The Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 with a game winning goal by Tomas Plekanec. The Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 with late goal by Chris Kelly. The Vancouver Canucks had Miller in net while the Calgary Flames had Hiller net (confusing much) "Miller Time" ended up winning with 23 saves and an exciting end of the 3rd period empty net goal by Henrik Sedin for a 4-2 final. And finally even though the Los Angeles Kings had a beautiful ceremony celebrating their Stanley Cup win last year the San Jose Sharks beat them 4-0.
Watching the games last night there were a few things I wanted to show you Good Lookin Hockey Fans….
1) Is the goal by P.K. Subban. It is one of those goals were you can see it unfolding on the ice, a suspenseful moment and then it happens! I am such a sucker for a great goal.
2) Is the goal by newly acquired Canuck Radim Vrbata. To the naked eye, this was a goal from the beginning. Puck in the back of the net… what more do you need? But here is the thing, there are a number of reasons a ref will wave off a goal much like he did last night. At first sight the ref thought Vrbata hit the puck in with his stick above the cross bar. That would be why he waved it off. You cannot high stick a puck into the net. "Upon further review" to quote the ref and after reviewing the goal at head office it was indeed hit into the net by the shaft of Vrbata's stick below the cross bar, which means no high sticking so it counted! Thank goodness it did because it ended up being the game winning goal!
3) Finally Henrik Sedin's empty net goal with only seconds left in the 3rd period. Again to the naked eye.. puck in net….. goal. But no. Look closely and it appears Henrik is going to tap the puck into the net with his foot. A no no when scoring. A player cannot knowingly kick the puck in the net. Henrik knowing every rule in the book and having some incredibly hand eye coordination taps the puck over the goal line with his stick at the last second and the goal counts! It was such a beauty of an empty net goal even the TV commentators got excited!
Above I have loaded Subban's goal, and below you can check out both Vrbata and Henrik Sedin's goals. Plus I have found the Los Angeles Kings ceremony raising their Stanley Cup Banner to the rafters! Of course it is a much see. It is Hollywood and we all know Hollywood knows how to put on a show! Enjoy!