SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF NHL 4/25/2011

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1 SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF NHL 4/25/2011 Anaheim Ducks Ducks are bounced from playoffs in 4-2 loss to Nashville Predators bring Ducks season to an end Time for Ducks Selanne to mull retirement Predators end Ducks season, Ducks have no fight left as Nashville gets first playoff series victory in franchise history Boston Bruins Pressure brought out their best Seidenberg worked around the clock Hard to stomach dull Habs Michael Ryder saves best for spring Dennis Seidenberg wins endurance race Up 3-2, Bruins know tough task remains Buffalo Sabres Sabres cry foul over hit on Connolly Flyers' Boucher waits, redeems himself between the pipes Flyers' Briere gives lessons in leadership Breaking down Game Six Two-goal leads wiped out two times Flyers win in OT, force Game Seven Playoffs putting Easter on ice Buffalo Sabres blow late lead as Phildelphia Flyers force Game 7 Chicago Blackhawks Smith's OT goal sends series back to Vancouver On night of surprises, Smith's OT goal the sweetest Smith front and center after getting to front of net, scoring OT winner Bolland gets his revenge Blackhawks' Campoli: '(Game 6) going to be interesting' Ben Smith s OT goal keeps Blackhawks alive, forces Game Bolland s return helps out offense Smith excelling in hero s role If Canucks weren t spooked before, Game 6 likely did trick Canucks goalie swap didn t matter Luongo out, Schneider in Canucks net in Game 6 against Blackhawks Smith's OT goal forces decisive game Frolik s big goal kept Hawks hopes alive Hawks have shot at history Once again, Seabrook proves he s one tough cookie Big Ben: Hawks get even on Smith's heroics Luongo benched for Game 6 Colorado Avalanche Poor execution ruins Avalanche's thesis Columbus Blue Jackets Jackets inquire about moving to East Detroit Red Wings Red Wings turn in most impressive first round in the West Red Wings' Valterri Filppula putting up playoff points Extra points: Red Wings' goal horn good, not great? Red Wings may not learn next playoff opponent until Thursday Red Wings: Notebook Wings goalie Jimmy Howard earned his break Red Wings still have three potential opponents: Sharks, Predators or Blackhawks Red Wings' Darren Helm spends first-round series vs. Coyotes delivering big hits Los Angeles Kings Kings' Richardson-Simmonds-Clifford line has game; all it needs is a name Kings Coach Terry Murray will stick with same lineup for Game Kings coach Terry Murray won't tinker with lines for Game Energy line leads the way for Kings Improvement for Penner in new role Westgarth s hands aren t just for punching Kings happy to have another day of practice Montreal Canadiens Canadiens confident they can stave off elimination Habs turn to deal with stress Michael Ryder uses stick and glove to save Bruins Habs have blown chances against Bruins Michael Ryder's glove may have saved day for Bruins Montreal rapper Annakin Slayd goes viral with Habs anthem Nathan Horton breaks Habs' hearts in double OT In the Habs' Room: "A great hockey game," says Jacques Martin Panthers general manager Tallon earns assist for sending Horton to Bruins Nashville Predators Nashville Predators defeat Anaheim Ducks 4-2, win firstround playoff series Nashville Predators' Nick Spaling embraces opportunity O'Brien plays penalty-free New Jersey Devils Devils center Travis Zajac named Team Canada alternate captain New York Rangers Rangers Assess a Season to Grow On New York Rangers focus on improving team next season after loss to Capitals in Stanley Cup playoffs Garden, James Dolan will up ticket prices for Knicks, Rangers who can't escape 1st round of playoffs Rangers' hard work can t overcome lack of talent Sniper Gaborik fires too many blanks Rangers' Girardi plays hurt through bitter end Ovechkin finishes off Rangers in style What's next for Rangers? Current Rangers group has maxed out Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist laments blown chances Glen Sather's imperfect 10 seasons Rangers notes: Dan Girardi hurting Rangers have plenty of decisions NHL NHL playoffs could have their own madness next year Canucks should bench Luongo for Game It s the playoffs. Why not gamble a bit? Flyers beat Sabres 5-4 in OT to force Game Playoff rookies Horton and Marchand deliver for Bruins Kesler's prediction falls short Luongo takes benching in stride 0 Philadelphia Flyers GAME 6 RECAP Flyers Notes: Flyers' Briere inspires with words and play Sabres are serving whine instead of champagne going into Game Boucher back in Flyers' net roulette It's wild, it's crazy, but Flyers stay alive Flyers survive in Buffalo to force Game 7

2 Pronger's time limited in return from injury Flyers rally for OT win and force Game Versteeg showing his postseason experience Both teams have their moments in roller-coaster series Sabres didn't help selves with digs about Flyers' divorces Flyers fight past Sabres in overtime Pros and cons for Pronger's return Questions in the crease Backs to the wall Flyers playing goalie guessing game Briere makes sure it isn't over yet in Flyers OT win Goalie-gate continues as elimination looms for Flyers Flyers notes: Pronger's return provides a lift Boucher's relief appearance earns Game 7 start Flyers force Game 7 with come-from-behind OT win Pittsburgh Penguins Penguins seek return to normalcy Taking flight: Clinching on the road in game Lightning wary of home-ice hex A new flight plan: Q&A with Penguins' Kovalev Penguins Notebook: Forgetting Game 5 the plan Forget about there being no place like home Lightning wants more bodies, pucks at the net San Jose Sharks High and lows are just part of who San Jose Sharks are San Jose Sharks' Antti Niemi will be back in goal for Game San Jose Sharks looking for cure to their first-period blues Sharks sticking with Antti Niemi Tampa Bay Lightning Bolts looking to buck playoff trend One more shot for Bolts in Game Gagne the Lightning's Man for the Moment Tampa Bay Lightning's Dwayne Roloson maintains even keel with 12-hour rule Vancouver Canucks Canucks goalie gamble doesn t pay off Blackhawks beat Canucks in overtime to force 'do or die' Game Canucks, with more to fear than fear itself, wrap their heads around Game Canucks Sami whammy strikes again, as Alberts returns under fire Blackhawks Bolland super again in win over Canucks Canucks