There were two game sevens last night in the NHL, one of which had a dramatic finish while the other…didn’t. That however (and the Game Six that forced a Game Seven tonight) set the table perfectly for the last night of first round action tonight, with the final two game sevens.
The Night that Was:
It was almost fitting that the Vancouver/Chicago series went to overtime in Game Seven because of everything that had already happened in it. Alex Burrows scored the opening goal just three minutes into the first and Roberto Luongo held the fort until 1:56 left in the game when Jonathan Toews slid a puck past Luongo from the seat of his pants to tie the game shorthanded. The game had a bit of everything: Burrows had the opportunity to put the Canucks up by 2 on a penalty shot, the Canucks spent roughly a 1:45 in Chicago’s end near the end of the second period controlling the puck but failing to score, and of course overtime. In the fourth period, Burrows took a holding penalty just 24 seconds in and Roberto Luongo had to make a few key saves, which set up the winner. Burrows, fresh of his penalty, picked off a Chris Campoli clearing attempt, walked in and wired one top shelf on Corey Crawford. It was a painful end for Crawford who made 36 saves and was amazing the entire night, while Luongo stopped 30 of 32 shots. Afterwards, Toews promised that his team would get better and learn from this, but like when Chicago was down 3-0, he still identified Vancouver as beatable. Vancouver will play Nashville in the first round.
The Montreal Canadiens forced a Game Seven against Boston with a huge 2-1 win where they survived a Boston onslaught. Mike Cammalleri scored off a one-timer on a first-period power play to open the scoring, and it stayed like that until Dennis Seidenberg scored just 48 seconds into the second. Five minutes later the Habs’ Brian Gionta would score his third of the series on a 5-on-3 power play to put Boston down by one, and Carey Price would hold on for the win, making 11 saves in the third period and 31 for the game. Game Six was marred by a scary incident in the second when Milan Lucic ran Jaroslav Spacek head first into the glass, earning himself a five-minute boarding penalty which lead to that 5-on-3 that Montreal scored on. Cammalleri was his usual self in the playoffs, finishing the night with two points as Montreal and Boston will play Game Seven tonight.
There was a goalie change in last night’s Game Seven between Buffalo and Philadelphia, but it wasn’t the team you would have expected. The Flyers scored the game’s opening goal with just 19 seconds remaining in the first period and the second period featured to Philly power play goals. Ville Leino’s third was the fourth of the game and the final goal that Ryan Miller would surrender this season. He was pulled after 4 goals on 28 shots and Jhonas Enroth came in to his first NHL playoff game and Tyler Myers scored to make it 4-1. Daniel Carcillo would put the Flyers up 5-1, negating Brad Boyes’ late power play goal, as the Philly moved on to the second round with a 5-2 win. Carcillo got himself into a little bit of trouble late, as when he scored his goal he taunted the Buffalo bench, and smashed his stick on the way out when informed that he received a 10-minute misconduct. Danny Briere had a pair of points, coming up big in the playoffs once again, and Brian Boucher made 26 saves for the victory, becoming the first Philly goalie since Game Four not to get pulled. Philly will find out who they’ll play in the second round after tonight’s game sevens.
The Injury Bug:
-Detroit’s sweep has done wonders for Johan Franzen and Henrik Zetterberg as both are probable for the opener of the second round.
-Both Lars Eller and Jaro Spacek left last night’s game with injuries, but both returned. Eller left the first period with an upper body injury, while Spacek was recovering from the hit delivered by Milan Lucic.
-Mike Knuble is questionable for Game One while Mike Green and Alex Semin are probable for Game One of the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
What’s on Tonight?
Montreal heads to Boston for Game Seven of their first-round series while Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh also tangle in Game Seven action as they close out the first round.
News and Rumours Around the League:
-Ray Emery of the Ducks, Daymond Langkow of the Flames, and Ian Laperriere of the Flyers have all been nominated for the Masterton trophy.
-Word is the NHL is working on an additional financing plan to help complete the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes to Matthew Hulsizer.
Your Top Playoff Performer of the Night:
Alex Burrows, despite missing a penalty shot, turning the puck over on the game-tying goal, and taking a penalty that was nearly costly to the Canucks’ championship aspirations, was huge for the Canucks last night. He scored both goals for Vancouver and was a game-changer for them. Those first few things weren’t brought up to pick on him, but just to point out everything that he had to overcome to score that OT winner.
You can follow Bryan on Twitter at BryanThiel_88.