Nhl Playoff

First come the beards. You can't have the competitions for Lord Stanley's cherished chalice without the growing of the beards. And neatness definitely does not count. None of that trim and thin sissy stuff. No, we're talking great clumps of facial forestation. Beards so thick and tangled that birds could nest in them. Think Grizzly Adams. Or a boatload of pirates. Who don't wash. It's unclear exactly what prompted this ritual of the hirsute, but it probably had something to do with superstition.

Two of the Eastern Conference's elite will finish the regular season in the middle of the pack, even though they will have better records than some of the teams that will finish ahead of them. Welcome to the wacky world of the NHL, where teams are seeded 1-2-3 for finishing first in their respective divisions, regardless of their accumulated number of points. The topic was addressed Monday as Peter Laviolette drove from Voorhees to the Wells Fargo Center for the morning skate.

PITTSBURGH - If the NHL playoff format were more rational, two of the top five teams would not be meeting in the first round. "That's the way the schedule in the NHL is," Flyers winger and Penguins legend Jaromir Jagr said after Saturday's dress rehearsal game. "You look at the points and it probably shouldn't be these two teams playing against each other in the first round. But we can't do anything about it. One team's going to go home. " In this instance, we should probably be grateful for the lack of reason.

Henrik Lundqvist made 39 saves for his fourth NHL playoff shutout, and Brian Boyle scored for the third straight game as the New York Rangers beat the host Ottawa Senators, 1-0, on Monday night. The Rangers, who lost Game 2 at home in overtime, lead the best-of-seven, first-round series two games to one. Lundqvist's biggest save came in the last minute when he robbed Kyle Turris on the doorstep with a quick pad stop.   Chara lifts Bruins Zdeno Chara scored the tiebreaking goal during four-on-four play with less than 2 minutes left, and the reigning Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins finally solved playoff rookie goalie Braden Holtby, beating the host Washington Capitals, 4-3, to take a two-games-to-one lead.

An overture for an NHL expansion franchise, made on behalf of the Soviet Ice Hockey Federation, was rejected by the league as unworkable, NHL Players Association executive director Alan Eagleson said yesterday. Ramon Dacyshyn, executive vice president of Intercan Sports Inc., the agency that negotiated the release of Soviet player Sergei Priakin to the Calgary Flames last month, said the proposal was made last month to league president John Ziegler and Eagleson. Under the plan, which Dacyshyn said was made on behalf of the Soviet Hockey Federation, a team stocked exclusively with Soviet players would compete in the NHL as a 22d franchise.

Marty Turco has quite an opportunity in front of him. The Dallas goalie is 0-9-2 in the NHL at Joe Louis Arena, where he will have a chance to stop nagging questions and extend the Western Conference finals against the Detroit Red Wings. "It's nothing short of an exciting challenge for all of us, and for me personally," Turco said after helping the Stars stave off elimination. Stars forward Steve Ott said the stage will be set perfectly for Turco tomorrow in Game 5. "He wants that win probably more than anybody," Ott said.

The Flyers' game against the Pittsburgh Penguins last night at the Civic Arena was delayed for more than an hour because of a power failure. At about 6:30 p.m., power was lost to certain areas of the arena, including the transformer that generates electricity for the ice-making machinery. Eventually, power was diverted to another generator, and after a delay of 76 minutes, the game began. According to Jim Gregory, the NHL's director of officiating, power was lost to the ice-making machinery for less than 10 minutes.

Just how important is Wayne Gretzky? The Calgary Flames, who are playing Gretzky's Los Angeles Kings, are one game away from elimination in the first round of the NHL playoffs a year after winning the Stanley Cup. The Winnipeg Jets, ousted from the playoffs five times in previous years by Gretzky-led Edmonton, are suddenly within one game of eliminating the Oilers from the Stanley Cup chase. On Tuesday night, Gretzky's passing ignited the Los Angeles offense, which produced a hat trick of hat tricks for a 12-4 rout of the visiting Flames and a 3-1 lead in their Smythe Division semifinal series.

Ulf Dahlen picked the right time to score his first career hat trick. Dahlen's three goals complemented San Jose's stifling defense as the Sharks beat the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2, last night to take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series. The teams meet again tomorrow in Game 4 of their best-of-seven series. Using an aggressive checking defense in the neutral zone, the Sharks kept Toronto's scoring opportunities to a minimum and made the most of their own. Dahlen capped the scoring with 2:22 remaining after taking a lead pass from Tom Pederson.

Here is a look at the NHL playoffs that begin on Tuesday. Eastern Conference No. 8 seed N.Y. Islanders vs. No. 1 Pittsburgh Pity the Islanders. They get into the playoffs for the first time since the Kennedy administration - OK, it's only been six years - and they have to face an explosive Penguins team that outscored them, 16-5, in their last four meetings. The Penguins will use last year's first-round embarrassment to the Flyers as incentive. Pick: Penguins in five.

