Sports Jabber's NHL Playoff Preview

NHL Playoffs - Eastern Conference Preview

The Bruins come into the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the East. They have completely dominated the Canadiens all season, posting a 5-0-1 record against them. Led by Center Marc Savard and Goaltender Tim Thomas, the Bruins are poised for a long playoff run.

The Canadiens have had a lot of changes from last season throughout this season—from the firing of their coach to the benching of their star player Alexi Kovalev.

Still, they managed to hold off Florida and Buffalo to make it into the playoffs, but they’ll have a challenge ahead of them.

If Carey Price can play like he did most of last season they’ll have a shot of beating the Bruins.

The Canadiens will have to capitalize on every one of their power plays and try to find a way to get the puck past Tim Thomas

The pick: Bruins in 5

The Capitals bring in one of the most lethal offensive lineups in the NHL to this series against a team that has had trouble scoring this season.

Alex Ovechkin again led the NHL in goals scored, winning the Rocket Richard Trophy and is a Hart Trophy leading candidate.

The Caps were ousted in seven games last year against the Flyers and the Rangers made it to the Conference Semi-Finals.

The Caps weakness is not giving up goals. Their defense, although improved, has its weaknesses.

Mike Green may be the best offensive-defensemen in the NHL but he has his moments where he may concentrate on scoring a bit too much.

Jose Theodore has rebounded after a shaky start in Washington to become a solid goalie, that being said, he doesn’t exactly exude confidence.

The Rangers were big winners at the trade deadline, acquiring Nik Antropov from the Leafs and Derek Morris from the Coyotes.

Antropov has helped the Rangers solve their scoring woes and new coach, John Torterella, has revitalized this offense.

The addition of Sean Avery brings some grit to the line up and they may well count with Washington.

If I’m the Rangers, I would assign Sean Avery to defend Ovechkin all series, if you frustrate the “Great 8,” he’ll get off his game and take penalties and anytime he’s not on the ice is a good thing for the Rangers.

The Pick: Capitals in 7

The Hurricanes are one of the hottest teams coming into the playoffs and with a 3-1 season series win against the Devils, they may continue that streak.

Eric Staal has really benefited from the trade deadline addition of Erik Cole from the Oilers.

It looks as if Cam Ward has gone back to his Conn Smythe winning ways of 2005 and the Hurricanes might just be able to take out a great team in New Jersey.

The Devils won 50 games this year for the first time in franchise history. They did that most of the season without hall of fame goalie Marty Brodeur.

Now, that he’s back, they’re even more dangerous. After Brodeur eclipsed the record for most wins in a career, however, the team has started to hit a slide.

They won their last two games of the season and Zach Parise, Travis Zajac and company hope they oust the Hurricanes quickly.

The Hurricanes started tailing off again at the end of the season so they may be starting to cool off of their ridiculous hot streak.

The Pick: Hurricanes in 7

The Penguins have been probably the NHL’s hottest team since Valentines Day.

After firing Head Coach Michel Therrien and replacing him with Interim Head Coach Dan Bylsma, the Penguins have been on a hot streak.

They have rocketed up the standings from 10th to fourth.

Led by Art Ross Trophy winner Evgeni Malkin and Capitan Sidney Crosby the Penguins have one of the deepest pool of forwards in the NHL.

Marc-Andre Fleury between the pipes has been starting to play some of his best hockey of the season and deadline acquisitions Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz have been on almost a point per game pace.

The Flyers made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, before running into these Penguins and being ousted in five games. The Flyers have been a great scoring team all season; they are the only team in the NHL to boast six 25-goal scorers.

Jeff Carter flirted with most goals in the NHL and if Danny Briere were healthy all season, he would likely have gotten to 25 as well.

On defense they’re as solid as ever, with Kimmo Timmonen, Brayden Coburn and Matt Carle.

Marty Biron has struggled to be considered the top goalie in Philadelphia, with Antero Nittymaki nipping at his heels.

