by Jes

So, I was 4-for-4 in the 2nd Round while Greg was 2-for-4. Obviously, this makes me twice as good as Greg. HA!

In the 1st Round, Greg was 50% (4-for-8) and is 6-for-12 overall. Moi? I went 6-for-8 and am now 10-for-12 (83%).

You may now lick the jam from in between my toes.

Now, let's ramble about Round Three.
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I see a total lack of Cinderella teams, as all the semi-finalists are strong contenders for the cup with very deep rosters and a lot of talent. It's been awhile since we could say that.

Buffalo vs. Ottawa

Two high-powered offensive squads go head-to-head in what should be a fun series to watch.

Ray Emery has not been bad for the Senators, but his 91.9SV% is actually the lowest, by far, of the Final Four goalies. Ryan Miller has been spectacular thus far, and has answered the critics with strong play against some offensively talented Islanders and Rangers squads.

The Senators have been relying heavily on the Heatley-Alfredsson-Spezza trio, while the Sabres have spread out their scoring like a good peanut butter. If the Sabres can hold off the Sens' top line, they'll be well on their way back to the Finals.

One point against the Sabres is their woeful 79.6 PK% in the playoffs. They weren't all that good during the regular season, either. The Sens have the 2nd best playoff PP% at 22.7%.

While the Sens have played like a steamroller, the Sabres have looked rather shaky, despite the fact they've lost only 3 games. There is always the though that the Sabres could play better, but it could be just the fact that their team isn't packed with the same defensive presence up front that other teams have.

Prediction: Senators in 7. I'm going Canadian.

Detroit vs. Anaheim

Two very nice contrasts: the mechanical, finesse, euro-heavy Red Wings vs. the crash-and-bang, in-your-face, euro-light Anaheim Ducks.

Dominik Hasek is back to his old self with a 93.0SV% and a bit of goofiness in the crease. J-S Giguere has a eye-popping 95.2SV%, albeit built up against the Canucks' pathetic offence.

After years of playoff suckiness, Pavel Datsyuk is now 2nd on his team with 11 points in 12 games. The amazing Nick Lidstrom is first, and is controlling games just as well as he ever has. The rest of the offence hasn't been spectacular. The Wings have actually generated the most shots on goal, by far, with 445, but have a low 7% conversion rate. Unless Bertuzzi and Holmstrom can generate more chaos in front of the net, Giguere won't have a tough time handling outside shots, just like he did against the Canucks.

For the Ducks, they kind of have the same issue. Chris Pronger leads the team in scoring, and Samuel F. Pahlsson (!) is second on the team with 7 points. The Ducks' big guns (MacDonald, Selanne, Getzlaf) are capable of more.

The Wings PP was bad during the regular season, but has been effective in the playoffs. With the Ducks tendency to take some undisciplined penalties (they lead the NHL with 191 playoff PIMs), the Wings will have to do what the Canucks couldn't, and score Power Play goals. According to Yahoo!, the Ducks have a 94.6% success rate on penalty kills, and are also more effective with the man advantage.

Given the Ducks amazing defence, goaltending, and superior special teams, I'm going to have to call this series in their favour. That, and the Red Wings suck!

Prediction: Ducks in 6.

Labels: ducks, playoffs, Red Wings, sabres, senators, third round