There are three games on Monday night with each visiting team only one win away from advancing to the second round. The two defending conference champions closed out their respective series as Chicago and Boston punched their tickets to the second round. They join the Montreal Canadiens who have had their feet kicked up since their 4-0 skunking of Tampa Bay last Tuesday.
While the rest of the playoff teams continue to beat the hell out of each other, the total participants could double if San Jose, Colorado and Pittsburgh can finish off their series. Going on the road to clinch a series is no easy task and Monday night will be no different. While the players would all love to have the extra time off, there isn’t a hockey fan on the planet that doesn’t want a Game 7 to decide a hard-fought series.
Here are your Game 6 matchups for Monday night.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Columbus Blue Jackets (Pittsburgh leads 3-2)
While the hockey world collectively waits for Sidney Crosby to pot his first playoff goal of the 2014 campaign, the “5th line” of Columbus can’t wait to blow the lid off the Nationwide Arena as the Jackets look to extend the second playoff series in franchise history. Brandon Dubinsky has set up shop in Crosby’s back pocket with a personal commitment to make the NHL’s leading scorer work a little harder on every shift.
While Dubinsky has remained productive on the offensive end (1 goal and 5 assists), his primary focus will be to get Columbus to Game 7 back in Pittsburgh. I keep waiting for the Pittsburgh offense to catch fire and light Columbus up, but it just hasn’t happened. It won’t happen on Monday either. Columbus sends it back to the Steel City. Columbus 2-1 in overtime.
Colorado Avalanche at Minnesota Wild (Colorado leads 3-2)
The Avs were within a minute of heading back to Minnesota in a 2-3 hole before P.A. Parenteau saved the day with a late goal to tie things. Rookie hero Nathan MacKinnon won it in overtime. The Calder Trophy finalist became the second youngest player to score an overtime winner with his marker three and a half minutes in to the extra frame.
The Wild have to rally and shake off any residual apathy after giving up Game 5. They certainly have given the favored Avalanche everything they can handle through five games. Only Game 2 provided a margin greater than a single goal and Game 6 will be no different. As much as I want this series to go to seven games, the Avs will find a way to close it out in St. Paul. Colorado 3-1
San Jose Sharks at Los Angeles Kings (San Jose leads 3-2)
Well it looks like this series is finally about to become everything we had hoped it would be. The Sharks are a tough team to figure out. For the first three games of the series they looked unstoppable and a sweep seemed inevitable. Even after dropping Game 4, San Jose seemed like a lock to close things out at the Shark Tank/SAP Center at San Jose. Instead they came out flat and got shutout on their own ice.
Things will get interesting in the Staples Center with the desperate Kings only a home win away from a pressure packed Game 7. If things get that far, the pressure will be squarely on the historically underachieving Sharks who couldn’t possibly lose four straight on their way out of the playoffs. Could they? We’ll have a chance to find out, because the Kings are a lock in Game 6. Los Angeles 4-1