Battle Of Hudson

Who says History can’t be made? It would be easy to give the Flyers all the kudos for a remarkable comeback that kinda makes up for 2004. But hey. Who are we kidding? So, without further due:

Congratulations Boston Bruins on making the wrong kind of headlines. Claude Julien. You and your Jacques Lemaire-esque system are indeed HISTORY.

Why do dinosaurs like CJ, JL and Ken Hitchcock still exist? I’ve echoed it many times. But in today’s New NHL, no lead is ever safe. The playoffs are a different animal. Credit Philly for never giving up thanks to a good coach in Peter Laviolette who plays more aggressively. The best thing that ever happened to them was firing John Stevens. Then of course Simon Gagne playing the hero, with a Game 4 sudden death winner in his first game back from a broken bone in his right foot. Then scoring three more times, including the dramatic power play series clincher- cashing in on a Boston bench minor for too many men. You GOTTA BE KIDDING.

No Jeff Carter. No Ian Laperriere. Brian Boucher goes down. Michael Leighton returns and gives up the first three after permitting only one goal on his first 45. No problem. Laviolette calls a timeout and the Flyers regroup thanks to 21 year-old Jersey native James Van Riemsdyk, who scored the biggest goal before the end of the first that gave them life. Incredible poise shown by the rookie who hadn’t done much. He saved his team. Then Scott Hartnell, Daniel Briere and Gagne did the rest. Four goals in four games for Simon, who’s never played better. And Briere scoring money goals finally earning that paycheck with Carter out and Claude Giroux disappearing. An awful lot of H-E-A-R-T was shown by the guys in white, orange and black. They never gave up. If only a couple of other teams here had remembered that.

Outstanding work Philadelphia. And of course ditto for their eighth seeded opponent the Canadiens, who’ve slayed the Caps and Pens in seven. Btw…the Flyers’ miraculous victory from three down and three back improved road teams to a perfect 4-0 in Game 7’s this postseason. Remarkable. Hasan’s said it plenty. Home ice just ain’t the same. If you get a chance to put a team away, you better stomp on them. Boston just couldn’t and were never the same after David Krejci’s injury. Zero excuses. The Flyers were banged up and still got it done, making history.

1942 Toronto Maple Leafs
1975 New York Islanders
2010 Philadelphia Flyers

History Made.

A seven versus eight for the chance to play for Lord Stanley in what was believed to be a four-horse race. Somebody forgot to tell the Flyers and Canadiens, who just slipped into the playoffs the final weekend. Postseason is all about determination. Who wants it? Somewhere, the frontrunners lost their focus. This has been an extraordinary Spring. Now, we get a Conference Final nobody had unless you lived in Philly and Montreal. One will advance to meet the winner of a more traditional 1/2 between San Jose and Chicago. Great theatre.

Finally, we feel for Bruin fans. Kudos to them for continuing to support their team even when Gagne scored the fourth unanswered. They did their part, trying to rally their team. Unfortunately, the fans at TD Garden suffered the same cruel fate those at the old Stadium did six years ago to a Boston team. Irony. The fans have to be incredibly disappointed. Hey. At least ya still got the Celtics!

It’s been three whole weeks since the Devils’ season ended ignominously on home ice and for me personally when my team’s season ends, I’m not as big into watching other teams play as Derek or others are. Granted, I’ll probably watch more of the NHL playoffs than any other sport but that generally entails a few minutes here, a score peep there and read a little of the recap next morning. Especially when it comes to the West playoffs, that requires some level of commitment to stay up late to watch games.

Tis the season for bandwagon jumping though, and in each conference there’s a compelling team for me. In the West, it’s the Blackhawks who are a fun team to watch led by offensive studs such as Patrick Kane, Johnathan Toews and Marian Hossa, defensive ace Duncan Keith and utility player extraordinaire Dustin Byfuglien – who’s become my favorite non-star in this league. For those of you who haven’t heard of Byfuglien, he can be a big defenseman with a rocket from the point by day or a bruising forward who can get under your skin by night. Just ask Roberto Luongo and the Canucks after Big Buff’s Game 3 hat trick and edgy play gave Chicago a series lead they wouldn’t relinquish. I dare you to find me another player in this league that can play 20+ minutes at either forward or defense and do both at a high level. During his day, Sergei Fedorov used to play a little on defense for the Red Wings and Capitals but clearly was a forward first.

As a team, the Blackhawks have ridden a high-wire, coming from behind in Game 5 with a shorthanded empty-net goal against Nashville, killing a five-minute power play at the end of regulation and the start of overtime then having Hossa come out of the box and score the winning goal which turned the series. Against Vancouver, the Hawks got wasted in Game 1 and trailed 2-0 in Game 2 before rallying, and then beating the Nucks badly in Vancouver three straight times. Now, they face the West’s top team during the regular season, the San Jose Sharks – who finally have achieved playoff success commensurate with its regular season standing after beating the two-time defending West champion Red Wings in five games, all of its victories coming by one goal.

In the East, the story – even beyond Boston blowing a 3-0 lead to the Flyers and playing for their lives tomorrow night in Beantown – has to be Les Habitantes. Montreal’s wild spring started rather inauspiciously as they were in a life-and-death struggle to get one lousy point in the final week of the season just to clinch a playoff berth. After upsetting the President’s Trophy winning Capitals in an overtime finish to Game 1, the Habs were up 4-1 in Game 2 before the roof fell in as the Caps came back to force overtime, winning 6-5 and then smoking the Habs in the next two games in Montreal. Down 3-1 and with goalie Jaroslav Halak having been benched in Game 4, the Habs looked well on their way to fulfilling my Caps in 5 prediction.

Then, as the NHL’s playoff ads would say – History was made! Montreal became the first eight seed ever to come from 3-1 down to beat a number one seed, as Jacques Martin‘s decision to restore Halak to goal in Game 5 proved to be key. Halak made an incredible 131 saves of 134 shots in the final three games (all regulation finishes), as the Habs held the mighty Caps’ offense to a single goal in each of its last three games. How could they possibly follow that up for an encore? By beating Sidney Crosby and the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins in seven games, coming from behind three times in the series to win again in Game 7 on the road.

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of the Habs’ run have been the shot totals. During its eight playoff wins, Montreal has been outshot 331-194, for an average of 41-24 per game. Other than Game 1 against the Caps where Montreal was ‘only’ outshot by nine, the Habs have been outshot by double digits in their other seven wins and of those 331 shots, Halak’s given up only 13 goals. You can stack any goalie run with an underdog team up against Halak you want – Jean-Sebastian Giguere and his Conn Smythe in 2003, Miikka Kiprusoff in 2004, Dwayne Roloson in 2006 – but through two series, you’d be hard-pressed to see a goalie who’s had this kind of impact on the playoffs.

