This will be my first attempt at a running diary. For those who don’t know how it works, I will take notes during the game of my observations in real time.  I would like to give credit to Bill Simmons, ESPN Sports Guy, for giving me the idea.  I don’t know if he invented it, but his column is the only place I have seen it.  Any commentary/criticism is much appreciated.  I hope you enjoy!
First Period
19:31: Carter takes a pass of the boards from Timonen, almost gets a breakaway.  The puck was just a bit out of his reach and [...]

Mike Richards and Jeff Carter have seen some time together on the same line.  I’m not sure if I like this combination, so let’s weigh the pro’s and cons:
Pro’s:

An extra center on the ice in case on gets tossed from the face-off circle
Two highly skilled guys that can score
Richards has a bonafide sniper to pass to
Other lines will face weaker defense pairs

 
Cons:

Both play better as centers than wings, each needs to control the puck to be effective
Line depth significantly weaker
Teams with better defensive depth can potentially shut them both down at once

I guess there is a strong case for both [...]