Well, this has been a wild ride so far.
The much-anticipated first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs concluded last night, and it did not fail to deliver on excitement. Of the eight playoff series, half went the full seven games and two more went six. Fourteen games were decided in overtime and three of these took two overtimes to settle. Yes, it has been a heart-stopping week for hockey fans all over North America.
But now we move on to the conference semifinals. Eight teams are now twelve hard-fought wins from the Stanley Cup. A look back at the first-round, and some more predictions for the round ahead:
Eastern Conference
1. No. 1 Washington Capitals (4-1) vs. No. 5 Tampa Bay Lightning (4-3):
This week has been marked by an eerie lack of tension in Washington. The Capitals eliminated their first-round opponent, the New York Rangers, in just five games. For a team that hadn't dispatched a playoff opponent in fewer than seven since the 1997-98 season, it's a rare chance to rest, heal and look ahead to the second round.
It's almost all positives — for now, at least. 22-year-old goalie Michal Neuvirth is coming off a stellar series in which he outdueled All-Star Henrik Lundqvist. The team is in rare form defensively, including the penalty kill.
On the other side of the table, fire up EA Sports' "NHL 11" video game, or any iteration for several years now, and take a look at the game's team ratings. One team has always been consistently better in the video game than in reality for many years, and that's Tampa Bay — a collection of longtime stars and heralded rookies that represent enormous potential on paper.
This year, the Bolts are living up to that potential. 3-1 down to the Penguins, they stormed back in style, putting up eight goals on the road in Game 5 and shutting the Pens down in Game 6 before blanking them in Game 7. With Pittsburgh behind them, they have the leadership and the stamina to make a deep run.
Tampa will test the top-seeded Caps — there are no easy matchups in the playoffs. But when everything's right with Washington, they're a supremely difficult team to beat, and that's where the Caps are at right now.
Prediction: Capitals in six
2. No. 2 Philadelphia Flyers (4-3) vs. No. 3 Boston Bruins (4-3):
The Flyers emerge from a tough seven-game series with the Buffalo Sabres in which they came back from 3-2 down to win in the decisive Game 7. Despite the victory, there's not necessarily a lot to take away from this series momentum-wise. The Flyers struggled with the lower-seeded Sabres, getting shut out twice and cycling through three — yes, three — goaltenders in the course of seven games.
But there are positives, too. Danny Briere has found his form as a clutch playoff performer. Captain Mike Richards escaped suspension by the league for a questionable hit, so there's that. And after a scrappy series, an emphatic 5-2 Game 7 win is a confidence booster.
The Bruins escape from a hard-hitting series with Montreal that saw them drop the first two games at home. Montreal answered a Bruins Game 5 overtime win with a defensively solid Game 6 victory at home, forcing last night's Game 7 win, again in overtime.
Tim Thomas has been solid and occasionally spectacular. The team has the necessary edge to it, too — Milan Lucic escaped suspension for a dirty hit that prompted his ejection, and Andrew Ference got fined $2,500 for giving an entire arena the finger during a goal celebration. Humor aside, the Bruins are showing they've got the right blend of agitation, toughness and offensive firepower to succeed.
It's tough to have a whole lot of confidence in a Flyers team that limped into the playoffs and hasn't picked it up since, so this is a tough call. The Bruins have superior goaltending, and that may be the difference.
Prediction: Bruins in six
Western Conference
3. No. 1 Vancouver Canucks (4-3) vs. No. 5 Nashville Predators (4-2):
The Vancouver Canucks have already experienced more playoff drama in their first-round series with the Chicago Blackhawks than many teams do in an entire playoff run. The Presidents' Trophy-winning Canucks jumped out to a 3-0 series lead over the defending champion Blackhawks, to the surprise of relatively few. But then the Hawks surged back, winning three straight games in confidence-shattering fashion to force a Game 7 in Vancouver.
Thanks to a bit of Alex Burrows overtime magic, the Vancouver Canucks scraped out a 2-1 win even after Chicago captain Jonathan Toews' miraculous shorthanded goal with less than two minutes left. With the series over, an entire city is breathing easier.
Nashville, by contrast, is unburdened by colossal expectations. The team is riding high after dispatching the Anaheim Ducks in six to notch their first playoff series win in franchise history. Norris Trophy-nominated defenseman Shea Weber and Vezina Trophy-nominated goaltender Pekka Rinne are holding together a solid, defensively minded corps of players that could give the Vancouver offense fits.
Vancouver may supposedly have its mojo back, but there are lingering doubts over goaltender Roberto Luongo's mental toughness. If this series gets tough — and the Predators should make it so — expect a hard fight, but the Canucks are too talented to stop here.
Prediction: Canucks in six
4. No. 2 San Jose Sharks (4-2) vs. No. 3 Detroit Red Wings (4-0):
Vancouver wasn't the only team that struggled in finishing off a lower-ranked opponent. The Sharks battled the Anze Kopitar-less Kings for six games that saw multiple overtimes and the pulling of goaltender Antti Niemi from multiple games. Inconsistency — whether in net or the team as a whole — was the hallmark of the Sharks' efforts, and it took an overtime Game 6 winner to pull the team through to the next round.
Conventional wisdom holds that these Red Wings, while talented as ever, are aging to a point that threatens their effectiveness in a playoff round. Conventional wisdom has so far been irrelevant, as the Wings swept the Coyotes with frightening efficiency. The second round will prove whether that result was due to the Wings' might or an epic Phoenix collapse that started with goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov.
This is a tough matchup for the Sharks, who are still looking to deliver on perennially high expectations. The veteran Wings have the advantage of rest, but this series will come down to which Sharks squad shows up. If it's the "good" Sharks, they'll pull it out. If not, expect a short series.
Prediction: Sharks in seven