As much as Halak has dominated it’s nice to see that ex-Devils Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez have also had very good playoffs for Montreal. Gionta’s success this year – both during the regular season and now in the postseason – when contrasted with his final couple years in New Jersey just proves he needed a change of scenery (and a coach who will actually let him play in front of the net, where he’s supposed to be). And now that Gomez has been exiled from Manhattan, I can root for him again…then again I was one of the few who actually gave him the benefit of the doubt when he was on the Devils in the first place.

While both the ex-Devs have done well, Michael Cammalleri‘s been the Habs’ most important goalscorer with twelve goals, just now showing his electric form again after a winter ankle injury made him a non-factor from mid-January on. And Montreal’s embattled defense has actually held up rather well at times considering the fact that Andrei Markov went on the shelf for the season early in the Penguin series and big Hal Gill also got hurt late in that same series, though he would come back in Game 7 to get the last laugh against his former team.

As far as the Boston-Philly series goes, let me just say this on a personal note…Devils GM Lou Lamoriello has taken a lot of heat – including from me – for the fact that he fired current Bruins coach Claude Julien a mere three games before the playoffs in 2007. I felt Julien at least deserved a chance to coach in the playoffs for us, and Lamoriello’s explanation of how the team wasn’t ‘mentally prepared’ to go into the playoffs that year rang hollow during 2009-10 when Lou opted not to fire Jacques Lemaire during an even worse malaise than the ’06-07 Devils ever went through. And nothing that happens tomorrow will change the fact that Julien got the rug pulled out from under him here.

That said, if Boston chokes away this series Julien will have proved once and for all that he’s just not a championship coach. As a Devils fan I can’t really sniff at winning in the first round two straight years, but facts are facts – Boston had the best team in the East last season and went down in Game 7 at home to Carolina in the second round and now might suffer an even worse ignominy this year. It’s not that Boston lacks talent – although losing David Krejci hurts, let’s be real – the Flyers are playing without Jeff Carter and Ian Laperriere, missed Simon Gagne for the first three games with an apparent season-ending injury before (in something only hockey players do) he made a heroic return in Game 4.

Not to mention first-round hero Brian Boucher went down early in Game 5, forcing the Flyers to go back to Michael Leighton who did well for them in goal earlier in the season but hadn’t played at all in the prior several weeks as he was recuperating from an injury and then watching from the sideline as Boucher became the hot hand. Despite all of that, the Flyers squeaked out an OT win in Game 4 to stay alive, dominated in Game 5 on the road then won another tight one in Game 6 to force tomorrow’s decider. If I didn’t hate them because of punks like Daniel Carcillo and Scott Hartnell (not to mention smart but whiny coach Peter Laviolette), I’d admire their pluck. Especially Laperriere, who showed more effort blocking a shot late in Game 5 against New Jersey than most of the Devils’ team did in the first round.

Speaking of which, I wasn’t exactly shocked over anything in Rich Chere‘s article this week about how captain Jamie Langenbrunner had to do some (cough) soul-searching this offseason. Was it lame that former coach Lemaire resorted to telling players during the morning that they were in the lineup, then texting them later on to tell them they were scratched? Of course. I’ve never been opposed to a coach playing mind games with his players, but you could at least do it face-to-face.

Also in that piece – recently in the Star-Ledger, Lemaire reportedly tried to give Langenbrunner’s C to Colin White the game in Carolina which the captain was contreversially scratched and White declined to wear it, which was ironic cause the two had a couple of reported dust-ups in the past. That’s what I call convenient leaking of a story, not to mention Langenbrunner already pitched a tent when Brendan Shanahan wore the C for a preseason game!

Sure I wasn’t thrilled with what Lemaire did during the season, especially strategy-wise with the neverending shifting of lines (and not sticking with ones that did work), changing the defensive pairings on the eve of the playoffs but I don’t want to go through all that again. With Lemaire gone it’s pretty much piling on at this point. What is even more obvious now than it was after Game 5 is the article showed that this offseason is easily Lamoriello’s most critical one since 2002, when Lamoriello realized he needed to make changes after a dissapointing first-round loss to Carolina which led to two coaches being fired – Larry Robinson during the season and Kevin Constantine after it – and former A-liner Jason Arnott being traded, along with long-time vet Randy McKay.

During that offseason, Lou traded fellow A-liner Petr Sykora, watched Bobby Holik go across the river in free agency and hired Pat Burns, with the end result being the 2003 Stanley Cup. Now changes are needed more than ever, with a team that was obviously in turmoil from January to the end of the season, culminating in an utter team-wide lack of emotion and effort during the playoffs. First, Lamoriello needs to decide who is going to stay and who goes. Hired gun forward Ilya Kovalchuk and top defenseman Paul Martin will be the key decisions come July 1, but even more than that Lamoriello needs to identify the troublemakers here and weed them out, whoever they may be and however hard it will be due to the cap, NTC’s, whatever.

Of course, Lamoriello also needs to hire a coach at some point…normally I’d say before July 1 but honestly we might not know what kind of team we have until a bit after that when the dust settles over moves I expect to be made. That coach needs both to have a philosophy in line with 21st century post-lockout hockey and be given enough autonomy so that the players respect whomever gets hired. This group of players complained about Julien, mutinied on Lemaire and gave Robinson in his second tour stress anxiety. And why shouldn’t the inmates feel like they run the asylum when coaches come and go every year but some of them stay around? That needs to change, right now this offseason Lou needs to draw a line in the sand.

If he doesn’t, well let’s just say I hope it doesn’t get the point where I’m comparing Lou to Al Davis. A former great who is just a name now and a net minus for the team because he refuses to adjust to a changing game.

Sometimes, things live up to their billing. Such was the case tonight with two stunners taking place. First, the Canadiens backstopped by Jaroslav Halak (37 saves) eliminated the defending champion Penguins 5-2 in Game Seven- advancing to the franchise’s first Conference Final since they last won the Cup in 1993. Another improbable run led by Patrick Roy. The eighth seeded Habs have now ousted both the President’s Trophy winning Caps and Pens in deciding games on the road. While they didn’t have to win three straight, this time they had to contend with a more experienced/better overall team. To accomplish what they have is remarkable. Kudos to Mike Cammalleri, who added to his postseason-leading goal total with No.12. Brian Gionta was equally great, tallying twice including just 32 seconds in to set the tone. Camms and Gio combined for 12 of the Habs’ markers in the series.

