Alumni In The Playoffs - 2011

[Trotsky]

Waaah, waaah.

That's an awesome Tim Thomas impression.

You should add a Facebook widget to the eLF so I can click "Like".

Must be awesome being stuck in the 90s. Omg did you see that new Seinfeld episode??

There was no such thing as a "Like" button in the '90s.  :-}

But the '50s were a different story

There was a Like... in the 60's, too.

[billhoward]

Sharks knock out Detroit in 7 games. Incredibly high-energy third period. Douglas Murray comes close to getting a wraparound goal. Detroit takes 1 goal lead into third, scores, Detroit comes back late with a goal, San Jose holds off the charge. Final 4-3. On to Vancouver Sunday for San Jose in the western finals.

[RichH]

Sharks knock out Detroit in 7 games. Incredibly high-energy third period. Douglas Murray comes close to getting a wraparound goal. Detroit takes 1 goal lead into third, scores, Detroit comes back late with a goal, San Jose holds off the charge. Final 4-3. On to Vancouver Sunday for San Jose in the western finals.

Correction: San Jose took the lead into the third. But that didn't really mean a whole lot the past week... Until tonight.

Go ahead and ask Google if it's possible for sharks (the animal) to choke. Try and find a non-hockey related answer.

[Josh '99]

NHL

As mentioned above, though it (naturally) turned into a nailbiter in the end, Douglas Murray and the Sharks held off a late charge from the Red Wings to win 3-2 last night and the series 4-3.  Murray had two shots on goal, five blocked shots and five hits, one of them an absolute crusher in the first period.  Devin Setoguchi scored the Sharks' first goal and assisted on the third, both also assisted by Dan Boyle (Miami), sandwiched around an unassisted tally by Logan Couture.  Pavel Datsyuk scored for the Red Wings in the third to make it a one-goal game, a ridiculous backhand from a tight angle that picked the far top corner over Antti Niemi's shoulder.  The Sharks will take on the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference Finals, starting in Vancouver Sunday night at 8pm EDT on Vs.

AHL

The first game of the AHL Eastern Conference Semifinal between Colin Greening's Binghamton Senators and Riley Nash's Charlotte Checkers was a shootout that saw both starting goalies removed from the game (and maybe subsequently put back in to replace their backups; the times don't quite add up).  The Senators led 4-3 at the end of the first period and 5-3 at the end of the second, allowed a goal early in the third that brought the game back to 5-4, then scored twice more to arrive at the 7-4 final; 11 different players scored the game's 11 goals.  Riley was named the game's third star with a power play goal and two assists on three shots on goal in a losing effort; Greening was +1 with no points or shots on goal.  Erik Condra (Notre Dame), Kaspars Daugavins and Andre Benoit each had a goal and two assists for the Sens, and Ryan Potulny (Minnesota) scored his 11th goal of the playoffs, the most by any player thus far.  The series continues tonight in Charlotte, then heads to Binghamton for the middle three games.

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs are set to take on the Houston Aeros in the AHL Western Conference final, starting with games tonight and Sunday afternoon in Houston.

[Jordan 04]

Perhaps it's because I tend to look for him on the ice, but it seemed to me that #3 received an awful lot of ice time last night for the Sharks in the final 5 minutes, from final the penalty kill through to the final buzzer. A testament to the reliable defender Murray has become at the NHLlevel.

[Josh '99]

Perhaps it's because I tend to look for him on the ice, but it seemed to me that #3 received an awful lot of ice time last night for the Sharks in the final 5 minutes, from final the penalty kill through to the final buzzer. A testament to the reliable defender Murray has become at the NHLlevel.

You're correct, and it's not terribly surprising since a lot of the Sharks' defenders are puck-movers (Ian White, Jason Demers, Niclas Wallin) rather than people-movers like Murray.  According to the ice time summary, from 14:57 (when Torrey Mitchell took a slashing minor) until the end of the third period Murray played five shifts totaling 3:07, including 1:20 during the minor penalty.  For comparison, in the same 5:03 interval:

Dan Boyle 4 shifts, 2:45
Marc-Edouard Vlasic 4 shifts, 2:43
Wallin 3 shifts, 1:12
Demers 1 shift, 0:19
White 0 shifts

It's pretty clear who the defensemen are that Todd McLellan wants on the ice when the Sharks are protecting a lead.  Of the six, Murray is the only real stay-at-home defenseman, and he's good at what he does; James Mirtle of The Globe And Mail ranked him the 15th best defensive defenseman in the NHL this season.  It's also worth noting that Murray had two of his five blocked shots during that last 5:03 of the game.

