2014 NHL 2nd Round Preview And Predictions

An exciting and thrilling first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is in the books and fans got to see it all and then some in that opening round. We had one sweep to start the playoffs, Montreal knocking out Tampa Bay in four straight. We had one five game series, that being the Boston Bruins taking down the Detroit Red Wings. Three series went six games: Pittsburgh beating Columbus, Chicago beating St. Louis and Anaheim over Dallas. The final three series of the opening round went the full seven games: the Rangers taking down the Flyers, the Wild pulling off an upset beating Colorado and the Kings coming back from down 3-0 to knock off the San Jose Sharks. The Conference Quarterfinals had plenty of excitement to go around in all the series, plenty of overtime games and plenty of drama. That was just the opening round, while we still have three more rounds to go. So the Conference Semifinals are set in the playoffs and here is what we have.

We will start with the Eastern Conference.

First up in the East we have the top seed Boston Bruins playing host to their arch rivals, the Montreal Canadiens. This has quickly become one of the greatest and longest standing rivalries in not only hockey, but in all of North American Sports. Montreal and Boston have played each other more often in the playoffs than any other series in league history. Montreal owns a record of 24–9 against Boston in the 33 previous series played by the teams. However, the Bruins have won the two most recent series between these two teams, the last of which was a seven-game Boston victory in the 2011 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The Canadiens won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

Here are the date and times for every game in this series:
May 1 Montreal Canadiens 7:30 p.m. Boston Bruins TD Garden
May 3 Montreal Canadiens 12:30 p.m. Boston Bruins TD Garden
May 6 Boston Bruins 7:00 p.m. Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre
May 8 Boston Bruins 7:30 p.m. Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre
May 10 Montreal Canadiens TBD Boston Bruins TD Garden
May 12 Boston Bruins TBD Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre
May 14 Montreal Canadiens TBD Boston Bruins TD Garden

This series is going to be intense, very physical, and highly entertaining to watch.  The Canadiens beat the Bruins, the President's Trophy winner, three times in their four meetings this season, not something that was easy to do. Montreal has had a lot of time off, as they swept the Lightning in the first round, they have had a total of ten days off between the end of their first round series and the start of this series. That might potentially hurt the Habs. Carey Price played well against the Bolts in the opening round, and Montreal got secondary scoring in the opening round. Max Pacioretty, David Desharnais and Thomas Vanek played OK in the opening round, but the real offensive stars were the guys like Brendan Gallagher, Rene Bourque, Lars Eller and captain Brian Gionta more than picked up the slack. Those guys along with P.K. Subban are going to have to have another solid series to stand a chance. However, the Habs are playing the Boston Bruins, the most balanced team in the league. Boston rolled all four lines against Detroit and were able to dominate the Wings. They did it all without two of their better forwards in Daniel Paille and Chris Kelly who are close to coming back. Tuukka Rask played very well in the opening round, showing why he was one of the finalists for the Vezina Trophy. Boston has to be able to stay focused in Montreal, a place where they have had trouble playing in the past. But with the way they looked in the first round, that might not be a real problem.

The Pick: Bruins in 6

This series, much like the other series, is going to be physical, intense and highly entertaining. Pittsburgh is coming off their six game win over the Blue Jackets in the opening round, while the Rangers come in after going seven games with the Flyers. This is the fifth playoff meeting for these two teams, with Pittsburgh winning all four previous playoff series. Their most recent meeting was in the 2008 Eastern Conference Semifinals, which Pittsburgh won in five games. Each team won two games in this year's four-game regular season series.

Here's the date and times for the games in this series:
May 2 New York Rangers 7:00 p.m. Pittsburgh Penguins Consol Energy Center
May 4 New York Rangers 7:30 p.m. Pittsburgh Penguins Consol Energy Center
May 5 Pittsburgh Penguins 7:30 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden
May 7 Pittsburgh Penguins 7:30 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden
May 9 New York Rangers TBD Pittsburgh Penguins Consol Energy Center
May 11 Pittsburgh Penguins TBD New York Rangers Madison Square Garden
May 13 New York Rangers TBD Pittsburgh Penguins Consol Energy Center

We know that the Penguins have the scoring punch when they h ave Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz and James Neal in their lineup. Malkin was quite in the goal department up until his hat trick in game six against the Jackets. The fact that the Penguins got out of the first round without major goal and offensive production from these four guys is a little bit scary. Jussi Jokinen, Brandon Sutter and Brian Gibbons all helped pitch in with goals in the series to help the Penguins pull it out. Same sort of thing happened with the Rangers. Sure they got scoring from Martin St. Louis but Brad Richards (1 Goal) and Rick Nash (0 goals but 4 assists) haven't been quite there. It's been the role players like Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello and Benoit Pouliot that have stepped up and contributed, same thing with Dan Carcillo. Goaltending will be as important a factor in this series. Henrik Lundqvist played pretty well but could have played slightly better, which he will do in this series. The question mark is still going to be Marc-Andre Fleury. There are too many flubs and foul-ups in the past few years to have a total comfort level. He got a little lucky against the Jackets, but now they have to deal with a more talented, offensively stacked Rangers club. That could be the big difference.

