The first round was very exciting, and I went 5/8 in my predictions (didn't pick Ottawa, New York R. or Detroit). With that being said, I will now look at the 4 2nd round match ups.
Eastern Conference:
1. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 7. Ottawa Senators
Pittsburgh won the season series 3-0-0
Players to Watch: PIT - Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jarome Iginla, Kris Letang, Pascal Dupuis. OTT - Erik Karlsson, Craig Anderson, Daniel Alfredsson, Jakob Silfverberg, Jean-Gabriel Pageau
X-Factor - PIT - Sidney Crosby. OTT - Craig Anderson
Notes: The main storyline heading into this series is Matt Cooke vs. Erik Karlsson, as the teams meet with Karlsson back in the lineup for the 1st time since Matt Cooke stepped on him 3 months ago yesterday. On Feb. 13 the 2 teams met and as the 2 players were tangled up on the boards, Cooke's skate accidentaly sliced Karlsson in the back of the leg and tore his left Achilles tendon 70%. Karlsson's career could have been in jeopardy if it fully was torn, but he recovered in record time to make it back for the season and playoffs and really push the Sens past the Habs in round 1. The bottom line is what will Ottawa do to Cooke? Will he have to answer to the likes of Chris Neil or Matt Kassian? (I think right off the bat he will). The Sens will need another stellar series from Craig Anderson to have a chance at beating the Penguins. The Penguins come into this series after a hard fought series with the New York Islanders, winning in 6 games. With Crosby, Malkin and co. going offensively the Penguins look primed to go far right? Not so fast, very shaky goaltending by Marc-Andre Fleury led to Vokoun playing games 5 and 6 to close out the series, and he wasn't even that good. The Pens will have tough questions for game 1, who will start in net? Bottom line, Penguins need to find a way to beat Craig Anderson
Prediction - The Senators will push the Penguins as much as they can, but in the end Crosby is too much for the Senators
(PENGUINS IN 6)
2. Boston Bruins vs. 6. New York Rangers
New York won the season series 2-1-0, but both gained 4 points as Boston went 1-0-2
Players to Watch: BOS - Tuukka Rask, Zdeno Chara, David Krejci, Milan Lucic, Jaromir Jagr. NYR - Henrik Lundqvist, Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Derek Brassard, Ryan Callahan
X-Factor: BOS - Tuukka Rask. NYR - Henrik Lundqvist
Notes: Both these teams come in after winning game 7s on the last night of the 1st round, as the Bruins beat the Leafs 5-4 in OT after coming back from 4-1 in the 3rd and the Rangers beat the Capitals 5-0 in Washington to advance. Both of these teams come in with stellar goalies, as Henrik Lundqvist was the best in the 1st round and Tuukka Rask was equally as impressive for the Bruins. The Bruins look to continue to play solid on the cycle and push teams with their size, and with the line of Lucic Krejci and Horton going for Boston they are primed to make another long run. The Rangers come into this series lead by Vezina-nominee Henrik Lundqvist, as he was simply fantastic especially in the final 2 games posting back to back shutouts after allowing Mike Ribeiro's OT goal in game 5. The Rangers need more from the likes of Nash, Callahan and Richards if they want to win this series, but their role guys are really helping out. The Rangers need to be strong on D, and it starts with McDonagh and Girardi. This is going to be a strong, tough series with not a lot of goals.
Prediction - Bruins are too deep to lose to the Rangers, even with Lundqvist trying to steal the series
(BRUINS in 6)
Western Conference:
1. Chicago Blackhawks vs. 7. Detroit Red Wings
Chicago won the season series 4-0-0
Players to Watch: CHI - Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith. DET - Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Jimmy Howard, Damien Brunner, Valtteri Filppula
X-Factor - CHI - Patrick Kane. DET - Pavel Datsyuk
Notes: This is going to be a very good series, on one hand you got the President's Trophy winning Blackhawks coming off an impressivve 4-1 series win over Minnesota, and the other hand the Detroit Red Wings fresh off a game 7 win over the 2nd seed Anaheim Ducks. The Blackhawks come into this series as the heavy favourites, but don't write the Red Wings out just yet. These teams have met in the playoffs in recent years, with the Red Wings beating the Hawks in 2009 en route to the Stanley Cup. The Blackhawks will have a lot more trouble with the Red Wings then they did with the Wild, especially the way Datsyuk and Zetterberg are playing. A key battle will be between the pipes, as both Corey Crawford and Jimmy Howard had good 1st rounds and need to keep it up for their respective teams. I listed the x-factor as Kane vs. Datsyuk, fitting that they are the two most skilled and often "wizard" like playmaking skills are attached to these two. I think this is going to be a very close, great series and either team can win. I still think the Blackhawks are the heavy favourites in this series, and won't be surprised if they win it, but don't write the Red Wings out so easily.
Prediction: The Blackhawks come into this series as the heavy favourites, but I think that the Red Wings come in and pull the big upset that not many people are expecting led by Pavel Datsyuk
(RED WINGS in 7)
5. Los Angeles Kings vs. 6. San Jose Sharks
Both teams won 2 games in the season series as the Kings went 2-1-1 and the Sharks went 2-2-0
Players to Watch: LAK - Jon Quick, Dustin Brown, Mike Richards, Drew Doughty, Justin Williams. SJS - Logan Couture, Antti Niemi, Brent Burns, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau
X-Factor - LAK - Jon Quick. SJS - Antti Niemi
Notes: This is my most anticipated series in the 2nd round, The Kings and Sharks were the 2 most exciting teams in the 1st round in my opinion. They were also the two most impressive teams in the 1st round, and it starts in net with last year's Conn Smythe winner Jon Quick and this year's Vezina nominee in Antti Niemi. I listed the goalies as the x-factor because they are the most important members of each team, and both teams are going to need great goaltending to beat the other team. Starting with the Sharks, they head into this series after an impressive 4-game sweep of the Vancouver Canucks. The Sharks were led by the stellar play of Logan Couture, who had 8 points in 4 games en route to the sweep. The Sharks are going to need a complete team effort to beat the defending Champs. The Kings head into this series after an impressive 4-2 series win over the Blues, which saw them win the last 4 games in the series after dropping the first 2. Lots of credit is due to Darryl Sutter, who kept his team focused after going down 0-2 and you could see after game 2 how the Kings changed their game. Jon Quick was stellar yet again, but they are going to need more from the likes of Kopitar, Brown and Carter if they are going to win this series. Whatever happens, this is my most anticipated series of the 2nd round no doubt.
Prediction: This series really could go either way based on which goalie plays better and who's goal scorers come to play, but I believe the Kings are too good to lose this series
(KINGS in 6)
This would leave the Eastern Conference Finals as 1. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 2. Boston Bruins and the Western Conference Finals as 5. Los Angeles Kings vs. 7. Detroit Red Wings
-Joel Forman - Stanley Cup Playoffs 2013
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