EASTERN QUARTER-FINALS
GAME DAY PREVIEWS
GAME 1:
#1 NEW JERSEY DEVILS vs #8 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Series Tied 0-0
Game time: Thursday April 22nd, 1999 7:30pm at New Jersey
The New Jersey Devils hope to avoid a third straight postseason disappointment when they host Jaromir Jagr and the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game One of an Eastern Conference quarterfinal series tonight.
The Devils, who have finished with the top record in the Eastern Conference each of the last three seasons, suffered a stunning first-round ousting at the hands of Ottawa last season. New Jersey was eliminated in the East semifinals by the rival New York Rangers two years ago.
All-Star goaltender Martin Brodeur led the league with 39 wins and figures to have more room for error this postseason as coach Robbie Ftorek has helped transform New Jersey from a dull, defense-first team to the No.2 scoring squad in the league.
The Devils, however, had better be focused on stopping Jagr, who won his third Art Ross Trophy after collecting a league-high 127 points, including 44 goals.
Jagr amassed three goals and five assists in five meetings with New Jersey, but the Devils won the last four games and outshot the Penguins, 130-75.
Coach Kevin Constantine will need production from the likes of Martin Straka, German Titov and Alexei Kovalev to help keep the Devils from focusing all their attention on Jagr.
Petr Sykora's 29 tallies lead four Devils with 20 or more goals. He also has a team-high 72 points.
Both are solid on the power play, The Devils rank fourth at 19.7 percent and the Penguins seventh at 17.9. However, New Jersey is 11th in penalty-killing, while the Penguins rank 23rd.
#2 OTTAWA SENATORS vs #7 BUFFALO SABRES
Series Tied 0-0
Game time: Wednesday April 21st, 1999 7pm at Ottawa
The Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators face off in Game One of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series tonight in what promises to be the tightest of all the first-round series.
All five regular-season meetings between the Northeast Division rivals went to overtime, with Ottawa winning one and the other four ending deadlocked. They became the first teams to go to overtime in all of their regular-season matchups since the NHL began using the five-minute extra period 15 years ago.
By anyone else's standards, Dominik Hasek of the Sabres enjoyed a superlative season. Despite missing 12 games due to a hernia, he was second in the league with a 1.87 goals-against average, recorded a career-best .937 save percentage and nine shutouts.
But "The Dominator" actually finished behind Ottawa's Ron Tugnutt, whose 1.79 GAA was the NHL's lowest in 27 years. Because he shared goaltending chores with Damian Rhodes, Tugnutt was not among the league leaders in wins. But he was second behind Hasek with a .925 save percentage.
Other than Hasek, the best player on the ice in this series will be Senators captain Alexei Yashin. He was sixth in the league with a team-record 94 points on 40 goals and 54 assists. After the two-time All-Star, the Senators' scoring dropoff is precipitous.
The Senators and Sabres are facing each other in the playoffs for the second time in three years. Buffalo defeated the Senators in the 1997 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, advancing on Derek Plante's overtime goal.
Buffalo is 0-2-4 in its last six trips to the Corel Centre, last winning there on March 1, 1997.
The series continues Friday in Ottawa before shifting to Buffalo for Game Three on Sunday.
#3 CAROLINA HURRICANES vs #6 BOSTON BRUINS
Series Tied 0-0
Game time: Thursday April 22nd, 1999 7:30pm at Carolina
The Carolina Hurricanes host the Boston Bruins tonight in Game One of an Eastern Conference quarterfinal series that probably should be played in Boston.
Thanks to the NHL's current seeding system, the Hurricanes enter tonight's series with home-ice advantage over the Bruins based on their first-place finish in the mediocre Southeast Division.
Boston, which went 17-6-4 over the final 27 games of the season to secure the sixth seed, finished with five more points than Carolina but was third behind Ottawa in the Northeast Divsion.
The Hurricanes return to the playoffs for the first time in seven years and captured their first division title since 1987 when they were the Hartford Whalers. The Bruins knocked the Whalers out of the playoffs in the first round in 1990 and 1991. Since then, however, Boston has had its share of trouble advancing past the opening round. Boston has not won a playoff series since 1994, including last season's six-game ousting to eventual Eastern Conference champion Washington.
Boston goaltender Byron Dafoe, a candidate for the Vezina Trophy, led the league with 10 shutouts this season. He was second with a .926 save percentage and tied for third with a 1.99 goals-against average.
The Hurricanes, who only won four of their last 15 games, will have Arturs Irbe between the pipes. Irbe signed as an unrestricted free agent, and ranked just behind Dafoe in save percentage (.923), going 27-20-12 with six shutouts and a 2.22 GAA.
Carolina captain Keith Primeau, the team's leading scorer with 30 goals and 32 assists, missed the last three games of the regular season while seeking treatment for lower back pain but should be ready to go tonight.
Ron Francis, another free-agent acquisition, had a career-low 52 points but did finish with a flurry. He collected eight goals and six assists over his last 15 games. Carolina features eight players with at least 13 goals.
Dmitri Khristich's 29 goals led five Bruins with at least 22 tallies.
The Bruins hope to finally win a Stanley Cup for defenseman Ray Bourque, a 20-year veteran and four-time Norris Trophy winner. He appeared in two Stanley Cup Finals, but the Bruins lost both times in Edmonton in 1988 and 1990.
#4 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS vs #5 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
Series Tied 0-0
Game time: Thursday April 22nd, 1999 7pm at Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers square off in the postseason for the first time since 1977 when they meet tonight in Game One of an Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. The Maple Leafs and Flyers met in the conference quarterfinals three straight seasons from 1975-77 with Philadelphia taking all three series, including a 4-0 sweep in the last encounter.
Toronto's home games back then were played in the legendary Maple Leaf Gardens, but tonight will be the first postseason game ever at the Air Canada Centre.
Philadelphia looked to enter the postseason as a strong contender for the Stanley Cup after a stretch of 24 games with only one loss during the season. But the Flyers went on a 12-game winless streak that spanned February and March and finished the campaign without home-ice advantage in the first round. The Flyers will be without leading scorer and team captain Eric Lindros, who continues to battle back from a collapsed lung and may not return until next season.
All-Star left wing John LeClair will have to pick up the slack left by Lindros. LeClair had three goals and five assists as Philadelphia took three of four regular-season meetings from Toronto. The Leafs' lone victory, however, snapped the Flyers' 15-game unbeaten streak.
Mats Sundin is Toronto's captain and leading scorer with 31 goals and 52 assists.
Toronto goaltender Curtis Joseph will have to be on his toes as the Maple Leafs defense allowed more goals than any other playoff team. Joseph, who led Edmonton to a first-round victory over the Colorado Avalanche last season, played in 62 games for Toronto and made an amazing 1,903 saves -- the second most in the league.
Philadelphia netminder John Vanbiesbrouck posted a 2.18 goals-against average. He was stellar in helping the Florida Panthers to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996.