Mike's 2013 Playoff Predictions- First Round

Sean and Anthony picked theirs so now it's my turn. Like Anthony, this is my first time doing this so just bear with me. While some of my predictions and reasons for them may be a little farfetched, these are how I believe each matchup of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs will go. With that said, let's jump into it. Here we go, my 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs predictions:

Eastern Conference:

(1)PIT vs. (8)NYI

·         NYI wins in 7. The Islanders have been hot lately, gaining points in 9 of their last 10. Plus they are very good on the road this year with a 14-6-4 record, which plays in their favor since Pittsburgh has home ice advantage. If Tavares, Grabner and Moulson play the way that they are capable of, look for a first round upset and the Penguins to get sent home early for the second year in a row.

(2)MTL vs. (7)OTT

·         MTL wins in 6. The injuries that Ottawa has sustained to their star players will be too much for them to overcome. While they did get Erik Karlsson back earlier than expected, not having the offensive skill and leadership of Jason Spezza will ultimately doom the Senators.

(3)WSH vs. (6)NYR

·         NYR wins in 6. The hockey gods must love watching these two play against each other in the playoffs, because they have done so in 4 of the last 5 seasons (’10 being the odd one out as the Rangers missed the playoffs on the last day of the season). Both teams have enormous talent offensively, as the Rangers have Rick Nash and Brad Richards and the Capitals have Alex Ovechkin but New York has the stronger defense and the better goalie and will ultimately take the hard-fought series.

(4)BOS vs. (5)TOR

·         BOS wins in 5. Both teams have a lot of talent, some young and some old, but Boston will edge out the Leafs in the series. While Toronto might actually have the better offense as of late, the Bruins defense, led by the massive Zdeno Chara, and the stellar goaltending of Tuukka Rask will be too much for the Maple Leafs to endure.

 
Western Conference:

(1)CHI vs. (8)MIN

·         CHI wins in 5. The Wild just barely squeaked into the playoffs and now must face the team that has arguably been the best in the league for the entire season. While their top 2 free agent acquisitions, Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, have been their usual impressive selves, Minnesota has not had much more scoring depth and it will come back to haunt them.

(2)ANA vs. (7)DET

·         ANA wins in 6. Overshadowed by Chicago’s impressive start to the season, the Ducks have quietly had an excellent season. They finished second in the conference and third in the league in points. They have had offensive contributions up and down the roster and have a very good goaltending duo in Jonas Hiller and Viktor Fasth. Detroit simply does not have the talent or depth to keep up with Anaheim.

(3)VAN vs. (6)SJS

·         VAN wins in 6. This was a tough one because both teams are balanced all around. They both have good scoring forwards, strong defensive cores and impressive goalies. In the end, the Canucks better offense, led by the Sedin twins, Ryan Kesler, and Derek Roy, and goaltending will lead them to the second round. The only question mark for the Canucks at the moment is who will be the starting goalie, Schneider or Luongo?

(4)STL vs. (5)LAK

·         LAK wins in 7. This is going to be a good matchup, arguably the best in the Western Conference. Ultimately, the Kings will win this one, although it will take them seven games to do it (unlike last year when they swept the Blues). Los Angeles is simply better offensively and defensively. The goaltending matchup is a very close one. Both Jonathan Quick and Brian Elliott are very good backstops and it should be a very good series but the Kings will ultimately win and move on.