Washington - Tampa Bay 1-2 (0-1/1-0/0-1) (Playoffstand 2-3) St. Louis - Vancouver 3-5 (0-1/1-3/2-1) (Playoffstand 3-2)
Washington - Tampa Bay 1-2 (0-1/1-0/0-1)
Zum ersten Mal in dieser Serie konnte ein Team den Heimvorteil nutzen, nachdem die bisherigen vier Spiele auf eigenen Eis alle verloren wurden. Die Lightning erreichten so das dritte Erfolgserlebnis in Folge und führen nun das Erstrundenduell mit 3-2 an. Eine der zwei Chancen am Sonntag oder am Dienstag gilt es jetzt zu nutzen, um erstmalig in ihrer Franchisegeschichte in die zweite Runde einzuziehen. Erneut neutralisierten sich die Mannschaften weitgehend, so dass Torgelegenheiten zunächst Mangelware waren. Leichtes Oberwasser schienen die Gäste zu besitzen, mussten aber in der 14ten Minute in nummerischer Unterlegenheit durch Vaclav Prospal(14.pp) die Führung der Hausherren hinnehmen. Zu diesem Powerplay führte ein unabsichtlicher 'hoher Stock', als Goalie Olaf Kölzig hinter seinem Gehäuse den Puck wegschoss und dabei Vincent Lecavalier unglücklich im Gesicht traf. Die Capitals versuchten im weiteren Spielverlauf das Ruder noch herumzureißen, waren aber nie in der Lage die quirligen Lightning Stürmer in ihre Grenzen zu weisen. Trotzdem konnten sie spät im Mittelabschnitt in Person von Mikael Nylander(38.), der einen präzisen Pass von Jaromir Jagr verwertete, den Ausgleich erzielen. Während des letzten Drittels übernahmen die Mannen aus Tampa jedoch wieder das Steuer und dominierten das Geschehen fast nach Belieben. Nur noch wenig dagegen halten konnten die müde wirkenden Hauptstädter und kassierten prompt den 2-1 Siegtreffer durch Tampas 'shooting star' der vergangenen Saison Vincent Lecavalier(49.).
St. Louis - Vancouver 3-5 (0-1/1-3/2-1)
Ihre erste Chance die Serie zu beenden konnten die Blues nicht nutzen, denn endlich zeigte die Topreihe der Canucks die Leistung, mit der sie in der letzten Saison die Zuschauer zu Jubelstürmen hinreißen konnten. Sowohl Todd Bertuzzi(29.), als auch Brendan Morrison(37.) und Markus Naslund(39.pp) trafen im Mittelabschnitt zur zwischenzeitlichen 4-1 Führung und brachten so ihre Canucks auf die Siegerstraße. Am Sonntag und am Dienstag müssen sie nun diese Form bestätigen, um die Playoffs nicht vorzeitig beenden zu müssen. Von Beginn an traten die Gegner offen aufeinander zu, so dass es ein Vielzahl von Chancen zu bestaunen gab. Bereits eine der ersten Möglichkeiten nutzte Vancouvers Brent Sopel(3.) zum 1-0. Den knappen Vorteil konnten sie in die Pause retten, mussten aber nach sieben Minuten im zweiten Drittel durch Tyson Nash(28.) den Ausgleich hinnehmen. Die zu diesem Zeitpunkt klar offensiver agierenden Hausherren ließen sich aber dadurch nicht beirren und spielten munter weiter nach vorne. Tatsächlich wurden sie sogar dreifach für ihre Bemühungen belohnt. Ab der ersten Minute der letzten Periode wurde die Partie rauher. Etliche Fouls leisteten sich die Kontrahenten, wobei die Blues einen nummerischen Vorteil nutzen konnten, als Cory Stillman(28.pp) Goalie Dan Cloutier geschickt bezwang. Spannend wurde es dann nocheinmal in der letzten Minute, denn nachdem die Blues ihren Torhüter Chris Osgood durch einen weiteren Feldspieler ersetzt hatten, gelang Martin Rucinsky(60.) der erneute Anschluss zum 3-4. Nur neun Sekunden danach machte aber Sami Salo(60.) den so wichtigen Heimsieg doch noch perfekt.
