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Monday, 18 April 2011 04:04

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Playoff Stuff

Penguins - Lightning

-"There are guys in here who have to lead the way, who have to be better." - Brooks Oprik (above).

-The Penguins worked on combating the trap yesterday.

-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-Orpik speaks:

-Marc-Andre Fleury speaks:

-Lightning forward Steven Stamkos hasn't exactly lit things up this series.

-"I think whoever is going to get under the opponent's skin is going to win." - Lightning forward Dana Tyrell

-"We've just got to wear him down. He's a big guy. We have to chip the puck behind him and wear him down." - Arron Asham on Lightning defenseman Eric Brewer.

-The Lightning will distribute drums to the first 15,000 fans in St. Pete Times Forum tonight.

Capitals - Rangers

-A goal and an assist by Brandon Dubinsky led the Rangers to a 3-2 win against the Capitals in Game 2. Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves in the victory. Captain Alex Ovechkin accounted for a goal and an assist for Washington. The Capitals lead the series, 2-1.

-Goal of the Night: Rangers forward and former Penguin Erik Christensen from the right wing corner:

-Dubinsky's goal proved to be the game winner:

-Funny Face of the Day: Rangers forward and former Penguin Ruslan Fedotenko kept his eye wide open here:

-Lundqvist kept his eyes on this puck:

-But not this one:

-Lundqvist and Brian Boyle had a moment:

-Happy times for Dubinsky:

-Ovechkin tried to do a Maxime Talbot impression:

-We think.

-Dubinsky declared his mustache would stay following the goal.

-If you can imagine sunch a thing, Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau had a problem with the officiating.

-Referee Chris Rooney suffered a broken leg during the game. He will miss the rest of the postseason.

Flyers - Sabres

-The Flyers are still being wishy-washy on if Brian Boucher (right) or Sergei Bobrovsky will start in net for Game 3.

Bruins - Canadiens

-Bruins captain Zedno Chara's status for Game 3 is still up in the air after he missed Game 3 due to dehydration.

-"We're in trouble right now." - Bruins forward Milan Lucic on trailing the Canadiens, 2-0.

Canucks - Blackhawks

-Christian Ehrhoff and Daniel Sedin each had a goal and assist for the Canucks in a 3-2 defeat of the Blackhawks in Game 3. Captain Henrik Sedin recorded two assists for Vancouver while Roberto Luongo made 30 saves in the victory. Captain Jonathan Toews recorded two assists for Chicago. The Canucks lead the series, 3-0.

-During the second period, Canucks forward Raffi Torres, in his first game back from a suspension for hitting an opponent in the head, smacked Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook in the head:

-Torres was assessed a minor penalty for interference on the play.

-"We’re lucky [Seabrook is] a big Western Canadian kid. Someone else might have been on a stretcher.” - Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville on the hit.

-Save of the Night: Luongo on Chicago's Patrick Kane:

-Hit of the Night: Vancouver's Dan Hamhuis on Chicago's Marcus Kruger:

-Henrik Sedin tried to rip the jersey off his brother Daniel's back:

-Chicago's Corey Crawford had issues with this puck:

-We don't want to question the skating ability of Chicago captain Jonathan Toews, but...:

-After missing Game 2 due to the flu, Canucks forward and former Penguin Mikael Samuelsson scored the game-winning goal. Fire Craig Patrick.

-"Everyone wants to look at the stats all year and talk about what (the Canucks) do well and how good of a team they are. We're not exposing them for what they are. I think a lot of people outside this locker room are giving them too much credit and maybe we are as well. We know that we can be a better team than them, but we just haven't shown it yet." - Toews.

-“It’s probably the worst feeling ever; watching your team play and watching everything that goes on the ice. You take it to heart. If it were my shoulder or something else, I’d be out there.” - Blackhawks forward Dave Bolland who has been sidelined since mid-March due to a concussion.

Sharks - Kings

-The Sharks' power play is 0 for 7 in the series.

Red Wings - Coyotes

-Despite missing practice Sunday due to facial injuries, Red Wings forward Johan Franzen (right) is expected to play in Game 3.

-The Red Wings are expecting tons of fans on the road for Game 3 tonight.

Ducks - Predators

-Martin Erat had a goal and an assist for the Predators in a wild 4-3 win in Game 3. Ryan Suter recorded two assists for Nashville while Pekka Rinne made all of 13 saves in the victory. Teemu Selanne scored two goals for Anaheim. Nashville leads the series, 2-1.

-Nashville's Sergei Kostitsyn set up Mike Fisher for a goal with a beauty of a past:

-Nashville's Patric Hornqvist and Anaheim's Ray Emery had issues apparently:

-Welcome to Smashville:

-"I said in previous interviews we don't even make the playoffs without the Mike Fisher move." - Predators coach Barry Trotz on his team trading for Fisher in mid-season.

