The Eastern Conference saw a lot of bad teams for the first half of the year struggle and still have a chance at the playoffs towards the late stages. Teams like Toronto and Carolina were ultimately denied while the New Jersey Devils who were a two seed last season looked to finish as the league's worst team. This was followed up by a second half resurgence led by Ilya Kovalchuk who was scoring game winners left and right. They were with out star forward Zach Parise for most of the season and they too fell short. The Washington Capitals finished in the top spot. That fact seemed unfathomable mid-way through the year as their struggles were highly publicized in the HBO series 24/7 Road to the Winter Classic. Good play down the stretch along with poor play out in Philadelphia led to Washington walking away the east regular season crown.
The Eastern Conference
Mid-way through the season the Washington Capitals did not look like the team that dominated the year before. To think that they would surge back to the top with Alex Ovechkin leading the team in scoring but only having 32 goals didn't seem likely. Alex Ovechkin has changed his game slightly and the Caps have made other recent upgrades in Jason Arnott, Dennis Wideman and from late last year Scott Hannan. These players all come from playoff experience and will be key for this Caps team. The team overall had a very low scoring affair given their totals last year. However this team looks more primed to go deep into the playoffs then teams of years past as they were still able to win the east. With Mike Green looking to comeback the Capitals have a squad looking fit but goaltending could be an issue. They have rotated Michal Neuvirth, Semyon Varlamov and Braden Holtby through-out the year and Varlamov would be the only one with playoff experience. The issue there is recently Varalamov has gone down to injury and it will be up to the other two to help this motivated Caps team to move on. Holtby will get the start for game one.
The New York Rangers were not in control of their own destiny in the last days of the regular season but they still find themselves in. A recently injury to Ryan Callahan makes this series much less interesting than it could have been. The story line remains from two seasons ago when the two met in the first round. Washington overcame a 3-1 series lead to defeat the Rangers in 7 games and then lost to Pittsburgh in another thrilling 7 games. The Rangers welcomed back captain Chris Drury to the lineup and still has its best asset in Henril Lundqvist. Brandon Dubinsky and Marian Gaborik will play a roll but the Rangers limped in for a reason.
The Capitals are looking new and improved and will not need goaltending in this first round to get by this Rangers team. Lundqvist can still steal a game or two.
Capitals in 6
The Philadelphia Flyers have dropped the ball lately but spent most of the season safely at the top of the Eastern Conference. They are arguably one of the most deep teams in the league. Claude Giroux has stepped up and really shown his offensive capabilities this year with Jeff Carter again leading the team in goals. Danny Briere looked like he was headed for 40 goals this season but cooled off late. Chris Pronger was limited to only 50 games this season but is skating again and expected to still snatch up big minutes to help out rookie goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Which brings me to Philadelphia's favorite topic, goaltending. The tandem of Bobrovsky and veteran Brian Boucher has proven effective but looked weak towards the end. Michael Leighton has been brought back after only playing one game in the regular season, to be "assurance" for the possibility of one of the two others to go down with injury, which seems to be the right idea if you look how last year turned out.
The Buffalo Sabers were among teams that were fighting for a final playoff spot at season's end but looked better than most. Buffalo lost Derek Roy early in the season and has leaned on a lot of players, mainly Tomas Vanek, to carry to the load. Former Hobey Baker Award winner Nathan Gerbe has been a surprising bright spot as of late for the Sabers as they held on to the 7 spot in the east. Ryan Miller is arguably the team's best player and will have to be if the Sabers can shut down the Flyers offense. The defense of the Sabers is not up to par if they are looking to make a long run. The offense is spread out and could find success against the young Bobrovsky. This team has been playing playoff style hockey lately as they had to fight to get in the post season.
The Flyers came within 2 games of winning the Stanley Cup last season and has gained offensive depth with Kris Versteeg and Nikolay Zherdev. Ryan Miller is one of the league's best goalies but will likely face too many shots to steal this series.
