Hot Shots

Venture into the Devils locker room at Continental Airlines Arena, and you'll see "S.T.F.P." written in bright red Magic Marker in the corner of a white board. It's shorthand for a mantra all Cup-seekers live by: "Shoot the fing puck." Because if you don't shoot, you can't score. And if you don't score, well, see you on the first tee.

But in the two-month torture test that the NHL calls playoff hockey, the checking is harder, the traps tighter, the shots fewer and farther between. Which is why puckheads should appreciate the following primer on all things wristed, backhanded or one-timed; from who's deadliest in the clutch to who's steeliest in the crease; from tricks of the stick trade to how a frozen puck stays frozen. Call it the Art of the Score. -- Lindsay Berra

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