Stanley Cup Final Game 1

Last night the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks met for the first time in 20 months for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. They played a classic hockey game of champions as they took the game to triple over time, the fifth longest game in Stanley Cup history.  Chicago relentlessly applied the pressure to the hard hitting Bruins and their efforts finally paid off.  Lucic scored the first goal of the series for the Bruins during the first period, taking an early lead.  The Blackhawks, known for their speed took to the fore-check and generated deep plays in the Bruins zone that caused turn overs and scoring chances. Tuukka Rask held fast in the net for the Bruins blocking opportunities during the first period, as the Blackhawks put the heat on him.  If it weren't for Rask there might have been a different out come during the first period. The Bruins top line had a ton of energy and responded to the speed of the Blackhawks.  Moving into the second period the Bruins still had good momentum and Lucic scored his second point of the game and second point for the Bruins; Bruins had a two point lead, 2-0. The Blackhawks responded by a forced turn over, as they took the puck to the other end of the ice and Saad scored his first goal, cutting the Bruins lead in half.  During the third period Bergeron took a one timer right into the net to give the Bruins a 2 goal cushion, 3-1. The Blackhawks came back with a goal from Bolland and then Oduya got the best of Rask, evening the score 3-3 late in the 3^rd period sending this series into its first over time.  This series went into triple over time with Crawford and Rask making amazing saves. There were great scoring chances for both teams and after 112 minutes of play Shaw scored the winning goal off of a double deflection.  

The Chicago Blackhawks got this series off to a great start; they were relentless; kept their speed and fore-checking through the neutral zone.  Although they did not hold a lead during the game, their momentum was always giving them scoring chances and opportunities.  Corey Crawford was the key element to keeping the Blackhawks in the game.  The Blackhawks are not without error, they were called twice for too many men on the ice and had some poor line changes but these are all correctable mistakes.  The Bruins lost a two goal lead and missed the opportunity to take away the home ice advantage from Chicago. Lucic was a strong player for the Bruins, he was all over the ice last night and strong on the fore-check, as well as tracking down the puck.  Also, Rask was a fortress in goal for the Bruins. The Bruins players were missing the depth in their long contests.  The Bruins have 2 days to figure out how to beat Crawford and a key to that would be to find scorers other than the top line. If this series continues like Game 1 the series might be over sooner than later.  The Chicago Blackhawks lead early in the series 1-0 and will face-off again on Saturday in Chicago. 

The Stanley Cup Final

The Stanley Cup final will begin tonight, with a best of 7 series match up between the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks. Both teams have great depth, enormous talent and are overall well balanced teams.  The Bruins have size and strength, and use that to their advantage to get the puck deep, hit bodies and make plays in the corners that lead to goals. On the other hand, the Blackhawks use their speed and quickness to their advantage to speed through the neutral zone and create odd man rushes that lead to goals. Although Tuukka Rask had been a solid goaltender for the Bruins when they faced the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Blackhawks do a better job of putting more bodies in front of the net so that Rask won’t always have a clear view of the puck.  The Blackhawks have been good on the penalty kill and with the weak power play the Bruins have exemplified, penalty kills should be no struggle for the Blackhawks.  A major weakness for the Blackhawks is their faceoff wins, especially in their own zone, while the Bruins are good at face offs the Blackhawks struggle. The elite scores for the Blackhawks have to be more consistent offensively, especially since the Bruins excel at shutting down the elite scorers.   Overall, the Bruins have struggled against teams with speed; they play more of a physical game and use their size to their advantage.  With the Blackhawks suffering big hits from the Bruins they could be worn down quickly, it will be interesting to see how the Blackhawks deal with a physical team engaging them in big hits.  The Blackhawks will have to improve on their face offs if they want to win, especially when they are in their own zone. With Toews, Kane and Sharp struggling get the puck into the net, Bryan Bickell has emerged strong, establishing a position near the net and has been hard to knock down.  Bickell will have to continue this level of performance against the Bruins.  Another game changer for the Blackhawks, Maria Hossa, with his speed, strength, excellent puck handling and quick release shots the Blackhawks will be leaning on him to help them inch closer to the Stanley Cup. Zdeno Chara, the best defenseman and an awesome weapon for the Bruins, goes into battles to win but is not invulnerable the Blackhawks will have to force him into corners and take advantage of any turnovers that he might give them.  To quote a good friend Dave Null: “The mark of a champion is being able to step it up when it's all on the line... I think that we're about to see what Toews and Kane are really made of.” I am picking the Blackhawks to win, but ultimately the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins will decide who wins the Stanley Cup, Game 1 starts tonight!

