Three Games, No Splits

If there was any thought of the Montreal Canadiens thinking that they would be a much better playoff team against the Tampa Bay Lightning, it was likely squashed quite mightily, as the Bolts took both games in Montreal, thanks to a decisive 6-2 victory on Sunday afternoon.

With the win, the Lightning have a full home-ice advantage in this series, as they head back to the Amalie Arena for Games 3 & 4.

Steven Stamkos, Valtteri Filppula and Nikita Kucherov were your most notable players in this one, as they each finished with 3 points in the pool in this game, while Ben Bishop, Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson and Victor Hedman each had 2 points.  It was a big night for points, assuming you had the right Lightning players to capitalize with.

In Chicago, the Blackhawks were not leaving home without their home-ice advantage in the bag, as they won their Game 2, 4-1, taking a 2-0 series lead to Minnesota later on this week.

The Wild were having a hard time figuring out a way to get to Blackhawks keeper, Corey Crawford, until the opening minutes of the 3rd period, when they made it 2-1, but the Hawks put a stop to any momentum shortly after, as they clamped back down, scored a couple more and it was a final from there.

Patrick Kane led the way with 3 points for the pool, while Patrick Sharp had 2 points, as well as Crawford, who scored a pair for the win.

It wasn't nearly as soul-crushing of a loss, but the Calgary Flames dropped Game 2 in Anaheim, as the Ducks came away with a 3-0 win on Sunday night.  This series will head to Calgary with the Flames down 2-0 in the Pacific Division Final.

The Ducks were not nearly as nasty as they were in the opener of this series, but their defensive game remained composed and maybe more impenetrable.

With the shutout, Frederik Andersen comes away as the top guy on the heap with 4 points and he ends up being the best player on the night as well.  Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Matt Beleskey all come away with 2 points in the pool as well, as they have been great in the first two games of this series already.

The race at the top of the standings remains very interesting, as Sairosh's lead has now been chipped away to only 2 points, as Jesse P. made up some more ground through the Chicago/Minnesota game, but that ground was taken back in the Anaheim/Calgary game.  Nevertheless, it has still been very good in this 2nd round.

Tony D. has lost his footing on 3rd place, as Fontanna has also been operating one of the better teams in this 2nd round and has since moved into a comfy position in the money, only 1 point back of Jesse and now 3 points back of 1st place.  Tony now sits 3 points back of 3rd place and is dropping mightily with a lack of players.

Tom H. now leads the second round scoring, as his side has managed to pick up 35 points thus far, but his team still ranks 11th in the standings, but he'll keep moving up with these good results.

Game-Winning Goals
We've hit double-digits in the bonus points category after Sunday night, as Sairosh, Fontanna and Sean L. all finished the night with 11 GWG's, followed closely by our previous leader, Tony C., who has 10 bonus points.  Nikita Kucherov's second winner of the playoffs was a big push for the pool, while Patrick Kane and Matt Beleskey chimed in with winners, making a difference as well.