NHL Playoffs Video Highlights - April 16th

From the NHL Highlight Machine

New Jersey Devils (1) at Tampa Bay Lightning (2) Game 3:



Buffalo Sabres (3) at New York Islanders (1) Game 4:



Nashville Predators (1) at San Jose Sharks (2) Game 3:



You can see more video highlights and weekly specials on NHL.com.

2007 NHL Playoffs Recap and Predictions - Apr 17th

3/3 on predictions last night, there must have been something in my coffee yesterday morning. As expected the Sabres took control of their series with 3 goals in the second period while San Jose pounded the Predators to take the lead at home in their series.

Tonights Games:

Atlanta Thrashers (0) at New York Rangers (2) : Atlanta coach Bob Hartley says that Kari Lehtonen will be back in goal for the Thrashers as they try to keep alive in their first playoff appearance. The problem for the Thrashers lies in the fact that top scorers Ilya Kovalchuk, Slava Kozlov and Marian Hossa have managed only 1 point between them in the series so far. I expect the Rangers to take this game tonight and would not be surprised to see Lehtonen chased from between the pipes by the 3rd period.

Ottawa Senators (2) at Pittsburgh Penguins (1) : The Penguins have to be disappointed after letting the Sens regain momentum in game 3. I expect the Penguins to come out blazing tonight and specifically hope to see Evgeni Malkin pick up where he left off in game 3 by putting more shots on net (he took his first 4 shots on net in the series last game). Penguins even this series behind a stellar game from Fleury and some offensive production from Staal and Malkin.

Vancouver Canucks (2) at Dallas Stars (1) : The Dallas Stars are currently on a 5 game home playoff losing streak. That is a problem. The Stars looked to be on the way to ending that streak in game 3 but lost in OT. Look for Marty Turco to bounce back tonight with a strong effort between the pipes and the Stars to even this series up a 2-2 to head back to Vancouver for game 5.

Anaheim Ducks (3) at Minnesota Wild (0) : Wow, I really expected the Minnesota Wild to make this a more competitive series. The Wild are 1-15 on the power play and leading scorers Brian Rolston, Pavol Demitra and Marian Gaborik have been limited to 2 goals and 2 assists between them. That being said I expect hope that Minnesota will display some pride tonight and get at least 1 win in this series. Their last appearance in the post season saw them swept by the Mighty Ducks on 2003. Expect Ilya Bryzgalov in net again tonight for Anaheim.

Detroit Red Wings (2) at Calgary Flames (0) : Jarome Iginla has notched only 2 shots on goal during this series. If the Flames expect to win a game in this series they need this to change tonight. Miikka Kiprusoff has done everything he could to keep the Flames in this series by making 90 saves on 97 shots. In contrast Dominik Hasek has faced only 35 shots and allowed only 2 goals. Tough call but I'll pick the Wings to squeak one out tonight to go up 3-0 in the series.

Recaps Day 6:

New Jersey Devils 2 (1) at Tampa Bay Lightning 3 (2) : If I had told you that Martin Brodeur would post a GAA of 3.00 in this series and be outplayed by Johan Holmqvist you probably would have been asking me to share my pharmaceutical paraphernalia with you. However, that's exactly what has happened in this series so far. The Lightning seem to have realized that Martin Brodeur is going to make the first save almost everytime so they have been focusing on getting shots on him and crashing the net for garbage goals. That served them well last night as two rather fluky goals gave them the win at home and the lead in the series. Martin St. Louis managed 3 assists while Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards combined for a goal and an assist each.

Buffalo Sabres 3 (2) at New York Islanders (1) : The Sabres came out fired up in the second period and took a one goal lead into the third. The Sabres held the Islanders to just 1 shot in the third period (a 17-1 advantage) to hold onto the lead. Islanders captain Alexei Yashin was relegated to the 4th line and the power play in game 3. Apparently Ted Nolan has realized what everyone else has already, Yashin doesn't show up in April. Hell, even the Ottawa Senators were able to figure that out years ago.

Nashville Predators 1 (1) at San Jose Sharks 3 (2) : The Sharks outshot the Predators 41-20 in there game 3 matchup and completely overpowered the Preds to take the lead in the series. The Predators played stellar defense throughout the game, they kept the Sharks to 0-7 on the power play, but a brain fart by Paul Kariya may have cost them the game. As the Predators killed off the Sharks 5th penalty of the game Kariya left the penalty box and skated to the bench instead of joining the play in his own zone. Ryan Clowe made the Preds pay with the game winning goal at 12:18, 8 seconds after the penalty was over.

Past playoff posts:

Round 1 Predictions and Hot Players
Complete Playoff Predictions

Leafs and Canadiens get a second chance at the cup

David Martin of the Ottawa Citizen is reporting on a new NHL playoff format that sees the bottom 16 teams in the NHL playing for the Rabinovitch cup.

The second tier playoff series is the brainchild of the CBC which has named it the Rabinovitch Cup after their president Robert Rabinovitch.

The CBC is faced with a declining television audience with the absence of the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers from the Stanley Cup playoffs this year. They are predicting a 30% loss in viewership over the length of the playoffs.

In a further brilliant move the Rabinovitch Cup sees the 9th seed teams in each conference go through to the second round automatically. This ensures that the Toronto Maple Leafs will make it to the second round and that at least one Canadian team will still be in the hunt for the new cup after the first series play themselves out.

Even Don Cherry was reported as being supportive of this new cup and says "This is great. I love it. At least my Leafs have a chance to win something for a change."

