Habs by the Numbers:
Points Leader: Jeff Carter (76)
Goals Leader: Jeff Carter (39)
Goalie: Sergei Bobrovsky (51 W, 0.919 PCT, 2.21 GAA)

Senators by the Numbers:
Points Leader: John Tavares (83)
Goals Leader: John Tavares (33)
Goalie: Braden Holtby (40 W, 0.915 PCT, 2.50 GAA)

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


Playoffs By the Numbers:

Montreal:
Points Leader: Martin Hanzal (6)
Goals Leader: Paul Byron (4)
Goalie: Steve Mason (2-1, 0.868 PCT, 3.33 GAA)

Ottawa:
Points Leader: Jonathan Huberdeau (5)
Goals Leader: Alex Killorn (3)
Goalie: Braden Holtby (4-1, 0.954 PCT, 1.78 GAA)

Analysis:
It’s another second round rematch from last season as the President’s Trophy winning Montreal Canadiens once again take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Ottawa Senators in this Atlantic Division matchup.

Let’s just address the big pink elephant in the room straight off; the Habs are fucked.  Having lost their starting goal tender Sergei Bobrovsky in game three of their series against the Carolina Hurricanes for the balance of the playoffs, Montreal’s chances of making it to the cup finals, let alone past the Senators, are slim despite being early favorites to win it all at the start of the playoffs.  Despite replacement starter Steve Mason getting the 4-0 shutout to close out the series against the Canes, he also let in 10 goals in the previous two games including a 7-4 drubbing in his playoff debut in game 4.

The Senators meanwhile lit the lamp 273 times in the regular season, third most in the league, and buried 15 goals against the Detroit Red Wings in their first round matchup.  Led by John Tavares and Anders Lee, there’s no shortage of scoring on that roster; which is bad news for the Habs.

That’s not to say that Montreal doesn’t have weapons of their own.  One of the main reasons Les Habitants came out on top in the regular season standings was their offence; Montreal led the league in goals scored this year pumping in an impressive 299 goals behind opposition netminders.  And like Ottawa, they’ve carried this high powered offence into the post season having averaged better than 3 goals a game for in the six games they played against Carolina in the first round.

So if this turns into an old fashioned 80’s style pissing contest, Montreal still might have a chance to pull out the series.  But Ottawa still has their starting goalie in Braden Holtby and he has been nothing short stellar thus far; he shut down another team with a high powered offence in the Red Wings and made it look easy.

Prediction:
Did we mention that the Habs were fucked?  Ottawa in 6.

Devils by the Numbers:
Points Leader: Wayne Simmonds (81)
Goals Leader: Wayne Simmonds (39)
Goalie: Devan Dubnyk (41 W, 0.919 PCT, 2.35 GAA)

Rangers by the Numbers:
Points Leader: David Pastrnak (63)
Goals Leader: David Pastrnak (32)
Goalie: Frederik Andersen (44 W, 0.918 PCT, 2.36 GAA)

Regular Season Head to Head: New Jersey (3-1-0-0)


Playoffs By the Numbers:

New Jersey:

Points Leader: Mike Fisher (7)
Goals Leader: Mike Fisher (2)
Goalie: Devan Dubnyk (4-1, 0.935 PCT, 1.99 GAA)

New York:
Points Leader: Brad Richardson (6)
Goals Leader: Brad Richardson (4)
Goalie: Frederik Andersen (4-0, 0.947 PCT, 1.73 GAA)

Analysis:
The New York Rangers are on fire this post season.  Considering how well matched they were against their cross town rival Islanders and how closely together they finished in the regular season standings, no one could have predicted a Ranger sweep of that first round series.  But sweep they did; and they did it with their big guns relatively silent as David Pastrnak and Tyler Seguin only managed two goals apiece in the series.  Instead, it was New York’s third line of Brad Richardson, Michael Grabner and Johan Larsson leading the way combining for 5 goals and 10 points against Long Island.

But the heat is going to be turned up considerably for the Rangers as they cross the Hudson to face the New Jersey Devils in round two.  New Jersey had to have been considered the odds on favorite in last year’s playoffs to come out of the East but they had the misfortune to matchup against the then red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round and were unceremoniously bounced.  Fast forward to this season where once again, the Devils were the #2 team in the East in the regular season and once again have to be considered strong odds-on contenders to make the finals; especially with top seed Montreal suffering a goalie malfunction.

Head to head in the regular season, New Jersey took the season series quite handily 3 games to 1 with the Devils outscoring New York 15-9 in the process.  But as we mentioned at the beginning of this piece, the Rangers have been on a roll so far these playoffs with netminder Frederik Andersen leading the charge only allowing 7 goals against in the series against Long Island and highlighted with a 2-nil shutout in game 2.

Prediction:
Offensively, while on paper the Rangers appear to have the edge with the bigger name players up front and more of them, the Devils finished second in the league in goals for in the regular season and outscored New York by almost 40 goals.

On the blueline it’s pretty much the same story with the Rangers able to throw out onto the ice names like Letang, Faulk and Lindholm while the Devils can only counter with the likes Dan Girardi, Alex Goligoski and Francois Beauchemin.  But yet again, New Jersey allowed fewer goals against than New York in the regular season.

In net, its Dubnyk vs the red-hot Anderson; so advantage: love.

So who wins this series?  Despite what looks like on paper at least to be a major mismatch, the Devils, like the Nashville Predators in the West, just seem to be able to get it done time and time again.  And, we think they’ll get it done once again.  New Jersey in 7.