With their Cinderella season nearing midnight after two shutout losses to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Montreal Canadiens return home in need of a win.
Montreal’s magic disappeared in Philadelphia and they must now find a way to win at at the Bell Centre to extend the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final.
The Western Conference final could also end in short order, with the San Jose Sharks down 2-0 to the Chicago Blackhawks and headed to the Windy City for Game 3 tonight.
“Everybody thinks we’re done,” San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle said after his team’s 4-2 loss on Tuesday. “Nothing would make me happier than to come back and disappoint everybody because everybody thinks we’re done.”
Montreal had been dubbed the darlings of the NHL playoffs after eliminating both the top-seeded Washington Capitals and reigning Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in series that both went the full seven games.
But the Flyers have suddenly taken over the mantle as the NHL’s team of destiny with a playoff run that has suddenly made the Canadiens’ post-season run look routine in comparison.
Needing a shootout victory over the New York Rangers in the last game of the regular season to qualify for the playoffs, the Flyers are two wins away from playing for the Stanley Cup.
Making Philadelphia’s playoff run all the more remarkable is that they became just the third team ever to win a series after losing the first three games. In the decisive game of that series, the Flyers trailed 3-0 in the first period before storming back.
Still, the Flyers are not getting ahead of themselves and say the comeback in the last round is a reminder there are no sure bets in this surprising post-season.
“You look at the two teams that are here right now, both teams know that it can go away quick,” the Flyers’ Danny Briere said. “We came back and Montreal came back a couple times. They were down 3-1, 3-2 against very good teams before. The worst thing we could do right now is sit back.”
While the hulking Flyers are gaining momentum, it seems the under-sized Canadiens appear to be running out of gas, as their offense has dried up and young Slovakian goalie Jaroslav Halak has sprung leaks.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set