The Flyers landed a 4-3 win on Sunday in the first game of the 2nd round of NHL Playoff action thanks to an OT goal by Danny “I didn’t kick it in” Briere. It was Briere’s second goal of the OT after this little soccer kick got called back on a review.

Brodeur’s been solid in net this postseason but it’s hard to stop the firepower of the Flyers. It’s good to know that even though Marty will be turning 40 years old very soon, he still has the moves. Seriously. If I tried this now I’d be shipped to the ER.

Gif via SB Nation

Don’t look now but the Washington Capitals are up 3-2 in their series against Boston and threatening to knock the defending Stanley Cup Champs out of the playoffs early. For those of you that missed the 4-3 Caps win in Game 5, here’s kinda how it went.

Hey everybody. Look! Raffi Torres just dished out a cheap shot and sent a Chicago Blackhawks player to the locker room.

Brent Seabrook of the Blackhawks knows all about Torres and now so does Chicago forward Marian Hossa, who was taken off the ice on a stretcher Tuesday night in Game 3 of the Blackhawks-Coyotes series.

Hossa was also briefly hospitalized after the hit by Phoenix’s Raffi Torres in the first period. Hossa lay on the ice for around five minutes before medical teams strapped him to a back board and took him to the hospital. Check out the hit for yourself and you’ll see Torres leave his feet to deliver the hit to Hossa.

And depending on the mood of the NHL, I’m sure Hossa will be either suspended for a few games or just fined $17.50. Hard to say. Depends on which side of the bed Brendan Shanahan gets out on.

Sidney Crosby didn’t mince words when it came to why he acted the way he did on Sunday afternoon in the blowout loss to the Flyers. Turns out, Sidney just hates the Flyers. He hates everyone on the team.

Why? Because they’re the Flyers, of course!

Duh!

Ottawa Senators defenseman Matt Carkner and New York Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky were ejected early in Game 2 of the first-round Eastern Conference playoff series after Carkner aimed to beat the tar out of Brian Boyle for Boyle’s Game 1 hit on Senators players.

In a blink of an eye, just 2:15 into the game actually, Carkner grabbed Boyle on the boards and began unloading punches. Boyle fell to the ice, and Carkner kept going which led to Dubinsky jumping in for his teammate.

Soon the referees sorted out the penalties and after Dubinsky became aware that he had been ejected he stormed toward the locker room and threw a full Gatorade to the ground near the bench. Here’s how it looked.

Oooohhh, that dude is mad!

That brings us to this. Thanks to the power of Photoshop, one hockey fan made my new favorite animated GIF. Here’s how Dubinsky reacted after he got kicked out, but now with more KFC! [via HF Boards]

Honestly, I’d be mad too but I don’t know if I’d take it out on the Colonel.

The Bruins Dennis Seidenberg thinks he’s got Alex Ovechkin of the Capitals all lined up for a monster hit. But Dennis is about to learn it’s not that easy to take down the Big Red Machine.

Even though Seidenberg is the one initiating the hit, I’m pretty sure he got the worst of it as Ovechkin gets a heads up on the play. Then, Boom!

The Caps lost to the Bruins 1-0 in OT as Tim Thomas of the Bruins blanked Ovi and friends for a Game 1 victory. Watch the replay of the hit below and you’ll see Ovi pop back up and continue on the play. He may have a few cobwebs loose, but he does get back up.

Alex Ovechkin is in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Capitals star hasn’t necessarily been super all year, but when he gets going in the postseason, he’s a ridiculously entertaining specimen.

Don’t tell that to Dennis Seidenberg, though. The Boston Bruins defenseman tried to line up Ovechkin in the second period of Game 1 between the B’s and Washington Capitals Thursday night, but Ovi looked up at the last second and turned the tables on him. Oh, did he turn the tables on him. [via SB Nation]

Dennis Seidenberg hits Alexander Ovechkin and both players fall down.

It’s that time of year. I don’t just mean the NHL Playoffs but that also means the annual beard growth. Hockey players and fans alike have started growing beards in honor of the post-season and vowed not to shave until after their team wins.  To help honor the tradition, Just for Men is helping raise money for charities across the nation.

With over a million dollars raised in the last three years the annual Beard-A-Thon has proven a giant success with hockey fans.

EAST AURORA, N.Y.  –  Beard-A-Thon®, proudly presented by Just For Men® Mustache & Beard, invites hockey fans across the United States to join in a great hockey tradition and grow their own playoff beards for the 2012 Stanley Cup® Playoffs.  In addition to participating in a great hockey tradition, beard growers will also be raising money for charities across the nation.

In the past three seasons, over 25,000 fans have participated in the Beard-A-Thon® program raising over $1,100,000 for charity.  This season, the goal is to raise an additional $1 million dollars for NHL team charities.

