Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round Preview

We started this journey back in October with 31 teams and a dream. The end goal, after 82 regular season games, was to try and reach this point. Sixteen teams now remain standing, all with the same goal in mind. The Stanley Cup. The greatest prize in all of hockey is on the line and only one team can lay claim to it at the end of the dance. There is plenty of interesting stories to look at going into the playoffs. Can Pittsburgh win the title for the 3rd year in a row? Can Nashville get back to the Finals? How far can Vegas go? Who's the biggest dark horse this year? All of that and more will be played out over the next two months.

Before we get into it, there's quite a few interesting facts heading into this years playoffs. Vegas became the first team to make the playoffs in their inaugural season in the league since the 1979–80, and also became the first expansion team to make the playoffs in their inaugural season since the 1967 NHL expansion. This marks the fourth time in league history (2000, 2001, 2007), only two Original Six teams are in the playoffs, Boston and Toronto. For the first time since 1966, none of the three teams based in the state of New York made the playoffs. For the fifth time in eight years, all three California-based teams made the playoffs. This is the first time that the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, and the St. Louis Blues will be sitting out of the playoffs together.

So now lets get right into it, here's the first round matchups in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

First up, its the Atlantic Division Champion Tampa Bay Lightning taking on the Wild Card winning New Jersey Devils. For the Lightning, this marks their first division title since their Stanley Cup winning year in 2004, and the second time in four years that they've won 50 or more games. Its also a spot back in the playoffs after missing out last season. The 113 points the Lightning picked up are the most they've ever recorded in a season. Tampa is 12-8 lifetime in playoff series. As for the Devils, this marks the first time since 2012 that they will be making the post season. That year, the Devils went all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals and was also the last time the team won more then 40 games in a season. New Jersey is 25-18 lifetime in the playoffs. This is the third playoff meeting between these two teams with New Jersey winning both previous series. They last met in the 2007 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which New Jersey won in six games. New Jersey won all three games in this year's regular season series.

Here are the date and times for every game in this series:
April 12 New Jersey @ Tampa Bay, 7 p.m
April 14 New Jersey @ Tampa Bay, 3 p.m.
April 16 Tampa Bay @ New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.
April 18 Tampa Bay @ New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.
April 21 New Jersey @ Tampa Bay, TBD
April 23 Tampa Bay @ New Jersey, TBD
April 25 New Jersey @ Tampa Bay, TBD

When the season started, Tampa came out hotter then a wild fire, scoring at will and shutting down the opposition at every turn. After all, they did go 27-8-2 from October through December, which shows how much of a level of dominance they had. As of late though, the Bolts have come back to reality a little bit. Andrei Vasilevskiy has looked more like a solid netminder then he did the Vezina favourite, although he did finish the season with 44 wins, which set the franchise record. Goaltending and defense have slipped a little for the Lightning as of late, but the offense is still as high powered as ever. Leading the charge for the Bolts this year was Nikita Kucherov (100 points), Steven Stamkos (86 points), and Brayden Point (66 points). Two other Bolts had more then 60 points this year in the form of Yanni Gourde (64 points) and Victor Hedman (63 points). Tampa has the scoring depth, but there is one thing that could trip them up. Penalty trouble. Since the beginning of February, Tampa has had the 30th ranked penalty kill in the league. If they can't stay out of the box, they're going to have trouble.

They're going up against a surging Devils club that has been riding the hot play of Taylor Hall and, as of late, Keith Kinkaid. Hall finished the year leading the Devils in scoring with 93 points, a wide margin over the 2nd highest scoring player on the team in Nico Hischier, who had 52 points. The only other Devils who had more then 40 points on the year were Kyle Palmieri and Will Butcher, who each had 44 points. Butcher and Jesper Bratt made up three of the team’s top five scorers, which goes to show that a youth movement has worked pretty well this year in Jersey. In goal, Corey Schneider has been good, winning 17 of his 40 starts. As good as Schneider has been, Keith Kinkaid has been playing out of his head. In 41 starts, he won 28 games with a 2.77 goals against.For the Devils have any chance to pull off an upset and move on to round two, Kinkaid is really going to have to shine through to give the Devils a second round visit.

It all comes down to depth for me in this series. Tampa has plenty of it and New Jersey is basically is a two man show. The Bolts are better, faster and deeper. Kinkaid has been outplaying Vasilevskiy at times as of late, which gives the Devils a sliver of hope. But because the Bolts have more depth and can attack you in waves, they will pull off the series win and move on to the next round.

Prediction: Lightning in 6!

Next up is the Atlantic's second seeded Boston Bruins taking on the Atlantic's third seeded Toronto Maple Leafs. Boston comes in having finished 2nd in the Atlantic division with 112 points, highest total that the B's have had since winning the Presidents Trophy in 2014. Boston made the playoffs last year too but were bounced in the first round. Boston is seeking its first playoff series win since 2014. Boston is 57-64 lifetime in the playoffs. As for Toronto, this marks the first time they've made the playoffs in back to back years since before the season long lockout.The 103 points the Leafs picked up this year was the most they've picked up since 2004. Toronto hasn't won a playoff series since that year. Toronto is 56-53 lifetime in the playoffs. This is the fifteenth playoff meeting between these two teams with Toronto winning eight of the fourteen previous series. They last met in the 2013 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which Boston won in seven games. Toronto 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 12 Toronto @ Boston, 7 p.m.
April 14 Toronto @ Boston, 8 p.m.
April 16 Boston @ Toronto, 7 p.m.
April 19 Boston @ Toronto, 7 p.m.
April 21 Toronto @ Boston, TBD
April 23 Boston @ Toronto, TBD
April 25 Toronto @ Boston, TBD

Toronto has a good hockey team, lead by young high flying players like Mitchell Marner (69 points), Auston Matthews (63 points), and William Nylander (61 points). With them leading the charge, Toronto earned the most points in a long time. They were the seventh highest scoring team in the league so its should come as no surprised if the Leafs make a lot of noise. And as good as the offense is, the goaltending can hold its own. Frederik Andersen won 38 games and had a goals against of 2.81, so he's no slouch. Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly can be productive on the offensive side of things, but if the Leafs want to have a chance in the playoffs, they need to cut down on the shots against Andersen if they want to move on. They're young, quick, healthy and got a taste of this life last year and want to go farther.

They're going up against a stacked Bruins team that can go against pretty much any other style of play in the league. Boston has the sixth-most goals in the league, allowed the fourth-fewest, averaged the ninth-most shots, and gave up the second-fewest, so they know they can control the tempo of a game at will. What the Bruins deserve a lot of credit for is dealing with a lot of injuries and to key guys like Patrice Bergeron, Torey Krug, David Krejci, Jake DeBrusk, Charles McAvoy, and Zdeno Chara. Yet here the Bruins sit as the 2nd best team in the division. With the way guys like Bergeron and Brad Marchand having both played at MVP levels. David Pastrnak has had an impact too, as he's the second leading scorer on the Bruins, so expect him to have an impact in this series as well. Boston has a great mix of youth and veteran leadership. And if the Vegans Golden Knights, there would have been a stronger nod to Bruce Cassidy for coach of the year for what he's been able to do with this Bruins club.

Boston has home ice advantage in this series, which could make a huge difference, just like it did when these two clubs met in 2013. Toronto has played fantastic all year, but with the balance and depth that the Bruins have displayed, they have enough to get the job done.

Prediction: Bruins in 7!

Next is the Metropolitan Division Champion Washington Capitals taking on the Wild Card Winning Columbus Blue Jackets. Washington had won the Metro division with 105 points, but this was the first time in three years they failed to win the Presidents Trophy. Washington has won in the opening round each of the last years. The Caps are 16-27 lifetime in playoff series. As for the Blue Jackets, they got into the playoffs with 45 wins and 97 points, 11 points less then they earned last year. Its the 2nd straight year that the Jackets are in the playoffs. Columbus is looking for its first ever playoff series win, as they are 0-3 lifetime in the playoffs, having won only three playoff games ever. This is the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Washington 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 12 Columbus @ Washington, 7:30 p.m.
April 15 Columbus @ Washington, 7:30 p.m.
April 17 Washington @ Columbus, 7:30 p.m.
April 19 Washington @ Columbus, 7:30 p.m.
April 21 Columbus @ Washington, TBD
April 23 Washington @ Columbus, TBD
April 25 Columbus @ Washington, TBD