Rock on, and on, and on...
John LeClair breaks down the left wing all alone, moves into the circle and cranks a wicked slap shot with zero hesitation. The baffled goaltender is left with no answers, just questions as the First Union Center's horn blazes and the crowd booms.
TAMPA (Ticker) -- Martin St. Louis pushed the Tampa Bay Lightning one game closer to making history and the Washington Capitals within one game of repeating it. St. Louis scored the game-winner with 8:07 left in the third period and added an assist as the Lightning posted a 2-1 triumph over the Capitals to take a three games to two lead in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Vincent Lecavalier chased a puck deep into the Washington zone and sent a cross-ice pass to defenseman Stan Neckar at the left point. Neckar then found St. Louis at the right side of the net, where he tapped it in for the go-ahead tally. It sent a record crowd of 21,324 at the St. Pete Times Forum into a frenzy. "Eighty-five percent of the time, Stan would have taken a shot there," St. Louis said. "But he made a great fake, went wide and I got behind the other guys. He gave me the perfect pass. There was pretty much a whole net to shoot at." Since scoring just six goals after the All-Star break, St. Louis has erupted with four goals and five assists in the past four games. "That's the greatest motivation for any athlete - second guessing," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "That's gone on in Marty's career and I believe it is still happening. A guy with that talent and the emotion he plays with, he's going to get something accomplished and at a good time. It's not the size, it's what you bring." The victory was the first home regulation win in the playoffs for the Lightning, who now stand just one triumph away from clinching their first playoff series in their 11-year history. "It's just our second playoff appearance, but for a lot of us, it's our first," St. Louis said. "I would say that for the guys that are here, it's the biggest win we've been involved with. But there is a lot more to do. It's a best-of-seven, not a best-of-five." The Capitals, who are 2-5 all-time when tied after four games, have lost their last three series after losing a 2-0 lead. Game Six is Sunday in Washington. "We have two days to think about it," Capitals winger Jaromir Jagr said. "It's a not a good situation, but it's not over. I thought they were in a tougher situation than we are now. They were down 2-0, but when we went to Washington, they responded very well. Now it's up to us as to how we're going to respond." Nikolai Khabibulin finished with 22 saves and has held the Capitals to one goal in the past two games. With 46 seconds to play in the contest, Khabibulin knocked down a point-blank shot by Sergei Berezin to preserve his third win in as many games. "The save on Berezin, just a phenomenal save," Tortorella said. "We still haven't seen Nik's best game. I think he knows that, too. He'll continue to battle and keep making big saves for us as we go through." The Lightning had to survive a frantic finish as Levacalier was called for a cross-checking penalty with 33 seconds left, giving the Capitals a two-man advantage after goaltender Olaf Kolzig was pulled for an extra attacker. Washington, however, failed to keep the puck in the zone and never had an opportunity to set up a play. After going 12 minutes with just one shot in the opening period, the Lightning capitalized on a four-minute power play when goaltender Olaf Kolzig was called for high-sticking Lecavalier in the face. Defenseman Dan Boyle salvaged the play by stopping a clearing pass at the left point, then sent the puck to St. Louis at the left side of the crease. Vaclav Prospal broke to the net, collected a pass by St. Louis and wristed it under Kolzig's glove. "The first goal is very important," Jagr said. "The team which scores the first goal of the game has won five times in a row." The Capitals responded with a goal by Michael Nylander with just under three minutes to go in the second period. From behind the net, Jagr set up Nylander, who broke to the slot and redirected the puck between Khabibulin's pads. "I felt like when we scored and tied the game, the momentum was shifting to our side a little bit," Jagr said. "I thought if we could have had five more minutes in that period, it would have been a different story. Obviously, the 15-minute rest helped them." "I thought if we kept pushing we could get the next one, but it didn't happen," Capitals coach Bruce Cassidy added. "There were a few scrambles down there. It's hard to tell from the bench what's going on, but it sure looked that way." But the Lightning stymied the Capitals' offense in the third, holding them to five shots. "I felt when we gave up that first goal at the end of the second period, we had to make sure we didn't lose the momentum," St. Louis said. "We had to come out hard in the third and we kept some pretty good pressure on them." Kolzig finished with 20 saves, but extended his losing streak to three games.
