NEW YORK – The puck stayed at the far end of the ice as the last 10 seconds ticked off the clock Thursday night. Henrik Lundqvist, who had made so many saves, was finally safe himself – safe to let down his guard, safe to soak up the moment, safe to scream inside his mask.

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist celebrates moving on to Round 2. (AP)The New York Rangers had beaten the Ottawa Senators 2-1. After facing a 3-2 deficit in their first-round playoff series, they had won two straight. They had won the first Game 7 at Madison Square Garden since Mark Messier lifted the Stanley Cup in 1994.

"Before that, you're not happy," Lundqvist said. "You're not happy at all playing, because you're just nervous and excited and focused. But then you start to get really happy. It's a big relief. It's like everything just comes out, and then you feel the crowd …"

What does it feel like to play a Game 7? What does it take to win a Game 7? It's a mental and physical test unlike any other in hockey. Who can compose himself? Who can make the plays, or mistakes, that

BOSTON – The Washington Capitals – once the high-scoring, loosey-goosey, underachieving Washington Capitals – won the tightest playoff series in NHL history. They upset the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins in the first round.

The Capitals celebrate their Game 7 overtime win against Boston. (AP)And in the end, in overtime of Game 7, it wasn't their big names who made the big play at the big moment Wednesday night. It wasn't Alex Ovechkin or Nicklas Backstrom or Alex Semin or Mike Green.

It was a couple of fourth-liners who have been in and out of the lineup. It was Mike Knuble, a 39-year-old who could have been playing his final NHL game, and Joel Ward, a 31-year-old who hadn't lived up to his four-year, $12 million free-agent contract.

This is the short version: Knuble blocked a puck at the Washington blue line, raced down the ice and fired a backhand shot. Goaltender Tim Thomas stopped it with his right pad, but he left a rebound. Ward backhanded it into the net 2:57 into OT.

Capitals 2, Bruins 1.

TD Garden was dead silent as the

PHILADELPHIA – If you outshine the two best players in the world, what does that make you?

Claude Giroux.

The title comes and goes. The argument never ends. But Giroux made his case the way he led the Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-1 victory Sunday, eliminating Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins – the favorites to win the Stanley Cup – in the first round.

Claude Giroux led the way for the Flyers, scoring just 32 seconds into Game 6. (Getty Images)It wasn't just his goal and three points in the game. It wasn't just his six goals and 14 points in the six games, one short of the franchise record for a playoff series, set by Tim Kerr in 1989.

The Flyers took a 3-0 series lead. After they lost Game 4, 10-3, Giroux declared it unacceptable. After they lost Game 5, 3-2, he smashed his stick over a crossbar. Before Game 6, he had a request for coach Peter Laviolette.

"When the best player in the world comes up to you and tells you, 'I don't know who you're planning on starting tonight, but I want that first shift,' that says everything you need to know

PITTSBURGH – The fans were chanting for Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Only this wasn't acknowledgment. It was encouragement. The Philadelphia Flyers had just hit a goal post, Fleury had just left a fat rebound that needed to be cleared and the game was maybe a minute old.

"FLEUR-Y! FLEUR-Y!"

Marc-Andre Fleury made 14 saves in the third period of Game 5. (Getty Images)The Penguins, the favorites to win the Stanley Cup, were facing elimination for the second time already just five games into the first round of the playoffs. Fleury, a standout in the regular season, had allowed a stunning 20 goals in the series. The fans knew they needed him to come through. They were going to make him come through.

So imagine the noise in the third period when Fleury made 14 saves to preserve a 3-2 victory Friday night – 10 straight during one 3-1/2-minute stretch, including seven against a Flyers power play that had been scoring at will. Even sniper Danny Briere, Philly's clutch playoff performer, couldn't beat him. Left pad. Stop. Stop.

"FLEUR-Y!

DETROIT – Practice was over. Nicklas Lidstrom sat in front of his stall in the Red Wings' dressing room Thursday at Joe Louis Arena, talking to one of his teammates as a trainer packed his equipment for Friday night's game in Nashville. The trainer picked up the bag and hauled it away. Lidstrom stood up and slowly walked into the void, toward the reporters who had been waiting to speak to him.

Nicklas Lidstrom will decide his future, as always, during the summer. (AP)He had to know what was coming. After a few questions about Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne and defensive coverage related to the Wings' 3-1 deficit in their first-round playoff series, sure enough, someone asked The Big One. Do you think about your future, that this could be your last game?

"No," Lidstrom said quickly and flatly. "I don't think like that. I think I've learned from the other years …"

He laughed.

"… that I try to push that aside and just go out and try to play a real solid game, play a good game and come out with a win."

This has become routine, all too routine for

PHILADELPHIA – Can they do it? Yeah, they can do it. The Pittsburgh Penguins are good enough, the Philadelphia Flyers are vulnerable enough and this series has been crazy enough, that's for sure. It's been the highest-scoring series through four games in NHL history, featuring 45 goals, one more than the Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers produced back in 1985.

Pittsburgh scored eight straight goals en route to a 10-3 win over Philly. (Getty Images)But unless the Penguins do it, unless they become the fourth NHL team to come back from 3-0 deficit and win a best-of-7 series, Wednesday night's 10-3 victory won't be remembered as a display of defiant pride. It will be remembered as a display of what all these Penguins could have been, of all that slipped away.

The Penguins' stars looked like stars. The Flyers' goaltenders looked like, well, Flyers goaltenders. It turned into a rout, and an electric building lost its power.

Jordan Staal had three goals. Evgeni Malkin had two. Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and three other Penguins each had one. The Flyers' Ilya

DETROIT – Two weeks before the playoffs began, Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne stood in the visitors' dressing room at Joe Louis Arena, sizing up his likely first-round opponent, the Detroit Red Wings.

Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne takes a well-deserved break. (Getty Images)"Just cross your fingers," he said with a laugh.

He talked about Pavel Datsyuk ("extremely skilled"), Henrik Zetterberg ("always plays hard"), Johan Franzen ("great shooter"), Valtteri Filppula ("has been amazing"), Jiri Hudler ("has played well").

"And …"

He sighed and looked back at the white board behind him.

"You go through the whole lineup," he continued, talking about Todd Bertuzzi ("big body but still soft hands") and the rest. "They have good balance throughout their lineup and plus a really good goalie."

Ah, but Rinne is a really good goalie, too. Really, really good. So good that he led the Preds back to the Joe, where the Wings had the NHL's best home record in the regular season; so good that he stared down all that talent, which generated the league's

When Pittsburgh and Philadelphia started brawling late in the regular season, Flyers assistant coach Craig Berube called the Penguins' Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin "the two dirtiest players on their hockey team." He never mentioned Matt Cooke, who just one year ago was widely considered the dirtiest player in hockey.

Matt Cooke had to relearn how to hit this season. (Getty Images)When the rivals went off the rails Sunday in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series, they combined for 158 penalty minutes. Cooke did not receive a single one. Until late in the regular season, Cooke had more goals (19) than minor penalties (18). He still finished with only 22 minors – or only 44 penalty minutes, a dramatic drop for someone who had 100-plus PIMs three years in a row.

Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Cooke has never received a major, never received a misconduct, never received a fine, never received a suspension. He has been remarkably clean.

And he knows that doesn't mean he is clean now.

"Obviously I'm happy with where things are at