The NHL playoffs will start in Finnish time on the night between Monday and Tuesday. Sports NHL journalist Tommi Seppälä went through every pair of matches. Such setups are set to chase the Stanley Cup.
The playoffs are played with the best of seven system, which means that four wins advance.
Florida (1) – (WC2) Washington
Condition of the day: Florida has been the hottest team in the entire NHL for the past two months: 23 wins out of 29 matches. The game of superiority rolled by 30 percent, even the lowest by 80. Washington played a moderate spring, but Florida is the hottest in the NHL right now.
5vs5: Washington is at its best in a close-knit pentathlon, but too often slips as well. Most worryingly, slipping is often done by top players. Florida isn’t the NHL’s model club for pentathlon, but it fills the gaps with offensive play power. By 2022, Florida have scored 3rd and Washington 26th most goals by five to five.
Special situations: Underpower gaming goes hand in hand, but in overpowering game Florida has an advantage. The Panther Flock’s superiority five punished with 24 percent power in the regular season and up to 29 percent in the new year. Washington’s well-known game of superiority, on the other hand, hasn’t worked as usual. Caps’ superiority (18%) was weakest in fourteen years. You can’t overlook it, but the mere threat is not enough in the playoffs.
Goalkeeper game: The most worrying thing about Washington is the level of goalkeeper play. Vitek Vinecek and Ilya Samsonov did not succeed in the regular season and now faces the most dangerous offensive equipment in the entire NHL. Florida Sergei Bobrovski is a meritorious veteran, but weak last spring through a question mark. Still a big advantage for Florida.
Prognosis: Florida to continue.
Carolina (1) – (WC1) Boston
Condition of the day: Both have a well-stocked basic package, but in March-April, Boston was even slightly better than Carolina. It won 19 of its last 29 matches. Carolina, who played occasionally in the spring at slightly lower energy levels than usual, won 17 of her last 30 games.
5vs5: Boston is one of the best in the series, if not the best five-to-five game team. The Bruins don’t give anything away for free and it’s the absolute best in the NHL, especially in the defensive direction. Whether it’s against waiting for a goal or given goals, there are hardly any teams better than Boston. Carolina is also a quality team in this respect, but it is more dangerous in the offensive direction than Boston in its game.
Special situations: An interesting series is promised, especially for the game of superiority. At the end of the regular season, Boston played 39 goalless innings for the tube, and Carolina’s superiority is no pain for the previous three months but fifteen. Carolina’s superiority game also coughed last spring. Boston is expected to come to life with its game of superiority when it gets all players available. Carolina’s underpower game is the best in the series.
Goalkeeper game: In a big part, especially in this series. Carolina’s number one guard Frederik Andersen starts a series of illnesses, so there are only goalkeepers on hand who have not started any matches in their NHL careers in the playoffs. Carolinan Antti Raanta played in the regular season as played Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman also in Boston. Not much concern.
Prognosis: Carolina will go to the series as a favorite through his active, difficult pressure game for the opponent as well as material advantage, but it will not easily beat Boston. And winning requires a return of energies to the level of the fall season, as the game style also requires a lot from your own team. In the regular season, Carolina never lost to Boston. Carolina to continue.
Toronto (2) – (3) Tampa Bay
Condition of the day: Toronto was clearly the hottest of the teams in the final season of the regular season: it took 70 per cent of the points available, Tampa “only” 58 per cent. Before the small finals, Tampa had a really difficult period in March-April, during which it lost a lot of matches specifically to the playoff teams.
5vs5: Tampa is better off as a team when the game is played five to five. The structure of Tampa’s playing is clearer and the spine in a tight place is thus stronger. Toronto scored huge amounts of goals in the regular season, but the team still leaks on its own. For the last two months, own played 3.48 times in the match, the second highest of the playoff teams.
Special situations: Advantage to Tampa. Both revolve around dangerous superiority, but Tampa still has more options and dangers. In the game of underpower, the difference is clear to Tampa even through the goalkeeper game. In March-April, Tampa killed 82 percent of the coolers it took, with Toronto only 77.
Goalkeeper game: A crushing advantage to Tampa. Andrei Vasilevskia may still be called the best in the world, but in Toronto, no goalie’s retention rate is up to 90 in February-April. The averages of the releases hover over the three. Jack Campbell is facing a huge mountain.
Prognosis: Toronto played a good regular season, but success in the playoffs is still a big question mark. Completeness and goalkeeping puzzle. Tampa is not as deep a team as before, but will win this series.
New York Rangers (2) – (3) Pittsburgh
Condition of the day: The Rangers are hotter than the teams. In fact, the Blue Shirts have been playing a great run for the past two months. The same cannot be said of Pittsburgh, which was the weakest playoff team in the series for the previous two months.
5vs5: The laws of basic five-player play are better possessed, usually in Pittsburgh. Mike Sullivan the team he piloted will not tolerate playing with wins. Rangers are more likely than teams to fluctuate in this regard and are more likely to be attracted to open scoring competitions. In a tight spot, Penguins ’way of playing gives it a firmer backbone.
Special situations: Pittsburgh has Sidney Crosbyn, Yevgeny Malkin and Kris Letangin through lunch for a top-notch superiority game, but in recent weeks the thing hasn’t worked. The Rangers game of superiority, on the other hand, has been clearly more dangerous and effective than Pittsburgh lately. In the game of underpower, both have taken care of their pastries well.
