Playoff Results - Tue, Apr 22, 2014

Tampa Bay @ Montreal 3-4 - The Tampa Bay Lightning finally found one obstacle they couldn't overcome: The Montreal Canadiens. A season that featured the loss of one of the world's best players for four months, the trade of their longtime heart-and-soul leader, and a late-season injury to their goaltender came to an end Tuesday when the Lightning were swept out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Canadiens. Max Pacioretty scored with 42.6 seconds left to negate a third-period Lightning comeback and gave the Canadiens a 4-3 win at Bell Centre, ending the Eastern Conference First Round series in four games. The four straight wins by Montreal were a continuation of a strong finish to the regular season, with the Canadiens closing on an 11-3-1 run. It is one coach Michel Therrien hopes will continue in the second round. The Canadiens will face the winner of the series between the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings. The Bruins hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series after a 3-0 win in Detroit on Tuesday. The Lightning scored twice in the third period to tie the game 3-3, but rookie forward Cedric Paquette was called for tripping deep in the Montreal zone with 2:11 to play. The Canadiens' power play was 1-for-12 the series and Pacioretty had yet to score a goal in the playoffs, but those trends ended at exactly the right moment for Montreal. Defenseman P.K. Subban got the puck at the blue line and sent it across to forward Thomas Vanek for a one-timer that was bobbled by Lightning goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis, and Pacioretty was there to whack it through the goalie's legs. It was a dramatic end to a dramatic season for the Lightning. Tampa Bay overcame a broken leg to Steven Stamkos and a trade request from captain Martin St. Louis to finish second in the Atlantic Division with 101 points, relying on rookies to stay afloat in Stamkos' absence and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2011. Once there, the Lightning could not replicate what had worked so well for them in the regular season, struggling to overcome the Canadiens forecheck and turning over pucks coming out of their zone throughout the series. The Lightning, who played the series without injured goaltender Ben Bishop, held a lead for 3:34 of the 258:08 played in the series and struggled to muster much of an attack. One thing Cooper wanted to make sure to point out was the strong play of Paquette, who unfortunately found himself as a central figure in two of Montreal's game-winning goals in the series. Goaltender Anders Lindback, starting in place of the injured Bishop (elbow), was pulled for the second time in four games after allowing three goals on 20 shots. Gudlevskis came in and stopped the first 16 shots he saw before finally flinching on the 17th. Stamkos had two goals and two assists in the series, but the Canadiens did a good job of limiting his scoring opportunities. With the Canadiens leading 3-1 after two periods, the Lightning charged back with two goals in the opening 6:31 of the third. After mustering 13 shots on goal in the first two periods, the Lightning came out for the third with a purpose, playing an aggressive forechecking style they had yet to show in the series until their season was on the line. Victor Hedman gave the Lightning some life when he banked a shot from behind the goal line off Price's back and in at 3:29. A little more than three minutes later, a J.T. Brown shot from the side boards went off Subban's stick in front and bounced right to Johnson, who buried a shot behind Price at 6:31 for his first playoff goal. Therrien called timeout and the Canadiens settled down. The sweep means the Canadiens will now have upwards of a week to rest and prepare to play the winner of the Boston-Detroit series. For the second game in a row, the Canadiens scored in the opening minutes. Though it took longer than the 11 seconds Rene Bourque needed to score in Game 3, Daniel Briere put Tampa Bay in an early hole with his first playoff goal for Montreal at 2:24. Canadiens rookie Michael Bournival skated the puck out of his end and chipped it to Dale Weise in the Lightning zone. When Weise beat Hedman to the corner, Lightning defenseman Mark Barberio decided to go at Weise, leaving Briere alone behind him. Weise sent it in front and Briere scored his 51st playoff goal in his 112th game to put the Canadiens ahead 1-0 on their second shot. The Canadiens made it 2-0 at 15:21 when Paquette turned over the puck near center ice to Brian Gionta, who fed Lars Eller for a slap shot from the faceoff circle that beat Lindback to the far post for his second goal of the series. Stamkos was called for tripping Alexei Emelin at 2:39 of the second, and was incensed afterward because he believed Emelin dove on the play. On the power play, Emelin gave the Lightning a goal with a turnover from behind his net that wound up in front. Ondrej Palat grabbed the puck and wheeled around the net to attempt a wraparound that Price stopped, but the puck sat in the crease and was knocked in by Montreal defenseman Josh Gorges in the scramble at 4:32. The goal was upheld by a video review. Montreal re-established the two-goal lead 70 seconds later when Gallagher took a Tomas Plekanec pass and beat Lindback with a shot from the faceoff circle to the far post. It ended Lindback's night and put the Canadiens ahead 3-1, setting up a Lightning comeback that fell short, much like their play throughout the series. Four games after it began, the Lightning's return to the postseason is over. But Cooper said he feels the best for this young team remains ahead.
