Boston Bruins at New York Rangers, Game 4
In the first game of the NHL Playoffs on Thursday night, the Boston Bruins skated into Madison Square Garden with the New York Rangers on the brink of elimination. Down 3-0, another loss would ...
Boston Bruins at New York Rangers, Game 4
In the first game of the NHL Playoffs on Thursday night, the Boston Bruins skated into Madison Square Garden with the New York Rangers on the brink of elimination. Down 3-0, another loss would have sent the Rangers home for the off-season, and possibly signal the end of the road for coach John Tortorella. Keep in mind, Sabres fans, that Lindy Ruff is still unemployed. Prior to the game, Tortorella finally scratched $60 million dollar man Brad Richards, he of one point in 10 playoff games.
For the initial two periods, the Bruins controlled the game and the tempo. The Rangers came out seemingly uninterested, uninspired, and relegated to accepting their fate. New York fired a measly 4 shots on goal in the opening period, and relied on Henrik Lundqvist to pick up the pieces, making 12 saves in period one.
After power play goals by Nathan Horton and Torey Krug in the second stanza, it was clear that the Rangers were on the ropes. Then, Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask granted the gift of life, as he fell on his backside and watched as a weak backhand from Carl Hagelin trickled by in slow-motion, making the game 2-1 and giving the crowd some motivation.
In the 3rd period, a different Rangers team skated out. Derek Stepan picked slow-moving Zdeno Chara’s pockets behind the Bruins net, and stuffed a beautiful wrap-around behind Rask to knot the score, sending the home crowd into a frenzy. Tyler Seguin worked to calm the momentum, grabbing his first goal of the playoffs with 12 minutes remaining. Yet, 2 minutes later, Brian Boyle had an answer, taking a perfect Stepan pass alone in the slot and firing it past Rask, giving the Rangers a much-needed power-play goal.
In overtime, the Bruins initially had a few great scoring chances, but Lundqvist was there to snuff them out. Entering the game, Lundqvist was only 4-10 lifetime in playoff overtime games, including 0-3 this season. Then, out of nowhere, Rick Nash sent a pass to a streaking Kreider, who deflected the puck into the top left corner past Rask, giving New York a 4-3 win, and a little life in this Round 2 matchup. Game 5 will take place on Saturday in Boston.
Chicago Blackhawks at Detroit Red Wings, Game 4
The Detroit Red Wings style is typically defined as full of finesse and flash. So far in this series, the Wings play can be summarized as feisty and physical. It seems to be something that the Chicago Blackhawks had not game-planned for, as they have seemed stymied and stunned throughout this series. The Hawks took to the ice in Detroit down 2 games to 1. Entering the game, Chicago had not lost 3 games in a row all season long.
The dirty, grinding play of the Red Wings continued in Game 4, and in conjunction it kept the Blackhawks and their captain Jonathan Toews looking confused and flustered. At one point, Toews took silly consecutive penalties in the second period, leading the Wings to the only goal that they would need. Jakub Kindl scored a power-play goal halfway through the second period, and from there, Detroit was able to hang on, eventually getting an empty net goal from Daniel Cleary to make it 2-0. Until the Kindl goal, the Hawks had been a perfect 30-for-30 on the penalty kill in these playoffs.
Chicago could never get their game going, as the redshirts always seemed to have 2 men on any Blackhawk carrying the puck. The top-seeded Blackhawks never seemed to be in sync, and their shot totals reflected their deterioration as the dogged determination of Detroit in this game wore on: 14 shots in the 1st, 8 shots in the 2nd, and 6 shots in the 3rd. Jimmy Howard continued his playoff brilliance, earned a well-deserved shutout.
Detroit will have a chance to close out the series in Game 5 Saturday in Chicago.
San Jose Sharks at Los Angeles Kings, Game 5