Slovakia actually took hold of the game early on going completely against expectations. Tomas Kopecky and Miroslav Satan gave Slovakia a 2-0 lead in the first period. Canada finally got on the board with Evander Kane tallying late in the first period. The momentum seemed to pay off for Canada as Jeff Skinner ad Alexandre Burrows scored in the second period to flip the game on its head.

However, Jan Laco would shut the door in the final period and Milan Bartovic tied it up with just over six minutes left in the third. The killer blow would finally come after one of Canada’s star players, Ryan Getzlaf, took an ill-disciplined major kneeing penalty in the late minutes. Slovakia made no mistake as Michal Handzus tipped Andrej Sekera’s shot into the back of the net.

Slovakia is a growing hockey nation and it would undoubtedly be a mistake to under-estimate them. This team has plenty of good players with NHL and strong European hockey experience. They demonstrated against Canada that they have the serious potential to make a long run in this competition. They will play in a semi-final on Saturday facing the winner of the game between Czech Republic and Sweden. That game will be another tough test.

It’s another frustrating, early exit for the Canadiens. Canada’s recent struggles to assert themselves in international hockey continue.

It’s worth mentioning that the notion of the cryptic head coach press conference is hardly a new theme. New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick made himself famous for the ambiguity and emotionless nature of his answers, and that was regardless of his team’s success or lack of success.

Tortorella certainly doesn’t leave the media under any illusions about his mood, even if he limits his answers. ‘Torts’ replies are presumably based on a couple of factors. Firstly, he is genuinely a coach who gets fired up and angry and it is very plausible that he simply doesn’t have any desire to waste his time with a press conference or discussing intricate aspects of his team with the press. The second obvious factor is that he is insulating pressure within his team.

Rather than coming out and openly saying ‘this part of our game is bad’, or ‘X, Y and Z need to improve’, the Rangers coach has instead elected to not go into any details with regards to his team’s performance. It’s an understandable position to take considering the hard, difficult nature of the playoffs and the pressure that there is on the Rangers.

The only issue worth discussing is whether Tortorella is actually increasing or decreasing pressure on his team. After all, the team will have been more than made well aware of their faults, that much seems certain. Maybe just maybe, Tortorella’s media strategy is actually going to be a bit costly as his players get more and more questions from the media.

Hanzal’s numbers don’t necessarily stand out. He has just three goals and five points in 10 games, but his importance at both ends of the ice should not be under-estimated. The big center provides a key presence as a pivot between the team’s top two wingers Ray Whitney and Radim Vrbata. Whitney’s six points and Vrbata’s four have been disappointing in the playoffs so far, and it is even harder to see them enjoying success now. It isn’t clear how Dave Tippett will adjust his line-up, but Antoine Vermette and Daymond Langkow are probably the two favourites to jump into that top spot.

However, it might be on the defensive side of the ice that the Coyotes miss Hanzal the most. The big center is a key player matching up against the opposition’s top lines and he is especially important in a series against the Kings, who are big and play a physical grinding style of hockey.

LA will start Game 3 as the big favourites to win that game and go on to complete a relatively simple series victory. Hanzal missing will be a serious blow to this roster, but Phoenix are a team that have shown time and time again that they enjoy underdog status the best. Coyotes’ fans will be hoping that they rise to it again in Game 3 and at least challenge Los Angeles in this series somewhat.

His players probably appreciate it very little in those first couple of weeks, but this current Rangers roster must be appreciating it now. They have had to battle through two tough seven-game opening rounds before having just one day between Game 7 in the Eastern conference semi-final and Game 1 of the conference final. Fatigue wasn’t a factor in that Game 1 against the New Jersey Devils though as the Rangers turned their game up in the third period and took a 3-0 lead.

Tortorella won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning and he is bringing that experience again this season. His great talent is to master high skilled players like Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards, while still running a strong defensive system. A goaltender like Henrik Lundqvist helps, plus New York has a trio of quality shutdown defensemen in Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh and Marc Staal.

This team may or may not be primed for their first cup win since 1994, but they are as close as they have ever been and there is little doubt that they owe a lot to their head coach.