Flyers in 6
The Boston Bruins come into this season hoping to put last years collapse behind them. Tim Thomas is looking at another Vezina for best goaltender and the defense is lead by captain Zdeno Chara and Tomas Kaberle. They have many skilled forwards and the emergence of Nathan Horton gives them an added threat they didn't have last year. The Bruins meeting the Canadians is such a fitting series as it is one of the NHL's oldest rivalries. The heat intensified when Zdeno Chara threw Max Pacioretty into the glass that separates the benches leaving him with a severe concussion. Both these teams have a lot of pride and much is at stake when its playoff time. The Bruins have to put last year behind them and if they can, they will stick around for a while.
The Montreal Canadians are one of the NHL's most storied franchises and with that always comes great expectations. Last year finished in the conference finals after two incredible upsets in the first two rounds starting with the Washington Capitals and then Pittsburgh Penguins. This team lead by American Brian Gionta will have to have players like Scott Gomez and Tomas Plekanec really step up if they are going anywhere near the conference finals again. Mike Cammalleri will surely be a factor as he was last year but much of the weight falls on the shoulders of goalie Carey Price. Price sat behind Jaroslav Halak as the Canadians made their run but now finds himself the sole option. Price had a great regular season given the pressure he was under to preform but that pressure only intensifies now. Spacek and Markov are big holes in the Canadian defense which will only complicate things for Price.
The Bruins will gain from the injuries to the Canadians blueline. The Canadians will still make this potentially one of the more entertaining series in the first round.
Bruins in 7
The Pittsburgh Penguins must receive a lot of credit for falling into a four seed with the losses of the two of the leagues best players in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Malkin is done for the year while Crosby is finally skating with teammates again after a concussion received back on January 5th when he was hit by Tampa Bay defensman Victor Hedman. Crosby still managed to lead the team in scoring while playing in half as many games. James Neil and Alexi Kovalev were added to fill in and them along with Jordan Staal and the work of Marc-Andre Fleury between the pipes will have to be big. The Penguins tied the Flyers in points but lost out on the division crown. They have a confident team that is hopeful their star in Crosby will return sometime soon. His return is up in the air at this point in time.
The Tampa Bay Lighting could have fought for the lead in the east if Steven Stamkos hadn't cooled off so much. Early on it looked as though Stamkos could go for 50 goals in 50 games until he only had 24 in the final 60+ games of the year. The Bolts have Martin St.Louis, Vincent Lecavalier and Simon Gagne, all of which who have valuable playoff experience. Tampa added goalie Dwayne Roloson, who is getting older but can still be effective for this team. The defense is steady but will have to be above average even with Pittsburgh being without Crosby and Malkin. Simon Gagne played a big role in Philadelphia's run last year and could potentially be a big signing for the Lightning. If the Lightning are going to win it is all up to Steven Stamkos. If Stamkos is able to play like he did in the beginning of the season and not the end, the Lightning will win.
If Stamkos explodes and Gagne produces the Lightning could take down the Penguins with relative ease but the fact that Pittsburgh has done so well with out their two best players can not be over looked.
Pittsburgh in 6
The Eastern Conference
The New York Rangers were not in control of their own destiny in the last days of the regular season but they still find themselves in. A recently injury to Ryan Callahan makes this series much less interesting than it could have been. The story line remains from two seasons ago when the two met in the first round. Washington overcame a 3-1 series lead to defeat the Rangers in 7 games and then lost to Pittsburgh in another thrilling 7 games. The Rangers welcomed back captain Chris Drury to the lineup and still has its best asset in Henril Lundqvist. Brandon Dubinsky and Marian Gaborik will play a roll but the Rangers limped in for a reason.
The Capitals are looking new and improved and will not need goaltending in this first round to get by this Rangers team. Lundqvist can still steal a game or two.
Capitals in 6
The Philadelphia Flyers have dropped the ball lately but spent most of the season safely at the top of the Eastern Conference. They are arguably one of the most deep teams in the league. Claude Giroux has stepped up and really shown his offensive capabilities this year with Jeff Carter again leading the team in goals. Danny Briere looked like he was headed for 40 goals this season but cooled off late. Chris Pronger was limited to only 50 games this season but is skating again and expected to still snatch up big minutes to help out rookie goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Which brings me to Philadelphia's favorite topic, goaltending. The tandem of Bobrovsky and veteran Brian Boucher has proven effective but looked weak towards the end. Michael Leighton has been brought back after only playing one game in the regular season, to be "assurance" for the possibility of one of the two others to go down with injury, which seems to be the right idea if you look how last year turned out.
