Senators beat Bruins in regular season’s final game; first-round playoff matchups set
It's official. We now know who will play who in both the Eastern and Western Conference playoffs. The West was set on Saturday night and will look like this:
Chicago (1) vs. Minnesota (8)
Anaheim (2) vs. Detroit (7)
Vancouver (3) vs. San Jose (6)
St. Louis (4) vs. Los Angeles (5)
When the buzzer rang at the end of the Ottawa Senators' 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins in a game that was rescheduled due to the Boston Marathon bombings, the East playoff picture was cemented in stone and the final three matchups were settled:
Pittsburgh (1) vs. NY Islanders (8)
Montreal (2) vs. Ottawa (7)
Washington (3) vs. NY Rangers (6)
Boston (4) vs. Toronto (5)
• Because of Ottawa's win on Sunday night, that ruined the chances for a opening round series between the Senators and Maple Leafs. Sure, CBC will be happy with Bruins/Leafs, but they were drooling over a potential Habs/Leafs series.
• This is the third time in four years that the Capitals and Rangers will meet. Washington has taken two of those three meetings. Last year the Rangers needed seven games to get by the Capitals.
• How many times are we going to see David Volek's goal from 1993, the last time New York won a playoff series, during Penguins/Islanders?
We'll have the full playoff schedule, with dates and times, posted once its released by the NHL later tonight.
Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy
