Stanley Cup playoff previews, picks: West

BY LUKE FOX AND PATRICK HOFFMAN

WESTERN CONFERENCE – ROUND 1

Season series: Vancouver won 2-1-1

For Canucks to win: Coming off their second straight Presidents’ Trophy, the Canucks will be as hungry as ever to get back to the Stanley Cup final this season. The team has a high-powered offense, two first-string goaltenders and the wisdom that comes from experiencing the finals together. They know what it takes to get there. That said, they face a Los Angeles club that played them tight during the regular season and, for the most part, was able to quiet the Canucks’ offensive game. The Canucks need their offense to step up in a big way to beat one of the league’s best netminders in Jonathan Quick. Hopefully for the Canucks, head coach Alain Vigneault will figure out a way to integrate injured star Daniel Sedin (returning from concussion) without disrupting a Canucks lineup that went 8-1-0 without him.

For Kings to win: After starting out the season playing inconsistent hockey under then head coach Terry Murray, the team turned things around under new head coach Darryl Sutter and managed to squeak into the postseason as the conference’s eighth seed. During the regular season, the Kings’ shutdown style of defense and Quick’s goaltending kept the team in every game against the western champs. To win this series, the Kings must play the same way. It also wouldn’t hurt for the Kings to put the puck in the net on a more regular basis as the team finished second to last in the NHL in goals scored during the regular season. Players like Anze Kopitar, Justin Williams, Dustin Brown, Mike Richards, and Jeff Carter (returning from injury) must bring their game to another level to get this Kings’ team into the second round.

Big question: How short of a leash will Canucks coach Vigneault have netminder Roberto Luongo on this postseason with Cory Schneider more than capable of winning hockey games when it matters the most?

Best bet: Canucks in six.

Season series: St. Louis won 4-0-0

For Blues to win: Stick to what got ’em here. Yes, the Blues – looking destined to capture the Presidents’ Trophy a couple weeks ago – are limping into the playoffs having dropped four of their final five, but they are still the best home team in the NHL (30 wins), and they have that advantage here. If one stingy goaltender gets spooked, they have another. And surely you recall Jaroslav Halak’s 2010 playoff heroics with the Habs. The Blues’ balanced scoring prevents the Sharks from keying on one big line, and their defensive, hold-a-lead-like-a-grudge style translates well to the postseason. Plus, if the season sweep doesn’t give them a psychological advantage, having Coach Hitchcock pulling the strings surely will.

For Sharks to win: For the first time in franchise history, the Sharks have three 30-goal scorers in the regular season: Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau, and Joe Pavelski. Big Joe Thornton won’t be shouldering as much pressure to perform as he has in years past; instead, he’ll be one of several playmakers (add Martin Havlat to that mix) who will need to score goals against the team with the league’s best goals against (a measly 165 surrendered all year). In the Sharks’ four attempts to beat the Blues this season, they scored a pitiful three goals total. The Blues will win the goaltending battle; the only way for the Sharks to upset is to get more power-plays, vastly outshoot St. Louis and bang in some ugly ones.

Big question: How will St. Louis balance the workload of their No. 1 and 1A goaltenders?

Best bet: Blues in five.

Season series: Phoenix won 3-1-0

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For Coyotes to win: The Coyotes enter the postseason having gone 7-1-2 in their last 10 games and having clinched their first Pacific Division title after almost falling out of the playoffs just a few short weeks ago. The Coyotes are also fortunate to draw the Blackhawks, as they won three of four against Chicago this season. To continue that success, the team will need unbelievable goaltending from starter Mike Smith, who had a terrific first year in Phoenix and made fans forget all about Ilya Bryzgalov. The team will also needs the likes of Shane Doan, Ray Whitney and Radim Vrbata to step up their offense as the Blackhawks certainly have firepower of their own.

For Blackhawks to win: Much like the Coyotes, the Blackhawks come into the postseason having played solid hockey in going 6-3-1 in their last 10 games, their final win coming in overtime against the Detroit Red Wings. Even without captain Jonathan Toews, who should return for Game 1, the Blackhawks got steady offense from Marian Hossa (29-48-77), Patrick Kane (23-43-66), Patrick Sharp (33-36-69) and Viktor Stalberg (22-21-43). The team will also need budding youngster Andrew Shaw and veteran Dave Bolland to provide secondary scoring. There is no doubt that the Blackhawks can put the puck in the net and play solid defense. If they can put those two things together, they have a shot at advancing to Round 2.

Big question: After an up-and-down regular season, can starting netminder Corey Crawford keep his game together enough to elevate the Blackhawks out of the first round?

Best bet: Blackhawks in six.

Season series: 3-3-0

For Predators to win: The Predators’ clinching of home-ice advantage is important because the Wings are the worst road team in the West to make the playoffs. Nashville comes in hot, winning its final three. The NHL’s winningest netminder this season, Pekka Rinne, needs to be on his game for the Preds to succeed. The lower-scoring the games, the better. Yes, Nashville boasts underrated weapons in Martin Erat, Patric Hornqvist and Mike Fisher, but these guys are not going to outshoot Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg if the play loosens up too much. The Wings will try to hog the puck and dictate the pace; the Preds can’t let that happen.

For Red Wings to win: How great is this match-up? Not only did the Wings and Preds — two teams who took special care to boost their lineup cards for the 2012 postseason with a win-now mentality – knot their season series at three games apiece, but each squad scored precisely 14 goals in those six games. Although Wings coach Mike Babcock has downplayed the loss of home-ice advantage (“It’s great. We don’t have to travel across the country, which for me is the biggest thing”), everyone knows Detroit prefers to play at The Joe. The consistent Red Wings (12 straight 100-point seasons, 21 straight playoff berths) will rely on veteran wiles and perennial playoff performers like Tomas Holmstrom and Johan Franzen to find that extra edge. But they cannot play their age.

Big question: Will the addition of Alexander Radulov be enough to push the Preds’ offence over the hump?

Best bet: Predators in seven.

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