Pittsburgh Penguins Free-agent Penguins make pitch to stay Shero has problems to solve

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1 SPORT-SCAN Boston Bruins Boxed in by power play Bracing themselves Effort that just won t fly Practice goes on, not Horton Milan Lucic building up steam Expect Philly to fight back Zdeno Chara set for storm Claude Julien senses power improvement Detroit Red Wings Red Wings notes, quotes from Game 2 loss to Sharks Game 2: The octometer San Jose 2, Detroit 1: Red Wings squander early chances Octopus garden: Surprise! Sharks' Antti Niemi turns into the anti-sieve Sharks' Antti Niemi winning battle in goal vs. Red Wings Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard's heroics 'not satisfying' Red Wings need a little anger management Confident Sharks own Red Wings San Jose 2, Detroit 1: Red Wings drop second straight to Sharks Former Wings trainer Wharton jailed on child-support charges Twice-bitten Wings must step up their game against Sharks Red Wings down 2-0 in series after loss to Sharks Krupa's 5 keys Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard patiently waits for offense to wake up Wings' offense looks for jump-start at home Three stars of Game Red Wings' offense stymied as Sharks take 2-0 series lead Red Wings' Jimmy Howard vows he won't be frustrated by Sharks' tactics Mike Babcock on Red Wings' needs for Game 2: We must get skating against Sharks Red Wings' Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen back in lineup but searching for groove Nashville Predators Nashville Predators use defense to silence Vancouver's Sedin twins Nashville Predators' Ryan Suter shows off offensive skills, too Nashville Predators beat Vancouver Canucks Preds take Bridgestone Arena lower-level flooding as chance to rethink facilities New Jersey Devils Lamoriello will make safe coaching choice for Devils: sources Philadelphia Flyers Mount Laviolette not yet ready to blow How long can Flyers' continue spin in goal? Will the desperation well ever run dry for the Flyers? Flyers Notes: Briere wary of Chara's high stick Flyers take long look at what went wrong in Game 1 against Bruins Bruins' wide bodies took advantage of 'loosey-goosey' Flyers FLYERS TONIGHT Flyers stay focused on big picture Flyers' troubles are all about attitude Flyers notes: 'A loss is a loss' in playoff hockey Flyers must move past 'embarrasing' Game 1 loss NHL 5/2/2011 DAILY BRIEF Pittsburgh Penguins Free-agent Penguins make pitch to stay Shero has problems to solve San Jose Sharks Like last spring, Red Wings find themselves two games down to Sharks Howard says Sharks won't get under his skin Sharks taking up residence in Red Wings' heads Sharks covering ice with a lot of detail Sharks beat Red Wings to take 2-0 series lead Sharks beat Wings 2-1, take 2-0 series lead Snow showers predominate around Detroit net Tampa Bay Lightning Boucher wants players, staff to rest OVERTIME MAGIC Resiliency on full display once again Bolts' Gagne confident he can play later in series Tampa Bay Lightning's Vinny Lecavalier a star once again Tampa Bay Lightning's hustle sets up all three of its goals Tampa Bay Lightning beats Washington Capitals 3-2 in overtime for 2-0 series lead Tampa Bay Lightning three stars, Thompson's enjoying the noise 'Lucky' Simon Gagne sits but could play soon for Tampa Bay Lightning Tampa Bay Lightning LW Simon Gagne wants to play Game 3; D Pavel Kubina still mum, likely worse Vancouver Canucks Not easy being green Canucks fans Canucks need to go on the offensive Preds pumped about split, shutting down Sedin twins Canucks ready to take flight in Nashville Vigneault says Canucks needed time off Split happens as Predators beat Canucks 2-1 in double overtime You never know which Keith Ballard you're going to get Sedins need offense to run on all cylinders Sedins not producing but say they will not react like it's Predators Ward overcame loss of father to reach NHL Washington Capitals NHL playoffs: Vincent Lecavalier, Lightning top Capitals in overtime, Two games in, Caps and Lightning may have a rivalry on our hands NHL playoffs 2011: Lightning gets a lift against Capitals from veteran goalie Dwayne Roloson Capitals vs. Lightning: Power-play struggles are costing Washington dearly Capitals bad line change leads to the Lightning s gamewinning goal Mike Knuble to skate in Game 2 warmup Notes from the Capitals morning skate Bruce Boudreau on John Carlson: I assume he s playing Capitals done in by bad line change Resilient Lightning bounce back again Lecavalier leads Lightning past Capitals 3-2 in OT

2 Websites CNN/Sports Illustrated / Darren Eliot>VIEW FROM THE ICE ESPN / Capitals' power play continues to struggle ESPN / Wings-Sharks: LeBrun's Game 2 breakdown Sportsnet.ca / # Responding in kind TSN.CA / Kesler is key to the Canucks' success USA TODAY / Lecavalier leads Lightning past Capitals 3-2 in overtime SPORT-SCAN, INC

3 Boston Bruins Boxed in by power play By Kevin Paul Dupont The Bruins don t lack bodies for their power play. They lack a way, a method, a clue. Eight games into their postseason run, they have mastered the art of doing less with more, unable to score and, most recently, barely able to maintain possession of the puck in what is commonly referred to as the attack zone. The problem is, there is no attack in the Boston power play. Five-on-five, we make the right choices, but... Bruins coach Claude Julien noted after yesterday s brief workout at the Wells Fargo Center, his club prepping to take on the Flyers in Game 2 tonight. But when skating five-on-four, the Bruins are tense, often shapeless, and always ineffective. Four of the five Boston chances with the PP in Game 1, what turned into a 7-3 laugher that gave them the upper hand in the best-of-seven series, were prime cases in point, and in futility. The first of those advantages came at 14:06 of the first period when Zac Rinaldo was called for goaltender interference. Over the course of the next two minutes, Julien rolled out his two combinations. The first had Patrice Bergeron flanked by Rich Peverley and Mark Recchi, backed by Dennis Seidenberg and Zdeno Chara. The next had the No. 1 line, Milan Lucic- David Krejci-Nathan Horton, joined by point men Tomas Kaberle and Johnny Boychuk. The Flyers cleared the puck