Boston @ Detroit 3-0 - Provided the Boston Bruins hound the puck, possess it, play smart with it and rarely let it go like they did Tuesday night, they won't have to worry about the Detroit Red Wings' speed for the rest of this Eastern Conference First Round series. That might be two more games. The Bruins scored twice in the first period, their second goal coming off a Detroit turnover followed by an ill-timed line change, and never let the Red Wings sniff a comeback en route to a 3-0 victory at Joe Louis Arena. After losing Game 1 at TD Garden, the Bruins lead the best-of-7 series 2-1. Boston improved to 14-1 in Game 3s under coach Claude Julien. Game 4 is Thursday at Joe Louis Arena (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN, NESN, FS-D). The Red Wings are obviously the less experienced team in the series, with 10 players who have appeared in fewer than 20 Stanley Cup Playoff games. Detroit coach Mike Babcock thinks their inexperience was obvious from the opening faceoff in Game 3. Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton and forward Jordan Caron, 20 and 23, respectively, scored their first career Stanley Cup Playoff goals in the first period. Boston goalie Tuukka Rask made 23 saves, with very few coming off second-chance opportunities, for his fourth career playoff shutout. Rask has allowed two goals on 82 shots through three games in the series and stopped 57 of the past 58 shots he's faced. Bergeron added an empty-net goal at 18:01 of the third period to seal the victory. Hamilton nearly scored two more goals in the first 11:15 of the first period, firing a shot off the right post and another just wide to the right of the net. Each scoring chance came off a defensive-zone giveaway by the Red Wings. When Hamilton found the area between the pipes, he made it count, scoring a power-play goal at 9:00 of the first period off a 150-foot rush capped by a sneaky shot into the top right corner. Hamilton got the puck between the circles in Boston's zone and went untouched into the right circle in Detroit's zone before picking the corner. Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard's first move was down, and he couldn't recover in time to stop Hamilton's shot. Howard didn't react to Hamilton's high shot until it was behind him. The Red Wings' power play continued to struggle in Game 3, going 0-for-3 with five shots to fall to 0-for-9 with seven shots in the series. They had one shot on goal during a 35-second 5-on-3 in the second period and one during a power play midway through the third period. Boston's power play is 3-for-8 in the series. Defenseman Kevan Miller and Boston's fourth line combined to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead with 4:12 left in the first period. Instead of trying to chip the puck in deep, Detroit defenseman Brendan Smith knocked it off the boards, out of the Red Wings zone and into the neutral zone. It only made it as far as the red line, where Bruins center Gregory Campbell gained possession. As Campbell passed the puck back to Miller, all five Red Wings went off for a line change. Miller found right wing Shawn Thornton alone on the right side for a wide-open drive to the net. Howard came up with a pad save on Thornton, but Caron dashed down the middle untouched to slam the rebound into the net for his first career playoff point. Caron and Justin Florek, who scored in Game 2, are in the lineup only because of injuries to Daniel Paille and Chris Kelly. Caron was the Bruins' 13th forward in the regular season and had one goal in 35 games. Had he stayed on the ice, Kronwall said he would have been in position to defend Thornton and cancel out the rush altogether. Two is typically too many against Rask in the playoffs, especially when the Bruins are hounding and retrieving the puck as well as they did in Game 3.
NY Rangers @ Philadelphia 4-1 - Dan Girardi is used to changing games from his spot as the New York Rangers' top defensive defenseman. He played that role perfectly in Game 3 of his team's Eastern Conference First Round series against the Philadelphia Cryers, blocking a team-high five shots. But he also swung the momentum offensively, scoring a goal and assisting on another as the Rangers won 4-1 Tuesday to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. Game 4 is Friday at Wells Fargo Center (7 p.m. ET, RDS, TSN, CNBC, MSG, CSN-PH). Martin St. Louis also had a goal and an assist and Derek Stepan and Daniel Carcillo scored for the Rangers. However, Girardi's rising slap shot over the left shoulder of Flyers goalie Ray Emery at 5:17 of the second period stole the momentum after the Flyers had cut into the Rangers' 2-0 lead with a goal late in the first. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who finished with 31 saves, said Girardi's goal was the difference. After Girardi supplied the offense, he was part of a penalty-killing unit that shut down the Flyers on back-to-back chances late in the second. With Carcillo in the box for roughing at 11:37, the Rangers held the Flyers without a shot on goal and blocked four of their attempts. And then with Derek Dorsett off for roughing at 16:02, the Flyers had two shots but the Rangers blocked four other attempts. The Rangers finished the game with 28 blocked shots, including nine during Philadelphia's five power plays, leaving the Flyers frustrated and looking for answers. The Flyers also will watch tape of their power play. They were 25th in the League at home on the power play in the regular season and went 0-for-5 with four shots Tuesday. The Rangers went ahead 2-0 on first-period goals by Stepan and St. Louis, but the Flyers got back into the game when Mark Streit scored his first of the postseason with 2:42 remaining in the period. Voracek got the puck into the right side of the New York zone with speed, pulled up in the right circle and sent the puck across to a pinching Streit, who tipped it past Lundqvist. The Flyers had been in a similar situation in Game 2, trailing 2-0 early before a goal in the late stages of the first got them rolling to a 4-2 victory. Instead Girardi's goal and a strong penalty kill kept the Rangers ahead. The Rangers killed off another Flyers power play when Carcillo was sent off for hooking at 8:36 of the third, and then Carcillo stepped out of the penalty box and scored when he got a step on Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald and slipped a Brian Boyle pass between Emery's pads at 10:53. That ended Emery's night after he stopped 16 of 20 shots. He was replaced by Steve Mason for the final 7:15 of the game. In his first game since sustaining an upper-body injury April 12, Mason stopped all three shots he faced. The Rangers weren't concerned with which goalie they might face Friday. Their focus is continuing to do the things that made them successful at both ends of the ice in Game 3.