The New York Rangers goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist, was an intergral part of the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals having to face each other in a series-deciding game seven.
Lundqvist stopped all 27 shots he faced and Derick Brassard scored the lone goal of the game at 9:39 of the second period.
The game remained in a scoreless tie after the first period. Then, Brassard deflected a shot past Braden Holtby and gave the Rangers the 1-0 lead, which stood for the rest of the game. The Capitals had their chances in the third period and even outshot the Rangers by a 12-7 margin, but they just couldn't find a way to get the puck past Lundqvist.
The winner of the Rangers/Capitals series will face the winner of the Boston Bruins/Toronto Maple Leafs series.
The Toronto Maple Leafs for their first home playoff win since the 2004 postseason and it couldn't have come at a better time. The Leafs were facing elimination, but instead came out and forced a game seven in their series with the Boston Bruins. The Bruins blew a 3-1 series lead and now the series is all square at three games a piece.
The goalies stole the show in the first two periods with neither team scoring a goal. Then, 1:48 into the third period, Dion Phaneuf finally got one past Tuukka Rask for a 1-0 Toronto lead, and sent the crowd into a frenzy.
At 8:59, Phil Kessel scored to give the Leafs a 2-0 lead. James Reimer stoppped 29 of 30 shots and James van Riemsdyk assisted on both of the Toronto goals. The Bruins pulled their goalie last in the game even thought they were still down by two goals. Milan Lucic scored for the Bruins with 24.5 seconds left regualtion, cutting the Leafs lead in half.
The Leafs and Reimer held the Bruins scoreless for the rest of the game and will be back in Boston tonight to see if they can get the win and move onto the next round to face either the Capitals or Rangers.
One series in the Eastern Conference Semifinals is set with the Pittsburgh Penguins taking on the Ottawa Senators, while the other semifinal still needs to be decided.
The Anaheim Ducks and the Detroit Red Wings played in the first game seven of the playoffs.
Henrik Zetterberg scored just 1:48 into the game to give the Red Wings the early 1-0 lead. The Ducks pulled even after rookie, Emerson Etem, found a way to get the puck past Jimmy Howard. Justin Abdelkader scored a shorthanded goal and the Red Wings went into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead.
Valtteri Flippula scored his first goal of the playoffs at even strength to give the Red Wings the 3-1 lead in the second period. Flippula's goal was the only of the period.
At 16:14 of the third period, Henrik Zetterberg took a delay of game penalty for putting the puck over the glass. Francios Beauchemin and the Ducks capitalized on the ensuing power play and made it 3-2, but that's as close as the Ducks would get to the Red Wings. The Red Wings won game seven on the road.
The Western Conference Semifinals are now set with the Red Wings being the last team to clinch the series. The Chicago Blackhawks will take on those Detroit Red Wings, while the Los Angeles Kings will face the San Jose Sharks.
The semifinals kick off tomorrow night with the Penguins and Ottawa facing off at 7:30 p.m. and the Kings and Sharks starting at 10:00 p.m. All times are eastern standard times.
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