Florida vs. NY islanders
This is going to be one of the tightest series in these playoffs for sure. The Panthers have been one of the best stories this season in the NHL and Dale Tallon and Gerard Gallant have them firing on all cylinders...Winning the division was a definite bonus, but completely deserved...Many are saying the Panthers don’t have playoff experience, but you can’t get three better wily playoff vets then Jagr, Campbell, and Luongo. The Panthers youth is obvious and the nerves will be there however...
The Isles played extremely well down the stretch and much has been made of how they essentially threw the last game to stay away from Pittsburgh...Even if they did, that doesn’t take away from a fine season. The Islanders will miss Halak for sure, but they did in many ways have a better season as the year went along.
In the end I think Luongo is the difference maker in this series...
Ek’s Pick: Panthers in 6
Your pick?
Dallas vs Minnesota
Everything appears to be going against the Minnesota Wild right now. Injuries and the fact they have drawn the top team in the West don’t help. This is quite the task. The Stars may have the best offense in the game if Seguin is indeed healthy. The Wild have gotten solid goal tending as of late however, and the Stars goalies have been “good enough… but nothing to write home about.
The Wild always seem to have weird injuries occur just prior to the playoffs, and yet they always compete. There is some solace in Minnesota that they AREN’T playing the Hawks again in the playoffs at least...
To me this feels like a series that will be dictated by game 1. The Stars have had issues in the playoffs before and if the Wild can surprise them tonight anything is possible. I am going with Dallas, but there is very much a part of me that feels this could be wrong
Ek’s pick: Dallas in 6
Your Pick?
LA Kings vs. San Jose
This will rival Chicago vs St Louis in terms of all out drama and quality of play. It is very easy to say the Kings are inside the Shark’s head....but it really isn’t the case. In fact this Shark’s team has played very will against LA since their playoff collapse, and these Sharks are the best road team the NHL has seen in years.
The Kings have been their typical “all over the map… selves and the loss against Winnipeg that landed them San Jose instead of Nashville was either the Kings losing focus or arrogance that it doesn’t matter who they play or if they have home ice against Anaheim in the second round....I think it mattered. These Sharks are tougher than they ever have been and have shown more grit than they ever possessed.. They have been crafted to beat the Kings...plain and simple.
Of course the Kings may indeed be able to turn things around again and Jonathan Quick is of course insane in the playoffs. Or they may have cashed in one too many chips...losing Justin Williams may indeed matter.
Your Pick?
Ek’s Pick: Sharks in 6
Capitals vs. Flyers.
Been a crazy few days here in Philly. A week ago the playoffs looked to be fading and since then the team made the postseason but lost their soul with the passing of their owner/founder/father Ed Snider. It has been a very tough time around the team. The playoffs starting is exactly what they need to get back to some sense of normalcy.
The Capitals may be the best team in the NHL. It was exactly two years ago today that Barry Trotz was let go by the Nashville Predators, and in those two years he has done a hell of a lot in molding the Caps into the most complete team they have ever had. There are no weaknesses in their game and there are no holes he hasn’t filled on the ice. In the past four things stopped the Capitals in the playoffs: Goaltending, Toughness, Playoff Pressure Players, and the mental part that comes with missed opportunities...
The first three were filled and fixed surgically...the last one can’t be fixed until they get through to the Finals.
The Flyers played as well as anyone from the trade deadline on, until running into a little bump just prior to the end of the season. That mini three game slump had everything to do with exhaustion. They had to play almost perfect hockey to get into the playoff race...and when they lost Neuvirth it left Mason playing too many games.
These days off will heal a lot of those tired legs....and may even get Neuvirth back to game shape. Neuvirth was at times the better goalie this year, although Mason won the starting job with the incredible late run. We will see both in this series...
Emotion is a funny thing, but in hockey it can help teams to incredible heights. No one was closer with Ed Snider than Wayne Simmonds who served on his board of advisors on the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Charity which has seen countless inner city kids exposed to ice hockey. Simmonds’ play is the biggest reason the Flyers are playing tonight. Plain and simple he has taken it on his shoulders. Ed’s passing has focused the entire team in a similar way. The Flyers will be VERY hard to play against.
I have not seen a single person pick the Flyers to win this series, and for good reason. The Caps are much further along while the Flyers are playing with house money. It’s an easy selection.
However I am not going to take that route...I know many will see me as a homer, and maybe in this case I am because I have seen first hand the emotion around this week. The only “Hockey… reason I can give which gives the Flyers a shot is the fact that over the last three seasons this team has ALWAYS played its best hockey against better teams. Last year their winning record against winning teams was higher than most teams in the playoffs. This year they have played the lesser teams better, but still have managed more victories than losses against teams in the playoffs...
It will take staying out of the penalty box and their power play picking it up, but this will be a series...and if it gets to a game 7....anything goes.
Ek’s pick: Flyers in 7
your pick?
We will discuss all this and more on today’s Buzzcast at 1pm