The Playoffs, Day 20: Mailin' it in

I'm keeping this one short. I remembered I'm not getting paid by the word. Or getting paid, but that's not the point.

Lucic puts Boston up by two, still not worth $4 million
I still hate Milan Lucic's new contract.

But his first goal of the playoffs with 2:57 remaining in the third period gave Boston a 3-2 victory over Philadelphia to take a 2-0 series lead. Just think: One of Montreal, Boston or Philadelphia could be in the Stanley Cup Final. The very thought makes me cry a little inside. That alone should get people behind Pittsburgh. At least it'd be an entertaining series.

Anyway. Lucic's goal was the third Bruins lead but the only one they maintained. Johnny Boychuk scored early, only to be canceled out by Flyers captain Mike Richards in the first period. Miro the Hero Satan netted his fourth of the playoffs in the second period to restore Boston's lead, but Daniel Briere lasered a shot past Tuukka Rask late to tie the score at 2-2.

Satan also assisted on Lucic's goal and Rask finished with 24 saves. Ville Leino posted two assists and Briere had two points for the Flyers.

Got to be honest, I agree with Vancouver
I dislike the song Chicago uses to celebrate goals. Nothing personal against the Blackhawks or the Fratellis, just I could do without it. Points for using a unique song and not a typical "rock jock" song, but still.

Anyway, we heard that song a lot in the third period when Chicago erased a 2-1 deficit to earn a 4-3 victory and tie its series with Vancouver at one apiece.

When Vancouver got goals from Mason Raymond (1:22) and Mikael Samuelsson (5:02) early in the contest, it looked like we were in store for another rout like in Game 1. Brent Seabrook helped prevent that by getting Chicago on the board a couple minutes after falling behind 2-0.

Chicago played well from there and was rewarded in the third period when Patrick Sharp broke in on a shorthanded 2-on-1 with Kris Versteeg, and his move to the backhand beat Roberto Luongo to tie the score. Versteeg scored following a furious sequence with just 1:30 left in the third, and Patrick Kane was credited with an empty net goal to seal the win.

Seabrook finished with three points and Versteeg two. Antti Niemi made 24 saves, including a big one at some point in the game, I forget when, but Chicago was losing at the time.

Tuesday predictions
Montreal 3, Pittsburgh 1
Detroit 4, San Jose 2