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Insider Intel: Sudden-death dealers

Role players such as Dave Steckel, left, see more of the ice in OT and have made the most of it. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Tim Gleason, Alex Burrows, Todd Marchant, Kris Letang, Jussi Jokinen, Andrew Ladd and Dave Steckel. What do they all have in common? For starters, each is a second-, third- or checking-line player for his respective team. They all play defensive supporting roles alongside established superstars such as Eric Staal, Daniel Sedin, Ryan Getzlaf, Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews and Alexander Ovechkin. Most importantly, and unlike their All-Star teammates, they've all been overtime heroes so far in the 2008-09 playoffs. Is this just a statistical aberration, or does a team's overtime fate rest on the shoulders of the second-liners?