Running over the Devil
Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Johan Holmqvist is proving me wrong. At least for the last two games he has.
The achille's heel of the Lightning for most of the season has been quality between the pipes. The strength of the New Jersey Devils has always been built from the goal on out. This playoff series is like Bizarro World, because the better goaltending has begun to sway south to Florida. Lightning keeper Holmqvist made 30 saves last night to help his club to a 3-2 win and a 2-1 series lead over the Devils. Brodeur allowed 3 goals on 24 shots in the game.
The big three of the Lightning owned the Devils last night. Vincent Lecavalier scored his fourth goal of the series, Brad Richards added a score of his own, and Martin St. Louis assisted on all three including the game winner by Vaclav Prospal.
What's up with the Devils? The biggest surprise so far is goaltender Martin Brodeur, who has now allowed 3 goals in each of three games in the series. The Devils are without question one of the best shutdown teams in the league, led by the stingy play of Jay Pandolfo. However, the Lightning, specifically Lecavalier seem unaffected by their defensive efforts. So what do they do to turn things around? It's gotta start with Brodeur. This team lives and dies by his play. Goals have always been a rare commodity for the New Jersey Devils and if this series turns into a shootout, I don't see them on the winning end of it.
Quick Shave:
The Buffalo Sabres defeated the New York Islanders 3-2 last night and took a 2-1 series lead last night on the Island. All five goals were scored in the second frame. Islanders forward (and captain?) Alexei Yashin was demoted to the fourth line last night, and played on the power play. Either Nolan is trying to light a quick fire under the forward, or has given up on him. I still think the Islanders have a chance in this series (a small one), they haven't been blown away by the Sabres thus far, and have held their own. They need to be at their best (bring their 'A' game, give 110%, play for 60 minutes, etc.) if they want to win this series. The San Jose Sharks welcomed the Nashville Predators to the Shark Tank for Game 3 of the series and responded with a 3-1 win. The Sharks hammered the Predators goaltender Tomas Vokoun with 41 shots, while Sharks keeper Evgeni Nabokov only had to face 20. The Sharks sport one of the finest offensive corps entering the playoffs this year, and last night was a great example of it (peace through superior fire power). The Sharks now have a 2-1 series lead over the Predators.
Game of the Night:
Atlanta at NY Rangers 7:00 PM
Ottawa at Pittsburgh 7:00 PM
Vancouver at Dallas 8:00 PM
Anaheim at Minnesota 9:00 PM
Detroit at Calgary 10:00 PM
A long night of sweet delicious hockey! I think this schedule speaks for itself. Enjoy the games!
Your friend on ice,
Captain bosh
Comments
Nice parenthetical use of sports cliches, Bosch. All I can add to your analysis is this: if the team wants to win, they've got to score more goals!
The Islanders played a very respectable game last night, they just came up a little short. Though I think Buffalo is the better team, you have to give credit to the Isles and Ted Nolan. They play a very patient game and the desire is there (exception being Yashin, maybe, though that's certainly nothing new). I'm kind of hoping now that they'll be able to keep Ryan Smyth in town next year. Sorry Canada. Smyth's a good fit on the Island and he could do a lot for that team with a full season to work in front of DiPietro.
Lights out in Minnesota tonight??? I hope so. The dude who's in first in our playoff league drafted Selanne this week. Would be nice to limit him to one game.
Posted by: Stache | April 17, 2007 12:12 PM
This is my favorite of all time:
"Their third line would be a first line on any team in this league"
or the draft day special:
"We had this kid pegged as a first rounder"
(which is why you picked him on day 2 in round 7?)
I hope the Isles can sign Smyth and Blake. Similiar players, that really represent the blue collar style of this club.
Posted by: Cap | April 17, 2007 10:16 PM