T1B

EASTERN CONFERENCE
#1 Montreal vs. #8 Boston
The Canadiens won all 8 games in the season series and Carey Price won 5 of those games with a goals against of 2.17 and a save percentage of .932. Thomas was in net for 5 of those games had a goals against of 4.21 and a save percentage of .877. Throw in the fact the Canadiens were the best power play in the regular season and the Bruins were the third worst penalty kill in the league; all signs point to a sweep. I don't see the Bruins having a prayer in this series.

Canadiens in 4 games

#2 Pittsburgh vs. #7 Ottawa
The Senators may have won 3 of 4 from the Penguins this year but they limped into the playoffs. The Penguins wisely gave Crosby the day off today in the loss against Philadelphia but they did get Gary Roberts back for his game since December 29. Fleury finished the season winning 16 of his last 21 starts including a record of 10-3 in March and April. Much like in the Canadiens-Bruins series, the special teams lean heavily in the favor of the Penguins with the third best power play against the 23rd ranked penalty kill. Throw in the fact Alfredsson and Fisher will be out for an indefinite length of time; I can see this being another sweep but Ottawa will probably win a game at home.

Penguins in 5 games

#3 Washington vs. #6 Philadelphia
The quirky nature of the NHL playoff system is in effect as the Flyers go into this series with one more point earned in the regular season but yet they are the road team against the Capitals because they won the Southeast Division and it guaranteed them one of the top 3 seeds. However, it's hard to ignore the fact the Capitals have been the hottest team down the stretch and that helped lift them past the Hurricanes and into the playoffs for the first time in Ovechkin's young career. You have to give the edge the Flyers in special teams; they finished ahead of the Capitals in both categories. I see this one being the most competitive sereis of the first round in the East with the Capitals riding the wave of momentum to the second round and post matchup against the Penguins.

Capitals in 6 games

#4 New Jersey vs. #5 N.Y. Rangers
Until Sunday's finale, the Rangers had won all 7 meetings against the Devils but the Devils got the important win today to get home ice in this series. This series promises to have the best duel in net with Brodeur and Lundqvist. Lundqvist had a stellar goals against of 0.98 in the 7 wins over the Devils including 2 of his league-leading 10 shutouts. Brodeur had very respectable numbers in the 7 losses, 3 in overtime or shootout; he had a goals against under 2.00 and a save percentage of .925. This is definitely the time of year for one of the Rangers big free agent signees to show up. Drury is traditional a strong playoff performer with 81 points in 114 games with the Avalanche and Sabres. This should be a low-scoring competitive series but I love the playoff experience of the Rangers forwards and they will get the best of the Devils.

Rangers in 6 games

WESTERN CONFERENCE
#1 Detroit vs. #8 Nashville
They battled through injuries and a very rough patch in the middle of the season but the Red Wings emerged with the best record in the NHL in the regular season. Holmstrom returned to the lineup today against Chicago, which is a welcomed addition at the right time considering the key matchup will be the 4th best power play in Detroit against the 4th best penalty kill in Nashville. Although both teams didn't stick with one goalie throughout the season, it is expected to be Hasek against Ellis. Ellis has yet to play a single minute in goal in the playoffs while Hasek has 63 wins and a goals against just under 2.00 in 115 playoff games. You won't find many more goalie matchups that are more lopsided in postseason experience. The Predators will be a solid test for the Red Wings in the first round but they proved last year that they are no longer a team that will be pushed around when they got past two tough teams in Calgary and San Jose.

Red Wings in 5 games

#2 San Jose vs. #7 Calgary
The Sharks really caught fire in the second half of the season on the shoulders of Nabokov's league leading 46 wins. They finished the season with third best goals against in the league but were 19th in goals for and didn't have a single player score more than 30 goals and had just three over 20 goals. The addition of Campbell has been a big boost to their power play. 11 of his 18 points in 19 games with the Sharks have come on the power play. From Calgary's perspective, Iginla notched a career high in points and reached 50 goals for the second time in his career. He had 3 goals in the 4 games against the Sharks. The Flames won the season series 3-1. This promises to be a very physical and low-scoring series. Both teams are excellent at home and I can very easily see this go 7 games where both teams win their games at home. However, the Sharks did have the best road record in the league.

Sharks in 6 games

#3 Minnesota vs. #6 Colorado
If the regular season series is any indication, this will be a tight series. The Wild won 5 of 8 games against the Avalanche but 7 of the 8 were decided by 2 goals or less. Minnesota has a huge edge in special teams with the second best penalty kill compared to the Avalanche having the second worst power play. However, you have to believe the poor performance on the power play has a lot to do with the fact they were without guys like Sakic, Stastny and Smyth for a combined 84 games. They enter the playoffs healthy along with Forsberg who had 11 points in 8 games. The Wild were much more fortunate with staying healthy and they got a career year out of Gaborik including his first 40-goal season. The Avalanche are going to have a tough time getting that power play rolling against the tough Wild penalty kill plus, they'll have a hard time containing the Wild's top power play unit. The Wild will win the special teams battle and the series.

Wild in 6 games

#4 Anaheim vs. #5 Dallas
You'd think with the lineup the Ducks have, they'd be much better than 28th in the NHL in goals for. What's worse is the fact they enter the playoffs without their leading goal scorer in Perry. That leaves that with only two players in the lineup with more than 20 goals scored this season. Much like the 4-5 series in the East, this series in the West offers the best goaltending matchup with Giguere vs. Turco. Giguere has had much more success in the postseason than Turco including two trips to the finals and a championship but he'll be relied upon heavily to get the Ducks back to the finals considering the Ducks' problems with scoring goals this year. The Stars will be without Zubov, who just has sports hernia surgery and could miss this entire round. Turco has only gotten out of the first round just once in his career and this is a prime opportunity to dethrone the defending champions. I'll go out on a limb and say he's able to help get the Stars past the Ducks and we'll see a new champion this season.

Stars in 6 games

Montreal in 5
Penguins in 5
Capitals in 6
Rangers in 6

Detroit in 6
Calgary in 6
Colorado in 6
Anaheim in 7

Montreal in 6
Penguins in 5
Capitals in 6
Rangers in 5

Detroit in 5
Calgary in 6
Minnesota in 6
Anaheim in 7

Decent first night of action with 3 of the 4 road teams winning Game 1 of their respective series. The Eastern games were lopsided but the two Western games were very good. Great finish to the Avs-Wild Game 1 with the disputed goal and the penalty shot with Smyth but Backstrom came up huge.

Looking forward to Game 1 tonight for the Wings and Predators...Stuart, Samuelsson and Draper expected to return to the lineup for the series opener. This hasn't had the entire lineup together all that often...eager to see what they can do at near full strength. Kopecky is the only guy that is out of the playoffs and Maltby should be back at some point.

How hot is Johan Franzen? Typical Red Wings effort...double the other team in shots and essentially win by playing keepaway. Hank came up big with two goals in the third to make the difference.

RACK Cheli...he'll pass Roy on Saturday for most playoff games played.

In other action...big bounce back win by the Sharks; Nabokov was huge in net. Dallas sends a very loud message to the defending champs in Game 1 with a 4-0 win and the Canadiens had no trouble stomping the Bruins...not a big surprise.

ATG is a hockey god..

He just took over that game. Unbelievable!

That was the best night of the playoffs so far...great comeback win by the Capitals, a thrilling win by the Pens and another OT game in the Wild-Avs series. The Rangers-Devils hasn't been that great of a series but it was a tight game last night.

Shoalzie wrote:The Rangers-Devils hasn't been that great of a series but it was a tight game last night.

Speak for yourself.

Wild day yesterday...Boston and New Jersey win in OT to avoid falling down 3-0 and Calgary comes back from 3-0 down to take a 2-1 lead over the Sharks.

The Wings held off the Predators after a rocky second period on Saturday to take a 2-0...looking to go 3-0 tonight in Nashville. The Penguins also look to go up 3-0 on the Senators in Ottawa with Spezza likely out of the lineup. Of all the series, I thinking Pittsburgh-Ottawa is pretty much a done deal given the fact the Pens are at full strength and clicking on all cylinders and the Sens are an absolute mess. I wouldn't put it past the Preds to win at least one of their home games against the Wings to prolong the series. In my case, that's not a problem for me because I've got free tickets from work for Game 5 so there's a reward in the Wings losing one of the next two games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKSU_0Ke9Yk

Game and potential series changing hit by Sarich. There aren't many time where you get to line a guy up that, but this is just purely a spectacular hit.

Phaneuf crunched Marleau against the glass earlier in the first period as well...gotta give the Flames a lot of credit on making the comeback. I don't know who said the Flames should start Joseph in Game 4 but I think that's way off base...Kiprusoff was their best player in the first two games. I think he'll be eager to get back in redeem himself. The Sharks are in a dangerous spot right now.

MuchoBulls wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKSU_0Ke9Yk

Game and potential series changing hit by Sarich. There aren't many time where you get to line a guy up that, but this is just purely a spectacular hit.

Sarich has really been in the fans' doghouse for the latter part of the year. This hit has redeemed him in a huge way.

Props to Marleau for popping back up and playing a solid game the rest of the way after those two crunches.

Browsing a lot of the Bay Area media sites, a lot of them saying the hit was cheap, dirty and an elbow. Even Marleau himself said the hit was clean. How can this game ever gain credibility in the non-traditional markets with reporting like that? That hit was as clean as they come!

At any rate, there is no talk whatsoever of Joseph starting. It has been brought up, but nobody is taking the idea seriously, including Mike Keenan.

But don't be surprised if the leash is shorter than usual.

Good wins for Nashville and Minnesota last night!

And nice to see Ottawa completing their complete and utter collapse since last season. That team looks to be in serious turmoil.

Nice bounce back wins last night by Anaheim, Colorado and San Jose.

MuchoBulls wrote:Nice bounce back wins last night by Anaheim, Colorado and San Jose.

Montreal responded to dropping Game 3 as well.

Very impressive effort by the Ducks and Avalanche and Flames are going to be kicking themselves for letting the Sharks back in that series.

Big one tonight in Nashville...9:00 start. The Predators played only about 10 minutes of hockey on Monday and stole Game 3 and got back in the series. I'm going to Game 5 on Friday...I'd love to see a win tonight so I can see them finish it off back at the Joe.

I think we saw Hasek's last game in a Red Wing uniform last night after he got pulled in favor of Osgood. The heat was on Hasek after the two goals he gave up in the third on Monday to give the Predators the Game 3 win. He gave up two quick goals last night and then gave up a goal in the second period that proved to be the game-winner and it lead to his eventual benching. I think the team in general played two mediocre periods of hockey and didn't exactly help their goalie but Osgood came in and stopped the bleeding and was a stabilizing presence in net. I'd be absolutely stunned if Babcock doesn't go back to Osgood for Game 5 on Friday.

In other action...Ottawa is done and Sid and Geno are through to the second round for the first time. I was hoping for a Penguins-Capitals second round series but I don't know if the Caps will be able to hold up their end of the bargain.

Wild game last night in Detroit. It was the typical Wings playoff win where they horribly outshoot the other team but their goalie stands on their hand and the Wings escape with the W.

The NHL adds its second new rule of the postseason...no more octopus twirling. :?

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... 3/SPORTS05" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is the ultimate slap in the face of one of the sports' last great traditions. Shame on Bettman and the league for doing this. I'm biased, obviously...but who doesnt find this new rule to be just another sign that the league doesn't "get it"?

Shoalzie wrote:Wild game last night in Detroit. It was the typical Wings playoff win where they horribly outshoot the other team but their goalie stands on their hand and the Wings escape with the W.

The NHL adds its second new rule of the postseason...no more octopus twirling. :?

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... 3/SPORTS05" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is the ultimate slap in the face of one of the sports' last great traditions. Shame on Bettman and the league for doing this. I'm biased, obviously...but who doesnt find this new rule to be just another sign that the league doesn't "get it"?

That could be the dumbest "rule" I've heard of.

Shoalzie wrote:This is the ultimate slap in the face of one of the sports' last great traditions. Shame on Bettman and the league for doing this. I'm biased, obviously...but who doesnt find this new rule to be just another sign that the league doesn't "get it"?

Yep, it is indeed another sign the league doesn't get it. Killing traditions, nice move. Or they're afraid some animal protection lobby will file a lawsuit against them? Don't laugh, you know there are lots of people with way too much time on their hands out there.

Onto the conference semis for the Wings...another center ice goal by Lidstrom against a goalie named Dan that wears #39...oddly enough, 6 years and one day to that faithful goal that changed the series against the Canucks. Obviously, this goal was more of a back-breaker since the Preds were already facing elimination.

We now sit and wait with Colorado likely the opponent if the Sharks take care of the Flames tonight. I would've loved to see both the Ducks and Sharks lose in the first round but I might get half of my wish at least. The Quackers play to keep their title defense hopes alive tonight in Big 'D'.

You got half of your wish. I'd have thought that you would have wanted San Jose to win because I think Calgary would be a tougher opponent for you than Colorado would be.

Between Calgary and Colorado, I think Calgary will give the Wings more problems kind of like what Nashville gave them. They have a physical defense and great goaltender as well as a crazy home rink with very vocal fans. Plus, I know they'd like to get even with the Wings for knocking them out last year.

With Colorado, Theodore is really playing well and they are rolling three very strong scoring lines. They have a very solid blueline as well with Foote and Salei back there now. I think the Avalanche offer their own set of problems as far as matching up with their three lines and their power play is coming to life. To me, I probably would prefer the Avalanche considering the Wings dominated them in the regular season but that was without Forsberg, Foote and Salei as well as the fact they played without Sakic, Stastny and Smyth in some of those games.

Major props to Ovechkin for coming up big in the third period last night with two huge goals. He hadn't scored since the third period of Game 1 but he helps keep the Caps alive another game to force Game 7 tonight. You gotta love a Game 7 doubleheader. Hopefully both games are better than the Game 7 with Bruins and Canadiens last night. I guess the clock struck midnight for the Bruins and Price returned to form.

I would pick the Flames to beat the Wings if they played. Kiprusoff is a better goalie and they have a better overall defense. The Wings should be able to handle Colorado much easier.

Nice to see that Montreal fan was rioting after a Round 1 win. I'd hate to see what would happen if they progress, or get knocked out.

Looking forward to this evening. I have a weird feeling Ovechkin goes off tonight and gets a hat trick.

I wonder if Bettman is praying to the hockey gods that the Capitals win tonight to set up the epic second round matchup of Pittsburgh-Washington to showcase the league's two young superstars and I'd even include Malkin in that conversation. That could be one of the most entertaining series in years. I'm rooting for it to happen.

Game 7 OT...RACK it! I'm going with Semin for the win.