Here is a recap of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Along with how all of those of us who made picks did. Some clearly much better than others.
#1 Washington vs #5 Tampa Bay
I thought going into this series that offense was going to be the key, I also thought that Washington's new found defensive style was going to help them out battle the Bolts. Turns out I couldn't have been off by more. Goaltending turned out to be the key to the series after all. Roloson continued his fantastic play, allowing an average of 2.5 goals a game but more importantly making key stops at key times. On the other end Neuvirth lacked the killer instinct that Roloson has been showing. He averaged just under four goals against per game, conceding untimely goals such as the dagger by St Louis to make it 5-2 with only three minutes to go in the third. The Bolts got timely scoring from their stars and some from those who may have not been expected to contribute on the score sheet. Defensively the Bolts managed to shut down Ovechkin and Semin in a similar way to how Montreal did so in their comeback last year. Washington seemed to lack depth in the series when it came to scoring goals. The Caps scored three goals or less in each game of the series, only tallying two on two separate occasions. The Bolts had enough to make it through each game, including one in overtime, to sweep the Caps out of the playoffs in the minimum of four games. Todd was the only one to make the pick correctly but even he thought it would take longer than it did, picking the Bolts in six games.
Mine - Capitals in 6
JR - Capitals in 5
JB - Capitals in 7
DP - Capitals in 7
JG - Capitals in 7
TS - Lightning in 6
GV - Capitals in 6
Poll - by a vote of 6-2
#2 Philadelphia vs #3 Boston
The Flyers made it out of the first round despite the marry go round in goal. In the second round weak goaltending and a lack of offensive power came back to haunt them. Game two was the only one that was close in the entire series. Tim Thomas saved 52 shots in that game while the Bruins won another overtime games in the playoffs. In the other three games in the series the Bruins won by four goals. Totaling 17 goals to the five of the Flyers. On a not so hot side still, it took the Bruins till the final game of the series to finally get a power play goal in the playoffs. It came on a 5 on 3 with a minute to go while the game was already well in hand. Luckily for them it still counts as one and should help take some pressure off of their power play.
The win sets up a match up against the Lightning for the Bruins in the Eastern Conference finals.
The picks:
Mine - Bruins in 6
JR - Bruins in 6
JB - Flyers in 6
DP - Flyers in 7
JG - Flyers in 7
TS - Bruins in 6
GV - Bruins in 6
Poll - Bruins by a vote of 5-3
#1 Vancouver vs #5 Nashville
With the help of their special teams Vancouver was able to wrap up a series a game shorter than in round one but still much closer than they would have liked. The Canucks claimed three wins in the city of Nashville as well as adding four power play goals on the road on only ten attempts. The win in game six marked the 13th game in 26 games for the overtime, and pressure, tested Canucks. Ryan Kesler registered at least a point in all but game one of the series, seeming to take the Canucks on his back as they were able to out power the Predators in the end. The series was by no means a blowout as I had thought it may be. Only one of the six games was decided by more than one goal, the odd game out being the two goal win, which included an empty net goal, for the Canucks in game four. The Canucks looked far better in their series than they did in the opening round, something they will need to continue with no matter who they face in the next round. In the mean time they will enjoy their two days off and hope that Detroit forces a game seven in the other Western Conference match up.
Mine - Canucks in 5
JR - Canucks in 6
JB - Canucks in 5
DP - Canucks in 5
JG - Canucks in 5
TS - Canucks in 4
GV - Canucks in 6
Poll - Canucks by a vote of 7-1
#2 San Jose vs #3 Detroit
I had started to write up a series summary after game 3, the Wings were looking broken, history tells you that it wont be done. Yet after game 6 I deleted what I had planned to post after a Sharks series win. The Sharks showed many different faces over the course of this series. The first three games they were powerful and resilient to a point. Two overtime wins over one of the perennial powers in the West. Game four showed a few faces all in one game, falling behind 3-0, overcoming that deficit, then losing late in the third. Then the Sharks of the last few years showed up. A solid third period lead was lost in game 5, the doubt began to set in from observers about how the sharks were going to take the pressure. JJR took it the furthest calling Marleau guttless, but we all know about that story already. Another loss in game six set up the ultimate winner take all in sports, Game 7. Normally when a game gets as hyped as this game 7 did, it fails to live up to its expectations. The only thing better this game could have done was go to overtime. A hard fought battle that saw both teams have their share of chances to take control of the game. It took until the final buzzer for the Sharks to wrap up the series with a 3-2 win.
Mine - Sharks in 7
JR - Red Wings in 7
JB - Sharks in 6
DP - Red Wings in 6
JG - Red Wings in 6
TS - Red Wings in 6
GV - Sharks in 7
Poll - vote of 4-4
Showing posts with label eastern conference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eastern conference. Show all posts
Monday, May 9, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Average is no Longer Acceptable
The short month of February started off very nice and ended with more mediocrity for the Minnesota Wild. They have had a few chances to separate themselves from the teams that they are in direct completion with but on more than one occasion have failed to do so. With this the month closed out with the Wild sitting in 9th place in the west, still four points away from the number four seed and four points away from the number 12 seed. The problem with this is that they are only one position above where they entered the month; they were sitting in tenth just four points away from the number four seed. Doing the same as the rest of the average teams in the west will not cut it in the last two months of this season. The Wild need to take control of their own destiny now, not wait for someone to let them into the playoffs. They can start that this week against three Eastern Conference opponents, teams that do not have much experience playing the Wild. This month I have decided to take a good news bad news approach to review what happened so here we go.
