner played like one.

–The Flyers lost the face-off battle in more than one way. They won 47 percent of the draws to the Rangers’ 53 percent in Game 1. But the more troubling stat for Philly may just be where those draws were being taken. Of the 18 face-offs in the first period, 12 were in the Flyers’ defensive zone. For the game, 59.2 percent of the draws were in Philly’s end. Of course, looking at the shots—New York outshot Philly, 36-15—it’s obvious who controlled possession of this game. But looking at where the draws were taken is another way to show how much time the Flyers spent in their end, and more to the point, it shows their defensemen’s failure to swiftly and efficiently clear the zone.

–Many expected this intradivisional series would come with some built-in historical animosity, but that didn’t really play out between whistles. “[Discipline] was one of our strengths all season, that’s not going to change now,” Vigneault said. Of course, as much history as these two teams may share, there hasn’t been much recent hatred built into this rivalry. All it takes is one play to change all that, but at least for Game 1, the chippiness level between these two teams was low.

–Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh played his first game since April 1, and after his first period, Vigneault joked, “I feel I should’ve played him [in our last regular season] game against Montreal.” McDonagh admitted after

the game that a combination of nerves and being away from game pace and speed set him back in the first period. But in the second he said he began to feel more like himself. “He found his hands and he found his rhythm,” Vigneault said. “He got better and more confident. He’s only going to get better from here.” That would be good news for the Rangers, who will need his shut-down awareness to keep Philadelphia’s scorers at bay.

–Speaking of the Flyers top line, this wasn’t their best game. Scorers Claude Giroux, and Jakub Voracek were shotless Thursday night, the first time both have been kept silent in the same game this season. Giroux has gone shotless four other times this season — and two of them were against the Rangers.

–One more observation from the Rangers power play goals: they weren’t Emery’s fault, by any means. The veteran goalie was sharp for pretty much the whole game. He swallowed pucks, especially early, and made a few very solid — even momentum-shifting saves — but what the Rangers power play exploited was Emery’s weak lateral movement post to post. Injured goalie Steve Mason is in New York and will skate tomorrow before addressing the media. And though he probably would not have been able to stop either of New York’s power play goals tonight, Mason is the goalie the Flyers want to ride. Does he get the nod? How ready and healthy does he need to be? The answer will come Sunday afternoon in Game 2.


741607 Websites

CNN/Sports Illustrated / Blues outlast Blackhawks to win Game 1 in a triple overtime thriller

By Keith Schultz

The St. Louis Blues finished Game 1 of their series against the Chicago Blackhawks with a win — and it only took 100 minutes and 26 seconds for them to get it. The Blackhawks held a 3-2 lead for much of the game after a wild first period, but the Blues tied the contest up with 1:45 left in regulation when Jaden Schwartz put a back hander behind Corey Crawford. The two teams would slug it out for two full overtime periods with tons of end-to-end action but no goals. Then, finally, just 26 seconds into the third overtime, Steve Ott made a nifty pass to Alexander Steen, who scored the winning goal and claimed the 1-0 series lead for the Blues.

Here are some some quick observations from the Blues’ marathon triple overtime win.

–Ryan Miller showed some nerves after not playing in a postseason game since 2011. Miller let in three goals in the first seven shots he, which had to make every fan of the Blues extremely nervous, especially after Miller’s shaky end to the regular season. He calmed down and, for the rest of the game, looked like the goalie the Blues traded for, stopping the final 35 shots the Blackhawks took, including Patrick Sharp’s breakaway that could have ended it all in double overtime.

– The status of Vladimir Tarasenko was up in the air heading into this week, but he made the game-day roster and was by far the most dangerous player on the ice. His line was the only consistent scoring line of the night, and the combination of Tarasenko and Schwartz’s forechecking pressure and puck possession ended up earning them a goal apiece. If the Hawks were worried ahead of time about any of the Blues’ injured players returning, their biggest fear was likely Tarasenko — and he proved why throughout the game.

– Corey Crawford may have given up the last-minute tying goal and the winner, but he was not the game’s goat. He bailed out Chicago time after time with big glove saves, and looked like he was going to be the hero until the Hawks’ defense failed him one too many times on Thursday night.

