re: NHL Round 2 Preview

Smashville's gotta win those 1-0 games if they hope to win the series. They won't win the high-scoring games, and there's bound to be a few.

Late getting around to this thread, but here are my thoughts on the 2nd round. Going into the playoffs, I had Bruins/Caps as the top 2 in the East and the Sharks/Wings in the West (with Vancouver being 3rd). I still think that's the case. I thought this was a year that high seeds would do well in the 1st round and they did. The only high seed I thought would lose (Philly) managed to squeeze by. And TB getting by the Pens was hardly an upset considering the seeding and the fact that Crosby didn't show up.

As to the actual match ups: Boston/Philly should be an excellent series. It could go 7. Philly is in better shape with Pronger back and it appears that Boucher is the #1 goaltender. I still think Boston has an appreciable edge in net though and they have to feel more confident after beating the Habs. I think Boston wins in 6 or 7 games.

Tampa/Washington is an interesting matchup. Tampa was physically dominated for a good portion of their series and the Pens got a ton of shot on net. If TB gives up that many shots to the Caps, they're going to be in trouble. However, TB does have a lot of firepower and their PP is impressive. They torched what had been the league's best PK in the first round. And they offer a LOT more than NY as far as offensive threats. Furthermore, they have nothing to lose at this point. So I think this one goes at least 6, but ultimately the Caps will prevail.

As I mentioned, I thought the Sharks and Wings were the top 2 in the West coming into the playoffs. So this is the marquee matchup as far as I'm concerned. SJ beat Detroit last year and should have confidence. Of course, that also gives Detroit extra incentive for revenge. Detroit was clearly the class of the first round and should be healthy going into R2. The reason I had picked SJ as the favorites in the West was b/c of Niemi. I thought his experience (of actually winning big games in the playoffs) would give them enough to finally get over the hump. However, Niemi didn't play too well in the first round and unless he is more consistent, there's no way they get by Detroit. Based on experience and momentum, I'm going to say Detroit wins in 7. But this one could easily go the other way.

Vancouver already has a game in hand on Nashville, but it wasn't easy for them. Rinne played his best game of the playoffs in Game 1 and he'll need to continue that if the Preds are going to stick around. Rinne had a poor first round by his standards, but the Preds bailed him out with some unexpected offensive production. Vancouver is just too deep at this point. I think they'll win in 5 or 6, but Nashville will put up a fight.