…but who between the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers will face off against them?
Boston currently leads the series 3-2 and have the chance to close it out tonight; making a head to head battle between the 6th and 8th seeds of the East…a very different match up than the West’s 1 and 2 seeds San Jose Sharks vs. Chicago Blackhawks…which starts this Sunday at 3 PM ET (I believe, this is via rumors).
Okay, so let’s break this down…strengths vs. strengths. I know I update my Tumblr a lot…I promise it’s because I’m studying and I really just don’t want to study, so Tumblr to me is the best procrastination device. Anywhoozles, on with it shall we?
San Jose Strengths
- Power line: Joe Pavelski, Devin Setoguchi, Ryan Clowe have been smashing through the series, scoring goals against Colorado’s Craig Anderson and Detroit’s Jimmy Howard. Hopefully they’ll be able to do the same against the rookie Antti Niemi.
- While the first line has seemingly been taking a vacation during this year’s playoffs, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton have decided to come out to play especially in the last couple of games against the Detroit Red Wings, saving us by sending us into-and finishing off-in overtime.
- Evgeni Nabokov has not seen rubber a lot since the Sharks have been doing a good job of keeping it in the opposite zone (with the exception of the Colorado series, and game 4 of the Detroit series when they scored on us 7-1) but other than that, he has played well for us all throughout the regular season, making monster saves where pressure was applied. Hopefully, he will be able to do the same against Chicago’s big three: Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Dustin Byfuglien <—dude, took me forever to figure out how to say his name.
Chicago strengths
- As mentioned above, Chicago’s Big Three: [Can you believe he’s 20??] Jonathan Toews…who is also their Captain! Good job lil one! Patrick Kane, and Dustin Byfuglien…who scored outstandingly against the Vancouver Canucks with a combined 11 goals…frustrating Mr. Bobby Luongo in the net.
- Defensemen: Brent Seabrook & Duncan Keith face off against the likes of Danny Boyle and Rob Blake…but San Jose has not been helping Nabby as well as he would have liked. And if there’s anything I’ve observed, it’s that SJ DMen need to step it up against left wings Kris Versteeg & Patrick Sharp…cuz they comin’ with a vengeance!
All in all, I may be biased, but I predict a full 7 game series between these two teams with San Jose advancing to the finals. While Chicago had the better regular season, it was San Jose that came out on top (sliding by by a mere one point). Nevertheless, I doubt the stats even come CLOSE to illustrating the craziness that’s about to hit the ice this Sunday. I personally can’t wait. May the better team win!
Um, okay, that’s all I got for now. I should probably get back to studying.
