Tomorrow starts up the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Honestly, there is nothing more exciting to me than some playoff hockey. We'll take a look at the Quarterfinal matchups, break them down and predict who'll be moving on but before we do that I'm going to tell you who I have in the finals. I have the San Jose Sharks beating the Boston Bruins in 6. The Sharks have been playing some remarkable hockey since January 15th. They can score from just about every guy on the ice, they play physical and they have a goalie who won the Cup last year.
Eastern Conference:
1. Washington Capitals v 8. New York Rangers: The Capitals have caught fire as of late, so much so that they ended up surpassing the Philadelphia Flyers for first in the East. Their foe the New York Rangers snuck into the playoffs with thanks from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Obviously all signs point to the 1 seed beating the 8 seed but the Caps have been known to choke in the playoffs. Look back to last year when the 8 seeded Canadiens upset the 1 seeded Capitals. Last year the Caps got no production from guys not names Alex Ovechkin or Nicklas Backstrom, I wouldn't look for that to continue. Good news for the Caps is Mike Green has declared himself healthy to play in Game 1 after missing the last 20 regular season games.
The Rangers will need to do what they did in the 09 playoffs that allowed them to take the Caps to Game 7 in the Quarters that year. Block shots, limit Ovechkin and allow goalie Henrik Lundqvist to see the puck and steal some games. With Ryan Callahan out for likely the playoffs the Rangers are going to need Brandon Dubinsky, Vinny Prospal and Chris Drury to step up. Most importantly they'll need game changer Marian Gaborik to show up. He hasn't scored a goal since March 20th and in his last playoff appearance, 2008, he registered 1 assist in 6 games.
Caps over Rangers in 5.
2. Philadelphia Flyers v 7. Buffalo Sabres: The Flyers held the 1 seed in the East for most of the year but they failed to lock up home ice down the stretch by going 3-4-3 in their final 10 games. It's not a good sign going into the playoffs but I look for the Flyers to refocus and break out of this funk. The Fylers are expecting to get Blair Betts (knee) back for Game 1 but aren't sure about Chris Pronger (broken right hand). Last year the Flyers rode hot goalies into the Stanley Cup Finals this year they're hoping Sergei Bobrovsky can be that guy. If he's not they could turn to Brian Boucher.
The Sabres got goalie Ryan Miller back just in the nick of time. Miller has played in the team's last two games of the regular season trying to get back into form for the playoffs after suffering an upper body injury. The Sabres are also getting back forward Thomas Vanek, Vanek is going to play a key role for the Sabres if they intend to upset Philly. Buffalo has the goaltending to pull it off but their offense scares, if they can get some scoring outside of their top 2 lines they could do it, if they don't it could be a quick series.
Flyers over Sabres in 6.
3. Boston Bruins v 6. Montreal Canadiens: This series is going to be the best series in the Quarterfinals from either Conference. To say there is some bad blood between these 2 teams is a bit of an understatement. Zdeno Chara could be arrested when they go back to Montreal for his hit on Max Pacioretty. Boston goes into this series with all of their guys pretty much as healthy as can be at this point, which is good news for them. Tim Thomas who will probably win the Vezina Trophy is going start for Boston as he set the record for save percentage this year at .938. Boston lost the first 3 games and 4 of 6 to their division rival but seems to be clicking on all cylinders now.
Max Pacioretty suffered a concussion and a cracked vertebrae on March 8th from that Chara hit, Pacioretty has started skating on his own but is doubtful to return anytime soon. The Canadiens are also with defensemen Adrei Markov and Josh Gorges for all the playoffs. The Canadiens small forwards on their top 2 lines won't be deterred from hits because they're gritty guys and they're going to have to be gritty in this series if they want to advance. They can't afford anymore injuries to anyone on this team because they're already thin and they'll have to get physical otherwise Boston will hammer them often and quickly.
Bruins over Canadiens in 7.
4. Pittsburgh Penguins v 5. Tampa Bay Lightning: The Penguins go into this series without star forwards Evgeni Malkin (knee) and Sidney Crosby (concussion), but could possibly get Crosby back. Jordan Staal, Tyler Kennedy and Chris Kunitz have all stepped up since those guys went down but the Penguins need more offense than that. If they don't get it, then they'll rely heavily on Marc-Andre Fluery, the only guy who could steal the Vezina from Tim Thomas. Ironically enough Crosby hasn't played since suffering his second concussion against the Lightning on January 5th.
The Lightning posses two of the top five scorers in the NHL in Martin St. Louis (99 points) Steven Stamkos (45 goals, 91 points). They've also got guys like Vincent Lacavalier, Simon Gagne, Dominic Moore and Ryan Malone to support. GM Steve Yzerman traded for Dwayne Roloson who got so hot he took 8 seeded Edmonton Oilers to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006. He can steal you a series if he's on. The Lightning will need to play better defensively as they were only a meager +7 in goal differential on the year.
Lightning over Penguins in 7.
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