Luongo to sit and watch Blackhawks now as Schneider starts Canucks Game Day: Vigneault looks to his stars to lead the way past Hawks Seabrook returns to surging Blackhawks Canucks gritty but no finish in 4-3 overtime loss in Chicago Burrows, Kesler, Raymond line a change that worked despite overtime loss Luongo says Schneider is his equal Bolland says Blackhawks in control heading to Game Willes: One chapter left in book that's been painful to read HOT ISSUE: How bad is Salo's latest injury? Mind games and make-believe as Canucks prepare for faceoff Washington Capitals NHL playoffs 2011: Michal Neuvirth is the man of the moment for the Washington Capitals Caps first round: short and sweet For Ovechkin, it's a good spring Websites CNN/Sports Illustrated / VIEW FROM THE ICE Hawks' soap opera-like Game 6 win truly a playoff battle for the ag ESPN / Patience finally pays off for Predators Sportsnet.ca / Shell shocked TSN.CA / Blackhawks' Crawford the goalie story of the night USA TODAY / Blackhawks edge Canucks in overtime, force decisive Game 7 SPORT-SCAN, INC Anaheim Ducks Ducks are bounced from playoffs in 4-2 loss to Nashville Teemu Selanne and Jason Blake score for Anaheim but the defense can't hold the Predators in Game 6 of best-of-seven series. By Chris Foster The Ducks made NHL history Sunday. It may not be a story Teemu Selanne tells when his grandkids cluster around him, but the fact is this will always be the answer to a Tennessee trivia question: Whom did Nashville beat to finally win a Stanley Cup playoff series? Answer: The Ducks. The Predators, only two days removed from the giddy feeling that came from stealing Game 5, found even greater happiness at home. Their 4-2 victory at Bridgestone Arena washed away five first-round losses. "It's nice to win in the first round," defenseman Shea Weber said. "But that's not our goal. We want to win the Stanley Cup." People might not snicker so much when hearing that now. "This is huge," defenseman Ryan Suter said. Nashville, an expansion team in 1998, tried to fit right in from the start. Looking north, seeing Detroit as "Hockeytown," they proclaimed Nashville "Smashville." Red Wings fans throw octopus on the ice, a symbolic gesture dating to the days when it took eight victories to win the Cup. Predators fans started throwing catfish, symbolizing that they have catfish in Tennessee. But the Predators stepped out of the wannabe category Sunday, on the strength of their defensive stability and offensive relentlessness. That left the Ducks with that long walk during the traditional postgame handshakes. Selanne, who at 40 will now decide whether to retire, said the moment was "obviously disappointing and I did not really have time to think about anything more than that." Selanne, who scored his sixth goal of the series to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the game, said he did not have a timeframe on his decision. "Nobody tried harder, nobody cared more, nobody did more in this series than Teemu Selanne," Coach Randy Carlyle said. "And it's an emotional time for him right now, because of what happened. There is always that looming thing, 'Is this the last one?' I'm sure he doesn't want to go out feeling the way he does right now." Which Duck would feel like that Sunday? But they reaped what they sowed defensively. Nashville's Nick Spaling scored two goals, the second when he crashed the net as Ducks defenseman Andreas Lilja, chasing Jordin Tootoo, crashed

3 into goaltender Ray Emery. Spaling was able to chip the puck over the two bodies for a 3-2 lead five minutes into the third period. From that point, the Predators had to endure waves of pressure until David Legwand scored an empty-net goal with 10 seconds left. "All I'm going to say is that I'm glad to have a defib machine right on the bench," Coach Barry Trotz said. Selanne hit the post late in the third period. Brandon McMillan had an open net, but the centering pass was just out of reach. Offense, though, wasn't the problem. Said Carlyle: "We scored enough goals to win. The whole series, we were not playing enough defense." The defensive breakdowns Sunday had roots in the Game 5 defeat, which the Predators won in overtime after Weber tied the score with 35 seconds left. "That kind of put a dagger in us," Carlyle said. Still, the Ducks began the third period tied, 2-2, on goals by Selanne and Jason Blake, but the loopholes in the Ducks defense were showing. "Just a couple mistakes again cost us goals," Selanne said. "We couldn't avoid those." LA Times: LOADED: Anaheim Ducks Predators bring Ducks season to an end By ERIC STEPHENS NASHVILLE, Tenn. There will be plenty of joy in Smashville. After a stunning comeback to win Game 5 in overtime, the Nashville Predators didn't strike out on their chance to eliminate the Ducks as they claimed a 4-2, Game 6 victory Sunday to capture the first Stanley Cup playoff series in their 13-year history. Nick Spaling scored twice, including what proved to be the winning goal 4:53 into the third period, and David Legwand added an empty-netter with 9.2 seconds left that had a sellout crowd in Bridgestone Arena jumping in celebration. "This franchise and the fans need it," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "I think our players need it." It is just the third first-round loss for the Ducks in eight postseason appearances. Part of this can be laid at the feet of a defense that didn't measure up as the Predators scored 22 goals in the six games and took advantage of many breakdowns. Spaling's winner came on an easy rebound chance created when Ducks defenseman Andreas Lilja crashed into goalie Ray Emery after being beaten badly on a rush by Predators winger Jordin Tootoo. "You cannot give up four goals and expect to win consistently," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "And I thought we provided enough offense in the series but we didn't provide enough defense." In a series where the team that scored first ultimately won the first five games, Teemu Selanne provided a good omen in the first period as he sneaked a backhand shot through Pekka Rinne for his series-leading sixth goal. But Spaling tied it in the final minute of the first when he beat Emery with a hard wrist shot off a feed from Tootoo after Ryan Suter's forecheck forced a turnover by the Ducks' Cam Fowler. Nashville's Steve Sullivan and the Ducks' Jason Blake traded goals in the