– The atmosphere at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis made it feel like a Game 7, though of course it was merely the series opener. Still, the win was probably more important to the Blues as it preserves home-ice advantage, and after six straight losses to end the regular season, it gives them a much-needed confidence boost. And while it’s a tough — and exhausting — loss to swallow for the Blackhawks, they’re the Stanley Cup champions and have their core in tact. Losing one game, however many overtimes it may have gone into, is not going to destroy their chances, but it will force them to regroup.

–This is the second consecutive year that the Blues won Game 1 of the postseason’s opening series in OT at home — and in both games Steen scored the game-winner. If you’re a Blackhawks fan, you’re hoping the series follows the same path as it did last year, as the Blues eventually lost the series 4-2 to the Kings.

– Patrick Kane returned to the lineup after missing the final 12 games of the regular season. He scored the Hawks’ third goal on a breakaway, though he looked to be slowed down a hair by the brace he was wearing. Jonathan Toews also returned to the lineup for the first time since March 30th when he was injured by a huge hit from Brooks Oprik of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Toews had two assists but was physically punished by the Blues, especially in the overtime frames.

–The Blues had a lot of injured players return to the lineup tonight (Backes, Sobotka, Roy, Morrow, Tarasenko), but two of their stars weren’t able to make it back in time. T.J. Oshie was able to get on the ice during the morning skate, so his return to the lineup could come as early as Saturday afternoon. Patrik Berglund was out with an upper-body injury, which meant the Blues were missing two players who combined for 35 goals, 57 assists and 7 game-winning goals.

Game 2 is set for Saturday at 2pm CT in St. Louis.


741608 Websites

CNN/Sports Illustrated / Sharks get to Jonathan Quick, Kings early, hang on for 6-3 Game 1 Win

By Allan Muir

The San Jose Sharks scored early and often, beating Jonathan Quick three times in the first period on the way to a 6-3 win in their series opener against the Los Angeles Kings Thursday night.

Joe Thornton got the hosts on the board just 3:06 in with a deft deflection of a Joe Pavelski backhander, but it was a pair of goals from Tomas Hertl and Patrick Marleau in the final 52 seconds of the frame that set the stage for a rout.

The Sharks built the lead up to 5-0 in the second, sending Quick to the showers after 40 minutes. And while the Kings rallied with three goals to make the score interesting in the third, the end result was never really in doubt.

Here are some observations after tonight’s contest and a look ahead to Sunday’s Game 2.

• It took barely five minutes for hostilities to break out in this one, with Mike Brown putting a match to the powder with a heavy hit that sent Slava Voynov barreling into Quick. The collision and ensuing scrum set the tone for an punishing game that saw the Kings dish out 69 hits to San Jose’s 52. Everyone was standing after this one, but you have to think that attrition will come into play if they maintain that punishing pace.

• The Sharks got a boost from icing a complete lineup for the first time this year. Raffi Torres dressed after missing all but five games in the regular season and Hertl played for just the third time since he was sidelined by a Dustin Brown cheap shot back on Dec. 19.

You can’t overstate the value of their presence. Compare this year’s club to the one that fell in seven games to the Kings last spring. The two key differences? Torres and Hertl.

Both players made their presence felt. Torres played a team-low 8:42 but still paced the Sharks with seven hits to go along with his game-winning goal midway through the second. He could use a couple more games to get his legs under him, but he looks primed to make his mark in this series with his trademark snarl and energy.

Hertl was fine, although he didn’t seem to have the same jump as he did earlier in the season. The hands looked pretty good though, and his presence makes this a tougher team to defend.

• Hard not to be impressed by San Jose’s ability to control the puck, at least through the first 40 minutes when they still had their foot on the pedal. Six of their forwards and two defenders finished with a Corsi rating of at least 60 percent. Thornton was dominant at 65.5, with Pavelski right behind him at 65.4.

