Player Notes

McDonagh had an assist and blocked three shots on goal during Thursday's 4-3 overtime defeat of Boston.
Recommendation: McDonagh also logged a team-high, 29-plus minutes of ice time. More intriguing moving forward, head coach John Tortorella said he regrets not having used the defenseman on his team's slumping power play earlier, reports Jim Cerny of the Rangers' website. Through four games against second round opponent Boston, McDonagh has a goal and two assists.

Vokoun will be in the net for Friday's Game 5.
Recommendation: Vokoun has seemed to established himself as the team's goaltender of choice after Marc-Andre Fleury floundered in the first round. He'll make his seventh straight start in goal and has posted an impressive .942 save percentage during the postseason.

Stepan contributed a goal and an assist in Thursday's 4-3 overtime win over Boston.
Recommendation: Stepan snuck in behind the Boston net, swiped the puck from Zedeno Chara for a wrap around by Tuukka Rask, notching the game-tying goal early in the third period. It's the third year center's first point since Game 1 and fifth point overall in 11 playoff contests this season.

Seidenberg (leg) practiced Friday but is questionable to play in Saturday's Game 5, the Boston Herald reports.
Recommendation: He was paired during practice with Wade Redden (undisclosed), who is also questionable to play Game 5. If he's cleared to return, he'll likely send Matt Bartkowski or Dougie Hamilton to the press box with Torey Krug already having racked up four points during the series.

Clowe (undisclosed) did not practice Friday, the Bergen Record's Andrew Gross reports.
Recommendation: Clowe has yet to play in the second-round series against the Bruins. His status for Saturday's Game 5 is unknown.

Ruutu underwent successful surgery on his hip shortly after the end of the regular season, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.
Recommendation: Ruutu bypassed the procedure during the season, but the hip injury still cost him nearly the majority of the 66-game campaign, as he made his season debut March 21. With the procedure, he'll be ready to go come training camp and should be much healthier heading into this season.

Demers returned to play in Thursday's Game 5 match-up after being out with an injury since mid-April.
Recommendation: Demers only say 3:47 of ice time though and had two minutes in the box for a rough boarding call against LA's Robyn Regher. His return was notable because, like teammate Brent Burns, the Sharks have moved Demers to forward. Could be interesting for future games if the Sharks can stay alive.

Nash was a plus-2 and had an assist on Chris Kreider's game-winning overtime goal in Thursday's 4-3 win over Boston.
Recommendation: After collecting just one assist through the first six games of the playoffs, Nash is a plus-4 with a goal and three assists in his last five games.

Howard stopped all 28 shots he faced Thursday against Chicago in a winning effort.
Recommendation: Corey Crawford played well at the other end, but the Wings were able to find the back of the net in the second period for the eventual game-winning tally before Daniel Cleary found an empty net in the final minute of the third period. Although the Wings have a 3-1 lead in the series, Howard needs to stay sharp with the return to Chicago for Game 5 on Saturday.

Crawford gave up just one goal on 26 shots in the Hawks' 2-0 Game 4 loss to Detroit on Thursday.
Recommendation: Considering that he limited the Wings to one goal prior to the empty-netter in the final minute of the third period, Crawford likely erased any talk of a change in goal for the Hawks when the series goes back to Chicago for Game 5 on Saturday.

Kindl scored his first career playoff goal, which stood as the eventual game-winner in Thursday's victory over Chicago.
Recommendation: For a player who struggled at times to stay in the regular blue-line rotation last season, Kindl's emergence over the course of the year has been a huge boost to the Wings as they had to adjust to life without Nicklas Lidstrom heading up their blue-line corps this season. Although his offensive contributions are not elite, Kindl's expanded role put him on pace for a 26-point season if projected over a typical 82-game slate.

McElhinney signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Blue Jackets, the Columbus Dispatch's Aaron Portzline reports.
Recommendation: McElhinney spent the 2012-13 season with AHL Springfield, going 29-16-3 with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.

