Perry Leads All on Night Two

We're going to start with the performance of the playoffs to this point, as the late game on Thursday showed a whole lot of dominance from the Anaheim Ducks in the 3rd period, namely from the top two superstars on the team.

With the Ducks down 2-1 to the Jets, heading into the 3rd period, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf turned their game up a notch, putting together three unanswered markers to finish the game, 4-2 to the home side, both figuring heavily on the scoresheet.

Perry finished the game with 5 points: 2 goals, 2 assists and the bonus point for the winner, while Getzlaf had a goal and 2 assists himself.  If you went heavy on Anaheim, you would have been rewarded well for your selections.  Defenseman Sami Vatanen also had a goal and 2 assists, while Frederik Andersen picked up his 1st win of the playoffs, as that rounded out the notable scorers in the game.

The Ducks are the favoured team to come out of this series, as the current paid teams have a selection count of 68-32, in favour of Anaheim and they are now off to a blinding start.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled blogging.

The Rangers opened up MSG to the Penguins on Thursday night and that was about as welcoming as they would get, as some early speed put the blueshirts on top within the opening minute of the game, they tagged on another before the end of the frame and that was all they need, as their team speed, defense and superstar goalie got the best of the dysfunctional side from Pittsburgh.

Since scoring was at a premium in this one, a 2-1 final for the Rangers, there wasn't a lot of notable players to help boost the pool in this game.  Ryan McDonagh scored the eventual winner in the 1st period, earning him the bonus point, while Henrik Lundqvist made 24 saves to earn the win.

Lundqvist ended up being the most popular goalie in the pool, taken 16 out of 33 possible paid teams, as there is plenty of expectation that the Rangers could translate their President's Trophy season into a long playoff run.

The cagey veterans against the flashy youngsters... and there is a lot to be said about a veteran presence in the NHL playoffs. Just ask the Detroit Red Wings, who have been using such resolve for longer than most people can actually remember.  On Thursday night, it was just that kind of resiliency that helped the old dogs from Detroit slide past the Lightning in Tampa, 3-2, to take a 1-0 series lead.

When you talk about Detroit, you immediately start with Pavel Datsyuk, who was front and centre in this one, opening the scoring and then adding another before the puck even hit the ice in the 2nd.  Datsyuk's 2 goals were the only notable points for the pool.

Well, if anyone had picked up Jimmy Howard, it would be a much bigger deal that Petr Mrazek earned the start for the Red Wings in Game 1, but no one did pick up the veteran keeper, so there won't be too much made about the lack of points earned in the pool, because they won't show up in the standings.

In the other Western Conference game of the night, the Central Division winning St. Louis Blues got off to a rocky start against the wild card Minnesota Wild.  The Wild gave their new number one goalie what he needed early on in the game, a lead, as Devan Dubnyk stood tall for his side, making saves when he had to, a total of 19 stops, earning the Game 1 victory, 4-2.

The pool certainly prefers the Blues to make it out of this series, as the selections are 78-23 for St. Louis, but the Wild have their following in the pool and a Minnesota win could put a lot of pool teams down a few players, paving the way to a select few teams to motor up the standings.

Dubnyk wasn't the only one picking up points for the Wild on Thursday, as Zach Parise, Jason Pominville and Mikael Granlund, each came away with a couple points each, but Parise is the only one of the three with any selections... three to be exact.  Just for those asking, Dubnyk was taken... once.

The Blues were not without their notable player, as defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, taken seven times, had a pair of assists to help spur on his team.

Game-Winning Goals
As for the bonus points... Ryan McDonagh and Corey Perry were the only two players that counted in the standings for bonus points, as no one took Mikael Granlund in Minnesota and Luke Glendening in Detroit was not a option o the selection sheet.

Four teams are now leading the pool with a trio of bonus points to their names, Dale C.'s first team, Sean L., Tom H. and Sairosh have all picked them up in various combinations of the seven pool players to pick them up.