The Ottawa Senators know that they will need to be much better in every aspect of the game to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night. They have to be more disciplined, they have to convert on absolutely every chance they get and most of all they have to return to the defense-first brand of hockey that got them into the playoffs in the first place.
Two Original Six teams meet in the playoffs for the umpteenth time when the “underdog” Detroit Red Wings travel to Chicago to take on the best team in the NHL during the regular season.
The San Jose Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings kick off their Western Conference Semi-Final series on Tuesday night in LA where the Kings won both of their regular season meetings with their Northern State rivals.
For the second year in a row and the third time in five seasons the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals will go to Game 7 in a playoff series.
Nobody gave the Toronto Maple Leafs much of a chance in their Eastern Conference quarter final series with the Boston Bruins but after going down 3-1 in the series, the Leafs have rattled off two straight wins to force an improbable Game 7 between the storied rivals.
The Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Boston Bruins in Game 5 Friday night down 3-1 in the series but probably deserving a better fate.
The New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals have each held serve in their own building so far in their Eastern Conference quarter final series. Now the series moves back to Washington where the Rangers scored just one goal in the first two games of the series.
The New York Rangers return home Monday night with some work to do – down 2-0 to the Washington Capitals and struggling to find any sort of offense. The Rangers perhaps deserved a better fate in Game 2 but lost in overtime to put them in the 2-0 hole. A low scoring game is predicted once again – the teams scored a total of four goals in Game 1 and were held goal-less during regulation of Game 2.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have two games under their belts – playoff jitters are not an excuse anymore and if they improve in Game 3 like they for Game 2, Leafs fans could go home very, very happy Monday night.
The Chicago Blackhawks had a much more difficult time with the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of their Western Conference quarter final than most thought – but the result was what almost everybody predicted. Minnesota played almost the perfect road game, they held one of the best offenses in the game to one goal during regulation with their backup goalie, they stayed out of the penalty box and they still lost.
The biggest mismatch of the postseason continues Friday night when the New York Islanders attempt to gain a little respectability against the Pittsburgh Penguins – a team that beat them in relatively easy fashion in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarter final. Sound easy?
The Los Angeles Kings find themselves in an unfamiliar position – trailing in a series! That’s right – LA won the Cup last year while going 16-4 and not trailing at any point along the way. But there is a reason that the Blues are up 1-0 – they outhit, outshot and completely outhit the Kings on Tuesday night for their first win versus the Kings in nine games.
Two of the hotter teams down the stretch of the NHL’s regular season meet in the Nation’s Capital Thursday night when the Washington Capitals entertain the New York Rangers in a playoff series for the fourth time in the last five years. Both teams heated up at precisely the right time in order to qualify for the postseason – the Rangers went 10-3-1 while the Caps went 11-1-1.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, perhaps the biggest surprise in the NHL this season begin their first playoff series in nearly a decade Wednesday night when they travel to Boston to play a Bruins team that limped into the playoffs.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are right where they thought they would be – the #1 seed in the East and looking like the team to beat in the Conference. The New York Islanders on the other hand surprised many by qualifying for the playoffs since 2007.
The President’s Trophy winning Chicago Blackhawks look to carry their stellar Regular Season play into the post season when they kick off the Stanley Cup playoffs Tuesday night against the Minnesota Wild – a team that most thought would be significantly better that they were this year.