More stunning was how well Hal Gill on one leg played after missing Game Six. The heart he demonstrated going back out there to lead his new team past the one he won with is something to behold. That’s what it takes. It was nice to see the big guy prove us wrong. How about Scott Gomez netting two assists and playing to capability. Guess Bob Gainey wasn’t so crazy reuniting Gomer and Gio after all. We’ll take our crow barbecued to a crisp. There’s only so much one can say about Halak, who made a huge stop on Sidney Crosby early in the third to thwart the Pens rally. The man was simply sensational, putting together some of the best goaltending since Giguere and Roy. Who says he can’t keep it up?

They still don’t know who they’ll face. That’s because the Flyers simply refuse to go home quietly. They have now rallied from an 0-3 hole to tie the series against Boston. Michael Leighton was terrific in his first playoff start holding the struggling B’s to one late Milan Lucic tally with a minute left before the Flyers held on to win their third in a row. Simon Gagne and Daniel Briere came through for the home team, who now see the same light the Red Sox saw against the Yankees. Just the dejected looks on Boston’s side as they exited told the story. Can Claude Julien and his leadership of Chara, Savard and Recchi possibly restore order for Friday? Or are the Flyers 35 years after the Islanders did it to the Pens destined to make history. It looks like it’s going to be tough and not so much for the orange and black.

Finally, it’s amazing to think that in a seven-game series, Crosby and Malkin combined for only two goals. It’s a credit to how determined Jacques Martin’s scrappy bunch were taking away passing and shooting lanes while limiting time and space. But we also saw both superstars pressing in a flat first that saw neither register a shot while both made uncharacteristic errors we’re not accustomed to seeing. Sid was in the box for Gionta’s early PPG for a mistimed rough. Malkin had several mystifying giveaways on power plays, passing up great opportunities to shoot. Though they combined for 11 shots the final 40, neither really distinguished themselves.

Stunning stuff in Pittsburgh on what became Mellon Arena’s final night. Kudos to the fans who stayed and gave their team a nice salute as did the disappointed former champs. Thumbs down to the ones who left early. Especially on The Igloo’s final day. A Cup winner that reached two straight Finals and delivered so many bright stars and some left. Unbelievable.

A great night for hockey regardless. Eye opening to say the least.

If you’re a hockey fan, then you’re in luck. Tonight promises to be quite interesting. Great theatre is anticipated with the No.8 seeded Canadiens looking to repeat what they did to Ovechkin. This time, they’re pitted against the Crosby/Malkin Pens. A larger task for sure.

Taking down the defending champs at what just could be the final game at old Mellon Arena would be astronomical. Les Habitants will need virtuoso performances from all actors led by Jaroslav Halak, series star Mike Cammalleri and Hal Gill. They’ll need help from familiar ex-Devil duo Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta. Both have played well. Each has big game experience. Can they put it together in Game Seven? Tomas Plekanec has mostly been absent. If the soon to be FA wants to increase his value, this would be a great start. He was real effective in the Round One upset. Other key components of this improbable Hab run have been antagonist Max Lapierre, ex-Ranger Dominic Moore, former pick Tom Pyatt and Andrei Kostitsyn. Emergency call-up P.K. Subban has been stellar and Josh Gorges instrumental in teaming with Gill to blanker Sidney Crosby. Minus top defender Andrei Markov, do they have one more peak performance in them? Hopefully, it won’t be as anticlimatic as last year’s Conference Semi Caps dismantling.

While the Habs will still be heavy underdogs against Crosby, Geno, Marc-Andre Fleury, Jordan Staal, Gonchar and Kris Letang, the Flyers are trying to do something that hasn’t been done since 1975. Only twice in NHL history have teams rallied from 0-3 down to win series. The 1942 Leafs and most recently, the Islanders did it some 35 years ago, 33 years after Toronto. Is the timing right for the banged up Flyers to stun the Bruins? Simon Gagne has been remarkable coming back from a broken bone in his right foot scoring the sudden death winner to keep his team alive in Game Four and two more goals in a 4-0 Game Five rout.

All of Philadelphia will be behind their Flyers when the puck drops an hour from now at Wachovia. To even sniff the final part of something the Red Sox did to the Yankees in ’04, Peter Laviolette’s bunch must get off quickly against what should be a more focused and desperate Boston club that wants nothing to do with Game Seven. Even if it’s in their own building, the pressure would be gigantic. The Avs tried this a few years ago against the Sharks winning two straight before falling in Game Six. The sixth game AKA third part is usually the biggest hurdle. If Philly can get through it, only then does it become possible. They’ll need Michael Leighton to start where he left off in relief of injured Brian Boucher the other night. Remember, it was Leighton who was so brilliant before Boucher got them in. Now, he has a chance to help his team make history. The Flyers are still without Jeff Carter and Ian Laperriere. That doesn’t matter. They’ve shown heart all Spring.

It sets up to be quite the watch. Sit back, relax and crack open a Molson.

Well, it looks like it’s another wasted year for the Canucks. They couldn’t follow up a fantastic season with a deep playoff run as both Hasan and myself foresaw. Ironically, each of us (Devils/Rangers) took them to the Cup Final with Has having them fall to the Ovechkin Caps while I had the ‘Nucks winning it all over the Sabres. That collective thud you just heard was our predictions going right into the dumpster.

Hey. Who had the Habs over the Caps and pushing the Crosby Pens to Game Seven tonight? Did anyone take the Bruins deep and figured things were okay until the banged up Flyers woke up? Can they really comeback from 0-3 down?!?!?!?!?! You better believe the B’s want no part of a deciding game even if it’s in their building.

Yes indeed, these playoffs have been wackier than usual. At least the Sharks as Has accurately predicted are in their second Western Conference Final- not first Versus! Can they ever get their facts straight instead of making their talent look like morons? Almost as bad as having two games going at the same exact time in the East. Thanks for nothing NBC. Take your beloved golf and shove it. Especially Tiger. Thankfully, we won’t have a repeat of Monday with the win or go home Montreal/Pittsburgh tilt going off at 7 while Boston/Philadelphia starts an hour later. Before I get to the original subject, let me just point out that the Bruins and Flyers are playing Game Six after the Canadiens and Penguins face off for their series conclusion. How does that work exactly? Okay. Enough about the Bettman-ization of the NBA errrr NHL.

