The New York Islanders and the Tampa bay Lightning will be two very happy teams come June 26.  Players like John Tavares and Victor Hedman are likely to hear their names called first, you can’t go wrong with either player.  They are both unbelievable players who seem to play wise beyond their years. With players like that these two teams will be able to rebuild a strong nucleus allowing their respective teams to compete in the future.

A couple of other prospects are Ryan Bourque and Nazem Kadri.  Bourque is the eldest son of former Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche all-star.  Below are some video highlights of the prospects in action.

Check back for continuing coverage of prospects up until draft day.

Both teams came out ready to do battle again for another 20 minutes.  Pittsburgh struck first just 1:13 into the 2nd period.  Talbot took a pass from Malkin from the side of the net, cut inside and beat Red Wing goaltender Chris Osgood right between the five hole.  Talbot scored his second of the period at the 10:07 mark.  He streaked up the left side on a two on one, held onto the puck and then beat Osgood with a wrister over his left shoulder.  Osgood allowed two goals in the second period after allowing just two goals total in the first three home games of this series.  Crosby however played just one shift after leaving the ice during the second period after taking a hard hit along the boards from Johan Franzen that left him unable to walk due to a knee injury.  Because he’s a hockey player and tough as nails Crosby made it back to the ice midway through the third period for the one shift.  He then just sat on the bench and watched his teammates hang on.  I’m sure it was tough for him not to play but like I said earlier, others stepped up in his absence.

Penguins goalie Marc Andre-Fleury really made a name for himself by playing a very solid game.  Coming back to the same arena where just days earlier he had been pulled in favor of their backup because he gave up 4 goals in that game, Fleury faced his opponents again but this time he won the battle and in the process the war.  He gave up only 1 goal to help pace the Pens.  Fleury was solid in the 1st and 2nd periods but he saved his magic for the 3rd period.  Yes he gave up a goal to Jonathan Ericsson with just over 6 minutes remaining in the game to cut the Pens lead in half but he stopped Detroit from scoring in the closing seconds of the game to seal the Stanley Cup clincher.

This is Sidney Crosby’s first Stanley Cup win.  He became the youngest team captain at 21years old in NHL history to hoist the Stanley Cup over his shoulders, only four years after he was drafted 1st overall.  Owner Mario Lemieux once again tasted the sweet victory of a cup win for the 3rd time, his first as an owner.  He won the Stanley Cup as a player twice when Pittsburgh repeated as Champions in 1991 and 1992.

This game will go down for sure as one of the top ten games in NHL history.  The Penguins are the first to win the title the year after losing in the finals since Edmonton 25 years ago against the New York Islanders.

Evgeni Malkin, who led all scorers in the playoffs with 36 points, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason MVP.  This is on the heels of him winning the Art Ross Trophy as the player with the most points in the regular season.

The game belonged to Pittsburgh goaltender Marc Andre-Fluery.  After being shelled in game 5 and being pulled in that same game, Fluery came back in game 6 with a vengeance making big save after big save to preserve the one goal win.  He stopped 25 of 26 shots to hold off the Red Wings.  The Pens superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malikn were both held scoreless again but it was a complete team effort that won this match.  Fluery wasn’t the only one who made a big save.  With under a minute left the Wings were putting a lot of pressure on the Penguins net and while Fluery was out of position defenseman Rob Scuderi went to his knees and mad two kick saves denying the Wings the opportunity to tie things up.  It was a huge play.

One thing that happened after Pittsburgh’s victory was that history did not repeat itself, the Pens did not lose on their home ice and watch the Wings celebrate a Stanley Cup championship.  At least not yet, the Pens will have a tall order facing them as they must win at Joe Louis Arena on Friday night if they want the prized Stanley Cup Trophy.  Definitely no easy task considering in game 5 Pittsburgh was blown out.  But this game is different.  There’s only 60 minutes left in both these teams’ season unless there’s OT and anything can happen when it all comes down to those 60 minutes.  It will be an all out war.  There will be punishing hits all throughout the game and beautiful saves, as a fan I’m really looking forward to it.

Quick little facts; The home team has won all six games in the series. It’s only the fifth time in NHL history the home team has won the first six games of the Cup finals ( first since 2003 Anaheim Ducks ).  Also each of the last six Game 7s in the Stanley Cup final have been won by the home team.  The last road team to win a Game 7 in the Cup finals was the 1971 Montreal Canadiens in a 3-2 win over the Blackhawks.  That series saw the home team win the first six games of the series.

Chris Osgood played a great game, he stopped all 22 shots that came his way and even collected an assist on Valtteri Filppula”s goal in the 2nd period.  Osgood took advantage of a sloppy Pittsburgh line change and passed the puck from his own net up the left side to a waiting Marian Hossa who then set up Filppula.  It was the first time a goalie has recorded a point in a game since 2003.  Osgood now has 15 career playoff shutouts, which is the second most among active goalies (Martin Brodeur has 23).

Pittsburgh’s beleaguered goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled in the 2nd period in favor of backup Mathieu Garon after the Wings broke it open with four goals ( three in a span of 6 minutes and 42 seconds).  It was Garon’s first playoff action since 2004.  Both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were shut down tonight, Malkin showed his frustration as he picked up three of the nine Pittsburgh penalties.  Game 6 is Tuesday night and those two are going to have to get back on track for Pittsburgh to have a chance at winning and forcing a game seven.

The Wings definitely flexed their muscles tonight and has outscored Pittsburgh 11-2 in their three games in Detroit in this series.  History suggests the Red Wings will hoist the Cup again as 14 of the 19 previous teams to win Game 5 in a series tied 2-2 have prevailed.  Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom played in his 233 NHL postseason game, tying former D Scott Stevens for fifth on the career list.

The Red Wings Darren Helm and Brad Stuart scored less than 3 minutes apart to end the first and start the second.  With a 2-1 lead the Wings were feeling really confident until Pittsburgh got going.  The Penguins are showing their youth by out playing Detroit with their endless up tempo energy.  I bet the Wings were saying to themselves after the game that Pittsburgh’s youth and vitality is breaking them.  For the fourth straight game Detroit’s regular season points leader Pavel Datsyuk was scratched from the line-up.  He came out for the pre-game warm up skate but after taking a few laps around in his own end, he left the ice and returned to the dressing room.  It was then announced that he would miss the game.  One thing is for sure, the Red Wings sorely miss his presence on the ice and are hoping with some more treatment he can be ready for game 5.

With the win the Penguins tied the series at 2-2 and assured themselves a return trip home for 1 more game at the Mellon Arena.  Game 5 is Saturday night in Detroit, with Game 6 in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night after the series’ first two-day break. Game 7 would be June 12 in Detroit.

One other thing I found out was that Montreal will not re-sign Saku Koivu, team captain for the last nine years.  Koivu has stated that if he didn’t sign a new deal with the Habs before july 1st then he would look to finish his NHL career elsewhere.  On the flip side it seems that while one Canadiens unrestricted free agent looks like he’s being let go, the other looks like he’s getting a raise and being offered the former player’s captaincy.  Alex Kovalev will likely sign a one-year deal worth between $6 and $7.5 million, according to Sovietsky Sport via TSN.  Kovalev was also offered Koivu’s captaincy.

Check back for more rumors and video highlights.  Below are highlights of the best plays of the week ending June 2nd.

The Red Wings are closing in on their 12th title and fifth in 12 seasons.  Also of  the 44 teams to take a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup finals, 41 went on to win, but two of the three teams recovered from the deficit to beat the Red Wings (’66 Canadiens, ‘42 Maple Leafs).

Pittsburgh’s superstars were slowed down by the strong play and back checking of the Red Wings.  Pittsburgh had a breakaway and two power plays in the first half of the second period, and had nothing to show for it.  Both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin did not turn in a high flying performance.  Crosby was held pointless for only the 3rd time this postseason while Malkin earned an assist on the Penguins lone goal.  The Wings got a solid effort from goalie Chris Osgood who stopped 31 of the 32 shots he faced.  Osgood made a pair of beautiful saves late in the second period denying Miroslav Satan on a shot just outside of the crease after Malkin set him up beautifully and turning away Crosby’s backhander after a spectacular spin move.

Detroit has now won Game 1 in nine consecutive series. That’s the longest active streak of its kind and tied for the third-longest in NHL history (Montreal Canadiens won 12 straight Game 1’s from 1956-1962).

Game 2 is Sunday night in Detroit at the Joe Louis Arena.

Surprise, surprise Detroit will once again square off with Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins.  Pittsburgh is coming off a four-game sweep over Carolina and will open the championship series Saturday night in Detroit.  The Pens are looking for some payback after losing last year.

The Stanley Cup Final wasn’t supposed to start until June 6 but because both conference champs dispatched their opponents so expeditiously, the NHL wanting to avoid any kind of layoff or momentum killer in television ratings pushed up the start of the series to Saturday night.  Game 1 will be in Detroit.

The Red Wings, the first defending champion to get back to the finals since New Jersey in 2001, are trying to become the first team to repeat since winning the Cup in 1997 and ‘98.  The Red Wings are an NHL-best 8-1 in the playoffs at home this year.  Nicklas Lidstrom missed the game due to a continuing lower body injury, it was the second straight playoff game he missed since his debut in 1992.  He played in 228 straight before missing game 4.

Cam Ward made 21 saves but lost a playoff series for the first time in his NHL career. He had been 5-0 in elimination games for the Hurricanes, I guess both of those streaks came to an end.  You can’t place all the blame on Ward, he played solid in all four games.  He just didn’t have the help on defense that he needed to be spectacular.  For Carolina it’s now up to their General Manager to make a few moves in the off-season to shore up those holes that were exposed this year.  Don’t count them out, they’ll be back next year.