Forennews » year to the playoffs except one of nine years

The Penguins get by the Blue Jackets, the Wild and Kings force Game Sevens. Notes on Malkin, Crosby, Johnson, Dubinsky, Parise, Kopitar, Williams, Stalock and more. PENGUINS GET PAST BLUE JACKETS Pittsburgh looked like they were free and clear after racing out to a 4-0 lead, led by Evgeni Malkins hat trick, but then the Blue Jackets scored three goals in a 4:52 span in the third period to make for a heart-stopping finish. In the end, the Penguins held on to win 4-3, taking the series in six games. Malkin, who took some criticism for his lack of production, finished the series with seven points in six games. Not bad at all. After being on the ice for 71.2% of 5-on-5 shot attempts in Game Six, Malkin finished the series with an impressive 59.2% Corsi percentage. Malkin was the driving force for Pittsburgh in the deciding game, as was D Kris Letang, who was on for 21 5-on-5 shot attempts for and seven against. Penguins D Matt Niskanen contributed a couple of assists, giving him eight points for the series. That tied D Paul Martin for the Penguins scoring lead. The ever-disappointing Sidney Crosby (I kid, I kid) had six assists in six games and was on the ice for 61.3% of 5-on-5 shot attempts. If thats a Crosby worthy of criticism, rue the day that he starts playing to his typical level of excellence. Columbus attack was paced by a couple of defencemen. Fedor Tyutin, with a goal and an assist, and Jack Johnson, with two assists, led the charge. Johnson finished the series with a team-leading seven points, despite struggling in puck possession terms. While Johnson struggled in terms of possession, James Wisniewski fared pretty well in that regard, at least in relative terms. Centres Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Johansen each had six points for the Blue Jackets, while rookie LW Boone Jenner had five. Dubinsky had 40 hits over the course of the series, a total that leads the NHL postseason. That the series proved to be competitive should come as no surprise, but it should also come as no surprise that the Penguins had the high-end skill to overcome a spirited challenge from Columbus. WILD FORCE SEVEN Fighting for their playoff lives, the Minnesota Wild jumped out to a 2-0 lead, gave it back, then scored the winner with 6:29 left in third period, before adding a couple of empty-netters to ice a 5-2 victory in Game Six, forcing Game Seven back in Denver. Wild LW Zach Parise had a huge game, netting the game-winner as part of a two goal, two assist performance. Parise now has 10 points in the postseason, tied with Colorados Nathan MacKinnon for the playoff scoring lead. Ryan Suter and Mikko Koivu each had two assists and Jason Pominville had a goal and an assist. Wild LW Nino Niederreiter had quite a game in possession terms, on for 15 shot attempts for and three against (83.3%). With Niederreiter off the ice, the Wild had 38.2% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. Though they came out on the losing end, Colorado did get C Matt Duchene back in the lineup and he contributed an assist in 18:52 of ice time. RW Ryan OReilly assisted on both Colorado goals. That this series is going seven games is rather fortunate for the Avalanche. The Wild have the best Fenwick Close in the playoffs which, naturally, means Colorado has the worse and that 60-40 disparity in even-strength shot attempts is difficult to overcome. The Avalanche have overcome shot deficits all season, leaning heavily on G Semyon Varlamov, so that is likely what they will need if they are going to get through Game Seven. The Avalanche can also take some comfort in the fact that the home team has won every game in this series. KINGS PUSH SHARKS TO SEVEN Faced with the prospect of losing their three-games-to-none lead in the series, the San Jose Sharks were forced to go into Game Six without top defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who was injured in Game Five, and then made the decision to start backup goaltender Alex Stalock in place of Antti Niemi. The result? A 4-1 Kings win, sending the series to Game Seven back in San Jose. Tied at one, with 8:04 remaining, Kings RW Justin Williams scored the winning goal, pushing Stalock back towards the Sharks net, jarring the puck loose and into the net. As controversial as that goal was, the Kings tacked on two more in short order, both by C Anze Kopitar, in the next 2:46 to put the game away. Kopitar added an assist, giving him eight points in the series, to the lead the Kings, while D Drew Doughty added a couple of assists, giving him six points in six games. Williams finished with two goals and an assist to lead the Kings. This series has been very even, with the Sharks holding a 132-128 edge in unblocked shot attempts with the score close (within a goal for the first two periods, tied in the third/overtime). Thats close enough for goaltending to make the difference and, given the uncertainty in that respect with the Sharks, Jonathan Quick is more appealing. Even so, the Sharks do get home-ice advantage in their attempt to avoid being the fourth team in NHL history to lose a series in which they led three games to none. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Kevin Johnson Suns Jersey . The match, billed as a "next-gen" encounter between two of the sports rising stars, lasted two and a half hours. The loss kept Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., from reaching a third fourth-round spot in Melbourne over the past four years. Jason Kidd Suns Jersey . -- Pelicans coach Monty Williams does not expect guard Eric Gordon to play in any of New Orleans final five games this season. https://www.thesunslockerroom.com/Deandre-Ayton-City-Edition-Jersey/ . -- Cordell Cato scored his first goal of the season and the San Jose Earthquakes survived a full half playing a man down to beat FC Dallas 2-1 Saturday night. Deandre Ayton Suns Jersey . -- The taxing preseason, which included two games in China, is finally over. Kelly Oubre Jr. Suns Jersey .com) - Pavel Datsyuk and Gustav Nyquist both scored in the shootout as the Detroit Red Wings denied the Minnesota Wilds comeback bid with a 5-4 win on Tuesday.BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Dominik Hasek is not a goaltender anymore. He hasnt taken his customary place between the posts since his last game on Feb. 27, 2011 for Spartak Moscow of the KHL. He has thought and talked about playing since, but never followed through. "My equipment is still in the same bag," he said. Even when the 49-year-old plays with friends once or twice a week, Hasek plays as a defenceman. Forty years as a goalie was enough. And its unlikely the man nicknamed "The Dominator" can capture the kind of performances that made him one of the best goaltenders in his era, alongside Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur. Hasek played his final NHL game five years ago, and then officially retired in 2012. Its taken time since he left the league for his true place in NHL history to come into focus. Six Vezina Trophies as the leagues best goaltender, two Hart Trophies as MVP, one Olympic gold medal, six first-team all-star selections and two Stanley Cups -- one as a starter -- dont even tell the whole story. Few goalies during the 1990s and 2000s could do what Hasek did to opponents. "He mentally and physically intimidated you," said St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, who beat Hasek in the 1999 Cup final with the Stars. "I think there were games that you knew you were never going to score on him, and I think it was very discouraging at times. I think thats a great quality. Id never seen the guy quit on a puck, Id never seen the guy give up on anything. And thats hard to play against." Haseks .922 save percentage is the best of any goalie since the league started keeping track in 1982-83. His 2.02 goals-against average is the best in the modern era, slightly lower than Ken Dryden and Brodeur. Brodeur has many more shutouts, but when Hasek was on his game, he had the ability to almost will teams to win. "He makes a team believe," ex-Sabres and current Stars coach Lindy Ruff said in a phone interview. "You just start believing that with him in goal you can win any given night." Ruff recalled times when Hasek was so locked in that "we really only had to score one. And if we got two, it was almost guaranteed-win night." Hasek, who is being inducted into the Sabres hall of fame Saturday night and will be the first NHL player to have the number 39 retired next season, wanted victories more than trophies or honours. "I want to be remembered as a competitor who gave the teams always (the chance) to win the game," Hasek said Friday at First Niagara Center. "As a great goalie, as the person or goalie who gave the team (a chance) to always win the game. Thats what was hockey for me. I enjoyed my time, I enjoyed when I played here and any time I step on the ice my goal is to win the game and try to help my teammates win the game." Hasek will forever trail Brodeur (three Cups with the New Jersey Devils) and Roy (four, two each with the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche), and one of his two in Detroit came as Chris Osgoods backup. But Hasek could potentially have won another title in 1999, had it not beeen for Brett Hulls controversial skate-in-the-crease overtime series winner in Game 6.dddddddddddd. A Cup there would have burnished Haseks legacy even more, but its not something that he laments 15 years later. "Its part of the life," he said. "Sometimes you win, sometimes you come close and you dont win it the whole way. It was an unfortunate night for us, it was something disappointing, but for me it wasnt end of my life." Far from it. In fact, Hasek teamed up with Hull to win the Cup in 2002 with the Red Wings, posting six shutouts along the way. "Winning a Stanley Cup anywhere, its hard," said Sabres coach Ted Nolan, who spoke with Hasek Friday for the first time since Nolan was fired in Buffalo in 1997. "Its hard and all the stars have to line up. They didnt quite line up here but he went and lined it up in Detroit pretty well." In 1999, Hasek had two shutouts and a playoff-best .939 save percentage in almost getting the Sabres their first championship in franchise history. Stars centre Joe Nieuwendyk won the Conn Smythe Trophy, but it easily couldve gone to Hasek even in a losing effort. "We were a huge underdog, obviously, going through the playoffs," Ruff said. "I thought that our team really fed off of Doms performance for the most part. He wouldve been able to take a team that wasnt supposed to get there and win it." Haseks dominant prime lasted six seasons, from 1993-94 through 1998-99, when he led the league in save percentage every single time and came away with five of his six career Vezinas. Asked about those years, Hasek smiled and brushed off the notion that it mightve been the best stretch any goalie has ever played. "I dont think about this that way," Hasek said. "I got a chance to prove, to become starting goalie and after that I had, I dont know, six, seven years, which we had great teams, we made it every year to the playoffs except one of nine years." Hasek proved much more than that, something that will more than likely be validated with induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame in November. "For me its a no-brainer," Ruff said. "I think he definitely stands as one of the best. He was on the cutting edge of the way a lot of goaltenders play. Always looking for a way to be better. He could take a team a long ways with the way he played." Hasek isnt carrying teams anymore, instead living back home in the Czech Republic and working "a little bit" in hockey and also in business. As much as hed appreciate it, making the Hall of Fame was never his goal, and thats not his focus even now. "There are new goals in life and always something new to prove. The hockey career is something what is behind me," Hasek said. "What great years, what fantastic things to do something what you enjoy, what you love to do, and be very well paid and be around the people who you love and spend great time with them. However its part of the life that every professional player has to retire some day, and you wake up and you enjoy your life different ways." ' ' '