Stanley Cup Playoffs, day seventeen: Star forwards in action tonight

Two more second round series get started tonight and each club has plenty of high end talent up front. The Silver Seven Game of the Night (brought to you by Booster Juice, the official smoothie supplier of Silver Seven Sens) features the Detroit Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks. Detroit has Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg in their ranks, while San Jose has Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley (does he still count?). Both of these teams have been one of the top teams in the regular season in the last five seasons, with each club winning four division titles in that span. Detroit however, won the Stanley Cup once and lost in the final in another season, while San Jose has yet to make the final. Last season, the Sharks did eliminate the Red Wings in five games though.

In the other series, the Tampa Bay Lightning visit the eastern conference's top seed, the Washington Capitals. The Lightning have Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis on their top line, while the Capitals counter with Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom and of course, the best player in the world in my opinion, Alexander Ovechkin. Ovechkin, is at his best in the playoffs, ranking second only to Mario Lemieux in career playoff goals per game. He is also 4th in career playoff points per game behind Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and err...Barry Pederson. Martin St. Louis is 20th in career playoff points per game, so he is no slouch either.

Just for fun by the way, Jason Spezza has 46 points in 46 career playoff games ranking him 40th all time in playoff points per game. To put this into perspective, Jason Spezza is one of only 42 players EVER to play 30 or more NHL playoff games and average a point a game. By comparison, Jonathan Toews also has 46 points in 46 career playoff games. One of these players is repeatedly criticised and booed for his playoff performances. The either is lauded as a hero and a playoff star.

Here is tonight's schedule:

• 5) Tampa Bay Lightning at 1) Washington Capitals, (7:00 p.m. on TSN, series tied 0-0)
• 3) Detroit Red Wings at 2) San Jose Sharks (10:00 p.m. on TSN, series tied 0-0)