No Soup for you, no Dru either
No Brian Campbell, no Chris Drury.
That Sharks-Rangers Stanley Cup final that was predicted in so many publications and Web sites officially went poof in the second round at 2:25 a.m. ET Monday, when Campbell's Sharks lost, 2-1, in the fourth overtime of Game Six to Dallas. Several hours earlier, the Rangers got dumped in OT of Game Five at Pittsburgh, 3-2, on Marian Hossa's goal. Had to be hugely disappointing for both ex-Sabres, who seemed to have legitimate Cup hopes when the playoffs began.
Bloodied earlier in the game, Drury took a high-sticking penalty with 1:18 left in regulation that carried over into OT but the Pens didn't score. Campbell wasn't so lucky. He was in the box when Brenden Morrow ended the Sharks' season and sent Campbell into the world of free agency come July 1. Not much of a playoff run by Campbell, who had only one goal in two rounds and nearly was the goat in OT with a bad giveaway three periods earlier before his penalty turned out to be the difference.
You can click here to check out NHL.com's highlight package of the Stars-Sharks marathon, the eighth-longest game in league history. I notice some of you are already chatting up the end for Drury and Campbell. Feel free to do it at the bottom of this post as well.
The NHL also announced the conference finals schedule this afternoon. The West final between Dallas and Detroit opens in Joe Louis Arena on Thursday night while Philadelphia and Pittsburgh play Game One in Mellon Arena on Friday. We'll have previews, polls and prediction posts later in the week.
---Mike Harrington
