The 2010 NHL Playoffs are a scant 6 days old–not even a week!–and yet what will probably be the craziest goal of the postseason has already been scored. For those of you who did not stay up to watch the Sharks / Avalanche game go into overtime, you need to see this video:
That’s right, kids...the San Jose Sharks somehow found a way to lose this game, despite firing 51 shots on net and limiting the Avalanche to a meager 17 shots. Sad that a defenseman as great as Dan Boyle would inadvertently knock the puck into his own net. (And for those of you who are too young to get all the “Steve Smith” references flying around, check out this video.)
Looking at the first round so far:
Pittsburgh / Ottawa – The Pens lead the series 2-1. So they won’t sweep, but no one doubts that they will win the series. Evgeni Malkin scored a pretty sweet goal yesterday, rushing end to end, dishing it to a teammate and then scoring on the rebound (video here).
New Jersey / Philadelphia – Yesterday, Dan Carcillo scored the winner in OT to give the Flyers a 2 games to 1 series lead. Flashes of brilliance like this is why I liked Carcillo as a player (past tense).
Washington / Montreal – Series tied 1-1. Another assumed sweep, the Canadiens surprised everyone to win Game 1, and almost had Game 2 in the bag before the Caps battled back to win it in OT–Nicklas Backstrom scored 3 goals, including the winner.
Buffalo / Boston – Another tied series (1-1). I have not watched much of this series, but predicted that the Bruins will win in 6 games. Having won Game 2 on the road, the Bs can pull of an upset.
San Jose / Colorado – Avalanche lead the series 2-1, thanks to Dan Boyle scoring in his own net.
Detroit / Phoenix – The “Desert Dogs” have a 2-1 series lead. But having the series lead doesn’t mean squat when it is against Detroit.
Chicago / Nashville – Don’t pay attention to Nashville wining the first game 4-1–the last 2 goals were empty-netters. In Game 2 last night, Antti Niemi and the Blackhawks shut out the Predators 2-0. Perhaps this will quell those critics who are anti-Antti Niemi.
Vancouver / Los Angeles – Series tied 1-1. This is shaping up to be an exciting series. Both games have been won by a score of 3-2, and both games have gone into overtime. You can’t get much closer than that.
Only six days old, and already we’ve seen lots of sudden-death overtime, a crazy fluke goal, a hat trick and a couple of shut outs. This is shaping up to be one hell of a postseason.
It's been a great playoffs so far. I hope it remains this competitive throughout.