What an incredible Round 1. Round 1 had more drama and bloodshed than a Game of Thrones wedding. There were three Game 7s. 2 went to overtime. The first time in NHL history all 4 division winners lost. All 4 wild card teams won. The last 2 Stanley Cup winners lost. The President’s Trophy winner lost. I knew it was going to be crazy but I never anticipated this. I wrote 10 teams had a legitimate chance tp win the Cup. All but 2 of those teams lost. There are more Cinderellas than glass slippers this year. There is a New World Order.
The New York Islanders ended this run of the Crosby/Malkin era. The Penguins blinked in the first period of Game 1, and lost in overtime. The Penguins never totally recovered and were swept. The Islanders beat the Penguins in every aspect of hockey (coaching, scoring, defense and goaltending). Sid, Geno and the Penguins need to go back to the drawing board or they will become Chicago or worse yet Los Angeles.
The Bunch of Jerks, Carolina Hurricanes, took the defending Cup champ Washington Capitals best punch, literally, and won. Alex Ovechkin and Nik Backstrom were the only Capitals who played well. TJ Oshie got injured and Evgeny Kuznetsov wanted a long summer. Hurricane goaltender Petr Mrazek silenced all the critics. Veterans Justin Williams and Jordan Staal showed Andrei Svechnikov and Warren Foegele how to be clutch. The Canes’ defense is no longer young with potential, they are young and living up to their potential.
The Carolina Hurricanes are such a fun team to watch and root for. Barry Trotz’s Islanders are not fun to watch unless you like winning. ISLANDERS in 7
The Tampa Bay Lightning were up 3-0 in the 1st period of Game 1 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky then did something he never did in a playoff game. He made a big save. John Tortorella made a big speech at intermission. The rest is history. Columbus swept Tampa Bay. The Lightning took their 128 regular season points and President’s Trophy to the golf course. The Lightning wanted to play chess but the Blue Jackets kicked over the board.
The Toronto Maple Leafs lost in seven games last season to the Boston Bruins. The Leafs added John Tavares and Jake Muzzin this season. The Leafs lost in seven again this season. What has to make Leaf nation sick is other than Game 2 they didn’t lose because they weren’t tough enough. They lost because they couldn’t score enough.
The Blue Jackets will not intimidate the Boston Bruins. The Blue Jackets are happy they finally won a playoff series. The Bruins aren’t happy yet. BRUINS in 6
The Dallas Stars exposed the Nashville Predators dirty little secret. Their much heralded top four defenseman are overrated. Most Stars goal can be traced back to a bad play by a Nashville defenseman. It’s hard to win the playoffs as a one line team. Dallas’ top line of (Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov) was dominant . The Stars second line of Mats Zuccarello, Roope Hintz and Jason Dickinson played better than any Nashville line. Dallas’ young defensemen John Klingberg and Miro Heiskanen outplayed their Nashville’s counterparts.
The St Louis Blues were last in the NHL in mid January. By the end of April they were the best team in the Central. Jordan Binnington gave the Blues what every team needs, a big save. The Blues haven’t got a big save in a long time. Ryan O’Reilly gave the Blues a leader. They haven’t had a leader in a long time either. Chronic underachiever Jayden Schwartz came up huge against Winnipeg. A game winning goal in Game 5 and a hat trick in Game 6. The Winnipeg Jets were coasting in mid January and coasted right to they’re summer cottage.
The Stars have a bunch of kids playing great. The Blues have a bunch of veterans playing great. I usually pick young legs but those old hearts have been waiting a long time for this chance. BLUES in 7
The Colorado Avalanche dropped Mikko Rantanen from the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog to the 2nd line. It made the Avalanche a 2 line team. After Game 1 the Calgary Flames were a no line team. If the Lightning didn’t disintegrate the Calgary Flame being out would be the story of the playoffs.
The Vegas Golden Knights shouldn’t cry like the New Orleans Saints about officiating. They gave up a shorthanded goal in overtime in Game 6. They gave up four goals in five minutes in Game 7. They were allowed to play defense. Before Game 7 the Sharks/Knights series was great. The series had tons of offense, stellar goaltending, mega hits and a heavyweight fight. After Game 7 this is one of the top five series I’ve ever seen.
The Avalanche have the best player left in the playoffs, Nathan MacKinnon. The Sharks are the best team left in the playoffs. The Sharks have stared the Grim Reaper down and advanced. Great teams that see the Reaper and win are hard to beat. SHARKS in 6
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