Hockey

ShareThis With his team down 0-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins and in need of a saviour, Ottawa Senators centre Jason Spezza will make his return on Sunday for Game 3. Coach Paul MacLean also confirmed that Craig Anderson would be the starting goalie in this crucial game. Anderson was pulled for backup Robin Lehner after giving [...] ShareThis

Both the Rangers and Bruins conducted full practices today here at TD Garden as they prepare for Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series, Sunday afternoon at 3. The Bruins won Game 1, 3-2, in overtime on Thursday, giving both teams a rare two-day break. “We didn’t get this much during the season, this is more down time than we’ve had a in a while,” Rangers captain Ryan Callahan said. “I think it’s good after Game 1. It gives us a chance to look at some video, some things we need to improve on. It’s definitely a good break in between.” “I think it’s good and bad,” D Dan Girardi added. “We got rest but we’re thinking about the game we had. When you have a game like that, it’s good to get right back at it.” Both teams are likely to have the same lineups for Game 2, based on today’s practice. D Matt Gilroy was the only extra skater for the Rangers, who had the same lines and defensive pairs they played with in Game 1. Marc Staal, who was on the ice at TD Garden Friday during the Rangers’ optional practice, was not seen today. For the Bruins, D Wade Redden, who missed Game 1 with an undisclosed injury, believed to be an upper-body injury, did practice but said afterwards he was not ready to rejoin the lineup as of today and Bruins coach Claude Julien said Redden would likely be a game-time decision. Julien also said D Dennis Seidenberg (lower body) was “doing better but I don’t anticipate him being ready for tomorrow.” The highlight of John Tortorella’s press conference came when he was asked why top-line left wing Carl Hagelin was not used on the power play. Remember, Tortorella is completely enamored with Hagelin’s game and speed. “Because he stinks on the power play,” Tortorella said. “I don’t know why. I wish I could play him on the power play. Every time I put him on, he stinks. I think he’s too quick. I think he’s a jitterbug and he screws it up. But, again, I may use him. I don’t know. I love him. I’m not trying to be a smart (aleck) but he stinks on the power play every time I put him on.” The natural follow-up, given that the Rangers’ power play is awful is what does Tortorella have to lose by using Hagelin. The power play is 2 for 31 in the postseason. “But the power play stinks, it’s true and that’s why he may get an opportunity,” Tortorella said. ====================================================== Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AGrossRecord Follow the Record Sports Staff at twitter.com/TheRecordSports

What did I tell you? Nothing you didn't already know in your Red hearts: The Detroit Red Wings can beat this team. Chicago is good, but not the invincible juggernaut some claim they are. Not by a long shot. What you just witnessed was a scene from Rocky. I know Chief over at A2Y kind of has the market cornered on awesome Rocky references, but I need to steal this one. Before Rocky and Apollo fight for the first time, Apollo comes out clowning around as if his victory is assured. He got in some shots at Rocky and looked to be in complete control, but then Balboa absolutely drilled him and down went Apollo Creed. He got right back up, but the look of horror on his face said it all. He had asked for this. He had thought it would be easy, but he was in the ring with a guy that could hit him harder than he's ever been hit before. Now what is Detroit going to do with this new life they’ve earned? More after the jump: This was probably the easiest game Howard has played all year. Chicago really didn’t have many great chances. Detroit played tough and kept Toews and the rest of the Hawks away from high percentage shooting areas. Smith and Cleary combined their powers to cause Chicago’s only goal, but both made up for it the rest of the way. I like Smith when he pinches. I think he could be a little like Mike Green in that he’s practically a forward out there, but that means he’ll give up 2 on 1 chances. At the end of the day, he created more chances by pinching than he gave up. Zetterberg is an amazing captain. He’s following the likes of Yzerman and Lidstrom, so we can’t say he’s the best we’ve had, but maybe one day with the way he plays. Smart and gritty. Tough to beat that and so far Toews has not. Brunner is shaping up to be something of a Hawk-killer. Not sure if he’s still been credited with the first goal, but either way, he’s playing great and getting great chances. Crawford has been exposed. His numbers are good, but those were from playing a bad Wild team that was slipping going into the playoffs. Wings have hit at least 4 post/crossbars over the two games and he’s giving up tons of rebounds. NOHS Three Stars of the Game: First Star: Henrik Zetterberg. 2 assists today and hard work on Toews from start to finish. Second Star: Brendan Smith. Keep pinching and scoring GWGs. Third Star: Jimmy Howard. Did he steal this game? No, he didn’t have to because the team played well. Still, only the one goal beat him. Honorable Mentions: Filppula for reminding me of the 2008 finals. Franzen for the snipe. The ENTIRE “third” line for being awesome. Again. Nice punch, Rocky, but Creed got up. Now what? Game 3 is Monday night. LGRW!!!!!

