Playoff Results - Sat, Apr 26, 2014

Detroit @ Boston  2-4 - When the Red Wings won Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round 1-0 against the Bruins last week, it appeared the 24-point difference between the teams in the Atlantic Division standings was inconsequential. Over the final four games of the series, the Bruins looked every bit the part of Presidents' Trophy winners against the conference's second wild card. The Bruins won their fourth straight game and clinched the series in Game 5 on Saturday, when four players scored a goal and Torey Krug assisted on two in a 4-2 victory at TD Garden. Boston advances to play the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Second Round. The Canadiens swept the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bruins and Canadiens will meet in the postseason for the 34th time. Montreal won three of four games this season and 24 of the previous series. In this series, the Bruins avoided the mistakes they made last season, when they allowed the Toronto Maple Leafs to overcome a 3-1 deficit and push Boston to seven games. Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask made 31 saves on 33 shots, and the Bruins advanced beyond the first round for the fifth time in seven seasons under coach Claude Julien. Defenseman Zdeno Chara and forward Loui Eriksson each scored a power-play goal, and forward Jarome Iginla scored an empty-net goal for Boston. The Bruins outscored the Red Wings, 14-6, in the series. Red Wings goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, who made a second straight start in place of Jimmy Howard (flu), stopped 29 of 32 shots. The Red Wings lost in the first round for the second time in three seasons; they were eliminated by the Nashville Predators in 2012. Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg, who missed the first three games of the series while recovering from back surgery, said he thought the Bruins' biggest advantage was their lengthy history together as a team. It didn't take the Bruins long to score Saturday. During a power play, defenseman Dougie Hamilton gained the offensive zone by splitting two Red Wings then stopped at the bottom of the right circle. Hamilton's pass toward the middle was deflected a couple of times before it landed on Eriksson's stick for a backhand goal from the left side of the slot at 3:27. Eriksson, who was with the Dallas Stars prior to this season, hadn't scored a playoff goal since May 14, 2008. The Bruins held an 11-8 shots advantage and a 1-0 lead after the first period, when they also killed two minor penalties. Special teams dominated the second period with each team scoring on the power play. The Red Wings scored their second power-play goal of the series at 14:41 to make it 1-1. Zetterberg's one-timer from the blue line caught Rask up high and the rebound went right to Pavel Datsyuk, who shot it into the net. A run of minor penalties started at 16:48, three against Detroit and one against Boston. The Bruins took a 2-1 lead on a 4-on-3 goal by Chara at 19:56. After Krug landed a shot on Gustavsson, he tracked the rebound then lost the puck to teammate Patrice Bergeron. The Boston center fired a pass across the ice for a one-timer by Chara from the top of the right circle that beat Gustavsson high. Lucic extended the lead to 3-1 with a little help from Krug. The Boston defenseman picked off Johan Franzen's clearing attempt then set up Lucic for a goal in front at 8:27 of the third period. Zetterberg cut the lead to 3-2 with his first goal of the series. Rask flashed the pad to stop Justin Abdelkader's redirect, but Zetterberg was there to clean up the rebound at 16:08. Iginla scored into an empty net with 16 seconds to go.

Columbus @ Pittsburgh 1-3 - Marc-Andre Fleury temporarily silenced his critics. Fleury's 23 saves carried the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference First Round series Saturday at Consol Energy Center. The Penguins hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 and will attempt to eliminate Columbus from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Game 6 at Nationwide Arena on Monday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, RDS2, ROOT, FS-O). After falling behind 1-0 midway through the first period, Fleury made 15 stops through the second and third to seal Pittsburgh's victory. Fleury faced criticism following a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 4, when he allowed two avoidable goals, one with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation and another in overtime. The crowd chanted Fleury's name at the beginning of the game, and at the end.
"I don't think it was about bouncing back," Fleury said. "[The chants were] a good boost of confidence. You get a little bit of goose bumps when you're in there. It was a good feeling."
Forward Jussi Jokinen scored the game-winning goal 6:16 into the third period. Lee Stempniak carried the puck through the neutral zone and wristed a shot on Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who bobbled it before Brandon Sutter tipped it back on net. The puck slid out to Jokinen, who buried a backhand behind Bobrovsky to put Pittsburgh ahead 2-1 with his third goal of the playoffs. Defenseman Kris Letang scored an empty-net goal with 1:01 left. The Blue Jackets echoed throughout their locker room that they expect to rebound Monday.
