Well, the quarterfinals are over and we're left with eight teams battling for the epic prize of the Stanley Cup. We'll make our predictions first in the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference will come later in another post. So we've got the Predators-Canucks and the Red Wings-Sharks. Sounds like two good great matchups for the second round.
(5) Nashville Predators vs. (1) Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks managed to get by the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 7 while the Nashville Predators whitewashed the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6, leaving both teams feeling pretty good about themselves right now.
The Predators are playing solid defense right now thanks to the help of Ryan Suter, Jordin Tootoo, and Shea Weber. Mike Fisher is having an impact on that offensive as well as Patric Hornquist. They also have the high-and-tall goaltender in Pekka Rinne who is manning that net and is giving the team a chance to get some pretty good offense going.
But if you're the Nashville Predators, you can't feel as good playing the Vancouver Canucks then the Detroit Red Wings or San Jose Sharks. The Sedin twins are making magic happen in Vancouver and Daniel Sedin, the potential hart trophy candidate is making things work in Vancouver. Alex Burrows is providing the offense that is needed in order to get to the Cup. He had that breakthrough OT winner in Game 7 and we might just see it again.
This is the first time that Nashville advanced past the first round but I think that the pressure and the criticism that Vancouver went through will help them win this series. Nashville is doing pretty well, but ultimately Vancouver has too much depth and is a better thing offensively than Nashville is. The defense of Nashville will be exposed, so I will pick the Canucks to win it in six games. Matthew Barnaby and E.J. Hradek also have their predictions as well on this ESPN video.
(3) Detroit Red Wings vs. (2) San Jose Sharks
This two teams played last year in the Western Conference semifinals with San Jose taking the deciding series 4-1 and forcing Detroit to miss the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in two years.
Detroit better be on the watchout this time, though, as San Jose is proving that they are healthy enough and well-rested enough to provide the offensive scoring they need to really put Jimmy Howard in the hole and allow for Antti Niemi to get some breathing rest. Niemi didn't do too well in the first round, giving up rebounds and allowing for the Kings to score on some of those opportunities. I think Niemi will make those saves but I doubt they'll be great and/or pretty ones. San Jose has two pretty good lines that provide that scoring they need to beat Howard and the defense of the Red Wings
Detroit is fighting the injury problems. Johan Franzen has been pretty banged up and Henrik Zetterberg is returning from an injury, but I don't know how good he'll be on the ice. Johan Franzen can be a factor but how good of a factor? They have offense, but the question is can their players provide the highly-skilled offense they had before their injuries? If not, San Jose will get a lot of defense on these two when they come down the ice.
This is going to be a tight series. It could go either way. Both teams have plenty of offense they can bring, but all in all, I think the San Jose Sharks find a way to beat the Detroit Red Wings and advance to another Western Conference Finals match.
Well, that's it for the Western Semifinals preview. Catch back later for the Eastern Conference Semifinals preview. Lightning-Capitals and Bruins-Flyers. Can the Bruins beat the Flyers again this time? And will the Capitals beat the Lightning in a Southeast playoff series? I'll tell you later, puckheads.
Matthew Barnaby and E.J. Hradek have more analysis and predictions for the two series in the videos above.
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