Kings    1

Flames  2

This game had all the makings of a barnburner with a desperate Kings squad on the road fighting to keep their playoff dreams alive in a hostile Flames environment..... problem was the Flames had other ideas and basically choked the life right out of the game and eventually the Kings season! The Flames completely shut the door on the Kings in the first period allowing only 3 shots while scoring on 2 of only 10 shots of their own. To go deep into a playoff run you need scoring sometimes from unlikely sources and the Flames got that this game with D. Hamhuis scoring his 2nd and B. Gionta netting his 1st in the early going and that was all they would need. The Kings were beyong frustrated with their early start and it appeared that they would take control of the game after looking like a different team in the second. LA pounded the Flame goal with 18 second period shots and scoring the only goal of the frame they had every right to move forward and steal the win in the third but the Flames refocused on their defensive gameplan. This time the Flames would only allow 5 shots in the frame to extinguish any further attempts at a comeback. Flames take series 4-1

Preds    1

Hawks   3

This back and forth series keeps twisting and turning with nobody knowing quite what to expect from game to game. In what was a hotly contested game, both sides took momentum and traded scoring chances throughout but what could be easily percieved as a difference maker was the power plays. With 10 PP's awarded this game and no goals scored how could the PP be a difference maker? The Preds were penalized 8 times to Chicagos twice and couldn't get any type of a flow going as they were wasting energy on the PK and mixing up their line-ups. Every time the Preds tried to push they would run into a penalty to lose the momentum and take themselves out of the game. This game once again featured strong goaltending by both with the Hawks outshooting the Preds 36-30 but how different would the game have been if the opportunities on the PP were even? Hawks now back on top of the series up 3-2