2016 National Hockey League Eastern Conference Playoffs Preview

As the National Hockey League playoffs set to faceoff on Wednesday April 13, here is a look at the Eastern Conference matchups in the opening round.

Washington Capitals (Metropolitan 1) vs Philadelphia Flyers (Wildcard 2)

The Washington Capitals, the top seed in Eastern Conference and throughout the playoffs as they obtained the best record during the regular season to capture the President’s Trophy, will take one the Philadelphia Flyers as the 2016 NHL Postseason begins. 

During the regular season the Capitals won the first game against the Flyers by s score of 5-2 back on November 12. The Flyers got their revenge in the second matchup, winning a 4-3 overtime battle on January 27, with the Caps bouncing back about a week and a half later, winning a 3-2 matchup. On March 30, the seasons series wrapped up with the Flyers taking a 2-1 shootout victory. 

The Capitals finished the season with a 120 points and a 56-16-8 record overall, but down the stretch were not playing their best hockey. The fact that they dominated most of the beginning of the season could have played into that though. 

Since the trade back on March 1, the Capitals controlled about 53 percent of the even strength shot attempt, but had a little dip in their shooting percentage. Regardless, the fact that they won the President’s Trophy and were pretty dominant for most of the season, helps keep the Capitals as one of the teams to beat in these NHL Playoffs. 

Entering the postseason, the Capitals, are second in the league in goals against, have enough offensive talent that helped lead them to the top scoring team in the league and have been one of the healthiest teams in the league. These factors could help put them in a good position to get the job done. 

The Flyers thanks to a wild scramble to the finish, were able to grab the number two Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. They had a slow start to the season, winning just six of their first 20 games. The arrival of rookie defenseman, Shayne Gostisbehere helped transform the defense to help them rebound and turn their season around. 

The fact that their late rush, gave them pretty much of a playoff atmosphere every night the last few months, could give the Capitals a fight in the opening round. It could also hurt them as they had seven games in 12 nights, down the stretch, leading to how much gas do they have left in the tank. 

Florida Panthers (Atlantic 1) vs. New York Islanders (Wildcard 1)

The Florida Panthers rise to the top of the Atlantic Division deals with the success of the ageless superstar Jaromir Jagr and veteran goaltender Roberto Luongo, coupled with many of the younger stars in their lineup. 

The Panthers were supposed to be in a rebuilding year, but they have exceeded many expectations in 2015-2016. The emergence of young stars, like Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov and last season’s Calder Trophy winning defenseman, Aaron Ekblad, helped lead the Panthers to one of the better teams in the league in terms of limiting chances and shots against. 

The line of Huberdeau, Barkov and Jagr have become one of the top lines in the league. The Cats may not be on the same level as the Capitals or the Pittsburgh Penguins just yet, but their path to the Stanley Cup Finals might be a little easier than the Capitals and Penguins. 

The Panthers first round opponents, the New York Islanders, have been hit with the injury bug and have been struggling as of lately. If they can manage to get past the Islanders, their second round opponents would be either the Detroit Red Wings, who struggled down the stretch and were on the cusp of missing the postseason for the first time in 25 years, or their cross state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, who like the Islanders are also injury depleted. 

The Islanders were battling with the New York Rangers for third place in the Metropolitan Division, but injuries to Travis Hamonic and starting goaltender Jaroslav Halak could give them a tough time advancing in the playoffs. They will need some of their other guys to step up to help them overcome these struggles if they hope on having much success.

The Panthers won the season series against the Islanders 2-1, with the Cats taking the first game, in shootouts back on November 27. The second game, the Panthers dominated the Islander by a score of 5-1 on December 15. The two teams wrapped up the season series on March 14 as the Islanders defeated the Panthers 3-2. 

Pittsburgh Penguins (Metropolitan 2) vs. New York Rangers (Metropolitan3)  

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been one of the better teams since around December, when they hired Mike Sullivan as their new head coach. Their speed helps give opponents problems with trying to catch up with them. 

Led by mobile defensemen like, Kris Letang, who has been playing some of the best hockey of his career, they are able to move the puck to their forwards. Evgeni Malkin may return at some point during the opening round, but the Penguins still have enough offense from all four lines. That is something they have been lacking over the last few postseasons. 

Like in past seasons though, they may be dealing with another injury problem. In 2009-2010, Jordan Staal was injured, 2010-2011, it was Sidney Crosby and Malkin, Letang as well as three of their four top defensemen went down in 2014-2015. This season goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was sidelined with his second concussion of the season and backup goalie Matt Murray was injured in the season finale.

If both of those players are unable to go in their matchup with the Rangers, it will be up to Jeff Zatkoff and Tristan Jarry to carry the load for them. Zatkoff won his first two starts, to the Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers, but lost the next 10 times he started. Jarry has yet to play in the NHL, but pout up a .905 save percentage in the American Hockey League for the Baby Penguins this season. 

The Rangers will always have a chance to succeed with Henrik Lundqvist in net, as he is one of the reasons they have made the Eastern Conference Finals three times since 2011-2012. In order for the Rangers to have any success in these playoffs they will need Lundqvist to be greater than he has ever been. 

The Rangers defense has not been as good as the past few years and with defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi missing some time and getting banged up down the stretch, they are going to need to rely heavily on their netminder.

 This season the Penguins have given the Rangers fits. The Rangers won the first matchup of the season against the Penguins on February 10 by a score of 3-0, but the Pens won the next three. A 4-1 game on March 3, a 5-3 game 10 days later and then a 3-2 overtime battle on March 27. 

Pittsburgh speed against the Rangers goaltending and defense could make for an interesting matchup though in the first round. 

 

Tampa Bay Lightning (Atlantic 2) vs. Detroit Red Wings (Atlantic 3)  

The Lighting who went on an impressive Stanley Cup run last season, falling to the Chicago Black Hawks in six games in the Stanley Cup Finals, set them up for a nice run this year. With superstar Steven Stamkos leading the way, the Lighting looked to be one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference.

Stamkos also has young talented forwards around him as well as a nice defensive core with Victor Hedman and Anton Strahlman manning the blueline and Ben Bishop between the pipes. When healthy they look to be one of the premiere teams in the conference and league. Unfortunately for the Lightning they were hit with the injury bug. 

 

The Lightning will be without Stamkos who went down last in the regular season with a blood clot in his arm, and Strahlman, their top defenseman for most if not all of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Two big losses for the Lightning in their quest to return to the Stanley Cup Finals. 

As injuries play an important part this time of year, for any team, these two injuries probably mount as the Lightning having to deal with the biggest. 

The Red Wings extended their playoff streak to a record 25 seasons, but their problem seems to be that now they are just good enough to make the postseason as opposed to when they were one of the dominant teams in the league a few seasons ago. 

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg are getting older and starting to slow down, but youngsters like Dylan Larkin and Gustav Nyquist give them some hope for the future. Goaltender Jimmy Howard had one of the worst seasons in his career and backup goalie Petr Mrazek was great through January but has started to slip a little over the past three months. 

The Red Wings had fight down the stretch battling to get into the playoffs, but were able prevail and keep their streak of 25 straight seasons, which is the longest of any North American sport alive. With the Lightning’s injuries, the first round matchup with them could be a good one fro the Red Wings. 

During the regular season the two teams split their four game series with each other. The Wings one the first two, on October 13, 3-1 and November 3, by a score of 2-1. The Bolts won the next two, a 3-1 decision on February 3 and a 6-2 game on March 22.