08 Apr '04 - + 71 - 51 Day One - the Underdogs
Looking over my predictions this morning, I noticed that I picked the
higher seed in every matchup but one - Dallas at Colorado. Didn't
exactly go out on a limb, did I?
One day into the playoffs and we have four victories for four
favorites. But it's not time for the underdogs to panic. Not yet.
There's still another game to steal home ice advantage before coming
home for two games.
That doesn't apply to
Nashville,
of course. They don't need to panic for a different reason - nobody,
including their fans, expected them to make it out of this round
anyway. They led the game last night 1-0 for two full periods before
the Red Wings realized the game had started; hopefully they got their
fill of what a series lead tastes like. They won't get another.
The highlight of the Wings-Predators game was the final goal for
Detroit, scored by Robert Lang, who pulled an absolutely sick move on
Vokoun to ice the game. Just beautiful.
Dallas might be tempted to panic. Last night they were
thoroughly outmatched by the Avalanche, who looked more like a solid
team than they have all year. And Aebischer, while not tested too
harshly by the lackluster Dallas offense, had to have gained some
confidence with his performance. Very few rebounds, good poise and
positioning, and even a little bit of Roy-style showmanship made for a
great night. Expect him to remember that and not the ridiculously soft
goal he let Niko Kapanen put past him.
But the real story of that game was the forwards for both teams. Mike
Modano continues to be snakebit, failing to convert on several
opportunities. Val Bure looked great, but the rest of the Dallas
forwards looked flat and lifeless compared to the Avalanche's group.
It's easy to point to the goals by Sakic, Forsberg, and Tanguay, but
the truth is that Sakic and Forsberg had great games even without the
goals they contributed. The top two lines may very well be all Colorado
needs to win this series, especially on home ice where they get to pick
the matchups.
All the same, Dallas on home ice is a different story. The Stars will
try to steal the next one in Denver, of course. If they manage it, this
series shifts dramatically. If they don't, they still have two home
games to tie it up and make it a 3-game series. Don't panic yet, Stars
fans.
If there actually is a team that might need to panic, it's
Montreal.
The difference between the 3-1 loss Dallas suffered and the 3-0 loss
Montreal took is dramatic. The Canadiens are still wondering if they
can get one past Raycroft, and the word "shutout" will be repeated
three dozen times within the hearing of every player on the squad
before the next game. Like Colorado, the Bruins had a question mark in
goal. Like Aebischer, Raycroft responded admirably, stopping 31 shots.
Of course, it helps your goalie when you take an early lead and
absolutely shell the opposition in the first frame. The Canadiens were
outshot 23-9 in the first period - ouch. Still, the goal of any lower
seed in a playoff series is to win one of the first two, so the
Canadiens and the Stars just need to put these games behind them and
focus on Friday's games. Wins there and nobody will talk much about
Wednesday.
Calgary is probably thinking the same thing. And they're
right, but their focus is going to be in a different direction. While
Dallas and Montreal will be focusing on getting more scoring chances,
Calgary will be thinking more about tightening up their defense and
discipline after letting Vancouver's horrid power play score four goals
in one game.
Five-on-five, this game was close, and Calgary actually came back to
tie up the game after a two-goal deficit. But Kiprusoff did not look
like a record-setting goaltender when called upon to pull the Flames
out of penalty trouble. And Vancouver did not look like a team missing
a key player, either, which spells trouble for the Flames. They'll need
Kiprusoff to show up big in Friday's contest if they expect to come
back in this series.