During the first period of the first game of their opening series, powerful TV microphones caught Canucks Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows sending their polite regards to Blues winger David Backes ... and his lovely wife, Kelly. ("Tell Kelly I said hi!" yells Kesler. "Hey," adds Burrows, "Kelly is a great girl.") Classy as always, hockey dudes. But the funny part is that Backes says he doesn't even know Kesler or Burrows, has never had a run-in with them in a game before, and doesn't even know how they would know his wife's name. The answer must be Canada's superior smack-talking investigators.

"They just have better researchers than I do," he shrugged. "There was a guy who got suspended for a couple of games [for talking about someone else's significant other], wasn't there?"

We all know what he's talking about there, but that was different. Cuthbert is an (inter)national treasure.

"Hey, my wife is a strong woman. She can take it," Backes said. "She's pretty attractive — I'm pretty proud of what I landed there. I'm over-achieving."

In other words, while you guys are getting your teeth knocked out in the second-round, I'll be busy sexing up my hot, hot wife.

The bark in the Canucks bite [Sportsnet, via Online Sports Guys]

The season got off to a rocky start for Legace. On October 24, he slipped on a carpet laid on the Scottrade Center ice for Alaskan anger bear (TM Wonkette) Sarah Palin, who was there to drop the ceremonial first puck. He missed five games with a hip injury and was never able to regain the All-Star form he showed during the Blues' 2007-08 season.

The last straw was the Blues' February 2nd game against the Detroit Red Wings, in which Legace allowed three goals on the first eight shots. He was pulled and had not played since. Since Legace cleared waivers, he will report to the Blues' AHL affiliate in Peoria, IL on Monday. As for Sarah Palin? She became Queen of Real America and lived happily ever after with her 12 children, the end.

[Sporting News]
[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

After missing two chances at an empty net in the final minute, the Bruins allowed the Blues to skate back down into their zone and put the puck in the net to miraculously tie the game with under a second to go. Ok, maybe David Backes' stick was a wee bit high when he batted the puck out of the air, but come on ... who is going to overturn 30 seconds of hockey this exciting? Someone with a lot of hate in his heart, that's who.

The two teams scored five goals in the final four minutes, 45 seconds of the third, and the Blues scored their final two goals in the last 1:20 to tie it. [Full highlights here.] St. Louis then went on to win in a shootout, stealing a point from the conference leaders and prompting this Bruins fan—who is also somehow a NY Giants fan? How does that work?—to film a somber YouTube tribute. Your bitter tears give me strength (and I don't even like Missouri.)

Blues overcome Bruins in wild matinee [CBC]
Bad start to this story [Boston Herald]

The Blues apparently haven't noticed that since Palin dropped the puck for the Flyers' opener earlier this month, Philadelphia is winless in six games so far. This has caused so much consternation in Philly that one blog, The Scores Report, wrote that Palin "Jessica-Simpsoned the Flyers," which is an interesting way of putting it.

Anyway, it should be a fun evening:

When Palin visits Friday, Democrats say they plan to be outside the hockey arena handing out shopping guides for Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, in a jab at the national GOP's $150,000 tab to clothe Palin and her family.

Local Puck For Palin [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
Palin Rumored Guest For Friday Night [St. Louis Game Time]

Twelve Years is a Long Time. Brad Boyes broke the tie for the visiting Blues with just 58 seconds left in the third as St. Louis edged Buffalo 4-3. No surprise there; the last time the Sabres beat the Blues in Buffalo was in October 1995. Back then, Pat LaFontaine was the team's leading scorer and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was still alive...but only just. It's a shame he didn't have Wikipedia to tell him not to go to Tel Aviv the next month. But, hey, the Closer is no place for serious stuff. You are missed, Mr. LaFontaine.

Mueller Time in Minny. Minnesota got another goal from Marian Gaborik, his fourth in four games, and the Wild beat Phoenix 3-1. For goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, who was waived by Anaheim on Nov. 16, the loss was his first in five games as a Coyote. Despite the outcome, it was a special night for rookie Peter Mueller, who played professionally for the first time in his home state. "He's a 19-year-old who still could be playing juniors, and he's one of our better offensive players," Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky told the Star Tribune. "Hear that, boys? Nine-fucking-teen," Gretz most certainly did not add.

Havlat is a Big Boy Now. The Chicago Blackhawks got two goals from the triumphantly returning Martin Havlat on the way to hammering Tampa Bay 5-1. Havlat missed 22 games after injuring his shoulder in the season opener. Youngster Patrick Sharp also scored for the 'Hawks after skipping two games with the flu while Dustin Byfuglien and Jonathan Toews got the other Chicago tallies. "I just wanted to be helpful," Havlat said after the game, which was adorable. He also helped mommy set the table and was personally responsible for peeling the bananas in the fruit salad.