Tag Archives: Penguins

NHL Conference Finals predictions

Posted on by
Reply

In my last set of predictions, I correctly predicted the winner of each second round series. I had the Penguins winning in 7, the Bruins in 6, the Blackhawks in 6, and the Kings in 7. That improves my “record” of predicting series outcomes to 10-2 this postseason, which I won’t complain about. As it turns out, the remaining 4 teams in the playoffs are the last 4 teams to win the Stanley Cup. The Penguins won it in ’09, the Hawks in ’10, the Bruins in ’11, and the Kings in ’12. If the NHL could have its dream pair of conference finals’ (in terms of TV ratings), it would probably look something like the way it does now.

So with that, here are my conference finals’ predictions.

Western Conference Finals

1-5 Matchup:

56 vs. third_jersey_logo

Season series: Blackhawks 2-1-0 against the Kings.

It took both of these teams seven games to advance to the Western Conference Finals, but they are both more than deserving of being here. The Sharks and Red Wings both played fantastic in the second round, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. The Kings are back in the WCF’s for the second year in a row, and are now looking to advance to their second consecutive Stanley Cup Final. Much like last year, Jonathan Quick has become the story of the L.A. Kings. He has played unbelievably, to say the least, and is on his way to another Conn Smythe if the Kings win the Cup. In their series with the Sharks, L.A. failed to win a game on the road, but won all 4 at home. Over the last 2 postseasons, no one has been even close to being as successful on home ice as the Kings. While I wouldn’t label them as a bad road team, they are definitely a different team when not on home ice. Obviously in this series, they will not have the home ice advantage, which may or may not hurt them based on their track record. I said before the playoffs started that it would be interesting to see what type of goal scoring the Kings would get in this postseason. Through two rounds,  their leading point producer, Mike Richards, has only 10 points in 13 games. Jeff Carter is second on the team with just 8 points. To compare, the Blackhawks have 4 guys with at least 9 points, and two with 11. In this series with the Hawks, the Kings need to use their size to their advantage. They are one of the heaviest teams in the league in terms of weight per player, and they have the ability to be one of the best hitting/checking teams in hockey. That style of play has worked well against the Blackhawks all season long, which bodes well for L.A. In the regular season, the Blackhawks ranked second in the league in G/G. This postseason, L.A. ranks first in GA/G, thanks in large part to Jonathan Quick. They will need this trend and the play of Quick to continue in this series.

As for Chicago, it would appear that they have finally “arrived” to the playoffs. Through about the first 9 games or so of this postseason, they were still stuck in regular season mode. As a result, they fell into a 3-1 hole against the Red Wings before turning things around in Game 5. They are currently riding a 3-game winning streak into this series after pulling off one of the best comebacks in franchise postseason history against Detroit. Corey Crawford has been pretty darn good for the Blackhawks this postseason and has been overlooked by many when discussing the Hawks. He single-handedly kept the Blackhawks in almost every game against Detroit. If it wasn’t for their random inability to score goals, they could have won that series in 5 games because of Crawford. He will need to keep that up this round because odds are the Blackhawks aren’t going to be scoring a whole lot on Quick. In Game 5, Joel Quenneville reunited the defensive pairings of Keith-Seabrook, Oduya-Hjalmarsson, and Rozsival-Leddy. Those were the pairings for more than half the regular season and during their 24-game point streak. As a result, the Blackhawks won the last 3 games against Detroit to advance. Keith and Seabrook are pretty safe bets to play well this series, but I believe that the Oduya-Hjalmarsson pairing will be a big key to the Blackhawks’ success. If they play well, the Blackhawks normally win games. Depth will be another big factor for the Hawks. They have arguably the deepest team in hockey, which was a big reason for their win over Detroit. If the top 2 lines for Chicago can be effective offensively (the Toews line was quite against Detroit), then the third and fourth lines are what could put them over the top against L.A. The absolute biggest concern for the Blackhawks in this series is their lack of physicality. The Kings are going to take runs at any Blackhawk they can, especially the stars, and the Hawks will need to respond accordingly. Whether that means successfully battling through it or hitting back, they will need to do something if they want to win. This should be a fantastic series.

