Good morning, everyone. With the first round just about completed (there is one game to be played as of this writing), it is time to make an update to our Stanley Cup Playoffs Open Post. You can see the original post here, but let’s dive into the new matchups.
The Schedule: You can see the NHL’s schedule here.
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The IIHF Worlds Open Post: For Worlds-related commentary, please see here.
The Preview
The Eastern Conference Finals: The Carolina Hurricanes vs. the Montreal Canadiens
The Carolina Hurricanes are surely very rested. Through two rounds, they have played the minimum of eight games, and former Devil Taylor Hall leads them in scoring with 12 points. The Hurricanes also got the version of Freddie Andersen who usually shows up against the Devils in the playoffs, as he has a .950 save percentage and a 1.12 (not a typo) goals against average. Carolina does probably want to work some kinks out here. Sebastian Aho only has four points, as do Nikolaj Ehlers and Seth Jarvis. Shayne Gostisbehere has not been as productive as he has been in the regular season. But the depth of their attack will be very difficult for Montreal.
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Montreal probably deserved to lose the second round to Buffalo, and I tend to think that Buffalo would give Carolina a better chase. But Montreal’s top players are showing up. Lane Hutson is continuing to be a point-per-game defenseman in the playoffs, and the trio of Suzuki, Caufield, and Slafkovsky have continued to be very productive on the power play…but that may be their downfall. They have yet to really step up at five-on-five in these playoffs, and Devils fans know that Carolina is a ridiculously stifling team on the penalty kill. If that top line does not turn it around at even strength, this may be another short series for Carolina. If they do turn it around, we might be in for an upset.
A saving grace for Montreal is they have three good centers leading the way right now in Suzuki, Evans, and Danault. But I am not convinced that they have a third-line edge over the Carolina group of Hall, Stankoven, and Blake. What I am sure about is this should be a fun series to watch the net, as both Andersen and Jakub Dobes have had excellent performances throughout these playoffs. Dobes may be more inconsistent through two series, but the highs get really high with him.
The Western Conference Finals: The Colorado Avalanche vs. the Vegas Golden Knights
They did not make it here without controversy to write about, but the Vegas Golden Knights are back in the mix for a Stanley Cup Finals appearance, and I am sure that everyone reading this is just thrilled to see it. To their credit, though, Mitch Marner has been incredible and good to rely on in these playoffs, and that contract is looking very much worth it at the moment. But I will push back on the narratives surrounding him for a moment: this is the fourth time out of the last five playoffs that Marner has produced at a point per game or better. He is scoring more goals as an individual, but it would be wrong to say this is the first time he’s shown this ability in the playoffs.
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The Colorado Avalanche, though, are in a space similar to the Carolina Hurricanes. They are a powerhouse. Nathan MacKinnon has seven goals in nine games. Gabriel Landeskog is the same as he ever was. They have six players who have taken shifts at center in the playoffs, and all of them range from solid to elite. The one thing they will be fighting is an injury to Cale Makar, who has admittedly not been his usual uber-productive self. However, he will not be out long. With Devon Toews, Brent Burns, and assorted contributions from Brett Kulak and Josh Manson, the Avalanche should be able to survive a night without their top blueliner.
We will see who returns first between Makar and Mark Stone. However, the key to this series will be whether defense and goaltending can allow Vegas to hold on with Colorado. The Avalanche have not gotten their playoff goaltending completely set in stone yet, but Scott Wedgewood is 7-1-0 with a .914 save percentage. I would think his leash is not super long at this stage of the playoffs, as Mackenzie Blackwood has already played in a couple of games to less rousing individual success. The Knights may have better numbers in goal, but they have less depth to rely on, and they do not have the skaters to stay purely even with Colorado without big performances in net. Even with as good as they are with Eichel, Marner, Barbashev, and Stone, Colorado has an embarrassingly rich lineup.
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