Posted by E.J. Hradek
Two looks back, three peeks forward. Here are five things to think about on a playoff Tuesday:
1. You just know that ex-Hab Michael Ryder loved putting the dagger in his former club when he scored the eventual winner at the 17:21 mark of the second period during the Bruins' 4-2 Game 3 win over the Canadiens in Montreal on Monday. A native of St. John's, Newfoundland, Ryder fell out of favor with Les Canadiens during the 2007-08 season, when he scored just 14 goals in 70 games. In that long campaign, he was shopped and scratched. I can't imagine that was much fun. In the summer, the Bruins were quick to scoop him off the free-agent market.
Boston coach Claude Julien, my Jack Adams Award favorite, had a coach-player relationship with Ryder dating back to their time together with Hull of the QMJHL. That connection no doubt led to the club's willingness to sign him to a three-year, $12 million deal. Ryder responded to his new surroundings with a 27-goal, 53-point season. Better yet, the goal-scoring winger was a plus-28. On Wednesday night, the Bruins will get a chance to break out the brooms at the Bell Centre. That's a sweet thought for any Bruin no matter what route he took to Boston.
2. In the NHL, teams that score the first goal win about 65 percent of the time. The Blackhawks and Flames are bucking those numbers. In the first three games of their Western Conference quarterfinal series, the team that scored first went on to lose. On Monday, the Flames got back into the series with a 4-2 win. Coach Mike Keenan's team took full advantage of some unusually sloppy goaltending from Hawks stopper Nikolai Khabibulin, who misplayed Rene Bourque's wraparound attempt into a goal in the middle period, then left a juice rebound for David Moss to bury early in the third.
With their season likely hanging in the balance, the Flames came out with short, hard shifts. No Flames skater averaged more than 48 seconds per turn. Most of their forwards clocked in with an average shift time of 35 seconds. Moss, who finished with a pair of goals, averaged a super-quick 26 seconds. The short shifts enabled the Flames to turn up their physical game. Calgary outhit Chicago 45-31.
3. If the Penguins want to a grab a 3-1 series stranglehold on the Flyers, they need everybody back pulling the rope Tuesday night. In Game 3, top defenseman Sergei Gonchar, third-line center Jordan Staal and right winger Bill Guerin were among the missing. If you want to beat the Penguins, I think you start by unsettling Gonchar. He's a key guy for them in all situations. Gonchar was brilliant in Games 1 and 2. In Game 3, he wasn't nearly as good, finishing with an uncharacteristic minus-3 rating. I think that was probably the result of increased pressure from the Philly forecheckers. In the second period, Gonchar allowed Flyers rookie Claude Giroux to pick his pocket behind the Pens' net on a play that led directly to a game-changing short-handed goal by Philly sniper Simon Gagne. I figure Gonchar is too good not to perform better Tuesday, and we're in for a nail-biter in Game 4.
4. In Columbus, the big night is finally here! The Blue Jackets will be looking for a big boost from the home crowd in the first playoff game at Nationwide Arena. In Game 3, Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock will have the last change, and I'll be shocked if he doesn't do everything in his power to get top sniper Rick Nash away from the Wings' top defensive pair of Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski.
If the Blue Jackets are to have any chance to get back into this series, Nash must produce. The Columbus captain had seven shots and no points in the first two games of the series, both Columbus losses. On the flip side, Detroit bench boss Mike Babcock wants to put a firm grip on this first-round series. He certainly doesn't want a repeat of last season's first-round scare against the Predators. In that series, the Wings blew a 2-0 series lead before eventually winning in six games.
5. The Canucks can be the first team to advance to the second round if they can complete a sweep of the Blues in St. Louis on Tuesday night. In Game 3, Vancouver's special teams were the difference. The Canucks buried three power-play chances, while the Blues failed to convert on six opportunities, including a pair of 5-on-3s. In Game 1, the Blues also failed to produce on the two-man advantage. If the series ends Tuesday night, Andy Murray's upstart team can't say it didn't have chances to turn things in its favor.
ESPN.com Stanley Cup playoffs blog
