SAN JOSE 4, DETROIT 3 (Sharks lead series 1-0)
The Wings didn't get much time to rest after their Game 7 win in Phoenix. In fact, their plane landed in San Jose after the airport's curfew the other night, so they're facing a $2,500 fine. While physically they seemed fine last night, they were a bit fuzzy at the start of this game. They allowed 3 goals in 79 seconds in the 1st period. Apart from that, they looked great, except a semi-soft goal allowed by Howard. So enjoy it while it lasts San Jose. Joe "Dude" Pavelski scored twice (including the game winner), and had an assist. The Dude abides.
Tonight's game:
7:00pm - Montreal @ Pittsburgh - Versus
Saturday's games:
12:30pm - Philadelphia @ Boston - NBC
8:00pm - Vancouver @ Chicago - Versus
Sunday's games:
2:00pm - Montreal @ Pittsburgh - NBC
8:00pm - Detroit @ San Jose - Versus
Who saw this bracket-busting matchup coming? The 6th seeded Bruins and the 7th seeded Flyers. Both teams vanquished their respective Division's champions in Round 1. And now one of these 3rd place sides will be in the Eastern Conference Finals.
These teams met 4 times, including that epic overtime game at Fenway. Each team beat the other once in regulation, and once in overtime/shootout (in other words, both teams are 2-1-1 against each other). The Flyers won the first two games, back in 2009. The Bruins won on New Years Day, and in their most recent meeting in March. That was a 5-1 Bruins victory.
But what does the regular season mean now? Next to nothing. In the regular season, Brian Boucher was a liability for the Flyers. He was their MVP in Round 1. In the regular season, the Bruins' Power Play was a joke. That unit throttled Buffalo, scoring over 27% of the time.
As well as he played against New Jersey, Brian "Waterboy" Boucher is no Ryan Miller. Then again, the B's have made a lot of goalies look like Ryan Miller this season. Boucher made 1 start against the B's, but played in 2 games. He had a .949 SV% in that time.
Tuukka saw the Flyers twice. 1-0-1 record, 1.92 GAA, .944 SV%. So once again, do not expect many 5-4 games this series. Things will be tight, and the scoring will be low.
But there will be blood. Zdeno Chara and Chris Pronger will spearhead both team's physical games. The challenge will be to stay within the rules. Both team's PP units excelled in the 1st round. Then again, both team's PK units performed just as well, so don't be shocked to see the likes of Sobotka and Hartnell spending time in the clink.
The Bruins will be adding to their roster, while the Flyers have been forced to subtract. Marc Savard returns this series. It's unclear how often he'll play, and it might be tough going for him to be dropped in the middle of a physical and hard-checking series. Expect him to be on the power play, but I doubt he'll be very effective at the start of the series.
The Flyers lose two weapons to shot-block related injuries. 33 goal scorer Jeff Carter won't play, and neither will 17 goal man Simon Gagne. 11 of Carter's 33 scores came on the power play, so that unit loses a bit of bite. That being said, there's still Mike Richards (31 goals), Danny Briere (26 goals), and Claude Giroux (4 goals, 2 assists in New Jersey series) to contend with.
And that's where I'm worried. The Bruins continually made some big mistakes in the Buffalo series. But they were saved by Rask half the time, and by Buffalo's offensive ineptitude the other half. These mistakes can't persist. The Bruins don't need to play flawless hockey to beat the Flyers, but the outcome of this series will be determined by how many mistakes the Bruins make in their own zone. Michael Ryder, Dennis Wideman, I hope you fully understand this.
Oh, and Marco Sturm needs to score. If he gets hot, then those mistakes won't be so costly. Sturm had 2 goals and 2 assists against the Flyers this season, including this one...
To me, this is the Bruins' series to lose. They have an excellent goaltender, they know how to play physical hockey, they've been excellent killing penalties. The Flyers are truly a solid, balanced team, but they lack that goaltending. And so long as the B's are careful with the puck in their own zone (especially when Richards or Briere are on the ice), and guys like Recchi, Krejci, Bergeron, Chara, and Wideman keep up the effort and the work, the Bruins will win in 6 games.
