I guess that shorter period of rest helped New York out, eh?
Tampa Bay shouldn't worry because they have Vezina Finalist Ben Bishop in net. The series will definitely be tough because both teams are obviously good enough to be there. We saw Tampa Bay in the Stanley Cup last year and they are still able to get back there. New York also has a good case to win because they fought more in their previous series than Tampa did. Florida put up a good fight and New York was able to win in multiple OT games. Round Two is going to be tough, to say the least. Welcome to the second round, St. Louis Blues! They defeated the Blackhawks, the defending champions, in a tough game 7. St. Louis is truly a force to be reckoned with and will face Dallas in the next round.
Now about those Predators... Thanks to them the first round is still underway! They saved themselves today in a 3-1 victory over the Ducks. Nashville is an extremely physical team and I've said that before (I think!) and they are doing everything they can to get under Anaheim's skin. The Ducks will do their best to avoid their demons and win game 7. We'll see the end of this on Wednesday. So another kid tagged along with the other new kids that I talked about and their name is the New York Islanders.
In a thrilling OT victory in a playoff series filled with them, the Panthers were defeated by New York's last standing team. Tune in tomorrow to see who joins the fun because at least one is guaranteed to come! ***Previously on the NHL playoffs:
The Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Detroit Red Wings even after they went to the playoffs for the 25th straight season. The San Jose Sharks did their job and beat LA in a *quick* series. The tables turned when Carl Hagelin the man who sent the Pittsburgh Penguins home last year in their series against New York did the opposite this year... On today's schedule, we welcomed two new teams to the second round. The Capitals came back from dropping 2 straight games and silenced the naysayers with a 1-0 win in Philadelphia. In Minnesota, the Stars won a tight game against the Wild and will move on for the first time since 2008. That was wild because the Stars almost blew a 4 goal lead. The second intermission included the fans booing their own team but they quickly changed that attitude when their team started to chip away at Dallas's lead. That game was stressful and nail-biting, which is everything a playoff game should be. So, Lightning, Sharks, and Penguins walk into the second round and.... that's not possible because Lightning and Sharks can't walk but you get the point.
Congrats to the Penguins for killing it today! What's so impressive about them is how they had a rough patch in the season and people counted them out of the playoffs but here they are! I love turn-arounds and this one is good example. We'll see a Game 7 on Monday which is frustrating and exciting, depending on who you support. It's not the playoffs without at least one series going to 7 games. The game in Anaheim today was great! Nashville is such a physical team and they are doing everything to stay alive but Anaheim is resisting them by not taking penalties. Both teams want to hurt each other but they know that they need to stop taking penalties. The series continues on Monday in Nashville and I highly recommend watching it. The Penguins are playing the Rangers right now on NBC! Tune in to see if they will move on and eliminate New York from the playoffs.
The Blues also have a chance to move on in today's game vs. Blackhawks at 8 pm ET on NBC. The Predators travel to Anaheim in the tied series to see which team will take the lead. The game begins at 6 pm ET on NBCSN. I hope everything goes well for your team today because playoffs are a stressful time. Don't forget that this is also the best time in hockey and enjoy the ride while it lasts! The party has officially begun now that the Lightning have someone to celebrate with after reaching the second round. The next guest comes from San Jose and dominated in their game today.
The game was insane because you thought they were going to win it when they were up 3 goals to none, but playoff hockey happened and Los Angeles came back to tie the game. Towards the end of the final period, San Jose ran away with the game and scored 3 more goals (including an empty-netter.) Great job to San Jose for showing up strongly in these games and playing like a contender. We'll see what happens next. Congrats to the Tampa Bay Lightning on being the first team to move on to the next round in the playoffs yesterday! Their opponent in the next round is tied 2-2 in the series and the winner today will lead the series.
Today, Washington has a chance to move on if they defeat Philadelphia, San Jose also has a chance if they eliminate Los Angeles, and Dallas can move on if they beat Minnesota. Washington and Dallas are at home and San Jose is on the road (but they had the best road record in the regular season!). Stay tuned for all the games today because we may have three more guests to the party! Philadelphia vs. Washington: Wow!!! Philadelphia was on the brink of elimination and they survived! Who knows if this series will extend any longer than the next game, but it still exceeded expectations with today's win. Major victory by the Flyers today and well done!
Florida vs. New York: A tied series!!! This is what the playoffs are made of!! It's really nice to see southern team in the playoffs and still alive and kicking. Florida has been a sweet surprise this year and they are a great team to watch on and off the ice. The Islanders are also great because the franchise has really built itself up over the years. They have a great history from the 80s but since then they were forgotten in New York. It's great to see them do so well and it's impressive what they've done. Both teams are great examples of why building up your team in prospects is the way to go. Sorry I haven't been actively promoting the playoffs and I hope to only get better during this crazy time. Western Conference
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ThoughtOne century of this game and League is a wonderful milestone to celebrate. Let's hope to do this in the next century! Archives
October 2017
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