This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
It's here. Round 2. I'm excited. I'm ready as a six-year old on Christmas Eve.
We've cut the teams that matter in half. Farewell Jets, Blues, Canucks, Predators, Islanders, Penguins, Senators, and, or most recently departed, Red Wings.
The first round came to an end last night when, after two periods of Red Wings dominance, the Lightning grabbed an early third period goal from Braydon Coburn to take a 1-0 lead. Tampa was buoyed by some excellent goaltending from Ben Bishop in the first two periods while Detroit outshot them 23-12.
Coburn's goal would stand as the game-winner with Anton Stralman grabbing an empty-netter to make it a 2-0 finale.
Coburn's goal was the only goal that Petr Mrazek, who was awesome in the series, would allow on the night, but it sunk the Red Wings. Mrazek finished the seven-game series with a .925 Sv% and two shutouts.
Tampa will take on Montreal, a team they went 5-0-0 against this season and outscored 22-8. Almost every series has some exciting angle and it gets going tonight with Rangers vs. Capitals and Ducks vs. Flames getting underway.
Let's take a look at some good plays for Thursday night daily games.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid
Washington Capitals (Braden Holtby) at New York Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist), 7:30 PM
Calgary Flames (Jonas Hiller) at Anaheim Ducks (Frederik Andersen), 10:00 PM
Injury News For Teams Playing Thursday
Washington Capitals
Dmitry Orlov, D - (wrist) remains out.
John Erskine, D - (neck) will not start in the series against the Rangers.
Eric Fehr, RW - (upper body) skated on his own prior to Wednesday's practice,.
New York Rangers
Kevin Klein, D - (arm) said that he is ready to go in advance of the second round of the NHL playoffs.
Mats Zuccarello, RW - (upper body) is out indefinitely.
Calgary Flames
Ladislav Smid, D - (neck) won't play in the postseason.
Mark Giordano, D - (biceps) recently resumed skating again, but won't be back for the series against the Ducks.
Lance Bouma, C - (upper body) isn't likely to be available.
Paul Byron, C - (lower body) is not ready to return.
Raphael Diaz, D - (lower body) has been out since April 2.
Anaheim Ducks
Chris Wagner, LW - has resumed skating on his own.
Nate Thompson, C - (upper body) appears poised to return to the Ducks' lineup.
Hot
Jiri Hudler, C, CGY -- Hudler comes out of the opening round leading the Flames in points with three goals and three assists through six games. All six of those points came in the final three games of Calgary's series against Vancouver. He finished those three games with six points, a plus-2 rating, seven shots, two power play goals, and a game-winning goal. Hudler has spent most of the opening round playing wing on a line with Sean Monahan (two goals, three assists) and Johnny Gaudreau (two goals, four assists). It's a high flying line and Hudler is the beneficiary of playing with some stellar young talents. The only caution to give on Hudler is that this line was clearly Calgary's best and will get shut-down attention from the Ducks.
Corey Perry, RW, ANA -- Perry, like Hudler, lead his team in scoring through the first round. Only, Perry has three goals and four assists through just four games. He is also a plus-3 with an average of four shots per game, a power play goal, and a game-winner. Perry is built for playoff hockey and he hasn't disappointed so far. It's hard to believe that the much smaller Flames have a line that will be able to shut down Anaheim's top line.
Cold
Mikael Backlund, C, CGY -- The series against the Ducks will be very different than the opening round against the Canucks for Calgary. The Flames are going to need a lot more out of their depth players, including Backlund, who despite playing over 17 minutes in five of six games in Round 1, finished with just a single assist, no goals, and a minus-1 rating. He did, however, post 18 shots, which is a sign he's maybe just a little snake-bit rather than playing poorly. Even though the process seems to be there in his game, I'm steering clear until I see him finding the back of the net.
Martin St. Louis, RW, NYR -- There's little doubt that St. Louis is a playoff beast. Prior to this season he posted 83 career playoff points in 87 games. Outside of last season where he had eight goals and seven assists through 25 playoff games, the most he'd ever been off a point per game pace was two points. If he's going to hit those kind of marks again he's got some ground to make up. St. Louis had just one assist and 10 shots through the five games of the opening round. I wouldn't bet against him finding his scoring touch, but with him just a couple months shy of 40-years old I might wait until he's able to break through in a game before I'm spending what he costs in daily games to roster him.
Recommended Value Play
Jakob Silfverberg, RW, ANA -- Silfverberg is a talent, no doubt, but his 13 goals and 26 assists through 82 regular season games has him reasonably priced in daily games. He's playing at an elite level so far in the playoffs. Though the Ducks only saw four games in the opening round, he posted two goals and four assists, along with a plus-5 rating. The Ducks have depth that Calgary can't match and that might make for some mismatches that could help Silfverberg keep his hot hand going.
