Philly beat Washington in overtime in tonight’s game 7 to win the first round and advance, ending the Caps’ Cinderella-like late season run in the process. The game was won on the powerplay after a controversial penalty call that really raises serious questions about the quality of the officiating in the playoffs in general. I feel like Ovechkin, the clear NHL MVP, deserved better… not to mention Semin, Green, Federov and – oh yeah – Cristobal Huet. But that’s hockey, and the Caps go home and the Flyers move on.
That means we’ll be taking on the Flyers in Round 2. As much as it would have been fun to see an Ovechkin-Crosby matchup, it’s probably good news for us that we will be taking on the Flyers, against whom we went 4-0 this season, instead of the Rangers. Despite our historic comeback win against the Rangers in February, they’re a tough team to beat. Besides, let the Pens deal with Avery’s Antics.
Of course, the Flyers won’t exactly be a cakewalk. They play a hard physical style of hockey, and the series with the Bruins should teach us exactly what a season sweep of a team is worth in the playoffs: not much. But I believe we can do it. I have faith in these guys.
With Calgary’s game 7 elimination tonight at the hands of the San Jose Sharks, Montreal is now the only remaining Canadian team in the playoffs. The eyes of the nation (including plenty of green eyes in Toronto) will now turn to Montreal to keep the dream alive of finally bringing the Stanley Cup home to Canada where it belongs, after 15 long years. No pressure, eh?
Go Habs Go!