Stanley Cup Playoffs 2nd Round Set to Go!

The 2nd Round of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs are set to get underway, and if the first round was any idnication, this round will be just as entertaning (hoperfully there won't be any more suspensions in this  round). There were seven total suspensions handed out for hits in the opening round, which equalled the total number of suspensions in all of last year's playoffs. The first matchup we will look at here in the second round is in the East and the 1-7 matchup which is the New York Rangers vs the Washington Capitals.

This is the seventh playoff series between these two teams, with Washington having won four of the previous six playoff series. This a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which Washington won in five games. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series. With the series from last season, the Rnagers didn't really show up most of the series, even though two games went to overtime, including a game in double OT, both of which were won by the Capitals. The Rangers are led by Brad Richards with three assists and five points and he is tied for 2nd on the team in goals at two with Ryan Callahan, and Anton Stralman. Brian Boyle leads the team in goal scoring in the playoffs with three. Henrik Lundqvist played every minute of the opening round series against the Senators going 4-3 with a 1.70 GAA and a .945 SV%. The surprising thing about this series from the Rangers perspective is that Marion Gaborik, who lead kthe team during the regular season in goals with 41, had only one in the opening round. So Gaborik is going to have to be a bit more of a factor in this series if the Rangers expect to go deep in this post season.

As for the Capitals, they took down the defending cup champions the Boston Bruins in seven games with Alexander Ovechkin leading the charge with five points and three assists while Alexander Semin lead the way in goals with three. Braden Holtby played every minute of the entire series and came a way with a 4-3 record with a 2.00 GAA and a .945 SV%. In the opening round the Caps looked kinda flat to start against Boston but really turned on their game late in the series and managed to upset the Bruins. The Caps were swept in the 2nd round last year by the Tampa Bay Lightning and the team hasn't made it out of round two since 1997-98 when they went all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals before losing to Detroit.

Here is the Schedule for this series:
Saturday, April 28, 2012 3:00 p.m. Washington at NY Rangers NBC, CBC, RDS
Monday, April 30, 2012 7:30 p.m. Washington at NY Rangers NBCSN, CBC, RDS
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 7:30 p.m. NY Rangers at Washington NBCSN, CBC, RDS
Saturday, May 5, 2012 12:30 p.m. NY Rangers at Washington NBC, CBC, RDS
*Monday, May 7, 2012 7:30 p.m. Washington at NY Rangers NBCSN, CBC, RDS
*Wednesday, May 9, 2012 TBD NY Rangers at Washington TBD, CBC, RDS
*Saturday, May 12, 2012 TBD Washington at NY Rangers TBD, CBC, RDS

This series is gonnna be very closely contested through the first couople of games as a part of a feeling out process if you will, because after playing the first round both teams are dealing with different styles of play in this sereies. For both teams the biggest diffrence maker in this series will be goaltending and secondary scoring. For the Caps can Braden Holtby repeat what he did in the opening round with the Caps two regular netminders down with injuries? Also can the Caps get deeper scoring? As for the Rangers can they keep the garbage rebounds way from King Henrik they way they did in game seven against Ottawa and can Marion Gaborik step up his scoring in the series? The odds in this series favor the Rangers. The Caps will put up a good fight but I'll take the Rangers in Six in this one.

Next up on the docket is the 4-6 matchup in the East its the New Jersey Devils taking on the Philadelphia Flyers. These teams met four times in the past in the playoffs and have split it at two wins apeice. They also split the games during this years regular season at three wins apeice. The Flyers are being led in this playoffs in scoring by Claude Giroux who has six goals and eight assists for 14 points. The other Flyer with close to that many goals iin the first round win over the Penguins was Danny Briere who had five goals and eight points. Even Jaromir Jagr showed flashes of his former self with seven points. As far as goletending Ilya Bryzgalov did a bulk of the work in the opening round going 4-2 with a 3.89 GAA and a .871 SV%. The problem with the Flyers is yes they may be a physical teram, which is a big reason they knocked out the Penguins in the opening round, and yes they can score as Giroux and Briere have shown, but the goaltending and team defense is really weak, so look for Jersey to try and exploit that in the series.

As for the Devils, the bounced the Panthers in a tough seven game series, with the final two having to be decided in overtime. Travis Zajac leds the team in points with six and is tied with Ilya Kovalchuck for the lead in goals with three. Zajac was the OT hero in game six and Adam Henrique was the hero in double OT in game seven. Martin Brodeur started every game in that round but was pulled for Johan Hedberg in game three. Hedberg took the lost in game three. As for Brodeur he went 4-2 with a 2.06 GAA and a .922 SV%. The problem the Devils had in their opening round series against the Panthers was a bit of inconsistent play which got them in trouble in games one and three. Game one they held on for the win but game three was a blown lead for a loss. The Devils really need to be able to play full sixty minute games in every game in the whole series if they want to have a chance to survive round two.

