Can the Bruins revenge on the Flyers? Can the Lighting keep up with the Caps?
And then there were eight: Eight teams were tossed aside in a terrific first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Ahead of Thursday night's opener between Nashville and Vancouver, sportsnet.ca columnists Mark Spector & Mike Brophy ask the 'Burning Questions' surrounding each series and outline players to watch before putting it on the line with their predictions.
Will the Philadelphia Flyers shaky goaltending prevent them from defeating the Boston Bruins?
At first blush you might be inclined to say, "Duh!" After all, how many teams make it out of the first round having pulled their goaltender three times in the series and, even worse, using three different stoppers? The Flyers did it. But upon further review, maybe Philadelphia's goaltending isn't as bad as even they think it is.
Brian Boucher, who ultimately won the deciding game against the Buffalo Sabres, ranks third in goals-against average (2.10) and fourth in save percentage (.934) after the first round. Not impressed? Well consider that Antti Niemi finished fifth in GAA (2.63) and sixth in SP (.923) in the playoffs last season while backstopping the Chicago Blackhawks to their first Stanley Cup championship since 1960-61. Boucher's current numbers trump Niemi's from a year ago, albeit through just one round. The Flyers have had shaky goaltending for so long that they have completely abandoned all patience in terms of allowing a goalie to play himself out of trouble.
Part of the problem is none of their goaltending triumvirate has ever established himself as a bona fide No. 1 NHL stopper. Not even Boucher who has only played as many as 45 games in a season once in his journeyman career. Even though it was Leighton who emerged as the team's No. 1 goalie in their run to the final last season, it is clear Boucher is the man now. But for how long?
How far can the Boston Bruins go without scoring on the power play?
Well, the Bruins dusted a pretty good team in the first round, the Montreal Canadiens, despite going 0-for-21 with the man advantage. It is highly unlikely they would be as fortunate in Round 2 against the Philadelphia Flyers if the trend continues.
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Who will win the best-of-seven series?
It was assumed when the Bruins acquired defenceman Tomas Kaberle from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the trade deadline that he would float countless feathered passes from the left point to big Zdeno Chara positioned at the right point for massive one-timers, but that has not developed. Although Chara has the hardest shot in the NHL, you'd never know it for the relatively few times he's able to unload it when his team is on the power play.
It's not as though the Bruins had a lethal power play in the regular season -- they ranked 20th with a 16.2 per cent success rate. However, against a team like Philadelphia which was shorthanded 31 times in the first round, (only Tampa Bay and Buffalo at 35 were shorthanded more often), scoring with the man advantage could decide the series in the Bruins favor.
Will the Bruins make amends for last season's playoff meltdown against the Flyers?
It won't be easy. The Bruins spent the entire season trying to forget blowing a 3-0 series lead and then a 3-0 lead in Game 7 against Philadelphia which made it to the Stanley Cup final. You don't soon live down such a massive collapse, but certainly defeating the team that embarrassed you a year later would help ease the pain.
Once again the Bruins face a team, the Flyers, that many picked to be the Eastern Conference representative in the Stanley Cup final prior to the start of the season. Boston stumbled out of the gate in the first round against Montreal, dropping the first two games, but demonstrated impressive comeback power winning the final two games to advance. The Flyers have been wildly inconsistent in the past month, finishing the regular season 3-4-3 in their final 10 games, and then falling behind 3-2 against Buffalo in the first round. However, many would agree when they are on top of their game they are one of the deepest and most talented teams in the league. Naturally a lot will depend on how their three-headed monster in net plays.
Player to watch: Danny Briere - Boston has trouble with speedy players and Briere fits the bill.
Philadelphia wins in 6.
Can Mike Green be a difference-maker for the Washington Capitals?
The 25-year-old scoring machine has been a flop when it came to playoff production over the past couple of seasons, largely due to the fact he continued to play although he was hampered by nagging injuries. This season, again battling injuries, Green averaged a point per game in the opening round with a goal and four assists. Also, he was plus-3. Two years ago Green managed one goal and nine points and was minus-5 in 14 playoff games while last season he was held to three assists as the Capitals were defeated in the opening round by Montreal in seven games.
The Capitals, as you surely know, have changed their style and now play a defence-first, conservative style, which means you don't see Green embarking on his wild end-to-end rushes as frequently as he once did. However, if he is able to maintain his point-per-game average, it will go a long way toward Washington meeting expectations of, at the very least, making it to the Stanley Cup final.
Can 41-year-old Dwayne Roloson continue his goaltending mastery in the playoffs?
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Who will win the best-of-seven series?
Why not? Roloson is one of the most competitive stoppers in the NHL and although age seems to have the deck stacked against him, you'd never know it by his performance through the first round when he led all goaltenders with a .949 save percentage and was second in goals-against average at 1.77. Much of the credit goes to the improved defensive play of the Lightning at the insistence of its rookie coach Guy Boucher.
Roloson is one of those goalies who don't seem to get too high when things are going well or too low when they aren't and that can have a calming affect on his teammates. Although the Lightning fell behind 3-1 in their series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Roloson shut the door in the final three games allowing just two goals in Games 5 and 6 and then shutting out the Pens in Game 7.
Player to watch: Martin St. Louis - The Hart Trophy nominee continued his great form in the first round with eight points. Lightning need more from St. Louis against the high-flying Caps.
Washington wins in 6.
