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.

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.

Night of Shootouts Reminds Us How Important They Are

When the regular season draws to a close, there is usually only a few points difference between playoff positioning and even making or missing them all together. These few points can often be made or lost in one simple thing. Shootouts. Every team plays them multiple times each season. If you win, you get two points. If you lose, you only get one. If you win enough of them, those additional points can start to add up nicely. Amazingly, five of the nine NHL games played tonight ended in a shootout. I will take a look at each one and give a breakdown of its importance.

Minnesota Wild 3 Florida Panthers 2

The Minnesota Wild have slid farther out of the playoff picture, but their steady goalkeeping came through for them again in this game. The Panthers are in the hunt to win the Southeast Division (currently only 1 point behind Winnipeg for the lead). If they win the division, they will likely get the #3 seed in the playoffs. If they don't, they are barely clinging onto the eight and final playoff spot. Ideally, they obviously want to win the division. However, this is yet another disappointing shootout loss. This now puts their shootout record for the season at 3-7. That is the most losses of any team currently in the playoffs. If the Panthers don't fix this soon, it might be the difference between the #3 seed and missing the playoffs all together.

Anaheim Ducks 3 Carolina Hurricanes 2

Both of these teams are considerably far out of their respective playoff pictures, so the importance is rather minimal. The Ducks have played better as of late. They are 7-1-2 in their last ten games. It is interesting to note that the Hurricanes are now 0-5 in shootout games. They are the only winless team in that regard.

Vancouver Canucks 4 Detroit Red Wings 3

This is the granddaddy of them all. The Red Wings came in with their NHL-record 23-game home winning streak. The Canucks came in with the NHL's best road record. As you might have imagined, these are the two teams with the most points in the Western Conference. With time running down in the third period, the Red Wings were clinging to a 3-2 lead. The Canucks pulled goalkeeper Roberto Luongo to get the extra attacker. With 16 seconds remaining in the game, Henrik Sedin found his brother Daniel, who blistered home the tying goal. In the shootout, Luongo shut down all three Red Wings shots. On the third shot for the Canucks, Alexandre Burrows netted the game winner. He reacted by pretending to snap his stick to signify the record steak being snapped. This game was a great one and could be a preview of the Western Conference finals further down the road.

St. Louis Blues 3 Nashville Predators 2

These two teams currently seem destined for a #4 vs. #5 playoff matchup in the Western Conference. With how evenly matched these teams appear to be, it could be very valuable to finish ahead of the other to secure the home ice for the matchup. By winning the game, the Blues increased their lead over the Predators to four points. There is still a lot of hockey to be played, but every point between these two could end up making the difference.

Phoenix Coyotes 4 Calgary Flames 3

The Coyotes are currently the #7 seed in the Western Conference playoff picture. They currently hold a five point lead over the hotly contested #8 seed (currently six teams within 4 points of that spot). The Coyotes should do all they can to keep winning to avoid getting involved in that mess. That is just what they accomplished by winning the shootout tonight. The Flames are one of those six teams currently in the hunt for that final playoff spot. Every point matters to those teams right now, so they didn't do themselves any favors by losing this shootout. They are now 3-5 in shootout games, which isn't terrible, but at this point, every point matters in these teams' pursuit of a playoff berth.