Conference semis

Round two, here we go. After a 6-2 performance in the first round, I’m out to prove it was no fluke. So without further delay, the conference semi finals…

Montreal Canadiens v Philadelphia Flyers.
We’re looking at a pretty even matchup, right down to the fact both teams nearly succeeded in blowing 3-1 series leads.
These are two young teams, that lean heavily on their youth, and the invaluable contributions of a few cagey vets to get the job done.
Up front, two very strong offenses, led by lethal power play units. With seven players registering more than 50 points, the Habs were about as balanced as it comes in the regular season. The Flyers counter with six players over 50 points, including three players with more than 70, compared to just Alex Kovalev for Montreal.
Montreal had the league’s best power play in the regular season, Philadelphia was second, though the Flyers maintained their power play against Washington while Montreal’s fizzled against Boston.
Both teams have underrated puck-movers on defense, both teams have goalies looking to prove their worth. Both teams have fans that believe their coaches are in way over their heads.
In the end, does Philly’s grit win out over the Montreal’s abundant talent? If Montreal can play this series the way they played games one and seven against Boston, and if Martin Biron keeps coughing up leads the way he did against Washington, the Canadiens should win this series.
Also of note: the Habs swept the season series, winning all four games while outscoring the Flyers 15-6.
Montreal in six.

Pittsburgh Penguins v New York Rangers.
After disappointing runs in last year’s playoffs, both teams look to make their mark on this year’s proceedings. This series may come down to home-ice advantage, with the Penguins enjoying a 28-10-5 mark at home this season (including playoffs), and the Rangers putting up a fairly pedestrian 17-14-10 mark away from the Garden in the regular season-- though they’re 3-0 in the playoffs.
In their opening series, both the Pens’ and Rangers’ best players were just that. Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and New York’s Jaromir Jagr each posted eight points in making quick work of their first-round opponents. Evgeni Malkin and Scott Gomez each contributed seven points, and New York’s Chris Drury offered all the things Chris Drury offers, almost none of which ever appear on a score sheet.
Of course, for all the offensive firepower these teams have, this series will be won and lost on the blue line, and in the blue paint of the goal crease.
In both of those departments the Rangers have a very clear edge. The Penguins have a solid defense corps, but Sergei Gonchar, Ryan Whitney and Hall Gill have all been dogged by questions about their ability to defend their own zone. The Rangers on the other hand, just seems to keep improving. Watching Dan Girardi and Marc Staal start to come into their own in the New Jersey series was a pleasure.
And in goal, it’s no contest between Vezina-candidate Henrik Lundvist and Marc-Andre Fleury.
Both teams fared well in the first round against favourable opposition, and will face their first real test against one another in the second round. This series is the reason Gomez and Drury were given those contracts last summer.
New York in seven.

Detroit Red Wings v Colorado Avalanche.
Don’t tell Darren McCarty, Chris Osgood, Nick Lidstrom, Kirk Maltby, Adam Foote, Peter Forsberg or Joe Sakic that it’s not 1998.
Sure, it’s been a long time since this rivalry’s heyday, but it’s still fresh in the minds of fans, those seven players, and the people that provide the programming for the NHL Network, and this one should be as good as any of those series were, if less bloody.
Purely on the levels of talent two teams can offer, this series is one of the most compelling. Lidstrom is the best defenseman in the world, and one of the five best to ever play the game. Around him, Brian Rafalski and Chris Chelios are pretty good. They’ll be moving pucks to Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and gifted speedsters like Jiri Hudler and Dan Cleary. Countering for Colorado are capable puck movers John-Michael Liles and Ruslan Salei, looking to spring Sakic, Forsberg, Paul Stastny, Milan Hejduk, and the gaggle of talented forwards the Avalanche have to offer.
And the speed. Oh the speed. With good ice in both Denver and Detroit, and offense-oriented systems, look for Osgood and Jose Theodore to face heavy fire throughout this series.
In fact, it doesn’t even matter which team wins this series, because the fans are going to be the real winners.
In the end, Detroit’s very slight edge in goal, and hefty edge on the blue line will carry them to the Western final.
Detroit in six.

San Jose Sharks v Dallas Stars.
Much like the Montreal-Philly series, this is another one of those wonderfully-even match-ups. The teams split the season series, with Dallas actually gaining more points by virtue of a pair of overtime losses.
It’s tough not to like what the Stars showed in their first-round series with Anaheim. Dallas dominated that series from start to finish, save for game five. They showed great patience, which was on display moreso than ever in game six, a game the Stars trailed at the beginning of the third period.
The Sharks, meanwhile, didn’t show a whole lot during their series with Calgary, being taken to the brink of elimination by the underdog Flames.
In that series, Evgeni Nabokov showed flashes of brilliance, but plenty of ordinary. Against a better-coached Stars team, those stretches of ordinary will haunt the Sharks. At the other end of the rink, Marty Turco looks ready to exorcise all of his playoff demons. After an excellent performance in last season’s first round, when he was simply outdone by Roberto Luongo, Turco put on another display of excellence in knocking off the defending champs.
The Stars also have an x-factor in defenseman Sergei Zubov, who resumed skating the day the Sharks were busy with a game seven. His return should only boost the Dallas power play, which went cold in the second half of their opening series, but has the ability to get hot at any time.
Also of note, when these teams met in the last game of the regular season, with no way to alter their seedings, the game got quite heated. As the tension mounted in that game, the Stars were able to turn in a rock solid performance. Yes, I just questioned the Sharks toughness, again.
Dallas in seven.