Dallas Stars VS. St. Louis Blues

  The Dallas Stars power into the second round after a hard fought series with the Wild. Captain Jamie Benn was dominant in the first round posting 10 points in 6 games, the offence has been firing on all cylinders even with the absence of superstar Tyler Seguin. The real mystery for the Stars has been in net where neither tender has been able to find consistency, Lehtonen looks like he will be the guy for the Stars moving into the next round but a huge question mark still looms over the net in Dallas. On the flip side the Blues are looking to conquer their playoff demons after defeating the defending cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in an epic 7 games. The offence is led by Russian star Vladimir Tarasenko who has 6 points in 7 games, he is backed by a solid supporting cast of forwards and one of the deepest defensive cores in the league. Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk and Jay Bouwmeester man the point in front of an at times questionable Brian Elliot. Will St. Louis end their playoff Blues or is this a year to look to the Stars?

   Advantage: St. Louis Blues

   Reason: Defence wins championships and the Blues are far deeper on the back end than the top heavy Stars. That combined with four solid forward lines and more consistent goaltending will help the Blues beat Dallas in what I predict to be a classic 7 game series.

   Those are just my thoughts! Let me know what you think in the comments below and be sure to share and follow!

Washington Capitals VS. Pittsburgh Penguins

     The leagues biggest stars are clashing yet again in the Stanley Cup playoffs as Sid the Kid and Alexander the Great have both led their teams to the second round in dominating fashion. The Capitals were the leagues best team in the regular season and flew past the Flyers in an impressive 6 games. Captain Alexander Ovechkin is coming off yet another 50 goal campaign and is surrounded by one of the best supporting cast in the game today. Brayden Holtby was dominant in both the regular season and first round of the playoffs gaining a Vezina nomination in the process and may finally be the goaltender Washington needs to get out of there playoff slump. On the other side Pittsburgh ended the season red hot and dismantled a cup favourite in the New York Rangers in an impressive 5 games. The offence made up of Crosby, Malkin, Kessel and Letang was firing on all cylinders while the youthful supporting cast provided all the grit and energy the team needed. In net rookie goalie Matt Murray was a rock posting a 1.33 GAA and a .955 save percentage in 3 games.

Advantage: Washington Capitals

Reason: A mix of veterans and youth will help propel Washington past the Penguins. Better defence and more experience in net will be key as Washington beats Pittsburgh in what I predict to be a 5 game series.

      Those are just my thoughts! Who do you think will win the series? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to share and follow the page!

New York Islanders VS. Tampa Bay Lightning

   John Tavares leads a young budding Islanders team into the second round after a dominant game 6 performance.  30 year-old Thomas Griess took over in round one with a .944 save percentage and a 1.79 GAA. John Tavares was dominant in the first round posting 5 goals and 4 assists for 9 points which also included the series winner in game six. But now they must turn their focus to an extremely strong Tampa Bay Lightning squad that dominated the first round. The absence of Stralman and Stamkos has not hindered the roster as Drouin and Killorn have stepped up and provided timely scoring in Stamkos absence while Bishop and the defensive core in front of him have stepped up in the absence of first pairing defenceman Stralman. Tampa Bay is looking to inch closer to another appearance in the cup finals, while the young Islanders are looking to finally compete for a championship.

Advantage: Tampa Bay Lightning

Reason: Experience, goaltending and depth at every position will help the Lightning beat the young Islanders in what I predict to be a hard fought 6 games.


    These are only my thoughts! Let me know what you think will happen in this series in the comments below and be sure to stay tuned for my next analysis which will come tomorrow about the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins series.

Sorry for my absence

  I would like to start this post by saying sorry that I have been away for so long. I have had a very stressful work load at school and simply haven't had time to post. Now to follow that up I would like to let everyone know that starting tonight I will be starting a series analysing the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and tonight I am going to start with the East. After I'm done this series I will be posting one to two times a week and getting back into the regular swing of things. Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy my analysis of the second round.