The playoff pairs of the NHL’s Eastern Conference are clear. Alexander Barkov led by Florida will face Boston, who won the regular season overwhelmingly.
The other pairings are Toronto – Tampa Bay, Carolina – New York Islanders and New Jersey – New York Rangers.
In the Western Conference, not all pairs made it through yet. Colorado beat Winnipeg 4–2, when the Finnish players Mikko Rantanen and Artturi Lehkonen hit
With the win, Colorado’s final position in the Western Conference will be decided next night after the Nashville game.
With a win in their last game of the regular season, Colorado can still climb to third in the West and win the central division over Dallas. Colorado will face either Minnesota or Seattle.
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Eastern Conference:
Boston Bruins–Florida Panthers
Toronto Maple Leafs–Tampa Bay Lightning
Carolina Hurricanes–New York Islanders
New Jersey Devils–New York Rangers
Western Conference:
Vegas Golden Knights–Winnipeg Jets
Edmonton Oilers–Los Angeles Kings
The last two couples will make it through Saturday morning.
In the round of the night, Nashville scored the most beautiful goal Juuso Pärssinen. The Finnish striker returned to the lineup in the previous round after 1.5 months of injury.
– It’s great that he’s back. He is a good playmaker, really fast, tough on the puck and defending. He completed an important goal for us, teammate Jakov Trenin lit up Nashville on the website (you will switch to another service).
Nashville head coach John Hynes said that Pärssinen is a good, strong and young player who is a big part of the team.
– From his NHL debut until his injury, he was probably third in the rookie market and he had a really strong season, Hynes summed up.
On Friday night, Pärssinen secured his team’s 4–3 overtime victory against Minnesota with a cool goal – a stick between the legs and a shot into the back upper corner.
Who gets the Canadian talent?
Even at the tail end of the NHL regular season, there is still plenty to be excited about. Jumbo place was taken by Anaheim, which was derailed by a 13-match losing streak.
Columbus also played a miserable season, but was left without the best “lottery ticket” for the upcoming booking event. The team moved ahead of Anaheim in the standings by taking a 3–2 overtime victory over Pittsburgh.
The Blue Jackets can still move up two more spots when the team plays against Buffalo next night in their season finale.
The lowest placed team in the NHL reserve lottery has the best chance for the first reserve round. Anaheim, for example, has a 25.5 percent chance of a first-round pick.
The reservation slots will be drawn on May 8. The booking event itself will take place on the 28th and 29th. June in Nashville.
Anaheim 25.5%
Chicago 13.5%
Columbus 11.5%
San Jose 9.5%
Montreal 8.5%
Arizona 7.5%
Philadelphia 6.5%
Washington 6.0%
Detroit 5.0%
St. Louis 3.5%
Vancouver 3.0%
The 17-year-old Canadian striker is believed to be the number one booking for the upcoming summer Connor Bedard, which has been called a generational talent. It is believed that he is the strongest name on the booking list since then Connor McDavid’s and by Auston Matthews.
Bedard shone at the under-20 World Championships at the turn of the year. He finished with 23 power points (9+14) in seven matches. The points balance was the fourth best in a single tournament in the youth games.
In the already ended season in the Canadian junior series WHL, Bedard hit a staggering 71+12=143 in 57 games. Now we are wondering whether the young talent will be seen at the World Championships for adults in May.
Read also: Who will top Connor Bedard? Soon, a draw will be held that could determine the power relations of the entire NHL for years
2022: Juraj Slafkovsky, Montreal
2021: Owen Power, Buffalo
2020: Alexis Lafreniere, New York Rangers
2019: Jack Hughes, New Jersey
2018: Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo
2017: Nico Hischier, New Jersey
2016: Auston Matthews, Toronto
2015: Connor McDavid, Edmonton
In Friday night’s round, Vegas took the Western Conference victory right in front of Edmonton’s nose. Edmonton beat San Jose 5-2 in their own game, but Vegas took the top spot in the conference by beating Seattle 2-1.
In the meeting of the “Finnish teams” night, Carolina was stronger than Florida with a score of 6-2. Florida managed to score Alexander Barkov and Carolina Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Sebastian Aho.
With the win, Carolina secured second place in the entire NHL regular season, second place in its own conference and victory in the Metropolitan division.