James Reimer gave Bruins fans flashbacks Friday night, as his save on Patrice Bergeron was straight out of Tim Thomas‘ playbook.
With Bergeron bearing down on him, the Maple Leafs goalie threw out his right leg and just nicked the puck with his toe, sending it wide of the net. After being Toronto’s weak link thus far in the teams’ opening-round series, Reimer was stellar in Game 5 on Friday, stopping 43 of 44 shots in a 2-1 win that extended the Leafs’ season.
Check out the finest of those 43 saves in the video below.
Inspector gadget
What is it about Tuukka Rask that makes opponents want to test him with gadget goal attempts? First it was Kaspars Daugavins — now one of Rask’s teammates — trying a bizarro spin-o-rama back in March, and Friday it was Toronto’s Mikhail Grabovski, who lifted the puck to himself and tried to smack it in out of mid-air.
If it was successful (and the refs overlooked the blatant high-sticking) Grabovski would have cemented his spot on Stanley Cup highlight packages for years to come. But, just like he against Daugavins, Rask didn’t budge, turning the Leafs forward away empty-handed.
“A” for effort, though. Check it out below.
Michigan Magic Man
Pavel Datsyuk is appointment television every time he hits the ice.
The Detroit winger — whose laser from the left dot forced overtime in Game 4 — provided perhaps the goal of the night on Friday. With the score tied 0-0 late in the first period, Datsyuk ducked and deked past three Anaheim skaters before roofing a backhanded wrist shot past Jonas Hiller. Just another addition to one of the NHL’s most impressive highlight reels.
The Ducks scored twice within the final four minutes of the third period to force overtime, but Henrik Zetterberg‘s second score of the night gave the Wings the win in the extra session, forcing the first Game 7 of these playoffs.
Home sweet home
After being embarrassed in two games at Madison Square Garden, the Capitals finally got back in the win column at home Friday night, thanks to an overtime winner by Mike Ribero.
Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist stoned Mathieu Perreault on the Caps’ first scoring change in OT, but he couldn’t weather the storm a few minutes later. Ribero was able to hammer a rebound into the back of the net, sending the 18,277 red-clad supporters into a frenzy and putting Washington just one win away from clinching the series.
See Ribero’s game-winner below.
Fightin’ words
San Jose and Chicago don’t start their semifinal series for another few days, but the smack talk is well underway.
First it was Blackhawks star Patrick Kane taking a shot at Adam Burish, who was ruled out for the second round after suffering an “upper-body injury” in Game 4 against Vancouver. Burish won’t have a chance for revenge on the ice, but he did hit Kaner where it hurts on Twitter — his signature playoff mullet, complete with racing stripes.
[tweet https://twitter.com/ABurish37/status/332969552822534144 align=’center’]
