Player Notes

Richards picked up his seventh assist of the playoffs in a Game 2 win over the Sharks on Thursday.
Recommendation: Richards has hit the scoresheet in four of the last five games now after registering just one point in his first three games of the playoffs.

Gomez had two assists and a plus-2 rating in the San Jose loss to Los Angeles on Thursday.
Recommendation: Those two assists are Gomez's first points of the postseason. With Raffi Torres, Martin Havlat, and Adam Burish out, Gomez will need to take on a bigger role in the Sharks' offense this series. He has the potential to do so with 101 points in 144 career playoff games.

Couture had an assist in the Sharks' loss Thursday.
Recommendation: The Sharks are leaning on Couture for productivity. He has nine points in six postseason games this season. With the addition of Pavelski to his line and a return to San Jose on the horizon, look for Couture to continue his productivity.

Thornton had an assist and a single shot Thursday, as the Sharks collapsed in the closing minutes for a loss in Los Angeles.
Recommendation: Thornton has seven points in six games this postseason, but only has a single point and three shots in the series against Los Angeles thus far.

Handzus missed practice Friday, but Coach Joel Quenneville said he is "fine,"
Recommendation: Handzus has not practiced consistently with the team lately, and the 36-year-old is likely sitting out to preserve his energy for Saturday's Game 2.

Marchand notched the game-winner in overtime, while adding an assist in 22:17 of ice time in Thursday's Game 1 of the Bruins' second-round series against the Rangers.
Recommendation: Marchand left Thursday's morning skate in some pain due to an undisclosed injury, but not only did he suit up that evening, he turned in arguably his best effort in the postseason to date.

Carter notched his fourth goal of the playoffs and added an assist in a 4-3 win Thursday.
Recommendation: Carter is certainly rewarding those who bet on his scoring success from the regular season carrying over into the playoffs.

Marleau scored and played a huge 21:18 for the Sharks on Thursday.
Recommendation: Marleau is at six points in six games. Though it took over four periods to get a goal, the Sharks seem to have found a way to get pucks past Kings netminder Jonathan Quick and that bodes well for Marleau as the Sharks head to San Jose for the next two games.

Powe (undisclosed) is out for Thursday's Game 1 against the Bruins, NHL.com reports.
Recommendation: Powe is suspected to be dealing with a concussion and has been out since May 6. He remains day-to-day going forward.

Kearns will be in the line-up again for San Jose Thursday in Los Angeles, according to CSN Bay Area.
Recommendation: Kearns only played 6:05 in his NHL playoff debut on Tuesday. He'll be in the line-up again Thursday, but temper your expectations.

Bonino's injury in March was a torn hamstring, Eric Stephens of Orange County Register reports.
Recommendation: General manager Bob Murray said Bonino suffered the injury while playing soccer before practice. He was able to return from the injury, and played in 27 games altogether during the 2012-13 season, recording 13 points and a minus-3 rating.

General manager Bob Murray said Getzlaf never returned to full strength after injuring his right ankle, Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register reports.
Recommendation: Getzlaf suffered the right ankle injury on March 3 against Dallas when he got tangled up with Jamie Benn. With a full offseason ahead of him, Getzlaf should be fully healed by next season.

Bolland, who had been out with a groin injury since April 22, saw close to 12 minutes of ice time in his return on Wednesday in the Blackhawks' 4-1 victory over the Red Wings in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
Recommendation: With Bolland out of the lineup, the Blackhawks missed his toughness which will be needed if they plan on going further in the playoffs. Bolland centered the third line and won 4-out-of-7 face-offs in the contest. He also collected a pair of minor penalties and had a plus-1 on the ice.

Kane is not worried about his postseason drought that has him only scoring one goal in the last 18 playoff games, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Recommendation: While he has only lit the lamp once since he got the game-winner in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Kane has 14 assists in those 18 games including five helpers against the Wild in the first round.

Jokinen has served as a healthy scratch in each of Pittsburgh's last three playoff games.
Recommendation: His skill was needed more when the team's top-six forwards were not intact. Now that everyone's healthy, Jokinen is relegated to fighting for time on the fourth line and the likes of Tyler Kennedy and Joe Vitale fill the energy role better than Jokinen. Until the Pens lose another game, coach Dan Bylsma will likely keep the lineup the same -- meaning Jokinen will ride the bench.

Toews was named Wednesday as one of the finalists for the Frank Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the NHL.
Recommendation: Toews was runner-up to Vancouver's Ryan Kesler for the award in 2011. While defense is on Toews' mind, the Blackhawks would like to get his offense going. Toews only had two assists in Round 1 against the Wild and that came in the last game of the series. He's close to a point-per-game pace in the postseason during his career with 17 goals and 35 assists in 57 playoff contests entering Game 1 against the Red Wings in the Western Conference semifinals.

Malkin is tied with Boston's David Krejci for the playoff scoring race with 13 points (3 G, 10 A) after a two-point night Tuesday.
Recommendation: He's skating as well as he has all season long. Malkin is still battling through an injured left shoulder which may require offseason surgery, however, making his slap shot much less of a weapon. Even so, he's able to create offensive opportunities with his strong skating. Malkin skated less than 16 minutes (15:56) as Pittsburgh spent considerable time killing off five Ottawa power plays.

Montreal general manager Marc Bergevin acknowledged Leblanc took a step back in his development in 2012-13, but the 2009 first-round pick is still in the team's plans, the Montreal Gazette reports. "He knows he has to be better and he knows it's a big summer for him," Bergevin said. "It's going to be up to him. But he's a good young player that we hope one day will play here."
Recommendation: Leblanc finished with just 10 goals and eight assists while posting a minus-18 in 62 games for AHL Hamilton this past season. He had showed some promise when called up during Montreal's abysmal 2011-12 season, but slumped badly and wasn't even given a shot to make the big club when the lockout-shortened season kicked off in January.

Bozak (triceps) won't require surgery, the Toronto Sun reports.
Recommendation: Bozak was sidelined for the final two games of the first-round series with the Bruins after injuring his triceps during a faceoff in Game 5. He's expected to require four weeks of recovery time before resuming offseason workouts.

Crosby didn't pick up a point in Tuesday's 4-1 series-opening win over the Senators. He went minus-1 and lost 11 of 19 face-offs in his 17:04 of ice time.
Recommendation: He'd picked up points in all five games he played against the Islanders, though he's generally struggled with face-offs and defense thus far in the playoffs.

Brassard picked up two more assists in Monday's Game 7 win over Washington, giving him points in five straight playoff games.
Recommendation: With nine points in this postseason, he's tied with some elite names -- Jarome Iginla, Milan Lucic, Sidney Crosby -- for third in scoring. Overall since joining the Rangers, Brassard's on a point-per-game pace, as it appears the change of scenery from Columbus has done the playmaking center a world of good.

Despite leaving the ice at the end of Game 4 against Vancouver, Wingels has been practicing and appears to be set to skate with Joe Pavelski and Andrew Desjardins on San Jose's third line, according to the Mercury News
Recommendation: Wingels is an unknown quantity in San Jose. Coach McLellan believes in him, giving him 23.5 shifts per game, and his two points in four games don't tell the story of how effective he's been. He's a risky play, but he's been very good, and it helps to play with Pavelski, who has eight points in four games this postseason.