Eastern Conference Quarterfinal

 

Season Series (Montreal 3-2-3)

 

Leading Scorers
  • RW Michael Ryder (82 GP, 20 G, 45 A, 65 PTS)
  • C Tomas Plekanec (82 GP, 23 G, 38 A, 61 PTS)
  • C Pavol Demitra (81 GP, 20 G, 36 A, 56 PTS)
  • C Alexei Yashin (82 GP, 21 G, 33 A, 54 PTS)
  • LW Taylor Pyatt (82 GP, 26 G, 26 A, 52 PTS)
  • C Vincent Lecavalier (78 GP, 29 G, 46 A, 75 PTS)
  • LW Mike Cammalleri (75 GP, 24 G, 50 A, 74 PTS)
    • LW Jeff Friesen (77 GP, 19 G, 43 A, 62 PTS)
  • D Wade Redden (78 G, 7 G, 45 A, 52 PTS)
  • RW Steve Sullivan (82 GP, 20 G, 31 A, 51 PTS)

 

Special Teams
  • Power Play - 13.9 % (t-20th in NsHL)
  • Penalty Kill - 87.0 % (7th in NsHL)
  • Power Play - 13.0 % (t-25th in NsHL)
  • Penalty Kill - 84.5 % (16th in NsHL)

 

Keys to the Series

MONTREAL CANADIENS

  • Quality scoring chances. Seems pretty obvious, but have a look at the shooting percentages of Montreal's top seven scorers. The highest of the group would be Taylor Pyatt's 12.5. That's just not going to get it done in the playoffs. The Canadiens are not afraid to shoot the puck, but they just don't generate enough quality chances. They will need to do so in order to advance.
  • Avoid lazy penalties. This especially applies to the Montreal defensemen. The Senators have a lot of speed up and down their lineup, and they will challenge the Canadiens defensive group. They have to make sure they are positioned well and keep their feet moving. The Canadiens do have a good penalty killing unit, but you don't want to tempt fate too much in the post-season.
  • Top line. What happened to Yashin, Ovechkin and Carter this season??? 54, 44 and 44 points respectively. This kind of disappearing act can not happen in this series. They are the prime time players for the Habs, and they will need to play like prime time players. They will likely be seeing a lot of Wade Redden and Dion Phaneuf, and they will need to play MUCH better than their regular season numbers.

OTTAWA SENATORS

  • Cam Barker and Dan Hamhuis. Everyone knows about the Redden-Phaneuf pair, but these two kids don't get near the credit they deserve. Cam Barker is one of the best kept secrets in the league. The Sens are a better team with him in the lineup. Since being acquired and paired with Barker, Hamhuis' play has picked up as well. They are likely to be a deciding factor in this series.
  • Backcheck. The Senators are a very good defensive team, and the backcheck is a big reason for this. It will be very important with Montreal's talent up front. As long as the Sens have enough guys back and focused on playing in their own end, they will have a great chance to win this series.
  • Mike Richards. The top line for Ottawa gets a lot of attention, as well it should, but the Sens will need more than one line putting pucks in the net. He'll be playing with Jeff Friesen and Andreas Johansson, so he'll have some offensive talent to work with. The Sens would likely be happy with this line playing even, but they will have to score at some point.

 

And the winner is...

Probably the best series in the Eastern Conference. There will be no shortage of excitement when these two teams hit the ice. The Canadiens found a way to win the division despite major disappointments scoring wise. The Senators seemed like a team in transition a couple times during the season, but also found a way to take care of business. You are going to see end to end hockey, and the goalies will have to be sharp in this one. That said...

Senators in six games.