(1) Washington Capitals vs. (#8) Montreal Canadiens
The Capitals offense is so good, its ridiculous. With Ovechkin leading the charge, the firepower on this team cannot be matched by anyone. Oh yeah, they also have Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mike Green. They also don't lose many games at home, only five all season. Their defense is their weakness, especially in regards to penalty killing, where they ranked 25th in the league. Jose Theodore has had a very good second half, but has been prone to have a bad, inconsistent streches. It will be interesting to see how he performs when the series moves to Montreal, the site of his past successes.
The Habs have limped into the playoffs, finishing the season winning just three of the last 11, including ending the season by losing to the terrible Maple Leafs. The Canadiens offense is built around speed and puck control, which will be neccesary to avoid Washington's big defenders. Jaroslav Hasek will be making his first playoff start, and he'll need to be standing on his head to keep his team in the game. If he falters, Carey Price will be waiting. I don't see Montreal making a series out of this, unless the ghost of Rocket Richard comes to the rescue.
THE PICK: Capitals in four.
(#2)New Jersey Devils vs. (#7) Philadelphia Flyers
Despite the Devils being the #2 seed, you can't think they're excitied about facing the Flyers in the first round. Philadelphia finished the season with a 5-1-0 record against New Jersey. The Devils's strength is, as it has been for over a decade, is Marty Brodeur. He led the NHL with 45 wins and will be facing Brian Boucher, who is in the net primarily because Philly has no other options at this point. The key to this series will be the play of Ilya Kovalchuk and Chris Pronger. Is Kovalchuk capable of putting a team on his shoulders and taking over? Chris Pronger always steps up his game in the playoffs, can the old man do it again?
THE PICK: Flyers in seven
(#3) Buffalo Sabres vs. (#6) Boston Bruins
Much like the New Jersey/Philly series, Buffalo enters the playoffs at the better seed despite only winning 2 games out of six against Boston. Both these teams offenses kinda stink, this series is all about the goaltending. Olympic hero Ryan Miller squares off aginst surprise stud Tukka Rask. These guys had the two best goaltending seasons in the league this year. This will be a low scoring series, and I think its gonna go down to the wire.
The Pick: Sabres in seven.
(#4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (#5) Ottawa Senators
For the second year in a row, the Pens get the 4 seed. Despite their talent, the defending champs have been inconsistent at times this season. While the Sens have been perhaps the most inconsistent team in the league this year. The key to the Penguins success begins and ends with Crosby and his ability to make his teammates even better. No one handles pressure better the Sid the Kid. The Senators will miss D-man Filip Kuba and winger Alexi Kovalev. Daniel Alfredsson is the best player in franchise history, and he always shows up in the playoffs, I think the key for Ottawa lies in Jason Spezza, if he steps it up the Senators can make it a series.
The Pick: Penguins in five.
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