Here we go, the NHL playoffs are upon us. For the first time in a long time, neither one of the Stanley Cup finalists from the previous season will be in there to defend their conference crowns. Also, for the first time in over a decade, that team from Denver will not grace the playoffs. However, there are some great match ups in the first round of the playoffs, especially in the Western Conference, where the difference between the second and seventh seeds were only six points. Over in the east, there are four legit contenders, with four teams who will playing golf by May.
We will kick things off in the east.
1) Buffalo Sabers vs. 8) New York Islanders
Season series: Sabers 3 Islanders 1
Sabre’s offense vs. Islanders defense
The Sabres bring in a major scoring punch into this series. Chris Drury and Daniel Briere, who are free agents at the end of the year, lead the way for the Sabres, having career seasons. Maxim Afinogenov, Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville also had very good years. They can also play a power game on the offense with players like Paul Gaustad and Derek Roy.
Meanwhile, the Islanders’ Marc-Andre Bergeron could be one of the best defensive defensemen in the league. Add in Tom Poti, with his large shot, and Brendan Witt’s toughness, and suddenly, the Islanders defense doesn’t look so bad. Up front, the suspension of Chris Simon will hurt the Isles big time.
Advantage: Buffalo
Islanders’ Offense vs. Sabres’ Defense
The Islanders may have the steal of the trade deadline, when Edmonton traded Ryan Smyth out of the blue. The Islanders are surprisingly deep, with six scorers with at least twenty goals. Outside of Smyth, Jason Blake led the Islanders in scoring this season. Mike Sillinger also had a top flight season. Alexi Yashin might have been limited to just fifty-eight games, but he still managed to put up another fifty point season.
The Sabres are locked and loaded on the blue line. Teppo Numminen, Henrik Tallinder, Dmitri Kalinin and Jaroslav Spacek are not just the top four defense men on the Sabres, but they are four of the best all-around defense men in the league. Any one of them could be just about anyone else’s number one defense. Brian Campbell also had one of his better seasons. This defense will not put up many goals on you, but they will also not allow a lot either.
Advantage: Sabres
Special Teams
One of the rare times that the Islanders are better then the Sabers, at least on paper, is the special teams. On the power play, the Islanders were twelfth in the league, at 18.1%, while the Sabres finished seventeenth at 17.4%. The penalty kill is a mirror image of this, with the Islanders finishing at 83.8%, good enough for twelfth, while the Sabres are twentieth with 81.4%.
Advantage: NY Islanders
Goaltending
This one isn’t even close. While the Islanders might have signed Rick DiPetrio for the next fifteen years, but he’s out for a while, and possibly the rest of the season. That leaves the job to Wade Dubielewicz, a career minor leaguer. The Sabers have Ryan Miller as the far and away number one goaltender.
Advantage: Buffalo
This series wont be much of a fight, as the Islanders just made it, while the Sabres will just put it on cruise control. Look for the Sabres to win in five games.
2) New Jersey Devils vs. 7) Tampa bay Lightning
Season series: Tampa 3 New Jersey 1
New Jersey Offense vs. Tampa Defense
The New Jersey Devils will never be mistaken for the Oilers of the 1980s, but they win. No one on the Devils’ roster even cracked the top-fifty in scoring, but it’s about as balanced as one team can get. Patrick Elias, Scott Gomez, Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner all cracked the sixty point mark, and they are deep.
Meanwhile, Tampa might have lost Pavel Kubina and Darryl Sydor, but they still have that Dan Boyle guy. He leads one of the more underrated defenses in the league, that features Filip Kuba, Nolan Pratt, Cory Sarich and Paul Ranger. However, the Lightning may have problems stopping the third and fourth lines of the Devils.
Advantage: Push.
Tampa Offense vs. New Jersey Defense
Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis lead this powerful attack, both having 100-point seasons. Brad Richards was not that far behind. After him, Vaclav Prospal, Eric Perrin, Ruslan Fedotenko and Ryan Craig all scored more than twenty-five goals, but in reality Tampa doesn’t have much offense.
New Jersey is known for two things, one being tough defense, but not just on the blue line. John Madden, Jim Dowd and Jay Pandolfo lead a talented collection of shutdown forwards. On the blue line, Brian Rafalski still manages to prove he’s one of the best offensive defense men in the league, while Paul Martin, Colin White, Brad Lukowich and Johnny Oduya show they can take care of the other end of the ice.
