NHL Playoff Predictions 2011: Projecting Winners for the Entire NHL Playoffs
It took until the last scheduled game of the NHL regular season to complete this year’s Stanley Cup playoff picture, but it is fair to say that after last year’s tournament, no one should be counted out.
The final team into this year’s field was last year’s champion, the Chicago Blackhawks. On Sunday, the Detroit Red Wings allowed the Dallas Stars a chance to steal the eighth and final playoff spot with a win over the Blackhawks at Joe Louis Arena.
With their destiny in their hands, the Dallas Stars lost to the Minnesota Wild 5-3, allowing the Hawks to sneak back in to the playoffs. The chase for the Cup begins Wednesday with five opening-round matchups scheduled to take place.
This season was one of the most competitive seasons in recent memory. In the Eastern Conference, just 14 points separates the No. 1 seeded Washington Capitals and the No. 8 seeded New York Rangers. Since the 2000 season, only the '08 playoffs (10 points) had a closer point margin separating the top and bottom seeds.
The Vancouver Canucks dominated the Western conference in winning this year’s Presidents Trophy as the NHL's top team in the regular season. Vancouver finished with 117 points and will take on the Blackhawks in the first round.
Since the All-Star break, the West proved to be a gridlock of playoff hopefuls as teams like Dallas and Calgary were in and eventually out of the final playoff spot for much of the second half. Just eight points separate the No. 2 seed and the No. 8 seed and that number was as low as five in late February.
While everyone else spends today pondering how a 21-year-old blew a shot at a green jacket yesterday, it is time for hockey fans to get down to business.
Can the Canucks become the fourth team since 2001 to win the President's Trophy and the Stanley Cup? Will Alex Ovechkin and the new-look Capitals finally "Rock the Red" into June? Who will be this year’s version of last year’s seventh seeded Flyers?
For the answers to those questions and a few more, click through the slideshow and see whom I believe will raise Lord Stanley’s Cup. Enjoy and please leave your comments. As always, please be tasteful when doing so.
No. 1 Washington Capitals vs. No. 8 New York Rangers
1 of 15
Two years ago, the Rangers had Washington on the ropes in the playoffs. The Blue Shirts were up three games to one but allowed the Caps to battle back and win the series in seven games.
The Rangers won this year’s season series, winning three of four games against Ovechkin and company. The Blue Shirts soundly beat Washington by a combined score of 13-0 in two of those contests.
I predicted two weeks ago the Caps would lose this series and watching them play against Florida on Saturday night did nothing to change my mind. The Capitals have a ton of offense but decided to play great defense this season.
They finished the year allowing the least amount of goals against in franchise history. This series will be a defensive struggle despite what all of the pundits and experts think.
Many are pitting the Caps offense against Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. The Rangers can score as they were better offensively than Washington was this season scoring five more goals. With 318 goals last season, Washington scored 99 less this season.
I would be surprised If the Caps or Rangers scored more than four goals in any game during this series. The Rangers were a better road team than they were at home this year and since March 18, the Blue Shirts have beaten the Bruins twice and the Canadians, Penguins, Flyers and Devils once.
Finishing 16th in NHL this season, the Caps have struggled on the power play. While the PP has shown signs of life lately, this is the playoffs and the Caps were 1-for-33 in the first round last year with the No.1 PP in the league.
There seems to be many unanswered questions with Washington.
No starter has been named in goal and the Caps are still battling injuries at the blue line. Despite posting solid numbers this season, one has to wonder how much confidence Caps goalies Michael Neuvirth and Semyon Varlamov will have with head coach Bruce Boudreau yet to name a starter.
Washington was 39-0-3 when they scored three or more goals, but they were also shut out 11 times this season. That’s the same number of shutouts Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist led the NHL with this season.
Lundqvist shut out the Caps twice this season and he will do it once more in the playoffs. Rangers win the series in seven games.
No. 2 Philadelphia Flyers vs. No. 7 Buffalo Sabres
2 of 15
One word looms large in Philadelphia this morning: goaltending. The Flyers lost 10 of their final 15 games and blew a 10-point lead, coughing up the No.1 overall seed in the Eastern Conference.
Six of the losses came after regulation and guess what, hockey fans—last year’s Flyers also lost 10 of their final 15 games and went on to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Sabres came from behind to beat the Flyers on Saturday in overtime, earning a playoff berth. But they did so with with an energy that will be hard to sustain for a long playoff series.
Ryan Miller is capable of stealing a game or two in this series. I would not be surprised to find the Flyers down two games to one after the third game. With that said, the Flyers are too deep and will be getting Chris Pronger back.
The Flyers are four lines deep and six defenseman solid. That was part of their secret in last year’s postseason.
Flyers goalies Sergei Bobrovsky and Brian Boucher were a combined 46-23-12 with 2.50 goals against and a .915 save percentage. Philadelphia’s head coach Peter Laviolette won a Stanley Cup with rookie Cam Ward and Martin Gerber back in the '05-06 season.
Laviolette will figure this situation out and while the goaltending in Philadelphia may not be enough to win a Stanley Cup this year, it is enough to beat the Sabres in seven games.
No. 3 Boston Bruins vs. No. 6 Montreal Canadiens
3 of 15
If you like Rock 'Em Sock 'Em robots and old time hockey, then this will be your series. Fate has a funny way of rearing its beautiful head at times in life and sports, and this is one of those instances.
Whichever team you root for, it will be hard not to watch the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadians play in what could be a first-round classic.
There are more side stories to this series than there was during the Tigers Woods fiasco.
There is still the yet unresolved "little" issue of the Zdeno Chara hit on Max Pacioretty in the minds of the Habs. Will blowing a 3-0 series lead to the Philadelphia Flyers in Round 2 last spring be a motivator or a haunting memory for the Bruins?
Those are just two of the stories amongst many in what should be a hard fought series. Unfortunately, I look for this to be a hard fought, but short series.
Although the Habs won four of the six regular season meetings, the Bruins have a better balanced playoff team.
The Bruins are one of the best five-on-five teams in the playoffs and no playoff team has scored fewer goals at even strength than the Canadians. This is the major reason why Montreal will force a physical series. Only three teams in the NHL finished in the top 10 on both the power play and the penalty kill: Vancouver, Tampa Bay and Montreal.
In the end, even after a game that will feature 200-plus penalty minutes, this year’s Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas will outshine Carey Price in Montreal's net.
Price has been up and down over the last month and took a beating in the last Habs-Bruins contest. Price surrendered five goals and was pulled at 4:29 into the third period.
If Game 3 in Montreal becomes a two or three-goal affair for either team, then lookout, hockey fans, it could take two hours to play the final 10 minutes.
The Bruins will win the only original six matchup in this year’s first round and while it will not be as easy as their four game sweep over the Habs in the 2009 playoffs, it will be not be much harder.
I like the Bruins in a “physical series” and will take them in five games.
.png?w=256 "NHL Mock Draft")
.jpg?w=256 "Kucherov Landing Spots")
.png?w=256)
No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 5 Tampa Bay Lightning
4 of 15
Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma sported a fedora reminiscent of the Toe Blake days in the NHL during this year’s Winter Classic. Blysma's coaching job this year was also reminiscent of the greats like Toe Blake and even Scotty Bowman.
After losing Sidney Crosby and then Evgeni Malkin, many thought the Penguins would drop as Rory McElroy’s confidence did yesterday on the back nine at Augusta.
Instead, Bylsma, just like a US Marine, overcame and adapted. He continued to preach the system of defense he was running and got the most out every player on his team. Bylsma will win coach of the year honors.
Led by Marc-Andre Fleury, the Penguins still managed to record the second most regular season points in franchise history with 106. They play a tight and quick defensive style that forces turnovers and creates chances.
The Lightning are back in the postseason for the first time since 2007 and have not won a playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup in 2004.
One of the best top lines in all of hockey leads the Lightning. Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis combined for 76 goals, 114 assists and 190 points.
The home team won both games this year and this series comes down to one thing: Which team will win the third period? The third period will be bigger in this series than in any other for these simple facts.
