NHL Playoff Predictions: April 30th

Two games are down in every series. Now it’s time to switch up the home teams. Let’s look at the top NHL playoff predictions.

Here are tonight’s starting goaltenders, courtesy of LeftWingLock.

Blues vs Predators: Of the four series remaining in these Stanley Cup Playoffs, only one of them is even after two games. That would be the St. Louis-Nashville series. After dropping Game 1, the Blues rebounded with a dramatic victory over the Predators by a score of 3-2.

With the score tied heading into the third period, Ryan Ellis netted his second goal of the postseason for the Predators by intercepting the puck then blistering a slapshot past Jake Allen. But just minutes later, Jori Lehtera banged home a loose puck just after the conclusion of a Blues’ powerplay to even up the score once more.

As time wound down, Jaden Schwartz sped into the zone on the left wing. With his other forwards covered, he slid the puck back to Joel Edmundson. Edmundson kicked the puck to himself, but before he could settle it down, Vladimir Tarasenko grabbed the puck away and rifled home a wrist shot.

It was like in the basketball episode of “The Office” when Dwight steals the ball from Ryan and sinks the three? Mission accomplished, but it looks funny.

This was a relatively uneventful game as shots go. Through two periods, the Nashville Predators had nine shots to the Blues’ 14. Final shots were 24-20 Nashville. While action picked up a bit in the final frame, things were still relatively conservative.

Even despite his seemingly low workload, Allen had a tremendous game in net for the Blues. Tarasenko, who had two goals in the game, was a force offensively. About time.

Now if they could only get their second line to get going. Patrik Berglund and Alexander Steen both had assists in Game 2 on the man advantage (in Berglund’s case, seconds after the powerplay ended). At 5-on-5, they’ve been underwhelming. After proving to be an effective net-front presence in the early goings of the Minnesota series, David Perron has been fairly inactive.

Perron has been held pointless and is a -3 in the last four games. In seven postseason games, he only has nine shots on goal.

Offense could be created more by the Predators if they are able to open up the ice like they did against Chicago. St. Louis has been trying to grind them down and slow up the pace of play since the beginning of this series. If the Predators want to keep on rolling, they should keep their foot on the gas and jam their speed down the Blues’ throat.

Mike Fisher has been pretty disappointing for Nashville. Fisher plays over 15 minutes a night and is out-chanced with regularity. He is the only forward to have played in all six games and not have at least one point.

The home team usually wins in Blues-Predators. I mentioned in my series preview that this would be a home-dominated series. Expect that trend to continue today.

Prediction: Take the Predators to win. Play the under.

Ducks vs Oilers: The Edmonton Oilers have put the Anaheim Ducks in a remarkable spot.

They have put them down 0-2 heading out on the road.

Anaheim has to be stunned by where they stand. Just over one minute into play in Game 2, Andrej Sekera snapped home a chance from a wonky angle. Connor McDavid was staple-gunned into the boards behind the net, but a charging Patrick Maroon prevented a clean clearing attempt. Sekera fielded the puck and flung a one-timer that snuck under the blocker of Gibson.

The Ducks dominated the pace of play in the opening frame, but could not get anything past Cam Talbot. Talbot made 12 saves in the first period. Gibson made two on three shots.

In the second period, the Ducks allowed far too much time and space for Jordan Eberle to waltz through the offensive zone on the powerplay. Eberle passed to an area of high traffic and Patrick Maroon got a stick on it.

Though the Ducks were able to get a powerplay goal late in the second period, they could not find the equalizer. Once more, the Ducks were able to fire off a plethora of shots but Talbot stood tall.

Talbot stopped all 27 even-strength shots. Anaheim outshot Edmonton 40-23. They out-attempted the Oilers 63-34 at 5-on-5.

So now what? The Oilers have won 11 of their last 12 home games. The Oilers have won five of their last six against the Ducks overall. The Ducks, who were favorites to come out of the Pacific Division and head to the Western Conference Final, have their backs up against the wall as they head to what will be a rocking Rogers Place.

Drake Caggiula is questionable for Game 3 after suffering a lower-body injury. Caggiula has not registered a point yet for the Oilers but is a serviceable young depth player.

Sami Vatanen is questionable, which would be huge considering Kevin Bieksa is likely out for the Ducks. Vatanen has been in the wings since Game 1 against the Calgary Flames, and the Ducks could use him to spread the puck around at the blueline.

While I have a very hard time believing the Ducks will fall to a 3-0 deficit, the deck is certainly stacked against them. They will have to find some way to break through the Edmonton defenses on the road.

Blaming the goaltender is, in some cases, a cop out. But John Gibson deserves the scrutiny. Gibson has been shaky for the Ducks in both games, and was not even all that impressive against Calgary. When the offense dries up, the goaltender has to make timely saves. It’s not like he’s being hung out to dry. If Anaheim is to get back in this series, Gibson will need to cut down on the backbreaking mistakes.

Prediction: Again, I have a very hard time seeing Anaheim go down 3-0. For that reason alone, take the Ducks to win. Play the over. Having this series run short would be a travesty.

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