Vancouver vs. St. Louis 2:3
Game 5: St. Louis @ Vancouver 3:5
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- The Vancouver Canucks' top line picked the right game to finally get going. Todd Bertuzzi, Brendan Morrison and Markus Naslund scored second-period goals as the Canucks kept alive their Western Conference quarterfinal series against the St. Louis Blues, holding on for a 5-3 victory. One of the top lines in hockey, Bertuzzi, Morrison and Naslund had been silenced in the first four games as they combined for just one goal. But with the Canucks facing elimination, they rose to the occasion, helping Vancouver cut St. Louis' lead in the series to three games to two. Bertuzzi snapped a 1-1 tie with 11:24 left in the middle period. Morrison scored at 16:24 and Naslund tallied on the power play just over two minutes later, making it 4-1. The four goals matched the Canucks' total through the first four games of the series. "We've been getting the chances up to this game but they haven't gone in," Bertuzzi said. "As a goal scorer, you understand that if you keep getting those chances they'll eventually go in. We're confident in here now. I can see it building up." "I thought our team's effort was real good," Canucks coach Marc Crawford said. "We played with a lot of determination, a lot of intensity. Our second period was our best second period of the year. We showed great poise and we just took over the game from that point on." The Canucks needed the offense as the Blues nearly rallied in the third period, pulling within 4-3 with 56 seconds remaining on Martin Rucinsky's third goal of the series. But just seven seconds later, Sami Salo blasted a slap shot by Blues goaltender Chris Osgood. Tyson Nash and Cory Stillman also scored for the Blues, who have another chance to end the series at home Sunday. If necessary, Game Seven would be here Tuesday. "I like how we battled," Blues coach Joel Quenneville said. "We competed. We got back into the game at the end. Now we've got another challenge going into Game Six. We'll regroup and get ready to play. We feel Game Six is our turn." Fighting to keep their season going, the Canucks needed just 2:15 to break on top. Defenseman Brent Sopel gathered a loose puck along the right boards and wristed a shot through traffic that eluded Osgood. It was rare soft goal for Osgood, who entered the contest stopping 90 of 94 shots for a .956 save percentage, the best of any goaltender in the playoffs. Canucks goaltender Dan Cloutier was the complete opposite of Osgood. He was last among netminders remaining in the postseason with a .869 save percentage after stopping 99 of 112 shots in the first four games. But in the opening period, Cloutier made all the big saves to help his team set the tone. He made a blocker save on Christian Laflamme's shot from the slot with just under 17 minutes left. With 14:05 to go in the period, Cloutier also received a fortunate bounce when Valeri Bure rang a shot off the left goal post. Cloutier finished with 13 saves in the period. His best stop came off a redirection of a shot by Shjon Podein at 7:16, bringing the sellout crowd at General Motors Place to its feet. "I wanted to play well," said Cloutier, who finished with 29 saves. "This was a must win. I wanted to go in there and play strong in front of my team." Cloutier's first miscue led to the tying goal 7:02 into the second period. From behind his net, Cloutier lost the puck to Ryan Johnson, who found Nash. Nash skated out from behind the net and put a quick backhander home for his second goal of the series. But just 1:34 later, the Canucks regained the lead for good. Working in front of the net, Bertuzzi shifted the puck from his backhand to forehand and shoveled a shot past Osgood for his first goal of the series. "(Matt) Cooke tried to center it early and it came back to him and he got me the puck," Bertuzzi said. "My only option was to put it between my legs and try to go far side. It was nice to see it go in." After Cloutier denied Doug Weight from down low with 5:08 left in the second period, the