Lower seeds continue to hold the upper hand in the Western Conference, as each such team holds a series lead in the 2017 NHL playoffs heading into Game 2.Home-ice advantage is not resulting in much of an edge, and that is holding especially true in the West considering the Anaheim Ducks were the only higher seed to make it out of the first round. ESPN's John Buccigross provided additional context to this trend, as road teams have done well in recent postseasons:This can work two ways for Friday's games if the home teams fall. Losses from Anaheim and the St. Louis Blues could provide holes too deep to emerge from. Similarly, road teams' success in the playoffs could give hope to both that they can play their way back into their series.With that in mind, let us take a look at the television and live-stream schedule for Friday's Game 2s, as well as the latest odds. Odds are according toOddsShark:Nashville vs. St. LouisThe Nashville Predators' dream postseason start continued with another outstanding effort on Wednesday, when they dominated the Blues for most the game.Yet the Blues showed they can contend in this series. Nashville was in complete control with a 3-1 lead and 26-17 shot advantage after two periods in Game 1, but St. Louis pushed hard to tie the game in the third period before a fluky goal did it in. The total shots ended with the Predators leading 32-30.Throughout this postseason, the Blues have leaned heavily on goaltender Jake Allen, and he will be the key for St. Louis moving forward. The team has yet to outshootopponents in six games, losing the shot battle by a combined 214-164. His play in the latter half of the season has been excellent, which Sportsnet's Dimitri Filipov attributes to St. Louis' midseason coaching change:Allen was not in top form in Game 1. He allowed two goals on Nashville's first 15 shots after it took Minnesota 76 shots to score twice in Round 1, per ESPN Stats & Info. His late blunder on Vernon Fiddler's game-winning goal also destroyed St. Louis' momentum in the loss.Allen took responsiblity for his costly mistake, but Blues head coach Mike Yeo pointed to a lackluster second period and myriad mistakes as the reasons his team is down to start this series, per Jeremy Rutherford of theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch."That goal is obviously the focal point of what we are looking at, what we are talking about right now, [but] it was one play in a collection of plays tonight,"Yeo said. "We have to be better. There are some individuals who can raise their games to another level for next game."Finding a way to neutralize Nashville's quick connecting play and all-around production is a must for St. Louis. The Predators entered this season as a Stanley Cup contender, and they look to be realizing that hype in these playoffs.The team's top-four defense group is arguably the NHL's best, and no remaining team boasts the collective star power and stout two-way play of Roman Josi and P.K. Subban. Josi and Ryan Ellis combined for seven points entering this series, but it was Subban who stepped up and looked unstoppable on Wednesday, per ESPN Stats & Info:Nashville also has the best line of this matchup in Viktor Arvidsson, Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen, but its scoring depth will be tested after Kevin Fiala's injury. The return of Colin Wilson, who scored in Game 1, will help, but James Neal, one assist in five games, needs to step up or the Predators could struggle to find offense with Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester combating their top line.The good news for St. Louis is that Pekka Rinne allowed as many goals in Game 1 as he did the entire opening series, but there is not much reason to put faith in the Blues offense at the moment. The team is being outproduced offensively in these playoffs, and that needs to change since Allen can only carry St. Louis so far.Game 2 could go either way, but Nashville gets the edge here because of recent play and a championship-level defense.Anaheim vs. EdmontonOne of the central storylines entering this season was Ryan Kesler against Connor McDavid. These two were glued to each other throughout the first game, but the five-time Selke Trophy finalist was not enough to offset another young Edmonton superstar.With 77 points this season and 128 points in 154 games over the past two years, the 21-year-old Leon Draisaitl is already one of the game's elite offensive players. He is often overshadowed by McDavid, but he took full advantage of Anaheim's focus on No. 97 in Game 2, scoring a goal to go with three helpers.He displayed his dynamic passing and puck-handling ability, particularly on Adam Larsson's first goal, and he ended up with a historic outing, per NHL public relations:Draisaitl also was strong defensively, finishing at plus-two and displaying poise on defensive-zone breakouts throughout the night, per NHL stat guru Mike Kelly:While the young German was superb, Anaheim's self-inflicted mistakes were the biggest difference in Game 1.The Oilers led the NHL in penalty minutes after Round 1, but the Ducks finished second in that category for the regular season. On Wednesday, they allowed two extra-man goals on five power plays, while Edmonton committed three penalties, resulting in one goal.Despite the high amount of penalties, Anaheim's penalty kill still ranked fourth in the NHL. The Ducks also killed off 14 of Edmonton's 17 power plays during the regular season. Yet a lack of discipline and shaky penalty killing allowed the Oilers to get back into a game Anaheim mostly controlled.The team certainly noticed this, per Yahoo Sports' Jen Neale."When we're giving five power plays per night to them, it's hard to kill," Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf said. "Our [penalty kill]'s got to do a little bit better job. We've got to work together a little bit better, and we'll find ways to shut down their power play."Head coach Randy Carlyle said: "Our penalty killing let them take some of the emotion and momentum in the hockey game and put it in their favor."If the Ducks can improve in this area, as well as cutting down on 12 giveaways from Game 1, they should be in good shape on Friday and in this series. Anaheim is a deeper team, and its speed is much greater throughout its lineup compared to that ofEdmonton's first-round foe,the San Jose Sharks.Draisaitl and McDavid will still get theirs, especially if given ample power-play chances. Still, with the Chicago Blackhawks eliminated,this is the Ducks' best chance in years to win the Western Conference. Expect them to come out flying on Friday to avoid a two-game hole.Statistics are courtesy of NHL.com unless otherwise noted.
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