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Boston vs Carolina
Carolina presents a far more difficult opponent than the depleted Canadiens did. With such scorers as Whitney and Staal, and solid players behind them with LaRose, Ruutu and Kole, the Canes have more depth at offense than Montreal did. The Bruins coach rarely matches lines, so it will be up to every line to work to shut these players down as best they can.
The Bruins have tremendous depth on both offense and defense, with three lines that can all score, and a fourth that provides plenty of energy in Thornton, Bitz and Wheeler, a 20 goal scorer as a rookie. On D, Chara played a flawless first round, but the depth is there as well. Ward, Hnidy, Wideman, Hunwick (if he's able to play), Montador and Stuart are all solid.
In goal, the B's have only a very slight advantage, at least on paper. But Ward played better than Thomas did (or had to against an anemic Habs offense), and their beating New Jersey feels like a passing of the torch from Brodeur to Ward in many ways. Thomas' numbers in the first round were excellent (1.50 GAA, .958 save percentage) and he was more controlled than last years playoffs. It's a wash in goal, in my opinion.
For Carolina to win they have to find a way to stop not only the B's top line, but the even more productive (against Montreal) second line of Krejci, Lucic and Ryder, while finding ways to beat the layered style of defense the B's play so well. A tough matchup, but the B's are a deeper team, and should win the series.
Boston in 6
Pittsburgh vs Washington
The NHL's dream matchup of Crosby and Ovechkin should provide lots of excitement and offense. Besides AO, the Caps have Backstrom and Semin, who both had 75+ points, and the Pens have Malkin (who, along with Crosby and AO comprised the top 3 point getters in the NHL), and previous Cup winners in Sykora and the great deadline pickup Bill Guerin.
Even the defense on both teams thinks offense. Washington has Tom Poti, who can put up some points here and there and, more importantly, Mike Green, who led defensemen with 31 goals and 73 points. The Pens counter with Gonchar, always a deadly powerplay leader, and rising star Kris Letang, who added 33 points in just his sophomore year.
In a series of offense it comes down to goaltending, and this is where the teams part ways for me. While Varlamov played well for the most part, Fluery is a better goalie with the experience of a Stanley Cup finals under his belt.
Despite the Caps dominance in the regular season...
Pittsburgh in 6
Detroit vs Anaheim
The Ducks played great in the first round, with Hiller especially stepping up. However, they had to play their very best to get by a Sharks team that for the most part played uninspired hockey. The Wings have the most depth in the league, by far (Datsyuk, their leading scorer during the season, was 12th on the team in scoring in the first round). Eleven Wings had at least one goal in their first round series (which was only 4 games mind you), and 15 players had at least one point (11 of those had at least 3 points in the 4 games).
On D I actually give the nod to the Ducks, though just slightly. While the Wings have the best defensemen in the League in Lidstrom, the Ducks D is actually deeper. Pronger, Niedermayer and Whitney all had an excellent first round.
However, even with a slightly better D, the Ducks would need Hiller to play the series of a lifetime, and while he's certainly a quality goalie, I think that's going to be asking too much.
Detroit in 5
Chicago vs Vancouver
This is a real intriguing series. Before the first round I didn't realize just how defensive minded the Canucks were, but upon looking at their season numbers I saw that their D was ranked 4th in the West, and that's with Luongo being out for a good while.
Vancouver can also throw some solid offense at you with the Sedin brothers, the very cool Kessler, and Burrows. Pavol Dimetra is an unknown. If he shows up he can be deadly...if not he's useless. I have no idea if Sundin will be available, but I think his time a serious contributor is over anyways.
Chicago is a great young team that should contend for many years to come (depending on their future goaltending. I don't know how long Khabibulin will be around). Toews and Kane are both dynamic and exciting players, and they get offense from a number of players besides those two. Versteeg, Havlat, Pahlsson and Byfuglien all had a good first round against a solid Calgary squad. Ladd brings a great physical presence as well.
It's a great matchup in goal, as Luongo and Khabibulin square off. The 'Bulin Wall's best days were seemingly behind him, but the young Chicago team seems to have given him a new life (not that he was sucking before this year or anything), and Luongo is just awesome. Both goalies are totally capable of stealing games for their team.
The toughest series for me to pick, but I think Vancouver has a slight edge in goal and experience (the Hawks are the youngest team in hockey).
Vancouver in 7
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