"It's that time of year where you need to have a short memory," Columbus forward Brandon Dubinsky said. "I think everybody knows in here that we need to play better. We talk about that resiliency and resolve in here, and I believe in this room and I think the room believes in itself that we'll come back better and stronger."
Bobrovsky might have had his most impressive performance of the postseason. After allowing at least three goals in each of the first four games, Bobrovsky made 48 saves. Teammate Ryan Johansen credited Bobrovsky with giving the Blue Jackets a chance to win while expressing frustration at their inability to make Fleury work.
"[Sergei] definitely stood tall and kept us in there all game," Johansen said. "He really did his job tonight. We'll go over some tape and stuff, but obviously our forecheck, creating turnovers and things like that. I thought we didn't do that nearly as good as we need to, and we only had one power play as well. [We] just have to find ways to get pucks to Fleury. Obviously, there was a lot of talk going around that he's struggling, so we didn't test him nearly as much as we should."
Pittsburgh controlled the second period, outshooting the Blue Jackets 21-8, and tied the game with a power-play goal from Chris Kunitz. After Sidney Crosby sent a shot through Kunitz's legs on goal, Bobrovsky lost sight of it and got turned around in his crease. Kunitz turned and absorbed a collision with Blue Jackets defenseman David Savard while backhanding a shot past Bobrovsky 7:42 into the second. It was Kunitz's second goal of the playoffs and Crosby's fifth assist. Crosby failed to score a goal for his 10th consecutive playoff game dating to Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Ottawa Senators last postseason. Pittsburgh attempted to spark its two primary stars by putting Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who also has not scored a goal this postseason, on its top line with Kunitz. The adjustment led to little production, particularly during the first period, when Malkin committed three turnovers and Crosby recorded two shots.
"I thought we generated some good chances," Crosby said. "I didn't expect [to be paired with Malkin] as much as it was. It was pretty regular, but I think with that being said, when everybody's playing well, you don't want to change too much. I think that's just a credit to everyone, that we all played a pretty strong game."
Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said Crosby and Malkin wanted to play together and he felt the adjustment paid dividends throughout Pittsburgh's lineup. "I thought Brandon Sutter playing between Jussi and [James Neal], he was real strong in this game and you saw his speed through the neutral zone. He almost broke in a couple times. I think we went into the game with a good idea we were going to see that on numerous occasions, and I think the players going in knew it was going to happen."
The Penguins carried the majority of the play in the first period but trailed 1-0. With Marcel Goc in the penalty box for slashing, Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner scored his first playoff goal with five seconds left on the power play. Jenner sent a shot from the right side of the net into Pittsburgh's crease. The puck ricocheted off Penguins forward Joe Vitale in front and back to Fleury, who was knocked over by Pittsburgh defenseman Olli Maatta. Fleury reached to cover the puck with his glove, but it slipped to Jenner, who backhanded a shot past the downed goalie with 7:05 remaining.
"I thought the first period was probably our best period," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. "I thought they took it to another level in the second and they started winning battles. We spent too much time in our own zone and we didn't have much of a forecheck. [Bylsma] challenged them and they responded. Now we have to do the same thing on Monday."
At the end of the game Matt Calvert delivered a cheap-shot cross check on Kris Letang which resulted in both dropping the gloves.

