Round 1: Sunday, April 26

Washington 5 : New York 3

Series tied 3-3
Wonder how the view was from up high for Coach Tortorella? Things are not looking good for the Rangers – the team seems freaked out and who knows if they can recover from their mindset taking a complete nosedive. The three Ranger’s wins were all by one goal, the three Capital’s wins were by 4,4,2 goals. In six games, Washington has scored 17 goals, Rangers 10. It would be easy to assert the advantage goes to Washington but the Rangers are now where they were at the beginning of the series – with nothing to lose therefore advantage goes to the Rangers, despite the thought that Washington would go farther in the playoffs than New York and that as a team, Ranger’s energy could be better spent undergoing a team overhaul rather than vying for a Cup they will not win this year…conserving energy now so that it can be expended at a later date. The worst thing we could see is the Caps taking an early lead and the Rangers completely imploding. But for now, more turnovers New York and stay the h-e double hockey sticks out of the sin bin.

New Jersey 0 : Carolina 4

Series tied 3-3
Wowee. Martin Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist seemed to be playing on the same wavelength in their respective games today/tonight – regressive. Going into game 7 this series is incredibly close. Three wins by Carolina were by 1,1,4 goals – for New Jersey their 3 wins were by 3,1,1 goals. In 6 games New Jersey has scored 12 goals, Carolina 13. And both teams have each won 1 game overtime and have each won 2 games at home and 1 away. As much as I think Carolina has played better as a team, home ice performance may help the Devils eke out a win on Tuesday night. However, the biggest threat to Carolina is one dude in the net. Time to flip a coin.