|
|
| Daniel Briere scored his sixth goal of the playoffs, on the power-play, but the Flyers still fell 4-2 to the Caps in Game 6. Mike Richards also scored for the Flyers. |
Our View: Briere has been on fire with six goals and four assists in six games, but unless he and his mates can find a way to win Game 7, these playoffs will go down as a terrible disappointment after a great regular season.
|
|
|
|
| Cristobal Huet stopped all but two of the 35 shots thrown his way to help even the Caps series with the Flyers three games to three. |
Our View: Huet rebounded from nine goals allowed in Games 3 and 4 to hold the Flyers to two goals in each of the past two games, both Caps victories. He is clearly back on his game.
|
|
|
|
| Brooks Laich had two assists in Game 6 to help the Caps defeat the Flyers 4-2. |
Our View: Laich played all 82 games this season with only 37 points, but he has lifted his scoring exploits in the playoffs with a goal and four assists so far.
|
|
|
|
| Alexander Semin scored a goal, his third, and had an assist, his fifth, in the Caps Game 6 victory over the Flyers. |
Our View: After a 38 goal season last year, some have overlooked Semin heading into the playoffs since he scored just 26 times this season. The Flyers certainly know who he is and will need to contain him to win in Game 7.
|
|
|
|
| The Capitals fell behind 2-0 in Game 6 but they rallied behind the best player in the league as Alexander Ovechkin scored two games in the third period, including the game winner, in the Caps 4-2 victory. |
Our View: Did you really think the Flyers would be able to keep AO down? If you did you just haven't been paying attention as he is the most dominating force on skates. Oveckhin now has three goals and four assists heading into Game 7.
|
|
|
|
| Tim Thomas allowed five goals on Monday night in a Game 7 loss as his mates basically deserted him on defense. |
Our View: Thomas was solid in this series, but all most people will remember is that he allowed nine goals in the final two games after he allowed just three goals the previous three games.
|
|
|
|
| Zdeno Chara had a rough Game 7 with a (-3) on the night as the Bruins fell to the Canadiens 5-0. |
Our View: Chara did all he could in the series but in the end it wasn't nearly enough as he was held to two points and a (-1) rating in seven games.
|
|
|
|
| Alexei Kovalev had two assists and finished with a +2 in the Habs shutout of the Bruins in Game 7 of the first round. |
Our View: Kovelav had a great night when the team needed him most, and he finished the first round series with two goals and four assists.
|
|
|
|
| Andrei Kostsitsyn scored two goals and had an assist while brother Sergei scored a goal and added an assist in the Habs Game 7 victory over the Bruins. |
Our View: Andrei finished the series with five points as Sergei finished the series on a high note as well with six points against the Bruins.
|
|
|
|
| Carey Price pitched a shutout in Game 7 as he stopped all 25 shots he faced for only the fourth shutout in a Game 7 by a rookie goalie in playoff history as the Habs will move on to the second round. |
Our View: Price rebounded from two brutal outings in which he allowed 10 goals to post his second shutout of the first round for the #1 team in the East during the regular season.
|
|
|
|
| Tim Thomas will lead his Bruins mates into battle with the Canadiens tonight in the team's fourth playoff matchup in the past 18 years to go to a Game 7, this according to TSN. |
Our View: Thomas has slightly outperformed Habs goalie Carey Price in save percentage (.925 to .914) and in GAA (2.27 to 2.43), and he will have to outperform Price one more time if the Bruins hope to move on to the second round.
|
|
|
|
| Wade Redden just may end up staying with the Senators after all, this according to a report in the Ottawa Sun. "All I can say is, earlier on I met with his agent Don Meehan and we talked about going forward with Wade, I talked about maybe what they would be looking for," said GM Bryan Murray. |
Our View: Redden earned $6.5 million this past season and will likely have to take a pay cut to stay in Ottawa moving forward. Redden will interest a whole of team's this off-season if he is willing to lower his asking price, but it remains to be seen if he will have to lower it that much given the current financial dynamics in the NHL.
|
|
|
|
| Alexander Ovechkin and his mates take on the Flyers in Game 6 tonight needing to win two straight games to make it to the second round, this according to TSN. "People expect him to have two goals every game. It doesn't happen," said Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau. "He can contribute in many ways." |
Our View: Ovechkin has five points in the five games played, though after a 65 goal season he has only one goal so far against the Flyers.
|
|
|
|
| Scott Niedermayer has been fined $500,000 by the NHL for missing training camp this season, this according to TSN. Here is the line from the CBA: "For each day a Player does not report to Training Camp without his Club's permission, his pay will be reduced by 1/275th of his annual salary..." Since Scott earned $6.75 million, that works out to $500,000 in fines. |
Our View: Ducks GM Brian Burke is trying to get the fine reversed, but it looks like it might stick. At this point, with the Ducks eliminated from the playoffs, we doubt Scott cares much about the money.
