2009 Playoffs -- Conference Quarterfinals

[Shoalzie]

Bruins over Canadiens in 5 games
Capitals over Rangers in 6 games
Hurricanes over Devils in 6 games
Penguins over Flyers in 7 games

Sharks over Ducks in 6 games
Red Wings over Blue Jackets in 6 games
Blues over Canucks in 7 games
Blackhawks over Flames in 6 games

[MuchoBulls]

Bruins in 6
Rangers in 6
Carolina in 7
Pittsburgh in 5

San Jose in 5
Columbus in 6
Vancouver in 7
Chicago in 6

[Shoalzie]

Give the Rangers credit last night...didn't think they'd be able to outgun the Caps if the game was relatively high-scoring. I thought the Rangers best chance to win was if Lundqvist was the best player in the series and their PK could neutralize the Caps great power play.

[MuchoBulls]

Lundqvist kept them in the game in the first period. Washington doesn't have that great a D and Theodore isn't that good. Hopefully the Rangers come out better in Game 2 and force the play.

[Shoalzie]

Satisfying Game 1 win over a Columbus team that didn't look...at least early on...like they were playing in their first playoff game in their franchise's history. Osgood had a brilliant first period and it carried on from there. A major key for any team to make a deep run in the playoffs is to get secondary scoring and all they got last night was two big goals from their third line as well as a goal from Ericsson in his first playoff game. If the Wings can win games without Hossa, Datsyuk and Zetterberg leading the way offensively...look out!

[Screw_Michigan]

Lundqvist kept them in the game in the first period. Washington doesn't have that great a D and Theodore isn't that good. Hopefully the Rangers come out better in Game 2 and force the play.

Washington's D is fine...when they and their goaltender aren't out skating around with their heads up their asses. I have a feeling they had a no-puck practice on Thursday.

Regarding the Wings, while an impressive performance (especially in the second period), they are playing Columbus and taking advantage of a rookie netminder. While Mason is good, he made some obvious rookie mistakes Thursday.

[Shoalzie]

Regarding the Wings, while an impressive performance (especially in the second period), they are playing Columbus and taking advantage of a rookie netminder. While Mason is good, he made some obvious rookie mistakes Thursday.

For one, I'm so glad the Ducks are playing the Sharks in the first round...not the Wings. Seeing them beat the Sharks in Game 1 further proved that point. Two of the goals last night on Mason were bad bounces...the Malhotra off-the-glove block attempt on Ericsson goal was brutal. I don't think Mason was all that bad last night but they touched on a potential weakness for him...moving him side to side and testing him up high.

From the Jackets' perspective, I think they'll be able to create scoring chances when they control the puck deep in the Wings' zone and force Osgood to play deep in his net to protect the posts. On the power play when they work the puck along the perimeter and on the half-boards, Osgood is able to skate out some and cut down angles better. He's a small goalie so when he plays deep in his net, there is more open space to shoot at.

[Shoalzie]

Observations around the league...

Anaheim leads San Jose 2-0: I don't think seeing the Ducks play well is a surprise but the way they've been in command in the two games in San Jose has been quite a bit of a shock. Of the teams down 2-0, I give the Sharks the one of the best shots at rallying but they've looked lifeless up to this point.

Detroit leads Columbus 2-0: The Wings and Osgood have flipped the switch and have looked dominant for the last 5 periods of this series. The Jackets may be able to ride the emotion of the home crowd for a win in either Game 3 or 4 but I'm pretty confident that they won't be able to win 4 of the next 5 games.

Vancouver leads St. Louis 3-0: Luongo dominated the two games in Vancouver including the brilliant effort in Game 2. The Blues showed life last night but the Canucks had the answered their challenge.

Chicago leads Calgary 2-0: By no means is this series over as it shifts to Calgary. Both games in Chicago could've gone either way and so for the Blackhawks have been able to score the big goals and Khabibulin has outdueled Kiprusoff. I wouldn't be shocked the Flames even this thing up but tonight is a must-win.

Boston leads Montreal 2-0: The Bruins have dominated this series on all levels. Even without Lucic in Game 3, I don't see the Canadiens being able to rally back move this back to Boston. This is the best candidate of the 2-0 leads to be a sweep.

