April 28, 2014

2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Day 11

Day late, dollar short?  Maybe so, but here's a recap of Day 11 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs!

First up, Detroit vs. Boston.

4-2 Bruins, Boston wins the series 4-1.  And Tuukka Rask is the first star.

Now, maybe it's just me, but Rask didn't earn that 1st star nod based just on Saturday night's play.  The guy was a beast in the five games against Detroit. He allowed only six goals, saving 96% of shots against him.

The usual suspects were on the scoresheet: Iginla, Chara, and Lucic. Bergeron and Krejci have been a little more up-and-down.  Not a problem.  They'll all be needed in the next round, though, as they face the Montreal Canadiens.

Next, Columbus vs. Pittsburgh.

So much for Fleury's big gaffes in the previous game, huh?

I'm sure some might explain it away as a case of home-cooking doing a guy right.  And I think there's quite a bit of validity to that explanation.  But perhaps this means that Fleury's hit a turning point?

I can't argue either way without more evidence.  And since this is the Penguins we're talking about, I'd really rather not argue in favor of them. They have enough people in their corner to do that, and more educated to boot.

Sergei Bobrovsky had 48 saves too.  So this game could have been a lot uglier.  I've heard that that many saves aren't just a product of goaltending, but of the defense allowing shooters past them to get at the goalie.  Perhaps this was the case on Saturday night?  At any rate, Bobrovsky was up for the challenge, but not quite good enough on a night when the rest of his guys couldn't get anything past Fleury.

Oh, well, that's how it goes sometimes.

Pittsburgh leads 3-2.  Game 6 is Monday.

Next, Minnesota vs. Colorado.

Speaking of home-cooking...wow.

Even though Varlamov allowed three goals, he was still a beast.  In fact, outside of Tuukka Rask, he's the best thing going as far as goaltending is concerned.  The guy comes to play every time he's been out there and just stops damn near everything coming his way.

It doesn't hurt that MacKinnon, Landeskog, and Stastny all contributed either, after being shutout in the two games in Minnesota.

And now Ryan O'Reilly is getting involved too.  The more guys Colorado has going well as they get ready to move on, the better, as far as I'm concerned. Despite dominating Chicago in the regular season...well, that really means nothing now that it's playoff time, doesn't it?

Colorado leads 3-2.  Game 6 is Monday.

Finally, Los Angeles vs. San Jose.

I have a feeling the Sharks are going to rue missing this chance.  They were up 3-1 after blowing the sweep and how'd they do at home?

Well, they got shutout by Jonathan Quick.

Yup, the guy who looked like he couldn't stop a damn thing just a couple games before shutout the Sharks.

Reminds me of Sabbath's "Killing Yourself to Live": "I don't know if I'm up or down/whether black is white or blue is brown".  Yeesh.

The series shifts back to LA and I have no idea who has the advantage.  Or what's going to happen next.  Maybe Antti Niemi will pull a shutout from his behind.  It'd be nice timing, to be sure, since he's been pulled from the last two games due to ineffectiveness.  Yeesh.

San Jose leads 3-2.  Game 6 is Monday.

Later today...oh, wait, those games already happened and I'm going to recap them.  So go and read that, if you like.  Thanks!

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