What got Chicago this far has been a good balance of solid goaltending and a high powered offense. Cory Crawford and Ray Emery had the lowest combined goals against in the league, while Patrick Kane, Jonathan Towes and Marian Hossa each had over 30 points to power the offense. Minnesota has had Zach Parise Mikko Koivu and Ryan Sutter lead the charge on offense, while Niklas Backstrom held down the fort in net. Minnesota will put up an ok fight and may take a game at home but this series looks like a cake walk I'll take the Hawks in five games.
Next up we have the #2 Anaheim Ducks taking on the #7 Detroit Red Wings. This will be the 9th playoff appearance in history for the Ducks and their 6th since the last lockout. Anaheim has been tot he finals twice, loosing in 2003 to the Devils and beating Ottawa in 2007. Interesting note, the last time the Ducks won the Central Division was in 2007 and we know how that year finished for the team. As for the Red Wings, this will be the 22nd straight year that they are making the playoffs. The last time Detroit missed the playoffs was in 1990. Detroit has played in the Finals a total of 24 times, winning the Cup on 11 occasions (their last title coming in 2008). This is the sixth playoff meeting for these two teams, with the Red Wings having won three of the five previous series. The most recent meeting of these teams was in the 2009 Western Conference Semifinals, which Detroit won in seven games. Detroit won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
During the Regular season, Detroit had only ten players hit double digits in points, with Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk leading the way with over 40 points each. Anaheim had 15 guys score double digits in points with Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan and Cory Perry each scoring over 30 points. Detroit showed during the year that they still have something left in the tank, but it seems obvious to most that the Wings aren't as good or dominant as they used to be. Detroit may take a game at the Joe in this series, but I'll take the Ducks to dispatch them in five.
Now we have a look at the #3 Vancouver Canucks getting set to play the #6 San Jose Sharks. This will mark the sixth time in the last eight years the Canucks have made the playoffs. Ironically every time in that span the Canucks have made the playoffs, they have done so by winning the Northweast division. In every trip to the playoffs the Canucks have had, they have gone as far as the second round every time. Only time they went farther than round two was in 2011 when they lost to Boston in the finals. Vancouver has made three trips to the finals in franchise history (1982, 1994, 2011) and they have lost in the finals every time. As for the San Jose Sharks, in the 21 year history they have only missed the playoffs five times. San Jose has made three trips to the West finals, and have never played in the Stanley Cup Finals. e. This is the second playoff series between these two teams, with the only previous meeting being the 2011 Western Conference Final, where Vancouver defeated San Jose in five games. San Jose won all three games in this year's regular season series.
Vancouver has been lead on offense as always by Daniel and Henrik Sedin, as both guys had over 40 points during the regular season. What has me a little worried about the Canucks is that their goalie tandom of Cory Schenider and Roberto Luongo have been good but not nearly as good as in years past. San Jose has also had a little trouble in that they haven't been as good as in years past. The difference is the Sharks have been getting better goaltending from Antti Niemi and San Jose has a bit more balanced scoring than Vancouver. The Canucks will make it a good series don't get me wrong, but San Jose is the better team and the Sharks will take the series in six games.
The final series in the opening round in the West has the #4 St Louis Blues taking on the #5 Los Angeles Kings. For the Blues this is only the 3rd time in the last eight seasons, and 2nd year in a row, they have made the playoffs. In their first three years of existence, the Blues lost three straight Stanley Cup Finals and they haven't been back since. As for the Kings they are the defending Stanley Cup Champions, and this is their fourth straight year in the playoffs. Los Angeles has played in the finals twice, winning the Cup last year. and losing in 1993 to Montreal. This is the fourth playoff series between these two teams, with St. Louis having won two of the three previous series. The most recent meeting was the previous year's Western Conference Semifinal, in which the Kings swept the Blues out of the playoffs. Los Angeles won all three games in this year's regular season series.
Both teams struggled from the start of the year but have turned things around. Los Angeles got healthy again and are back on the right track. Jonathan Quick is playing like his old self again after a rough start to the season, while Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and Anze Kopitar are leading the offensive charge. St Louis on the other hand struggled a bit more than the Kings did. Despite a goaltending carosel in St Louis, Brian Elliot appears to have taken the lead in net heading into the playoffs. St. Louis has figured out their netminding and defense but I don't feel they have as much offensive punch as they did last year. St Louis will take a couple of games in the series but I'll take LA in six.
So that's how I see the West playing out. Moving along, here are my predictions for the East and we start with the #1 Pittsburgh Penguins playing the #8 New York Islanders. For the Islanders, this marks only the fifth time since 2000 they will have made the playoffs, and the first trip to the post season since 2007. The Islanders haven't gotten out of the opening round of the playoffs since 1993. The franchise has made five appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals, winning four straight cups and losing on the fifth try to the Oilers. Meanwhile this marks the 6th year in a row the Penguins have made the playoffs. Actually since the 1988-989 season the Penguins have only missed the playoffs five times. Pittsburgh has played in four Stanley Cup finals, losing in 2008 to Detroit but winning the cup in 1991, 1992 and 2009.This is the fourth playoff meeting for these two teams, with the Islanders having won all three of the previous playoff series. Their most recent meeting was in the 1993 Patrick Division Final, where New York defeated the Pittsburgh in seven games. The Penguins won four of the five games in this year's regular season series.
