Off Wing Opinion

I'd love to give you detailed capsules of each game from last night -- but I can't. I have to admit that for the first time since the playoffs began, I took the night off and watched Buffy and 24. All I saw was Wade Redden's wrist shot for the winner as Ottawa took down Philly 3-2 in OT. I don't know about you, but when I watched the replay, I could have sworn the puck traveled like it was a precision munition guided by a GPS signal. Senators lead the series, 2-1.

Back in Minnesota, the Canucks scored all three of their goals on the power play en route to a 3-2 victory over the Wild. The Canucks lead that series, 2-1.

Tonight, we get Anaheim-Dallas and New Jersey-Tampa Bay. Down in Tampa, Pavel Kubina is denying he purposely shot the puck at Scott Stevens in Game Three -- an incident that left Stevens bleeding and sent him to the hospital so doctors could stitch his ear back together. The Devils aren't saying whether or not he'll play in Game Four, but I think it's a dead solid lock that he'll play.

Stars 2 Ducks 1: Stars coach Dave Tippett called this an "ugly win," but I'm sure the Stars will take it. Tonight's hero was Stars winger Jere Lehtinen, who scored twice from close in on Anaheim's J.S. Giguere. Though Lehtinen has won the Selke Trophy twice for being the top defensive forward in the league, people shouldn't forget that he set career-highs for both goals (31) and plus-minus (+39) this season. In Lehtinen's eight years in the league, he's never been on the minus side for a full season. Game Four is Wednesday night back in Anaheim.

Ducks lead series, 2-1.

Lightning 4 Devils 3: Now this game was quite a roller coaster. First, Devils defenseman Scott Stevens goes down early in the first period after getting struck in the head with the puck. He left the ice bleeding and never returned. Taking advantage of the emotional letdown, the Lightning pounced all over the Devils, scoring three times in the first period -- including a bad angle wrister from Fredrik Modin that somehow found its way under Martin Brodeur's arm for the third goal. In the second period, the Devils stormed back to tie, sparked by John Madden's power play tally. Finally, early in the third, the refs refused Devils coach Pat Burns a line change -- something that forced defenseman Colin White off the ice and leaving the Devils with four forwards out for a faceoff. Counterattacking after Madden stung the post off a slap shot, Tampa took the puck down ice where veteran Dave Andreychuk put it past Brodeur for the winner.

Afterwards, Burns was not happy:

"After all these years in the league, am I that stupid that I would put four forwards and one defenseman in a 3-3 tie in the third period? I think everybody who knows me here knows I'm not that stupid," Burns said.

"I might be halfway stupid, but not that stupid. It was the wrong call. ... We played hard and fought back. If we lose the game because they scored a couple of good goals, and they outplayed us, fine. But I just feel bad about losing the game like that."

Game Four is Wednesday back in Tampa. Will Stevens be back? I can't imagine that he won't be.

Devils lead series, 2-1.

POSTSCRIPT: Stevens got some stitches in his left ear, as well as a precautionary X-Ray at the hospital after the game. Now, at first blush, you'd think that a hockey helmet would be designed to cover someone's ears. And if you look at a helmet when it leaves the factory, you'd be right. However, once the helmet gets into the hands of the players, they'll often modify it on their own for both convenience and comfort. As I noted a few months ago, one of the most common modifications is the removal of the plastic that covers the ears. Why? Without the flaps, it's simply easier to hear your teammates on the ice. A number of other players will also dispense with a mouthguard for similar reasons, while the vast majority of players refuse to use a visor because of the fact that it can restrict a player's vision.

UPDATE: Some of the players on the Devils are wondering whether or not Pavel Kubina, the member of the Lightning who shot the puck that struck Stevens, feel he did it on purpose.

Flyers 2 Senators 0: The hero of this game was Philly goalie Roman Cechmanek. After letting in four goals on just 17 shots in Game One, Cechmanek bounced back with a far stronger performance, stopping 33 shots and grabbing a shutout. But that wasn't the whole story, as Cechmanek also had to endure six Ottawa power plays -- three more than the Flyers got to enjoy. Mark Recchi continued his torrid playoff performance with an insurance goal in the third period. Game Three is Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Series tied, 1-1.

Wild 3 Canucks 2: The Wild go back to Minnesota having wrested home ice advantage from the Canucks, but one has to wonder if in the back of their minds is the fact that they were only 1.2 seconds away from having a 2-0 advantage. Credit Wild Coach Jacques Lemaire for playing against type once again, and putting Dwayne Roloson back between the pipes for Game Two. He hadn't played since Game Four of the series against the Avalanche, and was only out of the lineup because he had tweaked his groin. In any case, he showed no ill effects from his time off, coming through with 29 saves and withstanding a furious Canucks assault in the final minutes that was reminiscent of the wind-up of regulation in Game One. Turning out to be the most entertaining of the four remaining series.