Lets face facts, there;'s a ton of pressure on Washington, because they've had an inability to get past round two in the Alex Ovechkin era. This Washington team lost a fair chunk of its firepower from last year and yet somehow still managed to be able to win the division for the 3rd year in a row and eight times in the last eleven years. It shows that this team has a model of consistency during the regular season, but once the playoffs roll around, its a totally different animal. Washington's core of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and T.J Oshie have a wealth of playoff experience. So they know what can happen around this time of year. When you mention the Capitals, you think of not only the offense, but the goaltending as well. Braden Holtby is considered one of the top netminders in the game, but as of late he hasn't really looked like the top flight goalie that you've seen over the last few years. Philipp Grubauer has been the more steady and reliable option for the Caps since early February. Once the playoffs get rolling, if Holtby can't hold it down then Grubauer will be ready to step up and take it over. Local media in Washington has even said that Grubauer gives the Caps the best chance to win right now.

They are facing a team that's trying to get its own playoff monkey off its back as the Jackets have never won a playoff series. Sergei Bobrovsky is going to be counted on bigtime to carry this team. He helped the Jackets get off to a hot start, before they cooled down in about the middle of the season. Columbus has plenty of firepower near the top of the lineup with guys like Artemi Panarin (82 points), Seth Jones (57 points), and Pierre-Luc Dubois (48 points) and they have a guy like Thomas Vanek who has plenty of playoff experience. What has to be a concern for the Jackets is the offensive depth on this team, as Panarin was the only player to score more then 60 points.

Bottom line is the Jackets don't have the depth and experience same as Washington. Sure, one of these days, the Jackets will get over that hump and win their first ever playoff series, but this year isn't going to be it. Bobrovsky may be able to balance out Holtby but the offense really don't compare between the two

Prediction: Capitals in 5!

Finally its the Metropolitan's second seeded Pittsburgh Penguins taking on the third seeded Philadelphia Flyers. Pittsburgh is the two time defending Stanley Cup Champions and are looking to become the first time since the Islanders in the early 80s to win three straight Titles. Their 47 wins and 100 points are the lowest total they've had since 2015. Pittsburgh has made the playoffs every year since 2006. The Penguins are 39-27 lifetime in the playoffs. As for the Flyers, they're back in the playoffs for the 3rd time in the last five years, seeming to make the post season every other year. Winning 48 games and earning 98 points are the most the Flyers have earned since 2012. That was also the last time the Flyers won a playoff series. The Flyers are 43-37 lifetime in the playoffs. This is the seventh playoff meeting between these two rivals with Philadelphia winning four of the six previous series. They last met in the 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which Philadelphia won in six games. Pittsburgh won all four games in this year's regular season series.

Here's the Dates and Times for every game in this series:
April 11 Philadelphia @ Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
April 13 Philadelphia @ Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
April 15 Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia, 3 p.m.
April 18 Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
April 20 Philadelphia @ Pittsburgh, TBD
April 22 Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia, TBD
April 24 Philadelphia @ Pittsburgh, TBD

This series is going to be a fun one to watch. It features four of the top 10 scorers in the league, with Claude Giroux (102 points), Evgeni Malkin (98), Phil Kessel (92) and Sidney Crosby (89). It took the champs a little while to get going this year, as around the holidays, they were the 22nd best team in the league. Since then, Pittsburgh has managed to turn things around and finished 2nd in the division and hit the 100 point mark. Their best players played like it during stretches to get to this point. Not only that but the Pens haven't really changed much over the course of this title run they've been on over the last three season. One thing that has to be a bit of a question is in goal. Matt Murray is no doubt the number one man in the nets, but this time there's not a playoff proven backup behind him. Marc Andre Fleury is killing it out in Vegas. So if Matt Murray faulters for the Pens this year, they will be in trouble. Murray needs to play at a top flight level for the Penguins to even remotly have a chance in net.

The Flyers aren't out of the woods, they have the same sort of problem that the Penguins do in net. Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth went down to injury, which forced management to go out and get Petr Mrazek at the trade deadline. He had a good start to playing in his new city, but he has come back down to earth a little bit. Elliott is back and ready to go for the playoffs, but if you saw what he did with the Flames in the playoffs last time out, the Flyers might be in trouble. Philly's young defense has helped the team to the fifth-lowest shots-against average this season and their offense is the 11th-best in the league. Claude Giroux (102 points), Jakub Voracek (85 points), and Sean Couturier (76 points) have been leading this offensive charge, which might not be as high powered, but it is just as balanced as their in state rivals. Valtteri Filppula, Wayne Simmonds, and Travis Konecny will have to step their game up trying to shut down the Pens top players, something they should be able to handle.

