Game Three is always a pivotal game. A win either puts you one win away from sweeping an opponent or gives you a nice boost of confidence with a 2-1 series advantage. Right now we have two teams sitting on the edge of elimination leaving those lucky enough to love hockey sitting on the edge of our seats.
The quadruple-header kicked off in the Motor City and Nashville captain Shea Weber wasted no time getting on the board as he scored just 2:48 into the game. Kevin Klein made it 2-0 before Pavel Datsyuk used those ridiculous mitts of his to commit thievery behind the net and get the wraparound to pull Detroit within one. Late in the third, Sergei Kostitsyn gave the Predators some breathing room and, as it would turn out, they'd need it as Henrik Zetterberg scored on the power play with 54 seconds left in regulation.
In a game that was rather tame comparatively speaking, the Preds would hold on for the 3-2 win and take a 2-1 series advantage. And when I say hold on, I mean by the skin of their teeth (who knew teeth had skin…). Detroit poured on the pressure in the third period from a tap that apparently never runs dry. The box score says the Predators got four shots on goal, but I'm not even sure they were in the Detroit zone four times in the final 20 minutes of this game. Puck possession is huge between these two teams and while both teams have fantastic goaltenders, it would be smart not to have to rely on them so much.
In Philadelphia, Pittsburgh got on the board first, yet again. And once again, Philadelphia's special teams took control of the game with four power play goals and one shorthanded to help the Flyers win 8-4 and take a commanding 3-0 series lead. Former Penguin Max Talbot scored twice as did Danny Briere and rookie Matt Read. Jordan Staal and James Neal also had two for the Penguins, but while the goals were fun and gave the fans at the Wells Fargo Center a good workout for their quads, it was the extracurricular that everyone will be talking about today.
It took about a nanosecond for these to get heated in this game. Matching roughing calls at 2:39 of the first period and then again at 6:44 and then two fights at 12:02 featuring four of the most unlikely combatants - Kris Letang, Kimmo Timonen, Sidney Crosby and Claude Giroux. Then just two minutes later, Arron Asham cross-checks Brayden Schenn in the throat and punches him in the head just for good measure once he's on the ice. He'll be having a nice long chat with Mr. Shannahan.
The second period was fairly tame, but by the third period, all it took was a stray elbow for things to get out of hand. Guys were on high alert after James Neal charged rookie Sean Couturier in the neutral zone without a penalty and then hit Giroux in the head shortly thereafter. He'll be having a chat with Shannahan as well, but since the refs weren't interested in taking control of the game, the players did. The Penguins were frustrated on many levels and started taking liberties and the Flyers just weren't going to sit back and watch it happen.
Late in the third is when things got ugly (16 penalties called in the final five minutes of the game). So ugly that it spurred a huge debate about whether this was good for hockey, especially since this was a network broadcast in the US. If you were keeping tabs on twitter during the game, just about every player loved it, but the fans and media were split. Someone even joked that Game Four should be on pay-per-view on Wednesday night. I'm not sure if he was saying that it was more like a boxing match or cage fight or that a record-setting number of eyeballs will be on this game and the NHL would make a pretty penny. All I know is that I'd pay. This series is way too good to miss a single moment.
New Jersey and Florida had a tough act to follow, but they held their own as the Panthers won their first playoff game in 15 years. Stephen Weiss got things going just 23 seconds into the game with a power play goal and made it 2-0 early in the second with another on the man advantage. Marcel Goc made it 3-0 as the Devils struggled to even get into the Panthers zone, let alone get a shot off.
In the third, New Jersey hit the ice with some fire in their belly and scored twice in the first two minutes of the period, but it wasn't enough. The Bank Atlantic Center was rocking and it was almost like their fans willed them to win that game to tie the series at 1 and let the rats rain down. I'm still not sure how I would feel about the symbol of my teams' success being a rat, but I guess it's no worse than an octopus or catfish. It's not like they're cute and cuddly creatures either….Where do you buy plastic rats anyway?
In Los Angeles, it was a track meet between the Kings and Canucks with some fireworks thrown in for good measure. There was a monster hit by Dustin Brown on Henrik Sedin in front of the benches that was completely legal, but of course spawned some strong dislike to really get things going. Interestingly enough it was Brown getting plastered in the corner that left him wide open early in the third period for a back door opportunity that gave the home team a 1-0 lead that would be enough to win the game and put the President Trophy winning Canucks in a 0-3 hole for the series.
That said, the Kings got lucky. I said at the start of the series that if LA were to pull the upset, they'd need to give goaltender Jonathan Quick more than a little offensive support. He was there for them last night as he turned away 41 shots for the shutout, but you can't always rely on your goaltender to bail you out. He can't win the game for you. He can only prevent you from losing and 20 shots on net isn't going to cut it most nights and especially not in Game Four with the Canucks playing for their season. The Kings need to be ready with everything they've got because the Canucks are loaded for bear.
Tonight, we have Ottawa and New York, Boston and Washington and St Louis and San Jose.
Enjoy the games!
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Julie
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