second to set up the fateful third. Rinne stoped 25 shots to beat Emery, who made 26 saves. "Sometimes within the heat of the game, you resort to do some things that you wouldn't normally do," Fowler said. "I think we were victim of that a couple of times today. It ended up costing us the game." It was like that over a lost series. Orange County Register: LOADED: Anaheim Ducks Time for Ducks Selanne to mull retirement By ERIC STEPHENS :02:38 NASHVILLE, Tenn. Teemu Selanne believed all along in what the Ducks could do and looked beyond the things that could possibly undo them. It is just the winger's nature to always look at the positive. But on Sunday night Selanne had to deal with the hard, cold fact that another season was over long before he wanted it to end and it was time to begin assessing whether he has it in him to return for one more season with the franchise he adores. ( to see video interview) "I really had 100 percent trust that we're going to win this series," Selanne, 40, said after the Ducks were bounced from the playoffs by the Nashville Predators with a 4-2 victory in Game 6. "But sometimes this doesn't go the way you wanted it. "It was a good series. Obviously this was the not the result we were looking for." Selanne politely said no to a question on whether he has a timeline of when he wants to decide on his playing future. Late in the season as he was asked about retirement, Selanne said he would make an announcement by July 1. It is a process that Selanne has gone through every summer since the Ducks won the Stanley Cup in But the prospect that the future Hall of Famer played his final game definitely looms. Asked what he was thinking as he went through the traditional handshake line with the victorious Predators, Selanne said, "Obviously just disappointing right now. (Didn't) really have time to think about more than that. Let's see." If this is it, Selanne followed up a remarkable 31-goal, 80-point season with a series in which he scored six goals to tie a franchise record set by Joffrey Lupul in The Ducks certainly hope that Selanne isn't finished creating his magic. "Nobody tried harder," Coach Randy Carlyle said. "Nobody cared more. Nobody did more in this series than Teemu Selanne. And it's an emotional time for him right now because of what happened. "There's always that looming. Is this the last one? And I'm sure he doesn't want to go out feeling the way he does right now." Selanne credited the Predators' play throughout, saying that "we lost to a great team." But he also felt like the Ducks didn't show their best over the six games. "I'm still disappointed we couldn't play on our level enough," he said. "That's disappointing. What are you going to do? It's too late. "I think we gave everything we had. This time is not enough." Orange County Register: LOADED: Anaheim Ducks Predators end Ducks season, 4-2 JEFF MILLER, OCREGISTER.COM

4 The Ducks playoff run ended late Sunday afternoon in Nashville, a 4-2 loss to the Predators eliminating them in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Nick Spaling scored twice for Nashville, including the game-winner making it 3-2 at 4:53 of the third period. The Predators added an empty net goal in the final seconds. The Predators won the series, four games to two. Their victory was an historic one; Nashville had been 0-5 all-time in playoff series. The score was tied 1-1 after one period and 2-2 after two. Teemu Selanne and Jason Blake scored the Ducks goals. The game might have been the final one of Selanne s career. The Ducks all-time leader in goals and points among other things has yet to publicly announce his plans for the future. This was his 18th NHL season and 12th with the Ducks. Orange County Register: LOADED: Anaheim Ducks Ducks have no fight left as Nashville gets first playoff series victory in franchise history Staff and Wire Services They got the man advantage almost midway through the period when Mike Fisher was penalized for tripping. But Selanne hit a post, and Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne, the Vezina Trophy finalist, stopped Blake late to protect the lead. Nashville, the team built from the goalie out through its defense, then finished off the victory. Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry were held scoreless for a second consecutive game. The Ducks took their timeout with 60 seconds left, having already pulled goalie Ray Emery, who kept the Ducks close by stopping Tootoo on a breakaway, then Matt Halischuk on a rebound. But Legwand scored into the empty net with 9.2 seconds left to wrap up the Predators' biggest victory. "I felt that we couldn't play at our level... and that's disappointing," Selanne said. "But what are you going to do? It's too late now. We gave everything that we had." Carlyle started the game with Matt Beleskey on the top line with Perry and Getzlaf and put Bobby Ryan back with Getzlaf and Perry in the second, trying to generate more offense, but it just wasn't enough. "Nobody tried harder, nobody cared more, nobody did more in this series than Teemu Selanne, and it's an emotional time for him right now because of what happened," Carlyle said. "There is always that looming, `Is this the last one,' and I'm sure he doesn't want to go out feeling the way he does right now." LA Daily News: LOADED: Boston Bruins NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Ducks spent the last month of the season just fighting to get into the playoffs. In the end, they were battling themselves and their inability to shut down the Nashville Predators. Nick Spaling scored his second goal of the game at 4:53 of the third period and the Predators won a playoff series for the first time in their history, beating the Ducks 4-2 on Sunday. "You cannot give up four goals and expect to win consistently, and I thought we provided enough offense in the series," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We didn't provide enough defense. The game in Anaheim with them scoring with 35 seconds left kind of put a dagger in us that you're not afforded many mistakes." Jason Blake scored a power-play goal, and Teemu Selanne also had a goal for the Ducks in what might have been the final game for the 40-year-old Finn. The Ducks looked tired early after blowing a lead late before losing Game5 in overtime. They lost in the opening round for the third time in seven playoffs. Nashville coach