Senators Skewer Penguins, Ducks Get Wild
No, you non-hockey fans. I'm not talking about Congress passing more anti-environmental legislation. I'm talking hockey! Here's more stuff that I've sent out on Round 1 matchups.
Senators Skewer Penguins
From April 12th: Day 1 opened up with 3 Western Conference games and 1 Eastern matchup. In the East, Ottawa charged after Pittsburgh and pummeled them 6-3. It had been 6-1 at one point in the 3rd period, but the Senators got sloppy and took penalties. The Penguins made sure to capitalize on these opportunities, but it was too little, too late.
Crosby thought that he had a goal when the Senators went up 4-1, but it was disallowed on the review due to an apparent kicking motion with his skate.
It's the 10th straight season for the Senators in the playoffs while Pittsburgh is here for the first time since 2001. Ottawa took advantage of the Penguins' inexperience and outchecked, outskated, and outshot (29-12 through 2 periods) them.
From April 16th: In game 3 of the Penguins - Senators series yesterday, Patrick Eaves was taken off the ice on a stretcher after being leveled by Colby Armstrong. Eaves was trying for a wraparound shot when Armstrong hit him in the face with his shoulder. There was no penalty called, though a fight broke out. Armstrong was involved in a similar incident back in October. In the end, Ottawa won 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Although Pittsburgh took game 2, thanks to a 3 goal third period capped by the game winner from Sidney Crosby, and scored first in game 3, Ottawa took control and scored 4 straight. Crosby has scored a goal in each game for Pittsburgh and each one has been the last one of the game.
From Today: Sidney Crosby, the league's youngest scoring champ ever, led his fellow Penguins to the team's first playoff berth since 2001. Unfortunately for them, they were up against the Ottawa Senators, a team with 10 straight playoff appearances. Ottawa prevailed in the series 4-1, with a shutout in game 5.
IMO, experience was the deciding factor in the series. Only 3 Penguins had any sort of playoff experience.
Crosby led the Penguins with 3 goals and 2 assists. Veteran Gary Roberts had 2 of each. The other standout was Jordan Staal with 3 goals. Evgeni Malkin, who had 33 goals and 52 assists, and will likely win rookie of the year honors, had 4 assists. Veteran Mark Recchi did likewise.
Key stats: Ottawa went an impressive 25% on the power play while Pittsburgh had an average performance of 14.3%. Ottawa also averaged 30.2 shots/game while Pittsburgh only managed 22.
Ducks Get Wild
From April 12th: Anaheim beat Minnesota 2-1. This game wasn't televised in my area either. Pavol Demitra scored first for the Wild but the Ducks came back with goals from Teemu Selanne and sophmore Dustin Penner. Wild defenseman, Kim Johnnson, backed into his goalie, Niklas Backstrom who claimed to have fallen on the puck. The Ducks kept at it and 29 goal scorer Penner got the game winning tally.
From April 16th: There's a run on brooms in southern California as Anaheim is up 3-0 over Minnesota. Although the Wild had the best defense in the league this year, the Ducks are proving that they're better. All three games have been low scoring one goal margins, but last night's game was almost a shutout. Nummelin got a PPG for Minnesota with half a minute left in the game.
From Today: I didn't see too much of this series. What little I did, seemed a bit on the dull side. No real enthusiasm on the part of either team, at least for the first 3 games. If anyone else did see this series and thought otherwise, feel free to correct me.
Game 4 saw things heat up. Thug-for-life, Brad May, punched Kim Johnnson in the face. May got a 3 game suspension, which will carry over to the next round.
And in game 5, there was a skirmish before the game even started. Two goons, Boogaard and Parros argued over who was crossing over the red line as each team warmed up. There was plenty of pushing and shoving as their teammates joined them, but no punches were thrown.
Although the Ducks got off to a 3-0 start, they were all 1 goal games. Low scoring affairs too. 11 goals between the two teams. Minnesota's desperation win in game 4 to stave off elimination, was the highest margin of victory 4-1. But then the Ducks returned the favor in game 5.
Minnesota's offense was Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra. Each had 4 points. Brian Polston, who had 31 goals this season, managed just 1 in the series. Anaheim wasn't much better, but veteran defenseman Chris Pronger had 2 goals and 4 assists.
