Here we are a little more then 24 hours away from playoff hockey, can you feel the excitement building? It's been a long and arduous journey through the course of the regular season but sixteen of the thirty NHL franchises managed to stamp their ticket to challenge for Lord Stanley's illustrious mug. We looked at the four matchups from the Western Conference yesterday, so today I'd like to take a look at how the Beasts of the East measure up against each other and determine who will continue to play for hockey glory and who will be pulling out their 9 iron sooner then expected.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1 Washington Capitals VS 8 New York Rangers (Winner - Washington Capitals)
The David and Goliath matchup in the east pits the other number 8 seed to clinch a playoff spot on a loss against the revamped and defensive minded Washington Capitals. The Rangers, who have essentially been playing playoff hockey since early March, looked as though the grind was taking its toll on them as they dropped 3 of their last 6 games with losses to bottom feeders Atlanta and the Islanders. They required a Carolina Hurricanes meltdown in their final regular season game against Tampa Bay to backdoor into the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. The loss of Ryan Callahan also puts the Rangers at a severe disadvantage even though Captain Chris Drury is back for the playoff drive. Callahan was third in scoring for the Rangers and led the team in power play points and game winning goals while bringing an edginess needed in the playoffs. Rangers tender Henrik Lundqvist will be asked to do everything and more if New York is going to make a series out of this, much less move on to the second round.
The Capitals, meanwhile, have been transformed by Bruce Boudreau into a defensive juggernaut? Yes, I put a question mark after that statement because I can't believe I wrote it with a straight face. But the Capitals, with Ovechkin, Semin, Backstron, Green and company, have turned in an inspired defensive regular season led by their overbearing coach. The Caps come in ranked second in the east defensively and still roll out an offensively charged unit that can turn a series into a laugher quickly. The Caps dropped 3 of 4 to the Rangers this year, getting pummelled 6 -0 and 7 - 0 in two of those games, but don't expect that trend to continue. New York is the only team the Caps have beaten in the playoffs since the Ovi era began, expect history to repeat itself and the Capitals to advance to the second round.
2 Philadelphia Flyers VS 7 Buffalo Sabres (Winner - Buffalo Sabres)
It took the Flyers a final game shootout win over the New York Rangers last season just to make the playoffs. Their magical playoff run to the Stanley Cup finals came as a surprise to many, especially seeing as how they did it with a virtual nobody in Michael Leighton between the pipes. This season, however, the Flyers aren't sneaking up on anyone. They led the Eastern Conference for much of the regular season and finished just 1 point out of winning the conference to the Washington Capitals. Their prize? A date with arguably the hottest team in the NHL over the last month in the Buffalo Sabres. Philly comes in losing 13 of their final 20 games and with a young struggling goaltender. Rookie Sergei Bobrovsky, another off the radar guy, went winless in his final 5 decisions and has drummed up some controversy in the Philadelphia net once again. Combine this with the questionable status of Chris Pronger and his hand injury, and the Flyers are not sailing into playoff time on a high note by any means.
The Buffalo Sabres, on the other hand, couldn't be playing much better hockey then they are right now. The Sabres finished the season winning 13 of their final 20 games and doing it with a complete team effort. The Sabres, even with the early season loss of Derek Roy, seem to be hitting their stride offensively at the right time as they've scored 4 or more goals in 4 of their final 5 regular season games. That trend does not bode well for the Flyers and Bobrovsky as the Sabres will counter with one of the elite goaltenders in the game, Ryan Miller. Miller time in Buffalo seems to be in full tilt as the Sabres goalie posted his 5th straight season with at least 34 wins and had 5 shutouts. This all boils down to the Flyers capability to protect Bobrovsky and keep the puck out of their own net. With Pronger less then 100% and a young Bobrovsky looking like he is wearing down a little, the Flyers look like they may be the one to have the early exit this season.
