With the NHL playoffs set to begin in just two days, it's finally time for my playoff predictions to be posted for you all to agree or disagree with. In this piece I'll make my predictions for each Eastern Conference series and provide a couple of reasons as to why I made my picks.
Note: My Western Conference Playoff Predictions will be up tomorrow.
1. New York Rangers vs. 8. Ottawa Senators
Prediction: Rangers in six.
The Ottawa Senators won the season series 3-1 and had a great season, but I think we can all admit they out performed themselves. They were really carried by their stars, Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson, and I think they'll have some trouble getting going in the series as the Senators don't have much more in terms of elite offensive threats. They will chip in here and there but the Rangers as a team will do a great job keying in on them.
In my opinion the Senators are not deep enough up front in terms of scoring to win this series and I don't see a scenario where Craig Anderson out-duels Henrik Lundqvist at least a couple of games in a seven game series.
2. Boston Bruins vs. 7. Washington Capitals
Prediction: Capitals in six.
I expect I'll hear it quite a bit for this pick, but I really believe that the Capitals could do some damage in this year's playoffs. Alexander Ovechkin has been playing like the Ovechkin of old down the stretch so he's entering the playoffs confident and red hot. Nicklas Backstrom, one of the top playmakers in the league, is back in the lineup and will be a big boost. Alex Semin has been producing as expected over the past five games or so and the Capitals have a very good, healthy, defense core led by John Carlson, Mike Green, Dennis Wideman and Karl Alzner.
The Bruins are deep in all areas, experienced, and have the better goaltending duo but I think the Capitals will catch them off guard in this series.
3. Florida Panthers vs. 6. New Jersey Devils
Prediction: Devils in six.
In terms of seeding this would be considered an upset, but when you look at points or talk to any experts or writers around the league almost all of them are picking the Devils in this series. They enter the playoffs on a six game winning streak, have the better and more talented roster on paper and are hungry to win; especially after last year's debacle. Ilya Kovalchuk has never won a playoff series and he wants that to change. I think he'll have a huge series to try and make sure that it does.
The Panthers are a good systematic team and a tough team to play against, no doubt, but I don't think they have the star power up front to matchup against the likes of Kovalchuk, Zach Parise and Patrik Elias, among others.
4. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 5. Philadelphia Flyers
Prediction: Penguins in seven.
This is an extremely tough series to pick, and undoubtedly the toughest Eastern Conference series to pick, but I'm going to go with the Penguins in seven. The Flyers are confident they can play with the Penguins, and they should be, but when it comes down to it I think the Penguins firepower up front, especially at center, will be too much for the Flyers to handle.
Claude Giroux will be big in this series and keep the Flyers in it. Ilya Bryzgalov will have a good series. Sean Couturier will do a great job in keeping the Penguins top line in check, especially for a rookie, but in the end I think they'll fall just short in Pittsburgh.
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