NHL & Minor Leagues » Results 20/04/

Tampa Bay - Washington 2-1 3.OT (0-0/0-1/1-0/0-0/0-0/1-0)
(Playoffstand 4-2)
Vancouver - St. Louis 4-3 (2-1/2-0/0-2)
(Playoffstand 3-3)

Tampa Bay - Washington 2-1 3.OT (0-0/0-1/1-0/0-0/0-0/1-0)
(Playoffstand 4-2)
Nach 104 Minuten effektiver Spielzeit im MCI Center von Washington war Tampas größter Erfolg in der elfjährigen Franchisegeschichte perfekt. Zu Beginn der dritten Overtime leisteten sich die Washington Capitals einen folgenschweren Wechselfehler, Mattias Nylander musste auf die Strafbank und das Überzahlspiel nutzte Martin St. Louis(105.), um die Lightning in das Conference Halbfinale zu schießen.

Olaf Kölzig(WAS) lässt den Puck passieren
und das Playoff-Aus der Capitals ist besiegelt.

Der zweite Matchwinner auf Seiten der Gäste, die nach zwei Auftaktniederlagen vier Spiele, darunter alle drei Partien in der US-Hauptstadt, für sich entscheiden konnten, war Schlussmann Nikolai Khabibulin. Insgesamt konnte er heute Nacht 60 Mal gegen Jagr & Co. rettend eingreifen. Nur bei Peter Bondras(38.pp) Powerplaytreffer zur 1-0 Führung der Capitals war er machtlos.
Auch der Ausgleichstreffer von Tampas NHL-Veteran Dave Andreychuk(56.pp) gut vier Minuten vor dem Ende der regulären Spielzeit entsprang einer nummerischen Überlegenheit. Von Ken Klees Schlittschuh sprang die Scheibe direkt vor die Füße von Andreychuk und dieser ließ Olaf Kölzig im Tor der Hausherren keine Abwehrchance.

Vancouver - St. Louis 4-3 (2-1/2-0/0-2)
(Playoffstand 3-3)
Die Vancouver Canucks konnten mit einem 4-3 Zittersieg im Savvis Center von St. Louis auch den zweiten Matchball der St. Louis Blues vereiteln, die in dieser Playoffserie bereits mit 3-1 in Front lagen. Wer in die nächste Playoffrunde einziehen wird, wird sich nun erst übermorgen im General Motors Place zu Vancouver entscheiden.
Der Erfolg der Canucks ging daher mit einer ungeheueren Leistungssteigerung ihrer ersten Sturmformation. Vor allem Teamkapitän Markus Naslund(4.) zeigte seine Führungsqualitäten. Gleich mit dem zweiten Torschuss brachte er seine Mannschaft 1-0 in Front und auch bei den Treffern von Mattias Ohlund(15.) und Ed Jovanovski(37.pp) war er mit einem Assist beteiligt. Völlig von der Rolle präsentierten sich die Blues im Mittelabschnitt, wobei sie sich letztendlich spielentscheidende Strafen leisteten. Auch der 3-1 Führungstreffer für die Canucks von Henrik Sedin(29.pp) fiel als die Hausherren mit einem Mann weniger auf dem Eis standen.
Noch richtig spannend wurde es im Schlussdrittel, nachdem die Blues wieder bis auf 3-4 herangekomen waren und Vancouvers Schlussmann Dan Cloutier in einer Abwehrschlacht mehrmals sein Können beweisen musste. Alle drei Treffer von Doug Weight(11.pp/51.pp) und Eric Boguniecki(47.pp) fielen im Powerplay der Blues.

von: http://www.eishockey.com

Tampa Bay vs. Washington 4:2

Game 6: Tampa Bay @ Washington 2:1 OT

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Unable to count, the Washington Capitals were counted out.
Martin St. Louis again played the hero, scoring a power-play goal 4:03 into triple overtime and giving the Tampa Bay Lightning a 2-1 win over the Capitals and the first playoff series victory in team history.
Tampa Bay went on its second power play after regulation when Washington was penalized for having too many men on the ice.
St. Louis cashed in with his third straight game-winner. After getting a pass behind the net from Vincent Lecavalier, the speedy All-Star moved out front, spun at the bottom of the right faceoff circle and wristed a shot over the left shoulder of goaltender Olaf Kolzig.
"I made a bad pass, Vinny made a great play to stay with it," St. Louis said. "He got it back to me and I was able to jump right on it. I just tried to go high because you know (Kolzig's) going to go down into the butterfly."
As St. Louis pumped his fist along the boards, he was mobbed by teammates. After losing the first two games of the series at home, the Lightning won four straight and will face the New Jersey Devils in the conference semifinals.
"It's a huge thing for the organization, but I'm concerned with those 26 guys right now," Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said.
"It's a great stepping stone for those guys, the core people, the young people who have only been around three or four years."
It was another postseason collapse by the Capitals, who have been knocked out in the first round in each of their last three playoff appearances. They also blew two games to none leads in the first round against Pittsburgh in 1992 and 1996 and to the New York Islanders in 1985.
"I was just in the locker room, shaking my head. We found ways to beat ourselves this series and tonight it was too many men on the ice," Washington first-year coach Bruce Cassidy said. "You have to look at the way we lost these games and say to yourself that some things are just not meant to be."
Tampa Bay would not have had a chance to improve to 4-0 all-time in playoff overtime if not for 39-year-old captain Dave Andreychuk. With 4:06 to go in regulation, the most prolific power-play goal-scorer in NHL history got another.
Just 33 seconds after Capitals defenseman Sergei Gonchar was penalized for taking down Fredrik Modin, a shot from the top of the left circle by Tampa Bay's Brad Richards hit the skate of Washington defenseman Ken Klee. It caromed to Andreychuk, who wristed the puck over Kolzig's outstretched right arm for his second goal of the series.
"(Plays) 36 minutes, scoring the tying goal, what can you say?" Tortorella asked. "I was concerned about him in the second and third period, but he wanted to play. He wouldn't even look at me. He's our role model, he's our leader. Just a huge game."
Tampa Bay's Nikolai Khabibulin made 60 saves and made sure the game reached overtime with a right pad stop on Robert Lang with a minute to go.
"That was the longest game I played ever," Khabibulin said. "I was seeing a lot of shots. I wasn't thinking about where they were coming from, I just tried not to panic."
Kolzig stopped 44 shots and prolonged the outcome 7 1/2 minutes into the first overtime when he denied Lecavalier from close range and used his skate to get a piece of the rebound, sending it off the left goalpost.
"Khabibulin got better as the series went on and tonight, obviously, was his pinnacle," Kolzig said. "He was the reason they even got to overtime. That's what you need to advance in the playoffs, and he provided that for them tonight. It was kind of bad timing. It was probably our best game of the series as well."
The Capitals had a 13-5 advantage in shots in a scoreless first period but broke through on a power play with 2:26 to go in the second.
With 76 seconds left on Ben Clymer's roughing penalty, Peter Bondra got a feed from Gonchar and ripped a one-timer through the legs of teammate Dainius Zubrus, past a helpless Khabibulin and inside the left post.
It was Bondra's 30th career playoff goal.
Khabibulin kept the Lightning within striking distance, even while they managed just one shot during a 13-minute stretch bridging the first two periods. He stopped Ivan Ciernik and Bondra on 2-on-1s and got his right pad on Jeff Halpern's 15-foot wrist shot during a power play early in the third.
"He gets a couple wins and you could see him slowly come back," Tortorella said of his goalie. "You could see how confident he was. He played he angles, he kept himself square. But Kolzig played great, too. It was a great game to be involved in."

