The Fifth Liners

Playoffs are here!!!! What a crazy six months it's been in the NHL, Boston and LA failed to make the playoffs and we gathered in Columbus to watch two teams of all-stars go to battle in the most offensive neon jerseys seen in recent years. On a positive note, Washington delivered a superb Winter Classic, Jamie Benn finished top of the points table and the Vancouver Canucks BEAT teams from warm places, IN warm places to make the playoffs; but that's for another post. Let's look at the East! 1. Montreal Canadiens Vs 4. Ottawa Senators The Habs have been dominant all season, finishing the regular season with a 50-22-10 record, thanks in no small part to a squad depth that any team would be enviable of. Having megastar netminder Carey Price guarding the net is the reason I think Montreal will take this series in four games. This takes nothing away from the good work the Sens have done this season, 99 points is very respectable, but the squad can't match the fire...

What time is it? Midnight. Whatever, no sleep until June! It's the playoffs. The Montreal Canadiens made the trip to sunny Tampa Bay to take on the Lighting in the opening game of the 13/14 playoffs. This is what happened: First Period Some playoff games are careful, guarded affairs. Some are out-and-out battles, this was definitely the latter. The Lightning took home-ice advantage by finishing the regular season one point better than the Habs. Former Red Wing Valtteri Filppula won the opening faceoff for the Bolts against Tomas Plekanec and the first period was played with the energy Lord Stanley's Cup commands. The opening 10 minutes gave plenty of shots and plenty of hits from both teams, pure end to end stuff. Both teams threatened to find net but Tampa were the first team to score. With just less than 10 minutes left on the clock in the first, Nikita Kucherov scored the first goal of the playoffs. J.T. Brown provided the assist. Montreal were not to be ...

It's that time of year.  Last week, a loss in overtime meant that you only took one point. This week it's a game lost that could see your team one step closer to elimination from the playoffs. 14 teams didn't even make it this far. Nobody expected in October that the Toronto Maple Leafs wouldn't be making a post-season appearance. Likewise nobody would have expected injury-ravaged Detroit to get as far as they have. Holding into a wildcard place while dressing half their AHL affiliate to replace experienced superstars. Some teams have cruised to the playoffs, as expected while other teams have surprised us all. Who would have thought that the Colorado Avalanche would have made it so easily? The Flyers had a dreadful start, but captain Claude Giroux turned the ship around. Now comes the NHL.com Bracket Challenge. A time for myself and Alex to go head to head. His insane hockey knowledge against my knack for predictions (dumb luck). Last season I predicted ...