In early February, the Ottawa Senators would’ve been forgiven for booking their tee times at the local golf course, but a ridiculously awesome 23-4-4 run in their final thirty one games, capping the comeback with a 3-1 victory over the Flyers in Philadelphia to claim their spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It might yet be a poisoned chalice, as they’ve drawn the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, who have been at or near the top of the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference for the entire season, and will take some beating. The question is, have the Senators played their playoffs a month or two early, or is the run that they’ve gone on to get in going to have bullet-proofed them for a tough campaign ahead. We won’t know for sure until, probably, the second or third game of the series.
One thing we do know for sure is that the Canadiens are stacked everywhere. From goalie Carey Price, who has had yet another exemplary season between the pipes, to blue line stars P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov, to a deep roster of forward, including veterans Tomas Plekanec, grinder Brandon Prust – a guy I loved when he was playing with my Rangers – and youngsters Alex Galchenyuk and Devante Smith-Pelly. The availability of key forward Max Pacioretty will be key, also.
The Senators have stars, too, from Swedish defenceman Erik Karlsson to veteran winger Bobby Ryan and some emerging talent that should have Ottawa in the hunt for years to come. For the most part, Ottawa’s run to the playoffs has been fuelled by goaltending, and the emergence of Andrew Hammond. Montreal have threats on every line, which loads pressure on the Karlsson-led defence, and on the Senators goalie.
Prediction: Montreal are too strong across the board, and will win this one in six.
Tampa Bay vs. Detroit
The Lightning, who were the highest-scoring team in the NHL this year, look the goods in this one, but counting the Detroit Red Wings out of a playoff series would be a very unwise thing to do. This is a roster and, indeed, an entire team structure (including the front office) who know what they’re doing when the postseason begins.
In something of a surprise, Detroit, who backed into the playoffs going 7-10-3 in their last twenty, will start back-up goalie Petr Mrazek for the opening game in favour of Jimmy Howard, who hasn’t been the same since a groin injury in January. It’s a huge risk, going with a playoff debutant over a guy who’s seen plenty of post-season action, but Howard hasn’t looked good in some time. Basically, Detroit don’t have much to lose.
Tampa Bay look set for a deep run, They’re a scoring machine, led by one of the most exciting players in the league, Steven Stamkos. How’s this for secondary scoring? A further ten Lightning players scored more than ten goals in the regular season, and I really can’t see the Red Wings slowing them down enough to have a hope.
Prediction: Tampa Bay comfortably.
New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh
The Rangers have the best record in the NHL and home ice advantage as far as they go in the playoffs. They were able to clinch a playoff spot early, and rested key players at various times throughout the last week of the season. Rick Nash appears to have regained his scoring touch, rookie Kevin Hayes is impressing, and the Rangers, like any contending team, have offensive strength on all four lines. Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider can kill you just as quickly as Nash or Marty St Louis can.
New York also has a solid defence bolstered by the trade deadline acquisition of veteran Keith Yandle from Arizona, and a brilliant goalie in Henrik Lundqvist. In fact, they have two good goalies, with back-up Cam Talbot seeing plenty of game time after Lundqvist was injured earlier in the year. If something happens to Lundqvist, Talbot’s recent starts will work in New York’s favour.
Conversely, Pittsburgh had to win in their last game (vs. Buffalo) to stamp their ticket to the playoffs, and although you can never discount a team featuring Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but the way they enter the post-season – a 3-5-2 record in their last ten – and the fact that the Rangers swept them in the regular season. The Penguins suffer from a lack of depth on defence, with stars Kris Letang and Christian Erhoff uncertain to be playing in Game One. Against the free-wheeling, high-scoring Rangers, that spells trouble.
Prediction: Rangers in five.
Washington vs. New York Islanders
For mine, this is the most intriguing first round series in the East. The Capitals took a while to lock up their playoff spot and the Islanders, after a very strong start to the season, nose-dived a little. Barry Trotz, Washington’s head coach, wanted the Isles in the playoffs. He thinks they match-up well, and they do. These are two teams in pretty much the same place at the moment, leading me to believe that this will be a seven-game series, and what a series it should be!
Offensively, we’ll see Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom for the Caps, trying to out-score the Islanders’ John Tavares and Kyle Okposo. Both teams have good scoring threats lower down the order, the lines of Michael Grabner and Ryan Strome for New York and Joel Ward and Brooks Laich for Washington.
We’ve seen stretches of brilliance from both goalies, Jaroslav Halak for the Isles and Braden Holtby for the Caps, but also plenty of maddening inconsistency either side, so the key to this series, as it is often come playoffs, is which net-minder plays better. It could go either way. Confidence with both is a giant key. A few bad goals early on might spell trouble.
Prediction: Washington in seven, thanks to home ice advantage.
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