As promised here is my Eastern Conference Quarter-finals preview and predictions.
Again, I'd love to read your comments, and if you disagree with me that's fine, but please, don't take it personally if I didn't pick your team to win or if in your opinion I haven't given them a chance. Remember, they're just one person's opinion. If I'm right, fine, if not, no big whoop.
Montreal Canadiens vs Boston Bruins: Canadiens swept the season series 8-0, enroute to locking up top spot in their division and the conference, whilst the Bruins battled injury and inconsistency to scrape into the post-season. The Bruins will try to use a physical, disciplined defensive style to shut down the Canadiens speed and to generate traffic in front of the Montreal goal. They’ll look to goalie Tim Thomas and captain Zdeno Chara to lead the way but that might not be enough to blunt the Canadiens offensive attack and league-leading power-play, led by Alex Kovalev's line. Habs rookie Carey Price is starting his first NHL playoffs but his unflappable demeanor and sound goaltending style will make it tough for the Bruins to score. Both teams have been bit by the injury bug of late but the Canadiens are the healthier of the two. The Bruins will battle the Canadiens hard and could win a game or two but appear to lack the offensive punch and defensive ability to contain the Habs. CANADIENS IN FIVE.
Pittsburgh Penguins vs Ottawa Senators: The Sens won the season series 3-0-1 but have been in free-fall since mid-January whilst the Penguins have overcome injuries to key players to finish second overall in the Conference. The Senators have far more playoff experience than the Penguins, but they're a team wracked by dissension, shaky goaltending, inconsistent defense and with key forwards Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher and Chris Kelly sidelined by injury. The Penguins lost to the Sens in five games last season but they’re a year older, wiser, healthier and better this time around. Their offensive attack, led by Evgeni Malkin and captain Sidney Crosby, could prove too much this time around for a floundering Ottawa team to shut down. PENGUINS IN FIVE.
Washington Capitals vs Philadelphia Flyers: The Flyers took the season series 2-1-1, but struggled down the stretch whilst the Capitals were one of the NHL’s hottest team’s over the same period, catapulting them to the Southeast Division title. For the Flyers, their role is simple: shut down the Alexander Ovechkin line and generate traffic in front of Caps goalie Cristobal Huet, and they’ve got a good chance to defeat Washington. Easier said than done, as the Capitals head into this series riding a wave of momentum, spurred by Ovechkin’s amazing play, Huet’s goaltending, the coaching of Bruce Boudreau and the overall improvement of their roster. The Flyers possess more experience than the Capitals, but there are concerns about Martin Biron’s goaltending, their defensive depth and overall health. The Flyers also haven’t played the Capitals since early February and could find this club far different from the one they faced earlier in the season. CAPITALS IN SIX.
New Jersey Devils vs New York Rangers. The Rangers won the season series 7-0-1 but it’s the Devils who’ll have home-ice advantage in this match-up. The last time these two met in the playoffs the Devils swept the Rangers in four, but the Rangers are a healthier, more defensively sound club this time around, and can rely on strong goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist. The Devils will again use their grinding, physical defensive style to try to wear down the Rangers, but their lack of offense could make it difficult to cash in on scoring opportunities. Ultimately the Devils hopes will rest on goalie Martin Brodeur, who had another strong performance this season and must carry that over into the post-season for the Devils to have a chance. This series should be a close one but in the end the Rangers offensive depth and improved defensive game should see them through. RANGERS IN SEVEN.
I pretty agreed with every prediction so far except the Colorado/Minnesota and the Washington/Philadelphia series. I don't care much for the west but re-assure that Colorado can score goals and Minnesota is happy with a 1-0 lead. Colorado in 6.
As for the east, I think you've overlooked the part where the Flyers have 7 guys that have scored 20 or more goals making just about every line leathal, whereas the captials have 3. The Flyers have much more depth and have vetern players such as Knuble, Smith, Prospal, Hatcher, etc. The Flyers also pocess the 2nd best power play in the league and their penalty killing isn't that bad. Expect a hard physical series and "Ovie" has a huge X on his back. Washington is a one man show and I believe that you'll see a repeat from the World Juniors a few years back....Ovechkin crying....even TSN's Maggie the #### can see that.