Ah. What a game. Twig will be here soon with a recap, but until then, let's not let Dan McNeil forget that Detroit just smoked his precious Hawks just one day after writing this: The Blackhawks are too fast for Detroit. They're too deep. The Hawks are much more experienced, especially at the blue line. They're too well conditioned. Chicago is too everything for a Wings team that appeared out of gas after going a full seven games against Anaheim in the first round... Enjoy these not-so-spicy Wings, who are nothing more than an annoying impediment that won't take long to remove. Today, Detroit was too everything for the punk-ass Hawks and their bandwagon fans who didn't make a sound. So take a moment and remind Dan how much Detroit just "hammered" the Hawks - his Twitter handle is @DanMcNeil670. LGRW

from John Sanful of IIHF.com, They did it. In a semi-final game featuring two teams challenging history, Switzerland defeated Team USA 3-0 to advance forward to their first opportunity for gold since 1935. Whatever the outcome in the final game against Sweden will be, it will be the first World Championship medal for the Swiss in exactly 60 years. Nino Niederreiter’s second period goal and Reto Berra’s 29 saves led the Swiss side to its ninth consecutive win in this tournament. Switzerland remains unbeaten at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. continued Watch highlights of the game below...Continue reading "Switzerland Beats USA In World Championship Semi-Final Game"

Everyone knows the Blackhawks are unbeatable. Except when they lose to Detroit. — Jack Todd (@jacktodd46) May 18, 2013

Damien Brunner and Brendan Smith scored in the second period and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 Saturday in Game 2 to even their Western Conference semifinal series.

Switzerland tops U.S., advances to final of Worlds

Can Sharks bounce back, make it a series vs. LA?

Blackhawks fans can slow their roll now. After 60 minutes of dominant hockey on Wednesday night, most Hawks fans were wondering why the Hawks were even bothering to waste their time with the Detroit Red Wings. Perhaps the next three games would be a nice time for everyone to pad their stats before getting down to business with the Kings.Well, nobody told the Red Wings this was the plan. The Wings returned the favor this afternoon, turning Fort Kickass into their private playground for 60 minutes of impressive rink-tilting, dispatching the Hawks 4-1. Let's get to this: THE GOOD: The Hawks got smacked down, which means they know they're in a real series now. The Hawks blueline especially seemed to play as if they'd spent the past few days reading their press clippings. You can never sit back on any team that has Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg on the ice and Mike Babcock behind the bench. The fact that this trainwreck probably signals the end of Gorilla Salad dressing for the Hawks. The biggest need for the Hawks today was being able to carry the puck up the wings through the neutral zone. Which means both Joel Quenneville and Viktor Stalberg need to get over their asshurt and put the best players on the ice. THE BAD: Holy shit, did Dave Bolland ever suck today. 3 penalties, all of the boneheaded variety. But hey, 6 for 11 on faceoffs...yay? No, he's come back and has basically become Gorilla Salad Redux. The Hawks are ill served with one of those, let alone two.THE UGLY:The fact that outside of a few players, the Blackhawks just didn't show up this afternoon. The players who already have Stanley Cup rings need to remember what got them there the first time, and tell the others exactly what it takes. Otherwise, they will be polishing up their putters far sooner than anybody around here would like.Game 3 is Monday.All content copyright 2013 hockeenight.com. Any reproduction or reuse of this material without the written consent of the authors is prohibited.