2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: First round predictions

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Boston Bruins (1st in Northeast Division and Western Conference) vs. Detroit Red Wings (2nd wild card)
The Boston Bruins finished the 2013-14 regular season with the best record in the NHL, clinching them the President's Trophy. Many people were writing Detroit's playoff hopes out after the Olympic break thanks to many injuries, particularly the loss of Henrik Zetterberg, but managed to play some excellent hockey down the stretch to squeak into the second wild card position. Despite being the underdog, Detroit actually won three of the four games they played against Boston in the regular season. Boston and Detroit meet for the first time in the playoffs since 1957, where Boston defeated Detroit in the semifinals in five games.
Prediction: Boston in five games.

Pittsburgh Penguins (1st in Metropolitan Division) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (1st wild card)
The move from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference turned out to be a beneficial move for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in five years. The odds are in favor of the Penguins, who won all five games against the Blue Jackets during the regular season. Plus, 13 players on the Columbus Blue Jackets have no postseason experience to their credit. However, the Blue Jackets did play better hockey down the stretch, so they hope that keeps up during the postseason.
Prediction: Pittsburgh in seven games.

Tampa Bay Lightning (2nd in Northeast Division) vs. Montréal Canadiens (3rd in Northeast Division)
In their last game of the regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning won a shootout over the Washington Capitals to gain home ice advantage in their first round series against the Montréal Canadiens. Tampa Bay won three of the four games they played against Montréal during the regular season. The two teams last met in the playoffs in 2004, when the Lightning swept the Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Semifinals en route to their only Stanley Cup in team history thus far.
Prediction: Tampa Bay in six games.

New York Rangers (2nd in Metropolitan Division) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (3rd in Metropolitan Division)
The Flyers win against Pittsburgh on the last weekend of the regular season meant that we would not see another battle of Pennsylvania in the opening round of the playoffs. When the Flyers and Penguins met in the opening round of the playoffs in 2012, the result was an incredibly exciting, high-octane series that many viewed as the most exciting round of the entire playoffs. The Flyers instead will face the New York Rangers in the opening round of the playoffs. The two teams have met ten times in the playoffs, with the Flyers winning six times, and the Rangers winning four.
Prediction: New York in seven games.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Anaheim Ducks (1st in Pacific Division and Western Conference) vs. Dallas Stars (2nd wild card)
Anaheim won their first ever Western Conference title in 2013-14. They finished with an astonishing 114 points, a franchise record, and set another franchise record this season with 260 non-shootout goals. They face the Dallas Stars in the opening round of the playoffs. Dallas and Anaheim have met twice before in the playoffs, with Anaheim winning the first encounter in 2006, and Dallas winning the second in 2008. Defenseman Trevor Daley is the only current member of the Dallas Stars who was with the team when they last made the playoffs in 2008.
Prediction: Anaheim in five games.

Colorado Avalanche (1st in Central Division) vs. Minnesota Wild (1st wild card)
During their first year with Patrick Roy as head coach, the Colorado Avalanche have shown that the rebuilding stage is over. They stormed to first place in the Central Division, their first division title since 2003. They face the Minnesota Wild in the opening round. Minnesota's weakness is its offense; they only had three players who managed to score 20 goals. Colorado's weakness is its lack of playoff experience, which can hurt a team. However, one inspiration is their coach, Patrick Roy, who was goaltender for the 1986 Montréal Canadiens, who won the Stanley Cup with 11 rookies on their team.
Prediction: Colorado in six games.

St. Louis Blues (2nd in Central Division) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (3rd in Central Division)
The St. Louis Blues were expected by many to finish at the top of the Central Division early in the year. But with the return of the Colorado Avalanche to the NHL's elite, and a late season losing streak, prevented them from clinching the Central Division title. They will face the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Chicago Blackhawks, in the opening round. The Blackhawks scored 267 goals during the regular season, the most in the NHL. However, St. Louis hopes that goaltender Ryan Miller, a former Vezina Trophy winner, can shut down Chicago's offense.
Prediction: St. Louis in seven games.

San Jose Sharks (2nd in Pacific Division) vs. Los Angeles Kings (3rd in Pacific Division)
The Sharks and the Kings meet once again. Last year, in the Western Conference Semifinals, the then-defending Stanley Cup Champions Los Angeles Kings defeated the San Jose Sharks in seven games before succumbing to the following round to the Chicago Blackhawks, who went on to win the Stanley Cup. The Kings play a more defensive game, and have the better goaltending. Plus, Los Angeles won three of the five games they played against the Sharks during the regular season. During last year's meeting in the Western Conference Semifinals, the home team won all seven games. This time, the Sharks will hope that the luck of home ice advantage will rub on them.
Prediction: San Jose in six games.

Traditionally, the best hockey is played in the first round of the playoffs. I don't see any sweeps this time around. But there is going to be some upsets, and at least two division winners eliminated.

Anaheim - Dallas 2-4
Seguin is having a career year and some of it spills into the playoffs. Kari Lehtonen stands on his head, Antoine Roussel gets under the skin of Getzlaf and/or Perry, we'll see 3 overtime games and it's Jamie Benn who scores the series winner in game six triple OT.

San Jose - Los Angeles 4-1
The Queens have been known as a tremendous playoff team, and San Jose is the opposite, but this is the year of the Sharks. They will make it look easy. Too much depth and too much skill. Hertl is back and Logan Couture is the series MVP.

Colorado - Minnesota 3-4
Great regular season, but let's face it - the Avs are overachievers. Avs and their fans are just happy they made it to the playoffs and won the division. But veterans like Parise, Suter, Koivu and Pominville will take this series, and spoil the party. There's still ways to go before the Avs can contend for real, and this will be a big lesson. Game 7 winner goes in off the ass of Ryan O'Reilly.

St.Louis - Chicago 2-4
Hawks get a great start and win both games in St.Louis. Then guys like Morrow, Tarasenko, Sobotka return from their injuries, and the Blues make it a series. Patrick Sharp breaks a leg, but the Hawks prevail in six.

Pittsburgh - Columbus 1-4
Sergei Bobrovsky is the new Halak. Ryan Johansen continues his breakthrough campaign and is the best player out there. He has the size, the hands and the smarts all comparable to Malkin. Now he outplays him, to prove he is in fact a better version of Malkin. Pens can't break through offensively and their defense leaks. Jackets in 5.

NY Rangers - Philadelphia 4-2
A great series, with multiple comeback wins. We don't get a game seven, because it'd be too predictable to predict a game seven in an awesome, tight series, ha!   Lundqvist wins the battle of the goalies, Mason gets exposed. Rangers D is still too good, and Vigneault gets some offense out of MSL, Richards and Nash to give the Rags the edge.

Boston - Detroit 2-4
The Red Wings do to the Bruins what they did to the Ducks last year (and almost did to the Hawks). A shocker to some. p*ssy puck possession wins over hard hitting and grit, and everyone outside of Detroit throws up a little in their mouths. Franzen scores the empty netter to win game six in Detroit and kisses Zetterberg on the lips in celebration. Gregory Campbell breaks a leg.

Tampa Bay - Montreal 1-4
Habs don't get home ice, but the Bolts are a mess anyway. MSL left after asking for a trade, Vezina-candidate Bishop is injured and Ryan Malone is in jail. The Habs take advantage and Pacioretty lights up that lanky Swedish goalie to get a split in Tampa. The Montreal home crowd, made entirely out of assholes, gets any ordinary contact called as a minor penalty to the visiting team, and the series is 3-1 after four games. Then Victor Hedman gets arrested for possession of cocaine, asks for a trade to New York and Mike Kostka gets drawn in for game five. Pacioretty scores 4 times and Kostka is -5 for the night as the Habs cruise to second round. Stamkos breaks a leg.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Boston Bruins (1st in Northeast Division and Western Conference) vs. Detroit Red Wings (2nd wild card)
Prediction: Boston in five games.

Pittsburgh Penguins (1st in Metropolitan Division) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (1st wild card)

Prediction: Pittsburgh in five games.

Tampa Bay Lightning (2nd in Northeast Division) vs. Montréal Canadiens (3rd in Northeast Division)

Prediction: Montreal in six games.

New York Rangers (2nd in Metropolitan Division) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (3rd in Metropolitan Division)

Prediction: New York in six games.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Anaheim Ducks (1st in Pacific Division and Western Conference) vs. Dallas Stars (2nd wild card)

Prediction: Dallas in seven games.

Colorado Avalanche (1st in Central Division) vs. Minnesota Wild (1st wild card)

Prediction: Minnesota in six games.

St. Louis Blues (2nd in Central Division) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (3rd in Central Division)

Prediction: Chicago in seven games.

San Jose Sharks (2nd in Pacific Division) vs. Los Angeles Kings (3rd in Pacific Division)

Prediction: San Jose in six games.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Boston Bruins (1st in Northeast Division and Western Conference) vs. Detroit Red Wings (2nd wild card)
Prediction: Boston in five games.

Pittsburgh Penguins (1st in Metropolitan Division) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (1st wild card)

Prediction: Pittsburgh in five games.

Tampa Bay Lightning (2nd in Northeast Division) vs. Montréal Canadiens (3rd in Northeast Division)

Prediction: Tampa Bay in six games.

New York Rangers (2nd in Metropolitan Division) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (3rd in Metropolitan Division)

Prediction: Flyers in seven games.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Anaheim Ducks (1st in Pacific Division and Western Conference) vs. Dallas Stars (2nd wild card)

Prediction: Anaheim in six games.

Colorado Avalanche (1st in Central Division) vs. Minnesota Wild (1st wild card)

Prediction: Colorado in seven games.

St. Louis Blues (2nd in Central Division) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (3rd in Central Division)

Prediction: Chicago in seven games.

San Jose Sharks (2nd in Pacific Division) vs. Los Angeles Kings (3rd in Pacific Division)

Prediction: Los Angeles in six games.

Since my team decided not to make it in and I don't have a huge preference who wins it all I'll Play

The short and sweet version:


Avs vs Wild> Avs win

Blues vs Hawks> Hawks win

Ducks vs Stars> Ducks win

Sharks vs Kings> Sharks win

Bruins vs Wings> Bruins win

Bolts vs Habs> Bolts win

Pens vs Jackets> Pens win

Rangers vs Flyers> Rangers win

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Boston Bruins (1st in Northeast Division and Western Conference) vs. Detroit Red Wings (2nd wild card)
Prediction: Boston in five games.

Pittsburgh Penguins (1st in Metropolitan Division) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (1st wild card)

Prediction: Pittsburgh in five games.

Tampa Bay Lightning (2nd in Northeast Division) vs. Montréal Canadiens (3rd in Northeast Division)

Prediction: Tampa Bay in six games.

New York Rangers (2nd in Metropolitan Division) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (3rd in Metropolitan Division)

Prediction: Rangers in five games.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Anaheim Ducks (1st in Pacific Division and Western Conference) vs. Dallas Stars (2nd wild card)

Prediction: Anaheim in six games.

Colorado Avalanche (1st in Central Division) vs. Minnesota Wild (1st wild card)

Prediction: Wild in six games.

St. Louis Blues (2nd in Central Division) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (3rd in Central Division)

Prediction: Chicago in five games.

San Jose Sharks (2nd in Pacific Division) vs. Los Angeles Kings (3rd in Pacific Division)

Prediction: San Jose in a sweep.

Montréal became the first team to advance to the second round of the playoffs after sweeping Tampa Bay.

Required Fields wrote:

Montréal became the first team to advance to the second round of the playoffs after sweeping Tampa Bay.

Well that killed my prediction on this board as well as several other playoff brackets I filled out

I've got to hand it to the Columbus Blue Jackets, they made an amazing comeback in tonight's game.

Required Fields wrote:

I've got to hand it to the Columbus Blue Jackets, they made an amazing comeback in tonight's game.

Please. That was all on Fleury. There's no way he should be making a play like that with 22 seconds left in the game. That's junior hockey league level play there.

007 wrote:

Required Fields wrote:

I've got to hand it to the Columbus Blue Jackets, they made an amazing comeback in tonight's game.

Please. That was all on Fleury. There's no way he should be making a play like that with 22 seconds left in the game. That's junior hockey league level play there.

Even though my second favorite team is whoever plays the Pens you can't nail him totally with that loss. He saved 42 shots out of 46 while Pittsburgh only managed 25 total. Other than a weaker 1st period by Columbus and Bobrovsky having a bad stretch in the first 12 minutes or so Columbus was clearly the better team tonight. I think Pittsburgh was lucky the score wasn't worse.

Svengo wrote:

007 wrote:

Required Fields wrote:

I've got to hand it to the Columbus Blue Jackets, they made an amazing comeback in tonight's game.

Please. That was all on Fleury. There's no way he should be making a play like that with 22 seconds left in the game. That's junior hockey league level play there.

Even though my second favorite team is whoever plays the Pens ;)you can't nail him totally with that loss. He saved 42 shots out of 46 while Pittsburgh only managed 25 total. Other than a weaker 1st period by Columbus and Bobrovsky having a bad stretch in the first 12 minutes or so Columbus was clearly the better team tonight. I think Pittsburgh was lucky the score wasn't worse.

I agree. I am not saying this because I like Fleury (I watched him play before he was in the NHL, he played junior hockey for the local junior hockey team, and I met him in person a number of years ago). He was actually very good until the last few minutes of the game. Then he just fell apart. Overall, Columbus totally outplayed Pittsburgh, so I do think they deserved the win tonight.

007 wrote:

Required Fields wrote:

I've got to hand it to the Columbus Blue Jackets, they made an amazing comeback in tonight's game.

Please. That was all on Fleury. There's no way he should be making a play like that with 22 seconds left in the game. That's junior hockey league level play there.

Fleury was also elite, but prone to meltdowns at the world juniors, if you remember:



So, what did you expect?!   

The most amazing thing about that Pens-Jackets series is that four times out of four the team that gets up 3-1, ends up losing 3-4. I guess the Pens dodged a bullet by not moving up 3-1 in wins...

Meanwhile, the Hawks are tied with the Blues 3-3 after regulation in game four. Hawks need this one.

Earlier the Stars beat the Ducks and their series is tied at 2. Getzlaf missed the game after a head/jaw injury and having Antoine Roussel try to hit him in the head every chance he got in the last game. They also fought late in the game after Getzlaf had had enough. In this game, Roussel goes after Perry and the two fight.

If you read my pre-series prediction, you'll see I saw this coming miles away. Antoine Roussel has been such a thorn on the side of my Blackhawks the last two years (and the Stars haven't even been a playoff team!), I honestly wish someone would just "Bertuzzi" him. Roussel was also the league penalty minute leader in the regular season. What a dirty, dirty asshole.

Patrick Kane scores, Hawks win 4-3.

Standings right now:

Anaheim - Dallas 2-2
San Jose - Los Angeles 3-0
Colorado - Minnesota 2-1
St.Louis - Chicago 2-2

Pittsburgh - Columbus 2-2
NY Rangers - Philadelphia 2-1
Boston - Detroit 2-1
Tampa Bay - Montreal 0-4

Tomorrow it's BOS@DET, COL@MIN and SJS@LAK

Svengo wrote:

007 wrote:

Required Fields wrote:

I've got to hand it to the Columbus Blue Jackets, they made an amazing comeback in tonight's game.

Please. That was all on Fleury. There's no way he should be making a play like that with 22 seconds left in the game. That's junior hockey league level play there.

Even though my second favorite team is whoever plays the Pens ;)you can't nail him totally with that loss. He saved 42 shots out of 46 while Pittsburgh only managed 25 total. Other than a weaker 1st period by Columbus and Bobrovsky having a bad stretch in the first 12 minutes or so Columbus was clearly the better team tonight. I think Pittsburgh was lucky the score wasn't worse.

I don't care how many shots he faced and saved. His blunder cost them that game. And that goal in overtime has to be one of the softest I've ever seen. Meltdown indeed !

I'm not a hockey fan and don't even understand all the rules but since the Blues are in the playoffs I'm more or less forced to pay attention and I have to say that for a casual hockey viewer this Blackhawks/Blues series has been pretty fun to watch. Three of the four games have gone to OT and there have been lots of hard hits and late goals.

Good series, but needs a few scraps to really put it over the top.

Brandon Bollig and Ryan Reaves have some history, but what I'd really like to see is Bollig tune up that human vomit Max Lapierre.

Here's a clip of the good old rivalry days at the original Madhouse on Madison, Chicago Stadium:



Two of the best (and toughest) defensemen in the league in Scott Stevens and Dave "Charlie" Manson going at it

Hawks-Blues go to overtime for the fourth time in five games.

Jonathan Toews wins it with a breakaway goal:

Detroit was eliminated Saturday. St. Louis and Dallas were both eliminated yesterday.

What a heartbreaker for Dallas. Being up 4-2 near the end, looking set to win that game and force a game seven. Then the whole world came down.

Brad Meier needs to exit the building and never show his face on the ice again.

Nice to see the Pens eliminate the Blue Jackets to move on to the next round. It certainly wasn't easy. Now they face the Rangers-Flyers winner.

A great hockey night with 3 (three!) game sevens one after another.

The Rangers eliminated the Flyers earlier, 2-1. The Avalanche are up 2-1 against the Wild, though their first goal was blatant goalie interference and never should have counted. Kings @ Sharks just started.

Like I said, Lari - Brad Meier needs to be fired and banned from ALL hockey rinks. But even if he was wearing an Avs jersey under the ref uniform, it still was not enough.

Bring on Chi-Town!! Super psyched to face our old rivals!! And, we had a good year against the champs - 3-1-1 for the good guys!