What the Game Ones (and one Game Two) Told Us About the NHL Playoffs

Image courtesy of Aeryssports.com

The series have begun, the Stanley Cup picture has begun to clear up and heroes and saviors have emerged. Yes, we’re in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and the early match-ups provided a nice picture of what the series may look like.

For some reason, the NHL has decided to schedule only one game for tonight, Ottawa vs. Pittsburgh. The Penguins were noticeably better in game one and have looked like a different team since benching Fleury. They’re still not as dominant as a team with multiple future Hall of Famers and several current all-stars should be, but they’re getting there. They won 4-1 Tuesday without a point from Sidney Crosby. If Sid the Kid is on and Tomas Vokoun continues to play the way he has, they’ll roll through the Eastern Conference.

All Game One of the Rangers and Bruins series showed us was how tightly contested the series will be. It was out-of-character for Henrik Lundqvist to allow the Rangers to fall behind by allowing two (somewhat) soft goals. Don’t expect to see that again this series. Just as I wrote the other day, expect a hard-fought seven gamer.

On the Western front, Detroit looked well over-matched by the far-superior Blackhawks in Game One. It might seem ridiculous to over-react to one game but Chicago doubled the Wings shot total (42-21) and generally looked superior in every facet of the game. The Wings kept it close for much of the game for no other reason than the effort of the criminally-underrated Jimmy Howard. He had no chance on either of the last two goals and stymied the relentless Chicago fore-check for most of the game.

On a side note, the Hawks have won their last three games by a combined score of 12-2 after dropping Game Three of the Conference Quarterfinals to Minnesota. They’re now 5-1 in the playoffs and appear to be the most dominant team since the 2008 Detroit Red Wings. Those Wings fell behind to 2-1 to Nashville in the first round before ripping off 10 consecutive victories (in the freakin playoffs). They won 13 of 15 at one point and defeated the upstart Penguins in the Stanley Cup. They were also the last President’s Trophy winner to win the Stanley Cup. Chicago could be on that same path only they have a much more dangerous foe in…

The Los Angeles Kings have won six in a row; five of the games have been decided by one goal while the other was decided by two. They aren’t blowing teams away; they aren't dominating like last year. This is a tough, veteran team. Not veteran in the sense that they have older players and playoff experience; veteran in the sense that nothing fazes them. They didn’t panic when they were down 2-0 to St. Louis, they relied on what they knew:  great goaltending, solid defense and a relentless offensive attack.  That’s why it was no great surprise when they scored two goals in the final three minutes to defeat the Sharks in regulation last night. It’s not just that they’re especially good or clutch; it’s that they know it. This is setting up to be the best Western Conference Final since the days of Detroit/Colorado rivalry. I, for one, can’t wait.

Stay hungry, my friend.