NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2016: Round 2 Preview

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D

ue to a scheduling quirk,  the 2016 NHL Playoffs for Round 1 ends tonight, the same night Round 2 begins. Sixteen teams will be reduced to eight (pending the Game 7 match-up tonight between Anaheim and Nashville). Which teams will make it to the Conference Finals?

The Stanley Cup 
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Eastern Conference Round 2:

Washington Capitals vs Pittsburgh Penguins

This is an exciting match-up for story lines as Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, the respective captains of the Penguins and Capitals, have long been compared to each other. While Ovechkin has been proven to be the greater pure goal scorer, Crosby has a Cup championship and a gold medal, while the Great 8's NHL playoff career has fizzled in the past. Of course this second round match-up is more than just two players, but about two teams. The Penguins dispatched the Rangers in Round 1 with relative ease, including outscoring the Rangers 14-4 in the last 3 games of the series. Pittsburgh's dynamic offense will be a handful for the Capitals. Washington beat an over-matched but spirited Flyer team 4 games to 2 in the first round, but mostly by defense. One presumes that the loaded Caps offense will need to be less profligate to beat the Penguins. I still see the Caps as the favorite here, although this series seems primed for 7 games. Caps in seven, Holtby as series MVP.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs New York Islanders

The Lightning showed a great deal of moxie and pride in beating the Detroit Redwings 4 games to 1, without their All-star captain Steven Stamkos. Most of their lineup also has playoff experience from losing the Cup only just last year to the now eliminated Chicago Blackhawks. The Islanders are an easy team for a neutral to root form having won their first playoff series since 1993 in beating another upstart team, the Florida Panthers. Islander goal-tending and defense and timely scoring, especially from their captain John Tavares, will be a challenge for the Lightning. Who knows how far the Islanders can ride their storybook post season? I see these teams as evenly matched and see another 7 game series, with the Islanders taking Game 7 in Cinderella fashion. 

Western Conference Round 2:

Dallas Stars vs St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues, long a strong regular season team that wilted in the playoffs, finally shed some of that criticism by ousting the defending Cup Champions, the Chicago Blackhawks, in a thrilling seven game series. The Blues have an array of talent in depth, but will it be enough to keep up with the high scoring offense of the Dallas Stars, who defeated an over-matched but prideful Minnesota Wild squad in 6 games? This despite the Wild's nearly heroic comeback in Game 6. Even without Star forward Tyler Seguin, Dallas top-ranked regular season offense shows no signs of abating. Will the Blues be able to continue to silence critics with another round of playoff success? Or can Star's captain Jaime Benn and crew relegate the Blues to another playoff flame-out?  I think the intense series with Chicago may have taken something out of St. Louis and a rested Stars team should win this series in 6 games.

Nashville Predators* vs San Jose Sharks

The one wild card situation is who the Sharks will be playing. The Sharks had a nearly perfect opening round series against a seemingly gassed Kings team, which likely went a long way to put their 2014 playoff implosion in the distant past. Shark's captain Joe Pavelski continues to show his leadership alongside a Shark's power play unit that is lethal. As for the opponent in Round 2, the Ducks would seem like the favorite hosting Game 7, but their last three Game 7's have also been in the Honda Center, all being losses. Ducks leaders Getzlaf, Perry, and Kesler have a lot of pressure to win this match-up, while the Predators, having never been in a Game 7 in their brief organizational history, should be playing loose. I think the Ducks skill finally breaks their recent spate of Game 7 losses and will see the Ducks host the Sharks in Round 2, which should be a hard-hitting series, going 7 games, also to the Ducks, having home ice for the last game.

*Edit: The Predators have held on for a 2-1 victory in Game 7 over Anaheim, extending the Ducks' Game 7 misery another season. Now that the Predators play the Sharks, I will make the alteration to the previous prediction that the Preds will win the series oer the Sharks in 7 games, based off Pekke Rinne looking locked in and Nashville getting uncannily timely, if limited offense.

Drop the puck: this blog-series returns prior to the start of Round 3. 

