Earlier we looked at the Western Conference first round match-ups. Now we're bringing the beloved (and better) Eastern Conference all up in your face. Here we go: 

(1) Pittsburgh Penguins vs (8) New York Islanders

Poor, poor New York Islanders. It's the first time they've made the playoffs since 2007, where they lost to Buffalo in 5 games in the first round. Now, 6 years later, they get to play one of the best NHL rosters put together, potentially in the history of the NHL. Yeah, that's a pretty big statement but you're looking at a roster with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jarome Iginla (sadface) and Brenden Morrow - and that list only contains three players who started the season with a C on their jersey. 

Pittsburgh is a disgusting team. They finished the year first in the NHL in goals per game, scoring 3.38 goals per game. They also finished the year second in the NHL on the power play, converting 24.7% of all of their power plays. They are an offensive machine. Look at their goal scorers: 

Chris Kunitz: 22
James Neal: 21 (in 40 games)
Pascal Dupuis: 20
Sidney Crosby: 15 (in 36 games; and has 41 assists)
Jarome Iginla: 14

And yet they don't have a large amount of guys who have played 48 games. The team was littered with injuries and still dominated the Eastern Conference in the second half of the season. When Evgeni Malkin has 9 goals, but the team led the NHL with 162 goals scored this season - it's a telling sign about depth. 

Ah, depth. It's a funny thing how things shake out at the end of the season. Heading into the end of March, depth was an issue with Pittsburgh. Suddenly, Ray Shero does Ray Shero things and brings in Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow, Douglas Murray and Jussi Jokinen and depth is no longer a problem. 

I guess you can make a case for the Penguins defense being an issue, but even then they're 12th in the NHL is GA/G (2.48) and have missed their best shutdown defenseman in Paul Martin for most of the season. 

If you want to search for a problem, you could look at Marc-Andrew Fleury, who posted a 2.39 GAA and a SV% of .916 - but even then you're talking about respectable stats. If he had Tuukka Rask like stats, this team may not have lost a game all season (kidding, maybe). 

Oh yeah, there's also the Islanders in this match-up, but not for long. 

Prediction: Penguins in 4

After the jump...the rest of the Eastern Conference...

Man, I can't believe it's finally here. This is, literally, the greatest time of the year. If you're a hockey fan, this is your Christmas. With the hours ticking away before the first slate of games are to be played tonight, we wanted to give everyone a look at both the Eastern and Western opening rounds. Tonight, Chicago/Minnesota, St. Louis/Los Angeles and Detroit/Anaheim will open their series against one another. Before the puck drops, lets look at the Western Conference: 

(1) Chicago Blackhawks vs (8) Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild have the displeasure of playing the best team in the NHL. You read that right, the best team in the NHL. The Blackhawks are probably the most balanced team heading into the playoffs in all phases of the game. Offensively they rank second in the NHL, scoring 3.10 goals per game. Their defense is ranked first in the NHL, giving up 2.02 goals per game. It's disgusting how good this team is. 

The Blackhawks specialty teams? 19th in the NHL on the power play at 16.7% success. The penalty kill? Third in the NHL with 87.2% success at killing penalties. I'm shocked, actually, at how bad they are on the power play given their talent. 

Goaltending? Not an issue. Corey Crawford and Ray Emery have matching GAA at 1.94 (seriously). That makes them number six and seven overall in the NHL in that category. Crawford is 10th overall in save percentage among all goalies with a .926 clip. 

With all this going on, you have to ask yourself if Minnesota has a chance? 

Well, not really. I mean there's a chance that Minnesota wins a game or two at home, but I don't think they are good enough to steal a game in Chicago. Their road record is 12-11-1. The good news is that the Wild are top ten in scoring goals on the road in the NHL with 66 of them, but they also have given up 70. 

Here's the thing with Minnesota - They are in the bottom half of the league (22) in goals per game with 2.46 and goals against per game (16) with 2.60. While they are good enough to squeak into the playoffs thanks to a Columbus loss on the last day of the regular season, I don't think they have the firepower to hang with Chicago. 

Chicago is good, like Stanley Cup Finals good. Anything else for this team is a failure. 

Predication: Chicago in 5. 

After the jump...the rest of the West!

Last year we did something similar and it was a big hit, so I figured we would do it again. This time we're going to use NHL.com's bracket challenge. There are a few ways to join, the easiest is to go to click on the link below. 

