3rd Round Playoff Predictions

1. New York Rangers
6. New Jersey Devils
New Jersey in7.
New Jersey is a very stingy defensive team that also plays solid offense. Their team defense will have the ability to shut the Ranger's stars down. Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuck have been monstrous for the Devils this playoffs. Henrik Lundqvist is way more tired than Martin Brodeur despite the fact that Brodeur is 40 years old. Lundqvist has played in back to back game 7 series' and Brodeur has only had one 7 game series and a 5. Many of the Rangers games have gone deep into overtime, and 1 went in to triple overtime. Their team as a whole will be more tired. Plus the Devils have been resting up for a couple days now since they eliminated the Flyers.

3. Phoenix Coyotes
8. Los Angeles Kings
Kings in 6.
The Kings have been dominate pile-driving their way through the 2 best teams in the western conference. If they win the cup Jonathan Quick has got to be given a very close look for the the Conn Smythe. He is my early favourite. However Mike Smith is making a very good case for the award too, but he won't get it because they won't make it out of this round. The Kings can beat you in any aspect of the game. Speed: They have players like Carter, Kopitar, Richards and Justin Williams. Scoring: Kopitar is an amazing offensive player and they have a good supporting cast of Williams, Richards, Carter, Brown and Dustin Penner who has really improved his game. They can crush you with huge hits, and play an superb defensive game. Also, if they make a mistake, Quick is there to clean up the mess. This team doesn't like the puck being in their own zone so they move it out very quickly and often catch teams on their heals and end up with odd man rushes. The Kings have truly turned into a team that barely made the playoffs into a powerhouse.