The 2010 NHL Western Conference playoffs started on Wednesday, April 14th. Three of the best-of-seven series have been decided with San Jose, Chicago, and Vancouver advancing to the next round. The final series; Phoenix and Detroit will play a deciding game seven tonight. Here is an update/recap of each series along with the current odds for each team to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals.
#1 San Jose Sharks (5-2) vs. #8 Colorado Avalanche (NA) Sharks win 4-2
Colorado was able to throw a major scare into the Sharks by winning two of the first three games in this series. San Jose, the best team in the conference was able to prevail with a crucial 2-1 OT win in game four and two dominating wins in game five (5-0) and game six (5-2) to advance to the conference semifinals against either the Coyotes or the Red Wings. The two big stars for San Jose were center Joe Pavelski and goalie Evgeni Nabokov. Pavelski ended the series with five goals and three assists while Nabokov had a GAA of 1.76 and SV% .926.
#2 Chicago Blackhawks (5-2) vs. #7 Nashville Predators (NA) Blackhawks win 4-2
Chicago, who is favored by many to win the West got off to a bit of a shaky start in this series by losing two out of the first three games to a surprisingly resilient Nashville team. They were able to regain the form that landed them in the #2 spot to win the final three games to advance to the next round where they will face Vancouver. After blanking the Predators 3-0 in game four to tie things up at two games apiece, the key game of this series was the Blackhawks dramatic 5-4 OT win in game five where they needed a shorthanded goal with just 13 seconds left to tie it. In game six, after a crazy seven goal first period that put Chicago up 4-3, they settled down to go on to win 5-3 to clinch the series in six.
#3 Vancouver Canucks (11-4) vs. #6 Los Angeles Kings (NA) Canucks win 4-2
Similar to Chicago, Vancouver found themselves down 2-1 to the lower seeded Kings after three games. Without nearly as much of the drama, the Canucks took a workman’s like approach to the next three games and eliminated LA in six. They outscored the Kings 17-8 in games four, five, and six making sure there were no more close calls in this series. While Vancouver has been led by the phenomenal play of Henrik Sedin all season, Mikael Samuelsson was the star of this first round match-up with seven goals and four assists. Canuck goalie Roberto Luongo ended the series with GAA of 2.92 and a SV% of .893.
#4 Phoenix Coyotes (7-1) vs. #5 Detroit Red Wings (4-1)
In probably the best series of the first round, these two teams have pounded each other for six straight games and will need a game seven to decide which team moves on to face San Jose in the conference semifinals. After splitting the first two games in Phoenix, the Coyotes grabbed the first edge real edge of the series with a 4-2 win in game three. The Red Wings immediately responded by shutting out Phoenix 3-0 in game four to tie the series at 2-2. Detroit then put themselves in prime position to win the series with another dominating 4-1 win in game five. Not to be denied, the Coyotes roared back in game six with an impressive 5-2 win of their own in game six to even the series once again. The final and deciding game seven will be played tonight in Phoenix starting at 9:00 P.M (ET). This should be one for the ages.
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