-"We had no business in this game. No business. They wanted it more. They won the battles. We were lucky to even be in the game. Very disappointed." - Selanne.

Non-Playoff Stuff

Penguins

-Happy 41th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Francois Leroux. Claimed off waivers from the Senators early in the 1994-95 season, Leroux was one of the toughest players in franchise history and spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins. He appeared in 40 games for the Penguins during the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign and recorded two assists while leading the team with 114 penalty minutes. In 12 postseason games that spring, he recorded two assists. During the 1995-96 season, Leroux played in 66 games, scored 11 points and once again led the team with 161 penalty minutes. He saw action in 18 postseason games that spring and scored two goals. In 1996-97, Leroux played in 59 games and recorded three assists. In three postseason games that season, he failed to record a point. During the 1997 offseason, he was traded to the Avalanche in exchange for a draft pick. In 165 regular season games with the Penguins, Leroux scored 16 points and 356 penalty minutes. In 33 postseason games, he recorded four points.

-Happy 34th birthday to former Penguins forward Dan LaCouture. Acquired at the 2001 trade deadline in a deal which sent Sven Butenschon to the Oilers, LaCouture spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins. He finished 2000-01 by playing in 11 games for the Penguins and failing to record a point. He saw action in five postseason games that spring and failed to record a point. During 2001-02, LaCouture set career highs in games played (82) and points (17). After 44 games and four points in 2002-03, LaCouture was traded along with Mike Wilson, Alex Kovalev and Janne Laukkanen in exchange for Joel Bouchard, Richard Lintner, Rico Fata and Mikael Samuelsson. In 137 regular season games with the Penguins, LaCouture scored 21 points.

Northeast Division

-The Bruins signed forward Tyler Randell, a sixth-round pick in 2009, to an entry-level contract.

Southeast Division

-The Thrashers' third jersey has bit the dust.

(Photos: Orpik-Jamie Sabau/Getty Images; Capitals/Rangers-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Boucher-Paul Bereswill/Getty Images; Canucks/Predators-Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images and Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press; Franzen-Gregory Shamus/Getty Images; Ducks/Predators-Frederick Breedon/Getty Images and Mark Humphrey/Associated Press)

Comments (9)

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written by Bones, April 18, 2011 - 12:59 PM

Ugh, why did they have to give away drums? That is gonna get obnoxious in a hurry.

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written by Boom Shaka, April 18, 2011 - 01:55 PM

Because you couldn't expect Tampa's fans to generate enough noise on their own to be a factor in the game.

It's a more low tech option than piping the crowd noise back through the PA system

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written by Bones, April 18, 2011 - 02:03 PM

So the Thrashers ditch the 3rd jerseys but are fine with those terrible home jerseys that have ATLANTA written down the left sleeve? Why not do an entire redesign?

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written by Accessible Hunter, April 18, 2011 - 02:30 PM

If the Pens start scoring on the power play we have a real shot at the cup !

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written by Boom Shaka, April 18, 2011 - 02:38 PM

@Bones:

To something more like this?

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bestjerseysbuy.com/pic/2010648262327709.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bestjerseysbuy.com/Hartford-Whalers-s945/&usg=__vgwlBTYnB_QaP9EXJr9e61UYMf0=&h=299&w=450&sz=49&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=wCVhMSvtGWeSnM:&tbnh=133&tbnw=179&ei=1XasTbnVDe3WiAKhytDvDA&prev=/images?q=hartford+whalers&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1280&bih=685&addh=140&output=images_json&tbm=isch0,21&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=266&vpy=398&dur=1503&hovh=183&hovw=276&tx=160&ty=124&oei=NnasTd_7CKfl0QHYv-X5CA&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:0&biw=1280&bih=685

I don't think Carolina's going anywhere but I'd love to see Hartford get a franchise again (sorry have a thing for the Whalers)

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written by Bones, April 18, 2011 - 02:56 PM

Oh man, the Whaler jerseys were among of the best! The North Stars had nice ones too. Be nice to see the RBK Edge garbage go away too and see the "sweaters" return.

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written by djbst75, April 18, 2011 - 03:23 PM

To quote Louder we suck we are terrible and we are never going to win. There that gets the negativity out of the way

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written by Boom Shaka, April 18, 2011 - 03:29 PM

Yea,
I liked those 1967 away Northstars jerseys with the laced collar.

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written by Uli, April 18, 2011 - 03:54 PM

I´m glad that they don´t hand out vuvuzela´s for the game tonight!

Whalers jerseys were amazing and Pucky is the best mascot ever.

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