East
Montreal over Philadelphia is 6.
Rangers over Pittsburgh in 5.
West
Colorado over Detroit in 6.
San Jose over Stars in 7.
In my original playoff predictions, I had Colorado over Detroit in 4. I was hesitant to add any sweeps in there. Always tough to predict a sweep. And I still say if you replay that Sens/Pens series from round 1, it would be Ottawa in 7.
* * *
So what happened to Washington? Alex Ovechkin was held nearly shotless in the early games, Philadelphia scored two overtime winners, and Tom Poti committed the worst-timed 2-minute infraction of his career (and there have been many infractions). Plus, when they won 11 of 12 to make the playoffs, they were beating Carolina, Florida, Atlanta, and the team with the #1 overall pick in 2008. Philly played the Rangers, Devils, and Penguins in 24 games this year and held their own.
Calgary and Anaheim's inabilities to score all year caught up with them. And Miikka Kirprusoff played like he never would have in his magical run to the Finals in 03-04.
Boston gave it their all, but mailed in the final 2 periods in Game 7. Chara was hurting badly, Tim Thomas couldn't do it all himself, and they couldn't score. When you're shutout 1-0, it's not your goalie's fault.
The Devils... no, I promised no more Devils talk. Ottawa self-destructed, and Bryan's cross-sport reference to the 2007 Mets was half there. Atleast the Senators made the big dance. The Predators were overmatched from the beginning, but they put up a fight and should be proud, especially for a team that thought its days were numbered in Nashville 8 months ago.
And the Wild, aka the Central Time Zone Devils, just couldn't beat a healthy Avalanche team. Their unproven goaltending and weak offense won them their division but couldn't put the puck past a rejuvenated Jose Theodore.
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