Only one overtime was the difference between seeing one more game and getting the assistants to book tee times. But it was Ottawa who left the game and left the series for a date with the Western Conference champion (still to be decided) in the Stanley Cup Finals. It was a 3-2 win for the Senators, in a pretty hotly contested game with lots of chances and lots of good saves from the goaltenders.Well, that means that the pool's most popular team has now been elminated and it took 178 selections with it. Quite a large chunk of talent that will not get any points in the Finals. The Senators, on the other side of the coin, will take 97 selections with them to the Cup Finals and will be a large part of who takes home the money.
With a little more time, I'll go over the pool situation... which has changed... yet again!
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Another few votes in the Conn Smythe voting box dropped in for Daniel Alfredsson this afternoon. He led the Senators to the series win over Buffalo and it's going to be hard to find anyone who is going to argue that point. He has certainly been the most valuable Senator through the first three rounds and I wouldn't be surprised if he kept this sort of momentum up in the Finals.
Alfredsson notched three points, the game-winner and an assist in the overtime win. Not only is leading the team with the "C" on his jersey, but he is leading by example with those goals, assists and hits. It's really quite a shame that only one team has Alfredsson... especially since that one team is way down in 47th place. With a pool-high, four game-winners, it means that he could have won at least one series on his own goals alone. 
We're goin' back to Joe Louis Arena on Sunday afternoon. TSN and NBC will be carrying coverage of the game, starting at 1pm in Calgary. With the series tied at two games a piece, it should be one hell of a battle in Detroit. The series leaders in points going into Game 5 is Nicklas Lidstrom and Daniel Cleary, each with 6 points. Only one, however, was taken at all in the pool... guess which one. Okay, I'll give you a hint... he makes the most money out of the two. Yup, it's Lidstrom... taken 24 times, he has been a great addition to any squad.
But as it stands, the Ducks won Game 4 without one of their highest scorers from the blueline, which should give them a little bit more momentum heading away from the Honda Center. With Chris Pronger coming back, the superstars of the Ducks could be a little more relaxed and ready to play a little bit better without all the pressure of being down 3-1, which should lead to a little bit more offense.
On the other hand, the Red Wings are going home and it wasn't like they weren't playing well. The Wings will benefit from the home crowd, an octopus hitting the ice and maybe a little home cooking going into Game 5. An extra day's rest may help their stars get some valuable coaching to beat the Ducks.
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