No. 1 Star: Shane Doan, Phoenix Coyotes

The Coyotes captain beat Jonathan Quick twice in Game 4, leading Phoenix to a 2-0 victory to cut the Los Angeles Kings' series lead to 3-1. Doan's power-play goal in the first period and shot off the goal-cam in the second provided the Coyotes with all the offense they needed.

No. 2 Star: Mike Smith, Phoenix Coyotes

With a 36-save performance, Smith notched his third shutout of the postseason and backstopped the Coyotes to a fifth game of the conference final.

No. 3 Star: Trevor Lewis, Los Angeles Kings

The Kings forward tied Drew Doughty for the team lead with five shots on goal and led the team with five hits in the Game 4 loss, playing 13:32.

Honorable mention: Ray Whitney and Antoine Vermette had assists for the Coyotes. … Oliver Ekman-Larsson was a plus-1 in 24:53. ... Quick made 19 saves.

Conn Smythe Watch: 1. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings; 2. Dustin Brown, Los Angeles Kings; 3. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers; 4. Ilya Kovalchuk, New Jersey Devils; 5. Brad Richards, New York Rangers; 6. Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings; 7. Mike Smith, Phoenix Coyotes; 8. Mike Richards, Los Angeles Kings; 9. David Clarkson, New Jersey Devils; 10. Dan Girardi, New York Rangers

Dishonorable mention: The Kings were 0 for 6 on the power play and gave up a power-play goal. … The Coyotes took eight minor penalties.

New Jersey Devils Coach Pete DeBoer called Rangers forward Brandon Prust's Game 3 elbow against defenseman Anton Volchenkov "headhunting … plain and simple." New York Rangers Coach John Tortorella called Prust an "honest player" and inferred that Volchenkov sold the incident. Prust himself said "it wasn't vicious at all," while Volchenkov said it was "pretty dirty."

The NHL Department of Player Safety? It determined it was worth a one-game suspension for Prust, who will miss Monday's Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final in Newark:

The incident occurred at 2:31 of the second period. There was no penalty called on the play.

As the video shows, Prust flailed out his arm to clip Volchenkov in the head after the Devils defenseman spun away from a check.

That fact that there was no injury on the play and that Prust has no prior interaction with Brendan Shanahan and the Department of Player Safety might make a one-game suspension in the Eastern Conference final seem severe.

But Shanahan and the NHL have sent a message twice about this kind of hit, with this type of result.

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Shane Doan was defiant heading into Game 4 of the Western Conference final. He wasn't ready to see the Phoenix Coyotes' season end, and certainly not under a cloud of humiliation.

"This team's worked too hard to not show what we're capable of. A lot of guys were embarrassed going down 3-0, and we ought to find a way to show what we're capable of,"  said Doan on CBC, moments after his two-goal effort stood up in a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. "We got a game back."

Of course, the Kings have lost a potential elimination game on home ice before — and still saw their series end in five.

They've also been on the road before in the 2012 playoffs.

They've yet to lose, going 7-for-7.

Doan, the Coyotes' captain, has heard about this streak.

[Also:Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist frustrates the Devils to win Game 3]

"What is it, nine in a row or something? Everyone's talking about it. There's two ways to look at it: They're either due to lose, or we have to do something to stop them. Law of averages says they're going to eventually lose on the road," said Doan in the postgame presser. "Next game would be a bad one to lose."

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The 2012 IIHF World Championships wrapped up Sunday with Russia continuing its recent dominance earning its third gold medal in five years with a 6-2 victory over Slovakia. Russia won all 10 of its games of the tournament and scored 44 goals to lead all teams. It was the first team since the Soviet Union in 1989 to win every game in regulation.

Leading the way in the gold medal game were Alex Semin (two goals, one assist), Pavel Datsyuk (one goal, two assists) and Alex Ovechkin (two assists). Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves and won all eight of his starts to finish with a 1.77 goals-against average and .939 save percentage.

Evgeni Malkin earned MVP honors for the tournament after netting 11 goals and 19 points in 10 games. He scored the final goal for Russia on a lovely individual effort:

Throughout the tournament, the Slovakian players paid tribute to Pavol Demitra, the hockey great who perished in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl airplane crash last September. Some players wore his No. 38 on their equipment and others sported T-shirts with his picture on them under their jerseys.

Zdeno Chara paid his own tribute to Demitra after the game.

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You've got your stick in hand and all you want to do is score, but someone is denying you that moment of euphoria. Husbands of the world, the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues and the Phoenix Coyotes feel your frustration … and this display ad outside of Staples Center around LA Live during Game 4 of the Western Conference final is hilarious.

Over the last two years, the Boston Bruins offered some hilarious (and hilariously offensive, to some parties) display advertisements. For example: "Never, Ever Date A Flyers Fan. Even If She Shaves Her Moustache."

Whoever put this Jonathan Quick tribute up — the Los Angeles Kings? Reebok? Some mysterious goalie-loving benefactor? — is giving those Boston ads a run for comedic genius in playoff display advertising.

