We are throwing on the Captain’s sweater for our round two predictions.

ROUND ONE RESULTS (6-2 RECORD)

“Those damn Canadian teams screwed us in round one, Eh.”

The Montreal Canadians won with the big upset over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Had Edmonton Oilers winning but glad to see the Winnipeg Jets prevail.

ROUND TWO PREDICTIONS

Round two we are supporting the old school logos. For the Vegas Golden Knights, we are going with the old IHL Vegas Thunder team. Some team’s logos never changed so we went with their regular style. It seems like if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.

BOSTON BRUINS VERSUS NEW YORK ISLANDERS

The battle of New York versus Boston results in an instant ESPN chubby. This series should be the scrappiest of them all. The Bruins are the hottest team in the NHL. Bruins beat up an already bruised up Capital team in the first round. The sexy pick was Penguins all day long over the Islanders in round one. Islanders, a team that grinds you out on every shot, can wear a teams out. The Islanders under head coach Barry Trotz, have proven his teams can go deep in post-season as they stopped a great Pittsburgh offense in round one. Maybe the best scoring team in the playoffs. Bruins have a great top line, one of the best defense-men in the game and one of best goalies that make up their recipe for winning this season. Like Han Solo would say…

I substituted Han Solo in for Barry Trotz as for the Islanders, once again, the odds are stacked not in their favor. Hot goal tenders can steal a series in the playoffs. Islanders’ IIya Sorokin will repeat his performance he had in round 1 and bring his net presence of excellence to get his team past the Bruins.

PREDICTION: ISLANDERS IN SEVEN

CAROLINA HURRICANES VERSUS TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

The champs won the battle of Florida as the Panthers gave the Lightning a battle. The Predators gave the Hurricanes a battle in round one as well. The Hurricanes learned to score very quickly in the over-time period, which was the recipe of dispatching those beasts from Nashville. These are two teams that are similar looking mirror-wise. The Lightning have the post-season experience after winning the entire thing last year. The Hurricanes are a team on the rise and a very talented squad. Lightning will have their work cut out for them in this series because they face a tough net-minder in Alex Nedelijkovic, for the Hurricanes. Lightning have some injuries and some guys returning from injuries which could weaken their chances to repeat. Mirror, Mirror on the wall…

I feel dark clouds and strong winds in the forecast for Florida as they will be hit hard by another Hurricane, this one Carolina.

PREDICTION: HURRICANES IN SIX

COLORADO AVALANCHE VERSUS VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS

Avalanche has the rest from dispatching the Blues very quickly in round one. The Golden Knights were taken all the way to the brink on the rink by the Wild to game seven. The Golden Knights have a solid 1-2 punch in the net. Avalanche has that stellar defense that could give all the Golden Knight lines fits through this round two battle. Look for the Nathan MacKinnon line of the Avalanche to continue to put up goals like they did in the St. Louis series. I like some key goals in this series off Avalanche’s Brandon Sadd can’t not forget his playoff experience from the Blackhawk days.

I think the Avalanche has the better team because they are loaded in scoring and defense. The Golden Knights goalies will not be able to control the snow pile in front of the net in a best out of seven series. It’s the Avalanche’s time.

PREDICTION: AVALANCHE IN SIX

WINNIPEG JETS VERSUS MONTREAL CANADIANS

Both these Canadian teams surprised me in round one. Montreal especially are like the Cinderella team taking the Leafs all the way to game seven to advance to the second round of Lord Stanley’s playoffs. The Jets went in cruise control over the Oilers. The Oilers had the Jets’ number in regular season. The post-season, the Oilers have been quickly dispatched in the last two seasons. Last year, the Oilers lost to the Black Hawks who only made the playoffs because of the pandemic. If the Canadians can beat the Jets in round two, and the Avalanche beat the Golden Knights. Then the championship could be called the Patrick Roy series, since the former goalie played and did well for both franchises. Anything could happen in an all Canada team series. I like what Neal Pionk did in the series versus the Oilers for the Jets.

Neal Pionk contained superstar Connor McDavid in that first round action. I think Pionk could be used to shut down who ever is the hottest puck handler for the Canadians this upcoming series. Jets are well-rested. Canadians I think will have used up all their energy taking the Leafs down & going the distance as well. I think it was more a Toronto meltdown than Montreal being the better team in that round one series. Looking at Toronto’s history in round one is Exhibit A. It should be easy pickings for the Jets in round two.

PREDICTION: JETS IN FIVE