It could have been oh so different. Ilya Kovalchuk popped in any early goal for New Jersey, who played aggressively and effectively at the start of the game, but New York battled back. They got a huge boost when a freaky bounce somehow got past Martin Brodeur bouncing off players, the boards and various parts of the goaltenders equipment in the end as well. Chris Kreider then tipped a point shot as the Rangers took a 2-1 lead just past the mid-point mark.

Still, the Devils kept their game together and fourth liner Ryan Carter potted the tying goal with just over one minute left in the second period, That momentum proved crucial heading into the third and set up the game for David Clarkson to emerge as a hero once again. Clarkson scored what would turn out to be the game winner just a couple of minutes into the third period.

Brodeur shut the door finishing with 23 saves and Peter De Boer’s team kept their discipline. The Rangers looked like a frustrated bunch at the end of the game after another effort which really wasn’t quite good enough. This team looks like one that is pressing and they will probably benefit from the extra day off before Game 3.

Winning both games at home has been shown not to be crucial, but the Devils will be very happy to be returning to New Jersey with a 1-1 tie for the third straight series.

The incident occurred at 11:01 of the third period. Hanzal was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding.

For a full explanation of the decision, complete with video, please click on the following link:http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=60&id=177972.

[From NHL.com]

The Player Safety Department announced no supplementary discipline was warranted for two other Coyotes stemming from Game 2.

Senior Vice President of Player Safety and Hockey Operations Brendan Shanahan said via his official Twitter account that Coyotes captain Shane Doan would not be further penalized for a second-period hit on the Kings’ Trevor Lewis, as Lewis turned just prior to Doan’s hit. Doan was given a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct.

Shanahan also posted that a two-minute penalty for kneeing was sufficient punishment for Coyotes defenseman Derek Morris for a third-period collision with Rob Scuderi.

[From NHL.com]

Game 1 was a strong all-round effort from this team. Henrik Lundqvist made the big saves when he was needed, while New York’s ice time leaders on defense matched up brilliantly against the better offensive players on New Jersey’s roster. The offense finally broke out in the third as Dan Girardi, Chris Kreider and Artem Anisimov tallied goals.

Coach John Tortorella’s brutal training camp is rarely appreciated at the time, but its positive effects are surely showing on this team now. Tortorella aims to prepare his team for a long, brutal playoff run and that’s exactly what the Rangers have experienced so far. Playing Game 1 of an Eastern conference final just two days after completing a long seven-game series against the Washington Capitals is no easy task, but this roster looked more than up to the task.

They will obviously want to end the series against the Devils sooner, but this is a team built to battle and battle hard. New Jersey looked rusty and stale in this game. Lundqvist shut down their spurts of excellence, but they were erratic overall and didn’t put together anything like a 60-minute effort. Peter De Boer was understandably frustrated at the end of the game, but he will also remember Game 1 of the series against Philadelphia, where his team built on an erratic performance.

This series looks set to be another chess match between two teams who are aiming to do similar things. Game 1 was a little bit of an anti-climax, but don’t expect that theme to continue through the rest of the playoffs.

LA completely dominated Game 2 on Tuesday night crushing Phoenix 4-0. They were dominant in just about every facet of the game. The Coyotes took several undisciplined penalties and Los Angeles’ power-play punished them. Meanwhile, the Kings seemed to win just about every physical battle and every race of the puck that was going. Their proficiency continues to be somewhat remarkable.

The Californian side have kept their perfect road record in the postseason improving to 7-0. They have a 2-0 series lead after two road games for the third straight time and it is very hard to see Phoenix battling their way back into this series.

In Game 2, it was Jeff Carter who put his hand up. He had managed just a single goal in the first 10 games of the playoffs, but he scored an impressive hat-trick in this one. He scored pair of second period goals and also in the third period after Dwight King had opened the scoring in the first period. King now has four goals in the postseason, three of which have come in this postseason.

Scoring balance has bee an incredible story for a Kings’ team that struggled mightily for much of the regular season. Carter and King had just two goals between them entering this season, but they have scored six out of the eight scored in this series. It seems like this team just keeps finding contributions from somewhere.

Of course, it helps to have Jonathan Quick between the pipes. The Vezina Trophy finalist made 24 saves as he recorded his second shutout of the postseason.

It’s hard to know what to suggest to the Coyotes. Mike Smith turned in a second consecutive strong effort and Phoenix generally probably played slightly better in Game 2 compared with Game 1. However, they just look outmatched right now. Game 3 obviously becomes a must win for this roster, but it might just be that Dave Tippett’s team’s luck has run out for the time being.

