Stanley Cup Race Heats Up

It's time for the real games to begin. This year's Stanley Cup playoffs promises several interesting plots:

Can the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings make it three in a row? A month ago the idea seemed preposterous, but after a slew of trades at the deadline, the Wings look primed and ready.

What about the two teams to win the Cup before the Wings? The 1995 champion New Jersey Devils are the No. 1 seed in the East, and have found renewed success since largely dumping the trapping system. In the West, Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche are a strong No. 2 seed, come into the playoffs on a 9-2-1 run, and are looking to return to 1996 Cup glory.

Will this be the year for Dallas? For the Dallas Stars, it's put-up-or-shut-up time. The Stars won their second consecutive Presidents' Cup trophy for best record in the regular season with 114 points. Last season, however, Dallas fell to Detroit in six games in the Conference final.

Could there be a lower-seeded upstart in the Finals? It's happened before, with Florida advancing to the Finals in 1996 and Minnesota in 1991. This year's team to keep an eye on is Boston -- 17-6-4 over its last 27 games and the No. 6 seed in the East.

Without further ado, a look at this week's games in the opening round:

First-round matchups

No. 1 New Jersey vs. No. 8 Pittsburgh

Game 1 -- at New Jersey, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Game 2 -- at New Jersey, Saturday, 2 p.m. ET
Game 3 -- at Pittsburgh, Sunday, 2 p.m. ET

Jaromir Jagr and the Penguins will look to run over New Jersey. (AP)

This is the fourth playoff meeting between the two squads. Pittsburgh has won two of the previous three series, but the Devils took the most recent one, downing the Penguins in the 1995 Eastern Conference finals, four games to one. ... This is the third consecutive season the Deils have finished with the top seed in the East. In 1996, the Devils fell to the New York Rangers in the Conference semis, 4-1, and last season were stunned by eighth-seeded Ottawa in the first round, 4-2. ... Pittsburgh has only reached the Conference finals once since last winning the Stanley Cup in 1992, and has lost in the opening round each of the last two seasons. ... Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr, the NHL's scoring champ with 126 points, has 107 career playoff points in 104 games (50 goals, 57 assists). ... New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur has a 1.84 GAA in 54 career playoff games. ... The Devils went 3-0 the last week of the season to steal the top spot in the East from Ottawa. ... The Penguins are 2-8-2 in their last 12.

No. 2 Ottawa vs. No. 7 Buffalo

Game 1 -- at Ottawa, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET
Game 2 -- at Ottawa, Friday, 7 p.m. ET
Game 3 -- at Buffalo, Sunday, 6:30 p.m. ET

This is the second playoff meeting between the two squads. In 1997, the Sabres won in the opening round, 4-3, in the first playoff appearance in modern Senators history. ... There were four ties in five regular-season games between the teams this season. Ottawa took the only decision, a 3-2 overtime affair on Dec. 30. ... The Sabres have made only one Finals appearance, falling to the Flyers four games to two in 1975. ... The previous incarnation of the Senators won Stanley Cups from 1903-05, and in 1909, 1911, 1920, 1921, 1923, and 1927. ... Dominik Hasek's likely start in Game 1 will be his 32nd career playoff start in a Sabres uniform, passing Don Edwards for most in franchise history. ... Daniel Alfredsson's 12 goals put him tops on the modern Senators playoff scoring list. ... The Senators went 0-3-1 over the last eight days of the season to drop to the second spot in the East. ... Buffalo finished the season on a 4-2-2 run.

No. 3 Carolina vs. No. 6 Boston

Game 1 -- at Carolina, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Game 2 -- at Carolina, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET

This is the Carolina franchise's first playoff appearance since 1992, ending what had been a league-long six-year drought. ... The Bruins haven't won a playoff series since downing Montreal in the openng round of the 1994 playoffs. ... This is the third playoff meeting between the teams. Boston and the then-Hartford Whalers met in the Adams Division semifinals in 1990 and 1991, with the Bruins winning in seven and six games. ... Game Four of the 1990 series featured one of the most memorable comebacks in Bruins history, as they rallied for four unanswered goals in the third period for a 6-5 road victory that evened the series at 2-2. ... The most popular player in Whalers history, Ron Francis, returned to the franchise this season and will provide veteran leadership. The 19th-season center has 122 points in 130 career playoff games. ... Boston coach Pat Burns has been deep in the playoffs before, taking Montreal to the Finals in 1989 and Toronto to the semis in 1993 and 1994, but has yet to win a Cup.

No. 4 Toronto vs. No. 5 Philadelphia

Game 1 -- at Toronto, Thursday, 7 p.m. ET
Game 2 -- at Toronto, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET

This is the fourth playoff matchup between the two, but the first since 1977. The Flyers beat the Maple Leafs in the quarterfinal round three consecutive seasons from 1975 -77. ... Since qualifying for the Western conference title in 1994, Toronto has not won a playoff series and is returning to the playoffs after a two-year absence. ... Since winning the Eastern Conference in 1997, the Flyers have buckled under heavy expectations, losing to Buffalo in the first round last season and falling to fifth in the East after looking like the odds-on favorite to win the Cup at midseason. ... Maple Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph, often carrying mediocre teams in his back, has gone 26-30 in 56 career playoff decisions with St. Louis and Edmonton.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

No. 1 Dallas vs. No. 8 Edmonton

Game 1 -- at Dallas, Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. ET
Game 2 -- at Dallas, Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET
Game 3 -- at Edmonton, Sunday, 9:30 p.m. ET

This is the third consecutive season the Stars and Oilers have met in the playoffs. Two years ago, the Oilers pulled a seven-game upset over Dallas in the opening round. Last year, the Stars won in five in the Western Conference semis. ... This is the fifth overall playoff meeting, with each team winning two serie. Edmonton swept the 1984 Campbell Conference final; the then-Minnesota North Stars took the Conference final in five games in 1991. ... Oilers goalie Tommy Salo, a five-year vet, has yet to appear in a playoff game. ... Dallas defenseman Derian Hatcher has five games remaining on a seven-game suspension for a cheap shot that broke the jaw of Phoenix's Jeremy Roenick. ... Edmonton finished the regular season on a 5-0-1 tear.

