from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- Harry Sinden always believed the best way to handicap a Stanley Cup winner was to check who the best NHL team was over the final quarter of the schedule. If that’s the case, the Cup champion will be the Pittsburgh Penguins, 16-4 in their last 20 games. And they enter the playoffs without Evgeni Malkin and possibly without goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury.

- Didn’t think the Lightning would win a playoff round without defenceman Anton Stralman. Now without Steven Stamkos, I’m convinced they’re first-round fodder unless Ben Bishop comes up big.

- The best analytics mind in the hockey business, Rob Vollman, has been using a goaltending statistic that explains the rather sad state of the Montreal Canadiens.

The stat, quality starts, is modelled after the baseball version — six innings pitched, three or fewer earned runs against — but is meant to bring additional context to the quality of NHL goaltending.

In games Carey Price started in goal for Montreal prior to his injury, not only did the Habs have a 10-2 record, but Price had performed at the highest level in 66.7% of his starts. The highest in the NHL this season has been Brian Elliott of St. Louis at 70.3% of his starts....

more on Price an other hockey notes...