Their opening round series with the Sabres begins in Buffalo for the first two games, and does not head into Boston until Game 3 on Monday.  You can bet their fans will be revved up for that one.  So what should you expect from those in attendance at the TD Garden?  There will surely be a lot of hooting and hollering, perhaps a few fights, an maybe even a nice pair of breasts will be flashed for all to see.

You should also expect to see a lot of Bruins pride plastered on the bodies of the Boston faithful.  However, piece of artwork will be more impressive than this tribute to the great Bobby Orr.

Best. Tattoo. Ever.

Hat Tip – [Barstool Sports]

Chicago opened the scoring on the powerplay when a centering pass from captain Jonathan Toews banked off the skate of a Wings defenseman to make it 1-0.  The Wings replied with  a powerplay goal of their own, after a Brian Rafalski shot found its way through a crowd and past Nikolai Khabibulin to tie the game.

The second period saw less shots on goal than the first, but it did provide a Dan Cleary break-a-way that resulted in a goal to make it 2-1 for Detroit.  That was how the period would end, meaning the Blackhawks would have the difficult task of coming back in the third against a Wings team that is especially tough in the final frame.

Despite being slightly outshot, the Hawks kept themselves in the game and produced some chances of their own in the third, and Toews would end up scoring his second with 7:40 left to tie the game at 2-2.  Overtime would be needed, and that worked out well for Detroit, who used their depth up front to keep the pressure on Chicago until their third line of Samuelsson, Hudler and Filppula would play tic-tac-toe on a three-on-one break, eventually burying the winner past a scrambling Khabibulin.

Going home down 2-0, Chicago will hope that home-ice-advantage is just what the doctor ordered for their comeback.  They will also hope that the doc has something for Patrick Kane, as he has been invisible thus far in the series, recording no points and only 3 shots in the two games, while recording a plus/minus of -5.  Those are not numbers that Chicago can afford from their young superstar if they expect to defeat the defending cup champions.

The Blackhawks will also want to try and figure out a way to slow down the balanced scoring attack of the Red Wings.  With Cleary scoring 3 goals thus far and Samuelsson getting two of his own, it has been the depth players providing the markers for the high powered offense.  While Datsyuk, Holmstrom, and Hossa remain silent on the score sheet, the Wings continue to score.  If only Scotty Bowman can use some of his old tricks to help this young Chicago team (remember, he is now part of Chicago’s front office team).  Maybe Friday, hours prior to game 3 will be a good time to paint the visitors dressing room.  Yes, even the great Scotty Bowman has pulled a few strings in his career.

Now that this marks the official mid-way point of the playoffs, with a two day break to come we thought this would be a good time to bring you TPS’s version of the “Top 10 Things We’ve Learned From NHL Playoffs…Halfway 2 The Cup”:

10. Osgood is Still Good -With A 2.43 Goals Against Average in the second round, Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood may not have been “great”, but he sure was good enough.  Playing on a team with as much fire power as the Red Wings, all that is needed from Chris is a steady performance.  Expecting three goals a night is a reasonable task for the Detroit snipers, and as long as Osgood continues to be good and keep his GAA under 3.00, the Wings hopes of repeating as champions will remain alive and well.

9. Luongo and Brodeur’s performances will raise question marks - With the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver less than a year away, the debate on who will play for their respective countries has already begun.  Canadians love to play this game, and it has just got a lot more interesting.  The one position that seemed to be sorted out a month ago was between the pipes.  With Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur tabbed as one and two (not sure which order though), the only debate was over the number three spot.  How things have changed.  Brodeur allowed two goals in the final minute of game 7 against Carolina in the first round, and Luongo looked like a thin slice of swiss cheese every time Patrick Kane had the puck in Vancouver’s game 6 loss to Chicago.  Could this mean there is an opening for the likes of Cam Ward and Steve Mason?  To be continued.

8. Although seeded 8th, the Ducks are the West’s 2nd best team - After defeating the NHL’s top team in the San Jose Sharks in round one, the Ducks proved it was no fluck as they took the Red Wings to a game 7, which was tied late before Cleary’s controversial goal.  Their defense was among the best, along with Detroit and Chicago’s, and the top line of Perry-Getzlaf-Ryan will be a force for years to come.  If the team sticks together, expect them to be much improved in the 2009-2010 regular season. 

7. Speaking of Cam Ward, he gives Carolina a legit shot at winning the Cup-  He is once again making a name for himself as one of the most clutch goalies in the NHL.  Some may not remember in 2006 when he came in to replace Martin Gerber after the Canes feel into a 2-0 deficit against the Montreal Canadiens.  Ward would lead his team past the Habs and to the Cup that year, and it appears he looks poised to do the same this time around as well.

