Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 2

The opening round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs is in the books and it was well worth the wait with excitement abound left and right. There were a few surprises in the opening round, and a few instances of total domination in various series. With that being said, round two is not set in stone and ready to kick off tonight. And so since we have all the matchups set lets take a look at the four series in the 2nd round.

And we start the preview and predictions off in the Western Conference with the #! Chicago Blackhawks taking on the #5 Detroit Red Wings. Chicago got here after a somewhat easy opening round victory over the Wild in five games, while Detroit pulled an upset by beating the Ducks in seven tough games, including winning three in overtime. This is the sixteenth playoff meeting for these two teams, with Chicago having won eight of the previous fifteen series. Their most recent meeting was in the 2009 Western Conference Finals, which Detroit won in five games. The Blackhawks won all four games in this year's regular season series.

In the Hawks five game win over the Wild, they didn't have to play against Nick Bsckstrom in the Wild net, which may have played a small difference in the series. Leading the way in scoring for the Hawks was Patrick Sharp, Patrick Kane, and Marian Hossa, who had six, six and five points respectively. Cory Crawford played all five games for the Hawks in the first round and allowed on seven goals in the whole series. As for Detroit, they were in a dog fight with the Ducks in the first round, winning three of their four games in overtime. Gustav Nyquist, Damien Brunner, and Henrik Zetterberg scored the OT winners for Detroit. Jimmy Howard played OK in net but allowed a total of 20 goals in the seven games, while Zetterberg and Pavel Daytsuk lead the offensive charge. This will be a tough and physical series that will go at least five games. AFter what Detroit showed me in round one they still have something left to prove and might be able to hang with the Hawks offense but I think Chicago has the better goaltending and in the end that will be the difference. Chicago will take the series in six games.

Next up we take a look at the other matchup in the West as its the #5 Los Angeles Kings taking on the #6 San Jose Sharks in a battle of California. The Sharks got here after a clean sweep of the Vancouver Canucks in the opening round, while the Kings came back from down 0-2 to beat the Blues in six games. This is the second playoff series for these two teams. Their first meeting was in the 2011 Western Conference Quarterfinals, which San Jose won in six games. The two teams split this year's four-game regular season series.

During their win over the Canucks in the opening round, Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture had a field day with eight points each. Joe Thornton tied Couture for the lead in assists with five and Patrick Marleau tied Pavelski for goals with four. Antti Niemi wasn't tested very much by the Canucks, allowing only eight goals in the series. Meanwhile the Kings had to erase a 2-0 deficit to beat the Blues in six, with all six games being decided by just one goal. Jonathan Quick was in net for all six games for the Kings and played pretty well, despite his mishandeling of the puck in overtime of game one. Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards, and Jeff Carter have been powering the Kings offense, which was expected of them when the playoffs began. With how evenly matched both teams are this series looks like it might be able to go a full seven games. San Jose is still trying to break their stigma of being a choke artist of a team. San Jose won't have as much of an offensive field day in this series as they did in the opening round because, lets face facts, the Kings goaltending is far superior to that of the Canucks. San Jose is good but I think the Kings will wear them down over the course of the series so I'll take the Kings in seven.

Switching gears now we move along to the Eastern Conference as we have the #1 Pittsburgh Penguins taking on the #7 Ottawa Senators. Pittsburgh got through an opening round scare with a six game win over the Islanders. The Pens had to make a goalie change two thirds of the way through the series and it paid off in the end. As for Ottawa, they surprised a few people with a five game win over the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, and were even able to take advantage of a weak Cary Price. This is the fourth playoff meeting for these two teams, all occurring over the last seven seasons, with Pittsburgh winning the previous two. Their most recent meeting was in the 2010 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, where the Penguins defeated the Senators in six games. The Penguins won all three games in this year's regular season series.

In the opening round, Ottawa surprised a lot of people with their win over Montreal. Craig Anderson played great in net, allowing only nine goals in the entire series, so he was tested but wasn't really pushed hard by the Habs. Ottawa got offensive contributions from a wide variety of players in that series, with Daniel Alfredsson and Erik Karlsson leading the way in scoring with six points each. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, didn't have as easy a going in the opening round as Ottawa did. The Pens were pushed to the limit, almost, by the Islanders in the first round. Marc-Andre Fluery look very shaky in the first four games and was replaced by Thomas Vokoun, who played great in the final two games. Evgeni Malkin lead the way with 11 points in the opening round, followed by Sidney Crosby and Jarome Iginla with 9 points each. Pascal Dupuis chipped in with five goals. as far as this series goes, it really is going to come down to the goaltending. Anderson has played great and can possibly hold the fort down against the Penguins attack. What will decide this series is the Penguins goaltending. If Thomas Vokoun plays the way he did in the last two games against the Islanders then the Pens take the series in six. If it goes back to the bad netminding you saw from Fluery then it will be Ottawa in six. But all things considered, the Pens will take the series in six.

Finally we take a look at the last matchup in the round as its the #4 Boston Bruins taking on the #6 New York Rangers. Both of these teams had to go the full seven games in the first round. The Rangers exploded for six goals in the last two games and a pair of shutouts from King Henrik to beat Washington. As for Boston, they had a 3-1 lead in the series with the Leafs and let it get away to force game seven, then had to come back in game seven and win it in overtime. This is the tenth playoff meeting for these two teams, with Boston having won six of the nine previous series. Their most recent meeting was in the 1973 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals, which New York won in five games. The Rangers won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.

This series is going to be physical and going seven games easy. Boston's defense looked a little shaky in the opening round against the Leafs and are going to need to get that corrected against the Rangers. Boston got bigtime scoring from David Krejci who had 13 points in the first round, which leads all playoff scorers. Also contributing was Nathan Horton, Patrice Bergeron, and Milan Lucic. That should be enough to get them through but they need a bit more production from role players like Tyler Seguin. As for the Rangers, they need to give Henrik Lundqvist some more offensive support, as I don't think he can stand on his head again against a team like Boston. Derick Brassard lead the Rangers in scoring with nine points. That was a big factor in this series in that the Rangers got more of their role players to step up than their big stars. If the Rangers want to have a chance to move on to the next round, they need their big stars like Rick Nash and Brand Richards to start scoring again, otherwise they will be hitting the golf course soon. Unless the Rangers big guns get going this series will end kinda quickly. With all things considered I know this will make some in New York unhappy but its my gut feeling telling me the Bruins are gonna take this series in seven games.

So there you have it. A preview and predictions for the 2nd round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs!