Studs & Duds - Friday 5/11/13

[NoWayOut]

Studs


Zee night time is zee right time

The Wings came into last night's game with their season hanging in the balance. They were just a loss away from their second straight first round exit. As if that weren't enough, Captain Henrik Zetterberg hadn't scored a single goal in five playoff games. After being held without a single point in games three and four, Z came back with assists in game five. That proved to be a good portent of things to come. Zetterberg ended the goal scoring drought with a two goal(including the game winner in OT), one assist performance as the Wings pushed the Ducks into a winner-take-all game seven. Zetterberg also had a team high four shots.


Uncle Jemima

Sometimes it's justifiable to wonder if the Gods or laughing with you or at you. In the case of the Blues, it was most definitely the later. Their season was not only ended by the same team that sent them home early last year, but the God's chose one to deliver the blow was none other than the "Prince of Pancakes" Dustin Penner. The same man who's launched a thousand punchlines since being maimed by Aunt Jemima....or Bisquik....or both. While it was only his second goal, and point, of the playoffs, somehow it's strangely fitting that he's the one to score it. The fact that it was scored from such long range, 60 feet or so, and with just 0.2 seconds left in the second period after basically just flinging it on net. There can only be one proper place for the celebratory post-game meal, IHOP.


Winner winner, you owe Reimer dinner

On the brink of elimination from the team's first playoff appearance since Noah defeated Moses for Rookie-of-the-year honors, the Leafs James Reimer had his best game yet in the playoffs. Coming off back-to-back losses where he allowed four goals in each, Reimer turned in an epic 43 save performance en route to a 2-1 win that extended the Leafs season for one more game at least. So far in the first five games against Boston Reimer has faced no less than 37 shots in a game. In the two wins his stat line reads: 1.50 GAA and .964 Save Percentage, in the three losses, 3.73 and a respectable .902 given the bombardment he's had to withstand.




Duds



It's simple really...

You were beaten on a very routine shot from long distance, giving up what turned out to be the series clinching goal to Pancakes. And oh by the way, two goals allowed on just a mere 16 shots. Like I said, it's simple really, that's a dud performance.


Jonas Hiller

Needing just the one win to move on to round two, a sizeable chunk of the Ducks' fate rested on the shoulders of Jonas Hiller. In no surprise to those who have watched this series, and Hiller's stats throughout, you kind of saw this one coming. The pattern is plain as day. Hiller has a good game followed by a bad one. It's been W-L-W-L for him. Last night was four goals on 29 shots and a 4-3 loss. Now it's winner take all against the Wings, but the pattern says Hiller's due for a win. Will he be here in this section Sunday night, or will he move up to the Studs? This ought to be good.


Welcome to the (post-season) Jungle

Brendan's first taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs hasn't exactly been sweet. While his teammates were beating the Ducks to keep the season alive, the rookie, finished the night with goose eggs across the board save for his Plus/Minus...minus-2. The only player in the league to finish minus-2 or worse. And it wasn't just tonight. The game before that he had four PIM and a minus-1 to avoid all goose eggs. Yikes! Ok, let's be honest, in the long run he should be more than ok, but for now it's been a rude introduction to the world of NHL playoff hockey.



Deep thoughts from a shallow mind


Detroit 4 - Anaheim 3

- Pavel Datsyuk was...well...Datsyukian. He had one goal and two assists and 12 wins on 20 draws.
- Jimmy Howard earned his keep stopping 34 of the 37 Anaheim shots and picking up the win.
- Daniel Cleary had the other goal, while Abdelkader, Ericsson, Filppula, Kronwall, and Samuelsson all had an assist. Filppula also went 11-7 on faceoffs.
- It was deuces wild for Emerson Etem, as he had two points(1G,1A), two shots, two blocked shots, two hits, and a plus-2.
- Bobby Ryan and Kyle Palmieri had the other two tallies for Anaheim.
- Corey Perry and Francois Beauchemin each had an assist.


Toronto 2 - Boston 1

- The Leafs weren't in a helpful mood. Both Tyler Bozak and Clarke MacArthur's goal were unassisted. MacArthur's goal was the game winner and Bozak finished 7-17 on faceoffs.
- Matt Frattin and Dion Phaneuf were both in a mood to pound someone, or the beneficiaries of rather generous stat keepers. They finished the game with seven hits apiece.
- Milan Lucic wasn't going to be left out of the hit parade, getting credit for seven of his own.
- Tuukka Rask didn't get the win, but it wasn't for lack of effort. He had 31 saves on 33 shots in the loss.
- How generous were the statisticians in Boston? The final tally for hits was 46-39 in favor of Toronto. But that wasn't the highest total. That belongs to the next matchup....


Washington 2 - N.Y. Rangers 1

- Joel Ward and Mike Ribeiro had the markers for the Caps. Ribs goal came midway through the first OT period and he tossed in 19 faceoff wins.
- Alzner, Backstrom, Brouwer, and Johansson had the helpers for the Caps.
- Braden Holtby had 24 saves on 25 shots in the win and ended a two game losing streak.
- Brian Boyle picked up the Rangers lone goal a mere 53 seconds into the game.
- Henrik Lundqvist was vintage Lundy, making 33 saves, but once again suffered the loss for lack of "run support".
- As I mentioned before the Eastern Conference stat guys were feeling generous when it came to hits. Jason Chimera had seven to lead both teams, but all told, 11 Caps and eight Ranger

finished with three or more hits. The final tally: 53-43 Washington. Not much love to go around in the east.


Los Angeles 2 - St. Louis 1

- Drew Doughty had the Kings first goal, setting the stage for Pancakes to score the game winner.
- Colin Fraser, Dwight King, and Rob Scuderi added the assists.
- Jonathan Quick made 21 saves to notch the win.
- Chris Porter had the Blues lone score with assists from Backes and Polak.

[Shoeless]

Thoroughly enjoyed this - you are very creative my friend.

[hockeymanG23]

Entertaining write up dude. Poor Penner will have the pancake incident getting joked about for a long time to come