NHL Playoff Capsules: Gagne sends Flyers to Eastern finals
BOSTON — Down 3-0 in the series, then down 3-0 in Game 7. It looked as if the Philadelphia Flyers had finally run out of rallies against the Boston Bruins.
Turns out Simon Gagne and his teammates were just warming up.
Taking advantage of a too-many-men-on-the-ice call, Gagne scored on a power play with 7:08 left for a thrilling 4-3 victory Friday night in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The win set up a most unlikely matchup for a trip to the Stanley Cup final — the seventh-seeded Flyers vs. the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens starting Sunday night in Philadelphia.
"If we believe in ourselves and keep going with this, who knows what can happen?" said Scott Hartnell, who scored Philadelphia’s second goal.
Flyers coach Peter Laviolette added, "The Game 7s are tough. There’s a lot of pressure. It’s a game that’s made for men. And our guys proved to be men."
The Bruins became the third team in NHL history to lose a series after winning the first three games.
"The bottom line is we had a 3-0 lead in the series, we had a 3-0 lead tonight, and we blew them both," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "We have to take the responsibility that goes with it. Everyone."
The Flyers on the bench smacked their sticks against the boards when they saw the Bruins had an extra skater, trying to get the officials’ attention. Vladimir Sobotka had jumped on the ice, but Marc Savard, who had raised his stick to call for a replacement, stayed on.
"I saw it right away," Flyers captain Mike Richards said.
The whistle blew.
"I saw two centermen out there and I said, ‘What’s going on?'" said Milan Lucic, who had two goals for Boston.
The Flyers capitalized when Richards’ shot from the right circle hit players in front of Tuukka Rask. The puck bounced and Gagne, stationed to Rask’s left, flipped the puck over the goalie’s right shoulder with 18 seconds left in the power play.
Gagne, who had four goals after returning from a toe injury for Game 4, thought the Bruins might have grown tense as their 3-0 lead began to shrink.
"Sometimes you’re nervous and you make mistakes," he said. "Then they had too many men on the ice and that might be our chance to win the game and we did."
The only other teams to win a series after trailing 3-0 were the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, who beat Detroit, and the 1975 New York Islanders, who eliminated Pittsburgh. The other 159 teams that won the first three games in a series all won them.
The Bruins shot out to a 3-0 lead on power-play goals by Michael Ryder and Lucic and another goal by Lucic. And only 14:10 had been played. Then James van Riemsdyk scored with 2:48 left in the first period for the Flyers.
Second-period goals by Hartnell at 2:49 and Danny Briere at 8:39 tied it at 3.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Flyers poured off their bench and surrounded goaltender Michael Leighton, who started his second playoff game for injured Brian Boucher.
While the Flyers celebrated, the yellow towels that fans twirled to spur on their team floated to the ice, no longer needed until next season. Boston center Patrice Bergeron took a slap shot with one of them — like the Bruins, it didn’t go far.
Boston was hurt by the same too-many-men-on-the-ice call in the 1979 Stanley Cup semifinals against Montreal. In that Game 7, the penalty led to Guy Lafleur’s tying goal with 74 seconds left in the third period, then Yvon Lambert won it in overtime for the Canadiens.
Boston lost its third straight Game 7 and first since falling to Carolina in last year’s conference semifinals after battling back from a 3-1 series deficit.
The Bruins and Flyers played aggressively at the start with plenty of end-to-end action in the first 5 minutes.
Boston got a break when Hartnell was penalized for high-sticking at 5:19 and Ryder scored his fourth playoff goal on a rebound 8 seconds later. Another Bruins power play 3 minutes later led to another goal, this one by Lucic, who tipped in a pass across the crease from Dennis Wideman in the right corner.
Lucic struck again, scoring his fifth playoff goal five minutes later, at 14:10 on a shot from the right circle.
Leighton, who took over in Game 5 after sitting out nearly two months, didn’t allow another goal.
Van Riemsdyk began the comeback with his first playoff goal 3 minutes after Lucic’s second goal on a soft shot that trickled by Rask. That was the first of nine consecutive shots by Philadelphia. One of them was Hartnell’s second goal of the playoffs. Another was Briere’s seventh playoff goal — on a wraparound.
NOTES: Patriots coach Bill Belichick attended the game. ... Philadelphia beat second-seeded New Jersey in the first round, while Boston eliminated third-seeded Buffalo. ... The Flyers are 8-6 in seventh games. The Bruins are 9-10.
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Niemi driving the Blackhawks
CHICAGO — When Antti Niemi was working as a goalie for a second division team in Finland, he made extra money by driving the Zamboni at a local rink.
"That’s how he paid his bills," recalled Bill Zito, his Chicago-based agent.
Niemi has come a long, long way in the past decade. Now 26 and in his first full season with the Chicago Blackhawks, he’s trying to backstop one of the NHL’s Original Six franchises to its first Stanley Cup championship since 1961 — 22 years before he was born.
After stints in the Finnish army and the leagues of his homeland, Niemi has watched his life change dramatically in the last two years since signing with the Blackhawks as a free agent.
"It’s come fast, pretty fast," Niemi said just before the playoffs began.
Not a highly regarded prospect in his country, a Blackhawks scout spotted him in a top Finnish league and then former Chicago general manager Dale Tallon signed him on May 5, 2008.
After spending most of last season with Rockford of the AHL, Niemi won what was expected to be the backup job to Cristobal Huet. But Niemi made the most of his chances when he did play, posted seven shutouts and took over as the starting goalie for good in mid-March.
His play has helped the Blackhawks return to the Western Conference finals, where they will open the series at San Jose on Sunday. He’s already faced off against countryman Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators and Roberto Luongo of the Canucks, two goalies with higher profiles and much bigger contracts. Niemi is making $827,000 this season.
Zito called Niemi a "handy guy," saying that when the goalie’s iPhone needed a replacement part recently Niemi didn’t want to take it in for repairs. He wanted to order the parts and try and fix it himself.
That same approach can be seen on the ice. The Blackhawks lost the first game in each of their first two series — Niemi was actually pulled after two periods during a 5-1 loss to Vancouver in the opener of the semifinals — but every time Chicago has dropped a game in these playoffs, he fixed it and rebounded with a victory.
"First game I saw him was an exhibition game. I was in Dallas as a scout and watching him play, he put on an amazing performance that game. I think he stopped about three or four 5-on-3s in the middle of the game and went on to get the win," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said.
"We like his progress. He’s got size, presence and he’s got a great demeanor. A nice approach to the game, a nice approach after being scored on and looking ahead. ... I think he’s a student of the game as well. We think he’s adapted to situations well."
The 6-foot-2 Niemi didn’t face San Jose this season when Chicago won three of the four meetings.
The Sharks’ approach sounds familiar.
"With most goalies it’s the same thing," San Jose’s Dan Boyle said. "Get traffic in front of him, don’t let him see the puck, shoot, get the rebounds, get the ugly goals. It doesn’t really matter which goalie it is. It’s the same for everybody."
In 12 playoff games so far, Niemi has a .909 save percentage and a 2.57 goals against average. He’s matched against veteran Evgeni Nabokov of the Sharks, who’s played 76 postseason games in his career with a .914 save percentage and a 2.26 GAA in the postseason.
"He’s proven game after game that he’s solid out there," Nabokov said. "People create that perception that they have troubles and this and that. I don’t think they have troubles. They have a solid goaltender right now."
Niemi’s inexperience — he played in 39 regular season games this year before his first foray into the playoffs — has not been a big deal to his teammates.
"He’s been great," Chicago’s Patrick Sharp said. "There’s been no doubt in our locker room. He’s been strong just about every game. If he does have a tough one, he comes back the next one even better."
The Blackhawks are hoping Niemi’s best days are ahead, especially in the next couple of weeks. It’s been a remarkable progression for a guy who once cleaned the ice.
A dozen games into the frenzied atmosphere of the NHL playoffs, he at least knows what it’s all about.
"I feel really comfortable now. I think I’ve been growing all the time. I feel really good," he said.
