Morning Snapshots: Hawks, Blues, Ducks Win, Rolston Retires and More

Morning snapshots is a feature designed to get you up to date about all the games and news from around the NHL last night. 

Via: fightingforstanley.ca

• Bryan Bickell was the hero for Chicago last night in game one against the Wild, scoring at 16:35 of the first overtime to give the Hawks the victory. The President's Trophy winners looked a bit tentative at times to start the game, but began to take control by the third period. Josh Harding was the surprise starter for Minnesota, after Nicklas Backstrom went down in warm-ups with some kind of injury. Harding hadn't seen any NHL action since allowing 2 goals on 4 shots and getting pulled against this same Blackhawks back in January. He was brilliant though, making 35 saves and keeping the Wild in the game all night. Wild defenseman Ryan Suter, who was helpless to watch as the puck sailed over his head on the OT winner, had an ungodly 41:08 of ice time. It wasn't enough for the Wild though, as they must now turn their attention to putting in the same effort again during game two on Friday.
• It was the ultimate in highs and lows for the Kings last night in their 2-1 OT loss to the Blues. Down 1-0 and being badly outplayed in the third, Justin Williams managed to score with just 32 seconds left and the goalie pulled to force overtime. Then in OT, the Kings were given a 4 minute power play after Kevin Shattenkirk clipped Dustin Penner with his stick and it seemed they might snatch the win. Alas, goalie Jonathan Quick was stripped of the puck while playing a routine dump-in behind his own net by Alex Steen, who scored his second of the night to give the Blues the victory. It was the first shorthanded game winning goal in the playoffs since Fernando Pisani in 2006. Though not high-scoring, it was an extremely entertaining game and I can't wait for game two in St. Louis on Thursday.
• Finally, after another close game (which seemed to be the theme on the first night of the playoffs) Anaheim escaped with a 3-1 win over Detroit. The game winner was scored, unsurprisingly, by Teemu Selanne on the power play early in the third period. For the ageless Selanne, it was his 42nd career playoff goal and 10th game winner. Ducks starting goalie Jonas Hiller came up with some huge saves to preserve the victory. Though the teams were pretty even five on five, it ultimately came down to the special teams battle, which the Ducks won going 2 for 4 on the power play. The Wings played well, but couldn't force the issue on offense, getting only 11 shots in the first two periods and finishing with 22 overall. 
• In other hockey news, long time veteran winger Brian Rolston retired last night after 17 season in the NHL. The 40 year old Rolston, who most recently played for the Bruins, was known as a hard playing scorer with a great shot. At the height of his career with Minnesota, Rolston scored 30 goals in three consecutive seasons and finished with 342 in total. Rolston was a Stanley Cup champion (1995 New Jersey) and Olympic silver medallist (Salt Lake 2002).
• In injury news, Nathan Horton has returned to practice for the Bruins and may get into the lineup sometime during their first round series against the Leafs. Speaking of which, it has been announced that Leafs' center Tyler Bozak will be good to go in game one. Canucks goaltender Cory Schneider has also proclaimed himself ready for game one, ending a week of speculation in Vancouver.
• And finally, Montreal Canadien's 2011 first round pick Nathan Beaulieu and his father have both been charged with assault stemming from an altercation at a house party following a charity golf tournament on Saturday. That's a tough hit to the reputation of a young player trying to break into the NHL.

That's all for now, make sure to check back later when I'll have a preview of all the games tonight in the NHL. Please comment and share on the social media platform of your choice if you like the content here at WAAP. 

Oh, and in case you missed just how the Blues OT winner went down last night, check out this gif. Perhaps without the trapezoid we'd see more plays like this? Honestly, it's like Quick wants the Blues to score.