Hockey

Stanley Cup Finals: Game Two Preview

June 3, 2011
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Just a quick post to talk over Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight and make a pick. Game 1 was outstanding, edge of the seat type action even with a scoreless game for nearly the entire contest. Each team had chance after chance, but the goaltending was world class.

Boston really dominated the first period, thanks in part to a lot of time on the power play. I thought the refs were a little overbearing in that first period, but nerves on the players’ part probably factored in as well. The Bruins held a healthy shot advantage most of the game, but Vancouver started to turn things around in the third period. That brings me to the deciding factor in the game: the Hansen, Torres, LaPierre line.

Of course, Rafi Torres scored the game winner from Hansen and Kesler, but it was a shift early in the third period that swung the game. The entire shift seemed to take place in the Boston zone and included two scoring chances and three monster checks by the Canucks. Perhaps the tide was turning already, but from this point on the crowd was crazy and the home team dominated leading straight up to the game winner by Torres after a great play by Ryan Kesler.

Tonight I’d expect a similarly tight game with Boston really focused on stealing the home ice advantage. Boston did everything it hoped to do in Game 1 and still didn’t escape with victory, but when they play the heavily favored Canucks in Canada, the goal is just to be there at the end of the game and capitalize. 1 for 2. Boston needs to get something from their third line guys. They cannot be outplayed so badly by Torres and Co. and expect to succeed. The power play that was so maligned showed exactly how it earned that rep in the first game. Boston should have gone to the first intermission up a couple, instead they blanked again and it cost them the game.

I don’t think the power play gets solved tonight, but I think you can expect more from the likes of Mark Recchi and Brad Marchand on that third line. Can Tim Thomas be the same guy from Game 1 tonight and keep Boston close enough to even the series? I doubt it.

It’s going to be tough for Boston to contain the Sedins and Kesler again tonight. Having Alex Burrows out of the lineup for that bite really would have helped as well, but what can you do? I’m taking the Canucks tonight.

Stanley Cup Finals Preview

June 1, 2011
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So, the wounds from the Red Wings’ exit have scabbed over enough to return to Stanley Cup Playoff discussion just in time for the final act. The NHL has taken the better part of a week off, so in case you need reminding the Vancouver Canucks will host the Boston Bruins tonight in Game 1. As a fan, you have to love that the two teams playing the best hockey made it through to the finals. A great argument could be made that Tampa was playing the best in the East, but Boston just seemed like the stronger team to me. Let’s take a look at some keys to the series and perhaps finish with a prediction that will have no chance of being incorrect.

Surprise! Special teams will be important.  Bad news for Boston here, since their power play hasn’t scored since the Clinton Administration (more on this in a second). First, let’s talk PK. The Boston penalty kill has been deceptively solid in the playoffs, with middle-of-the-road numbers coming against very effective power play units. The Bruins have the ninth best PK in the post-season and had to take on two of the most potent teams on the man-advantage in Montreal and Tampa Bay. They’ll take on another juggernaut in Vancouver this round, but at least they’ve seen great power plays already. The Boston power play… well, it hasn’t been pretty. In 61 power play opportunities the Bruins have managed 5 goals. That’s shockingly bad and I’d slap your face if you had told me prior to the playoffs that a team could carry 8% power play success rate to the SCF.

As far as Vancouver goes, the Canucks ended the regular season with the league’s best power play and third best penalty kill. The power play hasn’t slowed a bit in the playoffs (17 for 60 if you want to compare it to Boston’s). Daniel and Henrik Sedin have been deadly and there are plenty of dangerous point players launching shots as well. The Vancouver penalty kill has been pretty mediocre, but they’re obviously not worried about Boston’s power play. Special teams will be an enormous advantage for Vancouver that seemingly can only be stymied by the usual downturn in penalty calls in the Cup Finals.

