That, combined with St. Louis being one of the NHL's worst teams in 5-on-5 possession totals, puts a lot more pressure on Husso -- a rookie appearing in his first postseason -- at the toughest time of year. Sure, Penguins center Nick Bonino scored the winning goal against the Sharks in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals. The NHL is an exciting sport to wager on and there are plenty of opportunities for wins during the bumper . Make Your Picks. Could the Florida Panthers, who raced to the top seed in the Eastern Conference, win their first Cup? Again, Hagel has done fine in the roles that they've cast him in during the playoffs. Lawrence-Riddell: Hurricanes in seven Since being acquired at the trade deadline, the former Blackhawks winger hasn't produced. It doesn't help that in front of Bobrovsky, Florida got a little too comfortable late in the season as the Cardiac Cats. 3 in . When Boston is at its best, it is a hard-hitting, back-breaking group to go up against. Player to watch: Crosby had 84 points this season, which was his best points-per-60 minutes average for a season with at least 68 games played since 2009-10. history but they get to host a game . There is no such problem for the Lightning. There's more to the team than just a dominant goalie, however. Obviously, the Rangers are going to go as far as Shesterkin takes them. They rallied to beat the Penguins after being down 3-1 in their first-round series. While it's desirable to have the top-end talent Colorado does, it's often the unheralded players who pick up the playoff slack. The 2022-23 NHL regular season is currently at its midpoint, but it's never too early to start thinking about playoffs. The answer should be clear early on against Edmonton. Whether or not he'll again be eyeing a trade out of town this offseason, Tarasenko should take every chance to shine in the coming weeks. NBA Playoff Picture: Eastern Conference. No disrespect intended to Sebastian Aho, but the Rangers didn't have to face an elite offensive player like Kucherov in their series against the Hurricanes. Bolden: Avalanche in six DiPietro: Flames in six Picks for Rangers-Lightning, Avalanche-Oilers, 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs: Highlights and analysis from the entire postseason, Free-agency, draft plans for Avs, Lightning, every other NHL team, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The Oilers will have to settle for Bouchard logging 19:46 in average ice time and being part of a successful pairing with Duncan Keith, which is not something Edmonton fans would have predicted before the season. Might the Colorado Avalanche, the top seed in the West and an underachiever the past two postseasons, break through? Its defense has been a little better than Edmonton's (giving up a playoff-low 27 shots against per game versus the Oilers' 37.5) and its depth is impressive. He's the club's leading scorer, averaging more than a point a game, and eats important minutes. They aren't going to wilt if the Rangers control the tempo. Back in 2019, St. Louis went from flailing to thriving at the end of the regular season and carried a hot streak all the way past Boston for the franchise's first Cup title. As Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said: Their problem offensively was not having elite goal-scorers. We're down to the final four teams of the 2021-22 NHL season. We just don't go away, regardless of the score and regardless of where the game is. The 13th overall pick in 2020, Jarvis had 11 points in a nine-game stretch near the end of the season, running shotgun with Aho for a lot of it. . Against Carolina, Shesterkin gave up two or fewer goals in six of the seven games in the series and won another Game 7, this time on the road. Calgary vs. Dallas: Flames in five. The Rangers didn't have to face Penguins starter Tristan Jarry until Game 7; instead, they saw backup Casey DeSmith for five and a half periods and then third-stringer Louis Domingue for just over six games. Emily Kaplan: Lightning in seven When Kuemper was tested, he didn't always look sharp; St. Louis caught him in bad positioning and decidedly flat-footed on a few occasions. Again, the Oilers stayed calm, and refocused. Beyond that, he hasn't won a playoff series since 2015. It's easy to talk about Minnesota's goaltending and offensive prowess, but Brodin has been helping facilitate all that with locked-in defensive play (and he's no slouch with the puck either, registering a career high in points this season). Case for a Stanley Cup run: The Penguins crossed the finish line as a playoff team. Here's a player who requested a trade out of St. Louis and instead has thrived there this season. Bold prediction: Kopitar and Danault do what they can against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but the loss of Doughty proves too much and the Kings