Fire & Ice

I'll take Penguins vs. Stars in the Finals

Getting the Penguins vs. the Red Wings would be a dream Stanley Cup Final for the NHL, but something tells me it's not going to happen. The Dallas Stars have looked like a team of destiny so far. I guess you could say the same thing about the Philadelphia Flyers, but I can't see both underdogs making it to the Finals, so I'll pick the Stars.

I think we're going to see a pretty nasty series between the Penguins and the Flyers. I think we'll see a lot of goals, too.

Both Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury and Philadelphia's Martin Biron have played far better than I expected before the playoffs, but I can see both bubbles bursting in this series and it becoming a high-scoring series with a lot of physical play from both sides. There is some pretty good size on both teams. I imagine Derian Hatcher will try his best to plaster Sidney Crosby -- if he can catch him.

Anyway, I'll take Pittsburgh's offense over Philadelphia's in a six-game battle.

In the West, Dallas' Marty Turco is finally putting together a strong playoff run after years of flopping in the postseason. I think he gives the Stars the edge in this series over Chris Osgood, who has been great so far since taking over for Dominik Hasek, but I'm not sure he can play this well for four rounds.

Then, it will be a matchup of Detroit's skill vs. Dallas' grit. The Red Wings had it pretty easy against the injury-riddled/old Avalanche. The goals aren't going to come as easy in this round. Stars in seven.

Then again, I had Anaheim beating the Rangers in the Finals before the playoffs began.

Devils pick 21st

Here's the order for the first round of this year's NHL Entry Draft on June 20 and 21 in Ottawa, as released by the league today.

2008 NHL Entry Draft Order of Selection, Picks 1-26

     1.     Tampa Bay
     2.     Los Angeles
     3.     Atlanta
     4.     St. Louis
     5.     Islanders
     6.     Columbus
     7.     Toronto

Penguins finish off Rangers

The Rangers are out of the playoffs in the second round for the second year in a row after their 3-2 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins this afternoon at Mellon Arena.

Instead of continuing the organizational upswing that began with making the playoffs two years ago, they took a step back, being eliminated in five games a year after they pushed Buffalo to six games in the same round. That's particularly disappointing after the bar was raised last summer with the signings of Chris Drury and Scott Gomez.

They were defeated by a younger and more-talented Penguins' team that continues to be the favorite to reach the Stanley Cup Finals from the Eastern Conference.

Rangers stay alive

Jaromir Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist came through big time for the Rangers tonight to keep their season alive with a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 tonight at the Garden.

Jagr played like he knew it might be his last game as a Ranger and had a hand in all three goals, scoring two and assisted on the other, which was scored by Brandon Dubinsky. Lundqvist bounced back from his shaky Game 3 by making 29 saves in the shutout and stopping Evgeni Malkin on a penalty shot in the second period.

By the way, that might have been the worst penalty shot I've ever seen. Malkin went so slow and Lundqvist made an easy save with his glove.

Malkin took out some of his frustration in the final minute by twice kicking out the skates of Rangers defenseman Paul Mara. Mara called it "a classless act by a superstar."

From what I've been told, Malkin will not face any extra discipline by the league for his actions.

Penguins push Rangers to the brink

The Rangers need a historic comeback now after losing 5-3 to the Penguins tonight in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Madison Square Garden.

Down three games to none in the series, the Rangers must pull off a comeback only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 Islanders have accomplished in NHL history. Of course, the Red Sox did it against the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS, too. That was the example Jaromir Jagr cited tonight after the game.

"It's pretty tough to be down, 3-0, but you have to win four games," Jagr said. "It doesn't happen many times that teams come back. They have to close the series. Even such a great team like the Yankees didn't hold a 3-0 lead and they're the best ever. We can make history."

Jagr was again the Rangers' best player tonight. Scott Gomez played pretty well, too. But there weren't enough other guys that played well for the Blueshirts. And Evgeni Malkin was a monster for Pittsburgh.