out of their zone three times in the opening 45 seconds of the power play. They did it again at the 1:04 of the PP and again at 1:41. Five clears. Once the puck bounces, they pounce on you, said Seidenberg, noting how quickly and assuredly the Flyers penalty-killers get to loose pucks. They make it difficult. Boston s second advantage came at 5:11 of the second period when ex- Boston prospect Kris Versteeg hacked Michael Ryder on the back of his right leg particularly dunderheaded, considering the Flyers were in Boston s defensive zone. The Flyers cleared at the 0:22 mark. A bad Boston pass amounted to another clear at 0:45. The Flyers then dumped the puck out at the 0:57, 1:14, and 1:50 marks. Another five clears. Only 2:31 later, Danny Briere tripped Brad Marchand, setting up a third Boston power play, and the puck left the Flyers zone at 0:04, 0:19, 0:38, 0:50, 1:04, and 1:40. Six clears. The Bruins treated the offensive end as if they were at Crane Beach, dipping a toe in the Atlantic Ocean on New Year s Day. Get... me... outta... HERE!!!! With Claude Giroux sent off for a slash at 18:12 of the second, the remaining 1:48 of the period saw the Flyers twice nearly post shorthanded goals, but only after again chasing Boston out of its zone three times in the opening 55 seconds of the kill. Versteeg just missed a doorstep flip attempt on Tim Thomas at 19:25, an attempt that, if successful, would have had the Boston lead scaled back to 5-3 at the second intermission. Uh... no results, said Julien. But I thought a few things were better. Not really. All five power plays found the Bruins tense and usually racing back to the neutral zone, defensive zone, even Twilight Zone, to retrieve pucks. No possession, no quality chances, virtually no shots on net. It was beyond dysfunctional. The Maple Leafs set the standard for postseason futility on the power play, skunked in 10 straight games in The Bruins tonight could close to within a game of tying that sobering standard. Toronto slipped by the Rangers in Round 1 that spring, going 0 for 6 games on the PP, then were blanked on the PP by the Red Wings in the first four games of the Stanley Cup finals. Somehow they survived it all, including falling to 0-3 in the series with the Wings, and went on to clinch the Cup in Game 7. Maybe that can be some kind of inspiration for the 2011 do-less-with-more Bruins, but it sure is a risky way to go about business. The reason the Bruins went out and acquired Kaberle before the trade deadline was the realization that they were working with a low-wattage power play. It then grew dimmer, by some 50 percent, for the remainder of the 82-game schedule. Since the start of the second season, even darker, backside of the moon dark, 0-for-26-and-without-a-flashlight dark. By the end of the first-round series with Montreal, the Canadiens clearly sensed Boston power plays as their advantage, a perverse twist, but the Habs PKers were bold and hunting pucks every second the Bruins had the alleged manpower advantage. The Flyers are expected to go with a physical, aggressive approach tonight, and that could mean even more trouble for the Bruins sputtering PP. Mike Richards and Giroux each connected for three shorthanded goals this season. The 5-for-5 PK in Game 1 no doubt gave them more confidence and hop. Perhaps the remedy is to put Chara, all 7-feet-on-skates of him, in front of the Flyers net for the PP. The Flyers did that with the towering Chris Pronger in Game 1 and the big guy was right there, front and center, when Richards knocked one home for a power-play goal. Pronger and Chara traded a number of hits and stick chops during the advantage. One can only wonder how that turf war would play out if Chara were positioned as the attacker and not the defender in a rematch. Whatever the remedy, if there is one, it s time for the Bruins to roll it out. A little net presence from Lucic, now 18 games without a goal of any kind, also would be beneficial. Maybe a touch of Marchand feistiness up there would help. Gregory Campbell isn t known for his touch, but he has the requisite gumption for getting to the goal and sticking around a while. Eight games, no way out, and nowhere to go but up. Boston Globe LOADED:

4 Boston Bruins Bracing themselves By Fluto Shinzawa PHILADELPHIA If there is a certainty about Game 2 tonight in the Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Bruins and the Flyers, it s that the Flyers will be far sharper than the punch-drunk stumblebums who staggered onto the ice Saturday. We know they re going to come out a lot better, coach Claude Julien, whose Bruins took Game 1, 7-3, said after a brief practice yesterday at the Wells Fargo Center. There s no doubt there. There s no secret to that. We just have to be ready for it. We re anticipating it. We know it s coming. As a hockey club, you ve got to be ready to face that. We ve just got to be as good as we can be [tonight] and come out a better team. The Flyers need tighter goaltending, be it Brian Boucher or Sergei Bobrovsky. They need more efficient defense, starting with Chris Pronger, who looked more like a logger than shutdown D-man with slashes on Zdeno Chara, Daniel Paille, and Brad Marchand. And they need even more pressure on the penalty kill, which doesn t indicate turning fortunes for the 0-for-26 Boston power play. I think we just need to take a step back and calm everything down, said Bruins winger Milan Lucic. Hopefully one will go in off a shinpad or something and it will get rolling. The instant solution to the Bruins power play is a player who might not ever return because of concussions: Marc Savard, who has a sweet touch and eagle-eyed vision. The ace playmaker, a fixture on the No. 1 power-play unit, is home in Peterborough, Ontario, where his man-advantage skills are now best employed via tutorial texts to Julien. Every once in a while, I d say, I thought you were going to text me to give me some tips on certain parts of our game. As soon as I opened that door, he took advantage of it, Julien said with a smile. Savard was never himself this year. But for the better part of the last four seasons, he was the power-play quarterback. Everything went through Savard, usually stationed on the right half-wall. He could feed pucks to Chara at the point. He could