Playoffs - Fri, 11 May - Results

Toronto v Boston 2-1 - Game 5 - The Toronto Maple Leafs had to win Friday night in order to extend their first run through the Stanley Cup Playoffs in nine years and have a chance to overcome a 3-1 series deficit. Behind the near-flawless goaltending of James Reimer and a couple of unassisted goals, the Maple Leafs did just that. Reimer stopped 43 shots as Toronto forced Game 6 in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with the Boston Bruins by holding on for a 2-1 victory in Game 5 at TD Garden. Game 6 is scheduled for Sunday night (7:30 p.m. ET; CBC, RDS) in Toronto, where Boston won Game 3 and 4 to seemingly take a stranglehold on the series. Now the Maple Leafs are a bit free of the Bruins' grasp and looking to make some franchise history. The Maple Leafs are 1-8 in series when they fall behind 3-1. The last time Toronto overcame a 3-1 series deficit was 1942, when the Maple Leafs came back from 3-0 down in the Final to beat the Detroit Red Wings and win the Stanley Cup. Reimer stopped 35 of 36 shots in the final 40 minutes, allowing only Zdeno Chara's goal with 8:48 remaining in regulation and the Maple Leafs leading 2-0. Two saves in particular stood out. Early in the second period while Reimer was protecting a 1-0 lead, he was able to cover just enough of an open net to deny Patrice Bergeron from the left of the slot. With 11.1 seconds left in regulation and the Bruins playing 6-on-5 with goaltender Tuukka Rask (31 saves) on the bench in an attempt to tie the game, Reimer denied Jaromir Jagr on the doorstep with the knob of his stick. Both of Toronto's goals were unassisted. Shortly after Reimer's amazing save on Bergeron, the Bruins went on a power play. During the penalty kill Tyler Bozak challenged at the right point and stole a pass from Andrew Ference. Bozak then outraced the Boston defenseman before beating Rask with a forehand shot at 11:27. Clarke MacArthur scored the Maple Leafs' second goal 1:58 into the third off a Boston giveaway. After Johnny Boychuk's indirect pass out of the Boston zone eluded Nathan Horton, MacArthur intercepted it at the red line. He blew by Boychuk on his way to the net, where he beat Rask with a backhander. MacArthur was a healthy scratch for Game 2 and 3 of this series, but he's now scored twice in as many games. Although they wanted to close out this series at home, the Bruins still have the lead and can advance to the second round for the first time since 2011 with a better performance Sunday.
NY Rangers v Washington 1-2 - Game 5 - The Washington Capitals need one more win to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the second straight season. Mike Ribeiro scored the winning goal 9:24 into overtime to give the Capitals a 2-1 victory in Game 5 of the conference quarterfinals at Verizon Center on Friday. Braden Holtby and Henrik Lundqvist traded big saves in OT before Ribeiro slammed a deflected shot past Lundqvist from the slot to give Washington a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series. With the Toronto Maple Leafs beating the Boston Bruins earlier Friday evening, Game 6 between the Rangers and Capitals will start at 4:30 p.m. ET on Sunday at Madison Square Garden (CNBC, TSN). The sequence for the winning goal started when Mike Green gloved the puck down at the right point to hold it in. Rangers forward Derick Brassard tried to swipe the puck out of the zone from between the hash marks, but it went directly to Green, who quickly moved it across the zone to Karl Alzner for a shot that appeared to hit off Anton Stralman's skate. The carom came right to Ribeiro, who had position on John Moore, allowing him to quickly sweep it into the net while Lundqvist was caught far out on the opposite side. Troy Brouwer was credited with the primary assist because the official scorekeeper ruled Alzner's shot also got a piece of his skate before going to Ribeiro. Lundqvist, who made 33 saves, fell to 3-10 in overtime during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It didn't help the Rangers that Rick Nash was again held off the scoresheet. Nash has no goals and one assist in the series after leading the Rangers during the regular season with 21 goals. He didn't have a shot on goal through regulation, though he was credited with two in overtime. Brian Boyle scored 53 seconds into the game to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead and Washington hurt itself with penalties, including a boarding call by Jason Chimera at 4:40 and an elbowing minor to John Erskine just over five minutes later. Chimera boarded Ryane Clowe, whose head hit