No. 1 Star: James Neal, Pittsburgh Penguins

It was epic Neal time in Pittsburgh as the winger scored thrice in the Penguins' 6-2 rout of the Senators, leading his club into the third round of the 2013 postseason. Enjoy this clip of all three goals, unless you're a Senators fan, in which case, maybe just skip ahead:

No. 2 Star: Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins

Letang was all over the ice, setting up the Penguins' second goal from behind the net, scoring the eventual game-winner, and adding another assist on Neal's hat trick goal. With three points on the night, Letang finished the series with 10 points. He's a defenceman.

No. 3 Star: Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

Malkin was his usual, ho-hum, game-breaking self, with a quiet two points in the win.

Honourable mention: In the end, it didn't mean much, but Jason Spezza's pass to Milan Michalek for this goal was pretty nifty:

... Sidney Crosby won 21 of 31 faceoffs in this game... and finally, here's your handshake line:

Conn Smythe Watch: 1. David Krejci, Boston Bruins; 2. Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins; 3. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings; 4. Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks; 5. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins; 6. Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins; 7. Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings; 8. Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins; 9. Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks; 10. Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings.

Canada, you may want to sit down.

The Pittsburgh Penguins advanced to the Eastern Conference finals Friday, eliminating the Ottawa Senators -- the last remaining Canadian team -- with a decisive 6-2 victory in Game 5.

With that, an American club will win the Stanley Cup for the 19th straight season. Now comes the annual Canadian tradition where the country shifts from counting Canadian teams in contention to Canadian players on American teams.

[Related: James Neal's hat trick leads Penguins to victory]

The Senators made a slight improvement in Game 5, holding the Penguins to fewer goals than in their previous game. Unfortunately, it was just one fewer, and that's not nearly enough when they allowed 7 the last time around.

This game was a lot like Game 4, come to think of it: All Pittsburgh, and not all that close.

The Phoenix Coyotes are used to difficult offseasons, but this one looked even trickier. On top of looking for an owner, as usual, the club ran the risk of looking for a new General Manager and head coach as well, as the contracts of both Dave Tippett and Don Maloney were set to expire on June 30.

There was some talk that neither would receive a new deal until the Coyotes had found an owner. But with the draft and free agency coming up, and Maloney being exactly the sort of guy you want to have around for that stuff, the NHL did what a good ownership group does, and took the steps to retain their guy.

On Friday, the Coyotes announced a long-term contract extension with Maloney. From their release:

"We are very pleased that Don has agreed to sign a long-term contract extension with the Coyotes," said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly. "Since joining the team in 2007, Don has done an outstanding job managing his team and building a competitive roster that has produced on the ice, even given less than ideal circumstances off the ice. The NHL remains committed to securing the Coyotes' future in Glendale under new ownership, and we believe Don's long-term agreement evidences that he is equally committed."

[...] "I am grateful to continue working for this franchise," said Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney. "We have a strong core of talented people, both on and off the ice, who are committed to building a championship team and a first class organization. I would like to thank NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly for their tremendous support these past few years."

So weird to see Bettman and Daly in this release. This situation is ridiculous.

That part aside, it's tough to disagree with the move. As James Mirtle points out, over the last four years, the Coyotes' record of 156-96-42 makes them the eighth-best team in the NHL. That's definitely extension-worthy, especially under the circumstances.

Maloney is basically a wartime GM. He's acquitted himself nicely and done his part to keep Phoenix competitive in a dire, dire situation. And really, he was the best candidate for Phoenix anyway, since he's the only guy with four years experience GMing a team without an owner.

Getty ImagesEntering Game 5 Friday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins are looking to do something they've yet to accomplish under head coach Dan Bylsma: close out a playoff series on home ice.

"I'm aware," Bylsma told reporters Friday about that little blip on his NHL resume.

Since Bylsma replaced Michel Therrien in Feb. 2009, the Penguins have had six chances to initiate a handshake line on the ice at Mellon Arena and CONSOL Energy Center, and six times they've failed. Up 3-1 in their series versus the Ottawa Senators, the Penguins are also a win away from advancing past the second round for the first time since that 2008-09 season; one that ended with the franchise's third Stanley Cup.

"Our team knows exactly how important this opportunity is to get the fourth win and try to do that here as soon as possible and not look at this being three more games," said Bylsma after Friday's morning skate. "We have one game right in front of us and it's important to have that mentality and mindset for us tonight."

