Stanley Cup Playoffs - Second Round Review

Stanley Cup Playoffs - Second Round Review

Round one was so good it's hard to imagine how the second round could ramp up the intensity. Before we get started on the second round matchups we must say goodbye to eight teams. The Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, St Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and, like the inevitability of a Tim Peel intent to blow call we say goodbye to the true nearly men of the league, the San Jose Sharks.

Bruins vs. Penguins: A Series of Unfortunate Events

Last night in Boston, two of the Eastern conference's elite went head to head, in what was as usual a feisty affair between the Pens and B's.

The game, unfortunately, was marred by a few nasty moments. Moments the majority of hockey fans felt sick watching. I'm talking about James Neal putting his knee into the head of Brad Marchand, and the Shawn Thornton "assault" on Brooks Orpik.

Let's set the scene. First we have what I believe was the incident that got Thornton's back up. At the twelve second mark of the 1st period Orpik lays a clean hit on Loui Eriksson, clean in the sense it was a shoulder to the chest. The only questionable part of the hit is, was Eriksson able to make a play on the puck before he was hit? It looks like he didn't, and judging on the speed and direction of the puck it could be called as interference on Orpik as at no point does Eriksson control the puck. The last player in possession prior to the hit was Patrice Bergeron. Now, Eriksson missed a lot of time this season with a concussion. On this hit he ended up hitting the ice with his head, struggled to get to the bench, and has another concussion (according to several reports). So, about five minutes later when Thornton, the Bruins enforcer, is on the ice at the same time as Orpik, he decides that Orpik should be held accountable and should not get away. He tries to engage in a fight and Orpik flat out refuses. Leading to a 2-minute roughing penalty on Thornton.

Next we move to later on, still in the 1st period, around five minutes after the roughing penalty, Thornton is coming off the bench for a line change when Pittsburgh winger James Neal skates through a prone Brad Marchand. Kneeing him in the head and shakes him up. He then proceeds to get to the bench to escape any Bruin retribution. The play is whistled for a penalty on Neal. Thornton, who didn't see the play, turns around and sees a teammate stricken. He then sees Orpik and another opportunity to make him pay for what he did to Eriksson. He slewfoots Orpik, who is already engaged with Gregory Campbell, then throws a couple punches in Orpik's face. Soft punches, but enough to knock Orpik out for a couple of seconds.

This is the video on NHL.com. It focuses more on the Thornton/Orpik incident but you see Neal knee Marchand at the start.

One common opinion I've seen brandished around about Thornton is that what he did was predetermined. Now, hold on a second. Isn't what Neal did worse than Thornton? The Bruins pay Thornton and expect the enforcer aspect of his game when it is needed. Neal's knee on Marchand was completely unprovoked, aside from the usual chirping that goes on in a hockey game. He skates in a straight line fom the "X" of the Xfinity sponsor board, makes no attempt to avoid contact, and runs away like a pussy.

 

I'm not condoning what Thornton did. It's a common part of hockey. Team mate gets hit. The enforcer wants to punish the hitter. In my opinion, Orpik was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The first incident with the roughing penalty should've been the end of it. The worst part about what Neal did is that he makes his getaway rather quickly. Well, I would too considering Zdeno Chara was on the ice behind Neal and most likely saw the whole thing.

 

Eriksson picked up a concussion. Marchand's status isn't known yet. Orpik was released from hospital and flew home on the Penguins team plane.

 

Thornton now has an in person with the NHL Department of Player Safety. Neal will just have a phone hearing.

 

The way I see it both incidents are as bad as each other. The only difference is the appearance of the stretcher. The fabled stretcher, making hockey injuries look worse than they are since the dawn of time.


You can email your opinion to betweenthepipespodcast@hotmail.co.uk and you can also tweet me @NickVarney90

Stars - best of Saturday 30th November

Stars is our daily look at the previous night's action in the NHL and who stood out amongst the rest.


FIRST STAR

 

Chris Kreider - NEW YORK RANGERS vs Vancouver Canucks

Kreider scored his first career NHL hat trick against the team now coached by his favourite man the man who dropped him to the AHL for much of last season, John Tortorella. As John was run out of town by the Rangers for the 2nd time in 2013.




SECOND STAR

 

Max Pacioretty - MONTREAL CANADIENS vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Max continued his recent goal scoring form picking up two more goals and an assist. His first was from an fantastic breakout pass from P.K. Subban. His 2nd was this awesome short handed effort.




