Avalanche Take Series Lead as San Jose's Dan Boyle Scores a Goal for the Wrong Team

A freak error by Dan Boyle cost the San Jose Sharks dear on Sunday. Boyle put the puck into his own net in overtime, giving Colorado the win and a 2-1 lead in the series.

Avalanche on top

Scoring for the other team isn’t supposed to happen. Soccer fans may be used to seeing an own-goal here and there but putting the puck past your own netminder is near impossible in hockey. Don’t tell that to Dan Boyle this morning. As the replay below shows, he suffered a massive indignity against the Avalanche on Sunday.

The goal was credited to Colorado’s Ryan O’Reilly but the replay clearly showed it was Boyle who fired the puck past his own goaltender. The mistake comes just over a week after Rasheed Wallace made a similar error in the NBA, scoring in his own basket, but is much more costly as it ties the series at 2-1 with the next game set to take place in Denver on Tuesday. The NHL betting will now surely swing more in Colorado’s favor, but this error will only really matter if the Avalanche can make the most out of the next game in the Pepsi Center. The Avalanche have plenty of reasons to be confident, having beaten the Sharks at home on all three of San Jose’s visits this season between the regular season and playoffs. Don’t read too much into this form as home advantage can take a backseat  in the heat of the playoffs. One OT loss may rattle the Sharks but it might also serve as a wake up call, I still fancy San Jose to pull through and win this one in seven games.

Flyers take charge

Daniel Carcillo’s overtime goal in game three against the Devils was far from elegant but Philadelphia fans won’t mind if the Flyers end up winning this series. Martin Brodeur tormented the Flyers throughout the game, making 31 saves including 12 in a scoreless third period and 5 more in OT. For all their goaltender’s efforts, New Jersey failed to capitalise on what may prove to be its best shot at winning in Philadelphia and Carcillo made them pay. Much was made before the series of the Flyers dominating the regular season series but a win here would have shifted momentum back to the Devils. Instead New Jersey finds itself in a 2-1 hole, with game our on Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Coyotes clip Red Wings

While Philadelphia and Colorado hosted overtime thrillers, Detroit was barely able to keep up with Phoenix for two periods before the Coyotes took over. This was a fairly even contest until late in the second when Wojtek Wolski gave the visitors the lead at a crucial time. His goal gave Phoenix momentum entering the final period and the Coyotes doubled their advantage quickly through Petr Prucha. Johan Franzen’s goal over the shoulder of Ilya Bryzgalov gave Detroit some hope but Radim Vrbata killed off any hopes for the Red Wings when he scored Phoenix’s fourth goal in a game that wasn’t as close as the 4-2 scoreline suggests.

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