go down low to goal-line man Mark Recchi. He could thread cross-ice seam passes to Patrice Bergeron. But with Savard no longer available, the Bruins have had to adjust to a topheavy formation. Instead of flowing through the half-boards, the play starts at the point from the sticks of Chara or Tomas Kaberle. Savard has been gone for a long time. But one reason the Bruins continue to misfire may be the adjustment from half-wall to point. We definitely miss him there. That s not a big secret, Julien said. The way he was just poised and would find those areas where to move the puck. Certainly that created some awareness for the other team. They knew how dangerous he was. We lost that part when we lost Marc Savard. It s not a part that s easily replaceable. Somehow we ve got to be able to improve our power play without Marc Savard. It s been a challenge. In the playoffs, the power play is the only area where the Bruins haven t compensated for Savard s absence. They are deeper up the middle with David Krejci, Bergeron, Rich Peverley, and Gregory Campbell. Last season, after Krejci dislocated his wrist in Game 3 of the second round, the Bruins rolled out Bergeron, Savard, Vladimir Sobotka, and Trent Whitfield. Savard was maybe operating at 75 percent. Sobotka was playing with an injured shoulder. So far in this postseason, Bergeron has a line, trailing only the Flyers Claude Giroux among active playoff scorers. After logging just 1 point against Montreal in the first round, Krejci exploded for two goals and two assists Saturday. Peverley has been centering a third line between Chris Kelly and Michael Ryder that has resembled the No. 3 threesome of Krejci, Ryder, and Blake Wheeler from two years ago. Campbell scored his first career playoff goal Saturday. The Bruins have a 52.5 percent winning percentage on draws, second-best entering yesterday among active teams behind San Jose. Bergeron has won 61.1 percent of his draws. After Game 1, the Bruins appeared to have solved their No. 2 concern after the power play. The Canadiens focused all their energies on neutralizing the first line and were nearly successful. Aside from a pair of overtime winners by Nathan Horton, the first line hardly resembled a go-to unit. Lucic looked especially lethargic. Lucic didn t record any points Saturday. But he was on the ice for three of his team s goals. He recorded two shots and four thumps, not including the straight left he landed on Zac Rinaldo to earn a 10-minute misconduct in the third period. Lucic skated well and was engaged in the play, no doubt sparked by the legs and hands of Krejci, his trusted centerman. He did some good things, said Julien. He had some body checks. He skated much better. There was no doubt he was a much better player for us [on Saturday]. Lucic and friends submitted a solid performance. The penalty kill went 4 for 5. Tim Thomas made timely saves when required. Now if only the power play could find some life. Boston Globe LOADED:

5 Boston Bruins Effort that just won t fly By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell guys just prepare. You start to wonder, I guess, how many times can you make a change? Like [in Game 1], we made a goalie change and if it would have held true to form, we would have come back and won that game, but obviously it didn t go that way. Sometimes it just isn t going to make a difference in the game. We don t want it to come to that situation. We just want to roll along, have a good start, and have good games as we go forward. Boston Globe LOADED: VOORHEES, N.J. According to Flyers defenseman Sean O Donnell, in professional sports it helps to have a short memory. It particularly comes in handy when your team turns in a 7-3 stinker at home, as Philadelphia did in Saturday s Eastern Conference semifinals opener against the Bruins. Yesterday at their practice facility, the Flyers regrouped and vowed they will rebound with a different performance tonight in Game 2 at the Wells Fargo Center. Scott Hartnell said the Flyers embarrassed themselves in front of their fans, and it wasn t a lot of fun to watch the game film. It was obviously pretty bad, agreed Claude Giroux. It wasn t the game we wanted. This morning was kind of a reminder of what we did, and I think it s a good thing that we can see that. Guys had a lot of question marks, like, What happened? I don t think we did anything wrong, it s just the effort wasn t really there. As a team, it wasn t good enough. You can take [the loss] as motivation and get [ticked] off a little bit, especially in front of our fans and get embarrassed like that. It s not good enough and guys are going to be ready to go. Even when the Flyers tied the game at 1 on Daniel Briere s goal at 11:02 of the first period, they could feel it was going south. It was nice to get that goal, but I think just at the drop of the puck it wasn t good enough, said Giroux. Guys weren t battling. Guys weren t winning battles. As a team, it wasn t good. As a team, you know if you re playing good or bad, and this morning was just a reminder of what happened [in Game 1]. We ve got to turn the page. We lose, 1-0, in overtime or lose, 7-3, in playoffs, that s what so great about it, you just turn the page and get ready for next game. Coach Peter Laviolette learned some things from reviewing the film, none of them good. There were a lot of things on video that were revealing, most of them had to do with attitude, competitiveness, he said. But he believes each game is a separate chapter. Tomorrow s a new day, today s a new day, said Laviolette. We go over things, we look at things, we review things, we talk about things, and what we need to do in order to be successful [in Game 2]. I think there s a lot of confidence in our group because of what we ve been through and our success that we ve had this year as a group. I think there s a lot of belief that we can be better. Chris Pronger said the Flyers just need to tighten up defensively, not allow the Bruins free access to rebounds and the front of the net. For whatever reason, we were pretty loosey-goosey in our own end, said Pronger. Against a team like that, they can capitalize. We obviously realized there s a lot of things we can fix from that game, and we ll do so in Game 2. Nobody said it was going to be an easy ride and it never is. The Flyer who absorbed the worst of it was goaltender Brian Boucher, who allowed five goals on 23 shots before being pulled by Laviolette at 17:14 of the middle period. Boucher said he s focused on Game 2, although Laviolette hasn t named his starter. The games come fast and furious usually, so there s not much time to sit there and dwell on it, said Boucher. Some nights are going to go your way and some nights aren t. You just have to keep preparing the same way and get ready for the next one. The Flyers are a team that plays its best in desperate times. Also, Laviolette isn t shy about changing goalies during a game, but in Game 1 the outcome had all but been decided when Sergei Bobrovsky made his way onto the ice. There s only so many times you can make a change before you run out of nine lives, said Boucher. We make changes all the time in our lineup and

