NHL Playoffs 2016: Updated Schedule, Predictions for Remaining 2nd-Round Series

The St. Louis Blues asserted themselves on the road in Game 5 against the Dallas Stars. If they can do the same at home Monday night, they will advance to the Western Conference Final.

A victory would validate Ken Hitchcock's coaching after years of frustration, the Blues losing three straight first-round series prior to this year.

If St. Louis can eliminate the Stars, they will become the second team to advance to their conference final. The Tampa Bay Lightning scored a 4-0 victory in Game 5 against the New York Islanders Sunday afternoon, eliminating John Tavares and Co. in five games.

The Lightning reached the Stanley Cup Final a year ago, and they are one step closer to getting back to the championship round once again. 

The Blues have a strong, deep team and appear to be more well-rounded than the Stars, who edged them out for the Central Division title by two points over the 82-game regular-season schedule.

Additionally, their first-round victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks taught the Blues how to close out a series. While it took them three tries to do it, they came up with a huge effort in the seventh game to beat Chicago, and defenseman Carl Gunnarsson said that experience helps his team.

"I think we feel really good," Gunnarsson told Louie Korac of NHL.com. "We've been in this situation before so we know what we have to do a little bit different than last time. We've got a good feeling in the group right now."

Matchup	Series Standing	Next Game	Time (ET)	Series Prediction
St. Louis-Dallas	St. Louis, 3-2	May 9	8 p.m.	St. Louis in 6
Nashville-San Jose	San Jose, 3-2	May 9	9 p.m.	San Jose in 7
Pittsburgh-Washington	Pittsburgh, 3-2	May 10	8 p.m.	Washington in 7

The Stars have demonstrated their offensive proficiencies through the regular season and the playoffs, but their defensive issues have come up frequently in the postseason. They have been unable to keep the Blues from setting up shop in the most dangerous scoring areas, and goalies Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi have not been able to keep the Blues from scoring important goals at big moments.

After being held to one goal in the series opener, the Blues have averaged four goals per game in the last four games. St. Louis is also spreading the scoring around. Vladimir Tarasenko has a team-leading six goals and 11 points, while Robby Fabbri and Jaden Schwartz each has 10 points. David Backes, Alex Steen and Troy Brouwer have also scored big goals for the Blues.

The Stars will try to square the series without Tyler Seguin, who has been out since the second game of the first round. Seguin suffered a lower-body injury late in the regular season, and while he was expected to be back fairly early in the postseason, he did not make the trip to St. Louis for Game 6, per Korac.

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If the Stars are going to win Game 6 and send the series back to Dallas for Game 7 Wednesday night, they need Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza and Patrick Sharp to step up and do the bulk of the scoring.

They also need a defense that has struggled to stand up and offer some resistance to the Blues' relentless attack.

The San Jose Sharks won't be at home, but they are hoping to close out the Nashville Predators in Game 6. The Sharks rebounded from the heartbreak of a 4-3 triple overtime loss to come through with a dominant 5-1 victory at home in Game 5.

The Sharks, like the Blues, have a long history of playoff disappointment, but there is something different about this version of San Jose.

Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty Images

The combination of Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture and Brent Burns has been relentless, and all three players have shown the ability to carry the Sharks collectively. Burns and Couture have scored a team-leading 13 points each, while Pavelski has a team-high eight goals and 12 points.

Couture knows closing out the Predators will be difficult. "We realize that they're going to bring it tomorrow night," Couture told NHL.com's Eric Gilmore Sunday before traveling to Nashville. "Obviously, one loss for them and their season's over. That's when teams bring their best, so we're going to have to be better."

The Predators have shown their ability to fight back when their situation has been at its toughest throughout the regular season and the playoffs. They were down 3-2 to the Pacific Division champion Anaheim Ducks in the first round and won the final two games of the series.

They were down 2-0 to the Sharks before coming back to tie the series, and head coach Peter Laviolette told NHL.com correspondent Robby Stanley that his team knows how to fight back in tough situations, saying: "I think having gone through it with such a young team...first round this year going through some things, climbing out of an 0-2 hole this series going through some things, all of those things put some mileage on you and makes you better-prepared for what's ahead."

Predictions

The Blues let a couple of opportunities slip through their grasp in their opening-round series against Chicago before finally closing out the Blackhawks in Game 7. They have been the stronger and more complete team through five games against the Stars, and they have an opportunity to finish the series on home ice.

This one will not get away, and the Blues will win a hard-fought 4-2 decision in Game 6.

The Sharks have also been through the wars, and they would like to avoid a seventh game against the Predators. However, Nashville has shown how tough it is when its season has been on the line. It could go overtime again, but Nashville will push this series to a seventh game with a Game 6 victory.

It won't be enough, as San Jose will register a clinching win on home ice in Game 7.

The Washington Capitals have won one elimination game, but if they are going to save their season, they must win on the road Tuesday night and then finish off the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7. It seems improbable after the Caps dropped three of the first four games of the series, but they have momentum.

The Caps were the best team in the regular season, and they must fight for their lives. It is a huge mountain to climb, but the expectation here is they will do it and meet the Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final.