2010- How three games on the final day affected the playoff picture

[c9777666]

A few years ago, I posted a thread on how the last Sunday of the 1995-96 season had a game in each conference basically determine the shape of the first round and had a say in how the playoffs played out.

Well, in 2010, we had a similar situation.

April 11.

Only 1 of the 8 first round matchups was set in stone: 4/5 in the East between Pittsburgh and Ottawa.

As for the rest......

We all know about Rangers/Flyers game 82.

Winner makes the playoffs, loser goes home. Briere and Giroux scored. Olli Jokinen took the last shot instead of 40-goal man Marian Gaborik, Brian Boucher made the save, and Philadelphia took step 1 of an improbably journey to the Stanley Cup Finals.

But what a lot of people forget was that there were two other games that also affected the playoff picture.

That same day, Detroit played Chicago at the United Center. This game affected the entire West first round.

Brad Stuart scored in overtime. It cost CHI the 1 seed and moved DET from 6 seed to 5.



What we got:

(1) San Jose vs. (8) Colorado
(2) Chicago vs. (7) Nashville
(3) Vancouver vs. (6) Los Angeles
(4) Phoenix vs. (5) Detroit

Had the Red Wings lost that game, these would have been our playoff matchups in the West:

(1) Chicago vs. (8) Colorado
(2) San Jose vs. (7) Nashville
(3) Vancouver vs. (6) Detroit
(4) Phoenix vs. (5) Los Angeles


In the East, I mentioned NYR/PHI. But there also was another East game with seeding implications.

Buffalo and New Jersey were fighting for the 2 seed. BUF needed a regulation win and they pulled their goalie late for the extra skater. Devils scored into an empty net, but even if the game goes to OT, the Sabres would have not moved up.



The Flyers and Devils won their respective games and we ended up with:

(1) Washington vs. (8) Montreal
(2) New Jersey vs. (7) Philadelphia
(3) Buffalo vs. (6) Boston

(#4 Pittsburgh vs. #5 Ottawa was the only first-round matchup set in stone)

But supposed we got a different combination.

If the Rangers win game 82 at Philly and New Jersey still beat Buffalo:

#1 Washington vs. #8 NY Rangers
#2 New Jersey vs. #7 Montreal
#3 Buffalo vs. #6 Boston
PIT/OTT 4/5

If the Rangers win game 82 at Philly and Buffalo beat New Jersey:

#1 Washington vs. #8 NY Rangers
#2 Buffalo vs. #7 Montreal
#3 New Jersey vs. #6 Boston
PIT/OTT 4/5

If Philadelphia won game 82 but Buffalo beat New Jersey:

#1 Washington vs. #8 Montreal
#2 Buffalo vs. #7 Philadelphia
#3 New Jersey vs. #6 Boston
PIT/OTT

Oh, and also worth noting that Montreal only clinched because they didn't lose to Toronto in regulation of game 82. Remarkably, if the Habs did lose that game in regulation, NYR/PHI would have been playing to avoid Washington in the 1/8 matchup.


Basically, there are a million what-ifs in regards to how the 2010 playoffs end up if some of these different outcomes happened:

Would Halak have had the same first-round magic against possibly Buffalo or New Jersey?

Do the Devils have a better playoff fate if they draw MTL/BOS instead of the Flyers?

Would Buffalo and Vezina winner Ryan Miller have been able to make a run if they don't face the Bruins?

What of the Capitals if they don't face Halak?

Would Craig Anderson have played as heroically vs. CHI as he did vs. the Sharks?

NSH gave Chicago fits- how would they have fared vs. the Sharks?

DET/VAN would have been a VERY interesting round 1 matchup (2 hottest teams after the Olympic Break). They had played an exciting game in late March with a dramatic finish:



PHX/LA in round 1 would have had some differences from their 2012 West Finals (Bryzgalov instead of Mike Smith, no Jeff Carter/Mike Richards, Frolov/Ryan Smyth were on the Kings, Terry Murray was the LA head coach, Kings first playoff team in 8 years)

In an alternate universe, perhaps we don't get Halak Magic or the Flyers 0-3 comeback. Maybe Boudreau wins a Cup? Ovechkin wins a Cup 8 years earlier? Does Chicago still go all the way with a different path?

