Stanley Cup Playoffs, Night 6

Tonight was a night of swing games and as of now, there are no tied series. It was an exciting night of hockey in which we saw just how evenly matched most of these first-round playoff series are. I'm a little surprised no one went into overtime.

Yesterday, John at Boltsmag suggested a "blackout" to answer the league-wide, overdone "whiteout" for those of you going to tonight's game at the St. Pete Times Forum. I thought it was a cool idea and even though I couldn't be at the game tonight, I still wore black in support of my Bolts. And I think it worked.

Lightning 3, Devils 2
Lightning lead series 2-1
"Boy, that's a big goal!" said Phil Esposito after Vinny Prospal scored the game-winning goal for the Bolts with just six minutes to go in the game. The Lightning got an early 1-0 lead on a Vinny Lecavalier power play goal. John Madden tied things up with just minutes left in the middle period. And after Brad Richards scored at 1:09 of the third, Zach Parise tied the game. I do not like him. But he and Vinny are tied for the lead in goals with four each in this series. By the way, I got my hopes up prematurely. That free Center Ice channel went away. There was no Lightning hockey on my TV tonight. Online radio only. Game 2: Lightning 3, Devils 2 / Game 1: Devils 5, Lightning 3

Sabres 3, Islanders 2
Sabres lead series 2-1
I was really hoping for an overtime session for this game. Early in the second period, the Sabres jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Then after getting a disallowed goal overruled, Buffalo had a two-goal lead. The Isles answered quickly to get back within one. But then Daniel Briere put the Sabres back by two on the power play. Then with seven seconds left in period two, Ryan Smyth gave hope to the Islander faithful in the building. But it wasn't meant to be after a quiet third period. The game was on Versus. In hi-def. I loved it. Game 2: Islanders 3, Sabres 2 / Game 1: Sabres 4, Islanders 1

Sharks 3, Predators 1
Sharks lead series 2-1
After getting the early lead, things only went downhill for the Predators. The Sharks scored a pair of unanswered goals for the 2-1 lead in the game. Ryan Suter's goal with eight minutes left in the first period was the first time in this series that Nashville scored first. (How many times did I say "first" in that sentence?) Ultimately Patrick Marleau gave San Jose the two-goal pad in the last five minutes of the game to seal the deal. The game was available in Versus HD and watched by yours truly. Game 2: Predators 5, Sharks 2 / Game 1: Sharks 5, Predators 4, 2OT

Photos: ESPN.com, CBS Sportsline.com