The second round kicked off Tuesday night with home teams holding serve. After the first round five of the eight series winners had taken Game 1. That certainly doesn’t mean that San Jose and Ottawa need to make golfing plans just yet, but it will be a wake up call for both teams.
Chicago hosts Detroit Wednesday night in the first of their best-of-seven series with Boston hosting the New York Rangers on Thursday night. Both of the number two seeds and number three seeds have been eliminated, reminding us all that the number to the left in the playoff bracket means nothing. At eDraft, we have given power rankings for the remaining teams aftetr the first round. More parity may follow in the second round, but here’s where we have them so far.
8. Ottawa Senators
Forget about the no show that Ottawa had in Game 1 against the Penguins. The Senators are better than that regardless of the outcome of their first game. The Senators might be outmanned in the talent department, but they lacked the intensity and effort that they showed in the first round against Montreal. Craig Anderson was left out to dry on three of the Penguin’s four goals. Ottawa has played shorthanded all year, losing captain Jason Spezza after only five games and Erik Karlsson for a huge chunk of games due to his Achilles injury. The Senators have some of the most balanced scoring of the remaining playoff teams. They will need more of it to hang with the highest scoring team in the NHL. The formula for success moving forward is to keep the defensive crease clear in front of Anderson, more shots on goal, and finish every check, particularly against the stars. Crosby, Malkin and company have shown that they have a very thin skin and get rattled with contact.
7. Detroit Red Wings
The story in Detroit all season has been injuries, so why should it be any different in the playoffs. Darren Helm hasn’t seen the ice all season, and rookie stud defenseman Danny Dekeyser broke his hand against the Ducks in the first round. The Red Wings are deep and supremely talented though. Their downfall in the playoffs so far has been mistakes in the defensive zone. Glaring errors by defensemen and Valtteri Filppula put Detroit in peril several times against Anaheim. Though the Red Wings were able to overcome the mistakes, their margin for error will be much smaller against the Chicago Blackhawks
6. Boston Bruins
Sorry Boston, but consider yourself lucky to still be in the playoffs after the monumental collapse from the Toronto Maple Leafs. There was certainly an impressive amount of determination shown by the Bruins to overcome a 4-1 third period deficit, but I’ll pin that more on Toronto. From a talent perspective the Bruins can skate with anyone. David Krejci is having an amazing postseason, and the #bostonstrong rally cry has galvanized the city in support of their sports teams. Tuukka Rask has been incredible at times, and remarkably average at others. Boston will need to overcome the hottest goaltender in the NHL right now if they have visions of the Eastern Conference Finals.
5. Los Angeles Kings
Regardless of the Game 1 outcome, I put the Sharks just ahead of Los Angeles. Statistics will always show that the winner of Game 1 has the more likely chance of winning the series (5-3 in 1st round). However, every game in this series will be a carbon copy of the first game. More hits than shots, not a ton of penalties, some fortuitous bounces and some amazing goaltending. Los Angeles will want to keep the blueprint of the first game, but will need to lower the shots allowed. Jonathan Quick is an all-world goaltender, but it isn’t reasonable to expect a shutout from him every night.
4. San Jose Sharks
The first game of the Sharks series with Los Angeles went as expected. It was a low scoring, high intensity matchup with all checks being finished and every puck contested. The Sharks dominated the shots department and looked dangerous all night. The likelihood that Los Angeles will stop every shot for the rest of the series is nil, and San Jose has a pretty good guy stopping pucks in their net too. Once the Sharks find their range, they will be more difficult to contain. Look for a more intense San Jose club in Game 2 after Los Angeles handed them their first loss of the playoffs.
3. Pittsburgh Penguins
Possibly the most talented roster remaining in the playoffs, the Penguins have played too many games looking lethargic and apathetic to be ranked any higher. Evgeni Malkin, Jarome Iginla and Sidney Crosby have done their part and have been lighting up the score sheet, but the scoring is not balanced from the Penguins and they are currently counting on their backup goaltender to win games. Tomas Vokoun looked solid on Tuesday night but will he be the answer? After all, he was the Penguin’s second choice in net this year.
2. New York Rangers
By the sheer merit of having Henrik Lundqvist as their goalkeeper, the New York Rangers are ranked well above their seeding and possibly where they should be. They are stocked with underachieving talent that seems to be clicking and finding some chemistry at the right time of the year. The Rangers took out the Washington Capitals without any contributions from their best offensive players Rick Nash and Brad Richards. They will improve offensively simply because they cannot get worse. Hardly an endorsement for the second spot in the rankings, but talent will find a way to rise to the top.
1.Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks take the top spot in the rankings simply because they have looked like the most complete team through the playoffs. Goaltending was supposed to be the biggest weakness for Chicago this season, but Corey Crawford and Ray Emery have been fantastic all year. The Hawks blew through Minnesota in five games and were pushed in a couple games, but looked like the better team in each game. Detroit will bring out the best in Chicago, but will Chicago be up to the task. Jonathan Toews has been a no-show so far and Patrick Kane Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa have picked up the slack. The Hawks were 4-0 head-to-head with Detroit this year and are capable of winning four more against the depleted Wings.