Preview: Round 2: Pens to Habs

The result of Wednesday night’s victory for what was the No.8 seed Montreal Canadiens was a shocking 2-1 win over the No. 1 seed Washington Capitals. Thanks to this shocking win, they have erased their 3-1 series deficit. The suddenly bestowed top seed of the Eastern Conference, the Pittsburgh Penguins, now face off with the Canadiens. At this point, we don’t think the Hab's mind too much that they are once again the underdogs, as they are going against the defending Stanly Cup betting champions. After the bumpy six-games against the defeated Ottawa, the Penguins won after a 3-0 deficit in the clincher game, just like last year’s first round against the Philadelphia Flyers. Sidney Crosby will now premier against his favorite childhood team, of which his father Troy was drafted for.

With a hick-up play style, Marc-Andre Flury got the goods. Saturday’s 3-0 overtime bounce-back vs Ottawa is an example. Although yanked in Game 3, Jaroslav Halak. Proved his status with the aversion of 131 of 134 shots from the Caps. Coach Bruce Boudreu put it best: he wouldn’t bet against the Canadiens. The Penguins vs. the Canadiens betting will surly be a treat; featuring two of the loudest fan bases of all the NHL. The intimidation levels between the two teams are likely to be high. The Verizon Center saw Canadiens win x3. The Pens had their winning 15 goals against Ottawa in the Mellon Arena.

The Canadiens scored 6 out of 30 attempts vs the Capitals, opening the Capitals to their upset by the Hab, who then neutralized their boasted power play abilities. After taking a 3-1 series lead, Washington only managed to score once.

There is little chance of unseating the defending champs lest one thing happens; containment of the “Big Three”: Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal, down the middle. The Canadiens are going to have to do better than the 10 goals and 15 assists that were racked up in the first round against Ottawa. It does good to remember that it was Staal who controlled the puck down low; Pascal Dupuis’s set up in that winning game.

Lead by their largely skilled forwards Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Tomas Plekanec and Scott Gomez, the Canadiens used opportunistic openings rather than direct blows with the Caps, an interesting aspect to the Monteral-Washington series, particularly given that Cammalleri is the most dangerous of the Hab’s forwards; armed with his quick release and wicked shots. It was him whom gave Montreal their first three wins over Washington. The atmosphere should be electric; and therefore fun to watch, even with the over-abundance of the Cinderella Habs’s Crosby and Malkin. However, Penguins are 6 games away and a good online betting pick.