fall to the Oilers in six games. Heading into the playoffs, Craig Custance gets the lowdown on the Vancouver Canucks from rival players, coaches and scouts. Boucher: Hurricanes in six Biggest flaw(s): Defensive chemistry, and the penalty kill. There hasn't been a ton of that for the Oilers; most of their key tallies have come from the same group of four or five guys. As long as the Oilers' stars are shining that brightly, they'll have a chance to win any series. How they got here: Defeated Los Angeles Kings 4-3, defeated Calgary Flames 4-1. Hextall: Avalanche in five Well, unless it's because of their opponents' goaltending. Editor's Picks. Hosts Linda Cohn and Emily Kaplan bring their hockey expertise and passion for the sport, discussing the latest news around the league as well as interviewing the biggest names both on and off the ice. New York Rangers 2. There is a winning pedigree in Boston that starts with its leadership, and spreads to David Pastrnak, Taylor Hall, Charlie McAvoy, and on down the list. La Greca: Hurricanes in six The Oilers are more resilient than some observers previously thought. cal: Rangers in seven The Blues do have scoring talents, including Jordan Kyrou and Vladimir Tarasenko, but with more limited chances in tight-checking postseason games, St. Louis will have to really focus on the defensive details to avoid a letdown. Boucher: Flames in six Bold prediction: The Flames advance to the Western Conference finals, including a Battle of Alberta win over the Oilers. McCarron for choosing his league over the NFL. But I think Shesty has one that does, too. Those aren't encouraging totals. Case for a Stanley Cup run: Boston can be a tough team to play against. There was never any doubt that Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl could score in the regular season, but the playoffs have brought their challenges in keeping up that pace offensively. Goalie Tristan Jarry, who had an outstanding regular season, has been sidelined with a broken foot that he's in the process of rehabbing. Player to watch: Kadri. 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs first-round predictions NHL.com staff members make their picks for eight series, Cup, Conn Smythe winner NHL.com @NHLdotcom April 30, 2022 The Colorado. Failing to capitalize on man-advantage chances almost always comes back to bite teams in the postseason; ditto with struggling to keep pucks out on the kill. Kaplan: Hurricanes in seven Player to watch: Forsberg. Any notion that the Avs' slide out of the regular season (losing six of their last seven games) was a premonition of poor playoff performance to come was unfounded. It's part of what has made Husso so invaluable; he covers for all manner of ills in the Blues' own end. Bolden: Hurricanes in six Keith did that for the Oilers against Calgary, steering them out of a potential loss in Game 2 and picking up some of the responsibilities for the not-100% healthy Darnell Nurse. The Rangers had their share of breaks. Granted, that included 12 overtime losses, a middling even-strength offense and goaltending issues galore. Alas, he's ineligible, having played more than six games in his first two NHL seasons. New Jersey Devils (MP) 6. One problem Biggest flaw(s): Ovechkin missed the Capitals' final three games after appearing to injure a shoulder in an April 24 game. He's a 40-year-old veteran churning out great numbers, including an 8-3-0 record, .927 SV% and 2.70 GAA. They'll need every bit of his experience and ability to slow the Avalanche down. The Footballers (7-9) have the worst record of any playoff team they tied the 2010 Seattle Seahawks for the worst record for a playoff team in N.F.L. That bodes well for Edmonton in this series, since Colorado happens to be a high-volume shot team (39.8 per game); if that continues, Smith will be back under a spotlight early and often in the next round. The final day of the NHL regular season is April 13, 2023 and the playoffs will begin a few days later. It's hard to imagine the Kings doing anything of consequence in the postseason without Doughty, an accomplished playoff performer who had 31 points in 39 games this season, averaging 25:44 per night. This postseason, he's 8-3 with a .932 save percentage and has 6.76 goals saved above average to lead all goalies still playing in the postseason. Knight: Avalanche in seven Tortorella: Avalanche in six Biggest flaw(s): The playoffs couldn't arrive at a worse time for Pittsburgh. Subscribe to ESPN+ Some teams have improved, while others went into re-build mode. Unsurprisingly, Florida has also produced excellent special-teams numbers (including with its top-10 power play). It will all happen on the new NHL TV Networks of ESPN and TNT/Turner Sports. Not enough has been made of the Blues. But it was also a campaign that saw Alex Ovechkin score 50 goals and carry the team for stretches this season. How well Colorado's back end -- led by Makar, Devon Toews and Bowen Byram -- can manage those assignments will go a long way in determining the series. Player to watch: Miro Heiskanen. Bold prediction: The Hurricanes get past the Bruins in the first round, but it's a grinding seven-game series. 