Watching hockey. Two games left, Detroit has to win one, Pittsburgh both. I like our odds. Good series, Pittsburgh has become unraveled at times, but has played pretty good. Detroit finally is almost healthy so hopefully they can wrap it up Tuesday but return home for the final game if not.
Round 2
First round games are over. Chicago beats Calgary, Anaheim dumps the Sharks; Washington beats New York and Carolina gets by New Jersey. Ack, I was only 3 for 8 on the first round picks. Let’s hope for better results this time. Boston plays Carolina. Boston is too strong for them. Detroit gets Anaheim. Wow, duck beats shark; but wing covers duck to advance. Washington vs. Pittsburgh, hmmm; Pittsburgh. Vancouver vs. Chicago. This is the toughest one, but I’ll take Vancouver, more playoff experience and home ice advantage. Van/Chi starts tomorrow night.
And then there were 12
Detroit sweeps to move on, being the first Cup winner since ‘02 to get out of the first round. Pittsburgh, down 3 goals; comes back to win the game and oust the Flyers in a game that just ended. Anaheim can end it series tonight. Also Calgary/Chicago play, but at 2-2; this one goes on. Rangers and Jersey are up 3-2 over Washington and Carolina. Those games tomorrow.
2 down-14 to go
Boston sweeps Montreal to move on. Good, any teams fans that boo a National Anthem have no class. Calgary comes back and ties the series 2-2. Back to Chicago for game 5. And the Rangers beat the Capitals to take a 3-1 series lead. Tonight we have Detroit and Pittsburgh trying to end their series. And Devils/Hurricanes, Ducks/Sharks continue.
Sweep
The first sweep is complete. Vancouver beats St. Louis 3-2 in O.T. to win the series. St. Louis played a better game but the lack of scoring on their powerplays doomed them. They were 0-for-7 last night with the man advantage and 1-for-24 in the series. Not going to win with those numbers. Carolina scores with 0.2 seconds left to even that series. Brodeur thought he was interfered with but no call was made. Back to Jersey for game 5. Philly played better but Pittsburgh came out on top 3-1 to take a 3-1 series lead. San Jose finally wins to narrow the Anaheim lead to 2-1. And Detroit wins to take a 3-0 series lead. Columbus is a younger team with a lot of playoff rookies. They were a little stunned at the way Detroit ramped up the play compared to the regular season. Three games tonight with Boston getting a shot at closing out their series.
Mighty Ducks
The Ducks win two on the road and now return home. San Jose isn’t done yet but is in a hole. Wouldn’t be a huge upset as most teams are closer talent wise than the years before the cap. But it would be big disappointment for the Sharks to go out in the first round. Other series show Vancouver leading St. Louis 3-0. Washington gets back in it with a win, series at 2-1. Boston takes a 3-0 lead, I don’t think Montreal will come back; Boston is playing really well. New Jersey has a 2-1 lead over Carolina. Philly clawed back with a win to put the series at 2-1. Calgary wins at home to make it a 2-1 Chicago lead. Five games tonight with Vancouver having a chance to be the first team to advance to the second round.
Watch me throw my voice
So I’m looking for the scores of the games I missed. Where is the Sharks/Ducks score? Everyone played game two last night, right? Wrong, they play today due to a ventriloquist that was booked into the Shark Tank on Saturday night. Doh, who is responsible for that? Um, there won’t be a playoff game on a Saturday night in April; will there? Probably some office geek with no interest in hockey.
In other news, Detroit wins. Columbus blew a tire in the third and took a lot of penalties which was the end of that game. On to Ohio for the next two. Boston easily beat Montreal again. I think right now, they are the team favored to come out of the East. Chicago won, series goes to Calgary now so they have to win both games to have a shot. New York playing really good beats Washington again. Could be the first upset of this round. More games today.
Onward to victory
Wings won their first game along with Boston, Anaheim and Chicago. No big surprises, the Ducks win on the road. Last night, what can I say about Philly. Played a better game until the end and into overtime. Penalties, you just have to be aware of what you are doing; give up a 5 on 3 in OT. That was the game and maybe the series. Rangers win taking a 2-0 series lead. Carolina comes back to tie the series. Vancouver beats St. Louis for a 2-0 lead. More games tonight.
First games
With the first games out of the way the rest start tonight. Last night we saw New Jersey handle Carolina 4-1. Jersey played good shutting down Carolina’s top line. Vancouver beat St. Louis 2-1. New York beat Washington 4-3 on the road. And Pittsburgh beat Philly 4-1. Philly just played stupid and took too many penalties. Not going to go far playing like that and Flyer tough guy Carcillo was suspended one game for a butt end to the face of a Penguin late in the game. The old ’send a message’ doesn’t intimidate too many teams anymore. Philly plays stupid again and this series is over.
Alrighty rooty!
The season is over and now the good stuff starts. It’s playoff time. Let’s look at the first round match-ups.
(8) Montreal Canadiens vs. (1) Boston Bruins
(7) New York Rangers vs. (2) Washington Capitals
(6) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (3) New Jersey Devils
(5) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (4) Pittsburgh Penguins
(6) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (3) New Jersey Devils
(5) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (4) Pittsburgh Penguins
(8) Anaheim Ducks vs. (1) San Jose Sharks
(7) Columbus Blue Jackets vs. (2) Detroit Red Wings
(6) St. Louis Blues vs. (3) Vancouver Canucks
(5) Calgary Flames vs. (4) Chicago Blackhawks
(7) Columbus Blue Jackets vs. (2) Detroit Red Wings
(6) St. Louis Blues vs. (3) Vancouver Canucks
(5) Calgary Flames vs. (4) Chicago Blackhawks
My picks. Boston. New York. New Jersey. Philadelphia.
San Jose. Detroit. Vancouver. Calgary.
Even if you don’t watch much hockey, now is the time to catch a few games. The intensity and excitement is way better than the regular season. A couple of good series to watch will be Philly-Pitts., St. Louis- Vancouver and Anaheim-San Jose. But all the games should have some good moments. So grab a cold one or two and enjoy the action.
