LATE NIGHT BLOGGING

NHL PLAYOFFS, DAY 7

Stuff I watched out of dedication to you, gentle reader, even though Half Baked was on IFC.

• SENS 5 LIGHTNING 2 (Ottawa leads 3-1): To put in a new twist on a tired joke, the Sens already have tee times booked for Monday -- that's how confident they are that there won't be a Game 6 back in Florida that night. Dany Heatley, playing free and easy (as predicted) scored the game-winner and two helpers, Jason Spezza scored one of the great playoff goals and Ron MacLean sent at least one newsroom in Canada's capital city into hysterics by nothing how Steve Yzerman's brother, Chris, is a reporter for the Ottawa Sun. (He writes for the Citizen, Ron.) By the way, this game marked the night the phrase "thrown under the bus" officially became passé when TSN's Big Head Bob McKenzie used it to describe John Tortorella's post-game comments about Tampa goalie John Grahame (four goals on 20 shots). Actually, the Lightning tried to throw Grahame under the bus after the game ... but it went through his legs.
• DUCKS 3 FLAMES 2 in OT (Series tied 2-2): Ryan Getzlaf got lost in the shuffle among all the other rookies, but he's growing up fast in this series -- he scored the game's first goal tonight and is anchoring Anaheim's penalty killing and power play. J.S. Giguere didn't exactly steal the game but had his best outing of the series. Calgary was lucky just to get to OT; Anaheim fell asleep on both of Jarome Iginla's third-period goals. Good thing for Calgary that they rarely have back-to-back bad games; but they haven't played well two games in a row yet in this series.
• RED WINGS 4 OILERS 2 (Series tied 2-2): Didn't see this one (it was Calgary's turn to be the national late game), but Edmonton is steaming over the officiating after the Wings got three goals on the power play, including two while playing 5-on-3. Again, the odds on Detroit are very good right now, with Game 5 and a potential Game 7 at home. But have the Red Wings shown they're capable of closing Edmonton out? Not for a second.
• SHARKS 5 PREDS 4 (San Jose leads 3-1): The Sharks are practically toying with Nashville. Even when it was 1-1 early in the second, it seemed like San Jose was playing with a two- or three-goal lead. On their first goal, the Sharks just ramped up the tempo until the Predators' callow defence simply crumbled, leaving Pat Rissmiller wide-open for a textbook tip-in. Nashville finally scored their first even-strength goal of the series -- it only took them 206 minutes. It'll be interesting, though, to see if the Sharks defence could hold up in a second-round matchup with either Anaheim or Calgary, who also can take the body and make teams burn themselves out just getting out of their own zone. Patrick Marleau (hat trick tonight) is the early fave for the Conn Smythe. By the way, what's become of Mari Ivener, the Sharks fan who back in '94 threw her bra on the ice (a red lacy Victoria's Secret 36C number, as Sports Illustrated breathlessly reported) to celebrate a Sergei Makorov hat trick? Enquiring minds want to know.

That's all for tonight. I must seek Buddha. I must seek Christ ....

You must seek therapy. But that's just where I would go with that.