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Predicting: Flyers vs. Rangers and Hawks vs. Blues...

April 17, 2014, 1:08 PM ET [51 Comments]
Eklund
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First off, to Montreal fans I say this...THAT is why you want #48 on your side in April and May...

But moving to tonight...


On St Louis vs Chicago...
aka: (The Series of Question Marks.)

A month ago this was probably the "Most likely to be a Conference Final" series in the West, and now, at this point, it is a series full of question marks.

Seven major ones come to mind almost immediately...

*Are Kane and Toews healthy?
*Is Oshie healthy?
*Are the Blues as bad as they have appeared down the stretch?
*Are they as great as they looked all year?
*Is Ryan Miller ready to carry a team in the playoffs?
*Can the Hawks continue playoff magic?
*Can the Blues shake playoff ghosts?

The Ek's Factors....

To me this series will be won or lost along the boards behind the Hawks goal. I have covered a ton of Hawks playoff games in person over the past five years. The Blackhawks defenders are as good as they come in the transition game and the offensive zone, but where they struggle is when their defenders are forced deep and have to turn their back on the play to get the puck. That is where they tend to throw the puck around the boards wildly and give it up. That's how the Bruins played them in the Cup Final and that is how the Flyers did as well. Problem is they didn't do it with enough regularity and consistency to win the series.

The Blues play that same, Eastern Conference, Old School forecheck. Maybe even better than the teams before them. The Blues also may be the only NHL team with a better defense corps than the Hawks.

My prediction... Blues in 7



On the Flyers vs. the Rangers...
aka (Where Have you gone Beezer?)

These are two teams who have shown they can be the best of the best...for periods of time. They have also both shown they can fall apart and forget how to score. The other thing they share with each other is their mutual hatred of the other...It goes beyond the teams and stretches to the cities themselves. Eagles/Giants, Mets/Phillies, Knicks/Sixers....this disdain isn't a new thing.

The Flyers have one of the most underrated offensive teams in the NHL, with two #1 lines and a third line that can skate like the wind. Claude Giroux is of course the center piece, but Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn will kill you if you aren't paying attention. Giroux has been an outstanding playoff performer in his career...(see the blog about why I felt he was a lock for the Olympics)

The hope for a long run however rests on the shoulders of Steve Mason, who will miss game 1, and that is a HUGE issue. Ray Emery has gotten a lot of ice time down the stretch and is a solid backup. He has lost his side to side speed but Emery is very smart in goal and frugal with his movements. And very quick above the hips...All that said, if the Flyers win a round or two it will be Mason who makes it happen. He has been spectacular this year.

Even were Mason to get healthy there is no doubt the Rangers hold a decided advantage in goal. Lundqvist is as good as they get and will win at least two games a series by himself. The Rangers struggled to score early this year, but from the Olympic break on actually were among the top producing teams.

But what makes the Rangers the Rangers is they are by far the best shot blocking team in the NHL. I will even go as far to say they are the best pass blocking team. It always feels like there is less space in the Rangers zone then there is on a Manhattan subway at rush hour...

Ek's Factors...

Home ice has ruled the day with these two teams, so the Flyers NEED to take one of the first two at MSG. Or they won't survive. In fact, I will go so far as to say they will need to take 2 of the 4 in MSG to win this. And that is a hard task.

My pick:Rangers in 7



Back later with my thought and picks on the late games.
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