The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: Second round predictions

EASTERN CONFERENCE

New York Rangers [1] vs. Washington Capitals [7]
The Rangers and Capitals meet for the second season in a row, although last year they met in the opening round. One year earlier, the Capitals were the top seeded team in the Eastern Conference. This year, the Rangers are the top seeded team. The Capitals defeated the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins, in the opening round. The Rangers are hungry for revenge, having been supplanted by the Capitals in the opening round of the playoffs last season.
Prediction: New York Rangers in seven games.

Philadelphia Flyers [5] vs. New Jersey Devils [6]
The Philadelphia Flyers were in one of the highest scoring playoff matchups of all time in the opening round against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now they face a more defensive minded team in the New Jersey Devils, who defeated the Florida Panthers in the opening round. The two teams have met four times before. In 1995 and in 2000, New Jersey won. In 2004 and 2010, Philadelphia won.
Prediction: Philadelphia Flyers in five games.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

St. Louis Blues [2] vs. Los Angeles Kings [8]
The Los Angeles Kings shocked the hockey world by advancing beyond the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2001 by defeating the President's Trophy winners, the Vancouver Canucks, in the opening round. The St. Louis Blues advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2002 by defeating the San Jose Sharks in five games. Both teams entered the NHL in 1967, and neither has won a Stanley Cup (St. Louis has made three Stanley Cup Finals appearances to date, Los Angeles has made only one). Despite the difference in the seeding, the two teams both play a similar style of hockey; both teams have first rate goaltending and excellent defense. This means this series, while it won't have the firepower of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia's classic first round encounter this season, should be a tight series.
Prediction: St. Louis Blues in seven games.

Phoenix Coyotes [3] vs. Nashville Predators [4]
The Phoenix Coyotes advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 1987, when the franchise was still located in Winnipeg. They face the Nashville Predators, who advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs for the second straight season. Neither team has ever made it beyond the second round of the playoffs, so at least one team will make their first ever trip to the Conference Finals this season. This is the first time Phoenix and Nashville have met in the playoffs.
Prediction: Nashville Predators in six games.

Capitals, Devils, Kings and the Predators.

EDIT:I'll expand. The Rangers and the Blues both have tight team defense as their strength. But it's the playoffs, so every player on every team commits to playing defense more than usual, so those two teams should lose their advantage. Doesn't change the fact Lundqvist is a great goalie, but I have a feeling the Caps can pull off this upset. And the Blues will have to solve Jonathan Quick, and let's face it, while the Blues have great talent, scoring is not their strength. So that's it for the Rags and the Blues.

The Flyers only advanced because Marc-Andre Fleury was horrific in goal for the Penguins. This time they have to face a tight checking team with a great goalie. And the Devils have a few high end scoring threats to boot.

Coyotes cannot match the talent the Predators have. Games should be lopsided. But you never know, the Coyotes were outplayed badly 5-on-5 but still beat the Blackhawks. Last night they beat the Predators after getting outshot 16-1 in the third period.

Rangers. Flyers, Blues, and Predators

Since no one I really like is left it'd be cool if some teams that aren't usually deep in the playoffs made it.

Looks like the flyers just woke up in the sesond!

Go Flyers!

I wonder what's going on with Phoenix. They're up 2:0 now. Looks like they play their asses off in hope the team doesn't get traded to another City

Capitols. Flyers, Kings, and Coyotes!

Don't really care all that much for the Caps, but I'd rather see them advance than NY.

Required Fields wrote:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

New York Rangers [1] vs. Washington Capitals [7]
The Rangers and Capitals meet for the second season in a row, although last year they met in the opening round. One year earlier, the Capitals were the top seeded team in the Eastern Conference. This year, the Rangers are the top seeded team. The Capitals defeated the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins, in the opening round. The Rangers are hungry for revenge, having been supplanted by the Capitals in the opening round of the playoffs last season.
Prediction: New York Rangers in seven games.

Philadelphia Flyers [5] vs. New Jersey Devils [6]
The Philadelphia Flyers were in one of the highest scoring playoff matchups of all time in the opening round against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now they face a more defensive minded team in the New Jersey Devils, who defeated the Florida Panthers in the opening round. The two teams have met four times before. In 1995 and in 2000, New Jersey won. In 2004 and 2010, Philadelphia won.
Prediction: Philadelphia Flyers in five games.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

St. Louis Blues [2] vs. Los Angeles Kings [8]
The Los Angeles Kings shocked the hockey world by advancing beyond the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2001 by defeating the President's Trophy winners, the Vancouver Canucks, in the opening round. The St. Louis Blues advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2002 by defeating the San Jose Sharks in five games. Both teams entered the NHL in 1967, and neither has won a Stanley Cup (St. Louis has made three Stanley Cup Finals appearances to date, Los Angeles has made only one). Despite the difference in the seeding, the two teams both play a similar style of hockey; both teams have first rate goaltending and excellent defense. This means this series, while it won't have the firepower of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia's classic first round encounter this season, should be a tight series.
Prediction: St. Louis Blues in seven games.

Phoenix Coyotes [3] vs. Nashville Predators [4]
The Phoenix Coyotes advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 1987, when the franchise was still located in Winnipeg. They face the Nashville Predators, who advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs for the second straight season. Neither team has ever made it beyond the second round of the playoffs, so at least one team will make their first ever trip to the Conference Finals this season. This is the first time Phoenix and Nashville have met in the playoffs.
Prediction: Nashville Predators in six games.

BOOOOOOO! The Kings had St. Louis number all year and that was before adding Jeff Carter to the line-up. GO KINGS!

I think your Nashville prediction might be off as well, especially considering that AZ are up two games already. I don't care either way, but my wife is a AZ fan.

GO KINGS!

GO FLYERS!

DevZor wrote:

Looks like the flyers just woke up in the sesond!

Yes they did. The first period I was wondering where the Flyers were and who the clowns were that were wearing their uniforms. Then in the second and third periods they turned up the heat. The Flyers were lucky that Bryz was on his game in the first or it would have been a much bigger deficit going into the second. Still, great game. Very entertaining without being the circus that was the Flyers vs the Pens. GO FLYERS!

Go Flyers!!

Go Blues!
Yeah, I'm watching hockey. Can't follow the puck and don't know the rules but I'm jumping on the bandwagon.

C - A - P - S CAPS CAPS CAPS!!!!!!!!

thejokeriv wrote:

C - A - P - S CAPS CAPS CAPS!!!!!!!!

\

i am rooting for the Caps too!!

tohostudios wrote:

Go Blues!
Yeah, I'm watching hockey. Can't follow the puck and don't know the rules but I'm jumping on the bandwagon.

The Blues were owned tonight. It's not over yet but GO KINGS!

exact33 wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

C - A - P - S CAPS CAPS CAPS!!!!!!!!

\

i am rooting for the Caps too!!

Awesome!!!!! 1 - 1 Series tie! The Caps seem to have turned it up in the playoffs, which is different that what they usually do (great in regular season, then a quick playoff exit)

Blues got some work to do now, being down 2-0 in the series. GO BLUES!

Pathetic game 2 for the Flyers. Scored one goal early then stopped playing. Bryz showed up for the game, the rest of the guys were sleeping on the ice. Here's to game 3! GO FLYERS!

ultmetal, check your private messages.

I quite enjoyed the open net goal in the Devils Flyers game tonight. And it must be nice for NJ to head back home with a win on the road.

ultmetal wrote:

Pathetic game 2 for the Flyers. Scored one goal early then stopped playing. Bryz showed up for the game, the rest of the guys were sleeping on the ice. Here's to game 3! GO FLYERS!

Yea, that was pretty ugly last night.

What a game between the Rangers and Caps. Now that's the way to play goalie in the playoffs.

007 wrote:

What a game between the Rangers and Caps. Now that's the way to play goalie in the playoffs.

Yep, but the result wasn't what I wanted.......

Flyers drop game 3 in OT!

Lets Go Flyers!

Look at the bright side, ultmetal. The Kings are a win away from the Western Conference Finals.

Darryl Sutter has really turned that LA Kings team around. In the offseason I thought they had potential, but they were really underachieving early on. Right now they seem unstoppable. They've now gone 7-1 against two of the best regular season teams in the league. You're not supposed to be able to do that.