Weeeeeeeee!
No. 1 Star: Cory Schneider, Vancouver Canucks
While the return of Daniel Sedin sparked the Canucks' offense, it was Schneider's 43-save performance that helped Vancouver avoid elimination and defeat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-1. He made 18 saves in the second period, as the Canucks answered an Anze Kopitar goal with tallies by Alex Edler and Kevin Bieksa. This save on a Dustin Brown penalty shot was one of the game's key moments:
No. 2 Star: Kyle Turris, Ottawa Senators
The Sens rallied from a 2-0 deficit to take the New York Rangers to overtime. Just 2:42 into the extra session, Kyle Turris scored his first of the playoffs to give Ottawa a 3-2 win and a 2-2 series tie — and a nasty snipe it was against Henrik Lundqvist.
No. 3 Star: Jordan Staal, Pittsburgh Penguins
In yet another insanely unpredictable game between the Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers, Staal's hat trick helped Pittsburgh avoid elimination and win in a rout, 10-3. He broke a 3-3 tie with a goal late in the first period, 1:10 after Sidney Crosby knotted it. He completed the trick with two goals in the second.
Honorable mention: Sidney Crosby (1G, 2A), Evgeni Malkin (2G, 1A) and Steve Sullivan (1G, 2A) had three-point games. In total, 13 Penguins had points in the win. … Marc-Andre Fleury gave up three goals on 11 shots in the first, but played well the rest of the way. … Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist for the Flyers. … Anton Stralman and Ryan Callahan scored power-play goals for the Rangers. … Milan Michalek and Sergei Gonchar scored for the Senators. … Craig Anderson made 31 saves.
Conn Smythe Watch: 1. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings; 2. Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers; 3. Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators; 4. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers; 5. Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins; 6. Dustin Brown, Los Angeles Kings; 7. Danny Briere, Philadelphia Flyers; 8. Mike Smith, Phoenix Coyotes; 9. Jordan Staal, Pittsburgh Penguins; 10. Andy McDonald, St. Louis Blues.
Dishonorable mention: Zac Rinaldo was given a game misconduct after cross-checking Zbynek Michalek. … Brayden Schenn and Danny Briere were minus-4. … Both Ilya Byrzgalov and Sergei Bobrovsky gave up five goals on 18 shots, but Bryz was especially bad early in the game. … Henrik Sedin elbowed Dustin Brown to the head. … Finally, Nicklas Grossman was injured in this collision with Evgeni Malkin; should it lead to any supplemental discipline?