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NHL Playoff Observations -- Tuesday

Just a few things that caught my eye:

  • Jonathan Quick was dominant for 73 minutes and 21 seconds. The last four seconds? Not so much. It's too bad that such a dominant performance was marred by such brain fart.
  • I wished they had played Queen's Under Pressure at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The Blues took a page out of the Kings' play book and dominated them at their own game. I wonder who'd be Freddie Mercury and who'd be David Bowie ...  
  • That red glow on the back of Jonas Brodin's neck is from the goal light -- he was burned on the Patrick Kane to Marian Hossa goal. He got caught looking. I'll bet that doesn't happen again. He's another Ryan Suter. Then again, guess who got burned on the winner. Yup - the Hawks took it to Suter all night long and won.
  • Zenon Konopka is one tough dude. But he's usually the giver, not the taker, on hits like the one Bryan Bickell laid on him. It was like Konopka hit a brick wall. Then Bickell netted the winner. I want him on my playoff team. 
  • Jason Zucker rang the post in OT. Was it me, or was his name mentioned a lot all night long? That would make him (and Devin Setoguchi) the best Wild players on the night.
  • The Wild are going home between games. Private plane + proximity = protection from the media throng in Chicago. Not a bad idea.
  • Mike Rupp channeled his best Bambi in OT. I've never seen a blade pop out of the holder quite like that. He gave up after three attempted stands and then crawled to the bench on his hands and knees. The laughter was infectious. 
  • The Toronto hockey hype machine is in full gear. Victim one? Phil Kessel, who knew there would be hours of repeated questions about "the trade" and "Kessel vs. Zdeno Chara," didn't do interviews Monday. Boo hoo -- the only people who really protested were newspaper writers. You know, the ones who don't actually need a quote to complete a story. I'd have a different opinion if a TV or radio person had complained. They didn't. There isn't another market like Toronto.
  • Danny DeKeyser is really, really impressive. Mike Babcock says the Wings made the playoffs because of DeKeyser. I thought that was a stretch before I saw him play. He just stabilizes things out there. Not bad for a guy with 11 regular-season games in his jock.