Thursday May 14

The last two 2nd Round playoff series wrapped up on Thursday night solidifying the Eastern and Western Conference final matchups. Two attempted come-from-behinds were thwarted as a giant fell and a defending champ rose to the occasion. A lone Former Islander came to the rescue in one contest while in the other the mighty Boston Bruins were felled by the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in OT at home as the 'Canes capped a one-time 3-1 series lead to pull off a 4-3 series victory. Here is a look at the FI notable accomplishment of the evening:

Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood was just good enough stopping 24 of 27 shots faced as the Red Wings pulled out a 4-3 win over the visiting Anaheim Ducks with only 3 minutes remaining in regulation. The Wings have now won 6 straight playoff series and advance to the Western Conference Final for the 2nd straight season. Most of that success has come on the heals of Ozzie who has been a rock for this team when the pressure is on. Osgood improved to 8-3 on the postseason with a 2.06 goals against average and a .921 save percentage. Ozzie has gone an amazing 22-7 (.759 win percentage) over the last 6 series.

Check back with FIW soon as the Conference Finals kick off on Sunday with the Wings hosting their bitter rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks. On Monday the surprisingly good 'Canes will tangle with the host Pittsburgh Penguins, last year's defending Conference champion. Only 2 teams (Pitt and Detroit) are housing FIs with Osgood starring in net for the Wings while the Pens have a stockpile of FIs in wingers Ruslan Fedotenko, Bill Guerin and Miroslav Satan. Tough guy Eric Godard has failed to make an appearance yet in the postseason. These 4 players represent the last hope for potential FI Cup winners. Thanks for reading.