The faux first round has come to a conclusion and I think I speak for most hockey fans when I say that it is incredibly awesome that we get to watch live hockey again in 2020. The NHL is absolutely killing it so far leaning into the weirdness of the whole situation when they need to and giving the players some sense of normality when they need t0o. Whether its thanking all the “fans” then having the camera pan to 4 industrial blade fans in the seats, or having an intern toss hats on the ice after someone nets a hatty the NHL has been doing things right in my opinion. Now let's take a look at what went down in the play in series.
NYR (+125) v. CAR (-145)
MY SERIES PICK: NYR +125 ACTUAL RESULT: CAR wins 3 games to none
Man was I straight up wrong on this one. I was dead set on the Rangers beating the Canes in this series after not losing a game to them all season and what does Carolina do? They turn around and sweep the Rangers in dominating fashion while seemingly giving me the finger the entire time. The Canes managed to outscore the Rangers 11-4 in the 3 games and looked in control of the series at all times. Meanwhile, the Rangers looked sluggish coming out of the break, losing 4 straight games and only managing to score more than one goal one time. The end of the season has Ranger fans asking one question: Has Henrik Lundqvist played his last game as a New York Ranger? The veteran goaltender has been a staple between the pipes for the Rangers for 887 games over 15 seasons, posting a career record of 459-310-96. He holds almost all of the franchise records for goalies including wins, playoff wins, and shutouts. He has been to 5 All-Star games and has brought home the Vezina trophy as the leagues best goaltender once. Now you might be asking, why would the Rangers not want to have him finish his career in blue? And the answer to that question is a two-parter. Part 1: Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev. The two young net minders have emerged as one of the best goalie tandems in the NHL while Henrik’s stats have declined over the past two seasons. Part 2: The upcoming expansion draft for the Seattle Kraken. The Rangers are required to expose at least one goalie for selection and Igor Shesterkin is automatically protected, as it will be his second year. That leaves Lundqvist or Georgiev. Now it's not as easy as the Rangers making a selection between the two because Henrik has a no-move clause in his contract that he would have to waive to be exposed for selection, if he chooses to not waive the clause it would force the Rangers hand, making them expose Georgiev. In my opinion would be the obvious choice for the Kraken given his age and ability. But a chance to help kickstart a new franchise similar to Marc-Andre Fleury with the Vegas Golden Knights might be appealing enough for Henrik to move his no trade clause. One bright note for the Rangers is they won the draft lottery and officially are on the clock for the first overall pick in the entry draft which will most likely be Alexis Lafreniere.
Meanwhile, the young guns from Carolina are sitting pretty after being the first play-in team to secure a spot in the first round of the playoffs. With an average age of just 26.8 years old the Hurricanes forwards are the second youngest offense in the league only behind the Montreal Canadiens. Led by young studs Sebastian Aho (23), Andrei Svechnikov (20), and Teuvo Teravainen (25). The Canes came out buzzing against the Rangers while the back end was locked down by defensemen Jaccob Slavin, Brady Skjei, and Sami Vatanen who, along with the rest of the D core managed to keep Panarin, Zibanejad, and the rest of the New York offense contained . Coming into the series the main concern for Carolina was their goaltending and the duo of Petr Mrazek and James Reimer were solid, only allowing a combined 4 goals in the series. If the goalies can keep up the stellar play the Hurricanes are in a good spot to make a deep playoff run, especially if they can get star defenseman Dougie Hamilton back on the ice to bolster an already strong D core, after he suffered what was thought to be a season ending injury before the break. Carolina will now face the Boston Bruins in a rematch of last years Eastern Conference Finals.
MON (+195) v. PIT (-240)
MY PICK: PIT -240 ACTUAL RESULT: Montreal wins 3 games to 1
This was the series that shocked everyone, or at least me because I did not see Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins losing this series. But credit where credit is due, Carey Price did Carey Price things posting a .947 save percentage and a 1.67 GAA in the 4 games against the star studded Penguins roster. The Penguins just did not have any juice in this series and couldn’t get anything going against Price and the Habs. Crosby looked like he was playing through some sort of injury and Malkin was a non-factor and when those two can’t get anything going the Penguins are not gunna have a good time. The Penguins have to be at least a little worried that their window might be closing as their superstar Sidney Crosby turned 33 just a few days ago and they are posting an average age of 29.7 tied for the second oldest in the league. They had a good run, won a few cups but father time remains undefeated.
The Canadiens on the other hand, had no business winning this series and should be praising Carey Price because he is the sole reason they are in the first round of the playoffs. I don’t think they will make a deep run but who knows, if Price keeps it up they might prove me wrong every step of the way. The first step is a doozie, as they face the white hot Flyers who caught fire before the break and kept things rolling in the round robin securing the number 1 seed.
FLA (-110) v. NYI (-110)
MY PICK: NYI -110 Actual Result: Islanders win 3 games to 1
Wooooo! I finally got one right! Actually I got the rest of them right but we’re not talking about the rest right now, we’re talking about how the Islanders bored the Panthers to their demise with the classic Barry Trotz trap style. Don’t get me wrong the Islanders know how to win games and are very good at doing just that, but they might be the most boring team to watch in the history of the sport. They have some talent up front with guys like Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle, but these guys have completely bought into their coaches system of defense first. But hey, it’s working for them. We shall see if their success continues against the 3rd seeded Washington Capitals.
The boys from the sunshine state on the other hand did not look good in this series and the Sergei Bobrovsky contract is looking worse by the day. Plain and simple he is not playing up to the 7 year $70 million deal he signed this offseason and clearly the organization is in agreement the deal is bad as they have moved on from longtime GM Dale Tallon. It wasn’t all cloudy weather for the Panthers as forward Mike Hoffman looked excellent on the ice netting 3 goals and adding 2 assists. The future looks good in south beach with rising star Aleksander Barkov leading the way. At just 24 years old he is one of the youngest captains in the league and his future looks very bright in this league.
CBJ (+145) v. TOR (-170)
MY PICK: Columbus +145 ACTUAL RESULT: Columbus wins 3 games to 2
Absolutely love nailing underdog picks. Has to be one of the best feelings ever and this one was no different. What a series these guys gave us with multiple 3-goal comebacks and the only game 5 of the play-in round. At the end of the day the Maple Leafs ran into a pair of hot goaltenders in Joonas Korpisalo (1.34 GAA .960 sv%) and Elvis Merzlikins (1.95 GAA .946 sv%) who managed to stymy the high powered Toronto offense. At the other end of the ice Blue Jackets center Pierre-Luc Dubois gave the Toronto defense fits after he received an earful from charismatic coach John Tortorella in game 2. Instead of getting down on himself because he got yelled at by the coach he bounced back with a hat trick in game 3 and set the pace for a Columbus offense that seemed like they out worked the Leafs for most of the series. The Jackets will look to keep things rolling in a rematch of last years first round against the number 2 seed Tampa Bay Lightning, who they shocked with a 4 game sweep in last years series.
Death. Taxes. And the Toronto Maple Leafs not winning a playoff series. Just a few things you can always count on. Its been over 15 years since the Maple Leafs have made it past the first round of the playoffs and over 53 years since they last raised the cup and back then you only had to be the best team out of 6 to win the Stanley Cup. The series wasn’t all bad for Toronto as they did show some promise with their backs against the wall in game 4 scoring 3 goals in the final 5 minutes with their goalie pulled to tie the game before they won it in OT. Young star Auston Matthews looked stellar and Defenseman Morgan Reilly held his own as well. The questions keep piling up for the Leafs however with the salary cap staying the same puts the team in a bit of a tough spot because they are paying their top line of Matthews, Marner, and Tavares a combined $33.5 million approximately 41% of the total cap which is far too high for 3 players. Hey, at least they didn’t lose another game 7 to Boston.
CHI (+145) v. EDM (-170)
MY PICK: Chicago +145 ACTUAL RESULT: Chicago wins 3 games to 1
This was another awesome series that saw an underdog come out victorious. The Chicago roster is made up of just the right mix of veteran and young talent. With the core of their 3 cup dynasty still somewhat together with Patrick Kane, Jonathon Toews, and Duncan Keith and young studs Kirby Dach and Dominik Kubalik the Blackhawks managed to overcome Connor McDavid and the rest of the Edmonton Oilers in just 4 games. Toews had an excellent series notching 4 goals to go along with 3 assists while Calder Trophy dark horse Kubalik managed to net 3 goals and 3 assists in his first taste of playoff hockey. Chicago will look to continue their success in the next round against the top seeded Vegas Golden Knights.
The Edmonton Oilers cannot seem to figure it out no matter how much talent they have on that roster. They are led by the best player in world right now in Connor McDavid, and one of the best offensive talents with Leon Draisaitl. For the fans sake I hope they figure it out soon before McDavid gets fed up and wants out of Edmonton because he deserves to not have his prime wasted away up in Alberta.
ARZ (+115) v. NSH (-135)
MY PICK: ARZ +115 ACTUAL RESULT: Arizona wins 3 games to 1
Just another beauty of a series in a play-in round jam-packed with them. The Coyotes looked excellent led by goaltender Darcy Kuemper (2.77 GAA .933 sv%) and deadline pickup Taylor Hall (1G 3A) they managed to out work and out class a Nashville team that just didn’t match up well. Arizona will look ahead to the next round squaring off with a scary Colorado team.
The Predators didn’t look all that bad out there with young goaltender Juuse Saros making a name for himself as the organization is transitioning to him from veteran Pekka Rinne, who has taken Saros under his wing and is showing him the ropes on how to be a successful NHL goalie.
MIN (+115) v. VAN (-135)
MY PICK: VAN -135 ACTUAL RESULT: Van wins 3 games to 1
This is another series that played out pretty much exactly how most people expected it too as the better team on paper won the series. The young stars on Vancouver showed up and gave us a look at what we can expect for the future of the Canucks. And if you’re a Canucks fan you liked what you saw. Elias Pettersson (1G 3A) looked stellar up front while Caldar finalist Quinn Hughes (1G 5A) held down the back end. Vancouver will move on to face the reigning champion St. Louis Blues in the next round.
Minnesota shouldn’t let this loss affect them that much as they are in a strange transitional period as a franchise. This will be the first full offseason for new GM Bill Guerin as he did a decent job turning the season around even with some strange personnel decisions like firing the coach when your team is heating up. But the future looks better for the Wild than it has in a few years so we shall see what Guerin does this offseason.
WIN (even) v. CAL (-120)
MY PICK: Cal -120 ACTUAL RESULT: Calgary wins 3 games to 1
This was another series that went pretty much how I expected it too. Calgary got to the dirty areas and out worked the Jets. Who have looked like a different team since Dustin Byfuglien decided he wasn’t going to play hockey any more last offseason. The Flames looked good throughout the series getting good goaltending from Cam Talbot capping off the series with a 31 save shutout. They will look to keep things going against a Dallas Stars team that has looked pretty mediocre so far in the bubble.
The Jets have a lot of young talent to work with and an excellent goaltender in Connor Hellebuyck. I expect them to turn things around and be a perennial playoff team.
Comments