Stanley Cup Playoffs 2015: Updated Postseason Tree, Championship Odds and Picks

Business in the Stanley Cup playoffs has officially picked up. Nearly two weeks after the first round began, only one series ended in a sweep, and at least five more will be going six games. 

Hockey and drama go hand in hand this time of year. It seems like every round there is at least one triple-overtime game and virtually every night games are decided by one goal with some late-minute momentum shift pulling fans out of their seats. 

Yet even with all this drama, nothing that's happened has been surprising. That's not a bad thing because it speaks to the parity and depth in the NHL right now. It would be boring if the higher-seeded teams were running over the other teams. That's what happens during the first round of the NBA playoffs. 

In anticipation of Friday night's matchups, which could see the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens clinch their spots in the second round, here's a look at the postseason standings right now, updated odds to win the Stanley Cup and game picks. 

Postseason Standings

Eastern Conference	Standing	Western Conference	Standing
No. 1 Montreal Canadiens vs. No. 4 Ottawa Senators	Canadiens lead series 3-1	No. 1 St. Louis Blues vs. No. 4 Minnesota Wild	Series tied 2-2
No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. No. 3 Detroit Red Wings	Series tied 2-2	No. 2 Nashville Predators vs. No. 3 Chicago Blackhawks	Blackhawks lead series 3-2
No. 1 New York Rangers vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins	Rangers lead series 3-1	No. 1 Anaheim Ducks vs. No. 4 Winnipeg Jets	Ducks won series 4-0
No. 2 Washington Capitals vs. No. 3 New York Islanders	Capitals lead series 3-2	No. 2 Vancouver Canucks vs. No. 3 Calgary Flames	Flames lead series 3-2

Stanley Cup Odds

Team	Odds
New York Rangers	6-1
Anaheim Ducks	8-1
Chicago Blackhawks	8-1
Minnesota Wild	8-1
St. Louis Blues	8-1
Montreal Canadiens	9-1
Nashville Predators	12-1
Tampa Bay Lightning	12-1
Detroit Red Wings	16-1
Ottawa Senators	16-1
Pittsburgh Penguins	16-1
Vancouver Canucks	16-1
New York Islanders	18-1
Washington Capitals	18-1
Calgary Flames	20-1
Winnipeg Jets	Eliminated

Predictions

Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

When this series ends, the Penguins are going to look back on a handful of plays that could have gone their way to completely flip the script. They have lost three games by a total of three goals, including an overtime thriller in Game 4. 

New York will be in Madison Square Garden with a chance to end the series on Friday. The Rangers know better than most teams how to keep a clear head in this spot. The Penguins took a 3-1 lead against them in last year's second round only to see the Rangers win three straight to win the series. 

What's been so impressive about the Rangers in the series so far is how they've responded to every challenge put in front of them. They lost Game 2 at home, went into Pittsburgh and won Game 3. They went down 1-0 early in Game 4 thanks to a goal by Patric Hornqvist, but Henrik Lundqvist was a brick wall the rest of the way. 

Sidney Crosby has been invisible in Pittsburgh's three losses. He has one assist and five shot attempts in those games. (Crosby has two goals on three shots in the Game 2 win.) 

Sean Hartnett of CBS New York wrote after Game 3 that New York's key to success against Crosby has been the stellar defensive efforts of Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi and others:

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At this point, Crosby looks closer to winning an Oscar than he does lifting the Stanley Cup. He’s been forced to play as more of a finisher than a creator this series because McDonagh, Girardi, Marc Staal and Co. simply aren’t allowing him the space to display his all-world vision and creativity. The effective fourth line of Tanner Glass, Dominic Moore and Jesper Fast maintained possession deep in the Pens’ end and forced Crosby to defend.

"

Crosby has earned the right to be called the best player on the planet because of his ability to create shots for himself and his teammates. He led the league with 1.09 points per game and was third in assists with 56, according to ESPN.com, but the Rangers have held him to one assist. 

