Tuesday, May 04, 2010

STANLEY CUP ROUNDUP: DAY 21*

One series was tied up, another went to 2-0, but both games were hard fought, exciting contests.

BOSTON 3, PHILADELPHIA 2 (Bruins lead series 2-0)

I could tell you that the Flyers have never led, and you might think the B's have dominated this series so far. But that's not true. Both games have been decided late, both games have been close. Philly's scorers have figured out the Bruins' defenses. But the Bruins have gotten some nice "team-goals" getting 4 or 5 guys involved in each goal. We'll see how this series alters when the Flyers get last-change on home ice.

CHICAGO 4, VANCOUVER 2 (Series tied 1-1)

This is more like it. The Blackhawks woke up after getting crushed 5-1 in Game 1. Chicago's stars got a chance to shine. Versteeg had a goal and an assist. Seabrook had a goal and 2 assists. Kane finished the game off with an empty-netter. Antti Niemi was back to normal, and the series goes northwest tied 1-1. Don't miss these late-night games.

Tonight's games:
7pm: Pittsburgh @ Montreal - Versus (series tied 1-1)
7:30pm: San Jose @ Detroit - Versus (Sharks lead series 2-0)

SOX DESERVE SOME ATTENTION TOO


On a night when the Celtics and Bruins each register huge playoff victories, it's hard for any Red Sox team to get some attention, especially a 4th placed Red Sox team. But score 17 runs and that convention is no longer applicable.

Youkilis, Hall, Beltre, and Pedroia each had homers. Lowell had 4 RBI, Beltre, Pedroia, and Beltre each had 3. Lowell had 3 doubles.

Buchholz was far from amazing, but he was good enough to pick up his 3rd win of the season. Schoenenweis allowed 4 runs in the 9th to make the game seem closer than it was.

This was a good start to a vital homestand. If the Sox continue to sputter, they're facing elimination by June. This was certainly an offensive abberation, but nights like last night can get guys like Drew, Martinez, and Lowell going.

Lester vs. Ervin Santana tonight.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

THIS IS A NIGHT FOR BOSTONIANS!


The Bruins win, the Sox score 17, and the Celtics win one in Cleveland.

The Cavs only lost 6 times at home all season. So this is a truly impressive accomplishment for the C's. Now, LeBron is hurt. But he still scored 24. And I don't remember anyone shedding tears for the Celtics when KG was busted up for last year's playoffs.

Rajon Rondo scored 13 and had 19 assists. Yeah, 19. But the real story of this game was the bench, specifically Rasheed Wallace. He contributed 17 points in his 18 minutes. The bench combined for 27 total points, and all five starters were in double digits.

LeBron is hurt. He's human. And the Celtics can take advantage of it. You never root for injuries, but let's be honest here, when your opponent's best player is dinged up, it's an advantage for you. It'll be interesting to see how James plays in Boston.

There's a lengthy layoff, as Game 3 will be played on Friday night.

Again, what a fantastic night for Boston sports!

Photo Credit:
Getty Images

JESUS SAVES, SATAN SCORES


Another very close, very tight, very physical game at the Garden. And another late Bruin goal, and another win for the black and gold. Games like these are why God invented 24 ounce cans of beer. Even when there's a TV timeout, you don't want to go to the fridge for a fresh beer. You want to sit back and regather your emotional stamina.

This W was brought to you by the letter U, the letter U, the letter K, and the letter K. Once again, Tuukka had an outstanding game. He was the Bruins' best penalty killer. He prevented several Bruin mistakes from becoming Flyer goals.

Can I bitch about officials for a paragraph? I think the refs have been flat-out awful so far, and this game was even worse than Game 1. And it's been going both ways (thankfully). The 1st period began with the refs throwing everyone out of the faceoff circle. Then Richards gets chased, Bergeron wins an offensive draw cleanly, back to Boychuk, who snipes it blocker side high on Boucher. Later, Dan Carcillo punches Savard repeatedly in the face, then Savard gets 2 minutes for slashing. After the play, Carcillo has the gall to accuse Savard of biting his fingers. You know, when you punch someone's teeth, sometimes your knuckles get cut by them.

But Dan Carcillo is a very clean, respectable player. He only had 207 penalty minutes this season (4th most in the NHL). So if he says Savard bit him, you can believe that the thuggish, brutal, rule-bending Savard snapped his jaw on Carcillo's innocent digits.

End of sarcasm.

But the refs have "participated" in several goals this series. Their distribution of penalties last night was perplexing. Wheeler gets called for hooking early in the 1st. Then Lucic gets tripped up at the end of the period and there's no call. There's the afore-mentioned Savard/Carcillo scrum, which saw Savard going by himself to the box.

But at least it seems to be random, and multidirectional. Flyers fans will moan about the refs, but offsides is offsides, bitches.

Behind Rask, Satan had been the Bruins' best playoff performer. Goal and assist last night, his 4th playoff goal, and 5th assist. He had 9 goals and 5 assists in the regular season. He leads the Bruins in playoff goals, is second in assists (behind Wideman), and leads in +/- (tied with Krejci). And he was just drifting around Europe at mid-season, available to any NHL team that needed a clever forward.

Then there's Boychuk, who has emerged in the postseason as a true force. Defensively, he's played alongside Chara and esteemed himself quite well. He's been out there for 25 minutes a game, typically with Chara against the opponents' scorers. Offensively, he's gotten involved in the play, pinched at appropriate times, scored twice, and registered 3 assists this postseason. Not bad for a guy who started the year in AHL Providence.

But again, let's not look too far ahead. Matchups have been a huge part of Games 1 and 2. And in Philadelphia, the Flyers will have the privilege of last-change. So it'll be hard to put Chara out there when Richards is out there.

And give credit to the Flyers for keeping this game close. Boucher made a massive save in the 1st, stifling Sobotka, and keeping it a 1-0 game. The Flyers also have scorers, which the Bruins still lack. Richards' goal was a result of questionable defensive-zone play, but he still had the wherewithal to snipe through traffic and score. And Briere's goal was pure quality.

I'll compare the Bruins offense to the Flyers offense thusly: the Bruins are Darwinist Evolutionists. The Flyers are Creationists. The Bruins' offense needs time to shape a scoring chance. Then random mutations and variances over time generates the probability of scoring. Lucic's game winner, for example, was hardly a sharpshooter's finish. Lucic just put it on net. And the more you do that, the better your chances of scoring. He got a chance because Krejci won a battle, then Satan won one, then a rebound found Lucic's stick.

But the Flyers, with guys like Richards and Briere, are capable of divinely inspired and instant life-creation. Mike Richards said "let there be a goal," and there was a goal, and it was good (for the Flyers). Up here in Boston, we haven't seen that all season. So we might want to assign blame to Bruins' defensive lapses, but just give credit to the Flyers for possessing some scorers. And that keeps them in games.

Game 3 in Philly Wednesday night. I can't wait.

Photo Credit:
Getty Images