La Greca: Avalanche in five New York Rangers. Brian Boucher: Panthers in six Biggest flaw(s): Power plays don't always come easy in the Stanley Cup playoffs. We've graded all 32 teams-- including one A+ and two F's -- and announced the winners of our own batch of awards. He relieves pressure in Edmonton's end, makes smart plays up the ice and is a natural leader from whom few words are required -- but there's no doubt Keith has a "big voice" in the Oilers' room, according to teammates. Forsberg can, and will, challenge any defense the Predators see in coming weeks. Special teams will play a pivotal role. What will be the key to solving Igor Shesterkin? The conference final round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs is upon us. After Makar and Devon Toews, where do the rest of Colorado's defensemen fit? 3 in . Biggest flaw(s): Defense, and goaltending. There is no such problem for the Lightning. There's an argument to be made that Kucherov is the best power-play performer in the NHL, and he has lived up to that with seven points with the man advantage. Things aren't trending well for Pittsburgh at the buzzer. Colorado has shown it can win all types of games, whether big-time blowouts or tightly contested grinders. Case for a Stanley Cup run: The Penguins crossed the finish line as a playoff team. Carolina Hurricanes 3. His playoff struggles are a bit overblown -- his numbers aren't that bad overall -- but the doubts linger. Not enough has been made of the Blues. Player to watch: Tarasenko. Bold prediction: The Stars take a powerhouse first-round opponent to seven games. Let's key on Mikko Rantanen. Player to watch: Miro Heiskanen. Bob Wischusen: Panthers in seven Leah Hextall: Panthers in seven That must be what the Hurricanes felt like in 2021-22, as they set a new standard for points in a season, won the Metropolitan Division for the first time and led the league in goals-against average. Unsurprisingly, Florida has also produced excellent special-teams numbers (including with its top-10 power play). Granted, that included 12 overtime losses, a middling even-strength offense and goaltending issues galore. Kreider had two goals, after scoring 52 during the regular season. The Stanley Cup playoffs are back on ESPN and ABC! Find North Carolina vs. Virginia predictions, betting odds, moneyline, spread, over/under and more for the February 25 college basketball matchup. Boucher: Hurricanes in six Calgary got burned off a couple clean looks for that unit that turned into almost series-defining mistakes. Tampa Bay is better 5-on-5. Seeing its dedication pay off with a playoff opportunity should be all the motivation Dallas needs to give each game its best. And that was against the two best offensive teams in the regular season. He had just two points in the Pens' six-game series loss to the Islanders last playoffs. Why not Dallas? Goalie Tristan Jarry, who had an outstanding regular season, has been sidelined with a broken foot that he's in the process of rehabbing. Now they also have some strong depth, and the versatility to play the Islanders' style if needed. Sorting out the optimal defensive pairings will be a task for coach Jared Bednar. That bodes well for Edmonton in this series, since Colorado happens to be a high-volume shot team (39.8 per game); if that continues, Smith will be back under a spotlight early and often in the next round. Center Ross Colton, who scored the only goal in their Cup-clinching game last summer against the Canadiens, has played the majority of his minutes with Brandon Hagel, whom the Lightning acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline. 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. Obviously not. NHL Events 2022-23; ESPN, Turner Schedules; 2022-23 Must-See Games; . There has also been more effort on the forecheck. Wyshynski: Hurricanes in five, The Stanley Cup playoffs are back on ESPN and ABC! The All-Star Game and the Stadium Series will be on ABC, and ESPN will have the All-Star Skills Competition. The Oilers bought into playing good defense, stuck to their structure and chipped away at Quick until they broke through. The Bruins have just about everything you can want in a contender: a deadly top line, an elite defenseman, and a great goalie. as well as out-of-market games. Washington Capitals (MP) 8. "I've kind of referred to us as cockroaches. Tim Kavanagh: Lightning in six Maintaining that intensity each night in the playoffs will be a task in itself. He battled back and won a Game 7. NHL on ESPN. I said in my series prediction . They are firing on all cylinders. Fantasy hockey owners can expect this to continue, which could be massive this coming week. Player to watch: Mika Zibanejad was back to being a point-per-game center this season, playing the majority of his time with Kreider and assisting on 24 of his goals. Ryan Callahan: Panthers in six This series against Colorado could see each team's top talents canceling each other out. General manager Doug Armstrong took a major risk in allowing. Messier: Oilers in six Your Home For Free NHL Expert Picks For The 2022/23 Season. Obviously, the Lightning would like to see Point back on the ice. Boucher: Flames in six 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. And of course, there's Boston's core. Hextall: Avalanche in five 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. How they got here: Defeated Nashville Predators 4-0, defeated St. Louis Blues 4-2. ET ESPN, SN; . The NHL playoffs get underway Monday, with all four games on ESPN networks. . ", Make picks throughout the postseason for a chance at $14,000 in prizes. Two good goalies coming together. Bold prediction: The Hurricanes get past the Bruins in the first round, but it's a grinding seven-game series. Keeping those three in check starts with good neutral-zone play, limiting their ability to gain speed and forcing play to the outside. The