Silver Nuggets: Binghamton starts playoffs tonight; More draft pick reaction

The NHL playoffs started last night and there were some very exciting games and some not so exciting. I watched parts of four out of the five games, with only Detroit/Phoenix avoiding my attention. As many of you know, I am a big Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin fan, so I mostly watched the the Capitals/Rangers game. It was very exciting (and one sided in terms of chances). Henrik Lundqvist was superb and almost stole one for the Rangers. In the end, Ovechkin tied it late in the third before Semin won it in overtime.

As I changed channels to the Pittsburgh game, literally the first words I heard were "KOVALEV...SCORES!". Then 18 seconds later the Penguins scored again. Am I the Penguins good luck charm? That would be ironic as I hate them. Yes, that's probably not the correct usage of the word 'ironic'. Oh well. I also briefly watched the Vancouver/Chicago and Nashville/Anaheim game in the first period, neither seemed too exciting before I went to bed. Peter did think the Predators/Ducks game was very pretty interesting though. Former Senator, Mike Fisher, recorded the first two-goal playoff game of his career.

There are three NHL playoff games tonight as well as the Binghamton Senators playoff opener.

Here are today's links:

General Sens News

• The pressure will be on Bryan Murray this draft to get it right. Also the greatest 6th overall pick ever? In my opinion, Peter Forsberg in 1991. I miss Foppa. (Citizen)
• A good article by Tim about Senators fans still upset about the draft lottery. Yes, it sucks we dropped, but it's not the end of the world, still it does suck that with only a 17% probability of the worst case happening, it happened. Lastly, I am not sure anyone seriously thought the lottery was rigged. In any case, The 6th Sens is my second favourite Sens blog! (The 6th Sens)
• Wayne Scanlan points out that while the Senators dropped from the second overall pick in February to sixth currently, the impact of that won't be known until later. If Craig Anderson stinks it up next year, then yes the drop will be painful. But if Anderson provides solid, stable goaltending next year, then the four spots would be worth it. (Citizen)
• Back to Tim again, he considers Going Rogue and select Swedish centre Mika Zibanejad with the sixth pick. Zibanejad is ranked #2 in the NHL Central Scouting European rankings. He is also ranked #10 overall in Bob McKenzie's overall rankings. He is described as a power forward with skill. (The 6th Sens)
• The Binghamton Senators play Game 1 of their playoff series against the Manchester Monarchs tonight. Here once again is a series preview by Crooklyn Banks. (Silver Seven Sens)

More after the jump.

Playoff News

Here are tonight's matchups:

• 6) Les Canadiens de Montréal at 3) Les Bruins de Boston
• 7) Buffalo Sabres at 2) Philadelphia Flyers
• 7) Los Angeles Kings at 2) San Jose Sharks
• 3) Binghamton Senators at 2) Manchester Monarchs

And here are today's links:

• The three stars from last night are: 1) Mike Fisher, 2) Alexander Semin, 3) Marc-Andre Fleury. (Yahoo!)
• The odds favour a Vancouver/Washington final. (Yahoo!)
• I rip him often, but Sidney Crosby did a pretty nice thing. I still don't like him though. (Morning Journal)
• Vancouver first crushed a Chicago Blackhawks van, then they crushed the Chicago Blackhawks. (Yahoo!)
• All the pressure is on Boston tonight for the big Bruins/Habs match-up. (CBC.ca)