NY Rangers(1) vs Washington(7)
Both clubs endured an exhausting seven-game series in the opening round, with the seventh-seeded Capitals advancing thanks to a Joel Ward overtime goal and the top-seeded Rangers coming back from a 3-2 deficit to win the last two games over the upstart Ottawa Senators.
Caps coach Dale Hunter had his most of his club buying into is close to the vest/defensive style and got a great performance out of young goaltender Braden Holtby, as the limited the Stanley Cup champion Bruins to 15 goals. Players like Matt Hendricks, Jay Beagle and Jason Chimera have seen their ice time and responsibilities increase, while Alex Ovechkin’s ice time has decreased(especially when Washington is attempting to hold onto a lead late in the game).
The Rangers struggled to score five on five for most of the series , as Sens goaltender Craig Anderson stymied them, but in crunch time their power play came through with two goals to win Game Six and unexpectedly their blueline scored twice in Game Seven at Madison Square Garden.
MVP and Vezina candidate Henrik Lundqvist would appear to give New York the clear advantage in goal, but Holtby appeared unflappable under extreme pressure during his first playoff appearance and that can never be underestimated.
Both teams styles would lend itself to this being a long and very closely contested series, but in the end, the Rangers are better in every aspect.
Rangers in 6
St. Louis(2) vs Los Angeles(8)
The Blues eliminated a lot of doubt about their surprising success this season with their relatively easy handling of San Jose in the first round. After losing goaltender Jaroslav Halak in Game Two, St. Louis hardly skipped a beat with Brian Elliott between the pipes.
The Kings scored the biggest upset of the first round with their elimination of the President's Trophy winning Vancouver Canucks in five games, as Darryl Sutter got big performances out of his big players, namely Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar, but none were more responsible for the upset than goaltender Jonathan Quick, with a save percentage of .953 and eight goals against.
St. Louis adapted well to Ken Hitchcock’s defense-first strategy, as they allowed the least goals against during the regular season and that will make them very tough to beat in the playoffs, but if Los Angeles can continue to get offense from two scoring lines and Quick continues to play like Superman, then the Kings will be able to make their first Western Conference Finals since 1993.
Kings in 6
*******
The Toronto Marlies will face the Abbotsford Heat in the best-of-seven Calder Cup Western Conference Semi-Final beginning Tuesday at the Ricoh Coliseum. The Heat, who are the Calgary Flames AHL affiliate, won a three-game sweep over the Milwaukee Admirals.
Here is the schedule:
Game 1: ABB at TOR - Tue May 1 7:00 PM
Game 2: ABB at TOR - Thu May 3 7:00 PM
Game 3: TOR at ABB - Sat May 5 7:00 PM
Game 4: TOR at ABB - Tue May 8 7:00 PM
Game 5: TOR at ABB - Wed May 9 7:00 PM *
Game 6: ABB at TOR - Sat May 12 3:00 PM *
Game 7: ABB at TOR - Sun May 13 3:00 PM *
*if necessary
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