Many believed that the Anaheim Ducks (55-24-2-5) had an easy jaunt to the Western Conference Finals laid out in front of them.
Winnipeg might have been swept away, but the Calgary Flames (49-32-4-3) could provide a tougher challenge.
SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: Calgary @ Anaheim (4/30, 10:00 p.m. ET, NBCSN)
Game 2: Calgary @ Anaheim (5/3, 10:00 p.m. ET, CNBC)
Game 3: Anaheim @ Calgary (Time, Date & Network TBD)
Game 4: Anaheim @ Calgary (Time, Date & Network TBD)
Game 5: Calgary @ Anaheim (Time, Date & Network TBD, If Necessary)
Game 6: Anaheim @ Calgary (Time, Date & Network TBD)
Game 7: Calgary @ Anaheim (Time, Date & Network TBD, If Necessary)
ODDS ANALYSIS
Easily the biggest favorites in the second round of the playoffs, Anaheim is a -220 choice of the oddsmakers. It's strange to think that's the biggest margin we’ve seen in any series thus far in this postseason, almost insinuating that Winnipeg was a better team than Calgary is, which we aren't sure is the case.
KEY PLAYERS
Hereeeeeeee's Johnny! Johnny Gaudreau is a little ball of hate out there on the ice, and he was the consummate pain in the butt to Vancouver in the opening round. Sure, two goals and four assists were great, but the fact of the matter is that Gaudreau's mere presence on the ice changed that whole series in its latter stages, and he could do the same by flying all over the place against the Ducks as well.
In spite of the fact that he was referred to as "Katy Perry" by the fans at the MTS Centre, Corey Perry had an excellent series. He had three goals and four assists, putting together quite the impact through that entire series.
KEY STATS
3: The number of players with a negative +/- for the Ducks so far in the playoffs. It's amazing to think that only two parts of the back lines for Anaheim were worse than a 0 +/- in that first four-game series, proof of just how dominant the team was against the Jets.
69 percent: The percentage of the time Matt Stajan won faceoffs in the Vancouver zone in the opening series of the playoffs. When you think of men who should be excelling in the circle in this series, you think about Ryan Kesler. However, Stajan was a fantastic faceoff man, especially late in the series against the Canucks, and several of his wins in the attacking zone created some great opportunities for the Flames to score.
ANALYSIS & PREDICTION
Winnipeg tried to be the bigger, tougher team against Anaheim, and that just didn't work because it didn't have the stars to prevail. Calgary doesn't really have the stars to do the job either, but it’s going to be pragmatic in its ways.
The Flames are going to try to be the faster team on the ice, and though that strategy might not work either, we still think that there's enough pure talent here to really frustrate the Ducks. We've seen Bruce Boudreau collapse in the playoffs before, and we think he’s going to do the exact same thing in this series.
Calgary Flames in 6 games
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