New York vs Washington: Caps 1-0 series
Montreal vs Boston: Habs 1-0 series
Buffalo vs Philadelphia: Bruins 1-0 series
Nashville vs Anaheim: Preds 1-0 series
Chicago vs Vancouver: Canucks 1-0 series
Phoenix vs Detroit: Wings 1-0 series
Los Angeles vs San Jose: Sharks 1-0 series
This is what it's all about and someday...before I die...
Everybody has their first games in hand now and should be getting those butterflies settled down.
- I'm taking particular interest in the Rangers/Caps series - for a couple of really obvious reasons: 1. I love my boyfriend Ovechkin, and 2. I hate Gaborik. So, you know it was with much glee and giggling that I watched Ovi tie the game to send it into overtime and then watched with much happiness as Semin potted the winning goal. Take that, Porcelain Groinboy - mwuhaahaahaaaa!
- Vance's home team didn't get off to a great start in the Hawks/Canucks series as they pretty much watched Vancouver control the entire game. This is not last year's Stanley Cup team and the aforementioned butterflies probably had a lot to do with getting beat 3-0. There were post clangers galore though, and to me - that's a good sign for game 2.
- Desert hockey meets Hockey Town - BIG TIME. The Coyotes/Wings series kicked off with a bang in Detroit. It doesn't matter how empty the Joe is during the regular season, come playoff time those seats are filled with the rockin'est, stompin'est fans around. The Yotes made the final score of 4-2 look better than they actually played, you have to look no further than their 0 - 5 powerplay results. I'm hoping the dogs make a series out of this first round cuz I really hate teams that live up to the media-hyped foregone conclusions.
- Anaheim fans were missing their team when they packed the arena for the first game in the Ducks/Preds series. That's because of the combined 46 minutes of penalty box time served by the Ducks - mostly in the 3rd period when the game was clearly lost, along with their tempers. The Preds stuck to playing their game and came out of the slug fest with the 4-1 win. If only Barry Trotz were available for that vacant coaching job in Minnesota...heavy sigh...
- Ole, Ole-Ole-Ole is what Montreal was singing in the visiting lockerroom after taking the first game, handily, in the Bruins/Canadiens opener, 2-0. Boston just never looked like they were in synch with each other. Despite outshooting the Habs at times it was almost painful to watch this game. Nice to hear Wild fans aren't the only ones to boo their team off the ice...Bruins need to get their act together for Saturday night. Maybe put a certain Hobbit in the net to shake things up? Just sayin'.
- It helps that Buffalo is coming into the playoffs as a red hot team, raring to go. It also helps that Chris Pronger is out of the lineup for Philidelphia. The Sabres/Flyers series is on my radar because I love Ryan Miller and I hate the Flyers - all of them. I chuckled out loud as Buffalo held the 1-0 lead and shutout the Flyers. Okay, I laughed out loud - hard - and peed a little too. I shouldn't get too cocky though, this series will get ugly. It's the Flyers, you know.
- The Late Show - also known as the Sharks/Kings series is worth staying up for. The Kings are making a name for themselves as of late (ie: last couple of seasons) and it's nice to see a team that's been irrelevant for so long come back to the limelight. The Sharks have last year's Cup winning goalie in net, Antti Niemi - who they now refer to as "Finding Nemo", get it? I think if there's ever a jinx on a goalie it would be that nickname. Besides, Disney ain't in San Jose. In the most EPIC game 1 of the first round, the Kings make a game of it and tie it up to send the battle into overtime. Big Joe Pavelski gets the OT winner and the Shark Tank erupts!
- Pittsburgh was not very hospitable to it's visitors in their first game of the Pens/Lightning series. Marc-Andre Fleury shut out the Bolts in game 1 and the goals were all scored by...wait for it... NOT Crosby or Malkin. As much as it pains me, the Pens are the team I'm most interested in through the finals. There's something to be said about a team that comes together in the face of adversity...see Side Rant below.
While I hate spotlighting the Pens for anything I have to hold them up for example here. The Penguins have that certain something which is so elusive for the Wild players ... ACCOUNTABILITY. The Pens are missing Crosby and Malkin and yet, here they are in the playoffs. Hmmm, that means their players banded together and collectively said: "We're in this to win it and it's up to those of us still standing to get it done." I wonder if any of the Wild players are watching or if they're just sulking around the house and getting on their wive's nerves. There's a lesson to be learned here - even if the Pens are bounced in the first round look at the pride the players can take out of it due to the fact that they gave 100% of themselves, each and every one of them, to make the playoff drive happen.
Every one of the Pens defer to their goalie, Fleury, for having kept them in the hunt after losing Malkin and Crosby. Fleury was without a doubt the number one star of their game Wednesday night. We've got a goalie who's just as good as Fleury - that's Backstrom. How many games did he carry for the Wild this last season? More than any goalie should have to - and the same can be said for Jose as well. Is it any wonder that they both pooped out along the way when it became clear that the team wasn't going to play in front of them, for whatever their selfish reasons were?
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