Crosby Writes Ovechkin’s Obituary

Jordan Staal and the rest of the Pens sent the Caps home for good.-Alaina Scarano-Isbouts-Alaina Scarano-Isbouts

-Alaina Scarano-Isbouts

OF COURSE.  This would happen just hours after I published that “my money is on the Caps-Pens game” for an overtime game and a game 7 win.  The Pittsburgh Penguins absolutely killed the Washington Capitals tonight in DC to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.  They will face the winner of the Boston-Carolina game 7.  The final score was 6-2.

It all started simply enough, by a power play goal from Sidney Crosby 12:36 into the first period.  And then a suspicious thing happened… the Pens scored again.  Craig Adams scored eight seconds later to give the Pens a 2-0 lead.  Every game in this series up until tonight was decided by one goal, except game 5 when the Penguins won by 2 goals.

Hockey at its Best

Three teams will be calling it a season tonight, then it's on to conference finals.

-Alaina Scarano-Isbouts

Today and tomorrow, three teams will be eliminated from the playoffs.  Of course this is the nature of the playoffs — as long as one team wins, the other one loses and their season is over.  To me, game 7s are the epitome of hockey.  They are fast paced, they get dirty, and usually only one goal makes the entire difference.  Expect at least one of these games to go in to overtime — and my money is on the Caps – Pens game.  Read on for previews of all the lucky, and maybe not so lucky, game 7 players.

Top 5 Things I Love About Playoff Hockey

– by Alaina Scarano-Isbouts

Ahh, the playoffs.  While it is the best time of the hockey season, it is also the time of the year when you can throw out the window everything you think you know.  No predictions are guaranteed.  No players are even guaranteed.  Injuries are undisclosed.  It’s a time when everyone is reminded why they really, really love this game.  In fact, here are the five things I love about hockey because of the 2009 post-season so far.

#5 – Ovechkin versus Crosby

Who would have thought we’d see this?  Sure, I picked each team to advance (and so did most people, I’m sure), but all the same it’s exciting as hell to watch these two international superstars battle for their teams.  The excitement came to an all time high on Monday, as both Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby notched hat tricks.  Ovechkin scored his late in the 3rd to dash any hopes the Pens had of winning the game in OT.  Washington is now up 2-0 in the series, but I’m sure it will be an entirely different game when the Pens get home ice back tonight for game 3 (5pm mountain).  This series has it all: the superstars, a hot rivalry, two incredible and young goaltenders, passion, scoring and even a few veterans who could be playing for their last shot at the cup (read: Bill Guerin and Sergei Fedorov).  As Markus Naslund proved, anyone can be in the middle of their last season – not just Joe Sakic.  Ovechkin and Crosby have brought enough fans to the game already, now hopefully they can help bring their sport to center stage (or ice).  I just hope this is a 7 game series… can you imagine anything more exciting? This just could be the playoff series to end all playoff series.

Round 2 Playoff Match-Ups

The rivalry continues.

–Alaina Scarano-Isbouts

I’m sure I’ve lost plenty of credibility after my round 1 matchups, but I’m giving round 2 a shot anyway.

Here’s a recap of my round 1 picks and who advanced:

Boston v. Montreal – Boston in 6 – actual was Boston in 4

Washington v. New York – Washington in 6 – actual was Washington in 7

NJ v. Carolina – Carolina in 7 – actual was Carolina in 7

Pittsburgh v. Philadelphia – Pittsburgh in 7 – actual was Pittsburgh in 6

San Jose v. Anaheim – San Jose in 5 – actual was Anaheim in 6

Detroit v. Columbus – Detroit in 6 – actual was Detroit in 4

Vancouver v. St. Louis – St. Louis in 6 – actual was Vancouver in 4

Chicago v. Calgary – Chicago in 6 – actual was Chicago in 6

So actually I only guessed wrong in two teams… let’s see if I can do a better job here.  This time, let’s preview the western conference first since they were decided much earlier – no series in the West went to 7.

Washington Capitals Beat Rangers 2-1; Advance to 2nd Round

-Alaina Scarano-Isbouts

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…

Going Live Again

It's all in your hands, Lundqvist... no pressure.

In the spirit of the Game 7s and how involved I have been with the Rangers-Caps series, I’ll be live blogging the game tonight.  It should be fantastic.

Just a few interesting stats for you all… the Rangers haven’t played a game 7 since their 1994 Cup championship.  NY has only played seven Game 7s in their history, and in each match up the home team has won.  Donald Brashear is out tonight (and if the Caps advance, for the next 5 games as well).  No word yet on if Avery is in, but he did look decent in Game 6 so we’ll see if Torts put the fear of God into him or not.  This game is going to depend all on Henrik Lundqvist and if he can carry the Rangers yet again.

Game starts at 7pm so be there or check it out here on TAS.  May the best team win!

Ovechkin & Co on Brink of Elimination

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.

Caps Shut Out Rangers at Home

Editor’s Note:  Alaina will be live blogging the Pens v Philly game on Tuesday.   If you liked this make sure you come back tomorrow and check out her commentary.

-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.

2nd LIVE Blog Tonight!

Well it looks like we had a tie!  In my first playoff article I wrote this year  posted a poll asking Thin Air Sports readers which game I should blog live for the first round of the playoffs.  The winning results today are:

– Washington v. NY Rangers 29%

– Pittsburgh v. Philadelphia 29%

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

After a few looooooong nights, the first round of first round games are through.  I think it’s fair to say we’ve seen some pretty fantastic games so far, a few surprises and maybe even a fight or two.  Not bad – the players seem to be getting off on the right feet so far.  I’ve decided to break down the most significant events of Game Ones into the three categories: good, bad or ugly. 

 

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.