Now to the latest Vancouver mess again proving what a fraud Roberto Luongo is. Like many including Puck Daddy Greg Wyshynski, who also had these Canucks all the way, I thought this batch were better. It all seemed lined up. A dominant top line that featured probable MVP Henrik Sedin, twin brother Daniel Sedin and fired up fellow Swede Mikael Samuelsson. Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows, Mason Raymond, Pavol Demitra, Steve Bernier and Kyle Wellwood along with a balanced blueline that included Sami Salo (insert balls joke), Kevin Bieksa, Christian Ehrhoff, Alex Edler and Shane O’Brien should’ve been enough to take them further. Even without top defender Willie Mitchell, this is a bitter pill to swallow for Alain Vigneault’s crew which finished off a hat trick falling 5-1, dropping all three home games to the grittier Blackhawks in the series.

Make it two consecutive Springs Chicago has ended their season. Both in six. Last year as a lower seed highlighted by Patrick Kane’s hat trick. This time, as a No.2 to Vancouver’s No.3 coming back from a blowout home Game One loss to take four of the next five. Unthinkable. Not taking anything away from Joel Queeneville’s talented bunch that prominently features Conn Smythe candidate Jonathan Toews (6-14-20), Kane, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp, series tormentor Dustin Byfuglien, Kris Versteeg, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Brian Campbell and Antti Niemi. The Hawks are formidable and worthy of a second straight Final Four appearance where they’ll battle the Sharks for the Campbell Trophy.

While it will be refreshing to see new blood vying for Lord Stanley, it doesn’t take the Canucks off the hook. They lost to a more disciplined team who turned the series around thanks to Byfuglien. It was his first career playoff hat trick in a Game Three 5-2 win which shifted the momentum. The big 6-4, 257 pound American was moved up by Queeneville to the top line flanking Toews and Kane. Entering that pivotal game, he previously had no points in Chicago’s first eight postseason games. From that point, Big Buff recorded four goals and two assists while racking up 10 penalty minutes. Even with it, he used his big frame to make life difficult on Luongo, doing whatever it took to get to the Vancouver netminder. Textbook screening, strong skating, grit that drove the Canucks crazy and finishing. It was in Game Four that the ‘Nucks anger boiled over losing their heads by going after Byfuglien. The result was three power play goals allowed and an ugly 7-4 loss putting them on the brink. Though they responded with a 5-2 win in enemy territory, the Canucks couldn’t follow it up with a first win in British Columbia. Instead, the 5-1 disgrace further teased their fans who roundly booed. In three home games, they were outscored 17-7. Just brutal.

So, what went wrong? Aside from Niemi outplaying Luongo, the Hawks got strong performances from Toews, Kane and Hossa who despite three points, was very effective on the forecheck. With Toews torching Vancouver for 12 points (4-8-12) including a five-point explosion that included a hat trick, it was one of the Olympic standouts who outshined The Sedins. They didn’t get much help with Samuelsson and Daniel only netting one goal apiece, Kesler none and little from first round heroes Bernier and Demitra. Meanwhile, Chicago saw Byfuglien and Versteeg come to life while Dave Bolland also picked it up. Lineup addition Troy Brouwer notched his first goal starting it off yesterday followed by Versteeg 36 seconds later in the second. Louie had little chance on either but Bolland’s shorthander with 45 seconds left was a back breaker. He was pressured from behind but still snuck the puck thru Roberto’s wickets. One he definitely should’ve had. At that big moment, you expect a goalie of his caliber to make a momentum turning save. Instead, it flattened their chances.

Sure. O’Brien scored 3:44 into the third giving the league’s best come from behind team life. However, despite tons of pressure, they couldn’t get another past Niemi, who got help from his D. Before you knew it, there was Kane breaking in and beating Luongo with a change up, letting the air out of the balloon. Only 25 ticks later, Byfuglien broke in on the pedestrian goalie and easily whistled one upstairs for 5-1. On it, it seemed that Luongo gave up, totally off his angle. If he really did and only he knows, it was a sad display. He may have won Olympic gold in relief of Martin Brodeur on a stacked Canada but he was never the same afterwards. The five rebound goals he permitted in Game Three summed it up. For a goalie who always receives high accolades as one of the game’s elite, Luongo has advanced past the first round three times. Three series victories before falling apart. Not the kind of playoff resume one would expect. Of course, it wasn’t all his fault. His teammates didn’t perform well. Perhaps this quote tells you everything.

“I don’t think they’re a better team than us, but maybe a smarter team.”

In the playoffs, you can’t just rely on talent. There’s also work ethic and discipline plus consistency. Without those three, you morph into the Devils. The one team who didn’t come to play. Though we’re learning more about why they didn’t bother. How is it that Jacques Lemaire resorted to text messages to inform players he earlier told were playing that he changed his mind? Is this the issue in Vancity? Hardly. Do they got the right mix? We believed they did. Was Mitchell missed that much? He sure wouldn’t have allowed Byfuglien to run rampant. Right now, the Canucks are as much a mystery as the post-lockout Devs. Difference is one franchise has three Cups. When does it finally change for Vancouver? Will they ever make it back? 1994 is a long time ago. Try telling Dolan.

Until they get H-E-A-R-T, it looks like the Vancouver Canucks have officially replaced San Jose as playoff Tinmen. They sure had us fooled.

While things are pretty quiet around these parts, the second round is rolling along. Already, a pair of teams are ahead 3-zip, poised to make Conference Final appearances. The other two series are 2-1 and hanging in the balance. What are our thoughts? Here’s some Conference Semi banter:

-The Sharks have to be the lead story. Especially the way they’ve played against the Cup proven Red Wings. Everyone’s bought into Todd McLellan, who’s well on his way to atoning for last year’s first round disappointment. Ever since Dan Boyle’s Game 3 blooper last round, all the guys in teal have done is rise up, winning the final three of the Av series and the first three in shocking fashion over Detroit by identical 4-3 margins. From Conn Smythe candidate Joe Pavelski’s clutch finishing ability to linemates Ryane Clowe and Devin Setoguchi’s gumption, the much overlooked trio have relieved pressure from Jumbo Joe, Dany Heatley and Game Four hero Patrick Marleau– allowing them to play their game. It’s always been easy to bash Joe Thornton but boy has he come to play in this series, tallying in two straight including the second goal early in the third that started another San Jose comeback. Following Logan Couture’s clunker on Jimmy Howard, Thornton took full advantage of a wide Jason Williams shot catching the Sharks red handed, making a sweet dish to Marleau for a tap-in that stunned The Joe.

-Every Shark’s contributing, including last summer’s key additions Scott Nichol and Manny Malhotra. Both are spark plugs who provide energy. Their hunger is noticeable with each winning their fair share of board battles. Malhotra has also dominated in the faceoff circle, becoming one of the most reliable in that key department. Whether it’s hitting, penalty killing or checking, they get the job done. Meanwhile, Evgeni Nabokov is silencing doubters with timely stops. Don’t forget he’s 3-1 in sudden death. Nice to see the much maligned Russian turning it around. The blueline led by Boyle and captain Rob Blake is getting it done. Both are logging big minutes along with Doug Murray and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Rookie Jason Demers has also contributed offensively, turning a perceived team weakness into a strength. It all adds up to a 7-2 record, aiming for a sweep tonight.