-- Rick Gano
Cammalleri, Halak add to Habs' rich playoff lore
BROSSARD, Quebec — When the Montreal Canadiens turned the page on their first century earlier this season, Ken Dryden invited current members of the storied team to write their own history.
"And why not make it great?" the Hall of Fame goalie suggested on the occasion of the Canadiens' 100th anniversary game against Boston on Dec. 4.
Looks like the 2009-10 team took Dryden's advice to heart.
Montreal has stunned the hockey world by reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 17 years. The eighth-seeded Canadiens upset President's Trophy winners Washington and reigning Stanley Cup champions Pittsburgh in the first two rounds to go deeper into the playoffs than they have since 1993, when they won their 24th Cup.
They will face the winner of Friday night's Game 7 between Philadelphia and Boston.
"I remember if you go back to the summertime and signing here and talking with the guys and stuff it was like all you hear about is the history," left wing Michael Cammalleri said Friday following practice.
Cammalleri, who has scored 12 goals in 14 playoff games, signed with Montreal as a free agent along with Brian Gionta, Hal Gill, Jaroslav Spacek, Travis Moen and Paul Mara after former general manager Bob Gainey acquired center Scott Gomez in a trade with the New York Rangers on June 30.
"As a player you put yourself in that position that you're going to be in a place that wants to win and expects to win," said Gionta, who combined with Cammalleri to score 12 of Montreal's 19 goals against the Penguins. "And I think that's why guys came here, for that kind of history that the organization has."
With Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev among a group of 10 players from the previous year's team who were not re-signed, a whole new squad assembled in the Canadiens' dressing room beneath the fabled excerpt from the World War I poem "In Flanders Field": "To you from failing hands we throw the torch; be yours to hold it high.'"
"That's the whole idea, they want us to continue the success so you try your best to do it," said Cammalleri. " ... It's a pretty special thing when you have guys like that saying, you know, 'Run with it.'"
All-Star defenseman Andrei Markov had a tendon in his left foot sliced by goalie Carey Price's skate in the regular season opener, touching off a spate of injuries that prevented new head coach Jacques Martin from icing a complete version of the revamped lineup.
Gainey stepped down on Feb. 8, handing over the GM duties to his assistant, Pierre Gauthier, who acquired center Dominic Moore three days later in an unheralded trade with Florida which has paid huge dividends in the playoffs.
The Canadiens finished fourth in the Northeast Division at 39-33-10, squeaking into the playoffs with 88 points — less than St. Louis, Calgary and Anaheim, who all failed to make the playoffs in the West, and one ahead of the New York Rangers by virtue of a point earned in a 4-3 overtime loss to Toronto in their final regular season game.
Few hockey pundits gave Montreal a chance to get by Washington, which led the league with 121 points and 318 goals, including 50 by Russian star Alex Ovechkin.
Fewer still believed the Canadiens could overcome a 3-1 series deficit, but goalie Jaroslav Halak led the way as Montreal reeled off three straight wins in elimination games to oust the Capitals.
Sidney Crosby's Penguins chased Halak from the net in a 6-3 win in the second-round series opener in Pittsburgh and it looked like the defending champions would not fall prey to the Canadiens' playoff magic.
Halak recovered his form and neither team was able to win consecutive games until Montreal stunned the Penguins with four unanswered goals on its way to a 5-3 victory Wednesday night to win its second straight Game 7.
"It's all about believing and we believe in ourselves," said Moen, whose short-handed goal put Montreal up 4-0 and chased Marc-Andre Fleury from the net.
As the Canadiens wait to find out whether they will fly to Boston or Philadelphia on Saturday, they recognize that few will cast them in the underdog role going forward.
"We think we're getting better," Cammalleri said. "We think we're improving. We don't think we're a great hockey team and we're working to be as good as we can and that's what's led us to some success so we'll keep trying to get better every game here."
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No longer champs, Pens leave arena for last time
PITTSBURGH — A road jersey was hung neatly in every locker stall. Brand new sticks and a fully loaded travel bag also were ready for each player when the Pittsburgh Penguins arrived at Mellon Arena.
It’s a normal mid-May scene for a team that’s appeared in 10 playoff series in three seasons. There was only one difference: The Penguins were packing for the summer, rather than for the next round of the playoffs.
