Thursday, April 29, 2004
How sweep it is.
The Lightning swept Montreal tonight, 3-1, to advance to the Eastern Conference finals against Philly or Toronto. Brad Richards broke a 1-1 tie in the second with a nifty backhand over Jose Theodore, and the Lightning went into Operation Shutdown (apologies to Derek Bell) in the third period, stifling the Habs and icing it with Freddy Modin's empty-net goal in the final minute.
The real key to the game came during the first period and the early part of the second. Montreal completely dominated play in this time frame, yet only had a Nikolas Sundstrom goal to show for it, and that goal came when Dan Boyle lost his edge, and Joey Juneau picked up the loose puck and sent it over to a wide-open Sundstrom, who backhanded it past Khabibulin. But Habby was unbeatable after that, and after about 25-30 minutes when Montreal should have been up at least 3-0, the worm turned in the second when Montreal took a string of penalties, with the Lightning equalizing on the third power play in the series. Vinny Lecavalier's centering pass deflected off Boyle's skate past Theodore, and the air was let out of the Montreal balloon. That set the stage minutes later for the Richards winner, after Montreal's Jim Dowd turned over the puck at the Lightning blue line. Richards and Dmitri Afanasenkov came down on a two-man break, and their give-and-go left Richards alone in front of the net for the winner.
This is just an amazing moment for the Lightning and their fans. Like many others, I've followed this team from its inception, and although the playoff year of 95-96 was a nice interlude, the Bolts were Buc-like in their consistent misery year after year. But like the Bucs, they started doing the right things, and slowly built a championship contender. Rick Dudley and Jay Feaster have played the role of Rich McKay to the hilt, and John Tortorella has been Dungy and Gruden rolled into one. They're still only halfway to the Cup, but I like their chances against either Philly or Toronto. Although the cliche is true that you throw out the regular season records come playoff time, it was no accident that the Lightning swept the Flyers in four games this year, and they beat the Leafs twice late in the regular season as well, including a 7-2 thrashing in Toronto. Also working in the Bolts' favor is that this series is shaping up to be a 7-gamer, especially if Toronto can even things up tomorrow night. Meanwhile, just like the last round, the Lightning will be well-rested.
And looking ahead to a possible finals matchup, they dominated the Flames in Calgary 6-2 and outplayed Detroit in the Motor City in a 1-1 draw. Their only game against the Sharks came early in the season in Tampa, and that was a 2-2 tie. (And just in case Colorado pulls off the extremely rare 0-3 comeback, we'll note the Bolts shut them out 3-0 in Denver as well). So there's nothing the Lightning can't handle between them and the Cup, but they'll still have to keep working hard. Hockey in Tampa in May. I can't wait.
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The real key to the game came during the first period and the early part of the second. Montreal completely dominated play in this time frame, yet only had a Nikolas Sundstrom goal to show for it, and that goal came when Dan Boyle lost his edge, and Joey Juneau picked up the loose puck and sent it over to a wide-open Sundstrom, who backhanded it past Khabibulin. But Habby was unbeatable after that, and after about 25-30 minutes when Montreal should have been up at least 3-0, the worm turned in the second when Montreal took a string of penalties, with the Lightning equalizing on the third power play in the series. Vinny Lecavalier's centering pass deflected off Boyle's skate past Theodore, and the air was let out of the Montreal balloon. That set the stage minutes later for the Richards winner, after Montreal's Jim Dowd turned over the puck at the Lightning blue line. Richards and Dmitri Afanasenkov came down on a two-man break, and their give-and-go left Richards alone in front of the net for the winner.
This is just an amazing moment for the Lightning and their fans. Like many others, I've followed this team from its inception, and although the playoff year of 95-96 was a nice interlude, the Bolts were Buc-like in their consistent misery year after year. But like the Bucs, they started doing the right things, and slowly built a championship contender. Rick Dudley and Jay Feaster have played the role of Rich McKay to the hilt, and John Tortorella has been Dungy and Gruden rolled into one. They're still only halfway to the Cup, but I like their chances against either Philly or Toronto. Although the cliche is true that you throw out the regular season records come playoff time, it was no accident that the Lightning swept the Flyers in four games this year, and they beat the Leafs twice late in the regular season as well, including a 7-2 thrashing in Toronto. Also working in the Bolts' favor is that this series is shaping up to be a 7-gamer, especially if Toronto can even things up tomorrow night. Meanwhile, just like the last round, the Lightning will be well-rested.
