2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Predictions For Every First-Round Series

The 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs begin Wednesday and the anticipation is as high as it’s been in a long time because there are 10 to 12 teams with a legitimate chance of hoisting the best trophy in sports.

Here are my predictions for every first-round series:

New York Rangers (Metropolitan No. 1) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (Wild Card No. 2)

The Penguins blew a 3-1 series lead to the Rangers in last season’s conference semifinals. They would be lucky to win two games this postseason.

The Rangers have better goaltending, a more talented blue line and a deeper group of forwards, specifically in the bottom six. The Penguins won’t have No. 1 defenseman Kris Letang for the rest of the season because of a concussion and top-four D-man Christian Ehrhoff’s status is uncertain with an upper body injury.

Pittsburgh’s superstar duo of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, as well as goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury need to dominate this series for the Pens to have a chance. Given Fleury’s recent playoff struggles — he hasn’t posted a save percentage above .900 with a goals against average below 2.40 since 2007-08 — that’s unlikely to happen.

Prediction: Rangers win series 4-1

Washington Capitals (Metropolitan No. 2) vs. New York Islanders (Metropolitan No. 3)

This is the most difficult series to predict in the East.

The Capitals have the league’s best power play, an edge in goaltending and played better to end the regular season. But the Islanders are a better puck possession team, have an elite first pairing featuring Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy, and the excitement of a fanbase hoping for one final championship run at Nassau Coliseum.

The series might come down to which first-line duo — John Tavares/Kyle Okposo for New York, Alexander Ovechkin/Nicklas Backstrom for Washington — plays better.

Prediction: New York wins series 4-3

Montreal Canadiens (Atlantic No. 1) vs. Ottawa Senators (Wild Card No. 1)

The Senators have been playing with a playoff-like intensity for the last two months as they fought for a postseason berth. The team’s offense, led by No. 1 center Kyle Turris and likely Calder Trophy finalist Mark Stone, is playing with a ton of confidence and goaltender Andrew Hammond, aka “The Hamburglar,” has yet to regress to his career AHL numbers.

The Canadiens lacked bottom-six scoring and weren’t a good puck possession team during the regular season. They were carried by the historically good play of likely Hart and Vezina trophy winner Carey Price, and he must play at an very high level for Montreal to win this series.

Prediction: Senators win series 4-3

Tampa Bay Lightning (Atlantic No. 2) vs. Detroit Red Wings (Atlantic No. 3)

The Lightning have more trustworthy goaltending, the highest-scoring team in the league, an improved power play, much more playoff experience than last season (thanks to the free-agent additions of Brenden Morrow, Brian Boyle and Anton Stralman) and home ice advantage.

Detroit had trouble scoring during 5-on-5 play and relied on the second-best power play in the league during the regular season. That’s not a recipe for playoff success.

This has the makings of a short series.

Prediction: Lightning win series 4-1

Anaheim Ducks (Pacific No. 1) vs. Winnipeg Jets (Wild Card No. 2)

This is the popular upset pick and for good reason. Winnipeg was one of the league’s best puck possession teams post-trade deadline and has a well-balanced roster, good coaching and a No. 1 goalie in Ondrej Pavelec playing the best hockey of his pro career.

That said, the Ducks have a deeper group of forwards than last season led by superstars Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, both of whom will pose plenty of problems for Jets defensemen. Anaheim also has more experience, better goaltending and home ice advantage. That should be enough to win what is expected to be a highly competitive and entertaining series.

Prediction: Ducks win series 4-3

Vancouver Canucks (Pacific No. 2) vs. Calgary Flames (Pacific No. 3)

The Flames defied the odds by reaching the postseason with the third-worst Corsi For percentage in the league and a plus-31 goal differential in the third period. The Canucks have more experience, but if the Flames defend well enough against Vancouver’s top line led by Henrik and Daniel Sedin, they should win this series. Flames goalie Jonas Hiller also instills a bit more confidence than Canucks netminder Eddie Lack.

Prediction: Flames win series 4-1

St. Louis Blues (Central No. 1) vs. Minnesota Wild (Wild Card No. 1)

Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk carried Minnesota to a playoff appearance with a 27-9-2 record, a 1.78 GAA and a .936 save percentage after he was acquired on Jan. 14. Blues netminder Jake Allen, a 24-year-old with zero career playoff starts, is still a bit of an unknown. Both teams are deep at forward and move the puck well from the back end, so expect goaltending to be the difference in this series.

Prediction: Wild win series 4-3

Nashville Predators (Central No. 2) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (Central No. 3)

Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane has been cleared to play in Game 1 after a lengthy injury absence, giving an already talented and deep Chicago offense one of the league’s most skilled and clutch forwards. The only way the Predators win this series is if goaltender Pekka Rinne steals multiple games, but that’s unlikely to happen. Nashville also didn’t play well down the stretch and ended the regular season with a six-game losing skid.

Prediction: Blackhawks win series 4-1