The Ice Sheet: Is It Only a Matter of Time?

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

After seeing the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs speed by us at Mach 2, it seems as if we're in for something of a re-run in the Conference Finals, as the higher seeds both held serve on home ice to take a 2-0 series lead -- something our roundtable participants seemed to think was sure to be something of a death sentence for the lower seeds.

After Game One in Pittsburgh, Flyers head coach John Stevens said he wanted his team to cut down on the turnovers and bring a more physical game to the ice for Game Two against the Penguins, but it hardly mattered as the Pens prevailed, 4-2. So while the Flyers did tighten things up a bit and raised the bar physically, it wasn't as if the Pens weren't able to answer. If anything, it couldn't help but remind me of the line plenty of folks got fed about the Lemieux/Jagr-led Pens of the 1990s -- that simply because the Pittsburgh was so potent offensively that they might have a difficult time playing against more physical and tight checking squads.

Well, it wasn't true then, and it isn't true now -- not when you've got a slab of beef like Evgeni Makin who's willing to take your best shot, get off the ice and punish you with his skill (his Game One slapper shorthanded will be on playoff highlight films forever) and then stick his forearm into the earflap of your most skilled player, knocking him into next week (Daniel Briere). Throw in a goal from a player like Maxime Talbot, and well, it's hard not to think that all hope is lost in Philadelphia.

Don't get me wrong: The Flyers are not getting blown off the ice -- something that was best on display as Mike Richards picked off a Malkin pass intended for Sidney Crosby and then outraced Sergei Gonchar the length of the ice to put a shorthanded tally past Marc-Andre Fleury to tie the game, 2-2. Instead, what we are seeing is the Anaconda-like domination that only the best teams seem to be able to pull off. Anytime the victim seems to be about to struggle free, the Anaconda just coils tighter as the victim exhales and finds it harder and harder to breathe. Toss in a disallowed goal that looked all but in on video replays that I saw, and that gap between Pittsburgh and Philly looks like a chasm.

I'm guessing that how the folks in Dallas were feeling after dropping Game Two on Saturday night to Detroit, 2-1. Like Philly, they tightened things up and limited Detroit's chances, but when the Red Wings can get a goal from a player like Darren Helm -- a pretty wrister from the left wing to beat Marty Turco to the far post -- there's not a lot you can do.

And while the Mike Ribeiro/Chris Osgood fracas at the close of Game Two made for some good theater, the lingering memory I'll take away from Saturday night in Detroit was the way Dallas head coach Dave Tippett intimidated the press corps into virtual silence in his postgame press conference. Too bad it doesn't seem to work on Detroit.

What Else We're Writing About: The crew at FanHouse is mighty busy, so be sure to check out what else we're involved in outside the wire ...

While Dallas might have snagged Swedish sensation Fabian Brunnstrom, the real talent everyone might have overlooked is headed to Detroit (again), says James Mirtle.
With both Dallas and Philly down 0-2, Kevin Schultz is wondering whether some home ice won't help their respective causes. Congrats to Kevin on BMR's first birthday. BTW -- In hockey blogging, the AARP card comes after the fifth birthday, not the 50th.
Over at Japers' Rink, J.P. continues his review of the 2007-08 edition of the Caps with Brent Johnson.
On Friday at the Sporting News, I coughed out some thoughts on the end of Olie Kolzig's career in Washington.
Bruce Ciskie had some more thoughts about the Ribeiro-Osgood incident.
No, it isn't about hockey, but do yourself a favor and check out Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke, by our own Pat Lackey.
Jes Golbez isn't feeling charitable about the music selection at the Bell Centre.
And just a reminder: Matt Saler, the mind behind On the Wings, will be joining us at FanHouse any moment now.

Life is Improving at Versus: Via Blueshirts on Broadway, I found out that ratings for the second round of the playoffs on Versus were way up over last year. That's not exactly a surprise, given how horrible they once were. I'm sure the increase can be attributed to two things: 1. Signing up the NHL is helping Versus get traction in a lot of markets were it would have probably had some trouble; and 2. This year the second round featured teams in a lot of larger markets, including New York, where interest in the Rangers hasn't been this intense since the last days of Gretzky.

But not everyone is happy with Versus. Ken Schott, writing for a paper in Schenectady, New York, watched Saturday night's game and was unhappy with the fact that the network merely picked up a feed from Canada's TSN rather than have its own broadcast crew on site. Apparently, Schott doesn't like having Canadian accents do the play-by-play and the color commentary on an American cable network despite the fact that 2 of the network's three studio voices is Canadian, along with on-ice reporter Christine Simpson.

As for me, I'm a little puzzled at Schott's concern. Being an NHL Center Ice subscriber, I'm used to watching TSN, CBC, Rogers and the odd RDS broadcast from time to time, and it doesn't bother me a whit. In fact, if anything, having those broadcasts available -- along with the incredible work done by MSG -- shows just how deficient many American cable networks are when it comes to televising hockey. And if Versus can save a few bucks by picking up TSN or CBC on a Saturday night during the playoffs, fine by me. Feel free to do it again.

What You Missed Over the Weekend: Here's a quick guide to everything that happened at FanHouse since the start of rush hour on Friday night.

Obligatory YouTube Embed: Playoff fights are always a big deal, because, well, they don't just happen all that much. So I felt obligated to share a clip of last night's bout between Tyler Kennedy and the always game Scottie Upshall: