Left Handed Larceny

The Wild Wild West (Part 2)

by Eric Berkenpas

Well round 1 is in the books and while I don't normally like to brag, I am gonna have to here and inform you that I picked the winners of each series correctly, oh yeah! Let's see if I can keep the magic alive in round 2. Round 1 saw San Jose pull an upset sweep of the Canucks, the Blackhawks handle the Wild as everyone knew they would, the Kings win 4 straight after losing the first 2 and Detroit win 2 straight when facing elimination to dismiss the Ducks. The next round offers two divisional rivalries that definitely deserve a lot of attention so without further ado, let's take a look!

#1 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #7 Detroit Red Wings

01/27/2013 DET 1 @ CHI 2 OT

03/03/2013 CHI 2 @ DET 1 SO

03/31/2013 CHI 7 @ DET 1

04/12/2013 DET 2 @ CHI 3 SO

Photo cred sportspyder.com

As you can see from the scores above, the Red Wings did not manage even one win against the Hawks this season, which hasn't happened in 36 years. So going into this series, one might assume that Detroit has little chance against the powerhouse Blackhawks. Well I am here to tell you to think again! The Detroit team coming into this series is not the same Detroit team that lost all 4 of those games. The Red Wings spent almost the entire season in mourning over the retirement of Tomas Holmstrom and Nicklas Lidstrom and waited until the last 4 games of the season to snap out of it and squeak into the playoffs. With the past finally behind them, this is a completely transformed team. Henrik Zetterberg has taken the reigns this year and, especially as of late, has really lead by example for his teammates to propel them to 1) avoid a missed playoff appearance for the first time in 21 years and 2) complete a big upset over the #2 seeded Anaheim Ducks who many thought were the only team who could topple the Hawks. Zetterberg and Datsyuk lead the team in playoff points with 8 and 7 respectively and have played their patented two-way game that has landed 3 Selke Trophies in Datsyuk's possession in his career. Jimmy Howard played a great series despite the amount of rubber he saw and made the huge saves when his team needed him to to keep them in each and every game.

Photo cred www.usatoday.com

Looking ahead to the series against the Hawks, the Wings are going to need to improve if they want to win. Jimmy Howard was great against the Ducks but he needs to be better. The defense needs to tighten up and make life easier for Howard. Chicago has a lot of speed but not a lot of size so Detroit will want to get physical with them right from the get go to slow down their game. Babcock likes to run a trap in the neutral zone which he will definitely need to do against the Hawks to slow down their approach and force them to dump and forecheck. Zetterberg is going to need to continue to lead by example or Detroit will find themselves out of the playoffs in a hurry. Franzen needs to step up his game as he only registered 3 points in 7 games and was a team-worst -5. The Wings need more from their 3rd highest paid player. Justin Abdelkader was one of Detroit's best players in the first series. He scored a huge short handed goal in game 7 and played an extremely physical brand of hockey for the entire series. He will need to continue that kind of play and make his presence known on the ice much like Chris Neil for the Senators, Matt Martin for the Islanders and Raffi Torres for the Sharks do.

Photo cred blackhawks.nhl.com

The Blackhawks had an easy go of it against the Wild and played their game to land Minnesota on the golf course in 5 short games. Corey Crawford silenced the doubters who thought he would implode in the playoffs and posted a 1.32 GAA and .950 SV%. Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp led all Blackhawks skaters in points and picked up Jonathan Toews who only managed 2 assists in the series. Chicago is so deep though that they get scoring from every line. Hossa, Sharp, Kane and Toews don't always have to be at their best because someone else will always step up which is truly the mark of a championship team. They were very disciplined in playing their game and got scoring when they needed it, which wasn't  very often due to how well Crawford was playing.

