That was a surprise, I had Washington down to win that one. Great battle by the Flyers, and a great game by
Biron. That was fun to watch. Currently watching the last game of round 1, Flames and Sharks game 7, it's tied 1-1. Once that ends I will make my Western conference predictions. Here's my Eastern predictions:
Montreal - Philadelphia:
Montreal in 7 games. This is going to be a battle of home ice advantage with both teams having an amazing fanbase. Montreal has home ice advantage for this series. Another storyline will be a battle of the top two powerplays in the regular season. In the end, it all comes down to goaltending, and I think Carey Price has the edge here. Going into tonight, Biron had he worst save percentage in the playoffs, and although he played brilliantly tonight, fatigue is a factor for him. This is going to be an amazing series though.
Pittsburgh - New York:
New York in 6 games. Now you might be saying "New York, wtf?". But the fact of the matter is, no matter how high-flying the Penguins offense may be, they aren't exactly the strongest team on defense. This should be their undoing...the Rangers are a very well-rounded team, balanced on scoring and D, and let's not forget they have a Vezina candidate (award for best goalie) in the net in Henrik Lundquist, while there are still question marks surrounding Fleury. While the Penguins may have better offense with their high-flying ways, they are just not strong enough defensively, and let's not forget NY has players like Jagr and Gomez who have proven they can roll with the league's best.
EDIT:
Well, the Sharks have defeated the Flames 5-3, thus setting up the Western Conference 2nd round games.
Detroit - Colorado:
Detroit in 6 games. Sorry to all the Avs fans here, but I really don't think they have what it takes to defeat this Detroit powerhouse. One of the best offenses in the league, coupled with a defense that has taken home more hardware than your local Home Depot make Detroit a powerful force. The only reason that the Predators managed to force the series to 6 games was Dominik Hasek's shakiness in the net. However, Chris Osgood took over and was rock solid. Colorado's offense may be rolling, but it's going to be hard to beat such an all-star defense and a solid goaltender, plus an offense that can match them stride for stride. Jose Theodore will shine some more for the Avs however, and this will be a very close one.
San Jose - Dallas:
Dallas in 5 games. Everyone knows I'm putting a lot of expectations on Dallas this season, but I think they're exremely underrated. San Jose may have won their series, but they were forced to 7 games by the big underdog Calgary, with their streaky play throughout the team raising big question marks. However, Dallas have been very solid, their offense is rolling, their defense is clamping down,
Turco is playing as well as he ever has, and let's not forget, they'll be better rested. San Jose may have home ice advantage, but Dallas has proven against Anaheim they can go into opposing buildings and come away with the win.