4/14/11

Opening Night of the NHL Playoffs: Goalies Stand Tall


Day one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are in the books.  5 of the 8 series have begun and things are already shaping up to be interesting.  Two goalies, Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury and Vancouver's Roberto Luongo, recorded shutouts for their teams. One game ended in with a thrilling overtime finish, and one lower seed defeated the higher seed.



Pittsburgh 3 vs. Tampa Bay 0 (Game 1)

-Marc-Andre Fleury played solid between the pipes as he led Pittsburgh to a dominating game one victory.  Alex Kovalev, Aaron Asham, and Chris Kunitz scored for Pittsburgh in the 3rd period.  

Detroit 4 vs. Phoenix 2 (Game 1)

-The Yotes jumped out to an early 1-0 lead but Detroit responded in the second with 3 unanswered goals from veterans Pavel Datysuk, Johan Franzen, and Brian Rafalski.  Juri Hudler tacked on a 4th goal for Detroit in the 3rd but Radim Vrbata responded minutes later for Phoenix.  

Washington 2 vs. New York 1 OT (Game 1)

-Matt Gilroy tallied the first goal of the game for either team just 2:00 into the third period to give the Rangers the lead.  Just about ten minutes later Alex Ovechkin gets the tying goal on the power play for the Caps.  With just under 2:00 left in overtime, Alex Semin lights the lamp to give Washington the game 1 victory.

Here is the video:




Vancouver 2 vs. Chicago 0 (Game 1)

-Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo stole the show as he blanked the Hawks on 32 shots.  Jannik Hansen and recently acquisition Chris Higgins scored for Vancouver.

Nashville 4 vs. Anaheim 1

-In the biggest surprise of the night, the #5 seed Nashville Predators shuts down the #4 seed Anaheim Ducks.  Mike Fisher had 2 goals for the Preds, and goalie Pekka Rinne stopped 27 of 28 shots.  Teemu Selanne had the lone goal for Anaheim. 

Tonights games include Montreal vs. Boston, Buffalo vs. Philadelphia, and Los Angeles vs. San Jose.  

Just for fun, I will predict who will win each game.  If basing my picks from last night off of who will win the series, I went 4-1 with my predictions.  For tonight, I think that Montreal, Philadelphia, and San Jose will win.

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