This series is going to be intense and physical. The Islanders have been riding goalie Evgeni Nabakov most of the year and he has played great most of the year. Leading the charge on offense has been John Tavares Matt Moulson and Brad Boyes. If the Islanders want to have any chance at all of pulling off the upset, they need to get their role players going, and secondary scoring has got to come into play bigtime for New York. Pittsburgh has been without its best player in Sidney Crosby for the last month or so due to injury but it looks like he will be back in time for the opener. With him out its been the guys like Brendan Morrow, Jarome Iginla, Chris Kunitz and Evgeni Malkin that have been leading the charge. If the Pens want to move on to the next round then Marc-Andre Fleury is going to have to play like his former self come playoff time or this could be bad for the Pens. The Islanders surprised a lot of people just by making the playoffs. The luck will run out however. New York may pick up a game or two in this series but I'm taking the Penguins in five.
Next up we will look at the #2 Montreal Canadiens taking on the #7 Ottawa Senators. For the Canadiens, the leagues oldest and most storied franchise, this will be the 6th playoff appearance for the team in the last eight years. Montreal has played in 29 Stanley Cup finals winning the crow 24 times (their last one coming in 1993). Meanwhile the Ottawa Senators have missed the playoffs a total of six times since coming into the league in 1993. Since the last lockout Ottawa has missed the playoffs only twice, 2009 and 2011. This is the first playoff series between these two teams, and the first playoff series between teams from Montreal and Ottawa since 1928, when the Montreal Maroons defeated the original Ottawa Senators in the Canadian Division Quarterfinals. Each team won two of the four games in this year's regular season series.
During the regular season Ottawa had the lowest goals against total in the Eastern Conference, mostly on the strength of the outstanding play of Erik Karlson and Craig Anderson. Both guys missed significant playing time during the season due to injury, but they are both back and healthy and the Sens are starting to clicking at the right time. Montreal has been playing steady solid hockey all season. Carey Price has had a few moments where he has played below par, but for the most part he has been playing the way people expect him to. The Habs have been getting pretty balanced scoring throughout the year, and with P K Subban and Max Pacioretty leading the charge Montreal has been rolling most of the year. Ottawa is going to put up a fight and the series goes six easy, but I'll take Montreal in six in the series.
Next up we have the #3 Washington Capitals taking on the #6 New York Rangers. For the Capitals this will mark the 6th year in a row they have made the playoffs. Sadly in those years Washington has not been able to get past the 2nd round of the playoffs. Washington's best year came in 1998 when they made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals before losing in four to Detroit. Meanwhile for the New York Rangers, this is the 7th trip to the playoffs in the last eight seasons. Last year the club went all the way to the East Finals before falling to the Devils in six. In the history of the franchise, the Rangers have played in ten Stanley Cup Finals, winning four times (1928, 1933, 1940, 1994). Aside from winning the Division last year, this is the highest the Rangers have placed in the Atlantic since 1996. This is the eighth playoff meeting for these two teams, and the fourth in the last five years, with the Capitals having won four of the seven previous series. This is a rematch of the previous year's Eastern Conference Semifinal, which the Rangers won in seven games. New York won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.
Both teams have really stepped their play up the last few months. They both got off to horrible starts. With Washington, the Caps really started to pick their play up once Alexander Ovechkin got his game going again. Ovie finished the year with 32 goals to lead the League. He didn't do it alone. Nick Backstrom, Mike Rebiro, Mike Greene and Troy Brower all picked their game up late and were able to produce. Braden Holtby struggled at the beginning of the year but found his game at the right time and the Caps have run with him. As for the Rangers, they were a very up and down team this year. Henrik Lundquvist played great again this year in the Rangers net and is a big reason why they are where they are right now. He has lived up to his billing as King Henrik. New York's offense really struggled at the beginning of the year but after the trade deadline have found their game. The offense has become more balanced with secondary scoring chipping in more often. This may be the "upset" of the first round. Washington is good I'll give them that and the Series will go seven games but when all is said and done the Rangers will be moving on to round two.
The final series to look at is the #4 Boston Bruins playing the #5 Toronto Maple Leafs. This will mark the 5th year in a row the Bruins have made the playoffs, and three of the last five have been as Division champions. In franchise history the Bruins have appeared in 18 Stanley Cup Finals, winning the Cup six times (the last one coming in 2010). As for the Maple Leafs this is their first playoff appearance since 2004. With this 3rd place finish in the division its the highest Toronto has had since 2007 (a year in which they missed the playoffs). Toronto has played in 23 Stanley Cup Finals, winning the Cup 13 times (the last title coming in 1967). This is the fourteenth playoff series between these two teams, with the Maple Leafs having won eight of the previous thirteen series. Their most recent meeting was the 1974 Stanley Cup Quarterfinal, where the Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs in four games. Boston won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.
During the Regular season Toronto was actually a higher scoring team than Boston. The Leafs managed 3.02 goals a game while Boston scored only 2.65 a game. The difference though is Boston has the better goaltending. Sorry but Tukka Rask is better than James Reimer at the moment. No knock on Reimer by any means but Rask is just better. Boston has been lead by the likes of Tyler Seguin, Brad Marchand, petrice Bergeron and David Kreci. Throw Jaromir Jagr into that mi as well and it makes for a pretty deadly front line. Toronto's forward lines are no slouch either. Phil Kessel, Nazem Kadri, and James Van Riemsyk are leading the Leafs attack. Toronto seems at the moment to have a somewhat deeper scoring team than Boston does, but the Bruins are the more experienced team come playoff time. This series can go as deep as seven games but in the end experience will win out. Bruins beat the Leafs in seven.
So there you have it my predictions for the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs!
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