Allsports gives a brief Update on the NHL Playoffs

I was going to do an update on the NHL playoffs but decided to do just a brief over view and then once I got started it turned into anything but brief.

There have really been no surprises as far as allsports is concerned.

I will mention that the Calgary Flames and Chicago Black Hawks series is tied at two games a piece now with both teams winning their games at home.

This is the best series of them all and is turning into a pretty nasty, in your face affair. Calgary tied it with a 5-4 win but scored their fifth goal late in the game.

The Hawks never quit and came back from a 4-1 deficit.

It was good old smash mouth hockey.

So, the faint of heart like Gary Bettman should watch the girls play in the NBA; they play again on Saturday night and it is by far the best entertainment for sports on the web or any other media.

Game five is back in Chicago and the start time is 8 p.m. check it out, as it should be a wild one.

This is going to be a long series as predicted. The Hurricanes scored the winning goal the other night with 0.2 seconds on the game clock to post a, 4-3, victory and tie the series at two games each.

Martin Brodeur lost it a bit when he found out the goal beat the buzzer because he had felt that he was interfered with. It was ruled incidental contact and the goal stood.

The Bruins put Montreal out of their misery last night with a convincing 4-2 win. The Hab’s didn’t win a game and were swept four straight.

Michael Ryder scored two goals and assisted on another against his former team and was arguably the Bruins biggest threat in the series, scoring four goals in the four games.

Montreal was pretty banged up for the series and missing some key players but I don’t think the outcome would be in doubt even with a healthy roster. Roberts Lang’s offence could never be replaced when he severed his Achilles tendon about half way through the season.

It was about at that time Montreal started to slide. That being said Montreal was just too small and played too soft lacking the grit required to compete against the Bruins.

All that can be said in this series is Roberto Luongo 4, St Louis Blues 0.

Luongo was outstanding again as the Canucks won series clinching game four in overtime. The Blues played their best game of the series and threw everything they had at Luongo but he didn’t crack and held the fort.

The Blues were something like 0-24 on the power play. The Canucks will now get a 7-10 day break to lick there wounds and rest for the next series.

Henrik Lundqvist did it to the Capitals again last night, stopping 39 shots in a 2-1 win.

The Rangers lead the series three games to one. I picked the Caps in six for this series but also said Lunqvist could steal the show, which he has, so far.

Without him it is 3-1 the other way.

Henrik got the win in spite of jerk off Sean Avery’s antics. Avery was in the box for at least ten minutes in penalties and Tortorella must be seething. Look when the camera pans the Rangers bench and you will see Avery sitting by himself.

Even his teammates don’t want anything to do with him. 

Marc Andrea Fleury took a page out of Luongo’s book the other night making 45 saves, stealing the game as Pittsburgh beat the Flyers 3-1 and also took a 3-1 series lead.

Pittsburgh can close it out tonight at home but something tells me Richards, Carter and company are not quite done yet.

Chris Osgood was very good again in the net for the Wings the other night in Columbus. Detroit posted a 4-1 win to go up 3-0 in the series.

Detroit is just too strong for the Blue Jackets and their depth and experience are really showing through. This series will likely be over after tonight’s game, with a Detroit sweep. Detroit rarely makes a mistake and when they have Osgood has stood tall in the net.

Dan Boyle and Rob Blake put their Sharks teammates on their collective backs and carried them to a 4-3 victory in game three.

Boyle had two goals and one assist, while Blake contributed one of each. Anaheim now leads the series 2-1 with game four tonight in Anaheim.

Is it just me but could they not come up with a better name than the Ducks. What a BS name for a hockey team. Well at least they aren’t mighty anymore because that was truly a Micky Mouse name.

They say that in order to get through the playoff grind and have a realistic shot at the Stanley Cup. You have to have at least one short series out of the four.

So, right now the best bets for the cup are Vancouver, Boston and Detroit—maybe Pittsburgh, if they can finish the Flyers tonight.

“No Guts No Glory”

Walt Webb

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