5-1: Tribune
Fuel to burn: Cheer the Anthem
Gamesheet: NHL
Advanced Metrics: Extra Skater
This is probably going to be important: TSN
No more NHL coming up after Sportscentre:PuckDaddy
at 
Game Time: 8:00PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, WGN-AM 720
Innocent Until Proven Guilty: Mile High Hockey
After their Stanley Cup win in Game 25 of last year, it was hard to imagine the Colorado Avalanche as getting any more irritating. Fortunately, they’ve gone and exceeded basically everyone’s expectations, as has been wonderfully articulated by the Fifth Feather on this site. But far be it from me to miss an opportunity to pile on.
vs. 
FACEOFF: 7pm Central
TV/RADIO: WGN for both
GET YOUR BISCUITS IN THE OVEN AND YOUR BUNS IN THE BED: Defending Big D
At little while ago, this weekend looked like another cupcake gauntlet for the Hawks (mmmmm, cupcake gauntlet… ). The Stars and Oilers were both near the bottom of their respective divisions, and to be kind to them they were both struggling to adapt to new coaches. However, the volume has turned up slightly as the Stars have won three in a row – two in the home run derby and one in overtime. However, two of the wins came in Boston and Detroit, so it’s not to be sneezed at like some black mold. If this were NBA JAM, the play-by-play guy would tell us the Stars are heating up (yes, I know it only took three straight shots in NBA JAM to be on fire, but two shootout wins and an OT win don’t scream “on fire!” to me quite yet. So shut up).
The Kings were undefeated at home so far in the playoffs. The Kings were 22-0 when scoring first all season long. The Blackhawks were without their best defenseman (and possibly just their best overall player). The Blackhawks found themselves down a goal twice in the game. And none of it really mattered. After a simply dominant third period, the Blackhawks found themselves up 3-1 in the series and the games shift back to Chicago on Saturday night. It’s not over yet but the finals are clearly back in our sights as the Kings need to win 3 in a row to close this out… and yes, that includes two games on the road for LA, where they’ve been awful.
Bullets after the jump
Ok, let’s keep going.
Johnny Oduya
2011-2012: 81g – 3G – 15A – 18P – -6 – 3.3 SH% – -0.22 Behind The Net Rating
Oduya quickly became the apple of Quenneville’s eye, which led to its share of problems. Oduya showed up proclaiming that he wasn’t a power play player, and yet after one goal against the Rangers he found himself QB-ing the second unit. He got a lot of minutes. It seemed like he was expected to carry the mail at times more than Leddy was.
And then it all crumbled against Phoenix where he got his head kicked in.
Ok, let’s keep going.
Johnny Oduya
2011-2012: 81g – 3G – 15A – 18P – -6 – 3.3 SH% – -0.22 Behind The Net Rating
Oduya quickly became the apple of Quenneville’s eye, which led to its share of problems. Oduya showed up proclaiming that he wasn’t a power play player, and yet after one goal against the Rangers he found himself QB-ing the second unit. He got a lot of minutes. It seemed like he was expected to carry the mail at times more than Leddy was.
And then it all crumbled against Phoenix where he got his head kicked in.
