Eastern Conference Finals Game 2: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Carolina Hurricanes

Game Notes:
1st Star:  Evgeni Malkin.  I’m not sure if you remember this picture that IC put out during the 2nd round looking for the missing superstar but he has been re-discovered and has been fantastic in the 3rd Round.  He finished tonight’s game with 3 goals and 1 assist.

Illegalcurve Trivia:
Heard this yesterday and thought I would test IC readers knowledge of obscure hockey facts.

Question: Which two NHL players use the Börje Salming curve on their sticks?

Hint 1: Both players play in the Western Conference.
Hint 2: One player is a Swede like Salming and the other is an American.
Hint 3: The Swede is still playing in Round 3 and the American was knocked out in Round 1.

Ongoing Phoenix Saga Daily Tidbit:

From NHL.com

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke passionately on his weekly radio show Thursday about how the League’s case involving the Phoenix Coyotes and BlackBerry magnate Jim Balsillie is solely about the rules and regulations and has nothing to do with the city of Hamilton, Ont.

“This is about League rules and every sports league has got to have them,” Bettman said on the “NHL Hour on Sirius/XM radio” (streamed every Thursday on NHL.com, 3 ET). “The two most important issues for any sports league is who owns your franchises and where they are located. Anybody suggesting the issue is beyond that doesn’t understand the way leagues work and doesn’t understand me, quite frankly. Efforts to vilify the league or me are silly. It doesn’t have any impact.”

For complete story, click here.