THIRD STAR

 

Evgeni Malkin - PITTSBURGH PENGUINS vs Florida Panthers

"Geno" had a goal, the game winner, and three assists in the Penguins 5-1 rout of the Panthers.




Honourable Mentions

Penguins backup goalie, Jeff Zatkoff, had 40 saves in the Pens win over Florida..... Semyon Varlamov had 37 saves in Colorado's 3-2 win against Minnesota.....

Subban had a nice goal.....



Tomas Plekanec also scored on a nice move.....



Alex Ovechkin scored, again.......




Look Away Moment of the Night

After all his brilliance recently, against Calgary, Ben Scrivens reminds us that he's just a man god damnit!!!

Stars - best of Wednesday 27th November

Stars is our daily look at the previous night's action in the NHL and who stood out amongst the rest.

First, Happy Thanksgiving to all Americans. Enjoy the day whilst the rest of the world go to work.

Back to a full program in the NHL last night with 13 games played, and for the joy of fans, after the last few days of dominant goaltending it was literally raining goals last night.

And it was an emotional night in Florida, as the Philadelphia Flyers visited the Tampa Bay Lightning with Bolts legend Vinny Lecavalier and another former Bolts favourite in Steve Downie on the team.

FIRST STAR

 

Evgeni Malkin - PITTSBURGH PENGUINS vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Another two goal, one assist performance here. Malkin's effort came as the Pens fought back from 4-1 and 5-3 down to beat the Leafs 6-5 in a shootout. His assist and 2nd goal were the Pens 4th and 5th goals. He also scored the game sealing goal in the shootout.



SECOND STAR

 

Victor Hedman - TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING vs Philadelphia Flyers

Hedman had a point on each of Tampa's first three goals, scorer of the 1st & 3rd, plus an assist on the 2nd.

Here's his first goal. Ray Emery and goalie's everywhere, watch with caution. This may cause harm to your health.



THIRD STAR

Patrick Kane - CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS vs Calgary Flames

Kane played the hero with the game winner on a clever backhand shot. He scored the first Blackhawks goal in what turned out to be a two goal night for him.




Honourable Mentions

Tomas Tatar did this.....



Sean Monahan continues to impress and had a nice goal on a wrist shot.......



Brendan Gallagher is now one goal short of hitting double digits for the 2nd consecutive season. This ripper on the PP, the number one PP on the road, was his 9th of the campaign....



Brad Richards scored a long range goal for the Rangers on Tim Thomas.....




MY PICKS

3-2 for me last night. Pittsburgh, St Louis and San Jose with the wins.


NOTE: Yesterday's "The Night Ahead" will be the last one for the foreseeable future. Unless somebody else would like to write it everyday.

The Night Ahead - Wednesday 27th November 2013

In "The Night Ahead" we take a look at a selection (well, five) of the upcoming games for the evening (early hours here in the UK) and add a preview and opinion on the match ups.

Twice this week we have had a night of very little games to a night of many many games.

BOSTON BRUINS @ DETROIT RED WINGS

Detroit have won two of the last three, after losing seven in a row, giving them eight losses in ten. Boston have won eight of their last ten. But, Detroit only find themselves as the Atlantic's 4th seed, only 5 points behind the division leading Bruins.

Carl Soderberg, Reilly Smith and Torey Krug continued their great form, I mentioned here, on Monday night in the B's 4-3 OT win over the Penguins.

The usual guys are doing it for Detroit right now, Nyquist, Zetterberg, Franzen, and the magic man, Pavel Datsyuk have all been picking up goals and assists. But there seems to be something missing.

The Bruins are my pick.


TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS @ PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Toronto have navigated a difficult November admirably despite being with Bozak, Bolland and Kadri out for periods. Although with all two of the three in the team they got thumped 6-0 at home to Columbus on Monday.

After dismantling Anaheim and Washington before narrowly dispatching the Islanders, the Penguins have lost two in a row against Montreal and Boston.

Both teams have issues at the moment and I'm picking Pittsburgh.


ST LOUIS BLUES @ COLORADO AVALANCHE

Two of the best go head to head. Alex Steen, David Backes, T.J. Oshie and Alex Pietrangelo go against Matt Duchene, Paul Stastny, Gabriel Landeskog and Nate MacKinnon.

