NHL Playoff Predictions

We're about an hour from puck drop for the first games of round 1 and I can't contain my excitement much longer, so I figured I'd unleash some predicitions for the first round.

East

New York over Ottawa in 6 games - The Sens won the season series 3-1 and are not an easy opponent by any means, but Henrik Lundqvist is too much and seems focused and poised to carry the Rangers deep.  Erik Karlsson keeps scoring, Spezza will struggle a bit, Gaborik launches a huge assault but Ryan Callahan does it all for the Rangers en route to a series win.

Boston over Washington in 7 games - Washington seems to have been written off by many, but I remember watching Braden Holtby in junior, he is a future star goaltender and he has a prime opportunity with a strong supporting cast, but the Big Bad B's style will eventually prevail.  Caps make it a series though.  Ovechkin steals some hype but the bottom 6 are the ones that pace the Caps to a couple victories but Krejci and Seguin are one of the best duos around and outduel the Caps dynamic combinations.

New Jersey over Florida in 6 games - I think we will all be surprised by the Florida fan support and that could go a long way in carrying the Panthers to a couple wins.  Florida's team play style is also one that is proven effective.  New Jersey has a lot of interesting characters but also the offensive muscle to push aside the surprising push the Panthers should give.  Zach Parise takes over and doesn't look back, Adam Larsson shows off some offense, Stephen Weiss finally gets some of the credit he's due.

Pittsburgh over Philadelphia in 5 games - This could be my heart speaking a bit, as Mario Lemieux was the reason I got into hockey at all but the other part of this prediction is how far out of their way Philadelphia went to try and get under the Penguins skin.  They don't have the intimidating brutes to scare the Penguins skill and the words directed at their players and coaches will only serve as white board material.  We all want this series to go 7 as the entertainment value could be off the charts but I think Philly has already shot themselves in the foot.  Staal makes a huge difference, Fleury outduels Bryzgalov and the Pens actually "out-tough" the Flyers.  Hartnell still goes off and Sean Couturier makes a bigger name for himself.

West

Vancouver over Los Angeles in 6 - LA has the goaltending and defensive strategy to try and shut down the higly skilled Canuck attack but as capable as they are at beating a team like Vancouver, try will be about as much as they can muster.  LA has Mike Richards, and come playoff time, Richards is an absolute beast, he could completely neutralize the Sedin factor and maybe even eclipse.  I think Luongo comes to play and regains a bit of his old dominant form while Quick struggles to keep the pace he set for himself in the regular season.

St. Louis over San Jose in 7 - This series has the potential to be the best of the first round.  San Jose even has the potential to win but I think the Blues disciplined team style will prevail.  Many expect St. Louis to keep the scoring down, this series they may not be able to control that and we could see some surprisingly offensive style games.  I think David Backes and Ryane Clowe have the potential to pace this series while David Perron, Kevin Shattenkirk, Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture could be poised to run wild offensively.

Chicago over Phoenix in 6 - Mike Smith finished the year hot, but Chicago has the guns to wear him down.  Phoenix has underrated talent and could surprise but the safe bet here is a Blackhawk victory, especially with the likelihood of captain Jonathan Toews returning.  Not enough credit is given to the secondary scoring of the Hawks either, I expect Shaw, Kruger and Nick Leddy to make a difference in round 1.

Nashville over Detroit in 6 - A difficult call, especially considering I loaded up on Red Wings in the mid rounds of my playoff pool but Nashville has tremendous depth and can play a very frustrating calculated physical style that could beat up the aging Wings enough to get on.  The Wings do hold the wildcard in Pavel Datsyuk and if he gets going, my prediciton could be done, but my playoff pool could look very very good.