1. Washington Capitals vs. 8. New York Rangers

Last year the Rangers couldn’t get into the playoffs on the last day of the season.  This year they were able to clinch the last playoff spot before the last game.  Thanks in large part to their goalie Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers now have to get past the best team in the Conference to advance.  New York has some gritty players in Marc Staal, Bryan McCabe and Brandon Dubinsky.  Those three will have to be at their best to slow down the Capitals attack.  If Marian Gaborik and the return of Chris Drury can provide adequate scoring the Rangers might be able to give Washington some trouble in the quarterfinals.

Washington has to avoid another early exit.  Thankfully they have a healthy Mike Green back on the defensive side.  Alexander Semin and Alex Ovechkin are rested and ready to lead the Capitals offensive attack.  Michal Neuvirth took control of the goaltender role during the season and will be given the chance to continue that success in the playoffs.  A lot is riding on the success of the Capitals playoff run this year with all the other disappointing exits.

2. Philadelphia Flyers vs. 7. Buffalo Sabres

It’s a potential trap for the Flyers.  Philadelphia has had an easy ride through most of the regular season.  They had consistent goaltender in Sergei Bobrovsky.  He did have a rough patch down the stretch, but the Flyers have enough offensive weapons to help get through it.  Danny Briere, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards have to be on their game.  If Chris Pronger is out for most of this series it could be a problem for the Flyers.

Buffalo still has one of the best goalies in Ryan Miller.  This is his time to shine and don’t be surprised if Miller decides to play up to his 2010 Winter Olympics stint.  Even without Derek Roy, the Sabres were doing just enough with Tim Connolly and Thomas Vanek leading the way.  The Sabres don’t have the talent to match the Flyers, but they will give them a good wake up call.

3. Boston Bruins vs. 6. Montreal Canadiens

Boston has the potential Vezina trophy winner in goalie Tim Thomas and the possible Norris trophy winner in Zdeno Chara. Both have been a big part of the Bruins success and they will play big parts in this series.  Milan Lucic and Patrice Bergeron will have to provide consistent scoring for the Bruins against their long time rival.

The Canadiens have a new resurgent Carey Price in net for them this time around.  They don’t expect him to duplicate what Jaroslav Halak did last year, but he is playing at an all time level right now. P.K. Subban has been a force for their defense.  Brian Gionta was starting to heat up towards the end of the season.  Montreal will need Michael Cammalleri to have another fantastic playoff run like last year to advance.

4. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 5. Tampa Bay Lightning

Not having Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will hurt the Penguins.  For right now they still have one of the best goalies in Marc-Andre Fleury.  He has been the constant contributor in the absence of Pittsburgh two best offensive weapons.  The Penguins offense will likely have to come from Alex Kovalev and Chris Kunitz.  Both have to be around the net to get good scoring chances.  Defensemen Kris Letang has been a great complement on offense and a big reason for their success on defense.

The Lightning will get a chance to show their worth against one of the best teams in hockey.  The young star Steven Stamkos will be playing on the big stage.  Thankfully he has Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier to show him how it’s done.  Pavel Kubina will have to play at a high level on both sides of the ice.  Dwayne Roloson was acquired for this moment.  It’s playoff time and he has a lot of experience on this stage.  What remains to be seen is if the upstart Lightning are up to the challenge.

1. Vancouver Canucks vs. 8. Chicago Blackhawks

The deepest team in hockey last year happened to be the Chicago Blackhawks.  This year it’s the Vancouver Canucks.  They meet again, this time in the quarterfinals.  The Canucks have the better goaltender in Roberto Luongo.  He can be exposed with the loose pucks, but he has improved on that this year.  With all their offensive fire power, Vancouver is actually more of a defensive minded team.  The Sedin twins (Daniel and Henrik) are the two driving forces.  Ryan Kesler coming off another stellar regular season is poised for a big playoff run.

Chicago has to beat the best in order to continue their quest to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.  Corey Crawford you could argue has saved the Blackhawks with his play in net.  Whether he can do what Antti Niemi did last year is the problem.  Chicago still has Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp providing the offense.  Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are still playing the blue line as well as any.  They just seem to have lost their mojo from last year before the playoffs even started.

2. San Jose Sharks vs. 7. Los Angeles Kings

The Kings were stricken with the injury bug at the worst possible time.  Justin Williams will try to give it a go against San Jose although he won’t be 100 percent healed.  Anze Kopitar is out and might be out for quite a bit of the playoffs if the Kings advance any further.  For the time being Dustin Brown has picked it up offensively.  Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson are becoming more involved than usual on offense.  Jonathan Quick has been stellar all season long in net and will have to be going forward.  The key for them is Dustin Penner.  His scoring has to increase at this time.

The Sharks had a tremendous second half surge and that was thanks in large part to goalie Antti Niemi.  He is reminding folks in the NHL of his amazing run last year for Chicago and San Jose hopes it repeats itself this year.  Patrick Marleau has been the constant goal scorer.  Youngsters Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski had fantastic finishes to the season and they look to ride that finish into the playoffs.  

3. Detroit Red Wings vs. 6. Phoenix Coyotes

Phoenix took Detroit to 7 games in last years quarterfinals matchup.  This year the Coyotes hope the outcome is a little different.  Shane Doan will have to make sure of that if Phoenix wants to advance.  Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov will have to play even better than he has for the Coyotes to beat the Red Wings.  Keith Yandle is their best defensemen.  When he’s on, Phoenix is a tough team to beat.  One player who will have to get hot is Lee Stempniak.  If he is off scoring goals for them Detroit will be hard pressed to match.

Goalie Jimmy Howard was a bit of a disappointment at times, but the Red Wings success this year was thanks in part to him.  He has to be better to get them to another Stanley Cup.  Johan Franzen and Pavel Datsyuk have been fantastic all year long, but Henrik Zetterberg has had a bit of a down year.  Detroit needs him to play at an elite level again.  Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski continue to get better with age and their experience is unmatched. Both are great assets to have for the playoffs.  

4. Anaheim Ducks vs. 5. Nashville Predators

The Ducks were looking dead in the water when goalie Jonas Hiller went down with a bout of vertigo.  They made due with what they had in Dan Ellis and Ray Emery.  Both made big strides in their games, especially Emery’s who has missed over a year due to a serious hip injury.  Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Bobby Ryan were consistent contributors and will have to be to make a deep run.  Teemu Selanne can still play at an elite level at age 40. Anaheim’s defense has been spectacular thanks to Lubomir Visnovsky and the acquisition of Francois Beauchemin.  Both have changed the attitude of the defense and helped with Ellis and Emery’s progression.

Nashville has one person to thank for their success this year and that’s goalie Pekka Rinne.  He could very well win the Vezina trophy and he would say his job is made easier with Shea Weber and Ryan Suter playing in front of him.  Those three have been a big part of the Predators success these last two seasons.  Steve Sullivan will have to lead the way on offense.  Mike Fisher has been a nice catalyst since being acquired.  Nashville will be in a uphill battle with the Ducks, but is should be a long fought out series.