Eastern Conference Semifinals. #2. Philadelphia vs. #3. Boston.

Two teams coming off of game 7's. Philadelphia got lucky with a poor performance from Miller but what's done is done. Philadelphia and Boston both move on. Here are my 3 keys to the series.

Number 1. Goaltending.

Philadelphia has been the story of the playoffs with the goaltending issues. Start with Bobrovsky. Bobrovsky struggled. Move to Boucher. Boucher struggles. Move to Leighton. Leighton struggles. Move BACK to Boucher and they win the series. Goalie questions will not help them win this series let alone a Stanley Cup. On the other side, Tim Thomas. One of the goalies that was considered for the Hart Trophy, along with Montreal goalie Carey Price. If the goalie struggles continue for the Flyers, don't expect the offense to bail them out with Timmy Thomas between the pipes for Boston.

Number 2. History WON'T be repeated.

Everyone remembers last year. Boston up in the series over Philadelphia 3-0 and they blow that. Then in game 7 they go up 3-0 and they blow that and lose. Do NOT expect that to happen again. With an experienced team and a coach that witnessed it last year, if the Bruins get out to an early lead, do not expect them to lay back. They will do whatever it takes to get that precious 4th win.

Number 3. Experience.

Philadelphia has been there. The Stanley Cup Finals. The greatest stage in hockey. The outcome didn't turn out the way they wanted it to, but they will do anything to get back. They have the experience. They know what it takes to not only get to the Cup Final but to get past Boston. Expect the veterans from last years team to step up and give them key help on how to take down Boston.



Players to watch.

Philadelphia: Mike Richards.

The love for the captains is back! They need to be solid for their team to win. Bad captain=not getting anywhere. Mike Richards was physical in the first series against Buffalo. That's great for the Flyers. When Mike is physical the team gets excited. He doesn't even need to produce goals. The Flyers have the players to do that. All Richards needs to do is play physical get the puck back defensively and the Flyers will have a chance to win.

Boston: Tim Thomas

There is one big way to win any game. Keep. The. Puck. Out. Of. The. Net. Tim Thomas is the guy that will make Boston win this series. Like I said the Flyers have great offensive players but it doesn't matter. Tim Thomas makes incredible saves that seem impossible and he will be fantastic all series. Count on it.

Prediction.

Flyers goalie issues too much to move on. Boston wins it in 6.

Western Conference Quarterfinals: #1. Vancouver vs. #8. Chicago.

The defending cup champions, who barely made the postseason this year, will try to take down the President's Trophy winner for the 3rd straight year (San Jose in 2009 and Washington in 2010). Here are my top 3 things to watch.

Number 1. Goaltending.

Roberto Luongo is a fantastic goaltender and won the gold medal in Vancouver for Canada in last years Winter Olympics but people are saying that Luongo will become the next Nabokov if he can't get Vancouver a cup. I personally don't think so but one persons opinion doesn't matter. Then again neither do other people's. But if Luongo can't bring that cup home he will have a rough going by fans and analysts to get that playoff monkey off his back. Then there's the other side of the rink where Chicago throws in young netminder Corey Crawford. You might think throwing in a young rookie goaltender is a terrible idea and will not work against Vancouver's potent offense. But the last time Chicago threw in a young, inexperienced goalie was last year with Antti Niemi. They won the cup.

Number 2. The Swedes.

Daniel and Henrik have played hockey together their entire life. That is a ridiculous amount of chemistry for Vancouver. Daniel Sedin being this years leading scorer and Henrik being last years. Their passing and smart plays will make Corey Crawford miserable in the net.

Number 3. The Star First Line.

Chicago has easily one of the best lines in hockey with Toews, Kane, and Sharp. Toews being the leader and great playmaker and Kane and Sharp being the snipers. If they can keep up their season dominance they can really contend with the Sedins on being the best players out there.

Players to watch. Vancouver: Ryan Kesler.

Surprising I know that I didn't pick a Sedin but honestly Ryan Kesler has been huge for Vancouver. He is a great goal scorer and he also plays the powerplay and the penalty kill for Vancouver. He does it all. His health and stamina out there will be huge.

Chicago: Jonathan Toews.

Toews was the Conn Smythe winner last year and racked up points for Chicago on their way to the cup. If he plays like that again they can pull a big upset like the past two years.


Prediction: Despite Chicago's experience and great first line of Toews, Kane, and Sharp, they just haven't done enough to impress me over Vancouver. Vancouver in 6.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: #1. Washington vs. #8 New York Rangers

Washington needs to get over the big loss to Montreal last year and everyone knows Alex Ovechkin wants that Stanley Cup. But they haven't had great success in the postseason and now they need to play hard to get that monkey off their back. Here are my top 3 things to look for the series.

