The 2015-16 NHL post season is nearly here. On Wednesday, the charge to the Stanley Cup begins.
In the Eastern Conference, the Florida Panthers will face the New York Islanders; the Tampa Bay Lightning are matched with the Detroit Red Wings; the Philadelphia Flyers will hook up with Washington; and the Pittsburgh Penguins will face off against the New York Rangers.
All four series are intriguing with some difficulty in making prognostications.
Panthers vs Islanders
John Tavares will need to step up big for Isles to move on – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Florida ended the season with 103 points and top spot in the Atlantic Division with 47 wins. Special teams are always key in the post season and the Panthers were less than stellar, ranking 23rd in the league in the power play with a 16.9% conversion rate. The penalty kill ranked 24th in the league with a 79.5% kill.
The Islanders picked up 100 points on the season and missed climbing out of the wild card spot with a loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on the final night of the season. The Isles’ power play was not much sharper than the Panthers with an 18.3% conversion. Their penalty kill rate was ranked 4th in the league at 84.5%.
Roberto Luongo will carry the load for the Panthers in the post season and had a solid year in the Florida nets with a 2.35 goals against average with four shutouts.
The Islanders are not nearly as settled in goal. Thomas Greiss and Jean-Francois Berube will be in the lineup for the start of the playoffs until Jaroslav Halak comes back from a groin injury. Greiss finished the season with a 2.36 goals against average and a 23-11-4 record.
Prediction: The Florida Panthers move on in a 4-2 series with veterans like Jaromir Jagr leading the way.
Lightning vs. Red Wings
These two teams were as close to each other as possible in the final standings after 82 games. Tampa Bay finished with 97 points to the Wings’ 93. For Detroit, it is a new coach and same old story; it is their 25th straight appearance in the post season. It was a struggle getting to this point for Detroit. For the Bolts, it was an up and down season with injuries and losing skids that kept them from challenging the Panthers in the Atlantic.
Can Steven Stamkos carry the Bolts in round one – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The Lightning scored 224 goals over the season while the Red Wings netted 209. On the other end of the ice, the Bolts yielded 198 goals to the Red Wings’ 219.
In Detroit, the goalie tandem of Peter Mrazek and Jimmy Howard shared duties all season with Mrazek showing he is worthy of the number one spot. Mrazek had a 2.33 goals against average and Howard was 14-14-5 on the season.
For Tampa Bay, it was Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy in net with averages of 2.06 and 2.76 respectively.
Prediction: This series is full possibilities for success and failure. In the end, the Lightning survive in a six-game series.
Washington vs Flyers
Claude Giroux will be the emotional leader to get the Flyers past round one – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
This one is the feature series of the first round in the east. It pits a team that clinched weeks ago, if not months ago with a blazing start. The problem for that team is they have had little to play for over the last few weeks of the season.
On the other end, the Philadelphia Flyers are hot. They are also now playing for their late owner Ed Snider who passed on April 11.
Records, statistics and goals go out the window.
Prediction: The Flyers will use their streak ending the season and combine that with their emotions with the loss of their owner and founder, Ed Snider. The Flyers win this series in anything but a surprise in five games.
Penguins vs Rangers
How can a team with 101 points in a season’s campaign infuriate and frustrate as much as the New York Rangers? The talent on the bench, better to say talent on paper, is sufficient to challenge every year. The problem is the annual disappearance of the likes of Rick Nash and the woeful defense of the likes Dan Girardi and the aged legs of Dan Boyle.
The Penguins were arguably the best team in the NHL since the beginning of 2016 and charged up the Metropolitan Division to overtake the Rangers for second place.
Henrik Lundqvist is the obvious starter in the Rangers’ net. He ended the year with a 2.48 goals against average and should be credited with lifting the club over the line to the post season.
The question mark for the Pens is in net with – Marc-Andre Fleury practicing this week for the first time since suffering a second concussion this season at the end of March. He has 2.29 average and won 35 games this season. Matt Murray was his backup and played well with a 2.00 average and nine wins.
Does Henrik Lundqvist have the magic to carry Rangers? – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Over the last few years, the Rangers have had post season success against the Penguins even though many on the bench did their annual fade.
Prediction: This is the most difficult to prognosticate. So much has to fall in place for the Rangers to move on and it does not seem likely given history. Without heart and commitment to the crest on the sweater, the Rangers will look like a paper tiger and fold in five games.
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