NHL 1st Round Playoff Predicitions

Eastern Conference

New York Rangers (1 seed) vs. Ottawa Senators (8)

Regular season- Ottawa won the series 3-1

It isn't often that in a 1 vs. 8 match-up that the 8 seed wins the regular season series. While the Sens shouldn't be favored to win this series, they should give the Rangers quite a scare. Watch for Rangers center Brandon Dubinsky to step up in this series

Rangers in 6

Boston Bruins (2) vs. Washington Capitals (7)

Regular season- Washington won the series 3-1

Any team that has Alex Ovechkin on it has to scare any goaltender, even if your name is Tim Thomas. The main reason why the Bruins are the 2-seed is because of an absurd run that they had in January and February (they were tied for the fifth most amount of points in the Eastern conference), but they are the defending Stanley Cup champions, so something has to be said for that.  Chris Kelly and Tyler Seguin have to have huge series

Bruins in 7

Florida Panthers (3) vs. New Jersey Devils (6)

Regular season- Split series, 2-2

The Devils might be the quietest team in all of the NHL, but they won't creep up on any teams in the playoffs. Goaltender Martin Brodeur has a ton playoffs experience (181 playoff games), while Ilya Kovalchuk must show that he was worth the ridiculous contract the Devils gave to him in these playoffs. Will this be Brodeur's last chance at a playoff run?

Devils in 6

Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (5)

Regular season- Philly won the series 4-2

Pittsburgh came on at the end of the season (Sidney Crosby coming back helped their offensive production), while the Flyers might have the best player in the league in Claude Giroux. This is going to be an extremely physical match-up, but might end up being the best playoff series for this postseason. Will Jaromir Jagr pull out some post-season magic for the Flyers?

Penguins in 7

Western Conference

Vancouver Canucks (1) vs. Los Angeles Kings (8)

Regular season- Split series, 2-2

This series is all about goaltending, as Jonathan Quick and Roberto Luongo are two of the best in the NHL. Quick posted 10 shutouts this season (which is unheard of), but he can't score any goals for the Kings, who need as much offensive help as possible. Henrik and Daniel Sedin will lead the charge for the Canucks into the second round.

Canucks in 5

St. Louis Blues (2) vs. San Jose Sharks (7)

Regular season- St. Louis won the series, 4-0

No team has two better goaltenders then the Blues right now (Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliot had a combined 1.89 goals allowed per game), but the playoff tester Sharks do have a shot. San Jose was second in the league in shots per game this season (33.8 per game), and the more shots a goaltender is forced to stop, the more that have to go in, right?

Sharks in 6

Phoenix Coyotes (3) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (6)

Regular season- Phoenix won the series 3-1

If Jonathan Toews is healthy for this series (which I believe he will be, despite concussion-like symptoms), the Blackhawks should have no issue in pulling off this 1st round "upset"(the 'hawks did have four more points then the 'yotes this year). The only shot that Phoenix has is if Mike Smith continues to be rock-solid in net (stopped 190 of the last 192 shots thrown at him to wrap up the regular season)/ Will this be ageless Ray Whitney's last go-around? 

Blackhawks in 6

Nashville Predators (4) vs. Detroit Red Wings (5)

Regular season- Split series, 3-3

Like the Eastern Conference, this 4 vs. 5 match-up might be the best series in the Western Conference playoffs this year. Both teams went 2-1 on their home ice against each other this season, but the Red Wings have a ton of playoff experience behind players such as Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk but Pekka Rinne has been awesome this season (2.39 goals against average, .923 save percentage). Something has to give

Predators in 7