Stanley Cup Playoffs 2016: Complete Guide and Predictions for Round 2

We now have answers to first-round NHL playoff questions. Would the St. Louis Blues choke again? No, but it was close. Would the Stanley Cup hangover claim the Chicago Blackhawks as its latest victim? Yes. Was the Pittsburgh Penguins' late-season run a fluke? No, not even close.

At first glance, the second round is even tougher to pick than the first. These are four toss-ups. Not a single team can have much more than a 55 percent chance of winning any one of these series.

The marquee second-round matchup is Pittsburgh vs. Washington. Sidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin. This is going to be the ratings winner for the networks, and it'll be a shame one side had to lose. It would be so much fun watching these two go at it for a Stanley Cup or during a conference final.

However, other than with wild cards, the NHL's current playoff format pits divisional foes against each other in the first two rounds.

As Round 2 begins, let's look at the intriguing questions that will likely wind up deciding each series, along with some predictions.

We know Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin will be major factors, but who/what will be deciding factors in the Penguins-Capitals series?

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

As of Tuesday, it remained unknown if Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury would be available for Game 1, but it appears highly unlikely. Fleury told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Jenn Menendez on Monday that he was still experiencing concussion symptoms from a March 30 injury.

So, it comes down to this: Matt Murray vs. Braden Holtby.

I'll take Holtby, the certain Vezina Trophy winner who played very well in the first round against Philadelphia despite a minor injury and little offensive support in the latter part of the series.

Even if Fleury's symptoms vanished today, Murray would probably get the nod. He played well against the Rangers in the first round, and Fleury has been sidelined for too long now to just jump back in the net given the stakes.

Another important matchup: Mike Richards and Jay Beagle vs. Nick Bonino and Matt Cullen. 

Richards and Beagle center the Capitals' third and fourth lines, respectively, with Bonino and Cullen on the other side. With each team touting dynamite top-six forwards, they could cancel each other out. If that happens, how well the centers on the bottom two lines perform could be the difference.

Which tortured franchise has a better chance to be this year's Stanley Cup champion: the St. Louis Blues or San Jose Sharks?

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

It's tough to think about either fanbase suffering again with no Cup. The Blues have not been to a Stanley Cup Final since 1970, when Scotty Bowman was the coach. The Sharks have never made it there.

This is a tough question. Both teams seem to have it all together at the right time of the year. Their respective fanbases are jazzed, thinking this could possibly be their year. The Blues have the Stars in the second round, while the Sharks play Nashville.

The Blues are a little bit better, though. They have four lines that contribute something every night, and their defense is deeper. Plus, if they meet the Sharks in the Western Conference Final, they would have home-ice advantage.

As the rounds progress, that matters. According to WhoWins.com, even teams that lose the first game of a series have the edge the rest of the way. Home teams that have lost the first game of first-round, best-of-seven series have still gone on to win 52.2 percent of the time (48-44), and then the percentage jumps to 59.7 (37-25) in the second round.

It's only 58.8 in the third round (30-21), but, again, that's if the visiting team wins the first game. If the home team wins the first game in the third round, which has happened 62.9 percent of the time (61-36), its overall chances of winning the series are 75.3 percent (73-24).

If it comes down to Blues-Sharks, the Blues win with home ice to thank.

Will the Tampa Bay Lightning-New York Islanders winner be a sacrificial lamb to either Pittsburgh or Washington in the Eastern Conference Final?

Kathy Kmonicek/Associated Press

Probably. Washington and Pittsburgh are clearly the class of the East right now.

Tampa Bay is the defending Eastern champ and would be dangerous in the conference final with Ben Bishop in goal.

Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times reported that Steven Stamkos practiced in a non-contact jersey Tuesday, while the Tampa Tribune's Erik Erlendsson reported that the Lightning hope Anton Stralman can return during the second round. While that's good news on the surface, it seems the odds are against either returning very soon. Stralman, Lightning coach Jon Cooper told Erlendsson, isn't even skating yet.