6 Boston Bruins Practice goes on, not Horton By Barbara Matson PHILADELPHIA Things are going so well for the Bruins that when Nathan Horton had trouble getting his skates on yesterday morning, he simply was excused from practice. I was getting dressed and my skates were all messed up I was just about to go on, Horton said after the rest of the team finished its midday practice at Wells Fargo Center. And yes, Horton was grinning. Coach just told me to stay off; my skates weren t going to be [fixed] in time, said the big winger, who has four goals (two game-winners) and one assist in eight games of the first playoff season of his seven-year NHL career. It was going to be really quick [practice]. So I got in an off-ice workout. And here came the Horton grin again. I didn t plan it, he said. It just kind of happened that way. Coach Claude Julien had a more riveting explanation of Horton s absence. No, it wasn t supposed to be a maintenance day, said Julien, with what could best be described as a snicker. His rivets popped. Of course they did. It s playoff time, and after the Bruins pasted the Flyers, 7-3, in the opening game of their best-of-seven second-round series Saturday, lots of the Bruins should be tightening their rivets for Game 2 tonight. The energy spilled off the Boston bench and all across the ice as the Bruins flung shot after shot at Flyers goalies Brian Boucher and Sergei Bobrovsky. David Krejci and Brad Marchand each knocked in a pair of goals, and Horton, Mark Recchi, and Gregory Campbell had singletons. In a nearby stall of the visitors locker room, Milan Lucic, Horton s linemate, was chatting, looking more relaxed than he had during the first-round series against Montreal, in which he came up with only a pair of assists in seven games. Lucic didn t score a point Saturday, but his line collected three goals and three assists, and that has eased some of the pressure on the Bruins regular-season leading goal scorer (30). Lucic glanced over at Horton and said, He can do whatever he wants. Lucic hasn t scored since March 22, and the drought was clearly bothering him, though game after game he continued to insist it was not. Yesterday, he admitted his scoreless stretch had been draining. But when he set up Horton for the winning goal in the second overtime of Game 5 against Montreal, some of the tension broke. That was a big thing for me to build off, Lucic said. I m looking forward to keeping it going. Julien said he saw a stronger game Saturday from Lucic, who was credited with four hits. I think he was better, he was skating better, Julien said. Although he didn t get on the scoresheet, you look at what he did, and what his line did, and they were good for us. You can t just keep hammering down on a player just because he s not on the scoresheet. He did some good things, he threw some body checks, he skated much better, and no doubt he was a good player for us. It won t be easy Tyler Seguin took Horton s spot on the line with Krejci and Lucic at practice, and all other lines remained the same during the half-hour session. Still excited about their opening-game romp, the Bruins nevertheless were preparing for a tougher opponent in Game 2. Obviously for the most part, games in the postseason are pretty close games, said Chris Kelly. [Saturday] for whatever reason it wasn t, but they re going to come out hard and we ve got to come out just as hard. Daniel Paille expects the high-energy play to continue in Game 2. Especially after [Saturday], said Paille. Definitely a little more intensity. We pretty much put the puck on net; it was nice to see them go in. They don t go in like that all the time but that game they did. Ringing up goals brings expectations of more. It s definitely possible, with how things went, Paille said. If we stay focused with that mentality that it could happen, we should be good. Slots of traffic The Flyers present a different style of play than the Canadiens, and nowhere is it more obvious than directly in front of Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. The Flyers like to charge through at top speed, and they don t always stop just because there s a goaltender in the way. Julien said, I think it s pretty obvious [Thomas] got run over a couple times and [the Flyers] are certainly going harder to the net, sometimes crashing into our goaltender, which I don t think we saw much of that from Montreal, from them or from us. We had a lot of net-front traffic, but nobody crossing the line there. [The Flyers] are a team that really likes to play around the net area, from behind the net and then they have two guys on each side or somewhere around the net-front area. So when they have the puck around the net, they don t really have that third man high that a lot of teams do. Despite the goalie derby the game occasionally devolved into, Julien was not complaining. I mean, it s a playoff series, and there are a lot of fine lines, he said. As a referee, one thing you don t want to do is overreact, but you still want to make sure that goaltenders are protected. And I think so far I don t think I ve seen much there that has really crossed the line. I don t think it has been a big issue. Not for me anyway. Boston Globe LOADED:

