There are some Stanley Cup playoff seasons when the underdog is constantly winning. This is one of them. I would have thought, for example, New Jersey would have beaten Philadelphia. Seems like that series has been over forever - with the Flyers surprisingly and easily emerging victorious.

I didn't give Montreal much chance against Washington. It's tied 3-3. Boston beat Buffalo and the best goalie in the world, Ryan Miller.

The Red Wings aren't technically a higher seed than the Coyotes, but they are the better tean after recovering from a rash of injuries during the regular season.

Such unpredictablity during the postseason is maddening, but also one of the most appealing aspects of the Stanley Cup playoffs.



Random Thoughts



- Count me among those who believe Jimmy Howard will play well tonight, but I'm not sure if it will ultimately matter. The Red Wings have played with fire too much in this series. Wouldn't surprise me if they get burned tonight.



- Probably the worst thing that have could happened for Joel Zumaya was Nolan Ryan raving about his fastball. That wasn't a very good outing he turned in Monday at Texas. Almost cost the Tigers the game.



- Interesting point brought up during my live chat Tuesday: Who would you rather have, Ryan Howard or Miguel Cabrera? If his act is together, I'd take Cabrera because he can hit for power and average, and doesn't strikeout nearly as much as Howard. And I'm not sure if Cabrera, if he stays on this track, won't start coming close to matching Howard's power. Howard has a big edge playing in that band box ball park when it comes to home run production.

My column in Tuesday's Oakland Press: On Nicklas Lidstrom and this maybe being his last game: http://tinyurl.com/2clgpso