But as Senators head coach Paul MacLean declared during his only post-Game 4 statement, his team is going to Pittsburgh and coming to play. And like the New York Rangers, Ottawa can only follow the cliche and take it one game at a time.

Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

• Detroit Lions' defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh discovers the difference between the NHL and the NFL in his fair city., At football games, people throw flags. At hockey games, they throw cephalopods.

• Don Cherry stands up for maligned realist Daniel Alfredsson. [Ottawa Sun]

• Cam Charron on why it would be unwise to write off the Chicago Blackhawks just yet. I haven't read it or anything, but I'll just assume it says, "because they're really good and stuff." [Backhand Shelf]

• Jonathan Toews after Game 4. "Eventually, something's got to give. We're too good a team. We've got too much talent. For as hard as we're working, something's got to go our way." [MLive]

• An interactive visualization of the NHL drafts of yore. This is very, very cool stuff from Sarah Connors. [Stanley Cup of Chowder]

• The last time the Penguins had a chance to close out an opponent in a Game 5 at home, in 2011, they lost big, both in the game and, eventually, the series. What can they learn from that fiasco, besides "don't let this happen again"? [Post-Gazette]

• Logan Couture, on whether he's talked to good buddy Drew Doughty. "“No nothing, nothing. I’ve just talked to our friends. We have a group of mutual friends, about five to six guys, so I’ve texted them. But, I haven’t talked to Drew at all. It’s probably going to hold that way for another week.” [Mayor's Manor]

• The San Jose Sharks would prefer that their series with the Los Angeles Kings goes seven games. One suspects they didn't prefer that when the series began, but here we are. [Mercury News]

• So the Bruins lost one game. Big deal. Don't panic. It's not like they're going to lose the next three. When has that ever happened before? [CSNNE]

Based on the last two seasons, we’re working on a theory about the Los Angeles Kings: Their success in the postseason is in direct proportion with the amount of incredible gaffes and bloopers the local media makes about the team and its players.

For example: Liz Habib is a sports reporter for FOX 11 in Los Angeles. She occasionally does LA Kings highlights. In the playoffs, they tend to go horribly, horribly wrong.

So with 10 minutes left in the third period of Game 4, Willie Mitchell scored for the Los Angeles Kings to cut the San Jose Sharks’ lead to 2-1.

Except it wasn’t Willie Mitchell, who has three career playoff goals in 71 games. It was Mike Richards, who has 22 in 94 games.

Because Willie Mitchell wasn’t playing in Game 4.

Because Willie Mitchell hasn’t played since Game 6 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final.

Because Willie Mitchell’s knee is so [expletived] that he’ll likely miss parts of the 2013-14 season.

But we do appreciate Liz’s mathematical explanation concerning what happens when a team in a 2-2 series wins Game 5.

If Liz Habib’s name rings a bell, perhaps the name “Brad Doty” rings one. Yes, she was the sportscaster behind the Greatest Highlights Train Wreck of the 2013 Playoffs.

Please advance, LA Kings. YouTube needs you.

LISTEN HERE!

It's a (gettin' down on) Friday edition of Marek vs. Wyshynski beginning at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, and we're talking about the following and more:

Special Guest Star: Adrian Dater of the Denver Post talks Patrick Roy to the Avalanche and the NHL Playoffs.

• The Red Wings defeat the Blackhawks again; can the best team in the NHL rally from 3-1 down?

• Brad Richards, John Tortorella and a squirmy situation.

• GAME SHOW FRIDAY

• Previewing the weekend's games.

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DNAinfoChicagoMaggie Ciara is a third grade student at Columbus Manor Elementary School in Oak Lawn, Ill. She’s also a Chicago Blackhawks fan, as her teacher discovered in a recent math exam.

The question was “what is 9 times 9?”

The answer? Marian Hossa, a.k.a. No. 81 for the Blackhawks.

As you can see, her teacher was baffled at first ...

DNAinfoChicago

We know what you’re thinking: Did she get credit for what was, in a roundabout way, a correct answer?

Justin Breen of DNAinfo Chicago had this whimsical hockey story, and spoke with Maggie’s teacher. While she didn't quite get what the answer meant at first, Maggie clarified it for her:

Her teacher, Christine Mech, circled the answer and wrote "What is this?" in red pen. When Maggie explained her response, Mech gave her credit, and she received an A+.

"Maggie is a very clever little girl," said Mech, who's a Hawks fan and knew what Maggie was up to. "I love the way Maggie has a sense of humor. She did get her 100 percent on the quiz, and we had a little bit of a laugh