ThatZachGuy's Playoff Preview - Round 2

Here we go. Back at it again for the 2nd round. Enjoy the read or scroll to the bottom for the TL;DR condensed version of my predictions. Thanks guys!

Hershey Bears vs Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins

Round 1 - Defeated Hartford in 6 games
Round 1 - Defeated Lehigh Valley in 7 games

This should be a fun and entertaining series. Both of these teams tied for first in the division, but Hershey was able to secure that title off of a tiebreaker. As I expected, the Hershey Bears were led by their top line in points in Round 1. @l1l Gabella l9l and the boys captured 2 wins in the series. Hershey's other GM's @Mike Shea 19 & @Brassard x 16 had themselves a tough time last series. Both guys gave the Bears their 2 losses of the series in games 2 & 3. The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins started off last series with a bang. A combined 16 goals were scored in games 1 & 2 for the Penguins as they took a 2-0 lead. Everyone figured this series would be over fast. Yeah that didn't happen. Instead game 7 happened and if you were able to watch it, then you know it was one hell of a game (WBS game tying goal brought to you by EA Sports ). Wilkes-Barre's leading point getter in the playoffs , @Big Blaster 14 , has been deadly with the puck all season and I expect nothing to change in this series.

Key to the series: The battle of the first lines. Hershey's @l1l Gabella l9l , @Payfer89Qc , @NHL JL 13 versus Wilkes-Barre's @Big Blaster 14 , @Aarskog , @Hilly is what makes this series interesting. How will each GM schedule them? Do you put them up against each other or do you play them against "lesser" competition to try and guarantee a win?

My Prediction: I picked the Penguins in 7 games last series. This time I'm going with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins in 6 games. While I believe both teams first lines are great, I would have to favor the Penguins second line more than the Bears. The Bears third line is where there series could get interesting. As I said earlier, last series they went 0-2. If they can figure it out and get going, maybe they can push this series to 7 games. I just think @Mees Top Cheese and the boys are moving on to the Conference Finals!

Bounce Back Player of the series: Going 0-1-1 with 4 points last series, @Smitterr is my pick to turn things around.




Syracuse Crunch vs Binghamton Senators

Round 1 - Defeated St. John's in 4 games
Round 1 - Defeated Toronto in 5 games

The first round for Syracuse was a short one. The sweep of St. John's was one that I predicted. The Ice Caps only won by 1 goal in each of their first 2 games, but that really doesn't mean much when you win your series on a Monday when other teams are playing on Wednesday and Thursday. The standout on this team from last series has to be @I KiLLTarTED I who posted a 93.3 SV% and 1.00 GAA to go along with 2 wins and 0 losses. I do expect this team to be tested this time around. There is no more cake walk. Now on to Binghamton. The Senators proved me wrong big time and gave me my only wrong prediction of the first round. I mentioned in my original prediction thread that this team was not overloaded with offense. I also mentioned that if their goalies get on a hot streak that they could push the series to 6 or 7 games. Well @FYSTYSNAKE made me eat my words and decided to put up ridiculous numbers (3-0, 95.5 SV%, and a 0.33 GAA). I still believe that the offense needs more production, but with goaltending like that, 2 or 3 goals is plenty enough.

Key to the series: The goalies! I lke the offense of the Crunch over the Senators. That means the goalies need to show up to this series. @I KiLLTarTED I & @l Rockystar l are a dynamic duo for the Crunch. I already mentioned @FYSTYSNAKE and his amazing play last series. @SYN peaceKEEPIN was no dud last series, but needs to stand out more this time around if he wants his Senators to win.

My Prediction: The magic of FYSTY runs out and the Syracuse Crunch win this series in 5 games. I predicted the same thing last series and it was the opposite. So I apologize in advance to @Stoner x 95 & @l Landeskog l if I am a jinx when it comes to predicting the Binghamton series. The season series between these teams is 4-1 Crunch. And while that was then and this is now, I just feel that Syracuse has the goaltending to win and that their offense is head and shoulders above Binghamton's.

Bounce Back Player of the series: How do you name someone when their team just swept St. John's in round 1? Uhh let's go with @l Rockystar l to bump that SV% up from 78.9 to an 83.0 or higher.




