#7 Seed Vs. #8 Seed
Analysis: This series kicks off Sunday in Philadelphia and features the 7th seeded Flyers against the 8th seeded Canadiens from Montreal. This is the first time in the history of the NHL that the two lowest seeds have met for the Eastern conference championship. Both of these teams basically didn’t even make the playoffs until the last day of league play, so considering how far they have made it and who they have eliminated it is quite amazing that we even have this matchup. While what Montreal has been doing has been amazing nothing compares to what the Flyers just accomplished. Everyone knows a hot goaltender can take you places in the playoffs and that is exactly what Jaroslav Halak has done. Meanwhile Philly was down 3 to 0 in their series against Boston and 3 to 0 in game 7 and arguably accomplished the greatest comeback in the history of professional sports. Simon Gagne was a major spark for Philly when he returned from injury and will continue to be in this series. Mike Richards has been leading the way for Philly all playoffs and I just don’t see him slowing down against the Canadiens. Look for Daniel Briere and Claude Giroux to continue to put up points for Philly. On Montreal the offensive force has been from two main players Michael Cammalleri and Brian Gionta. Philadelphia is very confidant with their top 4 defence and I definitely see Pronger playing huge minutes in a shut down role against Montreal’s scorers. Watch for Pronger to put up a few offensive points as well. On defence for Montreal the story has been about Hal Gill and P.K. Subban who both have played excellent up to this point. Having Brain Boucher go down to injury kind of scares me for Philly’s goaltending but Leighton has come in and shown he has got what it takes. I’ll be watching to see how Carcillo and Asham get under the skin of the smaller Montreal players by using their physical presence and this is a battle that could definitely help decide the series.
Prediction: Montreal has been outshot in every one of their post season wins, this trend is a very dangerous one and I think that this is the series where it gets exposed. For some reason Pronger always has a knack of showing up in the Stanley Cup Finals and I think he will do it again this season. Both teams have had amazing stories during their run, but unfortunately for all the Canadiens and their fans I’m going with PHILADELPHIA IN 6
Key Players: Philadelphia: Pronger, Richards, Briere, Gagne, Giroux, Carcillo, And Leighton. Montreal: Cammalleri, Gionta, Gill, Subban, Halak.
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