Canada (1) v Slovakia (4)

The Canadiens have fallen at this stage of the competition in each of the last two seasons and they will be desperate to avoid that fate this time around against a dangerous Slovakian line-up. Canada has all the offensive fire power and a pretty exciting young team with the likes of Ryan Nugent Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, Jonathan Tavares and Evander Kane in the line-up. Meanwhile, Duncan Keith has enjoyed an exceptional tournament playing a superb two-way game. However, this young team will need to keep their heads as they take on a Slovakian team that has done well against the tournament’s better teams. Zdeno Chara patrols the blue-line and the team is generally geared to a defense first approach. Jan Laco has been incredible in net and will need another strong performance if Slovakia are to pull off an upset here.

USA (2) v Finland (3)

Finland are the defending champions and they are playing at home. However, they put in two terrible first round performances against the USA and Canada in the preliminary round. They were thrashed 5-0 by the US and that loss must play on their mind somewhat. However, this Finnish team is an experienced and they have the ability to play very strong shutdown defense. This match-up should be very interesting and a great test of an American team that will have to try and win this big game effectively on road ice.

Stockholm Section

Russia (1) v Norway (4)

Russia will start this game as big favourites and were arguably the most consistent team of the preliminary round of the tournament. Evgeni Malkin has been setting the tournament alight and this team will be bolstered by the additions of Alex Semin and Alex Ovechkin for this game. The Russians have a great all-round line-up and might just be the favourites at this stage. The Norwegians have been a fun story in this tournament so far. Patrick Thoresen has been the second star of the tournament so far. Norway’s form has been very good, but it is pretty hard to see them coming out on top in this one.

Sweden (2) v Czech Republic (3)

Both of these teams have found success without necessarily being particularly flamboyant, but Sweden will start as the strong favourites. They are on home ice and they secured a 4-1 victory in the preliminary round game. These two teams will be relying on a very similar formula to enjoy success in this game and it will be very interesting to see how those two styles end up playing off of each other. The winner of this one will be a very tough semi-final opponent to Russia (assuming they survive the Norway test).

However, there was one surprise. This year’s competition is being held in Helskini and Stockholm, and it seems that the Scandinavian flavour will be carried over into the quarter-finals. Norway beat out Latvia and Germany to finish fourth in their group and they have been by far the most interesting story of the preliminary round.

The Norwegians scored more goals than any other team in the Stockholm group. They finished with 33 goals in seven games, though 27 of those tallies came against Latvia, Germany, Italy and Denmark, which were the four teams that did not make the playoffs from that group. Patrick Thoresen has arguably been the story of the tournament so far, he scored 14 points in his team’s final five games and is currently second in the tournament for scoring.

Thoresen and the Norwegians have been rewarded for their qualification with a quarter-final date with the Russians. That match-up will not be an easy one, especially with Evgeni Malkin dominating the tournament. Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin will also be joining the team for the quarter-final stage.

Regardless of the quarter-final, this Norwegian team is the one that has done a lot to impress during this competition. It’s hard to suggest that this is a part of a big upward trend in Ice Hockey for the country, but maybe this sort of performance can play a role in inspiring this Scandinavian team to the heights of its two neighbours.

The Kings are understandably being cautious with their investment and the performance of the current line-up will undoubtedly be very helpful in helping take that risk free approach.

Gagne had 17 points in 34 regular season games in another season where injuries played a big role.

It took a lot for GM George McPhee to lure Hunter away from his head coaching job with the OHL’s London Knights. He and his family had turned that junior franchise into a powerhouse. However, after spending several months away from his family, Hunter has decided that Ontario is the place where he wants to live.

Though they failed to progress any further than in previous years, Washington came very very close to a conference finals place and really seemed to buy into Hunter’s defensive system. They bounced back from several heart crushing defeats and showed a resiliency that this core group of players had not necessarily demonstrated in previous seasons.

It’s difficult to know where the Capitals will head from this point onwards. The temptation for McPhee will undoubtedly be to pursue another hard-working, defensive-minded coach, but it is very debatable as to whether this really would be the best move. It’s clear that this roster has a lot of offensive skill and Hunter failed to maximise that. This is a good team and there is absolutely no reason that they should not be able to attack and still play a defensively sound game.

The Blue Jackets posted an 18-21-2 record under Richards and they finished with a winning record over the last 30 games or so. The team showed some improvement despite a late season gutting and the various controversies surrounding the status of franchise forward Rick Nash.

Richards only previous head coaching role in the NHL was a two-year stint with the Minnesota Wild, where he had the challenging task of following Jacques Lemaire. He ultimately failed in that position missing the postseason in both years while posting a 77-71-6 record overall.

He was hired as the Columbus assistant for the 2011-12 season after being fired from Minnesota.