the glass. Clowe played one more shift before leaving the game. The Rangers did not specify the nature of his injury or provide an update on Clowe, who returned in Game 4 after missing four straight games with an undisclosed injury that was speculated to be a concussion. Washington killed off both penalties to keep the deficit at one goal heading into the first intermission. When the Capitals finally got a power play opportunity 7:33 into the second period, they needed 11 seconds to cash in. Joel Ward scored with a one-timer from between the circles after some pretty passing by Nicklas Backstrom and Marcus Johansson. Boyle put Washington on the power play when he was caught taking a baseball swing at Ribeiro's legs following a Capitals' scoring chance. Boyle was called for slashing and sat in the box for a grand total of 11 seconds. The Capitals weren't done on the PK. They had to kill off two more, holding on Jack Hillen and delay of game on John Carlson, over the final 5:07 of the second period, but they did so by blocking seven shots over the two kills. Lundqvist kept the Capitals from winning earlier in overtime when he made a brilliant save with his left pad on Mathieu Perreault, who broke in behind Stralman thanks to a pass from Ward. Perreault was mad because he said he didn't need to shoot it into Lundqvist's pad. The goalies traded saves during a sequence roughly six minutes later. Holtby stopped Carl Hagelin in front and Lundqvist got himself in front of Ovechkin's one-timer with 12:08 left in overtime. Holtby quickly answered with a pad save on Nash. However, Ribeiro scored the winner 38 seconds later, giving Washington a chance to close it out Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
Anaheim v Detroit 3-4 - Game 6 - The Anaheim Ducks had a chance to eliminate the Detroit Red Wings and advance to the second round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Red Wings had Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, and this Western Conference Quarterfinal series will have a Game 7 because of them. Zetterberg scored twice, including the game-winner 64 seconds into overtime, and Datsyuk added another highlight-reel tally as both Detroit superstars had three-point nights in a 4-3 victory at Joe Louis Arena to even the series at three wins each. Game 7 will be Sunday night at Honda Center in Anaheim (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN, RDS). Anaheim rallied from a late two-goal deficit to force overtime, but it was all Detroit in the brief extra session. The Ducks failed to break the Red Wings' pressure on multiple occasions before defenseman Ben Lovejoy iced the puck 58 seconds in. Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau called his timeout, but Zetterberg's shot from the left point through a screen beat Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller. Zetterberg, in his first playoff series as Detroit's captain, had not scored in the first five games of this series. The last time these teams met in the playoffs, in the 2009 Western Conference Semifinals, the series also went seven games. Detroit won 4-3 in Game 7 at home on a goal from Daniel Cleary with three minutes left in regulation. The teams have alternated wins in this series that has lacked momentum from game to game. All three of Detroit's victories have come in overtime; in Games 2 and 6, Anaheim rallied from multiple-goal deficits in the third period to force OT. Anaheim scored a pair of goals 51 seconds apart late in the third period to erase a 3-1 deficit and force overtime. Emerson Etem scored with 3:28 left in regulation after a turnover by Valtteri Filppula. The Red Wings center skated to the right behind his net and left the puck, but only Etem was there, and the rookie quickly stashed it in the net before Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard could react. Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry, both of whom have been quiet in this series, combined to tie the game with 2:37 left. Perry doesn't have a goal in the series but was able to slide the puck across the crease for Ryan to punch home -- stunning the packed house of 20,066. Datsyuk ended an incredible shift near the end of the first period with a highlight-reel goal to put Detroit in front. After already making multiple plays to keep the Red Wings in control of the puck, Datsyuk helped a wayward shot from the right point into the left corner. Zetterberg, facing the boards, backhanded a pass into the left circle to Datsyuk, who had cut away from defenseman Francois Beauchemin. Datsyuk collected the pass, then turned Ryan Getzlaf