Second Round Preview

Finally the second round is upon us and thank god. Now we get into some serious battles as teams fight for the right to make it to their respective conference finals. The four series around the NHL should all be excellent series, especially the Rangers-Penguins series. The NHL may have not gotten their Crosby-Ovechkin matchup but they got their most popular young star against a major market team. It is going to be one hell of a series and anything could happen between these two Atlantic Division rivals. Here is how I feel the second round will go.

Rangers vs. Penguins
Let's start with the most important series to all of us, and probably the most exciting in the second round. The Rangers will get another Atlantic Division rival in the playoffs and a team that they played pretty well against in the regular season going 5-3. The regular season record at this point means absolutely nothing so I am not going to focus on how well the Rangers faired in the regular season but more the fact that they played each other 8 times. They know each other well and how the other team plays. I am going to go through some different aspects of the game and who has the advantage.

Offense
Yes the Rangers have been playing well offensively in the playoffs so far but it's hard to beat a team with players like Crosby, Malkin and Hossa. They are an offensive juggernaut and are playing great hockey. The Rangers have the stars to keep up but you have to give the slight edge to the Penguins.
Edge: Penguins

Defense
This is where the Rangers gain an edge. Their game has focused around playing solid defense and they have been doing that well all season. Young players like Staal, Girardi and Tyutin have stepped up and Rozsival is playing like a top defender. The Pens have been a little shaky on the blue line but still have some talented players back there like Gonchar, Orpik and Whitney. The Rangers have the more difficult task shutting down Crosby and Co. but I feel that they are up to it and are an overall better defensive unit than the Penguins
Edge: Rangers

Goaltending
There are two great goalies in this series. Fleury played great against Ottawa and really showed he could be a top notch goalie. Luckily we have King Henrik on our side who has been playing great hockey all season. Henrik played great against the Devils and I look for him to continue that and outplay Fleury. Fleury did play well against Ottawa but they were a team that limped into the playoffs and their offense was not where it should have been. You have to wonder how good he is going to be against a team with much better offensive talent.
Edge: Rangers

Depth
Both teams have some serious depth and that is what has gotten them to this point. The Pens are deep at center with Crosby, Malkin, Staal and Talbot. The Rangers are deep at center as well with Gomez, Drury, Dubinsky and Betts. Both teams are also deep at the wings and defense. I feel that the Rangers have more overall depth than the Pens. When you look at the lines for each team you see more balance with the Rangers amongst all their lines. The ability to score is there almost equally with the top three lines for the Rangers and there fourth line has the ability to score a goal with Sjostrom and Betts. The Penguins have good top lines but the scoring ability really falls off as you go deeper into their lineups. Same thing goes for the defensive units.
Edge: Rangers

Momentum
Both teams are confident right now. They finished off their first round opponents quickly and convincingly and have both been playing some of the best hockey of the season. There is no real advantage for either team when it comes to momentum. They both have it and it shouldn't affect the series. The only thing you can think of is that the Pens played a team that limped into the playoffs in Ottawa so how ready will they really be for a much better Rangers team.
Edge: Even

X-Factor
Two words here: Sean Avery. If he could get into the head of such a veteran like Marty, what could he do to a young Fleury who only played 35 games this season and is experiencing the playoffs for the first time? Avery got into the heads of the entire Devils team and got them out of their game. Forget about the whole dancing thing he did, by the end of the series the Devils were shooting for him and not playing their hockey. That was an experienced team and the Pens are a young team with little to no playoff experience. I think he could really get the Pens off their game and truly affect this series. Also the Rangers have the serious edge in experience for this series which should come into play when a team is down on the road or in a hole in the series.
Edge: Rangers

Overall I think this is going to be a great series. They are rivals and the best two teams in the East right now. They are both playing their games perfectly. I think the rest the Pens got and playing a weak Ottawa team will affect them a little to start this series. I think the Rangers could definitely win Game 1 because of this. Stealing a game on the road to start the series would be huge. I think Henrik is a big key to this series and limiting the mistakes. Mistakes gave the Devils a lot of chances and kept them in that series. The Penguins are a better offensive team and could crush us if we make those mistakes. The Rangers are ready for this and will use their experience, their defensive game, and Henrik to win this series. I expect Avery to play a huge role too.
Prediction: Rangers in 6

Now for the rest of the NHL including the Western Conference

Canadiens vs. Flyers
Both of these teams had to go the distance to advance to this point so neither is more rested than the other. The Canadiens had some serious troubles with a team they dominated all season long and the Flyers stepped their game up to beat a team many thought were going to win. The goalies are key to this series. Biron played great and was the key to the Flyers winning Game 7. Price was also the reason that the Habs advanced. Both are young with little experience so who knows if they will continue to play like this. Montreal is a great offensive team and I think they will use that to win this series. Expect the Flyers to hang around though if Biron continues to play the way he did against the Caps.
Prediction: Canadiens in 6

Red Wings vs. Avalanche
What a great series this is. These two teams have so much history between them and I think this is only going to add to that history. The Red Wings are a talented team but they always seem to have problems in the playoffs. They win the Presidents trophy every year it seems but never really play to their potential in the playoffs. At least they finally got their goalie situation corrected by putting Osgood in net. I liked the way the Avs played against the Wild and I think the Red Wings will falter again in a tough fought and long series.
Prediction: Avs in 7

Sharks vs. Stars
Here is another great series. The Sharks were a lot of people's Stanley Cup favorite and they almost got eliminated by Calgary. The Stars beat another one of people's Stanley Cup favorites in the Ducks. I like Nabokov to out duel Turco and the overall depth and firepower that the Sharks have should allow them to prevail. I do expect this series to go the distance though. The Stars are playing well and could find some falters in the Sharks game that were revealed during their first round series.
Prediction: Sharks in 7

There ya go, my extremely extensive analysis of the second round of the NHL playoffs. Let's see if my picks are all correct again like the first round. I sure hope so.