As you know, the Stanley Cup playoffs are less then two days away.  I've broken down every series price in the both Conferences and on Tuesday I will preview the Western Conference.

Eastern Conference 

(1) Montreal -300 vs. (8) Boston - Montreal came out of nowhere this season to capture the top place in the Eastern Conference. What is more impressive is that they traded away their All-Star goaltender Cristobal Huet to Washington at the trade deadline and went with rookie Carey Price, who proved to be the real deal in net. Boston is also lacking playoff experience with its last playoff appearance coming in 2004. The Bruins were the lowest scoring team that qualified for the playoffs this season in the Eastern Conference and struggled down the stretch with a mediocre 4-6 record. Montreal reminds me of the Carolina team that won the Stanley Cup in 2005-06 and I believe they will go as far as young Carey Price takes them. They have an advantage on offense and defense and especially special teams as they lead the league in Power Play efficiency at 24.2. They’ll likely drop a game or two but I look for Montreal to advance to the second round. Montreal in Five. Recommendation: Montreal -300

(2) Pittsburgh -210 vs. (7) Ottawa - The Pittsburgh Penguins blew their chance at the No. 1 overall seed in the East after losing to Philadelphia Sunday. Having said that, this Pittsburgh team is built for a long playoff run and this is my choice to come out of the Eastern Conference as champions. With Evgeni Malkin, Petr Sykora, Ryan Malone and Sidney Crosby all scoring over 20 goals this season, this is the one team that I can say is better than Ottawa offensively. The Senators struggled mightily in their last ten games of the season going 3-7 and will be without Captain Daniel Alfredsson for the entire first round of the playoffs. The Senators gave more goals against this season than any team that made the playoffs and the Penguins are the one team that can knock the defending Eastern Conference champions out in the first round. The Penguins sweep in four. Recommendation: Pittsburgh -210

(3) Washington -110 vs. (6) Philadelphia - Looking back on my early season NHL Preview, I predicted the Capitals to be one of the most improved teams and possibly sneak into the playoffs. They obviously blew away my expectations. I like Washington’s offense with Alexander Ovechkin, Alex Semin and Sergei Fedorov over Philadelphia’s and I also will take Cristobal Huet in net over the Martin Biron/Antero Nittymaki platoon. The Caps were also the hottest team in the league to close out the regular season, winning nine out of their last ten to claim the Southeast Division. Philadelphia made tremendous strides this season in finishing sixth. This after a dead last finish in the Eastern Conference a year ago. The key factor here is goaltending. In limited duty, the Caps’ Cristobal Huet posted an 11-2 record with a 1.63 goals against average and a save percentage of .936. That attribute alone has me taking Washington to win the series in seven games. Recommendation: Washington -110

(4) New Jersey vs. (5) NY Rangers +110 - It’s always been my theory to not bet against Martin Brodeur in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but this year I’m going to do it. I feel the Rangers have an equally as effective goaltender in Henrik Lundqvist and more offensive pop than the Devils. New Jersey and New York were two of the best defensive teams in the Eastern Conference and this series has all of the makings of some low scoring affairs. The Rangers’ offense features some hefty weapons in Scott Gomez, playoff hero Chris Drury, Jaromir Jagr, Martin Straka and Brendan Shanahan and that should allow for them to advance. Rangers in six games. Recommendation: NY Rangers +110