An exciting pair of game 7’s wrapped up the Eastern Conference on Wednesday night, so it’s time to find out what we’ve learned about the survivors of round 1 and look ahead to see who has a real shot at going all the way.
Washington
Capitals vs New York Rangers
You likely won’t find many Washington Capitals fans that admit this, but the
New York Rangers had a strong resemblance to the 2010 version of the Montreal
Canadiens. The Rangers blocked a ton of
shots, relied on timely scoring, and depended enormously on their
goaltender.
Lundqvist was one of the
league’s best going into this series, and nothing he did changed that going
out. Unfortunately for them, we’ll
never know what they could have made of this series because they choked a 3
goal lead in game 4. That was the
obvious turning point of the series and yes Rangers fans, coach Bruce Boudreau
could hear you.
That loss devastated the New York Rangers morale and they limped into
the Verizon Center without much of a fight. They didn’t create many scoring chances in the final game, but the Caps
had a lot to do with that, too.
Boudreau’s new approach to hockey has been grossly overlooked this
season and it is mostly mentioned as a footnote. However, to go from an offensive juggernaut
to a defense-first team with the same players and have the same degree of
success is a testament to his coaching abilities.
Sure, New York was without their heart and soul in Callahan,
but they did get Drury back for this series and they just came up against a
better team. Washington is one of the
few franchise in the league that knows how to do it right-they bring along
their young players slowly and it’s paying huge dividends. Guys like Neuvirth, Carlson, Alzner, and
Johansson were key pieces of the puzzle in round 1, and will carry a heavy
responsibility going forward, too. They
dusted off New York and Backstrom only had 1 point. That’s scary.
Philadelphia
Flyers vs Buffalo Sabres
I correctly picked the Philadelphia Flyers to win this series, but I
wasn’t feeling too great about it once they went down 3-2 to the Sabres. I had expected Pronger to return much sooner
than he did and that was the sole tipping point for me. Even kids kicking around a soccer ball in
the back streets of London know that the Flyers have goaltending problems, but
to go through 3 goalies was just absurd.
I still think Bobrovsky is their best goalie and he should have been
brought off the bench instead of bearing the pressure from the get-go.
Miller did what Miller does and that’s strike the fear of
God into his opponents. Despite Philly’s
potent attack, they were shut out twice. Yes, they lost Carter along the way, but that doesn’t excuse a goose egg
on the scoreboard. Ultimately though,
this series came down to game 6.
The Buffalo
Sabres were a hot team after their new owner took over, but they blew their chance to
close it out on home ice. The Flyers
battled back and overcome some of the worst goaltending of round 1 which should
be a serious warning to the rest of the Eastern Conference.
It was a surprise that Miller got shelled in
game 7, but the Sabres lost the battle of attrition by this point. Hecht and Roy saw their first action in ages
and Connolly was in the press box with an injury. With a
new owner and young guys like Gangradi, Myers, Ennis and Gerbe, the future is
still bright in Buffalo.
Boston Bruins vs
Montreal Canadiens
This series isn’t even a few hours old as I write this, but
there was a lot to digest in this series.
Both teams cracked under the pressure of playing at home, but late in
the series they got it together and pushed it to the limit. An enormous amount of kudos goes to the Montreal Canadiens because not many people gave them a shot to win this series.
A lot of people aren’t surprised that Price
played so well, but you won’t find me in that group. I wanted to see if he could finally live up
to his draft expectations and do it when it counts rather than the regular
season. He showed that the season was
no fluke and went toe to toe with the 2011 Vezina Trophy winner. Once again Montreal relished the underdog
role and came within inches of pulling off another great upset for the 2nd
year in a row.
Meanwhile for the Boston Bruins, Tim Thomas had his own demons to exorcise. He had only won 1 playoff series in his
career before now and was 0-2 in games 7’s. He had his shaky moments, but in the end he matched Price save for save
and brought Boston through to the next round.
