Sabres, Ducks take early lead

On Wednesday night, both the Sabres and the Mighty Ducks crushed their opponent and took 1-0 series leads. Buffalo trounced the Rangers 5-2 while Anaheim whipped the Canucks 5-1. Each team won on their home ice.

The Rangers' game plan was to irritate and frustrate the Sabres and cause them to take penalties. However, it was the Rangers who had discipline issues. They took more penalties than did the Sabres and they failed to convert a full two minutes of five-on-three.

The Blueshirts will have to be more focused if they want to have any chance in this series.

In the second period, the Rangers lost defenseman Michal Rozsival to a leg injury. He didn't return. As is typical in the playoffs, no details about the nature of the injury are available. He's listed as "day-to-day". During the regular season, Rozsival led Rangers defensemen with 40 (10/30) points. He had totaled three (2/1) points in the Rangers four game sweep of the Thrashers and was third in the league with a +/- rating of +5. This will be very bad news for the Rangers if he is unable to return.

In the West, it was just about the same story. The Nucks had discipline issues and couldn't take care of their own scoring chances. Although the Canucks struck first blood, they were unable to do any damage. Andy McDonald netted a hat trick for the Ducks in what turned out to be a very one-sided game. Vancouver is going to have to make some big adjustments. This isn't Dallas anymore, and the high-flying Ducks won't let you beat them with just two goals.

Tonight, the Wings host the Sharks and the Devils host the Sens. I think the Detroit-San Jose series should be very good. The New Jersey-Ottawa series will be extremely physical, but I think it will be all about Marty Brodeur. I don't think the Devils will have much trouble.

Nucks grab last spot

On Monday night, the Vancouver Canucks, wearing their third sweater, finally finished off the Dallas Stars 4-1. There were two empty net goals, so it wasn't the blowout that the score might suggest. Finally, the playoff picture for the second round is complete.


In the first round, I correctly predicted six series winners and missed two. Last year I correctly picked only three in the first round. For comparison, Maggie the Monkey correctly picked four in this season's first round. I'm half again as smart as a monkey!

I hope that I'll take a close look at each series, but for now, I'll just cut to the chase and make my second round predictions.

So without further ado, after re-seeding:








I agonised over the Sabres-Rangers series. For the reason that there are about 7 former WhalerCanes on the Rangers roster, I have to pull for them. As long as Ryan Miller stays healthy and effective, this should be a great series that will go the distance. The only problem with rooting for the Rags, though, is that Jaro Jagr comes with that territory.

Nucks-Ducks and Sabres-Rags will start on Wednesday while Devils-Sens and Wings-Sharks will begin Thursday.

more teams advance

I haven't been able to keep up with the playoffs as well as I had hoped. Being in a wedding last weekend, then working a lot this week, then opting for the company of a woman over the Pens-Sens game the other night. A lot has happened on and off the ice.

In off-ice matters, former Hurricane Sean Hill has been suspended by the NHL 20 games for substance abuse. The 37 year old defenseman is the first player to be suspended under the League's new substance abuse policy. Although few details are available, the "substance" is alleged to be a performance-enhancing agent. Hill and the Islanders learned of the suspension just hours before game 5 of their series with the Sabres. He did not travel with the team. The suspension will begin next season, assuming Hill is in the NHL next season. He is scheduled to be an UFA in July.
Although we don't know the details, Isles GM Garth Snow was quick to throw Hill under the bus. He spoke to the media for 30 seconds on the matter, and the meat of it was:

''The New York Islanders do not support the use of performance-enhancing agents in any form,''

Funny. Sean Hill gets busted using a yet-to-be-announced "performance enhancing" drug. It could very well turn out to be Propecia. Anyway, he gets busted, the League hits him with a big suspension, and the Isles say, essentially "He got what he deserved" and made no effort to come to the defense of its player. After the Chris Simon incident, the club was quick to say that it supported its player and made a mountain of excuses for his appallingly violent act. I don't understand this.

Anyway...

In on-ice matters, five teams have advanced.

The Rangers made quick work of the Thrashers. I predicted the Rags in 6. They only needed 4.

The Sabres finished off the Hill-less Islanders on Friday night. I predicted the Sabres in 7, but they did it in 5.