THE LOS ANGELES Kings are one win away from putting a Hollywood ending on one of the most spectacular playoff runs in NHL history. Jonathan Quick made 22 saves in his third shutout of the postseason, Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist, and the Los Angeles Kings rolled to the brink of the franchise's first NHL title, beating the New Jersey Devils, 4-0, in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals on Monday night to take a 3-0 series lead. Alec Martinez scored the opening goal, and Jeff Carter and Justin Williams added late power-play goals as the Western Conference champion Kings moved one win away from finishing one of the most spectacular playoff runs in league history.

LOS ANGELES - Although Mike Richards has only been in Los Angeles for less than a year, he has a pretty good idea what 45 years of simmering frustration will sound like when his Kings take the ice with the Stanley Cup nearly in reach. "That's probably one of the loudest rinks I've ever played in, and it's going to be even louder tomorrow," the center said Sunday, already anticipating the energy at Staples Center for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday night. A coronation just feels imminent for these Kings, who opened the Finals by adding two more victories in New Jersey to the longest run of road perfection in NHL playoff history - 10-0 this season, and 12-0 dating to last season.

If they want to avoid elimination, Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals must figure out a way to recover and regroup from a potentially devastating loss to the New York Rangers. The Rangers head into Wednesday's Game 6 with a three-games-to-two series lead, one victory from reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 1997, when Wayne Gretzky was on the team. New York's Brad Richards tied Game 5 with 6.6 seconds left Monday, and Marc Staal won it 1 minute, 35 seconds into overtime.

ADAM HENRIQUE scored his second goal of the game at 3:47 of the second overtime, and the New Jersey Devils beat the Florida Panthers, 3-2, in Game 7 early Friday to advance to second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Devils wasted a 2-0 lead in the third period, then recovered and earned a matchup with the Flyers in the East semifinals. Stephen Gionta also scored in regulation for New Jersey, which won a series for the first time since 2007. Martin Brodeur made 43 saves for the Devils in a game that ended on April 27 - the 20th anniversary of Brodeur's first playoff appearance for New Jersey.

So this is how Flyers defenseman Erik Gustafsson, nervous rookie, played in the second NHL playoff game of his young-but-rising career: He frustrated Pittsburgh superstars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby in even-strength situations. He blocked a team-high seven shots. He scored a key goal that gave the Flyers a 3-0 lead en route to a series-clinching, 5-1 win Sunday over a Penguins team that, before the playoffs started, was favored to drink from the Stanley Cup. "Gus was unbelievable from start to finish," said Mr. Postseason himself, Danny Briere, who scored his fifth goal of the series.

When this wacky series started, the Stanley Cup favorites, the Pittsburgh Penguins, did the unthinkable - blowing multiple-goal leads at home as they lost Games 1 and 2. Now the Flyers have a chance to make the Penguins pay for their grievous beginning. On Sunday, at high noon, the Flyers will try to end Pittsburgh's season at the Wells Fargo Center. It won't be easy. After three straight losses, the March of the Penguins is in full throttle. Pittsburgh has won two straight and, with goalie Marc-Andre Fleury carrying a wave of momentum into Game 6, the Flyers have a major challenge.

So this is how Flyers defenseman Erik Gustafsson, nervous rookie, played in the second NHL playoff game of his young-but-rising career: He frustrated Pittsburgh superstars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby in even-strength situations. He blocked a team-high seven shots. He scored a key goal that gave the Flyers a 3-0 lead en route to a series-clinching, 5-1 win Sunday over a Penguins team that, before the playoffs started, was favored to drink from the Stanley Cup. "Gus was unbelievable from start to finish," said Mr. Postseason himself, Danny Briere, who scored his fifth goal of the series.

JAMES NEAL wrapped up two separate disciplinary hearings with NHL vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan before even stepping on the ice on Tuesday morning for the Penguins' practice in Pittsburgh. It took Shanahan nearly 12 hours to make a decision regarding Neal's fate. Turns out, the Penguins will be missing the 40-goal scorer when they take the ice on Wednesday night for Game 4 at the Wells Fargo, trailing their series against the Flyers, 3-0. Neal received a one-game suspension from Shanahan for separate attacks on Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier in the third period with the game, an 8-4 Flyers win, already well out of hand.

James Neal wrapped up two separate disciplinary hearings with Brendan Shanahan, the NHL's vice president of player safety, before even stepping on the ice Tuesday morning for the Penguins' practice in Pittsburgh. It took Shanahan nearly 12 full hours to make a decision on Neal's fate. Turns out, the Penguins will miss a 40-goal scorer in Neal when they take the ice Wednesday night in an attempt to save their season in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center.