NHL Playoff Predictions

The NHL begins its playoffs tonight, and to celebrate, we're here to offer somewhat educated, yet extremely biased, predictions. Pssst, we're both going to pick the Flyers.

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Who comes out of the East?

Eric: I really do think the Flyers can come out on top of this one. The Flyers are supposed to be golfing right now and praying for lottery balls to grant them with hockey's next superstar Auston Matthews, but here they are after playing some of the best hockey in the league since the All-Star break. With a much needed break after three back-to-backs in April, and Jakub Voracek hopefully shaking off the rust he's displayed since returning from injury, the Flyers have shown they have everything it takes to make a deep run this year.

Matt: I'm a big homer so I am picking the Flyers but all the pieces are there for this to be a realistic choice. Washington has collapsed before and all it takes is one weak, early goal to revert Vezina favorite Braden Holtby back to his poor playoff performing ways. Washington is the easy series for the Flyers, however. The Pittsburgh Penguins have been the only team better than them in the last two months and, for all intents and purposes, swept them as the fourth game against the Penguins B-team does not count. But anything can happen in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, especially with a rivalry as big as Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia. Sure it is a long shot but I wouldn't count one of the top teams of the second half of the season out. 

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Which non-Flyers team comes out of the East?

Eric: It physically pains me to type, but Pittsburgh. The dominance they've displayed over the past few months, especially without Evgeni Malkin, has been incredible. If their goaltenders get healthy, they are the best team going in to the playoffs. Washington's troubling playoff history and the fact that they've been coasting for the better part of two months has me weary of their ability to run through the East like most talking heads expect them to.

Matt: Picking the Penguins here is too painful so I will go with a slightly less painful pick in the New York Rangers. They are playing with urgency as their time is running out and picking against Henrik Lundqvist in the playoffs is never easy. Many of their players have playoff experience and, like Washington, Pittsburgh can collapse at any moment under the weak leadership, yes I stand by this, of captain Sidney Crosby.

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Who comes out of the West?

Eric: I'm going with Anaheim in the West. The 1-7-2 record the Ducks came out of October with was a facade and the 45-18-9 record they posted the rest of the way was the real deal. The Ducks went from the 29th best team at Christmas to a division winner. Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf make up one of the top duos in the league, and they have two statistically above-average goaltenders to lean on in Andersen and Gibson. They took the                                                                                                    Blackhawks to game 7 of the Western                                                                                                  Conference Finals last year, and I think this is                                                                                      the year they make the leap. 

Matt: The West is wide open. Every team can make a run outside of ailing Minnesota who will open the playoffs without superstar Zach Parise. I'll take the top seed Dallas to pull through. Chicago hasn't been playing well and St. Louis' playoff woes will most likely continue which will set up a heavyweight bout against either the Kings or Ducks. Dallas can score and if their defense can play, at the very least, average they should make it to the Finals. 

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Who wins it all?

Eric: The Flyers are taking home the Cup this year for the first time since 1974-75. The passing of owner Ed Snider on Monday morning hit the hockey world hard and what better way to end a fairy-tail season than to end it by winning Lord Stanley's cup for the man who made hockey in Philadelphia. This is a motivated team who, when clicking, can beat any team in the league, and they will prove that.

Matt: I didn't believe in divine intervention until recently and I won't bet against it again: Ed Snider's last team will hoist the cup come June. The Flyers have something to play for, more than the other teams at least, and the emotion and determination to win for Mr. Snider will carry them to sixteen wins and one hell of a parade for a city thats been deprived of a cup for forty years.

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What will be the best series of the first round? Who wins it?

Eric: Chicago vs. St. Louis is going to be an incredible series. The teams were fairly evenly matched with a 3-2 count in favor of the Blues it, and with both teams coming into the playoffs completely healthy, this has all the makings of the premiere series of the playoffs. Because the Blues have a knack for choking come playoff time, and Chicago is Chicago, I think the Blackhawks narrowly escape this bloodbath in 7 games.

Matt: Sticking with the strong Western Conference theme, I think the battle of California will be a great series to watch. If we look at recent history, this is a year where the Kings should win the cup, as they have the last two even years, and they are one of the most experienced teams in the field. The Sharks also have some veterans in Jumbo Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski and have put together another great season. These two teams don't like each other very much and would love nothing more than to end the others season so I'm tuning in to every game of this series. 

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Who is the Flyers' X-factor?

Eric: It's way too easy to pick the goaltending here, so I'm going with Brayden Schenn. Since the Mike Richards trade, Schenn has been touted with praise of high potential, and up until this year, hockey fans were wondering if it would ever translate to the NHL. The Flyers saw first-hand this season what Schenn is capable of when his play after the trade deadline, ironically when his brother Luke was traded, sparked the team into one of the best records in hockey down the stretch. Over the past couple of weeks, Schenn's production slowed down and it reflected on the team. If Schenn can provide the secondary scoring the Flyers desperately need to show up, the Flyers can go as far as they want.

Matt: I want to say that the Flyers X-factor isn't even a Flyer(Braden Holtby) but i'll stick to the script and take Jake Voracek. If we've being honest, he has been one of the worst players on the ice since his return from injury BUT he has the potential to go back to being great and help carry this team to a cup.  All he needs to do is find his confidence again and his abilities will take over. That being said, if he can't get his act together and continues to miss the net and turn the puck over, the Flyers could be                                                                                          looking at an early exit. 

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Which player will break out during the playoffs?

Eric: For the second straight year, a Bolt is going to be the breakout player. Last year, the small, speedy Tyler Johnson went crazy, scoring 23 points over 26 games. This year, Jonathan Drouin is going to put his early season demons behind him and show the hockey world that he deserved to be drafted 2nd overall. With the absence of Steven Stamkos for the rest of the year, Drouin needs to step up as the star he can be for the Lightning to make any noise in the East.

Matt: There are a ton of superstars in the playoffs this year and they will likely dominate the postseason but a few names stick out to me because of their regular seasons. Tyler Toffoli quietly put together a thirty goal season for his LA Kings and I think he'll continue his above average season. I would also keep an eye on one of the many young guns on the Florida Panthers. While Florida harbors the immortal Jaromir Jagr, they've also had a few young guys step up and lead this team to an Atlantic Division title. Look for guys like Vincent Trocheck and Reilly Smith to propel Florida deep in the playoffs.

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