Eastern Conference

1. Washington Capitals vs. 8. Montreal Canadiens

Congratulations to the Canadiens who have qualified for the playoffs and earn the right to play the best team in the NHL.  It’s a case of David vs. Goliath really.  Montreal has a decent offense in Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta and Michael Cammalleri.  Their defense is the real strength though with Hal Gill, Andrei Markov and Marc-Andre Bergeron.  Montreal’s goaltending combination of Jaroslav Halak and Carey Price are no match for the Capitals attack.  Halak was great in the Winter Olympics for Slovakia, but he has a daunting task trying to stop the soon to be Hart Trophy winner Alex Ovechkin and his Capitals.
Washington has Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin to go with Ovechkin on offense.  Mike Green continues to get better each year and being paired with Tom Poti on defense isn’t a bad combination.  The real key to the Capitals success will be goalie Jose Theodore.  A 30 win season with a save percentage of .911 has to translate into a successful playoff campaign for the Capitals to get past the competition in the Eastern Conference.  Namely the defending Champion Pittsburgh Penguins.  Capitals beat the Habs in 5 games.

2. New Jersey Devils vs. 7. Philadelphia Flyers

The Devils are looking to make a run at Lord Stanley this year with a deadly offensive attack rather than their patented defensive game.  Iyla Kovalchuk, Zach Parise and Travis Zajac provide an excellent attack and the great thing about it is that their young (Kovalchuk 26, Parise 25, Zajac 24).  Their shouldn’t be any kind of wear and tear on those three for New Jersey.  Martin Brodeur is back in front of the net for the Devils and after a 45 win season, he will look to have a better performance after the first round loss last year to the Carolina Hurricanes in which he gave up the two game winning goals in the last two minutes of Game 7 of that series. 
The Flyers entered the playoffs in dramatic fashion on the last day of the regular season beating the NY Rangers in a shootout.  The problem is they don’t have an adequate option in net for them.  Brian Boucher played great for them down the stretch, but on this stage it will be an uphill climb for him to stop the Devils attack.  The Flyers will be lead by Mike Richards, Danny Briere and Jeff Carter on offense while Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen will hold down the defense.  Pronger is proving again to still be among the elite defensemen in the game today at age 35.  Richards led the team in points (62) and is a rising star in this league, but it will be too much to handle in the first round against their division rival.  Devils win in 6 games.

3. Buffalo Sabres vs. 6. Boston Bruins

Essentially this is the same Boston team from last year without Phil Kessel (Toronto) and Marc Savard (injured).  Also goalie Tim Thomas has been ineffective most of the year and will give way to the hot goalie Tuukka Rask who sported a 22-12 W-L record with a 1.97 GAA and a .931 save percentage.  With that said there isn’t enough offense to over take what the Sabres have in net for them.  Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci are nice players, but are not going to turn the tide in favor for Boston.  Zdeno Chara being the force on defense will help, but Buffalo is too good to go down this early.
The Sabres sport an overwhelming offensive attack.  Derek Roy led them in points (69), but the real impact has come from Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville on the wings.  The Sabres were struggling in the goal scoring department for most of the year, but those were consistently scoring goals for them all year long.  Calder Trophy candidate Tyler Myers has been the talk of the NHL.  He led in goals (11), assists (37) and points (48) as a defensemen.  A rookie defensemen.  Ryan Miller is the clear cut favorite for the Vezina Trophy as his 41 wins and .929 save percentage were the driving force behind Buffalo’s succes.  Sabres win in 7 games.

4. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 5. Ottawa Senators

It starts with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and it ends with Crosby and Malkin for the Penguins.  Arguably the best tandem in the game today they are hard to stop.  Just ask the Detroit Red Wings.  Chris Kunitz, Jordan Staal and Bill Guerin aren’t bad options either to go with their top two.  Sergei Gonchar is a sniper in defense waiting for his moment to strike.  Marc-Andre Fleury will have to be spectacular again for the Penguins to win another Stanley Cup.  For the most this team seemed unbeatable that is until they sputtered towards the end, but head coach Dan Bylsma will have them ready for the start of the playoffs.
Ottawa is a hard team to figure out.  They have so much talent and yet it never seems to materialize at the right time.  Goaltender Brian Elliott had an okay season (29-18, .909, 2.57 GAA), but he will need to be a Patrick Roy clone to stop what the Penguins will dish out.  Ottawa has a good veteran group on defense in Chris Phillips, Filip Kuba and Andy Sutton to be in front of Elliott, but it won’t be enough.  Ottawa is without one of their scorers in Alexei Kovalev (torn ACL).  That hurts especially when goals are hard to come by at this point in the year.  Penguins win in 5 games. 

