NHL Playoffs: Quarterfinal Matchups, Part 3

Western Conference

1. Detroit Red Wings vs. 8. Nashville Predators    (DET in 5) 

2. San Jose Sharks vs. 7. Calgary Flames     (SJ in 6)

3. Minnesota Wild vs. 6. Colorado Avalanche     (MIN in 5) 

4. Anaheim Ducks vs. 5.Dallas Stars    (DAL in 6)

Eastern Conference

1. Montreal Canadians vs. 8. Boston Bruins 

2. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 7. Ottawa Senators 

3. Washington Capitals vs. 6. Philadelphia Flyers 

4. New Jersey Devils vs. 5. New York Rangers

Montreal Canadians vs. Boston Bruins

Montreal has thrashed the Bruins all season by winning all eight of the teams' contests. To make matters worse, Boston lost by at least two goals in all but two of those games. So with eight games experience, can the Bruins find Montreal’s weakness and exploit it enough to pull of a gigantic upset? I would be shocked.

Montreal won’t be without a handicap, however. Their veteran captain Saku Koivu is most likely out for the entire series. This is not to say that injuries won’t be holding the Bruins back either. Marc Savard is skating in practice, but has yet to play a game since being injured and Patrice Bergeron is recovering from a concussion and could see playing time in the series.

Even without Koivu, Montreal has the top-ranked offense in the league (262 GF) and Boston has a measly 212 GF, which places them 25^th in the league. Montreal put a lot of faith in young Goalie Carey Price by trading away veteran Cristobal Huet at the trade deadline. He has been playing solid as of late and should continue to in this series. The breaking point in the series will be special teams. The Bruins Penalty Kill is very shaky (78.6%) and won’t do well against Montreal’s league best power play attack (24.2 %). Boston may have crawled their way into the playoffs, but they will soon enough be lying belly-up.

Bottom Line: Canadians in 5

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Ottawa Senators

Talk about a story line. Last year the Senators taught the young Penguins a thing or two about playoff hockey and now they are sitting as the underdogs in the match-up. Pittsburgh will definitely come into the series with a chip on their shoulder and erase any doubting thoughts. Althoughe they dropped three of four to the Senators in the regular season, two of them went to overtime and the Senators have lost a critical piece to their success since then.

One injury could rarely hold as much impact as this one does. Ottawa’s captain Daniel Alfredsson (knee/head) will be out for the series and without his leadership and on-ice impact it will be difficult for the Senators to repeat their thrashing of the Penguins from a year ago. The penguins have both Sidney Crosby (ankle) and Marian Hossa (upper body) coming back from injury and they both have been playing up to their potential since returning.

Both teams have strong offenses with the Senators holding a slight edge (261 GF compared to Pittsburgh’s 247), but defense will be the deciding factor in this series. Who ever can hold the opponent of the scoreboard longest will move on. Unfortunately this is not a great area for Ottawa as they rank 24^th in goals against (247) and do not have a solid goaltender to rely on, unless Ray Emery can reverse his fortunes and make everyone forget about his 3.13 goals against average. In the end, Crosby, Malkin and Hossa will prove too much to handle for the captain-less Senators.

Bottom Line: Penguins in 5