Key Stats: Anaheim made the most of power plays, scoring 26.3% of the time. Minnesota was an dismal 7.4%
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DED
Senators Skewer Penguins
From April 12th: Day 1 opened up with 3 Western Conference games and 1 Eastern matchup. In the East, Ottawa charged after Pittsburgh and pummeled them 6-3. It had been 6-1 at one point in the 3rd period, but the Senators got sloppy and took penalties. The Penguins made sure to capitalize on these opportunities, but it was too little, too late.
Crosby thought that he had a goal when the Senators went up 4-1, but it was disallowed on the review due to an apparent kicking motion with his skate.
It's the 10th straight season for the Senators in the playoffs while Pittsburgh is here for the first time since 2001. Ottawa took advantage of the Penguins' inexperience and outchecked, outskated, and outshot (29-12 through 2 periods) them.
From April 16th: In game 3 of the Penguins - Senators series yesterday, Patrick Eaves was taken off the ice on a stretcher after being leveled by Colby Armstrong. Eaves was trying for a wraparound shot when Armstrong hit him in the face with his shoulder. There was no penalty called, though a fight broke out. Armstrong was involved in a similar incident back in October. In the end, Ottawa won 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Although Pittsburgh took game 2, thanks to a 3 goal third period capped by the game winner from Sidney Crosby, and scored first in game 3, Ottawa took control and scored 4 straight. Crosby has scored a goal in each game for Pittsburgh and each one has been the last one of the game.
From Today: Sidney Crosby, the league's youngest scoring champ ever, led his fellow Penguins to the team's first playoff berth since 2001. Unfortunately for them, they were up against the Ottawa Senators, a team with 10 straight playoff appearances. Ottawa prevailed in the series 4-1, with a shutout in game 5.
IMO, experience was the deciding factor in the series. Only 3 Penguins had any sort of playoff experience.
Crosby led the Penguins with 3 goals and 2 assists. Veteran Gary Roberts had 2 of each. The other standout was Jordan Staal with 3 goals. Evgeni Malkin, who had 33 goals and 52 assists, and will likely win rookie of the year honors, had 4 assists. Veteran Mark Recchi did likewise.
Key stats: Ottawa went an impressive 25% on the power play while Pittsburgh had an average performance of 14.3%. Ottawa also averaged 30.2 shots/game while Pittsburgh only managed 22.
Ducks Get Wild
From April 12th: Anaheim beat Minnesota 2-1. This game wasn't televised in my area either. Pavol Demitra scored first for the Wild but the Ducks came back with goals from Teemu Selanne and sophmore Dustin Penner. Wild defenseman, Kim Johnnson, backed into his goalie, Niklas Backstrom who claimed to have fallen on the puck. The Ducks kept at it and 29 goal scorer Penner got the game winning tally.
From April 16th: There's a run on brooms in southern California as Anaheim is up 3-0 over Minnesota. Although the Wild had the best defense in the league this year, the Ducks are proving that they're better. All three games have been low scoring one goal margins, but last night's game was almost a shutout. Nummelin got a PPG for Minnesota with half a minute left in the game.
From Today: I didn't see too much of this series. What little I did, seemed a bit on the dull side. No real enthusiasm on the part of either team, at least for the first 3 games. If anyone else did see this series and thought otherwise, feel free to correct me.
Game 4 saw things heat up. Thug-for-life, Brad May, punched Kim Johnnson in the face. May got a 3 game suspension, which will carry over to the next round.
And in game 5, there was a skirmish before the game even started. Two goons, Boogaard and Parros argued over who was crossing over the red line as each team warmed up. There was plenty of pushing and shoving as their teammates joined them, but no punches were thrown.
Although the Ducks got off to a 3-0 start, they were all 1 goal games. Low scoring affairs too. 11 goals between the two teams. Minnesota's desperation win in game 4 to stave off elimination, was the highest margin of victory 4-1. But then the Ducks returned the favor in game 5.
Minnesota's offense was Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra. Each had 4 points. Brian Polston, who had 31 goals this season, managed just 1 in the series. Anaheim wasn't much better, but veteran defenseman Chris Pronger had 2 goals and 4 assists.
Key Stats: Anaheim made the most of power plays, scoring 26.3% of the time. Minnesota was an dismal 7.4%
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DED
Labels: hockey
posted by DED at 8:49 PM
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