Battle Of Hudson

What started out as competitive amounted to a playoff brawl between the Canadiens and Senators in Game Three at Scotiabank Place. At one point, Montreal was tied. From there, Ottawa took over by scoring five unanswered en route to a 6-1 blowout, going up 2-1 in the seven-game first round series.

Following rookie Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s breakaway goal on a Sergei Gonchar outlet, the Sens grabbed a 2-1 lead into the second intermission. Still anyone’s game. The roof caved in on the Habs in an embarrassing third that featured a line brawl, seven fights and nine game misconducts. By the time the gruesome display ended, the teams combined for 236 penalty minutes. Prior to the goon fest, Pageau scored his second of the night, using a Montreal defenseman as a screen to beat Carey Price making it 3-1 at 1:18. A Kyle Turris put away set up by Daniel Alfredsson and Erik Karlsson put the Sens up three at the seven-minute mark.

What ensued on the next faceoff was the pent up frustration of the Canadiens. Instead of attempting a comeback, they resorted to fisticuffs. In a scene that could’ve been from Slap Shot, all 10 players dropped the gloves. They paired off. Chris Neil took on Travis Moen while Zach Smith pounded Francis Bouillon. Matt Kassian fought Colby Armstrong while Chris Phillips beat Jared Tinordi. In the other atrocity, Ryan White, who started the fracas by slashing Smith- was obliterated by Jared Cowen. The first five scraps all took place at 7:04. A wild scene saw Neil play to the crowd as he left, which couldn’t have sat well with the Montreal bench. Smith also left the ice by slapping five with fans.

Following the shenanigans, Ottawa hit Montreal where it hurts on the scoreboard. Rookie Jacob Silfverberg scored off a face-off win from Milan Michalek making it 5-1. Pageau and Silfverberg’s tallies came eight seconds apart- finishing the Habs. Approximately a minute and a half later, more chaos followed. This time, a flustered P.K. Subban retaliated on Turris following a cross check by instigating a fight. Till that point, the Norris candidate had a miserable game taking three minor penalties and getting beaten on Pageau’s game-winner. He proceeded to give Turris a beating not letting up when the center was down. A code violation.

Before Pageau completed only the second playoff hat trick in Senators history (Alfredsson ’98), Cory Conacher and Brendan Gallagher exchanged pleasantries. When the buzzer sounded, Montreal defenseman Josh Gorges shot a puck at Turris. All this occurred with Bill McCreary on hand. It’ll be interesting to see what results. The same day when the league announced a two-game ban for Detroit forward Justin Abdelkader‘s leaping charging major that injured Anaheim defenseman Toni Lydman in the Ducks’ Game Three win.

More fireworks erupted between the coaches. Enraged that Ottawa’s Paul MacLean took a timeout with 17 seconds left, Montreal bench boss Michel Therien charged:

 ‘‘I don’t like when a coach is making comments. ”I don’t like a coach when trying to humiliate our team. I don’t like that. … As far as I’m concerned that was classless.” 

He went on to defend the timeout indicating it was due to protecting his players while taking a parting shot at Montreal. Basically, pointing out the obvious. They humiliated themselves. What will be the end result of this monstrosity? More importantly, are the Sens in the Habs’ heads similar to what the Flyers did to the Pens last Spring? Game Four is Tuesday. 

Chris Kunitz is mobbed by Pens teammates after his overtime winner. Islander defenseman Andrew MacDonald  can’t watch. Getty Images/Seth Wenig

A great game was played at Nassau Coliseum. The first round series between the eighth seeded upstarts from Long Island and the heavily favored No.1 seed from Pittsburgh has been much better than expected. Following the Penguins blowout win in Game One, nothing has separated them. For a second straight game, one goal decided the outcome. This time, it went to the Pens despite blowing a two-goal lead in the third. Chris Kunitz scored at 8:34 of overtime to lead the Pens past the Islanders 5-4.

Kunitz’ power play goal gave Pittsburgh back the home ice. They lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Quarterfinal 2-1 with Game Four Tuesday. Kunitz scored two power play goals and had an assist. The Pens converted on three of five power plays including Kunitz’ OT winner. It wasn’t without controversy.

The goal was set up by Sidney Crosby. Crosby drew a holding penalty on Islander defenseman Brian Strait. He got a step on Strait, who reached with his hands. Sid The Kid went down fairly easily to put his team on the man-advantage. It only took them 33 seconds to end the game. Taking a pass from Paul Martin, Crosby found Kunitz all alone in the slot to beat Evgeni Nabokov top shelf.  Not shockingly, boos rained down from irate Islander fans who disagreed with the call. They weren’t alone with both NBC’s Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick on their side.

