1. Montreal Canadiens vs. 6. Philadelphia Flyers

SEASON SERIES: Canadiens 4-0

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Tomas Plekanec, Christopher Higgins and Saku Koivu of the Montreal Canadiens skate at practice.

Photograph by : Reuters

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CANADIENS WIN IF . . . Rookie goaltender Carey Price plays like he did in Game 7 against the Bruins, and if the Habs can get their power play rolling like it was during the regular season.

FLYERS WIN IF . . . They can handle Montreal's speed and can handle the incredible noise of playing on the road at the Bell Centre with a fairly inexperienced team.

ESSENTIAL STATS: Daniel Briere had six goals in seven games against Caps. Flyers penalty killing was 12th of 16 teams in the first round. Price's save percentage was .925 in the first round compared to .908 for Flyer goalie Martin Biron.

THE EDGE: Montreal in six

2. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 5. New York Rangers

SEASON SERIES: Rangers 5-3

PENGUINS WIN IF . . . They can get rolling after a week layoff and get a big series from either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.

RANGERS WIN IF . . . Sean Avery becomes a big distraction in the series and their big free agents, Chris Drury and Scott Gomez, continue to deliver.

ESSENTIAL STATS: Rangers scored only four power-play goals against Devils on just 17 chances. Crosby and Malkin combined for 15 points against Sens. Marc-Andre Fleury's .955 save percentage was best among starting goalies in the first round.

THE EDGE: Rangers in seven

1. Detroit Red Wings vs. 6. Colorado Avalanche

SEASON SERIES: Red Wings 4-0

WINGS WIN IF . . . Head coach Mike Babcock gets the right combination of goaltending from Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood and Henrik Zetterberg gets revved up.

AVALANCHE WIN IF . . . Peter Forsberg continues to produce and stay healthy and Avs can continue to shut down Detroit's sputtering power play.

ESSENTIAL STATS: Andrew Brunette led Avalanche in first round with three goals. Daniel Cleary didn't scored for the Wings. Osgood allowed one goal on 54 Nashville shots in three appearances.

THE EDGE: Detroit in seven