Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs Predictions

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While other 22 year olds are worried about finals, some are worried about if they’re going to make it to the next round of the Stanley Cup. With the west lottery teams already knowing their match-up, it’s time for the east lottery teams to catch up.

For the East lottery teams, the match-up between the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals. While it seemed the Rangers were starting to lose traction, they showed that they were not out of the running yet. Since this match-up is coming down to one game, it’s more difficult to pick a clear winner, because the Rangers have both the fan vote and the statistical advantage.

Even captain of the Capitals, Alexander Ovechkin is making guarantees that the Capitals are going to win the series. Unfortunately guarantees only come true after the actual win, Sorry Ovechkin. As far as advancing to the next round, I give to the New York Rangers.

The second match-up between the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning could go either way. While the Lightning has one game on the Canadiens, the Canadiens showed that they do not taking losing sitting down and won the last two games in a row. While the Canadiens have both the fan vote and the statistical advantage, they still have a whole game to catch up to the Lightning. Even if the Canadiens win their next game against the Lightning, what’s to say that the Lightning wouldn’t come back and bring it all home? Maybe it shows that I root for the underdog, but I’m giving it to Tampa Bay Lightning.

Speaking of the west lottery teams, it’s down to the Chicago Blackhawks versus the Anaheim Ducks. It’s truly a tough match-up with the Blackhawks holding last year’s Stanley Cup in their hands and knowing how truly amazing it feels to win it all. Obviously, that feeling is something that the team would want to be a repeat performance.

Unfortunately, it seems like it could go either way. According to the NHL website, the Blackhawks have both the fan vote and have the statistical advantage and both teams breezed through their first two rounds. It will come down to who plays better in those final rounds and who really pushes to win. While the Blackhawks have the advantage, I’d predict that the Ducks win and move onto the finals.

If the Ducks make it to the finals, they have to play someone, but who? If my predictions come true, it will be between the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. While the teams both have their advantages like Tyler Johnson having the most goals in the NHL this season and Henrik Lundqvist with the second lowest GAA (goals against average) score in the league, but clearly neither team is perfect. They both had their sloppy performances this round especially which is why it’s so hard to decide who’s going to make it next.

There could be a good argument made for either side and only predictions can go so far. It will be a little while before the games are actually played, but if I had to pick who the Ducks would hopefully be playing the finals, I give it to the Rangers.