Although, a word of advice for that frustrated husband: Try shooting from center ice.

s/t @bloodyeyeballs, via @hockeydoc21 and @tonybova

New Jersey Devils Coach Pete DeBoer and New York Rangers Coach John Tortorella have engaged in some ill-mannered discourse this season. Back in March, after the teams had a game-opening brawl, DeBoer called Tortorella a "hypocrite" for criticizing the Devils' goonish starting lineup; Torts advised DeBoer to "shut up."

After Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final on Saturday, DeBoer was asked about an elbow by Brandon Prust on Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov, for which Prust earned a hearing with the NHL on Sunday. DeBoer said: "Headhunting, plain and simple."

On Sunday, Tortorella had his chance to respond. Boy, did he, via the Star Ledger:

"Prust has played probably 300-plus games without any hearing, anything going on," Tortorella said. "He's probably one of the most honest players. I looked at (Dainius) Zubrus' elbow to (Anton) Stralman. I look at (Zach) Parise launching himself at (Michael) Del Zotto. Maybe if our players stay down on the ice, we'll get something. We tell our players don't stay down on the ice, get up."

Here's the Parise hit, via SNY Rangers blog:

Was he leaping into Del Zotto? Leaping to avoid Del Zotto's skate wedged against the boards? Hard to tell from the clip.

What else are the Devils doing to break the rules? Picking like a bluegrass band on the power play, according to Torts.

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The Rangers' three-goalie system of Lundqvist, Girardi and McDonagh watches the play develop at the other end.

Winning the Stanley Cup Final is as much about overcoming attrition as it is about overmatching your opponent. Often times, a team's ability to minimize fatigue and damage in Rounds 1-3 can determine the outcome of Round 4.

This in mind, I worry about Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh.

Tortortella's Fellas block a lot of shots, and Girardi and McDonagh lead the way in this regard. The duo combined to get hit by 387 pucks during the regular season -- 4.7 per game -- and they've picked up the pace since, averaging a combined 6.3 shot blocks this postseason. Girardi's blocked 54; McDonagh's blocked 53. The third-ranked postseason shot-blocker is Willie Mitchell, with 39.

This is a lot to put the body through.

But Girardi and McDonagh's issue goes beyond simply racking up the contusions. They also play nearly half the game. Both are up over 460 minutes already this postseason: Girardi has played 465:03; McDonagh has played 461:21, a full 30 minutes more than Marc Staal, the third-busiest postseason skater.

Let's put this into further perspective.

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The Staples Center in Los Angeles has been busy this weekend with six playoff games in four days between the Clippers, Kings and Lakers with Sunday featuring a day/night hockey/basketball doubleheader. And while arena workers change the surface from ice to a basketball court sometime Sunday afternoon, at the same time, there could be some celebrating going on in the home locker room.

The Stanley Cup Final awaits the Kings with a win Sunday over the Phoenix Coyotes. It's been 19 years since they've been at this point in the postseason, but there are plenty of players on the roster that have played this late in a season before. Despite that experience, there will be nerves and likely some minds looking ahead before the puck drops on Game 4.

"Everyone talks about getting to the Stanley Cup Final, but I can only speak really for myself, playing in that game tomorrow [Sunday] night is pretty fun, as well," said Kings captain Dustin Brown on Saturday.

"It's one of the things where you gotta really enjoy the journey. We're one game away from the Cup Final. But it's one game we have to win."

It's only human nature for Brown and his teammates to picture what a celebration might be like in front of the home crowd after another series sweep. And, in Brown's case, he may have taken a moment to ponder whether or not he touches the Clarence Campbell Bowl out of superstition.

Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, however, were a bit more cautious.

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Stefanie Gordon arrived at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, N.Y., at around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. She was given her plane ticket, went through TSA security and walked to Gate 1 of Terminal A, where her Delta Flight was scheduled to depart at 10 a.m. Like the rest of the passengers, she patiently waited until the announcement for boarding was made, at which time former New York Rangers star Ron Duguay would scan her ticket before she embarked on a 17-minute flight to a hockey game in New Jersey.

"It was the most interesting way I've ever gotten to a sporting event," said Gordon, a Rangers fan from Manhattan.

Gordon and her cousin Allison Marden were among the Rangers fans that landed seats on Delta Flight 8857 from LaGuardia to Newark International Airport, where they were whisked away by bus to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center.

"I think we were in the air for about seven minutes. We taxied longer than the flight," said Gordon.

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Martin Erat's Czech Republic team suffered a major blow Saturday when it was upset by Slovakia, 3-1, in the semifinal game of the IIHF World Hockey Championships.

But Erat personally suffered a major blow when he was absolutely crushed by Libor Hudacek in the corner midway through the first period.

I don't speak the language this clip is in, but that uncomfortable exhalation is the same in any language, and I'm about 99 percent positive the word "blindside" is uttered at the 0:31 mark.

That said, Erat does some high-quality puck-watching here. First he's looking back over his left shoulder. Then he swivels his head and looks back over his right shoulder. Then Hudacek drills him, with the Slovak forward's shoulder connecting with his chin.

Erat left the game and would not return, and according to Czech GM Slava Lener, he won't return for the bronze medal game either. The Nashville Predators' forward has a concussion. Here's hoping he's recovered in time for training camp next fall.

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