Canucks extended the lead just under two minutes later Defenseman Marek Malik set up the goal, drawing a pair of Blues to him in the left circle before he found Morrison, who slipped in front of Dallas Drake in the low slot and put a shot by Osgood, making it 3-1. "Our backs are still against the wall," Morrison said. "All we're focusing on now is the next game - nothing else." The Blues seemed to become unglued as Johnson was called for elbowing at 17:17 and Chris Pronger took a slashing penalty 42 seconds later, giving the Canucks a two-man advantage. It took the Canucks just 29 seconds to convert. From the bottom of the right circle, Naslund unleashed a wrist shot that hit Osgood's right skate before caroming into the net. It was Naslund's second goal of the series. "The second wasn't a strong period," Blues center Doug Weight said. "We took some bad penalties and they got momentum. They fed off their power-play goal." In the third period, the Blues made the Canucks work for the victory. Bure had a goal disallowed less than two minutes into the period, when it was ruled the net was off its moorings before the puck crossed the goal line. With just over 15 minutes left in the period, Cloutier denied Stillman on a breakaway. "Cloutier was big. He was great," Naslund said. "When he plays well, he's the key to our team. He almost won it by himself." But Stillman tallied a power-play goal at 7:57, helping the Blues close to 4-2. Rucinsky scored with an extra attacker, his third goal of the series with under a minute left to further tighten things. But Salo sealed it with 49 seconds to go with his first goal of the series. "I thought we played well in the first," Osgood said. "We got some chances. They got a lucky break on their first goal and they came at us in the second and third." The Blues again played without Norris Trophy candidate Al MacInnis, who missed his second straight game with a shoulder injury.
Die Washington Capitals mit Torhüter Olaf Kölzig haben in der nordamerikanischen Eishockey-Profiliga NHL die dritte Niederlage in der ersten Play-off-Runde hinnehmen müssen. Nachdem die "Caps" zunächst mit zwei Siegen gegen Tampa Bay Lightning gestartet waren, liegt Washington nach dem 1:2 in Tampa in den Play-offs mit 2:3 zurück.
Im nächsten Spiel in der Nacht zum Ostermontag (20.04.03) muss der Hauptstadt-Klub unbedingt gewinnen, um die Chance auf das Erreichen der zweiten Runde zu wahren.
In Tampa hatte Martin St. Louis mit einem Treffer und einem Assist entscheidenden Anteil am Erfolg der Gastgeber. Im letzten Drittel erzielte St. Louis nach einem perfekten Pass von Lightning-Verteidiger Stan Neckar den 2:1-Endstand. Der Stürmer konnte in den letzten drei Spielen vier Tore und drei Assists verbuchen. Vinny Prospal nutzte im ersten Drittel eine Vier-Minuten-Strafe gegen "Caps"-Torhüter Kölzig und brachte Tampa in Führung. Washingtons Michael Nylander gelang im zweiten Drittel nach einem Pass von Jaromir Jagr der zwischenzeitliche Ausgleich.
Canucks erzwingen Verlängerung
Die Vancouver Canucks haben in der Nacht zum Samstag das Play-off-Aus durch einen 5:3-Sieg gegen St. Louis Blues noch einmal abgewendet. Die Gäste aus Missouri führen in der ersten Runde nur noch mit 3:2, können aber in der Nacht zum Ostermontag den Einzug in die nächste Runde perfekt machen.
Die Ergebnisse des Spieltages in der Übersicht:
Tampa Bay Lightning - Washington Capitals 2:1 (Play-off-Stand: 3:2), Vancouver Canucks - St. Louis Blues 5:3 (Play-off-Stand: 2:3)
sid | Stand: 19.04.2003, 12:13 Uhr
First member of the "DELete(tm) und Tripcke gehört weg"-Circle "Lernen ohne zu denken ist verlorene Arbeit. Denken ohne zu lernen ist gefährlich..." Ich kann gar nicht soviel essen wie ich kotzen kann - gegen Tempobeschränkungen auf deutschen Autobahnen! Pro ! Im Blut hat er Stickstoff und im Gehirn einen Tank voller Benzin! Staff-Member of EH.N
Sie sind vermutlich noch nicht im Forum angemeldet - Klicken Sie hier um sich kostenlos anzumelden
Offline
Vielleicht wirds ja besser!?
GO LEAFS GO!
- gegen Tempobeschränkungen auf deutschen Autobahnen! Pro 
!