Two teams have been granted entrance to the conference finals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, while Montreal, Tampa, New York and Washington all claw it out for the other two tickets. Over the past week we saw Chicago sweep Minnesota, Anaheim take out Calgary in a five-game series, and a lot of tight, low-scoring action in the other two series’.
As always, five individuals stepped above the rest over the past seven days.
1. Chris Kreider, New York Rangers
Chris Kreider has officially arrived in the 2014-15 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 24-year-old forward from Boxford, Massachusetts plays a high-speed, collision-frequent game, and no one learned that better than Canadiens fans during last year’s playoffs.
This year around he arrived in style after a relatively quiet series against the Washington Capitals. Down 1-0 with under 90 seconds left on the clock in Game 5, Kreider struck gold in triumphant fashion.
In overtime, his buddy and captain Ryan McDonagh scored the winner to force a Game 6 in the series. In that game, in Washington, Kreider went back to work, sniping once on Capitals goalie Braden Holtby. It came just 40 seconds into the game and Kreider needed only one hand on his stick to do it.
He wasn’t done there. With 0.3 seconds left on the clock in the first period, Kreider scored his second goal of the contest, giving the Rangers a nice 2-0 lead. They’d go on the win the game 4-3, forcing a Game 7 to be played on Wednesday night.
Dan Girardi on Chris Kreider: "He's kind of a freak of nature, really. He's just so big and strong and fast."
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) May 11, 2015
2. Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
Braden Holtby enters a huge Game 7 on Wednesday night as arguably the best goalie in the 2015 playoffs. His 1.71 GAA is third-best in the league and his .944 SV% is second-best, only behind Senators goalie Craig Anderson who has played far less playoff hockey than Holtby.
The Capitals playoff success has largely been as a result of a total-team effort and a physical, attacking, proactive style on offense. But they couldn’t have got there without Holtby, who has played fantastic hockey over 12 games. He’s compiled a 6-6 record and let in just 21 goals.
Some of his wins have been greasy, yet well-deserved. Some of his saves have been out-of-this-world.
Braden Holtby has to be the most under-appreciated goalie in the entire league. He's very quickly putting himself in some serious company.
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) May 9, 2015
The Capitals take on the Rangers Wednesday night for Game 7 in their series.
3. Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks
Corey Perry’s game-winning goal 2:26 into overtime on Sunday night was the final dagger in Calgary’s magical season. But Anaheim was the better team all along due to guys like Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler and more.
Perry racked up four goals and four assists throughout the series, none more important than Sunday night’s goal.
He also set up some important goals, including Hampus Lindholm‘s goal to make the score 2-0 in Game 2.
Perry currently leads all players in the 2015 Playoffs with 15 points, on seven goals and eight assists.
The Ducks will take on Chicago in the third round of the playoffs.
4. P.A. Parenteau, Montreal Canadiens
Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau scored the overtime winner in Montreal’s Game 5 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was a massive goal given that just three days earlier, the Habs were staring at a 3-0 series deficit. Fortunately the Habs crushed Tampa Bay in Game 4 to force a fifth game. Game 5 ended up an intense game from start to finish.
Parenteau broke a 1-1 tie with under five minutes left in the game to give Montreal new life once again.
Montreal has obviously benefitted from some excellent play over the past two games by players like P.K. Subban (who set up Parenteau’s winner) and goalie Carey Price. But role-players like Parenteau are providing the heroics in an incredible series.
#Habs man of the hour: P.A. Parenteau still all smiles after the media crowds had gone #Habs #TBLightning #HabsIO pic.twitter.com/hybNwpyb1d
— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) May 10, 2015
Game 6 of the Canadiens and Lightning series is on Tuesday night.
5. Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
He made it on the list of Playoff Warriors last week and well, he’s made it again because he’s so effective. Blackhawks star forward Patrick Kane performed admirably in the ‘Hawks’ four-game sweep of the hapless Minnesota Wild.
“Party” Kane, as he’s sometimes referred to, sniped five times and added an assist during the series. All five goals came on Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk, who had been playing spectacular hockey.
As usual, Kane was totaly dominant in a playoff series. What else is new?
As I said yesterday (strong back pat), Patrick Kane has already established himself as one of the all time great playoff performers.
— Bryan Hayes (@HayesTSN) May 8, 2015
Have you tried the Shnarped Hockey App? Connect with players and fans. Share your passion for hockey. Discover the best news, stats, photos, and videos.
