There has also been more effort on the forecheck. 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. Every first-round Game One of the Stanley Cup Playoffs will be available on ESPN or ESPN2. 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. You can say the Rangers haven't faced a goalie like Vasilevskiy, and that's true. Cohn: Rangers in seven Columbus Blue Jackets (WC) 5. STL | NSH 2022-23 NCAA Basketball Regular Season Game; North Carolina (17-11, 9-8 ACC) vs. No. John Buccigross: Panthers in seven Colorado's big three has produced 17 goals and 31 points in 10 games. Note: Kristen Shilton previewed the Western Conference teams, while Greg Wyshynski previewed the two clubs from the East. Same with its overall consistency. These are the playoffs. Will that be the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are looking to become the first team to win the Cup in three consecutive seasons since the New York Islanders won four straight from 1980 to 1983? Boucher: Avalanche in six But right around the trade deadline, the Rangers' play started to pick up and continued to trend upward through the final month of the season under first-year coach Gerard Gallant. It breeds confidence, and that's having a huge impact on the Oilers' success in this postseason. 2021-22 NHL Predictions Updated after every game. The Stars are the only team in the playoffs with a negative goal differential. Pittsburgh Penguins 4. Biggest flaw(s): Power plays don't always come easy in the Stanley Cup playoffs. 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. Bold prediction: As happened to Tampa Bay in 2019, the seemingly unstoppable Panthers fall short with a baffling first-round exit. Boudreau totaled a 50-40-13 record, missing the playoffs in 2022. Unfortunately, Alex Ovechkin cornered the market on "he can still do that at his age, wow!" The clichs exist for a reason: There's no space out there anymore, no time to make plays or dangle or show off. Case for a Stanley Cup run: Tampa knows how to win. Case for a Stanley Cup run: The Stars made the playoffs in large part because of their top line. 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. Under coach Dave Tippett, the Oilers were 13th in the NHL in expected goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5; under interim coach Jay Woodcroft, who took over Feb. 10, the Oilers jumped to fourth in that category. Atlantic: FLA | TOR Deadline decisions: What will Avs, Kraken and others do? 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. To help get you up to speed before the puck drops on Game 1 of the West matchup Tuesday night, we're bringing you a mega-preview, breaking down each team in five different categories and offering our predictions on which clubs will head to the Stanley Cup Final. That must be what the Hurricanes felt like in 2021-22, as they set a new standard for points in a season, won the Metropolitan Division for the first time and led the league in goals-against average. Subscribe to ESPN+ His .925 career playoff save percentage ties him for third all time (minimum 60 games) with Hall of Famer Dominik . Also note that wild-card teams are listed according to which playoff bracket they're playing in (the Capitals, for example, are in the Atlantic). 26, 2022, at 10:51 PM. . With a healthy Ovechkin, they can be in any series. What makes Nashville dangerous (other than Roman Josi, Matt Duchene, Filip Forsberg and Juuse Saros, of course) is the chip on its shoulder, the hunger to prove the team's critics wrong. Minnesota has been scorching hot since mid-March, going 19-2-3 since March 16, entering the playoffs with a hard-earned swagger. In the East, it'll be a battle of the goaltenders with the excellent matchup between Andrei Vasilevskiy and Igor Shesterkin. For the first time since 1991, the Flames and Oilers meet up in the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. Two good goalies coming together. Some nights, the Bruins look impenetrable; the next, they're floundering in their own end. Why? Cohn: Oilers in six And it's not just the Avs' marquee names -- Nazem Kadri, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar to name a few -- who are having an impact. Then again, Kuemper hasn't been facing a ton of shots. And coach Gerard Gallant is pushing the right buttons when it comes to line combinations. Ryan Callahan: Panthers in six TWDC 2022-23 NHL Game Schedule: Date, Time (ET), Teams, Network/Platform Tue, Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m., Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York Rangers, ESPN, ESPN+ Tue, Oct. 11, 10 p.m., Vegas Golden. Here are the current standings in the East, with the bottom four seeds lining up for the Play-In Tournament. Sorting out the optimal defensive pairings will be a task for coach Jared Bednar. He has added 10 assists to his point total, but Rantanen has still fallen short of expectations to date in terms of output. McCarron for choosing his league over the NFL. 2. The Wild's penalty kill is bottom 10 in the league, and their power play sits somewhere in the middle. Make Your Picks. Physicality gets ratcheted up in the playoffs, and Wilson has shown the ability in the past to turn a series with one big injurious hit. 