With a 0-19-1 record, the Pens are the NHL’s worst team when trailing after two periods. The Lightning surrendered 88 goals in the final stanza, fifth most in the NHL this year.
This series is a tough call, but I like the Bolts' ability to get out front more than I like the Penguins' ability to come from behind.
Lightning net minder Dwayne Roloson will not outplay Marc-Andre Fleury, but the 41-year-old netminder will be good enough to propel Tampa Bay to a tough Game 7 victory.
After what Pittsburgh gained in having to overcome all their adversity this year and with many players called up from their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre, if the Pens remain healthy next season, then look for them to be the favorites to win next year’s Cup.
No. 1 Vancouver Canucks vs. No. 8 Chicago Blackhawks
5 of 15
On paper, no team looks more impressive than the Canucks. They are No.1 in almost every important category: goals per game, fewest goals against, power play and penalty killing percentage, regular season standings, home record and road record.
So how will the Blackhawks beat the Canucks? They won't and it will not even be close.
The Hawks are tired and worn out. Since 2009, Chicago has played a lot of hockey. They played 164 regular season games, 39 postseason games and if you throw in the Olympics, in which many key Hawks players played in, exhaustion is more likely what this team suffers from.
The Blackhawks will be back next year after a well-deserved rest. Sorry Hawks fans, this could be a sweep, but for the sake of the defending champions, I will say Vancouver wins in five games.
No. 2 San Jose Sharks vs. No. 7 Los Angeles Kings
6 of 15
For the first time in NHL history, all three California teams have made the postseason. The all California first-round matchup between the Sharks and Kings will have a hint of old time hockey. The series will physical and hard fought.
The Sharks were 3-1-2 vs. LA this year but only outscored the Kings by an 18-15 margin.
The playoffs are all about defense and so are the LA Kings. The Kings finished seventh in goals against and were fourth best at killing penalties. They do not score much and if Sharks goalie Antti Niemi starts to have visions of his run last year in Chicago, then LA's season could be over fast.
Kings goalie Jonathan Quick seems to have the makings of being able to bust out in this year’s playoffs after being hammered by San Jose last year. However, he has no support in front of him, as Los Angeles is the worst offensive team in the post season.
Quick was not good last spring with a 3.50 goals against average and .884 save percentage in six games. He will be better this spring and will probably be better than Niemi.
The Kings offense was already anemic with Anzei Kopitar and Justin Williams. Now that both will be out, to me there is no way the Kings can win this series.
Quick and a stout LA defense could win two games, but look for San Jose not to repeat their misfortunes of two years ago when they lost in the first round to another California team.
In 2009, the Anaheim Ducks knocked the Sharks out in the first round after San Jose won the President’s trophy with 117 points that season. If they were healthier I would pick them, but they are not, so it is San José in six games.
No. 3 Detroit Red Wings vs. No. 6 Phoenix Coyotes
7 of 15
After a thrilling Game 7 Red Wings victory over the Coyotes in the opening round of the playoffs last season, these two teams will do it again.
Both teams come into the first round in less than stellar fashion. The Wings have lost seven of their last 11 games and Phoenix has not been much better, losing three of their last four.
The Coyotes were in the middle of the pack in both goals for and goals against this past season. They were below average in penalty killing, ranking 26th, and not much better with the extra man, ranking 23rd in the league.
Without a prominent goal scorer, the Coyotes relied on balance. Phoenix had one player hit 20 goals this year (Shane Doan) while 10 Coyotes scored 10 or more goals last season.
Being a balanced and deep team may help the Coyotes in this rematch and if Henrik Zetterberg, who has already been declared out for Game 1, cannot return for the remainder of the series, the dessert dogs may just be able to pull the upset.
If Ilya Bryzgalov can post his career numbers in the playoffs (23 G, 2.23 GA .925 SP), then Phoenix wins. But that is a big if.
Without Zetterberg in Chicago for the season finale, Pavel Datsyuk showed just how valuable he really is. After all, this is the Detroit Red Wings and this is their 20th straight trip to the postseason.
Yes, health and age are issues, but that is the definition of experience in the NHL playoffs
Over that 20-year span, the Wings have exited just four times in the opening round that is once every five years if you are keeping score at home.
The last time the Wings lost in the opening round was five years ago to the Edmonton Oilers. Therefore, they are overdue for a first-round exit. Well, it will not be this year; the Wings will prevail once again and once again in seven games.
No. 4 Anaheim Ducks vs. No. 5 Nashville Predators
8 of 15
They say defense wins championships and if that were the case in every scenario, then the Nashville Predators are the hands-down favorites to win the Cup this year.
The problem is, Nashville does not score and the difference in these two teams philosophies would be like comparing Charlie Sheen's morals and scruples to Mother Theresa.
The Ducks have this year’s Rocket Richard Trophy winner in Corey Perry, who netted 50. Let us also not forget about the ageless 40-year-old wonder, Teemu Selanne.
Selanne had his best season since 2007 with 31 goals and 80 points. Nashville's leading goal scorer is Sergei Kostitsyn, who had 23 goals this season. Kostitsyn and Martin Erat led the Preds this year with 50 points. That would have been good enough for fifth in Anaheim.
The Predators have everything you could ask for from a team to win a Stanley Cup defensively. They simply do not have enough on offense. Of all the playoff teams, only the Kings ranked lower during the regular season in terms of offense. While I do agree that defense does win championships, you still need some offense.
This is a notorious looking David Poile team. For many years in Washington, Poile assembled teams that were very good defensively, which translated into good regular seasons.
The lack of offense come playoff time killed the Capitals and hence their current reputation. With Poile at the helm and Barry Trotz on the bench, Nashville will meet the same fate as many of those Caps teams did.
Nashville may jump out to a 2-1, or 1-0 series lead, but once Anaheim is adjusted they will fly right past the Predators and win the series in six games.
No. 2 Philadelphia Flyers vs No. 8 New York Rangers
9 of 15
After a first round that will probably see Henrik Lundqvist peppered with shot after shot, the Rangers luck will run out and the Flyers will advance to the Conference Finals for the second consecutive season.
Despite the Rangers recent success against Philadelphia, the Flyers will be ready for the Rangers.
After beating the tough Ryan Miller in Round 1, the Flyers will make short work of the fatigued Henrik Lundqvist in Round 2.
If Lundqvist beats the Caps in the first round in seven games as I predicted, he will enter round two with 75 games under his mask.
Good luck with that, Henrik. But it is two rounds further than you got last year, Ranger fan. And if I'm right, you knocked my Caps out of the playoffs in the first round, again...Let's Go Flyers!
No. 3 Boston Bruins vs. No. 5 Tampa Bay Lightning
10 of 15
In order for the Bruins to get to Philadelphia and erase the memory of their New York Yankee-like playoff collapse against the Flyers in last year’s Eastern Conference Semifinals, they must first dispatch of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
It is important to note that the further along the Bolts get, the better chance they have to go further. Lightning head coach Guy Boucher has a master’s degree in sports psychology and could very well have Tampa believing in themselves should they actually dispose of the Pens in Round 1.
However, the Bruins will prove to be too much for Tampa and will beat them in six games to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals
Eastern Conf. Finals: No. 2 Philadelphia Flyers vs No. 3 Boston Bruins
11 of 15
Friday, May 14, 2010 went down as the worst day in Boston Bruins hockey history. The Bruins led the Philadelphia Flyers three games to none in their second round matchup and looked to be headed to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Even when they allowed the Flyers to tie the series and force Game 7, the Bruins led it by a score of 3-0 early in the first period.
Somehow, the Flyers pulled off the unthinkable and came back to win Game 7 and the series, leaving the Bruins and their fans numb.
This will be Boston’s chance and they will finish the Flyers off this year. This is where the Flyers goaltending situation catches up to them as Milan Lucic and Zdeno Chara (if he is still able) will lead the Bruins back to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1990.
Tim Thomas will come up big for head coach Claude Julien and the Bruins faithful.The Bruins' finals appearance will ease the frustration of a tough Red Sox start and last year's blown semi-finals series against the Flyers.
No. 1 Vancouver Canucks vs. No. 4 Anaheim Ducks
12 of 15
Unlike the East, the West will have all top four seeds alive. These two teams split the season series and the Ducks are the type of team that could beat the Canucks over a seven-game series. They boast enough offense and experience to surprise Vancouver.
The potential layoff Vancouver may experience by easily beating the Blackhawks in Round 1 could come in to play in this series.
Anaheim managed to pull out the No. 4 seed in a gridlocked Western Conference despite injuries to its two best players: Ryan Getzlaf and Jonas Hiller. The Ducks are solidly two lines deep and will give Vancouver fits at times in this series.
Lubomir Visnovsky and Toni Lydman lead a good defense and Anaheim does have a lot of playoff experience. This series will not be easy for the Canucks.
In fact, I look for Anaheim to have the first chance to eliminate in the series. When the Ducks fail to wrap it up at home in Game 6, Vancouver will come back to win in seven games.
No. 2 San Jose Sharks vs. No. 3 Detroit Red Wings
13 of 15
Last year's bump in San Jose's road was the Chicago Blackhawks. On their way to the conference final the Sharks dispatched the Red Wings in five quick games. However, the Red Wings outscored them 17-15 in the series after crushing the Sharks 7-1 in Game 4.
Every San Jose win in the series came by just one goal, but nonetheless, the Sharks did make it look easy and were 3-1 against the Wings this season.
The Red Wings are still as balanced as any team in the league as 10 of their forwards have double-digit goal totals. Look for Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau to elevate their games in front of Antti Niemi as he continues his postseason success.
The Sharks will need one more game to knock off the aging and ailing Red Wings than they did last year. San Jose moves on in six games.
Western Conf. Finals: No. 1 Vancouver Canucks vs. No. 2 San Jose Sharks
14 of 15
After all of the dust settles from this year’s Western Conference matchups, it will be the top two seeds squaring off for Western Conference supremacy.
I like San Jose, but I simply do not see how they can beat the Canucks. As much as their layoff hurt them in the beginning of Round 2 is as much as their seven-game series with Anaheim helps them in the conference finals.
I like the Canucks to get out fast with the prize finally in sight. Vancouver will win both games at home and I do not see the Sharks holding serve in games three and four. They may win one game but not both.
The Canucks were 3-0-1 versus San Jose this year and there is no reason to believe that trend will not continue.
The Sharks will go down in the conference finals for the second straight year as Vancouver knocks them off in five games.
Stanley Cup Finals: Boston Bruins vs. Vancouver Canucks
15 of 15
You have heard the commercial, "If Luongo stands on his head in Vancouver" and he will do just that as the Vancouver Canucks defeat the Boston Bruins to become the seventh team to win the Stanley Cup after winning the President’s Trophy since the 1985-86 season.
More importantly for our neighbors to the north, the Canucks will become the first Canadian team to hoist the Stanley Cup in 18 years.
The Montreal Canadians were the last Canadian team to hoist the cup in 1993 as Patrick Roy slowed down Wayne Gretzky and the LA Kings. Of course, they had some help from Marty McSorley and his illegal stick, but that is another article for another day.
Look for one of the Sedin twins to win the Conn Smythe trophy to complete what can only be considered a perfect season for Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault.
Vigneault played just 42 games as a defenseman in the NHL. He was given his big break to become a head coach by the Montreal Canadians in 1997, but was fired after just 20 games in 2000 following a 5-13-2 start.
Vigneault will see his years of coaching QJMHL and the NHL payoff as the city of Vancouver will celebrate just as they did when Team Canada won Olympic gold 14 months ago in the same arena.
While Tim Thomas will play magnificently in the finals, it will not be enough. Like the Flyers goaltending will catch up with them in conference finals, the Bruins lack of firepower will catch up with them in the finals.
Final prediction: Canucks win the Stanley Cup in six games.
.png?w=480 "NHL Mock Draft")
.jpg?w=480 "Kucherov Landing Spots")
.png?w=480)
.png?w=600 "B/R NHL Staff Second-Round Predictions 🏒")
