VIEWS: We said it then, we'll say it again: brilliant trade at the deadline by Pens general manager Craig Patrick.

The guy Pittsburgh dealt away to acquire Tugnutt, goalie Tom Barrasso, has allowed seven goals on 41 shots in his first two playoff games for Ottawa, both losses to Toronto. And suddenly, what was supposed to be an intensely fought series between Ontario rivals is looking more like a rout.

It's not all Barrasso's fault, though he has allowed some horrendously soft goals. Truth is, the Senators have had tremendous difficulty generating goals in the playoffs with a soft lineup that lacks the kind of grit needed to score from in close. They have just 11 goals in their last eight playoff games on the road -- all losses.

GM Marshall Johnston should have addressed that need rather than tinkering with a position he should have left alone. Sure, Tugnutt was just 3-8 in the playoffs before joining Pittsburgh, but he has shown how he can perform with decent support in front of him.

NEWS: The Penguins have nine goals in two games, and captain Jaromir Jagr has six points.

VIEWS: Ahem. Can we have the envelope back, please?

A week ago in this space, we mentioned Chris Pronger, Mike Modano and Steve Yzerman among the leading candidates for the Hart Trophy for most valuable player -- the best players who in many ways carried the three best teams in the NHL standings this season.

Jagr, the NHL's scoring champ again, deserves to be among them -- if not at the top of the list. He is proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Pens, in his absence, probably would have battled to stay ahead of Atlanta at the bottom of the league standings.

That game-winner Jagr scored in Game 2 against Washington on Saturday -- the fourth OT game-winner in his playoff career -- was nothing short of brilliant. And it underscored his reputation as the best offensive player in the world today.

With the Pens on a power play, Jagr was near the side boards and outside the dot of the right face-off circle, a very low percentage shot in traffic -- with hulking goaltender Olaf Kolzig in the net.

At the other end, Tugnutt couldn't believe he would even try that shot.

"I'm thinking, 'Why is he shooting from there,'" Tugnutt told reporters after the game.

Turns out, Jagr knew exactly what he was doing. With a deadly accurate wrist shot, he blistered the puck over Kolzig's right shoulder to give No. 7 Pittsburgh a commanding lead in their series.

"Downright scary," Tugnutt said.

Because of a scheduling quirk, Game 3 is also scheduled for the Mellon Arena in as much of a must-win game that a team will face in this first round. The Caps know they can't go home down 0-3 for Games 4 and 5, the latter if necessary.

Washington's Peter Bondra has the only goal for the Capitals in this series, but that shouldn't come as a surprise. He has 24 career playoff goals -- 17 against Pittsburgh.

NEWS: The St. Louis Blues were the first of the Western Conference's "Big Four" to blink, losing to San Jose 4-2 in Game 2.

VIEWS: They don't get much more bizarre than this one, with a Sharks comeback that began with Blues defenseman Marc Bergevin throwing the puck into his own net to tie the game. See what happens when you dye your hair blond?

Goaltender Roman Turek, who has been anything but his outstanding, consistent self in this series, allowed a soft goal on a deflected pass from behind the net by Bryan Marchment, of all people. And the Sharks scored power play goals each time St. Louis took double minors for high-sticking, by Al MacInnis and Scott Young.

In short, the NHL's best and most consistent team in the regular season followed a recipe for disaster against a Sharks team that embraces the underdog role like no other -- and uses it to out-hit and outwork its opponents.

"We got out-competed today and that was the difference," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We didn't deserve to win."

Notice the Blues' more experienced rivals -- Dallas, Detroit and Colorado, the past three Stanley Cup champions -- looked convincing in taking 2-0 series leads. They know the value of putting away early-round opponents as quickly as possible. St. Louis, clearly, is still on a learning curve.

NEWS: After losing the first two games to Detroit in starkly different fashion -- 2-0 with an empty-net goal and an 8-5 shootout -- Kings coach Andy Murray takes his team home to Los Angeles feeling very good about itself.

VIEWS: And the Kings should feel good. Indeed, the versatile Red Wings proved they can beat you both ways -- a taut goaltenders duel or a wild run-and-gun affair. But Los Angeles proved it could hang either way, too.

"I think we proved today that we aren't going to go away," Murray said. "They had a lot of chances to bury us tonight, and we wouldn't let them. We kept hanging around."

The 13 goals were the most since Los Angeles won 9-6 at Calgary on April 29, 1993.

"We didn't enjoy that one," Red Wings Grind Line center Kris Draper said. "We actually got pissed off the way we were playing. We don't want to be that type of team, run and gun. We'll take this game and forget it and get back to playing the way we've been successful."

Detroit coach Scotty Bowman said the game reminded him of a Montreal-Chicago matchup a generation ago that pitted two of the NHL's greatest goalies of all time -- the Canadiens' Ken Dryden vs. Chicago's Tony Esposito.

"Chicago won 8-7," Bowman recalled. "There's just nothing the goalies can do in these games. ... Tactically, it's not what you want. But for television and the fans, it can't get any better."

Quick now, anybody who had hard-hitting Martin Lapointe scoring the first hat trick in these playoffs, go to the head of the class.

Slapshots

• Somewhere, Nikolai Khabibulin must be smiling watching Phoenix goaltending sieve Sean Burke getting lit up in the Coyotes' series with Colorado. Khabibulin sat out the season rather than sign a long-term deal for $3 million a year. He wanted closer to $4 million a season. Burke has just one playoff victory since leading the New Jersey Devils to the semifinals in 1988.
• New Jersey defenseman Ken Daneyko had played in all 109 playoff games in Devils history going into Sunday's Game 2 vs. Florida. But that streak was in peril because he has an abdominal strain suffered in the opener. Daneyko celebrates his 36th birthday Monday.
• Blues coach Joel Quenneville, after four of his players dyed their hair bright yellow for the playoffs: "The only dye I'm going to have is Grecian Formula."
• Edmonton assistant Craig MacTavish's name has surfaced linked to rumors associating him with the New York Rangers coaching vacancy. The Blueshirts have to name a general manager first, however.
• Like Boston players rallying behind embattled coach Pat Burns, Chicago players have pledged their allegiance to Lorne Molleken, but Blackhawks director of hockey operations Mike Smith isn't impressed: "I didn't know the hockey business became a democracy." The Hawks are looking for a high-profile coach after a downward spiral under four straight rookie coaches.

The final word

"Before playoff games, you think the game through in your mind, and you think you have a pretty good idea what is going to happen. I never dreamed anything like this would happen. I'll just bet that even if we win the Stanley Cup, there won't be another game like this." -- Detroit defenseman Larry Murphy, after the Wings' 8-5 win Saturday over Los Angeles. Murphy also played in the highest-scoring game in postseason history, Edmonton's 10-8 win over the Kings in 1982.