With the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs set to begin on Wednesday, here is a preview of what to expect.

Eastern Conference

Washington (1) versus Montreal (8)

The interesting subplot in this series is who will play goal for the Capitals?  Jose Theodore outplayed Semyon Varlamov down the stretch yet Varlamov may still garner a start to two because the Capitals believe that Theodore may not be able to handle the pressure of playing in Montreal for his former team.  The Montreal fans can be ruthless so the Caps are concerned how he would react in that atmosphere.  Interesting indeed.  The Capitals have much more talent than Montreal and should have an easy time putting the puck on net.  The only chance for the Canadiens is for their goaltending to stand on its head and keep Montreal close.  The Canadiens don’t have the defensemen to control Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin, they will score, the question is how much?

Washington in five.

New Jersey (2) versus Philadelphia (7)

This is the series I’m most looking forward to in the first round.  The Devils are a different team than we are used to.  With Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise they can score goals.  They no longer rely on Martin Brodeur and the trap defense to control the opposing teams.  Of course the bad news is that they no longer have that great defense anymore.  It’s not bad, just not smothering like it used to be.  For the Flyers it all comes down to goaltending.  This team was built to win this season, but with major question marks in net they will have a challenge each and every game.  Brian Boucher is just not someone they can rely on to win a game all by themselves, and in the playoffs you need your goalie to do just that for a game or two.

New Jersey in six.

Buffalo (3) versus Boston (6)

Whereas the Philly-New Jersey series is the one I want to watch most in the East, this one would be the one I want to see least.  Just not much excitement here.  Both teams are battling through injuries, and neither team is going to light up a scoreboard.  It comes down to goaltending, and we know what the Sabres have in Ryan Miller, is any as confident about Tuukka Rask?

Buffalo in seven.

Pittsburgh (4) versus Ottawa (5)

The Penguins haven’t been impressing anyone of late, and they lost out on a division win because of it, falling to fourth in the East.  I’ve been saying all season long how Marc-Andre Fleury is a money goalie, and now is the time to prove it.  Hard to see the Penguins having a difficult time with the Senators in this series.  The Senators have had a nice season.  Jason Spezza has proved himself useful once again and Daniel Alfredsson is always a threat, but Brian Elliott is going to have his hands full in this series just to keep the games close.

Pittsburgh in five.

Western Conference

San Jose (1) versus Colorado (8)

Here we go again with San Jose.  We know they are a great regular season team as it seems like they always win their division and/or the conference.  The question is will they perform the same way in the playoffs or choke up another season.   They traded for Dany Heatley last offseason to give the offense a jolt.  He did just that and the Sharks may have the best top line in the NHL, but will they come up big when it’s needed most.  As for the Avs, they seem to be a tired team.  Goalie Craig Anderson has had a great season but he has also played in more game than ever before and it seems to be taking its toll.  The Avs are a young team, but lack playoff experience, they may keep things close, but it’s hard to see them eliminating a superior team in the Sharks.

San Jose in six.

Chicago (2) versus Nashville (7)

The Blackhawks may be the most talented team in the NHL.  They can throw three scoring lines at an opponent to keep the pressure on.  The questions for Chicago are on defense.  When will Brian Campbell return to help out the defense, and of course the major question is in goal?  Cristobal Huet lost his starting job to Antti Niemi a while back, but only in the past few weeks has it looked like Niemi could handle the full-time role.  The pressure that comes during the playoffs however is a completely different ball of wax.  If Niemi is up to the task then the Blackhawks may be drinking from Lord Stanley’s Cup once again.

Chicago in five.

Vancouver (3) versus Los Angeles (6)

Intriguing series here.  If Roberto Luongo can prove to be the brick wall in net that he has been in the past than the Canucks could be the dark horse favorite in the West.  The Canucks can score goals.  Henrik Sedin proved to be more than just a goal scorer when his brother Daniel went down earlier in the season.  The brothers combined with Alexander Burrows, Ryan Kesler, and Mason Raymond provides more offense than we are used to from Vancouver.  As for the Kings, they are an up and coming team that is actually a year ahead of schedule.  They will give any team all they can handle.  If Jonathan Quick can play as well in the playoffs as he did during the regular season, the Kings will be a formidable opponent for anyone during the playoffs.

Vancouver in seven.

Phoenix (4) versus Detroit (5)

You have to feel a little bad for the Coyotes.  They were left for dead in the offseason.  No one knew if the team was going to be relocated.  They lost Wayne Gretsky as their coach yet still manage to have a season that no one expected.  Now, after all that they get to play what maybe the hottest team in the Western Conference in Detroit.  Detroit finished fifth not because they were a middle of the road team, but because they were devastated by injuries early on and it took them a while to get back on track, but they are now.

Detroit in six.

Tags: Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, NHL, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Playoffs, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals