Playoff Results - Thu, Apr 24, 2014

Boston @ Detroit 3-2 OT - The Bruins are in the same position now against the Red Wings as they were last year against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They're hoping to have a smoother transition to the next round. Jarome Iginla scored on a deflected shot 13:32 into overtime to give the Bruins a come-from-behind 3-2 victory against the Red Wings on Thursday at Joe Louis Arena. The Bruins lead the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round series 3-1 and can close out the Red Wings and earn a second-round date with the Montreal Canadiens by winning Game 5 on Saturday at TD Garden (3 p.m. ET; NBC, RDS, TSN). Dougie Hamilton's shot from the right point ricocheted off Red Wings forward Luke Glendenning, then hit Iginla and finally caromed off Detroit defenseman Danny DeKeyser before going past Red Wings goalie Jonas Gustavsson, who started because Jimmy Howard had to sit out with the flu. Boston, which trailed 2-0, became the ninth team in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs to win after overcoming a multiple-goal deficit, the most ever in the first round. It happened eight times in all of the 2013 playoffs. The Bruins are the 23rd team in the 31 games played this spring to win after trailing at some point during the game. The Bruins also took a 3-1 series lead against Toronto last year by winning Game 4 in overtime on the road. The Maple Leafs won the next two games and had a 4-1 lead in the third period of Game 7 before Boston scored four unanswered goals for an unforgettable, series-clinching victory. The Red Wings had plenty of life early in Game 4 despite the fact that Howard, their No. 1 goalie, couldn't start the game. Gustavsson was told after warmups that he would be the starter, and he delivered with 37 saves. Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg also delivered a boost in emotion and skill in his return to the lineup for the first time since Feb. 8. The Red Wings had a 2-0 lead less than 25 minutes into the game. Niklas Kronwall and Pavel Datsyuk, the two new dads in Detroit's dressing room, provided the offense. Kronwall, whose girlfriend gave birth to a boy Thursday afternoon, scored a power-play goal 11 minutes into the first period. Datsyuk, whose wife gave birth to a girl on Wednesday, made it 2-0 when he scored off a pass from Kronwall 4:27 into the second. Those holes started to show after Datsyuk scored. Eventually the Bruins poked through as Torey Krug scored a power-play goal off a deflected shot from the right point at 10:14 of the second. Boston controlled the pace and the puck throughout the rest of the middle period and cashed in again early in the third when Lucic scored the game-tying goal at 1:15. It was a 200-foot play by the Bruins, who were simply faster than the Red Wings all the way up the ice. Detroit pushed again late in the third period, at one point taking nine straight shots on goal during a seven-minute stretch. But the Bruins dominated the overtime, outshooting Detroit 12-3 and owning a major territorial advantage for most of the 13:32. If they play the same way in Game 5 they'll likely be able to keep the drama quotient to a minimum and advance to play the Canadiens. The Bruins already know what can happen if they let up against a team on the brink, like the Red Wings are now.