Advantage: New Jersey
Special Teams
It’s a tale of opposites in this series. Tampa is much better on the power play, ending ninth in the league with a whopping 18.4%. New Jersey was near the bottom with 17.7%. On the penalty kill, the Devils were, once again, at the top of the league, with an 85.2% kill rate, while the Lighting finished 28th with 78.4%.
Advantage: New Jersey
Goaltending
This is another series with an obvious goal tending advantage. It seemed like anyone who lives or plays in Tampa was in net for the Lightning, but Johan Holmqvist finally beat out Marc Denis for the starting job. On the other side of the ice is the other thing the New Jersey Devils are known for, Martin Broudeur.
Advantage: New Jersey
This is actually an underrated series. Tampa is much better then their record shows. New Jersey is just New Jersey. The Devils will win in six close games.
3) Atlanta Thrashers vs. 6) New York Rangers
Season Series: Atlanta 3 New York 1
Thrashers Offense vs. Rangers Defense
For a while, it looked as though Marian Hossa was going to walk away with the Hart trophy. Ilya Kovalchuk should never be overlooked when it comes to one of the top scorers in the league. Another team that ended up with a trade deadline steal was the Thrashers, unlike the Islanders, everyone knew the Blues were going to trade Keith Tkachuk, and he has not disappointed since arriving in Blueland.
Sean Avery was given a second chance by the New York Rangers, and he has played his heart out. He has lived up to his scouting report when he was drafted as a Claude Lemeiux prototype. He might be one of the league’s lightning rods when it comes to his mouth, but he has a solid two-way game. On the blue line, they have great two-way players, but depth might still be a problem for the revolving door Rangers.
Advantage: Atlanta
Rangers Offense vs. Thrahsers Defense
Once again, Jaromir Jagr leads the way with this team, but they may have gone out and made the best pickup of the off season, when they signed Brendan Shanahan and his three Stanley Cup rings. He also brought a punch to this offense that even had guys like Michael Nylander and Martin Straka have career years.
Blueland’s blue line is one of the more underrated in the league. Sure, they don’t have big named stars, but they can shut you down just as easy. Andy Sutton, Garnett Exelby, and Shane Hnidy are huge players with great puck handling skills. While Greg de Vries is still one of the better penalty killers in the league. Meanwhile, Niclas Havlid a great stay-at-home defense man.
Advantage: Push.
Special Teams
This is the mismatch that could determine the series. Atlanta was near the bottom of the league in special teams, while the Rangers were near the top. The Thrashers couldn’t get the power play going, finishing twenty-third in the league with 16.5%. While the Rangers finished eighth with 18.5%. The Atlanta penalty kill was about at the same horrid clip, finishing twenty-sixth 79.8%. New York was twelfth in the league at 83.8%
Advantage: New York
Goaltending
Both teams are questionable at this area. Kari Lehtonen has no playoff experience, and played questionable at times. On the other side, Henrik Lundquist has played great for the blueshirts, but he was very shaky against New Jersey last season.
Advantage: New York
All the signs are pointing that the Thrashers will be the first division winner heading home this post-season. The Rangers should win this series in seven games.
4) Ottawa Senators vs. 5) Pittsburgh Penguins
Season series: Pittsburgh 3 Ottawa 1 (2 overtime games)
Ottawa Offense vs. Pittsburgh Defense
There’s only three names you need to know on Ottawa, Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson. These three guys could win a cup by themselves on any other team, but here they are in one nice, neat package. Yet, it doesn’t end there for the Senators. Mike Fisher, Peter Schaefer, Antoine Vermette and Chris Kelly are some of the best two-way players in the league, and they all ended with more than forty points.
This is going to be one major offensive series, with the Pens having one of the best offensive defensive cores. Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney are the two of the best blueliners who can put the puck in the net. Mark Eaton, Brooks Orpik, Alain Nasreddine, Josef Melichar and Rob Scuderi are great stay-at-home blueliners.
Advantage: Ottawa
Pittburgh Offense vs. Ottawa Defense
It’s time to man up for the young Pens. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal all played like MVPs this season, but for the first time, all three of them head to hockey’s real season. Sidney Crosby has to show he’s the real deal. Gary Roberts and Georges Laraque bring some veteran playoff experience and some grit. Colby Armstrong, Michel Ouellet and Ryan Malone have to also keep up their scoring paces if the Pens want to go far in the playoffs.
Zdeno who? That’s the question the Senators are asking. They led the league in goal differential, which speaks volumes about your defense. Tom Preissing, Wade Redden, Joe Corvo and Andrej Meszaros can put the puck in the net from the blue line, while Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips were in the top-ten in plus/minus.
Advantage: Ottawa
Special Teams
Ottawa was in the middle of the pack on the power play, finishing fourteenth at a 17.9% clip. Pittsburgh was fifth best in the league at 20.3%. The Pens were seventeenth at 82.1%, while the Senators were ninth at 84.5%.
Advantage: Push.
Goaltending
Marc-Andre Fleury is one of the best young goaltenders in the league. However, he has no playoff experience. On the other side, Ray Emery has out played Martin Gerber, but just like Fleury he has a lack of experience. Gerber might have a ring, but he was pulled early against Montreal.
Advantage: Push.
This is the sexy match up of the playoffs, but the combined lack of Pittsburgh’s experience will end up hurting the Pens in the end. They’ll take the Sens deep, but Ottawa will pull it out in six.
Now, we shift the focus to the Western Conference.
1) Detroit Red Wings vs. 8) Calgary Flames
Season series: Detroit 2 Calgary 2
Red Wings Offense vs. Flames Defense
No Shanahan, no Yzerman, no problem. This team is just like a fine wine, they seem to get better with age. Chris Chellios had another spectacular season. Yet, if you look at the Wings, this might be where they fall. Of course, they have Chellios, Lidstrom, Zetterberg, and Datsyuk, but they don’t have much beyond that. The one thing that the Wings have over half the league is the playoff experience factor. They might not have the best players, but they have the most clutch.
The Flames are adequate on defense, and that’s being nice. Robyn Regehr, Rhett Warrener, Mark Giordano and Brad Stuart are good defense, and get the job done, but they will have a hard time with Detriot’s front men. Wayne Primeau, Stephane Yelle and Marcus Nilson are great checkers.
Advantage: Detroit
Calgary Offense vs. Detroit Defense
The Flames are loaded on offense, with guys like Alex Tanguay, Jarome Iginla, Kristian Huselius and Daymond Langkow. All four of them broke the seventy-point mark. Matthew Lombardi was pretty solid all year, and Craig Conroy found his heart after being traded back from the Kings.
Just like New Jersey, the Red Wings are known for their defense. Nicklas Lidstrom is the best defense man in the league, bar none. Mathieu Schneider, Chris Chelios, Danny Markov, Brett Lebda and Andreas Lilja are solid blueliners.
Advantage: Detroit
Special Teams
Just like the Lighting/Devils series, they are complete opposites. Calgary scored big on the power play, finishing tenth at 18.2%, while the Wings struggled to score with the man advantage, finishing twenty-first with a 17.1% clip. On the other side of the puck, Detroit stopped the power play, finishing seventh in the league, killing off 84.6% of the power plays. Calgary struggled down a man finishing eighteenth with 81.6%.
Advantage: Detroit
Goaltending
This is a battle of future Hall-of-Farmers. The Wings throw the two-headed monster of Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood, while the Flames send out one of the best big game goalies in the league with Miikka Kiprusoff.
Advantage: Detroit
It’s a mismatch. However, it’s not as big as everyone thinks it is. Expect Calgary to actually make a series out of this, but the Wings should dispatch the Flames in six games.
2) Anaheim Ducks vs. 7) Minnesota Wild
Season Series: Ducks 2 Wild 2 (1 overtime game)
Ducks’ offense vs. Wild defense
Teemu Selanne and Andy McDonald have pr oven they are one of the best one-two punches in the league. Younger stars like Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Dustin Penner and Chris Kunitz helped the Ducks stay mighty. They have a top-ten offense.
Jacques Lemaire knows defense. No one really jumps out with this core, they’re just solid, with no offensive upside.
Advantage: Push.
Wild Offense vs. Ducks Defense
Marian Gaborik once again led the team in points. Pavol Demitra, Brian Rolston, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Mikko Koivu all stepped up this season. They’re still challenged offensively.
Samuel Pahlsson and wingers Rob Niedermayer and Travis Moen make up one of the best checking lines in the NHL. Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger could just be the defense by themselves. Francois Beauchemin and Sean O’Donnell were two of their most clutch players in their run last year.
Advantage: Anaheim
Special Teams
Both of these teams are elite when it comes to special teams. The Ducks were third in the league at 22.4% on the power play, while the Wild were not that much worse, finishing sixth at 19%. On the penalty kill, both are top-five teams. The Wild were the second best penalty killers this season at 86%, while the Ducks were fourth at 85.1%.