New York leads Washington 2-0: The Rangers have played the better team game up to this point and they clearly have the advantage in goal. I'd assume the Caps stick with Varlamov after he played quite well on Saturday. I think we're seeing the Caps being exposed as more of a collection of skill and not really a cohesive unit like Detroit. It's gut check time for Ovechkin and Co. as the series shifts to Gotham tonight.

New Jersey leads Carolina 2-1: It's the only series where more than one game has gone to OT. I looked at the Hurricanes as a potential sleeper in the East entering the playoffs and the Devils looked brutal down the stretch. To their credit, they won impressively in Game 1, Game 2 could've gone either way and they got the huge Game 3 OT win last night in Raleigh. This series has the makings to go the distance.

Pittsburgh leads Philadelphia 2-1: There's been two one-sided games with a nip-and-tuck OT game in the middle. The Flyers looked dominant yesterday to make this a series. The offensive star of the early playoffs has definitely been Malkin.

[Shoalzie]

2 sweeps so far...the potential of a third tonight in Columbus. I really expected a better effort from the Jackets on Tuesday night in front of their home crowd but I thought the Wings matched their intensity and pretty much had that game won after 20 minutes. All they need tonight is another strong start to further break the will of the Jackets and it should be a fairly easy path to a series win and some rest before the conference semis.

The Pens return home with a chance to finish off the Flyers...their performance on Tuesday leads me to believe they'll get it done tonight. I see the Devils responding from the tough loss in Game 4 and wins the pivotal Game 5 tonight. In Anaheim, I see the Ducks taking a 3-1 series lead and putting the Sharks on the brink of elimination.

As for last night, the Caps threw every punch at the Rangers in that third period but Lundqvist and the Rangers looked a lot like the Pens in their Game 3 in just being able to hang on and prevail in the end. I still wouldn't put it past the Caps to come back and win this series given how good Varlamov has been in this three starts but now, the margin of error is very small.

Chicago-Calgary has the makings of a 7-game classic and it could end up being one of those series where the home team wins every game and home ice is essentially the difference between these two teams. Calgary carries plenty of momentum back to Chicago but I look at both rinks difficult to win in as the visiting team.

Boston-Montreal...this one wasn't even close. This series and Wings-Jackets have been the two no doubter series. Canucks-Blues was at least a competitive series even though it was a sweep. In the end, Luongo was just too good.

[Screw_Michigan]

Evidently the Caps aren't playing playoff hockey anymore. While you can't blame them for Lundquist playing out of his mind, when the team gets tight, they go back to shooting from outside instead of pounding the crease. Lot of that had to do with the Broadway Shitstains doing a good job shutting down the middle. Every time I see someone fire a shot from the high slot (*cough* OV *cough) I want to blow a fuse. They had all the momentum the last 30 min and could only find the net once. Unreal. And couldn't beat the Rangers when they were dead in the fucking water during a 2:00 pp that never left the offensive zone.

Caps got fucking HOSED on the Avery/Jurcina call. Not only does he hit him in the face with his stick, but also draws blood with an INTENTIONAL blow to the head. How the fuck that isn't a 4:00 call (if not 5 in the regular season) is beyond me. And I'm going to say this now, you don't have to rip his head off or kill the guy, but will someone please take a run at Lundquist? Just remind him who he is playing and that his goalmouth is Capital territory? Pretty please?

FUCK the Garden
FUCK Ranger fans
FUCK Cablevision

[MuchoBulls]

Caps got fucking HOSED on the Avery/Jurcina call.

Come on now. The Caps have gotten the majority of the calls in the series and the fact that no penalty was called on Ovechkin in game 3 when he high sticked Roszival and drew blood (Ovechkin should have subsequently be serving a penalty when Washington scored their first goal, which he assisted on) shouldn't have you going to that card.

The correct call on Avery was made. He punched the guy in the face with his glove. Hopefully Torts doesn't play him much, or at all tomorrow night. He is going to cost the Rangers a game with his bullshit. It's one thing to play with an edge, but quite another when you go over it.