Ten NHL players whose playoff value goes beyond goals and assists:
By Nick Wass, AP
Tampa Bay's Eric Brewer, right, has been one of the NHL's better late-season pickups.
By Nick Wass, AP
Tampa Bay's Eric Brewer, right, has been one of the NHL's better late-season pickups.
1. Tampa Bay's Eric Brewer: He has been among the NHL's top late-season pickups. He's leading all NHL playoff performers with 36 blocked shots and he's among the leaders with 30 hits. One of the keys to the Lightning's defense has been its shot-blocking. He's had the most playing time on the best penalty killing unit in the playoffs. The Lightning have given up two goals in 51 chances.
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2. Boston's Patrice Bergeron: In addition to being second in the league in scoring, he's leading his team with 27 hits and he has won 60.8% of his faceoffs. He has given the puck away only once in these playoffs.
3. Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk: Forget about his scoring numbers. He's also second on his team in hits and first in blocked shots and is tied for the NHL lead in postseason takeaways (13). And he wins 53.8% of his faceoffs.
4. Vancouver's Alex Edler: He is among the NHL leaders with 33 hits and 21 blocked shots, playing for a team that has given up five goals over the last roughly 16 periods.
5. San Jose's Douglas Murray: Anyone watching the Detroit-San Jose series knows the 240-pound defenseman has been a beast. He is always in the middle of the action. He has 33 hits.
6. Boston's Brad Marchand: If there was playoff rookie of the year, this feisty forward might be the favorite. He's leading the league in postseason plus-minus (plus-8). He's plus-6 on the road. He's noticeable every shift he takes.
7. Nashville's Ryan Suter: He's leading NHL playoff performers with an average of 29 minutes, 34 seconds per game. He's on that much because he's one of the NHL's smoothest defensemen at both ends of the ice.
8. Vancouver's Ryan Kesler: He didn't have a playoff goal until he scored twice on Tuesday, but even before that, he seemed to be in charge every time he was on the ice.
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9. Tampa Bay's Mattias Ohlund: How many memorable hits has he had this postseason? It seems like he has had several. He has been credited with 18 hits, and he has 33 blocked shots. He's a major contributor to Tampa Bay's success.
10. Detroit's Darren Helm: The game changes when he's on the ice because of his speed. He's the league's most dangerous 12-goal scorer. He always forechecks relentlessly.
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