Chicago Blackhawks eliminate the L.A Kings in Game 5

Last night the Chicago Blackhawks dethroned the 2012 Stanley Cup Champions, the L.A. Kings, as they were eliminated from the playoffs in Game 5. The Kings started off with an inconsistent game during the first period, at times floundering and falling all over the place but then by the end of the game there were applying pressure and came back in the last 9 seconds of the 3^rd period to take Game 5 to a double over time. Mike Richards was back on the ice and he made major contributions to keeping the Kings alive including the 3^rd period goal that sent the Kings to over time. The Blackhawks had Duncan Keith back from his one-game suspension, an important player who made major contributions, logging more than 38 minutes of ice time and opening up goal scoring for the game.  

The Blackhawks took the early lead in the first period, by a goal from Keith and then Kane scored to take a 2-0 lead. The Kings were floundering and falling all over the place trying to block shots, they looked very unorganized and the game did not look promising for the defending champs. The Kings came back in the second period to cut the Blackhawks lead in half, with the only goal of the second period. Using the momentum they had been created in the second period the Kings, after numerous attempts, finally got the puck into the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2 early in the third period.  An intense third period ensued between the Blackhawks and the defending champs, with 4 minutes remaining in regulation time the Blackhawks claimed the lead 3-2. During the remaining 4 minutes of the game the puck was back and forth with the Kings making numerous failed attempts to score, finally with only seconds left in the game and the feeling that the Blackhawks had won, the L.A. Kings resurrected the game with a game saving goal. Game 5 was pushed into over time with the Kings applying pressure to the Blackhawks. There were good opportunities on both ends of the ice and a lot of back and forth play during the first over time. There were extended periods of time when the Kings were dominating and attempting to keep their playoff dreams alive. When one over time wasn’t enough for these two determined teams the game was pushed into a second over time for the first time in this series. Kane came through with a hat trick, scoring in double overtime to win the Western Conference title for the Blackhawks.

After an outstanding performance, the defending champs will be heading home, while the Blackhawks will be advancing to the Stanley Cup final. The Chicago Blackhawks will face the Boston Bruins, who ousted the Pittsburgh Penguins in 4 games to win the Eastern Conference title. Game 1 will be Wednesday in Chicago, giving both of these teams a few days to rest before they battle for the Stanley Cup!!

The Bruins sweep the Penguins to win the Eastern Conference

The Boston Bruins swept the Pittsburgh Penguins in 4 games to win the Eastern Conference last night.  The scoreless first period was filled with back and forth play, each team winning power plays which were unsuccessful.  Sidney Crosby attempted to save his team from elimination but he played his 4^th straight scoreless game of this series.  Adam McQuaid scored the third period goal that won the game for the Bruins.  Tuukka Rask’s outstanding performance during this series played a crucial role in wining, posting shutouts in Game 1 and the Game 4 clincher. Rask only allowed two goals during all 4 games to the Penguins, the highest scoring team in the NHL. The Penguins had chances during this game but Rask was able to make the big saves to defend the net. The Penguins have reached the end of their road for this post season but the Bruins will move on to the Stanley Cup final and play the winner of the Western Conference. The Western Conference will play Game 5 tonight, where the Chicago Blackhawks lead the series against the L.A Kings 3-1 going into tonight’s game.

Boston Bruins take 3-0 series lead

The Boston Bruins dropped the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 during double over time in Game 3 last night.  The Penguins trail with a 3 game deficit and are in danger of elimination from the Eastern Conference finals on Friday in Boston during Game 4.  Tomas Vokoun was in net for the Pens last night; he had been replaced with Marc-Andre Fleury during Game 2 after giving away 3 goals in the first period.  The Bruins took the early lead in this game, scoring during the first minute of play during the 1^st period.  There was amazing goal tending on both ends of the ice last night.  The Penguins finally made it on the board during the second period to tie the game.  The game remained at a tie and when to 2 overtime periods until the Bruins finally scored to a 3 game lead over the Penguins in the series.  The Penguins played there best game of the series last night and dominated face-offs but it still was not good enough to beat the Bruins.  The goalies both had challenges last night as Vokoun recorded 39 saves and Tuukka Rask 54, only surrendering 1 goal last night to the Penguins.  If the Bruins can continue this type of play on home ice Friday in Game 4 the Penguins will be eliminated from the playoffs.  The Penguins, although last night was the best they have played in the series, they are not really performing at their best.  They are slow and need a miracle if they want to come back in this series. A new update just released this morning:  forward for the Boston Bruins Gregory Campbell, will miss the rest of the Stanley Cup playoffs due to breaking his right fibula after blocking a slap shot with his leg last night.  After blocking the shot Campbell remained on the ice for over a minute closing lanes for the Penguins and helping his team to kill off the penalty.  The Bruins and the Penguins will face-off for Game 4 in Boston on Friday for what could be the last time. 