Series tied, 1-1.

POSTSCRIPT: A few days ago, my hard core ice hockey readership gave me a wake-up call regarding playoff OT. As a rule, anything more than one OT period runs the risk of me shutting off the game and going to bed. But according to this story by the Washington Times' Eric Fisher, I'm in the minority when it comes to hockey fans:

The average ESPN rating for NHL playoffs of 0.6, translating to about 517,800 households, and average ESPN2 rating of 0.3, representing about 252,600 households, trail both the NHL early-round playoff marks from a year ago and ratings so far this spring from the NBA playoffs. NBA playoff audiences on cable have frequently been five and six times as large as those for hockey.

The NHL numbers are even way behind what NBC drew for the World Curling Championships and "The World of American Indian Dance" last weekend.

But NHL fans have responded in their own way to the overtimes and produced a marked, late-night elevation in ratings. ESPN's average rating for overtime games is 0.7, 16 percent higher than its regulation games, and ESPN2 jumps 33 percent to an average rating of 0.4 for its overtime contests.

The Stars-Mighty Ducks game Thursday generated an average rating of 0.8, even though nearly half of the game happened after 11 p.m. Eastern. The game also marked the second-best showing of any game for ESPN in this year's NHL playoffs.

There you have it: solid data that OT helps increase television ratings. Granted, it's a small increase in a rating that can only be described as anemic, but an increase nonetheless.

Two more OT games -- but two games that ended with blessed suddeness. The Ducks and the Devils have the opposition by the throat, and something tells me that neither Tampa Bay nor Dallas is going to be able to get off the mat.

Ducks 3 Stars 2, OT: Two playoff OT games, and veteran center Adam Oates has set up the game-winning goal in both games. In Game One, he hit Petr Sykora for the winner at the start of the fifth OT; yesterday in Game Two, Oates hit winger Mike LeClerc with another pass from behind the net -- bang, and Anaheim has a 2-0 lead heading back home to Arrowhead Pond for Games Three and Four.

Oates had a sub par regular season, but in the playoffs he's showing exactly why the Ducks signed him to a free agent contract before the start of this season. Here in Washington, there are still a number of Caps fans who rue the day they let go of both Jason Allison and Anson Carter in the trade where they acquired Oates. Well, in the real world of the NHL trading deadline, you have to give something up in order to get anything of value. The fact is, the Caps wouldn't have had any shot at making a run at the Cup in 1998 without Oates centering their top line.

One thing we did find out here in Washington: Oates tended to wear down toward the end of the season (closing in on his 42nd birthday, that can hardly be considered a surprise), something which resulted in little or no production in his last two playoff appearances in a Caps uniform. This year with the Ducks, Oates was out injured for a significant stretch of the season, something that may very well have left him with some extra gas for the playoffs.

As for the rest of the game, credit Ducks goalie J.S. Giguere for not allowing the Stars to pull away in the third period -- something that kept the Ducks in striking distance long enough for them to score the tying goal with about 1:09 left in the game.

How'd they score? Another freak goal, that's how. This time, a Rob Niedermayer pass deflected off of Stars winger Stu Barnes' skate and past Turco.

It was the sort of break you get when things are going your way. It was the sort of break that can break a team's spirit. Will Dallas break much like Detroit? Stay tuned.

Ducks lead series, 2-0.

Devils 3 Lightning 2, OT: Another OT game just the way I like them -- quick and dirty. Once again, it was Devils post season scoring machine Jamie Langenbrunner putting away the game winner early in OT when he followed up his own shot while driving to the net, and was able to bang in his own rebound.

Funny, but at the trading deadline, Devils GM Lou Lamirello took more than a few shots for not picking up another goal scorer to supplement the team's lineup before the start of the playoffs. Critics liked to note that the Devils were only able to win the Stanley Cup in 2000 with the help of sniper Alexander Mogilny, currently getting ready to reserve a tee time as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Did I mention that the primary assist on Langenbrunner's goal went to ex-Selke trophy winner, John Madden? Then again, did I even have to? The assist was Madden's seventh of the playoffs, and he and Langenbrunner have 20 points between them in only seven playoff games.

Devils lead series, 2-0.

We got another OT thriller out in the Pacific Northwest; meanwhile, back East, the Senators shook off some rust in time to down the Flyers.

Canucks 4 Wild 3, OT: Now this is the sort of OT game I could stand to see a few more of. With the Canucks down 3-2 with only 1.2 seconds remaining, Vancouver's Matt Cooke banged the puck in to tie the score at 3. Then, only 3:42 into OT, Minnesota native Trent Klatt scored to give Vancouver the win.