Brodeur named to Goalie Equipment Working Group

Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur was one of five players voted by the NHL Players' Association's Executive Board to be part of the Goalie Equipment Working Group. Also representing the NHLPA in the group will be Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro, Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller, Ottawa Senators left wing Dany Heatley and Los Angeles Kings center Mike Cammalleri.

General managers Garth Snow of the Islanders, Doug Risebrough of Minnesota, Jim Rutherford of Carolina and Brett Hull (co GM) of Dallas will represent the league.

The group will meet on June 11 in Toronto to determine what reductions in the size of goaltender's equipment can be made without jeopardizing the safety of the goalies.  If the group decides alterations are warranted, their recommendations will be forwarded to the league's competition committee.

Penguins go up, 2-0

The Rangers went from one extreme to the other in today's 2-0 loss to the Penguins. After opening things up too much in a 5-4 loss in Game 1 on Friday, they tried to play it tight today and didn't generate nearly enough chances against Marc-Andre Fleury.

The Rangers were saying a lot of same things after today's game that the Devils were saying after their first two games against Henrik Lundqvist. They need more traffic in front, so Fleury can't see shots, and they need to get to the rebounds he leaves.

Free T-shirts in Pitt

If you were watching the Penguins' 5-4 win tonight over the Rangers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Mellon Arena, you probably noticed nearly all of the fans wearing white tT-shirts. Unlike the Devils, who wanted fans to pay for their "Rock Your Red" T-shirts at Prudential Center, the Penguins gave the shirts out for free. They also gave out the towels.

It was an impressive crowd and a little unsettling, too. After Evgeni Malkin's winning power-play goal with 1:41 remaining, the crowd was stomping so much in unison, the press box was shaking.

The Rangers were a little bothered by the interference call on Martin Straka against Sidney Crosby that set the Pens up for Malkin's goal. I didn't get a good look at it -- Versus' replays stink. Straka picked up a game misconduct after the final buzzer for complaining that it was a dive. Brendan Shanahan said, "I think it was weak call at that time of the game. I think Sidney embellished."

Madden Selke finalist

It's no surprise that Devils center John Madden was named a finalist today for the Selke Trophy, which goes to the NHL's top defensive forward. Madden, who was a Selke finalist three previous times and won the award in 2000-2001, enjoyed a bounce-back season and was probably the Devils' most consistent forward from start to finish, registering 20 goals and a career-high 43 points. He also led the Devils' forwards in ice time per game  (19:26) and ranked seventh in NHL in faceoffs taken with 1,463, winning 53.7 percent of them.

Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg are the other two finalists. All of the NHL award winners will be announced on June 12 in Toronto.

***

I made it to Pittsburgh safely on my 6:30 a.m. flight. There is a ton of media here. It has the feel of a conference final. Many Canadian newspapers have reporters here and the major networks (TSN, Sportsnet, CBC) are also here, presumably because of Sidney Crosby.

Crosby seemed a little taken back when asked about the Rangers' concerns about him diving. And the TSN reporter was obsessed with asking Crosby about Sean Avery and not allowing him to get under his skin. She must have asked the question three different ways.

Game 2 referees cut from playoffs

I found it interesting that referees Dave Jackson and Chris Rooney were among those who did not make the cut with the NHL for the second round of the playoffs. Jackson and Rooney oversaw that controversial final minute in Game 2 of the Devils-Rangers series that included the questionable hooking penalty on Jamie Langenbrunner, the non-call against Blair Betts on Paul Martin and the erroneous icing.

I wonder if Lou Lamoriello's verbal assault on supervisor of offiials Terry Gregson after that game had anything to do with it.

Kerry Fraser's absence from the second-round referees' roster was also notable. I dont' know which linesmen were cut, but I wouldn't be surprised if Greg Devorski and Brad Kovachik (who also worked Game 2 in NJ) didn't make it.

I'm off to Pittsburgh on Friday morning for the first two games of Rangers-Penguins. I'm looking forward to seeing Jaromir Jagr play against Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.