Who would have thought that after one high-scoring night, there’d be another high-scoring night in the NHL playoffs? As it turned out, Game 2 between Vancouver and San Jose was just as high-scoring as it’s Eastern Conference counterpart.
The Night that Was:
Well, Game Two was close for two periods at least. With San Jose looking to leave Vancouver with a split, rookie Logan Couture actually opened the scoring with his seventh of the playoffs on the power play. The Canucks would come back with two goals of their own in a 39-second span (including Daniel Sedin’s seventh on a power play) before Patrick Marleau would put home a power play goal that wasn’t initially called a goal, but got the review treatment. In the second period there would be just one goal, as Kevin Bieksa was sprung on a break, but the story soon became Ben Eager. Once Patrick Marleau and Bieksa fought, Eager seemed to get fired up in all the wrong ways. He would begin chirping with Ryan Kesler and eventually ran Daniel Sedin into the boards from behind to earn himself a boarding penalty. Eager would find himself in the penalty box a lot in the third with 16 minutes in penalties total, and the Canucks would capitalize on their power plays. Chris Higgins scored on the first Eager minor, while after a bench minor to San Jose, Daniel Sedin’s eighth gave the Canucks a 5-2 lead. Aaron Rome and Mason Raymond would add goals before Ben Eager charged the net, knocked in his first of the playoffs, and stood over Roberto Luongo taunting him after making it 7-3. That would earn Eager another minor and there’d be a slew of penalties handed out with ten seconds left, but that didn’t change the fact that Vancouver won 7-3 and put San Jose down 2-0 in the series. Chris Higgins, Henrik Sedin and Dan Hamhuis all had three points and three other players had two for the Canucks including Bieksa, who had the Gordie-Howe hat-trick. Game Three goes Friday in San Jose at 9:00 Eastern.
The Injury Bug:
-Patrice Bergeron is listed as probably for Game Three against Tampa Bay. He did make the trip and feels good enough to play, it’s now up to his doctors and coaches if he does.
What’s on Tonight?
Boston and Tampa Bay meet up in what’s not likely to be as high-scoring a matchup as Game Two, but you never know. The series shifts back to Tampa Bay with the two teams tied at one, with game time set for 8:00pm Eastern.
News and Rumours Around the League:
-In new arena news, the Katz Group (Edmonton Oilers ownership) and Edmonton City council have reached an agreement to build a downtown arena in Edmonton that will keep the Oilers in town for the next 35 years. Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger says that if the NHL comes to Winnipeg, it won’t be on taxpayer dollars. The Province will help make Winnipeg an acceptable spot for relocation and renovations to the MTS Centre.
-The Atlanta Thrashers fans are planning a rally to show their support for keeping the team on Saturday. A fairly large turnout is expected, while former Atlanta Braves pitcher Tom Glavine hopes the team stays, and hopes that if they can find an ownership group, he can be a part of it.
-The SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily are honoring the National Hockey League as the Sports League of the Year. A big coup for a league just a handful of years removed from a lockout that completely changed its business model.
Your Top Playoff Performer of the Night:
While there were three players with three points for the Canucks last night, Chris Higgins gets the nod. Higgins had the game-winning goal and two assists, with a power play point added in there. He also went 2/2 on faceoffs and a plus-two rating.
You can follow Bryan on Twitter at BryanThiel_88.