|
|
|
|
| Jeremy Roenick was a healthy scratch in Game 6 because HC Ron Wilson said he needed a rest, this according to the San Jose Mercury News. |
Our View: Odds are great that he will be active for Game 7 as this is the very type of situation that the team brought him in for during the off-season.
|
|
|
|
| Milan Michalek has been held pointless for the Sharks during the first six games of their series with the Flames, this after he was the team's second leading goal scorer during the regular season, according to the San Jose Mercury News. |
Our View: Things are so bad for Michalek that he led a 3 on 1 breakaway that ended up with him trying to fake out Miikka Kiprusoff by stick handling around him. He didn't even get a shot on goal. Game 7 is tomorrow, and the Sharks should could use a Michalek sighting badly.
|
|
|
|
| Dan Ellis and his teammates might have fallen to the Wings in the first round, but that doesn't mean that the Wings weren't impressed with the goalie who posted a .938 save percentage, this according to the Tennessean. "There was no guy more fortunate in this series than Ellis," Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "Things seemed to be working really well for him, and I thought he was fantastic and he gave them an opportunity." |
Our View: Ellis was also spectacular during the year with a .924 SV% during the season, and it appears that Chris Mason better get used to backup duties as there is no doubt Ellis will be the team's #1 option next year.
|
|
|
|
| Jason Arnott missed Game 5 with the flu, but now word is leaking out that he actually had a concussion, which is why he missed Game 6, according to the Tennessean. "Arnie is our captain, our leading scorer and he's a huge presence in locker room and on the ice. When you do lose guys like that, it's tough,'' goalie Dan Ellis said. |
Our View: Apparently the team honestly didn't know that he had a concussion, this wasn't an example of purposeful deception, but the bottom line is that he was unavailable as the Preds fell to the Wings.
|
|
|
|
| Evgeni Nabokov is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, given to the league's best goaltender. The Sharks goalie posted a league-best 46 wins this past season. He managed six shutouts and a 2.14 GAA. |
Our View: It was quite the comeback season for Nabokov. He struggled mightily in 2005-06 and shared his duties last season.
|
|
|
|
| Henrik Lundqvist is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, given to the league's best goaltender. It's the third straight season he's been a finalist, but Lundqvist has yet to take home the hardware. He won 37 games, posted a league-best 10 shutouts, and boasted a 2.23 GAA during the 2007-08 season. |
Our View: Third time is the charm? We don't need to tell anyone that Lundqvist is one the best fantasy goalies around.
|
|
|
|
| Martin Brodeur is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, given to the league's best goaltender. He won the award for the third time following the 2006-07 season, and this marks the eighth time he is a finalist. Brodeur won 44 games, pitched four shutouts, and posted a 2.17 GAA this past season. |
Our View: Yeah, Marty is pretty good at stopping pucks.
|
|
|
|
| Gary Roberts didn't practice on Sunday, but the Penguins expect him to be ready for Game 1 of their next series, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. Roberts has missed the last two games due to a groin injury. |
Our View: Roberts netted two goals in the opening win against Ottawa, and the Pens obviously hope he can rediscover that touch. The veteran is typically not one of their better scorers, though.
|
|
|
|
| The Red Wings have tabbed Chris Osgood as their starter entering the second round of the playoffs, ESPN.com reports. Osgood replaced Dominik Hasek midway through the Game 4 loss to the Predators in round one. |
Our View: We've always heard that rotating goalies is a good idea in the playoffs. Wait, no, just the opposite is true. Hopefully Osgood can stay hot.
|
|
|
|
| Patrice Bergeron is almost assured of missing Game 7 against the Canadiens on Monday night, the Boston Globe reports. |
Our View: We'll update his status again if the Bruins get by the Habs.
|
|
|
|
| Mike Knuble has a partial tear in his left hamstring, and he may not be ready to play should the Flyers advance past the Capitals. "I wanted to see how it responded after a night's sleep and whether it calmed down, but it's still not there," he informs the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I don't think it will be as long as Mike Richards' [similar injury]. Hopefully, we'll get through here and see what happens after that." Richards missed three weeks when he injured his hamstring. |
Our View: Knuble's ailment is obviously knot good knews for the Flyers, as he knotched five points in the first four games of the series. The Flyers are now forced to shuffle around their lines and insert less experienced players.
|
|
|
|
| Jeff Schultz practiced on Sunday, but he is still questionable for Game 6 against the Flyers due to back spasms, the Washington Post reports. |
Our View: The Caps lost both games that Schultz has played this series, but we're sure that's just a coincidence.
|
|
