Welcome to another live blog by yours truly.  Tonight’s game is the 7th meeting between the NY Rangers and the Washington Capitals in DC.   The game hasn’t started yet but it should any minute.  All times below are Eastern time, as that is where the game is being played.  Let’s play some hockey!

9:33 – And the Caps get to feel what a game 7 victory is like after losing their game 7 in OT last year to Philly.

9:31 – Handshakes are over, and so is the Rangers’ season.  Sergei Fedorov gets the game winning goal and Lundqvist ended with 22 saves.

9:28 – And it’s over.  The Caps have won it.

9:27 – 30 seconds to go and it’s a Rangers time out.  OMG OMG OMG.

9:26 – Less than a minute to go and Avery is hurt, Lundqvist is still in net…. 45 to go…

9:25 – 1:30 to go and they are changing “Lundqvist” … and it’s in the Rangers’ zone yet again.

9:24 – The Rangers’ defense is weakening now and they are letting in far too many shots get to their goaltender in the last few minutes of play.  Let’s pray for a miracle, blueshirts fans…

9:23 – This is thoroughly depressing and upsetting.  While the Rangers started so strong they have gotten progressively weaker during the game and the Caps have done the exact opposite.  They have now outshot NY 19-15 and are in the lead.  3 minutes to go in the 3rd and things are getting frantic.

9:22 – SHIT.

9:20 – Capitals score thanks to Fedorov and his wrist shot.  It’s now Washington 2-1.  Bradley gets the assist.

9:19 – Avery dropped it behind for Dubinsky, who shot it wide and had it stolen out of the zone by Fedorov.

9:19 – 5:56 to go and it’s going to be insane.

9:18 – Update from NJ – at the end of the 2nd period, the Devils are still up 3-2.

9:17 – Avery just stopped by Jurcina after a breakaway and a clear shot at the net.

9:15 – Is it possible this series could be determined by one goal?  Amazing.

9:13 – NY has only 1 shot on goal so far in the 3rd and Washington has had 7. They can’t rely on Lundqvist to win it for them – they have to get more shots off.  Where’s my Dubinsky line?

9:11 – A bit more than 8 minutes to go in the game and it’s getting tense.

9:09 – Naslund got a shot off and Varlamov had to stretch, but he made the save.  Dammit.  Something has to happen here.

9:08 – And the crowd keeps getting louder.  Boudreau can’t even talk to his players; he’s walking up and down the bench and tapping their shoulders to get their attention.

9:07 – Ovechkin is on the bench, looking pretty pissed.  He knows he’s talked a lot of shit between games…

9:05 – Ovie just had the most unbelievable wrist shot and was robbed, once again, by Lundqvist… the fans are now taunting “Lundqvist”…

9:03 – Lundqvist is still key here.  Washington is getting off much more shots, and as long as he stays strong and makes those saves he can help his team take the game.  So far, Lundqvist has made only 14 saves (but faced only 15 shots).

9:01 – And the Caps are playing their best period so far 5 minutes into the 3rd.

9:00 – The Caps have officially passed NY for shots on goal, 15-14.

8:509 – And the Rangers killed off the must-win power play for the Caps.

8:57 – Ovehckin is in front, centering for the Caps 2nd power play.  They’re now up to 14 shots on goal, it’s tied for SOG.  Lundqvist makes the save on Ovie.

8:56 – Penalty on New York, it’s an interference call on Girardi.  Ovechkin literally asked for the call – but of course Avery can’t ask for a call when he gets elbowed in the face by Erskine at the bench.  Bullshit.

8:54 – This is going to be a goaltender battle… only 11 shots on goal for the Caps and 14 for the Rangers.

8:53 – Here we go, period 3, game still tied at 1 each.  I’m already having a mild heart attack.

8:50 – HUGE power play goal in NJ by Brian Rolston to give the Devils a 3-2 lead.

8:49 – Still on my 2nd beer and had a sandwich for dinner.  Boring!  Let’s go 3rd period!

8:38 – And from NJ, Ray Whitney just scored the Hurricane’s 2nd goal to tie the game at 2.  It actually went TWO different 5-holes.

8:37 – Cable box back on with 4 seconds left.  Now the period is over and still – no further score.  This is the first game this series that is tied after 2 periods.

8:35 – Huge save by Varlamov on Avery, it sounds like he just got robbed.  SOUNDS.  Because our cable box still isn’t working.  25 seconds to go with an offsides call.

8:34 – Sounds like Erskine just got a shot on goal but Lundqvist made an amazing save… less than 2 to go…

8:3 3 – Clark just had a great shot on a pass from Ovechkin and fanned on it – the game stays tied at 1.

8:32 – Cable box just froze so we are listening to the game on the radio the old school way… wow.  Still intense.  The crowd is going while right now with less than 4 to go.

8:27 – Less than 6 to go in the 2nd and there hasn’t been any more scoring.  So  Help Me God if this game goes in to OT…

8:25 – After more shots than I could ever type out, Varlamov covers the puck.  Naslund and Gomez got two more shots on goal to bring it up to 13.

8:23 – The Antropov-Dubinsky-Avery line is out again and putting on some major pressure.

8:20 – Caps are getting more and more shots, now at 9 to NY’s 11.  They are looking a bit better but Lundqvist keeps making those saves.

8:19 – For anyone just joining us, like my cousin from the theater, the game is tied at 1 almost halfway through the 2nd.

8:18 – Caps fans are boo-ing every time Avery touches the puck.  He’s having a phenomenal game so far.

8:17 – Rozsival is back on the ice but obviously hurt and is having trouble with his left leg.  He’s heading back to the locker room yet again now.

8:16 – Refs totally missed a too many men call on the Caps, who had 7 players on the ice and in play.

8:15 – NY now has 10 shots on goal and the Caps are at 6.

8:14 – Update from Jersey, at the end of the 1st period NJ is still up 2-1.

8:13 – Ovechkin a -1 so far with only one shot on goal.  Rangers are back in Washington’s zone now and Gomez is doing one hell of a job with the puck.

8:12 – Lundqvist made another save right off the face off.

8:11 – Caps already have more shots on goal so far this period than they had in all of the 1st period.  It’s going to be a tough one for the Rangers’ defense and Lundqvist.

8:09 – Kozlov just missed a WIDE OPEN NET and then was denied by Lundqvist.  Everyone thought that was going in… but Lundqvist made the difference because of a Rangers turn over.

8:08 – Gomez has been skating without a helmet for a good minute now and the Rangers only got one shot off – the Caps are still on the defensive two minutes in to the 2nd.

8:07 – Here we go, start of the 2nd period.  Buckle your seat belts – the Caps are going to come out with a vengeance in this period.

8:03 – Jay Pandolfo just scored to give the Devils the edge over Carolina back in Jersey. 2-1.

8:02 – If the Rangers win tonight they will face the Boston Bruins in the next round.  Now that would really be something to watch.

8:00 – All the announcers so far are saying this is the Rangers’ best period yet and that the Caps are playing like they are overconfident.  I’m not sure if I agree… but we’ll see.

7:50 – 1st is over, game tied at 1.

7:48 – Avery has been all over this puck in the last minute of the period.  The focus is still all over him and his assist and three hits in this period.  He is playing the way he should have been playing the whole series and being the kind of player his team needs him to be.  Big hits and big contributions – hopefully we’ll see more.

7:46 – Fedorov shoots it wide and fails to get the Caps another shot on goal, so they’re stuck at 2.

7:45 – Updated from NJ, Carolina and the Devils are tied at 1 goal apiece after 17 minutes.

