We have our first second round matchup! Dallas will be playing St. Louis in the 2nd round. These two have matched up thanks to a pitiful Nashville offense and an underwhelming Winnipeg effort.

Dallas tossed Nashville aside in 6 games which was contrary to my first round prediction (hey at least I got the number of games right). Nashville went 0-23 on the power play this series. Zero. For. Twenty. Three. That’s horrendous for a team that has PK Subban, Viktor Arvidsson, Filip Forseberg, and Ryan Johansen. You’re telling me these guys couldn’t get one PP goal in 6 games? I’ll give Dallas credit on their solid PK, but cmon guys, that’s a bad look. The Stars were excellent defensively in the first round. They were tied for second among playoff teams with 2.00 goals against per game. They’ll need to continue that stellar D against St. Louis because unlike Nashville, St. Louis is not having an issue with scoring goals. Dallas has had the defense for most of the season. They’ve had the goaltending too. What they were missing was offense, and they certainly found it. Radulov: 4 goals. Seguin, Dickinson, Hintz: 2 goals each. ZUUUUCCCCCC: 3 goals. These guys are rolling and I’m still expecting Benn to breakout soon. I seriously underestimated Dallas in the first round and they’ve impressed me so far.

St. Louis has gone from dumpster fire to cup contender in a matter of 4 months. Back in January, this team was a joke. Now they’re a legitimate threat in the west. Jordan Binnington has stabilized the goal crease for this team and they’ve thrived with him back there. He’s not playing with outstanding numbers (.908 sv% through 6 games), but he’s making the saves he has to and he looks confident. Remember how Dallas is tied for 2nd in goals against per game in the playoffs? Guess who #1 is…. The Bluenotes baby. Defense-first hockey is a good play, especially when you have Ryan O’Reilly, Schwartz, and Tarasenko putting the puck in the net for you. 5 Blues have 2 goals or more in the playoffs, and that’s the balanced scoring you need moving forward.

So, in a defensive matchup where both teams look good in their own zone, we also have balanced scoring on both rosters. Where does that leave us? Im guessing 7 games of 2-1 and 3-2 scores with a few OTs sprinkled throughout. A very entertaining matchup that’s going to give us a good look into who’s going to take a shot a Lord Stanley’s Cup, and who’s gonna be golfing next week. Give me the Blues in 7.