3 Boston Bruins VS 6 Montreal Canadiens (Winner - Boston Bruins)
Well, well, well, the hockey God's took everything into consideration and bestowed upon us possibly the most anticipated, hostile and bitter series one could hope for in the first round. I think this series can be summed up with a quote by journalist Steve Rushin: "By the age of 18, the average American has witnessed 200,000 acts of violence on television, most of them occurring during Game One of the NHL playoff series". One can only hope Steve, one can only hope. For those of you who need to catch up, the Bruins and the Habs don't like each other. In fact, they hate each other. The Northeastern division rivals will further their animosity for each other which has already seen a bench clearing brawl and a man sent to the hospital with virtually a broken neck this season. Did I mention these two teams don't like each other very much? Sorry, other then that obvious fact I don't like any storylines coming out of this series. It looks lopsided on paper and in reality. The Habs are the lowest scoring team in the playoffs. Their blueline is decimated with injuries and they have a goalie with a less then stellar 5 - 11 playoff mark in the last 3 seasons. Yes, I know Carey Price had a good season and he may not be the same goaltender he was a year ago, but he isn't superman people.
I really can't say much more then Tim Thomas when I look at this series from a Bruins standpoint. Let me reiterate this point, Tim Thomas is good, he's really good. He is going to be the Vezina trophy winner this season and he is arguably the best tender in hockey today. Best goalie in hockey versus the lowest scoring team in the playoffs? I don't think anyone has to be a genius to figure this one out. But, if you need some more information, here it is. The Habs are also the worst road team in the playoffs and they'll have to win in Boston in order to win this series. Montreal took the season series 4 - 2 and many of those games were of the high scoring variety. But playoff time is a different monster, the games are tighter checking and every shift looms larger and larger as the game progresses. I think the Bruins overwhelm the Habs with a much more potent offensive attack and frustrate them with their sasquatch Zdeno Chara on defence and their brick wall in net.
4 Pittsburgh Penguins VS 5 Tampa Bay Lightning (Winner - Pittsburgh Penguins)
The series I wanted to see the least in the first round has unfortunately come to fruition. The Penguins and Lightning alike have had my eye all season long and I would have loved to see both advance deeper into April. With great regret, however, we will see one of them fall by the wayside by next week. In Tampa Bay, Steve Yzerman has taken a team that had 80 points last year and hadn't seen a playoff game since the '06-'07 season, and turned them into a team that was in the mix to win the east all season long. Yzerman went out and grabbed Simon Gagne, Pavel Kubina, Brett Clark and Dominic Moore in the offseason and then snagged veteran goalie Dwayne Roloson from the Islanders earlier in the regular season. This mix of role players and top 6 talent has led the Lightning to a playoff birth and seems to have restarted the dead engines of stars Marty St. Louis and Vincent Lecavelier. The Lightning boast the 6th best power play and 8th best penalty kill in the NHL yet come into the playoffs as the worst defensive team in the east. They will have to rectify this if they hope to beat the Penguins.
The Penguins have had to overcome possibly the most adversity with the best results in the NHL this season. The losses of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin should have been monumental blows to a Pittsburgh team with aspirations of winning their second cup in 3 seasons. However, the team excelled without the likes of Crosby and Malkin and went on to post their highest point total since the duo came to Pittsburgh. Their number 1 ranked penalty kill exemplifies how the concept of team is far beyond any superstar in the Penguins locker room. Dan Bylsma has done a phenomenal job in keeping this team on track and they still have a plethora of young and talented personnel. The key in this series I think will end up being experience and goaltending. The Penguins have made deep playoff runs in 2 of the past 3 seasons with many of these same players, as opposed to a relatively inexperienced Lightning team. Marc-Andre Fleury is a proven winner and has a Stanley Cup ring to prove it. This one should go to 7 games and I hate to see either team take the early exit, but the Penguins experience and fundamentally sound system will eventually win out.
That officially concludes our 2011 first round NHL playoff breakdown. To recap it looks like the Caps take out the Rangers again, Miller time takes Philly by storm, the Bruins beat down the Habs and the Pens sneak by the Lightning. It's the most wonderful time of year to be a hockey fan and a Canadian in general. We live and breathe hockey and there is no better hockey then playoff hockey. May your beers be cold, your couches be warm and your TV's be on tomorrow, the playoffs are here!
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