Here are my second round NHL playoff predictions

Well I was 5-3 in the first round.  My pet monkey Skippy was 6-2.  Who would have predicted that the 1st, 2nd and 3rd seeded teams in the East would all get knocked out?  Obviously not me. Well here come by second round picks.The big shocker for me wasn't the Caps but the Devils.  I think what we can conclude is that Brodeur although still a very good goalie, can no longer carry the Devils.  The Devils are getting old. Also Kovalchuk is not the impact player he thinks he is.  He couldn't carry Atlanta into the playoffs and he didn't seem to give the Devils an edge either.  So I'm thinking Ovechkin money is out of the question for this guy.

Pittsburgh (4) vs. Montreal (8)
Sid is smoking hot but so is Halak. This should be interesting. I wonder if Washington is one of the teams that looks great during the regular season but not that good in the post-season? Anyway despite the shot advantage that Washington had over Montreal, the Canadiens played better as a team and could give the Penguins trouble.  However, Pittsburgh has the experience as defending Stanley Cup Champions.

The edge has to go to Pittsburgh

Boston (6) vs. Philadelphia (7)
Both team got great goaltending and played a very physical style during the first round.  Rask was exceptional and the Bruins have Marc Savard cleared to play though who knows if he will have an impact after such a long layoff. The Flyers have key players hurt (Carter and Gagne) but have a surprise scorer in Claude Giroux. At the end not much to chose between the two.

Bruins have the edge in goaltending so I'm going with them.

San Jose (1) vs. Detroit (5)
I was surprised to see San Jose get stronger as their series progressed and they really outplayed Colorado by a significant margin. Craig Anderson kept it close.  Although the Thornton-Marleau-Heatley line folded like a cheap table (only 1 goal) it didn't matter.  The second line of Pavelski-Crowe-Setoguchi had a surprising strong series with 9 goals which is what you need to go deep in the playoffs- scoring depth. However, Detroit is not Colorado.  The Wings are healthy and starting to flex their muscles. Zetterberg and Datsyuk have 11 goals between them.

Detroit should continue San Jose's playoff futility.

Chicago (2) vs. Vancouver (3)
This will be the best series of the second round.  A rematch of last year but things are different.  The Sedins have become dominant players, the Canucks have secondary scoring in Bernier and Kessler, and Luongo is playing like he is the best goalie in the league. Injuries on defense is a concern.  Meanwhile the Hawks are deep in scoring and have one of the best defenses in the NHL.  Goaltending is their only weak link. This series should go deep.

I like Vancouver.