Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round Preview

Well well, we now have eight teams left standing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Coming off a very exciting first round in which we saw all four division winners get eliminated from Stanley Cup Contention. Columbus pulled off the biggest upset, sweeping the President's Trophy winning Tampa Bay Lightning to pick up their first ever playoff series win. The only other team to pull off a sweep in the opening round was the Islanders, who swept Pittsburgh right out of the playoffs. Calgary, the top seed in the West, was bounced in five games by Colorado. Every other series in the opening round went at least six games. Now its on to the eight teams remaining in round two. And here's what we got for this year's second round.

First up, we have the Columbus Blue Jackets taking on the Boston Bruins. Boston is coming off a seven game opening round win over the Maple Leafs, marking it the 2nd year in a row Boston has advanced past the first round. The Bruins are looking to advance to their first Eastern Conference Final since 2013. As for the Blue Jackets, they're coming off the upset sweep of the Lightning in the opening round, their first ever playoff series victory. This marks the first time the Jackets have ever made it to round two. This marks the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Boston won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.

Here's the dates and times for every game in this series:
April 25 Columbus Blue Jackets 7:00 p.m. Boston Bruins TD Garden
April 27 Columbus Blue Jackets 8:00 p.m. Boston Bruins TD Garden
April 30 Boston Bruins 7:00 p.m. Columbus Blue Jackets Nationwide Arena
May 2 Boston Bruins 7:30 p.m. Columbus Blue Jackets Nationwide Arena
May 4 Columbus Blue Jackets 7:15 p.m. Boston Bruins TD Garden
May 6 Boston Bruins TBD Columbus Blue Jackets Nationwide Arena
May 8 Columbus Blue Jackets TBD Boston Bruins TD Garden

There's a lot of momentum on the side of the Blue Jackets right now. They just swept the best team in hockey during the regular season and did it in pretty convincing fashion to pick up their first ever playoff win. Look at what they did to Tampa in the opening round. Seth Jones is starting to take a leap into the most elite tier of defencemen and paired with partner Zach Werenski, completely neutralized Tampa Bay’s most potent offensive weapons. Throw that in with the play of star netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, and you'll see that the Bolts were held to just eight goals in the opening round, a shocking number for a team that's as good as Tampa was. For Columbus it was two fold. Not only did they do a good job of shutting down the Lightning, they managed to find the back of the net with regularity. Matt Duchene had three goals and seven points in the four games to pace Columbus, while Artemi Panarin and Zach Werenski each chipped in five points. So they can score too.

But in this round they're going against a battle tested Boston Bruins squad who's coming off a seven game series win over the Leafs for the 2nd year in a row. Brad Marchand scored four goals and nine points, proving to be a consistent thorn in the Leafs’ side, while Patrice Bergeron’s all-around excellence wore down the opposition. David Pastrnak chipped in six points, while Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci had five each. Tuukka Rask looked solid in net, but there were times he defense let him down and there was nothing he could do on a few of those goals he gave up. Columbus is going to have to watch tape of what Toronto did right in the first round if they want to try and move past the B's. On the whole, Boston did a great job of keeping the Leafs big boys at check to start this playoffs, and are going to be counted on to do it again in this round with the Jackets gunners.

This won't be as easy a series for the Jackets. I know that they're coming into this one well rested. But the difference between the Bolts and B's is that Boston is a lot tougher than the Lightning were in the opener. This isn't a put down of the Jackets by any means. They pulled off the huge win to start this run and are going to really test the Bruins. But I like Boston's depth and trust Rask in this sense more than I do Bob, more so after the way Rask played the last two games of the first round.

