Detroit Red Wings vs Anaheim Ducks May 8, 2013

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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- - Ryan Getzlaf knows the Anaheim Ducks could be getting frustrated.
Instead, he thinks they're just getting started.
The Ducks have controlled long stretches of their matchup with Detroit, outscoring the Red Wings over the first four games while getting superior goaltending from Jonas Hiller. Yet the series is even heading into Game 5 on Wednesday night at Honda Center.

Second-seeded Anaheim's stellar regular-season record and formidable talent haven't mattered to the Red Wings, who sneaked out two overtime victories despite playing with a lead in just one of the series' four games.

It's a recipe for tension in the Ducks' dressing room heading into a pivotal point of the first-round series. But to Getzlaf and his teammates, every element of the playoff march is a privilege, particularly after the Ducks missed the postseason in two of the past three years.
" We're far from frustrated,'' the Anaheim captain said Tuesday after the Ducks' long flight from Detroit to Orange County. " This is playoff hockey. This is the best time of the year, and we're in a best-of-three series now. We always knew it was going to be a long series. ... It's been a grind throughout the year. We've always been able to rise up to the occasion, and we're hoping for that tomorrow (in Game 5)."


The Ducks expect to have little trouble regrouping after they barely missed a chance to take a 3-1 series lead in Game 4 on Monday night. After Anaheim blew a third-period lead, Damien Brunner's overtime goal evened the series for the Red Wings, who appeared to be on the ropes after getting shut out by Hiller in the first 100 minutes of the teams' two games at Joe Louis Arena.


" One goal the other way (in Game 4), and everybody is happy around here," Getzlaf said.
Instead, the Ducks must find additional determination to get past their playoff-tested opponents. Anaheim will have the advantage of its favored matchups on home ice in Game 5 and a potential Game 7, yet neither team believes matchups or friendly crowds have made much impact on this series.

" Quite frankly, the matchups only work if your team is playing well and you get a lead,'' Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. " If you don't get a lead, you may have some great defensive matchups, but you're going to have to change because you need to score goals. We'll get the last change (in Game 5), which will help, because I thought the last game they were definitely trying to get (Pavel) Datsyuk's line against one specific line, and we tried to change it a few times. It's a difficult thing to do."

Datsyuk scored the tying goal with 6:33 left in regulation in Game 4 for the Red Wings, who finally flexed their offensive skills at home after five-plus periods without a score.

The Red Wings made an obvious effort to get more shots at Hiller in Game 4, sending pucks at the Anaheim net at every opportunity. Hiller was solid all night, but the Red Wings' mentality eventually led to Brunner's winning goal.


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Los Angeles Kings vs St. Louis Blues May 8, 2013

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ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The defending Stanley Cup champions certainly looked the part while evening their series against the St. Louis Blues, whose best move is turning the page.

The Los Angeles Kings dominated the second half of Game 4, powering past a pair of deficits behind forechecking that put the Blues on their heels, and have all the momentum in a series that's tied at 2-2.

The Kings' plan is simple for Game 5 Wednesday night in St. Louis: Keep the pedal down and play physical but smart.

"There hasn't been much difference in the games whether it's home or road," coach Darryl Sutter said. "It's all one-goal games and they're all third-period games and you just by shift by shift."

The Blues have a day to re-boot the system and still have home-ice advantage, by virtue of finishing a single point ahead of the Kings for the fourth seed in the Western Conference. The home team has won all four games, each by a goal.

"Who's got control of anything right now?" coach Ken Hitchcock said. "They dialed it up, so there's another level out there and it's our job now to answer the level. We've got home ice, we've earned it, and it's best of three now and we'll see where it goes."

St. Louis has won eight in a row at home, allowing one goal each time, and are facing a team that's been vulnerable away from the Staples Center. The Kings have a nine-game winning streak at home and have dropped eight in a row on the road, including a pair of shootouts in April.

The Blues appeared primed for a knockout punch in Game 4 with two early goals, setting the tone for an uncharacteristic wide-open 4-3 final that matched the scoring total the entire series for both sides. The Kings shrugged off that deficit, scored twice in 1:16 in the third to seize their first lead, and never looked back.

"I think we've been getting better every night," forward Jeff Carter said. "We've been in that position before and these guys don't get too down on themselves. We just chipped away."

The Kings became the first No. 8 seed to win the Cup last year, knocking off the first, second and third seeds. They trailed in the third period just once, in the opening round. They had to dig deep in Game 4, erasing a two-goal deficit for the first time since 2001. The last two periods, the Kings outshot St. Louis 23-10.