Barry Trotz was more than happy to do the honors this season. "I'm happy because I think of the resiliency of the group that worked so hard all year, and I'm relieved because there is a little bit of a cloud that we wanted to get to the next level," said Trotz, the only coach of the franchise that hit the ice in the season. "And if we never got there in this series, I think there would be a little bit of a carryover." Now the only questions about this team in the nontraditional hockey market is who the fifth-seeded Predators play in the Western Conference semifinals. Steve Sullivan scored a goal, David Legwand had an empty-netter and Jordin Tootoo assisted on Spaling's goals. The Predators won the series 4-2 in their sixth postseason in seven seasons to avoid going back to Honda Center for Game 7. Spaling scored his first two goals in the postseason. His second came off a rebound of Tootoo's shot, shortly after Nashville thought it had gone ahead only to have Patric Hornqvist's goal waved off because of a high stick. The call was upheld after a lengthy video review. The Ducks didn't go away easily, not with a power-play unit that has been the NHL's best this postseason. Pressure brought out their best Bruins stars were up to the challenge By Fluto Shinzawa In the first minute of Game 5 Saturday night, after Tim Thomas coolly battled through traffic and turned back the Canadiens P.K. Subban and Travis Moen, it was clear the Bruins goalie had his best Vezina-style stuff. Thomas was quite composed, and not as squirrelly as he had been earlier in the series. Thomas s boss didn t need to wait until the game to see the difference. Saturday morning, coach Claude Julien recognized a composure around his goalie that he might have been without before. Even in the morning, he just looked very calm, very poised, said Julien. An element of confidence in his demeanor. And maybe not just confidence, but determination. As soon as the game started, you could tell he wasn t overly busy. He seemed pretty confident. He made the big saves when he had to. If anything, I thought he got better as the game went on. Thomas, indeed, saved his best for last. In double overtime, he ditched his white-and-gray lid for a ski mask, robbing Brian Gionta with a left-pad kickout. Thomas made that game-saving stop and totaled 44 in the game. No. 1 right wing Nathan Horton scored the double-ot winner. Milan Lucic, scoreless through four games, landed a game-best eight shots and busted through with an assist on Horton s strike. Patrice Bergeron, the team s most complete player, submitted his standard sublime performance: one assist, four shots, team-leading six hits, 23 wins on 35 drops. Dennis Seidenberg and Zdeno Chara, Julien s top defensive pairing, led the Bruins in ice time. The Bruins best players were their best players in the 2-1 win at TD Garden, giving them a 3-2 series lead. And they ll need to continue serving as lead dogs if the Bruins want to finish the Canadiens off tomorrow in Game 6. It s definitely addictive, Horton said of the feeling of winning in double OT. You definitely know the job s not done, knowing what happened around here before and what happens in the playoffs. It s never done until it s done. Yesterday, the Bruins stars and pluggers enjoyed a well-earned rest day. They report back to the Garden this morning for what they hope will be their final practice of the first round.

5 Last season, the Bruins took four swings at booting the Flyers from the postseason. They missed four times. So far, it appears that their secondround meltdown did not take place in vain. We learned from that last year, defenseman Johnny Boychuk said. You can t count a team out when you re up or down in a series. We ve learned from that. Hopefully we can finish it off next game. This year, the Bruins shrugged off an 0-2 hole, the kind that 26 previous Black-and-Gold postseason rosters failed to overcome. This year, they ve won three straight. They re aiming for a fourth tomorrow. They have no intentions of using a one-game mulligan to set up a winner-take-all showdown at the Garden on Wednesday. I think we have to turn the page here and understand there is another full game to be played, Julien said. When you win three in a row, you should feel confident. Again, there s a lot of work to be done. We know this next game is going to be the toughest one. You have a team playing for their lives, and they re playing in their home building. So it represents a pretty big challenge for us. We re going to have to be at our best. While Boston s stars have emerged, Montreal s go-to gunners have shot too many blanks. Gionta, Scott Gomez, Mike Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec, and Andrei Kostitsyn checked in with lines in Game 5. Cammalleri, Plekanec, and Kostitsyn were on the ice for both Boston goals. Arguably the Canadiens most dangerous unit was the third line of Mathieu Darche, Lars Eller, and Jeff Halpern. No one feels it more than the guys in this room, Gionta said after the loss. We want to win and we have the confidence that we are a better team. We have two more games to do that. In Game 5, the Bruins depth players played major supporting roles. Andrew Ference s point shot created the rebound that Horton tapped in. Boychuk played 32:35. None was more important than Michael Ryder, the hero of Game 4. Ryder scored two goals Thursday, including the overtime winner, to tie the series at 2. But it was Ryder s effort at the other end that had the Bruins still buzzing yesterday about his game. In the first period of Game 5, Ryder swung his right glove skyward to bat out Plekanec s point-blank bid. Late in the third, after Halpern had tied the game at 1, Ference pinched too far down the left-side wall. Gionta countered with a blazing rush the other way. But Ryder chased Gionta down and made a stick-on-stick backcheck to bust up the chance. Saturday night s Bruins-Canadiens summary, C9 To win some games in the playoffs, you need different guys to contribute, Julien said. We ve had that in the last three games. It s really helped our hockey club, and it has taken pressure off some other guys, too. If there is an area in which Julien s go-to players have repeatedly failed, it s the power play. Like all coaches, Julien stacks his PP units with his best performers. For the last two games, the Bruins have overloaded the first unit. Chara and Tomas Kaberle