Eastern Conference Playoff Previews

(1) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (8) New York Islanders

For the Penguins to Win: Simply put, utilize their high-octane offense. Even without Sidney Crosby, this Penguins’ hockey club can put the puck in the net with guys like Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Pascal Dupuis, and Kris Letang. The team’s offense is absolutely lethal and if used the right way, should be able to absolutely pound the Islanders’ young defensive corps.

For the Islanders to Win: Play loose. Going into this series, there is absolutely no pressure on this Islanders’ team. With guys like John Tavares, Matt Moulson, Brad Boyes, Kyle Okposo, Michael Grabner, and Frans Nielsen, the Islanders can score goals, play a high-tempo game and even put a scare into opponents that are greater than them.

Match-up to Watch: The Penguins’ offense vs. the Islanders’ defense. There is a good chance that the young Islanders’ defensive corps will be under siege a lot in this series so it will be interesting to see how they can handle the Penguins’ high-powered offense.

Big Question: Does Sidney Crosby make his return to the ice in this series?

Best Bet: Penguins in five.

(2) Montreal Canadiens vs. (7) Ottawa Senators

For the Canadiens to Win: The team must forget about the last few weeks of the season. During this time, the Canadiens were sloppy, struggled to win hockey games and did not look like a playoff hockey game. The Canadiens must remember how they played in their last two regular season games, both wins over the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Canadiens have a lot of skilled hockey players that must come together at the right time to produce on a consistent basis to get this team to the second round for the first time since the 2009-10 season.

For the Senators to Win: Senators’ goaltender Craig Anderson must continue to play the way he did in the regular season. Anderson finished the regular season with a 12-9-2 record with a 1.69 GAA, a .936 save percentage and three shutouts. He has played well in the playoffs before so there is no reason why he will not be able to do it again. The team also must find ways to put the puck in the net. The Senators were 27^th in the league in terms of goals scored this season and come playoff time, goals will be a lot harder to come by.

Match-up to Watch: The match-up between goaltender Carey Price of the Canadiens and the Senators’ Anderson is going to determine who wins this series. When they want to, the Canadiens’ can put a lot of pucks on net and create a lot of pressure on opposing netminders. While the Senators’ offence was quiet in the regular season, they still have guys like Daniel Alfredsson, Kyle Turris, Milan Michaelk and a few others who can create offense and make life tough for Price.

Big Question: Will the Senators’ offence be able to survive without Jason Spezza?

Best Bet: Canadiens in six.

(3) Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers (6)

For the Washington Capitals to Win: Team captain and Rocket Richard winner Alex Ovechkin is going to have to play like he did during the regular season. Ovechkin topped the league with 32 goals, 16 of them coming on the power play. If Ovechkin manages to play with the swagger and man on a mission type attitude in this series, he could make life extremely tough on both the Rangers’ defense and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

For the New York Rangers to Win: Much like he did all regular season, Lundqvist is going to need to be at his absolute best. The Capitals have a lot of offense depth and were a team that finished fourth in the league in goals scored. If Lundqvist can keep the Capitals at bay and the team can get some timely goal scoring from the likes of Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Ryan Callahan, Brad Richards and Derrick Brassard, the Blueshirts might be able to win this series.

Match-up to Watch: Lundqvist vs. Capitals’ goaltender Braden Holtby. In the second round of the postseason last year, both of these netminders put on a heck of a show. Will they be able to pull off a repeat performance in this year’s playoffs?

Big Question: Which Richards will the Rangers’ have in this series? The one that struggled with confidence for most of the season or the one that played well down the stretch and produced on a consistent basis?

Best Bet: Rangers in seven.

(4) Boston Bruins vs. (5) Toronto Maple Leafs

For the Bruins to Win: The team will need to play to their identity. When all is right in the Bruins’ world, the Bruins can score, play a physical brand of hockey and get terrific goaltending from Tuukka Rask. With forwards like Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin, David Krejci and Milan Lucic, pucks will be thrown on the net and these guys will crash the net for loose pucks and rebounds. If the team can gets its offense going, it could end up being a relative short series in a good way for Beantown.

For the Leafs to Win: Goaltender James Reimer is going to need to play the best hockey he has ever played. Reimer was terrific for the Leafs in 33 games this season, going 19-8-5 with a 2.46 GAA, a .924 save percentage and four shutouts. Reimer also played well in two appearances against the Bruins this year as he went 1-1 and stopped 64 of 67 shots. If he can play that way against the Bruins on hockey’s biggest stage and the Leafs can get a ton of production from the likes of Joffrey Lupul, Phil Kessel, Nazem Kadri and James Van Riemsdyk, the Leafs might be able to steal a series.

Match-up to Watch: Bruins’ defenseman Zdeno Chara vs. Leafs’ defenseman Dion Phaneuf. These two big blue liners can hit, produce and strike fear into their opponents. It will be interesting to see what happens when their respective clubs go head to head in this first round series.

Big Question: What kind of goaltending performance will the Bruins’ get from Rask?

Best Bet: Bruins in five.