The story in the first two nights of the WCHL playoffs has been the number of overtime games that have taken place. 7 of the 16 games needed extra time to be decided and if this continues throughout the playoffs then cardiac wards across the continent should be seeing an upswing in fans needing assistance.

In the West, in what everyone thought would be a blowout type of series, we've seen Anaheim and Edmonton go to back-to-back OTs. Both have been settled quickly with game 1 hero Ilya Kovalchuk scoring 8 seconds in and game 2 hero Rick Nash scoring with 19:42 still on the clock. It's hard to tell who has the momentum heading back to Edmonton as the Oilers must be happy with how they've played but unhappy with the results, and Anaheim vice versa.

The Calgary-LA series started off tight with Calgary winning a double OT off the stick of Patrick Elias. People expecting a similar type of game in game 2 were left highly disappointed as the Flames put 42 shots on net on route to a 7-1 thrashing. The Kings will need a return to their game 1 form if they have any chance of getting back into this series.

The Dallas Stars are up 2-0 on the Canucks and have outplayed their opponents soundly in both games. The Canucks took game 2 to OT but the heavily leaned upon Mike Commodore came up big with a winner 8 minutes in. The Canucks' Pavel Datsyuk has been held off of the score sheet and was -2 in last night's game causing the phone lines at the local radio stations to light up this morning calling for him to step up big in game 3.

The Sharks and Avs series is the only one tied at 1 after two games. Colorado struggled from the gate in game one and found themselves down 3-1 going into the 3rd when Zach Parise made it 4-1. A goal by Brayden Coburn brought them back to within 2 and the team started peppering Sharks goalie Cam Ward (who faced 20 shots in the 3rd). Unfortunately this push made for some risky plays and Kyle Okposo took advantage of it with a SH goal to put the win away. Game 2 was all Colorado, as they used that 3rd period in game 1 as momentum to put 5 by Cam Ward. Mike Cammalleri's 3 assists led the way. The series now shifts to San Jose.

Over in the East, New Jersey stunned the Penguins with a 1-0 win in OT in game 1. The goaltending duel was ended by Chris Kunitz and as was pointed out in the preview to this series, the Devils got a game stealing performance from Dwayne Roloson. The Pens then got back on form in game 2 using a 3 point night by Bobby Ryan to propel them to a 4-2 victory. The Devils have to feel good about going back home with a tied series and home ice advantage.

Atlanta has looked horrible since being shell-shocked by the Sabres 3 unanswered first period goals in game 1. The Sabres nearly doubled the Thrashers' shot total and Chad Larose was the unlikely hero with 2 key goals. One would have thought that the Thrashers would come out revved up after the poor showing in game 1 on home ice, but that wasn't the case. Buffalo outshot the home team 9-2 and took a 2-0 lead on two goals by Jamie Langenbrunner. Langenbrunner would later set up Pavelski to make the final 3-0, giving the Sabres a 2-0 lead heading back to home ice.

The Battle of New York has been one sided everywhere but on the score sheet. The Rangers have taken it to the Islanders outshooting them 68-32 in the first two games, but both games were only settled by 1 goal. However, both games were marred by bad reffing with the Islanders not receiving a PP in game 1 and the Rangers not receiving a single PP in game 2. With the Rangers up 2-0 heading to Nassau County, it looks like the Islanders will need to pull out all of the stops to slow down their opponent.

Finally, the Flyers are up 2-0 on two big wins where they outplayed their opponents but could only outscore them by a single goal in each game. The big story in game 1 was the actions of Boston's Cory Sarich which resulted in his ejection. Sarich took a hit from Flyer Stephane Yelle and apparently didn't like it. Unfortunately despite there being 10 cameras in the arena televising the game, cameras didn't catch what happened next, but the ref sure saw it, resulting in a 5 minute major and 10 minute misconduct. In a bit of irony, Yelle would go on to score the winning goal in the final minute of the game as Sarich watched from from the dressing room. Cooler heads would prevail in game 2, but that didn't change the outcome as the Bruins head home looking for answers.