2007 NHL Playoffs Recap and Video Highlights - May 12th

1-1 last night and 1-2 for the first two games of round 3. Detroit managed to win game 1 with some inspired play by the Dominator and another dominating performance from Niklas Lidstrom. Tonight Buffalo is already desperate to win a game.

Tonights Game :

Ottawa Senators (1) at Buffalo Sabres (0) : Believe it or not it is already do or die time for the Sabres. If they go down 2-0 in the series at home their odds of getting to the final round are slim indeed. Tonight the Sabres need their leaders to step up. Keep an eye on Chris Drury tonight, he will lead the Sabres by example and Buffalo will post a convincing win in game 2.

Last Nights Game :

Anaheim Ducks 1 (0) at Detroit Red Wings 2 (1) : Detroit got great performances from key players last night. Dominik Hasek and Niklas Lidstrom stepped up and ensured that the Wings would win despite the fact that they only managed 19 shots on Anaheim. The Ducks tried to physically dominate the Wings last night but it didn't seem to work. Both of Detroit's goals were lucky deflections and both went off Francois Beauchemin before entering the net. Expect the Ducks to come after Detroit even harder in game 2.


From the NHL Highlight Machine

2007 NHL Playoffs Video Highlights





Round 3 Predictions:
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Previews and Predictions

Round 2 Predictions:
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Players to Watch
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Previews and Predictions

Round 1 Predictions:
Round 1 Playoff Predictions and Hot Players
Complete Playoff Predictions

2007 NHL Playoffs Recap and Video Highlights - May 11th

o'fer last night. Buffalo surprised me last night by not showing up for game 1 of their third round series with Ottawa. Ottawa did exactly what I expected and they got the win because of it. Tonight Detroit hosts Anaheim in the opener of the other semi-final series.

Tonights Game :

Anaheim Ducks (2) at Detroit Red Wings (1) :

The Red Wings are going to miss Mathieu Schneider on defense in this series. Anaheim has demonstrated some flashes of brilliance in the playoffs and is making a strong case why they should be the team to watch in the west. The Wings have home ice advantage and I have to go with them tonight for game 1. While Hasek remains healthy the Wings have a chance to upset my predictions for round 3 and they should start that off with a solid win tonight at home.

Last Nights Game :

Ottawa Senators 5 (1) at Buffalo Sabres 2 (0) : The Senators came out poised and ready and the Sabres were disorganized and lacking in focus last night. It cost them the game. Despite the lackluster effort Buffalo managed to make a game of it until Oleg Saprykin scored at 7:41 into the third to take the lead. The major difference in the game was special teams. Buffalo went 0-5 on the power play and gave up a short handed goal on their first PP to Mike Fisher. The Senators on the other hand went 2-6 on their power play opportunities. That is a 3 goal advantage to the Ottawa Senators, the same as the 3 goal difference in the final score.

From the NHL Highlight Machine

2007 NHL Playoffs Video Highlights




Round 3 Predictions:
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Previews and Predictions

Round 2 Predictions:
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Players to Watch
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Previews and Predictions

Round 1 Predictions:
Round 1 Playoff Predictions and Hot Players
Complete Playoff Predictions

2007 NHL Playoffs Recap and Predictions - May 10th

Ottawa wants revenge, but so does Buffalo. This could very likely be the best series of the 2007 NHL Playoffs. Both the Senators and the Sabres play a wide open counterattack style of hockey which could produce a high scoring (or at least high chancing) series. I'm looking forward to this one. Even if Ottawa has a good chance to screw up my predictions.

Ottawa Senators (4) at Buffalo Sabres (1) :

The series opens tonight in Buffalo and the Sabres need to find a way to shut down Ottawa's top line of Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza. If they can manage to limit Ottawa's top line in the scoring department over half of Ottawa's offence goes bye bye. Ottawa needs to forget the past and focus on this series. If the Heatley, Alfredsson and Spezza line can overcome the checking of Drury et al. the Sens have a good chance of knocking out Buffalo. Regardless, the Sabres win game 1 at home as the crowd reacts to Ray Emery's recent comments about the Buffalo nightlife. Given Emery's penchant for womens shoes and flashy outfits (watch the video profile of Ray Emery below) it would be real nice to see him get pimp slapped tonight with a lopsided Sabres win. Probably won't happen though, grinding game with a close final score. I call it 3-2 for the home team.