Couple of great goaltenders here. I find this goaltending match-up just as interesting as the Carey Price – Tim Thomas pairing in the first round. While Price and Thomas had many similarities, Roberto Luongo and Tim Thomas are in different places in many ways. Thomas has less pressure to win the big one at this point, but is coming off a series against Tampa in which he struggled for stretches. Luongo has been great in the playoffs ever since he got past the Chicago Blackhawks, his most feared team in the league, but is somehow still the guy who can’t win the big one Gold Medal or not.

Boston really hung Thomas out to dry against Tampa Bay and even though he gave up a ton of goals he saved the Bruins with some outstanding saves in close games, not to mention a shutout in Game 7. Luongo might give up fewer goals in this series because of his defense, but I’d give the slight edge to Thomas in terms of pure goaltending. Read more »

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Bruins and Habs Game Seven

April 27, 2011
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Another night in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, another pair of Game Sevens. Once again NHL Network has stepped up and will carry the Pens-Bolts game at 8 et tonight, while the Habs and Bruins will be on Versus starting at 7. Nothing against Penguins-Lightning, which has been a fantastic series, but we’ll continue to follow Montreal and Boston like we have throughout the first round. OMG OMG OMG let’s preview!

Montreal at Boston, Game 7, 7:00 Versus.

Two for two. First of all, let’s acknowledge the JCB factor: both first round series we have featured went the distance. Gary Bettman enjoys reading our coverage and made it so. Here’s hoping tonight’s game is as good as last night’s Hawks-Canucks finale; I suspect it will be.

How we got here. At least in Game 6, the theme was penalties. Boston made back-to-back treks to the sin bin twice, leading to 5-on-3s and goals for the Canadiens both times. All in all, the Bruins racked up 27 penalty minutes including a game misconduct for Milan Lucic for boarding. Refs typically think twice before blowing the whistle in series finales, but Boston can’t keep taking penalties that give officials no choice like they did in Game 6.

Montreal has the man-advantage… advantage. When it comes to capitalizing on those penalties, the Habs have done major damage, while the Bruins have only taken the opportunities to take a couple minutes off the clock. The Bruins are 0 for 19 in the series on the power play. No power play goals? Embarrassing. People in Boston are taking notice that no team has won a seven game series without registering a single power play goal. It’s not a stat that forecasts doom for Boston tonight, but it’s difficult to win games when you’re not successful with the man advantage. In my opinion it starts with Zedeno Chara. The big guy has been feathering shots to the net, hoping for deflections and weak rebounds. When you’ve got a missile for a shot it needs to be deployed. Carey Price, I’m sure, disagrees.

Not their first go-around. We’ve talked about the history between these two franchises and so it makes sense that they’ve played more game sevens head-to-head than any other pair ever. This will be the eighth such match-up, with Montreal winning five of the seven. Recent history is on Montreal’s side as well. The Habs won two game sevens just last year against Pittsburgh and Washington. The Habs are 6-1 in the last two seasons when facing elimination. The Bruins meanwhile have lost their last three deciding games, including their loss to Philly last year after the Bruins let them come back from 3-0 in the series and 3 goals down in the final game.

Cammalleri’d. Michael Cammalleri was fantastic in the playoffs last season and has continued his clutch scoring this year. The Habs’ winger had 19 points in 19 playoff games last year and has paced Montreal this series with 3 goals and 6 assists. With Milan Lucic struggling to make an impact for the Bruins, the Habs’ star has been the difference in the series. Read more »

Stanley Cup Playoffs: So, Tonight Should be Okay

April 26, 2011
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Monday night was a good tune-up for what should be two great sets of hockey games today and tomorrow. While I should have been getting sleep while I could, I ended up staying up for overtime of the San Jose-Los Angeles series and it was totally worth it. Tonight we have two decisive games, plus a Game 6 in the most compelling series in the East. I believe Versus will be covering Game 7 of Philly – Buffalo at 7:30 followed by Chicago – Vancouver and their series finale. The Habs and Bruins start at 7:00 on CBC and that’s a Game 6 in Montreal. I’m going to hope for a series extending win by Montreal tonight and punt on a preview for a potential Game 7 tomorrow and focus on the Hawks and Canucks series here.