-For the Wings, perhaps all the wear and tear has finally shown. They played all out down the stretch to get in all the way up to No.5 before being taken seven by the feisty Coyotes. By not finishing them off in six, it forced Mike Babcock’s club to play an extra game. As Hasan noted in last year’s preview, he felt all the games the past two years would catch up. Throw in how hard they’ve played and it might explain how they’ve blown two-goal leads in each of the last two losses, turning a possible 2-1 series lead into an 0-3 deep hole. Pavel Datsyuk has been held in check and all the starts are finally getting to Howard. Forget the conspiracy theories stemming from the Game Two penalty fest. Bottom line: The Wings have been outgunned by a fresher/hungrier foe. Right now, the Sharks look like a well oiled machine. Is this the year?

-Following a dominant 4-1 Game Three win turning Wachovia restless, the Bruins are in the same enviable position, looking to sweep the Flyers. At one time, these two old rivals were the best the Wales Conference had to offer with both taking turns as runner-up to the Oilers. Now, it looks like Boston finally will get back to the Conference Finals since those fun days when Oates, Neely and Bourque ruled Beantown. Amazingly, for a team that struggled just to get into the playoffs, they’ve turned it on. Getting healthy has helped but so have amazing performances from team scoring leader Miro Satan (5-5-10), resurgent defenseman Dennis Wideman and Johnny Boychuk. Since dropping Game One to Buffalo and falling behind 2-0, the B’s have responded well showing their playoff mettle. Perhaps we overlooked last Spring. Claude Julien’s bunch are demonstrating that they’re never out of a game. Especially with Tuukka Rask standing on his head. But while the remarkable first-year Finn’s done his part, enough can’t be said about the Bruins’ leadership with captain Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and wily vet Mark Recchi stepping up. David Krejci has been instrumental but was injured on a clean Mike Richards hit last night. They can certainly use the gifted playmaker for next round.

-The Bruins have also gotten excellent performances from Milan Lucic, Matt Hunwick and Andrew Ference. Lucic is healthy and doing damage while Hunwick’s notched five helpers and Ference has played solid D. Even former Sabre Daniel Paille’s played an important checking role, leading the league’s top PK who once again stifled the opposition. Boston’s special teams are only part of the story as they play airtight defense, forcing turnovers. Similar to the ’95 Devils. It may not always be pretty but Julien’s system is effective. Especially when you got a stud defenseman and future star in net. If they are to keep it up, they’ll need more out of Marc Savard, Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler.

-For the Flyers, like Detroit, they look beat up. But when you lose your top scorer, a top six forward and a top penalty killer, it’s nearly impossible to compete. Mike Richards and Daniel Briere have been most of their offense. Neither factored in yesterday. The well has run dry. Aside from that, Boston’s had an excellent plan using their forecheck and tight checking to frustrate Philly. In Round One, the Flyers relied heavily on special teams to oust the Devils. It’s been the complete opposite. The Flyers have also been unable to get to Rask. He made some critical stops in the second and then his teammates did the rest with Recchi netting the insurance marker via the power play and unsung hero Bergeron salting it away into a vacant net. With the B’s clicking on all cylinders, it’s hard to see Philadelphia extending their season.

-Give the Habs full marks for making it a series against the talented Pens. They can thank Jaroslav Halak, who continues his brilliant play, proving our Leaf friend Kayla right. She said Halak was better than Carey Price last year. He certainly hasn’t disappointed, following up the stunner against the Caps by stifling the Pens in Game Two and nearly doing the same the other night in Montreal. Only Evgeni Malkin’s power play goal early in the third solved him. It turned out to be enough thanks to some big stops from Marc-Andre Fleury, whose 18 save shutout in his home setting held up. While MAF was very good, he never faced any second chances partially in part to a sturdy D which did an effective job boxing out and keeping the Habs outside. It reminded us of some of Martin Brodeur’s shutouts when Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Ken Daneyko and Brian Rafalski manned the Devil blueline. Even without Jordan Staal, the Pens did what they had to getting strong performances out of Matt Cooke, Max Talbot and Tyler Kennedy. While Sidney Crosby and Malkin get all the accolades, it’s gritty forwards like the trio along with Craig Adams, Brooks Orpik and Jay McKee who make the Pens a complete team. They’re not just flash and dash. Don’t forget. The checking line led by Staal was a huge component to last year’s Cup. They don’t win minus him.

-In order for the Canadiens to level the series giving themselves a realistic chance because the Pens aren’t the Caps, they’ll need to get to Fleury early later today. Mike Cammalleri (8 goals) is the focal point. He’ll need help from Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn, Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta. Can an unsung hero like Dominic Moore or P.K. Subban step up? Jacques Martin along with the rest of a rabid Bell Centre sure hope so. It’s amazing to think that they’re doing this without Andrei Markov or Jaroslav Spacek. A credit to Martin. They’ll need dominant defensive efforts from Hal Gill, Josh Gorges and Roman Hamrlik.

-I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Why does Crosby embellish so much? For as gifted as he is, he shouldn’t need to. Good for Gomez standing up to him after another abuse of his stick following a whistle at the end of the second in Game Three. When oh when will the game’s Golden Boy be made accountable?

-Still not sure what to make of the Hawks-Nucks. It looked like Vancouver off a dominant Game One was poised to take a commanding 2-0 lead back home. Instead, Chicago showed a lot of heart fighting back from two down to pull out a gritty 4-2 Game Two win with Kris Versteeg netting the winner with over a minute left thanks to a great play by Duncan Keith. Patrick Kane added an empty netter. As he’s done all Spring, Antti Niemi bounced back from a rough outing. The surprising aspect is he was sharper than Roberto Luongo in yesterday’s 5-2 Game Three triumph, stealing the home ice back. Chicago jumped in front 2-0 and never trailed. Louie struggled with rebounds including the first of Dustin Byfuglien’s first career postseason hat trick. Even if the third tally shouldn’t have counted. Good old Toronto for you. Chicago’s strategy was simple yet effective. Get shots to the net with traffic and bang home the rebounds of which there were plenty against a shaky Luongo. All five came the same way with the big Byfuglien doing significant damage. Kudos to Joel Queeneville for moving him up to the top line with Jonathan Toews and Kane. Even Marian Hossa got into the act, notching his second off a Patrick Sharp rebound.

-Niemi made the big saves, robbing Ryan Kesler of a shorthanded bid that could’ve made it 3-0 in Game Two. Instead, his huge glove stop allowed the Blackhawks to recover. Again last night, Niemi stoned Vancouver, thwarting Daniel Sedin and Steve Bernier on the doorstep. Obviously, that cannot happen for the Canucks in what amounts to a must win Game Four. Yeah. They can lose and fall behind 3-1 with the fifth game back in the Windy City. We just don’t advise it. Luongo needs to come through as does Daniel and Henrik Sedin with help from Kesler, Mikael Samuelsson, Mason Raymond and Alex Burrows. This is their best chance to finally deliver the franchise’s first Cup. Are they about to fold up again? We’ll see.

-There’s really nothing to say about Versus’ technical issues during last night’s first between the Bruins and Flyers. At least they had the common sense to pick up the CBC feed until it was fixed.

-Nothing against Joe Beninanti but I really miss Sam Rosen.

-That OT between the Flyers and Bruins last Sunday was epic. Classic playoff hockey. Unfortunately, it looked to be the last straw from Philly. NBC can have their Derby. We’ll take the puck.

-Ex-Rangers certainly are having fun. Malhotra. Samuelsson. Gomez. Savard. Moore. Pascal Dupuis. Tom Pyatt. Jed Ortmeyer. Blair Betts. Ian Laperriere. Dwight Helminen. Paul Mara.

Throughout the postseason, the NHL has been running cool History Will Be Made promos. What if there was no Greatness, What if Yzerman didn’t inspire Hockeytown and What if Mario weren’t so Super are some of the best. Yesterday, Marc Savard added his name to this year’s list by scoring the overtime winner lifting the Bruins over the Flyers 5-4 in an exciting Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on NBC.

It was Savard’s first game back in two months since Matt Cooke’s cheap hit which went unpunished. The Bruins’ offensive leader made it a triumphant return when his quick high snapper beat Brian Boucher at 13:52 of sudden death- rescuing his team after they’d blown a 4-2 third period lead. The scene at TD Garden was classic, summing up what makes our sport so special. The chance for an athlete to comeback from serious injury or in Savard’s case, a concussion. The coolest part was Savvy’s celebration skating across the ice and then tossing his stick over the glass before it was returned. Terrific stuff!

If you didn’t feel good for Marc Savard, then you’re not a fan. So, what would the line be on Savard playing the hero in his return? What If there weren’t heroic returns? History Will Be Made!

Well, after a wild/unpredictable opening round, eight teams are left vying for the prize. The Conference Semis start up tonight with the Red Wings visiting the Sharks with faceoff an hour from now.

Can San Jose finally overcome a huge obstacle or will it be the same old story? They’ll need much better production from Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau, who were too silent in the six-game win over the Avs. Joe Pavelski certainly did his part as did Dan Boyle, who atoned for his giant Game 3 gaffe. Evgeni Nabokov was also steady. But if these Sharks are to do damage, their top line must step up.

You know Detroit’s best Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom and Johan Franzen will. The Red Wings look to have a significant edge on the blueline boasting Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski and Niklas Kronwall. The Sharks’ best is Boyle and vet Rob Blake. They’ll need Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Doug Murray to be factors. Grinders Ryane Clowe, Manny Malhotra and Scott Nichol help. Devin Setoguchi had a strong first round scoring the Game Four overtime winner that swung the series. It’ll take a team effort against the Cup proven Wings, who boast Calder candidate Jimmy Howard in net. J-How held up well in the seven-game win over Phoenix. The goalie match-up is huge. Is this the year Nabokov conquers the demons? It all begins tonight.

The other three semi match-ups get going this weekend. Chicago and Vancouver don’t play till Saturday night on Hockey Night In Canada while NBC opted for Flyers-Bruins, meaning the Canadiens and Penguins kickoff tomorrow on CBC. Not much rest for the weary. It’ll be interesting to see what Jaroslav Halak and Co. bring to the table at Mellon Arena. Stopping 131 of the final 134 shots making the Caps the first top seed to ever blow a 3-1 series lead in the first round was off the charts. Can it be duplicated against MVP nominee Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal? On paper, it seems like a mismatch but wasn’t the same thing echoed about the Caps? Still, the Pens are defending champs for a reason and play a different style. They’re more battle tested. What can Jacques Martin come up with to slow them down?

With it being one of the best opening rounds, the league had some noteworthy info. Here are the highlights courtesy the official media site:

BEST EVER? TAKING STOCK OF AN OUTSTANDING OPENING ROUND

OF THE 2010 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

NEW YORK (April 28, 2010) — The entertaining and unpredictable opening round of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs concluded tonight with the Montreal Canadiens defeating the Washington Capitals 2-1, adding the latest chapter in the storied franchise’s playoff history by becoming the first #8 seed to win a series from a 3-1 deficit.

For the past 15 days, NHL fans were treated to a roller-coaster ride of eight hotly-contested series in which no outcome was a given, no lead was safe and the margin between winning and losing was razor-thin.

Among the statistical highlights:

* Road teams won 27 games (27-22), the most ever in the first round. Three series tied the NHL playoff record for most road wins (five, Montreal vs. Washington; Pittsburgh vs. Ottawa and Detroit vs. Phoenix). The Boston Bruins were the only of the eight advancing clubs to clinch the series on home ice.

* There were comebacks galore: the winning team in 24 of the 49 games trailed at some point in the contest. Five teams won after trailing by two or more goals. A club trailing in the third period came back to win nine times.

* Teams combined to score an average of 5.90 goals per game, the highest for an opening round since 1996 and a 36% increase over 2004 (4.34), the last playoff year before the adoption of several rule changes designed to limit obstruction. The first-round scoring average also topped that of the 2009-10 regular season (5.53), marking the first time that’s happened since 1994-95.

* Twelve of the 49 games were decided in overtime, the most in opening-round play since 2001 (14). Seven of the eight series had at least one game extend to overtime.

* Scoring the game’s first goal wasn’t as much an advantage as advertised. The teams scoring first lost five of the six games in the Vancouver Canucks-Los Angeles Kings series (VAN 1-2, LA 0-3). The Buffalo Sabres opened the scoring five times against the Boston Bruins, but went 2-3 in those games.

* Adding to the upset-prone lore of the first round, each of the top three Eastern Conference seeds was eliminated: the #1 Washington Capitals (by #8 Montreal Canadiens), #2 New Jersey Devils (by #7 Philadelphia Flyers) and #3 Buffalo Sabres (by #6 Boston Bruins).

Reversal of Fortune

Beyond the statistics, each series provided a compelling narrative. Whether digging out from an early-series deficit or losing key personnel, every club that survived the first round faced adversity over the past two weeks. Their paths to winning the series were punctuated by dramatic, series-changing moments.