Goalkeeper game: Rangersin Igor Shostjorkin is by far the best goalkeeper of the NHL season. Pittsburgh’s number one hammer Tristan Jarry is sick. Need I say more?
Prognosis: A flat series where it would be easy to put the culture of winning Pittsburgh first in a horizontal cup. However, it hasn’t won a single playoff series in three years. And will hardly win even now. Shostjorkin translates the series to New York.
Colorado (1) – (WC2) Nashville
Condition of the day: Colorado wasn’t at its best in its last matches at the end of the regular season, but it didn’t have to be. Nashville came into the playoffs as if in contention, although a few important and tough wins were taken in the end. However, the best blow was left for the winter.
5vs5: Opposite are slightly different teams. Nashville has become John Hynesin under the guidance of a hard-working and disciplined team committed to protecting their own goal and the laws of the pentathlon on piety. Colorado’s high-octane vertical disc control punch and firepower effectively bury occasional imperfections in its overall integrity.
Special situations: Both run a great game of superiority. The deterrence and power of Colorado’s number one superiority is soaring, but it has been Mikael Granlundin driven by the superiority of Nashville as well. The cooler will play a big role in the series through this as well. In the underpower game, Colorado has a better pile in the package.
Goalkeeper game: Nashville Hair Saros injured last week and barely playing in the starting series. Through this, Colorado has a huge advantage in the series in this category as well. David Rittich Nashville’s goal is a completely unseen and uncertain card.
Prognosis: Colorado is marching fast on the series. Colorado’s material advantage and Saros’ injury are too much for Nashville.
Calgary (1) – (2) Dallas
Condition of the day: A clear advantage for Calgary in this regard. Flames is one of the hottest teams in the series under the playoffs. Dallas was able to fight himself in the playoffs with a nip button.
5vs5: Calgary has a clearer and more effective way of playing, where everything starts with protecting your own goal. There where Miro Heiskanen leads the Dallas game from time to time in the role of a kind of midfielder, in Calgary the defenders are more traditionally defenders and the attackers attackers. Calgary is a disciplined and tighter team when it comes to five games. In March-April, the Flames scored five to five goals against Dallas.
Special situations: Smooth. Calgary’s superiority five has made a slightly better result in the spring, but Dallas has also had its moment. The underpower performance on both teams is in the 80 percent range.
Goalkeeper game: Calgaryn Jakob Markström should be nominated as goalkeeper of the year. The Swede has played well as expected and has been able to win several matches for his team on the weakest evenings. Dallas Jake Oettinger has not started a match in the NHL playoffs in his career. A clear advantage for Calgary.
Prognosis: Dallas is a routine team with lunch to surprise. However, Calgary is Canada’s biggest winning favorite and wins the series.
Minnesota (2) – (3) St. Louis
Condition of the day: Both are coming in a good blow to spring. Minnesota was the hottest team in the series since Florida in March-April.
5vs5: Minnesota is clearly of higher quality than the teams and, at least for the spring, more committed to a high-quality pentathlon. Wild accomplishes even small things in a fantastic way, which makes it really hard to score against it. St. Louis has traditionally relied on close-knit five, but playing in the spring has been everything else.
Special situations: Special play in St. Louis has been better in the spring. The team has lived its game of superiority and has killed the icebergs well. Minnesota’s biggest cry of grief throughout the season has been a weak underpower game. As the spring progresses, the group must come up with a solution.
Goalkeeper game: St. Louis Ville Husso belongs to the goalie sensations of the season and for a reason! Enjoying a salary of six million bucks Jordan Binnington sitting on the bench when the minimum wage Husso starts with a goal. However, the challenge is tough as Minnesota won a three-time Cup winner in the middle of the season Marc-Andre Fleury has been a hard hit. Advantage to Minnesota.
Prognosis: A series of up to seven matches. Minnesota to continue.
Edmonton (2) – (3) Los Angeles
Condition of the day: Edmonton changed coach on February 10th. Raised from AHL Jay Woodcroft has since piloted the Oilers into one of the hottest gangs in the NHL. Edmonton has a clear advantage in this regard.
5vs5: Woodcroft has ripped Edmonton’s overall gaming in a better direction, but there is still a long way to go. The Oilers have won a lot of matches under the new pilot, but even at their own end, the net has rang from time to time. Kings has been known in recent years as a close-knit team and at its best it still performs well on its room table.
Special situations: Edmonton has an advantage. Oilers’ superiority game is Connor McDavidin and Leon Draisaitlin Through one of the world’s most dangerous and underpowered the group has played under the new pilot well. The Kings have not been particularly successful in the spring in either area, if not the point.
Goalkeeper game: Mikko Koskinen is likely to start on the bench when Mike Smith lead Edmonton to the first match. Smith has been hot, but will the 40-year-old veskar’s package last night in the playoffs? This is a big question mark. Los Angeles double champion goalkeeper Jonathan Quick Know a thing or two about the success of the playoffs.
Prognosis: Long series of predictions in the air. Edmonton is hot and even in the spring one of the black horses, but also the Kings may wriggle the series. To the edge of Edmonton.