14 replies to this topic

[Dark Knight]

Please post your thoughts, pictures and comments on tonight's games in this thread.

Montreal at Philadelphia
SJS at Dallas

[lvsprt]

Let's put a period on the Sharks season tonight. Montreal, so the Canadians still have hope.

[HebertFan31]

Hmm, could be Ron Wilsons' last game tonight?

[Still MIGHTY]

Let's put a period on the Sharks season tonight. Montreal, so the Canadians still have hope.

I'd say it's more of a question mark

I say the Sharks come out desperate and are able to bring it back to SJ only to lose on home-ice.

I say Philly takes the first game. For whatever reason, Montreal has had real trouble with the Flyers. If not for a dumb penalty at the end of Game 1, Philly is up 3-0 right now.

[DropThePuck]

TSN's Ice Chips:

Bobby Allen will likely have surgery to repair the disc damage that triggered the four separate episodes of back spasms, plus nerve pain that at times spread down his legs. From the first sign of trouble in October, to the playoffs, Allen worked hard to come back. "It's just tough when you're trying to battle through the season and you don't have enough time to rest," he said. - Boston Herald

Glen Wesley, 39, said Monday he hasn't decided whether to retire after 1,457 NHL games or return for another season with the Hurricanes. "I'm thinking about it and taking my time," Wesley said.
Bret Hedican, 37, is also an unrestricted free agent for whom retirement is an option. - Raleigh News Observer

Paul Stastny suffered a knee injury in the first period and played only 7 minutes, 10 seconds. Colorado already was without injured forwards Marek Svatos, Wojtek Wolski and Ryan Smyth. - Denver Post

Stu Barnes was still assessing the damage from a hard hit from the shoulder of San Jose's Jonathan Cheechoo. "I got my bell rung a little bit there, so we'll see," Barnes said. - Dallas Morning News

Tuesday was Nicklas Lidstrom's 201st career playoff game, moving him past Finn Jari Kurri for the most playoff games played by a European-born player in NHL history. Lidstrom also picked up his 100th career playoff assist.
Darren Helm feels much calmer now than 12 days ago, when the Red Wings looked at him and decided he'd be a key to turning around their first-round series. Since joining the Wings' playoff run in Game 5 against Nashville, Helm steadily has shown why he's such a highly regarded draft pick. Entering Tuesday's Game 3 of the Colorado series, Helm had one assist and an even plus-minus rating in his first four playoff games.
Johan Franzen has been the Wings' playoff Most Valuable Player up to this point, leading in goals scored (eight) and points (11). He's provided the secondary line scoring, alleviating some of the burden from Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. - Detroit Free Press

Former coach Doug MacLean is interested in returning to coach the Panthers, the same team he coached for four years. MacLean has said he will talk to GM Jacques Martin. - Plam Beach Post

The team held an optional skate on Wednesday. Only Guillaume Latendresse and Maxim Lapierre were the regulars on the ice. All three goalies were also out (Carey Price, Jaroslav Halak, Yann Danis).
Head coach Guy Carbonneau says he has made his decision about his starter after debating with the coaching staff and general manager Bob Gainey. The goalies know who's starting, but the rest of the team does not.
Patrice Brisebois is expected to return from a leg injury, which would bump Ryan O'Byrne from the lineup.
Sergei Kostitsyn will be a gametime decision with an undisclosed injury. He took part in the short optional skate on Wednesday morning. If he can't play, Michael Ryder will take his place. - TSN

Nashville Predators coach Barry Trotz has expectations that the team’s new ownership group headed by David Freeman will allow the team to once again pursue some high-powered talent to help win a Stanley Cup. - Nashville City Paper

Chris Drury appears to have suffered a rib injury in Game 3 on Tuesday night. He left the game 6:20 into the second, but later returned and toughed out a third period appearance. He did not take face-offs when he did take to the ice though, as he was struggling to lift up his arms. He will likely be questionable for Game 4, but we will update his status when more information is available. - New York Daily News

Blair Betts was hit in the side of the head by a shot in the second period and was done for the night. - New York Daily News

In Game 3 the Rangers returned to the same lineup that ousted the Devils, with Colton Orr, Prucha, Marek Malik and Jason Strudwick as healthy scratches, but juggled lines with Fred Sjostrom moving up to the second and Brendan Shanahan dropping to the fourth. - New York Newsday

Flyers forward Mike Knuble, out the last five games with a partially torn hamstring, has been cleared by doctors to return to action Wednesday. "I feel great," Knuble said. "I think I can get out there and skate with very little apprehension if any at all. My one concern is catching up to the pace of the game."
Just because the Flyers are immersed in the chase for the Stanley Cup doesn't mean that team officials aren't thinking about the future. When general manager Paul Holmgren was asked about unrestricted free agent Fabian Brunnstrom he replied with an emphatic, "Yes, we are very interested." - Delaware County Times

The Coyotes signed left wing Brett MacLean to an entry level contract. He will report to the Coyotes' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage. - Arizona Republic

Gary Roberts couldn't remember the last time he had been a healthy scratch and doesn't seem eager for it to happen again, either. Nonetheless, Roberts-who had missed the previous four games because of a sore groin-declined to make an issue of being held out of Game 3. "It's pretty tough to change our lineup right now," he said. "Our guys have played extremely well. ... Coming off a shutout [2-0, in Game 2 Sunday], you can understand why there are no lineup changes." This was, in fact, the logic coach Michel Therrien applied in deciding to keep Roberts in street clothes. "We want Gary Roberts back in our lineup, but we need him at the right time," Therrien said. - Post Gazette

[Dark Knight]

Price benched, Halak gets the start for Montreal.

