Eastern Conference First Round Recap

With the Islanders 2-1 double overtime win, we now know the second round matchups in the Eastern Conference. The Islanders will play the well-rested Tampa Bay Lightning, and the other matchup will feature a Crosby-Ovechkin showdown. Fans this year are treated to a particularly exciting second round, as this is only the second time Crosby and Ovechkin will be facing each other in the playoffs. The Lightning-Islanders matchup should also be a good series, as it looks to be reasonable balanced.

I’m looking forward to both, but before the second round gets started, let’s review what we have seen over the last two weeks.

To be frank, none of the four series were as entertaining as I would have liked a first-round series to be, but there were some exciting and interesting moments in each of the four series.

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Washington Capitals:

On paper this series looked to be a mismatch, and at certain times in the series it certainly was the case, but the Capitals needed to earn their way to the second round. If there is anything this series should be known for it should be physicality. Right from the start both teams did not hesitate to make contact with each other. There were even some scary incidences.

Braden Holtby turn aside all 19 shots he faced in game 1, and the Capitals cruised to a 1-0 series lead. The Flyers got some bad news as they learned Sean Couturier would not be available for the remainder of the series, after being boarded by Alex Ovechkin midway in the second period.

The Capitals scored 7 powerplay goals over games 2 and 3, and won by a scores of 4-1 and 6-1. Game 3 was ugly for a number of reasons. The Flyers paid tribute to Ed Snider before the start of game 3, and the energy in the building translated to a Flyers goal in the first minute of the game. However, the Flyers could not generate much the rest of the game, and the Capitals ended the game with 4 third period powerplay goals. One of those penalties was as a result of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare hitting Dmitry Orlov from behind. At this point, frustrated Flyers fans somehow felt it was okay to throw commemorative Ed Snider wrist bands onto the ice in the third period.

Down 3-0 in the series, Dave Hakstol decided to go with Michael Neuvirth in net, and he did not disappoint. Neuvirth allowed 1 goal in a 2-1 Flyers win in game 4, and had a 44-save shutout in game 5 in which his team managed a win despite taking only 11 shots. He was equally brilliant in game 6, but all the Capitals needed was one goal to eliminate the Flyers. The Flyers only managed to score 6 goals in the series, as the line of Giroux, Voracek, and Simmonds was effectively contained by the Capitals.

New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins were coming into the Playoffs as one of the three hottest teams to end the regular season. The way the Penguins played since January did not look like good news for New York, but the Rangers couldn’t be counted out. This was also the third straight year that the Penguins and Rangers were matched up in the first round of the playoffs, with the Rangers winning the previous two years.

The first period of the first game looked like New York was going to win the series that night. They pressured the Pens into turnover after turnover and it looked like the Rangers were going to be a strong match for the Penguins. But the Penguins found ways to score, and even when the Rangers did look to score on a powerplay and tie the game at two a piece, the Penguins scored a short-handed goal to push the game away from the Rangers. Game 1 went to the Penguins who started Jeff Zatkoff in net as a result of injuries to Marc-Andre Fleury and rookie Matt Murray. Henrik Lundqvist caught a stick in the eye and did not play in the second and third period, however he was re-evaluated and remained in the rest of the series.

The Rangers won game 2, and were in game 3 till the 3^rd period when Matt Cullen broke the tie with a breakaway goal. The Penguins had started Matt Murray in goal and he made 16 saves to give the Pens a 2-1 lead in the series. Game 4 is where the wheels fell apart for the Rangers. Pittsburgh scored in the first minute of the game, and won the game 5-0, scoring three powerplay goals.

With their backs against the wall, it looked like the Rangers would battle to win game 5, but that did not happen. The Penguins took over a 2-2 tie in game 5 and scored four even-strength goals to ice the game and the series. Pittsburgh’s energetic forecheck and speed through the neutral zone made the decently-put-together Rangers look like a mediocre team. Henrik Lundqvist, although was not helped by his teammates on many goals against, had a few of his own that were not good enough.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Even though Tampa Bay was missing Steven Stamkos and Anton Stralman, Detroit’s chances did not look good in this series.

