Havlat – done this time – May 25, 2009

 

Dobber Nation Podcast will be up shortly – I'll be on this one, as well St. Louis goalie Chris Mason, among others…

 

Given that Quenneville went to Corey Crawford in the second period, but went back to Huet for the third, I would guess that Khabibulin is likely unavailable for Game 5. Crawford stopped six of seven shots he faced.

 

Speaking of Game 5, if the Wings win it and the Pens sweep Carolina, there will be a NINE-day layoff until the Final. This situation (Pens in 4, Wings in 5) was the one situation that would have given the NHL this kind of layoff.

 

Chris Osgood did not come out for the third period. The team says he was "dehydrated", but they would say that even if he had two broken legs. Put his start for Game 5 as questionable. Jimmy Howard dressed as backup for the third. Ty Conklin stopped all nine shots he faced.

 

Niklas Lidstrom did not play yesterday. He did practice Saturday, but was too hurt to play in the game Sunday. Babcock says "short term" and he expects him to play Wednesday.

 

Jonas Gustavsson, the highly-touted free agent goalie from Sweden, has narrowed his list of teams down to Toronto, Colorado, Dallas and San Jose. Why he would choose San Jose when he'll never play is beyond me. Put me down for Leafs or Avs, if I were to guess.

 

Interesting to note that with Datsyuk out, Filpulla stepped up huge with a three-point game. He has seven in his last five and 13 in 15 playoff games altogether. Next year, his fourth year, expect the breakout we've all been waiting for (perhaps 65 points).

 

As noted later yesterday, Havlat did play – but took another hit and left the game. Clip of the suspected hit that finally "finished" him is below:

 

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Yv2OF6dO20]