Number 1: Alex Ovechkin

The Washington captain needs to produce which is something he has struggled to do in postseason games and in this one he has to produce or the series will be awfully tough and mighty embarrassing for Washington. I don't see him having a big issue but he very well could against a great goalie like Henrik Lundqvist.

Number 2: Ryan Callahan

Well one of the best players, if not the best, on the New York Rangers is out of the postseason. That is a huge blow for New York and could really hurt them in this series. If they fail to get play well without him it will be a cakewalk for Washington.

Number 3: No More Shootouts.

The New York Rangers have a lot of shootout victories which is obvious when you have a goalie like Henrik Lundqvist. He is a monster in shootouts. But this is the postseason and in the postseason there are no shootouts. If you don't get it settled in one overtime, you go to another, and another, and so on. That means the Rangers won't get easy wins thanks to Lundqvist's excellent netminding.

Players to watch: Washington: Alex Ovechkin

Can he finally get his team a Stanley Cup? Well it starts here in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. If he produces and puts up good points this series it could be the motivation he needs to get his team a Stanely Cup.

New York: Henrik Lundqvist

His team is highly outmatched all around against this great Washington team. If Lundqvist stands on his head, the Rangers can beat the Caps in a few games and get momentum to win the whole series like Montreal did last year against Washington.

Prediction: Lundqvist puts up good numbers in a few games, but his team doesn't get him the goal support he needs. Capitals in 5.

Western Conference Quarterfinals: #2 San Jose vs. #7 Lose Angeles.

California matchup. Sharks fans hate the Kings and Kings fans hate the Sharks. That enough makes this one of the most intriguing matchups of the playoffs. Here are my 3 keys to the series.

Number 1: Sharks Playoff Disappointments.

Every hockey fan goes through this every year. San Jose puts up fantastic numbers in the regular season and then fails miserably in the playoffs. This could be the year they get over that hump with the goalie that knocked them out of last years playoffs in Antti Niemi between the pipes.

Number 2: Kopitar M.I.A.

Anze Kopitar is the star of the Los Angeles Kings. Big problem is he is out with an injury. Los Angeles better figure out a way to get by without him because if they can't I don't see this getting past 4.

Number 3: Antti Niemi.

BIG question heading into this postseason for me is "Why was Antti Niemi so good in the playoffs last year?" This year we are going to find out if it was him or if it was the Chicago Blackhawks defense. The Sharks defense is nowhere near the talent of last years Chicago defense. Should be interesting to see how Niemi handles the playoffs with a less impressive defense.

Players to watch: San Jose: Joe Thornton

The new San Jose captain has been known to struggle in the postseason. Last year Joe "Little Joe" Pavelski was more impressive then Joe "Jumbo Joe" Thornton. Joe Thornton needs to have a big series. When players see the captain doing well, they strive to do well.

Los Angeles: Jonathan Quick

The Sharks have one of the most potent offenses in all of the NHL. If they do what they have done all season and average 35 shots a gme, Quick is going to have to be huge for the Kings. If he was one bad game like he did at the end of the season against San Jose, don't be surprised if the Sharks rout them again.

Prediction: Sharks offense will put up goals and L.A. will struggle to keep up without Kopitar and the poor production of Penner. Sharks in 5.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: #2. Philadelphia vs. #7. Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo charged into the postseason thanks to the stellar play by their backup goalie Jhonas Enroth. Meanwhile, Philadelphia limped into the playoffs losing 5 straight games. Here are my 3 keys to the series.

Number 1: The Struggles

Philadelphia has a very good roster but as I said above they really struggled late in the season. If they continue the struggles, they won't last very long in this postseason.

Number 2: Ryan Miller

Ryan Miller missed late in the season while they were barely hanging on to a playoff birth. After his injury, they really hit their stride and flew into the playoffs. That can't be good for Miller's confidence. Knowing that his team did better with him not there. If he can overcome that and not worry about the pressure then the Sabres can in fact take down the mighty Flyers (although they don't look so mighty at the moment).

Number 3: BOBROVSKY!

Sergei BOBROVSKY!! can be the reason the Flyers win the cup. He can be that goalie that finally gets Philadelphia a cup. Leighton got them there last year and Bobrovsky took over his position this year. The Flyers organization obviously has him set to be the goalie that brings home Lord Stanley's Cup.

