21.   Vladimir Malakhov of the Islanders had just chased down the puck in open ice and was ready to pass it to a teammate for another power play charge.

22.   When each team needs offense from the blue line, it will call on a steady-handed European defenseman to create open ice.

23.   Whenever Samuelsson tried to throw his weight around with a crushing open-ice hit, there was nobody in open ice to bear the brunt of it.

24.   With just more than five minutes remaining in the second period, Bednar took a pass from Adam Mair in the open ice.

25.   Dallas blew several scoring opportunities by missing on centering passes or sending it into open ice.

26.   However, Jagr warned Lemieux it is tougher than ever for scorers to locate open ice and operate with the puck.

27.   I just headed for open ice.

28.   On the goal, Shields stopped a long slap shot from Hull, but allowed a long rebound into open ice.

29.   The ice was only a couple of inches thick and there were many areas of open ice.

30.   With Lemieux again skating alongside him, he saw more open ice, had more scoring chances, had less contact than he has in months.