Monday Minutes

Another exciting round of playoffs is underway as we rank the top five performers in the post season thus far.

1) Jaroslav Halak - How can anyone forget his 53 save performance in Game Six against Washington? He is simply the only reason why the Canadiens pulled off the biggest first round upset in years. Not a bad performance yesterday in Game Two against Pittsburgh as he is officially in the head of Sidney Crosby.

2) Joe Pavelski - He leads the NHL playoffs in scoring with 9 goals and has taken over as the Sharks go to guy this postseason. Forming a dynamic line with Ryan Clowe and Devin Setoguchi, that is providing the Sharks the added scoring they have lacked in years past. As Joe Thornton put it "I wish I was on the planet that he is on right now"

3) Mikael Samuelsson - The leading scorer for the Vancouver Canucks has scored 7 goals in seven games. He has not only scored this postseason, but also is one of the teams best defenders and has a plus 9 rating to show for it. May be playing on the leagues most explosive line with the Sedin twins, that dominated the series against LA.

4) Sidney Crosby - The first round series against Ottawa was simply brilliant for Crosby, scoring five goals and nine assists. He leads the NHL playoff scoring in points with 16 and has to be on this list. We'll see what he can muster against Halak as he was visually frustrated after Game Two.

5) Mark Recchi - I could put Brian Boucher, Jonathan Toews, or Pavel Datsuyk on this list as well, but the 42 year old Recchi has been amazing for the Bruins this post season. He scored a huge goal in Game two vs. Buffalo and has registered six points in seven games for the surprising Bruins. Recchi is also very valuable for his leadership and his ability to make the players around him better. Dude is playing like he is 22 not 42.