Four teams will continue their season after a relatively short semifinal round. In the West, Detroit completed a seemingly easy sweep of Colorado, giving them much needed (or unwanted depending on who you talk to) rest. They will take on Dallas, who won the 8th longest game in NHL history against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night to complete their six game series. As mentioned in the alliterative title, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia will meet for the first time ever in the Eastern Conference Finals, assuring Pennsylvania as a host of the Stanley Cup Finals. Pittsburgh, thanks mostly to stellar goaltending and deep offense, made quick work of the New York Rangers in five games. Philadelphia gained their ticket by upsetting the top seeded Montreal Canadiens, and preventing the Stanley Cup from coming to Canada for the 14th straight year.

The semifinals has given us some interesting matchups to chew on for the next couple of weeks. Colorado and Detroit have a chance to renew a sorely missed rivalry that has produced some of the baddest blood in sports. Pittsburgh is up against a seasoned New York team, leaving us to wonder if experience will once again be the Penguins’ downfall. Can Montreal keep up with the dominating physical presence of Philadelphia? Who will win the battle of the goaltenders between Dallas and San Jose. Below is my analysis and picks for the next round. I’m also including Fred Beery and Alan Shields’ picks to give you some perspective from other hockey fans.

It’s been 19 years since the Penguins have swept a team in the playoffs. Now the Ottawa Senators can be added to the likes of the Oakland Seals, St. Louis Blues, and New York Rangers after losing 3-1 against the Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. It’s the only sweep of the first round this year, earning Crosby and company some rest before playing again.

Wednesday night was a night of upsets with only one top seed winning their game. In case you missed it, here’s a wrap up of last night’s games.

However, teams like Detroit and Pittsburgh have shown little ill effect from their numerous injuries to marquee players. The Penguins’ success rate without Crosby is actually a novel stat that shows how their team can deal with such a big loss. While watching from the press box, Sid has seen his team skate to a 12-6-4 record. Detroit, besides that anomaly of a losing streak in February, haven’t really missed their injured players, skating to an eighth straight 100 point season.