T.M. Selection: Vancouver Canucks

It's the youth and skill of Vancouver vs. the experience of Minnesota in this first round matchup. The Wild took two of three from the Canucks in the regular season. The Wild were injured for most of the year and they endured a tough start to the campaign, but the long lay off has given the team time to heal. Despite that though, I don't think that Minnesota will be able to keep pace with the high-flying and much "hungrier" Canucks in my opinion.

Elias Petterson leads a young group of Canucks, who actually finished top 5 on the power play. This is the first time in the playoffs for Petterson and for most of the young guns that he leads and that just adds fuel to the fire. I think these goaltenders are a "wash," but I'll give a major advantage to Vancouver's talent level over its first two lines.

Look for that to be the difference maker (in Game 1 anyways!).

T.M. Prediction: 3-1 Canucks.