Yet, the peculiar thing about this series was the absence of Milan
Lucic. A guy normally known for his playoff
prowess and up and down regular season has had the exact opposite play out in
2011. He looked poised for a monster
playoffs after a 30+ goal season, but he was almost non-existent in this
series.
He didn’t hit very much and when
he did he got ejected from the game. Instead of lighting the lamp he had horrible giveaways and missed
assignments. Maybe he’s nursing an
injury, but if he’s healthy Bruins fans hope he snaps out of this funk in round
2 because they’ll need him.
Kaberle was
another disaster on the ice, but at least they have guys like Chara and
Seidenberg to pull his weight. Will a
huge win over an arch rival propel them the rest of the way, or will they be
drained from a long, emotional series?
Pittsburgh
Penguins vs Tampa Bay Lightning
Another series that went the distance was the Crosby-less Pittsburgh Penguins and the Stamkos-less Lightning. Ok, so Stamkos played, but he didn’t do very much. Ever since he got rocked into the boards
early in game 1 he never really made an impact in this series outside of 1
game. If they hope to knock out the
Capitals, that will need to change in a hurry.
Pittsburgh’s defensive style and stellar goaltending gave the high-flying
Bolts fits for much of the series and Washington play a similar style. Orpik,
Michalek, Letang, Martin, and Niskanen formed a strong defensive core that was
vastly improved from 2010. I don’t
think anyone in the hockey world is going to worry about this team going
forward.
Having said that, one has to wonder how good this Tampa Bay Lightning team really
is. They had to come back from a 3-1
deficit against a Penguins team without Crosby and Malkin. If we learned anything, it’s that the
Lightning are still a team learning how to win game in and game out. Sooner or later that will catch up to them,
and Pittsburgh came very close to making them pay in round 1.
On the bright side, Victor Hedman emerged as
a bona-fide force on the back end, Roloson played lights out for the most part,
and Lecavalier and St Louis can still carry this team. They also proved they can win a close game
in the post-season. They’ll need
repeats of all this and more next round.
Cup Bound?
Now that we have 4 teams to evaluate in the 2nd
round, the most pressing question people have is which team is poised for a cup
run in this years NHL Playoffs? But before I get to that, here is
an interesting stat to ponder-no team that played in 7 games in the 1st
round has gone on to win the cup since the Pittsburgh Penguins did it in
1992. This is especially relevant
because Tampa Bay, Boston Bruins, and the Philadelphia Flyers all went 7 in
round 1.
That leaves us with one team-the Washington Capitals.
The smart money is still on them to emerge from the East,
and they are also the team I’m putting my faith in. However, it’s not because they have home ice
advantage or Alex Ovechkin. Simply
put, this team has demonstrated that they have all the necessary intangibles
that were missing last year.
When
every hockey mind in the world said they needed to acquire a 2nd
line center, defensive defensemen, and a veteran goalie, the Capitals brass
decided to stick with the status quo instead. They trusted their scouting department and minor league development
program.
Alzner and Carlson have not
only provided defensive depth, but are the clear-cut best pairing on the
team. Schultz and Green can now play
regular minutes without worrying about both ends of ice every shift. Michal Neuvirth is showing us why he was so
highly touted coming out of the AHL. The kid has amazing raw talent and won back-to-back Calder championships
before making the jump this year.
Yes,
Mcphee went out and acquired Jason Arnott, but if you think he was the go-to
answer for the 2nd line center spot, think again. The team already has an emerging two-way star
in Marcus Johansson and that was on full display in round 1. The team has bought into the defense-first
system and Semin has finally scored some goals in the playoffs. At this point in time, going with anyone
other than the Capitals would be playing with fire.
The Lightning have made strides, but they have too many
questions and not enough answers. The
Flyers will not escape the goalie merry-go-round unscathed this year. And the Bruins aren’t going anywhere with
guys like Lucic and Kaberle playing like minor leaguers.
All
three teams struggled mightily with what should have been lesser opponents, and
now they must find a way to re-energize for two more brutal rounds. Meanwhile, Washington will be rested and
prepared watching Boston and Philadelphia beat each other up from the comfort
of their living rooms.