If every OT game I saw was like this, I wouldn't ever talk about reforming playoff OT. If you don't like the idea of 2-10 minute periods followed by a shootout, then why not simply adopt the regular season format, and play OT with four skaters a side?

Canucks lead series, 1-0.

Senators 4 Flyers 2: I knew the Flyers didn't have a shot at winning this game, but not quite this way. If there was any doubt that the Flyers would have as hard a time solving Senators goalie Patrick Lalime as in the last year's playoff, it was dispelled when the Flyers scored on their first two shots. What came next? Some might say the Flyers ran out of emotional gas. Others might say the Senators simply demonstrated their superiority. It might have been a little bit of both. We'll find out for sure when they play Game Two on Sunday.

Senators lead series, 1-0.

POSTSCRIPT: Over in Finland, Denmark defeated the U.S. at the World Hockey Championships, 5-2. The Danes hadn't played at the World Championships since 1949 -- a year when they lost 47-0 to Canada. The U.S. team carries 12 NHL players -- but very, very few whose names you might recognize.

Ducks 4 Stars 3, 5OT: There was a time when I used to make fun of Soccer and the way they used a shootout to decide tie games. If they were real men, they'd spend all the time they needed playing the game the way it was meant to be played -- even if that meant running up and down the pitch till they dropped, and just about all the fans had gone home consumed with exhaustion.

The shootout was the easy way out, and the use of it marked the game of Soccer as inferior.

After last night's 5 OT game in Dallas, I'm not so sure.

Now, the game didn't need to go 5 OT periods in the first place. Thanks to a ridiculous call by the referees, a Ducks goal in the third OT was disallowed. Working in consultation with the league office in Toronto, the refs ruled that the net had come off its moorings before a Steve Rucchin shot caromed off of Steve Thomas and past Stars goalie Marty Turco. The ruling seemed odd, as it appeared to me that the net only became dislodged because Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas had pinned Thomas in the crease, and pushed him into the crossbar.

Two OT periods later, an Adam Oates pass found Petr Sykora for the game winner. The goal came at 1:32 a.m. EDT.

Most of the Eastern Seaboard, where a good chunk of the NHL's fans live, was securely in bed by then. And I was one of them, having given up on the game after the third OT.

Now, if you watch any of the coverage on ESPN, you see John Buccigross, Barry Melrose, et al, waxing poetic over the fourth longest game in the history of the league. But every October, when World Series games don't start until 9:00 p.m. EST, and don't finish up until the wee hours of the morning, Baseball is taken to task for scheduling games when young fans don't have a realistic hope of watching from start to finish.

Forget the young fans; when committed adult fans like me are giving up and going to bed, something is terribly wrong. As I've said before on these pages, the NHL ought to put a cap on the number of OT periods in the playoffs. If I had my way, I'd put that number at two, ten-minute OT periods. If we're still tied, then go to the shootout.

Don't like the shootout? Then find a way to score the winning goal in regulation.

Endless OT periods like the ones we saw last night serve no one outside of hockey's hard core fan base. It does nothing to increase ad revenue; nothing to increase gate revenue; and nothing to grow the game.

The time for the shootout is now.

Ducks lead series, 1-0.

Devils 3 Lightning 0: Yesterday in my playoff preview, I talked about how John Madden, Scott Stevens and Martin Brodeur would be the keys to victory for the Devils. Last night, Madden's checking line shut down the Lightning, helping to hold them to just 15 shots.

Later, Devils coach Pat Burns shifted Jamie Langenbrunner to Madden's checking line -- and the line was responsible for the Devils first two goals in the third period as they potted one a piece. Stevens grabbed an assist on both those goals, and Brodeur got a tidy shutout. Game Two is Saturday, and I don't expect the result to be any different.

Devils lead series, 1-0.

POSTSCRIPT: The Timberwolves beat the Lakers in L.A. last night, not that you would have known with an 11:00 p.m. EDT start time.

Part of me is having a tough time saying goodbye to the first round of this year's playoffs. It's simply been the most exciting first round we've seen in a number of years, and I'm afraid that the series in the second round won't be nearly as competitive. In a way, with Detroit and Colorado gone, it's safe to say that on its face, the second round seems a whole lot less compelling.

New Jersey - Tampa Bay: Martin St. Louis, meet John Madden, one of the best defensive forwards the league has to offer. He'll be following you a lot over the next week or so. You'll be seeing him at even strength, but also when you're on the power play. Be careful, he has a nasty habit of shutting down talented offensive players (Joe Thornton), and managing to score timely shorthanded goals. And he does all this while being grossly underpaid.

