Goaltending key for many teams in West

The Stanley Cup has made its home with teams in the Western Conference for the past two seasons.

Alex DiFilippo

And that won’t change this year.

Sure, the West doesn’t have the big, high-profile names the East does, (i.e. Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin) but it has more balanced teams.

Here are my predictions for the first round matchups:

No. 1 San Jose vs. No. 8 Anaheim

The battle is on in Cali. San Jose was an early pick by many to win the Stanley Cup and has lived up to the hype in the regular season, locking up the Presidents’ Trophy and losing only five home games the entire season. To add some spice to this series, the last time the teams met there was a scrum at the end of the game that led to six minor penalties and five misconducts. Sure, San Jose hasn’t had any playoff success in the past, but this year will be a different story.

San Jose in 6

No. 2 Detroit vs. No. 7 Columbus

It’s got to be tough for Columbus to celebrate its first ever playoff appearance. The Blue Jackets are facing a Red Wings team loaded with enough offensive weapons to downright embarrass opposing goalies. But with the two teams having split six games this season, things might not be as bad for Columbus as one might think. The biggest question for the Wings is obvious — will goaltender Chris Osgood pick up his game and lead this team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions? And if not, will head coach Mike Babcock yank him in favor of Ty Conklin? Regardless of Detroit’s goaltending situation, the Wings should offensively overwhelm the Blue Jackets, even if Marian Hossa isn’t completely healthy.

Detroit in 5

No. 3 Vancouver vs. No. 6 St. Louis

This series is going to come down to goaltending. Vancouver has arguably the best goaltender in the league in Roberto Luongo and St. Louis has found consistent goaltending from Chris Mason. The St. Louis Blues are hot coming into the first round, winning their last three games to climb into sixth place when they weren’t even in the playoffs a week ago. St. Louis plays in the toughest division in the Western Conference, with four of the five teams from the Central Division making the playoffs. That experience against quality teams will help the Blues pull off the upset.

St. Louis in 7

No. 4 Chicago vs. No. 5 Calgary

I really like Chicago in this series. The Blackhawks have been red hot lately (6-0-1 in April) while Calgary has been ice cold and lost its lead in the Northwest Division. Plus, Chicago has won all four meetings between the two teams this season.

While Calgary goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff has racked up the most wins in the league this season (45), he is 32nd in save percentage and 34th in goals against average. Chicago’s young lineup — with only five skaters who are 27 or older — will take control of this series early.

Chicago in 5