Schedule:
Sat 5/1 12:30pm - vs. Philadelphia - NBC
Mon 5/3 7:00pm - vs. Philadelphia - Versus
Wed 5/5 7:00pm - @ Philadelphia - Versus
Fri 5/7 7:00pm - @ Philadelphia - Versus
Mon 5/10 7:00pm - vs. Philadelphia - Versus
Wed 5/12 7:00pm - @ Philadelphia - Versus
Fri 5/14 7:00pm - vs. Philadelphia - Versus
The final eight. The West saw some predictable teams advance, with more trouble than predicted. But the East saw the upsets. We've also seen the exit of some of the best goalies in the nHL. Soon-to-be Vezina winner Ryan Miller was ousted, as was Ilya Bryzgalov, and so was 4 time Vezina winner Martin Brodeur.
Four of the Original Six are in the 2nd round. Only 1 "warm weather" team remains. The Sharks are also the only relatively recent expansion team left. Apart from them, every team left has existed since 1970.
EASTERN CONFERENCE:
A couple of upsets threw the Eastern Conference on its head. You'll also find three of the hottest goalies on this side of the bracket, particularly Jaroslav Halak.
#4 PITTSBURGH vs. #8 MONTREAL
The Canadiens rode Halak past Washington. But they also benefitted from the Capitals (apart from Ovechkin and maybe Backstrom) choking like crazy. Gorges and Gill emerged as a dominating defensive duo, but I'll still attribute Washington's demise to choking, as opposed to Montreal doing anything superlative. Pittsburgh doesn't choke. M.A. Fleury might give away a game, but the Pens will prevail.
Pittsburgh in 6.
#6 BOSTON vs. #7 PHILADELPHIA
When you get the 6th seed, you don't expect to have home ice advantage in any round. The B's last played the Flyers in the postseason in '78. Back then they were perennial playoff adversaries. Brian "Waterboy" Boucher struggled all season, but stunned New Jersey in Philly's 5 game series win. So don't be shocked if the Bruins struggle to score much. Although the B's will have Marc Savard back. Moreover, a much more reliable Tuukka Rask. Look for another close-fought, physical series, like the one with Buffalo.
Bruins in 7.
WESTERN CONFERENCE:
All the favorites in the West won, except the 4th seeded Coyotes, who had to face a healthy Red Wings side that most people picked to win the series anyway.
#1 SAN JOSE vs. #5 DETROIT RED WINGS
What does San Jose get for having the best record in the West? A 2nd round date with the mighty Red Wings.
Both teams struggled to get into this next round. But I can't help but think of the Sharks as chokers and the Red Wings as winners. Detroit's skaters boast over 1,600 combined playoff games. That's absurd. They're always calm, always professional, rarely make mistakes. And they have a hot young goalie in Jimmy Howard.
Nabokov had an excellent series against Colorado. But Paul Stastny is not Henrik Zetterberg. Then again, Howard hasn't had to face the likes of Marleau or Heatley.
I can't pick against Detroit here. Wings in 7.
#2 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS vs. #3 VANCOUVER CANUCKS
Anticipate a back-and-forth series, as both these teams play excellently on home ice and struggle just a bit on the road (especially Vancouver). The season series was also split 2-2. Two of those games were close, two were blowouts. Antti Niemi has emerged as Chicago's netminder, and he excelled in the series against Nashville (2.15 GAA, .921 SV%). But stifling the Preds is a much lighter task than stopping the Sedins and Canucks. And don't forget Mikael Samuelsson, who scored 7 times in the 6 game series against LA. Then again, Vancouver has an over-the-hill Luongo in the net.
I predict high scoring games, but the Blackhawks riding a hot young goalie into the Conference Finals. Chicago in 6.
Washington's gone. The 8th, 7th, and 6th seeds in the East have all advanced. Gotta love the NHL Playoffs.
MONTREAL 2, WASHINGTON 1 (Canadiens win series 4-3)
I found it difficult to root for Montreal, even though it offered the best result for the Bruins. But what was difficult for the Caps was finding a hole in Jaroslav Halak's wall. He made 41 saves. In the last 2 games this series, he stopped 94 of 96 shots, and 131 of 134 in the final 3 games (all Montreal wins, of course). So now guys like the overrated Mike Greene have to sit and watch everyone else contend for the Cup.
