WSD Daily Sports Page (4-25-14): Boston Bruins take firm command over Detroit Red Wings

Is Boston the best team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs? We evaluate the continuing changing of the guard in Los Angeles, what the two most controversial NFC West players are, and what the Buffalo Bills cheerleaders have to deal with in today's sports page.

The Lede

Everything was set for a long series between two legendary NHL teams, Boston and Detroit, despite their seeds being on the far opposite ends of the Eastern Conference playoffs. However, it may have come to a close after the Bruins took over later in the second period and didn't hold up.

Boston has won the last three games of the series thanks to their main leaders finally producing after the team was down 2-0 in the second period. Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and Jarome Iginla -- three of the top four scorers on the Bruins, finally got on the same page together. Iginla finally got on the board with a goal and Lucic got his second goal of the playoffs while Krejci picked up an assist.

Honestly, the series should really be over. After a scoreless tussle in the first 57 minutes with close to 50 missed shots, Pavel Datsyuk scored for Detroit to finally break the ice and they held on for the win. 

Now with the Bruins taking a 3-1 lead heading back to Boston, they're looking like the toughest out in the East. Pittsburgh is now in a best-of-3 tussle with Columbus. Boston is 3-0 against both the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers.

You certainly can't look past Montreal, who swept Tampa Bay in the first round and is 2-1 against Boston this season, but the Bruins do have home ice.

They have firm control in the East right now, and the only other team that's looked more dominant in the whole playoffs were San Jose's first three wins against Los Angeles.

Other Headlines

1. NBA: Los Angeles Clippers takes 2-1 control of series against Golden State Warriors. Watching Blake Griffin flop all over sucks, but there's no denying how much of a beast he's been inside to aid the Clips in rewriting their history. The other team in LA look the strongest in the West right now.
2. NBA: From Golden State Warriors to San Francisco Warriors? The organization is considering changing their name when they move out of Oracle Arena, but they would like fan input. One of the reasons why I went with the Lakers as my NBA team despite having a favorite team in football and baseball from the Bay Area, is the lack of accepting "Golden State" as a real NBA team name. Perhaps I'll have to finally move over if they become the SF Warriors.
3. NHL: What happened to Colorado? After going up 2-0 on Minnesota, the Wild have outshot the Avalanche 78-34 in the two games up north. Yikes.
4. NFL: Drew Magary ranks all the NFL weeks. Solid list all around. Weeks featuring big matchups with San Francisco, Seattle, and Green Bay tend to rank high. Thanksgiving weekend certainly looks to be the best.
5. NFL: Aldon Smith won't be facing felony charges. Of course, he faces both a felony gun charge and drunk driving charge in court on Tuesday. He's also just 24. The 49ers would be mighty smart to stay away from that $9.75 million option.
6. NFL: Richard Sherman believes money is the best way to show someone you love them. Quote: "The only way people show respect is the dollars." He'll certainly make a plastic fake blonde really happy, and Seattle better get prepared to pay out the ass for him. Something tells me he won't budge until the offers well north of Darrelle Revis' $12 million with the New England Patriots.
7. NFL: Buffalo "Jills" are told what tampons they need to wear and how to keep their "downstairs" fresh. All righty then.