2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs

[slickdtc]

With this, I'll be controlling each team but will be playing only as the home team each game. I'm going to be using NHL 2k7 on the original XBOX (as it's the most up to date game I have ) and I dug up Flyermania's XBOX 2k7 sliders and I'll be using those in this. I don't really care too much about how it's going to play... I just want to play. Yes, rosters are horrible outdated as well.

As you already know, the bracket looks like this.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
[1] Boston Bruins
[8] Montreal Canadiens
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[2] Washington Capitals
[7] New York Rangers
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[3] New Jersey Devils
[6] Carolina Hurricanes
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[4] Pittsburgh Penguins
[5] Philadelphia Flyers

WESTERN CONFERENCE
[1] San Jose Sharks
[8] Anaheim Ducks
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[2] Detroit Red Wings
[7] Columbus Blue Jackets
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[3] Vancouver Canucks
[6] St. Louis Blues
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[4] Chicago Blackhawks
[5] Calgary Flames

Well, there it is. I'll be doing brief recaps of every game. Yes, I'm making this completely on a whim but of course, I aim to follow through to the final game. It's a minimum of 60 games played (if each series lasts 4 games, I don't want to think how many games it will be if these go to 7 games each), which is a heck of a task. But it should be fun.

Stay tuned for NHL Stanley Cup playoff action!

[slickdtc]

Montreal Makes Statement In Game 1



The Canadiens got a perfect outing from goalie Christobal Huet and Montreal upsets Boston with a 2-0 shutout in Game 1 to take a series edge.

Sheldon Souray notched both of the Habs goals on Hannu Toivonen and the Bruins just could not solve Huet, who turned away all 23 shots he faced.

Montreal leads series, 1-0.

[slickdtc]

Marleau, Brown Pace Sharks To Series Opening Win Over Ducks



If anyone had any questions about the Sharks playoff mettle, they can officially put them to rest now. The Sharks dropped a 7 goal bomb on the Ducks in their series opening victory at the HP Pavillion, which was rockin' as usual.

Patrick Marleau potted two goals, including what turned out to be the game winner, while Curtis Brown recorded a hat trick. Joe Thornton puts his critics to rest too, scoring once and assisting on another goal.

The first period was wild and crazy, as the frame ended with a total of 6 goals scored combined between the two teams. Anaheim had a lead 3 times, only to cough it up each time.

When San Jose took a lead in the second period they did not let up. Leading 4-3 midway through the 3rd period, Patrick Marleau wristed one from the hash marks past JS Giguere for his second goal of the game, a powerplay tally. Though Anaheim's Teemu Selanne atoned for his penalty with a goal that brought the Ducks to within one, Mike Grier and Brown tallied in the last 9 minutes to make it a final of 7-4 in favor of the Sharks.

San Jose leads the series, 1-0.

[slickdtc]

Clark's OT Goal Lifts Caps Over Rangers



It took an extra session to decide this one, but when all was said and done, the Washington Capitals delighted the home crowd with a 2-1 victory to take a 1-0 series lead.

Blair Betts put the Rangers up 1-0 late in the 1st period, and it looked like it would stay that way throughout the game. Henrik Lundqvist was absolutely stellar in net for the Rangers, facing 45 shots while his counterpart, Olaf Kolzig, was pretty good himself, turning away 24 of 25 scoring attempts.

Despite the large differential in shots, the Caps found themselves down 1-0 in the 3rd period. That all changed when Kris Beech drove to the net to chop in his own rebound, the first blemish on Lundqvist's game. It stayed 1-1 after regulation and we were in for our first overtime game of the playoffs.

The Washington Capitals made pretty quick work of the extra frame, scoring just 4:44 into the period. The refs were not hesitant to blow their whistles, calling 3 minor infractions in that time, but neither team could capitalize (including a Washington 5 on 3).

Chris Clark was the hero, backhanding a shot off the connection of the crossbar and post past the outstretched glove of Lundqvist as the Caps take Game 1, 2-1 in OT.

Washington leads the series, 1-0.

[slickdtc]

Red Wings Down Blue Jackets 4-3, Take 1-0 Series Lead



Columbus came out with a bang in its inaugural playoff game, but it wasn't enough to match the Red Wings experience in this game.

Sergei Fedorov, a former Red Wing himself, put the Jackets up early in the 1st period with a powerplay goal, but that advantage was wiped out when Tomas Holmstrom and Mikael Samuelsson both scored before the period ended to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead.

However, Nikolai Zherdev tied it up early in the second period, scoring on a breakaway after leaving the penalty box. But Kris Draper put Detroit back on top, beating Pascal LeClaire to the glove side for a 3-2 lead.

Pavel Datsyuk scored his first of the playoffs early in the 1st period and it looked like Detroit was on its way. But Manny Malholtra's goal at the 13:16 mark said otherwise. Unfortunately for Columbus, Duvie Westcott's penalty with 2 minutes to go spelled their doom as the Red Wings hang on for a 4-3 win in Game 1.

Detroit leads the series, 1-0.

[slickdtc]

Devils Comeback, Defeat Hurricanes, 3-1



The #6 seeded Carolina Hurricanes led for the majority of the game and seemed to be using New Jersey's famed trapping defense against the Devils themselves. But in the end it was undisciplined hockey that doomed them as the Devils comeback and win this one, 3-1 to take a 1-0 series lead.

Erik Cole scored the lone goal for the Canes, scoring in the first minute of the 2nd period. Cole's shot, from just inside the blue line, was a soft goal by goalie Martin Brodeur's standards.

It looked like that goal would stand up until the Devs got a powerplay early in the 3rd period and cashed in on it, with Zach Parise feeding Scott Gomez for a one-timer that beat Cam Ward to tie the game up at 1.

Minutes later, New Jersey found themselves on the powerplay again and capitalized again, with Gomez, usually the man setting up the goal, ripping one past Ward on a beautiful setup by Brian Gionta and Patrik Elias. The Devils had their first lead of the game near the midway point of the 3rd period.

The game did not end without drama, however. Carolina found themselves on a 2 man advantage with under 2 minutes left in the game on some ticky tacky calls (including one on Jay Pandolfo, one of the Devils best penalty killers). But Brodeur and Brian Rafalski came up big for the #3 seeded Devils. Brodeur expertly poked a puck away from Justin Williams to Rafalski, who dumped the puck. It was swatted at by a Canes player but ultimately landed back on Rafalski's stick, who skated it up ice and took a shot from the Canes blue line that found its way into the empty net as the Devils defeat the Canes in Game 1, 3-1.

New Jersey leads the series, 1-0.

[slickdtc]

Luongo, Canucks Shut Out Blues In Game 1



Roberto Luongo played his game and the Canucks kept the Blues off theirs as they defeat St. Lous, 2-0 in the opening game of this series.

Markus Naslund, with over 10 years of experience with the Vancouver Canucks, scored twice for the home team and that was all they needed as Luongo stopped all 22 shots he faced in the victory.

Vancouver leads the series, 1-0.

[GoldenJet]

Wow, this is pretty sick. Can't wait for the Pens series.