Of the four round one West 2017 Stanley Cup series two are done and the other two will likely be done this weekend. Unlike the East, the NHL Western Conference offers some major mismatches. Plus, this conference gave us one major round one surprise in the meeting between the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators. Here’s a look at where the round one West 2017 Stanley Cup series teams are.
Four and Done
Two series went the minimum of four games. One series, the Anaheim Ducks versus the Calgary Flames had the expected result. On the way to an easy 2017 Stanley Cup round one series win, the Ducks outscored Calgary 14 to 9. One game went into overtime with the final being 5-4.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all 2017 Stanley Cup round one series is the one between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Nashville Predators. The Nashville Predators (41-29-12) were the second wild card in the West with 94 points. The Chicago Blackhawks (50-23-9) were first in the Central Division with 108 points.
Going into the series, the Blackhawks had dominated Nashville, losing one of the five games they in the regular season series. That was their first game of the 2016-17 season. It was expected that Chicago would easily win this series. But Nashville swept them 13 to 3.
Advantage Oilers and Blues
The Oilers have allowed the Sharks to stick around a lot longer than anyone thought they would. Edmonton goes into tonight’s game up three games to two. It’s been an odd series, as the Sharks took game one in Edmonton 3-2 in OT. But in the next game the Oilers quickly tied up the series by beating San Jose 2-0. The series went to San Jose where Edmonton beat the Sharks 1-0. Ahead 2-1 and apparently in control, everything went south for the Oilers in game four as they went down 7-0 to the Sharks.
With the series tied at 2-2 and back in Edmonton, the Oiler went ahead in the series 3-2 when they beat San Jose in OT 4-3. The two teams meet tonight in San Jose at 10:30 p.m. The Oilers can take the series tonight. If they don’t, one final game will be played on Monday, April 24.
Finally, the favored Minnesota Wild finds itself in a desperate situation as the St. Louis Blues lead them three games to one. St. Louis won the first three games allowing Minnesota just one game in each game. The first game was a 2-1 win in OT, while the next two were settled in regulation time, 2-1 in the second of the series and 3-1 in the third. The Wild finally got a win, 2-0, in game four. The two teams play today at 3 p.m. in Minnesota. If game six and seven are played, the series will go until Wednesday.
Final Word: Round One West 2017 Stanley Cup Series
In the remaining round one West 2017 Stanley Cup series, we like the Blues and the Oilers. Whatever the results of these series, we’ll be posting our round two previews and picks midweek. We’ve got a NHL free pick on Montreal and New York for tonight. We’ve also reviewed the status of the Eastern Conference teams right here.