Phoenix Coyotes – Mike Smith

This is hands down the easiest decision of the four different teams. It looks like the Coyotes will be knocked out by the Kings in the conference finals (though it’s still too early to say). However, Smith has definitely been the MVP of this team. It’s questionable whether any playoff team has been more reliant on one more player more than the Coyotes have been dependent on Smith. He has been simply outstanding posting a .943 save percentage and a 2.02 GAA. Smith has been good in the first two games of the conference finals, though it has been to no avail.

Los Angeles Kings – Dustin Brown

Jonathan Quick has certainly been impressive. He has two shutouts and has posted a .951 save percentage and 1.45 GAA. He is 10-1 in the postseason so far, surely it must go to the Vezina Trophy front runner? While Quick’s incredible numbers might separate him, it is clear that Brown is this team’s MVP.

Quick has had the benefit of a rigid defensive structure in front of him and while he is undoubtedly the MVP overall this season, it has been Brown who has sparked his team to playoff success. Brown’s offense has been outstanding scoring seven goals and 14 points in 11 games. He has scored several short-handed goals and has tallied in several vital situations. Captain Brown is the Conn Smythe favourite if the Kings lift the cup.

New York Rangers – Dan Girardi

This is another one where the goaltender is the sexy pick. Henrik Lundqvist has been a consistent presence during the postseason and has an impressive set of statistics with a .940 save percentage and 1.57 GAA. However, to suggest that Lundqvist has been the team’s top player and most valuable player is a mis-representation.

However, we are going to pick a player, who probably won’t get the MVP award but deserves it. Dan Girardi has been the team’s most valuable player so far. He plays an important role in leading this team and it’s blue-line. He is the shutdown defenseman and has done a great job in that role during the playoffs. Not only that but he has contributed useful offense at key times during this playoff run. He has nine points in 15 games so far in the 2012 playoffs, third best on the New York team.

New Jersey Devils – Ilya Kovalchuk

If Kovalchuk wins this award, it will be a nice moment. He is the front runner on the Devils team as the offensive leader and a crucial team-orientated leader on this roster. Kovalchuk’s transformation into a different style of player will undoubtedly play a role in his nomination, but he has also definitely been this team’s top player during this postseason.

Russia v Norway

Norway have been the one surprise of the tournament so far. They finished fourth in their group and played an exciting brand of hockey thrashing some of the smaller countries. This game features the top two scorers in the tournament so far in Evgeni Malkin and Patrick Thoresen. However, it’s very hard to see the highly favoured Russians losing out to this side especially with Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin joining the roster.

USA v Finland

This is possibly the most intriguing of the quarter final match-ups. The US thrashed Finland 5-0 in the preliminary match between the two sides, which was a surprising result considering the fact that this section of the tournament is being played in Helsinki and the Finnish are the defending champions. Finland will still fancy themselves in the quarter-finals as a tough, defensive team, but things are generally looking up in US hockey and they have proven themselves a dangerous opponent.

Canada v Slovakia

This game features a contrast of styles. Canada will be desperate to avoid a third straight exit at the quarter final stage and boast a line-up filled with talented youngsters including Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jonathan Tavares, Jordan Eberle and Evander Kane and useful veterans like Duncan Keith. Meanwhile, the Slovakians rely on a tough defense led by Zdeno Chara and strong goaltending. This is the team that has the potential to cause an upset.

Sweden v Czech Republic

Both of these teams are real dark horses to win this competition. They were both consistent and looked like good teams in the preliminary stages and could benefit from being less favoured than the Canadiens or the Russians. Sweden are a particularly interesting team. They have home ice advantage, good experience and good speed.

The 27-year old Carter hasn’t done a huge amount in 2011-12. After scoring 15 goals and 25 points in 39 games with the Blue Jackets, he managed just six goals and nine points in 16 games with the Kings before injuries held him back. He hasn’t exactly been a force in the playoffs so far. He scored a goal and four points in the first 10 games before breaking out with his hat-trick.

These statistical issues could come to prominence if Carter’s numbers do not pick up next season. After all, he is a forward signed to a big salary and for a long time. However, the tall, fast-skating forward took over the game on Tuesday mercilessly putting away a couple of power-play goals and completing a hat-trick.

There’s never been any doubt about Carter’s ability and he should thrive with a good supporting cast in LA. However, he had only managed 13 goals in 47 previous postseason games. He has developed a reputation for not being a big performer in the playoffs, and he had maintained that reputation until Tuesday night.

He is looking healthy and he is clearly enjoying his hockey playing alongside Mike Richards and Dwight King. The Richards-Carter combination has yet to really prove Philadelphia GM Paul Holmgren wrong with their offensive numbers this season, but they very much look set to be competing in the Stanley Cup final for the second time in their career.

However, they have learned today that they will have to move forward without coach Dale Hunter. The announcement may come as a surprise to some as Hunter seemed to find his feet in the NHL head coaching position in the playoffs, but family reasons were cited. Hunter has always been one of the game’s more passionate and decisive characters and he showed similar qualities in making this decision, which is a completely understandable one to make.

It is somewhat debatable whether Hunter really had what it took to make this team successful in the long run. His willingness to do whatever it took was win was an admirable attribute, and he was bold in limiting the ice time of offensive stars Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin. Only a Washington hero could have gotten away with it and Hunter made it work with his strict defensive style combining with offensive efficiency in the postseason.

However, ultimately there are concerns about whether his ultra-defensive style could ever be successful. It is very likely that GM George McPhee will seek out another coach with a similarly defensive mindset and it is a clear sign that Washington are still barking up the wrong tree. Failing to utilise this team’s offensive strength is a mistake and a coach that really drives this team to genuine success in the postseason will be the one who can master the balance between offense and defense. Hunter did a great job with this team, but he did not manage that.

This was a game that the Kings dominated in just about every aspect. Phoenix have arguably been on and off their game all playoffs long, but there were clear signs here that they won’t get away with it against this LA team. The Kings haven’t lost a single game on the road in this playoffs, in fact, they have only lost one so far.

Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar both got on the scoresheet again, while Dwight King contributed a pair of goals. It was what has become a typical Los Angeles offensive performance with the stars connecting and back-up scoring getting involved as well. Young blue-liner Slava Voynov made the critical play early in the third period laying a beautiful pass to send captain Brown in on a breakaway.

While the offensive side of LA’s game has dramatically improved since about March, goaltender Jonathan Quick and the team’s defense just keeps doing what it does. They are big and tough to play against and seemingly unstoppable at the moment.

The one consolation in this game for Dave Tippett and the Coyotes is that despite playing a poor game, they were able to stick in there. In fact, Mikkel Boedker’s tying goal late in the second set up a potentially intriguing third period. Mike Smith wasn’t unbeatable, but he was pretty hard to beat in Game 1. If Phoenix brings a better effort in Game 2, they must feel that they still have a great chance against the Kings.

1. Bryce Salvador

After missing all of last season with an injury, Salvador has returned to full time duty this season. It has been such a revelation with the veteran bringing a great physical presence to the line-up. Few would have believed you if you had told them that Salvador would be the top defenseman on a team in the conference finals, but it is arguable that that is exactly what has happened.

2. Derek Stepan

Stepan has been solid scoring eight points in 14 games in the playoffs so far. He has been a solid second line presence, but he will likely need to up his game once again as New York tries to compete with New Jersey’s offensive depth. Stepan has top end offensive skill and has shown the ability to get red hot in the past. That’s what John Tortorella will want in the next round.

3. The coaches

This is a match-up between two very different coaches and the coach who wins the match-up will probably be on the winning team. Peter De Boer is in his first ever postseason, while John Tortorella has been all the way once before. Tortorella showed his fiery side in the last round of the playoffs. How aggressive will he be with his players in this contest?

4. Big name offensive players

This is a simple point. This series includes the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise, Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik. These teams are both defense first, but which of the offensive stars emerge could well determine the winner of this series.

5. Penalty killing

These were two of the top penalty killing units in the regular season and both teams were known to have deep units and strong blue-lines. However, neither has been quite so consistent in the postseason and both will be tested in this series.