Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily Picks: Canadiens, Sens kick off postseason

Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily Picks: Canadiens, Sens kick off postseason – CBSSports.com

Carey Price and Erik Karlsson will be key figures in Habs-Sens series. (USATSI)

Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily Picks, where CBS hockey writers Chris Peters and Adam Gretz get you ready for every game every day of the postseason and share their predictions for each.

Series: 0-0

The Senators and Canadiens have the duty of starting off the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre. There’s something special about playoff hockey in Montreal. From the pregame presentation that always leaves jaws on the floor, to the chorus of cheers from the Habs faithful, this is what it’s all about.

Getting to Game 1 between these two clubs, the Senators are coming in after an extremely emotional day Tuesday after the team learned assistant coach Mark Reeds died after a battle with cancer. Head coach Dave Cameron said that the team was heartbroken over Reeds’ death, while GM Bryan Murray – in a cancer battle of his own – said Reeds’ message to the team was to go and win it all. The team has to overcome a lot of emotion as they prepare for the Habs. They can come in with some confidence having won the last three of four regular-season meetings with Montreal. The club also enters the playoffs on a 21-3-3 run. Momentum is in their favor, but this game is going to be an emotional one.

The Habs, meanwhile, are likely to play without leading scorer Max Pacioretty, which puts them at a disadvantage right from the puck drop. He has not been officially ruled out yet, and may not be until the last possible second, but not having Pacioretty is a significant blow to Montreal’s offense. They do have that Cary Price fellow between the pipes though and the benefit of playing on home ice. That’ll help.

It’s difficult to know how Ottawa’s emotions will be coming into the game, but they’ve played so well of late. Also, the Habs could really struggle to score without their best forward. Expect Game 1 to be a tight contest.

Pick: Senators 2, Canadiens 1

Series: 0-0

While Montreal and Ottawa kick things off north of the border, the Isles and Caps have the duty of opening the postseason in the U.S. What a series this one should be. The two clubs split the regular-season series, with each winning two games on home ice. These Metropolitan Division foes also ended the regular season in much different fashion. The Caps won nine of their last 13 games, while the Islanders lost nine over the same span.

The Isles are also dealing with having to play without top defenseman Travis Hamonic, whose two-way capabilities will be sorely missed. There is depth of talent on the back end with Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy taking some big minutes, but the hole Hamonic leaves is difficult to fill.

Hamonic’s absence may give Capitals forwards a little more room to work out there against certain pairings. The Caps appear to be mostly healthy, with just bruising forward Tom Wilson looking questionable for Game 1. The Caps also have an edge in net, which is a big factor and likely will be in Game 1.

Pick: Capitals 4, Islanders 2

Series: 0-0

The announcement that Patrick Kane will be back in action for the Blackhawks in Game 1 may have caused a collective hard gulp in Nashville. The Preds are the higher seeded team, but not many pundits out there are giving them a chance against Chicago, which has two Stanley Cups still pretty close in the rearview mirror. Even knowing that, this series could be a heck of a lot closer than most would expect.

The Predators have the benefit of an extremely deep D corps led by Roman Josi and Shea Weber, probably the best D pairing in the league. And let’s not forget Pekka Rinne. They also push the pace and are going to force Chicago’s shallower D crop to play on its heels a lot. Game 1 is when Nashville has to flex its muscle and set the tone for the series. If they dictate the pace of the game, they’re going to have a chance to start the series on a high note.

For the Blackhawks, they need to hope Kane is up to speed and can reconnect with linemates Brad Richards and Kris Versteeg like they did in the middle of the winter. There were few lines as dominant for a stretch of the season. Also, the season starts over for Patrick Sharp, who struggled. He’s a guy the Hawks need to provide sufficient depth scoring.

This first game should be one of the best of the series as Nashville looks to set the tone in their building, where they’ve been pretty strong all year. It would not be shocking if Chicago started this series a bit on the slow side. Kane might need some time to get back to game speed and the Blackhawks didn’t look particularly inspiring in the season’s final week.

Pick: Predators 3, Blackhawks 2 (OT)

Series: 0-0

Not many would have expected the Canucks and Flames to be two of the top three teams in the Pacific Division, but here they are. This series really seems like it’s going to be a pick-em affair. Both teams have notable strengths, which includes the top lines for each team, but there’s plenty of holes for both, too. This series is going to be about who can overcome some noticeable shortcomings.

A lot of that is going to fall on the goaltender. Jonas Hiller is expected to be the guy for Calgary, while Vancouver hasn’t named a Game 1 starter yet. The smart money appears to be on Eddie Lack, but previous No. 1 Ryan Miller has a lot more postseason experience. Lack played well enough for Vancouver down the stretch to earn the opportunity, but Miller was brought in to be the veteran guy getting the minutes between the pipes. It’s a delicate situation for head coach Willie Desjardins.

One of the most fun things about this series is that each team has a dynamite top line. The Canucks boast Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin and Radim Vrbata all together, while the Flames counter with Jiri Hudler, Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau. The skill level between these two sides is off the charts. Both clubs will be focusing on trying to shut down the other’s top unit. The Canucks have a little more depth to recover from that, where the Flames could struggle without major points from their top unit.

The Canucks’ playoff experience may be the difference in Game 1 as they can be a little more comfortable playing on home ice.

Pick: Canucks 4, Flames 2

Three Stars

1. Mark Stone, Ottawa Senators: After closing out the regular season on a nine-game point streak over which he put up eight goals and five assists, there is pretty much no one hotter than Stone coming into the playoffs. The Senators need their 22-year-old rookie to be that guy throughout their first-round series. He can start tonight. Stone had five points in four games against the Habs this season.

2. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals: Of all the years Ovechkin has been in the league, this may be the team that is best equipped to go on a deep run. They’ll do that, in part, if Ovechkin plays like he’s capable. Dogged for lack of team success, Ovechkin has been an excellent playoff performer with 61 points in 51 career games. Expect him to do well in the first round, and in Game 1, as he meets the Islanders. Ovechkin had four goals and an assist in five games against the Isles this year.

3. Radim Vrbata, Vancouver Canucks: Vrbata has not been an especially impressive playoff performer over his career, but he never had the Sedins playing with him. Vrbata put up 31 goals this season, two of which came against the Flames earlier this year. The Canucks need him to be a major factor as both teams lean heavily on their top lines.

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