-Chicago wins series, 4-3.

Eastern Conference Finals

1-4 Matchup:

2518158277_cf0b185de3 vs. Boston-Bruins-Logo

Season series: Penguins 3-0-0 against the Bruins.

This is the matchup that I really wanted to see in the Eastern Conference Finals. Both of these teams were near the top of the league throughout the whole regular season, and now they will play for a birth to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Bruins needed a dramatic seventh game victory over Toronto to advance to the second round, but only needed 5 games to oust the Rangers. They looked very, very good against New York and seem to be playing their best hockey of the year right now. Tuukka Rask has been good for Boston with a 2.22 GAA and a .928 save percentage, but not great. He gave up some weak goals through the first two rounds, but he cannot afford to do that again against Pittsburgh. The Penguins will get plenty of tough goals as it is, so Boston and Tuukka Rask cannot afford any soft goals-against. Defensively, the Bruins are one of the best teams in hockey. They are very deep on the blue line, especially with Seidenberg and Ference coming back, and their forwards are some of the best defensive forwards in the game. Patrice Bergeron, a Selke Trophy finalist, will need to shut down either the Malkin or Crosby line of Pittsburgh in this series. Offensively, David Krejci leads the league in points this postseason with 17. Nathan Horton currently ranks fifth in points, while Zdeno Chara ranks 13th, and that’s as a defenseman. As a team, they rank second behind Pittsburgh in G/G this postseason. Much like Chicago, one of Boston’s biggest strengths is their depth. Their third and fourth lines will need to produce against Pittsburgh for them to win this series.

The Penguins rolled through Ottawa in the second round without much of a problem. In the second round alone, Pittsburgh scored 22 goals. That’s pretty ridiculous. Malkin, Letang, and Crosby rank second, third, and fourth respectively in points this postseason, which is rather impressive. Offensively, the Penguins need to keep doing what they’ve been doing. There’s not much else to say about that area of their game. Defensively, they could be better. Of the 4 teams remaining in the playoffs, the Penguins rank last in GA/G. Tomas Vokoun, however, has stepped up big time in relief of Marc Andre Fleury. While he hasn’t been perfect, Vokoun has gotten the job done. When playing on a team that scores as many goals as the Penguins, a goalie can afford to not be perfect every game. However, that is no excuse to play bad in this series. One of the biggest strengths for Pittsburgh in these playoffs has been their powerplay. They rank first in PP percentage at 28.3 percent. I would not count on them to score as many power play goals against Boston, which means that their G/G could go down in this series (it will be tough for them to score 22 goals again). In all honesty, I don’t know what more there is to say about the Penguins. They’re playing the best hockey of any team this postseason and are showing no signs of slowing down. Having said that, I don’t think this will be another quick series.

-Pittsburgh wins series, 4-3.

I have both series’ going 7 games, which is a testament to how good the final four teams are. This should be an epic round, and I can’t wait for it to begin.

NHL Eastern Conference Semifinals predictions

Posted on by
Reply

So as it turns out after last night’s pair of Game 7’s, I went 6-2 in predicting the outcomes of the first round. I’m pretty proud of myself to be honest with you. What a comeback by the Bruins! I’ve never seen anything like that in hockey. The city of Toronto will be in mourning for the next month, that’s for sure.

Alright, the predictions.

1-7 Matchup:

2518158277_cf0b185de3 vs. 2bkf2l3xyxi5p0cavbj8

Season series: Penguins 3-0-0 against Senators.

Next to the Sharks, I think the Senators were by far the most impressive team in the first round. Maybe even more impressive than San Jose, but that’s debatable. Ottawa survived the intensity of their series with the Canadiens and flat out dominated them between fights. Goal scoring was not an issue in that first round for the Sens, as they averaged exactly 4 goals per game (good for second behind Pittsburgh). Everyone was seemingly producing and tallying points for Ottawa. Meanwhile, Craig Anderson played a phenomenal series in net and shut down the Montreal offense. He has been one of the most underrated goalies in the NHL in recent years, and now he is finally starting to get some respect. This guys is for real. For Ottawa to beat Pittsburgh, Anderson is going to need to be great again. The Penguins have arguably the league’s most potent offense, and they rely on that offense to win them games. If the Senators can play solid defense and get good goaltending, we might have ourselves an upset.

