NHL Playoffs 2012: Safest Bets to Advance to Next Round

Five of the seven playoff games thus far have been decided by only one goal, with four of those games going into overtime.

Think this postseason is going to be closely contested?

Only the New York Rangers, the No. 1 seed in the East, and Los Angeles Kings, the No. 8 seed in the West, won by two goals in the first games of their series.

Can the Rangers keep it up? Are the Kings for real? Are they the safest bets to advance?

Rangers (vs. Senators)

New York hadn't fared well against Ottawa this season, but got off to a dominant start thanks to timely goalkeeping from Henrik Lundqvist and a solid goal-scoring effort from well-balanced lines.

The Rangers haven't been the No. 1 seed in quite some time—since they won the Cup in 1994, in fact—so this is all very green to them.

They have one of the best goalkeepers in the league and they tied with the Canucks for the best road record in the league (hardly a surprise they're both the top seeds in their respective conferences).

Just because the Rangers are back as the favorite in the East doesn't mean they'll be back in the Cup Finals, but they're one of the safest, if not the safest, bets to advance to the conference semis.

Kings (vs. Canucks)

Stealing a game in Vancouver was huge, but as just said, the Canucks are a great road team.

The Kings were the last team the defending Western Conference champs wanted to see this postseason, though, and with Daniel Sedin struggling to return from a concussion last month, the Kings now hold a huge early advantage.

Roberto Luongo played admirably in net, but he saw 39 total shots while Johnny Quick had only to deal with 26 shots.

Los Angeles may be a No. 8 seed, but they play like they belong in these playoffs. This could be a quick and painful series for Vancouver—especially if Sedin cannot return to the ice.

Bruins (vs. Capitals)

The reigning champions needed an overtime goal to seal up win No. 1 over their title defense, but they dominated the game throughout.

They generated nearly twice the amount of shots as the Caps crushed them on the boards with 40-29 advantage in hits.

Boston goalie Timmy Thomas saw only 17 shots go his way, and that isn't going to get things done against last year's Crozier and Conn Smythe winner.

Boston will be skating on rather quickly.