#1 Ottawa Senators Vs #8 Tampa Bay Lightning
Game 1: Friday, April 21st
Game 2: Sunday, April 23rd
Game 3: Tuesday, April 25th
Game 4: Thursday, April 27th
Game 5*: Saturday, April 29th
Game 6*: Monday, May 1st
Game 7*: Wednesday, May 3rd
*If Neccesary
No one picked the Tampa Bay Lightning to win the Cup 2 years ago and most everyone was touting the Ottawa Senators as the next big thing in hockey due to their talented offensive corps and very good defense. In the end, the Senators didn’t make it to the Conference Finals and the Lightning finished as the #1 seed and won the Cup. This year the Lightning enter the playoffs as the eighth seed while the Sens have once again finished tops. The biggest question mark is in goal….for both teams.
Tampa Bay has been moving back and forth between John Grahame and Sean Burke while the Senators lost the services of Dominik Hasek when Hasek was injured during the crappy Olympics in Italy. The talk since then has been that Hasek would be ready to return in time for the playoffs but as game time is approaching Hasek will be out of the lineup and will watch from the stands or a luxury suite, most likely. The Lightning have struggled all season and it seems as if Buffalo has managed to bottle what the Lightning had 2 years ago and despite the Sens struggles coming into the end of the regular season, the Sens will take care of business in the first round.
Senators in 6
#2 Carolina Hurricanes Vs #7 Montreal Canadiens
Game 1: Saturday, April 22nd
Game 2: Monday, April 24th
Game 3: Wednesday, April 26th
Game 4: Friday, April 28th
Game 5*: Sunday, April 30th
Game 6*: Tuesday, May 2nd
Game 7*: Thursday, May 4th
*If Neccesary
The Canadiens and Hurricanes met in the second round of the 2002 Playoffs and saw the Canes eliminate the Habs in six games. Former King Cristobal Huet has been a gift to the Habs as they floundered during the season with the injury to Jose Theodore and the lack of offense. Huet sports the second best save percentage amongst goalies in the tournament. Aside from the that, the Canadiens have just too many holes to fill against the Hurricanes who can seem to do nothing wrong and Martin Gerber is more than capable of outdueling the Habs goaltending duo.
Offensively and defensively theres no way that the Canadiens can keep up with Carolina’s group of Staal, Cole, Williams, Hedican, Commodre and even Brind’Amour. All of the success which has included a division title, franchise high points total and now being a Cup favorite comes after the Hurricanes were the second lowest team predicted to win the Stanley Cup when the season started. The Habs were the hottest team in the league after the break but the Hurricanes will prove to be too much.
Hurricanes in 4
#3 New Jersey Devils Vs #6 New York Rangers
Game 1: Saturday, April 22nd
Game 2: Monday, April 24th
Game 3: Wednesday, April 26th
Game 4: Friday, April 28th
Game 5*: Sunday, April 30th
Game 6*: Tuesday, May 2nd
Game 7*: Thursday, May 4th
*If Neccesary
Talk about a turn for the better, the Devils were dead in the water early in the season and it looked like they weren’t going to accomplish much after losing Stevens and Niedermayer but the old Devils team is back in the playoffs and as the #3 seed which is a surprise to see NYR drop to #6 after struggling to win important games as the regular season was coming to and end. It took YEARS but the Rangers are back in the playoffs and that can do nothing but good for the NHL. Unfortunately for them, they’re going up against a team that has won 3 Stanley Cup since the last time the Rangers made the playoffs and as much as the makeup of the Devils has changed since that first Cup, the direction and focus of the organization remains the same and its what has brought them here via a tremendous comeback that includes a current 11 game winning streak. While the Rangers lost 5 straight and thus lost the division title to the Devils and dropped to the sixth spot. The key for the Rangers will be Jagr and the second line. Jagr can’t do it by himself and despite the Rangers vast superiority in the offensive department over the Devils, the New Jersey defense can contain the Rangers top line. On the other hand, the Rangers still play a mildly open game which can help out Gionta and Gomez of the Devils. The problem there is that that’s ALL the Devils have.
Rangers in 7
#4 Buffalo Sabres Vs #5 Philadelphia Flyers
Game 1: Friday, April 21st
Game 2: Sunday, April 23rd
Game 3: Tuesday, April 25th
Game 4: Thursday, April 27th
Game 5*: Saturday, April 29th
Game 6*: Monday, May 1st
Game 7*: Wednesday, May 3rd
*If Neccesary
Another year of promising potential for the Flyers and another season of key injuries and shaky goaltending. The Flyers would be better off announcing a starting goalie for this series and sticking to it before any controvery starts. For the Sabres, things couldn’t have worked out any better this season. The key to Buffalo continues to be their sick amount of balance throughout the lineup. Chris Drury led the team in scoring with 73 points, but the Sabres ended up the season with six players having 20 or more goals. Ryan Miller has been more than capable of carrying the team when there’s a lull on defense or in the offensive end. For the Flyers it’s going to have to come down to Peter Forsberg being able to remain healthy and Simon Gagne continuing with the role he played during the season. It’s almost gotten to the point that no matter what the Flyers do to get into the playoffs, once they’re there, there’s just always enough doubt about whether they can get the job done or not and this is another once of those situations….especially when they’re going up against such a hot team.
Sabres in 6
