Devils/Flyers
Dennis is the Flyers, The Waitress is Jeff Carter, Christina Hendricks is Boucher. I win at analogies.
The 5 game series between the Devils and Flyers proved to be a physical one, with 75 penalties called, totaling 180 minutes of box-filling goodness. For those playing the home game, that’s three 60-minute games. The only way there could have been more penalties called is if the 1974 Flyers played the 1975 Flyers in some ungodly, paradoxical time warp that could put boxing to shame.
The difference maker in this series was Brian Boucher. Philly successfully re-DENNIS’ed Boucher after a 10 year period of Step 4, the Flyers once again turned to Boucher to take on the Devils in the playoffs. He was a 6′x4′ brick shithouse in front of the net the whole series, yielding a 1.59 GAA and a .940 save percentage. His play in net was backed up by a Flyers forecheck that smothered the Devils offensive attack, which generated more turnovers in the neutral zone than I could bear to watch.
That’s not to say that Martin Brodeur didn’t show up. This save was one of many highlight-reel robberies he had during the series. Especially during games 3 and 4, he was the only thing keeping the Devils in the game. Zubrus was great in front of the net, though only having 1 point. Kovalchuk did everything he could and led the team with 2 goals and 6 points, but the effort all around from the Devils just wasn’t enough.
Philly moves on to face Boston in a rematch of the Winter Classic from this year. However, they’ll be without Jeff Carter or Simon Gagne, who are both out with injured tootsies.
Penguins/Senators
I didn’t watch all that much of this series, mainly because every game was played on the same day as the Devils and Flyers series. However, when I did tune in, I saw Sidney Crosby showing why he was 2nd in the league in points, tied for the lead in goals, and a finalist for the Hart this year. He currently leads all players in points and assists in the playoffs, and is tied for 3rd in goals with 5. The Senators put up a reasonable fight, taking Pittsburgh to 6 games included a triple-OT win, but the Pens were too much and move on to face the scrappy Habs in the 2nd round. Which brings me to my next story.
Capitals/Canadiens
Maybe I find Cup next year...
Holy goaltending, Batman. First, Jose Theodore falls apart after going 20-0-3 in the last 3 months of the season, then Jaroslav Halak goes out of his mind, stopping 131 of the 134 shots the Capitals threw at him in the final 3 games of the full 7 game series. Halak took a shutout 58 minutes deep on the highest scoring team in the NHL in Game 7 on the Caps home ice.
In the final minute after the Caps pulled Varlamov, Nicklas Backstrom made a diving save on a puck heading for the unattended twine; it was probably the best individual effort by a skater in the playoffs so far, and it still wasn’t enough to energize the explosive Wasington offense to pot one more puck to keep their dreams alive. This was the first time in history that an 8 seed upset a 1 seed after trailing 3-1 in the series. The Habs get the Pens in the next round, that’s going to be fantastic to watch.
Sabres/Bruins
Completely unrelated video, but the Bruins have some of the best commercials I’ve ever seen.
Again, this was a series I didn’t watch much of, but Boston moves on over their division rival Sabres. Mark Recchi was dusted off and had his rusty hinges oiled and is currently tied for the team lead in goals and points. 3 of the 4 Bruins victories came with a 1 goal margin, which was not surprising in a series where two of the top goalies in GAA and save percentage faced off. Tuukka Rask, winner of the “Most Awkward First Name To Spell In History” award was a bit stingier than US Olympic hero Ryan Miller, so the Bruins advanced. It didn’t help that the Sabres leading scorer during the regular season Thomas Vanek was out for half the series, but seeing as the Bruins were without Marc Savard, I’d say it’s fair. The B’s get the Broad Street Bullies in Round 2.
Round 2 hopes and dreams:
Marc Savard comes back healthy and the Bruins put 28 goals past Brian Boucher in 5 games, the 1 game Boston loses was started by Tim Thomas, who loves himself more than the sun is bright.
Jaroslav Halak wakes up from this dream world he’s living in right now and drops the series to Crosby, Malkin, and the Pens. I’d much rather see the Pens win it again than see Scott Gomez win anything ever again.