It's the best time of the year. The NHL Playoffs are about to begin and 16 teams will fight to win the Stanley Cup. The first-round matchups are set and now it's time to preview each series.
New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins
This is a rematch from last year's second-round series which the Rangers won in seven games. Pittsburgh had home ice that year, but now the Rangers have home ice in this series. The Penguins were the last team to get into the playoffs this season because they stumbled down the stretch. Many people expect this series to be a cakewalk for the Rangers because they were so good this season.
When a team has Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin playing, anything can happen. Even though the Penguins do not have Kris Letang for this series due to a concussion he suffered in March, it seems like they will be getting back Christian Ehrhoff and Derrick Pouliot back from injury. This will be a huge boost to their blue line. Not to mention they called up Scott Harrington and Brian Dumoulin from their AHL team. Marc-Andre Fleury has also had the best year of his career and I don't see him performing below those standards in the playoffs.
New York has one of the best goaltenders in the league in Henrik Lundqvist and that could ultimately be the difference maker. Not to mention that their defense is stacked with Keith Yandle, Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi, and Marc Staal. This series is going to seven games, but I think the Rangers eliminate the Penguins. Rangers in 7.
Washington Capitals vs New York Islanders
This series is going to be extremely fun. You have Alex Ovechkin and John Tavares going at it in this series and one of the bigger storylines is that we could be looking at the last couple games at the Nassau Colliseum since the Islanders are moving to Brooklyn next season. The Islanders were in first place most of the season until the Rangers went on an insane hot streak and won the division.
The goaltending in this series will be more important then we think. Braden Holtby has had the best season of his career and could very well be a Vezina finalist with Carey Price and Pekka Rinne. Jaroslav Halak has had a solid season and he could get his playoff mojo back from 2010 when he put the Canadians on his back. This series is also going to go seven games with the Capitals winning it. Capitals in 7.
Montreal Canadians vs Ottawa Senators
What a story the Ottawa Senators have been. Just two months ago, they sat about 10 games from a playoff spot before pulling off one of the greatest comebacks the NHL has ever seen. They won 23 games in the final 2 months and goaltender Andrew Hammond nicknamed ""the Hamburgular"" went 18-1-2 when he was called up from the AHL to replace an injured Robyn Lehner. They've also had the help of their young talent such as Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, Kyle Turris, and captain Erik Karlsson who leads all defenseman in the NHL with 23 goals.
On the other hand you have Montreal, where a lot of their success has come from their goaltender Carey Price, who's the best goalie in the world and the favorite to win the Vezina trophy and Hart trophy (league MVP). He's going to be expected to come up huge for them against a very hot Ottawa squad that has nothing to lose. P.K. Subban could also be huge for the Canadians and the health of Max Pachioretty will end up being big. This series is going to be one of the best of the playoffs. I see the Canadians beating the Senators. Canadians in 6.
Detroit Red Wings vs Tampa Bay Lightning
This is the Yzerman bowl. Steve Yzerman was one of the best players in Red Wing history in the 90's and now he's the General Manager of the Lightning so it's going to be interesting to see what he says about this series. Detroit comes into this series not playing well recently and starting a rookie goaltender named Petr Mrazek instead of Jimmy Howard who really has been that well lately. We all know Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Dastyuk will bring it as they normally do but I'm sure a lot of the young players are going to play well such as Gustav Nyqust and Tomas Tatar.
The Lightning had back to back 100 point seasons for the first time in franchise history and they are a legitimate threat in the East. They're lead by Steven Stamkos who's one of the best snipers in the NHL and Ryan Callahan should be a big boost for them. The biggest thing for the Lightning this year is that they have Ben Bishop healthy and ready to go after he was injured during last years playoffs. This series is going to be amazing but I'm going to go with the more experienced team which is the Detroit Red Wings to win this series. Red Wings in 7.
St. Louis Blues vs Minnesota Wild
A couple months ago it seemed as if the Wild were going to fire Mike Yeo. Then they signed Devan Dubnyk, who was once one of the worst goaltenders in the NHL until turning it around this year. He started over 30 games in a row for the Wild and helped lead them back to the playoffs for the third straight season.
The Blues have had another outstanding season, winning the Central division and acquiring the second seed. Vladimir Tarasenko and TJ Oshie have been absolutely amazing for them and you can throw in Alexander Steen in there too. It seems as if Jake Allen will start in goal for this series for the Blues due to Brian Elliot's below average season. The Blues are going to win this series and quit blowing 2-0 series leads like they did for the past two years. Blues in 6.
Chicago Blackhawks vs Nashville Predators
Nashville was unbelievable this year until it fell out of first place at the end of the season. Peter Laviolette did an amazing job with this team and is most likely going to be a Jack Adams candidate. Pekka Rinne has had a great bouncr back year for the Predators too and is probably going to finish second in the Vezina voting. Defenseman Shea Weber has also been good and they're going to rely on him a ton in the playoffs. Rookie sensation Filip Forsberg is also going to have to be relied on a lot as he is a Calder trophy candidate due to him scoring over 20 goals for the Predators.
It's been a very good season for the Blackhawks once again. Despite losing Patrick Kane due to a broken collarbone in early March, the Blackhawks have been near the top of the Central. Jonathan Toews has really been great down the stretch and Antoine Vermette has been good since being traded from Arizona. Patrick Kane seems like a lock to play in game one against the Predators which means bad news for Nashville fans. The Hawks take this series and rather easily. Blackhawks in 5.
Anaheim Ducks vs Winnipeg Jets
What a story the Winnipeg Jets were this year. After trading away Evander Kane to Buffalo for Tyler Myers and Drew Stafford, the Jets surged into the playoffs for the first time in a long time. Head coach Paul Maurice has done an amazing job leading this team into the playoffs and if it were up to me, he would win the Jack Adams trophy for best NHL coach. There's no doubt that the MTS Centre in Winnipeg will be rocking in games 3 and 4.
Anaheim has been in the top spot in the West for the whole season which is pretty amazing. Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry have been very good for them this season and so has newcomer Ryan Kesler. It looks as if the starting goaltender for Anaheim will be Frederik Anderson instead of John Gibson. The Ducks are gonna get a huge battle from the Jets this series and they're not going to go down easy. With that said, I have Anaheim winning a very close series. Ducks in 7.
Calgary Flames vs Vancouver Canucks
The Calgary Flames made the playoffs this season for the first time in over eight years. Even when captain Marc Giordano went down, Calgary did not quit and they pushed into the playoffs as the number three team in the Pacific. Head coach Bob Hartley will also get significant votes for the Jack Adams trophy. Jiri Hudler, Jonas Hiller, and rookie sensation Johnny Gaudreau have been huge for the Flames during the stretch run.
The Canucks are back in the playoffs after a one year absence and they are a much better team now then in a couple years past. Still led by the Sedin twins, the Canucks are chasing their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. Radim Vrbata has been very good this year for Vancouver and it looks as if Ryan Miller will start in goal for the playoffs. This series is going to be a thriller too but I smell an upset in this series. Calgary takes it. Flames in 6.