Justin Abdelkader will likely be the next NHLer to get a call from Brendan Shanahan after being ejected for a nasty, high bodycheck on Anaheim Ducks' defenceman Toni Lydman.

While the Department of Player Safety may appreciate Abdelkader giving them an easy one after the difficult situation Lars Eller put them in, they're not going to like this hit.

Lydman left the game for evaluation and did not return. Abdelkader left as well, because he was given a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct.

As for the potential for supplemental discipline, this play has a lot of bad stuff. Lydman's condition will be a factor, of course. The primary point of contact will be discussed, and it looks like it might be the head. Hitting a guy there is a no-no (except for the occasions when it isn't, like when you drop your stick and gloves first).

So is leaving one's feet to do it, and Abdelkader appears to do that as well. That will be a major point of contention here. Clearly, he pops up as a result of the collision, but are his skates off the ice even before that?

It looks like they might be. If they are, Abdelkader could be unavailable for Game 4 and then some.

But while the Shanavengers could drop the hammer on Abdelkader, the Ducks already made the Red Wings pay for it. It was a momentum-changer in this game. Nick Bonino scored on the resulting powerplay; Anaheim never looked back.

In the third, Ryan Getzlaf, Emerson Etem, and Matt Belesky added goals, and Jonas Hiller guided home a 23-save shutout in a 4-0 Game 3 win for the Ducks.

APThe Boston Bruins got a big emotional boost Saturday night. Prior to the club's Game 2 matchup with first-round opponent the Toronto Maple Leafs, the TD Garden received a visit from Jeff Bauman, the local hero who lost both his legs in the Boston Marathon bombings but played a major role in identifying the perpetrators:

Bauman served as banner captain for the Bruins, waving a Boston Strong flag just prior to puck drop.

Bauman's story is the epitome of "Boston Strong". Waiting for his girlfriend to cross the finish line at the race, he saw one of the suspects drop one of the explosive backpacks near him.

He lost both his legs in the blast. When he awoke in the hospital, still woozy from medication, he asked for a pen and paper and wrote, "Bag, saw the guy, looked right at me".

If not for those eight words, the Tsarnaev brothers may not have been caught so quickly.

“I want to thank everyone for their amazing support for me and all those injured and their families,” Bauman said in a statement. “I’m making great progress and I thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. Please continue to respect our space at this time. I want to thank the Bruins players and organization for the generosity and support for all those impacted. Like all those in Black and Gold I can’t wait to see them on another quest for the cup. Go Bruins!”

Darren Bersuk spent seven years with the Canadian national gymnastics team, competing in two World Championships, among other events. Like many gymnasts, he's found a second career as an acrobat for Cirque Du Soleil, where he's been wowing crowds with his staggering upper body strength and balance for another seven years.

A resident of Vancouver, Bersuk is also a Canucks fan, and he's put his otherworldly talents to use in one of the most creative and bizarre fan videos you're going to see.

Word to the other hockey fans making videos: step your game up. Oh, you're writing a song to support the home team? This dude has turned himself into a human Canucks flag, setting up beside the Roger Nielsen statue at Rogers Arena dressed in blue and green and hanging off a post.

Where's your commitment? Why aren't you a human flag right now? Get it together.

The best thing about human flags is that they don't just flap in the breeze. They can, if necessary, kick opposition fans in the face. Human flags > Regular flags, is what I'm saying.

s/t to Pass it to Bulis.

Few were expecting an all-Canadian first-round matchup, especially in the East, where the notion that any of Canadian teams were going to start the playoffs on home ice just seemed too far-fetched.

But it happened, thanks to the Montreal Canadiens, one of the 2013 season's biggest surprises. Only the homerest of homers were picking the Habs to win the Northeast division, but after a stunning and immediate resurgence under news head coach Michel Therrien and new general manager Marc Bergevin (and a little help from the Senators in the season's final game), here they are, all bannered and proud.

