If a team were underestimated as the play-offs began, they were the Anaheim Ducks.
At espn.com, for example, five of the 13 experts predicted Winnipeg would defeat Anaheim in the first round. None saw the series going fewer than six games.
But the Ducks clogged the Jets’ engines and swept the series. Anaheim showed the resilience of play-offs veterans: three times trailing after two periods, three times fighting back to win.
In the second round Anaheim face the Calgary Flames, who, as widely expected, disposed of the Vancouver Canucks.
The Flames are not very different from Winnipeg. Both are young, plucky upstarts who were not expected to make the play-offs and play hard for their fervid western Canadian fans.
The Ducks carried the regular-season series against the Flames 3-2 and have the home-ice advantage in this series.
More important, the Ducks have too much talent and experience for the Flames.
Prediction: Anaheim in 5.
The other Western Conference series pits Chicago and Minnesota, the third straight year these teams have met in the post-season. The Blackhawks won in five games two years ago and in six last year.
This year, Chicago won the teams’ regular-season series 3-2, though Minnesota took the last two games.
The Blackhawks looked vulnerable in the first round against Nashville, and yet they won. Now they face opponents who are play-offs tested, in large part by the fires of the Chicago forge.
The Wild showed their mettle with a first-round defeat of a highly regarded St Louis Blues team in six games. Minnesota’s goalie Devan Dubnyk stopped 66 of 68 shots in games 5 and 6.
But the Chicago’s Patrick Kane is returning to full speed and their go-to goalie, Corey Crawford, was solid in relief in the clincher against Nashville after being erratic in the early games.
Prediction: Chicago in 7.
The eastern conference has the final eight’s most exciting match-up: New York Rangers versus Washington Capitals.
New York won the teams’ season series 3-1.
The Capitals are paced by a dazzling Russian goalscorer: not Alexander Ovechkin, but Evgeny Kuznetsov. Ovechkin had two goals in the seven-game defeat of the New York Islanders and was tied for a team-worst minus-3, while Kuznetsov had three goals, including a tremendous solo effort for the series winner, and was even in the plus-minus department. His emergence gives the Caps a second weapon.
The Rangers, like the Ducks and Blackhawks, know how to win in the play-offs. In their five-game defeat of Pittsburgh, New York’s victories were all by one goal. They squeezed the life out of Sidney Crosby’s Penguins. Great teams beat great players.
Prediction: New York in 6.
The Montreal Canadiens will meet the Detroit Red Wings or Tampa Bay Lightning, who played a Game 7 overnight.
Montreal were 0-5 against Tampa in the regular season but 4-0 against Detroit.
Either way, Montreal should win. They will be rested, they have home-ice advantage, and the world’s best goalie wears their colours.
Carey Price is a rock in net for Montreal, with a 93.9 per cent save rate in their six-game defeat of the Ottawa Senators. And PK Subban, after a quiet couple of games, is due to do something sensational.
Prediction: Montreal in 6.
rmckenzie@thenational.ae
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