Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.
From an efficiency standpoint, these playoffs are delivering possibly the quickest second round in NHL history. Three series got a lot less interesting last night when the New York Rangers, the San Jose Sharks, and the Colorado Avalanche all came up short in must-win Game Threes. They will all be hearing lots about the brutal history of a 3-0 series deficit, a hole no NHL team has conquered since the 1975 New York Islanders. Well, maybe the Sharks won't have a chance to hear that much history -- they actually face elimination tonight.
I guess there's a bright side to one-sidedness: with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Dallas Stars, and the Detroit Red Wings all on impressive winning streaks, it's looking to be an interesting third round. That there are three series at 3-0 less than a week into Round Two seems an odd phenomenon, though, as most games seem to have been toss-ups. Collectively, the Penguins, Red Wings, and Stars are 9-0 this round despite scoring the opening goal of the game only three times.
Stars 2, Sharks 1 (OT): In Dallas, defenseman Mattias Norstrom scored at 4:37 of the first overtime to propel the Stars to a comeback win over San Jose. For the fourth game in a row, the Stars surrendered the game's first goal, a shorthanded breakaway by Patrick Marleau. For the fourth game in a row, they fought back for victory, with Sergei Zubov tying the game on a 5-on-3 power play early in the third period. Dallas seems to have a real knack for playing past the forty-minute mark these playoffs: during third periods and overtimes they have collectively outscored their opponents 19-5. The Sharks also managed to extend a franchise streak: for the third year in a row, they lost three consecutive games in Round Two. Ouch.
(After the break, more on the win streaks of the Stars, Penguins, and Red Wings, plus some comeback advice from an unlikely source.)
Just for kicks, here's what I said before the Sharks-Stars series in the Second Round Playoff Roundtable discussion:
I think the Sharks take this series, and I don't think there will even be a Game Seven this time. The main thing the Sharks have to worry about is their ability to close out the second round (they have lost the last two postseasons in the second round despite leading the series 2-1 both times). Still, I think having those disappointments in previous years (plus a pretty serious scare in Round One) makes the Sharks less likely to melt down in Round Two this year.
Oops, that prediction's not looking so hot. Norstrom, by the way, has two goals in nine games in this postseason, which matches his goal output in the previous 87 games he's played in a Stars uniform (regular season and playoffs).
Penguins 5, Rangers 3: Evgeni Malkin was the hero in this game, scoring two goals and adding an assist as Pittsburgh won their seventh straight game this postseason. The Rangers came back from an early deficit in the second period when Ryan Callahan and Jaromir Jagr scored goals just over a minute apart to tie the game 3-3. Less than three minutes later, the Rangers were penalized when Ryan Hollweg boarded Petr Sykora, and Malkin potted the eventual game-winner during the ensuing power play. It was a tough loss for the Rangers, who outshot the Penguins 39-17 in the game but will still face elimination tomorrow at Madison Square Garden.
Red Wings 4, Avalanche 3: The return of Peter Forsberg was not enough to spark the Avs to victory, especially as it coincided with injuries to forwards Ryan Smyth and Paul Stastny. Detroit built a 4-2 lead through two periods and held on for the win, with Pavol Datsyuk scoring two goals and an assist, and Johan Franzen adding his league-leading eighth goal of the postseason. Andrew Brunette scored his second goal of the night to bring Colorado within one, but they could not put another puck past Chris Osgood, who is 5-0 this postseason. For a bit of personal redemption, here's what I said about this series in the Roundtable:
The Wings will be on a mission this round, and I don't know how well the Avalanche can withstand a properly motivated Red Wings squad. Though there will be a lot of "renewed rivalry" hype, I don't think this series will be that evenly matched.
Whew, at least that prediction's looking a bit better. Forsberg was held pointless in the game, but his six penalty minutes did at least get him on the scoresheet.
The Forty-Minute Split: It's interesting to look at the three winning streaks for Detroit, Dallas, and Pittsburgh, and what happens in the first two periods compared to what happens in the rest of the game. The Red Wings have won five games in a row, largely because of how they've dominated the first forty minutes of each game, outscoring opponents by a collective margin of 14-5. Past forty minutes it's a more modest 4-3 edge. This is a different pattern than the Stars or Penguins -- both those teams have owned third periods and overtimes during their postseason win streaks.
The Penguins have won seven games in a row. In the first two periods, they have outscored opponents 14-10. In the third period, however, they've simply slaughtered opponents 13-2. The Stars are even more lopsided in their current four game winning streak. During this stretch, Dallas has actually been outscored 5-3 in the first forty minutes, but has stormed back afterwards, outscoring opponents 11-1.
I'm not sure if there's too many conclusions to be drawn -- these numbers are based on a small sample size of purely wins -- but I thought it was a noteworthy pattern. In any case, all these teams have shown an ability to repeatedly win close games, which is certainly a coveted skill. Right now there's three opponent teams who would really love to learn how to quickly throw together a four game win streak of their own.
Tonight's Schedule:
Montreal Canadiens at Philadelphia Flyers, 7 pm. Flyers lead series 2-1. Suddenly this seems to be the most interesting series of the second round.
San Jose Sharks at Dallas Stars, 9 pm. Stars lead series 3-0. Break out the brooms, Texas.
Obligatory YouTube Embed: Thanks to a scheduling conflict with an already-eliminated Dallas Mavericks team, the Sharks will be facing elimination tonight. Four consecutive wins is a tall order, but maybe they can take some inspiration from their cupless neighbors to the south, who were able to pull their own miracle comeback against Marty Turco this season. Enjoy!
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