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. Central: COL | MIN The puck drops on the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs on ESPN presented by GEICO with 12 first round games on ESPN and ESPN2 over three days beginning on Monday, May 2. All we know for sure is that the real winners here are those of us watching the action unfold. Forsberg can, and will, challenge any defense the Predators see in coming weeks. What sort of postseason magic can Kadri create to cap this career season? The format is a set bracket that is . will be coming full force. The rare NHL talent who can agitate you with words, deeds and on the scoreboard. If he's diminished, so are the Caps' Cup chances -- significantly. Not exactly the best offensive company to keep. 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. Matiash: Avalanche in six The 24-year-old forward had 103 points and was a plus-58 (!) That presents a perfect backdrop for Minnesota's run. He had four points in seven games before that. 102) of the 2009 NHL Draft, Ekholm has 268 points (62 goals, 206 assists) in 719 regular-season games with the Predators and 35 points (six goals, 29 . It's part of what has made Husso so invaluable; he covers for all manner of ills in the Blues' own end. It starts in their own end and being engaged down low. cal: Rangers in seven AJ Mleczko: Lightning in seven While there is a lot of "new" happening in the NHL this season, as far as league predictions go for the upcoming 2021-22 season, there is a lot that will feel familiar. Kuemper came through in that series when the Avalanche needed it, but there wasn't a lot of rhythm to his game. Toronto is no longer the one-dimensional wonder of its past, capable of putting pucks in the net but incapable of keeping them out. One of the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche, or Edmonton Oilers will be this year's Stanley Cup champion. 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. The Panthers repeatedly fell into multiple-goal deficits they were able to erase because, well, see above. Those matchups are plenty intriguing. USA TODAY Sports' NHL staffers make their predictions for the second round: Colorado Avalanche vs. St. Louis Blues Jimmy Hascup: Avalanche in six. The Lightning will have to convert some of those to beat "Shesty.". Heiskanen can set a tone for how the entire team approaches its defensive strategy. While Florida's offensive talent is its best asset, if the overall team defense can't hold up (especially if Aaron Ekblad isn't able to return to form due to his knee injury), it could make for a shorter run than the Panthers are aiming for. Excellent goaltending. DiPietro: Avalanche in seven Do you blame us? 2022 NHL Playoffs: B/R Staff 1st-Round Predictions 0 of 8 Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images Let the fun begin. The best that can be said of them is that the Kings found ways to win: While their divisional rivals flailed about trying to qualify for the postseason, Los Angeles won four straight critical games in regulation down the stretch. Biggest flaw(s): The fact that the Kings still managed to make the playoffs without Doughty is a testament to how well they played before his injury. Wyshynski: Blues in seven, Allen: Flames in six Heiskanen missed time this season with illness but is an invaluable asset to Dallas' overall success. We don't roll out the term "juggernaut" for just anyone around here. Levy: Avalanche in five Bold prediction: The Flames advance to the Western Conference finals, including a Battle of Alberta win over the Oilers. Hextall: Hurricanes in six Look for that to change in the Lightning's second season. He heads to New York with 1,225 points in 1,161 regular-season games. Viewers in the U.S. can stream every NBA playoff game live on SLING TV. Colorado's will have less pressure to produce given their second unit is anchored by a guy named Nazem Kadri, who's coming off an 87-point regular season and is averaging a point per game in the playoffs. 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. Their top defensive pairings of Noah Hanifin and Rasmus Andersson along with Chris Tanev and Oliver Kylington have been outstanding. The conference final round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs is upon us. The NHL is an exciting sport to wager on and there are plenty of opportunities for wins during the bumper . Emily Kaplan: Lightning in seven But he's expected to miss a few games in the first round due to a lower-body injury. 