[scoop85]

Perhaps it's because I tend to look for him on the ice, but it seemed to me that #3 received an awful lot of ice time last night for the Sharks in the final 5 minutes, from final the penalty kill through to the final buzzer. A testament to the reliable defender Murray has become at the NHLlevel.

You're correct, and it's not terribly surprising since a lot of the Sharks' defenders are puck-movers (Ian White, Jason Demers, Niclas Wallin) rather than people-movers like Murray.  According to the ice time summary, from 14:57 (when Torrey Mitchell took a slashing minor) until the end of the third period Murray played five shifts totaling 3:07, including 1:20 during the minor penalty.  For comparison, in the same 5:03 interval:

Dan Boyle 4 shifts, 2:45
Marc-Edouard Vlasic 4 shifts, 2:43
Wallin 3 shifts, 1:12
Demers 1 shift, 0:19
White 0 shifts

It's pretty clear who the defensemen are that Todd McLellan wants on the ice when the Sharks are protecting a lead.  Of the six, Murray is the only real stay-at-home defenseman, and he's good at what he does; James Mirtle of The Globe And Mail ranked him the 15th best defensive defenseman in the NHL this season.  It's also worth noting that Murray had two of his five blocked shots during that last 5:03 of the game.

Great and meaningful stats.  Murray's progression from a 6/7 defensemen to a top shut-down guy has been remarkable.

[Josh '99]

Well hello there.  It's been a while.  Would you like some updates?

NHL

Stop me if you've heard this one before.  In game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Douglas Murray and the Sharks held a 2-1 lead going into the third period, but gave up goals 1:19 apart to Kevin Bieksa (Bowling Green) and Henrik Sedin and lost the game 3-2.  Murray was even with a high-sticking minor, three blocked shots and three hits.  Sedin was the game's first star with an assist on Bieksa's goal in addition to scoring his own, and Sharks goalie Antti Niemi was the second star after allowing the three goals on 38 shots.  Game 2 is tomorrow night in Vancouver at 9pm EDT, and will be televised nationally on Vs.  

AHL

Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators ran their lead over Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers in the Eastern Conference Final to two games to none with a 3-0 win in Charlotte on Friday night.  Greening was +1 with three shots on goal; Nash was even with no shots on goal, and took a slashing minor and a roughing minor.  Ryan Potulny (Minnesota) continued to show a hot scoring touch for the Senators with two more goals, one during the power play resulting from Nash's slashing penalty; both goals were assisted by Ryan Keller, who leads the AHL playoffs with 13 assists, and whose 19 points so far in the playoffs trail only Potulny (22).  Robin Lehner stopped all 35 shots in the Binghamton net, while Mike Murphy stopped 28 of 31 for Charlotte.  The middle three games of the series will be contested in Binghamton tonight, tomorrow night and Saturday night.  

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs trail 2-0 in the Western Conference Final after losing the first two games to the Houston Aeros by one-goal margins.  On Friday, the Bulldogs lost 2-1 courtesy of goals from Chad Rau (Colorado College) and Jed Ortmeyer (Michigan); Mathieu Carle scored the Bulldogs' first and only goal of the night with just 51 seconds left in the third period.  Matt Hackett stopped 38 of 39 shots in the Houston net and was named the game's first star.  Nash was even with one shot on goal.  On Sunday, the game looked to be tied 1-1 headed to the third period until Marco Scandella's power play goal with 10 seconds left gave the Aeros the intermission lead.  Colton Gillies notched an insurance goal early in the period, and while Ryan Russell subsequently cut the Bulldogs' deficit to one, they were unable to score the equalizer and the game ended 3-2.  Nash had an assist on Gabriel Dumont's goal that tied the game in the second period, two shots on goal, and a first-period tripping penalty.  Russell (1 G, 1 A) had two points for the Bulldogs, while Jared Spurgeon (2 A) had two for the Aeros.  The series continues with games in Hamilton tonight, tomorrow night and Friday night.

[Josh '99]

Updates from a bad night for the Nash brothers...

NHL

Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks take on the Vancouver Canucks in game 2 of the Western Conference Finals tonight at 9pm EDT on Vs.