* Down 1-0 in the series, the Pittsburgh Penguins were tied 1-1 with Ottawa late in the third period of Game 2 until Penguins captain Sidney Crosby conjured up some playoff magic. His dive through the crease to swat away an Anton Volchenkov shot that had eluded goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury preserved the tie with 9:13 left in regulation. Later, he repeatedly eluded checkers behind the Senators’ net before setting up Kris Letang for the game-winning goal with 4:12 left in regulation.

* Down 1-0 in the series, the Boston Bruins surrendered the first two goals of Game 2 and began the third period trailing a Buffalo Sabres team that was 31-0-0 in 2009-10 when leading after two periods. The Bruins rallied for three goals and a 5-3 victory to even the series.

* The Philadelphia Flyers learned after Game 4 of their series against the New Jersey Devils that two of their top forwards, Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne, were headed for foot surgery and sidelined indefinitely. With captain Mike Richards and young star Claude Giroux leading the way, the makeshift Flyers headed up the New Jersey Turnpike and blanked the Devils 3-0 to clinch the series.

* After dropping a pair of games at home to land on the brink of elimination, the Montreal Canadiens returned to goaltender Jaroslav Halak to get back in the series. Halak backstopped the Canadiens to three consecutive victories — two at Verizon Center in Washington — as Montreal became the first #8 seed to win a playoff series after trailing 3-1. In a performance reminiscent of famous playoff exploits by Canadiens goaltenders like Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy, Halak stopped 131 of 134 shots in the three victories (.978)

* The San Jose Sharks were on the verge of trailing their series with the Colorado Avalanche 2-0 heading to Denver until center Joe Pavelski tallied the game-tying goal with 31.8 seconds remaining in regulation of what became a 6-5 overtime victory at the Shark Tank. “I’m sure a lot of people were going, ‘There we go again,'” Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov said. “I hope this will give us momentum. I think we showed the team’s spirit.” Pavelski didn’t stop there — he notched the overtime winner in Game 4 to square the series 2-2 and tallied the series-clinching goal in Game 6.

* The Chicago Blackhawks were just seconds away from dropping Game 5 of their series against the Nashville Predators to force a must-win Game 6 on the road, but center Patrick Kane scored a shorthanded goal with 13.6 seconds remaining to tie the score. Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa — who was serving the penalty when Kane scored — completed the Chicago comeback by scoring early in overtime. “Nothing tops it,” Kane said when asked if that was the biggest goal of his young career. “That’s why you play the game. From death to the door opening, it’s a really good feeling. NBC in Chicago, there’s no better place you want to be. That’s why hockey’s such a great game. You never know what can happen.”

* The Vancouver Canucks trailed their series against the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 and fell behind 1-0, 2-1 and then 3-2 entering the third period of Game 4. The Canucks rallied thanks to a brilliant Roberto Luongo save, three assists from Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin’s game-winning goal with 2:52 remaining in a 6-4 victory.

* The Detroit Red Wings trailed their series against Phoenix 1-0 and 2-1, and were beaten decisively by the Coyotes 5-2 in Game 6 with a chance to wrap up the series at home. Undaunted, the Red Wings came back two nights later in Phoenix with a flawless performance in capturing their first Game 7 on the road since 1964.

It certainly speaks for itself as to how good most of the games were. Now it’s onto Round Two. In the first round, I went 5-for-8 nailing the West while taking it on the chin in the East with the top 3 seeds sent packing, including my roll of the dice on Buffalo. At least my Cup pick remains alive. Let’s try our hand at what’s left:

EAST

(4) Pens over (8) Habs in 5

(6) Bruins over (7) Flyers in 6

Analysis: Can’t see the Canadiens having much left. Pitt has tremendous center edge and Fleury got better versus Sens, showing playoff form. Halak would have to repeat and every Canadien would have to play out of their head. More offense too would help. As for the B’s, they’re getting healthy with Savard returning. Things seem to be falling into place. Plus if I got a choice, Rask over Boucher, who figures to come down from an inspired first round revenge 10 years in the making. The bluelines are similar but can’t see Philly overcoming no Carter, Gagne or Laperriere, who was key penalty killer. Just seems like too much.

WEST

(5) Red Wings over (1) Sharks in 6

(3) Canucks over (2) Blackhawks in 6

Analysis: Both series could go either way. I’m merely sticking with my picks. It will be difficult for San Jose to beat Detroit unless that top trio performs. They cannot have another no show. What they must do is attack Wings, who just went seven and have been playing playoff hockey for a month. Maybe they can wear them down. The Wings know what it takes. They get dirty and boast immense skill. Unless Thornton, Heater and Marleau can match Datsyuk, Zett and Holmstrom/Franzen, it’ll be tough for the Sharks to win. You can make the argument Sharks have better depth in Pavelski, Setoguchi and Clowe but guys like Filppula, Helm and Cleary step up. Hard to see the latter getting shutout again. Canucks-Hawks for a second straight year. Last time, Patrick Kane ended their season. Vancouver is improved with best line in game plus Kesler, Raymond and Burrows, who figures to be more a factor. Can Toews/Kane/Hossa match The Sedins and Samuelsson? Patrick Sharp had good first round but Hawks need more from Versteeg and Troy Brouwer. Keep an eye on Pavol Demitra and Steve Bernier, who had good opening rounds. For Chicago, Tomas Kopecky and Dustin Byfuglien. The bluelines are about even but we like Vancouver’s balance that includes Ehrhoff, Salo, Edler and Bieksa over Keith/Seabrook, Campbell and Hjalmarsson. Goalie match-up pits Luongo vs Niemi. Can the Finn duplicate Rd.1 success against higher scoring team? The pressure’s all on Louie here.

Today’s comes courtesy of vet Habs’ defenseman Hal Gill, who assisted on Dominic Moore’s series clincher and blocked half a dozen of his team’s preposterous 41 shots in their upset of Alex Ovechkin’s Caps last night. Gill finished with 36 blocks doing an outstanding job along with committed teammates of disrupting the league’s No.1 offense. He had quite an interesting take on the series. One R.J. Umberger probably agrees with:

“I imagine it’s tough for them. They had their eyes set on bigger things, I’m sure. I think they thought we were kind of a bump in the road. That’s hockey, that’s playoffs. I think we played better as a team then they did.”

