This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
...and we have our first team headed to the second round. The Anaheim Ducks are going to get some rest while the rest of the league sorts out their series.
My bracket is sitting at 100% correct at the moment, so I'm going to take a moment to relish the victory. If Calgary clinches tonight, this will be the last time I can say that my bracket is perfect.
Despite the Ducks being the number one seed in the Western Conference, there are a lot of people whose brackets are at 0%. The Jets were a very popular upset pick. They matched the Ducks size well, neither team has clearly defined number one goaltender, the Jets posted some great possession numbers down the stretch, and there were legitimate questions about the Ducks and the number of one-goal games they won this season. (Winning one-goal games tends to not be a repeatable team-skill.)
None of that much mattered though. If you watched the series, the Ducks looked like they are absolutely for real. Corey Perry in particular has looked very dangerous. His seven points are leading the NHL postseason right now.
Things trended the other way for the Minnesota Wild last night, dropping Game 4 to the St. Louis Blues 6-1. Devan Dubnyk posted a shutout in Game 3 and swung hard in the other direction early in Game 4, allowing three goals in the first ten minutes.
The Blues blew the doors off the game in the second period, where they potted three more goals, including this beauty from Vladimir Tarasenko, his second goal of the game.
GIF: another look at Tarasenko's 2nd goal pic.twitter.com/0qHPQa0WgS
— Stephanie Vail (@myregularface) April 23, 2015Ottawa grabbed a game from Montreal as well, avoiding being swept. All four games of this series have been one-goal affairs, with two heading to overtime. Ottawa went into Wednesday night's game down 3-0 in the series, but with all the one-goal games, this series is much tighter than it appears on the outside.
Carey Price has been a major factor in that, but Craig Anderson taking the reins from Andrew Hammond could start to be a factor in the series as well. He's stopped 75 of 77 shots since entering the payoffs in Game 3. That's a .974 Sv%. He's unlikely to stay that high, but that's the kind of performance that can change a series.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid
Tampa Bay Lightning (Ben Bishop) at Detroit Red Wings (Petr Mrazek), 7:00 PM
New York Islanders (Jaroslav Halak) at Washington Capitals (Braden Holtby), 7:00 PM
Chicago Blackhawks (Scott Darling) at Nashville Predators (Pekka Rinne), 9:30 PM
Calgary Flames (Jonas Hiller) at Vancouver Canucks (Ryan Miller), 10:00 PM
Injury News For Teams Playing Thursday
Tampa Bay Lightning
Michael Blunden, RW - (knee) is out for the season.
Jason Garrison, D - did not play Tuesday.
Detroit Red Wings
Jonas Gustavsson, G - (concussion) remains out.
Johan Franzen, RW - (concussion) is unlikely to play in the postseason.
Erik Cole, RW - (spinal cord contusion) is unlikely to return in the postseason.
New York Islanders
Lubomir Visnovsky, D - (undisclosed) the team didn't update his status after practice on Wednesday.
Mikhail Grabovski, C - (concussion) has a good chance of returning on Thursday.
Travis Hamonic, D - (knee) likely remains out.
Washington Capitals
Dmitry Orlov, D - (wrist) is out.
Eric Fehr, RW - (upper body) will miss "at least the next two games."
John Erskine, D - (neck) remains out.
Chicago Blackhawks
Daniel Carcillo, LW - (upper body) was a participant in Tuesday's morning skate.
Trevor van Riemsdyk, D - (wrist) underwent successful surgery in early April.
Nashville Predators
Mike Fisher, C - (lower body) did not play on Tuesday.
Eric Nystrom, LW - (lower body) skated on his own Wednesday morning.
Shea Weber, D - (undisclosed) will miss at least Game 4.
Calgary Flames
Ladislav Smid, D - (neck) is out for the season.
Mark Giordano, D - (biceps) skated on his own Monday, and hasn't ruled out a return later in the postseason.
Lance Bouma, C - (upper body) remains out.
Paul Byron, C - (lower body) remains out.
Raphael Diaz, D - (lower body) is still out.
Vancouver Canucks
Zack Kassian, RW - (back) resumed skating on his own last Friday.
Brad Richardson, C - will not play in Game 4.
Alex Burrows, RW - (rib) was scheduled to be released from the hospital Tuesday night.
Hot
Patric Hornqvist, RW, PIT -- Hornqvist grabbed the lone Penguins goal on Wednesday night, giving him points in three straight playoff games for the first time in his career. He has two goals, an assist, a plus-3 rating, and an average of 3.67 shots per game over the last three games.
Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, STL -- Tarasenko has been a major factor in the Blues' series, but has also been shutdown every other game. Wednesday night was an "on" night again. With two goals (including the one above) and three shots, he's moved up to a league-leading five goals in the postseason. However, there are a few oddities about his performance. He's only taken eight shots. Eight shots. That's a 62.5% shooting percentage. He's either going to tail off in production or he's going to need to start getting some more shots on net. Also odd, those eight shots came in two games. The Wild have held him without a single shot in two of their four games.
Cold
Dan Boyle, D, NYR -- Maybe we shouldn't expect a whole lot out of Boyle at this point in a season where he wasn't particularly effective. But he's a power play specialist and seeing twenty plus minutes of ice time. If you're looking for value, there's some logic in considering Boyle. However, four games into the series, Boyle has a single assist and a minus-2 rating despite the Rangers being up 3-1. He's not even bringing in a lot of shots for owners, averaging just 1.5 shots per game.
Michael Frolik, Lee Stempniak, Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Mark Scheifle, Tyler Myers, and Jiri Tlusty, WPG -- Ok. That's piling on a bit, but none of these players -- key pieces of the team -- had more than one point in their series. One of the big stories of the Ducks/Jets series through the first three games was that the Ducks rallied in the third in all three games to win. With the Ducks up 3-0, the Ducks had only had the lead for 11:27 in those three games. That makes it sound like the Jets were in every game, and they were, but too many of the team's key players failed to make an impact in this series. Frolik had no points, a minus-2 rating, and an average of 1.5 shots per game. Stempniak had one goal and no assists. Wheeler, one goal and a minus-3 rating. Byfuglien, one assist, a minus-3, and four penalty minutes. Ladd, one assist and a minus-3 rating. Scheifle, one assist and a minus-2 rating. Myers, one goal and a minus-2 rating. Tlsuty, no points, a minus-1 rating, and just two shots on net. The Jets held the lead for most of the first three games, but it's easy to see how they'd still be playing if they could have gotten a little more out of some key players.
Recommended Value Play
Josh Bailey, LW, NYI -- Bailey isn't a household name and his performance so far in the playoffs isn't going to make him one. But if you're spending big money on some top names for your team and are left with a tight budget to fill a final roster spot, you can do worse than Bailey. Through four games he's got a goal and three assists, putting up points in each of the first three Islanders games. Despite the series being knotted up at two each, Bailey is a plus-2 and is averaging 2.5 shots per game. The one game he didn't get a point in? He took four shots and had 21:26 of ice time. There's good value to be found in Bailey.
