Bartowski scored a big goal and played 24:51 in Game 7 vs. the Maple Leafs. He will likely have to play big minutes again tonight with the Bruins missing some key defensemen.
Redden was a late scratch for Game 7 and will sit in Game 1 because of an undisclosed injury.
Ference missed Games 6 and 7 in the first round and he will miss Game 1 vs. the Rangers with a lower-body injury.
Seidenberg suffered a leg injury in the Bruins Game 7 win over the Maple Leafs. He only played 37 seconds and did not return. He will be out tonight along with Ference and Redden.
Marchand had just three assists in seven games in the Bruins first round series, he will need to be better vs. the Rangers.
The Bruins first round series with the Maple Leafs was a fairly high-scoring one which resulted in Rask having a 2.49 GAA (10th in the playoffs) and a .923 SV% (7th). He will need to be on his 'A' game in the second round because he will be going head-to-head with Henrik Lundqvist.
Lundqvist shut the door when the Rangers were on the brink of elimination in Game's 6 and 7. In Game 6 he posted a 27-save shutout to force Game 7, where he posted a 35-save shutout. He finished the first round with a 1.65 GAA and .947 SV%.
Crawford exorcised more than a few first-round demons with his convincing performances against the Minnesota Wild. The netminder was looking more like he did against Vancouver in April 2011 than Phoenix in April 2012, and he finally notched that postseason series victory. He posted a spectacular 1.32 GAA and .950 SV% in round one. He will need to be good to shut down the Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg who carried Detroit past the Ducks.
Bolland missed the last three games of the regular season and the entire first round because of a lower-body injury. Bolland has 37 points in 49 career playoff appearances, he should certainly help the Blackhawks up front.
Torres hit Kings forward Jarret Stoll last night and injured Stoll on the play. The hit did not look too bad but Torres has a history of suspensions, I think we all remember his 25-game suspension last season for his hit on Marian Hossa.
Stoll was hurt when he was hit by Sharks forward Raffi Torres. Torres will be subject to a hearing because of the hit.
Howard played very well in the first round series vs. Anaheim. He posted a 2.74 GAA and .911 SV% in that series which are not fantastic numbers but the Ducks scored more than a couple fluky goals on Howard. Brendan Smith scored on his own net and they had a couple go in by just throwing it on net and getting bounces, no fault of Howard's. He will need to be the backbone of the Wings again in the second round if they are going to take down the #1 seed Blackhawks.
Emmerton back as 4th center with Bertuzzi and Eaves.
Source said #Blackhawks winger Viktor Stalberg questioned his role--or lack of it--in certain situations.
The Los Angeles Kings went down 2-0 early in their series with the Blues, but they battled back and won four straight to finish St. Louis off in six. Quick has posted slightly better numbers than his round two counterpart Antti Niemi so far. He has a 1.58 GAA vs. Niemi's 1.86 as well as a .944 SV% vs. a .937 SV%. The Kings have the experience of last year's Stanley Cup run, but it won't be easy vs. a good Sharks team.
Niemi carried his strong regular season (24-12-6 / 2.16 GAA / .924 SV%) into the first round of the playoffs. He was excellent in the four games it took the Sharks to send the Canucks packing. He posted the playoffs sixth best GAA (1.86) and SV% (.937). He will go head-to-head with last year's Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Quick in what should be a thrilling goaltending duel.
Craig Anderson was great in the Senators 4-1 series win over the Montreal Canadiens in the first round. He posted the fifth best GAA (1.80) and was tied for second in SV% (.950). He has the daunting task of facing Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Jarome Iginla, Kris Letang... The list goes on and on with this Penguins team. Anderson will need to be Ottawa's best player in this series if they're going to shock the Penguins.
After Marc-Andre Fleury struggled early in the Penguins first round series with the Islanders, Tomas Vokoun came in a shut the door for Pittsburgh. He posted a 1.41 GAA and .957 SV% in Game's 5 and 6. After two performances like he had there is no surprise that Coach Bylsma will go with him in Game 1 vs. the Senators.
Holtby stopped all but one of the 29 shots he faced last night. He was good yet again but Lundqvist was just a little bit better. He will go head-to-head with 'King' Henrik again tonight in Game 7.
The Rangers needed Lundqvist to steal a game for them and that is exactly what he did in Game 6. He stopped all 27 shots that he faced including 12 in the third period. He will obviously be back in the cage tonight for Game 7, he has the ability to steal this one too.
