It's the time of year that every hockey fan loves after 82 hard-hitting NHL regular-season games, the NHL schedule has wound down and 16 teams will now vie for one of the richest prizes in sports: The Stanley Cup. After a memorable season, it has all boiled down to these two months where some familiar teams get back into the playoff mix while some others end postseason droughts.
NHL Playoffs 2014 schedule, times dates and channels for all of the Stanley Cup Playoff games
It is sure to be an exciting two months of hockey as head-rattling hits, game-changing goals and heart-stopping saves are sure to all be a part of each best-of-seven series as each team comes into the postseason with one goal in mind, hoisting the Stanley Cup.
In the Western Conference's Pacific Division bracket, the Anaheim Ducks once again find themselves as favorites and will try to avoid another early exit when they take on the Dallas Stars, making their first playoff appearance in six years while the Battle of California rages on as the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings clash in a best-of-seven matchup.
Western Conference Pacific Division Bracket Round 1:
Anaheim Ducks (54-20-8, 116 points, No. 1 Pacific) vs. Dallas Stars (40-31-11, 91 points, No. 2 wild-card)
The Ducks make their second straight playoff appearance and hope to bounce back from a rough first-round exit last year and to hoist their first Stanley Cup since 2007 while the Stars have broken a six-year playoff drought, making the postseason for the first time since 2008.
Anaheim stormed out of the gate this season and slowed down for a middle stretch before returning to form at the end of the season and earning the best record in the Western Conference. The Stars held the edge in the regular-season, notching two out of three victories against the Ducks this season.
Anaheim scored an NHL-best average of 3.21 goals per game during this campaign and have been led by the duo of Hart Trophy candidate Ryan Getzlaf (31-56--87) and Corey Perry (43-39--82) while they've also had a big year out of Nick Bonino (21-27--48) and will be looking for veteran presence from Teemu Selanne (9-18--27), who plays in his final NHL Playoffs in 2014. Getzlaf's 87 points were second in the NHL this season while Perry's 82 ranked fifth and his 43 goals landed him in second.
The Stars have a dynamic duo in Jamie Benn (34-45--79) and Tyler Seguin (37-47--84 ) as each set career-highs in points this season. Seguin led the team in goals, assists and points during the 2013-14 campaign and was fourth in the league in points and fifth in the NHL in goals. Rookies Alex Chiasson (13-22-35) and Valeri Nichushkin (14-20--35) have also stepped up in 2013-14 for Dallas and will look to continue their strong years.
On defense, the Ducks have been led by Cam Fowler, who will attempt to stay healthy after a knee injury sidetracked him while the Stars blueline is anchored by Alex Goligoski, who is coming off of a season where he notched a career-high 42 points.
In net, the Ducks look to Jonas Hiller to man the crease after he went 29-13-7 in the regular season with a 2.48 GAA and a .911 save percentage. Kari Lehtonen will suit up for the Stars after going 33-20-10 with a 2.41 GAA and a .919 save percentage. Should he falter, Tim Thomas is waiting in the wings.
Both teams enter poised to strike with dynamic duos leading the charge, but in the end the Ducks have had too good of a season to fall to the second wild-card team in the first round. If Anaheim can shut down Seguin and Benn, there's no reason to think they won't dominate the series. Dallas' core is good enough to steal a game or maybe even two in front of a raucous home crowd later in the series, but in the end the Ducks will stand tall.
The Pick: The Ducks over the Stars in 5.
San Jose Sharks (51-22-9, 111 points, No. 2 Pacific) vs. Los Angeles Kings (46-28-8, 100 points, No. 3 Pacific)
The Sharks have stuck with their core and haven't missed the playoffs since 2002-03, however the team hasn't been able to get past the Conference Finals during that stretch and will be facing a Kings team that knocked them off last season in seven games. The Kings are just two years removed from their Stanley Cup victory and just one year removed from making it back to the Western Conference Finals in a loss to the Blackhawks.
The Kings went 3-1-1 in the five-game series during the regular-season and the home teams went 4-1-0 during the series, with the lone home loss coming at the SAP Center where the Sharks fell to the Kings 1-0.
Joe Pavelski had a huge season in San Jose during the regular-season, leading the team in goals (41), which ranked him third in the league, and points (79) while Joe Thornton continued to be a playmaker, notching 65 assists to rank first on the team and second in the NHL.
Joining those two to add to the prolific scorers on the Sharks are Patrick Marleau (33-37--70), Logan Couture (23-31--54) and Brent Burns (22-26--48)
A player to watch is rookie Tomas Hertl, who played a limited amount during the regular-season but will be making his NHL Playoffs debut.
The Kings depth has been an issue as the team has failed to find secondary scoring and hasn't been able to generate much outside of its top-line of new-import Marian Gaborik, Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams. Kopitar led the team in goals (29), assists (41) and points (70). The Kings will need to get Jeff Carter and captain Dustin Brown going to hang with the Sharks this series.
Los Angeles' defense is powered by the pair of Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin, while San Jose has plenty of depth on the blueline with a unit that is anchored by Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
The Sharks will likely turn to Antti Niemi, who has struggled in net and could end up losing his job in the long-run. Overall, he went 39-17-7 with a 2.39 GAA and a .913 save percentage. Head coach Todd McLellan hasn't offered much of a vote of confidence in his backstop. The Kings will be led in net by Jonathan Quick, who finished the year 27-17-4 with a 2.07 GAA and a .915 save percentage.
These two teams play each other hard and this series will be no exception. Familiarity will be a factor as this series should be expected to get chippy early. While Los Angeles has struggled to score goals, running into a goalie who is having trouble like Niemi could help them in this series. The Sharks have had a knack for failing to get deep into the playoffs over the years, but have played very well down the stretch.
Like last year, this one will probably go the distance, with San Jose avenging last year's loss thanks to home-ice advantage, overcoming the ghosts of playoffs past.
The Pick: The Sharks over the Kings in 7.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs kickoff Wednesday night as the Quest for the Cup begins with 16 teams vying to be the champion of the National Hockey League.
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