It’s hard to wrap my head around what I witnessed Monday night in two decidedly different Game 7’s. Was it Boston perseverance or just a Toronto collapse? Is Henrik Lundqvist playing that well, or were the Washington Capitals finally out of gas after their incredible playoff-qualifying run?
Not much time to think about that because Detroit and Chicago will be squaring off tonight (Wednesday) in Chicago for Game 1 of their second round series. The second round officially begins Tuesday night (approximately six hours from the time I am writing this). The Pittsburgh Penguins host the Ottawa Senators and the Los Angeles Kings will “welcome” the San Jose Sharks to the City of Angels.
Before we look at the second round, we’ll revisit the first round projections. Here is the article covering the opening round picks (just in case you don’t believe me!). In the Eastern Conference I incorrectly picked the Washington Capitals over the Rangers. The other three series I pegged down to the number of games, except I thought that Montreal would put up more of a fight against Ottawa.
The Western Conference went exactly the same. I called three of four, and seriously, not even my Uncle Jimmy (huge Shark’s fan, and all around awesome guy) could have picked San Jose to sweep Vancouver. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, and I’ll consider myself lucky to have correctly picked the number of games in each series. Now, off to round two.
Eastern Conference
1) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 7) Ottawa Senators
The Penguins were good enough when they needed to be against the Islanders, but should consider themselves lucky to have escaped with two overtime wins in New York. If counting on Brooks Orpik to win games in the extra session(s) is the game plan, then it could be a tough go against the Senators. Jason Spezza is back on the ice but hasn’t been declared fit to play yet. Craig Anderson has been amazing in goal and could be a difference maker. I don’t think we have seen the best of the Penguins yet in this postseason, and I think that we’ll see a more impressive version of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jarome Iginla, James Neal and Kris Letang. Their problems in goal are far from solved with Tomas Vokoun in goal, but they will have enough firepower to overcome Anderson and the pesky Sens. Penguins in seven.
4) Boston Bruins and 6) New York Rangers
After the emotions and physical tolls that two seven game series have had on each of these clubs, this will be a war of attrition for sure. Both clubs like to hit and block shots, and get timely scoring while leaning heavily on some All-Star goaltending. Both teams are riding some serious momentum after closing out tough opponents, and both have question marks about consistent scoring. Combining the two rosters there are only three players (all Bruins) that have scored more than two goals. Boston has been more impressive offensively, but how will they look against a Rangers club that has given up a single regulation goal in their last three games. There is no reason to think that this series won’t go seven games and it absolutely will. In the end Henrik Lundqvist is better than Tuukka Rask. Rangers in seven.
Western Conference
1) Chicago Blackhawks vs. 7) Detroit Red Wings
On paper this looks like a mismatch, but every hockey fan knows that the Detroit-Chicago rivalry supersedes the records and seedings. The Blackhawks won all four regular season meetings (two shootouts, one overtime and a 7-1 rout), but are well aware of how dangerous the Red Wings can be. Chicago finished off Minnesota early in five games, and will be rested. How much does Detroit have left after seven games, four of which went to overtime? Jonathan Toews hasn’t been playing his best hockey, but Chicago has leaned on a pair of Patrick’s, Kane and Sharp, and Marian Hossa for the bulk of their scoring. Corey Crawford has been excellent in goal thus far, but Minnesota didn’t exactly test him in round one.
Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk make Detroit’s offense go, but the Wings have also generated some solid offense on each line. The key for Detroit will be to eliminate the mental errors in their defensive zone. Anaheim scored most of their goals off of turnovers, and Chicago has the snipers to capitalize on the same mistakes. I’ll take off my red-tinted glasses and try to be objective with my pick. Chicago could make this series end quickly if they bring their “A” game. Detroit could do the same, but I think that each team will hold serve in the first four games. Chicago will win the last two, and I’ll try not to kick the dog. I hope I’m wrong, but Hawks in six.
5) Los Angeles Kings vs. 6) San Jose Sharks
Hockey purists may not want to acknowledge it but there is a significant amount of hatred between the Sharks and Kings fan base. While the Ducks and Kings don’t like one another, and share a geographic proximity, there is more hatred between northern and southern California teams. The Sharks caught me by surprise in the first round and cut through Vancouver like a hot knife through some soft Swedish/western Canadian butter.
They looked sharp in every area and the stars for San Jose, gasp, played like stars. The Kings, current owners of the Stanley Cup, and all bragging rights in California at the moment, played a rough, tight-checking six game series with St. Louis. I was a little surprised that the series didn’t go seven games because it felt like one of “those” series. The tempo of this matchup will be much more like the Kings-Blues series than the Canucks-Sharks games. Lots of hits, lots of face washing, lots of huge saves and I’m calling at least three overtime games and late bed times for this guy. I’m going with my substantial gut, and my Uncle Jimmy on this one. It won’t be easy; in fact it will be downright dirty and nasty. Sharks in seven