Silver Nuggets: Canucks win epic series; Binghamton starts round two

Last night the Vancouver Canucks finally finished off a Chicago Blackhawks team that just wouldn't quit. First, the Canucks won the first three games, but the Blackhawks came back to win the next three. Then in the decider, the Canucks led most of the game and really should have been well ahead were it not for Corey Crawford's heroics. Still, the Canucks were up by a goal, there were less than two minutes left and the Canucks were on the power play. Jonathan Toews, however, picked that moment to finally score his first goal of the series on a great shorthanded effort. In overtime, Patrick Sharp was wide open in front of Robert Luongo, but the Vancouver goaltender made a brilliant save to keep the Vancouver season alive. Alexandre Burrows finally won it for Vancouver when he blasted a shot by Crawford after an awful turnover by former Senator Chris Campoli.

With that, the Western Conference match-ups are known. The Canucks will take on the Nashville Predators, while the San Jose Sharks once again play the Detroit Red Wings. After finally clearing the Chicago hurdle, I would expect the Canucks to easily sweep aside the outmatched Predators, and thus protect our first round pick. But, you never know. The Flyers clinched their first round series last night, but still, none of the Eastern Conference match-ups are known as the Bruins failed to clinch in Montreal.

With that, here are today's links, as always, brought to you by mangoes, the official fruit of the Silver Nuggets.

General Sens News

• Here is our series preview for the Binghamton Senators versus the Portland Pirates. (Silver Seven Sens)
• Another series preview, this time by Joy Lindsay. She gives Binghamton the edge on forwards and special teams, Portland has the edge on defence and goaltending is a draw. (Press & Sun-Bulletin)
• Corey Locke is expected to return tonight and play with Bobby Butler and Colin Greening. (Press & Sun-Bulletin)
• If you want to see the Binghamton Senators, Sens Chirp and Red Scarf Union have organised a trip for this Saturday. It costs $90 including travel and tickets. (Binghamton Road trip)

More after the jump.

Playoff News

Here is tonight's playoff schedule:

• 6) Montreal Canadiens at 3) Boston Bruins. (7:00 p.m. on CBC, series tied 3-3)
• 5) Tampa Bay Lightning at 4) Pittsburgh Penguins (8:00 p.m. on TSN, series tied 3-3)
• 3) Binghamton Senators at 1) Portland Pirates (7:00 p.m. on Team 1200, series tied 0-0)

And here are today's other links:

• The Philadelphia Flyers ran riot on the Buffalo Sabres last night. It was a weak ending from Buffalo after a strong series in which the Sabres were 9 minutes from winning the series in Game 6. (Yahoo!)
• Milan Lucic was given five minutes and a game misconduct for this hit on Jaroslav Spacek. (Yahoo!)
• Game preview for Boston/Montreal. (NHL.com)
• Game preview for Pittsburgh/Tampa Bay. (NHL.com)
• Here is a guide to what scouts look for in prospects. (OHL Prospects)