The Red Wings are the Red Wings. In a Game 7, even on road ice, it's hard to pick against the likes of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Lidstrom.
DETROIT 6, COYOTES 1 (Red Wings win series 4-3)
Datsyuk scored twice, plus an assist. Lidstrom had a monstrous game in all three zones. He scored twice as well. Zetterberg had 3 assists and was +3. From the drop of the puck, Ilya Bryzgalov was under siege. He sustained a 17 shot onslaught in the 1st (Phoenix only managed 6 shots that period). But the Wings broke through in the 2nd (22 shots, 4 goals). Detroit finished with 50 shots on goal.
The Red Wings have won 10 of their last 12 playoff series, and 30 of their last 40.
After a 13-12 debacle, the Sox won another close, 1 run game, albeit much more subdued. Buchholz went 8 innings, scattering 7 hits (6 of them singles, 1 double), and allowing only 1 run. And that's all he could manage to allow. He threw 117 pitches.
There's been constant background rumbling about Buchholz moving to the pen to bolster the Sox' struggling relief. To do so would remove the Sox starter that's performed best this season. He's 2-2 with a 2.19 ERA, and while he's allowed ample unearned runs, and only has 2 Quality Starts, he's gone 5+ innings in all 5 of his starts.
The Sox offense ground out 2 runs. They had opportunity for more, registering 7 hits and drawing 5 walks. The Sox were 1/7 with runners in scoring position.
Scoring twice and winning 2-1 is hardly something to be awestruck by, but 2-1 wins are much more reassuring than 13-12 wins. These are the kinds of games the Sox are built to play and win. Excellent starting pitching overcoming the shortfalls of a weak offense and a shallow bullpen.
Rubber game tonight as Jon Lester faces Brett Cecil.
The first 36 minutes of the game looked like a repeat of too many Celtics' regular season games. The C's shot out to an early lead, stretch it out (to 21 at one point in the 3rd), tire out, then fall out. But the End Game was different in the postseason. When the Heat came back from down 21, shrinking the deficit to 3 at one point, the Celtics turned off the cruise control and stepped on the gas.
Maybe they really were just saving themselves for the postseason.
Dwyane Wade had 31 points, and Mario Chalmers had an electrifying 20 off the bench for Miami. But the rest of the Heat were ice cold. Meanwhile, the C's got 24 from Ray Ray, 21 from Pierce, 16 from Rondo (plus 12 assists and 8 rebounds), and 14 from KG (plus 8 boards). The Celtics' team beat the Heats' individuals.
11 of Ray Allen's 24 points came in the 4th quarter. 5 of Glen Davis' 7 also came in the 4th.
The officiating was inconsistent, but it seemed to even out for both teams. Both Miami and the Celtics were 19 of 22 from the line.
This is the 3rd straight season that the Celtics have advanced beyond the playoffs' opening round. That hasn't happened since 1988.
It's also nice that the Celtics didn't have to go 7 games, or play any overtime in this series, unlike the last two seasons' opening round series.
It's waiting time as both the Celtics and Cavaliers await their 2nd round matchup.
The hits just keep on coming. Marc Savard has been cleared by the medical people and Peter Chiarelli has announced that he will play in the Conference Semifinals against either Philadelphia, or the team that harbors the man who injured him: Pittsburgh.
Even though a Bruin/Flyer matchup might offer the Bruins a better chance of advancement to the Conference Finals, you can't resist the theater that a Penguins/Bruins series would offer now.
Claude Julien might have trouble finding ice time for Savard, as Bergeron and Krejci were 1 and 2 among Bruins forwards in time on ice. Shawn Thornton might be the forward to get scratched. Then again, it might be Daniel Paille or Michael Ryder, considering their lackluster performances.
One thing's certain, Savard will be on the ice for the power play. And that unit actually exploded as Krejci quarterbacked it. to better than 26% against Buffalo.
The bad news on the injury front is that Mark Stuart will likely miss the entire 2nd round. The Bruins could use 15 minutes from him as Andrew Ference (why the hell did the B's give him a contract extension) struggled.