Prediction: Bruins in 7

Next up, we have the Carolina Hurricanes taking on the New York Islanders. Carolina got here by knocking off the defending Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals in seven games. Its the first time that Carolina has gotten past the first round since 2009. Carolina is looking to reach the East finals for the first time since 2009. As for the Islanders, they swept the Penguins in the opening round, something they haven't done since 1983. Its the first opening round win for the team since 2016. New York is looking to reach the conference finals for the first time since 1993. This will be the first playoff meeting between these two teams. 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 26 Carolina Hurricanes 7:00 p.m. New York Islanders Barclays Center
April 28 Carolina Hurricanes 3:00 p.m. New York Islanders Barclays Center
May 1 New York Islanders 7:00 p.m. Carolina Hurricanes PNC Arena
May 3 New York Islanders 7:00 p.m. Carolina Hurricanes PNC Arena
May 5 Carolina Hurricanes TBD New York Islanders Barclays Center
May 7 New York Islanders TBD Carolina Hurricanes PNC Arena
May 8 Carolina Hurricanes TBD New York Islanders Barclays Center

Those "Bunch Of Jerks" down in Carolina are carrying momentum into this second round matchup with New York. It wasn't really a huge save or a big goal, or anything that coach Rod Brind’Amour did, he just stuck with his gameplan and it worked. Rookie standout Andrei Svechnikov took on Ovechkin in a Game 3 fight and was promptly knocked out, but it may have turned the tide for the Canes and got them going. Carolina took game three 5-0 and rallying to win four of the last five games in the series. Jaccob Slavin was huge in this series with nine points (all assists) and Dougie Hamilton’s contributions from the back end will be something to keep an eye on against the Islanders. Warren Foegele lead the way with four goals, while Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho had solid contributions as well in the opening round.

They got a tougher test in this round in the Islanders though. New York was the higher seed than Pittsburgh but the fact that they swept the Pens and kept Sidney Crosby off the goal sheet was pretty impressive. Robin Lehner was outstanding in the series, only surrendering a grand total of six goals in the sweep. He was great the entire series, as a matter of fact so was his defense for not letting the Pens get to the rebounds. On the other side, Jordan Eberle had himself a good series, scoring four gaols anad six points to lead the team. Everybody on the club registered at least one point except for the fourth line of Martin, Clutterbuck, and Cizikas. That's a balanced scoring attack that's going to be tough for the Canes defense to deal with. There were times in the opening round where the team would spend a little too much time passing, but having all this time off to rest and get healthy is going to be big.

Not having Johnny Boychuk due to injury could be tough for the Isles to overcome, but Barry Trotz has had his team ready to roll every step of the way so far in this playoffs and that's not going to change here. Carolina put up a hell of a fight by beating the Caps in the last round, but they don't get that lucky here. New York is going to have just enough of an edge to take this series.

Prediction: Islanders in 6

Moving to the Western Conference, we start with the Dallas Stars taking on the St Louis Blues. Dallas got here by beating the Nashville Predators in the opening round in six games, the first time they've won an opening round series since 2016. Dallas is aiming to get to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2008. Meanwhile, the Blues got here by beating the Winnipeg Jets in six games, the first time the Blues have won in the opening round since 2017. St Louis is looking to reach its first conference finals since 2016. This will be the fourteenth playoff meeting between these two teams with St. Louis winning seven of the thirteen previous series. They last met in the seond round of the 2016 playoffs, which St. Louis won in seven games. Dallas 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 25 Dallas Stars 9:30 p.m. St. Louis Blues Enterprise Center
April 27 Dallas Stars 3:00 p.m. St. Louis Blues Enterprise Center
April 29 St. Louis Blues 8:00 p.m. Dallas Stars American Airlines Center
May 1 St. Louis Blues 9:30 p.m. Dallas Stars American Airlines Center
May 3 Dallas Stars 9:30 p.m. St. Louis Blues Enterprise Center
May 5 St. Louis Blues TBD Dallas Stars American Airlines Center
May 7 Dallas Stars TBD St. Louis Blues Enterprise Center

This is a big run for the Blues, who fired their coach in early November and were a last place team in early January. Now they're in the 2nd round of the playoffs. You can't make this stuff up. Jaden Schwartz has been playing like a man on fire as of late, scoring four goals in the opening round and finished one point behind Alex Pietrangelo for the leading scorer in that opening round series. St Louis has a unique ability to be able to roll four lines and they did that pretty well in the opening round against Winnipeg. In net, Jordan Binnington wasn’t at his best during the first round, but he started coming around at the end of the series and could be back to top form against the Stars. Even if, for some reason, he does fault against Dallas, St Louis does have another solid netminder in Jake Allen to step in between the pipes and take over.