Players to watch

Philadelphia: Mike Richards. The player that almost won the Conn Smythe needs to put up those numbers again to get the Flyers out of their slump. He is the captain. Captains pick up their team when they are down. If he does his job properly the Flyers can get out of this series alive.

Buffalo: Ryan Miller/Jhonas Enroth. The reason I have 2 here is because I believe Buffalo will not settle for Miller if he struggles. They saw Enroth's talent late in the year if Miller struggles they will put in Enroth with no problem.

Prediction: Flyers struggles are too much to overcome. They chose a bad time to get cold. Sabres pull the upset in 7.

Western Conference Quarterfinals: #3. Detroit vs. #6. Phoenix.

Detroit's shaky goaltending has been an issue all year with young Jimmy Howard at the reigns and Phoenix has been the surprise the past two years being a team that doesn't even have an owner to get into the playoffs. Here are my 3 keys to the series.

Number 1: Henrik Zetterburg Out

With Zetterburg out, the Red Wings will struggle to win game 1. They struggled to beat San Jose last year and in game 4 Zetterburg was the single reason they won. If he's out, they may not win game 1. If he's out longer, Detroit could really struggle in this series.


Number 2: Goaltending.

Ilya Bryzgalov is a huge help for the Coyote's chances and taking down Detroit with his excellent play this season being a top goalie. On the other side a young struggling goalie in Jimmy Howard goes between the pipes. If he struggles, it won't help anyway. Chris Osgood, the veteran backup, is still recovering from his sports hernia and will not be available. Grand Rapids Griffins goalie (the Detroit Red Wings AHL affiliate) Joey MacDonald will be the backup goalie.


Number 3: Last Year

Last year, the Coyotes and Red Wings went 7 games which was a huge shock. A team who had been to two Stanley Cup finals couldn't put away a young inexperienced team in less then 7 games. Now the Coyotes have that experience which can really hurt Detroit. They might not be able to survive this year.

Players to watch: Detroit: Jimmy Howard. Detroit will be Detroit. The offense will succeed. The defense will succeed. It all depends on Jimmy Howard. He can not give up juicy rebounds or easy goals. He also can't give up terrible goals like the one against Logan Couture last year. If he struggles, there is no question on who wins.

Phoenix: Ed Jovanovski. Coming back from an injury, this guy is a huge help defensively for the Coyotes. His veteran status gives the Coyotes experience to win this series and to shut down Detroit's offense.

Prediction: Phoenix has experience now and that will be the difference. This time Phoenix wins game 7.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinal: #3. Boston vs. #6. Montreal

Two original 6 teams meeting in the playoffs is always interesting. When they have as much history as Boston and Montreal do, it makes it exhilarating. Here are my 3 keys to the series.

Number 1: Goaltending.

Two of the best in the NHL go head to head. Expect this series to be low scoring when Tim Thomas (Boston) and Carey Price (Montreal) go between the pipes. They were both so good that there was talk they would win the Hart trophy as MVP of the league. If both goalies play their best and I expect they will, this series will be incredibly low scoring.

Number 2: The Pacioretty Effect.

Everyone has seen the injury that sidelines Max Pacioretty for the season with a broken neck after the brutal hit by Zdeno Chara. Every Canadians fan hates Chara for doing that and, because Chara is a Bruin, they also hate the Bruins. The fans in Montreal will be louder then ever when Boston comes to town for games 3 and 4. Also, don't be surprised to see the Montreal players laying in some big hits when they get the chance.

Number 3: The Pacioretty Effect Aftermath.

After the Pacioretty injury, the Canadians played the Bruins with the look for revenge on the Boston Bruins by hitting them hard and shutting them down and scoring all over them to slap them right back in the face. They failed. Boston lit up Montreal 7-0 in the rematch. It was an even bigger slap in the face and without a doubt made Montreal mad. To most Montreal players in fans, this series would be the second most important series to them if they went all the way number one being the Stanley Cup finals. They want to destroy Boston. This could help or hurt them depending on how they use the anger.

Players to watch: Boston: Tim Thomas. Tim Thomas has been stellar this year. He's been the main man. Earlier in the season the Bruins wanted Tuukka Rask and Tim Thomas to battle it out for the main goalie spot. Thomas won in a landslide. He has been huge for Boston this year and it's obvious his play determines how Boston will play.

Montreal: Brian Gionta. The captain needs to play well. Captains are the most important players on the ice. When their team is down, the pick them up and bring them back like Richards did against Boston not only when they were down 3-0 in the series but when they were down 3-0 in game 7. Gionta needs to produce points and help out his teammates for them to be successful.

Prediction: Montreal may be mad, but it won't matter at all. Boston in 5.