• Nothing advanced about this stat, but it paints a pretty vivid picture just the same. The Sharks scored 10 goals against Quick over the entire seven-game series against the Kings in 2013. They lit him up for half that many in just 40 minutes tonight. Some nightmarish coverage by Los Angeles’ defenders created a few breaks that probably won’t be there Sunday, but you have to believe a goal like Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s softie–right through the wickets from 35 feet out–that made it 5-0 reminds them that Quick is anything but invincible.

Still, the keeper had his moments. His best came with the Kings down two men late in the second as he robbed both Thornton and Dan Boyle on close-range chances. The battle he showed on those two stops is what he needs to build on for a rebound performance on Sunday.

• Nice night for former Los Angeles Junior King Matt Nieto. The rookie created a lot with his speed and was relentless under pressure on the play that led to Marleau’s goal. He could be a real match-up problem for the slower right side of L.A.’s defense as this series wears on.

• The Kings came into the game as the lowest scoring team in the postseason (just 206 goals) and for the first 40 minutes they looked the part. They made life too easy for Niemi, who was tested maybe two or three times through the first two periods and only one of those–created by a

Doughty pinch late in the second–required him to be at his best. That changed in the third when they took advantage of a lull in San Jose’s puck pressure to get pucks, and more importantly, bodies, to the front of the net. On Jake Muzzin’s goal 2:01 into the frame there were three players directly in line between the defender and Niemi, giving the keeper no chance on the point blast. Slava Voynov’s goal at 6:55 was a direct result of a Jarret Stoll screen (and some soft coverage by Jason Demers). Jeff Carter’s shot from the right circle at 13:59 bounced off the skate of Trevor Lewis, who was parked in front along with Dustin Brown. L.A.’s formula for evening up the series seems pretty clear, doesn’t it?

• Robin Regehr played just 15:04, by far the fewest minutes of any L.A. defender, but even that load might have been a little weighty for him. The veteran was directly at fault for the first and third goals scored by the Sharks, losing playmaker Brent Burns twice on Thornton’s opening tally and then failing to keep up with Marleau on the dagger goal with just 3.2 seconds left in the first. He was minus-3 after 20 minutes, digging a hole the Kings couldn’t climb out of.

• No surprise that Drew Doughty, who missed the final four games of the regular season with a shoulder injury, was a target for San Jose’s forecheckers. He struggled as he was hammered seven times through the first and second, but really found his legs in the third. He was involved in a couple of premier scoring chances, including a spectacular, swooping one-man effort that saw him dance through the San Jose zone and drive through the crease before being thwarted by a sprawling Niemi. That guy needs to show up for the opening faceoff on Sunday.


741609 Websites

CNN/Sports Illustrated / Top Line: Sidney Crosby dives again; Is shotblocking worth it? More links

By Allan Muir

An annotated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• There goes Sidney Crosby diving again.

• After watching the Ducks’ Ryan Getzlaf take a biscuit in the mush, Jason Kay asks the obvious question: Does shot blocking do more harm than good?

• It’s not always easy to predict which teams will get great goaltending or have their stars go on hot streaks in a series, but James Mirtle says controlling possession is one trait that defines a long playoff run.

• It’s been a dozen years since the Blues and the Blackhawks last met in the postseason. Jeremy Rutherford says built-up hostilities should make their first-rounder a nasty affair.

• But Bernie Miklasz thinks that puck possession, not punishment is St. Louis’ key to victory against Chicago.

• Sochi snubs may have dinged some egos in San Jose, but the downtime they provided may be the key to the Sharks’ Stanley Cup aspirations.

• Marian Gaborik produced a 61.4 percent Corsi rating over the regular season’s final seven games. Ian McLaren says that stat suggests that the veteran winger could be a difference maker for the Kings against San Jose.

• Steve Mason is out for the Flyers’ opener against the Rangers, and that suits an old buddy just fine.

• Philly won’t have much of a home ice advantage when the series shifts to the City of Brotherly Love.

• In case you missed it, here’s Tim Thompson’s opening montage for Hockey Night In Canada. This guy is a national treasure.

• Speaking of national treasures, here’s Mike Heika explaining how the Stars’ playoff opener can be compared to a kid learning to play the clarinet.

• Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen didn’t look much like a rookie in his first NHL playoff start last night. His ability to stay cool even as his team frittered away most of a four-goal lead was the difference as Anaheim drew first blood against Dallas.