When Mr. Madden is finished with you, I'd like you to meet Scott Stevens. I don't know if you've heard, but Mr. Stevens tends to hit a lot harder than just about anyone you met on the Capitals in the last round. He's been around the league so long, many are convinced that the term, "mean streak," was first used to help describe the way Mr. Stevens plays ice hockey. And, if you somehow managed to get by him, there's always Martin Brodeur as a last resort. He tends to play well in the post season, and has a pair of Stanley Cup rings to prove it.

I hope you've enjoyed your stay at the 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Mr. St. Louis. The exit is right this way. Please note the concierge has already made a reservation for you at Doral. But don't worry, with the Caps cutting salary, your team and the Thrashers will be battling for the Southeast Division title, and the third seed in the playoffs, for many years to come. Your time will come, just not this year.

Pick: Devils in 5.

Ottawa - Philadelphia: One season ago, the Senators knocked the Flyers from the playoffs in the first round in five games. The problem: goal scoring. The Flyers only managed five goals all series long -- something that drove goalie Roman Chechmanek a little nuts by Game Five last season. In any case, the strangulation job the Senators pulled off led to all sorts of changes -- most significantly the replacement of head coach Bill Barber with ex-Stars head man Ken Hitchcock. And despite the fact that the Senators had the league's best record, it's important to note that the Flyers finished a mere six points behind them in the regular season. Owing to fatigue from their first round series with the Leafs alone, I expect the Flyers to drop Game One in Ottawa tomorrow night. Then again, I expect them to bounce back pretty quickly in Game Two. Expect this series to go to the limit.

Pick: Philadelphia in 7.

Dallas - Anaheim: In his rookie season, Dallas head coach Dave Tippet must be thanking the Hockey Gods for his good fortune. Though there was a hiccup or two, the Stars managed to get by a determined Oilers team in the first round without suffering any major injuries -- be they physical or psychological. As a bonus, free agent winger Bill Guerin is expected back for the series with Anaheim, so the Stars will be back at full strength. Even better, his toughest conference rivals, Detroit and Colorado, flamed out in round one to decidedly inferior opposition. Sure, the team Dallas is facing in this round has little in common with the paper-thin squads Paul Kariya is used to fronting. But it still won't be enough to displace this Dallas squad, which won't be seriously challenged again until the conference finals.

Pick: Dallas in 6.

Vancouver - Minnesota: Welcome to the playoff series that's a television ratings nightmare. You've got a city from Western Canada taking on a faceless team from the Midwest -- a formula that will make for awkward start times, as well as a few late nights. For starters, we're probably looking at least one multi-OT game in Vancouver -- so count on getting very little sleep if you intend to watch this series.

Bottom line here: the Wild are gritty and gutty, but so are the Canucks. Sorry, but talent, and a far deeper corps of blueliners are going to shut down Minnesota's ride right here -- just not without a fight.

Pick: Vancouver in 6.

Three Game Sevens. Two were yawners as the fourth seed in both conferences finally closed out a tougher than expected foe. But in Denver, hockey fans were treated to another OT upset that's going to echo throughout the playoffs and the offseason.

Wild 3 Avalanche 2: Say for a moment that you're Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals. You just saw your team go down in 6 games in the first round of the playoffs to a team that hasn't won a playoff round in its 11 years of existence. And the Caps didn't just lose, they blew a 2-0 series lead heading into a pair of games on home ice. They lost four straight games, two of them in OT on home ice. Your team is led by Jaromir Jagr, a player in the midst of a seven-year, $77 million contract -- a contract that is eating a serious hole in your pocket. For the final four games of your most recent playoff series, Jagr was held scoreless.

So last night you're sitting at home, checking the scores of the other playoff series. You can't help but notice that in Denver, the Minnesota Wild, a team in its third season making its very first playoff appearance, have managed to take the Colorado Avalanche into OT in Game Seven of their playoff series -- the Avalanche that have won two Stanley Cups in the last seven seasons. You flip on the HDTV, and decide to watch OT on ESPN's high definition channel. Just a few minutes into OT, you see Andrew Brunette, a player that earns just a shade over $1 million a season score the game winning goal against Patrick Roy, a future member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

As Brunette skates into the defensive zone, he's travelling so slowly it appears he's skating in concrete. He manuvers toward the net with all the grace of a Chrysler mini-van negotiating an S-curve at the Monaco Grand Prix. Yet, he still manages to deke, yes, deke, one of the greatest goalies of all time out of his skates to score the winning goal.

By the way, a few seasons ago, your current General Manager let Brunette go in the expansion draft thinking he would never amount to anything.

In four full seasons as the team's owner, you've made the playoffs three times, and lost in the first round every time. You've lost as much as $50 million over that period, and you're not looking to lose anymore.

