NHL playoffs 2013: Wings, Leafs extend series; Kings finish off Blues

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Quick faced just 22 shots, but many of them were quality scoring chances. The Quick we’ve seen over the last four games is quite similar to the Conn Smythe Quick we saw last summer. He turned away 21 shots with flair and skill, and the Blues ultimately had no chance.

The final minutes were a bit of a flurry, but the Kings protected their net well. The series loss marks the first time the Blues have lost a round after taking a 2-0 lead, and St. Louis has now lost its last eight elimination games.

0.2 seconds close.

... that the hockey gods answered.

Well, they lost that lead.

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See what I mean? Sick.

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Washington peppered Henrik Lundqvist all night long, throwing 35 pucks on net for him to try and stop. The attack continued in earnest in overtime, but he was up for the challenge. Nine out of 10 goalies would not have stopped this scoring chance.

Unfortunately for New York, a failed clearing attempt led to a juicy rebound for Ribeiro, who cashed in.

The Capitals later gave the Rangers essentially four consecutive minutes of power play time to work with. The final period shot total might be 6-5 for the Caps, but New York had about five shots blocked on the power play. The outstanding special teams play needs to continue for Washington if it wants to close out this game.

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It was Brassard’s fifth assist of the series, which is amazing because he is Derick Brassard.

At any rate, that also sent Stralman to the locker room. It’ll be up to the rest of the Rangers to make up for the absence of two of their top players as they defend a 1-0 lead in the second period.

The Toronto Maple Leafs don’t appear to be going down quietly in Game 5. Down 3-1 in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with the Boston Bruins, the Leafs came out firing in the first period.

Toronto put 19 shots on Tuukka Rask’s goal in the first, compared to just eight shots on goal by the Bruins, but the score’s still tied at 0-0. None of those scoring chances were more impressive than this attempt from Mikhail Grabovski:

So he did this instead.

Man, they totally noticed that. He got them so good.

The St. Louis Blues have looked like they were going to finally close out the Kings at different points in each of their last three games of this Western Conference Quarterfinal series. They had periods of dominance in their 1-0 loss in Game 3, a two-goal lead in the first period of Game 4, and a breathtaking, dramatic, late tying goal to send Game 5 to overtime. There are reasons, if you’re a Blues fan, to look back at all three of those games and think that they should’ve gotten each.

They didn’t get any of them, however, and now they’re in a familiar place: facing elimination at the Staples Center in a playoff game. After the Kings swept the Blues in 2012, they have a chance to dispatch them in Game 6 of their series in 2013. If they do that, then some serious questions have to be asked about how this collapse happened. But for now, the Blues aren’t quite dead.

The Anaheim Ducks have not won a playoff series since 2009. That was when they beat San Jose in the Western Conference Quarterfinals, and then fell to the Red Wings in a dramatic, epic seven-game series. They have a chance Friday night, at Joe Louis Arena, to win one for the first time since. Game 6 from the Joe Louis Arena will be an elimination game after the Ducks came back to win in overtime at Honda Center on Wednesday.

Nick Bonino continued his excellent series, scoring his third goal in five games and winning Game 5 for the formerly mighty Ducks. Bonino’s contributions have been key in a series where Corey Perry has yet to tally a goal. Only Ryan Getzlaf has more points for Anaheim in the series.

The Rangers played their best game of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with the Washington Capitals in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. All four goals were scored by key Rangers contributors (Derek Stepan, Brad Richards, Carl Hagelin, Dan Girardi) and Henrik Lundqvist played well. The defense tightened up at exactly the right time. Though they gave up a two-goal lead at one point in the game, they held off the Capitals enough to win.

This is a series where the team that plays better defensively has won, and the Rangers did that despite not having Marc Staal in the lineup on Wednesday. Their defense, led by Girardi, Ryan McDonagh and Michael Del Zotto, made the Caps look very silly and harmless offensively down the stretch in Game 4. Of course, if your defense plays even reasonably well, you’re probably going to win with Henrik Lundqvist in goal.

Staal returned to action for Game 3 after missing two months due to the injury. He compiled 17:17 of ice time over 21 shifts in the contest. However, he was unable to play in Game 4 and stated on Friday that he likely won’t be available to play in the remainder of the series.

Staal was unwilling to go into the specifics of what was keeping him out of the lineup. He stated nothing out of the ordinary occurred during Game 3 and he didn’t determine until the morning of Game 4 that he wouldn’t be able to play.

Redden is considered day-to-day due to unspecified reasons.

In four games this postseason, Redden has registered two points (goal, assist) and has averaged 15:22 of ice time -- with 2:25 coming on the power play -- over 90 shifts (22.5 shifts per game average).

Oates is hoping that Wilson can provide the Capitals a spark after dropping consecutive games in New York. The series returns to Washington tied at two games.

Wilson was selected by Washington with the No. 16 overall selection in the 2012 NHL Draft. In 48 regular-season games with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League, Wilson compiled 58 points (23 goals, 35 assists). During the team’s 12-game playoff run, Wilson added another 17 points (nine goals, eight assists). After the OHL playoffs, Wilson was called up to the Bears for their playoff run.