7:44 – Play has resumed, 4 minutes to go in the 1st.

7:40 – The game is on hold as officials change a pane of glass behind Lundqvist.  The Caps fans are being LOUD but I have no idea what they are saying.

7:38 – Rozsival has gone to the locker room after a run-in on the ice and what looked like a twisted knee.  Injuries don’t have to be announced during the playoffs so we’ll see if he returns.

7:36 – Caps have only had 2 shots on goal but have managed to tie the game.  Assists go to Backstrom and Green.

7:35 – Right after the power play ended, Semin scored.  Wrist shot after a 3-on-2.  Game tied at 1.

7:34 – Gotta admit, Avery is looking pretty good tonight, he’s been strong with the puck and creating plays in the zone.  Washington is back to full strength.

7:33 – And now it’s the Rangers power play; Caps got their first shot on goal during their power play.  Rangers now have 7 on net.

7:32 – And a whistle for a penalty on Green comes just in time for the Rangers, as Ovie had the puck just waiting to shoot with Semin.  4-on-4 for 32 seconds and then it will be a Rangers power play.

7:28 – Antropov is going off for high sticking to give the Caps the first power play of the game.

7:27 – Washington can’t hardly get their sticks on the puck and for the first time this series really can’t control it.  They are being over-worked and out-skated right now.

7:26 – Missed shot by Drury, went right over the net.  He’s playing well though.

7:25 – If the Rangers win this game, who will be the MVP of this series: Dubinsky or Lundqvist?

7:24 – Almost halfway through the 1st and the Caps are still without a shot on goal.

7:22 – This line of Dubinsky, Antorpov and Avery looks amazing skating together on the ice yet again.

7:21 – Antropov gets his 2nd goal of this series and the 4th playoff goal of his career for the Rangers’ 5th shot on goal.  The Caps still haven’t gotten off a shot.

7:20 – Crowd in DC is silent.

7:19 – ANTROPOV SCORES ON THE REBOUND!  Rangers 1!  Dubinsky and Avery get the assists and it’s looking like it’s all NY so far… Ovechkin is suspiciously quiet.

7:18 – Big collision behind the net as Avery gets lucky and isn’t called for a penalty, yet tries to draw one.

7:17 – Fantastic save by Varlamov, yet again.  This kid is looking invincible as the Rangers get their 3rd shot on goal.

7:16 – So far the power is ALL on NY’s side.  They are looking fantastic, 2 shots on goal so far to Caps’ 0.

7:14 – Chris Clark finally got his first shot  in the playoffs since 2004.

7:13 – Caps don’t have a shot on goal yet — not one.

7:12 – Varlamov turned 21 yesterday.  That’s a little scary.

7:11 – Right off the face off Sean Avery has already crashed the net and Nik Antropov just got robbed by Varlamov.  Two breakaways for NY so far.

7:10 – Puck DROPPED, let’s have it!

7:09 – We have a much better beer for drinking tonight.  Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Ale – one of my faves!

7:05 – For those of you who don’t know, Blair Betts is out tonight.  He’s probably the best penalty killing forward for the Rangers, but he’s injured thanks to Donald Brashear and his horrible style of play.

7:04pm – Game hasn’t started yet.  Just a heads up to all the anxious folk out there.

Can the Caps pull out a win at home on Friday to stave off elimination?

-Alaina Scarano-Isbouts

Tonight I learned that I could hold my breath for two minutes — the entire time I stood up in front of my television gripping a throw pillow against my chest.  This was also the amount of time the Rangers held off the Capitals in the most intense game finish of the series.  I think the rest of the world who was watching game 4 of the Rangers – Capitals series was doing the same thing.

Alexander Ovechkin made it clear that he would stop at nothing to win – and Sean Avery made it clear that he would stop at nothing.  Ovechkin had the sole goal for the Caps but 11 other shots on goal; Henrik Lundqvist is without a doubt the only reason that this was the Caps’ famed forward’s only goal this series.  Lundqvist stopped an astonishing 38 shots on goal and had huge contributions from his defenseman and forwards as well on the D side.  Brandon Dubinsky, playing like a veteran despite being in his 2nd year, was all over the ice all night long.  Dubinsky notched nearly 16 minutes of ice time and assisted on the first goal scored for NY.

The thing that isn’t making too much sense to me is that Dubinsky, who made huge contributions to NY’s win tonight, only played three more minutes of ice time than Sean Avery.

While everyone is well acquainted with Sean Avery, Avery took tonight to get acquainted with Milan Jurcina’s nose and introduced his stick to Brian Pothier’s face.  Avery “accidentally” punched Jurcina in the face in a frantic rush to NY’s net with 10 minutes to go in the 3rd and NY only up one goal.  At first it seemed that Jurcina was just drawing the penalty, hunched over on the ice with his hands covering his face.  Avery certainly thought so – and skated by to talk some smack to Jurcina.  And when Jurcina moved his head to look up at Avery, the blood on the ice became visible.  When the penalty was called, Avery whined about it as usual – but it was only a minor.  He should have thanked his lucky stars it wasn’t a double minor, as it should have been.

But, for reasons I don’t understand, he was allowed back on to the ice for another shift towards the end of the game.  Avery managed to draw a penalty on Alexander Semin for tripping… and what does the Fantastic Mr. Avery do?  Smacks Pothier in the face with a high stick, again feigning “accident! accident!”  If NY is going to finish off Washington, which still isn’t a given, they need Avery to either play smarter — or not play at all.  I guess we’ll see what Tortorella decides to do.  I’m hoping he’s a healthy scratch on Friday for NY’s sake.  Clearly, Avery is unable to control himself.  And while emotion is good on the ice he is doing way more harm than good to the rest of his team that actually really wants to win this series.

Of course, the game wasn’t all Avery (just the last 10 minutes).  Ovechkin made play after play after play for the puck, and Lundqvist robbed him repeatedly.  Also playing well for the Rangers was Semin, who played as Ovie’s linemate for a few shifts.  Once again, playing fantastically for Washington was the rookie netminder Simeon Varlamov (who I learned today speaks about 5 words of English and relies on teammates for translations); while he made some fantastic saves he only faced 19 shots.  NY is going to have to kick up those shots a notch on Friday.

I think Washington will take game 5 at home – but the whole battle is going to be between Lundqvist and Ovechkin.  So far, Lundqvist is winning… but if he falters even one game it’s going to be over for NY.  Ovechkin isn’t going to give up anytime soon and especially not now that he finally got a goal past “The King,” as he’s called in NY.  Game 5 is in Washington at 5pm Mountain and game 6 is back in NY at 11am Mountain.

Also around the league tonight, Montreal had the most disappointing ending to a centennial season in the history of centennial seasons (tongue twister, anyone?).  While I may have finally managed to pick the right team to win the series, I had Boston in 6 but Montreal couldn’t even pull out one win to complete the sweep.  Bummer for the Canadiens. Pittsburgh and Detroit both have the chance to win their series tomorrow night.  I’ll see you all again tomorrow hockey fans!

-Alaina Scarano-Isbouts

Let’s GO.  Once again, all times are Eastern as that’s where the game is being played.

9:41 – Ok, calling it a night.  There’s more hockey to be had tomorrow though, so I’ll see you all tomorrow night at 5pm Mountain time for the Penguins live blog! Night!

9:37 – What happened, Rangers?  Were you a little too cocky going into game 3 at the Garden?  Or were the Caps just more calm, staying steady and not giving up?  This is going to make for a very interesting game 4.

