Studs & Duds Thursday, May 9

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From myself and sixhands:

Studs:

Cory Conacher: From barely playing in the last half of regulation in Game 4, to playoff hero. After scoring the game-tying goal on Tuesday, last night Conacher made the most of his opportunity. Despite playing less than 10 minutes (the only Sen with less ice time was Matt Kassian), Conacher still potted two goals. And for those in pools with more in-depth stats, he also had a plus-one and 12 penalty minutes.

Tomas Vokoun: After a rough few games from Marc-Andre Fleury, the Pens decided to go in a different direction. Good call. All Vokoun did was post a 31-save shutout. But this should almost be a dud, because who takes Tomas Vokoun in a playoff pool (speaking as a Fleury owner myself in two playoff pools).

Sidney Crosby: Sure, he put up a goal and an assist. But Crosby is very underrated when it comes to faceoffs. He was 10-for-18 last night. It’s almost unfair that the best player in the world can be that good at so many facets of the game. He’s been a bit off this series (after a 54.3 winning percentage in the regular season), so it’s good to see him get back on track.

Marian Hossa: What would his overall stats look like if he never got injured so much? Last night, he notched two goals, an assist, was a plus-two and had five shots. Hossa led the team with six points in the first round, tied with Patrick Sharp.


Honourable mention:

Kyle Turris: His shorthanded goal pretty much knocked the Habs out of the playoffs, as the goal brought down the Habs and the crowd.

Kris Letang: A goal and an assist for the Norris trophy nominee. When he stays healthy, he’s dynamite.

Jonathan Toews: The Hawks captain had two assists, a plus-one, five shots and won 11-of-18 in the faceoff dot.

The three winning teams: In total, they outscored their opposition 15-2 last night. Ouch.


DUDS

Budaj bested by better backstop!

Peter Budaj let in 6 goals on 29 shots for a dismal save percentage of .793

The last time Budaj was this bad was October 28 2010 when his SV% after 60 minutes was .737

There were two other instances of sub-par goaltending prior to 2010 and it was way back in 2008. December 1st he finished with .706 and Oct 9th he ended the game with a .750 save percentage.

Montreal really did pay the price with their starting goaltender’s season ending injury but when Budaj was needed the most, he simply didn’t show up.


Britney Spears gets 40 minutes for …. You guessed it, spearing!

In only three play-off games last night there were a total of 8 spearing penalties called. The major culprits were the Islanders and Penguins, followed closely by the Habs and Sens.

The spearing penalty, in my opinion anyway, is the dumbest penalty a hockey player can commit. Most often spearing occurs after the whistle has already been blown, and usually in response to some other infraction. Hey, you cross-checked my team-mate and I didn’t like it so how about I shove my hockey stick in your gut!

I admit there are good hockey penalties a player can commit, like hooking a guy on a break-away for instance. But then there are other penalties, like spearing, that don’t necessarily alter the outcome of the game but certainly do have the “intent to injure”!


The Minne-choke-a Mild
The Wild’s offense was non-existent yesterday and that is unacceptable in the playoffs. When the most shots-on-goal by any individual is a mere 3 then you have problems. When those two players are named Charlie Coyle and Matt Frattin, and are NOT named Parise, Koivu, Setoguchi or Suter well then you have even bigger problems.

If your goaltenders are not stopping what the defense can’t you’re not going to win many games either. Harding got the hook less than half-way into the game after letting in 3 goals on 18 shots. His replacement, Kuemper, let in 2 goals on 15 shots. The two goalies combined for a save percentage of .850

Suter should’ve stopped something but no, this cornerstone of the Minnesota Wild’s defense had zero blocked shots, finished a -2 without hitting the score sheet at all. He did however add a shot on goal, 2 PIM and 2 hits.


Afterthoughts

Islander’s offense – Tavares, Moulson and Boyes was a line that used to rack up the points on a regular basis. Last night they combined for 10 shots on goal but nothing to show for it.

Patrick Kane – Your team wins 5-1 and you didn’t factor into any of the goals! Not even a single second assist! AND you finished a minus-1 just to rub it in our fantasy faces.