Several close calls but few upsets in round one
After being pushed to the brink in round one, both the St. Louis Blues and the tampa Bay have survived to live another day. The pair of conference leaders were left shaken but not eliminated after a hard fight to advance. Will it prove to be the issue that strengths them enough to make a cup run or are they cracking under the pressure?
In total, half of the eight opening rounds went the distance, indicative of a league that has made big strides in terms of parity. Expect more of the same in round two.
Below are my predictions for round two
WCHL
Western Conference
(1) St. Louis Blues vs. (3) Nashville Predators - The Blues battled back against the Colorado Avalanche to make it into the second round but it wasn't that they played poorly. They were one of six teams to allow two goals or fewer so far these playoffs and if they can continue that while getting better offensive production the Blues will be on to round three.
Playing defense against the Predators though could be tough. The Preds rattled off 3.14 goals per game in round one and had the leagues best powerplay so far in the post-season at 33.33 per cent. If the Preds offense continues to fire like they have been it'll be a quick series.
Prediction: Colorado proved to be enough of a kick in the pants for the Blues. Expect them to rebound. St. Louis in six games.
(4) Edmonton Oilers vs. (7) Chicago Blackhawks – No scored more than Edmonton in round one. With 3.17 goals per games, the Oilers were impossible to contain for the Los Angeles Kings and now the task falls to the Blackhawks. Expect the offense to continue to round two.
Chicago did however have a 1.80 goals against average in round one, good for third in the league. That was against the Arizona Coyotes and now they face a different task in shutting down the Oilers. The key to this series could very well be netminder Jaroslav Halak and his .935 save percentage.
Prediction: If Halak can shutdown Edmonton, the Hawks will win. But he won't. Edmonton is five.
Eastern Conference
(1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (6) Buffalo Sabres – What a ride. After roasting the rest of the league in the regular season the Lightning were almost toast in the opening round against the Penguins. But the Lightning rallied from a 3-1 deficit, outscoring the Pens 10-2 in the process and now look like they have hit their stride. They will be a tough team to beat if they roll that momentum over into round two.
Buffalo meanwhile turned a battle of the brothers in round one into a bit of a laugher, outscoring Boston 14-10 and outside of a shutout in game three their offense was clicking. It'll be a challenge doing so against Tampa Bay, who held the offensively gifted Penguins to 10 goals in seven games. If Buffalo can't fair better they won't last long.
Prediction: Buffalo won't make it easy but the Lightning is flashing bright lately. Tampa Bay in five games.
(2) New York Rangers vs. (4) New Jersey Devils – One team doesn't have a GM and the other has one of the most storied-GMs in the league. Yet these two teams are meeting in a cross-state battle. The Rangers will aim to ride the second best playoffs goals against average and the best goals for/against ratio to yet another appearance in the playoffs.
The Devils on the other hand are no easy pushover. Despite having no one at the helm, the Devils look to take the best penalty killing left in the post-season and fend off a Rangers offense which is below average for the teams remaining in the playoffs.
Prediction: hard to vote against the Rangers who have been one of the best playoff teams in league history. Rangers in five games.
ACHL
Eastern Conference
(2) Hartford Wolfpack vs. (8) Worchester Sharks – Hartford in six.
(3) Hershey Bears vs. (5) Portland Pirates - Hershey in six.
Western Conference
(1) Grand Rapids Griffins vs. (6) Adirondack Flames – Adirondack in six.
(2) Texas Stars vs.(5) San Antonio Rampage - San Antonio in six.