Days of Y'Orr Bracket Challenge

If that doesn't work, you can email us using the CONTACT tab and we can send you an invite that way as well.

Make your picks and the website does the rest. 

We will figure something out for the winner as well. 

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE COMPLETED BY TUESDAY, APRIL 30 AT 8 PM EST.

With the regular season finished and the Bruins ending it on a sour note, Bruins' General Manager Peter Chiarelli was lost. The black and gold seemed to be imploding on themselves, unable to hold a third period lead. Their defense was a mess, their offense was struggling and their fan voted "Seventh Player Award Winner" has been scratched more times than a Run DMC record. 

He knew he had to make the call. He had to awaken the team that once found itself at the top of hockey's pedastle. He had to call: 

Bruins get the pleasure of welcoming the Toronto Maple Leafs back into the playoff team fold. It wasn't long ago we were ejoying these guys during the regular season:

And now they're in the playoffs. They grow up so fast!

I'm glad the Bruins are matched up against another rational fan base not prone to hyperbole or nonsense so we can all focus on the hockey!

— Jeff Israel (@jeffisrael25) April 29, 2013

Man this is gonna be a fun series for trolling on both sides.

Here's the schedule:

Game 1: Toronto at Boston, Wednesday May 1, 7 p.m.

Game 2: Toronto at Boston, Saturday May 4, 7 p.m.

Game 3: Boston at Toronto, Monday May 6, 7 p.m.

Game 4: Boston at Toronto, Wednesday May 8, 7 p.m.

*Game 5: Toronto at Boston, Friday May 10, 7 p.m.

*Game 6: Boston at Toronto, Sunday May 12, time TBD

*Game 7: Toronto at Boston, Monday May 13, time TBD

* = if necessary

Holy smokes, look at all those days off between games. What the hell are we all gonna do with that free time?

It is no secret that Shawn Thornton is the greatest man who ever lived. He does more in a day than most of us do in a year. Usually we only get to see him in action during games, but recently Shawn Thornton let us follow him around for a day so we could see what a typical day in his life was like. 

It was awesome.

After the jump.....A Day in the Life of Shawn "Wayne" Thornton.....

There are three days left in the regular season for the Boston Bruins, two if you're a fan of anyone else. With Montreal playing tomorrow night, a Habs loss and a Bruins wins in either of the two games guarantees the Bruins second place in the Eastern Conference. If Montreal wins tomorrow night, Boston needs to win one of the two games and at least head to overtime to lock up the division. 

With all that said, I looked at http://www.sportsclubstats.com/ and their updated stats regarding the Bruins first round opponent. Based on all of their statisical data, here are the potential playoff opponents for the Bruins: 

And after last night here's how the Eastern Conference shakes out: 

While the statistics at Sports Club Stats believe that Boston will play Ottawa (and I'm sure the final game between Boston and Ottawa has a lot to do with it), if the playoffs started today the black and gold would have a rough series with New York. 

Boston looked good last night. 

That feels weird to say when the last 5 out of 6 games have been utter dogshit for the Bruins, but last night they looked like a hockey team. Not everyone was clicking  and no, the top two scoring lines didn't produce a goal, but that's what happens when your depth really plays a pivotal role. I mean, we can dissect this game all we want and make excuses as to why Boston won. 

Yes, it's Tampa Bay. 
Yes, Boston is fighting for their division
Yes, Tampa Bay is currently 13th in the East

But based on the past 6 games, none of this should matter. What matters is that the Bruins grabbed two crucial points in a game they should have won, because Montreal also won last night. So hey, let's remain positive. Apparently all the Bruins needed was for me to tweet nice things about them yesterday, instead of the usual negative garbage that spews from my brain to my fingers to your eyeballs. 

But I have no reasons to really complain about last night's game. Hell, even Lucic showed up. 

So let's get into this recap's ass...

Wow. Just wow. Dougie Hamilton just pulled off what might be the biggest Seventh Player Award upset in recent memory. No idea how Daniel Paille didn't win it this year. Dougie's been good but Paille's been an absolute gem for the Bs this year, filling in for when the top Boston forwards take games off. Fact Pie didn't win it is just awful.

We're disappointed in you, Bruins fans.

