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| Chris Osgood stopped 28 of 29 shots on Monday night to lead the Red Wings into the Stanley Cup Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. |
Our View: Osgood is now 10-2 in these playoffs with a 1.60 GAA and overall he is 37-11-4 dating back to the regular season. Not bad for a "backup" goalie huh?
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| Mike Ribeiro had a single assist in the Stars final game of the season, a 4-1 loss to the Red Wings in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. |
Our View: Ribeiro didn't score a goal in his last 10 playoff games, but he still finished with 17 points to wrap up a spectacular season. Target Ribeiro as your second line center in fantasy drafts next season.
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| Brenden Morrow was held pointless with a (-3) in the Stars playoff eliminating loss to the Red Wings on Monday night. |
Our View: Morrow finished the playoffs with nine goals and six assists, and in six games against the Wings he had two goals and two assists. However, Morrow's value can't be measure by pure numbers and he remains a player who can have a spot on our second scoring line anytime.
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| Marty Turco allowed four goals on 29 shots on Monday as the Stars fell 4-1 to the Wings as they were eliminated from the playoffs. |
Our View: With this effort Turco's playoff GAA crept over 2.00, but you simply can't blame him for the Stars defeat in this series as, honestly, they were beaten by the better team.
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| Dallas Drake was chosen the first star in Game 6 against the Stars as he scored a goal and had an assist as the Wings moved on to the Finals. |
Our View: Drake is the perfect, gritty playoff forward that all championship teams possess. Tonight, he matched his point total for the entire playoffs, and as they say, you need contributions from all your lines if you are to win the Cup.
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| Henrik Zetterberg scored a short-handed goal and added an assist in the Red Wings Game 6 victory over the Stars to advance to the NHL Finals. |
Our View: Zetterberg tied Sidney Crosby for the playoff scoring lead with 21 points, and he figures to continue to flaunt his dazzling offensive game against the Penguins in the Finals.
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| Radim Vrbata doesn't know how his impending free agency will play out, according to the Arizona Republic. "He had a great 50 games with us, but we also have a lot of young players coming in, including potentially our first-round pick, so you have to leave roster spots," GM Don Maloney said. |
Our View: Vrbata, coming off his best offensive season (27-29-56), might not have a spot with the young Coyotes as the team might chose to spend its resources, i.e. dollars, on other assets. If he doesn't come back, there will surely be a whole lot of teams interested in paying for his services.
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| Stu Barnes will miss the Stars Game 6 matchup with the Wings due to concussion like symptoms, according to the Detroit News. |
Our View: Barnes has been out since Game 3 of the series with the Sharks, and his veteran presence has been sorely missed in the locker room despite the Stars ability to play well on the ice.
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| Jere Lehtinen will miss Game 6 against the Red Wings because of his injured groin, according to the Detroit News. |
Our View: Lehtinen, who was hurt in Game 2, hasn't been able to play since leaving a big hole in the team's top-6 forwards given his strong two-way play.
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| Mark Fistric practiced on Sunday for the first in a week as he attempts to overcome mononucleosis, according to the Detroit News. |
Our View: Fistric, who hasn't skate since Game 1, likely won't play in Game 6, but if the matchup with the Wings goes to a deciding Game 7, he could find his way back in the lineup.
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| Ilya Kovalchuk helped to lead the Russian National Team to the 2008 IIHF World Championship over Canada five to four, according to the Miami Herald. |
Our View: Kovalchuck scored late in the game to tie it and then scored in OT to seal the deal, a nice comeback from a suspension early in the tournament for fighting.
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| Chris Simon will play next year but it won't be in the NHL as he signed a contract to play with Vityaz Chekhov of the Russia league, according to TSN. |
Our View: Simon, most popular for his questionable tactics leading to long-term suspensions, is no longer a fantasy relevant force as he skated in just 38 games and produced only 58 PIM this past season, so it's almost like he left for Russia already.
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| Chris Chelios may not suit up for the Wings on Monday night for Game 1 due to a knee injury that has been bothering him for the past couple of weeks, according to the Detroit News. "That's not for sure," Babcock said. "Chelios' leg wasn't doing very good. That will be a game-time decision, if he can go or can't go." |
Our View: If Chelios can't go, the team will insert Andres Lilja into the lineup after Lilja skated with Brett Lebda as the teams third defensive pairing on Monday morning.
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| Jiri Hudler has been promoted to the Wings Second line for Game 6 against the Star to help ignite a Wings offense that has totaled just two goals in its last two games, according to the Detroit News. |
Our View: Hudler has scored goals in two of the last three games and will likely skate with either Pavel Datsyuk or Henrik Zetterberg since HC Mike Babcock said he was considering splitting up his high scoring duo.
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| Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 21 shots for his third shutout of the playoffs. Each of those shutouts has come at Mellon Arena, where he has allowed 13 goals on 209 shots for a .938 save percentage over eight home playoff games. |
Our View: The Penguins are 8-0 in those contests.
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| Penguins left wing Gary Roberts missed a third consecutive game Sunday due to a mild case of pneumonia, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Roberts practiced Saturday for the fist time since being diagnosed with his illness prior to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference. |
Our View: The team hopes to have their winger available for the Stanley Cup final. Roberts missed five games previously in the playoffs due to a groin injury.
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| The Stars are still shining in the Western Conference final thanks to Marty Turco, who was brilliant in consecutive victories, notes the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. |
Our View: Turco stopped 71-of-73 shots in Games 4 and 5, and a similar performance tonight in Game 6 at Dallas could give him a chance to claim only his second victory at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena in a deciding Game 7.
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| The ongoing story of the Sabres' season was the absence of Daniel Briere and Chris Drury, who were lured away by lucrative free agent contracts last summer, notes TSN.ca. Not only was their absence felt in the lineup, but the ensuing exorbitant offer sheet to Thomas Vanek had to be matched because it was bad enough to let two stars walk -- the Sabres couldn't let it be three. |
Our View: Given the rest of the Sabres' contractual commitments, it appeared unlikely that they would be able to get defenceman Brian Campbell signed to an extension and, sure enough, he was dealt to San Jose at the deadline.With the Sabres missing the playoffs by four meagre points, it's fair to say that the presence of any one of those dearly departed may have been enough to make the difference.
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| The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to surprise with their maturity and a 6-0 win Sunday over the Philadelphia clinched a Stanley Cup final berth for the Flyers, this according to TSN.ca.
''We still have a long way to go,'' said Penguins winger Ryan Malone. ''So there's nothing to celebrate, that's for sure.''
''We're not going to wear these shirts or these hats,'' said forward Pascal Dupuis. ''We want the big prize.''
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Our View: The big prize was what the Penguins had in mind when they drafted Sidney Crosby first overall July 30, 2005. He was the franchise saviour. Depending on, or regardless of, who wins the West (Detroit leads the series 3-2 over Dallas), could one have ever imagined the 20-year old Crosby could carry his team into the Stanley Cup final less then three years, and maybe even win?
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