It was an intense night with the 1st night of the NHL playoffs happening. All 6 teams playing came ready to play and you could tell immediately that we have entered the playoffs , regular season is over!
Schenn picked up 3 points in his 1st NHL playoff game!
The 1st game to drop the puck last night was between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The game was being held in Pittsburgh. It was a bit of a runaway game in the 1st period. PENS Captain Sidney Crosby scored in the opening minute. Tyler Kennedy scored 4 minutes later and with 37 seconds left in the 1st period Pascal Dupuis scored to end the period 3-0. The crowd in Pittsburgh was going nuts. Then Danny Briere assisted by Brayden Schenn scored to make it 3-1 end of the 2nd. Again in the 3rd Danny Briere scores and Brayden Schenn assists. And if that wasn't enough for Brayden Schenn in his 1st career playoff game he scores the tying goal 3 minutes later! Assisted by none other then Scott Hartnell and Jaromir Jagr. Let's point out that after the landslide of goals in the 1st period, Ilya Bryzgalov letting in 3 goals on 13 shots, the Flyers stuck with him and Bryzgalov stopped 10 shots in the 2nd and 5 in the 3rd. There weren't many penalties taken either. Only 3 for Philly and one for the PENS. The first game of the playoffs goes into OT. A few seconds shy of the 1/2 way mark Jakub Voracek of the Philadelphia Flyers gets one past PENS goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and Philly has an amazing come back! Flyers win 4-3! Flyers lead the series 1-0. Below you can watch Crosby's first goal of the playoffs, Brayden Schenn with 2 huge hits within a few seconds of each other and Schenn's tying goal!
Gabriel Bourque scored 2 of 3 goals for Nashville!
The 2nd game to start last night was between the Nashville Predators and the Detroit Red Wings. Nashville is favored to win this series and is a young pup in their playoff history compared to the 21st consecutive playoff appearance for the Red Wings. Paul Gaustad scored for Nashville the only goal in the 1st period. Red Wing Henrik Zetterberg tied it up on a power play early in the 2nd. Then Gabriel Bourque scores for Nashville in his 1st career playoff game! Then in the 3rd period Bourque scored again to give the Preds a 3-1 lead. Late in the 3rd Red Wing Tomas Holmstrom scored but it wasn't enough Nashville wins 3-2 and leads the series 1-0. This was a penalty filled game. All minor penalties (nothing more then 2 minutes) but Detroit took 7 and Nashville a whopping 10! Nashville netminder Pekka Rinne was one of the busiest goalies in hockey last night stopping 35 of 37 shots. Below you can see Gabriel Bourque's 1st playoff goal, Pekka Rinne amazing save on Henrik Zetterberg and Shea Weber team Captain of the Preds making an unsportsmanlike conduct move slamming Henrik Zetterberg's head into the glass in the last seconds of the 3rd period. Hockey is a violent sport yes but you are not allowed to do this. On a side note Detroit Center Darren Helm playing his 1st game since March 17th collided with Alexander Radulov along the boards and was cut on the forearm and sent straight to the hospital and underwent surgery! Welcome to the playoffs!
Lou making a save!
In the 3rd and final game of the night the Vancouver Canucks took on the Los Angeles Kings at Rogers Arena. Vancouver was entering the playoffs after a Game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins last year looked ready. It was an up and down game. Vancouver's Alex Burrows scoring the opening goal on his 31st birthday, early in the 1st period. Ryan Kesler took a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the 1st followed by a Chris Higgins delay of game penalty (flipping the puck over the glass) and LA and a brief 5 on 3. The Kesler penalty ended and Alex Edler must have thought Higgins looked lonely in the penalty box because Edler got a delay of game penalty (flipping the puck over the glass) one minute later and joined Higgins in the box and again LA was on a 5 on 3. LA managed one goal between the 3 overlapping penalties. Mike Richards scored to tie it up. Former Canuck Willie Mitchell scored the 2nd goal for the Kings. The Canucks were 40 seconds away from killing a 5 minute major penalty by Byron Bitz for a nasty hit on Kyle Clifford, when Mitchell scored. With 8 scored left Alex Edler redeemed himself with a goal to tie the game 2-2 to end the 2nd. Late late late in the 3rd period LA's Dustin Penner scored and LA had the lead 3-2. An empty net goal with 18 seconds left in the 3rd period and LA wins the game 4-2 and leads the series 1-0. This game had penalties as well. LA took 5, Vancouver had 8. Six of Vancouver's were minors, Bitz took a 5 minute boarding major and received a 10 minute game misconduct. Luongo is who kept the Canucks in the game stopping 35 of 38 shots whereas Quick stopped 24 of 26. Below you can check out Burrows goal on his 31st Birthday and the Bitz hit.
Tonight there are 4 games happening:
Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers at 4:00
Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins at 4:30
San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues at 4:30
and Chicago and Phoenix at 7:00 Enjoy X
Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers at 4:00
Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins at 4:30
San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues at 4:30
and Chicago and Phoenix at 7:00 Enjoy X
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