PLAYOFF BEARD DAY 3: SIMPLY NUTS

by Neate Sager, Out Of Left Field

OK, laugh once and get it out of your system. The Flyers are a bit testy today since the referees allowed play to continue after winger Patrick Thoresen took a shot in the groin, allowing Washington to score the tying goal.

Now the mighty Thor might lose a testicle. The rule is when a player's hurt that the whistle isn't blown until his team gets the puck (to keep players from faking). It's stopped right away if it's serious. Losing a testicle? That's kind of serious.



Some would see this as tragic and painful, but if the NHL doesn't see the marketing potential in this, shame on them. You never hear of anyone in the big three sports or in MMA losing a testicle. Look at how tough hockey is.

Penguins 5 Senators 3 (Pittsburgh leads 2-0): Like Pittsburgh, Canada's capital city also has three rivers -- the Ottawa, the Rideau and Denial. The young Penguins have a vise grip on this series after taking outshooting Ottawa badly and it will be over in two more games. Three, maybe.

No one should be fooled by Ottawa playing about 25 minutes of decent hockey to erase a 3-0 deficit. That's called playing just well enough to lose. Pittsburgh had 54 shots and never knew a doubtful moment, even when they were blowing a big lead.

Martin Lapointe, Ottawa coach-GM Bryan Murray's big trade-deadline pickup, took a lazy hooking penalty that gave the Penguins a chance to win it on a power-play goal late. That's about all he's done since coming over seven weeks ago.

Capitals 5 Flyers 4 (Washington leads 1-0): The Washington bandwagon is pretty tempting. The sea of red-clad fans in the stands and the dogpile the Capitals did after Mike Green's tying tally and Alex Ovechkin's steal-and-score game-winner made a NHL game look like the World Juniors when Canada is hosting.

It says here Philadelphia can steal Game 2 and go home all even. Cristobal Huet wasn't that sharp for Washington in net.

Rangers 2 Devils 1 (New York leads 2-0): It's about even that New Jersey will get a split at Madison Square Garden and avoid a four-game sweep after losing two in a row at home. The Rangers aren't that much better. Next.

Wild 3 Avalanche 2, in overtime (series tied 1-1): Whoever determines the NHL schedule goofed by putting this on the same night as the Pens and Sens. Avs vs. Wild is like night and day by comparison in terms of the pace and the big-time checks being thrown.

Anyone rooting for these teams to play seven games got what they wanted when Keith Carney scored early in overtime for Minnesota.

Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.