Hey folks,
Sorry about a lack of Quick Hits today. Christian isn’t feeling well and I got to spend all day yesterday almost completely avoiding hockey news, so it is what it is. I did check Gamecenter on my phone during the intermission* of Spamalot last night and saw Andrew Shaw scored a goal, so I kind of didn’t pay attention to anything after that, because I knew it wouldn’t be good.
I did see that the Griffins beat the Barons yesterday on the strength of their power play and on the second consecutive shutout posted by Petr Mrazek. I also saw that Nyquist had a bit of a rough game. I hope he’s ok. The Griffins will look to close out their series in game six tomorrow at Van Andel. If you’re anywhere near the area, remember they’ve still got the $2 beer and hot dogs going on through all playoff home games. There’s a lot of talent on the Griffins and I’m told the arena atmosphere is a lot of fun.
Just one game on the NHL docket for tonight as Boston/Pittsburgh plays their game 2. The Bruins got a solid defensive effort and some pretty great early goaltending in game 1, which gave them opportunities to take advantage of what looked like an increasingly-frustrated Pittsburgh team. Since people apparently don’t get suspended in the conference finals, everybody who played in game 1 will be available for game 2.
The game is on at 8:00 tonight in the Red Wings‘ time zone. You can watch on NBCSN in the US (provided you get that channel) or on CBC or RDS in Canada.
No idea whether the Penguins will go with Vokoun or Fleury in net for this one, although blaming your goalie for a loss when you get shut out is a pretty stupid thing to do. Vokoun wasn’t the problem with the three goals allowed; the Pittsburgh defense was the problem. The Penguins play a high-risk/high-reward style and they got burned by it. I’m wondering if Bylsma doesn’t try to beat the Bruins at their own game by playing more of a passive trap. They’ve shown they can do that before.
Prediction: Boston wins 2-1. Kris Letang is the reason.
*I originally typed this up as “first intermission” and then made myself sad.
