The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

Like last round, I will make predictions for Round 2 for all the series except for the Ottawa-New Jersey matchup, which I will discuss tomorrow. And just for the record, I guessed all eight series correctly (although I only correctly guessed the number of games to decide each series twice).

Where's my prize?

Eastern Conference

Buffalo Sabres vs New York Rangers: The Sabres didn't actually look all that great dispatching the Islanders in five games, and I actually felt bad for the Isles as they took many horrible calls against them and couldn't buy any breaks. Having said that, the better team did win and my guess is Buffalo will get back to their A game and bring it to the Rangers. New York hasn't brought much attention to themselves, but if you look at their record since the new year, they've played some pretty good hockey. Lundqvist can steal games and the tandem of Jagr and Shanahan bring a lot of firepower and experience to the table. Plus everyone is drooling over Sean Avery. They'll give Buffalo many more problems than the Islanders did, but Buffalo should emerge. Sabres in 6.

Western Conference

Detroit Red Wings vs San Jose Sharks: San Jose are no slouches. They played an excellent series vs Nashville and they have a lot of depth and some decent goaltending. I like their chances much more than Calgary's, but I think the Red Wings have too solid a defensive style and experience for the Sharks to overcome. San Jose is sort of the dark horse of the West, and they don't have a lot of expectations on them like Anaheim and Detroit do but are still very dangerous. Once the Red Wings got out of the first round, they got that monkey off their back and they'll play with more swagger. Add home ice advantage, and I like their chances. Red Wings in 6.

Anaheim Ducks vs Vancouver Canucks: Don't get me wrong, it was great to see another Canadian team get past the first round (and for Vancouver, this was the first time they've done that since 1996) but if they think Dallas is tough, Anaheim will give them nightmares. The have better forwards, better defence (probably the best in the NHL anchored by Pronger and Niedermayer) and their goaltending is pretty solid, too. Watching Vancouver trying to find the back of the net was extremely painful: they simply can't score. Roberto Luongo is the ace up their sleeve and he can only do so much. I don't like Vancouver's chances at all. Ducks in 5.