Morning Skate: April 30

Tonight’s Slate:
Bruins @ Flyers, 3:00 ET
Predators @ Canucks, 9:00

Games of the Night:
Game 1: Boston Bruins @ Philadelphia Flyers
3:00 ET… TV: NBC, CBC

Players to watch:
BOS- David Krejci
Krejci’s two-way play is going to be vital in this series.
PHI- Danny Briere
Briere scored six goals in the first round and burned Boston last spring.

Projected Goaltenders:
BOS- Tim Thomas (Playoff stats: 4-3, 2.25 GAA)
PHI- Brian Boucher (Playoff stats: 4-1, 2.10 GAA)

Injury Report:
BOS- Marc Savard (concussion, out)
PHI- Jeff Carter (knee, out), Andreas Nodl (eye, doubtful), Oskars Bartulis (shoulder, out), Ian Laperriere (head, out)

Game Thoughts:
The rematch begins today as Bruins-Flyers is the last second round series to get started. Both teams are coming off Game 7 victories in hard-fought series, so it’ll be interesting to see which team is fresher. If the first couple days of this round have proven anything, though, it’s that rest doesn’t matter (see: Vancouver and Tampa Bay). Expect it to be a close game… I like the Flyers today.
Prediction: Flyers 3, Bruins 2
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Game 2: Nashville Predators @ Vancouver Canucks
9:00 ET… TV: CBC, VERSUS

Players to watch:
NSH- David Legwand
Legwand had one shot and was dominated in the faceoff circle; he has to be better tonight.
VAN- Ryan Kesler
Kesler has been everywhere in the last two games; he’s due to score a goal.

Projected Goaltenders:
NSH- Pekka Rinne (Playoff stats: 4-3, 2.96 GAA)
VAN- Roberto Luongo (Playoff stats: 5-3, 2.52 GAA)

Injury Report:
NSH- Marcel Goc (shoulder, out), Francis Bouillon and Matthew Lombardi (concussion, out)
VAN- Sami Salo (undisclosed, questionable), Manny Malhotra (eye, out)

Game Thoughts:
The positive news for the Predators is that things can only get better after an “embarrassing” effort in Game 1, as many players labeled it. Vancouver’s defense has been stifling in their last two games, a big improvement from when Chicago was lighting the lamp every time you blinked. The Preds are going to bring their best effort, but look for the Canucks to prevail in another one-goal game.
Prediction: Canucks 3, Predators 2

Video of the Day:


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