The New York Rangers have managed just one goal in each of their three losses to the Washington Capitals in their first-round series, so it stood to reason that, with the club facing elimination in Game 6, scoring more than one goal was a big part of the game plan.

They weren't able to do it. They were, however, able to push the Capitals to a Game 7 nonetheless, as Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves for his first shutout of Round 1 in a 1-0 victory.

The lone goal came off the stick of Derick Brassard, then off the glove of Capitals' defenceman Steve Olesky before finding its way past Braden Holtby.

[Related: Maple Leafs push Bruins to Game 7 in Boston]

It was hardly a pretty one, but not much in this game was pretty, except for Lundqvist.

(Ed. Note: As the Stanley Cup Playoffs continue, we're bound to lose some friends along the journey. We've asked for these losers, gone but not forgotten, to be eulogized by the people who knew the teams best: The bloggers who hated them the most. Here is Los Angeles Kings blogger The Royal Half, fondly recalling the St. Louis Blues. Again, this was not written by us. Also: This is a roast and you will be offended by it, so don't take it so seriously.)

By The Royal Half

It's been said that you have to know the past in order to understand the present. And for the 2012-13 St. Louis Blues, this has never been more true. The Blues entered the NHL as part of the 1st wave of expansion in 1967 when the league doubled the number of teams from the Original Six. (Not to be confused with NBC Sports' Original Two.)

Boy, they sure played the game differently back then.

This is not a visual representation of NHL expansion in 1967 but rather the total amount of goals the Blues scored against the LA Kings in the 1st Round of 2013.

Truthfully, the St. Louis Blues only came into existence in the NHL because the father of one of the worst human beings of all time, Chicago Blackhawks owner Arthur Wirtz, needed to get rid of an old, neglected and run-down structure in St. Louis. At the time, little did the NHL know that "old, neglected and run-down" would not only become a symbol for the fate of the Blues franchise... but also for the city of St. Louis itself!

Never change, St. Louis. Never change.

Marian Hossa had a big night for the Chicago Blackhawks in their Game 5 victory over the Minnesota Wild on May 9, scoring twice as his club moved on to the second round. But as it turns out, his impact may have gone beyond that.

Hossa's second period goal, which was a big one, as it pushed the Hawks' lead to three, may have induced labour in one fan. Midway through the middle frame, Donna Lebano, eight months pregnant, started having contractions.

But the diehard Hawks fan wasn't going to miss an elimination game just to give birth to some baby.

"No way was I leaving," Lebano said in a statement. "We are a Hawks family. I had to see the end of the game."

[Also: NHL Three Stars: Lundqvist, Reimer close the door; Wings advance]

And really, she gave birth to one of these things a year and a half ago. The Hawks haven't been to the second round since 2010. So, you know, priorities.

Out with her three sisters for a girls' night, Lebano ignored her contractions through the end of the second, the intermission, and the third period before being rushed to the hospital to give birth to her second child sometime around the handshake line. From ABC News:

Just hours later, she gave birth to a son, Owen Michael. Owen weighs 6 pounds, 5 ounces and is 19.5 inches long. Mom and baby are both doing fine- and already ready to cheer on the Hawks in the next playoff game.

"Owen is such a great baby, very patient. We're doing fantastic and we think of Owen as Hossa's hat trick. Two goals in a playoff game and a baby delivered moments after getting to the hospital is an epic hat trick," Lebano said.

I'm not so sure we can call that a hat trick. It seems like more of an assist to me. But either way, since Hossa picked up another one of those in the third, we'll call it a four-point night for the big Slovak. Way to deliver, guy.

"Nothing like an exciting Hawks game to induce labor,” one of Lebano's sisters told WGN. You heard her. Not acupuncture. Not pineapple. Not even sex. Nothing.