To participate in the Beard-A-Thon fans simply log onto www.beardathon.com, choose your favorite NHL team, and invite family, friends and business associates to pledge their playoff beards. By receiving pledges, participants promise not to shave until their team wins the Stanley Cup® or is eliminated from the playoffs.  Fans who are unwilling, or unable, to grow playoffs beards, can also pledge their favorite player, other local celebrities, or build their own beard with the “Build-a-Beard” web application.

“The intensity, both on and off the ice, goes to a whole new level in the playoffs.  The Beard-A-Thon gives fans a chance show their passion and raise money for charity,” stated John Cimperman, the Principal of Cenergy, a New York based sports marketing agency that manages the program.

“We’re big fans of Beard-A-Thon and all the charities they support” said Ralph Marburger, Director of Marketing for Just For Men®. “It’s a great fit with our brand mission to help men look good – and do good in their communities.”

Last season, the Stanley Cup® Champion Boston Bruins led all NHL clubs by raising over $75,000 for the Boston Bruins Foundation.  The Bruins Foundation Director of Development, Bob Sweeney, raised  $9,835 with his playoff beard followed closely by Los Angeles Kings broadcaster, Jim Fox, who raised $7,615.

For more information on the Beard-A-Thon, log onto www.beardathon.com.  All donations to Beard-A-Thon are tax deductible.

About the Playoff Beard

A playoff beard is the superstitious practice of a National Hockey League player not shaving his beard during the Stanley Cup playoffs.  The player stops shaving when his team enters the playoffs and does not shave until his team is eliminated or wins the Stanley Cup.  It is believed that the four-time Stanley Cup Champion New York Islanders started the tradition in the 1980s.  In recent years, other sports and other players have claimed the playoff beard tradition, but it is, and always will be, a hockey tradition.

First off, props to the 700 Level for the killer Mad Men inspired graphic of the Pens and Flyers coaches dueling with their words in their season series game.

The Keystone State War has begun and the first victory goes to Philly as the Flyers flew into Pittsburgh and found a way to steal yet another win on the Penguins home ice with a 4-3 OT win in Game One of the NHL Playoffs.

In our predictions for the Eastern Conference Playoffs, I noted that just toss out what you know on this series.  It’ll be simply ‘Last Man Standing‘, as in I imagine the brutal and physical match up will take its toll and the game will come down to the last seconds of Game 7.  More luck than anything. Or at least, who has the best physical trainers to rehab the players in between rounds.

The Flyers were owned by the Pens for the first period as Pittsburgh went up early and blown calls by the refs, a theme for the night, helped put a few goals on the board.  First, the missed offsides by Daniel Briere that led to a goal in the second period.  Pretty easy call if you ask me.

But the Pens scored their third goal on what looks like a blown offsides call so there you go. Either way it led to OT where this stunner happened. Jakub Voracek scored 2:23 into overtime after the Flyers rallied to score 4 straight goals to win the game. Some kudos to Philly head coach Peter Laviolette who didn’t hit the panic button and pull goalie Ilya Bryzgalov after 3 goals were let in rather early. Bryz held up and kept his team in the game, stopping 15 more stops.

I didn’t really know how much the scoring in the NHL took a hit until the stat was revealed that Tampa’s Steven Stamkos is just the 2nd player to score 60 or more goals in a season in almost 20 years. The other player is Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, who netted 65 in 2007-08.

I guess I was spoiled by growing up in the Gretzky era as scoring 50 goals was more common. Just between 1988-90, Mario Lemieux, Bernie Nicholls, Steve Yzerman (twice), and Brett Hull all hit the 60 mark. It’s hard to believe that only 2 players have done it just this century!

On the last game of the season, Stamkos got his chance as he netted the elusive 60th goal against the Winnipeg Jets. It’s a shame, though, as the Lightning are way out of the playoff race and will have to enjoy the scoring achievement on the golf course now.

Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos joined the NHL’s 60-goal club when he scored 3:29 into the third period of the Lightning’s season-ending game at Winnipeg on Saturday night.

Stamkos became the first player to reach 60 goals in a season since Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals did it four years ago when he flashed through the slot, took a pass from the right corner by Martin St. Louis and whipped a shot past Ondrej Pavelec.

Stamkos is the 20th player in NHL history to score 60 or more goals in a season. He and Ovechkin, who had 65 in 2007-08, are the only players to hit the 60-goal mark since Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr both did it in 1995-96. [via NHL.com]

The Habs actually won this game against the Lightning 5-2 but they are so far down in the rankings that it doesn’t matter. There’s a reason the Montreal Canadiens are going to be spending the NHL Postseason booking tee times at local golf courses and drowning their sorrows in Molson and Poutine.

It’s ‘cuz of play like this.

Peter Budaj plays the puck, right onto the tape of Vinny Lecavalier, who easily taps it into the net.

Pass me a Molson… and a plate of Poutine. Seriously. I want to try that stuff. I hear it’s to die for!