Think you might be cutting payroll? Think you might be looking to dump your high-priced superstar? Think you might start letting highly paid free agents walk out the door and just start all over again?

I say yes to all of it.

Meanwhile, the Wild are getting ready to move to the next round against an equally exhausted Canucks squad. All of a sudden, a run to the Finals doesn't look so impossible.

Flyers 6 Maple Leafs 1: The Leafs sure know how to suck all the excitement out of a Game Seven, as they were out of this game very early in the evening -- something which allowed me to catch last night's installment of 24 on Fox. The Flyers' ability to roll four lines finally wore the Leafs down -- something Philly is going to need to rely on when they face an Ottawa team that rolls four lines of forwards as well. As for the Maple Thugs, I won't miss them.

Canucks 4 Blues 1: I just knew Blues' goalie Chris Osgood couldn't stand up to the pressure, and the final three games of this series proved it -- at least without Norris Trophy candidate Al MacInnis knocked out of the lineup for the balance of the series. Canucks goalie Dan Cloutier wasn't all that much better, but the bit and bruising defense that played in front of him was. For their trouble, the Canucks now get to face an inspired team from Minnesota -- a series that is shaping up to be a complete toss-up in light of the way both teams have played lately.

Overall, I picked six of the eight series correctly. I probably would have gotten seven of eight, but instead I hedged on both the Wild-Avalanche and the Ducks-Wings series. My predicition for the Finals: Canucks-Flyers, remains intact. The playoffs, and my roundup get to take tonight off, but look for my preview of the Conference semi-finals sometime tomorrow.

UPDATE: ESPN.com's Terry Frei has his own reflections on the collapse of the Avalanche.

Who gives a damn about the NBA Playoffs? With two OT results tonight, we now get to look forward to three seperate Game Sevens tomorrow night.

Wild 3 Avalanche 2, OT: For two years, NHL journeyman Richard Park, the only Korean to ever play in the NHL, couldn't find a job in the league. For a couple of seasons, he was a perfectly serviceable forward playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, among other clubs. But two seasons ago, he simply disappeared into the hockey netherworld that is the minor leagues.

But tonight, none of that matters, because Park delivered Minnesota hockey fans their first home playoff victory in more than a decade. First, he gave the Wild a 1-0 lead in the third period, ripping a wrister over Patrick Roy's shoulder. Then, just a few minutes into OT, he slid another wrist shot in between Roy's pads for the victory.

And the scoreboard says Patrick Roy is flying home for Game Seven.

In between those two goals, however, was a pretty exciting third period. Marian Gaborik slipped behind the Avalanche defense on a breakaway and scored to give the Wild a 2-0 lead -- the sort of lead that's usually a mortal lock for the Wild to hold. Then, in the last 3:30, Joe Sakic and Greg DeVries both scored to tie the game up, setting up the dramatic finish in OT. Game Seven is tomorrow night back in Denver. Don't hold your breath. Series tied, 3-3.

Maple Leafs 2 Flyers 1, 2OT: Just three goals tonight, but what goals they were. First, Flyers goalie Roman Checmanek loses his catching glove in collision behind the net. Then, as he's squatting to put the glove back on, serial malcontent Robert Reichel rockets a shot over his shoulder for a 1-0 lead. In the second period, Jeremy Roenick scored on a point blank slap shot that just ate Maple Leafs goalie Ed Belfour alive. Then, in the backwash of a Darcy Tucker charge to the net in the second OT, Travis Green got a backhand on a rebound and put it past a sprawling Chechmanek. Game over, and we're going back to Philly for Game Seven. Series tied, 3-3.

Tomorrow night, we'll be flying East to West to follow the three Game Sevens. First, we'll see the Leafs and Flyers in Philly; next, it's off to Denver for the Avalanche and the Wild; and for you night owls on the East Coast, the Blues and Canucks from Vancouver. Be sure not to miss a second!

POSTSCRIPT: The Washington Post has an extensive piece in this morning's paper outlining the tensions between Caps owner Ted Leonsis and Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin. Let's just say the off-the record sniping has begun.

Lots of great facts here -- including one Leonsis fails to mention too often: that his losses in the Capitals are at least partially offset by the profits he and his partners are entitled to from Washington Sports and Entertainment -- Pollin's umbrella company that controls the MCI Center, the Wizards, the Mystics, and the local Ticketmaster franchise.

And a tip of the hat goes to blogger and fellow Mets fan Jeff Cooper for passing along this gem of a photoshop mock-up. Glad to see Baghdad Bob find some new work.

