NHL Playoffs - Round Two

Well, my first round picks were roughly half right, so there's some room for improvement for sure. I won't comment too much on the Flames/Ducks fiasco, but I was somewhat relieved that the Flames/Oilers series didn't happen because deep down in places they don't talk about at parties, every Oilers fan knows that our team can't beat The Robot. Anyway, here are some more predictions that we can all have a good laugh at once this round is over:

(8) Edmonton vs. (5) San Jose: The Oilers are a confident bunch after disposing of the best team in the league. I think I should mention that everything I said about the Detroit/Edmonton series came true, and I just didn't have enough faith in my convictions to predict an Oilers win. The Oilers will certainly have their hands full trying to contain Marleau, Thornton and Cheechoo. This is where Mike Peca comes in, and I thought he did a fantastic job in the first round. Their bastardized version of the trap isn't going to work against the Sharks since they will go into the corners and battle for the puck unlike the Red Wings. As you will see below, the Oilers have a substantial advantage on special teams, and given their ability to keep pace with Detroit's unbelieveably good special teams, I think Craig Simpson must be a genius or something. And they will need to rely very heavily on their power play, since the Vesa Toskala allowed only 3 even strength goals in 5 games against Nashville. Oh yeah, and Pronger will have to continue to keep himself out of the penalty box. Sometimes I think he gets penalties just so he can take a friggin' break for a couple of minutes. Oilers in 7.

EDM #15 goals for vs. SJ #11 goals against
EDM #12 goals against vs. SJ #7 goals for

EDM #14 power play vs. SJ #23 penalty kill
EDM #8 penalty kill vs. SJ #13 power play

(7) Colorado vs. (6) Anaheim: I wonder how many Ducks fans scoffed at the notion of home ice advantage during the playoffs. I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours, but I think the hockey gods have a sick sense of humour because the Ducks had about 3,000 empty seats in each of their 3 games in the first round. The Ducks threw everything they had at the Flames and came away with a monumental upset. The Lanche are well-rested after only taking 5 games to beat the Stars so I question whether Anaheim has enough gas in the tank for this round. The Ducks are carrying a goaltending controversy with them into this one, although I think it would be silly not to start Ilya Bryzgalov. The Lanche had to steal games in OT against Dallas, so this series will at least be close. The Lanche will need to play better defensively and Theodore will have to step it up a notch. This alone will not win them a series against the Ducks, since Calgary was substantially better in both categories, but the Lanche have quite a few guys who can put the puck in the net. Avalanche in 6.

COL #4 goals for vs. ANA #7 goals against
COL #14 goals against vs. ANA #13 goals for

COL #9 power play vs. ANA #13 penalty kill
COL #6 penalty kill vs. ANA #15 power play

(4) Buffalo vs. (1) Ottawa: This looks like it will be the best series of the second round. Buffalo doesn't have a lot of playoff experience so the Senators have quite an edge in that department. The Senators took advantage of the Lightning's awful goaltending and scored plenty of goals in the first round. But the only reason the Philadelphia/Buffalo series was even close was because Buffalo let them back into it in Games 3 and 4. There was no reason they couldn't have won in 4 games. Hasek is doubtful for this series, and I don't know how much longer Ray Emery can get the job done. And did I mention how much I love Lindy Ruff as a coach? Sabres in 7.

BUF #5 goals for vs. OTT #2 goals against
BUF #10 goals against vs. OTT #1 goals for

BUF #3 power play vs. OTT #4 penalty kill
BUF #2 penalty kill vs. OTT #4 power play

(3) New Jersey vs. (2) Carolina: Don't look now, but the Devils' winning streak is now FIFTEEN in a row. The playoff version of Martin Brodeur is amazing as always. Cam Ward has emerged as the hot young goalie in this year's playoffs so he should be able to at least break the winning streak, but I certainly don't see him beating Brodeur head-to-head. Like most people I had counted out the Canes by Game 3 of the Montreal series, forgetting that a team must win 4 games to win the series. The Habs really came apart after losing their captain, scoring only 5 goals in the last 4 games of the series. I'm also worried about the long break for the Devils possibly killing their momentum, but I say Devils in 5 anyway.

NJ #22 goals for vs. CAR #20 goals against
NJ #9 goals against vs. CAR #3 goals for

NJ #18 power play vs. CAR #19 penalty kill
NJ #16 penalty kill vs. CAR #17 power play