2007 NHL Playoffs Recap and Predictions - May 2nd

1-2 last night. The Buffalo Sabres forgot to show up and ruined my predictions. Thanks Anaheim for a third period surge to keep me from an o'fer. Tonight both Detroit and New Jersey will attempt to tie their series at 2 games apiece.

Tonights Games :

New Jersey Devils (1) at Ottawa Senators (2) : The Devils have to come out swinging to even this series up in Ottawa. Brodeur played to expectations in Game 3 but the Devils forwards didn't give him any support. Expect the EGG line to push things tonight and regain their scoring touch as Martin Brodeur puts in a stellar performance to help the Devils even up the series.

Detroit Red Wings (1) at San Jose Sharks (2) : Tomas Holmstrom is expected to return tonight in San Jose which should help the Red Wings struggling power play. Detroit is 1-10 on the power play in this series and has lost two games by 1 goal. Change their power play conversion percentage to just 20% and the look of this series changes dramatically. Joe Thornton continues to be a major problem for Detroit but they need to focus more on generating their own offence tonight. Expect the Wings to knot this series up at two games apiece tonight.

Last Nights Recaps :

Buffalo Sabres 1 (2) at New York Rangers 2 (2) : Daniel Briere admitted that the disallowed goal in game 3 by Rangers defenseman Karel Rachunek should have been a goal and hoped that the NHL had not made a miscall two games in a row when they disallowed his game tying goal with 17 seconds left last night. Regardless, the Sabres played a lackluster first period in game 4 and despite 4 power plays in the second period (5 in the game) couldn't manage a single PP point in the game. The Sabres are only 3-25 on the power play in this series and they need to step it up if they expect to continue to round 3.

Anaheim Ducks 3 (3) at Vancouver Canucks 2 (1) : The Canucks found some offense early from their former stars in Brendan Morrison and Markus Naslund to take a 2-0 lead into the third period. Then the wheels came off. Anaheim got timely goals from Chris Pronger and Teemu Selanne in the third to allow Travis Moen to score the OT winner just 2:07 into the extra frame. Vancouver just can't seem to get their act together in this series and offense has been a major issue, just like it was in the regular season. Bye bye Vancouver, your going home Thursday night.


Round 2 Predictions:
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Players to Watch
NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Previews and Predictions

Round 1 Predictions:
Round 1 Playoff Predictions and Hot Players
Complete Playoff Predictions