Chicago at Vancouver, Game Seven, 10:00 PM Versus.

Right where we thought we’d be. When the series started, I really thought this one had potential to go the distance but I can’t say I would have believed a pair of three game winning streaks leading the teams to this point. Despite my kind words about the Hawks last week, I didn’t think the Hawks would make it this far, especially without Brent Seabrook for two games. Now they’ve got all the momentum and the Canucks are wondering if they will have to shake hands as losers to the Blackhawks for the third straight year, as unthinkable as it was just a week ago.

But how the hell did that happen? Oh, plenty of things conspired but I’d like to focus on three. First, Dave Bolland returned. The Hawks’ center returned in Game 4 after missing 17 straight games and proceeded to torment the Sedins just like he did last year in the playoffs. Since Bolland’s return, Daniel and Henrik are a combined minus-13 and have managed a total of three points in those three games. Bolland, meanwhile, has two goals and four assists good for a plus-6 in the same span.

Second, Marian Hossa stepped up. Minus-3 with no points in the first three games, to plus-3 with five points in the last three games. This included a hell of a play carrying the puck into and around the zone leading to the game winner in overtime of Game 6. Hossa has re-established himself as an offensive threat in this series and the Blackhawks are much better for it. Read more »

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Bruins and Hawks Hangin’ Tough

April 21, 2011
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I have just come up for air after two double overtime games last night followed by the Red Wings closing Phoenix out after 1:00 am. Time to get up to date on the two series we featured as the playoffs commenced, Bruins-Habs and Hawks-Canucks. Both series resume tonight with the Eastern Conference game at 7 and the Western Conference at 10. Let’s look briefly back at both series and set the scene going forward.

Boston vs Montreal, 2-1 Canadiens.

Home ice advantage has been anything but advantageous thus far as the home team is yet to get in the win column. The first two games in Boston were won by the hustle of Montreal. The Habs looked like they were catching Boston on short rest both nights, and that perception was certainly buoyed by Zedeno Chara exiting Game 2 with dehydration. It’s not like Montreal dominated these games, in fact the Bruins outshot them in both, but the Habs created their bounces and capitalized on them. With a series so rich in history it makes more sense to recall previous meetings between these two to describe the Habs’ efforts in the first two games, but it looked just like their first round series against Washington a year ago. They put the first goal on the board in both games then pushed that button that makes the walls start moving closer together slowly on Boston. In Game 3 the Bruins did the same to the Habs in Montreal. Check out Days of Y’Orr for an in depth Boston preview and agreement on the importance of the first goal.

I’m trying to come up with some players who have had major impacts on the series past “these guys scored goals” level, but the difference in each game has been about a team-wide mindset. Montreal had superior drive and focus in the first two games and when they relaxed on their home ice Boston counter-punched. Tim Thomas looked much better in Game 3, but it’s not like he was terrible in the first two. PK Subban has been on the ice almost as much as the referees.

From what I have seen so far, Montreal seems to be the better team. Their 4-2 record against Boston in the regular season plays into that opinion, but taking two in Boston was very impressive. I don’t think the Bruins get it done in Montreal tonight. Bet the Habs -105.

Vancouver vs. Chicago, 3-1 Vancouver.

The defending champs looked to be on their way to getting swept out of the first round. Luongo was steady in the first three games and Chicago lacked the physical element that led to their success against the Canucks the past two seasons. The Sedins were lethal, the blue line was strong, and Luongo cleaned up whatever made its way through. Then the Blackhawks won 7-2 in Game 4. Was it a case of Vancouver taking a night off or are the Hawks spying some light as they dig out of the 3-0 hole? Read more »