The Morning Papers: Playoffs!

Montreal vs. Philadelphia

-Heading into Game 5, Guy Carbonneau is quiet on who will start in net and remains optimistic that the Habs can make a comeback. To that end, he has gave the team the day off yesterday to prepare. It may not matter, however, as Canadiens’ fans have already given up hope. The team itself is pondering what went wrong?

–Jim Dowd, one of the older Flyers, isn’t ready to call it a career. Danny Briere, the Invisible Superstar, says that Philadelphia’s depth and adaptability are what is winning games. No mention of Martin Biron, who won’t take credit anyways.The Flyers hope to have the killer instinct tonight and avoid a repeat of Round 1, where they let the Caps back into the series.

Rangers vs. Penguins

-Rangers stars Jaromir Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist lead the team, whose backs were to the wall, to victory.Lundqvist, who stopped Evgeni Malkin on a penalty shot, was instrumental in the win. A live blog of the game can be found here. Meanwhile, injured Ranger Sean Avery has stabilized and is accepting visitors. No word on an appearance by Martin Brodeur, though Avery is said to be screening his guests.

-Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin ignited a storm by allegedly slew-footing Paul Mara. Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the numbers dictate that the Pens will just get better. Maxime Talbot tested his broken foot, but doesn’t think he will be back. Jarko Ruutu thinks the Penguins will answer back in Game 6.

Western Conference Papers

Detroit vs. Colorado

-The Red Wings Top 6 forwards were too much for the Avalanche, who fell behind early and couldn’t recover. Johan Franzen led the way with a hat trick, and he already has 11 in the playoffs. The Detroit Free Press recaps the game here.

-With the Avalanche now out of the playoffs, the Forsberg questions begin. Mark Kizsla of the Denver Post thinks its time for him to go, for good. The Avalanche have several unrestricted free agents to make decisions on. Adrian Dater offers a post-mortem on the Avs.

Dallas vs. San Jose

-The Stars are looking for captain Brendan Morrow to lead them past the Sharks, hopefully tonight. Meanwhile, coach Dave Tippett has the Stars believing they can beat anybody. The Stars hope to continue their success at corralling rebounds.

–Ron Wilson is finding creative ways to motivate his team. Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News thinks the Sharks can make a come back. To do so, they will play every game like its Game 7, with desperation working in their favor.