Biggest flaw(s): Fatigue. How will the Rangers handle Nikita Kucherov? The Hurricanes had their best success on high-danger chances, scoring eight high-danger goals against the Rangers goaltender, the second-most allowed in the second round. 16 teams will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. NHL odds, picks, and predictions for the Calgary Flames at Vegas Golden Knights on February 23. John Buccigross: Panthers in seven They have depth at forward and are getting excellent play from defensemen like Fox and Trouba. Toronto can't hide from its ugly postseason past. The Bruins' top blueliner hasn't garnered the same attention as some of the league's flashiest defenders this season, but he has been excellent in his own right. I apologize in advance for spoiling the next two months for you, as obviously all of . We've graded all 32 teams -- including one A+ and two F's -- and announced the winners of our own batch of awards. Matiash: Flames in seven It doesn't help that in front of Bobrovsky, Florida got a little too comfortable late in the season as the Cardiac Cats. Ferraro: Flames in seven Until he does, it's Casey DeSmith's crease. Sixteen teams entered the postseason tournament, but only four are left in the bracket, as the New York Rangers will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in the East, and the Colorado Avalanche will square off against the Edmonton Oilers in the West. Vitek Vanecek has been wildly inconsistent, while Ilya Samsonov has played to a sub-replacement level this season. by NHL Public Relations @PR_NHL April 29, 2022 NEW YORK - The National Hockey League today announced the dates, starting times and national television coverage for the 2022 Stanley Cup. Case for a Stanley Cup run: Let's start with the best goalie in the world. The Lightning have great depth down the middle of the ice with Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli, electric scoring potential in Nikita Kucherov and an excellent defenseman who leads by example in Victor Hedman. Not too shabby. DiPietro: Flames in six The Lightning have done it the past two seasons, under less-than-ideal pandemic-related circumstances to boot. There's a real calmness that the Lightning have in the toughest moments, a constant belief in their ability to weather any storm. The 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs begin Monday night on the networks of ESPN, . Will that be the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are looking to become the first team to win the Cup in three consecutive seasons since the New York Islanders won four straight from 1980 to 1983? College Basketball Week 17 Top 25 Predictions Note: Projected winners are listed in bold. "Obviously, Vasilevskiy has a track record that speaks for itself. But this was his best season since 2017-18, and there were enough moments of "vintage Jonathan Quick" to make one wonder if there isn't just a little more playoff magic left in him, 10 years after winning the Conn Smythe. For example, we've learned that they've effectively rebuilt their bottom six after the offseason exodus of their celebrated checking line of Yanni Gourde, Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow. Biggest flaw(s): Power plays don't always come easy in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The 13th overall pick in 2020, Jarvis had 11 points in a nine-game stretch near the end of the season, running shotgun with Aho for a lot of it. Defenseman Adam Fox said he's looking forward to the battle between Andrei Vasilevskiy and Shesterkin. Coach Darryl Sutter has this team primed to bring the Cup back to Canada for the first time since 1993. Bob Wischusen: Panthers in seven The Rangers had their share of breaks. The Igor Shesterkin that we saw during Round 1 is not the Igor Shesterkin that the Lightning are going to see. Excellent goaltending. But the catalyst for their first playoff berth since 2018 wasn't the kids, but rather the established veterans. Shilton: Flames in six New York Rangers 2. But it's also true that the Lightning haven't faced a goalie like Shesterkin, who is playing out of his gourd right now. Kavanagh: Oilers in seven XFL owner Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson shouted out former Alabama quarterback A.J. Picks for Rangers-Lightning, Avalanche-Oilers, 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs: Highlights and analysis from the entire postseason, Free-agency, draft plans for Avs, Lightning, every other NHL team, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The Stanley Cup playoffs are back on ESPN and ABC! They're the NHL's top-scoring team for a reason, having been consistently outstanding offensively since Game 1. Before the NBA resumes play on Thursday night, it is time to answer some big questions. Defenseman Jacob Trouba's booming hits took out Penguins star Sidney Crosby for two critical games, and then Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis in Game 7. So it works in Nashville's favor to not just go into the postseason as a wild-card team, but to know there's an uphill battle ahead to make its time in the playoffs last. Do you blame us? Those matchups are plenty intriguing. They are firing on all cylinders. Meanwhile, MacKinnon will be leading the charge up front. Wischusen: Rangers in seven Editor's Picks. When Kuemper was tested, he didn't always look sharp; St. Louis caught him in bad positioning and decidedly flat-footed on a few occasions. The NHL offseason formally begins with the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal, starting with Thursday's first round (6 p.m. CT, ESPN).. NHL predictions: Expert picks for both conference final series in Stanley Cup playoffs Our experts reveal their predictions for which two teams will be moving on to the Stanley Cup Final. Not enough has been made of the Blues. Player to watch: Tkachuk's best offensive season arrived, to no one's surprise, as he's headed into restricted free agency this summer. Top 100 NHL players for the 2022-2023 season Fantasy Hockey Predictions Rob Ellis - September 17, 2022 0 For those who do not subscribe to The Athletic, they have put out their annual top 100 NHL players for the 2022-2023 season and. There were times when Carolina created chaos around Shesterkin's crease but couldn't find the rebounds he'd leave. Date: Wednesday, March 1, 2023 Time: 10:00 p.m. And there's the Leafs' excellent special teams, including the NHL's best power play and a penalty kill that is nearly as likely to score short-handed as to get scored on. But he's not unbeatable. That formula doesn't generally work in the postseason. Jake Oettinger has played well in net, and Dallas' defense has looked more cohesive lately. The NHL has passed the mathematical midpoint of the 2022-23 regular season. Chandan: Hurricanes in five Back-to-back tilts against bottom feeders in the Anaheim Ducks and Arizona Coyotes should produce value. McDonough: Flames in seven Callahan: Hurricanes in six The past three postseasons haven't been the greatest for Sid, with six points in 14 games. He's the club's leading scorer, averaging more than a point a game, and eats important minutes. They'll help power what could be a last attempt at a Cup for this aging core, with Malkin, Letang and Rust among the team's pending free agents. While the 29-year-old is still producing at a steady clip with 54 points in 59 games (he tallied a career-high 99 points last season . The 2021-22 season has been incredibly bizarre for Colton Parayko, who has been a puzzling player since the Blues won the Cup in 2019. That presents a perfect backdrop for Minnesota's run. John Buccigross examines the historical run the Tampa Bay Lightning have had over the past two seasons. Some nights, the Bruins look impenetrable; the next, they're floundering in their own end. Team defense has become a part of the equation because that mentality is exhibited by the team's top players (including Matthews). The Stars are the only team in the playoffs with a negative goal differential. This series against Colorado could see each team's top talents canceling each other out. NHL.com ranks the top 200 overall fantasy hockey players in standard . The Rangers didn't have to face Hurricanes starter Frederik Andersen, who missed the playoffs with a lower-body injury; instead, they saw Antti Raanta for six games and half of Game 7 until his injury, and then third-stringer Pyotr Kochetkov. Granted, Nashville's Ryan Johansen did (accidentally) injure Kuemper's eye in the first round, but the goalie recovered and Colorado swept the Predators in time for Kuemper to return in the second round against St. Louis. On paper, they're winning this series. If Cale Makar is the flashy rising star leading Colorado's blue line, Duncan Keith is the veteran grandmaster stabilizing Edmonton's back end. Long playoff runs result in short offseasons to follow. The Bruins' goalie tandem of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman deserves credit in this area too, providing consistently good performances that have more than assuaged fears about how the team would move on from Tuukka Rask. No disrespect intended to Sebastian Aho, but the Rangers didn't have to face an elite offensive player like Kucherov in their series against the Hurricanes. Marc-Andre Fleury has been lights out since arriving at the trade deadline from Chicago. Tampa's lineup remains as intimidating as any in the league. The Oilers bought into playing good defense, stuck to their structure and chipped away at Quick until they broke through. That's been the disconnect before, and those demons won't be overcome until Toronto has success when it matters most. All we know for sure is that the real winners here are those of us watching the action unfold. The puck drops on the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs on ESPN presented by GEICO with 12 first round games on ESPN and ESPN2 over three days beginning on Monday, May 2. At Pickswise we have expert NHL picks for every game of the 2021/22 season. Well, unless it's because of their opponents' goaltending. Under coach Dave Tippett, the Oilers were 13th in the NHL in expected goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5; under interim coach Jay Woodcroft, who took over Feb. 10, the Oilers jumped to fourth in that category. The Capitals have a veteran group that can play physical hockey and defend well at 5-on-5. Those aren't encouraging totals. We don't roll out the term "juggernaut" for just anyone around here. Tim Kavanagh: Lightning in six But right around the trade deadline, the Rangers' play started to pick up and continued to trend upward through the final month of the season under first-year coach Gerard Gallant. Weekes: Rangers in seven Buccigross: Hurricanes in seven Biggest flaw(s): Minnesota's special teams are less than awe-inspiring. by Fantasy Hockey Staff @NHLFantasy. In over 500 minutes of game action this postseason, Kuemper has faced only 218 pucks. Why Rangers-Lightning, Avs-Oilers demand your attention, Wyshynski's NHL trade deadline tiers: From elite game-changers to bargain beauties, NHL trade deadline guides for all 32 teams: Players, picks in play, cap space, team status. Players, coaches, execs vote for NHL's top centers, NHL Power Rankings: Checking in on each team's 25-and-under core, Lineup picks, matchups, start or sit advice for Wednesday, McAvoy scores in OT, Bruins beat Flames for 8th win a row, Gaudreau scores in shootout, Wild beat Islanders 2-1, Geekie ends drought with 2 goals, Kraken beat Blues 5-3, Robinson scores 3 goals in Blue Jackets' 5-3 win over Sabres, 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs: Highlights and analysis from the entire postseason, Wyshynski: My Stanley Cup playoffs bracket, Ranking NHL players who need a Stanley Cup, last two games of the season with a lower-body injury. Anze Kopitar led the team in scoring. The Oilers played a wide-open, goal-scoring bonanza of a five-game spread against Calgary versus the Avalanche's more bruising, defensive-conscious, six-game affair against St. Louis. The NHL playoffs get underway Monday, with all four games on ESPN networks. 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