Friday

New York Rangers 5 - New Jersey 3 (NYR Wins series 4-1)

I thought Brodeur had enough left to steal a game this series. Bottom line is the hall of famer was outplayed, sometimes badly, by Rangers’ netminder Henrik Lundqvist. The Rangers, meanwhile, got huge contributions from a no -name defense, their big time free agent signings and the mercurial Jaromir Jagr. New Jersey will need to re-tool in the offseason.

Nashville 1 - Detroit 2 (Series 3-2 Det)

In comes Chris Osgood and it’s still enough to push the Wings past their pesky first round opponents. The Predators have to be sick of things going wrong. After forcing their way back into the series Nashville lost both Jason Arnott (flu) and David Legwand (leg) before the game even started. They can’t have much left in the tank.

Dallas 2 - Anaheim 5 (Series 3-2 Dal)

So Anaheim takes night 2 of the back-to-back. They’ve looked more like last year’s Stanley Cup winner in recent games, but troubling is the fact that the Stars have kept right up. Anaheim played determined, aggressive hockey and seemed set on not being eliminated at home. They key to forcing a seventh game is the suddenly silent Dallas powerplay (0 for 18 at this point). If the Ducks can keep it silent, they might wind up back in this thing.

Saturday

Philadelphia 2 - Washington 3 (Series 3-2 Phi)

The scoresheet read like a who’s who of players Washington needs to contribute to get out of this series alive. The Caps came out flying and out hit the Flyers 22-9 in the first period alone. Cristobal Huet played a strong game and Washington found a way to win without Ovechkin having to score. If Backstrom, Fedorov and Semin are, in fact, a part of the series now then the Caps might just manage a game 7.

Montreal 4 - Boston 5 (Series 3-3 TIE)

Young Carey Price is suddenly vulnerable and the Boston Bruins are one game away from making me look like a real jackass. Re-instated Phil Kessel scored again and Boston rode a 4 goal third period into the seventh game of the series. A tremendous game for both teams, but Montreal has got to be worried about their goaltending situation. Unflappable through the first half of the series, Price is suddenly making mistakes and the fiesty Bruins are jumping all over them. He needs to be better fast or the top seed is going home early.

Minnesota 1 - Colorado 2 (Col wins 3-2)

The 2002 Colorado Avalanche are into the second round. Marian Gaborik managed to avoid the o-fer by registering an assist, but this should be an interesting off season considering he hates his coach and is entering the final year of his contract. Jose Theodore was magnificent throughout the series, by far Colorado’s most impactful player. Minnesota needs to be concerned about their lack of scoring. A relatively quiet trading deadline now looks like a huge reason they’re heading home.

Sunday

Detroit 3 - Nashville 0 (Det wins series 4-2)

Dan Ellis deserved better than that, but the Preds finally looked like they ran out of gas against a superior Red Wings team. Chris Osgood made Nick Lidstrom’s center ice goal stand up and picked up his first shutout of this postseason. The Preds played tough, but despite getting David Legwand back, they just didn’t have the horses. Arnott might have helped, but this series was more about Detroit being better than Nashville making mistakes.

San Jose 0 - Calgary 2 (Series 3-3 TIE)

I’m tired of recapping this series. San Jose looks terrible, then great, then terrible again. Kipprusoff is getting pulled one game, and then pitching a shutout. Owen Nolan is scoring. This series is bizarre, it deserves a game 7. San Jose will need to not choke, Calgary is going to need another dominant performance from the Kipper. You have to wonder if letting Nabokov start 77 games this season was maybe a bad idea.

Anaheim 1 - Dallas 4 (Dal wins series 4-2)

The takeaway from this is that Dallas was, improbably as it may seem, categorically the better team. Anaheim pushed and crashed but ultimately couldn’t find the offense they needed to pull their Cup defense out of the first round. The Ducks took the lead after Turco allowed a relatively soft goal to Corey Perry, but Stephane Robidas - 2 days removed from a broken nose - keyed a Dallas rally early in the third. From there, Turco closed up shop. Brad Richards is paying dividends, a young defense stepped up and Dallas looks to have put a brutal March behind them.