Tag Archives: stanleycup

In an earlier post, we reported that Tampa Bay had the upper hand in the 2015 Stanley Cup final with a 2-1 lead in the series. However, Chicago has turned the tide and are now in a 3-2 lead. If they win the next game at home in United Center, they are the Stanley Cup Champions 2015.

Two straight 2-1 wins for Chicago

In game four, in United Center, Chicago, the home team got the best start, Jonathan Toews scoring 1-0 on a beautiful assist from Marian Hossa in front of the net. Tampa could tie the game 1-1, before Brandon Saad in Chicago was determined to score, stepping up in front of Tampa’s net, scoring 2-1 with a great individual effort. Going for the equalizer, Steven Stamkos got two great chances to score in the end of the game, but missed an almost open net.

In game five, Ben Bishop was back in Tampa’s net after missing game four due to an injury. In the beginning of the game, Corey Crawford in Chicago’s net almost gave away the go ahead goal to Tampa, giving Kucherov the puck. However, the situation ended with Kucherov being injured after colliding with Crawford and going head-first into the goalpost. He did not return in the game. In the other end, another collision took place: Tampa’s defender Victor Hedman and Ben Bishop went into each other, leaving the net open, Patrick Sharp could score 1-0 for the Blackhawks. Bishop should probably have stayed in goal. Tampa tied the game in the middle of the second period. However, in the third, Chicago scored the decisive 2-1-goal after a rebound on a breakaway. Tampa ended the game with a too-many-players on the ice penalty, having seven players on the ice with the open net.

To keep the series alive, Tampa now has to go to Chicago and get the win, then a game seven at home awaits.

Meanwhile, in the AHL, Manchester Monarchs won the Calder Cup. Monarchs are the affiliate team of Los Angeles Kings.

The conference finals in this year’s Stanley Cup had to be decided by two game seven after Rangers and Chicago tied the series in the sixth game. Four teams had to be cut down to two that will fight for the Stanley Cup Championship 2015. New York Rangers and Anaheim had the home team advantage against Tampa Bay and Chicago. That didn’t help.

New York Rangers 0-2 Tampa Bay

Goalie Henrik Lundqvist and New York Rangers are known to be hard to beat in game seven. That plus home team advantage in Madison Square Garden was factors that made many, including us, believe in Ranger victory in this decisive game. We were wrong. The first period ended with no goals. Rangers started with some pressure against Tampas net but the feeling was that Lightnings worked their way into the game and got the upper hand. Lundqvist had to do a number of saves on odd bounces. In the second period Rangers got the chance to score in a couple of power plays but didn’t convert. In the third period, they couldn’t resist Tampa’s strong offensive play. Alex Killorn and Ondrej Palat scored a goal each and Rangers none. Game over Rangers, Tampa Bay to the final, fair and square.

Anaheim 3-5 Chicago

Heavy Anaheim Ducks against play off veteran Chicago Blackhawks. Last time the Ducks were in a final was in 2007 when they won against Ottawa. However, they have lost three straight game seven. Chicago was champions in 2010 and 2013. That was then. In game seven of the 2015 conference final Jonathan Toews gave Chicago the go ahead goal in the first period. Later in the same period, they increased the lead to 2-0 in power play. Anaheim got their chances but Corey Crawford in Chicago’s net came out on top with some good saves. One and a half-minute into the second period Chicago scored the third goal of the game. Later on, Marian Hossa showed some football skilled, skating in the puck to 4-0. Anaheim got a comforting goal through Jakob Silfverberg in the end of the second period. In the middle of the third period Anaheim got their hopes up thanks to a beautiful goal by Corey Perry, assisted by Ryan Getzlaf and Patrick Maroon. However, Chicago answered in power play: 5-2. Anaheim got the last goal, making the final score 5-3, but never came closer than that. Chicago won the game thanks to a better goalie and lots of traffic on net. A winning recipe that can make them go all the way this year.

Schedule for the final

Tampa Bay reached the final after finishing fifth in the total NHL standings, third in the eastern conference and second in the atlantic division. In the play offs they eliminated Detroit 4-3, Montreal 4-2 and New York Rangers 4-3.

Chicago reached the final after finishing seventh in the total NHL standings, fourth in the western conference and third in the central division. In the play offs they eliminated Nashville 4-2, Minnesota 4-0 and Anaheim 4-3.

The final games are played the following dates:

3 June: Chicago @ Tampa Bay
6 June: Chicago @ Tampa Bay
8 June: Tampa Bay @ Chicago
10 June: Tampa Bay @ Chicago
13 June: Chicago @ Tampa Bay
15 June: Tampa Bay @ Chicago
17 June: Chicago @ Tampa Bay

In the first game of the 2015 Stanley Cup conference finals Anaheim beat Chicago and New York Rangers Tampa Bay. In game two, Rangers struggles as usual while Marcus Krüger scored the decisive goal in overtime in the other game.

New York Rangers 2-6 Tampa Bay (1-1)

This wasn’t Rangers game at all and they have become known to play bad in game two in the playoffs for some reason. Tyler Johnson had a good night for Tampa Bay, scoring a hat-trick. The first of his goals came in a first period 3-against-5 box play(!) when Martin St Louis failed to keep the puck at the blue line. The hat-trick got completed in the second period. Lightnings were more effective, hungry and lethal in this game. The next two games are played in Tampa Bay.

Anaheim 2-3 (ot) Chicago (1-1)

Chicago got a good start in the second conference final, scoring 1-0 and 2-0 in the power play in the first period. However, Anaheim reduced the lead in the first period and tied it thorugh Corey Perry in the end of the second. With five minutes to go of the third period Anaheim got the chance to score the decisive goal when Chicagos Marcus Krüger got a penalty However, the game went to overtime. In one sequence Chicagos Andrew Shaw tried to head in the puck but the goal was not approved. Instead, in the third overtime period, Marcus Krüger could score the decisive goal for Chicago who now have two straight ganes at home.

The first game of the conference finals in the 2015 Stanley Cup has been played and the home teams won. New York Rangers got another odd goal, 2-1 win in this year’s play off and Anaheim was led to victory by Swedish forwards Jakob Silfverberg and Hampus Lindholm.

New York Rangers 2-1 Tampa Bay Lightnings (1-0)

Derek Stepan, who scored the decisive goal in the quarterfinal against Washington, began the Rangers goalscoring in the first conference final. With a few seconds to go of the second period, he scored 1-0 on a rebound from Bishop in the Tampa Bay goal. In the third period, Tampa Bay came back and Ondrej Palat tied the game in power play. However, with two and a half minute left of the third period, Dominic Moore “kneed” in the decisive goal, making it 2-1 for the Rangers, which also became the final score. This result is interesting for those of us who like statistics. It was Rangers seventh 2-1 victory (counting full time and overtime) in the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs and their thirteenth straight game where the goal difference was only one goal. Now may be the time to place a bet for match result in the next game. Anyhow, to win the trophy this year, Rangers need to get their goal scoring going. More often than not, goalkeeper Henrik Lundqvist (also called “Mr game seven”) has been a wall in the goal, especially when his team needs it the most. Against Chicago or Anaheim, solid goaltending won’t be enough however.

Anaheim Ducks 4-1 Chicago Blackhawks (1-0)

Hampus Lindholm scored the first goal of the game, assisted by Jakob Silfverberg in the middle of the first period, making it 1-0 to the Ducks. This is the first team the teams meet in the play offs. The second goal of the game came four minutes into the second period when Kyle Palmieri scored 2-0. With 40 seconds to go of the period, Brad Richards scored 2-1 on a giveaway, an extremely important goal at this time of the game. However, Anaheim answered in the third period with 3-1. 4-1 came in the open net. Advantage Anaheim, but we will have to wait and see how the seasoned Blackhawks answers to this.