On Thursday, the Senators got through by completing their dominance of the Penguins. I picked the Penguins in 7, and was way off the mark. Sens won in 5.

Also on Thursday, the Ducks eliminated the Wild. Again, I was way off the mark with that one. I predicted the Wild in 6. In actuality, it was the Ducks in 5.

On Friday, the Sharks advanced by beating the Preds. I thought it would take 6 games, but it only took 5.

Vancouver could advance with a road win tonight against Dallas.

So far, I am 3-2 in my predictions. Maggie the Monkey is a dreadful 1-4.

Unless the Lightning make a startling comeback in their series with New Jersey, the Sabres will play the Rangers in round two.

holy overtime! playoffs get off to great start

After one day in which two of the four playoff games one went to overtime, all I can say is "Wow!"

Of course I watched the Nucks-Stars game. However, to answer what has been a very popular question today, no. No, I didn't stay up for the entire game. I actually wussed out during the first overtime, but it turned out to be a good call since the game didn't conclude for another couple of hours. By the time Henrik Sedin scored at 18:06 of the fourth overtime, it was 3:30am here. Of course this brings into question the strength of my loyalty to my "second team". I don't have an answer for that.

There is no doubt that both the Nucks and the Stars came ready to play in that one, and is should be a ton of fun to watch this series pan out. It's also clear that they're going to be calling these games tight. Tight, but balanced.

I didn't catch any of the Pens-Sens, but from what I've been told (by a hardcore Pens fan) the Pens are not ready. At least they weren't last night. Will they be able to respond in game two? Are they physically unprepared? Game three should be the real telling game in that series.

Ugh. Preds-Sharks. There were some ugly moments in that game. Chief among them was the kneeing incident involving Scott Hartnell of the Preds and Jonathan Cheechoo of the Sharks. Hartnell was given a game misconduct, but Barry Trotz disagreed with the call. Cheechoo will undergo an MRI (presumably today). He also lost a tooth and bashed up his face in the collision. There's no word just yet on whether there will be additional disciplinary action against Hartnell. According to NHL rules, what happened in the regular season is wiped clean, and your rap sheet starts over with each round.
That game also went to overtime, and the guy who could have been the goat for San Jose ended up being the hero. Patrick Rissmiller, whose turnover late in regulation allowed Nashville to force overtime ended up getting the game winner eight minutes into the second overtime.
If Cheechoo has to miss more than one game, this series will be over very quickly. They played the majority of the game without him last night, but they won't be able to do it for a whole series.

Canes edge Sharks

On Saturday night, the Hurricanes used a three-goal first period to get by the visiting Sharks 6-4. The Canes have now won three in a row and have gotten points in six of their last seven games. Meanwhile, the Leafs beat the Sabres 4-1. Also, the Islanders beat the Flyers 4-3, and the Habs beat the Caps 4-1. Lastly, the Rangers beat the Bruins 2-1. While the Canes are indeed taking care of their own business, the other teams fighting for the eighth playoff position are also winning. Carolina still holds the eighth spot if the season ended right now, but if the Islanders win today, they leapfrog Carolina.

Due to a really hectic work schedule, I haven't any blogging time lately, but it's leveling off, so I'll get back in the swing.

Since I've been gone, the Canes took a few days off, then beat the Caps at home on Thursday night. It took a third period rally to win that one, but they dug deep. Just like last night, the Hurricanes didn't get any favors from the Rangers, Islanders or Canadiens.

The game itself on Saturday was kind of a wild one. Carolina only shot on goal 20 times in the entire game. This was, though, one of those games where the quality of shots was more important than the quantity of shots. Any team in the league would be happy with a shooting percentage of 30%. Any night of the week. Twice on Sunday.

In the first period, the Canes took ten shots and scored on three of them. Evgeni Nabokov, who started in nets for the Sharks, didn't come back after the first intermission and was replaced by Vesa Toskala. Since the game-winning goal took place on Toskala's watch, he takes the loss. In two periods of action, he only saw nine shots, but allowed two to cross the line.

