The Pittsburgh Penguins completed the sweep and the only thing I can say about the elimination of the Carolina Hurricanes is that I’m grateful they’ve been put out of their misery.  They definitely battled hard in the first two rounds but they seemed to fall apart against the Pens in the Eastern Conference Finals.

image: Zuma Press

The Penguins enjoyed an easy 4-1 win over the Hurricanes with goals from Max Talbot (who also had two assists), Ruslan Fedotenko, Bill Guerin and Craig Adams (empty-netter).  Captain, Sidney Crosby had two assists and goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, stopped 30 shots on net.  In the end, Pittsburgh outscored the Hurricanes 20-9 in the series.

I think that this young team has one thing on its side now – experience.  They were in this position just a year ago and, hopefully, they learned something.

I really held my breath when they brought out the Eastern Conference Championship Trophy.  I wasn’t sure if they were going to touch it since it is considered bad luck.  In the end, Crosby bravely went right up to it and skated away with it.  “We didn’t touch it last year and things did not go the way we wanted to, so we switched it up,” Crosby said. “We know what we want.”

image: Zuma Press

With this series wrapped up, I’m guessing hockey fans will be watching what happens over in the Western Conference where the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Detroit Red Wings, are just one win away from eliminating the Chicago Blackhawks.

If the Red Wings succeed in taking the conference, it will be the first time two teams met again for a Stanley Cup rematch since the Edmonton Oilers and the New York Islanders battled in 1983 and 1984.

I lost my voice screaming and yelling during the Stanley Cup Finals last year and I’m ready to do it again.  I guess I better go stock up on ice cream and popsicles.

The teams who will compete in the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs have been decided and I’m extremely excited!  There are a few surprises (Montreal just squeaking in) and things that I’m truly happy about (Chicago, Columbus and St. Louis making the cut) but aside from that, it’s pretty much what most of us could have predicted a couple months ago.  I am disappointed, though, that Dallas wasn’t able to pull it together this season to push past their problems and get to the postseason.  Maybe next year…

Here are a list of the teams that made it:

Who do you think will take home Lord Stanley?  I think that the two teams leading each conference (Boston and San Jose) are going to be tough to beat so I wouldn’t be surprised if either of them won the finals (I think Boston might be a little more likely).  Still, the playoffs can be so unpredictable so it’s hard to tell…

image: NBCUMV

After losing to the Florida Panthers last night, the Ottawa Senators officially have no chance of making the Stanley Cup playoffs.

image: Newscom

The disappointing 5-2 loss, combined with the fact that the Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Blackhawks (4-1) meant that the Habs are a point ahead of the Sens and currently sit in the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.  “It’s not something that snuck up on us,” Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson said. “We’ve known this situation for a long time. Our focus hasn’t been only on trying to get into the playoffs, it’s been on turning things around, which we definitely have, and now it’s a matter of trying to keep our momentum and keep playing. Even though we didn’t win today, we did a lot of great things and we’ve got to keep that going until the end of the season.”

Rookie goaltender, Brian Elliott, made 17 saves and Ottawa coach, Cory Clouston, had the following to say: “There are a couple of goals he probably should have had, the second one and even the third one. Even though there was some traffic, he opened himself up and it just went right through him. He’s a young guy, still growing, still has things he has to overcome.”

The loss has got to be tough for the Sens since they did seem to be getting their game together recently and had won 10 out of 13 of their last games.  “It’s a very small margin sometimes,” Alfredsson said. “That was probably the heartbreaker for us.”

Tough break.

It’s been a while since a hockey fight made me laugh out loud but this scrap between Alexander Semin (Washington Capitals) and Marc Staal (New York Rangers) will make you crack up.  Staal manages to pull Semin’s jersey and pads off so you’ve got Semin with no sweater on, smacking (yes, smacking – not punching) Staal as he lay on the ice. 

Semin got a 10-minute misconduct, an automatic ejection and a 5-minute major for fighting.  It really was surprising because I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him in a fight and he played Staal’s back like it was a pair of bongos.  Too funny!

The New Jersey Devils were defeated at home by the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 6-5 loss yesterday, with Niklas Hagman scoring the game winning goal.

Andy Greene of the NJ Devlis made third star of the night, gaining three assists and Maple Leafs player, Matt Stajan made second star by scoring two goals last night. First star went to NJ left wing, Zach Parise, who scored a goal in the third period. There were some really great goals during this game. Thomas Kaberle’s was amazing!

Here’s the scoring summary:

• TOR: Stajan, M. (04:13 in 2nd), Stajan, M. (PPG, 05:31 in 2nd), Steen, A. (PPG, 07:31 in 2nd), Mayers, J. (09:15 in 3rd), Ponikarovsky, A. (PPG, 10:25 in 3rd)
• NJD: Clarkson, D. (02:32 in 1st), Zubrus, D. (07:04 in 1st), Langenbrunner, J. (09:14 in 2nd), White, C. (13:42 in 2nd), Parise, Z. (11:17 in 3rd)

image credit: TSN

*This post was written by Lauren Croteau, for Jeanne, who is away.