"There's a lot of resilience in this room," forward Dustin Penner said. "Obviously, we draw on experiences from last year."

The Blues couldn't sustain their opening jump and perhaps stunned after falling behind never mounted much of a counter-attack.

Boston Bruins vs Toronto Maple Leafs May 8, 2013

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The fans at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto were buzzing prior to Game 3 on Monday evening. It was the Maple Leafs' first playoff home game since 2004 and they hoped to be elated once the night was over. The ecstasy never came as the Leafs were run out of the building by the Boston Bruins in a 5-2 victory. Toronto will look to even the series on Wednesday in Game 4.

"If we want to be blatantly honest, we made some mistakes that ended up in our net," Toronto coach Randy Carlyle said after the game. "When you do that, usually you end up on the wrong side of the score. In the playoffs, you can't give the opposition (chances). I'm not taking it away from the Bruins, that they didn't earn it, but when you make mistakes with the puck that lead to Grade-A scoring chances and they score, those are tough ones for our group."

He did note that the work ethic was there from his squad. "I thought our work ethic was really strong," Carlyle noted. "We worked hard and did a lot of good things, but our execution level and the mistakes we made aren't going to allow us to win a hockey game playing like that. [Boston Bruins goalie Tuuka] Rask played well ... he made the stops he needed to make and I don't think we had enough traffic at the net and enough concentration of offensive zone time."

Washington Capitals vs New York Rangers May 8, 2013

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The New York Rangers had such a simple plan when they got home from Washington in an 0-2 hole against the Capitals: find a way to get one win.
It worked so well in a hard-fought 4-3 victory on Monday night that they are heading into Wednesday's Game 4 at Madison Square Garden with the very same objective.

" All we were focused on is doing whatever we could to try to win a game,'' Rangers coach John Tortorella said. " We did that, and now we need to try to win one more game, and we'll see what happens from there." While the Capitals stayed off the ice on Tuesday to recover, the Rangers held a full practice. They were without forward Rick Nash, who was given a " maintenance day," and Darroll Powe, who was injured on Monday and is unlikely to play in Game 4.
If the Rangers can win again Wednesday, they will assure themselves of hosting Game 6 after a game in between in Washington on Friday.


After netting only one goal in the two road losses - including a 1-0 overtime defeat in Game 2 - the Rangers' offense broke out. New York even scored a power-play goal and added another tally just as another advantage ended.
" We didn't break,'' said Rangers forward Derick Brassard, who had a goal and two assists on Monday. " I think our bunch was really positive. Guys were really confident that we tried to find a way to win the game. At the end of the game our top line came out strong for us. They were competing hard all game. They came out huge for us to get that goal.
That winner was scored by Derek Stepan, who deflected a pass from Nash in behind goalie Braden Holtby with 6:25 left in regulation. It was the Rangers' second tiebreaking goal of the third period.
It never would've happened if defenseman Ryan McDonagh hadn't deftly kept the puck in the Washington end just before it was about to leave the zone at the left point. McDonagh moved the puck to Mats Zuccarello, who got it to Nash for the winning play.


The moment was sweet redemption for the 23-year-old McDonagh, whose delay-of-game penalty when he inadvertently shot the puck out of play led directly to Mike Green's overtime goal in Game 2 on Saturday.
" He makes a mistake, and to me that's not a mistake, it's just happenstance,'' Tortorella said of the Game 2 penalty. " It never bothers him. It killed him after the game, but that's what, at such a young age, that he has. He is able to recover and go out and play. It doesn't surprise me at all how he handled himself."
McDonagh also has the daunting task of trying to keep top Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin in check. Ovechkin had no points while logging over 22 minutes of ice time in Game 3.


Ovechkin wasn't one of the few players the Capitals made available to reporters at the team hotel on Tuesday, but coach Adam Oates addressed comments from McDonagh that Ovechkin seemed tired before the Rangers scored the winning goal.
" I don't think he was tired,'' Oates said. " I think that I didn't do a good enough job getting him in his rhythm, probably because of penalties."


The Capitals were short-handed six times and received only three power plays of their own. The last came with 1:54 remaining after Ovechkin was high-sticked by Brad Richards.
Washington pulled Holtby for an extra skater, giving the Capitals a 6-on-4 skating advantage, and put on lots of pressure in the Rangers' end. While the Capitals controlled the puck as time ran down, they never got a shot in on goalie Henrik Lundqvist.


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