LOS ANGELES – A look back at a very unpredictable Round 1 and more fearless predictions.
ATLANTIC RECAP-
The Tampa Bay / Detroit series was old school playoff hockey. It was more violent than the Middle East. Goaltender Ben Bishop was Tampa Bay’s and the series’ best player. He was the anchor that Detroit needed but didn’t have. Detroit’s Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek were both shaky and shaky doesn’t win in the playoffs. Tampa Bay’s star forwards Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov step up in the playoffs. Role players Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn do as well. Detroit’s star forwards let them down again this year. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk can blame age. Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist cannot. They disappeared. Detroit’s 25 straight years of making the playoffs seems hollow now. Major changes are needed in Motown.
John Tavares proved why I call him the closest player the league has to Mario Lemieux. Tavares understands the moment. It’s what being a leader and a superstar is all about. The rest of New York’s skaters underwhelmed. I constantly praise the Isles 4th line. They played like a 5th line in this series. The Florida Panthers played like a young team. Fearless and stupid. Bad penalties and wasted emotion. Their coach Gerard Gallant constantly losing his mind didn’t help. While Jaromir Jagr and Roberto Luongo had some great moments they looked old when it mattered most. The Panthers outplayed New York most of the series but Thomas Greiss showed the world he could win a playoff series and John Tavares showed the world he’s John Tavares.
ATLANTIC PREDICTION-
If the Islanders offense can’t score against Roberto Luongo they’re not going to find the net in against Ben Bishop. John Tavares will get a large dose of Victor Hedman and maybe injured Anton Stralman. The Islanders fore check will try to rattle Tampa Bay’s defense but the Lightning defense is more post seasoned than Florida’s was. Tampa’s post season experience will push them past New York. Lightning in 7 Writers note/confession: Originally picked 6 then watched Game 1
METRO RECAP-
Then Washington Capitals were rolling over the Philadelphia Flyers as they should have, then for some reason decided to play like the Flyers. Nick Backstrom saved them from a possible game 7. While Philly showed no interest in winning the series only injuring the Capitals the fact they hung around for 6 games is not a positive for the Capitals. Washington’s power play led by Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson was potent but Evgeny Kuznetsov was a no show. All you need to know about the Flyers is their best player was their backup goaltender.
The Pittsburgh Penguins absolutely dominated the New York Rangers for all but five minutes in Game 2. The Penguins rolled four lines that all scored. It wasn’t just Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. It was Phil Kessel, Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust too. Pittsburgh used 2 back up goaltenders in this series and it wasn’t an excuse or even lead goal tending story. The Pens speed and skill chasing Henrik Lundqvist 3 times was. The Rangers defense was either too slow or too weak to stop Pittsburgh. It’s no coincidence Dylan McIlrath a Rangers rookie defensemen played in the only game they won.
METRO PREDICTION-
This is the series everybody has waited for since 2009. Everybody but Marc Andre Fleury is healthy. I believe the top tier guys on each team will cancel each other out and the Pens have more scoring in their bottom 2 lines. Phil Kessel is on the third line. If I was Cap’s coach Barry Trotz I would play Michael Lata over Daniel Winnik. Washington needs to try match Pittsburgh speed because the rough stuff doesn’t intimidate them. If Matt Murray can match Brandon Holtby in net the Pens depth will show. Penguins in 7.
CENTRAL RECAP-
The Dallas Stars were so close to steamrolling the Minnesota Wild and burying all of their problems in the Minnesota pavement but Minnesota gathered some pride and scared Lindy Ruff. The Wild exposed to the world Dallas doesn’t like to play defense or back check. Dallas led by Captain Jamie Benn and reborn Jason Spezza can score. They can score at will. The problem is in their own end. The Stars prove the old adage if you have 2 goaltenders you don’t any. The Wild played gallantly half the time. Their goaltender Devan Dubnyk deserves a team that play hard all the time, like he does.
The St. Louis Blues overcame their ghosts, Ken Hitchcock’s questionable decisions and the defending Stanley Cup champs to beat the Chicago Blackhawks in 7 games. Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo proved he belongs in the same conversation as the great Hawks defensemen Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson. Blues goaltender Brian Elliot withstood the Chicago offensive onslaught and shut up the naysayers. Corey Crawford battled like a champ in Chicago’s net but the rest of the Hawks core didn’t pull it out. Chicago Captain Jonathan Toews did not have a goal in the series.
CENTRAL PREDICTION-
The Blues denied us the run and gun fun a Chicago / Dallas series would have been. Hopefully Tyler Seguin will return to the Stars to help Jamie Benn and company. St Louis will play their tight checking lockdown defensive strategy. The entertaining Stars will be ground to a boring pulp. Hopefully Ken Hitchcock will play Blues superstar Vlad Tarasenko more than 3rd line minutes so someone will be able to score in this series. Blues in 6.
PACIFIC RECAP-
The BBQ Bruce Boudreau goalie merry go round probably spun for the last time in Anaheim. Goaltender Hans Christian Frederick Andersen’s fairy ended in a bitter Game 7 defeat. Don’t blame Fred, the Games 1 and 2 goalie John Gibson was shaky and lost. Nashville’s goaltender Pekka Rinne was the old All-Star edition of Pekka Rinne. Nashville’s defense was its usual stout self while their offense stars shined. This series was vintage James Neal. The Music City sniper at his best. Prickly play and big goals. Corey Perry played like he wants Bruce Boudreau fired.
The Kings could have avoided the Sharks but didn’t take the Winnipeg Jets seriously in the last game of the year. The Sharks took out years of payoff frustration out on the Kings. The Kings proved you can’t win a series with only 2 quality defensemen. Losing defensemen Alec Martinez at the start of the series hurt. No goals from Tyler Toffoli hurt more. Anze Kopitar was the only King forward who played decent yet San Jose’s Joe Pavelski outplayed him in their matchup. Shark veterans Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Brent Burns along with kids Joonas Donskoi and Thomas Hertl took it to LA depleted defense. LA Kings 2-time Cup winning goalie Jonathan Quick did not make the saves his old understudy Martin Jones did for San Jose.
PACIFIC PREDICTIONS-
The Sharks appear to be on a mission to erase years of post season failures. Nashville’s last opponent 6could not overcome their demons in Round 1. San Jose did. If Pekka Rinne plays like he did in Round 1 the Predators have a chance but I expect the Sharks stars to play well. Anaheim’s stars did not. Sharks in 6
You must be logged in to post a comment.