The NHL season wrapped up over the weekend and there were some exciting finishes. The final spot in the East was decided in the final game, after regulation time, after overtime, and in a shootout! The only thing more exciting would be if NYR and PHI were playing an 83^rd tie-breaker game instead of the 82^nd.

For first round of the playoffs, it’s difficult to pick against the favorites. In the East, it would be very difficult to pick against WSH, PIT, or NJ. Buffalo is a bit less certain because their players don’t stand out aside from Miller, but they’re playing against Boston with an anemic offense which I think even PHI could protect against. If there’s a chance for an upset, I would bet on No. 1 seed Washington losing against No. 8 seed Montreal. Why? because WSH seems to be able to score through anything, but the playoff is a different game and Halak has shown that he can stymie all-star teams (hello Canadian Olympic team).

The West is much like the East. The dark horse is possibly Detroit over Phoenix. Phoenix has had a Cinderella season but now they’re up against an experienced Detroit team. I still think Phoenix can win it, you can’t fluke 82 games, but would not be surprised if Detroit beats them.

Posted by Kevin in Blogs Tags: hockey, predictions