Minnesota @ Colorado 3-4 OT - The Avalanche used some last-minute magic for the second time in their Western Conference First Round series against the Wild and pulled out a 4-3 overtime win at Pepsi Center on Saturday night. PA Parenteau tied the game with 1:14 to play in regulation after goalie Semyon Varlamov went to the bench for a sixth skater and rookie Nathan MacKinnon completed a three-point night by scoring at 3:27 of the extra period. The Avalanche lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 and will attempt to close it out Monday in Game 6 at the Xcel Energy Center (9 p.m. ET; CNBC, RDS2, TSN, FS-N, ALT). MacKinnon, who has an NHL-leading 10 points with two goals and eight assists, all coming in Colorado's three home games, put a shot from the left circle past Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper's glove shortly after Avalanche defenseman Nick Holden made a game-saving stop against Matt Moulson. MacKinnon was swarmed by teammates after the goal, accidentally knocking off his helmet in the celebration. Gabriel Landeskog had the puck along the left-wing boards when he heard MacKinnon yell. The Avalanche tied the game after Roy pulled Varlamov with 2:22 to play in the third period, shortly after they killed an unsportsmanlike penalty to Gabriel Landeskog for spraying snow into Kuemper. The Avalanche won the series opener 5-4 when Paul Stastny scored in overtime after he tied the game with 13.4 seconds left in regulation and Varlamov on the bench. This time, Stastny took a shot that Kuemper stopped, but Stastny managed to slide the rebound up the slot. Parenteau converted for his first point of the series. Parenteau had six shots on goal and clanged a shot off the post late in the second period. Wild coach Mike Yeo said the outcome was "frustrating and obviously disappointing," adding no good could come from thinking about it too much. Zach Parise and Kyle Brodziak scored 1:51 apart early in the third period to give the Wild a 3-2 lead. Parise collected his first goal of the series at 4:34 after taking a cross-ice pass by Jason Pominville. He fired from the left circle dot and beat Varlamov to the glove side. Brodziak put the Wild in front for the first time at 6:25 after Avalanche forward Marc-Andre Cliche gave his stick to defenseman Jan Hejda, who had dropped his broken stick. Brodziak put a screen shot past Varlamov after taking a pass from Dany Heatley, who had two assists. The Wild went on their third power play at 15:27 after Landeskog sprayed Kuemper with snow. The Avalanche took a 2-1 lead in the second period by sandwiching goals by Cody McLeod and Nick Holden around one by the Wild's Matt Moulson. McLeod scored a shorthanded goal at 8:04 after the Avalanche were penalized for having too many men on the ice. He knocked the puck away from Suter in the neutral zone and got it to Ryan O'Reilly, who moved down left wing and fed McLeod driving to the net. McLeod redirected the puck behind Kuemper. The Wild answered at 9:17 on Moulson's goal after Avalanche defenseman Andre Benoit broke his stick . Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon took a shot from above the circles and Moulson tipped it past Varlamov. Holden scored at 12:16 during a 4-on-4 with Minnesota's Mikko Koivu and Landeskog serving coincidental roughing minors. MacKinnon used his speed to race into the Wild zone and passed the puck back to Benoit just inside the blue line. Benoit fired a shot that was going wide when Holden deflected the puck between Kuemper's pads. The Avalanche failed to convert on three power plays and are 1-for-18 in the series. The Wild went 0-for-3 and are 2-for-15 in the series.
Los Angeles @ San Jose 3-0 - This might turn out to be the tight-knit series so many people expected after all. The Los Angeles Kings stormed out to an early lead Saturday and claimed a 3-0 victory against the San Jose Sharks in Game 5 of this Western Conference First Round series. It's the second straight win for the Kings, who will host Game 6 at Staples Center on Monday night (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS, CSN-CA, PRIME) with a chance to push to the limit a series that San Jose once led 3-0.
"We're really happy with our game tonight. That's more of the L.A. Kings style of play," defenseman Drew Doughty said after the Kings allowed fewer than three goals for the first time in the series. "It's not giving up many goals and scoring the goals when we needed them. Power play was big, penalty kill was big. Just overall it was a good game."
After yielding 16 goals in the first three games, Jonathan Quick followed a solid performance in Game 4 with a better one Saturday night. He didn't have much work early, but Quick finished with 30 saves, including a handful of great ones to keep the score 3-0 when the Sharks finally started pushing back in the final 25 minutes or so. Quick's save percentage in this series have continued to improve: .821 (in Game 1), .825, .900, .923, 1.000.
"Obviously [Quick] played well tonight. We counted on him and he made big saves," Doughty said. "At the same time, the team is playing better in front of him. I thought this was our best defensive game so far this series. We don't want [Quick] to have to stand on his head every night. We want to be playing well in front of him and make it a little easier for him. We did that tonight, but when he was called upon, he was huge."
For the Sharks, this loss felt different than Game 4. San Jose played well for much of the defeat at Staples Center two days earlier, but some breakdowns and a rough night for goaltender Antti Niemi left the Sharks short against a desperate club. Coach Todd McLellan talked about not wanting to play like the team had mulligans to spare when San Jose led the series 3-0, but this game felt like one. When the Sharks did start to play well late, it was far too little and much too late. To make matters worse, top defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic did not play in the final 45 minutes after being checked by Kings center Jarret Stoll. McLellan said Vlasic has an upper-body injury and his status is uncertain for Game 6.
"We didn't win the game," an agitated Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle said. "Listen man, [the media] do what you want to dissect it. We didn't win the game. You can blame a lot of different things, but we've got to turn the page and move on. Winning teams do that, and we will do that."