And looking ahead to a possible finals matchup, they dominated the Flames in Calgary 6-2 and outplayed Detroit in the Motor City in a 1-1 draw. Their only game against the Sharks came early in the season in Tampa, and that was a 2-2 tie. (And just in case Colorado pulls off the extremely rare 0-3 comeback, we'll note the Bolts shut them out 3-0 in Denver as well). So there's nothing the Lightning can't handle between them and the Cup, but they'll still have to keep working hard. Hockey in Tampa in May. I can't wait.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
A Winning Hab-it.
Despite being outplayed for large stretches of the game, the Lightning have gone into Montreal and pulled out a 4-3 OT win over Les Habs, giving them a commanding 3-0 (is a 3-0 lead ever not commanding?) lead in the best-of-seven series.
Brad Richards banked in his own rebound off the skate of Jose Theodore less than 2 minutes into OT, an extra session forced by Vinny Lecavalier (him again) tipping home a Dave Andreychuk shot (more a throw at the net) with 14 seconds left. Cory Stillman scored on a shorthanded breakaway and Richards on a power play in the second to give the Bolts a 2-1 lead, but two Montreal goals in the last ten minutes of regulation gave them a short-lived 3-2 lead, their first of the series.
Montreal came out with the cheap shots again early, but they mostly succeeded in taking Lightning players with them to the box. At one point, with five Habs and four Bolts in their respective boxes, it looked like the crowds to come tomorrow in the waiting rooms of Montreal-area therapists. The Lightning remain perfect in Games 3 of playoff series; they are now 5-0.
Meanwhile, the winning goal was eerily reminiscent of the OT winner that closed out the Islander series, as in both cases, Freddy Modin won the puck along the side boards outside the Montreal blue line, and the puck came ahead to a player breaking in alone along the left wing. Last time it was St. Louis, who immediately hit a scorcher for the goal; this time, it was Richards, who didn't quite hit the shot Marty did, but got a hold of it well enough to force a rebound and score by banking it off the back of Theodore's leg.
Of course the Lightning still have to win one more game, but given that coming back from an 0-3 deficit has only been accomplished twice in NHL history, most recently by the 1975 New York Islanders, the series is effectively over. If Philly wins tomorrow night in Toronto, a rematch of the Bolts' first-ever playoff series from 1996 with the Flyers is all but assured for the conference final.
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Brad Richards banked in his own rebound off the skate of Jose Theodore less than 2 minutes into OT, an extra session forced by Vinny Lecavalier (him again) tipping home a Dave Andreychuk shot (more a throw at the net) with 14 seconds left. Cory Stillman scored on a shorthanded breakaway and Richards on a power play in the second to give the Bolts a 2-1 lead, but two Montreal goals in the last ten minutes of regulation gave them a short-lived 3-2 lead, their first of the series.
Montreal came out with the cheap shots again early, but they mostly succeeded in taking Lightning players with them to the box. At one point, with five Habs and four Bolts in their respective boxes, it looked like the crowds to come tomorrow in the waiting rooms of Montreal-area therapists. The Lightning remain perfect in Games 3 of playoff series; they are now 5-0.
Meanwhile, the winning goal was eerily reminiscent of the OT winner that closed out the Islander series, as in both cases, Freddy Modin won the puck along the side boards outside the Montreal blue line, and the puck came ahead to a player breaking in alone along the left wing. Last time it was St. Louis, who immediately hit a scorcher for the goal; this time, it was Richards, who didn't quite hit the shot Marty did, but got a hold of it well enough to force a rebound and score by banking it off the back of Theodore's leg.
Of course the Lightning still have to win one more game, but given that coming back from an 0-3 deficit has only been accomplished twice in NHL history, most recently by the 1975 New York Islanders, the series is effectively over. If Philly wins tomorrow night in Toronto, a rematch of the Bolts' first-ever playoff series from 1996 with the Flyers is all but assured for the conference final.
Gee, think the military is stretched in Iraq?
We need those five howitzers, ski bunnies!
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Monday, April 26, 2004
The Kerry campaign is finally listening to me.
Must be that $50 I sent them. How else to explain this new strategy, first offered up in this space more than a month ago?
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Sunday, April 25, 2004
Vinny, Part Deux.
Vinny Lecavalier scores two goals to lead the Lightning to a playoff win over Montreal at the St. Pete Times Forum. Wait...that was Friday night's game.
Or was it?
Perhaps Vinny's visor should be tinted red, white and blue, so he thinks he's always playing Les Habitants. The inspired Lecavalier scored twice again today, including a back-breaking breakway goal with 2.4 seconds left in the second period, to lead the Bolts to a 3-1 win and 2-0 series lead going back to Montreal.
Les Habs came out determined to throw their weight around today, but all it got them was a 2-man disadvantage in the first four minutes, which the Lightning and Lecavalier (on a rebound after an unbelievable Jose Theodore save on Martin St. Louis) made them pay for. Minutes later, Freddy Modin bulled his way past Theodore to knock home a loose puck in the crease to make it 2-0, and it looked like the fourth period of Friday night's domination.
The tide then turned late in the first, when Modin was called for a highly questionable "closing his hand on the puck" penalty when he knocked down an airborne puck in the Montreal zone. Guys are getting high-sticked, cross-checked and otherwise pounded, but the ref has to call this. Anyway, with the Modin penalty about to expire, Saku Koivu finally got Montreal on the board, and from that point through virtually all of the second period, it was all Montreal. But Khabibulin came up big time after time, and when Cory Sarich banked a clearance after Sheldon Souray coughed up the puck at the Lightning blue line, Vinny was there to swoop in on Theodore on a breakaway, lighting the lamp with 2.4 seconds to go.
Demoralized, Montreal couldn't sustain the same level of pressure in the third, and the Lightning were never seriously in trouble from that point on. The series now goes to the Bell Centre in Montreal for Game 3 Tuesday night, an obvious must-win for the Habs. Although the Lightning's playoff history can be summarized in a pamphlet rather than a book, one daunting fact for Montreal is that the Bolts are 4-0 all-time in Game 3 of the playoffs. Not to mention having one of the league's best records on the road, with 22 regular season road wins plus two more on Long Island in Round 1. It's not in the bag yet, but the bag has been opened up.
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Or was it?
Perhaps Vinny's visor should be tinted red, white and blue, so he thinks he's always playing Les Habitants. The inspired Lecavalier scored twice again today, including a back-breaking breakway goal with 2.4 seconds left in the second period, to lead the Bolts to a 3-1 win and 2-0 series lead going back to Montreal.
Les Habs came out determined to throw their weight around today, but all it got them was a 2-man disadvantage in the first four minutes, which the Lightning and Lecavalier (on a rebound after an unbelievable Jose Theodore save on Martin St. Louis) made them pay for. Minutes later, Freddy Modin bulled his way past Theodore to knock home a loose puck in the crease to make it 2-0, and it looked like the fourth period of Friday night's domination.
The tide then turned late in the first, when Modin was called for a highly questionable "closing his hand on the puck" penalty when he knocked down an airborne puck in the Montreal zone. Guys are getting high-sticked, cross-checked and otherwise pounded, but the ref has to call this. Anyway, with the Modin penalty about to expire, Saku Koivu finally got Montreal on the board, and from that point through virtually all of the second period, it was all Montreal. But Khabibulin came up big time after time, and when Cory Sarich banked a clearance after Sheldon Souray coughed up the puck at the Lightning blue line, Vinny was there to swoop in on Theodore on a breakaway, lighting the lamp with 2.4 seconds to go.
Demoralized, Montreal couldn't sustain the same level of pressure in the third, and the Lightning were never seriously in trouble from that point on. The series now goes to the Bell Centre in Montreal for Game 3 Tuesday night, an obvious must-win for the Habs. Although the Lightning's playoff history can be summarized in a pamphlet rather than a book, one daunting fact for Montreal is that the Bolts are 4-0 all-time in Game 3 of the playoffs. Not to mention having one of the league's best records on the road, with 22 regular season road wins plus two more on Long Island in Round 1. It's not in the bag yet, but the bag has been opened up.
