Morning Skate: April 23

The Morning After:

Yesterday’s results:

Flyers 5, Penguins 1

Bruins 4, Capitals 3 (OT)

Kings 2, Canucks 1 (OT)

RLD 3 stars of the night:

1. Claude Giroux, PHI (1 goal, 2 assists)

2. Tyler Seguin, BOS (1 goal, 1 assist)

3. Jonathan Quick, LA (26 saves)

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Tonight’s slate:

Rangers @ Senators, 7:00 ET, Game 6

Coyotes @ Blackhawks, 9:00, Game 6

#1 New York Rangers @ #8 Ottawa Senators

Game 6… 7:00 ET… TV: NBC Sports Network, CBC

Series: 3-2 Senators

Projected starting goaltenders:

NYR-  Henrik Lundqvist (Playoff stats: 2-3, 1.78 GAA)

OTT-  Craig Anderson (Playoff stats: 3-2, 1.79 GAA)

Injury report:

NYR-  Brian Boyle (concussion, doubtful), Steve Eminger (ankle, out), Michael Sauer (concussion, out), Mats Zuccarello (wrist, out)

OTT-  Daniel Alfredsson (concussion, questionable), Jesse Winchester (upper body, out), Peter Regin (shoulder, out)

Game thoughts:

Thanks to Craig Anderson and some timely offense in Games 4 and 5, the series between the Senators and Rangers has reached its tipping point.  Ottawa returns home with a chance to close out the series, while New York is on the brink and frustrated by their uninspiring play of late.

The Sens have been in this position before – over a decade ago.  As the #8 seed facing top-seeded New Jersey, the Senators eliminated the Devils in Game 6 to win their first ever playoff series.  They also beat 2^nd-seeded Philadelphia back in 2002, so the franchise has some history of being on the right side of pulling upsets.

They are doing a lot of good things right now, including snuffing out any chances the Rangers get with the man advantage.  John Tortorella’s gang will be ready, but guys like Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards must step up.  I think Ottawa has one more solid effort in them to finish this thing off.

Prediction: Senators 2, Rangers 1 (OT)

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#3 Phoenix Coyotes @ #6 Chicago Blackhawks

Game 6… 9:00 ET… TV: TSN, CNBC

Series: 3-2 Coyotes

Projected starting goaltenders:

PHX-  Mike Smith (Playoff stats: 3-2, 2.13 GAA)

CHI-   Corey Crawford (Playoff stats: 2-3, 2.32 GAA)

Injury report:

PHX-  Martin Hanzal (lower body, questionable)

CHI-   Marian Hossa (head, out), Steve Montador (concussion, out), Dan Carcillo (knee, out)

Game thoughts:

Facing elimination in Game 5, the Blackhawks escaped the desert with a comeback win in overtime.  Jonathan Toews scored early in overtime to keep their season alive, to force the series back to Chicago for tonight’s Game 6.

The United Center will be rocking tonight, so the Blackhawks have to feed off that energy early.  For the Coyotes, all they have to do is what they did in the first two games in Chicago – take the crowd out of it.  Mikkel Boedker was the overtime in each of the two games in Chicago thus far, so you know Phoenix has confidence playing in that building.

For the first time since 1951, the first five games of a series have gone to overtime.  Is a sixth in store tonight between the ‘Hawks and ‘Yotes?  Can the fan bases of both teams stand that kind of excitement/stress?  It’ll be a close game again, but I’ll go out on a limb and say no overtime tonight.  I had Chicago winning in seven, so naturally I’m going to pick them here.  However, this game does feel like a toss-up.

Prediction: Blackhawks 3, Coyotes 2

Video of the day:

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