Tyler Toffoli and Anze Kopitar scored during the Kings-dominated first period that ended with L.A. Up 2-0. Toffoli, who had the winner in Game 4, opened the scoring at 8:09. Rookie Tanner Pearson won a race to the puck down the left wing and connected with fellow freshman Toffoli on a cross-ice pass. He toe-dragged the puck past San Jose forward James Sheppard and snapped a shot into the net. Pearson and Toffoli were united on the second line with Jeff Carter for the start of Game 4. They played together for the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League last season.
"That was a great play by both of them," Doughty said. "That's what we need from everyone. It's not always going to be [Kopitar] who does all the work up top. It's great to see other guys pitch in. I thought [Toffoli] and Tanner were really, really good tonight and were big reasons why we won."
Kopitar made it 2-0 at 12:52. Quick made a quality save on a deflection by Sharks rookie Tomas Hertl and the Kings were able to break out quickly. A couple of San Jose forwards were caught behind the play, and after Dustin Brown and Kopitar completed a give-and-go, Kopitar put the rebound of a Brown shot from the right wing past Sharks goalie Antti Niemi. The first period was the Kings' most dominant of the series. They had 22 of the 29 shot attempts at even strength and an 18-6 advantage in shots on goal despite San Jose having the only power play of the period.
"I think it was just managing the puck," Kopitar said. "The first couple games here they had odd-man rushes left and right coming at us. We were bad on line changes and we just wanted to sharpen up. I think we did a pretty good job of that tonight."
It didn't get any better for the Sharks in the second. Carter scored a power-play goal 22 seconds after the opening faceoff when he turned and backhanded the puck toward the front of the net and it went into the net off Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart. It was Carter's second goal of the series. He and Kopitar lead the Kings with five points. Niemi was lifted in favor of rookie Alex Stalock after allowing three goals on 19 shots. He's now allowed eight goals on 45 shots in the past two games, and failed to finish both. Stalock has stopped all 26 shots he's faced in relief. McLellan said he has a decision to make with the goaltenders for Game 6 like any other night, but he clearly didn't like how his team played in front of either one.
"I don't have an explanation for [the sloppy play]," McLellan said. "I thought we were slow. Simply put we were slow. We didn't have legs and we didn't execute well which made us even slower. We had poor puck support, and that made us slow."
The Sharks had control of this series after winning the first three games and piling up 17 goals against the team that was the toughest to score on against during the regular season. San Jose raced to a 5-0 lead in a 6-3 win in Game 1, scored seven straight goals in a 7-2 Game 2 victory and got an overtime goal by Patrick Marleau in a 4-3 triumph in Game 3. Los Angeles played much better in Game 4. Justin Williams and Marian Gaborik each scored a pair of goals and the Kings won 6-3 to extend the series. There were 34 goals in the first four games, one year after these two teams combined for 24 in a seven-game series. The Kings played in seven postseason series in 2012 and 2013, and none of them had more than 25 goals. This was the first win at the Shark Tank, or maybe now it should be called the Shark Cage after Kings coach Darryl Sutter's comments two days prior, in a long time for Los Angeles.
"No, not at all actually," Doughty said when asked if 3-2 feels less daunting than 3-0. "If anything, if feels more daunting. We came this far to get two and now we need to get two more. We need to take it one at a time, and that puts more pressure on us because now we can smell it. We can't get ahead of ourselves. We still have a lot of work left."

Penalties

1st Period
14:09 LAK	Jarret Stoll  Roughing  - 2 min against  Marc-Edouard Vlasic
19:28 SJS	Justin Braun  Tripping  - 2 min against  Marian Gaborik
2nd Period
04:03 SJS	Jason Demers  Roughing  - 2 min against  Dwight King
04:03 LAK	Dwight King  Roughing  - 2 min against  Jason Demers
07:12 SJS	Dan Boyle  Tripping  - 2 min against  Dwight King
13:24 LAK	Kyle Clifford  Tripping  - 2 min against  Justin Braun
19:23 LAK	Jeff Carter  Roughing  - 2 min against  Dan Boyle
3rd Period
00:16 SJS	Brent Burns  Tripping  - 2 min against  Mike Richards
01:08 LAK	Anze Kopitar  Interference on goalkeeper  - 2 min against  Alex Stalock
07:05 SJS	Patrick Marleau  Slashing  - 2 min against  Dustin Brown
10:19 SJS	Jason Demers  Tripping  - 2 min against  Marian Gaborik
14:22 LAK	Justin Williams  Interference  - 2 min against  Matt Nieto