Good News: An 8-5-1 record has kept them in the hunt for a playoff spot. They started the month 5-1 moving up as high as fifth in the standings, only to close out the month 3-4-1 and return to their original starting position.
Bad News: Mikko Koivu broke a finger and is expected to be out a while. The only positive is that he is expected to return by the end of the season, this could go either way though, how good is a center with a broken finger? In the case of Mikko and the Wild, I'll guess that he will still be a number one center even if he has to wear a splint on it.
Good News: Brent Burns scored his 16th goal of the season last night, setting a career high for himself as well as a franchise single season record for a defenseman.
Bad News: The Wild played 5 games against the teams that are currently above them by 4 points or less, they went 1-4 in those games. The only team they played that is four points or less below them is Anaheim, who they beat twice this month but once in a shootout, causing them to only take a one point edge from the game.
Good News: Marty Havlat found a groove during the month and is now at 54 points for the season, showing us glimpses of why we go him a few years ago.
Bad News: Mikko is still number two on the team in points with a ten point margin even with his injury, Burns is number 3 as a defenseman, and the scoring binge that Clutterbuck was on has seemingly ended. We need someone besides Havlat to score goals, and someone to step up until Koivu returns to the lineup.
Good News: The Wild play three more of the pivotal games against those teams within four points of them either way again this month. This gives them a chance to strengthen their position before the final month of the season. The Wild also play four games again the bottom three teams in the Western Conference. Although these games are not "gimmies" they are must wins if the Wild want to make the playoffs.
I'm Not Sure News: I haven't decided yet how I feel about the Wild standing still at the trade deadline. I like the confidence in the current lineup, but I would have liked to see a trade made to bring in a big guy or another center to fill in for Mikko. There wasn't a whole lot available and based on what the Kings gave up to get Penner from the Oilers ill stick with what we have and the future. Only time will tell what we should have done, maybe this will be the right decision in the long and short run.
Other I'm Not Sure News: Living in the center of New York I often hear about how strong the east is, as it was mentioned on Yahoo! a few weeks ago that the middle of the west is "terrible." The Wild have a chance to prove everyone wrong, or right, this month. They play four games against teams from the east that are looking to gain or improve a playoff spot, as well as one against the Islanders who have been playing their best hockey of the year so far.
March will finally be that make or break month for the Wild. They still have 5 games left in April but if they do not have a good month they will no longer be in contention. I think they have a possibility to escape with just four losses if they can find their game before they come to New York tomorrow. Hopefully we will see the return of Mikko within the first few weeks and the resurgence of the special teams play that has been crucial in the wins this year. I would like nothing more than to see the Wild sitting in a playoff spot when the month ends ready to lock it up before April even begins.
Good News: An 8-5-1 record has kept them in the hunt for a playoff spot. They started the month 5-1 moving up as high as fifth in the standings, only to close out the month 3-4-1 and return to their original starting position.
Bad News: Mikko Koivu broke a finger and is expected to be out a while. The only positive is that he is expected to return by the end of the season, this could go either way though, how good is a center with a broken finger? In the case of Mikko and the Wild, I'll guess that he will still be a number one center even if he has to wear a splint on it.
Good News: Brent Burns scored his 16th goal of the season last night, setting a career high for himself as well as a franchise single season record for a defenseman.
Bad News: The Wild played 5 games against the teams that are currently above them by 4 points or less, they went 1-4 in those games. The only team they played that is four points or less below them is Anaheim, who they beat twice this month but once in a shootout, causing them to only take a one point edge from the game.
Good News: Marty Havlat found a groove during the month and is now at 54 points for the season, showing us glimpses of why we go him a few years ago.
Bad News: Mikko is still number two on the team in points with a ten point margin even with his injury, Burns is number 3 as a defenseman, and the scoring binge that Clutterbuck was on has seemingly ended. We need someone besides Havlat to score goals, and someone to step up until Koivu returns to the lineup.
Good News: The Wild play three more of the pivotal games against those teams within four points of them either way again this month. This gives them a chance to strengthen their position before the final month of the season. The Wild also play four games again the bottom three teams in the Western Conference. Although these games are not "gimmies" they are must wins if the Wild want to make the playoffs.
I'm Not Sure News: I haven't decided yet how I feel about the Wild standing still at the trade deadline. I like the confidence in the current lineup, but I would have liked to see a trade made to bring in a big guy or another center to fill in for Mikko. There wasn't a whole lot available and based on what the Kings gave up to get Penner from the Oilers ill stick with what we have and the future. Only time will tell what we should have done, maybe this will be the right decision in the long and short run.
Other I'm Not Sure News: Living in the center of New York I often hear about how strong the east is, as it was mentioned on Yahoo! a few weeks ago that the middle of the west is "terrible." The Wild have a chance to prove everyone wrong, or right, this month. They play four games against teams from the east that are looking to gain or improve a playoff spot, as well as one against the Islanders who have been playing their best hockey of the year so far.
March will finally be that make or break month for the Wild. They still have 5 games left in April but if they do not have a good month they will no longer be in contention. I think they have a possibility to escape with just four losses if they can find their game before they come to New York tomorrow. Hopefully we will see the return of Mikko within the first few weeks and the resurgence of the special teams play that has been crucial in the wins this year. I would like nothing more than to see the Wild sitting in a playoff spot when the month ends ready to lock it up before April even begins.
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