The neatly bound books at each locker? Not a scouting report for the Eastern Conference finals, but a guide to offseason conditioning.
That’s what made saying goodbye unusually difficult, even for the Penguins players who will return next season. For most, it was one last visit Friday to their Mellon Arena dressing room before they relocate across the street to the Consol Energy Center next season.
"It’s weird to be done now, already," goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. "It’s tough."
Already missing is Mario Lemieux’s locker nameplate, which remained above his empty stall even after he retired during the 2005-06 season. Some players, including Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Fleury, don’t know another NHL home locker room.
"It’s kind of mixed emotions, but certainly all the firsts I’ve have in the NHL, I tie in with Mellon," Crosby said. "There’s a part of me that will be sad but, at the same time, I’m looking forward to the new rink as well."
For now, putting this season and the seven-game loss to Montreal in the Eastern Conference semifinals behind them will take a little longer. The Penguins no longer are the Stanley Cup champions, they’re former champions.
They appeared to have a clear path to the conference finals after Washington, New Jersey and Buffalo lost in the opening round, but they were tripped up by the same overachieving team that eliminated the top-seeded Capitals in the first round.
No, getting over a loss like this takes more than two days.
"This is a group of guys who could’ve been in that picture again this year," coach Dan Bylsma said, pointing to a photo of last year’s Stanley Cup celebration. "It’s disappointing because of those expectations. You don’t get those opportunities every year."
While Crosby dismissed fatigue as a factor for the Penguins’ early elimination, Malkin is convinced it played a role. The Penguins played 303 games and 10 of a possible 12 playoff rounds the last three seasons, a demanding pace even for a relatively young team. Five players also took part in the Olympics.
"Yeah, it’s a long season and we see Detroit in the same situation. I think they’re tired, too, and (they) lost in the second round," Malkin said of the Red Wings, who met Pittsburgh in the last two finals. "We tried to win, but it’s hard to win every year."
Malkin dismissed his own season as "bad," although his drop-off from 113 points in 2008-09 to 77 points partly resulted from him missing 15 games to injury or illness.
"Next year I’m going to be better, of course," Malkin said. "This year is not good for me."
He wasn’t alone. To win a championship, teams often must get career years from multiple players, but Bylsma acknowledged the Penguins didn’t have that.
"We think Geno is a 114-point guy," he said. "He wasn’t that for us this year. Marc-Andre Fleury — he didn’t have a strong season and he didn’t have a strong playoffs."
The Penguins’ roster turnover could be greater than usual. Among their unrestricted free agents are defensemen Sergei Gonchar, Jay McKee, Mark Eaton and Jordan Leopold and forwards Matt Cooke, Alex Ponikarovsky, Ruslan Fedotenko and Bill Guerin.
As usual, general manager Ray Shero will try to find a proven scorer to fit onto Crosby’s or Malkin’s line. If he does, Guerin could be out. Fedotenko and Ponikarovsky are all but certain to leave. Cooke is one of the NHL’s best agitators but also is a consistent scorer, a combination that draws considerable interest on the open market.
Gonchar, at age 36, wants to return, but it’s unlikely the Penguins would offer him more than a two-year contract.
"You don’t really know what will happen," defenseman Alex Goligoski said. "A lot of guys in locker room will be back, but there is a lot of uncertainty."
-- Alan Robinson
Gonchar and Malkin to join Russia team at worlds
COLOGNE, Germany — Pittsburgh Penguins players Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin will join up with the Russia team at the ice hockey world championship in the next few days.
Russia coach Vyacheslav Bykov will benefit from the extra firepower after the Penguins were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Montreal Canadiens.
Teams at worlds are allowed to have 20 skaters and three goalies in the first round and can add two more players for the second round.
The two-time Olympian Malkin will play in his fourth worlds and was a leading figure in Pittsburgh’s 2009 Stanley Cup title run, earning the playoffs’ most valuable player award.
"It’s my national team and they called me. If my team needs me and I can go, I’m not going to say no," Malkin said Friday in Pittsburgh.