Even though the Pittsburgh Penguins easily won the series, I found it great to watch.  I wasn’t exactly crying in my soup when the Philadelphia Flyers were eliminated but, it was a decent run.  Watch the highlights from the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals:

Everything that has happened in the 2008 Western Conference Finals has happened in the Eastern Conference Finals - until now. 

While the Dallas Stars forced the Detroit Red Wings into a sixth game (later tonight), the Pittsburgh Penguins routed the Philadelphia Flyers with a crushing 6-0 win and eliminated them from the playoffs.  It’s the first time in 16 years that the Pens have advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The game seemed to belong to Pittsburgh right from the beginning (and it was the team’s 16th consecutive win on home ice!).  Ryan Malone opened scoring on a power-play early in the first and then the goals just kept on coming.  Here’s a summary:

PIT: Malone, R. (PPG, 02:30 in 1st), Malkin, E. (09:50 in 1st), Hossa, M. (08:24 in 2nd), Malone, R. (PPG, 11:42 in 2nd), Staal, J. (19:02 in 2nd), Dupuis, P. (04:03 in 3rd)

In the end, the Pens just outplayed the Flyers with Malone notching two goals and an assist, Marion Hossa tallying a goal and three assists and goaltender Marc-André Fleury stopping all 21 shots on goal.

Although Pittsburgh captain, Sidney Crosby, didn’t score any goals, he did get credited with two assists.  “We got a great start and we didn’t let our foot off the gas,” he said.  “We made sure that we kept coming. Everyone contributed and everyone bought into what we had to do. It’s a great game for us,” he added.

The Flyers are disappointed, I’m sure, but they should be really proud of themselves.  Last season, they had the worst record in the NHL and this year they made it to the Conference Finals.  That’s a huge accomplishment and I hope they realize that.

image provided by Newscom

Well, well, well… the similarities between the Eastern and Western Conference finals continue.  The Dallas Stars raged back to force the Detroit Red Wings to go to Game 5 and now so have the Philadelphia Flyers.  Before their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, I was wondering if this would be the outcome.  Just like the Stars, the Flyers were one game away from being swept and, all of a sudden, they turned on the magic.

In fact, for the first two periods, this game was all about Philly.  It looked like they totally took the Pens by surprise which is to be expected after the way they’ve been playing this series. 

Joffrey Lupul (Flyers) opened scoring at 08:27 in the first, Daniel Briere followed up with a power-play goal (11:48 in 1st) and then Jeff Carter (PPG)put Philly on the scoreboard for the third time within the first 20 minutes of the game!

Finally, in the third period, a hero emerged for Pittsburgh.  Jordan Staal, who had just returned from his grandfather’s funeral the day before, scored TWICE (the only two goals for the Pens!) in the third period (03:16 and 14:11).  Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough.  With less than a minute left in the game, Lupul scored once more for the Flyers and the deal was sealed.

The Pens and the Flyers will meet again in Game 5 on Sunday May 18, 2008.

image provided by Newscom

Oh. My. Gawd.  This is absolutely insane.  The Dallas Stars and now the Philadelphia Flyers are each one game away from being swept in the 2008 Western and Eastern Conference Finals, respectively.  I cannot even believe this.

Last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins VISITED the Philadelphia Flyers and dominated the game.  I was hoping that home ice advantage would work in the Flyers’ favor and make this a more exciting series but, instead, it was almost like it made the Pens stronger.  While Pittsburgh scored twice in the first and third (each), Philly scored once, halfway through the opening period and that was it - they were done.  What the hell???  Where is their fire?  I felt bad for the fans since the “Orange Crush” was in full effect - everyone was wearing team colors and showing support (okay, so they weren’t jerseys but still) but the team failed to show up.

I refuse to believe that Pittsburgh is just that good.  Have the Flyers been psyched out?  Are they distracted by the US presidential candidates?  Are the new jerseys too uncomfortable???  What the heck is wrong with the Flyers (and the Stars for that matter)???  Don’t you think it’s a bit shameful (I don’t care if you are a fan or not!) to make it to the third round and punk out like this? 

image provided by Newscom

The Pittsburgh Penguins currently have the best record of any team in the playoffs since the postseason began.  With last night’s 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pens have improved 10-1.  Since this is their second game (and second victory), they are halfway to winning the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals.  If I were Philly, I’d be very worried.

To be fair, the Flyers have been dealt a couple blows - they lost Kimmo Timonen to a blood clot before the start of the series, Braydon Coburn got knocked out of the lineup early in last night’s game after taking a puck to the face and the first two games have been played at the Pens’ Mellon Arena, where they have been hugely successful during the playoffs. 

Here’s the scoring summary:

PHI: Carter, J. (PPG, 05:46 in 2nd), Richards, M. (SHG, 19:36 in 2nd)

PIT: Crosby, S. (PPG, 10:48 in 1st), Hossa, M. (PPG, 13:43 in 2nd), Talbot, M. (08:51 in 3rd), Staal, J. (19:31 in 3rd)

The Penguins are really on a roll.  Maybe on home ice, the Flyers will be able to turn things around and make this series a bit more exciting because the only thing I’m finding interesting right now is how similarly the Eastern and Western Conference Finals are playing out.  Can you imagine how crazy it would be if the Pens went up against the Detroit Red Wings for the Stanley Cup?  It would be insane!

image provided by Newscom