• That the opener between the Canadiens and the Lightning went to overtime couldn’t have surprised anyone who watched these two teams go at it in the regular season, but no one could have anticipated who would emerge as the hero.

• Goalies Carey Price or Marc-Andre Fleury weren’t particularly good on Wednesday night, but they were good enough to lead their teams to Game 1 victories.

• Adam Proteau has the story of how Tuukka Rask made the dream of a young cancer patient come true.

• Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff made a splash yesterday, signing coach Paul Maurice to a four-year extension and announcing that Ondrej Pavelec would be the team’s No. 1 goalie next season. That comment generated a lot of criticism (hey, I took a shot myself), but, honestly, what else could he say? Without a viable option on hand to replace the justly maligned so-called stopper, there’s no reason to burn bridges now. Chevy’s sign of support could be valuable if he fails to land another goalie over the summer.

• Mitch Korn’s name might not ring a bell for fans around the NHL, but he was critical to the development of some of the league’s top goaltenders. Now it sounds like he might be looking for a new job.

• Michael Traikos says the Maple Leafs aren’t going anywhere until they realize that character and grit aren’t as important as speed, skill and a favorable Corsi rating.

• A stunner this morning at the World U-18 championships, where Switzerland upset the gold-medal favorite.


741610 Websites

TSN.CA Kerry Fraser/ What's the standard for officiating in the playoffs?

Kerry Fraser

4/17/2014 6:11:37 PM

Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at [email protected].

Hey Kerry,

What's the standard for officiating on hits and shoves after the whistle? Andrei Markov laid a late hit on Ondrej Palat after the whistle in last night's Habs-Lightning game, while Radko Gudas was giving extra pushes and shoves after play was stopped as well! How much is too much?

Carrie

----

Hi Kerry,

I appreciate your candor in your columns. With the playoffs upon us I am going to put you on the spot. Does the league mandate that officials loosen the reins on the rules come playoffs? I have played, coached and been a fan of the game for many years and it would appear there is a different standard (I use Brad Marchand repeatedly punching one of the Sedins after a whistle with no call in the 2011 Stanley Cup final as Exhibit A). As a fan I hate the relaxed standard that is apparent in the playoffs.

Andy,

Toronto

Hi Carrie and Andy:

And so the games begin!

We all know that game intensity is quickly ramped up in the playoffs. At ice level, a referee must be able to feel the energy that players exude from the opening puck drop and allow the game to unfold. Each game has a unique 'heartbeat' and the officials need to constantly take the pulse into account and determine when it is appropriate to impose themselves.

I'm not talking about when to call a trip or other obvious infraction but more specifically how to regulate the temperature of a game. The refs need to tap into and differentiate between the positive energy (which they must allow to flourish) and any excessive negative energy (which they must take measures to control). Quite often there is a fine line between the two once we enter the high stakes of playoff competition. One incident can spike the game temp, such as the deliberate snow shower that Ryan Garbutt buried Ducks goalie Frederik Anderson with, or the late body check from Andrei Markov on Ondrej Palat.

On the first play, the referee took immediate control by assessing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to Garbutt, thereby sending a clear message that any "cheap" liberties on the goalkeeper would not be tolerated. I asked Marty Biron, whom I sat beside in the TSN studio last night, if a snow shower throws a goalie off his game. Marty said it actually does the opposite and will motivate the goalie to remain focused and play harder. Adding insult to injury, Matt Beleskey scored the fourth Ducks goal with Garbutt in the box. That became a costly penalty once Dallas closed the gap and Anaheim hung on for the 4-3 win.

There was less need for the refs to exert control on the late Markov check. It was a clean shoulder check (other than after the whistle), it was in open ice as opposed to into the boards (in which case I am quite sure a penalty would have resulted) and even though it resulted in a scrum, the benefit of the doubt could be offered that Markov was in the act of finishing a check and the whistle was a little late. If after this "freebee" extended by the refs there was another episode of a testosterone rush someone should pay the price of a penalty call.

