Monday 16 February 2015

Road Teams Thrive in Round One

The man controlled home side struggled against the visiting CPU in Round 1 as the visitors won 17 of 29 games. Despite this five of the eight teams with home-ice advantage advanced to the 2nd round - including division winners Boston, Winnipeg and the Islanders - who all lost a game at home before prevailing twice on the road to win their respective series's in four. The other division winner - and President's trophy winner - St. Louis however could not even muster a victory in their stunning defeat to the 4-7-1 Toronto Maple Leafs. The Blues only lost one game all season - including a perfect 6-0 mark on the road - but were swept by the  Leafs, only scoring 4 goals in the process. The other sweep was perpetrated by the Washington Capitals over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2-3 matchup in the Patrick. Here's the full results:

Adams Division
(1) Boston Bruins vs (4) Quebec Nordiques
Quebec 0 at Boston 5
Barry Pederson's Series Winning OT Goal
Silences the Colisee Crowd
Quebec 4 at Boston 2
Boston 7 at Quebec 4
Boston 5 at Quebec 4 (OT)
Boston Wins Best-of-Five 3-1
This series started off as expected with the Bruins dominating the opener - firing 20 shots at Clint Malarchuk - in a smothering 5-0 victory. The Nordiques bounced back in Game 2 as the Stastny brothers Anton and Marian proved too quick on the wing for the Bruins bruising defensive pair of Gord Kluzak and Mike Milbury. The Nordiques however - just like in the regular season when they lost 8-2 to Boston - could not handle the physical Bruins at home at the Colisee. Game 3 was never in doubt for the Bruins, and they'd narrowly escape having the Nords follow them back to Beantown with Barry Pederson's OT Winner in Game 4. 

(2) Buffalo Sabres vs (3) Montreal Canadiens
Montreal 3 at Buffalo 5 
Montreal 4 at Buffalo 3
Buffalo 2 at Montreal 5
Buffalo 1 at Montreal 4
Montreal Wins Best-of-Five 3-1 
Can you hear the chants of "na-na-na"?


A microcosm of their regular season; the Sabres started off strong in this series but faded slowly along the way. After a Game 1 win at the Auditorium, the Sabres held a 2-0 lead after the 1st in Game 2 but the Canadiens rallied with a 4 goal 2nd period and never looked back on route to a 3-1 series win. The Habs defensive trio of Larry Robinson, Chris Chelios and Rick Green shut down Gilbert Perrault and company at the Forum in Game's 3 & 4. Despite their 6-5-1 regular season record, the Canadiens should not be overlooked as a Cup contender - if the saying is true that defence wins championships.



Patrick Division
(1) New York Islanders vs (4) New Jersey Devils
Trottier's Game 2 Goal was a series
turning point.
New Jersey 5 at NY Islanders 2
New Jersey 0 at NY Islanders 3
NY Islanders 6 at New Jersey 2
NY Islanders 8 at New Jersey 6
NY Islanders Win Best-of-Five 3-1
The upstart Devils stormed onto Long Island, opening a 3-0 lead in Game 1 while actually out attack-zoning the Islanders in the 1st period of Game 1. They then threatened to take a stranglehold of the series behind some stellar Chico Resch netminding in Game 2, but Bryan Trottier final broke through with a goal in the 3rd period, and Ken Morrow and company posted a shutout in front of the empty net to gain a split. It was a totally different series once the teams hit the Meadowlands for Game 3 as the Devils defence just couldn't slow down Trottier, Bob Bourne and Bob Nystrom as the Islanders busted out for 14 goals in New Jersey earning the 3-1 series victory.


(2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs (3) Washington Capitals
Washington 4 at Pittsburgh 3
Washington 3 at Pittsburgh 1
Pittsburgh 3 at Washington 5
Washington Wins Best-of-Five 3-0
The Capitals celebrate a stifling
Game 2 victory at The Igloo
The clock struck midnight on the Penguins, who's surprisingly strong season ended in a thud. After dropping their finale 8-2 to the Devils, the Pens proved little match for the Capitals in the opening round. Washington took a 3-0 lead in the 1st period of Game 1 and hung on for a 4-3 victory. In Game 2 they almost shutout the Pens, before Dave Hannan finally put one in late in the 3rd to break Al Jensen's bid at a blanking. Things weren't much different in Game 3 as Mike Gartner's speed was too much for the Penguins to handle as Washington broke out the brooms at The Capital Centre.


