Sunday April 30

Red Wings come close in loss to well balanced Kings team

(6)Kings vs Red Wings(5)

Some good pushes early and through a large part of the game couldn’t salvage the right result for the Red Wings. The Red Wings started off petty good and remained neck and neck with a structured opponent until some late breakdowns saw the Kings take advantage late on goals by F.Mastrocola and S.Fabrici. That’s what happens when a good team as enough time and space with the ball , they end up making you pay. The one key area that the Kings owned over the Red Wings was their ability to shoot the ball coming-from many different directions. Many goals stemmed-from shots that either went in through a screen or for somebody to pounce on a loose rebound and bury their chance. Despite some of the differences, the Red Wings did fairly well surrounded by a group of players that don’t nearly match the number years of experience compared to the Kings. Losing by only one goal often comes down to a single play. Tonight, the Kings stuck with it and eventually got rewarded.

The Allo Mon Coco Ste-Dorothee player of the game goes to Sandro Fabrici of the Kings. Sound defensively while using his rocket launcher slap shot, the d-man blasted a pair as part of a three point night.

Bruins use four minute stretch to distance themselves-from Predators

(7)Predators vs Bruins(10)

It was a wild one for sure between the Predators and the Bruins on Sunday night. The two sides played some fire wagon hockey early on with R.Marshall jump starting the engine for the Bruins riding three straight goals.  When games remain close, you look for your players to step up and make the difference. The Bruins got that-from their group just past the mid way point rattling off four goals in only six minutes. N.Macri scored during that stretch followed with back to back goals by J.Wong and another insurance marker-from T.Scarpelli. Sometimes those sequences happen when your not focused enough on matching your opponent The Predators felt they worked hard enough in a spirited game where they were able to hang with the Bruins on a large part. Unfortunately,  some missed assignments had them falling behind unable to recover by the time the game was done. There was no question the addition of R.Marshall helped the Bruins get the job done. His speed proved to be a handful as the skilled player accumulated five points. P.Labateya collected a pair, and N.Macri helped set up three goals for the win while S.Fraga and S.Boulerice did more than enough in the loss combining for seven points.

The Allo Mon Coco Ste-Dorothee player of the game goes to Ryan Marshall of the Bruins. His three goals in the first twenty minutes alone came a long way for the Bruins who were able to outlast the Predators after a wild high scoring tilt.

Strong start not good enough for Wild as Sabres take over with authority

(6)Wild vs Sabres(9)

It has to be very disappointing if you are the Wild. This isn’t the first time they appear to be ready riding a good start only to keep falling apart as the games go on. You always want the advantage of playing with the lead rather than chasing the game. The Wild had everything going well for them scoring five times in the first portion of the match before disappearing into the sunset nowhere to be seen. Yes, credit should be given to the Sabres for believing in themselves that they can overcome almost any hurdle. That being said, the Wild looked like they didn’t compete hard enough while looking like they spent all their energy early on. Once they fell apart, the Sabres took over on six straight goals.  This wasn’t a case of relying on your high end guys to get the offense going. The Sabres spread the wealth as many contributed with P.Desforges being a little more productive in comparison to his teammates on four points. Two out of the nine goals came on penalty shots by Desforges and M.Chenier. If the Wild expect to be more competitive moving forward, P.Santullo may consider bringing some Wheaties or spinach before the game so that the players can keep up long enough.

The Allo Mon Coco Ste-Dorothee player of the game goes to Patrick Desforges of the Sabres. After scoring a nice penalty shot early on, P.Desforges had a decent outing setting up three different teammates to help lead his side past the Wild.

Panthers battle back-from three goal deficit, but lose unable to contain F.Decoster

(4)Panthers vs Canadiens(7)

Its shows great character anytime a team finds the will to battle back-from a 3-0 deficit. The Panthers did that right after the Canadiens stormed out of the gate in the first five minutes alone bagging three quick markers. F.Decoster had two of those goals, and the Canadiens were looking like they may have had an easy night. Not to be outdone however, the Panthers weren’t going to go down without a push back. And to their credit, they stormed back to level with the help of three different goal scorers. While its nice to overcome such a hurdle, a team needs to do more than that in order to reach the finish line first. The problem in this particular game was that the Panthers couldn’t identify and address the direct threat that ultimately made the different in the end result. As good as F.Decoster is as a player, you cannot afford to let someone with a heavy shot get his way too many times. Four of the seven goals came by the sharp shooter which made things incredibly difficult for M.Freda between the pipes.  The Canadiens took advantage of perhaps the turning point in the game when C.Khoury snapped the 3-3 tie on a penalty shot goal. That was his first of two of the night, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Allo Mon Coco Ste-Dorothee player of the game goes to Frederic Decoster of the Canadiens. His wicked shot will often find its way through when he has enough time to release it. Since the Panthers couldn’t get to him in time, the sniper put four behind their net minder and was a big reason why his side defeated the Panthers on Sunday night.

Islanders pull away with the help of a pair of penalty shot attempts

(3)Blackhawks vs Islanders(7)

The Blackhawks couldn’t keep up long enough despite battling back on two quick tallies by Ari Daghlian and Aren Daghlian. Even though the Islanders responded shorty after to regain the lead, the Islanders didn’t do themselves any favours by taking a pair of penalties. With infractions comes the chance for a team to score on a penalty shot. The Islanders had two opportunities, and were able to convert thanks to N.Tsirmbas and F.Vitoratos seizing the moment. This time the Islanders were able to protect their lead with about ten minutes to play. T.Passarelli had already scored earlier while setting up a goal before closing out the night with his second. After starting off slow without a win in four games, the Islanders look like they have turned the corner capturing their third victory in the last four encounters. As for the Blackhawks, tonight was only their second loss in seven games.

The Allo Mon Coco Ste-Dorothee player of the game goes to Tristan Passarelli of the Islanders. Looking like a natural out there, the young talent continues to impress bagging two big goals and an assist.