Somewhere, Ovi the Rainbow – Caps Look Good in NHL East

Frank Doyle weighs up the contenders in the NHL Eastern Conference.

The Eastern Conference looks like a straight fight – and I choose my words carefully – between Washington and Boston. Washington is the NHL betting favorite to win the East, +225 at time of writing, while Boston is fourth favorite at +450.

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are joint second favorites at +400 but the Pennsylvania teams have troubles. The Flyers have been awful since March and they’ll have to make a sharp turnaround to even get past Buffalo in the first round. Chris Pronger is injured and the Flyers never seem to be quite sure just whom they’ll put between the pipes. The Flyers are deep upfront but if you’re leaking goals as quickly as you’re scoring them that’s going to catch up with you sometime. Maybe not in Buffalo, but almost certainly in Boston or Washington.

As for Pittsburgh, Dan Bylsma is surely the leading contender for the Jack Adams trophy for getting the Penguins to the playoffs in the continuing absence of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Not only that, but the Penguins are also missing Matt Cooke for their first round series against the Lightning. Cooke is currently serving a long cheap shot suspension and there aren’t that many hands left to send to the pumps. Tampa Bay is a tempting bet for a first round upset at NHL odds of +115.

By contrast, Boston is what you imagine an ideal hockey team to be like – big, tough, strong, fast. Montreal is in grave danger of being swept in the first round, as the matchup is just awful for the small Habs. If someone does get by Boston, they’ll have the bruises to show they’ve been in a battle.

But for all the Bruins have going for them, Washington is a justified favorite. The Capitals are a bit uncertain as regards goalie, but they get stronger as you move out the ice. The defense, already good, will only get better when Mike Green returns, and Alex Ovechkin is the best player in the league while Crosby is still sidelined. Ovechkin hasn’t dominated this year, but they say that while form is temporary, class is permanent. Ovechkin can prove that by leading the Capitals to the Stanley Cup finals this year.

First Round:

Caps over Rangers

Lightning over Penguins

Flyers over Buffalo

Bruins over Habs

Semi-Finals:

Caps over Lightning

Bruins over Flyers

Finals:

Caps over Bruins