No. 1 Star: Martin Havlat, San Jose Sharks
The Sharks traded for Havlat partly because of his clutch postseason play. They saw it firsthand in Game 1 against the St. Louis Blues, as Havlat scored a power-play goal in the first period and the game-winner in double OT as the Sharks won, 3-2.
No. 2 Star: Mike Smith, Phoenix Coyotes
Smith passed his first playoff test for the Yotes, turning aside 43 shots in the Coyotes' 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. He stopped 17 of 18 shots in the third period, and five more in overtime until Martin Hanzal's goal gave Phoenix the Game 1 win.
No. 3 Star: Chris Kelly, Boston Bruins
Kelly's blast from the left side beat Braden Holtby at 1:18 of overtime to give the Bruins a 1-0 win over the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of their series.
Honorable mention: The New York Rangers scored the first four goals of their game vs. the Ottawa Senators, eventually winning Game 1 by a 4-2 count. Ryan Callahan, Marian Gaborik, Brian Boyle and Brad Richards had the goals, while Henrik Lundqvist made 30 saves. … Daniel Alfredsson and Erik Condra scored for the Sens. … John Tortorella's timeout with the Rangers up 1-0 in the second was a game-changer. … Tim Thomas stopped all 17 shots he faced. … Patrik Berglund had the Blues' two goals. Andrew Desjardins scored the Sharks' other goal. … Goalie Antti Niemi was strong, making 40 saves. … Jonathan Toews had a goal and an assist in his return to the Hawks. … Kevin Shattenkirk had 11 shots.
Conn Smythe Watch: 1. Martin Havlat, San Jose Sharks; 2. Mike Richards, Los Angeles Kings; 3. Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators 4. Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins; 5. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers; 6. Danny Briere, Philadelphia Flyers; 7. Mike Smith, Phoenix Coyotes; 8. Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks; 9. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins; 10. Patrik Berglund, St. Louis Blues.
Dishonorable mention: Jared Cowen was a minus-3 in his playoff debut for Ottawa. … Niklas Hjalmarsson, Sean O'Donnell and Viktor Stalberg were minus-2. … Alex Ovechkin: zero points, one shot on goal in 17:34. … Finally, the Coyotes caught a break when the officials missed their too many men penalty before a goal.