NHL: Western Conference Playoff Previews

(1)   Chicago Blackhawks vs. (8) Minnesota Wild

For the Blackhawks to Win: Simply put, the Blackhawks need to be the dominant force that they were in the regular season. With the likes of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp and several others, this team’s offense is the most balanced in the entire NHL. The Blackhawks must use it to overpower the Wild.

For the Wild to Win: The Wild must focus on their defensive game and get timely goal scoring. During the season, the Wild were 15^th in the league in goals against so against a team like the Blackhawks, that needs to improve. Secondly, they must find a way to get goals against the league’s top defensive club. The Wild may not have the offensive depth that the Blackhawks do but they do have some guys that can put the puck in the net in guys like Zach Parise, Devin Setoguchi, and Mikko Koivu.

Match-up to Watch: In the postseason, getting points from defenseman is always looked at as an added bonus for NHL clubs. The Wild have Ryan Suter, one of their top free agent pickups over the last off-season, and the Blackhawks have Duncan Keith. Suter finished the regular season with 32 points (four goals and 28 assists) while Keith finished with 27 points (three goals and 24 assists). It will be interesting to see which one of these guys has the better series.

Big Question: Will Wild netminder Niklas Backstrom  be ready to face the offensive onslaught that will come from the Blackhawks’ high-octane offense?

Best Bet: Blackhawks in five.

(2)   Anaheim Ducks vs. (7) Detroit Red Wings

For the Ducks to Win: The Ducks will be trying to avoid a repeat of their playoff history against the Red Wings as the Red Wings have won four of their six playoff series against the Ducks dating back to their first series in 1997. This time around, however, it is the Ducks with the higher seed as the Ducks were one of the most consistent teams this season. Team head coach Bruce Boudreau has the Ducks’ offense flying with an arsenal in Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan, Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne and two good goaltenders in Jonas Hiller and Viktor Fasth. If the Ducks can put these two things together, they should be able to win this series.  

For the Red Wings to Win: The Red Wings almost missed the playoffs for the first time in 21 years but managed to get the seventh spot thanks to a strong final week of the season. To advance to the second round this year, the Red Wings’ offense must find a way to get going and get going early with the likes of Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen, and Damien Brunner while the team’s defense must find a way to step up without Nicklas Lidstrom.

Match-up to Watch: Ducks defense vs. Red Wings’ power forward Johan Franzen. Franzen has made a living wreaking havoc on opposing defenses and goaltenders by being a big and annoying presence in front of the net. The Ducks must find a way to keep Franzen away from Hiller/Fasth as well as loose pucks around the net.

Big Question: Who is going to be the man between the pipes for the Ducks? Hiller started 25 games this season while Fasth started 23, both posting very similar numbers.

Best Bet: Ducks in six.

(3)   Vancouver Canucks vs. (6) San Jose Sharks

For the Canucks to Win: The team’s offense must wake up. The Canucks finished 19^th in the league this season in goals scored despite having players like Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Alexandre Burrows, Ryan Kesler (injured for most of the season), and Mason Raymond. The Canucks need must pound pucks at Sharks’ goaltender Antti Niemi and crash the net for rebounds and loose pucks.

For the Sharks to Win: The Sharks, much like they have all season, must get an all-world goaltending performance from Niemi. Niemi was one of the league’s best goaltenders in the regular season as he went 24-12-6 with a 2.16 goals against average, a .924 save percentage and four shutouts. The team also must get consistent offense from the likes of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture, and Joe Pavelski. As these four players go, so does the rest of the Sharks’ hockey club.

Match-up to Watch: The goaltending match-up of Niemi vs. Canucks’ masked man Cory Schneider should be a dandy. Both goaltenders were solid in the regular season and both have played well in the postseason in their careers.  

Big Question: Will Thornton find a way to get rid of the stigma of just being a good player in the regular season?

Best Bet: Sharks in seven.

(4) St. Louis Blues vs. (5) Los Angeles Kings

For the Blues to Win: For the second straight season, the Blues have found their way into the postseason and once again have home ice advantage thanks to an 11-2-1 stretch to close out the season. To win this series, the Blues must find a way to play much tighter defensively than they did last year in the playoffs and this year in the regular season against the Kings in order to stop the likes of Anze Kopitar, goal-scoring machine Jeff Carter, hard-working Dustin Brown, Mike Richards and Justin Williams. If the Blues can find a way to shut these guys down while getting consistent offense from Chris Stewart, David Backes, Alex Steen, Patrik Berglund and Dave Perron, the result of this series can end up being much different than last year’s.

For the Kings to Win: For the first time in franchise history, the Kings will be playing in the playoffs as defending Cup champions. While the Blues may be the higher seed, the Kings definitely have what it takes to win this series. The Kings need to use their 10^th ranked offense to take advantage of a Blues’ club that does not score a lot of goals (17^th in the league). As can be seen above, the Blues do not have a lot of offensive depth so if the Kings can shut down the Blues’ top scorers this season, it could end up being another short series in the Kings’ favor.

Match-up to Watch: Everyone who follows hockey knows that come playoff time, goaltending matters. That is going to be the case in this series as it will more than likely be Blues’ netminder Brian Elliott vs. Kings’ netminder and Cup winner Jonathan Quick. After struggling for the first two months of the season, Elliott was clearly the league’s best goaltender in the month of April while Quick, like Elliott, has had an up and down season. The key in this match-up is that Quick has already proven he can play well in the postseason when he won the Cup last year. To win this series, Elliott must a find a way to do the same.

Big Question: Which Brian Elliott will be present in this series? Will it be the one that got off to a 3-6-1 start with terrible numbers or will it be the one that played some of his best hockey in his career to solidify the fourth spot in the Western Conference for his hockey club?

Best Bet: Kings in six.