With the Second round approaching, Conference match-ups just get more interesting.
With the NHL Playoffs well underway, we have already seen a wide variety of nail-biting overtimes, tremendous upsets, and plenty of dazzling goals. The first round has just been completed, and the remaining teams are now set for their Conference semi-finals. The first round was full of exciting moments, and in case you missed anything, here is how it went down.
In the first round of the Western Conference, San José (1) played Anaheim (8), Detroit (2) played Columbus (7), Vancouver (3) played St. Louis (6), and Chicago (4) played Calgary (5).
The talented San José Sharks probably had the most difficult top-seeded match-up: Anaheim. San José finished the regular season with flying colors, earning the President’s trophy for the league’s best record. Yet once the playoffs began, San José had some trouble living up to their victorious reputation. By the end of six games, Anaheim had successfully upset the Sharks 4 games to 2, the first top seed upset since 2006.
In the 2-7 seed match-up the Defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings matched up against first time playoff-hopefuls Columbus Blue Jackets. Despite Columbus’ highly skilled offense, the Wings were too much to handle for Jackets, sweeping them 4-0.
In the 3-6 match-up the Vancouver Canucks took on the surging St. Louis Blues. At the All-Star break the Blues sat at the bottom of the Western Conference, but persevered to the sixth spot by the end of the season. Unfortunately, the Blues couldn’t compete against the Sedin twins and the rest of the talented Canucks, who swept them 4-0.
The 4-5 match-up consisted of the Chicago Blackhawkes and Calgary Flames. This was the first playoff berth the ‘Hawkes have seen since 2002. With a rejuvenated line-up consisting of the young and talented Toews-Kane duo, the Blackhawkes powered past the Flames winning the series in six games.
The Eastern Conference had some entertaining series as well, including a couple of exciting games 7s. The match-ups included Boston (1) playing Montreal (8), Washington (2) playing the New York Rangers (7), New Jersey (3) playing Carolina (6), and Pittsburgh (4) playing Philadelphia (5).
No. 1 in the East, the Boston Bruins have a dangerous arsenal of skill and grit, and showed it in the Eastern Quarter-finals, sweeping the Montreal Canadians 4-0. The Bruins’ victory was largely thanks to their world-class Goaltender, Tim Thomas, who finished the regular season with the best Goals Against Average (2.10).
In the 2-7 match-up the Washington Capitals faced one of their top rivals, the New York Rangers. The series was choc-full of spectacular action and skill, when No. 1 scorer and season MVP Alex Ovechkin took on Chris Drury and Vezina trophy finalist Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. The series grew to a dramatic game 7, where the Capitals topped the Rangers 2-1.
In the 3-6 match-up Zach Parise and his New Jersey Devils faced Eric Staal and the Carolina Hurricanes. With tremendous turnouts from every game, Staal and his highly skilled Hurricanes stretched past the Devils in another nail-biting game 7 classic, winning the series 4 games to 3.
The 4-5 match-up in the East consisted of Atlantic Division rivals Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers. While the Flyers topped the Penguins in each of their regular season meetings, they just couldn’t hold off the powerful Crosby-Malkin duo, losing the series to the Penguins 4 games to 2.
Now the stage is set for the Conference semi-finals. There are so many questions: Will the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings repeat for another title? Will the surging Anaheim Ducks complete the first eight-seed championship in NHL history? And will last year’s finalists Pittsburgh Penguins redeem themselves by finishing what they couldn’t last season. While all these questions will be answered in the next few weeks, I’ll do my best to answer a few of them now.
WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS
Detroit vs. Anaheim. Prediction: Anaheim wins series in 7 games. While statistically the Red Wings are heavily favored over the underdog yet surging Ducks, they probably face the most skill and potential for a berth in the finals over any other bottom seeded team. The biggest deciding factor for this series in my opinion is special teams. Power play and penalty kill will be paramount in this series. With the Wings finishing off the regular season with the No. 1 power play (25.5%), the Ducks will have to use their special line-combinations to kill off any power play the Wings may receive, (or just try to stay out of the penalty box.) Detroit has an incredibly strong line-up, but I believe that the surging Ducks will continue their streak to complete their second upset defeating the Red Wings in 7 games.
Chicago vs. Vancouver. Prediction: Chicago wins series in 6 games. This will truly be a tremendous match-up. Both teams have an extremely skilled offense, powerful defense, and spectacular goaltenders; all three will be deciding factors in this series. Offense first. Late in the season, Vancouver acquired star forward Mats Sundin, and matched him up with the dazzling Sedin twins. With a star-studded lineup complete, Vancouver will have an offensive power to lead them deep into this series. Chicago, on the other hand, has a very young, yet powerful lineup of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Martin Havlat. These two lines battling against each other will make for a tremendous series. Finally, the last deciding factor is goaltending. Will the red-hot Nikolai Khabibulin of Chicago be able to rank up to the world-class Robert Luongo? I believe so. Chicago upsets and takes the series in six games.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Boston vs. Carolina. Prediction: Boston wins series in 6 games. The No. 1 Bruins will have quite the challenge when they face the Hurricanes in the second round. While Carolina has an all-star line up of amazing forwards like Eric Staal and Ray Whitney, the Bruins have a little more edge. With forwards like Marc Savard, Phil Kessle and Michael Ryder, and with a goalie like Tim Thomas, I believe the Bruins will continue their hot streak defeating the Hurricanes in six games.
Pittsburgh vs. Washington. Prediction: Pittsburgh wins series in 7 games. This, in my opinion, will be the most exciting series of them all. You have two world-class teams with star-studded lineups consisting of highly skilled players. The match-up that everyone will be watching will be the clash between the best forwards in the league. Washington’s Alex Ovechkin vs. Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. In the last series, many experts criticized the Capitals’ offense due to Ovechkins lack of passing skills, making their offense less effective, yet towards the end of the series Ovechkin showed everyone by setting up most of the final great plays that shot the Caps past the Rangers in seven games. But the question is, will Ovie’s dazzling skill be enough to top Crosby, Malkin, and the dangerous Penguin lineup? I believe so. In what I think will be the most exciting series of the semi-finals, the Penguins will defeat the Capitals in seven games.
There it is, an overview of the first round, and this reporter’s predictions for the second. While the first round consisted heavily of sweeps, games 7s, and all around spectacular action, the second round will bring plenty more to come.
