Eastern Conference Semi Final Previews

Well people, we have made it to round 2 - Conference Semi Finals. Here is my low down on the match ups and my predictions for them.

First though, im going to look back at my original predictions and see how badly i did with my 1st round assumptions!! My predictions in black, the actual result in red!!

Flyers v Sabres                  4-3     4-3
Caps v Rangers                 4-2     4-1
Penguins v Lightning          2-4     3-4
Bruins v Canadiens            4-1     4-3

Redwings v Coyotes          4-2     4-0
Sharks v Kings                  4-2     4-2
Canucks v Blackhawks     4-1     4-3
Ducks v Predators            4-0     2-4

Looking back at that now, i am quite chuffed with my predictions, calling 7/8 winners and getting 2 spot on.
So here we go for the Confernce Semi Finals!

Washington Capitals (1) v (5) Tampa Bay Lightning

The Capitals have had a nice break since finishing off their Series v New York early. Can they come into game 1 of this series with a spring in their step and continue where they left off against the Rangers?
Tampa Bay are going to provide a much different test to what the Caps faced in round 1. They have more going forward than the Rangers do and this will prove a sterner test of Washington's defence and in particular, netminder Neuvirth. That Washington defence was the key to get through the 1st round as they struggled themselves to find offence at times and they will need the likes of Backstrom and Ovechkin to up their game another level. Ovechkin had moments in the Rangers series but the Caps will be looking for a lot more of them this time round.
Tampa Bay are coming off a physically draining game 7 against the Penguins but will be hoping that the momentum they have gained staving off elimintion 3 games running will carry through to the start of this series.
I have said from the start of the playoffs that i don't rate Roloson as a netminder. He seems to concede too many soft goals for me at times and isn't a Lundqvist, Miller or Price in my eyes. Boy, he proved me wrong in that game 7. I don't think he gave up a bad rebound all night and when the puck did bounce off him there were 4 Lightning players next to him to clear it. Tampa Bay showed they can play defensive hockey when needed as well as go out and blitz teams with their potent attacking players. If they can put these 2 elements together for 4 of the next 7 games they could be heading through to the Eastern Conference finals.

My predicton is they will be able to do this, Lightning to take the series 4-2.

Philadelphia Flyers (2) v (3) Boston Bruins

Ladies and Gentlemen, here it is, the series you all wanted. The Bruins have the chance for sweet, sweet revenge on the Flyers after they blew a series lead of 3-0 and a game 7 lead of 3-0 last year against them.
Boston will certainly not be wanting to repeat that performance.
Both teams were taken the distance in the first round with Philadelphia comfortably winning their game 7 with Buffalo, despite being 3-2 down in the series. Boston had it a bit tougher, only getting by after overtime in their game 7 against Montreal.
Boston will need to get their powerplay firing after failing to get a single goal on it against Montreal. They will surely be working on it before heading into game 1 here.
The Flyers will likely start with Boucher in net after he had a decent performance in game 7 against the Sabres but don't expect him to be in for every game if things aren't going the Flyers way. Im wondering ho many more netminders the Flyers have to call upon from the minor leagues if this series goes the way of the Bruins forwards.
Boston have the solid Tim Thomas and he will be their go to guy for all the games here. He is coming off the back of some standout performance agaisnt the Canadiens and is in good form this playoffs so far.
Expect this to be a tough battle, both teams have size in their roster and both hit hard. There is also that revenge element for the Bruins so expect it to get ugly at times.

A tough series to call this one, both will be worthy Eastern Conference Finalists if they make it through. I think the Flyers might just nudge this. They have the home ice advantage and finally some of their star players woke up in game 7 and they might now carry this through. Expect the Bruins to take it to a game 7 though.
Flyers 4 v 3 Bruins