The Red Wings locked up the 5th seed in the Western Conference today with a 3-2 OT win over the Chicago Blackhawks. The Wings will head to Phoenix for a first round match-up against the 4th seeded Coyotes. Not only was the win big for the Wings, it also prevented the Hawks from clinching 1st place in the conference. That distinction goes to the San Jose Sharks for the second straight year. The Hawks will face the Nashville Predators in the first round; the Preds will likely be a much more difficult opponent for the Hawks than the free-falling Colorado Avalanche, who clinched the 8th seed by the skin of their teeth this week.
Admittedly, I didn’t watch a lot of this game, mostly due to the thrilling finish at Comerica Park today. What I did watch was a fairly lackluster game early on. Chicago’s Dave Bolland opened the scoring at 14:56 of the first period, banging a rebound past goalie Jimmy Howard for a power play goal. Patrick Eaves tied the game at 5:01 of the second period with his 12th goal of the season. Tomas Holmstrom put the Wings ahead 2-1 at 7:10 of the third period with a deflection off a Brian Rafalski slap shot. Colin Fraser evened the score at 2 just over three minutes later. The Blackhawks drew a power play late in the game, but the Wings killed off the man advantage to send the game into OT. Brad Stuart scored the game-winner at 3:11 of the extra session.
JIMMAH HOWARD
Howard has been a wall for the Wings in net lately, winning 16 of his last 19 starts. The Wings haven’t lost in regulation with Howard in net since a March 9th loss to the Calgary Flames. In those 19 starts, Howard has given up 38 goals for a 2.00 goals against average. The Wings have gone 17-3-2 since the Olympic break, earning an astounding 36 of 42 points possible, and Howard has been a big reason for this turnaround.
GOING STREAKING
The Wings recent surge clinched their 19th straight playoff berth, the longest such streak for any professional sports team. With their win against Columbus on Friday night, the Wings also secured their 10th straight 100-point season. The Blackhawks ended the Red Wings’ streak of 7 consecutive Central Division titles this season.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
The Philadelphia Flyers clinched the 7th seed in the Eastern conference with a 2-1 win over the New York Rangers. The kicker for the Flyers (and their fans) is that the win also knocks the Rangers out of the playoffs. The Montreal Canadiens are the East’s 8th seed.
Atlanta’s Evander Holyfield Kane became the darling of the NHL last night after knocking out Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke with a single punch.
WHAT’S NEXT
The NHL hasn’t released its playoff schedule yet, but the postseason is set to begin this Wednesday. As mentioned, the Wings will travel to Phoenix to play the Coyotes in the West’s 4-5 matchup. Be sure to check back this week for our drunken comprehensive Stanley Cup Playoffs preview.
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