Goaltending On Fire

Vol III., No. 2 - Friday April 20.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have their backs to the wall, on the verge of elimination. They are battling to preserve their hockey season. Philadelphia is only two goals away from moving on.  It's the third period of Game#5 and the Pens have a slight edge, leading 3 - 2.

Trouble is, their defense is letting Philly back in the game. The Pens stopper is Marc-Andre Fleury. He was not exactly stellar in the first games of the series.  The Pens allowed 23 goals and Fleury's goals against average was 6.34 - a stat that does not belong in the NHL.

Pittsburgh are still alive because of a lopsided victory two nights ago, scoring 10 goals in one game against two Flyer goaltenders. Goaltending for both teams has not been strong in this series.

So, can the Pens stop their attackers tonight?

After two periods, only two goals had been allowed. Then came Period Three and a Philadelphia power play.  In two minutes, Fleury stopped seven shots. Danny Briere will remember being denied for a long time. Marc-Andre Fleury is on fire. 14 third period saves. Nothing has gotten past him.

There is one minute left to play. Bryzgalov is on the Flyers bench and Philly has an extra skater.  Can the Penguins survive another one minute of "one man down"?  Will Fleury keep the stone wall up?  Let's count those 60 seconds, and the answer is...

Yes! 24 saves on 26 shots.  This is not the same man from the first three games. After allowing 17 goals in three losses, Marc-Andre Fleury turned it around this evening. The Penguins are alive and the series returns to Philadelphia for a Game 6. The fat lady has not yet sung. Except for Detroit.

The Wings were in Nashville, down three games to one. Seems like the Predators had the force in this series. They won the fifth game; it is the second playoff series win in franchise history. Meanwhile Detroit gets to go back to Hockeytown and play golf. The first quarterfinal series is decided, and the Preds advance to the semi-finals. 

And how did the Predators do it? Pekka Rina, goaltender.  He stopped 102 shots in the series. GAA of 1.81 and save percentage of 0.944 - goaltending that gets teams through the playoffs. The fat lady is in the Grand Ole Opry and she is belting it out in Nashville tonight.

Happy New Year

Vol. III, No. 1

It has been over a year since the last post to this blog. Blame long term writer's cramp or the stars.

The 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs are one year back.  The Boston Bruins, after a 39 year drought, captured Lord Stanley. The Beantown hockey team has reigned for a year. But playoff hockey is back again. The second season is again in full swing. The Bruins are now defending the Cup.

It's only the quarterfinals, with 16 teams competing for Lord Stanley's cup. Surprises always pop out.

The war in Pennsylvania (Penguins vs. Flyers) has the Philadelphia underdog up by 3-1, even though they were spanked by Pittsburgh 10-3 on Tuesday night. Wells Fargo Center emptied out after the second period. Philly fans gave up on a team that gave up 6 unanswered goals.

A bit further east, Newark's goaltender was pulled for the first time in six years on Monday night. Two nights later, he blanked every shot and contributed an assist.  It was his 24th career playoff shutout, a new NHL record. The series is now tied 2-2, thanks to Martin Brodeur, #30.

Or maybe thanks to Peter DeBoer, the coach who pulled Marty on Monday night.  Go Peter.  Go Marty. Go Devils.