Let's set a few myths straight
1.The Caps have no scoring depth. Wrong. Semin 24 goals in his last 46 games. Laich 21 goals. Green tops among D with 18. Kozlov 38 assts, Backis 55 assts. This team can and will score often on Biron.
2. The Caps played a weak schedule. False. You don't go 37-17 by playing only Atl and TB. Boudreau's record VS east teams: Mtl 2-1, Pit 1-1, NJ 2-1, NYR 1-1, Phi 2-1, Ott 3-0, Bos 2-1. That's 13-6 vs East playoff teams. The key for Phi is to somehow solve Huet who has not allowed 3 goals in a game as a Cap. Won't happen. Caps in 6
I also have my Pens getting past the Sens in 5. The SEns are mess right now, and the Pens have come together strong as a team. The Sens have seen adversity and crumpled, while the Pens rose to the occassion despite several injuries to key players. They also had the fortune of their injuries earlier in the season as opposed to right before the playoffs like the Sens. My big concern about the Pens is their road play as of late. They just play better at home, e####ally their penalty kill. The Pens have too much right now for the Sens to handle them. The Devils home-ice is irrelevent because no ones cares about them and they get raided by the opposing teams fans with ease. I think Marty pulls the Devils through. I also like the Caps and Les Habitants to advance.
Pittsburgh knocks off Ottawa in four (followed by GM Bryan Murray being shown the door, thanks in part to the bad karma from putting the shiv to John Muckler).
Washington outlasts Philadelphia in seven games, as the physical Flyers pound away at the Caps, but just can't close the deal.
And the Rangers knock off the Devils in six, in a goaltenders battle much like last year's Vancouver / Dallas series.
The Rangers then face Montreal, beating the Canadiens after six games of a tough, tough series. Meanwhile Pittsburgh has little trouble getting past Washington in five.
The Eastern Conference Final features the Rangers and Pittsburgh, who play all seven games of the series. The Rangers finally win in double overtime of Game 7 as the Pens refuse to go quietly.
We then have the right coast / left coast Stanley Cup Final with New York vs. San Jose. The Sharks win in six close games, as the hometown San Jose faithful taunt the Rangers with chants of "1994!"
Let's keep setting the "myths" straight:
-The only reason why Washington is even in the playoffs is because they are the division leader...NOT by points. If it were by points, they wouldn't be playing past 82 games.
-"Ovie" has comprised of about 45% of their goals this season...eliminate him and say good bye
-Washington's last 7 games of the season were against divisional opponents....who are they again..oh right, Atlanta, Florida, Tampa Bay and the only notable team is Carolina.
Right back to what I said, its a one man show, and he's in for a pounding.
1) Canadiens (1) vs. Bruins On paper it would seem the Bruins have little chance to advance. For good reason. The Habs wiped the Bruins 8-0 this past season. The Bruins just can't match the Canadiens speed and offensive fire power. Without Savard (he may play but not nearly at 100%) the Bruins are at a distinct disadvantage. Keys For the Bruins to overcome the mental block of beating their divisional rivals. For the Habs, to see if Carey Price can at 20 be a top playoff goalie and all the pressure that entails.
Canadiens in 5
2) Penguins (2) vs. Senators (7) Normally you would think a 2-7 series would be a mismatch, but in the tight East there are no gimme series, and this is no different. The Senators sent the upstart Penguins packing in last year's playoffs in 5 short games. They also handled the pens during the regular season. However this Penguin team is NOT last year's! For one the team no longer relys exclusively on Crosby as evidenced by Malkin's break-out season. They also added Marion Hossa who has something to prove that he's not a playoff albatross, not to mention its against his former team. The Senators lost 2 key players when Fischer and captain Dan Alfredsson were lost to late season injuries and probably from the first round. Keys: Goaltending! Gerber has been great in spurts and awful in others. Fleury since his return has looked like the goalie the Pens knew he can be.
