Fantasy Recap: Apr. 9

By CHRIS NICHOLS -- SLAM! Sports

Boston 2 Montreal 1 OT (Boston leads series 2-0)

Boston is leading this series for two reasons: Andrew Raycroft and second-line scoring. Raycroft has been phenomenal thus far and has stopped 56 of 57 shots in this series. Rookie goaltender with no experience: so what! Raycroft has kept consistent and steady like he's been all season long for the B's... Michael Nylander (1G, 1A), Sergei Samsonov (2A) and Patrice Bergeron (1G, 1A) were amazing in Game Two and now that line has combined for 11 points in the series so far... Joe Thornton does not look like his usual dominant self because of his injured ribs, but don't discount the effect his mere presence is having on his teammates.

Alex Kovalev got about four minutes more ice time in the second game over the first game and he finally found the score sheet this time around. Kovy was bumped up to the scoring line for Game Two (What a concept) and although he wasn't even close to what he's capable of, he did play better overall... Sheldon Souray played 27:37 Friday night, which was about six minutes more than Rivet and Markov each played and significantly more than anyone else on that Habs roster... Patrice Brisebois scored a power play goal and he and Souray will have to step up production in that department if Montreal wants to get back into the series when it shifts to Montreal.

Calgary 2 Vancouver 1 (Series tied at 1)

Jarome Iginla's opening goal was typical Iggy: fighting off a check and finding a way to get the puck past the goaltender... Jordan Leopold is delivering on his sleeper status so far in the series and after grabbing another point Friday, he now has three points in two games... How many referees does it take to see Jovanovski bumping Kipper on Naslund's goal? At least Simon's interference on Iginla's goal was incidental... Calgary had a chance to seal the game with a 2-1 lead and a power play with seven minutes left in the game and Iginla hit the post... Miikka Kiprusoff made some great saves and got a much better defensive effort from his teammates and Calgary demonstrated why they are so tough to beat with a lead.

Markus Naslund scored Vancouver's only goal and now has four points in the series... Sami Salo has points in both games of the series... Brent Sopel failed to record a point for the second straight game, but he had four shots Friday and he'll likely get a few points before this series is over.


Colorado 5 Dallas 2 (Colorado leads series 2-0)

The Avs scored three times on the power play and also got a short-handed goal Friday night in a complete domination of the Dallas Stars... while things look bad for Dallas, don't write them off just yet - they're a great home team and the series shifts to the Big D now... The big guns for the Avs are delivering the goods: Peter Forsberg had two points Friday and has three in the series; ditto for Joe Sakic; Milan Hejduk had a pair of assists Friday; Alex Tanguay had two points Friday after scoring a goal in the opening game; Rob Blake has three points in the series and has already logged 50 minutes of ice time in two games; Marek Svatos has points in two straight games and please remember his name late in your drafts next season, because he'll be a fantastic sleeper pick... David Aebischer is now a perfect 2-0 as a playoff starter.

Mike Modano had four shots and no points in Game One, but scored on his only shot in the second game... Teppo Numminen did not play Friday because he was not feeling well, but it's apparently not related to his heart condition... Marty Turco has now given up eight goals in two games.

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.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]