Stars get calls. It happens in every sport. In this case, one went against the Islanders. Was it a penalty? Absolutely. But in sudden death, refs tend to let that go and allow the teams to decide it. Unless it’s one of those ridiculous delay of games. Simply put, the Isles didn’t get the job done. They were hurt on special teams, allowing the Pens to connect three times on the power play while failing on their three chances. Kunitz shouldn’t have been so open. It was poor coverage.

Buoyed by their comeback win that evened the series, the Islanders jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Matt Moulson scored for the second consecutive game when he tucked in a loose puck from a bad angle past Marc-Andre Fleury just 1:43 in. Less than four minutes later, Casey Cizikas notched his first from Michael Grabner giving the home team a two-goal lead.

However, the Pens bounced back quickly. They got the next three to take a one-goal lead to the locker room. Aided by a five-on-three, Jarome Iginla got them on the board with his first when he deflected home a Kris Letang point shot for his first. Crosby drew the other assist. He finished with three helpers. With Travis Hamonic still in the box, Kunitz took a Evgeni Malkin feed and beat Nabokov 21 seconds later to tie the score. Letang added his second assist. With exactly a minute left in the first, Kunitz and Crosby combined to set up Pascal Dupuis for his third.

The Isles trailed despite out-shooting the Penguins 13-8. They had the better of the play in the second but couldn’t beat Fleury, who rebounded with a strong period. He stopped all eight Islander shots, including a couple of big ones on John Tavares. Instead of being tied, Fleury’s goaltending allowed his team to increase to 4-2. This time, Malkin made a great play to set up ex-Shark Doug Murray. Drawing two defenders along the right boards, he dished across for Murray, who blasted his first career postseason goal far side. Martin added his second helper.

Despite being down two, the Islanders never gave up. Instead, they showed a lot of determination to get back in it. They dominated the third out-shooting Pittsburgh 13-3 and outscoring them 2-0 to force overtime. Game Two hero Kyle Okposo sparked the comeback with a shorthanded goal. With Strait in the sin bin, Okposo out-hustled the Pens down ice. He took a Frans Nielsen pass and broke in on Fleury going five-hole to cut it to 4-3 with 14:29 remaining. He’s been the Isles’ best forward thus far, not backing down from anyone.

With the Isles down one, their best player finally stepped up. Tavares scored his first career playoff goal with 9:22 left in regulation. Taking a Josh Bailey feed, he snapped a laser from the right circle inside the far post to tie the score 4-4. The Coliseum went nuts. It marked the third time over the last two games the Islanders rallied from two back. They threatened to go ahead but Fleury made some timely saves to keep it knotted. The Pens also hit a couple of posts before OT.

Following a shaky start, the Islanders buzzed during one shift. But they only mustered two shots. There also was a close call when Grabner almost got behind two Pens for a breakaway. But in an oddity, each got a piece of the puck in mid-air to deny the opportunity. Pittsburgh then kept a play alive for Crosby, who earned the crucial power play. Following an Islanders’ clear, the Pens got setup.  Martin passed down low for Crosby, who threaded the needle for Kunitz’ game decider.

Notes: It was a crushing loss for the Islanders. They did many things well. Similar to Game Two, they took the body finishing with 32 hits to the Pens’ 29. The Isles also won the face-off battle, beating a strong opponent 32-29 on draws. Okposo was their best going seven-and-three. Tavares lost 14-of-23 mostly against Crosby, who went 13-and-11. … Fleury made 32 saves while Nabokov turned aside 20 of 25. He fell to 7-11 career in playoff OT. … Andrew MacDonald went plus-three with two takeaways and three blocks in an Islander game high 30:21. Partner Travis Hamonic finished plus-one with five hits and five blocks in 29:50. … Letang paced all skaters with 33:33 along with two assists and five hits for the Pens. Martin also had two helpers with three hits and three blocks along with a plus-two logging 31:33.

