Stanley Cup Playoffs Preview

By PA SportsTicker
Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins are ready to exact some revenge. The Penguins will host the Ottawa Senators as the Stanley Cup playoffs begin Wednesday with four conference quarterfinal series openers. The New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers also get their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series underway Wednesday. In the West, the San Jose Sharks host the Calgary Flames and the Colorado Avalanche visit the Minnesota Wild in their quarterfinal openers.

OTT v. PIT
Eliminated in five games by the eventual Eastern Conference champion Senators in the conference quarterfinals last season, the Penguins enter this postseason rematch with home-ice advantage as they captured the Atlantic Division. It was the first division title for Pittsburgh since 1997-98, when they finished atop the Northeast. Despite missing 28 games this season due to injury, Crosby managed to finish second on the Penguins in scoring with 72 points. The superstar trailed only All-Star Evgeni Malkin, whose 106 points were six behind Washington's Alex Ovechkin in the race for the Art Ross Trophy. After their quarterfinals loss to Ottawa in 2007, Pittsburgh added some proven scoring depth to its young duo of Crosby and Malkin, signing former Stanley Cup champion Petr Sykora during the summer and acquiring Marian Hossa from the Atlanta Thrashers at this season's trade deadline. The Penguins also received a strong campaign from Ryan Malone, who posted career highs of 27 goals and 51 points. The Senators will be hard-pressed to repeat as conference champions as they limped into the playoffs with a 2-5-1 record down the stretch. They also figure to be without captain Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher for at least the early part of their series against the Penguins due to knee injuries.

NJ v. NYR
New Jersey looks to build on its 3-2 shootout victory over New York in Sunday's regular-season finale. The Rangers had won the first seven meetings between the Atlantic Division rivals this season. The Devils also hope to get back in the habit of winning in regulation. The team has not been victorious in 60 minutes since posting a 4-2 triumph at Colorado on March 15, going 4-5-1 over its last 10 games of the season, with three victories coming in the shootout and one in overtime. New York captain Jaromir Jagr seems to be peaking at the right time. The veteran Czech recorded seven goals and four assists in his final eight games to finish one point ahead of former Devil Scott Gomez (70) for the team lead in points.

CAL v. SJ
After putting together a streak in which they earned at least one point in 20 consecutive games (18-0-2), the Sharks lost their last two regular-season contests. Joe Thornton had another strong season with a team-leading 96 points, but the Flames also need to be aware of clutch scorers Jeremy Roenick and Milan Michalek, who finished second and sixth overall in game-winning goals with 10 and eight, respectively. Captain Jarome Iginla once again paced Calgary this season, leading the club with 98 points while becoming one of just three players in the league to reach the 50-goal plateau.

COL v. MIN
The Wild claimed the first division title in franchise history this campaign as they finished three points ahead of the Avalanche in the Northwest. The teams met twice over the last eight days of the regular season, with each claiming three of a possible four points. Minnesota and Colorado faced off in the 2003 conference quarterfinals, with the Wild overcoming a three-games-to-one deficit to win the series.

Three other quarterfinal series begin Thursday. The top-seeded Montreal Canadiens host the Boston Bruins in the East, while the Presidents' Trophy-winning Detroit Red Wings face the Nashville Predators and the Dallas Stars visit the Anaheim Ducks in the openers of their Western Conference matchups. On Friday, the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals meet for Game One of their quarterfinal series in the East.