Sidney Crosby and his merry Penguins are rolling home in the proverbial driver’s seat. (NHLI via Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

An annotated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• After an atrocious first period, the Pittsburgh Penguins finally decided to unsheathe their claws. About time, too, according to Dejan Kovacevic.

• James Neal and Jarome Iginla found their inner beasts, scoring a pair of goals each in Pittsburgh’s win.

• Daniel Alfredsson and the Ottawa Senators were hit hard by the reality of their situation after that 7-3 blowout. Reality or not, it’s stunning to hear these words coming from the captain.

• After watching everything fall apart so abruptly after a promising start, Eric Duhatschek wonders if the Senators have checked out of the series.

• The Senators now face the ultimate challenge. The view from Ottawa suggests they’re not quite up to it.

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Senators goalie Craig Anderson finally cracked against the Penguins in Game 4. (Jana Chytilova/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

The Ottawa Senators finally proved they knew how to take a lead. They just didn’t know how to hold the lead.

That might sound like an old Seinfeld bit, but no one in Ottawa was laughing.

After Milan Michalek and Kyle Turris staked the Sens to a 2-1 edge during an entertaining first period, the Pittsburgh Penguins roared back with six unanswered goals on the way to a 7-3 win and commanding 3-1 series lead.

Here are some observations from the pivotal Game 4:

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Despite his rocky end in Vancouver, Alain Vigneault could end up with a gig in Dallas. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

The Canucks have finally bid farewell to head coach Alain Vigneault, associate coach Rick Bowness, and assistant coach Newell Brown.

Vancouver’s season ended on May 7 with a four-game sweep at the hands of the San Jose Sharks, so it’s nice to see Mr. Dithers, er, GM Mike Gillis, finally get around to putting the staff out of its misery.

After consecutive first-round ousters, the news of the dismissals could surprise only those who assumed that Gillis would continue to delay the inevitable until the pool of high quality replacements had been skimmed by the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, leaving the Canucks to settle for someone else’s leftovers. Sort of like how Gillis has gone about adding spare parts to his roster in an effort to spackle over some significant structural flaws during the past two seasons.

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The Penguins hope Jussi Jokinen juices a power play that may have cost them Game 3. (Jana Chytilova/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

Neither the Pittsburgh Penguins nor the Ottawa Senators were happy with the sputtering offenses that produced just one goal apiece in regulation in Game 3. So it’s no surprise that both Dan Bylsma and Paul MacLean are looking to add a little more punch to their rosters for tonight’s crucial Game 4 at Scotiabank Place.

In for Pittsburgh is Jussi Jokinen. For Ottawa, it’s Mark Stone.

Jokinen will see his first action in the series after sitting out the first three games, likely replacing Tanner Glass. He could skate on the fourth line tonight, with spot duty elsewhere to help out on face-offs, and should see time on Pittsburgh’s second power play unit. Don’t be surprised if he makes a big impact.

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The Kings are finding that the going is tougher this year, especially on the road. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

An annotated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• The Kings are finding the road to the 2013 Stanley Cup is a lot more difficult than the one they took last season.

• Joe Thornton came up big when his Sharks needed him most. Which, according to my calculations, was the first 30 minutes of last night’s game. After that, all they needed was Antti Niemi.

• Brent Burns showed off both sides of his game last night. One of ‘em wasn’t so great.

• Mike Richards says the Kings embarrassed themselves with their poor start in Game 4.

• Henrik Lundqvist never saw the shot that beat him for the winning goal on Tuesday night. He didn’t see much help from his teammates, either.

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Brent Burns has all the makings of a star, and probably would be one anywhere else. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)

By Allan Muir

It might have been the most impressive period yet of these 2013 playoffs. Led by their captain, Joe Thornton, the San Jose Sharks pinned the Los Angeles Kings in their own zone virtually from the opening face-off, outshooting the champs 15-3 and dominating in every facet of the game. If not for the heroics of Kings’ goalie Jonathan Quick, this one might have been a rout.

But at the end of 20 minutes, the Sharks had mustered just a one-goal lead on Brent Burns’ second tally of the postseason. And that set up a white-knuckle ride for the fans at HP Pavilion who watched as a furious rally by the Kings fell just short, allowing San Jose to escape with a 2-1 win. The series is headed back to L.A. tied up at two games each.

If the storyline sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve seen this one before. For the third game in a row, the Sharks dominated the first period, swapped chances in the second, and then held on for dear life as the Kings fought back with everything they had in the third. The formula has worked twice now for the underdogs, but it’s going to take more than a 20-minute effort to eliminate the champs.

Some thoughts and observations from tonight’s contest:

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Sleeping giant: If Rick Nash is stirring from his scoring slump, he could be a series-changer. (Scott Levy/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

By now, fans of the New York Rangers are familiar with the daunting challenge that is facing their beloved Blueshirts.

Plenty of teams have come back to win a series after being down two games to none, as the Rangers themselves did in their first-round meeting with the Washington Capitals. But not one has managed that trick twice in a row. And after dropping the first two contests in Boston, that’s the hurdle that awaits New York heading into tonight’s Game 3 against the Bruins.

Fortunately, these Bruins might be primed for another date with history.

After all, this is a team that has gained a reputation not just for lacking killer instinct, but for actively helping opponents up off the mat, brushing them off, and then rolling over for a game or two.

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The aftermath of the deadly tornado that touched down near Oklahoma City on Monday. (Brett Deering/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

An annotated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• The practice facility for the Edmonton Oilers’ AHL Oklahoma City affiliate is in Moore, a suburb that was devastated yesterday by a tornado. Fortunately, all players are safe and accounted for. Many local residents fled for refuge to the Cox Convention Center, where the team plays its games.

• The Blackhawks are in trouble for the first time this season. So far, they’re not handling it really well.

• The Hawks took issue with the no-goal call that cost them a chance to tie Monday night’s game in the second period. They have a point…but that call isn’t why they lost.

• Eric Duhatschek uses the vampire analogy to describe Chicago’s mistake in not taking down the Red Wings when they had the chance.

• The Wings have taken control of this series with a classic display of will over skill.

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Avalanche icon Patrick Roy has a reputation as a bit of a loose cannon behind the bench. (Leon T. Switzer/ Icon SMI)

UPDATE: Stephane Roy is now saying his Facebook post regarding his brother and the coaching position was “misinterpreted.”

Stéphane Roy indique à notre journaliste José Laganière que ses propos ont été mal interprétés sur FB et que ce n'était que son intuition.—
L.A. Lariviere (@L_A_theRiver) May 21, 2013

Translated: Stéphane Roy tells our reporter José Laganière that his words were misinterpreted on FB and it was only his intuition.

Here’s what Roy originally posted: “For all my friends I’d like you to know before the official news spreads that my older brother will be the new coach of the Colorado Avalanch(sic).”

Not really sure that leaves a lot of room for interpretation, “mis” or otherwise. Sounds more like big brother ripped him a new one for leaking the news and possibly damaging his bargaining position.

By Allan Muir

SI.com’s Adrian Dater, writing in the Denver Post, says Patrick Roy will be announced as the next head coach of the Colorado Avalanche.

“They’re discussing the final details of an arrangement. Colorado is going to be very happy. Patrick is looking for a new challenge,” said Stephane Roy, the younger brother of the Hall of Fame netminder.

From the Post:

If Roy is hired, it would cap a whirlwind last few days, after which [Avalanche vice president of hockey operations Joe] Sakic said he was in no hurry to name a new coach. But Sakic acknowledged to The Post and to KKFN 104.3 FM that Roy was a candidate, and told KKFN: “I love Patrick. He was probably the greatest goalie that ever played. There’s a guy who was a winner. That’s all he wanted to do. I know he’s done a tremendous job with his junior team in Quebec and for sure he’s a guy that you would consider, yeah.”

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Andrew Shaw (right) and the Blackhawks revealed that the Red Wings have gotten into their heads. (Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

There was a script going around before this series that had the top-ranked Chicago Blackhawks rolling over the underdog Detroit Red Wings.

Apparently Mike Babcock’s crew decided that script needed a few revisions.

In Game 3 on Monday night in Detroit, the Wings asserted their physical dominance early, then got second-period goals from Gustav Nyquist and Drew Miller 31 seconds apart followed by a third-period dagger from Pavel Datsyuk for a 3-1 win that gave them an unexpected 2-1 lead in the series.

Depth was supposed to provide a clear advantage for the Blackhawks, but again it was Detroit’s unheralded third and fourth lines that made things happen with their work along the boards and in front of the net. “We’ve got guys whose job is to hit and provide energy,” Miller said. “That’s kind of how we play. We want to hit, and it’s playoff time, so we ramp it up.”

The pounding took a toll on the Hawks, whose frustration was made apparent when they took five consecutive penalties in a nasty third period. “We were scratching, clawing, and we were tough to play against,” said Jonathan Toews, Chicago’s captain. “We’ll come back even harder in the next one. It almost takes something like this, or maybe someone to slap you in the face so to speak, to really understand what adversity is and how tough the playoffs can be.”

Clearly, it’s going a lot tougher than they expected.

Some thoughts and observations from tonight’s contest:

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