Montreal really stepped their game up to another level on Monday night when they routed a 5-0 win over the quasi-impressive-currently-eliminated Boston Bruins squad. The fact this game even went to a game seven says a lot for Boston's inability to simply shrivel up and die, but also speaks volumes for Montreal's capability to scrape it together to avoid an absolutely embarrassing first round upset.
That leaves everything in the East relatively figured out. Relatively.
It'll take one more night for the Penguins to reveal their second round opponent, as the Flyers and Capitals are set to decide which team will advance in a game seven matchup in Washington Tuesday night. Should Washington win, Pittsburgh will take on the Caps. If Philly wins, then the Pens play the Rangers.
In the perfect world of hockeydom, Pittsburgh will draw Washington in the second round. During the regular season, the Pens posted a 6-0-2 against the Caps. However, since shootouts have no place in the playoffs, it's safe to say the Pens were 6-2 vs the Caps. Also keep in mind that only one of those games was against Christobal Huet (4-2 victory). Huet has played beyond incredible in the playoffs so far for the Caps and you can bet he's hungry to take on his former Montreal staff to prove the trade deadline move was indeed a sour one.
With Boston elminated from contention, I think I'll finally ask the question I've been holding off on.