Western Conference – Chicago Blackhawks vs. Minnesota Wild
In Game 2, Chicago’s forward Bryan Bickell led his team to a 4-1 home victory with a three-point performance (1 goal, 2 assists). He assisted on the two first goals by Toews and Saad and sealed the deal with his goal with less than three minutes to play, before Saad scored his second of the night by getting the empty netter. The two late goals denied a Wild comeback after McCormick’s goal after exactly 42 minutes. Nino Niederreiter played 14:58 and finished the game with an even rating and no points. Being down by two games, Minnesota shut out the Blackhawks in their first home game of the series. They had a great third period with four goals scored by Haula, Parise and Granlund (2). Swiss forward Nino Niederreiter played 17:17 and had a helper on Granlund’s empty net goal. They remain unbeaten at home in the postseason after also winning their second home game. Niederreiters go-ahead goal after 7:12 in the second period also proved to be the game-winning goal in a 4-2 win. Minnesota took the lead twice on goals by Fontaine and Pominville, but Chicago’s veterans Sharp and Handzus tied the game shortly after. Former Langnau player Jared Spurgeon scored a power play goal in the third to ensure the win that tied the series. The teams meet again on Sunday in Chicago, with Minnesota looking to get the first away win in this series.
Western Conference – Anaheim Ducks vs. Los Angeles Kings
Jonas Hiller started his second straight game between the Ducks’ pipes but had an awful start into the game. Sloppy defensive play allowed Kings forward Marian Gaborik to come in alone on the Swiss netminder and score his sixth goal of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Maroon equalized the game on the man-advantage halfway through the first, but Los Angeles quickly answered with an even strength goal by Alec Martinez. Even though the Ducks put on pressure and outshot their opponent 27-9 in the last two periods, they couldn’t get a second goal to force overtime. Instead, Los Angeles’ forward King scored an empty netter for the final score of 3-1. Back at Staples Center, Frederik Andersen got the start over Hiller, but couldn’t finish the game due to an injury. Hiller stopped seven shots and conceded one goal in the ten minutes he played. Anaheim had a strong game and were the first to get on the board on a PP goal by Perry. LA tied the game five minutes into the second period, when red-hot forwards Gaborik and Kopitar set up Jeff Carter, who wristed the puck past Andersen. The Finnish Flash, Teemu Selanne got the second goal of his last career playoffs and defenseman Ben Lovejoy added another one to give their team a 3-1 lead before Richards pulled his team within one with 31 seconds left. The Ducks hung on and got back into the series before tying it two days later with another great effort at Staples Center. Ducks coach Boudreau favored rookie goaltender Gibson over Jonas Hiller, who now only started two of his team’s ten postseason games. Gibson had a fantastic night, stopping all 28 shots on his goal to be the first goaltender since 1928 to get a shutout in both his regular season and playoff debuts. Devante Smith-Pelly and captain Ryan Getzlaf scored goals 2:43 apart in the first period to get the second away win and regain the home-ice advantage. Luca Sbisa was scratched in every game this week. Game 5 in Anaheim is scheduled for Monday evening.
Eastern Conference – Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens
The series shifted to Montreal tied at one, where the Habs hoped to get support by a wild home crowd hoping for their team to win another game on the way to a league-leading 25th Stanley Cup trophy. P.K. Subban continued to be red-hot and showed why he likely will get a huge contract in the offseason. He scored his 10th and 11th point of the playoffs with a goal and an assist (on Plekanec’s 1-0) to give his team a 2-0 lead after one period. Dale Weise extended this lead to three, but Lugano’s lockout star center Patrice Bergeron answered right after, when he tipped a shot from the blue line past Carey Price. With Rask gone for an extra attacker, Jarome Iginla deflected another shot into the Canadiens’ goal, before Eller secured the victory with his empty net goal. In Game 4, both teams play on an equally high level, resulting in a scoreless game after regulation. Rookie forward Matt Fraser, who was called up the day before, got Boston the win with his goal after 1:19 in the first overtime, when he shoveled in a rebound after Habs goaltender Price lost sight of the puck. Back at Boston, the Bruins got another win after a fabulous performance from Swedish forward Carl Soderberg, who put his team in front in the first and then collected two assists later in the game. Boston finally scored a PP goal after staying goalless in their first ten attempts, when Reilly Smith scored the 2-0 after 21:04. Jarome Iginla added another PP goal just 32 seconds later. Montreal also got on the board in the second period through a goal by Brendan Gallagher on the man-advantage but couldn’t really get back into the game. Loui Eriksson re-established the three-goal lead late in the third when he put in a rebound. Subban’s rocket past Rask for the 4-2 came too late to really give his team a chance to put pressure on the Bruins defense. The teams meet again on Monday, this time at Bell Centre in Montreal.
Eastern Conference – Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Rangers.
The Rangers couldn’t carry on at the same pace and got shut out in the second game in Pittsburgh. Kris Letang scored three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in a 3-0 home win and Fleury added 22 saves to give their team the win. Letang opened the score in the second period, Jokinen and Malkin scored late third period goals. Back in New York, Raphael Diaz finally dressed up for his first playoff game as a Blueshirt. He played a solid game and finished with an even rating and a team-leading six shots, but could not prevent his team from getting shut out for the second straight game. Superstar Sidney Crosby scored his first goal after a career-record 14-game slump on a breakaway, where he went five hole on Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Jokinen added another goal at 35:20, his fifth of the postseason, to keep his point streak going to get Pittsburgh the series lead despite getting outshot 35-15. Raphael Diaz’ team also lost Game 4 at home to give Pittsburgh three chances to close out the series. Diaz played 16:45 and had a -1 rating. The Pens got their offense going and got goals from Malkin, Sutter (shorthanded), Jokinen and Kunitz in a 4-2 win. While Rangers forward Rick Nash remains unseen in the playoffs (still no goal), European forwards Mats Zuccarello and Carl Hagelin stepped up and scored each their third goal of the playoffs. The Rangers bounced back in their first do-or-die game in Pittsburgh, winning 5-1 and cut the Penguins’ lead to 2-3. Rangers prodigy Chris Kreider scored in his second game back after a long injury to put his team in front, followed by Brassards second of the postseason. Shortly after the first break, Malkin dangled through the Rangers defense and hung on to score his second spin-o-rama goal in as many games, but his goal remained the lone Pittsburgh goal this evening. The Rangers got three straight goals from Brassard, McDonagh and Klein for a deserved victory. The teams meet again on Sunday, in what will be a really special game for Rangers forward Martin St. Louis. His mother passed away at age 63 the day before Game 5, just three days before Mother’s Day.
