Stanley Cup playoffs: Leading men and startling trends
Habs, Leafs, Sens and Oilers all thriving with new playmakers
The 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs are five days old, and already leading men and startling trends have emerged.
Who would have thought the perennial Stanley Cup contenders the Chicago Blackhawks would lose twice at home and fail to score a single goal on Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne?
How about Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan getting the better of his mentor and Columbus Blue Jackets counterpart John Tortorella with the Penguins leading their series 3-0?
Of the first 20 post-season games, 13 were decided by one goal. The road team has gone 11-9. There have been five shutouts and seven games required overtime.
After each of the five Canadian-based NHL teams lost their openers, the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers have rebounded for 2-1 series leads. The Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs have tied their series 1-1, while the Calgary Flames continue to struggle at the home rink of the Anaheim Ducks and are down 2-0.
Here are five facts we have learned in the first five days of the playoffs:
1. Bruce Boudreau on the brink — again
Boudreau's Minnesota Wild has run into a hot goaltender in Jake Allen of the St. Louis Blues. Allen has stopped 114 of 117 shots for an incredible .974 save percentage in three wins, putting the Wild on the verge of elimination.
Boudreau has eight division titles in his nine full seasons as an NHL coach with the Washington Capitals, Ducks and Wild. But he has only advanced past the second round once and is headed for his fifth, first-round exit.
2. Regular season not required
Toronto waited until the final couple of weeks in the regular season to promote Kasperi Kapanen, and he scored the overtime winner in his second Stanley Cup playoff game. His dad, Sami, played in 87 post-season games and never had the thrill of scoring an OT winner.
Senators veteran left wing Clarke MacArthur had been out of action because of a concussion from Oct. 14, 2015, until April 4, 2017. In his second playoff game this spring, MacArthur scored in the first period on the power play. It was first goal since April 19, 2015, in the third game of the Senators' six-game loss to the Canadiens.
3. Radulov rocks for Habs
On a similar theme, it has been five years since Montreal's Alex Radulov has performed in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and we all remember how that went. He missed curfew with the Predators, and as a result, was banished to the press box for two games.
He started slowly with the Habs in this playoff run, but sure made up for lost time with a pair of game winners and a few terrific defensive plays that have put his Canadiens up 2-1 on the New York Rangers.
4. Kassian, Talbot in roles of Pisani, Roloson
Even though Cam Talbot's Stanley Cup playoff experience consisted of 46 minutes and 19 seconds of mop-up duty for the Rangers in 2014, there were high expectations for the Oilers goalie after his club-record 42-win regular season. He made 41 saves in a series-opening overtime loss, but responded with 39 straight saves in back-to-back shutouts.
Talbot's play has been reminiscent of the type of goaltending Dwayne Roloson provided in the 2006 Oilers run before he was hurt in the Stanley Cup final.
Meanwhile, Zack Kassian, who experienced one meaningless victory in nine playoff games with the Vancouver Canucks in 2012 and 2013, has been brilliant with two game winners and strong penalty killing for Edmonton. He had no game winners in 79 regular-season games.
Could Kassian's playoff emergence continue into something like the unexpected goal-scoring spree from Fernando Pisani in the 2006 playoffs for Edmonton? He scored 14 goals, including five game winners, in the Oilers 24-game run after scoring 18 in 80 regular season games.
5. Disneyland no fun for Flames
If the Flames mount a comeback and beat the Ducks in the first round, don't expect captain Mark Giordano or any other Calgary player to utter the "I'm going to Disneyland" phrase that has become a popular line for Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks.
The Flames now have lost 29 in a row at the Honda Centre, which sits a few blocks away from Disneyland, dating back to Game 3 of the first round of the 2006 playoffs on April 25, 2006. That's 22 regular-season outings and seven post-season games.
The streak of futility hit an agonizing low in Game 2 on Saturday when the Flames had a second-period goal disallowed because of goaltender interference. Then, late in the third period, Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf scored a fluky game winner on the power play, when his attempted pass deflected off Flames forward Lance Bouma's skate and into the net for the deciding goal.
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