Since goaltending in both cities hasn't been great as of late, you can expect the net to be filling up very quickly. This series will go at least six games but I have this feeling, with the way the Flyers have been playing as of late, that they will be the ones to take down the champs. Pittsburgh has had a fantastic run over the last two seasons but this is where I feel it comes to an end.

Prediction: Flyers in 6!

Moving to the Western Conference, its the Presidents Trophy winning Nashville Predators taking on the Wild Card winning Colorado Avalanche. Nashville earned 117 points, winning the Presidents Trophy as the best team in the league during the regular season. It was the 6th time in team history they've hit the 100 point mark. Nashville is trying to repeat a trip to the Stanley Cup finals they had a season ago. This marks the 11th time that they've made the playoffs and Nashville is 6-10 lifetime in the post season. This marks the first playoff appearance for the Avalanche since winning the division in 2014. Colorado earned 95 points, the highest total since that division title year. Colorado is looking for their first playoff series win since 2008. Colorado is 19-11 all time in the post season. This is the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Nashville won all four games in this year's regular season series.

Here's the Dates and Times for every game in this series:
April 12 Colorado @ Nashville, 9:30 p.m.
April 14 Colorado @ Nashville, 3 p.m.
April 16 Nashville @ Colorado, 10 p.m.
April 18 Nashville @ Colorado, 10 p.m.
April 20 Colorado @ Nashville, TBD
April 22 Nashville @ Colorado, TBD
April 24 Colorado @ Nashville, TBD

Nashville is continuing to carry the momentum from the Stanley Cup finals run last year into a Presidents Trophy this year. Nashville has gone 29-8-6 since New Years day, the only team in the league that had put up a better record the Boston. And like Boston in the East, Nashville is the most balanced team in the West, maybe all of hockey. Pekka Rinne is holding things down in net, winning 42 games and picking up 8 shut outs. He does have help in front of him in terms of a solid blue line that's being lead by Mattias Ekholm, Roman Josi and P.K. Subban. A corp that lead by these three guys is going to be tough to get past. Filip Forsberg was leading the charge up front, while Viktor Arvidsson showed last season’s career-best on offence wasn’t a fluke, while Ryan Johansen did a great job as the top setup man on this hockey club. Nashville has no problem rolling four lines, but they had a little trouble staying out of the box. Their penalty kill unit has been able to make up for it, but it might get them in a little trouble against the Avs. They are balanced and they are hungry to get another step after getting a taste of it a season ago.

Colorado is a good hockey team in its own right. This was a team that a season ago won 22 games and earned 48 points. Now, after trading away Matt Duchene, Colorado has found it's way again and are back into the playoffs. Leading the charge is Nathan MacKinnon, who's had a career year with 97 points. That kind of effort could have put him into serious contention for the Hart trophy as best player in the league. He hasn't been doing it all himself, as Mikko Rantanen put up a career high 84 points to take some of the offensive pressure off MacKinnon. Semyon Varlamov had done pretty well for the Avs this year, winning 24 games, but he won't be available for the playoffs due to injury. So the team is going to have to rely on Jonathan Bernier, who was able to win 19 games for the Avs. He is no slouch, proving in the past that he's a very capable netminder. What has to be an area of concern for the Avs in this series is coring depth. Outside of the top line, Colorado don't really have much.

There's no denying that the Avs are a team on the rise. They have some of the pieces to be a threat in the West. The depth won't be there in this round however. Nashville is just too good a hockey team. They're deep and well balanced. This should be an easy series for Nashville.

Prediction: Predators in 5!

