NHL Playoffs- Observations from First Round- 3/17

The Best Series So Far Has Been- Penguins/Flyers

     How can the best playoff series involve probably the best team in the field, the Penguins, down 0-3 to their rival Flyers? Well, I don't know if you will see many playoff series with two teams with as much of a chip on their shoulders as these two teams. Also, even though the goaltending has been poor, too see the likes of Claude Giroux and Sidney Crosby light up the scoreboard has been awesome. I speak for everyone except Flyers fans that we hope this series goes to seven games. 

The Best Team In The East Has Been- the Boston Bruins

     They hold only a 2-1 series lead, with each of their wins decided by a goal, but to see how the Bruins defense is suffocating Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and the other Capitals weapons, it bodes well for the Bruins because it shows that they have the defense and goaltending to win the cup once again. Given the Flyers poor goaltending, the Devils weakness on the defensive end and the Panthers lack of depth in general, if the Bruins can play this stingy on defense, they set up well in an Eastern Conference Finals matchup with the Rangers on paper. 

The Best Team In The West Has Been- the Los Angeles Kings

     I understand that Daniel Sedin is out for the Canucks and given their issues with who should start in goal, Vancouver was a predictable team to be upset (at least Barry Melrose and I had them going out to the Kings). But you can't take that much away from what the Kings have done. Jonathan Quick has been excellent in goal and engineered by Dustin Brown, the Kings have been very efficient offensively. Also, the Kings have been as good as anyone in the West defensively. With the way the Kings are looking, they are a dark horse to come out of the West and reach the Stanley Cup Final. 

The Series That Is About To Get The Most Interesting is- Coyotes/Blackhawks

     It's a shame that this series hasn't really been seen by that many (I know I haven't gotten a chance to see much of it). However, with this series heading to Chicago for games three and four, we're in for a really interesting few games. Both games one and two involved the Blackhawks tying the game with under fifteen seconds left in the game. The Coyotes should be up 2-0 given how well they have played. However, the Coyotes do not need to panic because they have Mike Smith, the most underrated goalie in the playoffs in net for them. It will come down to whether Mike Smith and the unknown Coyotes continue to contain Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and the Blackhawks.