Andy, there is no specific direction or league mandate given to the officials to loosen the reins on the rules. They are instructed to utilize their "best

judgment" to ensure that marginal penalties are avoided at all times. This suggestion can plant a seed in the mind of the officials that isn't always positive. As the game moves closer to the end the refs feel an internal pressure to make sure that if they do raise their arm it will be judged as a "solid" penalty call. They want desperately to keep the spotlight off themselves.

That thought process, when taken to excess, can negatively alter the standard that had been set throughout the game. Candidly speaking, a referee might avoid calling a foul that occurs 100 plus feet from the net since it doesn't involve a direct scoring opportunity. At that point he gambles and hopes that continued game flow gets him out of a self-perceived controversy. You and I know this is not the right approach, nor is it in the best interest of the game. Those in charge of rating the officials' performance have a hand in this process as well. We have seen situations where a ref has stepped up and made a gutsy (and correct) call that impacts a game only to find himself dropped from further playoff assignments due to the nuclear fallout.

Brad Marchand 'rag dolling' Daniel Sedin in the 2011 Cup Final is just one example we could cite with regard to ref avoidance issues. Players will take full advantage when they feel the referee has put his whistle away. On the flip side, I recall Jerome Iginla chasing me around the ice after I whistled Andrew Ference for blasting Martin St. Louis into the end boards with less than two minutes remaining in Game 7 of the 2004 Cup Final with the Lightning leading by a score of 2-1. It was an obvious penalty but the score, time and emotion altered Iginla's perception and acceptance of the call.

Then came the first lockout season and the "New NHL" spawned an attitude that penalties would be called regardless of the score and time. The standard has eroded somewhat from that strong initiative and needs to be restored before we move much farther through this playoff season. As I mentioned in a previous column, the referees need to demonstrate sound judgment and courage to make the perceived "tough" call. When the refs do make them they must be supported by the Officiating Department managers. That is the seed that needs to grow.

TSN.CA LOADED: 04.18.2014

741611 Websites

USA TODAY / Inexperienced Blue Jackets aren't intimidated

Kevin Allen, USA TODAY Sports 9:26 p.m. EDT April 17, 2014

Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman James Wisniewski has been around the NHL long enough to know experience sometimes can be overrated.

"I always say being naive can be blissful, too," Wisniewski said, chuckling.

Wisniewski's Blue Jackets are in the NHL playoffs for the second time in the franchise's 13-year history. The conventional hockey wisdom is an inexperienced team has to lose in the playoffs before it knows how to win there.

MORE: Getzlaf has nasty-looking stitches

As a team leader, ultracompetitor and resident philosopher, Wisniewski is doing everything in his power to convince the less-experienced Blue Jackets this kind of thinking is harmful to the positive aura the team has had wrapped around itself the past two months.

"I've been preaching to some of the younger players that this is still just a hockey game," Wisniewski said. "The point of the game is still to score more goals than the other team."

The Blue Jackets did lose Game 1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3, but the Columbus players' take today is that it is not a quantum leap to believe they can be successful in the postseason without having been there before. For the better part of two periods, they outhit and outshot a Penguins' team that boasts one of the league's most dangerous offenses.

"We weren't overwhelmed like can happen with a young team in a playoff atmosphere," Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. "I thought we came out looking very relaxed-intense, if I can call it that."

FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFF PHOTOS

For the Blue Jackets, the series with the Penguins is like an open-book exam. They just need to figure out the answers as they work through the problems.

"We can learn on the fly, and I don't think anything is going to surprise us," Wisniewski said.

The Blue Jackets had some of the answers before the series but simply forgot them at test time Wednesday night.

"We obviously know we can't take too many penalties against them," Kekalainen said. "You don't have to be a genius, or prescout the Penguins, to know that."

The strength of the Blue Jackets might be that they believe they deserve to be where they are. There is no insecurity with this group. That was the Blue Jackets of yesteryear.

"We know as a team and an organization that we belong in the playoffs," Wisniewski said. "I know that people in the league are starting to talk about the identity we are starting to create. I don't think a lot of teams enjoy playing the Columbus Blue Jackets. Hopefully we can keep that identity for a long time here."

MORE: Which unsung players could step up?

The Blue Jackets are more hardened than you would expect for a team that has missed the playoffs for the past four seasons before gaining one of the Eastern Conference wild-card spots this season. This looked like a confident team going down the stretch.

"This year we were in, and then we were out, and then in-out," Kekalainen said. "So every game in the last 20 games was like a playoff game because we had to win to stay in the race."

Sometimes, players are more experienced than their NHL numbers would suggest. Having watched goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky be the difference-maker in many important games down the stretch, the Blue Jackets aren't going to worry about him just because they are in the postseason. They've all seen him win important games.

"I watched him in the Olympics, and I don't think you could have more pressure than what those Russian guys faced," Kekalainen said. "And he looked very relaxed and composed."

USA TODAY LOADED: 04.18.2014

741612 Websites

YAHOO SPORTS / Blues survive triple-overtime roller-coaster for much-needed Game 1 victory over Blackhawks

By Nicholas J. Cotsonika 5 hours ago Yahoo Sports

ST. LOUIS — They played for more than 100 minutes. They took 109 faceoffs and fired 94 shots and made 87 saves and threw 69 hits and blocked 50 shots. They traded scoring chances and close calls, and it all piled up into an exhilarating, exhausting playoff opener.

Either team could have won. Neither team wanted it more.

But one team needed it more.

When Alex Steen scored 26 seconds into the third overtime period on Thursday night, he didn’t just give the St. Louis Blues a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. He didn’t just win the longest game in the Blues’ 47-year history. He helped the Blues believe that this season, as coach Ken Hitchcock said, wasn’t going to “just kind of melt away.”

[Watch: Blues score late tying goal and again in triple OT]

“I think I jumped about three feet,” said goaltender Ryan Miller. “Just happy to get that win. … We needed it for confidence, I think. We needed it to show that stretch we had to finish the season was kind of behind us.”

The Blues were one of the best teams in the NHL in the regular season. After years of trying to break through in the playoffs, they thought this might be their time. But they sent several players to the Sochi Olympics, and they came back gassed, and it caught up with them down the stretch, and injuries hit. They lost their final six games.

Now here they were facing the Blackhawks, the defending Stanley Cup champions, in the first damn round. Some players were back from injuries, including David Backes and Vladimir Tarasenko, but T.J. Oshie and Patrick Berglund weren’t.

The loss was not good for Chicago. “It stings right now, obviously,” said winger Patrick Kane. But this is an experienced, accomplished team that has rebounded before.

“I think we’re going to keep the morale, keep the feeling in our locker room positive and feeling good,” said captain Jonathan Toews. “Let this one sink in, and maybe we can be ticked off about it for a few moments here. But then tonight and tomorrow, it’s time to move on.”

[Watch: Paul Stastny's heroics lift Avs to stunning overtime win over Wild]

A loss would have been worse for St. Louis, especially with Game 2 set for 2 p.m. local time Saturday. The Blues would have had less than 40 hours to get over all the opportunities and breaks that would have been wasted, and there were lots of opportunities and lots of breaks.

As bad as the first period went for the Blues, with Miller allowing three goals on the first seven shots he faced, they outshot the Blackhawks, 11-7; and Derek Roy hit a post; and they trailed only 3-2.

They were outshot in the second, 8-3, but they had the best chance, with Corey Crawford diving to his right to rob Tarasenko, the puck hitting the goalie’s right arm just above the blocker.

They took over in the third as the Blackhawks tried to cling to their lead. They outshot the ’Hawks, 14-6. Max Lapierre hit a post. Hitchcock said they looked like themselves again. But they didn’t tie it until only 1:45 remained in regulation, when Jaden Schwartz forced a turnover in the left-wing corner, went to the net, took a feed from Roy and scored on a backhander.

“We needed to at least get the game into overtime,” Hitchcock said. “By doing that, it engaged us. It engaged our fans.”

Imagine if the Blues had lost after that. Imagine if they had lost after the first OT, when Miller made a big save on Kris Versteeg, when they survived an endless onslaught by the Blackhawks, when Alex Pietrangelo whiffed on a puck in the slot with the net wide open.

“Let’s not talk about that one,” said the Blues defenseman with a laugh.