Penguins in 5
3) Capitals (3) vs. Flyers (6) Despite the rankings the Flyers actually had 1 more point than the Caps. The two teams split their 4 games, many which were quite nasty/c
If only there was a way to guarantee Matt was right about everything but the championship series, I'd be beside myself with glee to the point of having that twin I never had (or wanted). Gosh if the Rangers actually make the finals, I'll be #### bricks.
While I'm confident both New York and Montreal will stomp their opponents thoroughly, I'm not so sure about the other two series. Tempting as it is to write off the Senators, that'd be a mistake. They're still a potent team, even without Alfrendsson et al. My concern with Ottawa is the same concern I have with Detroit and Philadelphia: goaltending. Gerber's been consistently inconsistent while Emery screwed around this season. But every bad stretch has to end sometime, right? Playoffs are as good a time as any to throw caution to the wind, hang your pair outside the protection. Worst case scenario, they lose.
Philadelphia bugs me too. They've been good in spurts, and even though Briere's probably playing hurt, that might spark some inspired hockey. The other thing I don't like about this team is Biron. He's not exactly a star player, but he's had stand-on-your-head periods throughout the year. If he gets hot, the goaltender duel could be in this series. Anyway, I'm going to go out there and say Montreal and New York will both advance, though they will not meet in the Conference Semi's.
Spector, how can you call the Flyers going 7-1-1 down the stretch struggling? Look at who the Flyers played and look at who the Caps played down the stretch. There is no comparison in the competition level. The Flyers have depth all around. Everyone is getting blinded by Ovechkin's talent and wanting for him to go deep in the playoffs. It will be a hard fought series but the Flyers will win in six.
There is some doubt about the Flyers' health. If they dont fall apart physically, then they will make this series interesting. I still pick Washington in 6. Remember Washington got hot after the trade deadline! Getting Huet from Montreal and Fedorov from Columbus was a definite plus.
And don't worry about Ovechkin, he'll be dishing it out as well as he's recieving it.
Montreal in five...yeah!
Rangers-Devils? Simply put, Lundqvist vs. Brodeur!
And I've learned the hard way, never bet against Marty! Besides he seems better rested compared to last year. Rennie vs. Sutter? Playoff experience counts! Advantage Devils, 7 games.
Pittsburgh vs. Ottawa, the opposite of NY-NJ, this one ain't gonna be a goalie battle! If any goalie gets hot here (doubtful) that team wins, barring that, Penguins in 6.
Is that organ music I hear.....everyone sing along....Lets Go Caps...Lets Go Caps!!!!? Philly Schmilly, is McNabb still their 2nd line center??;-).....Caps in 5!
Go ahead and sell the Flyers short...that's less pressure on us ! I agree the injuries have been and could be a factor....but don't forget....Biron and the Flyers were pretty hot themselves closing out the season...it should be a great series....fun to watch !
Last edited by Radioguyfm on April 9th at 10:27 AM.
I just hope that Montreal plays like their fans right now, overconfident and the B's can pull out an upset. I think it is going to be a better series than everyone is predicting.
Never bet against Marty? Any time this overrated piece of dung faces over 10 shots in a game you can beat the Devils. And as proven once again by the Rangers tonight, shoot from the hashmarks down and behind the net and you can score at will. We've seen this for years, from Matteau to Graves to Jagr in Pitt, to Tampa Bay and Ottowa last year: the more bad angle shots and wraparounds you get, the more goals this phony gives up. Tonight, Shanahan from the sideboards, Callahan on the wraparound and Avery into the open net because Marty the Whale was flopping around in the corner trying to stop Gomez from the goal line in the corner. Good thing for Sutter that Lou the Screw is comfortable with his team, not like last year. Sutter gets to see for himself how 40 straight starts go down the tubes come playoff time for Bro-SCORE in the nets. Besides, the Devils get nervous playing in front of big crowds. They're not used to seeing so many people in their building. The joke here in NJ is that they didn't need to build a new rink. They could have played their home games in a furniture store. That's the only other place that might have as many empty chairs as their arena.
