Hockey_Madness16
August 25th, 2011, 02:26 PM
(01) Carolina Hurricanes vs. Minnesota Wild (02)
Johnyboy vs. Hockey_Madness
Previous Match-Up
Game # 81
Carolina Hurricanes-[4] @ [7]-Minnesota Wild
The match-up between the league’s top-two teams was quite the high-scoring affair as the Coach HockeyMadness told his Wild to drift away from their usual defensive-minded system and try to match-up against Coach Johny’s Hurricanes’ explosive offense. The gamble worked out and they were able to come out on top with a 7-4 victory. The Wild received little-to-no scoring from their top-two lines but they received enough contribution from the rest of the line-up. Cal Clutterbuck (7-7-14) had a two-goal night along with two-point nights from John Madden (13-3-16), Clayton Stoner (1-9-10), Matt Cullen (14-11-25) and a three-assist night from Andrew Brunette (10-12-22). The Hurricanes received scoring from their big guns as Eric Staal (26-21-47), Erik Cole (11-10-21), Jussi Jokinen (31-16-47) and Tuomo Ruutu (9-13-22) all provided the four goals. No Hurricanes player had more than one point on the night however nine different players contributed on the score-sheet.
The Carolina Hurricanes carried their momentum from the Blackhawks’ series over to their Third Round Opponent, the Columbus Blue Jackets. The home fans in Carolina were ecstatic for this series to begin and the Hurricanes did not disappoint. They defeated the Blue Jackets with a convincing score of 5-3 in game one, leaving fans to celebrate a premature victory in this series as the Hurricanes headed over to Nationwide Arena for game two in Columbus, Ohio. They knew the Blue Jackets are very capable of easily taking game two, so Cam Ward and the Hurricanes’ defense stepped up to the challenge. The game remained tied 1-1 through regulation and was heading into overtime. With just a matter of seconds left in the overtime period, Hurricanes broke the ice and took the game 2-1 and the series along with it. That game could have gone either way and the Hurricanes realized it from their close encounter against the Blackhawks in game three. Cam Ward stood up to the challenge to face Steve Mason in a goaltending duel in game two. Ward and his Hurricanes came out on top and now will look forward to capturing the ultimate prize in this league: EBHL One vs. One Cup. Coach Johny is well-prepared for anything and his Hurricanes have been working hard the entire season to finish first. Anything short of a cup-victory will not only disappoint the Coach and the squad, but also the Hurricanes' fans and hockey fans everywhere because of how well this club has done.
The Minnesota Wild had quite the series in the third round against another opponent who had defeated them during the regular season. It’s been a playoff-nightmare for the Wild as first they had to pit themselves against the Sabres, who beat the Wild 7-2 in the regular season. As we all know, the Wild came out on top of a well-fought three-game series by both teams. However against the Flames, the Wild gave their fans a scare after the Flames dominated the Wild in their home turf with a score of 5-2 in game one. Miikka Kiprusoff was absolutely amazing and orchestrated this 5-2 win for the Flames while Backstrom, on the other end, let up a few questionable goals against his Finnish counterpart's team. Heading to the Scotiabank Saddledome arena for game two, the Wild jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the first 2 minutes of the game and then carried over a 4-1 lead in the third period. The game ended in the Wild’s favour as they took a 5-2 victory of their own in front of Calgary fans. In this game, Niklas Backstrom rose to the occasion and made several game-saving stops. Kiprusoff played amazing too but he had no chance on most of the goals. Both teams were now on the edge as they both have worked very hard to reach to this point and, heading back to Minnesota for game three, the Wild knew their fans were just as nervous as them. The Flames were able to break the ice early in the game as they took a 1-0 lead but the Wild quickly replied and tied it up at 1-1. This game was very up-and-down as the offensive units kept getting odd-man rushes on both sides. Defenses were pinching to get that next tie-breaking goal and causing odd-man rushes off bad turnovers. Both Kiprusoff and Backstrom made key saves to keep the game tied. Then the floodgates opened as the next two periods would see both teams combined for nine goals in two periods. The Wild came out on top of a frantic 7-4 win and took the series in three games again against one of their toughest opponents in the league. The Wild will be looking to get some much-needed rest before going up against the top team in the league.
Both teams have played each other before but may not remember each other’s playing styles very well. They’ll have enough time to familiarize with each other as this has now become a best-of-five series and the first team to reach three wins will win the series. Hurricanes sit in third place for highest GFA (3.86) and they lead the league in lowest GAA (1.86). The Wild have the highest GFA (4.38) but it’s their defensive numbers that are worrisome as they sit in 8th place for lowest GAA (2.88), below six teams that are already eliminated. What the Hurricanes need to do is expose the Wild’s punctured defense and get those early goals to shake Backstrom’s composure early in the series. The Wild became just the third higher-seeded team to drop game one but also became just the second team to win the series after dropping game one. Who was the other team to perform both of those same feats? The Hurricanes. So, while we’ve been emphasizing how important game one is, it might not even matter in this series. Game one could go in either team’s favour and even if it does, the other team can quickly rebound to turn the series around. Coach HockeyMadness has been trying to get his group to play strong defensively but they have not been able to do so in these playoffs. The Wild have to maintain their high-scoring offense if they want to win this series but still try their best to maintain defensive composure against the league's leading point-getters Staal and Jokinen. The Hurricanes have to continue pounding their opponents with their explosive offense and continue to jump to early leads. In the end, the ultimate deciding-factor in this series will be the coaching tactics and whatever types of offensive/defensive strategies each coach will be using to counter the other. It’s fitting that the top two teams in the league are now facing for the Championship and it will definitely be one to watch.
“We dropped game one against Calgary but we showed perseverance and took the next two games to win the series”, said Coach HockeyMadness of the Wild. “We didn’t let up even after giving up the first goal in game three and we just have to continue to do that against the Hurricanes because they are a strong, aggressive bunch and they are not going to stop after just scoring one or two goals.”
“What??? One more? I felt my last two rounds were like a championship series”, said Coach Johnyboy of the Hurricanes. “Well good luck to Coach HockeyMadness and it all comes down to the top 2 seeds in the finals. Can we have better scenario?”
PROJECTED PREDICTION:
HURRICANES IN 4
GOOD LUCK TO BOTH TEAMS!
Johnyboy vs. Hockey_Madness
Previous Match-Up
Game # 81
Carolina Hurricanes-[4] @ [7]-Minnesota Wild
The match-up between the league’s top-two teams was quite the high-scoring affair as the Coach HockeyMadness told his Wild to drift away from their usual defensive-minded system and try to match-up against Coach Johny’s Hurricanes’ explosive offense. The gamble worked out and they were able to come out on top with a 7-4 victory. The Wild received little-to-no scoring from their top-two lines but they received enough contribution from the rest of the line-up. Cal Clutterbuck (7-7-14) had a two-goal night along with two-point nights from John Madden (13-3-16), Clayton Stoner (1-9-10), Matt Cullen (14-11-25) and a three-assist night from Andrew Brunette (10-12-22). The Hurricanes received scoring from their big guns as Eric Staal (26-21-47), Erik Cole (11-10-21), Jussi Jokinen (31-16-47) and Tuomo Ruutu (9-13-22) all provided the four goals. No Hurricanes player had more than one point on the night however nine different players contributed on the score-sheet.
The Carolina Hurricanes carried their momentum from the Blackhawks’ series over to their Third Round Opponent, the Columbus Blue Jackets. The home fans in Carolina were ecstatic for this series to begin and the Hurricanes did not disappoint. They defeated the Blue Jackets with a convincing score of 5-3 in game one, leaving fans to celebrate a premature victory in this series as the Hurricanes headed over to Nationwide Arena for game two in Columbus, Ohio. They knew the Blue Jackets are very capable of easily taking game two, so Cam Ward and the Hurricanes’ defense stepped up to the challenge. The game remained tied 1-1 through regulation and was heading into overtime. With just a matter of seconds left in the overtime period, Hurricanes broke the ice and took the game 2-1 and the series along with it. That game could have gone either way and the Hurricanes realized it from their close encounter against the Blackhawks in game three. Cam Ward stood up to the challenge to face Steve Mason in a goaltending duel in game two. Ward and his Hurricanes came out on top and now will look forward to capturing the ultimate prize in this league: EBHL One vs. One Cup. Coach Johny is well-prepared for anything and his Hurricanes have been working hard the entire season to finish first. Anything short of a cup-victory will not only disappoint the Coach and the squad, but also the Hurricanes' fans and hockey fans everywhere because of how well this club has done.
