National Hockey League Match Roundup for Saturday 9 April – Part 1
Saturday was the last regulation day of the National Hockey League season and for most teams it was just a chance to say goodbye to this year and prepare for the next. There were a few clubs in the Western and Eastern Conference who still had to secure a
postseason spot and it was the day to do so.
Now that the season has ended, taking a look at the important games that took place on Saturday can give fans an insight into what they might expect in the quarter-finals of the playoffs which start on Wednesday.
New York Rangers vs. New Jersey Devils
Luckily for the Rangers, they secured a playoff position because of the Tampa Bay Lightning who eliminated the Carolina Hurricanes a few hours after they won against the New Jersey Devils. Had they lost to the Devils at the Madison Square Garden in New York,
the Rangers would have either been eliminated by Carolina if they won against Tampa Bay or a tiebreaker would have been brought into use.
"It is frustrating when you end up with 44 wins, and a team that may end up with 41 gets in and you don't," New York coach John Tortorella said talking about the chances of Carolina winning.
The 18,200 crowd was relieved only hours after New Jersey lost 5-2 prior to Carolina loss that this would not be the last time they see their team play.
New York captain Chris Drury returned to the line-up after more than two months due to a knee injury, which came to most as a surprise. He scored in between two New Jersey goals in the first period after Nick Palmieri who fired the inaugural goal a minute
earlier and before Ilya Kovalchuk who scored with under a minute remaining.
Wojtek Wolski made the tying goal within two minutes of the second period, Ryan McDonagh and Brandon Prust added two more nearly four minutes apart to end the period with a 4-2 lead.
The Rangers became the only team in the NHL this season to never lose after taking a second period lead bringing the total record to 29-0 after Vaclav Prospal scored the last goal to end the game in the final period.
New York starts their first game of the quarter-finals against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Carolina Hurricanes
It was Carolina’s last chance at tying the New York Rangers for eighth place in their season finale matchup against fifth place Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning had nothing to lose but still did New York a favour by defeating the Hurricanes 6-2 at the
RBC Centre in Raleigh, North Carolina.
After moving up in the ranks post All-Star Game, Carolina played hard but unluckily was not able to enter the elite group of eight in the Western Conference. If New York had lost against New Jersey on Saturday, the Hurricanes had a chance at eliminating
them from playoff contention for the second year straight.
Tampa Bay took control over the game early, Dominic Moore, Vincent Lecavalier and the National Hockey Leagues’ leading scorer Steven Stamkos scored in the first period to take a 3-0 lead.
Brett Clark scored midway through the second to extend the shutout 4-0 but Cory Stillman fired in Carolina’s first goal nearly three minutes later. Chad LaRose brought the deficit down within two goals reach to 4-2, but Simon Gagne and Martin St. Louis scored
nearly a minute apart on an empty net to bring the match back into their stronghold.
"You never know what can happen down the road if you keep a team alive," Steven Stamkos said about letting Carolina win. "I mean, you never know what happens if you [meet] them in the playoffs or something."
The Lightning will head to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to face the Penguins in their first quarter-final game of the playoffs.
To be continued in Part 2.
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