Photo cred www.chicagotribune.com

The Hawks really just need to keep playing their game if they want to beat the Red Wings in the next series. Divisional series in the playoffs are always interesting and can tend to level the playing field. They absolutely cannot underestimate the Red Wings and will need to put aside what happened in the season series because like I said earlier, this is a completely different Red Wings team with a completely new attitude. They are playing with a lot of confidence and Chicago is going to have to be well aware of that. Brandon Saad had a rough go of it in his first ever playoff series and Chicago could use a little more production from him. Patrick Kane needs to light the lamp for the first time as does Jonathan Toews. The defense played great and will need to continue to block shots like the did against the Wild and of course, Corey Crawford will need to continue his excellent play. If Kane and Toews provide more offense against the Wings, Brandon Saad steps up and the defense and goaltending stays on par, the Wings will have to play an absolute perfect series if they want to come out on top.

Prediction: Chicago wins in 7.



#5 Los Angeles Kings vs. #6 San Jose Sharks

03/14/2013 LAK 3 @ SJ 4
03/16/2013 SJ 2 @ LAK 5
04/16/2013 LAK 2 @ SJ 3 SO
04/27/2013 SJ 2 @ LAK 3

Photo cred www.zimbio.com

This series is very interesting. Taking a quick look at it, it seems to be an absolute toss up. Both teams had shaky years but are playing great hockey right now. Both teams have goalies who won a Stanley Cup and are playing their best hockey.  Both won their first round matchups rather easily (after LA's first two losses, they breezed through the next 4). The teams split their season series but LA won out overall, gaining one more point due to the SO loss. Needless to say, this is going to be a spectacular series!

Photo cred thegoalienews.com

For LA, they have to be very confident right now regardless of who their opponent is. Jonathan Quick is back to his Vezina-runner-up form which only spells trouble for the Kings' opponents. Not too much stock can be put on this though because he shut down an offensively inept Blues squad. Regardless, Los Angeles is looking like the team that won the cup last year, but their task is tough. San Jose trounced the Canucks with a 4-0 sweep and were the only team to sweep their series. The Kings are going to have to constantly be aware of Logan Couture whenever he is on the ice. He is tied with Joe Pavelski for the lead in points so far at 8 and is carrying the momentum he gained at the end of the season. Patrick Marleau has 4 goals in 4 games and him and Thornton look to be back in the form they were in at the start of the season. LA is going to have to find an answer to all this offensive firepower because the Sharks have a ton of it and it is spread out through 3 lines. The Kings were extremely physical against St. Louis and will definitely have to bring that physicality against the Sharks to wear and slow down the Shark forwards. Jonathan Quick is going to have to be as good as he was against St. Louis and the defense is going to have to stay disciplined. The Sharks drew a lot of penalties against the Canucks and their successful PP had a lot to do with the Canucks being downed so easily. If the Kings can play solid, disciplined defense, Quick makes the saves he needs to and the whole team stays out of the box, they should find themselves coming out on top.

Photo cred www.foxsportsasia.com

San Jose should also be feeling very confident, knowing that their goalie is playing good hockey and their PP is banging on all cylinders. They will continue to try to draw as many penalties as they can like they did against the Canucks. They had 7 PPG on 24 attempts in 4 games. The only team with a higher PP% is the Pittsburgh Penguins. Patrick Marleau has been finding the back of the net at a pace he is used to, Joe Thornton is playing his typical style of hockey and Pavelski and Couture are on fire. The Sharks are going to need to find a way to crack Jonathan Quick or they will have severe problems beating the Kings. The Sharks don't play good enough defense to get by scoring 1 or 2 goals per game like the Blues did. Since they have a severe strength in their PP, they will need to try to get that going by getting a lot of offensive zone time, cycling the puck and creating frustration for the Kings. Raffi Torres is going to have to get under the skin of the Kings and throw his body around more than he did against the Canucks. Tommy Wingels played great for the Sharks in their first series and really wreaked havoc on the Canucks by throwing his body at anything that moved. The Sharks are going to need a lot of that and if they do it, this is shaping up to be one physical series. If the Sharks can play to their strengths by getting to their powerplay and can hold LA to 2 goals per game, they should find themselves moving on.

Prediction: San Jose wins in 6.