LGHL S29 Playoffs Round One Predictions - A brief look into all the playoff series kicking off next Sunday.. New York Rangers vs Detroit Red Wings Last week as a roller coaster scenario for the Rangers. Losing their first 5 games most people were penning Philly to take the top spot. They responded by winning 5 of their next 6 and securing that top spot in the Metro. Detroit had a less intense week as their spot was mostly secured going into the final week and they 6-3-1 finish. Both teams have pretty good depth at forward and they both similarly have weaknesses in their bottom pair of defensemen. The question is which goalie tandem will pull out wins for their 3rd lines. This is going to be a close series from start to finish. OFF: Rangers DEF: Red Wings GOL: Rangers Prediction: New York Rangers in 6 Philadelphia Flyers vs Pittsburgh Penguins Philadelphia had the chance to take over the top spot but failed to do so, with such a failure being topped up by their 8-2 loss versus the Rangers on Tuesday night. Pittsburgh ended up getting the divisional spot via a tiebreaker with the New Jersey Devils (who were then eliminated from the playoffs on tiebreakers). Both the Flyers and Pens have elite forwards in Bass, Delisle, and Carch. Depth wise it's hard to say but the Flyers have been hot offensively as of late. Defensively Philly has the advantage in the top 4 but their final pair has been questionable at best and it will be interesting to see if they are split up. Pittsburgh has a lot of veterans on their back end including the Newfie legend himself SteveB. Goaltending should not be an issue for either team. OFF: Flyers DEF: Draw GOL: Flyers Prediction: Philadelphia Flyers in 7 Ottawa Senators vs Toronto Maple Leafs THESE SENS have been on an absolute tear after starting the season off poorly. There isn't much more to say other than they are the hottest team in the east coming into the playoffs. Toronto came out of a three way tie for the final spot in the East and is very fortunate to do so as they choked both their Wednesday night games. With all this being said they are no joke of a team if they are firing on all cylinders. Ottawa has the superior forward talent from top to bottom and the defensively the only weakness Ottawa has is their 3rd pair which Toronto somewhat has. Bones has established himself as a legitimate goalie and Delosh as a backup/split is fantastic. Webby has a lot of playoff experience though with a career 31 playoff games. He'll be ready to play and they'll need him. Also, am34 needs to stop. OFF: Senators DEF: Senators GOL: Senators Prediction: Ottawa Senators in 4 games Boston Bruins vs Florida Panthers Boston is back and hoping to make to make some noise this season in the playoffs. After an average last few weeks they saw themselves lose out on the top position in the conference but that can be accredited more to a great Ottawa run than a poor Boston run. Florida has been the quiet but consistent team throughout the season and coming into this series they'll once again be labeled as the underdogs. The real issue Florida is going to run into is their need for ECUs for two forward positions. With only being allowed to use a player as an ECU once per series that's likely 4 ECU players in their lineup for a series and it could lead to their downfall. Boston on paper looks superior to Florida in all positions but you don't get this far by playing poorly. Don't sleep on the Panthers. OFF: Bruins DEF: Bruins GOL: Bruins Prediction: Boston Bruins in 5 games Chicago Blackhawks vs Arizona Coyotes New Blackcocks, still President's trophy winners. There must be something in the water in Chicago for a back-to-back run like that with almost completely different teams. The question will be if they can copy the S28 Blackhawks all the way to the end goal. Arizona made a huge turnaround under the new Shockz regime, fighting off all competitors for that final wild card spot. Both teams have a star studded forward lineup that really comes down to a battle of third lines. Defensively Chicago has no major weakness while Arizona looks a bit thin past their top 2. Jerz/Gally is a good duo in net and RoaringViper has been one of the best 500k goalies in the league this season. OFF: Blackhawks DEF: Blackhawks GOL: Blackhawks Prediction: Chicago Blackhawks in 5 games Winnipeg Jets vs Colorado Avalanche Winnipeg has continued to struggle coming into the playoffs with an average 6-3-1 stretch coming into this week. Topped off with their first loss to Chicago this season on the last game of the season. Colorado has been sitting at about a 6W/4L ratio since the deadline and are looking to capitalize on a Jets team that is not in their best form. If clicking, Winnipeg has a lot of talent from top to bottom on both forward and defense while Colorado is going to be heavily dependent on their group of elite talent to carry their few weak depth players. Both teams have elite goaltending duos who are all starting caliber. If this goes to 7 games it's going to be a must watch game. OFF: Jets DEF: Draw GOL: Jets Prediction: Winnipeg Jets in 6 games San Jose Sharks vs Anaheim Ducks San Jose captured their fourth straight Pacific Division title this week after a very close race with Vancouver in the final week. Anaheim however hit a brick wall in their final week with their worst results since week 5, and this isn't the time to be struggling. San Jose has a top forward line that would be an ESHL title contender let alone an LGHL line. Expect them to pair up their four elite forwards. Defensively Odie is going to carry on both sides and their goaltending has a vezina caliber tendy in Smitty and PSN elite in Tresati. Anaheim is going to be praying that their own ESHL lineup will handle San Jose's top line. In terms of depth they may actually have the advantage on offense, but definitely not on defense. Their goaltending is good, but it is hard to say they stand even with the Sharks' pair. OFF: Draw DEF: Sharks GOL: Sharks Prediction: San Jose Sharks in 6 games Vancouver Canucks vs Calgary Flames Vancouver and Calgary have both been rather quiet since the deadline. Maintaining a good Last 10 record and beating the teams they were supposed to. Vancouver had a chance to steal the division but failed to do so on Sunday in a head to head with the Sharks. Calgary pulled away from a threatening Anaheim squad and finished in a good 3rd spot in the division. You can't underestimate either forward core, one is mostly French and the other has a lot of chemistry. Defensively KBSmith/Flowmaster Joe is an elite top pair and their depth is also reasonable. Calgary has Dubz and Gobby to equal Vancouver while also having the hottest 500k d man in Beaupre to help the depth. Jonez and Friks may be the best tandem in the playoffs while Frenchy and Neon have held their own during the regular season. This is going to be the closest series in the west. OFF: Flames DEF: Draw GOL: Canucks Prediction: Vancouver Canucks in 7 games Support the news team, like, comment & share your thoughts on their work