Sooooooo....overrated? He's gonna have the regular season record for most wins (O.K. its a team thing), shutouts, and oh yeah!! Add 3 Stanley Cups to that! Personally I think Roy is better but to call Marty overrated?..... Wait a minute, are you his ex-wife? I knew it!!!!
penguins in five... thats about right... Malkin looked possessed last night. Did you see his eyes after he scored in the third period. i was waiting for his head to start spinning on his neck.
Habs/Bruins: Not much to say here as I believe the series will flow as everyone is predicting it will. The Habs maintain their dominance over B-town and win decisively in 4/5.
Penguins/Sens: Ha, my archnemisis Senators are in for a world of hurt here. The Gerber/Emery tandem in net is weaker than the Conklin/Fleury duo. The Senators without Alfie, have about half the fire-power that the Penguins sport. I mean, look at their second to fourth lines - they're absolutely dreadful. Defensively, Ottawa's probably a little better than the Pens but it doesn't really matter.
Pens in 4/5.
Caps/Flyers: The Flyers are never a fun team to play in the playoffs and I should know, I'm a Leafs fan. Their physical and dominating play will give the Ovechkin and co some problems but not enough to win the series. The Capitals sport better goaltending, the best player in the game today (or at least his year) and are riding the emotion of going from cellar dwellar to making the bigshow.
Caps in 6/7.
Rangers/Devils: Well, if it weren't for the Rangers recent ability to stomp the Devils I'd be willing to take them here. Obvious edge in goaltending to the Devils, but Lundqvist is not slouch by any means. The Devil's are better defensively, simply because they trap. The Rangers actually support a deeper pool of blueliners. Offensively the Rangers have more depth and if the nastolgic Jagr awakens from his slumber, they have the biggest offensive threat in the series.
I see you listing all those seemingly impressive stats. But what you are failing to mention is that a 1/3 of Laich's goals, Semin's goals and Backstrom's assists came with the man advantage. If Philly can contain OV and limit the trips to the penalty box, they've statistically neutralized the Caps' offence.
Biron ended the season with 120 minutes of shut-out hockey. He's hot. And if Briere's knee (by the way - thanks Colin Campbell for that suspension on Jarko Ruuttu - bet if it was Hartnell on Sykora, there would have been a lengthy suspension....) is healthy, the Flyers suddenly are three deep in scoring lines. Greenie can't be on the ice for all of that. Morrisonn and Pothier are not exactly elite players and are likely to cough up some scoring chances. Should Washington have to play catch-up, they are in massive trouble.
My guess is that Stevens will have Umberger shadow Ovechkin and have Timonen shadow the pair. If you restrict OV's ability to accept the puck, you can neutralize him. Another way is to start hitting him. He loves to hit and he can get distracted quite easily and shift to head-hunting as opposed to keeping his eye on scoring.
Will be an interesting series. During the first four games, I think each team will win one at home. Game Five goes to the Flyers who will wrap it up at home in six...
Bruins in six.
Pens in four.
Devils in six.
Last edited by HermanZeGerman on April 10th at 4:05 PM.
I give Brodeur credit for being durable, but for years while he played more games than anyone else, he averaged facing less than 20 shots a game. Then, under that abysmal trap they played, most of those were non-scoring chances. And any Devil fan I know, and there aren't many, will say that rather than win them the Cup in the years they won, it was his horrible surrendering of behind-the-net, bad-angle, never-should-have-gone-in goals that usually leads to their ouster. Maybe it has something to do with tiring after playing all those games to gain the home-ice for the playoffs, but considering the only playoff sellouts they have had in years were Ranger playoff games, who really cares. Obviously nobody in NJ.
Just as I said earlier, every game in the Rangers series saw Bad-Angle Brodeur give up a goal from the sideboards, behind the net or a horrible angle, once again leading to NJs ouster. The apologists in the NJ papers of course have totally absolved him from any blame in the series, instead writing about NJs inability to score. What a friggin' joke they and Marty are.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