Here is the schedule for this series:

Sunday, April 29, 2012 3:00 p.m. New Jersey at Philadelphia NBC, CBC, RDS

Tuesday, May 1, 2012 7:30 p.m. New Jersey at Philadelphia NBCSN, CBC, RDS

Thursday, May 3, 2012 7:30 p.m. Philadelphia at New Jersey NBCSN, CBC, RDS

Sunday, May 6, 2012 7:30 p.m. Philadelphia at New Jersey NBCSN, CBC, RDS

*Tuesday, May 8, 2012 TBD New Jersey at Philadelphia NBCSN, CBC, RDS

*Thursday, May 10, 2012 TBD Philadelphia at New Jersey TBD, CBC, RDS

*Saturday, May 12, 2012 TBD New Jersey at Philadelphia TBD, CBC, RDS

So there we have the schedule. As for the prediction in this series, its kinda tough to tell. The Devils will be playing a weaker D in the Flyers then they did the Panthers and will have a bit better time trying to play the physical game then the Pens did. The Flyers are going to be a very tough opponent, as they are in no way slouches. This series will go at least six games and I'm gonna call an upset here as the Devils take it in seven.

Next up we move on to the Western Conference and the 2-7 matchup between the St Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings. This is the third playoff series between these two teams, with St. Louis having swept Los Angeles out of both of the previous playoff series; the most recent matchup was in the 1998 Western Conference Quarterfinals. Los Angeles won three of the games in this year's four-game regular season series. The Kings pulled off a huge upset in round one knocking off the Presidents Trophy winning Canucks. With that loss by Vancouver, you have to go back to 2007-08 to find the last Presidents Trophy winner to clinch the cup, that was Detroit that year. The Kings beat Vancouver thanks to the clutch scoring from Dustin Brown who had four goals and five points in the opening round. Anze Kopitar, Justin Williams, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter each had an impact in the series. Jonathan Quick played great in the goal for the Kings who went 4-1 with a 1.59 GAA and a SV% of .953. The Kings had a somewhat easy series against the Canucks and basically outwork Vancouver from start to finish.

As for the Blues, they got here thanks to an easy five game series against the San Jose Sharks. The Blues are being led by Andy MacDonald who had eight points in the series with four goals and four helpers. Patrik Berglund, Alexander Steen, and David Perron all had big series an impact for the team. In goal it looked like Jaroslav Halak was the number one and he played and won game one but left game two with an injury and hasn't played since. Instead it was Brian Elliot who ran away with the starting job and went 3-0 with a sparkling 1.37 GAA and a SV% of .949. This series is going to be an absolute fun series to watch.

Here is the Schedule for this one:

Saturday, April 28, 2012 7:30 p.m. Los Angeles at St. Louis NBCSN, TSN, RDS
Monday, April 30, 2012 9:00 p.m. Los Angeles at St. Louis CNBC, TSN, RDS
Thursday, May 3, 2012 10:00 p.m. St. Louis at Los Angeles NBCSN, TSN, RDS
Sunday, May 6, 2012 3:00 p.m. St. Louis at Los Angeles NBC, TSN, RDS
*Tuesday, May 8, 2012 TBD Los Angeles at St. Louis CNBC, TSN, RDS
*Thursday, May 10, 2012 TBD St. Louis at Los Angeles TBD, TSN, RDS
*Saturday, May 12, 2012 TBD Los Angeles at St. Louis TBD, TSN, RDS

What is going to make this series fun is the goaltending duel between Elliot and Halak and Quick. All Three goalies are staking claim to the best goalies in this year's playoffs. This is by far the most even matchup of any of the four here in the playoffs. It will go seven games easy and I'll take the Blues in this one.

And last but certanly not least its the 3-4 matchup as the Phoenix Coyotes take on the Nashville Predators This is the first playoff series between these two teams. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series. The Coyotes are coming off their first ever playoff victory since moving to the desert beating the Blackhawks in six games. Antoine Vermette and Rostislav Klesla led the Coyotes in scoring with six points each and Vermette leads with 4 goals. The goaltending duties are being held down by Mike Smith who has gone 4-2 with a 1.91 GAA and a SV % of .947. The Coyotes are a good high scoring team that are very well balanced.

As for the Predators they knocked off the Red Wings in five and shook off the stigma of losing to the Wings in previous playoffs. Leading the way on offense for the Predators is Alexander Radulov who had five points in the opening round. Gabriel Bourque and David Legwand also had big series for the Preds. In goal Pekka Rinne had a good series for the Preds going 4-1 with a 2.09 GAA and a SV% of .929. Rinne needs to be good in this series as the Coyotes have a balanced and much younger attack then the Red Wings.

Here is the schedule for this series:

Friday, April 27, 2012 9:00 p.m. Nashville at Phoenix NBCSN, TSN, RDS

Sunday, April 29, 2012 8:00 p.m. Nashville at Phoenix NBCSN, TSN, RDS

Wednesday, May 2, 2012 9:00 p.m. Phoenix at Nashville CNBC, TSN, RDS

Friday, May 4, 2012 7:30 p.m. Phoenix at Nashville NBCSN, TSN, RDS

*Monday, May 7, 2012 10:00 p.m. Nashville at Phoenix NBCSN, TSN, RDS

*Wednesday, May 9, 2012 TBD Phoenix at Nashville TBD, TSN, RDS

*Friday, May 11, 2012 TBD Nashville at Phoenix TBD, TSN, RDS

So with this series its a battle of two young and playoff hungry teams. This series, just as Kings-Blues will go seven games and I will take the Coyotes in this. Mike Smith is gonna have a big factor in this series and the Coyotes have a bit more playoff experiance than the Predators do which will play a big factor.

The West is going to be more fun to watch than the East in this round, and this is coming from a guy who roots for eastern conference teams. The reason I'm saying that is that three of the four remaining teams in the east have won Stanley Cups, the Caps being the only one yet to win one. But in the West nobody has ever won a Stanley Cup and that is saying something as to how deep a conference the West is this year.