Attention, poolies: The NHL's fan-friendly bracket is now available for your filling needs.
So to help, up first is the case for and against the eight postseason teams that will make up the Western Conference gauntlet.
Dallas Stars
For: Some 2,600 shots for an NHL-best 265 goals, 12 double-digit goal-scorers, 15 players with at least 20 points, and the most efficient point producer over the last two years. The Stars can outscore any team on any night, much like they've done more often than not all season. It will take a tremendous defensive effort to mute this team.
Against: Unfortunately, the Stars' colossal output isn't without similar intake. They'll enter having swallowed more goals than any team in the tournament, and with a rotten .904 overall save percentage that has them exclusively in the company of lottery hopefuls. To that end, the choice in net comes down to a flip of the coin, as Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen own similarly inadequate numbers.
Minnesota Wild
For: Devan Dubnyk hasn't been the saving-grace stopper of last season, but does give his team an all-important edge in goal heading into the first round's greatest mismatch. That is, at least on paper. The Wild can hang tough should he travel back to March, when he went 10-2-1 with a .927 save rate, and the Wild maintain their marked discipline.
Against: It's hard to believe that an average even-strength team with horrific special teams, which fired its head coach in-season and lost its final five games could qualify out West with 87 points, but the Wild accomplished just that.
St. Louis Blues
For: Scoring hasn't ever really been an issue for the Blues; their 695 goals over the last three 100-plus-point seasons ranks ninth. But as they head into the postseason for a fifth straight time, the Blues have perhaps never been so potent. Before clicking into cruise control over the weekend, they had totaled 64 goals in 17 games (or 3.76 per), and hadn't lost a game in which they scored more than four times.
Against: Having the defending champions waiting ominously in the queue is a harsh reality for a 107-point team. But despite the Blackhawks earning at least one point in each clash this season - and of course defeating the Blues in six games in 2014 - St. Louis actually fared well in recent years. Instead, its foremost concern should center around perhaps its greatest strength - an ultra-talented, persistently banged-up goaltending tandem that will enter the playoffs on the limp.
Chicago Blackhawks
For: How do you game plan for a team with near-flawless construction and a title pedigree? Sure, the Blackhawks haven't commanded their 82-game schedule after a 105-game championship season with an iron fist. But trust that teams aren't lining up around the corner to meet Coach Q and Co. When all things are equal, and in many cases when the ice is tilted against them, Chicago's mystique will help it maintain a competitive advantage, being a menacing, more experienced entity.
Against: For the first time in its seven-year proliferation of Cups, Chicago will carry a negative even-strength goal differential into the tournament. The club has still outscored the competitive by a wide margin, of course, thanks in part to the second-best power play in the league. This dependency, however, is troubling heading into the playoffs when called infractions tend to decline.
Anaheim Ducks
For: For a time there, the Ducks, and not the Warriors, were the hottest team in California. There's so much to like about a team that took 73 points from 49 games after Christmas and overcame a 16-point deficit over the final three months to clinch its fourth straight division title, but we'll keep it to a few. Anaheim is the highest-scoring playoff team in the West since finalizing its roster at the deadline, has the NHL's best goal differential over the last 12 weeks, and finished with the best power play and penalty kill.
Against: The last three months worth of data suggests the Ducks solved their scoring woes, but this team was no offensive juggernaut. Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf have to capitalize on what few opportunities they may have against a stingy Predators team with Rickard Rakell out and Ryan Kesler's line shifting to shutdown mode.
Nashville Predators
For: Nashville has allowed the fifth-fewest shots at even strength, but its greatest success was limiting quality looks from the opposition. The Predators allowed fewer scoring chances than any Western Conference team and the fewest high-danger opportunities league-wide - a trend that continued even after the Seth Jones trade.
Against: It turns out that a collective clampdown was critical, as Pekka Rinne had a career-worst season despite being sheltered. He finished with a .908 save percentage (which ranked outside the top 50), dragging down the team's overall rate into the bottom third along with him.
Los Angeles Kings
For: The Kings controlled possession better than any other team for a fourth straight year, as their heavy, downhill shot-suppression style once again yielded a postseason berth. More importantly, though, Los Angeles allowed the fewest even-strength goals, produced the second-most per-game shots, and has a more talented top six than in years past with the addition of Milan Lucic and continuing emergence of Tyler Toffoli.
Against: Los Angeles' defense has held up, but beyond all-world defender Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin, it's a heavy, plodding, almost rag-tag group that won't succeed if the opposition is successful in taking their brand to the Kings.
San Jose Sharks
For: After a down season, the Sharks' enduring core proved it remains in the discussion as one of the most talented attacking units in the league. No team produced more high-danger scoring chances than the Sharks (also allowing the fourth fewest), who finished as the second-highest-scoring team in the West.
Against: Martin Jones will carry near-identical numbers into a matchup against the Kings' Jonathan Quick after a largely successful first season as a starter. But most pundits would view the goaltending comparison as a mismatch. How Jones handles, or fails to handle, the magnitude of the situation will go a long way in determining San Jose's fate.
- stats courtesy war-on-ice.com, stats.hockeyanalysis.com.
