Hype for April 20, 2010

Martin Brodeur is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy for the ninth time.

The New Jersey Devils goaltender was uneviled as a nominee for the award Monday along with Ilya Bryzgalov of the Phoenix Coyotes and Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres.

The winner will be unveiled during the NHL awards show in Las Vegas on June 23.

The Vezina Trophy is awarded to the league's best goaltender and is voted on by the 30 general managers.

San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan says he expects forward Dany Heatley to play in Game 4 on Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche.

Heatley was held out of the Sharks' 1-0 overtime loss Sunday night with an unspecified injury.

The San Jose players were given the day off from practice Monday. McLellan said Heatley would go through treatment and he's "that close" to playing as the Sharks trail 2-1 in the series.

Usually by now, three games into a playoff series involving the Flyers and pretty much anybody, hatreds and animosities either are simmering actively or have already boiled over. Primal viciousness has normally been committed by this time and warnings have been quietly issued by the officiating supervisor working the series. Injuries usually have been inflicted in the pursuit of the silver and revenge has been plotted.

This year, though, not yet. Through three games, Flyers-Devils has not been about outsized aggression, not at all. It has been close, and there has been some hitting - mostly in the Flyers' Game 3 victory - but the series so far has been quieter than usual.

It seems to be more about tension than anything.

Jonathan Cheechoo will play in Game 4 for the Ottawa Senators Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Cheechoo has not played an NHL game since February 11th. He was sent to the AHL by the club just prior to the Olympic break and he was recalled last week.

Cheechoo will take the spot of Ryan Shannon, playing on a line with Jesse Winchester and Zack Smith.

Six goals in three games and no player with more than one. An anemic power play that's in an 0-for-12 abyss. Two games lost after scoring the first goal.

The Buffalo Sabres knew it would be tough to score against the Boston Bruins in this playoff series. But not like this. The offense is in a big-time funk and its big players are key culprits.

"We generated more shots than they did and we just have to find a way to put them away," winger Jason Pominville said after Monday's 2-1 loss in TD Garden. "We had a few good looks and tips and just weren't able to find any holes."

Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan will not play tonight in Game 4 against the Detroit Red Wings, coach Dave Tippett said.

Doan did not skate this morning. Tippett said his upper-body injury (believed to be his right shoulder) is not long-term and believes there is a chance he can play in Game 5 Friday in Phoenix.

"With two days before our next game it's best for him to wait a couple of days,'' Tippett said. "Early on he was upset. His demeanor yesterday was good. He knows he's not going to be out long-term. Rest tonight and hopefully he can jump in on Friday."

Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals withstood the pressure of their first playoff period in Montreal.

Then they dumped it all back on Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak.

Ovechkin scored the fourth goal of Washington's second-period outburst, leading the Capitals to a 5-1 win over Montreal on Monday night and a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference series.

Semyon Varlamov, who got the nod over Jose Theodore, made 26 saves in his first start of the series for Washington, which has won two in a row after losing the opener 3-2 in overtime.

Vancouver couldn't play worse on special teams, had to hook a struggling Roberto Luongo, and got a key goal overturned in controversial fashion by video replay officials in Toronto.

And they still managed to stay in Monday's game late in the third period, a game they lost 5-3 to the L.A. Kings.

If that makes Canucks fans feel any better, it shouldn't. Because there is no indication the Canucks can fix the problems which ail them, the problems which are poised to torpedo their season. Instead, those problems appear to be locked, and loaded like heat-seeking missiles, just waiting for Drew Doughty to pull a trigger.

Forget killing an entire power play, the Canucks couldn't even kill a minute of one. Three power play goals, and one even strength softie for good measure powered the Kings to a frighteningly easy, special-teams fueled win.

The Canadiens had a second-period meltdown and handed the home-ice advantage back to the Washington Capitals last night.

The Capitals scored four goals in a span of 12:07 and went on to post a 5-1 victory over the Canadiens in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference best-of-seven first-round playoff series. That gave the Caps a 2-1 edge going into Game 4 tomorrow night at the Bell Centre.

The Canadiens had the better of the play until Boyd Gordon scored a shorthanded goal at 1:06 of the second period. Much has been made of the Capitals interfering with goaltender Jaroslav Halak but, on this goal, Halak was effectively taken out of the play by teammate Jaroslav Spacek.

Tim Kennedy, who doesn’t turn 24 until the end of the month, should have fresher legs than 42-year-old Mark Recchi. But in last night’s third period, when the two were racing for a puck in the Buffalo zone, it was Kennedy who found himself on the ice, deposited there by the older but hungrier Recchi.

With Kennedy on his tail, the ageless Recchi scooped up the puck, gave it to Patrice Bergeron, and celebrated when his center beat Ryan Miller at 12:57 of the third for the deciding goal in last night’s 2-1 Bruins win before 17,565 at TD Garden.

“You can’t really tell the way he plays that he’s 42,’’ said Johnny Boychuk. “He plays like he’s 25. Unbelievable.’’