It took a while; a few series that had multiple days between games ended up going seven games, but we're ready for the next round of the playoffs!
In what worked out fairly well, I picked all eight series winners correctly, though only two in the correct number of games. This is no surprise though; to a degree, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are a crapshoot, and anyone who knows hockey will probably agree with that notion.
However, we're now down to eight teams left in the playoffs. I'll go in depth on the Hawks because Hawks, and I'll take a look at the other three series as well.
Minnesota Wild (beat STL in six) vs Chicago Blackhawks (beat NSH in six) Blackhawks won 3 out of 5 regular season meetings
For the third straight year, the State of Hockey will do battle with the Madhouse on Madison. In 2013, Minnesota put itself on the map before the lockout with the signings of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, but has fallen to the Hawks in two straight postseasons. Part of the problem has been in goal, but this year, there are no net questions in Minnesota. After making a trade in January for Arizona's Devan Dubnyk, the Wild went on an absolute tear through the entire league, including taking both matchups with the Blackhawks. Other than a hiccup in Game 4 against the Blues and seeing Vladimir Tarasenko go bonkers in Game 2, Dubnyk was phenomenal.
Offensively, eleven Wild players scored goals in that Blues series, so they have the scoring.. something that's a little alarming for the Hawks. There's a goalie controversy of sorts in Chicago, with both Corey Crawford and backup Scott Darling getting pulled in the first period of games, though the Hawks would go on to win both contests. Crawford is getting the nod to start the series, and while he's been inconsistent much of the season, he's also played well for stretches.
Ultimately, the series rests on the goaltending. Yeah, this is the case with pretty much every playoff series ever, but especially so here. Crawford needs to play like he did in Game 6 as opposed to Games 1 and 2 of the Nashville series, and Dubnyk needs to continue to stand on his head. Minnesota is in the best position it's been in to knock off Chicago in the last three years because of him. I'm just not sure yet: Will Minnesota have an answer for Playoff Bryan Bickell (7 goals and 3 assists in the last two years against the Wild)? And can Dubnyk handle the monster that is Showtime?
Dubnyk makes this tricky. The Hawks will probably have a game or two where they look flat while they steal a game or two they have no business winning. Ultimately, home ice proves to be too much. Hawks in seven.
Other Western Conference Series
Calgary Flames (beat VAN in six) vs Anaheim Ducks (beat WPG in four)
Remember how I said Anaheim's close game luck wasn't sustainable? They sustained it, leading for something like 36 of a possible 240 minutes in the series en route to a sweep. Corey Perry led the way with three goals and four assists while Frederik Andersen posted a .924 save percentage. The Ryan Kesler addition also proved useful, as he notched five points in the sweep. They take on a Calgary team that was able to make a late push to help keep the defending Cup champs out. They had some good scoring balance, but I'm not sold on the goaltending. Karri Ramo had a solid 2.09 goals against average in Round 1 against Vancouver, but posted a .907 save percentage, which isn't that great. Calgary has had a good run, but I think it ends here. Ducks in five.
Eastern Conference Series
Washington Capitals (beat NYI in seven) vs New York Rangers (beat PIT in five)
These two teams meet for the fifth time in the last seven postseasons in something of a rubber match, since each team has won two series. The President's Trophy-winning Rangers have been relying on their old standby through one round in goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who boasts a 1.54 goals against average and a .939 save percentage, while his team scored just 11 goals over the span of five games (each of their wins was by a 2-1 final). This was a defense that shut down Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but I think they're going to have a little more trouble this time around. Alexander Ovechkin is an offensive monster, but he had plenty of support in guys like Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Meanwhile, Braden Holtby was just as good in net in the first round, posting a .943 save percentage and a 1.63 goals against average. Overall, I have little faith in the Capitals because they haven't been able to get much going once the postseason starts in the Ovechkin era, but I actually think this year they could pull it off. Capitals in seven.
Tampa Bay Lightning (beat DET in seven) vs Montreal Canadiens (beat OTT in six)
These teams meet for the second straight postseason, after Montreal swept Tampa in the first round last year. Tampa got regular season revenge, winning all five of their matchups. Of course, the postseason is a different animal, and the Habs have been able to make a pair of Eastern Conference Finals since 2010 while Tampa doesn't have the same recent postseason success. They'll need more from Steven Stamkos, since the odds of Tyler Johnson scoring six goals in this series probably aren't great. They have an advantage they didn't last year in goalie Ben Bishop, who was hurt during the 2014 Playoffs, and that will help negate a Montreal attack that cooled off somewhat as their first round series against Ottawa progressed. Montreal was led in scoring by P.K. Subban's four points, though he should have been suspended for his thug tactics in the opener against the Senators. However, everything comes down to Carey Price, who allowed fewer than two goals per game while stopping 93.9 percent of the shots he faced. I think Price outplays Bishop, and while the Lightning are able to give Montreal some scares, the Canadiens return to the Eastern Conference Finals. Habs in six.
Today begins one of the best parts of the year in sports, and one that will end in either unbridled joy or sheer disappointment. Hopefully the former.
