SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF - NHL.compenguins.nhl.com/v2/ext/media/pdf/05 09 2013.pdf · SPORT-SCAN...

SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF NHL 5/9/2013

Anaheim Ducks 675537 Nick Bonino scores OT goal for Ducks win and series lead 675538 Whicker: It's easy to ‘C' Getzlaf's leadership 675539 Advantage Ducks, thanks to Bonino's OT goal 675540 Miller: Bonino gives Ducks two chances to advance 675541 With future unclear, Beleskey making most of the present 675542 DUCKS 3, DETROIT 2 (OT): Anaheim wins in Nick of time

Boston Bruins 675543 Tonight's Bruins lineup 675544 Bruins need more offense from Patrice Bergeron's line 675545 Game 4: Bruins at Maple Leafs preview 675546 Watch: David Krejci talks about big night, game-winning goal 675547 B's, Leafs head to OT 675548 Tuukka Rask snubbed in Vezina Trophy voting 675549 Jagr: I'm not strong like I want to be 675550 The break B's need 675551 B’s best must produce 675552 Phil Kessel paying no attention to the attention 675553 David Krejci's OT winner gives Bruins 3-1 series lead 675554 Notebook: Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin trio shows some improvement 675555 Zdeno Chara simply does it all 675556 Teammates stand up for Vezina-less Tuukka Rask 675557 David Krejci wins Game 4 in overtime 675558 Bruins win in overtime

Buffalo Sabres 675559 Foligno, Stafford seek turnarounds after off years

Chicago Blackhawks 675560 Hawks-Wild tough series for Brunette 675561 Power play success eludes Hawks 675562 Blackhawks eager to take it to the next level 675563 Blackhawks vs. Wild: Game 5 spotlight 675564 Blackhawks' seek 'relentless' Game 5 approach 675565 Wild faces goalie issues, but Hawks won’t take it for granted 675566 Blackhawks’ Jonathan Toews wants to end series Thursday 675567 Frolik, Kruger have stepped to the fore on Blackhawks’ penalty kill 675568 Swap of right wingers done in hopes of getting Jonathan Toews going 675569 Hawks need to turn around the power play 675570 Keith shows why he’s a Hawks leader 675571 Toews believes Blackhawks can play much better 675572 Power shortage for Hawks, Wild 675573 Wild notes: Goaltender carousel continues 675574 Hawks penalty kills proves to be a success 675575 Blackhawks want to 'take advantage' of Game 5 situation 675576 A building-block Blackhawks win 675577 No sleep? No problem in whirlwind day for Keith 675578 Hawks return the favor, bully Wild in Game 4 shutout

Colorado Avalanche 675579 Joe Sakic likely to take larger role in Colorado Avalanche front office

Columbus Blue Jackets 675580 Blue Jackets' Bobrovsky a finalist for top goaltender award

Detroit Red Wings 675581 Helene St. James: Red Wings' Brendan Smith asks himself: What would Nicklas Lidstrom do? 675582 Pavel Datsyuk focused on enjoying playoff time with Red Wings, not his future 675583 Pavel Datsyuk: Red Wings don't want to be in dangerous spot after Game 5 675584 Jalen Rose, in Red Wings hat, to TMZ: Phil Jackson never coaching again 675585 Jamie Samuelsen's blog: Red Wings fans should feel good about team's chances vs. Ducks 675586 Mitch Albom: Jimmy Howard did it all, but Red Wings still lost in OT 675587 Anaheim 3, Detroit 2 (OT): Red Wings lament missed opportunities on power play 675588 Anaheim 3, Detroit 2 (OT): Red Wings lose Game 5 early in overtime 675589 Red Wings' Danny DeKeyser had thumb surgery, out until development camp in July 675590 Red Wings' Patrick Eaves has found his comfort zone 675591 Entering Game 5, Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk liking playoff pressure 675592 Red Wings' Daniel Cleary still sore over boarding incident 675593 Red Wings have their moments, but Ducks take flight with game on the line 675594 Exasperating gets best of exhilarating in Red Wings' Game 5 setback 675595 Nick Bonino's goal pushes Red Wings to brink of elimination in first round 675596 Pavel Datsyuk's focus remains on Red Wings postseason, not possible return to Russia 675597 Mike Babcock's advice to young Brendan Smith is to ask himself 'What would Nicklas Lidstrom do?' 675598 After Red Wings evened series, pressure shifted to Ducks, some of whom have 'butterflies' 675599 Don't expect Detroit Red Wings' fan support to disappear as playoff series moves to Anaheim 675600 Patience is paying off for Mikael Samuelsson with spot in Detroit Red Wings' playoff lineup 675601 Red Wings' failure to capitalize on major penalty comes back to haunt them in Game 5 loss to Ducks 675602 Nick Bonino scores in overtime to lift Ducks past Red Wings 3-2 in Game 5jpgDetroit Red Wings drop Game 5 to A 675603 Ducks reveling in pressure of Game 5 vs. Detroit 675604 Red Wings face must-win situation after dropping Game 5

Edmonton Oilers 675605 One way to solve Edmonton’s downtown arena problem? Katz pays now, but can win later

Los Angeles Kings 675606 Kings beat Blues, 3-2, to move within a win of advancing in playoffs 675607 Kings top Blues to take 3-2 series lead 675608 KINGS 3, ST. LOUIS 2 (OT): Jeff Carter scores twice, Slava Voynov nets winner in overtime as L.A. takes Game 5 675609 Game 5: Los Angeles at St. Louis 675610 May 8 morning skate quotes: Regehr, Brown 675611 Robyn Regehr, on his Game 4 Ryan Reaves hit 675612 Sutter needs defensemen to play “like veterans” 675613 Game 5 lineup notes 675614 May 8 morning skate quotes: Justin Williams 675615 Backes update; Quick hits with Jaden Schwartz 675616 Good morning, St. Louis 675617 May 8 postgame quotes: Darryl Sutter 675618 May 8 postgame quotes: Jeff Carter 675619 May 8 postgame quotes: Anze Kopitar 675620 May 8 postgame quotes: Jonathan Quick

675621 May 8 postgame quotes: Slava Voynov

Minnesota Wild 675622 Scoggins: It's easy to see talent gap between Wild, Blackhawks 675623 Blackhawks aren't taking Game 5 for granted 675624 Reusse: Blackhawks' Hossa again proving he made the right move 675625 Game 5 preview: Wild at Chicago 675626 Wild shooters aim to overcome Chicago's lane-clogging defense 675627 For the Wild, it's fight or the end 675628 Minnesota Wild: Punchless power play presents perplexing problem 675629 Minnesota Wild goalies playing musical chairs in net 675630 Tom Powers: Even though it feels like Wild are done, there's still time

Montreal Canadiens 675631 Despite trailing 3-1 in series, Subban still says Habs ‘better’ than Senators 675632 Canadiens captain Gionta to have left bicep surgery, out for season 675633 Pat Hickey: ‘I want to beat these guys’: Subban 675634 Dave Stubbs: An unfortunate night to remember 675635 Tearful end to Gionta's season 675636 The voices of hockey 675637 Todd: Hockey world still adjusting to Subban as first black superstar 675638 Gionta’s season is over; Prust, White out for Game 5; Price listed as day-to-day

Nashville Predators 675639 Playing for Team USA, Predators forward shows scoring touch he lacked all season

New York Islanders 675640 Penguins bench Marc-Andre Fleury, will start backup goalie Tomas Vokoun in Game 5 vs. Islanders 675641 Penguins may bench struggling goalie Fleury in Game 5 675642 Islanders even series in front of frenzied Nassau Coliseum 675643 MacDonald likely out for playoffs 675644 Penguins turn to Vokoun 675645 Islanders hope they're getting under Penguins' skin 675646 Pittsburgh Penguins turning to backup Tomas Vokoun for Game 5 675647 Beards and boards: Islanders taking part in playoff tradition of growing your facial hair

New York Rangers 675648 Rangers Knock Down Shots and Push Past the Capitals 675649 Rangers’ Lundqvist Is Vezina Finalist Again 675650 New Ranger Injects New Life Into Team’s Power Play 675651 Henrik Lundqvist, Antti Niemi and Sergei Bobrovsky are Vezina Trophy finalists 675652 Marc Staal sits out NY Rangers' Game 4 against Washington Capitals after making return to lineup in Game 3 675653 Alex Ovechkin on Ryan McDonagh's 'tired' comment: 'No, I feel normal'; Nash feels fine; 'good chance' Clowe pl 675654 Capitals star Alex Ovechkin seems puzzled in NY Rangers series 675655 Derek Stepan’s goal proves huge in Game 4 win over Washington Capitals 675656 Carl Hagelin's energy, speed help NY Rangers hang on to top Washington Capitals, tie series 675657 Rangers power play gets Moore punch 675658 Rangers hope to maintain mojo on offense 675659 Rangers center Boyle regains magic touch in playoffs 675660 Brassard adapts quickly to new home on Broadway 675661 Rangers even series with Caps 675662 Power Plays 675663 Staal skates, but sits out Game 4 victory 675664 Vezina finalist Lundqvist rebounds after poor start to season 675665 Rangers nip Capitals to even series 675666 Rangers notes: Henrik Lundqvist finalist for Vezina Trophy 675667 Rangers' Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi help shut down Alex Ovechkin 675668 Sullivan: Henrik Lundqvist lights Rangers' fire with play and words 675669 Rangers defenseman Marc Staal scratched from Game 4, but no reason is given 675670 Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist a finalist for Vezina Trophy 675671 Carl Hagelin is Rangers' most effective pest 675672 New Ranger Derick Brassard makes big playoff contribution 675673 Rangers beat Capitals, tie series at two games apiece 675674 It’s Go Time! … Game 4: Capitals at Rangers 675675 Rangers helped by new depth on defense 675676 Game 4: Capitals at Rangers tonight (7:30) … pre-game notes 675677 Game 4: Rangers-Capitals in review 675678 Game 4: Rangers 4, Capitals 3 … post-game notes & quotes

NHL 675679 Girardi, Stepan score in 3rd to beat Caps

Ottawa Senators 675680 Youth movement propelling Senators at key moments 675681 Scanlan: Hockey Gods smile on the Senators 675682 Montreal Canadiens facing elimination Thursday night against Ottawa Senators 675683 Ottawa Senators centre Kyle Turris experiences "surreal" moment after scoring Game 4 OT winner 675684 Ottawa Senators rookie Cory Conacher follows orders and gets rewarded with big goal 675685 Ottawa Senators beating Montreal Canadiens on and off the ice 675686 Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson not named finalist for Vezina Trophy 675687 Ottawa Senators centre Jason Spezza gets closer to return 675688 Montreal Canadiens goalie Peter Budaj ready to face Ottawa Senators if Carey Price can't go

Philadelphia Flyers 675689 Former Flyer Bobrovsky a Vezina finalist 675690 Flyers should draft defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen 675691 Inside the Flyers: Flyers castoff Bobrovsky a finalist for best goalie 675692 Fixing the Flyers' defense 675693 Ex-Flyer Sergei Bobrovsky a Vezina Trophy finalist 675694 Figuring out the Flyers: Defense Part II

Phoenix Coyotes

675695 Avalanche reportedly interested in Coyotes' Tippett

Pittsburgh Penguins 675696 Penguins notebook: Inconsistent play baffles Malkin 675697 Vokoun to replace Fleury in Game 5 675698 Starkey: Pens not in critical condition — yet 675699 Penguins Insider: It’s time to adapt to Islanders 675700 Vokoun to start Game 5 for Penguins over Fleury 675701 Penguins coach Dan Bylsma will start Vokoun in goal tonight instead of Fleury 675702 Dan Bylsma: Keeping expectations under control always critical 675703 Change in goal not the only one needed 675704 Penguins hope full cast keeps power play hot

San Jose Sharks 675705 San Jose Sharks' Antti Niemi is a finalist for top goalie 675706 San Jose Sharks play waiting game for their next opponent 675707 Sharks' best players lead way past Canucks 675708 Sharks' Antti Niemi is Vezina finalist 675709 Hedican impressed with Marleau's defensive presence 675710 Niemi a finalist for Vezina Trophy

St Louis Blues 675711 Blues updates: Hitchcock reunites CPR Line 675712 Blues focus on limiting work after whistle 675713 Bernie: Blues are on the brink 675714 Oshie's growth spurt is evident in these playoffs 675715 Blues fall 3-2 in overtime to LA 675716 Hockey Guy: Kings just too Quick for Blues 675717 Hitchcock calls Blues winger Oshie 'our conscience' 675718 Kings put Blues in 3-2 hole 675719 Hitchcock calls Blues winger Oshie 'our conscience'

Toronto Maple Leafs 675720 Krejci hat trick has Leafs on the ropes and Bruins riding high 675721 Shoalts: Bruins’ depth at forward proving to be the difference 675722 Mirtle: Leafs’ secondary scoring missing in action 675723 Experience, Rask turns tide in Bruins’ favour 675724 Toronto Maple Leafs: All signs point to civility at fan party 675725 Toronto Maple Leafs: Tyler Seguin desperate to make some noise for Boston Bruins in NHL playoffs series: Fesch 675726 Boston sports columnist to Toronto Maple Leafs fans: Thanks for having our backs 675727 Maple Leafs in playoffs: Nazem Kadri still searching for first goal 675728 Toronto Maple Leafs plan to bounce back against Boston Bruins with a ‘response’ game in NHL playoffs 675729 Boston Bruins’ ageless wonder still commands respect: Feschuk 675730 Toronto Maple Leafs: Bruising series likely to get bumpier: DiManno 675731 It’s OK, Boston, we don’t hate you, just your teams: Kelly 675732 Maple Leafs’ Mark Fraser takes puck in head 675733 Maple Leafs lose heartbreaker, but what a night of hockey: Cox 675734 Leafs in need of ugly goals 675735 Maple Leafs plan more bodies in front of Bruins net in Game 4 675736 Maple Leafs hook up knocked-out fan with tix 675737 Young Maple Leafs playing like Jekyll and Hyde 675738 Giveaways damaging Maple Leafs 675739 Maple Leafs' Mark Fraser hospitalized after taking puck to head 675740 Carlyle lauds Leafs' work ethic 675741 James Reimer knows Leafs must bring 'A' game on Friday 675742 Jake Gardiner looked great despite Leafs' OT loss to Bruins 675743 Bruins push Leafs to brink with overtime win 675744 Jake Gardiner growing into his NHL game with Leafs

Maple Leafs Continued 675745 Jaromir Jagr savours playoff run with Bruins 675746 Leafs’ Mark Fraser leaves Game 4 after taking puck to the face 675747 Leafs play a game to remember in overtime loss to Bruins 675748 Lack of secondary scoring haunts Leafs in overtime loss to Bruins

Vancouver Canucks 675749 Canucks' Cup dreams left to rot in hockey graveyard 675750 Canucks’ Sedin twins, Alex Edler to play for Sweden at hockey worlds 675751 Daniel Sedin’s penalty cruel and unusual punishment 675752 I Watched This Playoff Game: Canucks at San Jose Sharks, May 7, 2013 675753 Twins and Edler to join Swedish side at worlds 675754 The Canucks got screwed by the refs. Of course they did. 675755 Could former bad-boy goalie Ron Hextall end up in Vancouver … as Canucks GM? Let’s throw some names out there 675756 Canucks may need to play buyout game with Ballard, Booth 675757 If Vigneault goes, who’s gonna coach the Canucks? 675758 Canucks: Officiating conspiracies? Stop whining and just shut up 675759 Canucks Odds: Who stays and who goes?

Washington Capitals 675760 Rangers even series with Washington after 4-3 victory in Game 4 675761 Capitals know they must remain patient against Vezina finalist Henrik Lundqvist 675762 Alex Ovechkin on Ryan McDonagh: ‘I don’t care what he say’ 675763 Brooks Laich skates with teammates for first time since sports hernia surgery 675764 Marc Staal’s return boosts Rangers 675765 The Caps get interviewed in front of plant life 675766 Martin Erat suffers apparent injury to left wrist or forearm in Game 4 675767 NHL playoffs: Solving Henrik Lundqvist critical to Capitals’ chances 675768 Capitals notes: Brooks Laich back on ice after sports hernia surgery 675769 In the process, they fell behind 2-0 and had to play uphill for much of the night 675770 Capitals' mistakes prove costly as Rangers tie series with Game 4 win

Websites 675771 ESPN / Fleury gave Bylsma little choice 675772 ESPN / Difficult loss leaves Leafs on the brink 675773 ESPN / Questions abound for Canucks after sweep 675774 FOXSports.com / Kings, Ducks each win Game 5 with OT thrillers 675775 USA TODAY / Why the Islanders are tied with the Penguins 675776 USA TODAY / Tomas Vokoun signing proves to be deft move 675777 USA TODAY / Ovechkin hit injures teammate 675778 USA TODAY / USA tops Finland 4-1 at worlds 675779 USA TODAY / Tomas Vokoun to start Game 5 for Penguins 675780 USA TODAY / Finalists announced for Vezina Trophy 675781 YAHOO SPORTS / Playoff warhorse Jaromir Jagr embraces supporting role with Bruins – and another Stanley Cup ch SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129 675537 Anaheim Ducks

Nick Bonino scores OT goal for Ducks win and series lead

By Lisa Dillman

May 8, 2013, 11:27 p.m.

The puck slipped away from Ducks defenseman Ben Lovejoy, but he had the presence, savvy and, well, luck to get it back and go around the Red Wings' Gustav Nyquist and Brian Lashoff and set up teammate Nick Bonino for the overtime game-winner.

Lost and found.

All this unfolded in a matter of seconds, and with the goal the Ducks find themselves one game away from advancing out of the Western Conference quarterfinals. The Ducks' 3-2 overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night at Honda Center in Game 5 gave them a 3-2 edge in this series.

"It's what you dream of as a kid," said Bonino, whose goal came 1 minute 54 seconds into overtime. "I didn't have to do much, Lovejoy got it across to me. We'd like to finish it in six. They'll be desperate — that'll be a desperate fan base."

Said Lovejoy: "There was a puck going down the wall, it was bouncing a bit. I really wanted to shoot it, but couldn't control it. I was able to get a little toe-drag in and able to hit Nick back door."

It was Anaheim's first win in three overtime games against Detroit. The Red Wings won in overtime in Game 2 here and Game 4 in Detroit.

The Game 6 that Bonino was talking about will be in Detroit on Friday, and a win in this series would represent the second playoff series the Ducks have won since capturing the Stanley Cup in 2007.

"Mentally, that was a huge win for us," Lovejoy said. "We've struggled in this series in overtime against that team. I wouldn't say — actually, I would say — they've had our number in overtime. Our ultimate goal is to beat this team in this series and win the Stanley Cup and you're not going to do that if you can't win overtime games."

A series win also could represent another tantalizing possibility: the potential of a playoff series against the rival Kings, who are also one game away from winning their first-round series, against the St. Louis Blues.

Several things have to occur for that to happen, of course.

And it has been difficult for the Ducks, and Red Wings for that matter, to build on their victories. Don't try to think, let alone anticipate, what will happen next in this curiously pattern-free series.

Even the first three periods were all over the map. The Red Wings were outshot 14-3 to start the game, but righted themselves to take the lead twice before the Ducks fought back to tie it.

Anaheim's defense turned into a clinic on what not to do in the second period before stabilizing in the third.

And who would have thought that former league most valuable player Corey Perry would go through five games of this series with just one assist? There was no shortage of effort from Perry. His last shot in regulation almost prevented the game from going into overtime. His scoring chance came with 9.7 seconds remaining as he cut from the left side to the middle, attempting to catch Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard moving the wrong way.

Howard, however, stayed with it and coolly made the save.

In regulation, the Ducks goals came from Kyle Palmieri, at 17:41 in the first period, and Ryan Getzlaf, up the middle, at 19:28 of the second. Palmieri's goal managed to get through a sea of legs, and past Howard, after center David Steckel won the draw.

About the only thing the Ducks have been able to count on is the consistent reliability of their captain, Getzlaf. "He's a great leader and when he's going he's a tough man to stop," Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said.

The Ducks survived a scrambled, turnover-riddled middle session, trading goals with the Red Wings. Detroit went up 2-1 when goalie Jonas Hiller gave up a big rebound to a waiting Mikael Samuelsson, who scored from the base of the circle.

What could have been a blow turned into a momentum booster once the Ducks used their survival skills in fending off the Red Wings on a five-minute major late in the second period.

Daniel Winnik received the major for boarding Red Wings forward Daniel Cleary, who went down hard in the corner and stayed down for some time. Cleary immediately went to the dressing room for evaluation but returned for the start of the third period.

LA Times: LOADED: 05.09.2013

675538 Anaheim Ducks

Whicker: It's easy to ‘C' Getzlaf's leadership

By MARK WHICKER

ANAHEIM -- Lots of flights, not much rest, and sometimes your tongue doesn't quite catch up to your brain.

On Wednesday morning, Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau was asked again about the blossoming of Ryan Getzlaf.

“He's the straw that stirs the stick,” Boudreau said.

A few hours later, it made perfect sense.

The Ducks' 3-2 overtime victory over the Red Wings in Game 5 had many touch-up artists, but one real architect. Getzlaf, captain in all senses now, was again a powerful tower.

This game was as corset-tight as the rest of them, and there were crisis points aplenty. The hour of need came late in the second period when Daniel Winnik boarded Dan Cleary and gave Detroit a 5-minute, all-you-can-eat power play — and the Red Wings already led, 2-1.

But the Ducks managed to hold the fort in front of Jonas Hiller, until Getzlaf was able to make a steal and draw a penalty on Brendan Smith.

Before the end of the period the Ducks were on the power play themselves. Gee, maybe they can take the man-advantage into reasonably fresh ice in the beginning of the third period.

The 2013 version of Getzlaf doesn't wait until tomorrow. He came deliberately down the middle, waited for the seas to part, and rammed the game-tying goal past Jimmy Howard.

“That was huge,” Francois Beauchemin said. “It was a tough period on us. We were back on our heels and we couldn't get much going. We can't play that way against that team.

“But when we did kill that penalty it was a big shift of momentum, and he (Getzlaf) has made those plays all year.”

The Ducks had avoided losing. They and the Red Wings played a third period that was tenser than a freeway chase. Both survived it and got into overtime.

Wasting no time, Getzlaf got the puck to Bryan Allen, who nearly won it right then. But Ben Lovejoy, who played brilliantly on the back line all night, held the puck and got inside, then found Nick Bonino, who got the game-winner 1:54 into the extra period.

“It was an incredible game, a lot of fun to be part of,” Kyle Palmieri said.

The whole series has been, and despite how crucial Game 5 is supposed to be, it's a long way from adjournment, with Game 6 in Detroit on Friday night.

“We hit three posts,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. “They were way better than we were in the first period, we were way better in the second, and then the third was even.”

Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard was the pivotal figure early, frustrating the Ducks with snatching saves, and then Johan Franzen put the Wings up, 1-0.

The Ducks also got nothing out of a 22-second five-on-three, thanks to the nifty stick of Pavel Datsyuk, and couldn't generate much on the rest of that power play.

Still, they've been good about shrugging things off, and maybe that comes from Getzlaf, too. Here, they remembered there is something to be said for faceoffs, traffic and willingness to fire. They all came together with 2:20 left in the period, as David Steckel won the draw from Cory Emmerton, and got it back to Palmieri, who saw five guys in front of him, but not Howard. That is an invitation to shoot that Palmieri never needs, and he got it through the high-occupancy lane and tied it up, 1-1.

“I don't really know how it got through,” Palmieri said. “It's not like it was a set play or anything. I was thinking about getting it to Cam (Fowler) but I didn't want to put it out of the zone.”

Detroit was absolutely dominant early in the second, to the point that Boudreau had to call time just for resuscitation purposes. Mikael Samuelsson, 36 years old and injured all year, took care of a nicely placed rebound off Jonas Hiller and gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead.

However, Hiller patched up some misplays, particularly on a giveaway by Beauchemin right to Datsyuk, and also stopped a breakaway by Damien Brunner.

“Jonas felt really bad about giving up that rebound,” Boudreau said. “I thought he did a great job the rest of the night.”

The time between regulation and overtime is usually filled with replenishment, not inspiration. But Palmieri said Getzlaf spoke up and told everyone to calm down — an art that Getzlaf later said he has just now mastered.

He has two chances to get the Ducks past Motown and into a possible second-round Hockeygeddon matchup with the Kings. He'll be grasping for every stick and straw he can find.

Orange County Register: LOADED: 05.09.2013


Advantage Ducks, thanks to Bonino's OT goal

By ERIC STEPHENS

ANAHEIM – Could the Ducks and Detroit Red Wings really decide a pivotal Game 5 of their Western Conference first-round series in regulation? Not a chance.

The two teams have staged some classic playoff matchups, and 60 minutes again weren't enough Wednesday night. It didn't take long for the Ducks' Nick Bonino to add his name into postseason lore.

Bonino provided the storybook finish for the Ducks, scoring off a terrific setup pass by defenseman Ben Lovejoy at 1:54 of overtime for a dramatic 3-2 win over the Red Wings to set off an overflow Honda Center crowd.

The second-seeded Ducks ran into their only struggles during a surprising regular season after Bonino suffered a lower-body injury that kept him out for six weeks. It is no coincidence that his team perked up again when he returned in the season's final week.

Lovejoy carried the puck deep into the zone and made an inside move on Red Wings defenseman Brian Lashoff toward the Detroit net before backhanding the puck across the crease toward Bonino, who slid it into an open net.

"There was a puck bouncing down the wall," Lovejoy said. "I wanted to shoot it but didn't get the chance. I was able to get a toe-drag in and hit Nick back door."

The Wings had won Games 2 and 4 in overtime but it is the Ducks who broke through this time and take a 3-2 series lead back to Detroit for Game 6 on Friday night.

"We had our chances in Detroit," Bonino said. "We stayed calm and got a good bounce."

Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf forged a 2-2 tie in the final minute of the second period as he used patience on an odd-man rush before snapping a wrist shot past Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard on the stick side.

"He's a great leader," Coach Bruce Boudreau said. "And when he's going, he's a tough man to stop. I thought he brought it tonight and guys followed him. That's what captains do."

Both Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller and Howard were again on their game. Hiller kept the Ducks alive in the second period with big stops and came through with 29 saves in all.

Hiller, who made 46 saves in Game 4, managed to edge Howard's stellar 31-save performance. Only Johan Franzen and Mikael Samuelsson managed to beat the Swiss netminder.

The teams traded goals in the first period, with Franzen cashing in the Ducks' second straight goaltender interference penalty while Kyle Palmieri scored through a maze of bodies.



Miller: Bonino gives Ducks two chances to advance

By JEFF MILLER

ANAHEIM – A playoff series all about resiliency bounced back and forth in Game 5, bounced crazily like the puck sometimes does, waiting for someone, anyone to crack.

The Ducks trailed twice, tied the score twice, had a bunch of chances to win in regulation and at least as many chances to lose in regulation and then — SNAP!!! — went the Red Wings.

Nick Bonino beat Detroit in overtime Wednesday, beat them after defenseman Ben Lovejoy did most of the hard work.

One minute, 54 seconds into overtime, Bonino took Lovejoy's pass and found the open part of the Detroit goal for a 3-2 victory, 3-2 also being the Ducks' edge now in games in this best-of-7 series.

"He's a great opportunist," Coach Bruce Boudreau said of Bonino. "He's a heck of a player for us right now."

After he scored, Bonino turned and skated toward center ice, repeatedly lifting his arms, further imploring the crowd he had just lifted inside Honda Center.

If the Ducks are going to win this first-round series, it could happen Friday, in Game 6, at Detroit. Their next chance would come back here, Game 7, on Sunday.

No question, this team overachieved just to arrive here. To have everything end too soon might leave some people wondering if this lockout-shortened season even happened. It would be that hollow, that forgettable.

Thanks to Bonino and so many others, the Ducks now have two chances to eliminate a stubborn, proud franchise. Don't be surprised if it takes both chances to discard the Red Wings, who are down and nowhere near out.

The immediate problem is the Ducks have to board another airplane and head back to Detroit, where the Wings smothered them with possession time in Game 4, an eventual overtime loss for the Ducks.

Joe Louis Arena hasn't been kind to many visitors, the Ducks included, although they've been better than most there in recent postseasons. On Friday for Game 6, the place will be good and gassed and the home team significantly revved.

And Justin Abdelkader will rejoin the series for Detroit, having served his two-game suspension for violently charging Toni Lydman in Game 3.

But the Ducks, seeded second in the Western Conference and a non-playoff team just a year ago, aren't exactly wilting under the weight of this series so far.

On Wednesday, there was Matt Beleskey poking a puck loose from his belly, Ryan Getzlaf buzzing in the offensive zone and grinding in the corners and Francois Beauchemin logging the heaviest minutes.

Goalie Jonas Hiller was exceptional, and the Ducks were credited with more shots on goal, hits and blocked shots.

One game after watching Detroit succeed by throwing everything but a Coney dog at Hiller, the Ducks came out pitching everything they could get their sticks on at Jimmy Howard.

And everything included themselves.

Saku Koivu and Corey Perry both were called for goalie interference after colliding with Howard, the latter power play resulting in the game's first goal, Johan Franzen putting the Red Wings up, 1-0, at 5:28 of the first period.

The Ducks, meanwhile, had Bobby Ryan hacking at Howard as he covered up one puck, Cam Fowler unleashing from the blue line and 12 players total getting shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes alone.

After one period, the Ducks had outshot the Red Wings, 18-9, but the score was even, 1-1, and a long game during which these teams never would be separated by much was just beginning.

Oh, how the Ducks had chances early. Teemu Selanne had Howard down and the puck within his reach but couldn't lift it over the goaltender. Daniel Winnik had a mini-breakaway but shot straight into Howard's body. Perry had the puck and enough space but couldn't beat Howard on the glove side.

The Ducks continued pressing, pushed back against the surging Red Wings and refused to be discouraged or denied.

Good thing. Once they gain control, the Red Wings can be as difficult to separate from the puck as the cold is to separate from the ice. Their patience is potent as they circle from the top of the zone to down low and everywhere in between.

For stretches of Game 5, the Red Wings had the Ducks twirling and reaching and twirling some more, following the puck from Wing to Wing, desperately trying to maintain position in front of Hiller.

But the Ducks survived, just like they survived a 5-minute boarding major on Winnik, a 15-shot second period by Detroit and a four-on-four situation late in the third period during which Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk looked even more dangerous than normal. If that's possible.

The Ducks survived, that's what they did, until the opportunity showed itself, from Lovejoy to Bonino.

They never had the lead Wednesday until it mattered most — when Game 5 was over.



With future unclear, Beleskey making most of the present

By ERIC STEPHENS

ANAHEIM – As a low-salaried potential free agent this summer, Matt Beleskey's future with the Ducks is up in the air. But that isn't a new feeling for the unsung physical winger.

Playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs requires one to live in the moment, and Beleskey is reveling in that. The future can wait.

Beleskey has made an impact for the Ducks with goals in Games 3 and 4 to become one of the team's top producers in the series. His two tallies matched what Nick Bonino and Ryan Getzlaf had done heading into Wednesday's Game 5.

"You always want to be able to contribute and score those big goals," Beleskey said. "I'm just trying to work hard, get to the net and get some shots. Luckily a few have gone in."

Valuable minutes and an important role are things Beleskey hasn't had regularly since his promising rookie season. But it is clear he is flourishing under the guidance of Bruce Boudreau since the coach took over the Ducks in the fall of 2011.

Before Boudreau came on board, Beleskey had dipped to the point of being scratched and put on waivers by the club. He wasn't claimed, but the message was clear that his spot on the roster was tenuous.

It was just the year before when Beleskey took a step back with a long stint in the American Hockey League after scoring 11 goals in 60 games during his NHL debut in 2009-10.

"Those are tough times," he said. "Went through a little bit of a hard stretch down in the minors too. I think that's all part of your career and it kind of

teaches you as a young player that it's not something that you can just stay in this league.

"They say it's easier to make the NHL than to stay in it. It's something that I've tried to learn. And I'm still working on that, trying to be consistent every night."

The firing of Randy Carlyle at the end of November that year gave the winger a new lease on his Ducks career. Boudreau's initial report on Beleskey was mixed – a hard worker who didn't always think the game.

"He's smarter now," the coach said. "I think every player matures at a different age. Some guys take until their 25 and some guys take until their 28. With Matt, in my mind anyways, he's gotten better and better.

"He's a perfect prototype forward in today's NHL game. He plays the fourth line really well but you can move him. He can skate. He hits. He can fight if you want him to. But I just think the maturity in his game has really grown."

Beleskey said Boudreau's communication skill "is huge with me," whether in a positive or negative vein.

"He's been great for me" the winger said. "He's really helped my confidence and helped my game this year."

Beleskey made a prorated $850,000 this season that was nearly cut in half because of the NHL lockout. He is slated to become a restricted free agent, but fourth-line wingers can often be replaced.

Any talks on a new contract have been pushed aside because of the playoffs. But Beleskey feels he has made a home in Orange County and hopes the Ducks see fit to keep him.

"I really hope so," he said. "Do I know? No. You never really know until the season's over or whatever. Anaheim's been great. They drafted me. I'd love to stay with the team as long as possible.

"Hopefully I have been able to work my way into their plans."

LYDMAN IMPROVES

Toni Lydman is showing some improvement following a hit by Detroit's Justin Abdelkader in Game 3, but the Ducks defenseman's status for the remainder of the series remains extremely doubtful.

Lydman has been suffering from migraines and neck stiffness after being drilled by Abdelkader, a hit that got Abdelkader suspended for the next two games. The winger sat again for Game 5 but will return for Game 6 on Friday in Detroit.

Lydman hasn't skated since the hit.

"He's still got headaches and wasn't on the ice today," Boudreau said. "Talking to him this morning, he says he's feeling a lot better and they're nowhere near as intense as they were.

"As to where he is compared to when he's going to play, I couldn't give you an answer to that."

NOTES

Regular scratches Radek Dvorak, Matthew Lombardi, Brad Staubitz and Sami Vatanen have yet to make a series appearance for the Ducks. ...

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman attended the game.



DUCKS 3, DETROIT 2 (OT): Anaheim wins in Nick of time

By Elliott Teaford, Staff Writer

Posted: 05/08/2013 10:04:20 PM PDT

Updated: 05/08/2013 11:19:00 PM PDT

ANAHEIM - Nick Bonino slammed the puck into the back of the net to make the Ducks' 3-2 overtime winners over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 5, a sellout crowd of 17,395 filled his ears with joyful noise and his teammates poured off the bench to celebrate with him.

Then a funny thing happened late Wednesday night at the Honda Center.

Bonino didn't know what to do next. He didn't dance. He didn't pump his fists.

"I never know what to do when I score," he admitted. "I never have a celebration planned."

The 25-year-old Bonino scored his first overtime playoff winner in his ninth career postseason game, giving the Ducks a 3-2 series lead over the Red Wings in their first-round playoff series. Game 6 is Friday in Detroit, and the Ducks can eliminate the Red Wings with a victory.

"Pure joy," Bonino said of scoring 1 minute, 54 seconds into OT.

Ducks defenseman Ben Lovejoy set up the goal with a gritty play along the right-wing boards and then a deft pass from behind the goal line to Bonino, who cut toward Jimmy Howard's net from along the left wing. Howard was out of position and Bonino buried his chance.

Lovejoy lost the puck for a moment along the boards, won it back in a battle with Detroit forward Gustav Nyquist and then skated into attack mode. Bonino would later say he couldn't remember calling out to Lovejoy, but the pass arrived just as he hoped.

"I just came off the wall, went to the far post and 'Lover' put it right there," Bonino said.

Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau called Bonino "a great opportunist."

"He comes up with big goals," Boudreau added. "He's just that kind of a guy."

Bonino's goal capped another back-and-forth game in a back-and-forth series. The Red Wings squandered leads of 1-0 and 2-1 before falling in OT in Game 5.

The Ducks squandered leads of 1-0 and 2-1 before falling in OT in Game 4.

What happens next is anyone's guess, although Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf vowed to have his teammates as revved up for the start of Friday's game as they were for Wednesday's. The Ducks were deadlocked with the Red Wings after the first period of Game 5, but outshot them 18-9.

"We're excited," Getzlaf said of looking forward to returning to Joe Louis Arena and attempting to end the series in six games. "We're looking to go there and get it done. We don't want to feed them any momentum. We want to go out and prepare for that first period."

The Ducks countered Johan Franzen's power-play goal early in the first period with Kyle Palmieri's strike on a quick turn-and-shoot from the high slot late in the frame. Mikael Samuelsson then put Detroit ahead 2-1 midway through the second period.

Then came a huge turning point in the game and maybe the series, too.

Daniel Winnik was given a five-minute boarding major for cracking Daniel Cleary against the glass at 14:15 of the second, giving Detroit five minutes to score as many times as possible. Cleary needed medical attention, but returned to the ice in the third period.

The Red Wings managed one shot on net against the Ducks' aggressive penalty-killing units.

Getzlaf pounced on a loose puck in his own zone and raced toward the Red Wings' net. Detroit defenseman Brendan Smith intercepted him and was whistled for a holding penalty, wiping out the remaining 49 seconds of the five-minute power play.

Then, with the Ducks on a short power play, Getzlaf tied the score 2-2 with a laser from the slot with 32 seconds remaining in the second period. He used teammate Matt Beleskey as a screen and fired a shot that was in the back of the net before Howard could react.

All of which was a mere warmup for another nerve-jangling finish.

"He's a great leader and when it gets going, he's a tough man to stop," Boudreau said of Getzlaf, who has a team-leading five points (three goals, two assists). "I thought he brought it tonight. The guys followed him. That's what captains do."

Slap shots

Ducks defenseman Toni Lydman sat out for the second consecutive game, but coach Bruce Boudreau said his headaches weren't as severe as in the

days after Detroit forward Justin Abdelkader caught him in the head with a shoulder check in Game 3.

John Gibson, a Ducks' goaltending prospect, made 31 saves to lead the United States to a 4-1 victory over Finland in the World Championships on Wednesday. Gibson was a second-round draft pick (39 th overall) in 2011.

LA Daily News: LOADED: 05.09.2013

675543 Boston Bruins

Tonight's Bruins lineup

Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff May 8, 2013 06:42 PM

Based on pregame warmups:

Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin

Rich Peverley-Chris Kelly-Jaromir Jagr

Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg

Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk

Wade Redden-Adam McQuaid

Tuukka Rask

Anton Khudobin

Boston Globe LOADED: 05.09.2013


Bruins need more offense from Patrice Bergeron's line

Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff May 8, 2013 12:47 PM

Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and Nathan Horton are leading the offensive charge for the Bruins through three games of this series against Toronto. The third line busted through in Game 3 for the Bruins’ second goal. The fourth line has been consistent in all three games.

Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and Tyler Seguin have yet to replicate their teammates’ offensive touch. Toronto’s top pairing of Dion Phaneuf and Carl Gunnarsson has kept Bergeron’s line off the scoresheet.

“They’ve had some chances,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien. “But they haven’t capitalized. No doubt they can be a little bit better. We’re counting on that.”

Bergeron’s line has been thorough on defense, taking shifts against Toronto’s top two lines. But with the Leafs expected to make their biggest push so far tonight, the Bruins will need Bergeron’s line to cash in on their opportunities.

* Tuukka Rask was not named one of the Vezina Trophy finalists as the league's best goalie. The general managers voted for Sergei Bobrovsky, Antti Niemi, and Henrik Lundqvist.

“Sometimes you control what you can,” Julien said. “What he can control right now is how well he plays and how well he’s going to continue to play through these playoffs. That’s more valuable than the little individual trophy that is voted by different people. At the end of the day, everybody’s told you the same thing: You aim for the big trophy, which is more important than the individual one.”

* The Bruins didn’t make any lineup changes during their morning skate. Toronto held an optional skate.



Game 4: Bruins at Maple Leafs preview

Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff May 8, 2013 10:02 AM

TORONTO – Good morning from the Air Canada Centre, where the Bruins will look to grab a 3-1 series lead tonight over the Maple Leafs. No lineup changes are expected for either team.

All eyes will be on linesmen Scott Cherrey and Brian Murphy. The Leafs weren’t happy about how the Bruins were cheating on the draw in Game 3. The Bruins won 60 percent of the faceoffs. Randy Carlyle didn’t think the Bruins were placing their sticks down first, as visitors must do.

Puck drop: 7 p.m.

TV/radio info: NESN (Jack Edwards, Andy Brickley, Naoko Funayama),98.5 The Sports Hub (Dave Goucher, Bob Beers)

Records: Bruins 2-1, Leafs 1-2

Projected Leafs lineup:

Joffrey Lupul-Tyler Bozak-Phil Kessel

James van Riemsdyk-Mikhail Grabovski-Nikolai Kulemin

Ryan Hamilton-Nazem Kadri-Matt Frattin

Leo Komarov-Jay McClement-Colton Orr

Carl Gunnarsson-Dion Phaneuf

Mark Fraser-Cody Franson

Jake Gardiner-Ryan O’Byrne

James Reimer

Ben Scrivens

Healthy scratches: Clarke MacArthur, Joe Colborne, Frazer McLaren, John-Michael Liles

Projected Bruins lineup:

Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin

Rich Peverley-Chris Kelly-Jaromir Jagr

Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg

Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk

Wade Redden-Adam McQuaid

Tuukka Rask

Anton Khudobin

Healthy scratches: Dougie Hamilton, Aaron Johnson, Kaspars Daugavins, Carl Soderberg, Jay Pandolfo

Storylines: The Bruins’ depth showed in Game 3. The Bruins had offensive contributions from the third and fourth lines. Rich Peverley and Jaromir Jagr connected for the team’s second goal. Daniel Paille gave the Bruins a three-goal lead when he scored a shorthanded strike after picking Phil Kessel’s pocket. Six of Toronto’s seven goals have come off the sticks of Kessel, Joffrey Lupul, and James van Riemsdyk, who are all top-six forwards. None of the bottom-six Leafs has scored… Nathan Horton will look to extend his goal-scoring streak to four games. Horton, David Krejci, and Milan Lucic have been the Bruins’ best offensive forwards… Eric Furlatt and Francois St. Laurent will be the referees. Scott Cherrey and Brian Murphy will be the linesmen.



Watch: David Krejci talks about big night, game-winning goal

Steve Silva, Boston.com Staff May 8, 2013 11:58 PM

David Krejci's third goal of the night at 13:06 of overtime gave the Bruins a 4-3 victory in Game 4 and a commanding 3-1 lead in their playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"It happened," a humble Krejci said regarding the winning goal. "If it wouldn't be for Horty [Nathan Horton], he took the hit to make a play, and other guys played a big part on the goal, [Milan] Lucic was driving the net. I was actually looking for Horty to pass, then Z [Zdeno Chara] was behind me, so I had that many options, but they took them away and I got left with the shot and luckily it went in."

Krejci, now the leading scorer in the NHL playoffs with 10 points in the opening round, was having a huge night before the game-winner. In a four-minute span in the second period, he plowed into the crease and Leafs goalie James Reimer on both his first and second goals of the game. His second goal gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead.

"It's a big difference if you're going back home with a 3-1 lead or a tie series, 2-2," Krejci said. "It was a big one tonight but we know the last step is the hardest."

Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk said Krejci always plays at a high level.

"He's always like that," Boychuk said after the epic win at Air Canada Centre. "He's a good player and he seems to find guys, and guys are in better positioning now. It's just a simpler game in the playoffs, and he makes it look easy."

Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask was also impressed by the play of No. 46.

"I didn't even realize he scored a hat trick today," Rask said. "I've said in the past few games here, when he's on, he's on. He does whatever he wants. He makes the right plays and scores goals, so today was a pretty good example of that."

Bruins coach Claude Julien also offered high praise for his center after the win.

"His line has been good throughout this whole series, but David tonight was certainly the guy shining," Julien said. "He's been a real good playoff performer for years for us. There are certain players who just thrive on playoff hockey, and he's one of those guys."



B's, Leafs head to OT

Wednesday, May 8, 2013 -- Stephen Harris

TORONTO -- The Bruins had plenty of chances to score the game-winner in the third period but came up empty, and Game 4 of the B's-Leafs series remains tied, 3-3, with a 20-minute sudden-death overtime looming.

B's, Leafs even after two, 3-3

At the end of a crazy second period in Game 4 of their first-round series at the Air Canada Center, the Bruins and Maple Leafs are tied, 3-3.

Down 2-0 after a period, the Bruins struck for three successive second-period goals. Patrice Bergeron got it going on a power play just 0:32 in, when Toronto goalie James Reimer gave up one of his innumerable dangerous rebounds on a Zdeno Chara shot and Bergeron fired the rebound over his left shoulder. David Krejci was credited with a game-tying goal at 12:59 when a Brad Marchand shot struck him as he battled at the goalmouth and bounced in. It was Krejci again during a power play at 16:39, as Nathan Horton fed a great pass from the right circle to the left circle, where Krejci ripped a one-timer past Reimer.

The Leafs tied the game at 17:23, when a Clarke MacArthur shot from the slot was parially blocked by Johnny Boychuk and slipped past Tuukka Rask.

Leafs lead 2-0 after one

For a Bruins team hoping to take a 3-1 stranglehold lead in their first-round series against the Maple Leafs, the first period of Game 4 didn't go quite as planned. The B's had the better of the play, with a 15-8 edge in shots, but the home team scored twice to take a 2-0 lead to the intermission. Still, the B's probably figured that if they continue to play the same way, the game will turn around. Their best chance: A shot clanged off a post by David Krejci during a power play late in the period.

The Leafs struck early, when Phil Kessel passed from behind the net to Joffrey Lupul in the low slot, from where he slid a quick forehander past Tuukka Rask just 2:35 into the game. Then at 18:32, Toronto D-man Cody Franson sent a soft wrist shot in from right point. Rask appeared to be screened by Zdeno Chara, reacting late as the puck flew past him on the short side.

Boston Herald LOADED: 05.09.2013


Tuukka Rask snubbed in Vezina Trophy voting

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Steve Conroy

TORONTO — The Bruins have a chance to put a stranglehold on their Eastern Conference quarterfinal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in tonight’s Game 4 at Air Canada Centre. A victory would send the B’s back to Boston for Friday’s Game 5 with a 3-1 series victory. A loss would mean they’re in a dogfight.

One player who might have a little extra motivation is goalie Tuukka Rask, whose name was not among the three finalists announced for the Vezina Trophy today to honor the league’s top goalie. Rask led the league in shutouts with five. The award is voted on by the NHL GMs.

Rask also had better a better save percentage (.929) and goals against average than two of the finalists — Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist and Sharks goalie Antti Niemi. His GAA was tied with Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, the third finalist.

One knock against Rask might have been the fact that he played fewer games (34) than the three finalists. Niemi and Lundqvist both started 43 games and Bobrovsky started 37. Rask’s teammates, however, thought he was robbed.

“I think Tuukka is definitely one of those goaltenders who should be among those three. I think him being left off will just drive him to be that top goalie,” said winger Daniel Paille. “He produces every night and he works hard every day. It’s unfortunate that he didn’t, but one day he will be recognized. I guess we can put a little bit of blame on ourselves for not helping him out because he definitely helped us out a lot.”

Andrew Ference said he had no idea what kind of seasons the other goalies had, but feels Rask was excellent in more ways than one.

“If you just look at his play alone, he’s been great,” said Ference. “But if you look at the situation he came into, following in Timmy (Thomas’) footsteps, there was a lot of pressure for him to jump and be that No. 1 guy that everyone knows he’s been waiting to be. You come into a situation like that and he’s played the way he has, I think it’s worth a couple of extra bonus points.”

One Bruins player who has been highly motivated in this series has been Milan Lucic. A healthy scratch for an April 20 game against the Penguins, Lucic has been ramping up since then and is now playing his best hockey of the season.

“Before you do something to a player of that stature, you try a lot of different things. Sometimes everyone perceives a healthy scratch as a real negative thing, a slap in the face. And to certain players, it is a wakeup call,” said coach Claude Julien. “But at the same time, when you look from up top and you see what you’re missing, it kind of motivates. We were just trying to find

a way to motivate him again and it certainly wasn’t because we didn’t believe in him or didn’t think he was a good player. Sometimes those things can work in a positive and so far it’s worked in his favor.”

One line Julien would like to see get on the board is the Patrice Bergeron line. While the threesome has done its usual solid job in the defensive zone, a Brad Marchand assist is the extent of its scoring.

“They’ve had some chances that they haven’t capitalized on,” said Julien. “No doubt they can be a little bit better, and we’re counting on that.”



Jagr: I'm not strong like I want to be

Wednesday, May 8, 2013 -- Stephen Harris

TORONTO — In a rare occurrence, Bruins winger Jaromir Jagr addressed the media yesterday to speak about his health and the state of his game after his three-year stint in Europe.

The 41-year-old future Hall of Famer bounced back from a poor effort in Game 2 against the Maple Leafs and played quite well in Game 3 Monday, making one oustanding play to set set up a Rich Peverley goal. But he said he is still not fully recovered from a nasty case of flu.

"I had a tough flu before the playoffs," he said. "It wasn't easy. I mean, I like to practice a lot and get ready for the games. First time it ever happened to me, I couldn't do anything for 5-6 days. I lost a lot of weight. I still don't feel good. Yes, I feel better every game. But I'm still not strong like I wanted to be."

He spoke about the adjustment back to NHL hockey last season after playing three years in Europe.

"I wasn't here for three years," said Jagr. "I played hockey, but it was different hockey. I would say it's a different sport with the same rules. You could ask the guys who play World Championships. It takes time to adjust. It kind of took me at least a year to get adjusted to a different game. Here it is more stop and starts; there you have to skate all the time at the same speed."

He said he doesn't consider playoff hockey to be greatly different than the regular season.

"Maybe the first two games it is," he said. "The young kids are crazy, skating up and down. It's like a marathon: Some guys have a tempo, same, for the whole marathon; some guys are running very fast for the first two miles and they die. It's just whatever you want to do. It's up to you."

He was asked about an odd, old habit attributed to him: Taking his sticks home the night before a game and sleeping with them in his bed.

"I didn't do it for a long time," he said. "I'm going to have to start doing it again. Thank you for reminding me that. I'm going to do it (before Game 4 tonight)."



The break B's need

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Stephen Harris

TORONTO — Things didn’t look all that great for the Bruins as the overtime minutes played out last night at the Air Canada Centre.

Hours earlier, they had erased a 2-0 Maple Leafs lead, scoring three straight second-period goals to seemingly take command of Game 4 of this first-round series.

But they gave up the equalizer just 44 seconds after taking that lead, and in the third period they had ample opportunities to net a go-ahead goal but couldn’t get it done.

In overtime, it was the Leafs who were storming and putting pressure on Tuukka Rask with one testing shot after another.

It’s amazing, though, how many OT games end just as last night’s did. One team is pressing hard, seemingly on the verge of a goal, and boom. The other team gets one good chance, and it’s over.

When the Bruins’ chance materialized with seven minutes left in the first extra session, the right players were in the middle of it, especially David Krejci, whose third goal of the game gave the B’s a 4-3 win against the Leafs and a 3-1 series lead.

“It was crucial to get a win,” said Krejci, who notched his second career playoff hat trick. “We knew they were a desperate team, but we talked about it that we were a desperate team as well. It’s pretty different if you’re going back home with a 3-1 lead or the series is tied, 2-2.”

It really did seem to be a matter of time before the Leafs scored a dramatic, series-tying goal in overtime.

“They had a couple of chances, and every time there was a shot on net or a big hit, the crowd was really loud,” Krejci said. “I remember Tuukka made a huge save on (Joffrey) Lupul. (He)

got his glove there. From the bench you could see it was going in the net, and he stopped it at the last second. That was a huge save. We talked about it on the bench, ‘OK, that was a huge save. Now we’ve got to turn things around.’ And we did.”

The catalyst to the decisive play was a gamble by Toronto defenseman Dion Phaneuf in the Bruins zone. He pinched down from the blue line and went for a big hit on Nathan Horton, who managed to avoid the worst of the collision and slip the puck ahead to Krejci.

The center suddenly found himself on the left side skating free, with Milan Lucic on his right on a clear 2-on-1 break against defenseman Ryan O’Byrne and goalie James Reimer. Making the picture even better for the B’s, Zdeno Chara was coming up from behind.

“(Horton) took a hit to make a play, and other guys played a bit part on it,” Krejci said. “(Lucic) was driving the net. I was actually looking the whole way to pass. I heard Z behind me. I had so many options. But then they took them away and I was in alone for the shot. Luckily it went in.”

Krejci’s wrister from the left somehow snuck past Reimer on the short side, ending a miserable night for the Leafs fans who packed the arena and the thousands more outside, all poised to erupt.

Sorry.

The Leafs have played their hearts out, but they just don’t have an answer for Krejci and his linemates. Krejci has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in four games, Horton has six (three goals) and Lucic has six assists. In Game 4 alone, Krejci had eight shots on goal.

He scored the B’s second goal at 12:59 of the second, tying the game. That one wasn’t exactly highlight quality, as he crashed hard to the goal and had a Brad Marchand shot hit him and bounce into the net.

Then he gave the B’s a 3-2 lead on a sweet power-play one-timer from the left circle off a perfect cross-ice feed from Horton.

Krejci is playing much the same way he did in the 2011 playoffs, when he would have been the Conn Smythe Trophy winner had goalie Tim Thomas not been so amazing.

“I know I had a good run a couple of years ago, but I also know I had a bad run last year,” Krejci said. “So I’m just playing my best, playing my hardest and not worrying about the results.”

Krejci admitted the end-to-end action and pressure of the OT were exhausting.

“Yeah, it’s normal in overtime. In overtime we were playing a lot. I think there was only one timeout, and we play basically three lines. But I think we kept the shifts short, and every time we went out there I felt fresh.”

The Bruins don’t expect an easy task tomorrow night at the Garden in Game 5. Far from it.

“Obviously we feel pretty good right now, but we know you have to take one game at a time in playoffs,” Krejci said. “There’s no room to look at what happened in past games. So the next game we’ll start from 0-0. We have to bring our A game and be even better than we were (last night).

“We feel we have a pretty good team and a pretty good chance to go through to the next round. We’re trying to do everything we can to get to the second round.”

It took everything they had to survive last night.



B’s best must produce

Stephen Harris

TORONTO — Playoff hockey is intense and violent and pressure-packed. It is also just a game, and should be, to an extent, enjoyed as such.

That’s a message Tyler Seguin had on his mind yesterday as he prepared for last night’s Game 4 of the Bruins first-round series against the Maple Leafs. Relax and have fun.

Game 3, to put it kindly, was not Seguin’s finest. He fumbled pucks, failed to catch or make accurate passes, messed up shots. He looked like a guy with nervous, jittery hands. Through three games, he has a series-high 17 shots on goal, but not a point.

He did have a Game 1 near miss, when he clanged an open shot off the cross-bar, an outcome determined by a video review.

On Seguin’s line, clearly the B’s best much of the regular season, only Brad Marchand has a point. Center Patrice Bergeron is also pointless.

So the three players got together yesterday morning and reminded themselves, yes, to relax and quit worrying about a lack of production.

“In the end it’s a fun sport,” said Seguin. “With playoffs and everything surrounding it, sometimes you almost do lose track of that. So the biggest message we had among ourselves as a line was to go out there, relax a little bit more, have more fun.

“I wouldn’t say I was nervous (in Game 3); I was very excited. I wasn’t happy with my game, compared to the first two. I don’t know, maybe I wasn’t mentally strong. I felt when I did that forehand-backhand move (on a first-period solo break-in) when I had a chance all alone, I really didn’t want to (go to the backhand). I have to be a little more focused and not so easily frustrated.

“I’m excited we could walk away with the win and I’m looking forward to doing better (last night).”

The Bruins, of course, relied heavily on the David Krejci-Milan Lucic-Nathan Horton line, which totaled 5-12-17 in the first three games. But coach Claude Julien made it no secret he wants more from the Bergeron trio.

“They’ve had some chances but they haven’t cashed in,” said Julien. “No doubt they can do a little bit better, and we’re counting on them.”

Seguin knows very well that one of the greatest strengths of the Bruins during the 2011 playoffs was rolling out four successful lines.

“We’re at our best when we have all four lines going,” said Seguin. “With our line, we really want to contribute more than we have so far.

“The team is winning. In the end that’s all that matters. But we’re human. We want to contribute. You can’t say it doesn’t frustrate you sometimes when you have opportunities and you’re not bearing down, or you’re making mistakes. That’s part of hockey, but in the playoffs you’ve got to step it up.”

Seguin, on Lucic’s playoff surge after a rough regular season: “He’s probably pretty much forgotten about how the entire regular season went, because of the way he’s stepped up his game in the playoffs so far.”

On Jaromir Jagr: “He’s such a treat to watch. I probably can’t see how big it is now, but it’s an honor to play on his team. I’m sure down the road I’ll sit back and take it in more. His last game was huge for us.”

On the ACC atmosphere: “It was definitely loud. I’ve been here on both sides, as a fan and player, and it was definitely louder than anything I’ve heard before.”

And on the first three games of the series: “In Game 2 (a 4-2 loss), I think we kind of waited to see how they were going to come out. In Games 1 and 3 (4-1, 5-2 wins), we really went out and set our tempo, how we wanted to play the game. That’s what we want to do (last night in Game 4).”

And maybe pop in a goal or two, which would make the night a lot more fun.



Phil Kessel paying no attention to the attention

Chris Zelkovich

TORONTO — To absolutely no one’s surprise, Phil Kessel has worn a big target on his back since the playoffs started.

Always the focus of boos from the Garden faithful, the former Bruins forward found himself squarely in their sights for three games now. If it isn’t Zdeno Chara making sure the Toronto Maple Leafs’ top offensive threat is neutered, it’s uber-pest Brad Marchand trying to throw him off his game with physical and verbal assaults.

So far, the strategy produced mixed results.

After being invisible in the series opener, Kessel scored the winning goal in Game 2 and added another marker in the Bruins’ Game 3 victory.

On the debit side, his embarrassing giveaway led directly to a shorthanded B’s goal in Game 3, and he took an unsportsmanlike penalty that deprived the Leafs of a power play.

The latter lapse in discipline is something Kessel has to avoid, said Toronto coach Randy Carlyle.

“But you have to credit Marchand,” Carlyle said. “He’s doing what he’s supposed to do. He got our top goal scorer off the ice for two minutes.”

Kessel rejected any suggestions that Marchand was throwing him off his game.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal,” Kessel said in reference to Monday’s shoving incident. “I think [the media] is making a bigger deal out of it than it really was. We’re just battling out there, and it gets heated.”

According to Marchand, Kessel certainly is succumbing to his antagonizing ways.

“We came together there, and I wasn’t sure what was happening,” Marchand said, adding that he started to drop his gloves. “[Kessel] was shoving and he told me before he’d go with me any time. So I wasn’t sure what was happening, and I wanted to be prepared.”

Whether Kessel was really ready to engage in his second fight in 522 career games, the Leafs say they have to ignore the likes of Marchand.

“We know how they play,” Matt Frattin said. “They’re a hard physical team and we try to play the exact same way. It’s all about emotions and you’ve got to keep your emotions in check and just play between the whistles. I don’t think any of our team is angry or mad at anybody on their team.”



David Krejci's OT winner gives Bruins 3-1 series lead

Steve Conroy

TORONTO — Wins are not supposed to come easy in the playoffs and, after picking up a couple of three-goal victories over the Toronto Maple

Leafs in the first three games of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, the Bruins had to put on their hard hats to win last night.

There were a few fresh scars on some B’s players, but those blemishes could not hide the smiles after David Krejci scored his third goal of the game at 13:06 of overtime to lift the Bruins to a 4-3 victory at Air Canada Centre.

The B’s, up in the series 3-1, can eliminate the Leafs tomorrow night in Game 5 at the Garden.

“A lot of hits, a lot of high sticks. A pretty intense hockey game. Could have gone either way,” said B’s goalie Tuukka Rask, who made 45 saves including a huge stop on Joffrey Lupul in OT.

Fittingly, the game-winner was scored because a Bruin took a hit. With Dion Phaneuf pinching down in the B’s zone, Nathan Horton took a wallop from Phaneuf but was able to chip the puck ahead to create a 2-on-1 for linemates Krejci and Milan Lucic. Krejci held the puck until he finally ripped a shot off James Reimer’s arm for the winner.

Krejci (five goals, five assists in four games) is on the type of run that’s reminiscent of his Stanley Cup performance two years ago, but last night he tipped his cap to his linemate.

“Horty made two huge plays,” Krejci said. “He set me up for a one-timer (on his second goal) and in overtime he took a hit to make the play. It was all him. He deserves to get some credit.”

Krejc had Lucic barreling down the right wing, but the burly winger was happy his centerman got a little selfish.

“We talked about it before the overtime — I think every team does — not to pass up on shots,” said Lucic, who took nine stitches over his right eye during the first intermission after getting hit by a deflected puck. “I was driving the net and I was happy he didn’t pass it to me, he kept it himself and put it over the goal line.”

The night didn’t start off that well for the B’s. Joffrey Lupul scored on the Leafs’ first shot of the game just 2:35 in and then the Leafs took a 2-0 lead when Zdeno Chara (four assists) screened Rask on a long Cody Franson shot.

Yet the B’s outplayed the Leafs for much of the first period and, with Reimer giving up rebounds, the game still seemed very much in reach in the first intermission.

“(The mood) was good,” Rask said. “We played pretty good, we outshot them. They had a couple of chances. It was kind of a nightmarish period for me, getting scored on on the first shot and then a tough break on the second, but we just said we have to stick with it, keep getting pucks to the net and it’s going to pay off. And today it did.”

Sure enough, the B’s got on the board just 32 seconds into the second when, on a power play, Patrice Bergeron scored his first of the series on a rebound. Then at 12:59, they tied the game when Krejci drove to the net and had a rebound of a Brad Marchand shot go off him and in.

Krejci gave the B’s a brief lead at 16:39, when he buried a one-timer off a Horton feed.

That lead was short-lived. Just 44 seconds later, a Matt Frattin shot went off Johnny Boychuk and bounced right to Clarke MacArthur in the slot. Boychuk was able to get a stick on it, but MacArthur’s shot went underneath Rask to tie the score.

Both teams had chances to score the go-ahead goal in the third period and the Leafs had numerous chances to win it in overtime — Frattin hit the post — but Krejci sealed it with the trick.

Now it’s back to Boston, where the B’s can finish off the Leafs. And they expect they’ll have to fight even harder for that win.

“You guys know how it works in the playoffs,” said Chris Kelly, sporting a 10-stitch gash on his right cheek courtesy of a Nazem Kadri high-stick. “No. 4 is always the hardest one to get.”



Notebook: Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin trio shows some improvement

Steve Conroy,

TORONTO — It’s not often that Bruins coach Claude Julien has had to ask for a little more from the line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin this year.

But going into last night’s Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Julien did mention that he’d like to see that unit pick up it’s game a little bit.

And in last night’s 4-3 overtime victory, a couple of players moved in the right direction.

Though the line wasn’t exactly great together — Seguin again had some major problems controlling the puck and maybe even his emotions — Bergeron did score a power-play goal and Marchand picked up his second assist of the series when the rebound of his shot went in off David Krejci.

“It was nice to see Bergy score tonight,” Julien said. “Tyler had a chance there late with a couple of seconds left. This is his hometown and he seems a bit nervous here. I thought he played really well the first two games. In Boston, he was a really good player and here not quite as good. But he’s certainly a guy we feel very confident he can turn it around and Marchand the same way. Hopefully it’s just a matter of time and we can certainly use them coming up in next game.”

Bergeron, who had been without a point in the series, was happy to get back on the scoresheet.

“Absolutely,” Bergeron said. “It was a huge goal and it got us some momentum. You have to help out any way you can. Obviously as a line we have to contribute and help out offensively. That’s part of our game. I also thought Marchie made a great play for Krejci’s (first) goal. We had some good chances after that. I thought we had some life after that goal.”

Kill switch engaged

Though Daniel Paille scored a big shorthanded goal in Game 3, the penalty killers had not been strong in the first three games or down the stretch of the regular season. They had allowed the Maple Leafs four power-play goals against in 12 shorthanded situations, which ranked 15th out of 16 playoff teams.

But last night, the PK unit looked to be back on the beam. The Bruins killed off all four of their penalties, including back-to-back ones late in the second period and early in the third that produced 53 seconds of 5-on-3 time for Toronto. The B’s also had to kill defenseman Zdeno Chara’s high-sticking penalty that came with 6:33 left in regulation.

“It was better,” Bergeron said. “It’s just about staying composed and we know we can do the job. We have the guys out there to kill the penalties. It’s about doing the right things and clearing the puck when the chance is there. That 5-on-3 was a big kill. We just have to relax and clear the puck when it’s there and don’t give them too much in the slot.”

Banged-up job

Milan Lucic was on the receiving end of a puck to the face and also had one of his own shots make a direct hit on Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Fraser’s forehead. Lucic was able to return after taking nine stitches on his right eyebrow, but Fraser had to be taken to the hospital, where he was to get a CT scan to see if there were any broken bones.

“Thankfully it hit me on the eyebrow and it wasn’t lower,” Lucic said. “I kind felt like I got kicked in the head when the puck hit me. Unfortunately, it went the other way when the puck hit Fraser in the head. I saw him get escorted out of the arena and I saw that it wasn’t an eye injury for him. That’s good to see, that he didn’t receive an eye injury and he was up and walking on his own.

“It’s a part of the game. We have the choices of wearing visors, but luckily for us not more damage happened.” . . .

Chris Kelly received stitches from a Nazem Kadri high stick that produced a Maple Leafs penalty and a four-minute third-period power play. The B’s were unable to capitalize. . . .

Nathan Horton looked like he was shaken up when he took the hit to make the play on Krejci’s game-winning goal. He got up slowly, but said that he was fine. . . .

Also, defenseman Johnny Boychuk was hobbled for a while after taking a shot off the left ankle.

Lucic returns to form

After a brutal regular season, Lucic is back to being his dominant self, mixing his brute force with skill. Julien reflected on Lucic being a healthy scratch for an April 20 regular-season game, an occurrence that seemed to get his game going in the right direction.

“We were just trying to find a way to motivate him again.” he said, “and it certainly wasn’t because we didn’t believe in him or didn’t think he was a good player. Sometimes those things can work in a positive, and so far it’s worked in his favor.”



Zdeno Chara simply does it all

Chris Zelkovich

TORONTO — Zdeno Chara is pretty much a dominant force whenever he plays, but last night the world’s largest free-standing defenseman was at the heart of all things — good, bad and ugly.

The good was plentiful as Chara drew assists on all four goals in managing the rare feat of getting more points than David Krejci in the Bruins’ 4-3 overtime win and a 3-1 lead in the series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

That came after the bad, a disastrous first period when he was on the ice for both Toronto goals as the Leafs jumped to a 2-0 lead.

Chara was front and center on the first as Phil Kessel set up Joffrey Lupul for a 1-0 lead. The Bruins have come to rely on Chara’s big frame, but it hurt them late in the period when he inadvertently provided a screen on a harmless-looking Cody Franson point shot that eluded goaltender Tuukka Rask.

“I was looking at somebody near the boards and I guess I moved and blocked out Tuukka,” Chara said.

“That’s hockey. Sometimes those things happen.”

As if he hadn’t done enough damage, Chara gave Bruins fans a scare just before the end of the period when one of his shots cut forward Milan Lucic. Fortunately, Lucic returned.

The second period was a complete reversal for Chara.

“We didn’t play that badly in the first period, but we told ourselves after the period that we had to turn it around,” Chara said. “We’ve got an experienced team and I think it showed.”

Not exactly known for his puck-carrying skills, Chara led a rush into the Leafs zone and passed off to Brad Marchand. Seconds later, Krejci converted Marchand’s shot and the game was tied at 2.

Chara was front and center on the next goal, too, luring Leafs enforcer Colton Orr into a rather silly elbowing penalty. Less than a minute later, Chara drew an assist on Krejci’s power-play goal.

Things looked like they might go sour for Chara in the third when he took a high-sticking penalty with the scored tied 3-3 and 6:33 left.

But the Leafs couldn’t convert, Chara avoided the goat horns, and then helped set up Krejci’s game-winning goal in OT — the good.



Teammates stand up for Vezina-less Tuukka Rask

Steve Conroy

TORONTO — Tuukka Rask certainly had the numbers to be a Vezina Trophy finalist, but the general managers who vote on the NHL award apparently found something a little lacking in his game.

As a result, the Bruins goalie was snubbed yesterday when the three Vezina finalists were announced. Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets, the favorite who could also get Hart Trophy consideration, the New York Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist and Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks are the Vezina nominees.

Rask tied for the league lead in shutouts (five) while putting up a better save percentage (.929) and goals-against average (2.00) than Lundqvist and Niemi. He tied Bobrovsky for goals-against average.

One knock against Rask might have been the fact that he played fewer games (34) than the three finalists. Niemi and Lundqvist both started 43 games, while Bobrovsky opened 37.

Rask’s teammates, however, thought he was robbed.

“I think Tuukka is definitely one of those goaltenders who should be among those three. I think him being left off will just drive him to be that top goalie,” Daniel Paille said. “He produces every night and he works hard every day. It’s unfortunate that he didn’t (get nominated) but one day he will be recognized. I guess we can put a little bit of blame on ourselves for not helping him out enough, because he definitely helped us out a lot.”

Andrew Ference said he had no idea what kind of seasons the other goalies had, but the defenseman feels Rask was excellent in more ways than one.

“If you just look at his play alone, he’s been great,” Ference said. “But if you look at the situation he came into, following in (two-time Vezina winner) Timmy (Thomas’) footsteps, there was a lot of pressure for him to jump in and be that No. 1 guy that everyone knows he’s been waiting to be. You come into a situation like that and play the way he has, I think it’s worth a couple of extra bonus points.”

Said defenseman Dennis Seidenberg: “He definitely had final-three numbers. He had a crazy-good season for us. In the end, it’s (the general managers’) call. But we know how good he is and that’s all that matters.”



David Krejci wins Game 4 in overtime

Steve Conroy

TORONTO--David Krejci scored his third goal of the game at 13:06 of the first overtime to lift the Bruins to a 4-3 victory at Air Canada Centre and give them a 3-1 series lead with Game 5 set for Friday at the Garden.

Krejci has been dominant in this series, notching 5-5-10 totals in four games.

On the winner, Nathan Horton took a hit from a pinching Dion Phaneuf to chip the puck ahead to create the 2-on-1 for Krejci and Milan Lucic.

“Horty made two huge plays,” said Krejci. “He set me up for for a one-timer (on his second goal) and in overtime he took a hit to make the play. It was all him. He deserves to get some credit.”

Krejc had Lucic barreling down the right wing, but the burly winger was happy his centerman got a little selfish.

“We talked about it before the overtime – I think every team does – not to pass up on shots,” said Lucic, who took nine stitches over his right eye in between the first and second periods after taking a deflected puck there. “I was driving the net and I was happy he didn't pass it to me, he kept it himself and put it over the goal line.”

Horton briefly appeared to be shaken up on the play as he got up slowly, but he said he was fine after the game.

The B's erased an early 2-0 deficit and then lost a one-goal lead late in the second period before prevailing in the thrilling contest. Tuukka Ras was strong again, making 45 saves.



Bruins win in overtime

Steve Conroy

TORONTO — David Krejci scored his third goal of the game with 6:54 left in overtime to lift the Bruins to a 4-3 win over the Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre.

The victory gave the B’s a commanding 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals with Game 5 in Boston Friday night.

Nathan Horton took a hit from a pinching Dion Phaneuf and send Krejci on a 2-on-1. Krejci kept the ouck and beat James Reimer down low for the winner.

The B’s had a couple of late chances to avert overtime. After Milan Lucic stole the puck from James Reimer behind the net, Krejci, looking for a hat trick, couldn’t get over a diving Reimer.

Nathan Horton had a chance at the rebound, but Tyler Bozak had a strong stick check to save the goal with just a little over minute left in regulation.

And in the fnial seconds, Tyler Seguin’s shot just missed the far corner.

The B’s erased a two-goal first period deficit, but then quickly lost a one-goal lead late in the second. There was no scoring in the third.

After the B’s killed off a brief 5-on-3 at the end of the second and start of the third, Nazem Kadri was called for a double minor high-sticking on Chris Kelly. But the B’s could do nothing with 3:32 of the PP time.

The Leafs also squandered a late power-play when Zdeno Chara was called for high-sticking with 6:33 left in regulation.

In OT, the Leafs had severla big chances to, with Matt Frattin hitting the post.


675559 Buffalo Sabres

Foligno, Stafford seek turnarounds after off years

By John Vogl

on May 8, 2013 - 11:43 PM

Shortly after being named the Sabres’ Rookie of the Year, Buffalo forward Marcus Foligno summed up the honor.

“I won it by default,” he said.

Foligno was smiling but only half-joking. Despite the Sabres’ youth, there were only a couple of legitimate candidates. He was the lone rookie to spend the whole season in Buffalo, so Foligno’s teammates voted for him.

“I’m happy the guys chose me,” he said, “and I was able to have an OK year.”

No one, however, expected just “OK.” The 21-year-old was counted on to be a top-line player. He ended the previous season with a flourish alongside center Tyler Ennis and right wing Drew Stafford, but the trio fizzled from the outset this season.

Foligno and Stafford spent most of the second half on the Sabres’ bottom lines.

“I had an expectation for myself to carry over from the previous two years and continue to have production goal-scoring-wise,” Stafford said. “It just wasn’t there this year.”

The duo’s stats dropped significantly as the Sabres remained out of the postseason. They were point-per-game wingers during their 13-game run in

2011-12, with Foligno recording six goals and 13 points while Stafford put up seven and 17.

This season, Foligno had five goals and 18 points in 47 games, while Stafford recorded six and 18 in 46 games.

“It was tough,” Foligno said. “That’s the way it goes sometimes. You’re not always happy. It’s not like the effort was not there. It’s just some things aren’t working.

“I thought I had some good games, and just consistency is an area I’ve got to work on.”

Foligno took a significant step back under coach Ron Rolston, who helped turn Foligno into a top prospect in the first place.

Foligno recorded 16 goals and 39 points in 60 games with Rolston in Rochester in 2011-12. During the lockout, the forward added another 10 goals and 27 points in 33 games for the Amerks.

With Lindy Ruff on the Sabres’ bench for the first 17 games, Foligno had one goal and eight points in 16:52 of ice time per game. Foligno averaged 11:47 under Rolston, and the forward had four goals and 10 points in 30 games. He also was scratched once.

Rolston moved Foligno from left wing to center during the final weeks. Foligno won 60 percent of his faceoffs but took just two shots in the last eight games. He still led the team in Corsi rating, which compares the number of shots attempted at the opposing goaltender versus the shots taken at the player’s own netminder.

“The playing time went down at the end of the year,” Foligno said. “For myself, it’s just to really go home and become a better player and work hard this offseason, make sure I’m going back into next season positive with lots of confidence and ready to play.

“I want to be in key situations. It’s there for the taking.”

Stafford also said he’ll work hard, but he enters this offseason with uncertainty alongside his poor stats. He has two seasons left on a four-year, $16 million deal and may not fit into the rebuilding plans of the Sabres.

“As players, all that we can focus on and worry about is what we’re doing to prepare to change within ourselves to be better,” he said. “Whatever management ends up doing, we have to respect that.

“I signed a contract here, and I want to be here. I made that commitment, and that’s something I do want to fulfill. I want to be successful here. I want to help this team be successful.”

He missed his chance this season with scoring droughts of 14, 10 and seven games.

“Going into summer again, we have that bitter taste in our mouths,” Stafford said. “It’s just not a good feeling not playing in the playoffs.”

Buffalo News LOADED: 05.09.2013

675560 Chicago Blackhawks

Hawks-Wild tough series for Brunette

By Chris Kuc

Chicago Tribune reporter

6:23 PM CDT, May 8, 2013

Andrew Brunette watched the Western Conference playoff race unfold and his only thought when the Blackhawks and Wild eventually were locked into a first-round matchup was, "Oh, no, not them."

"Them" is the Hawks, and Brunette's reasons for not wanting that particular showdown were multifold. He closed out his 15-plus-season NHL career with the Hawks during 2011-12 and is with the Wild as an adviser in their hockey operations department as he transitions from player to executive.

"From the logistical side, playing the Hawks was going to be a tough matchup," Brunette said. "Emotionally, to be kind of attached to both teams was not an ideal predicament. You want to play St. Louis or LA, which we

have rivalries with and you don't like, but with Chicago you know all those guys and you always wish them the best."

Brunette had 12 goals and 15 assists in 78 games with the Hawks last season, capping a career in which he finished with 268 goals and 465 assists in 1,110 games. At 39, the winger entertained thoughts of giving another season a go but instead hung up the skates and joined a Wild organization with which Brunette had two separate three-season stints as a player

While doing some amateur scouting and working on player development, Brunette kept an eye on the Hawks as they ripped through the 2013 regular season with the league's best record and the top seed in the Western Conference. It was the type of season Brunette envisioned when he signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Hawks on July 1, 2011. Instead, the Hawks endured a midseason, nine-game losing streak and exited the playoffs in the first round at the hands of the Coyotes.

"That was what I was expecting our team to be last year," Brunette said of the Hawks' success this season. "Without that stretch (of losing) maybe it would have been that, but we kind of limped a little bit into the playoffs and didn't get out of the first round. It's tough to watch (now) because that's exactly where I thought I'd be last year. But life moves on."

It has moved on for Brunette, but not without pangs of wanting to take the ice each day. He envisioned different scenarios for how his career would end.

"I don't think it ever really ends the way you want it to," Brunette said. "I've even talked to guys who have won a Cup and walked away from the game and they still missed it and still had a hard time getting over it. It's probably going to take a few years. It's hard watching games being so freshly out of hockey. It's a transition period for sure."

Perhaps no one has a better handle on the Hawks-Wild series than Brunette.

"(The Hawks) had an unbelievable season," he said. "They're a really good hockey team. They're as deep a team as there is in the league. There's a reason they are where they are."

So can Brunette provide the Wild with a unique scouting report from a former insider's perspective?

"I don't think a whole lot," Brunette said. "Everything today is video and coaches break everything down. There are very few things you can really break down."

Chicago Tribune LOADED: 05.09.2013


Power play success eludes Hawks

By Brian Hamilton


6:21 PM CDT, May 8, 2013

Failing on 10 of 11 power-play opportunities is not good. How not good is up for debate, at least in the Blackhawks' estimation.

It's likely the Hawks will survive a first-round series against the Wild despite fizzling with the man advantage, and some semantics were offered Wednesday to explain at least some of the struggle. Still, the issue becomes how sustainable this dynamic is — and whether you can win a Stanley Cup without fixing it.

"It's something we still want to improve on and feel that it can be good, because it's been good in the past," winger Patrick Kane said.

"I don't know if you can (win without a good power play). The last team that really did it was Boston. I know the year we won, we had a great power play, it was a big key to our success, scored a lot of big goals. I still think we can do it. And by the end of the playoffs, hopefully we'll show you guys."

Kane and Hawks coach Joel Quenneville highlighted two mitigating factors: The lack of opportunity, with the Hawks getting just four power plays in the

last two games, and the fact that the Hawks pulled back on at least a couple third-period chances.

The presence of Michal Handzus and Marcus Kruger on a third-period opportunity in Game 4 was, per Quenneville, "more of a safety power play as opposed to trying to go for it."

"Two games in a row we've basically had one," Quenneville said. "I'm expecting better things as we go along here. The personnel we had on it (Tuesday) night to try to get it going hopefully can springboard it into a positive. But I don't think it's slowed us down in our team game."

Line dance: Quenneville mixed up his lines again a bit in Game 4, flipping Marian Hossa and Kane between the top two combinations. "It's something we always expect, lines might change a bit with Joel," captain Jonathan Toews said. "No surprise there."

Question mark: All three Wild goalies — the injured Niklas Backstrom, the injured Josh Harding and Darcy Kuemper — traveled to Chicago on Wednesday. And Wild coach Mike Yeo offered Minnesota media no plan as to what he'd do with them.

"We like to keep the other team guessing," Yeo joked to reporters. "So we're not only going to not tell them who our starting goalie is, we won't tell them who our backup goalie is. Really leave them in the dark."

Injury update: No one skated for the Hawks on Wednesday, including the still-recovering Dave Bolland and Ray Emery. Quenneville declared both players "fine" but listed them as doubtful for Game 5.



Blackhawks eager to take it to the next level

By Brian Hamilton


6:20 PM CDT, May 8, 2013

As midnight approached in a giddy Blackhawks locker room Tuesday, Duncan Keith was in the middle of his first night as a father and his second straight without sleep, all smiles but also not nearly certain about what day of the week it was. He was a man who knew something about not quite being all there.

But delirium didn't explain the defenseman's assessment of his team and its postseason performance, not as less sleep-deprived teammates echoed the sentiment: The Blackhawks had just put a stranglehold on a first-round series against the Wild, and no one had seen anything yet.

"We know we can still keep getting better," Keith said. "That's the good thing."

The chance to clinch and move along arrives Thursday with Game 5 at the United Center. And the Hawks are not getting ahead of themselves, primarily because they haven't even caught up to where they want to be.

They are not at full strength, not with center Dave Bolland and goaltender Ray Emery again doubtful to play. The power play remains rickety and in need of a tuneup. They don't believe they have put together a thorough single-game effort — though a Game 2 throttling came close — and they don't believe they've summoned playoff intensity yet.

Again: They lead a Stanley Cup playoff series three games to one.

"We should be looking to improve off the levels we're at," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said Wednesday. "(Tuesday's) game was probably the minimum standard we should be looking for, and let's go. Whether it's patience with the puck or simplicity with our game, our energy and compete level have to be only one way. It's got to be all-out."

Again: The Hawks just established their minimum competency level.

Again, again: They lead a Stanley Cup playoff series three games to one.

"I still feel that we can play even better," winger Patrick Kane said. "So I guess that's a good thing, in the situation we're at right now. It's almost like I

don't know if we've really ramped it up to playoff intensity yet, to where we could be. It's something to strive for and improve on and hopefully we can get there (Thursday)."

It is a bit of contrived motivation for the superior team in this series, but there is truth to it. The Hawks are balancing good and bad: A power play that is 1-for-11 versus a penalty kill that is perfect at 15-for-15. Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad both scoreless on the top line but also helping stifle the Wild's Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise to a combined minus-11.

A lone loss in the series that was lifeless ... but also went to overtime before the Wild could eke out a win. It is only when the good far outweighs the bad that the Hawks will be content, as Quenneville insisted he felt "there was another level we can get to."

"You see the pace and you see the physicality in a lot of those other series," Toews said. "We're getting better one game at a time. But we need to start bringing that now. We know that's what it's going to take to finish the series off."

The Game 4 effort was the first signpost along the Hawks' path to satisfaction, following the dreariness of Game 3. Finishing things Thursday is the next one.

"We knew exactly what to expect from their team — that first game in their building was going to be a really good one for them," Toews said. "To throw that effort back in their face would have been huge for us, to show them that even their best wouldn't be good enough. We didn't do that at all.

"This is a chance to redeem ourselves. Everyone is saying it — we haven't played our best game yet in this series. We have to get as close to it as we can."



Blackhawks vs. Wild: Game 5 spotlight

By Chris Kuc


6:18 PM CDT, May 8, 2013

Blackhawks' Marian Hossa

Position: Right wing

Number: 81

Height, weight: 6-1, 210

Shoots: Left

Age: 34

Birthplace: Stara Lubovna, Slovakia

2013 regular-season statistics: GP: 40; Goals: 17; Assists: 14; Points: 31; Plus-20; Penalty minutes: 16

Playoff experience: GP: 134; Goals: 37; Assists: 63; Points: 100; Plus-15; Penalty minutes: 73.

Wild's Jason Pominville

Position: Right wing

Number: 29

Height, weight: 6-0, 185

Shoots: Right

Age: 30

Birthplace: Repentigny, Quebec

2013 regular-season statistics: GP: 47; Goals: 14; Assists: 20; Points: 34; Plus-1; Penalty minutes: 8

Playoff experience: GP: 46; Goals: 12; Assists: 16; Points: 28; Plus-1; Penalty minutes: 12.

Chris Kuc says: The veteran wingers are proven goal scorers in the NHL and will be looked upon to chip in offensively in Game 5. Pominville still is working to regain his timing after returning from a concussion in Game 4. Hossa is a powerhouse at both ends of the ice but has been limited to one goal and two assists thus far.



Blackhawks' seek 'relentless' Game 5 approach

By Brian Hamilton

Tribune reporter

1:38 PM CDT, May 8, 2013

The Chicago Blackhawks moved to within one win of the Western Conference semifinals on Tuesday night. And in doing so they apparently lit the path to get there, and beyond, in a much broader sense.

"Yesterday's game, that's probably the minimum standard we should be looking for, and let's go," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said Wednesday, after digesting a 3-0 win against the Wild that opened a 3-1 series lead.

"Whether it's patience with the puck or simplicity with our game, our energy and compete level has got to be only one way. It's got to be all out. That's something we want to make sure is going to be in place."

The Wild more or less had no chance to win in Game 4, mostly because the Hawks got in their way literally and figuratively. Blocked shots, clogged lanes, stifled power plays -- all the effort plays that needed to be made after a lackluster Game 3 effort were made.

And in order to close out the series and move on, the Hawks expect a reprise.

"We'll learn from Game 3 in this series that we had the chance to really take control of the series," captain Jonathan Toews said Wednesday. "We knew exactly what to expect from their team – that first game in their build was going to be a really good one for them.

"To throw that effort back in their face would have been huge for us, to show them that even their best wouldn’t be good enough. We didn't do that at all. This is a chance to redeem ourselves."

To prod them along, on cue, the greatest hockey postseason cliche of all emerged from the Hawks on Wednesday.

"It's always hardest to win the fourth one," Quenneville said. "Let's make sure we don't underestimate (the Wild) going into tomorrow's game. We've got to be relentless."

One-timer: It doesn't appear the Hawks will have the services of either Dave Bolland or Ray Emery for Game 5 as both continue to rehab lower-body injuries.

"They're both fine," Quenneville said. "I'm going to say doubtful for tomorrow."



Wild faces goalie issues, but Hawks won’t take it for granted

BY MARK POTASH

May 7, 2013 11:33PM

Updated: May 8, 2013 6:56AM

ST. PAUL, Minn. — With spunk to spare, the upstart Minnesota Wild has a problem that gumption might not be able to solve. It’s running out of goalies.

Josh Harding, who replaced starter Niklas Backstrom prior to Game 1, suffered an injury late in the first period of Tuesday night’s 3-0 loss to the Blackhawks at Xcel Energy Center and was replaced by third-stringer Darcy Kuemper at the start of the second period.

Kuemper, 23, had played in six NHL games. He was 1-2 in three starts.

‘‘That sucks,’’ defender Ryan Suter said. ‘‘But no matter who’s back there we’ve got to play hard. It’s frustrating, but injuries are part of the game.’’

Kuemper’s inexperience — and perhaps his nervousness — showed immediately when Hawks winger Patrick Sharp beat him with a 50-foot wrist shot on the first shot of the game he faced.

‘‘Yeah, it wasn’t a good goal, but it’s a tough situation to go into,’’ Kuemper said. ‘‘But no excuses. Not a goal I like to let in.’’

Kuemper said he was not told he was going into the game until just before the Wild went back on the ice.

‘‘Obviously, it’s not the easiest thing to do,’’ said Kuemper, who stopped 16 of 18 shots, ‘‘but it’s your job as a backup. I just tried to get ready. I saw he was hurting a bit. I stretched a bit between periods and just went out and tried to get focused as quick as I could.’’

After the game, Wild coach Mike Yeo said he had not talked to the team’s trainer and did not know Harding’s condition. Or Backstrom’s availability, for that matter.

‘‘It’s quite a unique situation tonight,’’ Yeo said. ‘‘We’ll update that a little later.’’

The Wild at the least will go into a must-win situation in Game 5 at the United Center with the goalie situation in flux. But the Hawks won’t take anything for granted.

‘‘Just gotta look at the quality of the organization they have over there — the type of players and leaders they have,’’ Sharp said. ‘‘Mikko [Koivu] is a great captain. Zach [Parise] plays hard. Suter’s one of the best.

‘‘They’re not going to go away. Doesn’t matter who’s in net for them, doesn’t matter who’s playing in that lineup. They’re well-coached, and we expect them to play their best game next game.’’

Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 05.09.2013


Blackhawks’ Jonathan Toews wants to end series Thursday

BY MARK POTASH

May 8, 2013 9:02PM

Updated: May 8, 2013 9:10PM

Even with zero points in four Stanley Cup playoff games, Jonathan Toews can still smell blood in the water.

With a 3-1 lead over the Minnesota Wild, the Blackhawks have three chances to close out their Western Conference quarterfinal series. And while the Hawks will take the series any way they can, Toews admitted it will say a lot more about the resolve of his team if the Hawks go for the kill in Game 5 tonight at the United Center.

They already had one chance, he said, and blew it.

‘‘I think we’ll learn from Game 3,’’ Toews said Wednesdsay, ‘‘that we had the chance to take control of this series and we knew exactly what to expect — that first game in their building was going to be a really good one for them. To be able to throw that effort back in their face would have been huge for us in showing them that even their best might not be good enough. And we didn’t do that at all.

‘‘This is a chance to kind of redeem ourselves for the way we played in Game 3. Everyone’s saying we haven’t played our best game yet in this series. We have to get as close to that as we can.’’

There are many routes to the Stanley Cup. Two years ago the Boston Bruins walked over hot coals en route to winning it all. They trailed 2-0 in two series and needed seven games to win three times, including the Finals. Last year, the Los Angeles Kings virtually breezed to the Cup, leading 3-0 in all four series.

The Hawks will settle for the same formula that worked in 2010 — tip-toeing early and imposing their will when necessary. Though they lost one potential clincher in Game 5 at home against Vancouver in the second round, they avoided Game 7s three times — twice clinching in Game 6 on the road, a pretty neat trick. And they dominated the only series they did not have home-ice advantage, sweeping San Jose in the conference finals.

Most of all, they improved every step of the way. ‘‘We’re hoping that’s nowhere near our best,’’ Toews said after the Hawks struggled past Nashville in the first round in 2010. And as it turned out it was not.

So even with control of this opening series, the Blackhawks — while officially taking them one game at a time and of course worried only about Game 6 against the Wild — are hoping they are just picking up steam for the long haul.

‘‘That sounds like a good idea, but we’ve had trouble getting out of the first round the past couple of years,’’ said Patrick Sharp, who has four goals in the series. ‘‘You hear a lot of people say that the first round is sometimes the toughest. You gotta credit Minnesota, the teams that we played the last couple of years — it feels like every shift you’re fighting for ice out there, you’re trying to get to the net and score goals.

‘‘I’ll agree with you and say that we can play better. I don’t think the first couple of games we can be satisfied with our intensity level, our sense of urgency. But we’re sitting here 3-1 with a great opportunity to win the series on home ice and I guess the idea is to get better as we go along.’’

The Hawks haven’t faced a lot of adversity this season. But their core players have proven they can handle it. And maybe the adversity they faced in Nashville in 2010, when they were seconds away from losing Game 5 at home and facing an elimination game in Nashville before winning in miraculous fashion in overtime, helped build the mental toughness — in a Tom Thibodeau kind of way — that carried them the rest of the way.

But they probably don’t want to take that chance. This team is older and its star players — with Toews, Sharp Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook leading the way — have been here before. They can do without the drama.

‘‘You look at some teams that just battled their way into the playoffs,’’ Toews said. ‘‘They come right into [the postseason with momentum] and you see the pace, the physicality in lot of those series. We’re getting better one game at a time. But we need to just start bringing that now. We know that’s what it’s going to take to finish this series off.’’



Frolik, Kruger have stepped to the fore on Blackhawks’ penalty kill

By MARK LAZERUS

May 8, 2013 9:06PM


By the time the sixth Blackhawks penalty was called on Tuesday night — eight seconds after the fifth one expired — coach Joel Quenneville and all of his players were getting pretty aggravated.

Well, almost all of them. Michael Frolik was sort of stoked.

“We were laughing before the game, saying it’s almost like when we get a penalty, [Frolik] gets excited because he’s going to get some more ice time,” Patrick Kane said.

