No. 1 Star: Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
Doughty tied a Kings franchise record for points from a defensemen set by Paul Coffey with a two goal, two assist night as the Kings evened their series 1-1 with the San Jose Sharks thanks to a 4-0 victory. Kyle Clifford and Jack Johnson each scored and added an assist, while Jonathan Quick made 34 saves for his first career playoff shutout. The Kings
No. 2 Star: Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
As the Red Wings increased their series lead over the Phoenix Coyotes to 2-0 with a 4-3 win, Datsyuk continued his brilliance scoring a goal and assisting on three others. The between-the-legs shot that setup Darren Helm's goal had Datsyuk saying afterwards, "I go one-on-one, sometimes I like to use it sometimes between the legs. Maybe next time, I try more easy way to score."
No. 3 Star: Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
Price once again frustrated the Boston Bruins as his 34 saves helped the Habs take a 2-0 series lead with a 3-1 win. Despite four power plays and outshooting Montreal 11-3 in the third period, the Bruins couldn't solve Price after giving up an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Mike Cammalleri and Mathieu Darche in a 2:20 span to open the game. Boston came close to cutting the lead to one early in the second, but Price denied Milan Lucic:
Honorable mention: Shane Doan scored twice and assisted on the Coyotes' other goal in the loss ... Johan Franzen left the game in the first period after crashing into the boards after a hit from Doan, but returned because well, he's a hockey player:
Despite a fan being fined $500 for tossing an octopus onto the Joe Louis Arena ice during Game 1, there was one thrown before the teams lined up for the opening faceoff ... After a wild first period that saw six goals and and 30 penalty minutes, Ville Leino and Danny Briere each scored for the Philadelphia Flyers to snap a 3-3 tie and would hold on for a 5-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres to even their series at one. Brian Boucher stopped 20 of 21 shots he faced in relief of Sergei Bobrovsky. Claude Giroux opened the scoring four minutes into the game with this smooth snipe:
Scott Hartnell and Paul Gaustad engaged in this energetic tilt:
Did you know? The Bruins have trailed 0-2 in a series 26 times and have not come back in any of them.
Dishonorable mention: The Bruins were without Zdeno Chara who missed the game after spending Friday night in a hospital with dehydration ... Ilya Bryzgalov has now allowed 32 goals in his last 9 playoff appearances against the Red Wings ... With Derek Morris already out of the lineup, the Coyotes lost Ed Jovanovski to an upper-body injury ... Looks like the Flyers will be without Chris Pronger for Game 3 ... Dustin Penner has now gone 14 games without a point ... The Sharks took three penalties in the first period with the Kings cashing in on two of them to grab the early 2-0 lead.
Conn Smythe Watch: 1. Michael Neuvirth, Washington Capitals; 2. Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens; 3. Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings; 4. Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks; 5. Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks; 6. Shea Weber, Nashville Predators; 7. Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings; 8. Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks; 9. Mike Fisher, Nashville Predators 10. Shane Doan, Phoenix Coyotes.