7 Boston Bruins Milan Lucic building up steam LW gets back on his game By Steve Conroy PHILADELPHIA For the sixth time in eight playoff games this year, Milan Lucic s stat line read on Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center. But the big winger was hardly a zero in the Bruins 7-3 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series. And as the B s prepare for tonight s Game 2 and what everyone suspects will be a more engaged Philadelphia team, there is some genuine optimism Lucic is ready to crank his game up to its usual playoff level. I think he was better, coach Claude Julien said. He was skating better and, though he didn t get on the scoresheet, you look at what he did and what his line did, and they were good for us. At some point, you can t keep hammering down on a player just because he s not on the scoresheet. He did some good things, threw some body checks. He skated better and there was no doubt he was a good player for us. Lucic was pleased with his performance. I felt like last game was good, Lucic said. I felt like I was skating real well, even though I didn t get a point, I don t feel like it mattered. I was still getting in there and made some plays and started some plays that turned into goals. It ll be nice, obviously, pop one here, hopefully soon, and gain some momentum from that. In the first-round series with Montreal, Lucic and linemates David Krejci and Nathan Horton were hounded by the Canadiens gnat-like forwards up front and the shutdown defense pair of Hal Gill and P.K. Subban. But Lucic, plus- 3 in Game 1 against Philadelphia, felt his success had more to do with what he, Krejci and Horton were doing as opposed to what the Flyers weren t doing. I think a big reason why our line was able to create space was because we were moving our feet and we were coming at them with a lot more speed and we weren t trying to make moves, Lucic said. We were just going straight at them with a lot of speed. For myself, I thought it was my best game of the playoffs because I was moving my feet. And it was the best game for our line because we were playing with a lot of speed and we were bearing down on the chances when we got them. Some of the old snarl was back in Lucic s game, too. He had a team-high four hits and eventually received a 10-minute misconduct that ended his afternoon with 4:31 left in the game when he took a swipe at Zac Rinaldo after the young Flyers forward got in his face. Earlier in the third period, the officials missed a high-sticking call on James van Riemsdyk, something Lucic wasn t too happy about on the ice after being on the receiving end. But Lucic said the fact he popped Rinaldo had nothing to do with any frustration. A guy like that comes up and tries to start something, you ve got to let him know, right? Lucic said with a smile. Tonight s game should be interesting. The Bruins have a chance to get some gravy by going up 2-0 in the series and the Flyers surely will do everything in their power not to let that happen. We expect the Flyers to come out hard and they re going to come at us, Lucic said. They showed all through last year and a lot through this year, especially in that Buffalo series (Philadelphia beat the Sabres in seven games in the first round), they ve got a lot of fight in them. They re not going to give up no matter what the circumstance is. After last year s playoff loss to the Flyers, the B s know that only too well. Boston Herald LOADED:

8 Boston Bruins Expect Philly to fight back By Stephen Harris VOORHEES, N.J. Early in the Bruins surprisingly easy victory over the Flyers in their second-round series opener Saturday afternoon, sniper/irritant Brad Marchand gave Philly captain Chris Pronger an afterthe-whistle whack in the back. Pronger spun around, murder in his eyes as he towered above Marchand.?.?. then turned and quietly skated away. It was a decidedly un-flyer-esque moment. Everything about the Flyers Game 1 performance was uncharacteristically weak. And while the Bruins certainly opened this tremendously important series in fine form, it s a safe bet they ll be facing a far different Philly team tonight in Game 2. We embarrassed ourselves in front of our fans, Flyers winger Scott Hartnell said of the B s 7-3 win. There s a lot of pride in this dressing room. When you (have a bad game) like that, you want to come back in the next game all fired up. I know this group of guys we have, and definitely we ll be fired up and ready to go. Hartnell was candid in his assessment of Saturday s game. They outhit us, they out-faceoffed us, they did everything better than us, he said. And, obviously, the score was 7-3, so they did that pretty good, too. He expects his club to rediscover its Broad Street Bullies roots tonight. I think it s going to be a more physical game, Hartnell said. It has to be. That s when we re effective, getting in on the forecheck, hitting their D. I don t know if we were a little afraid to hit (Zdeno) Chara and (Johnny) Boychuk and those guys, but (tonight) it s definitely going to be amped up for us. And will we see the Flyers playing with their customary nasty edge? That s the history of the Flyers, playing on that edge, Hartnell said. It s definitely my style of play also. It definitely needs to be picked up if we want to even it up. Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette declined to talk much yesterday about the strategic details and execution by his team in Game 1. For him, the rout was about one thing: attitude. There were a lot of things on video that were revealing, but most of them has to do with attitude and competitiveness, said Laviolette, the former Bruins assistant coach from Franklin. You could really go to any part of the game. You could go to the power play, you could go to the offensive attack, you could go to the (defensive)-zone coverage in front of our net.?.?. but what you need is more attitude and to compete better. We ve got a competitive group in here. They ve been through a lot and they ve overcome a lot. And we re fairly honest. (On Saturday), plain and simple, and without getting into the X s and O s of why someone got in behind our defense, or why we didn t get a puck out, or whatever it might be, we need to come in here with a much higher level of energy and desire (in Game 2). As the Bruins learned the hard way last year, just because the Flyers are behind in a series doesn t mean they re out of it. And that was the other part of the message