man the point. Bergeron works the left-side half-boards. Lucic and David Krejci hunt for chances down low. The Bruins could have buried the Canadiens in the first overtime, after Brent Sopel was sent off for tripping Bergeron. The power play misfired once more. Obviously it s in the backs of our minds, Kaberle said. You d like to get something going on the PP. You just can t get frustrated too much. Just maintain focus on it and we ll see what happens. Boston Globe LOADED: Boston Bruins Seidenberg worked around the clock Seidenberg looked none the worse for wear despite playing yeoman minutes (a team-high 38 minutes, 15 seconds) in the 2-1 double-overtime victory Saturday night that put Boston ahead, 3-2, in the best-of-seven series. I think we re all pretty happy, said Seidenberg. I think most of us are pretty tired. It s good to have a day like that to recover and relax outside [of the rink] a little bit maybe. Seidenberg, who has been extremely effective paired with captain Zdeno Chara, said the extent of his workload kicked in in the latter stages of the endurance-testing contest. The more the game went on, the more tired I started feeling, but actually I felt surprisingly good. So it wasn t too bad, he said. It shows I did something right throughout the summer, I guess. It s a good feeling to feel pretty good in such a long game. Coach Claude Julien has been impressed with the job Seidenberg has done. We think he s a real good defenseman and with Z, that s a real great pair, said Julien. We re very comfortable with the other pairs as well. Putting him with Zdeno, his play has certainly dictated that. But I think his reputation, what I ve known from him even before he came to our team, was he always seemed to play well in big games and the bigger the game, the better he plays. So we re really counting on that from him and he s certainly shown that. One of the only mistakes Seidenberg committed was about eight minutes into the opening period when his pass attempt to Chara was intercepted and it resulted in a great scoring chance by Tomas Plekanec. With goalie Tim Thomas down and out, teammate Michael Ryder stepped into the crease and Plekanec s shot nicked off Ryder s glove and out of harm s way. I kind of telegraphed it, said Seidenberg. I looked at him for a while before I gave it to him. They probably knew we were going D to D and that s why they picked it off. It was lucky for us. Riding high Ryder was an impact player in Games 4 and 5, with the overtime winner in Game 4 and the memorable save in Game 5. Julien has coached Ryder on two teams Boston and Montreal and was asked about his ability to bring out the best in Ryder. Well, obviously, I don t all the time, I wish I could, said Julien. Michael is one of those guys that when he s on his game, as you can see, he s a very good player. [Saturday], he showed another side of him. I think he s really feeling good about his game right now. He s certainly been a pretty good player for us in the last few games. He s just one of those guys who, believe it or not, can be a differencemaker. I ve seen it in the past. He had that first year where he scored the types of goals we thought he would or the amount he would. He s had challenges the last couple of years, but this is a situation where you remember players for how they finish, not how they start. Mike s having a pretty good playoffs so far and hopefully he continues to do that. Powerless to help Despite the power play being dreadful (0 for 15 in the series), the Bruins are still one win away from advancing. Julien has tried different combinations, to no avail. It s been an ongoing battle all year, I m not going to stand here and lie and pretend it s not an issue. It is an issue, said the coach. And I think the players know it s an issue. At one point, it becomes probably a situation where there s either a lack of confidence or there s probably a lot of stress when they go out on the power play and they know what it represents and where the challenges have been. Somehow we ve got to find a way to overcome that.... Defenseman Steve Kampfer, who suffered a knee injury playing in Providence the final weekend of the regular season, is still on the shelf. He s not back to skating, said Julien. I think he s still getting treatments. We hope he s going to be back skating within a week to 10 days. Boston Globe LOADED: By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell Boston Bruins Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg was all smiles at TD Garden yesterday, which was understandable given how Game 5 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Canadiens turned out. Hard to stomach dull Habs Bleu, bland et rouge

6 By Stephen Harris / Bruins Beat Monday, April 25, Boston Bruins What a shame it would have been if the Montreal Canadiens, with the utterly boring and timid game plan they brought to the Garden on Saturday night, had been able to steal the victory. The ghosts of the Flying Frenchmen must have been disgusted with the low-rent approach the Habs took for the first two-plus periods of Game 5 just staying back, taking no chances whatsoever, their sole intent merely to dump pucks out of their end and hang on a bit longer. It s too bad there isn t a column on the scoresheet for icing the puck, because in that regard the Canadiens dominated. The team of Rocket Richard, Yvan Cournoyer and Guy Lafleur gave us Hal Gill and P.K. Subban icing the puck time after time three on one early shift. The good news for the locals was that the Bruins were dominant in the ways that mattered, including, ultimately, the score, as Nathan Horton s rebound goal at 9:03 of the second scintillating overtime gave the B s a 2-1 win that sparked an eruption in the sold-out arena that won t soon be forgotten. The key for the Bruins on Saturday and in the rest of the series is that they not allow Montreal s strategy to work. Simply, the Habs coaches seem to have concluded that their best chance to win is to sit back and wait, hoping the B s will get impatient, force an ill-advised play and hand them a turnover and scoring chance. Then they can get a lead and drop back into their super-cautious, shutdown mode. Taken to an extreme as the Habs have in much of the series, it s a pretty weak way to play. But it worked in Games 1 and 2, as the nervous Bruins coughed up five turnovers for goals. We learned from those first two