Hawks by the Numbers:
Points Leader: Jonathan Toews (74)
Goals Leader: Brayden Schenn (28)
Goalie: Henrik Lundqvist (37 W, 0.926 PCT, 2.08 GAA)

Preds by the Numbers:
Points Leader: Patrice Bergeron (66)
Goals Leader: Patrice Bergeron (34)
Goalie: Roberto Luongo (41 W, 0.916 PCT, 2.07 GAA)

Regular Season Head to Head: Chicago (3-1-0-1)


Playoffs By the Numbers:

Chicago:
Points Leader: Brayden Schenn (8)
Goals Leader: Brayden Schenn (3)
Goalie: Henrik Lundqvist (3-0, 0.950 PCT, 1.67 GAA)

Nashville:
Points Leader: Michael Frolik (11)
Goals Leader: Patrice Bergeron (5)
Goalie: Roberto Luongo (4-1, 0.931 PCT, 2.27 GAA)


Analysis:
For the second straight year in a row, the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators will face off against each other in the Central Division Final after the Hawks swept the Winnipeg Jets and Smashville took down the high-octane offense of the Dallas Stars in their respective first round matchups.

Last season the upstart Predators upset Chicago in six games enroute to their showdown with the Ottawa Senators in the Stanley Cup Finals.  This season, Nashville could still be considered the underdogs in this series once again, though there was far less separation between the two teams in the standings at the end of the regular season – only a mere 5 points in fact.

Once again, this will be a battle of two divergent team philosophies – the offense of Blackhawks vs. the defense of the Predators.

Chicago was 4^th in the league in goals scored this season with 272 and outscored the Jets 14-6 in their first round series. Theirs’ is very much a line up is a lineup that is built on offense and can roll, and score, on all four lines.  Meanwhile Nashville for the second season in a row allowed the fewest goals against in the regular season with 184.

Prediction:
Despite everything we just said about the Hawks offense and the defense of the Preds, who will come out on top in this series will come down to one thing: goaltending.

Nashville’s success starts and ends with goaltender Roberto Luongo; who is a strong contender to win both the Vezina and Hart trophies this season.  Luongo was outstanding this season compiling an impressive 49 wins with a save % of 0.925 and a GAA of 2.04.  Lou has carried his play into the off season thus far with 4 wins, a save % of 0.931 and a GAA of 2.27.

And who was Luongo’s strongest challenger this season for hardware? Yep, his opponent on the opposite side of the rink.  “King” Henrik Lunqvist actually posted slightly better regular season numbers than Luongo with a save % of 0.926 and a GAA of 2.08, but with ‘only’ 37 wins

This is a series with two equally matched teams that is going to go the distance and it’s anyone’s guess as to who will come out on top. All thing being equal, the Hawks have the edge in offense and we think that that will be just enough; Chicago in 7.

Flames by the Numbers:
Points Leader: Max Pacioretty (51)
Goals Leader: Max Pacioretty (27)
Goalie: Cam Talbot (32 W, 0.901 PCT, 2.79 GAA)

Kings by the Numbers:
Points Leader: Seth Jones (55)
Goals Leader: Patrik Laine (22)
Goalie: Jaroslav Halak (22 W, 0.921 PCT, 2.43 GAA)

Regular Season Head to Head: Los Angeles (3-1-0-0)


Playoffs By the Numbers:

Calgary:
Points Leader: Sean Monahan (4)
Goals Leader: Sean Monahan (2)
Goalie: Cam Talbot (4-0, 0.950 PCT, 1.50 GAA)

Los Angeles:
Points Leader: Evgeny Kuznetsov (6)
Goals Leader: Evgeny Kuznetsov (3)
Goalie: Jaroslav Halak (4-1, 0.940 PCT, 1.75 GAA)


Analysis:
On the strength of good timing and a little bit of luck, the Calgary Flames advance to the second round of the playoffs after sweeping the powerhouse St. Louis Blues in round one.  Timing because as we mentioned in the first round analysis, the Flames were constantly inconsistent all throughout the regular season this year, but they appear to have finally put all of the pieces together so far in these playoffs and have finally become the dominating force in the Pacific that everyone was projecting them to be at the start of the season. Luck; because, well, it doesn’t hurt to have your first round opponent lose their starting goaltender for the duration of the playoffs in game 2.

On the opposite end of the arena are the Los Angeles Kings who have not only made the playoffs for the first time in three years, but have made it through into the second round after taking down fellow Golden State rivals the Anaheim Ducks in just five games.  As impressive as that may sound, if there was any series in these playoffs that could be considered a ‘gimmie’, that was it; a LA victory was more than a foregone conclusion before they dropped the opening puck of the series against the pathetic Ducks.

The Flames and Kings match up very well with one another.  Both are up and coming teams with all-star rosters in the making.  Led by Sean Monahan, Calgary have found scoring from multiple sources with four players tied for team lead with four points each so far in these playoffs, which includes a goal and three helpers from John Klingberg from the Flames blueline.

Los Angeles has enjoyed similar success in finding the back of the net with four players with two or more goals led by Evgeny Kuznetsov with three goals and six points and Ryan Spooner, Mikhail Grigorenko and Calder trophy candidate Patrik Laine all with two goals each.

Prediction:
As with the Chicago/Nashville series, who will come out on top between Calgary and LA will depend largely on goaltending; only in this case, which version of Cam Talbot will come out to play.

During the regular season, Talbot was bounced between four (!) different teams before finally landing on the Calgary roster due to his abysmal play.  But he, like the rest of the Flames seemed to hit their stride once the playoffs began and capped off the series against St. Louis with a shutout in game four.

Despite the fact that Halak actually had a fairly solid regular season for the Kings and appears to have carried his play into the off season, when Talbot is on his game there’s no question that he’s the better goaltender.  But Halak has had a relatively easy go thus far against the pop-gun offence of the Anaheim Ducks while Talbot has had his trial by fire already against the superior offense of the Blues.

We think Talbot has finally figured out his game and will carry the Calgary Flames back into the Western Conference finals for the second season in a row; Cowtown in 6.