My Playoff Predictions: Stanley Cup Final

My picks from Conference Finals......

Eastern Conference Finals:

I said Pens in 6. What really happened was Pens in 5. This was a dominating performance by the Penguins. They took a three games to none lead in the series and never looked back. Marian Hossa was everything the Pens traded for and then some. He had 4 goals and 5 assists in the five games and helped lead the Penguins to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 17 years.

Western Conference Finals:

I said Stars in 6. What really happened was the Wings in 6. I don't know what happened to Dallas, but they didn't look like the same team that beat the Sharks and Ducks with ease. The Stars looked slow and didn't show much effort untill game 4. The Wings are an awesome team that will cause havic for the Pens, but this will be a test like no other for the Wings.

My picks for the Stanley Cup Final:

Detroit vs. Pittsburgh. These two teams haven't played eachother since early last season which makes this series almost unpredictable. I think the Pens can win the Cup this year if they play their style. Detroit is good, but their fan support has been anything but great this post season unlike the Penguins fans who have been going crazy!!! The Pens have that look in their eye that the want to win it all and they beleive in themselves that they can. Detroit on the other hand look like they know they can win, but could careless if they lose it all. With Pittsburgh not losing a game on home ice since February 23, I don't look for them to lose a game now. Detroit has been very impressive at home as well, but Dallas was able to steal one up there. With that being said, I say Pens in 6. They will split the first two games, and the Pens will win both at home, then go back to detroit and lose, then they will come back home, and win it in front of the home crowd. Lets Go Pens!!!

Lord Stanley, Lord Stanley.....

Ladies and gentlemen, the Pittsburgh Penguins have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals for the third time in franchise history, and the first time in 16 years. The Penguins did it in style by crushing their cross state rival, the Philadelphia Flyers 6-0. The Pens were in complete control from start to finish, leaving no doubt that they will be playing in the Finals later this week, or early next week. The Pens started the scoring two minutes and thirty seconds into the game and never looked back. Ryan Malone was on a mission, and proved it by scoring twice and adding a helper, and Marian Hossa may have shut up all of his critics by scoring once and adding three helpers, making him tied for second in playoff scoring. Sidney Crosby was, well, Sidney Crosby

by adding a 2 assists making him first in the playoffs for scoring, and Evgeni Malkin made his presence felt by scoring a beautiful goal from behind the net. The stars were shining in Pittsburgh today, but none were more noticeable than Marc-Andre Fleury. He made 21 saves, and two of those were highlight reel saves. He has been the Pens most consistent player since returning from injury and is among many others these playoffs, he is shutting his critics up by his stellar play between the pipes. This has been a special run the Penguins have put on, and I believe they are to good of a team to stall out in the Finals. Detroit seemed to be cruising for an easy win over Dallas, but Dallas hasn't gone away silently and they have won the last two making the series 3-2. I think the Pens can beat either of the teams as long as they play their game and stay out of the box. They can skate with Detroit, and they can play the physical game that Dallas plays. The Pens also have to realize they haven't won anything yet and the real challenge awaits them. They are going to need these next few days to rest up and get healthy, and try to maintain their focus. The Pens will have momentum going into the Finals with a great win on home ice today and a boat load of support from the city. Lets Go Pens!!!

Today's Three Stars:

1. Ryan Malone-2 goals, 1 assist
2. Marian Hossa-1 goal, 3 assists
3. Marc-Andre Fleury-21 saves
   
   

The Pens take the first two!!!

The Pens have a goal this year in the playoffs and it has become very apparent. The Pens took game one by a score of 4-2, and decided to keep things rolling with another 4-2 victory last night. I was at the Mellon Arena last night experiencing my first playoff game in person and it was nothing short of spectacular. The crowd was roaring and seemed to get louder after every big hit. The crowd got even louder when Tyler Kennedy beat the life out of Scottie Upshall. Kennedy threw some "hay makers" that landed on Upshall's face which lead to Scottie looking up at the rafters. The crowd fed off of the fight and so did the Penguins. Late in the third Crosby tallied giving the Pens the 1-0 edge at the end of one period. On came the second period, where the Pens usually play well, but it wasn't as kind this time. The Flyers tied the game at one a piece, but as usual, the Pens regained the lead. Shortly after the game was 2-1, Sidney Crosby had a goal taken away because there wasn't conclusive evidence that the puck crossed the goal line. The refs couldn't tell, but everyone at home and at the arena knew it was in. The goal was disallowed and the game went on. The Pens were given a power play late in the second, but due to an awful pass by Malkin, Mike Richards went the other way on a short handed break away, and scored. Going in to the third I had a good feeling that the Pens would pull it out. Sure enough the Pens were able to pull it out. Max Talbot scored the game winning goal in his first game back after braking his foot against the Rangers in game three. Fleury played yet another solid game making 30 saves leading the Pens to a 4-2 victory. The fourth goal came from my favourite player Jordan Staal on an empty net.

