• Wild delay demise vs. Blues
• Capitals remind Maple Leafs who’s best in the East
• Flames burn out of playoffs
The Wild stayed alive, the Ducks swept the Flames and the Capitals kept the Maple Leafs in check.
Here are four things we learned from Wednesday’s playoff action.
Wild live to fight another day
The end of the Minnesota Wild‘s season was pushed back at least three more days thanks to a 2-0 win over the St. Louis Blues. And all it took was scoring more than one goal.
In the previous three games of the series, the Wild could only score once each on Jake Allen. Minnesota was second to only Pittsburgh with 263 goals this season so it was a surprise that the Blues were so successful at stopping them.
Besides being happy about the win, Wild fans should also be happy that Martin Hanzal found the back of the net. The 30-year-old forward was brought over from the Coyotes in a big trade near the deadline but has struggled in Minnesota. In 20 regular season games he only had four goals and 13 points, a disappointment for sure considering he was brought in to provide scoring depth down the middle of the ice.
Devan Dubnyk was also strong for the Wild on Wednesday after struggling in the first three games. After giving up six goals on 78 shots in the first three games, he stopped all 28 thrown his way in Game 4.
The Wild are still playing for their lives and getting one win could be the spark they need. With two of the final three games at home, anything is possible.
Game 5 goes Saturday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.
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Goodbye sweet Calgary
The Calgary Flames season died on Wednesday at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks.
The Flames burned out with a 3-1 loss at home, with a messy goaltending situation the primary cause of death.
Brian Elliott, brought over in the off-season from the Blues to win playoff games like this one, was given the hook less than six minutes into the first period after giving up only one goal. Elliott, who is an unrestricted free agent this summer, was awful in the playoffs, allowing 12 goals in three games plus six minutes.
This season in Calgary will be remembered for its giant swings of emotion.
The Flames started the season slowly, sitting at only 11-11-4 at the end of November.
But a 10-game winning streak in early March propelled the Flames all the way to second place in the Pacific Division, before a 6-6 finish to the season sent them down into the wild card.
The off-season will leave the Flames looking to solve some goalie problems, but a young core will still be there in the fall and, despite the loss, fans should have a lot of hope for the future.
Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon has more on this series in his post-game column.
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Wilson and Capitals remind Maple Leafs who’s boss
One day after the San Jose Sharks put a smackdown on the Edmonton Oilers to even their series at two games apiece, the Washington Capitals did the same to the Toronto Maple Leafs. In what turned out to be a 5-4 win, the Capitals scored early and often to show the young Buds that they are still the king of the East.
The key for the Capitals was an offensive outburst in the first period, where they scored four goals on 15 shots and greatly outplayed the Maple Leafs. Fans will remember the same thing happened in Game 3, which Toronto won.
The difference this time was the Capitals take their foot off the gas and the Maple Leafs just couldn’t keep up.
Like in Game 1, the thorn in the side of the Maple Leafs was Tom Wilson. The Toronto native was all over the ice, scoring goals, making saves and ruining the fun for fans from his former home.
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Wilson finished the game with two goals, seven shots and four penalty minutes.
And one save.
The series is now a best-of-three. But any cockiness the Maple Leafs had from taking two of the first three is gone now.
Washington is the best team in hockey and they finally showed it on Wednesday. The all-important Game 5 in this series goes Friday night in D.C.
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Senators have Bruins on ropes
The Ottawa Senators are one win away from the second round and they only needed one goal to get there.
Bobby Ryan, who is suddenly playing up to his $7.25 million contract, scored the goal early in the second period and Craig Anderson carried the team the rest of the way with a 22-save shutout.
The win continued a recent trend of Anderson being absolutely dominant against the Bruins. He’s now 9-2-0 in his last 11 games against them, giving up barely two goals a game in the process.
Ryan now has three goals and five points in the playoffs after only scoring 13 goals in 62 games during the season.
His goal on Wednesday was the result of a beautiful pass from Erik Karlsson, who has been playing like the he’s the best player in the NHL all series. If the Bruins want to have any chance at coming back, they will need to find a way to contain Karlsson, who has five assists in the series.
After the game, Ryan spoke with Sportsnet’s Christine Simpson, making sure to give props to Anderson and Karlsson for their heroics.
Sportsnet’s Kristina Rutherford has more on Anderson’s shutout in her post-game column.
The Senators’ first chance to boot the Bruins from the dance will come Friday night in Ottawa.
