Playoff Push In The Northeast For The Stanley Cup
The excitement of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver is subsiding and now the hockey world turns to more inportant things. The hockey wars begin in earnest for the Stanley Cup. The Northeast Division has four teams making a playoff push with the top two expecting to make at least a deep run and possibly hoisting the Cup.
Barring a monumental collapse, Buffalo and Ottawa are the contenders currently jockeying for the better seeding. Boston and Montreal are among a number of teams still trying to secure the final playoff slots.
Traditional thinking in the NHL is that a “hot” goalie can win the Cup. No goalie is performing better then the Sabres’ Ryan Miller. Fresh off of an MVP performance in the tournament at the winter olympics, Miller seems poised to carry the Sabres to the division title. Buffalo currently averages 2.73 goals per game while Miller only surrenders 2.16 and has a save percentage of 93.1%.
The Ottawa Senators are playing some of their best hockey as of late, but converting on the power play and killing penalties have been season long problems. While the Senators put a lot of shots at the net, they have surrendered more goals than goals scored. Whoever finishes second in the division will probably have to face New Jersey or Pittsburgh, a tough draw in the first round.
A final note, Boston may have the size to upend Washington as an eight seed. Montreal seems a season away and there are a lot of propositional wagers available to bet online.
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