Saturday Hockey in May

Vol. I, No. 71

The Habs are finished. Almost. With today's third shutout in four games, Montreal's prospects are flickering.  The law of averages has caught up with the #8 seed in the Eastern Conference.  Philly only needs one more win to advance to the final round and a chance to dance with Lord Stanley's Cup.

The 3-0 Flyers win today had one big difference from the past three games. It's all in the numbers.  Montreal wins when it gets a lot of shots on net. In game three, the Canadiens threw 38 pucks at the Flyer net.  Five went in. Today, Philly only allowed 17 shots on goal. Goaltending stats tell the story.

In this series, Flyer netminders have faced 143 shots and made 138 saves. That's a save% of 0.965. At that stonewall level, if a defense can shut down the number of shots on goal, the number of goals allowed will be meager. The magic SOG number, to allow only one goal, is 18 shots. Games can be won, if you hold your opponent to one goal.

Today, Philly's defense did the job. The offense only needed two goals, and with the additional empty-netter at the end of the game, the Flyers emerged with the 3-0 score, and a commanding 3-0 series lead.

Can the Canadiens come up with a miracle and win three straight with two road games in Philly?  Anything is possible in hockey. The Flyers got into this series by winning four straight against Boston.  It looks like Philly has the magic now and is headed for a final series berth against Chicago. Unless the Sharks pull off another miracle on ice.

Two miracles in one year?  Doubtful. The Hawks and Flyers are getting close to a final series matchup.

Meanwhile, in Europe, Russia beat Germany 2-1 in the semi-final today, with a end of game goal by Pavel Datsyuk (he isn't needed by the Detroit Red Wings who are now on summer break).  The Czech Republic bested Sweden 3-2 in a shootout.  Russia and Sweden face each other on Sunday at 2:30pm for the World Championship (or maybe the 2nd one, after the 2010 Olympics).  It's complicated.

Tomorrow, the Canadian Junior Hockey championship will be decided later in the day. The Brandon Wheat Kings face the Windsor Spitfires at 7pm EDT. The winner earns the Memorial Cup.  It is a forerunner to the Stanley Cup in the bigger league.  The Memorial Cup has been awarded for 92 years. Tradition lives on in Canada.

Sunday will be a good day for hockey. Hockey Rules.