The first two rounds have come and gone. There was an upset, some Game 7 thrillers, a come from behind victory and a few sweeps. What did you expect… it’s the playoffs. The teams have been cut down from sixteen to four. At this point, my record is 7-5. Here is a preview of who I think will go head to head for Lord Stanley’s Cup. More after the jump.
Eastern Conference- It has been a great season for the both the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins. The Bruins are in the Conference Finals for the first time since 1992. Meanwhile the Lightning are heading into this round for the first time since they last won the Cup in 2004.
Both teams have been terrific in the post-season. It is now down to two teams with elite goaltending. With that in mind, this series will likely come down to that. Dwayne Roloson leads the league in save percentage and goals against while Tim Thomas is creeping right behind him for the top goalie in the playoffs. Thomas provided a stellar performance to avenge their blown 3-0 series lead against the Flyers last year.
In the offensive department, all four lines of Tampa’s forwards will be more lethal. The energy line of Moore, Downie and Bergenheim will play another key role by using their speed to get past the pairing of Chara and Seidenberg. Tampa’s top scorers in Lecavalier, St. Louis, Stamkos and the pending Simon Gagne, will lead the offensive charge, along with their deadly power play.
The Bruins need to get offence from everyone and not just from top line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Nathan Horton. If Tampa continues with their dominant push with speed and skill, like they did against the Caps in Round 2, they will be successful. Edge- Tampa Bay.
Western Conference- It took two more days, but the Vancouver Canucks finally know who their opponent is. The San Jose Sharks nudged out the entertaining Detroit Red Wings in seven games to push them to the Conference Finals for the second year in a row. Last year, they were swept by the Hawks in four. Will history repeat itself?
Both the Sharks and the Canucks have been on similar paths this post- season. They both blew 3-0 series leads and one of their top players have not been producing in Henrik Sedin for Vancouver and Patrick Marleau for San Jose. On a positive note, both teams have had great goaltending in the second round. Roberto Luongo has not allowed more than two goals in Vancouver’s series win against Nashville. Antti Niemi was in top notch form as if he were still with the Blackhawks. Can he do the same for San Jose and bring the Cup down South?
Both teams have had key players step up when they needed to. Ryan Kesler was a force against Nashville notching 11 points in the series. For the Sharks, Devon Setoguchi and rookie Logan Couture, took the load off from veterans Dany Heatley and Joe Thornton. If either team wants to be victorious, they have to have everyone on their roster to step up and produce if they want to get to the final round.
Both teams can have the momentum swing their way. However, history has not been on the Sharks side and both teams have been inconsistent in net and on the score sheet. If Vancouver’s top players show up in this series and play like they did in the regular season, the Canucks will move on. Edge- Vancouver.
There you have it… my predictions of who will go head to head for the Stanley Cup. I’ll be back with a preview when both series are completed.
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