The Senators were a surprise this year as well, albeit for very different reasons. After misfortune ravaged the room, plucking all their most important pieces from the lineup, it would have been forgivable if they'd dropped out of contention. But instead, they battled all year long, weathered the storm, and now, as they begin to get their guys back at the most important times, they look like one a dangerous seventh seed.

Canadians (and canadiens) rejoice: there will be a team from our home and native land in the second round no matter what. But who will it be?

Two of the ocean's deadliest predators come together in a battle to see which coach gets fired!

The Sharks and the Canucks really are very similar foes, at least in terms of their journeys. Here, we have two teams that have been among the Western Conference's elite for some time, but year after year fall short of expectations. Their cores have been questioned -- called soft, lacking in guts, tenacity, or whatever you'd call that intangible, Stanley Cup-winning quality that can only be recognized in retrospect. Their leadership, both on the ice and off has been questioned as well.

Now they face each other, and it's highly likely that there's more on the line than just a trip to Round 2. Neither of these teams can survive another first-round playoff exit without changes. An elimination could conceivably call for some drastic renovations to the room and the front office. And I'm not talking about the wallpaper and drapes.

Who will survive the death match?

Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

• Love this fan photo from last night at the Honda Center in Anaheim. [Reddit]

• Turns out Cory Schneider's body injury wasn't just a ploy to get him some rest after all. Roberto Luongo gets the start in Game 1 for the Canucks as that soap opera continues. [Canucks Army]

• Nazem Kadri on the Leafs' date with the Bruins: "It's a very, very winnable series." [Toronto Star]

• No Sidney Crosby for the Penguins in Game 1. [The Globe & Mail]

• Marian Gaborik hopes to play for Slovakia at the Worlds, but first he's seeing an abdominal specialist. [Blue Jackets Xtra]

• “When an NHL player comes out, we will rely on You Can Play’s expertise in this area in addition the myriad support systems that already were part of our structure and the NHLPA’s to help that player in any way we can,“ NHL spokesman John Dellapina told Reuters in an email. “Our view is that we would do as much or as little as any player needs or wants." [Toronto Sun]

• Shocking headline: "The future of the Phoenix Coyotes 'not set in stone'". This is a surprise to me. [The Hockey News]

• Andrew Bucholtz on CBC's Don Cherry conundrum. [Awful Announcing]

• I sort of love that Josh Harding refused to comment on what he's overcoming to play for the Wild right now. Great stuff here from Nick Cotsonika on Harding's big night Tuesday. [Yahoo!]

No. 1 Star: Alex Steen, St. Louis Blues

Steen scored both goals in the Blues' 2-1 overtime win over the Los Angeles Kings. The first came on the powerplay, 9:05 into the first. The second came with the Kings on the powerplay in overtime, as Steen charged in on Jonathan Quick, forced the Kings' netminder into a puck-handling error, then tucked the puck into the open net.

No. 2 Star: Bryan Bickell, Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago and Minnesota went to overtime as well, and Bickell played the hero, scoring the 2-1 goal on a pass from Viktor Stalberg after a puck sailed over Ryan Suter's head in the neutral zone.

Despite some gutsy performances from Josh Harding and Ryan Suter (who saw about the same amount of icetime tonight), the Minnesota Wild couldn't hold off the Chicago Blackhawks forever.

At 16:35 of the first overtime, Chicago broke through. Bryan Bickell was the hero, giving the Blackhawks Game 1 after converting on a pass from Viktor Stalberg.

Great pass by Stalberg.

Ryan Suter will likely get a little flak for his play on this goal. After missing on an attempt to snag the puck in mid-air which sprung Stalberg, he comes back slowly, drifting through the play as Bickell ices the game.

It's a criticizable play, but it's important to note that this game probably isn't in overtime at all if Suter doesn't play 41:08 in this game. If he looks a little tired here, it's probably because he is.

Follow Harrison Mooney on Twitter at @HarrisonMooney