yesterday in the room at Philly s practice rink: There is no reason to panic. Nobody feels good about what happened, Laviolette said. But because you didn t do what you wanted to do in Game 1, it s not an indication of Game 2. Look at the Nashville series: Vancouver has their way in Game 1, then Nashville does what they want to do and fires 50 shots on net in Game 2. Each game in a series is a chapter of its own, and (Game 1) was not a good chapter for us. It s one game. It wasn t good. We ve got to win a game (tonight) and even the series up. Certainly you want to go out and play four great games and win the series, 4-0. But that s probably unrealistic for anyone at this point. We will win, we will lose, and the idea is to play the majority of the minutes the way you want to play them. (On Saturday) Boston played the majority of the minutes the way they wanted to play. (Tonight) is a new day. I think there is lot of confidence in our group, a lot of belief that we can be better. It s hard to believe that they won t be, and the Bruins will have to be ready for a far tougher battle. Boston Herald LOADED:

9 Boston Bruins Zdeno Chara set for storm By Rich Thompson PHILADELPHIA Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara was the image of serenity lounging in front of his locker at the conclusion of yesterday s short practice at the Wells Fargo Center. The source of Chara s calm was his steely sense of anticipation. He sees a Category 5 storm in the forecast tonight when the wounded and furious Philadelphia Flyers take on the Bruins in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals here. We know they are going to be better and more physical, Chara said. They are going to be very hungry, they are going to come out really strong and ready, and we have to just focus on our game and play hard. We want to play a strong game and we know Philly is a really good team with all the elements. We have to be on top of our game because they will be coming after us very hard. Chara and defense partner Dennis Seidenberg were on the ice for most of the Flyers foibles in Saturday s humiliating 7-3 loss to the Bruins in the series opener. Chara played 28:08 on 34 shifts and had two shots, two hits and a plus-3 rating. Seidenberg was also efficient over 25:43 minutes on 30 shifts, with four shots, two hits and an impressive plus-4. Seidenberg was more active than Chara in the offensive end. Seidenberg s risky trips deep into the Flyers zone produced assists on the Bruins first two goals, by David Krejci and Nathan Horton, respectively. Bruins coach Claude Julien commands a defense-first operation and he has come to trust Chara and Seidenberg to make calculated, situational adjustments. But it was obvious that Chara and Seidenberg were prepared to take more chances against the Flyers than they did in the last round against the Canadiens. I thought we just reacted to certain situations and we were able to jump out and help the offense a little bit, said Chara. That s not the style we play; we try to focus on good defense. But if there is a chance and the timing is right, you go. Dennis was in a situation where he was the closest man to the puck and his position was covered, giving him the freedom to go make a nice play both times. It s a system and it s something we all have to buy into. But if somebody is in the position where they have to pinch to keep the puck in the zone, obviously you need to see somebody is covering up before going for the pinch. In both of Dennis plays we had somebody backing him up. The Flyers play a tougher, nastier brand of hockey than the Bruins encountered in seven games with the Canadiens. Chara and Seidenberg skate nearly equal minutes on the power play and penalty kill, but their largest challenge will come in even-strength situations. Flyers coach Peter Laviolette has forward depth and will regularly send four lines over the boards. But Chara and Seidenberg will spend most of their ice time countering the Flyers first line of Danny Briere, Scott Hartnell and Ville Leino and the second unit of Claude Giroux, James van Riemsdyk and Nikolay Zherdev. They are a bigger and heavier team than Montreal, Chara said. They have more guys that are involved physically and they are playing that way. Chara and Seidenberg both provide heavy shots from the point on the power play, which continues to languish. The B s went 0-for-21 against the Canadiens and came up empty all five times against the Flyers in Game 1. The dismal power play was the only topic that revealed a crack in Chara s calm demeanor. There were some where we controlled the puck and made some plays with quality shots, he said. Some power plays we got it in easily and other we couldn t get past the blue line. It s been really inconsistent. Boston Herald LOADED:

10 Boston Bruins Claude Julien senses power improvement By Steve Conroy / PHILADELPHIA Bruins coach Claude Julien wasn t exactly jumping for joy about his power play after Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The B s are now 0-for-26 in the playoffs, and there s no improving that number until the puck drops for Game 2. But there was a little better puck movement, and he hopes his team can build on it tonight. No results, said Julien ruefully, but I thought there were a few things better, and hopefully it continues to get that way. But we just need it going, and I know right now, when your power play isn t going, your (penalty kill) has to be really good. And it has been. The Flyers did score a power-play goal Saturday, but it was essentially on a two-man advantage just five seconds after David Krejci left the box, at 13:02 of the third period. It s unfortunate that goal late in the game, but I thought our penalty kill has done a decent job and has really survived a lack of scoring from our power play. But you hope that it s going to come, and I have a feeling it will. Hopefully sooner than later. Julien believes right now the problems are more mental than physical. When you look back at the game, you see where there are some openings, some opportunities, said Julien. And right now it s unfortunate that on our power play we are not finding those. We seem to be finding them 5-on-5, but we are not 5-on-4, so that tells you something. There is a lot of tension