But Binnington has some tough competition at the other end of the ice in the form of Ben Bishop, who's not only a finalist for the Vezina for top goalie, but only allowed 12 goals in the first round win over Nashville. So keeping the puck out hasn't been too tough for Dallas. Scoring hasn't either. You knew the Stars big line of Alexander Radulov, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin were going to come up big. They all did in the first round, with all three players racking up six points throughout the series. It's more than just the big boys. John Klingberg, Mats Zuccarello, Radek Faksa, Roope Hintz and Jason Dickinson all felt pressure and all delivered in some way shape or form in this series.

The Stars have a great first line, but the Blues, outside of one game, held a deeper Jets team in check in the first round. Jordan Binnington had a .879 save percentage against the Stars during the regular season, but he's capable of keeping his team in games. The Blues' power play will provide a bigger challenge than the terrible Predators one that the Stars faced in the first round.

Prediction: Blues in 7

Finally, we have the San Jose Sharks taking on the Colorado Avalanche. San Jose got payback for last year, knocking off the Vegas Golden Knights in seven games. Its the 2nd straight year and 3rd time in the last four years that the Sharks are on to round two. San Jose is looking to get to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2016. As for Colorado, they beat the Flames in five in the first round to get here, the first time they've gotten out of the opening round since 2008. Colorado is looking to get to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2002. This marks the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams with both teams splitting the four previous series. They last met in the 2010 Western Conference Quarterfinals which San Jose won in six games. San Jose won all three games in this year's regular season series.

Here's the dates and times for every game in this series:
April 26 Colorado Avalanche 10:00 p.m. San Jose Sharks SAP Center
April 28 Colorado Avalanche 7:30 p.m. San Jose Sharks SAP Center
April 30 San Jose Sharks 10:00 p.m. Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center
May 2 San Jose Sharks 10:00 p.m. Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center
May 4 Colorado Avalanche TBD San Jose Sharks SAP Center
May 6 San Jose Sharks TBD Colorado Avalanche Pepsi Center
May 8 Colorado Avalanche TBD San Jose Sharks SAP Center

Much like what happened with the Bolts over in the East, seeing Colorado kick the crap out of Calgary in five games was a pretty big upset. Colorado's top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen should not be taken lightly after marching to the second round with ease. They dominated that series against the Flames. But hey, it wasn't just them. Colorado received balanced scoring across the board with 10 players lighting the lamp against Calgary, but MacKinnon began to separate himself from the pack<, with eight points in the series, only one behind Rantanen. Hey, Philipp Grubauer looked good in net, allowing only ten goals in the entire five game series, but the offense stole the show, out pacing that high powered offense in Calgary.

San Jose is no pushover, getting revenge on Vegas for what they did to them last year. Barclay Goodrow put a merciful end to the series, which was a remarkable comeback for the Sharks. San Jose did trail 3-1 in the series before winning the final three games. Tomas Hertl, who's just starting to really find his game, had a big series with six goals and two assists. The only other guy who did that well against Vegas was Logan Couture. Killing off the Sharks will be easier said than done, as Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski are still reliable secondary contributors. Brent Burns, who led the team in scoring during the regular season didn’t approach his grandest heights and we’ve gone this far without mentioning Erik Karlsson, who cooly put up nine assists.

Colorado is on a roll no doubt there. But they got a much more battle tested team to go against in San Jose. The Sharks are finding their game and have hit the right stride at the right time.

Prediction: Sharks in 6