NHL Playoffs: Second Round MVPs

The picture's getting clearer as to who means what to which team in these playoffs. Here are the most valuable players so far...

Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins: reminiscent of recent dominating playoff performances in front of the crease, in particular those of former teammate Tim Thomas (2011) and Jonathan Quick (2012 and 2014).

Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl, San Jose Sharks: the word "clutch" doesn't even do these guys justice. A ton of points at the most opportune moments led a team of perennial underachievers to victories they probably didn't deserve.

Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes: possibly the best performance by a defenseman in the 2019 playoffs, Slavin is showing part-time hockey enthusiasts just what fanatics and Canes fans have been enjoying for years, which is the best current-day imitation of Nicklas Lidstrom-esque perfection.

Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues: I always hesitate to put a rookie goalie in the mix, because as we've seen with Cam Ward, a state of grace can be fleeting. But without his daily heroics, the Blues never get through Ben Bishop and the Dallas Stars.

Let the third round begin!

NHL Playoffs Predictions 2018-19: Round Two

Three out of five, and oh-so-close to being 4/4 or 5/3... I'm talking about my First Round report card, of course.

Round two has only two of the 16 top point producers of the regular season, and no division winners. As a matter of fact, 7 of the top 10 regular-season teams are now eliminated.

In the first round alone, the 2019 playoffs had as many games go into overtime (10) and series go to seven games (3) as the entire 2018 playoffs.

Eastern Conference:

Boston Bruins (2) vs Columbus Blue Jackets (WC2):
The Jackets took care of the might Bolts in four straight games on the strength of the league's best motivator/manipulatir behind the bench in head coach John Tortorella, a stingy defense led by Seth Jones, Zach Werenski and David Savard, who is cementing his place among the best shut-down defenders in the league. Sergei Bobrovsky - whom I repeat is the only active goalie with two Vezinas - took care of the rest and perhaps chased away his playoff demons.

The Bs, as expected, needed seven games to get rid of the Leafs. They might win the first two via adrenaline, but the Jackets are essentially the same team, just younger, fresher and perhaps even tougher. Boston won't get intimidated by Columbus like Tampa did, but they might run out of breath by next Tuesday.

Jackets in 6.


New York Islanders (2) vs Carolina Hurricanes (WC1):
The "bunch of jerks" will meet their match in the Isles. many were surprised when the Boys From Long Island disposed of swept the Pens, but let's not forget they weren't the underdogs, they'd actually finished ahead of Pittsburgh and second in the Metropolitan Division. Robin Lehner's still playing like a Vezina candidate, he can handle Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. The Isles just need to finish this one in 6 games or less; Justin Williams would be troublesome in a Game Seven.

Isles in 5.



Western Conference:

San Jose Sharks (2) vs Colorado Avalanche (WC2):
Seriously, Sharks, no. In a Game 7 when he should have stopped the Golden Knights cold after his team scored four straight powerplay goals to reverse a 3-0 deficit in the third period, Martin Jones showed his teammates and the entire world that he was going to buck under pressure. Don't get me wrong, the Avs will feel like every round will get harder and every adversary will get better - because they will. But they can beat San Jose with their top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Miko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog, and Philipp Grubauer is showing some serious poise behind the pipes to help out on the back end.



Make no mistake - the Sharks didn't beat the Golden Knights in the first round; they beat a lazy Max Pacioretty with the help of referees who did their jobs so badly that they were themselves excluded from the second round. It was as if they'd gambled on the game and needed to influence it, so they gave Vegas a 21-minute disadvantage, including the late five-minute major on something taht was at most a minor penalty.

Avs in 7.


St. Louis Blues (3) vs Dallas Stars (WC2):
The Stars will need Alexander Radulov, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Mats Zuccarello to just throw everything and the kitchen sink at the hottest goalie on the planet, Jordan Binnington. He's stopping everything, at a 96% clip, meaning Dallas will need to pepper him with 60 shots per game, every game to wear him down and tear holes through his armor, and to trust Ben Bishop will take care of things in their own end. And barring another postseason injury, he will - he's having Conn Smythe-caliber playoffs himself, after all. The Blues have no business playing in May this year, they need to be brought down to earth (and will be, whether it's now or in the next round).

Stars in 7.

NHL Playoffs Predictions 2017-18: Round Two

 

Alright, so I disrespected the San Jose Sharks enough to have them sweep the Anaheim Ducks...

Onto Round 2.

Western Conference:

Nashville Predators (1) vs Winnipeg Jets (2) :
The two best teams in the league will duke it out in the second round, with only oen advancing to the Conference Finals - not that that will be a problem. The eight remaining teams are pretty good. This series, featuring the two best defenses in the league, will also pit the regular season's two best goalies in Pekka Rinne and Connor Hellebuyck against one another. The former has experience (including medaling on the international stage), the second has youthful exuberance and no fucking fear; Rinne will get the Vezina, but Hellebuyck may very well be the better goalie in this series. Defensively, the Jets' depth is challenged, with Tobais Enstrom not dressing and Tyler Myers playing injured; the Preds' P.K. Subban and the Jets' Dustin Byfuglien are both game-breakers, in every sense of the terms: Subban can make defensive plays, score goals, make a magical pass or drop the puck sending the opponents' quickest forwards on breakaways with equal probabilities (20% chance of each), while Byfuglien takes fewer play-making risks and has 30-40 pounds on Subban, but he also has a temper that could get him suspended for a game or two, so these two even each out, as do Jacob Trouba and Roman Josi, Dmitry Kulikov and Mathias Ekholm, and Myers and Ryan Ellis. The Predators' biggest problem will be dealing with Winnipeg's unusual mix of speed and heaviness. I really like both teams, want both to do well, and the series really is a coin toss. The Jets are better balanced, but the Predators have the best coach.

Nashville in 7.

Vegas Golden Knights (1) vs San Jose Sharks (3):
Congratulations, San Jose, you made it farther than I expected and now that Joe Thornton is injured and Patrick Marleau is gone, your choking days may be over. So this won't be a series where you choke, just one where you lose to an expansion team. Vegas' Marc-André Fleury has been the best player in the postseason thus far, and he just beat his current opponent Martin Jones' mentor, the Los Angeles Kings' Jonathan Quick. Also, the Sharks' coach, Peter DeBoer, has never won despite being handed some very fine teams in San Jose and New Jersey; Gerard Gallant has provided tiny miracles in the shape of unforeseen division titles with both the Golden Knights and the Florida Panthers. Vegas has the edge.

Vegas in 6.

Eastern Conference:

Tampa Bay Lightning (1) vs Boston Bruins (2):
At least Boston beat the Toronto Maple Leafs. But the Bolts are the best team in the East, with MVP candidates at every single position, from Norris candidate Victor Hedman, former New York Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh and future Norris hoarder Mikhail Sergachev on defense to Andrei Vasilevskiy in net to an offense comprised of Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, super-rookie Brandon Point, Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn, Yanni Gourde, and playoff performer Tyler Johnson. The Bs have aging superstars Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, Brad Marchand and Tuukka Rask, as well as solid sniper David Pastrnak. It's an uneven fight, save for the Bruins' nastiness (and, let's be honest, character).

Bolts in 6.

Washington Capitals (1) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (WC1):
Go Caps Go. Go Alex Ovechkin Go. Keep in mind, this one's for my heart, not my brain, which is saying "Pittsburgh in 7"; I just really want Ovi's efforts to be rewarded. He deserves team success (and to shut his detractors up). It looks like Braden Holtby is back to his old self, too, which helps.

Caps in 6.