NHL analysis

Key players for Minnesota: Marian Gaborik, Pavol Demitra, Niklas Backstrom

Key players for Anaheim: Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Teemu Selanne

Analysis: This will be one hell of a matchup.  Minnesota plays boring hockey spiced up with a few explosive players.  Anaheim is a powerhouse, with two strong goaltenders and the best 1-2 punch on the blueline the NHL has to offer.  The Wild are going to be scrappy, hard-working, unwilling to give an inch.  The Ducks need one thing: they need their best players to be the best players on the ice.

There are no surprises to be had here.  Sure, second tier guys like Ryan Getzlaf will have to step up but this team belongs to Giguerre, Pronger, Niedermayer and Selanne.  If those four start falling to injury or don’t outplay their counterparts opposite the ice, Minnesota will triumph.  The good news is all four are proven performers.  There are no soft players or known playoff chokers in this lineup.

The lack of depth behind Pronger and Niedermayer will likely be exploited, especially in Minnesota where the Wild have the last change.  Will it be enough?

Prediction: Anaheim in six

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 10th, 2007 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Minnesota Wild, Anaheim Ducks, -Team Info, -Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.