2017 NHL Playoffs Round 2 Preview & Betting Tips

After a long round one series now completed, we now focus on Round 2 of the NHL Playoffs that begins this Thursday the 27th April.

Each year we hear NHL enthusiasts talk about the facts of playoff hockey, and it's usually stated that if you're the best team or the worse team in the playoffs it don't matter. Like any postseason sport all teams start from zero and it usually comes down to the team that either has the playoff experience or teams that handle the pressure. 

In this case we saw some major upsets particularly in the Western Conference with the best team in the Chicago Blackhawks getting swept by the wildcard seed the Nashville Predators. Minnesota Wild were favorites to make the Stanley Cup early in the regular season, they also were beat 4-1 by the St Louis Blues.

In the Eastern Conference we watched a tight knit contest against the Presidents Cup champions the Washington Capitals and a young Toronto Maple Leafs team eager to cause an upset. Five of the six games went to OT with the Caps finally getting the win as they fought back from being 2-1 down early on. The first wildcard team New York fought off the top team in the Atlantic division with the Montreal Canadiens again losing in the first round. Round one showed us what is to come, we saw hard hits, clutch plays and solid goaltending leading to 42% of the games going to extra time. Now it's time for Round Two as we check the match ups with it all beginning in St Louis on Thursday morning.

Nashville Predators at St Louis Blues (Thursday 11.00am AEST)

This should be one fantastic series, the Predators are coming off sweeping the Blackhawks and the Blues gave Minnesota a lesson. The Predators gave Chicago hell on the defensive end, with Pekka Rinne giving us his best playoff appearance with only allowing three goals into the net in four games. The Preds smother the neutral zone and push hard to give the opposition no room to skate with the puck. They also check very well as they strive to be the best on the defensive end. Offensively they are led by Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson who helped out score the Blackhawks 13-3 in the last series. If Rinne continues his form into round two Nashville will be hard to beat.

St Louis came up big against the Wild especially in Minnesota with the Blues holding them off even though the Wild controlled puck possession and the fans being one of the loudest in the league. They ended up winning that series 4-1 with Minnesota outshooting the Blues in all games. Once again it came down to the better goalie with Jake Allen claiming that crown. The Blues got off to great starts which helped them gain confidence scoring first in four of the five games. You have to like what the Blues have up forward with Tarasenko, Stastney and Alex Steen who all provided goals and assists in the Minnesota series. This series looks like it will go the distance!

TIP: St Louis Blues H2H - $2.06 at Sportsbet

Edmonton Oilers at Anaheim Ducks (Thursday 1.30pm AEST)

The Oilers impressed fans by knocking out the 2016 runners-up the San Jose Sharks. They won that series 4-2 after a victory in game 6 with Connor McDavid scoring the empty net goal. It looked like things could've been different when the Sharks went on a scoring frenzy scoring winning 7-0 in San Jose. But the Oilers held strong winning the next two with a total of 69 shots on goal. The Oilers need more offense to squeeze past the Ducks, McDavid who had 100 points in the regular season has been good but not great, he notched four points with two goals and two assists. Besides the blowout in game four the Oilers defense held up with Cam Talbot outstanding and Kris Russell who led all players with blocked shots with five in game six tallying 27 for the series. Watch out for Leon Draisaitl who during the regular season had the biggest impact over the Ducks with six goals and two assists.

I think Anaheim surprised everyone. They swept the Calgary Flames in Four with most games decided by one goal. Calgary came into the playoffs being one of the hottest teams in the league, until they met Anaheim who held strong on the defensive end. Speaking of defense Cam Fowler has returned to training after missing the first round with a knee injury. He will certainly boost the defense if he returns to the lineup, and help with defending McDavid and the Oilers. The most exciting matchup of this series will be Ryan Kesler vs Connor McDavid, but just like McDavid we expect to see more from Kesler who had one point in four games over the Flames. Ducks won the regular season battle with Ryan Getzlaf having the most impact in those games.

TIP: Anaheim Ducks H2H - $1.70 at Crownbet

New York Rangers at Ottawa Senators (Friday 10.00am Fox Sports 503HD)

The first game of round two in the Eastern Conference features the Rangers and the Senators. The Rangers disposed of Montreal in six games with New York winning the last three games to advance to the second round. Henrik Lundqvist was at his best again has he was solid in the final three games only allowing four goals past him as he still rates as one of the top goalies after posting a 1.70 goals against average. What the Rangers needed in the Playoffs was help on the offensive end and they got help from Mats Zuccarello who scored twice in game six and Mika Zibanejad, the offseason acquisition led the team with four points. Chris Kreider is the one of the most important players on the Rangers team, when he is on the ice he is an imposing figure adding speed and physicality every shift. Rangers have a long list of offensive players, Ottawa will have to be on their game in the defensive end in this series.

The Ottawa Senators clinched a spot in round two with an OT victory over the Bruins in game six. Ottawa took a 3-1 lead into the Bruins series with outstanding defense which lead to some consistency on the offensive end. Swede Erik Karlsson was the difference in this series, the Norris Trophy winner in 2012, 2015 played the series with two hairline fractures in his left heel and came up big registering six assists. He was backed up by Bobby Ryan who found the back of the net four times in the first series. During the regular season the Senators won this matchup 2-1-0 but all games were decided by two or fewer goals. Both teams haven't met in the playoff since 2012 with the Rangers claiming the series in seven. This series will be very physical and will provide some feeling with Derick Brassard and Mika Zibanejad traded for each other last summer. Sens will have to get on top of Lundqvist early if to claim this series as he will be the difference once again.

TIP: New York Rangers H2H - $1.77 at Crownbet

Pittsburgh Penguins at Washington Capitals (Friday 10.30am AEST)

The Pittsburgh Penguins will travel to Washington for game one for the most anticipated matchup of round two. Pittsburgh are well rested after beating Columbus 4-1 in round one and were the first team to advance to round two. The Pittsburgh offense was too much for Bobrovsky and the Blue Jackets as they smothered the neutral zone. They scored a playoff high of 21 goals with Crosby and Kessel held to two goals in five games and Malkin scoring one. Offense came from right winger Bryan Rust who scored five times and Jake Guentzel also putting five goals through the net. The matchup everyone is waiting for is Sidney Crosby vs Alex Ovechkin as they meet again in another round of playoff hockey. Crosby has the upper hand as with the Pens won the last two series which led them to winning the Stanley Cup in 2009 and 2016. The Pens will be without Matt Murray and Kris Letang for this series with Marc-Andre Fleury stepping up behind the net. Can Crosby and the Penguins inflict more pain on Ovi and the Caps?

The Washington Capitals fought hard in round one to silence the Maple Leafs. They won the last three games in which we saw five out of the six games heading to overtime. The Caps seemed nervous in the first couple of games but ended up showing composure and experience to overcome Toronto. Justin Williams came up big in three of the overtime games with two goals in game one and an OT goal in game five. Caps have terrific puck control and work the boards extremely well in their defensive end, that provides takeaways and scoring opportunities. Toronto also had a hard time on the powerplay with opportunities arising in a crucial game four where the Leafs had the Caps on a double minor with a 5 on 3 at start of the third period. Caps held on and ended up winning the game. Offense was hard to come up but with Ovechkin seeing more ice and Kuznetsov alongside Burakovsky showing speed to enter the offensive end on puck drops made the difference in the end. The Caps will have to control the Pens speed on the ice and keep up the forecheck. This series will go the distance can the Caps get past an injured Penguins team.

TIP: Washington Capitals H2H - $1.72 at Sportsbet

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