Getty ImagesChris Kreider was thrown into the NHL fire beginning with Game 3 of the New York Rangers' opening round series with the Ottawa Senators. Just weeks removed from winning a national championship with Boston College, the 21-year old Kreider has been given a crash course on professional hockey quickly understanding the highs -- two goals in New York's first two series, both game-winners -- and the lows -- seeing his ice time limited in Games 4, 5 and 6 against the Washington Capitals after a couple of defensive lapses.

[Recap: Rangers beat Devils 3-0 in Eastern Conference finals opener]

Monday night during Game 1 against the New Jersey Devils, the roller coaster began to angle back upward as Kreider scored his third goal of the playoffs as the Rangers celebrated a 3-0 victory:

Kreider was benched in Game 4 of the second round against the Washington Capitals, but it was a punishment that served him well. Having the rookie watch the action from the bench was a good learning tool forcing him to re-focus despite the magnitude of these games at the start of his career.

Getty ImagesGame 1 Preview : New Jersey Devils at New York Rangers, 8 p.m. ET. The Battle of the Hudson will take place for the third time since the lockout beginning with Game 1 tonight at Madison Square Garden. The Devils and Rangers split their six-game regular season series which was highlighted by a March line brawl to open the game. The Rangers are coming off back-to-back seven-game series, while the Devils have had five days off. Will there be any signs of rust for New Jersey early on? And will New York look tired in Game 1 having eliminated the Washington Capitals on Saturday night?

Evening Reading

• Listen to  today's Marek Vs. Wyshynski here.

• Craig Custance talked to the agent for Alex Semin and told him that his client will be hitting the open market on July 1. A return to Washington doesn't sound like it's in the cards: "It was good while it lasted. With the lack of playoff success, with the direction they are going. They decided to change directions. That's within their rights. Alex doesn't fit into that system obviously." [ESPN]

• Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith is a hockey fan and sure knows how to play to a crowd. [Sean's Ramblings]

• Finland's Anssi Salmela was given a 3-game suspension for his hit from behind on Team USA's Alex Goligoski. [IIHF]

• Finally, is there anything better than video of general manager's getting upset watching their team in the press box? Example: George McPhee of the Washington Capitals from Game 7:

Puck Daddy Reader Comment of the Day: The Los Angeles Kings' Twitter feed continues it comedy reign:

"During practice Slava Voynovs stick snapped on a slapshot and flew into the stands. Sadly media personal [sic] were quick to get out of the way."

Bold Prediction: Devils grab Game 1 with a 2-1 win.

Getty Images"Right now I'm going to home to the farm, the team, and the family."

To the surprise of not many, Dale Hunter stepped down this afternoon as head coach of the Washington Capitals after taking over for Bruce Boudreau in November. Almost as soon as he took on the coach, the speculation began about how long Hunter would last in D.C. after signing a 1-year deal and having a successful junior hockey team in London of the OHL to fall back on should things not work out.

They did work out as Hunter led the Capitals within a victory of the Eastern Conference Final, but in the end the choice came down to family.

Via Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post:

"It's a tough decision," Hunter said. "When I retired as a hockey player, I had to retire because I wasn't that good anymore, I guess you want to say. This was a tough decision. I enjoyed coaching these guys here and being back to the team. I always figure, it's not my team but Ted's team, but it's still my team. It was the right thing for me and my family."

"It was a tough choice," Hunter said when asked if he was tempted to see his work done this season into the next. "Even if they win the Stanley Cup next year, I feel like I'm part of it. I'll always be part of it."

Hunter's London Knights team that he co-owns with his brother Mark will be playing in the Memorial Cup beginning this weekend. He said he doesn't plan to return behind the Knights' bench this season, preferring to be "a fan" during the tournament.

Here's Hunter:

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Early in the first period of Game 1, Keith Yandle of the Phoenix Coyotes dumped the puck in on Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick, who dropped his stick attempting to play the puck.

Maybe the Coyotes noticed something from that play. Maybe they didn't. But later in the period, Coyotes defenseman Derek Morris decided against dumping the puck in and chose to fire it on net and ended up succeeding to tie the game:

As @Fel0096 points out, Quick allowed this center ice blast from Alex Pietrangelo of the St. Louis Blues last season.

Somewhere, Dan Cloutier is sympathizing.

Not much has beaten Quick this season and in these playoffs, so he's allowed one goof. And while he's made many highlight-reel saves this season, everyone joins the blooper reel at some point.

