So what did Pittsburgh do right in their win over Detroit?
Quite a few things.
Their powerplay was finally effective against the Wings.
They managed to get pucks deep in the Red Wing zone.
They kept the Zetterberg/Lindstrom match-up out on the ice for longer shifts, plus lots of ice time in general.
I think getting the Crosby match-up forced [...]

Brent Sutter is starting to look like another successful graduate of the Mats Sundin Rapid Decision-Making Program. He’s still not sure he wants to coach the Devils next season.
The longer Sutter waits, the less effective he’ll be as a coach if he decides to return. Would you play hard for someone who was that [...]

So this year’s Stanley Cup finals will be a rematch of last year’s. The Blackhawks magical run through the post-season finally ended last night.
It’s interesting how close the Detroit-Chicago series actually was. Chicago had a decent chance to win games two and five. Another season or so of experience and the Blackhawks might have won [...]

The Penguins are going to the Stanley Cup finals thanks to last night’s impressive win over the Penguins. Puck Daddy had a nice look at how the Penguins did it. I’d like to add one other reason to the pile, though.
Penguins coach Dan Bylsma had the Penguins play an aggressive defense, with players pinching [...]

What can you say about “Evgeni Malkin’s performance last night? There were stretches where he looked downright Ovechkin-esque, doing everything but playing goal. And shoving Sidney Crosby. He’ll get there, though.
I thought Malkin’s potential seemed to have plateaued, but after last night’s game, I’m curious just how much he’s capable of.
Over in the Western Conference, [...]

Ha! The Penguins are really selling the seven defenseman concept. Philippe Boucher, the Penguins seventh defenseman scored last night’s game-winning goal.
This is par for the course for the Hurricanes, though. They’ve lost game one of every playoff game this season.
Tonight is game two of Detroit-Chicago. The Blackhawks aren’t hitting the panic button yet, which is [...]

Last night I went out with some friends to watch game seven, all of us thinking this could possibly be the greatest game seven we had ever seen.
Obviously, we were mistaken. Shocked and mistaken.
You can talk about the offensive explosion that was the Penguins 6-2 win. But I was shocked by the Penguins defense. [...]

Last night we saw two game threes go into overtime, with each game ending 3-2.
In Raleigh, the Bruins looked completely out of steam, yet still made it to OT before losing.
In Pittsburgh, the Caps seemed to spend the whole game on the penalty kill. And while the penalty kill was strong, it prevented Washington from [...]

I love when people say hockey is a team sport and one person really never has the ability to dominate a game, unlike the NBA. If anyone says that, show them last night’s Caps-Pens game, where Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin each had a hat trick.
It’s funny to watch Washington play Pittsburgh so well considering [...]

Wow. Poor Columbus. They’ve looked like a deer in headlights against Detroit.
The only thing remotely working for the Blue Jackets is R.J. Umberger, who’s scored all of their playoff goals and two of their three points.
Columbus goalie Steve Mason is having problems dealing with all of the Red Wing traffic in front of him [...]