This Couldn't Possibly Happen: Round 2 Schedule

Round two starts tonight for two of the series's, with the remaining two beginning on Wednesday night. We have some interesting match-ups, the battle of Alberta with the Edmonton Oilers and their provincial rivals, the Calgary Flames. This is the first time these two teams have met in the playoffs since 1991. The sunshine-battle of Florida should also be a tight one, with the defending champion, Tampa Bay Lightning facing off against the top team in the league during the regular season, the Florida Panthers. The remaining series's, Carolina Hurricanes vs New York Rangers and will the St. Louis Blues be able to contain the high flying Colorado Avalanche?

Here are my picks and the schedule for the second round:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

 Florida Panthers (A1) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (A3)

It wasn't that long ago when these two teams met in the playoffs, as the Lightning eliminated the Panthers in six games during the first round of the playoffs last season. The Lightning, of course went on to win the Stanley Cup for the second time in two years, while the Panthers took that experience and turned around to win the President's Trophy for the best record in the regular season. The Lightning barely made it past the Leafs during the first round and they'll rely heavily on Andrei Vasilevskiy to stop the league leading offense this season. The Panther's, Sergei Bobrovsky is no slouch either, so it should be a interesting battle between the two Russian netminders. This might come down to who can take a lead and hold it, something the Lightning had troubles with in the first round. As I said earlier, you can't count out the defending champs just yet.

Lightning in 7 games

Tuesday, May 17: Lightning at Panthers, 7 p.m. ET (TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS)

Thursday, May 19: Lightning at Panthers, 7 p.m. ET (TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS)

Sunday, May 22: Panthers at Lightning, 1:30 p.m. ET (ESPN, SN, TVAS)

Monday, May 23: Panthers at Lightning, 7 p.m. ET (TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS)

*Wednesday, May 25: Lightning at Panthers, TBD

*Friday, May 27: Panthers at Lightning, TBD

*Sunday, May 29: Lightning at Panthers, TBD

 

Carolina Hurricanes (M1) vs. New York Rangers (M2)

I think goaltending will be the biggest question marks for this series. Frederik Anderson remains out for the Hurricanes, so if he can stay healthy, Antti Raanta will take the responsiblity in goal. Igor Shesterkin played closer to his usual brilliance later in the first round and was at his best in the decisive game. Should be a good series, though I'm least interested in this match-up, hopefully the games are close and exciting. Hurricanes in 6 games

Wednesday, May 18: Rangers at Hurricanes, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS)

Friday, May 20: Rangers at Hurricanes, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS)

Sunday, May 22: Hurricanes at Rangers, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN, SN, SN360, TVAS)

Tuesday, May 24: Hurricanes at Rangers, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS)

*Thursday, May 26: Rangers at Hurricanes, TBD

*Saturday, May 28: Hurricanes at Rangers, TBD

*Monday, May 30: Rangers at Hurricanes, TBD

 

WESTERN CONFERENCE

 Colorado Avalanche (C1) vs. St. Louis Blues (C3)

 

Colorado's highly potent offense probably won't be as dominant as the first round because I think St. Louis will defend better. The Blues can score more goals than the Predators as well, so it should be a more even series and the Avs won't sweep. The Avalanche should be physically challenged more from the Blues, which could help to slow down MacKinnon and Makar. The key will be special teams and staying out of the box. The Blues scored the most PP goals in the first round and the Av's power-play is always deadly.

Avalanche in 6 games

 

Tuesday, May 17: Blues at Avalanche, 9:30 p.m. ET (TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS)

Thursday, May 19: Blues at Avalanche, 9:30 p.m. ET (TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS)

Saturday, May 21: Avalanche at Blues, 8 p.m. ET (TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS)

Monday, May 23: Avalanche at Blues, 9:30 p.m. ET (TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS)

*Wednesday, May 25: Blues at Avalanche, TBD

*Friday, May 27: Avalanche at Blues, TBD

*Sunday, May 29: Blues at Avalanche, TBD

 

Calgary Flames (P1) vs. Edmonton Oilers (P2)

This highly anticipated battle of Alberta hopefully lives up to the hype with both teams surviving game 7's. The hatred between these teams was evident during the regular season, but both teams will have to stay in control because bad penalties will be a very bad idea. The Oilers power-play (aka: Leon and Connor) are their bread and butter, so Matthew Tkachuk better control himself. I think this will play out with a very physical start to game one, but will settle down into an offensive battle. The Flames didn't score a lot of goals in the first round, but they'll be facing Mike Smith who is either hot or cold, so they have to rattle him early. If the Flames can give less opportunities to the Oilers PP and McDavid and Draisaitl, they have a really good chance to advance. If the Oilers can get secondary scoring from Yamamoto, Kane and Hyman, they have a chance.   

Flames in 7 games

Wednesday, May 18: Oilers at Flames, 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN, SN, CBC, TVAS)

Friday, May 20: Oilers at Flames, 10:30 p.m. ET (ESPN, SN, CBC, TVAS)

Sunday, May 22: Flames at Oilers, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2, SN, CBC, TVAS)

Tuesday, May 24: Flames at Oilers, 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN, SN, CBC, TVAS)

*Thursday, May 26: Oilers at Flames, TBD

*Saturday, May 28: Flames at Oilers, TBD

*Monday, May 30: Oilers at Flames, TBD

 * if necessary 

TBD -- to be determined