Frolik and his penalty-killing running buddy Marcus Kruger transformed a Hawks weakness into a strength. The Hawks were third in the league in the regular season with an 87.2 percent kill rate, and have gotten better in the postseason. They’re the only team that hasn’t yet allowed a power play goal — the Wild is 0-for-15.

It starts with the dynamic duo of Frolik and Kruger.

“They’ve done a great job,” Patrick Sharp said. “They’ve kind of taken that unit over. They’re out there first every penalty kill — they’ve got great reads, great sticks, and they’re willing to block a lot of shots. They’re a big reason why our penalty kill has been solid all -season.”

Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa — no slouches — have been the Hawks’ top penalty killers in recent seasons. But this season, they’ve been the No. 2 unit, displaced by a pair of fourth-liners. And they’re fine with that — it means a little more rest and a little more jump late in games.

“They’ve taken the lead,” Toews said of Frolik and Kruger. “They’re the guys that pretty much don’t come off the ice during the penalty kill, and it can get pretty tiring. But they just keep hopping over the bench and doing their job every single time they’re called upon. It’s great to see the energy those two guys are bringing for us, not only on the penalty kill but 5-on-5.”

Frolik, a former two-time 20-goal scorer who scored a pair of goals in Game 2, is just happy to have a role, even if it’s one he never expected.

“It’s a job Krugs and I have taken this year, and I think we’re doing good,” Frolik said.

“You always want to be on the ice and to help the team. I’m happy to be doing that.”



Swap of right wingers done in hopes of getting Jonathan Toews going

By MARK LAZERUS

May 8, 2013 9:06PM


For the second consecutive game, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville shook up his lines for stretches of Game 4, swapping top-line right wing Marian Hossa and second-line right wing Patrick Kane. Quenneville wouldn’t say, but he might have been trying to jump-start Jonathan Toews — held without a point so far in the series — by reuniting him with Kane.

“He was switching it for reasons I won’t say,” Kane said. “Sometimes it’s a good change to play with different players. I haven’t really played with Jonny much throughout the season, even though we’ve played together a lot throughout our careers. Sometimes it’s fun to get back with those guys and play a little bit.”

Toews and Brandon Saad have been held without a point this -series. The Minnesota Wild’s top line of Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Charlie Coyle has been held to one goal and a minus-14 rating as the top lines have somewhat canceled each other out.

Patrick Sharp and Kane (four goals, six assists combined) have filled the void, while the Wild’s lack of scoring depth has been exposed. But Toews wants to be more productive.

“It’s easy to get frustrated in situations like this,” Toews said. “You don’t ever want to say that word because it kind of gives the other team props for what they’re doing. At this point we all understand that we’re working hard for quality scoring chances, and they’re working very hard to limit those chances. Hoss and Saader and myself, we know that once one goes in, we’ll get that confidence that they can all go in again, and maybe the rest of the game flows a little more for us.”

Injury report

Quenneville said center Dave Bolland (groin) and goalie Ray Emery (lower body) are both doubtful for Game 5. Wild goalie Josh Harding was expected to make the trip to Chicago, but his status is uncertain.



Hawks need to turn around the power play

By Mike Spellman

Q. While the penalty killing has been stellar this series, the power play has been far from it. What can be done, and how much of a concern is that?

A. It's a concern. With the power play you have a chance to take a stranglehold, but the Blackhawks haven't been able to get it done.

Sometimes you can have good power plays and you're able to generate momentum off it, but when you're struggling, you're not creating any chances and you're not getting any shots. That can be a momentum killer. So they've got to turn that around.

With the PK, first of all you can't take the amount of penalties they did Tuesday and expect to win. You have to stay out of the penalty box.

But boy you have to appreciate what the PK has done — not only in this series, but in this entire season.

Q. Do you see Corey Crawford's performance thus far as a breakthrough?

A. He's been good all season. At the start of the season there were questions whether goaltending was going to be one of the places where they might have some inconsistency. It hasn't been all year.

The next step was to move it into the playoffs and be successful in the postseason, and Corey so far has been absolutely phenomenal.

If you're going to put yourself in the penalty problems the Blackhawks have in this series, your goaltender has to come through and Corey Crawford has done that.

Q. You've been in a lot of potential series-clinching games. What's the key heading into Game 5?

A. You have to look at it as a do-or-die game for you, too.

You look at a couple of years ago against Vancouver; they were up 3-0 and Blackhawks took it one period at a time, one game at a time — every cliché in the book — but that really is the truth of the matter.

Minnesota's just going to say, 'Look guys, let's just give it everything we have.'

In every game there's always a breaking point. Last year we saw it against Phoenix in Game 6 at the United Center. There was a breaking point where the Blackhawks lost their will in some ways.

You have to be able to push the pace, push the tempo — push it to the limit until you get to that point.

•Troy Murray is in his 13th year as a member of the Blackhawks broadcast team and his eighth year as the color analyst for the team's radio broadcasts. The Selke Award winner was a five-time 20-goal scorer and a veteran of 15 years in the NHL, playing in 915 games.

Daily Herald Times LOADED: 05.09.2013


Keith shows why he’s a Hawks leader

By Tim Sassone

Duncan Keith's Blackhawks teammates appreciated the effort the defenseman made to get back to Minnesota and play in Game 4 on Tuesday only hours after witnessing the birth of his son.

Colton Duncan Keith was born at 11:15 a.m. in Chicago, and at 6:30 p.m. Keith walked into the Xcel Energy Center ready to play.

Keith skated a team-high 24 minutes in the Hawks' 3-0 win.

"That's the reason why he's a leader on our team and a big part of it," Patrick Sharp said.

"For sure the adrenaline helped," Keith said. "I'm not going to sit here and tell you I felt great."

Sharp said the team was willing to overlook the fact Keith violated a team rule with his late arrival.

"I'm not sure we're going to fine him for being late, but he played a great game considering the circumstances," Sharp said. "That was pretty cool to see him come in an hour late.

"I went through that last year and you're thinking about a thousand things. The last thing on your mind is hockey."

Goalie Corey Crawford said everyone was happy to see Keith play.

"He's a great guy and we're happy for him and his wife," Crawford said. "It's crazy to think he didn't get much rest to play as well as he did."

Keith never considered not playing since it is less than an hour flight from Chicago to Minnesota.

"I don't think so," Keith said. "I guess you kind of deal with that when it comes up. My wife had the baby around 11 o'clock after being in labor pretty much the whole night. It was a matter knowing I could still get there still so why not try to get there, play the game, and I could be back right after the game."

Keith never slept Monday night. He was getting ready for bed when he got the call from his wife, Kelly-Rae, saying she was going into labor. He returned home to be with his wife through most of her labor and was there when the baby was born.

"It was just a whirlwind, really," Keith said. "It's awesome, though. You hear it all the time when people have kids, that first time you see your baby is very special."

Appropriately, the No. 7 was everywhere in the birth process. That's Brent Seabrook's number and Keith made sure his longtime friend and defense partner was aware of the situation.

"We let him know that right away," Keith said. "May 7, seven pounds, seven ounces; he's all pumped about that."

Keith believes the Hawks' best hockey is still ahead of them. While they played OK on Tuesday in Game 4, it was Crawford and the penalty killers making the victory possible.

"We know we can still keep getting better," Keith said. "That's the good thing. Obviously it's a tough building and they get the crowd behind them. You try to weather that storm. Anytime you're playing on the road it's going to be a little helter-skelter at times. You've got to stay composed."

Minnesota doesn't have a power-play goal in the series. The Wild was 0-for-6 in Game 4 and is 0-for-15 for the series.

"We've got to score on the power play," the Wild's Zach Parise said. "They collapse well when they get a lead and get in the shooting lanes. They play a good defensive style."

Keith is a big part of the penalty killers and the defense.

"Our penalty killing has been huge," Keith said. "All year long it's kind of been a staple to our team. Our power play is not exactly firing on all cylinders, but you look around the league and not every power play is firing as good as they want."

Keith had 2 of the Hawks' 26 blocked shots.

"You have to block those shots in the playoffs," Keith said. "It just relieves so much pressure. If those shots get through, then it's just a scramble around our net and they continue to buzz around in our zone. If you get those blocks, it kills the play."



Toews believes Blackhawks can play much better

By Mike Spellman

Leave it to the captain to tell it like it is.

No rosy, we-just-played-our-best-game of the series scenarios from Jonathan Toews.

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No, sir.

As the Blackhawks head into a potential series-clinching Game 5 against Minnesota Thursday at the United Center, the laser-focused Toews on Wednesday talked of redemption from the game before — the Hawks' lone loss of the series — and what might have been.

"We'll learn from Game 3 in this series," he said. "We had a chance to really take control of this series and we knew exactly what to expect from their team; that the first game in their building was going to be a good one.

"To be able to kind of throw that effort back in their face would've been huge for us in showing them that even their best might not be good enough ... and we didn't do that at all.

"This is a chance to redeem ourselves."

For the series, yes, but it's also a chance for the Hawks to redeem themselves for two straight one-and-done postseason runs.

With a 3-1 advantage — fresh off their best performance and back on home ice — the stars seem to be aligned. Still, the Hawks' stars aren't aligned in taking anything for granted against the pesky Wild.

"(That we're peaking) sounds like a good idea, but we've had trouble getting out of the first round the past couple of years," Patrick Sharp cautioned.

Added Patrick Kane: "I thought (Tuesday) was a good team win, but I still feel we can play even better. The situation we're in now, I don't know if we've even ramped it up to playoff intensity yet — to where it could be."

Sounds like someone's has been listening to Hawks coach Joel Quenneville.

"We should be looking to improve off the levels we're at," Quenneville said. "I think Tuesday's game is probably the minimal standard we should be looking for.

"The energy and compete level has to be one way — and that's all-out."

The captain couldn't agree more.

"We certainly want to have our best game of the series," Toews said. "We know it's going to require that for us to win and that's all we have to focus on."



Power shortage for Hawks, Wild

By Tim Sassone

Neither the Blackhawks nor the Minnesota Wild is having a great series on the power play.

The Hawks are 1-for-11 after going 0-for-2 in Tuesday's 3-0 win in Game 4.

The Wild is 0-for-15 for the series.

"We want to get ourselves some more chances," Patrick Kane said. "It seems when those chances come it's in the third period when you're in more of a defensive mode and you don't want to give things up. I thought the first power play we had Tuesday we moved it around pretty good we just didn't really connect on the shots."

Kane admitted it's going to be tough to win the Stanley Cup with a poor power play.

"I don't know if you can," Kane said. "The last team that really did it was Boston — they struggled on the power play. I know the year we won we had a great power play. That was a big key to our success. I still think we can (improve) and by the end of the playoffs hopefully we will show you guys."

The killers:

The penalty killing of the Hawks, led by Michael Frolik and Marcus Kruger, has become the story of the series.

"We were laughing before the game saying it's almost like when we get a penalty (Frolik) gets excited because he's going to get more ice time and get more shifts," Patrick Kane said.

"They've taken the lead," Jonathan Toews said of Frolik and Kruger. "They're the guys that pretty much don't come off the ice on the penalty kill. It gets pretty tiring, but they just keep hopping over the bench and doing their job every single time they're called upon. It's great to see the energy those two guys are providing for us."

First things first:

The Hawks' top line of Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Brandon Saad is still looking for its first goal of the series 5-on-5.

"It's easy to get frustrated in situations like this, but you don't ever want to say that word because it kind of gives the other team props for what they're doing," Toews said. "At this point we all understand that we're working hard for quality scoring chances and they're working hard to limit those.

"When we get our chances we have to find our way to capitalize on then. As a line, I think we know once one goes in we'll get that confidence that they can all go in again. We're fighting it a little bit, we're maybe trying too hard."

Yeo mum on goalies:

Minnesota coach Mike Yeo on Wednesday wouldn't divulge either his starting goalie or his backup for Game 5.

All three goaltenders, Niklas Backstrom, Josh Harding and Darcy Kuemper, made the trip to Chicago. Backstrom was hurt in warm-ups prior to Game 1, while Harding appeared to injure his left leg in Game 4.

"We like to keep the other team guessing," Yeo said, jokingly. "So we're not only going to not tell them who our starting goalie is, we won't tell them who our backup goalie is. Really leave them in the dark."



Wild notes: Goaltender carousel continues

May 8, 2013, 5:00 pm

Minnesota coach Mike Yeo was having a little bit of fun with his team’s goaltending situation, a merry-go-round of a rotation due to injuries.

“We like to keep the other team guessing. So we’re not only not going to tell who our starting goalie is but we’re not telling who our backup is,” Yeo told the Minnesota media. “We’ll really leave them in the dark.”

All kidding aside, the Wild’s goaltending situation has been a strange one in their Western Conference quarterfinal series against the Chicago Blackhawks. And who starts Game 5 is a big question.

Will it be Niklas Backstrom, who was hurt prior to Game 1 but returned to back up Darcy Kuemper last night, starting the game the Wild need to win to stay alive this postseason? Will it be Josh Harding, who suffered an unspecified injury late in the first period and had to leave Game 4? Or will it be Kuemper, who had the unenviable task of replacing Harding in the second period on Tuesday night, already trailing 1-0.

On paper, Backstrom would be a good guess. He was back on the bench last night, he’s been practicing and he’s told the Minnesota media he’s been getting close to a return. And, of course, this is a must-win game. If Backstrom is anywhere near healthy, chances are he’ll play.

Whoever it is, the Blackhawks will be ready. They have been for the previous two goalie curveballs.

“I’ve seen a lot of crazy things in the playoffs. You have to predict the unpredictable,” coach Joel Quenneville said following Game 4. “Things happen and you have to go with it and be adaptable and see what happens.”

‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’

The Wild have reached do-or-die time in this series. Win, and they send the series back to St. Paul, Minn. Lose, and their season is over. Jason Pominville, who returned in Game 4 after being sidelined with a concussion since late April, said the Wild have the chance to pull off a big upset.

“Obviously we know we’re going to have a tough task. But we’ve set ourselves up to do something special,” Pominville said of the Wild, trailing 3-1 in this series. “You can either sit here and feel sorry for yourself or go out there and work hard. We’re set up to do something special. It starts by winning one game and going from there.”

For the Wild, it won’t be easy. They’re coming off a game, a “winnable game,” as Yeo said, where their listless power play came up empty six times. But they’ll once again draw on previous adversity, be it the 2-0 deficit they faced earlier this season, or what they overcame to even get here.

“I guess if there’s one thing we can do is we can draw upon later in the season when, if you look at that Colorado game, we were able to push aside a lot of things that happened and focused on just that game,” Yeo said of the game the Wild won to clinch the eighth seed. “We can’t look at how we arrived here, what’s happened, what’s in front of us. The only thing that matters is that game, and that’s the mindset we have to have.”

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 05.09.2013


Hawks penalty kills proves to be a success

May 8, 2013, 4:00 pm

It’s become a badge of honor, almost, for its members. The Blackhawks penalty kill has become a great example of shut-down hockey, of special teams at their best.

And some players like Michael Frolik apparently get a little glint in their eye when they go on it.

“We were laughing before (Game 4) that it’s almost like when we get a penalty (Frolik) gets excited because he gets more ice time and get some more shifts,” Patrick Kane said with a laugh on Wednesday. “You see him take advantage of it.”

The Blackhawks as a whole have taken advantage of the power play, which was 6 for 6 in their Game 4 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night and is 15 for 15 for this series. But those on it truly have embraced their success. Guys like Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews have had it as part of their repertoire for some time now. Frolik and Marcus Kruger have carved a new niche on it. Their work, along with strong goaltending, has made the penalty kill tough for opponents all season. And it’s crossed over into the playoffs.

So what’s changed so much on this penalty kill, which went from being ranked 26th in the league last season to finishing this one third?

“I think with our PK, we formulated a nice pairing in Krugs and Fro that probably wasn’t in place. We’ve had more rotation. Our top guys aren’t utilized as much and we’ve saved them more for 5 on 5 and the power play and kept everybody fresh,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “And goaltending has complimented the whole thing. We’ve gotten timely saves, big stops. Sometimes it’s been amazing some didn’t go in. At the end of the day, the goaltender is the key guy.”

Both Corey Crawford and Ray Emery were stellar final blockades on the kill this regular season, something Crawford’s continued to be against the Wild in this series.

“Kaner was just talking about it there with Crawford: you need to have a great goaltender to kill as many off as we have this series,” Toews said of Crawford. “and he’s doing his job as well as he possibly can be.”

But it’s truly been a team – or unit – effort. Kruger and Frolik’s addition to, and embracing of, the kill cannot be shortchanged. Frolik has the team’s lone short-handed goal in these playoffs from his work on it. Formerly categorized as role players, the two have made the penalty kill their forte. Teammates have recognized their work there, and how much they enjoy doing it.

“They’ve taken the lead,” Toews said. “They’re the guys who don’t come off the ice during the penalty kill. It can get pretty tiring, but they keep hopping over the bench and doing their job when called upon. It’s great to see the energy those two are bringing us.”

Patrick Sharp agreed.

“They’ve done a great job,” he said of Frolik and Kruger. “They’ve taken that unit over. They’re out there first on all the kills, they make great reads and have great sticks. They’re a big reason why the PK has been solid all season.”

The Blackhawks certainly want to avoid the conga line to the box they had in Game 4. Six penalty kills can be tiring. But when they have to go on the kill, they’re confident in doing so. Some familiar faces, and new ones, have combined to create that confidence.

“It’s been great, from goaltending to blocking shots to being in the right position to getting good clears. I’m not on the PK a lot, but when you see guys sacrificing and blocking shots, being in good lanes, it definitely pumps you up,” Kane said. “When you get a good kill, momentum swings in your favor. You’ve seen that during the series.”



Blackhawks want to 'take advantage' of Game 5 situation

Staff Writer

May 8, 2013, 3:30 pm

Winning that fourth game: at this time of year, hockey players say it’s the toughest to claim in a playoff series.

The Chicago Blackhawks are on the verge of doing just that on Thursday night, when they host the Minnesota Wild in Game 5 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Ray Emery (lower body) and Dave Bolland (groin), are doubtful for tomorrow night’s game, coach Joel Quenneville said at media availability on Wednesday. For the Wild, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Zenon Konopka and Clayton Stoner will not make the trip. It remains to be seen if Niklas Backstrom, injured since Game 1 but backup after Josh Harding went down early in Game 4, starts Game 5.

The Blackhawks hold a 3-1 series lead, one away from eliminating the Wild and getting a few days’ break while the rest of the first-round matchups play themselves out. And the Blackhawks are making that their focus entering tomorrow night.

“That’s right where our minds are at right now: take advantage of the situation,” Patrick Kane said on Wednesday. “We’ve put ourselves into a good spot; coming back home, it’s an exciting opportunity for us. Tomorrow should be a good challenge. I’m sure they’ll come out with their best game but it’s definitely a good opportunity to close out here at home.”

Now to actually do that. The Blackhawks enter tomorrow with the sizeable lead, with the momentum and with the home ice. The Wild will be as desperate as ever. They had chance after chance to score –- especially on six power plays -- and opportunity to even the series on Tuesday night, even with more goaltending injury drama. But it was squandered, and they’re on their last gasp. The Blackhawks expect them to play accordingly.

“We expect them to play their best game of the series,” said Patrick Sharp. Wild coach Mike Yeo said the same of the Blackhawks heading into Game 4. “(The Wild) have a lot of character. They’re going through some injuries, as a lot of teams do this time of year. But there’s no question they’re going to show up and play hard tomorrow.”

See, the Blackhawks can learn from recent history on that one. They headed to Minnesota with a 2-0 series lead and figured the Wild would come at them with everything it had. The Wild did, but the Blackhawks had little response to it. That, they say, can’t be repeated.

“We’ll learn from Game 3 in this series that, if we have a chance to take control, (do so),” Jonathan Toews said. “We knew exactly what to expect from that team. The first game in their building was going to be good for

them. To throw that effort back in their face would’ve been huge for us, to show even their best wasn’t good enough, and we didn’t do that at all. This is our chance to redeem ourselves for the way we played in Game 3.”

It’s also a chance to find improvement. The Blackhawks weren’t at their stylistic best in Game 4, but a plethora of penalty kills chased that from their repertoire. But they were effective on both sides, from that stellar kill to taking advantage of a few scoring chances. Still, coach Joel Quenneville said, the group can be better.

“Yesterday’s game is the minimal standard for what we’re looking for,” he said. “Whether it’s patience with the puck or simplicity in our game, the energy and compete level has to be only one way and that’s all out. That’s something we want to make sure is in place.”

The Blackhawks have a chance to clinch their first postseason series since hoisting that Cup three seasons ago. It won’t be easy. Claiming those fourth victories never are. But they’ve learned some lessons in this series. Now they need to apply them.

“Everyone’s saying we haven’t played our best game yet,” Toews said. “We have to get as close to that as we can.”



A building-block Blackhawks win

Staff Writer

May 8, 2013, 9:45 am

For those who thought the Blackhawks should have buried Minnesota third-string goalie Darcy Kuemper with more than just two goals and 18 shots, consider that Chicago was busy killing four penalties over those final two periods. They did so pretty well, too, killing off all six penalties on the night. It was a high number for them, and they allowed just seven shots in those twelve minutes down a man.

In the process, they sacrificed themselves physically, and when they do that, it translates into a game that means a little more to them than Game 3 appeared to. The visiting team recorded 26 blocked shots in all.

Another area where they had to be better was the faceoff circle, and they were -- to the tune of 54 percent. They'll need Michael Handzus to be better than 8-of-17 as these playoffs go along, and Andrew Shaw to be better than 2-of-9. Going back to the penalty kill, they'll face better, deeper offenses the farther they go into the postseason. But that takes nothing away from Corey Crawford, whose collection of clutch stops this series has to make him stronger, even more than the six goals allowed in four games.

While Marian Hossa got his third point of the series with an assist during his handful of shifts with Patrick Sharp and Handzus last night, Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad still haven't dented the scoresheet. But they're not alone if you take a look over on the other side. Consider what the Hawks have done defensively against the Wild's top three scorers during the regular season. Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Ryan Suter have combined for one goal, no assists, and a minus-14 rating.

The Blackhawks really took the best the Wild had in Game 3 and almost won, anyway. Provided they're ready to play Thursday, they should advance to the second round for the first time since they won the Stanley Cup. Then they'll wait and see whether Detroit can upset second-seeded Anaheim (currently tied 2-2). If they do, they'll face their longtime rival in the postseason one last time before they head to the East.

If they don't, they'll be facing an improving San Jose team that was a semi-seller at the trade deadline while cleaning some house and still trying to find a way into the post-season. They've vanquished Vancouver in four straight, and now wait to see whether they get the Hawks, the Ducks, or the winner of the Blues-Kings war.

If it winds up being San Jose, storylines will overflow, from another Raffi Torres encounter, to Toews-versus-Thornton, to Adam Burish, to Antti Niemi. The Blackhawks' Cup-winning goalie finished the first round with a .937 save percentage and a 1.86 goals-against average (Crawford: 1.39, .949). And that Hawks' penalty kill that's allowed just two power play goals

over the last 24 games goes up against a power play that burned the Canucks with three apiece in Games 3 and 4.

But that's a story for another day. First things first: Thursday.



No sleep? No problem in whirlwind day for Keith

Staff Writer

May 8, 2013, 12:15 am

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Duncan Keith would probably be feeling OK, probably a little tired, after logging nearly 24 minutes of ice time.

Factor in a late-night trip back to Chicago for the birth of his first child, a flight back to Minnesota to play in Game 4 and no sleep since he woke up Monday morning and he’s a little more winded.

“I might sleep until the next game,” said a weary but very happy Keith. He probably couldn’t have topped welcoming that baby boy into this world. But a 3-0 Blackhawks victory over the Minnesota Wild, one that gave Chicago a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven series, is a nice addition.

It’s been a whirlwind few days for Keith, whose wife Kelly-Rae gave birth to their son late this morning in Chicago. Keith got to Xcel Energy Center at 6:30 Tuesday night and then played a team-high 23 minutes, 57 seconds.

So, when was the last time Keith slept?

“What day is today?” Keith said to laughs, as the media reminded him it was Tuesday. “I went to bed, last time, on Sunday night. So [no sleep] since Monday morning.”

That didn’t stop Keith from finishing with that ice time, which included 7 ½ minutes on the penalty kill and a plus-2 rating.

“Yeah, I’m sure he’s on a different high,” Joel Quennville said with a smile. “It’s a thrill of a lifetime for him today in a lot of ways. This helps it be even more memorable for him. He was outstanding out there tonight.”

For Keith, it was all about the adrenaline.

“I’m not going to sit here and say I felt great,” Keith said. “But definitely just the whole excitement of having a baby gets you through that for sure.”

Teammates were impressed.

“It was crazy for him to come and not get that much rest and still be really great out there,” said Corey Crawford. “He’s a great guy. We’re all congratulating him and his wife. We’re happy for him.”

It was a great 24 hours for Keith. The victory in Minnesota was nice. But something back home ranked a little higher.

“It was exciting, having my first baby,” he said. “It’s one of those things you hear about, but until you have one of your own, it’s tough to explain. It’s just a real cool feeling when you see the little guy.”



Hawks return the favor, bully Wild in Game 4 shutout

Staff Writer

May 7, 2013, 11:15 pm

ST. PAUL, Minn. – It wasn’t the prettiest game the Blackhawks ever played. In fact, it was pretty black and blue. But on a night when they went to the penalty box plenty, their penalty kill came up plenty big.

Patrick Sharp scored twice and the Blackhawks killed off six Minnesota Wild power plays en route to a 3-0 victory at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday night. The Blackhawks took a 3-1 lead over the Wild in their best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series, using a strong kill and 26 blocked shots to truly stymie the Wild.

Duncan Keith, who went back to Chicago in the middle of the night to be there for the birth of his first child this morning, returned to play a team-high 23:57 in Game 4. It was a whirlwind day for him and the defenseman, who last slept Sunday night, figured he “might sleep until the next game.”

Bryan Bickell added a late goal, his third of the postseason. Johnny Oduya had a team-high five blocked shots and Michal Rozsival added four.

But be it Keith’s minutes, the penalty kill or the blocks, the Blackhawks did what they needed to do.

“I thought the PK was outstanding and it starts with the goaltender,” Joel Quenneville said of Corey Crawford, who stopped all 25 shots he saw for his second career postseason shutout. “Six [penalty kills] is an abnormal number for us. Two or three is usually our quota. But we did an outstanding job blocking shots, on clears, with dangerous plays and big saves. It all goes hand in hand. Commend them for an outstanding job.”

Meanwhile, it was another bizarre night for Wild netminders. Jonathan Toews was driving toward the net and fell on top of starter Josh Harding late in the first period. Harding, who’s started the last four games for the injured Niklas Backstrom, was slow to get up and flexed his left leg several times. Harding would finish the first, but Darcy Kuemper, who played in just six previous NHL games, led the Wild out to start the second.

Kuemper got a rude “hello.” The first shot he saw was from Sharp, who scored his second of the night 1:02 into the second period.

“I was going to shoot; it didn’t matter who was in net,” said Sharp, who has four postseason goals. “When you can gain the blue line with speed and use the defenseman as a screen, it’s a good idea to shoot the puck. More often than not, those go in. I know they’re going to make a big deal that it was [Kuemper’s] first shot. But he’s a good goalie; he sees pucks and makes saves. I was going to shoot it either way.”

Crawford, meanwhile, was especially strong early when the Blackhawks were struggling out of the gate once again. He remained solid throughout and was grateful for the sticks, bodies and other blocking parts in front of him.

“It helps a lot,” Crawford said of the blocked-shot total. “Our PK definitely won us the game tonight. We blocked a lot of shots and cleared pucks when we needed to. It was definitely a big effort and a good job by all of our guys on the kill.”

Crawford said, despite all those penalties, the Blackhawks remained calm when it came time to kill.

“We didn’t freak out on refs or lose it on each other,” Crawford said. “We just stuck with it, played hard and obviously came through.”

The Blackhawks did come through and are now just one victory away from claiming this first-round series. It wasn’t pretty. But the end result was pretty good.

“[The Wild] were moving well, skating, seeing a lot of pucks and our PK stepped up and played well. It was probably the key part of the game,” Sharp said. “Any time you can shut down a team like that on five, six or seven power plays, whatever they had, you’re doing something right.”


675579 Colorado Avalanche

Joe Sakic likely to take larger role in Colorado Avalanche front office

Adrian Dater

05/08/2013 06:00:41 PM MDT

Avalanche great Joe Sakic soon is expected to take on a larger role in the team's front office, an NHL source said Wednesday.

The former team captain previously expressed ambitions to be more involved in the hockey operations side of the business, and a vacancy in the front office recently came about when Eric Lacroix resigned as vice president of hockey operations.

Sakic, 43, has served as an executive adviser with the Avs the past two seasons. It is unclear what Sakic's new job title will be.

Greg Sherman is the team's general manager. Sakic, a hockey Hall of Famer, might be asked to assume a role similar to that of football Hall of Famer John Elway with the Broncos. Elway is in charge of the overall football operations. Pierre Lacroix currently holds the title of team president for the Avs.

The team had no comment about Sakic's future role.

Sakic, who retired as a player in 2009, has three school-aged children and previously said he was not interested in taking a general manager's position because travel would take him away from his family too much.

The Avs have yet to replace fired coach Joe Sacco, and have given no indication when a replacement will be named or even who is leading the search. Assuming Sakic would have a heavy say in who will be the new coach, the process could be expected to accelerate once he officially assumes a larger role.

The Avs also have a vacancy at assistant coach, and Adam Foote could be a candidate, reuniting another former Avs player from the team's glory years with the organization. Foote has remained in the area since retiring and has served as a youth hockey coach. Foote declined comment on whether he would rejoin the team in any capacity.

Denver Post: LOADED: 05.09.2013

675580 Columbus Blue Jackets

Blue Jackets' Bobrovsky a finalist for top goaltender award

By Aaron Portzline

The Columbus Dispatch Thursday May 9, 2013 5:10 AM

Bumped out of the Stanley Cup playoffs by one point last month, the Blue Jackets and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky have resigned themselves this spring to the pursuit of another trophy.

Bobrvosky yesterday was named by the NHL as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, given annually to the league’s top goaltender.

Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers, who won the award last season, and Antti Niemi of San Jose are the other finalists, as voted by the league’s 30 general managers.

“It is a great honor to be a finalist for this award, but I need to thank my teammates and coaches, as it would not be possible without them,” Bobrovsky said in an email provided by a club spokesman. “I just tried to work hard and get better every day and help the Blue Jackets win games.

“We missed the playoffs by one point, but it was a good year and I will just try to keep getting better because our goal is to win the Stanley Cup.”

Bobrovsky, 24, was 21-11-6 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. He also had four shutouts.

It would be an historic victory for Bobrovsky on two counts: No Russian player has won the award and no goalie who missed the playoffs has won it.

Bobrovsky would be the second undrafted goalie to win the award, following Chicago’s Ed Belfour in 1991 and ’93.

“I’m happy for Bob because I know the time and effort he put into it,” coach Todd Richards said. “And, from a team sense, it’s great to have things like this happen because it validates a lot of the really good things this team accomplished this season.

“You’re disappointed you didn’t make the playoffs, but when a guy gets singled out for an award like this, it shows that people recognized the good things that happened for us.”

The Jackets turned to Bobrovsky as their No. 1 goalie in February. A 19-5-5 sprint to the finish ensued, keeping the Jackets in the playoff hunt until the last game of the regular season.

“Just an outstanding year for Bob,” general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. “His play gave our group added confidence through the great stretch we had.”

The annual NHL awards show was canceled because of the lockout, but the league plans to announce winners during the Stanley Cup Finals.

The trophy could be leverage for Bobrovsky, who can become a restricted free agent on July 5, when his contract expires.

“A new deal could be done this week, or it could be done in August,” said John Davidson, the Blue Jackets’ president of hockey operations. “You just don’t know with these things, but there’s a deal to be made there, and it’ll get done. We have an affinity for Bob, and Bob likes Columbus.”

Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 05.09.2013

675581 Detroit Red Wings

Helene St. James: Red Wings' Brendan Smith asks himself: What would Nicklas Lidstrom do?

8:25 PM, May 8, 2013

Helene St. James

ANAHEIM, CALIF. — The Red Wings have a saying for their defensemen: What would Nick do?

For 20 seasons, Nicklas Lidstrom demonstrated how to do the job, along the way scooping up seven Norris Trophies as the NHL’s best defenseman before retiring last year. He became the standard-bearer of the position, and now he’s the example the Wings want young players like Brendan Smith to think of regularly.

“I should have one of those rubber bracelets, instead of J put an N there,” Smith said today at the Honda Center, as he prepared for Game 5 against the Ducks. “I have to think sometimes of what he would do in certain situations where maybe the pass isn’t there and you’ve got to go glass-out of your zone. I think I’ve done a lot better at that, taking care of the puck. That’s the thing that I’ve been trying to work on, and it’s helped me.”

Smith, 24, just finished his first full season with the Wings a month ago. He long has been considered a building block for them, as the Wings saw great potential in Smith when they picked him up with the 27th overall selection in the 2007 NHL draft. Smith was an offensive star at Wisconsin and in Grand Rapids, but what the Wings want to see from him is less risky plays and more simple ones. That’s why Lidstrom is such an ideal reminder; he epitomized doing the right thing, all the time.

“Smitty is a work in progress, like lots of our blue line, but he’s done a good job for us,” coach Mike Babcock said. “The thing that he is, he’s ultra competitive. We just always say to him: What would Nick have done, and that means simple first.

“He’s a good young player. Like all young guys, you’re going to make some mistakes. The other thing that tends to happen is, early in games, you’re idling a little too fast. You’ve got to settle down each and every night. When he does that, he’s real effective for us.”

Smith scored his first goal of the playoffs — first of the whole year — when he wound up the puck at the blue line Monday at Joe Louis Arena. Afterward he was searching for the game puck to keep it as a souvenir, but he never did find it. That’s OK: The memory isn’t fading any time soon.

“I think I’d had a lot of chances, they just hadn’t gone in — whether they hit someone’s stick or a post or the goalie makes a great save, it’s been

frustrating when the puck hasn’t gone in the back of the net,” Smith said. “Finally it paid off Monday. That was a great feeling.

“When I was in the minors with Grand Rapids, I was putting up good points, and when I was in college, but now at this level, it seems like the puck doesn’t go in the back of the net — it’s better competition. But it’s a thrill to know you can still do it.”

With Lidstrom back in his native Sweden, Smith relies on Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson as sounding boards, as well as partner Kyle Quincey. At 27, Quincey doesn’t have all that much more experience than Smith, but the two have developed a nice bit of chemistry.

“First day of camp,” Quincey said, “Coach put us together and said that was going to be my new role this year, to play with Smitty and take care of him. It’s been fun to watch him getting better and better as the year has gone on. It’s really good to see him have success.”

Smith “had a lot of jitters” when the first-round playoff series began last week. “Now,” he said, “I feel a lot more comfortable with the puck.

“The thing that has gotten me to this place is, a lot of my skating with the puck and how I move it, so it’s definitely a balancing act. It’s a work in progress. I’ve got to keep working hard. What I have to learn is, I am not the star defenseman getting points on the back end. I have to play my end first and then things will come out of it.”

It all keeps coming back to those bracelet-begging initials: WWND? Lidstrom would make the right play. It’s the same thing Smith used to hear from his father, who would use NBA legend Michael Jordan as an example of why playing smart beats running around and appearing to play hard.

“My dad always told me about Jordan — he didn’t always try to beat the competition in the first period or first 10 minutes or whatever, he moved the ball around and then he could take it himself in the fourth quarter and dominate,” Smith said. “It’s things like that, where you work your way into the game, you get comfortable, and then all of a sudden, it works out for you.

“Nick was superhuman, pretty fantastic with the puck. His plays, it wasn’t always a bang-on breakaway pass, and that’s the thing that I have to think about and remember. Make the right play.”

Contact Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 05.09.2013


Pavel Datsyuk focused on enjoying playoff time with Red Wings, not his future

6:46 PM, May 8, 2013

Helene St. James

ANAHEIM, CALIF. — Pavel Datsyuk had some friends over from his native Russia, buddies who left, he said, feeling addicted, in a good way. With what’s typical humor for him, Datsyuk sees a job opening.

This is the time of year Datsyuk loves best, when the run to the Stanley Cup championship is on and every day and every game grows in significance. Datsyuk won his first Cup as a rookie, back in 2002, a summer that got even better with the birth of his daughter, Elizabeth.

Datsyuk won another Cup in 2008. He will top 130 playoff games when he suits up for tonight’s Game 5 at Honda Center in the 2-2 series against the Ducks.

Datsyuk had just scored his first goal of the series one game earlier, back in Detroit, before friends from his hometown of Yekaterinburg. The goal was spectacular, with the puck going into the net so hard it knocked off Jonas Hiller’s water bottle. Datsyuk so often looks like a heaven-sent hockey talent that a couple of weeks ago, close friend and usual line mate Henrik Zetterberg joked there wasn’t anything left to say about Datsyuk.

Maybe just one thing, for the Wings: Please stay.

Datsyuk has one year left on his contract. He said he isn’t thinking about what he will do when that expires, because “I have another year I can stay for sure. I like Detroit. I like it, it’s nice. Like playoffs. It’s different level, energy. Fans in jerseys, painted faces. It’s more fun. You feel bumps.”

A couple friends who were at Games 3 and 4 in Detroit were so impressed, Datsyuk said, “they say they never see anything like it. They love it. They addicted.”

Datsyuk paused. “Now I can be seller,” he said, smiling.

Datsyuk will turn 36 in the summer of 2014. He’s got a skill set that transcends what’s considered middle-aged in the NHL. If he does leave, it will be mostly because he misses Elizabeth, who has been back in Russia since Datsyuk and his wife divorced a few years ago. A few days into training camp in January, Datsyuk also spoke glowingly of how much fun he had playing in the KHL during the lockout last fall.

“It’s home,” Datsyuk said. “Lots of friends, is fun, but level is not compared to here. Everybody plays best here.”

In speaking of his daughter, Datsyuk again showed his sense of humor. “Don’t make me sensitive,” he said, smiling.



Pavel Datsyuk: Red Wings don't want to be in dangerous spot after Game 5

4:11 PM, May 8, 2013

Helene St. James

ANAHEIM, CALIF. — Coach Mike Babcock began his news conference by running down the list of things he had done the previous afternoon.

"I went to Huntington Beach for a couple of hours," Babcock said. "I had a meal at Capital Grille. Fifteen teams left in the tournament. That should shorten this right up."

It was Babcock's way of noting how little had changed since he had last talked about what lies ahead.

The Detroit Red Wings take on the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center tonight (10 p.m., NBCSN, FSD), hoping to be the ones who break a 2-2 deadlock in the first-round series. The Wings aren't making any changes, so once again, Mikael Samuelsson will be on the top line with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, in place of the suspended Justin Abdelkader.

The Wings won Monday in Detroit, after getting nearly 50 shots on Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller. That’s something they're looking to replicate.

"I think we've got to do a good job of getting pucks out of our zone as quick as possible, and get through the neutral zone," defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "We've got to get pucks deep and try to wear on them as much as possible in their zone. Having a third guy high makes it easier for us to break out of our zone."

The Wings won in overtime, 5-4, the last time they were at the Honda Center. But they know the job is tougher tonight.

"Pressure both teams," forward Pavel Datsyuk said. "Now it's best-of-three. If you lose, it put you in dangerous spot. We need everything today, not forget anything, not think about tomorrow."



Jalen Rose, in Red Wings hat, to TMZ: Phil Jackson never coaching again

4:10 PM, May 8, 2013

Brian Manzullo

Jalen Rose probably has never met a microphone -- or a video camera -- he didn’t like.

TMZ caught up with the former Michigan Fab Fiver and current ESPN analyst at LAX airport Tuesday to talk Phil Jackson and a little Kobe Bryant. But the first order of business? That Detroit Red Wings cap he was wearing with a striped polo.

“Like that new hat, bro!” the cameraman said.

“Red Wings, they’re in the playoffs right now, hopefully they get a chance to keep it going,” Rose responded.

After that, the quick conversation turned to coaching legend Phil Jackson, who’s advising the Detroit Pistons on their head coaching search this week and reportedly turned down the Brooklyn Nets coaching position this week.

“I’m going to break some news here,” Rose said. “Phil Jackson isn’t going to be coaching anymore. ... he’s coming back in a power position. Duh. His wife is what? One of the family members that owned the Lakers. He ain’t coming back to be a worker. He’s coming back to be a boss.”

Rose reasoned that Jackson, with 11 NBA championships as the coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers over the years, has nothing to prove as a head coach.

Rose also said this about whether the Lakers would cut Bryant: “No way. No how. ... Only thing they should be cutting is a check for a statue in front of the Staples Center.”

More Rose: Jalen Rose also made an appearance on ESPN’s “Numbers Never Lie” today to talk about the end of the 10-year disassociation between the University of Michigan and four players, including Chris Webber, involved in the Ed Martin scandal:

“I’m glad the 10 long years has ended. Rest in peace, ‘Tractor’ Traylor. I’m happy for Maurice Taylor, Louis Bullock and C-Webb that the disassociation has ended. Now, hopefully, there can be some clarity as it relates to the relationship that the Fab Five and the University of Michigan has. Hopefully they now consider putting up a banner at the newly renovated Crisler Arena that honors what we brought to the table at the University of Michigan. That’s gonna be (athletic director) Dave Brandon’s call. I got a chance to see him a lot recently. I think that’s something the university is going to move toward ... hopefully, that happens soon.”



Jamie Samuelsen's blog: Red Wings fans should feel good about team's chances vs. Ducks

3:32 PM, May 8, 2013

Jamie Samuelsen

What encourages you about the Red Wings’ chances against the Ducks and what discourages you about their chances?

To hear some fans talk about Monday night’s 3-2 Red Wings overtime win, you would think they just hoisted their 12th Stanley Cup.

“One of the best games I’ve ever seen.”

“The young guys finally arrived.”

“They seized control of the series.”

Funny what one win does for the narrative surrounding a hockey series. If Brendan Smith shots changes directions 12 times instead of 11, or if Jonas Hiller doesn’t go brain dead and actually plays the puck of Gustav Nyquist’s stick in overtime, we could be talking with a total different tone.

But such is the nature of playoff hockey where momentum can change on a single shot, shift or penalty. Justin Abdelkader’s hit on Toni Lytman was

thought to be the turning point of the series. And it might still be. But Smith’s goal and Pavel Datsyuk’s unbelievable shot on Monday night might have turned the series right back.

So how should the Red Wings feel heading into Game 5 tonight? Well, clearly a lot better than they did prior to Game 4. And overall, they should feel pretty good.

1) Jimmy Howard has been solid, but not spectacular. Howard has had stretches of brilliant hockey. But in every game in the series, he’s had a goal or two (or three) that he’d love to have back. Howard clearly hasn’t won over the fans that had issues with his late-season contract extension even though he was great down the stretch as the Wings clinched a playoff berth. He still has his best game in him, and tonight would be an excellent time to see it.

2) The Wings aren’t a top-heavy scoring team so far in these playoffs. Sure, Henrik Zetterberg and Datsyuk are expected to carry the freight. But in four games, seven different players have goals and 13 different players have points. Zetterberg only has the one assist. Niklas Kronwall has no points. That’s the kind of scoring depth that the Red Wings haven’t had in a few years. And that’s the kind of depth that often lends itself to a nice, long run (or at least a first round series win).

3) Along those lines, the second and third line players are finally playing a major role on this team. We’ve waited for that to happen forever. And with players like Nyquist, Damien Brunner, Daniel Cleary and of course Johan Franzen picking up huge goals and points, it should only help take some of the pressure off Zetterberg and Datsyuk.

But all is not perfect in the Red Wings world. And you wouldn’t expect to it be in a 2-2 series where both Detroit wins came in overtime.

1) For all the optimism about Howard, the bottom line is that his save percentage is .900. We’ve seen some serious goaltending meltdowns in these playoffs (the Pens’ Marc-Andre Fleury played one of the worst postseason games I’ve ever seen in last night’s 6-4 loss to the Islanders), and Howard hasn’t melted down. But he was the main reason that Game 2 even went to overtime. And he wasn’t strong in Game 3 when Detroit needed him to be strong in the aftermath of the Abdelkader penalty. Howard doesn’t yet have that signature postseason game. I believe he can get it, but until he does, the skepticism among the fans is understandable.

2) These kids are pretty exciting, but they’re kids. It was well documented that five first-year playoff performers were on the ice when Brunner scored the game-winner on Monday night. But those same kids are prone to making big mistakes as well. And how they deal in Games 5 and 6 with the increased pressure will be telling.

3) The Ducks are far better than we gave them credit for. When the Red Wings make mistakes, the Ducks have quickly taken advantage. Sixteen different Duck skaters have registered a point in the four games and only three are a minus so far. Teemu Selanne has been quiet. Corey Perry doesn’t have a goal and missed a wide open net on Monday night that easily would have given Anaheim a 3-1 lead in the series. If we’re going to go on the theory that the Wings can be better, then you have to say the same thing about the Ducks as well.

Anaheim has the edge thanks to two games at home and thanks to their big scoring line. But my pick remains the Red Wings. Sometimes inexperience is a negative. But sometimes, it’s that youthful obliviousness that erases the pressure and makes a hockey player think that anything is possible. It’s been decades since we’ve been able to say that about the mighty Detroit Red Wings, but that’s exactly where we find them now heading into Game 5.



Mitch Albom: Jimmy Howard did it all, but Red Wings still lost in OT

Mitch Albom

ANAHEIM, CALIF. — For much of the night in this critical Game 5, the Red Wings and the Ducks needed a case of Red Bull.

And Jimmy Howard needed a sedative.

Howard went high, low, knees, blocker, glove, shoulder, squat, jump, slide. He had more energy than the next five guys in red. He did everything humanly possible to keep his team alive. “He’s been tremendous. He is tremendous,” said Anaheim’s Bruce Boudreau. And he coaches the OTHER guys! Howard saved 31 shots in 33 regulation chances Wednesday night — and many were impossible shots caused by weak play or bad defense by his teammates.

Until finally, less than two minutes gone in overtime, a puck went across the Wings’ crease, untouched by Detroit’s Joakim Andersson, and the Ducks’ Nick Bonino had a free shot.

He took it.

And Howard needed an aspirin.

Final score: Ducks 3, Wings 2. Anaheim leads the first-round series, three games to two, and can close it out Friday night at the Joe. You can’t be surprised. It was an awkward game, sloppy hockey at times, too many missed pucks, half-whiffs, intercepted passes and giveaways. With neither team able to sustain good effort, it seemed destined to go to overtime. It did.

And it did not end well for Detroit.

Nor did it start well.

“I thought in the first period, we watched,” coach Mike Babcock said. That’s OK if you bought a ticket. Not if you wear skates. No knock on Southern California, but whatever the Wings did during the day Wednesday, they should never do it again.

The game began around 7:15 p.m. local time and the Wings already looked as if they had been up all night, tepid, tentative and slow. Meanwhile, the Ducks were a machine gun: five shots on goal in just over the first two minutes. They were all over Howard. In fact, they were so all over him, they tended to fall on top of him, which, luckily for Detroit, is still a no-no in hockey. Anaheim was tagged for goalie interference, survived that penalty, and did it again moments later, with Corey Perry clomping on Howard as if he were gum on his skates.

That time cost the Ducks. On the power play, Johan Franzen fired a puck off Anaheim’s Sheldon Souray, got a perfect ricochet and tucked it past Jonas Hiller. So the Wings — being outshot, outhustled and outplayed had a 1-0 lead.

Hockey right?

“They were better than us in the first,” Henrik Zetterberg would admit to the media, “and we still had a lead.”

But you can’t count on that kind of luck. Eventually, you play badly, you’ll pay badly. Howard was out of his mind on every close shot — he stopped pucks in mid-air, in mid-chest, from point-blank range —but when the short shots aren’t working, you try a long-shot.

And the Ducks hit a long-shot, all right. Kyle Palmieri had the puck about 50 feet away from the goal, turned and whipped it blind.

Howard never saw it.

A 1-1 tie.

Hockey, right?

“We were not ready when the puck dropped,” defenseman Jonathan Ericsson admitted to Fox Sports Detroit during the break. “We’re second on the pucks too many times.”

When there’s only two teams out there, being “second on the puck” is not good.

And so it went ...

But OK. The middle period saw the Wings wake up — and make up. They had six shots (four on goal) in the first four minutes, several takeaways as well. They so outplayed Anaheim, Boudreau called a time-out 4:17 in. You can go through a decade of hockey games and never see a time-out at 4:17 of the second period!

In time, the Wings’ effort paid off. A good dig by Pavel Datsyuk led to a Zetterberg shot off Hiller that could not have rebounded any more perfectly if an astrophysicist designed it. Mikael Samuelsson took that puck in perfect flying stride and whipped it top shelf for a 2-1 lead, his first goal of an injury-plagued year.

At that point, midway through the game, you got the sense that if the Wings put one more past Hiller, this was over. For whatever reason, the Ducks’ pilot light kept going out. They had no sustained effort. At one point, the Wings’ third line of Damien Brunner, Gustav Nyquist and Andersson held the Ducks hostage on a shift that seemed to last forever.

But hockey is a game of burying chances, not just getting them, and the Wings blew the former after achieving the latter when a major boarding penalty was called on Daniel Winnik at 14:15 of the second period. That gave the Wings five minutes of power play. One goal, and this series might be very different right now.

“No question you like to score one on the power play,” Babcock told reporters. Instead, the Wings managed one shot. One shot? Yes, they also hit a post. Still. One shot?

There is not much Howard can do about that. And not much he could do in the final minute of the period, when, with the Ducks now on a power play, Ryan Getzlaf came skating down behind a line of players with way too much time for a guy with his talent. He lined up a shot and fired it past Howard.

The game was tied, 2-2.

It would stay that way through the third. And after facing one last hard shot in the closing seconds of regulation, Howard skated off, the Wings toweled off, and for the third time in five games, we were in overtime.

Just what two exhausted teams wanted.

And then it ended ...

“I thought they were way better than us in the first, we were way better than them in the second, I thought the third was even,” Babcock said.

Which brings us to the overtime, and the winning shot, less than two minutes in, a great play by defenseman Ben Lovejoy, who made a terrific move in the corner, deked Brian Lashoff out of his skates, came free, and slid the puck across the crease. Howard might have screamed, “HEY, SOMEBODY KNOCK IT AWAY!” But the only Red Wings somebody in sight was Andersson, who, for some reason never touched it, and watched it go right to Bonino’s stick.

All that was left was to close your eyes.

Game over. Ducks go crazy. And the ugly truth is now before us: The shortened season could end very shortly, Friday night at Joe Louis Arena. The Wings in Game 6 get home ice and Justin Abdelkader back. Both should help. But this is a grind, and if both teams looked this tired with a 2,000-mile airplane trip in their bloodstream, what will they look like Friday with another (or, for that matter, Sunday with a third)? The Wings will be very happy to say good-bye to these insane Western Conference road trips next season.

But right now, they’d be happier to say good-bye to the Ducks. It’ll take two victories to do it. Mostly it’ll take Howard being as great as he was Wednesday night — and his teammates getting a lot closer to his effort, and a lot further from theirs.



Anaheim 3, Detroit 2 (OT): Red Wings lament missed opportunities on power play

3:12 AM, May 9, 2013

Helene St. James

ANAHEIM, CALIF. — The Red Wings were left second-guessing themselves, left wondering why they didn’t start better, left faced with elimination.

Unable to build on two leads, unable most egregiously to convert during a nearly 5-minute long power play, the Wings ended up losing, 3-2 in overtime, to the Ducks at Honda Center in Game 5.

Game 6 is Friday at Joe Louis Arena. If the Wings win that — and so far, no team has won two in a row in this first-round series — Game 7 is Sunday in Anaheim.

Much of the talk after Nick Bonino scored 1:54 into the extra period centered on a long stretch near the end of the second period, when the Wings had the man advantage.

“Any time you get a chance like that,” defenseman Niklas Kronwall said, “you want to bear down and get at least one, maybe a couple even. We couldn’t get the job done.”

Johan Franzen scored on an early power play, and Mikael Samuelsson made it 2-1 in the second period. Kyle Palmieri and and Ryan Getzlaf scored in regulation for Anaheim.

Getzlaf scored during a power play right after the Wings had blown a man advantage stretch that ended up lasting 4:11.

Coach Mike Babcock conceded that, “in hindsight, you could do lots of things. You could have gone with your first two groups, and call a time-out, and go them again. We put a group in between, who took a penalty. I don’t think that was the end of the game, though.

“There’s lots of coulda, woulda, shoulda stuff. The bottom line is, a playoff game, we hit three posts tonight and they didn’t go in. That’s life. I thought they were way better than us in the first, I thought we were way better than them in the second, I thought the third was even, and they scored in OT.”

Bonino sent a back-door tap-in behind Jimmy Howard after Ben Lovejoy centered the puck into the crease.

“I was playing the shooter,” Howard said. “That’s the No. 1 rule for a goalie, is play the guy who has the puck. He was able to find Bonino. Good play by them.”

Howard made 31 saves, 17 of them in the first period. “We wasted a really good effort from Howie,” Kronwall said. “Doesn’t feel too good to not be able to get one for him.”

Daniel Cleary said the Wings “let one slip away. I thought we played well, thought we deserved better.”

Cleary missed the last 5 minutes of the second period after a crushing hit into the boards by Daniel Winnik, who was called for boarding. The Wings could have used it to build on a 2-1 lead, but didn’t.

“We created chances, hit two in the post, but couldn’t get that goal there that would have helped,” captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “Then they come in and score, but in the third we played good again.”

Zetterberg assisted on both goals. On the first, he sent the puck to Franzen, who threw it into the crease from behind the goal line, then got his stick on the rebound as it lay loose at Jonas Hiller’s right skate. The Ducks went on their first power play about 8 minutes in, and Howard had to make a doorstep save on Teemu Selanne, who sent the puck right into Howard’s glove. A 5-on-3 developed when Cory Emmerton went off for high-sticking, but a bad pass by Bonino eroded the 22 seconds very quickly. The Wings ended up killing off the whole stretch of power play time.

By 12 minutes in, Howard had made 14 saves, including flashing his glove on an attempt by Corey Perry. The Ducks didn’t dent Howard the final couple minute of the period, when Palmieri used 6-foot-6 David Steckel as a screen four seconds after Steckel had won a face-off against Emmerton.

Samuelsson scored on Zetterberg’s rebound during a second period that saw the Wings take charge of the game after being spectators for most of the fist period.

“They skated faster and harder than we did from the start, but we worked ourselves into the game,” Zetterberg said. “It was back-and-forth all the time. Overall, I think we did a lot of good things, we just have to regroup.”

Contact Helene St. James: 313-222-2295 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.



Anaheim 3, Detroit 2 (OT): Red Wings lose Game 5 early in overtime

1:10 AM, May 9, 2013

Helene St. James

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Red Wings ran out of their overtime magic tonight, struck down by the Ducks for the first time in the series.

The Wings fell, 3-2, when Nick Bonino tapped the puck into a wide open net 1:54 into the extra period at Honda Center, sending the Wings to the brink of elimination as they head home to Joe Louis Arena for Friday's Game 6. Win that, and Game 7 is Sunday at Anaheim. The Wings won each of their games in overtime, but couldn't make it three in a row.

Neither team has won two straight games so far.

Johan Franzen converted on a power play during a first period that otherwise saw Jimmy Howard stop nearly a shot-a-minute. Mikael Samuelsson scored his first goal of the year midway through the second period, when he fired in Henrik Zetterberg's juicy rebound. Kyle Palmieri and Ryan Getzlaf each scored tying goals.

Daniel Cleary left late in the second period after appearing to injure his left arm when he was slammed into the boards by Daniel Winnik, but returned to play a third period that began all tied up.

For much of the game the Ducks controlled the pace, aided by numerous turnovers. It started to even out in the third period, as both teams played like they understood just how much was at stake. The Wings got a few more pucks on Jonas Hiller, but not from any dangerous chances. The Ducks threatened in the final minutes of regulation, whacking away at loose pucks and rebounds and just missing the net on one chance. Corey Perry took a last-ditch attempt as the seconds ticked towards overtime.

The Wings, so successful with their power play here the last Thursday, got a the man advantage less than three minutes after the puck, when defensive forward Saku Koivu went off for interference. The Ducks gave them nothing, and the Wings got just one little shot on Hiller. Another chance arose at the five-minute mark, when Perry got slapped with goaltender interference.

This time, the Wings made good: Zetterberg sent the puck to Franzen, who threw it into the crease from behind the goal line, then got his stick on the rebound as it lay loose at Hiller's right skate. The Ducks went on their first power play about eight minutes in, and Howard had to make a doorstep save on Teemu Selanne, who sent the puck right into Howard's glove. A 5-on-3 developed when Cory Emmerton when of for high-sticking, but a bad pass by Nick Bonino eroded the 22 seconds very quickly. The Wings ended up killing off the whole stretch of power play time.

By 12 minutes in, Howard had made 14 saves, including flashing his glove on an attempt by Perry. The Ducks didn't dent Howard the final couple minute of the period, when Palmieri used 6-foot-6 David Steckel as a screen 4 seconds after Steckel had won a face-off against Emmerton.

Palmieri had a great chance to double up on a breakaway in the second period, but completely missed the net. Samuelsson scored one for the veterans at 10:08, finding a rebound within reach. Damien Brunner, hero of Game 4's overtime, had a breakaway a minute later, but shot right into Hiller.

The five-minute power play from the boarding call on Winnik didn't yield many chances and was shortened when Brendan Smith went off for holding, eventually giving the Ducks their second power play. Getzlaf, who'd just been denied on a short-handed breakaway, converted when he fired a shot high up the middle, making it 2-2 just as the second period ended.



Red Wings' Danny DeKeyser had thumb surgery, out until development camp in July

10:20 PM, May 8, 2013

Helene St. James

ANAHEIM, CALIF. — Detroit Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser has undergone surgery and will be out until development camp in July, in all likelihood.

General manager Ken Holland told the Free Press Wednesday that DeKeyser had a plate and screws inserted into his right thumb and "will have to have them in permanently."

DeKeyser broke his thumb last Thursday in Game 2 of the Wings-Ducks series. He'd been a valuable part of their lineup, using his mobility to help get the puck up to the forwards and speeding up the offensive game.

Holland said there's a small chance DeKeyser could play if the Wings should advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, but, "let's get there first,' Holland said.



Red Wings' Patrick Eaves has found his comfort zone

Ted Kulfan

Anaheim, Calif. — It was nice to hear, but Patrick Eaves was a bit surprised.

Eaves was credited with a team-high six hits in Game 4 on Monday night, which he considers typical.

"I feel like I finish checks all the time," said Eaves, who also drew praise from coach Mike Babcock for his skating. "Maybe they just saw more of them this time, I don't know, and marked them down.

"I'm always trying to get in the way of people down the ice so I don't have to chase them down."

Eaves has been a feel-good story for the Red Wings this season.

Recovering from a concussion he suffered in November 2011, Eaves returned this season. And for that determination and commitment, he was nominated by the Detroit chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association for the Masterton Trophy (player who exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey).

"I feel comfortable," he said. "It's playoff time and everyone is skating fast now. The speed of the game is at a whole new level and everyone has brought their game to a whole new level.

"It's a lot of fun to play."

Babcock believes Eaves, who is playing on the fourth line with Cory Emmerton and Todd Bertuzzi, has been skating well during the first round of the playoffs against the Ducks.

"He skated the best he's skated the other night," Babcock said. "He's always heavy on his stick and he makes good decisions with the puck."

'Good, hard skates'

Forward Mikael Samuelsson played over 21 minutes in Game 4, his second game since returning from injuries.

Samuelsson gives associate coach Tom Renney the assist.

"There were some real good (post-practice) skates with Renney," said Samuelsson, who remained on the top line with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg for Game 5. "Conditioning didn't bother me at all. Those were good, hard skates. The conditioning was no problem."

Samuelsson believes conditioning is usually the least of a player's worries when returning from injury.

"It's usually more the small things," he said. "Going to the right place on different plays … the timing is so important, too. That's the stuff (that's tough to immediately get back)."

Think like Nick

Babcock has one simple piece of advice for young defenseman Brendan Smith .

"What would Nick ( Lidstrom ) have done?" Babcock said.

The key, Babcock said, is keeping it simple and not forcing things, traits Lidstrom mastered during his Hall of Fame career.

Smith is learning how to make the game go slower and simpler.

"Like all young players, he's going to make mistakes," Babcock said. "He's a work in progress, but he's done a good job."

Detroit News LOADED: 05.09.2013


Entering Game 5, Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk liking playoff pressure

Ted Kulfan

Anaheim, Calif. — The pressure of the playoffs is what appeals to Pavel Datsyuk, so Wednesday's Game 5 is a treat.

With the series tied 2-2, there's little wiggle room.

"Both teams now, it's a best-of-three (series) and dangerous spot," said Datsyuk, who played arguably his best game of the series in Monday's comeback Game 4 overtime victory. "Everything is today and forget about tomorrow."

Both teams split the two games on each other's home ice. So home ice hasn't provided the expected advantage you'd think it to be.

"Not a lot, apparently," Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf said when asked how much of an advantage home ice is. "The fact is, the games are all intense and the stakes are high. Obviously it's been back and forth in every game. We have to be ready."

One thing the Red Wings would like to do is get off to a quick start in an arena that will solidly be behind the Ducks.

"You always want to play with the lead," forward Patrick Eaves said. "It's hard to play behind all the time. If we can get one or two (goals) early, that would be great.

"If not, we'll stick to the game plan like we did last game."

Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau feels as if the pressure could be on his team rather than the Red Wings.

"They get a win under their belt, it could be a lot tougher for the visiting team (in Game 6 back at Joe Louis Arena," Boudreau said. "I'm sure a few of our guys have a few butterflies, but it's a good nervous energy."

Neither team has any lineup changes.

Coach Mike Babcock said he'll continue to use Mikael Samuelsson on the top line with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, while Todd Bertuzzi will skate on a line with Patrick Eaves and Cory Emmerton.

Boudreau said Ducks defenseman Toni Lydman (concussion-like symptoms) isn't ready to play after getting hit by Justin Abdelkader in Game 3.

Abdelkader's two-game suspension for the hit ends after this game.



Red Wings' Daniel Cleary still sore over boarding incident

Ted Kulfan

Anaheim, Calif. — Even if he's in pain, Red Wings forward Daniel Cleary doesn't like showing it on the ice.

But this time, during Wednesday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks in Game 5, there was no hiding it.

Cleary was slammed into the boards by Anaheim forward Daniel Winnik at 14:15 of the second period, leaving Cleary crumbled on the ice in obvious pain.

"Sore, the whole left side was sore," said Cleary, who lay on the ice briefly before slowly skating off the ice with help. "Shoulder, hand, ribs and neck."

Amazingly, Cleary returned for the start of the third period and finished the game with 17 minutes of ice time on 20 shifts.

Cleary was playing the puck in the corner when Winnik came roaring in on him.

"It did," Cleary said when asked whether the play surprised him. "I didn't see him coming at all. Then, you know, it hurt."

After undergoing tests during the intermission, Cleary was cleared to play after getting time to rest.

"I had to come in and do some testing and see the docs," Cleary said. "In the playoffs everybody plays through something."

It was apparent the pain was still bothering Cleary after the game.

"You could say that," Cleary said.

The pain was made worse by a Red Wings loss that leaves them one defeat from the off-season.

"We let one slip away for sure," Cleary said. "We played well but (now) you have to win Friday. We played a good game tonight."

For the hit to Cleary, Winnik was given a five-minute major. But the Red Wings came up empty on the power play and Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf, who drew a penalty that ended the Red Wings advantage, scored on the resulting Anaheim power play.

It was a pivotal juncture in the game.

"Obviously it was a turning point for sure," Cleary said.

Poor start

If it wasn't for the goaltending of Jimmy Howard, the Red Wings would have easily been trailing Wednesday.

Instead, they were tied 1-1 after a first 20 minutes in which Anaheim outshot the Red Wings 18-9 and generally outplayed them.

"They skated a lot harder and were faster," forward Henrik Zetterberg said.

Both teams have been pointing to the first period as springboards for victories. Still, the Red Wings were the better team in the second period and took control of the game until Anaheim killed the penalty to Winnik and Getzlaf scored his crucial goal.

"There was too much standing around and watching them play hockey (in the first period)," defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "We got better in the second period and we hit a couple of posts. We just couldn't find the net."

On the brink

One more loss and the Red Wings are done for the season.

They'll fly back to Detroit Friday, their fourth cross-country fight from the West Coast in 12 days, and try to find a way to make a fifth trip this weekend for a seventh game Sunday in Anaheim.

"I have a lot of confidence in this group," Howard said. "It's going to be a battle. This series has been a battle. It has been back and forth and it's going to be the same way Friday night back home."



Red Wings have their moments, but Ducks take flight with game on the line

Gregg Krupa

Detroit — The Ducks flew in overtime Wednesday in Anaheim, dominating play from the start and scoring at 1:54 to send the series back to Joe Louis Arena, 3-2 in their favor.

The Red Wings played well in Game 5 and dominated the second period, but their failure to score on 4:11 of a man advantage and then immediately yielding a goal after it expired was the turning point.

"I thought we did a lot of good things," Mike Babcock told Fox Sports Detroit after the game.

"Our goaltender was superb in the first. I thought we were really competitive in the second and the third was even."

Duck bind

There was one shot in the overtime period. It was by the Ducks' Nick Bonino and it beat Jimmy Howard, who had no chance.

Bonino was fed by Ben Lovejoy, a defenseman, who made an outstanding play in the right corner and just got by the Wings' Brian Lashoff to bring the puck back out in front of the net with a strong move.

Joakim Andersson had Bonino. But he left him for an instant to move closer to the crease as Lovejoy made his move. With Lovejoy's cross-crease pass to Bonino, Andersson waved his stick to try to disrupt Bonino's stick. But Andersson had moved too far away to reach it.

Before the goal, it was all Ducks in overtime. The Red Wings never managed to get their feet under them, and then it was over.

"They got one good chance there in overtime," Henrik Zetterberg said. "And then they got another one, and it went in.

"So, now we've just got to regroup and go back home and win one."

Lovejoy has three career playoff assists and is a minimal offensive threat, generally. But on one play near the start of overtime in Game 5, he might as well have been Bobby Orr.

Letting it get away

From 14:15 to 18:26 of the second period, the Wings had a man advantage, when the Ducks forward Daniel Winnik injured Daniel Cleary and was called for a boarding major.

The Red Wings were ahead 2-1 and looking to put the game on ice, with Jimmy Howard providing an outstanding performance in net.

But the Wings managed just one shot in 4:11 of a power play.

While they hit a post and the side of the net, their play was a lot less about shooting and making things difficult for Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller, than it was about passing and skating.

"No question about it," Babcock said. "We'd have liked to score on that power play."

It might have made their season, sending the back home up 3-2 in the series.

Instead, they took their own penalty, played 4-on-4 for 49 seconds and then had to go on the kill.

The Ducks scored in 13 seconds.

A lesser team might have faded. It was to the Wings' credit that they played about even with the Ducks in the third period, after that massive turn of events with just 32 seconds left in the second.

But they had let the game, and perhaps the series, slip away.

Good Jimmy

It has not been his best playoff series, but Howard was terrific and, at times, spectacular Wednesday, stopping 31 of 34 shots.

Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said the first 10 minutes of Game 5 would be crucial. His players came out like they believed him. They were all over the Red Wings.

But in the first 12 minutes, Howard stopped 14 shots.

As has too frequently been the case throughout the season, Howard started long before his mates, who were late to the party.

"We'd like to start on time and be a little better," Babcock said. "Howie really held us in."

After having allowed three or fewer goals in 18 of his previous 19 playoff games, Howard allowed four in Games 2 and 3. He went back down to two on Monday and three Wednesday.

None of the trio of scores in Anaheim was his fault, and he stopped many a scoring chance, including a spate of break-ins. He was especially strong from 7:57 to 11:54 of the first, when the Wings killed two penalties, including a 5-on-3 for 22 seconds.

At that juncture, Howard made one of a few of his scintillating saves, a real glove-waver on Corey Perry, who was left to skate off into the corner, head shaking.

Rookies good, rookies bad

As is the case with most rookies in most playoff games, they played both good and bad for the Wings in Game 5.

Four playoff rookies, Andersson, Damien Brunner, Lashoff and Jakub Kindl were on the ice for the Ducks' winning goal.

Brendan Smith had one giveaway and was a minus-one for the evening.

Kindl had a takeaway, two blocked shots and did not commit major gaffes as he did on Monday.

Nyquist was a minus-one and he had three shots. But he also had three giveaways.

Lashoff had three hits and two blocked shots, but two giveaways.

Brunner had an assist, six shots and a block.

Andersson was a minus-1, with two shots and a block. But he was only five of 11 on face-offs.

Sammy's patience

It has been a long, disconcerting, dispiriting year for a decent goal scorer and a good guy, Mikael Samuelsson.

Seeing him make it 2-1 Red Wings eight seconds past the halfway point of the game looked like justice.

Samuelsson no doubt thinks it would have been more righteous had the Wings made it 3-1 on that power play.



Exasperating gets best of exhilarating in Red Wings' Game 5 setback

Bob Wojnowski

In a game of wayward bounces and dramatic swings, it was destined to come down to one more push, one more play. Not much separates these teams, and the Red Wings didn't have quite enough Wednesday night.

With the flip of a pass and the slip of a puck, the Ducks' Nick Bonino scored early in overtime to beat the Wings 3-2 and push a tight series to the brink. Anaheim leads 3-2 with Game 6 back in Detroit, and if the first five games are a precursor, don't put the Pepto away just yet.

This was the third overtime of the series, and the first time the Ducks prevailed. The Wings led twice and had numerous chances to pad it, but couldn't. They'll lament a squandered five-minute power-play and their ears will ring from the sound of shots hitting goalposts. But at 1:54 of overtime, they couldn't stop an innocent-looking play, which is usually how these playoff overtimes end.

Jimmy Howard didn't have much of a chance on the winning goal, as Ben Lovejoy deftly avoided defenseman Brian Lashoff and sent a perfect cross-crease pass to Bonino, who avoided Joakim Andersson and slammed the puck in. Youngsters who have been so integral in the Wings' energetic effort were beaten on the play, but that's the way the series has gone, back and forth, up and down.

This is the Wings' final season in the Western Conference — finally, thankfully — so of course they had to play another late-night thriller for old time's sake. This series isn't over, and might not be over even when it appears to be over. Back to the Joe the teams go for Game 6 Friday night, wearily criss-crossing the country, repeatedly criss-crossing the ice.

"It's playoff hockey, they kept the puck in and got it down low," Howard said of the winning goal. "This team has scraped and clawed all year, and we got a lot of confidence in this group. This series has been a battle."

Back and forth, to and fro

The series has been strange, with so many missed chances for both teams. Really, did you expect anything different? The Wings and Ducks have been counter-punching for an exhausting week now — win-loss-win-loss — and were at it again.

Anaheim dominated the first period. Detroit dominated the second. And each team ducked the other's best shot. This is who the Wings are right now, alternately exhilarating and exasperating.

Johan Franzen supplied an early 1-0 lead because that's what the Mule does in the playoffs, charging straight to the net and poking until the puck dribbles in. But it was merely a respite in the storm, because the Ducks were scrambling all over the ice. They outshot the Wings 18-9 in the first period, and it took Howard's best effort to keep it tight.

In this series, neither team stays down for long. The Wings' young and inconsistent defense makes it difficult to smother anyone, and sure enough, the Ducks broke through on a quick shot by Kyle Palmieri to tie it 1-1. It was a snapped shot that was a snapshot of the series, which is all about sudden turns.

This is the New Normal for the Wings, and the idea is, perhaps veterans such as Howard can keep them in it while the youngsters grow up. Howard did his best and certainly matched Anaheim's Jonas Hiller, but these teams are unpredictable from period to period, shift to shift.

At the risk of repeating myself, the Wings at times are like kids at recess. They go racing all over the place, and sometimes the ball (puck) bounces over the fence (boards) into the neighbor's yard. They get it back, lose it again, get it back.

It can make for palpitating nights in Hockeytown, but I actually think fans have gotten used to it. That doesn't excuse mistakes, and the Wings came out poorly in the first period before picking it up. A start like that can't happen again.

"I think we did lots of good things, and our goaltender was superb in the first," Mike Babcock said. "It was one of those nights. We hit three posts and they didn't go in."

Near misses

The Wings found their legs and were flying in the second period, and the veterans nudged them back in front. Pavel Datsyuk slid the puck ahead as he was falling to the ice, and Henrik Zetterberg skated in with it. His shot caromed off Hiller and laid there for Mikael Samuelsson, as juicy as a puck can look. He slapped it in for a 2-1 lead, but like any advantage between these teams, it was short-lived.

The Wings still lose too many face-offs and take sloppy penalties. But my goodness, they had their chances to push the Ducks to the brink, and just missed. Damien Brunner was stuffed on a breakaway. Brendan Smith fired a shot off the goalpost. Gustav Nyquist fired a shot off the goalpost.

Then the Ducks took their dirty turn, with Daniel Winnik slamming Daniel Cleary face-first into the boards for a five-minute penalty. Winnik could have been kicked out too, as the Wings' Justin Abdelkader was in Game 3. But Cleary wasn't hit in the head, and in today's safety-conscious NHL, that makes a difference.

So what happened with the Wings in the lead and on a long power play? Naturally, the action went the other way, and Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf took charge. He drew an interference penalty on Smith, and on the ensuing power play, Getzlaf ripped a shot past Howard for a 2-2 tie.

That's how it stayed until it ended and that's probably how the series will churn to the finish. The Wings get Abdelkader back after his two-game suspension, and you can figure on another taut game. It only takes one prime chance to alter this series, and the Wings have to ramp it up again, and make sure the next turn is theirs.



Nick Bonino's goal pushes Red Wings to brink of elimination in first round

Ted Kulfan

Anaheim, Calif. — The overtime magic the Red Wings had in this series against Anaheim finally came to an end.

And because of that, the Red Wings are on the brink of elimination.

Anaheim forward Nick Bonino scored at 1:54 of overtime, converting a nice pass from Ben Lovejoy coming out of the corner, giving the Ducks a 3-2 victory Wednesday in Game 5.

It was Bonino's third goal of the series, and gives the Ducks a 3-2 lead in the series. Game 6 of the best-of-seven series is 8 p.m. Friday at Joe Louis Arena.

The Red Wings had won the first two overtime games of the series, but Bonino put an end to that success.

"Game 5 is a big swing game when it's a 2-2 series," Bonino said. "We like to finish it in six. We couldn't do that without (winning) tonight."

Goalie Jimmy Howard was looking at Lovejoy, who had the puck coming out of the corner, but couldn't get over quickly enough to stop Bonino from converting the pass through the crease.

"They kept the puck in and got it down low," Howard said. "I was playing the shooter. I don't know if I fanned on it or not. He (Lovejoy) found the open guy on the back side and Bonino buried it."

Johan Franzen (power play) and Mikael Samuelsson scored for the Red Wings.

Kyle Palmieri and Ryan Getzlaf (power play) had the Ducks' other goals.

It was Getzlaf's goal that forged a 2-2 tie heading into the third period and capped a pivotal turn in the game.

The sequence began when Anaheim's Daniel Winnik was assessed a five-minute major for boarding Daniel Cleary.

In obvious pain, Cleary skated off holding his left arm and didn't return until the start of the third period.

The Red Wings, though, did nothing on the resulting power play, and when Getzlaf drew an interference call on Brendan Smith at 18:26, the power play ended.

Getzlaf then imposed his will further, firing a shot from the circles with several bodies screening Howard, tying the game at 19:28.

"You get a chance like that you want to bear down and get at least one goal, maybe a couple," defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "For whatever reason, we couldn't get it done."

Getzlaf backed up the Red Wings defense and fired a shot high, his third goal of the playoffs.

Suddenly it was a tie game, and a glorious opportunity wasted.

"In hindsight we could have done a lot of things," coach Mike Babcock said. "You could go with your first two groups, call a timeout, and go again. We put a group in between. We didn't score on a power play, that's the bottom line.

"I don't think that was the end of the game, though. There's lots of coulda, woulda, shoulda stuff. The bottom line is, in a playoff game, we hit three posts tonight and they didn't go in.

"They were way better than us in the first, I thought we were way better than them in the second, I thought the third was even, and they scored in OT."

The Wings took a 2-1 lead midway in the period on Samuelsson's goal at 10:08.

Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller made the first stop on Henrik Zetterberg's shot from the circle but left a juicy, large rebound to the opposite circle.

Samuelsson jumped on the puck and put back the rebound for his first playoff goal since April 7, 2011, when he playing with the Vancouver Canucks.

The Red Wings took control of the game early in the second period.

Hiller had to be sharp while making saves on Joakim Andersson at the side of the net, and Patrick Eaves a little while later in the low slot.

Hiller, at that point, matched Howard's effort in the first period.

The teams ended the first period tied 1-1 but that was solely because of Howard, who stopped 17 of 18 shots (the Red Wings had nine shots on net).

"It's too bad we wasted a real good effort from Howie," Kronwall said. "It's amazing how good he is. They threw a lot of pucks at us and had a lot of chances. Howie was great."

Anaheim came out swarming and Howard had to make several good chances in the opening minutes.

But the Red Wings answered with Franzen's power play — the Red Wings second in the first five minutes thanks to two Anaheim goalie interference penalties.

On the goal Franzen, his third of the series, shot the puck toward Hiller from the side of the net, then jumped on the rebound and slid the puck past Hiller at 5:28.

Howard preserved the 1-0 lead with a save by Winnik on a partial breakaway.

Anaheim enjoyed power play toward the end of the period, actually had a two-man advantage for 22 seconds, but Howard again stood tall. His best save in that sequence was stopping Ducks forward Teemu Selanne on a backdoor play.

"Just part of my job," said Howard, who made 31 saves. "My job is to make saves for the guys, this time year you have to step up."

The Ducks finally broke through against Howard at 17:41 of the first period on Palmieri's second goal.

On the Ducks' 17th shot on net in the period, Palmieri corraled the puck after a faceoff win by Ducks center Dave Steckel.

Palmieri skated to the high slot and wristed a shot that sailed through a maze of players and flew past Howard, who reacted as if never seeing the puck.



Pavel Datsyuk's focus remains on Red Wings postseason, not possible return to Russia

Ted Kulfan

Anaheim, Calif. — The playoffs are the only thing on Pavel Datsyuk's mind.

So forget any talk about his future with the Red Wings after the 2013-14 season.

"I don't think about it," Datsyuk said before Game 5 of the Red Wings first-round series against the Ducks at Honda Center. "I have another year I can stay (in Detroit ) for sure.

"It's playoff time."

Datsyuk, 34, ignited speculation about finishing his career in Russia when he returned from the Kontinental Hockey League after the lockout, talking about how special it was playing in his native country.

Datsyuk scored 36 points in 31 games for CSKA Moscow — the team's general manager is former Red Wings great Sergei Fedorov — and was one of the biggest stars in the league.

"It's home, and lots of friends," Datsyuk said.

But there was one aspect of his time there that wasn't up to snuff.

Although the KHL can pay comparable salaries to the NHL — and in some cases more — the caliber of play wasn't the same.

"The level (of hockey) does not compare to here," Datsyuk said. "Everybody plays the best here. It's a different level."

Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said he plans to talk with Datsyuk's agent Gary Greenstin about an extension.

Greenstin didn't return phone calls Wednesday, but said earlier this season Datsyuk likely would play only in Detroit — and nowhere else in the NHL.

"He's very loyal to the Red Wings organization, loyal to ownership, to Kenny Holland," Greenstin said of his client. "It's been such a great team for such a long time.

"It's too early (to speculate about the future)."

Datsyuk said he had several friends from Russia in Detroit for Games 3 and 4.

Recruiting?

Nope. They just wanted to experience the playoffs.

"They said it was something they had never seen before, unbelievable energy," Datsyuk said. "It's a different level, different energy. The fans are special. with the paint (on their faces). When you go to the rink, you see all the flags. It's more fun.

"They enjoyed it. They said they've never seen anything like this. You watch the game (on TV) but it's different when you feel it, (you become) addicted."



Mike Babcock's advice to young Brendan Smith is to ask himself 'What would Nicklas Lidstrom do?'

Ansar Khan

May 08, 2013 at 9:12 PM

ANAHEIM, Calif. – When teaching young defensemen like Brendan Smith the ways of the NHL, Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock often asks them, “What would Nicklas Lidstrom do?''

The first answer that comes to mind is “play 25-30 minutes a game, excel at both ends of the ice and win the Norris Trophy at the end of the season.''

The short answer is that Lidstrom made the simple play first. And that has been Babcock's message to Smith.

“Anybody who's been in our organization a long time, like Smitty, saw (Lidstrom) and saw that he didn't force anything,'' Babcock said. “He just took what's given and he made five or six offensive plays a game. Lots of shifts in hockey are 50-50 and nothing happens.

“When you force things, you generate offense for (the opposition). We want good D-men who check well and generate offense for us and don't force stuff, and that's what Nick did.''

Smith generated a lot of offense during his three years at Wisconsin and 2½ seasons with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins. As a Red Wing, he has had to focus entirely on defense and moving the puck out of his zone and not worry about contributing offensively.

“He had lots of offensive skill at the college level; that's still got to evolve at the NHL level,'' Babcock said. “There's a ton of guys in our league that were offensively talented that check and grind and never score any points.

“Right now, he doesn't play on the power play. Right now, he's a penalty-killer and a guy who's supposed to get the puck going, and that's what we need from him.''

Smith appeared in 14 games with the Red Wings in 2011-12, but only three in which Lidstrom played. Still, he learned a lot from the seven-time Norris winner.

“Make the simple play right away, don't try to force it,'' Smith said. “You saw Nick, I mean he got so great that he could make those plays right away because he saw it so quickly; he made the first pass, the simple pass.''

Smith had no goals and eight assists in 34 games this season. He scored a big goal in Monday's 3-2 overtime victory in Game 4 vs. Anaheim, tying the game at 1-1 at 1:18 of the third period.

He said it felt great to get that goal-scoring feeling gain, but called it a balancing act between contributing offensively and playing well defensively.

“The thing that has gotten me to this place is my skating, my skill with the puck and how I move it,'' Smith said. “What I have to learn is I'm not the star defenseman for getting points on the back end. I have to play my end first and things will come out from it.''

That's what Babcock wanted to hear.

“He's like all young guys – you're going to make some mistakes,'' Babcock said. “The other thing that tends to happen is early in games you're idling a little too fast. You got to settle down each and every night. When he does that, he's real effective for us.

“He's a work in progress, like lots of our blue line. He's done a good job for us and the thing is he's ultra-competitive.''

Kyle Quincey, Smith's partner all season, has had to make a similar transition after arriving from Colorado last season.

“Coming in here and Babs asking me to be the veteran guy and staying back and protecting (Smith) was definitely a different role,'' Quincey said. “It's nice to see him have success in the playoffs.

“It's a new challenge and it's working out. It speaks for itself, having a pretty low goals-against. We didn't put the points up we'd like to, but we do cherish the fact we kept the puck out of our net for the most part.''

Michigan Live LOADED: 05.09.2013


After Red Wings evened series, pressure shifted to Ducks, some of whom have 'butterflies'

Ansar Khan

May 08, 2013 at 4:48 PM

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Detroit Red Wings were under a lot of pressure to win Game 4 on Monday or face the seemingly hopeless task of having to win three in a row against Anaheim.

They delivered with a 3-2 overtime win.

Now, the pressure shifts to the Ducks tonight in Game 5 of the Western Conference quarterfinals at the Honda Center (10 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit. And coach Bruce Boudreau doesn't deny it, saying this morning that a few of his players probably have some “butterflies.''

“The first 10 minutes of the first period is really important,'' Boudreau said. “There's a lot at stake, probably more for us at this stage than there is for Detroit because they get to go home. If they go home with a win under their belt, it's a lot tougher for the visiting team.

“The pressure was on them (in Game 4), they didn't want to go down 3-1. We're in the situation where it's a little bit reversed. I would venture to guess there's some of our guys that have a few butterflies. But it's good nervous energy and hopefully we'll get through it and it'll be an adrenaline boost rather than something that's a negative.''

Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf also stressed the importance of the first 10 minutes and added that his club can't afford to have any passengers like it did in Game 4.

“That’s something we need to shore up for this game, definitely be a little more aggressive and be into the game right away,'' Getzlaf said. “We can’t afford passengers ever in the playoffs and I think at times throughout last

game we had different guys in different situations who weren’t doing things properly. So we shored those things up.''

Home teams are 2-2 in this series. The visiting club won all three games in this series during the regular season (2-1 for Detroit).

“I wonder sometimes if home ice, as a coach you don't get in the way a little bit with matchups, you don't get the same rhythm off your bench,'' Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “Maybe guys are trying to please the crowd instead of play simple and get the puck to the paint and execute well.''

Babcock said he'll start Mikael Samuelsson on the top line with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, like he did Game 4, and then “see what happens.''

No lineup changes for the Red Wings:

Henrik Zetterberg-Pavel Datsyuk-Mikael Samuelsson

Johan Franzen-Valtteri Filppula-Daniel Cleary

Gustav Nyquist-Joakim Andersson-Damien Brunner

Patrick Eaves-Cory Emmerton-Todd Bertuzzi

Jordin Tootoo (scratched), Justin Abdelkader (suspended)

Niklas Kronwall-Jonathan Ericsson

Kyle Quincey-Brendan Smith

Brian Lashoff-Jakub Kindl

Ian White, Carlo Colaiacovo (scratched)

Jimmy Howard (starting)

Jonas Gustavsson

Lydman still has headaches

Ducks defenseman Toni Lydman will miss his second game in a row after taking a hard hit from Justin Abdelkader in Game 3.

“He's still got headaches and he wasn't on the ice today,'' Boudreau said. "Talking to him this morning he said he's feeling a lot better and they're no where near as intense as they were, but as to where he is compared to when he is going to play I couldn't give you answer.''

Abdelkader, suspended two games by the NHL, will return in Game 6 Friday in Detroit



Don't expect Detroit Red Wings' fan support to disappear as playoff series moves to Anaheim

Brendan Savage

May 08, 2013 at 11:04 AM

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Anaheim Ducks had virtually no fan support during Games 3 and 4 of their first-round playoff series against the Detroit Red Wings.

That's no surprise since the games were played at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

So now that the series has returned to Anaheim for Game 5 tonight at the Honda Center, the Red Wings can expect a similarly poor turnout by their fans, right?

Uh, no.

Not at all.

Few NHL teams if any draw as well on the road as the Red Wings and if the first two games of the series – or their regular-season matchups with the

Ducks in Anaheim – are any indication, the Red Wings will have plenty of fan support tonight.

"On the road, sometimes it's like our home advantage," said rookie defenseman Brendan Smith. "At Dallas, we had a lot. Phoenix was almost like a home-ice advantage. Last time we were here (in the regular season), we had a lot of Detroit fans.

"I'm not sure what the reason is. Maybe it's the 22(-season) playoff stretch or just people leaving (Michigan). But we do have a good fan base."

During the first two games of the series, there were Red Wings fans in virtually every section of the Honda Center. They were easy to spot by their red and white jerseys, cheering wildly whenever the Red Wings did anything remotely positive.

That said, it will be nothing like the reception the Red Wings got Monday in a 3-2 overtime victory at Joe Louis Arena.

The fans were downright rabid in Game 4, which could have been the Red Wings' final home game of the season had they lost. The fans weren't about to let their team go down without doing everything they could to make things tough on the Ducks.

"We can hear it," said forward Daniel Cleary. "I thought the crowd was awesome. I've heard some loud crowds at The Joe before but certainly that one was great. That helps a lot for us, too.

"It's a motivating factor to have the crowd that loud behind us. We know the importance of a Game 5 in a series and Anaheim does, too.''

• Speaking of the Game 4 crowd, the fans broke into a new cheer when defenseman Niklas Kronwall leveled Anaheim's Kyle Palmieri with one of his patented checks with about seven minutes left in the first period.

The fans began chanting "You got Kronwalled!" over and over as Kronwall skated away and Palmieri picked himself up off the ice.

Kronwall didn't want to discuss the hit given the controversy surrounding Justin Abdelkader's hit on Toni Lydman in Game 3. Not surprisingly, the Ducks were none too happy about the check and wanted a piece of Kronwall before they had to jump back into the play when the officials let it continue.

"Everybody knows Kronwall can do that," said Smith, who claimed not to have heard the chant. "You've been Kronwalled; everybody's heard the saying. It's a big moment for our club where you get the fans in there and our team sees that. We want to get going here.

"It's a big leadership moment for our team."

• The Game 4 victory snapped Anaheim's four-game overtime winning streak at Joe Louis Arena.

The Ducks beat the Red Wings 4-3 in triple overtime of Game 2 in the second round in 2009 before Detroit won the series in seven games; in the 2007 Western Conference Finals, Anaheim won 4-3 in Game 3 and 2-1 in Game 5 en route to a six-game victory; and the Ducks won another triple-overtime thriller 2-1 in Game 1 during the first round in 2003, when the Ducks swept the Red Wings.

The last time the Red Wings beat Anaheim in an overtime game at Joe Louis Arena was during the second round in 1997, when the Red Wings won 3-2 in Game 2 (after winning Game 1 by a 2-1 score in OT) en route to sweeping the series and winning the Stanley Cup.

• Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller expected the Red Wings to respond with a strong effort in Game 4 after the Ducks posted a 4-0 victory in Game 3 at Joe Louis Arena.

"We knew it was going to be a tight series," Hiller said. "We knew they were probably going to play their best game of the series [in Game 4] and I think that's what they did. I thought we did a pretty good job of keeping up after them.

"Too bad we couldn't use our chances and find a way to win."

• Nobody has to tell the Ducks they blew a great chance to take control of the series in Game 4, when Pavel Datsyuk's goal with 6:33 left in regulation forced overtime and helped deny Anaheim a chance to take a 3-1 series lead back to the Honda Center.

"Oh, we missed a great opportunity," said Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau. "I mean, we got the lead twice in the game and didn't hold it. And we missed a

great opportunity for our goaltender, who played great. But we had chances.

"We had some Grade A chances. We just need to put the puck in the net. I mean, Corey Perry had two or three, (Emerson) Etem had one. I mean, these are Grade A chances that need to be successful if we want to win."



Patience is paying off for Mikael Samuelsson with spot in Detroit Red Wings' playoff lineup

Brendan Savage

May 08, 2013 at 7:06 AM

ANAHEIM, Calif. – A frustrating season is finally starting to pay some dividends for Mikael Samuelsson.

After injuries limited the veteran forward to four games during the regular season, Samuelsson is suddenly in the thick of the Red Wings' first-round playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks.

After making his 2013 playoff debut on the fourth line in Saturday's 4-0 loss to the Ducks, Samuelsson found himself playing on Detroit's top line alongside Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg in a 3-2 Game 4 victory Monday night.

Being healthy for the playoffs is what kept Samuelsson upbeat during a frustrating season that saw him sidelined by a pulled groin, fractured finger and strained pectoral muscle.

"Exactly," said Samuelsson, 36. "When you're injured, that's what you have to aim for (the playoffs). That normal, I guess, to see where I fit in, when can I be healthy and where can I play? That's been the motivation, the playoffs.

"Everybody knows that's the most fun. Obviously we weren't sure if we were going to make the playoffs first of all. But I figured that I had the mindset and here we are. It helped."

Samuelsson had two shots on goal in just under 12 minutes of ice time in Game 3 before getting four shots in Game 4 – only Zetterberg had more with eight – while playing almost 22 minutes.

"I felt good actually," said Samuelsson, who hadn't played back-to-back games since the Red Wings' first two outings of the season. "I shouldn't say surprising, but I felt like I've been in. I felt fresh and like I can go tomorrow again."

Whether he continues to play with Datsyuk and Zetterberg in Game 5 Wednesday remains to be seen.

But coach Mike Babcock hadn't ruled out keeping Samuelsson on the top line when the Red Wings arrived in Anaheim Tuesday afternoon after a cross-country flight from Michigan.

"I don't really know for sure," Babcock said. "I went through the game on the flight. That sure is my plan but I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about the lineup, just how we played and how they played and what adjustments we have to make.''

Playing alongside Zetterberg is nothing new to Samuelsson.

They skated together during Samuelsson's first stint in Detroit from 2005-09, when he helped the Red Wings win the 2008 Stanley Cup before they lost to Pittsburgh in a seven-game Stanley Cup Finals the following year.

"He looked good," Zetterberg said. "He skated well. He's a big body for us and he hasn't played many games this year so he will only be better with the more games he plays.

"I think he did fine."

Playing with Datsyuk is another story.

Samuelsson and Datsyuk haven't played together nearly as much in the past so getting the chance to skate alongside him and Zetterberg in Game 4 could be beneficial if Babcock keeps them together Wednesday night.

"It definitely helps to be on the ice to get one game under your belt," said Samuelsson, who averaged 16 goals in his first stint with the Red Wings. "I haven't played so much with Pavel. I played with Hank much more than I do with Pavel. But I know what they're about, I see them in practice so it's not too hard.

"I don't have any expectations. I took it as it came and went with it. I thought it was great, I thought it was fun. Got some pucks to work with. A little different role for me ... go a little more to the net, stand there and battling a little bit. More than I'm used to.

"Played with two great players and it's always fun."



Red Wings' failure to capitalize on major penalty comes back to haunt them in Game 5 loss to Ducks

Ansar Khan

May 09, 2013 at 4:33 AM

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Detroit Red Wings had a glorious opportunity to put the game away, getting a five-minute power play when leading by a goal late in the second period.

But, they couldn't generate much pressure, let alone score. Then, their man-advantage was cut short by 49 seconds due to their own penalty. Then, Ryan Getzlaf scored a power-play goal with 32 seconds remaining in the second period to tie it for the Anaheim Ducks.

Detroit still had chances to win in the third period. But, after Nick Bonino scored at 1:54 of overtime to give Anaheim a 3-2 victory in Game 5 of the Western Conference quarterfinal playoff series at the Honda Center, the Red Wings looked back at that botched power play as the turning point of the game.

They hope it's not the turning point of the series, because the Ducks, leading 3-2, can wrap it up Friday in Game 6 at Joe Louis Arena.

“That was the key moment of the game,'' Red Wings forward Mikael Samuelsson said. “We're up 2-1, if we put one more in there, it's tough uphill for them. We had to do it.''

Niklas Kronwall talks about Detroit Red Wings failing to score on five-minute power play vs. Anaheim The Red Wings lost 3-2 in overtime and one reason was their failure to capitalize when the Ducks' Daniel Winnik was hit with a five-minute major for boarding Daniel Cleary

Said defenseman Niklas Kronwall: “Any time you have a chance like that you want to get at least one (goal), maybe a couple.''

The Red Wings had plenty of momentum from a strong first 14 minutes of the period when Daniel Winnik was called for boarding Daniel Cleary at 14:15, a play in which the Detroit forward hurt his whole left side (head, shoulder, neck, ribs, hand) but returned for the start of the third.

But, after opening the scoring with Johan Franzen's power-play goal at 5:28 of the first and taking a 2-1 lead on Samuelsson's goal at 10:08 of the second, the Red Wings never threatened to score on Jonas Hiller during that great opportunity.

“I think it was too slow, not enough pep,'' Kronwall said. “That could have been a turning point. We had a good chance to grab the game right there.''

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said, in hindsight, they could have done some things differently.

“You could go with your first two (power-play) groups, call a timeout and go with them again,'' Babcock said. “We put a group in between.

“We didn't score on (that) power play. That was the bottom line. I didn't think that was the end of the game, though. On the penalty kill right after the five-minute power play we weren't organized enough coming back into our zone. Lots of could've, would've, should've stuff. We hit three posts tonight that didn't go in. That's life.''

The Red Wings ended up shorthanded late in the period when Brendan Smith was called for holding Getzlaf.

“That was the key moment of the game. We're up 2-1, if we put one more in there, it's tough uphill for them.'' -- Mikael Samuelsson.

“I honestly don't think it was a penalty at all,'' Smith said. “Obviously, it's hard for these officials. It's so quick, and I'm not sure if (the referee) had the best angle, but Getzlaf cut in front of me and I tried to get around him and I guess he thought I was holding. But I didn't even touch him.

“I was very frustrated with that. I don't think it's a penalty at any league.''

Smith called it a “double whammy'' when Getzlaf snapped a hard wrist shot from the slot through traffic to tie the game.

The Red Wings defense (Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson) appeared to back up too much, giving Getzlaf a lot of room, while the forwards (Joakim Andersson, Cory Emmerton) did not apply enough back pressure.

“When we killed that off I thought it gave us a little bit of confidence,'' Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “When Getzie scored that was a huge goal. To come in tied after what we had done in the second period I thought was very big.''

But, as Cleary said, “I thought we had a lot of opportunity in the third to get it done.''

After winning Games 2 and 4 in overtime, the Red Wings lost in sudden death when Bonino took a pass from behind the net from Ben Lovejoy and buried it, after some sustained pressure by the Ducks.

“They kept the puck in, got it down low, just came in,'' goaltender Jimmy Howard said. “I was playing the shooter (Lovejoy) and I don't know if he fanned on it. I'm going to have to take a look at it on video, but found the open guy on the back side, Bonino, and he was able to bury it."

It might not have gotten to that point if the Red Wings had capitalized on their golden opportunity in the second.



Nick Bonino scores in overtime to lift Ducks past Red Wings 3-2 in Game 5jpgDetroit Red Wings drop Game 5 to Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in overtime

Ansar Khan

May 09, 2013 at 2:05 AM

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Nick Bonino scored at 1:54 of overtime Wednesday to lift the Anaheim Ducks to a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 5 of the Western Conference quarterfinals at the Honda Center.

The Ducks have a 3-2 series lead and can clinch it Friday in Game 6 at Joe Louis Arena.

The Red Wings had won Games 2 and 4 in overtime.

The Red Wings could not capitalize on a major penalty for boarding on Daniel Winnik late in the second period.

Winnik hit Daniel Cleary from behind into the glass. Cleary was shaken up and helped off the ice, but he returned at the start of the third period. Winnik did not receive a game misconduct.

Johan Franzen and Mikael Samuelsson scored for the Red Wings in regulation.

Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard talks about OT goal in loss to Anaheim Ducks Nick Bonino's goal in overtime gave the Anaheim Ducks a 3-2 victory and 3-2 series lead.

The Red Wings skated better in the second period, after being dominated territorially in the first. They spent more time in the offensive zone, generated several scoring chances and outshot the Ducks 15-9.

But, each team scored once, and it was 2-2 heading into the third period.

Samuelsson, playing in his third game of the series, gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead at 10:08 by firing in the long rebound of a shot by Henrik Zetterberg. It was his 23rd career playoff goal.

Ryan Getzlaf tied it on the power play with 32 seconds remaining in the period, firing in a hard wrist shot from the slot through traffic.

The Red Wings couldn't capitalize after Winnik's boarding penalty on Cleary at 14:15. The power play lasted for 4:11 before Brendan Smith was called for holding.

Each club failed to score on a breakaway in the second period. First, Kyle Palmieri lifted a backhand shot over the net with 12:10 left. Then, Hiller made a save on Damien Brunner with 8:15 to play.

The Red Wings were fortunate to come out of the first period tied 1-1. The Ducks outshot them 18-9 and easily could have broken the game open if not for several outstanding stops by Jimmy Howard.

Franzen opened the scoring at 5:28 with his third goal of the series. All have come on the power play. He jammed his own rebound past Jonas Hiller.

The Ducks tied it at 17:41 when Palmieri fired in a wrist shot from the high slot through a heavy screen. David Steckel won the offensive-zone faceoff from Cory Emmerton to set it up.

Howard put on a show in between those goals.

He stopped Winnik, who had broken in alone with 12:42 to play. He robbed Teemu Selanne from the door step with a glove save on the power play. He made a point-blank save on Corey Perry, who had slipped in behind the defense.



Ducks reveling in pressure of Game 5 vs. Detroit

GREG BEACHAM

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Ryan Getzlaf knows the Anaheim Ducks could be getting frustrated.

Instead, he thinks they’re just getting started.

The Ducks have controlled long stretches of their matchup with Detroit, outshooting and outscoring the Red Wings over the first four games while getting superior goaltending from Jonas Hiller. Yet the series is even heading into Game 5 on Wednesday night at Honda Center.

Second-seeded Anaheim’s stellar regular-season record and formidable talent haven’t mattered to the Red Wings, who sneaked out two overtime victories despite playing with a lead in just one of the series’ four games.

It’s a recipe for tension in the Ducks’ dressing room heading into a pivotal point of the first-round series. But to Getzlaf and his teammates, every element of the playoff march is a privilege, particularly after the Ducks missed the postseason in two of the past three years.

“We’re far from frustrated,” the Anaheim captain said Tuesday after the Ducks’ long flight from Detroit to Orange County. “This is playoff hockey. This is the best time of the year, and we’re in a best-of-three series now. We always knew it was going to be a long series. ... It’s been a grind throughout the year. We’ve always been able to rise up to the occasion, and we’re hoping for that tomorrow (in Game 5).”

The Ducks expect to have little trouble regrouping after they barely missed a chance to take a 3-1 series lead in Game 4 on Monday night. After Anaheim blew a third-period lead, Damien Brunner’s overtime goal evened the series for the Red Wings, who appeared to be on the ropes after getting shut out by Hiller in the first 100 minutes of the teams’ two games at Joe Louis Arena.

“One goal the other way (in Game 4), and everybody is happy around here,” Getzlaf said.

Instead, the Ducks must find additional determination to get past their playoff-tested opponents. Anaheim will have the advantage of its favored matchups on home ice in Game 5 and a potential Game 7, yet neither team believes matchups or friendly crowds have made much impact on this series.

“Quite frankly, the matchups only work if your team is playing well and you get a lead,” Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. “If you don’t get a lead, you may have some great defensive matchups, but you’re going to have to change because you need to score goals. We’ll get the last change (in Game 5), which will help, because I thought the last game they were definitely trying to get (Pavel) Datsyuk’s line against one specific line, and we tried to change it a few times. It’s a difficult thing to do.”

Datsyuk scored the tying goal with 6:33 left in regulation in Game 4 for the Red Wings, who finally flexed their offensive skills at home after five-plus periods without a score.

The Red Wings made an obvious effort to get more shots at Hiller in Game 4, sending pucks at the Anaheim net at every opportunity. Hiller was solid all night, but the Red Wings’ mentality eventually led to Brunner’s winning goal.

“The plan was to get more shots, and shoot from worse angles,” Detroit’s Valtteri Filppula said. “We did a good job. We were able to get pucks back in the offensive zone. I didn’t think we did that enough in the previous game.”

The Ducks are hoping to increase their own offensive pressure on Jimmy Howard on Wednesday. Howard acknowledged he hadn’t been Hiller’s equal in the series, giving up 12 goals on 120 shots, but he played tremendously well in Game 4 when the Ducks pressed for a possible clinching goal.

“I just wanted to give the guys a chance to win,” Howard said. “They deserved that. I knew I had to be better. I wanted to be better. ... In the playoffs, all it takes is a goalie to get hot, and anything can happen.”

Although Anaheim has generated plenty of offensive chances, the Ducks could use a goal from high-scoring Corey Perry, who won the Richard Trophy with 50 goals in 2011 during his MVP season. He hasn’t found the net in the playoffs, and he missed on a couple of golden chances in Game 4.

“If those went in, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Perry said Tuesday. “They had a lot of shots (in Game 4), but we had some good chances, too. We’ve got to create more chances, keep plugging away, and hopefully get some ugly ones.”

Boudreau criticized a few unnamed Ducks after Game 4 for being “passengers” — passive participants who didn’t do enough work to help Anaheim. Major lineup changes seem unlikely after the Ducks’ fairly solid play throughout the series, but Boudreau is eager to get his team rolling quickly, before any struggles lead to a potential elimination game.

Detroit again will be without Justin Abdelkader, who must finish his two-game suspension for a big hit on Anaheim’s Toni Lydman. The veteran defenseman sat out Game 4 with apparent after-effects from the collision, and Lydman didn’t skate in the Ducks’ optional practice after traveling Tuesday.

While the Ducks prepared for the pressure of Game 5, the Red Wings worked on minor adjustments for their latest trip to Honda Center, where they’ve won three of their four games this season.

“We have to go in their barn and steal another game,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said.

Macomb Daily LOADED: 05.09.2013


Red Wings face must-win situation after dropping Game 5

05/09/13 01:26 am

Staff Writer

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Nick Bonino scored 1:54 into overtime, and the Anaheim Ducks moved to the brink of the second round with a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Defenseman Ben Lovejoy took the puck behind the Detroit net and fed it in front. Bonino scored for the Ducks, who took a 3-2 series lead.

Game 6 is Friday night at Joe Louis Arena, where the Ducks will attempt to close out just their second playoff series victory since winning the Stanley Cup in 2007.

Johan Franzen and Mikael Samuelsson scored for the Red Wings, who had two brief leads. Jimmy Howard stopped 31 shots.

Captain Ryan Getzlaf tied it, Kyle Palmieri also scored, and Jonas Hiller made 29 saves in Anaheim’s first victory in three overtime games in the series.

Bonino has scored his first three career playoff goals in each of Anaheim’s three victories in this series. He ended up in front of an open net when Lovejoy made a move around Detroit’s Ben Lashoff and pushed the puck across the slot as Detroit’s defense concentrated on Teemu Selanne. Bonino didn’t miss.

The teams returned to California for the pivotal Game 5 after splitting the first four games of an entertaining series, each winning once at home and once on the road. Anaheim and Detroit have alternated wins and losses throughout the series.

Macomb Daily LOADED: 05.09.2013

675605 Edmonton Oilers

One way to solve Edmonton’s downtown arena problem? Katz pays now, but can win later

May 8, 2013. 10:44 am

David Staples

There’s a few political realities of the Edmonton arena deal, which is $55 million short of its $480 million target, but there’s also a few solutions.

1. The city has paid enough. If this deal is going to happen, Oilers owner Daryl Katz or out-of-town Oilers fans and concert goers — two groups who benefit most from the arena — will have to pay more.

2. One way to get both of them to pay more is a $55 million increase in ticket tax, which Coun. Don Iveson talked about today at city council, and which I explored here.

After today’s council meeting, Katz Group official John Karvellas reportedly said he’s not crazy about that idea, which is no surprise as this $55 million essentially comes right out of Katz’s pocket.

3. One other idea is perhaps more promising. I’s an idea being kicked around right now. As I understand it, it involves Katz and his partners paying for the entire $55 million through a higher lease payment. The deal gets done in this way. It moves ahead now.

In return for Katz stepping up right now, the city agrees to one stipulation, that he benefits down the road if the arena district takes off more than the city is now projecting.

Right now, arena project boosters are talking about $2 billion in downtown development, much of it related to the catalyst project of the arena. No arena, much of this development downtown does not occur.

This $2 billion amount greatly exceeds what the city expects to get out of the downtown development. This amount of investment sounds awfully pie in the sky to critics of the deal, but if it were to occur it would create a windfall of property taxes in our downtown.

Much of this $2 billion in new development will be work done by Katz himself and his partner, WAM developments.

But what if Katz and WAM pulls off this massive development? The plan is that once their development starts to exceed what the city has projected and expects from them in new property taxes, some of those excess, windfall property taxes could be used each year to help pay off the arena.

So if the Katz/WAM property raise $1 million more per year over the expected property tax revenues, then that money would go to help them pay off the arena. Katz would benefit, but only if all that he promises actually comes off in the arena district.

In this way, his feet will be held to the fire. He will put the $55 million in right now, but he can get some of it back down the road if this massive arena district redevelopment actually happens, creating all these unexpected property taxes for the city.

This final part of the deal would be a win-win for the city and for Katz.

The city and Katz get building now. The city has Katz and his partners cover off the final $55 million. The city gets Katz and his partners with more skin in the game, more incentive to do all they can to make sure this arena and arena district are a roaring success.

And Katz get an opportunity to benefit down the road if this arena district succeeds in the way he and others imagine it can.

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 05.09.2013

675606 Los Angeles Kings

Kings beat Blues, 3-2, to move within a win of advancing in playoffs

Helene Elliott

May 8, 2013, 9:35 p.m.

ST. LOUIS — Kings Coach Darryl Sutter had no special message for his players after they came achingly close to beating the St. Louis Blues in regulation time Wednesday but yielded a last-minute goal and had to come back onto the ice at Scottrade Center.

He knew that no one needed instructions or a pep talk. "You practiced overtime your whole life. Stanley Cup overtime," Sutter said.

San Jose Sharks finish sweep of Vancouver Canucks San Jose Sharks finish sweep of Vancouver Canucks

Bruins beat Toronto in OT on David Krejci's third goal of night Bruins beat Toronto in OT on David Krejci's third goal of night

The word 'panic' has been stricken from L.A. Kings' vocabulary The word 'panic' has been stricken from L.A. Kings' vocabulary

Justin Williams grew up practicing it in Canada, Anze Kopitar in Slovenia and Slava Voynov in Russia, but they made their common dream come alive Wednesday and put the fifth-seeded Kings within a victory of advancing to the second round of the playoffs.

BOX SCORE: Kings 3, St. Louis 2 (OT)

Williams, speeding up the left side, found Kopitar in the middle, and he fed an onrushing Voynov on the right. Voynov finished off the quickly developing three-on-two with a knuckling shot that handcuffed Brian Elliott eight minutes into overtime and gave the Kings a 3-2 victory and a 3-2 series lead, halting an eight-game road losing streak and putting the Kings in position to clinch the series on Friday at Staples Center.

"I think it's very important for us to win on the road because we played so hard the last couple games here in St. Louis," Voynov said after recording his second game-winner of the series and becoming the first Kings defenseman to score a playoff overtime goal since Jaroslav Modry on April 26, 2001, against Colorado.

"It's a little bit easier for us to play in L.A. in front of our fans, so it's very important for us."

If anyone's nerves were frayed in the fifth one-goal game of the series, it didn't show. This was another rollicking, high-tempo, hard-hitting contest,

proof that low-scoring games can be as entertaining and dramatic as scoring sprees.

Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped 34 shots and has stopped 146 of 155 in the series. Drew Doughty played 33 minutes and 37 seconds. Fellow defensemen Rob Scuderi (five blocked shots in 23:44), Voynov (24:21) and Robyn Regehr (25:10 interrupted by repairs to his bloodied face after he was hit by a shot) were unflappable when the Kings needed them to be poised.

"It's nice to be on the good side of the one-goal games. It's a lot more enjoyable," said Kopitar, who said he knew Voynov was on his right as they dashed up ice in overtime.

"Playoffs are tight. Every single play on the ice counts. We were pretty close to finishing it off in regulation and we didn't do it, but I thought it was a great job from the guys to regroup and come back strong in OT."

They went to overtime after Alex Pietrangelo's shot from the right point, set up when David Backes beat Jarret Stoll on a faceoff, sailed through a forest of bodies and eluded Quick with 44.1 seconds left in the third. The Blues had pulled Elliott in favor of an extra skater.

"I stepped off the angle to find it. I saw him release it," Quick said. "As it was coming I just couldn't find it, after it came off his stick. Usually when you see it come off his stick it gives you a better chance of stopping it.

"I couldn't seem to pick it up. It was disappointing at the time, but we were able to bounce back and get one there in overtime, which was huge."

Jeff Carter scored the Kings' first two goals. He gave them a 1-0 lead 14 seconds into the second period by converting the rebound of a shot by Doughty, but the Blues matched that at 6:46, after two giveaways by a flustered Jake Muzzin allowed Alex Steen to capture the puck twice and lift a shot over Quick's right shoulder.

Carter scored during a power play 54 seconds into the third period off a pass from Kopitar, and the Kings nursed that lead until Pietrangelo struck.

"It was our best effort of the year. We played a hell of a hockey game," Blues Coach Ken Hitchcock said. "And if we play like that again, I like our chances."

The Kings' chances seem better at home, with a nine-game winning streak there. Game 7 would be Monday in St. Louis.

"We're comfortable at home," Carter said. "We've been playing some good hockey there. To get back in front of our fans is a huge boost for us. We'll go back and try to win a game."

Not just a game — another step toward defending their title.

LA Times: LOADED: 05.09.2013


Kings top Blues to take 3-2 series lead

R.B. FALLSTROM

\ST. LOUIS – The Kings had every reason to be deflated.

Instead, they're going home with a chance to wrap up their first-round series against the St. Louis Blues because they refused to let a letdown linger.

Defenseman Slava Voynov scored on an odd-man rush eight minutes into overtime and the defending Stanley Cup champions, after surrendering the lead in the final minute of regulation, beat the Blues for the third straight time with a 3-2 victory Wednesday night.

“We are a resilient group,” said Jeff Carter, who had the Kings' other two goals. “A lot of guys have been through a lot of different experiences over their careers and I think we all kind of draw off that.

“We don't get too high, we don't get too low, and that's a big thing for us.”

Game 6 is at Staples Center on Friday night and the Kings have won nine in a row at home, including the regular season.

Blues rookie Jaden Schwartz took Voynov's winner hard, smashing his stick several times against the sideboards and glass before leaving the ice.

“We lost an important hockey game. Frustration is definitely part of it,” Schwartz said. “We live to fight another day.”

Coach Ken Hitchcock didn't sound at all defeated, calling Game 5 the team's best overall effort of the series and calling overtime “a crapshoot.”

“If we play like that again, I like our chances,” Hitchcock said. “All we've got to do is win a road game and get it back here.”

Alex Pietrangelo scored on a wrist shot from the point with 44.1 seconds remaining in regulation and goalie Brian Elliott off for an extra attacker. That forced overtime for the second time in the series, and was the third goal in the final minute of the third period in the series.

“I saw him release it,” Quick said. “Usually when you see it come off the stick you have a better chance of stopping it, but I just couldn't seem to pick it up, so it was disappointing at the time.

“But we were able to bounce back and get one there in overtime, which was huge.”

The Kings' Justin Williams scored in the final minute of a 2-1 overtime loss in Game 1, also in St. Louis. The Blues had a 2-0 series lead after Barret Jackman scored in the final minute of Game 2.

All five games have been decided by one goal, the only first-round series with that distinction.

The Kings ended the Blues' eight-game home win streak in which Elliott allowed one goal each time.

Carter scored in the opening minute of the second and third periods and Quick had another strong game for the Kings, the first road team to win in the series.

Voynov scored the only goal in the Kings' 1-0 Game 3 victory. That had been the defenseman's lone point of the series before he joined the attack and slid the puck underneath Elliott's pads off a setup by Anze Kopitar, confessing he'd been aiming high to the glove side.

“I think it's very important for us to win on the road because we played so hard the last couple of games in St. Louis,” Voynov said. “So it will be a little bit easier for us to play in Los Angeles, where are fans are.”

Alex Steen's third goal of the series tied it at 1 in the second period for St. Louis. Steen, whose short-handed overtime goal decided Game 1, twice took the puck from defenseman Jake Muzzin on the play.

Pietrangelo got the puck at the point off a clean faceoff win by David Backes and slid into the middle before threading a shot past Quick after two teammates were unsuccessful at deflection attempts.

Carter's power-play goal capitalized on a tripping penalty to Jackman at the end of the second period. Kopitar got Elliott out of position on an odd-man rush before Carter converted a one-timer to put the Kings up 2-1.

The Blues dominated much of the scoreless opening period, responding from their fadeout while blowing a pair of leads in a 4-3 loss in Game 4. The reunited CPR fourth line of Adam Cracknell, Chris Porter and Ryan Reaves had a handful of nice scoring chances in addition to setting the tone physically.

It took the Kings just 14 seconds to take the lead in the second period, though, when Carter tapped a rebound past Elliott. Carter, among the NHL leaders with 26 goals, had no points in the first three games.

The Blues' No. 1 line was victimized again, with Patrik Berglund and David Perron on the ice for the fifth straight goal by the Kings.

Steen tied it a little over five minutes later. Steen knocked Muzzin's clearing effort out of the air with his stick and won a battle for the puck behind the net before wheeling around and scoring on a high shot.

NOTES

Cracknell was a healthy scratch in Game 4 in favor of rookie Vladimir Tarasenko, who made his playoff debut and was no factor. … Kings coach Darryl Sutter made one lineup change, too, scratching D Keaton Ellerby in favor of 21-year-old rookie F Tyler Toffoli, who made his playoff debut. D Matt Greene, still getting into condition after missing virtually the entire season, has yet to appear in the series. … Mike Richards assisted on Carter's second goal and has three assists the last two games.



KINGS 3, ST. LOUIS 2 (OT): Jeff Carter scores twice, Slava Voynov nets winner in overtime as L.A. takes Game 5, series lead

05/08/2013 10:47:48 PM PDT

Staff Writer

ST. LOUIS -- Turns out the reports of the demise of the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings might have been a bit premature.

Slava Voynov scored eight minutes into overtime to give the Kings a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night, which also gave Los Angeles a lead in the first-round series by the same margin.

The Kings lost the first two games of the series last week in St. Louis but won Games 3 and 4 at home before prevailing Wednesday at Scottrade Center.

Voynov scored the winning goal on a three-on-two rush, taking a pass from Anze Kopitar and sliding a shot under the pads of St. Louis goalie Brian Elliott, giving the Kings their first road win in nine games and handing the Blues their first home loss in nine games.

"I saw that it was a three-on-two, and I jumped the rush on the right side and it was a nice pass from Kopi," Voynov said.

All five games in the series have been decided by one goal.

Jeff Carter scored both of Los Angeles' goals in regulation Wednesday, and he said going home with the lead gives the Kings a big advantage. Los Angeles has won its past nine games at Staples Center.

"We're comfortable at home," Carter said. "We've played some good hockey there. Obviously to get back home in front of our fans is a huge boost for us, and we'll go back and try to win the game.

"I thought we did a lot of good things. Starting the series 0-2 wasn't the best start. It wasn't the start we were

looking for, but we worked on things and we talked about things, and I think it's showing in our game now."

St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock praised the effort of his team and said he did not believe the series over, basically repeating the same message he said last week when the Blues led the series by two games.

"This is not over," Hitchcock said. "Somebody's got to win another hockey game, and if we can raise our spirits again and go at it again like we did, I like our chances.

"It was our best effort collectively of the year. We played a hell of a hockey game. If we play like that again, I like our chances. All we have to do is win a road game to get it back here again. If that is how we play and the effort and the all-in attitude, I really like our chances. We had no passengers today. We had an all-in mentality. If you are lamenting anything, it's that we missed the net on some shots that gave them some exits which could have kept them in the zone for even longer periods of time."

The Blues were only 44 seconds away from losing in regulation when Alex Pietrangelo fired a wrist shot past Jonathan Quick to tie the game and send it into overtime. The goal came with Elliott off the ice in favor of an extra attacker.

It was the second overtime game in the series, which now heads back to Los Angeles for Game 6 on Friday night. If Game 7 is necessary, it would be played Monday night in St. Louis.

"We are a resilient group," Carter said. "A lot of guys have been through a lot of different experiences over their careers, and I think we all kind of draw off that. We don't get too high, we don't get too low, and that's a big thing for us."

Quick was happy to get the win in overtime after allowing the late tying goal, the third goal scored in the series in the final minute of regulation.

"It was another one-goal game but we came out on top," he said. "We've got another one to win, so we're going to go home and get our rest

(Thursday) and get ready for the following day. We've still got a lot of work to do, so we're going to get ready for this next one."

It would not be a surprise if that game goes into overtime either.

"Overtime is a crapshoot," Hitchcock said. "We won a game in overtime that they were probably thinking they were going to win. I know to win the Cup you've got to win most of your overtime games, but to me, the way we played, that's what we have to build on. Effort is all you can ask this time of year. You need an all-in mentality, and we had that."

The Kings took a 2-1 lead on Carter's second goal of the game, which came on a power-play goal just 54 seconds into the final period. He was left alone in front of the net and took a pass from Kopitar and fired a shot past Elliott.

The Kings had opened the period on the power play because of a tripping penalty called against the Blues' Barret Jackman with five seconds left in the second period. It was only the second power-play goal of the series for the Kings.

After a scoreless first period, the Kings took a 1-0 lead just 14 seconds into the second period. Carter knocked in a rebound of a shot by Drew Doughty for his second goal of the series.

The Blues tied the score at 6:46 of the period when Alexander Steen stole the puck and skated from behind his net before firing a shot past Quick. It was Steen's team-leading third goal of the playoffs.

Hitchcock knows what it is going to take for the Blues to win on Friday and force the seventh game in St. Louis.

"They are the defending Stanley Cup champions," he said. "They compete on every puck. You have a choice, either compete on every puck or get pushed out of the game. It's pretty simple. They don't give you any easy ice, so you have to go out there and compete. If you're not willing to do it, over the course of 60 minutes they wear you down. What's impressed me is that we are going in there and we're fighting like crazy."

NOTES: The Blues made one lineup change for Game 5, with Adam Cracknell returning as part of the fourth line with Ryan Reaves and Chris Porter. Rookie Vladimir Tarasenko was a healthy scratch. ... The Kings scratched defenseman Keaton Ellerby and inserted forward Tyler Toffoli in the lineup for the first time in the series. ... The winner of the St. Louis-Los Angeles series will not have to play the top-seeded Chicago Blackhawks in the second round, thanks to the San Jose Sharks' upset of the Vancouver Canucks. Either the Sharks or the Detroit Red Wings will play the Blackhawks in the second round, with the Blues or Kings playing either San Jose or the Anaheim Ducks.

LA Daily News: LOADED: 05.09.2013


Game 5: Los Angeles at St. Louis

JonRosen

8 May 2013, 5:29 pm

Los Angeles Kings 0, St. Louis Blues 0

First Period, 4:54 remaining

SOG: LAK – 5; STL – 9

PP: LAK – 0/1; STL – 0/0

First Period

Los Angeles Kings (5) at St. Louis Blues (4)

Best of Seven – Series Tied 2-2

Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 6:00 PM PT

Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO

Referees: #32 Tom Kowal, #23 Brad Watson

Linesmen: #68 Scott Driscoll, #97 Jean Morin

LAK scratches: G Martin Jones, G J.F. Berube, D Matt Greene, D Keaton Ellerby, F Brad Richardson, F Jordan Nolan, F Nick Shore

LAK starting lineup: G Jonathan Quick, D Robyn Regehr, D Drew Doughty, LW Dwight King, C Mike Richards, RW Jeff Carter

STL scratches: G Jake Allen, D Kris Russell, F Scott Nichol, F Andrew Murray, F Dmitrij Jaskin, D Ian Cole, D Jeff Woywitka, D Jani Hakanpaa, D Taylor Chorney, F Evgeny Grachev, F Vladimir Tarasenko

STL starting lineup: G Brian Elliott, D Roman Polak, D Barret Jackman, LW David Perron, C Patrik Berglund, RW TJ Oshie

LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 05.09.2013


May 8 morning skate quotes: Regehr, Brown

JonRosen

8 May 2013, 2:56 pm

Robyn Regehr, on the team’s strong defensive play throughout much of Game 4:

“To stay aggressive and assertive, especially on the pucks, on bodies, and when we do get the puck to make the responsible play, and I think that that’s what you saw. Guys were creating turnovers, and once we got the puck, we were doing a very good job in getting it in behind the Blues and just forechecking. Make them come through each one of us again. When you do that, it’s tough, because if there’s any little mistake that’s made, then it’s a turnover and you can go at them again. So that’s what we had to do, and also when the puck was in our zone, we’ve made some adjustments to their forecheck. I’m not going to go into that, but we’ve made some adjustments there, and we’re doing a better job here the last couple games of dealing with that.”

Regehr, on whether momentum is on the Kings’ side:

“I don’t know if you can really gauge that too much. I think what’s going to happen is there’s going to be a big push here at the start of this game, and we’re well aware of that. We know what we have to do, and we have to deal with that. How we deal with that is going to be a big part of this game coming up, and how we push back. Those are the kind of things that we’re thinking about and we’re aware of.”

Regehr, on his nose:

“I can breathe. [Reporter: You can smell the smelly equipment in here?] Yeah, it’s actually good if you can’t smell inside a hockey dressing room.”

Regehr, on what has to happen to allow a road team to win a game in the series:

“Well, I think if you look at the first two games, even though the scores were very close, I think you ask guys in this dressing room, and they’ll tell you that we didn’t play particularly well. It was a little bit flattering, I think, Jonathan kept us in the first game and we were outplayed quite badly in stretches. The second game was a little closer, but we just have to do a better job of playing the type of game that we did in three and four, and bring that on the road. It shouldn’t matter what building you’re playing in, or what opponent you’re playing. There’s a certain way that we have to play, and we have to go out and execute that each and every time we go [out].”

Brown, on limiting post-whistle scrums:

“Yeah, I think the games are too important. The penalty, power plays – they’re too important to be getting revenge after the whistles. It’s during the play that you really play hard and make it hard on them. After-the-whistle stuff, you’ve just got to leave that alone.”

Brown, on the physicality of the series:

“Yeah, I mean we knew this coming in. It’s probably more of the same in Game 5. It’s not like anything has changed for either team, really. It’s just a matter of preparing to do the right things to win.”

Brown, on four consecutive one-goal games:

“I mean, we knew it was going to be a tight series. If you look at the way the teams are built, what each team is good at, we’re both really good defensive teams and both have good goalies so you’ve got to work really hard to find goals. I think it’s going to be more of the same in Game 5. I mean, like I said before, nothing’s changed for either team, really. It’s just getting ready to go again.”

Brown on what the team has to do to transfer its success at home to the road:

“Simplify. I mean, we have our gameplan. It’s a matter of executing that. I know there’s a lot of that just simplifying your decision making. Sometimes it’s just a chip-in as opposed to trying to make a riskier play for a better opportunity. Sometimes it’s grinding it out. It’s important for us just to take care of the details.”



Robyn Regehr, on his Game 4 Ryan Reaves hit

JonRosen

8 May 2013, 2:34 pm

It’s always interesting to hear a player provide the reasoning behind how a play develops. The decision-making process is so sped up and chaotic that it’s fascinating to hear a player break down an individual play by clarifying the multiple split-second decisions made prior to a critical point. Here, Robyn Regehr analyzes his heavy behind-the-net hit on Ryan Reaves late in the second period of Game 4, which ended some brief St. Louis offensive zone time.

“Well, there was just a play where he was bringing the puck up the ice,” Regehr said. “We got to the neutral zone. I had a tight gap on him. I was trying to force him to make a play, and he just put the puck behind me and was going to chip it to himself. He ended up going around, and we raced for the puck. I let him have it at that first part, and then he tried to cut behind the net. That’s when I cut him off with an angle. That’s just kind of basically how it happened, and I forget who our player was after it, but they were right there to grab the puck, and away we went. It was a good job of positioning – I believe it was our forward. You get the puck back, and you don’t play in your zone a whole lot, and away you go.”



Sutter needs defensemen to play “like veterans”

JonRosen

8 May 2013, 12:52 pm

Alec Martinez, who has recorded two assists in two games since being placed in the Los Angeles Kings’ lineup for the first time since April 2, is being asked to give a little bit more from Darryl Sutter – as is the rest of a young defense.

“So he’s given us 12 minutes. Is 12 minutes enough? No. We need a little more in both ways – quality and quantity,” Sutter said of Martinez following the team’s morning skate at the Scottrade Center on Wednesday.

“Whether we like it or not, we are not a veteran defense. Marty…played a grand total of maybe a hundred games or whatever in the NHL. I don’t even know. But he’s got to play like one of our veterans. It can’t be just Robyn and Drew and Slava and Robbie playing like veterans. You need everybody to.”

The minutes Martinez has been able to provide have been encouraging. He has picked his opportunities to activate through the neutral zone and was a part of the reason the Kings found themselves in more odd-man rushes in Game 4 than they had experienced in the first three games of the series.

“He’s brought a little bit more speed into our lineup. You know what? He hadn’t earned his right to play, and we put him in when we were down two-nothing in the series,” Sutter said. “Quite honest, he got hurt in here during the regular season the second or third shift of the game, and we had never seen him play at the level – whether it was confidence or compete, whatever it was – but he never got back to it. He didn’t earn his right, very simple. He didn’t play to his potential, and we were down in the series and we decided to put him back in.”

Should Martinez be able to increase his workload from the 12:44 of ice time he has averaged, it will alleviate some of the heavy time allotted to Drew Doughty, Rob Scuderi, Robyn Regehr and Slava Voynov, all of whom are averaging over 20 and a half minutes of ice time per game in the playoffs.

Doughty’s 28:34 of average playoff ice time ranks third in the league and is over two minutes more than the 26:23 he averaged during the regular season. Over a long series – especially one with the level of physicality as Kings-Blues – excess ice time has the potential to take its toll on a blue line.

“You’ll see a difference in top guys, right? Guys who play lots of minutes, that’s where you see it, and one of the issues you have always with top guys is they play special teams. Most of them kill and play on the power play, so you’ve got to be really careful just trying to manage it,” Sutter said. “It doesn’t sound like much, but a couple of minutes a game is a lot. If you look at the defensemen on both teams, three guys have played a lot, and you watch and see how they play.”



Game 5 lineup notes

JonRosen

8 May 2013, 11:16 am

Projected Lines – Los Angeles

Dustin Brown – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams

Dwight King – Mike Richards – Jeff Carter

Dustin Penner – Jarret Stoll – Trevor Lewis

Kyle Clifford – Colin Fraser

Robyn Regehr – Drew Doughty

Jake Muzzin – Slava Voynov

Alec Martinez – Rob Scuderi

Keaton Ellerby

Jonathan Quick

Jonathan Bernier

-No lineup changes are expected for Los Angeles, though Sutter wouldn’t confirm that he’d continue playing 11 forwards and seven defensemen. It was a subject raised when he was asked to comment about St. Louis reuniting the “CPR Line” of Adam Cracknell, Chris Porter and Ryan Reaves after Vladimir Tarasenko replaced Cracknell in Game 4. “You know what? I don’t know yet what we’re doing, if we’re going to go seven-11, quite honest,” Sutter said. “That’s an effective line for [St. Louis]. If I was them, I’d do it too. It was an effective line at home for ‘em, and they didn’t play many minutes on the road. Quite honest, we’re a little different. Our fourth line, we’ve had one guy struggle the whole year. It didn’t matter who it was, whoever we put on the fourth line, either the centerman or the right winger, struggled the whole year. That’s kind of what we’re up against, too. We played Richardson in Game 1. Played Fras in Game 2. Played Jordie in

both. I’m just looking for the right answer there, that’s all. At the end of the day, those guys give you seven-to-10 minutes. They’d better give it to you.”

Projected Lines – St. Louis

Jaden Schwartz – David Backes – Alex Steen

Andy McDonald – Vladimir Sobotka – Chris Stewart

David Perron – Patrik Berglund – T.J. Oshie

Adam Cracknell – Chris Porter – Ryan Reeves

Jay Bouwmeester – Alex Pietrangelo

Jordan Leopold – Kevin Shattenkirk

Barret Jackman – Roman Polak

Brian Elliott

Jaroslav Halak

-David Backes took a maintenance morning, though he is expected to play tonight. In the unlikely event Backes is not available to play, Alex Steen would center Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko as indicated by line rushes at the morning skate. On whether Backes was available tonight – and whether he was planning on reinserting Adam Cracknell into the lineup – Ken Hitchock said, “You know not to comment on personnel.” Hitchcock also had lofty praise for Vladimir Sobotka’s hockey intelligence. “When you watch him play, any time we’re doing highlight videos of how to play the position, he pops up on every video. He just is such a great outlet and helps so many – whether it’s a winger, a defenseman, or in any of the three zones, he just helps us so much,” he said.



May 8 morning skate quotes: Justin Williams

JonRosen

8 May 2013, 10:35 am

On whether the feeling in the room has changed since the last time L.A. was in St. Louis:

“Regardless of where we play, we haven’t played well in this building. We haven’t done enough to win hockey games in this building, and we’re coming in here to win one game. I know coach Sutter said that, and I’m going to reiterate it. We’re here to focus on tonight’s game, and try and build off our two wins.”

On whether Game 4 was the team’s best defensive performance despite the goals allowed:

“I don’t know All I know is that as the game progressed, we got stronger. But as I said after the game, it’s not a time to relax now that it’s 2-2. It’s a time to have that instinct to go after it and keep it down and take this crowd out of it as quickly as we can tonight.”

On the response expected from St. Louis in Game 5:

“I mean, every game is different. Every game has its own little story, I guess, of how it progresses. We’re focusing on our start. We’re focusing on period one. We’re not waiting to see how this game is going to turn out. We’re going to go and try and dictate it.



Backes update; Quick hits with Jaden Schwartz

JonRosen

8 May 2013, 9:21 am

The news out of the St. Louis Blues’ morning skate on Wednesday was that David Backes was not on the ice. It was due to a “maintenance day,” according to Jaden Schwartz in the audio clip below, in response to a question asked by the LA Times’ Helene Elliott. According to Schwartz and this tweet by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeremy Rutherford, Backes is expected to play tonight. In Backes’ absence, Alex Steen was centering Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko.

I wouldn’t get too alarmed about Backes. He’s done the “maintenance” day before. Good assumption this is what it is again. #stlblues



Good morning, St. Louis

JonRosen

8 May 2013, 7:05 am

Behold, the expansive landscape of Clark Avenue. If you are familiar with this blog’s “Good morning” series, you have seen all three of these landmarks before. Pictured above is the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse, the largest single courthouse in the United States (now – with American flag!). Pictured below, you have a parking garage that casts an eerie fluorescent glow at night and is full only for Cardinals games. And below that photograph is the vacant lot that will soon hold the St. Louis Ballpark Village but as of now holds only construction and excavation equipment. It is the site of the former Busch Memorial Stadium. If this sounds familiar, it is because this hotel room is familiar.

I’m taping a SiriusXM NHL Network interview shortly; I’ll post the audio on the blog. The Kings are scheduled to hit the ice at 11:30. I should have updates and a quick interview from the Blues’ skate prior to that.



May 8 postgame quotes: Darryl Sutter

JonRosen

8 May 2013, 10:26 pm

On the team’s resiliency in winning a game after surrendering a late lead:

“It’s the very same. It’s three times this series it’s been in the last minute. They tie it up. They go ahead. We won in overtime. It’s just the way it goes. How you describe resiliency? I think both teams are fairly resilient.”

On Trevor Lewis’ performance:

“He’s a good two-way player for us, night in and night out.”

On Jeff Carter’s performance:

“He scored two big goals. Say what you want, he’s done that two games in a row when you think that two-nothing, he makes it two-one back in L.A., and tonight, the goal at the start of the third.

On whether the team goes back home with a three-two lead “with the comforts of home”:

“Not really, Both teams have got some significant travel in front of them. Both teams have played five tough games.”

On whether he had any particular message heading into overtime:

“Second, third effort. Everybody wants to be in there. You practice overtime your whole life. Stanley Cup overtime.”

On Drew Doughty being used heavily:

“Yeah, those four defensemen played awesome for us. Regehr, Doughty, Scuderi, Voynov are significant players.”



May 8 postgame quotes: Jeff Carter

JonRosen

8 May 2013, 10:19 pm

On scoring three times in the last two games:

“I think as the team plays better, everybody kind of feels better. There’s not many opportunities out there for anybody. It’s real tight, and I think when we’re getting the opportunities we really have to bear down on ‘em. I got a couple gimmes tonight, but it’s still a work in progress.”

On the resiliency to win a game after surrendering a late goal:

“We’re a resilient group, There are a lot of guys that have been through a lot of different experiences over their careers that are good or bad in the playoffs. I think we all kind of draw from that. We don’t get too high. We don’t get too low, and it’s a big thinig for us. The goal is just pretty much a typical overtime goal. They’re never real pretty. You get the puck, you shoot it. They’re greasy ones, so it’s good.”

On the mental challenge of playing consistently in one-goal games:

“Yeah, it’s a grind. Every shift’s a battle. There’s not one shift that goes by that you’re not in a battle on the boards or a battle down low or somewhere. It’s tough. It’s tough, no doubt about it. It takes a toll on you. But I think it’s been going both ways. These are the =fun ones, the’re the ones you have to grind out. It’s definitely a good feeling tonight.”

On Jonathan Quick’s performance:

“He’s been great for us. If it wasn’t for him, we might be in a different position right now. He’s been real strong. He’s been making some great saves for us, keeping us in games at times . That’s all you can ask for from your goalie, right?”



May 8 postgame quotes: Anze Kopitar

JonRosen

8 May 2013, 10:18 pm

On weathering a game-tying goal and St. Louis momentum early in overtime:

“It’s one of those things where you’re so close to getting it, and getting on the flight and going home, but you’ve got to regroup and we have enough experience in this locker room that knows what it takes to go through OT. I thought we came out pretty strong. We were throwing pucks at the net, and in overtime every shot’s a good shot. The most important thing, we finished it off.”

On Slava Voynov’s game-winning goal:

“Well, Justin had it on the wall. I saw we had numbers coming up the ice, and I just wanted to go through the middle and drive the net to give him a little space, but then I think it was their D that pinched him off, and he was able to slide it to me. I saw Slava going down the other side, and he was able to bury it, so it was good.”

On the emotion of being able to close the series out on Friday at home:

“It’s great. It’s all we wanted. You want to get this win. You want to have the chance to close it out at home. We all know the fourth one’s going to be the toughest one, but we’re going to have to get ready for it and play our game.”



May 8 postgame quotes: Jonathan Quick

JonRosen

8 May 2013, 10:16 pm

On an “intense” game:

“Yeah, another one-goal game. But we came out on top. We’ve got another one to win. So we’re going to go home and get our rest tomorrow and get ready for the following day.”

On whether he was screened on the game-tying goal late in the third period:

“You know what it was? I stepped off the angle to find it. I saw him release it. As it was coming, I just couldn’t find it after it came off his stick. Usually when you see it come off his stick, you have a better chance of stopping it. I just couldn’t seem to pick it up. It was disappointing at the time, but we were able to bounce back and get one there in the overtime, which was huge. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, so we’re going to get ready for this next one.”

On the amount of confidence gained from winning on the road:

“It doesn’t mean anything because we’re going home. We’re playing a home game next, so that’s all we’re worrying about.”

On weathering a game-tying goal and an early overtime push by St, Louis:

“They’ve been loud all three games, all game, so it’s nothing that we’re not used to. We go back to Staples, and they’re just as loud if not louder. So we’re looking forward to having 18,000 behind our back this time instead of going against them.”



May 8 postgame quotes: Slava Voynov

JonRosen

8 May 2013, 9:50 pm

On his game-winning goal:

“I saw the two-on-two, and I just joined the rush on the right side. Nice pass from Kopi.”

On whether he was trying to shoot high and fanned on the shot:

“I tried shooting high glove, but a little bit of luck.”

On the win:

“Yeah, for sure. Everybody is excited that we won the game. Go home, go to the next game.”

On his second game-winning goal in the series:

“It doesn’t matter. I just play hockey, and I try to help guys with the game.”

On winning a road game in the series:

“I think it’s very important for us to win on the road, because we played so hard the last couple of games here in St. Louis. So we play a little bit easy for us to play in LA, for our fans. It’s very important for us.”

On Jonathan Quick’s performance:

“Quickie played very well today. All defensemen and maybe players played [with]…composure. I know Quickie is behind me, and he helped me all the time.”

On his own personal feeling of scoring in overtime:

“I’ve scored before in Manchester an overtime goal. So I knew…how it feels…I’m so excited and happy to help the guys win a game.”


675622 Minnesota Wild

Scoggins: It's easy to see talent gap between Wild, Blackhawks

Article by: CHIP SCOGGINS , May 9, 2013 - 12:12 AM

The Blackhawks simply have more talent than the Wild.

Patrick Sharp celebrated with teammate Marian Hossa as the Blackhawks scored in the first period against the Wild on Tuesday night.

The Wild’s season of grand expectations could reach its finality Thursday night and, by the look of things, the odds of any other conclusion seem fairly remote.

To recap: The Wild has a revolving door at goalie; its best player is a minus-6 for the series and its captain is minus-5; the team uncorked 68 shots in Game 4 and scored zero goals; and the power play is a robust 0-for-15 for the series.

Even more disconcerting, the Chicago Blackhawks returned home with a 3-1 series lead and a chance to close things out, despite receiving zero goals so far from its dazzling top line as a unit.

So other than that ...

As the Wild attempts to extend this series somehow, many of its fans still bemoan the circumstances that brought the team to this point, specifically a 6-1 choke job to Edmonton on the next-to-last day of the regular season. If the Wild doesn’t lay that egg — or another one against Calgary a few days earlier — it would have secured a better seed and avoided the Blackhawks in the opening round after locking up the eighth seed in its final game.

If it had beaten Edmonton or Calgary, the Wild would have drawn the Vancouver Canucks, who went down without much fight in a series sweep by San Jose. That supposition, however, overlooks the fact that there are no guarantees the Wild would have fared any better against a different opponent. Sure, its odds would have been exponentially more favorable, but the Wild hasn’t earned the right to take anything for granted.

If anything, this playoff series has provided the organization a true picture of the gap that still separates itself from the league’s best team and future division rival. Watch the way the Blackhawks move the puck, control possession and are able to find another gear when the situation calls for it (See: Games 2 and 4).

Injuries to Niklas Backstrom, Jason Pominville and Dany Heatley provide some cover and valid discussion about whether the series would be more competitive if the Wild stood at full strength from the start. But the

discrepancy in overall talent, speed, skill and depth between these two teams is not difficult to discern.

The Blackhawks are a great team, the Wild is a good team.

Of course, that doesn’t preclude the Wild from being able to have success, because we’ve seen stranger things happen in playoff hockey. The Wild went toe-to-toe with the Hawks in Games 1 and 3.

Chicago’s series lead has nothing to do with effort, either. The Wild is competing hard and playing physical. Nobody appears to be just going through the motions on the ice.

The Hawks simply have better talent, top to bottom. Conversely, the Wild’s best players have either been exposed, disappeared or been unable to execute consistently against a very good opponent.

Chicago has a handful of players blessed with high-end talent. The Wild has two players who fit that description — Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.

The Wild needs to continue to make moves that will help close that gap because it joins the Blackhawks in a division next season under the NHL’s new realignment plan. The move should rekindle an old bloodthirsty rivalry of yesteryear, and that’s a good thing.

But Wild owner Craig Leipold and management must find ways to improve this team so that a playoff series against the Blackhawks isn’t categorized as a mismatch before it even begins. Leipold invested a lot of money in signing Parise and Suter last summer. Now the Wild needs to get bigger physically and find more scorers.

Despite its upgrade in talent, the Wild still finished 23rd in the league in scoring and 17th in total shots this season. In other words, this team needs finishers, guys who can put the puck in the net and not just be satisfied with getting scoring chances. It seems almost inconceivable that a team can attempt 68 shots in one game and not score once.

The Wild sounded like a frustrated bunch late Tuesday night, none more so than captain Mikko Koivu, whose image has taken a beating because he’s been a virtual no-show. The Wild’s deficiencies extend beyond one player, but this series should put to rest the team’s insistence that Koivu is an underappreciated star.

Coach Mike Yeo sounded defiant, though, when asked about Koivu and Parise’s struggles after Game 4.

“If you know them the way I do,” Yeo said, “you would be really excited to watch them play the next game.”

It’s probably too late at this point. But then again, even a strong response might not be enough to get the job done.

Star Tribune LOADED: 05.09.2013


Blackhawks aren't taking Game 5 for granted

Article by: BOB HURST , May 9, 2013 - 12:04 AM

CHICAGO – The Chicago Blackhawks are in a place they haven’t been since winning the Stanley Cup in 2010. With a 3-1 lead in their first-round, best-of-seven series against the Wild, the Blackhawks are on the verge of winning in the first round for the first time in three seasons.

Still ...“I feel like the series is never over until the final buzzer sounds,” said Chicago forward Patrick Sharp, who has scored four goals in the past two games. “We expect Minnesota to come in and play their best game of the series here in Game 5. They’ve got a lot of character, so no question they’re going to show up and play hard tomorrow.

“We have a great opportunity to end the series, use our building, use our fans to our advantage.”

The Blackhawks still are smarting from their Game 3 loss in St. Paul.

“This is a chance to redeem ourselves for the way we played in Game 3,” Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said. “Everyone’s saying we haven’t played our best game yet in this series, so we got to get as close to that as we can.”

Game 4, a 3-0 victory on Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center, was a big improvement for Chicago.

“We ratcheted up our emotion and intensity going into that game; we still think there’s another level we want to get to,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.

Frantic day

Defenseman Duncan Keith became a father for the first time Tuesday, just hours before Game 4. After hearing that wife Kelly-Rae was in labor, Keith flew to Chicago on Monday night, was present for the birth of his son Colton at 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, and flew back to Minnesota in time for the game.

“A whirlwind, the last 24 hours,” Keith said. “So much excitement getting to see my little boy.”

Keith arrived at Xcel Energy Center at 6:30 p.m. and played 24 minutes in the Blackhawks’ victory.

Getting defensive

Chicago put the clamps on the Wild offense in Game 4, shutting it out. The Blackhawks clogged the shooting lanes, blocked 26 shots, and goaltender Corey Crawford made 25 saves.

The Blackhawks’ depth and play of their forwards has been a key during the series, and all season, when they led the NHL with 2.02 goals against per game, compared with 2.82 (22nd) last season.

“The goals-against have been cut dramatically from this season to last; a lot of that has to do with the five guys on the ice,” Sharp said. “Our goaltenders have been strong all season long. I think whoever’s on the ice, the three forwards, two defense, we kind of work as a unit protecting our net. Blocking shots, keeping pucks out of our end — that’s been a huge reason why we’ve been winning games.”

Perfect kill

Chicago killed off six Wild power-play opportunities in Game 4, and the Wild is 0-for-15 in the series.

Much of the Blackhawks’ success has been due to the play of forwards Michael Frolik and Marcus Kruger.

“They’ve done a great job, they’ve kind of taken that unit over,” Sharp said. “They’re out there first every penalty kill. They’ve got great reads, great sticks and they’re willing to block a lot of shots. They’re a big reason why our penalty kill has been solid all season.”



Reusse: Blackhawks' Hossa again proving he made the right move

Article by: PATRICK REUSSE , May 9, 2013

The exceptional two-way forward parlayed free agency into a Stanley Cup and could be in line for another.

The Blackhawks' Marian Hossa controlled the puck against Wild goalie Josh Harding during the second period of Game 2 in Chicago on Friday.

Craig Leipold had been approved as the new majority owner of the Wild in April 2008. The NHL’s free-agent period opened a couple of months later, and it became clear the Wild was ready to end what had been a largely conservative stance when it came to spending.

Marian Hossa was near the top of that free-agent class. The Wild wanted him for a couple of reasons: A) to upgrade its play up front substantially; and B) to increase the chances that Marian Gaborik, Hossa’s pal from Slovakia, would re-sign with the team rather than leave as a free agent in the summer of 2009. (He left.)

The Wild offered Hossa an eight-year contract for $8 million per year. The 29-year-old lost in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals with Pittsburgh. He wanted the best chance to win and signed a one-year deal with Detroit for $7.45 million.

“The Wild made him a very significant offer,’’ Hossa’s agent Ritch Winter told the Star Tribune’s Michael Russo. “It’s not really an insult to anybody. Marian had a good long talk with Doug [Risebrough], but this was a chance to play for one of the greatest teams ever assembled.’’

The Red Wings lost to Pittsburgh in the 2009 Finals. This gave commentators around the NHL a chance to ridicule Hossa, since he had left the Penguins in his search for a Stanley Cup.

Hossa was a free agent again in the summer of 2009. He went through his options once more, with more of an eye toward winning the NHL’s big prize than total dollars.

He didn’t go back to Detroit; rather, Hossa signed a 12-year contract with Chicago worth $62.8 million. That’s an average of $5.23 million … almost chump change in today’s NHL for a player of Hossa’s standing.

“We all thought the Blackhawks had a great group of young players, but the sure sign of that was when Hossa decided to sign with us,’’ Tim Hickey of Frankfort, Ill., said Tuesday night. “He took less money than he could’ve gotten elsewhere — by quite a bit — because he thought Chicago was the place to win a Cup.’’

Hossa was right in this free-agent choice. The Blackhawks beat Philadelphia in six games to win the title. It was Chicago’s first Stanley Cup since 1961.

Hickey is confident his Hawks will collect another Cup next month. He was standing outside the Lodge bar located on the locker room-level of the Xcel Energy Center. The Blackhawks had whipped the Wild 3-0 to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.

“What really makes a fan appreciate Hossa is that he’s so skilled on offense, and he’s also great on defense,’’ Hickey said. “He’s always making big plays. He got us started tonight.’’

Hossa picked a Mikko Koivu pass at the Wild’s blue line. He made a quick move, fed Michal Handzus, and his shot was tipped by Patrick Sharp for a 1-0 lead at 8:45 of the first period. And that was enough.

The Blackhawks are trying to get out of the first round for the first time since 2010. The salary cap pummeled the Blackhawks with personnel losses after they won the Cup.

They were eliminated in seven games by Vancouver in the 2011 first round. They were eliminated in six games by Phoenix in the 2012 first round.

The key moment came in Game 3, when the Coyotes’ Raffi Torres delivered a vicious blow to Hossa’s head. It was such a horrendous cheap shot that in a league where punishment is handed out in drips, Torres was given a 25-game suspension.

There were thoughts that Hossa’s career could be in jeopardy. He went through seven months of rehabilitation before resuming hockey activities. You watch him now, and even with Toews and Kane and Sharp and Saad, there’s an inclination to say Hossa is the best forward on the ice.

“He’s unbelievable,’’ said Nick Leddy, the Blackhawks defenseman from Eden Prairie. “Marian makes it so much easier on the ‘D,’ the way he comes back and covers guys. The play on our first goal … typical Marian.’’

Chicago coach Joel Quenne- ville gave the Chicago Sun-Times what seems the perfect review of the 34-year-old Hossa earlier this season:

“Zero maintenance from the coach’s perspective. Offensively, defensively, positionally, he’s exactly how you want your team to play.’’

Too bad there wasn’t a “greedily’’ to be used with Hossa as a player, or he might have been the first recipient of Leipold’s free-agent largesse in Minnesota five years ago.



Game 5 preview: Wild at Chicago

MICHAEL RUSSO

WILD AT CHICAGO • 8:30 P.M. • UNITED CENTER • FSN, 100.3-FM

WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS • BLACKHAWKS LEAD SERIES 3-1

Notes: Chicago’s Corey Crawford leads the NHL with a 1.39 goals-against average and .949 save percentage in the playoffs. LW Patrick Sharp leads the Blackhawks with four goals and Bryan Bickell has three. RW Patrick Kane and C Jonathan Toews have no goals, but Kane is tied for fourth in the NHL with five assists. Wild C Mikko Koivu has no points and is minus-5. LW Zach Parise has one goal and is minus-6. The Wild has scored six goals in four games. The Wild’s power play is 0-for-15.

CHICAGO LINEUP

Forward lines:

• Brandon Saad-Jonathan Toews-Marian Hossa

• Patrick Sharp-Michal Handzus-Patrick Kane

• Bryan Bickell-Andrew Shaw-Vitkor Stalberg

• Dan Carcillo-Marcus Kruger-Michael Frolik

Defensive pairs:

• Duncan Keith-Niklas Hjalmarsson

• Nick Leddy-Brent Seabrook

• Michal Rozsival-Johnny Oduya

Goalies: Corey Crawford, Henrik Karlsson

Injury report: C Dave Bolland (groin) and G Ray Emery (lower body) are doubtful.

WILD LINEUP

Forward lines:

• Zach Parise-Mikko Koivu-Charlie Coyle

• Jason Zucker-Matt Cullen-Devin Setoguchi

• P-M Bouchard-Kyle Brodziak-Jason Pominville

• Stephane Veilleux-Jake Dowell- Cal Clutterbuck

Defensive pairs:

• Ryan Suter-Jonas Brodin

• Marco Scandella-Jared Spurgeon

• Justin Falk-Tom Gilbert

Goalies: Niklas Backstrom, Darcy Kuemper

Injury report: Backstrom (lower body) is probable. G Josh Harding (lower body) and LW Mike Rupp (knee) are questionable. C Zenon Konopka (foot), RW Dany Heatley (shoulder) and D Clayton Stoner (upper body) are out.



Wild shooters aim to overcome Chicago's lane-clogging defense

Article by: RACHEL BLOUNT , May 9, 2013 -

Had he known beforehand that his team would attempt 68 shots Tuesday, coach Mike Yeo never would have believed the Wild would get shut out by Chicago. Then again, he never would have expected almost 40 percent of those chances to be snuffed out before they got to the net.

The Blackhawks blocked 26 shots as they cruised to a 3-0 victory in Game 4, leaving the Wild searching for ways to avoid a similar fate in Thursday’s Game 5 at United Center. Chicago clogged the shooting lanes throughout the game, boosting goaltender Corey Crawford to the second playoff shutout of his career. The Wild has managed only six goals in four games against a defense that allowed a league-low 2.02 goals per game during the regular season.

Yeo speculated that as players grew more tense, they began hesitating, giving the Blackhawks time to slide into shot lanes. The Wild also misfired on 17 shots, and Crawford stopped all 25 that got to him.

“I do think that when you’re squeezing the stick a little bit, as some of our players are right now, you hang onto the puck a little bit longer,’’ Yeo said. “Or maybe you’re trying to be a little too precise with your shot, and the next thing you know, you’re missing the net. We just have to kind of clear the mechanism, refocus and push all that stuff aside and just go into the game [Thursday] with the right focus.’’

Wild center Kyle Brodziak offered one solution: get moving. The Wild too often stood still, making it easier for the Blackhawks to obstruct shooting lanes. More movement with and without the puck, Brodziak said, can create more two-on-one situations and keep the defense off-balance.

“Speaking from a penalty kill perspective, the hardest power plays to defend against are the ones that are moving,’’ Brodziak said. “It’s almost impossible to keep track of everyone when there’s so much movement. That’s when it throws guys out of lanes.

“[It’s] not only puck movement, but guys have to be working. That’s when you can open up lanes and get more clear shots.’’

Cool Corey

During the regular season, Crawford split time with teammate Ray Emery, giving Chicago a stout tandem that surrendered an NHL-low 97 goals. With Emery recovering from a lower-body injury, Crawford has had to go it alone in the playoffs — and he has excelled.

Crawford leads the league in goals-against average (1.39) and save percentage (.949) in the postseason. Coach Joel Quenneville said his team’s outstanding defense in Game 4 began with the goalie, lauding him for his poise, movement in the net and rebound control.

“He seemed to have real good composure,’’ the coach said. “He’s maturing, and he’s had some good experience in big games. That consistency that he and Ray have had all year, that’s been a strength of our team.’’

Like old times

In the 1980s, after NHL realignment put the North Stars and Blackhawks into the Norris Division, a string of playoff matchups between the teams gave rise to a fierce rivalry that still resonates with Minnesota hockey fans. Quenneville said this week that this series could plant the seeds for similar antagonism between the Wild and Chicago.

The teams again will be members of the same division under a realignment plan that begins next season. Quenne- ville said he saw a rivalry develop between Chicago and Vancouver after they met in the playoffs three seasons in a row.

“We saw that emotion transfer to the following regular season,’’ he said. “Playing more games against [the Wild] now, I’m sure we’ll be able to see that progression come in the next series of regular-season games.’’

Etc.

• Yeo declined to say what kind of injury goaltender Josh Harding suffered when the Blackhawks’ Jonathan Toews collided with him in the first period of Game 4. Harding was replaced by Darcy Kuemper, but he did make the trip to Chicago on Wednesday. Yeo also would not say which goalie will start Game 5.

• Winger Mike Rupp (knee) and goalie Niklas Backstrom (lower body) also are on the trip, but defenseman Clayton Stoner (upper body) and center Zenon Konopka (foot) are not.



For the Wild, it's fight or the end

Article by: MICHAEL RUSSO , May 9, 2013 - 12:06 AM

CHICAGO – The Wild boarded a chartered aircraft for a relatively quick flight to Chicago Midway International Airport on Wednesday afternoon.

It was the first time the team gathered since blowing its chance to even the Western Conference quarterfinals at two games apiece on Tuesday night.

The Wild opted not to practice. Instead, it checked in to a downtown Chicago hotel and congregated inside a banquet hall for a video session.

It’s safe to say remedying the Wild’s sterile power play was tops on the itinerary.

“More importantly, we have other things to discuss, too,” coach Mike Yeo said cryptically.

Yeo preferred to keep what would be uttered in-house, but with the Wild’s season on the line in Game 5 on Thursday night against the Blackhawks, it’s safe to say a challenge was delivered.

After all, the Wild is on the verge of elimination.

The big guns — Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise — aren’t scoring and, worse yet, continue to play large roles in goals against (combined minus-11). The secondary scorers aren’t stepping up. The Nos. 1 and 2 goaltenders are both banged up. And the power play (0-for-15) continues to be disastrous.

Frankly, the Wild might be back to where it was 12 days ago when it faced a must-win situation in Denver to even make the playoffs. Jobs — coaches, players and beyond — could be on the line if the Wild bows out without a fight.

“We can’t be hanging our heads,” center Kyle Brodziak said. “It’s desperation time now. There’s no room for sulking or anything like that. Our backs are up against the wall, and now we’ve got to fight for our lives.”

Yeo kept potential Game 5 adjustments close to the vest Wednesday. He wouldn’t discuss possible line changes or lineup changes. He wouldn’t discuss power-play personnel adjustments or strategic changes.

He wouldn’t even provide an indication as to whether Niklas Backstrom or Josh Harding, both hampered by lower-body injuries, or rookie Darcy Kuemper would be given the nod in goal at United Center.

“We like to keep the other team guessing,” Yeo said, jokingly. “So we’re not only going to not tell them who our starting goalie is, we won’t tell them who our backup goalie is. Really leave them in the dark.”

With the Wild having scored only six times in the series and the power play a dreadful 0-for-15, we should see some tinkering there. Most critically, the Wild must find a way to get more movement in order to get Blackhawks penalty killers out of shooting lanes.

Chicago blocked 26 shots overall in a 3-0 victory Tuesday. Yeo said it’s up to the coaches to make the right moves, “whether it’s personnel, whether it’s tactical” to “give our players a good chance to succeed there.”

It all comes down to execution, and not only on the power play.

“Even look at the first period, we got three 2-on-1s, we don’t get a shot on net,” Yeo said.

Veteran Matt Cullen conceded that one of the guiltiest parties was his line, which includes Jason Zucker and Devin Setoguchi. After a strong Game 3, the trio combined for no shots in Game 4. He said it wasn’t because of any Chicago adjustments.

“We had plenty of opportunities coming through the neutral zone to maybe create something that was awfully close to being three-on-twos or two-on-ones,” Cullen said. “We put a lot of passes in the feet and just maybe a foot ahead or a foot behind. You don’t have much margin for error.”

Koivu doesn’t have a point in the series. Parise has only one goal. Brodziak says it’s up to others to step up.

“We understand that they’re playing their best players and defenders against our top guys,” he said. “It makes it very difficult for them. That’s when depth has to step up.”

The most important thing Thursday, defenseman Tom Gilbert said, it to “not think of the climb we have to win this series.”

If that happens, it’ll be overwhelming and infiltrate Game 5.

“We can’t sit here and dwell on what’s happened,” Yeo said. “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. This is where we’re at. We got ourselves here, so we have to get ourselves out of it.”



Minnesota Wild: Punchless power play presents perplexing problem

By Chad Graff/Posted: 05/08/2013 12:01:00 AM CDT

As problematic as the Wild's goalie situation is heading into Game 5 on Thursday night, May 9, it isn't been their biggest problem. Scoring is.

The Wild have six goals in four games in their opening-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the top-seeded Chicago Blackhawks. They're scoreless in their past 15 attempts on the power play.

"It's that one goal that makes the difference," Wild defenseman Tom Gilbert said. "You get one, you get a little more confidence, and you don't have to hear every single day that our power play is 0 for whatever."

The power play had some chances in Tuesday's 3-0 loss. Just not enough.

In six chances, the Wild's power play took just seven shots. Too many missed the net or were blocked by Blackhawks clogging shooting lanes.

"It's movement, to be honest," forward Kyle Brodziak said of the power-play problems. "You have to find a way to be able to 2-on-1 guys on the power play. Speaking from a penalty kill perspective, the hardest power plays to defend against are the ones that are moving because it's almost impossible to keep track of everyone when there's so much movement. That's when it throws guys out of lanes. Maybe at times we got a little too stationary and it becomes a little too easy to get in those shooting lanes."

Wild coach Mike Yeo indicated that he may mix things up on the power play. In Game 4, Jason Pominville returned and played the point on the top power-play group, with Brodziak in front of the net.

Charlie Coyle continued to play in front on the second power-play unit.

"We can talk about execution and missed opportunities, but we have to do something on our side as a coaching staff," Yeo said. "We have to make some adjustments here. I'm not going to get into whether it's personnel or whether it's tactical. But we have to do something on our part to give our players a good chance to succeed out there."

The power play was just one part of the execution and scoring woes.

The Wild's top line has taken much of the heat. Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise are a combined minus-11 in the series. Each coughed up a turnover that led to Chicago goals in Game 4. But they aren't the only problem.

Minnesota's second line had bailed out the top unit for much of the series. The trio of Cullen, Devin Setoguchi and Jason Zucker were by far the team's best line before Game 4 and were especially good in the Game 3 victory. They recorded 12 shots in that 3-2 overtime win at home Sunday. They didn't take a shot in Game 4.

"We put a lot of passes in the feet and were maybe a foot ahead or a foot behind," Cullen said. "You don't have much margin for error. With our line, it has a lot to do with speed and getting up and down the ice, and I think we just missed on a few, and had a couple of those been different maybe it would have been a different story. I don't think they did anything different."

With the loss in Game 4, the task at hand for the Wild is multiplied. In order to advance, they have to beat the NHL's best team three games in a row, and twice on the road.

"Obviously (you do) not think of the climb we have," Gilbert said. "To win this series, you've just got to focus on the next game."

Starting with the next goal.

Pioneer Press LOADED: 05.09.2013


Minnesota Wild goalies playing musical chairs in net

By Chad Graff/Posted: 05/08/2013 12:01:00 AM CDT

When Matt Cullen won the Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006, the Hurricanes lost their starting goalie before the team played its first road game in the playoffs.

They got "spanked," Cullen said, in Games 1 and 2. The starter, Martin Gerber, was ill and had played poorly. So they turned to little-known backup Cam Ward, age 21, and threw him in a hostile environment against the Canadiens in Montreal.

Ward didn't give up the cage after that. He went on to win the Conn Smythe, given annually to the most valuable player during the playoffs.

Cullen looked back on that team, that goaltending situation, on Wednesday, May 8, before boarding a plane for Chicago and Game 5 of the Minnesota Wild's opening-round Stanley Cup playoff series. He was asked about his thoughts on the Wild's third-string goalie, Darcy Kuemper, who just might start the team's biggest game of the year Thursday night, May 9.

It's a tough comparison to make -- 23-year-old Kuemper to Conn Smythe-winner Ward. But their situations aren't all that different.

"It's a good opportunity for him," Cullen said of Kuemper. "Your first opportunity isn't (always) ideal. He's a great kid, and he's worked very hard to get where he is, so I think he'll do fine."

Game 5 is a must-win for the Wild, trailing the best-of-seven series 3 games to 1. And they might turn to Kuemper, who was playing in the American Hockey League this time last week, to make his first NHL playoff start. Or they could turn to Josh

Harding, who has started every game this series but exited Game 4 with an injury. Or maybe it'll be Niklas Backstrom, the starter all season, who was injured warming up 15 minutes before Game 1.

The Wild are tight-lipped about the situation.

"We like to keep the other team guessing," coach Mike Yeo said. "So we're not only not going to tell them who our starting goalie is, we won't tell them who our backup goalie is. Really leave them in the dark."

Backstrom has skated in practices and was dressed on the bench midway through Game 4 after Harding got hurt. Yeo said Harding will be in Chicago but offered no update on his status. If neither can play, they'll turn to Kuemper, who appeared in 10 regular-season games this season.

He knows he's not in Houston anymore.

"It's obviously a lot different," Kuemper said Tuesday, comparing his experience in the AHL playoffs last week to Game 4 on Tuesday night.



Tom Powers: Even though it feels like Wild are done, there's still time

By Tom Powers/Posted: 05/08/2013

I asked Jacques Lemaire once why a particular player was out of the Wild lineup.

"Hurt," he said.

Upper body or lower body?

"Lower."

Right side or left?

"Depends on which way he's facing."

Lemaire cackled. He loved trying to outsmart people.

What if he's lying down, I asked Lemaire.

"On his back?"

Well, this cat-and-mouse game went on for quite a while. In the end, I didn't know any more than when I started. Years later, injuries are kept even more hush-hush. As near as I can tell, about half a dozen Wild players have

lower-body injuries and are listed as day to day -- and that includes just about every goaltender between here and Houston.

Mike Yeo, what about Nik Backstrom?

"No update."

And Harding?

"Haven't spoken to the trainer."

Well what about ...?

"Day to day."

But didn't we just see him airlifted by helicopter to the nearest hospital?

"No update."

It's all very grim and these goalie mishaps have resulted in a very dark cloud hanging over the Wild. But just remember that even though it feels like it's over, it isn't. Just because it feels like we should be performing the post-mortem on a mediocre season, we really shouldn't.

Despite all the goaltender woes, a 0-for-15 power play and a game-to-game approach that can best be termed inconsistent, the Wild still are in this series. They aren't getting trampled by the best team in hockey. Granted, they looked beaten in the dressing room

after Game 4 on Tuesday night, May 8, but they still have time.

And short of declining all penalties and refusing to go on the power play, all options should be on the table. There's no mystery involved. The Wild need to boost their power play, get back to playing with a nasty attitude and return to that gooey, sticky brand of hockey that appears to suit them.

There are only so many adjustments a coach can make to a power play before he trucks in a whole new group of participants. I'm assuming Yeo's made them. That whole top power-play unit remains unsightly. All those nifty little passes in the zone, the extended time of possession, the traffic near the crease ... none of it matters if you can't put the shot on net. And suddenly the Wild are misfiring to the point where they pose a danger to the arena organist.

The Wild's best forwards all series have been Matt Cullen, Devin Setoguchi and Jason Zucker. Those boys ought to be getting the bulk of the power-play time. They should be the first ones over the boards.

But strategy only goes so far. Unless the Game 4 pregame speech was a real downer, the coaches can't be blamed for the Wild turning from mean to mellow. Unless there was some sort of motivational blunder, the coaches can't be held responsible for the absence of desperation and fire in Game 4. I'm sure the coaches preached it. Yet the Wild apparently decided among themselves to play non-contact Eurohockey.

Captain Mikko Koivu needs to lead the way. I know Mikko isn't a big talker because, well, I've tried talking to him. But his performance has been subpar. That whole first line has been abysmal. And if there is any sort of favorable match-up against a certain Chicago line, Yeo hasn't been able to find it. Now he won't get that chance in Chicago. Joel Quenneville will make sure his top line is out there against the Koivu line. That hasn't been good for Minnesota.

So it looks bad for the Wild and it feels worse. Yet if they can get this game in Chicago and force a Game 6 at Xcel, everything could change. They'll see the Blackhawks start to tighten up. People will raise an eyebrow and wonder why the team with the best record is fiddling with the Wild for so long. What's the problem? It can all turn in a jiffy.

The Blackhawks reacted well after getting knocked around in Game 3. They adjusted their positioning and flipped the puck around quickly, giving the Wild fewer targets. Now it's the Wild's turn to counter with an adjustment to their forecheck. The difference between winning and losing is very small here.

The Wild have to mix it up on the power play, hit at every opportunity, get angry, and generally gum up the works. The series doesn't have to be over. It might seem like we're nearing the end, but that doesn't have to be the reality of the situation.


675631 Montreal Canadiens

Despite trailing 3-1 in series, Subban still says Habs ‘better’ than Senators

BILL BEACON

BROSSARD, Que. — The Canadian Press

May. 08 2013, 6:22 PM EDT

P.K. Subban’s confidence is high despite the plague of injuries that has descended on the Montreal Canadiens.

The flashy defenceman’s team will be without its captain Brian Gionta as well as forwards Brandon Prust and Ryan White, and may be missing starting goaltender Carey Price, as they try to stave off elimination by the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre.

“We can beat these guys. We’re better,” Subban said Wednesday.

The Canadiens look to have outplayed Ottawa in three of the four opening games, but the Senators have used Craig Anderson’s goalkeeping and some timely scoring to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven NHL Eastern Conference quarter-final.

Game 5 is set for Thursday night, and Montreal’s hopes may lean on backup goalie Peter Budaj, who let in a Kyle Turris goal in overtime of Game 4 in Ottawa on Tuesday night after Price appeared to suffer a groin injury late in regulation time.

Price is listed as day to day with a lower body injury.

Gionta is out for the season with a torn biceps tendon in his left arm, while coach Michel Therrien said Prust and White have upper body injuries.

The Canadiens were already missing centre Lars Eller, who suffered a concussion and facial injuries from a hit by Eric Gryba in the series opener. Eller skated on his own Wednesday, but no date has been set for his return.

The injuries leave a patchwork lineup for a team that feels it could just as easily be up 3-1 in the series.

They took 50 shots at Anderson in Game 1 and lost 4-2. Then they won Game 2 clearly, but were blown out 6-1 in Game 3 in Ottawa.

On Tuesday, Montreal led 2-0 going into the third period, but played defensively in the final 20 minutes and saw the lead slip away on a goal off Mika Zibanejad’s skate and the equalizer in a frantic last-minute scrum by Cory Conacher. Price looked to be hurt on the play as he sprawled in the crease.

Turris won it on a high shot 2:32 into OT that Budaj said he should have stopped.

Despite the setbacks, Subban is not throwing in the towel.

“Guys are going to realize when we’re coming out the gates and we’re flying that we’re the better team and there’s still life in this series for us,” he said. “But it takes the guys in this room to believe that.

“It’s a situation now where all the pressure’s on (the Senators). They’re up 3-1. They want to end this thing but they’ve got to beat us first, so good luck to them. We’ve been outshooting them every game. We’ve got good goaltending no matter who is in the net. So I wish them the best of luck.”

Montreal will be looking for more from top players like Subban and veterans like Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty, as well as the continued energetic play from youngsters Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher.

They hope to force a Game 6 Saturday in Ottawa and Game 7 back home on Sunday night.

The Canadiens look back to 2010, when they were down 3-1 to the Washington Capitals in the opening round and ended up winning. They knocked off Pittsburgh in the second round after trailing 2-1 and 3-2 before falling to Philadelphia in the conference final.

Backup goalie Jaroslav Halak was the hero of that playoff run as a very young Price played himself onto the bench.

Budaj did better than Price in limited appearances this season. He posted an 8-1-1 record with a 2.29 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage while Price was 21-13-4 with a 2.59 average and .905 save percentage, although his numbers took a beating in a late-season slump.

It helps that Budaj started the final regular-season game in Toronto and has not been inactive for long.

“I did everything I could to keep myself mentally and physically sharp,” said Budaj, who will be backup up by Czech compatriot Robert Mayer if he plays. “We’ll see what the situation is with Carey and if I have to go in.”

He said he was ready when called on to play in overtime and took full blame for the game-winning goal, which looked to glance off defenceman Raphael Diaz.

“I did not see the puck well,” he said. “It had nothing to do with Rafa.

“I don’t know if it touched Rafa or not. I definitely think I could have played it a little better. I misplayed it a bit. It kind of went through me. But there’s nothing I can do about it now.”

Losing Gionta, the team’s pint-sized leader, was a blow.

The 34-year-old missed 51 games last season with a torn biceps muscle in his right arm, and now needs surgery for the same injury in the other arm. He is to go under the knife on Friday and should be ready for the start of training camp next season.

He said the injury occurred in the second period of Game 1 when he got caught up with an opponent along the boards, twisted the arm and heard the tendon go “pop.”

He had it taped and returned for Game 3, but wasn’t able to play again.

“It’s tough,” said coach Michel Therrien. “My captain was crying in my arms. These players have more courage than people think.”

“It’s discouraging,” said Gionta. “Not too many people have had (that injury) and it happens in back to back years.

“It’s definitely hard to deal with.”

Now he’ll be cheering on his teammates as they try to stay alive in a series that has gone mostly Ottawa’s way so far.

“The series isn’t over,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of guys in this room that can still pull this off.”

Globe And Mail LOADED: 05.09.2013


Canadiens captain Gionta to have left bicep surgery, out for season

Wednesday, May. 08 2013, 2:46 PM EDT

Staff Writer

Brian Gionta’s playoffs are over.

The Montreal Canadiens announced Wednesday that their captain has a torn left bicep muscle. He will undergo surgery on Friday.

Gionta sat out Games 2 and 4 of a first round playoff series against the Ottawa Senators with what the team called an upper body injury.

The right-winger was limited to 31 games last season due to a torn bicep.

Meanwhile, centre Lars Eller has resumed skating. He was taken from the ice on a stretcher in Game 1 with a concussion and facial injuries after an open ice hit by Ottawa defenceman Eric Gryba, who was suspended two games.

There was no immediate word on when Eller can return.

Coach Michel Therrien said forwards Brandon Prust and Ryan White would both sit out Game 5 with upper body injuries.

Meanwhile, goalie Carey Price is considered day-to-day with a lower body injury. Price appeared to be hurt late in the third period on Tuesday and was replaced with Peter Budaj for the overtime period.

The Canadiens trail the Senators 3-1 in the best-of-seven series. Game 5 is Thursday night at the Bell Centre.



Pat Hickey: ‘I want to beat these guys’: Subban

Pat Hickey

May 8, 2013 10:05 PM

MONTREAL — With the the Canadiens facing elimination in their playoff series against the Ottawa Senators, there was a touch of the old P.K. Subban swagger Wednesday.

The Senators lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference 3-1 going into Thursday’s Game 5 at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, TSN-690 Radio) but Subban said the series is far from over.

“They want to end this but they have to beat us first,” said Subban. “Good luck to them.”

The Canadiens star defenceman has been relatively low-key this season after missing the first six games of the season while hammering out a new contract. He has deferred to veteran Andrei Markov on numerous occasions but Subban’s emergence as an elite player was confirmed Tuesday when he was named as one of the three finalists for the Norris Trophy, which goes to the best defenceman in the NHL.

Subban was one of three players who addressed the media Wednesday as the team confined its preparations for Game 5 with a meeting and off-ice workouts. Subban opened by apologizing for not talking about the Norris Trophy nomination on Tuesday, explaining that he was concentrating on the playoffs.

“We still have a rule right now, we’re still alive and tomorrow’s game is the biggest of the season and we have to be ready to play,” said Subban. “Our focus has to be on bringing the best we have to this next game.We can sit and talk about last night’s game all we want, but it’s over with, and quite frankly, I want to beat these guys. We have another opportunity to go and do that tomorrow.”

He might have provided the Senators with some bulletin board material when he said on at least three occasions that the Canadiens are the better team.

The Canadiens were certainly the healthier team for most of the season but the losses have been mounting for Montreal. Coach Michel Therrien announced Wednesday that Brian Gionta is finished for the season after tearing his left biceps. Rugged forwards Ryan White and Brandon Prust will both miss Game 5 with upper-body injuries and starting goaltender Carey Price is doubtful with a lower-body injury.

“We know this isn’t an ideal situation, but these guys are showing that they have a lot of courage,” said Therrien. “I know because I’m right there with them every day. You look at Brian Gionta. He got hurt in the first game and has done everything possible to try and come back since. When the decision was finally made that he wasn’t going to be able to play anymore, he was absolutely devastated. Those are the hardest moments to see.

“These guys all have a lot of courage and we probably deserved a better fate than the one we’re facing at this moment,” he added. “But one thing’s for sure: with the type of character this team has, I know we’re going to play another strong game tomorrow and go out there and give it everything we have.”

If Price can’t play, Peter Budaj will get the start in goal. He was called up to play the overtime Tuesday night in Ottawa and gave up the winning goal to Kyle Turris.

“It was a floater,” explained Budaj, who who was one of the few players to step on the ice Wednesday. “I don’t know whether it hit (Montreal

defenceman Raphael Diaz) — I don’t think it did — but I misplayed it. I should have made the stop.”

Budaj said he didn’t know whether Price would be able to play but he said he would be ready if needed. He had an 8-1-1 record in the regular season and backstopped the Canadiens to a win over Toronto in the final game of the season to give Montreal the top spot in the Northeast Division.

In Ottawa, rookie defenceman Eric Gryba said: “We smell blood. We can taste blood. It’s time to put them away.” There was a perverse twist to his comments since he was the player who took Lars Eller out of the series with an illegal hit.

But Senators coach Paul MacLean, who knows first-hand that a wounded team can be dangerous, offered a cautionary note when he said: “we’re scared to death.”

Montreal Gazette LOADED: 05.09.2013


Dave Stubbs: An unfortunate night to remember

May 8, 2013 9:11 PM

MONTREAL — The motto has been boldly and prominently displayed in Canadiens dressing rooms at home and on the road this season:

No Excuses.

On Thursday at the Bell Centre, it could be revised:

No Tomorrows.

A remarkable 48-game regular season and an Eastern Conference second-place finish comes down to 60 or more minutes of hockey Thursday in Game 5 of the quarter-final series against the Ottawa Senators.

No fancy math here, no magic numbers. A Canadiens win sends the opponents back to Kanata for Game 6 on Saturday. A Habs loss sends the team back to Brossard to clean out their lockers for the summer.

If the Canadiens are to advance to the Eastern semi-finals, they must beat Ottawa in Game 7 back at the Bell on Sunday. And the good news is this, culled from the 22 Game 7s the Habs have played since 1949, 13 of them victories:

Montreal has twice rallied from a 1-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven series, in 2010 against Washington and in 2004 against Boston, both Eastern quarter-finals. Both of those sudden-death wins came on the road.

No matter how this series ends, Game 4 will long be fodder for debate for four reasons:

A faceoff midway through the third period that was dropped in the wrong circle, to the right of Habs goalie Carey Price after he’d killed the previous play by smothering a Daniel Alfredsson shot taken from the other side of the ice.

Television showed Habs GM Marc Bergevin, in the team’s Scotiabank Place loge, questioning with disbelief the placement of the ensuing faceoff, while centre David Desharnais, who shoots left, argued it in vain with linesman David Brisebois. Ultimately, Desharnais was thrown out of the circle following a botched drop, Habs head coach Michel Therrien by now heatedly disputing the faceoff location.

Desharnais’s ejection brought in right-shooting Brendan Gallagher, who cleanly lost the draw to Zack Smith. Which four seconds later led to, numbering it in respect to Senators coach Paul MacLean, Controversy No. 2:

The Senators’ first goal of the night, directed or kicked – your choice – behind Price by the skate of Mika Zibanejad. It was decreed a goal on the ice, the call backed up upon video review by the NHL’s war room in Toronto.

But the officiating fun wasn’t done yet. Back-to-back icing calls 31 seconds apart, with 1:25 and 54 seconds left in regulation, were the stuff of house-league hockey, incredibly bad calls that even provoked near laughter from a member of the Senators.

The first saw Habs defenceman P.K. Subban shoot the puck from one corner deep in Montreal ice along the boards behind the net. It was swatted at and missed by a Senator along the half-wall on the other side of the rink and rolled the length of the ice, pursued without urgency by Ottawa defenceman Sergei Gonchar. Icing was called nevertheless.

A half-minute later, another zone clearance by the Canadiens and this time, Ottawa rearguard Eric Karlsson skated after it at roughly the speed of a peewee, taking “a roundabout way” as described by Hockey Night in Canada analyst Garry Galley. Again, icing was called, Karlsson trying to suppress a snicker at the whistle as though he himself couldn’t believe it.

Thirty-one seconds later, Canadiens forwards Tomas Plekanec and Rene Bourque fatigued and unable to get off the ice, a six-Senator swarm of the Montreal end resulted in Cory Conacher beating Price with 23 seconds in regulation.

The plot thickened some more at the expiration of the third period, Price going to his knees and rising gingerly after having stopped a Zibanejad shot at the siren. The goalie wasn’t to return, a lower-body injury shelving him for overtime and leaving him uncertain for Game 5 duty.

In came backup Peter Budaj for OT; should he start Thursday, it would be his first career playoff start.

Then 90 seconds into extra time, forward Brandon Prust — who’s been bruised red, blue and purple for weeks – detoured while skating along the boards toward his own end and headed directly to his dressing room clutching, it appeared, his chest or favouring his left side.

Prust missed eight games in March with a separated shoulder and, alone, he’s been emptying his team clinic ice machine after games. He won’t be available for Thursday service.

A misplaced faceoff, a goal that showed superb soccer skills and two icings that wouldn’t have been icing even in beer-league hockey combined to be a lottery win for those who believe the NHL is out to get the Canadiens.

What that ignores is that the Habs buried too many of their 28 shots in the gut of Senators goalie Craig Anderson, and that they were outshot 13-4 in the third period.

Trailing the series 2-1, up 2-0 on the scoreboard through 40 minutes and with their season virtually on the line, the Canadiens inexplicably dusted off their 2011-12 playbook and tried to protect a lead. The Senators struck twice and now have outscored the Habs 9-0 in the four third periods of this series.

The 236-minute carnival of penalties in Game 3 evaporated to eight minutes in Game 4, both teams preferring NHL to UFC. But if this game wasn’t a sideshow, nor was it left fully in the hands of the players to decide.

Let’s hope that’s not the case in Game 5, the Canadiens’ season hanging in the balance. No need for the zebras to ruin a perfectly entertaining circus.



Tearful end to Gionta's season

Pat Hickey

May 8, 2013 9:12 PM

MONTREAL — What’s happening with Alexei Emelin?

That was the unasked question Wednesday as the Canadiens provided a laundry list of injuries, topped by the news that captain Brian Gionta will undergo surgery Friday to repair a torn left bicep muscle.

The good news is that Gionta knows all about the procedure and the rehabilitation process. He tore his right bicep in January, 2012 and said he is confident he will be ready for the start of training camp in September.

The same can’t be said for Emelin, the physical defenceman whose presence has been sorely missed down the stretch and in the playoffs. There has been no news about Emelin since he tore the anterior cruciate

ligament in his knee when he collided with the Boston Bruins’ Milan Lucic in the first period of a game on April 6.

A Canadiens spokesman confirmed Wednesday that Emelin has not had surgery yet to repair the knee. The spokesman added that surgery is required, but doctors have held off while they assess the full extent of the injury and wait for swelling to go down. The rehabilitation period for reconstructive knee surgery is a minimum of six months and can last as long as a year, which means the Canadiens will start next season without Emelin.

Gionta said he suffered his latest injury in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarter-final series against the Ottawa Senators.

“My arm was bent back and I heard a pop just like the first time,” the captain said.

Gionta finished the game, sat out Game 2, played 18:10 and collected an assist in Game 3 before deciding to shut it down for the season. He said it wasn’t a question of pain or fear of further damage.

“There was a loss of function,” Gionta said.

The biceps controls the elbow and Gionta said it was difficult to manoeuvre his stick and he wasn’t able to shoot with any authority.

Canadiens coach Michel Therrien praised Gionta’s courage and said the veteran was devastated by the latest injury.

“When he heard the news, our captain was crying in my arms,” Therrien said.

Said Gionta: “It’s discouraging. The fact that not too many people have had it and it happens in back-to-back years, it’s definitely hard to deal with.”

Medical updates dominated Therrien’s remarks in preparation for Game 5 Thursday night at the Bell Centre.

The Canadiens announced that forwards Ryan White and Brandon Prust are definitely out with upper-body injuries, joining Emelin, Gionta and Lars Eller on the sidelines.

And starting goaltender Carey Price is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Price appeared to pull a muscle when he made a save on Ottawa’s Mika Zibanejad at the end of regulation time in Game 4 Wednesday and was replaced by Peter Budaj in the overtime.

Eller, who suffered a concussion and facial injuries when he was hit by Ottawa defenceman Eric Gryba in Game 1, skated Wednesday, but he’s unlikely to see any further playoff action unless the Canadiens get past the Senators.

“It’s great news to see him on the ice, to see him around the team, because this is a kid that everybody likes,” Therrien said of Eller. “He’s a good kid and we’re all really upset with what happened to him. But to see him around the team means a lot to the players, to the coaching staff and everyone involved with the team.”



The voices of hockey

Brendan Kelly

MONTREAL — Their voices are known to millions of Habs fans. But we don’t really know all that much about the men — and they are all men — who provide the play-by-play for Canadiens games. And many of us are spending a lot of time listening to these guys right now as the Canadiens battle the Ottawa Senators in a hard-fought playoff series that could end as early as Thursday night at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, TSN Radio 690, 98.5 FM).

These announcers are all quite different, but the one thing they share in common is a passion for Canada’s best-loved sport and a dedication to accurately describing what’s going on on the ice below them. But each has his own style.

Pierre Houde — who has called every game on RDS but one since the network began broadcasting Habs games in the fall of 1989 — is meticulous about getting just the right word to capture the scene. Senior Hockey Night in Canada announcer Bob Cole is the master of the corny, colourful phrase.

Martin McGuire, who calls the games en français on Montreal radio station 98.5 FM, is all about full-on passion. TSN Radio 690’s John Bartlett, the new kid on the Habs block, is a friendly informed voice. Gord Miller from TSN, who calls just a handful of Habs games annually, wants to deliver an exciting game, period.

What they do all have in common is that from a young age they had an inkling they’d like to do this unusual job. Here are profiles of the five voices of Habs hockey.

PIERRE HOUDE

Birthplace: Montreal

Network: RDS

Catch-phrase: Et le but!

Houde may have done more for bilingualism than anyone since former prime minister Pierre Trudeau.

Anglos famously don’t watch a lot of French-language TV, but the one thing they do watch in the language of Lafleur is hockey. RDS airs all 82 Habs games each season, along with whatever playoff action there is to be had, so often the Bell Media-owned Franco sports channel is the only place to watch the Habs on the small-screen. But even when the Canadiens game is on in English on CBC on Saturday nights, many Anglos prefer to stick with RDS and listen to Houde call the game.

“I feel so humbled when I’m told by Anglophones in Montreal and throughout Canada (that they watch the Habs games on RDS),” Houde said. “Even in Edmonton, they say: ‘Hey Pierre ... et le but!’. It’s so heartwarming. If people in Vancouver want to see the Habs, they have to go the RDS way. And they’ve become familiar with some of my expressions. And that leads me to put even more emphasis on the quality of the language I put on the air. I like to make absolutely no compromise in the way I speak in terms of form and content. And if that helps Anglophones across the country to become a little more familiar with the French language, well I’m really happy about that.”

Houde did the play-by-play on the very first Canadiens game that aired on RDS on Oct. 16, 1989 and has done every single Habs game on RDS since except for a game he missed in Phoenix a couple of years back when he had a bad flu bug. (He was ready to try to do it, but it was the team that didn’t want Houde and his gastro anywhere near the players.)

Raised in Ville St. Laurent, Houde and his brother Paul — who hosts the drive-home show on 98.5 FM — grew up listening to legendary Radio-Canada play-by-play man René Lecavalier calling the games.

“René created the way to do that job in French,” Houde said. “I have probably a little more the traditional way of doing things. For me, René Lecavalier and Richard Garneau were incredible references.”

___________________________________________________________

BOB COLE

Birthplace: St. John’s

Network: CBC

Catch-phrases: Oh baby. It’s going to be a dandy. Habs are hanging on.

In high school in Newfoundland in the 1940s, Cole used to entertain his classmates with his imitations of Foster Hewitt, who was the voice of hockey on Canadian radio for decades, and he quickly realized he was fascinated by the concept of calling hockey games. When university didn’t work for him, Cole landed himself a job at a local station and soon enough he was doing play-by-play for St. John’s minor-league games. And it was good money at the time, he recalls — 15 bucks a game, four games a week.

“And I’d get over 80 games, you do the math,” Cole said. “I was driving a convertible, nice clothes, doing O.K.”

Later he moved to CBC-TV and the first game he did with Hockey Night in Canada was in the 1969 playoffs, a Habs-Bruins battle on April 24 that went

late into the evening, ending with a goal from Jean Béliveau. Cole still remembers the time of the goal — 11:28 of the second overtime.

For years, Cole did a large chunk of Leafs games every season, but he’s been mostly focused on Saturday night Habs games over the past four or five years and says he loves the assignment.

“I love the Bell Centre,” he said. “They’re the most energetic fans in a hockey game that I’ve seen anywhere. I’m going to tell you that when the anthem is sung (Thursday night), that place will be rocking. Are you kidding? I could never not like doing hockey in Montreal.”

___________________________________________________________

JOHN BARTLETT

Birthplace: Kingston, Ont.

Network: TSN Radio 690

Catch-phrase: Oh my stars!

Bartlett, who has done play-by-play for the Habs games for the past two seasons on TSN Radio 690, is part of a station that has a close relationship to the team. But he believes it’s important to keep your independence.

“I’ve always tried to be as unbiased and as objective as possible,” he said. “That being said, when you’re doing a broadcast for a team in its home market it’s a bit different from being a neutral national broadcaster. Your storylines are angled more toward your audience, but I think the way to gain the respect of your audience is to call it like it is. There comes when a point when there’s a play on the ice and it’s my job to describe what it was, whether it was good or bad for the home team. That’s something I’ve always prided myself in. To be called a homer would be an insult to me.”

Bartlett cut his teeth calling games with the Toronto Marlies, the Leafs’ American Hockey League farm team, and he’s developed his own style along the way.

“I like to make sure the fan listening is along for the ride and experiences the same excitement and emotion that someone in the building would,” he said. “You want to make the listener feel part of it. I’m more of an energy call. If there’s some excitement in the game, you’re gonna know it by my voice.”

___________________________________________________________

MARTIN McGUIRE

Birthplace: Quebec City

Network: 98.5 FM

Catch-phrase: Et compte!

Growing up in Quebec City in the 1980s, McGuire was a dyed-in-the-wool Nordiques fan, and since most of the games weren’t on TV he’d listen to his team’s exploits on the radio. Like so many kids across the country, he’d hop into bed with a little transistor radio glued to his ear to catch one last period before he fell asleep. From a young age, McGuire knew that’s what he wanted to do with his life.

His first break was doing the play-by-play on local radio station CHRC for the games of the Beauport Harfangs, the local major-junior team at the time. He made the move to Montreal in 1998 to join CKAC, first as a producer, then as the play-by-play guy for the Alouettes and finally doing play-by-play for the Habs, beginning during the 2003-04 season. Two years ago, CKAC closed its doors and most of its high-profile sports shows, including the Canadiens games, moved over to 98.5 FM.

There’s never a dull moment in a McGuire broadcast. He’s on overdrive from the first puck drop and his excitement doesn’t let up until the final siren sounds.

“I like staying close to the game,” McGuire said. “I like conveying the passion of the game. You have to visualize the game for the fans because they’re like blind people. They can’t see the game. The nicest compliment me and Dany Dubé (the 98.5 colour commentator) ever had was a blind person who sent us a letter saying he’d lost his sight at the age of 4. So he’d forgotten the Images of the Canadiens and because he was frustrated by that, he no longer listened to hockey games. Then several years ago, he got into a taxi and the driver was listening to our broadcast and since then, he hasn’t missed a single game on the radio. If a blind person tells me he can follow the game by listening to me, that means I’m doing a good job.

I’m an emotional person. I’m pretty intense. When I do my work, I do it with my heart. I’m like that in life. What you hear on the radio is me.”

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GORD MILLER

Birthplace: Sundre, Alta.

Network: TSN

Catch-phrase: Can you believe it?

Even though he only does between eight and 10 Canadiens games each season for TSN, play-by-play veteran Miller knows just how passionate Habs fans are

“One day I was walking to the rink and a guy said: ‘Hey Gord, you want to come pray with me? I’m going to go pray for the Habs.’ I was kind of laughing and I said: ‘No, I’m okay.’ Sure you get a sense of the passion.”

Miller says the key when broadcasting games on a national network is to never take sides.

“When you broadcast a game, you don’t care who wins. For me, all I want is a close game.”

The toughest challenge is making it sound fresh every night, Miller added.

“It’s finding something new to say about the players every night. At TSN, we really emphasize storytelling, to tell players’ backstories. Tomas Plekanec is so tough because he’s so consistent. So there’s not a lot new about him.”



Todd: Hockey world still adjusting to Subban as first black superstar

Jack Todd

MONTREAL — The kid’s name is Mike Benson. He’ll turn 24 next Monday. He stands 6 feet tall, weighs 206 pounds and has a lethal, right-handed shot.

Benson’s people own a farm west of Red Deer, but he played for the Swift Current Broncos in the Western Hockey League, where he had 14 goals, 62 assists and was a plus-47 in his last year with the team.

Benson was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, 43rd overall. After a season with the Toronto Marlies, he starred with the big club during their remarkable playoff run in 2010, before establishing himself as a regular in the lineup that fall.

A smooth skater who has more than a little flash in his game, Benson has become a favourite of the Hockey Night in Canada crew, in part because he isn’t afraid to dazzle and he goes all-out with his goal celebrations.

By now, you’ve probably figured out that there is no “Mike Benson,” although the Leafs no doubt wish there was. Apart from his birthplace and the teams he played for, Benson is Pernell Karl Subban.

Subban

Subban comes from Toronto, not from western Canada. He played his junior hockey in Belleville, not Medicine Hat. He was drafted by the Canadiens, not the Leafs.

I invented “Mike Benson” to make a point: that much of the criticism you hear about Subban is based not on his play, but on the fact that he does not fit the usual hockey profile. Truth is, if P.K. Subban were Mike Benson and he played for the Leafs, he would already have received the kiss of death from Don Cherry.

But whereas the fictional Mike Benson is white and rural, Subban is black and urban — and he is loathed, not loved, by a lot of people who ought to know better.

That loathing (which, going by my Twitter feed, is shared by Hab haters from Boston to Burnaby) comes with the territory when you’re an

effervescent, personable, 23-year-old en route to becoming the first black superstar in the NHL.

“P.K. is unique,” Kevin Weekes said when we spoke Tuesday afternoon, after Subban’s nomination for the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenceman had been announced. “The NHL has never seen anything like him. He’s different and like anything that’s different, people don’t think they like him until they get to know him.”

Subban

Weekes, with Elliotte Friedman a voice of reason on the increasingly off-the-rails Studio 42 intermission panel on Hockey Night in Canada, knows Subban as well as anyone and better than most. Subban was only 8 years old when he first attended Weekes’s hockey camp, a “high-energy, rambunctious kid” to whom Weekes has been a friend and mentor ever since.

“P.K. is good-looking, well-dressed and black,” Weekes said. “He’s not just a great player, he’s a great person. I’ve been mentoring him for years and he’s made a lot of adjustments in that time.

“People forget that he’s still only 23 years old, so he’s not completely mature, but he’s learning to understand the landscape. Every sport is unique and you have to be strategic at times, so there are things he’s continuing to learn, but he’s a smart, smart young man. He wants to be great and he has a tremendous work ethic, which is why he will be great.”

Subban

Hockey is unique in that black superstars are as rare as — well, as rare as Subban. Because he’s unique, Subban faces a special set of problems. The hockey world is still getting used to the idea of the black superstar — and that’s where Subban has hit rough waters at times.

I asked Weekes a question that has been troubling me since Subban first came into the league: Why so much criticism directed at him, when he is far from the first black player in the league?”

“It’s a different narrative,” Weekes said. “P.K. is black. He isn’t bi-racial. He didn’t play in the Western Hockey League. That’s one of the myths of the NHL, that if you didn’t play in the WHL, you don’t have grit. We know that’s not true, but that’s the perception.

“Some people, no matter what you do, they’re going to find fault. They’ve never met him, but they tell you P.K. has an attitude problem. That’s never been true, but P.K. has to learn to deal with them.

“He’s learned that you endear yourself to more people when you recognize that it’s not about you. It’s disarming. People say, ‘Oh, this guy’s cocky,’ but then when they meet you, they realize that’s not true at all.

“Sometimes, people don’t recognize their biases. They say he’s cocky, he turtles, he’s a showboat, all these things — but they don’t realize that they have this perception because he’s different. People fear what they don’t know.”

Subban

With Anson Carter, Joel Ward and others, Weekes was a black player who had a good run in the NHL. Now, in his dual roles as an analyst for HNIC and for the NHL Network, he has had conversations about P.K. with people all over the league — including league executives right up to Gary Bettman, who are aware of the special challenges Subban faces.

“If you talk to executives around the league, people like Jim Rutherford, Rick Dudley, Luc Robitaille, Marc Bergevin, they know what a good guy P.K. is,” Weekes said. “They know he’s a way better person than some people want him to be.”

He’s also a way better player than some people want him to be. As Josh Gorges noted of his sometime defence partner after the Norris nomination was announced, “he’s just starting to scratch the surface of what his potential is.”

The Norris might be the toughest trophy in hockey to win. As great as he was, Larry Robinson only won it twice and no Canadien has won the award since Chris Chelios in 1989.

The nomination is a sign that P.K. Subban has arrived among the NHL’s elite defencemen two or three years ahead of schedule. He has done it in the face of massive skepticism — and worse.

Subban

The only bad news on the horizon is that with the bar set through the stratosphere by the contracts handed to Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, Geoff Molson is going to have to open the vault the next time the Canadiens talk contract with Subban.

No matter. The young man is unique. And as he proved this season, he’s worth it.



Gionta’s season is over; Prust, White out for Game 5; Price listed as day-to-day

Stu Cowan

The Canadiens returned home following Tuesday night’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Senators in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series in Ottawa.

Down 3-1 in the series, the Canadiens will be facing elimination in Game 5 Thursday night at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, TSN Radio 690).

The Canadiens announced Wednesday that captain Brian Gionta will undergo surgery on Friday to repair a torn left bicep and will not return this season. Brandon Prust and Ryan White will both miss Thursday’s game with upper-body injuries, while goalie Carey Price is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Gionta had surgery on his right bicep last season.

Hear what Gionta had to say Wednesday about his injury by clicking here.

Hear what goalie Peter Budaj, who replaced the injured Price in overtime Tuesday, had to say Wednesday by clicking here.

The Canadiens held a team stretching session Wednesday afternoon in Brossard, while goalies Budaj and Robert Mayer hit the ice for a practice session along with Mike Blunden, Yannick Weber, Tomas Kaberle and Davis Drewiske. Lars Eller skated alone earlier Wednesday for the first time since being injured in Game 1 from a check by Eric Gryba, who was suspended for two games by the NHL. Eller was briefly hospitalized after suffering a loss of consciousness, a concussion, and facial and dental fractures from the hit.

Defenceman Josh Gorges felt the Canadiens sat back too much while trying to protect a 2-0 lead in the third period of Game 4 in Ottawa.

“We sat back,” Gorges told reporters after the game. “We were all right, We got pucks when we needed to, but then we allowed them to come into our zone too easily and then there was a scramble at the end. We did some good things but we didn’t win.”


675639 Nashville Predators

Playing for Team USA, Predators forward shows scoring touch he lacked all season

Staff reports

Craig Smith’s hat trick Wednesday lifted Team USA to a 4-1 victory over host Finland at the IIHF Men’s World Championship in Helsinki.

Smith tied it 1-1 at 7:58 of the first period, just 2:05 after Finland took an early lead. The Nashville Predators forward broke the tie with a power play goal 3:22 into the final period and put the game away when he scored into an empty net with 42 seconds remaining.

“It feels really good,” Smith said. “… I think we’re getting better and better. We’re excited to have a couple days off here and get ready to go for the next game.”

The victory was the third in four games for the U.S., which lost 5-3 to 2012 champion Russia on Tuesday. Three contests remain in pool play –

Saturday against France, Sunday against Germany and Tuesday against Slovakia.

Smith had just four goals in 44 games for the Predators during the recently completed 2012-13 season. He went 20 straight contests without one before he finally scored April 25 at Detroit, the next-to-last game.

That production was down dramatically from his rookie season (2011-12), when he had 14 goals and 22 assists in 72 appearances.

He currently is the Americans’ second-leading scorer with five points and has a three-game point streak. He had one assist each in a victory over Latvia on Sunday and the loss to Russia.

Playing in the tournament for the third time in as many years, he is one point short of his career-high. He had six points (three goals, three assists) in seven games in 2011, following his final season at the University of Wisconsin. He joined the team last year after Nashville was eliminated in the second round of the NHL playoffs and had two goals in four games.

Smith is one of two Predators players on the U.S. roster this year. Bobby Butler has one goal and one assist in four the four games.

Tennessean LOADED: 05.09.2013

675640 New York Islanders

Penguins bench Marc-Andre Fleury, will start backup goalie Tomas Vokoun in Game 5 vs. Islanders

Pittsburgh starter Marc-Andre Fleury made just 18 saves in a 6-4 Game 4 loss to the Islanders on Tuesday that evened the series at 2.

Andrew Theodorakis/New York Daily News

The Pittsburgh Penguins are sending struggling goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to the bench for Game 5.

PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Penguins are turning to backup goaltender Tomas Vokoun.

Coach Dan Bylsma says Vokoun will be in net for Game 5 on Thursday night when the Penguins resume their first-round playoff series with the New York Islanders. The series is tied 2-2 after the Islanders rallied for a 6-4 victory in Game 4 on Tuesday.

Pittsburgh starter Marc-Andre Fleury made just 18 saves in the loss. Vokoun excelled against the Islanders during the regular season, going 3-0 while stopping 98 of 101 New York shots but the 36-year-old has just a 3-8 career playoff record.

Bylsma says Vokoun can be “great” for the Penguins but the team needs to be more responsible defensively after letting the speedy Islanders outwork them for numerous scoring chances over the last three games.

New York Daily News LOADED: 05.09.2013


Penguins may bench struggling goalie Fleury in Game 5

By DAVID SATRIANO/ May 8, 2013

Marc-Andre Fleury led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup in 2009, but that goalie has yet to be seen in these playoffs.

Fleury played his third sub-par game in a row in a 6-4 loss to the Islanders Tuesday night at Nassau Coliseum, as the Penguins blew a chance to take a commanding lead, and instead find themselves in a 2-2 first-round series dogfight.

Fleury, who is in danger of being benched in Game 5, allowed six goals on 24 Islanders shots, including several that should have been easy saves. Since his shutout in Game 1, Fleury has allowed 14 goals in the past three games, and his confidence is clearly shaken.

“I’m not happy, that’s for sure,” a dejected Fleury said. “Trying hard. Trying hard in practice. ... It’s frustrating.”

ISLANDERS PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

The concern about Fleury’s struggles is the reason Pittsburgh signed veteran Tomas Vokoun in the offseason. The backup goalie has playoff experience and has been a No. 1 goalie before, and Penguins coach Dan Bylsma did not rule out the possibility of making a switch in net for tomorrow’s Game 5 in Pittsburgh.

“Certainly Vokoun is a guy that can step in and play,” Bylsma said. “He’s had success and won hockey games against this team this year so we’ll regroup and come back for Game 5.”

Vokoun had a solid season, winning 13 of his 17 games, but hasn’t been in a playoff game since 2007. This season, he was 3-0 against the Islanders, allowing just three goals with one shutout. He is 17-7-1 with five shutouts in his career against the Islanders.

The Penguins entered the series as heavy favorites, but the Islanders have matched their intensity and their goal scoring, beating Fleury at will. Fleury also struggled last postseason, allowing 26 goals in a six-game loss to the Flyers in the first round.

“Those things [bad bounces] are going to happen,” he said. “I think I can put a stop to them and do a better job than I have been.”

Late in the second period, Fleury couldn’t cover a shot and Kyle Okposo banked in the tying goal off of him. The eventual winning goal scored by John Tavares also was off a bad rebound given up by Fleury. Pittsburgh gave up leads of 3-2 and 4-3 as the Islanders scored three goals in the third period.

“They got a good bounce behind the net that tied the game up,” Bylsma said of Okposo’s goal. “Seventeen shots through two periods. That one hurt. We would have gone into the third period with the lead. When we got the lead, we couldn’t keep it.”

It wasn’t all Fleury’s fault, but the goalie certainly didn’t help his cause and could be on the bench for Game 5 as a result.

New York Post LOADED: 05.09.2013


Islanders even series in front of frenzied Nassau Coliseum

By BRETT CYRGALIS/ Last Updated: 12:04 PM, May 8, 2013

John Tavares turned slowly toward the corner of the ice and stared directly into the stands, reaching into the past by pushing everyone into the future. He lifted both arms and pulled them down tight to his side, letting out a gargantuan scream, inaudible over the Coliseum din that came very close to bringing this crumbling barn to rubble.

“It was just amazing to see the place lit up like that,” said Tavares, the Islanders centerpiece, the franchise cornerstone, the only man who could have made this 6-4 win over the top-seeded Penguins in Game 4 any sweeter, scoring the game-winner 10:11 into the third period to knot this first-round series 2-2 as it heads back to Pittsburgh for tomorrow night’s Game 5.

STAR PERFORMER: John Tavares gets congratulations from Mark Streit after scoring what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the Islanders’ 6-4 victory over the Penguins last night.

Paul J. Bereswill

STAR PERFORMER: John Tavares gets congratulations from Mark Streit after scoring what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the Islanders’ 6-4 victory over the Penguins last night.

“Just happy it went in at that point in the game,” Tavares said. “You saw the people go crazy, and I was just as happy as they were.”

ISLANDERS PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

The people he spoke of, all 16,170 of them, were ecstatic to see the first home playoff win in 11 years, the Islanders not rolling over in their first

postseason appearance since 2007. As the game went back and forth, it was the mental fortitude of the young and inexperienced Islanders that was tested. And at every turn, they responded.

“We have a good group in here and we never gave up and never panicked,” said Kyle Okposo, who scored his third goal of the playoffs from behind the net late in the second period to tie it 3-3 as Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury continued his postseason struggles. “We got goals from everybody tonight, and it feels good to be a resilient bunch.”

Late in the first period and early in the second, twice the Islanders scored to take the lead and twice the Penguins answered within a minute. Then 41 seconds into the third period, Pascal Dupuis netted his fourth of the series to give the Penguins a 4-3 lead.

“In the three years I’ve been here, when they score in quick order, we don’t respond, we haven’t been good at getting momentum back,” said Matt Martin, a physical presence for the Islanders with a game-high seven hits, including one that got him pushed into the Penguins bench by Matt Cooke with eight minutes remaining in the third. “Over the last month, we’ve learned to play the way we need to play, and get the crowd back going.”

The goal to tie it came from captain Mark Streit, his second of the night coming on a slap shot from high in the slot that deflected in off of defenseman Douglas Murray’s skate. Then came Tavares, followed by a little one-hander from Casey Cizikas in the waning minutes to finish it off and officially make this one-versus-eight matchup more than just an entertaining sideshow.

“I know we can’t enjoy it for too long,” said defenseman Travis Hamonic, who lost his blue-line partner Andrew MacDonald midway through the second period to an upper-body injury. “I love it. These are the games that I live to play in.”

After the final whistle blew, Hamonic got in a little shoving match with Penguins star Evgeni Malkin. Both ended up dropping the gloves and throwing some punches, earning fighting majors at the 20-minute mark of the third period.

“I guess everyone that came to the game got everything they wanted to see,” Hamonic said through his one-tooth smile. “We’re in a series now, so it’s going to be an exciting finish.”



MacDonald likely out for playoffs

By BRETT CYRGALIS/May 9, 2013

PITTSBURGH — There is no replacing Andrew MacDonald, no matter how much the Islanders speak of depth and character and perseverance.

The team leader in ice time and the cerebral centerpiece on the blue line, MacDonald is expected to miss tonight’s Game 5 of the first-round series against the Penguins at the CONSOL Energy Center with what is believed to be a left hand/arm injury. Although no official word was given by the team, it would be shocking if MacDonald is able to return to this series, and he could very well be out for the remainder of the postseason.

BAD BREAK: Andrew MacDonald, getting checked by the Penguins’ James Neal in Game 4 Tuesday night, may miss the remainder of the Islanders’ first-round series with a left hand/arm injury.

“It’s an unfortunate situation because Andrew was an integral part of our team this year and [for] as hard as he played against other team’s top lines,” coach Jack Capuano said after yesterday’s optional practice at the Coliseum. “Hopefully he’ll recover well and it gives somebody else an opportunity to step their game up.”

Up to this point, the Islanders have played a wonderfully entertaining and competitive series against the top-seeded Penguins, creating a best-of-three scenario after Tuesday’s hellacious 6-4 win at the Coliseum. Yet midway through the second period of that game, MacDonald took a slap shot in the left hand area, and then collapsed on top of Craig Adams earning a holding penalty.

He didn’t return, yet the Islanders still found a way to tie the series up 2-2.

“Obviously, he eats a lot of minutes,” said defenseman Brian Strait, who finished Tuesday’s contest with 21:33 of ice time, four more minutes than his season average. “So everyone on the backend is going to have to pick up the slack a little bit with some extra minutes here and there. It’s going to be tough missing him, but we have a lot of depth back there and we’re up for the challenge.”

Capuano now must decide who enters the lineup to at least somewhat fill the void. Matt Carkner was already technically in the lineup, but played just 7:50 in Game 4 and is on the bench mostly as a pugilistic insurance policy rather than an effective, puck-moving defenseman.

Nevertheless, Carkner will have to be relied on more, which doesn’t bode well for matching up against a Penguins team that’s fast to strike, and can exploit even the smallest of weaknesses with its immense amount of skill and depth.

“Obviously losing A-Mac, it’s pretty tough on us,” Carkner said. “But we’ve been putting new defensemen in all year, here and there. So we’re confident in the group of guys we have.”

Carkner himself was scratched for Game 1 of this series in favor of diminutive stay-at-home defenseman Thomas Hickey. However, the two were swapped for Game 2, and have stayed like that since.

The other most likely option besides Hickey would be veteran Radek Martinek, who hasn’t played in a game since April 16 and played just 13 games all season.

“Really, it’s an open discussion on our part,” Capuano said. “But I would say we would lean more towards a veteran guy at this point that has been playing with us this year.”

After being tested time and time again down the stretch and early into this postseason, the Islanders now have to show some depth to hurdle the next — and largest — obstacle.

“Having depth in the playoffs is huge,” said Carkner, on the verge of finding out exactly how right he is.



Penguins turn to Vokoun

By BRETT CYRGALIS/May 9, 2013

PITTSBURGH — Dan Bylsma sounded calm and collected when he announced the biggest lineup change this NHL postseason has seen thus far.

Bylsma told reporters Wednesday that Tomas Vokoun will start in goal, replacing Marc-Andre Fleury, for Thursday night’s Game 5 of the team’s first-round series against the Islanders at the CONSOL Energy Center.

“We brought Tomas Vokoun in to play big games for us and be a goaltender we can count on and play big games for us,” said Bylsma, whose top-seeded team is tied 2-2 with the upstart Islanders. “He’s done that this year for us, and he has been very good against the Islanders in the three games that he’s played against the Islanders.”

Yes, Vokoun has been good this season against the Islanders — notching a 3-0 record with a 0.90 goals-against average, including one shutout. In addition, Vokoun has a career record against the Islanders of 17-7-1 with a 1.95 GAA and a .937 save percentage, including five shutouts, all of which came as a member of the Predators.

“We’re getting a guy that’s real capable,” Bylsma said, “and a guy going in being a great goalie for us.”

Fleury led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup in 2009, but hasn’t been anywhere near as good since. He bottomed out in the first round of the playoffs last season, giving up 26 goals to the Flyers en route to the Penguins being eliminated in six games.

Bylsma said he had a conversation with Fleury yesterday, but that conversation was not going to be shared with the media. Fleury was noticeably distraught after the Game 4 loss, when he allowed six goals including a stinker from behind the net from Kyle Okposo.

After a 5-0 shutout in Game 1 of this series, the 28-year-old netminder has given up 14 goals in the three games since. The Islanders won two of those, and have changed the complexion of this best-of-seven contest, now the best-of-three.

“I think it is adversity, but it is the playoffs,” Bylsma said. “The emotion of losing Game 4 and now being tied 2-2 in a playoff series — it’s the playoffs, it’s not supposed to be easy. We didn’t anticipate it being easy.”

* Thursday night’s game will be picked up by ESPN Radio 98.7 FM, as well as the team’s regular station, WRHU 88.7 FM, the station for Hofstra University.



Islanders hope they're getting under Penguins' skin

By JOHN JEANSONNE

STAR POWER John Tavares vs. Sidney Crosby: JT Isles vs. Penguins: Who has the edge? Arthur Staple Isles Files

If Tuesday night's denouement to the Islanders' 6-4 Game 4 victory -- a postgame scrum initiated by the Penguins -- carried any special significance beyond Pittsburgh's kick-the-dog mood, the Islanders couldn't see it.

"To me, it's two teams battling," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said Wednesday. "You're going to see that all the time. Tempers flare."

Has the Islanders' resilience, and surprising two-games-apiece first-round playoff push put fear in the hearts of the Eastern Conference's top-seeded team?

LIVE CHAT: Get your Islanders questions answered by beat writer Arthur Staple during our live chat Thursday at noon.

"They've got a lot of veterans over there," Islanders forward Keith Aucoin said. "I'm sure they have no fear. They've got a lot of guys with playoff experience. I'm sure they've been in this position before. So we're not worried about them. We're worried about ourselves, and that's been our motto the last couple of months."

It is the Islanders, after all, who lost a significant presence for tonight's Game 5 in Pittsburgh: Defenseman Andrew MacDonald, whose 23:31 per game during the regular season was a team high, left Tuesday's game with a fractured hand, according to a source.

"He's been great all year, one of our leaders," fellow defenseman Matt Carkner said of MacDonald. "We're going to try to pull up our socks and work hard and get some wins for him."

Still, of the two teams, the one that left Nassau Coliseum annoyed, irritated, disappointed and exasperated was Pittsburgh, which had won 12 more games than the Islanders during the lockout-shortened 48-game season. Exasperated enough that they will replace struggling goalie Marc-Andre Fleury with Tomas Vokoun in Game 5.

"We're hoping they're a little rattled, a little worried about us," Carkner said, "because we think we have every opportunity to win this series. The more frustrated they get, the better it is for us. I'm sure they'd love to be up 3-1 right now, but that's hockey."

Just as it's hockey for the underdogs to hope Pittsburgh's frustration is working in the Islanders' favor.

"That means we're doing something right if we're frustrating them," defenseman Brian Strait said. "I think we've been pretty physical with their top guys. We're just happy the series is tied."

Capuano said he still is "running through his mind" how to fill the MacDonald void, "but I would say we're leaning more toward a veteran guy at this point."

That could mean significantly more ice time for 36-year-old Radek Martinek, who played in only 13 games during the season.

When MacDonald left during the second period Tuesday, Capuano was forced to mix and match with five defensemen in uniform: Carkner, Strait, Mark Streit, Travis Hamonic and Lubomir Visnovsky.

The team's mantra continues to be "no panic in our game," Capuano said, "understanding how there's going to be surges and momentum that change against a real good hockey club. But I like the character and leadership of our team."

The loss of MacDonald "is an unfortunate situation because Andrew was an integral part of our team, as hard as he played against other teams' top lines," Capuano said. "But, if we recover well, it gets other guys an opportunity. We have some guys who can fit in for us."

He did not include himself, based on his very brief NHL career as a defenseman more than a decade ago. "I can play," Capuano kidded, "but I don't know if I can play with the pace this is going."

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 05.09.2013


Pittsburgh Penguins turning to backup Tomas Vokoun for Game 5

By MARK HERRMANN

The Penguins have made as radical a switch as they can for Game 5 Thursday night, replacing goalie Marc-Andre Fleury with Islanders nemesis Tomas Vokoun in an effort to finally take control of the series. The Islanders' response was a vow to not change a thing.

At least they won't be altering their attitude and preparation just because they will face a 15-year veteran who was described by Penguins coach Dan Bylsma, after the 6-4 loss Tuesday, as "a guy who can step in and play. He's had success and won hockey games against this team."

Bylsma made it official in Pittsburgh Wednesday afternoon, after the Islanders left Nassau Coliseum for the airport following an optional workout. At the time, they did not know for sure that they will be facing someone different, but they basically said it doesn't matter.

"Our approach going into the series was to put a lot of pucks on net. If they change goaltenders, we're going to continue to do that," Brad Boyes said. "We need to get pucks there and we need guys there. Regardless of who's in net, that's still a game plan of ours."

Coach Jack Capuano said the Islanders prepared before the series for every contingency. He added that many of his team's goals would have gone in against anybody. "Listen, I know everybody is making a thing about Fleury, but he's a Stanley Cup goaltender," Capuano said. "Whoever they put in the net is going to give them a chance to win."

Keith Aucoin said, "You can't worry about a goalie. When we're playing well, we're getting a lot of shots, a lot of traffic."

The Penguins apparently acquired Vokoun, 36, (from the Capitals for a seventh-round pick) for just such an occasion. They were eliminated in the first round by the Flyers last year when Fleury sputtered and believed they needed insurance.

"We brought Tomas Vokoun in to play big games for us," Bylsma told reporters Wednesday in Pittsburgh. "He has done that this year for us and he has been very good in the three games he has played against the Islanders."

Vokoun is 3-0 and has allowed only three goals in three starts and one other appearance against the Islanders in 2013. Lifetime against them, he is 17-7-1 with a 1.95 goals-against average. On the other hand, he is 3-8 all-time in the playoffs (all with the Predators) and has not been in a postseason game since 2007.

Whatever his most pertinent statistic might be, the Islanders have no plan to scrap their own prevailing style. "We have to get in the dirty areas, get in front of the goalie so that it's hard on him," Matt Carkner said. "One player change isn't really going to affect us too much. Being a goalie, maybe there are different tendencies that we can look at, but it's not going to change a whole lot."



Beards and boards: Islanders taking part in playoff tradition of growing your facial hair

By JOHN JEANSONNE /May 8, 2013 9:37 PM

It's still early, so the mostly humble beginnings of traditional playoff beards on the faces of the Islanders is a good enough start. At least they're in the playoffs after five clean-shaven offseasons, and now the goal is to wind up looking like a bunch of lumberjacks in the wild.

"It's kind of a pride thing," said defenseman Matt Carkner, whose comparatively thick, reddish growth is worthy of the team's strong, two-games-apiece offensive in the first-round series against the favored Penguins. "The longer you go, the bigger your beard's going to be, so it kind of represents your success in the playoffs."

Theoretically, a woolly mammoth is a successful hockey player. And there is anecdotal evidence that the Islanders teams of the late 1970s -- on the verge of their four consecutive Stanley Cup victories the following decade -- initiated the don't-shave-till-you're-eliminated custom.

LIVE CHAT: Get your Islanders questions answered by beat writer Arthur Staple during our live chat Thursday at noon.

To current players, not yet born then, playoff beards have "always" been in hockey, Carkner said, so that even in junior competition, those who were able, grew whiskers.

Maybe it's the Samson thing: Hirsute equals supernatural strength. So the just-beyond-stubble on most of the present-day Islanders can represent several realities:

1) The playoffs have just began.

2) This franchise's historical postseason harvest has been stunted for a long time, with no advance past the first round since 1993.

3) There are a lot of young lads on the roster.

"A couple of guys, for whatever reason -- and they're younger -- well, you know when your uncle says, 'You eat this and it'll put hair on your chest.' I guess they didn't eat those things," said forward Brad Boyes, who was quick to acknowledge that his own beard was "just OK."

There is overwhelming agreement that defenseman Brian Strait's heavy, black facial hair leads the team. "I kind of started a little early," Strait said. "As soon as we clinched a playoff bid, when we had two games left in the season or something like that. So it's about 2 1/2 weeks now. I just want to keep it growing."

Strait, Boyes decided, "has a full beard 10 minutes after he shaves. Keith Aucoin, when I was with him in Providence and we went a fair distance, had a good one, but he had some missing gaps, so it was kind of like [mutton] chops going."

Aucoin's 2013 look, he readily admitted, "is not very good. I wouldn't call it a beard. Maybe call it a chinstrap."

But it's there, and though he said there is no chance of competing with Strait -- "I've never seen anything grow so fast in my life," Aucoin said -- he intends to see how much better the chinstrap can become.

Casey Cizikas likewise is struggling a bit to cultivate a crop worthy of his contribution through four playoff games. But he is only 21, and he remembered that, when he tried to grow a playoff beard during Canada's junior hockey Memorial Cup championships two years ago, "it took me a long time. I had a real good mustache at the end, but that was about it.

"This one is a little bit scruffy, but I'll take it."

Then there is coach Jack Capuano, these days sporting just the start of a Van Dyke -- the combination mustache/goatee. It may or may not be considered a playoff beard, because Capuano's superstitious nature so often moves him to switch from facial hair to clean-shaven depending on the previous game's result.

For him, a long winning streak would be pretty hairy.


675648 New York Rangers

Rangers Knock Down Shots and Push Past the Capitals

By JEFF Z. KLEIN/Published: May 9, 2013

The Rangers clawed their way to a 4-3 victory at Madison Square Garden, leaving the series a best-of-three duel. Game 5 will be Friday in Washington.

“They were working harder; they were coming harder,” Washington defenseman Karl Alzner said.

The Rangers’ Dan Girardi broke a 2-2 tie with a power-play goal 59 seconds into the third period off a fine setup from Derick Brassard. At 6 minutes 2 seconds, Derek Stepan finished a superb three-way passing play with Ryan Callahan and Carl Hagelin to make the score 4-2.

When Mathieu Perreault deflected a long shot past Henrik Lundqvist at 7:31, the Rangers had to hold off a Capitals onslaught, as they did in Monday’s victory. Lundqvist stopped Washington’s last nine shots.

“You just have to make up your mind — no more goals,” said Lundqvist, who earlier Wednesday was named a Vezina Trophy finalist for the fifth time in his career.

Lundqvist (27 saves) got plenty of help from his teammates, who blocked 33 shots and handed out 38 hits.

Ovechkin’s stat line was illuminating. He put one lonely shot on Lundqvist; five other attempts were blocked, and another three attempts missed the net.

Everyone got into the act of shutting down one of the league’s most feared scorers. His shots were blocked by Hagelin, Callahan, Anton Stralman, Taylor Pyatt and Ryan McDonagh. He was hit five times, twice by Dan Girardi and once each by Pyatt, Stralman and Ryane Clowe, who was back in the lineup after being sidelined by a suspected concussion on April 25.

“He’s a pretty dynamic player for them, so we want to finish hard whenever we can,” Girardi said of Ovechkin. “He’s going to keep coming, and we’re going to keep hitting him.”

Ovechkin sidestepped a question about what the Rangers did to suffocate him.

“I have to play better,” he said. “When we get a chance to play in their zone, we have to use it. I don’t think tonight we had enough opportunities to score goals.”

The Rangers dominated play for most of the first two periods, yet the score was tied, 2-2, at the second intermission. They blew a 2-0 lead in the second period and almost blew another two-goal advantage in the third.

“It was a game of momentum swings by both teams,” Rangers Coach John Tortorella said. “We bent at certain times, but we didn’t break.”

Brad Richards opened the scoring into a vacant net with 3 minutes 35 seconds left in the first period. Capitals goalie Braden Holtby had come out to clear a puck, only to have Pyatt knock down his clearance. The puck eventually fell to Richards, who cashed in the gift goal.

Hagelin made the score 2-0 midway through the second period with a slap shot off a setup from Brassard, who had two assists on the night. Hagelin had a goal and two assists.

At that point, the Rangers were outshooting Washington by 21-8, and they seemed in control. But Perreault halved the Capitals’ deficit at 13:08, with the first of his two goals.

And with just 18 seconds left in the second, Troy Brouwer tied the score after bursting from the sideboards into the slot and backhanding a shot past Lundqvist.

At the end of the second period, though, Jason Chimera was sent off for interference, setting the table for Girardi’s go-ahead power-play goal in the first minute of the third.

The Rangers went 1 for 4 on the power play and killed both Capitals power plays. They held a 34-19 face-off advantage.

Holtby finished with 30 saves.

The home team has won every game in the series so far, and every game has been close.

“It was close again,” Lundqvist said. “A big win for us, though — much, much needed. They just kept coming back, but we did so many good things. You can see the confidence. We made a lot of good plays, and I thought we deserved this one.”

SLAP SHOTS

Defenseman Marc Staal did not dress for the game, a surprising absence for the Rangers. Staal gave the team and its fans an emotional lift by returning to action for Game 3 after he had missed 29 games with a serious injury to his right eye, which was struck by a puck on March 5. Still experiencing blurred vision in that eye, he played for more than 17 minutes and went minus-1 but was generally steady. Staal participated in the morning skate but was not present for the pregame warm-ups. The Rangers did not provide an explanation for his absence. ... Steve Eminger took Staal’s place alongside Michael Del Zotto.

New York Times LOADED: 05.09.2013


Rangers’ Lundqvist Is Vezina Finalist Again

By JEFF Z. KLEIN/ May 8, 2013

When Henrik Lundqvist talks about his craft as a goaltender, it is almost as if he is giving a seminar about how to succeed at any endeavor requiring work, devotion and concentration.

Henrik Lundqvist said he was pleased with his consistency during this shortened N.H.L. season.

So it was again Wednesday, after the N.H.L. announced that Lundqvist, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, was a finalist for the award again this year. The Vezina is given to the league’s best goalie as voted by the league’s 30 general managers, and Lundqvist has been named a finalist five times in his eight-season N.H.L. career. The other finalists are Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks.

“I always try to push myself as much as possible,” Lundqvist said before Game 4 against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night. “I want to be up there and be recognized as a good goalie, and when people appreciate what you do, it’s always a good thing.”

Rangers Coach John Tortorella often calls Lundqvist the backbone of the team, and he has been voted the Rangers’ most valuable player for seven consecutive years. He is a model of consistency, finishing below the N.H.L.'s top 10 in save percentage only twice in the last eight years, despite playing more minutes in that span (30,216) than any goalie besides Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff.

Last season the Rangers surged to the regular-season conference title; this year they struggled, qualifying for the playoffs after Game 47 of the lockout-shortened 48-game schedule. Lundqvist noted the difference, and what it required of him.

“I like the challenge,” he said. “Last season things were going our way early, and a lot of fun things happened. This year we had to work to get back in the race. As long as you see it as a great challenge, you can have fun with that as well. It doesn’t always have to go your way.”

Describing the inner dialogue he conducted with himself during a year that was difficult for the Rangers, he added: “Personally, for me, it was important to ask myself the right questions during the season. We were not winning as much, but I had to look at my game: Am I doing the right thing here? Do I need to change something? Even though it’s a team sport, for me it’s about what I’m doing. I have to look at myself, and when I do my best, I’m going to help the team to do well.

“So sometimes you just have to make sure you ask yourself the right questions and not get carried away with the result all the time.”

Martin Biron has been Lundqvist’s backup for three seasons. This year he got into only six games, as the Rangers’ desperation forced Tortorella to go with his No. 1 goalie almost every night. But Biron brings a goalie’s special insight to describing his teammate’s process.

“The key for him the last two years has been consistency,” Biron said. “That consistent preparation on ice, off ice, has got to be there. He’s better than anybody at doing that. His routine is perfect, and that’s what he gives us every night.

Biron noted what it meant for Lundqvist to lead the Rangers through a season when they were constantly on the brink of crushing disappointment.

“There’s pressure when you’re at the top of the conference like we were last year, to always keep it at the same level,” Biron said. “But it’s such completely different pressure from being in 9th and 10th and 8th and 7th and 9th, and then having to move back up. There’s a reason why we finished sixth, and that reason is him. It’s the reason why he was M.V.P. for seven straight years here. That’s a tribute to his consistency.”

Tortorella said: “How he competes, he helps the team in front of him on how he plays -- it forces the team in front of him to play the right way.”

Tortorella noted that he had hoped to give Lundqvist more rest this season, but could not because of the need to make the playoffs. But Lundqvist’s steady excellence made it an easy choice for Tortorella.

“He is that good, and that consistent,” Tortorella said.

He finished tied for the league lead in wins with 24 in 43 starts. He was fifth in save percentage (.926) and seventh in goals-against average (2.05). Niemi also had 24 wins in 43 starts, with a .924 save percentage and 2.16 goals-against average for the Sharks, who advanced to the Western Conference semifinals Tuesday night with a victory over Vancouver. Bobrovsky, with 21 wins in 37 starts, was second in the N.H.L. in save percentage (.932) and tied for fifth in goals-against average (2.00)

Lundqvist said he found a certain kind of fulfillment from the season just ended.

“It’s been an interesting year, and a different year – shorter season, tight schedule, and things maybe didn’t go our way all the time,” he said. “But when you have to work really hard to get back in the race, and finally you get in, it’s just a big reward.

“Last year it felt like things were going our way. This year we had to work really hard for it. And personally I maybe had a little bit more highs last year. But the consistency this year is something I’m pretty pleased with.”

As for Game 4 against Washington, which the Rangers need to win in order to even the series?

“I feel good, excited,” Lundqvist said. “It’s always fun to play here, especially in the playoffs. You try to enjoy it. It’s a lot of pressure, no question – I’m not going to hide that. But it’s fun to be out there, and feel the adrenaline, feel the crowd – it’s a little nervous as well.

“You just try to go out there and play your absolute best. That’s what we need right now. We’re facing a good team. If we can continue the play we had last game, I think we’ll be in good shape.”



New Ranger Injects New Life Into Team’s Power Play

By TOM PEDULLA/Published: May 8, 2013

When the Rangers explored trade possibilities with the Columbus Blue Jackets as the April 3 deadline approached, they insisted that Derick Brassard be included as part of what became a multiplayer deal. Now it is clear why.

Brassard, a former first-round draft choice by Columbus in 2006, followed a big offensive effort (three assists) in Game 3 by collecting two more Wednesday night, helping the Rangers to a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals.

“It’s incredible. His playmaking ability is so crucial,” defenseman Ryan McDonagh said of Brassard’s ability to suddenly spark an offense that was dormant the first two games.

“He finds space for himself, which helps other guys get open ice, and he’s doing well defensively,” McDonagh said. “He’s doing it all right now.”

Brassard wore a floppy black “Broadway hat” signifying that he had been chosen by his teammates as the most valuable player of the game. He also wore a smile that would not cease.

“When I’m on my game, I make plays,” he said, “and that is what I have been doing the last two games.”

After the Rangers were limited to one goal in the first two games in Washington, Brassard breathed life into the Rangers when they returned home.

He ended their 0-for-10 drought on the power play when he connected 1 minutes 23 seconds into the second period and assisted scores by Brian Boyle and Arron Asham in Monday night’s 4-3 win. The three points were the most by a Rangers player making his home playoff debut since Sergei Zubov reached that total on April 17, 1994, against the Islanders.

On Wednesday night, Brassard produced a fitting encore. He fed Carl Hagelin for a blistering slap shot that extended the Rangers’ margin to 2-0 at 10:13 of the second period. He asserted himself on the power play when he positioned defenseman Dan Girardi for another slap shot that whistled past goalie Braden Holtby on the stick side to snap a 2-2 tie early in the third period.

Brassard, 25, never experienced the postseason in five dismal seasons with Columbus.

“I play with emotion,” he said. “I play with passion. It’s a lot easier when you are playing at home.”



Henrik Lundqvist, Antti Niemi and Sergei Bobrovsky are Vezina Trophy finalists

This is the fifth time Lundqvist, last year's winner, has been nominated as a Vezina finalist in his eight-year NHL career, including his first three seasons of 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08, and last season.

By Pat Leonard / May 8, 2013, 11:20 AM

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, posts a 2.05 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage while posting a 24-16-3 record.

The King is a finalist to defend his throne.

Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s top goaltender last season, has been nominated as one of three finalists for this season’s award along with the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Sergei Bobrovsky and the San Jose Sharks’ Antti Niemi.

This is the fifth time Lundqvist has been nominated as a Vezina finalist in his eight-season NHL career, including his first three seasons of 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08, and last year when he won the award.

“I’m really proud to be in that category,” Lundqvist, 31, said Wednesday morning at the Garden before Game 4 against the Washington Capitals. “It’s been an interesting year and a different year: shorter season, tighter schedule and things maybe didn’t go our way all the time, but when you have to work really hard to get back in the race and then finally you get in, it’s just a big reward.”

Last season, Lundqvist won the Vezina with 39-18-5 record, a 1.97 goals against average and a .930 save percentage in 62 starts to help the Rangers capture the Eastern Conference’s top overall seed for the playoffs. This season, he had a 24-16-3 record, a 2.05 goals against average and a .926 save percentage in 43 starts during a 48-game, lockout-shortened season to help them make a late surge into the playoffs as the sixth seed.

The Rangers trailed the Capitals in their first-round series, 2-1, entering Game 4.

“Last year, I thought a lot of things were going our way, and this year we had to work really hard for it,” Lundqvist said. “Personally, maybe I had a little more highs last year, but the consistency this year is something I’m pretty pleased with.”

Lundqvist started just 3-5-0 this season and even had a 3-6-1 stretch in March, but that only makes his final stats and his finish more impressive. Capped by a 48-save performance in a 4-1 road win over the Carolina Hurricanes on April 6, Lundqvist dragged the Rangers out of the depths of the Eastern Conference and back into the postseason. That included a 10-3-1 record in April, when he started the Rangers’ final 14 regular season games.

“If you look at it, the way he was able to really lead this team when we were in a tough position (is most impressive),” veteran backup goaltender Martin Biron said. “I mean, there’s pressure when you’re at the top of the conference like we were last year to always keep it at the same level. But it’s such a completely different pressure from being in ninth (place) and tenth and eighth and seventh and ninth and having to move back up. There’s a reason why we finished sixth, and that reason is him. It’s the reason why he is the team MVP for seven straight years. It’s all on him.”

Coach John Tortorella praised Lundqvist for his consistency and importance to the Blueshirts’ efforts.

“It's everything,” Tortorella said. “As I've always said, he's the backbone of our club. I think he's a special athlete as far as just how he plays and just how he competes. It helps the team in front of him on how he plays; it forces the team in front of him to play the right way.”

Even Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin lauded the Rangers’ goaltender, a rival for many years in the Eastern Conference.

“He’s a top goalie, and you can see how he’s playing right now, especially in Game 2 when we had lots of chances on him,” Ovechkin said Wednesday at the Garden. “We just have to find lots of chances, maybe find a rebound. It can’t be (a) clear shot. It (has) to be somebody standing in front of him, because if he’s going to see the puck, he’s going to make the save.”

Rangers forward Rick Nash said Lundqvist’s nomination is “not very surprising,” repeating the mantra through his first season playing in front of Lundqvist that he’s “one of the best goalies in the world.”

Lundqvist, who values routine above all – including the guidance of Rangers goaltending coach Benoit Allaire – took some time in this strange season to get in a groove. But he said Wednesday that just motivated him even more to reach another levelwhen the Rangers needed him most.

“I like the challenge,” Lundqvist said. “It doesn’t always have to go your way, and I think personally for me it was important to ask myself the right questions during the season. We were not winning as much, but I have to look at my game: am I doing the right thing here? Do I need to change something? And even though it’s a team sport, for me, it’s about what I’m doing, and I have to look at myself, and when I’m doing my best, I’m going to help the team do well. So sometimes you just have to make sure, like I said, you ask yourself the right questions and don’t get carried away with the result all the time.”

Lundqvist, of course, has strong competition for the Vezina this season. Here is a breakdown of the three finalists in alphabetical order, with more stats on Lundqvist’s terrific season:

Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets: Bobrovsky (21-11-6, 2.00 goals-against average, .932 save percentage, four shutouts) backstopped Columbus' late-season surge that kept the club in contention for a playoff berth until the final moments of the season. The first-time Vezina finalist appeared in all but one of the Blue Jackets' franchise-record 12-game point streak (8-0-4) from Feb. 26 through Mar. 22 that spurred the club's move up the standings. He won eight of his last nine decisions from April 9-27, posting a 1.64 goals-against average and .945 save percentage in that span. He ranked second among NHL goaltenders in save percentage and sixth in goals-against average.

Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers: Lundqvist, the reigning Vezina winner, tied for the NHL lead in wins, posting a 24-16-3 record with a 2.05 goals-against average and .926 save percentage. He also tied for the League lead in starts (43), ranked fifth in save percentage and seventh in goals-against average. He posted his eighth consecutive 20-win season, the longest current streak among active goaltenders. Lundqvist helped

clinch his seventh trip to the playoffs in eight NHL seasons by allowing two goals or fewer in 16 of his last 20 games, going 13-5-2 with a 1.77 GAA and .935 save percentage in that span. He is a Vezina finalist for the fifth time, finishing first in 2012 and third from 2006 through 2008.

Antti Niemi, San Jose Sharks: Niemi shared the NHL lead in starts (43), saw more ice time than any other goaltender (2,580:46) and ranked third in shots faced (1,220) and saves (1,127). He helped the Sharks post the League's sixth-best defensive record (2.33 goals-against per game) by going 24-12-6 with a 2.16 goals-against average, .924 save percentage and four shutouts, tying for first place in wins and placing seventh in save percentage. Niemi is a Vezina finalist for the first time and is the fourth Finland native in the past seven seasons to make the top three, joining Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff, Minnesota's Niklas Backstrom and Nashville's Pekka Rinne.

- Player bios compiled by the NHL



Marc Staal sits out NY Rangers' Game 4 against Washington Capitals after making return to lineup in Game 3

BY Pat Leonard

Marc Staal made an inspirational return to the lineup for Game 3, but the blurred vision in his right eye clearly is making the Rangers defenseman extra cautious as he seeks a full-time comeback.

Staal was scratched for Game 4 Wednesday night at the Garden, just two days after playing 17 minutes in his first appearance since taking a puck to his eye on March 5 – a span of two months and 29 games on the sidelines.

Staal practiced Tuesday, skated Wednesday morning at the Garden, and did not appear to sustain an injury in Game 3 on Monday night. But on April 18 during his rehabilitation, Staal made a revealing statement that he had learned from his recovery from a Feb. 2011 concussion: After returning prematurely, he had experienced concussion symptoms that kept him out the first 37 games of the 2011-12 season.

“I’ve come back in the past too early, and it didn’t go so well,” Staal said at the team’s practice facility in Greenburgh. “But when I’m ready, I’m gonna go.”

Steve Eminger replaced him in the lineup. The Rangers made no announcement on Staal’s condition, but there were instances during Monday’s game when he appeared possibly to be hindered by his blurred vision.

Five minutes into the game, Caps forward Troy Brouwer caught Staal completely off-guard with a routine hit from the right side, sending him crashing to the ice. Then in the third period, Staal mishandled the puck in traffic when he had to make a quick turn for the clear.



Alex Ovechkin on Ryan McDonagh's 'tired' comment: 'No, I feel normal'; Nash feels fine; 'good chance' Clowe plays in Game 4

BY Pat Leonard

Alex Ovechkin brushed aside Ryan McDonagh’s comment that the Capitals captain looked tired on Monday night’s Rangers game-winning goal shift in Game 3, with a little humor thrown in when Ovechkin initially misunderstood the question.

“Retired? Oh, tired. (I thought you said) I’m retiring,” Ovechkin said, smiling. “No, I feel normal. I don’t know why he (said) that, but I think our line played well, and we had solid chances but we didn’t score. Of course, they’re going to try to find something, if they’re winning, they’re going to try to find

somebody that looks tired, somebody that looks lazy. So I don’t care what was said.”

LUNDQVIST NAMED FINALIST FOR VEZINA TROPHY AFTER WINNING AWARD LAST YEAR

Ovechkin, who revealed that he did a bit of New York City shopping during the Capitals’ off-day on Tuesday, also had interesting insight when asked later about the challenge of facing the Rangers’ top defensive pair of McDonagh and Dan Girardi.

“Well, McDonagh is a good skater, but they don’t play much of a physical game,” Ovechkin said. “So it’s kind of nice to know when you go to the corners, they’re not going to hit you. They play too (many) minutes, and if they’re going to make one or two hits, their energy leveling (will be) going down … But they block shots, they play safe and it’s a challenge. It’s a huge challenge for my line and it’s a huge line for anybody who plays (against them).”

Lastly, Ovechkin complimented Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who has been nominated as one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy.

“He’s a top goalie, and you can see how he’s playing right now, especially in Game 2 when we had lots of chances on him,” Ovechkin said. “We just have to find lots of chances, maybe find a rebound. It can’t be (a) clear shot. It (has) to be somebody standing in front of him, because if he’s going to see the puck, he’s going to make the save.”

NASH NOTES

Rangers forward Rick Nash skipped Tuesday’s practice for a maintenance day likely on his right knee, but he skated Wednesday morning at the Garden and was never a question for Game 4.

With five seconds remaining in the second period of the Rangers’ 4-3 win in Game 3 on Monday night, Nash missed Capitals defenseman Mike Green with a hit and slammed his right knee in the back boards. But Nash assisted on Derek Stepan’s game-winning goal with 6:25 remaining and said “no” on Wednesday when asked if the knee bothered him in the third period.

“It felt pretty good in the third,” Nash said. “I felt fine.”

MOORE'S FORMER OHL COACH LAUDS DEFENSEMAN'S ABILITY, CHARACTER

Monday was Nash’s first career NHL postseason victory, having played in just four playoff games during his nine seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“Yeah, it was a feeling I’ve never had before, but it was good,” Nash said. “Hopefully there are a lot more to come.”

Nash has one assist and no goals through three games in the series but said it was refreshing to contribute on Monday’s game-winner and for the team to get rewarded for four goals.

“I had some chances the first game,” Nash said. “Second game, I hit a post and was around the puck a lot, but to finally get some goals and payoff for the guys (in Game 3), it’s a big deal.”

RYANE AIN’T LYIN’

Ryane Clowe, out with a suspected concussion and leg injury both sustained on April 25 in Carolina, said Wednesday morning “there’s a good chance I’ll play tonight” in Game 4.

“I won’t sit here and tell you guys I’m in tonight and then (there’s a chance) I wasn’t in there,” Clowe said, not wanting to rubber-stamp his presence in the lineup. “But hopefully I’m playing tonight.”

The personnel on ice for the Rangers’ morning skate backed up Clowe’s confidence that the bruising winger will play Wednesday night against the Caps.

Fourth-line winger Darroll Powe did not skate for a second straight day and is expected to miss Game 4 with a likely concussion sustained in Game 3. So Clowe is expected to replace Powe in the lineup.

But if the Rangers were worried about Clowe’s status, they likely would have skated another depth forward such as Kris Newbury, Chris Kreider or Micheal Haley at the Garden just in case. But none of the Game 3 scratches were on the ice.

“There might have been a couple setbacks,” Clowe said of his recovery. “And you just try to keep moving forward, but I think obviously yesterday I

did some contact for first time and felt good today, so hopefully I’ll be in tonight … I was kind of excited that I might have played in Game 2, but I don’t know if that was just me hoping or wishful thinking. But I think there’s a good chance I’ll play tonight.”



Capitals star Alex Ovechkin seems puzzled in NY Rangers series

In addition to those sticky defensemen, Ovechkin appears somewhat unsettled by the presence of Henrik Lundqvist. There is a very real difference between Lundqvist, a Vezina Trophy finalist, and his counterpart Braden Holtby.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin says he's not tired but his frustration may be beginning to show out on the ice in the series against the Rangers.

The one man who can change everything on an ice rink said he was tired, but not the way you think. Alex Ovechkin’s muscles weren’t fatigued, his legs weren’t buckling before Game 4 on Wednesday at the Garden. He was just tired of people saying he looked tired.

“I feel normal, you know,” Ovechkin said, before he was shut out yet again during the Rangers’ 4-3 victory that evened the first-round series with Washington, 2-2. “I don’t know why he say that.”

By “he,” Ovechkin was referring to Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who had the nerve to suggest that the Caps’ Russian superstar was flagging in these playoffs. Then McDonagh and Dan Girardi checked Ovechkin into submission yet again in Game 4, another defensive smothering that allowed the winger exactly one shot on Henrik Lundqvist.

Meanwhile, Girardi outscored Ovechkin, one goal to zero.

How terribly embarrassing for the superstar.

“We’re not doing anything overly special,” Girardi insisted. “We’re trying to finish every check. He’s a pretty dynamic player. We’re not going out of our way to him but we’re trying to make the game difficult for him.”

The big Russian bear may cast a large shadow, but Ovechkin has netted only one goal, with one assist, in the first four games of this series. He scored 32 goals in 48 games during the strike-shortened regular season, despite a slow start while playing a new wing position. Back in 2009, he scored 11 goals, with 10 assists, during a playoff run that included a seven-game win over the Rangers.

So far, though, the Rangers’ defensemen have throttled Ovechkin and his linemates, Nicklas Backstrom and Marcus Johansson.

“I have to play better,” Ovechkin said. “When we have a chance to play in their zone we have to use it.”

Ovechkin said he and his linemates were not yet frustrated by their offensive flameout.

“The pressure is always there,” he said. “But we have to handle it.”

In addition to those sticky defensemen, Ovechkin appears somewhat unsettled by the presence of Henrik Lundqvist. There is a very real difference between Lundqvist, a Vezina Trophy finalist, and his counterpart Braden Holtby. Holtby committed an incredibly dumb error on a conventional clearance in the first period, leading to the opening goal by Brad Richards.

Lundqvist was beaten three times, but he wasn’t beaten by Ovechkin.

“He’s a top goalie and you can see how he play right now, when we have lots of chances on him,” Ovechkin said. “You just have to find lots of traffic, maybe find the rebound. It can’t be clear shot. It have to be like somebody stand in front of the net because if he gonna see the puck, he gonna save it.”

If Ovechkin’s use of the English language can be amusing, his headlong rushes down ice generally require no translation. He is a dangerous man

with one of the quickest, reaction wrist shots in the league. Ovechkin’s size alone can intimidate opponents. In one of those passing-of-the-torch moments at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Ovechkin smashed headlong into another giant, Jaromir Jagr, during a Russia-Czech Republic game. It was a memorable crash that set the tone for Russia’s 4-2 victory.

That’s what made Anton Stralman’s hit in Game 3 on Ovechkin along the boards that much more impressive. The Ranger defenseman smushed Ovechkin, fly-swatter style, then was smart enough to say the right things afterward.

“He’s one of the best in the world, so you just try to keep a good gap and try not to give him too much time,” Stralman said.

The real formula for stopping Ovechkin, in the long run, is fronting him, knocking him a bit off stride. The Rangers accomplished that on Wednesday, when they were back in their 2012 form with 33 blocked shots — greatly pleasing John Tortorella.

“Blocked shots,” Tortorella said. “I don’t think it’s any one particular person. You need to defend against their top line. Part of our defense is blocking shots.”

Girardi blocked five shots and scored the go-ahead third goal on Wednesday from the point on a power play. Ovechkin wasn’t on the ice at the time.

Come to think of it, he’s hardly been in the series.



Derek Stepan’s goal proves huge in Game 4 win over Washington Capitals

With the Rangers leading 3-2 in the third period, Stepan completed a glorious passing play between himself, Carl Hagelin and Ryan Callahan to beat Braden Holtby and give the Rangers the Rangers a 4-2 lead. The Caps scored 1:28 later to make Stepan’s goal even more crucial.

By Bill Price / May 9, 2013, 12:19 AM

With Rick Nash being held in check all series long, the Rangers have needed someone to score big goals. That someone has been Derek Stepan.

The 22-year-old winger, who lit the lamp only once in 20 playoff games last season, scored his second goal of this year’s postseason, and once again, it proved to be the game-winner in the Blueshirts’ series-tying 4-3 victory Wednesday at the Garden.

With the Rangers leading, 3-2, in the third period, Stepan completed a glorious passing play between himself, Carl Hagelin and Ryan Callahan to beat Braden Holtby and give the Rangers a 4-2 lead. The Caps scored 1:28 later to make Stepan’s goal even more crucial.

“I’ve maybe had struggles in the playoffs in years past, but I continue to work on my own game,” said Stepan, who also had the game-winner in Monday’s Game 3. “I have great linemates.”

It was Callahan who started the play, as his pressure forced a turnover atop the circle to Holtby’s left. The Rangers captain stole the puck and fed it to Stepan, who made a short pass to Hagelin, who one-timed the puck back to Stepan — now on the right side of Holtby — and he buried it into an open net.

“It’s great play by Ryan Callahan to start it and keep it in the zone,” said Stepan, who broke a 3-3 tie with a deflection of a Nash shot over Holtby late in Monday’s game. “And Carl makes a great pass. It’s pretty easy to put those in the net. The credit has to go to No. 62 (Hagelin).”

Stepan was also involved in a nasty collision late in the first period. With the Blueshirts shorthanded, he chased a rolling puck out of the Ranger zone and toward Holtby. As Stepan got to the puck, Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin took him out, but also collided with his teammate Martin Erat, who appeared to injure his wrist on the play. Both Ovechkin (charging) and Erat (hooking) were whistled for penalties on the play. Erat didn’t return, but Stepan, despite going hard to the boards, was OK.

It was just another example of Stepan shaking off last year’s quiet postseason to help the Rangers get even.

“Because of that intangible he has, he’s given us some really big minutes,” said John Tortorella, “and that has allowed us to crawl into this series with these two games.”



Carl Hagelin's energy, speed help NY Rangers hang on to top Washington Capitals, tie series

By Pat Leonard / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Carl Hagelin’s undeterred attitude and speed seeped into the Rangers’ personality in a 4-3 Game 4 win at a packed Garden, culminating in a dizzying sequence that led to Derek Stepan’s game-winning goal and evened this first-round series at two games apiece going back to Washington for Game 5 on Friday night.

Caps goalie Braden Holtby and defenseman Jack Hillen lay flat on the ice, spun around and sprawled, as Hagelin (goal, two assists) deftly completed a tic-tac-toe with captain Ryan Callahan to Stepan for a third-period insurance goal with 13:58 to play.

“We can’t back off,” Hagelin said, intending to explain his thought process. Little did he know he was describing the Rangers’ new outlook on this entire postseason.

Hagelin’s energy and the playmaking of 25-year-old center Derick Brassard (two assists) helped the Blueshirts score four goals for a second straight game, including Dan Girardi’s power-play goal to open the third period that snapped a 2-2 tie after the Blueshirts blew a two-goal lead.

Henrik Lundqvist (27 saves), who on Wednesday was named one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender, allowed Caps forward Mathieu Perreault’s second goal on a deflection but weathered a late Caps flurry to lift the Rangers to a sweep of Games 3 and 4 at home.

“We learned last year that this team we are playing doesn’t give up,” Holtby (30 saves) said from the visitors’ locker room. “And we don’t either.”

Callahan led the Rangers by example, blocking seven shots and putting six shots on goal, but Hagelin’s ability to play with blinders clearly is rubbing off on a team that just won’t give in. The brash Swede couldn’t match his mental intensity with production in last year’s playoffs, when he had no goals and three assists in 17 appearances as a rookie. But in this first round he has surged to the forefront of the Rangers’ attack, with two goals and two assists.

“He’s willing to make more plays with the puck, he’s more comfortable,” Callahan said of Hagelin. “The story with him all along is his speed.

“He pressures defensemen and creates turnovers, and when he’s doing that, it’s hard to defend him.”

Hagelin’s production has been increasingly significant with power forward Rick Nash goal-less through four games and veteran center Brad Richards spiraled back into his regular-season slump. Richards scored a first-period goal into an open net off a Holtby turnover to Taylor Pyatt, but his failure to defend Perreault at the back post in the second period gave the Capitals their first goal and new life in a game the Rangers almost let slip away.

After that error, John Tortorella benched Richards for seven minutes and 43 seconds from the second period into the third and played him for a total of only 14 minutes and 51 seconds. Brian Boyle (23:29), Brassard (17:29) and Stepan (20:43) carried the load at the center position to fill the void.

“Thing I like about our team the past couple of games is that we certainly have bent at times but didn’t break,” Tortorella said.

Bruising Rangers forward Ryane Clowe returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering a likely concussion and leg injury on April 25 in Carolina, picking up an assist on Hagelin’s second-period goal. He replaced forward Darroll Powe, out with a suspected concussion suffered in Game 3.

The Blueshirts unexpectedly, were without the services of defenseman Marc Staal, who had returned to the lineup on Monday night for the first

time since sustaining a right eye injury on March 5. Steve Eminger took the place of Staal, who did not appear to sustain an injury in Game 3 but still seemed hesitant playing with blurred vision in the injured eye.

“It’s an honest, humble decision by him knowing he didn’t want to put the team in any jeopardy,” Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh said after playing a game-high 31:29 and shutting down Alex Ovechkin (one shot). “It takes a lot of guts to do that.”



Rangers power play gets Moore punch

By HOWIE KUSSOY/May 8, 2013

The Rangers’ power play needed a change. After going 0-for-7 over the first two games of their playoff series against the Capitals, the Rangers needed momentum from the man-advantage.

It just wasn’t expected to come from a 22-year-old who joined the team a little more than a a month ago and had never quarterbacked a power play in the NHL.

John Tortorella’s confidence in John Moore allowed the coach to put the kid acquired from Columbus in a position he hadn’t been in since juniors, and Tortorella was extremely impressed with his poise and decision-making in his third career playoff game, helping the Rangers cut the series deficit to 2-1, as well as score their first power-play goal in Game 3.

“He’s running our power play now and we’re asking an awful lot, but I thought he handled himself really well,” Tortorella said after Monday’s 4-3 win.

RANGERS PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

Yesterday, the coach’s compliments continued, with Tortorella citing Moore’s superior skating ability and overall defensive prowess.

“I think he’s understanding, as far as stick on puck, just to use his range to the best of his ability because he takes up a lot of space,” Tortorella said. “And just positioning period. It’s such a tough position to play just to pick up quick thoughts, quick reads, as far as where he should be on the ice.”

Moore helped set up a go-ahead goal early in the third period of Game 3, saving a puck in Washington’s zone, and also recorded three shots on goal in nearly 16 minutes of play, with 5:37 coming on the power play.

He’s glad to have the role, but mostly, is just glad to have increased opportunities, after producing only one point in 17 games with Columbus.

“In Columbus it was a situation where I was working as hard as I could and one reason or another I was not getting opportunities, but I came here with an open mind and I feel like I’ve gotten better every day,” Moore said. “To get a chance like this is huge for me. Anything I can do to help the team win.”

* Forward Darroll Powe did not participate in practice after missing the final two periods on Monday with an injury. The Rangers provided no update, but Powe is suspected to have suffered a concussion after checking Joel Ward and taking an elbow to the head. Powe also suffered a concussion on Feb. 17.

* Rick Nash did not practice and was given a “maintenance day.”

Nash, who recorded his first point of the playoffs on the game-winning assist to Derek Stepan, appeared to have hurt his right knee in the closing seconds of the second period after missing a check and hitting the boards.

* Forward Ryan Clowe, who has missed the past four games and is believed to have suffered a concussion, was involved in contact-drills for the first time yesterday, but he is unsure if he will play tonight.



Rangers hope to maintain mojo on offense

By HOWIE KUSSOY/ May 8, 2013

The Rangers are one win away from a fresh start.

After Monday’s 4-3 win over the Capitals, the Rangers enter tonight’s Game 4 of the first-round playoff series, at Madison Square Garden, with a chance to tie the series, coming off an offensive performance that couldn’t have been envisioned after the abysmal showings in the first two meetings in Washington.

Change did not look like it was coming after nearly 13 minutes of play had passed in Game 3. The Rangers’ scoreless stretch expanded to more than 120 minutes and the Garden was growing restless, unhappy and uneasy.

KEEP IT GOING: The Rangers and Arron Asham, who celebrates his goal in the Rangers’ Game 3 win Monday night, are hoping to keep their offensive momentum going into tonight’s Game 4 against the Capitals at the Garden.

KEEP IT GOING: The Rangers and Arron Asham, who celebrates his goal in the Rangers’ Game 3 win Monday night, are hoping to keep their offensive momentum going into tonight’s Game 4 against the Capitals at the Garden.

But Brian Boyle broke the drought, and one period later, the other arena-sized weight was shaken off by Derick Brassard, who scored the team’s first power-play goal of the playoffs, with the Rangers scoring four goals for only the second time in the playoffs in the past three years.

“I think it’s going to be the start of something good here,” said Brassard, who had a goal and two assists in Game 3. “Everyone was pretty stressed out with the playoffs, which is kind of normal, but now I think guys are just confident and we’ll be fine.”

RANGERS PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

The Rangers averaged just 2.4 goals before the trade deadline, but ended up leading the league in scoring after April 3 with 3.6 goals per game. After scoring one goal in the first two games of the series, the Rangers got goals from four different players, including one from Arron Asham, who scored only two goals in the regular season.

“It’s the playoffs and you need all four lines going,” Henrik Lundqvist said after yesterday’s practice. “It’s a time of the year, if you have other lines stepping up and scoring big goals, it’s going to be huge. If you look at teams in the past that have had successful runs, they had three or four lines going well.”

Whenever the team talks about the first two games in Washington, it’s as if they were so long ago that Woodrow Wilson was in attendance, but Brassard said he believes the offensive momentum can continue tonight, particularly when playing in front of the same crowd that inspired their pride, passion and physical play.

The pressure isn’t off. Tonight’s game was still described by multiple players as “must-win,” but the focus is just on winning, not necessarily on scoring.

“The first two games, there’s going to be times like that, but you have to find a way to score as soon as possible because it’s do or die,” Brassard said. “We have a lot of talented players.

“It was just a matter of time before we made plays. Confidence-wise, now we can be more relaxed and having fun and not gripping your stick too hard.”



Rangers center Boyle regains magic touch in playoffs

By LARRY BROOKS/ May 8, 2013

This is a Same Time Next Year kind of deal from Brian Boyle, who was at the height of his powers during the first round of the 2012 playoffs until

Chris Neil delivered a Game 5 head shot that concussed the Rangers’ center and interrupted his career.

Not since then had Boyle been as dominant and imposing; not until Monday night, that is, when No. 22 used his size, strength, speed and ability to affix his stamp on his team’s 4-3 Game 3 victory over the Capitals to trim Washington’s first-round lead to 2-1 entering tonight’s Game 4 at the Garden.

Not until it became the same time, next year. Not until he scored the Rangers’ first goal on a power rush to the net, assisted on another, battled ceaselessly in the trenches, and went 14-7 at the dots, including 8-2 in the defensive zone in 20:42 that included 7:31 in the third period.

CRUNCH: Brian Boyle, checking Capitals defenseman Jack Hillen in the Blueshirts’ win Monday night, is starting to step it up in the playoffs again, The Post’s Larry Brooks writes.

Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

CRUNCH: Brian Boyle, checking Capitals defenseman Jack Hillen in the Blueshirts’ win Monday night, is starting to step it up in the playoffs again, The Post’s Larry Brooks writes.

“One thing about Brian in the time I coached him is that he has played very well in the playoffs,” coach John Tortorella said yesterday. “Forget about the regular season, that’s a really good sign as far as the position we’re in.

“Before he got hurt [last year], he was one of our best players.”

Forget about the regular season? Boyle doesn’t mind if everyone does. It was a washout, little more than that, in which he was a healthy scratch four times and flailed in attempting to establish his game.

A career interrupted by the concussion was further delayed by the lockout. The latter, according to Boyle, inflicted a more damaging blow.

“My preparation for the season obviously wasn’t what it needed to be,” Boyle, who split his time between New York and Boston, told The Post. “It was by no means intentional, but I wasn’t where I should have been when we finally started and I couldn’t make it up.”

The Rangers had remade their team over the summer and had lost a handful of abrasive, physical forwards such as Brandon Dubinsky, Brandon Prust and Ruslan Fedotenko. They needed the 6-foot-7, 245-pound Boyle to throw his weight around.

He couldn’t. He didn’t. He found himself watching games in street clothes, bumped from the lineup by a coach who made no secret of his dismay with Boyle’s game.

“Both,” Tortorella said yesterday when asked if he had been “frustrated” and/or “disappointed” by Boyle.

“I didn’t lose confidence in him, but if he wasn’t getting it done, other players were going to get the opportunity.”

Boyle seethed. The man at whom he was most irritated was in the mirror.

“I wanted to be proactive and change it,” he said. “You want to take control, it’s your own life, but at the same time you have teammates and you have to respect them and the decisions that are made. You feel like you’re letting yourself and your team down.

“You wake up every day angry and [ticked] off, but then you challenge yourself. That’s what I did.”

Boyle has been a Ranger for four years, an L.A. first-rounder from the famous Class of ’03 (Eight words: Hugh Jessiman 12th overall, Zach Parise 17th overall) obtained in July of 2009 from the Kings for a 2010 third-rounder.

He said that he never considered asking out when he was sitting out.

“I would never cop out and quit on this team,” said Boyle, whose game improved slowly but surely as the year evolved. “The grass isn’t always greener.

“I don’t want to be anywhere else.”

Boyle seemed to be everywhere on the ice on Monday, playing the third period with Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello, creating time and space for his smaller, more skill-oriented linemates.

The Rangers won Game 3 in large measure by playing with a greater sense of desperation than the Capitals. But they will need to be sharper tonight.

They will need to make more plays and they will need better from Rick Nash, Brad Richards, Derek Stepan and Michael Del Zotto.

And they will need Boyle to duplicate his performance.

“You know what you’re going into; battles all over the place,” he said. “I love playing in these games.”

Same time next year. Boyle Time.



Brassard adapts quickly to new home on Broadway

By HOWIE KUSSOY

Derick Brassard was raised in Canada and spent nearly six seasons playing in Columbus, but he was born for Broadway.

Playing in only his fourth career playoff game, the 25-year-old center, who was traded to the Rangers on April 3 as part of the deal for Marian Gaborik, had his second straight sensational game. He recorded two assists in a 4-3 win last night over the Capitals, which sends the first-round series back to Washington tied at two.

On Monday, Brassard tied a Rangers record with three points in his Madison Square Garden playoff debut.

“I’m a guy with a lot of passion and you can say that it came back when I got traded to New York,” Brassard said last night in the locker room, while sporting the team’s Broadway hat. “I’m having fun. They’ve showed a lot of confidence in me and I’m just trying to help the team. I know I can bring some offense.

“We have a lot of talent on this team and that’s why I’m really excited. We can do a lot of damage and I want to be part of it.”

Brassard said after Tuesday’s practice he believed the offensive momentum from Game 3 would carry over into Game 4. He made sure his prophecy came true, beginning with a cross-ice pass to Carl Hagelin, who gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead with a rising slap shot midway through the second period.

Then, with the team’s inept power play taking the ice to start the third period — 1-for-16 in the series at that point — Brassard slipped a beautiful backhand through the middle of the zone and through two defenders out to Dan Girardi at the point, who put the Rangers back in front, 3-2, less than one minute into the third period.

“He’s fun to have in the room and he’s obviously making a lot of plays,” Hagelin said of Brassard. “He’s a skill-guy with speed. You’re always going to welcome a guy like that.”

Brassard, who had five goals and six assists in 13 games with the Rangers during the regular season, said he feels more comfortable with the team than he has at any point since the trade occurred.

Though he began the series with two forgettable performances in Washington, he has since been revived by a crowd he hasn’t taken long to embrace.

“I knew how intense the games would be in the playoffs, but when you start on the road it’s a lot harder and I was a little bit nervous,” Brassard said. “I just started relaxing here and I feel the crowd. I play with emotion and I play with passion and it’s a lot easier when you play at home.

“Just the fact of coming back in our building in front of our fans, we know it would help a lot. That’s why home ice is really important in the playoffs. We don’t have it in this series, but if we win in Washington we have a chance to close it out.”



Rangers even series with Caps

By LARRY BROOKS

The Rangers held serve in this best-of-seven, but this wasn’t tennis, anyone, at the Garden last night.

This was an in-your-face display by the Blueshirts; or, rather, an in-the-Capitals faces’ effort that produced a second consecutive 4-3 victory, sending this opening round back to D.C. at two-all for tomorrow night’s Game 5.

“That’s exactly how we have to continue to play if we want to go deep into the playoffs,” said Derek Stepan, whose goal from in front at 6:02 gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead. “We have to play a physical game.”

The Rangers were credited with 38 hits and blocked 33 shots, more than they blocked in any game of last year’s seven-game series against the Caps (except for the triple-OT Game 3 in which they blocked 41) when they carried the Black-and-Blueshirts mantle on their shoulders.

BASH BROTHERS: Ryane Clowe gets in a scuffle with Capitals defenseman Steven Oleksy in the first period of last night’s 4-3 Rangers victory at the Garden, evening the first-round series 2-2.

They got the puck in deep and thus controlled considerably more of the five-on-five play than did Washington by eliminating the opportunities for the talented Caps to sweep through the neutral zone with speed.

“We concentrated on forcing them to come 200 feet,” said the indefatigable Ryan Callahan, who had five hits, seven blocked shots and disrupted countless breakout attempts with relentless forechecking in 23:31.

“They prey on turnovers and the transition game and have so much talent up front, we needed to hang on to pucks in the offensive zone even if we didn’t have plays and then force them to come through the whole team.”

Marc Staal, who obviously did not feel capable of helping the team, sat out following his inspirational return in Monday’s 4-3 victory. The Rangers’ back end was resolute in the alternate captain’s absence, with the Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi pair coming through with its best game of the series and Anton Stralman continuing his stout play.

The Rangers took a piece of Alex Ovechkin at every opportunity. McDonagh was extremely physical in his match against No. 8, who finished the night with one shot against Henrik Lundqvist, five attempts blocked and three missing the net.

“He’s an elite player who is used to taking hits,” McDonagh, who played a game-high 31:29, said. “He’s so mobile that he’s tough to hit, but I’m going to take a shot any time I can.”

It was another night on which the Rangers received strong performances pretty much straight through the lineup, with Rick Nash a notable exception. No. 61, who finished the night on a third line with Brad Richards and Ryane Clowe, was all but invisible. It is baffling.

But there was little baffling about the Blueshirts. There was no trickery involved in this one in which they led 2-0 past the midway point of the second, yielded a pair of goals over the period’s final 6:52 — the tying goal coming with 17.1 seconds remaining — and then reclaimed their advantage when Girardi scored a power-play goal at 0:59 of the third.

“It was tough going into the room after the second but it was important for us to stay focused in the third,” said Lundqvist, who made a brilliant stop on a Joel Ward left wing drive to the net with 3:22 remaining to preserve the lead after a deflection had brought the Caps within one at 7:31.

“We just had to realize how we were playing. We gave them less ‘A’ scoring chances in this game than the others,” Lundqvist said. “I think that started with our forechecking.”

The Rangers swarmed. They hemmed in the Caps. And after scoring once in 128:00 over the first two games in D.C., they had scored as many as four goals in consecutive playoff matches for the first time since Games 4 and 5 of their 2008 five-game, first-round victory over the Devils.

“We’ve been hitting them for four games and we’re going to keep doing it,” Callahan said. “You can wear teams down over a long series.

“We’re going to keep finishing our checks.”

Black-and-Blueshirts again. On serve to Washington.



Power Plays

Brooks on Twitter

3 STARS

1. Derick Brassard

Playing in only his fourth career playoff game, the 25-year-old center had his second straight two-assist game, giving him five points in that span.

2. Carl Hagelin

After 17 games without a goal in last year’s postseason, Hagelin scored his second goal of the series on a slap shot in the second period, giving the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

3. Ryan Callahan

The captain recorded an assist on the final goal, but his classic black-and-blueshirt play made the most impact, recording game-highs with five hits and seven blocked shots.

KEY MOMENT

Entering the third period, the Rangers’ power play had reached the point in the series — 1-for-16 — where it had become more advantageous for the Capitals, but Dan Girardi’s slap shot less than one minute into the third period gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT

So far we just tied the series. We still need to do whatever we can to get the next one.

SERIES GLANCE

Game 1

Capitals 3, Rangers 1

Game 2

Capitals 1, Rangers 0 (OT)

Game 3

Rangers 4, Capitals 3

Game 4


Tomorrow, 7:30

at Washington, MSG

Sunday, TBD

at Rangers, MSG

x-Monday, TBD

at Washington, MSG

x-if necessary



Staal skates, but sits out Game 4 victory

By HOWIE KUSSOY/May 9, 2013

Brooks on Twitter

Marc Staal made his long-awaited return to the Rangers on Monday against the Capitals, providing an emotional lift to the team and home crowd, but the defenseman was surprisingly absent from the ice in the Rangers’ 4-3 Game 4 victory Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Staal, who had played in his first game in two months after suffering an eye injury, said following Game 3, and again at Tuesday’s practice, that he felt fine physically and comfortable on the ice, no longer dealing with blurred vision. He skated with the team Wednesday morning, but was not available to the media.

“He wasn’t going to put the team in jeopardy,” said Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh. “That’s what he’s all about.”

Staal said that his first game back had gone as well as he could have hoped and that he had no problem adjusting to playing with a visor for the first time and barely even noticed the bright lights at the Garden.

Staal, 26, suffered a setback last week, but he said that the issues that delayed his return had cleared.

Ryane Clowe returned to action after missing the previous four games with what is believed to be a concussion.

Clowe, who participated in contact-drills on Tuesday for the first time since suffering the injury in the penultimate game of the regular season, had thought he might be cleared to play in the second and third games of the series.

The 30-year-old forward logged 12:19 of playing time, registering an assist and four hits.

Clowe replaced forward Darroll Powe, who is suspected to have suffered a concussion in the first period of Game 3 after getting hit in the head by the elbow of Capitals forward Joel Ward. Powe, who also suffered a concussion on Feb. 17.

* The King has a chance to keep his crown. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, was named as one of the three finalists, the NHL announced.

It is the fifth time Lundqvist has been named a finalist for the trophy, which is given annually to the best goaltender in the league. Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks were the other two finalists.

“It means a lot. I’m really proud and honored to be in that category,” said Lundqvist. “It’s been an interesting year, a different year. Shorter season, tight schedule and things maybe didn’t go our way all the time. We had to work really hard to get back in the race.

“Last year it felt like things were going our way. This year, we had to work really hard for it. Personally, maybe I had a little more highs last year, but the consistency this year is something I’m pretty pleased with.”

* Capitals goalie Braden Holtby had been 7-0 in the postseason following a loss before Wednesday night. He allowed five goals in three such games against the Rangers in last year’s playoffs.



Vezina finalist Lundqvist rebounds after poor start to season

By LARRY BROOKS

There were just over seven minutes remaining in the second period of Monday’s Game 3 at the Garden when the Capitals, who had turned momentum their way following a stretch in which the Rangers had three power plays within a span of 5:17, seemed about to tie the score 2-2.

Alex Ovechkin had threaded a diagonal pass to the right doorstep, where Mike Ribeiro readied a one-timer that was ticketed for the lower right corner.

But, faster than one can say, “Vezina Trophy winner and finalist,” Henrik Lundqvist flashed his left pad to deny the Washington center and maintain

the lead in the match the Rangers would win 4-3 to climb within 2-1 in the series that continued on Broadway with last night’s Game 4.

That save was reflective of the performance turned in by Lundqvist throughout the season that earned him designation as a Vezina finalist for the fifth time in his eight-year NHL career. Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky, however, is expected to be named the league’s best goaltender for the 2012-13 season over both Lundqvist and San Jose’s Antti Niemi when the result of the general managers’ vote is announced during the Stanley Cup Finals.

“I’m really proud to be in that category,” Lundqvist said before the Rangers evened the best-of-seven series at two games apiece with a 4-3 victory over the Capitals Wednesday night. “It means a lot. I always try to push myself as much as possible. I wouldn’t be up there, I wouldn’t be recognized as a good goalie [if I didn’t]. When people appreciate what you do, it’s always a fun thing.

“We always work really hard, everybody in here. People appreciate that and it’s always fun.”

The Rangers’ 31-year-old franchise player — who has one more season on his contract before he becomes eligible for unrestricted free agency — went 24-16-3 with a 2.05 goals against average and .963 save percentage over the course of the season. Lundqvist started 43 of the club’s 48 games including the final 14 and 23 of the last 24 in the drive to secure a playoff spot.

“It’s been an interesting year,” Lundqvist said. “A different year. A shorter season. Tight schedule. Things maybe didn’t go our way all the time.

“When you have to work really hard to get back in the race and finally get in, it’s just a big reward.”

Coach John Tortorella, who developed a reputation as being hard on goaltenders in his first stop as an NHL head coach at Tampa Bay, has had it easy with Lundqvist.

“As I’ve always said, he’s the backbone of our club,” the coach said. “I think he’s a special athlete as far as how he plays and just how he competes.”

Lundqvist wasn’t quite as dominant as he had been in winning the Vezina a year ago when he led the Rangers to the best record in the East and the second-best record in the NHL.

There were more marginal goals this time around, certainly so over the first half of the year following the lockout that played havoc with the goaltender’s preparation as he awaited its resolution at his home in Sweden.

Nevertheless, Lundqvist elevated his game down over the final six weeks, starting a higher percentage of games (89.6) than he had in 2007-08 and 2009-10 when he started 72 of 82 (87.8). Lundqvist started 62 games last season.

His 48-save gem in the Rangers’ 4-1 victory at Carolina on April 6 ranks among the top performances of Lundqvist’s career.

“Like I said, last year things were going our way early and there were a lot of fun things happening,” Lundqvist said. “This year we had to work really hard to get back in the race. As long as you see that as a great challenge you can have fun with that as well.

“It doesn’t always have to go your way. I think personally, with me, it was important to ask myself the right questions during the season. We were not winning as much, but I have to look at my game. ‘Am I doing the right thing here? Do I need to change something?’ ”

The answer to the questions was supplied Wednesday in three words: Vezina Trophy finalist.



Rangers nip Capitals to even series

By LARRY BROOKS

The Rangers held serve in this best-of-seven, but this wasn’t tennis, anyone, at the Garden last night.

This was an in-your-face display by the Blueshirts; or, rather, an in-the-Capitals faces’ effort that produced a second consecutive 4-3 victory Wednesday night, sending this opening round back to D.C. at two-all for Friday night’s Game 5.

“That’s exactly how we have to continue to play if we want to go deep into the playoffs,” said Derek Stepan, whose goal from in front at 6:02 gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead. “We have to play a physical game.”

The Rangers were credited with 38 hits and blocked 33 shots, more than they blocked in any game of last year’s seven-game series against the Caps (except for the triple OT Game 3 in which they blocked 41) when they carried the Black-and-Blueshirts mantle on their shoulders.

Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

Rangers celebrate a goal by defenseman Dan Girardi #5 in the 3rd period.

They got the puck in deep and thus controlled considerably more of the five-on-five play than did Washington by eliminating the opportunities for the talented Caps to sweep through the neutral zone with speed.

“We concentrated on forcing them to come 200 feet,” said the indefatigable Ryan Callahan, who had five hits, seven blocked shots and disrupted countless breakout attempts with relentless forechecking in 23:31.

“They prey on turnovers and the transition game and have so much talent up front, we needed to hang on to pucks in the offensive zone even if we didn’t have plays and then force them to come through the whole team.”

Marc Staal, who obviously did not feel capable of helping the team, sat out following his inspirational return in Monday’s 4-3 victory. The Rangers’ back end was resolute in the alternate captain’s absence, with the Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi pair coming through with its best game of the series and Anton Stralman continuing his stout play.

The Rangers took a piece of Alex Ovechkin at every opportunity. McDonagh was extremely physical in his match against No. 8, who finished the night with one shot against Henrik Lundqvist, five attempts blocked and three missing the net.

“He’s an elite player who is used to taking hits,” McDonagh, who played a game-high 31:29, said. “He’s so mobile that he’s tough to hit, but I’m going to take a shot any time I can.”

It was another night on which the Rangers received strong performances pretty much straight through the lineup, with Rick Nash a notable exception. No. 61, who finished the night on a third line with Brad Richards and Ryane Clowe, was all but invisible. It is baffling.

But there was little baffling about the Blueshirts. There was no trickery involved in this one in which they led 2-0 past the midway point of the second, yielded a pair of goals over the period’s final 6:52 — the tying goal coming with 17.1 seconds remaining — and then reclaimed their advantage when Girardi scored a power play goal at 0:59 of the third.

“It was tough going into the room after the second but it was important for us to stay focused in the third,” said Lundqvist, who made a brilliant stop on a Joel Ward left wing drive to the net with 3:22 remaining to preserve the lead after a deflection had brought the Caps within one at 7:31.

“We just had to realize how we were playing. We gave them less ‘A’ scoring chances in this game than the others,” Lundqvist said. “I think that started with our forechecking.”

Brian Boyle had another outstanding game. Carl Hagelin hunted pucks all night. Derick Brassard was strong in battles while flashing the sixth-overall ability that had seduced Columbus in 2006. Mats Zuccarello never gave up.

The Rangers swarmed. They hemmed in the Caps. And after scoring once in 128:00 over the first two games in D.C., they had scored as many as four goals in consecutive playoff matches for the first time since Games 4 and 5 of their 2008 five-game, first-round victory over the Devils.

“We’ve been hitting them for four games and we’re going to keep doing it,” Callahan said. “You can wear teams down over a long series.

“We’re going to keep finishing our checks.”

Black-and-Blueshirts again. On serve to Washington.



Rangers notes: Henrik Lundqvist finalist for Vezina Trophy

Andrew Gross

Hank can repeat

Henrik Lundqvist, who won his first Vezina Trophy last season, was announced Wednesday as a finalist for this season's award for the NHL's top goalie as voted upon by the league's 30 general managers. Lundqvist is a finalist for the fifth time in his eight seasons.

"I always try to push myself as much as possible," said Lundqvist, who went 24-16-3 with a 2.05 goals-against average, .926 save percentage and two shutouts while tying for the league lead with 43 starts. "I want to be up there when they recognize good goalies."

The Blue Jackets' Sergei Bobrovsky (21-11-6, 2.00 GAA, .932 save percentage, four shutouts) and the Sharks' Antti Niemi (24-12-6, 2.16 GAA, .924 save percentage, four shutouts in 43 starts) were nominated for the first time.

Staal out again

Defenseman Marc Staal decided he still was not comfortable enough playing with blurred vision in his right eye and opted out of the Rangers' lineup in Game 4 after making an emotional return in Game 3 from the horrific injury he suffered March 5.

Staal played 17:17 and was a minus-1 on Monday, and appeared uncomfortable in several reactions.

"There's going to be ups and downs in his comeback," D Ryan McDonagh said. "It's an honest and humble decision by him knowing he didn't want to put the team in jeopardy."

Clowe in for Powe

Left wing Ryane Clowe (undisclosed, possible concussion) played 12:19 with four hits and a minus-1 as he was in the lineup for the first time since taking an elbow to the head in the next-to-last regular-season game at Carolina.

He replaced LW Darroll Powe (undisclosed, possible concussion), who was hit in the head by Joel Ward's elbow as he checked the Capital into the corner in the first period of Game 3.

Bergen Record LOADED: 05.09.2013


Rangers' Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi help shut down Alex Ovechkin

BY TOM GULITTI

NEW YORK – Alex Ovechkin took advantage of the Washington Capitals’ day off in New York on Tuesday by taking a walk around the city and doing some shopping.

"It’s kind of fun when you can walk out there and nobody recognizes you and you can do whatever you want," he said.

That might have been the only fun Ovechkin had during the Capitals’ visit to the Big Apple.

The Capitals captain was shut down again on the ice Wednesday night as the Rangers evened their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with a 4-3 Game 4 victory at Madison Square Garden.

Ovechkin, who led the league with 32 regular-season goals, was held without a point for the second consecutive game with the Rangers’ top defense pair of Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi combining to help keep him off the score sheet. Ovechkin managed just one shot on goal, had five shots blocked and missed the net on three attempts, including a one-timer from the left circle with 40 seconds remaining.

"I think our line has to play better," a frustrated Ovechkin said afterward. "When we have a chance to go play in their zone, we have to use it. Tonight

we didn’t do that and I don’t think we had lots of opportunities to score goals."

With McDonagh and Girardi on the ice for all but five of Ovechkin’s 25 shifts, there were few instances when Ovechkin and linemates Nicklas Backstrom and Mathieu Perreault were able to find open ice to generate scoring chances. Backstrom had two shots on goal and Johansson had one.

Capitals coach Adam Oates tried to double shift Ovechkin a few times in an attempt to get him away from McDonagh and Girardi, but it rarely worked and it was clear Ovechkin was becoming frustrated as the game wore on.

"That’s part of the game," Oates said. "They had their moments, but, obviously, they could probably generate more. Give (the Rangers) some credit there. And you’ve got to fight through the frustration. It happens."

Girardi, who also scored the power-play goal 59 seconds into third period that put the Rangers ahead for good, played 29:35 for the night. McDonagh played a game-high 31:29.

McDonagh said the key to containing Ovechkin, is "Just trusting each other, a lot of talk, trusting our ability, trying to stay up, stay aggressive."

McDonagh and Girardi were on the ice for all but four of Ovechkin’s shifts in the Rangers’ 4-3 win in Game 3 Tuesday when he failed to register a point for the first time in the series after he had a goal and an assist in the first two games in Washington – both Capitals’ wins.

"These last couple of games, especially, we’ve had a lot better neutral zone structure and minimize his speed, really everybody’s speed coming through there and it keeps us having good gaps (between the defensemen and forwards," McDonagh said. "I hope it continues."



Sullivan: Henrik Lundqvist lights Rangers' fire with play and words

By TARA SULLIVAN

NEW YORK – Flat on his back and flat-out frustrated was the way Henrik Lundqvist finished Wednesday night’s second period, a game-tying goal weighing on his mind, a bunch of Capitals bodies pushing him to the ice. For the better part of two periods, his Rangers had outplayed Washington with just the sort of aggressive, physical style Capitals star Alex Ovechkin insisted they didn’t have, but as the goaltender got up from in front of his goal and skated to the locker room, he had to shake the ominous feeling that the night was headed in the wrong direction.

“It was tough to come in here for that second period – it felt like we deserved better,” Lundqvist admitted.

They probably did, but rather than lament the sting of lost opportunity, the Rangers took the power play Lundqvist drew for them, took a lead less than a minute into the third period, and took their offense to new heights for the second straight game. A second straight four-goal outburst and a second straight 4-3 win turned the once-imperiled Rangers into contenders again, this opening round playoff series now tied at two games apiece.

“It’s a new series now,” Ryan Callahan said.

A new series with one of the same old heroes, as Lundqvist made some of his best saves across the final three minutes of the game, surviving a feisty, chippy game that had bodies banging, sticks flying and helmets crashing. Lundqvist wasn’t perfect, but finally for him, he didn’t have to be. The same team that could barely put a shot on net in an overtime loss in Game 2 twice gave Lundqvist a two-goal lead on Wednesday, and though he gave it all back once and half of it back again, his 27 saves were enough to tie the series.

“You don’t want him to have to have a shutout every time out for us to win,” Rick Nash said. “It was definitely nice for us to give him a cushion. We knew we had to score more goals. We just skated more, got to pucks, took more shots and created traffic in front.”

Lundqvist was a grateful recipient of the extra dose of breathing room, admitting it’s nice once in a while “when you don’t have to be perfect.”

Back in Game 2, Lundqvist nearly was. That night, he deserved better, and everyone on the Rangers knew it. Even the usually circumspect Lundqvist all but said it, using the immediate aftermath of a 1-0 loss and 0-2 hole to vent the frustration pent up inside.

“We need everybody do play their best,” was how Lundqvist threw down the gauntlet after Game 2, knowing full well what the Rangers needed: “Just a goal.”

His teammates had no choice but to listen. If Lundqvist could do his part, stopping 37 shots across three-plus periods, he had every right to complain when his teammates couldn’t do theirs, and when an offense failed to generate even one shot across the final 17:43, he had a right to be annoyed. “I wasn’t challenging guys, but in the playoffs, if you want to win, we need everyone to do their part,” he said.

“Obviously you want to score goals, you want to contribute and we weren’t doing that the first two games,” Callahan said. “So yeah, this feels good.”

Score a special assist for Lundqvist, the 31-year-old All-Star goaltender who doesn’t just anchor this team with his play, but wakes it up with his words. On a day when Lundqvist was named a finalist to win a second straight Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender, we are reminded that the fate of the Rangers doesn’t simply rest in his deft hands or nifty stick. When New York coach John Tortorella used the Vezina announcement to describe Lundqvist as “the backbone of our club,” he wasn’t limiting Lundqvist’s value to what he does between the pipes. When he plays like he did across these last three games, he demands that his teammates rise to his level.

“He’s a special athlete as far as just how he plays and just how he competes,” Tortorella said. “It helps the team in front of him on how he plays. It forces the team in front of him to play the right way.”

Maybe King Henrik will keep his Vezina crown for another year, but that’s not the trophy he really wants. To truly earn his royal moniker, to truly gain entry into the most elite fraternity of superstar professional athletes, Lundqvist knows he needs to win a Stanley Cup. He’s doing all he can to keep the Rangers’ hopes alive that this strange, lockout-shortened journey will take them to a title, but for so much of an up-and-down regular season, he couldn’t even be sure his team would be in the tournament. The Rangers, beset by a struggling offense and anemic power play, didn’t qualify for the playoffs until their penultimate regular season game.

That’s why Lundqvist turned his focus inward, limiting his attention to the icy blue island in front of his net. Because at least if he is playing his best, his team has a chance.

“It’s been an interesting year. A different year. A shorter season. Tight schedule. Things maybe didn’t go our way all the time,” he said. “I think personally with me, it was important to ask myself the right questions during the season. We were not winning as much but I have to look at my game. Am I doing the right thing here? Do I need to change something? Even though it’s a team sport, for me it’s about what I’m doing and I have to look at myself, and when I do my best, I am going to help the team do well. Sometimes you just to make sure that you ask yourself the right questions and don’t get carried away with the result all the time.”

Still, no one could blame Lundqvist for his frustration at the lack of results in that Game 2 loss. His teammates sure didn’t. They heard him instead. Eight goals in two games later, it’s clear: he woke them up.



Rangers defenseman Marc Staal scratched from Game 4, but no reason is given

By STEVE ZIPAY

In a surprise, defenseman Marc Staal, who returned Monday for Game 3 and played more than 17 minutes in the Rangers' 4-3 victory, was scratched last night. The team did not provide a reason.

Staal, who was struck in the right eye by a deflected puck on March 5, was still experiencing some blurred vision and has said that if he was not comfortable on the ice, he would not dress and hurt the team.

In an interview on Tuesday, Staal said he was sore but felt good after the game, his first after missing 29. It also was possible that a different injury kept him out.

Steve Eminger, who played 9:59 in Game 1 and 14:04 in the second, replaced Staal and was paired with Michael Del Zotto.

Clowe back in lineup

Left wing Ryane Clowe dressed for his first playoff game as a Ranger and started on the fourth line with Derek Dorsett and Arron Asham.

Clowe appeared for the first time since taking a big hit from Carolina's Bobby Sanguinetti on April 25, the next-to-last game of the regular season. It is believed he suffered a concussion and leg injury, but the team does not disclose details on injuries.

"I've noticed improvements," Clowe said. "There might have been a couple of setbacks but you just try to keep moving forward."

Clowe, who will be a free agent after the season, was 3-5-8 in 12 games after being acquired from San Jose. He was a solid playoff performer for the Sharks with 18 goals and 27 assists in 68 games.

Powe out of lineup

Darroll Powe, who left Game 3 woozy Monday night after being struck by Joel Ward's elbow in a first-period collision, was scratched. Powe had seven hits in 8:02 during Game 2.



Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist a finalist for Vezina Trophy

By STEVE ZIPAY

In a season far different from last year, when the Rangers were at the top of the Eastern Conference for much of the way and Henrik Lundqvist won the Vezina Trophy, the Swedish netminder was critical down the stretch as the Blueshirts scrambled desperately to clinch a playoff berth.

His performance was acknowledged Wednesday with another Vezina nomination, his fifth. Lundqvist, 31, tied for the NHL lead in wins with 24 and starts with 43, and had a 2.05 GAA and .926 save percentage.

The two other nominees were Columbus' Sergei Bobrovsky, who had 21 wins and ranked second among goaltenders in save percentage, and San Jose's Antti Niemi, who also had 24 wins and was third in shots faced and saves and had four shutouts.

"It means a lot; I'm really proud to be in that category," Lundqvist said Wednesday morning at Madison Square Garden, where the Rangers were preparing for Game 4 against the Washington Capitals. "It's been a really interesting year, a different year, shorter season, tight schedule and things maybe didn't go our way all the time, but when you have to work really hard to get back in the race and when you get in, it's a really big reward.

"Last year, I felt a lot of things were going our way, where personally, maybe I had a little more highs, but the consistency this year was something I'm pleased with."

Veteran Martin Biron, the Rangers' backup goalie, said that Lundqvist's preparation is "perfect" and he faced the challenge of the year with aplomb.

"He had to really lead this team when we were in a tough position," Biron said. "There's pressure when we were at the top of the conference like we were last year to always keep it at the same level, but it's a completely different pressure from being in ninth and 10th and seventh and ninth, and having to move back up. There's a reason why we finished sixth and that reason is him. There's a reason why he was voted team MVP for seven straight years."

Lundqvist has won 20 or more games for seven straight seasons.

"All the teams now, everybody has good goalies," Lundqvist said. "The standards are really high and the competition is so hard, you have to put it all in to stay up there. It's about pushing yourself. It doesn't always have to go your way.

"It was important to ask myself the right questions during the season. Am I doing the right thing here? Do I have to change something? Even though it's a team sport, for me, it's about what I'm doing. I have to look at myself, and when I do my best I'm going to help the team do well. Sometimes you just have to ask yourself the right questions and not get carried away with the result all the time."

Rangers coach John Tortorella has said that Lundqvist was "the backbone" of the team and repeated that again Wednesday. "He's a special athlete, as far as just how he plays, and just how he competes. He forces the team in front of him to play the right way. I think more and more teams flip-flop their goalies, and it's nothing against the goalies that have been here behind him, that doesn't cross our mind. He's that good and that consistent."



Carl Hagelin is Rangers' most effective pest

By ANTHONY RIEBER

Speedy, stringy-haired Carl Hagelin led the Rangers in points Wednesday with a goal and two assists in their series-tying 4-3 victory over the Capitals at the Garden.

Hagelin, who was the Rangers' best player in their Game 1 loss at Washington before struggling with his legs in Game 2, was at his pesky best Wednesday. He assisted on the Rangers' first goal, scored their second and assisted on their fourth and final score.

"It's a great feeling," said Hagelin, who has two goals in the series after not scoring in 17 games in last year's playoffs. "Some games it happens and some games it doesn't. This was one of those games where I got to the right areas, I got good passes and good things happened."

Capitals goalie Braden Holtby gift-wrapped the Rangers' first goal when he attempted to clear a puck while out of the net but instead flipped it to Taylor Pyatt, who knocked it down. Hagelin grabbed the loose puck and fired a shot that was blocked, but Brad Richards knocked the rebound into the unattended net.

Hagelin's goal came at 10:13 of the second off a cross-ice feed from Derick Brassard and it gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

"Our secondary scoring has really helped us here in the past couple [games]," Rangers coach John Tortorella said.

Hagelin scored the Rangers' only goal in their 3-1 loss in the first game of the series. He didn't have the same burst in Game 2 and was without a point in Game 3, but he got it back Wednesday.

"I do think guys on the team feel good about themselves," Hagelin said. "We're a confident group in here. We do know that we can't play in Washington like the last game there, so we've got to come in and play better. We're not going to get too high because of this game."



New Ranger Derick Brassard makes big playoff contribution

By ANTHONY RIEBER

On April 25, Rangers forward Derick Brassard tweeted something both simple and elegant:

"Playoffs!!!!!"

In much fewer than 140 characters, Brassard summed up the way most hockey players feel when they reach the postseason. But Brassard hadn't had anything to tweet about in that regard since he entered the NHL with Columbus in 2007-08.

Brassard was injured when the Blue Jackets played Detroit in the first round the next season. He could have returned for the second round. But Columbus was swept.

That's why these playoffs have been extra special for Brassard, who was in the starting lineup for last night's game.

Brassard contributed two assists -- on Carl Hagelin's second-period goal and Dan Girardi's tie-breaking third-period power-play score -- as the Rangers evened the series at 2 with a 4-3 victory.

Brassard, 25, was trying to build off his spectacular Game 3 on Monday when he had a power-play goal and two assists for his first postseason points in the Rangers' 4-3 victory.

Five points in two games? Not bad for a playoff rookie.

"He's grabbed a hold of it," said a smiling -- yes, smiling -- Rangers coach John Tortorella. "He makes just a great play on the power-play goal. I think he's stepped in here to try and make a difference and he's made some big plays for us. I'm not afraid to put him in a lot of different situations and a lot of different positions."

Brassard's assists were both things of beauty. He fed Hagelin with a cross-ice pass at 10:13 of the second period as the Rangers went ahead 2-0.

Then, with the score tied at 2, Brassard sent a backhand pass again across the ice to Dan Girardi, who fired a slap shot past Braden Holtby for the Rangers' second power-play goal of the series.

"His play-making ability is so crucial," Ryan McDonagh said.

On Monday, Brassard became the first Ranger since Sergei Zubov in 1994 against the Islanders to tally three points in his Madison Square Garden playoff debut, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Zubov, who was at the Garden last night, also had a goal and two assists.

"I'm just having fun," Brassard said. "They're showing a lot of confidence in me and I'm just trying to help the team. I know I can bring some offense. We have a lot of talent on this team. I'm just really excited. We can do a lot of damage and I want to be a part of it."

Asked Monday night what he has learned about scoring in the playoffs, Brassard kept it simple.

"Just make plays," Brassard said. "Shoot the puck and find a way."

Brassard had five goals and six assists for the Rangers after being acquired in the Marian Gaborik trade on April 4.



Rangers beat Capitals, tie series at two games apiece

By STEVE ZIPAY

With two quick-strike goals early in the third period last night, the Rangers defeated the Washington Capitals, 4-3, to tie the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinals at two games apiece. Game 5 is at Verizon Center tomorrow night.

Each side has held serve at home, but the Rangers had to hold on for dear life for the rest of the final period, with the Madison Square Garden crowd roaring in unison. Joel Ward just missed tying it as his last-second attempt slid under Henrik Lundqvist along the goal line and past the far post. Lundqvist finished with 27 saves.

"We gutted it out and Hank made some big saves," Ryan Callahan said.

With the score tied at 2, Dan Girardi's power-play slap shot from the left point 59 seconds into the third restored the Rangers' lead to 3-2 (they had led 2-0 midway through the second period). Derick Brassard, who has five points in the last two games, fed Girardi for his second assist of the game, while Jason Chimera was in the penalty box. As time expired in the second period, Chimera had shoved Anton Stralman into the net.

"Brass made a heck of a play to get it to the middle," Girardi said. "I knew I was going to shoot far side. It just happened to go in."

Derek Stepan cashed in on a pretty passing play at 6:02 after Hagelin's touch pass, with Braden Holtby (30 saves) and defenseman Jack Hillen down in the crease, for a 4-2 lead. But Mathieu Perreault, with his second of the game, trimmed the lead to 4-3 with 12:29 left.

The Rangers dominated territorial play for the first half of the game and not only led in shots 22-9 but 2-0 on the scoreboard on goals by Brad Richards and Carl Hagelin, who had three points. But the Capitals rallied in the second period.

Troy Brouwer tied the score at 2 with just 17.1 seconds left in the second, after Mike Green kept a clearing try in at the blue line -- a call that Brian Boyle disputed. Brouwer cut across the slot and his backhander found the net past Lundqvist's glove.

The Capitals mounted sustained pressure in the Rangers' zone after Ward set up a goal to cut the Rangers' lead in half when he stormed down the left side, faked a shot and went around a sliding Michael Del Zotto at the doorstep. Lundqvist made the save, but Perreault was alone at the right post for the tap-in at 13:08

It turned into a close game, in part because the Rangers did not capitalize on a five-on-three at the end of the first period that carried into the second.

Leading 1-0, Del Zotto was sent off for tripping with 3:11 left, but Callahan, on the third shorthanded rush off the penalty kill, was pulled down by Martin Erat. Alex Ovechkin crashed into both of them from behind and was whistled for charging (Erat was injured on the play and did not return).

When Del Zotto came out of the box, the Rangers had a five-on-three and Holtby made two big saves near the end of the two-man advantage. There was 26 seconds left, which carried over to the second period, but the Blueshirts could not add to their lead.

Hagelin, with his second of the series, gave the Rangers the 2-0 lead at 10:13 of the second period from the left side, hammering a cross-ice feed from Brassard high glove side past Holtby. Ryane Clowe, playing his first game since being injured on April 25, set up the play with a pass to Brassard.

Holtby's gaffe late in the first period led to a goal by Brad Richards, his first of the playoffs.

"I think our resiliency really has shown in these past two games," John Tortorella said.



It’s Go Time! … Game 4: Capitals at Rangers

Staff

Another crucial game. More crucial, actually. What the Rangers accomplished in Game 3, with a 4-3 victory, was to provide themselves a chance to make this a series. Now they need to follow up with another win or, obviously, they fall behind three games to one.

Though that type of comeback is not statistically impossible—24 teams have done it in 239 situations where the opponent was up 3-1 in a best-of-seven—it sure would be a seemingly insurmountable hill for this team to climb. The Rangers have never done it in their history, though the Capitals have blown a few in theirs. And, in fact, Washington came back from 3-1 against the Rangers to win their first-round series in 2009.

Game 4.caps

Capitals at Rangers.

Late news from warmups: Marc Staal did not skate in the pre-game and is expected to be scratched. Steve Eminger took his spot in warmups and would play if Staal can’t.

Ryane Clowe (probable concussion) will return, and Darroll Powe (probable concussion) is out.Otherwise, same lineup as Game 3.

Henrik Lundqvist, Vezina finalist (along with Antti Niemi and Sergei Bobrovsky), starts in goal. Duh.

Rockland Journal News: LOADED: 05.09.2013


Rangers helped by new depth on defense

By Rick Carpiniello

GREENBURGH — There were some things obviously different about the Rangers in Game 3 of their series with the Washington Capitals.

Of course that starts with the scoresheet, where the Rangers scored four goals, getting them from multiple lines, after getting one goal in the first two games combined. And that translated into the special teams, a huge key in this series where the Rangers were being beaten. They allowed a power-play goal in each of the first two games, including the OT winner in Game 2, and scored none, including late third-period and early-OT chances to win the game.

But there was something else different in Game 3, and it was on defense. Alternate captain Marc Staal returned to play an unspectacular but steady game after being out since March 5 with an eye injury. Newcomer John Moore continued to grow and looked really good in his new post on the power-play point. And Ryan McDonagh, who committed the penalty that ended up in the game-winning goal Saturday, had a big bounce-back game and a terrific play at the blue line on the game-winning goal by Derek Stepan.

The return of Staal and the emergence of Moore — a strong-skating, strong-bodied, strong-shooting youngster obtained in the Marian Gaborik deal — has given the Rangers depth on defense.

And that depth has helped the offense.

“I think part of our game, not just starting in the playoffs, but the last 10 or 15 games, we felt our “D” (was) coming off the blue line too early and not allowing us to create more offense,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said. “And especially with a guy like him and a guy like McDonagh, if they get caught for some reason they can recover. So, for all our “D,” we have tried to keep them on that blue line longer so we can create offense.

“We want them up on plays rather than backing off and giving up ice.”

Moore took a chance on what he termed a 50-50 puck, went on instinct rather than on gamble, and kept it in at the blue line leading to Arron Asham’s goal.

Moore played 15:50, Staal 17:17. That allowed the Rangers to keep McDonagh’s and Dan Girardi’s minutes reasonable, and while Micheal Del Zotto had some bad shifts and Anton Stralman was up and down, the Rangers defense was deeper and better.

“Any time you get a guy like (Staal) back — he plays all situations, plays big minutes, just allows the minutes to be evened out and fresh legs on the ice at all times — any time you bring a guy like that back it’s a huge boost,” Del Zotto said.

The Rangers still are waiting for one of their injured forwards, Ryane Clowe, to return, and have probably lost another for a while after Darroll Powe was knocked from Game 3 on an elbow by Joel Ward.

Powe, who suffered a concussion earlier in the season, did not return to the game and was not on the ice for practice Tuesday.

Rick Nash was given a day off for what the Rangers called “maintenance” though it’s not clear if he’s injured.

Clowe, who has missed four games with what is likely a concussion, did practice and took part in battles and contact and said he doesn’t know if he will be able to play in Game 4 Wednesday. He had been aiming to return for each of the first three games, but unable to do so.



Game 4: Capitals at Rangers tonight (7:30) … pre-game notes

Staff

NEW YORK RANGERS vs. WASHINGTON CAPITALS

2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game 4

Wednesday, May 8, 7:30 p.m.

Madison Square Garden – New York, NY

Rangers (Regular Season): 26-18-4 (56 pts), 6th in Eastern Conference

Capitals (Regular Season): 27-18-3 (57 pts), 3rd in Eastern Conference

TONIGHT’S GAME:

The Rangers will face-off against the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m. — TV: MSG Network; Radio: ESPN 98.7), in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal matchup. The Blueshirts currently trail in the series, 2-1, following a 4-3 win in Game 3 on Monday at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers enter the contest with a 209-228-8 record all-time in 445 playoff contests (117-88-2 at home; 92-140-6 on the road). New York has posted a 39-32 record all-time in Game 4 of playoff series.

New York entered the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference having posted a record of 26-18-4 overall (16-6-2 at home; 10-12-2on the road) for 56 points. The Rangers are one of two teams in the Eastern Conference, along with Pittsburgh, to have advanced to the playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons.

ALL-TIME RANGERS PLAYOFF RECORDS:

Overall —209-228-8

Home —117-88-2

Away —92-140-6

Goals for —1,223

Goals against —1,219

ALL-TIME PLAYOFF RECORDS —RANGERS vs. CAPITALS

The Rangers and Capitals are meeting in the playoffs for the eighth time overall and fourth time in five years, including a third consecutive season. Their last postseason encounter was in last year’s Eastern Conference Semifinals, a series won by New York 4-3. Overall, the Blueshirts have a 3-4 playoff series record vs. the Capitals, posting a 20-24 mark in 44 postseason contests.

RANGERS vs. CAPITALS:

All-Time (Regular Season): 87-86-18-6 overall (48-38-9-3 at home; 39-48-9-3 on the road)

2012-13: New York was 2-0-1 overall (1-0-1 at home; 1-0-0 on the road). Two of the three contests were decided by one goal, including one game that required the shootout. The Rangers out-scored the Capitals, 5-0, after the first period, and out-shot Washington, 102-81, in the series. The Blueshirts’ power play was 3-9 (33.3%), while their penalty kill was 9-10 (90.0%). Derek Stepan led all skaters with three goals, while Ryan McDonagh and Rick Nash tied for the series-high with three assists apiece. Carl Hagelin (one goal, two assists) and Brad Richards (one goal, two assists) also tallied three points in the series. Henrik Lundqvist was 1-0-1 with a 1.44 GAA and .942 Sv%, and Martin Biron was 1-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and .966 Sv%.

The Rangers have registered a point in eight of their last 10 regular season games against the Capitals (7-2-1 over the span), out-scoring Washington, 34-19, over the span

The Blueshirts have 18 players with previous playoff experience against the Capitals, led by Brad Richards (13 GP) who had tallied eight points (four goals, four assists) against Washington entering the series

New York lists two former Capitals on their roster: Steve Eminger (2002-03 – 2007-08); Roman Hamrlik (2011-12 – 2012-13)

Washington lists two former Rangers on their roster: Tom Poti (2001-02 – 2005-06); Wojtek Wolski (2010-11 – 2011-12)

INDIVIDUAL CAREER PLAYOFF LEADERS vs. CAPITALS:

Henrik Lundqvist — 22 GP, 9-13, 2.26 GAA, 1 SO

Martin Biron — 7 GP, 4-3, 2.67 GAA, 1 SO

Brad Richards — 16 GP, 4-4-8

Derek Stepan — 15 GP, 1-4-5

Michael Del Zotto — 10 GP, 2-5-7

SPECIAL TEAMS:

The Rangers’ power play was 9-48 (18.5%) in the final 13 games of the season, compared to 14.3% with the man advantage prior to the trade deadline

New York registered a point in 19 of 23 games (17-4-2) when not allowing a power play goal this season

Power Play: The Rangers tallied one goal in six power play opportunities (10:08) in Game 3, and are now 1-13 (7.7%) in the playoffs. The Blueshirts ranked23rd overall (24-153, 15.7%) and 17th at home (16-83, 19.3%) this season. The Rangers were 3-12 (10:36) in five-on-three situations (last – 4/27 vs. NJD), and 2-2 (1:20) when four-on-three (last – 4/13 at NYI). Shorthanded goals allowed (4): 2/21 at OTT (Silfverberg); 3/3 vs. BUF (Gerbe); 3/21 vs. FLA (Kopecky, EN); 4/23 at FLA (Shore, EN).

Penalty Killing: The Blueshirts held the Capitals scoreless in three shorthanded situations (5:54) in Game 3, and are now 8-10 (80.0%) in the playoffs. New York tied for 15th overall (120-148, 81.1%) and 10th at home (69-80, 86.3%) this season. The Rangers were 8-8 (8:24) in three-on-five situations (last – 4/1 vs. WPG), and 4-4 (4:24) when three-on-four (last – 3/18 vs. CAR). Shorthanded goals for (5): 1/20 vs. PIT (Nash); 3/12 at BUF (Stepan); 3/19 at NJD (Del Zotto); 4/1 vs. WPG (Callahan); 4/27 vs. NJD (Callahan).

Four-on-Four: The Blueshirts did not skate in a four-on-four situation in Game 3, and are Even in two four-on-four situations (4:00) in the playoffs. New York was plus-one in 33 four-on-four situations (66:39) this season. Four-on-four goals for (3): 1/23 vs. BOS (Gaborik); 4/13 at NYI (Girardi); 4/25 at CAR (Callahan). Four-on-four goals allowed (2): 1/20 vs. PIT (Letang); 1/23 vs. BOS (Horton).

QUICK HITS:

The Rangers have won eight of their last 11 first round playoff series

All Original Six teams qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1996

The Blueshirts were the least penalized team in the NHL this season with 183 penalties and 9.2 penalty minutes per game

New York ranked third in the NHL with 1,413 hits, and sixth in the league with 773 blocked shots this season

The Rangers held opponents to 2.25 goals against per contest, which ranked third in the East and fourth in the league overall

RANGERS DEBUT

Derek Dorsett made his Rangers debut in Game 2 to become the 12th player to make his Blueshirts debut in the playoffs (Chris Kreider, Lauri Korpikoski, Doug Weight, Tony Amonte, Mike Richter, George McPhee, John Hughes, Bobby Sheehan, Steve Andrascik, Dennis Hextall, and Gordie Bell).

PLAYOFF FIRSTS

Three Rangers made their NHL playoff debut in Game 1 — Derick Brassard, John Moore, and Kris Newbury — while forward Carl Hagelin notched his first career playoff goal in the series’ opening game on Thursday.

DÉJÀ VU

This is the first time the Blueshirts have faced the same opponent in three consecutive playoff seasons since New York played Philadelphia in the 1985, 1986 and 1987 playoffs. The Rangers are meeting the Capitals in the playoffs for the fourth time in the last five years. The last time that happened was against the Flyers from 1983-87.

IMMEDIATE DIVIDENDS

The Blueshirts led the NHL in goal scoring since the trade deadline on Apr. 3, averaging 3.6 goals per contest. Prior to the trade deadline, the Rangers averaged 2.4 goals per game.

APRIL SUCCESS

New York posted a record of 10-3-1 in the month of April, marking the third time the team has won 10 games in a month since October of 2008.

FINISHING THE JOB

The Blueshirts have registered a point in 92 consecutive regular season games when leading after the second period, dating back to the 2009-10 season, posting a record of 85-0-6 over the span. The Rangers’ last regulation loss in a game when entering the third with the lead was Feb. 4, 2010 (6-5 loss vs. WSH). New York posted a 16-0-0 record when leading after the second period this season.

KING HENRIK

Henrik Lundqvist finished the season tied for the league lead with 24 wins, becoming the first Rangers goaltender to lead the league in wins since Mike Richter in 1993-94 (42).

Lundqvist posted his 20th win of the season in a 6-1 victory on Apr. 18 against Florida, to become one of five active NHL goalies to reach the 20-win mark in eight consecutive seasons (Brodeur, 12; Luongo, 9; Vokoun, 9; Kiprusoff, 8).

Lundqvist posted a 20-save shutout, his second of the season and 45th of his career, in the season finale against New Jersey to pass Ed Giacomin as the franchise leader in career total shutouts (regular season + playoffs), having posted 51 total shutouts in his career.

The Blueshirts’ netminder captured Rangers’ MVP honors for a franchise record, seventh consecutive year. His seven Rangers’ MVP awards are also a franchise record, passing Brian Leetch (six) for the most in franchise history.

NINE STRAIGHT FOR NASH

Rick Nash notched two goals in the season finale against New Jersey, including his 20th goal of the season, to become the only player in the NHL with an active streak of nine consecutive 20-goal seasons.

INJURIES:

Michael Sauer (concussion, 12/5/11) — 51

Ryane Clowe (injured, 4/25) — 4

Total Man-Games Lost (Regular Season): 134

Total Man-Games Lost (Playoffs): 10



Game 4: Rangers-Capitals in review

by Carp

I kept watching all the other playoff series going on and wondered why they all seemed so much more intense than these Rangers-Capitals games, why there was so much more nasty in those games, so much more tempo and hitting.

Until Game 4. Welcome to the playoffs, Rangers and Capitals and their fans.

Thoughts:

1) That’s a tough way to start out a game you really need, knowing that a guy who had just come back from a serious eye injury wasn’t going to play, especially when it’s a guy like Marc Staal, so liked and respected, and whose presence in Game 3 gave the team such a lift.

2) On the other hand, Ryane Clowe’s return was obviously felt right away by both teams. As I said at the top, this was much more like a playoff game with all the post-whistle garbage (and I say that in a nice way). When Clowe

and Derek Dorsett and Brian Boyle got into it early, that set a great tone for what was – if you can separate your emotions and the heart attacks some of you probably suffered – a fun hockey game to watch.

3) And, yeah, the Rangers last night looked a lot like the 2012 Rangers. Maybe not quite that good overall, and certainly not like a top seed, but a team with some onions and some push-back, and even better, some resilience. Because this game was theirs for long stretches, and then it was Washington’s for some stretches, and they gritted it out and got the goals they needed. Eight in two games.

4) Which, by the way, makes these the second and third games this season in which the Rangers gave up as many as three goals and won in regulation. The other one was the stupid 8-4 game in Buffalo.

5) OK, I’m going to say this: Derick Brassard, in these two games, has been better than Marian Gaborik would have been. Without a doubt. The other guys from the trade looked good too. John Moore had a couple of tough moments, but for a kid put in that position, top four, he was better than fine overall. And I liked Derek Dorsett’s game. Obviously.

6) That penalty call on Dorsett? That’s a tough call, but they usually make it when an offensive advantage is created by a player taking down an opponent … unlike Game 1 when Mathieu Perreault took down Anton Stralman before the Capitals scored.

7) That 5-on-3. Oy. I don’t really know what to say, except that it’s apparent that guys like Nash and Richards don’t get it. I mean, for all their pedigree and experience, they have to do better than that, right?

8) The Rangers power play atoned when Jason Chimera took that dumb penalty at the second-period buzzer. John Tortorella had 18 minutes to draw it up. More importantly, he put out some guys with creativity – Mats Zuccarello and Brassard, who made a good pass and a better pass, respectively, for Dan Girardi’s slapper. Which, to be fair, has to be stopped by Braden Holtby. I’ll say it again. Zuccarello is the Rangers’ best power-play player, period.

9) Derek Stepan was on the puck all night long. Which play was prettier, Zuccarello to Brassard to Girardi, or Callahan to Stepan to Hagelin to Stepan? Who knew there was that kind of skill on this team. Got me thinking about something I mentioned the other night. If you put Stepan with Alex Ovechkin and Nick Backstrom on the Rangers, who’s the better center?

10) And while there were a lot of gold stars to go around, Hagelin and Callahan were pretty special again.

11) Ovechkin was embarrassing defensively in Game 3, and he should shut up about the Rangers’ defense … though in truth, Rangers defense wasn’t especially physical in Games 1, 2 and 3, and isn’t overall.

12) How about that charging penalty by the Car Seat to put his team down two men? No interest in just breaking up the play?

13) The 5-on-3 was the direct result of a period of dominant pressure, both short-handed and at even strength, where Callahan set up Stepan for the shorty back-hander, then Hagelin’s speed created a chance for Boyle, then the Stepan short-handed break on which Martin Erat hooked Stepan and Ovechkin decided it was a good idea to launch himself (and Callahan had a great chance before the whistle blew, and Erat crashed into the net, hurting himself; he did not return.

14) Holtby made probably more tough saves in this game than the first two games combined. Maybe the first three. But he looked shaky on a few of the easier ones, and some that were barely shots, like the Stepan rebound try from the bad angle after his breakaway which went through Holtby’s legs but wide. And the Rangers should send Holtby a Thank You card for the Richards goal.

***********************************Washington Capitals v New York Rangers - Game Four

My Three Rangers Stars:

1. Derick Brassard.

2. Derek Stepan.

3. Carl Hagelin.

***********************************

Josh Thomson, 26’s Three Rangers Stars:

1. Derick Brassard.

2. Carl Hagelin.

3. Dan Girardi.

***********************************

The real Kenny Albert’s Three Rangers Stars:

1. Carl Hagelin.

2. Derick Brassard.

3. Anton Stralman.

***********************************

Tobi’s (age 8) Three Rangers Stars:

1. Carl Hagelin.

2. The Captain.

3. Dan Girardi.

***********************************

RangerJHW’s Three Rangers Stars:

1. Hags.

2. Brassard.

3. Girardi.

HM-Stepan … all about finishing.

***********************************

Your poll vote for Three Rangers Stars:

1. Derick Brassard (28.1%).

2. Carl Hagelin (22.88%).

3. Derek Stepan (12.42%).



Game 4: Rangers 4, Capitals 3 … post-game notes & quotes

by Carp

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES

Eastern Conference Quarterfinal, Game 4

Madison Square Garden – New York, NY


Team Notes:

- The Rangers defeated the Washington Capitals, 4-3, tonight at Madison Square Garden, in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series. The series is now tied at two games apiece.

- New York has posted a record of 210-228-8 overall in postseason action, including a 118-88-2 mark at home.

- The Rangers tallied one goal in four power play opportunities (4:59), and are now 2-0 in the playoffs in games when recording a power play goal (2-17, 11.8%).

- The Blueshirts held the Capitals scoreless in two shorthanded situations (3:37), and are now 10-12 (83.3%) in the playoffs.

- The Rangers out-hit the Capitals, 38-20, including 10 players with two or more hits.

- New York was credited with 33 blocked shots in the contest, including five players who registered three or more blocked shots.

- The Blueshirts won 34-53 faceoffs (64%), led by Brian Boyle’s game-high, 11 faceoff wins (11-16, 69%).

- With the win, Head Coach John Tortorella moved into a tie with Mike Keenan for fourth on the Rangers’ all-time playoff wins list with 16 postseason victories.

Player Notes:

- Carl Hagelin registered a playoff career-high, three points, including one goal and two assists, four shots on goal and a plus-three rating in 16:14 of ice time. He has now tallied four points (two goals, two assists) in four games this series.

- Dan Girardi notched the game-winning, power play goal, was credited with three hits and five blocked shots, and logged 29:35 of ice time. This is his third consecutive game with five blocked shots, and he now leads the league with 19 blocked shots in the playoffs.

- Derick Brassard registered two assists, including one on the power play, and won 8-9 faceoffs (89%) in 17:29 of ice time. He has recorded five points (one goal, four assists) in the last two games.

- Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves to improve to 27-32 in 59 career postseason contests. He is now 7-3 in his last 10 playoff games at Madison Square Garden, posting a 2.11 goals against average, .912 save percentage and one shutout over the span.

- Derek Stepan tallied a goal, tied for the game-high with six shots on goal, and won 10-18 faceoffs (56%) in 20:43 of ice time. He has now registered two goals in the last two games, and has recorded a point in nine straight games at MSG (seven goals, five assists over the span).

- Brad Richards notched a goal and registered four shots on goal in 14:51 of ice time. He has now recorded nine points (five goals, four assists) in 17 career playoff games against Washington.

- Ryane Clowe tallied an assist and was credited with four hits in 12:19 of ice time, in his return to the lineup after missing the previous four games due to an injury sustained on Apr. 25 at Carolina.

- Mats Zuccarello tallied an assist on the game-winning, power play goal, and was credited with three hits in 12:18 of ice time. He has now recorded three assists in the last two games.

- Ryan Callahan registered an assist, led all skaters with seven blocked shots, was credited with five hits, and tied for the game-high with six shots on goal in 23:31 of ice time. He now leads all league forwards with 13 blocked shots in the playoffs.

- Taylor Pyatt recorded an assist, and was credited with four hits and two blocked shots in 10:04 of ice time. He has now tallied an assist in each of the last two games.

- Ryan McDonagh was credited with five blocked shots and logged a game-high, 31:29 of ice time. It is the third time in his playoff career McDonagh has logged 30:00+ of ice time.

Post-Game Quotes:

- John Tortorella on tonight’s game … “I think we’ve done better as the series has gone on. I thought tonight’s game was a game of momentum swings for both teams. One thing I like about our team the past couple of games is that we certainly have bent at times but didn’t break. I think our resiliency has really shown in these past two games and we are going to need that when we go to Washington. They are going to surge there and we just need to find a way to keep our heads above water and find a way to win a game.”

- Henrik Lundqvist on tonight’s game… “It was close again. A big win for us though – much, much needed. I thought again we played a great game. They just kept coming back, but we did so many good things. You can see the confidence; we made a lot of good plays and I thought we deserved this one.”

- Ryan Callahan on the series… “These are two big wins here. We have to keep the momentum and keep the confidence rolling. It’s a tough building to play in, they play good there, but we feel good now.”

Team Schedule:

- The Blueshirts’ practice schedule for tomorrow, May 9, is 11:00 a.m. at MSG Training Center.

- The Rangers will return to action when they face-off against the Washington Capitals on Friday, May 10, at Verizon Center (7:30 p.m.), in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal matchup. The game will be televised live on MSG Network, and can be heard on ESPN 98.7.


675679 NHL

Girardi, Stepan score in 3rd to beat Caps

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Staff Writer

Dan Girardi and Derek Stepan scored third-period goals for the Rangers, who squandered a two-goal lead and then held on to get even in the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals last night in New York.

Girardi ripped a shot from above the left circle, off a feed from Derick Brassard, to give the Rangers the lead again with a power-play goal 59 seconds into the third. The advantage was created by Jason Chimera’s interference penalty at the end of the second.

Rangers coach John Tortorella said the team’s struggling power play was discussed during intermission, and the talk paid off.

“It was a really good power play,” Girardi said. “Brass made a heck of a play to get it to the middle of the ice. I knew I was going to shoot far side. It just happened to go in.”

Stepan made it 4-2 at 6:02, scoring into a wide-open net at the end of a give-and-go play in front with Carl Hagelin, who had a goal and two assists.

Game 5 will be back in Washington tomorrow night before the series returns to Madison Square Garden on Sunday. The home team has won all four games in the first-round Eastern Conference matchup.

Brad Richards and Hagelin staked the Rangers to a 2-0 lead, but goals by Mathieu Perreault and Troy Brouwer tied it for Washington in the second period.

The Capitals closed within 4-3 when defenseman Karl Alzner’s shot caromed in off of Perreault for his second of the game at 7:31 of the third.

Henrik Lundqvist, announced as one of three Vezina Trophy finalists earlier in the day, made 27 saves. Washington’s Braden Holtby stopped 30.

New York has won only one series in which it trailed 0-2.

Kings 3, Blues 2 — Slava Voynov scored on an odd-man rush eight minutes into overtime and visiting Los Angeles beat St. Louis for the third straight time.

The win put the defending Stanley Cup champions on the verge of surviving the first round, leading 3-2 heading to Game 6 in Los Angeles tomorrow.

Alex Pietrangelo scored on a wrist shot from the point with 44.1 seconds remaining in regulation and goalie Brian Elliott off for an extra attacker. That forced overtime for the second time in the series, and was the third goal in the final minute of the third period in the series.

The Kings’ Justin Williams scored in the final minute of a 2-1 overtime loss in Game 1, also in St. Louis. The Blues had a 2-0 series lead after Barret Jackman scored in the final minute of Game 2.

All five games have been decided by one goal, the only first-round series with that distinction.

The Kings ended the Blues’ eight-game home win streak in which Elliott allowed one goal each time.

Ducks 3, Red Wings 2 — Former Boston University star Nick Bonino scored 1:54 into overtime, and host Anaheim moved to the brink of the second round with a Game 5 victory against Detroit.

Defenseman Ben Lovejoy took the puck behind the Detroit net and fed it in front. Bonino scored for the Ducks, who took a 3-2 series lead.

Game 6 is tomorrow night in detroit, where the Ducks will attempt to close out just their second playoff series victory since winning the Stanley Cup in 2007.

Johan Franzen and Mikael Samuelsson scored for the Red Wings, who had two brief leads. Jimmy Howard stopped 31 shots.

Captain Ryan Getzlaf tied it, Kyle Palmieri also scored, and Jonas Hiller made 29 saves in Anaheim’s first victory in three overtime games in the series.

Elsewhere in the NHL — The Pittsburgh Penguins are turning to backup goaltender Tomas Vokoun.

Coach Dan Bylsma said Vokoun will be in net for Game 5 tonight instead of starter Marc-Andre Fleury when the Penguins resume their first-round playoff series with the New York Islanders. The series is tied 2-2 after the Islanders rallied for a 6-4 victory in Game 4 on Tuesday. Fleury made just 18 saves in the loss. . . .

Montreal Canadiens forward Brian Gionta will have surgery on his torn left biceps, knocking him out of the rest of the playoffs.

Coach Michel Therrien said forwards Brandon Prust and Ryan White would both sit out Game 5 against the Ottawa Senators with upper-body injuries. Also, goalie Carey Price is day-to-day with a lower-body injury after getting hurt late in the Game 4 overtime loss.


675680 Ottawa Senators

Youth movement propelling Senators at key moments

Ken Warren

MONTREAL — Perhaps nobody bothered to tell the Ottawa Senators’ rookie forwards that inexperienced players aren’t supposed to have instant success in the NHL playoffs.

“I think it has been good for us, just going out there and playing and doing what we do, and the whole ‘not knowing what it’s all about thing’ is maybe good in a way,” Mika Zibanejad suggested following practice in Ottawa Wednesday. “We do have a lot of experienced guys who know what you need to do to go far, so it’s a good mix, just letting the young guys go and do their thing.”

After the Senators pulled off the craziest magic trick imaginable to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in overtime Tuesday at Scotiabank Place to take a 3-1 series lead, they’re in position to advance to the second round with a victory Thursday at the Bell Centre.

While the leadership of Daniel Alfredsson, Chris Phillips, Chris Neil and Sergei Gonchar has been instrumental, they also wouldn’t be here without the contributions of their rookie crew.

— In Game 1 last Thursday, 22-year-old Jakob Silfverberg beat Canadiens goaltender Carey Price with a slapshot that tied the game 2-2, the first of three in the third period goals in the 4-2 victory.

— In Game 3 Sunday, 20-year-old Jean-Gabriel Pageau caused wild celebrations on both sides of the Ottawa River with his unlikely hat trick, scoring the Senators’ second, third and sixth goals in a 6-1 romp by the Senators.

— In Game 4 Tuesday, the Senators pulled off their stunning comeback with the aid of two more first-year players. Zibanajed, who turned 20 three

weeks ago, gave them life by scoring with eight minutes left. With time ticking down and goaltender Craig Anderson on the bench for an extra skater, Senators coach Paul MacLean told 23-year-old Cory Conacher to go directly to the front of the net. He did just that, burying the puck in the slot underneath Price with only 22.6 seconds left, tying the game 2-2.

Again, it’s not supposed to happen like this in the NHL playoffs, is it? Think back to the NHL trade deadline, when most of the fuss was about the front-running teams overspending to add veteran experience to carry them through the tough post-season battles.

“I try to say that nothing surprises me, but if you don’t give them the opportunity, they can’t step up, either,” said MacLean. “The coach can’t always get wrapped up in what somebody did at a certain part of the game. You have to find a way to win. You have to have the right people on the ice to try and win a game.”

The fact Zibanejad and Conacher were even given the chance to make a difference is intriguing. Leading up to his goal, Zibanejad had experienced a rough night, unable or unwilling to raise his intensity to match the increased determination by the Canadiens. In short, showing the inconsistency that might be expected from a first-year player.

“No, it wasn’t my best game last night, but you want to be out there to make up for it or whatever you want to call it,” said Zibanejad. “I got a second opportunity and I was all set to go.”

Conacher, meanwhile, was in the Chateau Bow-Wow for his giveaway early in the second period, which led directly to the Canadiens’ second goal by Alex Galchenyuk. He was stapled to the bench for extended periods, asked to watch and learn about simple, effective playoff hockey from the older players.

When he got the nod in the final seconds, he acknowledges being surprised.

“I was excited,” he said. “I guess it was a good move by the coach because I was goal hungry and I would do everything I could to get that goal.”

Conacher says he felt the weight of the earlier mistake throughout the game because “you feel like you let your team down a little bit.”

Conacher, Zibanejad, Silfverberg and Pageau all credit the veterans for aiding in the adjustment to post-season hockey.

“Guys like Neil, Alfredsson, Phillips, the guys who have been here, been in the playoffs,” said Conacher. “They’re the guys to talk to, they kind of calm nerves down a little bit.”

By the same token, MacLean says the team’s use of younger players is in keeping with what is still an organization in rebuilding mode.

“With our core of leadership, it’s easier to use younger players,” he said. “But the quality of the players we’ve been able to put into the lineup is very high. If they were not good enough players, we probably wouldn’t put them on the ice.”

Ottawa Citizen LOADED: 05.09.2013


Scanlan: Hockey Gods smile on the Senators

Wayne Scanlan

MONTREAL — This is why they play the games, and why teams find hope when they settle among the lowest of seeds.

Because crazy things happen in the playoffs.

It’s not the Senators’ 3-1 series lead over the Montreal Canadiens that is surprising, heading into Game 5 at the Bell Centre Thursday. Many of us picked Ottawa, the seventh seed of the Eastern Conference, to upset the No. 2 ranked Habs.

It’s how the Senators got here that is slightly mind-numbing.

It’s the brutal luck of the Canadiens, as though they angered some distant, unseen hockey god who is now bent on vengeance.

Fans of the Canadiens lament that THEIR team should be ahead in this series 3-1, if the God of Justice were awake and on the job.

They have a case. Montreal has arguably been the better team in three of the four games, but as always in the NHL playoffs, stuff happens. Injuries. Luck. Bounces. Goaltending.

And if you listen to talk around Ottawa, don’t underestimate the Pesky Sens factor, a young team guided by a handful of elders (Alfredsson, Gonchar, Phillips, Neil) and a savvy coach, a group that can rescue 50 minutes of trouble with 10 minutes of brilliance.

Game 4 of this never-dull series was like that — a late goal on a good bounce and a war room ruling, another in the last second by a rookie who bolted to the rescue from the coach’s doghouse. And, of course, the inevitable: The quick strike in overtime.

After the Senators’ heart-stopping victory on Tuesday, beleaguered Habs coach Michel Therrien slowly trudged to the conference room podium, devastated by what his eyes had just seen.

“We deserved a better fate,” Therrien said, softly, following a 3-2 overtime loss in which the Canadiens did not trail in the game until Kyle Turris’ drifting shot beat stone cold Peter Budaj less than three minutes into the first OT period.

They laughed in the face of defeat with Cory Conacher’s tying goal with 22.4 seconds left in the third period. Conacher. Imagine. Looking down from his perch, Senators general manager Bryan Murray nearly had a coronary at the sight of him, given Conacher’s giveaway earlier in the game that led to Montreal’s second goal. Head coach Paul MacLean played a hunch by throwing the kid out. Conacher paid him back.

At the buzzer, Montreal starting goaltender Carey Price staggered to his feet, hurt, unable to answer the call to overtime. He’s doubtful for Game 5 and captain Brian Gionta is now done for the year with a torn bicep muscle (he “cried in my arms,” Therrien said. Yikes).

What else has gone wrong for the Habs? What else could go wrong — linesmen allowing Senators defenceman Erik Karlsson to loaf back to the red line, and still get a critical icing call. A goal off Mika Zibanejad’s skate boot. A linesman holding the faceoff on the wrong side of Price, which caused the Canadiens to have the wrong centreman taking a late draw.

In the playoffs, little things are big things. Timing is everything.

Standing in the blue paint watching the late heroics, Senators goaltender Craig Anderson wasn’t particularly surprised. By then, he had done the heavy lifting, sliding across the crease to stop an Andrei Markov shot that would have put the game out of reach at 3-0, would’ve ensured a tied series.

Games turn on a dime. From a goal. From a save.

“The momentum changes all the time, it just depends how much time is left,” Anderson said in the Senators dressing room as staff packed equipment bags for Montreal. “The momentum kind of changed in the third — with 10 minutes to go, we started to really turn on the pressure.”

The Canadiens received a similar surge from two quick goals in the second period, both on shots above Anderson’s shoulder.

“It’s just the game was long enough, that we got the chance to regroup,” he said. “The same thing happened in Game 1, they had the momentum for the entire second period, they got two goals, they were winning 2-1 and there was just time enough for us regroup and come back out (for the third).”

Anderson is the first to admit a team often requires a fortuitous break — or two or three — at the right time, as the game hangs in the balance.

“We got some lucky bounces, Anderson said. “Sometimes you need a little bit of luck on your side to be good.”

Does Anderson do anything special to enhance his own good luck? Lucky underwear. A talisman?

“Everyone’s got their own routine,” he said. “I wouldn’t say its superstitious, where if the routine doesn’t happen I get all flustered. I like doing the same things over and over again, but if it changes where I need to do something different, it’s not a huge deal.”

MAILLOT JAUNE

But there is this: If you wonder why Anderson has a jaundiced look to his clothing, credit young Jake Anderson.

“My 22-month-old kid is picking out my outfits lately. He seems to like yellow shirts, for whatever reason. And I only have one of those in my closet.”

Curious George had The Man in the Yellow Hat.

The Senators have their man in the yellow shirt, on the verge of something special.

TWO FOR TURRIS

At 23, Kyle Turris is not so old that he can’t remember the greatest road hockey goals of his youth.

The ones where he scored overtime winners, kind of like the one he scored for real in Game 4 against the Canadiens — and in Game 4 of the 2012 series against the New York Rangers. Coincidentally, he was standing in a similar spot on the ice, above the faceoff circle, on both goals.

How does it feel to score in OT of a Stanley Cup playoff?

“It’s indescribable,” Turris said. “It’s something you dream of as a kid growing up, playing hockey.”

Turris was usually Steve Yzerman when he was scoring those street hockey Game 7 goals.

“He was always my favourite growing up. I think he had a nice one against St. Louis, a nice little slap shot, high blocker side.”

The feeling, Turris says, is “surreal.

“It doesn’t matter how it goes in, the rush of adrenalin, and everybody coming off the bench — I wish everybody could experience it.

Ottawa Citizen LOADED: 05.09.2013


Montreal Canadiens facing elimination Thursday night against Ottawa Senators

Bruce Garrioch

Wednesday, May 08, 2013 10:30 PM EDT

It has come to this for Les Glorieux.

Now or never. No tomorrow. Backs to the wall.

Pull out any cliche for a team facing elimination and every one of them applies to the mountainous task the Montreal Canadiens are facing as they prepare for Game 5 of their first-round series against the Senators Thursday night at the Bell Centre.

Trailing 3-1 in the series, the Habs can only try to stave off elimination before they can even think about having a realistic chance of advancing to Round 2. A brilliant season is about to go down the tubes with an early summer.

The Habs were defiant they wouldn't go down without a fight with reporters at their training facility in Brossard, Que., Wednesday afternoon. Defenceman P.K. Subban issued the closest to what anybody would call fighting words.

"We need guys to step up," said Subban. "We still have a pulse right now, we're still alive and (Thursday's) game is the biggest of the season and we have to be ready to play. Our focus has to be on bringing the best we have to this next game.

"We can sit and talk about (Tuesday's) game all we want, but it's over with, and quite frankly, I want to beat these guys. We have another opportunity (Thursday) to play, and we can beat these guys. We're better."

That's hard to believe with the Habs trailing 3-1 in the series, but it should be noted they have erased this kind of deficit in the past. In 2010 vs. the

Washington Capitals, the Habs came back from a similar situation to win the series.

There are eight players remaining from that team.

"To be honest, my focus was just playing well every game, I never thought about winning or losing . . . next thing you know you end up beating a first seed, second seed, anything can happen," said Subban. "I think guys are going to realize, when we come out of the gates and we're flying, guys are going to realize that we're a better team, and there's still life in this series for us. It takes guys in this room to believe that.

"It's a situation right now where all the pressure's on them. I mean, you're up 3-1 right now, on the road, with guys in and out of the lineup, they want to end this thing. But they've got to beat us first, so good luck to them. We've been a team, we've been out-shooting them every game, we've got good goaltending no matter who's in the nets, so I wish them the best of luck."

The Habs will have to dig down deep. Already without goalie Carey Price, they learned captain Brian Gionta is done for the season because he'll have surgery on his injured bicep.

He has tried to tough it out, but Wednesday the decision was made he won't go on and will have the procedure. Coach Michel Therrien said it was difficult news for Gionta to accept.

"He's got a lot of courage, and with the decision that he was not capable to keep going, and when we heard the news, our captain was crying in my arms," said Therrien. "It's tough, this is a bunch of guys with a lot of courage, more courage than a lot of people think, I know because I live with these guys every day."

The question is: Will the Habs be alive much longer?

"You can't look too much ahead. You have to play one game at a time, that's the way it is," said Therrien. "That's going to be only our focus: (Thursday). It's not different for us than any message that we got over this year."

If the message doesn't get through, the season is over.

Ottawa Sun LOADED: 05.09.2013


Ottawa Senators centre Kyle Turris experiences "surreal" moment after scoring Game 4 OT winner

Don Brennan

May 08, 2013 10:18 PM EDT

MONTREAL - Kyle Turris had a hard time falling asleep Tuesday.

Probably because he had just lived his dream.

The Senators' Game 4 overtime hero for the second spring in a row, Turris tried to explain the "surreal" feeling he experienced watching his shot sneak past goalie Peter Budaj, putting Ottawa square in the driver seat of its best-of-seven with the Habs.

"It's indescribable," the B.C. native said of scoring in OT. "It's something you dream of as a kid growing up, playing road hockey, getting the Game 7 winner to win the Cup. To be able to score an overtime in the playoffs is incredible."

When Turris, 23, played road hockey, the opponent often was his dad. Turris would pretend to be one of his idols, Steve Yzerman.

"I think he had one (OT playoff winner) against St. Louis, high blocker side," said Turris. "It's surreal. It doesn't matter who scores it or how it goes in. A goal is a goal. The rush of adrenaline, everybody coming off the bench, I wish everybody could experience it."

The circumstances for Turris' Game 4 winner against the New York Rangers were similar. Like Tuesday, the Senators had battled back from a 2-0 deficit to set up overtime. It was also scored early in the extra session.

And, like Tuesday, "emotions were high and the building was rocking," he said.

"Last year's was definitely a shot placed where I wanted it to be," he said when it was pointed out the goal against the Rangers was prettier. "This year I just tried to put it on net and I got a lucky bounce."



Ottawa Senators rookie Cory Conacher follows orders and gets rewarded with big goal

Don Brennan

May 08, 2013 10:07 PM EDT

MONTREAL - Cory Conacher figures he's not done atoning for mistakes.

The Senators rookie did make up for his giveaway at the Montreal blueline that led to the Habs' second goal when he sent Game 4 into overtime in the final minute. But before that, he had his struggles.

"I think I still owe the team a little bit more, because of the turnovers," Conacher said Wednesday. "You want to show the team you're a reliable player on the ice, both in the D-Zone and the O-Zone."

Conacher played just two shifts in the third before coach Paul MacLean sent him out as the extra attacker when Craig Anderson was pulled. The instructions from the coach were simple -- go right to the net.

"I was definitely a little surprised," he said of being tapped on the shoulder. "He told me to be a presence, and that's what I did. I was extremely excited. I was goal-hungry and I wanted to do anything I could to get that goal."

The Senators hope it leads to more of the same.



Ottawa Senators beating Montreal Canadiens on and off the ice

Don Brennan

May 08, 2013 09:56 PM EDT

MONTREAL - Members of the fraternity that nominated Pernell Karl Subban for the Norris Trophy really needed a word with him Tuesday morning.

"Sorry guys," he said. "Not until tonight. After the game."

At least one Montreal reporter actually pleaded, but to no avail. Subban was focusing on the task of beating the Senators that night. If he would have even opened a five-minute window for interviews at noon, there's no way he would have scored that goal at 8 p.m.

And so those with early deadlines -- and the paying customers who want the news and reactions to the news before they go to bed -- had to wait. But at least they were going to hear what Subban had to say about his first Norris nomination after Game 4.

Unless the Habs lost, as it turned out.

Subban snubbed the media once again following the game, presumably because he was upset by the way he and his teammates snatched defeat from the clutches of victory. This shouldn't be a surprise, though. He gets a mulligan because he was injured this time, but in the last week Carey Price has only emerged from the off-limits room to speak with reporters after wins. That's easy.

On Tuesday, only three "sacrificial lambs" were available after the overtime loss to Ottawa. Stand-up guy Josh Gorges, fourth-line veteran Jeff Halpern and the seldom-used Gabriel Dumont.

All this is to say that, led by their coach's mastery of Mike Therrien, the always-present Senators are schooling the Habs off the ice as well as on.

When Paul MacLean said following the game that he noticed "goalie 31" was in obvious discomfort, he couldn't have shoved "disrespect" any further down Therrien's throat. Goalie 31 is the great Carey Price. He's not a second-year, marginal defenceman from Switzerland like "player 61," Raphael Diaz.

Whenever this series does end, isn't it going to be fun watch the teams line up for the traditional handshake? It could become another line brawl.

ERIC THE RED

No way Eric Gryba was conscious of the sensitivity of the words he used when a reporter asked him how important it was for the Senators to have a "killer instinct" now that they've pushed the Habs to the brink of elimination. Said Gryba: "We can smell blood. We can taste blood. And it's time to put them away." ... Other than Brandon Prust's shot to the head, Habs didn't go out of their way to punish Gryba for his messy Game 1 hit on Lars Eller. "I'm sure he got an earful from their coach about that," Gryba said of Prust, who was given two minutes for roughing. "In a series (as close) as it is, you can't afford to be taking dumb penalties." ... Gryba will get more than an earful from Habs fans at the Bell Centre Thursday. He's ready for it. "I'm expecting to maybe get a little more attention than I have in the past in Montreal," he said. "It's all part of a spectator sport. The fans bring a different element to the games. It's exciting. The way it should be."

NAME THAT GOALIE

The Canadiens say Price is "day-to-day" with the lower body injury he suffered at the end of the game Tuesday. Senators 'tender Robin Lehner is skeptical. "Same situation happened to me once," Lehner said after watching the way Price went down. "It was a groin for me. When I had my groin pull, you can skate around, you just can't stretch out your groin. It looked like it really bothered him to stand on the leg when he tried to get up later. So it could be a knee, too. I would say groin or knee, and both injuries, you don't come back the day after, I don't think. If he does, good for him." ... Lehner did not feel bad too bad for Peter Budaj having to come off he bench cold for overtime. "It's not ideal, but that's what he's getting paid for," said Lehner. "He got a two-year extension, right? That's what he gets paid to do, to stay ready in these games. He stayed ready, I think. That goal wasn't his, I don't think. It was going outside and it was deflected by his own guy. It touched his elbow. Fortunate for us, it touched their guy and went in." (His "own guy" was player 61). Added Lehner: "If something were to happen to (Craig Anderson), of course there would be lots of pressure. But that's why we're here. If we couldn't handle it, we wouldn't be here. We wouldn't get paid like we are." ... Erik Karlsson says it doesn't matter who mans the pipes for Montreal in Game 5. "They have two good goalies," said Karlsson. "I don't think their game is going to change, no matter who's in net. Carey is their No. 1 guy, but I think they have full confidence in their second guy as well." I could be wrong, but I don't think Karlsson knows the name of "their second guy."

ICE CHIPS

The 10 hits he registered in Game 4 was a season-high for Chris Neil, the Senators' all-time leading hitter. Was it the magnitude of the game or because more opportunities presented themselves? "It's because he's an animal," said Matt Kassian. Said Neil: "It was just the way the day went. We want to be physical on them. My linemates did a good job of forcing them out one side and I was able to get some hits. Whenever you're able to get lots of hits, it means other guys are doing a good thing." The line of Neil, Zack Smith and Kassian is making quite an impact in this series ... MacLean was asked about the icing calls and curious faceoff location call that so perturbed Therrien a night earlier. "I just try to coach my team," he said. "I don't try to be the referee. I'd like to be a player again, but I can't even put me on the ice anymore. So I try not to get caught up in any of that. One thing I've learned over the past two years is I can't referee from the bench. So I don't try to referee anymore. That's not to say I haven't in the past, but I've tried to make a conscious effort not to referee, because I want to be a coach. And I find that's a hard enough job."



Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson not named finalist for Vezina Trophy

Bruce Garrioch

May 08, 2013 06:15 PM EDT

MONTREAL - Craig Anderson isn't looking for recognition.

It would have been nice for Anderson to be nominated for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goalie, but the Senators netminder's name wasn't among the finalists announced Wednesday. Those were Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks and Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers.

Anderson finished with the NHL's best save percentage at .941 and goals-against average at 1.69. He won the Molson Cup as the Senators' player of the month in January, February and April.

It's OK that he got passed up, though, because Anderson has bigger concerns, starting with Game 5 Thursday night in Montreal against the Canadiens.

"It didn't even cross my mind at all," said Anderson, who missed 18 games with an ankle injury. "You can make the perfect argument that I didn't play enough games, but it's one of those things. "It's a personal accolade that doesn't mean a whole lot in a team game.

"It's a great (feat). It's a notch in your belt, but at the same time you need the teammates around you to get those accolades and right now we have a bigger goal. That's to win hockey games. I don't think I'd trade this situation for having a personal trophy and not playing right now."

The voting is done by the NHL GMs and Anderson does believe it's nice to be part of the conversation.

"You can argue all you want. You can take the three guys and break down their best 25 games and take my 25 games and see whose stats are better," said Anderson.

"That's one way to look at it. At the same time, the season has ups and downs. You could argue I didn't play enough to have a downturn or a little valley. Who knows what would have happened if I would have played the whole year? I could have had a valley there or a few games where I wasn't very good."

The goal for Anderson is playoff success. He doesn't have any superstitions, but lately his 22-month-old son Jake has been picking out his suits for the game so Anderson will likely be decked out in yellow heading into the Bell Centre.

By the end, he'd like the Habs to be seeing red and packing their bags for the summer. The task, of course, won't be easy.

"It's going to be tough. It's a tough team and a tough building. We're going to have to play our best," said Anderson.



Ottawa Senators centre Jason Spezza gets closer to return

Bruce Garrioch

May 08, 2013 03:43 PM EDT

MONTREAL — Jason Spezza has made a step in the right direction.

While the Senators' top centre isn't close to returning from the back surgery he had in January, he has made progress and is doing more rigorous training to prepare for a return.

"He's skating and it's gone beyond public skating," said coach Paul MacLean Wednesday. "It's gone to the next stage of his rehab. We're hoping for him it can progress as quickly as it can.

"At the same time, it has to be done properly. He has elevated his work schedule and that's good."

MacLean said before Spezza can play, he has to get back to skating with the team.

"He's not in the final stages at all," MacLean said. "The final stages would be to come out and actually practise and to be a full participant in a full practice. I don't think he's close to that yet. His work level has been upgraded and we'll see how it goes."



Montreal Canadiens goalie Peter Budaj ready to face Ottawa Senators if Carey Price can't go

Bruce Garrioch

May 08, 2013 10:44 PM EDT

MONTREAL - The price hasn't been right for the Montreal Canadiens in this playoff series.

Now, they may not have Carey Price at all.

Trailing 3-1 against the Senators and facing elimination Thursday night at the Bell Centre, the Habs may have to go without their top goalie after he left the club's 3-2 OT loss in Ottawa with what's being described as a lower body injury.

Price was injured on the final shot of the third and appeared to be limping as he went to the dressing room. He is listed as questionable, which means Peter Budaj will likely get the start.

He allowed the OT winner by Kyle Turris in Game 4 and was in net on Jan. 29 in Ottawa when the Senators scored a 5-1 victory.

Budaj is ready for the challenge if he's the one in the net.

He wasn't happy with the winning goal and said it had nothing to do with the fact it hit the hand of Raphael Diaz.

"I was disappointed in myself, I kind of did not see the puck well," Budaj said. "It had nothing to do with (Diaz), it was kind of a floater shot, I don't know if it touches (Diaz) or not, but I definitely think I could have played it a little better. I misplayed it a little bit ... it's a bad goal, I think definitely I could have stopped it, but there's nothing I can do about it right now."


675689 Philadelphia Flyers

Former Flyer Bobrovsky a Vezina finalist

Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer

POSTED: Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 11:49 AM

Former Flyer Sergei Bobrovsky on Wednesday was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the NHL's top goaltender.

Last June, the Flyers sent Bobrovsky to Columbus for second- (promising goalie Anthony Stolarz) and fourth-round (left winger Taylor Leier) selections in the 2012 draft. They also acquired a fourth-rounder in the 2013 draft.

The Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist and San Jose's Antti Niemi were also named finalists on Wednesday.

The league's 30 general managers submitted their Vezina ballots at the end of the regular season, and the winner will be announced during the Stanley Cup Finals.

The fact Bobrovsky did not play on a playoff team may hurt his chances among GMs.

Bobrovsky was 21-11-6 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. He kept Columbus in playoff contention until the final moments of the season.

Lundqvist had a 24-16-3 record, a 2.05 GAA and .926 save percentage, while Niemi went 24-12-6 with a 2.16 GAA and .924 save percentage.

Bobrovsky had a terrific rookie year (28-13-8, 2.59, .915) with the Flyers in 2010-11, but coach Peter Laviolette grew impatient with him as he struggled in the playoffs that season. The Flyers then added Ilya Bryzgalov after the season, and Bobrovsky was not comfortable in a backup role in 2011-12.

Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 05.09.2013


Flyers should draft defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen

Deanna Vasso

POSTED: Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 10:59 AM

After a disappointing season, the Flyers have to start making player development a priority. The 2013 NHL Draft will be held on June 30, and it may seem far away, but the Flyers really need to focus on their options when they head into the first round.

Since the Flyers have the No.11 pick, they will not draft well sought after defenseman Seth Jones, who is likely to be drafted by the Colorado Avalanche. Their next best option would be to draft the second ranked defenseman Darnell Nurse.

According to NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman, the Flyers might not have the opportunity to draft Nurse either. In his first installment of the NHL’s mini-mock draft, Kimelman instead has Nurse going to the Edmonton Oilers with the No. 7 pick and the Flyers drafting Finnish defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen from TPS in the first round.

Kimelman thinks the Flyers will pick Ristolainen mostly because a “big, tough, nasty blueliner is something the Flyers have needed since Chris Pronger left the lineup.” The 6’3”, 200 pound defenseman is practically built to be a Flyers defenseman and he has a Pronger-esque mean streak which is something we like in Philadelphia.

If the Flyers don’t jump at the chance of signing this emerging defenseman, it will be a huge mistake. The Flyers flaws have always been due to a lackluster defense so their top priority is to start developing young defenseman. In this year's draft, they have to seriously consider drafting Ristolainen in the first round before another team scoops him up.

Ristolainen's stats may not be perfect, but he has been actively improving over the past couple seasons in Finland. He ended the 2012-2013 season with TPS having played 52 games where he showed his ability as a two-way player. He notched three goals this season and proved to be a consistent passer by helping his teammates get to the net 12 times. He has also matured as a player and only logged 23 PIMs this season, which is something that should really interest the Flyers.

Drafting this prospect could do wonders for the Flyers' emerging defensive class. Especially if he gets paired with powerhouse rookie Oliver Lauridsen down the line. Could you imagine the defense size of this team in the years to come? Their size and physical play could really turn the team's defense into a intimdation factor that could help lead them to success.

Ristolainen may not be a player that particularly takes big hits, but he does get physical in front of the net and knows how to use his body. If he takes a puck to the face blocking a shot, I’m sure we’d fall in love with him in this city.



Inside the Flyers: Flyers castoff Bobrovsky a finalist for best goalie

Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted: Thursday, May 9, 2013, 1:54 AM

Two years ago, the Flyers signed Ilya Bryzgalov and figured they had ended their l-o-o-o-o-n-g search for a shutdown goaltender.

As it turns out, they already had an elite Russian goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky.

They just didn't realize it.

Bobrovsky, now with the Columbus Blue Jackets, was named Wednesday as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, given to the league's top goaltender. The Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist and San Jose's Antti Niemi were the other finalists in voting by NHL general managers. The winner will be announced during the Stanley Cup Finals.

Of the three contenders, Bobrovsky had the best season, and he nearly carried the lowly Blue Jackets into the playoffs.

So how did a Flyers franchise that, in its history, has had just three high-quality goalies - Bernie Parent, Pelle Lindbergh, and Ron Hextall - allow Bobrovsky to slip away?

Basically, a lack of patience.

It started with coach Peter Laviolette and spread to club chairman Ed Snider and, ultimately, to general manager Paul Holmgren.

Flashback: Bobrovsky, then 22, had a terrific rookie year with the Flyers in the 2010-11 season. He went 28-13-8 and compiled a 2.59 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage. At the time, Parent said it had been a long time since he had seen a goalie with such post-to-post quickness.

And then the playoffs rolled around, and Bobrovsky stumbled. And Laviolette became Captain Hook, starting Bobrovsky in just three of 11 playoff games, including a 1-0 loss to Buffalo.

In those 11 contests, Laviolette made seven in-game goalie switches, tying a dubious NHL playoff record.

Embarrassed by the goalie carousel - and still hurting from Michael Leighton's meltdown in the winnable 2010 Stanley Cup Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks - Snider vowed to do something.

"We are never going to go through the goalie issues we've gone through in the last couple of years," he said at the time.

Holmgren signed Bryzgalov to a nine-year, $51 million deal that summer. That, in effect, pushed Bobrovsky into a backup role. In the 2011-12 season, he struggled with the demotion and lost the rhythm and confidence he had developed as a rookie.

Last June, the Flyers sent Bobrovsky to Columbus for a second-round pick (promising goalie Anthony Stolarz) and fourth-round pick (left winger Taylor Leier) in the 2012 draft. They also acquired a fourth-rounder in the 2013 draft.

At his season-ending news conference recently, Holmgren said he did not feel haunted by Bobrovsky's success.

"No. I'm happy for Sergei," Holmgren said. "He might be the hardest-working player I've ever seen at any position."

It's easy to look at the situation in hindsight and say the Flyers panicked when they signed Bryzgalov and reduced Bobrovsky's role. But Bryzgalov was a proven veteran who had been a Vezina finalist himself.

That said, it's interesting to look at some of Snider's other comments after the Flyers were swept by the Boston Bruins in the 2011 conference semifinals.

Snider made it a point to call Bobrovsky the franchise's "goalie of the future."

"I think he'll be a great goalie. He had an incredible first year, considering where he came from and that he didn't play on a particularly great team in Europe," Snider said at the time. "His future is outstanding. He's still learning the game and how to handle the puck. But he did a lot better job in the second half of the year. He has a lot of talent, and he's only going to get better and pick up the nuances of the North American game."

Turns out he did. In Columbus.

The Flyers' mistake wasn't in signing Bryzgalov. It was in misreading the market and giving him a ludicrous, nine-year deal, assuring their "goalie of the future" would make a name for himself elsewhere.

The irony in all this, of course, is that Bobrovsky has indirectly played a key role in strengthening the Flyers' goaltending. In Columbus, Bobrovsky took the job away from Steve Mason, who was traded to the Flyers and in seven late-season games for his new club, looked like the goalie who was once dominant - and not the one who was lost with the Blue Jackets.

The change of scenery was good for Bobrovsky; good for Mason; and, in the end, perhaps good for both franchises.



Fixing the Flyers' defense

Frank Seravalli

Daily News Sports Columnist

Posted: Thursday, May 9, 2013, 1:07 AM

Second in a series

THE FLYERS have the NHL's most expensive collection of second- and third-pairing defensemen.

That's not a knock - or at least, an intentional one. You see, Kimmo Timonen ($6 million), Braydon Coburn ($4.5 million), Andrej Meszaros ($4 million), Luke Schenn ($3.6 million) and Nick Grossmann ($3.5 million) are all fine players.

Most NHL teams would love to add a defenseman of that caliber to their roster this summer.

But for the Flyers, five No. 3 defensemen - or worse - does not a contender make.

The Flyers miss Chris Pronger. In other news, Philadelphia misses Benjamin Franklin. Too much of a stretch? Probably not when you consider the void left when Pronger hung up his skates in December 2011.

No, that's not a misprint. That's 2011. As in, nearly 2 calendar years ago.

Pronger had little to nothing to do with the Flyers' shortcomings during the lockout-shortened season. General manager Paul Holmgren planned to enter the season without Pronger - likely even before the 2011-12 campaign had wrapped up with that mind-numbing loss to the Devils.

That's why last summer Holmgren decided to take a stab at landing both Norris Trophy finalist Ryan Suter and then his former Nashville teammate, Shea Weber. The Flyers were prepared to spend Pronger's salary-cap injury benefit in an effort to replace him.

It didn't work out. As has been well-documented, the time spent pursuing Suter (and Zach Parise) cost the Flyers Jaromir Jagr's services. It likely also cost the Flyers a shot at re-signing Matt Carle, though it's not guaranteed they would have matched the 6-year, $33 million pact Carle received in Tampa Bay.

Holmgren did not replace Carle.

More important, he's yet to replace Pronger. And it's not for a lack of trying. They don't grow on trees.

Plus, it's not Holmgren's fault that Pronger sustained that devastating eye injury (and subsequent concussion-like symptoms). When Pronger's playing career ended, so too did a planned era of another 3 to 4 years of top-end, blue-line stability for the Flyers.

If everyone was healthy, how menacing would a third pairing of Grossmann and Coburn or Schenn and Meszaros look?

Instead, Holmgren is left to pick up the pieces.

By my count, there are only 11 such No. 1 defensemen in the NHL. My list (in no particular order): Weber, Suter, Duncan Keith, Brian Campbell, Drew Doughty, Zdeno Chara, Erik Karlsson, Keith Yandle, Mike Green, Dustin Byfuglien, Kris Letang. Whether you'd like to include Jay Bouwmeester, Dion Phaneuf or even Jack Johnson is your prerogative.

What will the Flyers do?

I'd be stunned if they went after Weber again, despite reports hinting at the possibility. Weber can't be traded until July 24. He's due another $13 million on July 1, making it a total of $27 million Nashville will have spent on him in one calendar year. Why would the Predators move him after paying nearly a quarter of his $110 million deal?

The free-agent market is weak. Ron Hainsey and Ryan Whitney are the most attractive names. More depth players.

Holmgren needs to swing big again. This time, he needs to make sure he connects. There are too many question marks on this blue line - from Grossmann's concussion issues, to Meszaros' ill-timed injuries, to Coburn's inconsistencies, to Timonen's weary legs.

That leaves a volatile trade market. My gut tells me Holmgren will push all his chips in to make a run at Phoenix's Yandle, whom the Coyotes first began shopping to the Flyers last June at the draft. The two sides spoke again before the trade deadline.

The Flyers can afford Yandle's $5.25 million salary. He's young (26) and hasn't missed a game since 2009. Plus, the Coyotes don't have an owner and they're under strict budgetary constraints by the league - which has forced their hand on a number of potential moves.

Yandle is the defenseman the Flyers covet. The return won't be easy to stomach - likely starting with either Sean Couturier or Matt Read or Brayden Schenn - but it wasn't all that easy to swallow moving Luca Sbisa and Joffrey Lupul for Pronger, was it?

The return, though, was immense. The gratification was instant - with that memorable trip to the Stanley Cup finals in 2010 in Pronger's first season. Yandle is not Pronger. They aren't even nearly similar-style players. But he's the first step toward solving this mess.

Tomorrow: Fixing the goaltending.



Ex-Flyer Sergei Bobrovsky a Vezina Trophy finalist

Sarah Baicker

May 8, 2013, 2:00 pm

It seems there's always a goalie controversy of some sort in Philadelphia, even if that "controversy" doesn't involve one of the Flyers' current netminders.

On Wednesday, Sergei Bobrovsky, the goaltender the Flyers traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets last year for draft picks, was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy. That award, of course, is given to "the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at his position." It's voted on by the NHL's 30 general managers.

Predictably, the angry tweets and e-mails poured in to this CSNPhilly.com hockey writer.

In his first season with the Blue Jackets, the 24-year-old Russian goalie compiled a 21-11-6 record, earning a .932 save percentage (second-best in the NHL) and 2.00 goals-against average (sixth in the NHL). He unseated Steve Mason, the prior Columbus starter, who is now ironically a Flyer.

Bobrovsky was impressive in 2013, brief though the season was, winning eight of his last nine decisions in the month of April, and posting a 1.64 goals-against average and .945 save percentage in that span. He was the reason the Jackets, who finished ninth in the Western Conference, came as close as they did to a playoff appearance.

It's easy to see why Flyers fans are frustrated. Bobrovsky had a surprisingly good rookie year with the Flyers, when he went 28-13 with a .915 save percentage and 2.59 goals-against average. But as young netminders often do, his play trailed off in the second half of his sophomore effort. The Flyers, notorious for being impatient, elected to dish him when his stock was low.

Arguments can certainly be made that the Flyers should have held onto their undrafted netminder, or at least traded him after his rookie campaign when interest was high. But after the playoffs of 2010-11 - another year in which coach Peter Laviolette oversaw a goalie carousel, this time with Bobrovsky and Brian Boucher - chairman Ed Snider made his now-famous remarks that such "goalie issues" would "never" happen again in Philadelphia.

The following summer, the team signed Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine-year, $51-million deal.

Bringing in Bryzgalov didn't necessarily mean the end of Bobrovsky as a Flyer. But "Bobs" had made it very clear that he wanted to be a starting goalie, and the length and cost of Bryzgalov's deal meant there was no way that was going to happen soon enough to please him.

And so, here we are.

Bobrovsky is up against Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks and Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers for the Vezina. And even if he doesn't win it, he might not escape this lockout-shortened season empty-handed: There's a very good chance he will be named a finalist for the Hart Trophy, awarded to the NHL's most valuable player, too. Those nominees will be announced May 10.

For what it's worth, the Bobrovsky trade resulted in the selection of goaltending prospect Anthony Stolarz (No. 45) and left wing Taylor Leier (No. 117) in last year's draft.



Figuring out the Flyers: Defense Part II

Tim Panaccio

May 8, 2013, 9:00 am

Note: This is the second piece of a two-part series. For Part I, click here.

As we discussed in Part I, if general manager Paul Holmgren does nothing else this summer, he simply must make improvements to the Flyers' blue line. They struggled in 2013, a shortened season during which 13 different players spent time on D for the Flyers.

Here’s a look at our second installment of players under contract, plus pending restricted free agents expected to be re-signed:

Oliver Lauridsen

Age: 24

Games played: 15

Stats: two goals, one assist

Plus/minus: even

Average ice time: 15:08

Cap hit: restricted free agent this summer

His agent said it best: if only he had the meanness of Chris Pronger. He certainly has the size and reach, though he needs to pack more muscle onto that 6-foot-6, 220-pound frame -- 20 pounds would be ideal.

Lauridsen handled himself well under trying conditions over the final five weeks of the season when pressed into a starting role because of the team's continual injuries.

He scored a couple of goals, had some hilarious quotes about one of them, which was scored off of Bruins D-man Zdeno Chara, and gave the Flyers 15 minutes a night with 36 hits and 24 blocks in 15 games.

He’s only going to get better. He could be the team’s seventh man next season, yet the Flyers usually don’t like sitting younger players. He would likely benefit from expanded play with the Phantoms.

Like Erik Gustafsson, Lauridsen is an RFA this summer.

Brandon Manning

Age: 22

Games played: six

Stats: no goals, two assists

Plus/minus: plus-4


Cap hit: restricted free agent this summer

Incomplete. Manning played six games in the final month of season because of injuries. He remains a call-up from the Phantoms. Also an RFA this summer.

Andrej Meszaros

Age: 27

Games played: 11

Stats: no goals, two assists

Plus/minus: minus-9


Cap hit: $4 million (final year)

Meszaros was a physical wreck for the Flyers. His long-term durability is the No. 1 concern among all returning defensemen. Worse, he seems convinced he’s under a dark cloud. It can be dangerous if a player goes on the ice thinking he might get hurt.

The young Slovak defenseman has had one injury after another since being traded to the Flyers in July 2010. In the summer of 2011, Meszaros had right wrist surgery. In 2011-12, he missed the final 19 games recovering from surgery to remove disk fragments in his back.

Last August, while working out in Slovakia, Meszaros suffered a freak right Achilles tendon tear. He returned after the lockout and quickly suffered an AC joint injury to his left shoulder on Jan. 24.

That injury saw Meszaros miss the next 21 games though he did not have surgery.

Meszaros returned to the Flyers' lineup on March 9 at Boston and played seven games with two assists before being injured again. That’s three times he has injured his left shoulder, going back to 2009 when he was in Tampa.

How can the organization not be alarmed at his health? The Flyers say he will be fine, but that is looking at things through rose-colored glasses at this point.

Given his cap hit and injury history, it makes him very hard to trade.

Yet keeping Meszaros around and healthy is just as dicey at this point, too.

Luke Schenn

Age: 23

Games played: 47

Stats: three goals, eight assists

Plus/minus: plus-3


Cap hit: $3.6 million for next three years

Schenn is not Pronger.

What he is, though, is a young, healthy (can’t say that about most of the Flyers' D-men), big blueliner who is going to get his hits and blocked shots but will forever remain a one-on-one liability in tight spaces.

Schenn had a very poor start, giving rise to fan outcry about the trade of James van Riemsdyk for him at the conclusion of last summer’s NHL draft in Pittsburgh.

These are the kind of deals that take several years to play out. For instance, remember the Flyers traded Ruslan Fedotenko et al., including picks to Tampa Bay the night before the 2002 draft in Toronto to get the Bolts’ top pick (Joni Pitkanen)?

Everyone said Flyers GM Bob Clarke had fleeced Jay Feaster.

All Fedotenko ever did was score two of the most dramatic Game 7 goals in Stanley Cup history to give the Bolts the Cup over Calgary in 2004. Point? These deals require time to evaluate.

Schenn picked up his game in the second half of the season and finished as the Flyers’ leader in hits (187) and blocked shots (102).

He’s best protected when playing with a mobile partner who can cover up for him. That was Timonen for much of the season, and then Lauridsen. Schenn won’t ever make up for his lack of speed, but his positional play should improve as he gets older.

Depending upon what happens this summer, Schenn’s partner could change again, but you can definitely ascertain there is a development curve with him.

Kimmo Timonen

Age: 38

Games played: 45

Stats: five goals, 24 assists

Plus/minus: plus-3


Cap hit: $6 million (final year)

Much like Meszaros, the Flyers’ reigning blue-line veteran (he has 14 NHL seasons under his belt) represents a considerable health risk next season.

That really takes away from the $6 million contract extension Timonen signed in February, as well, because for the most part, he has been banged up at the end of every season he’s been a Flyer.

Sometimes, it’s bad. Before being shut down, he played 29 games with a bothersome right foot that turned out to a compression fracture likely suffered on Feb. 16 in Montreal.

No one doubts this former Iron Man’s integrity or desire never to be removed from a lineup, but the Flyers need to find a way to cut Timonen’s minutes and keep him healthy. His ice time was higher this year (21:46) than last (21:14).

Though he is noticeably a step or two slower, Timonen still won his fourth Barry Ashbee Trophy and finished tied for sixth in points among NHL defensemen.

Timonen has incurred seven injuries since 2008-09: a concussion, a chip fracture to his ankle, a broken toe, injuries to both feet that did not require surgery, a hip flexor and herniated disk surgery.

The Flyers need to identify a younger No. 1 to take his spot after next season. That has to happen this summer. They tried last summer and failed.


675695 Phoenix Coyotes

Avalanche reportedly interested in Coyotes' Tippett

CRAIG MORGAN

May 08, 2013

Cost of operating Jobing.com Arena a complex formula

Sources say recent documents released by Glendale on cost of managing arena ignore numerous factors.

It’s a foregone conclusion that if the owner-less Coyotes allow coach Dave Tippett to reach the end of his contract on June 30, he will have plenty of suitors.

Well, the line is already forming. Denver Post columnist Mike Chambers called Tippett a potential “home-run hire” who has already been discussed for the Colorado Avalanche post. The Avs fired Joe Sacco after a third straight season without a playoff berth.

Tippett has repeatedly made it plain he wants to remain in Phoenix, where he and his wife, Wendy, just built a home. But the Coyotes’ continued ownership saga, and the low-budget restraints it has placed on him and soon-to-be free agent GM Don Maloney over the past four seasons have reached a boiling point because both are tired of entering each season with an undermanned roster.

“We have a lot of players that work hard — in the guts of the game, they’re good players,” Tippett said recently. “But at some point, we need some difference-makers.”

One thing the Coyotes have always lacked in Tippett’s tenure is a top-tier center. The Avs have plenty in Matt Duchene, Ryan O’Reilly and Paul Stastny (although Stastny could be traded). Duchene and O'Reilly are actually playing for Tippett with Team Canada right now, affording Tippett a first-hand look at some of the Avs' potential talent.

The Avs likely wouldn’t be the only team pursuing him. Vancouver’s Alain Vigneault could be fired after a second consecutive first-round playoff exit, and there could be other openings in the coming weeks.

Tippett is currently coaching Team Canada in the World Championships in Europe, but he did respond via text message to a query about the Post column.

“I have not and will not talk to any other organization until my contract has expired,” he wrote. “I am still hopeful there is a resolution in Phoenix.”

If there is not by July 1, however, Tippett has made it clear he will do what he must.

“Obviously, they have to have an ownership in place here,” he said. “If a new owner comes in and says, ‘Hey, we’re going to continue to build this,’ I’d love to talk to him, but if there’s nobody in place by July 1, I have to look at other options.

“I’m not ready to retire yet. I’m going to be coaching somewhere next year.”

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675696 Pittsburgh Penguins

Penguins notebook: Inconsistent play baffles Malkin

Josh Yohe

May 8, 2013, 9:33 p.m.

At least Evgeni Malkin might have a higher power on his side when the Penguins play the Islanders in Game 5.

Malkin was the last man off the ice in Game 4. Following a skirmish in the game's final seconds, one of the Islanders ripped Malkin's good luck chain and crucifix off his neck. Cameras caught a concerned Malkin looking for them on the ice for a couple of minutes after the game.

While departing Consol Energy Center on Wednesday following a team meeting, Malkin was asked if he found what he was looking for.

“Oh yeah,” he said with a relieved look.

He then opened his right hand to reveal the chain and crucifix, both of which he was carrying.

Malkin has endured something of a roller coaster during the series against the Islanders. The former Conn Smythe winner has been a points machine, producing eight through four games. He was the finest player on the ice during the first 30 minutes of Game 4.

However, Malkin also took an unnecessary penalty in the second period and committed the turnover that led to New York star John Tavares' game-winning goal.

Coach Dan Bylsma subtly suggested that the third period wasn't Malkin's best.

“The game-winning goal is a turnover situation,” Bylsma said. “They created a chance. Clearly that's an execution mistake, a puck management mistake. In a lot of ways, in the third period, we weren't as aggressive as we needed to be. We backed off and gave them too many opportunities.”

No trouble

It appears they will not discipline defenseman Kris Letang for an incident that occurred in the final seconds of Game 4. Just as an altercation broke out behind the Penguins' net, a linesman bumped into Letang. The defenseman then looked at the linesman and appeared to shove him in the back. A league source does not believe Letang will be disciplined. Bylsma said he was unaware of the incident.

A day off

The Penguins had originally planned to practice on Wednesday at Consol Energy Center. However, less than two hours before the scheduled practice, the team sent a release to local media explaining that practice had been canceled.

Five players — Sidney Crosby, Paul Martin, Jarome Iginla, Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz — were made available to the media, along with Bylsma.

