Jaroslav Halak Amazing in Playoffs

A great deal of why the Montreal Canadians have come as far as they have is because of the stellar play of their goaltender Jaroslav Halak.

Last year Halak only got to see 20 minutes of ice time in the playoffs. This year he has already played in 10 games where he has been playing at his best. Out of the 10 games he has played he has been named first star of the game 5 times and second star once.

Halak has posted a first place 0.934 SV% and a 2.43 GAA.

Even the top players in the NHL admit that Halak has been great for the Canadians. "He played really well," Crosby said. "We had some second opportunities that we didn't get our sticks on, or we got our sticks on and missed the net. He played solid, there's no doubt. He made the saves he had to."

"I think we played great and we just didn't score," said a still confident but definitely stunned Alex Ovechkin. "It's only one guy. They just score goals and go back and leave all the pressure for their goalie. He (did) an unbelievable job. What more can you say?"

Roberto Luongo Has Strong Game 1

The last time Roberto Luongo was on the United Center ice in the postseason, he had to deal with a case of whiplash from looking back into his net as the Blackhawks scored seven goals to eliminate the Vancouver Canucks from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2009.

One year later, Luongo erased any of those bad vibes with a 36-save performance in Vancouver's 5-1 win on Saturday night against the Blackhawks while recieving the first star of the game. He faced a barrage of shots in the first period -- 17 in all -- and stopped them all, allowing his teammates time to find their legs and score twice before the first intermission.

Luongo's best save came against the Patrick Kane, who was stoned on a breakaway with just under seven minutes to go in the first period and the score still just 1-0 in favor of the Canucks.

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Martin Brodeur's Standout Season

Martin Brodeur the winner of the Jennings Trophy for the 5th time in his career has officially finished in top spot for games played, wins, shutouts, and minutes played.

Brodeur started in 77 out of the 82 games played by the New Jersey Devils. In those 77 game he captured 45 wins, only 3 wins behind his all-time high. This was the most wins out of any goalie this season. He also extended his all-time record of shutouts with an extra 9 this season to finish in first place in that area too.

Brodeur finished his season off with a 0.916 SV% and an amazing 2.24 GAA which was 3rd in the league. To add to a great season like that he helped Team Canada take home the gold medal in the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

A Battle Of The Goaltenders

In the first round of the playoffs, the Buffalo Sabres will be taking on the Boston Bruins. The Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask and the Sabres goalie Ryan Miller have been the hottest in the league this year battling all year for the top spot in GAA and SV%.

Tuukka Rask ended up leading the league with a GAA of 1.97 and a league leading 0.931 SV%. Ryan Miller was not far behind him in second place with a GAA of 2.22 and second with a 0.929 SV%. Both of these goalies had a standout season while each posted 5 shutouts.

The biggest concern is experience. For Ryan Miller, he has all the experience he needs starting 69 games this year for the Sabres, 2010 Winter Olympics, 34 NHL Playoff games, and playing in the NHL for 5 consecutive years. Rask on the other hand is a NHL rookie this year. He only got to play 45 games (24 less than Miller) and has no NHL Playoff experience.

Overall this should be a good match up for both teams and will be a great series. The first game of the series will be played on Thursday April 15th in Buffalo.

Philadelphia Flyers Up To 6 Goalie This Season

The way things are going for Philadelphia Flyers' goaltenders this season, chances are the next time your phone rings it might be GM Paul Holmgren asking if you're available.

But the injury problems are no laughing matter for Holmgren and the Flyers, who enjoyed a rare laugher Sunday night, routing New Jersey 5-1.

In that game, Carter Hutton dressed as the backup to Brian Boucher and became the sixth goalie for the Flyers this season. The previous rookie backup, Johan Backlund, injured his groin in Saturday's loss to the Penguins and was replaced by Boucher. Another rookie, Jeremy Duchesne, dressed as a backup for a couple games after Michael Leighton was lost to an ankle sprain. And Leighton, who was 16-5-2 this season, was picked up on waivers after Ray Emery was injured. Emery was subsequently lost for the season after hip surgery.

Holmgren told the Delaware Country Times that the club has explored other options in adding a more experienced goalie, but nothing has worked out yet.

One name being reported in the Philadelphia media was former Flyer Robert Esche. He's played for SKA Saint Petersburg in Russia the past two seasons. This past year he was 29-7-5 with a 2.07 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage.

"We went through a lot of different options," Holmgren said. "We won't be naming names, but I will tell you we explored every option.

"Some of the players we looked into and talked to just for whatever reason can't do it. It might be because they're playing (in Europe), which is the obvious one, but we have some guys we talked to that just, the team they're playing with just won't let them out (of their contract) right now. We explored a lot of different options."

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Cam Ward Stellar Since Return

Cam Ward has been out since February 3rd missing 18 games with a back injury. Since his return on March 29th he has been playing unbelievable.

He has played two games, one against Atlanta Thrashers and Montreal Canadiens. In those two games he has put up two wins with a 0.968 SV% and a 1.00 GAA. He was 3rd star of the first game and first star of the second.

"I felt more and more confident as the game went on," said Ward. "I was excited and also a bit nervous, because i had been away from the game for so long."

Jonas Gustavsson on a Hot Streak

Jonas Gustavsson the rookie goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs has been living up to his nickname "monster" lately with his six game winning streak against Ottawa (2 games), Boston, Edmonton, Montreal, and Atlanta.

In his last 6 games he has put up an impressive 0.925SV% and a 1.92GAA wich has really helped out his overall season stats.

"First of all I think we started playing better as a team," Gustavsson said after Saturday's win. "We back check even harder now, that helps me a lot. I can focus on the shooter, so I think when we start playing better that gives me self-confidence, too. We started scoring some goals, too, in the first period, which also gives some self-confidence."