The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs arrive during this second week of May and, while we’re again waiting to see what Draft Lottery fortunes unfold for the Blackhawks on Tuesday night, the SCH staff is also keeping an eye towards the hockey happenings on the ice.
Western Conference
Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche
Eric: I’m not going to pick against the Stars just because they were the team that kept me from predicting a perfect first round, I’m going to pick against them (again) simply because I don’t like them and now I very much want them to lose. Colorado went 3-1 against Dallas this season, scoring an average of five goals per game. The Avalanche just lit up one of the league’s best defensive teams and goaltenders to the tune of 28 goals in their five game opening round win (which works out to a rather robust 5.6 goals per game). Colorado has the three best players in the series in Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar, and what should make the Stars truly terrified is that they’re all still finding their form a bit. And don’t look now but Valeri Nichushkin’s seven goals are tied for the overall playoff lead, and it’s not like he’d have a reason to want to exact revenge on Dallas or anything. I still don’t have much faith in Avalanche goaltender Alexander Georgiev, but I don’t think I need to just yet. Avalanche in six.
Dave: It is going to take several years and several surprising postseason exits for me to ever pick against a team that has both Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar skating on it. Both players seem healthy and ready to dispatch of another team that does not have the star power Colorado offers. Avalanche in six.
Betsy: Although Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar have taken it to a new level this year, the Avalanche, in general, are not quite as good as years past in terms of personnel. However, they’re absolutely one of the best-run teams in the league and are so methodical in how they approach playing opponents — it’s how they beat a more cohesive Winnipeg Jets team, and beat them handily. So, it’s hard to imagine they can’t do that again against the Stars, who are playing looser/less defensive than expected. Avalanche in six.
Edmonton Oilers vs. Vancouver Canucks
Dave: Vancouver actually beat Edmonton in all four regular-season meetings between these two teams, although three of those games came during the first month of the season and can be chalked up as a significant reason why Jay Woodcroft became a former Oilers head coach before Thanksgiving. The Oilers feel like a completely different team now and the Canucks starting goalie (Thatcher Demko) may not start the series or could still be affected by an injury sustained during the first round. Backup goalies can get you past the Nashville Predators. They cannot get you past a team with two forwards atop the lineup who likely have more offensive ability than every player who’s ever skated for the Predators, combined. Oilers in six.
Betsy: It would be great to see the Canucks go deeper, which still feels like a weird statement to type. They’re just a fun, young team, and Arturs Silovs is a hero in the making. But it’s hard to bet against McDavid and a Oilers team that finally seems to have their shit together all throughout the lineup. Oilers in six.
Eric: Vancouver just defeated the Predators — a team designed to trap you and bore you to death — by outscoring them by a grand total of one goal in the entire series (13-12). Edmonton just defeated the Kings — a much better team designed to trap you and bore you to death — by outscoring them 22-13 in their series (and those 22 goals came in one less game). The Canucks would have a hard time stopping the Oilers even with a healthy Demko, and while Silovs was a nice, little story in the first round, I imagine he’ll be seeing visions of these gentlemen once he’s had to deal with a few games worth of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl running wild. This one should be quick and painless. Oilers sweep.
Eastern Conference
New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes
Dave: There’s been a lot of talk around Rangers forward Matt Rempe, who seems like the pluggiest (is that a word? It is now!) of fourth-line plugs among the players who are still skating in the postseason. Teams like New York can run a guy like that out in the first round and still pull off a sweep against teams as dreadful as the Washington Capitals were this season. The Carolina Hurricanes are a much, much different story, though, and the return of Filip Chytil — who should replace Rempe in the lineup as soon as he’s healthy — will thankfully end that storyline and gets the focus back to hockey. The Rangers are still a very good hockey team but still feel a touch more like pyrite than a proper contender. Carolina seems to have the pieces in place again for another postseason run that’ll, at least, get to the conference final. Let’s go with Hurricanes in seven.
Betsy: There’s already some key players missing on both sides in Brett Pesce and Jesper Fast for the Hurricanes and Chytil on the Rangers — plus Adam Fox was off for maintenance the entire time between the first and second round after that knee-on-knee hit with Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen. Fox obviously played in Game 1 against the Hurricanes, but his continued health is probably going to be a big factor in what should be a tight series. If Fox stays healthy, the Rangers could ride their offense through a Hurricanes defense that is definitely going to miss Pesce. And Shesterkin in net has been the better netminder this season, so he’ll be a tough out for a Hurricanes team that isn’t the best offensively. Because these are my favorite teams left, I hope the series goes long, so Rangers in seven.
Eric: This is the hardest series to call of the second-round match ups. The Hurricanes finished just three points behind the Rangers in the overall standings and went 1-2 against them this season, with all three games being relatively close. When a series starts to feel coin flippy, I typically look to the top of the lineup to help make my decision. The knock on Carolina for years has been they have a bunch of really good players, but no truly elite ones that can take over a game/period/shift when they absolutely need it. As much as I like Sebastian Aho and Jaccob Slavin, unfortunately for the Canes, that’s still the case. Whereas across the ice, New York has two lethal scorers in Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad, and one of the most gifted offensive defenseman in the league in Adam Fox. But I haven’t even talked about the Rangers’ best player yet. Including New York’s game one win on Sunday afternoon, Igor Shesterkin has now allowed three goals or fewer in 28 straight playoff games. Rangers in six.
Florida Panthers vs. Boston Bruins
Eric: After barely surviving their first round series against the Maple Leafs (let that sentence sink in for a moment) and escaping by the closest possible margin, I can’t imagine Boston has much left in the tank. And yet, that’s what I’ve thought about the Bruins all season, but somehow here they are as one of the final eight teams left trying to win the whole thing. Florida is just too everything for Boston to handle. They have more skill, depth, and definitely speed, at just about every position (even if David Pastrnak is a beast). The Bruins had a significantly hard time generating any 5 on 5 offense against the 21st best defensive team in the league last round, so I really don’t think they’re going to suddenly figure it out now against the league’s best defensive team. And that’s really the key for the Panthers, Boston can hurt them on the power play, so if they stay disciplined and keep their agitators from doing anything extremely stupid (I’m looking at you, Nick Cousins), this should be a quick one. And possibly even quicker if Sam Bennett is back. Panthers in five.
Dave: Saw plenty of arguments that the reason the Boston Bruins grabbed a 3-1 series lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round — and ultimately won the series — is because they were the overall better team than their longtime rivals. That advantage ends right here, because the Florida Panthers seem to have everything a Cup contending team requires: several stud forwards atop the lineup, multiple excellent defensemen skating 20-plus minutes per game and a goaltender who’s making all the saves he should and a few he probably should not. Florida will take this series and it’s possible that it may not be close. Panthers in five.
Betsy: It’s really interesting that this Bruins team, which is not a particularly good team this season, still managed to make the Toronto Maple Leafs look like jokes again by playing better in that series than they did most of the season. Can they play above their regular season performance again? It seem doubtful, especially after such a tiring first round. Honestly, it likely depends on Jeremy Swayman because he absolutely can steal a series. Still, the Panthers are a deeper, more well rounded team, so the edge is to them. Chances are this will either be a quick one or the Panthers choke late, but it seems more likely to be the former, so Panthers in five.