NHL Playoffs Roundup: Saturday’s Bests and Worsts

Saturday’s NHL playoff theme was exorcism. The Pittsburgh Penguins performed theirs perfectly, eliminating the team that had eliminated them in the last two postseasons, the New York Rangers.

The St. Louis Blues didn’t follow the manual, however and that was due in large part to the fact that they were playing a much better team: the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks.

As a result, both of last season’s Western Conference finalists are still alive. Anaheim dispatched the Nashville Predators behind red-hot goalie Frederik Anderson to move within a game of a date with San Jose in the second round.

Here are Saturdays bests and worst.

Three stars:

1. Bryan Rust, Pittsburgh: Two goals (including game-winner), assist in win over New York Rangers
2. Jonathan Toews, F, Chicago: Two assists, won 60 percent of faceoffs, logged 21:10 of ice time.
3. Ryan Getzlaf, F Anaheim: Two assists, plus-3, won 54 percent of faceoffs, 20:54 of ice time in win over Nashville

Best game: Chicago 6, St. Louis 3

The Blackhawks took an early lead, but St. Louis scored three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead after one period.

How did the Blackhawks respond? With a 19-shot, three-goal, yes, we-are-the-defending-champs second period. Artem Anisimov, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Dale Weise all scored in that frame to turn momentum irreversibly in the Blackhawks’ favor. Chicago outshot St. Louis 36-27 in the game, marking the first time in this series that the team that won the shot battle won the game.

It is fitting that this series should go to a Game 7. We told you before the postseason started that it would be the best matchup and it has lived up to that billing. Now St. Louis must confront those demons of playoffs past as everyone reminds the Blues that they have won just one playoff series in the last 12 years.

Best individual performance: Bryan Rust, Pittsburgh Penguins

Rust’s first NHL postseason had been non-descript before Saturday when he decided to score his first playoff goal, record his first playoff assist and then add his second playoff goal for insurance. The playoffs are littered with guys who rise from obscurity to play major roles. You just made the list, Bryan.

Best visual: Patrick Kane’s patience

Watch Kane set up shop behind the net (Wayne Gretzky’s office) and wait for Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to leave the post and open a passing lane. Andrew Shaw somehow slides away from his check and Kane feeds him for a huge insurance goal in the Hawks’ win.

Shawzy's back and he gets on the scoresheet! pic.twitter.com/ZYlpWajZ4u

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 24, 2016

Best stat: Die-hard Blackhawks

Thanks to Chicago’s Game-6 win, the Coyotes are still the only team to knock the Cup-era Blackhawks (since 2010) out of the postseason in less than 7 games.

Best shot: Ryan Johansen, Nashville Predators

The midseason acquisition ripped this incredible backhand shot off the crossbar to give Nashville a brief 1-0 lead over the Ducks in Game 5.

You'll have a tough time finding a nicer backhander than Ryan Johansen's. #ANAvsNSH #StanleyCuphttps://t.co/YeY5tKX7kK

— #StanleyCup Playoffs (@NHL) April 23, 2016

Gordie Howe told an 11-year-old Wayne Gretzky to practice the backhand. Johansen must have read that somewhere.

Best luck: Anaheim Ducks

Nashville had just taken a 1-0 lead on the aforementioned Johansen shot when Ducks forward David Perron took a shot that deflected high in air off Predators defenseman Roman Josi. Rinne appeared to lose sight of the puck for a split second in the Honda Center’s black ceiling and it looped over him and into the net to tie the game just 22 seconds after Nashville had grabbed the lead.

Just a minute and 48 seconds after that goal, Ducks forward Ryan Garbutt banked a puck off Rinne’s hip from the side of the net and it squirted through the tiniest hole between Rinne’s body and the post into the net for a 2-1 lead. Nashville never tied the game or took the lead again.

Worst penalty: Mike Ribeiro, Nashville Predators

This will shock you, but Ribeiro did something stupid. With his team trailing Anaheim 3-2, late in the pivotal Game 5 at Honda Center, Ribeiro slashed Ryan Kesler in the offensive zone as the two chased a loose puck on the half wall — instead of moving his feet and trying to win a puck battle with his body. Anaheim’s Cam Fowler scored on the ensuing power play with 3:23 left in the game and the Predators were done.

Best luck, Part II: Phil Kessel, Pittsburgh Penguins

Kessel was widely credited for a terrific shot that tied the game at 11:39 of the first period, but the replay showed his shot was actually going slightly wide until Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist redirected it with his stick handle into the net.

Yeah, he's Phil'in it. pic.twitter.com/LfW0junAOv

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 23, 2016

Worst momentum killer: Andrew Desjardins, Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago already had a 1-0 lead in a do-or-die Game 6 at United Center when Desjardins got a feed from Dale Weise at the left post with the net wide open. He flubbed the shot, it went wide and Blues forward Scottie Upshall scored on a rush the other way to tie the game at 1-1. St. Louis added two more goals in the next 4:42 to seemingly put the defending champs on ice. Luckily for Desjardins, the Hawks had other ideas.

Best quote: Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers

“I think the last two (games) I just didn’t have it in me to make the difference. The way the game is played, especially the last two games, a lot of big opportunities right in front, you need strong goaltending. You need a goalie that’s going to make a lot of big, extra saves. I was not able to come up with that.”

Best thing to look forward to Sunday: Close-out games?

Washington can close out Philadelphia if it can solve Flyers goalie Michal Neuvirth, Dallas can close out Minnesota if it can match the Wild’s effort, and the New York Islanders can close out Florida to post the Eastern Conference’s biggest upset.

Follow Craig Morgan on Twitter

The post NHL Playoffs Roundup: Saturday’s Bests and Worsts appeared first on Todays SlapShot.