After a long year away, the Stanley Cup is back up for grabs again. It's been a season of surprises in the East where the Hurricanes, Sabres and Rangers all took gigantic steps up to leap back into the postseason.
Meanwhile, the defending '04 champion Lightning nearly became the first team since the '96 Devils to miss the playoffs the following season after winning a Cup. They'll begin their defense as tremendous underdogs against the conference's top seed Ottawa. The Senators are hoping that three years later with home ice gets them a round further to play for all the marbles.
The Devils enter on fire having set a new NHL record with 11 straight wins to conclude the season. Overcoming the largest deficit to win a division since the league split up into two conferences in 1974-75, they'll try to ride that momentum as far as it will take them.
The Flyers are hoping for the right formula in net and a healthy Peter Forsberg. If either falters, it will be 31 years and counting since their last Cup. The Canadiens are lurking in the background and could spoil the party for the upstart Hurricanes.
So, who has what it takes to come out of the East?
EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND MATCH-UPS
(1) Ottawa vs (8) Tampa Bay
Analysis: The Senators once again had a great season and seem on the cusp of winning it all. With Martin Havlat healthy again along with Zdeno Chara and Wade Redden to go with lethal scorers Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley, they should have too much fire power for Tampa Bay. Though the Lightning can match them up front with Brad Richards, Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Vaclav Prospal and Fredrik Modin, their overly aggressive game should give a skilled team like Ottawa too many odd-man rushes. Ottawa's D is far superior. Even with rookie Ray Emery in net, they should make quick work of either John Grahame or Sean Burke.
Prediction: Senators in five
(2) Carolina vs (7) Montreal
Analysis: Led by the emergence of Erik Staal, the Hurricanes surprised many by not just making the postseason for the first time in four years but by challenging for the conference's top seed. In order to get through the dangerous Canadiens, they'll need Cory Stillman, Rod Brind'Amour and Justin Williams to continue their big seasons while Doug Weight and Mark Recchi must contribute. If they had Erik Cole, this would be much easier to call. The goaltending edge goes to the Canadiens due to how well Cristobal Huet has played. Martin Gerber has been solid for Carolina. If Montreal gets big performances from Huet, Alexei Kovalev, Saku Koivu, Mike Ribeiro and Chris Higgins, they could pull the upset.
Prediction: Canadiens in six
(3) Devils vs (6) Rangers
Analysis: If the Devils contain Jaromir Jagr and Martin Brodeur is sharp, they should prevail. The Rangers have been unable to slow down Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez recently. Given their recent struggles in all facets, this is probably not the best match-up to get well in. Patrik Elias is all the way back and Jamie Langenbrunner is a scoring threat again. Unless Henrik Lundqvist stands on his head and Jagr's line gets support from Petr Prucha, Petr Sykora and a contribution from an unlikely source, this could be over quickly.
Prediction: Devils in five
(4) Sabres vs (5) Flyers
Analysis: The East's other big surprise, the Sabres finished with 110 points. Under the radar all season, they're a threat to make some real noise. They'll have to get through a tough Flyer team first. The speed of Maxim Afinogenov, Daniel Briere, Tim Connolly and Ales Kotalik will give the Flyers D fits. If it's called tightly, that favors Buffalo. If not, the Flyers will try to pound them into submission. Simon Gagne, Mike Knuble, Michal Handzus and a trio of impressive rookies Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and R. J. Umberger gives the Flyers a shot. But in order to win, they'll need blueliner Joni Pitkanen to come up big along with netminder Robert Esche. Buffalo rookie Ryan Miller rebounded well from a tough stretch and should give them an edge. They also can fall back on Martin Biron. Unless Forsberg is healthy, advantage Sabres.
Prediction: Sabres in seven
EASTERN SEMIS: (1) Senators over (7) Canadiens in six
(3) Devils over (4) Sabres in seven
CONFERENCE FINAL: (3) Devils over (1) Senators in seven
Coming Next: Western Conference
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