Alexander Ovechkin (Bruce Bennett, Getty Images)
The Stanley Cup Playoffs continued yesterday with four interesting games. Actually, if you include the Women’s World Hockey Championship in Zurich, Switzerland, I watched five separate games in their entirety, starting at 8am and ending after 11pm, and only missed two goals in the process.
I have already talked about Canada/Finland and the Tampa Bay Lightning/Pittsburgh Penguins game in my other posts, so I’m going to focus on the other three here.
The Washington Capitals eliminated the New York Rangers in the series 4-1, with a 3-1 win Saturday afternoon in Washington. Alexander Ovechkin scored an unbelievable third period goal, as he went by Ranger defender Marc Staal to put Washington up by three.
In this game, Capitals’ defenceman Mike Green got hit in the head by a Matt Gilroy slapshot, knocking two screws out of his helmet. Green, who did not return, should welcome the time off now, because he has had concussion issues throughout the season. It is a bit of a shame because Green has been significantly more defensively consistent in the Playoffs, as he is a +3, to go along with his five playoff points.
In the Montreal/Boston series, the Bruins look to come back from a 2-0 deficit. In a fantastic display of goaltending last night, Tim Thomas made 44 saves and Nathan Horton scored in double overtime as Boston beat Montreal 2-1 to take a 3-2 series lead. Carey Price was equally as impressive for Montreal, as he made 49 saves.
However, Jonathan Quick outperformed Thomas and Price last night in San Jose has he made 51 regulation time saves as the Los Angeles Kings live another day with a 3-1 win over the Sharks. San Jose still leads the series 3-2.
Sharks’ head coach Todd McLellan has a tough decision to make. Does he go with the Stanley Cup winner Antti Niemi, who was terrible in game five, giving up three goals on four shots, or his Finnish counterpart, Antero Niittymaki, a two time Olympic medallist, who made 18 saves in relief? I think we’ll see Niittymaki for Game six, Monday night in Los Angeles.
Tags: alexander ovechkin, antero niittymaki, boston bruins, carey price, jonathan quick, los angeles kings, matt gilroy, mike green, montreal canadiens, nathan horton, new york rangers, San Jose Sharks, tim thomas, washington capitals
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