Playoff Results - Fri, Apr 25, 2014

NY Rangers @ Philadelphia 1-2 - The last time Steve Mason won a playoff game, he was a 19-year-old goaltender with the Kitchener Rangers in the 2008 Ontario Hockey League playoffs. He's come a long way since then. Making his first start in more than two weeks, Mason made 37 saves as the Cryers beat the Rangers 2-1 in Friday in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference First Round series. Jakub Voracek scored the game-winning goal in the second period after Read tied the game in the first. The Flyers also played most of the final two periods with five defensemen after Nicklas Grossmann left with a lower-body injury at 6:25 of the second. The best-of-7 series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 on Sunday in New York (noon ET; NBC, RDS, TSN). Game 6 will be Tuesday in Philadelphia and Game 7, if necessary, will be in New York on Wednesday. Dominic Moore scored for the Rangers, and goalie Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves. It was Mason's first start since April 12, when he sustained an upper-body injury in the second period against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Mason sat out the final game of the regular season and the first two games of this series. He made his first appearance in Game 3, playing the final 7:15 in relief of starter Ray Emery in a 4-1 loss. Mason's only previous Stanley Cup Playoff experience came when he was in goal for the Columbus Blue Jackets when they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings in the first round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Mason was tested early as the Rangers outshot the Flyers 16-6 in the first period. The game turned the Flyers' way when Voracek scored on the power play at 7:22 of the second. Moore was sent off for cross-checking at 5:58, putting the Flyers on the power play for the second time in the game. Late in the man advantage, Voracek raced the puck into the New York end but slipped and lost control of it. Jason Akeson won a battle for the puck with Martin St. Louis and kicked it to Mark Streit at the left point. Streit sent it across the zone to Brayden Schenn, who put a low shot toward the net that Voracek, stationed in the slot, tipped over Lundqvist's blocker for his second goal of the postseason. It was the Flyers' first home power-play goal; they went 0-for-5 in Game 3. The Rangers would have liked a similar output. They had a chance to tie the game late in the second period when Read was whistled for hooking with 15.1 seconds left, giving the New York a 4-on-3 advantage that carried into the third period. However they managed two shots on goal. For the game they went 0-for-4 on the power play. The Rangers continued to push through the third period, outshooting the Flyers 10-8, but Mason was up to the challenge. An undermanned defense also played well after Grossmann was injured. He fell feet first into the boards in the Philadelphia end while battling for the puck with the Rangers' Derick Brassard. Without Grossmann, Braydon Coburn played a game-high 25:27 and Kimmo Timonen played 23:36. Now the attention turns to Game 5 on Sunday. The Flyers won Game 2 at MSG, their first win at the Garden since February 2011. They hope the memory of that game and the momentum from their Game 4 win will carry over into Sunday.

Chicago @ St Louis 3-2 OT - The Blackhawks knew they'd have to win at least one game at Scottrade Center to have a chance to advance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. To get it, the Blackhawks figured they'd have to create at least one lucky break for themselves at a crucial moment. Done and done, finally. Duncan Keith's zone-clearing attempt sprung Jonathan Toews for a red-line-in breakaway goal in 7:36 into overtime that gave Chicago a 3-2 victory against the Blues on Friday and a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 Western Conference First Round series. The Blackhawks have won three games in a row, including two straight in overtime, since blowing late leads and losing Games 1 and 2 in overtime. They have a chance to close out St. Louis in Game 6 on Sunday at United Center (3 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, RDS).
"It just happened so fast," Toews said. "I jumped on the ice and got the puck and it just came right to me and it happened to go in. The celebration, just wasn't sure if it was real or not, it happened so quick."
The Blues are in danger of having history repeat itself in eerily similar and depressing fashion. They took a 2-0 series lead with back-to-back home wins against the Los Angeles Kings in the first round last year, but dropped the next four games to lose the series. Just like against the Blackhawks in this series, the Blues lost to the Kings 4-3 in Game 4 and 3-2 in overtime in Game 5. They lost 2-1 to L.A. in Game 6.
"What's pouting gonna do?" Blues forward Alexander Steen said. "You just get back on the horse. It's a game. You have to win four. They have three, we have two. Off to Chicago we go. See you there."
Chicago won in St. Louis for the first time since April 14, 2013, but for the fourth straight time at Scottrade Center, dating back to the regular season, the Blackhawks had a lead entering the third period and couldn't hold it. The script was different this time. Toews had just come on for a line change and was heading back toward the Blackhawks' zone when Keith flung the puck up the ice. It hit Andrew Shaw's shin pad and found Toews, who went in alone, deked to his backhand and got his shot around Blues goalie Ryan Miller (27 saves).
"I'm trying to get the puck out of the zone and all of a sudden it lands on his stick, couldn't believe it," Keith said. "So I was pretty happy seeing that. If we were to have a guy on the breakaway it would be him. He's pretty clutch when it comes to that. Nice goal."
Prior to Toews getting the puck, Blues defenseman Roman Polak went off for what turned out to be an ill-timed line change. Instead of having a right-side defenseman back with Toews, Jay Bouwmeester had to race onto the ice and couldn't catch up. Toews was also behind Jordan Leopold when he got the puck.
"It seems against a team that's got this type of finish you make a big error you pay for it," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "That's what happened in this series. We've played extremely hard, at times dominated, playing to our potential, playing to our structure, but when we make an error like on the first goal and on the third goal we pay for it. That's what's happening. We're paying for our mistakes. They've got people who know how to finish and they're making us pay for it."
Game 5 was the fourth overtime game of the series, marking only the fifth time in Stanley Cup Playoffs history that at least four of the first five games of a series have gone to overtime, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
"I don't see anything changing," Hitchcock he said. "We're going to have tremendous resolve, as will they. We're going to have to go earn a victory. We would have had to win two games anyway to win this series. Now we have to win them in Chicago and in our building, but it's very doable."
The Blues had chances to win Game 5 before Keith found Toews for the breakaway. They had several odd-man rushes in the third period, but capitalized on just one, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo's game-tying goal with 18:18 remaining in regulation off a 2-on-1 with forward Jaden Schwartz. T.J. Oshie, who scored a game-tying goal at 11:04 of the second period, had a chance off a 2-on-1 roughly eight minutes after Pietrangelo scored, but Chicago goalie Corey Crawford (27 saves) got across to make a diving save. Crawford also came out to challenge and make a save on defenseman Barret Jackman's slap shot from inside the right circle 6:49 into overtime. There were other chances too, such as when Oshie misfired on an open look off a turnover from between the hash marks at 15:50 of the second period. Blackhawks forward Ben Smith scored his first goal of the series 90 seconds later to give Chicago a 2-1 lead going into the third period. Pietrangelo had a chance to score on a 2-on-1 with Oshie with one minute left in the first period, but Crawford made the save, allowing Marian Hossa's goal less than three minutes earlier to stand up as the only one in the opening period. St. Louis also had two power play chances early in the first period, but managed just one shot on goal. Its power play is 2-for-23 in the series.
"We had plenty of chances to take bigger leads and didn't and it cost us," Steen said. "If you want to win in the playoffs you have to score on your chances."
Chicago scored on its break, one that Hitchcock called "lucky" and Chicago coach Joel Quenneville termed "fortunate." The Blackhawks knew all along that they'd have to get one to beat the Blues at Scottrade Center. They gave away chances to win Games 1 and 2. If it didn't happen in Game 5, they might not have had another opportunity.
"When it comes down to it there's chances on both sides in an overtime period, and that's four out of five games that have gone to overtime," Toews said. "You think sometimes it is about bounces, but for us it's just about belief and working for those bounces and hopefully we get lucky."Patrick Kane had a fight with Adam Cracknell at 19:43 of the second.