Colorado @ Minnesota 1-2 - The Wild only scored twice in Game 4 of their Western Conference First Round series against the Avalanche, but when you allow 12 shots on goal, you don't need much offense. The Wild scored a goal in each of the first two periods and killed a Colorado power play in the game's waning moments, holding on for a 2-1 win against the Avalanche at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday. The best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series series is tied 2-2 as it shifts back to Denver for Game 5 on Saturday (9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, RDS, TSN, FS-N, ALT). The Wild limited the Avalanche to 22 shots in a 1-0 overtime win in Game 3 and have outshot Colorado 143-94 in the series. The Game 4 victory was punctuated by the Wild penalty kill and the selfless play of Game 3 hero Mikael Granlund. With Minnesota defenseman Jonas Brodin in the box for hooking and Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov off for the extra attacker, Granlund blocked three Erik Johnson shots in the final 48 seconds, helping to preserve the win. Colorado went 0-for-4 on the power play and is 1-for-15 with the man advantage in the first four games of the series. The Wild limited the Avalanche to eight even-strength shots Thursday and shut down Gabriel Landeskog, Paul Stastny and Nathan MacKinnon for the second straight game. After combining for seven goals, 17 points and a plus-9 rating in Games 1 and 2, the trio was held without a point and was plus-1 in Games 3 and 4. Much of Game 4 looked like Game 3, with the Wild controlling play throughout. Of Colorado's five third-period shots, four came in the final three minutes. After Jared Spurgeon's first career playoff goal made it 1-0 at 3:47 of the first, Minnesota peppered Varlamov but could get nothing by him until past the midway point of the second period. That's when Minnesota benefitted from some puck luck. Wild forward Jason Pominville whistled a shot wide of Varlamov. The puck took an odd bounce off the stanchion behind the net and landed in the slot near Charlie Coyle, who slipped it past a stunned Varlamov at 12:55. Ryan O'Reilly scored his second goal of the series on a fluttering shot from the half-wall 30 seconds after Coyle's goal. It was Colorado's first goal since the second period of Game 2 and snapped Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper's shutout streak at 124:35. But Colorado could not build any momentum from the O'Reilly goal. The Avalanche did not have another shot on goal until almost the halfway mark of the third period. Spurgeon's goal early in the first period came on the Wild's sixth shot and capped a dominating first few shifts; the Avalanche hadn't spent a second in the Wild zone when Spurgeon scored. The Wild outshot the Avalanche 14-3 in the first period. Varlamov, who made 45 saves in the Game 3 overtime loss, stopped 30 of 32 shots. Despite his struggles in Game 1, a 5-4 overtime victory for Colorado, Varlamov has a 2.19 goals-against and a .937 save percentage in the series. Kuemper wasn't tested until the game's waning moments and finished with 11 saves. He's 2-0 in the playoffs with a 0.40 goals-against average and a .979 save percentage, each tops among playoff goaltenders. The Avalanche's 12 shots were the fewest in the playoffs this season. The previous low belonged to the Philadelphia Flyers, who had 15 against the New York Rangers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference First Round series. The 12 shots were also the fewest allowed by the Wild in a playoff game in franchise history; their previous low was 13 against the Vancouver Canucks on April 29, 2003.
San Jose @ Los Angeles 3-6 - Justin Williams and Marian Gaborik have flanked Anze Kopitar on the top line for the Los Angeles Kings for much of this Western Conference First Round series against the San Jose Sharks. Kings coach Darryl Sutter split them up at even strength for Game 4 at Staples Center, and they each scored two goals to help Los Angeles avoid elimination with a 6-3 victory Thursday. San Jose leads the best-of-7 series 3-1 and will have a second chance to finish off its Southern California rivals Saturday night in Game 5 back at SAP Center (10 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, RDS, FS-SW, CSN-CA).
"We're certainly happy we got the win, but we feel we have a long way to go obviously," Williams said. "We're going take another step in San Jose and it is going to be a tough one."
The Kings took control of the game with three goals in the second period, including two in the final four minutes. Williams put Los Angeles in front 2-1 at 3:52 of the second with the Kings on the power play. Mike Richards knocked down a cross-ice pass as the Kings entered the zone and Williams collected it along the right wing. Sharks goalie Antti Niemi stopped his shot, but when Richards whacked at the rebound, he hit Niemi's pad and the puck squirted across the goal line. Sutter wanted captain Dustin Brown on the top line with Kopitar and Gaborik, so that meant a shift down to the third unit for Williams.
"For me it's just getting to the net," Brown said. "If I can blow my way to the net it opens up ice for those guys. I think Gaborik's goal in the beginning of the third is a result of it. I gave that guy a lot of space so he's going to put it in the net. That's my job to create space for him."
San Jose tied the score 2-2 when Long Beach, Calif., native Matt Nieto scored his second goal of the series. Nieto, a rookie who played youth hockey in the area with Emerson Etem of the Anaheim Ducks, Beau Bennett of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Jason Zucker of the Minnesota Wild, put the rebound of a Patrick Marleau shot off Kings defenseman Alec Martinez and into the net at 8:25. Nieto has two goals and five points in four career NHL playoff games. It was another transition goal for the Sharks, a consistent problem for the Kings in this series. The Sharks had a couple of great chances to take the lead during a power play, but Jonathan Quick made a great pad save on a shot from the slot by Brent Burns and Brown robbed Joe Pavelski of a sure goal by deflecting his shot wide.
