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| SI.com's Jon A. Dolezar gives his picks for the second round of the 2003 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. |
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No. 1 Ottawa vs. No. 4 Philadelphia The Senators' trade-deadline activity primarily was aimed at getting tougher. Though Rob Ray isn't likely to be in the lineup much, if at all, Vaclav Varada will help Ottawa in its second-round matchup with rugged Philly. These Flyers won't be confused with the Broad Street Bullies, but with trees Keith Primeau and John LeClair to park in front of the net, 6-foot-9 Sens blueliner Zdeno Chara will need to log big minutes to nullify Philly's size advantage.
The lowdown: The Flyers are playing well enough that they are a shoo-in to tally more than the two goals they got against the Sens in last year's shameful first-round series. But Patrick Lalime remains a great streaky goaltender who could put together multiple shutouts in a row to break Philly's confidence again. The Flyers need Tony Amonte and Sami Kapanen to get going, since Mark Recchi can't be counted on for six goals in every series.
Senators in six
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No. 2 New Jersey vs. No. 3 Tampa Bay Some teams expect to be playing into the third week of April... and then there are teams like the Lightning. General manager Jay Feaster was upset that Sports Illustrated ranked his team the worst in the league in its preseason issue, but he should take out his anger on the scheduling manager for the St. Pete Times Forum who booked Disney on Ice. While most arenas hold back playoff dates, the Forum booked Mickey Mouse for a five-day run, which has now been shortened to three shows after the cancellation of the performances on April 30 and May 4 due to Games 4 and 6. Some faith they have in their own team.
The lowdown: It may appear as if there are only nine skaters on the ice at times in this series, but that's only because John Madden will be stuck to Vincent Lecavalier like Velcro. Madden's defensive domination of Bruins captain Joe Thornton in the first round was impressive, and there's no reason he can't repeat it against the Lightning. Martin Brodeur also gives the Devils an edge in net over Nikolai Khabibulin who is just 14-16 lifetime in the postseason.
Devils in five |
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No. 1 Dallas vs. No. 7 Anaheim
There will be no excuse for the Ducks and Stars not to be fresh from the start of their second-round series, since Anaheim had seven full days and Dallas four days off after clinching their first-round series. The Ducks were playing so well that they probably wish they just could've kept playing, while the Stars were glad to have a few days off to let injured forwards Bill Guerin, Pierre Turgeon and Jason Arnott get healthy.
The lowdown: Giguere can't possibly keep playing as well as he has, while Turco can't possibly give up as many shaky goals as he did. The Ducks played so well defensively against the Wings (holding Brett Hull, Pavel Datsyuk and Steve Yzerman without a goal) that it would be tough to repeat that effort against the Stars. Detroit has more star-quality talent on its forward lines, but Dallas has more cohesive units and greater depth. The Stars hope to get quality efforts from grinders Brenden Morrow, Stu Barnes, Rob DiMaio and Kirk Muller, all of whom could be key to plucking the Ducks.
Stars in six |
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No. 4 Vancouver vs. No. 6 Minnesota
Think the Avalanche now wish they had lost or the had Canucks won on the final day of the regular season? Adam Foote, Peter Forsberg and Patrick Roy would be the first three in line to let Ed Jovanovski, Markus Naslund and Dan Cloutier know that the Wild can't be taken lightly. Jacques Lemaire will match Wes Walz and his ace checking line against Naslund, Brendan Morrison and Todd Bertuzzi in the hopes that Walz can limit another Super Swede to minimal scoring chances as he did in the first round.
The lowdown: The trap -- don't say that four-letter word in front of anyone from the Wild's coaching staff or front office -- is designed to limit speed and passing ability through the neutral zone. It stifled Forsberg and Joe Sakic, and is likely to do the same to the Canucks' top line with speedy guys like Morrison and Naslund. But Vancouver has something that Colorado doesn't, that being a top power forward. Bertuzzi needs to pick up his offensive play in front of the net and cause distractions to Manny Fernandez.
Canucks in seven |
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