So, I was planning on making this post tomorrow morning when Round 2 should be starting rather than right now. Never seen this stupidity pulled by the NHL, to have the Ducks and Preds Game 7 ROUND 1 game tonight as well as the Lightning v Isles Game 1 ROUND 2 tonight is one of the dumbest things I've seen in a while. Besides the point about what I'm going to be talking about so I'm going to jump into the preview...
Washington Capitals v Pittsburgh Penguins
Wow. That's all you can say about what this series should entail. You have the leagues Presidents trophy winners (Caps) taking on the hottest team in the NHL since the All-Star break (Pens). While people ultimately think it's the caps year I really don't even think the Caps can stop the Pens right now. Crosby is being Crosby, Malkin is being Malkin and everything is clicking for the Pens. Not saying the Caps haven't been stellar but let's look what happened last round. The Caps went up 3-0 on the Flyers who shouldn't have even been in the playoffs and let them snag two wins back to back in regulation. Fun fact here is that the Caps didn't have back to back regulation losses the entire season this year, so there's a minor concern. The Pens on the other hand just can't be stopped. I hate to say this but the Rangers should have been swept by the Pens. They were the better team in all 5 games. The Penguins speed is unmatched and if you turn the puck over in the neutral zone, god help you. They have the veteran guys like Carl Hagelin, Kris Letang, Chris Kunitz, and Matt Cullen constantly killing teams on the transition. They also have rookies like Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust who are making immediate impacts some of the quicker players I've seen and who killed the Rangers Defenseman on the forecheck all series. The only area of concern is goaltending. Will Marc-Andre Fleury be healthy enough to play? Sure, Jeff Zatkoff and Matt Murray did a fine job against the Rangers, but the Rangers don't have the fire power that the Caps do. Lastly, a quick footnote is that the Presidents trophy winners usually never win the cup, so if there's a round the Caps are going to get bounced in it's this one.
Prediction: Pens in 7
New York Islanders v. Tampa Bay Lightning
Another great matchup. Obviously there are major concerns with the Lightnings health right now. Stamkos is still out with blood clots and Hedman is down with and injury, so the teams best forward and defenseman are hurt. Hedman may be ready for tonight but he won't be 100%. But as for the rest of the team the team is playing well. Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn, and Tyler Johnson are having solid years in the playoffs yet again and Bishop is steady. As for the Isles, there are two points to be made here and they will affect this series drastically. First, Will Tavares keep up his heroic play? Tavares went on a tear in the first round and ended up clinching the series in OT of game 6. If his play falls the Isles could be in a boat load of trouble, so he needs to keep up the scoring in order for this team to be successful. The other huge question mark is Thomas Greiss, will Greiss play be the rock for the Isles in net? Well, there's only one answer to this question and the answer is yes. If Greiss plays like a back up goalie and lets up some stinkers, the Isles will have zero shot at winning this series. Still the biggest question this series is will Steven Stamkos return at some point? We don't know, only time will tell.
Prediction: Bolts in 7
Dallas Stars v. St. Louis Blues
Another tough series. Everyone knows about the Stars offensive fire power. Seguin, Benn, Sharp, Spezza the list goes on at forward. There's no issues there. Defense is the problem with this team. They have John Klingberg who had a fantastic season and is easily one of the most dynamic defenseman in the game right now, but after that there's a major drop off. Jonny Oduya has a couple of cups under his belt but is on the older side and isn't all that great. Jordie Benn, Jamie's less talented brother is just flat out bad. He's a traffic cone out there. The stars are going to have to rely heavily on their offense in order to win this series. As for the Blues it's simple stop the Stars on the Stars. The Blues are a team that could definitely win the cup this year after finally beating the hawks and getting out of the first round of the playoffs. They have all the right pieces solid forward group, elite defensive corps. If the Blues can shut down the superstars they have this in the bag.
Prediction: Blues in 6
Predators/Ducks v San Jose Sharks
Easily the most boring series no matter who wins game 7 tonight. San Jose is another team who finally got out of the first round and could also make a deep run. Concerns for them is their top guys not producing. Joe Thornton obviously leading the pack. He has a history of choking in the playoffs, but as of the first round he looks determined to win this year. With the supporting cast of Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, and Brent Burns this team could make some major noise. If the Ducks win tonight, once again their question mark is goaltending. They already made a starting goalie change in game 3 when Frederick Anderson got the nod instead of John Gibson after Gibson lost the first two games at home. Will Anderson be steady or will there be another change in goal? The Ducks are another team who could win the cup with the roster they have it all just depends on the goaltending. Now, switching over to a team who doesn't have goalie concerns is the Nashville Predators. The Preds are itching to get out of the first round after consistently getting bounced in round one. Concerns for the Preds is does this team have enough depth to get passed the Sharks? Shea Weber and Roman Josi are both All-Stars and fantastic defenseman who log a lot of minutes, but after those two D men there's a bit of a drop off. As for the forwards they obviously have the young talents of Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen, and also the veteran guys like James Neal, Mike Ribiero, and Mike Fisher but is that enough? I personally don't think it is and I don't think its a matter of the Preds top guys not playing well, but rather the Sharks just being deeper and being able to roll out four lines and each one being a constant threat.
Predictions:
If Ducks win: Ducks in 7
If Predators win: Sharks in 6
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