Dallas @ Anaheim 2-6 - The Dallas Stars were all over the Anaheim Sucks late in the second period and were controlling this Western Conference First Round series game at even strength. Anaheim, which had lost two straight in the series, was clinging to a one-goal lead after 40 minutes and needed to change the course of Game 5 at Honda Center. Three goals in less than seven minutes will do that. Jakob Silfverberg, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry scored in the opening 6:49 of the third period and the Sucks rolled to a comfortable 6-2 victory Friday and a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series.

"I thought we were a lot more calm this time around instead of the first two games [in Anaheim]," said center Andrew Cogliano, who set up Silfverberg's goal. "The first two games, you sometimes sit back and wait for bad things to happen, but this time, we said 'Let's just keep going for it. If you sit back, they're bound to score at some point. But if you attack and keep them on their heels, not only are they defending but you have a good opportunity to score. I thought it was good for [Silfverberg] to score. I thought that was a big goal for our team, and then you see what happens - guys are feeling good, guys start pressing even more because we're up two goals and you keep scoring."

Getzlaf had a goal and two assists in his return to the lineup after missing Game 4, and passed Teemu Selanne for the all-time franchise lead in Stanley Cup Playoffs points with 66. Perry also had a goal and two assists, and the Sucks chased Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen after he allowed five goals on 21 shots. Game 6 will be Sunday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN2, RDS2, PRIME, FS-SW), where the Ducks lost Games 3 and 4.

"It's about maintaining our focus," Getzlaf said. "When we got to Dallas last time, we got a little revved up and got into some things that weren't part of our game. Tonight, we did a better job of focusing on what we need to do."

Getzlaf did not play in the previous game because of an undisclosed upper-body injury, but it is believed to be related to needing stitches on his face after being hit by a shot in Game 1. He returned, as did Selanne, who was a healthy scratch in Game 4, as coach Bruce Boudreau shuffled his lineup after the back-to-back losses in Dallas. Silfverberg scored 67 seconds into the third period to make it a 4-2 game. Cogliano fed him near the edge of the left circle with a pass from behind the net. Perry connected with Getzlaf on a similar play from behind the net on the opposite side of the ice at 4:30. Getzlaf now has seven points in the series despite missing a game. He leads the Ducks in scoring and is tied for second in the playoffs. The Stars replaced Lehtonen with Tim Thomas, but that didn't help. Thomas lunged far out of his crease to try and poke the puck away from Perry near the left circle, but he rounded the goalkeeper like someone would in soccer and scored into the open net for a 6-2 lead.

"They jumped on us early [in the third] and I took a stupid penalty and that was it," Stars captain Jamie Benn said.

Dallas had plenty of chances early in this game. The Stars hit three posts and dominated the first two periods at even strength, but yielded three power-play goals in the first 40 minutes before imploding early in the third period. Benn was dominant in the first two periods. When he was on the ice at even strength, the Stars had 14 shot attempts and yielded one. In Benn's first three shifts of the third period, his line had zero shot attempts, was scored on once and his penalty led to a fourth power-play goal against and made it a four-goal game.

"[We] mentioned in between periods that that line had [15] of the 28 shots and when they're on the ice you better pay a little bit closer attention to them," Boudreau said of the line of Benn, Tyler Seguin and Alex Chiasson. "That was the only thing we mentioned, so maybe they took a little onus on themselves and said, 'Hey, watch this guy a little closer. He's a phenomenal player.' "

Mathieu Perreault scored Anaheim's third power-play goal of the game 65 seconds into the second period. Dallas got caught being a little too aggressive in the Ducks' end while on the penalty kill, and Perreault turned a perfectly placed pass from Getzlaf into his second goal of the series. Dallas forward Shawn Horcoff had a goal disallowed earlier in the game, but he put the puck behind Anaheim goalie Frederik Andersen a second time on the rebound of a Vernon Fiddler shot at 8:19 of the second period; this one counted to get the Stars within a goal at 3-2.

