NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 2

Joe Pavelski

Hey there guys,

The First Round is over and now it is time for the Second round to begin. I picked 4 of the 6 series right, losing only the Canadiens upset over the Capitals and the Flyers over the Devils. I did pick two series perfect as I called the Canucks over the Kings in 6 and I also called the Red Wings over the Coyotes in 7. Let see if i can continue my fairly decent streak in the 2nd round.

Round 2

Eastern Conference

Well the First Round of the playoffs has come and gone and we saw some huge upsets, some that I called and some that I did not. For instance I did not see the Canadiens upsetting the Capitals in 7, but Montreal Goalie Jaroslav Halak played very well, or at least during wins, as he limited Washington to 1 goal a game in wins, and 6 goals a game in losses. In an upset that I wasn't entirely surprised to see, the Flyers upset the Devils in 5 games. While I wasn't surprised to see the upset, although I did call a New Jersey win, I was very surprised to see how quickly Philadelphia took out the Devils. But they relied heavily on the dominant play of Goalie Brian Boucher, who gave up less than 2 goals a game in the series, and if he can continue to keep up his play they could make a fairly deep run in the playoffs. In the third upset in the first round of the Eastern Conference bracket the Bruins upset the Sabres in 6. The first of two upsets that I called (Woo). The series that wasn't really dominated by one player I really like how the Bruins Goalie Tuukka Rask played in the series. I think he will continue to improve and may even be the force behind the Bruins playoff run. Of the Top 4 seeds there were some big names in the Eastern Conference playoffs including Washington's Alex Ovechkin and Niklaus Backstrom, New Jersey's Ilya Kovulchuk and Martin Brodeur, and Buffalo's Ryan Miller, yet of the top 4 teams only Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins were able to advance past the first round, defeating the Senators in 6.

My Picks

(4) Pittsburgh Penguins 51-30-7 vs. (8) Montreal Canadiens 43-36-10

What the Canadiens did in round 1 was impressive and that momentum should carry over in the 2nd round but I didn't really like how inconsistent Halak was and Crosby and Co. should be able to end the Habs playoff run.

My Pick: Pittsburgh in 5

(6) Boston Bruins 43-32-13 vs. (7) Philadelphia Flyers 45-36-6

This is an interesting series here as both the Bruins and the Flyers pulled off first round upsets to make it here. Boucher played a great series against the Devils but Philly hasn't had the same kind of success against the Bruins as they had against the Devils. I like the way Raask played and think he will out duel Boucher in the end.

My Pick: Boston in 7

Western Conference

In the Western Conference playoffs there were not as many, if any, surprises. The Sharks shook off the Playoff bug as they took out the Avalanche in 6. If San Jose C Joe Pavelski can continue to play like he did during the first round then the Sharks might be able to live up to my Stanley Cup Expectations. The Blackhawks came back from being down 2-1 to win the last 3 in a wacky exciting series to take out the Predators in 6. The two consistent parts of this series were Chicago Forwards Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp. If the rest of the 'Hawks can continue to play like the two Patrick's I can see Chicago taking the Stanley Cup. Despite that Los Angeles was the "sexy" pick in the West the Canucks, my pick, took out the Kings in 6, as the Twin Brother combo of Henrik and Daniel Sedin was too much for LA. This is my sleeper pick for the Stanley Cup, but they have a very tough road to make it there. And finally my second "upset" pick was Detroit in 7 and the Red Wings proved me right as they took out the Coyotes in a back and forth battle that saw Detroit take the 7th in convincing fashion 6-1. There a number of players to chose when looking for the most important for the Red Wings but I finally settled on Henrik Zetterberg, he had a hat trick in one game and 3 assists in another, but if the team can play this well throughout for the rest of the playoffs then they just might be able to repeat as Western Champs.

My Picks

(1) San Jose Sharks 55-22-11 vs. (5) Detroit Red Wings 48-27-14

The Western Conference has two great series in the Conference Semi's and this one is no exception. After looking at the statistics I would normally say that San Jose was the better team, better play in goal, and a much better special teams, but Detroit has had a better playoffs so far, statistically. That being said I'll take the Sharks because of the better goalie play during the season.

My Pick: San Jose in 7

(2) Chicago Blackhawks 56-24-8 vs. (3) Vancouver Canucks 53-30-5

These two teams seem almost similar, with Chicago having a better defense and Vancouver bein the better offensive club. I really don't know how to go too in depth with this one but I will say but I always like defense first and I really feel like the pressure is on for Chicago to win this year. Blackhawks in a full series.

My Pick: Chicago in 7

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Thank you for Reading

Batteman