Next up, its the Central Division's second seeded Minnesota Wild taking on the third seeded Winnipeg Jets. Minnesota has now made the playoffs for the 6th year in a row and the 2nd straight year they have earned more than 100 points. The Wild haven't won a playoff series since 2015, so they'll be looking to break that slump this year. Minnesota is 4-8 lifetime in the playoffs. As for the JEts, this is the best numbers they've put up since moving to Winnipeg, earning 114 points. As a matter of fact, its the only time they have collected more then 100 points even when they were in Atlanta. This marks the 3rd time ever that the Winnipeg/Atlanta franchise has made the playoffs and they are looking for not only their first series win, but their first win period in a playoff game. They were swept by both the Rangers and Ducks in their only other two playoff appearances. This is the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The only previous playoff meeting between professional hockey teams representing Winnipeg and Minnesota came during the inaugural World Hockey Association season when the original Jets defeated the Minnesota Fighting Saints in five games. Winnipeg 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 11 Minnesota @ Winnipeg, 7 p.m.
April 13 Minnesota @ Winnipeg, 7:30 p.m.
April 15 Winnipeg @ Minnesota, 7 p.m.
April 17 Winnipeg @ Minnesota, 8 p.m.
April 20 Minnesota @ Winnipeg, TBD
April 22 Winnipeg @ Minnesota, TBD
April 25 Minnesota @ Winnipeg, TBD

Minnesota has a lot going for it this season, at least in the second half of the year. After new years, the Wild won 24 games, which was good enough to be able to get them to reach 99 points. They've been able to get lines to produce, with Eric Staal having a resurgent year. He had 76 points and 42 goals, one of two Wild players to score more then 30 (Jason Zucker was the other with 33) and he was the only player to hit 70 points. Mikael Granlund (67 points) and Zucker (64 points) were the only guys to hit more then 60 points. Zach Parise had missed a big chunk of time with injury but started to hit his stride a little when he got healthy. Devan Dubnyk had done pretty well in goal, managing to earn 31 wins on the year. At times though, the defense has looked suspect. Now that Ryan Suter is out with an injury, it might not look to good for the Wild.

They're going up against a Jets team that is one of the quickest teams in all of hockey. Blake Wheeler lead the charge with 91 points and oh yeah Patrik Laine blasted home 44 goals and 70 points. Bryan Little and Mark Scheifele have been key contributers to this team all year as was new addition Paul Stastny, who was picked up at the deadline. Winnipeg has been getting balanced contributions from a lot of guys and they have been able to keep pace in the division with Nashville most of the year. Another big reason that the Jets had been able to finish where they did was Connor Hellebuyck. The 24 year old netminder won 44 games this year, which placed him among the elite during the regular season. It's something that has been a bit of a problem, stabilizing the goaltending position. Now they have it and they are set for a long run.

Again Minnesota is a solid team, but they are about to run into a flat out buzzsaw. The Jets are deep, talented, quick, big and young so they can play you hard in any part of the game. This series might not be much of a contest. Minnesota may get a game at home but that's about it.

Predictions: Jets in 5!

Next its the Pacific Division winning Vegas Golden Knights taking on the Wild Card winning Los Angeles Kings. Vegas won the division with 109 points, most ever for an expansion team in its first year of operations. Their 51 wins is also a record for expansion clubs. This is their first ever playoff series. As for the Kings, they earned 98 points, their most in two years. They've made the playoffs twice in the last four years, and have only missed the playoffs twice since 2010. Los Angeles is looking to get a playoff series win for the first time since winning the 2014 Stanley Cup. Los Angeles is 21-26 lifetime in the playoffs. This is the first playoff meeting between the two clubs.

Here's the Dates and Times of every game in this series:
April 11 Los Angeles @ Vegas, 10 p.m.
April 13 Los Angeles @ Vegas, 10 p.m.
April 15 Vegas @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
April 17 Vegas @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
April 19 Los Angeles @ Vegas, 10 p.m.
April 21 Vegas @ Los Angeles, TBD
April 23 Los Angeles @ Vegas, TBD

There's a lot of pressure on Vegas, being an expansion club in their first ever playoff series. Two big stories for Vegas this year have been the play of both William Karlsson and Marc-Andre Fleury. Karlsson really had a breakout year, scoring 43 goals. It really put himself on the map as a top flight player in the league. Him and Jonathan Marchessault were the only Knights players to register 70 or more points. Sure, there are plenty of weapons for the Vegas team to run with, but Karlsson is the one who makes this team move forward. He is the key. Then there's the case of Marc Andre Fleury, who had been basically put on the back burner in Pittsburgh. Fleury needed a fresh start and he got it in Vegas. He had missed some time due to injuries, but he was still productive enough to win 27 of his 41 starts. There had been speculation that this team would possibly limp into the playoffs after how hot a start they had to the season. Not the case as Vegas picked yup 25 wins since January.

