NHL SECOND ROUND PREVIEW

NHL / Hockey

Written by Chase Howard

Once again the NHL playoffs fail to disappoint unless you are a Leafs fan, in which case they always do. With yesterday's overtime thrillers both in the books, we are on to the second round.

Source (Background Photo): NHL

EASTERN SEMIS

Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

The Panthers, who are fresh off their first playoff series win since 1996 are now faced with the defending champs. The Lightning has plenty of experience coming off winning back-to-back Stanley Cups and has a proven force in net in Andre Vasilevskiy. The Lightning netminder’s numbers may have been down from his average in the first round (GAA 3.04) and save percentage (.897), but Vasilevskiy came up big when needed, he is 6-0 in his past six series-clinching games with five shutouts and a combined 150 saves. Overall since the beginning of the 2020 playoffs, the Lightning is 17-0 following a loss.

The Panthers look to change that; they demonstrated their resilience in the first round coming back in games four, five and six including down 3-0 in game five. Legends are made in the playoffs and Carter Verhaeghe is writing his. Despite being a game-time decision for game six Carter had three points including the game-winning goal; this is after he scored two goals in game four and set a record with five points in game five. Verhaeghe scored the winning goal in the final three games of the series and is second in playoff scoring with 12 points, not bad for a guy who had five career playoff points before this year. I won't be surprised to see the series go deep but I'm definitely leaning towards the Panthers here, I thought lightning didn't strike twice let alone thrice. Expect this series to have a similar feel as Toronto vs. Tampa, as Florida plays a style akin to the recently ousted Maple Leafs.

Injury Note Lighting star Brayden Point is doubtful for game one.

Carolina Hurricanes vs. NY Rangers

In the other Eastern Conference matchup we have two very defensive-oriented teams, so do expect a very physical series. The Hurricanes have got to be coming into the second round feeling good, after beating the playoff-built Bruins and scoring the first goal in six of seven games. Now they get the Rangers who certainly are a good team, but the Hurricanes bested them 3-1 in the regular season and ousted them in the 2020 playoffs. Yet the Rangers are no strangers to being the underdog, especially after coming back three games to one in the first round, on the back of some solid but streaky goaltending out of their Calder and Vezina trophy candidate Ilya Shesterkin. If the Rangers win this series they'll need their top line, namely Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad to stay hot and a steadying of the ship out of their aforementioned crease. The Rangers will be hard-pressed to find a safe haven from this storm, but their hopes will be weighed upon their output and the less than steady goaltending from Carolina. This is of particular importance with Hurricanes netminder Frederik Anderson not expected to return during the second round.

WESTERN SEMIS

Colorado Avalanche vs. St Louis Blues

The Avalanche seemed to only be getting better in their first-round sweep of the Nashville Predators. Despite being down two games to one to start the series The St Louis Blues never seemed to be out of the driver's seat in their first-round series, especially when Jordan Binnington was between the pipes. The Blues came into the playoffs hot and riding excellent special teams output, don’t forget they won the cup in 2019; meaning they have a deep and experienced roster. Despite this, I think you would be hard-pressed to find people betting against the Avalanche here, but that’s why they play the games. The Avs handled the Predators seemingly without issue in the first round, thanks to a high flying offence, regardless of the absence of Nashville goalie Juuse Saros. Colorado’s goaltending has been great, and Norris Trophy finalist Cale Makar has seemingly found yet another level to his game. Makar recorded 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in the four games of the opening round, which is the most in NHL history by a defenseman through four games in a postseason. The only defenseman with a higher career playoff points per game than Makar is Bobby Orr (1.05 to 1.24), oh my. The Blues are going to have to play quite a tune to avoid getting buried by the Avalanche.

Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers

Well despite it being a longer series than many expected the Calgary Flames are on to the second round and the Battle of Alberta is about to be underway. The Oilers meanwhile looked like they might repeat recent history before crawling back and winning the final two games of the series to move on to the round of 8. During the regular season, these teams split the four-game series, each team taking their 2 wins at home. This should be a heated, shot-heavy series, with both teams possessing a good chance to win their first playoff meeting since 1993. The last time these teams met Calgary won 9-5 in late March, so expect more high scoring games in this series; the first round averaged 6.4 goals per game. That's more scoring than there was in the regular season when there were 6.3 goals per game, and the most in the first round of the playoffs since there were 6.8 goals per game in 1994-95.

Overall for me, this is likely the toughest matchup to pick this round, and these teams have a rivalry that’s been heating up in recent years, expect an exciting new chapter. The Oilers have likely the league's best player and this year's leading scorer in Conner McDavid, but the Flames have the goaltending advantage and have top-notch offensive talents themselves namely Johnny Gaudreau the regular season scoring runner up (115 to McDavid 123).