April 26, 2003
NHL Playoff Roundup
We got another OT thriller out in the Pacific Northwest; meanwhile, back East, the Senators shook off some rust in time to down the Flyers.
Canucks 4 Wild 3, OT: Now this is the sort of OT game I could stand to see a few more of. With the Canucks down 3-2 with only 1.2 seconds remaining, Vancouver's Matt Cooke banged the puck in to tie the score at 3. Then, only 3:42 into OT, Minnesota native Trent Klatt scored to give Vancouver the win.
If every OT game I saw was like this, I wouldn't ever talk about reforming playoff OT. If you don't like the idea of 2-10 minute periods followed by a shootout, then why not simply adopt the regular season format, and play OT with four skaters a side?
Canucks lead series, 1-0.
Senators 4 Flyers 2: I knew the Flyers didn't have a shot at winning this game, but not quite this way. If there was any doubt that the Flyers would have as hard a time solving Senators goalie Patrick Lalime as in the last year's playoff, it was dispelled when the Flyers scored on their first two shots. What came next? Some might say the Flyers ran out of emotional gas. Others might say the Senators simply demonstrated their superiority. It might have been a little bit of both. We'll find out for sure when they play Game Two on Sunday.
Senators lead series, 1-0.
POSTSCRIPT: Over in Finland, Denmark defeated the U.S. at the World Hockey Championships, 5-2. The Danes hadn't played at the World Championships since 1949 -- a year when they lost 47-0 to Canada. The U.S. team carries 12 NHL players -- but very, very few whose names you might recognize.
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