Thursday April 30 7:30pm
The Ottawa Senators can advance to their first-ever Eastern Conference semifinal with a road win over the New Jersey Devils tonight. Daniel Alfredsson recorded the first playoff hat trick in team history as eighth-seeded Ottawa survived a furious late rally to push top-seeded New Jersey to the brink of elimination with a 4-3 victory in Game Four on Tuesday.
While Alfredsson finally woke up to record his first points of the series, goaltender Damian Rhodes continues to be the success story of the playoffs for the Senators. Rhodes is 3-1 in the playoffs and has turned aside 128 of 136 shots faced.
Another strength for the Senators has been their penalty killing unit, which has killed off 14 of 16 New Jersey power plays. Doug Gilmour had a goal and an assist in Tuesday's loss. Gilmour has half of New Jersey's eight goals. Center Bobby Holik and left wing Randy McKay, two of New Jersey's top three scorers during the regular season, have failed to record a point in the series.
Goaltender Martin Brodeur, whose 43 wins were the most since Bernie Parent's 44 in 1974-75, has looked nothing like one of the best goalies from the regular season. While his save percentage has been virtually the same, Brodeur's postseason goals against average has been 2.19, up from 1.89 in the regular season.
Game Six, if necessary, is scheduled for Saturday night in Ottawa.
#2 PITTSBURGH PEGUNIS vs #7 MONTREAL CANADIENS
Friday May 1 7:30pm
With momentum on their side and home ice under their skates, the Pittsburgh Penguins try to take a three games to two lead in their Eastern Confernence quarterfinal series with the Montreal Canadiens tonight. Playing at home has meant very little in this series. The teams split the first two games in Pittsburgh and then did likewise in Montreal on Monday and Wednesday.
Ed Olczyk and Martin Straka scored shorthanded goals and the Penguins tallied three times on the power play in the first period en route to a 6-3 victory in Game Four on Wednesday.
Pittsburgh had been 1-for-15 on the power play in the first three games before erupting for the three man-advantage goals in the opening period of Game Four. Jaromir Jagr leads the Pens with eight points and Stu Barnes is second with six. Both Jagr and Barnes have three goals.
Montreal has one power-play goal in each of the four games, going 4-for-21 overall. The Canadiens have outshot the Penguins, 120-104 in the series.
Captain Vincent Damphousse leads the Habs with six points, while Shayne Corson and Martin Rucinsky have two goals apiece.
Three Canadiens suffered injuries in Game Four. Left wing Brian Savage sustained a mild concussion, left wing Benoit Brunet has a bruised arm and defenseman Stephane Quintal suffered a sprained ankle. Center Saku Koivu has yet to play in this series due to a broken finger.
Game Six is Sunday in Montreal.
#3 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS vs #6 BUFFALO SABERS
Friday May 1 7:30pm
The Buffalo Sabres can post one of the bigger playoff upsets this season with a road win that can eliminate the Philadelphia Flyers tonight. Dominik Hasek stopped 44 shots and the sixth-seed Sabres pushed the third-seeded Flyers to the brink of elimination with a 4-1 victory in Game Four on Wednesday. While Hasek has not blanked the Flyers in the series, he has carried a shutout into the third period in two straight games, stopping 75-of-77 shots in that span.
The Sabres could not score in 20 power-play opportunities against the Flyers this season, but they have converted six of 22 chances so far in the postseason. Buffalo is looking to reach the conference semifinals for the second straight season and can avenge last year's five-game loss to the Flyers with a victory.
Michal Grosek, who is tied with Miroslav Satan for the team lead with three goals, has six career postseason tallies, all against the Flyers. Rod Brind'Amour's second goal of the series accounted for the Flyers' lone goal on Wednesday. Part of the reason for the Flyers' collapse is their lack of offense on the power play. Philadelphia is just 2-for-28 with the man advantage.
Eric Lindros has been frustrated by the Sabres defense thus far. He has just one goal and two assists in four games, but leads Philadelphia with 15 penalty minutes. While Lindros assisted on Wednesday's goal, he was held without a shot on net.
Game Six, if necessary, will be played Sunday at Buffalo's Marine Midland Arena.
#4 WASHINGTON CAPITALS vs #5 BOSTON BRUINS
Friday May 1 7:30pm
The Washington Capitals can advance to an Eastern Conference semifinal series for the first time since 1993-94 with a home win against the Boston Bruins tonight at the MCI Center. Olaf Kolzig made 38 saves for his first career playoff shutout and former Bruin Adam Oates scored twice as Washington took a commanding three games to one lead in the series with a 3-0 blanking of Boston on Tuesday.
Kolzig has been masterful during the series, stopping 154-of-160 shots faced. Oates, who played just over five seasons in Boston, has two goals on just three shots taken and defenseman Sergei Gonchar has four goals in the series.
Peter Bondra, who was injured in Game One, played sparingly in Game Two and has missed the last two games with an injured ankle, is questionable for tonight's contest. Despite being up three games to one, history has not been kind to the Capitals when given the chance to shut the door. Of the 13 times a team has rallied from 3-1 deficits to win a best-of-seven series, it has been at Washington's expense three times. The Capitals blew 3-1 leads against Pittsburgh in 1992 and 1995, as well as one to the New York Islanders in 1975.
Boston is coming off its first home shutout loss since 1995. The Bruins went 0-for-7 on the power play in Tuesday's loss and are just 4-for-28 with the man advantage in the series. Boston trails the series despite outshooting Washington, 160-101.
Former Capital Dimitri Khristich and unheralded defenseman Darren Van Impe have accounted for more than half of Boston's seven goals scored in the series.
Some notable players who have not scored for Boston include Calder Trophy candidate Sergei Samsonov, Anson Carter, Rob DiMaio, Tim Taylor and Ted Donato, who combined for 84 goals in the regular season.
If the Bruins win, Game Six of the series will be played Sunday at Boston.
