NHL Second Round

The NHL playoffs are now into the second round. There have been plenty of upsets and controversies so far. As we travel farther into the second round, there are sure to be more. Darlings like the Kings and Caps will have there hardest game of the year in the next couple days and it will be interesting to see how they handle it. Cup favorites like the Rangers and Blues will have to fight through the playoff minnows to get to the Conference Finals. What happens? I'll tell you. 

 

The New York Rangers vs The Washington Capitals

The Caps roar into this series after beating the reigning champion Boston Bruins. The momentum that  they have now is so important. They will need to stay hot and play nearly perfect games if they want to beat the Rangers. Look for the proven leaders like Ovechkin and Ward to come up big in this series. Their experience in the playoffs will be a deciding factor for the fate of the Caps. New York, on the other hand, came limping into this series. They were just able to slip past the grasp of the talented Sens. Their amazing goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, stayed hot with a .945 save percentage and averaged 1.70 goals per game in the series. I expect him to keep up his amazing play. The big question for the Rangers is if they will be able to score? Through Lundqvist was able to stop a lot of shots, the Rangers just couldn't get on the board for long stretches of time. If the Rangers want to win, they are going to need Richards, Staal, or someone else to come up big and get the hot hand. I believe that happens and I see the Rangers winning in 5. 

The Philadelphia Flyers vs The New Jersey Devils

For Philadelphia, they find themselves in their second Atlantic Division match up. These two teams have met 6 times this year and the Flyers were able to edge out the Devils by a game this season. The Devils were able to squeak past the Panthers in the first round in seven games. The Flyers were able to destroy the Penguins in six games, but they did find themselves on the wrong end of a 10-3 game. The key to this series will be the goaltending. Though both team's goalies have been able to play great at times, they still have issues at key moments. The Flyer's Bryzgolav has a .871 save percentage and a 3.89 goals per game line. New Jersey's Brodeur doesn't have that bad of numbers, but has still be pretty deficient at times. I see the Flyers being able to win this series though. Claude Giroux is red hot at the moment and I see him giving the Devil's goal tending some issues. Through they will score a lot, they will give up a lot and because of that I see the Flyers closing out the Devils in a thrilling 7 game series. 

The St. Louis Blues vs The Los Angeles Kings

Not a lot of people saw the Kings at this spot a few weeks ago, but because of Jonathan Quick, the Kings have the power to win it all. The absolute thrashing they gave the Canunks really makes me a believer. Quick has been stellar between the pipes and Kopitar has the fire power to back up his keeper. The Blues are also a good team, but I feel that the lack of experience in the payoffs will really hurt them. They will quickly be frustrated by the hot LA goal tender and will make a lot of stupid mistakes. Though Brian Elliott is a great goalie, the guys in front of him will ultimately be the Blues downfall. I see the Kings winning this series in five.

The Phoenix Coyotes vs The Nashville Predators 

This series should be interesting, but the focus for me is more on the development of hockey in these not so "hockey friendly" places. Whoever wins this series will go to the Conference Finals and will more than likely start a hockey craze in their respective cities. That would be great for the NHL. The expansion into small markets will only make the NHL greater and hopefully a more prominent league in other parts of the country. As for the game, I believe that the Nashville Predators got very lucky in a lot of games against the Red Wings. To beat the Coyotes, they will need some more of the luck and they will also need more from their front 3. Though it is fine to win game by a goal, they will need to score more at some point. Gabriel Bourque will need to continue his scoring rampage if the Preds want to win. Phoenix played a really good series against the Blackhawks. Mike Smith was able to keep the Phoenix net pretty clean and was usually only let in a couple of goals a game. The Coyotes have done a really nice job moving the puck around so far and as long as they are able to do that, I see them winning. Surprisingly, I see Phoenix getting to the Conference Finals in 6 games.

Thanks for reading!