In a somewhat surprising turn of events, every series that's gone to Game 7 so far in this year's playoffs has been in the Eastern conference. I don't know what that means. Maybe just that the match-ups were better or something. Or perhaps that there were bigger flops – particularly for teams like the Rangers or Devils. Or Bruins. All of the ones that were supposed to win, in other words.
Devils vs. Panthers: Game 7 Thursday
Going into Tuesday's game in New Jersey, the Devils and Panthers series felt like an afterthought, lost somewhere behind the pile of pucks in the back of Marc-André Fleury's net. And to be fair, with that kind of wild competition for attention (not to mention the Rangers being pushed around by the not-so-lowly Senators), it's not difficult to perhaps see why this one kind of snuck up on all of us. Game 7? Against the Panthers?
Yep. Game 7 against the Panthers. But it might not have even come to that. Tuesday night's contest was a tight one, as former Devils backup goalie Scott Clemmensen spent most of the game all but scoring goals on his own to keep it close. For context: Through the first two periods, the Panthers were outshot 29-10. Overall, Clemmensen had to turn away 39 shots. That's just far too many.
As it happened, the Devils were actually rewarded early on for their pressure, and, thanks to a goal by Ilya Kovalchuk (only his second of the series), were up 2-0 by the middle of the second. Though Kovalchuk's point tally might not be that high this series, he's been a presence for the Devils in other ways, logging more shots on net in the past few games than the score sheet gave him credit for. He played a great game Tuesday, also contributng to the winning goal in OT, when he slipped a pass to Travis Zajac, and set him up nicely to beat Clemmensen.
.
Devils fans will probably be quick to point out that the game should never really have gone to OT in the first place. The Panthers' tying goal came after Sean Bergenheim's fairly obvious slash on Kovalchuk went apparently unnoticed by the officials at the other end of the ice. And guess who ended up scored that one? Oh, Bergenheim.
In any case, we're set now for Game 7 in Florida. The Devils haven't fared all that well down there so far, dropping two of the three games they've played in Sunrise. Two questions for that one already are whether Jose Theodore gets the start or if the Panthers go with Clemmensen again, and whether some of the Devils bigger names can put more of those shots into the twine.
Bruins vs. Capitals: Game 7 Wednesday
Boston staved off defeat in Washington on the weekend to ensure that, win or lose, they'll finish this one at home. We saw how Boston performed last year in a crucial Game 7 (the most crucial of all, actually), so Bruins fans can take a bit of solace from that. But not much, to be honest, given how the B's big boys have simply not been up to the task so far against the Capitals.
The plan according to Caps' forward Jay Beagle is to keep the pressure on the Bruins back line by dumping the puck in regularly and forcing the Bruins to chase it deep and, at the same time, maybe offer themselves up for a few hits. He told the Washington Post "every little bump turns out to be that much more severe when it's in Game 7." That prompts an obvious question: Has Beagle actually ever played another NHL playoff Game 7 before?
[Answer: Yes! In 2009, Beagle racked up just over four minutes in Game 7 of the second round playoff against the Pittsburgh Penguins. That was the year the Pens went on to win the Cup, so we all know how that particular game ended, and puts a new kind of sad spin on his comments this year. As an aside, the Caps first round that year – against the Rangers – also went to seven games, but Beagle didn't suit up for it.]
Over at CBC, they're reporting that Alexander Ovechkin wants to be on the ice for the crucial plays. No kidding. But, to be fair, it is a bit of a contrast to when he said last week that it didn't matter that he'd been on the bench for lengthy periods of the early games. "Of course, sometimes you get angry you didn't play a lot [of] minutes. And sometimes you get angry you're not out there," Ovechkin reportedly said Tuesday. Working in Ovie's favour is the fact that he scored a crucial goal in Game 6... and the fact that he's being paid to come up big in these kinds of games. If you can't put a guy like him in for Game 7 and believe that he'll make a difference, what are you paying him for?
By the way, someone crunched the numbers and it turns out this series is the closest ever. It's the first NHL playoff series "to ever have its first six games decided by one goal."
Rangers vs. Senators: Game 7 Thursday
On Thursday, the Senators will travel to New York to take on the Rangers at MSG. One of them will move on after that game, and it's really unclear who it might be. Guessing which side has the momentum in this series has been like figuring out which Sedin is which. While drunk.
The Senators have chosen this opportunity – somewhat oddly – to start testing rookies. Mark Stone was introduced to the lineup in Game 5, and to his credit put in a solid performance, setting up Jason Spezza for the winner in the last game in Manhattan. Despite that coming out party, he wasn't on the bench for Game 6. Instead, the Sens went with another rookie, Jakob Silfverberg, fresh from his Swedish Elite League playoffs and jazzed to be skating alongside Daniel Alfredsson. But in amongst the total breakdown in Ottawa Monday night, it was difficult to see whether Silfverberg had much of an effect on the game. If he did, it didn't really show.
Game 6 is also a bit of a stressful memory for the Sens because of that senior Swede, Alfredsson. His return was supposed to be the boost Ottawa needed to put away the series – at home, no less. That didn't happen. So, what's the plan now?
For the Rangers, this has to have been a wakeup call. Should they advance, they really need to concentrate on scoring, and less on being comfortable that Lundqvist will save them every time. Chances are he will most of the time, but there's plenty of talent on that Rangers team to start really putting games away much, much earlier. Having said that – and as Steve has pointed out – the Rangers were fading down the stretch, so it's maybe not a total surprise that they've at times looked pretty limp against the Sens. With Brian Boyle taking that hit (and subsequent concussion) from Chris Neil on Monday, the Rangers will be missing their most productive player of the series, which won't help.
Predictions:
I've been utterly terrible at making predictions so far this year, so I might as well keep digging:
New Jersey
Washington
Ottawa
There. That should curse them all (not that I'm trying to). Predictions welcome, along with thoughts on the next round.
