The First Round of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs is offically in the books. A very entertaning first round has come and gone, with 4 of the series requiring the full 7 games to complete, as ewll as 14 games having to be decided in Overtime. We are going to start with a recap of the Western Conference. First up was the 1 vs. 8 matchup out West as the Canucks took on the Defending Cup Champion Blackhawks.
Vancouver domintated the first 3 games of the series taking a comanding 3-0 lead. Scores were all in favor of the Canucks: 2-0, 3-2, and 4-3. It looked like this would be a clean sweep. Game 4 rolled around and the Hawks offense woke up, lighting up the Canucks 7-2. The offensive outburst kept coming in Game 5 as the Hawks won again this time by a 5-0 score. With Gmae 6 rolling around, Vancouver had a chance to put away the Champs but were unable to do so, as the Hawks came back to force Game 7 by winning in Overtime 4-3. However the miracle comback would fall just short. Had Chicago won Game 7 they would have become only the 4th team in NHL history to erase a 3-0 deficit to win a 7 game series. The other 3 teams were the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, the 1975 New York Islanders, and the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers. The Canukcs kept the Hawks out of the history books, thanks to a goal by Alex Burrows in Overtime, giving the Canucks a 2-1 win in the game and a series win in 7.
Next up was the 2-7 and the only divisional matchup in the West as San Jose took on Los Angles. The battle of California was something to watch. The Sharks took the series in 6 games, with 3 of the wins coming in Overtime. Game 1 went to OT as Joe Pavelski proved to be the hero in the 3-2 victory. Game 2 was the only shutout of the series as the Kings won 4-0. Game 3 would again go to Overtime, with the Sharks taking the game 6-5 thanks to Devin Setoguchi. The thing with game 3 was the Kings had a 4-0 lead half way through the game. Moving on to game 4 San Jose took this in regulation 6-3. Game 5 went to the Kings by a 3-1 score. The dagger went into the heart of the Kings in Game 6 as this would again go to overtime. San Jose ended the series in game 6 thanks to Joe Thorton.
Now we look at the 3-6 Matchup, which was a rematch of last year, with Detroit knocking off Phoenix in 4 straight games. Detroit dominated the entire series, winning their games 4-2, 3-2, 4-2, and 6-3. This was a different series then we saw from last season, as last year Phoenix was able to push the series to 7 games. Despite Detroit being the older hockey club, they had more playoff experience and were able to roll to the series win.
Finally its the 4-5 matchup out West as the shock of the round the Nashville Predators win their first playoff series in franchise history beating the Anaheim Ducks in 6 games. Nashville took Game 1 by a 4-1 score. The Ducks respond in game 2 with a 5-3 win. Nashville responded with a 4-3 win in Game 3. Game 4 went to the Ducks 6-3. The only OT game in the series was in Game 5 and Nashville won 4-3 thanks to Shea Weber. The highlight was the sick goal scored by Bobby Ryan. Nashville ended the series in Game 6 with a 4-2 win on home ice.
Now that the West has been discussed lets switch over to the East and the 1-8 Matchup as the Washington Capitals took down the New York Rangers in 6. Game 1 went into overtime tied at 1. Then a few minutes in Alexander Semin sent the Washington fans home happy after a trunover by Mark Stall to give the Caps the Victory. Game 2 again went to the Capitals this time a 2-0 shutout on home ice. Game 3 the scene shifted to MSG and produced the lone Ranger win of the series as the Blueshirts won 3-2. Game 4 was a thriller as it went into double overtime before Jason Chimera won it for the Capitals 4-3. Washington put the series away in Game 5 thanks to a 3-1 victory on home ice. Now some critics I talked to said the Rangers chocked in this series. That didn't exactly happen the Rangers just never showed up. Washington was just the better team.
The 2-7 Matchup in the East was a fun to watch 7 Game series with the Flyers taking it from the Sabres. Game 1 went to the Sabres 1-0 as Ryan Miller pitched the shutout and Patrick Kaleta scored the lone goal. Philadelphia would respond in Game 2 with a 5-4 victory in one of the most physical games of the series. Game 3 the series moved back to Buffalo, and the Flyers walked away with the 4-2 victory. Game 4 Buffalo responded with another 1-0 victory. Ryan Miller got the shutout and Jason Pominville scored the lone goal. The next 2 games went to overtime. Game 5 went in Buffalo's favor with a 4-3 victory. The Sabres blew a 3-0 lead in regulation before Tyler Ennis wonit in OT with his 2nd of the Game, Game 6 was Buffalo's chance to win the series but they squandered a lead late in the game and Ville Leino won it for Philly forcing Game 7. In said Game 7 the Sabres just didn't show up and the Flyers rolled 5-2 to win the series.
The 3-6 Matchup was the lone divisional matchup in the playoffs as Boston knocked off Montreal in 7. Montreal took the first 2 games of the Series by 2-0 and 3-2 scores. When the series shifted to Boston, the Bruins woke up responding first in Game 3 with a 4-2 win. Then Game 4 would go to Overtime when Michael Ryder stuck it to his old ream for a 5-4 win. Game 5 would go to Double Overtime before Nathan Horton gave the Bruins a 2-1 victory. Montreal had to come back in Game 6 with the win and they did, defeating the Bruins 2-1. Game 7 was in Boston, and the Bruins had a lead but blew it as Montreal forced overtime. After about 5 minutes of OT, Nathan Horton struck again to score his 2nd OT winner in the series, and send the Boston Bruins on to Round 2.
The final matchup was the 4-5 in the East, another 7 game series, between Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh. The Penguins had to fight through this series without the services of Sidney Crsoby, Geno Malkin, and Matt Cooke. Game 1 went to Pittsburgh 3-0 thanks to a strong showing from Alexi Kovalev. Game 2 was all Tampa Bay as the Lightning rolled to a 5-2 victory. Martin St Louis and Vinny Lecavalier had huge games. Games 3 and 4 of the series went to the Pens giving them a 3-1 series lead. Game 3 was a 3-2 Penguins victory. Game 4 had to go to double overtime, before the Pens won it 3-2 on a James Neal goal from a bad angle. Tampa Bay's offense exploded for an 8-3 victory. St Louis and Steve Stamkos had moster games, including the 1st 2 career playoff goals for Steve Stamkos. Game 6 again went to tampa by this time by a 4-2 score. Game 7 of the series was a nail bitter with the Lightning knocking off Pittsburgh by a 1-0 score. Dwayne Roloson got the shutout and Sean Bergenheim scoring the lone goal. This series was a wake up call for the Penguins, showing the holes they have in the lineup without Crosby and Malkin dressed.
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