The playoffs are here, and the fever is most definitely in the air. The regular season ended on Sunday with races coming down to the wire. Wednesday opens up the hunt for the 2001 Stanley Cup with three teams in action that day. Thursday showcases five games and Friday will feature another.
Buffalo(5) vs. Philadelphia (4), Wednesday, 7 p.m.
The Philadelphia Flyers and the Buffalo Sabres match-up is the first series to start in the East. Both clubs earned their playoff bids by the end of March, but their seeding was up in the air until Sunday, the last day of the regular season.
Fate would have it that these two clubs would meet on this day to determine who earned the fourth seed and thus home-ice advantage for the first round series against the other club. The Flyers won 2-1 in Buffalo thanks primarily to the excellent play of goalie Roman Cechmanek, who made 36 saves. With the victory, the Flyers sealed a regular season series sweep of the Sabres and hope to repeat their performance in the playoffs.
In order to avoid that embarrassment, the Sabres must take advantage of the injury to the Flyers' center Keith Primeau. Primeau, the team's second leading scorer, has been out since March 29 and is not expected back for the series. And the Flyers are still getting used to playing with forward John LeClair, who came back earlier this year form back surgery.
If the Sabres cannot take advantage of Philadelphia, they will end up putting the pressure on goalie, Dominik Hasek. But Hasek will not likely mind; he is one of the best goalies in the league. Hasek and Cechmanek have dominated the league this year. Together, the two are among the league elite and earned such accolades as the number two and four players in goals against average, four and five in save percentage, and finally, one and two in shutouts.
Prediction: Due to the strength of goaltenders on either team, this match-up should produce a low-scoring series. Philadelphia holds the edge for not having lost to Buffalo in the regular season. Flyers should win in six games.
Los Angeles (7) vs. Detroit (2), Wednesday 7 p.m.
Moving to the West, the number-two seed Detroit Red Wings will play the Los Angeles Kings in a first-round rematch of last year.
LA did not secure their playoff seed until last Thursday, closing out the season in a heated race with the Vancouver Canucks and the Phoenix Coyotes. The Kings were able to beat out the other two clubs down the stretch to earn the seventh playoff spot. The missing link in LA appears to be goalie Felix Potvin, acquired from Vancouver on February 16. With Potvin, they were able to turn around their average season, going 13-5-5 the next month and a half while passing three clubs on their journey to the playoffs.
In addition to landing Potvin, the Kings traded Rob Blake, primarily for future considerations. Though Blake is a premier defenseman, he was too great of a distraction for the team. Demanding a huge contract, L.A. decided to trade away his rights rather than resign him this off-season. The Blake trade has yielded purely positive results. The Kings have played more as a team and have been able to focus fully on hockey by avoiding distracting off-ice speculation.
Meanwhile the Wings are riding tremendous momentum into the playoffs. They have a 19 game home-winning streak, which included their season finale against the Colorado Avalanche, who are favored to win the Cup. In addition, the Wings have only lost 20 games all year in maintaining pace with the league-leading Avalanche. They combine superior offensive talent with strong goaltending. Brendan Shanahan, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Sergei Fedorov lead the Wings, and most of the NHL in points. On the defensive side, Chris Osgood and Manny Legace have split ice time to make for a solid tandem in stopping goals.
Prediction: Though the regular season series is tied, 1-1-1, the edge goes to Detroit for their impressive play at home and for their psychological advantage after sweeping the Kings in last years playoffs. This year there won't be a sweep, but Wings should win in five.
Edmonton (6) vs. Dallas (3), Wednesday, 8 p.m.
The Dallas Stars face the Edmonton Oilers for the third year in a row as their opening round opponent and for the fourth time in the last five years. Winning the Pacific Division, Dallas earned the third seed in the West. Meanwhile the Oilers were able to maintain an advantage over the Kings, Coyotes, and Canucks, in a close playoff race to land the sixth seed.
The Stars did not lose any of their final 13 games after suffering minor slumps in the second half of both January and February. This overpowering play was attributed to their defense that allowed the second fewest goals all year, 187. They also praise the play of goalie Eddy Belfour who has eight shutouts and a .905 save percentage.
The Stars maintained their poise by staying with their own players and not getting involved in cumbersome trades. They have tremendous faith in Mike Modano and Brett Hull, the team leaders in points and inspiration. These two have missed only four games combined this year. This commitment, and also luck, has allowed them to maintain continuity and improve throughout the season.
Edmonton tried to gain some momentum of its own coming into April but after a strong start to March, they struggled with about a .500 win percentage. The team did not want to enter the playoffs on a low and dedicated itself to winning its final game against Vancouver, whom they beat 4-2.
On the other hand, the Oilers pride themselves on team speed and youth. Despite high hopes, they are picked to lose the series. Doug Weight leads the team with 90 points and hopes to continue scoring and setting up goals in the playoffs as he did in the Oilers' last game, scoring one and assisting the three others.
Prediction: The Oilers have all the makings of playing spoiler to the Stars. They come into the playoffs on a low and the Stars on a high. But the Stars seem lackadaisical in their approach to the Oilers, which could prove detrimental. If the Stars continue their end of the season slump, the Oilers could cause the upset in this series.
San Jose (5) vs. Saint Louis (4), Thursday 7 p.m.
In a Thursday matchup the number-four Saint Louis Blues have an opening- round rematch with the number-five San Jose Sharks. Last year, the Sharks upset the Blues, who held the league's best record. The Blues are definitely looking for vengeance.
Both teams have come down similar roads this year, starting out strong and turning into the unstoppable teams in the Western Conference. With January came injuries and slumps. Both tried to remedy their problems with late-season trades and, luckily for both, their acquisitions have slowly begun to pay off.
The Sharks lost center Vinny Damphousse on Jan.15 to a dislocated left shoulder and only returned Sunday, after missing 37 games, for the Sharks last game of the regular season. The team also traded for Teemu Selanne from the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, but he Selanne came over still injured and missed his first two weeks with the Sharks. In addition to these injuries, the team lost its captain Owen Nolan for 11 games down the stretch.
The Blues season story was similar. The team saw the return of its captain, Chris Pronger, in mid-January, only to have him break his arm in his return game and miss an additional two weeks. Other key injuries included Pavol Dmitra, who pulled his hamstring, and Al Macinnis, who was out two months with an eye injury. In order to remedy their injury situation, the Blues were active in the trading blocks acquiring Scott Mellanby form the Florida Panthers to help out offensively.
Prediction: Both teams traveled the hard road to the playoffs and both have definitely earned the right to play. It will be an exciting seven-game series that this year will go to the Blues, as the return of Pronger and company will be too much for rookie Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov.