Seguin notched his first goal of the playoffs and picked up an assist in Thursday's overtime loss to the Rangers.
Recommendation: It took 11 games for Seguin to hit the back of the net, but it's not like he wasn't getting his chances. His 45 shots on goal are second among postseason skaters to date. With Jaromir Jagr now skating with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, Seguin has being working with Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly on the Bruins' speedy third line.

Quick stopped all 24 shots in faced in a 3-0 win over the Sharks on Thursday.
Recommendation: Quick may have started off slowly this postseason but he' clearly back on track and flashing the form he showed in the 2012 playoffs that netted him the Conn Smythe.

Rask gave up four goals on 32 shots in Thursday's OT loss to the Rangers.
Recommendation: The Rangers played well in a must-win situation in Game 4, but the series is now headed back to Boston and Rask will be counted on to bounce back to his form from the previous three games where he allowed just five goals on 96 shots.

Cracknell re-signed with the Blues on a one-year contract on Friday.
Recommendation: Cracknell was a bit contributor for the Blues this season, recording a modest six points in 20 games. He doesn't figure to vault into a more impactful role in 2013-14.

Niemi gave up a pair of goals on 28 shots in a losing effort Thursday against the Kings.
Recommendation: With the Kings now up 3-2 in the series, Niemi will be tasked with stepping up his play even further in Game 6 when the series returns to San Jose. Overall, he's played well through the first five games, giving up just 10 goals in that span.

Staal (knee) plans to begin riding a stationary bike next week, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.
Recommendation: Hitting the bike represents the first step in what is expected to be a three-month rehab process for Staal. It looks like he'll be healed in plenty of time for training camp if his rehab remains on schedule.

Coach Todd McLellan said Burish (hand) is "very close" to playing and could be available for Sunday's Game 6 against the Kings, the Calgary Sun reports.
Recommendation: Burish was similarly questionable for Game 5 but ultimately sat out in the 3-0 loss to the Kings. The 30-year-old didn't supply much in the way of offense in the regular season, charting just 3 points and minus-7 rating over 46 games.

Lundqvist stopped 37 of the 40 shots he faced in the Rangers' OT win over Boston on Thursday night.
Recommendation: The offensive support in front of him was much better Thursday as the Rangers managed to pot four goals against Tuukka Rask after tallying just five in the previous three contests combined. Lundqvist will need to play very well as the Rangers look to avoid elimination in Game 5 and erase a 3-1 series deficit.

Ference (lower body) missed practice Friday.
Recommendation: Ference is currently dealing with a lower-body injury and has yet to play in the second-round series against the Rangers. His status for Saturday's Game 5 is unknown.

Richards didn't practice Friday and is expected to remain a healthy scratch for Saturday's Game 5, ESPN New York reports.
Recommendation: The Rangers were only practicing with their anticipated active lineup for Saturday's game, with Richards skating off to the side with the other players likely bound for the press box for Game 5. Coach John Tortorella seems to feel his team is best suited with the struggling Richards out of the lineup rather than as a plodder on the fourth line.

Wellwood (Achilles) recently had his cast removed from his foot and his beginning the initial stages of his rehab, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Recommendation: Wellwood faces a long recovery process after severing three tendons in his right foot and cutting through 70 percent of his Achilles heel after slamming feet-first into the boards in an April 7 game with AHL Adirondack. There's a slim chance Wellwood won't be able to walk again, but doctors believe he'll surpass that milestone with a careful rehab process.

Kreider potted the game-winning goal in Thursday's Game 4 OT win over Boston.
Recommendation: With a chance to skate on Rick Nash's line thanks to a series of lineup adjustments, Kreider was on the receiving end of a pass from Nash in the extra frame and managed to beat Tuukka Rask on the blocker side to extend the Rangers' season for at least another game as the series will return to Boston for Game 5.

Boyle scored a power-play goal during Thursday's 4-3 overtime victory over Boston.
Recommendation: A season-long member of head coach John Tortorella's dog house, Boyle's goal helped snap an abysmal 0-for-23 streak for the Blueshirts. It also snapped a five game point scoring drought for the veteran center.