Crosby eager to get Round 2 rolling (and other hockey news)

[Forkboy]

PITTSBURGH -- Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby was ready Friday morning for this second-round series against the Montreal Canadiens to begin.

He will get his wish Friday night when these teams face off in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at Mellon Arena (7 p.m. ET, Versus, CBC). Then, the time for talking about what might happen in the series will give way to the players writing the history of the series with their actions on the ice.

But before that could happen, Crosby had one more pre-series media session to get through. He discussed the Olympics and the likelihood that his line will be matched against Hal Gill, a teammate last year. He also discussed the keys for Pittsburgh on the power play as it goes against a penalty kill that allowed just one goal in 33 attempts against Washington. Finally, he discussed the playoff pedigree of Max Talbot, who had the Stanley Cup-winning goal against Detroit in last year's Game 7 and also scored a huge shorthanded goal in the Round 1 victory against Ottawa this year. Oh yeah, by the way, Talbot hails from Montreal.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=527696



Can Habs pull off another upset vs. Sid, Pens?

This ought to be a wild one if for no other reason than combining Sidney Crosby, a graduate of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Canadian hero, with all the passion and lunacy that is hockey in Montreal.

And based on the first-round upset of the Washington Capitals, you can make a strong case that the legendary "ghosts" of the fabled Montreal Forum have made their way to Bell Centre.

The regular-season series, won 3-1 by the Pens, may not tell us a lot about this series since the Canadiens are on quite a roll thanks in large part to the stirring play of goalie Jaroslav Halak, who stopped everything but the kitchen sink in the last three games against the Capitals. The Penguins are an equally talented offensive team thanks to Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin and Alexei Ponikarovsky. They also have playmakers on defense like Sergei Gonchar and Kris Letang, so Halak should feel right at home, setting the stage for another dramatic series.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=527493



PK vital to success in playoffs

Penalty killing is not glamorous work, and it doesn't enhance individual statistics. It's about taking away time and space on the ice and blocking shots. It's about keeping the score where it is during a two-minute onslaught, attempting to steal away momentum as play resumes.

It's about winning games in the playoffs. Latest example? Thursday night in San Jose, where the Sharks converted 2-of-6 power plays in a 4-3 Game 1 win while Detroit went 0-for-5 with a man advantage.

"Five on four, you just want to outwork those guys, keep better energy and try to create momentum off the penalty kill if you kill it," said defenseman Brooks Orpik, one of Pittsburgh's leading penalty killers and shot blockers whose team resumes action tonight in Game 1 (7 ET, Versus, CBC, RDS) against the surprising Montreal Canadiens (who, to the point, have worked a successful power play this season). The Penguins had the NHL's ninth-best success rate at killing penalties in the regular season, checking in at 84.1 percent.

On the other side of the ice, the Canadiens posted a severely restrictive number in their first-round series against Alex Ovechkin and President's Trophy winner Washington. The Caps scored on one--as in singular--of 33 power-play opportunities in the seven-game series

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=527683


Laviolette's childhood passion takes a back seat

PHILADELPHIA -- Long before Peter Laviolette became coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, he was an avid Boston Bruins fan.

But before Flyers fans begin picketing in front of the office of General Manager Paul Holmgren, there's a perfectly good explanation. And that's a good thing considering Laviolette's Flyers must battle those Bruins in an Eastern Conference Semifinal showdown beginning Saturday (12:30 p.m. ET, NBC, TSN) at TD Garden in Boston.

Growing up in the Boston suburb of Franklin, Mass., Laviolette was extremely passionate about hockey in Beantown. He played collegiately at Westfield (Mass.) State, notching 43 goals and 77 points in four seasons as a defenseman from 1982-83 through 1985-86.

"My allegiance hasn't been in Boston since I left as an assistant coach, and that's not being disrespectful to Boston, it's just the nature of coaching. When I was coaching the Islanders, I could care less about Boston. Those days are gone and I'm not a kid anymore. Bobby Orr still doesn't wear No. 4 on the ice out there -- those days are gone."
-- Peter Laviolette
"I was a kid growing up in Massachusetts who played hockey my whole life since I was 4-years-old," Laviolette said. "But don't misinterpret my statements here. I just so happen to be a huge Flyers fan now. But when I was a kid, Boston was the team I watched.

"It was all about (Bobby) Orr, (Phil) Esposito, (Ken) Hodge, (Wayne) Cashman and (Rick) Middleton."

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=527675


Home ice not an advantage in this year's playoffs

Teams spend 82 games battling to make sure they have home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This year, they shouldn't have bothered.

Home teams had a dreadful time in the opening round, winning just 22 games and losing 27 while being outscored 152-135. That's a big swing from the last couple years. In 2008, home teams went 27-21 in the opening round, while they were 24-20 last year.

The two teams that had home ice for Game 7 -- Washington and Phoenix -- both lost. In fact, seven of the eight teams that won in the opening round clinched their series on the road. The Boston Bruins (against Buffalo) were the only team to close their first-round series in front of their home fans.

Barring a major swing, home teams will have a hard time matching their performance in last year's playoffs -- they were 52-35 (.598), the fourth year in a row that home teams' winning percentage in the playoff had improved. That also was the best showing by home teams since the current intra-conference format was adopted in 1994.

Home teams haven't finished below .500 in the playoffs since going 42-44 in 1999 -- the only time that's happened under the current format. This could be the second -- although San Jose did get home teams off to a better start in the second round with a 4-3 defeat of Detroit on Thursday night.

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Making the sacrifice -- As good as Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak was in stopping 131 of 134 shots in the last three games against Washington, he owes a debt of gratitude to his teammates.

Though the Capitals had 292 shots on goal (43 per game) in the seven-game series, Montreal players blocked another 182 (26 per game), including an incredible 41 in Game 7. In the deciding game, the Habs blocked more Washington shots than they took at goal (38, only 16 of which ended up as shots on goal)

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=527673