No. 1 star, Cristobal Huet, Chicago Blackhawks:
Yes, he played for the losing team on Wednesday night, a defeat the sends the upstart Blackhawks to the first tee. But was there a better player on the ice at The Joe? No chance. Before Nikolai Khabibulin injured something in Game 3, Huet's last opportunity to play came before Easter for goodness sake. Huet made 44 saves in all, none better than his lower right-leg lift while on his stomach to deny Johan Franzen's late-regulation game-winning attempt.
No. 2 star, Darren Helm, Detroit Red Wings:
OK, so the game- and series-winning goal went off the speedster's skate, but you have to at least give him credit for being in that spot on the ice for such a fortunate situation to occur. Don't forget about that eye-catching stat of 12 hits Helm doled out. Pittsburgh might want to be aware of this guy.
No. 3 star, Brett Lebda, Detroit Red Wings:
An assist on both of his team's goals, four shots, two blocks and a pair of hits during 32 shifts spread over 25:05 can't be ignored.
Major penalty: Steve Bartman. Yeah, Chicago, let's blame him for this too.
Minor penalty: Moving the Stanley Cup Finals up to a Saturday start from the earlier announced June 5 date is obviously the right thing to do, but the league went back and forth on this over the last couple of days, and the final decision was news to a lot of people on Wednesday. We're wondering if television executives tell Gary Bettman what to wear each day, too?
Conn Smythe Watch: (The Top 10) 1. Evgeni Malkin, Penguins; 2. Johan Franzen, Red Wings; 3. Sidney Crosby, Penguins; 4. Henrik Zetterberg, Red Wings; 5. Chris Osgood, Red Wings; 6. Marc-Andre Fleury, Penguins; 7. Marian Hossa, Red Wings; 8. Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings; 9. Sergei Gonchar, Penguins; 10. Jordan Staal, Penguins.
