Eastern Conference Playoff Predictions

Some people consider the playoffs the best part of the season; those people are probably Hawks or Kings fans. I do like the intensity of the NHL playoffs over the regular season, because each game in a series matters. There’s a level of excitement amongst fans that doesn’t exist in the regular season, and those of us on the outside looking in are often a little jealous that we don’t get to experience that. (Someday, Oiler fans…. Someday.)

I’ve always really enjoyed playoff hockey, even when my team isn’t in it. And since the Oilers haven’t been there for 10 years, I’ve had a lot of time to watch the playoffs. The first round is always my favourite – there’s good hockey to watch every day and there’s always at least one good story (and often an upset) that comes out of that round.

The new playoff format makes the big upset a little less likely, but it’s still kind of exciting when the lowest seed beast the top seed. I’ve got high hopes that it’ll happen at least once this year (preferably in the Anaheim-Nashville series).

I don’t spend as much time watching the Eastern Conference as I do the West (because I’m often still at work when the games start), but I’m pretty excited for most of these matchups.

Washington Capitals vs Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers squeaked in to the playoffs with a win over the Penguins on Saturday, while the Capitals clinched their playoff spot weeks ago. Ovechkin and company have been riding high on the goaltending of Braden Holtby (who will most likely win the Vezina this year). The goalie matchup between Holtby and Steve Mason is, on paper at least, a non-contest. Holtby was one win away from beating Martin Brodeur’s single-season win record while Mason had stretches of mediocrity throughout the year.

The Flyers are riding some momentum coming in to the playoffs, but they don’t match up with the Caps in at any position. At this point, the only way I see the Flyers winning the series is if John Calrson turns into Marc-Andre Bergeron for a night and hurts Braden Holtby. On the other hand, if the Capitals figure out how to neutralize Shane Gostisbehere, and keep Claude Giroux from being a threat, there’s really no contest.

Prediction: Caps in 5

Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Rangers

The Rangers were white-hot earlier in the year, but the Penguins have a surging Crosby to propel them through. After a significant slump in the first part of the season, Crosby has picked up the pace and has led the Penguins in scoring since December. The Penguins have been without Evgeni Malkin, who’s set to return for the playoffs, but the key to their success lies in the crease of Marc-Andre Fleury. He’s struggled to replicate his 2009 playoff success, and the team has suffered for it.

The addition of Phil Kessel up front should help to build a cushion for the Pens, providing they can get pucks past the Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist. He wasn’t as sharp this season as in years past, but he’s definitely one of the biggest reasons the Rangers have been so competitive in recent seasons. The winner of the goalie duel between Lundqvist and Fleury should be able to carry his team through to the next round.

Prediction: Penguins in 6

Florida Panthers vs New York Islanders

I want nothing more than for the Panthers to have a long playoff run so that Jaromir Jagr can continue to astound me everyone with his talent. At 43, he’s one of the most fun players to watch in-game, and one of the best post-game interviews. It’s been a long while since the Panthers have even had a sniff of late-round playoff action, and with the season they’ve had it wuld be nice for them (and their fans) to see a Stanley Cup Final.

To get there, they’ll have to first go through the Islanders, which shouldn’t be much of a problem. Thomas Greiss will be in net for the Isles, and he is not nearly as good as Roberto Luongo will be for the Panthers. The John Tavares-led Islanders needs to somehow solve Bobby Lu, get around Aaron Ekblad, and try not to be amazed by Jaromir Jagr. It won’t be easy, and I think goaltending will ultimately win out.

Prediction: Florida in 5

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Detroit Red Wings

Tampa Bay will be without Steven Stamkos and Anton Stralman for this series, and Viktor Hedman is coming back off injury, so the Lightning are at a disadvantage to start. If Ben Bishop can stand tall in net (which really shouldn’t be hard at 6’7″), he can probably keep the Lightning in the series. It will be interesting to see what the Lightning can do without two of their best players. Jonathan Drouin is going to need to step up in a big way to try to make up for the absence of Stamkos’ playoff points, and the Tampa Bay defence corps will have to figure out how to make things work against Dylan Larkin and Pavel Datsyuk.

The Red Wings, on the other hand, just made it to the playoffs (for the 25th consecutive time) in the 3rd spot in their division, and are not the same team they were in 2008 (the last time they won the Stanley Cup). Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, once the keys to Detroit’s offence, are well on the other side of 30 and aren’t quite the impact players they used to be. In order to make the most of this playoff run, they’ll be playing on a line together for the first time in a long while. Detroit’s offence is not nearly as potent as it has been (Zetterberg finished first in team scoring with 50 points in 82 games), but having players with a ton of playoff experience won’t hurt. The biggest question mark for the Wings is in net – if Jimmy Howard can play the way he’s capable of and not the way he was playing earlier in the season, I anticipate the Red Wings will come out ahead in the first round.

Prediction: Detroit in 7

You can check out Kris Hansen’s Western Conference playoff predictions here.