Although they were matched in overall wins in the regular season, the Blackhwaks are the one team that the Calgary Flames would have wanted to avoid in the post-season. Chicago dominated Calgary in the regular season series, posting a record of 4-0-0 and outscoring the Flames 19 to 7. With statistics like these, fans were expecting a much different performance by the Blackhawks than they displayed last night in game one at the United Center in Chicago.
From the moment the puck dropped, Calgary played a physical game to establish their presence and stir up the inexperienced Blackhawks — only ten of their players have playoff experience, and their lack of confidence showed early on in the game. However, Calgary’s level of play was matched by Chicago later in the second; after tying the game at one in the middle frame, then again falling behind in the third, Chicago’s stand-out player of the night, Martin Havlat, evened the game with 5:33 to go in the game after scoring off his own rebound.
With the game unsettled after 60 minutes, the two teams went into overtime expecting a hard-hitting battle for the win that, if the previous periods had shown, would be a long and even-matched series of periods. However, once again Havlat shined for the Blackhawks and scored only 12 seconds into the extra period on a controversial goal that saw Chicago’s Andrew Ladd accidentally-on-purpose interfere with Mikka Kiprusoff. Havlat’s performance landed him the first star of the night. When these two teams meet again on Saturday, Calgary will no doubt up their already high level of play to return the favor to the Blackhawks, aiming to tie the series at one a piece.
Tag: NHL Western Conference
Canucks stop Blues from marching in game 1
Last night the 2009 NHL playoffs got underway, opening with four games: three from the Eastern Conference, and the lone Western Conference opener between St.Louis and Vancouver. The host Canucks finished the season with the fourth best record in the latter half of the season, going 23-13-5 in their last 41 games and 6-3-1 in their last ten leading into the playoffs, though they were overshadowed by the success of the Blues going into last night’s game who had a 25-9-7 record in their last 41 games and a 8-1-1 in their last ten. With these numbers in place, St.Louis was the hottest team in the NHL since the All-Star break in January and looked to continue their success in the opening game of the first round against Vancouver.
Although analysts held both teams’ statistics in high regard, it was Vancouver who benefited from their 13-1-1 home record since February as they opened the first round at GM Place with a win over the Blues. The Canucks came hard in the first period, coach Alain Vigneault worked feverishly to match lines with opposing coach Andy Murray’s Blues; the line match-ups worked out well for the fans, resulting in a hard-hitting opening frame that seemed to last the rest of the game. Both teams aimed to establish a physical presence early in the series, leading to an astounding 15 penalties through regulation time.
Daniel Sedin was the first on the scoresheet having threaded the needle off a pass from Pavol Demitra during a delayed penalty. St.Louis responded to the goal with pressure deep in Vancouver’s end, but failed to capitalize on any chances, including a 5-on-3 opportunity half-way through the first period. Much of the Canucks’ ability to shutdown the Blues came from Luongo’s outstanding play and Vancouver’s regular season MVP Ryan Kessler, who was able to block three shots during the two-man disadvantage. Vancouver’s dominance over the Blues carried over into the second period when Salo, having been fed the puck from the cycling Sedins, fired a shot from just inside the blueline, taking advantage of an early-period powerplay. Penalty trouble continued to plague both teams, with the Blues finally answering the Canucks with a goal on a late powerplay in the second, hoping to kill the home team’s momentum going into the third.
Despite their best efforts, the Blues failed to really pressure the Canucks in the final frame, having been outshot 15 to 6 in the third. The lone opportunities came in the final minute of play when the Blues pulled goaltender Chris Mason for the man advantage, but the veteran defense of the Canucks were able to once again keep the Blues at bay until the final whistle.
It was great to see the physical style of play so early in the series from both sides, a sign that a greater rivalry will develop before the winner of the first round is determined. If the Canucks can continue their momentum going into the second game, and harness the support from their hometown fans before going to St.Louis for the third and fourth games, they are in good shape to move on to the second round.
For a full game summary visit the Canucks game summary here.
2009 NHL Playoffs: Struggle for the final berths in West show signs of a great race for the cup
The Stanley Cup Playoffs, stage to some of the greatest moments in professional sports history, is fast approaching, and the struggle for the last remaining spots in both the Western and Eastern conferences is coming to an end. With less than one week to go in the regulation season, few teams have more than four games left to clinch a playoff berth. If this last week of play is any indication of what fans can expect in the first round of the playoffs, look forward to a hard-hitting and fast-paced race for the series, and an even more intense fight for the cup.
The 2008-09 NHL season was host to a number of surprise successes and failures. The seemingly relentless Detroit Red Wings dominated most of the opposition, landing them a second place spot in the Western Conference behind the San Jose Sharks. This is an outcome every fan of the NHL could predict, with the Red Wings having made the playoffs 18 seasons in a row – the longest streak of post-season appearances in all of American professional sports.
The San Jose Sharks, looking to continue their string of post-season success with another playoff spot since the 2003-04 season, currently hold the top spot in the Western conference. However, despite their success this season with standouts like Captain Patrick Marleau, assistant Joe Thornton, and Jonathan Cheechoo, the real news around San Jose is which team they will meet in the first round. The eighth spot in the West is currently up for grabs by no less than four teams, with the Nashville Predators grasping to the last berth ahead of St.Louis, Minnesota, and Edmonton.
Each of the four teams battling for eighth have three games remaining that will decide whether they will be hitting the ice or hitting the links when the post-season begins. St.Louis, despite being tied in points with Nashville, falls in ninth due to the Predators being up one win overall in the season, and both Edmonton and Minnesota are tied for points at 83, and games won at 37. With only 3 games remaining for each of these four contenders, San Jose’s opposition is still up in the air, although with St.Louis’ 6-2-2 record in the last ten games, they may be able to take the final spot away from Nashville.