Chicago is still in it after playing the last two games on the verge of elimination. Boston, who looked shaky early on, has settled down as well. Let’s take a look at what happened on Day 9.
Chicago vs. Vancouver – Chicago is getting hot again and Roberto Luongo is definitely cooling off in this series. Marian Hossa opened things up for the Blackhawks just six minutes into the game as he skated through the neutral zone and into the slot virtually untouched. His wrister from between the circles easily found the back of the net. From there, the onslaught was on once again. This time, under thirty seconds later, it was Duncan Keith who drilled home a slapshot from the point. Later in the first, Patrick Kane joined the party with his first goal of the post-season, on the power-play, to give the Blackhawks a 3-0 lead going into the break.
Not even a minute and a half into the second period, Patrick Sharp hit Marian Hossa with a great pass to send him in all alone. Hossa needed no deke as he rifled a snapshot over the glove of Luongo for a 4-0 lead. Luongo would take a seat on the bench, after this goal, in favor of Cory Schneider. Just over three minutes later, it was Duncan Keith with another bomb that found the back of the net. Keith finished with two goals and two assists on the night.
The third period was scoreless, despite a lot of pressure from the Canucks. Corey Crawford finished with 36 saves on the night, completing the shutout. This is definitely one of the most exciting playoff matchups we have going on right now.
Boston vs. Montreal – Here we have another exciting playoff series, which looked to be completely one-sided after two games. Montreal jumped out to the early lead after Brent Sopel buried a clapper from the top of the right circle. It looked like it would be a low scoring affair, however, as teams headed to the locker room with Montreal ahead 1-0.
Things really opened up in the second period, beginning with Michael Ryder’s top shelf goal to tie the game 1-1. Montreal followed it up with a pair of quick goals from Michael Cammalleri and Andrei Kostitsyn. Boston wouldn’t go down that easy, though, as they bounced back with goals from Andrew Ference and Patrice Bergeron. After two periods, this one was all knotted up 3-3.
Early in the third it was P.K. Subban who gave the Canadians another lead, 4-3, on the power-play tally. Chris Kelly answered back for Boston and tied the game 4-4. Things remained even through the end of the third and we headed to overtime. It look less than two minutes, however, for Michael Ryder to bury the game winner for Boston. When it looked like the Canadians would run away with this series, Boston charged back and now has the series tied 2-2.
Los Angeles vs. San Jose – After a scoreless first period, the Sharks jumped on board with three straight goals from Ryane Clowe, Jason Demers, and Ryan Clowe again, early in the second. But instead of coasting away, the Kings rallied to within one goal after Brad Richardson and Justin Williams tallied. Things remained tight, but the Sharks maintained a 3-2 lead heading into the second intermission.
In the third, however, San Jose came out strong and took over the game. First it was Joe Thornton scoring his first goal of the post-season. Less than a minute later, Joe Pavelski tallied to give the Sharks a huge 5-2 lead. That wasn’t the end of the onslaught though, as Torrey Mitchell followed it up with another goal which gave the Sharks a very comfortable 6-2 lead. Alexei Ponikarovsky would pull the Kings to within three at 13:11 of the third period, but it wouldn’t be enough. San Jose skates away with the victory, and now a 3-1 series lead. They are looking extremely confident at this point, and should be able to clinch in game five on Saturday.
