So the first round is over, with some surprises, and the second round promises to entertain! Lets Start with the Eastern Conference, as two match ups promise a lot of catching up to do in terms of, "When we last met!"
Boston vs Philadelphia
I'll start of by saying that the two teams have not met in the postseason since 1978. Don Cherry was the Bruins coach and still very far from the entertainer that he now is.
Boston advanced thanks to some goaltending from Tuukka Rask. He thwarted the Sabers in many crucial situations, while even getting an assist at the other end! This is still his first ever playoff and it will be interesting to see if he can continue. If he does, this series is as good as Boston's!
The veterans Mark Recchi and Miroslav Satan displayed the presence that the Bruins were no doubt hopping for. Each got 5 points in the six games against Buffalo. But they didn't do it all alone. The offence was spread out nicely, and it remains to be seen if this will continue. In any event, in order to win this series, the Bruins will need others to kick in.
The others are the youngsters. Namely, David Krejic and Patrice Berguion. They too had 5 points, proving that the offence is spread out.
The big question is the status of Marc Savard, who has been out since March. He had 33 points in 41 games, but a hit by Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke has sidelined him since. He practiced with the team last Tuesday and is looking to return, but the Bruins might want to be cautious as to when he should return. Remember the same situation with Eric Lindros in 2000?
Dennis Wideman (4 pts), Matt Hunwick (4 pts) and Zdeno Chara (2 goals) were all good two way defenceman in the previous series.
They may not need to do as much this series, as the Flyers are battling injuries, but they will be tested in their own end.
Speaking of Philly, their advance was as shocking as Montreal's. The reason for advancing? A goalie without a last name that starts with "H", Brian Boucher. He wasn't good when he had to be, Brian was good all the time! 1.59 GAA, .940 S%, both lead the playoffs. See now, Flyers? Why'd you get rid of this guy, oh say, a decade ago. He's back like he never left!
He wasn't the only player who stepped up against New Jersey. I would remiss not to mention Daniel Carcillo. Oh...the pest? The child? The rattler? And also, the player, we are forgetting! He scored only two goals, but one of them was an overtime winner, another put game four out of reach. I'm not sure if he can continue the hot hand, but if Carcy does, the Flyers might get off on the right foot.
But the right foot injuries have hit both Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne, who will in all probability miss the entire series with injuries. They will be missed, as Carter lead the team in regular season goals and Gagne had 40 point in only 58 games. Also Ian Lapierre is out for the rest of the playoffs with a brain contusion.
Still, Mike Richards with 8 points, Claude Giroux with 4 goals, and Danny Brier are ready to go. The veteran Chris Pronger will man the defence. I feel, however, that they are the underdogs and two straight surprises are "two" much.
Prediction: Boston in six games.
Montreal vsPittsburgh
This has been a while, too. Last time these two teams met was back in '98, when I was still in highschool.
Somewhere on the streets ofMontreal
Needless to say, his performance...can words describe it? Without underrating it? I'll say this: If that wasn't like Dryden in '71 orRoy
Montreal comes in having pulled off an upset. Can they do it again? They'll need their goaltending and their defence again.
Halak stopped all but three in as many games as the Canadians rallied from three games to one down. They are going to be tired. How about Halak seeing a lot of rubber again? That's definitely a strong possibility. He faced 134 in his last three games and could expect to see shots at about the same pace in this series. With a seventh game road victory under his belt, he has the poise and the confidence to have a chance.
Helping out in front of Halak were three very good defencman: Andrei Markov (4 pts), Marc-Andre Bergeron (3 pts), and Roman Hamrlik. But also stepping up to block shots were ex-Penguin Hal Gill, Josh Gorges and the other Jaroslav, Spacek (2 points in 3 games). Spacek's status is a bit unsure as he is battling a virus that has felled him since game 3 against Washington. Montreal would like to have him back, soon. Also on board for this series is P.K. Subban with two points in two games.
As for the offence, the Canadians turn to their three twenty goal scorers: Plekanec, Cammalleri, Gionta. They contributed with some very opportunistic scoring against Washington. Facing Pittsburgh, they will have to continue.
As for the Pens, it was quite the offensive display against the Sens, and where better to start then with Sidney Crosby?
He was everywhere in this series, even throwing a body check that knocked down the Sens Daniel Alfredsson. He dove across the goal line to stop a goal, he shook of countless defenders for goals and passes. He worked, worked, worked. 14 points in 6 games.
And he had help! Evgeni Malkin, who can be really great in the playoffs (like last year), added 8 points, four of them goals. Agile, long reach, the Habs will have their hands full with him, too. And another problem could big Jordan Staal, who is the third center on the team. Older veterans like Bill Gurein, Chris Kunitz and Sergi Gonchar added a point a game (6) in that series.
Their defence wasn't that impressive outside of Mr Gonchar. But it didn't really need to be in the Ottawa series, and it may not need to be here. I've always found the Penguins defence to be underrated. They have a defence that blocks shots, takes the body, and goes into the corners. Montreal can expect a tough physical series from Pittsburgh.
Mark-Andre Fleury didn't overly impress me in the Ottawa series, but watching a talk show the other day, one of the callers was Pens announcer Phil Bourque. He brought up and interesting point about Fleury: Yes, his stats aren't great so far in the playoffs, but he is concerned about one stat: The "W" next to result. I look for him to step it up playing against the Habs
Injury wise, the Pens are missing defenceman Jordan Leopold and winger Tyler Kennedy. Both will probably return to the Penguins sometime in this series. The Pens might not miss them, as they looked pretty strong against Ottawa, but the more healthy bodies in the playoffs, the better.
Prediction: Pittsburgh in six games.
References
"Official Site Of The National Hockey League." NHL.com. The National Hockey League, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. <http://www.nhl.com/>.
Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 30 April. 2010.
Boston vs Philadelphia
I'll start of by saying that the two teams have not met in the postseason since 1978. Don Cherry was the Bruins coach and still very far from the entertainer that he now is.
Boston advanced thanks to some goaltending from Tuukka Rask. He thwarted the Sabers in many crucial situations, while even getting an assist at the other end! This is still his first ever playoff and it will be interesting to see if he can continue. If he does, this series is as good as Boston's!
The veterans Mark Recchi and Miroslav Satan displayed the presence that the Bruins were no doubt hopping for. Each got 5 points in the six games against Buffalo. But they didn't do it all alone. The offence was spread out nicely, and it remains to be seen if this will continue. In any event, in order to win this series, the Bruins will need others to kick in.
The others are the youngsters. Namely, David Krejic and Patrice Berguion. They too had 5 points, proving that the offence is spread out.
The big question is the status of Marc Savard, who has been out since March. He had 33 points in 41 games, but a hit by Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke has sidelined him since. He practiced with the team last Tuesday and is looking to return, but the Bruins might want to be cautious as to when he should return. Remember the same situation with Eric Lindros in 2000?
Dennis Wideman (4 pts), Matt Hunwick (4 pts) and Zdeno Chara (2 goals) were all good two way defenceman in the previous series.
They may not need to do as much this series, as the Flyers are battling injuries, but they will be tested in their own end.
Speaking of Philly, their advance was as shocking as Montreal's. The reason for advancing? A goalie without a last name that starts with "H", Brian Boucher. He wasn't good when he had to be, Brian was good all the time! 1.59 GAA, .940 S%, both lead the playoffs. See now, Flyers? Why'd you get rid of this guy, oh say, a decade ago. He's back like he never left!
He wasn't the only player who stepped up against New Jersey. I would remiss not to mention Daniel Carcillo. Oh...the pest? The child? The rattler? And also, the player, we are forgetting! He scored only two goals, but one of them was an overtime winner, another put game four out of reach. I'm not sure if he can continue the hot hand, but if Carcy does, the Flyers might get off on the right foot.
But the right foot injuries have hit both Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne, who will in all probability miss the entire series with injuries. They will be missed, as Carter lead the team in regular season goals and Gagne had 40 point in only 58 games. Also Ian Lapierre is out for the rest of the playoffs with a brain contusion.
Still, Mike Richards with 8 points, Claude Giroux with 4 goals, and Danny Brier are ready to go. The veteran Chris Pronger will man the defence. I feel, however, that they are the underdogs and two straight surprises are "two" much.
Prediction: Boston in six games.
Montreal vs
This has been a while, too. Last time these two teams met was back in '98, when I was still in highschool.
Somewhere on the streets of
Needless to say, his performance...can words describe it? Without underrating it? I'll say this: If that wasn't like Dryden in '71 or
Montreal comes in having pulled off an upset. Can they do it again? They'll need their goaltending and their defence again.
Halak stopped all but three in as many games as the Canadians rallied from three games to one down. They are going to be tired. How about Halak seeing a lot of rubber again? That's definitely a strong possibility. He faced 134 in his last three games and could expect to see shots at about the same pace in this series. With a seventh game road victory under his belt, he has the poise and the confidence to have a chance.
Helping out in front of Halak were three very good defencman: Andrei Markov (4 pts), Marc-Andre Bergeron (3 pts), and Roman Hamrlik. But also stepping up to block shots were ex-Penguin Hal Gill, Josh Gorges and the other Jaroslav, Spacek (2 points in 3 games). Spacek's status is a bit unsure as he is battling a virus that has felled him since game 3 against Washington. Montreal would like to have him back, soon. Also on board for this series is P.K. Subban with two points in two games.
As for the offence, the Canadians turn to their three twenty goal scorers: Plekanec, Cammalleri, Gionta. They contributed with some very opportunistic scoring against Washington. Facing Pittsburgh, they will have to continue.
As for the Pens, it was quite the offensive display against the Sens, and where better to start then with Sidney Crosby?
He was everywhere in this series, even throwing a body check that knocked down the Sens Daniel Alfredsson. He dove across the goal line to stop a goal, he shook of countless defenders for goals and passes. He worked, worked, worked. 14 points in 6 games.
And he had help! Evgeni Malkin, who can be really great in the playoffs (like last year), added 8 points, four of them goals. Agile, long reach, the Habs will have their hands full with him, too. And another problem could big Jordan Staal, who is the third center on the team. Older veterans like Bill Gurein, Chris Kunitz and Sergi Gonchar added a point a game (6) in that series.
Their defence wasn't that impressive outside of Mr Gonchar. But it didn't really need to be in the Ottawa series, and it may not need to be here. I've always found the Penguins defence to be underrated. They have a defence that blocks shots, takes the body, and goes into the corners. Montreal can expect a tough physical series from Pittsburgh.
Mark-Andre Fleury didn't overly impress me in the Ottawa series, but watching a talk show the other day, one of the callers was Pens announcer Phil Bourque. He brought up and interesting point about Fleury: Yes, his stats aren't great so far in the playoffs, but he is concerned about one stat: The "W" next to result. I look for him to step it up playing against the Habs
Injury wise, the Pens are missing defenceman Jordan Leopold and winger Tyler Kennedy. Both will probably return to the Penguins sometime in this series. The Pens might not miss them, as they looked pretty strong against Ottawa, but the more healthy bodies in the playoffs, the better.
Prediction: Pittsburgh in six games.
References
"Official Site Of The National Hockey League." NHL.com. The National Hockey League, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. <http://www.nhl.com/>.
Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 30 April. 2010.
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