RE:Ergebnisse vom 16.4.2003

Ottawa vs. NY Islanders 3:1

Game 4: Ottawa @ New York 3:1

UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- It took the Ottawa Senators 83 minutes to put away the New York Islanders in Game Three. They took control a lot earlier in this one.
Mike Fisher and defenseman Anton Volchenkov scored in the opening 4:12 and the Senators never looked back in a 3-1 win over the Islanders that gave them a commanding three games to one lead in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series Marian Hossa had the other goal and Patrick Lalime stopped 21 shots for the Senators, who will try to close out the best-of-seven series on Thursday night at the Corel Centre.
"I think we were a little better than we were Monday, and we have to be better tomorrow night to win," Senators coach Jacques Martin said. "You've got to get stronger."
The Senators controlled play for most of overtime in Game Three before emerging with a 3-2 win in the second extra period. They came out with the same passion in Game Four.
"That was the key, to score two goals right away," Hossa said.
"They got the crowd behind them and it's so loud in here. So if we can score, it would be quiet in here."
Ottawa remained the aggressive team early as Fisher scored 28 seconds in and Volchenkov connected less than four minutes later against stunned goaltender Garth Snow.
Defenseman Adrian Aucoin gave the Islanders some life with a second-period goal, but the momentum ended swiftly when Oleg Kvasha deflected a pass into his own net for a goal credited to Hossa.
"It's very disappointing, a little frustrating because I honestly don't think we did our best tonight," Aucoin said. "We didn't skate like we had to. I think they were probably riding on the emotion of last game. We expected it. We definitely should have countered it."
The offensive troubles continued for New York, which has managed a mere six goals in the series, just three in the last three games.
It took just a few seconds for Ottawa to grab the lead as Fisher took a pass from former Islander Bryan Smolinski near the top of the right faceoff circle and beat Snow with a high slap shot.
"I just elected to shoot on a 2-on-1 and I got lucky," Fisher said. "I was able to beat him over the glove. I just want to get as hard a shot as I could. Luckily, it was a good shot."
"Whenever you give up a goal that early in the game, it definitely takes a little wind put of your sail," Snow admitted.
"They threw everything at us and it put us right on our heels.
I don't know why."
The Senators quickly made it 2-0. Vaclav Varada wristed a shot toward the net that Volchenkov got as his momentum carried him past the goal line on the right side. He spun and took a bad-angle shot that appeared to deflect off Snow and into the goal.
"In any game you get the lead, you want to keep going at them," Ottawa defenseman Chris Phillips said. "You don't want to give them extra life and a chance to get back in the game."
Ottawa further demonstrated its control moments later when enforcer Chris Neil flattened Jason Blake with a clean hit near the red line.
New York had a 42-second two-man advantage bridging the first two periods but failed to get off a shot. The Islanders were 0-for-5 on the power play and are just 2-for-26 in the series.
The Isles finally solved Lalime at 2:48 of the second. With both teams down a man, Aucoin scored on a low slap shot from just inside the blue line.
A favorable bounce helped Ottawa silence the Nassau Coliseum crowd less than six minutes later. Hossa tried to send a pass across the crease to Martin Havlat. Kvasha got his stick on the puck but accidentally deflected it into his own net for a power-play goal.
"They got a little momentum after they scored a goal, and we knew that if we could score on the power play we could hold them down," Hossa said. "And that's what we did. We did a good job on (killing) the power play. That was key."
The top-seeded Senators played a defensive-minded third period and repeatedly frustrated the Islanders, who fell to 0-13-4 at home against Ottawa since January 6, 1996.
Dave Scatchard deflected a slap shot past Lalime with seven seconds left, but the goal was waved off because he used a high stick.
It was another frustrating night for Islanders captain Michael Peca, who had two shots on goal and is without a point in the series. For Peca, a change in venue may be what is needed.
"I think there is less pressure playing on the road. I don't remember losing an elimination game on the road," said Peca, who did not play in last season's Game Seven playoff loss in Toronto due to injury. "We just have to keep getting pucks at the net. I think we're holding the puck that extra second instead of firing it at the net."

