Time to show some love for that ”other” set of postseason wars happening on ice.

The 2010 NHL playoffs continue to heat up as the defending champions Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Ottawa Senators with a 2-1 win to even the series at one game apiece in their best of seven series. Kris Letang scored the game winner in the third period to give the victory to the Penguins.

Both the Ottawa Senators and the Pittsburgh Penguins scored one goal each in the opening period with Peter Regin scoring for the Senators just 18 seconds into the game. Sidney Crosby tied the game at 1-1 with a goal from 8:45 of the first period.

The second period was scoreless but with two penalties for each team. The game winner came by Kris Letang at 15:48 of the third period with assists from Pittsburgh teammates Bill Guerin and Sidney Crosby. Marc-Andre Fleury saved 19 shots for Pittsburgh with Brian Elliott saving 29 for Ottawa.

Meanwhile, we have the Buffalo Sabres taking a 1-0 lead over the Boston Bruins after Ryan Miller became the proverbial savior in Game 1 for Buffalo. Miller was phenomenal, making 38 saves, including 23 in the second period, in the Sabres’ 2-1 playoff-opening victory over the Bruins.

In the West, the Detroit Red Wings shocked their rival Phoenix Coyotes by the score of 7-4 in the second game of their first round playoff matchup. The Red Wings were held scoreless in the first period but had three second period goals with four in the last period to blow out the no.3 seed Coyotes.

Keith Yandle put the Coyotes up 1-0 at the 10:23 point of…

And we promise it’ll be a finish you shouldn’t miss.

The 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Finals turned out to be a fantastic one. We all thought the Red Wings would be able to finish off the Penguins in six games to win the Cup. After all, they did it last year.

But for some reason, the Pittsburgh Penguins managed to live another day this time. While they succumb to Detroit last year after six games, the Penguins made sure they will make Detroit work a little harder for the Cup this year.

The Detroit Red Wings struggled in Game 6. They went scoreless in the first two periods and their unstoppable offense that catapulted them again this deep into the postseason was nowhere to be seen.

The Penguins, of course, took advantage. They got on the board in the second period before scoring yet again in the 5th minute of the final one. The Red Wings didn’t score until the 8th minute. After that, they pretty much…

You bet because there’s no way in hell why this series is going to a seventh game.

It’s no surprise that the Detroit Red Wings are in full control of the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Finals. After simply destroying the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 5, there’s no way for you to think that Detroit doesn’t have the Cup in the bag.

It was an annihilation as the Detroit Red Wings got one step closer from being crowned as the 2009 Stanley Cup champions after humiliating the Penguins, 5-0 last Saturday. The win extended Detroit’s series lead to 3-2, putting them only a win away from their 12th Stanley Cup, their fifth one in 12 seasons.

Sure, every hockey fan who’ll be watching Game 6 live this Tuesday should be behind the Pittsburgh Penguins since the game will be played on their home ice but the fact of the matter is, the Red Wings know letting Pittsburgh extend this series to a Game 7 will be detrimental to their run for the title and they can’t give these Penguins any momentum whatsoever.

Sure, a Game 7 back in Detroit will be fantastic for Red Wings fans but if you’re Detroit, why would you risk extending it to another game when you can end it in Pittsburgh on Tuesday?

”The other game is three days away so I don’t know if [the shutout] has much…”

They have to, unless they want to get their asses swept in front of their home fans in the next two games.

The 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Finals continue on Tuesday in Pittsburgh where the Red Wings will try to take the commanding 3-0 lead over a Penguins team clearly struggling.

The Detroit Red Wings are halfway there people. They are only two games away from saving Detroit from what has been a tumultuous year and from winning their 12th Stanley Cup.

The Pittsburgh Penguins got beat after failing to come up with anything after the first period for the second time in this series. And while they managed to draw first blood this time in Game 2, thanks to a power play goal by Evgeni Malkin, the Red Wings just took over the rest of the game, scoring twice in the second period before sealing the game with another in the third.

Perhaps it’s fate that the Red Wings, once again, are going to Pittsburgh up 2-0, needing only two more wins to capture the Stanley Cup. Sure, they’re tired, beat-up and exhausted but the fact of the matter is, they are two more wins away from their 12th Stanley Cup and with the kind of year Detroit had, I reckon the Red Wings won’t…

The two teams that moved on, the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins, find themselves in the same spot as last season.

In case you didn’t know, the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins will have a rematch of last year’s championship series after both advanced to the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Finals.

You read it, the Pittsburgh Penguins are headed back to the Stanley Cup finals, clinching a return trip with a 4-1 rout of the Carolina Hurricanes that finished off a sweep in the Eastern Conference finals. Pittsburgh lost to Detroit last year in a six-game final series.

For the Detroit Red Wings, it was the right thing happening to the right team. The Red Wings were the best over 82 games, and they were the best among a ferocious Western Conference. And when they beat the Penguins last season, even if it took one game longer than it should have, general manager Ken Holland was rewarded for what he had put together.

This year however, the Red Wings are banged up against the Penguins with Detroit missing the likes of Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk and Kris Draper. Maybe this best of seven series for the Stanley Cup will be a lot more competitive than it was the last time.

