Boston’s Tuukka Rask might have a sense of foreboding about tonight’s Game 7 in Boston. (Graig Abel/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

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

• The Maple Leafs will play in a game that seemed wildly unlikely two weeks ago. And now they know it is one they can win.

• Steve Simmons argues that all the momentum heading into tonight’s Game 7 favors the Maple Leafs. After two huge wins in a row, he ain’t wrong.

• Playing in Game 7 after blowing a massive series lead? Yeah, Tuukka Rask knows that feeling all too well.

• The tired and slow Bruins are have left themselves no margin for error in tonight’s decisive battle.

• Damien Cox writes that this game is about making history and the chance to kickstart a new era for the Leafs franchise.

• No surprise that the Capitals and Rangers are headed to their own Game 7 tonight…or that the series will come down to the play of their goaltenders.

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Emerson Etem (left) and Teemu Selanne wave goodbye to fans after the Ducks’ Game 7 loss. (Getty Images)

By Adrian Dater

Anaheim’s Francois Beauchemin had a tremendous season for the Anaheim Ducks. He was in the discussion among Norris Trophy voters, anchoring the defense for a team that finished second overall in the seriously tough Western Conference.

But in Beachemin’s native French-Canadian tongue, he was the chevre of Sunday’s Game 7 between his Ducks and the Detroit Red Wings. That means goat. It’s true, he was credited with a lucky late power-play goal that accounted for the final score, but the damage from an earlier incident on the power play had already been done.

Beauchemin tried to get fancy during a game in which keep-it-safe fundamental play was the bylaw, and for that he will be shown on every hockey highlight show around the globe for the next day.

Beauchemin’s spin-o-rama blind backhand pass was intercepted and converted into a short-handed goal by Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader with 3:23 left in the first period, which broke a 1-1 tie, killed all of Anaheim’s building momentum and ultimately resulted in a 3-2 loss at the Honda Center.

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Damien Brunner scored an early goal for the Red Wings, who took Game 2 in overtime. (Harry How/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

A win is a win in the playoffs, especially when it comes on the road. But you’ll have to forgive the Detroit Red Wings for not puffing out their chests after this one.

The Wings beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 at the Honda Center on Thursday night, tying their series at a game a piece and stealing home ice advantage from the Pacific Division champs. But this wasn’t the way the Wings wanted to do it.

Sure, they got the fast start they needed, with goals from Justin Abdelkader and Damien Brunner staking them to a 2-0 lead before the game was five minutes old. And Jimmy Howard was outstanding in the early going, stopping the first 14 shots he faced, including this larcenous glove save of a Corey Perry blast that he somehow picked out of traffic worthy of the 405.

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Nail Yakupov channeled Theo Fleury in his tying goal against the Kings back in January. (Andy Devlin/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

I always have the best intentions at the beginning of each season to make a running tab of the moments most worth remembering. And, much like my determination to get back into game shape, it hasn’t happened yet.

Still, it wasn’t too hard to come up with a list now that we’re at season’s end. The games offered enough highlights–and lowlights–to fill a full-length schedule. Here are my favorites:

The Yakupov Slide: With the goalie pulled and Edmonton trailing Los Angeles by one back in January, Nail Yakupov crafted the signature moment of his rookie season: batting a Taylor Hall rebound out of midair and putting it behind Kings goalie Jonathan Quick with just 4.7 seconds left on the clock. He took a lot of grief for his spontaneous Theo Fleury impression, but it was a beautiful tally at a key moment. That’s exactly the kind of goal that calls for an over-the-top celly (yep, celly). You want to follow a sport that’s had all the life sucked out of it? Watch the NFL.

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With many teams strapped for cap space, the Jarome Iginla sweepstakes may fizzle. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

A notated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• The jam-packed standings and inflationary asset demands may conspire to dull this year’s trade deadline, according to CBC’s Elliotte Friedman.

• So, too, might a lack of impact players. Friedman’s late-night reaction to the Corey Perry signing suggested that the Ducks couldn’t afford to let the valuable winger slip away. How many other teams will feel that way about their assets ahead of the deadline?

• Here’s the reaction from the OC to Perry’s signing. Here’s my reaction.

• Serving the third game of his four-game suspension kept Perry out of Anaheim’s lineup on Monday night. Didn’t matter. The Ducks had no trouble disposing of the Sharks to earn their franchise-record 12th consecutive home victory.

• Here’s a good read from George Johnson on the parallel lives of Jarome Iginla and Brenden Morrow.

• With realignment bringing (some) geographical sanity back to the NHL, the AHL could be following suit with a realignment of affiliates.

• Sidelined Rangers defenseman Marc Staal hasn’t said much since suffering an eye injury last month, but his family has kept everyone informed along the way. Brother Jordan said last night that he believes his older brother is hopeful of returning to play this season.

• The Rangers’ offense continues to struggle, but one regulation goal was enough to earn two points, thanks to a magnificent performance from Henrik Lundqvist.

• An 0-5-1 slump has New Jersey on the verge of the playoff precipice, making tonight’s game against the Rangers a must-win. Martin Brodeur practiced with the Devils on Monday for the first time in three weeks but he’s not expected to play tonight against the New York. He hopes to be ready for a start against Carolina on Thursday.

• The Sabres sent Mikhail Grigrorenko back to juniors. Stefan Matteau was returned to Blainville-Boisbriand by the Devils. But Montreal underager Alex Galchenyuk is sticking with the Habs for the long run.

• The passing of former Canadiens executive Frank Selke, Jr. was mourned around the sporting world.

