Wings Win Again, Ribeiro Slashes Osgood

The Stars are down 2-0 and before the very end of last night’s game, they decided they were going to make the Red Wings feel it before heading back to Dallas.

With about five seconds left, Steve Ott went after Kris Draper, giving him a shot before having the scrum broken up and Ott being escorted off the ice.

The Stars won the ensuing faceoff and Sergei Zubov shot the puck in the Wings zone.  Mike Ribeiro skated after the puck, and Chris Osgood gave him a bump with the butt-end of his stick.  Draper tried to grab onto Ribeiro, but before a scrum could even develop Ribeiro gave Osgood a two-hander to the chest.

Ribeiro received an attempt to injure match penalty, meaning he’s already suspended pending league review.  If I had to guess, I’d say it’s unlikely he’ll see any further playoff action. It seems harsh, but the Wings are already up by two and the highlight of Ribeiro swinging his stick with both hands will be replayed over and over. There will be media pressure on the league, no doubt.

Draper, involved in all of the action at game’s end, wasn’t concerned about Ott, just Ribeiro:

“I’m fine with that,” Draper said of the Ott assault. “He threw a punch at me.

“No harm done. You get up and you go. But something like (the slash on Osgood), that’s right out of Slap Shot. (Ribeiro) just literally . . . intent to injure on our best player. I couldn’t believe it when he did it.”

Osgood said of his butt-end:

“If it did, it was an accident,” he said. “I don’t think it justifies a two-hander over the top of the net.”

And of the slash:

“I do have a lot of padding up there but it got me in the side where I didn’t have much,” he said of the Ribeiro slash. “It did hurt a bit.

“It was kind of a full swing right to the side. But I’ll be fine, I’m sure. A little sore, but I’ll be fine.”

Dominik Hasek didn’t play last night, but his presence was felt when Osgood flopped to the ice like a fish when slashed, only to be up and fine a minute later.  No one expects a slash like that to tickle, but it did seem like overkill.

While we were all looking at the Flyers-Pens series for the war, the Stars and Wings are now sharing the battle spotlight.

Tonight’s game

Philadelphia Flyers vs Pittsburgh Penguins 7:30 PM ET

Some reads

ESPN: Don Cherry Breaks Down The NHL Playoffs
Stars’ Ott stirs the pot
Flyers playoff goalies from Bernie Parent to Marty Biron
Penguins-Flyers series a war? That’s the idea
Series puts rivalry in state of frenzy
NHL needs to be body slammed (the gist of this is something I’ve written myself quite a few times)
Flyers’ Upshall is feisty and talented
Landing an OHL job doesn’t mean you’ll make the NHL
Roberts: Physical play, fights can shift momentum
Goons on parade: Cote and Laraque
Oilers reincarnated
MLSE suits are still calling all the shots
Cote’s call to arms
What does the future hold for Dan Carcillo?

Date	Away Team / Player		Home Team / Player
Full Fight Log & Descriptions
May 11, 2008	PHI	Scottie Upshall	PIT	Tyler Kennedy
Apr 26, 2008	COL	Cody McCormick	DET	Darren McCarty
Apr 15, 2008	MIN	Stephane Veilleux	COL	Ian Laperriere
Apr 15, 2008	WAS	Mike Green	PHI	Scottie Upshall
Apr 13, 2008	MON	Guillaume Latendresse	BOS	Shane Hnidy

Conference Finals Preview 2008

Pittsburgh Penguins (2) vs Philadelphia Flyers (6)

Records

Pittsburgh: 47-27-8 (102 pts) Home: 26-10-5 Away: 21-16-3
Philadelphia: 42-29-11 (95 pts) Home: 20-14-6 Away: 21-15-5
Pittsburgh swept the Sens and beat New York in 5. Philadelphia eliminated Washington in 7 and Montreal in 5.

Head-to-Head

Nov 7, 2007 - PIT 1 PHI 3
Nov 10, 2007 - PIT 2 PHI 5
Dec 11, 2007 - PIT 2 PHI 8
Jan 24, 2008 - PIT 3 PHI 4
Feb 10, 2008 - PIT 4 PHI 3
Mar 16, 2008 - PIT 7 PHI 1
Apr 2, 2008 - PIT 4 PHI 2
Apr 6, 2008 - PIT 0 PHI 2
Philadelphia won season series 5-3.

Fighting (did they ever!)

Nov 7, 2007 - Brooks Orpik vs R.J. Umberger
Nov 10, 2007 - Ryan Malone vs Jason Smith
Nov 10, 2007 - Darryl Sydor vs Stefan Ruzicka
Dec 11, 2007 - Ryan Malone vs Jason Smith
Dec 11, 2007 - Gary Roberts vs Ben Eager
Dec 11, 2007 - Ryan Whitney vs Jeff Carter
Dec 11, 2007 - Colby Armstrong vs Scott Hartnell
Jan 24, 2008 - Georges Laraque vs Riley Cote
Jan 24, 2008 - Ryan Stone vs Steve Downie
Feb 10, 2008 - Jarkko Ruutu vs Steve Downie
Mar 16, 2008 - Ryan Malone vs Riley Cote
Apr 2, 2008 - Georges Laraque vs Riley Cote
Apr 2, 2008 - Brooks Orpik vs Joffrey Lupul

Lineup

Goaltending: DRAW
Scoring: EDGE Pittsburgh
Defense: EDGE Philadelphia
Coaching: EDGE Pittsburgh
Grit: EDGE Philadelphia

Schedule

Friday, May 9, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008

Key for Pittsburgh

Show discipline. It's no secret who Philadelphia will be after. The Rangers went for the "diver" angle and it didn't do a whole lot. Philadelphia won't be afraid to use every trick in the book and we'll really see what the young guns are really made of.

Key for Philadelphia

Marty Biron. Philadelphia is capable of matching Pittsburgh offensively... it's up to Marty to continue to shut the door. He's been the busiest goalie after two rounds facing an average of 33 shots, but boasts a solid .914 save percentage. Also, I'd enjoy a few sound bites of Biron yelling sweet nothings to Sidney Crosby.

My Prediction

Fans and writers love to talk about match-ups that are good for the league. Does it get any better than this? Two great fanbases, a nasty rivalry and a little bit of Cinderella... this has the makings to be a classic. I can't picture a scenario where Pittsburgh doesn't win. No slight to the Flyers, as you don't get to the Conference Finals for no reason, but I think the Pens will have an answer for everything Philadelphia has... Pens in 6. Still, I think we're in for an excellent series.

John's Pick

If the way the Flyers and Penguins went it at during the regular season is any indication, this series could end up being one of the most entertaining in recent memory. The Flyers gave it a good run but the loss of Kimmo Timonen will serve as a huge blow to any plans the Flyers had to shut down Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Jordan Staal. Pens in 6.

David's Pick

It's so hard not to build this one up. I want to say best series since Islanders-Leafs of 2002, but anyone who believes in jinxes (99% of hockey fans it seems) will send in the hate mail if that doesn't happen. This just has entertaining written all over it, from the positional match-ups to the media jabs to the fans. Any hole the Flyers have, the Penguins seem to have plugged up. Like Jamie and John, I'm picking the Pens in 6.

Continue reading "Conference Finals Preview 2008"

• Wings Win Again, Ribeiro Slashes Osgood
• Conference Finals Preview 2008
• Canada vs USA: Feel the Hate
• Penn Meet-Up
• Report: Sean Avery Hospitalized
• McCarty Ends Drought
• Conference Semifinals Preview 2008
• A Taxing Twosome
• Bruise Brothers Book Preview
• First Round Tightening