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The first round of the NHL playoffs are in the books and, for certain teams, the risks taken in goal were rewarded with series wins.
We experienced the roller coaster ride of perennial playoff chokers Vancouver, who managed to squeak past the Hawks, after coming within an eyelash of becoming the 2nd team in as many years to blow a 3-0 series lead. What looked like a cakewalk early, turned into every Canucks fans’ worst nightmare, as Head Coach Alain Vigneault struggled to motivate his troops to finish off the defending Stanley Cup Champions. His biggest gamble was taken in Game 6 in Chicago, where the desperate bench boss elected to start rookie netminder Cory Schneider in goal ahead of his struggling superstar, Roberto Luongo. That decision could have bottomed out like a US Poker site, but instead, it paid off – albeit one game later.
Tampa Bay advanced over the Penguins to win their first playoff series since raising the Stanley Cup in 2004. Much of their recent success needs to be attributed to their fearless GM Steve Yzerman, who took a huge gamble when he put his faith in the 41-year old Dwayne Roloson to lead the Lightning into the playoffs. Heck, you would’ve thought that Stevie Y was in a poker room when he placed that bet on Rollie. But the veteran netminder – who improved to 6-0 in his playoff career in elimination games – backstopped Tampa to an impressive Game 7 victory in Pittsburgh by pitching a 36-save shutout in his team’s 1-0 win.
And hats off to the NHL’s version of Mr. Houdini himself, Peter Laviolette, who somehow managed to escape the first round without having a true number 1 keeper to rely on. After it became clear early on that rookie G Sergei Bobrovsky was not ready for the playoff spotlight, Laviolette juggled Brian Boucher and Michael Leighton well enough to allow the Flyers to come back and defeat the Sabres in seven games.
We’ll see if lady luck remains on their side in Round 2.