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.) They're not the Maple Leafs or the Panthers, crushed by the weight of expectations and entitlement. Stanley Cup Playoffs second-round predictions NHL.com staff members make their picks for four series Campbell-Pascall: Flames in six Kevin Weekes: Lightning in seven Steve Levy: Panthers 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). Lessons from Round 1 . Tortorella: Flames in six Well, unless it's because of their opponents' goaltending. Listen here . Colorado will be zipping around trying to set a tone offensively, and early in this series Keith will be looked upon to steady Edmonton between the whistles and on the bench. NHL trade grades: Kings make smart additions in Gavrikov, Korpisalo, NHL trade tracker: Latest deals, rumors and grades, Capitals send Eller to Avs for second-round pick, Kings deal Cup-winning G Quick to Blue Jackets, Rangers clear hurdles, get Kane from Blackhawks, Oilers bulk up defense, secure Predators' Ekholm, Leafs win Schenn sweepstakes, trade for veteran, Leafs deal Sandin to Capitals for Gustafsson, pick, Wild add depth, acquire Johansson from Capitals, Chasing history in Boston: The numbers behind the Bruins' wild 2022-23 season, McDavid, then who? He's the kind of player to watch with your head on a swivel. We just didn't go away. The 2022-23 NHL regular season is currently at its midpoint, but it's never too early to start thinking about playoffs. John Tortorella: Panthers in seven Lawrence-Riddell: Flames in seven They're tremendous on the power play, as Carolina witnessed. Why Rangers-Lightning, Avs-Oilers demand your attention, Wyshynski's NHL trade deadline tiers: From elite game-changers to bargain beauties, NHL trade deadline guides for all 32 teams: Players, picks in play, cap space, team status. Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are one of the NHL's most dynamic offensive duos. 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. Why not Dallas? There's an enviable level of top-end talent, but the balanced depth is really what the Avalanche have displayed in the postseason. The edge, though, probably belongs to Edmonton. While the 29-year-old is still producing at a steady clip with 54 points in 59 games (he tallied a career-high 99 points last season . Calgary vs. Dallas: Flames in five. Bold prediction: The Avalanche flip the season script, struggling to score in the early going of the playoffs and relying on team defense to step up and move them along. What do the Stars have to lose? A rundown of 1 to 8 in all four divisions, plus the 16-team postseason field for this upcoming season. And that was against the two best offensive teams in the regular season. After a bumpy road through February and most of March, the Blues caught fire into April and have been unstoppable of late. In fact, even as he has gotten better as the playoffs have continued -- playing through jitters in the first round that included two games he didn't complete in Pittsburgh -- he has yet to pitch a shutout. Leah Hextall: Panthers in seven The Oilers bought into playing good defense, stuck to their structure and chipped away at Quick until they broke through. Players, coaches, execs vote for NHL's top centers, NHL Power Rankings: Checking in on each team's 25-and-under core, Lineup picks, matchups, start or sit advice for Wednesday, McAvoy scores in OT, Bruins beat Flames for 8th win a row, Gaudreau scores in shootout, Wild beat Islanders 2-1, Geekie ends drought with 2 goals, Kraken beat Blues 5-3, Robinson scores 3 goals in Blue Jackets' 5-3 win over Sabres, 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs: Highlights and analysis from the entire postseason, Wyshynski: My Stanley Cup playoffs bracket, Ranking NHL players who need a Stanley Cup, last two games of the season with a lower-body injury. He battled back and won a Game 7. This series against Colorado could see each team's top talents canceling each other out. 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. This series projects to trend more toward what Edmonton just experienced, with the potential for larger momentum swings and opportunity to generate offense. At 29-31, they . Biggest flaw(s): Defense, and goaltending. If Edmonton can do that again in the conference finals, Colorado's march to the Cup finals will be severely impeded -- and perhaps derailed. Since being acquired at the trade deadline, the former Blackhawks winger hasn't produced. Fantasy hockey owners can expect this to continue, which could be massive this coming week. We crunch the numbers, analyze the data, and provide the best free NHL expert picks each and every day. 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. Rush to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Not enough has been made of the Blues. There's a real calmness that the Lightning have in the toughest moments, a constant belief in their ability to weather any storm. Players, coaches, execs vote for NHL's top centers, NHL Power Rankings: Checking in on each team's 25-and-under core, Lineup picks, matchups, start or sit advice for Wednesday, McAvoy scores in OT, Bruins beat Flames for 8th win a row, Gaudreau scores in shootout, Wild beat Islanders 2-1, Geekie ends drought with 2 goals, Kraken beat Blues 5-3, Robinson scores 3 goals in Blue Jackets' 5-3 win over Sabres, What the remaining Stanley Cup contenders learned in Round 1, Why the Avalanche are the NHL's postseason juggernaut, 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs: Highlights and analysis from the entire postseason, 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. The Oilers are more resilient than some observers previously thought. Don La Greca: Panthers in seven Unlike the other two teams on this list, the Portland Trail Blazers are currently on the outside looking in. 