They pushed each other in the way long-time rivals do, triggering snarls and shoves while drawing on physical and emotional reserves they might not have known they had. Each player was inspired to make an extra effort in puck battles, on faceoff, and in diving in front of dangerous shots, because each one knew that if he didn't do that, someone on the other team surely would.
The superstars played like superstars and the third- and fourth-line players asserted themselves at crucial moments, all of them driven by the knowledge that one mistake or missed scoring chance could be the difference between winning the game, or dropping into a perilous position in the scramble for a Western Conference playoff berth with only a week left.