6.  Ovechkin is great, but Sid is even better- What a battle it was, and when the dust cleared, it was Sidney Crosby left standing.  This was one of the most remarkable series ever played in the NHL playoffs and both superstars (and let’s not forget Malkin) should be applauded for their strong play, but the winner is the one who guides their team on to the next round, and that was Crosby.  Some have argued before that Crosby has better players around him, but that is hardly true anymore.  Compare line-mates: Crosby with Guerin and Kunitz, or Ovechkin with Backstrom and Kozlov.  Tough, but I think I’d take the latter.

5. Hockey is alive in Chicago thanks to some kids - Playoff hockey is back in Chicago and they have a special crop of young talent to thank for that.  The likes of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook, among many others, are leading this surprising team into a date with the rival Detroit Red Wings.  In order for Chicago to take that next step towards building a champion, they have to show that they are the top team in the Central Division.  Their first chance begins on Sunday in Detroit.

4.  Detroit is 4 Lines Deep Up Front - At this point in the playoffs, it becomes necessary to use a complete bench as much as possible.  While their counterparts in the next series (Chicago) can utilize a strong four-line rotation, no one can do so like the Detroit Red Wings.  With a Samuelsson, Hudler, Filpulla, Draper, and Maltby floating around their bottom two lines, the Wings can threaten goalies for a full 60 minutes.  And lets not forget the speedy Darren Helm.  His goal on the breakaway was just a sign of things to come from this up and coming star.  On any other team in the league, he’s playing on the top two lines right now.

3.  Eric Staal vs Crosby may be able to duplicate Ovechkin vs Crosby - OK, so maybe this is asking for a bit too much, but don’t expect the battle between Eric Staal and Sidney Crosby be a slouch in comparison.  Stall has show that he can light the lamp in the playoffs, and he even did so up against the best defender in the NHL in Zdeno Chara. There are no Chara’s on Pittsburgh, but they have been playing a solid ‘team defense’, which somewhat slowed Ovie down later in their series with Washington.  What Eric will have to likely deal with is younger brother Jordan, who has become an effective shut down man.  For this series, Jordan Staal will be looking for his brother Eric to falter in favor of Crosby.  Wonder what Mark is thinking about all of this.

2. The Bulin Wall may have lost some bricks, but it’s still there - He may be shaky at times, but with his team scoring in the bunches, and showing resilience in their numerous comeback efforts, all that has been needed from Nikolai Khabibulin are some timely saves, and that he has provided.  The Chicago keeper out-dueled the NHL’s top goalie (according to most) in Roberto Luongo, and now he will have to be even better this round against the Red Wings.

1. If Hossa and Datsyuk start clicking, there may be no stopping the Wings - Every team always has a chance to win, especially when you have Crosby and Malkin, or a goalie like Cam Ward.  But the Wings have made it to this point beating a very strong Ducks team without the offensive help of superstars Marian Hossa and Pavel Datsyuk.  After 11 games, Hossa finds himself with 4 goals and Datsyuk with only 1.  Luckily Franzen continues to be a playoff scoring machine with 8 goals.  They have been playing solid hockey and have seen their chances come, but if Hossa and Datsyuk begin to find the net on a regular basis, there may be no stopping the Wings.  Although, I would assume Sidney Crosby has something to say about that.

TSN gets a good replay of the incident, but the best part of all is the reaction of the two ladies behind the glass when they see Walker’s finger.  You think chicks really dig scars?  Best part of it all.  He came back and finished the game.

That was the kind of effort the Blackhawks needed and got, taking the crucial game 5 by a score of 5-1.  They now head back to Calgary for game six hoping to avoid a return trip home for a game seven.

Heres the clip of the finger and the reaction.

Ovechkin sat on the bench until the Rangers approached him and asked him to leave.  So why was the Russian star on the bench????

“Just to [tick] Tortorella off,” Ovechkin said of Rangers head coach John Tortorella.

And why did he think the Rangers told him he couldn’t stay and watch?

“Because they’re afraid of me,” he said with a smile and left the bench shaking his head in disgust.

But John “Torts” Tortorella told ESPN which was reported by the New York Post that he didn’t even see Ovechkin on the bench and didn’t care to much about him.

“Who? Oh, god, this is the first I’ve heard of it,” Tortorella said. “Ask me a question about the game, not that [expletive].”

This is just another situation of Alex Ovechkin being himself, trying to get into the mind of the other team.  But maybe next time he should take some lessons from Russian spies before he tries to watch another team without getting noticed.

The five team stats that I plan on using are: Points, goals for per game, goals against per game, power play, and penalty kill.

Again, this chart is not to rank who the best teams are, as you can tell that the overall rankings are a bit off from the points ranking (and in any sport the only stat that really matters is Wins).  It ranks which teams are playing a better team game which should give us a clue as to who is going to play well in the playoffs going off of the old adage that it takes at team playing as a team to win.