The Pick: Rangers in 7


Now we shift our focus over to the Western Conference

The defending Stanley Cup Champions the Chicago Blackhawks will play the Minnesota Wild in the next round. Chicago got here by dispatching the St. Louis Blues in six games, in a ironic twist of fate the exact same way the Los Angeles Kings did to the Blues last year. As for the Minnesota Wild, they got here by beating the Colorado Avalanche in seven games. Again in another twist of irony, the Wild beat the Avalanche in seven games in 2003, with game seven being an overtime win in Patrick Roy's last game as an NHL goalie. The Wild ended Roy's first year as an NHL coach in overtime of a game seven. For Minnesota and Chicago, this is the second playoff meeting for these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 2013 Western Conference Quarterfinals, which Chicago won in five games. The Wild won three of the five games in this year's regular season series.

Here are the dates and times for every game in this series:
May 2 Minnesota Wild 9:30 p.m. Chicago Blackhawks United Center
May 4 Minnesota Wild 3:00 p.m. Chicago Blackhawks United Center
May 6 Chicago Blackhawks 9:00 p.m. Minnesota Wild Xcel Energy Center
May 9 Chicago Blackhawks TBD Minnesota Wild Xcel Energy Center
May 11 Minnesota Wild TBD Chicago Blackhawks United Center
May 13 Chicago Blackhawks TBD Minnesota Wild Xcel Energy Center
May 15 Minnesota Wild TBD Chicago Blackhawks United Center

Minnesota is coming off pulling off an upset against a very good team in the Avalanche. Zach Parise had a big series for Minnesota with three goals and ten points in those seven games. Mikko Koivu also had a big series with six points as well. The Wild got balanced scoring against Colorado, but it was really the goaltending that stood out in the series. Darcy Kuemper played great for the Wild, keeping them in the series. Now though, they are going up against a very talent heavy, experienced hockey team in the Blackhawks. Sure Chicago stumbled a little at the start of the series against the Blues, but they found their legs again and took off over the final four games. Chicago is still too good a hockey team, a better one than the Avalanche. Minnesota may take a game at home but that's about it.

The Pick: Blackhawks in 6

Now we look at the final series in this round of the playoffs, another battle of California as the Los Angeles Kings take on the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks come off their six game series win over the Dallas Stars, while the Kings came back from down 3-0 to knock off the San Jose Sharks in seven hard fought games. This now marks the 3rd year in a row the Kings will reach the 2nd round, trying to make the West final for the 3rd year in a row. The Ducks are trying to reach the West final for the first time since they won the Stanley Cup in 2007. This is the first playoff meeting for these Pacific Division and crosstown rivals. The Ducks won four of the five games in this year's regular season series, including a 3–0 win at the NHL's inaugural Stadium Series game held at Dodger Stadium.

Here's the dates and times for every game in this series:
May 3 Los Angeles Kings 8:00 p.m. Anaheim Ducks Honda Center
May 5 Los Angeles Kings 10:00 p.m. Anaheim Ducks Honda Center
May 8 Anaheim Ducks 10:00 p.m. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center
May 10 Anaheim Ducks TBD Los Angeles Kings Staples Center
May 12 Los Angeles Kings TBD Anaheim Ducks Honda Center
May 14 Anaheim Ducks TBD Los Angeles Kings Staples Center
May 16 Los Angeles Kings TBD Anaheim Ducks Honda Center

The Ducks did a good job shutting down the big guns in Dallas of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Cam Fowler and Ben Lovejoy did a great job of that in the Dallas series. Frederik Andersen got the surprise start in game one and played great in the series, so the Ducks will look to him again against a tough Kings offense. Lets also not forget that Anaheim has a pretty high powered offense too with guys like Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and a surprising Nick Bonino. The Ducks had the best record in the West and with good reason. But now they play a tough, battle tested Kings team who are coming off a huge comeback in the last round. LA put the clamp down on the Sharks high power offense and were able to get theirs in gear late in the series. Anze Kopitar played good all series long, with support coming later in the series from Dustin Brown, Justin Williams, Mike Richards, Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson. Both teams have young guns in their lineup, but the Kings are the more veteran team, who know how to step up in the big games. This series is going to be a close one.

The Pick: Kings in 7