Round 3 Predictions:
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Previews and Predictions

Round 2 Predictions:
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Players to Watch
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Previews and Predictions

Round 1 Predictions:
Round 1 Playoff Predictions and Hot Players
Complete Playoff Predictions

NHL Playoffs - Round 3 Previews and Predictions

So Round 2 of the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs didn't go quite as I had envisioned it. I wrote a recap of each second round series below and a preview and predictions of the two third round series is below that. Oh, and the Buffalo Sabres win the Cup over the Anaheim Ducks in 7 games.

Eastern Conference Recaps :

Buffalo Sabres (1) vs New York Rangers (6): Despite a strong performance by the Rangers and a strangely lackluster performance by Buffalo this series ended up as expected. Buffalo wins in 6 games and Henrik Lundqvist gave the Rangers a chance to compete. Daniel Briere 1 goal, 5 assists. Chris Drury 3 goals, 2 assists, Tomas Vanek 3 goals. Vanek seemed to disappear a bit in the last 4 games of this series but Briere and Drury picked up the slack. Brian Campbell potted 1 goal and 2 assists and was a little disappointing offensively in round 2. I got this prediction dead right, Sabres in 6.

New Jersey Devils (2) vs Ottawa Senators (4) :

The Ottawa Senators didn't really surprise me much in round 2. Martin Brodeur certainly did though. Brodeur allowed an uncharacteristic 15 goals in 5 games for a lofty 3.00 goals against average and New Jersey was simply unable to contain the top scoring line of Daniel Alfredsson (3 goals, 2 assists) , Dany Heatley (3 goals, 7 assists) and Jason Spezza (3 goals, 5 assists). Ray Emery soundly outplayed Brodeur with 1 shutout and a 2.2 GAA, he even matched Marty's assist in game 4. I got this prediction half right, it took 6 games but Ottawa was the winner, not New Jersey.

Western Conference Recaps :

Detroit Red Wings (1) vs San Jose Sharks (5) :

The Western conference is determined to screw with my predictions. San Jose came out hot in Game 1 and pummeled the Wings but stumbled badly in game two by blowing a 2 goal to head home even in the series. Detroit showed their veteran presence by sticking close to San Jose and simply wanting it more than the Sharks. San Jose blew three early game leads and lost three straight games to go out with a whimper. Henrik Zetterberg scored 2 goals, 3 assists while Pavel Datsyuk continued to prove he is a playoff performer with 2 goals, 4 assists and Niklas Lidstrom continued his strong play with 1 goal and 2 assists. The return of Tomas Holmstrom to the Wings lineup helped them get out of round 2. Unfortunately they lost Mathieu Schneider for the remainder of the year with a broken wrist. I predicted San Jose in 7 games, Detroit took it in 6.

Anaheim Ducks (2) vs Vancouver Canucks (3) :

I told you that Vancouver would have difficulty scoring in round 2, but they surprised even me with just how poor their offence was. They managed only 8 goals in 5 games against the Ducks and went home without a whimper. The Ottawa Senators top line scored more goals than the entire Canucks team in round 2. Anaheim completely dominated this series and they look to be the healthiest and freshest team in the Western Conference this year. Andy McDonald (3 goals, 2 assists), Teemu Selanne (2 goals, 2 assists) and Chris Pronger (1 goal, 4 assists) led the Ducks in scoring and Scott Niedermayer was a little disappointing with only 1 goal and 2 assists in round 2.

Round 3 Predictions:

Eastern Conference:

Buffalo Sabres (1) vs Ottawa Senators (4) :

This is the toughest matchup for the Sabres in this years playoffs and probably the one with the highest entertainment value. This season saw a fair amount of bad blood between these two teams, most of it from Chris Drury's head. This should be a highly entertaining offensive series and I expect to see Ryan Miller and Ray Emery steal a game or two with some stellar performances between the pipes. Both teams have depth, speed and skill but I give Buffalo a slight edge in the depth department. Not many teams have their leading goal scorer on the third line. The Heatley, Alfredsson and Spezza line will certainly make their presence felt but Tomas Vanek and the third line of the Sabres will make the difference here as they win this series in 7 games.

Western Conference :

Detroit Red Wings (1) vs Anaheim Ducks (2) :

The Red Wings surprised me by getting past the Sharks in round 2 and this throws the rest of my western conference predictions way off. I don't think that Detroit, despite it's veteran presence and stellar defense core, will make it past Anaheim to the Stanley Cup Final. Without Mathieu Schneider the Wings no longer have as much defensive depth as the Ducks. Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer and Francois Beauchemin provide defensive stability with a strong offensive upside that will carry the Ducks over the Wings in 6 games.

