Fantasy Recap: Apr. 17

By CHRIS NICHOLS -- SLAM! Sports

Philadelphia 3 New Jersey 1 (Philly wins series 4-1)

Robert Esche doesn't look so bad to the critics now, does he? Aside from the only game the Devils won, Esche allowed only five goals in four games and had a shutout, clearly out-playing Martin Brodeur... Alex Zhamnov had at least a point in every game of the series, tallying eight total... Jeremy Roenick had an assist in that final game and also scored in each contest, totaling seven points... Tony Amonte had a quieter series, but still came away with three points... Keith Primeau had 2G, 1A and was a force in this series... Simon Gagne had but one point against the Devils and now has 19 in 46 career playoff games... Martin Broduer was not his usual dominant self, prompting some to wonder about a possible injury... The line of Patrick Elias (3G, 2A), Scott Gomez (0G, 6A) and Brian Gionta (2G, 3A) will need some more help next season... Potential Norris winner Scott Niedermayer scored his only point (a goal) in the final game... Last year's playoff stud, Jamie Langenbrunner, had two lone assists in this series.

Colorado 5 Dallas 1 (Colorado wins series 4-1)

I've been selling Marek Svatos as a sleeper for next season but at the rate he's going (2G, 3A in series), everyone and his dog will want to draft him... Peter Forsberg had 3G, 5A total and increased his all-time totals in the post-season to 151 points in 127 games... Joe Sakic had 4G, 2A... Matt Barnaby and Chris Gratton were good in the series, but bad for pools with only one point between them... Alex Tanguay didn't play in this clinching game thanks to an injury from the last contest, but he should be fine for the next series... Milan Hejduk scored in the final three games of the series and finished with five points... Rob Blake (Five points) and Adam Foote (Three points) were good picks, but John-Michael Liles disappointed with only one point in the series after finishing the regular season with 4G, 10A in 14 games... Mike Modano had three points total... Bill Guerin had no goals (One assist) in five games... Sergei Zubov has two points...Jason Arnott had two points total.

Detroit 2 Nashville 0 (Detroit wins series 4-2)

Steve Yzerman finally delivered some offense in the final two games, notching three points... Robert Lang has 2G, 4A and will be a solid pick for next season... Ray Whitney scored his first two points of the series in Game Six... Brett Hull had a pair of goals in the six games... Nick Lidstrom finished with only two points against Nashville... Shanny was shut out in the finale, but had three points total... Including the third period relief job in Game Four, Cujo stopped 43 of 44 shots to earn two victories... Tomas Vokoun earned a lot of well-deserved respect from fans around the league for his performance in this series... Steve Sullivan was limited to 1G, 1A total... According to ABC, Scott Walker had to wait 574 regular season games to get into his first playoff series - and then he only had one point in the five games... Kimmo Timonen finished the series with zero points and part of that has to be attributed to the fact that his power play partner in crime, Marek Zidlicky, was out of action for all but a few minutes of Game One.

Montreal 5 Boston 2 (Series tied 3-3)

Saku Koivu's goal and assist gives him eight points in the series... Yanic Perreault had a goal and two assists in Game Six, a great contribution to his team aside from his outstanding face-off prowess... Richard Zednik had an assist (ENG), but still has just one goal in this series... Sheldon Souray had an assist on the second empty netter and has two total points in six games... Sergei Samsonov had five assists coming into this game, but strangely - these were his first two goals of the series... Michael Nylander grabbed another assist and has points in four of the five games he's played in this match-up... Sergei Gonchar has five points in six games so far, which is about on pace with his amazing season of 58 points in 71 games... Jiri Slegr has two points total... For the sixth straight game, Joe Thornton was held without a point.

Vancouver 5 Calgary 4 (3OT) (Series tied 3-3)

Brendan Morrison scored early in TRIPLE OVERTIME with a great patient goal. It was his second goal and fifth point of the series... Geoff Sanderson (1G, 1A) scored his first points of the series in this game... Brad May's goal was his first point vs. Calgary... Trevor Linden played with the Sedin twins and both Daniel (1G, 1A) and Henrik (2A) had productive games... Markus Naslund broke a two-game slump with his two-assist effort, including setting up the OT GWG... Vancouver scored as many goals in the first 30 minutes of the game as they did in the previous four games total... Oleg Saprykin scored his first goal since Game One and had some productive shifts with Jarome Iginla and Craig Conroy... Chris Clark's 3rd period goal tied the game for Calgary (He had an assist as well), giving him four points in the series.

In addition to analyzing fantasy hockey for us, Chris also writes a weekly column for ESPN's fantasy hockey section. He can also be found at Mckeenshockey.com, where his News & Notes section is featured seven days a week through the end of the playoffs.