As always, if it seems that I am less than enthusiastic about professional hockey, just keep in mind that I am a very jaded and abused St. Louis Blues fan, once spoiled with playoff appearances and hopes of a Stanley Cup, only to be shoved to the ground, spit on and ignored like a Phoenix Coyotes fan.

Tampa Bay Devil Lightning 3, Washington Capitals 2 (Series: 2-0 TB)

Vincent Lecavalier was more than just a reminder of the piece of crap Chevrolet that I drove in high school. Yesterday, he was more like Vincent Lehondaaccord as he scored two goals, including the game-winner in yet another overtime, to lead the Lightning to a very unexpected 2-0 series lead. The bigger stats of the game, though, are attributed to the Lightning’s defense, as the team has shut down Washington on all power plays in this series thus far. The Caps – can I call them that? – are 0-for-11 on power plays in this series. I think that’s bad.

Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal of the series at the end of the third period to send the game into overtime, but it wasn’t enough. While the 2-0 deficit looks bad, the Lightning have already shown us that anything is possible. But the Caps have something bigger on their side that I think guarantees them at least the next two victories…

(Picture via)

San Jose Sharks 2, Detroit Red Wings 1 (Series: 2-0 SJ)

Detroit’s lone goal came late in the third period on a power play, otherwise this game was all San Jose, and ultimately very boring. The only real excitement came when Todd Bertuzzi and Marc-Edouard Vlasic got into it in the first period, and when Detroit seemed to come alive early in the third but it was all just a tease. After a while I started flipping over to Yard Crashers and wondered if Jimmy Howard could build a poolside margarita bar in just two days. My gut says no. Talk about in-depth analysis.