there, and when there is tension you re not seeing what s going on.?.?. seams and choices of plays. And 5-on-5 we find those, we make the right choices, we find those seams. So there has to be a time when those guys have to relax and understand that they have to find those seams and make the right decision. Dennis Seidenberg, who saw 4:15 of power-play time Saturday, believes the passing has to be crisper, which could also go back to the tension Julien believes his players are feeling. The main thing is moving the puck flat on the ice, so the guy doesn t have to control it and settle it down first before he makes a play. That gives him time to make plays, then everything will settle down, said Seidenberg. Pressure amped up The Flyers are a little meaner around the net than the Canadiens, and got one goalie interference penalty when Zac Rinaldo ran into Tim Thomas in the first period of Game 1. But Julien didn t feel the Flyers aggressiveness was over the top in that area. I mean, it s a playoff series, and there are a lot of fine lines, said Julien. As a referee, one thing you don t want to do is overreact, but you still want to make sure that goaltenders are protected..?.?. There is a lot more at stake. So you can tell them to play, and we have to understand that and we can t come out whining and crying every time there is a little contact with your goaltender. But if it s past the rules and they feel they should call it, I think they have to. And so far, I don t think I ve seen much there that has really crossed the line. Z s Coke-gate Bruins captain Zdeno Chara is a well-known fitness fanatic, but he was seen taking a swig from a Coke on the bench in Game 7 of the Montreal series. He said he was just looking for a boost. I felt like I needed some sugar and something bubbly, Chara told the Ottawa Sun s Chris Stevenson. I asked for a Coke. I usually don t drink Coke at all. I have a Coke maybe once a month. I just felt like I should try it as an energy booster, quickly, you get the boost really quickly from a little caffeine. I know a lot of guys do that. Some guys like to drink it before the game, sometimes during a game. The NHL saw him taking the drink and their business folks didn t like it too much, considering Pepsi is a league sponsor. They sent a memo asking him not to drink out of a Coke-branded bottle. In the Philly camp Flyers coach Peter Laviolette declined to name his Game 2 goaltender. Game 1 starter Brian Boucher, who was yanked after allowing five goals on 23 shots in 36:37 of playing time, is expected to be back between the pipes tonight. The obvious area in which Boucher must be better is rebound control, as the B s got four of their five goals against him off rebounds. Laviolette could also turn to rookie Sergei Bobrovsky, who relieved Boucher in Game 1 and stopped 8-of-10 shots..?.?. Former Bruins defenseman Nick Boynton, who played 51 games for Philly this season, is not with the team. He has been granted a leave of absence to deal with a personal issue. Stephen Harris contributed to this report. Boston Herald LOADED:

11 Detroit Red Wings Red Wings notes, quotes from Game 2 loss to Sharks By HELENE ST. JAMES AT HP PAVILION IN SAN JOSE, CALIF. In the first: The Sharks scored on a power play 4:54 into the game -- with Justin Abdelkader off for high-sticking -- when Dany Heatley found Ian White in the high slot. The Red Wings, meanwhile, looked inept through 6 minutes with the extra skater, 4 of which were consecutive (after Abdelkader was hit with Benn Ferriero's high stick). The only good chance they had was Pavel Datsyuk ringing a shot off the post. Detroit outshot the Sharks, 12-7, but San Jose had the better chances. In the second: The game got far more lopsided, as Jimmy Howard had to make 19 saves to keep the score 1-0. In the third: Niclas Wallin made it 2-0 at 1:39 when his shot hit Howard and went in, and that turned out to be the winning goal after Henrik Zetterberg converted on the Wings' sixth power play, firing a shot from the slot on a setup from Datsyuk. The Wings came close to tying it in the last few minutes as they pressed hard, but goaltender Antti Niemi came through for the Sharks and finished with 33 saves. THE WINGS' TAKE: Coach Mike Babcock, "Bottom line, I thought we came in here and competed. Today, I thought we skated better and had more opportunities. Maybe we just weren't good enough. They won more battles than we did. By doing that they end up with the puck more than we did." THE SHARKS' TAKE: Coach Todd McLellan: "We knew we had to turn our game up a little bit. We expected a much better night from them and we got it. Obviously they were markedly better. They played very hard minutes in our zone. The only way you defend them is using five guys.... At the end of the day, the two teams are pretty darn even." A YEAR LATER: Asked if trailing, 2-0, this spring was any different from trailing, 2-0, last year, when the Wings weren't nearly as healthy, Brian Rafalski said, "It's the exact same. We're down, 2-0. Going home, we've got to obviously find a way to win Game 3. That's our focus. Obviously, we don't want to have the same thing happen that happened last year." The Wings lost Game 3 by one goal at Joe Louis Arena and the series in five games. OUR THREE STARS: 1. Ryane Clowe; 2. Jimmy Howard; 3. Antti Niemi. Detroit Free Press LOADED:

12 Detroit Red Wings Game 2: The octometer By STEVE SCHRADER THE POWER OF 'PI Well, that didn't work out exactly the way it was supposed to, did it? Hey, no biggie. The Red Wings are coming home. Get them back in the Joe, with the crowd cheerin' and the octopi flyin', and they might be inspired to score two goals in a game, too. Seriously, don't think they can't win these next two. Two octopi THE CUJO PARADOX Careful, Jimmy Howard, for woe is the Wings goalie who dares to end up on the wrong end of a goalie duel, no matter how well he plays. Because it's always easier blaming him for being the second-best goalie on the ice than it is the rest of the team for not scoring. Three octopi PAVS SAVES Did you catch assistant goalie Pavel Datsyuk swatting away that puck that was trickling in behind Jimmy Howard? He even makes Datsyukian saves. Two octopi TIE ONE ON Hey, did Mike Babcock's patterned shirt-and-tie combo make your TV strobe a little bit, too? Maybe he got it for his birthday Friday. Pretty trendy, but now that the Wings are down, 2-0, is it time to roll out a more traditional look? Like his lucky McGill tie? Too soon? Two octopi HAMMER TIME Well, now's the time that the Scandinavian Wings have to look inside their hearts and ask, WWTD? What Would Thor Do. Detroit Free Press LOADED:

