With the first night of the playoffs wrapped up and the second night awaiting in the wings, here are my predictions for the Eastern Conference first round match-ups.
1.) NY Rangers VS 8.) Ottawa Senators
– An interesting combination here as I have heard many experts say not to count out the Senators because this could be an upset in the making. Well sorry but I really don’t think so. The Rangers have too much fire power and all the right key players stepping up. Marion Gaborik, Ryan Callahan on offense, tough guys like Marc Staal and Dan Giradi on defense and King Henrik in-goal. Those guys come to play their game, forget the upset.
– The Senators will have to hope for mistakes and missed chances by the Rangers to pull this one-off. Plus they will need stellar games from Eric Karlesson and Kyle Turris for a chance. This is the NHL Playoffs so anything is possible.
– Prediction Rangers in 5
2.) Boston Bruins VS 7.) Washington Capitals
– In order for Washington to pull off an upset than their star players that have been non-existent during the entire regular season, Nickalus Backstrom, Mike Green and Alexander Semin must return to their offensive power strong from last year’s regular season and find a way to bring it in the playoffs. I feel that this team does not have the leadership roles to bring that talent to the next level in the playoffs.
– The Bruins are expected to win and with young guys like Brad Marchant and Tyler Seguin having a great regular season, look for them to continue that tear in the playoffs. That will happen because of players like Milian Lucic, Patrice Beregon and Zdeno Chara that have been here before and won. As long as Tim Thomas does not struggle expect the Bruins to win this one with their physical play.
– Prediction Bruins in 6
3.) Florida Panthers VS 6.) New Jersey Devils
– All eyes expect an upset in this series and they could be right. Three 30 goal scorers, Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise and David Clarkson. A hall of fame goaltender in Martin Brodeur, how could this team be stopped especially with the late season tear they went on. But if their main forwards do not score, this team needs to reach deep for some secondary scoring which has been on and off.
– The Panthers ride the emotion of a twelve-year absence from the Stanley Cup Playoffs and South Florida will be rocking!!! The scoring from their big three of Stephen Weiss, Thomas Fleishman and Kris Versteeg must show up to get a series win. If not it will come to secondary scoring which has also been tough to find. Jose Theodore has to play playoff style to keep up with Marty and the slight edge I see is the scoring D-men of the Cats. If Brian Campell, Jason Garrison and Kulikov can get some points and play big the Cats could advance.
– Prediction Florida Panthers in 7
4.) Pittsburgh Penguins VS 5.) Philadelphia Flyers
– The Penguins are running on all cylinders and are expected to make a huge push, especially with Sidney Crosby back and Evegni Malkin just playing out of their minds. Pens have some many important offensive and defensive pieces that flow very well together which make them very hard to beat. The only issue is that they drew that Flyers in the first round, a team that also has all the same cards they do.
– Philly must bring that physical presence to get under the skin of the Pens superstars. Expect Scotty Hartnell, Wayne Simmons, Zac Rinaldo to step up the hard-hitting and traffic in front of Marc-Andre Fleury. It just seems that all the expert reports of Pens players complaining too much will actually not help their case and give the Flyers the advantage. This prediction was before last night’s game but that last sentence does prove the result of a 1-0 lead the Flyers now have.
– Prediction Flyers in 7
El Puckster 