"I thought in the second period we utterly dominated," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "Hit a post, hit a crossbar, spent the whole time down in their end, but it is tough. We lost the special teams battle and that was a difference."

Nick Bonino put the Sucks in front 5:32 into an eventful first period. With the Sucks on the power play, Bonino moved around Stars defenseman Jordie Benn and scored on a shot as he was falling down for his first of the series. Bonino was moved up to the top line next to Perry and Getzlaf for this game. Ryan Garbutt speared the odious Perry at center ice as the Sucks' star was coming onto the ice for a shift and was ejected at 9:11. It has to be asked why more people have not taken swipes at the vilest 'star player' in the NHL. He continues to take cheap shots at opposing players and then finds it a surprise when he is on the receiving end of similar treatment.

"I was coming back to the bench and got careless with my stick," Garbutt said. "It was definitely something I didn't want to do. I don't want to put the team in that position, and I'm definitely going to learn from it."

Anaheim had a five-minute power play, but Benn made it a 1-1 game at 10:00 when he took the puck from Getzlaf in the high slot in the Sucks' end and had an unimpeded path to the net to beat Frederik Andersen. But Sucks rookie Rickard Rakell scored 26 seconds later to put Anaheim ahead to stay. He deflected a Francois Beauchemin shot near the top of the crease. The home team has won all five games in this series, a fact that's not lost on Ruff as he looks toward a must-win Game 6.

"We played well all night. We gave up an opportunity and it was in the back of the net," Ruff said. "That took some wind out of us. We were pressing up the ice and the next opportunity was in the back of the net. We were controlling play but the opportunities we gave them were in the back of the net. I like where our team is at. When we've been up against adversity, we've answered the call."

Penalties

1st Period
04:12 DAL	Antoine Roussel  Interference against  Frederik Andersen
09:11 DAL	Ryan Garbutt  Spearing (maj) against  Corey Perry
09:11 DAL	Ryan Garbutt  Game misconduct
12:04 ANA	Nick Bonino  Tripping against  Jamie Benn
14:30 ANA	Mathieu Perreault  Interference against  Shawn Horcoff
16:16 ANA	Cam Fowler  Cross checking against  Alex Chiasson
19:55 DAL	Alex Goligoski  Interference on goalkeeper against  Frederik Andersen
2nd Period
02:26 ANA	Teemu Selanne  Interference against  Kevin Connauton
03:39 ANA	Andrew Cogliano  Interference on goalkeeper against  Kari Lehtonen
05:54 DAL	Antoine Roussel  Unsportsmanlike conduct
05:54 ANA	Emerson Etem  Unsportsmanlike conduct
05:54 DAL	Antoine Roussel  Misconduct (10 min)
05:54 ANA	Emerson Etem  Misconduct (10 min)
3rd Period
05:57 DAL	Jamie Benn  Cross checking against  Ryan Getzlaf
07:40 DAL	Shawn Horcoff  Fighting (maj) against  Luca Sbisa
07:40 ANA	Mathieu Perreault  Roughing against  Kevin Connauton
07:40 ANA	Mathieu Perreault  Misconduct (10 min)
07:40 ANA	Patrick Maroon  Unsportsmanlike conduct
07:40 DAL	Kevin Connauton  Misconduct (10 min)
07:40 DAL	Kevin Connauton  Roughing against  Mathieu Perreault
07:40 ANA	Patrick Maroon  Misconduct (10 min)
07:40 DAL	Vernon Fiddler  Misconduct (10 min)
07:40 ANA	Patrick Maroon  Roughing against  Vernon Fiddler
07:40 DAL	Vernon Fiddler  Roughing against  Patrick Maroon
07:40 ANA	Luca Sbisa  Fighting (maj) against  Shawn Horcoff
13:47 ANA	Bryan Allen  Hi stick - double minor against  Alex Chiasson
20:00 DAL	Antoine Roussel  Roughing against  Bryan Allen