Henrik Zetterberg made his return to the Wings lineup last night. They had him playing wing on the top line with Pavel Datsyuk and Justin Abdelkader. He skated pretty well but looked limited all the same. He'd be playing center if he was truly ready for heavy lifting. Still, that line was very effective.

 

Datsyuk scored a goal and an assist to give the Red Wings a 2-0 lead early.

 

Meanwhile Abdelkader added an assist and was flying all over the ice. Give him eight hits last night.

 

Jonas Gustavsson got the start for Detroit with Jimmy Howard nursing the flu. Hard to blame him for the loss in this one. He stopped 37 of 40 shots and didn't have much chance on any of the three goals, two of which went in off his own teammates.

 

The OT winner was particularly brutal as a Jarome Iginla tip was headed wide before bouncing off Danny DeKeyser.

 

Hard to blame DeKeyser though. Not only did he have no chance to react on that tip but he had done a great job off throwing up a wall with Niklas Kronwall all game long. They had 16 blocked shots combined. No other Wing player blocked more than one.

 

Of course, blocked shots aren't necessarily positive things. It's indicative that the other team has gained good possession in your end. But considering the heavy lifting these two are responsible for you can give them a break.

 

The Red Wings were without Daniel Alfredsson once again. He didn't do a whole lot in either of the first two games but I think they miss him all the same. They aren't lacking for veteran leadership/know-how but he's a solid playoff performer all the same.

 

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Full credit to Boston mounting the comeback with three unanswered goals. They could have easily folded getting dominated 15-5 on shots in the first and going down early. Especially after Brad Marchand missed a couple of open nets. But they slowly swung the game and forced overtime, at which point they owned. The Bruins outshot the Red Wings 12-3 in overtime.

 

Iginla's winner was his first of these playoffs.

Popular playoff sleeper Carl Soderberg finally got on the board with an assist on Milan Lucic's tying goal. A nifty little pass. Still not over the moon about this guy though. Not as long as he skates on Boston's third line.

 

Dougie Hamilton has skated some pretty sheltered minutes in these playoffs but with two assists last night he is showing that he might be ready for a bit more responsibility. I'm not ready to buy yet. I think he's got another year or two before breaking out. And he's still young enough that you aren't getting any discount just because he hasn't done so yet.

 

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Beyond the Kings-Sharks series (more on them later) the West is suddenly a total crapshoot. Three series all tied 2-2. So much for these #1 seed juggernauts.

 

The Minnesota Wild pulled even with the Colorado Avalanche by holding court at home in two tight games but wholly dominant games. Imagine they get a bounce or two in either of the overtime affairs in Denver…

 

Momentum is fully with the Wild. They have outshot the Avalanche 78-34 over the last two games. This series is going a long way to solidifying Semyon Varlamov's elite status.

 

His counterpart, Darcy Kuemper, hasn't had to do much since taking over but he's allowed just one goal on 48 shots across two-plus games. The one goal allowed was a softy. The Wild finally getting back to their goalie sheltering ways.

 

Charlie Coyle scored the game-winner, his third goal of the playoffs. It was a fairly opportunistic goal but he's the type of guy willing to get to the greasy areas and score such goals. You need these guys come playoff time. Definitely has the makeup of a playoff warrior so don't overrate him for regular season performance but keep him in mind for your playoff pools.

 

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Getting outshot is nothing new for the Avalanche. They succeeded all season playing with a shot deficit but getting doubled in shots is just not going to result in wins.

 

The Avalanche are missing Tyson Barrie, their most dynamic defenseman. Ryan Wilson drew into the lineup in his stead. *Shudders* Wilson played a little over 11 minutes.

 

They are also missing Matt Duchene (obviously). He can't get back soon enough.

I don't care how well Varlamov is playing the Avs won't go far with these injuries.

 

I entered a playoff pool with a friend and he kept texting me about his regrets about not loading up on Colorado. I kept downplaying it. I hate overreacting to two games (unless it serves my purposes). I feel justified in my skepticism now.

 

I hope you didn't sweat the front-runners in your pool jumping out to the early lead on the back of Nate MacKinnon like my buddy above. MacKinnon is now scoreless in two straight losing his playoff lead. Suddenly making round two isn't a guarantee either.

 

Speaking of MacKinnon. He had a bit of a scare after blocking a shot. He went to the dressing room but returned soon after. Crisis averted.

 

Joey Hishon made his NHL debut last night. He barely saw the ice but was out there on the second power play unit. Good to see him persevere through some terrible concussion woes. 

 

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Well, the Kings have life. Last night's contest was a pretty wide-open affair but the Kings did a great job of converting their chances.

 

They shook up their lines a bit with Dustin Brown moving back onto the top line and Justin Williams moving back to the third line. You could call it a success, I suppose. Williams only scored two goals (as strange as they both were) while Brown got an assist on one of Marian Gaborik's two goals and added the empty-netter.

 

Even Mike Richards got on the board for the first time in what feels like a month, mostly because it actually was. What do you make of his mediocre season? Random slump? The beginning of the end? Battling injury? Needs a new coach?

 

I am a fan of Richards' game so I have to believe he's been fighting an injury but I can also acknowledge that this might be the beginning of the end. He's been banged up for the past few years now. You can only last so long playing the physical style he does at that size.

 

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I can only shake my head at Todd McLellan. Obviously he's doing something right since he's never missed the playoffs as an NHL coach but after going down early in Game Three he made a change putting Joe Pavelski on the third line and pushing Tomas Hertl back to the top line sparking the comeback. How does he open Game Four? With Pavelski back on the top line. I can't say I'm surprised the Kings had better results, especially after shuffling their own lines.

 

Antti Niemi got yanked early in the third period after giving up five goals. He'll live to fight another day. 

 

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I mused yesterday that Alex Pietrangelo's difficulty getting shots through was a big reason for the Blues' struggles on the power play in their opening series. Pietrangelo has had nine shot attempts blocked with just five getting through to the net. Hat tip to user TylerandHobbes for that one. If you are interested you can find such stats over at ExtraSkater.

 

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If you are looking for a reason to give even a quarter of a shit about the upcoming World Championship then you are in luck. Flames super-prospect John Gaudreau will suit up for the US. This can be your first look at him against professionals and could help you decide just how hyped to get.

 

Read more on Gaudreau over at DobberProspects.

 

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Jonathan Toews, Anze Kopitar and Patrice Bergeron were named Selke Trophy finalists. Get used to these names. They should be the finalists in this category for the next five or so years.

 

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Steve Mason will be in net for the Flyers tonight. I'm not sure he makes a difference. This one will be decided by what the Flyers can do in front of him.

 

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Teemu Selanne and Ryan Getzlaf are hoping to return for the Ducks tonight. They'd better. Things are starting to look hairy for the Ducks. That link mentions that Matt Beleskey is looking to return soon as well.

 

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Mike Ribeiro had a pretty blunt assessment of his play this season:

"If I played better, we would have made the playoffs," he admitted. "I was not able to create much for the team. The only thing now is for me to come back better next season."

As he packed his bag and headed to parts unknown, Ribeiro turned and offered this stunning confession.

"There were no positives for me this season," he said. "Nothing, zero."

 

I would buy low here if you can. It's possible that this is where Ribeiro starts to fall off but he scored nearly a point per game for six years running before slipping this season. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

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Grantland is jumping on the #Lumbus bandwagon.

 

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Sean McIndoe begrudgingly celebrates the Canadiens' opening round sweep of the Lightning.

 

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Check out every Cup celebration since 1949.

 

 

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You can follow me on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.