AHL

Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators convincingly defeated Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers in their first home game of the Eastern Conference finals; their 7-1 win has them up 3-0 in the series and on the verge of a trip to the Calder Cup Finals.  The Sens led a fairly competitive 3-1 game after two periods before exploding for four unanswered goals in the third.  Greening unfortunately didn't get involved in the scoring, registering a modest +1 with two shots on goal; he also was assessed a first-period fighting major for dropping the gloves with Oskar Osala after Osala boarded a Binghamton player.  Nash was -2 with two shots on goal.  Zack Smith took the spotlight away from Ryan Potulny (Minnesota) for a night with a four-point night including a hat trick; Ryan Keller (1 G, 1 A), Kaspars Daugavins (2 A) and Jared Cowen (2 A) each had two points for the Sens, and Bobby Butler (UNH) notched his 10th goal of the playoffs.  Jon Matsumoto (Bowling Green) had the only goal for Charlotte.  Robin Lehner was solid in the Binahtmon net, stopping 37 of 38 shots including 26 of 27 in the first two periods while the game was still close.  Mike Murphy started in goal for the Checkers and played about the first two and a half periods, allowing five goals on 29 shots before being pulled; replacement Justin Pogge allowed the Sens' final two goals on just three shots.  The Sens will attempt to complete the sweep in Binghamton tonight.

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs lost another one-goal game and now trail the Houston Aeros 3-0 in the Western Conference Final.  Nash was -1 in the game, a 3-2 loss for the Bulldogs in which all the goals were scored before six minutes of the second period had elapsed.  Houston captain Jon DiSalvatore (Providence) scored twice, first giving the Aeros a 1-0 lead and then tallying a power play goal early in the second to break a 2-2 tie and yield the final scoreline; Patrick O'Sullivan assisted on both of DiSalvatore's goals.  Each team had 27 shots on goal in the game, with Houston goalie Matt Hackett outperforming his Hamilton counterpart Drew MacIntyre by just enough to earn the victory.  The Bulldogs will have a lot of work to do if they want to make the series of it, but will have their home crowd behind them tonight, and again on Friday if they're able to avoid the sweep.

[Josh '99]

NHL

It wasn't a great night for Douglas Murray and the Sharks, as they lost 7-3 to Vancouver and now trail the Western Conference Finals two games to none.  The game was tied 2-2 after the first period, and the Canucks led 3-2 after two, but a third-period offensive explosion put the Canucks ahead 7-2 before the Sharks added a late consolation goal.  Murray was -3 with two shots on goal and six hits.  For the second consecutive game, Kevin Bieksa (Bowling Green) had a big goal, putting the Canucks ahead 3-2 in the second period; he also fought Patrick Marleau and added an assist in the third to complete his Gordie Howe hat trick.  Chris Higgins (Yale) (1 G, 2 A), Henrik Sedin (3 A), and Dan Hamhuis (3 A) all had three points for the Canucks, and Daniel Sedin had a pair of goals.  The Sharks will hope to rebound in front of their home crowd in game 3, Friday at 9pm EDT on Vs.

AHL

Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators completed their sweep of Riley Nash and the Charlotte Checkers last night, winning 4-3 in overtime to advance to the Calder Cup Finals; they've come a long way from needing to win three games in a row to advance out of the first round.  Credit where credit is due to AHL.com for coming up with the headline "Broom(e) County".  Greening was -1 with three shots on goal; Nash had three shots of goal on his own, and a hooking minor during which the Sens scored their first goal.  Binghamton captain Ryan Keller scored the clinching goal 13:05 into overtime; Ryan Potulny (Minnesota) and Andre Benoit each had a goal and an assist for the Sens.  Chris Terry scored two of the three Checkers goals, including the one that tied the game with 1:24 left in the third period to send it to overtime.  

The Sens' opponents in the Calder Cup Finals will be...  well, not so fast, Houston.  The Hamilton Bulldogs responded to their 3-0 series deficit with a dominating performance in game 4, outshooting the Aeros 40-15 enroute to an 8-1 laugher.  Brendon Nash was unfortunately out of the lineup and missed the fun.  I haven't been able to find any information on why he missed the game, but given that the Bulldogs had previously been dressing seven defensemen, and that things worked out so well for their game 4 lineup, I'm inclined to guess he might not play in game 5 either.  Dustin Boyd led the way for the Bulldogs with two goals and two assists, and Aaron Palushaj (Michigan) (1 G, 2 A), Nigel Dawes (2 G), Kyle Klubertanz (Wisconsin) (2 A) and Ryan White (2 A) all had multiple-point nights, with White also adding 29 penalty minutes to a crowded stat line.  The Bulldogs will look to build on their momentum from last night's win in game 5 on Friday night.