The Pens were great on the power play, except for that one slip up, but we will let it slide for now, they were decent on the penalty kill, and they out shot the Flyers. Fleury had another great game and so did Biron. I was mad at the officiating because they wern't very consistant in their calls. The one call that bothered was the Ruutu dive???? Biron punched Ruutu in the face and Ruutu fell to the ice and was sent to the box for unsportsman like conduct? I am happy with the outcome, but hopefully the refs do a better job in game three. Lets Go Pens!!!!!!!!!!

Three Stars:

1. Sidney Crosby- 1 goal, 1 assist
2. Max Talbot- 1 GWG
3. Mike Richards- 1 SHG

My Playoff Predictions: Conference Finals

My picks from last round.....

Eastern Conference:

I said Montreal in 6. What really happened, Philadelphia in 5. I knew Philly crushing the Canadiens was a possibility, but I was shocked at how bad Montreal played. The Canadiens didn't put traffic in front of Biron until game 5, but it was to late. Not only was the Montreal power play bad, their goal tending was brutal, due to the simple fact that Carey Price is so young and inexperienced at the NHL level.

I said Pens in 6. What really happened, Pens in 5. The Pens did everything they I said they had to do in order to win....score on the power play and find a way to win on Madison Square Garden ice. The Pens also got excellent goal tending from Marc-Andre Fleury, he has been the key to the playoffs so far which has put some smiles on peoples faces.

Western Conference:

I said Aves in 6. What really happened, Wings in 4! Talk about a complete melt down. The Avalanche had everything from bad goal tending to key players going down to injury. The Wings played great, but the Avalanche fell apart. This was disappointing after all they hype.

I said Stars in 6. I called this one because it was obvious. The sharks are a good team, but the Stars are a hungry team. The Stars were lead by their captain Brendan Morrow to a Western Conference Final birth. Morrow had 2 overtime goals, one coming in the fourth overtime in game 6. He also had a couple massive body checks in this series none bigger than the one he laid on Milan Michalek who was left motionless afterwards.

My Picks for th Conference Finals:

Eastern Conference Finals:

Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia. This is one of the greatest rivalries in the NHL today. The season series was won by the Flyers 5-3. For as impressive as 5-3 looks, it doesn't serve justice of how the series went. The Pens lost the first four, but then won three in a row and then ended up losing the final game of the season, but not only was the final game pointless, the Pens look as if they didn't try. The special teams will be the deciding factor in this series. The Flyers penalty kill hasn't been anything to get over excited about and their power play has been average. The Pens have been dominant on both sides of the special teams game. If the Flyers want to take runs at Crosby, the Pens will eat them alive. I say Pens in 6. The Pens are on a mission!!!

Western Conference Finals:

Detroit vs. Dallas. The Wings won the season series 3-1, but the past is the past, this is the present and Dallas has proven that so far this year throughout the playoffs. The Wings so far have had it relatively easy. The Stars have not. This will be a great series because it has always been a great rivalry. The Stars, like the Pens, are on a mission so I don't see them losing to the old, and probably rusty due to the long layoff, Red Wings. Stars in 6.

Next Stop, Eastern Conference Finals!!!!!!!