He played well the last time the Flyers were in Pittsburgh and he’ll need to continue to play his best or it will be an early exit for the Flyers

The Pick: Penguins in 6

NHL Playoffs - Western Conference Preview

The Record:
The Anaheim Ducks have gone 13-6-2 over their last 21, but lost their last game.

The San Jose Sharks are 11-8-2 over their last 21, losing their last two. The Sharks have won their season series against the Ducks 4-2-0.

Keys to Success:
The San Jose Sharks have only lost 18 games in regulation and 11 in overtime this season.

They have the second best record in the Western Conference in goals for, and goals against, but this isn’t the first time the Sharks have looked good but managed to miss the finals.

They are going to need to pile the goals up on the Ducks as quickly as possible and finish this series in four games.

Guys like Boyle and Blake will need to step up and be leaders both in the locker room and on the ice.

The Anaheim Ducks are going to need to keep feeding off their good play as of late.

They’re going to need players like Getzlaf, Perry and of course, Selanne to step up on offense and not take stupid penalties.

If the Ducks get the lead the need to focus on keeping the pressure on the Sharks, sitting back and trying to defend a one-goal lead isn’t something that should cross their minds.

These guys have won the cup before and need to draw on that experience.

The Pick: Sharks in 6

The Record:
The Columbus Blue Jackets have gone 11-6-4 over their last 21 and have lost their last two.

The Detroit Red Wings have gone 11-8-2 over their last 21 and have lost their last three. They have managed to get the edge by 1 point in the series with a record of 3-2-1 against the Jackets.

Keys to Success:
No team has scored more goals this season the Detroit Red Wings, but only four teams in the Western Conference have allowed more goals then they have.

Luckily, for them Columbus only has three players that have scored more then 20 goals this season.

Putting up the first and second goal could put a stranglehold on the Blue Jackets that they can’t get out of. Detroit has the experience and this series is theirs to lose.

The Blue Jackets are going to need to rely on Nash and Mason to be the best players on this team.

The problem is that neither of these guys has seen the post-season. Columbus will need to play the Wings tough and try to force turnovers to make opportunities.

Good goaltending may give them a chance to stay in this one.

The Pick: Detroit in 4

The Record:
The Canucks are 14-5-2 over their last 21, winning their last three.

The St Louis Blues are 14-5-2 over their last 21, winning their last three. Not only are both teams’ records over the last 21 identical, they split the series against each other 2-2.

Keys to Success:
The Vancouver Canucks are going to rely on the solid goaltending of Roberto Luongo.

If he plays like the All – Star that he is, he can easily keep the Canucks in this series.

The Canucks will also need to stay sharp on defense, not letting players walk in, and their stars like Mats Sundin, the Sedin twins, Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows, will need to step up their play to create chances.

The St Louis Blues will need their young guys like Backes, Boyes, and Oshie to play with high intensity and get under the Canucks skin—Tkachuk and Mcdonald will need to give a tough veteran presence, but the roster would be immediately more dangerous if Kariya was available.

Mason is a good goalie and needs to build on and improve his post-season record.

The Pick: Canucks in 5

The Record:
The Calgary Flames are 9-12 over their last 21, winning their last game.

The Chicago Blackhawks are 11-7-3 over their last 21, winning their last three. They have dominated the Flames this season going 4-0.

Keys to Success:

The Flames will need their guys coming off of injury reserve to make an immediate impact.

Phaneuf, more then anyone else who is returning, will need to step up and shut down this young Chicago team.

Kiprusoff is also going to need to be on his game to shut down these high scorers.

The Blackhawks are going to need to come in fast and never let the Flames recover.

They need to take shots on Kip and keep the defense on their feet. They need to be prepared to get played physically and adapt to that to create chances in their favor.

Not giving the Flames power play time will significantly help their odds.

The Pick: Chicago in 4

Join in the discussion on this and other topics in the NEW Sports Jabber Forums!