May 8, 2015

Michael Clifford

2015-05-08

Montreal fills the net in a must-win, Chicago sweeps Minnesota, and some thoughts on dynasty defenceman rankings.

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The Montreal Canadiens managed to extend their season by at least one game with a 6-2 bombing of the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 4. Tampa leads the series 3-1 but now have to make a trip back to Montreal for Game 5 on Saturday night for another chance to close it out.

There really wasn't a lot of rhyme or reason to this game other than Tampa looked less than their best. The Habs loaded on the shots, and have now averaged 36 shots per game in four games against Tampa. That's a bit incredible considering Montreal averaged just 24 shots per game in five games against Tampa in the regular season. As I mentioned in my Ramblings yesterday, the Habs were due for a bit of luck (Brandon Prust's goal last night comes to mind). The team was shooting 5.1-percent at five-on-five in the playoffs, and just 2-percent on the power play (all from War On Ice). Going into Game 4, they were shooting 3.8-percent (at all strengths) in three games against the Lightning. They got a lot of that luck back in this game.

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Lightning goalie Ben Bishop allowed two goals on nine shots in the first period, and then was pulled in favour of Andrei Vasilevskiy after allowing the third goal just over five minutes into the second period. Not much changed, as the Habs made it 5-0 within the next five minutes, and the game was over from there. The broadcast team in Canada was wondering aloud why to pull Bishop after the third goal. I assume Tampa coach Jon Cooper was looking to reinvigorate his team by taking out Bishop, which is a very common thing. Also, with this being the second game in as many nights, I think he gave Bishop some rest instead of having him play three full games in four nights. It seems to be much ado about nothing, and I had no issue with taking Bishop out, considering the game state at the time.

Chicago was able to do what Tampa Bay could not, and that's close out their second round series in Game 4 for the sweep. The final was 4-3, though two of those Minnesota goals came with an empty net and under two and a half minutes left. Marian Hossa tallied the game-winner (an empty-netter when it was 3-1), and Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist for a total of 13 points in 10 playoff games since returning from injury. That's pretty good, I guess.

It was a hard-fought series for the most part, but it never really seemed Chicago was in danger of choking it away after their first two wins at home. Once the 'Hawks managed three wins, it was just a matter of time until Minnesota was sent packing.

It's remarkable how quickly things change. From January 1^st through March 1^st, Chicago won just 12 of 27 games, and after Patrick Kane suffered an injury that was supposed to keep him out until a couple weeks from now, Chicago was pretty much written off. Chicago is now back in the Conference Final, and they have scored at least four goals in six of their eight playoff wins. Even if Corey Crawford were to stumble a bit in net, they are in a solid offensive groove.

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In an earlier Ramblings of the first round, I thought Devan Dubnyk's regression was kicking in after the 6-1 loss to St. Louis. Minnesota won that series, but Dubnyk finished the playoffs with a save percentage of .908, which is a fair margin under the league average in the regular season (it was .915, from Hockey Refernce). The regression was always coming, it was just a matter of when.

I say the regression was coming, but by no means was Dubnyk the sole reason for Minnesota's departure from the playoffs. He only allowed more than three goals once this postseason, so the Wild had a chance to win on almost every night. Kudos to Dubnyk on a great run.

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In a side note, Chicago d-man Michal Rozsival suffered what looked like a nasty ankle injury in the second period. He kind of toe-picked in the ice, and his left ankle was turned completely around (like, facing backwards) for a brief moment. He left the game and did not return. It looked bad, so keep an eye on his status moving forward.

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The Capitals have a chance to close out their series tonight, and the Ducks are looking to reassert themselves after kind of blowing Game 3 in an overtime loss. The Ducks don't have to win in Calgary, but it would lessen the stress if they do when they return home.

As for Washington, this team is playing a lot better than I thought they would or could. I underestimated them, and New York has their work cut out. I kind of want to see Alex Ovechkin finally win a Stanley Cup, if only so the "coach killer" garbage gets put to rest.

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