Playoff Update: The Sweeping East VS the Wartime West

The second round of this years playoff has been going at a very different pace than that of the previous rounds. The first round had 75% of their match ups go to 6 or 7 games, with only one sweep. A week later and both Boston and Tampa Bay sweep their Eastern match ups and a new series with no clear winner. The West has remained more completive than that, but it didn't start that way with both the Sharks and Canucks putting their opponents on the brink early. I have a couple theories of why the East has been able to sweep this round and why the West are battling a lot harder and longer.

The main reason Tampa Bay and Boston had no problem in the second round, compared to the first, is defense. The Bruins are known for their defense led by the big Zdeno Chara, but Tampa Bay has often been viewed as an offensive team. However, the Washington Capitals spent 4 games trying to solve the Lightning's defensive formation and they were unable. The play works like this; the Lightning keep one forward high to attack the opposing defenseman with the puck. Behind him will be the other 2 forwards and 1 defenseman from his team lined up on the blue line, attacking the opposing forwards. If the puck is dumped in, the final Tampa player is behind everyone to beat the opposition to it. Washington could simply not figure out how to get through this formation and it resulted in very frustrating players on the Caps bench. Both Boston and Tampa Bay have been proving defense wins this year and their goaltenders have also been no slouch. A lethal combination.

The West, on the other hand, has seen some closer match ups this round but the main difference between the conferences is one goal games. The Sharks and Red Wings have yet to have a game finish with a lead of more than one goal, and an empty net goal is the only reason the Canucks and Predators series isn't the same. Any of these games could have gone either way, which means the games have been closer than the series shows. This can be frustrating for the teams trailing, resulting in harder hits and tougher play in order to weaken the other teams. The Bruins and Lightning didn't need to play as aggressive as all the West teams have been, which could be detrimental to them in later rounds. The Red Wings got lucky when they swept the Coyotes as all the West teams are so close that any series can go 7 games.

Even if both West series go to7 games, the next round will start before next Sunday. Whenever it does start I'll make sure to get my predictions up onto the blog along with any further analysis from the 2nd round. The playoffs continue to be exciting and it's amazing that we are almost half way to crowning a new champion. Now I'm going back to watching more games with a smile upon my face.