games, B s coach Claude Julien said yesterday at the Garden. I feel the team has gotten better over the course of this series, exactly for that reason: We re not turning pucks over as often. We re making stronger plays. In overtime we re pretty poised. There were some chances for both sides in overtime, but that s the game of hockey. But I don t think there was really any sloppy play. It s important for our team to continue to do that. (The Canadiens) have a style of play that they use, that they believe in. It did take them to three rounds last year, so that is what they believe in. For us, it s a matter of playing our game and understanding what we have to do. If they play a certain way, we have to find a way to get through to them. The one thing that really hurt us in those early games was giving up those early goals. They really thrive on that. They like to score early and then play their system, making it hard for other teams to score. What was so interesting Saturday about the Canadiens was that, as soon as the Bruins Brad Marchand broke the scoreless tie 4:33 into the third period a point at which the B s had a edge in shots the Habs came out of their shell and began to attack very effectively. It turned into an actual hockey game, a tense, entertaining contest in which both teams were skating, passing, shooting, trying to score goals not just sitting back and hanging on. It was the Canadiens using their skill and speed, not squandering it. We must note in passing just how remarkably good the 21-year-old Subban was while playing a remarkable 40:38 in 50 shifts. This kid is a punk, a whiner and a diver, but boy is he a talented hockey player. The hearts of the Bruins faithful must sink at the prospect of facing this guy for the next 10 years especially as he grows better and better as a player. Don t be surprised if he s an All-Star next season, assuming he keeps his head screwed on straight which, come to think of it, could be assuming a lot. On the other side of the ledger, how terribly disappointing is Tomas Kaberle? Not only has he been unable to help the dreadful B s power play (0-for-15), but he s just frightening with his defensive-zone coverages, battling and decision-making. He saw the ice less and less as Saturday s game got more and more nerve-wracking, with 15:25 (21 shifts) in regulation, and just 5:45 in the 29:03 of OT. Yes, the plus side of Kaberle is the occasional good pass he ll make. But does the value of those passes offset the risk he poses defensively? If the Bruins live to fight another round, likely against a much more physical and aggressive team than Montreal, can Julien really trust Kaberle in the defensive zone? Somehow, we doubt that the Canadiens, with their season on the line tomorrow night, are going to sit back passively and hope to steal a win. They ll be attacking and trying to beat the Bruins at a straight-up hockey game. That, as the ghosts up there could tell you, is as it should be. Boston Herald LOADED: Boston Bruins Michael Ryder saves best for spring By Steve Buckley Monday, April 25, Boston Bruins It has been a week of personal comebacks for Boston athletes. Rajon Rondo, who in the last gasps of the regular season couldn t hit the net from the top of a ladder placed in the paint, had a triple-double against the see-ya-later New York Knicks. Daisuke Matsuzaka, whose fat offerings in an April 11 outing against the Tampa Bay Rays had earned him a new nickname Groove-K now has a shutout streak that has reached 15 innings. And then there is the pride of Bonavista, Newfoundland, Mr. Michael Ryder. And let s be honest: As the Bruins were preparing for the Stanley Cup playoffs earlier this month, the entire membership of the Ryder Should Be Playing lobby could have fit comfortably in the back seat of a Prius. With room to spare for Ryder s equipment. Maybe Ryder punched his postseason ticket by scoring a goal on a penalty shot in an April 2 game against the Atlanta Thrashers. Or maybe B s coach Claude Julien always planned on using Ryder in the playoffs and keeping rookie Tyler Seguin in street clothes til he s old enough to shave. Whatever. Facts are facts, and these are the Ryder Essentials: L??In the Bruins 5-4 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on Thursday night to even the two teams Eastern Conference quarterfinals series at two games apiece, Ryder netted the clincher. It was Ryder s second goal of the night. L??In the Bruins double-overtime, 2-1 victory over the Habs in Game 5 on Saturday night at the Garden, Gump Ryder helped out on defense. With Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas pulled impossibly out of the cage on a deke by Michael Cammalleri, Ryder retooled himself as a keeper just in time to reach out with his glove and bat away a would-be goal by Tomas Plekanec. Yeah, I feel good out there, Ryder said late Saturday night, as satisfied Bruins fans spilled out onto Causeway Street. My confidence is back up and I think playing with Pevs (Rich Peverley) and Kels (Chris Kelly), we have chemistry together now, he said. We re getting more used to each other. This is definitely the time of year where you want to play well and try to do anything you can to make your team win. Cynics could argue that, gee, any ol time of the year is when you want to play well and try to do anything you can to make your team win. But let s not quibble. Ryder is saying hello at a time when pretty much everyone in town was saying g bye, and nobody is arguing with the results. Let s remember that in 2004 Red Sox pitcher Derek Lowe pitched so poorly in the late stages of the regular season that manager Terry Francona, mapping out his postseason pitching assignments, told the right-hander to type bullpen into his GPS. Lowe wound up winning the clinching game in each of the Sox three series victories, including a dismantling of the Yankees in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series and seven shutout innings against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4 of the World Series. And for those of you who crave delicious sidebars to your comeback stories, there is this: When Ryder made that brilliant, just-helping-out save