Detroit vs. Anaheim 0:4

Game 4: Detroit @ Anaheim 2:3 OT

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Steve Rucchin gave the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim sweep revenge.
The Ducks completed a stunning sweep of the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings with a 3-2 victory as Rucchin scored 6:53 into overtime in Game Four of the Western Conference quarterfinals.
Given little chance to win the series, Anaheim did not lose a game, bookending four one-goal victories with a pair of overtime triumphs.
"Sometimes when you compete real hard and work real hard and you're the underdog and the pressure gets on the other team, sometimes you get some breaks," Ducks first-year coach Mike Babcock said. "And that's what happened in this series."
The Ducks squandered a lead late in the third period but showed no effects in overtime. Just before the seven-minute mark, Rucchin got a step behind the defense on the left side and had his shot stopped by goaltender Curtis Joseph.
Defenseman Keith Carney, in strange territory behind the opposing team's net, got the rebound and slid a pass between the legs of Detroit's Brendan Shanahan. It came right to Rucchin, who wristed a quick shot from low in the right faceoff circle past Joseph and inside the left goalpost.
"It was just a great play by Keith Carney all the way. It was a perfect pass," said Rucchin, who has spent his entire nine-year career with the Ducks.
"The puck was on the side of the net. I saw it just sitting there and I had a lot of time," Carney said. "I saw the scramble in front and I just wanted to throw it out there, and Rucchin was there."
As the foghorn sounded, the Arrowhead Pond erupted and teammates piled on Rucchin, celebrating just the second postseason series victory in the team's 10-year history. The Ducks were swept by Detroit in their first two playoff meetings.
"They are the best team in the league," Rucchin said. "We haven't always had a great team here in Anaheim, but we have a better team now, with more skill."
Moments later, the Red Wings lined up for the ceremonial handshake after becoming the first defending Cup champion in 52 years to be swept in the first round of the playoffs.
"When you go into a series, you picture a victory. You never picture a loss, you definitely never picture a sweep," Detroit first-year coach Dave Lewis said. "Whatever could go wrong went wrong for us. I feel empty. I guess numb would be a good word. I really can't believe it."
"I'm not shocked, I'm just very disappointed," added center Sergei Fedorov, whose fluke goal forced overtime.
Fedorov delayed elimination when he outmuscled Carney below the right circle and flung a shot that hit defenseman Niclas Havelid in front of the net and caromed past helpless goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
"We truly felt we were going to win," Shanahan said. "I really believed we were going to come back. We felt it the whole game.
We were going to tie it up late and I felt we were going to score (in overtime)."
"I said to them when we headed to overtime, we could win this game," Babcock countered. "We played a great third period, probably one of our best in the series, and they just got a lucky break."
Babcock and the Ducks also had Giguere, who stopped 165 of 171 shots in the series and set the tempo with a 63-save performance in Game One, a triple-overtime victory.
"Our goaltender allowed us to survive that first night and win in overtime. If we lose that game, I betcha they'd have crushed us," Babcock said. "I believe that there are hockey gods and I believe that they reward the team 99 percent of the time that works the hardest."
"Obviously, their goaltender stole the series for them," Shanahan said. "I saw Dominik Hasek in the Olympics in 1998 in a zone. And I haven't seen that before or since until this week with that kid Giguere."
Detroit scored first for the first time since Game One. A giveaway by Petr Sykora created a 2-on-1 down low and Brett Hull shoveled a pass to rookie Henrik Zetterberg, who snapped a shot from the right circle by Giguere for his first career playoff goal.
The lead lasted less than two minutes as Paul Kariya tied it at 15:08 of the opening period. With a delayed penalty signaled on the Red Wings, defenseman Mathieu Dandenault hesitated at the blue line, enabling the Ducks to break out.
Kariya got a cross-ice pass from Adam Oates, broke in alone through the right circle and tucked a wrist shot past Joseph's stick and inside the left post.
Jason Krog put Anaheim in front 4:35 into the third period with his second goal of the series. Joseph appeared to go down early and Krog's slap shot from the right circle glanced in off the left post.

