2nd Round Playoff Predictions

The second round is about to start, and it might  be a bit boring. Many of the defensive teams prevailed such as St. Louis, Phoenix, New York, L.A., Nashville and New Jersey.

Eastern Conference:
1. New York Rangers
7. Washington Capitals
Washington in 7.
Washington is finally findng that good mix of defense and offense. For a while they were too offensively minded, then they focused too much on defense. They have found a good medium and I think that their playoff run will continue. I think that they have gained confidence in Holtby and I believe he won't disappoint. The Rangers only made it out of the first round because of Henrik Lundqvist, and Washington has more firepower than the sens. However this series could go either way. A major part of this series will be goaltending.

5. Philadelphia Flyers
6. New Jersey Devils
New Jersey in 6.
Against the Devils this year the Flyers went 2-4, and I think that is how this series is going to end up. I think that the Penguins made the Flyers look way better offensively than they are. Also I don't think Bryzgalov is a good playoff goaltender. The Devils are able to shut down Claude Giroux, but if they can't, he could be the difference maker. The Devils are committed to team defence and that is exactly what will stop Philly.

Western Conference:
2. St. Louis Blues
8. Los Angeles Kings
Blues in 6.
The Kings were able to capitalize on the a lack of motivation on the Canucks part, but that won't happen with the Blues. The Blues are committed, motivated, defensively minded. To make it even worse for the Kings: They have 2 of the best goalies in the league this year. The Canucks had great goaltending, and most of the goals scored were defensive mistakes by the Canucks. The Blues however don't make many mistakes defensively. Watch for most of the games to be very close, but very low scoring.

3. Phoenix Coyotes
5. Nashville Predators
Nashville in 4.
I'm calling a sweep. Nashville can do everything Phoenix can do better. Offensively the Preds are better, especially now that they have Alexander Radulov. Defensively the Preds play a sound game and have arguably the best pairing in the league with Suter and Weber. In goal, they have Pekka Rinne who is a vezina finalist 2 years running. Mike Smith had a great year, but Rinne is better. Even though I think that the Preds will win 4 straight, they won't coast through this series. All the games will be very tight. If Nashville does start to coast, Phoenix is a very opportunistic and they could steal the series.