Advantage: Push.
Goaltending
This is the area where this series will be won. Jean-Sebastien Giguere should get the start for the Ducks, but thanks to last year’s performance expect him to have a short leash, and the possibility of seeing Ilya Bryzgalov. The Wild also have a dual threat in goal. Manny Fernandez is the obvious number one with the Wild, but once he went down with a knee injury, Niklas Backstrom filled in wonderfully.
Advantage: Push.
This is the marquee match up of first round. The Wild seems to be the popular dark horse pick, while the Ducks are popular among the ones who haven’t bought into the Predators or Red Wings’ hype. It’s going seven, it’s going to be the best series of the playoffs, and the Wild will win it in overtime.
3) Vancouver Canucks vs. 6) Dallas Stars
Season Series
Vancouver 2 Dallas 2
Vancouver Offense vs. Dallas Defense
There’s the Sedin twins, then there’s nothing. This is an obvious weak point for the Canucks. Markus Naslund, Jan Bulis, and Brendan Morrison all dropped in their production.
The defense is one of the deepest in the league. Sergei Zubov and Philippe Boucher are still two of the best offensive defense men, while Darryl Sydor, Mattias Norstrom, Jon Klemm and Stephane Robidas are great with handling the puck in their own zone.
Advantage: Dallas
Vancouver Defense vs. Dallas Offense
Mike Modano, Brenden Morrow and Eric Lindros will need to carry the load coming off their injury-filled seasons. If healthy, guys like Jere Lehtinen, Ladislav Nagy, and Mike Ribeiro would only have to play a supporting role of an amazing offense.
Kevin Bieksa has soften the blow of losing Ed Jovonaski in the off-season, but injuries have taken its toll on the Canucks. They come limping in with Sami Salo, Willie Mitchell and Mattias Ohlund all banged up. Lukas Krajicek, Rory Fitzpatrick and Alex Edler will have to step up if the Canucks want to win.
Advantage: Dallas
Special Teams
Vancover was eighteenth in the league on the power play at 17.2%, while Dallas’ 18.5% was good enough to help them finish ninth. On the other side of the puck, the Canucks have a hardcore penalty kill, finishing first in the league at 86.9%, while the Stars finished eleventh at 84.4%.
Advantage: Vancouver
Goaltending
Marty Turco has a history of running and hiding when the playoffs start. On the other side, Roberto Luongo has no playoff experience, but if they both are on, look for a low scoring series.
Advantage: Dallas
This has the potential to be a good series, but just like Atlanta, the Canucks seem to be the consensus pick for division winner to go home after round one. Stars win this series in six.
4) Nashville Predators vs. 5) San Jose Sharks
Season Series: Predators 3 Sharks 1
Nashville offense vs. San Jose defense
You could say that Nashville has the best offense in the league. Peter Forsberg is Peter Forsberg, healthy or not. Paul Kariya is not where he used to be, but still led the team in scoring. The key will be Steve Sullivan, Martin Erat and Scott Hartnell, J.P. Dumont, Jason Arnott, David Legwand and Alexander Radulov will have to stay healthy.
Matt Carle, Christian Ehrhoff, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Scott Hannan, Kyle McLaren and Craig Rivet make up one of the most solid defensive corps in the league. Don’t expect this team to score from the blue line, but they won’t allow much in there either.
Advantage: Push.
San Jose Offense vs. Nashville Defense
Joe Thornton cracked the 100-point mark once again, and leads a very potent Shark offense, and Patrick Marleau looked sharp this season. Milan Michalek, Ryane Clowe, Steve Bernier and Joe Pavelski will have to become big time cogs if the Sharks want to win this series.
Marek Zidlicky and Kimmo Timonen lead one of the best defensive squads. Shea Weber is a great hard-hitting defense man. They are deep, they are solid.
Advantage: Push.
Special Teams
San Jose can put the puck in the net up a man, finishing second in the NHL with a 22.4% power play. On the other side, Nashville finishes nineteenth, at 17.4%. Both teams have a great penalty kill also, Nashville was third with 85.8% and San Jose was fourteenth at 83.3%.
Advantage: Nashville.
Goaltending
Evgeni Nabokov and Vesa Toskala are the two-headed monster in net in San Jose, while Chris Mason and Tomas Vokoun are the two-headed monster in Nashville.
Advantage: San Jose
This could be a classic, with Nashville winning this in seven games.
