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So far, every playoff night holds its own trend

Anze Kopitar

Members of the Los Angeles Kings celebrate teammate Anze Kopitar’s overtime game winning goal against the Vancouver Canucks in the first round of an NHL western conference playoff hockey game at GM Place in Vancouver, Canada, on Saturday, April 17, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward)

AP

Is it me, or are quite a few of these playoff nights fitting together into neat little themes? Seriously, it’s kind of spooky that each night of the playoffs almost follow some pre-ordained script. Take a look. Wednesday, Day 1: Upsets

On the first day of the playoffs, it was all about underdogs. You can argue about the higher-seed Phoenix Coyotes’ status as favorites, but few picked the Senators or Canadiens to do much damage.

Thursday, Day 2: Goalies

The next day still kept some of the upset spirit alive, but it was more about the goalies than anything else. Only Roberto Luongo put up less than 30 saves (25), but every other netminder had a good-to-amazing night on Thursday. But - as the days went on - that trend would clearly go out the window.

Friday, Day 3: Evening the score - but not doing it easily

Aside from Nashville - Chicago (which doesn’t count because it was only on Game 1), every other game seemed to have the air of favorites forcing reality to set in despite the difficulty of the task. Regardless of whether or not empty net goals made the games seem more lopsided, none of the Red Wings, Devils, Penguins or Sharks had an easy time dispatching their foes ... but all four teams evened their series at 1-1.

Saturday, Day 4: No lead is safe (and a two goal lead is the worst in hockey?)

Yesterday might take the cake (the crazy cake that is). First, the Boston Bruins defied the odds against Buffalo, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to win 5-3. Next, the Washington Capitals won a purely insane game with the Montreal Canadiens, coming back multiple times (first 2-0, then 4-1, then 5-4) to take an outrageous win in OT. Finally, the Los Angeles Kings also came back from a 2-0 disadvantage to beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in OT.

It’s funny, NHL ’08 would always call a two-goal lead “the worst lead in hockey"; it was something my friends and I would joke about constantly (and obnoxiously). Saturday proved that there might be some logic to that concept.

So, my question to the hockey universe is simple: what’s Sunday’s theme? Will today be a “day of rest” for all these night-wide trends? Hopefully this trend of awesome games will continue though, because if that trend holds true, we might see the most exciting tournament in any of our memories.