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Corey Perry’s new deal means the Ducks have now wrapped up their two best players in Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. (Rob Grabowski/US Presswire)

By Allan Muir

The story started making the rounds just as I was leaving the Stars-Flames game tonight. Somehow, the Ducks defied the naysayers and signed Corey Perry to a long-term extension.

And here I was thinking the biggest news coming out of SoCal tonight would be Peter Murphy’s DUI arrest.

My first thought? What a coup this is for Anaheim GM Bob Murray. Instead of facing a major rebuild this summer, his franchise cornerstones are locked into place. Who thought that was possible at the beginning of this season?

Just two weeks after signing captain Ryan Getzlaf to an eight-year, $66 million deal, he gets Perry to agree to a very similar eight-year, $69 million pact. Call the extra $3 million the MVP bonus and everybody’s happy.

Happy and probably more than a little surprised. There were many folks around the league who believed that Getzlaf’s massive contract signaled the end of Perry’s tenure in Anaheim, either at the trade deadline or, to preserve the team’s Cup chances, this summer. Signing both would be prohibitively expensive, especially in light of the healthy decrease in next season’s salary cap.

But Murray did the math and determined that losing Perry would be even more costly, in terms of franchise prestige and the ability to compete at a high level moving forward. So he ponied up to the tune of $8.625 million per year for Perry on top of Getzlaf’s $8.25 million.

That’s a serious commitment.

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Signing Ryan Getzlaf may also be the key to determining Corey Perry’s future in Anaheim. (Gary A. Vasquez / US Presswire)

By Allan Muir

Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray crossed one item off his to-do list today by signing team captain Ryan Getzlaf to an eight-year extension worth $66 million.

That’s a significant commitment from the Ducks. The eight-year term is the max allowable under the new CBA and the annual cap of $8.25 million ties him for the fourth highest in the league, trailing just Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. That’s pretty thin air for a player that put up career-low numbers last season and ranked among the year’s biggest underachievers.

But Getzlaf has been among the most impactful players so far in 2013. His 27 points puts him among the league’s top-10 scorers and he’s been a consistent force for a Ducks team that has to be recognized among the few legitimate contenders for the Cup.

There’ll still be plenty of voices suggesting this is an overpayment, but this feels like a case of a team paying to hold onto one of the best players in franchise history, and fearing the alternatives if they don’t.

Yeah, $8.25 million is a chunky hit, especially with the cap going down next season to $64.3 million, but big, proven No. 1 centers like Getzlaf are hard to come by. If he’d gone to market as a UFA this summer, another team would have put up at least that much…and the Ducks would have had to settle for an inferior replacement. This was a much smarter option.

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Henrik Sedin received a standing ovation after becoming Vancouver’s all-time scoring leader. (Rich Lam/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

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

•Henrik Sedin chipped in a pair of assists to pass Markus Naslund as Vancouver’s all-time leading scorer but Cory Schneider gave up a couple of softies as Dallas staged a 4-3 comeback win. Kari Lehtonen left the game in the first, but early reports are this is a short-term injury.

• Yeah, the Hawks are good and they won again. And now we know why Jonathan Toews started that fight with Joe Thornton.

• Jaroslav Halak may be ready to play by Sunday, but the Blues are in no rush after a solid performance from Jake Allen. Look below in the blog for the rookie’s Save of the Year candidate.

• Here’s an outsider’s perspective on Calgary’s search for relevancy.

• The Flyers lost a 3-1 lead and defenseman Kimmo Timonen last night. If he’s out for any length, Paul Holmgren may look to the trade market.

• The surging Ducks snapped an eight-game losing streak in Detroit with a 5-2 win over the Wings. A large primate is looking for a new home after Corey Perry scored for the first time in 11 games.

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Still defying time, Ducks winger Teemu Selanne is gunning for a rare win in Chicago. (Warren Wimmer/Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

7:30 CST, CSN Chicago, Prime

The Set-up

The league-leading Blackhawks kick off a season-long seven-game homestand after tearing through a 4-0-2 road swing. The red-hot Ducks play the fourth leg of their six-game roadie having won five of their last six.

Keys to the game

Blackhawks: This stacks up to be the toughest test of the season for the Hawks, who not only face a hot team, but the challenge of getting up for the first game back after a long, successful road trip. It’s almost inevitable that they’ll struggle early after dealing with the distractions and pent-up demands of home life. (HACKEL: Road sharpened Hawks’ focus.)

Ducks: As a group, they have to provide better support in their own zone then they have during the past few games. Rookie goalie Viktor Fasth finally sagged under the pressure in their last outing. Tying up the middle and reducing second and third chances will be critical. They’ve proved their ability to come from behind. Might be nice to grab an early lead for a change.

The first period: Chicago tends to strike early and hold the lead. They’re outscoring opponents 16-8 in the first, while the Ducks have given up 17 and  scored just 11. This thing could be decided after 20 minutes.

Starting goalies: Corey Crawford (7-0-2, 1.62, .935) vs. Viktor Fasth (5-0-0, 1.72, .932)

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Stephane Robidas and Corey Perry dropped the gloves after some early physical play. (LM Otero/AP)

By Allan Muir

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

• A couple of nasty spearing incidents marred an otherwise entertaining game between Dallas and Anaheim Friday night. Problem for the Ducks is that Stars’ defenseman Stephane Robidas got away with his when he jabbed Corey Perry.

• The winter storm has pushed the start time of today’s Boston-Tampa Bay game from 1 PM to 7 PM. The caution amuses Tuukka Rask and Claude Julien.

• Several Bruins players opened up about former teammate Tim Thomas. Lots of reading between the lines to be done here.

• Sean Avery decided to pop on TSN’s Between The Line. Not surprisingly, he offered up some hot sports opinions.

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