Binge Sports: 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs-Round 2

Half of the field is gone and we’re all set for Round Two. Welcome back to Binge Sports and our coverage of the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. As expected, we were treated to one hell of a first round that had everything. We got a couple Game 7’s. We got overtime games. We got multiple overtime games. We got some upsets. To say it simply, we got some damn good hockey. But sixteen has become eight, and the race to twelve more wins is on. Let’s get to it with the second round schedule. As we did last time, we’ll start in the West.

(W1)MINNESOTA WILD v. (C3)CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

HOW THEY GOT HERE

Round 1: Minnesota def. St. Louis 4-2, Chicago def. Nashville 4-2

 ROUND 1 POLL RESULTS

0% voted for Minnesota (No, seriously. Not one person voted for the Wild)

83% voted for Chicago

SCHEDULE

Game 1: @Chicago-Fri. May 1-9:30E/8:30C-NBCSN

Game 2: @Chicago-Sun. May 3-8:30E/7:30C-NBCSN

Game 3: @Minnesota-Tue. May 5-8:00E/7:00C-NBCSN

Game 4: @Minnesota-Thu. May 7-9:30E/8:30C-NBCSN

Game 5 (if necessary): @Chicago-Sat. May 9-TBD

Game 6 (if necessary): @Minnesota-Mon. May 11-TBD

Game 7 (if necessary): @Chicago-Wed. May 13-TBD

PREVIEW

Here we are again. For the third year in a row, these Central division rivals will meet in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In 2013, the Blackhawks won in five. Last year, the Blackhawks won in six. I’m guessing that Minnesota won’t be content with losing in seven. The Wild come into this series as a much better team than the previous two seasons, mainly due to the difference in goal with Devan Dubnyk. During the regular season, Chicago won the first three games against Minnesota, but with Dubnyk in the net, the Wild won the last two. He only allowed one goal in those two games. Speaking of goalies, Chicago will be going back to Corey Crawford for Game 1. He did not start the last four games against Nashville, but did play in Game 6 as the Blackhawks advanced. The hope is to not have to keep the rotation going with Scott Darling, but if Crawford gets into trouble, Chicago can feel confident as Darling had a nice series against the Predators.

While Minnesota used a balanced attack in Round 1, with eight players scoring at least one goal, the stars came out for Chicago. Patrick Kane returned from injury earlier than expected and scored two goals with five assists. Captain Jonathan Toews added three goals and five assists of his own. Patrick Sharp had three goals and two assists, and Marion Hossa chipped in with five assists as well. This has the potential to be a really great series. Both teams are playing well, last year’s series was great, and I really wouldn’t be surprised to see this go seven.

[yop_poll id=”228″]

(P3)CALGARY FLAMES v. (P1)ANAHEIM DUCKS

HOW THEY GOT HERE

Round 1: Calgary def. Vancouver 4-2, Anaheim def. Winnipeg 4-0

ROUND 1 POLL RESULTS

67% voted for Calgary

83% voted for Anaheim

SCHEDULE

Game 1: @Anaheim-Thu. April 30-10:00E/9:00C-NBCSN

Game 2: @Anaheim-Sun. May 3-10:00E/9:00C-CNBC

Game 3: @Calgary-Tue. May 5-9:30E/8:30C-USA

Game 4: @Calgary-Fri. May 8-9:30E/8:30C-NBCSN

Game 5 (if necessary): @Anaheim-Sun. May 10-TBD

Game 6 (if necessary): @Calgary-Tue. May 12-TBD

Game 7 (if necessary): @Anaheim-Thu. May 14-TBD

PREVIEW

Anaheim’s home-ice advantage is huge here. In the last twenty games there, Calgary has gone 0-15-5. That’s a large mental hurdle to get over. But we all know that anything can happen in playoff hockey. One thing is for certain. Watch the entire game. Both of these teams have a knack for coming from behind to win, and that was very evident in Round 1. Although they swept, Anaheim got all they could handle from Winnipeg. They made history as the first team to win three games in a row when trailing after the second period. Calgary had a few comebacks of their own in a tough series with Vancouver. They got the late goal in Game 1 to win 2-1 after trailing 1-0 in the third, and ran away in a crazy Game 6 where they trailed 3-0 after ten minutes, pushed it to 4-3, and won 7-4 with three goals in the third. Both of these teams play so well late in the game that I don’t think any lead will be safe.

The Ducks advanced with great leadership from captain Ryan Getzlaf, three goals from Corey Perry, and three goals and two assists from Ryan Kesler. Calgary made me look really good with my Round 1 preview, as I mentioned that the line of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, and Jiri Hudler would be the Flames’ biggest threat. Well, they went ahead and scored a combined seven goals. But they also got help from Calgary’s youngsters, including eighteen-year-old Sam Bennett, who added two goals and an assist in the six games. This series should be fun to watch.

[yop_poll id=”229″]

Let’s make our way over to the East.

(A2)TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING v. (A1)MONTREAL CANADIENS

HOW THEY GOT HERE

Round 1: Tampa Bay def. Detroit 4-3 , Montreal def. Ottawa 4-2

ROUND 1 POLL RESULTS

67% voted for Tampa Bay

50% voted for Montreal

SCHEDULE

Game 1: @Montreal-Fri. May 1-7:00E/6:00C-NBCSN

Game 2: @Montreal-Sun. May 3-6:00E/5:00C-NBCSN

Game 3: @Tampa Bay-Wed. May 6-7:00E/6:00C-USA

Game 4: @Tampa Bay-Thu. May 7-7:00E/6:00C-NBCSN

Game 5 (if necessary): @Montreal-Sat. May 9-TBD

Game 6 (if necessary): @Tue. May 12-TBD

Game 7 (if necessary): @Thu. May 14-TBD

PREVIEW

Well, this could be interesting. Last year, Montreal swept Tampa Bay right out of the first round of the playoffs, but that was without the services of Lightning goalie Ben Bishop. He played in all five regular season games against the Canadiens this year, and they won all five, outscoring Montreal 21-8 in the process. But I certainly don’t see a sweep coming in this series. The Canadiens are playing good hockey in front of goalie Carey Price, who was amazing in the clincher against Ottawa, stopping all 43 shots he faced in a 2-0 victory. Not to be outdone, Bishop put up a 2-0 shutout of his own in last night’s Game 7 winner against Detroit.

Much like Minnesota, Montreal used a very balanced, four-line attack to win in the first round. They knocked Senators goalie Andrew Hammond, who came in as the hottest goalie in the world, out of the starting lineup after two games, putting up seven goals in Games 1 and 2. So we know that they can score. They’ll certainly need to as Tampa Bay led the NHL in scoring this season. Steven Stamkos didn’t even score in the first round, but they were still able to knock the Red Wings out. I suppose it helps when Tyler Johnson scores six goals. But even with all of that offense, both teams need to be better on the power play. In the first round, Montreal was 1 for 20 and Tampa Bay was 2 for 30. Whichever team can improve in that aspect will win this series.

[yop_poll id=”236″]

(M2)WASHINGTON CAPITALS v. (M1)NEW YORK RANGERS

HOW THEY GOT HERE

Round 1: Washington def. New York 4-3, New York def. Pittsburgh 4-1

ROUND 1 POLL RESULTS

17% voted for Washington

83% voted for New York

SCHEDULE

Game 1: @New York-Thu. April 30-7:30E/6:30C-NBCSN

Game 2: @New York-Sat. May 2-12:30E/11:30C-NBC

Game 3: @Washington-Mon. May 4-7:30E/6:30C-NBCSN

Game 4: @Washington-Wed. May 6-7:30E/6:30C-NBCSN

Game 5: @New York-Fri. May 8-TBD

Game 6: @Washington-Sun. May 10-TBD

Game 7:@New York-Tue. May 12-TBD

PREVIEW

Well, this looks familiar. For the fifth time in seven years, the Rangers and Capitals will meet in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They took last year off, but they had series that went seven in 2012 and 2013, both won by New York. The Rangers come in as the favorite here, but the edge isn’t much. They’ve had a week off after dispatching the Penguins in five, while Washington needed the full seven to dispose of the Islanders, needing a late third period goal from Evgeny Kuznetsov to advance.

If Washington wants to win, they’ll need to better early in the game. In the four regular season games against the Rangers, they were outscored 7-2 in the first period. They were outscored 5-4 by the Islanders in Round 1. On the other side, the Rangers started fast against Pittsburgh with a 5-1 advantage after one. With Henrik Lundqvist playing well, Washington can’t afford to get behind early. It’s not that the Caps don’t have firepower. Alex Ovechkin scored five goals against these Rangers during the regular season, and the line with him, Joel Ward, and Nicklas Backstrom had six goals and nine assists in the first round. The Rangers will counter without the services of Mats Zuccarello, who is out indefinitely, but they’ve got plenty of other guys who can step up and fill that void. I’m always up for a Game 7, so if these teams can repeat what they did in 2012 and 2013, I’m all for it.

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We’ll be talking more about these Stanley Cup Playoffs next week during an all-new Binge Sportscast. Until then, tell me who you voted for and why. Leave those comments below or follow me on Twitter @BingeSports and/or @THElukenorris. Stay tuned for more Binge Sports coming your way very soon.