As for the Penguins, they have to be a little concerned after the way they performed against the Islanders in the first round. Sure, they won the series without going to a 7th game, but a lot of people feel that series should have been over with a lot sooner. I’d say that in 3 or maybe even 4 of those games against the Islanders, New York dominated the play. The fact that Pittsburgh still came away with a victory in that series is a credit to their depth and talent. However, that series also exposed some weaknesses of the Penguins. Marc Andre Fleury is no longer their starting goalie after yet another bad first round performance. Thomas Vokoun is their guy in goal now, and they’ll need him to be solid from here on out. Over his career, Vokoun has been a pretty streaky goalie, so we’ll just have to see which side of him shows up in this series. Also, Pittsburgh’s defense is very beatable. The Islanders proved this. For Pittsburgh to win this series, their blue liners are going to need to be a lot better than they were in round one. Ottawa has one of the hottest offenses right now, and that could be an issue for Pittsburgh’s defense.

-Pittsburgh wins series, 4-3.

4-6 Matchup:

Boston-Bruins-Logo vs. 144

 

Season series: Rangers 2-1-0 against Bruins.

It took 7 games for both of these teams to advance to the second round, and thankfully for us NHL fans, we have our second series consisting of two Original 6 teams (the other being Chicago-Detroit). Incredibly, this is the first postseason meeting between these two teams since the mid ’70’s. In their first round series with Washington, New York got great goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist, and timely scoring from a number of players. Derick Brassard (acquired from Columbus at the deadline) has been huge for New York and was a key component to their first round victory. Other than him, however, no Rangers forwards were really that great in the first round. They ranked 10th in goals per game after round one, and that needs to improve. They will be going against a much better defense in the Boston Bruins in the second round. To me, the biggest question with New York is their scoring. They have the weapons to be a good offensive team, but they just haven’t produced like one all year long. They absolutely have to be better against Boston. One thing going for the Rangers, however, is the fact that they have Henrik Lundqvist on their side. He can single-handedly win any series.

The Bruins are lucky to still be alive right now. After trailing 4-1 midway through the third period of their Game 7 against Toronto, it looked for sure like the Leafs would pull of the upset. However, Boston never gave up and willed their way back into the game, scoring 2 goals with the goalie pulled in the final minute and a half of regulation time to tie it. Patrice Bergeron scored the eventual game winner in overtime to send the TD Garden into a frenzy. Now, that they’re in the second round, the Bruins need to wake up and play their game. They were ugly, slow, and downright sloppy at times against Toronto. That can’ happen anymore. Tuukka Rask played alright in the first round, but we all know he can be better. He’ll need to be. Offensively, Boston ranked 5th in goals per game in the first round, which isn’t bad. On the flip side, they ranked 9th in goals against. That needs to be better. All year long, the Bruins have prided themselves on their defense and goaltending. Those two areas need to improve for them to advance any further in these playoffs. One advantage that they have over New York is experience. Boston is just 2 years removed from winning the Stanley Cup, and they still have a number of players from that team on their roster. Those guys that have won the Cup need to step up and lead the team.

-Boston wins series, 4-2.

NHL Eastern Conference playoff predictions

Posted on by
2

Who would have thought that the Eastern Conference playoff teams would not consist of the Philadelphia Flyers? I didn’t predict that, that’s for sure. Nonetheless, it is nice to see some new faces in the playoffs this year, like the Islanders and Maple Leafs. And how about the Senators? After all the adversity that this team has faced this season, it is pretty remarkable that they’re in the postseason again. So having said that, let’s get to the predictions.

1-8 Matchup:

2518158277_cf0b185de3 vs. 138

Season series: Penguins 4-1-0 against Islanders.

Well it’s no surprise to see Pittsburgh as the number 1 seed in the East, but it is a surprise to see the Islanders as the number 8 seed. I am confident in saying that I don’t believe many people projected the Islanders to be a playoff team this year. John Tavares, on the other hand, had different thoughts about his team and willed them to the postseason. Him and Matt Moulson recorded 47 and 44 points respectively this year, and they are going to need to continue to produce against the Penguins. Evgeni Nabakov had a major bounce back season this year by going 23-11-7, and his playoff experience is huge for the Islanders. Not many guys on that team have ever played in the postseason before, so it’s nice for them to have a goalie with experience. He’s going to need to be great for the Islanders to advance.

