2011 Stanley Cup Playoff Review - Round 1: (4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (5) Tampa Bay Lightning

Series Summary

Well, one team was definitely missing a superstar...but Stamkos showed some sign of life later on. Oh, you thought I was either talking about Crosby or Malkin? Ya, the Pens missed them too. To Fleury's credit, he did attempt to keep Pittsburgh in the series, but 2 blowout losses are costly. On the other end, Roloson was consistent, keeping Pittsburgh to under 3 goals in all games. In the end though, one dirty/clever goal sunk the Pens hopes of moving on.

Games

Tampa Bay Lightning 0
Pittsburgh Penguins 3

Tampa Bay Lightning 5
Pittsburgh Penguins 1

Pittsburgh Penguins 3
Tampa Bay Lightning 2

Pittsburgh Penguins 3
Tampa Bay Lightning 2 (OT)

Tampa Bay Lightning 8
Pittsburgh Penguins 2

Pittsburgh Penguins 2
Tampa Bay Lightning 4

Tampa Bay Lightning 1
Pittsburgh Penguins 0

Three Thoughts About The Series

1. Even at 41 years old, Roloson is still able to backstop a team through a playoff series.
2. The Penguins can hold there own without Crosby and Malkin, but they still need one of them for the playoffs.
3. Pittsburgh Penguins: The Anti-Pronger. They gave the game-winning puck to the Lightning in honour of assistant coach Wayne Fleming's battle with cancer.

Picture of the Series

Like Gretzky: extraordinary skills as a player, left-to-be-desired skills at being a coach.

Play of the Series

Lecavalier and St. Louis...must be 2004 again:

2011 Stanley Cup Playoff Review - Round 1: (3) Boston Bruins vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens

Series Summary

What a time to start taking prozac. The Habs started the series 2-0, with Bruins fans crying that game 2 would have been won if Chara played. My response: We've played without our top defenseman for most of the season, suck it up. Then the Bruins came back with 3 straight wins (2 in OT). Montreal survived game six. Then game seven happened. Boston went up 2-0, Montreal tied it. Boston scored midway through the third, Montreal send it to overtime. Then Nathan Horton scores to win the series for Boston. I'm gonna let that sit for a minutes. Nathan Horton. The guy who played in Florida unless this season (in other words, shouldn't know that there's hockey after the 82nd game) scores in overtime. TWICE! The only bright spot in the series for Habs fans? Boston's special teams were more of a joke then Brad Marchand's nose.

Games

Montreal Canadiens 2
Boston Bruins 0

Montreal Canadiens 3
Boston Bruins 1

Boston Bruins 4
Montreal Canadiens 2

Boston Bruins 5
Montreal Canadiens 4 (OT)

Montreal Canadiens 1
Boston Bruins 2 (OT)

Boston Bruins 1
Montreal Canadiens 2

Montreal Canadiens 3
Boston Bruins 4 (OT)

Three Thoughts About The Series

1. Price's play was near Halakian, so it's hard to put blame on him. Still, it's hard to think what would have happened if Halak was still with the Habs (side note: did we keep the receipt?).
2. Boston really needs a powerplay...and a penalty kill...basically, anything that doesn't involve 5-on-5.
3. As mentioned above: Habs eliminated = Prozac time.

Picture of the Series

What else would it be? Stay Classy, Union Boy, Stay Classy

(Photo courtesy of "Glove Malfunctions" and everyone who has ever worn a hockey glove and knows it takes a decent amount of strenght to lift a finger in it).

Play of the Series

There were a lot of great plays (seriously, if I had more time then I'd make a compilation). Here is Ryder making (and kind of over-selling) a highlight-reel save:

Round 2 Time! Part...uh...Two

Time to judge the two toughest series:

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Washington Capitals

Offensive powerhouse 1 vs. offense powerhouse 2. Really, it's hard to determine how this series will play out. The main difference is definitly goaltending as Roloson goes against a guy who's only experience was the last round against the Rangers. This series goes the distance. Tampa Bay in 7.