Fortunately for Quick, this one didn't come in a loss. The Kings took Game 1, 4-2.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Two days after they needed overtime to get past Kazakhstan, Team USA rolled over Finland today with a 5-0 victory and earn a spot in the quarterfinals. They'll finish the round robin portion of the IIHF World Championships on Tuesday against Switzerland.

Fortunately for the Americans Alex Goligoski appeared to make it through this nasty boarding call by Anssi Salmela early in the third period unscathed:

You know it's a vicious hit when both announcers respond with "Oh my goodness!" at the same time.

Goligoski did not miss any time in the third period, despite the ugliness of the hit.

Salmela was given a five minute major and game misconduct. The IIHF will surely review the hit and it's just a matter of how many games he'll miss for the Finns at this point.

Stick-tap Eye on Hockey for the video

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Getty ImagesAs the final buzzer sounded during the New York Rangers' 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals to advance to the Eastern Conference Final against the New Jersey Devils, the similarities to their Stanley Cup run in 1994 continued to grow.

In 1994, the Rangers finished atop the Eastern Conference with 50-plus wins, just like this year.

In 1994, the Rangers had an All-Star Game MVP in Mike Richter, just like this year with Marian Gaborik.

In 1994, the Rangers defeated the Capitals to advance to the conference final, just like this year.

[Related: Judging level of success for Capitals]

And in 1994 the Rangers met the Devils in a memorable conference final that ended thanks to a Stephane Matteau wrap-around.

It remains to be seen how things will end this time around, but if you're a Rangers fan looking for some sort of cosmic sign that this is their year, well, history does have a way of repeating itself.

Johan Franzen showing off his broken nose.Detroit Red Wings and Team Sweden forward Johan Franzen spends a lot of time around the goal and therefore has taken his fair share of punishment over the years. This was on display Friday when the Swedes fell to Russia 7-3 during their round robin game at the World Championships in Stockholm.

Franzen and Russian defenseman Alexei Emelin mixed it up throughout the game, including one occasion resulting in this glorious dive by Emelin. In the first period, after Henrik Zetterberg's goal put Sweden up 2-1, Emelin was given a two-minute minor for "slashing", though watching the replay, it was clear it was more than a slash:

The IIHF disciplinary panel reviewed the play and announced a one-game suspension for Emelin. He'll miss Russia's next game against the Czech Republic on Sunday. Nashville Predators fans are likely thinking, "Yeah, that's karma for this."

As if taking a stick to the midsection wasn't bad enough for Franzen, early in the third period as the puck was loose around the Russian net, Dmitri Kalinin (remember him Sabres fans?) attempted to clear the big Sweden from the crease with a cross-check to the face:

Franzen suffered a broken nose and according to a Swedish report (via George Malik), he will not play against Italy today.

Kalinin, for his efforts, was given a match penalty on the play, which equal an automatic one-game suspension. After a review, the IIHF added two more games to his total meaning he'll miss Russia's remaining round robin matches, along with the first game of the playoff round.

So how was your Friday?

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Los Angeles Kings Head Coach Darryl Sutter joked during a Thursday conference call that if goaltender Jonathan Quick were to get injured, Jonathan Bernier would be next in line, followed by team vice president and assistant GM Ron Hextall and goaltending coach Bill Ranford.

Getty ImagesThe latter two were Conn Smythe Trophy winners in 1987 and 1990, respectively, while Bernier has yet to experience a playoff game in his NHL career. Quick is the current front-runner for the Smythe as the Kings go for their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

Some teams can win in spite of their goaltending, but the Kings wouldn't be close to even a sniff of the Western Conference Final against the Phoenix Coyotes without the work of Quick. His 35-win season made him the first Kings goaltender to record three straight 30-plus win seasons. He also posted an NHL-best 10 shutouts and was top-5 in wins, goals-against average (1.95) and save percentage (.929).

Aside from being a Smythe candidate, he was nominated for the Vezina Trophy; and while he fell short of being a finalist, many believe he was worthy of Hart Trophy consideration. Taking into account that nine of Quick's losses came in games where he allowed just a single goal, it's hard to ignore his inclusion into the MVP discussion.

Sutter has seen this before. While coaching the Calgary Flames during the 2003-04 season when they came within a game of winning the Cup, he watched Miikka Kiprusoff post five shutouts and a 1.85 goals against average en route to Game 7 of the Final that year. To Sutter, what Quick brings to the Kings reminds him of Kiprusoff eight years ago.

"I think they play a lot of the same way in their styles," Sutter said. "It's a bit different than other guys. Same practice habits, both have real similar work ethics, both have the same demeanor in the locker room, but there are real similarities between these two guys."

While many saw this coming from Quick, what Mike Smith has been providing to the Coyotes wasn't predicted.