Stanley Cup Playoffs: Second Round Review & Conference Finals Preview

Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Florida Panthers, 4-0

I read a tweet after Game 4 ended that the Panthers played this series like they won their first series in 26 years and didn't know what to do next. While it's a bit of an oversimplification, they didn't look like they could do anything against the Lightning for four games and that's thanks in large part to the man in the net. The Panthers' offense disappeared and it led to the series being a wash. Florida actually led Game 1 after the first period, getting a goal from Anthony Duclair, to make everyone optimistic the Panthers could actually do it. That feeling didn't last very long as the power play of the Bolts came to play in the final 40 minutes. They converted three times and Andrei Vasilevskiy didn't allow another goal to give the Lightning a 4-1 win to take the lead on the road. Game 2 was Florida's best chance to win a game in hindsight. Tampa's power play got another goal in the first period, but Eetu Luostarinen responded in the second period and neither team wanted to break in the third period, so it looked like they were headed to overtime. They got so close to playing another period until Nikita Kucherov made an excellent pass from behind the net to a wide-open Ross Colton and he roofed it on Sergei Bobrovsky with 3.8 seconds left in the third period to steal a 2-0 lead in the series going back home. Game 3 was competitive for 20 minutes, with both teams scoring, highlighted by a goal on the power play from Sam Bennett to break Florida's 0-25 streak to start the postseason. From the second period onward, Tampa Bay was in control, scoring four unanswered to win 5-1 and put a stranglehold on the series. The Panthers had to put it all on the line in Game 4 to keep their season alive and they got some help from a couple of reviews to take goals off the board in the second period to keep the game scoreless through 40 minutes. For everything that Bobrovsky did to keep this game scoreless, Vasilevskiy had to work even harder. It would eventually be the Panthers that cracked first as Pat Maroon scored early in the third period to get Tampa on the board. Vasilevskiy continued to stand on his head, Ondrej Palat added an empty-net goal, and the Bolts secured their tenth consecutive series win and a third consecutive trip to the Eastern Conference Final. Vasilevskiy allowed just three goals in four games and the Panthers' stars disappeared. Jonathan Huberdeau had two assists, the only player to finish with multiple points for Florida, Aleksander Barkov had just one assist, and Carter Verhaeghe was held scoreless after finishing with 12 points in the first round. Nikita Kucherov led the Bolts with seven points, while Corey Perry scored in the first three games. Tampa Bay did all of this without Brayden Point as he continued to heal from an injury he sustained in Game 7 against Toronto. Bobrovsky deserved better than the support he got in this series. He was the best player on the ice for Florida and he got no help from his offense. Tampa Bay looks unstoppable right now, so I feel bad for whichever team makes it out of the Metropolitan series. 

New York Rangers defeat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-3

This one hurts me to talk about as a Hurricanes fan, but I will be as objective as possible, I promise. The Rangers proved in Games 6 and 7 why they deserved to win this series and that might undersell how well in the five games they played before that as well. Games 1 and 2 in Raleigh were both close affairs. Igor Shesterkin was putting on a show in Game 1 and Filip Chytil scored early in the first period to hold the Canes scoreless through two periods by dominating in all three zones. The Canes flipped a switch in the third period and played their best period of the night, but they couldn't get anything through Shesterkin. They finally put it all together with Sebastian Aho picking up his own rebound with 2:23 left in the third period to force overtime. In extra time, Ian Cole played the hero as he turned around a fired a shot that deflected off a Rangers' stick and past Shesterkin to secure the Game 1 win. Game 2 was far more dominant for the Canes. Defensively, the Canes put a stranglehold on the Rangers' offense, Brendan Smith scored a goal short-handed, Aho added the empty-net goal, and Antti Raanta completed a 21-save shutout to stake the Canes to a 2-0 lead. Despite the lead, the ghosts of the first round would rear their ugly heads as the series moved to New York. The Rangers jumped out to a 2-0 lead and though Nino Niederreiter tried to get the Canes back into it, the Rangers would hold on as Shesterkin made 43 saves to get the Rangers their first win in the series. Game 4 was much of the same. New York scored three times in the first two periods and though the Canes would again break the shutout, this time thanks to Teuvo Teravainen, the Rangers would add another and win the game 4-1 to even the series. Special teams ruled Game 5 back in Raleigh. Vincent Trocheck scored the Canes' second short-handed goal of the series, but Mika Zibanejad responded on the power play shortly after. Teravainen added his second of the series with a goal on the power play to regain the lead and Andrei Svechnikov finished one on a breakaway in the third period to win the game and put the Canes on the brink of another Eastern Conference Final. While they were a perfect 7-0 to this point in the postseason, they'd been held winless on the road at 0-5. Game 6 would ultimately prove to be the turning point in the series, though we wouldn't find that out for another few days. The Rangers put three on Raanta in the first 23:24 of the game, forcing Rod Brind'Amour to turn to Pyotr Kochetkov to finish things out. The Canes would get on the board after Brady Skjei scored his first of the postseason, but the Rangers with Chytil's second of the night. Trocheck then pulled the Canes back within two, but the Rangers would score the next two to take a 5-2 win, forcing Game 7 for the second straight round, and moving the Canes to 0-6 on the road, a new NHL record. Game 7 was over before it really got going. The Rangers scored two power play goals in the first period in the first eight minutes to suck all the life out of the arena. Seth Jarvis was knocked out of the game in the first period thanks to a hit from Jacob Trouba that resulted in Jarvis getting a concussion, but the biggest injury of the night came in the second period when Raanta went down with a groin injury. With Kochetkov back in the net, the Rangers scored three times and added an empty-net goal and though the Canes did score twice in the third period, their undefeated run at home was finished as the Rangers prevailed 6-2 to advance to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2015. Zibanejad tied Adam Fox with eight points in the series while tying Chytil with four goals to lead all skaters. Aho led the Canes with six points and Trocheck scored three goals to top the team. The real story was the goaltending battle of Shesterkin and Raanta, with both posting excellent numbers, but the eventual Vezina winner played better through the seven-game tilt to propel his team to victory. 

Colorado Avalanche defeat the St. Louis Blues, 4-2

This series produced a lot of surprising storylines with each passing game. Most of those headlines were off the ice and featured issues that don't belong in the sport involving racism and bigotry. At the end of the day, racism will never win because this is just a game, no matter how bad you want your team to win. The Blues were coming off a strong series victory over the Wild in the first round, but they were getting a well-rested team in Colorado after they finished a sweep of Nashville. Game 1 was a tight affair with the Blues opening the scoring in the first period, Colorado scoring twice in the second to take the lead, then Jordan Kyrou scoring on the power play late in the third period to force overtime. Josh Manson was the difference-maker in overtime, scoring through traffic to earn a huge win to open the series. Games 2 was all about the effort of Binnington and a timely goal late in the second period from David Perron. After playing a scoreless first period, Kyrou opened the scoring early in the second period and Perron added to the lead in the final minute of the period and it felt like that was going to be it. While Binnington didn't hold onto the shutout, he stopped 30 shots and allowed just the one goal as the Blues evened the series to grab momentum before heading to St. Louis. The temperature of the series was turned up in Game 3. Just over 1:30 into the first period, Samuel Girard took a brutal hit into the boards that later turned out to be a broken sternum as he was knocked out for the rest of the postseason. After Colton Parayko made it 1-0, there was a collision involving Kadri, Binnington, and Calle Rosen in the crease that resulted in the Binnington being removed from the game as well as the rest of the series. A cold Ville Husso was forced into action after being benched in the first round. It wouldn't be a welcome return to the crease for Husso as the Avalanche scored four times and added an empty-net goal to win Game 3, 5-2. After the game, it was revealed that Kadri was sent racist messages and that was the central focus of Game 4. The fans in St. Louis booed him every time he got the puck, but that didn't seem to faze him. While Perron got the Blues on the board for the lone goal in the first period, the Avalanche responded hugely. Erik Johnson got the Avs on the board, then Kadri got one, much to the chagrin of the fans, and Devon Toews added a goal 19 seconds later. With the 3-1 lead, there was a violent altercation between Kadri, Perron, and Pavel Buchnevich that resulted in the two Blues being sent to the box. While the Avs didn't score on the power play, Kadri scored shortly after it ended for his second of the night and avoided a flying elbow from Perron, who'd just left the box. Though the Blues would score twice on the power play, Kadri would complete his hat trick in the third period and Mikko Rantanen would put the game away to put the Avs on the brink of advancing to the Conference Final for the first time in a long time. This time around, it was Colorado that came out flying. Nathan MacKinnon scored twice in the first period and Gabriel Landeskog scored in the second period to open up a 3-0 lead. The Blues would erase the lead with three unanswered before MacKinnon completed his hat trick with a beautiful goal that looked like it had ended the series. The Blues fought back to tie it late, forcing overtime, before Tyler Bozak played an unlikely hero to force Game 6 back in St. Louis. The teams traded goals in Game 6, with Colorado tying it on the power play midway through the third period. The game looked destined for a third overtime game, but Darren Helm slapped one past Husso with 5.8 seconds left in the third to ultimately secure the series win for Colorado as they advanced to the Western Conference Final.

Edmonton Oilers defeat the Calgary Flames, 4-1

This might've been one of the most unbelievable series I've watched in a very long time. It'd been forever since the Battle of Alberta had been contested in the postseason and it didn't disappoint this time around. Game 1 couldn't have started worse for the Edmonton Oilers. Mike Smith allowed three goals in the first 6:05 of the first period and he got a quick hook as Mikko Koskinen took over. While the Oilers would get a goal back to make it 3-1 before the end of the period, Calgary opened the second period with two more goals to make it 5-1 and while Evan Bouchard would make it 5-2, Matthew Tkachuk responded with a goal on the power play to regain the four-goal lead. While the Oilers looked like they were done to those of us watching, the men on the ice decided they still had some life in them. Zach Hyman would score twice and Leon Draisaitl scored in the final minute of the second period to make it 6-5 heading into the third with a ton of momentum. Kailer Yamamoto completed the comeback with the tying goal early in the period to tie it and leave all of us in shock. The Flames had squandered the lead, but there was still plenty of time left. Rasmus Andersson broke the tie and Tkachuk scored two more times to complete the hat trick as the Flames escaped Game 1 with a 9-6 win. The temperature was amplified in Game 2 and the Flames started the same way as Game 1. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first seven minutes and led 3-1 early in the second period. This time, Edmonton's response was more prominent and would be permanent. Connor McDavid brought them within one and Bouchard tied it on the power play to knot things at three going into the third period. The Oilers would capitalize on two breakaway chances on Jacob Markstrom to eventually win the game 5-3 to even the series. Game 3 was a story of two men for the Oilers. The game started slow, remaining scoreless through the first period, but Edmonton opened the flood gates with four goals in the second period, including a natural hat trick for Evander Kane. The story then focused on Mike Smith, who was holding the Flames scoreless through two periods. Just about midway through the third, Smith was run into by Milan Lucic and went into the boards hard. There's a lot of debate about whether it was intentional and it forced Smith to the locker room and into concussion protocol amid a shutout. He wouldn't be gone for long, missing only 4:15 of the period, as he walked down the tunnel like the Terminator to return to the game. While he didn't hold the shutout, he'd allow just one goal as the Oilers took the series lead by defending home ice. Edmonton reversed the roles in Game 4, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first period before Calgary mounted a serious comeback. They scored twice in the second period to get within one goal, but it was the tying goal in the third period that got people talking. While on the penalty kill, Andersson slapped the puck over 140 feet down the ice and onto the net. Smith never saw the puck and it beat him to tie the game on one of the wackiest goals ever. The Oilers wouldn't hang their heads and would score twice to close things out to put the Flames on the brink of elimination with another 5-3 win. Game 5 was just as fun as Game 1. After just one goal in the first period, the teams combined for seven goals, including four in a record 77 seconds, to enter the third period tied at four. No one scored in the third period to force overtime for the first time in the series. It didn't take long to find a winner as McDavid beat Markstrom to win the game and send the Flames on an early vacation. While we all expected to see some offense, it'd be an understatement to say this was a terrible series for Markstrom. Draisaitl led the series with 15 assists and 17 points in the five games, while McDavid finished with 12. The series win gets Edmonton to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2006 when they lost in the Stanley Cup Final to Carolina. 

Conference Finals Preview

My record in the second round was 2-2 after being perfect in the first round. I guessed wrong on both series in the East, though I did predict the Hurricanes-Rangers series would go seven games. I did predict the Avalanche perfectly in six games over the Blues and correctly guessed the Oilers. In my preview for the conference finals, I want to talk about my biggest questions for each team as well as my predictions for each series. 

Eastern Conference Final

Tampa Bay Lightning v. New York Rangers

Tampa Bay's Biggest Questions

1. What is Point's status and can the Lightning survive two series without him?

I posed this question before the second round started, but Point missed all four games against Florida after sustaining his injury in Game 7 of the first round. His injury, a lower-body concern, didn't seem to phase the team at all as they swept the Panthers, but he could be extremely useful in a series against a team as good as the Rangers. If he were to make a return at some point in the first few games, he'd provide a major boost. 

2. Will they need to over-rely on their stars to get the job done?

The Lightning are a team that features a lot of star power, very similar to New York. They have superstars in all three aspects of the game, which means they're going to need to be huge to win their third straight conference final. This also means that it will take the entire group and can't just be about Kucherov, Stamkos, Hedman, and Vasilevskiy. Guys like Corey Perry, Ross Colton, and Nick Paul have had their moments this postseason and those are the guys that will need to be just as sharp to take down the Rangers. 

3. How much time off is too much time off?

Whenever we see a sweep, my mind immediately asks whether the time off is a good or a bad thing. I asked the same thing with Colorado after the first round. While it worked for the Avalanche, the Lightning are going to be playing a team that has been playing meaningful games for a week since the Lightning last played. Game 1 will be a huge indicator as to whether this time off will be good for the team or not. 

New York's Biggest Questions

1. Can they beat a #1 goalie in the playoffs?

Not to take anything away from the Rangers' road to the conference final, they've played one game against a #1 goalie in the league (Game 7 against Pittsburgh), and that one game was against Tristan Jarry coming off an injury. Not to say that DeSmith, Domingue, and Raanta aren't excellent goalies, but they aren't Andrei Vasilevskiy. They've struggled at times to score against the aforementioned goalies, so they've yet to prove they can be a goalie the caliber of the Tampa netminder. 

2. Will they be rested enough to face the Lightning?

The antithesis of the problem Tampa Bay is facing, the Rangers have played 14 games in the postseason and will only have one day of rest before they host Tampa Bay on Wednesday night. They've hardly had any downtime between either of their series and now they'll be in a battle with the toughest team they've faced to this point in the two-time defending champions. There will be no rest for the weary as they jump into the fire. 

3. Can Shesterkin go toe-to-toe with Vasilevskiy?

The most intriguing aspect of this battle is going to be the duel that we're bound to see between Shesterkin and Vasilevskiy in the nets. Vasilevskiy is the best postseason goalie in recent memory, while Shesterkin put together one of the best regular seasons a goalie has played in the last several years as he's bound to win the Vezina this season. Shesterkin hasn't proven himself to the level that Vasilevskiy has, so he'll need to be phenomenal for the Rangers to have a chance. 

My Prediction- The Rangers will come into this series with the edge from the regular season. The Rangers won all three meetings between the two, with Shesterkin winning all three starts, including a shutout, and allowing just four goals. Zibanejad recorded a hat trick and finished with four goals in the season set, while no Lightning player finished with more than two points. While this is the Rangers' first trip to the Eastern Conference Final since 2015, that series was against the Lightning. The Lightning prevailed in that series in seven games before losing in the Stanley Cup Final and this Lightning team features a lot of the same stars. While only Chris Kreider remains from the 2015 Rangers team, Stamkos, Kucherov, Hedman, Killorn, Palat, and Vasilevskiy were all on that team seven years ago that won, though Vasilevskiy was the back-up. That was then and this is now and this Rangers team is much different. As much as time has changed, the Lightning haven't. When the Lightning dismantle the Panthers the way that they did, I felt they were going to the Stanley Cup Final again. I think this team is as close to unstoppable as they have been in the last three years and will make it three in a row out of the Eastern Conference. Tampa Bay over New York in five games

Western Conference Final 

Colorado Avalanche v. Edmonton Oilers

Colorado's Biggest Questions

1. Do they have an answer for Edmonton's three-headed monster?

The Avalanche are not a team without their own stars, but the story of the second round was how dominant the trio of McDavid, Draisaitl, and Kane were against the Flames. They combined for ten goals and 35 points in five games and looked unbelievable. Colorado has an excellent defensive core, but this is going to be a herculean task. This will also be a major test for the forwards because they're likely to need to score a lot.

2. Has Kuemper proven himself to be reliable enough in these situations?

I want to clarify this by saying that Kuemper has played very well in the playoffs this season. Despite missing some games in the Nashville series, he came back and played well against St. Louis. This will be the first time he's playing in the conference finals in his career and it's for a team that hasn't played this late into the postseason in a long time. There is going to be a serious amount of pressure on him, both internally and externally to get Colorado to the Stanley Cup Final. 

3. Will they fall prey to the same thing that haunted Florida in the second round?

The Avalanche broke a long streak of losses before the conference finals with their six-game victory over St. Louis. It's very reminiscent of the way Florida broke their own losing streak in the postseason. Once Florida broke their losing streak, they came out and played flat in the second round against Tampa Bay. I wonder if this same problem will present itself for the Avalanche as well since this is uncharted territory for most of their stars.

Edmonton's Biggest Questions

1. Will they get enough depth scoring to counter the depth of the Avalanche?

During the Battle of Alberta, the focus was on the stars that I mentioned above. They actually saw some considerable support from guys like Zach Hyman (6 goals), Evan Bouchard (3 goals), and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (6 points). While it was good, the question is whether they'll be able to replicate this success against a team as deep as Colorado. I think the Avalanche have the best forward depth in the league and a strong defensive core, so the Oilers will need their third and fourth lines to step it up.

2. Which Mike Smith is going to show up?

Game 1 Mike Smith was far different from the Mike Smith we got for the rest of the series. He was forced out of the opening game in just minutes in Game 1 but led the Oilers to four straight wins, including an excellent performance in Game 3. He outplayed a Vezina candidate to go along with strong offensive production from the men in front of him. There's no doubt that Smith can get the job done, I'm just not sure whether Smith will be able to keep this up for another four wins. 

3. Can McDavid out-perform MacKinnon?

Much like the game in the Eastern Conference, there is a matchup we'll all be focused on. This time it's between the best player in the world and another that is generally considered to be in the top five. Both have been tearing it up in the postseason, but the eyes are obviously going to be on McDavid. I have no doubt that McDavid could end up with more points than MacKinnon, but it's whether he'll have a wider impact on the series than his counterpart on the Avalanche. 

My Prediction- There have been a lot of differing takes as to who would win this. My original pick was Colorado in five games when the postseason started, but this series is likely going to be a lot closer than I anticipated. As crazy as this sounds, this might come down to a goalie battle between Kuemper and Smith and which goalie will allow more goals with these two high-powered offenses. The depth of the Avalanche is going to be the biggest thing for the Oilers to counter with a forward group that is reliant on a handful of players to keep things moving. Colorado gets efforts from everyone and that's why I'm sticking with the Avalanche, just in a tighter series than I originally thought. Colorado over Edmonton in six games