7 off Plekanec the other night in Game 5, it turns out he was merely using skills he had acquired from his days as a goaltender in a ball hockey league back home in Newfoundland. As they say, you can t make this stuff up. Well, when I was a kid I did, said Ryder, when asked if he had ever been a goalie, be it to stop pucks or balls. But my dad made me stop and said I had to play out. Given that Ryder has scored 162 goals in the NHL, sounds like Papa Ryder had a pretty good scouting eye back in the day. But the Bruins are not pinning their Stanley Cup hopes on Ryder s goaltending talents. They are especially anxious that he help out on offense, which is exactly what Ryder did up in Montreal in Game 4. Boston fans love a comeback story almost as much as they love championships. If Ryder keeps his up, folks, you may get both. Boston Herald LOADED: Boston Bruins Dennis Seidenberg wins endurance race By Rich Thompson / Bruins Notebook Monday, April 25, Boston Bruins to end the skein. Julien stopped using his set lines and went primarily with Milan Lucic, Patrice Bergeron and playmaker David Krejci. On the back end, Julien used Johnny Boychuk, Chara and Seidenberg. It s been an issue and the players know it s an issue, Julien said. That s been an ongoing (problem) and it s something we have to continue to try and resolve. Ryd-ing high Right winger Michael Ryder, who scored twice (including the game-winner in overtime) on Thursday, continued to receive praise from the Bruins for his work in relief of goalie Tim Thomas on Saturday. Ryder made an outstanding glove save on Habs sniper Tomas Plekanec while sliding backward into the B s cage while Thomas was preoccupied with Michael Cammalleri. The play occurred approximately eight minutes into the first period of a scoreless game. I ve seen it a few times, said McQuaid. It was a glove save, but I thought it was a kick save and it was a pretty good job by him. Boston Herald LOADED: Boston Bruins Up 3-2, Bruins know tough task remains Mission unaccomplished Dennis Seidenberg is a German with the stamina of a Kenyan. The defenseman was the Bruins marathon man in their 2-1, doubleovertime victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night at the Garden. The Bruins captured their third straight in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoff series, and can eliminate the Canadiens at the Bell Centre tomorrow night. Seidenberg knew his ice time would expand when Bruins coach Claude Julien aligned him with team captain Zdeno Chara for the series. Seidenberg carried a heavy load in Game 5 by logging a team-high 38:15 minutes. He went over the boards 47 times and accumulated six blocked shots and four hits. We think he is a really good defenseman and with Z that s a really great pair, said Julien. Putting him with Zdeno, I think his play certainly dictated that. Julien made a point to integrate all his defensemen over the course of the regular season. He wanted to find the right matches for rookies Adam McQuaid and Steven Kampfer after Mark Stuart was traded to Atlanta. The mixed pairings continued when the Bruins acquired Tomas Kaberle in a trade with Toronto in February. Julien matched Seidenberg and Chara to handle long stretches against the Canadiens fast and elusive forwards. Chara skated 37:06 minutes on 47 shifts with five hits and a blocked shot. A little nosy Injured Canadien Max Pacioretty apologized for making an unflattering comment on Twitter about Brad Marchand s most prominent facial feature Saturday night. During Game 5, Pacioretty posted this game is longer than marchands nose. Pacioretty chastised himself for a failed attempt at humor and apologized. Marchand had no adverse reaction when informed of the posting. The Bruins forward has been called worse things by the Habs on the ice. Twitter is not for me, Marchand said. That stuff gets me in trouble. Power outage The Bruins poor showing on the power play in the regular season has degenerated into a no-show in the playoffs. The Bruins were successful on 43-of-265 power-play opportunities (16.2 percent) in the regular season and are 0-for-15 in the series with Montreal. They went 0-for-3 in Game 5 despite modifications implemented by Julien By Rich Thompson Monday, April 25, Boston Bruins It s not too hard for the Bruins to realize that they can t take anything for granted in this series against the Montreal Canadiens. Sure, Saturday night s emotional gem of a victory at the Garden, 2-1 in double overtime, placed the momentum squarely in the B s corner. But for Zdeno Chara s skate and a terrific save by Tim Thomas, their 3-2 series lead could be reversed right now. The Bruins were the first team in this best-of-seven series to win before a friendly crowd. But, again, they needed a little over 89 minutes and a marvelous goal by Nathan Horton to make that statement. So it s not surprising that they are trying to stay grounded as they look to secure a Bell Centre hat trick and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a victory in Game 6 tomorrow night. I think we just have to turn the page here and understand there is another full game to be played, Bruins coach Claude Julien said. When you win three in a row you should feel confident. But, again, there is a lot of work to be done here. We know the next game is going to be the toughest one. You have a team playing for their lives and they are playing in their home building. It represents a pretty big challenge for us, so we are going to be at our best. Horton properly positioned himself to finish the play set in motion along the blue line by left winger Milan Lucic and defenseman Andrew Ference at 9:03 of the second OT. Ference fired away from the top of the circle, the puck rebounded off Habs goalie Carey Price, and Horton flipped the puck home. The packed pavilion went haywire when Horton ended the game. It was so loud and I was numb, Horton said of the reaction. I was looking for loose pucks and it popped out to me with an empty net. All five games have been close affairs featuring desperate third-period counterattacks and wild momentum swings. And while the Bruins are happy to own the momentum right now, they know by last year s playoff flop against the Flyers that it can change quickly. You definitely know the job s not done after what happened here before in the playoffs, said Horton, who was with the Florida Panthers in 2010, but is well aware of the B s 3-0 series lead that disappeared against Philadelphia. It s never done until it s done and there is a lot of work to do. We still have a long series to go and the last one is the toughest one to win.