13 Detroit Red Wings San Jose 2, Detroit 1: Red Wings squander early chances By HELENE ST. JAMES SAN JOSE, Calif. -- During a 4-minute stretch Sunday afternoon at HP Pavilion, the Red Wings had the extra skater, but the Sharks had the extra push. They denied the Wings a chance to tie the game, and ultimately, the series. The Wings wasted a 4-minute power play en route to a 2-1 loss in Game 2, two days after losing by the same score in Game 1. Once again they started well only to get outworked by the Sharks in the second period and didn't get nearly enough sustained pressure on Antti Niemi. "I thought we were better, and yet we weren't good enough," coach Mike Babcock said. "Losing, 2-1, we got a 4-minute power play early in the game, and with the exception of about 50 seconds, I didn't think that part of the power play was very good. We hit a post, but I didn't think it was very good. It was an opportunity for us. We didn't get anything out of it." The Wings didn't get their goal until late in the third period, when Henrik Zetterberg converted on their sixth power play. The one they should have scored on came 6 minutes after the game began, when Benn Ferriero highsticked Justin Abdelkader and drew blood shortly after Ian White had made it 1-0 on a San Jose power play. The Wings didn't even wear down the Sharks, who consistently cleared the puck 200 feet, forcing the Wings to give chase. Other than Pavel Datsyuk hitting a post, the Wings never threatened Niemi. "That gave us a great opportunity to get our power play going," Nicklas Lidstrom said, "but we didn't take advantage of it. I thought they gained some momentum by killing it off." Just as he did in Game 1, Jimmy Howard kept the Sharks at bay in the second period as they surged and took control territorially, setting up one cycle after another in the offensive zone. "The longer it goes on, the harder it is to stop them," Johan Franzen said. "We've got to try to make their cycles as short as possible, have the effort to try to cut them off right away, otherwise it's hard." The Wings want to establish a better forecheck of their own and get better shots on Niemi, who saw most of the ones coming at him Sunday. "We have to push their shooters a little bit more to the outside, and get in front of their net ourselves," Lidstrom said. "Getting one goal, it's hard to win in the playoffs. We have to get more shots, and I think we have to create more traffic." The Wings' chances of a comeback diminished when Niclas Wallin made it 2-0 in third period, firing a shot that hit Howard's glove and head before sinking into the net. A furious push in the last few minutes of a one-goal game fell short. "We've got to lick our wounds here on the flight home," Babcock said, "and have a day off and get freshened up and get ready to win the next game at home." Detroit Free Press LOADED:

14 Detroit Red Wings Octopus garden: Surprise! Sharks' Antti Niemi turns into the anti-sieve Once the Sharks find a score that works against the Wings in the playoffs, they stick with it. San Jose won the first three games of last year's series, 4-3. Now they've won the last three, 2-1, including Game 5 last year. Detroit Free Press LOADED: By STEVE SCHRADER Really, the last thing the Red Wings want to run into this time of year is a hot goalie. But really, the last thing you expected the Wings to run into this series was a hot goalie. Antti Niemi? The San Jose goalie gave up 19 goals in six games against Los Angeles in the first round. He had a 3.99 goals-against average, an.863 save percentage and was yanked from two games. But after Sunday's 2-1 win in San Jose, Antti suddenly has the Wings crying uncle with an 0.96 GAA and a.966 save percentage. So for the Wings' sake, you better hope the real Antti Niemi shows up soon. April shower brings Grapes glower Don Cherry didn't like Joe Pavelski's bush-league move in Friday's Game 1, when he gave Jimmy Howard a snow shower in the face. He didn't care for the Wings' response, either. "This, to me, is the ultimate disdain," Grapes said Saturday on "Hockey Night in Canada." "And think about this. If you ever did it to Grant Fuhr, if you ever did it to Billy Smith, or you ever did it to Gerry Cheevers, you would not finish the game." But Howard was the only Wing who got in Pavelski's grill. "He's the only guy on the team that has to go after him. Detroit, you should protect the guy a little bit.... He's gotta take it into his own hands -- absolutely ridiculous that you do that." Well, darn if Pavelski didn't do it again Sunday -- so did some other Sharks -- but at least this time Pavel Datsyuk and Brian Rafalski gave him halfhearted shoves. That'll teach him. Outtakes From NBC's broadcast of Sunday's game: Color man Joe Micheletti, joking about the Sharks' 5-0 shot advantage in the first 55 seconds of the final period: "I think Howard's had the more difficult time in the third period." Analyst Darren Pang, on Franzen battling a bum ankle: "It's quite apparent that Johan Franzen is not the Mule. He's hobbling. He's a hobbling animal out there." Mike Babcock, explaining during an on-the-bench interview -- with a smile and a chuckle -- why it was hard to get the puck to the net: "That's playoff hockey. It's kinda fun, isn't it?" Really, Babs smiled and chuckled during the game. A playoff game. Even the best of 'em can't maintain the stone face when the pixie-like Pang is interviewing them. Analyst Pierre McGuire, after the Wings took three first-period penalties: "Detroit's the most professional team in this league. They are not going to take many more penalties." It sounded right, but the Wings did take four more for an out-of-character seven in the game. Quick hits You know the best part of penalties at the Shark Tank, even when the Wings take them? The Bad Boys Bail Bonds signs in one of the penalty boxes (it's Porsche in the other). Bad Boys' slogan, by the way, is "Because your mama wants you home."