Colorado vs. Minnesota 3:1

Game 4: Colorado @ Minnesota 3:1

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Minnesota hockey fans waited 11 years to see a playoff game. They finally got to see a goal but may have to wait another year to see a win.
Patrick Roy came within 2:40 of his second straight shutout and Joe Sakic scored twice as the Colorado Avalanche took a commanding three games to one lead in the Western Conference quarterfinals with a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild.
Roy stopped 24 shots and stretched his shutout streak to 117 minutes, 56 seconds before he was screened by Andrew Brunette and could not stop Marian Gaborik's shot from the left faceoff dot.
The Wild's first goal since the final minute of Game Two energized another sellout crowd at the Xcel Energy Center, but the momentum lasted all of 81 seconds.
With 79 seconds remaining, Sakic set up Riku Hahl, whose shot was stopped by goaltender Manny Fernandez. But Dan Hinote put in the rebound to restore Colorado's two-goal lead.
Colorado can wrap up the series at home on Saturday afternoon.
The Avalanche have lost their last two games when able to eliminate an opponent.
"I'm pretty sure everyone on this team knows what's happened the last couple of years," Sakic said. "We've got a chance to go home and put it away, and we have to find a way to get it done."
"We have to have a good rest now and jump back and settle (down), so we can try to battle as hard as we can," Gaborik said. "We need to generate some offense, be focused and give a 100 percent effort in order to get those (scoring) chances."
Home-ice advantage has meant less in this series than scoring first. While the home team has won just once, the team scoring first has taken all four games.
"Everyone's been talking about the importance of that first goal, especially against this team, because they play so well with the lead," Roy said. "Again, tonight it was a key."
Sakic got the all-important first goal at 6:10 of the opening period. Taken down by defenseman Lubomir Sekeras in the left faceoff circle, Sakic got off a wrister while falling that beat goaltender Dwayne Roloson. A moment earlier, Roloson had his stick knocked away by Colorado's Bates Battaglia.
"The first one kind of surprised me," Sakic said. "I was falling when I shot it and obviously, it surprised Roloson."
Just 1:54 later on a power play, Sakic wristed a shot from the top of the slot along the ice and inside the left goalpost for his 69th career playoff goal. That total is 22 more than the entire Wild roster.
"The second one, I just tried to get it away quick," Sakic said.
Roloson was pulled just over a minute later after allowing two goals on four shots. He had been battling a groin injury.
"Rolly didn't feel that good before (the game), but he was OK to go," Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said. "And when I saw the two goals, I checked out with the coaching staff and we were on the same page. I tried to change the game, too."
He didn't. While Manny Fernandez came up with a handful of stellar saves, the Wild were frustrated by Roy.
With 8:51 to go in the first period, Roy got the nob of his stick on a short wrist shot by Richard Park, sending it off the left goalpost. He also made a right pad stop on a rebound chance by Wes Walz with 1:42 left in the period.
"We saw Patty's performance in the net, we saw Joe offensively.
You see the big guys when you need them the most," Avalanche coach Tony Granato said. "Patty's the main reason we held them to one goal. ... Fortunately, Patty made the saves when he had to and Joe was able to capitalize on those chances early."
After scoring two power-play goals in the series opener, the Wild have two in the last three games.
"We've got to get some goals. We've got to get to that Patrick Roy and we've got to get to him in a big way," said Fernandez, who made 16 saves. "It would be nice to win the next game 5-1 or 6-1 and get him back on his heels."