9:35 – Game OVER.  Actually it was over at the end of the 2nd period… but now it’s officially over.  What a depressing game for NY fans.  Varlamov gets a shutout in his 2nd career playoff game.

9:34 – NY fans chanting “Ovie sucks.”  Yeah, that’s right, Alexander Ovechkin sucks.  The Rangers defensemen didn’t even play the game tonight, Ovie has an assist, but he sucks.  They are now throwing stuff on to the ice for the last minute of the game.

9:33 – Boston/Montreal update – Boston just scored an empty netter to win the game 4-2 in Montreal.  Montreal is going to get swept on their home ice.

9:32 – News flash: apparently the defensemen for the Rangers decided to take tonight off.  Can’t blame this loss on Lundqvist, that’s for sure.

9:31 – Score for Washington.  Poti gets his first ever career goal.  Rangers now down by 4.  Backstrom got his 3rd assist of the game.

9:31 – Varlamov is 1:40 away from having a shut out.

9:29 – Avery is out for the rest of the game with a 10-minute misconduct and a 2-minute minor.  ”Only in NY would fans cheer that guy as he walks off the ice,” says my husband.

9:28 – Avery is starting shit with Varlamov.  Let’s just put it out there — he’s a bitch.  He just punched the goaltender in the face for no good reason.  He could have just started shit with Erskine, but no…  he’s Avery.

9:27 – Penalty again.  Holding on Kozlov for another NY power play.

9:26 – Interesting, NY won both games in NJ last season in the first round, lost game 3 in the Garden to the Devils, but then took game 4 at home.  Trend, anyone?

9:25 – Vampire Weekend being played in the Garden.  Weird to anyone else?

9:20 – Semin is putting up fantastic numbers so far; 2 goals, an assist and 3 hits.  If he hadn’t gotten injured, I wonder if he wouldn’t be in the top 5 scorers?

9:17 – Another thought.  Are the Rangers sucking or is Varlamov just that good? 36 shots for the Caps and 30 for NY.

9:16 – Fantastic shot by Dubinsky blocked.  I don’t know if there is any more momentum left for NY.

9:15 – Starting to wonder if it’s possible for the Rangers to come back from this 3 goal deficit… it certainly isn’t looking good.

9:14 – Ovechkin and Staal on yet another shift together.  Can’t anyone else handle him?

9:10 – Tortorella is looking pretty pissed on the bench, as he should be.

9:08 – This is almost getting boring.  I should have blogged the Pens-Philly game!

9:05 – Caps kill the penalty and NY is now 0-5 on the power play.

9:03 – Yeah… Avery does WAY more harm than good.  I don’t know why he was on that power play shift.

9:02 – Slashing penalty on Pothier for a NY power play.  They HAVE to do something here (hmmm, haven’t I typed that before)?

9:01 – After a performance like this by Varlamov, I wonder if we’ll see Theodore again this series?

8:59 – Naslund has only played 9 minutes through 2 periods so far because of how many penalties the Rangers have taken and he doesn’t kill penalties usually.  That’s pretty stupid on NY’s part – they can’t afford to take any more penalties this period.

8:58 – And we are back.  Nothing to report yet.

8:52 – I wonder what Tortorella is saying right now… is he still afraid of Ovechkin?

8:45 – Heads up on the Boston-Montreal game, Boston has now taken the lead 3-2.

8:43 – Well the Rangers have caught up a bit.  They are now only 9 shots behind Washington’s 30 shots on goal, with 21.

8:40 – Once again, it’s Ovechkin and Staal.  He went after Ovie three times and then once Ovechkin hit Staal back — Staal looks to the referee.  Hey, don’t dish it out if you can’t take it.  Period over.

8:39 – Huge hit by Staal on Ovechkin.  Kind of surprised there wasn’t anything called.

8:38 – That was kind of a bullshit call.  The stands are cheering “We want the cup.”

8:37 – And another penalty on NY, this time it’s Avery YET AGAIN.  Goaltender interference.  You can imagine how loud the Garden is right now.

8:35 – Another shot for Zherdev and nothing.  It’s unbelievable how clumsy the Rangers are playing.

8:33 – Rangers are still unbelievably scoreless — Zherdev just had the most spectacular shot, but Varlamov made an even more spectacular save.  NY has to do something here but they are being out played in every way.

8:32 – Power play over for Washington.  They now have 28 shots on goal to NY’s 19.

8:30 – Ovechkin, as it turns out, is a fantastic defenseman.  Just blocked a huge breakaway on NY.

8:29 – Yet another penalty on NY, Callahan for high sticking.  That’s not a good one to take right now – way too many penalties for NY.

8:25 – Shot by Dubinsky, save by Varlamov.  This isn’t looking so good for NY.

8:24 – Goal for the Caps, Laich on a beautiful wrist shot.  Lundqvist had the first save, but what do you know, Washington was there for the rebounds.

8:23 – Update from Montreal – the game is now tied at 2 halfway through the 2nd.

8:22 – Does Avery do more harm than good?  I’m thinking so.  NY had a huge chance before he took that high sticking call and now the momentum has shifted once again.

8:21- And that’s it – yet another penalty for the Rangers.  Drury will be going to be box for hooking.

8:20 – Rangers now have the man advantage for 40 seconds.

8:19 – Rangers are not even trying to get the rebounds and it’s so frustrating to watch!

8:18 – Lundqvist just had the $$$ save on Fleischmann — and another penalty!  Hooking call to Federov and the Rangers will get another chance.  Don’t f-ck it up, Avery!

8:17 – Avery slid in to the net (tried to sell it), skated offside and then had a penalty called on him for high sticking.  Rangers fans are pissed.  Way to go Avery.

8:16 – NY has some great players on their team this year.  Dubinsky, Antropov, Naslund.

8:15 – Rangers HAVE to score here.  This is a great chance for them right now.

8:13 – Another penalty coming up on the Caps.  Slashing call on Jurcina and it’s a TV timeout.

8:12 – Despite the score, momentum seems to have shifted to NY’s side with that huge penalty kill.  Everyone is on their feet as they should be, chanting “Henrik”!

8:11 – Sjostrom was without a stick and there was still a few huge chances in front of the ney and power play over.  Lundqvist can’t cover.  Hit the post.  CRAZY!

8:10 – Nearly a shorthanded goal for NY!  Ovechkin smothered it in a fantastic defensive move.

8:08 – Lundqvist is the only reason the Rangers are up 2 games in this series.  Incredible.  Just had to big saves on Ovechkin and Semin respectively.

8:07 – Avery with a HUGE hit on Erskine right after the whistle.  Everyone boos as Avery gets a penalty — well of course he is!  2nd power play for Washington.

8:07 – I know it’s early to say this, but please don’t get the Rangers shut out at home…

8:06 – NY killed the first Washington power play of the game although Ovie was only out for the last 15 seconds.

8:05 – Caps goalie Varlamov is playing fantastically.  He doesn’t seem shaken at all…

8:04 – Here we go, 4-on-4 to start the 2nd!

8:01 – So I don’t think anyone is reading this live blog.  It’s quiet out there.

7:54 – So my Dad can’t read this because he is in London and it’s 1am there but he told me to give him a shout out.  Hi Dad!  You were right about the Rangers!!!

7:49 – Update from around the league: Boston and Montreal are tied at 1 at the end of the 1st.  It would be nice for Montreal to win this one at home for their fans.

7:47 – 1st is over.  Naslund took a holding penalty right as the period ended, which will end the power play for NY.

7:45 – HUGE save despite Avery standing right in front of the net.  Huge save on Antropov one again.

