Four More in the Books From Sunday

The series between the Rangers and Flyers has seen some important runs of scoring, which have gone against convention, saying that scoring first may not be the best strategy... or it has been in the first two games.

The Rangers got off to a good start, scoring twice in the first nine minutes of the game, but the Flyers were not phased by that early bout of offense, continued to play their game and then scored four unanswered markers to split the series at one with a 4-2 win.

Between six goals, there wasn't much for notable players, as Luke Schenn was the only notable skater with 2 points in the pool, thanks to his game-winning goal.  The Flyers were relying on their back-up goalie again in Game Two, so there wasn't any goalie points to give away in the game either.

The Flyers have announced already on Monday that Ray Emery will also get the start in Game Three, as Steve Mason continues to be hampered by his upper-body injury.  The Flyers were hopeful that he would have been back for Game Two, but it seems more and more likely that he won't even feature in these playoffs.

As much as Detroit's 1-0 victory in Game One seemed quite odd or astounding, if the Red Wings are going to be successful against the big, bad Bruins, that was the sort of game that they would need to succeed.

Game Two wasn't that kind of game.

The Bruins came out hungry and ready to feast on the Red Wings defense and they did... twice... in the 1st period.  A 2-0 lead after one with some dominance asserted in the process, led to somewhat of a walkover 4-1 victory in the end, tying up the series at one game a piece, heading back to Detroit for Tuesday night.

Tuukka Rask, Jarome Iginla, Reilly Smith and Torey Krug were the notable players on the Boston side, each coming away with 2 points, justifying good value for some popular players in the hockey pool.

So far, this series has been good to the pool for healthy bodies, as no one has come out or needed to go back in.

We already have our first team on the brink of elimination or behind the 8-ball, if you will, in these 2014 playoffs, as the Montreal Canadiens are making short work of a Tampa Bay Lightning team that didn't start the series with their full compliment of talent.

Of course, no one in the Tampa Bay staff would likely give that as an excuse for the playoff shortcomings this year, but I think it is a valid reason, when you're number one goalie doesn't get to play a game before you're down 3-0 in the series.

The Habs didn't make it easy on themselves, giving up a goal midway through the 3rd to make the end of the game into a bit of nail-biter, but they held on for the 3-2 victory to put the Bolts to the brink.

Carey Price, Tomas Plekanec, Brendan Gallagher and P.K. Subban all featured in this game with a pair of points each.  All four featured well in the hockey pool selections, so there were plenty of points handed out there.  On the flip side, Steven Stamkos got his first two assists of the series.

A couple of key line-up notes for the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game Three, as Sami Salo sat out of the game with an upper-body injury and forward Nikita Kucherov was a healthy scratch for the team.  Both players were pretty deep in the Eastern Conference boxes and were taken as such, as there wasn't much belief that the Bolts would make it far, but quite a few thought they would get past Montreal in the opening round, if that says something.

I don't think it is unfair to think that the Los Angeles Kings may have run out of gas, as the first two games of the series against the San Jose Sharks have been brutal, to say the least.  

On Sunday night, the Kings suffered their second blow-out of the series, to go down 0-2 against their division rivals.  Seven unanswered goals after the 1st period by the Sharks, made a mockery of the Kings, who have featured well in the playoffs over the last few years.  The Sharks have already outscored the Kings, 13-5, in the first two games of the series.

The real unfortunate part, for the hockey pool, was that it wasn't the Sharks' big players that was doing all the damage, so there were quite a few points lost to the 3rd & 4th line players, who don't feature on the sheet.  Joe Pavelski had 3 points, which was good for many, while Patrick Marleau, Dan Boyle, Logan Couture, Justin Braun and Antti Niemi all had 2 points.  I'm not saying it was a bad night for the pool, but with seven goals on the board, everyone on that sheet should have had 2 points for the Sharks.

This series is also featuring well in the health department, as no one has come out or gone back in.

Game-Winning Goals
Four game-winners to recap... Luke Schenn for the Flyers, Reilly Smith for the Bruins, Tomas Plekanec for the Canadiens and Justin Braun for the Sharks, all four staying in the pool for the first time in these playoffs.

The total of teams with 2 bonus points has now gone up to nine, rather than the leader making any significant progress in putting some space between themselves and another team.

Four more games on tap for Monday night, so there will be ample chance to make up some more ground or pull away tonight.

Well, just in case you were hoping for big things from Sami Vatanen, Anaheim Ducks defenseman in Box 11, I have some bad news for you.  Vatanen was a part of a small contingent heading down to the AHL to get some playoff time in the minors.  Vatanen had not figured into the line-up in the first two games and it doesn't appear that he will at all for the foreseeable future.  12 teams in the pool have taken him, almost the most popular player in that  box.