NHL playoff preview: Eastern Conference

The NHL playoffs begin on Wednesday night, and here's our take on the teams that will be fighting for Lord Stanley's Cup over the next couple of months. Tomorrow we'll bring you our thoughts on the Western Conference.

Team: Washington Capitals (1)
Record: 54-14-13, 121 points
Past 10: 6-1-3
First round opponent: Montreal (2-1-1 in 2009-10, 53-67-17-2 all-time, 0-0-0 playoffs)
Last met: Never
Stanley Cups: 0
All-time playoff record: 79-96
Northwestern Ontario content: None
Storyline: Washington was the dominant team in the Eastern Conference, finishing 18 points ahead of its nearest rival, New Jersey.
Key players: The Caps are so much more than Alexander Ovechkin. Nicklas Backstrom came into his own this season and cracked the 100-point barrier for the first time. Alexander Semin hit 40 goals, despite missing nine games and Mike Green, slighted by Team Canada at the Olympics, was a point-a-game player from the blue-line.
Under the radar: Brooks Laich has scored 48 goals the past two years, and added three more in last year’s playoffs.
Why they’ll win: The Caps probably have the best all-around cast in the game, and added depth at the deadline with guys like Eric Belanger and Mike Knuble, the quietest 29-goal scorer in the game. Simply put, they have more talent than anyone else.
Why they’ll lose: Defence wins championships and of the NHL’s 16 playoff teams, only three (Ottawa, Colorado and Pittsburgh) allowed more goals against than Washington’s 277. Jose Theodore and Semyon Varlamov must take their games up a notch.
Fun fact: Montreal and Washington pulled off one of the biggest trades in NHL history back in 1982. The Caps sent Ryan Walter and Rick Green to the Canadiens for Doug Jarvis, Rod Langway, Craig Laughlin and Brian Engblom.
Prediction: Stanley Cup champion
 
Team: New Jersey Devils (2)
Record: 48-27-7, 103 points
Past 10: 5-2-3
Coach: Jacques Lemaire
First round opponent: Philadelphia (1-4-1 in 2009-10, 88-95-18-3 all-time, 9-11-0 playoffs)
Last met: 2004 Conference quarterfinal (lost series 4-1)
Stanley Cups: 3 (1995, 2000, 2003)
All-time playoff record: 121-104
Northwestern Ontario content: None
Storyline: The Devils retooled at the trade deadline, scoring the biggest catch of them all in Ilya Kovalchuk. He’ll be looking for his first ever playoff victory. The Devils have to put their regular season record against the Flyers behind them.
Key players: Zach Parise almost singlehandedly beat Canada at the Olympics and brings 40-goal, 80-point talent to the table. But like any Lemaire-coached squad, the defence will come to the forefront, and in net the Devils have arguably the best of the bunch in Martin Brodeur. Brodeur earned his 600th win and broke Terry Sawchuk’s once unassailable all-time shutout mark and earned his record-tying fifth William Jennings Trophy.
Under the radar: Patrik Elias began the season on the injured list and didn’t have a typical Elias season when he returned. But he’s a proven playoff performer who will be looking to avenge the three points he had in last year’s opening-round, seven-game loss to Carolina.
Why they’ll win: Brodeur wants another Cup before he retires to the hall of fame. This might be his best chance to get it and he knows it. Kovalchuk will have to be a factor for it to happen.
Why they’ll lose: Since winning the Cup in 2003, the Devils haven’t advanced past the second round. The players may have forgotten how to win when it counts. New Jersey has trouble scoring beyond the top line.
Fun fact: The Devils, then known as the Colorado Rockies, played their first playoff series against the Flyers, losing the 1978 preliminary round series 2-0. Thunder Bay’s Nelson Pyatt was on the Rockies that year, though he didn’t play in the postseason.
Prediction: Conference final loss to Washington
 
Team: Buffalo Sabres (3)
Record: 45-27-10, 100 points
Past 10: 5-5-0
Coach: Lindy Ruff
First round opponent: Boston (2-1-2 in 2009-10, 108-105-29-8 all-time, 18-21-0 playoffs)
Last met: 1999 Conference semifinal (won series 4-2)
Stanley Cups: 0
All-time playoff record: 119-124
Northwestern Ontario content: None
Storyline: The Sabres are Ryan Miller’s team, no doubt about it. If he doesn’t play like a Vezina Trophy winner, Buffalo’s lunch-bucket offence will be hard-pressed to outscore the opposition. Not a single Sabre cracked the 30-goal or 70-point mark.  
Key players: Tomas Vanek is a former 40-goal scorer who scored five goals in his final two outings, after sitting for two weeks with an injury. Tyler Myers is a Calder Trophy candidate on the blueline who had 11 goals and 48 points and finished plus 13.
Under the radar: Forward Tyler Ennis was named the American Hockey League’s rookie of the year in Portland, before getting the call from Ruff. He made a name for himself down the stretch, collecting eight points in Buffalo’s final nine games.  
Why they’ll win: Ryan Miller is that good.
Why they’ll lose: Unfortunately, Ryan Miller can’t put the puck in the net. The Sabres are also three years removed from their last playoff appearance and will have to learn how to win in the postseason again.
Fun fact: Buffalo and Boston have met seven times previously in the playoffs. Boston won the first five match-ups before Buffalo broke through with a four-game sweep in 1993. Three of the four contests went to overtime, including the finale, won by Buffalo’s Brad May, the famous “May Day” call by broadcaster Rick Jeanneret.
Prediction: Conference semifinal loss to New Jersey
 