He can laugh now.

Imagine if they had lost when they killed a delay-of-game penalty, when Chicago’s Brandon Saad pushed Lapierre into the St. Louis net – and Lapierre, stationed behind Miller, acted like a goalie and saved a Versteeg shot that would have ended it.

“I think I’ve got to work on my rebounds a little bit,” Lapierre said. “It went right back in the slot.”

He laughed. He can laugh now, too.

“That’s how these kind of games go,” said Miller, who wasn’t laughing. “You get lucky on a few situations, and you’ve got to battle through the rest.”

Imagine if they had lost after double OT, when Miller made a big save on Toews, when they killed another delay-of-game penalty, when they got a power play of their own, when Miller stoned Patrick Sharp on a breakaway.

Imagine if they had lost after drinking all that water and Gatorade, after eating all those energy bars and downing all that fruit. Pietrangelo, who played 44:08, more than three minutes more than any other skater in the game, said he ate oatmeal between overtime periods. Anything for fuel.

[Also: Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville's angry tirade targets refs]

“That’s playoff hockey,” Pietrangelo said. “They get a breakaway. We have a 2-on-1. They have a 2-on-1. We missed an open net. The puck’s bouncing. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I know they knew it wasn’t going to be easy, either. We just stuck with the game plan.

“I was extremely impressed with the way we stuck to what we spoke about before the game. We played the game we wanted to play. We managed the puck. We played hard. Guys were winning battles. The effort guys were showing was extremely impressive.”

Imagine …

Well, the Blues don’t have to imagine. They won. They said the hard part now would be not getting too high, but that’s a nice problem to have, isn’t it? Sure beats not getting too low.

“I think in our dressing room everybody believes that we can go all the way this year,” Lapierre said. “You know what? What happened at the end of the year with the six losses, every team goes through something like that during the season. Maybe we were unlucky. We got it at the wrong time, the last six games. But as long as we believe in ourselves, that’s the only thing that matters.”

It’s a little easier this morning.

YAHOO.COM LOADED: 04.18.2014

741613 Websites

YAHOO SPORTS / The Stanley Cup is in the details for devoted Blues goalie Ryan Miller

By Nicholas J. Cotsonika 17 hours ago Yahoo Sports

ST. LOUIS — Ryan Miller is a star goalie, but he doesn’t have an endorsement deal with an equipment company. He wears one brand of pads and glove, another brand of blocker. He uses only what he thinks is best.

When breaking in a pair of pads, as he has been doing for a while now, he’ll put an old one on his right leg and a new one on his left and vice-versa. He’ll drop into the butterfly position. He’ll look closely. He’ll even take pictures. Sometimes he slices through a blocker with a knife so he can study the insides. Why this fabric? Why that plastic?

“I’m not saying he’s a modern-day Tony Esposito,” said former NHL goalie and current Blues TV analyst Darren Pang, referring to the Hall of Famer who was legendary for tinkering with his gear. “But he’s pretty detailed.”

This is the kind of guy the St. Louis Blues brought in to win the Stanley Cup – uncompromising, inquisitive, exact about everything from his equipment to his mindset to his technique to the team structure. He sweats the details so he doesn’t have to sweat them in the game. He tries to think of everything so he doesn’t have to think about anything but stopping the puck. The details can make the difference, especially in a situation like this.

[Watch: Can Blues end tailspin against defending Stanley Cup champions?]

The Blues paid a high price for Miller before the trade deadline, acquiring him and Steve Ott from the Buffalo Sabres for Jaroslav Halak, Chris Stewart, a prospect, a first-round pick and a third-rounder. They did it even though Miller is in the last year of his contract. They did it even though their smothering style allows few shots and Miller was a slight upgrade over Halak statistically. They hoped he could make the extra save when they needed it, help them win tight playoff games and put them over the top.

Now the Blues are beaten-up and have lost six straight games entering the first round, and they’re facing the Chicago Blackhawks, the defending Stanley Cup champions and the second-best offensive team in the NHL in the regular season. St. Louis seems on edge. But Miller seems at ease. He joked with reporters about the 18 goals he allowed in his last five games, saying he didn’t think it was too bad and he wasn’t worried, and then he said something interesting.