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. The Avalanche have an excellent power play (34.5%) but weaker penalty kill (73.1%). How will the Rangers handle Nikita Kucherov? Now, does that reflect a deficiency in Kuemper's game? Toronto can't hide from its ugly postseason past. 2022 NHL playoff fantasy hockey pool guide: Favorites, sleepers and busts. The Stars' first line might be its superpower, but this lineup can offer a lot more than that. We're down to the final four teams of the 2021-22 NHL season. Buccigross: Hurricanes in seven The All-Star Game and the Stadium Series will be on ABC, and ESPN will have the All-Star Skills Competition. 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. Then, of course, there's the personnel. While it's desirable to have the top-end talent Colorado does, it's often the unheralded players who pick up the playoff slack. Jump to a team: Wyshynski: My Stanley Cup playoffs bracket. 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. Case for a Stanley Cup run: Boston can be a tough team to play against. Mika Zibanejad led the way with three points. Both stood out late in the second round with an individual highlight performance (MacKinnon with his Game 5 hat trick, McDavid with the overtime game-winner in his own Game 5). by Fantasy Hockey Staff @NHLFantasy. Orchestrating all of it is coach Rod Brind'Amour, for whom the players would skate through a wall. So if there's room for improvement anywhere, it's from some of the Oilers' second- and third-line skaters like Warren Foegele, Ryan McLeod, Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi. The Eastern Conference finals series is on ESPN and ESPN+, while the Stanley Cup Final will be on ABC and ESPN+. Andrei Vasilevskiy is one of the greatest postseason goaltenders in NHL history. NHL playoff bracket 2022: Full schedule, TV channels, scores for postseason | Sporting News Canada -156 BUF -175 LAK -127 Thu, 7:30p CAR DET CHI 2/26, 11:00a NYI WIN 2/26, 12:30p LAK NYR. 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. Let's key on Mikko Rantanen. When Jonathan Quick repeatedly slammed the door in the first-round series, Edmonton didn't panic. Matiash: Flames in seven There's a lot we already knew about the Lightning after back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, from their ability to win in a variety of ways to their efficiency in elimination games. But I have a lot of faith in Shesty," he said. If defense wins championships (and history suggests it's a big factor), the Bruins should be feared by any opponent. NHL.com staff members have made their predictions for the Stanley Cup First Round and Playoffs, and most believe the Honda West Division representative will win it all. 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. 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. If he makes it back, Jarry still has to demonstrate his postseason prowess after flopping against the Islanders in their 2021 series. We just don't go away, regardless of the score and regardless of where the game is. Expect more great performances from him. Editor's Picks. With the 2023 All-Star Game and skills competition approaching on Feb. 3-4, we turn our focus to the collective bold predictions from our ESPN hockey family. The Igor Shesterkin that we saw during Round 1 is not the Igor Shesterkin that the Lightning are going to see. Knight: Avalanche in seven He relieves pressure in Edmonton's end, makes smart plays up the ice and is a natural leader from whom few words are required -- but there's no doubt Keith has a "big voice" in the Oilers' room, according to teammates. As Crosby said recently: "I think you try to enjoy it as much as you can and try to take it all in because you know that it's not going to last forever. They were third in expected goals against and fourth in expected goals for per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 this season. The 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs begin Monday night on the networks of ESPN, . Weekes: Rangers in seven 16 teams will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Biggest flaw(s): Depth scoring has been an issue for the Stars. The Avs' Norris Trophy finalist defenseman projects to draw Edmonton's toughest matchups, and as the Oilers proved against Calgary, its top line is tough to contain. Igor Shesterkin led the NHL in save percentage and goals saved above average, carrying the Rangers for the first two-thirds of the season as New York was near the bottom of the league in even-strength analytics. The Rangers had their share of breaks. Those types of intangibles are impossible to quantify in the unknowable season ahead. 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