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Star-studded affairs highlight Friday’s second round Game 1’s

Adam Hall, Mattias Ohlund, Alex Ovechkin

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, of Russia, (8) looks for a call after his stick was knocked out of his hands by Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Adam Hall (18) and defenseman Mattias Ohlund, of Sweden, (5) during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Tampa, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011.(AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

AP

After seeing Vancouver and Nashville kick off the second round last night and seeing the Canucks take a 1-0 series lead after beating the Predators 1-0, we see two more series kick things off tonight including the other Western Conference match-up out in San Jose. The night gets started with the first of the Eastern Conference semifinal battles though in Washington, D.C. and we’re left wondering if the road team domination that existed in the first round will carry over to the second round. Tonight’s game should give us a good test as to whether or not that will be the case.

All times are Eastern.

Tampa Bay @ Washington - 7 p.m. (Versus)

The Capitals head into Game 1 knowing they’ll have to do something to keep the Lightning slowed down and to limit their own mistakes to make sure they can keep Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos off the board. The Lightning will have a similarly tough job in trying to keep Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green from scoring as well.

With all the offensive stars in this series, expect defensive play to be in major focus. The goaltending showdown is a classic one of new school vs. old school in Michal Neuvirth for Washington and Dwayne Roloson for Tampa. Roloson’s been through these wars before and has played in a Cup final back in 2006 while Neuvirth is still rolling with basic NHL experience. Expect this series to be a bit tighter than you think.

Detroit @ San Jose - 10 p.m. (Versus)

It’s a rematch of last year’s second round drubbing at the hands of the Sharks when they took the Red Wings out in five games. Things are a bit different this time around as the Red Wings are mostly healthy and not at all worn out after having nearly a week off after disposing of Phoenix. Henrik Zetterberg rejoins the lineup with Pavel Datsyuk while Johan Franzen says he’s ready to go after dealing with an ankle problem.

A fully loaded Detroit lineup against a fully loaded Sharks lineup with playoff studs Joe Pavelski and Ryane Clowe joining the offensive stars the Sharks roll with already makes them all the more intimidating and formidable. How will Antti Niemi respond to facing the offensive talent in Detroit is as good of a question as how Jimmy Howard will do against a Sharks team that’s on fire. This series should be fantastic.