1 Penguins vs. 8 Islanders
The Penguins are truly the team to beat in the East and the Islanders are the lucky one to face them first. One advantage of facing them first is that Sidney Crosby may not be fully back yet. But even with out Crosby, the Penguins didn't miss a beat. The team is loaded. Just listen to these names: Kunitz (52 points), Dupuis (20 goals), Letang (33 assists), Neal (21 goals), Malkin, Morrow, Iginla, it goes on and on. In goal Fluery has been solid but with this offense, that's all he has to be.Islanders got hot in April and made a push to playoffs for the first time since 2007. Tavares had a great season and ended up with 28 goals. He will need to keep up his play if they have a chance. Moulson and Grabner also provide some goal scoring punch. Nabokov in net had his ups and downs with a .910 save % and 2.5 GAA.
It won't be pretty. Even thought the Islanders were finishing strong, they lost their last 3 contest to slip to the lucky 8 seed to face the Penguins. Look for the Penguins to roll and Sweep the Islanders 4-0
2 Canadiens vs. 7 Senators
After dropping 5 of 6 the Habs managed to win their last two games to grab the number 2 seed in the East. They split the season series against the Senators. The Canadiens have been struggling behind Carey Price and this is not the time of the year for that. Pacioretty leads the team with 39 Points and 15 goals. Habs have a lot of players in double digit goals but none over 15. Price has given up 2 or more goals in the past 5 games, including 5 against the Capitals on April 20.The Senators were 6-7 in April. Not exactly a way to move into the playoffs, but they did what they had to do to avoid the 8th seed and face the Penguins. Only 3 players have more than 9 goals with Kyle Turris the team leader with 12 and 29 points. How the hell did these guys get in the playoffs? The wild card for the Sens is Karlsson who is back and can give them added scoring chances. Craig Anderson was an impressive .941 SV%.
Mr. Anderson will give them a chance to move on, but with the lack of offense the Canadiens will pull it together and be too much for the Sens in the end. Canadiens 4-2
3 Capitals vs. 6 Rangers
Capitals were 11-2 in April and are coming into the playoffs on truly a high note. Ovechkin has been the reason for that 11-2 April and finished with 32 goals and 56 points. Troy Brouwer added 19 goals with Riberio and Backstrom feeding the goal scorers pucks combining for 76 assists. Holtby will be in net bringing an average .920 save % and 2.58 goals against, but is on a 3 game win streak.Rangers finished strong too with a 10-4 April. This could be a dangerous team to face in the playoffs with the talent they have. Lundqvist gives this team every chance to make it deep in the playoffs. He finished with a 2.05 goals against and .926 save %. Rick Nash has been a beast for the Rangers scoring some sick goals. He had 21 goals and 21 assists. Stepan, Richards, Callahan and Hagelin provide more fire power.
This might be the best match up in the East first round. I see 7 games for this series. Now the question is who wins this series? Ovechkin vs Lundqvist. Nash vs. Holtby. Rangers pull the upset 4-3
4 Bruins vs 5 Maple Leafs
And now the match up I have been waiting for, but not sure I will like the results. Out of all the teams in the playoffs the Bruins are probably the one that limped in the most. This team is completely on the ropes. Not sure why. Could it be the Boston Marathon tragedy? Could it be that they jammed so many games in the last month? Not sure but they certainly have talent better than they have played over this past month. 6-8 in April. 2-7 to finish the season. The Bergeron, Seguin, Marchand line need to step it up again and have proven to be their best line. The addition of Jagr and Soderberg has given them another line that can score. The team needs to get nasty (like your face) again, with Lucic, Thorton, Chara knocking people's heads off.First playoff appearance for the Leafs since 2004. The Leafs didn't fair well versus the Bruins in the regular season winning only one of the four games. Kessel and Kadri clearly anchor this team offensively. Kessel had 20 goals (10 of them coming in the final 11 games) and 32 assists, while Kadri added 18 more and 26 assists. Reimer will be in net and the youngster will be facing his first playoff action. He is a bit erratic. Last 5 games gave up 4 goals in a loss, following a shutout, following another 4 goal game, following giving up only 1 after giving up 5 the game before.
Will the two day rest for the Bruins be enough to recharge them and get them focused again? Its a favorable match up for them, but they have not looked playoff ready. Bruins bow out in the first round for the second year in a row after winning the Cup in 2011. Leafs 4-3. :(
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