The Hat Trick

What a great first week of the second round, we had two of the most amazing stick saves I have ever seen, a triple-OT thriller and two tied series. So let’s get right to the Hat Trick, or the top three things I am looking forward to this week.

1) Ovechkin vs. Crosby Part 2: I mean how can you not be excited about these games this week, it has caught the national attention and the first game was exhilarating as running with the bulls. Both superstars scored goals and were the best players on the ice for their respective teams. So what I want to see is Mr. Malkin, Mr. Hart Trophy candidate, have more than 2 shots, have more of a physical presence, and have a game where he takes over playing against the other teams 2nd line. Maybe even score a power play goal Geno, as the Penguins were 0 for 5 in Game 1, and are now 0 for last 17 man advantages. For Alexander the Great, who got a glorious gift from King James this week, he has to not get too distracted from all this attention. He is a rock star and loves the spotlight, but he has to remain focused on the task at hand and try, for once, to not let his team get down 3 games to 1 in a series.

2) Can Hiller keep this up? He looked slow to the puck in Game 2, at times I thought he was injured because he would stay on his knees instead of stand up. Maybe it had to do with the 99 shots against already in the first two games, but I am interested to see if this 27-year old missing Jonas brother can continue to face this many shots and keep the Ducks in a series against an all-world offense.

3) Sorry Boston and Caniacs, but my last shot from the point comes from the windy city. Two games in and we have seen the Canucks blow leads in both games, obviously that is a BAD trend to have in a playoff series. Roberto Luongo has looked human, and that is another another not so good sign for the Canucks. Now word out of the great northwest is that Sami Salo stayed in the mountains and did not travel with the team. Salo scored the first goal in Game 2 and the game winning goal in Game 1, playing over 20 minutes a game, this would be a huge loss for Vancouver. On the other side of match up, Nikolai Khabibulin finally exercised the demons and beat the Canucks for the first time since 1998 (0-10-1). Contract years seem to motivate the Bulin Wall, like Arlen Spector towards the Democratic Party to gain re-election, and this one has been no different for the free agent to be. With Luongo looking human, his calming nature and big game experience has to be a factor in this series, cause don’t forget the Blackhawks still have a $5 million goalie sitting on the bench ready for the call.