Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round 2 Western Conference Preview

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round 2 Western Conference Preview – San Jose Sharks vs. Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars vs. St.Louis Blues

Stanley Cup Playoffs second round continues on Friday with Western Conference teams squaring off for game one.

St.Louis heads to Dallas for an 8:00PM (EST) start time, while Nashville heads to San Jose for the late game at 10:30PM (EST).

Round 1 Predictions:

Anaheim def. Nashville 4-3
Result: Nashville wins 4-3

San Jose def. Los Angeles 4-3
Result: San Jose wins 4-1

Dallas def. Minnesota 4-1
Result: Dallas wins 4-2

NY Islanders def. Florida 4-3
Result: NY Islanders win 4-2

Washington def. Philadelphia 4-2
Result: Washington wins 4-2

Chicago def. St.Louis 4-3
Result: St.Louis wins 4-3

Pittsburgh def. NY Rangers 4-3
Result: Pittsburgh wins 4-2

Tampa Bay def. Detroit 4-3
Result: Tampa Bay wins 4-1

Winners: 6/8

Dallas Stars vs. St.Louis Blues

Dallas Stars

Dallas made quick work of Minnesota without their star forward Tyler Seguin. He made a comeback attempt in game two but suffered a setback. The Stars will need their injured star back if they hope to knock off a hot Blues team. 

Jamie Benn led the NHL in scoring after round one with 10 points. Sitting just behind him was Jason Spezza who stepped up to fill the void left by Seguin with nine points. A few secondary pieces managed to step up for Dallas in round one with Patrick Eaves scoring a pair of goals on the man-advantage, while Radek Faksa posted a goal, and an assist as one of the highly noticeable bottom six forwards.

On the blueline, Johnny Oduya, Jason Demers, Kris Russell and Stephen Johns had a solid defensive first round shutting down the opposition. This underrated blueline will face a difficult test in round two with a deep St.Louis squad up front.

Dallas Stars X-Factor: Tyler Seguin

He didn’t factor much in the head-to-head regular season series in which St.Louis had the advantage, but Seguin was having a great year before he went down. He still managed to finish the season with 73 points in 72 games (over a point-per-game). In his sixth NHL season, Tyler has only missed the playoffs once, last year (2014-15), and has 21 points in 49 career postseason games.

The reason Dallas dominated the West was because they were a high-scoring threat. You can’t sit back and defend a juggernaut, you’ll struggle to keep them off the scoreboard. Instead, teams almost need to make sure they can keep up with Dallas; that will be difficult to do with a healthy Tyler Seguin.

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St.Louis Blues

After knocking off three-time defending Cup Champions, the St.Louis Blues are high on confidence heading into round two. They meet up with a Stars team in which they went 4-1-0 against in five regular season games – although Jake Allen holds the impressive 3-0 record, while Elliott split games 1-1. 

Brian Elliott was good enough to steal a round, but he showed signs of struggles at times throughout the opening round. Unless St.Louis finds a way to shut down Dallas’ offense, it’s very likely we see Jake Allen before this series is over. His impressive record against the Stars should have Elliott on a short leash.

St.Louis Blues X-Factor: Vladimir Tarasenko

Much was made of his public outburst of displeasure towards coach Ken Hitchcock regarding his ice-time. As a result, his ice-time was cut down further in game seven. You have to respect Ken Hitchcock for having a game plan and sticking to it, it worked out in round one. That game plan won’t hold solid through four grueling rounds of Stanley Cup Playoffs.

If Hitch thinks he can play his star forward 17 minutes/night and continue giving bottom six forwards more than deserved ice-time, it’s going to blow up in his face very quickly. Why are Alex Steen and Paul Stastny seeing more ice-time? The comparable would be Lindy Ruff giving Jason Spezza and Patrick Sharp nearly four minutes more ice-time than Jamie Benn. 

Tarasenko is the indisputable top offensive threat – maybe on both teams in this series. He needs to see north of 20 minutes/game or St.Louis may find themselves playing catch-up early.

Prediction: Dallas wins series 4-2

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San Jose Sharks vs. Nashville Predators

San Jose Sharks

San Jose was the only team without a second round opponent heading into Wednesday night’s game between Tampa Bay/NY Islanders – It likely didn’t matter for one of the most dominant teams of the opening round. Coming off a victory against the Kings, the Sharks are another team riding high on confidence.

Could this finally be the year that Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau get over the hump to win their first Stanley Cup? Next they will need to get by a hungry young Predators team in search of their first Finals appearance.

San Jose will need their stars to continue leading this team, not only that, they need their third line to step up and add some productivity. Those bottom six forwards will get more favourable defensive match-up’s that don’t include names Shea Weber or Roman Josi.

San Jose Sharks X-Factor: Martin Jones

With Pekka Rinne at the other end, Martin Jones will need to outplay one of the league’s elite netminders. Special teams could play a major factor in this series, which means Jones will have to be San Jose’s best penalty killer, possibly even steal a 5-on-3 when the odds are stacked against him.

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Nashville Predators

It was a solid collective group effort that helped propel Nashville over Anaheim – they will need much of the same in round two.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was Colin Wilson posting five points after an overall disappointing regular season. If they hope to defeat San Jose, James Neal, Filip Forsberg, and Ryan Johansen will need to lead this team offensively.

Nashville also their top four defensemen to continue their solid two-way play. The only hole San Jose may be able to expose is that bottom pairing if the Sharks bottom-six forwards can step up.

The NHL’s top defensive pairing of Shea Weber/Roman Josi will need to be at their best shift-to-shift, the Sharks offensive threats thrive off capitalizing on opposition’s mistakes.

Pekka Rinne just needs to be himself. That elite netminder that has dominated the NHL for years. If he does his job, it’s up to the team in front of him to score enough goals.

Nashville Predators X-Factor: Shea Weber/Roman Josi

Whether Nashville decides to play the match-up the game or not, the Preds top pair should see a lot of time lined up against Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau, among others. 

Next: Eastern Conference Round 2 Preview

Weber (26:36) and Josi (27:16) play nearly half the game for Nashville. With the pair logging big minutes, they can be major difference makers in this series. It’s easy to defeat the Sharks if you force Pavelski and company to play the majority of time in their own end.

Prediction: San Jose wins series 4-2