Illegal Curve Hockey

NHL Morning Papers: Playoff Teams (Wednesday Edition)

Here are the morning papers for the Eastern Conference playoff match ups:

Montreal versus Boston:

The Canadiens rode the back of both their youngest player and oldest player last night in Boston, writes Pat Hickey. “He’s in the zone,” said Habs coach Guy Carbonneau about Carey Price. By keeping Patrice Brisebois in the line up, Guy Carbonneau ended up making the right roster decision.
“We have to go to Montreal and play one game. You’ve got to think about winning the next game if you want to get back in the series. It’s as simple as that. You don’t look at the fact that you have to win three, because it’s too big a picture,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien after last night’s tough 1-0 loss at home. Fluto Shinwaza of the Boston Globe wonders if sitting Phil Kessel was a good idea. Glen Murray is the Bruins’ best goal scorer, but he has been missing in action during the playoffs. Murray is not the only Bruins forward who can’t score, writes Kevin Paul Dupont.

Pittsburgh versus Ottawa:

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are trying to one-up each other and that only means problems for their opposition, writes Ron Cook. The Penguins want to make sure they finish off the Senators tonight. You should expect to see Ryan Malone dress tonight for Pittsburgh, but it looks like Gary Roberts will sit out his second game in a row.
“We’ve put ourselves in a huge hole, but by no means do I think we’re done,” said Senators defenseman Mike Commodore. It is without question that Daniel Alfredsson is the emotional leader of the Senators. The Ottawa players had better not mail it in, as some of the Senators may be playing for jobs next year.

Washington versus Philadelphia:

Thom Loverro of the Washington Times thinks the Capitals need to get urgency back into their game after their 6-3 loss at Philadelphia last night. Meantime, Mike Wise of the Washington Post is not a fan of Philadelphia’s style of play. Any thoughts of an Olaf Kolzig appearance were tossed out the window by coach Bruce Boudreau after last night’s game.
For those who questioned Martin Biron after Game 1, they don’t have much to say now, after the goaltender has been terrific in the Flyers’ past two contests. Ovechkin who? Daniel Briere has been that good for the Flyers, writes Tim Panaccio. In roster news, the Flyers got a huge boost last night when Derian Hatcher returned to the team’s line up. However, the team did lose top defenseman Kimmo Timonen to an upper-body injury.

New Jersey versus New York Rangers:

Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger wonders if the Devils have turned the series around. The Devils are not happy with the way they’ve let Jaromir Jagr get on the scoresheet. Jay Greenberg of the NY Post says it has been a while since Martin Brodeur has been great in the playoffs.
Larry Brooks of the NY Post is not in favor of the actions the league took after Sean Avery’s antics on Sunday. If fans are wondering what Chris Drury was doing to Avery in front of the Devils net on Sunday, here is the story. Rangers coach Tom Renney wants the Rangers have to make sure they focus on the task at-hand.