Stanley Cup Playoffs 2nd Round Preview

No wonder I love this time of year so much. It always seems that playoff time, no matter what the sport, always finds a way to bring out high drama and high emotion. This years opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs has been no exception. We had two series in the opening round go the full seven games, with the Capitals beating the Islanders in one, and the Lightning knocking off the Red Wings in the other. Pittsburgh proved top be really no match for the Rangers, while Ottawa put up somewhat of a fight before falling to Montreal. That's just the Eastern Conference. Out West, the Winnipeg Jets franchise still haven't won a playoff game, getting swept by the Ducks (Winnipeg was swept by the Rangers in their only other playoff appearance while they were still in Atlanta). St Louis can never seem to find any steady playoff success, getting knocked off by the Wild in six. Calgary, a very good hockey club with a good mix to it, knocked off the talent laiden Canucks in six. Chicago had to overcome some goalies issues to get itself settled down and hold off the Predators in six games. There were dramatic overtimes, heroic goaltending performances and high scoring affairs. If that was just the opening round I can't wait to see what the rest of the playoffs holds. Here's what the 2nd round looks like.

First up we have the Chicago Blackhawks taking on the Minnesota Wild. Chicago finished the year with 102 points during the regular season, and come into this round following a opening round win over the Nashville Predators, winning that series in six games. This marks the 3rd straight year the Hawks have made the 2nd round and the 5th time in seven years Chicago has won their opening round matchup. As for the Wild, the finished the regular season with 100 points, good enough for a wild card spot. They opened the playoffs up with a six game series win over the St. Louis Blues. With this 2nd round appearance, it marks the 2nd year in a row that the Wild have won their first round matchup. In fact its the 3rd time ever that the Wild have made it out of the first round in team history. This will be the third year in a row in which the Blackhawks and Wild have met in the postseason, and their third meeting overall. The Blackhawks have won both previous matchups. In the previous year's playoff series, Chicago eliminated Minnesota from the second round in six games. Chicago won three of the five games in this year's regular season series.

Here's the dates and times for games in this series:
May 1 Minnesota Wild 9:30 p.m. Chicago Blackhawks United Center
May 3 Minnesota Wild 8:30 p.m. Chicago Blackhawks United Center
May 5 Chicago Blackhawks 8:00 p.m. Minnesota Wild Xcel Energy Center
May 7 Chicago Blackhawks 9:30 p.m. Minnesota Wild Xcel Energy Center
May 9 Minnesota Wild TBD Chicago Blackhawks United Center
May 11 Chicago Blackhawks TBD Minnesota Wild Xcel Energy Center
May 13 Minnesota Wild TBD Chicago Blackhawks United Center

On paper this matchup seems almost to be a little unfair. Chicago has a loaded lineup, with stars like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. Guys who have plenty of playoff experience and depth. Toews had 8 points in the opening round, Kane had 7 points and a pair of goals, Hossa chipped in 5 assists. Hell every regular in the Hawks lineup had at least one point in their opening round win except two, Kimmo Timonen and Marcus Kruger. Chicago should have no problem trying to fill up the nets. There's only one problem. Goaltending. Chicago looked very shaky in net during their opening round matchup with the Predators. It was a tossup between going with Scott Darling or Corey Crawford, which comes as a surprise considering that Crawford has helped lead the Hawks to two cup titles in the past. Crawford is getting to start game one but after what he did in the opening round, don't be surprised if he is on a short leash. As for the Wild, they are no pushover. They came in and beat up on the Blues in six games, thanks in large part to the outstanding goaltending of Devan Dubnyk, who has been outstanding since coming over from the Coyotes. His 2.32 GAA in the opening round is better than that of the Hawks netminders and he has been one of the biggest reasons the Wild have been playing with confidence for the latter half of the season. Minnesota has scoring depth to their club, which could match that of the Hawks. Zach Parise, Jason Pominville and Miakel Granlund each had big series against St. Louis. Minnesota's defense corp can hang a little with the Hawks. Sure Chicago is deep, so to are the Wild. The difference between now and earlier this year, when the Hawks dominated the Wild during the regular season is goaltending. Minnesota has had better netminding as of late, which will be the edge in this series

Pick: Wild in 7!

