The second round of the Playoffs has seen quite a few storylines developing that have the hockey world talking. Let’s take a look at some of the most prevalent stories making the rounds.
Fleury on Fire
Marc-Andre Fleury is without a doubt one of the most controversial goaltenders come playoff time these past couple of seasons. He has been one of the main reasons that Pittsburgh has been unable to return to the Stanley Cup Finals since they won in 2009. When you boast a team with players such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Kris Letang the playoff failures are magnified. For Fleury he has certainly been one of the many reasons Pittsburgh has had playoff disappointment in recent years. Here are his statistics from 2009 onwards in the Playoffs:
| Season | Result | SV% | GAA | SO |
| 2008-09 | Stanley Cup Winner | .908 | 2.61 | 0 |
| 2009-10 | 2nd Round Loss | .891 | 2.78 | 1 |
| 2010-11 | 1st Round Loss | .899 | 2.52 | 1 |
| 2011-12 | 1st Round Loss | .834 | 4.63 | 0 |
| 2012-13 | 3rd Round Loss | .883 | 3.52 | 1 |
As is evident, Fleury was never overly spectacular in the Playoffs. Even when they won the Stanley Cup, it is evident that it was not on the back of Fleury. He has been an average or below average goalie in the Playoffs consistently. This has likely cost the Penguins dearly in terms of potential Stanley Cup Championships, yet the full blame can never truly rest on the goaltender. In this instance, why didn’t GM Ray Shero make a move to acquire a legitimate number one goaltender? He acquired Vokoun, but Vokoun was on his way out of the NHL when he was brought in. With this evidence piling up, and the potential for glory years, why was the goaltending never addressed in a significant way? On top of this, the bottom 6 of Pittsburgh in recent years has been truly poor in comparison to the cup winning teams. Why this was never addressed is another question. The lineup had holes, holes that only a GM can fill. The point is that yes, Fleury has been very poor in the Playoffs, but to place all the blame on him would be foolish.
Now here we are in this year’s Playoffs and Fleury has been the backbone of this Penguins team, especially in their current series with the New York Rangers.
| 2013-14 | SV% .925 | GAA 2.22 | 2 Shutouts |
His play this post season has been fantastic in relation to his historical performances. The rest of the Penguins team has left much to be desired. This should be a troubling occurrence going forward for Pittsburgh in these Playoffs. Fleury is currently playing very well, but what happens if he reverts to career averages? The Penguins have shown a lack of support and are benefitting from playing a tired NY Rangers squad. This could be the year that Fleury finally has himself a Conn Smythe worthy playoffs, or the averages could balance out and Pittsburgh may find themselves in a world of trouble. The Penguins need to rally around Fleury and take advantage of his hot streak before it is too late.
Carey Price in Bostons Head
Boston entered these Playoffs the clear favorites to repeat as Eastern Conference Champions. The danger of the playoffs is that when a team runs into a hot goalie all the advantage in the world disappears. That is what is happening right now in their series with the Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price is the main reason this series sits at 1-1. Through the first two games we have seen the Bruins dominate the play when the game is 5 on 5 Close Situation:
| Team | GF | GA | CF% | FF% | SV% | PDO |
| Boston | 2 | 3 | 64.9% | 60.9% | 90.3% | 94.1 |
| Montreal | 3 | 2 | 35.1% | 39.1% | 96.2% | 105.9 |
The Bruins have been absolutely having their way with the Canadiens in this situation, yet Carey Price has given Montreal some hope. This chart highlights just how big of an influence Carey Price has had in this series when the game is on the line. For Montreal, this means they need to find a way to win this series before Price gets overworked and fatigued. We saw it in Game 2, Price let in a questionable goal, but it was after two and a half periods of saving the Canadiens hide. Goalies get fatigued just the same as players, so Montreal needs to strike while the irons hot if they have any hope of upsetting the Bruins.
Rangers Offensive Woes
The New York Rangers are simply not getting it done offensively. They have been shutout in consecutive games, and as such trail the Penguins 2-1 in their second round series. Some of this has been the improved performance of Marc-Andre Fleury, but a lot of it has to do with the players themselves. Their special teams play has been dreadful. Their current PP% sits at a mere 7.1% they sit dead last of the remaining teams in the Playoffs, and their PK% sits at 75.9%. These are not good enough numbers, and fatigue is likely a factor, especially on the PK. But the big stars are not getting it done offensively. St. Louis has six points in ten games, Rick Nash has no goals and four points in ten games and their top two offensive players in the regular season Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan both have only four points in their ten games thus far. These numbers are unacceptable, specifically Rick Nash’s lack of goal-scoring. The Rangers are going nowhere fast with these type of numbers, and it will take a big performance in Game 4 by their star players to get them back in this series.
Head Coach Alain Vigneault put his top players on blast earlier this week stating "Their big boys put on the big-boy pants," Vigneault said. "I need mine to do that." When he was asked about the lack of success in this series, and quite frankly he hits the nail on the head. It is up to the players to give goaltender Henrik Lundqvist some offensive support.
Los Angeles Steals Two on the Road
The Los Angeles Kings are leading their second round series 2-0 against the Anaheim Ducks after winning the first two games in Anaheim. This brings their current winning streak to six games and puts them just two wins away from the Western Conference Finals. The biggest factors in the Kings success? Jonathan Quick is playing incredible, and Marian Gaborik has started finding the back of the net on a nightly basis, and the Kings find themselves on home ice with a 2-0 series lead because of it.
Quick has been magnificent thus far stopping 36 of 38 shots he has faced and posting a 94.7% SV%. This is despite the Ducks having a slight edge in the series Corsi at an advantage of 51.7% to LA’s 48.3%. Quick is putting on the type of performance that earned him the Conn Smythe trophy in 2012. When two evenly matched teams face off, the goaltending becomes the biggest factor in winning or losing. If not for Quick this series would likely be headed back to Los Angeles with the Ducks carrying at least a 1-1 split.
Marian Gaborik was brought in at the trade deadline to give LA a one-shot scorer. With six goals in nine playoff games, Gaborik is certainly delivering. He has found instant chemistry with Anze Kopitar in these playoffs and is leading the Kings with his timely scoring. Game 1 was all but lost until Gaborik scored in the dying seconds to send the game to overtime. In overtime it was Gaborik once again scoring to send the Kings away with an unlikely victory.
The Ducks need to find a way to shut down Gaborik and play through the frustrations brought on by the impressive goaltending from Jonathan Quick. With their backs to the wall the Ducks need to win the next game or they will be facing the same hole LA faced in their first round series with San Jose. The odds of having two 3-0 series comebacks in the same year are minuscule, so Game 3 is make or break for Anaheim.
This article uses information from NHL.com and extraskater.com