Kinda awkward that the Seventh Player Award winner is a healthy scratch. Oops. 

Anywyas, we're not the only ones irked by Paille getting robbed.

Go buy a Daniel Paille shirt. He's the real 7th Player this season.

— Mike Miccoli (@MikeMiccoli) April 25, 2013

Outside of those first 3 games, Hamilton was pretty much exactly what I thought he'd be this year. Apparently the fans had low expectations

— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin9) April 25, 2013

@pezdoy I like stickers.

— Dan (@dan8477) April 25, 2013

Danny, you're MY Seventh Player. #paillepact2013

— Victoria Welch (@vickievictoria) April 25, 2013

Wow. No offense to Dougie Hamilton, but Bruins fans once again making themselves look pretty silly w/ 7th Player. Daniel Paille, kids.

— DJ Bean (@DJ_Bean) April 25, 2013

I remember my first beer, voters.

— Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) April 25, 2013

Dougie 7th Player. Because he's popular with the gals or because #Bruins fans just wanted to thank Phil Kessel one more time?

— Matt Kalman (@TheBruinsBlog) April 25, 2013

WHY IS THE BRUINS FANBASE FULL OF FUCKING IDIOTS

— Caitie (@dear_gravity) April 25, 2013

HERE PIE I MADE U A TROPHY twitter.com/ItsMarchie/sta…

— amazing specimen (@ItsMarchie) April 25, 2013

Dougie winning the 7th player award is just a prime example of how idiotic this fan base has become since 2011.

— Dan Walker (@PlastikAvenger) April 25, 2013

Couldn't say it better ourselves, Walker.

3 games. 

3 regular season left before Boston heads into the NHL's second season. 3 games left to prove to the city of Boston that this team isn't the floundering mess they've shown the past 6 games or so. Tonight's game is a make-up game for Nemo. When these two teams were going to meet, this is what I wrote about Tampa: 

I'll be honest with you guys, this game scares the piss out of me. Tampa comes in tonight with the best offense in the NHL, scoring 4.20 goals per game! That's a ridiculous number when you consider that the number two scoring offense, the Blackhawks (who are on fire) "only" score 3.60 goals per game. 

The Lightning has scored four or more goals in six games this season, most of them coming in January, although they did throw an eight spot on the board against Winnipeg on February 1st. Lately it seems that their offense has tapered off, losing their last three games and scoring five goals in the process.

Funny how things can change in a little under two months. Now the Lightning, who were an offensive machine during that early run are still an offensive machine. Their goal scoring has dropped from 4.20 goals per game to now 3.13 per game, which is still good for third in the NHL. Per usual, the issue with the Tampa Lightning is their defense. They are bottom of the barrel in goals against per game, giving up 3.04 per game. 

They know their goaltending is an issue, because they gave up Cory Conacher for Ben Bishop, which was surprising because Conacher is a good offensive chip. The thing is, Bishop hasn't been great with the Lightning. In 9 games played, Bishop is 3-4-1 with a 2.99 GAA and a SV% .917, all lower than his numbers in Ottawa when he was traded. 

It could be because Ottawa is that good or because Tampa is that bad. Either way, both Anders Lindback and Ben Bishop aren't anything to about - but the Bruins have a habit of making subpar goalies look like Vezina candidates. 

As usual, the two guys to watch out for are Stamkos and Martin St. Louis. Stamkos career numbers versus Boston are scary. In 18 regular season games played he has 12 goals and 6 assists for 18 points but is a -7. This year Stamkos has 2 goals and 1 assist in 2 games versus the Bruins. St. Louis, while not as good career numbers (and a much larger sample size) has 15 goals, 19 assists and 34 points in 46 games. 

If Boston can somehow shut these two guys down and limit a decent power play, they should come away with the win. Tampa has nothing to play for, literally, and is probably trying to tank it to get a higher pick. Not saying that this will be a cake walk for Boston, but everything is set up tonight for a win. 

And a win is what Boston needs. The Bruins are fighting with Montreal for the 2nd spot in the Eastern Conference and the top spot int he Northeast Division. If both teams lose out, Montreal wins the division. Shit, Toronto still has a small chance at becoming the division champions. Winning is the only way they are going to win this division and potentially play Ottawa in the first round. Backing into the second seed by losing is not an option this year.

After the jump, the rest of the preview...