In the last games in arrears, it was confirmed that Colorado will play against Seattle, the first time in the playoffs, and Dallas will face Minnesota. The playoff spring starts on the night between Monday and Tuesday Finnish time.
The NHL’s long 82-match regular season marathon has come to an end, and the 16 teams competing for Lord Stanley’s Cup have been revealed. In the last match, Colorado narrowly edged Nashville 4-3 and managed to squeeze itself into the middle division victory ahead of Dallas.
The Avalanche have been plagued by injuries throughout the season, and even in mid-January by Jared Bednar the Shields were 14 points behind Winnipeg, who led the division at the time. Having played a full regular season Mikko Rantanen (55+50=105) and a whopping 111 (42+69) points in 71 matches by Nathan MacKinnon however, as a tow, the team still came first in its division.
The final regular season tables can be found here and Connor McDavid’s dominated points exchange here.
Thus, the Avalanche will face Seattle in the first round of the playoffs, and the Stars will face Minnesota, the third in their own division. In the other two West pairings, Vegas, who won the Pacific Division, will play Winnipeg, and in a rematch of last year, Edmonton will clash with the Los Angeles Kings.
In the Eastern Conference, Boston, which crushed historical statistics with its wild pace, gets the first challenger Alexander Barkov in the form of skippered Florida. Along with Dallas, Carolina, the team with the most Finnish colors, will meet the New York Islanders, and New Jersey, one of the surprises of the season in the battle of the Hudson River, will clash in a sure-fire series against the New York Rangers.
Toronto will try to break its curse of the first round, like last year, against the perennial success of the next few years, Tampa Bay. The last time the Maple Leafs advanced to the second round of the playoffs was 2004, and lifted the Stanley Cup in 1967.
The NHL playoffs start on the night between Monday and Tuesday, Finnish time, and you usually advance to the second round with four wins. will show matches on its channels again next weekend 22-23. April, and games are offered evenly throughout the playoffs, culminating in the Stanley Cup Finals.
NHL playoff pairings:
Eastern Conference:
Boston Bruins – Florida Panthers
Carolina Hurricanes – New York Islanders
New Jersey Devils – New York Rangers
Toronto Maple Leafs – Tampa Bay Lightning
Western Conference:
Vegas Golden Knights – Winnipeg Jets
Colorado Avalanche – Seattle Kraken
Edmonton Oilers – Los Angeles Kings
Dallas Stars – Minnesota Wild
NHL playoff teams and Finns