Saturday saw the 82nd game for every NHL team to finish off the seeding process for the tournament. As I'm not super familiar with every NHL team, I'm not going to do a full series-by-series prediction, other than maybe a cursory mention at the end (we'll see). Instead, I'll stick to the matchup I know about: Hawks-Predators.
Chicago Blackhawks (48-28-6) vs Nashville Predators (47-25-10) Blackhawks won 3 out of 4 regular season meetings (1 in OT, 1 in SO)
Man, the Central Division was loaded this season. The Hawks had some bad luck games this season where they gave up goals late in regulation to lose a Bettman point, yet still had a great run. They take on a Nashville team that looked to be running away with the Central up until March when they went ice cold.
This is still a matchup that concerns me. Nashville has a strong defense led by Shea Weber, and Pekka Rinne is an elite goaltender who helped the Predators finish ninth in the league in goals against. They tried to add offense, and did a decent job by finishing 14th in goals for thanks to additions like James Neal and Filip Forsberg. There's some depth and balance here, and they'll be a tough out.
Meanwhile over on the Chicago side, Corey Crawford helped lead the Blackhawks to their second Jennings Trophy (shared with Montreal) in three years, and had some games where he stood on his head. There's some intrigue on defense with the rotating pieces like Michael Roszival, Kimmo Timonen and David Rundblad, but the top four haven't been bad and will be counted on to contain those strong pieces. Then there's the forwards... you have several elite two-way players like Toews, Hossa, and Saad, the potential for Bryan Bickell to start to catch fire because it's the playoffs, some depth down to the fourth line... oh, and this guy is back.
88 came up 3 times in my first period math lesson today. It's a good sign! @88PKane#Blackhawks
— Kristen Mitzel (@kkmitzel) April 15, 2015
Nashville won't make it easy, obviously. They've been doing a lot to try and "keep the red out" of their arena, which we all know won't work. They'll still pose a challenge, but I think the return of Kane will galvanize a struggling Hawks team. Blackhawks in six.
Other Western Conference Series
Minnesota Wild (46-28-8) vs St. Louis Blues (51-24-7)
I'm kind of glad the Hawks didn't win the Central, because then they'd have to deal with a red hot Wild team. Most of that coincides with the arrival of goalie Devan Dubnyk, who has been phenomenal for Minnesota since he was traded from Arizona earlier in the season. St. Louis has plenty of weapons still, but questions in goal. I think this ends in a similar fashion to last year.Wild in six.
Winnipeg Jets (43-26-13) vs Anaheim Ducks (51-24-7)
Winnipeg has the current hot goalie in Ondrej Pavelec, but it's hard to say what else they have going for them. Dustin Byfuglien hasn't seen much playoff hockey since his days torturing the Vancouver Canucks in the Indianhead sweater. I don't know that the Jets will have the firepower to keep up with Anaheim. The Ducks have had an arguably unsustainable run in close games (33-1-7 in one goal contests) but with the playoffs tightening things up, is it sustainable? Hard to say. The atmosphere for games in Winnipeg will be crazy, but I think the Ducks take it home. Ducks in six.
Calgary Flames (45-30-7) vs Vancouver Canucks (48-25-9)
Calgary is out probably their best player in defenseman Mark Giordano, which hurts. This team reminds me a lot of last year's Avalanche in a way; the advanced numbers don't argue well for Calgary. If they can get some gritty goals against whoever's in goal for Vancouver, they could steal the series. In a crazy twist... I think it happens. Call it continued hatred of the Canucks or what have you. It takes seven games, but they pull the upset. Flames in seven.
Eastern Conference Series
Due to time constraints, I'm keeping the East to just series predictions.
Pittsburgh Penguins (43-27-12) vs New York Rangers (53-22-7)
Rangers in four.
New York Islanders (47-28-7) vs Washington Capitals (45-26-11)
Capitals in six.
Ottawa Senators (43-26-13) vs Montreal Canadiens (50-22-10)
Canadiens in five.
Detroit Red Wings (43-25-14) vs Tampa Bay Lightning (50-24-8)
Lightning in six.
Over the past five days, I've taken a look at the entirety of Major League Baseball save the NL West. Today, we finish off with them since they house the defending World Series Champions.
To a degree, I goofed with these guys last year, but it also housed my biggest prediction success since predicting the score of Super Bowl XLIII. If you want to look at last year's predictions, you can view them here.
Happy Good Friday and Almost Opening Day! We've almost wrapped up with our look around Major League Baseball in anticipation of the 2015 season.
Today we make the trek out west to finish out the previews, starting in the American League. If you want to refer back to my predictions from last year, you can view them here.
First things first: Happy birthday to my dad, who helped nurture my love of sports in general and baseball in particular. He also helped birth my love of the Cubs, which may or may not be a good thing given history.
We're onto the National League Central as we move past the halfway point of the division previews. If you want to refer back to my predictions from last year, you can find them here.
We're onto Day 3 of the series of MLB previews. In the last two days we've been out east, and now we're moving west towards the center of the country.
Today we're back in the American League looking at the Central division. If you want to refer back to last year's predictions, which, overall, weren't too shabby for the division, you can find them here.