Team: Pittsburgh Penguins (4)
Record: 47-28-7, 101 points
Past 10: 5-4-1
Coach: Dan Bylsma
First round opponent: Ottawa (2-2-0 in 2009-10, 38-25-9-2 all-time, 5-4-0 playoffs)
Last meeting: 2008 Conference quarterfinal (won series 4-0)
Stanley Cups: 3 (1991, 1992, 2009)
All-time playoff record: 119-124
Northwestern Ontario content: Jordan Staal (Thunder Bay)
Storyline: The Penguins enter the playoffs as the defending Stanley Cup champions, but a team that not many are predicting to repeat.  A questionable commitment to team defence has the high-flying Pens in an underdog role again, a role the team relishes.
Key players: Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are mainstays when the NHL’s top five players are discussed. Malkin had injury woes this year and his numbers reflect it, but Crosby stepped up big time. Sid the Kid tied for the league lead in goals with 51, tied for second in scoring with 109 points and scored the gold-medal winner against the Americans at the Olympics to boot.
Under the radar: Though Sergei Gonchar gets more attention on the blue-line Alex Goligoski turned in a pretty stellar season, collecting 37 points in 69 games. He finished plus seven, tops among regular defencemen on the Penguins.  
Why they’ll win: Crosby and Malkin know how to win now and are proven playoff performers. Crosby has 58 points in Pittsburgh’s last two playoffs. Not surprisingly, so does Malkin.  
Why they’ll lose: For all their youthful enthusiasm, this is a team getting long-in-the-tooth. With 13 players older than 30 on the roster, endurance could be a factor as the playoffs move into May and June.
Fun fact: The Penguins have three players on their roster – Mike Rupp, Ruslan Fedotenko and Maxime Talbot – who have scored Game 7 Stanley Cup-winning goals. Rupp did it in 2003 for New Jersey, the only playoff goal he’s yet to score. Fedotenko turned the trick for Tampa Bay in 2004 and Talbot was last year’s hero in Pittsburgh.
Prediction: Conference semifinal loss to Washington
 
Team: Ottawa Senators (5)
Record: 44-32-6, 94 points
Past 10: 7-2-1
Coach: Cory Clouston
First round opponent: Ottawa (2-2-0 in 2009-10, 27-33-9-5 all-time, 4-5-0 playoffs)
Last meeting: 2008 Conference quarterfinal (lost series 4-0)
Stanley Cups: 0
All-time playoff record: 49-54
Northwestern Ontario content: None
Storyline: After dealing with the Dany Heatley trade demand drama last summer, the Sens sent the disgruntled forward to San Jose. Ottawa, which missed the playoffs last season, was not expected to contend in 2009-10, but surprise, here they are in the postseason. They’ll have to do it without forward Alexei Kovalev, their free-agent splash from last summer, who’s out for the season with a torn ACL.  
Key players: Daniel Alfredsson cracked the 1,000-game mark and is still going strong for the Sens, posting 71 points this season. Jason Spezza’s year was a little less consistent, but when healthy he’s still a threat to put points on the board.
Under the radar: Mike Fisher is known as a solid two-way player, but he’s also been known to score big goals when called upon.  
Why they’ll win: The Sens have some solid pieces in place, including shutdown defenceman Chris Phillips and forward Fisher. Both will have to find that next level against Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Evegeni Malkin if the Sens are to survive the first round. After that it’s more of the same. 
Why they’ll lose: Goalie Brian Elliott has zero NHL playoff experience and the Penguins play a fire-wagon brand of hockey that will shake the nerves of even the most tested veterans.
Fun fact: The Senators and Penguins have met twice previously in the playoffs, both times in the first round. On each occasion, the winner of the series went on to the Stanley Cup final, losing to the eventual champion   
Prediction: Conference quarterfinal loss to Pittsburgh
 