[UltraDavid]

Price benched, Halak gets the start for Montreal.

Agreed. Also, big news that Stastny is out, but the Avs are already done, so the bigger news is that Knuble is coming back. Come onnn Habs, beat those Flyers!

Edit: Oh, lost track of time, the game already started, guess there's nothing to agree about heh.

[Duck304]

I'd like to throw out a premature "haha!" to the Sharks. Thank you.

[Dark Knight]

Montreal ties the game with 2 goals in 37 seconds... 6' left in the game.

[Dark Knight]

FINAL SCORE:

Montreal at Philadelphia 2-4 (1-3 series)...

SJS at Dallas 0-0 after one...

[lvsprt]

FINAL SCORE:

Montreal at Philadelphia 2-4 (1-3 series)...

SJS at Dallas 0-0 after one...

Dallas 1 San Jose 0, Setegouchi (sp) must feel pretty low right now. Bad giveaway.

[Dark Knight]

SJS at Dallas 1-1 after two. Marleau scored another SHG after another Zubov turnover, almost a replay of yesterday.

...Setegouchi (sp) must feel pretty low right now. Bad giveaway.

Almost a replay of the O'Donnell give away in game two against Dallas.

[Dark Knight]

FINAL SCORE:

SJS at Dallas 2-1 (1-3 series)

I'd like to throw out a premature "haha!" to the Sharks. Thank you.

Last time you did that they came back to beat Calgary. Maybe if you want SJS out you should not taunt them

[DropThePuck]

2 - Plekanec, T. (12:59 in 3rd), Koivu, S. (13:36 in 3rd)
4 - Umberger, R. (PPG, 07:47 in 2nd), Hartnell, S. (06:47 in 3rd), Briere, D. (PPG, 16:22 in 3rd), Umberger, R. (19:58 in 3rd)

While the Canadiens can't settle on a No. 1 goaltender, Biron proved again he's capable of carrying the Flyers into May - and possibly beyond.

"When things are going good, people want to give you flowers," he said. "When things are going bad, heads up. The vase is coming."
...
Coach Guy Carbonneau hoped a goalie switch would get the Canadiens going in this series. He benched rookie Carey Price and started Halak. It didn't work.

<NHL.com link>



Jaroslav Halak #41 of the Montreal Canadiens stands in his crease in the third period against the Philadelphia Flyers during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Wachovia Center on April 30, 2008 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.The Flyers won the game 4-2 to take a 3-1 lead in the series.
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)


Daniel Briere #48 of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrates his third-period game-winning goal against the Montreal Canadiens during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Wachovia Center on April 30, 2008 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.The Flyers won the game 4-2 to take a three games to one lead in the series.
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)


Scott Hartnell #19 of the Philadelphia Flyers pins Tomas Plekanec #14 of the Montreal Canadiens during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Wachovia Center on April 30, 2008 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.The Flyers won the game 4-2 to take a three games to one lead in the series.
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)


Scott Hartnell #19 of the Philadelphia Flyers scores a third-period goal past Jarolslav Halak #41 of the Montreal Canadiens during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Wachovia Center on April 30, 2008 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.The Flyers won the game 4-2 to take a 3-1lead in the series.
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

[DropThePuck]

2 - Marleau, P. (SHG, 09:19 in 2nd), Michalek, M. (PPG, 03:26 in 3rd)
1 - Lehtinen, J. (05:25 in 2nd)

Instead, in an eerie replay for the Dallas Stars, Marleau managed to finish the play with a short-handed goal for the second straight game. This one came in Wednesday night's 2-1 victory that kept San Jose from being swept in the Western Conference semifinals.

"He's given us that boost," teammate Joe Pavelski said. "When the puck is chipped out, he's got that extra step that a few guys might not be able to get around the defense."

<NHL.com recap>



Brooms sit on the boards during play between the San Jose Sharks and the Dallas Stars in game four of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 30, 2008 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)


San Jose Sharks right wing Jonathan Cheechoo (14) and Dallas Stars forward Brenden Morrow (10) crash into the boards during the first period of Game 4 of an NHL Western Conference semifinal hockey playoff series in Dallas Wednesday, April 30, 2008.
(AP Photo/LM Otero)


Joe Pavelski #8 of the San Jose Sharks moves the puck on Marty Turco #35 and Nicklas Grossman #2 of the Dallas Stars during game four of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 30, 2008 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)


Center Tomas Plihal #39 of the San Jose Sharks skate the puck against Steve Ott #29 of the Dallas Stars during game four of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 30, 2008 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)