NHL playoffs: Johnson produces late goals for Lightning
Best game: Vancouver 2, Calgary 1. We know what you're thinking. How can Tampa Bay's rally not be the best game? Well, for about 55 minutes, it was actually a pretty dull game. The Canucks and Flames never suffered that fate. David Jones gave Calgary an early 1-0 lead, but the Canucks just kept coming, firing 43 shots at Flames goalie Jonas Hiller. Radim Vrbata got the rally started with a perfect feed from behind the net to Nick Bonino, who beat Hiller with a laser off the inside of the far post in the second period. Daniel Sedin won it when he jammed in a rebound of Dan Hamhuis' centering pass 1:47 into the third period as the Canucks pulled within 3-2 in the series, with Game 6 scheduled for Saturday in Calgary. "We didn't think we were going to go away quietly," Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa told the Vancouver Metro.
Best at being worst, Darren Helm and Pavel Datsyuk, F's, Detroit. It's not often that you see a minus-3 next to Datsyuk's and Helm's names. Datsyuk finished a team-high plus-12 during the regular season and won three straight Selke trophies from 2008 to 2010 as the NHL's best defensive forward. Helm finished fourth on the Red Wings at plus-7 this season, but both players were caught napping on Tampa's goals. Helm got beat by Johnson down the left wing on Tampa's first goal, Datsyuk lost Palat coming through the slot on the game-tying goal and both players got caught deep in the Tampa zone in overtime, leading to a 3-on-1 rush on the Lightning's game-winning goal.
Best visual: How is this slash not a slash? It's not the first blatant penalty that officials have missed in this postseason, but Vancouver forward Brad Richardson's slash on Calgary center Joe Colborne was so obvious it begs the question: How did officials miss it? Colborne went to the locker room but returned. That doesn't mean he's OK. These are the playoffs. Regardless, it was a reckless play by Richardson that warranted punishment.
Best forward line: Marcus Johansson, Evgeny Kuznetzov, Jason Chimera, Washington. The Capitals got all kinds of secondary scoring in Game 5 against the Islanders, and it came from their second line. Johansson, Kuznetzov and Chimera accounted for three goals, seven points and nine hits in a convincing 5-1 win over New York. Washington appears to be getting stronger as this series progresses.
Richardson slash on Colborne pic.twitter.com/Uv34ql2pMx
— Stephanie Vail (@myregularface) April 24, 2015
Best dilemma: Joel Quenneville, coach, Chicago. Scott Darling had been the, er, darling of this postseason — a goalie who bounced around the low minor leagues before rising to NHL playoff stardom. Darling's magic evaporated in a 2:27 span of the third period of Game 5, however, when Nashville scored three times to post its second rout of the Blackhawks in a series it still trails 3-2. So what does Quenneville do now in Game 6 — a game he has to have? Does he go back to Corey Crawford, who got lit up for nine goals in four periods in games 1 and 2, but was arguably the Blackhawks' best player down the stretch of the regular season? Does he stick with Darling, who had been masterful before Thursday, but has little else on his resume to suggest he can carry a playoff team? Tough call.
Best frenetic stretch: Chicago and Nashville. The Blackhawks-Predators series has been a high-paced marketing tool for the NHL this postseason. The first period of Game 5 took that to new heights. Nashville and Chicago went end to end for more than 10 minutes without a whistle and there were only 10 faceoffs the entire period, including the opening draw. If only all playoff hockey could look like this.
Best quote, via NHL.com: "As soon as we got that first one, we grew a couple inches on the bench." — Lightning coach Jon Cooper on the team's rally from a 2-0, late third-period deficit to a 3-2, overtime win.
Best thing to look forward to Friday: Minnesota at St. Louis, Game 5. As we noted when this series began, both of these teams are good enough to win the Stanley Cup; one will be out in the first round. If you believe in the pivotal and critical nature of Game 5's, this is must-see TV. Will St. Louis be able to impose its physical presence on the Wild as it did in a Game 4 rout? Will the Wild get back to the speed game that carried them to wins in games 1 and 3? Has Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk's mojo run out as he regresses to his mean? Can the Blues take a critical step toward winning just their second playoff series in 12 seasons? All shall be revealed.
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