The Blues are on a four game winning run, 8-1-1 in the last ten. Colorado are 6-4-0, on a three game win streak.

I've got the Blues.


PHOENIX COYOTES @ MINNESOTA WILD

Phoenix are enjoying life under new ownership, and steady management leads to steady performances on the ice. Currently 14-6-4 on the year and 5-3-2 in the last ten. It's not surprising that the foundation for this form starts with Mike Smith in net and impressive defenseman, Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The scoring leaders for the team are Vrbata, Doan, Hanzal and Ribeiro. 

The Wild are very quietly going about their business recently. Whilst other teams in the West get all the headlines, Minnesota have found themselves in a lower seeding position but have pulled away from the teams behind them. Josh Harding has a .939 SV%, and Parise, Koivu and Pominville lead the way offensively. The Wild young players have emerged as great talents too. The quartet of Brodin, Coyle, Granlund and Niederreiter accounting for 40 points.

I'm taking Minnesota.


LOS ANGELES KINGS @ SAN JOSE SHARKS

LA come into this game having won five of the last seven. The only defeats coming in OT to Colorado and New Jersey. The injury to Jonathan Quick hasn't been the hinderance many thought it would be. Ben Scrivens has stepped in and has a .947 SV% in 12 games.

San Jose aren't doing too shabby either. They've won six of the last seven. The defeat coming at the hands of Chicago with a score of 5-1. Along with the big names, players like Vlasic, Wingels and Demers have really impressed me. Combining for 10 goals and 27 assists.

I like San Jose in this game.


Tonight's picks: Boston, Pittsburgh, St Louis, Minnesota, San Jose.

Stars - best of Monday 25th November

Stars is our daily look at the previous night's action in the NHL and who stood out amongst the rest.

FIRST STAR

 

Martin St Louis - TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING vs New York Rangers

It was a big night for Marty. It was his 1000th game in the NHL and he celebrated the best way he knows. By scoring twice and assisting on another.

SECOND STAR

 

Ben Bishop - TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING vs New York Rangers

Bishop had a 37 save shutout on a night when the skaters in front of him put goals passed two Rangers goaltenders.


THIRD STAR

 

James Neal - PITTSBURGH PENGUINS vs Boston Bruins

Neal had a huge night in the Pens 4-3 OT defeat. He picked up two goals and as assist. His goals bought the Penguins back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game. His assist came with a couple of seconds left as he threw the puck to the front of the net and watched on as Kunitz moved it on to Crosby, who scored with 0.3 seconds left to send it to OT.

 

Honourable Mentions

Ryan Johansen had two goals (5th and 6th) in the Blue Jackets 6-0 win in Toronto...... Tim Thomas went 38/39 for a .974 SV%...... Loui Eriksson had a goal and two assists in the Bruins win, including a secondary assist on the game winner..... Andrew Shaw had two goals and an assist as the Blackhawks overcame Edmonton....... Corey Crawford had a .960 SV% in the game, stopping 24 shots from 25...... Ben Scrivens gave up two goals off of 39 shots faced for a .949 SV% and had this four save effort to help the team to victory.

Daniel Sedin received a high stick to the face in Vancouver's loss at home to LA. He responded by pulling out his tooth

 

 

 

MY PICKS

2-3 on the night with St Louis and LA winning.

The Night Ahead - Monday 25th November 2013

In "The Night Ahead" we take a look at a selection (well, five) of the upcoming games for the evening (early hours here in the UK) and add a preview and opinion on the match ups.
Back to a nice full plate of games tonight after a lazy Sunday. So without further ado.....

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS @ BOSTON BRUINS

The cream of the Eastern conference do battle at the Gaaaahden! This is a rematch of last seasons Conference final in which the B's swept the Pens away in four games, only giving up TWO goals in the process. This is the second meeting between the two since, the other a 3-2 home win for Pittsburgh.

The Penguins come into this game 5-5-0 in their last 10, including a 3 win streak that was halted on Saturday night in Montreal. The large majority of points being scored by Crosby, Malkin, Kunitz and Neal. The run also saw the emergence of Brian Gibbons who had a goal and an assist in the recent 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks.

Boston went 7-1-2 in their last 10, the regulation loss coming to the Jekyll and Hyde style Ottawa Senators. They needed a David Krejci OT winner to fend off Carolina on Saturday, and have relied on the great form of Reilly Smith, Carl Soderberg, Torey Krug, and Gregory Campbell in their last five outings.

This is going to be a heavy hitting, great watch for neutrals. I'm going with Pittsburgh on this one.

MINNESOTA WILD @ ST LOUIS BLUES

Despite the showdown above this is the big game NBCSN have plumped for tonight. Oh, and it's going to be just as epic!

A home win make St Louis the belle of the ball, the star on the tree, 1st overall in the NHL. Minnesota aim to tie Chicago as 2nd best in the league.

8-1-1 in their last 10, Minnesota's only regulation loss was a 6-2 humbling away to the Montreal Canadiens. Parise, Koivu and Pominville have been the offensive stars for the Wild with a steady helping of blue line attack from Ryan Suter. This team, bar that one ugly game, is on a roll right now and should be feared by all.

8-1-1 in their last 10, Minnesota, St Louis have found themselves with one of the leagues shiniest diamonds, polished from the rough. Alex Steen. Second in goals, third in points. Steen is slowly becoming a player that the opposition have to plan around, and with that new found attention he'll be jumping at the bit to ride this momentum so long as he has air in his lungs. But if the flame does start to flicker there's a great supporting cast in David Backes, T.J. Oshie, Alex Pietrangelo, plus 2nd year winger Vladimir Tarasenko to pick up the slack. Despite being routed by the Caps 4-1 recently, the Blues have beaten Colorado, Boston and crushed Dallas in their last game.

This game is the Western conference equivalent of the Pens @ Bruins.

I can't decide so will plump for home advantage.

NEW YORK RANGERS @ TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

The Rangers are on a two game win streak and are 6-4-0 in their last 10. The losses coming in no shame to Anaheim, Boston, LA and rivals New Jersey. Richards, Stepan, Kreider and Zuccarello have been on top form for the Blueshirts, and have been buoyed on by the return of Rick Nash who already has a goal in his three games back.

Tampa Bay have been without captain, and leading scorer Steven Stamkos for six games since he broke his leg on a backcheck in Boston. They sit level on points with Detroit and Toronto, 3rd in the division and 4th in the conference, despite going 0-3-1 in their last 4. only winning the first two games after Stamkos' injury. They beat Anaheim 5-1 with three points for Valtteri Filppula, who many said had to up his game to fill the void left. Their last 4 games were at Phoenix (6-3), at LA (5-2), at San Jose (5-1), and at Anaheim (1-0 OT).

I haven't mentioned the Rangers goaltending but that's the reason I'll take them. Whether it's Lundqvist or Talbot in nets.

WINNIPEG JETS @ NEW JERSEY DEVILS

This is a perfect game for the Devils to continue their attempt to crash the East conference playoff battle. Having gone 6-3-1 in the last 10. The losses coming to hot teams in, Minnesota, LA, San Jose and Toronto in a shootout. The six wins include a 4-1 rout over the Penguins, plus two OT wins in LA and Anaheim. Jaromir Jagr has been rolling back the years and finds himself as the teams top scorer. Followed by Elias, Zidlicky, Zubrus, Henrique and Ryder.

Winnipeg have gone 5-3-2 recently, but after their last three wins came in a bunch and were in shootouts they have lost four in a row. Two regulation, two shootouts.

New Jersey sit 4th in the Metropolitan and are outside the playoffs by a point. Winnipeg would be in that position but only behind the Rangers on the fact they've played more games. But being in the West they find themselves 3rd bottom of the conference. Little, Ladd, Wheeler, Kane and Byfuglien lead the Jets in scoring, Little and Wheeler putting down some doubters after the big contracts they signed in the offseason.

I've gotta go Devils on this. Whose fans, despite management changing the goal song, found a new way to chant "You suck!"

LOS ANGELES KIGNS @ VANCOUVER CANUCKS

LA come into tonight 6-1-3 over the previous ten outings, having lost their last two at home in OT to New Jersey and Colorado. Vancouver on the over hand are a little less steady in their form, going 3-4-3 in the last 10, six losses in their last seven games at the hands of LA, Anaheim, San Jose, Dallas, Florida and Chicago.

I've written a fair amount about these teams in the last few days. So won't bore you with re-written information. But, will send you in the direction of these posts - The Night Ahead - Friday 22nd, Stars of Friday 22nd & The Night Ahead - Saturday 23rd.

LA are my pick.


Tonight's picks: Pittsburgh, St Louis, New York Rangers, New Jersey, LA.