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Sunday, 01 May 2011 02:00

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Penguins

-If you haven't heard, the Penguins had a few injuries in 2010-11.

-Calder Cup Playoffs: Brad Thiessen made 34 saves for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 3-0 shutout of the Charlotte Checkers in Game 2 of their East Division Finals series. Captain Ryan Craig had a goal and an assist for the Penguins who tied the series, 1-1.

-Highlights courtesy of The Wilkes-Blog:

-Kelly Cup Playoffs: Tim Crowder scored the Wheeling Nailers' only goal in a 4-1 loss to the Kalamazoo Wings in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference final series. The series is tied, 1-1.

-Happy 35th birthday to former Penguins forward Eric Meloche (right). The son of former Penguins goaltender and current assistant coach Gilles Meloche, Eric Meloche was a seventh-round pick in 1996 and spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins. He made his NHL debut in 2001-02 and recorded one assist in 23 games. The 2002-03 season saw him record six points in 13 games. His best season an an NHLer was 2003-04 when he recorded 10 points in 25 games. During the 2004 offseason he signed with the rival Flyers. In 61 games for the Penguins, Meloche scored 17 points. One of two players to wear No. 72 for the Penguins (Alex Kovalev is the other), Meloche currently plays for the Straubing Tigers of the DEL in Germany.

-Happy 73rd birthday to former Penguins and Pittsburgh Hornets defenseman/forward Dick Mattiussi. Acquired from Cleveland of the AHL in exchange for cash in 1966, Mattiussi spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. He appeared in 32 games during the Penguins' innagural season of 1967-68 and recorded two assists. After 12 games and two assists in 1968-69, Mattiussi was dealt to the Oakland Seals along with Earl Ingarfield and Gene Ubriaco for Bryan Watson, George Swarbrick and Tracy Pratt. In 44 career games with the Penguins, Mattiussi recorded four assists.

Capitals - Lightning

-Don't look know, but forward Steve Downie (right), normally a pest, leads the Lightning with nine points in the postseason.

-After suffering suspected head injuries in Game 1, Lightning forward Simon Gagne and defenseman Pavel Kubina are officially listed as day to day due to "upper-body" injuries.

-Both players are expected to miss today's Game 2.

-If Kubina can't play in Game 2, defenseman Randy Jones would get the call.

-"I don’t know if I were in that situation I would have the mind or the courage to be the way he is right now." - Lightning coach Guy Boucher on assistant coach Wayne Fleming who has been handling his duties from home as he recovers from a malignant brain tumor.

Flyers - Bruins

-Two goals and two assists by David Krejci led the Bruins to a 7-3 rout of the Flyers in Game 1. Brad Marchand added a goal and an assist for Boston while teammate Patrice Bergeron recorded three assists. Tim Thomas made 31 saves in the victory. Claude Giroux recorded two assists for Philadelphia. Boston has a 1-0 series lead.

-Hit of the Day: Boston's Adam McQuaid on Philadelphia's Braydon Coburn:

-Philadelphia's Zac Rinaldo > Bergeron:

-Philadelphia's Brian Boucher had issues with this puck:

-Philadelphia's Chris Pronger... being... well... Chris Pronger:

-Philadelphia's James van Riemsdayk being popular:

-Happy times for the Bruins. Not so much for van Riemsdyk:

-Van Riemsdyk took a spill over Thomas:

-Thomas was all alone in a sea of Orange:

-Happy times for Thomas:

-Painful times for McQuaid:

-Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher was chased after allowing five goals in less than two periods and replaced by back up Sergei Bobrovsky. It was the sixth time in the Flyers' past 14 postseason games they have made an in-game switch in net.

-"It wasn't anything to do with the goaltending. It was all about us. We were brutal today." - Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen on the team's defense.

Canucks - Predators

-Matt Halschuk's goal in the second overtime gave the Predators a dramantic 2-1 win against the Canucks in Game 2. Ryan Suter had a goal with 1:07 left in regulation to the game for Nashville. Pekka Rinne made 32 saves in the victory.

-Halischuk's goal:

-Suter's goal was an absolute fluke:

-Save of the Night: Check out this robbery by Rinne on Vancouver's Kevin Bieksa:

-Second Hit of the Night: Vancouver's Alexander Edler on Nashville's Patric Hornqvist:

-Vancouver's Dan Hamhuis and Halischuk went at it hard for this puck:

-Vancouver's Raffi Torres was all bug-eyed on this puck:

-This guy apparently didn't have to be at church the next day:

-Halischuk's goal came at the 14:51 of the second overtime. It was the longest victory in franchise history.

Sharks - Red Wings

-The Sharks have five wins this postseason. Four have come in overtime.

-Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard isn't popular in San Jose.

IIHF World Championships

-Two assists by Rangers forward Derek Stepan helped the United States beat Austria, 5-1.

-Devils forward Patrik Elias and Wild forward Martin Havlat each had a goal and an assist for the Czech Republic which beat Latvia, 4-2.

-Happy times for Elias, Havlat and former Penguins defenseman Martin Skoula:

-Happy times for Czech Republic captain Roman Cervenka:

-Islanders defenseman Radek Martinek of the Czech Republic suffered a concussion after he was hit by Latvia forward Arturs Kudla:

-Kudla was suspended three games for the hit.

-Hurricanes forward Tuomo Ruutu had a goal for Finland in a 5-1 defeat of Denmark.

-Shootout goals by Per-Åge Skrøder and Mathis Olimb led Norway to a 5-4 upset of Sweden. It was Norway's first defeat of Sweden in 61 years of competition.

-Happy times for Skrøder:

-Happy times for Norway:

-Kings forward Michal Handzus will play for Team Slovakia.

Non-Playoff Stuff

-"I love this city and I love living here. I want to see our team do well." - Blue Jackets forward R.J. Umberger.

Patrick Division

-Former Thrashers/Kings/Hurricanes defenseman Frantisek Kaberle joined HC Plzen of the Czech Extraliga.

(Photos: Eveni Malkin-Justin K. Aller/Getty Images; Meloche-Penguins Hockey Cards; Downie-Jeff Gross/Getty Images; Bruins/Flyers-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images and Matt Slocum/Associated Press; Predators/Canucks-Rich Lam/Getty Images; IIHF World Championships-Petr David Josek/Associated Press and Samuel Kubani/AFP/Getty Images)

Comments (2)

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written by Luiz Mello, May 01, 2011 - 04:11 PM

Kudla was suspended three games for the hit.

The IIHF: **not** a garage federation.

It was Norway's first defeat of Sweden in 61 years of competition.

The most impressive thing about it is that Norway managed to win this game without Tore Vikingstad.

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written by bastage42, May 01, 2011 - 10:16 PM

You know, when I read about it I watched the Martinek hit over and over, and couldn't help but think, "if that was the NHL they'd say it was a 'good hockey play' and 'sometimes these things happen, it's a tough game'". I wish the NHL would follow in the footsteps of the IIHF, but that will either never happen, or require a death and/or a massive lawsuit to occur.

On a happier note, there's nothing like a set of photos of disappointed fans wearing orange to brighten one's day.

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