West Conference Semifinal Predictions

Well after going 4-0 in my predictions in the West's first round of the NHL playoffs picking the Blackhawks, Sharks, Kings and Red Wings its time to look at the Semifinal match ups.

#6 Sharks vs. #5 Kings

Pavelski will be key

Truly a rivalry match up between the Kings and Sharks.  Sharks are coming off a sweep of the Canucks.  Joe Pavelski lead the Sharks with 4 goals in that series along with 4 assists.  Logan Couture had 8 points too with 3 goals and 5 assists.  The other two big boys Thornton and Marleau combined for 11 points.  That is truly the Sharks team.  Niemi in goal was money as well with a 1.86 Goals against and a .937 save percentage. 





Carter the Kings sharp shooter

The experienced Kings took advantage of the inexperience on the Blues and took that series in 6.  Mike Richards lead the team with 5 points (all assists) while Jeff Carter continued his goal scoring prowess with 3 goals in that series. Kopitar the Zombie had 3 assists and truly by the end of the series looked like a Zombie (did anyone see the after game interviews?).  Despite losing 2 games, Quick had a goals against of 1.58 and a save percentage of .944.  Quick only gave up 4 goals in the first 2 games of the series in which they lost but then won the next 4.

In the regular season the Sharks won the season series 2-1.  All the games were one goal games including a 3-2 shoot out victory by the Sharks.  The Kings have had problems scoring goals at time and will now face a red hot Niemi whose last loss was the season finale versus the Kings.  Quick has been hot and cold throughout the season, but could be getting hot at the right time.  Kings will need to get more than Carter to score some goals to come aways with this one.  I see the Sharks as last year's Kings. Sharks win 4-2.

#7 Red Wings vs. #1 Blackhawks

Another Original 6 matchup in the playoffs and a great long term rivalry between Chicago and Detroit.  It took 7 games for the Red Wings to defeat the Ducks and had to win the final 2 games to do it.  The Wings needed to get production out of Zetterberg and Datsyuk in order to have a chance versus the Ducks and they did.  Zetterberg had 3 goals and 5 assists while Datsyuk tallied 2 goals and 5 assists.  Jimmy Howard continued to make a ton of great saves but did give up a lot of goals, 20 to be exact.  4 of the games versus the Ducks were in OT in which the Wings went 3-1.  Will they have enough in the tank for the next round?

Sharp 5 goals

The Blackhawks have been the favorite to return to the Stanley Cup since they started the season in record fashion.  It took them only 5 games to move on to the next round beating the Wild who were completely decimated in goal before the series even started.  The Hawks have Kane, Hossa and Toews, but their leader in the in the playoffs is the other Patrick, Patrick Sharp who has 5 goals in 5 games, nice average.

This is where the Red Wings playoff trip stops.  The gritty Wings will play hard against the Blackhawks but Chicago will be too much.  Howard - 20 goals versus Crawford's 7 goals in the playoffs?  Howard will have to stand on his head to give the Wings a chance.  This will be a fun one to watch.  Too much offense that goes 4 lines deep for the Blackhawks.  Hawks 4-2