NHL Eastern Conference Playoff Preview

Exactly 1,230 regular season games have been played. We're down to the best eight teams in each conference. The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Wednesday night with four series lid-lifters.

In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins rallied from a bit of a swoon around the All-Star Break to easily win the top seed. Even if you subscribe to the idea of Boston being favored because of their strong overall record, there are no sure things in these here playoffs. Who will threaten to knock the Bruins off their pedestal?


There's no question Boston is a heavy, heavy favorite in this matchup. However, they also know they can't afford to overlook Montreal.

Montreal leaders: Alex Kovalev, F (26-39-65); Andrei Markov, D (12-52-64); Saku Koivu, F (16-34-50); Carey Price, G (23-16-10, 2.83, .905)

Boston leaders: Marc Savard, F (25-63-88); David Krejci, F (22-51-73); Phil Kessel, F (36-24-60); Tim Thomas, G (36-11-7, 2.10. .933)

How Montreal wins: For starters, Price has to be sharp. The Canadiens go nowhere without quality goaltending, and this could end up being a long series if Price plays well. Montreal also has to generate some pressure five-on-five. They tend to rely a lot on their power play to get everything else going, but penalties become a bit more scarce in the playoffs.


How Boston wins: Everyone, including Price, remembers how shaky he was in the second season last year. He did appear to find his form a bit down the stretch for Montreal, but it will only take one softie for him to revert back to 2008 form. So: Get pucks to the net. Boston has four capable lines, the best defenseman in the East (Zdeno Chara), some super young players, and they could be unstoppable unless they run into a hot goalie.


The Capitals gave up the second-most goals (245) of any Eastern playoff team this season. Since they haven't acquired a goalie this week, they could find trouble in the postseason.

New York leaders: Nikolai Zherdev, F (23-35-58); Scott Gomez, F (16-42-58); Chris Drury, F (22-34-56); Henrik Lundqvist, G (38-25-7, 2.43, .916)

Washington leaders: Alexander Ovechkin, F (56-54-110); Nicklas Backstrom, F (22-66-88); Alexander Semin, F (34-45-79); Jose Theodore, G (32-17-5, 2.87, .900)

How New York wins: The Rangers have to lean on their veteran leadership. Not only do they have Gomez and Drury, they have the wealth of playoff experience they bring. The Rangers also have Markus Naslund and Nik Antropov up front, along with the ever-controversial Sean Avery. Obviously, Lundqvist has to play well. He's going to see a ton of rubber, and it's key that he get into a rhythm.

How Washington wins: Secondary scoring is a good start. Rangers coach John Tortorella is going to do what he can to slow down the Ovechkin machine, knowing that the Capitals other lines can be sporadic with their production. More important than the offensive balance is goaltending, because the question "Who trusts Theodore?" is usually met with the sound of crickets.


Yes, the Devils slumped in March. Yes, the Hurricanes were hot in March. Let's remember a very important fact: It isn't March anymore.

Carolina leaders: Ray Whitney, F (24-53-77); Eric Stall, F (40-35-75); Tuomo Ruutu, F (26-28-54); Cam Ward, G (39-23-5, 2.44, .916)

New Jersey leaders: Zach Parise, F (45-49-94); Patrik Elias, F (31-47-78); Jamie Langenbrunner, F (29-40-69); Martin Brodeur, G (19-9-3, 2.41, .916)

How Carolina wins: The easy answer is "Get to Brodeur." It's much easier typed than done. The Hurricanes need to roll their lines, use their good forward depth, and frustrate the Devils with constant pressure on the puck. The hotter of the two teams, Carolina can't just ride Ward in this series. They have to be the better team.

How New Jersey wins: They need to remember how they played in January. Devil fans are hopeful that the late-season slump was simply the work of a team that had virtually wrapped up their division. Against a talented foe like Carolina, the Devils need to be effective in their own end. It's something they really weren't down the stretch, and it can't just be blamed on Brodeur. The defense let too many guys skate the puck deep into the Devils' zone.


Philadelphia was 20 minutes away from having home ice in this series. Pittsburgh was a couple months from missing the playoffs completely. A Flyer collapse and a long Penguins surge later, here we are, opening this sure-to-be-entertaining series in Pittsburgh.

Philadelphia leaders: Jeff Carter, F (46-38-84); Mike Richards, F (30-50-80); Simon Gagne, F (34-40-74); Martin Biron, G (29-19-5, 2.76, .915)

Pittsburgh leaders: Evgeni Malkin, F (35-78-113); Sidney Crosby, F (33-70-103); Jordan Staal, F (22-27-49); Marc-Andre Fleury, G (35-18-7, 2.67, .912)

How Philadelphia wins: The Flyers need to use their physical style to get into Malkin's and Crosby's proverbial kitchens. They can make the Penguins go in virtually every situation, and they're so good that it's almost impossible to shut them down completely. They would also be wise to forget about the 4-5-1 regular season finish that relegated them to this position.

How Pittsburgh wins: Clearly, any continued third- or fourth-line contributions would be absolutely huge. Since the coaching change, the Penguins have been getting a lot out of the secondary lines. Chris Kunitz is a go-to-the-net guy, and you can't put a price on that in the playoffs. From a character standpoint, he could fill a Ryan Malone-type role for this team. If they're going like they have been for most of the second half, Pittsburgh will be very hard to stop.