around with a deke before backhanding a shot into the top corner past a screened Hiller at 18:48. Anaheim responded at 11:31 of the second when Kyle Palmieri got credit for his third goal of the series. Etem intercepted a pass by Detroit defenseman Kyle Quincey in the neutral zone and hit Palmieri, who found space to the outside and fired a shot off the left post behind Howard. The puck popped into the air and hit Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith in the midsection before bouncing into the net. Palmieri, Etem and David Steckel, who may have deflected Quincey's outlet pass before Etem collected it, have spent the majority of their minutes on the fourth line for the Ducks but have combined for six goals and 11 points in the series. Zetterberg put the Red Wings in front for the second time at 6:19 of the third period. He wound up with a slap shot from the top of the left circle and it squeezed past Hiller with Johan Franzen providing a screen in front. Justin Abdelkader, back from a two-game suspension for a hit on Anaheim's Toni Lydman, helped make it 3-1 for the Red Wings seconds after a power play expired. Filppula's shot was just wide, but Abdelkader collected the puck along the left wall and threw a shot at the net that deflected off Cleary and in at 11:30. Now it's a winner-take-all game back in Southern California. The Ducks will be trying to win a playoff series for the first time since 2009, while the Red Wings will be trying to reach the second round for the sixth time in seven years.
St Louis v Los Angeles 1-2 - Game 6 - Perhaps only Dustin Penner could provide poetic justice to this pound-for-pound tug-of-war. Los Angeles Kings coach Darryl Sutter complained almost all season long about the lack of production from his left wings, and Penner was among the guilty parties with 11 healthy scratches next to his name. Then Penner made sense of the Western Conference Quarterfinal series Friday night with an eye-opening, series-clinching goal for a 2-1 win against the St. Louis Blues in Game 6 on Friday night. Penner scored on a 60-foot slap shot with 0.2 seconds remaining in the second period that moved the defending Stanley Cup champions into the conference semifinals. Down 2-0 in the series, L.A. swept the next four and recorded its 10th win in a row at home. St. Louis lost a Stanley Cup Playoff series for the first time in 11 tries after taking a 2-0 lead. It fell to 0-8 in its past eight elimination games, dating to April 23, 2000. It was the second straight year that the lower-seeded Kings eliminated the Blues. This fell in line with arguably the most closely-contested series of the postseason. Every game was decided by one goal and few penalties were handed out. The teams combined for 479 hits. They played six grueling games in 11 days. Just when it seemed like the teams would go to their dressing rooms tied 1-1 after 40 minutes, Penner brought Staples Center to life. He got the puck in the neutral zone, skated down left wing and let go a slap shot a stride inside the blue line. The puck appeared to skip off Roman Polak and went past Brian Elliott an instant before the horn. Elliott faced 16 shots on the night, just three in the final period. Ultimately, he couldn't match Jonathan Quick, who stopped 167 of 177 shots for a .944 save percentage for the series. Quick has 24 postseason wins, two shy of the club record held by Kelly Hrudey. Chris Porter made it 1-1 with his first career playoff goal, although he never got his stick on the puck. Backes got the puck out from his feet and fed Polak at the right point, and the defenseman ripped a shot that bounced off Porter's side and into the goal at 4:39 of the second period. Polak made up for the Kings' first goal. Drew Doughty highlighted a slow-starting opening period with a fake-slap wrist shot from the left side in which Polak backed up while defending him. Doughty beat Elliott to the short side at 12:37. Dwight King sprung a rush up ice to Colin Fraser, who dropped a pass to Doughty just inside the blue line. It was Doughty's first postseason goal since Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final last June. St. Louis nearly evened it when Stewart clanged a shot off the left post with about five minutes left in the period. Los Angeles scratched wing Kyle Clifford. He did not participate with the team at the morning skate and coach Sutter said it was a "maintenance day." L.A. will play either the rival Anaheim Ducks or San Jose Sharks in the semifinals. Would they prefer home-ice advantage against the Sharks or going down the freeway for the first ever Ducks-Kings series?