Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks, Matt Moulson of the New York Islanders and Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning have been named the finalists for the 2013 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, awarded "to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."

Kane, 24, had just eight penalty minutes this season despite averaging 20:03 of ice time per game. By spending so much more time on the ice this season, it allowed him to score 23 goals in 47 games, the same number he scored in 82 games last season. Kane was whistled for a hooking penalty Jan. 26 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and then didn't take another for 25 games -- a boarding penalty against the Los Angeles Kings on March 25.

CHICAGO – It started out alright for the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night, but they'd probably like to forget the final 40 minutes of their Western Conference Semifinals series opener.

Despite the game remaining tied 1-1 heading into the third period, the Chicago Blackhawks took control of this game in the middle period and didn't let up until the final horn sounded at United Center to conclude their impressive 4-1 victory.

The Blackhawks got outhit 43-24 overall, but that was mainly because they dominated the puck for such long stretches in those final two periods – outskating and outplaying the Red Wings at both ends of the ice.

"In the first period, except for the first shift, I thought we did a good job staying on top of them," Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "Then in the second and third, for some reason, we ended up watching them play hockey instead of just going after them."

The Capitals met for exit interviews Wednesday less than 48 hours after a 5-0 loss in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series against the New York Rangers at Verizon Center.

"Coming up in the elevator, [Green] mentioned that he didn't want to have to sit down and have this talk," McPhee said of the exit interview. "But he also said ‘When we win [the Stanley Cup], it's going to be that much better. It's going to be glorious.' … I hope he's right."

The question remains whether that day will ever come for the only NHL team to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the past six years and not advance past the second round during that time.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins have been absolutely lethal on the power play this postseason.

Their man-advantage performance likely was the telling factor in a more tense-than-expected first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the New York Islanders. In that six-game victory, the Pittsburgh power play went 7-for-21, scoring in four of the games and providing a pair of winning goals.

Tuesday, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, it was the difference against the Ottawa Senators, who entered the series as one of the hottest teams in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh got power-play goals from Paul Martin and Chris Kunitz to build a 3-1 lead in what became a 4-1 victory. Afterward, the Senators, to a man, suggested the game was far more even than the score suggested and that special-teams play was the critical difference.

PITTSBURGH -- A month away from his 28th birthday and in his seventh NHL season, Marc Methot isn't among the youngest of the Ottawa Senators. But just like some of his six teammates who were born in the 1990s, Methot felt the butterflies stepping onto the ice for a conference semifinal Stanley Cup Playoff game for the first time Tuesday night.

"Oh, I felt it in the first couple shifts; I felt a little tight," the defenseman said. "Maybe a little nervous; you're so excited and looking forward to getting in the game and all amped up and you might be gripping your stick maybe a little too hard."

If Methot -- considered one of the Senators' team leaders -- had to navigate his way through nerves in playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs' second round, imagine how some of the youngest Ottawa players must have felt.

"There's a lot of pressure on some of the players here to perform, and when you're in the second round, you're even more under the spotlight," Methot said. "You get that first game out of the way, guys can maybe calm down a little bit more and play their game."

That's the Senators' plan after a 4-1 loss to the No. 1 seed Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1. Game 2 is 7:30 p.m. Friday at Consol Energy Center.

New York Mets ace Matt Harvey is used to getting approached by fans at ballparks. Posting a 4-0 record and miniscule 1.44 earned-run average this season will earn any major-league pitcher that kind of attention.

But when a group of fans recently greeted the 24-year-old before a game in St. Louis, the topic of discussion wasn't baseball. It was hockey, specifically the New York Rangers.

"I was running around for batting practice and people asked me about the Rangers," Harvey told NHL.com. "It would be nice for them to ask me about pitching and baseball. But while the Rangers are doing their thing, it's not a bad question for people to ask."

With the Rangers set to begin their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Boston Bruins on Thursday, Harvey has become one of the most high-profile additions to the bandwagon. Growing up, Harvey occasionally played hockey with his cousin in Vermont, but his allegiance to the Rangers mostly developed after the Connecticut native recently befriended Henrik Lundqvist and Brian Boyle, who played hockey at Boston College with a longtime friend of Harvey's.

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- John Moore doesn't drop his jaw or act surprised when he sees Derick Brassard deliver a picture-perfect, tape-to-tape, cross-zone pass, as he did to set up Carl Hagelin for a New York Rangers goal in Game 4 against the Washington Capitals.

Moore similarly doesn't gush when he sees Brassard make a quick read from behind the goal line to find Arron Asham cutting through the slot for a slam-dunk goal, as he did in Game 3.

These types of crisp passes and quick decisions have long been part of Brassard's game. Moore saw them in spurts when they were teammates on the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"I always knew the skill was there," Moore said after practice Wednesday.

San Jose Sharks forward Raffi Torres will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety at the NHL's New York office Thursday for a hit on Jarret Stoll of the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinal series on Tuesday. He is suspended pending the outcome of the hearing.

Torres was offered the opportunity for an in-person hearing as required by provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement for any suspension that can exceed five games.

Torres received a minor penalty for charging on the hit, which occurred at 19:02 of the second period. Stoll did not return to the game.

BOSTON -- With three of the six defensemen the Boston Bruins started the Stanley Cup Playoffs with possibly on the shelf for the start of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Rangers, Torey Krug's dreams might come true.

"This is going to be amazing. It's what I waited my whole childhood for," Krug said after practice Wednesday at TD Garden. "You know you dream about this as a kid and you watch it on TV, and to be a part of it in itself is amazing. But I'm looking forward to doing whatever I can to help the team win. That's what we're here for, and that's what I want to do."

Krug, who has three NHL games to his credit, was recalled from Providence of the American Hockey League on Tuesday and could be in the lineup for Game 1 on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN, RDS).

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- The one absolute certainty for New York Rangers defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi heading into the Eastern Conference Semifinals is they will not have to target No. 8 on the Boston Bruins the way they did No. 8 on the Washington Capitals.

Hall of Fame forward Cam Neely sits in the press box as Bruins president and his No. 8 sweater has been hanging from the TD Garden rafters since 2004.

But part of the reason the Rangers are playing Game 1 against the Bruins on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN, RDS) and No. 8 for the Capitals is playing for Russia in the IIHF World Championship is because Girardi and McDonagh shadowed Alex Ovechkin for nearly all of his shifts and helped hold him to no points in the final five games of the seven-game quarterfinal series.

Determining the matchups and the best way to utilize his top two defensemen against the Bruins isn't as cut and dried for Rangers coach John Tortorella.