The Penguins have shown all year long that they are a force in the Eastern Conference, and they are going to be the toughest out in the East. They went out and really upgraded their team at the trade deadline by acquiring Jarome Iginla and Brendan Morrow, and both of those guys have fit pretty well into the lineup since. The biggest concern for Pittsburgh right now is the health of Sidney Crosby. He recently started practicing again after sitting out for a month with a broken jaw, but it is unclear as to when he may return to game action. Although I feel that the Penguins should still take down the Islanders without much of a problem even without Crosby, I wouldn’t ink them in as the Eastern Conference champs like many people are. Marc Andre Fleury worries me about the Penguins chances with his sub-par play in recent postseasons.

-Pittsburgh wins series, 4-1.

2-7 Matchup:

124 vs. 2bkf2l3xyxi5p0cavbj8

Season series: Senators 2-1-1 against Canadiens.

After a couple years of missing the playoffs, Montreal is back as the number 2 seed in the East after barely edging out the Bruins for the division championship. Ottawa, meanwhile, is back in the playoffs yet again even after all the injuries they suffered this season. Daniel Alfredsson (their captain) missed the entire season, and Jason Spezza (their best goal scorer) played in just 5 games. Neither will play in the postseason. Erik Karlsson only played in 17 games because of a severed achilles, but made a remarkable return to the lineup for the last game of the regular season. His presence in the lineup will be HUGE for the Senators in the playoffs. Craig Anderson had his best season as a goalie, posting 1.69 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage. He should be a Vezina finalist, and rightfully so. Ottawa will need Anderson to continue his strong play into the postseason. If he does, this is a team that could do some damage.

Montreal had a great start to the season, but saw their play slip a little in April (a 7-7-0 record). They had 5 players record at least 30 points this year, including 2 defensemen. One of which, P.K. Subban, should be a Norris Trophy finalist. But to me, the biggest story-line surrounding this team will be the play of Carey Price. He went 21-13-4 this season with a 2.59 GAA and a .905 save percentage. Over the last month or so, however, Price has really started to fade. Fans in Montreal have become extremely critical of Price, and I am sure that if he slips up early in this series that Peter Budaj will take over in net. To me, the Canadiens go as Carey Price goes.

-Ottawa wins series, 4-2.

3-6 Matchup:

llrs2zxi127vkqgcsvfb vs. 144

Season series: Rangers 2-0-1 against Capitals.

Thanks to the unbelievable play of Alex Ovechkin down the home stretch of the season, the Capitals find themselves as division champions and the 3 seed in the East. The Rangers, however, cannot be happy with their 6th place finish in the conference. This was a team that almost everyone had winning the conference and advancing to the Finals prior to the season after their acquisition of Rick Nash. Unexpectedly, the Rangers just couldn’t get things rolling until April where they went 10-3-1. At the trade deadline, they parted ways with Marian Gaborik and received Derek Dorsett, Derick Brassard, and John Moore in return. This was apparently the spark that the Rangers needed to get going, because they have been a much better team since. Henrik Lundqvist is still one of the top goalies in hockey, and he has the ability to single-handedly win a series for New York. If he plays well and Derek Stepan keeps up his torrid pace, this team will get by the first round.

-New York wins series, 4-3.

4-5 Matchup:

Boston-Bruins-Logo vs. Toronto-Maple-Leafs-Logo

 

Season series: Boston 3-1-0 against Maple Leafs.

Talk about a classic rivalry series… I think I speak on behalf of most NHL fans when I say that I am excited to watch these two teams go at it. Finally, the Maple Leafs are back in the playoffs, and their fans are going to be going nuts at the Air Canada Centre for Game 3. After all that talk of Toronto possibly trading for either Roberto Luongo or Mikka Kiprusoff, their goaltending really hasn’t been bad. James Reimer went 19-8-5 this year with a 2.46 GAA and a .924 save percentage. He doesn’t have playoff experience, which could hurt, but the Leafs have to have some confidence in this guy after the season he had. Phil Kessel, who led the Leafs with 52 points, will get a chance to eliminate his former team, and the Maple Leafs are going to need him to give everything he’s got.