Gonchar, a four-time Olympian, had 13 goals and 49 assists in 75 games this season. He was planning to leave later Friday, while Malkin expects to travel on Saturday.
"I was disappointed with this season. I wasn’t satisfied," Gonchar said. "And I’ve never won a world championship."
Losing in the Olympics — the Russians were beaten 7-3 by eventual gold medalist Canada in the quarterfinals — is another reason why Malkin and Gonchar wanted to keep playing.
"It was emotional and I was very mad," Malkin said of losing in Vancouver. "If we win now, we’ll play better and it would be good. I think we can win, we’ve got a good team."
Bykov added Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Semyon Varlamov just before the tournament started when the Washington Capitals were eliminated from the NHL playoffs.
Other recent big-game additions to the rosters included Germany bringing in Christian Ehrhoff of the Vancouver Canucks; Finland adding 22-year-old forward Oskar Osala of the Carolina Hurricanes; world juniors MVP Jordan Eberle joining Canada; and Mikael Backlund of the Calgary Flames helping Sweden.
While many teams were adding players, surprise team Norway will lose two due to suspensions.
The worlds’ disciplinary panel on Friday suspended Norway forward Martin Laumann Ylven for two games following a first period-blow to the head of France’s Antonin Manavian, who did not return to the game due to concussion.
Norwegian goalie Pat Grotnes was banned for one game after shoving France’s Yorick Treille and then hitting him on the head with his stick in the third period of the same game.
’Canes sign Jared Staal to entry-level deal
RALEIGH, N.C. — Jared Staal didn’t waste any time signing with his big brother’s team.
The Carolina Hurricanes signed Staal to a three-year entry-level contract Friday, one day after they acquired Eric Staal’s younger brother in a trade with the Phoenix Coyotes.
The 19-year-old forward signed a two-way deal that will pay him $500,000 at the NHL level next season and $525,000 in 2011-12 and 2012-13. He will make $50,000 at the AHL level in all three seasons.
If the Hurricanes couldn’t sign Staal by June 1, he would have re-entered the draft.
Carolina obtained Staal from the Coyotes for a fifth-round pick in next month’s draft. All of his three older brothers play in the NHL, including Eric, a three-time All-Star and the Hurricanes’ captain.
Devils sign top prospects Tedenby, Josefson
NEWARK, N.J. — The New Jersey Devils have signed their first-round picks from the last two NHL Entry Drafts.
The Devils announced Friday that they have agreed to contracts with forwards Mattias Tedenby and Jacob Josefson. Terms were not disclosed.
The 20-year-old Tedenby was the Devils’ first pick in 2008. He had 12 goals and seven assists playing left wing for HV71 of the Swedish League this past season. The native of Vetlanda, Sweden, added two goals and three assists in the playoffs.
The 19-year-old Josefson had eight goals and 12 assists playing center for Djurgardens of the Swedish League last season. He also had three goals and two assists in the playoffs. The Stockholm native was the Devils’ first-round draft pick in 2009.
Detroit signs Callahan to entry deal
DETROIT — The Detroit Red Wings say they've signed forward Mitchell Callahan to a three-year entry level contract.
The terms are confidential. The 18-year-old was Detroit's sixth round draft pick and 180th overall in the 2009 NHL entry draft.
The Whittier, Calif., native has spent two seasons with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League. He made 47 points in 72 games in 2009-10.
International
Canada thrashes Norway 12-1 at hockey worlds
COLOGNE, Germany — Canada bounced back from an upset loss to Switzerland by defeating Norway 12-1 on Friday in the second round of the ice hockey world championship.
Evander Kane, Rich Peverley, Jordan Eberle and John Tavares combined for seven goals and six assists to give Canada a 2-1 record and six points from three games in Group F in Mannheim.
Canada was beaten 4-1 by the Swiss on Wednesday which cost the Olympic champions top spot in the first round. It was Switzerland’s first victory over Canada in 76 years of worlds history.
Things started poorly for Canada with Norway jumping ahead 1-0 on Jonas Holos’ goal in the second minute of the game. Kane answered with his first of two goals after 13 minutes and Canada pulled away with seven goals in the second period.
