[Nickphillies]

Playoff Results:
EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS

#1 Pittsburgh Penguins 4-0 #8 Washington Capitals
#2 Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 #7 New York Rangers
#3 Boston Bruins 2-4 #6 Buffalo Sabres
#4 Montreal Canadiens 2-4 #5 Hartford Whalers

WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS
#1 Detroit Red Wings 4-0 #8 Toronto Maple Leafs
#2 Colorado Avalanche 4-1 #7 Vancouver Canucks
#3 Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 #6 Dallas Stars
#4 St. Louis Blues 2-4 #5 Calgary Flames


Series Preview:

Season Recap 2-1-1 HARTFORD:
November 5th: 1-1 Tie
November 18th: 3-1 PHI
December 23rd: 2-1 HFD
March 25th: 3-2 HFD

OFFENSE: The Flyers balanced and powerful offense was on display vs the Rangers with Peter Forsberg, Pavel Bure and Mikael Renberg scoring 4+ goals in the five game series. Leading the Whalers is Pat Verbeek(4-5-9) and Bobby Holik(3-5-8), but their offense is just as balanced as the Flyers as they scored 3+ goals in all six games vs Patrick Roy and the Montreal Canadiens.
ADVANTAGE: Philadelphia


DEFENSE: The Flyers were led by the pairing of Sergei Gonchar and Sandis Ozolinsh as the two combined for a +2 and 6 points vs the Rangers. Eric Desjardins(56GR) struggled vs the Rangers and will need sto step it up vs the Whalers. Veterans defenseman Gord Murphy broke his pelvis and will miss the rest of the post season, so Terry Carkner will be relied on in the third line position. The Whalers are led by Zarley Zalapski(2*)(16G-35A-51PTS) and 21-year old Chris Pronger(3*)(13G-32A-45PTS) and they will be called upon for a majority of the games. Both defenseman averaged 23 minutes a night vs Montreal with the 2nd line of Marc Bergevin(1.5*) and Frantisek Kucera(2*) averaging 20 Minutes.

ADVANTAGE: DRAW


GOALTENDING: Ron Hextall took over after Snow floundered in the 2-1 Loss to the Rangers in Game 1 and never looked back. His 4-0-0 record with a 2.44GAA and 92.6SV% put him in the top five for goalies. Whalers Goalie Roman Cechmanek did enough to hold the Canadiens at bay. 3-1 record with a 3.35GAA and 88.8SV% is nothing to brag about and he'll need to be better.
ADVANTAGE: PHILADELPHIA


Prediction: Philadelphia in Six