The Buffalo Sabers were among teams that were fighting for a final playoff spot at season's end but looked better than most. Buffalo lost Derek Roy early in the season and has leaned on a lot of players, mainly Tomas Vanek, to carry to the load. Former Hobey Baker Award winner Nathan Gerbe has been a surprising bright spot as of late for the Sabers as they held on to the 7 spot in the east. Ryan Miller is arguably the team's best player and will have to be if the Sabers can shut down the Flyers offense. The defense of the Sabers is not up to par if they are looking to make a long run. The offense is spread out and could find success against the young Bobrovsky. This team has been playing playoff style hockey lately as they had to fight to get in the post season.
The Flyers came within 2 games of winning the Stanley Cup last season and has gained offensive depth with Kris Versteeg and Nikolay Zherdev. Ryan Miller is one of the league's best goalies but will likely face too many shots to steal this series.
Flyers in 6
The Boston Bruins come into this season hoping to put last years collapse behind them. Tim Thomas is looking at another Vezina for best goaltender and the defense is lead by captain Zdeno Chara and Tomas Kaberle. They have many skilled forwards and the emergence of Nathan Horton gives them an added threat they didn't have last year. The Bruins meeting the Canadians is such a fitting series as it is one of the NHL's oldest rivalries. The heat intensified when Zdeno Chara threw Max Pacioretty into the glass that separates the benches leaving him with a severe concussion. Both these teams have a lot of pride and much is at stake when its playoff time. The Bruins have to put last year behind them and if they can, they will stick around for a while.
The Montreal Canadians are one of the NHL's most storied franchises and with that always comes great expectations. Last year finished in the conference finals after two incredible upsets in the first two rounds starting with the Washington Capitals and then Pittsburgh Penguins. This team lead by American Brian Gionta will have to have players like Scott Gomez and Tomas Plekanec really step up if they are going anywhere near the conference finals again. Mike Cammalleri will surely be a factor as he was last year but much of the weight falls on the shoulders of goalie Carey Price. Price sat behind Jaroslav Halak as the Canadians made their run but now finds himself the sole option. Price had a great regular season given the pressure he was under to preform but that pressure only intensifies now. Spacek and Markov are big holes in the Canadian defense which will only complicate things for Price.
The Bruins will gain from the injuries to the Canadians blueline. The Canadians will still make this potentially one of the more entertaining series in the first round.
Bruins in 7
The Pittsburgh Penguins must receive a lot of credit for falling into a four seed with the losses of the two of the leagues best players in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Malkin is done for the year while Crosby is finally skating with teammates again after a concussion received back on January 5th when he was hit by Tampa Bay defensman Victor Hedman. Crosby still managed to lead the team in scoring while playing in half as many games. James Neil and Alexi Kovalev were added to fill in and them along with Jordan Staal and the work of Marc-Andre Fleury between the pipes will have to be big. The Penguins tied the Flyers in points but lost out on the division crown. They have a confident team that is hopeful their star in Crosby will return sometime soon. His return is up in the air at this point in time.
The Tampa Bay Lighting could have fought for the lead in the east if Steven Stamkos hadn't cooled off so much. Early on it looked as though Stamkos could go for 50 goals in 50 games until he only had 24 in the final 60+ games of the year. The Bolts have Martin St.Louis, Vincent Lecavalier and Simon Gagne, all of which who have valuable playoff experience. Tampa added goalie Dwayne Roloson, who is getting older but can still be effective for this team. The defense is steady but will have to be above average even with Pittsburgh being without Crosby and Malkin. Simon Gagne played a big role in Philadelphia's run last year and could potentially be a big signing for the Lightning. If the Lightning are going to win it is all up to Steven Stamkos. If Stamkos is able to play like he did in the beginning of the season and not the end, the Lightning will win.
If Stamkos explodes and Gagne produces the Lightning could take down the Penguins with relative ease but the fact that Pittsburgh has done so well with out their two best players can not be over looked.
Pittsburgh in 6
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