Chase for the Cup: 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round Up

The Tampa Bay Lightning have taken the league by storm and have the Caps frustrated and on the ropes, while Pekka Rinne frustrated the Canucks for most of the night, but in the end he was the one who was frustrated.

The Night that Was:

The Washington Capitals are in trouble. Looking to turn around a series where they dropped the first two on home ice they didn’t start out well with Sean Bergeneim scoring the only goal of the first and giving Tampa a 1-0 lead. The Caps seemed to wake up in the second however, scoring two unanswered to go ahead, and then after Vincent Lecavalier tied things up, Alex Ovechkin led by example as his fifth, coming on the power play, gave Washington the lead heading to the third. That lead wouldn’t last long though. Steven Stamkos tied the game five minutes into the third and Ryan Malone followed that one up 24 seconds later with the 4-3 goal. Tampa would hold on for a win by the same score, as Washington was out shot 15-5 in the third period—not the kind of numbers you’d expect from a team with their backs against the wall. If the Capitals lose game four, they would be swept out of the playoffs for the first time since the 1998 Stanley Cup finals against Detroit.

Once again, the Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators put on a show. In their first-ever second round game in Nashville, the Preds gave a raucous crowd something to cheer about early, as mid-way through the first David Legwand scored shorthanded to put the Preds up 1-0. One minute into the second though, a certain 40-goal scorer finally came through. That’s right, Ryan Kesler scored his first of the playoffs one minute into the second on a power play that carried over from the previous period. Chris Higgins would put Vancouver up in the third, but Joel Ward would tie things up, sending the game to OT and ensuring that all three games in this series so far have been decided by a single goal. On a power play in OT, Ryan Kesler stationed himself in front of Pekka Rinne and tipped home the Mikael Samuelsson one-timer. While that goal was frustrating, Rinne did make 44 saves while Roberto Luongo had to make just 28 saves for the Canucks to take a 2-1 lead to Game Four.

The Injury Bug:

-After going head first into the boards in game two, Adam McQuaid is questionable for Game Three against Philadelphia with a sprained neck.

-Steve Sullivan left last night’s game against Vancouver with a lower body injury, but the extent of it is unknown.

-Pavel Kubina, Dana Tyrell and Simon Gagne all missed Game Three for Tampa Bay.

What’s on Tonight?

Three games tonight and they’re all slammed together, so you better have a quick trigger finger on that remote. Philadelphia and Boston go to Game Three tonight as the Flyers look to avoid a 3-0 hole, Tampa Bay can end Washington’s season with a win to cap off the sweep, and game three goes between San Jose and Detroit a little later.

News and Rumours Around the League:

-The St. Louis Blues have signed President John Davidson to a multi-year contract extension.

-On Tuesday the City of Glendale gave the NHL $25-million, funds that are meant to cover the team’s losses while the NHL looked for a new owner.

Your Top Playoff Performer of the Night:

Ryan Kesler broke out in a goal-scoring way, as he had two power play goals (his first two of the playoffs) and an even-strength assist. He also went 13/24 on faceoffs and had an even rating in 25 minutes of ice time.

You can follow Bryan on Twitter at BryanThiel_88.