Here's what's on tap for this evening. Nope, not beer but 5 games to keep me busy as hell.
Because none of these teams had the honor of being blogged last night I will give a quick rundown of what I have seen so far in each series.
We kick things off at 6:30p.m. between Phoenix @ Detroit. I haven’t watched a full game from this series yet but I made sure I didn’t miss the opening face-off of Game 1 and the “whiteout” in the desert. Great stuff! All of the “heads” on Versus and the NHL Network are in love with this Phoenix squad after a tumultuous time. I like ‘em too with a roster that has a buttload of ex-Ranger players. In the crease, both goalies are sporting a GAA over 3 but Jimmy Howard’s save % is a little low. Like less than .890 low. That is not going to get it done in playoffs my friend. Defense and goaltending kids. I have heard it too many times. The Winged Wheel is in a ton of trouble if they lose this game and go down 3-1.
At 7:00 it’s the Pens and the Sens. Wow, this is turning into quite a rivalry. These guys really hate each other. Think it might have something to do with the fact that the Pens broomed ‘em out last year. Too bad they only play each other 4 times during the regular season. This series has been an absolute war and should only get more intense as we move along. That being said, this is a huge game for the Sens to capture a victory and knot this at 2. That’s if they can slow down Crosby. That Malkin guy is playing with some nastiness in his game too. Good to see.
7:30p.m. is going to be an interesting one with the Flyers hosting the Devils. Huge OT win by the Flyers in game 3 and also the 1st game that they outshot the Devils. Carcillo gets the GWG, adds an assist and is a +2 with less than 8 minutes of ice time. Wonder if Laviolette ups that to 12 or 13 for this game. The Devils dressed 7 D for game 3 but really only used 5. Does that explain the 34-19 shots advantage for the Flyers? Lemaire will figure out something and I expect this one to be a feisty affair. Lots of after whistle scrums and the like. The Devils don’t want to go down 3-1 so there should be some desperation in their game.
9:00p.m. in Nashville, the Hawks try to take a 2-1 series lead. I had my doubts about Chicago’s goaltending going in but Niemi has been lights out. That game 1 score was really 2-1 as the Preds got 2 empty net goals. That other Finnish guy in the net for Nashville has been pretty damned good too. Rinne has given up the same amount of goals as his counterpart which probably explains why this series is tied at 1. Expect another low scoring affair. Hat tip to the Preds for keeping Hossa really quiet so far. 0G, 0A and a -1 with 9 SOG through 2 games. Chicago has plenty of talent to go around but Hossa is world class and has been blanked so far. Breakout game for him tonight? We shall see.
And in the most interesting game of the night, we have the Avalanche hosting the Sharks at 10 p.m. in the mile-high city. After the last game and the modern day Steve Smith impression by Mr. Dan Boyle, can the Sharks get it right and tie this series up. We all know that the Sharks have had great regular season success since the lock-out but have yet to advance past the 2nd round in the playoffs. They need to play inspired hockey tonight because the ‘Lanche do not seem to be intimidated at all against a Sharks team that won 51 games during the regular season. Sharks go down 3-1 and there will officially be panic in the Bay Area.
Stay tuned for the live game blogs. There will be one entry for each game and I will add tid-bits to each one as the action is taking place.
Speaking of tid-bits…Do you remember those? Kind of like a Cheez-it except it was in the form of a stick.
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