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[JianYang]

New jersey owned Montreal throughout the brodeur era. This was the team brodeur put up his best numbers against during the course of his career, and it didn't matter if it was rookie brodeur, prime brodeur, or twilight brodeur.

He also had a playoff goal under his belt against the habs.

I think it would be an early exit for the habs if they faced NJ

 

[MXD]

New jersey owned Montreal throughout the brodeur era. This was the team brodeur put up his best numbers against during the course of his career, and it didn't matter if it was rookie brodeur, prime brodeur, or twilight brodeur.

He also had a playoff goal under his belt against the habs.

I think it would be an early exit for the habs if they faced NJ

Yup. Brodeur's numbers against the Habs look like a prime-Hasek season, despite the generally higher scoring levels when you average out the seasons (and, for the whole period in question, the Canadiens are probably dead-on average).

 

[HisIceness]

I remember that Flyers/Rangers game. That was the game in which I started to dislike the shootout. Don't get me wrong I prefer it to tie games but in that situation I thought it was kind of cheap. Plus by then the novelty of it had worn off. Had the Flyers lost I think in the end it would have been New Jersey coming out of the East, Washington was good that year but I also felt that teams were figuring them out towards the end of the season and if they ran into a Brodeur or hot goalie they were going to have trouble. Devils IMO were primed for one last run (that they eventually got 2 years later) and certainly wanted to avenge the previous playoff ouster.

 

[GMR]

The Western Conference playoffs would not look any different, imo. I always liked Detroit's potential chances against Vancouver. The problem is, Detroit was worse than San Jose at that time. They spotted them the first three games in both 2010 and 2011. In 2011, San Jose choked in game 5 at home after having a two goal lead in the 3rd period. If not for that, they also win that series in 5, instead of 7 games. Unfortunately for San Jose, they weren't on Chicago's level in 2010, any more than they were on Vancouver's level in 2011. Chicago was coming out of the West in 2010.

That said, Nashville had Chicago in trouble in game 5, before Martin Erat made one of the dumbest decisions I've ever seen when Nashville was up one goal late in the 3rd period and on the powerplay. It's possible Chicago would have lost to Nashville that year. But they didn't. After that, they weren't looking back. San Jose was never going to beat them.

The Eastern playoffs changed more because of Philly going to the Finals.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

That said, Nashville had Chicago in trouble in game 5, before Martin Erat made one of the dumbest decisions I've ever seen when Nashville was up one goal late in the 3rd period and on the powerplay. It's possible Chicago would have lost to Nashville that year. But they didn't. After that, they weren't looking back. San Jose was never going to beat them.

Im confused, what exactly did Erat do to lose that game?

 

[GMR]

Im confused, what exactly did Erat do to lose that game?

He made a careless play behind the net instead of making a safe play. It resulted in a turnover and a Chicago goal. This happened with less than 30 seconds in the game, when Nashville was up by one goal and on the powerplay. All they needed to do was pass the puck around, make safe plays, and the clock runs out on Chicago. Nashville would go home up 3-2.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

He made a careless play behind the net instead of making a safe play. It resulted in a turnover and a Chicago goal. This happened with less than 30 seconds in the game, when Nashville was up by one goal and on the powerplay. All they needed to do was pass the puck around, make safe plays, and the clock runs out on Chicago. Nashville would go home up 3-2.

Honestly... Ive seen a lot worse. The entire line on the ice looked tired AF, and the clearing attempt almost made it anyways, which would have been game over at 20 seconds left on the clock and counting.

If anything that goal was godawful looking for the best defensive pairing that Nashville had in Suter-Weber. For two guys that should be rock-solid defensively by reputation they do a godawful job. Watch the reverse view from the broadcast



Weber goes chasing, Suter covers the slot briefly then joins him, and somehow neither have the presence of mind to check where Patrick freaking Kane is on the ice in that situation. If Joel Ward hadnt dropped down to at least try to cover the Hawks man going to the net, there would have been two Blackhawks Kane and Keith with all day to turn Rinne inside out before scoring. Also hilarious to see that Duncan Keith now thinks hes Tomas Holmstrom.

You can just see the soul leave Wards body on that play.