The Bruins beat the Penguins 6-1

The Boston Bruins are heading towards the Stanley Cup with a clean sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins right now, only two wins away from another Stanley Cup trip. The Penguins are on their heels and heading to Boston in the attempt to salvage their season.  The Bruins got the game off to a quick start last night with an early goal 30 seconds into the first period by Brad Marchand.  The Bruins held the Penguins at bay during the first period while they smoked two more goal past Tomas Vokoun, ramping up the score to 3-0. The Penguins changed out goalies and Marc- Andre Fluery returns to the net for the Pens. The Penguins rally, with 15 seconds left of the first period and finally made it on the board with a goal, attempting to close the gap. The Bruins responded with another goal by Marchand, returning their 3 point lead, the first period ended with a 4-1 score. After a scoreless second period, the Bruins started off the third period with a goal and just for good measure, with one minute of play remaining in this hopeless game for the Pens, the Bruins scored again running the score up to 6-1.

The Penguins have the firepower and have dominated offensively earlier during the Stanley Cup playoffs. But, during this Conference Final series, they have been disorganized and appear to be a distant version of the Penguins that were once Stanley Cup contenders. This team looked disorganized as they fell over, turned over pucks and gave away the game to the Bruins who railroaded the Penguins.  While the Penguins have showed us in the past that they are comfortable playing with a deficit, no team has lost the first two Conference Final games at home and gone on to win and to play for the Stanley cup. Coach Dan Byslma pulled Vokoun after he allowed the Bruins to dash to their 3 point lead but the goal tending was not the Penguins issue, the Pens defense was lacking and basically non-existent last night.  On the other hand, the Bruins defense was really good and were able to hold the scoring chances to a minimum for the Penguins throughout the entire game.  The Penguins star players:  Crosby and Letang had a bad night, giving away turn overs that ended up in the back of the Penguins net.  As Crosby said after the game last night, “Tonight we were just terrible. There is no other way to describe it.” The Penguins head to Boston with a 2 game deficit looking for a win to break out of their losing streak and save their season.  The Bruins won’t be underestimating this team, although they have only given up one goal to the Penguins during the first 2 games and have been able to score 9, it looks like an easy sweep but the Bruins know the Penguins can be dangerous.  If the Bruins continue playing hockey like they have during this series, they are on their way to sweeping the Penguins and are strong Stanley Cup contenders.

L.A Kings continue to struggle

Game 2 was horrendous for the L.A Kings who continue to struggle during the Western Conference Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks. It did not help the L.A Kings that the Western Conference started with back to back games during such an important series. The Chicago Blackhawks are on a 5 game winning streak and looking to knock the Stanley Cup defending champions out of the 2013 Stanley Cup contenders with little trouble. The Hawks opened up scoring within the first minute of play last night, taking the early lead and keeping it during the entire 60 minutes of play. With 50 seconds left of the first period the Hawks secured a 2 point lead over the scoreless L.A Kings.  Despite being out-shot by the L.A Kings during the first period the Hawks held a nice lead going into the second period, which started off with a set of goals, advancing the Hawk’s  lead to 4-0. The Kings benched Jonathan Quick, who had let 4 goals slip by him, in favor of backup goaltender Jonathan Bernier.  Carter was finally able to get the Kings on the board with his second period goal but the Kings had farther to go in a Game 2 that was already standing at 4-1 score as the second period ended.  This game was not hopeless for the L.A Kings who could have come back in the 3^rd period but the reality of their game was not so bright.  The L.A Kings came back to score 1 goal in the 3^rd period cutting the Hawks lead in half but with only a little over a minute of play in regulation time left  the Kings would have needed a miracle. There was no miracle last night for the Kings, as they enter Game 3.  The L.A Kings had a very physical weekend and were able to out hit the Hawks but not much more than that.  The team is missing and struggling without Mike Richards after a hard hit from Dave Bollands on Saturday in Game 1.  With one day of rest and Game 3 on home ice, it is time for Sutter and the L.A Kings to respond to their two game deficit.  If the L.A Kings are playoff contenders they have to come back for a strong win in Game 3, they are the Stanley Cup defending champions; this team has to get their act together.  The Blackhawks are looking to sweep this series; their defense has done a great job at getting the puck out of their own zone and their second line scored all four points during game 2 last night. The Blackhawks are gunning to make this series short, could it end on Thursday?