Stanley Cup - First Round Recap

The first round of the NHL playoffs are nearly in the book with only one matchup remaining to be decided in a game 7 on Wednesday night between the Anaheim Ducks and the Nashville Predators. But, as the second round also begins on Wednesday for some teams, it's time to recap the first round and compare the results to my predictions:

Washington Capitals defeat Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 as predicted. The Caps were dominant in the early games in the series but the Flyers put Michael Neuvirth in goal for Game 4 and he nearly turned the series around.  Washington should be concerned going forward by their lack of scoring late in this series.

Tampa Bay Lightning defeat Detroit Red Wings 4-1 as predicted.  Tampa Bay was just too fast and too good up and down the lineup. Special mention needs to be made of Jonathan Drouin who requested to be traded from Tampa, was sent down to the minors, and then returned to the Lightning just before the playoffs and was a dominant force in this series. Also, it seems, a sad goodbye to Pavel Datsyuk of the Red Wings who looks like he will be heading home to Russia - one of the all-time greats.

Florida Panthers lose to New York Islanders 4-2 - prediction incorrect.  The Islanders playoff experience from last year paid off for them this year as they won 3 games in overtime and the other three games were essentially one goal games as the Panthers scored an empty net goal in Game 2 for a 3-1 win. Reilly Smith was excellent for Florida, in the playoffs for the first time in four years and only the second time since 2000(!), but the difference in this exceptionally tight series was the outstanding play of Thomas Greiss in goal for the Islanders.

New York Rangers lose to Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 - prediction incorrect. I thought Lundqvist in goal and the forward depth of the Rangers would be the difference - boy was I wrong!  The goalie combo of Jeff Zakoff and Matt Murray for the Penguins were the equal or better of Lunqvist. The Ranger forwards disappeared, despite Rich Nash, the perennial disappointment, showing up with 5 points in the series. Eric Staal, who the Rangers brought in from Carolina for a Stanley Cup run, had no points and was deficient defensively. But deficient defensively applied to the whole Ranger team as they allowed 11 goals in the last two games. It may be time to break up this Ranger team and rebuild (they have traded away all their draft picks over the last few years chasing the Cup) and let Lundqvist go to a team that really has a chance to win it all.  Pittsburgh will be going into the next series firing on all cylinders with utmost confidence.

Dallas Stars defeat Minnesota Wild 4-2 as predicted.  Minnesota just didn't have enough firepower early in this series and Dallas is a scoring machine. Unfortunately, with the Dallas defense, there is no such thing as a safe lead as they nearly blew a four goal lead in the third period of the final game before just hanging on to win.

Chicago Blackhawks lose to the St. Louis Blues 4-3 - prediction incorrect. The Blues erased a decade of frustration by finally winning a first round series and a game 7 decider. The series was as bruising and tight as we thought it would be, with six out of the seven games being decided by one goal, two of them in overtime.  As if to just toy with the emotions of Blues' fans in game 7, Troy Brouwer needed three tries to put the go-ahead goal into a virtually empty net mid-way in the third period and then the Blues survived a double post shot from the Hawk's Brent Seabrook, beating Brian Elliot in the final minutes. But Elliott in goal for the Blues was probably the difference in this incredibly exciting and hard-fought series.

Los Angeles Kings lose to the San Jose Sharks 4-1 - prediction incorrect.  Just like the Blues, the Sharks finally beat the Kings and put years of frustration behind them.  Martin Jones was Jonathan Quick's equal in the net for the Sharks and the Kings' undermanned defense had no way to stop Joe Pavelski who had five goals in the series. San Jose finally played to their potential in the post-season and thoroughly dominated L.A. in all categories.

As mentioned earlier, my prediction of the Anaheim Ducks defeating the Nashville Predators remains to be seen as we await game 7 on Wednesday night.

There was some great hockey and a number of really good series here in the first round. And it's only going to get better in round two.  I'll have my predictions for that round later on.