May 12, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic (17) scores on Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender James Reimer (34) during the third period in game six of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated Boston 2-1. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Playoffs are in full swing and the second round match ups are almost completely set. In the West we know the San Jose Sharks will be taking on the Los Angeles Kings while the Chicago Blackhawks will be facing off against the Detroit Red Wings. Over in the Eastern Conference, the Pittsburgh Penguins will play the Ottawa Senators while neither opponent in the second series has been decided.

Last night both the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs won crucial game sixes to extend their match ups to series deciding game sevens to be played tonight. The Leafs and Bruins kick things off tonight at 7 from Boston with the Rangers facing off in Washington at 8. Here is a brief look at the match ups:

Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Bruins 7 p.m. ET (TV:CNBC)

The Maple Leafs looked primed for an early exit after falling behind three games to one against Boston, but Leafs goaltender James Reimer led Toronto to consecutive 2-1 victories stopping 72 of 74 shots faced along the way. Strong goalie play has been key to the series as Reimer and Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask bring into tonight’s deciding games, goals against averages of 2.58 and 2.28 respectively.

While goaltending has been a big story, the overriding drama of the series has involved the key parts of the trade that sent Phil Kessel to Toronto back in 2009. The trade has long been viewed as a steal for Boston, but if you were looking at this series alone, it would appear that Toronto got the most out of the deal.

Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton, the two players the Bruins drafted with the picks they received from Toronto, have virtually been non-factors thus far. Both Seguin and Hamilton have failed to register any points in the series and Hamilton has even been a healthy scratch in four out of the six games. Kessel on the other hand has three goals, one assist, a plus one rating and two game winning goals.

Some other series notes:

• Toronto has not advanced past the 1st round since 2004 when they beat Ottawa in seven games
• Roberto Luongo was one of the many who have enjoyed Reimer’s stellar play over the last couple games. Luongo displayed his excitement in tweet form after Toronto’s 2-1 victory yesterday:

#REIMS4SOCHI

—Strombone (@strombone1) May 13, 2013

• The Bruins were forced to spend last night in Toronto due to their plane having a mechanical issue.

The Pick:

Bruins win 4-3, Seguin nets a pair including the game winner.

New York Rangers at Washington Capitals 8 p.m. ET (TV: NBC Sports)

I would like to take this time to justify why I am rooting for the Washington Capitals in this series. I know, as a Florida Panthers fan, it is borderline blasphemy to be pulling for a Southeast Division rival who has been handing the Panthers their sneakers for the past ten years, BUT here is the thing, the Panthers and Capitals are essentially no longer division rivals.  Next year when the new divisions come into play, the Capitals and Panthers will be in separate divisions therefore I do not feel as obligated to root against the Caps.

May 10, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) skates with the puck during the game against the New York Rangers in game five of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

The bigger reason why I am rooting for the Caps is this, I am a fan of history. I love the feeling you get when you are witnessing something that you know will someday be etched in the memories of sports fans. Those moments that you will tell your kids about. There are on rare occasions special moments in sports where you are aware of the moments greatness as it is happening. It is akin to having the awareness that you are dreaming while you dream.

There have only been a few of those moments in my life. Watching the Sox come back from being down 3-0 to the Yankees in 04, witnessing LeBron realize his greatness, and every Matt Harvey start this year for the Mets (I am not so sure with this one but as a Met fan, it certainly feels like something special every time Harvey takes the mound).

The 2009 NHL playoff series between the Caps and the Penguins was one of these moments. You had the games two best players, Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, at the peak of the powers trading punches in the form of hat tricks, and you got the feeling that the winner of the Stanley Cup would come down to the winner of this heavyweight battle for years to come, that it would be the NHL’s version of Magic v. Bird.

Something happened however and since that epic series, Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals have underachieved, and Sidney Crosby has suffered a slew of injuries that have kept him away from the ice. Both players have fought through their respective struggles and appear to be close to their peak forms. If everything breaks right we could have a Sid vs Ovi Eastern Conference finals a matchup that would be absolutely fascinating from every angle and that would also greatly increase hockey’s relevance to the greater sports world.

So thats why the Caps HAVE to win tonight. GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT!!!!

The Pick:

Washington wins 5-0 with Ovechkin falling a hat trick short of the “Ovechtrick“. Also in the next few weeks news will come out that while partying late into the night following the Rangers game six win, Henrik Lundqvist was taken hostage by a Swedish model who had fallen into debt to the Russian Mob thus forcing the Rangers replace Henrik in net with his twin brother Joel Lundqvist in an effort to keep the news private so as not to cost Henrik his lucrative deal with Head and Shoulders.

Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

The Florida Panthers played their best game of their four game road trip however they were unable to solve Tuukka Rask who stopped 28, in the Bruins 3-0 win, on his way to his fourth shutout of the season. Rask seems to enjoy playing the Panthers as the win today gave him a 7-1 record against the Cats including three wins this season in which he has stopped 91 out of 93 shots. Of course this does not bode well for the Panthers who will see a lot more of Rask next year when the Panthers and Bruins become division rivals.

The Bruins got on the board early when Jaromir Jagr collected a loose puck and put it top shelf for his 16th goal of the season. Dougie Hamilton scored his fifth of the season in the second period and Brad Marchand put the game away with an empty-netter late in the third. The win gives Boston 59 points tying them with the Montreal Canadiens for first place in the Northeast Division.

Jacob Markstrom had a much needed strong game for the Panthers stopping 36 of 38 shots the Bruins sent his way. Markstrom gave up the early goal to Jagr on the Bruins’ first shot of the game but was steady the rest of the way showing some resilience after allowing six goals in yesterday’s loss to the Devils.

Dmitry Kulikov left the game early in the third period after getting tangled with Jagr. Kulikov looked to have injured his hand or wrist and gingerly skated off the ice under his own power albeit with a grimace on his face.

Overall, I was pretty impressed with how the Panthers played today. It was refreshing to see the Panthers play a competitive game following a string of blowouts. It appears that some of the Panther youngsters are settling in at the NHL level. Quinton Howden has impressed in the last two games especially with his speed. It was his speed that led to his penalty shot chance yesterday against the Devils and his wheels were on display again today leading to a number of chances.

I have really liked what I have seen from Alex Petrovic‘s game in his short NHL stint. He has good size, is confident on the puck and relishes jumping up into the play on offense. He has made a couple of bad turnovers in the defensive zone, mostly as a result of being too casual with the puck, but as he gets used to the speed of the NHL game that should get ironed out.

While the results still aren’t there, today’s game was a step in the right direction. The number of young high draft picks on the Panther’s roster is impressive and over time that talent should translate into wins.

The Panthers take the ice next on Tuesday when the New York Rangers come to town. What did you think of the game? Are you happy with the progress of Florida’s young players? Does anyone in particular stand out?

Huberdeau’s main competitor Cory Conacher had an assist last night for Ottawa tying Huberdeau with 28 points for the rookie lead. Markstrom has now allowed 23 goals in his last five starts, not they type of development you want to see from a young goaltender.

The Panthers have lost five straight and have gone 0-3 on their road trip throughout the Northeast. They travel to Boston today for a 12:30 matchup before returning home for their last home stand of the season with games Tuesday and Thursday against the Rangers and Maple Leafs respectively.

The Bruins are in a battle with the Montreal Canadiens for the second see in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Boston, with two games in hand, is only two points behind Montreal. Capturing the second seed would mean facing the Ottawa Senators (are whoever ends up in the 7th seed) in the first round rather facing the Toronto Maple Leafs. Personally I want to see Boston pass Montreal because if Boston captures the two seed, the Canadiens in all likelihood will face the Maple Leafs in what would be an epic first round matchup.

In fact, I can think of three reasons why I actually would be happy with a Boston win. First, and most importantly, the city of Boston deserves as many wins from its sports teams as it can get right now. Second a Boston win would make a Leafs-Canadiens playoff series that much closer to a reality, and third another Panther loss would increase the chances of Florida receiving the number one draft pick.

Regarding that last point, the Panthers are in a tight race of their own. The race for last place in the NHL looks like it will go down to the wire between Florida and the Colorado Avalanche. The Panthers, with 32 points, are currently three points behind the Avalanche and the way that the Panthers are playing, its conceivable that they do not pick up any more points the rest of the season. Of course finishing last does not guarantee the number one pick, there is still the NHL Draft Lottery lingering in the near future.

Here’s a fun fact for all the masochistic Panther fans out there: The Panthers through 44 games have a -55 goal differential, last season through 82 games only one team in the NHL had a differential worse than that, the Columbus Blue Jackets with -60. Projected for a full 82 game season, the Panthers goal differential would be -102. On a positive note I looked up the worst goal differential of all time thinking that the Panthers may be on a close to historic pace, but they’re nowhere close. The Washington Capitals were -265 in the 1974-75 season!

With four games left in the season, there are a few things I will be looking for. The Panthers have not had a shutout all season (they’ve been shutout five times) and it would be nice to see them get one, however unlikely that may be. Also, a number of Panthers have made their NHL debuts this season including the highly touted Nick Bjugstad, Alex Petrovic and Quinton Howden. This trio has failed to record a point in their short time with the Panthers. A couple points in these last four games would go a long way towards rebuilding Panther fans’ optimism about the future of this team.