What a way to end the NHL regular season. By having every team play on the final day, the NHL played host to multiple exciting matchups, many which had a big part in shaping the final standings. The first game of the day saw rivals Chicago and Detroit faceoff with Detroit coming from behind to tie the game before losing to Patrick Kane's incredible shootout goal. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia provided a preview of their first round series with an exciting game that included Evgeni Malkin reaching 50 goals on the season. Steve Stamkos pulled off an even bigger feat by registering his 60th goal of the year against the Winnipeg Jets, becoming only the 19th player ever to do so. The season ended in exciting fashion when Dan Boyle from San Jose scored in overtime against the LA Kings. But once the dust cleared on this years regular season, 16 teams are left to continue the battle in the playoffs.
Below is my predictions for how the first round will play out.
Western Conference
Vancouver Canucks (1) vs LA Kings (8)
This matchup sees the Presidents Trophy winning Canucks faceoff with the worn out Kings. LA has spent the last month trying to stay in the race, competing with 5 other teams for the last 3 playoff spots. Vancouver has been in the playoffs for a while now and have been coasting the last couple weeks. If Vancouver is without scorer Daniel Sedin, then it will be a lot harder for them to beat John Quick, the goalie who kept the Kings in the race all season long. But since LA has been playing full steam for a month, I don't think even Quick can get them through this round.
Winner- Vancouver in 7
St. Louis Blues (2) vs San Jose Sharks (7)
St. Louis has had a strong roster before but once Ken Hitchcock was brought in as coach in early November, the team has played to its full potential. The Sharks have been a dominate team the past few seasons and this year they lost their edge a bit and fell drastically in the standings. The Sharks have the advantage when it comes to playoff experience, but the Blues still have leaders such as Jason Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner to guide their young players. From the net out, St Louis is a stronger team and once they realize what it takes to win in the playoffs, they will dominate their opponents.
Winner- St. Louis in 7
Phoenix Coyotes (3) vs Chicago Blackhawks (6)
This matchup is proof there is a flaw in the NHL standings. The Blackhawks finished with 101 points compared the the Coyotes 97, yet Phoenix has the home ice advantage because they won their division while Chicago got 4th in theirs. Phoenix has a strong squad, and one of the top goalies in the final month of the season, Mike Smith. But Chicago is stronger, faster and deeper in all positions and should take this series easily, even though they don't have home ice.
Winner- Chicago in 6
Nashville Predators (4) vs Detroit Red Wings (5)
The Predators should be viewed as a Cup favourite this year. Pekka Rinne has been strong in net, Shea Weber and Ryan Suter lead a strong defence and Alex Radulov, David Legwand and Patrick Hornqvist cap one of the strongest offences in the league. Still, Detroit has a lot of push in this series. The Wings have made the playoffs 21 years in a row and have beaten Nashville twice in the past. Though Nick Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are getting older, they have proved many times that they can turn on the heat in the playoffs. This will be one of the most exciting matchups of the first round.
Winner- Nashville in 7
Eastern Conference
NY Rangers (1) vs Ottawa Senators (8)
At the start of the season, both these teams were expected to miss the playoffs completely. Yet here they are, with the Rangers securing the top seed and the Senators clinching, but then dropping to eighth on the final day. Neither roster has a lot of playoff experience, but Brad Richards on NY has one a cup while Jason Spezza has played in the final. Both of these young rosters play an offensive minded game meaning New York has an advantage with All-Star Henrik Lundqvist manning the net. The Rangers' roster is simply to skilled to be stopped by the young Senators, but Ottawa will be a bigger contender next season.
Winner- New York in 6
Boston Bruins (2) vs Washington Capitals (7)
The defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins are back and ready for more this season. Some people could argue their roster is stronger than last season with Tyler Seguin, having only played 2 playoff games last season, finishing has the teams top scorer with 67 points as a 19 year old. Washington, like San Jose, struggled mightily this year and almost didn't make it at all. Alex Ovechkin got back to form late this year and will be helped by the return of centre Nick Backstrom from a concussion. But at this point, Boston is to big and strong for Washignton, and Tim Thomas is far more skilled than Brandon Holtby in net. Boston has this in the bag.
Winner- Boston in 5
Florida Panthers (3) vs New Jersey Devils (6)
When the Panthers were the busiest team this past summer, adding players left and right; the question came up on whether the team would snap their 11 year playoff drought? The answer, yes with a division title too. Of course, like the 3 vs 6 series in the West, New Jersey finished with 8 more points than Florida but still doesn't have home ice advantage for finishing 4th in their division. With Parise, Kovalchuck and Brodeur playing some of their best hockey right now, the Devils are on a 6 game win streak, this series will be short for the Panthers. But they have a lot to look forward to in the future.
Winner- New Jersey in 5
Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs Philadelphia Flyers (5)
Easily the most talked about matchup going into the playoffs, it is almost unfortunate these 2 teams are not facing each other farther down the line. Pittsburgh has some big offensive players: Crosby, Malkin, Neal and Kunitz but so does Philly with Giroux, Briere, Hartnell and Simmonds. Both teams have 6 solid defencemen who can stop these offensive players and score themselves. But the goaltending match will decide who wins. Marc-Andre Fleury consistently played well this year and kept the Penguins in when they had injuries. Philly has had some less consistent goaltending with Ilya Bryzgalov losing his starting position a few times this year, but his strong play in the March got Philly into the playoffs with lots of momentum. This will be the closest series of the first round and be very exciting to watch.
Winner- Pittsburgh in 7
The most exciting part of this NHL season was how close all the teams were this year. And I think that competitiveness will carry over into the playoffs making all the series exciting to watch. It all begins on Wednesday and I cannot wait to watch this year unfold.
As always feel free to comment below this post or send your thoughts to josh@jbenny.com. Please visit my website, www.jbenny.com and follow me on twitter at @jbenny15. Thanks for reading.
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