7:45 – Interesting lines here for the power play.  Gomez, Callahan and Avery out for the 1st power play shift.

7:44 – Penalty on the Caps once again.  Holding on Steckel for NY’s 2nd power play.  1:30 to go in the 1st.

7:43 – Icing on Washington, but NY just had 2 pretty decent shifts… let’s hope they can keep up the pressure.

7:42 – NY’s 3rd line just got some fantastic shots on goal – nada.

7:41 – Ordered Thai food.  Mmmmmm.

7:40 – Ovie has had 5 shot attempts so far (some of them blocked).

7:38 – The Rangers look AWFUL right now.  Exhausted.  They are in the Garden, come on guys get ENERGIZED!

7:37 – Federov and Ovehckin just had a 2-on-1 and missed the net.  You don’t see that happen too often.

7:37 – I keep forgetting that Derek Morris plays for NY now.  I think he’s awesome, I loved him when he was on the Avs.  Just a side note.

7:36 – This is a pretty pathetic power play.  No shots on goal so far and it’s half over.

7:34 – Penalty on the Caps; high sticking on Laich.  Rangers will have their first power play of the game with 7:35 to go in the first.

7:33 – Seriously that was soooo depressing for NY fans.  I can’t believe the Caps are dominating like this in the Garden.

7:32 – UNBELIEVABLE.  Wide open net opportunity for NY and it hit the freaking post – just for Semin to get the puck again and score his second goal of the game.

7:31 – Penalties over, back to 5-on-5 hockey.

7:28 – Huge save by Lundqvist on Ovechkin.  Caps now have 11 shots on goal to NY’s 4.  Gotta step it up, Blueshirts!

7:28 – Roszival is back on the ice and created a HUGE scoring opportunity – but no goal.

7:27 – Matching penalties to make it 4-on-4.

7:26 – Big fight at the net.  Guess who’s in the middle of it .

7:25 – Don’t know what to have for dinner.  I’m not cooking, once again.

7:23 – Ovechkin is playing some extremely long shifts.  He was on the ice when Semin almost scored the first time and is still on the ice now.

7:23 – Semin scored… the announcers didn’t even see it.  Assists to Ovechkin and Backstrom.  Capitals 1, Rangers 0.

7:22 – OMG Semin just missed a WIDE OPEN NET.  Lundqvist rocked his world. Still no score.

7:21 – Lots and lots of shots so far.  Caps have 6 shots on goal already but the Rangers are stuck at 2.

7:20 – Federov and Ovechkin is a dangerous combination – but the Rangers are shutting them down as I type this.

7:18 – He’s up and with what is obviously a broken nose.  He’s staying on the bench — not going to the locker room.  True hockey player right there.

7:17 – INJURY.  Ovechkin accidentally got Rozsival in the face with his stick on the follow-through of a shot.  Yikes.  Hasn’t gotten up and there is a LOT of blood on the ice.

7:17 – Why don’t people like Chris Drury?  I’m a fan.

7:16 – Antropov is kind of amazing.  Already had two shots in about 10 seconds.

7:14 – Rangers putting the pressure on early.  Caps already have 4 shots on goal though…

7:13 – Well, Avery has already whined and Drury has already touched the puck.  The game is definitely underway for NY.  I don’t think the Caps can win in the Garden tonight.

7:12 – Just opened my beer – the seasonal Flying Dog that I’ve never had before, Garde Dog.  I like it.

7:11 – Puck DROPPED and the crowd is already chanting “Henrik“.

7:10 – Theodore isn’t playing and didn’t play game two.  Interesting.

7:08 – just now singing the National Anthem.  For those of you who didn’t hear, Ovechkin showed up at the Rangers pre-game skate to observe.  Rangers PR made him leave.

7:05pm –  Game hasn’t started yet, of course.  Playoff games always start late.  Just wanted to tell you all that.

Good: NY Rangers.  That was the best game I have seen so far and I’m pretty stoked the Rangers won.  Yes, I know I picked the Caps to take the series – and I still think they will – but I knew the Rangers were going to come out swinging and play with a lot of heart.  But if they are going to win another game they have to play better defense on A.O.  Henrik Lundqvist was the only reason that Ovechkin didn’t score (although he did notch two assists).  But besides not holding off Ovechkin to the best of their abilities (although he did get hit five times in the 1st alone), the Rangers played a fantastic game.  Sean Avery was at his absolute worst; picking meaningless fights and complaining like it was his job – oh wait, that’s right, it is his job.  Rumor has it that NY Captain Chris Drury will be back tomorrow… let’s hope so.  I think the Caps will take game two. 

Bad: Columbus Blue Jackets.  I really hate watching the Red Wings play – but the only thing I hate more is watching them win.  Especially when the opposing club is Columbus and they finally made it in to the playoffs.  But it’s a little hard to feel bad for the Blue Jackets when they played as badly as they did last night.  Chris Osgood didn’t have too many shots to take care of; he only made 20 saves.  Chris Mason made 21 saves before giving up three goals in a five-shot stretch.  Not the best record.   I definitely am going to give Columbus the benefit of the doubt by saying they were just a little caught up in the emotion of playing their first-ever playoff game and got a bit too fancy.  But I don’t think they will win a game until they get the series back to Columbus on Tuesday. 

Ugly: Philadelphia Flyers.  Did I really say that Philly would push it to seven games?  I’m not going to retract that statement just yet… but if the Flyers keep playing the way they did on Monday night then I’ll be wrong.  Not only did the Flyers play horribly but they were also kind of sore losers.  In the last seven seconds of the game, Philadelphia forward Daniel Carcillo decided to be an ass and hit Pens forward Max Talbot on the head with his stick.  Wait… I thought those jobs were left to Donald Brashear?  Now the Flyers are the proud recipients of a $10,000 fine to the league because of Carcillo’s actions.  I guess since Philly couldn’t really score goals they had to send a message some way… after leading the league in penalty minutes during the regular season, they continued the trend and took 35 penalty minutes.  The Pens played some of their best, classic hockey and took contributions from their leading players: Sidney Crosby (whom I love more and more every day) had a goal and an assist; Jordan Staal had a goal, an assist and four shots on goal; Evgeni Malkin had an unassisted goal and an assist.  Gotta love those Penguins, who I think will also take game two tonight in Pittsburgh.  I might have to re-evaluate some things…

Good: New Jersey Devils.  More specifically, Martin Brodeur.  While I was unsure of his play going in to the series, Brodeur had no problem proving me wrong, stopping 18 of the 19 shots he faced.  Cam Ward had an astonishing 39 shots fired his way – no small miracle the score was 4-1 in NJ’s favor.  The key for the Hurricanes, who I picked to win and am starting to regret, is defense.  Every single from Carolina has a negative +/- except Ray Whitney, Jussi Jokinen, Tim Conboy and Patrick Eaves.  I still love Cam Ward and refuse to admit those goals were all his fault with ratings like that.  Pretty sad.  Once again, I think the Hurricanes will lose another game in NJ before getting the series back to Carolina.

Bad: St. Louis Blues.  Bad luck that is – not bad hockey.  There were 15 minor penalties and two misconducts during game one against Vancouver – and the Blues took just one more penalty than the Canucks. Each team had one power play goal; Vancouver’s was the game winning goal by Sami Salo.  The key to the second game for the Blues will be discipline – no more sloppy penalties (although some of those calls were a bit of BS).  St. Louis’ defense will also have to keep a better eye on those Sedin twins – Daniel had two points in game one and Henrik had one.  I think Vancouver will take game two – but the series will turn around once it gets to St. Louis. 