8 Julien will prepare his team for an early onslaught from the faster Canadiens forwards. Former BC star and Montreal captain Brian Gionta has been a menace throughout the series. Michael Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn gave goalie Tim Thomas some anxious moments in Game 5, and the Bruins were lucky on several odd-man rushes. I think they ll the throw the same things as always, Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg said. They have a lot of speed throughout the neutral zone and a lot of skill guys. We have got to keep doing what we have been doing to smother them and not give all that speed too many chances. Boston Herald LOADED: Buffalo Sabres Sabres cry foul over hit on Connolly Want NHL to review Richards' head-first shot By Mike Harrington The way the Buffalo Sabres see it, they shouldn't have to deal with Philadelphia Flyers captain Mike Richards in Game Seven. Richards got a two-minute boarding penalty for drilling Sabres center Tim Connolly into the boards with 6:03 left in the second period Sunday. Connolly did not return and will miss Game Seven. The Sabres think Richards should be suspended and miss it, too. Richards, remember, is the pesky center who accused the Sabres of "getting away with murder" following Game Four after he was assessed a major for elbowing against Patrick Kaleta. Unprompted about the hit on Connolly, goaltender Ryan Miller broke away from talking to reporters about the game's result and turned the topic to Richards after Sunday's 5-4 overtime loss. Said Miller: "If Mike Richards thinks we're getting away with murder, I don't know what he just got away with. Mass murder? Are we stepping it up a notch? Unbelievable. "We lose a player for the rest of the game. That's the kind of hit the league has been talking about that's dangerous. They better seriously consider looking at that one. It's unbelievable." Richards was not seen in the Flyers' locker room after the game. A Flyers spokesman said he would be available after coach Peter Laviolette spoke but when reporters returned to the room after Laviolette's session, they were told Richards had left the arena. Connolly played just 9 minutes, 51 seconds in the game but played more than 22 minutes in three of the first five games while serving as one of Buffalo's chief penalty killers. "Tim's not doing very good," said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. "That's something the league definitely has to take a look at. It's a lack of respect for another player on the ice. It's from behind. It's head first. That's a tough play. We lost a good player. "We lose a good player. I think if the league looks at it the way I saw it on video, they may lose a good player, too. That'll be even, too." Told Ruff's comments by a Philadelphia reporter as he was leaving the building, Flyers chairman Ed Snider shot back, "Oh, is he whining again?" Connolly, of course, has a history of concussions. The Sabres would not reveal the nature of his injury other than to say it was upper body. Ruff said it would be wrong to assume this injury is another concussion. Connolly was not seen in the locker room and had no comment when approached by a reporter as he was leaving the building. He was walking strong without anyone assisting him and did not look woozy. * The Flyers went 1 for 5 on the power play, getting Danny Briere's tying goal in the second period, but are just 3 for 31 in the series. They finished the regular season in a 5-for-41 slump. The Sabres are 6 for 27, a big improvement from the 0-for-19 nightmare they endured in last year's playoff loss to Boston. Thomas Vanek is the first Buffalo player with five goals in a playoff series since Chris Gratton had five against the Flyers in the first round in Four have come on the power play. * Defenseman Chris Pronger returned to the Flyers' lineup for the first time since suffering a broken hand March 8 but clearly remains limited. He played just 4 minutes, 33 seconds, all on the power play, and passed up taking any slap shots. "I just wanted to give us a boost," Pronger said. "It was a lot easier than the 'bag skates' I was doing." Asked by a Philadelphia television reporter if he was fully healthy, Pronger rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "For sure. 100 percent," but added, "If I didn't think I can help I wouldn't play." How did his hand hold up? Cracked Pronger: "My back's a little sore from sitting on the bench." * The Sabres have outscored the Flyers, 11-5, in the first period but the Flyers have bounced back to outscore Buffalo, 8-2, in the middle period. It's 3-2 for Philly in the third and each team has an overtime goal. Scoring first has been just about golden in the playoffs this year, but that went against the Sabres in Game Six. The team that scored the first goal had won all five games in this series and had a 32-6 record in the playoffs overall entering Sunday's play. * The Sabres fell to in playoff overtime decisions, at home. They have dropped three straight in HSBC Arena, dating to the pair of losses to Ottawa in the 2007 Eastern Conference final. Buffalo had been 8-1 in playoff OT against the Flyers -- including 3-0 at home. As for Game Seven, the Sabres are just 1-5 in their history, winning in 1997 over Ottawa on Derek Plante's goal. They are 0-4 in Game Seven on the road. The game was Ruff's 100th in the playoffs and he is Ruff is just the eighth coach in NHL history to coach 100 playoff games with the same team. Buffalo News LOADED: Buffalo Sabres Flyers' Boucher waits, redeems himself between the pipes By Mike Harrington As a reliever, Brian Boucher has two wins in this series. As a starter, he has a win and a loss and an early hook that resulted in no decision. And now the Philadelphia Flyers' utterly bizarre goaltending carousel has swung back to Boucher again. The 34-year-old stopped 24 of 25 shots in Sunday's 5-4 overtime triumph that kept the defending Eastern Conference champions alive and forced Game Seven against the Buffalo Sabres. Flyers coach Peter Laviolette, who normally guards information better than most government agencies, had a big smile for reporters when asked who will be in the crease Tuesday night. He was finally going to reveal a state secret -- but it was one anyone in HSBC Arena could have guessed. "Brian Boucher will start Game Seven," Laviolette said.