NY Puck 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Sidney Crosby, Pit (3 assists, 4 SOG, 2 blocks, 3 takeaways, -1 in 24:08)
2nd Star-Kyle Okposo, NYI (shorthanded goal-2nd of series, assist, 5 SOG, +1 in 24:23)
1st Star-Chris Kunitz, Pit (2 PPG incl. OT winner at 8:44, assist, 4 hits, -1 in 22:03)

Overtime hero Mike Green is congratulated by teammates as Derek Stepan skates off in disbelief. Getty Images/Evan Vuccl

All year, Henrik Lundqvist referenced our poor special teams. It’s already bitten us in the ass twice. No more was it on display than in an agonizing 1-0 overtime defeat to the Caps, who took a 2-0 series lead. Mike Green’s power play goal at eight minutes of sudden death sent Washington to a shutout win. 

Matt Moulson watches Kyle Okposo’s shot ricochet off Marc-Andre Fleury. Getty Images/Gene J. Puskar

It isn’t a series until someone wins on the road. For the upstart Islanders, they pushed back against the Penguins in Game Two. They dug out of a pair of two-goal deficits to pull out a 4-3 win that squared the First Round series 1-1.

”Our guys, they’re relentless,” explained the Islander coach.

During last night’s Senators’ 4-2 win over the Canadiens in Game One of their best-of-seven first round series, Ottawa defenseman Eric Gryba delivered a big hit on Habs’ forward Lars Eller that resulted in head and facial injuries. He was assessed a five-minute interference major and game misconduct.

With no off day, the two teams are back at it tonight at the Bell Centre. This gave League Deputy Brendan Shanahan little time to make a decision. Rather than holding a phone interview, he suspended Gryba two games for the incident. At first glance, I felt it was suspension worthy. The live look made it appear a lot worse. Gryba caught Eller with a right shoulder that landed on the kisser.

Since the suspension was handed out, there’s been outrage on Twitter. Most disagree with the ruling. On TSN, they broke it down with former referee Kerry Fraser. Fraser does a great job explaining why it wasn’t even a penalty. Here’s a closer look:

Fraser takes us through the hit noting the point of contact. “It’s a clean hit with a bad result,” he told TSN. The hip makes contact with the groin area and then the head is contacted by the back shoulder cap. He says you can make contact with the head as long as there’s sufficient body contact.

Former players Aaron Ward and Mike Peca further illustrate why they agreed with Fraser by referencing Montreal defenseman Raphael Diaz’ “suicide pass,” which put Eller in a vulnerable position. TSN’s Bob McKenzie didn’t feel it was a penalty either but did note that the hit might’ve violated Rule 48. Principle Point Of Contact. That might better explain why  Gryba will sit out the next two games. Though it looks like their views are accurate, which means he didn’t have to be suspended.

Furthermore, there have been many gripes about Gryba getting victimized due to being a fringe player. That if he was a star, there would’ve been no ban. I still maintain that every case is different. I’m curious as to what Shanahan will say in his video response. 

Carl Hagelin stays with Martin Erat. Getty Images/Alex Brandon

Game 1 went to Washington. The Capitals defeated the Rangers 3-1 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Quarterfinal. Alex Ovechkin, Marcus Johansson and Jason Chimera scored for them. Braden Holtby made 35 saves.

Carl Hagelin scored our lone goal. It was his first career playoff goal. Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves. It was the last two he didn’t stop which hurt. After Ovechkin tied the game with a power play goal, Johansson and Chimera scored 46 seconds apart. All three Washington goals came in the second period. Despite being out-shot 16-9, they beat Lundqvist three times on nine shots.

Special teams were a factor. The Caps went 1-for-5 on the power play and the Rangers were 0-for-3, including an epic fail on a 56 second five-on-three which proved fatal. How many times have we seen the power play fire blanks? It wasn’t enough that Chris Rooney made a hideous charging call on Arron Asham that allowed Ovechkin to tie the game. Already on a power play, Ryan Callahan was cross checked twice by John Erskine during a scrum. Somehow, he wound up in the box for roughing while Eric Fehr got the extra two. It wouldn’t have mattered if they had an extended two-man advantage. They still wouldn’t have scored.

Holtby may have made more saves. But he didn’t have to work too hard. With the exception of Callahan and Hagelin, our guys played on the perimeter. The Caps dominated the first, getting 11 of the first 12 shots. Only Lundqvist prevented a disaster. Using momentum from an early power play, they controlled the neutral zone and fired away. With plenty of aid from Hank, the Rangers withstood the pressure.

