NHL: It’s Finally Playoff Time

While the regular season provided plenty of drama right up to the end, the real business of the NHL calendar kicks off tonight. The first set of first round playoff games get under way, with some huge match-ups to whet the appetite.

Early highlights
Phoenix and Detroit duelled in a seven game slugfest in last year’s first round. It was nothing short of epic and fans in both cities can expect more drama when they meet tonight in the first game of their 2011 playoff series. Last year the Red Wings came out on top but that counts for nothing tonight. The Coyotes know that winning one of the opening two road games in Detroit would give them a massive mental advantage in the series.

Over in the Eastern Conference, the Lightning head to Pittsburgh looking for respect. All the talk ahead of the first round season has centered around the health of Sidney Crosby. Tampa Bay will want to show the Penguins that they intend to be a factor in the NHL post-season and won’t go down without a fight.

The East’s top seed, Washington, enter the playoffs in an unusual position. Despite finishing at the top of the conference standings, there isn’t a lot expected out of this team. All the Capitals did this year was overcome a disastrous slump to finish with the best record in the Eastern Conference again. Oh and did I mention they also have the best player in the world in Alex Ovechkin. I expect the New York Rangers to find out just how good the Capitals are later tonight.

A big deal out West
We previewed Chicago and Vancouver’s series in more detail earlier in the week and with good reason. The Blackhawks’ battle with the Canucks promises to be the most fascinating of the first round. There’s even a clash of mullets on the cards when these two collide. The last game of the evening sees the Predators travel to Anaheim for a date with the Ducks. This series is arguably the lowest profile of the whole first round but don’t count out either of these well disciplined outfits.

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