So I'm gonna get this started while the games are going on.
Game 3: Philadelphia 6, Pittsburgh 3
Pittsburgh leads the series 2-1
This one was a slobber knocker, Here's footage from the first period:
Now that the teams are at the other side of Pennsylvania, the Flyers have a newfound life being injected in their game. They keep this up and we're gonna have a series on our hands folks.
Jeff Carter and Mike Richards opened the scoring scored for Philadelphia. After all was said and done, Claude Giroux, Danny Briere, and Simon Gagne each generated two points in tonight's effort. Philadelphia brought the pain tonight too, as they had 11 more hits than Pittsburgh had, which may have made all the difference.
Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby did what they could by getting two points on the night (two goals and two assists, respectively.) The centers also had a better night in the faceoff dot than the Flyers did too. But when Marc-Andre allows two goals on the first two shots he faces, it's probably going to be an indication as to what kinda night the team's gonna have.
If the Penguins wanna take back the series, they're gonna have to get as rough as the Flyers are. I wonder if they're gonna consider dressing Eric Godard; that would be suh-weet!
Game 3: Vancouver 3, St. Louis 2
Vancouver leads the series 3-0
St. Louis definitely stepped up their efforts tonight, but it wasn't enough as Steve Bernier scored in the third period to secure a Vancouver victory. St. Louis is now pushed to the brink and are one loss away from elimination.
Vancouver's special teams was the difference today, as they scored all of their goals on the power play. Roberto Luongo and a relatively pedestrian night with 24 saves, but it was still good enough for the victory. Vancouver wasn't overly phyiscal, but they were in better control of the play throughout the night and took advantage of St. Louis's parade to the penalty box during the second period.
St. Louis performed a lot stronger this game despite losing. Andy McDonald and David Backes each got a goal and an assist this game. The Blues were far more physical than the Canucks, generating more hits and often at times getting in the face of the Canucks. Yet their penalty kill couldn't stave off Vancouver's power play, nor could Chris Mason make that one extra save (both goalies faced 26 shots tonight) so St. Louis ends up losing in their first playoff home game in nearly 5 years.
Vancouver could put it away on Tuesday. Methinks that's very, very likely.
Game 3: New Jersey 3, Carolina 2 In Overtime
New Jersey leads the series 2-1
I think we've seen a pattern so far that indicates this series is going to be a figurative slugfest for these teams. The game went into overtime for the second consecutive game and while that's worked to Carolina's advantage for the past 6 playoff contests, Travis Zajac proved to be the X-Factor for otherwise, scoring the game winner in overtime.
The Devis have Martin Brodeur's 26 saves and their penalty killers to thank for even remaining in the game, as Carolina outworked them in nearly every aspect of the game (save shots, and that's probably what did it for the Devils.) Zajac and Zach Parise each had a goal and an assist while Brian Gionta tallied a goal in the second period.
Tough break for Carolina, who had better results in the faceoff circle and generated nearly twice the amount of hits New Jersey did. Ryan Bayda and Chad LaRose scored for Carolina. Cam Ward was good for 32 saves. Yet their power play couldn't convert on ample chances and that can make a world of difference between winning and losing.
New Jersey has the game advantage, but this series is far from over. Expect Carolina to give them a headache in Game 4.
Game 2: Anaheim 3, San Jose 2;
Anaheim leads the series 2-0
Drew Miller scored in the third period to give Anaheim the 3-1 advantage. While Jonathan Cheechoo responded to make it 3-2, there wasn't anything that followed to help get the game into overtime. The President's Trophy holders are now down two games and are traveling to their opponents barn. Not good, sirs, not good at all.
Jonas Hiller continues to look very impressive, making an astonishing 42 saves to carry his team to victory. Anaheim's special teams were equally impressive, as they scored once on the power play and managed to kill all of their penalties tonight. Anaheim enjoyed a balanced attack, getting scoring from their top lines and from Drew Miller, who's an energy player for the squad.
San Jose sure as hell tried tonight, launching 44 shots and having 40 hits while limiting the penalties tonight. But their special teams was abysmal. They couldn't score once on the power play, even when they were given six consecutive power plays to work with. The goaltending needs to be better too, as Evgeni Nabokov allowed 3 goals on 26 shots. That's not gonna get you past the first round. It's possible they leaned on him too much in the regular season that now they will suffer as a result of it.
The game's going back to Anaheim and the Men in Black (and Orange) aren't going to be taking things lightly. San Jose's going to need to find some chemistry immediately if they're gonna have any hope of taking the series back to the bay area.
Oh, and in an update from yesterday's Boston-Montreal contest, Milan Lucic was in fact suspended one game for his actions in the third period.
Thanks for checking in! Stay tuned for more Stanley Cup coverage!!
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