Eastern Conference

(1)http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/nhl/teams/20080123/80x60/mon.gif
-VS-
(6)http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/nhl/teams/20080123/80x60/phi.gif



(2)http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/nhl/teams/20080123/80x60/pit.gif
-VS-
(5)http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/nhl/teams/20080123/80x60/nyr.gif






Western Conference

(1)http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/nhl/teams/20080123/80x60/det.gif
-VS-
(6)http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/nhl/teams/20080123/80x60/col.gif



(2)http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/nhl/teams/20080123/80x60/san.gif
-VS-
(5)http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/nhl/teams/20080123/80x60/dal.gif

Montreal is only a couple of minutes away from being down 3-0. They lucked out so far. Philly has been outplaying them like crazy.

The Sharks crack me up. They're so good in the regular season, and then they just feel like quitting in the second round.

Wings taking path of least resistance

by Ansar Khan Wednesday April 30, 2008, 3:01 AM



Short takes on the Wings' 4-3 win over Colorado Tuesday in Game 3:
The Wings are headed back to the Western Conference finals -- at least they will be, once they eliminate the Avalanche, either Thursday in Denver or Saturday back home. They'll be playing Dallas. There is zero chance that Colorado or San Jose can come back from 3-0 deficits.
Unlike last year, the Wings are taking an easier path to the final four, reducing wear and tear. Two short trips to Nashville and, it appears, only one trip to Denver, as opposed to two trips each to Calgary and San Jose last year. Also, it appears they'll need fewer games to get there, reducing the risk of injuries. As unlucky as the Wings were with injuries last year, they're getting all the breaks this year, facing two banged-up teams in Nashville and Colorado.
-- The Avalanche put up a decent fight Tuesday, considering they were missing four key forwards. Ryan Smyth didn't play because of a foot injury. Paul Stastny left in the first period with a knee injury. And they were already missing Wojtek Wolski and Marek Svatos. Plus, Peter Forsberg, out the last two games with a groin injury, couldn't have been close to full strength. He missed a big chunk of the first period.
-- Compare this year's top four on defense (Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall, Brad Stuart) with the top four they used in the Anaheim series last year (Lidstrom, Danny Markov, Chris Chelios, Andreas Lilja) and you can see how much better shape they're in this year.
-- Brett Lebda took a hard hit from behind by Ian Laperriere early in the first period and left the ice in a daze. He returned to make a nice pass on the goal by Johan Franzen that gave the Wings the lead for good.
-- A Wings Stanley Cup run wouldn't be complete without dispatching Joel Quenneville along the way. The Wings defeated a Quenneville-coached Blues team in 1997, '98 and 2002 on the way to the title.
-- The Wings are 13-1-1 vs. Colorado, including this series, since the end of the lockout in 2005.

I thought there were some interesting tidbits in there.

Dalls just went up 1-0 in the 2nd.

End this thing Dallas

ess jay tied it up.

I do NOT want to play ess jay

OhfuckinT

That save by Nabokov was ridiculous. I thought for sure "we" were seeing Dallas in the next round.

Save of the season there

It was. What a friggin game. 3rd OT now.

These guys have to be drained but you can't tell it by how they are playing.

One of the few perks of being in the Western Time Zones. I can watch this whole game.

This game is full of defense...there hasn't been a lot of good looks at the net. And whenever there is, the goalies have been there. This could go on for awhile

If this goes 4 or 5 OT's, I'm setting the over/under on the number of times we hear someone talking tommorrow about (radio, pti, around the horn, rome, articles, etc...) whether or not there should be shootouts in the playoffs at 100. And give me the over.

What a hit!

Man, I forgot this was in Dallas. That ice must be CRAP by now. Weren't there tons of complaints back in the day? I can't even imagine how it is after 115 minutes of hockey.

I get the feeling these guys could talk about the other guys mother right now and they wouldn't have the energy to fight.

BTW.. I just looked up the longest game in NHL history and of course its the Wings in a 6 OT affair in 1936. Detroit won the game 1-0

If this goes 4 or 5 OT's, I'm setting the over/under on the number of times we hear someone talking tommorrow about (radio, pti, around the horn, rome, articles, etc...) whether or not there should be shootouts in the playoffs at 100. And give me the over.

Just heard it and the game isn't over. It wasn't Engblom but the other guy.

1

I don't know when the series begins but I wish it started tomorrow morning.

Seriously, the Stars must need a week to recover from this one.

Advantage Detroit.

Thursday.


That sucks...

No third round thread yet, but here's an interesting poll on it:

http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/1098/stanleycuppollau9.png

I love watching the hitting at the begining of these series. Both teams trying to set the tone. 2 minutes and counting.

1-0 Wings!