Rockford IceHogs vs Cleveland Monsters

Round 1 - Defeated Iowa in 5 games
Round 1 - Defeated Chicago in 5 games

I want to start off by giving a shoutout to @Im4thLineWorthy and the rest of Rockford for paying attention and noticing that Iowa played an illegal ECU and getting that win to clinch the series. It's the playoffs and we all would have done the same thing if it was us. Know the rules everyone! In their series with Iowa, the Rockford IceHogs didn't light the lamp as much as I thought they would. @Jbarnsey , @KSPx11 , & @Averageboy all had 4 points and led the team. @BS PAINTRAIN 19 continued to be the man between the pipes and had a gret series going 2-1 with a 1.34 GAA. If I remember, the overturned game to give them the series win was originally a loss. So I am curious to see how @l Murray x 30 l plays in this series against a very good Cleveland team. Hey @VVaGs82 stay on vacation. Your team does just fine without you. From using an ECU and even having people play with others that they haven't played at all with this season, the Monsters beat the Wolves in 5 games. Another very low scoring series, but that is to be expected with two very good teams going at it. @Gthumbz42o & @NEON 5 played great in the opening round of the playoffs. Both with SV%'s around 90.0 and an average GAA of 0.97. This series is shaping up to be one of the best in the entire playoffs in my opinion.

Key to the series: The "3rd" lines are what makes or breaks this series for either team. I put 3rd in quotations because are they really 3rd lines? On these teams yeah, but the players on them are still good. If one of these lines can steal a game then I can see it being the reason why their team wins this series and heads to the Western Conference Final.

My Prediction: Damn this is the hardest prediction to do. These teams have played each other close all season long. They've also used their best players in some of those games. While I can see this going either way, I am picking the Rockford IceHogs to take this series in 7 games. My driving factor for picking it this way is PAINTRAIN. During the season series he went 2-0-1 with a 87.1 SV% and a 1.3 GAA. He played against the @VVaGs82 line, but hasn't faced @MadeOf21Faces , @Martin ScoresEZ , or @Gunwoat so that right there will be something to look forward to.

Bounce Back Player of the series: @Scumbag Jared went 0-1 with 2 assists and -2 +/- ratio against the Wild. He had an excellent regular season and in order for his team to win, he's going to need to get back into form quickly.




San Diego Gulls vs Tucson Roadrunners

Round 1 - Defeated Ontario in 6 games
Round 1 - Defeated San Antonio in 6 games

Here we go! I think this series may be one of the closest ones when it comes to everyone voting on who will win. The Gulls come into this series with @Malchesky & @JayTheNeonBlood leading them in points. Big surprise that Malchesky leads them in goals with 6 . I know @Vattyyy got a bit frustrated after the Game 3 loss to Ontario and then having to use ECU's in some of his games didn't help. But he managed to pull his team together and they closed out the series winning 3 straight games. @Lanes x 57 played a flawless first round putting up a 2-0 record with 2 shutouts! That's a way to start off the playoffs. The Tucson Roadrunners had a pleasant surprise in Round 1. @Idropyy must have let Malchesky play under his tag because he put up 7 goals and 1 assist while going 2-0 in the series. After splitting the first 2 games of the series, the Roadrunners took a beating from San Antonio's top line 7-2, but managed to pull the series even in Game 4 when top line vs top line went at it. Games 5 & 6 were close, but Tucson was able to push through and advance.

Key to the series: I strongly believe that the defense will be they key to one of these teams advancing on. Each team has the ability to put the puck in the back of the net. Especially the first lines. I will favor the Gulls when it comes to depth, but I don't see it as a major downfall for the Tucson side. If one of these teams can get up in a game and then be able to clamp down defensively, I like their chances to win.

My Prediction: It's going to be the Tucson Roadrunners in 7 games. While the season series looks to be in the Gulls favor, you have to take in account that Tucson forfeited 1 game and that a 2nd game has 3 forwards and a goalie that no longer exist on the roster. An interesting take on the season series is that neither first line played a game. Each game in this series may be a 1 or 2 goal difference.

Bounce Back Player of the series: Yikes! @AZNmatt posted a 65.9 SV% and a 3.51 GAA while going 2-2 in the series against the Rampage. If my prediction is to come true, those numbers will need to change dramatically.





Once again for those who thought it was TL;DR, here are my predictions:

Wilkes-Barre Scranton in 6 games
Syracuse in 5 games
Rockford in 7 games
Tucson in 7 games​

 

Yeah, definitely not the defense in that chitown/cleveland series. Low scoring, we held them to a great standard. SHould be fun. 4th should ff all 4 so he doesn't hurt my confidence. thx. anyways good luck to the opposing team, well thought up writeup too!

 

Get good @Scumbag Jared

 

Nice write up

 

idk what i love more, scoring goals or reading my name is write ups

 

So you're telling me that defense has no impact on the game? Damn. I guess I'll just put my controller down when I play.

 

Defense of course has an impact, but I don't think it will be as big of an impact as the goalie play. But by all means, just put the controller down. It'll make things very interesting.

 

You can get me a 5 save shutty any day :*

 

That's how we do things in Binghamton.