Player Notes in the Playoffs (May 1)

Box 23 defenseman Kevin Klein made his playoffs debut on Thursday night, as the Rangers opened up against the Capitals, but his presence wasn't enough to spur on any more offense against a stingy Washington team, nor was he able to help prevent a couple of goals that ended up costing his side the game.  Just to be clear, Klein wasn't on the ice for either goal, just saying that he wasn't able to provide any extra help from the bench.

His debut does mean good things for a couple teams in the pool, both belonging to Dale C., who's teams are in 15th and 20th after Thursday night.

It was a rough night for the Flames on Thursday, taking a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the Ducks and there were some roster notes to take care of today.  Mason Raymond was a healthy scratch for the opener, as the Box 7 forward wasn't very spectacular in the opening round against Vancouver.

In the game itself, Jiri Hudler was lifted from the game with an upper-body injury, after playing only 8+ minutes in the contest.  The injury is believed to be a wrist injury after taking a slash in the game and the coaching staff did mention that he is day-to-day going forward.

One more point of concern for the Flames, as Johnny Gaudreau didn't take a shift in the 3rd period, after what appeared to be a pretty solid check from behind, but he was on the bench and the coaching staff mentioned that they were just resting him.  We'll keep an eye on this one.

The Flames were fairly popular on the selection sheet this year, but Raymond was only taken twice and Hudler was only taken three times.  Gaudreau, who may or may not be hurt, was taken 11 times in the pool, so the greatest amount of concern appears to be with him moving forward.

The other two series in the second round will get underway on Friday night, as the Canadiens will host the Lightning and the Blackhawks will host the Wild tonight.

By the sound of things, we have all four pool goalies going in these series as well, as Montreal/Tampa Bay will see the top end match up of Carey Price against Ben Bishop, while the Chicago/Minnesota series should feature Corey Crawford against Devan Dubnyk.

Price is the most popular keeper of the four this year, taken 12 times, while Crawford, who only has a single win in these playoffs, has been taken nine times.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.