APRIL 23, 2009 -- ANAHEIM -- Apologies to my buddy Bruce Dowbiggin, but I'm stealing the title of his book, "The Defense Never Rests" for the purpose of pointing out a key factor in two opening round sweeps.

A key element in the swift dismissal of the St. Louis Blues and the Montreal Canadiens is those two losing clubs' inability to generate offense from the blueline.

The Vancouver Canucks, in sweeping the Blues, received two goals and eight assists for ten points from Sami Salo, Willie Mitchell, Alex Edler, Matty Ohlund and Kevin Bieksa. In contrast, St. Louis received one assist from Barrett Jackman.

Boston swept the Canadiens in four games and received two goals and seven assists for nine points from Dennis Wideman, Zdeno Chara, Shane Hnidy, Steve Montador and Mark Stuart. Montreal lost Andrei Markov to injury prior to the series, while Matt Schneider saw action in only two of the four games. The Canadiens managed one goal and two assists for three points courtesy rookie Yannick Weber and Josh Gorges.

The current Detroit/Columbus series (which the Wings lead, 3-0), features a Detroit defense responsible for three goals and five assists for eight points in three games, while Columbus has received no points from its defense. Columbus faces elimination tonight at home.

The tightly-matched Devils/Hurricanes series features two clubs that have both received eight points from their respective defenses en route to a 2-2 series tie after four games.

As we can see by Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger's contributions for Anaheim (one goal by each, with Niedermayer's a game-winner), and Rob Blake and Dan Boyle's efforts for San Jose (a combined three goals and five points in a game three victory), the defense cannot rest during the postseason.

Soupy Shootin'? Not Nearly Enough

Brian Campbell Chicago Blackhawks

Brian "Soupy" Campbell of the Chicago Blackhawks has failed to impress in one key aspect of the game during his mega-bucks debut in the Windy City. For $7.1M, he needs to do much better than 108 shots on goal in 82 regular season games, and most importantly, he must improve on his five shots in four playoff games in round one (Chicago and Calgary are tied at 2-2).

Campbell is a heavy hitter, and to be fair, he sure can move the puck out of the zone. But when you're third on the salary chart to Norris nominees Zdeno Chara ($7.5M per annum) and Nick Lidstrom ($7.45M), you've got to provide far more offense than has Campbell.

Chara had 12 shots during Boston's sweep of Montreal, and recorded 216 in 80 regular season games. Chara has cracked 200 shot mark in each of the past four seasons.

Lidstrom shot 180 times in 73 regular season games this year, and seven times in three playoff games thus far.

Dan Boyle makes slightly less than Campbell, and he's been an obvious upgrade in San Jose from Campbell. He recorded 213 shots in 77 regular season games and has 11 in three playoff games vs the Ducks.

This is not the first time that his shot totals have been an issue. During his tenure in Buffalo, he never approached averaging two shots per game. Campbell's best was 142 in 83 regular season games with the Sabres and Sharks in 2007-08, but that pales in comparison to what he should be generating, considering his paycheck.