Round 1 Continues: Friday, April 17

Philadelphia 2
Pittsburgh 3 (OT)

Pittsburgh leads series 2-0
Guerin scored! and then he scored AGAIN! for the OT win. The Penguins HAD to win this game – they would not have wanted to play on Flyer home turf with the series tied 1-1. Out of frustration the Flyers strayed from their game plan and lost sight of their coach’s guidance and/or influence which is dangerous for any team unless the coach is off his/her rocker thus a team must fend for itself. All the Penguins have to do is stick close to their game plan which will disarm the Flyers because well it’s like this – if the Flyers were in a maze and hit a brick wall, instead of turning around and trying another way, they’d stand there trying to figure out how to get through the brick wall or just keep walking into it. Worse case scenario, or as it is for me the best case scenario…Flyers show up on home ice, play horrible and their fair weather fans turn on them – then, let the unraveling begin. GO GUERIN GO!!!

Carolina 2 (OT)
New Jersey 1

Series tied 1-1
Looks like Carolina found their way around the Devil’s defense but can they keep up that kind of offensive pressure enough to win this series? It can only help that they get to head home with some added confidence although they may be without their Captain’s presence on ice as Jamie Langenbrunner left the game at the tail end of the 2nd period with what has been reported as a lower body injury. New Jersey definitely not at the top of their game this time around, appeared to play soft and lack communication, so the fact that Carolina did not seal the deal before OT puts the Devils at an advantage going into game 3. Whatever ‘chatter’ is drowning out effective communication while NJ is out on the ice will need to be cleared if they want to win on Sunday.

St. Louis 0
Vancouver 3

Vancouver leads series 2-0
Thought it looked this way last night but needed another game to confirm – for whatever reason the Canucks are glowing – energetic wise. Shots on goal were St. Louis 30, Vancouver 27 and Vancouver’s 3rd goal was an empty netter - so it’s another win for them but not a convincing one to believe they will win this series – but their glowing aura is a different story and with Roberto Luongo in net, well St. Louis…good luck with that. Home ice advantage, dusting off the frustration that was visible on the team and coach, and not remaining stagnant in front of Luongo might yield a different outcome for the Blues in game 3, and for what it’s worth – game 4 is echoing as significant.