[Josh '99]

NHL

Douglas Murray and the Sharks rebounded from Wednesday's disappointing loss with a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks in last night's game 3, the first home game of the series for the Sharks.  However, Sharks coach Todd McLellan will have been disappointed to see the Sharks again jump out to a big lead (3-0 after the first period, 4-1 midway through the third) only to allow their opponents to rebound and close it to a one-goal deficit.  Murray was even with one shot on goal, five blocked shots and one hit, and was named the game's third star for his efforts.  Joe Thornton assisted on three of the Sharks' goals, while Patrick Marleau scored twice and added an assist and Dan Boyle (Miami) had a power play goal and an assist as well.  The Sharks will attempt to even the series in front of their home crowd tomorrow at 3pm EDT on NBC.

AHL

Brendon Nash was back in the lineup for the Hamilton Bulldogs, who beat the Houston Aeros last night to cut their series deficit to 3-2.  Nash assisted on the first-period goal by Paul Zanette (Niagara), and was +1 with two shots on goal.  Ryan White, with two assists for the Bulldogs, was the game's only multiple-point scorer.  Drew MacIntyre stopped 31 of 33 shots in the Hamilton net; Matt Hackett responded to being pulled from Wednesday's game with a respectable effort in goal for the Aeros.  The series heads back to Houston for games 6 and (if necessary) 7, with the next game scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

[KeithK]

Murray gets a front page feature story on ESPN.com this afternoon:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2011/columns/story?columnist=lebrun_pierre&id=6574394

[Josh '99]

NHL

Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks lost 4-2 in front of their home crowd yesterday afternoon, and are now on the brink of being eliminated in the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive season.  In yesterday's game, Murray was -1 with a delay of game penalty, five shots on goal, two blocked shots and four hits.  Murray's uncharacteristically high five shots on goal were actually the second-most of any player in the game, and in fact his shots on goal combined with defensive partner Dan Boyle's nine were more than the Canucks had the entire game (13); unfortunately, and also uncharacteristically, Murray was on the ice for three of Vancouver's four goals, and in the penalty box for the fourth.  The Sharks were undone, in part, by a particularly ugly stretch of the second period, which, in short, looked like this:

8:15  Dany Heatley (Wisconsin) high sticking minor, Vancouver 5x4, game tied
9:05  Torrey Michell (Vermont) hooking minor, Vancouver 5x3, game tied
9:15  Ryan Kesler (Ohio State) 5x3 PPG, Heatley out of the box, Vancouver 5x4, Vancouver up 1-0
10:39  San Jose too many men served, Vancouver 5x3, Vancouver up 1-0
10:55  Sami Salo 5x3 PPG, Mitchell out of the box, Vancouver 5x4, Vancouver up 2-0
11:01  Murray delay of game penalty, Vancouver 5x3, Vancouver up 2-0
11:11  Salo 5x3 PPG, Vancouver 5x4, Vancouver up 3-0

It takes some exceedingly ugly hockey to surrender three 5x3 goals in less than two minutes, and that stretch may well turn out to doom the Sharks' season.  On offense, it was a Sedin show for the Canucks:  Henrik assisted on all four Vancouver goals and twin brother Daniel assisted on three.  Sami Salo scored two of the Canucks' three power play goals, as noted above, and assisted on Kesler's as well.  After Vancouver went up 4-0 the Sharks did attempt a third-period rally to get the score back to 4-2, but were unable to get it closer than that and now trail the series 3-1.  Roberto Luongo made 33 of 35 saves in the Vancouver net, while Antti Niemi stopped just 9 of 13 for San Jose.  The series continues in Vancouver tomorrow night, 9pm EDT on Vs., and the Sharks will have to win three games in a row, two of them on the road, if they want to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

AHL

Speaking of winning three games in a row, Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs have done just that, and are now tied 3-3 in the Western Conference Finals against the Houston Aeros.  In game 6, the Bulldogs trailed 1-0 and 2-1, came back both times to take a 4-2 lead, surrendered that lead by conceding twice within the last ten minutes of the third period, then eventually won it in double overtime on a goal by Nigel Dawes.  Nash had one shot on goal and an early hooking minor, during which Chad Rau (Colorado College) scored the Aeros' first goal.  Andreas Engqvist and Dawes each had two goals for the Bulldogs, Dustin Boyd had a goal and an assist, and Frederic St. Denis had two assists; Warren Peters and Colton Gillies each had two assists for the Aeros.  Drew MacIntyre had a huge game in the Bulldogs' net, stopping 57 of 61 shots over almost 90 minutes of hockey.  The teams will meet once more with a trip to the finals on the line tomorrow night in Houston.  