Still working

A number of Penguins that haven't been playing in the postseason took part in drills Wednesday. Among them were right wings Beau Bennett and Tyler Kennedy, both of whom could see playing time in this series should Bylsma look to add some speed against the lightning-fast Islanders lineup.

Tribune Review LOADED: 05.09.2013


Vokoun to replace Fleury in Game 5

By Josh Yohe

May 8, 2013, 1:45 p.m.

Tomas Vokoun already saved the Penguins once this season.

He has been summoned again.

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma disregarded a policy of not discussing lineups or injuries during the Stanley Cup playoffs by announcing that Vokoun will replace longtime starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury on Thursday in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal against the New York Islanders.

“We think Tomas can be a great goaltender for us,” Bylsma said.

Vokoun already has been a great motivational speaker for the Penguins. While the Penguins were in a midseason funk and allowing goals in bushels — sound familiar? — Vokoun lit into his teammates March 7 in Philadelphia. The Penguins paid attention and tightened up defensively almost immediately, triggering their 15-game winning streak.

Bylsma is hoping Vokoun can produce more magic for the Penguins on the ice, and if his presence leads to more reliable play, even better.

“We brought Tomas in to play big games for us,” Bylsma said. “He's done that this year for us.”

Few NHL goalies have played in more big games than Fleury, who, at 28, has played in 68 more playoff games than the 36-year-old Vokoun.

Fleury's recent playoff performances, though, left Bylsma little choice but to remove the goaltender whose brilliance in 2009 led the Penguins to a victory in the Stanley Cup Final against Detroit. Since then, Fleury is 14-16 in the playoffs. His save percentage in the postseason has plummeted beneath .900 in each of his past four postseasons.

Fleury has permitted 40 goals in his past 10 playoff games.

Bylsma was forced to inform Fleury of the news that Vokoun would start Game 5. The coach, otherwise, refused to describe details of the meeting.

“Not a conversation I'm going to discuss with you,” Bylsma said. “But I did talk with Marc.”

The Penguins secured Vokoun's services last summer for a situation just like this. Fleury melted down — his team did, too — against the Flyers in last season's first round, allowing 26 goals in six games. This series started differently, as Fleury blanked the Islanders in Game 1. Since then, however, Fleury has leaked 14 goals in three games, many of them imminently stoppable.

Two goals — Kyle Okposo's game-tying goal that Fleury kicked in late in the second period of Game 4 along with Casey Cizikas' late goal that ended with Fleury sitting in his own net — appeared to spell his doom.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, though, voiced strong support for Fleury, just as he did when backup Brent Johnson was outplaying Fleury early in the 2010-11 season.

“Our confidence (in Fleury) is there,” Crosby said. “Obviously, we know it was a tough night. I think we've all had tough nights. For us, when we have a tough one, it's not quite as obvious as when a goalie has had a tough one. He's won a Stanley Cup. He's got a ton of experience. He's shown numerous times he can bounce back. We're confident in him for sure.”

Bylsma, in uncharacteristic fashion, announced publicly Vokoun would start 30 minutes later.

Bylsma and general manager Ray Shero decided before the playoffs that they would not comment publicly about injuries or lineups.

Game 5 likely represents the biggest game on Pittsburgh ice since Game 6 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final simply because, if this team — a heavy Stanley Cup favorite — loses a fourth consecutive playoff series, a dismantling of the roster and coaching staff could be in play.

The heroes that night against the Red Wings were Fleury, Jordan Staal (now in Carolina), Tyler Kennedy (a healthy scratch all series) and Rob Scuderi (now in Los Angeles).

Now, Vokoun, who is 3-8 in 11 career playoff games, will attempt to carve out his spot in Penguins history. He is 3-0 against the Islanders this season with a 0.90 GAA and a .970 save percentage. Vokoun went 13-4-0 this season, and his save percentage of .919 was slightly better than Fleury's .916.

“We are confident in both of our goalies,” right wing Pascal Dupuis said. “Both guys played really well for us. It's obviously not our call.”

That's right. It's Bylsma's.

“We're getting a guy who is real capable,” Bylsma said.



Starkey: Pens not in critical condition — yet

By Joe Starkey

May 8, 2013, 10:21 p.m.

Something struck me about the way Jarome Iginla carried himself in a television interview after the Penguins' Game 4 loss (otherwise known as “Fleury's Last Stand”).

Back in Pittsburgh, people had practically taken to the streets with pitchforks. They probably were shredding No. 29 jerseys and burning sock monkeys, too. The Twitter-sphere was on red alert.

Inside the crumbling walls of Nassau Mausoleum, however, Iginla was smiling.

“This is fun,” he said. “It's intense.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Iginla again injected some perspective — some sanity — into a series that stands not at 3-0 Islanders but at two games apiece (I just double-checked, and it really is 2-2).

“Give them some credit,” he said. “It's hard. It's a battle, and the Islanders are playing great. … We expected it to be tough.”

Then came the money line, which Iginla said twice: “This could be great for us.”

The way fans and some people in the Penguins organization throw around the word “Cup,” you'd think winning it was easier than sucking Evgeni Malkin into a retaliatory penalty.

Everybody should know better.

Look at this franchise's history. In each of its three Stanley Cup runs, it faced circumstances far more dire than 2-2:

• In 1991, the Penguins were down, 3-2, to the New Jersey Devils in the first round, staring at Game 6 without their best defenseman (Paul Coffey) and their starting goaltender (Tom Barrasso). That's dire. But it turned into the Frank Pietrangelo “save” game. And that turned into Cup No. 1.

• In 1992 , the Penguins fell behind the Washington Capitals, 3-1 — giving up 20 goals in four games — before radically altering their approach (they went to a 1-4 trap) and winning three in a row.

• In 2009, the Penguins fell behind the Capitals, 2-0, in the second round and went to overtime in Game 3. That's dire. They also trailed the mighty Detroit Red Wings, 2-0 and 3-2, in the Stanley Cup final.

Until a team sees the whites of elimination's eyes, a situation is far from desperate. Far from dire. Yes, I picked the Penguins in five games. But I can't be surprised that it's been much tougher than expected.

As coach Dan Bylsma put it, “Every playoff success has a story, and it's never an easy one.”

In truth, this might be just the right amount of adversity. It's not the verge-of-elimination kind, but it ought to be enough to allow Bylsma to make necessary hard decisions without ruffling any feathers.

So Fleury is out. That can't be a surprise. Nobody in this organization was going to sit around while Fleury faltered for a fourth consecutive spring.

Next, Bylsma must alter his lines. Sidney Crosby may love playing next to Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis, but guess what? Malkin needs Kunitz more than Sid does.

What's more, even though Iginla says he has grown comfortable on the left side, it doesn't look that way. It's time to put him back on the right side, with Crosby and Dupuis, and reunite last season's high-powered line of Kunitz, Malkin and James Neal.

Meanwhile, Brenden Morrow has played himself into a demotion to the fourth line, just as Brandon Sutter did earlier in the series. Morrow has been too quick to attempt big hits and too slow to retrieve pucks. He has contributed nothing offensively and is tied for a team-worst minus-3 rating.

Tyler Kennedy, with his straight-line speed, deserves a chance on the third line alongside Sutter and Matt Cooke.

After that, it's up to Bylsma to make the mandated strategic adjustments, such as a finding new ways to break out of the defensive zone. The Islanders clearly have taken away the walls and the Penguins' precious long-passing game.

Kunitz spoke of the Islanders forcing the Penguins into “panic” mode at times with their quick, aggressive forecheck. If the Penguins lose Game 5, panic won't begin to describe this city's reaction.

But that hasn't happened yet. The Penguins aren't facing elimination.

This could actually be great for them.



Penguins Insider: It’s time to adapt to Islanders

By Josh Yohe

May 8, 2013, 10:30 p.m.

The Penguins have said all the right things during their series with the Islanders: Keep it simple. Get the puck deep. Be physical.

Doing those things, however, has proven to be challenging.

The Islanders know many of the Penguins' tendencies, namely their proclivity for the “stretch pass,” which usually sees a Penguins defenseman find a winger with a long pass near the boards. The winger, in turn, ideally will make a short pass or “chip” to center Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, who are at their best when skating with speed through the neutral zone.

When it works, scoring chances come easily for the Penguins.

When it doesn't, turnovers are an issue.

“They've done a good job of getting pucks in and making adjustments,” defenseman Paul Martin said. “We like to get out of the zone a certain way. We've had to change certain things. We've been making some decisions that aren't typical of our defense or our team. It's something we've talked about.”

The Islanders have used a 1-3-1 look in this series, and it has effectively clogged the center of the ice. Whether because of stretch passes that simply weren't open or simply attempting to make difficult, cross-ice passes, the Penguins haven't been as effective as usual in this series and have failed to adjust. At times, the Islanders have dared the Penguins to get the puck deep and go to work, but the Penguins have seldom accepted the invitation.

“We know we need to do a better job of that,” left wing Chris Kunitz said.

Teams that give the Penguins the most trouble typically play in the Atlantic Division.

Coach Dan Bylsma's worst record against any team is against the Devils (8-13-1). His teams have also struggled with the Flyers and, at times, the Islanders.

Countering that, unfamiliar teams rarely have success against the Penguins, who went 12-2-3 against the Western Conference last season but just 12-10-2 against the Atlantic Division.

The Penguins hardly believe a wholesale change in their style or system is needed.

“Part of the game,” Martin said, “is reading and reacting.”



Vokoun to start Game 5 for Penguins over Fleury

By Jenn Menendez

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

May 8, 2013 1:52 pm

Tomas Vokoun will start Game 5 for the Penguins, Coach Dan Bylsma said this afternoon at a short press conference, ending the suspense and wild speculation that a goaltending change was coming.

"We brought Tomas Vokoun to play big games for us and be a goaltender we can count on to go in and play big games," Bylsma said at Consol Energy Center. "He's done that this year for us and been very good against the Islanders in the three games he's played against the Islanders."

Vokoun has gone 3-0 against the Islanders this season with a 0.90 goals-against average.

Marc-Andre Fleury allowed six goals on 24 shots Tuesday night against the Islanders as New York pulled even 2-2 in the best-of-seven series.

Fleury allowed a Kyle Okposo shot from behind the goal line into the net to tie the game 3-3 in the second period, then surrendered three more, including the winner created off a turnover and the clincher when Casey Cizikas one-handed a shot that went under his stick and into the net late in the third period.

Post Gazette LOADED: 05.09.2013


Penguins coach Dan Bylsma will start Vokoun in goal tonight instead of Fleury

By Jenn Menendez


May 9, 2013 12:56 am

The debate that raged through the night about the Penguins' goaltending situation was cleared up in a swift opening sentence Wednesday from coach Dan Bylsma: Tomas Vokoun will start Game 5 of the playoff series Thursday night against the New York Islanders at Consol Energy Center instead of Marc-Andre Fleury.

"We brought Tomas Vokoun in to play big games for us and be a goaltender we can count on to go in and play big games," Bylsma said of the veteran goaltender. "He's done that this year for us and been very good against the Islanders in the three games he's played against the Islanders."

The Islanders pulled even at 2-2 in this Eastern Conference opening-round series Tuesday night with a 6-4 win at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y.

Fleury, who has started every Penguins playoff game since 2007, gave up shaky goals in that loss, including a tying goal that was centered from behind the red line but went off his pad and the clincher late in the third that left him curled in his own net banging his stick against his head in a visible moment of frustration.

It marked the 14th goal he has given up this series, on 128 shots, for a 3.40 goals-against average per game.

A year ago Fleury surrendered 26 goals in six games against Philadelphia in the opening-round series defeat. Then-backup goalie Brent Johnson, plagued by a hip injury and inconsistency in the 2011-12 season, provided little relief, playing only one period in that series.

Vokoun, acquired from Washington in the offseason, has been a more than capable backup this year with a 13-4 record and 2.45 goals-against average. His numbers against the Islanders are more impressive. He's 3-0 with a 0.90 goals-against average, .970 save percentage and one shutout among the wins.

"We're getting a guy who's real capable, a guy going in and being a great goalie for us," Bylsma said.

Neither Vokoun nor Fleury were available for interviews Wednesday.

Vokoun has a 3-8 career playoff record in two stints with the Nashville Predators. Now he will attempt to lead a far more talented roster out of the first-round series against the eighth-seeded team.

"I think every playoff success has a story, and it's not an easy one. It's not just a walk through 16 games and you win a Stanley Cup," Bylsma said. "It's a fight. It's a battle. If there was anticipation that this was going to be easy it wasn't within our room.

"We're in a battle. We're in a series here. They drew even at 2-2. Whether that's adversity, or whatever story line that is, we're in a fight right now. It's a tough series. We're going to have to scratch and claw and fight to get through to get a third win and a fourth win."

An optional skate was cancelled Wednesday, but players who were made available expressed confidence in both goalies prior to Bylsma's announcement.

"We're definitely confident in both of our goalies," winger Pascal Dupuis said. "Marc-Andre is our guy right now, he's the starting goalie in that series. You saw through the season that both guys played really well for us. Obviously, not our call here."

Winger Chris Kunitz said the criticism of Fleury is bothersome, considering the turnovers the team has made in front of him.

"It definitely bothers us. We're a team in there. We support each other," Kunitz said. "Anytime someone is taking a heat for something, it's a team sport. There's a lot of us on the ice that create turnovers that lead to odd-man rushes and shots on net. ... We have to be better in front of our goalie."

Sidney Crosby acknowledged that the game Tuesday was not Fleury's best, but expressed confidence on him despite that.

"I mean, our confidence is there. Obviously, we know it was a tough night. I think we've all had tough nights. I think for us when we have a tough one it's not quite as obvious as when a goalie has a tough one," Crosby said. "He's won a Stanley Cup. He's got a ton of experience. He's shown numerous times he can bounce back. So we're confident in him for sure."

For now, Vokoun and the Penguins will try to pull ahead.

"I think there's just a sense of focus. We know we have to do some things better," Crosby said. "I think people might've expected a different result. I think the whole time we've respected the Islanders, but there's definitely things we know we have to improve on."



Dan Bylsma: Keeping expectations under control always critical

By Jenn Menendez and Shelly Anderson


May 9, 2013 12:50 am

The scrutiny the Penguins have been under since the playoffs started last week is not something that has a place in the locker room, coach Dan Bylsma said Wednesday.

"There are expectations for our team. There are expectations for the No. 1 seed, but it really is not something that we bring into the room," he said. "We think we're a good team. We know we've won a lot of hockey, but we also know how difficult the challenge is of the playoffs and winning four hockey games and moving on."

The Penguins and New York Islanders have each won one home game and one road game in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal going into Game 5 tonight at Consol Energy Center.

"It's 2-2 and now a best-of-three," Bylsma said. "We've earned the right to have that at home. We've earned success with how we've played this year and we've got to now bring that and be ready for that in Game 5."

Business as usual for Crosby

Penguins center Sidney Crosby said the Islanders aren't targeting him physically any more than he would expect from any opponent this time of year.

Crosby has been wearing a protective guard since returning for Game 2 from a broken jaw suffered March 30.

"As for me, I think they're playing me hard just as any team would in a playoff series," Crosby said after the Penguins canceled an optional practice. "I don't think it's any surprise to me. Maybe their hands are up a little bit more in that area. Typically, I think they'd try and get their hands up anyway and play tough. I would say they're well aware of what my situation is."

In Game 4 Tuesday, Crosby was left with a welt when he got hit by a puck in the throat -- inches from where a deflected puck caused his broken jaw. He sought some attention from the trainer but stayed in the game.

Some Strait talk

Brian Strait, a defensive defenseman, got his first NHL goal Tuesday in the Islanders' 6-4 win. If that had something to do with him being familiar with the Penguins, it's not something he's been able to pass along to his teammates.

"I don't have anything you can't see on the video," said Strait, a Penguins prospect before he was claimed off waivers by the Islanders just before the season. "I can tell the guys small tendencies of certain players. Crosby and [Evgeni] Malkin are the best players in the world. They can do more than I can tell what they can do."

Besides, Strait said, New York's coaching staff has assembled accurate scouting reports.

"It's pretty cut and dried," Strait said. "We know exactly what they're coming with."

Left is all right with Iginla

With Penguins right winger James Neal back from an ankle injury, Jarome Iginla played on the left side of a line with Neal and Malkin in Game 4.

Iginla, a right winger with Calgary, is feeling a lot more at home on the left side than he was when he arrived in a trade in late March. He admitted he was anxious in those early days.

"Left feels good now," Iginla said. "When I first got here, whatever position you put me at [I] wasn't feeling comfortable. You know, had lots going through my mind and pretty anxious, I guess, when I first got here. Maybe that's why I looked so uncomfortable on the left.

"Now, to be honest, when we get out of the zone, breaking out as a winger with the style we play it's just as easy to be on the left or the right as far as how we take passes and move out of the zone. I haven't found an issue."

Islanders plan to keep shooting

The Islanders have gotten goals that bounced off the boards or skates or came on rebounds. That's not just a matter of trying to be opportunistic, according to winger Brad Boyes.

"I don't think we're looking at specific things other than shooting the puck," he said. "That's probably our biggest thing -- trying to get a lot of pucks on net. "



Change in goal not the only one needed

By Ron Cook


May 9, 2013 12:41 am

The Penguins cancelled their optional practice Wednesday, but deposed goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury still went on the ice in sweats. For a long time, he skated from one end of the Consol Energy Center to the other, a solitary figure in the eerily quiet building, a sad figure in many ways. His usual smile was absent. He seldom looked up. He just stickhandled through imaginary traffic, banging the puck off the boards, collecting it and steaming toward the goal, firing it into an empty net and scoring at will.

You know, sort of like the way the New York Islanders did against him in Games 2-4 of their Stanley Cup playoff series.

Not to be a wise guy.

How interesting it would have been to offer Fleury a penny for his thoughts. Actually, a penny wouldn't have been nearly enough on this significant day in Penguins history. Only a little while earlier, coach Dan Bylsma had given Fleury word that he will be replaced by Tomas Vokoun tonight when the team plays the Islanders in Game 5 at Consol Energy Center. That will end

a streak of 79 consecutive playoff starts for Fleury, who wasn't made available to the media. During that amazing run, he experienced the highest of highs, making 23 saves in a 2-1 road win against the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of the 2009 Cup final. Now, he is forced to deal with the lowest of lows. He quickly left the building after his blow-off-steam skate.

Not that many around here are feeling too sorry for Fleury. For one thing, he makes $5 million a year. For another, he played poorly in the 6-4 Game 4 loss Tuesday night on The Island. It was easy to defend his play earlier in the series. His teammates abandoned him, allowing a ridiculous 42 shots in a 4-3 Game 2 loss, then another silly 36 in a Game 3 the Penguins somehow won, 5-4, in overtime. But there was no defending Fleury Tuesday night. A couple of the Islanders' leaky goals ranked among the worst he has allowed. He didn't give his team much chance to win in a game when its four goals should have been enough.

Going with Vokoun probably is the right move by Bylsma, although the belief here is we have not seen the last of Fleury this spring. Certainly, it is the easy call because of the nearly unanimous outcry for Vokoun from Penguins fans and the local media despite his 3-8 career playoff record and the fact he hasn't played in the postseason since 2007. But anyone who thinks benching Fleury will solve all the problems that suddenly have popped up all over for the No. 1-seeded Penguins is crazy. See the paragraph above that mentioned the 42 and 36 shots. Note their 31 combined giveaways in Games 2-4, including a killer by Evgeni Malkin in the third period of Game 4 that led to the winning goal by Islanders star John Tavares. There also is this: The Penguins blew a two-goal lead in the second period of Game 2, a two-goal lead in the third period of Game 3 and a one-goal lead in the third period of Game 4.

Lockdown?

We're talking meltdown.

"Obviously, we haven't played our best hockey yet," Penguins defenseman Paul Martin said Wednesday.

Obviously.

The Penguins are stacked with incredibly skilled players and future Hall of Famers, but they are at their best when they play a simple game. Forget the pretty cross-ice passes and drop passes that have led to turnovers and scoring chances for the Islanders, who, at times, have overwhelmed the Penguins with their speed and opportunism. Dump the puck deep and forecheck like crazy. It worked for the Penguins in Game 1, a 5-0 win that fueled the expectations of a sweep of the eighth-seeded Islanders. It worked in Game 4 when winger Matt Cooke rattled the Islanders' Matt Carkner behind the New York cage, leading to a goal by teammate Brandon Sutter. Much of the time, though, it has worked for the Islanders.

"They're playing great. They're playing aggressive," Penguins winger Jarome Iginla said. "We plan on matching that and finding a way to win this series."

It might take other personnel moves. It won't be surprising if Bylsma puts Iginla at right wing on a line with Sidney Crosby and Pascal Dupuis and moves Chris Kunitz to the line with Malkin and right winger James Neal. That would allow Iginla and Neal to play on their preferred right side. It also might be time to bring back Tyler Kennedy and sit Tanner Glass, who played just 5:26, 8:08 and 4:55 in the past three games. It might even be time to put Kennedy back on the third line with Cooke and Sutter and drop Brenden Morrow to the fourth line with Jussi Jokinen and Craig Adams. What has Morrow done in the series?

Regardless of the players Bylsma puts on the ice, the Penguins still should win this series. They will win it. They are better than the Islanders. They have more skill, more depth.

"We know what we have to do," Crosby said.

Vokoun should be a big part of it, but he can't do it alone. The Penguins' 18 skaters can't afford to take another night off.



Penguins hope full cast keeps power play hot

By Dave Molinari


May 9, 2013 12:32 am

It's hard to overstate the importance of coach Dan Bylsma's decision to switch goaltenders in the middle of the Penguins' Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against the New York Islanders.

If sitting Marc-Andre Fleury in favor of Tomas Vokoun, beginning with Game 5 at 7:08 p.m. today at Consol Energy Center, works out the way Bylsma hopes, his team should have a pretty good chance of surviving the best-of-three series this has become.

If Vokoun stumbles, or struggles more than Fleury did at times over the past three games, the franchise's focus might shift from chasing a Stanley Cup to evaluating draft prospects. And debating just how extensive its offseason makeover should be.

Goaltending, however, isn't the only variable likely to help sculpt the outcome of this series.

The production of the Penguins' power play might have a major impact on which team reaches Round 2, as well. Based on what has happened heading into Game 5, the Penguins should hope so.

OK, they failed to score on either of their chances with the extra man in a 6-4 Game 4 loss Tuesday on Long Island, ending a team-record run of eight consecutive games with at least one man-advantage goal.

Nonetheless, they are 6 for 15 on the power play, a league-best playoff conversion rate of 40 percent. That success rate is pretty striking. Almost as impressive as the collection of guys who can't get on the No. 1 unit at a given time.

In their first opportunity with the extra man Tuesday, the Penguins deployed Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin, Jarome Iginla and Paul Martin as the first unit.

No James Neal, who scored nine power-play goals in 40 regular-season games. No Kris Letang, who had been named a Norris Trophy finalist a few hours earlier.

The truth is, if the Penguins sent out everyone qualified to be on the top power play at the same time, they would get a minor penalty for too many men on the ice. Perhaps a few.

"We have two units that could be the first unit in a lot of other places," Martin said.

While the Penguins personnel has all the qualities needed for a productive power play -- everything from skill to grit to creativity to selflessness -- it does not have much experience working together.

Familiarity can make it possible for talents and styles to mesh fully, although the Penguins' power-play crew should be accustomed to having a rotating cast of co-workers.

"We've probably gotten used to that a bit," Crosby said. "It's not something that's totally new for us. We understand there could be different guys in there."

New York's penalty-killing tied for 20th in the league in the regular season, and center Frans Nielsen said its troubles in this series largely have been self-inflicted.

"They have good players, skilled players, but we looked over their goals [from a 5-4 Penguins overtime victory in Game 3, when their power play was 3 for 5], and it's mistakes from us," Nielsen said. "Credit them for taking advantage of the small mistakes we make."

Game 4 marked the first time since Iginla joined the Penguins that every candidate for the No. 1 unit was healthy at the same time. The unit generated some excellent pressure and scoring opportunities, even though they didn't get a goal.

"You just have to go out there and work," Kunitz said. "And, if the puck goes in, it goes in."

And if it does, it can change the course of a series.


675705 San Jose Sharks

San Jose Sharks' Antti Niemi is a finalist for top goalie

By David Pollak

Posted: 05/08/2013 05:46:40 PM PDT

Updated: 05/08/2013 05:46:42 PM PDT

SAN JOSE -- Sharks goalie Antti Niemi is one of three finalists for the NHL's Vezina Trophy designating the league's top netminder.

Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers were the other two finalists announced Wednesday based on voting by the league's general managers.

"It feels great. I think I played well," Niemi said before sharing the recognition with his teammates, noting "the team really matters how well the goalie can play."

The winner will be announced at some point during the Stanley Cup finals as the league canceled its usual awards show in Las Vegas because the season was shortened by the lockout.

Niemi tied with Lundqvist and Minnesota netminder Niklas Backstrom for the NHL lead with 24 wins,and played more minutes — 2,580:46 -- than any goalie this season. His 2.16 goals against average was tenth-best in the league and his .924 save percentage was seventh.

Bobrovsky had the best personal statisticss among the finalists with a 2.00 goals against average and .932 save percentage, but the general managers may take into consideration the fact Columbus failed to make the playoffs.

Niemi, on the other hand, could benefit from the fact his strong play was all that kept the Sharks in playoff contention midway through the season as it struggled elsewhere.

Voting ends before the playoffs begin, so Niemi's performance in the post-season — where his

save percentage has improved to .937 and his goals against average dropped to 1.86 — is not a factor.

Niemi is the second Sharks goalie to become a Vezina finalist as Evgeni Nabokov received the same recognition in 2008.

Before the start of Wednesday's games, the Sharks scored had scored more power play goals in the post-season than any team, but the undisciplined play of the Vancouver Canucks had a lot to do with that.

The Sharks had seven goals on 24 opportunities — four more power play chances than the team behind them on the list, the Ottawa Senators. Overall, the Sharks success rate of 29.2 was third in the league behind Pittsburgh at 40 percent and Tornto at 33.3 percent.

San Jose Mercury News: LOADED: 05.09.2013


San Jose Sharks play waiting game for their next opponent

By David Pollak

Posted: 05/08/2013 03:36:41 PM PDT

Updated: 05/08/2013 05:30:26 PM PDT

SAN JOSE -- Now comes the waiting.

The Sharks became the first NHL team to finish off an opponent with their sweep of the Vancouver Canucks, and that earned them time away from the rink Wednesday.

"Just get our rest and get healthy," captain Joe Thornton said of the next few days.

But the Sharks will also be monitoring three other Western Conference playoff series to see which of four teams they will end up meeting in the next round: the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, Los Angeles Kings or Detroit Red Wings.

Here's a look at the likelihood that San Jose will draw each of those potential foes in the conference semifinals, which are not expected to begin before Tuesday at the earliest:

San Jose Sharks' Patrick Marleau (12) is congratulated by San Jose Sharks' Logan Couture (39) after he scored the game-winning goal against Vancouver Canucks' goaltender Cory Schneider (35) in the overtime period of Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2013. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Chicago

What must happen: Blackhawks, Ducks and either Blues or Kings advance.

Likelihood: If everything follows form, this is the matchup. Call it a 45 percent chance the Sharks will open their next series at the United Center.

Season series: 0-3. The Sharks played the NHL-dominating Blackhawks well in two of those losses. San Jose jumped to a 3-0 lead before losing 5-3 on Feb. 5 with the game turning on a later-rescinded match penalty to Andrew Desjardins.

Making it personal: Michal Handzus was traded to the Blackhawks for a fourth-round draft pick. For a while, he spent time in his new environment as a second-line center between Patrick Kane and Patrick

Sharp.

Prognosis: Face it. Nobody wants to play the Blackhawks. But San Jose can take some encouragement from the fact that all of its games against Chicago came before its trade-deadline transformation.

St. Louis

What must happen: Blackhawks, Red Wings and Blues advance.

Likelihood: With the St. Louis series, as well as the one between the Ducks and Red Wings going at least six games, this is not out of the question. Make it a 25 percent chance that the Sharks travel to the the banks of the Mississippi.

Season series: 1-1-1. That one victory is a little tainted, as the Blues had major travel problems getting home from Vancouver the day before San Jose's 2-1 win on Feb. 13.

Making it personal: Despite what they say, it's unlikely the Blues have totally forgotten the Nov. 4, 2010, hit that caused forward David Perron to miss 97 games with a concussion and resulted in a two-game suspension for Thornton.

Prognosis: The Blues owned the Sharks in 2011-12, winning eight of nine regular-season and playoff games. Things weren't quite as bad this season, but definitely a tougher matchup than Vancouver and not on the wish list.

Los Angeles

What has to happen: Blackhawks, Red Wings and Kings advance.

Likelihood: Again, basically the same situation as with St. Louis, so let's call this a 25 percent chance, too.

Season series: 2-2. In the final game of the season, both teams seemed more concerned about avoiding injury than picking up two points. Since the Kings won that one, give San Jose a slight edge in the overall competition.

Making it personal: Anytime the Sharks play a game against a former general manager (Dean Lombardi) and a former coach (Darryl Sutter), it's personal.

Prognosis: As close to a tossup as any of the four. Both teams have size and speed these days. Both Antti Niemi and Kings netminder Jonathan Quick have won Stanley Cups, though Quick has been shakier this postseason.

Detroit

What must happen: Wild, Red Wings and either Blues or Kings advance.

Likelihood: Anything can happen in the NHL, but odds are extremely slim Minnesota comes back from a 3-1 series deficit against Chicago. Make this a 5 percent chance.

Season series: 2-0-1. The final meeting between the teams April 11 was a bounce-back character test as the Sharks were awful in losing the previous game in Columbus. San Jose rebounded nicely with a 3-2 shootout win.

Making it personal: Since Todd McLellan's arrival in 2008 from his assistant role in the Motor City, San Jose has more than held its own against the Red Wings, regular season and playoffs.

Prognosis: On paper, this looks like the most favorable matchup possible. Without Nicklas Lidstrom and others, Detroit has been a less scary team this season.



Sharks' best players lead way past Canucks

By David Pollak

Posted: 05/08/2013 10:24:55 AM PDT

Updated: 05/08/2013 10:24:56 AM PDT

SAN JOSE -- In sweeping the Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the NHL playoffs, finishing them off with a 4-3 overtime victory Tuesday night, the Sharks showed two things:

1. Resiliency.

2. Proof that they owned the Canucks this season.

Once again, the team's best players were just that. And I'm not hearing anybody wondering these days about Patrick Marleau's fortitude as a playoff performer.

That overtime game-winner, by the way, was the 14th of Marleau's career -- leaving him alone in second place among active NHL players, two behind Jaromir Jagr at the top of the list.

Some scattered thoughts in the aftermath of the first playoff sweep in franchise history:

If you missed it, Daniel Sedin got an extra penalty when the game ended for abusive language. Safe to say he was giving referee Kelly Sutherland and earful over the boarding penalty that led to the Sharks' winning goal.

"It's playoff overtime and it was shoulder to shoulder," Daniel Sedin said. "I thought it was a bad call."

In truth, those of us in the press box who watched a replay thought the same thing. Not the weakest call ever, but not the kind of penalty that usually gets the whistle in playoff overtime.

Sutherland gave a TSN reporter this Tweeted-out explanation after the game -- "Deemed it a violent shove into the boards where the player couldn't defend himself from the hit" -- but the Canucks weren't buying what the ref was

selling.

What made it even more unpalatable was the fact Sutherland and Canucks coach Alain Vigneault had a bit of a row in Calgary on March 3, including a costly bench minor assessed against Vigneault.

The last three teams to eliminate the Canucks have all gone on to win the Stanley Cup: Chicago in 2010, Boston in 2011 and Los Angeles in 2012.

Coincidence, of course. But maybe one more little bit of incentive or spiritual karma or whatever you want to call it.

Following up on something from earlier in the week, the Sharks' top players continue to be just that in the playoffs and the NHL scoring race for the postseason backs that up.

With four goals, Joe Pavelski is technically the leader with eight points, though Logan Couture (three goals) and Evgeni Malkin (two goals) have

eight as well. Two other Sharks -- Joe Thornton with six points and Patrick Marleau with five -- are in the Top 15.

I know. That's how the scoring race looked the first week of the regular season, too, and everybody quickly cooled off. Could happen again. Might not, though.

As for goalie Antti Niemi, he's the first to reach four wins -- duh -- so he heads that category. His .937 save percentage is fifth best in the postseason and his 1.86 goals-against average is seventh.



Sharks' Antti Niemi is Vezina finalist

By David Pollak

Posted: 05/08/2013 10:07:45 AM PDT

Updated: 05/08/2013 10:07:47 AM PDT

SAN JOSE -- Sharks goalie Antti Niemi is one of three finalists for the NHL's Vezina Trophy designating the league's top goaltender.

Niemi, Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers were the top vote-getters chosen by the league's general managers.

The winner will be announced at some point during the Stanley Cup finals.

Niemi tied for the NHL lead with 24 wins with Lundqvist and Minnesota's Niklas Backstrom, and played more minutes -- 2,580:46 -- than any goalie this season. His 2.16 goals-against average was 10th-best in the league and his .924 save percentage was seventh.

Bobrovsky had the best personal stats of the finalists with a 2.00 goals-against average and .932 save percentage, but voters could take into account the fact Columbus missed the playoffs. Lundqvist's key numbers were a 2.05 goals-against average and .926 save percentage.

Niemi, on the other hand, could benefit from the fact it was his strong play that kept the Sharks in playoff contention midway through the season when the team was struggling.

The Sharks have today off, but some of Niemi's teammates congratulated him on Twitter.

"Congrats nemo for being nominated for the vezina ... Well deserved ... He's been our rock all year," wrote Brent Burns.



Hedican impressed with Marleau's defensive presence

May 8, 2013, 9:45 am

Staff

So these San Jose Sharks have done what no other fin-outfitted team has ever done – dispatched a foe in the minimum number of games. Now who can’t feel at least moderately impressed by that?

I mean, they did throw away an entire month of a truncated season, thereby convincing any and all that an overhaul of the entire non-German-speaking members of the front office be fired, keelhauled and set adrift. You know – as an example.

But the German-speaking-member of the front office, majority owner Hasso Plattner, did nothing but watch, the Sharks righted themselves, and controlled if not dominated the Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the playoffs, sweeping the aging and disrhythmic so-called Canadians (sorry,

couldn’t help myself there). They had a friendly first-round matchup, and owned it, the way a good team should.

And that’s the point to remember here. This was an advantageous matchup, the kind six-seeds often get in the current playoff system. A third-place team, no matter its ilk, is more often than not a decent but vulnerable team that dominates a bad division, and claims its place not by merit but by being the least flawed of the five in its group.

This does not diminish the Sharks’ performance, which exposed the Canucks while ennobling themselves. But only three times in the 14 years since the NHL went to this format did the three-seed survive in both conferences, and six of those 12 surviving six-seeds reached the conference final or beyond, most recently New Jersey, which lost to the eighth-seeded but impossibly better than that Los Angeles Kings in the Cup final.

So that establishes San Jose’s bonafides to have controlled the Canucks as much as they did. What comes next is dicier, though, and is for the moment out of their hands. They will play either Chicago, Anaheim, St. Louis or Los Angeles in the next round, though Chicago’s 3-1 lead over Minnesota pretty well makes the Blackhawks the likely destination. And Chicago has all the matchup advantages you could want, save in goal.

And this is where the danger of the early finish to a series can wreck a team. When you win four straight, you tend to think you’ve accomplished something, largely because you have. But again, going back to 1999, 24 teams have swept an opponent, and only 12 advanced beyond the next series. In fairness, two of those 24, Boston and Tampa Bay, met in the Eastern Conference final two years ago, so someone had to go down there.

But Boston swept the Lightning, and then finished off the Canucks in the final after losing the first two games. From the moment of that second win, Vancouver has gone into a full-on playoff plummet, losing 12 of the next 14 and is now on the verge of beginning the full-scale cleanout it needs.

But we digress. San Jose’s sweep doesn’t necessarily help it against either the Blackhawks, the Ducks (if Chicago loses to Minnesota somehow), the Blues or Kings (if Chicago and Anaheim both lose). They have had some decent results with extended rest (this will be a minimum of five days), but three years ago eight days of it and then got swept by the Blackhawks.

Because of rust through rest? No. The Blackhawks of 2010 were a blatantly superior team across the board, and anyone who argues that has a summer job sitting on a garden wall in a rustic village mocking the tourists incoherently – if you know what we mean, and we think you do.

No, series are determined by three things – goaltending, systems and speed. The Sharks are as set as they have ever been in goal with Antti Niemi, but are not as deep as though should be for Chicago or Anaheim (though Raffi Torres’ play has evened the field a bit there).

St. Louis is still a tough out for the Sharks, but has its own issues getting out of its own way at times, causing coach Ken Hitchcock to consider having them skate to Nova Scotia and back on the odd practice day. And Los Angeles has Jonathan Quick and the depth of a Cup winner, though it is the depth of Cup winner one year removed. No team has successfully defended a Cup since 1998 (Detroit), and the days of the indisputable dynasties ended with Edmonton in 1990.

In short, the Sharks are almost surely now in series-stealing mode, playing a team that has comparable goaltending and systems and superior speed. San Jose will have to replace that speed with know-how, and know is harder to come by when that know-how doesn’t include Cup final experience as a unit.

That’s the bad news, if your wardrobe tends to the teal. The good news is, you get to have this conversation because your team achieved in a big way, bigger than it ever has before. In short, you’re in play, and for the next five days, nothing bad can happen to your team.

Unless of course the police get involved.



Niemi a finalist for Vezina Trophy

May 8, 2013, 10:15 am

Kevin Kurz

Antti Niemi has been named as one of three nominees for the Vezina Trophy as voted by the NHL’s general managers, the league announced on Wednesday. Niemi is up for the award as the league’s best goaltender with the New York Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist and Columbus Blue Jackets’ Sergei Bobrovsky.

This is the first time Niemi, 29, has been nominated for the award. He finished tied for the NHL league lead in wins (24), posted a 2.16 goals-against average (11th) and .924 save percentage (seventh), while playing the most minutes (2580) of any goaltender in the league.

Niemi, in his third season with San Jose, was named by the local media as the Sharks’ Player of the Year in the team’s final home game on April 23. He was named as the NHL’s Second Star of the Week on March 31, going 4-0-0 with two shutouts.

He became the first goaltender in Sharks franchise history to post back-to-back shutouts on consecutive nights in wins against Detroit and Anaheim on March 27-28, and started 24 consecutive games from March 9 through Apr. 23.

Niemi is the second Sharks goaltender to be nominated for the Vezina (Evgeni Nabokov, 2008).

Bobrovsky posted a 21-11-6 record for Columbus, with a 2.00 GAA and .932 SP. Lundqvist, who won the award last season, was 24-16-3 with a 2.05 GAA and .926 SP.

This is the first time all three Vezina finalists are European. Niemi will attempt to become just the second native of Finland to win the award, joining Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff (2006). The winner will be announced during the upcoming Stanley Cup Final.


675711 St Louis Blues

Blues updates: Hitchcock reunites CPR Line

9 hours ago • By Jeremy Rutherford

Ken Hitchcock took the "C" out of the CPR Line in Game 4 and it wound up being a bad "PR" move.

After the Blues 4-3 loss to LA in Game 4, many were lamenting the absence of Adam Cracknell — alongside Chris Porter and Ryan Reaves — in the lineup. Cracknell's replacement on the fourth line was Vladimir Tarasenko, who played only 5 minutes, 51 seconds in the game.

Hitchcock's intent with Tarasenko was thought out. A couple of the Blues' top forwards are banged up, and Tarasenko's availability would give the Blues a safety net, moving him up higher in the lineup if they couldn't continue.

"I think the ice time thing for me with Vladi, I should have probably pushed him up earlier in the game when the players that we were asking him to cover for, because of various ailments...they tired out a little bit," Hitchcock said. "But as (far as regretting) making that decision, not one bit.

"(Tarasenko) is part of our team ... when you start the game and you're not sure on two or three guys, that they're going to be able to finish the game, you've got to be careful. It's great to finish with a bunch of workers, but if the puck is not part of the game, the last I looked at it, the puck is still part of the game. And he's good that way. I think we did it as a safety net for us, which I thought was really smart going in."

In a game in which the Kings overcame deficits of 3-2 and 2-0, Hitchcock said the lineup change was not the overriding factor in the outcome.

"The difference in the hockey game wasn't the CPR line," Hitchcock said. "The difference was we gave up a bunch of odd-man rushes when we had no reason to, and that was the difference. That's what let them back in the hockey game.

"We just gave up too many easy scoring chances against top players. When you're looking at (Colin) Frasier on a 3 on 2, you're not sweating

bullets. But when it's (Jeff) Carter and (Mike) Richards, or (Anze) Kopitar and (Dustin) Brown, that's when you are sweating bullets. And that's what happened. We gave up the wrong odd-man rushes to the wrong people and they slammed it right in the net."

Hitchcock wouldn't comment on his personnel for Game 5 this morning, but based on the practice lines, it appears that Cracknell is back in the lineup and Tarasenko is out.

"It is tough for any guy that's watching," Cracknell said. "Everyone wants to be out there. If we could dress 30 guys, we'd all be out there, but at the end of the day, it's a decision that's going to be best for the team and hopefully it sparks something. But it's a 2-2 series and it's a great spot to be. Happy to be back and hopefully we can contribute."

BLUES' LINEUP

Forwards

Jaden Schwartz-David Backes-Alexander Steen

David Perron-Patrik Berglund-T.J. Oshie

Andy McDonald-Vladimir Sobotka-Chris Stewart

Adam Cracknell-Chris Porter-Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Jay Bouwmeester-Alex Pietrangelo

Jordan Leopold-Kevin Shattenkirk

Barret Jackman-Roman Polak

Goalie

Brian Elliott

KINGS' LINEUP

Forwards

Dustin Brown-Anze Kopitar-Justin Williams

Dwight King-Mike Richards-Jeff Carter

Dustin Penner-Jarret Stoll-Trevor Lewis

Kyle Clifford-Colin Fraser-X

Defensemen

Robyn Regehr-Drew Doughty

Rob Scuderi-Alec Martinez

Jake Muzzin-Slava Voynov

Keaton Ellerby

Goalie

Jonathan Quick

STOP AT THE WHISTLE?

It is a fine line controlling one's emotions in the playoffs. The Blues have not lost their composure in this series, like they could be accused of doing last year against LA, but they have put themselves in the penalty box at costly times because of extra-curricular activity.

The Kings have not not capitalized on the power play, going 1 for 12 in the series. But the Blues' advantage is giving all four lines significant ice time, and the club has been unable to do that the last three games because of the heavy special-teams minutes. Players have acknowledged the PK time has been "draining."

"I don't think we want to get into a power-play, penalty-kill battle against LA," Blues forward T.J. Oshie said. "Even though right now I think our PK is going really well and we are frustrating them a little bit. Our best hockey is four lines rolling and that means we just need to play between the whistles."

"There's a lot of extra stuff that went on last game and not only does it give them a chance to go on the power play, but it takes momentum away from us. We're trying to (Jonathan) Quick and anyone would, but we've got to be smart about it."

But on Wednesday morning, Hitchcock acknowledged the fine line, and in fact said he doesn't mind pushing the envelope.

"Listen, we're not shopping at the mall," Hitchcock said. "This is a very emotional series. So sometimes it gets stretched out a little bit. I'm not worried about it and I don't think they're worried about it. I told you before, at the start of the series, I just wish the referees would just sit in the fifth row and the teams will decide it. They're both well-coached, they're both well-disciplined, they'll figure it out.

"But you can't just shut it off. We all talk about shutting it off at the whistle. It's hard to do when you're getting smacked around, or getting a smelly glove in the face. It's hard to shut it off at the whistle. You're trying your best, but sometimes it flows over. Sometimes the referees get emotional too. There is a lot at stake.

"I don't think it's an issue for us, I don't think it's an issue for them. But I think it could be because it's going to get higher and higher. You know, we're both talking about 'let her go' at the end of the whistle, but I think both teams realize what's at stake. This is a best of three, somebody has to win two games, and I think that discipline will become a major factor right now. I think you'll see it calm down more and more after the whistle as the series goes on."

SOBOTKA STRONG

After registering 10 hits in the first three games combined, Blues forward Vladimir Sobotka had a career-high 10 hits in Game 4 Monday.

"We've got to stay physical with these guys," Sobotka said. "I don't think it's about one player. It's about the whole team staying with it."

Sobotka was also 11-6 on face-offs and had two assists for his first two-point game in the postseason. He is tied with LA's Mike Richards for the most points in the series with three.

"Perfect positional player," Hitchcock said of Sobotka. "He's an outlet for everybody. He plays calm in critical situations. So what I mean by that is when all hell is breaking loose in your own zone, he's in the proper place at the proper time to calm everything down to help you exit. He's the same thing in the offensive zone. When all hell is breaking loose, he's the first guy back, knows where the puck is doing.

"When you watch him play, any time we're doing highlight videos of how to play the position, he pops up on every video."

CHEAP SKATE

Talking about smelly equipment: LA coach Darryl Sutter was asked Wednesday about the skates he wears for the Kings' practices. His answer provided evidence that he might be spending more money on cattle feed than on his hockey gear.

"My old Bauers,” Sutter said. “Same ones from Chicago.”

Which stint in the Windy City was Sutter referring to? He last played for the Blackhawks in 1986-87 and his final year coaching the 'Hawks was '94-95. Either way, those skates are old.

ODDS & ENDS

- The Blues are limiting the Kings to an average of 27 shots per game, which is the lowest total in the playoffs.

- Blues defenseman Barret Jackman is among six players tied for the lead in blocked shots (14) in the NHL playoffs.

- Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is one of four defensemen in the postseason averaging over four minutes of power-play ice time and three minutes of shorthanded ice time. The others are the New York Rangers' Dan Girardi, Detroit's Niklas Kronwall and Anaheim's Francois Beauchemin.

- Blues forward Jaden Schwartz ranks fifth in average ice time (15:21) among NHL rookies in the playoffs.

St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 05.09.2013


Blues focus on limiting work after whistle


To no one’s surprise, the physical play continued between the Blues and the LA Kings in Game 5 of the Western Conference quarterfinal series Wednesday night at Scottrade Center.

But what Blues players are planning to curtail as the series goes on is the extra-curricular activity. Hard hitting and trash talking are part of the postseason, but at times in the three games heading into Wednesday night, the Blues weren’t able to utilize their four lines as much as they did in Game 1 because of the special teams being on the ice.

“Even though right now I think our PK is going really well and we are frustrating them a little bit, our best hockey is four lines rolling and that means we just need to play between the whistles,” Blues forward T.J. Oshie said before Game 5. “There’s a lot of extra stuff that went on last game and not only does it give them a chance to go on the power play, but it takes momentum away from us.”

The Blues added Adam Cracknell to the lineup in Game 5, after Vladimir Tarasenko replaced him in the lineup the previous game in LA. With the “CPR” line reunited, they were hoping to have the opportunity to recreate the energy they delivered in the opening game of the series, when they played over nine minutes.

“If you’re getting into penalty trouble, that limits ice time for everybody,” Cracknell said. “That’s what you don’t want. Bodies are run down. They’re probably tired, we’re tired. But you’ve got to find energy. If you can use everybody, I think that saves some mistakes. You’re going to make mistakes when you’re tired, but if we can use everybody, it’s going to work in our benefit.”

A veteran of more than 130 NHL playoff games, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said that he’s not concerned about the repercussions of play continuing after the whistle, but based on his personal history he believes that it will now begin to decrease in this series.

“Listen, we’re not shopping at the mall,” Hitchcock said. “This is a very emotional series. I’m not worried about it and I don’t think (LA) is worried about it. I told you before, I just wish the referees would just sit in the fifth row and the teams will decide it. They’re both well-coached, well-disciplined, they’ll figure it out.

“You can’t just shut it off. We all talk about shutting it off at the whistle. It’s hard to do when you’re getting smacked around, or getting a smelly glove in the face. It’s hard to shut it off at the whistle. You’re trying your best, but sometimes it flows over. Sometimes the referees get emotional too.

“I don’t think it’s an issue for us, I don’t think it’s an issue for (LA). It could be because (the stakes are) going to get higher and higher. I think that discipline will become a major factor right now. I think you’ll see it calm down more and more after the whistle.”

Sobotka strong

After registering 10 hits in the first three games combined, Blues forward Vladimir Sobotka had a career-high 10 hits in Game 4 Monday.

“We’ve got to stay physical with these guys,” Sobotka said. “I don’t think it’s about one player. It’s about the whole team staying with it.”

Sobotka was also 11-6 on face-offs and had two assists for his first two-point game in the postseason. He is tied with LA’s Mike Richards for the most points in the series with three.

“Perfect positional player,” Hitchcock said. “So what I mean by that is when all hell is breaking loose in your own zone, he’s in the proper place at the proper time to calm everything down to help you exit. He’s the same thing in the offensive zone. When you watch him play, any time we’re doing highlight videos of how to play the position, he pops up on every video.”

Bluenotes

The Blues are limiting the Kings to an average of 27 shots a game, which is the lowest total in the NHL playoffs. ... Defenseman Barret Jackman is among six players tied for the lead in blocked shots (14) in the NHL playoffs. … Forward Jaden Schwartz ranks fifth in average ice time (15:21) among NHL rookies in the playoffs.



Bernie: Blues are on the brink

4 hours ago • BY BERNIE MIKLASZ

The Blues are headed back to Los Angeles on a downbound train, seemingly en route to the same, inescapable fate that has cursed every team draped in The Note since this star-crossed franchise came into existence in 1967-1968.

Generations of Blues fans know that the Stanley Cup postseason is an annual purging of the soul, a penance of dashed hopes, broken dreams and lonely teardrops.

After winning the first two games from the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference quarterfinal series, the Blues have lost control by flopping to three consecutive losses. They’ll be fortunate to survive for a scheduled Game 7 on Monday at home at Scottrade Center.

The latest crusher came on a goal by Los Angeles defenseman Slava Voynov eight minutes into overtime of Game 5 Wednesday night, with the Kings ripping a 3-2 win from the Blues’ increasingly shaky hands.

An excruciating defeat placed the Blues squarely on the precarious overhang that offers an unwelcome view of the offseason.

The distress was especially severe given the Blues’ startling comeback on a goal by defenseman Alex Pietrangelo with only 44.1 seconds remaining in the third period.

Petro’s stunning pellet from the right point tied the score 2-2 and briefly delivered an emotional rescue to the Blues and their full-house, full-tilt crowd.

Alas, Petro’s blast only prolonged the tease and the torment. The end came with Voynov finishing off a 3-on-2 rush — and the Blues — with a deep-in, right-side shot that slid between the loose pads of goaltender Brian Elliott.

“I’m sure ‘Els’ would like to have that one back,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said.

It was a bad goal that put the Blues in a bad position of facing elimination Friday night in LA. In the words of David Byrne of the band Talking Heads: “Same as it ever was.”

The agonizing tradition continues.

To be a Blues fan, to stay a Blues fan — to live and die as a Blues fan — you must mentally strong, incredibly stubborn and conveniently numb on preferred medication.

The Blues didn’t play scared Wednesday. Pumped by the reunion of the maniacal CPR line — Adam Cracknell, Chris Porter and Ryan Reaves — the Blues jumped to an early 9-2 advantage in shots, only to be rejected by Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick in a scoreless first period.

The CPR line set the tone, making it easier for the other Blues to tap into the energy source. Hitchcock came off like a proud grandpa as he praised the Blues’ determination.

“We got a heck of an effort from everybody across the board,” he said. “We had no passengers today. We had an all-in mentality.”

Hitchcock also called Wednesday’s showing “our best effort of the year.”

That’s swell. But what does that say about this matchup? The Blues once led the Kings 2-0 in this series but let LA get away in the winnable Games 3 and 4. The Blues were back at home for Game 5 with a clear opportunity to recapture the series lead.

Their coach said his players were “fighting like crazy” and lathered them with “Best Effort of the Year” honors. The Blues also had the Pietrangelo jolt to send them into OT with at least some momentum.

And the home team STILL couldn’t beat the Kings in a game the Blues had to have. From the St. Louis perspective, that does not bode well for the remainder of this conflict.

So what can they do?

“Just keep playing the same,” Hitchcock said.

I suppose so.

The question of the day: How would the Blues respond in Game 5? The consecutive losses in Southern California were frustrating and put the Blues into a fragile state. The Blues’ mindless squandering of two leads in Game 4 raised old concerns about the team’s maturity and capacity for dealing with excruciating pressure.

The fear factor was obvious. Los Angeles, the defending Stanley Cup champion, was coming back to St. Louis to reopen fresh wounds, dim the lights at Scottrade and shove the Blues closer to yet another hopeless, empty spring.

After recovering from the Blues’ initial raid, the Kings brought the home-team mood down with a Jeff Carter goal only 14 seconds into the second period. Carter bulled by T.J. Oshie to punch in a rebound, and the Blues trailed 1-0.

The line of Patrik Berglund, David Perron and Oshie was burned repeatedly in Game 4, and the Kings went right back at ’em for more free money.

Put it this way: When Oshie, Berglund and Perron are on the ice for more Los Angeles Kings goals than Marcelle Dionne, Dave Taylor and Charlie Simmer, the Blues have serious problems.

A few minutes later the Blues rallied on a determined foray by Alexander Steen, who muscled his way through LA defensemen Jake Muzzin to curl into the slot to snap a shot by Quick. The Blues had a 1-1 tie and a reason to believe.

Alas, the uprising was quashed by Carter’s power play goal 54 seconds into the third period. Pietrangelo lifted the Blues up again. But in a deadening, arena-silencing moment, Voynov sent the Blues and their fans to the breaking point.

Now the Blues travel to Los Angeles and the Staples Center. Back to the same spot of the crash that ended their 2012 postseason. Back to the brink for a franchise that seems trapped in an endless cycle of doom. For the cursed Blues, history always repeats itself.



Oshie's growth spurt is evident in these playoffs

4 hours ago • By Dan O’Neill [email protected]

You learn a lot about someone during adverse times.

That’s an element that makes golf such a revealing endeavor. The key to the game is not how one handles the good shots, it’s how one handles the bad.

No matter how this bruising Stanley Cup series between the Blues and Kings ends, we’ve learned a lot about T.J. Oshie.

Oshie has been a billboard from the day he arrived. With the curly locks, the rosy cheeks, the rambunctious style, he was one of the young players the Blues invited us to “grow with.” At the same time, there’s always been a bit of a Peck’s Bad Boy quality to him.

When he arrived from the University of North Dakota, Oshie could be as mischievous off the ice as on. Along with the beguiling, puckish personality came good and some bad. There have been frustrating accidents, including an ankle injury sustained in a silly skirmish at Columbus three seasons ago. And there have been incidents, including the much-chronicled missed practice in 2011, which resulted in a two-game suspension.

That particular indiscretion inspired a commentary from former Blues star Brett Hull, hockey’s answer to Ozzy Osbourne.

“To me, I put less blame on him and blame his teammates,” Hull said at the time. “When we played together … we took care of each other. That never would have happened. Someone would have been at his house getting him up and getting him to practice.”

Keep in mind, the soundtrack to Hull’s life would be a Neil Young score; “A Man Needs A Maid” comes to mind. The Golden Brett was the most remarkable player in the history of the franchise. The Golden Brat sold more Excedrin Migraine than any player alive. Dale Carnegie he ain’t.

Where Oshie is concerned, these past improprieties are pulled from storage only as a point of reference. Oshie has had a growth spurt since then, and it’s plain to see in these playoffs.

On a personal level, Game 4 in Los Angeles could have been satisfying for Oshie. He scored a goal that gave the Blues an early 2-0 lead, the largest lead of the series. After the Kings rallied back, Oshie scored his second goal in the second period, giving the Blues a 3-2 lead.

It was a two-goal night, the first goals of his playoff career. Critics were raving.

But when the evening ended in a 4-3 Blues loss, Oshie didn’t need a teammate to wake him. He neither accepted plaudits nor hid from the bottom line. He didn’t need a screen and didn’t need a diagram. He faced the music.

He pointed out to all those interested that he had been on the ice for all four of the opposing goals. He didn’t talk about a personal best playoff night. He called it one of his worst games of the season.

That is what you call ownership, the kind that doesn’t come too often in sports today. That’s how you win friends and influence people.

“He’s our conscience,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “He’s the guy who sets the standard of performance.

“I think for us, wherever we put him, that line plays the right way and when it doesn’t, he grabs it right away and makes sure it does.”

Hockey is a deceptive game. You have five guys and a goalie on skates. The ice surface is 200 feet long and 80 feet wide. There are no suicide squeeze plays, no West Coast offense, no pick and roll. To the casual observer, the game seems fairly cut and dried.

The name of the game is scoring goals. What could be more important?

To be sure, it is vital, or we might still be watching Game 1. But in a tournament so identically matched, closely contested and fiercely competed, little things matter as much as big things. What speaks to the maturation of Oshie is that he sweats the details. He takes responsibility for both ends of the ice.

David Backes is the captain of the Blues, make no mistake. But at age 26, in his fifth season, Oshie is this team’s personality and its soul. He knows, down deep, who the Blues are and what they do best.

It has nothing to do with putting the puck in the net.

“For myself, and for our team for that matter, we play a 200-foot game,” Oshie said. “That means we’re as good on defense as we are on offense. Sometimes we’re better on defense and we just let the offense come to us.

“Some of the things I pride myself on, and the reason I play the minutes I do, is that I have good routes defensively. I have a good stick in the D-zone and I’m able to read the game better than I read it the other night.

“It was one of my worst 200-foot games. The goals are great, but I’d rather not score those and win the game 1-0.”

Coming into the latest edition at Scottrade Center on Wednesday, each game had been decided by one goal, or at least that’s how we might see it. Oshie sees it as one wrong stride, one misplaced stick, one missed assignment, one bad decision, one swoop here, one stop there … one little thing.

“Hitch wants me to set an example for the rest of the guys,” Oshie said. “Along with Backes, along with (Alexander) Steen, along with (Andy) McDonald …

“We’re looked at to make those plays, so that the guys on the bench see us taking those extra couple of strides for the route, and doing little things right, so they do the same thing. And if you have four lines doing it, we’re going to limit their shots, limit their scoring chances and (the Kings) are going to get frustrated. ”

T.J. Oshie still has stops to make in a still-young career, plateaus to reach. But we’ve learned something about him during this adversity-laced playoff series. He’s come a long way.



Blues fall 3-2 in overtime to LA


Blame the rest of us for not believing the Blues would score in the final minute of regulation Wednesday and push this incredible Western Conference quarterfinal between two teams mimicking each other’s every move into overtime.

Of the first five games in the series, three times there were heroes as the clock winded down to zeros. After LA’s Justin Williams scored with 32 seconds left in Game 1 and Barret Jackman netted one with 51 seconds left in Game 2, it was Alex Pietrangelo’s turn with 45 ticks to go in Game 5.

The crowd of 18,269 — some honestly who had left in the last minutes of the third period — erupted when Pietrangelo’s wrist shot from the point got by Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, tying the score.

But eight minutes into overtime, however, Kings defenseman Slava Voynov ended the Blues’ plans of taking a series lead back to LA. On a 3-on-2 rush, Voynov leaned into a wrist shot, beating Blues goalie Brian Elliott through the legs for the game-winning goal in a 3-2 victory.

“It's tough to lose in overtime when you’re that close,” Pietrangelo said. “We've just got to go in there and get the win (in Game 6) and win on home ice on Monday (in Game 7).”

After the Blues took the first two games of the best-of-seven series, LA has taken a three-games-to-two advantage and will look to close out the series in Game 6 Friday at Staples Center.

The Kings have won nine consecutive games at home, while the Blues are winless in their last seven visits (0-6-1) to Staples. If necessary, Game 7 will be Monday at Scottrade Center.

“This is not over,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “Somebody has got to win another hockey game, and if we can raise our spirits again and go at it again like we did, I like our chances.”

In the fifth one-goal game of the series, LA’s Jeff Carter had two goals Quick made 30 saves for the victory. Two of the one-goal games finished in overtime, and after Alexander Steen lifted the Blues in Game 1 in OT, the Kings had the walk-off winner in Game 5.

“It’s nice to be on the good side of the one-goal games,” LA’s Anze Kopitar said. “It’s a lot more enjoyable. We were pretty close to finishing it off in regulation and we didn’t do it, but I thought it was a great job from the guys to regroup and come back strong in OT.”

On Voynov’s second goal of the series, the Blues’ David Backes was in a battle for the puck along the boards but it got chipped ahead to Justin Williams, creating a 3-on-2 rush. Williams advanced it Kopitar, who fed Voynov. Rookie Jaden Schwartz was draped on the Kings’ defenseman as he released his shot.

“We had it in the (offensive) zone, made a mistake, gave up a little bit of an odd-man rush,” Hitchcock said. “But it’s not a big deal, 3 on 2s aren’t a big deal. But I’m sure 'Ells' would like to have that one back. That’s the way it goes in overtime.”

LA outshot the Blues 7-4 in the overtime and Elliott had a couple of game-savers prior to the goal.

The Blues were in OT because of more last-second heroics in the series.

Pietrangelo’s first goal of the playoffs came after Backes won a key face-off and Schwartz knocked it back to the defenseman, who found a hole in Quick’s armor.

“I saw him release it,” Quick said. “As it was coming I just couldn’t find it, after it came off his stick. I couldn’t seem to pick it up. It was disappointing at the time but we were able to bounce back and get one there in overtime, which was huge.”

The Blues charged out of the locker room for Game 5 Wednesday, closely resembling the group that came out of the gate flying in Game 1.

Armed with Adam Cracknell again, reuniting the popular “CPR” line, the Blues rolled out four lines, while racking up 12 shots and 14 hits in the opening period. But much like Blues' fans have witnessed in this series, the

heavy pressure in the offensive zone led to an early 9-2 shot advantage but no goals.

“This felt very similar to Game 1,” Hitchcock said. “We had an all-in mentality and dominated the game.

But the Kings, while being outplayed, got on the scoreboard.

An icing by Jackman put the face-off in the defensive zone, and after Patrik Berglund was waved out of the circle, T.J. Oshie stepped in. He lost the draw to Carter, who then went to the net. Kings defenseman Drew Doughty put a shot on net and Carter had plenty of room in front to bury the rebound for a 1-0 LA lead.

The Blues continued to apply pressure and it finally paid off. After winning a battle with LA defenseman Jake Muzzin behind the net, Steen came out the other side and waited and waited before picking the top-left corner and beating Quick. His team-high third goal of the playoffs evened the score 1-1 with 13:14 left in the second period.

The Blues would outshoot the Kings 11-7 in the second period —23-15 through 40 minutes — but they would begin the third period of a 1-1 deadlock on the penalty-kill after Jackman was whistled for tripping Dustin Brown.

Just 54 seconds into the third period, Carter scored his second goal of the game on the power play. Mike Richards found Kopitar, who set up Carter in the slot. With Elliott way out of the net, biting on Kopitar, Carter had nothing but daylight.

“It’s unfortunate … we had a PK going and we got caught on a rush,” Hitchcock said. “A goal-scorer scored that goal. We’ve seen that before. What are you going to do?”

The only thing the Blues can do now is win Friday in LA and force Game 7.

“There’s lots of positives," Hitchcock said. "Effort, discipline, structure, whatever you want, there’s lots of positives...For me, the way we played, that’s something we’ve got to build on. That’s all you can ask at this time of year.”



Hockey Guy: Kings just too Quick for Blues

5 hours ago • By Jeff Gordon

It very difficult to win a Stanley Cup without a great goaltender.

The Los Angeles Kings have such a performer. Jonathan Quick led them to the Cup last spring, winning the Conn Smythe trophy in the process. He is starring again in this postseason.

And the Blues, well, their eternal quest for great playoff goaltending continues. Brian Elliott did a solid job Wednesday night at Scottrade Center, but disaster struck him in overtime.

Kings defenseman Slava Voynov jumped up on right wing of a rush 8 minutes into extra frame. Anze Kopitar’s led him a bit too much, so Voynov could only shovel the puck toward the net . . . and it somehow slid under Elliott to beat the Blues 3-2.

That three-on-two break was not all that dangerous, as Ken Hitchcock observed during his post-game news conference. "I'm sure Ells would like to have that back," Hitchcock said.

The crowd gasped when the puck went in. Jaden Schwartz slammed his stick against the boards on his way off the ice. This was a terrible way to lose a pivotal playoff game.

The Kings return to LA with a 3-2 edge in this best-of-seven series. The Blues head West wondering how they can regain control of the series.

The Blues played fast, hard and tough. They earned a 36-25 advantage in shots. Their defense was generally sound. It's hard to imagine them playing a whole lot better.

"We had no passengers today," Hitchcock said. "We had an all-in mentality."

But Quick was better than Elliott and that was that. The Blues accomplished much of what they set out to do, yet they suffered sudden death in overtime.

Their objective coming into this game was to start fast and shift the momentum their way.

"I think what’s going to happen is there’s going to be a big push here at the start of this game, and we’re well aware of that," Kings defenseman Robyn Regehr said before the game. "We know what we have to do, and we have to deal with that. How we deal with that is going to be a big part of this game coming up, and how we push back."

Kevin Shattenkirk took a hooking penalty just 97 seconds into the game to undermine that plan. Their penalty killers did their job, but the Blues lost their chance to jump the Kings out of the gate.

Looking to reestablish his team's forecheck, Hitchcock put Adam Cracknell back into the mix and reunited him with "CPR" linemates Chris Porter and Ryan Reaves. Talented rookie Vladimir Tarasenko went back on the shelf as a result.

The CPR line did it's job, hitting the ice after the first penalty kill and forcing the play toward the LA goal. That line's next shift was especially good, generating a couple of stellar scoring chances.

So Hitchcock kept rolling them on the ice, hoping to tenderize the Kings defense and create some sustained pressure. The strategy worked; the Blues outshot LA 12-8 and kept attacking right up the the period's final buzzer.

If only one of those screened or redirected first-period shots had just inside a post instead of just outside . . .

The Kings scored first after surviving that first period. After Patrik Berglund got kicked out of the faceoff circle, T.J. Oshie lost the draw to Jeff Carter. Then Carter walked to the front of the net and converted a Drew Doughty rebound into a 1-0 lead. That was way too easy for the Kings. The Blues stood around like so many practice cones and watched it happen.

After that blunder, the Blues needed somebody to step up quickly and keep the Kings from seizing the game. That somebody (again) was Alexander Steen.

After missing on one chance to tie the game -- after stealing the puck and walking in on Quick -- Steen persisted and scored moments later. This time he came out from behind net to beat Quick with a snap shot.

That goal energized the Blues, inspiring Oshie and Steen to continue their relentless attacks on the LA goal. They helped their team build an 11-7 shots edge in the period.

The Blues finally got their first power play of the game with 3 minutes left in the second period. They peppered Quick with shots but failed to break to deadlock.

The Kings opened the third period on the power play, thanks to a tripping penalty Barret Jackman earned during the final seconds of the previous period.

And sure enough the Kings executed tic-tac-toe passing to take a 2-1 lead. Kopitar walked in from the left wing, then fed the puck over to Carter for clean shot at the open net. Carter does not miss such opportunities.

The Blues stayed after the Kings, outshooting them 9-3 during the third period. They earned many tremendous scoring opportunities by staying after the puck.

Ultimately they caught a break. With Elliott off the ice for an extra attacker, the Blues had a face-off in the LA zone.

Alex Pietrangelo flicked a point shot through traffic with 44.1 seconds left. Schwartz parked in front of Quick to provide the screen and somehow the puck reached the net though the maze of legs. That sent the game into overtime tied 2-2.

"Overtime is a crap shoot," Hitchcock said. And the Kings got the break, on a sort-of shot at Elliott.

AROUND THE RINKS: Seriously, now, what will become of the aging Canucks? Isn't it time for that franchise to start over? Vancouver scarcely

put up a fight against the Sharks . . . Speaking of San Jose, the Sharks suddenly look a whole more more dangerous than they did during the regular season. But will they be able to match the speed of whichever team they face next? . . . Say, who says Bruins winger Jaromir Jagr is getting old? He has been a handful so far in these playoffs Don't be surprised if he makes at least one more NHL tour . . . Ron Rolston built a solid reputation as a hockey teacher with Harvard, Boston College and the U.S. National Developmental Program. Now he will get another crack at reviving the Sabres as the "permanent" head coach. His interim title is gone in Buffalo . . . Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has failed his team, again. If fill-in Tomas Vokoun comes through with a clutch playoff performance, where will that leave Fleury? . . . Teams shopping for defensive help this spring should contact the Devils. That team could stand to clear out a veteran or two to make room for younger players and create some salary cap space . . . The Flyers are expected to clear out veteran Daniel Briere while retooling their front lines this summer.



Hitchcock calls Blues winger Oshie 'our conscience'

Published: May 8, 2013 Updated 4 hours ago 15 minutes ago

By NORM SANDERS

ST. LOUIS — When one of the St. Louis Blues' lines is struggling, coach Ken Hitchcock knows he can provide an instant jolt of energy by inserting winger T.J. Oshie.

"Wherever we put him, that line plays the right way," Hitchcock said of Oshie, who has been skating with Patrik Berglund and David Perron. "When it doesn't, he grabs it right away and gets it to play the right way. That's why I think Berglund's line was terrific in Game 2 and 3 and it wouldn't surprise me that they were good again (in Game 5).

Hitchcock called Oshie, who scored his first two career playoff goals Monday in a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings in Game 4, "our conscience."

"He's the guy the sets the standard of performance," Hitchcock said, noting how Oshie took responsibility for being on the ice for all four Kings goals despite scoring two himself. "He was disturbed and disappointed they were on the ice for goals against and odd-man rushes against. He was disappointed by that."

Oshie and linemates Patrik Berglund and David Perron were on the ice for the Kings' final three goals.

"It wasn't like we had a bad entire game," Oshie said. "There were four major instances where our reloads weren't right, we were maybe a little aggressive and our routes weren't tight.

"It's little things, but I think it's just those little things that win you playoff games. It's the little things that LA is doing right now. That's why they got the last two wins against us."

Hitchcock basically agreed with that line of thinking.

"We were just way too aggressive with trying to keep pucks in and I think that's where Osh is disappointed," Hitchcock said. "They got swept up in the emotion of the game and we gave up the wrong chances to the wrong people."

CPR Line

The reunification of the "CPR Line" and the absence of Blues captain David Backes from the morning skate were both topics of discussion for Hitchcock before Game 5.

As per NHL custom, not much information was coming out about either topic.

"You know not to comment on personnel," was Hitchcock's answer to both questions.

Hitchcock and the Blues still seemed bothered by letting Game 4 slip through their fingers in Los Angeles. The Blues' inability to deal with 2-0 and 3-2 leads were still fresh in their minds two days later.

"That's the one thing we were guilty of," Hitchcock said. "We tried to hit the knockout punch way too early and got caught pushing down. We gave up odd-man rushes and let them back in the game."

Instead of their typical tight defensive game plan, the Blues began trying to play like the high-scoring Edmonton Oilers of the 1980s.

"That was the major issue in the hockey game," Hitchcock said. "We gave up too many odd-man rushes because we were forcing offense. Instead of just letting the game drive itself, we tried to push and force the issue.

"We pinched four times and got caught three times and twice for goals. Three of their four goals, they all started on off-man rushes with us forcing the issue in the offensive zone."

Tarasenko decision

Hitchcock also was asked about his decision to play rookie winger Vladimir Tarasenko instead of winger Adam Cracknell, thus breaking up the "CPR Line" for a game.

Tarasenko played only 5 minutes, 51 seconds.

"I probably should have pushed him up earlier in the game... he's a part of our team," Hitchcock said. "You start the game, but when you start the game and you're not sure on two or three guys that they're going to be able to finish the game, you've got to be careful.

"The last (time) I looked at it, the puck's still part of the game and he's good that way. We did it as a safety net for us, which I thought was really smart going in."

Hitchcock's decision drew criticism from some, but he defended the move.

"The difference in the game wasn't the CPR line," he said. " The difference was we gave up a bunch of odd-man rushes when we had no reason to. That was the difference, that's what let them back in the hockey game.

"We just gave up too many easy scoring chances against top players. We gave up the wrong odd-man rushes to the wrong people and they slammed it right in the net."

Battle within a battle

Numerous times throughout the series, Blues winger David Perron and Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick have become entangled either on their own accord or with the help of a Kings defenseman.

It's been fun to watch and Perron says he's not backing down.

"I love that," said Perron, who has been tackled by Quick and hammered by Drew Doughty while dishing out his own share of physicality in front. "I don't know what they think of me, but the more they come after me, the more it gets me in the game and I love it."

Perron felt that when the Kings swept the Blues last season, they didn't get enough traffic in front of the net.

"I'm just trying to do my job here," Perron said. "If he's going to take a penalty on me or whatever...we've got a power play or two this series already just on going to the net. I'm going to keep doing that.

"I felt last year in the playoffs (Quick) was probably their main player. We lost in four games and that's the reason. I'm just trying to get there and create some havoc and hopefully create some scoring chances and put a couple behind him."

Blues lineup

Based on the morning skate the Blues will reunite Adam Cracknell, Chris Porter and Ryan Reaves on the "CPR Line." That would be the same lineup the team featured in the first three games in the series, two of which were won by the Blues.

Blues center Vladimir Sobotka has been one of the team's most impressive postseason performers. The former winger is the team's top scorer with three assists and also has been solid defensively.

In Game 4 against the Kings, Sobotka racked up two assists and a team-leading 10 hits while also winning faceoffs at a 65 percent rate.

"He played so well here and so patient in his positioning that we couldn't help but keep him playing there," Hitchcock said when asked about moving Sobotka from wing to center. "When you watch him play ... any time we're doing highlight videos of how to play the position, he pops up on every video."

Belleville News-Democrat LOADED: 05.09.2013


Kings put Blues in 3-2 hole

Published: May 9, 2013 Updated 4 hours ago

By NORM SANDERS — News-Democrat

ST. LOUIS — Soaring high on emotion following Alex Pietrangelo's goal with 44.1 seconds remaining in regulation that forced overtime Wednesday, the St. Louis Blues once again were forced to endure the bitter taste of defeat.

Slava Voynov's goal through goaltender Brian Elliott's pads eight minutes into overtime lifted the Los Angeles Kings to a 3-2 victory over the Blues in Game 5 of their NHL Western Conference first-round playoff series.

The win was the third straight by the Kings, who once trailed 2-0 in the best-of-seven series. They also trailed Game 4 against the Blues 2-0 and 3-2 and were nearly down 3-1 in the series.

Now the Kings, who became the first road team to win a game in the series, return home to Los Angeles looking to close things out Friday with a win in Game 6.

"You need an all-in mentality and we had that," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We need to come with that same mentality for Game 6. This is not over."

Hitchcock couldn't fault his team's overall effort.

"There's lot of positives," Hitchcock said. "Effort, discipline, structure, whatever you want. There's a lot of positives.

"Overtime's a crapshoot. I know to win the (Stanley) Cup you've got to win most of your overtime games."

The Blues pulled Elliott for an extra skater with a minute and 10 seconds remaining and the move paid off when Pietrangelo scored.

Blues rookie Jaden Schwartz aided in the goal, screening Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick on the play not long after Blues captain David Backes won a faceoff.

"There were probably four or five guys in front of the net, so it went through a lot of bodies and went in so that was nice," said Schwartz, who realizes the dire situation his team finds itself in. "That's a part of playoff hockey, you've got to get ready for the next game and regroup, get energized and ready to go. It's two must-win games now."

Voynov scored his second goal of the playoffs off an off-man rush, firing a shot from right wing that eluded Elliott.

"We had no passengers today, we had an all-in mentality," Hitchcock said. "Once we started to dial it up I was really impressed with the way we played."

Jeff Carter scored goals within the first minute of the second and third periods to give the Kings a 2-1 lead. Carter's second goal of the night came 54 seconds into the third period.

Carter took a drop pass from Anze Kopitar during a power play and fired it into a mostly open net.

Carter was the leader of the Kings' quick-strike attack, also scoring just 14 seconds into the second period. Alexander Steen answered Carter's first goal for the Blues later in the period to tie it 1-1.

The Blues were held without a shot in the third period until there was 10:48 remaining. However, they found new life when Pietrangelo scored off the faceoff and the building erupted.

But following Voynov's goal, that elation was sucked right out of the building.

"It's tough to lose in overtime, it always is when you're that close," Pietrangelo said. "We've just got to go in there and get the win and win on home ice on Monday."

Steen, who was unable to get a shot off on his first wraparound try of the shift, pushed the puck free behind the net from Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin and tried it again.

Steen skated out in front patiently, then sent a sizzling wrist shot past Kings goalie Jonathan Quick at the 6:46 mark to tie it.

It was Steen's third playoff goal, giving him three of the first eight scored by the Blues.

On the Kings' first goal, Blues center Patrik Berglund was tossed out of the faceoff circle and replaced by T.J. Oshie. Oshie lost the draw as Carter got the puck back to defenseman Drew Doughty.

Carter knocked in the rebound of Doughty's shot for his second goal of the playoffs to give the Kings the lead.

After Steen's goal, the Blues nearly got another when they peppered Quick with four early shots during a second-period power play.

Energized by the return of the "CPR Line" of Adam Cracknell, Chris Porter and Ryan Reaves, the Blues pumped a Scottrade Center crowd of 18,269 with emotion in the first period.

But just as in other games of their series against the Kings, they left the first period with no offense despite outshooting their rivals 9-2 in the first 12 minutes and applying heavy pressure.

The Blues outshot the Kings 12-8 in the opening period after being outshot 23-10 in the final two periods of Game 4 in Los Angeles.

The brutal nature of the series has stretched the emotions on both sides, but neither team has snapped.

"We're not shopping at the mall," Hitchcock said. "This is a very emotional series. I'm not worried about it and I don't think they're worried about it. I told you before at the start of the series I just wish the referees would sit in the fifth row, the teams will decide it."

The Kings are trying to overcome a 2-0 playoff deficit for the first time since 2001, while the Blues are trying to extend their 10-0 streak when winning the first two games of a playoff series.



Hitchcock calls Blues winger Oshie 'our conscience'

Published: May 9, 2013 Updated 4 hours ago

By NORM SANDERS — News-Democrat

ST. LOUIS — When one of the St. Louis Blues' lines is struggling, coach Ken Hitchcock knows he can provide an instant jolt of energy by inserting winger T.J. Oshie.

"Wherever we put him, that line plays the right way," Hitchcock said of Oshie, who has been skating with Patrik Berglund and David Perron. "When it doesn't, he grabs it right away and gets it to play the right way.

"That's why I think Berglund's line was terrific in Game 2 and 3 and it wouldn't surprise me that they were good again (in Game 5).

Hitchcock called Oshie, who scored his first two career playoff goals Monday in a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings in Game 4, "our conscience."

"He's the guy that sets the standard of performance," Hitchcock said, noting how Oshie took responsibility for being on the ice for all four Kings goals despite scoring two himself. "He was disturbed and disappointed they were on the ice for goals against and odd-man rushes against. He was disappointed by that."

Oshie and linemates Patrik Berglund and David Perron were on the ice for the Kings' final three goals. They also were on the ice for the Kings' first goal in Game 5.

"It wasn't like we had a bad entire game," Oshie said before Wednesday's game. "There were four major instances where our reloads weren't right, we were maybe a little aggressive and our routes weren't tight.

"It's little things, but I think it's just those little things that win you playoff games. It's the little things that L.A. is doing right now. That's why they got the last two wins against us."

Hitchcock basically agreed with that line of thinking.

"We were just way too aggressive with trying to keep pucks in and I think that's where Osh is disappointed," Hitchcock said. "They got swept up in the emotion of the game and we gave up the wrong chances to the wrong people."

Sobotka's special

In Game 4 against the Kings, Blues center Vladimir Sobotka racked up two assists and a team-leading and Blues playoff record 10 hits while also winning faceoffs at a 65-percent rate.

"He played so well here and so patient in his positioning that we couldn't help but keep him playing there," Hitchcock said when asked about moving Sobotka from wing to center. "When you watch him play ... any time we're doing highlight videos of how to play the position, he pops up on every video."

Tarasenko decision

Hitchcock also was asked about his decision to play rookie winger Vladimir Tarasenko instead of winger Adam Cracknell, thus breaking up the "CPR Line" for a game.

Tarasenko played only 5 minutes, 51 seconds, then was a healthy scratch for Game 5 with Cracknell rejoining the lineup.

"I probably should have pushed him up earlier in the game. ... he's a part of our team," Hitchcock said. "You start the game, but when you start the game and you're not sure on two or three guys that they're going to be able to finish the game, you've got to be careful.

"The last (time) I looked at it, the puck's still part of the game and he's good that way. We did it as a safety net for us, which I thought was really smart going in."

Hitchcock's decision drew criticism from some, but he defended the move.

"The difference in the game wasn't the CPR line," he said. "The difference was we gave up a bunch of odd-man rushes when we had no reason to. That was the difference, that's what let them back in the hockey game.

"We just gave up too many easy scoring chances against top players. We gave up the wrong odd-man rushes to the wrong people and they slammed it right in the net."

Battle within a battle

Numerous times throughout the series, Blues winger David Perron and Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick have become entangled either on their own accord or with the help of a Kings defenseman.

It's been fun to watch and Perron says he's not backing down.

"I love that," said Perron, who has been tackled by Quick and hammered by Drew Doughty while dishing out his own share of physicality in front. "I don't know what they think of me, but the more they come after me, the more it gets me in the game and I love it."

Perron felt that when the Kings swept the Blues last season, they didn't get enough traffic in front of the net.

"I'm just trying to do my job here," Perron said. "If he's going to take a penalty on me or whatever. ... We've got a power play or two this series already just on going to the net. I'm going to keep doing that.

"I felt last year in the playoffs (Quick) was probably their main player. We lost in four games and that's the reason. I'm just trying to get there and create some havoc and hopefully create some scoring chances and put a couple behind him."


675720 Toronto Maple Leafs

Krejci hat trick has Leafs on the ropes and Bruins riding high

JAMES MIRTLE

The Globe and Mail

Published Wednesday, May. 08 2013, 10:45 PM EDT

Last updated Wednesday, May. 08 2013, 10:54 PM EDT

Back and forth they went, well beyond 60 minutes, and then 70, and deep into what will likely be the series-defining game.

A loss for the Toronto Maple Leafs and they would be down 3-1 and likely out of it against a team they’ve rarely beaten, albeit after strong showing in their first postseason in nearly a decade.

Leafs Jake Gardiner(51) and Bruins Shawn Thornton(22) battle for the puck in the corner during the first period of Game 4 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on May 08, 2013.

Fans flood Maple Leaf Square for game 4

A win and who knows?

But that wasn’t the script on Wednesday at the Air Canada Centre.

Instead, 13 minutes into a wildly entertaining overtime, Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf went for a big hit rather than the safe play, the Boston Bruins’ top player in this series, David Krejci, raced the other way and capped off a hat trick for a 4-3 win.

In a game not of inches, but millimetres – given Leafs forward Matt Frattin hit a post in overtime – the one misplay gave Boston a stranglehold on the series, especially with the Leafs heading back to a city where wins have been extra scarce.

The result, however, was fitting, as this was a close, hard-fought game right from the start.

Two of the Leafs’ top scorers combined for a pure finesse goal two minutes in, with Phil Kessel feeding Joffrey Lupul from behind the net for his third of the series.

Then came a lucky break, as defenceman Cody Franson’s seeing-eye shot eluding Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask in part due to the 6-foot-9 screen provided by teammate Zdeno Chara.

That Boston would come storming back was all but a given, and their second period barrage was particularly painful. The Bruins fired puck after puck into Leafs netminder James Reimer’s crease, looking for a rebound, and piled up three unanswered goals to take hold of the game.

Krejci – now the playoffs’ leading scorer with 10 points in these four games – was the star of that run, too, plowing into the crease with abandon in scoring his third and fourth goals of the series four minutes apart to push his team into a 3-2 lead.

But in a wildly entertaining game that was filled with speed and skill far more than brute strength, the Leafs were hardly outclassed through 40 minutes – in part because coach Randy Carlyle had wisely iced his best lineup yet.

Alternate captain Clarke MacArthur was the perfect example, as he dressed for the first time since the series’ lopsided opening game and went on to belt in the tying goal late in the middle frame.

(Both assists on that 3-3 marker were to players – Jake Gardiner and Frattin – who have sat out plenty of games lately as healthy scratches despite bringing a strong possession game this season, curious decisions that add a bit of “what if?” to some of the earlier games.)

Added to the drama was a huge four-minute penalty kill by the Leafs to start the third – called on Nazem Kadri as part of a dreadful game for the youngster – that gave the home team a big lift.

Moments later, however, Leafs defenceman Mark Fraser took a puck to the face and went to the ice in a pool of blood, a sombre moment midway through the third period that wiped out half of what has been a strong second pairing for the rest of the game.

But the deadlock held through the third and well into OT before Phaneuf’s faux pas ended up in the back of the Leafs net, with a shaky performance from both the captain and Reimer hardly inspiring confidence in the extra session.

Even in a loss, however, in a series that has lacked a certain sense of drama mainly because no one has been all that sure just how much of a fight the Leafs would put up, this was a turning point.

Win or lose, Toronto has hardly gone quietly into the night in its first playoff appearance in nine years, playing the Bruins to a draw through most of the last three games despite being given little chance in the series.

Making the postseason this time around was supposed to be about gaining experience as much as anything and testing the mettle of some of the organization’s youngsters at a level the franchise hadn’t been able to reach through numerous regimes and rebuilds.

That the Leafs have kept it this close, through four games against one of the best clubs in the conference, is a considerable positive, especially after the way they limped into the playoffs and looked lost in Game 1.

Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, Toronto can take something from this.

Even if it’s the knowledge of just how little can decide a game and a series in the playoffs.



Shoalts: Bruins’ depth at forward proving to be the difference

DAVID SHOALTS

The Globe and Mail



Depth is proving to be the difference in the playoff series between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs and the best example of that is seen in the fourth lines of each team.

Time was, the fourth line in the NHL was the repository for the enforcers, grinders, agitators and anyone who played his way into the coach’s bad books. But when the NHL changed its rules to speed up the game in 2005, many fourth lines also changed, with a little more skill added to the mix so the unit could keep up to the play and add a little offence.

Leafs and Bruins prepare for Game 4

Under head coach Randy Carlyle, the Leafs used an old-fashioned fourth line, with enforcers Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren flanking centre Jay McClement, who does not have a great scoring touch but makes himself valuable with his checking, penalty killing and sheer work ethic. But when the Leafs were out-skated as well as out-hit in Game 1 of the first-round series, with the Bruins’ fourth line taking a share of the credit, Carlyle sent McLaren to the press box for the next two games and dropped agitator Leo Komarov down to the fourth line.

With the Bruins taking a 2-1 series lead into Wednesday night’s game at the Air Canada Centre, there is still a huge difference in what each team is getting from its fourth line. In centre Gregory Campbell and wingers Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille, the Bruins have a combination of skill, toughness and defensive tenacity that has seen the unit play some important minutes and contribute a couple of important goals.

In the last five minutes of Game 3, for example, with the Leafs coming hard in trying to overcome a 4-2 Boston lead, Bruins head coach Claude Julien had his fourth line on the ice as part of his defensive effort and the trio acquitted themselves with distinction.

“Claude had enough confidence in putting us out there so for us, it’s just something that we don’t want to disappoint [the team],” Paille said Wednesday after the Bruins’ game-day skate. “We want to keep working like we have been, take the pressure off our team, continue to keep the puck in the other end as long as we can.”

One thing that has not changed about the fourth line in recent years, Paille agreed, is it remains paramount the unit not be scored upon. While fourth lines are expected to score more nowadays, the goals are still thought of as a pleasant bonus. In that respect, the Bruins’ fourth line is paying off.

In Game 1, after the Leafs took an early lead, Paille chased a puck to the end boards in the Leaf zone, knocked defenceman John-Michael Liles out of the way and set up a goal by defenceman Wade Redden that tied the score. The Bruins never trailed after that and won 4-1.

Then, in Game 3 in Toronto on Monday, the Leafs began showing signs of life late in the second period and wound up on a power play. But Phil Kessel made an egregious giveaway at his own blue line to Paille, who scored on the breakaway to put Boston in front by three goals.

After three games, Paille, Thornton and Campbell have a total of three points and are a collective plus-three. Orr, McClement and Komarov, on the other hand, with a comparable amount of ice time have no points between them and are a collective minus-three.

This is nothing new to Campbell and Paille, who have been stalwarts on the Bruins’ fourth line for several years. In 2011, when the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, they made a valuable contribution along with Tyler Seguin, who was a 19-year-old rookie and replaced Thornton on the line for the Eastern Conference final and Cup final.

Thornton is the traditional fourth-liner on the unit, as he handles the tough stuff and scratched his head when asked what makes the perfect fourth line in today’s NHL. “If I could answer that question I’d be making a lot more than I am,” he said, before admitting with a laugh that in the salary-cap NHL the fourth line still “has to be cheap.”

“I’m just happy to have the linemates I have,” Thornton said. “Those guys could be playing on a higher line on other teams. Unfortunately they’re stuck with me.”

But Thornton doesn’t understand why people are surprised his line is chipping in offensively. He pointed out Paille, a 29-year-old native of Welland, Ont., was a first-round draft pick in 2002 (Buffalo Sabres) and scored 19 goals for the Sabres in 2007-08 before being traded to the Bruins a year later.

“People are surprised at what he’s doing but it’s no surprise to the guys in this room,” Thornton said. “They’re good players. Just because they’re on my line doesn’t mean they’re fourth-line players.”



Mirtle: Leafs’ secondary scoring missing in action

JAMES MIRTLE

The Globe and Mail



It was a remarkably consistent part of the Toronto Maple Leafs season.

When one line couldn’t score, another would step up and fill the void, so much so that the lowest 10-game segment the Leafs had all year was the 25 goals they scored in the first 10 games of the year.

For the most part, Toronto produced three or more goals a game in 10-game stretches from there on, with the addition of James van Riemsdyk and Nazem Kadri’s rise helping push the Leafs to sixth in NHL scoring with 3.02 per game.

Some of Toronto’s weakest scoring stretches, however, came late in the year, as they dipped down to an average of 2.8 goals a game to close the season even as Phil Kessel caught fire with 10 goals in his final 10 games.

In fact, Kessel became such a large part of the offence in April that over those final 10 games, he was scoring 36 per cent of Toronto’s goals and had points on 61 per cent of them, nearly double the percentage he was in on much of the year.

All about Phil

Phil Kessel's late season hot streak coincided with a fall off in scoring from many of Toronto's secondary scorers, which meant he became a much bigger part of their offence over the final 10 to 15 games. This chart is a 10-

game rolling average of the percentage of goals he earned a point on during the regular season.

Kessel’s rise there has as much to do with a lot of the Leafs depth going silent as his strong play, with van Riemsdyk and Joffrey Lupul the only other forwards managing more than five points in Toronto’s final 12 regular-season games.

Kadri and Tyler Bozak had only five, followed by fourth liners Leo Komarov and Jay McClement with four apiece.

Everyone else was below that.

Toronto’s scoring depth, in other words, just hasn’t been there of late. And while it’s only been three games, this is a trend that has continued so far in the postseason, with the Leafs scoring only three even strength goals (all in Game 2) in their series with the generally stingy Boston Bruins.

“Scoring is going to be a premium as the games get more tight,” Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said on Wednesday as his team prepared for Game 4. “We haven’t scored enough of the dirty goals. I think we’ve had three players provided offence in the playoffs… so we’ve got some other people that we’re looking for to step up and provide some offence.”

The thing is, with Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron paying particularly close attention to Phil Kessel, it’s probably not reasonable to expect him to be able to chip in on 50 or 60 per cent of the Leafs goals, meaning they will need Kadri, Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin and others to finally break through.

According to their coach, a simpler approach resembling what the Bruins are doing may be the way to go.

“In the playoffs, it’s not about how, it’s about how many,” Carlyle said. “There’s got to be more focus put on the production of offence. One of the ways is throwing the puck to the net, driving the middle lane. If you review the goals the Bruins have scored, two of them basically went off bodies. Those are areas we can improve on.