On defense, the Wings have finally figured a…

In case you didn’t get that, we’re referring to the Eastern Conference Finals on ice.

You read it, the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs continue and if you’ve been following the action on ice the last few days, you already know that the Conference Finals are here.

And while the Detroit Red Wings have already taught the Chicago Blackhawks a valuable lesson in the West to kick of that best of seven series, things are only getting started on the other side as the 2009 NHL Eastern Conference Finals kick off this Monday in Pittsburgh.

That’s right, the Carolina Hurricanes visit the Pittsburgh Penguins for a best of seven series that will determine who will be representing the Eastern Conference to play for the Stanley Cup. The Hurricanes are really looking primed to play for the Cup this year, having defeated the no.1 seed Boston Bruins to reach their third appearance in the Conference Finals. And if you’re a Penguin fan counting on the home-ice advantage to fend-off these Hurricanes, think again.

You see, the Carolina Hurricanes have been the postseason’s road warriors. It simply doesn’t matter…

That’s all you really need to know. But will you watch it? I won’t, but I know some of the Canadians will.

Like an irritating rash, the 2009 NHL Playoffs are still here and on Wednesday, these postseason wars on ice will be having a huge Game 7 between two teams some of us probably never even heard of.

In case you’re still interested with this, it’s Game 7 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals and in case you’re following the NHL playoffs, you’re probably going ga-ga over this one, especially if you’re a Capital fan from the nation’s capital.

On the brink of elimination, the Washington Capitals were able to come up with a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime to bring the series back home for a pivotal Game 7.

It was the first overtime win Washington had in these playoffs and it couldn’t have come at a better time. You see, before winning Game 6 in Pittsburgh, the Capitals were losers of their last SEVEN OVERTIME GAMES. Yep, they were that bad in these extra sessions.

Thankfully, with a spot in the 2009 NHL Eastern Conference Finals at stake…

Yes, the NHL still holds its annual playoff tournament.

And while most of us would rather keep our eyes glued on the NBA’s postseason wars, the 2009 NHL Playoffs still got underway and our friends from SPORTSBETTING.COM wasted no time in milking from it.

The puck dropped on the NHL postseason on Wednesday and as it stands, the balance of power lies in the West with the defending champions Detroit Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks listed as the odds-on favorites at SPORTSBETTING.COM to take the Stanley Cup at +300. Boston has the best odds of the Eastern Conference teams at +500.

The defending champions will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets first. A threat to repeat as champs, the Detroit Red Wings had a successful season accumulating 51 wins, 21 losses and 10 OT losses for 112 points but thanks to some shoddy goal tending, went 3-7 in their final 10 regular season games. Chris Osgood, who finished the season with a 3.09 GAA and a .887 save percentage, is expected to start for Detroit.

In stark contrast, the Wings will be up against a good, albeit young, goalie Steve Mason (33-20-7, 2.29 GAA, .916 save percentage and 10 shutouts) and the Columbus Blue Jackets, who finished the regular season with…

When we speak about the action happening lately on ice, one team from Boston ended their losing skid as soon as that ”other” team tried to end theirs.

For the Boston Bruins, their slump is over in the 2009 NHL hockey season. Bruins center Marc Savard said after his team won its second in succession to put a two-game losing streak to bed. ”If that’s a slump that seems pretty good.”

The two consecutive losses weren’t the slump; it was the way the club had been playing for several games. The Boston Bruins are leading the pack in the tight Eastern Conference with a 31-7 win-loss slate.

The Bruins are 8-2 in their last 10 games, followed by the Washington Capitals with 27- 13.

Taking third is the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers have gone 12-0-2 in their last 14 games at home and have not lost in regulation there since Nov. 8. They thrive off the energy of the raucous crowd that are more akin to those in the 1970s than those that have been booing regularly the last few seasons.

The Montreal Canadians are fourth at 25-10, the New York Rangers in fifth place with 25-15 and closing in at sixth are the New Jersey Devils with 24-15. Rounding up the top 10 in the Eastern conference standings are the Buffalo Sabres, the…

At least Detroit now has a world championship this year eh?

Detroit has always been all about hockey, hence the term, ”Hockey Town” and on Wednesday night, they finally won their 11th title, winning the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals series 4-2 after beating the Penguins, 3-2 in Game 6 at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh.

After the Pittsburgh Penguins managed to stop the Red Wings’ victory parade in Detroit after Petr Sykora scored a power-play goal in the third extra session to give the Penguins a 4-3 victory in Game 5, the Red Wings knew dropping another game to the Penguins will just be too risky.

After all, after beating the Detroit Red Wings in Game 5 to stay alive in this championship series, the Penguins all of a sudden had the momentum coming into Game 6. And momentum in these playoff wars, is a HUGE factor, no matter how good a team’s players are.

”We have a great thing going right now. We just wanted to win this game,” Pittsburgh Penguins player Petr Sykora said after winning Game 5. ”We didn’t really look ahead. Now we’re going back home. We’ve got nothing to lose. We know what we have to do and hopefully we can bring it back here to…”