Key Word to the Playoffs: Momentum

No recap, I changed my mind. Mostly because the pre-playoff post should all be positive. Our FIRST playoff game is Saturday at 7:45. I'm not sure who we'll play yet, it'll either be the Sens or the Whalers(they both play tonight). So let's get right into it...

Momentum, it is so important in hockey. A team scores a goal, then gets another quickly, and all of a sudden they completely control the game. It happened to us twice against the Rampage, once against the Sens. It was in our favor in the Severe Icing game (before the fight). It happens in the NHL, and I'll post up a couple videos here to show what momentum looks like. The best example will be in this first video. Game 6 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals between the Anaheim Ducks and the Dallas Stars. Pay close attention to the time on the clock in the third.

The Stars score a quick two, and then it's lights out. The Ducks lose anything they had going for them, and could have easily given up another two or three in that period if their goalie had not stayed composed. Another example would be here Game 7 of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals, between the Colorado Avalanche and the New Jersey Devils. This one didn't see a team getting the momentum after being down, but instead they jumped out to an early lead, and kept it through the rest of the game.

Both of these are examples of what can happen when a team gets momentum. As I said earlier, we've seen it a bunch this season. We need to be the ones to make it happen in the playoffs, or we'll suffer the same fate that the Devils and the Ducks met in these videos, the end of our season.