“When you fire the number of shots we did the other night (47 in Game 3) we’d like to add one or two bodies to the front of the net when that’s happening. Those are things that are little areas you can try to improve on and you plead to your players to go to those tough areas.

“They’ve been able to do that through the course of the season. Now we just have to find a way to do get it done here.”



Experience, Rask turns tide in Bruins’ favour

DAVID SHOALTS

The Globe and Mail


Last updated Thursday, May. 09 2013, 12:41 AM EDT

For two periods, the Toronto Maple Leafs had all the luck and the momentum but David Krejci and Zdeno Chara had the experience to stun them in overtime.

Then again, you could say in the end they also had the good fortune to be on the ice at the same time as Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf, whose decision to pinch at the Bruins blueline and go for the big hit 13 minutes into overtime – playoff overtime for crying out loud – was something you would expect from a clueless rookie. Phaneuf’s brilliant move wiped out two of his teammates and rewarded Krejci and Chara, who patiently kept working despite some terrible luck in the first half of the game, with a two-on-one rush.

Krejci, the hands-down leader for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the NHL playoffs, finished off a hat trick with the winning goal in a 4-3 Bruins decision that gave them a 3-1 lead in the NHL playoff series. Netting his fourth assist of the game was Chara, who seemed destined in the first period for a terrible evening.

“You know what?” Krejci said. “We know we have so much experience on this team. But how you use the experience is very important. I think we used it well.”

The Bruins used it so well they were able to come back in the second period after falling behind by two goals and then again in overtime when the Leafs were playing inspired hockey. The Leafs were every bit as good as the Bruins in the third period and overtime and deserved better, but they could not overcome Phaneuf’s brain cramp and some inconsistent goaltending by James Reimer. The latter should have known Krejci was going to shoot all the way on that final rush because the passing lane to Chara was closed off.

“That made my decision a little easier,” Krejci said. “I was really thinking about going to [Chara] for a one-timer. They took him away as well so I decided to shoot it. In overtime there are no bad shots. It wasn’t a perfect shot but it went in.”

Such are the rewards for those who persevere in the face of bad luck. Both Krejci and particularly Chara had some of the worst luck imaginable in the first period. Chara made a couple of goofs that led to two Leaf goals, but was rewarded in the second, piling up three assists as the Bruins reeled in the Leafs.

In the first period, all of the bounces went the way of the Leafs, although to be fair they did have their legs moving, particularly Phil Kessel. He was flying in the first few minutes and set up the first Leafs the net goal when he zipped into the Bruins zone, circled the net and hit Joffrey Lupul with a nice pass in front of.

But there was lots of luck here, too, as Chara knocked down fellow defenceman Wade Redden to create all the room and time Kessel and Lupul needed.

Lady Luck put in an appearance in the Leafs’ zone a little later, much to the relief of them and their fans. At the end of a Bruins power play, Krejci wound up with yet another Reimer rebound in the slot and faced a wide-open net. But his shot rang off the post, and just try to remember the last time that happened to this guy in the playoffs.

It was Chara’s turn again for the hex as the period wound down. Leaf defenceman Cody Franson took a shot from the point just as Chara skated by Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask. Chara passed quickly in front of his goaltender but it was just long enough to block Rask’s vision and the puck sailed into the net at 18:32.

Then, for good measure a minute later after Leafs winger Leo Komarov took a dumb penalty for charging in the last minute, Chara flipped the puck. It was deflected and then hit Bruins winger Milan Lucic, a Leaf killer so far in the series, on the face and left him bleeding at the intermission.

At that point, with the Leafs carrying a 2-0 lead into the second period and the Bruins seemingly snake-bitten, the party was in full swing at the ACC.

Things were so good the suits in the platinum seats reverted to regular-season form and lingered in their private boxes over sushi and Chablis as the second period started. They should have seen that Komarov penalty as an omen, though, and most of them missed the turn of the screw, as Reimer served up another of those rebounds on a shot by Chara. That allowed Bruins centre Patrice Bergeron to finally get his first goal of the series 32 seconds into the period.

And so it went, even though the Leafs went hard at the Bruins over the first half of the period. The Bruins used the benefit of their experience to weather the storm and keep working. Of course, it really helped that Rask stood on his head to hold off the Leafs.

“It all starts with him. He played well,” Krejci said of his goaltender.

Then Krejci and Chara went to work to create their own luck. The tide slowly started flowing the Bruins’ way. By the middle of the second, the Leafs had dominated the Bruins but could not increase their 2-1 lead. Not a good sign.

Finally, Reimer delivered a rebound (sense a pattern here?) as Krejci ran into Leaf centre Mikhail Grabovski in front of the net. The puck bounced off Krejci and into the net. One of the assists went to Chara.

Chara struck again when Leaf winger Colton Orr took a penalty. Seconds later it was Chara to Nathan Horton to Krejci for a beautiful one-timer and the Bruins had the lead.

The Leafs, though, saw their luck return 44 seconds after Krejci’s goal, which saved them from the abyss. Rask showed he was human by kicking

a rebound into the slot for Leaf winger Clarke MacArthur to tie the score and set up the drama over the last 33 minutes and six seconds.

“Sometimes things are happening on the ice you really can’t control,” Chara said. “We fell behind by two goals and especially on the second one I was trying to find a player on the side and at the last second I shifted, and [Rask] didn’t see that puck. I was one second too late to move and it ended up in our net.

“But you can’t be sitting on the first 20. It’s a 60-minute game. You have to put that behind you.”



Toronto Maple Leafs: All signs point to civility at fan party

Alex Consiglio

Published on Wed May 08 2013

Maple Leafs fans packed the square outside the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday without any “Toronto Stronger” signs.

In fact, not many fans carried homemade signs at all, opting instead for the freebie giveaways reading: “I will protect this house.”

Marissa Markland, 18, and Claudia Hickerson, 18, were two of the very few with homemade signs.

Theirs simply read: “Go Leafs Go” — in sparkles, no less.

“The Toronto Stronger sign was a little disrespectful,” said Hickerson, who added that if she were to see the man with that sign again, she’d “rip it out of his hands.”

But not all agreed the infamous sign disrespected Bostonians and their “Boston Strong” mantra in the wake of the marathon bombings.

“There’s no reason to be upset,” said Brian Stewart, 31, who recently spent two years working in Boston and said none of his friends there were upset. “It was blown out of proportion. We obviously respect the lives lost.”

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment spokesperson Jamie Deans said there are policies in place to keep “offensive and vulgar” signs out of Maple Leaf Square parties and the ACC.

Deans would not clarify what criteria are used to decide whether or not a sign should be confiscated.

Toronto Star LOADED: 05.09.2013


Toronto Maple Leafs: Tyler Seguin desperate to make some noise for Boston Bruins in NHL playoffs series: Feschuk

Dave Feschuk

Wed May 08 2013

Tyler Seguin has been on both sides of the glass at the Air Canada Centre. As a hockey-mad kid growing up in the GTA, he was a frequent presence in the stands at Maple Leaf games. And now, as a top centreman with the Boston Bruins, he’s a key contributor to a vistiting playoff team.

So he spoke with some authority when he said the atmosphere for Monday’s Game 3 was the best he’s seen at Toronto’s hockey mecca.

“I’ve never heard it louder,” he said.

Seguin, for his part, would certainly like to be making more of the noise. Heading into Wednesday night’s Game 4, with the Bruins leading the best-of-seven series 2-1, Seguin has yet to register a point. Considering he is playing alongside Brad Marchand, the team’s leading scorer in the regular

season; considering he gets the benefit of the league’s best faceoff man in linemate Patrice Bergeron; considering Seguin was Boston’s third-leading scorer this season — well, it’s clear more is expected.

“The line that hasn’t (been contributing to the offence) has been the Bergeron line . . . They’ve had some chances, but they haven’t capitalized,” Boston coach Claude Julien said after Wednesday’s morning skate. “No doubt they can be a bit better, and we’re counting on that.”

Seguin has had a few chances. In Game 1 the scoreboard operator at the TD Garden had added what looked like a Seguin goal to Boston’s tally before video review determined he had hit the crossbar. Tough luck aside, Seguin said he wasn’t happy with his work in Game 3 in Toronto. While he considers nights at the ACC something of a home date, he didn’t look particularly comfortable in Boston’s 5-2 victory .

“I wouldn’t say I was nervous. I was very excited,” Seguin said. “I felt when I did that forehand-backhand move when I had that chance all alone, I didn’t want to do that. I ended up doing it, and that kind of got to me. I just think I need to be a little more focused and not so easily frustrated. I was happy we could walk away with the win. I’ll look to do better tonight.”

How will he do better? He said he’ll try to relax.

“In the end it’s a fun sport. With playoffs, with everything surrounding it, you almost lose track of that. I think that’s our biggest message we had as a line today, is just go out there and relax, have a bit more fun and get our chances. We need to bear down.”

Said Julien, hopefully: “Maybe tonight’s the night they get what they want.”



Boston sports columnist to Toronto Maple Leafs fans: Thanks for having our backs

By Steve Buckley, Boston Herald columnist


A round of applause, please, for fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Yep, give it up for Leafs yahoos from Ontario and beyond, bless their hearts.

This time, Bruins fans don’t need to come to the defense of our beloved, on-the-mend city. In a truly historic twist, especially when one considers this is the Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s fans of the Maple Leafs who are showing the world what sports decorum is all about.

At issue here is an incident from Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals between the Bruins and Maple Leafs, played Monday night at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre. Decked out in sunglasses and a blue-and-white Maple Leafs sweater, a spectator — sorry, can’t call him a fan — held aloft a placard on which was written: “Toronto Stronger.”

The idea, I guess, is that the guy was hoping to appropriate “Boston Strong,” which has come to symbolize our town’s strength, perseverance and teamwork in the aftermath of last month’s marathon bombings. We hear the phrase Boston Strong and we instantly think about the first responders, and the many people who suffered serious injuries, and, yes, the four people who lost their lives.

Boston Strong.

Bruins players wear Boston Strong T-shirts. At Fenway Park, a “B” Strong logo has been affixed to the Green Monster. We’ve seen “Entering Boston” signs being altered to include the word “strong.”

Boston Strong.

It seems to touch all of us.

It touched that guy in Toronto right in the head.

Now don’t get all stupid and throw it out there that this is the first time the Maple Leafs have been in the Stanley Cup tournament in nine years, and

that, you know, it’s only natural that their fans might be a little unsteady on their playoff legs.

That’s not the case at all. The Maple Leafs fans have been acting like, well, sports fans — loud, goofy, over the top. Same as Bruins fans. But one guy, in Toronto, came up with the “Toronto Stronger” sign. And Maple Leafs fans are really, really ticked off about it. They’ve taken to Twitter, Facebook and the talk shows to make known their ticked-off-ness about what happened, and nearly 70 percent of respondents to an online poll by the Toronto Sun agree that the sign went too far.

This isn’t about you, Bruins fans. This is Toronto family business, and it’s being taken care of in-house. You can weigh in if you’d like, but please stay on your side of the room and let them sort things out.



Maple Leafs in playoffs: Nazem Kadri still searching for first goal

By: Mark Zwolinski

Sports reporter


When he comes into the Leafs dressing room after a morning skate, Nazem Kadri usually faces a massive media scrum, and it’s usually because he’s done something amazing the game before.

On Wednesday morning, though, the ever-present Kadri media throng had a different line of questioning for the Leafs young star. Kadri hasn’t scored through three games of the best-of-seven series against the Boston Bruins, and he was asked what his solution to the drought is.

“Just do what I’ve been doing, try not to complicate things because that’s when guys like me steer in the wrong direction by trying to do too much,” Kadri said at his locker Wednesday morning, seemingly lost in a gathering of over 25 cameras and reporters. “Just get into the dirty areas and keep doing that.”

The so called “dirty areas” — including the lane to the net, where forwards drive on the goalie and try to create havoc — have been a weak spot for the Leafs. Boston’s big defence, led by Zdeno Chara, have made it tougher than most teams on the Leafs.

“Just how tight it is out there, that’s part of it,” Kadri said about what he’s learning from these playoffs.

“How hard it is to generate chances, and if chances do come, bear down on your stick and be ready to bury them.”

Leaf coach Randy Carlyle said he is asking his players to figure out ways to score from those so called dirty areas. He concurred with Kadri that the Leafs need more players to score – the club’s offence so far against Boston has been carried by Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul, and James Van Riemsdyk.

“Obviously, you’d like to prove more offence, and in the playoffs, it’s not about how, it’s about how many,” Carlyle said. “If you look at Boston’s goals, two of them have been basically because the puck bounced off someone driving the net. We’d like to add a few more bodies in front of the net. You ask your players to go to those tough areas and they’ve found a way to do that all season long, so you just hope they continue that in the playoffs.”

The two teams face off for game four Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre. The Leafs know it’s a big one, but are trying to take it one task at a time, says Kadri.

We’re not thinking . . . about win or lose, just getting that first goal, getting that first hit, getting that first faceoff. It’s got to be a night of first for us, and we have to be the more energized team.”

Kadri also addressed the Bruins’ domination in faceoffs.

“On the faceoffs, they’re just so consistent, they’re a very good team,’ Kadri said.

“And they jump our defencemen (off faceoff), they don’t give us time to make a play. They’re a very tenacious team,” said Kadri, who also addressed a perception that officials have been a little too harsh on the Leafs in the faceoff circle

“They’re (on ice officials) doing their best, they’re human and we all make mistakes,” Kadri added.

“You hope they watch a little closer (faceoff circle), but regardless, we have to come up with a better effort. I think I was doing pretty good before the last game, I was something like near 60 percent, but the last game I was a bit off, and that’s the hard part of the playoffs, you have to be consistent all the time.”



Toronto Maple Leafs plan to bounce back against Boston Bruins with a ‘response’ game in NHL playoffs

By: Kevin McGran

Sports reporter


A “response” game.

That’s what the Maple Leafs call it. That’s what the Leafs expect Wednesday night in Game 4 of their NHL Stanley Cup Eastern Conference quarter-final against the Boston Bruins.

“We’ve matured,” said centre Jay McLement. “Even though we’re a young team, we’ve shown maturity throughout the year with bouncing back from tough games and having what (coach) Randy (Carlyle) calls response games.”

The Leafs need to respond in a big way. They trail the best-of-seven series two games to one and don’t want to go back to Boston on Friday down 3-1.

They learned from their mistakes in Game 1 with a big win in Game 2. In Game 3, they were sloppy — they made 24 giveaways and lost a majority of faceoffs. Those are areas they’ll have to improve in.

“We’ve been fairly solid all year in responding for games like that,” said McLement. “We had some mistakes, some situations where they made us pay. We played well for the most part, had lots of chances, lots of shots. We have to bring that in Game 4 and clean things up.

“It’s not something any of us are happy with. We’ve learned from mistakes all year.”

That’s a message that Carlyle has delivered to his young team.

“It’s not the end of the world when you lose,” said goalie James Reimer. “It doesn’t matter in a sense if you lose by 10 or lose by one. It doesn’t go by those stats. It’s just wins and losses. You take what you can out of games, and the positives and you move on.”

CARLYLE’S PLAN

Randy Carlyle was pretty adamant about three things that have to change in Game 4:

CUT DOWN ON TURNOVERS: The Leafs commited 24 giveaways, three that led directly to goals. “The first thing, you can’t commit turnovers in critical areas. Three of them were out right goals. You can’t do that.”

POWER PLAY: The Leafs power play is pretty good, scoring about one in three times. But at a key juncture in Game 3, they gave up a shorthanded goal, and failed to even get the Boston zone. “The execution of our power play at key times in the game is a difference maker,” said Carlyle.

GET IN RASK’S FACE: “More traffic to the front of the net. Tuukka Rask saw too many pucks. We had quality chances, but they were without a screen. He got to track a lot of pucks.”

POWER HITTER:

Nazem Kadri has spent a lot of time hitting people, establishing a physical presence. He’s done it from time to time all year, especially when his offence is lacking. It’s his way of making a contribution in some manner.

On many occasions, it’s meant he’s had to hit behemoth defenceman Zdeno Chara. He doesn’t mind.

“Sometimes those hits that seem harmless are the ones that end up doing the most damage,” said Kadri. “Especially for a guy like him. He’s a great defenceman, a leader on that team and the quarterback on the back end. Anytime you can try to get a lick on him, no matter if it’s a big one or rubbing him out, you’re better off in the end.

“I’m not the biggest guy. I try to catch guys when they’re vulnerable. Maybe if someone else is on him forcing him to make a play and he’s got his head down, maybe I can get in there get a good hit on him. He (Chara) has always got his head up and sees you coming. Just a matter of going through him and finishing those checks.”



Boston Bruins’ ageless wonder still commands respect: Feschuk

By: Dave Feschuk


Jaromir Jagr is hockey’s era-spanning relic, the rare link between today’s game and a different time. So long ago he played with a mullet and Mario Lemieux. Now, in the time of cleaner cuts and Sidney Crosby, he is 41 years old and still awing the gawkers.

Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle spent part of Tuesday marvelling at Jagr’s ability to hold off defenders.

“If you can imagine pushing up against that wall — that’s what it feels like. He’s that big and that strong,” Carlyle was saying.

Toronto’s players spoke of him with a reverence they don’t reserve for any other member of the Boston Bruins.

“Especially how big his body is, it seems like it takes a couple of minutes to skate around the guy,” Nazem Kadri said.

It’s like he’s a living museum piece, the world’s only surviving woolly mammoth, a tourist attraction on the opposing bench.

“It’s definitely rewarding for us just to be matched against such amazing talent,” said Mark Fraser.

All of this is to say that Jagr was great once, and, judging by his performance in Boston’s 5-2 win in Monday’s Game 3, still pretty good. When Jagr picked Ryan O’Byrne’s pocket and set up the Rich Peverley goal that gave Boston a 2-0 lead in their eventual 5-2 win, his assist pulled him even with Brett Hull for sixth on the all-time playoff points list. He’s by far the active career leader in both post-season and regular-season points.

And more than a few Leafs have referenced the significance of Jagr’s presence in the ongoing best-of-seven first-round playoff series that Boston leads 2-1 heading into Wednesday’s Game 4. As Fraser was pointing out on Tuesday, Jagr, even at age 41, wouldn’t be a third-liner on most teams. Boston, in other words, is a relatively deep squad.

Consider that all three members of Boston’s second line — David Krejci, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton — were among the top 10 in post-season scoring heading into Tuesday’s games. And even though the Bruins’ first line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin has combined for precisely one point in the series, the Bruins have outscored the Leafs a combined 11-7 in three games.

Only one Boston forward not on the Krejci line has managed more than one point; that would be fourth-liner Dan Paille, whose unassisted shorthanded marker on Monday gave the Bruins a 4-1 lead. So it certainly hasn’t hurt that the defencemen have chipped in four goals and six points, or that the Bruins finally got a contribution from their third line on Monday.

While Boston happily rolled its lines, Toronto’s two goals both came from its first line of Tyler Bozak, Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk

“They’re a deep team,” said Fraser.

Maybe they are. But it’s also worth remembering that, in the lead-up to Game 3, there was considerable Boston-based buzz about Jagr’s lack of post-season production. Jagr, for his part, had a decent excuse for some ho-hum work in the opening two games. He was coming off a bout of flu that put him on his back for most of a week; he said Tuesday he’s still not quite right, but he humbly protests suggestions he’s lost his explosiveness.

“You kind of hear it . . . ‘You’re losing the step. You’re losing the speed.’ In my opinion, I don’t think I lost much. I’m 240 (pounds) and everybody else is 180. When I played 10 years ago, 15 years ago, everybody was, like, 230 or 240,” Jagr said. “League has changed. League went to the smaller and faster guys. You have a disadvantage on one side, but you have a huge advantage on the other side.”

His advantage now, he said, is along the boards, where he commands space, cradles the puck, looks to create.

“His strength on the puck — I don’t know if there’s anybody stronger,” Carlyle said. “He has great puck protection, and he can do a lot of things with the puck, keeping it away and grinding and forcing defencemen to basically wear them down.”

How does he stay so strong? Van Riemsdyk, who had Jagr as a teammate in Philadelphia last season, said Jagr is famous for coming back to the rink late at night to work out. The lucky few who have ventured there with him occasionally get lessons at what van Riemsdyk called “midnight hockey school.”

“Some of the stuff he showed me, just different details that he uses . . . I still try to work on out there,” van Riemsdyk said.

Van Riemsdyk preferred not to offer details on the details, which only adds to the Jagr mystique. There are tales of his power and influence in his native Czech Republic. (“He’s like royalty there,” Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds said earlier this year.) There’s dressing-room lore that has him taking his sticks home to bathe them in unknown doses of tender care.

“I’m going to have to start doing that again — thank you for reminding me of that,” Jagr said Tuesday.

For now, Jagr, who spent a few years in the KHL, said he’s enjoying the NHL’s pomp and fervour.

“I’m not going to play many more games. Hopefully I would like to play another year or two. I would like to,” he said. “But it’s not the same in Europe. You’ve got only probably three or five thousand people. But it was pretty special (playing in Toronto on Monday night), where people love hockey so much. But in our city, in Boston, it’s something you have to enjoy. It’s special.”

As special as it’s been, Jagr shook his head at what he saw as an out-of-control tempo in the opening couple of games in the series.

“The young kids are crazy, skating up and down,” he said.

Hockey’s rare relic smiled a little as he drew some laughs. Then the funnyman shared for a moment a slice of a philosophy that has him awing the gawkers nearly 23 years after his NHL debut.

“It’s like a marathon. Some guys have a tempo the same for the whole marathon. And some guys are running very fast the first two miles and they die,” he said. “Whatever you want to do. It’s up to you.”



Toronto Maple Leafs: Bruising series likely to get bumpier: DiManno

By: Rosie DiManno


But the name of the game is be hit and hit back.

Warren Zevon

“(Hurry on home) Boom Boom Mancini”

The late, great Warren Zevon, who also recorded a puck ballad called “Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song),” was actually talking about a boxer in his Boom Boom lyrics.

That metaphor nevertheless still applies to this rollicking Boston-Toronto playoff series.

It is a hurtin’ game out there, on the ice.

Game 1 combined hits: 67



What heights of banging contact will be reached in Game 4?

On the morning after their last thumping encounter, they were all wearing it.

Even a strapping, youthful and physically buoyant guy like Mark Fraser stepped gingerly out of bed Monday, feeling every welt and bruise from the bumps he’d delivered the night before and those he absorbed. And these are early days yet in the marathon that is an NHL post-season.

“Sometimes you feel bumps and bruises and you’re not even sure how you got them,” Fraser said. “You can not only feel it but you can see the wear and tear on some guys’ bodies.

“I’m pretty sure that the guys in both locker rooms right now are saying the same thing, as the games go on. It’s not only the dynamics of a long season but it’s also the way the playoffs are — blocking shots, taking hits, whatever it is, it’s going to wear down on you. It’s about being resilient and powering through that. Put it in the back of your mind so that it doesn’t affect you. I’m going to do the same thing to them the next day.”

Liniment, massages, ice packs, probably a numbing needle here and there — whatever it takes before strapping on the gear again, mind over corporal matter.

Nearly a century of hits executed in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarter-final and certainly not all of them a threat to rearrange skeleton composition but each laying on of the body part of the gross anatomical symphony.

“We’re a hitting team but so are they,” notes Fraser, among the 13 Leafs who’ve made their big-boy playoff debut in the past week. “It’s playoff hockey and we knew coming into this series it was going to be physical. Both teams have complementary skill but they also have physicality. Boston is a team that, we knew for every hit we were going to give, they’d try to give one or two back. That’s just the way the playoffs roll.”

Some give it and some take it with more bone-jarring effect, of course. Zdeno (Zeppelin) Chara was credited with seven hits Monday night, even whilst a key target for close encounters by Toronto. Surprisingly, Tyler Bozak led the Leafs’ hit parade with a half-dozen. That’s the thing about on-ice turbulence — it pains both ways, delivering and receiving. But it’s also the beauty of a high-contact sport where wearying and withering the opposition is tactically crucial. Puck possession and open-ice ventures should be perilous, a walloping shoulder away from dissuasive impact. Space is earned by the valiant.

This has been Toronto’s defining characteristic all season long, top hitting team in the league — 1,626 tallied during the regular schedule, compared to 10th-ranking Boston, with 1,200. Yet in the grind of May, the Bruins have, as Fraser pointed out, amplified their in-close marauding. They may be older, probably stiffer in the morning as a result, but this isn’t their first bronco-busting rodeo. The Big Bad Bruins have always lived by the rattle and thrum. It’s in their gang-bang ethos.

They’ve been particularly trenchant in the simple strategy of dumping pucks behind Toronto’s defence, forcing Leaf rearguards to turn their backs in retrieval, and then splaying them against the boards on the forecheck. “So far they’ve been doing a good job of that,” Fraser acknowledges. “It’s nothing we can’t handle, though. If we raise our own level of execution, we should be fine exiting our zone.”

Nazem Kadri, who looked exhausted in Game 3, worn off his underpinnings, acknowledges the toll such fierce engagement is taking on players, with ill will clearly developing between the teams. “Every single game it gets harder and harder. Both teams are trying to focus on wearing each other down with the physical play. We’ve got guys who are able to play that role very well. It’s always harder when you’re getting hit.”

It’s hockey hedonism, really. “Some guys are black and blue because they’re paying the price of being in the playoffs,” says Dion Phaneuf, who’s racked up 14 hits in the past three games according to the stats-keepers. “You know that night in and night out, guys are not going to turn away from checks and you can’t turn away either. You try to do whatever is necessary to help your team win hockey games, whether it’s blocking a shot or making a hit. I’m not saying we don’t do the same thing during the regular season but now we’re playing consecutive nights against the same team.”

Another kind of score is being kept, let us say, and it has compromised Toronto in moments of frustration, the swing-back episodes that have taken a Phil Kessel off the board, say, in matching penalties more detrimental to the Leafs; the harassing puck pressure that has led to too many turnovers and odd-man rushes for Boston.

“You’ve got to be prepared to take a hit to make a play and you’ve got to be prepared to give a hit to separate somebody from the puck,” says coach Randy Carlyle. “All of the hits aren’t of the wham-bam variety but stepping in front of people and stopping progression is very, very important in the playoffs. If you can do that consistently, usually you’re going to be able to separate people from the puck or you’re going to be able to get more people in on the puck, surround the puck with more players than the opposition has.”

It’s the 20 Per Cent Principle that the coach has been proselytizing since the post-season began — a kind of tithing that demands one-fifth more effort in every aspect of the game. And the hits will doubtlessly keep on coming.

“I suspect that would be the theme of the series. I think that’s the theme of every playoff series.”

Fasten your seatbelts for Game 4. It’s going to be another bumpy night.



It’s OK, Boston, we don’t hate you, just your teams: Kelly

By: Cathal Kelly Columnist

Wed May 08 2013

We’ve been waiting for someone to kick this thing off. We’d hoped it would be a Maple Leaf. Instead, it was some guy with a laser-printing gift certificate.

Was it a good idea for him to come down to Maple Leaf Square and wave around a “Toronto Stronger” sign? Especially when it included the ribbon? No. No, it really wasn’t.

Is it a reason for hysterical garment rending? That’ll be a “no” as well. It’s a failed attempt at cleverness, not a necklace made of human ears.

“Like literally scum of the earth worst goddamn human on the planet” was one of the kinder observations from a Bostonian on Twitter. Bashar Assad will be happy to hear it.

Also, let’s use this as another teaching opportunity in the war to erase the word “literally” from common usage.

But still — the sign was poor form. We’re putting our hand up on that one.

Boston, we’re not with that guy. He just showed up. We thought he was someone’s brother, so we let him in. In fact, we’re pretty sure he’s from Hamilton. They’re always trying to get us in trouble.

Now that that’s off our civic chest, let’s all thank tone-deaf Sign Man for injecting some ill will into the Boston-Toronto nexus.

That’s the half the fun of this. If the Leafs continue getting torched, it will soon be all the fun.

Up to this point, it’s been depressingly collegial. A few face washes. A little pushing and shoving of the “Yeah? Oh yeah?! YEAH?!” variety. The NHL playoffs work on the prison rule — doesn’t matter if you lose the fight, as long as you stick up for yourself. That’s the target. We haven’t hit the board yet.

We look over at Ottawa and Montreal’s amateur dentistry convention and we feel stupid. Hating Montreal is supposed to be our job. Ottawa, aren’t we still running a deficit? Shouldn’t you be doing your homework before you get to go outside and play hockey?

We’re not going to waste our time being angry at you, Ottawa. That’s pointless. And, as usual, you’d only enjoy it. Everyone in Ottawa spends their whole lives hoping Toronto notices them. We’re not falling for that one again.

What we’re going to do is try to work up some animus toward Boston before this thing slips away entirely. We’ve been hanging back for a week, afraid to take a poke. The city requires visual aids.

Everyone close their eyes and picture John Farrell. Does that work? Probably not.

On an emotional EKG, Farrell has always been a flatline. Being ditched by John Farrell is like being stood up by your grandparents.

OK, try thinking of Jack Morris. Morris has gone to town on Boston in the last little while. He’s says he’s got them figured — cheaters. He’s making Boston crazy. Sooner or later, someone’s going to creep up behind Dennis Eckersley and whisper “Morris” in his ear, and he’s going to have an aneurysm.

Is it right that Jack Morris is fighting our battles for us? He’s from Minnesota, for God’s sake. Minnesotans are the nicest people in the Western Hemisphere. If all Americans were cartoon characters, they’d be the Care Bears. Minnesotans have no business playing the heavy.

No, we have to do this ourselves.

The question that Sign Man has introduced into the conversation is this: is it right to hate Boston? Of course, it isn’t. Boston is Toronto through a glass darkly. If we ever get around to sinking the Gardiner, we’ll be Boston.

Here’s my representative Boston moment, from a few years ago. I was standing outside the visitors’ clubhouse at Fenway after a game. The door is surrounded by a cage, presumably to prevent the locals from pouring through and pillaging hostile territory.

While we stood there, waiting, a young woman walked past through the humid corridor. It was late, and she looked luminous. She had a big, honking laugh. As she got close, you could see that she was missing a front tooth. That’s Boston — a real looker, a bit beat up and she doesn’t care what you think of her. It’s hard not to love a city like that.

So we can’t hate Boston. It’s wrong to hate any city . . . except Montreal. And that’s a sad, thwarted sort of hate. Montreal always seems like it’s having a better time than we are. We are their Ottawa.

While it’s wrong to hate the city or its citizens, it’s entirely right to hate its teams. Boston had a bad go of it lately. We’re with them on that.

But we’re not with the Bruins. We don’t need to feel any residual tenderness toward them. We keep putting our arm around their shoulder, and they keep bending it until we squeal.

And we are not squealers. Not until this thing ends.



Maple Leafs’ Mark Fraser takes puck in head

By: Kevin McGran

Sports reporter


Maple Leafs defenceman Mark Fraser went to hospital for a CT scan after getting hit in the head with the puck in the third period of Wednesday night’s Game 4 against the Boston Bruins.

Fraser went down fast after being hit by a shot from Boston’s Milan Lucic at 7:49 of the third. He left a pool of blood behind, but left the ice and the rink under his own steam.

Fraser’s status for Game 5 in Boston was uncertain.

“They’re going to check for any broken bones in the forehead area,” said Leafs coach Randy Carlyle. “He needs some stitches. There’s a plastic surgeon ready to do that, but they have to do a scan on him first.”

Fraser does not wear a visor.



Maple Leafs lose heartbreaker, but what a night of hockey: Cox

By: Damien Cox Hockey


There’s a popular saying in hockey: “Safe is death.”And the Maple Leafs sure didn’t play it safe. Maybe they should have. Maybe the wiser course of action would have been to adopt a far more conservative approach against a very difficult opponent.

Instead, they took chances all night against the powerful Boston Bruins in Game 4 of their best-of-seven playoff series, a game they almost certainly had to have if they held serious hopes of advancing to the next round of the Stanley Cup tournament.

A 3-3 game went to excruciating overtime, and still the Leafs kept pushing and taking chances, enough to generate 11 shots on the Bruins net over 13 minutes and at least three very good scoring chances.

But then came one chance too many.

Captain Dion Phaneuf, never a risk-averse defenceman, went for the big hit in the Boston zone, a trademark of his over the course of his career in junior hockey and in the pros.

For better or worse.

He landed the bodycheck, too, with emphasis. Phaneuf hit Boston winger Nathan Horton so hard that Horton’s stick went flying and he was left gasping for air on the ice.

It was a highlight-reel hit, but it came with a big “but.”

Phaneuf didn’t stop the puck from leaking out of the Boston zone, nor did he take into account that he had exposed defenceman Ryan O’Byrne by taking that chance, and nor was his timing good because Horton’s talented colleagues on the first Bruins line, David Krejci and Milan Lucic, were also on the ice.

Off went Krejci and Lucic on a two-on-one break with O’Byrne defending and Phil Kessel trying desperately to catch up. The game plan is always to take away the pass and force the shot, but O’Byrne, a Leaf only since early April, didn’t seem to have that communication clear with young goaltender James Reimer.

Krejci held the puck and held it and held it. Reimer retreated. Krejci bounced the puck off the Leaf goalie’s body.

4-3 Bruins. Death.

That “safe is death” saying came from John Tortorella when he was coaching the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Stanley Cup in 2004, but that approach doesn’t always have the desired result, particularly for a young team that has yet to learn that sometimes safe is better.

Folks, this is a Leaf squad that is learning and will be able to look back on Game 4 and see many good things, from the 48 shots they fired at Tuukka Rask in the Boston net after pounding 47 at him in Game 3, and in the eye-popping 71 hits they landed on Boston players.

But mistakes, oh my, there were many.

The penalty-killing unit, excellent all season and in the first three games of the post-season, gave up two goals. Reimer looked like he was handling someone else’s dirty underwear every time he was forced to touch the puck.

The Leafs were ahead 2-0. They collapsed and fell behind 3-2. They tied it 3-3 with a goal from a player mired in a terrible scoring slump.

They lost defenceman Mark Fraser to a frightening slapshot in the face that sent him, like Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ the night before, to the hospital. Nazem Kadri took a dumb penalty and barely played for three periods, then was a force in the OT session.

Jake Gardiner — again! — was a show unto himself, throwing aside all the disappointment of not being the golden-haired boy this season to play aggressively at both ends of the ice. Out of this series will surely come a sense that Gardiner has learned many hard lessons, but when the hardest hockey came, he was one of the most effective Leafs.

The two Original Six teams conspired for a truly magnificent night of hockey, with the Leafs going toe-to-toe with one of the NHL’s best teams in a playoff battle royale, a scenario that seemed remote 12 months ago after another lost season.

Sometimes you’ve got to look past the score and see the bigger picture, and while hugely disappointing for Leaf fans, this was probably a night to do it.

Moreover, the Air Canada Centre may still get one more time to rock this spring.

Game 6, after all, is scheduled for here Sunday afternoon.

“Game time has yet to be determined,” intoned ACC public address announcer Andy Frost as the stunned reaction to Krejci’s goal was still in the air.

“We hope to see you then.”

It could happen. Wouldn’t bet on a victory in Boston on Friday night to make it happen, but it could.

If it doesn’t, all is not lost for the Leafs. They have worked themselves back to a level of respect, where they must be taken seriously again by the very best teams in hockey.

And they didn’t do it by playing safe.



Leafs in need of ugly goals

By Lance Hornby

Toronto Sun

First posted: Wednesday, May 08, 2013 08:42 PM EDT

The Maple Leafs might start playing Pinball Wizard by the Who for as long as they’re alive in this series against Boston.

With low scores through the end of regular-season play and most of the way against the Bruins, the Leafs talked it up Monday morning about going to the Boston net for some deflections, bank shots and the proverbial ugly goals. Toronto must get something past Tuukka Rask or they don’t earn any free games beyond the weekend.

“In the playoffs, it’s not about how, it’s how many,” Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said pror to Game 4. “We have to put more focus on the production of offence and that’s one of the ways: Throwing the puck on net, driving the middle lane.

“If you look at the goals Boston has scored (up to Wednseday), two of them basically went off bodies. Those are areas we can improve on. If you force as many shots as we had the other night (47), maybe we can add one or two bodies to the front of the net.

“You plead with your players to go to those areas. They’ve been quite able to do that in the course of the season, but now we have to get it done here.”

Six of seven goals have come from three players up to Game 4, Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul and James van Riemsdyk. That’s two-thirds of the first line and not much help elsewhere. No one knows about that imbalance more than centre Nazem Kadri, who averaged almost a point a game up to

the start of this series. but had just one assist and five shots before Wednesday.

“I’m not getting the breaks I was before,” Kadri conceded of the tight checking that prevades in playoffs. “But I’m still getting the chances. Maybe I’m squeezing my stick a little too much because I want that first one so bad. You won’t get as many chances as you do in the regular season, so you have to make sure you’re bearing down and ready.

“It’s amazing what will happen if you just throw the puck at the net. You can generate a little bit of luck that way, especially the way every team collapses to the front of the net. That’s a lot of guys in there and so if the puck finds its way through, maybe pinballs off a couple of guys, there you go.”

The creative Kadri says he must stop trying to paint pictures when chances come and go in a flash. He’s reviewed the goals in this series and watched other matchups around the league where the most innocuous-looking shots found their way past world-class goalies.

“Sometimes I’m looking for the perfect play,” he said. “Sometimes it does work out and looks nice, but I want to focus on being a shooter tonight and getting pucks to the net. Some of these games I’m watching (this series and others), it seems anything going to the net has an opportunity to go in off a stick, an elbow, a shin pad.

“My problem is, if I don’t think I have an opportunity to score, I won’t shoot it. But that mentality is going to have to change. You never know what can happen. It can go off sticks or skates, even if it’s not the hardest shot on the world.”

Toronto Sun LOADED: 05.09.2013


Maple Leafs plan more bodies in front of Bruins net in Game 4

By Lance Hornby

Toronto Sun

First posted: Wednesday, May 08, 2013 01:16 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, May 08, 2013 01:36 PM EDT

TORONTO - Time for the Maple Leafs to become pinball wizards.

With low scores through the end of regular season play and most of this series against the Bruins, the Leafs talked it up Monday morning about going hard to the Boston net for some deflections and the proverbial ugly goals.

Toronto must get something past Tuukka Rask, and do it early on Wednesday, or they don’t earn any free games beyond the weekend.

Game 4 could be the last home start for the Leafs this season, if they fall behind 3-1 in the series.

“In the playoffs, it’s not about how, it’s how many,” Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. “We have to put more focus put on the production of offence and that’s one of the ways, throwing the puck on net, driving the middle lane.

“If you look at the goals Boston has scored, two of them basically went off bodies. Those are areas we can improve on. If you force as many shots as we had the other night (47), maybe we can add one or two bodies to the front of the net.

“You plead with your players to go to those areas. They’ve been quite able to do that in the course of the season, now we have to get it done here.”

Six of seven goals have come from three players: Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul and James van Riemsdyk. That’s two-thirds of the first line and not much help from anyone else. No one knows about that imbalance more than centre Nazem Kadri, who averaged almost a point a game up to the start of this series. but has just one assist and five shots.

“I’m not getting the breaks I was before,” Kadri conceded of the tight checking he now knows pervades in playoffs. “But I’m still getting the chances. Maybe I’m squeezing my stick a little too much because I want that first one so bad.

“You won’t get as many chances as you do in the regular season, so you have to make sure you’re bearing down and ready.”

The creative Kadri says he must stop trying to paint pictures when the openings to shoot come and go in a flash. He’s reviewed goals in this series and watched others where the most innocuous-looking shots found their way past world-class goalies.

“Sometimes I’m looking for the perfect play,” he said. “Sometimes it does work out and looks nice, but I want to focus on being a shooter tonight and getting pucks to the net. Some of these games I’m watching (this series and others), it seems anything going to the net has an opportunity to go in off a stick, an elbow, a shin pad.

“My problem is, if I don’t think I have an opportunity to score, I won’t shoot it. But that mentality is going to have to change. You never know what can happen. It can go off sticks or skates, even if it’s not the hardest shot in the world.

“It’s amazing what will happen if you just throw the puck at the net. You can generate a little bit of luck that way, especially the way every team collapses to the front of the net. That’s a lot of guys in there and so if the puck finds its way through, maybe pinballs off a couple of guys, there you go.”

No major line changes were expected after each club worked out at the Air Canada Centre Wednesday. About half the Leafs skated, with Game 3 scratches Frazer McLaren, John-Michael Liles and Clarke MacArthur staying out longer. If a defenceman is replaced, it’s expected to be Ryan O’Byrne, who had some shaky moments on Monday.

After being public about approaching series supervisor Kay Whitmore regarding the Bruins supposedly getting away with faceoff cheating, Carlyle said his discussions with the league were internal.

Boston coach Claude Julien said the day before the Leafs were “crying wolf” about faceoffs and turned his attention to the high shot total from Game 3.

“You’d like to see it cut down,” he said. “But it doesn’t reflect that game as a whole.”



Maple Leafs hook up knocked-out fan with tix

By Ryan Wolstat

Toronto Sun


Updated: Wednesday, May 08, 2013 01:16 PM EDT

TORONTO - The Maple Leafs have hooked hurting fan Kyle Hay up with tickets to Wednesday night’s game at the ACC.

The Oshawa native attended Game 2 in Boston in full Leafs regalia, along with six friends to celebrate his 23rd birthday, but the evening had a sour ending, despite Toronto’s 4-2 win.

Hay and his pals were heckled all game and had things thrown at them, before he was knocked out cold by a sucker-punch thrown by a Bruins fan while exiting the arena.

“From what I’ve been told, when I hit the landing in between the stairs I got tagged in the left side of my face and was knocked out cold for apparently three to five minutes, just lying there motionless,” he previously told the Toronto Sun.

Hay ended up in hospital with three staples in the back of his head, a concussion and a cut inside his mouth.

A social media effort quickly took form after a YouTube video surfaced showing Hay unconscious aiming to get Hay tickets to a game in Toronto this week.

A member of the MLSE media relations staff told the Sun he expected something to be done for Hay, and the organization confirmed on Tuesday night that Hay was given two tickets to take in the pivotal Game 4 of the Leafs-Bruins series.

Hay had said he’d be happy to take the tickets, but didn’t deserve them any more than any other passionate Leafs supporter.



Young Maple Leafs playing like Jekyll and Hyde

By Steve Buffery

Toronto Sun



There’s no truth to the rumour that Robert Louis Stevenson got the idea for his novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde from watching the Leafs’ young players in these Stanley Cup playoffs.

For one thing, the British writer’s book was published some 31 years before the NHL was established. However, there really is a similarity between how the Leafs’ young guys have played in the Eastern Conference quarter-finals, and the main character in Stevenson’s book. That is, one minute they’re good, the next, they’re not.

If you look at the numbers put up by guys like Nazem Kadri and Matt Frattin, and defencemen Jake Gardiner and Ryan O’Byrne, there have been differences game to game in their performance. But it’s not just numbers. Kadri seemed almost over his head in Toronto’s 4-1 loss to the Bruins in Game 1, but then the London, ON rebounded with a solid Game 2, and then struggled again somewhat in Game 3 on Monday night.

The same for Frattin. He looked good in his first game of the series, a 4-2 Leafs win in Boston in Game 2, but not as good in Monday’s 5-2 loss. Gardiner has also been inconsistent in his two games, as has O’Byrne. Coming into this series, of the four, only O’Byrne had any NHL playoff experience.

So what’s a coach to do? One of the major challenges for any coach in the playoffs is to try to get his inexperienced players to play a more consistent game. And with all the youth on this Leafs’ roster, that’s an exceptionally big challenge. Carlyle said there’s no easy solution.

“Experience, how do you get it?” he said. “You have to live it. What you’d like to do — and that’s what we’re trying to do — is to focus on one thing that we can control. We can control our commitment to playing to the level that is required. Ordinary is not good enough, we’ve stated that from Day One. We’re going to need more than ordinary. And when your young players get to experience a couple of games — the first one specifically in Boston, the first game - it looked like we were in awe. In some ways (Monday) night represented some of the things that were happening to us in Boston.

“I think it’s all part of the nervousness that goes with the inexperience,” he added. “But now we’ve got enough experience. We’ve got three games under our belt. So do what you have to do. Separate yourself from other people out there, be the best you can be.”

When you talk to Kadri, Frattin and Gardiner, they understand the deal. They know they’ve been turning the puck over far too often and generally not playing a consistent game. But they also understand that it takes time to completely understand what it takes to crank up your game at a playoff level. But to do that, you have to play the games. It’s that simple.

“It’s just time and a place. Time and a place,” said Kadri. “That’s what it’s all about. When you’ve got some space, you’ve got to be able to do what players like me do, and try to generate some scoring chances. But at the same time, if the safe play is there and the high-risk play is there, it’s most likely you’re going to take the safe one in the playoffs.”

Kadri is a real risk/reward player. He has been guilty of turning the puck over far too often against the Bruins, but he’s got so much skill, and grit,

Carlyle keeps putting him out 14 minutes a night in the hopes that he becomes a game-changer. For his part, Kadri said he’s learning.

“Teams really tighten up in the playoffs and really try do give you nothing. That’s why I was saying it’s important to stay patient and make sure you’re not trying to force plays to get yourself in the game,” he said. “You got to find other ways to do so.”

To their credit, Kadri and Frattin have not backed away from using their body against the Bruins and that has pleased Carlyle. As for Gardiner, the rookie defenceman has exceptional offensive skill, but the coach wants the Deephaven, MN native to play with more of an edge, even though he’s not particularly big for a D-man.

“The thing with Jake is, his skating is what separates him, definitely, from a lot of people. That’s his biggest asset,” said Carlyle. “When he skates the puck and moves up on the play and is active in the play, then you really notice him. From the other perspective, defensively, are the areas we ask him to improve on — become a much sterner player defensively, a harder player to play against, much more competitive in those one-on-one situations — stepping inside and protecting the puck. If you watch Dion Phaneuf, he does an excellent job at it. When people surround him, he protects the puck.”

Carlyle doesn’t have a magic wand to make his young players playoff-savvy. All he can do, besides point out their mistakes, is to hope that with every game, they learn something and bring a little more consistency to their game.



Giveaways damaging Maple Leafs

By Terry Koshan

Toronto Sun

First posted: Wednesday, May 08, 2013 10:03 AM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, May 08, 2013 10:10 AM EDT

TORONTO - If the Maple Leafs are able to climb back into the Eastern Conference quarterfinal and start beating the Boston Bruins, they’re going to have to reverse a trend that has been in high gear since the beginning of the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.

The Leafs led the National Hockey League with 554 giveaways before the playoffs and they’ve been just as generous with the Bruins, coughing up the puck 24 times in Game 3 at the Air Canada Centre.

Prior to the Stanley Cup playoff games on Tuesday night, the Leafs led all clubs with 44 giveaways.

Coach Randy Carlyle has no magic wand. If he did, he would have rid the team of the miscues long ago.

So he will appeal to his players to remember what they do well and hope that confidence spreads to other areas.

“It is up to the individuals,” Carlyle said. “As far as a system or a tweak that we can do as a coaching staff, there is always little things you can do.

“What did we do well? That is what we are trying to pick out. We are trying to focus on the little things that we did well, that gave us a chance. Those are the things we are trying to build on, that we are not that far off.” Defenceman Mark Fraser’s response to the problem?

“There is no easy answer,” Fraser said. “We just have to stop turning the puck over. It’s a little bit of moving our feet. Sometimes when we have the puck, we are stationary and it allows them to come and take the puck from us.

“You’re just throwing it to an area no one is moving to. And you can minimize a lot of things, a lot of confusion like that, with more communication. It is easier said than done, for some reason.

“We are a good skating team. We have to be moving our feet.” It would help if the Leafs had a little more desperation in their effort in Game 4.

“It is not something any of us are happy with,” centre Jay McClement said of the giveaways. “In certain situations they made us pay directly. It is just knowing the situation and having a little more urgency. I think we will learn from that.”

POINT SHOTS

Bruins coach Claude Julien hasn’t seen a single moment in the first three games that could define the series. “I would say it has been a close series,” Julien said. “Never mind the score, you look at how the games have been played. There are some nights that mistakes are costly. The amount of outnumbered situations we gave up in Game 2 are what cost us the game. Overall, it has been a clean but physical series. We have seen a lot worse in other series.” ... There was no indication from Carlyle on Tuesday that there would be lineup changes, and if that holds true, veterans John- Michael Liles and Clarke MacArthur will be among the healthy scratches again. “You just work hard and hopefully get back in at some point,” Liles said. “With the intensity of the playoffs, things can change.” ... If Patrice Bergeron cheats on faceoffs and isn’t getting tossed out as much as the Leafs would like, they have to find a way around it. Bergeron had the best faceoff winning percentage in the regular season, and if it was not all done cleanly, so what? It’s part of the game within the game ... Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf and assistant coach Dave Farrish spent several minutes in a discussion at the blue line as practice ended. Phaneuf has a Leafs-best 14 hits in the series but his six giveaways are just one fewer than Fraser, who has the most among Leafs ... One Bruins forward who has proven that the regular season can be left on the playoff doorstep: Milan Lucic. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder has six assists and is plus-5. This after he was healthy scratch for a game last month and scored just seven goals in 46 games. “I don’t think anybody was really worried about Looch coming into the playoffs,” teammate Brad Marchand said. “We all know what kind of guy he is.”

FROM THE HASH MARKS

Zdeno Chara was not on the list when the three Norris Trophy nominees were announced on Tuesday. But if you to choose from one of those players-- P. K. Subban of the Montreal Canadiens, Minnesota’s Ryan Suter and Pittsburgh Peguin Kris Letang-- or Chara to be on the ice in the final minute and you’re protecting a one-goal lead, who would it be? How could it not be Chara? ... Phil Kessel has two goals in the series, but still has to endure Chara just about every time he is on the ice. The Leafs don’t have a Chara-like answer for David Krejci, who led all playoff scorers with seven points heading into Tuesday’s games ... If someone had told Carlyle before the series started that through three games, he would have goals from just three forwards but still have one victory, we’re sure he would have taken that. There has been zero secondary scoring after Kessel, Joffrey Lupul and James van Riemsdyk, who have two goals each. Jake Gardiner is the only other Leaf to beat Tuukka Rask ... Credit Julien with the best line on Tuesday. As his news conference was wrapping up, it was clear there were no more questions, causing Julien to say, “As Torts would say, get me the hell out of here.” The joke was a reference to New York Rangers head coach John Tortorella, whose impatience during media scrums has become commonplace.



Maple Leafs' Mark Fraser hospitalized after taking puck to head

By Lance Hornby

Toronto Sun

First posted: Thursday, May 09, 2013 02:50 AM EDT

TORONTO - Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Mark Fraser walked out of the Air Canada Centre under his own power, but he likely won’t be coming back in this series.

Fraser crumpled to the ice when a Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic shot caught him in the forehead in the second period. He was led off the ice, leaving a pool of blood deep enough for the maintenance crew to have to scrape it off.

Between the third period and overtime, Fraser was in a track suit, head wrapped in bandages, heading to the garage for a trip to the hospital.

“He’s gone for a CT scan,” coach Randy Carlyle said.

“They are going to check for any broken bones in the forehead area. Obviously, he’s going to need some stitches. There’s a plastic surgeon here to do that.”

Defensive partner Cody Franson was shaken by the play, but knows Franson’s pain tolerance very well.

“He’s a tough man,” Franson said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he tries to get back for the next game.”



Carlyle lauds Leafs' work ethic

Toronto Sun staff


They played with emotion and the required desperation.

But in the end, a struggling power play and one bad pinch by captain Dion Phaneuf provided enough damage to the Leafs in their 4-3 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night at a raucous Air Canada Centre.

“In our minds, we were doing a lot of the things we wanted to do, but in the end we made a mistake,” head coach Randy Carlyle said of the failed pinch by Phaneuf that led to the two-on-one that resulted in David Krejci’s game winner.

‘Like a dagger’

“We turned the puck over in the corner and then we pinched and gave up an odd-man rush.

“That feels like a dagger after the effort that was put forward by our group.”

After being outshot 15-8 in the first period, the Leafs surged, ending the game with a 48-45 edge in that department.

“I know that our work ethic was strong,” Carlyle said. “I know that we played the game at a pretty high tempo. In overtime, we were attacking. We were definitely taking the puck and the play to the net and that is what we designed.”

-- Rob Longley

FACEOFF STANDOFF

With a different officiating crew, the Game 3 controversy about faceoffs seemed to melt into the ice.

Between contests, Toronto coach Randy Carlyle went public with his intention to speak to NHL series supervisor Kay Whitmore about inconsistencies in the alignments.

Toronto’s top centre, Tyler Bozak, was particularly ticked off to the point where he was getting kicked out of draws just by showing up.

Carlyle thought the home-team’s advantage of having its player put his stick down last was not being observed. But asked how the meeting went, Carlyle piped down and said the discussion was not for media consumption.

Toronto came out of the game Wednesday winning 34 of 75 draws.

Boston coach Claude Julien said the day before the Leafs were ‘crying wolf.’ The Bruins, led by Patrice Bergeron, take pride on the draw.

“It always has been (that way), since you have seen me in Boston and before Boston,” Julien said. “Every morning skate, what you see is a routine that we have with our centremen and we’re taking draws every game-day morning and even sometimes in practice. After practice we will grab our centremen. It is an important part of our game, a strength we have and a strength that is paying off for us right now.”

-- Lance Hornby

KREJCI IS MR. CLUTCH

David Krejci led the NHL in playoff scoring in 2011 when the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup.

After four games of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Bruins centre finds himself atop the scoring heap again.

The 27-year-old told reporters after sticking a dagger in the Maple Leafs in a 4-3 Bruins overtime win in Game 4 that he is “trying to do my best, go out there and play as hard as I can.”

As modest as he was, his teammates were the opposite.

“I have seen it for six years now,” linemate Milan Lucic said. “It is pretty amazing in my eyes that it has gone overlooked as long as it has. He is a big-time player.

“He might be underrated to you guys, but he is not underrated in this dressing room, especially for me.”

Krejci has 10 points (five goals and five assists) in four games against Toronto. On Wednesday, he got the winner in overtime after scoring twice in the second period.

In 63 career NHL playoff games, Krejci has 57 points. That’s clutch.

“Probably, yeah,” Zdeno Chara said when he was asked if Krejci is playing as well as he did in the Cup run two years ago.

“That’s what it is all about. Players elevating their level so they can dominate.”

-- Terry Koshan

RASK BEYOND HIS YEARS

A lot has seemingly been made of playoff-rookie James Reimer’s education on post-season pressure.

However, the player whose emergence in that regard may be best exemplified by his direct competitor.

Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, 26, is only one year the elder to Reimer and hasn’t received the same treatment heading into these playoffs.

Despite having to follow Tim Thomas’ successful act, the former Leafs draft choice has come into his own since becoming the featured puck-stopper in Boston.

Although he has 13 previous games of playoff experience, this season is the Finn’s opportunity to establish himself as the team’s mainstay since stepping out of Thomas’ shadow.

“I try to stay calm and not get overly excited or take too much pressure on things,” Rask said. “Nothing changes for me. I just try to play my game every night and hope these guys keep scoring goals.”

Rask’s 2.39 goals against average and .932 save percentage outduel Reimer’s 3.33 and .914, respectively.

More importantly, his quick reaction skills and knack for limiting rebounds has proven to be a difference in the goaltending battle this series.

There is much left to be accomplished before Rask has the opportunity to mimic his predecessor’s 2011 heroics, but if what we’ve seen thus far is any indication of his future, you’d better get your shades ready.

-- Dion Caputi



James Reimer knows Leafs must bring 'A' game on Friday

By Lance Hornby

Toronto Sun


Updated: Thursday, May 09, 2013 12:47 AM EDT

James Reimer wound up sharing the Hockey Night in Canada spotlight with his mother in Game 4.

And it was hard to tell at times which resident of Morweena, Man., was under the most pressure.

Marlene Reimer, sitting with the Leafs goalie’s wife April, turned her head — and even covered it a couple of times — rather than watch the close calls around the Toronto net in the third period.

“I’m sure I took a few years off their lives,” Reimer said when informed of their close-up. “But these are the exciting games. As nerve-wracking as it was for them, they are pretty memorable.”

Since coming here three years ago, Reimer had badly wanted to taste the playoffs and see if the stories of Leafs Nation roaring to life were true. Games 3 and 4 proved it, with the loud crowd of 19,708 at the Air Canada Centre, thousands in Maple Leaf Square and likely some boffo nationwide TV ratings when this series is through.

“There were a lot of momentum swings,” Reimer said. “As a goalie, you try and stay level-headed, but the fans were into it and they were pumped. Those are the games that are fun to play in.”

Unfortunately for Reimer, that could be the last one at the ACC and the season and the Leafs could be done as soon as Friday. He and the Leafs coughed up a 2-0 lead Wednesday and lost 4-3 in overtime after the Bruins put four past him in Game 3. Reimer’s penchant for rebounds, a sometimes shaky glove and careless stick-handling didn’t cost him the game, but he could have had David Krejci’s third goal, the overtime winner.

“An odd-man rush, a 3-on-1, if I’m not correct,” Reimer said when calmly reconstructing the disastrous fourth period event. “I just tried to stay square to the shooter. I thought I had a good read, I thought I got most of it, but he just beat me.

“They had a few nice shots and one lucky bounce. I thought I played well and gave the boys a chance to win, but obviously, you’d like to make those saves in overtime.”

Reimer did make 41 on Wednesday and had the best regular-season save percentage of any Leafs goalie since the stat was officially recorded. The Leafs didn’t opt for veteran help this season and let him roll as the No. 1, so don’t expect a change for Game 5.

Reimer is known to be the most cheery of Leafs despite his bad luck with injuries and close losses in previous seasons. He was tagged with all five shootout losses this season and, now, the first overtime loss of the year. Yet after a few minutes alone at his stall with his face contorted, he wasn’t thinking anything other than a return to the ACC for Game 6 on Mother’s Day.

“The amount of games we have to win has not changed,” Reimer said of trailing 3-1 in the best-of-seven. “We started out having to win four and we still have to win four.

“We’ll have to go out there Friday and play a solid game. Not really desperate hockey, but we can’t change everything we’re doing. We have to put it behind us. There were lots of things you could improve on, but Boston played hard and took advantage of opportunities. I was seeing the puck, but there were some tough breaks.

“Boston’s a good team and we’ll have to bring our ‘A’ game there.”

But if Krejci only brings his ‘B’ game, it might not matter for the Leafs. He now has 10 points in the four games.

“He seems like he’s doing it kind of quietly,” said Reimer, who insists he’s not been taking the numbers of Bruins who’ve been buzzing his net. “But he’s a good player and good for him.”



Jake Gardiner looked great despite Leafs' OT loss to Bruins

By Steve Buffery

Toronto Sun



Had to wonder about Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle matching Jake Gardiner with Ryan O’Byrne on defence. I understand the dynamic. A big, tough physical defenceman like O’Byrne with a quick, offensive force in Gardiner. But both have limited NHL playoff experience and, at times, they looked shaky, even nervous — especially O’Byrne, who made some mistakes and forced some turnovers in the first. But as the game progressed, Gardiner really came into his own and at times dominated Toronto’s attack, chipping in two assists. By the third period, he was omnipresent. Carlyle said the only way for inexperienced players to figure out how to play playoff hockey is to play the games, and Gardiner appears to be learning quickly ... Carlyle said his team needed secondary scoring from guys other than James van Riemsdyk, Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul, and he got it with Cody Franson and Clarke MacArthur chipping in goals to go along with Lupul’s.

Pre-game

It’s too bad that Carlyle and Claude Julien aren’t going at each other like Ottawa coach Paul MacLean and Montreal’s Michel Therrien. Makes for great drama. Earlier in the day, a TSN Radio guy said: “I keep hearing that MacLean was a very good player.” Talk about making you feel old. MacLean actually played in the 1990s ... Speaking of which, I really have to give our radio brethren a ton of credit. Somehow, they’re able to talk about the Leafs and the Bruins non-stop for hours on end. It’s amazing. I can’t do a two-minute video with Steve Simmons without getting distracted by my shoes ... A hockey insider on TV said one of the keys for a Toronto win is for the Leafs to score first. Scoring more than the other team is also good ... LeafsTV had two-time Daytona 500 champion Michael Waltrip on their pre-game program, because, I guess, nothing says NHL playoff hockey like a good ol’ boy from Owensboro, Ky. Waltrip said he likes the Leafs in this series because they have “true grits.” When asked if he meant “grit,” Waltrip picked up a banjo and started doing a jig. Surprising ... HNIC’s interviewer extraordinaire Elliotte Friedman did a pre-game interview with new MLSE president and CEO Tim Leiweke. Leiweke said he “wants to win,” dispelling rumours that he demands mediocrity.

First period

A lot of sensitive types don’t like Colton Orr (mainly because he fights), and were quick to point out that his “elbowing” penalty on Zdeno Chara in the second period resulted in a Bruins power-play goal. But Orr does a lot of the dirty work for Toronto, especially pounding relentlessly on Chara — something that the Leafs really need. Toronto is trying to wear Chara down by hitting him at every opportunity and at times on Wednesday, the big Bruins defenceman looked like he was getting a bit fatigued ... Even when Don Cherry praises something — in this case the New York Islanders in their series against the Pittsburgh Penguins — he comes across as a guy who’s behind the times. In talking about Isles owner Charles Wang, Grapes said on his “Coach’s Corner” segment: “Wouldn’t that be something for Wang and all those guys? Or whatever his name is? Wong or Wang or whatever it is.” Grapes was being complimentary, but you’re almost waiting for that old telephone joke. The good news is, he almost said Roberto Luongo’s name properly.

Second period

The playoffs is all about discipline and heart and Bruins defenceman Johnny Boychuk showed a lot of the latter during a scramble, when he blocked a couple of shots, was clearly hurt, but kept battling. Another example of how tough and how much character hockey players have came in the third when Leafs defenceman Mark Fraser took a hard shot to the forehead and skated off. There aren’t any athletes tougher than hockey players. Even other pro athletes concur.

Third period

Carlyle wanted his team to do better on faceoffs after crapping out in that department in Game 3, and they certainly did ... While Gardiner is one young player who is starting to look comfortable in the playoffs, the same can’t be said for the team’s second-leading scoring during the regular season, Nazem Kadri. Kadri has been a model of inconsistency in these playoffs, as was the case again in Game 4. He struggled at times and took a needless four-minute penalty early in the third period when he high-sticked and cut Chris Kelly while the Leafs were on a power play. Fortunately for Kadri, the Leafs killed off his infraction. After four playoff games, Kadri has one assist. To his credit, Kadri found another gear in OT, creating some chances and crunching Chris Kelly against the boards ...

Interesting stat from ESPN: Boston’s David Krejci is the fourth player in the last decade with a hat trick and an OT winner in the playoffs.

OVERTIME

The best part of OT were the camera shots of James Reimer’s nervous mother and his wife. Priceless. Actually, what was better was the post-game stare-down between Reimer’s wife and Dion Phaneuf’s significant other, the actress Elisha Cuthbert? Phaneuf’s ill-timed pinch resulted in the Bruins breakout and goal on Reimer. Apparently, the ladies were reacting to something a fan yelled.



Bruins push Leafs to brink with overtime win

By Rob Longley

Toronto Sun


Updated: Thursday, May 09, 2013 12:29 AM EDT

TORONTO - It was close, so excruciatingly close, to being worth the wait.

The wait of nine long years for playoff hockey to electrify the Air Canada Centre like it did throughout a long and brilliant Wednesday night.

The wait of three periods plus, an unfolding drama that had the Torono Maple Leafs and their sellout crowd of 19,708 supporters convinced it was going to end the right way.

Instead, it concluded with a colossal blunder by Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf at the Boston Bruins blueline, leading to a two-on-one and overtime heartbreaker by Boston scoring machine David Krecji to give the visitors a 4-3 victory.

The winning goal, at 13:06 of the extra period, sent the Bruins home for Game 5 with a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven NHL Eastern Conference quarterfinal and the Leafs teetering on the cliff of elimination after a game and desperate effort came up just short.

"On the bench, to be honest, we felt it was just a matter of time before we got one," said Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul, who saw two of his teammates ring shots off the post in a wildly-entertaining overtime period. "So obviously it hurts a lot, but the series isn't over.

"We're not done yet."

Avoiding that fate will be the most severe test yet for a Leafs team that stormed out to an early 2-0 lead, gave up three second-period goals to lose it before squaring things up late in that middle frame.

The Bruins, who were out shot 48-45, could smell the frustrating on the Leafs

"It was crucial to get a win," said Krecji, the leading scorer in these playoffs, whose overtime winner capped off a hat trick and a domination his line has held over the Leafs so far.

"We knew they were a desperate team. We were a desperate team as well. It’s a big difference going back home with a 3-1 lead."

The win was huge on multiple levels for the Bruins, who like any team with that type of series lead hold a massive advantage now. In their storied history, the Bruins are 15-2 in seven-game series that they jump out to the 3-1 margin.

While there was plenty to like about the Leafs’ effort – particularly the resilience and go-for-broke approach late in the third period and in overtime – they just couldn't get the one extra good bounce they needed. The power play, which was an area of focus for coach Randy Carlyle coming into the game, was a benign 0-for-4, managing just three shots. The Bruins, meanwhile, got power-play goals from Krejci and Patrice Bergeron on marginal penalties to Colton Orr and Leo Komarov respectively.

In the overtime session, the Leafs surged and the building roared, especially when Matt Frattin rang one off the right post behind Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask.

"We didn't want to play not to lose," said defenceman Jake Gardiner, who had a pair of assists and continued his strong play since getting into the lineup for Game 2.

As Carlyle watched the action behind the Leafs bench, grimacing and reliving the passion of his playing days, he said his gut was churning. Frattin, Lupul, Tyler Bozak and Nazem Kadri all had stellar scoring chances and each were denied.

"I’ve been around this game a long time and it seems that doesn’t matter in overtime," Carlyle said. "It’s one bounce, one shot, one rebound, one deflection, one fluky bounce in an arena, one block."

Or in this case, one blown play, a mistake the a crushed-looking Phaneuf owned up to afterwards.

Ultimately, it may be too little too late, but more than in the first three games of the series, the Leafs saw first-hand – and excruciatingly so – the drama, intensity and spell that the NHL playoffs can bring.

"It was a man’s hockey game out there with a lot of energy and a lot of physical play but that’s the way the playoffs are played," Carlyle said. "That’s the way it’s supposed to be played and we just have to find a way to bottle everything, the positives that we put forth in tonight’s game and bring that for Friday in Boston."

rob.longleysunmedia.ca



Jake Gardiner growing into his NHL game with Leafs

Michael Traikos

TORONTO — They used to call him Silver.

It was a year ago and it was meant half jokingly, half seriously. Jake Gardiner, who skipped a step and went straight from college to the NHL, had not only become an everyday defenceman for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he was playing with so much poise that teammates said it looked like he was a silver stick-carrying veteran with 1,000 games under his belt.

Bruins' Jaromir Jagr taking in latest Stanley Cup run

For a rookie, it was quite the nickname. It was just not fully earned.

Gardiner did not have 1,000 games under his belt. He hadn’t even played 100 games. He still had all his teeth and his face was free of scars. He had yet to go through the kind of adversity that a grizzled veteran would typically go through.

And then this year arrived. In an up-and-down sophomore season, in which Gardiner suffered a concussion during the lockout, was demoted to the minors at the start of the season and sat in the press box for stretches at a time, the 22-year-old finally earned his stripes.

He now has the scar to prove it.

“That one?” Gardiner said, as he traced his index finger along the remnants of a 10-stitch cut he suffered a month ago above his right eye. “That was against New Jersey. [Steve] Bernier hit me.”

For Gardiner, it is tangible evidence of the growth that has taken place in the last several months. He is still the freewheeling defenceman who makes everything look so easy because of his skating ability. But after sitting out as a healthy scratch in Game 1 of the playoffs and then picking up points in the next two games against the Boston Bruins, there seems to be an even greater appreciation of what it takes to stick in this league.

“I just kept working hard,” Gardiner, who played only 12 games for the Leafs this season, said of returning to the lineup. “I knew there would be a chance for me to get back and when I did, I just wanted to make sure I made a good impression and help the team any way I could.”

He was on the ice for more than 21 minutes and scored a power-play goal in Monday’s 5-2 loss. And while Gardiner struggled to contain Jaromir Jagr in the defensive zone and committed four turnovers, they were overlooked in a game where he made an offensive impact.

“I think the more games Jake has played, specifically the two in the playoffs now, the mistakes that he’s made are much more manageable from a team standpoint,” head coach Randy Carlyle said. “His positives are far outweighing his negatives, so you hope that’s a sign that the player is developing … ”

It’s not too often that you’re born in the NHL, so to speak.”

In that regard, Gardiner is like a lot of the Leafs. This was one of the youngest and least experienced teams in the league this year, so these playoffs are another learning curve, another chance to test themselves and grow. Whether the team advances to the second round or not, the players should come out of this stronger and more prepared, just as Gardiner did after everything he went through in the last several months.

“Last year, he had a great year and I don’t want to say he had to pay his dues,” said Leafs defenceman John-Michael Liles, “but it’s a tough situation where you sometimes have to take a step back and you’re not in a place where you thought you were going to be or whatever.

“It’s not an easy thing to swallow. It never is, but you learn from it and you remember what it’s like so hopefully you never have to be in that situation again. Everybody here has been through tough times whether it’s going through the minors and everybody appreciates that. It’s not too often that you’re born in the NHL, so to speak.”

Liles, who was 23 years old when he finally broke into the NHL, speaks from experience. Despite playing more than 600 games, he was a healthy scratch for the last two games of the series.

In other words, there is a reason why reaching 1,000 games is treated as a major accomplishment.

Gardiner might eventually get there. But like Nazem Kadri, who had to bounce back-and-forth between the minors before earning a regular spot in the lineup, it will probably take some time.

“Jake’s development continues,” said Toronto Marlies head coach Dallas Eakins. “There’s still a ton of things that he’s going to get better at and excel at and improve upon.

“Let’s not forget that he’s a second-year pro.”

National Post LOADED: 05.09.2013


Jaromir Jagr savours playoff run with Bruins

Sean Fitz-Gerald

TORONTO – There was a dark stain of unknowable origin on the waistband of the jockstrap hanging in the dressing room stall. Material was missing from the protective cup, torn or worn away from use. Shin pads resting on the shelf were fraying along the bottom ridge.

Maple Leafs’ playoff experience about to get serious

The man standing in front of the stall — his stall — was not factory fresh, either. Jaromir Jagr was still recovering from an illness that knocked him off his feet in the final days of the season. He said he lost weight. He did not know how much, but he could feel it.

Jagr, now 41, is two decades beyond his Stanley Cup glory in Pittsburgh. His famed curly mullet is gone. Most of his draft class has graduated into retirement. And while he said he wants to play for another year or two, Jagr is acutely aware of the inevitable.

“I’m not going to play many more games,” he said on Tuesday.

That realization is one reason why, as he stood with the Boston Bruins during the national anthems on Monday, Jagr absorbed the moment. Before playing in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarter-final series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, inside an arena filled to capacity, and with thousands more gathered to watch outside, he took a mental snapshot.

“It’s something you have to enjoy,” Jagr said. “It’s special. It’s kind of an extra bonus for a hockey player, you know? Just to be part of that.”

The Bruins made him part of their team as a consolation prize of sorts after they lost the race for Jarome Iginla at the trade deadline. Boston settled instead on the NHL’s active playoff scoring leader, sending two prospects and a second-round draft pick to the Dallas Stars for a player who is one point away from passing Brett Hull for sole possession of sixth place on the all-time post-season scoring list.

Jagr is not as fast as he might once have been, but by all accounts he remains a workout fanatic. And, at 240 pounds, he is still an immovable object with the puck on his stick.

“Just putting that big ass out there and just protecting the puck,” Leafs defenceman Carl Gunnarsson said with a smile. “He’s good, he’s big, he’s strong. It’s tough to move him off the puck.”

“You almost have to two-on-one the guy,” Leafs winger Clarke MacArthur said. “It’s ridiculous.”

“If you can imagine pushing up against that wall? That’s what it feels like,” Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said, motioning to a wall behind the lectern. “He’s that big, and he’s that strong.”

To be that good at this age, you have to be committed. And that’s what he is

James van Riemsdyk was a year old the year Jagr was drafted, in 1990. Last year, after Jagr returned from a three-year diversion playing in Russia, they became teammates in Philadelphia. And van Riemsdyk participated in one of Jagr’s infamous, late-night work-out sessions. As he told the story Tuesday, he said he took a friend with him.

“I went to the rink late and he came with me one time, and we were laughing,” the Leafs forward said. “If I would have told him five years ago that I would be sitting in a hockey rink at 12:30 at night going out for a skate with Jagr, he’d call me crazy.”

The Bruins have found a home for Jagr on the third line, teaming him with Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly. Jagr set up Boston’s second goal of the game on Monday by stealing the puck from Leafs defenceman Ryan O’Byrne behind the Toronto net, then slipping a pass over to Peverley, who was wide open. It gave Boston a 2-0 lead, en route to a 5-2 win.

Glenn Lowson/National Post

“Although he may have lost a little bit of his speed, which is understandable, he hasn’t lost his hockey sense, his creativity or skill level,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “To be that good at this age, you have to be committed. And that’s what he is.”

When asked about what winning a Stanley Cup would mean at this point in his career — the goal at the end of that kind of commitment — Jagr was careful in his answer. He said he wanted to make sure he explained it clearly.

“For me, it’s more special if I can help to make someone else happy, or the fans who are waiting for it, or my teammates who have never won it,” he said. “That’s what I enjoy more.”

National Post, with files from Bruce Arthur



Leafs’ Mark Fraser leaves Game 4 after taking puck to the face

Sean Fitz-Gerald

Mark Fraser does not wear a visor.

Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Mark Fraser has left Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarter-final after a puck struck him in the face, leaving a pool of blood next to the home team’s net.

It happened with about 12 minutes left in the third period against the Boston Bruins. The Leafs were scrambling in their defensive zone, and a rolling puck found its way to Milan Lucic. The Bruins winger fired, striking Fraser.

Fraser does not wear a visor.



Leafs play a game to remember in overtime loss to Bruins

Bruce Arthur

TORONTO — Joffrey Lupul stared straight ahead, his voice low and steady; the room was quiet. He said, “It felt like on the bench like it was just a matter of time before one went in. [Tuukka] Rask made some huge saves, a couple off the post; so it hurts. But such is playoff hockey. It would have been great if one of those posts or one of those big saves had gone in for us. Instead it hurts.”

Lack of secondary scoring haunts Leafs in overtime loss to Bruins

They were all like that; James Reimer smiled, but it was his pained smile, a mask. Lupul was asked if playing an overtime hockey game — a game that tilted back and forth like the deck of a ship in a storm, sloshing back and forth, nearly tipping so many times — was nerve-wracking, or was it fun? Lupul smiled, like a little light had gone on inside him.

“Oh,” he said, wistful, putting weight to the words, “it was fun.”

Toronto lost Game 4 of their first-round series to Boston on Wednesday night, 4-3 in overtime, and the Bruins have a 3-1 series lead, and that means this series is probably all but over. Playoff games are like Orwell’s animals: they’re all equal, but some are more equal than others. There’s a difference between the games you want and the games you need, and as the series travels further along, you discover the difference. There is also a difference between the games you remember, really remember. This was one of those.

Game 4 was the first game of this first-round series against the Boston Bruins that Toronto really needed, and the first one that was a thrill. The difference between 2-2 and 3-1 is the difference between a view of the canyon and the edge, and it’s never felt like there was an awful lot of doubt in this series, certainly on the Boston side. The Bruins have been through this kind of thing, endured the wars, stared into the abyss and skated away.

Toronto, though — well, this was a big step further on their journey into this undiscovered country. In Game 2, Toronto played as if they belonged there; as Dave Poulin, the team’s vice-president of hockey operations, put it after that game: “We played.”

Tyler Anderson/National Post

Tyler Anderson/National PostThe Toronto Maple Leafs celebrate after scoring the first goal against the Boston Bruins during the fourth game of their first round playoff series at Air Canada Centre Toronto, Ontario, May 8, 2013.

Well, on Wednesday night, in the first game that they could not afford to lose, the Leafs played, right to the end. They pulled ahead; they came back. They screwed up; they recovered. We hadn’t seen a knife-edge game in this series; Games 2 and 3 were briefly close, and then they weren’t. In every game of this series control was asserted, and never relinquished; the suckers writing stories on deadline didn’t have heart attacks mashing their keyboards late, because by the end the story had been long written on the ice.

This was the game, in both importance and in flow, that constricted your chest and didn’t let go. The Leafs went up 2-0, and the Bruins dragged the lead back. David Krejci and his linemates, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton, continued to dominate the series — Krejci in particular must be a rich man, because he owns the Leafs — and the Leafs clambered back, with Clarke MacArthur briefly rising from the press box dead.

This was the game, in both importance and in flow, that constricted your chest and didn’t let go

And because of all that, the game wheeled back and forth through the third period and overtime. If you wanted to learn about these guys under another level of pressure, this was it. Jake Gardiner, for instance, was outstanding all night long, toying with the puck, gliding, controlling play, Toronto’s best

defenceman; maybe he was just well-rested. He makes mistakes, but his exclusion from this roster has been baffling.

So many chances, so many ifs. Regulation ended in a blur of palpitations: Lucic skating like a high-speed train to catch Reimer out of the net, Krejci stopped by Reimer’s diving stop, Horton tied up by Tyler Bozak on the rebound, a whirring Phil Kessel rush the other way, Tyler Seguin just wide at the very end. This series, and this season, has already been a set of shock paddles to this fan base’s exhausted heart. This was an adrenaline needle, over and over.


Tyler Anderson/National PostLeafs fans cheer before the start of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins fourth game of their first round playoff series at Air Canada Centre Toronto, Ontario, May 8, 2013.

And in overtime, the needles got huge. There is no sound like a hockey arena in overtime; if the game is the ship, those are the waves. Toronto came close so many times — Matt Frattin hit a post, which in an overtime is like a window into an alternate future — and finally, the game tilted back to Boston. One of Dion Phaneuf’s chief weaknesses has always been his ability to judge distance and angle in open space, to know when to attack a puck and when to fall back. Too often, in the past, he attacked, unwisely. He had cut those kind of plays down of late; he had become more reliable.

And with just over seven minutes left in overtime, after all the back and forth and lurching howls, Phaneuf pinched on a loose puck in Boston’s end, blowing up Horton as he got there. Too late. Krejci took the puck down on a 2-on-2 that Ryan O’Byrne didn’t realize wasn’t a 2-on-1, and snapped the shot short side. It was the 182nd shot directed at a net on the night, and the last one that got there. It was a sudden ending, a thud.

“He just beat me,” said Reimer.

And then, for a moment, the Air Canada Centre began to applaud.

“We just had one mistake,” said defenceman Cody Franson. “And it cost us.”

“We’ve got a lot of character in this room,” said Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk, “and this is far from over.”

This was the kind of game this city has really been waiting for, because these are the games, as a fan, that get burned into your brain

“I try to be as calm as I possibly can, but inside, your guts are churning, simple as that,” said coach Randy Carlyle. “Every shot directed towards the net, the emotions are up and down, and your breath’s taken away. I found I was climbing on the bench more than I ever done. But that’s the excitement that’s there on the bench, and that’s the adrenaline rush that you get at ice level. Being a former player I’ve always said that’s the closest thing to being a player, when you’re a coach.”

It was the best game of the series, hands down. This series is probably over, but this was the kind of game this city has really been waiting for, because these are the games, as a fan, that get burned into your brain. You rue the missed chances, replay the biggest moments, remember the feeling of jeopardy and thrill. You will remember living it. And you will remember the thud.



Lack of secondary scoring haunts Leafs in overtime loss to Bruins

Michael Traikos

TORONTO — Nazem Kadri spent the morning before Game 4 wondering where his scoring touch had gone and how to get it back.

Bruce Arthur: Leafs play a game to remember in overtime loss to Bruins

Maybe, said the Toronto Maple Leafs forward, he needed to shoot more and get to the dirty areas. Or maybe he just needed a little bit of luck. Whatever the reason, the same player who scored nine times in March entered Wednesday’s game against the Boston Bruins with just one goal in the last 14 games.

“Maybe I’m just not getting the breaks that I was before,” said Kadri, who tied for second on the Leafs with 18 goals in the regular season. “I’m still getting a fair amount of chances, maybe I’m just squeezing my stick a little too tight because I want that first one so bad.”

A lot of Leafs did.

Tyler Bozak, who scored 12 times in the regular season, has yet to score in the playoffs. Neither has Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin or Matt Frattin. The list goes on and on. In fact, heading into Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarter-finals, only three forwards — Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul and James van Riemsdyk — had scored goals in the series.


Tyler Anderson/National PostToronto Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer makes a save against the Boston Bruins.

“I think we have three players who have provided offence here,” said head coach Randy Carlyle. “So we’ve got some other people we’re looking for to step up and provide some offence.”

Once again, the big three carried the load in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Bruins, who took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The Leafs managed just eight shots in the first period, but they were of such high quality that they scored on two of them and could have easily had two more if not for Tuukka Rask, who poke-checked Kessel on a partial breakaway and stopped Bozak on a point-blank one-timer.

Lupul scored his team-leading third of the playoffs on an extended give-and-go passing play with Kessel, while defenceman Cody Franson sailed a seeing-eye point shot through a crowd of defenders to give Toronto a 2-0 lead in the first period. Clarke MacArthur — a healthy scratch in Games 2 and 3 — tied the game 3-3 late in the second period, but the Leafs needed more from their secondary scorers.

That Kessel, Lupul and van Riemsdyk, who combined for 25 shots on Wednesday, have led the offensive charge is both a positive and a negative. The playoffs are a time when your best players are supposed to perform as such. That is not happening in Boston, where the top line of Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand scored for the first time on Wednesday.

The difference is that it is hardly noticeable, because the Bruins’ second line of Krejci — who had a hat trick and the game-winner — Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic have combined for eight goals, while the third and fourth lines have each contributed a goal.

“You need to have that,” said Bruins forward Chris Kelly. “You can’t have one or two lines contributing every game because it gets to the point where teams focus on them and take them away. So you need a balanced attack, you need four lines contributing. That’s what makes you have success in the playoffs.”


Tyler Anderson/National PostToronto Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer (left) and Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Matt Frattin (right) manage to keep Boston Bruins centre Patrice Bergeron (middle) from scoring during the fourth game of their first round playoff series at Air Canada Centre Toronto, Ontario, May 8, 2013.

A balanced attack is what made Toronto so successful in the regular season. Like the Bruins, who had six players with 10 or more goals in the regular season, the Leafs had five players with 10 or more goals and two others with nine each.

For some reason, that secondary scoring has dried up in the playoffs, where the Leafs are averaging just 2.5 goals per game — down from three in the regular season — despite averaging nearly 40 shots.

Carlyle said the Leafs are not creating enough traffic or in a position for rebounds. But Kadri said part of his issue was shot selection.

“It seems that sometimes I’m looking for the perfect play and it doesn’t always work out,” said Kadri, who had three shots in 12 minutes of ice time on Wednesday. “I think my problem is if I don’t think I have an opportunity or a chance to score where I’m at, I won’t shoot it. But I think that mentality has to change for me.”

If it does not, this series could be over by Friday.


675749 Vancouver Canucks

Canucks' Cup dreams left to rot in hockey graveyard

By Iain MacIntyre

Vancouver Sun columnist

May 8, 2013 6:06 PM

Canucks' Cup dreams left to rot in hockey graveyard

Head coach Alain Vigneault and his Vancouver Canucks watch from the bench as their season slips away in Game 4 of their NHL Western Conference semifinal series against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, May 7, 2013 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. The Sharks won 4-3 in overtime to sweep the best-of-seven series four games to none.

Erect a tombstone on the Vancouver Canucks’ season and the epitaph would read: What if?

Like, what if Richmond referee Kelly Sutherland hadn’t blown an overtime call from 100 feet away? Or what if coach Alain Vigneault hadn’t publicly blasted Sutherland after another terrible call cost the Canucks a regular-season game in Calgary?

What if Kevin Bieksa hadn’t accused the San Jose Sharks of diving, a charge that doubled as an allegation against the referees?

What if goalie Cory Schneider didn’t bobble pucks on the two goals that ended the Canucks’ season? Or what if Vigneault had made a safer choice — on numerous levels — to start Roberto Luongo in the last game that mattered?

What if Jannik Hansen hit the empty net near the end of Game 2 or Daniel Sedin had buried his open-net rebound chance in Game 4?

What if key secondary scorers Hansen and Chris Higgins had managed even one goal each in the series instead of combining for zero points against the Sharks?

What if Canuck penalty killing or discipline had been even a little better?

What if general manager Mike Gillis had acquired Raffi Torres and Michal Handzus instead of Derek Roy at the National Hockey League trade deadline?

What if the obvious need for more size and grit among the top nine forwards had been addressed any time in the last two years or Gillis put money wasted on Keith Ballard to better use any time in the last three?

Only losing teams ask questions like these.

And we’ve been asking them about the Canucks for four decades.

For half that time, the team wasn’t good enough.

For most of the last 20 years, it hasn’t been good enough when it mattered in the playoffs.

Sure, the Canucks got robbed on Tuesday. And if two paramount officiating decisions had gone the other way, Vancouver would still be down 3-1 in the first round to the Sharks, precisely 15 wins shy of the Stanley Cup. Fifteen more playoff wins for these Canucks? May as well be 50 or 500.

None of the what-ifs should cloud the fact that the Canucks, as configured, simply are not good enough and require substantive changes.

This should have been a series, not a sweep. But even had Vancouver, which managed its A-game for maybe three periods out of 12 (plus overtime), somehow made it through San Jose, it was not going to advance further against a brawny, powerful second-round opponent like the Anaheim Ducks or St. Louis Blues or Los Angeles Kings.

The Canucks lack physical heft. They are too small, too easily forced to the perimeter, on the top three lines. They’ve had no third-line centre — or a third line — since Max Lapierre played above himself in the 2011 playoffs after Manny Malhotra’s eye injury.

The defence is solid at the top but needs better depth.

And the irony in goal is that a team that boasted of having "two No. 1 goalies" couldn’t get enough saves from either Luongo or Schneider to beat Antti Niemi.

And looming bigger than all this is the uncomfortable truth that the best seasons of the Canucks’ best players are melting away, year by year, like the Greenland ice sheet, gone forever. The team is one or two neglectful seasons away from joining the Calgary Flames at the precipice.

There is also this troubling big-picture question: Is the Canucks’ reputation for diving and complaining, a cliché unfairly applied to all their players, so permanent the team can’t escape the toxicity and will never get the benefit of the doubt from referees?

If the answer is yes, then the Canucks are doomed until they dismantle or part with Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows.

If the answer is no, it’s difficult to explain the 24-10 disparity in power plays against the Sharks. To be sure, there were some plain careless or dumb penalties by the Canucks. But they weren’t two-and-a-half times rougher or more reckless than the Sharks.

I was unfairly hard on Bieksa for his cross-check of Tommy Wingels late in Tuesday’s third period, which set up the Sharks’ tying goal. But knowing the officiating climate through four games, the leeway given Vancouver — almost none — and the likelihood a Sharks player would topple if given the chance, no Canuck could afford to push a player from behind into the boards.

Vancouver failed to adapt to the officiating, although even that doesn’t explain Danny Sedin’s boarding penalty in overtime.

Outrage aside, the Canucks need to get younger and stronger, and deeper at forward. Yes, these are largely the same things we were saying last season. And, yes, it remains harder to achieve than people realize due to the salary cap and no-trade clauses that have been given out like Timbits. That’s why management teams get paid millions to run NHL clubs.

Gillis, NHL general manager of the year only two years ago, had as bad a season as anybody on the Canucks. Well, maybe winger David Booth’s year was worse. The sleep doctor is nice; a genuine third-line centre would be better.

Nothing if not methodical (see Luongo trade mission), Gillis will now take his time deciding when he might fire Vigneault. But coaching is down the list on Canuck problems.

Hope has always heartened Canuck fans still waiting after 43 years for their first Stanley Cup parade. Almost always there is the belief that next season will be better, partly because so many years have been atrocious and, recently, because the trajectory of both the team and its top players tilted upwards.

That trajectory has flattened as the players age. Without key fixes, there’s no reason to think next season will be less disappointing than this one’s four-game playoff exit. Unless the immediate objective no longer is to win the Stanley Cup.

Vancouver Sun: LOADED: 05.09.2013


Canucks’ Sedin twins, Alex Edler to play for Sweden at hockey worlds

Vancouver Sun

May 8, 2013 4:06 PM

A trio of Vancouver Canucks — Daniel and Henrik Sedin plus blueliner Alex Edler — will suit up for host nation Sweden at the world hockey championships that is now underway, says the Swedish Ice Hockey Association.

Also, while Canucks winger Jannik Hansen won’t join his native Denmark team due to injury, Vancouver’s 2011 first-round draft choice Nicklas Jensen will play for the Danes.

All four Canuck Euros are expected to arrive in Stockholm in the coming days.

The Swedish stars became available when the Canucks were swept out of the Stanley Cup playoffs in four straight games by the San Jose Sharks, capped by Tuesday night’s 4-3 overtime loss.

According to Swedish media reports, the trio will be in Stockholm at the earliest for Saturday’s game against Slovenia.

For Edler it would be the second major tournament with the men’s national team after the 2008 Worlds, while the Sedin twins have represented Sweden in the last two Olympic Winter Games, winning the gold medal in 2006 in Turin.

The Sedin brothers have also played in four world championships so far — for the first time as 18-year-olds in 1999 and most recently in 2005.

The hockey worlds are the last major tournament before next February’s 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

“These are obviously great players that will give the team a boost,” Swedish national team coach Pär Mårts said in an interview with iihf.com. “Another good thing is that this ends our process of adding players and this will give the team peace of mind to focus on the game.”

Meanwhile, the 20-year-old Jensen could be in the Danes’ lineup as early as Saturday against Switzerland. The Danish Ice Hockey Association announced that Jensen had got the green light to join the team.

The 20-year-old Herning native could arrive earliest for the game on Saturday against Switzerland.



Daniel Sedin’s penalty cruel and unusual punishment

By Cam Cole

Vancouver Sun columnist

May 8, 2013 5:54 PM

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Out in the hallway, where the Vancouver Canucks brought Henrik Sedin to be interviewed because the tiny visitors’ locker room at HP Pavilion couldn’t have handled the crush, reporters crowded around the captain and ... how to put this? He said a bad word.

It rhymed with woolspit.

Coming from this thoroughly decent gentleman, it was as out of character as ... well, as his brother Daniel earning a post-game, game misconduct penalty for abusive language, for telling referee Kelly Sutherland what he thought of the boarding penalty in overtime that cost the Canucks a 4-3, season-ending decision Tuesday night at the hands of the San Jose Sharks.

No matter how you feel about the Canucks, the idea that their season, and almost inarguably their era of excellence, should end on an undeserved penalty to one of the most decent human beings in the game is damned poor symbolism.

In the hall, Henrik stood up for Daniel, just as Danny would have done for Hank had the roles been reversed. Hardly surprising, considering that these magnificent twins are so joined at the hip that each took exactly the same 905 games — staggered, because Henrik has been an iron man and Daniel has had a broken leg and a concussion — to surpass the points total of the Canucks’ previous franchise scoring leader, Markus Naslund.

And the call WAS terrible. Shoulder to shoulder as they chased the puck, Daniel was just stronger on his skates, and Sharks’ Tommy Wingels veered off-balance and fell badly into the boards.

Wednesday morning, when he woke up in his hotel room, Sutherland would no doubt be seeing the highlights on TV and thinking: “Man, I blew that one.” He’d probably be hearing from the league, too, and if there is any conscience in the NHL offices, sitting out the rest of the playoffs.

Conspiracy theorists will suggest that Sutherland had it in for the Canucks because of coach Alain Vigneault’s comments about his work after a Vigneault bench minor — again, for abusive language — cost his team a

game earlier this season. The head coach swore (not literally) that all he had said was “That’s an elbow!” and Sutherland assessed the penalty. A livid Vigneault railed post-game that referees ought to be held accountable for their screwups, the same way players and coaches are. That wouldn’t have gone over well.

