The officiating in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs has been, shall we say, a tab underwhelming at times.

In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, for example, Boston Bruins man mountain Zdeno Chara was on the receiving end of a high stick – previously only thought possible with the assistance of a cherry-picker or a giraffe – with no call.

Then, in the third period, this odd incident occurred:

IT’S H-E-DOUBLE-HOCKEY-STICKS COME TO LIFE!

As Bruins forward Tyler Seguin skated in on the New York Rangers defense, Steve Eminger wildly swung his stick and clipped Seguin. As Seguin recoiled in pain, the Bruin’s stick then clipped Rangers forward Chris Kreider, sending him face-first to the ice.

As Pierre McGuire said: It’s a mutual high-sticking. (Right before he told us in painstaking detail where the sticks played their junior hockey.)

To the surprise of no one that’s watched the officiating in this postseason, there were no penalties on this odd play.

Getty ImagesLos Angeles Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi rarely makes a gaffe on the ice, so it’s ironic his nickname was born out of one.

When Scuderi was with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he mistakenly told a reporter that he was “the piece of the puzzle” for the team.

Not “a piece,” but “THE piece.” Which obviously was a point of hilarity for a locker room that included Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

“The Piece” stuck as a nickname for Scuderi – along with the more hockey-linguistic “Scuds” – because he’s been an essential one for two Stanley Cup-winning teams. He logged big minutes and played stout defense for the 2009 Penguins; last season for the Kings, he played 30 shifts a game and finished with a plus-9 in 20 games en route to the Cup.

This season, Scuderi is second on the Kings in ice time (28:08 on average) to defensive partner Drew Doughty (28:08). He leads the team with 23 blocked shots – his forte – and had six in the Game 3 loss.

It’s what he does, and has been doing for years.

Getty ImagesThe New York Rangers are down 0-2 to the Boston Bruins, following their humbling 5-2 loss in Game 2 and with the action shifting to Madison Square Garden. They’ve been here before: Starting a series slowly, needed a big effort in a Game 3 to either take control or find new life in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

They were down 0-2 to the Washington Capitals this season and back in 2011. Last postseason, in their run to the conference finals, the Rangers were 1-1 against the Ottawa Senators, Capitals and New Jersey Devils heading into the third game.

What happened in Game 3 in each of those series?

Henrik Lundqvist happened, that’s what. The Rangers goalie is 5-0 in his last five Game 3 appearances, with the Rangers going on to win three of those series.

He’s the King of Thirds: Lundqvist has a 1.01 goals-against average in his last five Game 3’s with a .966 save percentage and two shutouts, facing 177 shots – much better than his career average playoff numbers.

So yeah, the Rangers are in good hands. But the question isn’t about Lundqvist’s hands entering Game 3.

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.

Think Geek• Via Wayne B., here's how you take finger hockey to the next level. [Think Geek]

• If Patrick Roy is set to become the next head coach of the Colorado Avalanche, according to his brother, no deal is currently in place, writes Adrian Dater. [Denver Post]

• Joe Haggerty on why the Boston Bruins and Matt Bartkowski are happy that Jarome Iginla deal never worked out. [CSNNE]

• Why John Tortorella's words always have a deeper meaning behind them. "Remember the "shut yer yap" command to then-Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock when Tortorella's Lightning faced Philadelphia in the 2004 Eastern Conference final en route to that franchise's only Stanley Cup? The story around the NHL is that Tortorella walked into that news conference knowing he would say something of that ilk, regardless of the questioning." [Bergen Record]

• San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan hinted that he may opt to use seven defensemen in Game 4 Tuesday night. Jason Demers would sub in for an injured Martin Havlat. [Mercury News]

• Roy MacGregor on what Craig Anderson brings to the Senators. [The Globe & Mail]

• Darryl Sutter on why the LA Kings flew back home between Games 3 and 4: "Just our own practice facility. You know, what are we going to do up there for two days? Really? You know what, if we had all stayed up there for two days, we’d have been bored last night and today, right? Because you’re basically just sitting around the hotel and there’s nothing to do." [LA Kings Insider]

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It's a Monday 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: Joe Haggerty of CSN New England joins us to talk Bruins vs. Rangers Game 3.

• Recapping the Red Wings' win over the Blackhawks.

• The Andrew Shaw no-goal and the tinfoil hat reaction from Red Wings fans.

• Should referees have to answer for their calls after a game?

• Previewing Game 4 between the Sharks and Kings.

Question of the Day: Who is the most paranoid fan base in the NHL and why? Email puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or hit us on Twitter with the hashtag #MvsW to @wyshynski and @jeffmarek.

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Pavel Datsyuk tries his darnedest to succeed despite his obvious shortcomings.

Survey 100 puckheads, Family Feud-style, about who the most talented hockey player on the planet is, and it's a safe bet that Pavel Datsyuk is going to be on the board. Hell, there's a pretty good chance that he'd be the number one answer.

The man is a wizard. There are wizards, I imagine, who see him do what he does and think, "Damn, that's some next-level crap."

In other words, it would be tough to look at a guy like Datsyuk and say the reason for his success is a work ethic that makes up up for a lack of talent.

Tough, but not impossible. Here's what CBC's Glenn Healy had to say Monday night:

"When you look at a guy like Datsyuk, not all the God-blessed talent in the world, but he is a hard worker..."

This is quite the thing to say.

Now, Healy is certainly correct that Datsyuk is a hard worker. But as for that first part... I, and we'll assume anybody else that has seen Pavel Datsyuk -- who spawned the adjective Datsyukian, basically defined as "insanely skilled", and scored this goal later that same evening -- would respectfully beg to differ.

Unless, perhaps, Healy simply sees the distribution of talent a little like the distribution of wealth. If so, I guess you could argue that Datsyuk is hockey's version of a fatcat. The 1%, as it were. He doesn't have all the God-blessed talent in the world -- just most of it. But there's still a pittance remaining for the rest of us.

Or maybe Healy thinks Pavel Datsyuk is Justin Abdelkader.

How does one come to a conclusion like this? I'll show you how.

Getty ImagesThe people of Oklahoma are still looking for survivors in the wake of Monday's mile-wide F4 tornado that ravaged parts of the state, leaving 24 people dead and over 200 injured.

Among the safe include members of the Edmonton Oilers' AHL club, the Oklahoma City Barons. The Barons practice facility is in Moore, where the damage destroyed two elementary schools and left a 20 mile-wide area of destruction. Most of the players, according to general manager Bill Scott, don't live near the area that was hit the hardest and the Barons' offices are downtown.

One player, however, who was nearest to those affected was Alex Plante, a defenseman who's been living with a family in Moore since suffering a broken jaw last month.

From Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun:

“I’d come downtown for a dentist appointment and the family I was staying with in Moore, who adopted three Downs Syndrome kids, managed to get the kids out of their school before the lockdowns.

“I told them to drive to our arena. That’s where we’re told to go. The underground parking garage at the Cox Convention Centre has a storm shelter.

...

"Our team has been fortunate that until now we’ve never had to experience a tornado. When you get here, you hear a lot about the one on May 3, 1999 in Moore. That was the big one. But they say this is three times that size.

“I haven’t seen anything yet,” Plante said of the devastation. “I don’t want to. Your heart just goes out to everybody.”

When Plante spoke with Jones, he and the family hadn't been able to get back to their house to see if there was any damage.

The Barons are currently waiting to see who they will play in the Western Conference Final, where they will host Games 3 and 4 tentatively scheduled for May 29 and 31.

If you'd like to help the people of Oklahoma, there are a number of places to go, including the Red Cross, Salvation Army and the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Jersey Fouls is our ongoing exploration of the rules and etiquette for proper hockey jersey creation and exhibition. If you spot what you think may be a foul in your arena, email a photo to us at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com for inclusion in future installment.

Via reader Jenni comes this bro-tastic bro-dacious Jersey Bro, bro:

Seen at a Charlotte Checkers game, this guy was REALLY proud of his "BROVECHKIN" jersey, and asked me to take a picture of him (and the Nutcracker) with his own camera as well.

I can assure you, the Checkers were NOT playing the AHL affiliate of the Capitals... so that too, is a foul, in my opinion!

Your opinion is correct. This is a Russian nesting doll of Fouls.

(Also, it speaks to the power of the Foul that we didn’t even notice the albino cousin of Cookie Puss holding a bag of peanuts next to him.)

We were curious if “Brovechkin” was an actual thing, and not just Mike Green’s daily greeting to his captain. We discovered it has an Urban Dictionary entry:

“a bro who has dirty swag.”

That bro should probably find a Laundromat.

Anyhoo, there’s also “Brovechkin” gear available on sites like Bros Like These Shirts, in case you absolutely have the need to call attention to what a wide bro-cabulary you have. Vomit.

(Coming Up: A George Parros mustache Foul; a hideous Tampa sweater; Toronto Maple Leafs Tribute jersey; Detroit Red Wings hate Frankenjersey; another Caps Foul; Revisionist Sweaters; and a rather crude ‘69’ jersey.)