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NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2016: Round 1 Preview

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Another entertaining NHL regular season came to a close on April 10th and hockey fans everywhere—and especially those whose favorite team qualified for the postseason—are eagerly anticipating the start of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs this Wednesday. The Stanley Cup, a 34 lb. trophy awarded to the tournament champion, is revered among fans and players alike. Professional players make unofficial vows to not even touch it unless they win it. 

The Stanley Cup 
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As a quick refresher, the NHL regular season is played by thirty teams in two conferences over an eighty-two game regular season. The highest ranking sixteen teams—eight representing each geographic conference—qualify for the playoff tournament and a chance hoist Lord Stanley’s famous silver and nickel alloy trophy. The first three rounds determine a conference champion, the fourth round pitting the respective conference champions for the Cup Final series. All rounds follow a best-of-seven game format.

Frederick Arthur Stanley, later Lord Stanley of Preston 

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Stanley,_16th_Earl_of_Derby#Stanley_Cup)

At the beginning of each playoff round, I will predict a winner of each series and provide some brief commentary on what to expect from each team. Let’s start with the match-ups in the Eastern Conference:

Washington Capitals vs Philadelphia Flyers

The Capitals enter the playoffs as the President's Trophy winners having been the best team in the NHL during the regular season. The Capitals boast Alex Ovechkin, the league leader in goals, alongside a formidable offense that includes Evgeny Kusnetsov, Niklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Jason Chimera, and three-time Cup winner Justin Williams. In front of the net the Caps will start Braden Holtby, who tied Martin Brodeur’s regular season record for goalie wins with 48. The Flyers, who struggled over the course of the regular season but played well enough in the final weeks to qualify, feature Claude Giroux, Brayden Schenn, Jakub Voracek, and Wayne Simmonds. The Flyers will look to unsettle the offensive minded Caps with physical play, but they will not have the depth or skill to slow the Capitals. Washington in 5 games. 

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Detroit Redwings

This series is notable as much for who is in as who is out. The Lighting will be missing leaders Tyler Johnson and Stephen Stamkos which puts amazing pressure on their lineup, or perhaps opens the door for a role player to step up in the intense playoff lime-light. Ben Bishop, the 6’ 7” Tampa Bay goalie, will need to play at an All Star level. The Red Wings, seemingly an aging team that was destined to miss the playoffs for the first time in twenty-five years, silenced critics and made the post-season, although as a lower seed. With former Cup winners Pavel Daytsyuk—in possibly his last season in the NHL—and Henrik Zetterberg, the Wings can draw on their wealth of leadership and experience. The big question is can Detroit's rookie sensation Dylan Larkin continue his charmed All Star campaign into the post-season? This is a tough series to call, but I am going with the experience of the Wings and the injuries of the Bolts resulting in Detroit winning in 6 games.

Florida Panthers vs New York Islanders

The Panthers are surely the surprise of the NHL’s regular season. Led by the ageless wonder Jaromir Jagr, a young offensive core of Jonathan Huberdeau and Alexander Barkov, and sure fire Hall of Fame goalie Roberto Luongo, the Panthers have re-established themselves in the NHL elite. The Islanders, playing their first season in Brooklyn (still on Long Island) are led by the trio of John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, and Frans Nielsen. The Islanders will get after you with arguably the most physical 4th line in the NHL featuring league hits leader Matt Martin and super pest Cal Clutterbuck. Unfortunately, their starting goalie Jaroslav Halak is injured. The Panthers, who have played solid two-way hockey all year should dispatch the Islanders in 5 games. 

Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Rangers

The Pittsburgh Penguins, despite their expensive acquisition of mercurial winger Phil Kessel in the off-season, fizzled through most of the 2016 campaign. However, despite missing an injured Evgeni Malkin for the last part of the season, the Penguins come roaring into the playoffs as the NHL’s hottest team. The Rangers feature a long list of playoff tested skaters with All Star pedigrees, led by all world goalie Henrik Lundquist. Missing heart and soul captain Ryan McDonagh is going to hurt the Rangers though. Does mid-season trade acquisition Eric Staal have enough left in the tank to win another Cup? Will Rick Nash earn his hefty paycheck with a signature performance against the Penguins? I say no. The Penguins, led by captain Sidney Crosby, are riding high even with significant injuries and should defeat the Rangers team in an entertaining 7 games, if only because Lundquist steals a game or two.