Vancouver vs. St.Louis 3:3

Vancouver @ St. Louis 4:3

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The Vancouver Canucks forced a seventh game in their Western Conference quarterfinal series, building a three-goal lead before holding on for a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues.
After losing three of the first four games, Vancouver has won two in a row to send the best-of-seven series back to GM Place for the decisive contest on Tuesday.
Canucks captain Markus Naslund collected a goal and two assists, doubling his output from the first five games. Vancouver also got power-play tallies from Henrik Sedin and defenseman Ed Jovanovski before withstanding a furious third-period comeback.
"We played a strong game again, getting stronger as the games go on," Naslund said. "Obviously, we're getting stronger and more confident. But it's one game that's going to decide it."
St. Louis outshot the Canucks, 13-2, over the final 20 minutes and climbed within a goal on power-play tallies by Eric Boguniecki and Doug Weight.
But Dan Cloutier denied Scott Mellanby on a backhander from the left faceoff circle with just under five minutes to play and stopped Cory Stillman's shot from high in the right circle with 12.6 seconds remaining.
"We didn't play the game that was necessary, be it energy, be it thought process, emotion, and it got us behind the eight-ball and it was too big of a gap to get back into it," Blues coach Joel Quenneville said.
Only 16 times has a team overcome a three games to one deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series. Vancouver has done it twice, defeating Winnipeg in the 1992 Smythe Division semifinals and Calgary in the 1994 conference quarterfinals.
"I always said I don't think momentum carries from game to game, but I think that our team is definitely playing better," Canucks defenseman Mattias Ohlund said. "We showed signs of it in Game Four, got some results in Game Five, tonight we got more results. ... It starts all over again on Tuesday night."
Coming off a 5-3 win in Game Five, Vancouver needed less than four minutes to grab the lead as Naslund banked a shot off defenseman Alex Khavanov while sliding on his back past the right goalpost. The puck caromed past Osgood for Naslund's third goal of the series.
"I think he's playing with more confidence with the puck right now," Canucks coach Marc Crawford said. "He's captured the pace of the game. When those skilled players capture the pace when they get the puck, they know what to do with it."
Ohlund nearly made it 2-0 at 6:38, but his shot from the bottom of the left circle hit both goalposts and stayed out.
Weight tied it just over four minutes later with the first of St. Louis' three power-play tallies, but Ohlund got one that counted and put Vancouver ahead for good with 5:35 to go in the period.
With both teams down a man, he used a screen by 6-3 Todd Bertuzzi and blasted a shot from the left dot past goaltender Chris Osgood's glove side.
The Canucks dominated the second period, outshooting the Blues, 12-5, and scoring twice on the power play to pull away. Henrik Sedin got his first goal of the series at 8:52, stuffing a rebound past Osgood just before he was cross-checked by defenseman Bryce Salvador.
"We wanted to come with an aggressive forecheck, have good special teams. We did that," said Jovanovski, who padded the lead with 3:48 to go in the period.
The third period belonged to the Blues. They got within 4-2 on the power play at 6:21 as Boguniecki sliced down the slot, got a pass from Weight at the edge of the left circle and snapped a quick backhander over Cloutier's left shoulder.
An interference penalty on Ohlund put St. Louis back on the power play and Scott Mellanby faked a shot from the left circle to freeze Cloutier and the defense before finding a wide-open Weight on the other side of the ice.
"We can beat anyone when we play 5-on-5, but you have to do a little more of it," said Weight, who has five goals and seven assists in the series.
"Obviously, we wanted to finish it off tonight. It was a case of too little, too late for us, took too many penalties," added Osgood, who stopped 22 shots. "They capitalized and it was too late, reminiscent of the last game."

von: http://www.nhl.com

Mats

Vielleicht wirds ja besser!?

GO LEAFS GO!

AC/DC rules!