Rangers Fight Back to Force Game Seven

The brawl at the end of the Rangers' 1-0 Game 6 victory over the Capitals shows both teams' desire to win the series. (Scott Levy)

Elimination games have a special edge to them. One team is trying to put the finish touches on their hard work, while the other is fighting to stay alive. It becomes like a chess match, which can be the perfect situation for the team desperate to survive. It certainly was tonight for the New York Rangers.

When Washington Capitals center Mike Ribeiro scored in overtime of Game 5 to give his team a 3-2 lead in the best of seven series, Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist slammed his stick in disgust. It was a save he felt he should of made. With his team facing elimination in just two days, Lundqvist knew he must be better in order to help his team survive.

Game 6 was a physical affair from the get go. Neither team was able to generate much of an offensive flow. It was not until midway through the second period that one of the series' top stars had the puck break his way. From just inside the blue line, Rangers center Derick Brassard faked a shot and then let one rip. The puck clipped the glove of Capitals defenseman Steven Oleksy and sailed through a screen set by Brassard's linemate Rick Nash in front.

The goal was originally credited to Nash, but was properly credited to Brassard after replay revealed the puck deflected off Oleksy instead of Nash. The goal was Brassard's second of the series to go along with five assists. Nash has not found the net yet, but has been a presence in front of the Capitals net creating traffic in front of netminder Braden Holtby.

Meanwhile, Lundqvist faced only 15 shots through the first two periods, but he knew he must stay sharp to protect the Rangers' slender lead. As it turned out, the Rangers relied on Lundqvist to come up with a number of crucial saves in the final period. When the final horn finally sounded, a fight broke out between the sides, but it did not matter. Lundqvist had stopped all 27 shots he had faced for his seventh career NHL playoff shutout.

The Rangers-Capitals series is now 3-3, but the task does not get any easier from here for the Rangers. They must now travel to and play in what is sure to be a hostile environment at the Verizon Center. The home team has won every game up to this point in the series. This means that the Rangers must now do what they have failed to do so far in the postseason, win in the nation's capital. Something tells me that Lundqvist and the rest of his teammates will be more than ready to give it their best shot.

Capitals Survive to Force Game 7

Photo Credit: Susan Walsh/AP Photo

You thought the Washington Capitals were done for. That's what the Capitals players have been thriving off of. Forward Joel Ward told reporters, "I think everyone's been counting us out since the beginning of the playoffs. Within ourselves, we're very confident in ourselves and our abilities." This is a bold statement from a player who cost his team a Game 5 win by committing a foolish high-sticking penalty near the end of the third period. Many people, commentators and writers alike, thought that the Capitals would fold under the pressure of a must-win game, just like they had done time and time again in recent years. But the Capitals were determined to not let that stop them this year.

In Game 6, the Capitals came out right away on a mission. This mission, to attack quickly and aggressively, was led by their star and captain, Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin was coming off a surprisingly poor Game 5, in which he had zero shots. Determined to not let this happen again, the Caps pieced together some pretty passing to set up Ovie for a one-timer. The two-time NHL MVP made no mistake about it as he blistered home the game's first goal, just 88 seconds into the first period. From there, it was basically the Braden Holtby Show. Holtby, despite being a playoff rookie goalie, absolutely stood on his head once again. Again and again, the Rangers shots and plays were snuffed out by Holtby. Midway through the second period, Jason Chimera tapped in a deflected shot to double the Capitals' lead. The confidence of the Capitals and their home crowd continued to grow.

As the third period drew to a close, the Rangers continued their onslaught of shots, trying to get anything past Holtby. Marian Gaborik finally did with less than a minute left, but it was too little, too late. Holtby and the Capitals held on to win 2-1 to force a Game 7 at Madison Square Garden. I still believe the Rangers are the better team, but the Capitals have proved that you can't count them out. This Capitals team is not a team of years past, but they still need one more must-win to advance. They haven't been able to do this in the past, but this year's squad has shown that they are capable of making it happen. Game 7 should be a dandy. The winner gets a date with the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Ward's Overtime Goal Caps Off Series

Photo Credit: Brian Babineau/Getty Images

Despite being among the Stanley Cup favorites the past four seasons, the Washington Capitals could not seem to garner success in the playoffs. This season, the Capitals got off to a slow start, and it cost head coach Bruce Boudreau his job. The Capitals improved some, but inconsistency plagued the team. There was doubt late in the season that this team would even make the playoffs. They put together a late run and made it in as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. Their reward was that they drew the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins.

The Capitals refused to be intimidated. For once, they were the underdogs and didn't have the pressure of the highest of expectations. The Capitals seemed to use this to their advantage. Every time the Bruins would get a win, the Capitals had a response. But then in Game 6, the Bruins staved off elimination by winning in overtime. This meant it all came down to a must-win Game 7. Would the Capitals have another response to the Bruins? Goaltender Tim Thomas and the Bruins owned Game 7s last season and hoped to do the same this year. Matt Hendricks opened up the scoring in the first, giving the Caps a 1-0 lead. In the second period, Tyler Seguin found the equalizer for the Bruins on a nice physical hustle play. The two sides had opportunities the rest of the way, but this one was headed for overtime.

This didn't really come as a surprise because this is the fourth out of seven games in the series that went to overtime. Early in overtime, the Bruins tried to dump the puck in, but the play was broken up by the Capitals. Former Bruin Mike Knuble gained control and ripped a shot. Thomas made the nice save, but gave up the rebound. Joel Ward was right there to put the backhanded winner in the net. Just like that, the Capitals actually won a playoff series, and the defending champions were ousted. Maybe for once, the Capitals have saved their best play for the playoffs. It is still too early to tell, but this series win alone was nice when you consider the ups and downs this team has gone through this season.

NHL Playoffs: Overtimes Common Theme of Day Two

Boston Bruins 1

Washington Capitals 0

Sometimes all it takes is one goal. That was the case with Game 1 of the Boston Bruins vs. Washington Capitals series. Both offenses came out a bit sluggish and both these goaltenders were determined to let nothing cheap in. Both teams had some chances in regulation, but neither one could light the lamp. About one minute into overtime, Capitals center Marcus Johansson took a shot that was saved by Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. That started a counterattack by the Bruins. Brian Rolston found Benoit Pouliot who quickly passed it to Chris Kelly. Kelly buried the winner over the glove of Capitals goalie Braden Holtby. Despite being the Caps third-string goalie, Holtby played extremely well, saving 29 Bruins shots. But it was the Bruins who capitalized on the opportunity early in overtime.

San Jose Sharks 3

St. Louis Blues 2

Early in the season, many Sharks fans whined and complained about Martin Havlat's play. Then, he injured his hamstring and was forced to miss nearly half of the regular season. Havlat returned just in time to aid the Sharks in their playoff push. He aided them in a big way in Game 1 in St. Louis. With the game knotted at 2, it headed to overtime. No one scored in the first period and the second one was drawing to a close, until the Blues struggled to clear the puck and Havlat found the puck on his stick and made them pay for the second time on the night. Thus, the visiting Sharks took Game 1.

Phoenix Coyotes 3 Chicago Blackhawks 2

The Blackhawks got on the board first when Jonathan Toews scored in his first game back. The Coyotes responded though in the second period with two goals of their own to take the lead. Goaltender Mike Smith and the Coyotes looked like they could hold off the Blackhawks to secure the win in regulation, but Brent Seabrook put in a rebound for the equalizer with 14.2 seconds left to send this game to overtime. In overtime, Coyotes center Martin Hanzal barely redirected Adrian Aucoin's shot, but it turned out to be enough to be the winner. Smith played outstanding in net for the Coyotes. He finished with 43 saves.

Photo Credits

Boston Bruins Celebration: Brian Babineau/Getty Images

San Jose Sharks Celebration: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

Martin Hanzal Celebration: Ross D. Franklin/AP Photo

NHL Playoff Scenarios a Plenty Coming Into Final Day

Thursday was certainly a big day for the NHL. All sixteen teams locked their place in the playoffs. However, there is still a lot of seeding to be determined in the teams' final games Saturday. All thirty teams will be in action for just the 4th time in NHL history. There are 29 potential first-round playoff series matchups. The talented folks at NHL.com put together this chart, so that you can easily see all of them. I will try and breakdown and explain some of the possible implications of Saturday's games.

The Presidents' Trophy is up for grabs. The St. Louis Blues (107 points) came into Friday trailing the Vancouver Canucks (109 points) and New York Rangers (109 points) for the lead. A win on Friday would make it a three-way tie with all three teams playing decisive games on Saturday. The tiebreaker is total wins, which means the Rangers hold the edge with 51. The winner gets guaranteed home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

Blogger Update: The Phoenix Coyotes defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-1 Friday night. This eliminates the Blues from Presidents' Trophy contention. The Coyotes now lead the Pacific Division and have the correlated #3 seed.

With a win Friday, the Phoenix Coyotes would take the Pacific Division lead with 95 points. The Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks are both in contention for the division title as well with 94 points heading into Saturday's games. On Thursday, the Kings beat the Sharks 6-5 in a shootout at home. On Saturday, the teams faceoff again in San Jose. The Coyotes play at the Minnesota Wild in their final game. The division winner will get the #3 seed for the playoffs and home ice for the first-round.

The Southeast Division title is still able to be won. The Florida Panthers have had the lead for awhile, but they saw their lead shrink to just two points when the Washington Capitals defeated them on Thursday. The Panthers play the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, but are just 1-3-5 in their last nine games. The Capitals will win the division if they beat the New York Rangers on Saturday and the Panthers lose to the Hurricanes. These two teams are fighting for the pride that comes with the division title, the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference, and the first-round home ice that comes with it.

2012 NHL Playoff Hunt

With the season drawing to a close, teams fight for a playoff berth. I breakdown the teams in the hunt for the last remaining spots.

Eastern Conference

Clinched Playoff Spot

New York Rangers (103 points)

Pittsburgh Penguins (100 points)

Philadelphia Flyers (96 points)

Should Be In

Boston Bruins (93 points)

Florida Panthers (89 points)

New Jersey Devils (92 points)

On the Bubble

Ottawa Senators (88 points)

• 5 games remaining
• 2 home, 3 away
• 3 vs. quality teams
• 5 vs. Eastern Conference opponents

Buffalo Sabres (86 points)

• 5 games remaining
• 2 home, 3 away
• 3 vs. quality teams
• 5 vs. Eastern Conference opponents

Washington Capitals ( 84 points)

• 5 games remaining
• 2 home, 3 away
• 4 vs. quality teams
• 5. vs. Eastern Conference opponents

Western Conference

Clinched Playoff Spot

St. Louis Blues (105 points)

Vancouver Canucks (101 points)

Detroit Red Wings (97 points)

Should Be In

Nashville Predators (96 points)

Chicago Blackhawks (93 points)

On the Bubble

San Jose Sharks (88 points)

• 6 games remaining
• 2 home, 4 away
• 5 vs. quality teams
• 6 vs. Western Conference opponents

Dallas Stars (87 points)

• 6 games remaining
• 2 home, 4 away
• 5 vs. quality teams
• 6 vs. Western Conference opponents

Phoenix Coyotes (87 points)

• 5 games remaining
• 3 home, 2 away
• 2 vs. quality teams
• 5 vs. Western Conference opponents

Los Angeles Kings (86 points)

• 6 games remaining
• 2 home, 4 away
• 3 vs. quality teams
• 6 vs. Western Conference opponents

Colorado Avalanche (86 points)

• 4 games remaining
• 2 home, 2 away
• 3 quality teams
• 4 vs. Western Conference opponents

Calgary Flames (85 points)

• 5 games remaining
• 4 home, 1 away
• 4 vs. quality teams
• 5 vs. Western Conference opponents

Who's Marching Into March, and Who's Not?

Marching Forward

1. Pittsburgh Penguins - 83 points, 4th place in the Eastern Conference

The Pittsburgh Penguins won their sixth in a row tonight and are 8-2-0 in their last ten. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has been a rock in the net. The win tonight gave him four straight seasons with 35 or more wins. He is one of only four goaltenders in NHL history to accomplish the feat. The winning streak has pushed the Penguins past the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers into fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

2. St. Louis Blues - 89 points, 2nd place in the Western Conference

The St. Louis Blues are marching to the tune of 5-1-0 in the last six. The streak has the Blues tied with the Red Wings for the Central Division lead. Center T.J. Oshie, who leads the team in points, has seven points in his last five games. The Blues begin a three game homestand tomorrow, before heading on a big seven game road trip. That road trip could have a lot to say about who will win the Central Division.