The first test for the Golden Knights are the playoff tested and proven Los Angeles Kings. John Stevens had a different approach to the style of play then former coach Darryl Sutter did. Anze Kopitar had the biggest benefactor from it, scoring 92 points, which was 40 points higher then the year before. Drew Doughty and Dustin Brown each scored over 60 points. Los Angeles is another one of those teams that rely on one maybe two lines to score, if that gets shut down they may be in trouble over the course of the series. They're also starting to get Tyler Toffoli and Jeff Carter starting to heat up at the right time. Then there's Jonathan Quick, who's having the 2nd best year of his career. He went 29-26, this coming a year after starting only 17 games. Its going to be a battle between two goalies who are still proving they have something left in the tank.

This series is going to be fun and pretty evenly matched, at least amongst the goalies. Los Angeles has the top flight talent, but Vegas has the depth edge right now and they aren't burning out. Vegas pulls off the huge upset in a fun series to watch.

Predictions: Golden Knights in 6!

Finally, its the Pacific Division second seeded Anaheim Ducks taking on the third seeded San Jose Sharks. Anaheim earned 101 points, marking the 5th straight year that the team has picked up 100 or more points. Those 101 points mark the lowest points total the Ducks have had in a full season since 2012, the last time they missed the playoffs. The Ducks made the conference finals last year, they're looking to get back there again this year. Anaheim is 16-12 lifetime in the playoffs. This marks the 3rd straight playoff appearance for the Sharks, who finished the year with 100 points. Its the first time the Sharks have hit that mark since 2014. San Jose is looking for its first playoff series win since reaching the Cup finals in 2016. San Jose is 17-19 lifetime in the playoffs. This is the second playoff meeting between these teams. Their only previous series occurred in the 2009 Western Conference Quarterfinals, which Anaheim won in six games. San Jose won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

Here's the Dates and Times of every game in this series:
April 12 San Jose @ Anaheim, 10:30 p.m.
April 14 San Jose @ Anaheim, 10:30 p.m.
April 16 Anaheim @ San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
April 18 Anaheim @ San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
April 20 San Jose @ Anaheim, TBD
April 22 Anaheim @ San Jose, TBD
April 24 San Jose @ Anaheim, TBD

Have to give credit where its due to the Ducks. They were hammered by injuries at the start of the season, but they were able to stay competitive and hang around in the playoff picture till the team got healthy. Once they did, the Ducks made a strong surge late in the year to be able to get into the playoffs. Rickard Rakell (69 points), Ryan Getzlaf (61 points), and Corey Perry (49 points) lead the Ducks in scoring, but the reason for the low point totals is because of injuries. Rakell played in 77 games, Getzlaf playedin 56 games and Perry played in 77. Adding a guy like Adam Henrique in a trade earlier in the year was a great move because it added a little more depth to this Ducks offense. They ended up giving up Sami Vatanen in the trade, but that shows how deep the Ducks feel they are on the blueline if they were able to make that move to bolster the team up the middle. Goaltending is going to be a bit of a question here. John Gibson went down earlier this month with an injury, so Ryan Miller has come in and done a very serviceable job holding down the fort in net.

San Jose was a favorite to be a major threat out of this division, but have been just as fine flying under the radar. They've picked their play up since adding Evander Kane at the trade deadline, going 12-6-1 since then. San jose has a balanced attack, being led by Brent Burns (67 points), Joe Pavelski (66 points), and Logan Couture (61 points). You'd expect Joe Thornton to be up high on that list, but he only played 36 games due to injury. They've got the star power, but if the Sharks want to move on to the next round, Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski need to step their game up, as does Tomas Hertl, Kevin Labanc and Timo Meier. Martin Jones has proven once again that he's a very capable goalie over the last couple of months, managing to finish the season with 30 wins. He's done some of his best work in the playoffs, as you saw by his play in the Sharks Cup run two seasons ago.

The Ducks and Sharks are veteran playoff teams, and this will be a hard, nasty series that is likely to feature several overtime games. The Ducks don't have an exceptional history of winning the seventh game at home. It won't be any better this time.

Prediction: Sharks in 7!