Stanley Cup Playoffs: First Round Review & Second Round Preview

This may have been one of the most exciting first rounds we've seen in a long time. All but one of the eight matchups in this opening round went at least six games and five of them needed a Game 7. There were some surprise individual performances from the forwards and defensemen, but it was the goaltending situations for some teams that became the talk of the town. Several backups and third-string goalies saw time in several series. There were also very few series that had consecutive tight games. The offenses came out to play as the playoffs kicked off and it made for some entertaining television. I tried to watch as much as I could every night because there were four games almost every night. The NHL has become can't miss television in the first two weeks, so here's what happened. 

Florida Panthers defeat the Washington Capitals, 4-2

The headline is going to read that the Florida Panthers won their first postseason series since winning the Eastern Conference Final in 1996. What would be misleading about that headline is just how hard it was for the Panthers to do it. Despite being the second Wild Card team, the Washington Capitals didn't lay down because the team opposite them had more points than they did. The series opened in Sunrise, but it was the Capitals that took control of the series in Game 1. Tom Wilson brought things into perspective with an early power play goal in the first period and though the Panthers would own a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes, Washington scored three unanswered in the third period to stun the Panthers' crowd and take the opening win in the series. Florida answered with a resounding 5-1 win in Game 2, chasing Vitek Vanecek after two periods and five goals allowed to ensure a split before heading to Washington. It looked like Florida was going to continue that momentum into the nation's capital with an early goal on Ilya Samsonov in his first action, but he'd go on to stop 29 shots and Washington would score six unanswered to one-up the Panthers and take back the series lead. This loss seemed to trigger something in the Panthers because we saw a new team in the next three games. They overcame a 2-1 deficit late in the third period to force overtime before Carter Verhaeghe scored his second of the night to even the series again in Game 4. Verhaeghe followed that overtime winner with the game of his life in Game 5. After Washington jumped out to a 3-0 lead, the Panthers would score five straight, including two goals and three assists from Verhaeghe to put the Panthers up in a series for the first time in 26 years. The Panthers would need to go on the road to get the job done in Game 6. They held a late lead, but a penalty in the final two minutes allowed TJ Oshie to tie things up with just over one minute remaining to force the second overtime game of the series, and just like Game 4, it was Verhaeghe that would be the hero of the night as he sent the Panthers to the second round. His performance in the first round broke several records for the Panthers franchise, notching six goals (tied for the most in the series) and 12 points in the six games. Deadline acquisition Claude Giroux was also a major factor in the series, adding seven points, Oshie's six goals and seven points led the Capitals, and though Alex Ovechkin only scored once, his six points were tied for second with Nicklas Backstrom. It's another early exit for the Capitals, their fourth straight since winning the Stanley Cup in 2018. It was an adventure for the Panthers, but they got some huge performances from some unlikely names to get them into the second round. 

Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3

All joking aside about how the Leafs can't win a playoff series, I was really hoping they'd pull it off in Game 7. I picked the Lightning to win the series in seven, but I wanted to be wrong about it. This was the most intriguing matchup in the Eastern Conference to me coming into the playoffs and it delivered a lot of offense. The level of offense, while not surprising based on the players that were in this series, came at the expense of two very good goalies. Things were violent early in Game 1 with Kyle Clifford being shown the door seven minutes into the game for a bad hit. There was also a major skirmish in the third period that resulted in a combined 58 penalty minutes between the two teams and four misconduct penalties. Outside of the physical nature of the game, things couldn't have started any better for Toronto in this series. Holding home ice against the defending champions, Auston Matthews scored twice and Jack Campbell stopped all 24 shots he faced to win 5-0. Tampa Bay bounced right back with a 5-3 behind Victor Hedman's four points in a game that wasn't as close as the final score would indicate. Toronto regained the series lead with a 5-2 win as the series moved to Florida, but Tampa Bay came back two days later and put five goals on Campbell as he'd be pulled early in the second period. Eric Kallgren was thrown right into the middle of it and played well, but the three goals Toronto would score in the third period wouldn't be enough as the Lightning won 7-3 to even it back up. After four wild games, things got a lot tighter with the return to Toronto for Game 5. Tampa Bay scored twice in the first period and looked poised to take their first lead in the series. Toronto chipped away with a goal from John Tavares in the second period as they headed into the third period down just one goal. The Leafs came out on fire in the third period, getting goals from Morgan Reilly and William Nylander just over a minute apart early in the third period to take the lead. Ryan McDonagh didn't let the feeling last long as he tied it, but the Leafs would ultimately get the last laugh as Matthews buried a rebound on a 2-on-1 to give the Leafs the lead and the win in Game 5. With the win, Toronto had the chance to win the series in Tampa Bay and break the dreaded curse. The script read nearly identical in Game 6. Tampa Bay scored the first two goals of the game, including a sweet spinning goal short-handed by Anthony Cirelli. Toronto would come back and score the next three goals to carry a 3-2 lead into the third period after scoring twice in the final minute of the second. Nikita Kucherov would tie it on the power play in the third and overtime would be needed in this one for the first time in the series. The storybook ending wouldn't be finished in this one as Brayden Point would squeeze a rebound past Campbell to send the series to a seventh game in Toronto. It would come down to a goaltending battle between Campbell and Andrei Vasilevskiy and the advantage would go to the Bolts as Nick Paul scored twice to earn the win in Game 7 and send the Leafs home early again. Most of us will remember this as another choke job by the Leafs, but they might have a legitimate gripe. Tavares had a goal disallowed after Justin Holl was called for interference as he set a pick that eventually led to Tavares' shot going in. I thought it was a penalty for sure, but it was a soft call that I can see being a serious source of controversy. At the end of the day, it's another exit in the first round by the Leafs, but the big guns showed up as Matthews and Marner combined for 17 points in the seven games. I'm not sure what to expect from them in the offseason, but my attention now turns to a rematch in the Battle of Florida between the Lightning and Panthers in the second round. 

Carolina Hurricanes defeat the Boston Bruins, 4-3

No series in the first round epitomized just how important home-ice advantage in the playoffs is more than this one did. As the Metropolitan Divison champions, the Hurricanes would get the honor of opening and closing this series in front of their fans. It's the only series where the home team won every game and up until Game 7, none of the games were particularly close. Both offenses waited a long time to get going in Game 1 so once Seth Jarvis deflected home the first goal, the floodgates opened as the Canes added one more before the end of the period, then outscored Boston 3-1 in the third period to win the opening game 5-1. Game 2 felt more like a boxing match than a hockey game, with the two teams combining for 46 penalty minutes. Early in the game, Antti Raanta was removed from the game after a collision with David Pastrnak, meaning Pyotr Kochetkov would be making his first appearance in the postseason in his young career. On the scoreboard, it was another big win for the Canes with Nino Niederreiter and Sebastian Aho scoring twice each to take a 2-0 series lead and give Kochetkov his first postseason win. The Canes had all the momentum in the world, but the series was shifting to Boston, and the Canes had to turn to the rookie again in Game 3. The Bruins would switch things up in the net as well, with Jeremy Swayman earning his first postseason start after Linus Ullmark took the loss in both games in Raleigh. Boston earned a measure of redemption by winning the special teams battle, scoring twice on the power play, and adding a short-handed goal to hand Kochetkov his first loss in the NHL in a 4-2 victory to get some life back. As well as the Canes played in Game 4 in the first period and a half, they shot themselves in the foot by taking way too many penalties in the second period. Down 2-1, Boston buried another power play goal to tie the game late in the second period, then scored yet another to open the third period as the Bruins scored three times to even the series in a 5-2 win, with Brad Marchand scoring twice in a five-point effort as Raanta returned to the net. Now Boston had all the momentum as the two teams returned to Raleigh. The Canes played no games and dominated the Bruins for 60 minutes, winning 5-1 behind a two-goal effort from Jarvis. Boston would force a Game 7 with another 5-2 win,  dominating the Canes the same way they'd been dominated two days prior. With the series going seven games, history was on the Canes' side. They hadn't lost a Game 7 since relocation, including a win over Boston in 2009. History would be on the Canes' side as they used home ice to their advantage with a tight 3-2 win as Max Domi had the game of his life with two goals and an assist. The Canes are now 6-0 in Game 7s, tying the NHL record for the longest winning streak in winner-take-all games. It also marked the first time they've beaten the Bruins in the postseason since that 2009 series. I think the better team won the series, but Marchand was impressive with his 11 points. The defensive duo of Jaccob Slavin and Tony DeAngelo led the Canes in points with eight each as four different Canes tied for the team lead with three goals. They've now won a series in all four postseason appearances since their decade-long drought and will now hold home-ice advantage for their second round series. 

New York Rangers defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3

Once this was all said and done, this had the same feeling as the 2014 second round series between the two teams. In that series, Pittsburgh owned a 3-1 lead heading into Game 5, but they'd go on to lose that series in seven games. While that is what happened here, the journey we took to see Pittsburgh blow another series lead was just as much fun. The Penguins were already going to be without their starting goalie Tristan Jarry to start the series, so it was on Casey DeSmith to hold the fort down. The longest game of the first round was played in New York in Game 1. The two teams were tied at the end of two periods and with no one scoring in the third period, things would head to overtime. One overtime wouldn't settle things and no one scored in the second overtime either, pushing the game over 100 minutes of play. During the second overtime, DeSmith would be forced to exit with a core injury that would keep him out for the rest of the series, bringing third-string goalie Louie Domingue into the action. He'd make 17 saves in relief and Evgeni Malkin would deflect home the winner to win in the first game. The Rangers would get the better of Domingue in Game 2, winning 5-2 after three-point nights from Artemi Panarin and Frank Vatrano. Games 3 and 4 shocked a lot of people because Igor Shesterkin had a tough time Evan Rodrigues and Jeff Carter scored twice each as the Rangers forced Shesterkin out of the game after the first period in a 7-4 win for the Penguins in Game 3. In Game 4, he lasted a little longer but was ultimately pulled before the third period after allowing six goals in 40 minutes as the Rangers dropped the game 7-2 and fell behind in the series 3-1. Games 5 and 6 can be paired together as well, but this time they would go in the Rangers' favor. In both games, the Penguins would take a 2-0 lead, only for the Rangers to score three straight and force the Penguins to tie the game late in the second period to begin the third period tied 3-3. In Game 5, Filip Chytil scored on the power play to give the Rangers a 4-3 lead and they'd add an empty-net goal to win 5-3 and keep their chances alive. In Game 6, Chris Kreider was the hero, scoring with just under 1:30 left in the game before Andrew Copp scored in the empty net to secure another 5-3 win to force Game 7. Prior to the game, it was announced that Tristan Jarry and Sidney Crosby, who'd missed Game 6, would be back in the lineup. The Rangers didn't wait for the Penguins to build a lead in Game 7. Kreider opened the scoring before Danton Heinen scored on the power play late in the first to tie things up after 20 minutes. Jake Guenzel scored his league-leading eighth goal just past the midway point of the second period on the power play to give Pittsburgh the lead, but K'Andre Miller would get a lucky bounce to tie it up over a minute later. Rodrigues would score short-handed on the backhand to restore the Penguins' lead with one period left before advancing. Things got slightly controversial late in the third period when Alex Lafreniere pulled off Marcus Pettersson's helmet behind the net before Mika Zibanejad finished off a beautiful pass to tie things up late in the third period and force overtime. In overtime, Artemi Panarin would get the final say by beating Jarry with a screen out front to overcome the series deficit and fight their way into the second round. Despite Shesterkin's struggles, the offense found a way to get the job done, led by the usual suspects. For Pittsburgh, it's a bitter pill to swallow after squandering three chances to finish off the Rangers. 

Colorado Avalanche defeat the Nashville Predators, 4-0

I texted my brother after Andrew Cogliano scored a short-handed goal in the first period of Game 1 to make it 3-0 that Colorado was going to sweep this series and that I'd never been more confident in a prediction. In my postseason preview, I picked Colorado in five because I felt like Nashville would find a way to steal a game. It almost happened in Game 2, but it never did. Colorado dominated three of the four games and the scoreboard reflected that in two of them. Nashville was already going to have a tough mountain to climb with their Vezina finalist goaltender Juuse Saros missing the start of the series. David Rittich was the man they turned to in Game 1 and it wasn't pretty. Colorado scored five times in the first period, forcing Rittich out before the end of the period to earn an easy 7-2 win. Connor Ingram, who finished Game 1 for Nashville, had his number called for Game 2 and was phenomenal. Colorado outshot Nashville by a heavy margin, but the score was tied at one after 60 minutes. It took overtime, but Cale Makar finished things to secure a 2-0 series lead despite 49 saves from Ingram. Game 3 was a return to form for Colorado and a rude awakening for Ingram as he allowed six goals in a 7-3 victory for the Avalanche. Nashville played their best game in Game 4 and they looked like they might extend this series. They led 3-2 early in the third period and had kept Colorado contained. The Avalanche responded with three unanswered goals, the winner coming from Valeri Nichushkin on a beautiful pass from Makar, to complete the sweep with a 5-3 victory. For a series that featured the two front-runners for the Norris, Makar easily outplayed Josi. Makar's seven assists and ten points were easily the most in the series for either team. Outside of Matt Duchene (3 goals), the stars of Nashville disappeared. Josi, Johansen, and Forsberg combined for two goals and three assists and were non-factors in all four games. Sweeping Nashville allowed Colorado a lot more time off than the rest of the teams that won in the first round and was the only series where the winner was never in doubt. 

St. Louis Blues defeat the Minnesota Wild, 4-2

Despite all his flaws, there's no denying that Jordan Binnington has his moments in the postseason. He started the series on the bench with Ville Husso and things started well for the Blues against Marc-Andre Fleury and the Wild. Husso faced and stopped 37 shots, including a penalty shot in the first period, while David Perron provided most of the offense with a hat trick in a 4-0 win for the Blues in Minnesota to open the round. Minnesota responded in a big way, putting five goals on Husso, as Kirill Kaprizov answered with a hat trick of his own in a 6-2 win for Minnesota to split the opening two before the series moved to St. Louis. For Game 3, Fleury put in his best performance of the series, stopping 29 shots to earn a 5-1 win and take the series lead. Head Coach Craig Berube made the decision to switch goalies, opting for Binnington to breathe new life into his team. I'd say his mission was accomplished. Game 4 would be one of the tighter games of the series. St Louis held a 3-1 lead through two periods, but Matt Boldy scored early in the third period to bring the Wild within one with plenty of time left. Binnington would shut the door and the Blues would add two late goals to even the series at two games apiece. Game 5 would start with a battle of the power plays in the first period with three goals scored, all on the man-advantage, and two of them from Kaprizov to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead going into the first break. From that point on, it was all St. Louis. Brandon Saad tied things up late in the second period and Vladimir Tarasenko completed a third period natural hat trick to give the Blues a decisive 5-2 win and a chance to come home and finish things. Minnesota opted for a goalie change of their own for Game 6, giving the start to Cam Talbot for the first time in the series. It didn't seem to help as St. Louis dominated wire-to-wire in front of the home fans to finish the series with a 5-1 win. Binnington finished the series with just four goals allowed in his three starts and looked like he did during their run to the Stanley Cup in 2019. The Blues featured a lethal three-headed monster of Perron (9 points), Tarasenko (8 points), and Ryan O'Reilly (6 points) in the series, scoring five goals each. Kaprizov did most of the Wild's damage, scoring seven of their 16 goals in the six games. Fleury seemed to disappear in a situation that he normally thrives in. The winner of the series already had the displeasure of facing the Colorado Avalanche in the second round. Now St. Louis gets to do it against a very well-rested Colorado team. 

Calgary Flames defeat the Dallas Stars, 4-3

Wire-to-wire, this was easily the closest series of the first round. Only one of the seven games was decided by more than two goals and neither team scored more than four goals in a game. Despite the offensive firepower in this series, everyone came out of this talking about the goaltending matchup between Vezina finalist Jacob Markstrom and Jake Oettinger, the surprise of the first round. Game 1 started exactly how we'd expected. Elias Lindholm scored early in the first period on the power play and he'd be the only player to breakthrough as Oettinger wouldn't allow another goal and Markstrom would finish with a shutout after facing just 16 shots to earn a 1-0 win and series lead. The second verse was the same as the first, but the shoe would be on the other foot. Joe Pavelski gave Dallas their first lead of the series in the first period and they'd add an empty-net goal as Oettinger responded with a shutout of his own, stopping all 29 shots he faced to win 2-0 and tie the series. Things picked up a bit in Game 3. The animosity between the two presented itself in the first period and both teams managed to score a lot more too. The game was tied 2-2 through 40 minutes before Pavelski netted his second of the game on a rebound and Roope Hintz scored into the empty net to win 4-2 and take the series lead. Game 4 was another tight battle, with Rasmus Andersson scoring the only goal through 40 minutes. The difference in the game would be a penalty shot by Johnny Gaudreau. He made a beautiful move to open up Oettinger and beat him five-hole to give the Flames a two-goal lead that they would build upon to even the series with a 4-2 win. Dallas held the lead through two periods in Game 5 thanks to Jason Robertson, but Calgary rattled off three unanswered goals to put Dallas on the brink of elimination with a 3-1 win back in the Saddledome. The Stars fought for their playoff lives back in front of their home fans jumping out to a 2-0 lead just over six minutes into the second period. Despite giving the two goals back, Miro Heiskanen would score the deciding goal late in the second period and Oettinger would hold the lead as Dallas forced another Game 7 in the first round with a 4-2 victory. Game 7 would prove to be a star-making performance for Oettinger, even with his team dropping the decision. He stopped 64 of the 67 shots that he faced, but the final shot was a tough-angle shot from Gaudreau that somehow got through the Stars' goalie as the Flames would survive the fight from the Stars to advance to the second round. It's a shame the Stars couldn't find a way to get the job done in overtime to pull off the upset because Oettinger single-handily kept them in the final game. For as much talk as Oettinger has received, Markstrom deserves just as much praise. He played an incredible series and was arguably the best goalie on any team in the first round. Without him, the Flames lose this series because they struggled to score on Oettinger. Dallas has a great team to look forward to next season, but Calgary was the better team this time around. 

Edmonton Oilers defeat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-3

I think most of us owe Los Angeles an apology for thinking they wouldn't do anything in this series. I had Edmonton in five games and thought the Kings wouldn't be able to do anything without Brew Doughty in the lineup. Instead, they took the Oilers to the brink and while they didn't win the series, they gained some respect from me. The Kings set the tone early in Game 1, scoring the first two goals before Connor McDavid scored right before the end of the first period. The Oilers would tie it on the power play early in the period, but Brendan Lemieux would give Los Angeles the lead soon after. Leon Draisaitl struck on the power play to tie it again going into the third period and it would be Phillip Danault that would be the hero, deflecting a shot past Mike Smith after he made a very bad play with the puck to cost the Oilers the first game to everyone's surprise. Smith and the Oilers responded hugely in Games 2 and 3, scoring 14 goals in two games to take a series lead with 6-0 and 8-2 wins. Evander Kane scored five times in the two games, including a hat trick in Game 3 as the Oilers looked poised to run away with this series. With Edmonton taking the first game in Los Angeles, the Kings defended their barn perfectly in Game 4, holding the Oilers to 31 shots as Jonathan Quick shut the door to even the series with a 4-0 win. Los Angeles knew they controlled the series as they moved back to Edmonton and they looked poised to take a 3-2 lead in the series by jumping out to a 3-1 lead through two periods in Game 5. Special teams would take over in the third period. McDavid cut the lead to one with a power play goal, but Danault responded for the Kings with one of his own to restore the two-goal lead with 8:54 left after Ryan McLeod was called for a high-sticking double-minor. On the back end of the four-minute penalty, Draisaitl would bury a short-handed goal to make it 4-3, then notched the third power play goal of the period with 4:52 left. No one would score to force regulation, but it didn't take long to find a winner. Just 1:12 into the overtime session, Adrian Kempe beat Smith to put the Oilers on the brink as the series headed back to Los Angeles. Kane and McDavid wouldn't allow the Oilers to go down without a fight. Each guy would finish Game 6 with three points, combining for three of the team's four goals as they forced a Game 7 back in Edmonton with a 4-2 win. In a series that had seen some major offensive outbursts, it was fitting that it would all come down to goaltending. Both Smith and Quick were perfect midway through the second period, but Cody Ceci put the first crack in the armor with a wicked wrister with 6:45 left in the period to break the tie after a great pass from McDavid. The Kings pushed back against Smith in the third period, throwing everything they could at the veteran. While Smith stood his ground, McDavid found a way to get a second goal through Quick with just under four minutes left in the game to put the dagger in the Kings' season as the buzzer would sound and the Oilers would advance after a 29-save shutout from Smith. McDavid finished the series with a league-leading 14 points, while Smith had two shutouts and a sparkling .938 save percentage. This would mark the final series for Dustin Brown, who'd announced his plans to retire at the end of the season. Edmonton won a series for just the second time with McDavid and Draisaitl and each was a huge reason for the team's success in the first round. 

Second Round Preview

I don't want to brag, but I was a perfect eight-for-eight in picking the series winners in the first round, though it only guessed one winner in the correct number of games. Since all four of my matchups for the second round are the same, I won't spend too much time on them because I've talked about them in length during my predictions for the entire playoffs before the first round began. 

Florida Panthers v. Tampa Bay Lightning

Florida's Biggest Question- Can Bobrobsky outplay Vasilevskiy for an entire series?

The resurgent season of Sergi Bobrovsky is a huge reason why the Panthers were able to thrive in the regular season and he played well for most of the series against Washington. Opposite of him is the one goalie in the league I would trust with my life after a loss or in a series-deciding game, Andrei Vasilevskiy. The offense is already going to have a tough time scoring on the Bolts' goalie, so he's going to need to be even better if the Panthers want to make it to the conference finals. 

Tampa Bay's Biggest Question- How serious is Point's injury and how much will it impact the offense?

Brayden Point has already been announced to miss Game 1 with the same injury he sustain in the second period of Game 7 against Toronto that kept him out of the final two periods. He's a big part of the offense, so being out awhile could have a serious impact on the Bolts' ability to score in this series. Add that Nikita Kucherov might not be playing at 100%, so it could be up to Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman to keep things moving. 

My Prediction- It's extremely tempting to reverse course and pick the two-time defending champs in this round. They've proven it time after time that they are a clutch team. As tempting as it is, I'm sticking with my original pick of the Florida Panthers. I think either team could realistically win this series, but I'm pulling for a new champion this season and that means Tampa Bay needs to be defeated. Florida over Tampa Bay in seven games

Carolina Hurricanes v. New York Rangers/Pittsburgh Penguins

Carolina's Biggest Question- Can they win a game on the road?

As good as they were at home during their series with Boston, they were a completely different team on the road. The Bruins outscored them 14-5 in the three games in Boston and the Bruins' power play felt like it couldn't miss. I don't doubt they can win at home, but they'll need to win on the road because counting on them to win a series exactly like they did with Boston is going to be a tough task to repeat against the Rangers.

New York's Biggest Question- Can Shesterkin be the Hart, Vezina nominee he wasn't in the first round?

Igor Shesterkin is going to win the Vezina this season and might even be a unanimous selection, but he didn't look great for most of the series against Pittsburgh. He was pulled in both Game 3 and Game 4 and while he won the final three games, he let in some goals that I wouldn't expect him to in all three of those games. While he struggled, he might ride the three-game win streak into the second round and play lights out. 

My Prediction- These two played four excellent games this season and they were all pretty tight. The final two meetings in New York were especially close. The Canes got a lot of depth scoring in their series win over Boston and I think that's an area they're superior to the Rangers in. The Canes' other big question is going to be who the goalie is going to be for this series with Frederik Andersen's status in limbo. I'd expect to see Antti Raanta to start with opposite Shesterkin. I'm holding steady with Canes in this series to muscle another close battle out. Carolina over New York in seven games

Colorado Avalanche v. St. Louis Blues

Colorado's Biggest Question- Will the long layoff between series be a problem to start?

The Avalanche were the only team to need less than six games to win in the first round, sweeping the Nashville Predators in four. They've been off for awhile, which means they've been able to rest, but it'll be interesting to see if that rest wasn't that helpful. The Blues played in a far more competitive series, so they'll come in more battle-tested than Colorado, which could be present in Game 1. 

St. Louis' Biggest Question- Will the Blues have an answer for Colorado's firepower?

The Blues have some excellent young players and natural goal-scorers, but they're going up against a completely different phenomena in the second round. For as good as St. Louis is, they're facing easily the best team in the league in the second round. They didn't defend well against Kirill Kaprizov in the first round and now they're going up against an entire team of Kaprizov's and will need to beat them four times. 

My Prediction- This is going to be a fun series and could see a lot of goals. St. Louis is going to be looking for retribution after the thumping they received last season in the first round. Colorado has just as much to prove, looking to make it past the second round for the first time since 2001-02. This is usually the point in the season where they choke everything away. This year they need to prove that this season is different. This isn't going to be the cake walk that Nashville was in the first round, but this feels like the year the Avalanche turn things around. Colorado over St. Louis in six games

Calgary Flames/Dallas Stars v. Edmonton Oilers

Calgary's Biggest Question- Can Markstrom get some support while playing like he did against Dallas?

Jacob Markstrom is one of the only reasons the Flames were able to survive their series against Jake Oettinger and the Dallas Stars. They outscored the Stars just 15-14 in the seven games, but Markstrom only allowed 11, compared to Oettinger's 13. Without their Vezina finalist standing on his head for two weeks, Calgary would be sitting at home right, so he'll need more help against a high-octane Edmonton offense.

Edmonton's Biggest Question- Do they have enough scoring outside of McDavid, Draisaitl, and Kane?

In their seven-game triumph over the Los Angeles Kings, the three-headed monster for Edmonton combined for 16 of the team's 27 goals (59.5%) and 32 of their 72 total points (44.4%). They were a majority of the offense, which might win games in the regular season, but it isn't sustainable for four rounds. They're going to need to get scoring from everywhere against one of the best defensive teams in the league. 

My Prediction- The Battle of Alberta saw some crazy games this season and now we're guaranteed to get anywhere from four to seven games over the next two weeks. Someone might die in this series. While that's admittedly a stretch it doesn't mean we should expect a friendly affair either. This feels more like a battle between Edmonton's offense against Calgary's defense than it does a series against two teams. I'm expecting carnage and I'm here for it. Edmonton over Calgary in seven games