Follow Harrison Mooney on Twitter at @HarrisonMooney

Getty ImagesUNIONDALE, N.Y. -- When comparing the statistical careers of Mario Lemieux and Brooks Orpik, there are many, many differences in many, many categories. But on Saturday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman achieved something that his boss never did in his NHL career: score a playoff overtime goal.

Through 78 career postseason games, this playoff goal was Orpik's biggest because it was his first ever and it gave the Penguins a 4-3 overtime victory to eliminate the New York Islanders in Game 6.

“I’d much rather get one there than in the regular season when it doesn’t really matter," said Orpik.

Before overtimes, Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma rattles his brain thinking of a player on his team who he believes will score the game-winner. In his five seasons behind the bench in Pittsburgh, he's had no reason to choose Orpik, but who doesn't love a pleasant surprise?

Another player Bylsma didn't predict to net an important goal was Paul Martin, whose shot from the point with 5:16 left in regulation deflected off Frans Nielsen's stick to force the extra period.

“[We] just feel fortunate to get that goal from Paul Martin to tie it up and be able to get the game winner here today and get that fourth win and move on," said Bylsma.

Coming off an impressive Game 5 shutout, the Penguins' struggles from Games 2-4 returned and they once again couldn't keep up with the Islanders' speed and forecheck. Their inability to exit their own zone cleanly energized the sold-out Nassau Coliseum crowd.

The Islanders didn't allow many shots on Evgeni Nabokov, outshooting Pittsburgh 38-21, and they would take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission - -but, as has been shown throughout this series, the rollercoaster ride was just beginning.

“We responded being down three different times in the game," said Orpik. "We could have easily just packed it in and not battled back.”

Through three periods, the Penguins kept answering the Islanders on the scoresheet, but never held a lead until Orpik's winner. The Islanders, behind the energy of their 16,170 fans, once again outplayed the Penguins at 5-on-5 and controlled possession during many points of the game. By the time Orpik's goal went behind Nabokov, you could hear the sigh of relief from the Pittsburgh bench.

“Right now it just feels great to close it out and move on," said Jarome Iginla. "Nobody was taking anything for granted. We wanted to end it tonight.”

The Penguins will move on to the second round to face the Ottawa Senators for the fourth time in seven seasons. While they'll be able to take the next few days before Game 1 to shift their focus, Pittsburgh cannot forget what happened in this series.

They cannot forget how the Islanders were successful at dictating the play. They cannot forget some of the undisciplined penalties that, without the help of a strong penalty kill, could have flipped this series in the Islanders' favor. They cannot have a short memory of this series. The memories of these six games have to factor in their improvement if they're to get by the Senators.

For now, though, it's all about surviving and advancing.

"Thanks for being you, Nabby."

No. 1 Star: Brooks Orpik, Pittsburgh Penguins

He scored the series-winning goal in the 4-3 win, which is about all you need to do get a first star in my opinion. But if that's not enough, he also had an excellent game all-around, finishing a team-high plus-7 in even-strength Corsi (plus/minus for shots attempted) in a game where the Penguins were outshot 38-21.

No. 2 Star: Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

Malkin drew criticism for his defensive play at times, but he also had two assists, creating both the Penguins' game-tying and game-winning goals. On the winner, he forced the Islanders to collapse to the net before feeding Tyler Kennedy, who had all the time in the world to set up Orpik. And on Martin's, he made the pass himself. Plus he headed this puck to himself:

The New York Islanders deserved better, especially after the way they played in Game 6. But in the end, they just couldn't hold the Pittsburgh Penguins at bay. New York led for much of the third period, but with five minutes remaining in regulation, a Paul Martin slapshot ramped off Frans Nielsen's stick and past Evgeni Nabokov to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Then, seven minutes into the extra frame, Brooks Orpik powered another blast by Nabokov to send the Islanders home (or keep them there, I guess):

The only thing that hurts more than getting hit by Brooks Orpik: getting beat by him. That dude was nobody's overtime pick.

