NHL Playoff Predictions

A late entry here, although I did submit my picks earlier (3:00 P.M. Eastern), hours before the opening face-offs of Day One of the Stanley Cup playoffs, on Rick Jessup's Overanything website (www.overanything.com) under the comments section on "Pain in My Heart."

Here are my predictions:

Eastern Conference

(1) Montreal vs. (8) Boston

The Canadiens have won 11 straight against the Bruins dating back to last season, and don't seem to be slowing down at all down the stretch. The goaltending of rookie Carey Price and timely goals from Alexi Kovalev, plus the league's top power play, will be too much for the Bruins, who are seventh out of the eight Eastern playoff teams in scoring.

The Bruins were lucky to even sneak into the playoffs, slumping down the stretch and qualifying only thanks to Carolina's meltdown in its regular-season finale against Florida.

It will be no contest: Habs in four straight.

(2) Pittsburgh vs. (7) Ottawa

The Senators, who no one is giving a chance, will rally despite injuries and their late-season collapse, to upset the young Penguins. After all, the Sens head in with no pressure as everyone's basically written them off. But Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley will have something to say about the outcome.

With all the hype and pressure surrounding Sidney Crosby et al, don't be surprised to see Pittsburgh fall to the veteran-laden Ottawa team that made it all the way to the Cup Finals a year ago. Martin Gerber of the Senators, a streaky goaltender, might just get hot at the right time and shut down the powerful Pens. Meanwhile, can Marc Andre-Fleury, who missed most of the season with an ankle injury, get it done in the Penguins' nets?

Senators in six.

(3) Washington vs. (6) Philadelphia

The Flyers have been flying under the radar of late, but proved they could play with the best, winning when it counted most in the final weeks of the regular season. With the whole season hanging in the balance following a four-game losing streak in March, Philadelphia went on a 7-1-1 roll and won its final two games, against the Devils and Penguins, to barely sneak in as the No. 6 seed.

Philadelphia played Washington tough during the regular season, going 2-1-1 against the Capitals.

Martin Biron, who pitched back-to-back shutouts in the final two games, has an impressive record of 30-20-9 with a 2.59 GAA and .918 save percentage this season. Biron and the Flyers might just be able to shut down Alexander Ovechkin and the Caps, a team that has consistently posted good regular seasons only to choke in the playoffs. How will Ovechkin fare in his NHL playoff debut?

Flyers in seven.

(4) New Jersey vs. (5) New York Rangers

Some people think that Martin Brodeur will win the series for the Devils, but I have to disagree (which got me a lot of abuse on www.overanything.com).

The Rangers went 7-0-1 against the Devils this season, with each game being decided by two goals or fewer, and that's got to be a huge morale booster for Tom Renney's squad, a team that will receive big contributions from playoff veterans such as Jaromir Jagr, Chris Drury, Brendan Shanahan, and ex-Devil Scott Gomez.

Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist doesn't get enough credit despite his 37-24-10, 2.23 GAA, .912 save-percentage season, but will shine in the playoffs against a team that can't score--the Devils are dead last amongst the Eastern qualifiers in that department.

The Devils will keep things close, as they've done all year long in the season-series, but ultimately will have no shot with only Brodeur and Zach Parise leading the way.

Rangers in five.

Western Conference

(1) Detroit vs. (8) Nashville

The Predators surprisingly played the Presidents' Trophy-winning Red Wings tough all year long, winning three of the eight meetings. In fact, with the season on the line, Nashville faced Detroit three times in the final ten games and went 1-1-1 against the Wings, earning three of a possible four points at Joe Louis Arena.

However, the Red Wings are the best team in the league, and while some think veteran Dominik Hasek is a question mark in goal, they should at least be able to dispatch of the eighth-seeded Preds.

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg will lead the Western Conference's top offensive team on to the second round.

Red Wings in five.

(2) San Jose vs. (7) Calgary

Despite Joe Thornton's annual disappearing act come playoff time, the Sharks will survive the first round against the physical Flames. Calgary, a franchise that seems to be cursed, has lost in dramatic fashion seemingly every season since winning their only Cup in 1989, getting eliminated in the first round in OT in 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, and 1996. And the trend will continue this year as San Jose gets past Jarome Iginla's squad in a closely-contested series, in the extra session in Game Seven, which will mark the third straight year that Calgary gets bounced in round one.

San Jose, which had that amazing 17-0-2 run before losing its last two meaningless games to end the year, is the hottest team going into the playoffs. Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, a Vezina Trophy candidate with a 46-21-8 campaign and 2.14 GAA, has been one of the biggest reasons. Expect Nabokov to outduel ex-Shark Miikka Kiprusoff in goal.

Sharks in seven.

(3) Minnesota vs. (6) Colorado

The Northwest Division champion Wild will duplicate their 2003 success over the Avalanche, when they upset Colorado in seven games. This series comes down to goaltending, where Minnesota has a clear edge. Sophomore Niklas Backstrom has a career goals-against average of 2.17 and went 33-13-8 this season with a .920 save percentage.

Marian Gaborik and Brian Rolston provide the offensive spark for the Wild, and with the extra home game, Minnesota will squeak by the Avalanche.

Is Peter Forsberg completely healthy, and will he make an impact for Colorado? Veterans Joe Sakic, Ryan Smyth, and Adam Foote will keep it a close series.

Wild in seven.

(4) Anaheim vs. (5) Dallas

A month ago, I would have picked the Stars as one of the top contenders coming out of the conference. But after a disastrous March (2-7-2) and a propensity of blowing leads of late, Dallas has fallen from the elite and will not have home-ice advantage in its series against the defending Cup champions.

The pressure will be squarely on two players: goaltender Marty Turco and forward Brad Richards. Turco has yet to shed his "can't-win-the-big-one" label in the playoffs, and faces an uphill battle against a Ducks team that went 8-2-0 in their final ten games and welcomes defenseman Chris Pronger from an eight-game suspension. Richards, who was acquired in a gutsy trade-deadline deal from Tampa Bay, was expected to be the difference maker who would put Dallas over the top.

But the Stars will fail, as the fresh Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne along with youngsters Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry make the difference.

Ducks in seven.