Detroit Red Wings vs. San Jose Sharks

This time it's consistency vs. constantly choking. With Zetterberg and Franzen returning, the Red Wings only get better. On the other hand though, the Sharks are a resilient team and have a new goalie. This will be very interesting. If the Sharks win, maybe it was Nabakov holding them back. If they lose, then the Big Three (who are now split up) are maybe the problem. I really want to go with San Jose, but Detroit looks too good to overlook. Detroit in 7.

2011 Stanley Cup Playoff Review - Round 1: (1) Vancouver Canucks vs. (8) Chicago Blackhawks

Series Summary

Well, if that was going to go as horrible as it looked, then we'd be watching the Vancouver Chokers next year. With a 3-0 series lead, it seemed like Vancouver would win the series. Then Torres took out Seabrook, leading the Blackhawks to rally and win game 4...and 5...and 6... all the while getting Luongo pulled in two of those games. Cory Schneider started game 6, and was holding his own (sans his puckhandling) until he got injured. That left Luongo to come in, and give up a goal in overtime. Game 7 was a nail-biter, with Alexandre Burrows getting the first goal, a penalty shot (which was stopped), and the game winner in overtime after Luongo re-lived his time with team Canada in last years Olympics. Oh, Burrows also got a penalty in overtime. So by scoring, he went from potential goat to folk legend in Vancouver.

Games

Chicago Blackhawks 0
Vancouver Canucks 2

Chicago Blackhawks 3
Vancouver Canaucks 4

Vancouver Canucks 3
Chicago Blackhawks 2

Vancouver Canucks 2
Chicago Blackhawks 7

Chicago Blackhawks 5
Vancouver Canucks 0

Vancouver Canucks 4
Chicago Blackhawks 3 (OT)

Chicago Blackhawks 1
Vancover Canucks 2 (OT)

Three Thoughts On the Series

1. It's distrubing to know that Corey Crawford had more points then both the Sedins in a 2 game stretch.
2. Got to hand it to Alain Vigneault for starting Cory Schneider in game 6, not that it backfired or nothing.
3. It is the time of year to try and "work the refs", but you've got to hand it to Canucks GM Gillis. He actually had the facts.

Picture of the Series

The inspiration for this section in the recaps:

Play of the Series

Alexandre Burrows exorcises the ghost of playoff failure vs. Chicago with an overtime winner:

2011 Stanley Cup Playoff Review - Round 1: (2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (7) Buffalo Sabres

Series Summary

I'll admit, I didn't watch much of this series. So here is a mailed-in recap:

• Ryan Miller earned two shutouts, and was still unable to advance to the second round.
• The Flyers started the series with Bobrovsky, switched to Boucher, then Leighton, then back to Boucher
• Daniel Brier lead all scorers with 6 goals. Claude Giroux lead with 10 points.
• Pronger was able to return for games 6 and 7, being limited to (mostly) powerplay time.

That about does it...er...I think.
Games

Buffalo Sabres 1
Philadelphia Flyers 0

Buffalo Sabres 4
Philadelphia Flyers 5

Philadelphia Flyers 4
Buffalo Sabres 2

Philadelphia Flyers 0
Buffalo Sabres 1

Buffalo Sabres 4
Philadelphia Flyers 3 (OT)

Philadelphia Flyers 5
Buffalo Sabres 4 (OT)

Buffalo Sabres 2
Philadelphia Flyers 5

Three Thoughts About The Series

1. Mike Richards: a man of respect (examples here and here)
2. Maybe Patrick Kaleta should just shut up
3. If I paid more attention to this round, this might have been a half-decent post.

Picture(s?) of the Series

Goalie Roulette: Philadelphia Style

Play of the Series

Claude Giroux vs. 4 Sabres...I'll take Giroux: