Thornton comes through

Another busy night in the NHL playoffs. The Flames lose a nail bitter, the Flyers hand the Capitals a second consecutive loss, Carey Price blanks the Bruins and both the Ducks and Avalanche have big bounce back games.

Because I was unable to put together an update Monday night, we've got two days worth of scores to add in. Before I give my thoughts on Tuesday's news, here's a few leftover items from Monday's notebook:

• Kudos to Cliff Hosfield who was the mover of the night, cashing in on Marian Hossa's big night in Ottawa and Pierre-Marc Bouchard's overtime winner in Denver. At the time he jumped from 11th spot to second.

• I'm glad I'm not the only one who found Don Cherry's advice on Coach's Corner at little unnerving.

• For those who missed it, I posted a video of the bizarre pre-game ceremony in Ottawa over at the pool's Facebook page.

• With the Ottawa Senators on the brink of elimination, we could have our first team side update of the year as early as Wednesday. Although considering 93 per cent of you picked the Penguins there won't be much separation. However there could be some interesting ramifications on the players side — with the Penguins idle, Crosby, Malkin and Fleury all resting will poolies who opted for fewer Pittsburgh players narrow the gap?

Now as for Tuesday, the big news in the pool is the return of the Anaheim Ducks. Many poolies loaded up on players from the defending Stanley Cup champions and were finally rewarded with some points. Chris Pronger got on the scoresheet for the first time during the post-season and Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne also had decent nights.

Meanwhile, in Calgary the Flames were unable to hold on to a pair of one-goal leads and allowed the Sharks to get right back into that series. San Jose was the better team for large stretches of the game and showed some resiliency after Sunday's loss. This is a series that could easily go seven games.

In Philadelphia the pride of Kenora, Ont., put the finishing touches on the Flyers second consecutive win.

All the while pool leader Brad Bouzane on the strength of Joe Thornton's game-winner in Calgary has held off the challenge from yet another Hosfield, at least for another day. Here are the scores:

1) Brad Bouzane 62 Fourth straight day in the lead, but can the pool be won in the first round?
2) Mary Kay Hosfield 61 The Hofield tag-team hasn't bothered Mr. Bouzane just yet
T3) Cliff Hosfield 58 Perhaps you should have been entering this pool every year
T3) Rob Shaw 58 Have you caught Salmon Kings playoff fever yet?
T3) Jack James 58 Do you think Iginla won that race for the icing late in the third?
T6) James Peters 57 Nonis firing, thumbs up or thumbs down?
T6) Richard Warnica 57 My RSVP for football is conditional on being able to walk by Sunday
T6) Mark Brennae 57 Is it too early for the Carey Price for Conn Smythe talk?
T6) Julianna Nowaczek 57 So do the NHL playoffs get much play in Hungary?
T6) Justin Lee 57 Are they celebrating the Nonis firing in the streets in VanCity?
T6) Mike James 57 Flying up the leader board thanks to Philadelphia
T6) Dale Oviatt 57 Do you feel dirty taking points from all the Sharks on your team?
T6) Jennifer Hosfield 57 Three Hosfields in the top 10, has that ever happened before?
T14) David Forbes 56 Danny Briere is paying off big time
T14) Jordan Stein 56 Who do you think the Canucks should hire?
T14) Arthur Casement 56 Does Kevin Lowe have a sign-a-player-a-day policy this off-season?
T14) Dave Washburn 56 Dave who?
T18) Sean Hutchinson 55 Looks like you man Wade Redden will soon be looking for a new employer
T18) Terry James 55 What's this I hear? You went to bed after San Jose's 3-0 lead on Sunday?
T18) Ryan Plesko 55 Gaborik a surprise non-factor so far
T21) Adam Fulton 54 Remind me, are you a Sens fan? Or do people still admit to that in this town?
T21) Liam Lynch 54 You still have bragging rights over Colleen (both of them actually), keep up the smack talk
T23) Jason Anthony 53 Maybe Saku will get hot when (or is it if) he gets back
T23) Steve McKinley 53 I'm sure you'll be readying your trash talk
T23) Ron Strate 53 I warned you about letting that Forbes character get away
26) James Gordon 52 So what do you do after the Sens are eliminated?
T27) Lloyd Mack 50 I get the impression Pierre McGuire is a Mike Richards fan
T27) Barry Horeczy 50 You should have taken some Blackhawks, they couldn't have hurt your performance
29) Don McGowan 48 I miss Auto Glance already
T30) Kim Landon 47 A pair of Forth Stormont alumni meet at 30th
T30) Jeff Sandelli 47 Your modest run up the leader board gives me hope
T32) Colleen Racine 45 That Dany Heatley pick may come back to haunt you
T32) Colleen Turnbull 45 Sorry to hear your rollerblade trails aren't ready, but it won't be long
34) Neil McKinnon 44 Are you planning to try to snag tickets for a playoff game?
35) Chris Chapman 43 You avoided the temptation of taking Senators, yet still struggle
36) Scott McCleery 41 Still lacking any shutout bonus points
37) Debb Coghlin 39 Well, you've finally pulled a point ahead of me
38) Peter James 38 For the record, I don't always suck at pools just this one in recent years. Seriously.
39) Janet Pringle 27 I should really send you a gift basket or something for sparing me the embarrassment of last