Ugly: San Jose Sharks.  After winning the President’s Trophy, it’s a little unbelievable they could turn around and lose to the 8th seed in the West in the Tank.  Pretty embarrassing, especially considering they were shut out.  Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller played fantastic, turning aside all 35 shots on goal the Sharks fired.  Rob Niedermayer uncharacteristically took three penalties.  Evgeni Nabokov didn’t too fantastic; he faced only 17 shots but only blocked 15.  San Jose will have to do better, and I think they will, Sunday on their home ice.

Good: The Chicago-Calgary game.  In the first OT game of the playoff season, Martin Havlat with his two goals and the Blackhawks proved to be the heroes.  Once again I am questioning my pick.  Actually that’s a lie, I still think Chicago will win, but this series is looking like a 7-gamer.  And a great one at that.  The game was pretty clean with minimal penalties and was very evenly matched on shots – 25 for Calgary and 28 for Chicago.  Calgary has to be a little better on defense; most of their players also had a minus rather than a plus like Chicago’s did.  Game two is tomorrow in Chicago, and I’m counting on the Blackhawks to take that one as well… though it’s going to be much harder for them to win once the series gets back to Calgary.

Bad: Both Boston and Montreal.  While the Bruins won game one, it was more by luck than anything else.  After nearly blowing the lead in the second period, Boston was looking more and more weakened by Montreal into the third.  Carey Price started out poorly (as usual lately) but got stronger as the game went on.  There were far too many penalties and plenty of chippiness by the end of the third.  Both teams need to bring a little more to the table to have a good game worth watching tomorrow in Boston.  The good thing?  Boston is proving me right, and I’m still going with Boston in 6.  But the more I watch Price, the less I want him to lose.  Too bad about that. 

Get ready for game twos!  Interesting fact: 70% of game two winners go on to win the series.  If you only watch one game a day this weekend, here are the best bets:

Philadelphia at Pittsburgh tonight at 5pm

New York at Washington tomorrow at 11am (bring the Bloodies!)

Carolina at New Jersey Sunday at 5:30

May the best teams win!

Well all, it’s that time of year — playoffs. Round 1 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs will begin on Wednesday night.  Get ready to hear of every possible story line; rookies and old-timers ready to fight for the death for the chance of a life time — to win Lord Stanley’s Cup.  Here’s my take on what this year’s playoffs have to offer and who will make it out alive.

Eastern Conference

Boston v. Montreal: What a great series for old rivalries.  The two Original Six teams have faced each other many, many times since the modest beginnings of the NHL. Boston, after having missed the President’s Trophy by just one point, has the home ice advantage but the more fickle fans.  I’m going to bet this will be a rough-and-tumble series, but the ultimate battle will be between Tim Thomas and Carey Price.  I’m going to go with Boston in 6 for this series.

Washington v. NY Rangers: My Eastern wish has been granted.  I really can’t wait to see what Sean Avery is going to whine about against Alex Ovechkin.  Although Ovechkin just earned the Maurice Richard trophy for scoring the most goals this season (his third season to score over 50, ending this season with 56), occasionally Avery’s stick does hit something else besides the back of Tim Thomas’ head.  Avery had 5 points last year in two rounds of the playoffs and also had a rule named after him in the NHL rule book during the first round.  There’s nothing more Rangers fans hate than people scoring on them — ever go to the Garden to hear the chant, “Crosby needs a tampon?”  As an Avs fan, it’s going to be especially interesting to see how Jose Theodore is going to handle this post-season.  After being a hero during Colorado’s first round against Minnesota last year, Theodore got sick just before the Avs faced Detroit for the first time but played anyway – only for Colorado to endure an embarrassing sweep.  Theodore let in 14 goals in four games.  I think if anyone can take Washington down a notch it’s the Rangers — but I’ve got to give AO & Co the respect they deserve here and pick Washington in 6.

New Jersey v. Carolina: The thing I’m liking best about this match up is the difference in goaltenders.  Established veteran and future Hall-of-Famer Martin Brodeur will face youngster but Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Cam Ward.  These two teams have played each other many times in the playoffs; the 4th time since 2001.  It is definitely not going to be the most exciting series in the East, although I’m going to take a bit of a risk here and call an upset.  Carolina in 7.

Pittsburgh v. Philadelphia: Another fantastic rivalry to watch.  This statewide playoff series will start in Pittsburgh, where the Pens have earned home ice advantage by just one win.  This is going to be a great series; both teams are very evenly matched.  Both teams finished with 99 points.  Both teams scored 264 goals this season (although contributions from Philly may have been more spread out).   The Pens let in 239 goals and the Flyers just 238.  The numbers are too good to lie, and this series will be far too good to miss.  I think these teams will have a very physical series and the Flyers will push it to 7 games — with the Pens moving on to the 2nd round.

Western Conference

San Jose v. Anaheim: Another statewide series, although with much less history than the Pennsylvania series.  Anaheim hasn’t been playing very consistently for the past month; they dropped from being a shoe-in for home ice advantage to finishing in 8th.  Not very impressive, and this is the wrong time of the season for inconsistency.  San Jose is a powerful, powerful team; every year they show the promise of a finals-driving club and then nearly every season they don’t make it past the 2nd round.  The difference this year is that Anaheim doesn’t have the power to make it past the Sharks.  My bet — and call it safe if you will — is San Jose in 5.

Detroit v. Columbus: I hate to be the one writing this.  I’d love to pick Columbus, but I’m afraid I just can’t do that.  It was spectacular to watch the Blue Jackets fight their way in to the playoffs, especially in the newly-competitive Central Conference.  But the fact of the matter is the Red Wings are proving to be what I hate most about them: fast and so good they aren’t even fun to watch.  This is the classic underdog story.  Everyone will be rooting for Rick Nash and his Jackets, but it will take a miracle for them to beat Detroit.  A miracle, I fear, that won’t be happening this year.  Detroit in 6.  I hope I’m wrong.

Vancouver v. St. Louis: I was extremely surprised by Vancouver surpassing Calgary at the last minute to take the Northwest Division Title, and I am now being aware of the chance that Vancouver could surprise me again. But against most people’s bets, St. Louis clawed their way in to the playoffs and made it up to 6th, no less.  Roberto Luongo has been fantastic, but it’s going to take more than that this season against St. Louis.  It’s going to take heart, which is something I rarely see from the Canucks.  I’m going with the underdog here – St. Louis in 6.

Chicago v. Calgary: This is going to be a fantastic series, one not to be missed in the West.  These two clubs play the same sort of hockey — they are fast, physical and love to score.  It’s all about the youngsters for the Blackhawks, who swept the Flames in the season series.  The veterans of Calgary may be big and quite frankly a bit scary, but that’s nothing compared to the young talent in Chicago.  I’m going to say Chicago in 6.

There is NOTHING I love more than playoffs hockey (except maybe opening night at the Pepsi Center).  It’s going to be a great post-season filled with quite a few teams I never thought I’d see here.  I hope everyone is as excited about this as I am.  I’m going to be doing one live blog during each round.  Vote below for which game should be blogged LIVE!

Eleven games last night in the NHL, and most teams have now played 81.  The season is ending for some… but not for all.  Read on to see who isn’t polishing their golf clubs yet.

Nashville 4, Detroit 3 SO: Of course we all know Detroit is in, and Nashville isn’t quitting yet.  The Preds are now tied for 8th place with St. Louis with one game remaining for Tennessee and two left for the Blues.  For things to work out for Jason Arnott and the Preds, they will have to win their last game against the struggling Wild.  The game for those who didn’t catch it was actually pretty fantastic.  J.P. Dumont scored with one minute remaining in the 3rd to force overtime and Arnott finally got the puck past Chris Osgood during the 4th round of the shootout.  I love seeing Detroit lose.

Washington 4, Tampa Bay 2: Jose Theodore was back and just in time to have the honor of playing his 500th NHL game.  Alex Ovechkin was pointless in his third straight game and the rest of the Caps seemed pretty cautions as well as they beat down Tampa Bay – who just can’t seem to catch a break.

Pittsburgh 6, NY Islanders 1: Please don’t make me recap this game. I am starting to hate the Islanders.

New Jersey 3, Ottawa 2: Martin Brodeur played much better this game and was named the 2nd star of the game.  With this win, the Devils clinched the Atlantic Division title for the third time in four years.

Florida 3, Atlanta 2: It took quite a bit of math and scrolling through multiple sheets of standings for me to figure out that the Panthers now eliminated from the playoffs.  But if you decided to read the recap on NHL.com you would have read it in the first sentence.  But either way it’s the same — the Panthers are officially out of the race despite winning their game tonight.  Montreal and the NY Rangers both hold the tiebreakers over Florida, Montreal having won the series against Florida during the regular season and NY having more wins.  Kind of sad after how hard they worked, but if they can’t win it they can’t win it.

Buffalo 5, Carolina 1: More playoff hopes dashed.  Buffalo is officially out, despite Ryan Miller having one hell of a game.  Buffalo knew they had to win tonight to keep their playoff hopes alive and played like it.  But it was once again NY who polished things off for the Sabres.

NY Rangers 2, Philadelphia 1: Hands down, best game of the night.  With one goal, Ryan Callahan secured his team’s postseason dreams and shattered those of Florida and Buffalo.  Henrik Lundqvist had one of the best games of his season, turning aside 37 shots and only letting in a power play goal from Danny Briere.  I am liking the Rangers more and more each time I see them play… with the standings the way they are tonight they would face the Caps and that would be one hell of a season.  I’d love to see what Sean Avery could do with A.O.

Boston 5, Montreal 4 SO: What a great game to watch as there is a great chance they will meet again in the first round.  By forcing overtime and earning a point the Montreal Canadiens clinched a playoff spot.  The eastern conference is now closed for business.

Dallas 3, Colorado 2 SO: Is there anything more depressing than a shootout during the 81st game of the season between two teams not going to the playoffs?  Of course the twist of the knife is that one of the teams — make that the losing team — is the Avs. TJ Hensick was the only one to miss a shootout attempt after one of my favorites, John-Michael Liles, forced overtime.  Last game for the Avs is Sunday against St. Louis, which is a must-win for the Blues.

Vancouver 1, Los Angeles 0: Roberto Luongo earned the 8th shutout of the season, but he only had to stop 20 shots.  I don’t know if it was defense on the part of the Canucks or if the Kings just didn’t feel like playing — but they didn’t even get as many shots during the game as Calgary did in the first period against the Canucks on Tuesday night.  Remember when the Kings were actually looking pretty good in the beginning of the season?  The Northwest Division Title is still up for grabs.  Vancouver could win it by winning their last game and Calgary losing both of their last two which are both against Edmonton.  I think the Flames will overtake the Canucks.

Phoenix 4, San Jose 1: If I didn’t know any better while watching that game, I’d say that the Sharks were playing for a playoff spot — not competing for the President’s Trophy.  The Sharks can’t be overtaken in the West, but they can be beaten in the East for the trophy if Boston wins their last two and the Sharks tank their last one (again).  Young goalie Al Montoya had a fantastic game and ruined the Sharks’ last game in their own tank until the first round.  Too bad Phoenix wasn’t playing like this all season… or was it just a lucky game?  San Jose’s shootout against the Avs makes me think something has to change in the Shark’s locker room.

Well these recaps seem to be getting shorter as the season ends.  There are still spots to be had in the West, and with St. Louis, Nashville and and now Anaheim all fighting for them there are still plenty of exciting games left.

**Avs Update: Joe Sakic is done for the season. His injury has gotten the best of him and he won’t be returning this weekend.  It’s quite possible that he’s going to announce his retirement after the Cup finals… Wow what a recap that will be.  I’m not going to speculate at all on what will happen because anything is possible.

See you tomorrow hockey fans!

While last night was a much more calm night around the league with only two games, it certainly wasn’t boring.  A brief recap of what went down:

Buffalo 3, Toronto 1: Even though they gained two points in their win last night, Buffalo isn’t going anywhere.  If they win their next two and the Rangers lost their next two, the Blueshirts still have that ever-so-crucial tiebreaker between the clubs; Buffalo’s only shot will be if the Panthers also lose at least once.  I could see Florida dropping a game, but there’s no way the Rangers will drop their last two.  Sorry Sabres.

Columbus 4, Chicago 3 SO: Columbus made history last night by clinching the first playoff appearance in franchise history.  As long as the Blue Jackets get at least one point in their next two games (first St. Louis, then Minnesota) they will stay in 6th.  Not bad after nine years!  I love that both these teams are in the playoffs, along with St. Louis.  These are the best games to watch — the teams who really want to win.

In other non-playoff (and nearly non-hockey) news, it turns out Atlanta Thrashers fans are very sore losers.  Their place outside of 8th secured when the faced Washington on Tuesday night, the Thrash thought it might be fun to mock those who actually do win hockey games.  A recent commercial Alex Ovechkin made for D.C.’s Eastern Motors was screened, along with some silly outtakes, as a mock “public service announcement” sharing the dangers of hockey players doing bad commercials.

Now, anyone who knows me well knows I have nothing against hockey players in commercials – in fact, I have this one staring Peter Forsberg stored on my iPhone for my entertainment – but this was kind of a cheap shot on the part of Atlanta.  I think most home teams make fun of visiting teams, whether it’s a shot of two players on the bench on the Kiss Cam or having a mascot dressed up in the opposing uniform cry when they have a penalty called against them.  But this is crossing the line just a bit.  Never at the Pepsi Center (or any other arena) have I seen a team make so much fun of just one player.  Maybe fans (I mean there is a vicious Sidney-Crosby0-Haters following in every city) have strong feelings against some players, but on a whole the organization doesn’t do anything to promote it.  It’s fine for anyone to think that Ovechkin is a terrible actor, or has sold out, or dives or whatever.  But I have to agree with Caps coach Bruce Boudreau here — it’s crossing the line.  It’s not something to be mad at, after all look who’s got the last laugh here with the Caps in 3rd, but all the same I don’t think the video was appropriate.

All in good fun, I suppose.  And the video is funny.  But leave that online, leave it to fans, and as an organization don’t get in to it.

There are 11 games on tonight and tomorrow I’ll be back with another recap.  Only four playoff slots remain up for grabs… the season is coming to an end.

See you tomorrow hockey fans!

Last night, with seven playoff spots left still up for grabs, 26 different teams fought pretty damn hard to move in, move up or move closer to a chance for Tavares.  Here is a recap of what went down in the most important games last night.

NY Rangers 3, Montreal 1: Montreal could have locked up a playoff spot with a win at The Garden.  The Rangers didn’t yet clinch a playoff berth, but instead earned two extremely important points over the Canadiens. The win was crucial for the Rangers, who are now two points ahead of Florida and has the lead in wins if there were to be a tie.  Was it just me or did Carey Price play like he was extremely nervous?  The Montreal goalie (who was the topic of my first ever TAS article), after letting in a horrible 2nd goal that shouldn’t have been a goal at all, wasn’t up to his normal par.  Price wasn’t covering the puck when he should have been and seemed to not be paying attention to where the puck was going to be — only looking at where it was that moment.  Not to discredit the Rangers’ effort… after some speculation on exactly how great Chris Drury is Monday on TAS,  it looks like Drury is showing up to the Rangers games after all.  Drury had two goals and six shots on goal, truly living up to the C on his sweater.

Toronto 4, NJ 1:  This game didn’t matter much for Toronto or NJ.  The Devils had already cliched a playoff spot and the Leafs — although not giving up on a playoff run — were an extremely long shot. Martin Brodeur played another horrible game, letting in 4 goals, while the offense for NJ didn’t make much of an effort. Jamie Langenbrunner had the only goal — a power play goal in the 2nd period.  Toronto picked up two ill-timed points to bring them to 79 and keep them out of the playoff run.  The only news here is that NJ did not yet clinch the Atlantic Division title.  NJ could be overtaken for the title if Philly wins their last three and the Devils lose their last two.  It’s all going to depend on Brodeur and if he can play at the level he was playing less than a month ago.

Philadelphia 2, Florida 1: Philly clinched a playoff spot tonight with their win over the Panthers. Martin Biron played incredibly solid for the Flyers, stopping a total of 30 shots on goal.  No more worries for Philly — at least not until the first round starts.  Florida, however, couldn’t be further from the safe feeling in the Flyers’ locker room.  With 89 points and sitting 9th, they could easily still make the playoffs.  They would have to win their next two and the Rangers would have to lose their last two.   I don’t see it happening… but this is the time of the year when anything can happen.  Right Vancouver?

Pittsburgh 6, Tampa Bay 4: Ahhh, Tampa Bay.  Gotta love em, they’re going down swinging.    Sitting [un]-comfortably in 14th in the East with 66 points, the Lightening racked up over 30 penalty minutes — including two fighting majors and a misconduct to David Koci — trying to beat down the Pens.  Honestly, I’m surprised TB got as many goals as they did, mostly thanks to Paul Szczechura and Jeff Halpern. The Lightening came alive towards the end of the 3rd period, causing me to watch the last 3 minutes standing up and wondering if I would have to re-type this paragraph, which I did end up having to do.  The Pens locked up a playoff spot and are still sitting pretty in 5th, and Jordan Staal got his 23rd goal of the season — an empty-netter.

Ottawa 3, Boston 2: So not too much happened here, except that Boston fell behind in the chase for the President’s Trophy.  It will probably be going to San Jose, which is fine with me, as long as it doesn’t go to Detroit (it won’t).  Ottawa won’t be making the playoffs but earned two points anyway to stay in 11th.

Carolina 9, NY Islanders 0: Come on Isles… we all know you need Tavares, but was letting in nine goals really necessary?  Tank… Carolina is already in the playoffs and this wasn’t much of a fortune-teller game. Eric Staal got his 4th a hat trick of the season.  Big whoop.

Washington 4, Atlanta 2: Again not a huge game but here it is nonetheless.  The Caps thought they would gloat so much that they didn’t even bother starting Jose Theodore, instead Simeon Varlamov stopped 29 shots. Alex Ovechkin had an assist.  Atlanta stays out of the playoff picture — and will.

Chicago 4, Nashville 2: Chicago locked up a playoff spot a while ago, but Nashville needed this win more than any this season so far.  This loss switched the places of St. Louis and Nashville, now with St. Louis in and Nashville out (before counting the fact that St. Louis won last night).  The only thing the Preds can hope for is for the Blues to bomb their last two games and for them to win… but I am still going to stick with my St. Louis pick for the last place in 8th.

Minnesota 3, Dallas 1: Minnesota is still hoping for a playoff spot, and it’s not totally out of the question yet.  At least not mathematically.  The Wild earned a much needed two points tonight against the Stars to get up to 85 points, now only one point behind 8th spot.  But with St. Louis and Nashville fighting harder than ever for the last spot in the West, things don’t look great for Minnesota.  The Wild will have to win their next two games, Nashville would have to lose at least one and St. Louis would have to lose two.  This 8th spot in the West is going to be quite the nail biter.  Pay special attention to Marian Gaborik, who was all over the board last night with the first goal and two assists.

Los Angeles 2, Edmonton 1: The combination of Edmonton losing and St. Louis winning last night sealed the Oilers’ fate outside the playoff picture.  They could have made a run for it if all of the other teams in the running for 8th had lost — but no more.  Fernando Pisani was the only Oiler able to score on Jonathan Quick.  This is pretty typical for the end of the Oilers’ season, as shown the last few years.  Maybe they’ll have some better luck next year and will be more than mediocre.

St. Louis 4, Phoenix 1: St. Louis was already in the playoffs just by way of Nashville losing, but the win last night against the flailing Coyotes didn’t hurt art all.  The Blues are now in sole possession of 8th in the West, thanks to multiple contributions from Brandon Crombeen, Keith Tkachuk, Alexander Steen and Jay McClement. Ilya Bryzgalov was pulled after two periods and Al Montoya replaced him… and didn’t fare much better.  Sorry to Minnesota, Nashville and all the other teams still vying for that 8th spot, but St. Louis is staking claim on what is rightfully theirs.

Vancouver  4, Calgary 1:  Calgary had the opportunity to clinch the Northwest Division title with a win over Vancouver in regulation, but unfortunately for them that didn’t work out.  Vancouver stays in the playoff race in 5th and is now tied with Calgary for points.  The only way the Flames will take the division (and my money says they do) is if they win their next two and Vancouver wins only one, or if the Flames win only one and Vancouver loses both.  Only time will tell… but I’m still sticking with Vancouver to be out in the first round. Roberto Luongo, who I wish we could have in Denver, played famously, stopping 46 shots on goal.  I mean, who could actually stop Jarome Iginla’s wrist shot?

San Jose 1, Colorado 0 – SO: Well I was pleasantly surprised by the only overtime game of the night.  It was quite the battle of the goalies when the #1 team in the league shutout the 29th team in regulation. Peter Budaj truly held is own against Evgeni Nabokov with some the story of the night, making some spectacular saves.  The Sharks looked absolutely nothing like a team in the running for the President’s Trophy.  Making the same mistake Vancouver made a few nights ago, the Sharks missed some easy passes, and didn’t play with any heart. Joe Pavelski was the only player to beat Budaj, or any goalie, last night.  The trip to the Shark Tank was the last road game of the season for the Avalanche.

That wraps up the wrap-up from last night.  Only three games are on tonight, but be sure to check them out.  Columbus is still trying to move up in the standings in the West against Chicago, while the  best in the East will face Montreal, who could still potentially drop out of the playoffs completely.

See you tomorrow, hockey fans!

Alexander Ovechkin has a bit of fun - remember fun? - at the NHL Skills Competition in 2009.

There are countless reasons why I love hockey more than any other sport. I will not list them all here — I know that most readers of Thin Air Sports are here to read about something other than hockey — but I will tell you one of them.  I believe that hockey is more of a team sport than most other sports.  Well not that it IS more of a team sport, but that the players have more respect for their teams.  When a hockey player scores a goal, the first thing you’ll see him to is have a group “hug” with his teammates on the ice.  You don’t see any of these ridiculous touchdown dance things, where players celebrate their general perceived-awesomeness because they ran the ball, forgetting the fact that someone ELSE was the one to throw it to them.

Enter Alexander Ovechkin, the fun-loving Russian (I think that used to be an oxymoron before he came along…).

