After 82 games, the NHL season has boiled down to this. 16 teams, eight from each conference, will vie to hoist the best trophy in sports as the field dwindles down over the next two months of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1 Predictions: Atlantic Division Bracket
The regular NHL season concluded on Saturday and sealed the fate of several different teams and now the puck is set to drop on Season No. 2. It's a long, grueling road to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but now that 16 teams remain, anything can happen.
In the Metropolitan Division bracket, there are two great matchups as the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers host the Pittsburgh Penguins in a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference semifinals while the Washington Capitals have home-ice against the New York Islanders, who bring the Stanley Cup Playoffs back to the Nassau Coliseum for one final spring.
2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1 Predictions: Pacific Division Bracket
Here are our predictions for the Metropolitan Division bracket in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
[Metropolitan Division 1] New York Rangers (53-22-7, 113 points) vs. [Wild-card 2, No. 4 seed] Pittsburgh Penguins (43-27-12, 98 points)
Season Series: The Rangers took three of four meetings from the Penguins this season, outscoring them 16-8.
Cup Dreams: New York enters the tournament in hopes of getting to the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive season and winning the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1993-94. Pittsburgh hopes to eventually get to the final for the first time since winning it all in 2008-09, its second straight season in the finals.
Series Overview: The Rangers followed up their shocking run to the Stanley Cup Final last season by winning the Presidents' Trophy as the top team in the NHL for the first time since 1993-94, which was the last time they hoisted the Cup.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, was very uncharacteristic this season as most pundits picked them to be the top team in the Metropolitan Division, but injuries and scoring droughts throughout the campaign caused them to squeak in on the final day of the season with the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
This is a rematch of last season's thrilling semifinal series which saw the Rangers rally back from a 3-1 deficit to stun the Penguins in seven games.
New York set a franchise record this season with their 53 wins and 113 points and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist managed to win 30 games for the ninth time in his career despite being limited with a vascular injury. Cam Talbot is a big reason for the Blueshirts getting where they are, as he won 16 of 23 games in Lundqvist's absence.
Lundqvist, 33, finished 30-13-3 with a 2.25 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage this season. Lundqvist is the main reason the Rangers went on a surprise run last year, and he'll have to be just as good this spring for the team to go deep again.
The Penguins will counter with Marc-Andre Fleury in the crease and he has battled inconsistencies when it comes to the playoffs in recent years. Fleury, 30, went 34-20-9 this season with a 2.32 GAA and a .920 save percentage while pacing the NHL with 10 shutouts.
Fleury's problem in recent years has been in the postseason where he owns a .905 save percentage, however he was solid in the 2013-14 playoffs until Pittsburgh bottomed out.
Fleury will look to stop a Rangers offense that has been led by Rick Nash, who finished the regular season with a career-best 42 goals, which ranked him third in the NHL. Derick Brassard set a career-high in tallies this season (19) as well, while the veteran presence of Martin St. Louis is always a plus this time of year.
New York has been able to roll four lines and use the speed of rookie center Kevin Hayes and wingers Carl Hagelin and Chris Kreider to its advantage throughout the campaign. The Blueshirts remain as one of the fastest teams in the entire NHL.
The Penguins haven't had the depth that the Rangers have had up front his season, which is part of the reason the team had to wait until Game 82 to notch its ninth straight playoff berth.
Captain Sidney Crosby is once again a Hart Trophy candidate, but outside of him and Evgeni Malkin, who has dealt with two different injuries the past couple of months, there are a lot of question marks. Crosby finished third in the NHL in points (84) and assists (56, tied).
Patric Hornqvist enjoyed a nice first season in Pittsburgh, notching 51 points while David Perron was acquired from Edmonton to ensure depth.
On the blue line, Alain Vigneault's club boasts captain Ryan McDonagh, who led the team's defenseman with 33 points, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal while Kevin Klein (arm) should return at some point in the series and deadline acquisition Keith Yandle has found his form.
Mike Johnston's team is banged up on defense as Kris Letang (concussion) and Olli Maata (shoulder) aren't expected to play. Paul Martin and the rest of the defensive corps will have to step up big for Pittsburgh in this series. Injuries have decimated the club's blue line, and salary cap issues forced them to play with a five-man unit for part of the season.
Special Teams: the Penguins finished 10th in the NHL in power play percentage (19.3%) while they ranked third in the league on the penalty kill (84.8%). The Rangers penalty kill was strong, ranking sixth (84.3%) while their power play continued to be an annual struggle and the team finished 21st (16.8%).
Last Thoughts: The Penguins could upset the Rangers, but they'd need to have scoring depth beyond their top two lines to do so and Fleury will have to be consistent between the pipes. Pittsburgh's banged up defense doesn't help matters, but perhaps with the Penguins coming in as a lower seed with lower expectations, they'll be able to take the series by storm. New York has been on a historic run for the franchise and a first round exit would be highly disappointing for them. The Blueshirts should be able to use their speed and roll all four lines to find success, but with so much hype and a successful season, they'll have a huge target on them and won't be the surprise they were last season.