Tampa Bay vs. Washington 2:2

Game 4: Tampa Bay @ Washington 3:1

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Coach John Tortorella's line juggling has breathed life into the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Martin St. Louis scored a pair of second-period goals and Vincent Lecavalier added an insurance tally early in the third as the Lightning evened their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with a 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals.
After his team was outscored, 9-3, in the first two games in Tampa Bay, Tortorella was searching for ways to revive a struggling offense. Before Game Three, he moved St. Louis to the top line alongside Lecavalier and Vaclav Prospal.
"Marty has done all the little things and sometimes you never know when it's going to click," Tortorella said. "The key with Marty is that he stopped thinking. Marty is the kind of thinker that when things stop going right offensively, he ends up thinking too much."
"It hasn't changed our thinking in any way," St. Louis said of the line changes. "We all try create offensive chances. Go back to last game - we got chances early on and get confidence off that, and we've been going with it ever since."
On a team with limited postseason experience, putting St. Louis and Lecavalier next to Prospal, who made postseason appearances with Philadelphia and Ottawa has seemed to work for Tampa Bay, which has regained the coveted home-ice advantage.
"Well, it's worked for sure the last two games," Lecavalier said. "Marty has a lot of speed, and who doesn't want to play with Marty? He's a great hockey player. And also Vaclav Prospal, I played with him all year. It's been working great right from the get-go, the first shift of that last game. We were flying out there."
In Tuesday's 4-3 victory, the trio combined for four goals and three assists, with Lecavalier netting the game-winner in overtime. It clicked again in this one.
Tortorella also double-shifted the trio, limiting their appearances against Washington's checking line of Jeff Halpern, Steve Konowalchuk and Mike Grier.
"We said we thought last night was an aberration with our guys," Capitals coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Halpern's line has been tough to play against all year. We want to give them that assignment. They're a shutdown line and they take pride in it.
This is the time of year you make a name for yourself in that regard."
St. Louis opened the scoring 11:55 into the second on an outstanding individual effort. After taking defenseman Cory Sarich's pass, he took on three defenders before lifting a slap shot over goaltender Olaf Kolzig.
St. Louis put the Lightning ahead for good, 2-1, with another outstanding effort, finishing off a shorthanded 2-on-1 with Dave Andreychuk with 2:20 remaining in the period.
Lecavalier capped the scoring early in the third. After winning a faceoff, he broke for the net and put a rebound of defenseman Jassen Cullimore's slap shot into a half-empty goal.
Peter Bondra had the lone tally for Washington, which had won the previous 11 home games with Tampa Bay before Tuesday.
Game Five is Friday in Tampa Bay.
Playing on back-to-back nights in the playoffs for the first time in 14 years, the older Capitals could not overcome several defensive lapses and struggled to generate quality chances after Lecavalier's tally.
"I don't know if mental errors is the right word," Cassidy said.
"We lacked execution in the back end tonight. Their forecheck pressure created some problems for us and we didn't beat it very well. We've said all year when we move the puck out of our zone quickly to our forwards, we can be dangerous because we have some guys who can quickly go on the attack. Tonight, we didn't do that."
The home team has not won a game nor held a lead in the first four games of the series. And the Capitals are just 2-5 in series in which the teams split the first four contests.
"It's obviously disappointing," Kolzig said. "They were a frustrated group coming up here. It's a best-of-three now. We can't sit here and be the team with the deer caught in headlights (look). We've got to get back to the way we played last week and raise our game again. It's do or die time."
Asked about Tampa Bay's chances to become the 22nd team since 1990 to overcome a two-game deficit and win a series, Lecavalier said, "I'm happy we're going back to Tampa. We had a rough time the first two games of the series, but we'll come back and show the people in Tampa we're going to work really hard and make sure we get that third win."
After a sloppy first period, the intensity picked up early in the second. The Lightning had a golden opportunity to grab the lead just 39 seconds in when Bondra received a double-minor for an elbow that bloodied Lecavalier.
But they managed just one shot and had most of their shots blocked.
Minutes later, St. Louis started a rush in his own zone and deked defenseman Brendan Witt before putting a shot through Kolzig's pads.
The Capitals seemed to regain the momentum when Fredrik Modin's clearing attempt was intercepted by defenseman Jason Doig, whose point shot was deflected by Bondra pats goalie Nikolai Khabibulin.
But Washington's Kip Miller turned over the puck to Andreychuk at the left point during the Caps' first power play. The Lightning captain carried through the Washington zone and, as Kolzig anticipated his shot, dished to St. Louis for an easy goal.
"That was a great play, that pass," St. Louis said. "The better play is the blocked shot and to keep going where the puck is going. It was a great pass, but the two plays prior to that are the big plays. I just tried to give Dave an option to maybe slide it across to me."

Vancouver vs. St. Louis 1:3

Vancouver @ St. Louis 1:4

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The Vancouver Canucks came out with more energy and finally got a goal from their leading scorer, but it still was not nearly enough.
Martin Rucinsky scored twice in a 97-second span late in the third period and also picked up an assist as the St. Louis Blues defeated the Canucks, 4-1, to open a three games to one lead in the Western Conference quarterfinals.
The Blues again played without Norris Trophy candidate Al McInnis, who missed his second straight game with a shoulder injury. But they can wrap up the series on Friday in Vancouver.
"The first period, we were flat," St. Louis coach Joel Quenneville said. "The last two were excellent, but we have to have a better start than we had tonight."
The Canucks outshot the Blues, 12-5, in the first and took the lead when Markus Naslund - who had 49 goals during the regular season - scored with 8:03 left in the period.
It was the first goal in the series for Vancouver's top line of Naslund, Brendan Morrison and Todd Bertuzzi, who were broken up by coach Marc Crawford. After finishing second during the season with 264 goals, the Canucks have just four in as many games against St. Louis.
"We liked the way we played, but we did not like the result," Crawford said. "We think things can change in this series."
"It was a better effort from our club," Naslund added. "I do not think the series is over. We had more chances than we have had in this series. We made more plays. It is going to be tough, being down, 3-1, but if we are going to play like this, we are going to win."
The Blues took control in the second period, again showing their comeback ability. St. Louis was a league-best 22-15-3-6 during the season when giving up the first goal.
"When we got down, 1-0, we calmed down," Blues center Doug Weight said. "You do not want to be down in this league as much as we are, but we would score sooner or later."
Defenseman Chris Pronger, who missed all but five games during the season following wrist surgery, tied it 4:35 into the second when his seemingly harmless wrist shot from just inside the blue line floated past Dan Cloutier, who had a shaky game in goal.
Dallas Drake converted a 2-on-1 break to give the Blues the lead for good with 4:53 left in the second. Weight passed into the slot for Drake, who snapped a wrist shot past Cloutier for his team-leading sixth point of the playoffs.
Rucinsky started the play when he fought off two Vancouver players for the puck at the red line.
"Marty made an amazing play along the boards and Doug gave me a great feed," Drake said. "It was nice to breakthrough after struggling through the first period."
Rucinsky completed another 2-on-1 by scoring from a bad angle on the right side with 5:51 left, then beat Cloutier with a backhander from the bottom of the right faceoff circle.
"Doug made a great play getting it over the defenseman's stick," Rucinsky said of his second goal. "I let the puck get between my legs a little bit, but I was able to get a shot on net."
"He has great speed," Weight said of Rucinsky. "Anytime Dal and Marty get involved, great things happen. He was due. This was his night."
Chris Osgood made 32 saves for the Blues, who were outshot, 33-20, but killed all five Vancouver power plays.
"I have been playing with a lot of confidence," said Osgood, who won a Stanley Cup with Detroit in 1998. "I have been hearing the crowd, but I do not get energy from saves. I just stay focused. I do not try to be the center of everything. I just try to play."
"If we could have gotten another one by him, it would have been a different story," Canucks center Trevor Linden said.
Naslund's goal was Vancouver's first at even strenth in the series. However, the Canucks are just 3-for-29 with the man advantage.