He’s right. In the postseason, regular season stats are meaningless. Playoff games are a different animal. Unless you’re willing to go all out with every teammate pushing in the same direction, you won’t succeed. It’s about T-E-A-M. The Canadiens outexecuted the Capitals, functioning as one unit. Something Billy Jaffe alluded to while calling out the dreadful Washington power play for improvising too much. Such overthinking isn’t a great recipe. Everyone needs to be on the same page. As was pointed out on NHL Network’s postgame, watch the way Detroit runs their man-advantage compared to the Caps’ organized chaos. It’s much more simplified with every player knowing their roles. They know when to pass, shoot and make it difficult on the goalie.

Time for a philosophy change in D.C.

Amazing stuff in Washington as the Canadiens led by Jaroslav Halak pull off the unthinkable- holding on for dear life in a hard fought 2-1 win in Game Seven stunning Verizon Center. Halak makes 41 saves including 18 in a wild third that saw two goals wiped out correctly. In the final three games, he stopped 131 of 134 shots, permitting a goal in each Hab win as they rallied from 3-1 down upsetting the heavily favored President’s Trophy winners.

It probably amounts to the greatest upset since the Sharks stunned Detroit in 1994. There’s only so much that can be said about Halak, who was the one reason I felt Montreal had a chance. Even if remote. I also liked the Habs countering speed and that proved crucial. But who ever would’ve predicted how well their D played, blocking shot after shot, flustering Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and invisible duo Alex Semin and Mike Green? Amazingly, Les Habitants blocked 41 shots. By comparison, the much more attacking Capitals had only 11. Well, they did outshoot their grittier opponent 42-16.

Somewhat fitting was that with Marc-Andre Bergeron’s first period four-on-three PPG holding up, the Habs got huge insurance when one-time Ranger Dominic Moore abused Green before beating Semyon Varlamov for the nail in the coffin with 3:36 left. Good thing because a diving Brooks Laich banged home a rebound slicing it to 2-1 with 2:26 left. Both Ovechkin and Semin assisted to make the final portion of this memorable series a classic finish.

A Ryan O’Byrne hi-stick gave the Caps their third power play. With 1:44 remaining, Bruce Boudreau pulled Varlamov for a six-on-four. It didn’t matter. Halak wasn’t going to allow another puck to beat him, getting just enough of a dangerous Ovechkin chance to push it wide. The Caps, whose power play was such a strength during the regular season, couldn’t get it together to save their fans from ultimate embarrassment. A Habs clear wide of the net along with hustle wound time down. A desperate Ovie tried to get the puck in for one last shot but failed, with the buzzer sounding as the Habs mobbed Halak jumping up and down. Remarkable scene.

Even more so, after sports best tradition in which Andrei Markov had some words of encouragement for an emotional Ovechin, the electrifying Russian superstar still saluted the crowd with his stick- showing a ton of class. That had to hurt. Bottom line. They ran into a hot goalie and a team that did the little things well enough to pull it off. There will be a lot of soul searching in D.C. For as much focus as there’s been on the Devils’ craziness on and off the ice, just imagine what’s in store for the Caps. A year in which they led the league with 121 points and 318 goals is down the drain.

Should Boudreau pay? Every series he’s ever coached has gone seven and now, the Caps have three times been eliminated on their own home ice. The first year against a more experienced Flyer club who went to the Conference Final before losing to the Crosby Pens. Last year after beating the Pens in Pitt forcing the second round series back home, they were embarrassed. Now, the indignity of being KO’d by an inferior team who just squeaked into the postseason, scoring 101 fewer goals.

How is it possible? In NHL playoffs, anything can happen. Especially if you face a hot goalie along with a team that believes they can get it done. Despite being severely outplayed after the Game Two collapse, Jacques Martin’s club still believed with even players saying how they played well in the first two and could win at Verizon. But they did it twice, stunning the Caps who became the first team in franchise history to blow a 3-1 series lead. This in a year where they went for it, thinking this was the team that could deliver the club’s first Stanley Cup. Now, they’ll have to play golf and rent Tin Cup.

Much credit goes to Martin who severely outcoached Boudreau, devising a great defensive game plan. Even if shots were lopsided, they made Ovechkin and the rest of the skilled Caps earn it. Also, the Canadiens never backed up in their end, instead aggressively getting in the lanes which was why so many shots never found their destination. To think he went to Carey Price in a Game Four loss before going back to Halak is probably the most amazing aspect of this upset. The way Halak responded was incredible, supplying the kind of heroic netminding necessary to shutdown the league’s best offense. Their power play was abysmal, connecting only once in 33 chances.

Green got victimized at even strength with awful reads and even worse defense, not fitting of a Norris candidate. It was his ill advised offensive zone penalty that led to Bergeron’s tally. And there was Green again out of position chasing instigator Max Lapierre for a meaningless hit while Moore snuck through and beat Varlamov for the crusher. He’s a great offensive D but has he not learned anything about the playoffs? John Carlson showed much more composure and Tom Poti was severely missed tonight. Sadly, Green and Jeff Schultz were the worst Washington blueliners in the series. Something which couldn’t happen. But then again, did anyone really see Semin not scoring one goal. True, he floats. But come on. When they signed Semin to that extension, I said they should package him and a No.1 for Ilya Kovalchuk. Even though he and the Devs came up short against the Flyers, the former Atlanta star played with much more passion. Think he wouldn’t have helped Ovechkin? Instead, the Caps are going home much earlier than anyone expected.

Finally, it’s hard to blame the goalies for this debacle. Varlamov was good after replacing Jose Theodore. He certainly wasn’t at fault the final three games. It was the Cap offense that disappeared. They refused to get dirty. And by that, screen Halak. He saw too many shots. If you face a goalie in the zone as the talented Slovak is, he’s likely going to stop shots he can see. Even with vet Mike Knuble having a solid series, there weren’t enough guys in red who got the jersey dirty. Tomas Fleischmann was reduced to a healthy scratch while Scott Walker (6:47) barely played. Eric Fehr was one of their most effective players in the series notching three goals and an assist. So, why only 10:48 with it on the line? Even Laich had a quiet first round despite getting his second marker.

It’s obvious that the Caps must take a hard look at what went wrong and make changes. More grit is needed up front and on D. They’ll also need a better goalie to help Varlamov. Nothing against Theodore who overcame so much in losing his son which should earn him the Masterton but he just isn’t reliable. His $4.5 million salary does come off. What will they do? Big names Evgeni Nabokov and Marty Turco are available but both will cost. What about a cheaper option like Chris Mason, Dan Ellis or Johan Hedberg? Whatever is decided, they can’t go into 2010-11 with Varlamov and Michael Neuvirth.

Is Boudreau to blame? He certainly will get tons of criticism for not having his team ready to close out the Habs earlier. Will he be fired? Tough to say. Regardless, the offseason just got a whole lot more interesting.