Penguins 6 - Flyers 0 (Pens win series 4-1)

Again, they made it look easy. Watching the game, it seemed like the Flyers were playing at half-speed. The Penguins always seemed a step ahead, a step faster.

But... based on the talent of this team, a berth in the Stanley Cup finals is the only logical end result for this season. None of their opponents in the east were remotely at their level. The teams most likely to give them problems, Montreal and New Jersey, got knocked out early.

Now we only have to await the winner of Detroit-Dallas. Detroit stormed out to a 3 games to zip lead, but Dallas has won the last two to make it an interesting series. While the better matchup would be Detroit, I'm kind of hoping for a Dallas miracle comeback, just because it would allow the Penguins to retain home ice (Detroit, by virtue of the best record in the league would host the Finals should they make it), but also because it would allow me the outside chance at securing some tickets to a game in Dallas. VERY slim chance I'd be able to get tickets, but I have some connections that MIGHT have a way to get me into the arena for one of the games.

We'll see.

But a Detroit-Pittsburgh Finals would be one of the most compelling since New Jersey-Colorado or New Jersey-Dallas. It seems like just about every year over the past decade or so that at least one of the two Finals participants didn't really deserve to be there in the grand scheme of things. Usually, they way overachieve and end up not even making the playoffs the next year and certainly not making the Finals again anytime soon. I'm talking to YOU, Tampa Bay, Calgary, Anaheim, Carolina, Buffalo, Washington and Edmonton). Detroit-Pittsburgh is the first recent series I really think could become an annual event for the next few years.