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs: Highlights and analysis from the entire postseason. Messier: Rangers in six Case for a Stanley Cup run: The Kings, who flaunt one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, had been waiting a few years for their next generation of stars to mature. Jake Oettinger has played well in net, and Dallas' defense has looked more cohesive lately. At 29-31, they . Venue: Dean Smith Center -- Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Coverage: ESPN . Yes, Mike Smith has been in a groove during April, with a .948 even-strength save percentage in nine games. The Eastern Conference finals series is on ESPN and ESPN+, while the Stanley Cup Final will be on ABC and ESPN+. Los Angeles was 32-19-7 when Doughty went out on March 7. Biggest flaw(s): Consistency and resiliency. It starts in their own end and being engaged down low. New York Islanders (MP) 7. He hadn't been practicing, but is expected to play in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. The Stars' first line might be its superpower, but this lineup can offer a lot more than that. We've got all the angles covered to get you ready for the playoffs as ESPN hockey reporters Greg Wyshynski and Kristen Shilton take a look at each of the 16 postseason teams, offering the reasons each team could win it all, along with their (potentially) biggest flaws, players to watch and a bold prediction for every contender. Defenseman Jacob Trouba's booming hits took out Penguins star Sidney Crosby for two critical games, and then Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis in Game 7. Steve Levy: Panthers in seven Tampa hasn't had much downtime since the NHL's bubble tournament two years ago. John Buccigross examines the historical run the Tampa Bay Lightning have had over the past two seasons. Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning with 15 points in 11 games. Goals project to be at a premium for Dallas, so look for the team's top defender to step up in keeping pucks out of the Stars' end -- and out of their net. But he's expected to miss a few games in the first round due to a lower-body injury. Metro: CAR | NYR While Dallas has every reason to feel good about its top point-getters, in a tight playoff series the secondary scoring often puts teams over the top. How do the Avs slow down the McDavid-Draisaitl-Kane line? After Pavelski, Hintz and Robertson (who all tallied 70 or more points), Dallas' offense has been streaky. Fantasy hockey owners can expect this to continue, which could be massive this coming week. Saros missed the last two games of the season with a lower-body injury, and his status is uncertain heading into the postseason. Your Home For Free NHL Expert Picks For The 2022/23 Season. That's been the disconnect before, and those demons won't be overcome until Toronto has success when it matters most. They've spent time with fellow deadline pickup Nick Paul, formerly of the Ottawa Senators, but really clicked with veteran winger Corey Perry in the Florida series. Coach Darryl Sutter has this team primed to bring the Cup back to Canada for the first time since 1993. NHL Playoff Predictions 2022 Matchups EASTERN CONFERENCE Playoff Round 1 #1 seed Florida Panthers vs #8 seed Washington Capitals Florida wins (4-1) #2 seed Carolina Hurricanes vs #7 seed Boston Bruins Carolina wins (4-2) Metropolitan Division Match-up #2 New York Rangers vs #3 Pittsburgh Penguins New York wins (4-2) Atlantic Division Match-up Portland Trail Blazers. McDonough: Flames in seven Why? Lawrence-Riddell: Avalanche in six LA | DAL. A rundown of 1 to 8 in all four divisions, plus the 16-team postseason field for this upcoming season. Do you blame us? Returning contributors Alex Killorn and Ondrej Palat can play up or down the lineup with effectiveness. Never let them have the puck. If Edmonton can do that again in the conference finals, Colorado's march to the Cup finals will be severely impeded -- and perhaps derailed. But he's not unbeatable. Messier: Avalanche in seven What will he bring to the table to help make it happen? When the trade deadline rolls around, there are always teams caught in the middle of the standings . One of the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche, or Edmonton Oilers will be this year's Stanley Cup champion. The Blues averaged just 26 shots per game at Kuemper, while Colorado was in control averaging 37 shots the other way. Linda Cohn: Panthers in seven Stats are collected from sites such as Natural Stat Trick, Hockey Reference and Evolving