BC in the NHL Playoffs, May 8: Gionta Done; Late Excitement

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Boston College interests (and those of Boston itself) advanced on Wednesday night with some very exciting NHL playoff hockey.

The Montreal Canadiens did not play on Wednesday, but another Eagle’s season ended. Brian Gionta, captain of the Habs, was declared to be out for the remainder of the playoffs as he will have surgery on a torn bicep. With the way the series against Ottawa is going, Montreal’s season probably won’t be much longer, anyway.

Meanwhile, the New York Rangers did play the Washington Capitals, and they came through for another 4-3 win to tie their series at two games all. Chris Kreider is probably not going to see the ice for the remainder of the postseason, barring an injury or epic player meltdown of some sort, but Brian Boyle is doing so and contributing. Boyle had no points and was -1 for the game, but got almost 23 and a half minutes of ice time. He also won 11 of 16 faceoffs.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings lost their lead inside of a minute to go in regulation, but came through to win in overtime, 3-2. The Kings now lead the series by the same margin and can close the series out at home on Friday night. Defenseman Rob Scuderi was without a point in this game after 38 shifts in almost 24 minutes on the ice. He led his team with five blocked shots in the win.

In Anaheim, some team with an Eagle was going to win Game 5, and last night, it was the Ducks over the Detroit Red Wings. Patrick Eaves got relatively little ice time for the Wings, totaling less than ten minutes on the evening, while Ben Lovejoy assisted on the game-winning goal in overtime. The Ducks will be able to close the series out in Detroit on Friday night with a win.

Finally, there are no Eagles on the Boston Bruins or Toronto Maple Leafs active rosters, but the hometown fans sure are happy today with how that overtime game went.