The Blackhawks will get to defend their Stanley Cup title after all after getting a little help from the Minnesota Wild. Minnesota, who did not beat the Dallas Stars in any of their 3 previous meetings, and did not score in the previous 2, scored 5 goals and upset Dallas 5-3. Colton Gillies scored his first NHL goal since December 19, 2008, and Antti Miettinen scored the game winner in the 3rd period for the Wild. Dallas's loss means that the Blackhawks, despite losing to Detroit today 4-3, will still move on as the 8th seed in the Western Conference. Here are your first round playoff matchups. Anyone else think it's weird that California has more teams in the playoffs than Canada does?
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Washington Capitals (1) vs New York Rangers (8)
Philadelphia Flyers (2) vs Buffalo Sabres (7)
Boston Bruins (3) vs Montreal Canadiens (6)
Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs Tampa Bay Lightning (5)
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Vancouver Canucks (1) vs Chicago Blackhawks (8)
San Jose Sharks (2) vs Los Angeles Kings (7)
Detroit Red Wings (3) vs Phoenix Coyotes (6)
Anaheim Ducks (4) vs Nashville Predators (5)
I think it was a good thing Marty Havlat didn't play; he probably would have been scoring in his own goal to keep the Hawks out!
ReplyDeleteBRING ON THE CANUCKS! I am sure Hawks fans are having a much easier time sleeping than the Cancucks fans this week..
Some reward for finishing with the best regular season record in the NHL. Congratulations! You get to take on the defending champs in the first round! Worst case scenario if you're a Canucks fan.
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