Stanley Cup Finals Prediction :

I originally predicted that the Buffalo Sabres would win the Stanley Cup in 6 games over the Nashville Predators. Obviously half of that prediction is no longer relevant. I stand by my prediction that the Sabres would win the cup but I now see them taking it in 7 games against the Anaheim Ducks. Tomas Vanek is still the MVP (in my eyes) but Chris Drury or Ryan Miller will actually win the award.

Round 2 Predictions:
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Players to Watch
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Previews and Predictions

Round 1 Predictions:
Round 1 Playoff Predictions and Hot Players
Complete Playoff Predictions

2007 NHL Playoffs Recap and Video Highlights - May 8th

0-1 last night, another ofer. The good news is that I knew that Detroit would win this series. What? What do you mean I predicted that San Jose (or Nashville) would go to the Finals this season? Are you sure? Dammit, you people aren't supposed to remember the things I say. Ah well, Anaheim will beat Detroit and face Buffalo in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Last Nights Game :

Detroit Red Wings 2 (4) at San Jose Sharks 0 (2) : I really expected more from the Sharks in this postseason. I was certain that they would make it past Detroit into the third round, right up until game 4 of round two. Detroit got a strong performance from Dominik Hasek last night and Chris Chelios and Nikals Lidstrom proved why they (not Niedermayer and Pronger) should be considered the best defensive 1-2 punch in the NHL. Mikael Samuelsson scored twice in the first period and the Red Wings shut down the Sharks in the remaining two periods to close this series out in the Shark Tank. Round three of this years playoffs will let us see the two most impressive defensive cores in the NHL go head to head.

From the NHL Highlight Machine

2007 NHL Playoffs Video Highlights

Detroit Red Wings 2 (4) at San Jose Sharks 0 (2) :





Round 2 Predictions:
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Players to Watch
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Previews and Predictions

Round 1 Predictions:
Round 1 Playoff Predictions and Hot Players
Complete Playoff Predictions

2007 NHL Playoffs Recap and Predictions - May 7th

1-1 last night. The Sabres sent the Rangers home last night as predicted. We are left with just 1 second round matchup still in progress, San Jose hosts Detroit tonight and needs a win to keep that series alive.

Tonights Game :

Detroit Red Wings (3) at San Jose Sharks (2) : The Wings took control of the series with yet another come back win in game 5. San Jose has blown three leads in this series to give Detroit some life. The veteran presence on the Wings won't let that chance go to waste. Despite that San Jose will find a way to win game 6 on home ice tonight. Expect Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo to step up their games tonight and give the Sharks one more chance.

Last Nights Game :

Buffalo Sabres 5 (4) at New York Rangers 4 (2) : Buffalo's offence woke up in the second period with a 4 goal outburst as Chris Drury leads by example with a goal and an assist and Daniel Briere contributes with 3 assists. New York made it close with goal late in the third period but came up short in the game and the series. The Sabres have a tough task ahead of them when they meet Ottawa in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight year.

Round 2 Predictions:
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Players to Watch
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Previews and Predictions

Round 1 Predictions:
Round 1 Playoff Predictions and Hot Players
Complete Playoff Predictions

2007 NHL Playoffs Recap and Predictions - May 6th

1-2 last night. Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils were determined to screw up my predictions. Oh well, they got what they deserved, they are going home. Tonight Buffalo will send New York home. At home.

Tonights Game :

Buffalo Sabres (3) at New York Rangers (2) : Buffalo still hasn't performed as well as everyone had predicted this post season. I'm not suggesting that they will do it tonight, but they will play well enough to beat the Rangers and send them packing. New York has done a great job of playing with energy and containing Buffalo's forward lines. But it is over tonight.

Last Night Recaps :

San Jose Sharks 1 (2) at Detroit Red Wings 4 (3) : Home ice advantage seems to have turned the trick for the Red Wings last night as they again came back from a deficit to win their third game in this series. Detroit seemed to solve Nabokov last night as both Pavel Datsuk and Henrik Zetterberg managed a goal and 2 assists each to drive the Wings to victory. The bad news is that the Wings lost Mathieu Schneider to a broken wrist in the first period.

Ottawa Senators 3 (4) at New Jersey Devils 2 (1) : The Devils get sent home in 5 games as the Sens make it to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a row. Ottawa simply dominated this series and the vaunted EGG line of New Jersey just didn't perform. Not to mention Martin Brodeur who didn't play at the level that we have all come to expect. The Senators dominated much of this game and earned their birth to the next round.


Round 2 Predictions:
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Players to Watch
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Previews and Predictions

Round 1 Predictions:
Round 1 Playoff Predictions and Hot Players
Complete Playoff Predictions