Stanley Cup Playoffs Round Two: Wild Card Chaos Squad

I don’t know anything anymore.

Never before in the major four sports featured in the United States (NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB) has the top seed lost to the lower seed in every series. The president of the regular season, (A1) Tampa Bay Lightning, never won a game against the second Wild Card underdogs, Columbus Blue Jackets. (WC2) Colorado caused an Avalanche in (P1) Calgary where the Flames sizzled only winning one game. The sky fell in D.C. when the (M1) Washington Capitols had no more regulations to push past the (WC1) Hurricanes from Carolina in double overtime of Game 7. Then the (C1) Nashville Predators couldn’t thank their lucky (WC1) Stars as Dallas came in and took over the bachelor party.

Pundits and salty fans are crying how the playoffs are now suddenly broken, when Lightning Coach Jon Cooper said it best, “We just forgot how to play hockey for six days in April.” The win and get in mindset is showcased to the highest potential, because analysts and experts can forecast all day long how the top seeds are supposed to steamroll to the Finals. Until that last second ticks, no one knows anything.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are the best (if you’re not salty).

With Round 2 that beginning yesterday, let’s look at new series being set.

Last night (WC2) Columbus Blue Jackets faced the (M2) Boston Bruins. Boston is coming off of a Game 7 win against Toronto handily 5-1, and seem primed to continue their momentum as they snagged an overtime win from CBJ last night in Game 1 of the series. Boston’s forwards seem to have the edge as their passes are landing on the stick and the release has more intention than just throwing it on net. If Bruin’s Goalie Tukka Rask, can keep away the soft bouncers from the net, they’ll be in good shape since Zedeno Charra has the defense under control.

The Blue Jackets are in an interesting spot, where no one would’ve ever expected them to sweep Tampa Bay and have a week’s worth of rest. Fast play and shot selection kept them in the lead in their series with Tampa. Last night Tampa took too many unnecessary penalties and their Penalty Kill gave up too many shots and let the Bruins cycle the puck. If CBJ Goalie Bobrovsky can lower the juicy rebounds and if the defense can lower the speed of the Bruins forwards they’ll have a great chance in Game 2.

The other series that began was (WC1) Dallas Stars against (C3) St. Louis Blues. Grinding out a series against Winnipeg is not an easy feat, but St. Louis showed up ready to play. The Stars didn’t have an answer for Blues forward Vladimir Taresenko. The Blues on the back of Taresenko scored twice, and held the Stars defense in check for most of the game. Also stand-out rookie Goalie Binnington backstopped a solid game blocking 20 for 21 shots. If Binnington can continue his incredible pace and the Blues forwards can crack Dallas’ defense, this series won’t go long.

The Stars coming off of shutting down the Nashville defense had a few days to rest up and get ready for the Blues. Dallas had a lot of excellent cycles against the Blues defense. They almost look like a high-flying trapeze act. The Stars play the puck very well centering it to the middle lane for a tip-in, but last night it seemed like the timing was off between the forwards. As they had fantastic opportunities, but couldn’t connect and bury the puck. This Game 1 loss is not on goalie Ben Bishop, as the Dallas defense left him flatfooted a few times. If the Stars forwards can figure out Binnington’s magic get their act down with the timing right, this is going to be a fun series to take home to Dallas.

Tonight the storm surge of the (WC1) Carolina Hurricanes take on the (M2) borough boss New York Islanders. New York took care of the playoff perennial Penguins handily by sweeping them out of the Cup. Pittsburgh advanced stats were atrocious as the Islanders never gave up a lot of quality shots, and kept them in check the whole series. If the Islanders can approach the Hurricanes in a way that mitigates their top performing forwards and keep their shots on the outside, without any centering chances, the Islanders may very well be a fortified city in the midst of a light rain cloud.

Carolina whipped the Stanley Cup Champions out of the race, defeating them in a Game 7 showdown. Their defense is also stellar at blocking shots and poke checking the puck in their favor. They also are good at a fast break chances, which shows when they can turn the puck around on defense. Embarrassing the Capitols and Ovechkin on more than one occasion. Their forward core is good at not waiting to put shots on net and getting second chances on the puck in the offensive zone. Mrazek has fluttered in his performances, but if he can lock down his nerves, and settle in his game, this will be another solid series.

Tonight the high octane (WC2) Colorado Avalanche face-off against the wild (P2) San Jose Sharks. The Avs have claimed the Rocky Mountains, usurping it away from Calgary. Now they’re on to claim the West as their own. After Game 1 against the Flames, the Avs found their groove while Goalie Grubauer has found his rhythm and snowboarded all over the Flame’s defense. Now with a week off all rested up with some additions to the roster should have Colorado all aboard for another series. Now that Cale Makar (college hockey phenom) has had more than a day to practice and acclimate with the Avs, it will be interesting to see how Coach Jared Bednar manages his lineup.

San Jose may of had one of the most memorable games of the decade in the Game 7 double overtime defeat of Vegas. No doubt they’ll have some wind underneath their sails, but they will be playing without Captain Joe Pavelski as he suffered a head injury that swung the momentum for the Sharks in that heart-breaker against Vegas. They also have had to play a lot of minutes on their stars in that series. The Avs will come out of the gates shooting the puck as they lead the NHL right now in shots per game. If the Sharks defense can get some rest and their Goalie Martin Jones plays like he did Games 5-7, the Sharks have a good chance at stopping Colorado’s momentum.

All games are featured on the NBC network family, tune in tonight for the Stanley Cup Playoff action!