Team: Boston Bruins (6)
Record: 39-30-13, 91 points
Past 10: 6-3-1
Coach: Claude Julien
First round opponent: Buffalo (3-2-1 in 2009-10, 110-101-29-5 all-time, 21-18-0 playoffs)
Last meeting: 2008 Conference quarterfinal (lost series 4-0)
Stanley Cups: 5 (1928-29, 1938-39, 1940-41, 1969-70, 1971-72)
All-time playoff record: 252-276-6
Northwestern Ontario content: None
Storyline: The Bruins fought to the wire to earn their playoff berth and will want to make the most of their sixth-place finish.
Key players: Patrice Bergeron was an Olympian for Canada, but the Bruins fate begins and ends with towering defenceman Zdeno Chara, an all-star defender with a nice offensive touch.  
Under the radar: Mark Recchi was born before Pierre Trudeau became Canadian prime minister. That’s old. And yet here he is in 2010, scoring 18 goals, just four off the team lead.
Why they’ll win: The Bruins did own the season series, so they can play with the Sabres. It’ll come down to whether or not Tuukka Rask and his league-leading 1.97 goals against average can match up with Buffalo’s Ryan Miller in what promises to be a low-scoring affair.
Why they’ll lose: The Bruins are without their top scorer, Marc Savard, who’s out for the season. That leaves Olympian Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, who topped the B’s with 52 points each, to shoulder the load. Claude Julien is 14-15 in the postseason in three playoff visits.
Fun fact: Last year’s 4-0 first-round sweep of Montreal was Boston’s first playoff series win since 1999, when they beat Carolina in the opening round and fell to Buffalo in six in the second. Since 1993 they’ve only won three of 13 playoff series.    
Prediction: Conference quarterfinal loss to Buffalo.
 
Team: Philadelphia Flyers (7)
Record: 41-35-6, 88 points
Past 10: 4-5-1
Coach: Peter Laviolette
First round opponent: New Jersey (5-1-0 in 2009-10, 98-80-18-8 all-time, 11-9-0 playoffs)
Last meeting: 2004 Conference quarterfinal (won series 4-1)
Stanley Cups: 2 (1973-74, 1974-75)
All-time playoff record: 191-178
Northwestern Ontario content: Mike Richards (Kenora), Chris Pronger (Dryden)
Storyline: The Flyers needed a shootout win on Sunday over the New York Rangers just to make the playoffs. But they owned the Devils during the regular season, winning five of six meetings. Which Flyer team will show up?
Key players: Richards point totals were down this year, but he set a career high with 31 goals. Pronger had his most productive season in three years, with 55 points, but during the Olympics his age began to show. He’ll need to find the fountain of youth for a couple of months if Philadelphia is to move on.  
Under the radar: James van Riemsdyk was quietly effective on the wing, potting 15 goals on a team that could use a little offense.
Why they’ll win: The talent is there, and with Jeff Carter returning from injury, the team should be able to put the puck in the net with a little more regularity.  
Why they’ll lose: Brian Boucher hasn’t played a meaningful playoff game in a decade and was 9-18-3 in the regular season with a Hardy Astrom-like save percentage. Not a lot to hang the Flyers hat on.  
Fun fact: The Flyers have won two Stanley Cups, both coming in their Broad Street Bully days. Yet four Flyers have won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. Bernie Parent won it in the Cup-winning years. Reggie Leach, whose 19 goals in 1976 is still a single-season playoff record (since tied by Jari Kurri) and Ron Hextall in 1987 also won.
Prediction: Conference quarterfinal loss to New Jersey
 
Team: Montreal (8)
Record: 39-33-10, 88 points
Past 10: 3-4-3
Coach: Jacques Martin
First round opponent: Washington (2-1-1 in 2009-10, 69-48-17-5 all-time, 0-0-0 playoffs)
Last playoff meeting: Never
Stanley Cups: 23 (1915-16, 1923-24, 1929-30, 1930-31, 1943-44, 1945-46, 1952-53, 1955-56, 1956-57, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1964-65, 1965-66, 1967-68, 1968-69, 1970-71, 1972-73, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1977-78, 1979-80, 1985-86, 1992-93)
All-time playoff record: 398-277-8
Northwestern Ontario content: Tom Pyatt (Thunder Bay)
Storyline: The Habs and Capitals have never met in the playoffs, and from the Canadiens perspective, this might not be a good time to renew acquaintances. Washington led the league in goals, scoring 85 more than they allowed.  
Key players: Jaroslav Halak finished in the top five in save percentage, but Montreal’s hired guns – Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez – will need to up the ante in the first round for Montreal to survive.
Under the radar: Josh Gorges won the team honour in this category and plays a solid stay-at-home game on the blue-line for the Canadiens. He’s not flashy, just effective.
Why they’ll win: Montreal has the second-best power play in the league, so if they can draw the Capitals into shorthanded situations, it could work in their favour, as the Caps were less-than-stellar killing penalties. Trouble is, the Caps were No. 1 on the PP, though Montreal plays a disciplined brand of hockey.    
Why they’ll lose: Montreal is the only postseason team that allowed more goals than it scored.
Fun fact: Montreal has played 683 playoff games, joining the postseason fun 77 times. But they haven’t won a Cup in 17 years, the longest stretch in the franchise’s storied 100-year history.   
Prediction: Conference quarterfinal loss to Washington.