It's the battle of the quick winners as St Louis, who swept Minnesota, and Colorado, who eliminated Calgary in 5 games, will now face each other. After such a long layoff for both teams, they will be well-rested but might show hints of rust.
While Colorado's powerplay is clicking at 20% and penalty kill of 96.4%, it seems it will be a battle of special teams as St Louis was no slouch with a powerplay of 11.5% and penalty killing efficiency of 94.4%.
The Offense:
Colorado was led by a surprising source, Nick Schultz had 4 goals in the series against Calgary and demonstrates the depth of Colorado's offensive capability. Although Evgeni Malkin did not play well in the 5 games, only registering 3 points, he will have to improve his play if he wants to become the hero for Colorado.
St Louis was led by the all-round play of Mike Fisher with his 5 points in 4 games, including a powerplay and shorthanded goal. Although Fisher's linemates in Kariya and Kunitz will need to pick up their play after only scoring once in 4 games combined.
The Defense:
Though Colorado has an impressive forward core, they lack a recognized star defenseman. Though Schultz has stepped up his play on the second pairing, the defensive capability of the Colorado blueline will be needed to be at its absolute best to contend with the Blues forwards.
Joseph Corvo hasn't registered a point, the Blues blueline have responded with the play of Hal Gill and Tom Poti. Hal Gill has been one of the highlights for the Blues and will need to continue his hot play to help the Blues through.
The Goaltending:
This will be the series of the hot goalies, with Christobel Huet coming from Montreal, he has posted a 1.80 GAA and .928 SV% was the star against Calgary. Though with the lack of quality forwards on the Calgary roster, it was hardly surprising.
The Blues have the best goalie from round 1, the only goalie to go undefeated, Nabokov will be equally outstanding against the offensive threats of Colorado. His 1.50 GAA and .948 SV% will have to continue for the Blues to progress.
The Winners: So I'm biased in this series, Blues in 6.