“I’ve learned some things about playing with this group the last month-and-a-half, and I feel I’ve built my game to be in a good place this time of year,” Miller said. “Over the last year-and-a-half, two years, I think I’ve built a good attitude to play hockey the right way and be a good teammate. Right now it’s about coming together as a group, battling for your buddy and hunkering down and just going to work. That’s kind of what I’m putting my focus into. I’m just going to try and be there and do my job for the boys.”

A good attitude? To play the right way? To be a good teammate? What does Miller mean by that? Well, when you’re a perfectionist, imperfection can drive you nuts, and when you’re a goalie, being a good teammate can mean worrying about yourself. Miller had good times in Buffalo – two trips to the Eastern Conference final, a Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s top regular-season team, a Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goalie – but the Sabres slipped and so did he. The frustration affected him. He called out problems like a captain.

[Also: Why is 1980 Team USA Olympian selling his 'Miracle on Ice' gold medal?]

“I get pretty competitive and pretty emotional, and I think I just get myself into a bit of trouble going down that path,” Miller said. “With Buffalo, I would see situations that weren’t working, weren’t working, weren’t working. You get too worked up and too worried about it, and the stuff you’re supposed to take care of doesn’t work as well. … I’m trying to worry about things I can control, and ultimately it’s just my preparation.”

Miller said he had to learn to “let it go a little bit.” He was outstanding for a bad Buffalo team this season, with a .923 save percentage in 40 games. He was even better in the beginning for the Blues, with a .932 save percentage in eight games.

He struggled down the stretch, with an .882 save percentage in his last 11 games. But some things were out of his control – like the Blues’ post-Olympic fatigue and epidemic of injuries, which deteriorated their play – and he kept working on his adjustment. He had to learn to new verbiage and tendencies. He went from facing 35.3 shots per game on a team that allowed shots from the outside to 24.9 shots per game on a team that tries to block shots. Easier said than done. You can lose focus and miss a detail. Give up a goal, it’s magnified.

“We’re a hard team to play for, because it doesn’t come very often. but when it comes, it’s a doozy,” said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock. “You go 11 minutes, no shots on goal, and then it’s a one-timer from [Alex] Ovechkin. It ain’t the quantity, but the quality comes sometimes.”

Hitchcock said he was amazed Miller watched video of every shot on goal minutes after every game, and he volunteered something interesting, considering Miller’s comments. “He never points fingers, he just looks at himself,” Hitchcock said. “Never points a finger. Ever. He pauses and reflects and looks at himself. First he looks at himself, at his own game, and then he looks at how he fits in to the rest of the team game. That’s the part I love about him.”

[Pass or Fail: Fan takes selfie during NHL playoff scrum]

The Blues are relying on Miller. That’s why they got him. That’s why, after he allowed four goals in a loss to the Dallas Stars on March 29, they started him in their next game April 1 against the Philadelphia Flyers. “By going back to him in that Philly game, I think they said to him, ‘This is your ball,’ ” Pang said. Miller responded with a 31-save shutout against the Flyers. Now, on the heels of a losing streak, he needs to respond against the Blackhawks.

But Miller said he doesn’t view himself as the final piece, just “another piece.” He needs to focus on the details, not the big picture, and let go of the pressure in St. Louis the way he let go of the frustration in Buffalo.

“I feel I prepare well,” Miller said. “I prepare honestly. I do the job I'm asked of in practices, workouts and whatever. From there, I go out and try to compete as hard as I can and try to be prepared and have my body and mind ready at all times. I think that's the job.

“Ultimately, you're judged on how well you compete, and you try and go out and compete. Some nights, it's not going to work out. Some nights, people are going to think you're great. So you go out, battle and compete the best you can, and it's ultimately about what we think we can achieve with this group. I'm just trying to get inside that headspace, stay in that headspace, and not let anybody drag me or my teammates out of it.”

YAHOO.COM LOADED: 04.18.2014

sport-scan daily brief - nhl.comflyers.nhl.com/v2/ext/01 - flyers nhl clips/04.18.2014 nhlc.pdf ·...

Documents