Our Stanley Cup Playoffs Simulation From NHL 15

Round One

St Louis Blues v Minnesota Wild – St Louis win the series 4-1

The St Louis Blues came out fighting in this one, taking the first three games, with a view to a clean sweep of the Wild. Despite a brief comeback, Minnesota could not bring themselves into contention, as David Backes notched up three goals and two assists for the Blues, while Patrik Berglund helped himself to three goals and three assists.

Nashville Predators v Chicago Blackhawks – Nashville win the series 4-2

These two teams battled it out and became deadlocked at 2-2, before Nashville pushed forward and won the next two matches to take the series. Surprisingly, Viktor Arvidsson got himself four goals and finished as top goal scorer for Nashville, while Mike Fisher and Shea Weber picked up five points each. Pekka Rinne added two shutouts for the Predators, including one in the final game of the series, as Chicago ran out of steam. Jonathan Toews finished as top point scorer for the Blackhawks with five points.

Anaheim Ducks v Winnipeg Jets – Winnipeg win the series 4-2

Winnipeg took this to a 3-1 lead, before Anaheim staged a mini fight back to bring the score back to 3-2. However, thanks to Frolík, Ladd and Bryan Little all contributing with eight points each throughout the series, Winnipeg were able to finish off the tie in game six. Anaheim struggled to find a leader to rack up the points tally, with Getzlaf and Cogliano finishing the series on three points, the best that Anaheim could muster.

Vancouver Canucks v Calgary Flames – Calgary win the series 4-2

The Canucks never managed to recover from a poor start, losing both of their first two games. Despite briefly bringing the match-up back to 3-2, Calgary put an end to Vancouver’s playoff dreams with a dominant victory in their final game. Hudler was the catalyst for the Flames’ success, scoring six goals throughout the series, whilst Gaudreau and Wideman both took six points each. Daniel Sedin was the only creative spark for the Canucks throughout, although Radim Vrbata managed to chime in with a few extra goals as well.

Montreal Canadiens v Ottawa Senators – Montreal win the series 4-3

There was to be no fairy-tale ending for the Senators here, despite their last minute push to the playoffs, as they went down to the Canadiens in game seven of their epic series. This was largely thanks to Max Pacioretty, who scored the most points of any player in the first round, getting four goals and making seven assists. Subban also assisted six times, in addition to scoring twice. Erik Karlsson finished as top scorer for Ottawa, with four goals and two assists.

Tampa Bay Lightning v Detroit Red Wings – Tampa Bay win the series 4-2

Tampa took this series after leading by a score of 3-1, before Detroit attempted to make a comeback, but to no avail. Steven Stamkos was the main talking point, getting three goals and three assists. Stralman also contributed with five assists for Tampa. Henrik Zetterberg got four goals and two assists for Detroit, but no-one else managed to make enough of an impact for the Red Wings, as they bowed out in the first round.

New York Rangers v Pittsburgh Penguins – Pittsburgh win the series 4-3

Another match-up which went all the way to game seven, with the final deciding game resulting in a 5-1 thrashing by the Penguins, including two goals from Sidney Crosby. Speaking of Crosby, he finished the series on seven points, as did Christian Ehrhoff. Brassard and McDonagh took 5 points each for the Rangers, but they fell short when it mattered most. Despite the scoreline in game seven, this was tight throughout, with both teams trading wins every step of the way.

Washington Capitals v New York Islanders – Washington win the series 4-3

A close series which went to a deciding game seven, but the Islanders came up short. This was largely in part to just one player creating the majority of points from the Islanders in John Tavares, who took four goals and six assists. Halak finished with a .904 Sv % for the Islanders, and a GAA of 3. As expected, Alexander Ovechkin and Niklas Bäckström stood out for the Capitals, taking seven and eight points respectively. Matt Niskanen also had a superb series, notching up eight points over the course of all seven games.

Advancing to round two – St Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals.

Next: Second Round