Canucks 4 Blues 3: Time was, a 3-1 lead in a best of seven playoff series meant your club was home free. Then, in an attempt to boost post season revenue, the NHL deigned back in the 1980s that it was high time that all four rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs become best of seven affairs. It was then that the impossible, while not becoming commonplace, at least became uncommon.

Which is where we find ourselves with the Canucks-Blues series. Seemingly dead two games ago (and down 3-1 in the series), the Canucks' finally decided it was time to play some serious ice hockey. In Game Five, that task fell to the top line of Marcus Naslund/Brendan Morrison/Todd Bertuzzi. In Game Six, it was the power play that made the difference, as some bad St. Louis penalties allowed the Canucks to get some more pressure on the always vulnerable Chris Osgood. Now we go back to GM Place in Vancouver for Game Seven tomorrow night. Series tied, 3-3.

Lightning 2 Capitals 1, 3 OT: Back in the early 1990s, Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser coined the following riddle. More or less, it went like this:

Q: What's red, white and blue and plays golf in May?

A: The Washington Capitals.

No doubt, there's some version of that riddle floating around any NHL city that has never seen its home team win it all. But today, this riddle doesn't hold sway anymore. Why? Because back during the 1996-97 season, the Capitals changed the colors on their uniform. Hence, it needs some updating:

Q: Quel est bleu, noir, blanc et en bronze, et le golf de pi

Dallas ends Edmonton's season; the Flyers set up the knockout; the Wild stay alive.

Stars 3 Oilers 2: For the fifth time in six years, the Stars have polished off the Oilers, the sort of streak that begins to cause mass psychosis among a city's fans -- believe me, I've seen it here in Washington with respect to the Penguins. So what have we learned after six games? Certainly, the Stars were able to win, but seemed to lack that killer instinct we expect out of some Stanley Cup champs. The Oilers kept coming back, and were never really out of any game in this series with the exception of Game Two. The Stars get the Ducks next, a team that plays a game that's mighty similar to the Oilers -- and with a goalie who's playing tougher than Tommy Salo. Stars win series, 4-2.

Flyers 4 Maple Leafs 1: In the 2002 playoffs, winger Sami Kapanen scored just once in 23 games with the Carolina Hurricanes. He doubled that amount in just last night's game, scoring twice on the power play. If anything, it simply looks as if the Flyers are finally wearing the Maple Leafs down. To come back and win the series, the Leafs will have not win games on back-to-back nights on Monday and Tuesday. As a reward for their efforts, the Flyers will get a date with either Ottawa or New Jersey. Flyers lead series 3-2.

Wild 3 Avalanche 2: Wild coach Jacques Lemaire had one more surprise for the Avalanche yesterday when he started his Godson, Manny Fernandez, in net for Minnesota. It worked, at least for this Game Five -- a number that seems to have caused particular trouble for the Avalanche over the course of their history. It was the fourth time the Avalanche have lost a Game Five at home in five season where they had the opportunity to clinch a series. What does this tell us? Nothing more, I'm afraid, than the fact that the Western Conference is as wide open as the East. Avalanche lead series 3-2.

This afternoon at 3:00 p.m., the Lightning have a chance to close out the Capitals in Washington. Tonight in St. Louis, the Canucks will continue their uphill battle to stay alive against the Blues.

Just two games last night, with nothing decided. Have the Canucks come back to life? And are we staring hard at another instance of "Same Old Caps"?

Canucks 5 Blues 3: Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison wake up, but is it in time to save the Canucks (for the sake of my pre-playoff predictions, I hope so)? Game Six is tomorrow night in St. Louis. Blues lead series 3-2.

Lightning 2 Capitals 1: I want to find a reason, any reason at all, to believe that the Washington Capitals can win this series now. Sure, they wound up on the wrong end of a bad call last night, resulting in a 4-minute power play where Tampa Bay scored the goal that gave them their margin of victory, but the Caps really have nobody to blame but themselves. As head coach Bruce Cassidy said:

"The message we sent to our players afterward was: 'Whatever [Tampa Bay] created tonight was a product of our bad decisions with the puck,' " Cassidy said. "I thought we played a pretty solid hockey game and we controlled the tempo for the most part . . . [But] we can't break down. Those are mental mistakes. You can't do that stuff in the playoffs. We have to figure that out in a hurry, because if not for those chances I don't know that [the Lightning] had any on their own."

The Caps have blown a 2-0 lead in the playoffs three seperate times since 1992. Living here in Washington, I've seen them all. Over time, the effect on the franchise has been corrosive -- something Caps owner Ted Leonsis has been fighting tooth and nail since he took control of the team before the 1999-2000 season. At the end of the day, fans, both passionate and casual, just don't believe the Caps are going to get it done. You can feel it in the arena, and you can see it at the box office. Game Six is tomorrow afternoon in Washington. Lightning lead series 3-2.

