The Penguins opened up their second round with a barn burner, showing the Rangers how resilient their team is despite their youth. The Penguins came back from a 3-0 deficit to edge out the Rangers, 5-4. It was quite the game.
Evgeni Malkin (Box 14) was the big favourite from his box and you could tell why. Malkin eventually scored the winner (pictured right) to win it for the flightless birds. That bonus point gave him 3 points on the evening, which was tied by Rangers defenseman, Michal Rozsival (Box 20), who had 3 assists in the loss. Marc-Andre Fleury (Box 24) earned his fifth win of the playoffs. Four other players managed to scoop two points out of the game and it was certainly a pro-pool kind of game.Both teams remain healthy, pool-wise, and there were no excess scratches to report on either.
In the late game on Friday night, the Dallas Stars are looking to be this season's David, taking out all of the goliaths in the Western Conference, as they took Game 1 from the Sharks, 3-2 in overtime.
It was his second goal of the night that proved to be the winner in overtime, as Brendan Morrow (Box 2) brought his A-game against the team's division rivals. Morrow finished the game with 3 points, including the bonus, which made him the high scorer of that match-up. Both Mike Ribeiro (Box 1) and Marty Turco (Box 12) each potted a pair of points in the contest as well. One team actually picked up Morrow in the pool, while Ribeiro and Turco didn't garner a selection.
On the injury side, the news of Sergei Zubov (Box 9) may have been exaggerated or the team was quite hesitant on letting him loose too early. Zubov didn't dress against the Sharks in Game 1, rather remained in the press box to watch. With the Game 1 lead, it may not be until Game 3 at home before he sees some ice in a game situation, as the team won't need to rush him back. The Stars were also without defender Phillipe Boucher (Box 10) with his lower body injury as well. There is no real word on when he'll be ready to return.
The Avalanche are looking rather poorly up against the President's Trophy winning Red Wings. The Wings took a 2-0 series lead on Saturday afternoon after a 5-1 schalacking. The Avalanche are going to need a big game plan when they get home for Game 3 on Tuesday night.
Boy, is Johan Franzen (non-pool) making the Sherpa look like a fool. He would have netted a playoff pool team 4 points on Saturday after scoring a hat-trick and getting the bonus point for the winning goal. If Franzen was in the pool, he would be tied for third in pool scoring with 13 points. Oops. As for pool-worthy players, Henrik Zetterberg (Box 1) and Niklas Kronwall (Box 10) each had a pair of points to be the best in that category. The Red Wings were able to chase Jose Theodore (Box 12) from the net again, which may question his starting role come Game 3.I suppose it depends who you ask, but the Avalanche were without both Peter Forsberg (Box 6) and Scott Hannan (Box 11) to a groin and foot injury, respectively. Having two players of that stature out of your line-up, certainly will hinder the abilities of the collective to stop the giant wrecking ball called the Red Wings.
The Flyers earned a split in Montreal, as they downed the Canadiens, 4-2, in a entertaining match on Saturday night. The Flyers will now take their hard-working show home for Game 3 on Monday ngiht, while the Canadiens try and figure out a plan to outsmart their opponents.
Quite possibly, an early entrant in the race for the Conn Smythe Trophy would be Daniel Briere (Box 15). He scored his second game-winner of the playoffs and now remains tied for the lead in pool scoring, with his opponent (also pictured), Carey Price (Box 24). Briere's bonus point gave him two points on the night, which tied him with Martin Biron (Box 24), R.J. Umberger (Box 17) and Saku Koivu (Box 15).There were no new injuries or scratches to report from this game either.
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