SPNHL Season 35 Playoff Round 2 Preview
By Chad & Fluri
Welcome to the Round 2 preview from our loveable duo of Chad and myself (Fluri)
For week 2 of the playoffs we have a couple titan like matchups, Carolina vs Toronto (Bean vs GoMarc), and Vegas vs New Jersey (Hypey vs Chad). Both of these series have the potential to see HUGE upsets, or some crushing defeats. So let’s take a moment to break these down for you guys, and get right into it!
UP FIRST WE HAVE!!!!!
Carolina Hurricanes (1) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (4)
Team: Carolina Hurricanes
GM: SliyumShady
Regular Season Leading Scorer: ROLLaBACKWOODS (171 points)
MVP: Iam_mrbean
After a dominant regular season the Hurricanes finished with the best record in the league, took home the presidents trophy and got a bye into the 2nd round. The duo of Rolla and Bean finished #1 and 2 in points in the league. Sliyum had a Norris calabar season on defense and they have last season’s Conn Smythe Winner Ciulla as their netminder. This team has no real weaknesses on paper. Toronto had a tough fought series against the Red Wings last week and the Hurricanes haven’t played since the regular season. Could this be the difference maker? Not playing for a week could hurt them and make this series closer but in the end I think the Hurricanes are too strong and will win this series and Bean will advance to his second straight Stanley Cup Final.
Team: Toronto Maple Leafs
GM: ExE-_-53
Regular Season Leading Scorer: Gucci__gui (103 points)
MVP: Gucci__gui
Toronto had a first round matchup against Detroit that everyone figured would be a well fought battle from start to finish. Toronto handled the ever dangerous Red Wings in a 6 game series, winning it 4-2. A forward line made up of GoMarc, Lo-Max, and Triix seemed to be more than Reapz and his Red Wings could handle as Marc averaged 4 and a half PPG throughout the 6 game series.PNC had a rough series for Toronto in net, going 0-2, but the stellar play from Pliskin between the pipes was enough, as he went 3-0 in the 1st round against Detroit, with a very respectable 0.812 SV%. Will be interesting to see how Toronto’s goaltending stacks up against the highest offense in SP this season. Will be a good 2nd round.
Fluri’s Prediction: Carolina in 7
Chad’s Prediction: Carolina in 6
New Jersey Devils (2) vs Vegas Golden Knights (3)
Team: New Jersey Devils
GM: TrueLegend07
Regular Season Leading Scorer: Fluri37 and TrueLegend07 (both 94 points)
MVP: chadkillz134
After a few quits at the end of the season the Devils managed to hold off the Knights for second place and secure a much needed bye. This gave the devils a chance to relax and bring in some free agents and prepare for round 2. Lucky for them most of their core is still intact. True and Fluri lead this team upfront both having very good regular seasons. Egg and Peen are this team’s top defensive pair combining as a +110 in the regular season. In net after another stellar regular season Chad looks to return to the finals and win his 3rd straight cup. In my opinion this team is a bit weaker than the knights offensively but they make up for it with Egg, Peen and Chad on the back end. This will be a close series and one to watch but in the end New Jersey’s top line is just stronger and that will be the deciding factor.
Team: Vegas Golden Knights
GM: FIVEpointOHHH
Regular Season Leading Scorer: agedembryo (80 points)
MVP: No not “King Ajax”. It’s hypey-
Vegas was expected to have a walk in the first round against a Pittsburgh team that really struggled all year finding offense, and defense as well most games, but it didn’t go as planned. Vegas jumped out to the early series lead but squandered it a little on Monday night giving up a couple games, where they finally were able to close out the series in game 6. Hypey- led the charge for the Knights with 18 points in 5 games (3.6ppg if you can’t math). Jmm had a decent series as well, having 11 points in 3 games. The biggest surprise coming out of Vegas was probably Vandoos, going 3-0 in the opening series, although he did allow 8 goals on 38 total shots (which puts him below the coveted 0.800 Sv%). Goaltending will be a big question mark going into round 2 for Vegas. If they can get some solid goaltending throughout the 2nd round they could make it close. Hypey can also steal a series on his own, so it’s definitely not over.
Fluri’s Prediction: New Jersey in 6
Chad’s Prediction: New Jersey in 7
A lot of people are expecting a CAR vs NJ finals, but the top 4 teams are all here for a reason, and any team could take it all. Look forward to a great week of SPNHL action. Bean vs GoMarc, and Chad vs Hypey. Grab your popcorn kids 😉