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It's been a tough postseason for the road teams, who have gone a collective 1-5 while scoring a total of 7 goals (3 of them San Jose). If that continues tonight we can expect wins for Montreal, Washington, St Louis and Anaheim again:
#7 Ottawa Senators at #2 Montreal Canadiens (Game 1)
7:00 Eastern, CBC, RDS, CNBC
Nothing new to report since yesterday, except to remind that these are a couple of the healthiest teams in the playoffs, which is kind of funny considering that Ottawa was basically Binghamton all year and the Habs employ Andrei Markov. But, Ottawa is only missing Jason Spezza, Montreal Alexei Emelin. The Bell Centre will be rockin so if you enjoy watching playoff games for the crowd atmosphere this one's your choice.
#6 New York Rangers at #3 Washington Capitals (Game 1)
7:30 Eastern, NBC Sports, TSN
Katie Strang had this to report about Tortorella:
"Don't give me any s--- about my relationship with Gabby, because it's wrong and unfair to both of us," Tortorella said, in response to a question about the trade deadline acquisitions and their acclimation to the team.
Tortorella, who kept his skates on and warned he wasn't going to stay long to answer questions, said he liked the chemistry those additions bring.
"I just thought it changed our team a little bit. I know you guys [the media] will turn it around and say that we didn't like Gabby and you guys talk about the relationship I had with him ... Gabby was a [heck] of a player. And we miss him in a lot of situations -- he almost helped the team get in. So, it isn't that way. We ended up getting three or four players that solidified our core."
WTF? As much as I personally dislike the Rangers and want to root for Good Ovie, Nick Backstrom, #Holtbeast, and old friend Matt Hendricks, on the other hand keeping New York alive keeps Torts doing press scrums. Decisions.
#5 Los Angeles Kings at #4 St. Louis Blues (Blues lead 1-0)
9:30 Eastern, CNBC, CBC
It was a warm evening in St. Louis. The tension was palpable as Game 1 was about to begin. Coach Ken Hitchcock was meeting beforehand with Alex Steen, who offered this strategy:
"Let's draw a penalty early and I'll score. Then Lil Tank will shut the door for just long enough to get the fans thinking we've won, only to give one up heartrendingly late. I know what you're thinking, but stay with me. Overtime. We'll take a penalty. Wait, it gets better: double minor. Four-minute kill in playoff overtime. Then Jonathan Quick will become so bored he simply hands me the puck for a wraparound. We win."
Hitchcock, who's played by Jason Bateman in this film, rubbed one of his many chins and said, "It's a bold strategy, Cotton, let's see if it works out for us." So that's what they did.
#7 detroit red wings at #2 Anaheim Ducks (Ducks lead 1-0)
10:00 Eastern, NBC Sports, TSN
Anaheim won game one 2 PPG + 1ENG to 1 PPG. The first team to score 5 on 5 may well win this series. There's just so much to like about Anaheim... good Koivu, old friend Dan Winnik, Teemu, Jonas Hiller is mega awesome, they're playing Amway's team...