3. Chicago Blackhawks - 79 points, 6th place in the Western Conference

The Chicago Blackhawks are 7-3 in their last ten, including a nice 2-1 win at the Detroit Red Wings. The streak has pushed them ahead of the pack trying to get the last couple playoff spots in the Western Conference. Backup goaltender Ray Emery is a main reason why. He was named the NHL's third star of the week, due to his efforts last week. Emery was 3-0-0 with a 1.12 goals against average and a .959 save percentage. The Blackhawks travel to St. Louis tomorrow and host the New York Rangers on Friday night.

Marching Backward

1. Boston Bruins - 79 points, 2nd place in the Eastern Conference

The Boston Bruins are mired in mediocrity right now. They've slipped to 2-3-1 in their past six. The top spot in the Eastern Conference seems to be out of the question right now, as they are far more concerned with the Ottawa Senators who are now only three points back for the Northeast Division lead. Goaltender Tim Thomas has struggled lately, letting 13 goals in past five games. However, Thomas is unlikely to see a break with backup Tuukka Rask out the next four-to-six weeks. The Bruins did sign veteran netminder Marty Turco, but his conditioning is in question.

2. San Jose Sharks - 73 points, 8th place in the Western Conference

The San Jose Sharks have gone from being in comfortable control of the Pacific Division to barely hanging on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The reason why? The Sharks have just four wins in their past fifteen games. They now sit third in the Pacific Division are in danger of falling out of the playoffs altogether. If the Sharks are going to win the division or at least make the playoffs, they better start turning things around soon, before it it too late.

3. Washington Capitals - 69 points, 9th place in the Eastern Conference

The Washington Capitals seemed to be heading in the right direction when they won three games in a row, but they've now been shutout both of their last two games. Everyone thought this team was going to make a charge into the playoffs, but this team looks less and less like it everyday. The Capitals might go from playoff flop to missing them all together. This has been a disappointing season to say the least.

Maurice and Boudreau are Checked Out From Their Head Coaching Posts

Monday is a new day of a work week, and it also was a beginning of a new chapter for two NHL franchises. These teams' head coaches have been fired just more than twenty games into the season.

The Carolina Hurricanes fired Paul Maurice for the second time in less than a decade. The last-place Hurricanes have had only one playoff appearance since 2006 and have lost 10 of their last 13 games. The team's record now stands at 8-13-4, but they are only five points out of the eighth playoff spot. It is clear that the front office thought that a move would help the team achieve its full potential.

The Hurricanes new head coach is former All-Star Kirk Muller. Muller had long, prosperous career in which he made six All-Star teams and helped lead the Montreal Canadiens to their most recent Stanley Cup in 1993. Muller does have coaching experience with the Canadiens and the Nashville Predators' AHL team, the Milwaukee Admirals.

Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford is eager to see what Muller can do with his team. Rutherford stated, "I don't know exactly how good we are. I believe we're better than what we've done so far." It is now Muller's job to prove Rutherford right.

A much more surprising move was when the Washington Capitals decided to fire head coach Bruce Boudreau. Boudreau became the fastest coach to 200 wins in modern NHL history. However, Boudreau's team routinely choked and under-performed in the playoffs, despite its very talented lineup led by two-time league MVP Alex Ovechkin.

Because of his team's continual underachieving, Boudreau tried a new tactic of benching players who exhibited this type of play, including team captain Ovechkin. Ovechkin's play had not responded well to his former coach's stricter coaching style. He only has 17 points in 22 games.

Capitals GM George McPhee explained the move, "This was simply a case of the players were no longer responding to Bruce. When you see that, as much as you don't want to make a change, you have to make a change."

McPhee decided to replace Boudreau with former Capitals captain Dale Hunter. Hunter has no NHL coaching experience at all. In fact, his only experience coaching adults is with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.

Obviously, McPhee didn't make this move to get a superior coach. This move was made to be a wake up call to his players. Will it work? That remains to be seen. This team has to change its under-performing ways for that to happen.