Toronto Maple Leafs fans are excited that they can finally be assured that the Leafs will make it past the first round... unless the team ends up being disqualified when they can't get enough players off the golf course to field a team when round 2 rolls around.

David Martin is an Ottawa humour writer and you can read his original article "One Cup the Leafs can win" here.

2007 NHL Playoffs Recap and Predictions - Apr 16th

50/50 last night. Calgary surprised me with a lackluster effort. Sidney Crosby and Daniel Alfredsson lead all playoff scorers with 3 goals and 2 assists with rookies Alexander Radulov and Evgeni Malkin close behind with 4 points each.

Tonights Games:

New Jersey Devils (1) at Tampa Bay Lightning (1) : The series shifts to Tampa and the Lightning have to be happy with a split in New Jersey. Look for the big guns in Tampa to go after Martin Brodeur tonight. Tight game but Tampa will pull it off to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Preview

Buffalo Sabres (1) at New York Islanders (1) : The Islanders were rejuvenated by the return of Rick DiPietro and the Sabres looked a little weak in game 2. Expect the Sabres to come out hot and put this game away early. Preview

Nashville Predators (1) at San Jose Sharks (1) : The Predators won game 2 handily but will be missing rookie spark plug Alexander Radulov for game 3 in San Jose. Expect the Sharks to take game 3 and a 2-1 lead in the series. Preview

Recaps Day 5:

Calgary Flames 1 (0) at Detroit Red Wings 3 (2) : The Flames put themselves in a hole early as Detroit scored two power play goals within the first 4 minutes. Pavel Datsyuk is continuing to prove that he can perform in the playoffs and Nicklas Lidstrom pots the game winner.

Ottawa Senators 4 (2) at Pittsburgh Penguins 2 (1) : The Senators were determined not to repeat their third period collapse from Saturday night and pulled together to bury the Penguins in game 3. Colby Armstrong knocked Patrick Eaves out of the game with a shoulder to the head behind the Pittsburgh net. Even more shocking may have been Ottawa's Chris Phillips dropping the gloves with Evgeni Malkin? No that is not a typo, it happened.

Anaheim Ducks 2 (3) at Minnesota Wild 1 (0) : The last time the Minnesota Wild were in the playoffs they were swept in 4 games by Anaheim. History looks like it is going to repeat itself as the Ducks take a commanding 3-0 series lead. Minnesota's power play has been absolutely non-existent as the scored their first PP tally last night in 15 chances. So long Minnesota, as of now I doubt that you will push this series to 5 games, let alone the 7 I predicted.

Vancouver Canucks 2 (2) at Dallas Stars 1 (1) : Marty Turco still has some demons to excorcise. Coming off his first playoff shutout Turco saw his chance at two in a row disintegrate in the third to be followed by an overtime loss 7:47 into the first overtime period. Turco is now 1-9 in postseason over time games and has lost 5 straight home games in the playoffs. As easy as it would be to blame this loss on Turco the problem is likely up front for Dallas. Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen were the teams leading scorers in the regular season but have yet to tally a point in the postseason.

Past playoff posts:

Round 1 Predictions and Hot Players
Complete Playoff Predictions

2007 NHL Playoffs Recap and Predictions - Apr 15th

Once again my predictive powers are over powered by reality. Rick DiPietro returns for the Islanders and that carries them over top of the Sabres and the Thrashers start backup Johan Hedberg and get a win to even up that series.

Tonights Games:

Calgary Flames (0) at Detroit Red Wings (1) : 1:00 PM EST
I expect the Flames and Jarome Iginla to step up tonight and at the very least make it close. Look for a Flames win. Preview

Ottawa Senators (1) at Pittsburgh Penguins (1) : 6:00 PM EST
The Senators have to be upset about last night, expect them to come out fired up and thake game 3 of this series. Look for Heatley and Spezza to have good games. Preview

Anaheim Ducks (2) at Minnesota Wild (0) : 8:00 PM EST
Minnesota has got to be upset about the way their power play has performed over the first 2 games. A measly 0-10 they have also given up 1 shorthanded goal. Expect the faster ice in Minnesota the spur things along as Minnesota take their first game at home. Preview

Vancouver Canucks (1) at Dallas Stars (1) :9:30 PM EST
When I thought Turco was his usual playoff self this series was easier to predict. Now that Turco has broken through with a shutout it makes things a little dicier. I still think that Luongo will come back strong and that Turco will be merely normal. Vancouver takes it tonight on the road. Preview

Recaps Day 4:

New York Rangers 2 (2) at Atlanta Thrashers 1 (0) : The Thrashers decided to go with backup Johan Hedberg last night in the hopes that he could spark the team to victory. The good news is that Hedberg didn't let in any cheesy goals... well, except for the game winner that bounced off of the glass and into the net on a dump in.

Pittsburgh Penguins 4 (1) at Ottawa Senators 3 (1) : Pittsburgh comes out swinging in game 2 of the series and manages to take one at Ottawa. Crosby performs again and Gary Roberts chips in to help Pittsburgh over the Senators.

Tampa Bay Lightning 3 (1) at New Jersey Devils 2 (1) : Vinny Lecavalier scores the game winner and Johan Homqvist outplays Martin Brodeur to even up the series.

New York Islanders 3 (1) at Buffalo Sabres 2 (1) : The Islanders get Rick DiPietro back and that picks up there game enough to give them a split in Buffalo. Buffalo's vaunted offence barely shows up as their D scores both of Buffalo's goals in game 2.