And now the match-ups in the Western Conference:

Dallas Stars vs Minnesota Wild

Dallas is the first seed in the Western Conference and boasts considerable offensive firepower, led by captain Jaime Benn, Jason Spezza, and offensive-minded defenseman John Klingburg. Second leading scorer on the club, Tyler Seguin, is currently injured, but might be back in time for a second round, should Dallas get there. The Star's offensive juggernaut is ranked first in goals per game and fourth in power play, which will seal the Wild’s doom. The Wild, despite high priced stars like Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, are simply out of their depth against the Stars. With all due respect to the Wild for making the playoffs, I don’t see the Stars losing a game in this series. Only round one sweep goes to Dallas, 4 games to nil.

St. Louis Blues vs Chicago Blackhawks

The Blues and Blackhawks feature two of the best teams in the league facing off in the first round. The Blues are led by goal scoring virtuoso Vladimir Tarasenko, Paul Stastny, Alexander Steen, and captain David Backes. Backes suffered an injury at the end of the season, but claims he is ready for the Blackhawks. They will need him, since the Blackhawks are the defending Cup champions, and are led by NHL scoring leader (the first time for an American born player) Patrick Kane, dynamic rookie Artemi Panarin, and always dependable, “Captain Serious” Jonathan Toews. They are however without standout defenseman Duncan Keith for Game 1, due to a suspension late in the regular season. With all the talent the Blues can muster, the Blackhawks will be pushed to Game 7, which will be in St. Louis. Almost a toss-up, but somehow Toews and Kane will find a way, as they’ve done through three Stanley Cup campaigns. Hawks in 7 games over the Blues.

Anaheim Ducks vs Nashville Predators

The Anaheim Ducks stumbled out of the blocks this season but have been the strongest team in the NHL since Christmas. With the archival Kings losing at home 4-3 in overtime against the Winnipeg Jets in their finale, the Ducks seized the opportunity to win the Pacific Division for the fourth consecutive year by winning a makeup game over the Capitals. With the best special team play in the league, ranking first in penalty kill and power play (a feat last achieved by the 1983 Islanders), the Ducks are the clear favorite in this series. Led by longtime Team Canada veterans Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, alongside gritty two-way center Ryan Kesler, the Ducks are primed for a long playoff run. The Predators, led by elite defensemen Shea Weber and Roman Josi and forwards Filip Forsberg and James Neal, will not go quietly, but can’t match the depth of the Ducks. Pekka Rinne, the Predator’s world class goalie, has the talent to win a game on his own, but it won’t be enough. Ducks in 6 games.

Los Angeles Kings vs San Jose Sharks

Last—but not least—we come to the Kings and Sharks. Full disclosure: I am a dyed-in-the-wool Kings fan since 1988, the year the Great One himself was traded to Los Angeles. That being said, I am duty bound to call the series as objectively as I can. The Kings will in 6 games. I’ll explain why. The Sharks, who had a quietly strong regular season, feature a host of gifted forwards in Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau, Tomas Hertl, as well as All Star defenseman Brent “Chewbacca” Burns. Not to be forgotten, the last time these teams matched up, in 2014, the Sharks held a seemingly insurmountable three games to zero lead, but collapsed over the final four games in one of most epic implosions in NHL playoff history. The Sharks and their raucous fans are eager to avenge that heartbreaking loss. While I expect this series to be the most physical of all the first round match-ups, I believe the Kings' combination of centers Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter are going to ultimately control puck possession in this series, which will be critical. And while I expect each game to be close, with at least two overtime games in the series, I predict the Kings' veteran goaltender Jonathan Quick will provide the “difference maker" saves and carry the Kings to a first round victory in 6 bruising games.

Drop the puck: I'll be back to update this blog-series before the start of Round 2. 

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