While Western Conference teams opened up 2-0 series leads, both Eastern Conference series in action Friday night shifted to 1-1 series splits.
2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs nightly GIF recap: Bounce-filled Friday night
Bounces for goals! Bounces for non-goals!
Fortunately for the NHL addict, three of the four games were close, with the Islanders rallying from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Penguins 4-3, the Sharks mounting a late tying goal to beat the Canucks in overtime, and the Canadiens winning a physical game 3-1 over the Senators.
The Blackhawks and Wild were the only party poopers, with Chicago pulling away in the third period on the strength of two Patrick Sharp goals. Sure, the Wild found it close enough to pull their goalie, but Bryan Bickell ended those dreams with an empty net goal that made the final 5-2.
Anyway, on to the night’s GIFs!
The Islanders were hoping to avoid a repeat of their bad early start against the Penguins in Game 1. That plan worked great for 43 seconds, until this happened:
The Islanders fell behind 2-0 and 3-1, but they battled back Just before their second goal, for some reason Kyle Okposo fought Matt Niskanen. Guess who won:
(Hint: Not Niskanen.)
The Islanders tied it by the second intermission, meaning we’d have a great third period. It would take a great goal for someone to win, right?
Marc-Andre Fleury begs to differ:
Out West, the Canucks may have been lucky not to fall behind even further during the second period. With the Sharks up 1-0, Tommy Wingels drove the net -- or Mason Raymond drove him into the net, it depends on your loyalties.
Since he essentially sat on Roberto Luongo as Joe Pavelski's shot went in, they ruled it no goal:
Still, Ryan Kesler scored twice in the third to give the Canucks the lead. They held that lead until the last minute, when Patrick Marleau tied it.
In overtime, this pretty 2-on-1 finish by Raffi Torres put an end to the game, an end to the night, and an end to our Friday GIF recap:
Nice finish by Torres there. I'm sure Kevin Bieksa tried to stop it.
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