Thursday May 7 7pm
A couple of teams in unfamiliar territory -- the Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals -- open their Eastern Conference semifinal series tonight at the MCI Center.
The Senators became the third No. 8 seed in five years to win a conference quarterfinal series when they thoroughly outplayed the New Jersey Devils over six games. It was the first victory in a playoff series for the Senators, who just two years ago owned hockey's worst record.
The Capitals exorcised a host of postseason demons in knocking off the Boston Bruins in six games. They won a pair of overtime games, including the clincher on Brian Bellows' goal, after losing eight straight playoff overtime contests.
Washington has reached the conference finals just once in its 24-year history, getting swept by Boston in 1990.
If Olaf Kolzig plays anything like he did in the first round, the Senators could be in trouble. The Bruins outshot the Capitals, 239-160, but Kolzig posted a stellar .946 save percentage.
Of major concern to Washington is the status of right wing Peter Bondra. After sharing the league lead with 52 goals during the regular season, he suffered an ankle injury in Game One and missed three games before returning for the clincher. A healthy Bondra gives the Capitals the type of weapon Ottawa did not face against New Jersey.
Ottawa has ridden stellar defensive play, timely goal-scoring and the often spectacular goaltending of Damian Rhodes into the semifinals. Bruce Gardiner and Alexei Yashin scored overtime winners and Rhodes limited New Jersey to 11 goals and an empty-net tally in six games.
Rhodes will try to continue his success against Washington, a team he faced for only 37 minutes during the regular season. That's because the Senators' other goaltender, Ron Tugnutt, has virtually owned the Capitals, allowing only eight goals in as many meetings with Washington and winning seven of them.
Ottawa was 3-0 at home in the quarterfinals and 3-0 when leading after two periods. Washington, meanwhile, lost two of three at home but carried leads into the third period five times, winning four.
The Senators went 3-1 against the Caps during the regular season, allowing just five goals.
Washington hosts Game Two on Saturday.
#6 BUFFALO SABERS vs #7 MONTREAL CANADIENS
Friday May 8 7:30pm
Armed with the game's best goaltender, the Buffalo Sabres open their Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Montreal Canadiens, who are coming off an upset of their own.
Hasek was very good in Buffalo's opening-round victory over Philadelphia but can play even better. He stopped all but nine of 176 shots and posted a 1.77 goals-against average, but the Sabres thoroughly outplayed the favored Flyers.
If Hasek, who won a playoff series for the first time in his career, decides to crank it up, he could lead Buffalo to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 23 years.
Veteran Andy Moog will oppose Hasek. Moog has 68 career playoff wins and is one of five Canadiens with Stanley Cup rings.
It's easy to say Buffalo will go as far as Hasek will take it, but the Sabres enjoyed remarkable offensive success against Philadelphia, scoring 18 goals in five games after averaging just 2.57 per game during the regular season. Even more impressive was Buffalo's power play, which clicked at 29 percent (9-for-31) in the first round.
Ten different players scored goals for Buffalo in the first round and first-year coach Lindy Ruff will need production like that against Montreal if the Sabres are to advance to the conference finals for the first time since 1980. Ruff, who played for Buffalo 18 years ago, could use more offense from Derek Plante, who managed two assists against the Flyers and collected only three goals and four assists in the final two months of the regular season.
As they did in the Sabres-Flyers series, special teams could go a long way in determining who reaches the conference finals. During the regular season, Montreal killed 23 of 24 Buffalo power plays. And against Pittsburgh, the Canadiens killed all but four of 33 power plays.
Montreal surpised the second-seeded Penguins in six games for their first victory in a playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup in 1993.
The Sabres and Canadiens have met six times in the playoffs with Montreal winning four of those series, including each of the last three. Buffalo's last postseason victory over the Habs came in the 1983 Adams Division semifinals.
Buffalo hosts Game Two on Sunday afternoon.
