It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Pacific Division.
San Jose saw its Presidents' Trophy campaign come to a surprising end in the first round of the NHL playoffs, Los Angeles is still the perfect spot for Dany Heatley, and is there any hope for success on the ice in Phoenix?
If Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury and Carolina's Cam Ward can repeat their Game 1 performances, when the two youngsters matched each other save-for-save in the Penguins 3-2 win, this series likely won't be decided until a seventh game.
Ward, 25, and Fleury, 24, have already helped lead teams to the Stanley Cup Final, while Ward not only won the whole thing as a rookie in 2005-06, he also took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
So, are these two guys considered elite, franchise goaltenders?
After some late-game fisticuffs on Tuesday, the Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks are set to take part in a one-and-done Game 7 at Joe Louis Arena, in a contest that has to be more entertaining -- from a competitive standpoint -- than what we saw on Wednesday in Washington. Depending on who you ask, the line brawl in the closing minutes of Game 6 could be a rallying cry for the Red Wings.
Anaheim vs. Detroit, 7 PM ET | series tied, 3-3 Carolina vs. Boston, 8 PM ET | Game 7 Preview | Where on TV?
After watching Vancouver play stout defense in front of All-Star goalie Roberto Luongo during a sweep of St. Louis in the first round, more was expected. The Canucks looked like a team committed to playing strong in their zone, and they knew if they could keep lanes clear for Luongo and make the extra effort to get to rebounds, they could go far.
It all blew up on them in the second round. A younger, faster, exceptionally determined Chicago team took out the Canucks in six games, and they scored 21 goals to do it. It's got some in Vancouver wondering about Luongo's future, which is the last thing that should be up in the air now.
Normally, it's the Anaheim Ducks keeping everything on the perimeter. Most of the time, they're the ones that are making life miserable for opposing forwards who are trying to get to the net.
Sunday evening, it was the Detroit Red Wings turning the tables on their Western Conference semifinal opponents. Detroit put on a stirring display of puck possession and unending grit, and they got two late goals to put away the Ducks in a game that was not nearly as close as the final score will indicate.
Tuesday night the Red Wings threw everything they could at Jonas Hiller and the Ducks defense; heck, there might have even been a kitchen sink thrown in there somewhere, as the Wings put 46 shots on the young netminder compared to only 23 going the other way at Chris Osgood.
In the end, the Wings would lose, 2-1, but not after the Ducks got some last-second help from referee Brad Watson. Watson prematurely blew his whistle, disallowing a potential game tying goal from Marian Hossa with under a minute to go in the game. Video, plus more, after the jump.
As a hockey fan, there are few things I enjoy more in sports than overtime in the playoffs. Actually, the only thing better than overtime hockey, for my money, is overtime hockey in a Game 7.
On Sunday, we were treated to a triple overtime thriller between the Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings, which ended when Todd Marchant beat Chris Osgood with a perfectly placed shot under the crossbar, tying the Western Conference semifinal at one game apiece. If some folks in the NHL -- or the media -- had their way, it might have ended far earlier, robbing us of the brilliant goaltending performances of Osgood and Jonas Hiller, and the drama of a game ending in triple overtime.
The Anaheim Ducks weathered wave after wave of Detroit attacks in the first two overtimes, then picked up a goal on their first counter-attack of the third overtime. After over 100 minutes of hockey, the Ducks skated away with a 4-3 win.
Throughout their first-round series against top-seed San Jose, the Anaheim Ducks made a habit out of being badly outshot. They did a wonderful job protecting goalie Jonas Hiller, and he was awesome stopping the first shot, whether he got a good look or not.
Red Wings 3, Ducks 2: Recap | Box Score | Friday's Scores Detroit leads series, 1-0 | Next Game: Sunday @ DET, 2 PM ET
Two years ago, a much more heralded Anaheim Ducks team took out Detroit on their way to a Stanley Cup. This time, the Ducks enter a series against the Red Wings as perhaps the most-feared eighth seed in NHL playoff history. That said, they're still an eighth seed, and a decided underdog. Is this the end of "Cinderella"?
It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Pacific Division.
If Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury and Carolina's Cam Ward can repeat their Game 1 performances, when the two youngsters matched each other save-for-save in the Penguins 3-2 win, this series likely won't be decided until a seventh game. 
After watching Vancouver play stout defense in front of All-Star goalie Roberto Luongo during a sweep of St. Louis in the first round, more was expected. The Canucks looked like a team committed to playing strong in their zone, and they knew if they could keep lanes clear for Luongo and make the extra effort to get to rebounds, they could go far.
Normally, it's the Anaheim Ducks keeping everything on the perimeter. Most of the time, they're the ones that are making life miserable for opposing forwards who are trying to get to the net. 
Tuesday night the Red Wings threw everything they could at Jonas Hiller and the Ducks defense; heck, there might have even been a kitchen sink thrown in there somewhere, as the Wings put 46 shots on the young netminder compared to only 23 going the other way at Chris Osgood. 
As a hockey fan, there are few things I enjoy more in sports than overtime in the playoffs. Actually, the only thing better than overtime hockey, for my money, is overtime hockey in a Game 7. 
