Alumni in the Playoffs - 2010

[French Rage]

Murray scores his first career playoff goal into an empty-net to finish off the Sharks 5-2 win over Colorado.  San Jose takes the series 4-2.

Add to that 2 assists and a +3 for the game, all coming in the 3rd period!

[Josh '99]

Updates:

As mentioned upthread, Douglas Murray and the Sharks won their series over the Avalanche in six games, blowing out the Avs 5-0 in San Jose on Thursday and then clinching the series with a 5-2 win last night.  Murray had an assist and was +2 in Thursday's game, and then an empty net goal and two assists (one also coming on an ENG, the other on Joe Pavelski's game-winning goal) and was +3, though he was probably also guilty of puck-watching on the Avs' first goal.  Because the NHL re-seeds between rounds and the other three Western Conference series are ongoing, their second-round opponent is still uncertain; it could be the Coyotes, the Red Wings, the Kings or the Predators.

Ryan O'Byrne remained in the lineup and saw more ice time (16:53 vs. 13:05 the previous game) as his Canadiens beat the Capitals 2-1 on Friday.  O'Byrne had no points, an even +/-, 3 shots on goal and a holding minor.  The Canadiens still trail the series 3-2, but have game 6 at home in Montreal tomorrow night; the game will be televised on Vs.  

Raymond Sawada's Texas Stars completed a four-game sweep of the Rockford IceHogs with a 4-2 win in Illinois on Friday night.  Sawada again found the scoresheet with an assist (on the Stars' series-clinching empty-netter) and was +1.  Their second-round series will be against the Milwaukee Admirals or the Chicago Wolves, who are tied 3-3 and play game 7 in Chicago tomorrow night.  The Stars will have home-ice advantage in the next series if Milwaukee wins, but not if Chicago wins.  

Ryan Vesce was still out of the lineup as his Worcester Sharks began their Division Final series against the Manchester Monarchs with a 4-3 win in Worcester this afternoon.  Game 2 will also be in Worcester on Wednesday night.

Mark McCutcheon, Evan Barlow and the Idaho Steelheads also swept their first playoff series, eliminating the Utah Grizzlies with a 4-1 win in Utah on Friday night.  Barlow had a goal in the clincher, and McCutcheon was named the game's second star for tallying a goal and two assists (one on Barlow's goal).  They'll start their Conference Final series against the Stockton Thunder on Friday night in Idaho.

Unfortunately, if you've been paying attention, you know that means that the Thunder eliminated Sasha Pokulok's Bakersfield Condors in the Conference Semifinal series.  The Thunder took game 4 6-2 on Friday night and game 5 7-4 last night to wrap up a 4-1 series victory.  Pokulok was -1 with a fighting major on Friday, and had one shot on goal in an otherwise empty personal scoresheet on Saturday.

David McKee was back in the lineup as the backup goalie for the Allen Americans in the first two games of the CHL championship series against the Rapid City Rush.  The Americans won game 1 4-1 on Friday night and lost game 2 5-4 in overtime last night, both on the road.  The series continues with three games in Allen this Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and (if necessary) will conclude with two more games in Rapid City next Tuesday and Friday.  If you're curious, the goalie McKee is backing up is 27-year-old Chris Whitley, who played collegiately for Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario until 2008-09, and had a one-game cup of coffee for the AHL's Lake Erie Monsters earlier this season.

[scoop85]

O'Byrne just took a high-sticking penalty with 1:40 left leading 2-1.  Now :40 left with Washington's goalie out of net

[Rita]

O'Byrne just took a high-sticking penalty with 1:40 left leading 2-1.  Now :40 left with Washington's goalie out of net

Montreal hangs on and now will play Pittsburgh. Right before OB took that penalty, Sam Rosen gave OB a lot of praise about the quality minutes he had given the Montreal D, especially since the Habs were mainly going with 4 defensemen in the 3rd period. Ryan had just under 20 minutes (19:39) in ice time tonight.

[Rita]

Matt Moulson is guest host on The Daily Line, now on Versus. (now = Wed 4.28)

[cth95]

Matt Moulson is guest host on The Daily Line, now on Versus. (now = Wed 4.28)

I thought I recognized that guest commentator!

What a game.  It reminded me of another team I think some of us have seen:  score a couple opportunistic goals, bend but don't break and hang on for dear life with great defense and goaltending.

I can't believe I was rooting for the Habs, but now the B's have home ice against the Flyers and they will have Savard back!  Whooot ::rock::

(I just wish Bitz hadn't been traded.  He was a joy to watch with his tough work in the corners and behind the net.)

[ugarte]

What a game.  It reminded me of another team I think some of us have seen:  score a couple opportunistic goals, bend but don't break and hang on for dear life with great defense and goaltending.

They might win a series here and there but they'll never win it all with that strategy.

[Jim Hyla]

What a game.  It reminded me of another team I think some of us have seen:  score a couple opportunistic goals, bend but don't break and hang on for dear life with great defense and goaltending.

They might win a series here and there but they'll never win it all with that strategy.

