Just a few things that caught my eye ...
- King Conn -- Henrik Lundqvist is an absolute beast. This series should be 3-0 based on the performance of the Devils. Instead, it's 2-1 Rangers.
- Chris Keider is a special player. Not only did he set an NHL record for most playoff goals (five) before even suiting up in a regular-season tilt, but he was humble and dissatisfied with his effort Saturday. He credited playing with great players for his offense and criticized his own game for failing to block Mark Fayne's point shot several times. Great kid.
- Are the Rangers tuning out John Tortorella? Sure, he's animated. But his players don't even seem to turn to face him any more when he barks at them on the bench. And Marian Gaborik's confidence is down the toilet -- all he did was overhandle the puck pretty much every time he touched it. I wonder if Torts knows the difference between a best-before date and an expiry date ... then again, I doubt he even cares.
- Ilya Kovalchuk's vision and set-up skills are sorely underrated. I enjoy watching him play the game far more than I like watching Alexander Ovechkin.
- "Brad Richards wins another one!" He may have only won 47.4 percent of his faceoffs, but he did it when it counted most ... and set up the game winner.
- Next season's fantasy overdraft on the back end? Dan Girardi is kicking the Devils' arses with two game winners, four points in three games and 11 points in 17 games to sit second in team scoring. Someone will bump him up because of it; you need to pounce on who they left on the table.
- Timing is everything. Zach Parise's dad, J.P., told Newsday on Friday that his son, an unrestricted free agent on July 1, "... likes Torts a lot ... he'd [Zach] fit right in there." Don't the Devils and Rangers hate each other? Aren't they playing each other right now?
- Martin Brodeur looks like he's been sipping from the fountain of youth. And he has more number of points than Brandon Dubinsky, John Mitchell, Ryan McDonagh, Brandon Prust, Stu Bickel and Michael Rupp. His ability to handle the puck is a game changer.