A good shift from the fourth line led to Hagelin opening the scoring. After the Caps iced the puck, Ryan McDonagh worked the puck deep to Callahan, who chipped it to Hagelin. Hagelin’s wrap around went off a Cap skate for a 1-0 lead with 3:16 remaining in the first. As the period wore on, they gradually got better. McDonagh didn’t have a strong game. He and Anton Stralman struggled throughout. McDonagh’s late holding penalty handed the Caps another power play, which carried into the second. They didn’t connect due to superb penalty killing from Callahan, Hagelin and Derek Stepan. In fact, a good closeout from Darroll Powe allowed Hagelin to get behind the D for a breakaway. But Holtby just got a piece of his shorthanded bid. A turning point.

Asham was sent to the box. It didn’t take long for Ovechkin to pounce on a Mike Green rebound, flipping a loose puck upstairs for his first. With our fans fuming, Cap penalties on Martin Erat and Fehr gave them a great opportunity to reestablish momentum. Instead, they failed miserably. There was too much hesitation allowing the Caps to get in the lanes. They blocked 25 shots. The Rangers also missed the net 18 times. That’s 43 shots that never made it to Holtby because of over passing.

The defense had been shaky up till that point. McDonagh and Dan Girardi left too much of a gap for Steve Oleksy to send Johansson on a breakaway. His shot squeaked through Lundqvist’s pads to give Washington their first lead with 5:39 left. With Verizon Center buzzing, they had even more reason to cheer when Lundqvist got caught napping on a harmless Chimera shot from way out. Mathieu Perreault pressured Stralman into a turnover. Stralman was taken down prior without a whistle. He still needed to be stronger. Before you knew it, Chimera sent a turnaround shot past Lundqvist for a two-goal lead. A stunning turn of events our team couldn’t overcome.

They had their chances in the third. Hagelin was our best player. On a two-on-one with Stepan, he whistled one off the cross bar. Rick Nash also couldn’t put one past a scrambling Holtby. Nash was okay but could’ve been more aggressive in his first postseason game in six years. He registered a game high eight shots despite looking passive at moments. His best opportunity came on a backhand during the second. He was also denied by a sliding Holtby at the buzzer. With over four minutes left, John Moore appeared to beat Holtby but a lengthy video review upheld the decision of no goal.

One of the real disturbing aspects was the Caps manhandling our guys. They were more physical and better offensively and defensively. The hits might say Rangers 41, Capitals 34. But anyone who watched knows better. The lack of Ryane Clowe was noticeable. Chris Kreider attempted five shots, getting two on goal. John Tortorella gave him a little more time in the third. Mats Zuccarello was credited with six hits but passed up on shots. It was a trend. Derick Brassard was decent with Kreider and Taylor Pyatt but not consistent enough. Brad Richards took too much time to shoot and missed the net.

There’s definitely things the Rangers must improve upon. They can’t get out-muscled and out-hustled. And certainly need Lundqvist to outplay Holtby. Too much went wrong tonight. We’ll see how they adjust Saturday.

NY Puck 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Braden Holtby, Wsh (34 saves incl. 16/16-good but not as good as his stat line)
2nd Star-Troy Brouwer, Wsh (2 SOG, 7 hits-he set the tone)
1st Star-Carl Hagelin, NYR (1st career postseason goal, 4 SOG, +1 in 26 inspired shifts)

Getty Images/Gene J. Puskar

They probably should burn the tape of Game One. Back in the playoffs for the first time since ’07, the Islanders got taught a lesson by the top seeded Penguins. Pittsburgh dominated from start to finish blanking New York 5-0 to draw first blood in the best-of-seven Eastern Quarterfinal.

Getty Images

For Steph Tsafaras, the start of the playoffs is doubly important. A passionate fan who roots for the hometown Maple Leafs, she also likes the Penguins. What happens if they meet up? That’s for her to worry about. She goes by two Twitter names representing reach team proudly. The Leaf one is StephT43 for Nazem Kadri and the Pens is StephGT87 for Sidney Crosby.

Toronto is back in the postseason for the first time in nine years. They’ll meet Original Six rival Boston in the first round. It shapes up as the most physical series. A pick ’em. Pittsburgh takes on the Islanders. The mighty Pens are expected by many to go through the East. Nobody boasts as much talent. Crosby will return eventually. For now, their star studded lineup should be hard to contain.

For Tsafaras, the fun starts later. The Leafs are first up at 7 PM with the Pens taking the ice at 7:30 PM. She works. So, she’ll catch the replay. It’s the most exciting time to be a hockey fan. We interviewed the knowledgeable pucker about having both her teams in.