Every year the pundits go out and predict the opening round of the playoffs and for the last three years I have been tracking the first round using the previous two seasons matchup numbers to determine the winner and it always amazes me how accurate this method is. It almost always proves to be the more accurate than anyone who is predicting...
Quite simply hockey is a game of match-ups and some teams definitely have other team's numbers...and in this case the regular season dominance often carries over into the playoffs...not always, of course there have been exceptions, but more often than not it REALLY matters...
In the West there are several surprising team vs team numbers.. Dallas is 6-2-2 versus Chicago and have scored 38 goals in 14 games San Jose is 7-3 versus Dallas Anaheim is 7-1-1 versus the Kings Nashville is 4-0-2 versus the Kings Minnesota is 7-1-1 versus Colorado (although the can't meet) Chicago is 4-1-1 versus Anaheim St Louis is 7-3 versus Dallas Colorado is 7-0-1 versus Dallas outscoring the Stars 33-20
Based on the Match-ups, land looking at the Western Conference currently, if the playoffs were to start today they would go like this..
Dallas versus Minnesota: Winner: Minnesota Minnesota has won 6 of 10
LA versus Nashville: Winner:Nashville Nashville has gone 4-0-2 against LA over the last two seasons.
Anaheim versus San Jose: Winner San Jose San Jose has gone 5-3-1 against Anaheim, Outscoring the Ducks 25-16
St Louis versus Chicago: Winner St Louis. St Louis has won 5 of 9
As you might notice, the favorites would all be losers if the match-ups stood true.
Here are the 9 teams still in contention and how they have done against the other 8 over the last two years..
Dallas Nashville 4-3-1 24,22 Los Angeles 2-3 12,15 San Jose 3-3-4 26,31 Anaheim 2-2-1 12,12 Minnesota 5-4-1 33,31 Chicago 6-2-2 38,28 St Louis 3-3-4 26,31 Colorado 1-5-2 20-33
Los Angeles Dallas 3-2 15,12 San Jose 5-4 22, 24 Anaheim 2-4-3 23, 31 Nashville 2-2-2 18, 22 Minnesota 3-3 10,11 Chicago 3-3 16, 17 St Louis 3-1-2 14, 13 Colorado 4-2 18, 13
San Jose Dallas 7-3 31,26 Los Angeles 4-4-1 24, 22 Anaheim 5-3-1 25, 16 Nashville 2-3 8, 13 Minnesota 3-1-1 13,13 Chicago 2-3-1 13, 20 St Louis 3-3 16, 21 Colorado 4-1-1 24, 17
Anaheim Dallas 3-2 12,12 Los Angeles 7-1-1 31, 23 San Jose 4-5 16, 25 Nashville 4-2 20, 17 Minnesota 5-1 16, 11 Chicago 2-2-2 8, 14 St Louis 3-3 14, 15 Colorado 2-3 8, 14
Nashville Dallas 4-2-2 22,24 Anaheim 2-3-1 17, 20 Los Angeles 4-0-2 22, 18 San Jose 3-2 13, 8 Minnesota 5-3-1 24, 25 Chicago 3-4-2 21, 25 St Louis 4-4-2 25, 26 Colorado 4-4 24, 21
Minnesota Dallas 5-2-3 31,33 Nashville 4-4-1 25, 24 Los Angeles 3-2-1 11,10 San Jose 2-2-1 13,13 Anaheim 1-5 11, 16 Chicago 6-3 27,22 St Louis 4-3-2 24, 25 Colorado 7-1-1 29, 13
Chicago Dallas 4-6 28-38 Nashville 6-3 25, 21 Los Angeles 3-2-1 17,16 San Jose 4-2 20,13 Anaheim 4-1-1 14, 8 Minnesota 3-5-1 22, 27 St Louis 4-3-2 25, 21 Colorado 5-4 23,23
St Louis Dallas 7-3 31,26 Nashville 6-4 26,25 Los Angeles 3-2-1 13,14 San Jose 3-2-1 21,16 Anaheim 3-2-1 15,14 Minnesota 5-4 25,24 Chicago 5-4 21,25 Colorado 4-2-2 17,19
Colorado Dallas 7-0-1 33,20 Nashville 4-3-1 21, 24 Los Angeles 2-4 13,18 San Jose 2-3-1 17,24 Anaheim 3-1-1 14, 8 Minnesota 2-7 13, 29 Chicago 4-4-1 23,23 St Louis 4-2-2 19,17