Capital Offense.....

Kudos to me for going 4 for 4 in picking the NHL Western Conference Quarterfinals after the Red Wings defeated the Coyotes in Game 7 of their series Tuesday night. I see no reason to change my picks concerning the Western Semifinals, even though some others are joining the Detroit bandwagon, and think we are headed for a Chicago / San Jose conference final.

As for the Eastern Quarterfinals, let's just say my picks will not win any awards, but I'm not sure anyone saw these results coming as the top 3 seeds were knocked out in the first round. The three regular division winners are gone and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins are now in the position of home ice advantage for the next two rounds.

I picked Pittsburgh to come out of the east and I see no reason to change that pick and they will handle the upset minded Montreal Canadiens. As for the Boston / Philadelphia series, the most surprising stat to me coming into this matchup is that they have not faced each other in the playoffs since 1978. Both teams are playing like they were predicted to prior to the season starting, but I think the Bruins are a little better and have home ice, so I see Boston moving on to the conference finals.

But the real story so far of these playoffs is the collapse of the Washington Capitals against the eighth seeded Canadiens. Not only did the Presidents Trophy winner lose in the first round, but they became the first #1 seed to ever lose a first round matchup by squandering a three games to one lead in the series.

The hero for Montreal was goaltender Jaroslav Halak, but for as good as he was, the Capitals were just as bad. Some will point to their 1 for 33 performance on the power play in the series, but for me the change came after the first period in game 5 when the Capitals seemed to go from a team getting ready to advance, to one not looking to get upset.

Washington came into the fifth game after battering the Canadien goaltenders for 11 goals in the two games in Montreal, but after a first period where the Canadiens scored twice while the Capitals were stopped on all 15 shot attempts by Halak, they seemed to start getting nervous. Then after only one goal on their next 23 shots, the teams were going back to Canada and the Canadiens seemed to be given life.

Games six and seven were exhibitions of great goaltending by Halak and the squeezing of sticks by the Capitals. After each save, the Capitals seemed to grip their sticks tighter and tighter. When the dust had settled, Halak and Montreal were advancing and Washington was left to ask, "What went wrong?"

Most thought Washington had that burning to advance further in this year's playoffs after being ousted by the Penguins last year in a great series. Now, Sidney Crosby and the Penguins get the chance to not only defend The Cup, but in the process beat the team that upset the Capitals. Score another one for "Sid the Kid" over "Alexander the Great".