FanHouse SamuelPahlsson

Newsmakers in the NHL is a weekday morning attempt to clear yesterday's rebounds and look to the day ahead.

Penguins 6, Devils 1: Every time the camera's caught a glimpse of Brent Sutter during New Jersey's 6-1 loss in Pittsburgh, the Devils head coach was glaring at players, officials, and, well, anybody that dared to enter his line of vision.

I don't know what the Thrashers give-a-crap level was at, but the Penguins certainly kicked their give-a-crap level up a few notches as they snapped a five-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over Atlanta. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28-of-29 shots, while Petr Sykora scored a pair of goals in the win.

Not only did Pittsburgh ends its losing streak, it also ended an 0-for-32 power play drought by going 2-for-6 with the man advantage.

It was a costly win of sorts for the Penguins, as Ruslan Fedotenko and Pascal Dupuis left the game with injuries and did not return. Both players had been playing, perhaps, their best hockey of the season in recent weeks.

Fedotenko appeared to suffer a hand injury when he punched out Colby Armstrong in the first period. It was perhaps the shortest fight of the season, as it consisted of one Fedotenko punch to the jaw, and Armstrong attempting to throw one when both players were on the ice. Fedotenko could be seen shaking his hand as he went to the penalty box, and then headed directly to the locker room and did not return.

Alex Goligoski was again a healthy scratch, as head coach Michel Therrien used the same lineup he used in New York the night before, with much better results. Evgeni Malkin recorded three assists, while Sidney Crosby scored his 16th goal of the season.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored the lone goal for Atlanta late in the third period, ending Fleury's shutout bid.

For a team that was on the verge of being booted out of the playoffs, the Vancouver Canucks didn't show a lot of fight as they went down to the Ducks by 2-1 in double overtime.

The Ducks, smelling Orca blood, outworked and out-shot the Canucks by a wide margin (63-27), putting the Canucks out of their misery and on to the golf course. The score simply doesn't do the disparity in play much justice.

Apart from Roberto Luongo, who made 56 saves, and the fourth line, who scored the Canucks' only goal, the team put forth a rather shameful effort in the face of possible elimination.

Once again, the Canucks failed to score on a 5-on-3 Power Play. They were 0-for-6 on the night with the man-advantage. I've never seen a Canucks team, let alone any NHL team, look so hapless on the Power Play as the Canucks did throughout the entire playoffs.

I've heard a lot about the Sedins not being fast enough to succeed in the playoffs. I feel that is a lot of rubbish, seeing as Trevor Linden did well despite his lack of speed. If the Sedins actually increased their effort level, they would be fine.

Chris Pronger set up Sean O'Donnell, of all people, on a breakaway. Good thing that defensive defensemen suck at breakaways, because O'Donnell's shot was about as dangerous as tapioca pudding.

Ducks blogger Earl Sleek has been signing the praises of Samuel Pahlsson as the true master of defensive forwardness, and I'd have to agree, based on this series. Much of the Canucks suckiness on the PP can be attributed to Samuel Pahlsson's effective PK ability.

Backup Dany Sabourin started the first OT period for the Canucks, giving the Canuck Nation a collective heart attack. Fortunately, Luongo's 'equipment malfunction' was fixed soon enough, and he was back in the net.

All in all, the Ducks were simply the better team, and the Canucks didn't take advantage of the chances that they did have with the man advantage.

Looking back, the Canucks can be proud that they achieved what they did in a 'rebuilding' season. With a new coach, goaltender, and system in place, the Canucks turned from a non-playoff team into a really competitive squad that could give any team fits.

Let the off-season tweaking begin!