"Until you look at the video ... but that kind of how felt like [an even game]," Pavelski said. "I think you can look at the second period for one of the turning points. That power play where I had the empty net but didn't get it. I couldn't quite turn it enough to get it up. I got good wood on it and it hits a stick and goes by. Those are the bounces."
Williams put the Kings in front to stay with 3:53 left in the second period. Willie Mitchell's shot from point was high and wide of the net, but Williams was able to tap the puck into an open net behind Niemi when it caromed off the end boards. Tyler Toffoli made it 4-2 with 58.8 seconds left. Martinez took a shot from the right point that hit San Jose center Andrew Desjardins and deflected to Toffoli, who had plenty of net to work with because Niemi was out of position. Los Angeles led for much of the first period before a late goal by San Jose sent the teams to the dressing rooms knotted at 1-1. Gaborik had his second goal of the series 4:08 into the game, as Brown made an immediate impact on his new line. Gaborik went to the net and put the rebound of Brown's shot past Niemi. The Sharks got even just before intermission when James Sheppard swatted the rebound of Scott Hannan's shot out of the air and past Quick with 7.3 seconds left in the period. Sheppard became the 12th different San Jose player to score a goal in this series. Gaborik's second goal of the game, at 34 seconds of the third period, was the last shot Niemi faced before being replaced by Alex Stalock with the score 5-2.
"I didn't like our net play, simple as that," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "When I say net play, I don't mean our goaltender. I better make that really clear. I'm not talking about our goaltender. I'm talking about the goaltender, the d-men, the forwards down low and the secondary chances we gave up."
Just 25 seconds after Williams thought he had a hat trick but the goal was waived off because of a Kings penalty, Joe Pavelski scored on the power play with 8:24 remaining to make it 5-3. Pavelski and Marleau lead all scorers in this series with six points each. Brown scored into an empty net to end any doubt and ensure there will be a Game 5. The Sharks forged a 3-0 lead in the series with an incredible amount of offense against the typically stingy Kings. San Jose won both games at SAP Center by a combined 13-5 margin, then won 4-3 in Game 3 on an overtime goal by Marleau. Los Angeles allowed 2.05 goals per game during the regular season, the fewest in the NHL.
"I don't think there's any momentum from game to game other than to try and play the same way," Sutter said. "We're going into the cage. Cages are a good thing."


Penalties

1st Period
06:13 LAK	Drew Doughty  Cross checking against  Joe Pavelski
09:08 SJS	Joe Pavelski  Holding against  Trevor Lewis
11:59 SJS	Brent Burns  Slashing against  Justin Williams
11:59 LAK	Justin Williams  Slashing against  Brent Burns
14:33 SJS	Dan Boyle  Hi-sticking against  Anze Kopitar
16:59 SJS	Mike Brown  Misconduct (10 min)
16:59 LAK	Kyle Clifford  Misconduct (10 min)
2nd Period
02:38 SJS	Raffi Torres  Boarding against  Dustin Brown
10:25 LAK	Kyle Clifford  Roughing against  Mike Brown
3rd Period
04:19 SJS	Jason Demers  Roughing against  Tanner Pearson
06:02 LAK	Dustin Brown  Holding the stick against  Logan Couture
11:10 LAK	Jarret Stoll  Cross checking against  Brad Stuart
15:48 LAK	Tyler Toffoli  Roughing against  James Sheppard
15:48 SJS	James Sheppard  Roughing against  Tyler Toffoli
19:36 SJS	Andrew Desjardins  Roughing against  Kyle Clifford
19:36 LAK	Willie Mitchell  Roughing against  Mike Brown
19:36 LAK	Kyle Clifford  Roughing against  Mike Brown
19:36 SJS	Mike Brown  Roughing against  Kyle Clifford
19:36 SJS	Raffi Torres  Roughing against  Jarret Stoll
19:49 SJS	Justin Braun  Fighting (maj) against  Justin Williams
19:49 LAK	Justin Williams  Fighting (maj) against  Justin Braun
20:00 SJS	Brent Burns  Fighting (maj) against  Robyn Regehr
20:00 LAK	Robyn Regehr  Fighting (maj) against  Brent Burns