Blackhawks Charge Into Conference Finals

At long last, someone has broken through. In dramatic, captivating and breathtaking fashion, the Chicago Blackhawks are the NHL's first team to advance to the conference finals.

They did so by penetrating Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo for seven goals last night in a 7-5 Game 6 win, securing their conference finals berth in front of over 22,000 fans at the United Center.

Remarkably, this game outshone the one that preceded it--Game 6 of the Pittsburgh-Washington series, in which the Capitals forced a deciding Game 7 with a 5-4 overtime win in Mellon Arena.

But, back to the Blackhawks. The hometown 'Hawks received a sterling hat trick from winger Patrick Kane, and his third goal was a dandy. He went inside-out on defenseman Shane O'Brien, then pitchforked a backhanded shot past Luongo to the far post, putting Chicago up 7-5 with under four minutes to play.

It was bedlum in the United Center.

Many people doubted the Blackhawks, primarily for their abundance of youth and questionable goaltending situation heading into the playoffs. But upon coming back from injury, Nikolai Khabibulin took over the net from a struggling Cristobal Huet and has lifted the Hawks within four victories of a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Yet it has been the Hawks youth that has been the catalyst to their dominant performance. Kris Versteeg, Adam Burish and Jonathan Toews also scored for Chicago last night, and other young players such as Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Seabrook, Dave Bolland and Cam Barker have been outstanding thus far in their team's deep playoff push. Their top defensive pairing of Duncan Keith and Seabrook has been matched up against the opposition's top players night in and night out, and did a wonderful job against Vancouver's twin killing, Henrik and Daniel Sedin.

Now, they play the waiting game. Game 6 between the Ducks and Red Wings takes place tonight in Anaheim, and the Ducks must win to keep their season alive. The last time these two met in Southern California, the Red Wings dropped six goals and coasted to a series-tying win. If Detroit prevails, the Blackhawks will meet their Central Division rivals for the Western Conference crown. Should the series extend the Game 7, it's just more rest for the battle-weary Blackhawks.

-On tap for tonight....

-Carolina and Boston tangle in Raleigh for Game 6, and the Hurricanes can pull the daddy of all upsets with a win. A Bruins victory would send the series back to Boston for Game 7 this weekend.

-Detroit and Anaheim meet for Game 6 in California. The hard-checking, fast-paced series spills over to SoCal, and the Ducks need to win or else tee times will be made in short order.

Picture Slideshow: The Stanley Cup Playoffs

Photo Credits (via Creative Commons & Flickr):

clydeorama, AxsDeny, Ayres no graces, steveleenow, phillenium1979, Falling Heavens, justin henry

Thanks!

Penguins Fan Levies Death Threat on Ovechkin

Contrary to what it may seem, this is not an Alex Ovechkin-exclusive blog.

But when things seem to unravel one after the other, the information is worth bearing.

Just before the Capitals dispatched the Penguins in Game 2, a 17-year old from suburban Pittsburgh posted a death threat on a Penguins message board aimed at Ovechkin. Perfect timing, eh?

And now, once the news comes out (of all places, ESPN), the Penguins fan base takes a respectability hit--hours after they put on a gutsy performance winning Game 3 last night.

This from ESPN.com hockey analyst Scott Burnside:


ESPN.com
Archive

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh police and the NHL's security office have investigated a death threat made against Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin on a Pittsburgh Penguins fan message board

The post, reportedly written by a teenager from Chambersburg, Penn., said: "I'm killing Ovechkin and I don't care what happens to me."


The Penguins immediately informed local police, as well as the NHL and the Capitals.


"We were notified of the message and immediately turned over all information to the authorities," the Penguins said in a statement.


It is not known if criminal charges are pending, but officials don't believe Ovechkin was ever in any real danger. Ovechkin was aware of the threat, but did not comment when the incident was first reported by a local television station in Pittsburgh. The Capitals star has been escorted by police while in Pittsburgh for the Eastern Conference semifinals series, which Washington leads 2-1.


"We are aware of it. NHL security was contacted and worked with local law enforcement in handling the matter," NHL spokesman Frank Brown said Thursday.


