Eastern Conference-
NY Rangers vs
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Rangers are the best team in the East and the once
powerful Penguins are limping into the series. The Rangers have the best
defense in the East ( McDonagh, Girardi, Staal ,Klein) and a well balanced fast
offense led by Hart candidate Rick Nash. The Penguins Big 4 Crosby, Malkin,
Letang and Fluery is reduced to 2.5 with Letang out and Malkin injured. Fluery
is having a career year but he won’t tilt the series because the Ranger’s goaltender
is Henrik Lundqvist Rangers in 6.
Washington Capitals
vs New York Islanders
These are not your same old Capitals. Barry Trotz got Alex
Ovechkin to buy in to his system and play a little D. The Capitals acquired
defensemen ( Orpik,Niskanen) over the offseason and are now formidable on the
back end, It’s not all Ovie, Backstrom is a talented center and in Holtby the
Capitals finally have a top goaltender. The Islanders have a number one pick/stud
of their own in John Tavares and the best 4th line in hockey (
Clutterbuck, Martin, Cizikas) but
something happen as the snow melted so did their secondary scoring and their
netminder Halak looked like Halak. Capitals in 7
Montreal Canadiens vs
Ottawa Senators
Montreal’s Carey Price may win the Vezina and Hart this year
he has been that good. No Montreal goalie had ever won 42 games before.
Montreal folks not Carolina. Ottawa’s Andrew Hammond has been just as
impressive saving Ottawa’s season by being a stone wall the last two months of
the season. Ottawa’s forwards are big and young ( Stone, Hoffman, Lazar ),
Montreal’s are quick and skilled ( Pacioretty Gallagher, Galchenyuk). PK Subban
and Erik Karlsson will have dueling Norris trophy rushes from the back end.
Ottawa has all the momentum, Montreal has newly sainted Jean Beliveau looking
down on them. Canadiens in 6
Tampa Bay Lightning
vs Detroit Red Wings
Tampa Bay has Steven Stampkos and the best 2nd
line in hockey led by Tyler Johnson . The problem is after Victor Hedman Tampa’s
defense is ordinary and their goalie Ben Bishop is unproven. Detroit not only
still has Datsyk and Zetterberg but Nyquist and Tatar are ready to blossom this
spring. The Wings defense is steady and Mrazek is an upgrade over Jimmy Howard
in net. Red Wings in 6
Western Conference
Anaheim Ducks vs
Winnipeg Jets
What would the playoffs be without Anaheim coach BBQ Bruce
goalie controversy. This year he’s added messing with the defense. That’s the
Ducks problem, they have two good goalies ( Gibson, Andersen), seven good
defensemen led by Beauchemin so BBQ has to make decisions. Winnipeg has an abundance
of big, talented forwards (Little, Wheeler, Scheifele) and a solid defense led by Big Dustin Byfuglien
. Winnipeg’s team is huge and most of
them play with bad intentions. That makes Winnipeg a fun team to watch,
unfortunately they won’t have much fun watching the Dynamic Duo of Getzlaf and
Perry. Those superheroes won’t let BBQ blow it. Ducks in 7
Vancouver Canucks vs
Calgary Flames
Calgary has been a great story all year.Calgary was the
little team that could. Even losing Captain Mark Giordano didn’t stop them from
sending the Champion LA Kings golfing. The Flames though are a one line team.
As great as Monahan, Hudler and Johnny Hockey are they are one line teams get
shut down in the playoffs. Vancouver is
coming in with their best team in years, The Sedins are rejuvenated and the
Canucks now has an abundance of much needed playoff grit ( Kassain , Matthias,
Dorsett). The Vancouver blue line is
also revived by the comeback seasons of Elder and Bieksa. If Vancouver goes
with Lack and not Miller in net Vancouver should storm into round 2. Vancouver in 5
St Louis Blues vs
Minnesota Wild
This could be the Blues year. They finally added enough
scoring ( Tarasenko, Stastny) to go with their big bruising forwards led by
their captain Backes. Their defensemen maybe a bit overrated but there’s enough
quality 1-6 to shut down most teams.
While St Louis can’t decide who will be in net between Elliot and Allen
Minnesota has no such problem. Devan Dubnyk has been the Wild’s savivor and
work horse this season. Zach Parise and Ryan Suter are earning their big money
contracts but there’s only so many Blues Matt Cooke can hurt in one series. Blues in 5
Chicago Blackhawks vs
Nashville Predators
The Chicago Blackhawks are the best team in the NHL without
Patrick Kane but news out of Chicago is Kane will be ready to play in the
playoffs. It’s not the Toews, Hossa, Sharp ,Saad and the rest of the forwards
need any help. Coach Q played around with his veteran defensemen ( Keith,
Seabrook,Hjalmarsson,Oduya) this season but they should be all on the same page
for the post season. Chicago Corey Crawford is a Cup winner but not considered
on the same level as Nashville’s Pekka Rinne. Not only is Rinne impressive the
Predators defense maybe the best unit in the NHL led by the top pairing of
Weber and Josi. Problem is who is going to score for Music City ? Streaky Ribeiro, Rookie Forsberg or Daylight
Savings Time James Neal. Hawks in 5
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