We’re one to two games into the playoffs first round and so far everyone has been playing pretty evenly. No major upsets as of yet and only one team has pulled ahead, St. Louis Blues, leading their series 2-0. There have been a few unfortunate injuries so far though. Tuesday night in the series opener, Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom injured himself during warmups. Backup goalie Josh Harding had to quickly prepare himself for a game he planned on sitting out. Harding will also be starting in net for Game 2 Friday night; there’s no word yet on Backstrom. Jason Pominville will also be sitting out for the Wild on Friday with a head injury.
The Blackhawks will be without Ray Emery and David Bolland for Friday’s Game 2 against the Wild. Andrew Ference of the Boston Bruins received a suspension and will not be playing in their Game 2 on Saturday. Danny Dekeyser, Detroit Red Wings, suffered a broken right thumb Thursday night in their win and could potentially be out for the rest of the postseason. Montreal Canadiens Lars Eller was carried off ice on a stretcher Thursday night after taking a huge hit by Eric Gryba in their first game. While Gryba did receive a major penalty and game misconduct, there’s still talk he’ll receive further disciplinary action.
The Rangers were out a couple key players in their Game 1 Thursday night, Ryane Clowe, Marc Staal, and Brian Boyle, which could be blamed for their loss. After much anticipation about the return of Penguins Sidney Crosby, he ended up not playing in Game 1 but is reported to be returning for Game 2 Friday night. One other notable injury is that of Canucks goalie Cory Schneider. He was out with an undisclosed injury as the regular season came to an end but was slotted to start Game 1 on Wednesday, however he didn’t. Roberto Luongo, starter turned back-up goalie, played Game 1 and has announced he’ll play Game 2 as well. Schneider is listed as day-to-day and no one, Luongo included, knows when he’ll be back.
With how injury riddled this season has been, however short it was, the playoffs just wouldn’t be the playoffs if there weren’t some injuries. But, injuries aside, someone still has to win and move forward so I’ve included for you my first round predictions.
Western Conference
No. 1 Blackhawks vs. No. 8 Wild
Although every year one eighth seed team makes a run through the playoffs, the Wild are not going to be that team. Despite having a decent, youthful team, the Blackhawks are on fire. Chicago earned 77 points in 48 games, started the season with a 24 game unbeaten streak, and scored the league's highest amount of goals while allowing the league’s least. Besides numbers, they’ve got talent like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, and Marian Hossa on their bench, all veterans to the playoffs. The Blackhawks are likely the league’s strongest team this year and the Wild just aren’t to their level yet.
Prediction: Blackhawks
No. 2 Ducks vs. No. 7 Red Wings
This will probably one of the more interesting series in round one. The Ducks started out the season on fire but struggled as the season came to a close. The Red Wings struggled all season but tore it up near the end as everyone was finally healthy. That has put them on a pretty level playing ground as we go into the postseason, but Detroit just has a knack for the playoffs. Call it good luck, or perseverance, as long as the Red Wings defense and goalie can hold on tight, I think they can upset Anaheim.
Prediction: Red Wings
No. 3 Canucks vs. No. 6 Sharks
The Canucks have yet to beat the Sharks this season. After starting the season 7-0, San Jose did struggle some, but still held out fairly well. They’re great at home and that alone could push this series to a full seven games. The Sharks have a great group of forwards and a starpower goalie Antti Niemi. Vancouver also has a very talented team, no question about that, but with Luongo in goal, I don’t think even the Sedin twins will be able to hold off the Sharks. Neither team has won a Stanley Cup either, so it’s sure to be a physical series.
Prediction: Sharks
No. 4 Blues vs. No. 5 Kings
This Blues vs. Kings matchup is the only one I don’t have a clear cut decision on. The Kings had a pretty shaky season this year but once the Cup hangover ended they got back on track pretty quick. They’re a talented team with really no downsides. The Kings have one of the top ten power play and penalty kill teams both. They also have an excellent goalie in Jonathan Quick who carried the team to the Cup last year. St. Louis had not won against the Kings since last year in the playoffs at their last match up losing 4-0. Though they only faced a couple times this season the Kings have continuously beat them. The Blues also have a great goalie though, Brian Elliott who has greatly improved as the season has gone along. Although I think that the Kings have more talent overall on their bench, the Blues have worked a little harder this season and don’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. I also think there’s a bit of a vendetta left over from last postseason to carry them through this series.
Prediction: Blues
Eastern Conference
No. 1 Penguins vs. No. 8 Islanders
Like in the Western conference, this number eight seed isn’t likely to get past round one either. The Islanders barely made the playoffs this year, after struggling all season, and the only person really carrying them is John Tavares. If he steps out and really shines, that will be their only chance. The Penguins on the other hand have given the Blackhawks a run for their money all season trying to take the league’s top spot. They have a crushing offense and an insanely stacked roster of both veteran and rookie players. Sidney Crosby is planned to be back in for Game 2 and should he hold out the whole rest of the postseason, I count on the Pens making the finals. Besides Crosby the Penguins added Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow, and Douglas Murray before the trade deadline further solidifying their strength. As long as the team stays healthy and fit, the postseason should be a breeze.
Prediction: Penguins
No. 2 Canadiens vs. No. 7 Senators
The Senators currently lead this series 1-0. With the late season return of goalie Craig Anderson and Erik Karlsson, the Senators are an entirely different, superior team. They do, however, have an older team then the Canadiens and their start sniper Jason Spezza has had an off season. Montreal on the other hand, limped their way to the postseason losing most of their games and having a shaky defense. Goalie, Carey Price has been struggling as well and is trying to get back into form. He allowed 27 goals in their last seven regular season games. While neither team will win this with series with a bang, the Sens seem to be holding on better and have both a stronger offense and defense right now. For either team to win, they’ll need to all work together and their best.
Prediction: Senators
No. 3 Capitals vs. No. 6 Rangers
These were two of the hottest teams coming into the final stretch of the season and thus should be fun to watch in the post. They finished April 15-2-2 and 10-3-1 respectively. The Capitals have old-timer Alexander Ovechkin to thank with his huge turnaround mid-season and finishing out with a league leading 32 goals. With a strong goalie, goal-scoring defense, and one of the league’s greatest power play teams, this Capitals squad is killer. New York Rangers closed out the season playing pretty impressively as well, backed by their main man “King Henrik” Henrik Lundqvist. They also have a strong core and a pretty great forward group. The Rangers won 2 out of 3 games this season versus the Capitals. I think this will be a tough series no matter what and will likely go the full seven games.
Prediction: Capitals
No. 4 Boston Bruins vs. No. 5 Toronto Maple Leafs
The Bruins have been a little up and down in their standings this season, but they’re still a very strong team. They’ve won the series against Toronto in the regular season 3-1-0. The Bruins have a solid defense, a super power group of forwards and a pretty great goalie. They also are the fourth best power play team. Picking up Jaromir Jagr at the trade deadline added balance to the Bruins team and gave them extra umph with an above average forward. The Maple Leafs are in their first postseason since 2004 so they’ll be fighting hard to remain. Unfortunately they ended up in a tough series to start and will need to play better than they’ve played all season combined to take out Boston. They Leafs have a pretty good offense and a couple hard hitting, scoring defenders to help out. Their goalie, James Reimer isn’t bad but will definitely need to snag a few games and play outstanding.
Prediction: Boston