Well the trade deadline paid its dues yesterday in the Penguins 3-2 overtime victory. The Pens blew a 2-0 lead in the first four minutes of the third period and could not solve Lundqvist in regulation, but with a few minutes remaining in the third, Chris Drury high sticked Ryan Malone in the face causing bleeding giving the Pens a four minute power play that would last into OT. The Pens didn't score on the power play, but they did build momentum off of it. Midway through the OT period Sidney Crosby skated the puck through center ice, across the blue line, and dropped it off to Pascal Dupuis who miss handled it but the puck ricocheted off of Ranger defenseman Daniel Girardi and rolled to Marian Hossa who buried the puck and brought the Mellon arena roof down!!! The Mellon Arena was the loudest I have ever heard it and because of the excitement, the TV cameras could not focus on the mob of players surrounding Marian Hossa. The Pens blew a couple of leads in this series and if that trend continues, it could come back and bite them. I thought when Malkin scored the second goal for the Penguins, they were going to sail to an easy victory. It was one of the best goals I have ever seen. Malkin came down one on four and started to lose the puck, but spun around and shot the puck into the back of the net on the backhand. But little did I know, the Rangers would come back. They scored twice in the third period one minute and twenty-two seconds apart. The Mellon Arena was stunned, but the players never lost their focus. Because the Pens never lost focus, they were able to beat the Rangers. With the Penguins winning, they now get set to play the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Flyers were dead last in the league last season, and are now playing to go to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Flyers are a dirty team and they know it. The only upside to them being a dirty team is their penalty kill hasn't been very good in the post season and the Pens power play has been one of the best in the playoffs. If the Flyers are going to take a lot of penalties, the Pens will eat them alive. This being said, the Flyers won't be able to play their game and they will have to make adjustments before the series even starts. The Pens have to be careful as well. Although the Pens were unbelievable on the penalty kill against the Rangers and Senators, the Flyers have a very talented power play that was ranked first for a while throughout the regular season. This series is going to be full of heavy hits and probably a few fights. The Penguins need to keep their foot on the gas and never let up on the Flyers. The Pens also need to get traffic in front of Biron, something the Canadiens did not do until game five where they scored four goals. The Pens definitely have the better looking team out of the two, but they need to play smart hockey and keep their heads on swivels.

Key Players:

Pit.- Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin always have huge games against the Flyers. Sidney Crosby almost averages 2 points per game against the Flyers in his career. Evgeni Malkin started ripping the Flyers apart when Marian Hossa showed up. I expect big things out of these three players.

Phi.- R.J. Umberger and Danial Briere. Umberger had 8 goals last series against the Canadiens and he always has a knack of scoring against the Penguins. Umberger is a Pittsburgh native so he always has that extra edge when he plays in the "Burgh" and if the Pens don't pay close attention to him he will kill them. Same goes for Briere. Briere used to own the Penguins when he played for Buffalo and some of that "ownage" carried over to Philly.

You Can't Win 'em all.

The Pens suffered their first loss of the post season in game 4 against the NYR in Madison Square Garden. I don't mind when the Pens lose, but the fashion in which they lost was sickening. The Pens showed no effort what so ever and the Rangers barely beat them. By pretty much giving the Rangers the win, I hope it doesn't give the Rangers life. The comforting news about this series is the Pens have home ice advantage which means game 5 will be played in Pittsburgh where the Rangers haven't played well the past two seasons or in this post season. Everything that was working for the Pens they went away from on Thursday. They didn't score on any of their power play opportunities, they didn't kill off the Rangers power plays, and they didn't stay out of the penalty box. With the possibility of Sunday being Jaromir Jagr's last game in his NHL career I expect him to throw everything he has at the Pens similar to what he did in game 4. With the Rangers being beaten up I would hope the Pens to establish their physical game they had in games 1 and 2. The power play also needs not to stand and wait for the Rangers to make defensive moves. The Pens power play looked almost flat and uncaring. Hopefully this changes in game 5. The Mellon Arena should be rocking on Sunday and hopefully that gets the Pens read to play. The Pens will probably be without center Maxime Talbot due his broken foot, so I expect to see Gary Roberts in the lineup and Adam Hall taking over Talbot's roll. The Penguins need to keep their cool and play their game and the end result will end with a hand shake. Lets Go Pens!!!

Key Players:

Pit.-Sidney Crosby, I expect him to come out flying because the Rangers made him angry at the end of game 4 and when Sid is angry, he is and unstoppable force.

NYR-Jaromir Jagr, as I already stated this could be his last NHL game and if so, it will be in front of the crowd that saw him play for the first time.

Here We Go...3-0!!!!!!

The Pens are now 7-0 in the post season, and 3-0 in their series with the Rangers. After last night's game, the Rangers have to be wondering what they have to do to win. They out shot the Pens 39-17, but could not contain the Penguins power play. They won game three 5-3, but it ended up being a special teams game. The Pens killed off 6 Ranger power play opportunities including two 5 on 3's and scored twice on three power plays of their own. The game started off right when Marian Hossa buried one just over a minute into the first. from then on the Pens played great defensively, except for a brief period of time in the second period, but over came adversity and prevailed.

Three stars:

1. Evgeni Malkin-2 goals, 1 assist
2. Marc-Andre Fleury-36 saves, .923 sv%
3. Jaromir Jagr-1 goal, 1 assist (Jagr looked like the Jaromir that Pittsburgh came to know and love...I tip my hat to him on an awesome performance.)