For those of you who are in Central New York, the Binghamton Senators are selling three-game packages for tickets to their home games in the Calder Cup Finals, which are priced reasonably (in my opinion, anyway) at between $65 and $70 for the three-game set depending on where the seats are located.  While you might not get to see Brendon Nash, this could be your last chance to see Colin Greening play for the B-Sens given that his new contract is one-way, as discussed upthread.  However, if you're not a Sens fan, you might want to wait until individual game tickets go on sale once their opponent is set, as the third ticket will be refunded in the form of a gift certificate toward the purchase of team merchandise or future tickets in the event that the third game isn't played.

[Josh '99]

And then there was one...  :-/

NHL

Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks were eliminated by the Vancouver Canucks last night, losing the game 3-2 in double overtime and the series 4-1.  This is the second year in a row that the Sharks have lost the Western Conference Finals.  Once again, San Jose found themselves unable to hold a late lead; Devin Setoguchi's goal gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead early in the third period, but Ryan Kesler (Ohio State) tied the game with just 16 seconds to play, and Kevin Bieksa (Bowling Green) won it after 30:18 of bonus hockey.  The Sharks once again outshot the Canucks by a large margin, but Roberto Luongo stopped 52 of 54 in the Vancouver net while Antti Niemi saved just 31 of 34 for San Jose; if I may briefly editorialize, I think goaltending will be something of a question mark for the Sharks heading into the offseason.  In addition to the presumed frustration with their inability to hold a lead, the Sharks will be unhappy to have lost on a fluky goal.  Intercepting a clearing attempt, Bieksa's defensive partner Alex Edler tried to keep the puck in the Canucks' offensive zone by dumping it from the right point into the corner.  However, before the puck could get there it hit a stanchion somewhere around the hash marks and caromed directly to Bieksa in the high slot; Bieksa shot right away and beat Niemi, who was facing toward the corner where he expected the puck to be, for the series-clinching goal.  Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin) had two assists for the Sharks; Edler (2 A), Henrik Sedin (2 A) and Alex Burrows (1 G, 1 A) each had two points for the Canucks.  Murray was, for the second consecutive game, on the ice for multiple goals against (more specifically, both of the Canucks' regulation goals); on the night he was -2 with 2 shots on goal, 4 blocked shots and 4 hits.  

AHL

Brendon Nash and the Hamilton Bulldogs were also eliminated from the playoffs last night, losing game 7 of the Western Conference Finals 4-3.  The Houston Aeros jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals 9 seconds apart at 7:03 and 7:12 of the first period, allowed the Bulldogs to tie the game within the next 6:09, took another lead early in the second, were tied again at 3-3 midway through the period, and eventually scored the winner with just 1:13 to play in the third.  Nash was -1 with no shots or penalties.  Mathieu Carle (1 G, 1 A), Nigel Dawes (2 A) and Dustin Boyd (1 G, 1 A) each had two points for the Bulldogs; Justin Falk (2 A), Patrick O'Sullivan (2 A) and Casey Wellman (UMass-Amherst) (2 G) each had two points for the Aeros.  Jon DiSalvatore (Providence) scored the clinching goal late in the third period.  

The Aeros will take on Colin Greening and the Binghamton Senators in the Calder Cup Finals.  The Senators will host games the middle three games of the series next Wednesday 6/1, Friday 6/3 and (if necessary) Saturday 6/4.  Individual game tickets go on general sale tomorrow morning; more information is available here for those who are interested in attending.

[CowbellGuy]

Murray did have that monster open-ice hit on Kesler at least. The GWG was pretty fluky. It took such a weird bounce, Bieksa was the only one who actually knew where it was, including the refs (and Luongo, for that matter), mostly because it just landed at his feet. His shot was pretty terrible. Bieksa more or less whiffed on the shot, too, and it wobbled and bounced its way into the net just inside the post. I'm not sure I can blame Niemi (or anyone else on the ice) for that goal. Some of the others, however...

Here's that hit: http://video.sharks.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=-5&id=115594