Fansided Friday Conference SemiFinals

Greatest Scene In Sports Brad Barr-US PRESSWIRE

With the double overtime last night for the Florida Panthers and the New Jersey Devils, the first round is complete and the second round is on the table.  Heres a quick look around the Fansided Sports Network for the teams that remain in the chase for the Stanley Cup Finals.

In the West, you have Los Angeles, St. Louis, Nashville, and Phoenix, all clubs who have never been winners of the Stanley Cup.  In the East, The Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, and Philadelphia Flyers remain, the Rangers and Flyers both looking to break Stanley Cup droughts, the Devils looking to win one last Cup for Brodeur, and the Caps trying to bring the hardware to the nations capital for an entire summer, not just a singular visit to the Oval Office.

When the NBC feed switched over to the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils last night, I had to send my good friend Frank a message to ask him if the empty seats were a mere anomoly because the period had just started.  Thanksfully it was, and the Panthers faithful soon returned to their seats to cheer on their Rat Pack.  In true fashion, one team shot out to a 2 goal or better lead, before letting it slip away.  The Panthers were unable to finish the comeback off – holding the Devils at bay until the second overtime.  Read some day after opinions on the end of the Panthers season at The Rat Trick. 

While the Panthers will now mourn the end of their season which saw them win their division and make the playoffs in more than a decade, the New Jersey Devils showed that they can be winners still.  With Brodeur heading closer and closer to the end of his career, it would be fitting for one of the longest tenured players in the league to go out on a winning note.  Chris Palmer writes a good article here on how the almost 40 year old goaltender continues to pull it off. 

With the Flyers standing pat in the East as every other team went the seven game way, long time writer Eugene Markman wonders what if Eric Lindros the great number 88 came back to play in the NHL. 

You would have to be hiding under a rock to not know how some Bruins fans reacted to Joel Ward scoring the game winner in game seven of the series that knocked the Boston Bruins out of the Stanley Cup finals.  Taylor Lewis takes another look at the twitter-tainted spectrum surrounding one of the worst verbal incidents to plague the NHL in a while.  While some people are claiming there was goalie interference on the play and that in real time it was a tough call for the on ice officials, shortly after there were some in Beantown that could give Ward his just deserves. 

If the NHL were stage show, the lights could be dimming on the future of the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale, Arizona, but until the final exit stage left is called, the team is still active in the playoffs and hoping to extend their season to the Western Conference Finals.  A good wrapup of their series clinching game against Chicago.  

The Preds are all in this season looking to lift the post season prize – and kudos to them for giving their all.  No safe trade was made at the deadline, and the gloves were off for the Tennessee based hockey club.  The Preds know there are two other series to go after this one, and Dan Bradley looks to That Other Series In The West.

All the Kings horseman and all the Kings men, scored goals and beat the Vancouver Canucks, who were knocked out of the playoffs again.  If you want to know how many times the Kings lit the lamp against the Canucks in their first round matchup, Jon Gillette gives you a text recap of all the Kings tallies.

Goal Scorers Need Not Apply is the title of the latest article over at our St. Louis site, and Vincent Biase showcases why goal scoring might not be the focal point of the series in the Western Conference matchup between the Kings and the Blues, a series that features three of the best goaltenders in the league.