The regular season has flown by and I feel like I've lost touch with the NHL this year because here in Oklahoma, the Thunder are king. With the compressed NBA schedule they seem to be playing almost every night and simply keeping up with my Stars has even been affected. No need to fear though, due to the great invention known as the NHL GameCenter, I can hopefully watch at least some of the early round playoff games before heading home for summer.
Looking ahead to the first round match ups, we'll start in the Eastern Conference.
#1 New York Rangers vs. #8 Ottawa Senators
Although the Rangers have only been able to pull away 3 points in the 4 games against Ottawa in the regular season, I don't see the playoffs going in the same direction.
Henrik Lundqvist is going to be the backbone of the Rangers' playoff run. He once again posted career numbers this season (.930 SV%, 1.97 GAA) and John Tortorella has done a great job this season of resting him through the regular season, playing in only 62 games. The Sweede goaltender will be tougher than ever to beat come puck drop Thursday night. Combine that with the scoring tandem of Gaborik and Richards with Callahan, Stepan and Del Zotto in the supporting cast, the Rangers aren't going to be stopped, at least not by this Ottawa team.
Nothing against the Senators though. Jason Spezza had another 30-goal season and with assist machine defenseman Erik Karlsson (59 on the season) the Senators aren't going to make this a breeze for New York, especially with Craig Anderson in the net. Anderson isn't exactly posting league-leading numbers, but he is a vital part of his team's success, being in net for 33 of the teams 41 wins.
Ottawa will be a good test for the Rangers, but I just don't see them being able to pull this one out. My guess is Rangers in 5.
#2 Boston Bruins vs. #7 Washington Capitals
This series is a tale of two teams who started out the year on bad feet but were able to turn it around when it mattered.
The Bruins started their defense of the Cup by going 3-7 in the first month of the season but were able to pull a complete 180 by going 14-0-1 in the month of November and the first two games in December.
The Caps started out the season going 7-0 but then didn't live up to their expectations, leading to the firing of Bruce Boudreau on Nov. 28th. Washington didn't lock up a playoff spot until their 81st game, but none the less made it to the postseason.
This series, like the Rangers-Senators, involved the higher-ranked team only pulling out 3 points in 4 games during the regular season. And like the first, I just don't see the Caps being able to pull the upset here.
Alex Ovechkin has been able to ramp up his production in the last part of the season which is always a plus for Washington, but as with in years past, the teams goaltending situation isn't cut and dry. Thomas Vokoun played in 48 games while Michal Neuvirth played in 38, with both post similar enough numbers to leave it to question who is the clear starting goalie. If one has an off game the questions will immediately arise about whether the other should get a chance. A team cannot be expected to play together when theres a conflict and can't simply rally around one go-to guy.
With the Bruins, the story is completely opposite. Without a doubt, it is going to be Tim Thomas in net. The Vezina and Conn Smythe winner from a year ago is the go-to guy. And if for some reason Thomas cannot play, Tukka Rask is a qualified goaltender who has the ability to carry this team as well. Add that to the four players with 60+ points -- Seguin, Bergeron, Krejci and Lucic -- Boston should be able to pull out the series win.
I'm going to say Boston in 6.
#3 Florida Panthers vs. #6 New Jersey Devils
Here, Florida is only the higher seed by virtue of winning the Southeast Division. The Devils finished the season with 8 more points and 10 more wins than the Panthers.
Ilya Kovalchuk finally began to live up to his monumental contract from
two summers ago and he’s gotten some help with Patrik Elias and Zach Parise
picking up some of the offensive responsibilities. Martin Brodeur is likely in
his last NHL season and although his Superman-like numbers have began to slip
in the last few years, you can bet he wants to go out on top and his teammates
want to win this year for him more than anything.
The Chicago Blackhawks take two that Dale Tallon has assembled in
Florida over the past two seasons is starting to pay off. Tomas Fleischmann led
the way for this team with the likes of Stephen Weiss, Kris Versteeg and
defenseman Brian Campbell following directly behind. Veteran Jose Theodore has been
able to revive his career once again in the Sunshine State and has taken the
brunt of the goaltending duties this season. The Panthers have one of their
best teams in years on the ice and deep playoff experience of Versteeg,
Campbell, Kopecky and Samuelsson, this team is going to put up a fight.
This should be a good series to watch but I think the Devils will prove
to be just a little too much for this Florida team. I have Devils in 7.
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers
If you just so happened to catch a game on NBC about a week and a half ago, you already know that this is the first round series to watch. These two in-state rivals absolutely hate each other and it reached a boiling point when Penguins coach Dan Bylsma put his checking line on the ice with under 5 minutes remaining in a game that was obviously decided in the Flyers favor at that point. What ensued was one big, clean open-ice hit, several minutes of on-ice fights and coaches hanging over the glass separating the benches screaming pleasantries at one another. Yeah, buckle up.
The Penguins come into the playoffs as arguable the deepest, most dangerous team. Star Sidney Crosby has missed most of the season with post concussion symptoms but in the 22 games he has played in he's racked up 37 points. In Crosby's absence however, Evgeni Malkin has been lighting up the score sheets all across the league with 109 points in just 75 games. Then add in James Neal, Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis and Jordan Stall all with 50+ points and you begin to see why they picked by many to win the East. Add onto that Marc-Andre Fleury's near career-high season stats. The key to this team is remaining healthy in the physical gauntlet known as the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Flyers seem to have finally solved their own goaltending issues of playoffs past and now we get to see what this team can do. Last summer the Flyers got rid of two key offensive weapons in Jeff Carter and Mike Richards but that hasn't stopped them this season. Claude Giroux has picked up most of the slack tallying 93 points on the year with Scott Hartnell and veteran, long-time Penguin Jaromir Jagr putting up decent numbers of their own. Ilya Bryzgalov played in 59 games this year and the Flyers are relying on him to shut down the barrage of Penguins goal scorers.
I think this is going to be a tight series between the two different style teams -- the finesse Penguins and the gritty Flyers. My mind is telling me the Pens with take it in 5, but I would like nothing more than to see this one go all 7 games. I've got Pens in 7 just for that reason.
Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the Western Conference preview and follow me on Twitter, @carterbaum15
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