Ray Whitney started it all off at 5:36 of the first with an unassisted goal from the left circle. Deep in the San Jose zone, Tim Gleason applied some nice pressure to force a turnover. Ray Whitney found the puck at the inside hash marks on the left circle and snap-wristed one over Nobokov's left shoulder. That's the Wizard's 29th goal, and his 78 points are a new career high mark.

Erik Cole notched his 27th just 57 seconds later. David Tanabe fired a shot/pass from the right point that sailed well wide right of the net, but the bounce off the end wall went right to Colesy on the left side of the net. Nabokov had overcommitted to the Tanabe shot, and there were no Sharks within 10 feet of Cole, so all he had to to was tap it into a pretty much vacant cage. Officially it's Cole from Tanabe and Frantisek Kaberle at 6:33.

At 18:03, Andrew Ladd continued his torrid March by potting his 10th goal of the season. Ladd has been hampered by injuries this season and last, and he is now showing why the Canes traded up to get him with the fourth overall pick in the 2004 draft. In nine games this month, Ladd has nine (4/5) points and has had two multi-point nights. Glen Wesley took a shot from near the top of the left circle. Ladd screened the shot a bit, and he was there to tuck it in from just off the left post. Scott Walker got the secondary assist.

Just a few seconds later, Eric Staal and Erik Cole found themselves on a two-on-zero break, but they ran a passing drill instead of taking a shot on the vulnerable goalie.

Billy Guerin got the Sharks on the board at 6:49 of the second with a power play marker. From the high slot, he fired a slapshot through Cam Ward. Patrick Marleau and Matt Carle assisted.

At 12:31, Eric Staal made a play that reminded us of "the old Eric Staal". Frankly, he's been a tad disappointing this season, choosing to be unselfish too often. The squandered opportunity at the end of the first was a good example of how he isn't the same as last season. Anyway, he worked hard and fought off two dudes to make the game 4-1. He abused Scott Hannan (who looks an awful lot like Mike Ricci), blowing right past him, then fought off the backchecking of Emmy Vlasic. As he came in hard on Toskala, he pulled the puck to his forehand at the last second to easily beat the Finn. Mike Commodore and Cory Stillman got the assists.

The Canes were up 4-1, but the game was far from over.

Jonathan Cheechoo potted his 31st goal of the season at 2:42 of the third. I spotted a play developing and screamed "hey, somebody put a body on Cheechoo", but it was to no avail. He was left all alone on the front porch and easily beat Ward with a rebound stuff-in. Craig Rivet took a shot from the left circle that Ward went way out to stop. The puck trickled through his gear and was approaching the goal line. Glen Wesley tried to get back, but the unattended Cheechoo got to it first. Rivet, the former Hab and Joe Thornton got the assists. That's big Joe's 83rd helper of the season.

Steve Bernier made things really interesting at 10:11 of the third. It was another one of those plays where the Canes were forcing the issue out along the wall, but giving an inch or two down the middle. Mike Grier forced a turnover deep in the zone near the bottom of the right circle, then made a beautiful centering pass to Bernier who was all alone for the tap-in.

The game winner came at 17:40 of the third off the stick of Andrew Ladd. During a power play sequence, Scott Walker feigned a shot from near the left post, then dropped a pass to Ladd in the slot. He made no mistake in putting it past Toskala. Josef Vasicek got the secondary assist.

Big Joe Thornton scored a power play goal for the visitors at 18:04, just to keep things interesting. Mike Commodore had committed a lazy holding penalty, and it only took six seconds for the Sharks to cash in. Marleau and Rivet got assists.

Cory Stillman potted an empty netter at 19:57 to close things out. Scott Walker got the only assist, his third of the night.

I cannot agree with the "official" three stars. They were given to Ray Whitney (third), Mike Commodore (second) and Andrew Ladd (first). I don't mean to discredit what Commodore did, but I just don't get that. Commy had an assist, dished out six hits, and did a decent job with Jonathan Cheechoo, but I just don't think he was one of the three best players out there.

The RBH three stars go to:
THIRD STAR: Joe Thornton, SJS -- 1 goal, 1 assist, 6 hits
SECOND STAR: Scott Walker, CAR -- 3 assists
FIRST STAR: Andrew Ladd, CAR -- 2 goals, GWG

Up next, a set of back-to-back road games. Tuesday night in Toronto and Wednesday in Philadelphia.