Rick Vaive's OT Winner in Game 1
set the stage for a stunner.
Norris Division
(1) St. Louis Blues vs (4) Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto 2 at St. Louis 1 (OT) 
Toronto 6 at St. Louis 1 
St. Louis 2 at Toronto 3
Toronto Wins Best-of-Five 3-0
It was not that rare in the 80's for a heavy favourite to be dismissed quickly in the 1st round in a massive divisional upset. Rick Vaive's OT goal in Game 1 set the stage for the President's Trophy winning Blues to experience just that in a stunning opening round sweep by Toronto. No one would've predicted the Blues would have the best record in the NHL this season; and perhaps that caught up to them here. The acrobatic goaltending of Mike Palmateer and physical defensive corps of Gary Nylund, Dave Farrish and Jim Korn frustrated the Blues on their home ice in Game's 1 & 2 and they would continue to stifle them at Maple Leaf Gardens in Game 3 as the Leafs held a 3-0 lead after the 2nd and hung on to finish off the upset.

(2) Minnesota North Stars vs (3) Detroit Red Wings
Detroit 4 at Minnesota 6
Detroit 7 at Minnesota 4 
Minnesota celebrates their Game 5
victory at The Met Centre
Minnesota 5 at Detroit 6 (OT)
Minnesota 8 at Detroit 5
Detroit 2 at Minnesota 3
Minnesota Wins Best-of-Five 3-2
Not surprisingly the North Stars and Red Wings staged the most wide-open and closely contested series in the opening round. Brad Park's OT goal in game 3 staked the Wings to a 2-1 series lead, and had people talking about an improbable Hwy 401 Toronto-Detroit 2nd round matchup. The high flying North Stars though would prove resilient however, skating all over the Wings in a Game 4 win and then posting an uncharacteristic low-scoring Game 5 victory at the Met. It seemed all year that Minnesota and St. Louis were on a collision course for a Norris Division final - but it took the distance here for the North Stars to hold up their end of the bargain - which is more than we can say for the Blues.


Bengt Lundholm's last second marker
wins a tight Game 1 for heavily
favoured Winnipeg
Smythe Division
(1) Winnipeg Jets vs (4) Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver 4 at Winnipeg 5
Vancouver 5 at Winnipeg 4
Winnipeg 5 at Vancouver 2
Winnipeg 4 at Vancouver 2 
Winnipeg Wins Best-of-Five 3-1
The Canucks had the worst record among playoff teams but they'd give the Jets fits at Winnipeg Arena. It took a final second Bengt Lundholm goal for the Jets to take Game 1 and a late Thomas Gradin goal stole game 2 for the Canucks. However at Pacific Coliseum the home team just didn't have enough juice to keep up with the speedy Jets as the visitors posted a pair of solid victories.

The Battle of Alberta was a chippy
series - as expected.

(2) Edmonton Oilers vs (3) Calgary Flames
Calgary 3 at Edmonton 4
Calgary 5 at Edmonton 2
Edmonton 5 at Calgary 2
Edmonton 7 at Calgary 4
Edmonton Wins Best-of-Five 3-1 
The inaugural Battle of Alberta was a physical series marked by several fights and plenty of hard open ice hits. The Oilers were a great home team in the regular season but struggled on the road under CPU control. Well they reversed that trend in this series, bouncing back from a sound Game 2 defeat to take Games 3 & 4 at the Saddledome. The speed of Ken Linseman and Jari Kurri were just too much for the Flames to handle in Game 4 - as they each netted a hat trick for the victorius Oilers.


Round Two Matchups:

  • Boston Bruins (9-3-0) vs Montreal Canadiens (6-5-1)
  • New York Islanders (8-3-1) vs Washington Capitals (5-2-5)
  • Minnesota North Stars (8-2-2) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (4-7-1)
  • Winnipeg Jets (7-3-2) vs Edmonton Oilers (6-4-2)