The Islanders did well to beat Florida in the first round, and John Tavares has been strong so far. But they're just not good enough to beat a Pittsburgh or Washington in a seven-game series.

So, basically, pencil in either Washington or Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup Final.

From this point forward, will national television ratings be lower than they have been in years past? 

Except for the Penguins-Capitals series, probably. Crosby vs. Ovechkin will get strong ratings, but no matter who comes out of the West, they figure to drag down NBC's Stanley Cup Final ratings.

San Jose, Nashville, Dallas and St. Louis just won't sell big nationally for hockey. None of those teams have true household names in the sport—not in the U.S. anyway. It's hard to imagine anyone other than locals watching the Islanders-Lightning series, too.

Why does this matter?

Because the NHL's overall revenues are tied to television, so the less money it makes from TV advertising, the more it could negatively affect the salary cap and how much your favorite team can spend on players in the near future.

According to the Associated Press (via ESPN.com), television ratings in Canada for the first round were down a whopping 60 percent from last year. Ouch.

Among the early Conn Smythe candidates so far, who is most likely to keep it going or get even better?

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

It's easy to predict that Crosby, Ovechkin or Holtby will keep things going. But here's our special pick to emerge as the leading Conn Smythe candidate: Joe Pavelski.

He was great in the first round against the Kings, and we're expecting a huge second round from him, too. Pavelski is not an unknown commodity, but his national profile will get bigger after this coming round. We'll see after that, but Joey Pavs is a good bet to win some kind of playoff hardware when this is all over.

2nd-Round Series Predictions

Washington vs. Pittsburgh

Season series: The Pens won three of the five meetings.

Outlook: Braden Holtby gives the Capitals the decided edge in goal. Nothing against Matt Murray, but it's tough seeing him outplay Holtby in this one, as hot as the Penguins are right now offensively.

Washington has home-ice advantage. That might not matter for the first six games, but it will in Game 7. It's going to be a great series either way.

Prediction: Capitals in seven games.

Tampa Bay vs. New York Islanders

Season series: The Islanders won two of the three meetings.

Outlook: Many pundits (hand raised) thought the lack of Stamkos and Stralman spelled doom for the Lightning in the first round against Detroit. But Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson were excellent, and Bishop was the man in goal.

The Islanders are getting a great playoff so far from captain John Tavares, but offense remains a problem for the rest of the lineup. Tampa Bay should have enough to win one more round, even after losing Game 1.

Prediction: Lightning in six games.

Dallas vs. St. Louis

Season series: The Blues won four of the five meetings.

Outlook: Tyler Seguin's health still seems iffy—the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com) reported that Seguin is not expected to skate in the next few days—and the Stars really struggled at times in the first round against Minnesota.

Their defense just isn't as deep as the Blues', and St. Louis has to be feeling great about itself after dethroning Chicago in the first round.

St. Louis can roll four lines effectively, while the quality drops off a bit after the top two units for Dallas. 

Prediction: Blues in five games.

San Jose vs. Nashville

Season series: Predators won two of three, with one game needing more than 60 minutes.

Outlook: The Preds come into the series on a huge high, winning a seventh game on the road in Anaheim. But now they have to stay on the road and face a tough, well-rested Sharks squad that dusted off the Kings in five games.

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

San Jose has a better front line, while the Predators probably have the overall edge on defense. If it comes down to goaltending, youngster Martin Jones has shown no signs of being intimidated on the bigger stage. Nashville's power play was a problem in the first round, with only one goal in seven games, while the Sharks scored at a nifty 23.8 percent clip against the Kings.

The Sharks seem very determined to put their tortured playoff history further in the rearview mirror. Somehow, that seems like it will be enough to move on one more round at least.

Prediction: Sharks in six games.

Adrian Dater covers the NHL for Bleacher Report.