Morning Skate: Playoff Edition (5/3)

The Morning After:
My 3 stars from last night:
1. Patrick Sharp (2 goals)
Sharp’s pair of goals came at the perfect time as the opened the flood gates for Chicago.
2. Simeon Varlamov (34 saves, 2 GA)
He was awesome after looking like swiss cheese on the Mark Eaton goal.
3. Dave Bolland (2 goals)
Bolland was everywhere and scored 2 big goals… a shorty & the silencer.
Best atmosphere: Washington
You could feel the electricity from the Verizon Center through the tube!
‘RLD Game-Changing Performance’ of the night:
Simeon Varlamov… Tied at 2, Crosby thought he had the go-ahead goal late in the 2nd period. But Varlamov had other plans. His stick save was the best of the playoffs, maybe the whole year, as he stopped the puck from going in right on the goal line. At the time, Pittsburgh had all of the momentum; after that… not so much.
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Tonight’s Slate:
Ducks @ Red Wings, Game 2, 2:00 ET
Hurricanes @ Bruins, Game 2, 7:30

Game of the Night:
8) Anaheim Ducks @ 2) Detroit Red Wings
Game 2, 2:00 ET… TV: NBC, TSN, Local Networks

Players to watch:
ANA- Chris Pronger
Pronger and the other Ducks d-men have to clear the bodies from Hiller’s crease.
DET- Johan Franzen
The Mule picked up a goal in Game1; look for him to keep lurking around Anaheim’s net.

Starting Goaltenders:
ANA- Jonas Hiller (Playoff stats: 4-3, 1.84 GAA)
DET- Chris Osgood (Playoff stats: 5-0, 1.17 GAA)

Injury Report:
ANA- Petteri Nokelainen (upper body, doubtful), Bret Hedican (back, out)
DET- Brian Rafalski (upper body, out), Kris Draper (upper body, out), Andreas Lilja (head, out)

Game Thoughts:
This is a gut feeling pick here. With the game being in the day, the Wings could either smoke the Ducks, or Anaheim could steal one. I’m leaning towards the latter as they stuck with the defending champs the whole way Friday night. The key’s going to be the area in front of Hiller’s net; the Ducks’ defenders have to clear the bodies and loose pucks.

Prediction: Ducks 3, Red Wings 2
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6) Carolina Hurricanes @ 1) Boston Bruins
Game 2, 7:30 ET… TV: VERSUS, TSN, Local Networks

Players to watch:
CAR- Tuomo Ruutu
With Staal being kept in check by Chara, Ruutu and the other 2nd liners must step it up.
BOS- David Krejci
If he has another great all-around effort, the B’s have a very good chance.

Starting Goaltenders:
CAR- Cam Ward (Playoff stats: 4-4, 2.34 GAA)
BOS- Tim Thomas (Playoff stats: 5-0, 1.40 GAA)

Injury Report:
CAR- None
BOS- Matt Hunwick (spleen, out), Marco Sturm (knee, out)

Game Thoughts:
Carolina must win this game if they want to win this series. I don’t see them winning 4 of 5 against these Bruins if they get down 0-2. In round one, they beat the Devils in Game 2 after losing 4-1 in Game 1. Can they put that off again?? Expect them to play a better game, but the B’s look like a well-oiled machine right now. Thomas will put another good game together as Boston puts the ‘Canes in a 0-2 hole.

Prediction: Bruins 3, Hurricanes 1