Flames' refusal to flicker out vs. Ducks highlights Tuesday's best
Best game: Calgary 4, Anaheim 3 (OT). If you haven't fallen in love with the Calgary Flames by now, you must at least respect their indomitable spirit. Down two games to none, down a goal in Game 3 at home, and down on their puck luck after a controversial call went against them and negated the tying goal with less than seven minutes to play, the Flames could have rolled up the tents and called it a day on this carnival of a season. Anaheim will probably still win this series. The Ducks have been the better team, they still have a 2-1 series lead and they still have home-ice advantage in their favor. But Johnny Gaudreau's game-tying goal with 19.5 seconds left in regulation, followed by Mikael Backlund's OT winner from the high-slot, have once again filled the lungs of a team that just won't die. Friday's Game 4 in Calgary will be oozing with emotion.
Best stat line: Corey Perry, F, Anaheim. Perry is a one-man wrecking crew in this postseason. Through seven games he has six goals and 14 points. Yes, that's a two-points-per-game pace.
Best stat, Part II: The Blackhawks, 1-0 winners in Minnesota, are 29-0-0 when leading after two periods this season; the best mark (duh) in the NHL.
Best at being worst: Minnesota centers. The Wild won just 22 of 59 faceoffs (37 percent) in Game 3. This came at home where the visiting Blackhawks centers had to put their sticks down first in all zones, including the center-ice faceoff dot, giving Minnesota a distinct advantage. The crowning jewel of the Wild's faceoff ineptitude came when Mikko Koivu lost the 17th of his 28 faceoffs with seconds remaining, killing any chance the Wild had of tying the game.
Best visual: Frederik Andersen's save on Sam Bennett that may not have been a save. Late in the third period, Bennett took a feed from behind the net and curled a shot toward the far side of the Anaheim net that Andersen kicked out with his right pad. Or did he? After a review, officials ruled that video footage was inconclusive. Take a look at the photo below. That sure doesn't look inconclusive. You can see white between the puck and the goal line, but that angle can often be deceiving when the puck is in the air. So why not have more cameras to make all calls conclusive? Why not utilize better technology as Bruce Arthur suggests below? As much as missed calls are part of sports lore, we have the technology to limit them.
oh good god pic.twitter.com/y41hDgyNjX
— Stephanie Vail (@myregularface) May 6, 2015
GIF Harley reacts pic.twitter.com/vydp5d4phu
— Stephanie Vail (@myregularface) May 6, 2015
Best quote, via the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: "We know what we're up against. ... We came back from the dead once before this season." -- Minnesota coach Mike Yeo on the 3-0 series deficit his team is facing against the mighty Blackhawks.
Best job of playing possum: Patrick Kane, F, Chicago. Remember that broken left clavicle? Remember that seven-week layoff? Remember when Kane wasn't supposed to return until the conference finals -- if the slumping Blackhawks made it that far? Kane scored his sixth goal of the playoffs on Tuesday -- the only goal of the game and one off the NHL lead -- as Chicago moved within one victory of the Western Conference Final for the third straight season with a win over the Wild. Speaking of possum, it may be safe to say the playoff-experienced Blackhawks know how to flip the postseason switch?
Best hockey-god justice: Johnny Gaudreau, F, Calgary. Sportsnet's Chris Johnston dubbed him Johnny Justice after Gaudreau tied the game with 19.5 seconds left, and six minutes after the controversial no-goal call on Beau Bennett. It was the first point of the series for the Flames' top line. It couldn't have come at a better time.
Best bounce back: Corey Crawford, G, Chicago. Crawford was a hot mess in the Hawks' first-round series against Nashville, allowing nine goals on 47 shots for a waivers-worthy .850 save percentage over the first two games, a performance that led to Scott Darling replacing him. Crawford came back to pitch a shutout in the series-clinching Game 6, and so far in three games against Minnesota, Crawford has stopped 90 of 94 shots (.957 save percentage) and he posted his fourth career playoff shutout in St. Paul on Tuesday with a spectacular effort that included saves like those at the end of the clip below. Crawford has shut out the Wild the last 78 minutes and 40 seconds of this series.
Best thing to look forward to Wednesday: New York Rangers at Washington Capitals, Game 4. All the Rangers need is a win to push this series back to Madison Square Garden all square at two games apiece. One win, and the Rangers will have the comfort of playing two of the final three games at home. Problem is, New York has looked anything but comfortable against the bigger, more physical, built-for-the-playoffs Caps. Every game in this series has been a one-goal game but the scoring touch that led the Rangers to the third-most goals in the regular season has abandoned them in the postseason. Playing without Mats Zuccarello hasn't helped and the Rangers are still leading the NHL in goals against per game in the playoffs (1.62), but New York is averaging 1.88 goals per game -- tied for 14th out of 16 playoff teams.
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