Lightning will have to convert some of those to beat "Shesty.". If defense wins championships (and history suggests it's a big factor), the Bruins should be feared by any opponent. After a bumpy road through February and most of March, the Blues caught fire into April and have been unstoppable of late. The other thing we've seen from Edmonton is a real commitment to the defensive side of the puck from its top players. On paper, they're winning this series. Heiskanen can set a tone for how the entire team approaches its defensive strategy. But if there's a true flaw with the Oilers, it's once again found in the crease. Wyshynski: Blues in seven, Allen: Flames in six In over 500 minutes of game action this postseason, Kuemper has faced only 218 pucks. This is when he should shine. Unfortunately, Alex Ovechkin cornered the market on "he can still do that at his age, wow!" Victoria Matiash: Panthers in seven Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are one of the NHL's most dynamic offensive duos. They could use some more from him, especially at five-on-five. That's where depth will come into focus, and the Oilers will want to be sure theirs is on point. LA | DAL. The edge, though, probably belongs to Edmonton. 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. The Blues are rightly playing with incredible confidence, and we know from past experience where that can lead them. The NHL has passed the mathematical midpoint of the 2022-23 regular season. . Bold prediction: The Flames advance to the Western Conference finals, including a Battle of Alberta win over the Oilers. Read on for predictions for every game involving a Top 25 team on the schedule over the next seven days. This season is shaping up in similar fashion. The 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs on ESPN presented by GEICO continue into the second round with exclusive doubleheaders this Wednesday, Friday, Sunday and Tuesday on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. Game 3: Florida Panthers at Washington Capitals 1 p.m. This series projects to trend more toward what Edmonton just experienced, with the potential for larger momentum swings and opportunity to generate offense. Boucher: Avalanche in six Minnesota has been scorching hot since mid-March, going 19-2-3 since March 16, entering the playoffs with a hard-earned swagger. We crunch the numbers, analyze the data, and provide the best free NHL expert picks each and every day. Some teams have improved, while others went into re-build mode. Wyshynski: My Stanley Cup playoffs bracket. Like, ever. 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. Those 5-on-5 opportunities can be -- and almost always are -- limited in the playoffs. From there, things started falling apart for the Predators; they didn't perform as well at the top of the standings. That's by far the fewest among any goalie left in these playoffs. by Fantasy Hockey Staff @NHLFantasy. 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. Kavanagh: Blues in seven Player to watch: Claude Giroux. 6 Virginia (21-5, 13-4 ACC) . The game-changing swings can come down to special teams, and that's not where the Wild have thrived. Chris Kreider became just the fourth player in Rangers history to top 50 goals. Jake Oettinger has played well in net, and Dallas' defense has looked more cohesive lately. Hextall: Hurricanes in six The image above displays the 2023 NHL Playoff bracket and will be updated after each week. The Oilers peppered Calgary's Jacob Markstrom with over 34 shots per game in the second round and their elite talent up front (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evander Kane, etc.) We've graded all 32 teams -- including one A+ and two F's -- and announced the winners of our own batch of awards. The Rangers are playing with house money. It's time for our experts to go on the record with their predictions on which four teams will make it one step closer to the Stanley Cup Final, which is returning to ABC this season. Trail Blazers vs. Pelicans Game Info. Rush to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Sachin Chandan: Panthers in seven Stats are collected from sites such as Natural Stat Trick, Hockey Reference and Evolving Hockey. How will the Rangers handle Nikita Kucherov? The 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs begin Monday night on the networks of ESPN, . We just don't go away, regardless of the score and regardless of where the game is. But that's the regular season. Case for a Stanley Cup run: What if a team had its best regular season in franchise history and no one noticed? Case for a Stanley Cup run: It's hard to argue with the Panthers' results this season. Wischusen: Flames in seven Player to watch: There was a time, not too long ago, when Jonathan Quick was considered one of the best big-game goaltenders in the NHL. Patrice Bergeron is still Patrice Bergeron. John Buccigross examines the historical run the Tampa Bay Lightning have had over the past two seasons. 2022 NHL playoff fantasy hockey pool guide: Favorites, sleepers and busts. 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. It's easy to talk about Minnesota's goaltending and offensive prowess, but Brodin has been helping facilitate all that with locked-in defensive play (and he's no slouch with the puck either, registering a career high in points this season). Case for a Stanley Cup run: Toronto has got the talent in all three phases of the game. Sean McDonough: Panthers in seven Here's a player who requested a trade out of St. Louis and instead has thrived there this season. But forwards Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie saw their offensive output drop during seasons impacted by injuries and illness. Subscribe to ESPN+ Lawrence-Riddell: Avalanche in six 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 . 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