NHL Match Roundup for Friday March.18.2011 Part 2
Moving on to the remaining matches that were played on Friday, it’s a totally different situation than from which was discussed in the first part of the day’s roundup.
Two of the biggest teams from both conferences faced defeat by their inferiors, which is just a reminder to the fans and analysts that you can never be sure about what’s going to happen, based purely on stats and past record.
Phoenix Coyotes vs. Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver was blown away by the speeding Coyotes who chewed away Canucks, without them even noticing.
Coyotes extended their winning streak to five in a row while defeating Canucks by 3-1 and ending their perfect four-game road trip at the sold-out Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Both teams remained shutout throughout the first period, as Jason LaBarbera played goalie amazingly well for Phoenix which was expected to be rusty start for him, not having played more than three games in two months.
He surprised everyone by blocking 46 of his former team’s attempts.
Canucks’ goalie, Roberto Luongo, looked overworked, only saving 26 of 28 shots on net.
Radim Vrbata scored the inaugural goal of the night more than halfway past the final.
He assisted his captain, Shane Doan, on a second, a little over a minute later.
Both scored their 18th of the season.
Christian Ehrhoff washed away LaBarbera’s near hope of a shutout by rebounding Mikael Samuelsson’s shot with less than three minutes remaining.
The 18,000 plus crowd was on the edge of their seats as the period headed into its final moments, they wished for another Vancouver goal to at least force it into OT and give them another chance.
Lee Stempniak insured the match for Phoenix, off Eric Belanger’s second assist on an empty net, erasing all hopes of a recovery.
Just six days ago Phoenix was in an uncertain playoff position, but returns home stronger than ever, knowing that even the leaders of the league can’t hold them down they’ll enter their second playoffs in a row with utter confidence.
"It was a great trip," Coach Dave Tippett said. "I give our guys a ton of credit. They battled hard every game."
Vancouver remains on top with 103 points; they’ve already clinched a divisional and playoff spot so their secure until the playoffs come.
They are missing some key players including Manny Malhotra who is out with an eye injury after being struck by the puck there. He went though surgery on Thursday and the Canucks hope for a fast recovery in time for the postseason.
Montreal Canadiens vs. New York Rangers
Not having made the playoffs for two straight years now, New York showed the world what they should expect this postseason, as they recorded their highest scoring first period in 11 years, beating the Canadiens by 6-3 at the sold-out Madison Square Garden
in New York, New York.
"You can't rest for a second," Rangers right wing Ryan Callahan said. "Our emphasis in here is to look ahead. This was an important game. We can't have a let up here. We have to keep going."
Artem Anisimov shot the opening goal for Rangers, 5:28 in the first.
P.K. Subban got the large number of Montreal fans present in the stadium excited when he tied the match within two minutes.
Then it was all New York from there, they scored four more within eight minutes to end the period by a major 5-1 deficit.
Carey Price who is otherwise an amazing goaltender for Montreal was pulled out after Dan Girardi, Ryan Callahan, Marian Gaborik and Brian Boyle made those consecutive four shots, with two minutes remaining in the first.
Montreal’s coach, Jacques Martin, sent a besieged Price to the benches after he was able to block only seven of 12 attempts.
James Wisniewski and Brian Gionta were able to slightly narrow the shortfall to two after getting one in the second and final period.
Vaclav Prospal fired his fifth of the season through Price’s replacement, Alex Auld, in the final minutes of the third after he had been able to hold Rangers for some time.
The Rangers got back at Canadiens real good after falling to them three times this season and being able to score only three goals in those meetings.
New York improved its winning streak to three straight, sitting strong in the Eastern Conference at seventh position but they’re still behind Montreal with 80 points. They fly to Pittsburgh on Sunday to face the fourth place Penguins.
Montreal realises that they have many problems in their way right now, a lot of players are out with various injuries and that team chemistry they had all season seems to have vanished.
It’s not likely that they’ll be kicked out of the playoffs this season, not at all in fact, but they could face a tough time come postseason playoffs. Montreal faces Minnesota Wild on Sunday in Minnesota.
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