After a great start to the season, Boston was eventually caught and overrun by the Canadiens in the division. But don’t let that fool you. The Bruins are still one of the best teams in hockey, and one of the toughest teams to play against. Tuukka Rask was one of the better goalies in hockey this season with a 2.00 GAA and a .929 save percentage. His play, plus the team defense of the Bruins resulted in Boston finishing third in the league in GA/G. Teams with a good GA/G always tend to fare well in the postseason. The addition of Jaromir Jagr at the trade deadline could pay off now more than it has up to this point in the season, as Jagr is a very experienced postseason player and knows how to win big games. Also, the Bruins are just 2 years removed from winning the Cup and know what it takes to get back there. Don’t let their finish in the conference fool you. This is a dangerous team.

-Boston wins series, 4-1.

Look for my second round predictions for both conferences once the first round ends.

Thanks for reading.

Penguins, Canucks on brink of elimination

Posted on by
Reply

After losing each of their first two games at home, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks headed into their respective Game 3’s on Sunday looking to get a huge road win. Unfortunately for them, neither Pittsburgh or Vancouver were able to get a win on Sunday, and they now find themselves down 3-0 in their series’.

Many people were predicting that the Canucks and Penguins would meet in the Stanley Cup Finals this year heading into the playoffs. The Canucks had just locked up their second straight President’s Trophy, and the Penguins were finally a healthy team with Sidney Crosby back. Each team looked destined for a deep playoff run. However, both sides are now facing elimination in Game 4 of their respective series. You can blame the Canucks and Penguins for “choking,” but give credit where credit is due. The Kings and Flyers have been playing excellent hockey through their first 3 games of the playoffs, and they have earned their 3-0 series leads.

Let’s start with the Flyers. As great of a season that the Flyers had, finishing 5th in the East with 103 points, they were looked at as the underdogs heading into their first round matchup with Pittsburgh, and rightfully so. As I mentioned before, Pittsburgh was on a roll heading into the playoffs having become a fully healthy team for the first time in a long time. This did not intimidate the Flyers one bit. They came into this series with the mindset that they are the better team, and they will do everything to prove that. So far through the first 3 games of this series, the Flyers have out-hustled and out-played the Penguins in just about every aspect of the game. In the 3 games that have been played, the Flyers have 20 goals. That is pretty much unheard of. The Penguins defense has had no answer for the offense of the Flyers. Because of the high number of goals that the Flyers have scored, Marc-Andre Fleury’s confidence has been shot. This is one of the best goalies in the world, who has already won a Stanley Cup. Assuming that the Flyers go on to win this series, they instantly become a top contender for the Stanley Cup.

Moving out West now, the Canucks find themselves down 3-0 in their series with the Kings. Vancouver came into the playoffs as the defending Western Conference champions, and fresh off of their second straight President’s Trophy-winning season. The L.A. Kings, on the other hand, barely made it into the playoffs as the 8 seed following what can only be described as a disappointing regular season. People expected them to contend for one of the top spots in the West this year, but they just never seemed to be able to play consistently good hockey. Well, they are now. They have outscored the Canucks in this series 9-4, with Jonathan Quick registering a shutout in last night’s game. The Kings’ defense has proven to be too much for the Canucks so far in this series, and their offense has essentially booted Roberto Luongo from his starting job in goal. For the first time all season, the Kings seem to be putting together an all-around, consistent style of winning hockey. They definitely have the potential and the right set of players to make a deep playoff run, but it remains to be seen if they will fall back into their regular season form and abandon their current style of play. Jonathan Quick has been great all season long, but only now are his teammates playing up to their potential.

These are two shocking deficits that the Penguins and Canucks find themselves in, but don’t get too surprised by them. The Flyers and Kings are two very talented hockey teams that are playing phenomenal hockey right now, and they deserve a ton of credit for putting the Penguins and Canucks on the brink of elimination.