No. 3 Detroit vs. No. 6 Anaheim

Game 1 -- at Detroit, Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Game 2 -- at Detroit, Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Game 3 -- at Anaheim, Sunday, 3 p.m. ET

This is the second playoff series between the two. Detroit swept the Conference semifinals in 1997, winning Game Four in double-overtime, 3-2. ... The two-time defending champion Red Wings have gone 9-2-1 since acquiring Chris Chelios, Ulf Samuelsson, Wendel Clark and Bill Ranford on March 23. ... Anaheim finished the season at 1-5-1 to drop into sixth place in the West after appearing destined for the fifth spot. ... Detroit coach Scotty Bowman is the NHL's all-time winningest playoff coach at 194-111. He is tied with Montreal legend Toe Blake with eight Stanley Cup victories. Before winning Cups the last two seasons with Detroit, he won five with Montreal (1973 and 1976-79) and one with Pittsburgh (1992).

No. 4 Phoenix vs. No. 5 St. Louis

Game 1 -- at Phoenix, Thursday, 10:30 p.m. ET
Game 2 -- at Phoenix, Saturday, 3 p.m. ET
Game 3 -- at St. Louis, Sunday, 2 p.m. ET

This is only the second playoff meeting between the two franchises, with the Blues taking a 3-1 series win over the then-Winnipeg Jets in the opening round in 1982. ... Since the Jets downed the Calgary Flames in the Smythe Division semifinals in 1987, the Coyotes franchise has dropped eight consecutive playoff series, including three in seven games. ... The Coyotes are without leading scorer Jeremy Roenick, who will miss the entire playoffs with a broken jaw incurred on a hit by Derian Hatcher of Dallas on April 4. ... St. Louis finished the season 6-1-2 to overtake Anaheim for the fifth spot, and has won its last four road games. ... Phoenix won its regular season finale over Dallas, 2-0, but the Coyotes lost five consecutive before that. ... Standout Blues defenseman Al MacInnis finished the season at a plus-35.

This week in Stanley Cup history

April 19

1947: Hall-of-Fame center Ted Kennedy scored the game-winner and had an assist as Toronto downed Montreal, 2-1, to win the Stanley Cup in six games. It was the second of three consecutive Cups for the Maple Leafs.

This was the first of five meetings in the Finals between Canada's most storied rivals. Toronto has won three Cups against the Habs.

April 20

1958: All-Star right wing Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion scored the game-winner as Montreal downed Boston, 5-3, at Boston Garden to win the Stanley Cup in six games.

It was the third of five consecutive Cup wins for the Canadiens and their second consecutive Finals victory over the Bruins.

April 21

1988: Petr Klima scored a hat trick in Detroit's 6-0 victory over St. Louis in Game 2 of the Norris Division finals. It was Klima's second hat trick of the playoffs (the first came on April 7 against Toronto), making him only the second Red Wing to record two playoff hat tricks in a single season. Howard Ullman was the other, with two in 1964.

Klima also set a club record for playoff goals that season by scoring 10 in 12 games. Sergei Federov matched that last season with 10 in 22 games.

Detroit went on to win the series, 4-1, then lost the Campbell Conference finals to eventual Cup champion Edmonton, 4-1.

April 22

1983: En route to their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup championship, the New York Islanders downed the New York Rangers, 5-2, to win the Patrick Division title in six games. It was the second consecutive six-game victory over the Rangers in the Patrick finals.

The Islanders went on to defeat Boston in six in the Wales Conference finals and swept Edmonton to take the Cup.

April 23

1950: Pete Babando's NHL career was far from remarkable. In six seasons, the left winger played for four teams and scored 86 goals.

But he is forever etched in the history of Detroit hockey. Babando, who had six goals in the 1949-50 season, scored at 8:31 of the second overtime to give the Red Wings a 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. It was the first Game 7 of a Cup Finals to be decided in overtime.

April 24

1996: Petr Nedved scored with 45 seconds remaining in quadruple overtime to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 victory over Washington in Game Four of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. The Penguins went on to win the series, 4-2.

It was the second four-overtime playoff loss for Washington in less than a decade. On April 18, 1987, the Caps lost to the New York Islanders, 4-3, in game seven of the Patrick Division Semifinals.

April 25

1989: Mario Lemieux waited five seasons to get a chance to make it to the playoffs, and he made the best of it once he got there. Lemieux had 12 goals and 7 assists in 11 games for Pittsburgh, with his most impressive performance coming on this date against Philadelphia.

No. 66 scored five goals and had three assists in the Penguins' wild 10-7 victory over the Flyers in Game 5 of the Patrick Division finals. Three goals came in a seven-minute span of the first period. Philadelphia went on to win the series in seven games.

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