Journal Keith Russell's Journal: NHL: First Round Recap 1
OK, so the refs are calling things a little too tight, and it's looking like the early regular season with all those power plays. But it makes a two-goal lead about as safe as a possum on a freeway.
East
1 Ottawa (4) vs. 8 Tampa (1) (Predicted OTT in 5): Did I nail this, or did I nail this? It didn't help Tampa's chances that Zdeno Chara came back ahead of schedule, and feisty as ever. Expect the Lightning to go goalie shopping this summer.
2 Carolina (4) vs. 7 Montreal (2) (Predicted CAR in 4): That was a scary start for the Hurricanes, dropping the first two at home. Once they got things rolling, though, they were too much for Montreal to handle.
3 New Jersey (4) vs. 6 NY Rangers (0) (Predicted NJD in 6): I figured that the Rangers could find a little extra something after dropping the division. But Jaromir Jagr's shoulder injury was the last straw.
4 Buffalo (4) vs. 5 Philadelphia (2) (Predicted BUF in 6): Right on again. Could Ken Hitchcock's job be in jeopardy after the Flyers stunk the joint up in game 6? Too many good players were making too many half-assed plays in the second period of that game.
West
1 Detroit (2) vs. 8 Edmonton (4) (Predicted DET in 6): Looks like I picked the Wings' collapse one round too late. Maybe they'll be looking for a new goalie this summer, too. Manny Legace, you can't give up 4 in the third period of an elimination game.
2 Dallas (1) vs. 7 Colorado (4) (Predicted DAL in 5): I thought this would be the year Marty Turco turned the corner and established his playoff bona fides. Instead, he was merely good, and the Avs were damn lucky. But for two fluke goals, Dallas would still be playing. The turning point was 18:15 of the third period of Game 3. Dallas had 10 seconds left on a power play, the puck was in Colorado's zone, and Brenden Morrow can-opener'd Brett Clark into the corner boards, two for tripping. Even Avs fans were screaming "Morrow, what the $#^%@ were you thinking?!" One power play goal later, it's tied. The overtime only lasted 69 seconds, and the puck was in the Stars' zone for all but 5 by my count.
3 Calgary (3) vs. 6 Anaheim (4) (Predicted CGY in 7): Uh, oh. Anaheim's got a hot rookie goaltender again. (Although I'm kinda bummed that we won't have the Battle Of Alberta in the second round. That would have been a wild series.)
4 Nashville (1) vs. 5 San Jose (4) (Predicted SJS in 7): When your superstars are held in check, you need those second-line guys to step up. The Sharks had Patrick Marleau, the Preds had nobody.
My Western Conference bracket is a mess, but I'm not alone. I've been tracking my progress along side ESPN's Pool O' Experts: Barry Melrose, John Buccigross, EJ Hradek, Scott Burnside, and David Amber. Nobody picked Colorado, and only Amber picked the Oilers. Of course, nobody from ESPN picked an entire bracket, either. They're playing things round-by-round. Wimps. And should I be scared that my first-round picks were identical to Barry Melrose's?
(Updated with the results of ANA/CGY game 7 and some formatting cleanup.)
I hate power plays (Score:2)