NHL Playoff Recap from the Ranger Reporter

We're having a little technical difficulties this morning, so I am posting this for Ranger Reporter.....

Okay so I know that you all come down to Blueshirt Banter to read about Ranger news, but we are technically an NHL blog so were going to do some playoff updates. The Rangers aren't the only ones in the playoffs ya' know!

San Jose-Anaheim (Anaheim leads series 2-1): Probably the biggest shock in these NHL playoffs. San Jose, the 1 seed and the best team in the NHL, lost both games at home to a team that barley made the playoffs. The reason why this is so surprising is because San Jose simply had no glaring holes in the regular season. But all of a sudden Evgeni Nabokov is getting out played by Jonas Hiller, and Hiller has a shutout. San Jose seems to have caught Rangeritis in which they can't score, and their power play looks terrible. Well that's why we play the games huh? Check out Fear the Fin for San Jose information and Battle of California for more Duck information.

Detroit-Columbus (Detroit leads series 3-0): No surprise here, although I really wished that Columbus would have done better in their first playoff appearance. Rick Nash has no points in his two playoff games, and he is a minus two. Detroit on the other hand is having a ball and is walking all over Detroit. They won today 4-1 and now have a strangle hold on the series. Check out Winging it in Motown for more Detroit information and The Cannon for more Columbus information.

Vancouver-St. Louis (Vancouver leads series 3-0): So Matts Sundin huh? This was a series that I had high hopes for but it hasn't been going as planned. St. Louis is just overwhelmed by Vancouver and whenever St. Louis breaks through the defense Luongo has been there to shut them down. I feel bad because St. Louis is a great hockey city and their fans deserved more but alas it's the playoffs it isn't always fair. Look into Nucks misconduct for more Vancouver information and St. Louis game time for more St. Louis information.

Chicago-Calgary (Chicago leads series 2-1): I am keeping a close eye on this one because its Jokinen's first playoff series. Well I am sorry to say that he has kinda been a disappointment, only notching two assists in three games. Regardless Calgary won at home last night and if they win again they might be able to turn that series around. Don't forget that most of that team was in the Stanley Cup in 04 (in which they lost to Tortorella's lightning) so they have tons of playoff experience. This series could get very interesting. Go to Second City Hockey for more Chicago information and Matchsticks and gasoline for more Calgary information. How cool is the Flames blog name by the way?

Boston-Montreal (Boston leads series 3-0): Not going to lie I expected Boston to win this one in 5 but I also expected Montreal to put up more of a fight. Instead they have gotten run over all series and look more like the Islanders than the Canadians. Expect the Bruins to romp the Canadians in game 4 and become the first team to get into the second round. Mosey on over to Stanley Cup of Chowder for more Bruins information and Habs Eyes on the Prize for more Canadians' information.

Washington-New York (New York leads series 2-1): Do I really have to re-cap this? Come on now. Visit my blog or stay here if you need one! :-) If you wanna look at Capital stuff go to Japers Rink.

 New Jersey-Carolina (Series tied 2-2): Carolina just pulled one out of their hat in game 4. After blowing a 3-0 lead in the third Jussi Jokinen scored with one, that's right one, second left to take the lead for good. This series is interesting because both teams split their home series and every game since the first one has come down to the wire. If Carolina wouldn't have scored with one second left this would have been the third straight game to go into OT. Talk about close huh! Run over to In Lou We Trust for Devil information and Canes Country for more Hurricane information.

Pittsburgh-Philadelphia (Pittsburgh leads series 3-1): I really thought that Philadelphia would pick it up after they won convincingly in game 3. But the Penguins are a really great hockey team and are just overworking the Flyers, who are more worried about the physical play than the skill play. Physicality goes a long way but at the end of the day you need to score more goals than the other team. Look to see what happens here but I don't think Philadelphia has much more in the tank. Flop on up to Broad Street Hockey for more Flyer's information and Pensburgh for more Penguins information.

And that about wraps it up for the rest of the NHL.