Round 1 Continues: Thursday, April 23

Philadelphia 3 – Pittsburgh 0

Pittsburgh leads series 3-2
Great to see Martin Biron fly above radar this game which surely was a major factor in the game outcome. The Flyers distributed the weight of effort from line to line and came up with 3 even strength goals. The Penguins did not. I suppose commanding the Penguins to win wouldn’t be realistic so I’ll just have to root them on at the game and hope they bounce back like they did on Tuesday. The first 10 minutes of the game will say it all.

*Note to not all but too many Flyer fans going to the game…calling him Cindy Crosby is funny, calling him a pedophile is not.

Detroit 6 – Columbus 5

Detroit wins series 4-0
Overall this series was like Varsity scrimmaging JV. The Blue Jackets made history by their appearance in the playoffs and no one can say that they did not give their all in this round. Although it would have been wild to see the game go to OT, the end result would have been the same; Wings advancing to the 2nd round. Yes losing stinks however if you’re in it for the long haul, this is the way you want to lose – all out team effort and the standing ovation support of 18,889 fans.

Carolina 0 – New Jersey 1

New Jersey leads series 3-2
It was goalie against goalie this game and as predicted, Martin Brodeur composed himself and led his team to a shutout win…with only 1 goal…a deflection…on the power play. If Brodeur wasn’t in goal it could be a toss up but as long as he keeps his composure Carolina is going to have to come up with some serious strategy for getting the puck past him enough times to win 2 games.

San Jose 0 – Anaheim 4

Anaheim leads series 3-1
This is clearly a situation of Ducks impersonating Sharks. I suspect Anaheim is not going to give back the shark suits any time soon. San Jose seemed deflated since the beginning of this series and unable to gain any type of meaningful or lasting momentum. It must stink to work your butts off all season to rise to the top entering the playoffs only to fall down when taking the first playoff step…however the cool as cucumber attitudes I saw and heard in Shark interviews were a little baffling. Not that the players should have run around shouting ‘the sky is falling’, but some intensity in their words might have helped their internal process, which somewhere along the line broke down. Now it’s time to see if Anaheim knows how to cap off a series while in the underdog role.