Ovechkin scored his 50th goal of the season Thursday during the first period against the Tampa Bay Lightening.  In celebration of his 50th (the third time he’s accomplished this mark), Ovechkin dropped his stick and then acted like it was too hot for him to pick it up, getting his hand close before shying it away again.

Now, I am not saying Ovie is selfish or that he’s cocky (neither am I saying that all pro athletes who DON’T play hockey are selfish or cocky).  But the fact of the matter is, you don’t generally see a one-man goal celebration on the ice.  In the post-game interviews (the Caps won 5-2), Ovechkin said that his celebration was pre-meditated, and mostly the idea of Jose Theodore — and most people are pissed.

Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau told the media that he and Ovie had a “talk” and that he certainly doesn’t expect to see anything like that again from their star player, and a fan favorite across the NHL.  Don Cherry had a bit too much to say on the issue (but what else is new), mostly stating that the goal celebration was poor sportsmanship and an insult to Tampa.  His argument was that the Lightning’s fans didn’t pay money to go to that game and see Ovie rub it in their, as well as rookie goaltender Mike McKenna’s, faces.  (For more on everyone’s response, click http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Don-Cherry-whiffs-on-critical-Ovechkin-Hockey-N;_ylt=AmcCzS0uf1s2W60bvjkn_YF7vLYF?urn=nhl,149654).

50-goal seasons are still something to celebrate.  Right now, it looks as if Ovie will be the only one to reach that milestone this season.  Second in goals right now is NJ’s Zach Parise — dangerous for sure, but I don’t think he’ll make 9 more goals in the next 3 weeks.

You know what I have to say?  Who cares.  This is so ridiculous — now people are fighting because we have someone who actually embraces his celebrity and has a bit of fun on the ice?  After the lockout, no one was watching the NHL — they were hurting for fans.  I mean, for the love of Richter’s stick, games were being televised on the Outdoor Life Network (now called Versus).  Pathetic!  Now, the league is wrought with hot, young stars just melting the ice.  But it’s not good enough for old-timers like Cherry.

Where is the line?  The Islanders can have “ice girls” who don’t do anything; the All Star Weekend can open with horrible performances by over-the-hill rockers; but the best players in the league can’t have a few fun goal celebrations?  It’s not as if Ovie was skating by Tampa’s bench mouthing off or picking fights.  He was just having a bit of fun on the ice, something that Tampa doesn’t know much about this season.  I’m willing to bet that there actually were quite a few people in the Lightning’s arena who paid to see Ovechkin.  Let’s face it; Tampa isn’t exactly having a banner season (23-33-16, 14th in the East with no playoff shot) and doesn’t have too many Ovechkin-caliber superstars. Ovechkin is a hot commodity in the league these days.  Not only is he a fantastic hockey player, but he’s fun to watch.  His enthusiasm for the game is contagious, and when was the last time anyone heard a Russian laugh so much?  Ovechkin is great at hockey and he’s quite a competitor.  A little bit of fun goes a long way.

Rewind to the end of January to the NHL All Star weekend in Montreal.  I believe it was Ovechkin who won the Breakaway Competition, no?  And why was that… was it really because he had a great breakaway or was it because he broke loose a bit and had some fun, putting on a hat and glasses complete with a Canadian flag?  I think it was the hat, personally.  And what’s even better is that Evgeni Malkin helped him — so the Pens fans can hush up.

As long as Ovechkin is just having a bit of fun, what’s wrong with that?  As long as every goal isn’t become a cause for touchdown dance celebration, I don’t think there is any cause for alarm.  He sells tickets.  He plays the game for the right reasons.  I can see why some people would be a little jealous… ummm, I mean mad… but seriously it’s all just a game hockey fans.  And Ovechkin is very, very good at it.

For the video of Ovie’s 50th, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyMaKvSwRh0.

Patrik Stefan after being chosen #1 in the 1999 draft. Recognize him? Yeah, me neither.

Adrian Dater is stupid and I don’t have to have any reasons so there. 

Lets just educate our hockey fans with a few facts to prove Adrian Dater wrong.  Come on kids, you could do this at home! 

Without going into incredibly complicated details (but if you are interested visit http://mirtle.blogspot.com/2008/03/how-lottery-draft-works.html), all you need to know is that there is a lottery for the first fourteen picks.  Only teams who didn’t make the playoffs are eligible for these picks.  Through some crazy stuff involving balls, a machine, and probability charts, the worst five teams are given more or less of a chance to get the top pick by receiving a series of number combinations.  Each team gets a certain number of the 1,001 number combinations that could possibly be spit out.  The team that finishes dead last only receives 25% of these codes, the 2nd worst team receives 18.8%, the 3rd worst receives 14.2% and so on and so forth.  The Stanley Cup champ always picks last, with Conference and Division champs right in front of them.

So, let’s just say the Avs lose the rest of the season (which is only 11 more games, including tonight’s game against Edmonton) and end up in last place.  There is only a 25% chance that they would get the first round pick.   And that’s just one fact.

Dater makes it sounds like if the Avs get the first pick, which we just learned isn’t guaranteed, we will end up with an Alexander Ovechkin.  Hmmmm.  Does the league really get an Alexander Ovechkin-esque player every single season?  Let’s see.  1999 – first pick overall was Patrik Stefan by the Atlanta Thrashers.  Stefan finished with a -20 that season before being sent to Atlanta’s AHL affiliate.  2006 – first pick was Erik Johnson by the St. Louis Blues.  Johnson finished the 06-07 season a -9 before, once again, being sent to St. Louis’ AHL affiliate.  And where are these teams now?  It’s extremely unlikely either will make the playoffs this season… and that’s how it’s been since they received the draft pics.

This season will mark only the 2nd time since the Colorado Avalanche came to Denver in 1995 that the Avs won’t make the playoffs.  We have never had to rely on a draft pick to get us to the top before, and this season won’t be any different.  The Avs have been injury plagued, went through a coaching change for the 2nd time in two years, and have had absolutely no consistency in net.  Joel Quenneville screwed up our team by bringing his overly defensive style to a team that had consistently some of the highest goals-for numbers each season, not to mention a few seasons with the best power play stats.  While Coach Q is gone and our beloved Tony Granato is back behind the bench, you can’t expect him to turn our team around in a few short months.  Granato was handed an injury-wrought, losing team with no goalie.  He’s not magic.

And if you really want to get down and dirty, you could even say that Francois Giguere has no idea what he’s doing with our club.  He hasn’t made the best trade decisions (with the exception of bringing back The Dream Team last year on the trade deadline) since becoming GM back in 2006.  He’s traded away some of our best talent (Alex Tanguay) and bulked up on defense and 3rd liners that we didn’t need (Ruslan Salei, Darcy Tucker just to name two) rather than signing a secure goaltender.  And guess what?  Signing one hot young goal scorer isn’t going to change Giguere.

Not one single player on the Avs has given up hope.  Just a few days ago (the 12th) Ryan Smyth told the Post that a playoff run was still mathematically possible – although it would take a miracle.  Adam Foote told NHL.com that even at the end, “we have to play the right way all the time.”  And Granato backed up his players, saying he would never think of tanking it for a shot at number one.  His words?  He takes pride in the Colorado Avalanche organization.

Way to let down Denver, Dater.  A true Avs fan would support the team down the stretch – and not rely on some still nameless superhero to come to our rescue in Montreal this summer.  Thanks for half-assing your article yesterday and disappointing us all.  Where’s the Rocky Mountain News when you need them?

Here is the link to Dater’s horrible idea: http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_11936775?source=rss