The round of 16 of this year’s Stanley Cup play offs is finished and sixteen teams have been reduced to eight. In this post we will give you information about the quarterfinals, together with prediction.
The 2016 NHL Quarter finals
Dallas Stars – St. Louis Blues
Comment: Dallas eliminated Minnesota in the round of 16, while St. Louis defeated the reigning champions Chicago in a decisive game seven. Blues have never won the Stanley Cup and the question is if they are going to be close to breaking that negative trend this year?
Nashville Predators – San Jose Sharks
Comment: A game seven was necessary between Nashville and Anaheim as well. At the end, the Predators ate the ducks. San Jose dismissed the Los Angeles Kings fairly easily with 4-1 in matches. Chances are they will do something similar in the quarterfinals.
New York Islanders – Tampa Bay Lightning
Comment: Islanders have increased their quality considerably after a long backward movement in the 2000s. In the round of 16 they eliminated Jaromir Jagr and Florida Panthers. Despite injuries on some key players, Tampa Bay could dismiss the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 in matches. This is a hard series to predict, but we think Islanders have something good going on this year.
Washington Capitals – Pittsburgh Penguins
Comment: Caps managed to eliminate the mischievous Philadelphia Flyers, with som effort. They will now face a skilled team with players like Sidney Crosby. Penguins eliminated New York Rangers and they can never be ruled out in the play offs.
What team wins the 2016 Stanley Cup?
Based on the playoff tree, we believe these teams will advance from the quarter-finals:
St. Louis Blues – San Jose Sharks
New York Islanders – Washington Capitals
Based on the above, we believe final series will be played by:
St. Louis Blues – Washington Capitals
…and that Nicklas Bäckstrom, Alexander Ovetjkin and the other guys from United State’s capital will raise the trophy this year! They are also favorites in terms of odds.
