NHL playoffs: Rookies come up big for Rangers, Senators
Best game: New York Rangers, 2, Pittsburgh 1 (OT). All four games in this series have been decided by one goal. With Henrik Lundqvist in net and one of the best blue lines in the NHL in front of him, the Rangers are clearly comfortable in those situations. The Penguins scored first for the first time in the series and pretty much dominated the opening 20 minutes, but the Rangers hung around, the Penguins couldn't pad their lead, Derick Brassard got the equalizer late in the second period and Kevin Hayes eventually won it in overtime with persistence on a loose puck that goalie Marc-Andre Fleury could not corral while sprawled on the ice. New York leads the series 3-1 heading back to Madison Square Garden. Pittsburgh had a 3-1 lead on New York in the second round of last year's playoffs before the Rangers limited the Penguins to three goals over the final three games to rally, winning two of the final three games on the road. The Penguins will have to do the same. "We should be loose and going after it," Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby told NHL.com. "You don't want to be tentative in games like that. You've got to leave it all out there. That's really the only thing you can do: Go out there, be desperate and get it back here."
Best stat: 6. Pittsburgh has lost six straight playoff overtime games after Wednesday's 2-1 loss to the Rangers — the third 2-1 New York win in this series.
Best at being worst: Devan Dubnyk, G, Minnesota. When's the last time you could say that? OK, that would be last season when he was shuttling between four teams, including two AHL clubs, but Dubnyk has been a rock since coming over to the Wild from Arizona on Jan. 15. If it weren't for Montreal's Carey Price, he'd be the top goalie in the running for the Hart Trophy as MVP. On Wednesday, he was anything but as St. Louis drew even in its Western Conference quarterfinal series. Dubnyk allowed six goals on the 17 shots he faced before being pulled. We'll chalk this one up to an off night; one that can be excused given Dubnyk's importance to his team's second-half surge. Even so — and even acknowledging that it's a small sample size — Dubnyk's goals against average is 3.06 and his save percentage is .864 in this series. Do that in the playoffs and all you'll have to show is a small sample size.
Best visual: Emerson Etem's end-to-end rush. For every punch the Winnipeg Jets threw at Anaheim in this series, the Ducks always found a counter. A minute and 26 seconds after Bryan Little gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead (what's new?), Etem produced the goal of the night. Taking a pass deep in his own end, Etem picked up steam through the neutral zone, put a sick move on Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba and somehow flipped a backhand over goalie Ondrej Pavelec just before defenseman Ben Chiarot could slide across to break up the play. On a side note, watch how lazily Jets wing Adam Lowry back checks on the play, offering only a weak reach of the stick. (Refresh if below video in the Twitter post doesn't appear.)
Top goal of the night? TOP GOAL OF THE NIGHT! Wow Emerson Etem. #LetsGoDucks https://t.co/Oya3XsiseE
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) April 23, 2015
Best show of character: Ottawa. This series is over. Everyone knows it. Everyone, that is, except the Ottawa Senators. This is the same team that was 14 points out of a playoff spot in early February before a miraculous run. So what's a 3-0 series deficit by comparison? Rookie Mike Hoffman beat Canadiens goalie Carey Price with a wrist shot in the third period and Senators goalie Craig Anderson stopped all 28 shots he faced as Ottawa topped Montreal 1-0 to stay alive in its first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Best rookie performance: tie, Kevin Hayes, RW, New York Rangers and Mike Hoffman, LW, Ottawa. Hayes' first career playoff goal was the game-winner in overtime that gave New York a 3-1 lead over Pittsburgh heading back to Madison Square Garden. Hoffman's first career playoff goal was the game-winner at 9:05 of the third period, helping Ottawa stave off elimination with a win over the Canadiens.
Mike Hoffman: Game Winning Goal. #MTLvsOTT #StanleyCup https://t.co/02dxwhPlrx
— NHL (@NHL) April 23, 2015
Best show of class: Winnipeg fans. In the waning minutes of Game 4 at MTS Centre, with their team about to be swept out of the first playoff series the city has seen in 19 years, fans started chanting, "Go, Jets, go," in unison. When the final horn sounded on Anaheim's 5-2 win, the fans cheered as if they had won. Well played, Winnipeg. Well played.
Best quote, via the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: "We went from feeling awesome about ourselves, feeling like we can't be beat and we get a little dose of reality; a little slap in face," Minnesota forward Zach Parise after the Blues blew out the Wild 6-1 at Xcel Energy Center to even the series at 2-2.
Best thing to look forward to Thursday: Close out games. The Blackhawks can finish off the Predators and the Flames can finish of the Canucks, but both teams will have to do it on the road in Game 5. Chicago goalie Scott Darling has allowed four goals in just less than 12 periods of play for a 1.05 goals against average and a .969 save percentage. Blackhawks wing Marian Hossa leads all NHL forwards with five assists in the playoffs. Calgary hasn't won a playoff series since 2004, but is 4-2 all time in playoff series against Vancouver.
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