EASTERN SEMI-FINALS
GAME DAY PREVIEWS
GAME 1:
#1 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS vs #7 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Series tied 0-0
Game time: Thursday April 27th, 2000 7:30pm at Philadelphia
The NHL's version of a dysfunctional family continues its playoff push as the Philadelphia Flyers take on the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The top-seeded Flyers ignored two potential distractions and needed only five games to eliminate the defending Eastern Conference champion Buffalo Sabres in the opening round.
After wresting the starting job from veteran John Vanbiesbrouck during the regular season, Philadelphia rookie Brian Boucher outplayed five-time Vezina Trophy winner Dominik Hasek with a shutout and a 1.58 goals-against average.
Interim coach Craig Ramsay also got offensive contributions from several sources as eight Flyers collected at least four points. Rookie Simon Gagne led the team with two goals and three assists.
Ramsay will remain behind the bench, even though coach Roger Neilson believes he is ready to return from cancer treatment. Neilson reluctantly agreed to serve as one of Ramsay's assistants and will work in the press box.
But on the eve of the second round, Neilson suggested the reason the team does not want him back so soon is his relationship with deposed Flyers captain Eric Lindros, who was stripped of his captaincy in March for criticizing the team's medical staff.
Lindros is still two weeks away from returning from his latest concussion.
Neilson later backed off that statement, calling it a joke. But the tension surrounding the Flyers' organization is palpable. After easing through the first round, it will be interesting to see how Philadelphia deals with any form of adversity.
A more immediate concern for the Flyers is how they deal with All-Star right wing Jaromir Jagr, who had three goals and seven assists as the Penguins surprised second-seeded Washington in five games in the first round.
Pulling opening-round upsets is nothing new for Pittsburgh, which toppled top-seeded New Jersey in the 1999 Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Winning in the second round, however, has not been as easy for the Penguins, whose last trip to the conference finals came in 1996.
Jagr has been a man on a mission in the playoffs, saying he hoped to duplicate owner Mario Lemieux's feat of bringing the Stanley Cup to Pittsburgh.
There is a lot of history for Jagr and the Penguins to surmount in their third postseason meeting with the Flyers. Pittsburgh needs at least one road win in the series but has lost its last 16 games in Philadelphia and is just 15-74-7 there all-time.
Jagr knows he will be a target in this series. In the Penguins' last trip to the First Union Center on March 26, he suffered a bruised upper back after a check by defenseman Dan McGillis. Asked how he expected the Flyers to play him, Jagr said, "Probably the same way they did all 16 games -- `Let's kill him, kill him, kill him.' That's all right."
Jagr had some help in the first round. Center Jan Hrdina is good on faceoffs and had four goals and three assists before missing the last two games with a pulled rib muscle. Defensemen Janne Laukkanen and Jiri Slegr combined for four goals and five assists and right wing Alexei Kovalev set up five goals.
Three Penguins who could play key roles in what is expected to be a physical series are hard-hitting defenseman Darius Kasparaitis and Bob Boughner and pugnacious right wing Matthew Barnaby.
Like Boucher, Pittsburgh goaltender Ron Tugnutt was solid in the first round. Acquired from Ottawa before the trade deadline, Tugnutt had a 1.58 GAA and a .950 save percentage against Washington.
The Penguins were disciplined in the first round, and they will have to be again. Philadelphia had the NHL's No. 2 power play during the season at 20.3 percent and kicked it up to 32.1 percent against Buffalo.
Pittsburgh's power play is not shabby at nearly 21 percent.
Hockey's "Battle of Pennsylvania" has been a lopsided one. The Flyers have won both previous playoff meetings and were 4-0-1 against the Pens during the regular season. In contrast, Pittsburgh had defeated Washington in three of the previous four postseason encounters and was 3-1 against the Caps during the season.
#3 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS vs #4 NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Series tied 0-0
Game time: Thursday April 27th, 2000 7pm at Toronto
Now that their first-round jinx is finally over, the New Jersey Devils can focus on the Toronto Maple Leafs as the teams battle Thursday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
After losing in the opening round in each of the past two seasons, New Jersey made easy work of the Florida Panthers, sweeping them in four games. Toronto made it to the semifinals by disposing of province-rival Ottawa in six games.
The series will pit two of the premier goaltenders of the 1990s, Toronto's Curtis Joseph and New Jersey's Martin Brodeur.
Brodeur shook off recent postseason disappointments and looked more like the goalie who backstopped New Jersey to the Stanley Cup championship in 1995. Against the Panthers, he allowed only six goals in four games and compiled a .942 save percentage.
Joseph was in typical postseason form with a 1.61 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage against the Senators, but it was a former Devil who helped Toronto reach the second round.
Relegated to a checking role for much of his three-year tenure in New Jersey, Steve Thomas is the Maple Leafs' leading playoff scorer with six goals and two assists. More importantly, he reversed Toronto's fortunes by scoring late in the third period of Game Five, then notching the overtime winner.
Captain Mats Sundin chipped in three goals and seven assists and, like Thomas, recorded an impressive plus-9 rating. He should see a lot of Devils defenseman Scott Stevens, who helped hold Florida's Pavel Bure to one goal in the four games.
Its first-round failures a thing of the past, New Jersey presents a more formidable challenge than Ottawa did. While the Devils and Senators employ systems that stress defense, New Jersey boasts more scoring threats.
Bolstered by the return of Scott Niedermayer, the Devils got five goals from defensemen and seven from forwards against Florida. During the season, however, one-third of their production came from the line of Patrik Elias, Petr Sykora and Jason Arnott, who combined for only two goals in the first round.
Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn would like to match that trio against defensemen Dimitri Yushkevich and Danny Markov, who held Ottawa's top line of Radek Bonk, Marian Hossa and Magnus Arvedson without a point.
But New Jersey is a deeper team. Scott Gomez is a favorite for the Calder Trophy after a 70-point season. Alexander Mogilny remains a threat from the right side and speedy rookie John Madden is a stellar penalty-killer.
Production from the likes of veterans Bobby Holik, Randy McKay and Claude Lemieux -- who combined for just five assists against Florida -- could pose matchup problems for Quinn.
Quinn got game-winning goals from four different players in the "Battle of Ontario." Thomas and Sundin were joined by sniper Sergei Berezin and tireless Darcy Tucker, who was acquired before the trade deadline from Tampa Bay and gives the Leafs a gritty edge they previously lacked.
Toronto will miss the faceoff skills of Yanic Perreault, who was injured in the first round, and needs more production from Igor Korolev and Dmitri Khristich. The Russian forwards managed just a goal and two assists against Ottawa.
New Jersey finished three points ahead of Toronto during the season, but the Maple Leafs will have home-ice advantage in this series after capturing their first division title in 37 years. Toronto went 3-0-1 against New Jersey this season.
Both teams struggled on the power play in the opening round. The Devils were 2-for-16, while Toronto was just 2-for-23. But New Jersey killed 13-of-14 power plays to rank second in the postseason.
The Leafs have presented problems for the Devils during Quinn's two-year tenure, going 5-1-2, including a 2-0-2 mark in New Jersey.