The story in this series seemed to be Detroit’s inability to stop Tampa Bay from breaking the tie near the end of the game. In game 1, Alex Killorn batted the puck out of the air to break a 2-2 tie with less than 9 minutes to play in the game. The series looked closer than it seemed, but in Game 2 Tyler Johnson’s two goals and two assists helped the Lightning to a 5-2 win and a 2-0 series lead. For game 3, the Red Wings decided to change goaltenders and went with Petr Mrazek, whose 16 saves led them to a 2-1 series deficit.

Game 4 ended with a 3-2 Tampa Bay win, with Andrej Palat scoring the winning goal with less than three minutes to play. Nikita Kucherov had two goals in this game, and this was his 10^th multi-point playoff game; no other NHL player has had 10 multi-point playoff games since the start of the 2015 Playoffs.

Facing elimination in game 5, the Red Wings battled to keep the Lightning in check and the game remained scoreless till the dying minutes. With less than two minutes left, Petr Mrazek’s pass behind the net was intercepted by Ryan Callahan, and passed to Alex Killorn who deposited it into the net for a 1-0 Lightning win, and a 4-1 series win.

This may have been the last time that Pavel Datsyuk played in the NHL, with rumours suggesting a return to Russia next year. Though Datsyuk and Zetterberg were one and two in regular season scoring for the Red Wings, the two of them had one point between them throughout the entire series.

New York Islanders vs. Florida Panthers

The New York Islanders finished as the higher seeded wild-card and so were crossed over to the Atlantic division to face the Florida Panthers. This series lacked context. I guess seeing the 44-year old Jaromir Jagr play in the Playoffs was of some interest to hockey fans. The only history of importance in this series was the fact that the Panthers had not won a Playoff series since 1996 when they went all the way to the Finals, and the Islanders had not won a Playoff series since 1993 (I was three months old).

Game 1 saw Florida jumping to 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 leads only to see the Islanders tie the game shortly afterwards. At the start of the third period, the Islanders scored 2 quick goals to take a 5-3 lead. Thomas Greiss turned away 15 of the 16 third period shots he faced and earned his 1^st career playoff win.

It was Roberto Luongo that stole the show in game 2 as his 41 saves helped the Panthers even up the series. Game 3 saw the Panthers blowing a 3-1 lead, and Thomas Hickey scoring midway through overtime to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead.

The Panthers fought back in game 4 and rookie defenceman Michael Matheson scored with less than ten minutes left in the game to help tie the series up for the Panthers.

To make up for the lack of context in this series, the Panthers and Islanders decided to make some of their own by going to double overtime in game 5. Rookie Alan Quine scored on the powerplay, and Thomas Greiss made 47 saves to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead.

Game 6 included much of the same from both teams; not a lot of offensive chances, and some tight checking. But the Panther jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a Jonathan Huberdeau goal near the end of the first period. The Islanders really struggled to create anything towards the Panthers net the rest of the game. After blocking a Panthers attempt towards an empty Islanders net, Nick Leddy skated the puck all the way to the other end, passed it to Nikolay Kulemin. Roberto Luongo fought off Kulemin’s shot but could not locate it; John Tavares found it besides a sprawled out Luongo and tucked it into the empty net. Brooklyn went crazy and the Islanders and Panthers headed to overtime again. First overtime didn’t solve anything, and it was the second overtime where Tavares found a loose puck and wrapped it around another empty net as an exhausted Roberto Luongo could not make it over to the other side in time. The Islanders to the game and the series and made history as the first time since the playoff format change that a wild-card team crossing over was able to beat the first place team of the other division.

On to the next round:

The good thing about the second round in the Eastern Conference looks to be the how evenly the matchups are balanced. Both series should be able to go to 6 games, but we should just be happy that we get to see another Crosby-Ovechkin matchup.