On Wednesday, the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs begin, almost all of the games will be on T.V. for you to watch. I will give you my preview of the first round match-ups along with who I believe will advance.

Note: Games can be seen on NBC (Comcast channel 9) and Versus (Comcast channel 53)

Eastern Conference

No 1. Buffalo Sabres vs No 8. N.Y. Islanders

The Sabres finished with the best record in the league and home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Sabres had seven 20 goal scorers and four 30 goal scorers on the team this season. Buffalo goalie Ryan

Miller finished the season with 40 wins and two shut-outs. They also get back Tim Connolly, who was one of

the team's leading scorers in the playoffs a season ago, after missing the entire season with a concussion.

The Islanders barely made the playoffs after winning their last four games of the season.

Their best goalie, Rick DiPietro, injured himself late in the season and his status for the playoffs is unknown.

If he is unable to play, the Islanders will turn to Wade Dubielewicz, a rookie who spent most of the season in

the minors. They are led on offense by Ryan Smith, a late-season trade acquisition from the Oilers who has provided much needed grit and scoring.

If DiPietro is unable to play, look for this to be a short series in which Buffalo's offense will test New York's inexperienced goalie.

Prediction: Sabres win in four.
 

No 2. New Jersey Devils vs No 7. Tampa Bay Lightning

The Devils fired their coach a month ago, but enter the playoffs led by the leagues best goalie in Martin Brodeur.  

Brodeur had 48 wins this season, 12 of those being shutouts.

They rely mainly on defense, having scored about 100 goals less than the top-seeded Sabres. Zach Parose led the team in scoring with 31 goals and will need to step up, since many of the Devils top players are still recovering from injuries.

The Lightning have struggled to recapture the magic since winning the Stanley Cup a few years ago.

They are led offensively by Matin St. Louis, and Vincent Lecavalier.

Lecavalier finished the season with 52 goals and St. Louis finished with 102 points. Johan Holmqvist is expected to start in goal for the Lightning, despite struggling towards the end of the season.

If he struggles early, don't be surprised if you see Marc Denis put in.

Look for the Devils to attack the goal and try to rattle the Lightning's inexperienced goalie.

Prediction: Devils win in five games.

No 3. Atlanta Thrashers vs  No 6. N.Y. Rangers

The Thrashers hope that they can over come their week defense and claim the franchises first ever playoff series victory. 

The Thrashers made mid-season trades for Keith Tkachuk, Alexei Zhitnik and Eric Belanger, who helped them to claim their first divsion title.

Leading scorer Marian Hossa looks to lead a offense that will give the Rangers fits. Kari Lehtonen, Atlanta's goalie, looks to live up to the hype as the second overall pick in the 2002 draft, so far he has had a solid regular season, but he will need a solid post-season in order to be among the league's best.

The Rangers, with arguably their two best players being in their upper thirties, hope that experience will guide them over the Thrashers.

Brendan Shanahan, who came over from the Red Wings in the off-season, has 62 points in 67 games this year.

Jaromir Jagr is the teams leading scorer with 96 points. Both Shanahan and Jagr have both won Stanley Cups in their past and look to add another to their collection.

Despite this season being the first time that the Thrashers have appeared in the playoffs, they have many players that have previously won Stanley Cups.

The Thrashers hope that experience will allow them to advance in the playoffs.

Prediction: Thrashers win in five games.

No 4. Ottawa Senators vs No 5. Pittsburg Penguins  

Ottawa will look to cool down the red-hot offense of the Penguins by using their big physical defenseman Wade Redden.

Ray Emery stepped up at goalie after the departure of Dominik Hasek with 33 wins this season.

Dany Heatley, who scored 50 goals this season, leads a powerful experienced offense. The Senators hope that their experience will lead them over the youthful Penguins.

Speaking of the Penguins, how can one not be excited about the prospects of watching them in the playoffs?

Sporting one of the most exciting players in the league, Sidney Crosby, who also led the league in scoring, the Penguins hope that their skill will outshine their relative inexperience.