"We became aware of an inappropriate comment on a message board and referred it to appropriate authorities," the Washington Capitals said in a statement. "We appreciate their diligence and have every confidence in our club's safety."


Ovechkin, the NHL's leading goal scorer, has five goals in the first three games of the NHL Eastern Conference semifinal series against Pittsburgh. He scored the game's first goal during Washington's 3-2 overtime loss in Game 3 on Wednesday night, hours after the threat was posted.

The Capitals and Penguins play Game 4 in Pittsburgh on Friday night. The series continues in Washington with Game 5 on Saturday night.

Scott Burnside is an NHL reporter for ESPN.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

OV Sings Along

In yet another chronicling of my undying love for Alex Ovechkin, check out this YouTube snippet.

After scoring his hat-trick goal late in Game 2, he takes part in the celebration song:




Great stuff as usual from the Great 8.

Does It Get Any Better?

Quite honestly, no.

Last night's Game 3 tussle between the Penguins and Capitals was not only dramatic hockey theater, but a gut-wrenching playoff game. The Pittsburgh fans had waited for two days to welcome their team back to Mellon Arena, after falling behind in the series two games to none.

Most of their frustration was pent up at Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin, who's seventh goal of the postseason put the dagger in Pittsburgh's comeback hopes late in Game 2. He has been a nearly unstoppable force for Washington so far in the playoffs, and not even the Penguins' top defensive pairing of Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi has been able to contain him.

Rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov, at the tender age of 21, has taken over the net for the Capitals and hasn't looked back. A gluttony of remarkable saves kept his team in the game early in last night's Game 3, and coupled with Ovechkin's quick tally in the first period, Washington went into the dressing room after the first period ahead 1-0.

The first goal seemed to unnerve the Penguins, who came out in the second period buzzing. They threw everything in Varlamov's direction, but the rookie sensation stood tall. Back-t0-back saves on Ruslan Fedotenko and Evgeni Malkin a goal-mouth sequence appeared to be deflating for Pittsburgh, but they built momentum with an odd-man rush from Fedotenko and Max Talbot. Fedotenko's second goal of the playoffs tied the game on a funny bounce off defenseman Milan Jurcina's skate, and Mellon Arena came to life.

But in the end, the story of Game 3 was the resurgence of center Evgeni Malkin. Teammate Sidney Crosby has done most of the goal scoring for Pittsburgh in the playoffs, and Malkin has endured criticism in the media for his disappearance in the current series. Until last night, it had been a battle of Crosby vs. Ovechkin, something the league is reveling in.

Malkin's power-play goal with just under five minutes remaining in the third period sent a charge through The Igloo, but the Capitals, who had led for most of the first two periods, would not go away. Penguins winger Pascal Dupuis took an interference penalty with 2:38 left, and Nicklas Backstrom banked a rebound of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, sending the game to overtime.

In the overtime, the two teams exchanged scoring chances until midway through the period when the ice began to tilt. Malkin put on a stickhandling display and undressed the Capitals defense, leading to another scramble in front of Varlamov. The rookie repeled all the Penguins' chances until Kris Letang's shot from the blue line after a faceoff win.

The puck glanced off Capitals defenseman Shaone Morrisonn before it reached Varlamov, who had no chance to react to the shot. With the victory, the Penguins slowly climbed their way back into the series, now trailing 2-1. Game 4 is tomorrow night back in Pittsburgh, and the Capitals hold the cards.

A strong effort and win from the Capitals puts the Penguins on the brink of elimination, and the Caps could knock out the Pens in D.C. Sunday afternoon. If the home team holds serve again (as has been the case in the series), it's a tied series and all bets are off.

On tap tonight:

-Game 4: Vancouver at Chicago, 8 p.m. (VERSUS)--Can the Blackhawks even the series, or will the Canucks and Roberto Luongo head home to Vancouver with a chance to advance?

--Game 4: Detroit at Anaheim, 10:30 p.m. (VERSUS)--The Ducks have been the better team in this series as the 8th seed. Will the defending champions have a response after getting a quick whistle late in Game 3, or will the upstart water fowl put them on the plank?

PREDICTIONS:

1.) Chicago 4, Vancouver 2

2.) Detroit 3, Anaheim 2 (OT)

Photo Credit: clydeorama (Flickr.com, Creative Common)
http://search.creativecommons.org/#
Some rights reserved.

Inside Look: Light the Lamp

There are quite a few hockey blogs to browse, but some stand out. Whether they stand out for content or appearance, their effectiveness keep you coming back.

Light the Lamp is one of them.

The owner of the site is a die-hard Columbus Blue Jackets fan, and he updates up to three times per day. And it's not just Blue Jackets-related content, either. Light the Lamp discusses a wide array of hockey topics, and "LTL" (as he's known on the site) always injects his opinion.

By the way, his opinion is pretty damn strong, and pretty damn convincing.

Light the Lamp has all the elements of a successful independent blog. The header is attractive and eye-catching with a snappy logo. The content is listed in chronological order and each post enables comments and feedback using a Blogger ID or an e-mail address. LTL has quite the following, and people respond to what he has to say.

He makes use of many multimedia elements, as well. There are visual links to YouTube and Vimeo videos and enables a new poll every week. LTL also has his site's official Twitter feed uploaded to the sidebar, where he advertises for the R Bar (a popular Columbus hockey bar) and the Jacket Backers--the official fan/booster club of the Blue Jackets.

What is most interesting about LTL is his passion for the sport and the Blue Jackets. In each of his posts, the reader is easily engaged because his language is exciting and the content is appealing to hockey fans.

The site also features a lot of fan-submitted photos that LTL displays regularly. It is another avenue through which fans can express their opinions and interact with the site owner, which makes people more apt to visit the blog. Coupled with his own submitted pictures, it makes for an interesting dynamic that goes beyond typical blog posts and comments.

And if fans get itchy for the next Blue Jackets game or team-related event, LTL has a prominent "countdown banner" at the top of the home page, directly beneath the logo. The countdown is up-to-the-second, so if you can't wait until the puck drops again, just watch it tick away.

Once the hometown Blue Jackets were eliminated from the playoffs last week, LTL began analyzing the rest of the playoff matchups. They are fairly popular among his readers and the information he provides on each team is exceptional. It is clear that LTL is a knowledgeable hockey fan, and he gets the point across concisely.

In summary, Light the Lamp is one of the best hockey blogs on the Web. Few blogs can efficiently encapsulate the many elements of popular Web sites, but LTL comes awfully close. The videos are pertinent and timely, the comments provide constructive feedback and opinion, and the content he submits is top-notch.


OVERALL SITE GRADE: A

The Next Step

Two weeks have passed, and the Stanley Cup Playoffs have reached the second round. Eight teams are done, and eight remain in their journey toward sports' ultimate prize.

So, what did we learn from round one?

The Columbus Blue Jackets, hockey's lone remaining playoff virgins, were eliminated in four games by the defending champion Detroit Red Wings. We learned in this series that the once-beatable Red Wings have hit the extra gear, and are now firing on all cylinders going into round two against the Anaheim Ducks. The Blue Jackets didn't go down without a fight--game 4 in Columbus was one of the most exciting and enthralling playoff games in recent memory. Columbus rallied twice from two-goal deficits pull even at 5-5 heading into the third period.



Goaltenders Steve Mason (Columbus) and Chris Osgood (Detroit) were stellar in the final frame, and an unfortunate mishap doomed the Blue Jackets. They were called for too many men on the ice with 1:36 left in the game, sending the Red Wings' league-best power play on the job. Johan Franzen scored with 46 seconds left, and the Wings advanced.

We also learned that the Vancouver Canucks are in top form, sending the St. Louis Blues off in four games. They draw the feisty Chicago Blackhawks next, and will no doubt have their hands full.

Finally, we learned that breezing through the regular season is NOT the formula for success in the playoffs. The San Jose Sharks, winners of the President's Trophy for the league's best record, were ousted in six games by in-state rivals Anaheim. In the process, their potent offense looked pedestrian and All-Star goalie Evgeni Nabokov looked human.

The NHL gets what it has been waiting for--Sidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin in round two. The high-flying Penguins and loose cannon Capitals will meet in the second round, marking the first time Crosby and Ovechkin have gone head-to-head in a playoff series.

It should be a dandy.