Playoffs - Sat, 25 May - Results

NY Rangers v Boston 1-3 - Game 5 - The Boston Bruins have a chance now to see what all the fuss is about, and an opportunity to put an end to it. They're going to the Eastern Conference Finals to play the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins. The Bruins put to rest any talk about another meltdown by eliminating the New York Rangers on Saturday at TD Garden with a 3-1 victory in Game 5 of the conference semifinals. They've now won five of their past six games going back to that magical and historic comeback win in Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Gregory Campbell scored twice Saturday, including an empty-netter with less than a minute left, and Torey Krug scored his fourth goal in five Stanley Cup Playoff games. Tuukka Rask made it hold up with 28 saves, including a lead-saving stop on Ryan Callahan's breakaway in the third period, as the Bruins landed a date with the Penguins, who also needed five games to dispatch the Ottawa Senators. Pittsburgh scored 13 goals in its last two games against Ottawa and 21 over its four wins in the conference semifinals. The Bruins showed how well-rounded they are against the Rangers. They had nine different goal-scorers in the series, but only three are featured in their group of top-six forwards. The Bruins got seven goals from their blue line, including the four from Krug and two more from Johnny Boychuk, who scored the game-winner in Game 2. Their fourth line contributed with four goals, including game-winners from Campbell and Daniel Paille. Boston's fourth line actually had as many goals as its top-two lines combined. New York did not have everybody going, not even close. Sure, the Rangers got goals from nine different players as well, but nobody had more than Derek Stepan's two. New York's blue line was outscored by Boston's blue line, 7-2. Its fourth line, revamped to be grittier after Game 3, was shut out. In fact, that fourth line of Kris Newbury, Micheal Haley and Derek Dorsett, plus the Rangers' third defense pairing of Roman Hamrlik and Steve Eminger, were victimized by the Bruins' fourth line on the game-winning goal with 6:19 to play in the second period. The fact that Boston had to use three rookie defensemen for the first four games before getting Dennis Seidenberg back for Game 5 could have been a crutch that tilted the edge to the Rangers. Instead, it played heavily into the Bruins' favor because of Krug, who scored three of his goals on the power play and became the first rookie defenseman in the post-expansion era to score four goals in his first five career playoff games. Krug, who tied the game Saturday with a power-play goal 3:48 into the second period, was playing in the American Hockey League up until two days before the conference semifinals began. Now, he's the toast of Boston. The Rangers' best player all series was goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who made 30 saves on Saturday, including several showstoppers, to finish the playoffs with a 2.14 goals-against average and .934 save percentage. New York's problem was its lack of depth. As a result, the Rangers had very little in the way of an answer for when Boston surged. That much was evident in overtime of Game 1. It never really changed, even though the Rangers won Game 4 at Madison Square Garden. And now the Bruins get a chance to see what everybody around the NHL is talking about. They get a chance to get up close and personal with the Penguins and play for the right to go to the Stanley Cup Final. It's been 21 years since Boston and Pittsburgh met in the postseason. At that time, Boston right wing Jaromir Jagr was a mullet-wearing, fast-driving, goal-scoring machine for the Penguins, who swept the Bruins in the Wales Conference Finals en route to winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship. Boston also lost to Pittsburgh, 4-2, in the 1991 conference finals. Of note for now is how the Penguins owned the Bruins in the regular season, winning all three games by one goal.
Detroit v Chicago 1-4 - Game 5 - Everything that had ailed the Chicago Blackhawks in their previous three games, a poor power play, their depth players getting outplayed, the frustration of their captain, suddenly were no longer visible Saturday night. The result was a comprehensive 4-1 victory against the rival Detroit Red Wings in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals, one that earned the Presidents' Trophy-winning Blackhawks the right to play Monday at Joe Louis Arena (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN, RDS). Andrew Shaw scored twice and Jonathan Toews netted his first of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the Blackhawks cut the Red Wings' lead in the best-of-7 series to 3-2. Chicago's power play came to life in the second period, and helped the Blackhawks extend what had been a one-goal lead to two. Detroit's Daniel Cleary had tied the contest 1-1 with his fourth goal of the postseason at 9:37 of the second. Chicago goalie Corey Crawford directed a Henrik Zetterberg shot toward the corner to his right, but Cleary was able to put a rebound shot from a tight angle off Crawford's leg and in. But the Blackhawks regained the lead at 13:08 with their first power-play goal since Marian Hossa scored in the first period of Game 1 on their first extra-man chance of the series. Detroit had killed off 15 straight Chicago power plays, but Shaw deflected a point shot from Duncan Keith into the net for his first goal and point of the series. Chicago had several great chances on the power play, in part because Pavel Datsyuk was without a stick, and the Blackhawks were able to keep the puck in the zone for 65 seconds before the goal with the Red Wings effectively playing with only 3 1/2 penalty-killers. So much has been written about the offensive struggles of Toews; he finally broke through at 15:47 with his first of the playoffs. Just as the Blackhawks had been able to keep the puck in the zone at the blue line a couple of times before Shaw's goal, Keith made a great play to stop a clearing attempt after his point shot. He sent the puck to Hossa, who faked a shot and slipped the puck to Toews near the goal line to the left of Jimmy Howard. Toews put a shot off Howard and under the crossbar to give the Blackhawks a 3-1 lead.

Shaw made it a 4-1 game with his second of the night at 6:58 of the third period. Chicago controlled the play early in the third despite Detroit needing a rally, and eventually Viktor Stalberg put a shot off the end boards from the high slot. Shaw was skating behind the net; he was there to collect it and tuck the puck behind Howard, who had come out to challenge Stalberg's attempt. It was Shaw's second multiple-goal game of his career, the first came March 18, 2012, against the Washington Capitals. Chicago's Bryan Bickell had the lone goal of the first period. After Michal Handzus dislodged the puck from Detroit defenseman Jonathan Ericsson, Bickell put the first shot on Howard and Patrick Kane the second. The rebound kicked to Howard's left and Bickell was there to rip a shot off the goal camera inside the net. It was Bickell's fourth goal of the postseason. Chicago has had trouble finding second-chance opportunities in this series, let alone third ones. This game looked pretty similar to Chicago's 4-1 victory in Game 1. The Blackhawks controlled the play after an even first period in that one, but it took longer to solve Howard. Detroit gave Chicago its first three-game losing streak of the season, when the Red Wings claimed Game 2 with a 4-1 win and then swept the two contests at Joe Louis Arena. Howard was dazzling, stopping 86 of 88 shots in the three wins, including all 28 in a 2-0 shutout in Game 4. When the Blackhawks needed a big effort in Game 5, they got one from a lot of guys, especially their stars. Chicago's top four forwards, Toews, Sharp, Hossa and Patrick Kane, combined for 17 shots on net, and the reunited top defense pairing of Keith and Brent Seabrook combined for 11 more. The Red Wings entire team had only 26. Those six guys finished the night with a goal and five assists, and they controlled the game the way they are expected to.