Hockey. Colorado has to frustrate the Oilers' top skaters, make it difficult for them to find space or get in a rhythm early. It'll be down to the wire, but I like Colorado. Let's key on Mikko Rantanen. That said, they'd like more than one goal off 18 shot attempts in 11 games from a player who had 25 goals in the regular season. He received help from familiar Capitals names such as Evgeny Kuznetsov, John Carlson and Tom Wilson, while Conor Sheary and Anthony Mantha chipped in. But even he was upstaged this postseason by his adorable infant daughter, Maisie. What do the Stars have to lose? When Jonathan Quick repeatedly slammed the door in the first-round series, Edmonton didn't panic. MacKinnon's contributions will be massive for the Avs. Chris Kreider became just the fourth player in Rangers history to top 50 goals. The Bruins are one of the league's stingiest teams (averaging 2.69 goals against) and excel at limiting shots against (28.7 per game, third fewest in the NHL) and high-danger chances (first overall). Tocchet, most recently head coach of the Arizona . More: Full playoff schedule The Lightning have done it the past two seasons, under less-than-ideal pandemic-related circumstances to boot. Kuemper's terrific regular season (37-12-4, .921 SV%, 2.54 GAA) suggests he's up to the task of what's ahead though -- even if his playoff resume to date isn't so dazzling. Cohn: Rangers in seven We've already discussed Kuemper. Deadline decisions: What will Avs, Kraken and others do? Player to watch: Rookie forward Seth Jarvis has been absolutely outstanding for the Hurricanes. Artemi Panarin quietly had points in the last three games against Carolina, including a great outlet pass that sprung Strome for a critical goal that put them up 3-0. Watching all of it from the crease is Vezina contender Jacob Markstrom. And Kane already had a pair of hat tricks in the playoffs. He had just two points in the Pens' six-game series loss to the Islanders last playoffs. Biggest flaw(s): Being a top-heavy offensive team is a good problem to have when the top of one's lineup is filled with players who have more than 35 goals. But now that the Penguins are in, with a lineup dotted with familiar names sporting Stanley Cup rings, the best case for a championship run is made by Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Jeff Carter, Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel. Buccigross: Hurricanes in seven Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn have underperformed much of the season, and the Stars don't get much scoring help from their defensemen (John Klingberg leads Dallas blueliners with six goals). No one will let the Leafs forget what happened against Boston (twice) or Montreal. Player to watch: Mika Zibanejad was back to being a point-per-game center this season, playing the majority of his time with Kreider and assisting on 24 of his goals. Mleczko: Hurricanes in seven Most valuable overall options for standard leagues; new podcast episodes. Biggest flaw(s): Beyond McDavid and Draisaitl, the Oilers don't necessarily have the depth that other contenders in the Western Conference can boast in their forward group or on the blue line. Trail Blazers vs. Pelicans Game Info. For example, we've learned that they've effectively rebuilt their bottom six after the offseason exodus of their celebrated checking line of Yanni Gourde, Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow. Case for a Stanley Cup run: What if a team had its best regular season in franchise history and no one noticed? The Penguins' offense is also struggling, with an ice-cold power play and players such as Rust mired in slumps. The conference final round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs is upon us. Brehm: Hurricanes 4, Bruins 2. The Rangers are playing with house money. Kane is a future Hall of Famer and arguably the best men's American hockey player of all time. Biggest flaw(s): Defense, and goaltending. They're finding ways to win, finding ways to survive and I think they do it again here. Shilton: Hurricanes in six All we know for sure is that the real winners here are those of us watching the action unfold. DiPietro: Avalanche in seven This Western Conference finals present a hockey feast for the eyes: Colorado's top line of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Valeri Nichushkin vs. Kane, McDavid and Draisaitl. The Lightning have a couple of players they'd like to see produce a little more, but their lack of production is injury-related in both cases. We muse, one last time, on the league stages of the 2022/23 Indian Super League (ISL) season: Odisha slip through, somehow It was in their hands going into the final week. Granted, Nashville's Ryan Johansen did (accidentally) injure Kuemper's eye in the first round, but the goalie recovered and Colorado swept the Predators in time for Kuemper to return in the second round against St. Louis. View the updated NHL Playoff Predictions here to see playoff matchups and predicted Stanley Cup winner.. With the Seattle Kraken expansion draft and a salary cap that is not going up, a lot of players this summer have changed teams.. Ray Ferraro: Panthers in seven Matiash: Flames in seven Record: 54-21-7 (115 points) Case for a Stanley Cup run: Toronto has got the talent in all three phases of the game.Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are one of the NHL's . Columbus Blue Jackets (WC) 5. Before I reveal every series winner in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs and the exact number of games in which the series will be won, I'd like to just offer a small reminder to establish a baseline . Central: COL | MIN Hagel took a puck off one of his feet in Game 2 against the Panthers, though he appeared in Games 3 and 4. Team defense has become a part of the equation because that mentality is exhibited by the team's top players (including Matthews). A game-changing talent who also is playing for his next contract (from Nashville or someone else). The Igor Shesterkin that we saw during Round 1 is not the Igor Shesterkin that the Lightning are going to see. Colorado is fortunate to have dynamic middle-six scorers such as Valeri Nichushkin and quiet contributors such as Artturi Lehkonen who can sneak up and burn opponents unexpectedly. Patrice Bergeron is still Patrice Bergeron. The winger is having an unbelievable regular season but hasn't scored a playoff goal since 2017-18 and has only eight assists in 12 postseason games the past two years. How they choose to defend Kucherov's line is going to be a key for the series. Those 5-on-5 opportunities can be -- and almost always are -- limited in the playoffs. The NHL offseason formally begins with the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal, starting with Thursday's first round (6 p.m. CT, ESPN).. What will be the key to solving Igor Shesterkin? Sixteen teams entered the postseason tournament, but only four are left in the bracket, as the New York Rangers will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in the East, and the Colorado Avalanche will square off against the Edmonton Oilers in the West. Bold prediction: The Penguins go out in the first round, but goaltending isn't the reason. NHL Rush to the Playoffs: Three National Hockey League Games Monday, Tuesday Night, Exclusively on ESPN, ESPN+ and Hulu ESPN+ NHL Kevin Ota April 25, 2022 Twitter Monday, April 25 on ESPN+/Hulu: Flyers at Blackhawks Tuesday, April 26 on ESPN: Oilers at Penguins, Blues at Avalanche 38 out-of-market games on ESPN+ this week ET, ESPN), followed by Lightning-Leafs (7:30 ET, ESPN2), Blues-Wild (9:30 ET, ESPN) and Kings-Oilers (10 ET, ESPN2). Did he skid at the end of this season? USA TODAY Sports' NHL staffers make their predictions for the second round: Colorado Avalanche vs. St. Louis Blues Jimmy Hascup: Avalanche in six. Player to watch: Marner. Shilton: Avalanche in seven Pacific: CGY | EDM Carolina Hurricanes 3. Vitek Vanecek has been wildly inconsistent, while Ilya Samsonov has played to a sub-replacement level this season. Sorting out the optimal defensive pairings will be a task for coach Jared Bednar. Some of those came on odd-man rushes, a few on chances on the doorstep. The second round against Calgary couldn't have started any worse with a quick 3-0 deficit for Edmonton in Game 1 and another 2-0 hole to start Game 2. But the kids were all right too: Forwards Arthur Kaliyev, Rasmus Kupari and Quinton Byfield, as well as defensemen Mikey Anderson and Sean Durzi, also contributed. The NHL has passed the mathematical midpoint of the 2022-23 regular season. The opponents are very favourable. All things being equal, Colorado boasts the deeper team. But that's the regular season. Player to watch: Under different circumstances, 22-year-old defenseman Evan Bouchard might have been a Calder Trophy finalist with his 43 points in 81 games. FiveThirtyEight's 2021-22 NHL forecast predicts the winner of each hockey game and calculates each team's chances of advancing to the playoffs and winning the Stanley Cup. There's an argument to be made that Kucherov is the best power-play performer in the NHL, and he has lived up to that with seven points with the man advantage. The Oilers peppered Calgary's Jacob Markstrom with over 34 shots per game in the second round and their elite talent up front (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evander Kane, etc.) The Panthers' depth of electric scoring ability has the potential to carry this team a long way into spring. John Tortorella: Panthers in seven A limited if intense calendar, combined with the reality of losing players every round, and a simpler scoring system set . New York Rangers. 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