Four games on the docket last night. Three went twisted.
The Rangers kinda "had to" win last night. They put in a very good strong game, controlling the play mostly. They, like they do, didn't finish a lot of opportunities - making a goalie look sensational and all. But they were solid on both ends. To be without McDonagh and Nash and control things as they did is solid. That they did this against a rival and a team striving to get in the playoffs is great! This game is not a surprise, but not a guarantee.
The other three games...just didn't meet my expectations. I suppose these are all flukes? If not, they may be indicative of some small issues for some Stanley Cup focused teams.
Anaheim has been on a tear. 13-4-1 since Christmas. Three good wins since the John Scott D All-star tourney, beating a hot San Jose team, a very good LA team and a hungry Arizona squad. Pittsburgh has turned things around - Sidney Crosby C playing like he usually has in his career makes them dangerous every night. So this isn't a gimme game for the Ducks and certainly for a much improved Penguins team - 10-4-4 since Christmas is no joke - this game is winnable. But 6-2?! The Penguins looked fast at every facet. Kris Letang D was moving the puck smartly and with purpose (he did have that one big gaffe that set up Ryan Getzlaf's C goal). Crosby was everywhere too - go watch his second goal, amazing! I think both of these teams are offense-first teams and in moments both are fairly unstoppable. A different night and it's probably a 6-3 Pens loss because Corey Perry RW and Getzlaf can be quite a force when "ON". For me, this game shows Anaheim's still in need of another big minute d-man or perhaps a shutdown center. The Pens need the same, but I don't think as critically.
Tampa Bay losing 5 - 1 to Ottawa is a big deal on the score sheet. But looking at the highlights - three of those goals were sloppy play and one was soft - bad goalies can KILL a team. The other, empty net. This game is a hiccup for the recovered Lightning. Still, a shock. Watching the game, I kept thinking the Lightning would start controlling things. They never really did, but it wasn't like the Senators dominated anything. And really, the Senators are opportunistic when they get clean chances - just on most nights, they have to open things up too much to create those chances.
Much different for Florida. Don't read too much into it, I guess. But the third period collapse and the inability to really generate the good chances they usually do could be indicative of soft offense - think San Jose over the years, the ability to score in bunches on pretty plays but when the playoffs come around, they get owned by the tougher teams. Florida may well suffer this. Keep in mind, the Red Wings are no slouch. Pavel Datsyuk C and Henrik Zetterberg LW are great two-way players and no one has better hands than Pavel, Patrick Kane maybe...but probably not. And the Detroit system can make things very difficult in their end. Don't look at shot counts for this Florida team. But it is no easy task keeping the likes of Trochek, Barkov, Jagr, Huberdeau, Pirri, and Bjugstad under control - any one of those guys turn a pedantic scoring chance into a sweet goal.
Three of these games I expected to be great - settled in the last minute or overtime. And the one blow-out I did expect, Ottawa reversed on me. Thems the bounces, sometimes, right?
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