Friday, April 20, 2007

Stanley Cup Playoffs, Night 9

Last night, the Thrashers became the first team to be eliminated this postseason. Tonight, they were joined by the Penguins and the Wild. The Stars, however, managed to hang on and take away a shutout win in overtime! Read summaries of all the exciting action below.

Senators 3, Penguins 0
Senators win series 4-1
Canada's capital city celebrates tonight! Dany Heatley opened the scoring on the power play a minute into the second period. Five minutes later, Antoine Vermette gave the Sens the two-goal pad. Then with two minutes left in the the period, Chris Kelly made it 3-0. And Ray Emery was definitely the star tonight in the Sens' goal net because Pittsburgh wasn't without chances to score. They blew more than their share of power plays. So tonight, the Senators join the Rangers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Versus had coverage in HD (despite what their website said).

Flames 3, Red Wings 2
Series tied 2-2
Wow! The Flames had the best home record this season, you say? Who would know? Daymond Langkow finally started playing like he's supposed to but scoring twice, including the first goal and the game-winning goal. Craig Conroy also scored for Calgary. Detroit's power play sucked and despite Todd Bertuzzi tying the game relatively quickly after Langkow's first, it wasn't enough. Like New Jersey/Tampa Bay, this series is going to at least six. They're back in Detroit for the next one. Versus has the CBC telecast. No HD.

Stars 1, Canucks 0, 1OT
Canucks lead series 3-2
The Stars live to fight another day thanks to Brenden Morrow. Everyone predicted that this would be a low-scoring series. Then Game 1 saw nine goals and everyone questioned that assessment. And then it went back to usual. Dallas snapped a six-game OT losing streak in the playoffs. I'd report on other goals — but there were none. Kudos to Marty Turco on his second shutout of the series. Versus joined the game in progress on CBC as called by Jim Houston.

Ducks 4, Wild 1
Ducks win series 4-1
The night started with a brawl — in the warm-ups. So you knew it was going to be a good one. Anaheim got the early lead on a goal from Chris Pronger a minute into the game. In the closing minutes of the second period, Marian Gaborik tied things for the Wild during a penalty kill. But 47 seconds later, Ryan Getzlaf returned the lead to the Ducks on the power play. Midway through the third, Corey Perry scored his first NHL goal to make it 3-1 and Travis Moen popped in an empty-netter in the closing moments to seal the deal. And not a single one of my predictions has been right yet! I'm 0-for-3 for god's sake!

Photos: ESPN.com, CBS Sportsline.com

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