NHL Playoffs: Bruins and Capitals lead series 3-1! Game(s) 5 - 7 pm Est. Friday
NHL Playoffs: Bruins and Capitals lead series 3-1! Game(s) 5 - 7 pm Est. Friday April 23rd, 2010.
Will either team wrap up their first round series tonight? The Bruins on the road with the tougher test I'd assume and Washington is right where they need to be, at home, a 3/1 or better favorite to win vs the Canadiens.
Montreal at Washington
After spending several overnight hours on an airport tarmac because of weather and customs delays, Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau found a bit of a silver lining. “Better fog than ash,” he quipped. True, the Capitals aren’t among the thousands whose lives have been disrupted because of flight cancellations following the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, but an unexpected travel adventure did put a kink in Thursday’s preparation for Game 5 of Washington’s first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens. Given that his players stayed up virtually all night trying to get home from Wednesday’s Game 4, Boudreau had little choice but to cancel practice. “It was a pretty long night, but we made it through it,” said right wing Eric Fehr, one of only three players hanging around the practice facility at midday. “It’s going to be good getting a little bit of sleep today. (FULL PREVIEW) ”The Capitals, with a 3-1 lead, can wrap up the series Friday. Now they have even more incentive to do so. “We don’t want to get on the plane again and go back to Montreal,” defenseman Joe Corvo said.
Boston at Buffalo
Coach Lindy Ruff spoke softly on the day after one of the most difficult losses in Buffalo Sabres history. He was ruffled still, maybe, but optimistic nonetheless. The game was right there. We have to finish,” Ruff said Thursday while the Sabres practiced at HSBC Arena. “Our key players are going to have to make a difference, and The Sabres suffered a crushing defeat Wednesday night in Boston, losing 3-2 in double overtime to the Bruins on a power-play goal by former Sabres star Miroslav Satan (FULL PREVIEW) to fall behind 3-1 in the seven-game series. What made the loss so tough was that Boston got the decisive power play in the second extra period when the Sabres were caught with too many men on the ice. Buffalo enters Game 5 at home on Friday night on the brink of elimination despite having trailed for less than 20 minutes in the first four games. The Sabres were 31-6-4 in the regular season when scoring first and are 1-3 in this series, and they were 30-0-0 when entering the third period with a lead during the season and are 1-2 against Boston after squandering a 2-0 lead in their latest setback. “It’s a little bit frustrating. In two of the four games we’ve been up by two goals,” Sabres captain Craig Rivet said. “We’ve been a real, real solid team all season long playing with the lead, playing with confidence. We’ve hit a bit of adversity right now, something we’re going to try to battle through. They haven’t yet. We know with our goaltender we can crawl back.”
Will either team wrap up their first round series tonight? The Bruins on the road with the tougher test I'd assume and Washington is right where they need to be, at home, a 3/1 or better favorite to win vs the Canadiens.
Montreal at Washington
After spending several overnight hours on an airport tarmac because of weather and customs delays, Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau found a bit of a silver lining. “Better fog than ash,” he quipped. True, the Capitals aren’t among the thousands whose lives have been disrupted because of flight cancellations following the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, but an unexpected travel adventure did put a kink in Thursday’s preparation for Game 5 of Washington’s first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens. Given that his players stayed up virtually all night trying to get home from Wednesday’s Game 4, Boudreau had little choice but to cancel practice. “It was a pretty long night, but we made it through it,” said right wing Eric Fehr, one of only three players hanging around the practice facility at midday. “It’s going to be good getting a little bit of sleep today. (FULL PREVIEW) ”The Capitals, with a 3-1 lead, can wrap up the series Friday. Now they have even more incentive to do so. “We don’t want to get on the plane again and go back to Montreal,” defenseman Joe Corvo said.
Boston at Buffalo
Coach Lindy Ruff spoke softly on the day after one of the most difficult losses in Buffalo Sabres history. He was ruffled still, maybe, but optimistic nonetheless. The game was right there. We have to finish,” Ruff said Thursday while the Sabres practiced at HSBC Arena. “Our key players are going to have to make a difference, and The Sabres suffered a crushing defeat Wednesday night in Boston, losing 3-2 in double overtime to the Bruins on a power-play goal by former Sabres star Miroslav Satan (FULL PREVIEW) to fall behind 3-1 in the seven-game series. What made the loss so tough was that Boston got the decisive power play in the second extra period when the Sabres were caught with too many men on the ice. Buffalo enters Game 5 at home on Friday night on the brink of elimination despite having trailed for less than 20 minutes in the first four games. The Sabres were 31-6-4 in the regular season when scoring first and are 1-3 in this series, and they were 30-0-0 when entering the third period with a lead during the season and are 1-2 against Boston after squandering a 2-0 lead in their latest setback. “It’s a little bit frustrating. In two of the four games we’ve been up by two goals,” Sabres captain Craig Rivet said. “We’ve been a real, real solid team all season long playing with the lead, playing with confidence. We’ve hit a bit of adversity right now, something we’re going to try to battle through. They haven’t yet. We know with our goaltender we can crawl back.”