He backstopped the Kings to the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014, posting an incredible .946 save percentage to win that initial championship. Player to watch: Tarasenko. 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. Look back at how Nashville started the season, winning just one of its first five games but then exploding to earn the NHL's best record (23-7-2) from mid-October to early January. But forwards Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie saw their offensive output drop during seasons impacted by injuries and illness. Boucher: Avalanche in six Weekes: Blues in seven Biggest flaw(s): The playoffs couldn't arrive at a worse time for Pittsburgh. Sachin Chandan: Panthers in seven Physicality gets ratcheted up in the playoffs, and Wilson has shown the ability in the past to turn a series with one big injurious hit. Tortorella: Hurricanes in six While Florida's offensive talent is its best asset, if the overall team defense can't hold up (especially if Aaron Ekblad isn't able to return to form due to his knee injury), it could make for a shorter run than the Panthers are aiming for. Being involved to that degree clearly works for the netminder, and he has thrived under the pressure. The All-Star Game and the Stadium Series will be on ABC, and ESPN will have the All-Star Skills Competition. There were times when Carolina created chaos around Shesterkin's crease but couldn't find the rebounds he'd leave. We've already discussed Kuemper. Washington Capitals (MP) 8. Also on a roll: St. Louis' power play, which has been top three in the NHL since late March. The NHL has passed the mathematical midpoint of the 2022-23 regular season. Their head-to-head matchup will be a primary talking point in the lead-up to Game 1. It starts in their own end and being engaged down low. Mleczko: Hurricanes in seven There hasn't been a ton of that for the Oilers; most of their key tallies have come from the same group of four or five guys. 17 overall, should be able to select . The first-round pick is conditional on the Kings making the playoffs and would become two second-round picks (2023 and 2024) if they do not . Case for a Stanley Cup run: This is Edmonton Oilers Version 2.0. The Avalanche are excelling in the ways they should, getting timely goals and playing to their strengths. The legend of Mike Smith has only grown this postseason. Center Steven Stamkos (eight points) and defenseman Ryan McDonagh have been there in big moments. Free agency is looming, and all eyes will be on Kadri as he chases that elusive championship. New Jersey Devils (MP) 6. Toronto is no longer the one-dimensional wonder of its past, capable of putting pucks in the net but incapable of keeping them out. The goaltending from Ville Husso has been exceptional, and Jordan Binnington is finally rebounding to become a more reliable backup. If the season ended today we'd have the Heat . The 2022 college football season doesn't kick off until August 27, but it's never too soon to look at possible College Football Playoff matchups. Bold prediction: The Hurricanes get past the Bruins in the first round, but it's a grinding seven-game series. Your Home For Free NHL Expert Picks For The 2022/23 Season. Wyshynski: Blues in seven, Allen: Flames in six DiPietro: Hurricanes in six Seven Avs skaters have at least three goals in the playoffs, and five have double-digit point totals. While there is a lot of "new" happening in the NHL this season, as far as league predictions go for the upcoming 2021-22 season, there is a lot that will feel familiar. Before the NBA resumes play on Thursday night, it is time to answer some big questions. Offseason keys for eliminated teams, Sean Allen: Panthers in six No one will let the Leafs forget what happened against Boston (twice) or Montreal. Listen here . But it was also a campaign that saw Alex Ovechkin score 50 goals and carry the team for stretches this season. Deadline decisions: What will Avs, Kraken and others do? Emily Kaplan: Lightning in seven Rush to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With the 2023 All-Star Game and skills competition approaching on Feb. 3-4, we turn our focus to the collective bold predictions from our ESPN hockey family. Cohn: Rangers in seven Rantanen's 36 goals led Colorado in the regular season, so seeing him hesitate to shoot the puck and fail to drive play like a $9.25 million-per-year player should in the postseason is odd. Yes, Mike Smith has been in a groove during April, with a .948 even-strength save percentage in nine games. This version of Toronto can contend with any team it will face in the playoffs -- but only if the Leafs actually show up as their best selves. He battled back and won a Game 7. He heads to New York with 1,225 points in 1,161 regular-season games. Against Carolina, Shesterkin gave up two or fewer goals in six of the seven games in the series and won another Game 7, this time on the road. Obviously, the Lightning would like to see Point back on the ice. But it'll also take continued contributions from players like Andrew Copp (12 points), Ryan Strome (9) and Frank Vatrano (8); and further damage done by the Rangers' "Kid Line" of Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko. All we know for sure is that the real winners here are those of us watching the action unfold. Levy: Flames in seven Kaplan: Hurricanes in seven Weekes: Rangers in seven Some teams have improved, while others went into re-build mode. Deadline decisions: What will Avs, Kraken and others do? Colorado's big winger has one goal in these playoffs, which he scored on an empty net in the Avs' 6-3 victory over St. Louis in Game 4. In over 500 minutes of game action this postseason, Kuemper has faced only 218 pucks. Calgary got burned off a couple clean looks for that unit that turned into almost series-defining mistakes. . John Tortorella: Panthers in seven The Avalanche remember well how Vegas cut through them like butter in the playoffs last year. Colorado is every bit as good as we thought it was, and could be. He worked through his emotions during the Rangers' first two games in Pittsburgh, where he was pulled twice. Blake Bolden: Panthers in seven Bold prediction: The Flames advance to the Western Conference finals, including a Battle of Alberta win over the Oilers. The Lightning had some bumpier stretches in the season's second half. PIT | BOS McDonough: Hurricanes in seven They went 12-8-3 after that. The winger is having an unbelievable regular season but hasn't scored a playoff goal since 2017-18 and has only eight assists in 12 postseason games the past two years. Facebook; Twitter; Facebook Messenger; Pinterest; Email; print; Welcome to the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs!The first round gets rolling on Saturday with Game 1 of the Washington Capitals-Boston Bruins series.. There's plenty of history in many of these matchups, as the NHL is using an intradivisional format for the first two rounds, before re-bracketing the final four for the semifinals. That said, they'd like more than one goal off 18 shot attempts in 11 games from a player who had 25 goals in the regular season. The Wild's penalty kill is bottom 10 in the league, and their power play sits somewhere in the middle. But we doubt that's sustainable, and the alternative remains Mikko Koskinen. They'll need every bit of his experience and ability to slow the Avalanche down. This postseason, he's 8-3 with a .932 save percentage and has 6.76 goals saved above average to lead all goalies still playing in the postseason. DiPietro: Flames in six Player to watch: Vasilevskiy. If his Game 5 hat trick against the Blues was any indication, "Playoff Nate" is ready to dance toe-to-toe with McDavid & Co. MacKinnon already has eight goals and 13 points in 10 games. Messier: Oilers in six After Pavelski, Hintz and Robertson (who all tallied 70 or more points), Dallas' offense has been streaky. Excellent goaltending. It will all happen on the new NHL TV Networks of ESPN and TNT/Turner Sports. Football Women's Basketball Games Home ESPN Fantasy App Atlantic: FLA | TOR Patrice Bergeron is still Patrice Bergeron. We've also learned that two straight Stanley Cups haven't made the Bolts fat and happy; the hunger to win another, and the killer instinct to close out teams, remains for Tampa. Orchestrating all of it is coach Rod Brind'Amour, for whom the players would skate through a wall. Their top defensive pairings of Noah Hanifin and Rasmus Andersson along with Chris Tanev and Oliver Kylington have been outstanding. Hextall: Avalanche in five Wyshynski: Flames in seven. If defense wins championships (and history suggests it's a big factor), the Bruins should be feared by any opponent. Colorado's big three has produced 17 goals and 31 points in 10 games. Is that a sign that Tampa is losing its legs? All of those little things add up when they're coming top down through the lineup. Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are one of the NHL's most dynamic offensive duos. As long as the Oilers' stars are shining that brightly, they'll have a chance to win any series. They could use some more from him, especially at five-on-five. New York Islanders (MP) 7. When the trade deadline rolls around, there are always teams caught in the middle of the standings . Meanwhile, MacKinnon will be leading the charge up front. Failing to capitalize on man-advantage chances almost always comes back to bite teams in the postseason; ditto with struggling to keep pucks out on the kill. But the Rangers star has only had two signature games in the playoffs: a three-point night in Game 2 against the Penguins and an overtime power-play goal in Game 7 of that series. They rallied to beat the Penguins after being down 3-1 in their first-round series. 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. Lessons from Round 1 How they got here: Defeated Los Angeles Kings 4-3, defeated Calgary Flames 4-1. The Flames' plus-85 trailed only the Presidents' Trophy-winning Panthers for the. When things aren't going Boston's way -- when the Bruins struggle to score a goal or give up a bad one -- can they persevere and push back? 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