Last night, the New Jersey Devils beat the New York Rangers 3-2 to knot the series at one game a piece, so if you're looking for details, head over to In Lou We Trust or The Globe and Mail for a recap.

There are plenty of links to check out this morning, so follow me over the jump for a smattering of everything.

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Ok, it's not, but it might as well be. I'm sure to receive a few admonishments from some corner of the internet, but I really think there's no chance that the Phoenix Coyotes ever come back to beat the Los Angeles Kings.

If you're looking for a recap of the game, there's no better place than Five For Howling, who had an understandably dour take on last night's events.

Plenty more links over the jump.

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I couldn't decide which story I wanted to run with over the jump, so I'll just link both of them.

Last night, the New York Rangers won the first game of the semi-finals 3-0 against the New Jersey Devils. Sure, it was a low-scoring game (the third goal was an empty-netter), but it was nevertheless an exciting one, remaining close until the end of the third.

Catch a recap from In Lou We Trust or Blueshirt Banter if you're looking for in-depth coverage on the evening.

The other story is, of course, that the Leafs have agreed to terms with Leo Komarev on an ELC.

Komarev, who is now playing in the KHL, was drafted in 2006, and may be able to crack the Leafs' lineup in a bottom-six role and add a bit of scoring. There's no guarantee he'll make the cut, but this is a low-risk signing that may help push the likes of Colby Armstrong or Matthew Lombardi off the Leafs' payroll, and I'm all for that.

Jump for more links.

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Sure this has nothing to do with the Leafs, but it's too good of a story to pass up.

Letter to Jets Fans Past and Present - Jeff Mazur at The Hockey Writers

I know this doesn’t apply to everyone, just some of you. You know who you are. The Phoenix Coyotes are not the Winnipeg Jets. They never have been.

Yes, I know the Jets left our fair city and headed to the desert 16 years ago, but they ceased to be the Winnipeg Jets in July of 1996 when title of the team was transferred to the new owners. They had their own management team put in place. Yes, the players made the move (or at least some of them) but they were wearing different jerseys and played in a different country. Teemu was already gone and Alexi Zhamnov never made the trip. It didn’t take long for most of the players who wore the Jets jersey to move on to other organizations.

I’ve always known that people were out there who refused to let go, and you’d think the fact that we have a team named the Jets back in town would put that to rest, but apparently that’s not enough for those of you still living in the past.

There is no doubt in my mind that had Winnipeg won a Cup or two, this guy would be calling for the banners to be hung in MTS Arena.

Links after the jump.

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It's been eighteen years since the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils met in the Eastern Conference Finals. That series happened to wind up as one of the most famous playoff series of all time. Will we see the same quality of hockey in 2012? Probably not. Mark Messier isn't around to utter guarantees to the local media (Daniel Alfredsson does that now) and Stephane Matteau is long retired; but you have to believe NBC is salivating over the possibility of a Cup Finals between New York (or New Jersey) and Los Angeles. A series involving the two biggest TV market in the US would probably break records for viewership and could even lead to claims like the one from a 1994 cover of Sports Illustrated. Should be fun to see how things unfold.

Links after the jump...

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Night and day. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Call it what you will, but Nikolai Kulemin has put together two polarizing seasons in succession that have fans of the Leafs and fantasy hockey managers alike questioning what his true potential is...

For Kulemin’s sake and for the sake of th Leafs, one should hope a change of scenery isn’t what’s needed to get him going again, and hope that he can grow and become stronger as a person and player. Will his return see him pot another 30 goals?

Interesting analysis from OT Winner. Kulemin escaped a lot of heat this year because of the fantastic performances by Kessel and Lupul and because he missed the end of the season. Had the Leafs been a little more desperate for goals or a little closer to a playoff spot in March, public perception of Kulemin could be very different.

A lot of very smart hockey fans felt Kulemin's goal totals would go down from the 2010-2011 season, mostly due to natural regression in shooting percentage. But nobody thought he'd score a measly 7 goals in 70 games. Going forward I'm not sure you can pencil Kulemin in as a second line player. He's only had one season with more than 16 goals and he'll be 26 this summer. He may not be a regular 25 goal guy because of his low shot totals. His contract negotiations this summer will be very, very interesting. Like a lot of Leafs, there's a bit of mystery surrounding what kind of talent he is - something Brian Burke and company need to figure out this offseason.

Links after the jump...

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Money, expectations and our macho culture can’t help but lead to issues for many athletes: a delicate balance that doesn’t always work out - Mike Langlois at Vintage Leaf Memories

When Ron MacLean spoke the other night on Hockey Night in Canada and tried to, albeit somewhat awkwardly, compare the efforts of hard-working hockey players at playoff time with those of the courageous responders during 9-11, it brought a predictably negative response.

The long-time host was trying to say something very positive about the players while also paying homage to the real heroes of that tragic day more than a decade ago. Upon reflection, he may have chosen his words a bit differently, but his heart was no doubt in the right place.

That said, I think a lot of us have struggled for a long time with how we think about sports and sports figures, and this notion of athletes as not only "heroes" but "warriors". It’s a difficult thing. People often want, perhaps even need what we perceive as heroes- maybe as a kind of psychological pick-me-up. It might be that we are struggling with something in our own lives. Perhaps the human heart just needs to hear, see and touch nice, uplifting stories every once in a while. And that’s OK.

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