Western Conference

1. San Jose Sharks vs. 8. Colorado Avalanche

Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley on the offense.  Rob Blake and Dan Boyle on defense.  Evgeni Nabokov in net.  An All-Star lineup if you ask most analysts.  That has been the problem with the Sharks.  All-Stars in the regular season, but failures in the playoffs.  It is in their history and it won’t change until they get to a Stanley Cup Final.  It won’t be so much the offense or defense that will do them in, but Evgeni Nabokov has to be what the Sharks know he can.  His postseason history is no secret to anyone, it’s terrible. For a team with this much talent another first round exit will call for not just a roster upheaval, but some changes in management too. 
Colorado has done the unthinkable and made it to the postseason in what was suppose to be a rebuilding year.  Boy did time fly by.  Goalie Craig Anderson started the turnaround and hopes to finish it on a high note.  His breakout season has culminated him into being considered him to be a candidate for the Vezina Trophy.  Thanks to defensemen John-Michael Liles and Adam Foote, Anderson has been able to have this kind of success.  Also a good group of scorers has helped to ease the transition from the cellar for the Avs.  Paul Stastny, Chris Stewart, Matt Duchene and Milan Hejduk have been big factors in the teams good fortunes.  Will it be enough to beat San Jose?  It wouldn’t surprise me if San Jose gets bounced, but I just don’t see it happening.  Sharks in 6 games.

2. Chicago Blackhawks vs. 7. Nashville Predators

Chicago is really good.  Duncan Keith a Norris Trophy candidate paired with Brent Seabrook is one of the best young tandems on defense.  Marian Hossa being on the team this year will help at this time for a young team looking to get over the hump.  Patrick Sharp brings more of that veteran swagger needed to go with Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Kris Versteeg.  Excellent group of youngsters that will be around the Stanley Cup Playoffs for many years to come.  The only problem that could stop the dream from coming true is the goalie.  Antti Niemi was the most stable one next to Cristobal Huet, but almost any other goalie was.  The Blackhawks hope this won’t be the year it all comes crashing down because of one position. 
The Predators are a nice story.  Great tandem on defense in Shea Weber and Ryan Suter.  An up and coming goalie in Pekka Rinne.  Plus a 30 goal scorer in Patric Hornqvist.  Bet you didn’t know that.  Martin Erat for all the criticism of his contract managed to have a good year (21 G, 28 A, 49 P).  Steve Sullivan was the point leader and will be the catalyst on offense.  With all this said the Predators just don’t have enough punch to keep up with the Blackhawks.  Chicago wins in 6 games.

3. Vancouver Canucks vs. 6. Los Angeles Kings

The Canucks have a great balance this year of offense and defense.  Christian Ehroff and Sami Salo were great sparks on defense.  The Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel, were one-two respectively in total points for Vancouver.  Ryan Kesler, Alexandre Burrows and Mikael Sammuelsson each scored at least 25 goals for the Canucks.  You put all that together with Roberto Luongo who had another 40 win season and you have yourself a team that can legitimately compete for the Stanley Cup with anyone this year. 
The Kings were the hot commodity throughout the entire year.  Anze Kopitar, Ryan Smyth, Dustin Brown and Alexander Frolov were the reliable scoring options the entire year in LA.  Drew Doughty has all but assured himself of a Norris Trophy this year and maybe a few more before his career is over.  With Jack Johnson they have a big and tough tandem that the Kings would be to keep in LA for a long time.  Veteran Sean O’Donnell and Rob Scuderi are perfect fits that have helped in goalie Jonathan Quick’s success in the 2009-10 season.  If they can get the pre-olympic Quick back, the Kings will make this an interesting series right down to the wire.  Canucks in 7 games.

4. Phoenix Coyotes vs. 5. Detroit Red Wings

The surprise Coyotes are the best story of the entire NHL season.  Regardless of what happens in the playoffs, they have accomplished a lot.  Thanks in part to Iyla Bryzgalov who had a career year (42-20, .920, 2.29 GAA), they Coyotes are hosting a playoff series.  With three 20 goal scorers in Wojtek Wolski, Radim Vrbata and Lee Stempniak they have a good attack that will surprise Detroit.  Keith Yandle and Ed Jovanovski led their defensemen in points and were a big part of their offensive surge.
At one point the Red Wings wouldn’t have even qualified for the playoffs.  Now they are the fifth seed and the scary thing is they are fully healthy now.  One reason they held it together was the emergence of goalie Jimmy Howard (37-15, .924, 2.26 GAA).  Howard was finally able to show his talent and help the Red Wings establish a foothold on a playoff spot.  Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski are a great pair that always shows up when it’s playoff time.  Two straight Stanley Cup Finals appearances will do that to you.  Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetteberg and Johan Franzen are a scary trio that will do some damage before they make an exit.  Phoenix had a great season, but unfortunately have to play a healthy Red Wings team.  Detroit in 6 games.