Ducks and Penguins look Move Onto Next Round of Playoffs Today
The Penguins and Ducks both have 3 wins in their respective series and each can move onto the next round of the playoffs with a win.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Philadelphia Flyers
The Penguins lead this best of 7 series 3-2.
Flyers G Martin Biron was stellar between the pipes for the Flyers in game 5 earning his second career playoff shutout and keeping Philly in the playoffs. He will have to have another great game tonight for the Flyers to push this series to a 7th and final game. Biron will have to deal with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who will surely be firing a lot of shots his way today. This series could not be any closer, as each has scored 13 goals and given up 13 in the 5 games. The Flyers will have to stay out of the penalty box tonight, as in the series they have logged 103 minutes in the box, while the Penguins have only logged 77. There will be a hostile crowd in the City of Brotherly Love today and the Flyers need all the help they can get, as they are 0-13 in series after trailing 3-1, so basically history is not on their side. Simon Gagne (3 goals in series) and Mike Richards (3 assists in series) will have to supply the offense today for the Flyers. Penguins G Marc-Andre Fleury has been good in the series with a goals against average of 2.27, but the Penguins have to score and give him something to work with. That falls on the shoulders of Crosby and Malkin, as they cannot afford to be blanked again.
Anaheim Ducks at San Jose Sharks
Ducks lead this best of 7 series 3-1.
Can the Sharks come back to win this series? If they are they will have to find their offense, which has only scored 6 goals in 4 games. To say history is not on the side of the Sharks is an understatement, as since 1987 teams that are down 3-1 have only won 19 of 174 series’. The Sharks are getting used to being bounced in the playoffs even when they are the higher seeded team. They are the number 1 seed and the Ducks are number 8, but all the pressure is on the Sharks tonight. Besides the offensive ineptitude of the Sharks the reason the Ducks are winning is simple: their goalie play. G Jonas Hiller has been sensational in this series with a save percentage of 95.9% and a goals against average of only 1.51. He has 2 shutouts in the series including winning 4-0 in game 4. Sharks LW Milan Michalek has gone scoreless in this series after scoring 38 goals in the regular season and C Patrick Marleau has only scored one goal after also scoring 38 this season. The Sharks have simply fallen apart on offense and they need to bounce back tonight or the Sharks will be bounced from the playoffs. If the Sharks can’t score they will, at least, have to contain Bobby Ryan (4 goals in series) and Ryan Getzlaf (4 assists and 5 points in series). Sharks G Evgeni Nabokov has not had a good series, as his save percentage is only 88.8% and he has a goals against average of 2.78. The Sharks are favored in this game, but a loss at home would not be a huge upset with how bad they are playing.
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