von: http://www.nhl.com

Philadelphia vs. Toronto 2:2

Philadelphia @ Toronto 3:2 OT

TORONTO (CP) - Mark Recchi couldn't wait any longer.
Recchi, eager to get back to Philadelphia to be with his wife who is about to give birth, scored at 13:54 of the third overtime period to give the Flyers a 3-2 victory and even their first-round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-2 Wednesday night.
``I've got to get home,'' the exhausted winger said afterwards. ``My wife's going to have a child.
``It's the greatest thing in life. I'm looking forward to it.''
Recchi's second goal of the game came on a wrist shot from the circle to the left of goalie Ed Belfour. The puck struck the goalie's stick and trickled in.
``Recchi scores from there all the time,'' said Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock. ``He's made a living scoring from there.''
The players have three days before Game 5 on Saturday and they'll need every hour of the break to regain their strength. The Leafs had won 4-3 in double overtime Monday.
``Now we've got a best-of-three,'' said Hitchcock. ``We've got what everybody thought we'd get - a classic series.''
The Flyers outshot the Leafs 75-38 on Wednesday night. Belfour, after allowing two soft goals, was magnificent the rest of the way, and Philadelphia's Roman Cechmanek was superb, too.
``Eddie Belfour battled tremendously hard - he was great,'' said Recchi.
The 75 shots set records for most by the Flyers and most against the Leafs in playoff action.
It was the third-longest playoff game in Leafs history and longest since 1943. The contest was also the second-longest playoff game in Flyers history.
``Eddie's a trooper,'' Leafs coach Pat Quinn said of Belfour's heroics. ``He's a hell of a player.
``He put us in a position to win and we didn't do it.''
Added Hitchcock: ``Both goalies were remarkable.''
Jeremy Roenick also scored for the Flyers.
``We dominated pretty much that whole hockey game,'' said the Flyers centre. ``We didn't think about losing, just about who was going to score.''
Travis Green and Mats Sundin scored for the Leafs, who were without leading scorer Alexander Mogilny. Clipped under the jaw by a stick two nights earlier, Mogilny was advised by team doctors to sit one out. He'll be re-examined Thursday.
``There's lots to be proud of,'' Quinn said of his players' effort. ``They battled hard.
``I know they'll rally and come back.''
Recchi and Green exchanged first-period goals, Roenick scored in the second and Sundin in the third.
Hitchcock said Tuesday he expected a better defensive effort from his team, and he got it. The Leafs managed only 10 shots in regulation time while Philadelphia had 37.
``We played so hard that we forced them to spend time where they didn't want to - in their own end,'' Hitchcock said.
Still, the Leafs came close to seizing a 3-1 series lead as the clubs traded scoring chances through more than 50 minutes of sudden death.
``It could have gone either way,'' said Leafs forward Jonas Hoglund.
The Leafs were lucky to force OT.
``We weren't very good in the first and second periods,'' said Quinn. ``We were back on our heels.
``We got better as the game went on, but we didn't get the result we would have loved to have had. We knew this series was going to be long and hard and tough. We've got to find a way to win a couple more.''
And a way to get more shots on Cechmanek against one of the stingiest defences in the NHL.
``We really played well,'' said Hitchcock. ``We didn't have a weak player.
``In the third overtime, I thought our players could sniff something. The guys were standing on the bench every time we got a rush going. It felt like we were getting our 11th wind or something.
``We've really thrown a lot of passion into this series. We're throwing everything we have into it.''
The Flyers couldn't buy a power-play goal, going 0-for-8 while Toronto was 1-for-4. In the end, they didn't need one.
The deflated Leafs won't quickly forget this loss.
``This stings,'' said Green, who skated in his first game of the series after recuperating from a rib injury. ``It should.
``When you lose in triple overtime, you're not going to just forget about it.''
But the Leafs will be back, he promised.
``It's going to be tooth and nail till the end,'' he said.
Keith Primeau was a workhorse for the Flyers, especially around Belfour's crease. He barged into Belfour in the second and the goalie stayed down for a minute, finally rising and stretching the right leg Primeau landed on.
``It was one of those nights where you weren't sure (if the game would end),'' Primeau said. ``We began to wonder if we'd get another one by Belfour.''
With goaltending like this, the Leafs can't be counted out.
``Eddie was awesome,'' said Green.
But the Flyers feel they have the upper hand now.
``Hopefully we can build on this momentum and go home and take care of home-ice advantage,'' said Recchi.

von: http://www.mapleleafs.com

Mats

Vielleicht wirds ja besser!?

AC/DC rules!