One of the best rookies, Evgeni Malkin is their second leading scorer behind Crosby, and their goalie Marc-Andre Fluery is only is his second season.

Look for the Penguins to put up a fight, but the experience of Ottawa will prevail.

Prediction: Senators win in six games.

Western Conference

No 1. Detroit Red Wings vs. No 8. Calgary Flames

The last few years, the Red Wings have been knocked out early in the playoffs.

Last year, they were knocked out in the first round by Edmonton. Three years ago, the Flames knocked them out in the second round.

In order for the Red Wings to avoid that same disaster, they will need their younger players to step up big.

Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk have come up big fro the Red Wings during the regular season, but have yet to step-up in the playoffs.
Calgary is led by goaltender Markin Kpposoff, and Forward Jerome Iginla.

The Flames will look to make this series ugly, with hard checking and tight defense. 

They look to copy last years success of the Edmonton Oilers, who knocked out the Red Wings and followed their hot goalie Dwayne Roloson, to the Stanley Cup finals.
It should be a physical series that will take its toll on both. In the end though, Detroit's depth will allow them to pull out the series and move on to the second round.

Prediction: Red Wings win in six games.

No 2. Anaheim Ducks vs. No 7. Minnesota Wild

Anaheim made a late season charge to over take the Red Wings for the conferences top spot, but finished just short.

The Ducks are led by their goaltending and defense.

Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere has been in the playoffs before and looks to lead them to the finals once again.

Defensemen Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer lead a group of players that should give Minnesota's scoring threats fits all series long.

The Ducks are great at home; the only team with fewer defeats at home was the Red Wings with four.

The Wild spent 2 1/2 months without one of their best scoring threats in Marian Gadorik, who has scored 57 points in 48 games this season.

The Wild's veteran goaltender Manny Fernandez has only played once since Jan. 30, instead giving way to Niklas Backstrom, who has never played in the playoffs.

The Wild will look to expose the Ducks forwards, who don't always get back and play solid defense.

This series could prove to be one of the shortest ones of the opening round in the western conference.

Prediction: Ducks win in five games.

No 3. Vancover Canucks vs No 6. Dallas Stars

The Canucks were led into the playoffs by goalie Roberto Luongo's 47 wins and the stellar defense played in front of him.

The Canucks also boast the leagues best penalty killing unit and will look to keep Dallas' seventh best power play unit off of the ice. They are led on offense by the Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel, who have combined for 165 points.

 The Stars are led by goalie Marty Turco, who has 38 wins and is fifth in shutouts with six.

On offense the Stars hope that Eric Lindros can stay healthy and provide a much needed boost to their offense. If he is unable to stay healthy, Mike Ribeiro and Ladislav Nagy will have to step up if the Stars want to advance.

Overall, look for this series to be low scoring and should also provide us with a few overtime games.

Prediction: Stars win in six games.

No 4. Nashville Predators vs No 5. San Jose Sharks

This is the series that has the potential to be one of the more exciting ones in the first round.

The series is a rematch of last years first round, in which the Sharks knocked out the Predators in five games.
In that series the Predators were without their top goaltender, Thomas Vokoun, who had a blood disorder.

This season they have also added Peter Forsberg, who has not lived up to expectations so far. Forsberg wasn't brought in to win in the regular season; he was brought in because of his success in the playoffs.
The Sharks bring in pretty much the same team that defeated the Predators last season.  

San Jose is led by one of the hottest players in the league, Jonathon Cheechoo, who has 15 goals in his last 16 games. Forward Joe Thornton finished sixth in the league in scoring with 114 points.

They also have a goalie in Evgeni Nabokov, who won back his starting job this season and has looked like the player many predicted he would be after he won the NHL's Rookie of the Year award.
This series should provide some of the most exciting games of the playoffs. Look for the Predator to be led by their veteran forwards and look for the Sharks to try to expose Nashville's youthful defense.

Prediction: Sharks win in seven games.