New York Rangers will play the conference final in this years Stanley Cup after winning a dramatic game seven against Washington Capitals in Madison Square Garden. In the next round they will face Tampa Bay who eliminated Calgary in the quarterfinal. In the other conference final Anaheim will face Chicago. Chicken Swedes got four out of four bets right when we predicted the winners from this round.

New York Rangers 2-1 (ot) Washington Capitals

Capitals got a dream start with Russian superstar Alexander Ovechkin’s goal in the middle of the first period. Washington seemed to be in control of the game after the goal, but a pair of unnecessary penalties in the second game changed the game. Kevin Hayes scored 1-1 in the second period. It would take overtime to decide the game. In overtime, Jesper Fast got the puck in the offensive zone, played it back to Keith Yandle at the blue line who served Dan Girardi for a shot. The rebound went to Derek Stepan who could aim and shoot 2-1 for the Rangers for the win. That ends a great series which Washington was in the lead with 3-1 but where Rangers showed excellent moral, coming back and winning three straight games, just like they did against Pittsburgh Penguins last year.

Conference finals

The conference finals in Stanley Cup are the semifinals of the tournament. They are played in series of seven games and the winners reach the final. Anaheim has played a convincing game in the play offs so far and they will play against the veterans Chicago who won the cup in 2010 and 2013. This might be the two best teams that are left and chances are one of them will lift the Stanley Cup trophy this summer. At Chicken Swedes we have our hopes that our national goalie superstar Henrik Lundqvist together with his Swedish team mates Jesper Fast and Carl Hagelin will reach the final and bring home the cup but first they will have to find a way to eliminate Tampa Bays offensive force.

Corey Perry scored the decisive goal in overtime against Calgary when Anaheim won game five. The total score was 3-2 to Anaheim who will now face Chicago in the conference final / semifinal.

Game 7 between New York Rangers and Washington

Washington also had the chance to decide the quarter final at home. However, the Rangers got a 4-1 lead in the third period and things didn’t look so good for the Capitals. With 12 minutes to go Jevgenij Kuznetsov reduced the lead and two minutes later Joel Ward scored 3-4. The final minutes became intense for Henrik Lundqvist in the Rangers goal, but after 60 minutes of play they were victorious. A final decisive game seven awaits between the two teams in Madison Square Garden.

The winner in game 7 between NY Rangers and Washington will face Tampa Bay Lightning in the conference final. Tampa eliminated Montreal in game 6 after a 4-1 win. Montreal was the last of the four Canadian teams to make the play offs, hence there is no hope for a Stanley Cup title to the proud hockey nation this year. As a comfort, Team Canada is doing very well in the 2015 Ice Hockey World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic. They won all seven games in the preliminary round and will play against Belarus in the quarterfinal.

In an earlier game of the 2015 Stanley Cup quarter finals, Washington scored the decisive goal with just a second to go. This time, it was Tampa Bay’s turn.

Tampa Bay 2-1 Montreal (3-0)

Tampa Bay got the 3 game lead in the series against Montreal after winning game three at home. The score was 1-1 when Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman launched a brilliant pass to Tyler Johnson who could score his eight goal on the last ten games with just 1,1 seconds left to go in the game. After winning game 1 and 2 away, and now game 3 at home, Lightnings get the shot to decide this series at home in game 4.

Washington 2-1 New York Rangers (3-1)

20 year old Andre Burakovsky, born in Austria, raised in Sweden, scored both Washingtons goal on his countryman Henrik Lundqvist in the Rangers goal, giving Capitals a 3-1 game lead in this series. The Rangers were in a 1-0 lead in the second period and had chances for more when Burakovsky ruined their day, tying the game. In the beginning of the third period, Burakovsky also gave Washington the lead with his second goal and Capitals could then close the game, just like in game 3 which they won 1-0.