Yeah, I don't know why they don't start recruiting some of those blue chip forwards. After all, they don't have to worry about scholarships.

[Jim Hyla]

O'Byrne just took a high-sticking penalty with 1:40 left leading 2-1.  Now :40 left with Washington's goalie out of net

Montreal hangs on and now will play Pittsburgh. Right before OB took that penalty, Sam Rosen gave OB a lot of praise about the quality minutes he had given the Montreal D, especially since the Habs were mainly going with 4 defensemen in the 3rd period. Ryan had just under 20 minutes (19:39) in ice time tonight.

and I'm sure he's the happiest that the Caps couldn't score.

[RatushnyFan]

O'Byrne had a nice shout out from the Vs announcers - he gave the team a lot of quality minutes.  Nearly 20 minutes in game 7, impressive.  I was surprised they called the penalty with less than 2 minutes remaining (even though it was a penalty), I thought there was an unwritten rule that you don't call penalties at that point in an elimination game.  It's not like his victim lost seven or eight teeth.

[Josh '99]

Updates, which thankfully get shorter as the playoffs proceed:

Douglas Murray and the Sharks will take on the fifth-seeded Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference semifinals; the Wings, who won Tuesday's game 7 in Phoenix 6-1 behind three points each from Henrik Zetterberg and future Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom, were the only lower seed in the West to advance win their first round series.  For what it's worth, Detroit won three of the four meetings between the two teams during the regular season.  Their series starts with tonight's only NHL playoff game, starting at 9pm EDT and to be televised live on Vs.  

Ryan O'Byrne and the Canadiens completed an improbable upset, becoming the first eight-seed in the history of the NHL playoffs to win a series against a one-seed after trailing the series three games to one when they beat the Capitals 2-1 in Washington last night.  (For the sake of goodwill, you should hug the next Capitals fan you see.)  O'Byrne took a late high-sticking minor after Harvard alum Dominic Moore scored to give the Habs a 2-0 lead, allowing the Capitals to play 6-on-4 for the last minute-plus, but the Canadiens were able to kill off the penalty to clinch their victory; hopefully, the penalty won't cloud the fact that O'Byrne has impressed since returning to the lineup in game 4.  In contrast to the West, in the Eastern Conference only one higher seed, the Penguins, won their first-round series; the Habs, as the eighth-seed, will play the Pens, with game 1 in Pittsburgh tomorrow night at 7pm EDT and also to be televised live on Vs.  Montreal and Pittsburgh met five times in the regular season, with the Habs winning twice and the Pens three times.

Both of the above series continue on Sunday, with Pittsburgh-Montreal set to be televised on NBC at 2pm EDT, and San Jose-Detroit following at 8pm EDT on Vs.

Raymond Sawada's Texas Stars will play the Chicago Wolves in the AHL Division Finals, after the Wolves won Monday night's game 7 against the Milwaukee Admirals by a 2-1 final score.  Their series starts in Chicago tomorrow night.

Ryan Vesce was out of the lineup once again last night as the Worcester Sharks fell in overtime 3-2 to the Manchester Monarchs, who are captained by St. Lawrence alum Drew Bagnall.  The series is now tied 1-1 and resumes in Manchester tomorrow night; I haven't seen any predictions about when Vesce might be able to return to the lineup.

As I previously mentioned, the Idaho Steelheads, featuring Mark McCutcheon and Evan Barlow, start their Conference Final series against the Stockton Thunder tomorrow night.

Doug Krantz and the Cincinnati Cyclones were left out of my last update; sorry about that.  Since I last mentioned them, the Cyclones lost game 4 of their series against the Charlotte Checkers 4-1, won game 5 2-1, lost game 6 on Tuesday night 3-0, and last night won game 7 on the road against the top-seeded Checkers 2-1.  Notre Dame alum Mark Van Guilder scored both goals for the Cyclones and Jeremy Smith made 33 saves in the clincher.  Krantz played all four games, had no points, was -2 with 5 shots on goal, and took no penalties.  There'll be no rest for the weary Cyclones, who've played four games in the last six days, as their American Conference Final against the Reading Royals starts with another pair of back-to-back games tomorrow and Saturday nights in Cincinnati.

Finally, last night David McKee's Allen Americans won the third game of the CHL championship series 5-2 last night in front of their home crowd, and now lead the series 2-1.  McKee once again backed up Chris Whitley, who made 35 saves on 37 shots, and the Americans were led offensively by Colton Yellow Horn's hat trick.  (Colton Yellow Horn is an awesome name.)

[judy]

(For the sake of goodwill, you should hug the next Capitals fan you see.)

Aww thanks

Can't say I didn't see it coming but really, as some of you heard from me last night, did it really have to be Dominic Moore? It would've hurt less (for me at least) had it be OB who scored that gwg but DMoore? ::bang::

[munchkin]

Sharks win the first game of the series with Detroit 4-3.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Versus announcers said Murray's nickname is Crankshaft.  What's that about?

[Lauren '06]

Versus announcers said Murray's nickname is Crankshaft.  What's that about?

Oh, I think it's more fun not knowing.