Still, the idea of a vendetta on this scale is probably a stretch. Not that referees haven’t made the Canucks pay for their past sins — flopping, head-snapping, chirping; parts of their game that the chief offenders of yore, Alex Burrows and Ryan Kesler and Max Lapierre have worked hard to leave behind, some harder than others. The zebras have long memories, and as terrific a player as Burrows is, officials may never cut him a break if he plays until he’s 40.

But that it happened to one of the twins was cruel and unusual punishment.

They are not quite choirboys, but the NHL may have no more honest players. They have been mocked for their red-headed, fringe-bearded, buzz-cut sameness, derided as soft, called “sisters” for their refusal to fight — and have just kept plugging away.

Even when the law let them down, as in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, when Boston’s Brad Marchand speed-bagged Daniel’s head five or six times while a referee — Kelly Sutherland; how’s that for coincidence? — stood by and watched it happen, the twins stayed classy.

They knew, they have always known, that in some ways they would forever be judged just a little more harshly because of being non-violent people in a violent game.

“The referees are doing a good job,” Daniel said, after that 2011 final debacle, when the Bruins simply pushed the Canucks out of the game.

“They’re going to call what they see. We play hard whistle to whistle and whatever happens, happens. Like I’ve said before, if we start fighting back and throwing punches, that’s when [they say] we’re frustrated.

“So for us, it’s a lose-lose situation. We’re either too soft or we’re frustrated. That’s the way it is.”

The key to their success in those days, the key to their failure in that final and in these playoffs, is that the Canucks’ power play can no longer make the opposition pay for taking physical liberties.

“I’ve always said if teams want to play you like that, we always scored on the power play, which made them stop,” Daniel said. “So it was up to us to make them pay, and we couldn’t do that.”

If it was true in June of 2011, it’s doubly true in May of 2013.

Their cycling, telepathic game was never better than in that window of opportunity following the 2004-05 lockout when, for a few years, the NHL decided referees would be mandated to call the rules as written. What a concept.

That window, like that of the Sedins and the Canucks, is now closed. It is no coincidence, that when the interference standard was relaxed and the rodeo returned, the twins’ effectiveness waned.

For a short time, a two-headed show of guile and sleight-of-hand the likes of which hockey had never seen before from a pair of twins was made possible by a rare period of clarity — forced clarity, of course, when the league was hoping to win back its fans after losing an entire season to greed.

A lot of factors — poor trades and drafts leading to a lack of a supporting cast, advancing age, injuries to forwards that ate up a disproportionate share of the season — contributed to the fading of that act. But the NHL has its share of the responsibility, too.

Like the absurd ending of Game 4 on Tuesday night, it’s not something of which the league should be terribly proud.



I Watched This Playoff Game: Canucks at San Jose Sharks, May 7, 2013

Harrison Mooney

May 8, 2013

Trailing by a goal and facing elimination heading into the third period, Ryan Kesler made it very clear what the Vancouver Canucks needed to do to keep their scant playoff hopes alive. “We just got to go out,” he told Farhan Lalji, all fiery determination and temerity, “and compete like bastards.”

Now, admittedly, I’m not entirely sure how a bastard competes. Did he mean the Jon Snow type of bastard? Or the Inglourious, Nazi-killing type of basterd? Personally, I would have appreciated Kesler spelling it out loud instead of just saying it.

Either way, the Canucks did indeed come out in the third period like a group of lovechildren and, by the eleven-minute mark, they had turned a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead. Unfortunately, Kesler’s speech had also inspired the officials to officiate like bastards. Two illegitimate powerplay goals against later, the Vancouver Canucks were eliminated. For the last time in 2013, I watched this game.

Canucks 3 – 4 San Jose (OT)

A quick disclaimer: the Canucks didn’t lose this series because of the officiating (although San Jose’s absurd, 24-10 advantage certainly didn’t help). Truthfully, they didn’t even lose this game because of the officiating. They lost it because their penalty kill killed the wrong team. That said, the Canucks shouldn’t have had the opportunity to lose this game on the penalty kill, since the last two calls that went against them were absolute rubbish.

The victim on both calls (apart from the Canucks): Tommy Wingels, who apparently became a made man at some point between Game 3 and Game 4. How and when he went about making his bones, I have no earthly idea, but from that moment on, the officials introduced Wingels as “a friend of ours”, and he was an untouchable. Kevin Bieksa was the first to learn this, pushing Wingels behind the goal and earning a cross-checking minor. It was the sort of “cross-check” that befalls a Sedin about a bajillion times a game without any reaction from the officials. But Wingels went down, one would argue of his own volition, and an official’s arm had the equal and opposite reaction of going up, like Newton’s Third Law of Motion except for terrible officiating.

The Sharks scored on the powerplay, sending the game to overtime, where Daniel Sedin committed the cardinal sin of touching Wingels again, making mild and completely legal shoulder-to-shoulder contact with the winger in the corner. Wingels lost his footing and went into the boards awkwardly, which was unfortunate. Daniel was sent to the box for boarding, which was also unfortunate, but also unbelievable and wrong. The Sharks scored again on the ensuing powerplay and that was that. You’d have thought Thing T. Thing from the Addams Family was a ref tonight, because the officials had a hand in deciding this game.

Daniel Sedin was given an additional penalty at the end of this game for abusive language. What did he say? If I could hazard a guess: “Tommy Wingels sucks.” You can’t speak ill of Wingels, either.

If there was another offending party on the overtime goal, it was Cory Schneider, who did not give the Canucks the goaltending to which they’ve grown accustomed. He was shaky all evening, and really shouldn’t have had trouble with that Joe Thornton shot. In hindsight, you can certainly say that Roberto Luongo should have been in goal, but only in hindsight. Schneider was the right move going in. He was healthy, and he had outplayed Roberto Luongo for the second year in a row and won the right, fair and square. This was his game to lose, and unfortunately, he exercised his right.

The fact that this season ends with Schneider looking bad and people overreacting by clamouring for Luongo a year after they overreacted by clamouring for Schneider is darkly hilarious. You’re ridiculous, Vancouver.

Speaking of unfairly-maligned individuals accused of being terrible by flippy-floppy, flipping flip-floppers, this was more than likely Alain Vigneault’s last game behind the Vancouver bench. He remains an excellent coach who at first did a lot with little, then developed what he was given into a lot, but his time with this organization is probably over. After two first-round exits in a row, I think it’s fair to say he’s hit his ceiling here. Knowing this and expecting their market share to drop significantly as a result, the Cadbury candy company, which owns both Halls Cough Drops and Trident gum, announced layoffs in Vancouver.

This broadcast opened with a great stat. As the TSN team set up the matchup, they explained that the Canucks’ needed to score more goals, and highlighted it by telling viewers that, not only had Chris Higgins gone 18

games without one, but he had also gone 468 shifts without a goal. I like the idea of producing a more shocking number by citing your stat in a larger denomination. I kept waiting for them to tell us that Henrik Sedin had gone 910,800 seconds without a goal.

Watching this game with Daniel, I remarked that Mason Raymond had all but stopped existing some time ago. I wondered if, perhaps, he had inadvertently gone back in time to the year his parents met and fell in love, then gotten hit by the car that was supposed to hit his father and made himself the object of his future mother’s affections, then come back to 2013 without sorting it all out. We all saw what happened to Marty McFly’s guitar skills as his existence was being threatened. Raymond needs to go back there before it’s too late, not just for the sake of his career, but for the sake of his existence. Anyway, then he scored a game-tying goal.

Raymond may have also played his last game as a Canuck. He has a lot of good qualities, but one thing I won’t miss: his tendency to slow up on puck races and attempt to body the guy he’s racing away from the puck. He did it several times tonight. It was infuriating every time. Raymond: you are faster than most and stronger than few. This is the exact opposite of what you should be doing. Does The Road Runner try to defeat Wile E. Coyotes in hand-to-hand combat? No. He plays to his bloody strengths.

The one penalty from this game that nobody can doubt: Scott Gomez’s call for slashing the Canucks’ bench. Who slashes people who are sitting down? A young Guns n’ Roses playing an intimate coffee shop venue, that’s who.

Not long after hitting his second soul-crushing post of the series, Daniel was still able to help produce the game-tying goal, hooking up with brothers Hank and ‘Ank for some wizardous sedinerie halfway through the third. The give-and-go play with Henrik was nice, but I loved the pass to Burr more, as Daniel fed Burrows with a little backhand saucer flip that went over Brad Stuart’s stick but through his legs. It was like some sort of Groverian lesson on direction.

Granted, the wizardry came a little late in the series, but as you probably know: A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to. It’s the downside to employing wizards in a game with a clock.

Shortly after Daniel’s goal, Alex Edler put the Canucks ahead, blasting a slapshot over Antti Niemi’s shoulder and just inside the post. It was a perfect shot, and it came on a perfect pass. After Mason Raymond tied up Brad Stuart in the corner, Burrows skated onto the puck and then sent a backhand feed all the way across the zone and right onto Edler’s stick. It was a pass so sweet, you’d have thought it was delivered by stork.

But as it turned out, the primary purpose of Edler’s goal was to gather up our bits of cut-up heart one last time, and turn them from diced to minced. Shortly after that, the penalty parade started, allowing the Sharks to steal Game 4 like they stole Game 2. It was the worst parade since the one at the end of Animal House.

And that’s that. Thanks so much for reading us this year. We’ll still be posting daily through the summer, as we do, so please check back with us occasionally. We’ll also be accepting guest posts, so by all means, reach out to us at [email protected]. In the meantime, we’ll get started on the autopsy of this season. I imagine it will be about as much fun as this one.



Twins and Edler to join Swedish side at worlds

May 8, 2013. 3:53 pm

Elliott Pap

It appears Henrik and Daniel Sedin haven’t played enough hockey this season. Nor has Alex Edler. According to the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation, the three Canucks have agreed to join their country’s national team for the world championships underway in Stockholm.

“These are obviously great players that will give the team a boost,” said Swedish national team coach Pär Mårts, in a report from Stockholm.

“Another good thing is that this ends our process of adding players and this will give the team peace of mind to focus on the game.”

The Canuck players – and GM Mike Gillis – are schedueld to have a final media session with Vancouver reporters on Thursday at Rogers Arena. Head coach Alain Vigneault, widely expected to lose his job over the recent playoff failures, is not on the speakers’ list. The Canucks are 1-10 in their last 11 playoff games after being ousted in four straight by the San Jose Sharks.

The ouster also liberates prospect Nicklas Jensen to join the Danish national team at the worlds. Jensen had been skating on the Canucks’ playoff taxi squad. Another Dane, Jannik Hansen, will not be sdded to his country’s team as he was injured in the third period of Game 4 Tuesday night and did not play in the overtime of the 4-3 loss.

Daniel and Henrik will be appearing in their fifth worlds while it will be a second for Edler. The Canuck trio could be in uniform for Saturday’s game between Sweden and Slovenia.



The Canucks got screwed by the refs. Of course they did.

Jason Botchford

May 8, 2013. 7:13 am

New+York+Rangers+v+Philadelphia+Flyers+q5cS3hLMq9Zl The Canucks got screwed by the refs. Of course they did.

To get this out of the way, the Canucks deserved to lose.

They didn’t get screwed in the series. They lost seven straight games to the San Jose Sharks this year, the last four in the playoffs.

They lost faceoffs, chased the puck, lost composure, discipline and got destroyed in special teams.

They may have started the wrong goalie in two of the four games, but you could have made this a 21-game series and I don’t think the Canucks, with this coach, have a shot at double digits wins.

In the closer, the 4-3 OT loss, the Canucks got rolled if you’re just looking at scoring chances, despite bringing their A-effort. For long stretches, the entire second period in fact, they didn’t play like they belonged on the same ice.

But there’s no getting around this: Through it all, the officiating was garbage. It was bush league, amateurish and it was at its worst in the biggest of moments.

To appreciate what happened, you need to understand the context. Vancouver has long been sensitive to officiating. They’ve been jobbed a lot here. I’m sure it’s the same in many NHL cities, but there is only one which has a statue outside of its rink depicting a coach waving a towel like a white flag, forever immortalizing the ineptitude of NHL referees.

Maybe not the best idea.

The current era of Canucks have pushed an adversarial relationship with officials to new levels, openly criticizing the zebras regularly over the past five years. Sure, much of it has been warranted. But along the way the Canucks got a rep for embellishing. That was warranted, too.

Just in this series, which was only four games, the Canucks called out the linesmen for allowing the Sharks to cheat on faceoffs and called out the referees for allowing the Sharks to embellish.

Again, probably not the best idea. If you antagonize the refs and get bit, how surprised can you really be?

Make no mistake, a lot of this the Canucks bring on themselves, and they put a target on their backs that became part of the story in Game 4.

Back in March, Alain Vigneault spat venom at Kelly Sutherland during his post-game media session after a loss in Calgary.

You can read about it here, but essentially AV was assessed a bench minor that cost his team the game and was fuming about it.

The same accountability that is demanded of players and coaches is demanded of referees and that’s not acceptable. There’s no way we should lose this game on a call like that.”

Vigneault was asked if he’d been warned by Sutherland before the minor was assessed midway through the third period.

“Not one g-damn word. Nothing. I didn’t use the f-word. I stood on the bench for .5 seconds and I said, ‘That’s an elbow.’ And that’s how I got two minutes and that’s how they scored the goal. I’m done here.

Flash forward to the game that may have ended Vigneault’s Canucks career and it’s Sutherland who makes the controversial call in overtime to help finish it. That’s some delicious coincidence right there.

Not only does Sutherland call Daniel Sedin for boarding after one helluva hit, he calls it despite the fact the ref closest to the play saw nothing wrong with the hit.

Sutherland refused interviews, and by the NHL’s chicken-shit regulations, he doesn’t have to stand up and be accountable. He did get word through rights-holder TSN that he called the penalty because he “deemed it a violent shove into the boards where the player couldn’t defend himself from the hit.” (via Farhan Lalji).

It seems obvious to me that Sutherland was calling the injury, not the penalty. He saw Tommy Wingels struggling to get up, and made a player safety call. It’s not unreasonable.

Either that, or he hates AV, and apparently chose Game 4 to get his revenge. Take your pick.

All of this would be easier to take for Canucks fans if Matt Cooke wasn’t being celebrated on the exact same night for a similar hit which led to a Penguins goal.

Of course that happened.

Vancouver Province: LOADED: 05.09.2013


Could former bad-boy goalie Ron Hextall end up in Vancouver … as Canucks GM? Let’s throw some names out there

Jonathan McDonald

May 8, 2013. 4:59 pm

In Thursday’s Province Sports, Steve Ewen takes a look at five guys who could replace Alain Vigneault as head coach of the Canucks. Here, Ewen investigates five other names. These might be candidates to succeed Canucks GM Mike Gillis, should the Aquilinis completely clean house …

Laurence Gilman

Where he is now: Vice-president of hockey operations and assistant general manager of the Canucks.

In his favour: Gilman, 48, knows the team and the town. Gilman has strong relationships with the media in Vancouver. Has been chief negotiator with contracts and, with the ever-moving salary cap, that’s a major asset.

Against the odds: Would he want to replace Gillis? Would Vancouver fans see it as a change, or the same old system? Is Vancouver the type of market that needs someone with a snazzy hockey resume to handle the GM gig? Gilman is listed as the head of amateur scouting as well, and Vancouver’s farm system hasn’t drawn rave reviews of late.

Joe Nieuwendyk

Where he is now: Was fired as the Dallas Stars general manager at the end of the regular season.

In his favour: Played 1,257 NHL regular season games, scored 564 goals. The centre also won three Stanley Cups over his 20 NHL seasons. His management career included a stint in the Florida Panthers’ front office as consultant to general manager Jacques Martin, and then a gig as special

assistant to general manager Cliff Fletcher with the Toronto Maple Leafs, before moving to the Stars in June 2009.

Against the odds: The Stars haven’t torn it up of late, although Nieuwendyk, 46, did have some financial constraints during that time. Regardless, great players aren’t automatically great managers.

Scott Mellanby

Where he is now: Director of player personnel for the Montreal Canadiens.

In his favour: Played 1,431 NHL regular season games, mostly on the right wing. Since his retirement as a player, he worked three years in the Canucks organization as a special consultant to Gillis, followed by two years as an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues, and now this spot in Montreal.

Against the odds: Would the 46-year-old be looked upon as another Gillis disciple, passing along the same message?

Ron Hextall

Where he is now: Vice-president/assistant general manager for the Los Angeles Kings.

In his favour: Played 608 NHL regular season games, with 11 of his 13 seasons coming in goal for the Philadelphia Flyers. Won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie in 1987. Since his retirement as a player, Hextall, 49, spent four years as director of pro hockey personnel for the Flyers. He’s been with the Kings for seven seasons and duties include contract negotiation work.

Against the odds: Hextall has been rumoured for previous GM gigs in Montreal and Columbus. There might be competition for his services.

Jason Botterill

Where he is now: Assistant general manager for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In his favour: Again, the Canucks owners like to be ahead of the curve and Botterill, 36, is one of the rising stars of the management game. He played only 88 NHL games due to concussion problems. Upon retirement, he finished his MBA at the University of Michigan and worked at the NHL head office before signing on with the Stars at a scout. With the Penguins, he worked his way up from director of hockey administration and his duties include contract negotiations, as well as scouting.

Against the odds: Pittsburgh is one of the benchmark organizations. Will Botterill wait it out and hope for the GM job there?



Canucks may need to play buyout game with Ballard, Booth

By Jim Jamieson

The Province

May 8, 2013

Canucks may need to play buyout game with Ballard, Booth

Vancouver forward David Booth’s contract — a total of $9.25 million for two years — is too rich for the Vancouver Canucks for next season.

Given the hugely disappointing way the last two seasons have ended for the Canucks, you would expect there to be significant change coming to a roster that has shown it’s not built to succeed in the playoffs.

With the assumption the team’s salary structure could be altered in a major way by trade, it’s not easy to project what personnel decisions will be dictated by financial need heading into next season.

But, based on what we currently know, it seems clear the Canucks will be forced to off-load at least one, and likely both, defenceman Keith Ballard and forward David Booth through the two allowed compliance buyouts as the NHL’s salary cap drops $5.9 million — from $70.2 million to $64.3 million. They are on the books for total salaries of $17.65 million over two years for both of them. They jump out as the two players whose profile

within the team don’t line up with their paycheques. Between them, they would be owed two-thirds of that amount ($11.75 million). That’s a tough conversation for a GM to have with an owner.

Let’s have a closer look:

The Canucks have 16 players — eight forwards, six defencemen and two goaltenders — signed for next season, for a total of $63.5 million in cap hit. So they are already over the new ceiling.

Three players — Alex Edler, Alex Burrows and Chris Higgins — will earn more as raises kick in with new contracts.

To fill out a typical roster, that means signing five forwards and two defencemen. That’s assuming, of course, that raw rookie Frank Corrado is going to be on the team. There are all kinds of considerations around the decision to keep Corrado in the NHL or let him play tons in the AHL for a season. Hopefully, it’s made on Corrado’s long-term development, not his cheap ($600,000) salary.

So let’s look the current roster, make the expected moves, fill in some of the blanks and see where we are. Keep in mind, though, that if a big move is made, say, trading Alex Edler or Alex Burrows, the ripple effects will be felt throughout the roster.

At forward, the Canucks have their first line of the Sedins and Burrows locked up. The same goes for Ryan Kesler, Jannik Hansen, Zack Kassian, Booth and Higgins. The cap hit: $30.67 million.

That leaves them without a third-line centre and a fourth line. Let’s say the Canucks go out and get a third-line pivot, whether in trade or free agency, and pay $3 million. Of course, if it’s a trade they can subtract the salary going the other way.

The fourth line? They re-sign pending UFA centre Max Lapierre with a raise to $1.5 million and either re-sign pending RFA wingers Dale Weise and Tom Sestito or sign others for, say, $1 million each. Add one extra forward at $600,000 and that gets you to $37.77 million for the forwards. (The assumption is that UFAs Mason Raymond, Steve Pinizzotto, Andrew Ebbett and Derek Roy are not re-signed.)

On defence, under contract are: Dan Hamhuis, Jason Garrison, Kevin Bieksa, Corrado, Edler and Ballard. They need two more, so let’s say they re-sign RFA Chris Tanev for somewhere about $2.5 million and utility D-man Andrew Alberts for a slight raise to $1.4 million. That group comes in at $27.39 million.

Goaltending should be straightforward with Cory Schneider ($4 million) back and Roberto Luongo and his $5.33 million cap hit finally moved for something, anything. Whether the Canucks get a backup goalie in return or sign a free agent, the expected salary is likely in the $1 million range.

That comes to $5 million. If the Canucks have to eat some of Luongo’s contract to consummate a trade, that number gets bigger by a similar amount.

Total it all up and it gets you to $70.17, or about $5.87 million over the cap. But with the two compliance buyouts and the two players replacing them earning $1 million each, you just get under the cap.

Yes, the Canucks could tighten up here and there, to make the numbers look better, but cashiering Ballard and Booth gives them enough cap room to begin remaking their team.

SALARIES: 2013-14; 2014-15

David Booth $4.5m; $4.75m

Keith Ballard $4.2m; $4.2m



If Vigneault goes, who’s gonna coach the Canucks?

By Steve Ewen

The Province

May 8, 2013

If Vigneault goes, who’s gonna coach the Canucks?

Lindy Ruff compiled 571 wins with the Buffalo Sabres from 1997 until last February.

The Vancouver Canucks’ second-straight first-round exit has certainly got people thinking that change is coming.

Does Mike Gillis turf Alain Vigneault as coach?

Does ownership part ways with Gillis as general manager?

Are they both gone?

Here are suggestions of possible replacements for Vigneault. Some, of course, are more logical than others.

And head to our White Towel blog, at thewhitetowel.ca, where we serve up five possible replacements for Gillis.

Scott Arniel

Where he is now: Guided the Chicago Wolves, the Canucks’ AHL affiliate, to a 37-30-5-4 regular season record. They missed the playoffs by six points.

In his favour: Arniel, 50, has worked in the Vancouver system, both with the Chicago and at the helm of the Manitoba Moose. He guided Manitoba to a spot in the AHL final in 2008-09, with a team led by Cory Schneider. He worked as an assistant under Lindy Ruff in Buffalo and is said to be a fitness fiend. Arniel, a left-winger by trade in his playing days, also suited up for 730 NHL regular season games.

Against the odds: Was in the NHL as recently as 2011-12, and had a combined 45-60-18 record with the Columbus Blue Jackets over a season and a half. In 2010-11, Columbus was 26th in goals against and 29th in power play.

Dallas Eakins

Where he is now: Guided the Toronto Marlies to a 43-23-3-7 record, good enough for second spot in the AHL’s Western Conference regular season. Currently in the playoffs.

In his favour: Led the Marlies to the AHL championship series last season, with a team featuring up-and-coming Maple Leafs Nazem Kadri and Jake Gardiner. Eakins, 46, played 120 NHL regular season games and the defenceman lasted in the minors until 2003-04. That campaign he was a teammate of both Ryan Kesler and Kevin Bieska with Manitoba. As well, he’s looked upon as a communicator and player’s guy; he even has 16,000 followers on Twitter, so there’s a new-school approach to him.

Against the odds: Eakins has been tagged a defensive-minded guy. Will that work with Vancouver fans?

Lindy Ruff

Where he is now: He was coach of the Buffalo Sabres from July 21, 1997, until Feb. 20, 2013. He was fired then, with Ron Rolston assuming the helm. The Sabres were 571-432-78-84 in the regular season during Ruff’s tenure.

In his favour: Did you read the above sentence about 500-plus wins? He also played 691 NHL regular season games, splitting time between left wing and defence.

Against the odds: The hard-nosed Ruff, 53, will be on many teams’ radars. Will Vancouver get into a bidding war? Do the Canucks need a tough guy as their next coach?

John Hynes

Where he is now: Guided the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 42-30-2-2 record, which was good enough for fifth spot in the AHL’s Eastern Conference regular season. They’re currently in the playoffs.

In his favour: Vancouver ownership has prided itself on being ahead of the curve and Hynes, 37, would seem to be one of those guys. He’s in his third season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton but, prior to that, he worked for six seasons as head coach of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program. Among his proteges were first overall draft picks Erik Johnson and Patrick Kane.

Against the odds: Can you have a young newcomer like that take over your team in a hockey town?

John Tortorella

Where he is now: Guided the New York Rangers to a 26-18-4 record this NHL regular season. Currently in the playoffs.

In his favour: Assuming the Rangers sputter in the playoffs and he’s let go, Tortorella, 54, could sell tickets in a Vancouver market that’s seen some fan apathy start this spring. He does have a Stanley Cup appearance with the Tampa Bay Lightning under his belt. All told, in the NHL regular season, he’s 410-330-37-67.

Against the odds: He’s not available, and, if he was, there’d be a rush for his services.

And then there’s Desjardins

Steve Marr grew up in Kamloops and played three seasons, a decade ago, for the Medicine Hat Tigers. He’s keen to recommend someone for the Canucks’ head coaching position, if it becomes available: Willie Desjardins, Marr’s head coach with the Tigers who’s now the boss of the Dallas Stars’ farm team. Read Marr’s letter of recommendation on our White Towel blog at thewhitetowel.ca.



Canucks: Officiating conspiracies? Stop whining and just shut up

By Jason Botchford

The Province

May 8, 2013

Canucks: Officiating conspiracies? Stop whining and just shut up

Kevin Bieksa pleads his case to referee Chris Lee after being called for a cross-checking penalty in the third period of Game 4 against San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. The Sharks scored on the ensuring power play to tie the game, which they won in overtime ... on another power play.

This postseason, the Vancouver Canucks couldn’t kill a penalty, make a late save, or score goals.

They also couldn’t win a game. But what was everyone talking about when it was over? The officiating.

Yes, it is the same as it ever was.

The long-simmering rivalry between the local team and the referees who officiate its games seems as entrenched, and embittered, as Yankees-Red Sox.

Roll up to the Rogers Arena entrance and what greets you is a statue of Roger Nielsen, raising a stick high in the air with a towel draped on the butt end like a white flag. It lampoons the refs, immortalizing their ineptness, while whispering in every fan’s ear, “Your team didn’t lose, it got screwed. Royally.”

It also reminds visiting referees they are now entering hostile territory, just in case it may have slipped their minds.

If that doesn’t drive it home, the Canucks will. Take this past week. After Game 1, the Canucks called out the linesmen for allowing the Sharks to cheat on faceoffs. After Game 3, they called out the refs for being duped by embellishing. Kevin Bieksa even used props.

It was a four-game series and they managed to make officiating the overriding storyline, tossing every official in their path under the bus.

Who knows what they’ll say today when the players and GM Mike Gillis meet the media after two controversial calls cost them their final game of the season.

But the best advice they could follow is this: Shut up.

It doesn’t matter anymore if the Canucks are in the right. It doesn’t matter if the Sharks embellished more. It doesn’t matter if every 50-50 call went San Jose’s way. It doesn’t even matter if the refs made calls to settle old scores.

What matters is the Canucks have a loathsome reputation for antagonizing referees, both on the ice and off it, and it seems to have put a target on their backs and it’s one they can’t seem shake.

It sure hasn’t helped them. Instead, the more they complain, the more there is to complain about, creating a vicious cycle they have to end and the only way to do that is silence. A lot of it.

The Sharks did dive more than the Canucks. The calls were inequitable, and in more than a few cases, entirely unfair. There’s a seven-minute video circulating on YouTube which strings together about a dozen calls. If you don’t watch that and leave thinking the Canucks were jobbed, you may be walking through life blindfolded.

For the Canucks, none of this should matter. The reality is they didn’t lose because of calls. They lost because they weren’t as good as the Sharks.

Try and blame the officials during their locker cleanout today and it only fortifies the narrative that the whiners are at it again, and this time they’re complaining about calls in a sweep.

Off camera in San Jose, Ryan Kesler shared with TSN a telling story about his reputation as a diver. He worked diligently last year to change his image. He kept his head down instead of snapping it back. He didn’t bewail calls on the ice. But when the playoffs started he saw Dustin Brown’s act. He viewed him as a player trying to do everything he could to do win and thought he needed to do the same.

He admitted he started diving again. On the first one, all the work he had put in rehabilitating his reputation was gone. Poof.

The Canucks’ brand name in the past six years is as much about whining and embellishing as it as about dominating the Northwest Division.

If the Canucks are going to turn it around, so that they’re a team which gets the benefit of the doubt, it’s going to take some time. Check out Alex Burrows, who has been reforming for two years and he still can’t catch a break.

That’s because there is a lot of history.

In 2007, Roberto Luongo was calling for a penalty when the puck went in, ending the second-round series against the Anaheim Ducks.

In 2009, the Canucks bemoaned snow showers from the St. Louis Blues, another team that was getting all the calls.

In 2010, it was Stephane Auger in the regular season and then Daniel Sedin’s supposedly kicked-in goal that was disallowed in the first round of the playoffs.

In 2011, Gillis blamed the refs for forcing the Canucks to play Game 7 in the opening round because the Chicago Blackhawks were getting too many power plays.

Then, it was ongoing embellishing to sell calls in the 2011 run. It actually became national news, and the Canucks were tattooed with a rep they may never shake with this core.

Even this year, after a regular-season game in March versus Calgary, Alain Vigneault spat venom post-game at referee Kelly Sutherland. It seems he did during the game too, because he was called for a bench minor.

He called out Sutherland’s integrity after that game, and in a delicious coincidence it was Sutherland who got the call wrong in overtime of Game 4 Tuesday. He assessed a boarding penalty to Daniel Sedin for a clean shoulder-to-shoulder hit. On the ensuing power play, the Sharks ended the series.

Some believe Sutherland was exacting his revenge. If the Canucks were to suggest that today, how do you think the close-knit brotherhood of zebras will react?

It’d be viewed as yet another shot from the ref haters in the Lower Mainland.

The Canucks couldn’t catch a break in the first round this year. San Jose got 24 power plays, the Canucks had 10. A discrepancy like that is nearly unheard of in the NHL.

It’s a discrepancy the Canucks can’t ignore.

If it always happens to them, they have to ask themselves why is it always happening?

Is there anything they can do to change it? Yes. For the first time, do nothing.



Canucks Odds: Who stays and who goes?

By Steve Ewen and Jim Jamieson

The Province

May 8, 2013

Canucks Odds: Who stays and who goes?

The Vancouver Canucks stand for the national anthem prior to a game this season in Edmonton.

Who stays and who goes?

That’s a nebulous question that you know is going to be debated ad nauseam after the way the Canucks flamed out in the playoffs this season.

But there are a lot of moving pieces, depending upon how management decides to go about remaking this team. If one player is traded, it may make another safe. And if there is a new coach, he is certainly going to have some say in personnel decisions. With all of that in mind, we’ll forge ahead and give you our take — in percentages, no less — on who’ll still be wearing the Free Willy jersey next season.

Henrik and Daniel Sedin: 100%

Henrik, the captain, and Daniel, an alternate, are huge parts of the Canucks’ leadership group, are the team’s top forwards and its perpetual scoring leaders. But both will be 33 next September and enter the final year of their contract. A year from now, the percentage might be very different.

Alex Burrows: 90%

Burrows is one of the few Canucks core players who doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract (at least not until July), so he could be moved to change the mix of the team. Such a trade would be a big gamble, considering his chemistry with the Sedins, excellent penalty killing and the emotion he brings.

Ryan Kesler: 99%

It would be a trade — Kesler, 28, would have to waive his no-trade clause — of seismic proportions to move him out of Vancouver. And, of course, you’d be trading away what you actually need more of. Without question, it would bring plenty of assets, but a disaster if Kesler returns to 2011 form.

Derek Roy: 0%

The pending UFA was acquired at the trade deadline to add secondary scoring. That happened in stretches in the regular season, but failed miserably in the playoffs. The Canucks need bigger, more physical players, and the 5-foot-9 Roy isn’t the answer.

Zack Kassian: 100%

Kassian had a very inconsistent year, but is still just 22. The Canucks believe he has a huge upside — and, of course, he was the return in the Cody Hodgson swap — so he’s untouchable.

Jannik Hansen: 95%

Hansen is a glue player because he’s among the team’s hardest workers and most versatile players. Plus, he’s on a very cap-friendly $1.35 million deal.

Mason Raymond: 10%

Raymond scored a goal in the Canucks final playoff game, but he’d had just one in 14 games before that. He’s a pending UFA, and though he had a better statistical year than the year before, we’re expecting the team lets him walk.

David Booth: 10%

It would take some interesting number-crunching to see Booth and his $4.25 million cap hit return next season. Injuries immolated his season: 12 games, one empty-net goal and some interesting Tweets.

Chris Higgins: 85%

Higgins, 29, just re-signed with the team for four more years, so they obviously like him, but he’s now gone pointless in two consecutive playoffs. Hard work and versatility make him an attractive keeper.

Max Lapierre: 90%

Lapierre plays a straight-ahead game and is a good fit at fourth-line centre. The expectation is the Canucks re-sign the pending UFA.

Dale Weise: 75%

Weise moved his game forward in his sophomore NHL season and became a regular penalty killer along with fourth-line duties. Unless the Canucks radically retool their bottom six, the pending RFA looks safe.

Andrew Ebbett: 20%

The Canucks brought the versatile Ebbett back after the injury-riddled previous season, but lack of size will work against the 30-year-old.

Steve Pinizzotto: 20%

Getting Pinizzotto onto their NHL roster in March effectively cost the Canucks Aaron Volpatti, who was claimed by the Capitals off waivers and then re-signed. The pending UFA had a great first NHL shift but was scratched down the stretch.

Tom Sestito: 50%

The 6-foot-5, 230-pounder is tough as nails and completely understands his role. But if the Canucks look to upgrade the skill on the fourth line, the pending RFA may be a casualty.

Manny Malhotra: 0%

The Canucks have offered him work in the organization after deciding the effects of his eye injury two years ago put him in danger as a player, but it sounds like Malhotra will be trying to keep his career going, elsewhere, next season.Kevin Bieksa: 100%

Has no-trade clause, signed through 2015-16. Bieksa, 31, is one of the leaders, one of the harder guys in the group to play against.

Jason Garrison: 100%

Garrison, 28, started slowly but was one of the team’s best players down the stretch. Like Bieksa, makes $4.6 annually and has a no-trade clause. Signed through 2017-18.

Dan Hamhuis: 100%

Quiet leader, solid, steady type. Role model. Hamhuis, 30, has no-trade clause on his $4.5-million annual. Signed through 2015-16.

Keith Ballard: 0%

Didn’t get on ice in playoffs, despite being fourth-highest-paid D-man, at $4.2 million per. Ballard, 30, never meshed with coaching staff, looks like compliance buyout candidate if not somehow dealt. Signed through 2014-15.

Alexander Edler: 50%

Edler doesn’t have a no-trade on his current deal, which pays him $3.25 million per season, but the six-year extension that kicks in next season worth $5 million a campaign does, so there’s a window here to move the 27-year-old if you’re looking to really change up your core.

Chris Tanev: 75%

The 23-year-old’s entry-level deal, worth $900,000 annually, is up, making him a restricted free agent. He’s a No. 5 guy in the current format. Could he be enticed away by promises of top-four ice time elsewhere?

Andrew Alberts: 10%

His deal, which paid him $1.225 million for this season, is up and the 31-year-old is an unrestricted free agent. Vancouver will probably look younger to fill that spot.

Cam Barker: 0%

The Canucks took a flyer on the one-time No. 3 overall draft pick and his $700,000 contract is up, leaving him an unrestricted free agent. They’ll look for someone other than the 27-year-old for this spot.

Frank Corrado: 50%

The 20-year-old provided an adrenalin boost to the defence when he got called up late in the year, but Vancouver could easily want him to start next season in the minors to get seasoning. He’s a $599, 444 hit next season.Roberto Luongo: 10%

Logic says he’s slam-dunk gone, but logic said that at this point last year. Then just before training camp. Then at the trade deadline. The Canucks will likely have to pay some of the 34-year-old’s contract in a deal. He’s a $5.33-million cap hit through 2021-22.

Cory Schneider: 100%

There’s a school of thought out that the Canucks would be better off dealing Schneider, but his age (27) and his contract ($4 million annually, through 2014-15) suggest otherwise.


675760 Washington Capitals

Rangers even series with Washington after 4-3 victory in Game 4

Staff

New York has evened its Eastern Conference quarterfinals series with the Washington Capitals at two games apiece after a 4-3 victory in Game 4 Wednesday night. Rangers center Derek Stepan score the game-winning goal off a turnover by the Capitals’ top line.

Washington got goals from center Mathieu Perreault, Troy Brouwer and Karl Alzner. Every game in this series has now been decided by one goal. Game 5 will be Friday night back at Verizon Center.

Many will want to blame goalie Braden Holtby’s gaffe on New York’s first goal of the night given the stakes, and perhaps it’s warranted. But the Capitals top scorers during the regular season — namely Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Ribeiro — were largely non factors for two games in New York.

Though Troy Brouwer did net a pretty backhanded goal, Washington’s best forwards in Game 4 were Perreault and fourth line wing Joel Ward. They combined to score the Capitals first goal of the game in the second period and recorded nine combined shots on goal.

Washington Post LOADED: 05.09.2013


Capitals know they must remain patient against Vezina finalist Henrik Lundqvist

By Katie Carrera, Updated: May 8, 2013

There may be no player in this first-round matchup between the Capitals and Rangers with the ability swing the outcome of a game than goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

Long considered one of the NHL’s elite netminders and a frustrating puzzle for opponents to solve, Lundqvist was named one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy on Wednesday along with Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky and San Jose’s Antti Niemi.

This nod by the league’s general managers, who vote for the Vezina, is the fifth time the 31-year-old has been one of the three top vote-getters for the award.

“It means a lot. I’m really proud to be in that category and it’s been an interesting year and a different year,” Lundqvist said. “I always try to push myself as much as possible. I want to be up there I want to be recognized as a good goalie and when people appreciate what you do it’s always a fun thing.”

Through the first three games of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal, Lundqvist has stopped 92 of the 99 shots he’s faced. In Game 2, which the Capitals won 1-0 in overtime, it was largely Lundqvist’s stellar 37-save performance that forced the contest into extra time as he stopped multiple high quality chances.

“He’s a top goalie and you can see how he play right now, especially in Game 2 when we have lots of chances on him,” Alex Ovechkin said Wednesday. “You just have to find lots of traffic, maybe find the rebound. It can’t be clear shot. It have to be like somebody stand in front of the net because if he gonna see the puck, he gonna save it.”

The Rangers have built their style of play and strategy out from Lundqvist. Their efforts to block shots and clog up shooting lanes limits the chances that Lundqvist faces, and they work to ensure he has a clean line of sight to most of the attempts that reach the net.

Lundqvist’s skill level, combined with the Rangers’ ability to insulate him from a significant amount of chances in most outings, makes for a multi-tiered challenge for opponents. Even if they manage to avoid the shot blockers and bodies that collapse around him, shooters must then beat one of the top goaltenders in the world.

Lundqvist also manages to give himself ample time to react to plays and unsuspected opportunities by playing deep in the crease, a luxury allowed by the way the Rangers protect him.

“I think he’s smart, he plays his angles well, he relies on his positioning. He doesn’t over-try. Pucks seem to hit him and when they do he absorbs them like a sponge,” Matt Hendricks said. “He plays kind of deep in his net. It’s tough to beat him with the back-door plays because he doesn’t have to travel long distance to try to cover that. And when you try to pick top corners he still seems to read the puck well, read your stick well and knows where you’re shooting.”

Coach Adam Oates and Troy Brouwer both acknowledged that given Lundqvist’s stingy nature, the Capitals expect to win a game in which they score three goals against him. That wasn’t the case in Game 3, when the Rangers captured a 4-3 win and Lundqvist finished with 28 saves.

“Goals are hard to come by. He was phenomenal again [in Game 3] making big saves and timely saves,” Brouwer said Tuesday. “Guys kept putting pucks on the net, kept getting good shots and he’s been there for the task. When we do score three goals we have to be able to get a win out of it. There’s not too many where you’re going to be able to get three or more goals by him. When we’re able to produce and score like that, we need to be able to win those games.”

But even when Lundqvist is stopping everything the Capitals throw at him, it’s important for them not to get discouraged or deviate from their game plan.

“You want to try and not let it affect them, because you start second-guessing yourself,” Oates said Wednesday. “But at the end of the day, you’re going to get some shots, going to get some chances. We have to be patient. He’s going to make some saves, you just keep playing.”



Alex Ovechkin on Ryan McDonagh: ‘I don’t care what he say’


Following the Capitals’ morning skate ahead of Game 4 Wednesday, Alex Ovechkin responded to New York defenseman Ryan McDonagh’s comments that the star winger looked “tired” on the shift that led to the Rangers’ game-winning goal.

“I feel normal, you know. I don’t know why he say that,” Ovechkin said. “I think our line play well, we have solid chances, but we don’t score. Of course they try to find something. If they winning they try to find somebody looks tired, somebody looks lazy, somebody looks somewhat bad. So I don’t care what he say.”

On Tuesday, Coach Adam Oates said he didn’t believe Ovechkin was tired, but that the 27-year-old captain was somewhat out of sync the whole game after sitting on the bench early on as the Capitals paraded to the penalty box.

Washington spent 10 minutes and 8 seconds of the first 28:32 in Game 3 occupying the visitors’ penalty box at Madison Square Garden, preventing Ovechkin, who doesn’t kill penalties, from staying actively involved in the game. Ovechkin finished with 22:07 of ice time in the contest, though.

“Especially when it’s in the first period, you just want to get into the game, feel the ice and when you sit five, six, four minutes you kind of go out of the game,” Ovechkin said. “Anyway, you just have to be sharp out there, do something but do not squeeze yourself.”



Brooks Laich skates with teammates for first time since sports hernia surgery


Brooks Laich skated with his teammates at Madison Square Garden Wednesday, marking the forward’s first appearance on the ice since he aggravated a groin injury on April 4 in a game against the New York Islanders. He skated for a little more than an hour and took part in the team’s scratches skate.

“Obviously he’s feeling a little better,” Coach Adam Oates said. “He’s out there skating, handling the puck. He’s still a little ways away.”

Laich, 29, underwent sports hernia surgery in early April just days after he re-injured his groin, according to a team source with direct knowledge of the forward’s injury and rehabilitation process.

The procedure carries a recovery timeline of four to six weeks, and he’s roughly four weeks along in that process. Capitals defenseman Mike Green had sports hernia surgery in January 2012 and returned to the lineup after only a month on the sidelines.

While skating with the team is an important step in the recovery process, there remains no timetable for when Laich will be ready to return to the lineup. He won’t play against the Rangers in Game 4 Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden and said he’s “unsure” of when he

“I’ve got to get some good practices in first and absorb a little contact,” Laich said. “But the team’s playing very well right now, so I don’t feel the need to rush it and certainly when I get back in I want to stay in.”

Laich suffered a groin injury in November while playing in Switzerland during the NHL lockout and missed the first 28 games of the regular season. He made his season debut on March 19 at Pittsburgh and went on to record a goal and three assists in nine games before aggravating the groin injury against the Islanders on April 4.

Oates stressed caution once again with Laich’s recovery and said that the main goal is to prevent another setback from occurring.

“In the past year we’ve set ourselves back a couple times,” Oates said. “And we don’t want that to happen again so obviously we’re conscious of it.”

Laich denied that he had sports hernia surgery but declined to answer questions about the nature of his procedure and recovery. The Post stands by its report that Laich did undergo sports hernia surgery.



Marc Staal’s return boosts Rangers


There’s nothing that boosts a lineup quite like the return of a player after a long injury absence. In Game 3, the Rangers got that shot of adrenaline when defenseman Marc Staal played in his first game since being hit near his right eye by the puck back on March 5.

Staal skated 17 minutes 17 seconds alongside Anton Stralman and was on the ice for one goal against (Jay Beagle) Monday night.

While that ice time is far from his usual average of 24 minutes, and the 26-year-old blueliner acknowledged he will need to get used to playing with changes in his vision, Staal was glad to be back and making a difference.

“I thought I’d be more nervous, I think, than I was. I felt pretty good going in,” Staal said. “I think the confidence is going to grow the more I’m out there and the more I’m in game situations.”

The biggest adjustments to Staal’s game will come in his timing, as he gets up to the speed of the playoffs after being sidelined for two months and learns how to play with less-than-perfect vision.

“I could tell on the ice, it’s different,” Staal said. “You play your whole life with 20-20 vision and you step out there and things definitely are changed. But for the most part, it went pretty well.”

Staal’s place in the lineup as a top-four defenseman, even in this early stage, helps to balance the workload among the rest of the Rangers’ blueliners. It was no coincidence that both Dan Girardi (22:58) and Ryan McDonagh (20:55) – New York’s heavily-used top pairing – saw their lowest ice time of the series in Game 3 upon Staal’s return.

“It’s huge. He makes the D corps kind of calm. He’s got a presence about him,” Rangers center Derek Stepan said. “He can just control a game. He did a great job. Early on, he had a little bit of the jitters but he got back to [being] himself and I couldn’t be happier for him.”

Even the Capitals are aware of how much Staal means to the New York lineup. Earlier in the series when Staal’s return was speculated, Washington’s Karl Alzner admitted that this particular foe is “one of my favorite defensemen in the league.”

“He plays great shutdown, he’s got a great stick, he makes the right plays, he can chip in offensively,” Alzner said on May 4. “He did some damage against us last year in the playoffs. I just like his game. Even if he’s 60, 70 percent I think he could really help them out.”



The Caps get interviewed in front of plant life

By Dan Steinberg, Updated: May 8, 2013

I was on the road with the Caps during that 2009 second-round series with the Penguins. Late in the series, Bruce Boudreau called off a practice, and the team instead did an off-day media availability in a downtown hotel. The interview clips therefore looked a bit different than your typical ice-rink shots, but it was still in the same spirit: hockey players standing inside buildings.

Tuesday in New York, though, the Caps had an off-day, and they mixed things up with the rare outdoor availability. Personally, I can’t remember ever interviewing a hockey player outside during a playoff series. But the fresh and flourishing verdure really imparted a pleasing note of springtime and growth and life into Tuesday’s shots, I thought.



Martin Erat suffers apparent injury to left wrist or forearm in Game 4

Posted by Katie Carrera on May 9, 2013 at 12:16 am

Martin Erat suffered an apparent injury to his left wrist or forearm in the first period Wednesday night that prevented him from finishing Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the New York Rangers.

The veteran winger had been skating stride-for-stride with Rangers’ center Derek Stepan toward the Washington net when Alex Ovechkin launched himself into the two players. Erat’s left arm appeared to be pinned against Stepan as Ovechkin made contact and sent all three players flying. When Erat crashed to the ice he landed on his left wrist and arm without a glove on with 1:34 remaining in the first period.

Coach Adam Oates described Erat’s injury only as “upper body” and said that the 31-year-old would be reevaluated Thursday. The Capitals are scheduled to practice in Arlington at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Erat slid into the net after he landed and remained their writhing in pain until he was attended to by the team’s head athletic trainer, Greg Smith. He was holding his wrist as he made his way down the visitors’ tunnel at Madison Square Garden.

Should the Capitals be without Erat, it’s unclear who would take his place in the lineup. Eric Fehr moved into the left wing spot on the second line for the rest of Game 4 and Joel Ward shifted up to the vacant wing on the third unit, but it’s possible Oates could insert someone other than healthy scratches Aaron Volpatti or Wojtek Wolski.

The AHL’s Hershey Bears were eliminated from the Calder Cup playoffs Thursday night and so options like prospect Tom Wilson, Joey Crabb and others may be joining the Capitals soon.



NHL playoffs: Solving Henrik Lundqvist critical to Capitals’ chances

By Stephen Whyno

The Washington Times


NEW YORK — When coach John Tortorella said Wednesday that goaltender Henrik Lundqvist meant “everything” to the New York Rangers, even that seemed like an understatement. No one player was more important to getting the Rangers into the Stanley Cup playoffs than the Vezina Trophy finalist.

“He’s the backbone of our club,” Tortorella said.

He’s also the player with the best chance to change the complexion of a playoff series, something the Washington Capitals know all too well. As the Eastern Conference quarterfinals go on, the Caps continue to evolve in their understanding of how difficult it is to beat Lundqvist.

“It’s tough to beat him anywhere,” defenseman Mike Green said. “I think that the quicker you can get a shot off with him, the better chance you’ll have. As soon as he gets position on you, 9 times out of 10 he makes the save. So we’ve got to move the puck laterally and make sure that he can’t get over quick enough for our shots.”

Even seeing Lundqvist in the postseason three of the past four years and enjoying some success against the 31-year-old didn’t unlock too many secrets. What the Caps know is that it’s not just about getting a lot of shots on net because he can shrug them off.

“He’s a top goalie, and you can see how he play right now, especially in Game 2 when we have lots of chances on him,” captain Alex Ovechkin said. “You just have to find lots of traffic, maybe find the rebound. It can’t be clear shot. It have to be like somebody stand in front of the net because if he gonna see the puck, he gonna save it.”

That’s the book on Lundqvist, and it’s one way the Caps scored goals early in the series: generate traffic and use screens. That’s not even a perfect formula because the veteran netminder’s positioning and instincts allow him to make stops even when he doesn’t see the puck.

“He plays deep in his net, so it gives him an extra second to make that save or come across,” defenseman Karl Alzner said. “He’s obviously smart. He knows how to read the play and usually where the pucks are going to come from.”

It doesn’t help the Caps that New York is a shot-blocking team that likes to clog shooting lanes and cause frustration in the offensive zone. Coupled with Lundqvist’s abilities, it’s a difficult set of problems to overcome.

“Their team is based around him. They play to his strengths,” Caps goaltender Braden Holtby said. “Obviously, everyone knows how talented he is. But, just like [Game 3], we did a good job putting traffic in front of him. Like the old saying, everybody hates traffic and backdoor tap-ins. If we can do that, we’re doing a great job offensively, and the goals will come.”

When the Caps scored three goals in Game 3, they figured it should have been enough but lost 4-3.

“We should be able to win that game,” right wing Troy Brouwer said. “Goals are hard to come by. … When we do score three goals, we have to be able to get a win out of it. There’s not too many where you’re going to be able to get three or more goals by him.”

The onus is on Caps players to continue to find ways to beat Lundqvist because he rarely if ever beats himself. Unlike Marc-Andre Fleury, who has hurt his Pittsburgh Penguins with soft goals in their series with the New York Islanders, Lundqvist is a strength for the Rangers.

Lundqvist takes pride in continuing to improve, even while tying for the league lead with 24 victories during the regular season.

“For me, it was important to ask myself the right questions during the season,” he said. “We were not winning as much but I have to look at my game: ‘Am I doing the right thing here? Do I need to change something?’ Even though it’s a team sport, it’s about what I’m doing. I have to look at myself, and when I’m doing my best I’m going to help the team to do well.”

In doing so, Lundqvist makes life difficult on opponents used to being rewarded for smart plays. The Caps know what they have to do, but it’s not easy.

“You want to try and not let it affect [players] because you start second-guessing yourself,” coach Adam Oates said. “At the end of the day, you’re going to get some shots, going to get some chances. We have to be patient. He’s going to make some saves; you just keep playing.”

Washington Times LOADED: 05.09.2013


Capitals notes: Brooks Laich back on ice after sports hernia surgery

By Stephen Whyno

The Washington Times


NEW YORK — Brooks Laich took a major step in his rehab from sports hernia surgery by skating with his teammates Wednesday, but the Washington Capitals forward is not close to returning to game action.

“It is playoffs and I do want to play,” Laich said. “I’ve always said if I can help the team I’ll play, but I don’t feel like I’m at that point where I can physically help yet.”

Laich denied having a sports hernia or sports hernia surgery. Two sources with knowledge of Laich’s operation confirmed it April 28.

The 29-year-old skated for more than an hour Wednesday but was limited. Laich hasn’t played since aggravating a groin injury April 4 and said he had skated a few times before Wednesday and was “unsure” on a timeline.

“He’s still a little ways away,” coach Adam Oates said. “He’s good enough to skate, just get out there and handle the puck. Obviously you can’t go full speed but get as many touches with the puck as you can.”

General manager George McPhee said he expected Laich to be back perhaps by the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, if not earlier.

It sounded Wednesday like returning during this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the New York Rangers was not likely.

“I had a game in mind for this series that I had sort of circled and I said I wasn’t going to do it before because it creates frustration when you don’t make that timeline,” Laich said. “I did it again and it doesn’t look like I’m going to hit it. I’ve got to stop doing that.”

The general time frame for players returning from this operation is four to six weeks. Defenseman Mike Green came back a month after his sports hernia surgery last season.

“He’s worked hard to get back as quick as he has,” Green said. “He’s still got a ways to go, but it’s good to see him skate.”

Right wing Joel Ward underwent sports hernia surgery this past offseason. His advice to Laich was to “be patient.”

“Mentally he’s got to stay in it, stay positive,” Ward said last week. “Him being here for the recovery part I think is better than him being at home on his own. It’s good just to be around the locker room, get treatment here, everything like that.”

Being on the ice with teammates represented more progress.

“To be able to skate and get some work in was very positive,” Laich said.

Laich missed the first 28 games of the regular season with a groin injury before returning to play nine. He has missed the past 14 after aggravating but learned a lesson not to rush back from his previous setback.

“Before when I came back in, we weren’t really in that great of a situation as far as where we were in the standings, so it was a little harder,” Laich said. “I was pushing myself to get back in the lineup, but then when I got back in I wasn’t as effective as what I’d hoped to be. This time it’s a little easier and a little more patient.”

Green missed time with a groin injury this season as well. The Caps went 9-1-1 to close out the regular season without Laich.

Remembering what happened last time, Oates doesn’t want Laich to hurry back just because it’s the playoffs.

“Obviously in the past year we’ve set ourselves back a couple times and we don’t want that to happen again,” Oates said. “So obviously we’re conscious of it.”

Ovechkin denies being ‘tired’

Alex Ovechkin denied being “tired” on New York’s Game 3-winning goal, as Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh said.

Asked about the McDonagh’s comment, the Caps captain said, “I feel normal.”

“I don’t know why he say that,” Ovechkin said Wednesday. “I think our line play well, we have solid chances but we don’t score. Of course they try to find something, if they winning they try to find somebody looks tired, somebody looks lazy, somebody looks somewhat bad. So I don’t care what he say.”

Ovechkin played 22:07 in the Caps’ 4-3 loss Monday. The issue, Oates said Tuesday, was more that a bevy of penalties interrupted the flow of getting Ovechkin consistent ice time.

The Caps spent 10:08 of the first 28:32 short-handed. Ovechkin conceded it’s tough on him when he’s not taking regular shifts.

“You just want to get into the game, feel the ice and when you sit five, six, four minutes, you kind of go out of the game,” he said. “Anyway, you just have to be sharp out there, do something, but do not squeeze yourself.”



In the process, they fell behind 2-0 and had to play uphill for much of the night

Staff

In the process, they fell behind 2-0 and had to play uphill for much of the night, without top-six forward Martin Erat, who appeared to suffer a left wrist injury late in the first.

“It’s never easy coming back from two goals,” said right wing Joel Ward, who had his best game of the series. “But you got no choice. It is what it is, the score is up there. And we tried to fight back and get some chances in.”

The Caps deserve credit for taking advantage of some favorable shifts in the second period that allowed them to tie the score. When right wing Troy Brouwer scored with 17.1 seconds left before intermission, it looked like they would overcome the poor start.

Instead, an all-too-familiar problem cost them. Left wing Jason Chimera was called for interfering with Rangers defenseman Anton Stralman just before the buzzer. It stunted the momentum the Caps worked to build.

“I think the penalty, it’s a good hard hockey play Chimmer going to the net,” Brouwer said. “Unfortunately you take an interference penalty and it’s tough when you give them 20 minutes to go over what they’re going to do and probably even looked at video to see if there were holes in our game.”

Not even a hole but just a well-executed power play restored New York’s lead just 59 seconds into the third on a goal by Dan Girardi. A failed clear by Caps defenseman Jack Hillen a few minutes later contributed to Derek Stepan’s goal and the Rangers‘ first two-goal lead of the series.

“We were a little bit slow out of the gates after [Girardi’s goal], as well, and they were able to score another quick one,” Brouwer said, “and we spent the whole game trying to play catch-up.”

That’s not the way to succeed against the Rangers, who did their job in holding serve at home. Washington is 0-6 in franchise history when losing Game 4 to make it a 2-2 series. The Caps will try to make history beginning with Game 5 Friday night back at Verizon Center.

“Everybody knows it’s playoffs,” captain Alex Ovechkin said. “Nobody’s gonna give up right away. Doesn’t matter if gonna be score, but right now we go home and go and play against them with our fans and in our building. It’s gonna I hope be much better for us.”

The Caps have to hope their showing back home is better than Wednesday night, when they were outshot 21-9 to start the game and could never find consistent rhythm. This was not the same kind of domination at five-on-five that Washington enjoyed in the first three games, and the rest of the series will likely hinge on a chess match between Oates and John Tortorella.

“They made some adjustments, so we’ll have to adjust now,” Alzner said.

Whether it’s on the power play, which was stagnant in going 0-for-2, or five-on-five where the Rangers finally seemed to carry things, the Caps must adjust quickly.

“It’s a three game series now,” Holtby said. “We’re trying not to think too much about momentum. We have a job to do: win four out of seven. We knew it was going to be tough and we’ll regroup and we’ll be ready to play.”



Capitals' mistakes prove costly as Rangers tie series with Game 4 win

May 8, 2013 | 7:00 pm | Modified: May 8, 2013 at 10:45 pm

Brian McNally

The Washington Examiner

NEW YORK -- The Capitals struggled to complete a pass, handle the puck, generate traffic in front of the net, stay out of the penalty box and push shots through on goal. All in all, the first 35 minutes of play against the New York Rangers on Wednesday night were an unmitigated disaster.

And while Washington would fight back to tie the game, in the end those early transgressions proved costly. A penalty late in the second period led to Dan Girardi's power-play goal early in the third period and Derek Stepan added the game-winning tally five minutes later in an eventual 4-3 New York victory.

Mathieu Perreault and Troy Brouwer scored critical goals late in the second period for the Caps. But Jason Chimera's interference penalty at the final whistle of the second period led to the Rangers' power play. Just 59 seconds into the period, Girardi took a nice feed from teammate Derick Brassard and buried a shot past goalie Braden Holtby (30 saves) for the go-ahead goal.

At 6:02, Stepan took advantage of a collision between a pair of Caps players. He finished a give-and-go down low with teammate Carl Hagelin into a virtually empty net. That proved momentous when Washington defenseman Karl Alzner shot a puck that deflected off the helment of Perreault on its way into the net at 7:31. But the Caps couldn't push home the tying goal late. The New York victory ties this best-of-seven series 2-2 with Game 5 on Friday night at Verizon Center. Neither team has yet won on the road. Perreault started Washington's aborted comeback, but the play was made by teammate Joel Ward. With his team trailing 2-0 and getting thoroughly outplayed, Ward drove into the offensive zone and just kept going. By the time he reached goalie Henrik Lundqvist (27 saves), he'd lost the puck. No matter. Perreault was all alone at the left post to stuff it home at 13:08 of the second period. That cut the Rangers' lead to 2-1.

Then, in the period's waning moments, defenseman Mike Green nimbly kept a puck in the offensive zone and quickly found Brouwer. He drove across the middle, using his big frame to keep Rangers defenders away from the puck, and roofed a sweet backhanded shot over the glove of Lundqvist to tie the game 2-2.

It was a shocking turn in a game New York had dominated. Brad Richards had scored first at 16:25 of the first period. Holtby thought he saw teammate Eric Fehr wide open at the opposite blueline. But his pass was knocked out of mid-air by Taylor Pyatt. And while Washington defenseman John Carlson blocked an initial shot by Hagelin, he couldn't stop the rebound from Richards.

At 10:13 of the second, Hagelin made it 2-0 on a sweet cross-ice feed from Brassard. But while that lead eventually eroded, New York managed to shake off those late second-period goals by the Caps and hold on with Holtby pulled for the extra attacker in the final minute to even the series.

Washington Examiner LOADED: 05.09.2013

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ESPN / Fleury gave Bylsma little choice

By Scott Burnside

PITTSBURGH -- Not to put too fine a point on it, but it’s hard not to imagine that the Pittsburgh Penguins' Dan Bylsma has just made his most important decision as a head coach.

A man who won a Stanley Cup after just a few months on the job in June 2009, a man who won a Jack Adams Award as the coach of the year two years later to establish himself as one of the top young coaches in the game, has decided he’s seen enough of franchise goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and will turn to veteran Tomas Vokoun to keep his team’s Stanley Cup dreams alive.

Bylsma announced Wednesday afternoon that Vokoun, who has not played in an NHL playoff game since 2007, will start for the Penguins in Game 5 Thursday night.

"We brought Tomas Vokoun in to play big games for us and be a goaltender we can count on to go in and play big games," Bylsma said.

"He’s done that this year for us. He has been very good against the Islanders in the three games that he’s played against the Islanders," the coach added. "We’re getting a guy who’s real capable, a guy going in and being a great goalie for us."

As much as there is a shocking element to the goaltending switch, the bottom line is that Fleury gave Bylsma little choice.

Fleury appears to have reverted almost instantly to the Marc-Andre Fleury we saw bumbling through a first-round loss to Philadelphia a year ago. After shutting out a timid New York Islanders team in Game 1, Fleury has

allowed 14 goals in the last three games, two of which have resulted in losses.

Not all the goals are Fleury’s fault, but enough are to suggest this is a goaltender in the middle of a significant crisis of confidence with his team now needing to win two out of three to avoid the embarrassment of being eliminated by an eighth seed for the second time in four years. (The Canadiens dispatched the Pens in the second round in 2010.)

Fleury played Kyle Okposo’s goal from behind the net in Game 4 Tuesday like a bag of hammers, a goal that came with 1:24 left in the second period and allowed the Isles to forge a 3-3 tie going into the third period.

Then, with the Pens pressing for a tying goal late in regulation, Fleury looked like a deer in the headlights, allowing rookie Casey Cizikas to slide in a bad-angle goal to give the Isles a 6-4 victory and knot the series at two wins apiece.

In Game 2, Fleury somehow allowed the carom of an Okposo shot to come off the end boards and end up in the Penguins’ net for what would be the winning goal.

The former No. 1 overall draft pick looks like a netminder who is more than a little surprised when he does make a stop. While his teammates insist just the opposite -- that they still believe in him -- a goalie whose confidence balloon has been popped infects his teammates with the same malady, just as if it were the Ebola virus let loose in the dressing room.

Bylsma declined to discuss how the conversation went when Bylsma told Fleury he would not start Game 5, the first time in 80 Penguin postseason games that No. 29 will not be between the pipes to start.

"Not a conversation I’m going to discuss with you. But I have talked to Marc," Bylsma said.

It’s not just Fleury, of course. The team’s defensive play has taken a step backward, but instead of covering those holes in the fabric, Fleury is tugging at the loose strings, further weakening the tapestry.

"We definitely haven’t played our best hockey," defenseman Paul Martin said.

This isn’t to suggest the Islanders aren’t full value for tying the series. They are. And they are full value because they have realized a weakness in the Penguins goal and are exploiting it, sometimes shooting wide and hoping to catch Fleury overcommitting with rebounds and caroms. Other times, they appear to be shooting at his feet, looking to take advantage of poor rebound control and a lack of positioning.

But the reality is, if the Pens had even average goaltending, they would have won Games 2 and 4.

Yes, Islander netminder Evgeni Nabokov has not provided Conn Smythe-worthy netminding either, boasting a 4.56 GAA and .846 save percentage in the series, but the Islanders are the eighth seed, not a team that was the pick of many observers to cakewalk through the Eastern Conference.

And so the dice have been rolled, and the Penguins will turn to Vokoun, setting up all form of interesting storylines moving forward.

What happens if the 36-year-old, who has played in only 11 postseason games in his career, cannot give the Pens a win in Game 5 Thursday night? Do they go back to Fleury, a man who once upon a time won 30 postseason games between 2008 and 2009, for a must-win Game 6?

What if Vokoun gives you a win in Game 5 but falters in Game 6, setting up a winner-take-all Game 7? Who starts that game?

It was no coincidence that general manager Ray Shero went after Vokoun when free agency began in July. He wasn’t looking for a guy so he could rest Fleury; he was looking for a guy for just this eventuality, someone who could provide quality starts regardless of the time of the season.

Shero said on the eve of the playoffs that the challenges facing Fleury were the same that faced everyone in that room: showing they could elevate their game, especially after last year’s embarrassing defeat to the Flyers.

Vokoun was a solid 13-4 during the shortened regular season, with a respectable .919 save percentage, and was a big part of the Pens’ impressive 15-game win streak and a stretch in the second half of the season where they won 22 of 24 games.

Now he appears to give the Penguins their best chance at salvaging a series that has proved to be wildly entertaining, not to mention far closer than anyone had a right to expect.

The players who spoke to the media Wednesday either were not aware of or would not comment specifically about the goaltending change. Neither Vokoun nor Fleury was made available.

Still, Jarome Iginla talked about the dynamic of this series being as tight as it is and how it might actually benefit the Penguins.

"I think you enjoy it," Iginla said. "We get ready for a bigger battle than we had last game. And I think you just keep the focus there and love that challenge. I know we have a lot of great competitors in there that feel good today, that feel good and are excited to play tomorrow and are looking forward to it."

However the goaltending drama unfolds over the coming days, it’s hard to imagine that this move does not start the clock on Fleury’s time in Pittsburgh.

This playoff year was his opportunity to prove he was mentally tough enough to regain his form of 2008-09. Thus far he has failed, and in that failing, he has lost the confidence of the management and coaching staff.

Can he get it back?

Fleury is under contract through the 2014-15 season at an annual cap hit of $5 million with a limited no-trade clause.

It’s amazing to think that we sat with Fleury just a few days ago on the eve of this series and chatted about his newborn daughter and his ability to let things go, to move on from poor performances. He talked about how he had taken some time to look at the mistakes of the Philadelphia series and tried to put that series behind him.

But what was it that Bob Dylan sang, "But all the while I was alone the past was close behind"?

As it turns out for Fleury, the distance between the past and the present isn’t so far at all. In fact, it appears the two are the same, which has forced Bylsma into a decision that has altered the foundation of this team.

ESPN LOADED: 05.09.2013

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ESPN / Difficult loss leaves Leafs on the brink

By Pierre LeBrun

TORONTO -- The home dressing room felt like a morgue.

James Reimer could barely lift his head.

And James van Riemsdyk said it best, despite an all-out effort by his Toronto Maple Leafs in one of this spring’s most entertaining tilts.

“There are no moral victories in the playoffs,” JVR said before walking off to the showers.

The young Leafs, playoff neophytes before the puck dropped last Wednesday in Boston to open the series, played their hearts out and showed in their fourth game that they’re figuring out what this whole postseason thing is all about.

They went toe-to-toe with the veteran Boston Bruins, a raucous Air Canada Centre crowd jumping out of their seats with every scoring chance in a frenzied overtime period in which the Leafs outshot the Bruins 11-9.

But yet again, a key mistake cost the Leafs. The type of mistake the veteran Bruins, 2011 Cup champs, just don’t make very often.

The Bruins might lose games, but they don’t often beat themselves. That’s what Toronto did on the winner. It was the sliver of a difference in a 4-3 overtime affair.

Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf made a bad pinch at the Bruins’ blue line, crushing Nathan Horton with a big hit but allowing the Bruins winger to chip the puck out to David Krecji, who fled away on a clear 2-on-1 break with Milan Lucic.

And if you closed your eyes on the play and simply listened, you knew what happened next just by hearing the muted ACC crowd.

“You can’t afford to make mistakes that lead to off-man rushes,” Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. “We turned the puck over deep in the corner, then we pinched, gave them an odd-man rush, and they scored a short-side goal to beat us.

“That feels like a dagger after the effort that was put forward by our group.”

A dagger indeed, the Bruins now up 3-1 in the series with a chance to clinch it Friday night at home in what will be a rocking TD Garden.

Krejci capped the hat trick by beating Reimer with a wrist shot that squeezed by the Leafs goalie. Usually a setup man, the Czech center admitted afterwards shooting was not option No. 1.

“Yeah, I was looking to pass the whole way,” he smiled. “But (Lucic) is a lefty, he was on his backhand, so that kind of made my decision easier. I also had (Zdeno Chara) and was thinking about him for a one-timer, because he’s got the best one-timer in the league. But they took him away, too. So I just tried to shoot it. In overtime, there’s never a bad shot. It wasn’t a perfect shot, but it went in.”

Another monster night for Krejci’s line with Lucic and Horton, the trio combining for five points to push their series total to 22 overall in four games.

The Bruins were certainly pushed. They fell behind 2-0 in the opening period, which ignited the home crowd, something that didn’t happen in Game 3 with the Leafs trailing the whole night.

This time, the ACC crowd of 19,708 was as loud as this place can get given the corporate suits in the NHL’s most expensive seats near the ice.

But the Bruins showed their poise and experience, calmly responding to that early deficit.

“Even when we were behind two goals I thought we were making some strong plays and could have easily scored, too,” said the captain Chara, who had four assists. “We bounced back with a really strong second.”

Did they ever, the Bruins scoring three unanswered goals in the middle period in what was easily Toronto’s brain-cramp moment.

And while the Leafs tied it late in the second period on Clarke MacArthur’s goal, the lesson here yet again is that Toronto cannot expect to take stretches like that off and still hope to beat a former championship team.

“Once again it was a small pocket, but it cost us the game,” said Leafs blue-liner Cody Franson, who was again terrific with a plus-3 performance and scoring his team’s second goal.

“We pushed the pace in the overtime, we pushed the pace in the third, we had a decent first period, and a hiccup in the second period. We made some mistakes, but it’s tough. We can’t afford to dwell on it.”

You’re not going to sell the big-picture view on too many players in that Leafs dressing room.

But the fact remains that win or lose in this series -- and it’s obviously not looking good down 3-1 -- this is a team that has grown by giant strides in just eight days and four games of the playoffs.

They’re getting it.

“Yeah, the experience helps us,” Franson said. “We’re a young group. There’s quite a few guys that haven’t gone through it before. Guys are starting to get a little bit more comfortable with the intensity and the emotion that comes with these games.”

All the more reason the Bruins needed to plant that dagger Wednesday night; because a 2-2 series with a Leafs team growing in belief would have been a dangerous thing.

Now they’ve got three shots at winning once, and the odds are obviously strongly in favor of that happening.


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ESPN / Questions abound for Canucks after sweep

By Pierre LeBrun

It was always going to be the "window" series, two of the Western Conference's long-standing contenders facing off in the first round, with the losers having to face questions about their immediate future.

The San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks have been kicking at the contender can for a long time, and folks in both cities this year began to wonder if things were getting a little stale.

Heck, the Sharks even retooled on the fly this season, trading away pending UFAs Ryane Clowe, Douglas Murray and Michal Handzus (while adding Raffi Torres and Scott Hannan) as GM Doug Wilson publicly acknowledged the need to begin the "reset" of his roster.

So a first-round loss to Vancouver would have spurred more moves -- no doubt toward youth -- for the Sharks, who have played the second-most playoff games in the NHL since 2004, behind only the Detroit Red Wings.

Instead, the re-energized Sharks are very much alive, thinking once again about their title hopes, after a four-game dismantling of the Canucks. It's Vancouver that has to answer very difficult questions after a debacle of a series.

The Canucks' window appears to be closing. Back-to-back first-round playoff losses since their run to the Cup finals in 2011 suggest the recipe isn't right anymore.

And getting rid of the cook may not be the only solution.

Everyone who has an opinion seems to think coach Alain Vigneault will pay the price. Certainly, it's a bullet GM Mike Gillis has kept in the chamber ever since he took over the club in April 2008, having inherited "AV" as coach.

Gillis has to shoulder some blame here, too, as all GMs whose teams have higher expectations must after being swept in the first round.

In retrospect, he should have taken whatever the Toronto Maple Leafs’ best offer was last summer and divested himself of Roberto Luongo, as the goalie drama did not serve the team well at all, even if both netminders stayed on good terms with each other.

Of more concern is that Luongo was the better goalie in the series than Cory Schneider, whose confidence has to be rattled after the way things worked out.

But the problems here run deeper.

Henrik and Daniel Sedin deserve some scrutiny here as well. Neither scored a goal in the four-game sweep. They looked tired and head into the final years of their contracts next season ($6.1 million per year). The Canucks will have an interesting decision to make -- one would think as soon as this summer, so as not to have the twins' pending UFA status hang over the team next season.

The defense is set, which is either a good thing if you like this group or a bad thing if you're a Canucks fan who wants change. But Kevin Bieksa, Jason Garrison, Dan Hamhuis and Alex Edler all have contracts that run at least through 2015-16. Unless they trade some of these big contracts, that's the Canucks' core blue line for a while.

The Canucks also have the highest payroll in the league, and the salary cap is going down to $64.3 million next season. Obviously divesting themselves of Luongo's $5.33 million cap hit via a trade or a compliance buyout will help in that regard, with Keith Ballard ($4.2 million a year for two more seasons) another buyout candidate as well.

And because of the years of contending and going for it, there isn't a deep pool of prospects in the pipeline, either.

So, to recap:

• Do the Canucks have a bona fide No. 1 goalie in Schneider moving forward?

• Should this team still be built around the Sedins?

• Will Ryan Kesler ever be injury-free?

• Does this team have the right supporting cast to still contend?

• Is it time to retool, rebuild or be patient for one more run with this core?

Many questions at this point, but very few answers.

The only thing for certain is that it won't be dull in Vancouver this offseason.


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FOXSports.com / Kings, Ducks each win Game 5 with OT thrillers

JONATHAN DAVIS

May 09, 2013

It was a night to remember for Southern California hockey fans as both the Kings and Ducks each captured 3-2 overtime victories on Wednesday and now own 3-2 series leads in their respective series.

The Kings got things rolling earlier in the night when Slava Voynov slid a shot just under the pads of Blues goalie Brian Elliott eight minutes into the extra session to give the Kings the 3-2 win.

Voynov scored his second game-winning goal of the series and became the first Kings defenseman to score an overtime playoff goal in 12 years.

The Kings looked like they were on their way to victory in regulation before Alex Pietrangelo tied the game with just 45 seconds left in the third period.

"I saw him release it," said goalie Jonathan Quick. "Usually when you see it come off the stick you have a better chance of stopping it, but I just couldn't seem to pick it up, so it was disappointing at the time.

"But we were able to bounce back and get one there in overtime, which was huge."

While Voynov was the offensive hero, defenseman Drew Doughty was a workhouse on the blueline. Doughty played just over 33 of the 68 minutes in the game — More ice time than any player on either side.

The Kings had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 thanks to the scoring touch of Jeff Carter. After being held without a goal in the first three games of the series, Carter now has three goals in the last two games.

"We are a resilient group," Carter said. "A lot of guys have been through a lot of different experiences over their careers and I think we all kind of draw off that.

The Kings now have a chance to put the series away on home ice when the two teams return to Staples Center on Friday night for Game 6.

"This series, it's a tough series," Kopitar said. "We all know the fourth one's the toughest one. We were fortunate enough to get this one on their ice, now we're going home to finish it off."

In Anaheim, the Ducks capped off the perfect Southern California evening when Nick Bonino buried his third goal of the playoffs at the 1:54 mark of overtime.

“He’s an opportunist," said coach Bruce Boudreau. "He comes up with big goals. He’s a heck of a player and a heck of a competitor. He knows how to win and he knows what it takes to win.”

Trailing 2-1 late in the second period, the Ducks found themselves having to kill off a five minute penalty to Daniel Winnik for boarding.

Enter Captain Ryan Getlaf.

His relentless work on the penalty kill forced the Red Wings Brendan Smith into a holding penalty. Sixty seconds later, Getzlaf blasted home his third of the series, tying the game at two and changing the momentum in Anaheim’s favor.

“He’s a great leader, said Boudreau. “When he’s going he’s a tough man to stop. I thought he brought it tonight, and guys followed him. That’s what captains do.”

“It was a huge kill for our group," Getzlaf said. “I was pretty excited. This is an exciting time of the year. I’m having fun. This is what we play for all season. “

After dropping the two previous games in this series, the Ducks now find themselves with a chance to close out the Red Wings Friday night in Detroit.

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USA TODAY / Why the Islanders are tied with the Penguins

Kevin Allen

USA TODAY Sports

12:32 a.m. EDT May 9, 2013

PITTSBURGH - Five reasons why the No. 8 New York Islanders are tied 2-2 with No. 1 Pittsburgh Penguins going into Thursday's Game 5 in Pittsburgh:

1. Getting more pucks to the net: The Penguins are supposed to be the offensively dynamic team, but the Islanders have more shots on goal in the series. That matters because Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has not been sharp and is being replacing in Game 5 by Tomas Vokoun. The Penguins and Islanders are even in 5-on-5 play, and that's a major plus for the Islanders.

COLUMN: Vokoun signing a deft move

2. Aggressive forecheck: The speedy Islanders' forecheck has forced the Penguins to change the way they break out of their end. They have not been as effective moving the puck. They seem out of sync.

3. Unsung heroes: Islanders winger Kyle Okposo had four goals in the regular season, and he has three in this series. The Islanders are out-hitting the Penguins, 140-123, and Islanders forward Matt Martin has 22. No Penguin has more than 14.

4. Growing confidence: These Islanders had to play an every-shift-matters style for six weeks just to get into the playoffs. They are performing like seasoned troops. They don't panic. They sense breaks coming before they happen.

5. Name players doing their part: John Tavares has four points in four games and he's around the net. Mark Streit leads the team in scoring. Lubomir Visnovsky is plus 3. Frans Nielsen has 13 shots on net.

USA TODAY LOADED: 05.09.2013

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USA TODAY / Tomas Vokoun signing proves to be deft move

Kevin Allen

USA TODAY Sports

10:56 p.m. EDT May 8, 2013

The Pittsburgh Penguins' Ray Shero probably will win the NHL General Manager of the Year Award primarily on the strength of his ability to corner the trade market on both classy captains and high-priced rental properties before this year's deadline.

While opponents were still analyzing the market, Shero jumped in to land big-bodied San Jose Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray plus Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla and Dallas Stars captain Brenden Morrow. He also added Jussi Jokinen to spice up his offense.

Those deals created a buzz because they came while teams were scrapping to get a playoff spot.

But his most important deal might have been the one he made last July when he agreed to give Tomas Vokoun $2 million a year for two years.

MORE: Vokoun gets Game 5 start

That deal caught the hockey world unaware because the normal course of action for a team in Pittsburgh's position would have been to sign an inexpensive backup for Marc-Andre Fleury. After all, the Pens were paying $5 million to Fleury.

Today, Shero's decision to pay a little more to have a higher-quality backup looks shrewd, because Vokoun has been named to replace Fleury as the team's starter for Game5 vs. the New York Islanders.

It's not a decision coach Dan Bylsma wanted to make. It's a decision he had to make. Fleury helped Pittsburgh win a Stanley Cup four years ago, and he's a popular player inside the dressing room. Everyone knows Fleury to be a good man. But he has not been a good playoff goalie since the Penguins won the Stanley Cup.

There has been worry in Pittsburgh about Fleury's game for a while. His career playoff save percentage is lower than his regular-season mark. That's not an usual occurrence.

He has given up 40 goals in his last 10 playoff games. Certainly, that's not all on him, especially last season when the Penguins melted down against the Philadelphia Flyers.

But the decision to sign Vokoun would suggest the Penguins were concerned. They didn't have a good option last year because Brent Johnson had a poor season as a backup.

The Penguins' thinking on Vokoun was that a higher-quality backup could mean six or eight additional points in the standings. And if Fleury faltered, Vokoun would be an attractive alternative.

And that's what has happened. Fleury faltered, and Vokoun is in. He hasn't played a playoff game since 2007, but he is 13-4 this season and 3-0 against the Islanders.

"We brought Tomas Vokoun in to play big games for us," Bylsma said.

We haven't seen the last of Fleury, who has a history of bouncing back. Don't forget he had a Game 1 shutout and is known as a battler. Plus, the Penguins love their "Flower."

But since he helped Pittsburgh win the Stanley Cup with a .908 save percentage, Fleury's postseason stats are .891, .899, .834 and now .891 over four games of this series.

To put those numbers in perspective, Jonathan Quick led the Los Angeles Kings to a Stanley Cup last season at .946. In 2011, Tim Thomas had a .940 save percentage for the champion Boston Bruins. In 2010, Antti Niemi's save percentage was .910 when he took the Chicago Blackhawks to the Cup. In 2008, the Detroit Red Wings won on the strength of Chris Osgood's .930. Jean-Sebastien Giguere was at .922 when the Anaheim Ducks won in 2007.

Statistics don't always tell the whole story. The Penguins have given up plenty of scoring chances during Fleury's tenure. But Fleury's inconsistency is at a point where changing goalies is more than justified.

If Vokoun does the job, his signing could turn out to be bigger than Shero's four moves at the deadline.


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USA TODAY / Ovechkin hit injures teammate

Mike Brehm

USA TODAY Sports

1:47 a.m. EDT May 9, 2013

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin doesn't deliver as many booming checks as he did in his early days, but one Wednesday night unintentionally sent a teammate off the ice.

Ovechkin and Martin Erat were chasing New York Rangers center Derek Stepan as he raced for a loose puck in the Capitals' zone on a short-handed chance in the first period. Ovechkin caught up and hit Stepan, sending both Stepan and Erat flying.

MORE: Marc Staal sits out

Erat's left glove came off and his arm hit the ice. He was holding his wrist after sliding into the net.

He left the game and did not return. After the game, coach Adam Oates told reporters that it was upper body injury and Erat would be re-evaluated on Thursday.

Both Ovechkin (charging) and Erat (hooking) were penalized on the play, leaving the Capitals two men short at the end of the period and for early in the second period. They killed it off, but the Rangers eventually won 4-3 to even the series at 2-2.


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USA TODAY / USA tops Finland 4-1 at worlds

Kevin Allen

USA TODAY Sports

7:49 p.m. EDT May 8, 2013

Anaheim Ducks 19-year-old prospect John Gibson might have created a goalie competition for the USA at the World Championships by making 31 saves to power the Americans to a 4-1 win against host Finland.

Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Ben Bishop started the USA's first three games, but Gibson was so impressive he might get more work.

"We will go game-by-game," U.S. coach Joe Sacco told USA TODAY Sports by phone from Helsinki.

Sacco said he has not decided who will be in the Americans' net when they play their next game Saturday against France (5:15 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Network.

After trailing 1-0 against Finland, the Americans produced four unanswered goals, three of them from Nashville Predators forward Craig Smith, who plays on the USA's top line with the Colorado Avalanche's Paul Stastny and Phoenix Coyotes' David Moss. That unit has contributed significantly to the team's 3-1 start.

"Stastny is a good distributor and he's a good two-way centerman and Moss is a big-bodied winger who can win the puck battles," Sacco said. "Smitty has been snake-bitten before tonight, but he can put the puck in the net."

That trio has recorded seven goals and nine assists over four games. With the selection for 2014 U.S. Olympic spots a month away, this is a good time for those three to be producing on the wider international ice.

"It feels good," Smith told USA TODAY Sports. "We seem to be able to find each other in tight areas and Stastny has been so good on faceoffs."

Stastny is winning more than 70% of his draws.

Smith scored an even-strength goal, a power-play tally and an empty-netter against Finland. New Jersey Devils forward Stephen Gionta scored the USA's other goal

But the story against the Finns was the poised play of Gibson, who led the Americans to the World Junior Championships gold medal last January.

"Bishop has played well but he played three games in four nights and we wanted someone fresh in there," Sacco said. "Gibson has practiced well. … All the signs were that he was ready and he didn't disappoint. He was very assertive in the cage."

Gibson said he was not nervous.

"I was just excited to get the chance to play," he said. "I wasn't sure whether I was going to play, so I just had to be prepared if my name was called."


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USA TODAY / Tomas Vokoun to start Game 5 for Penguins

Kevin Allen

USA TODAY Sports

1:51 p.m. EDT May 8, 2013

PITTSBURGH - Penguins coach Dan Bylsma announced Wednesday that Tomas Vokoun will be replacing Marc-Andre Fleury in net for Thursday's Game 5 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the New York k Islanders.

Fleury has given up 14 goals over the past three games and has a 3.40 goals-against average and .891 save percentage. The series is tied 2-2

"Tomas is capable of being a great goalie for us," Bylsma said.

MORE: Vezina Trophy finalists announced

Vokoun has won all three of his starts against the Islanders this season, including a 35-save shutout on March 30. He has stopped 98 of 101 shots in four appearances vs. the Islanders.

One of the reasons why the Penguins signed Vokoun last summer was to give them a strong option should Fleury become injured or experience a slump. Fleury, who was Pittsburgh's No. 1 goalie during their 2009 Stanley Cup run, struggled last season when the Penguins were upset in the first round against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Vokoun played 20 out of the 48 games this season, going 13-4, but he has not played in the postseason since 2006-07.


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USA TODAY / Finalists announced for Vezina Trophy

Mike Brehm

USA TODAY Sports

1:27 p.m. EDT May 8, 2013

Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky carried the Columbus Blue Jackets on his back to the brink of a playoff berth.

Though he fell short on a tiebreaker, Bobvosky's efforts were rewarded when he was voted a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as outstanding goaltender.

The New York Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist and San Jose Sharks' Antti Niemi also finished among the top three. Bobrovsky and Niemi are first-time finalists.

The winner will be announced during the Stanley Cup Final.

MORE: How power rankings panel voted

A closer look at the finalists:

Bobrovsky: The Blue Jackets acquired the Philadelphia Flyers backup to compete with Steve Mason for the No. 1 position. After a slow start, he played so well that the Blue Jackets traded Mason to the Flyers. He played in all but one game of a 8-0-4 stretch in February-March that moved Columbus out of last place. He also had a 1.64 goals-against average and.945 save percentage to win eight of nine games from April 9 to the end of the season. Overall, he was 21-11-6, with a 2.00 goals-against average, .932 save percentage (second best in the league) and four shutouts.

MORE: Norris Trophy finalists

Lundqvist: He has a chance to be the first back-to-back winner since Martin Brodeur in 2007 and 2008. He went 24-16-3 with a 2.05 goals-against average and .926 save percentage, posting his eighth consecutive 20-win season, the longest current streak among active goaltenders. Lundqvist allowed two or fewer goals in 16 of his last 20 games, going 13-5-2 with a 1.77 GAA and .935 save percentage, to clinch a playoff berth. This is his fifth time as a finalist.

MORE: Calder Trophy finalists

Niemi: He tied Lundqvist for the league lead in starts (43) and wins (24) and had more ice time than any other goaltender (2,580 minutes, 46 seconds). He ranked third in shots faced (1,220) and saves (1,127). He went 24-12-6 with a 2.16 goals-against average, .924 save percentage and four shutouts.

How USA TODAY Sports hockey staffers voted

They didn't. General managers vote on the award, but Kevin Allen and Mike Brehm submitted their top three goaltenders to determine the first and second All-Star team.

Allen: Bobrovsky, Boston's Tuukka Rask, Lundqvist

Brehm: Bobrovsky, Niemi, Rask


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YAHOO SPORTS / Playoff warhorse Jaromir Jagr embraces supporting role with Bruins – and another Stanley Cup chance

Nicholas J. Cotsonika

TORONTO — Ryan O’Byrne thought he had time. His defense partner, Jake Gardiner, had reversed the puck to him off the end boards in the left-wing corner. He waited for a second. Then anoth …

It's good to be Jaromir Jagr, a 41-year-old superstar looking to win another Stanley Cup. (USA Today)Before he knew what happened, Jaromir Jagr crept up behind him, poked the puck away, took two steps behind the net and made a quick pass out the other side. Rich Peverley slapped it home before goaltender James Reimer could react. Steal. Pass. Score. The Boston Bruins led, 2-0, on their way to a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.

“He’s a Hall of Famer,” O’Byrne said. “He’s a guy that you need to be aware of on the ice.”

Lesson learned.

“That’s what experience does,” O’Byrne said.

This is what the Bruins hoped Jagr would do when they acquired him at the trade deadline. He’s 41. He’s slow. But he’s still strong and skilled and smart, and with more than 180 NHL playoff games on his resume, he’s savvy.

Asked about what he had done to O’Byrne, who has 10 percent of his NHL playoff experience, Jagr sounded like a thief in court. He pleaded innocent.

“I was skating by, and I had the puck on my stick, so I make a pass,” he said with a straight face. “Nothing special.”

Uh-huh.

[Also: KO'd Leafs fan gets free tickets to Game 4 versus Bruins]

The truth is, Jagr was nothing special in the playoffs last year. He had one goal and eight points in 11 games for the Philadelphia Flyers, but the goal and all but one of the points came in a wide-open, six-game first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had only one point in five games as the Flyers lost in the second round to the New Jersey Devils and their relentless forecheck.

He seemed worn down by injuries and the NHL grind, which is what teams feared would happen when he came back to North America after three seasons playing a less physical game on a larger ice surface in the KHL. He spoke often about the adjustment, and he said then that he wanted to keep playing in the NHL because he thought he could be better. A workout fanatic, he wanted get lighter and quicker.

Is Jagr better now, or at least better prepared for a long playoff run? Remember, although he didn’t play 82 regular-season games in the NHL this season because of the lockout, Jagr still played a lot of hockey before the playoffs and had to adjust to new a team twice. He also has a lesser role now.

Jagr, pictured with his mother, won Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh in 1991 and '92.He played 34 games for the Kladno Knights, the team he owns in the

Czech league – not nearly the same wear and tear, but wear and tear. Then he played 34 games for the Dallas Stars and 11 more for the Bruins. That’s 79 games. He played 73 for the Flyers last season. He is a third-liner at even strength and a specialist on the power play in Boston. He was a first-liner in Philly and Dallas.

Jagr was nothing special in his first two playoff games this year. He was coming off a case of the flu that forced him to do nothing for five or six days – not good for a guy who feels good when he’s working and bad when he takes a day off. He said he lost weight and muscles lost strength. He said he still doesn’t feel 100 percent, but “it’s coming back.”

And sounding like a wise old man, he reminded everyone this is not a sprint if you expect to play for two months. Asked about adjusting to the playoffs, he laughed and said: “Maybe first two games, because young kids are crazy and skating up and down. But it’s like a marathon.”

The beauty of this is that Jagr seems suited for Boston. Whether he has lost a step, the NHL has gotten faster or both, it doesn’t matter because, as teammate Nathan Horton said, “he slows the game down and sees the ice so well.” Though he isn’t a power forward delivering hits like Milan Lucic, he is a powerful forward at 6-foot-3, 240 pounds. He fits a big, heavy veteran team that needs help on the power play and thrives along the boards.

“He may have lost a little bit of his speed, which is understandable,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien. “ But he hasn’t lost his hockey sense, his creativity and his skill level.”

You don’t need speed and snarl on the power play. You don’t need it to do what Jagr has always done well – use his ample hockey butt and long reach to protect the puck, creating space, inviting opponents to check him so he can read which why they cheat and spin off. You can fool young guys who grew up watching you but are still learning how to play against you.

“He’s probably not one of the faster guys out there, but he’s deceiving down low,” said Leafs center Nazem Kadri, who was born Oct. 6, 1990 – the day after Jagr’s NHL debut. “Especially with how big his body is, it seems like it takes a couple minutes to skate around that guy.”

Jagr hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since 1992, when Kadri was 1-1/2. Asked what it would mean to win the Cup at this stage of his career, he paused. He said he didn’t want to sound bad. He knows he’s supposed to say it would mean everything, but he’s old enough to know how hard it is and how much luck is involved.

“For me,” he said, “it’s more special if I can help to make someone else happy.”

What makes Jagr happy is not winning the Cup, necessarily, but competing for it while he still can. He would like to play another season in the NHL, maybe two, before returning to the Czech league. But he’s a pending unrestricted free agent and has gray in his stubble.

Who knows where he will be next season, let alone the season after that? Who knows how many more NHL playoff runs he has? He enjoyed Monday night, the first playoff game in nine years at Air Canada Centre, with the starving fans waving their white giveaway scarves and roaring, with thousands more roaring outside the arena.

“I was actually thinking about it during the national anthem,” Jagr said. “You know, I’m not going to play many more games.”

He’s soaking it up. Everyone should soak it up – except, of course, the Leafs. While we watch, they better watch out.

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