Penguins Playoff Thursday

Yinzers,

The table has been set. With the #1, #2, #3 and #5 seeded teams falling in the Eastern Conference, the #4 seeded Pittsburgh Penguins will retain home ice advantage through the rest of the playoffs...providing they continue to the feet of Lord Stanley. With a dramatic 2-1 victory last night in the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., the Montreal Canadiens toppled the top-ranked Washington Capitals. Here is how the Eastern Conference semifinals will be paired up:

Semifinal 1: Montreal Canadiens v. Pittsburgh Penguins
Game 1 - Friday April 30 @ 7:00 pm in the Igloo
Game 2 - Sunday May 2 @ 2:00 pm in the Igloo
Game 3 - Tuesday May 4 @ 7:00 pm in the Bell Centre
Game 4 - Thursday May 6 @ 7:00 pm in the Bell Centre
Game 5 (if needed) - Saturday May 8 @ 7:00 pm in the Igloo
Game 6 (if needed) - Monday May 10 @ 7:00 pm in the Bell Centre
Game 7 (if needed) - Wednesday May 12 @ 7:00 pm in the Igloo

The only bad part is that the games will be on Versus (except the Sunday game will be on NBC). So get ready for over-the-top enthusiasm over the most trivial plays and morons taking no time to talk about the game at hand, but talking about the Western Conference in stead.

Some things to look forward to and look out for may seem quite obvious if you keep up with this blog.

Things to look forward to:
The Canadiens do not play a neutral zone trap like the Ottawa Senators do. Look for speedy players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Pascal Dupuis and Kris Letang to stretch the ice through the neutral zone. The Canadiens also do not collapse to protect their net quite as often as the Ottawa Senators. I would keep an eye out for players like Billy Guerin, Matt Cooke and dare I say it, Craig Adams to find soft spots around the faceoff dots.

Things to look out for:
The Canadiens are a HOT team right now. They will come out flying from the get-go (no, not Giant Eagle) and the Penguins have to match their energy. Get some strippers in the locker room and forget that "high energy food" from the 3 overtime game. Canadiens' goaltender Jaroslav Halak is also seeing the puck like it's a beach ball. Looking at the Washington series, the last 4 games were played in absolutely perfect position. The Penguins will have to get to him early and often throwing shots from all angles and crashing the net to get in his face.

Prediction:
I would look for this series to go a MINIMUM of 5 games. A lot of hockey is playing hot and cold streaks. The Penguins are playing hot right now, but the Canadiens are on fire. If the Canadiens want a chance to take this series, they will have to take both games in Pittsburgh to start off. Look for the middle of the ice, a.k.a. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Marc-Andre Fleury to be the difference makers in this series. Montreal does not have the depth to keep up with Pittsburgh, so their top lines will be getting a lot of ice time, giving Line 3 (respect this hustle) of Staal, Cooke and Fedotenko/Kennedy and Line 4 of Rupp, Adams and Talbot to make heavy contributions. Penguins take the series in 5-7 games.

Elsewhere in the East, Boston will be taking on the Philthadelphia Flyers. It is looking like a collision course for another all Pennsylvania Eastern Conference final. The Bruins, in spite of beating the #3 Buffalo Sabres, have not been playing solid hockey. They will get Marc Savard back for the series, but I do not think Boston can match the physical play of the Flyers. Look for Philthy to take that series in 6.

In the West, San Jose finally made it past the first round, but they will be playing the Detroit Red Wings. San Jose definitely does not have the depth to beat the Red Wings, so look for 5-6 games in this series, with Detroit on top in the end. The Chicago Blackhawks (in my opinion, the NHL is putting all their eggs in one basket for Chicago to win it all) are taking on the Vancouver Canucks. This one is a crap-shoot to me. I do not think the Canucks match up top to bottom offensively against the Blackhawks, but the Canucks have FAR better defense and goaltending. Expect a ton of fights and misconducts and I think this one will go 7 games. I believe Vancouver wins it.

Keep those razors locked up,
B Brog