FanHouse Mike Knuble

While some teams were diving head first into the free agency pool on July 1, wildly spending millions upon millions of dollars on every free agent they could get their hands on, others were able to find potential bargains for rather reasonable prices given their on-ice production.

We've already taken a look at the best long-term investments, so here are three players that could prove to be steals for their new teams: Mike Knuble, Jay McKee and Craig Anderson.

The fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins arrived at Mellon Arena on Thursday night in hopes that their team, owners of a three-games-to-one series lead over the Philadelphia Flyers, could end their first round series with a win and become the second team in the conference to advance to the next round.

The crowd came dressed right for sure, as the locals, in a nod to the disenfranchised fans of Manitoba, came dressed for a "Winnipeg White Out" -- Pittsburgh style.

Unfortunately for the Penguins, the Flyers were having none of it. After surviving a first period where they were outshot by the Penguins, 15-5, the Flyers shifted into a workmanlike style of playoff hockey that stifled Pittsburgh offensively and erased their power play once again. Toss in a solid, if unspectacular performance from Philadelphia goalie Martin Biron (28 saves), and it all added up to a neat 3-0 victory for the Flyers that extended the series, forcing the Penguins to travel back to Philadelphia for a Game 6.

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Forget for one second, if you can, that Bill Guerin scored a pair of goals -- including the game-winner in overtime -- in Pittsburgh's 3-2 win over Philadelphia on Friday night. The biggest moment of this game, and the highlight of this game, was without question Marc-Andre Fleury's ridiculous save on Jeff Carter midway through the third period.

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Wednesday's action across the NHL marked the end of the first half of the season, and there were nine games on the schedule.

Bruins 4, Maple Leafs 3: For a while, it appeared as if Toronto had a chance to knock off the top team in the Eastern Conference, jumping out to a 3-1 lead over Boston. The Bruins, however, proved why there's a 30-point difference between the two teams in the standings and scored a pair of power play goals in the third period, forcing overtime. Michael Ryder scored the game-winner in a shootout, leading the Bruins to a 4-3 win.

Brian Burke's acquisition of tough-guy Brad May helped add to some of the intensity and entertainment value in Thursday's Montreal-Toronto game, as the two teams beat the snot out of one other physically, while the Canadiens dominated on the scoreboard, pulling out a 6-2 win. The victory for Montreal is its third in a row, and eighth in its past 10 games.

We've already talked about the penalties and wrestling matches between Mikhail Grabovski and a linesman, so let's talk about the game itself. The Canadiens jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first period, thanks to goals from Sergei Kostitsyn, Maxim Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse. Jaroslav Halak, making his fourth straight start in goal for Montreal, turned aside 30 shots to pick up his eighth win of the season.

Bruins 6, Senators 4: Boston snapped a brief two-game losing skid on Thursday night with a 6-4 win over Ottawa. The Bruins let a 3-1 lead slip away late in the second period, and then scored three consecutive goals of their own in the third, as Ottawa goalie Martin Gerber had a rather forgettable start in goal, stopping only 16 of 21 shots. Marc Savard scored what proved to be the game-winning goal, while also adding two assists.