Three games; the two top seeds in the East move on; Dallas takes control out West.

Senators 3 Islanders 1: Two seasons ago, the Islanders acquired Alexei Yashin from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for winger Bill Muckalt, defenseman Zdeno Chara and a first round draft pick that turned into center Jason Spezza.

In two seasons with New York, Yashin has been up and down; never more so than this season where he disappeared for a long stretch before catching fire at the end of the regular season. In any case, he hasn't been the game-changing player the Islanders have hoped he'd be -- something that was never more evident than this season where rumors were flying that New York was seeking to move Yashin to the wing and acquire a top-flight center to play with him.

On the Ottawa side of the ledger, the trade is looking better everyday. While Muckalt has since moved on to Minnesota, Chara has become the rock of the defense, forming a solid core along with Chris Phillips and Wade Redden (another ex-Islanders draft pick). His looming physical presence is something the Islanders dearly miss, and the development of some offensive skills was an unexpected surprise from the 6'9" Czech.

As for Spezza, the Senators are so loaded that they can afford to bring him along slowly -- but there aren't any indications he's any less of a can't miss prospect since he was first identified as one while still a teenager.

And don't forget, getting rid of Yashin was a case of addition by subtraction for the Senators, as Yashin sat out the entire 1999-2000 season. Then again, Yashin now gets to play close to his girlfriend Carol Alt and her family.

Why does any of this matter? Because since the trade, the Senators have gone nowhere but up, while the Islanders -- with the exception of the incredible start to the 2001-02 season -- have stagnated. That was never more in evidence than last night in Ottawa, as the Senators took control early once more, and finished off the Islanders' season with a convincing 4-1 win.

Besides the massive talent gap, the Senators were able to roll four lines of forwards and three lines of defense all series long, and simply wore out an overmatched Islanders squad. Ottawa moves on to face either Philly, Toronto or Washington. The Islanders go home, and begin hoping that Rick DiPietro is ready for full-time duty in 2003-04. Senators win series, 4-1.

Devils 3 Bruins 0: If Martin Brodeur played just a few miles East of his home rink instead of in New Jersey, he'd be a far wealthier and better known athlete. Not that he minds, as he's got one more Stanley Cup ring, and one more Olympic Gold medal than the Rangers' Mike Richter.

He doesn't seem to have a long memory either. One game after the Bruins chased him from the net in Game Four, Broduer hung a shutout on them. I still think the Devils won't win the East (Philly and Ottawa match up too well with them), but you have to like the way both John Madden and Jamie Langenbrunner are playing (how's that Arnott/McKay for Nieuwendyk/Langenbrunner trade looking now?). New Jersey will get any one of all the remaining teams in the next round, except Ottawa. As for the Bruins: GM/Coach Mike O'Connell is out the door, and someone else is going to get to turn the Bruins into a winner -- once they find a real goalie, that is. Devils win series, 4-1.

Stars 5 Edmonton 2: Didn't get a chance to watch much of this game, but couldn't help but notice that Segei Zubov scored twice for Dallas. As some will recall, it was Zubov's failure to shoot the puck more often that resulted in his trade from the Rangers after the 1995 season. Another often overlooked fact: it was Zubov who led the Rangers in scoring during the 1994 regular season that ended with a Stanley Cup victory. In any case, it looks like the Stars, and goalie Marty Turco for that matter, have finally shaken off the rust that accumulated after failing to make the playoffs last season. I figure they'll close this series out in Edmonton in Game Six. Stars lead series 3-2.

CORRECTION: As one of my readers pointed out, Muckalt is no longer with the Senators, but has since caught on with the Minnesota Wild. I thought I had remembered that, but when I rechecked the roster, Sportsline still had him with the Senators.

Six games. Two OT decisions. One defending Stanley Cup Champion sent packing.

Ducks 3 Red Wings 2, OT: When teams get old, they seem to age overnight. But in the case of the Red Wings, it seemed to happen in real time, an ice hockey version of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Was the grind line of Kirk Maltby, Darren McCarty and Kris Draper really being taken out of the rotation late in the game? Ducks win series 4-0.

Flyers 3 Maple Leafs 2, 3OT: In this series, it's all about Belfour. The Maple Leafs have been outshot, and outplayed for most of the series, but with a combination of grit, sacrfice and Belfour, they were able to take a 2-1 series lead into the Air Canada Center last night. Credit the Flyers for having the mental fortitude to not let Belfour's success shake them, and hang on for the game winner well past Midnight EDT. I'd like to tell you last night's game was a turning point, but I'd be lying. I have no idea who's going to take this series. Series tied 2-2.

