Second Round Predictions
As I pointed out last night, I got off to a great start in the first round. I guessed 7 of the 8 series correctly in terms of picking the winner. But this next round is going to be very difficult. There are some tough matchups that are going to make for some great hockey games over the next 1-2 weeks. So without further ado, here are my picks.
Eastern Conference
New York Rangers v. Buffalo Sabres - The Rangers were able to take advantage of Atlanta’s defense and torched Kari Lehtonen. The young netminder had a 5.59 GAA and .849 SV% in two games during this series. Welcome to the NHL playoffs dude. After backstopping the Buffalo Sabres to an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, there is every reason to believe Ryan Miller can get the job done for Buffalo. While the Thrashers only had one d-man finish in the top 30 in plus/minus during the regular season, the Sabres feature five. Sabres in 6.
Ottawa Senators v. New Jersey Devils - The Tampa Bay Lightning gave the Devils a very good run in their first round tussle. While the Lightning got contributions from Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier- all finished in the top 6 in scoring for the first round - they couldn’t seal the deal. The lion’s share of the blame of course must fall on Johan Holmqvist, who let in some very soft goals. If Ray Emery is healthy - and that is a big if - it wouldn’t shock me at all to see Ottawa knock off New Jersey. They have great top end scoring threats in Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson, and a very good corps of defensemen. But Emery will be the deciding factor. I’m going to guess that Emery will be healthy enough to lead the Sens over New Jersey in 7.
Western Conference
Vancouver Canucks v. Anaheim Ducks - Vancouver’s first round series against Dallas featured some epic games, including a Game One matchup that went four overtimes. In all, three of the seven games went to overtime. I think we could see a similar series in this tilt. Vancouver doesn’t have much offensive pop, so they are going to earn every goal they score going up against Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer and the two-headed monster of Ilja Bryzgalov and J-S Giguere. The Ducks also appear to have an advantage in the Specialty Teams as they are the top-rated Power Play team and Vancouver’s Power Play has only converted 7.9% of the chances with the man advantage into goals. The ‘Nucks do have a great penalty killer in Roberto Luongo though. I just don’t see Vancouver scoring enough goals against the Ducks to win this series. Anaheim in 6.
I’ll have my prediction for the Detroit - San Jose series up tomorrow night.
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