The Rangers aren't doing anything fancy on offense, having scored two goals in each of their three wins, but the defense has been so fantastic that they can get away with it. Unless Crosby shows up in a big way in Game 5, this series is going to end on Friday. 

Rangers 3, Penguins 2

Ottawa Senators at Montreal Canadiens

Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press

If you were to paint a picture of the most dramatic series, it would look like this one between Ottawa and Montreal. All four games to this point have been decided by one goal, two in overtime, and the Senators got a great effort from goalie Craig Anderson, who stopped all 28 shots against him, in Game 4's 1-0 victory. 

It's almost too simplistic to say that Anderson—or any goalie in any series, for that matter—is the key for Ottawa, but TSN's Steve Lloyd did present some numbers to back up the claim:

Despite Lloyd's numbers on Carey Price, the Senators have had problems finding the net this series. After scoring three goals on 33 shots against Price in Game 1, Ottawa combined to score three goals on 65 shots in the next two games. 

Optimistic Senators supporters will point out, as Sean McIndoe of Grantland did, they haven't played up to their full potential yet this series:

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First-line center Kyle Turris has just one point through the first four games. Defenseman Erik Karlsson has three, but hasn’t yet had the sort of dominating offensive game he’s capable of (he didn’t even record a shot last night). Bobby Ryan has been ice cold for the last month.

And then there’s Mark Stone, who entered the series as one of the hottest players in the league. That ended with an injured wrist, thanks to P.K. Subban’s slash in Game 1, but Stone has still managed three points despite barely being able to shoot the puck. 

"

Getting all of Ottawa's key pieces on the same page gives the team a shot to climb back in this series after going down 3-0. The Los Angeles Kings got into a three-game hole against San Jose in the first round, won four straight and rode that momentum to a Stanley Cup title. 

It just takes so many things to go right for a team to win, and the other team to lose, four straight games in the playoffs. Unless there is a huge disparity in talent, like Anaheim's sweep of Winnipeg, those kinds of things are exceptions instead of the rule. 

Oh, speaking of talent, the Canadiens have that Price guy in goal who led the league in save percentage (.933), goals-against average (1.96) and goalie point shares (16.2) in the regular season, according to Hockey-Reference. 

The Senators got a great effort from Anderson in Game 4, but the Canadiens have the league's best goalie. Combine that with Montreal going home for Game 5, and this has the makings of a close-out game. 

Canadiens 3, Senators 1

Minnesota Wild at St. Louis Blues

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

The Wild and Blues have had one of the most unusual series for one that is tied 2-2 through four games. Only one game has been decided by as few as two goals, two games have been decided by three goals, and St. Louis won Game 4 by five goals. 

This is the definition of a roller-coaster series with more highs and lows than a teenage melodrama on The CW. It's impossible to predict this series because each game has been so radically different. The only consistent part has been that the two teams have alternated wins and losses, even going back to the regular-season finale that St. Louis won. 

It's fitting that you can seemingly track the direction of this series through the performance of St. Louis' 23-year-old sensation Vladimir Tarasenko. He's a superstar who is still developing his game, trying to find consistency. 

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

In the Blues' two wins, Tarasenko has scored five goals on eight shots. In their two losses, he's got no goals, one assist and a plus-minus rating of minus-three. 

What was so encouraging about St. Louis' effort in Game 4's 6-1 win is how physical the team played, which head coach Ken Hitchcock told The Associated Press (via Fox Sports) was not an accident.

"When we check, we score. It looks like we've joined the tournament now, and we're dialed in," Hitchcock said. "So we've got home ice back, we're dialed into our game, and hopefully we're going to be hard to play against."

Neither goalie has been consistent in this series, but Minnesota's Devan Dubnyk has struggled in April. He's allowed 22 goals on 210 shots in seven games this month. He seemed to be coming out of the funk with a shutout in Game 3 before getting torched two days later.

The Blues are the better team and should start to play like it now that they have found an attitude and swagger. It's not a scientific formula, but this series has defied logic on so many levels thus far. 

Blues 4, Wild 2