NHL Playoffs: Predictions for April 29th

There are two games to be played in the Western Conference tonight. Here are the top picks, plays and predictions.

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

#2 Blues vs #1 Stars: The Blues have had some time to decompress since their dramatic Game 7 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday. The Stars had an extra day on top of that since their Game 6 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

The extra day has not helped Tyler Seguin’s slow and laborious recovery along since further aggravating his Achilles injury. Seguin was rushed back into the lineup for Game 2, a silly mistake in hindsight as now the Stars must be without him for another two games, at least.

The Blues have won six of the last seven encounters with the Dallas Stars, including four of the last five in Dallas. In that seven-game stretch, they have held the Stars to just two goals per game. St. Louis is 7-1 in their last eight road games overall.

St. Louis is now in the Second Round for first time since 2012, when they got swept by the eventual champion Los Angeles Kings. The last time prior to that year was 2002, when they lost in five games to the Detroit Red Wings. The Stars, meanwhile, have not seen the Conference Semi-Finals since 2008. They beat the San Jose Sharks in six games before falling to the eventual champion Red Wings in the Conference Final.

Dallas and St. Louis have met in the postseason three times since the North Stars moved down south. Dallas swept the Blues in the opening round of the 1994 playoffs, and the Blues swept the Stars in 2001. In 1999, the two met in the Conference Semi-Final. The Stars won in six games on their way to hoisting the Stanley Cup. Their head coach? Current Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock. Funny how everything ties together in some way.

Being without Tyler Seguin hurts in this series far more than it does in the previous series. Both the Stars’ top six and Kari Lehtonen will be put to the test against a Blues team that is far superior to the Minnesota Wild team that the Stars bounced in the opening round. Even a dinged up Wild squad that was without Zach Parise and Thomas Vanek managed to come a fraction of an inch away from forcing a Game 7 against Dallas. That does not bode well.

Prediction: Take the Blues to win the opener. Play the under, which is 4-1 in the last five meetings.

WC1 Predators vs #3 Sharks: Two Wild Card teams managed to move on to the second round this postseason. Though plenty of experts and fans alike picked the New York Islanders to upset the Florida Panthers, not as many people were as high on the concept of the Predators kicking out the Anaheim Ducks in the first round. The Preds snatched the first two games of the series from the Ducks, forcing John Gibson to the bench. They dropped the ensuing two games on home ice, but kept surprisingly cool. They won the seventh installment of the series 2-1.

The San Jose Sharks managed to knock off the Los Angeles Kings in five games. It was a physical and fast-paced series, with four of the five games being decided by only one goal. The only game that was not was tied heading into the third period.

The Preds match up surprisingly well against the three Californian powerhouses. They had only one regulation loss and it was to the Ducks. Against the Sharks, they were 2-0-1 with a shootout loss.

As was the case in the opening round, staking a claim to home ice is going to be paramount to the Sharks’ success. As has been mentioned countless times before, the Sharks were the only playoff team to have a losing record on home ice this season. They split the two games at the SAP Center in Round One. While the Sharks are the league’s road warriors, the Predators won three games on the road in their opening round as well. Nashville is not daunted easily. With the lines heavily favoring the Sharks on home ice, the question becomes are the Sharks’ home-ice struggles overcome thanks to the extra days of rest they have over the Preds?

The under is 7-0 in the last seven encounters in San Jose and 10-2-1 overall.

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