 Next up we have the Calgary Flames going head to head against the Anaheim Ducks. Anaheim has won the division for the 3rd year in a row, earning over 100 points in each year. For the 2nd year in a row the Ducks have advanced out of the 1st round, looking to make it to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since they won the Stanley Cup in 2007. Anaheim had a relatively easy time dispatching the Winnipeg Jets in a four game sweep. Calgary on the other had has been making a lot of noise this season. They haven't won this many games in a season since 2008-09, ironically enough the last year that they made the playoffs. Calgary has already taken a huge step, by winning their first round matchup with the Canucks in six games. This marks the farthest the Flames have gone in the playoffs since reaching the Cup Finals in 2004. This is the second playoff meeting for these teams; their only previous meeting was in the 2006 Western Conference Quarterfinals, which Anaheim won in seven games. Anaheim won three of the five games in this year's regular season series.

Here are the dates and times for games in this series:
April 30 Calgary Flames 10:00 p.m. Anaheim Ducks Honda Center
May 3 Calgary Flames 10:00 p.m. Anaheim Ducks Honda Center
May 5 Anaheim Ducks 9:30 p.m. Calgary Flames Scotiabank Saddledome
May 8 Anaheim Ducks 9:30 p.m. Calgary Flames Scotiabank Saddledome
May 10 Calgary Flames TBD Anaheim Ducks Honda Center
May 12 Anaheim Ducks TBD Calgary Flames Scotiabank Saddledome
May 14 Calgary Flames TBD Anaheim Ducks Honda Center SN

What can you say about this young Flames team. The Flames have done some incredible things thanks largely to the play of young forwards such as Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Sam Bennett. Hudler has three goals and six points in the opening round and Gaudreau matched him with the six points,. leading the team with four helpers. There's going to be a small problem for the Flames in this series, that being trying to beat the Ducks in Calgary. Calgary hasn’t beaten the Ducks on their home pond since 2004, a span of 20 games (0-15-5). Just two of those losses were accrued this season, but you get the point. Calgary really needs those top guys from the first round to step up again this round if they want to have a chance. Anaheim had a relatively easy time disposing of the Jets in the opening round.  Corey Perry had seven points in the opening round. Anaheim had their big three of Ryan Getzlaf, Perry and Ryan Kesler asserted themselves at various points of that first round series. What really helped the Ducks out in that first round series win was the secondary scoring. Guys like Rickard Rakell, Emerson Etem and Jakub Silfverberg each contributed a game-changing goal. Calgary is a quick hockey team, but Anaheim has the physical presence, something which I don't think the Flames can match

Pick: Ducks in 5!

Moving over to the eastern Conference, we have the Montreal Canadiens taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Montreal comes in after knocking off the Ottawa Senators in a low scoring six game series. This Canadiens team is having a great year, cracking the 100+ point mark for the 2nd year in a row. Montreal looking to repeat it's performance from last year, getting past the 2nd round to head to the eastern Conference Finals. Tampa Bay also cracked the 100 point mark for the 2nd year in a row. Tampa is look to get out of the 2nd round for the first time since 2010. The Bolts come in after dispatching the Detroit Red Wings in a tough seven game series. This is the third playoff meeting for these teams; the teams have split their two previous playoff series. Their most recent meeting was in the previous year's Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, in which Montreal swept Tampa Bay out of the playoffs. Tampa Bay won all five games in this year's regular season series.

