In the first round, we were given multiple fantastic series. The Blackhawks put up a great fight against the top seeded Canucks and it took until overtime in game 7 for Vancouver to finish them off. Tampa Bay upset Pittsburgh in what was an exciting comeback in a series with a whole list of all stars playing (and not playing) in it. The Flyers were finally able to get past the Sabres after a game 6 and game 7 win. And who can forget about the Boston-Montreal series. The rivalry gave us another great chapter and Boston won it in 7 games in overtime. So great series AND there were 14 games that were decided in the sudden death frame.
Round 2? Well statistically there would had to have been less overtimes but there were still a few good games so far. But tonight's games (Sharks at Wings, Capitals at Lightning, Flyers at Boston) might cause some trouble for the NHL. The Sharks and the Bruins both lead their series 2-0 so if they win tonight they'll take an (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/sports/hockey/15flyers.html almost) insurmountable lead in their series. As for Tampa, they already maintain the dominant 3-0 lead and look to close out the series tonight on home ice.
If the Sharks, Bruins, and Lightning all win tonight, that would mean 3/4 of the second round series would pretty much be boring and meaningless to neutral hockey fans. So the NHL either needs A) for at least one team out of the Wings, Caps, and Flyers to win tonight. or B) Nashville makes a great series.
The Predators played all 3 games close so far and managed to even win one of them in double overtime. The other 2 games, they lost by one goal (one of them in overtime). So they can easily make this one interesting as the Cinderella-type, good defensive team looks to make an upset on the big high scoring powerhouse that is Vancouver. I wouldn't say you should expect the refs to make some bad calls on the favorites to make it interesting but I'm just saying the NHL will be quietly routing for Nashville to come back in the series.
Round 2? Well statistically there would had to have been less overtimes but there were still a few good games so far. But tonight's games (Sharks at Wings, Capitals at Lightning, Flyers at Boston) might cause some trouble for the NHL. The Sharks and the Bruins both lead their series 2-0 so if they win tonight they'll take an (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/sports/hockey/15flyers.html almost) insurmountable lead in their series. As for Tampa, they already maintain the dominant 3-0 lead and look to close out the series tonight on home ice.
If the Sharks, Bruins, and Lightning all win tonight, that would mean 3/4 of the second round series would pretty much be boring and meaningless to neutral hockey fans. So the NHL either needs A) for at least one team out of the Wings, Caps, and Flyers to win tonight. or B) Nashville makes a great series.
The Predators played all 3 games close so far and managed to even win one of them in double overtime. The other 2 games, they lost by one goal (one of them in overtime). So they can easily make this one interesting as the Cinderella-type, good defensive team looks to make an upset on the big high scoring powerhouse that is Vancouver. I wouldn't say you should expect the refs to make some bad calls on the favorites to make it interesting but I'm just saying the NHL will be quietly routing for Nashville to come back in the series.
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