San Jose vs. St. Louis
The Western Conference Final concluded last week with the San Jose Sharks defeating the St. Louis Blues in six games. There was no clear-cut favourite to win the series, as both teams had depth up-front and on the back end, and both had been riding solid goaltending.
St. Louis quietly took a low-scoring game 1 with a score of 2-1, needing the help of Brian Elliot who stopped 32 of 33 shots. San Jose fought back in games 2 and 3, shutting out the Blues in both games. Brian Elliot wasn’t to blame for the two losses, he was okay, but he also wasn’t great. Ken Hitchcock elected to go with Jake Allen in net for game 4 in a virtual must-win game and Allen didn’t let his team down. The Blues built up a 4-0 lead after two periods, and were able to withstand three third period San Jose goals for a 6-3 win.
With the series now reduced to a best of three, San Jose went back to St. Louis looking for a win. The teams traded goals back and forth, and Joe Pavelski put home a Joe Thornton pass to tie the game at 3-3 just before the second period expired. Pavelski then scored 15 seconds into the third period after St. Louis iced the puck and could not get the right matchup out against the Pavelski-Thornton-Hertl line. That goal stood as the game-winner, and San Jose took a 3-2 series lead.
In game 6, Hitchcock decided to go back with Brian Elliot in net, but it made little difference. Less than four minutes into the game, Joe Pavelski scored on a wrap-around with Brian Elliot still locating the puck. Joel Ward added two goals, and Joonas Donskoi added another for a 4-0 Sharks lead. St. Louis would score two goals in the third period, but San Jose put the game away with an empty-netter.
The Sharks neutralized the Blues heavy forecheck and effectively shutdown the Blues deep offense through the series. The Blues could not put together enough scoring chances to match the Sharks output. After using their speed to beat the Kings and Predators, San Jose’s first two lines frustrated the Blues defenders as well, scoring a total of 12 even-strength goals between them.
Tampa Bay vs. Pittsburgh
The Eastern Conference Final finished up last Thursday night with the winner of game 7 advancing to the Finals to play the San Jose Sharks.
The first major play of this series ended up being an injury to Ben Bishop. As he gave up the puck behind the net and scrambled to get back into position, his left leg got trapped underneath his weight and looked to get twisted. He left the game and did not return, and Andrei Vasilevskiy took over. The Lightning built up a 3-0 lead and held on to steal home ice advantage and took a 1-0 lead in the series.
Game 2 started with Pittsburgh taking a 2-0 lead within the first ten minutes of the game, but Tampa Bay scored twice in the last four minutes of the first period to tie the game up. There was no scoring for the next 40 minutes, but in overtime it only took 40 seconds for Sidney Crosby to score the game-winning goal off of a Tampa Bay turnover.
Pittsburgh put 48 shots on goal in game 3, and never let Tampa Bay control the play. Despite Vasilevskiy making 41 and 44 saved in games 2 and 3, Pittsburgh took a 2-1 lead in the series.
Tampa Bay came storming out of the game in game 4, having a 2-0 lead after one, and a 4-0 lead after two. Pittsburgh outshot Tampa Bay 16-7 in the third period, scored three goals, but could not tie it up. This series was to be decided by a best of three.
Mike Sullivan switched goaltenders and went with Marc Andre Fleury in net for game 5. Matt Murray hadn’t played bad, but Mike Sullivan wanted to see if it would give Pittsburgh a spark. Tampa Bay won the game 4-3 in overtime, and Fleury was only to blame for one of the goals, but the attention was directed towards his play. Sullivan went back to Murray for game 6. Pittsburgh took a 3-0 lead, but Brian Boyle scored two goals in the third to bring the Lightning within one. With just over two minutes left, Brian Rust went in all alone on Vasilevskiy, deked him on the forehand and put the Penguins up by two goals. Backed by a solid Matt Murray effort, Pittsburgh headed back home having tied the series.
After practicing all through the third round of the playoffs, Steven Stamkos was a surprise inclusion in the game 7 roster for Tampa Bay. At the start of game 7, Pittsburgh again forced to Tampa to play in their own end, putting 39 shots on net, while Tampa Bay could only out 17 towards the Pittsburgh net. Brian Rust scored in the second period to put the Penguins up 1-0. Tampa Bay tied the game up midway through the second, but Brian Rust scored 30 seconds later to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead. This time it was for good. Stamkos played a total of 12 minutes in the game, but his team did not play well enough to win the series.
This was Pittsburgh’s toughest challenge in the playoffs, as Tampa Bay managed at times to neutralize Pittsburgh’s speed. Jon Cooper made the adjustments that Barry Trotz and the Capitals could not. Tampa Bay was aware of how quickly Pittsburgh could transition the puck from behind their net to center ice, and so they made their defenseman pinch up and block the first pass up to the blue-line, whenever they could. Pittsburgh lost their second best defenseman Trevor Daley in game 4 with a broken ankle. But like in the first two series they played, Pittsburgh showed what they could do with three different offensive lines.
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