Avalanche 3 Wild 2: After a surprise in Game One, the Avalanche are now slowly choking the life out of the Wild like an Anaconda: slowly, efficiently, and inexorably. If I'm head coach Tony Granato, I'm happy to be hiding in the tall grass watching all the other higher seeds in the Western Conference in trouble. Avalanche leads series 3-1.

Senators 3 Islanders 1: When your team gives up a goal 28 seconds into a playoff game, it simply wasn't ready to play. Look for the Sens to finish off the Islanders tonight in Ottawa. Senators lead series, 3-1.

Blues 4 Canucks 1: No MacInnis, no problem. Dan Cloutier: beatable. Marcus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi, and Brendan Morrison: missing in action. Chris Osgood: hardly tested. Blues lead series 3-1.

Lightning 3 Caps 1: How many times have Capitals fans seen this scenario? After jumping out to a 2-0 series lead on enemy ice, the Caps have collapsed back into mediocrity -- and this against a team that hadn't beaten them at home for nearly 5 seasons?

And then there's that bit of history to deal with, as the AP beat writer brought up:

The Capitals now have to deal with an ugly past they considered long buried. They were the NHL's collapse artists in the 1990s, blowing a two-game series lead three times from 1992-96, a bit of history Tortorella revived this week when trying to motivate his players.

"We're a totally different team,'' Washington goaltender Olaf Kolzig said. "We've got nine new players just since last year. Back in '98 everybody made a big thing about that, and we seemed to get that monkey off our back. So I don't think anybody's paying too much attention to it.''

Except for the fact that the Caps failed to make the playoffs in 1997, 1999 and 2002; and then promptly lost in the first round of the playoffs in their last two appearances in 2000 and 2001. While I don't think the monkey lives in Kolzig's neighborhood, I have my doubts about the rest of the team. Series tied 2-2.

In a few seconds in the third period in Edmonton last night, the Dallas Stars showed both how they're talented enough to win the Cup, but still fool enough to lose it.

It was then that veteran defenseman Darryl Sydor made a midget hockey mistake to let Edmonton back into the game. From the very first scrimmage every kid plays, from North America to Central Europe, every defenseman is told to clear the puck out of the zone by shooting it up the boards. It's the smart play, the high percentage play, the safe play.

It's the play Sydor didn't make.

Instead, Sydor tried to clear the puck up the center of the defensive zone. Result: turnover. Seconds later, Oiler Shawn Horcoff put in a cheap goal off Marty Turco's shoulder to tie the game 1-1.

It was beginning to look a lot like Game 3, where the Stars blew two third period leads to lose, 3-2. No matter. Just about three minutes later, as a power play was expiring, scrappy vet Stu Barnes stuffed the puck past Tommy Salo to make it 2-1.

Then, before the rink announcer had a chance to broadcast the details of Barnes' goal to the crowd at the Skyreach Centre, Nikko Kapanen scored to put the game awayStars win, 3-1. Series tied 2-2, and we head back to Dallas for Game Five.

Up in Boston, the Bruins managed to save face in front of their hometown fans, avoiding a sweep by the Devils with a 5-1 win. But as John Buccigross reminded the viewers of NHL2Night after the game, this simply allows the Devils to win the series on home ice back in New Jersey, where GM Lou Lamirello will be counting the cash from another playoff home game. New Jersey leads series, 3-1.

In the entire history of the Washington Capitals, only four players had ever been awarded a penalty shot -- arguably the most exciting play in ice hockey. Perhaps the most famous penalty shot in the history of the franchise came in 1996, when Joe Juneau had a chance to win Game 4 of a first round playoff series with the Pittsburgh Penguins late in the second OT period.

Looking back, I can still see the puck bouncing wildly on the rutted Capital Centre ice -- something that seemed to prevent Juneau from getting off a decent shot on Penguins goalie Ken Wregget -- a shot he promptly deposited into Wregget's chest.

Two OT periods later, Peter Nedved ended the madness to win the game for the Penguins, 3-2.

Last night in the first period of the Caps-Lightning playoff matchup, the first home playoff game for the Caps since 2001, Dainius Zubrus was awarded a penalty shot with the Caps trailing 1-0. And, according to the typical Caps script, he missed, shooting the puck high and wide. Not Scott Norwood wide either.

Really wide.

Granted, Zubrus redeemed himself by scoring twice later, but the missed shot seems awfully emblamatic of the Caps' frustrating team history. When given a gift, this team just can't cash in. The Caps played from behind all night -- tying the game in the third period and sending it into OT.

And that's where misfortune struck. With back-to-back penalties to Jaromir Jagr and Ken Klee, the Caps were down two men. Vincent Lecavlier scored on the ensuing power play: Lightning 4 Caps 3. Caps lead series, 2-1.