The Minnesota Wild had quite the series in the third round against another opponent who had defeated them during the regular season. It’s been a playoff-nightmare for the Wild as first they had to pit themselves against the Sabres, who beat the Wild 7-2 in the regular season. As we all know, the Wild came out on top of a well-fought three-game series by both teams. However against the Flames, the Wild gave their fans a scare after the Flames dominated the Wild in their home turf with a score of 5-2 in game one. Miikka Kiprusoff was absolutely amazing and orchestrated this 5-2 win for the Flames while Backstrom, on the other end, let up a few questionable goals against his Finnish counterpart's team. Heading to the Scotiabank Saddledome arena for game two, the Wild jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the first 2 minutes of the game and then carried over a 4-1 lead in the third period. The game ended in the Wild’s favour as they took a 5-2 victory of their own in front of Calgary fans. In this game, Niklas Backstrom rose to the occasion and made several game-saving stops. Kiprusoff played amazing too but he had no chance on most of the goals. Both teams were now on the edge as they both have worked very hard to reach to this point and, heading back to Minnesota for game three, the Wild knew their fans were just as nervous as them. The Flames were able to break the ice early in the game as they took a 1-0 lead but the Wild quickly replied and tied it up at 1-1. This game was very up-and-down as the offensive units kept getting odd-man rushes on both sides. Defenses were pinching to get that next tie-breaking goal and causing odd-man rushes off bad turnovers. Both Kiprusoff and Backstrom made key saves to keep the game tied. Then the floodgates opened as the next two periods would see both teams combined for nine goals in two periods. The Wild came out on top of a frantic 7-4 win and took the series in three games again against one of their toughest opponents in the league. The Wild will be looking to get some much-needed rest before going up against the top team in the league.
Both teams have played each other before but may not remember each other’s playing styles very well. They’ll have enough time to familiarize with each other as this has now become a best-of-five series and the first team to reach three wins will win the series. Hurricanes sit in third place for highest GFA (3.86) and they lead the league in lowest GAA (1.86). The Wild have the highest GFA (4.38) but it’s their defensive numbers that are worrisome as they sit in 8th place for lowest GAA (2.88), below six teams that are already eliminated. What the Hurricanes need to do is expose the Wild’s punctured defense and get those early goals to shake Backstrom’s composure early in the series. The Wild became just the third higher-seeded team to drop game one but also became just the second team to win the series after dropping game one. Who was the other team to perform both of those same feats? The Hurricanes. So, while we’ve been emphasizing how important game one is, it might not even matter in this series. Game one could go in either team’s favour and even if it does, the other team can quickly rebound to turn the series around. Coach HockeyMadness has been trying to get his group to play strong defensively but they have not been able to do so in these playoffs. The Wild have to maintain their high-scoring offense if they want to win this series but still try their best to maintain defensive composure against the league's leading point-getters Staal and Jokinen. The Hurricanes have to continue pounding their opponents with their explosive offense and continue to jump to early leads. In the end, the ultimate deciding-factor in this series will be the coaching tactics and whatever types of offensive/defensive strategies each coach will be using to counter the other. It’s fitting that the top two teams in the league are now facing for the Championship and it will definitely be one to watch.
“We dropped game one against Calgary but we showed perseverance and took the next two games to win the series”, said Coach HockeyMadness of the Wild. “We didn’t let up even after giving up the first goal in game three and we just have to continue to do that against the Hurricanes because they are a strong, aggressive bunch and they are not going to stop after just scoring one or two goals.”
“What??? One more? I felt my last two rounds were like a championship series”, said Coach Johnyboy of the Hurricanes. “Well good luck to Coach HockeyMadness and it all comes down to the top 2 seeds in the finals. Can we have better scenario?”
PROJECTED PREDICTION:
HURRICANES IN 4
GOOD LUCK TO BOTH TEAMS!