Dump & Chase: Anybody's Cup?

Charlie Klein

These NHL playoffs have presented some quality entertainment for puckheads around the world. Each series through two games was tied at one game apiece. Teams like the Avalanche, Canadiens, and Predators that were given no chance to make any noise in the tournament all won the first game of their series on the road.

The Avs Sharks series has been particularly entertaining. For whatever reason the Sharks refuse to make things easy for themselves. Dan Boyle's own goal last night is a perfect encapsulation of the Sharks mentality for the past few years in the playoffs. They are their own worst enemy. It will not be the Colorado Avalanche that will knock them out of the playoffs, it will be the San Jose Sharks just being the San Jose Sharks.

Granted, it takes more than luck to stop 51 shots. Craig Anderson was simply outstanding. I cannot take anything away from his performance. The rest of his team, however, did not give him much help. The Avs only mustered 17 shots, none of which resulted in a goal. Ultimately I am not sure how long the Avalanche will be able to ride their luck. Over the course of a seven game series the team people expect to win usually does, and I still think that San Jose will win it.

The Washington Capitals have appeared to solve their issues between the pipes. Semyon Varlamov has played an excellent game tonight at Le Centre Belle making 26 stops on 27 shots from the Canadiens. It also helped that the Capitals played a much better game defensively. Having learned their lesson from the first two games of the series in which their defense conceded eight goals, the Capitals dominated the Canadiens 5-1 in Montreal. After an emotional roller coaster of a game Saturday night, most Caps fans out there will take an easy 5-1 win. It looks like the Capitals have woken up. Expect them to march on.

I cannot really say that the Zombie Jets Detroit Red Wings has been the greatest series, but it sure has been entertaining. As a life-long Red Wings hater, it does my heart some powerful good to see them lose. The last thing I want to see from this year's playoffs is Nik Lidstrom lifting another Stanley Cup. The Coyotes have shown why they were one of the best teams in the NHL, playing fantastic defense and getting just enough scoring to boast of a 2-1 series lead. Winning at the Joe, the heart of Hockeytown, is a very difficult feat to accomplish, but having already done it once last night I don't see why they cannot do it again. The absence of Chris Osgood has killed the Red Wings thus far as Jimmy Howard has been a major let down in goal. He will have to pick up his play or the Wings will be out of the playoffs in the blink of an eye.

The Boston Bruins Buffalo Sabres series has also been a great one. It looks like Tukka Rask has been able to match Ryan Miller kick save for kick save through the first three games. With the injury to Thomas Vanek, there remains a major doubt around the league as to who will be able to score for the Sabres. The underlying assumption that I made when I picked them to advance was that their goaltending would be superior to the Bruins'. But after three games, that does not appear to be the case. We could be in for an upset here folks. Tukka Rask was outstanding last night.

The Nashville Predators shocked everyone around hockey by beating the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center in game one. Pekka Rinne was simply outstanding and just erected a wall through which Patrick Kane & Co. could not shoot, aside from their one goal. Rinne played well in game two, but the rest of his team could not put a single puck behind Antti Niemi. As the saying goes, it is awfully tough to win games when you do not score. If Chicago can get the consistent goaltending that it needs, this will be a short series. If Niemi has an off-night, we have ourselves a series that could go the maximum of seven games.

Attention! Attention! We have an imposter in our midst! The Los Angeles Kings are not really a number six seed! They are one of the best teams in the Western Conference. Better than at least the fifth seeded Detroit Red Wings and through three games of their series with the Vancouver Canucks the Kings have proven to be the better team. Two of the first three games were decided in overtime, and last night's ought to have followed a similar path. The Kings had pretty much taken control of the game until Mikael Samuelsson brought the Canucks to within two goals in the last six minutes of the second period. And the Canucks started the third period by scoring what was originally ruled a goal by Daniel Sedin. His linemate Alex Burrows had the puck behind the net and attempted to stuff Jonathan Quick. The puck instead ricocheted off of the outside of Daniel Sedin's skate and into the goal. Upon a lengthy review (a review CBC play-by-play man Jim Hughson remarked felt like was longer than Avatar) the league official in Toronto overturned the call on the ice ruling that Sedin had used a distinct kicking motion to put the puck into the Kings net. Sedin showed some composure by scoring only 72 seconds later, bringing the Canucks back to within one. But his team's inability to stay out of the penalty box ended up ensuring a 5-3 win for the Kings. If Vancouver expects to advance far in these playoffs, it needs to understand the fine line between legal and illegal physicality. If not, they will be out of this series in five or six games, the Kings have been that good on the power play. Drew Doughty has proven to everyone that even at the age of 20 he is in the top three defensemen in the league. His play with the man advantage last night was outstanding.

I honestly do not have that much interest in the Philadelphia Flyers versus the New Jersey Devils series. It is probably because I do not like either team nor do I particularly enjoy watching their teams. The Devils ought to have gotten to Brian Boucher by now, considering they do have one of the nastiest forwards in the game in Ilya Kovalchuk. At best, Boucher was the Flyers third or fourth option in net this year, and he is the one minding the net for the team who is up 2-1 in this series. If the Devils are to advance Martin Brodeur has to carry them on his back. And he is still capable of doing that. But his play thus far has not hinted at such a capacity. Giving up eight goals in three games for a goalie who has the career of Brodeur is simply unacceptable. If the Devils lose tonight, this one's over.

Sidney Crosby has been an absolute beast through the first three games of the 2010 NHL Playoffs. He has seven points through three games, not to mention the fact that his play has started to drum up support for him to win the Selke (the award for best defensive forward in the NHL). What's more, the Senators do not have an answer for him defensively. The Sens have given up ten goals in three games, as the play of goaltender Brian Elliott just has not been what is required for a team with Stanley Cup ambitions. His play, as well as his defense's, will have to make a major improvement or else they are done. As I remarked at the beginning of the series, the Sens maybe have enough grit to grind out one win, but they do not have the talent to match the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Pens will win tonight, and the next game too.