We are now getting down to it. We are approaching Game 4's in the opening round. The top two teams in each conference have a loss. In fact a combined look at the 1 vs. 8 and 2 vs. 7 matchups see a combined 5-3 in favor of the top seeds, firmly showing once again how on any given night anyone can win in the NHL.
Starting with the Penguins, who I felt were the most unbeatable team in hockey, we have seen the return of some of the bad habits from last year's playoffs. The forwards aren't back-checking hard and once again Marc Andre Fleury is over-playing his positioning and getting himself into real trouble. The Penguins have a true embarrassment of riches going on and yet..they were 1 bounce from going down 2-1 yesterday...
The Blackhawks, a team who put together such an epic regular season, also lead 2-1, but when you look back to Zucker hitting the crossbar in OT on game 1, that series as well could just have easily been 2-1 for the Wild right now.
The number two seed in the east, Montreal, is facing huge goaltending issues as well and has some serious soul searching to do today. I will say this about the playoffs..I dont think Montreal is done at all. History shows us how it is not always a good thing to blow a team out in a single game early in the series. Quite often such a blowout results in the team who wins losing a bit of their edge and the team that is blown out getting something they can rally behind....just see what happened in game two of Toronto/Boston.... The next game in this series will be fascinating.
The Blues and Kings are playing epic chess matches right now and disproving the common axiom that 1-0, 2-1 games are boring. This series has been the most entertaining and tightly contested of all despite the low scores. It's just outstanding hockey and I think either team who survives it could find themselves going very far into these playoffs.
The Rangers are facing a bad scenario currently against a Washington team who is playing the best hockey in the east right now. The Rangers players tend to go cold or get hot all together and right now they are in need of a player to rise to the surface and turn everything around.
The Sharks are looking very non-Shark like as they have shown huge consistency coupled with clutch goal scoring....something the Sharks in post-season haven't been known for exactly. The Canucks are facing a team in San Jose that may just be showing the right combination of youth, experience, and goaltending to look destiny-like.
One thing I feel is that the Western teams are, in general, looking like much better hockey teams right now. I would rather play almost anyone in the east over Chicago, Anaheim, San Jose, St. Louis or LA.
And that brings me to the team I personally feel is the best team in hockey right now. The Anaheim Ducks. Their two wins over Detroit were impressive, but it was their comeback in the one game they lost that puts them a top of the NHL right now. They have shown that kind of ability to rally late time and time again this year. The Ducks are the one top teams that looks for real to me.
How about you?
The Season is behind us. Where teams are seeded doesn't mean a thing...
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