As I said, the Islanders deserved better. Back home in front of the Nassau faithful, they got the crowd into it early (or, at the very least, turned them up a little) by getting on the board early after John Tavares opened the scoring just five minutes in.

The Penguins would get that one back just two minutes later, as Jarome Iginla answered Tavares. But the Islanders just kept coming. By the end of the first, they were back in front.

New York controlled the play all night, outshooting Pittsburgh 38-21. Unfortunately, the Penguins got great goaltending from Tomas Vokoun, who made 35 saves in his second consecutive start and made a pretty strong argument for a third.

Pittsburgh now heads home for Round 2 versus the Ottawa Senators in a series that comes pre-loaded with a lot of big questions: Who starts in goal for Pittsburgh? Has Vokoun stolen the job going forward, or does the whole thing reset on the flight home?

Can the Penguins play the way they did versus the Islanders and get to the Eastern Conference Final? (No, probably not.)

And most importantly, with Matt Cooke and Erik Karlsson back on the same ice, will Don Brennan be writing another article about his package?

Getty ImagesThe last World Cup of Hockey was held in 2004. A great hockey spectacle showcasing the world’s best players battling it out for their country was the successor of the equally historic Canada Cup that was held from 1976 to 1991. Since the last World Cup of Hockey there have been a few suggestions to bring the tournament back, especially in light of the desire of players involved to be able to play for their country at a high level tournament (no offence, IIHF World Championships).

The NHL, the NHLPA and the IIHF got together in Sweden recently to negotiate a lot of items on their agenda, including the new player transfer agreement and NHL’s participation in Sochi. As we reported Friday, the NHL is set to announce their agreement to send players to Russia next February in the coming weeks. A tentative break in the next NHL season set between February 9 and February 25 is planned.

But what we didn’t know is that the NHL is also set to revive the World Cup of Hockey. NHL.com’s Dan Rosen reported yesterday that the new player transfer agreement with the IIHF (minus Russia) included a provision for a cooperation for a World Cup of Hockey.

And Saturday morning, Vladislav Tretiak, President of the Russian Hockey Federation who was present at the meetings with the NHL, told Sovetsky Sport that the World Cup of Hockey will indeed be back. The first after a long absence will be held in August of 2016 in the same format as the last one in 2004.

Going through the rosters of the last World Cup, it is possible to see that a few players from each national team may play in 2016, like Alex Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk for Russia, Vincent Lecavalier for Canada, Zdeno Chara for Slovakia. It is also evident how the US goaltender situation has improved over the years after seeing Ty Conklin, Rick DiPietro and Robert Esche tending the net for Team USA in 2004.

The resuscitation of the World Cup of Hockey also casts a shadow of a doubt of the NHL’s participation in any future Olympics beyond 2014 in Sochi.

The old adage is that it’s sometimes better to be lucky than good. Kyle Palmieri of the Anaheim Ducks has been a little of both in their first-round matchup with the Detroit Red Wings.

Palmieri has three goals and two assists in six games, tying him for the team lead in goals and points. His plus-5 leads the Ducks.

He’s been able to accomplish this in just 10:19 time on ice per game. His highest total was 12:59 in Game 1; in Game 6, he skated just 8:45.

But he scored a game-tying goal in Game 5. In Game 6, he scored his third goal of the playoffs on a bit of a lucky bounds off of Red Wings defender Brendan Smith:

He’s even survived a Kronwall’ing in this series.

The fourth line for the Ducks has been among their best, as Palmieri, Emerson Etem and David Steckel have made the most of their minutes. Said Coach Bruce Boudreau to the Detroit News:

"I think that's been a strength all year," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said after his team's morning skate. "If you look at the teams, we were in the top 10 in scoring and nobody with more than 15 goals. I think it's a good thing that if one line is not going at any point in a game or for a couple games, we've got other lines to pick up the slack.”

The Ducks and Red Wings faceoff in a Game 7 on Sunday. They’ll need more heroics from players like Palmieri, even in limited minutes, to overcome Detroit.