The Pick: Rangers in 5.
[Metropolitan Division 2] Washington Capitals (45-26-11, 101 points) vs. [Metropolitan Division 3] New York Islanders (47-28-7, 101 points)
Season Series: These teams split their head-to-head meetings this year with two games going to overtime and one to a shootout. All four contests were won by the home team.
Cup Dreams: Washington is still in search of its first Stanley Cup in franchise history after losing in their only finals appearance to the Detroit Red Wings back in 1998. New York hasn't played a Cup final since losing to the Edmonton Oilers in 1984, ending their dynasty at four straight titles. New York looks to win its first playoff series since 1993 while Washington is a perrenial playoff team, but have had struggles going deep in the postseason.
Series Overview: Home-ice for this season came down to the wire as the Capitals earned it on the last day despite losing to the Rangers as the Islanders fell to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday in the regular season finale at the Nassau Coliseum.
After seeing their streak of six straight playoff appearances snapped last season, the Capitals are back in the postseason in their first campaign under Barry Trotz. Washington used its strong power play to make a run to the playoffs this season and will hope that trend continues in its first playoff series against New York in 22 years.
Coach Jack Capuano's Islanders return to the tournament for the second time in three seasons, but it is the first time since 2006-07 that the team is in the playoffs after a full 82-game campaign as 2013 was limited by the lockout.
New York faltered a bit down the stretch after looking like a favorite to win the division for most of the season, but the team still had an impressive 101-point run and there is reason for optimism that the team can continue to keep the doors open at the Coliseum well into the spring.
This series is notable for having two Hart Trophy candidates going head-to-head as John Tavares leads New York against Alex Ovechkin and Washington.
Ovechkin, who won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy with a league-leading 53 goals for the fifth occasion and scored at least 50 markers for the sixth time in his career, finished tied for fourth in the NHL with 81 points.
Tavares was second in the league with 86 points and found the twine 38 times, good enough for fourth in the NHL. Tavares lost out to Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn (87 points) for the Art Ross Trophy on the final day of the season.
Tavares (two goals) and Ovechkin (four tallies) each had five points in head-to-head meetings this season.
Ovechkin hasn't shouldered the load alone as Nicklas Backstrom has had a solid campaign, pacing the league with 60 assists and ranking fifth with 78 points. Marcus Johansson had career-highs in goals (20) and assists (47) while Troy Brouwer had 20 markers. Curtis Glencross was also brought in at the deadline from the Calgary Flames to provide depth.
Tavares was also surrounded by a great supporting cast, including Kyle Okposo, who was limited to 60 games due to a detached retina and still managed to finish second on the club with 60 points. Young forwards Ryan Strome (17-33--50), Brock Nelson (20-22--42) and Anders Lee (25-16--41) each also stepped up at various points throughout the season.
On defense, Washington boasts a deep unit that includes offseason acquisitions Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen as well as John Carlson, who had a career year, and Mike Green, who had his most points since 2009-10 (45).
New York made two big moves prior to the season and it paid off in spades as Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy provided stability to the blue line and then each signed seven-year extensions.
Leddy led all Islander defenseman with 37 points while Boychuk followed closely with 35. Calvin de Haan, 23, was a healthy scratch down the stretch in favor of Brian Strait, but he could be put back in. Travis Hamonic (lower-body) may return to action for the series, but he's doubtful for Game 1.
In net, the Capitals kept Braden Holtby plenty busy as he started in a career-high 73 games while putting together a terrific campaign. Holtby, 25, finished with a career-best 41 wins and ranked fifth in the NHL in goals-against average (2.22) and seventh in save percentage (.923).
The Islanders counter with Jaroslav Halak, 29, who faltered a bit down the stretch, but had an otherwise solid campaign despite some inconsistencies. Halak finished fourth in the league with 38 victories, which marked an Islanders single-season franchise record and a career-high for him. Halak put together a 2.43 GAA and a .914 save percentage while he ranked tied for third in the NHL with six shutouts. Halak played 12 games with Washington last season.
Special Teams: Washington had the best power play in the NHL (25.3%) which doesn't bode well for New York as it finished 26th in the league on the penalty kill (78%). New York's P.K. did improve during the final stretch of the season, but was so bad early on that it didn't make a difference in the rankings. The Islanders placed 16th on the man-advantage (18.7%) while the Capitals were 14th on the kill (81.2%).
Last Thoughts: This one could go either way, but for the Islanders to win this series they'll have to keep the Capitals off the power play and will have to tighten up their penalty kill when they do commit penalties. With two scorers the caliber of Ovechkin and Tavares mixed with their surrounding players, anything can happen. Holtby may have to worry about being worn out after playing almost every night while Halak will have to tighten up and be more consistent. These teams have had nothing but close games this season, so the series is likely to go the distance.
The Pick: Islanders in 7.
If things go this way, the Rangers would hold home-ice over the Islanders in an all-New York series in Round 2.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Wednesday as the road to crown a new NHL champion commences.
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