Here are the dates and times for every game in this series:
May 1 Tampa Bay Lightning 7:00 p.m. Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre
May 3 Tampa Bay Lightning 6:00 p.m. Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre
May 6 Montreal Canadiens 7:00 p.m. Tampa Bay Lightning Amalie Arena
May 7 Montreal Canadiens 7:00 p.m. Tampa Bay Lightning Amalie Arena
May 9 Tampa Bay Lightning TBD Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre
May 12 Montreal Canadiens TBD Tampa Bay Lightning Amalie Arena
May 14 Tampa Bay Lightning TBD Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre

Tampa Bay seemed to have a bit of a struggle with the Red Wings in the opening round. Detroit did a great job of managing to keep Lightning Captain Steven Stamkos off the board, as Stamkos went without a goal in the series.Stammer did have three assists in the series, but managed to go without a goal.; Enter Tyler Johnson. He had an outstanding series, scoring six goals in the seven games. He carried the Bolts in three of their four wins in the series. Tampa has depth and plenty of playoff experience, but one thing to look at is Ben Bishop. As good of a goalie as Bishop is, and has been during the regular season, he gave up some weak goals in the Detroit series. Tampa flat out dominated the Habs during the regular season. Montreal comes in off a low scoring series against Ottawa, winning in six. Montreal has the NHL’s best goalie in Carey Price, Norris Trophy nominee (and 2013 winner) P.K. Subban, one of the top two-way forwards in Max Pacioretty and good young forwards in Alex Galchenyuk and pesky Brendan Gallagher. However, they had no answer for the Lightning’s speed during the regular season. There stuff they have to work on, like step their scoring up in this series, because I'm not sure, as good as Price is, they can't get too far behind Tampa. Price is going to have to have a big series for Montreal to walk out of this series. Tampa struggled against Detroit, they won't get this lucky in this round.

Pick: Canadiens in 7!

Finally we have the New York Rangers going up against the Washington Capitals. The Rangers come in after smacking the Penguins around in five games. During the regular season, New York had its best year, from a points perspective since 2007. The Presidents Trophy win was the first one they've had since 1994. This marks the fourth straight year that the Rangers win their opening round playoff matchup. Washington enters this series after knocking off the Islanders in a tough seven game series. This marks the most points the Caps have collected in the regular season since 2011. Washington has made it to the 2nd round for the 4th time in the last six years. The Caps haven't made it out of the 2nd round since 1998, the year they went to the Stanley Cup Finals. This is the ninth playoff meeting for these teams and their fifth in the last seven years. The teams have split their eight previous playoff series. Their most recent meeting was in the 2013 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which New York won in seven games. New York won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

Here's the dates and times for every game in this series:
April 30 Washington Capitals 7:30 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden
May 2 Washington Capitals 12:30 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden
May 4 New York Rangers 7:30 p.m. Washington Capitals Verizon Center
May 6 New York Rangers 7:30 p.m. Washington Capitals Verizon Center
May 8 Washington Capitals 7:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden
May 10 New York Rangers TBD Washington Capitals Verizon Center
May 13 Washington Capitals TBD New York Rangers Madison Square Garden

New York had somewhat of an easy time taking care of the Penguins in the opening round, managing to keep Crosby (3 points) and Malkin (0 points) in check in the entire series. The thing that sticks out to me for the Rangers is that every game they won in the series ended the same way, a 2-1 final in favor of the Blueshirts. The reason that worked in the first round was because the Penguins were a weak, beaten down team and Henrik was that good in the Rangers net. New York does get Kevin Klein back for the series, but will be without Mats Zuccarello, who is out indefinitely after taking a puck to the head in Game 5 vs. the Penguins. That could be a big blow to the Rangers, because Zuccarello has had a big impact on the Rangers this season. With Washington, their top two lines shined in the series against the Islanders. Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin, led the team with six and five points, respectively. The difference is that the Rangers, lead by Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi and the rest of the defense corps will be a much greater challenge than the injury-ravaged, patchwork Islanders blue line corps presented. the Rangers blueline his healthy, unlike that of the Islanders, which will make a difference in the series. This series fits two pretty balanced squads against each other and will go the distance. What sets the tide in this series will be goaltending and the edge goes to King Henrik and the Rangers.
Pick: Rangers in 7!

So there you have it, the predictions for the 2nd round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs!