NHL Playoff Schedule 2012: First-Round NHL Upsets You Can Count on

The 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs begin tonight with the Pittsburgh Penguins hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. This matchup is one of several that will feature a lower seed advancing to the semifinals of the conference brackets.

The Flyers won their regular season series with their in-state rival, 4-2. The final matchup was held last Saturday, but the game had no impact on the regular season standings. Both teams rested their starters, including their goalies.

Philadelphia will enter the Consol Energy Center with some swagger, knowing they won both meaningful games on hostile ice this season. The Penguins may have the best point scorer in the NHL, but the Flyers have a new addition this season—goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.

This series will be a brawl, but the Flyers take the series with a Game 6 win.

The New Jersey Devils are technically an underdog as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. They will face the third seed Florida Panthers in a series that starts on Friday. However, the Panthers barely squeaked into the playoffs, losers of eight of their last 10 games.

Things won’t get any easier in the playoffs for the Panthers. New Jersey enters the playoffs with a six-game win streak and is playing solid hockey. They were over-shadowed by their Atlantic Division playing partners, but the Panthers won’t keep pace. They were a .500 team on the road (17-17-7). That won’t get it done in the playoffs.

The Western Conference has a similar No. 3 vs. No. 6 matchup. Like the Atlantic Division, the Chicago Blackhawks played in a very competitive Central Division with four teams scoring in triple digits. Their opponent played in a much weaker division, with the Phoenix Coyotes edging out the San Jose Sharks.

The Coyotes are riding a five-game winning streak and playing good hockey. This could also be their last hurrah in Phoenix, as a Seattle venture is busily working on buying the bankrupt franchise. They will fare better than their four-game sweep by the Detroit Red Wings in 2011.

Phoenix also won the last three meetings against the Blackhawks and have been the better road team this season. Look for the three-seed to win this matchup against a team with a better regular season record.

The Nashville Predators and Detroit were fairly even all season long. Detroit was much better on their home ice but had difficulty away from Joe Lewis Arena. They will need to steal one of the first two games in Nashville and follow that up with three home wins.

Jimmy Howard is having another fine season in the net, and their trio of centers will keep the pressure on Pekka Rinne and his 2.39 goals against average.

The biggest factor is the Red Wings have been here before and advanced. The Predators have one playoff series win since 2005. Detroit has hoisted the Stanley Cup in two appearances since then.

The Predators may be an up-and-coming team, but the Red Wings are an established power that won’t let Nashville win on their own ice.