Playoffs - Tue, 14 May - Results

Ottawa v Pittsburgh 1-4 - Game 1 - The Pittsburgh Penguins have a tried-and-true plan for success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They executed it perfectly Tuesday night at Consol Energy Center, and the result was a dominant 4-1 victory against the Ottawa Senators in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. When the Penguins play a simple, fundamental game like that, it plays to their strengths and allows them not only to generate scoring chances, but to manufacture power plays. Once that happens, the Penguins know they can be the most dangerous team in hockey. On Tuesday, the power play again was the primary offensive weapon for the Penguins, who received man-advantage goals from Paul Martin and Chris Kunitz to go along with an even-strength goal from Evgeni Malkin and a shorthanded tally from Pascal Dupuis. Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is Friday night here. In the first round, Pittsburgh scored seven power-play goals in 21 attempts against the New York Islanders. That efficiency proved to be the difference in a series that went six games and was much closer than many anticipated. It was supposed to be a different story against Ottawa, which allowed the Montreal Canadiens three goals on 19 power-play opportunities across the five games of that series and had won three straight. Ottawa also had the NHL's best penalty kill during the regular season. The three goals on special teams meant the Penguins merely needed adequate goaltending to get the win. They got far better than that from Tomas Vokoun, who allowed one goal on 36 shots and has allowed four goals in three starts since replacing Marc-Andre Fleury. Martin, who scored the tying goal late in regulation against the Islanders in Game 6, opened the scoring 2:41 into the game with Kyle Turris in the box. Malkin got the primary assist on the goal, giving him at least one assist in all seven postseason games Pittsburgh has played. He has 10 assists in these playoffs, which leads the League. Pittsburgh's lead was short-lived, a carryover of a problem that perplexed the Penguins throughout the first round. Ottawa forward Colin Greening scored his first Stanley Cup Playoffs goal when he pushed a loose puck across after Vokoun could not handle a bad-angled shot from Erik Condra, a harmless flip that originated behind the goal line. It was not the start the Penguins wanted for Vokoun. Fleury made a habit of allowing those careless goals in his final three appearances against the Islanders. But Vokoun settled down after that early hiccup. He battled the puck throughout the first two periods but did not allow another goal. In three games this postseason, Vokoun has stopped 101 of 105 shots. As a result, his teammates found the confidence to pull away with Kunitz, on the power play, and Dupuis, on the penalty kill, delivering the crucial blows in the final two periods Kunitz has three goals in the playoffs; all have come on the man-advantage. For Dupuis, it was his first shorthanded goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. His six goals this postseason lead the League. For Ottawa, it was not the same Craig Anderson who carried the Senators through the first round. That Anderson allowed four goals in the final three games against Montreal. This Anderson allowed three goals in a little less than 39 minutes. The Senators lost rugged defenseman Eric Gryba, who suffered an upper-body injury after a second-period open-ice hit from Brooks Orpik. MacLean said there was no update on the defenseman's status and Gryba will be evaluated again Wednesday.
San Jose v Los Angeles 0-2 - Game 1 - The Los Angeles Kings waited 21 years to start the Stanley Cup Playoffs at home. The cushion they got in that first game might as well have been a bounce house. Jonathan Quick demonstrated his Conn Smythe-winning form and Slava Voynov and Mike Richards continued their postseason prowess in a 2-0 win Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks in Game 1 of their Western Conference Semifinal series at Staples Center. The last time L.A. opened a series at home was 1992, during the Wayne Gretzky era. L.A. needed Quick's sixth career playoff shutout because it was largely outplayed in the first and second periods. Sharks goalie Antti Niemi stopped 18 of 20 shots in the loss. The Kings, who faced a 2-0 series deficit in the quarterfinals against the St. Louis Blues, have won five straight and 11 in a row at home, dating back to the regular season. Voynov recorded his first career multi-point game of playoffs and Richards upped his total to seven points in as many games. Voynov, who had three points in 20 postseason games in 2012, has four through seven games. All three of his goals are game winners, and most have been seeing-eye shots from the back end. L.A., which did not enjoy a two-goal lead at any point in the opening round, got it midway through the second period after Richards redirected Voynov's shot for a 2-0 score. Quick did the rest, with 16 of his 35 saves in the third period. His 25th career playoff win is one shy of the franchise record set by Kelly Hrudey. The interstate rivalry, the fourth all-California playoff series, was evident. Raffi Torres knocked out Jarret Stoll on a charging penalty in the second period. San Jose needed to continue its hot power play, but went 0-for-3. Quick stopped all six shots and has stopped 26 of 28 on the power play in the postseason. After he allowed four goals in his first two games, Quick has allowed six in his past five contests. The Sharks gave a nod to Quick, but also thought they have to make it more difficult. Patrick Marleau said they need to make plays coming out of their zone, and that some of their dump-ins were getting to Quick. Voynov's shot from the right point hit Richards on its way into the left side of the goal at 12:30 of the second to make it 2-0. It was the first time that the Sharks, who trailed for all of 20:38 minutes against the Vancouver Canucks, faced such a deficit this postseason. San Jose, outshot L.A., 16-4, in the third period, yet came up empty. San Jose, coming off a week-long break, did a great job to take the home crowd out of it early and controlled most of the first period, only to give up a crushing goal with 12.5 seconds remaining. Richards grabbed a loose puck off a faceoff in L.A.'s zone and skated it across San Jose's blue line before he was bumped off it. Voynov collected it and fired a slap shot through heavy congestion and past Niemi for a 1-0 lead. The Sharks held a 7-3 shot advantage through 10 minutes as the Kings leaned on Quick, who made three solid saves on San Jose's first power play. Bracken Kearns made his NHL playoff debut in place of Adam Burish (upper body) on the fourth line. Kearns, 32, began his professional career in 2005 with the ECHL's Toledo Storm and entered Tuesday with six games of NHL experience.