Rosen's mailbag - March 11, 2015

Here is the March 11 edition of Rosen's weekly mailbag, which will run every Wednesday during the season. If you have a question, tweet it to @drosennhl and use #OvertheBoards.

Let's get to it:

Why does Bruce Boudreau's team always choke in the playoffs? Case in point, his Caps team and his current Ducks team? -- @StevieSaidYup

Let's give his current Anaheim Ducks team a break considering it's only March 11 and they haven't had a chance to lose in the Stanley Cup Playoffs yet. I also wouldn't say his team last season choked. Yes, they lost 6-2 in Game 7 to the Los Angeles Kings at home, but it was in the Western Conference Second Round and they lost in seven to the eventual Stanley Cup champions. And they were down 2-0 in the series before winning Games 3, 4 and 5. And they had a rookie goalie in John Gibson. I'm willing to give that team a pass.

I'm not as willing to give Boudreau's teams in Washington a pass, though context is necessary to describe why the Capitals, in particular, lost in seven games to the Montreal Canadiens in 2010 after winning the Presidents' Trophy. That would be considered the biggest "choke job" of any of Boudreau's teams considering how good they were in the regular season and the fact they had a 3-1 lead in the series. But the Capitals outshot the Canadiens 134-65 in those games and Jaroslav Halak held Washington to three goals. The Capitals had a 2.2 shooting percentage in those games. That's crazy low. That's unlucky. They outshot Montreal 54-21 in Game 6 and 42-16 in Game 7.

Game 7s have obviously not been kind to Boudreau. His record in them is 1-5 and his teams have been outscored 20-9 in the losses. Maybe it changes this year. At least give him a chance to get there first.

Do the acquisitions Anaheim made at the trade deadline legitimize their shot at a deep playoff run? -- @Krohnage_

I think they do. I think the Ducks did very well for themselves leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline in acquiring Jiri Sekac from Montreal, Tomas Fleischmann from the Florida Panthers, James Wisniewski from the Columbus Blue Jackets and Simon Despres from the Pittsburgh Penguins. They became a faster, more mobile team with those acquisitions, and their power play, which has been average, should improve over time once Wisniewski gets comfortable. I think the Ducks can win any type of game now, and although they're young, if I was an Anaheim fan I'd have faith in Gibson and Frederik Andersen even though their playoff experience is limited.

Devan Dubnyk has been nearly unstoppable since the Wild acquired him. Is he the long term goaltender solution for the Wild? -- @r0bertwaters

I don't know the answer to this question yet. I don't think anybody does. We're talking about 25 games so far. That's still a smallish sample size. It's not too small to say it's a fluke, but it's small enough to still have some questions. We still have to see how Dubnyk fares down the stretch and in the playoffs, should he help the Minnesota Wild get in the playoffs. He has played well and clearly he has changed his game under the tutelage first of Sean Burke in Arizona and now Bob Mason in Minnesota. He came cheap to the Wild and he has been the lightning rod for them to get back into the playoff race. But in my mind this is still part of the evaluation process for Dubnyk and I need more evidence to be totally convinced he's the goalie of the future for the Wild, even though what he has shown so far has been impressive to say the least. Also remember he can become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, so that is a factor is well.

What do you think the Wild's chances are of making the playoffs with the tough schedule the rest of the way? -- @JCZERN

I'd rate the Wild's chances of getting into the playoffs as good, provided Dubnyk continues on his path. In the end I think the two wild-card teams in the Western Conference will be the Wild and the Winnipeg Jets, as they are right now. I think the Los Angeles Kings jump into the top three in the Pacific Division and the Calgary Flames drop out. The San Jose Sharks haven't shown enough for me to believe they'll be consistent down the stretch and make up the ground needed to get in.

The Wild do have a tough schedule, brutally tough in fact. The Toronto Maple Leafs are the only team they still have to play that isn't currently in a playoff position. They have three games against the St. Louis Blues and two against the Nashville Predators left. They also play the Ducks, Kings, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings. But let's not forget one important thing: The Wild are pretty good too, and those teams don't want to play the Wild as much as the Wild doesn't want to play them.

I think the Wild will secure their position during their five-game homestand against the Flames, Kings, Rangers, Red Wings and Winnipeg Jets from March 27 to April 6. Minnesota is 19-9-5 at home. That's a good home record. The Wild need to secure it then, because they close with three in a row on the road at Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis. They don't want to leave it to chance on that road trip.

Who do you think has been the biggest surprise on the Rangers this year? -- @arwisneski

Kevin Hayes. Easily Kevin Hayes.

I'm not sure anybody figured he would be the New York Rangers' third-line center for the entire season when he signed as an unrestricted free agent this past summer. He was a right wing at Boston College last season and the Rangers asked him to play center on their third line because it was a hole in their lineup. He has gotten better and better as the season has gone along. He has improved every aspect of his game. And he did it the right way, by focusing on his defense first. Hayes knew that in order to play in the NHL without being a 40-goal scorer you have to be able to play defense. Rangers coach Alain Vigneault wouldn't have played him if he couldn't play defense. He improved in that area, and now you see his offensive flair coming out. You see him playing with more confidence and using his big body more. You see him scoring goals like he did against the Islanders, with a mix of skill and power and balance.

Behind Hayes I'd have to say Cam Talbot, only because I didn't think he would be able to carry the load with Henrik Lundqvist out. Talbot struggled at first, but it was masked by the Rangers' ability to score. They were scoring almost four goals per game for the first 10 games without Lundqvist. Talbot has been better since and the Rangers are still winning. That's a sign of his improvement.

I also have to give a quick nod to Kevin Klein, because I didn't know his shot was as good as it is and I didn't think he would be capable of providing the offense he has given the Rangers. He has a career-high nine goals and 26 points.

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