Stanley Cup Second Round, 2022

Wow!  The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs were something else!  Five Game 7's!  Two Game 7's that went to overtime on the same night!  Of a possible 56 games across the eight series, 51 were played, and there was only one sweep. 

Compare that to the NBA, where the first round was the opposite of competitive.  All eight of the higher-seeded teams advanced.  Yes, two second-round series in the NBA did reach Game 7.  And both Game 7's were blowouts!  That certainly wasn't the case in hockey!

Not only did five of the eight series go seven, they were incredibly evenly-matched across the board.  Calgary outscored Dallas 15-14 in the series.  The Penguins actually outscored the Rangers by one, helped by those back-to-back seven-goal performances in Games 3 & 4.  The Leafs outscored the Lightning by a goal, too.  Only Colorado-Nashville wasn't close, and even that series had an overtime game!

All credit to the big-name players too!  They really showed up, especially in the Game 7's!  Connor McDavid wasn't going to let the Oilers lose, and Johnny Gaudreau scored the OT winner for Calgary.  The Rangers got goals from Zibanejad, Kreider AND Panarin in Game 7.  And Tampa Bay, well, that's a team of superstars!

Let's not forget the performances of the goalies, either.  Specifically Pittsburgh's Matt Domingue, who began the series as the third-stringer, yet ended up starting five games, and Jake Oettinger of the Stars with that incredible Game 7.  It's long been said that a hot goalie can win you a series (or a Cup).  Both of them almost did exactly that.

After a first round that was so good, what could the second round possibly have in store?  Well, we've got the first Battle of Alberta in the postseason since 1991, two rematches of first-round series from last season, and a matchup that we saw in the 2020 bubble (albeit with a much different Rangers team than the one that got swept by the Hurricanes then).  We're also guaranteed a Canadian Western Conference finalist.

Panthers-Lightning: I knew Florida was good.  They won the President's Trophy for a reason.  Still, I didn't know how good until I watched that Capitals series.  The Panthers are very complete in all phases, and they've got incredible depth.  It's why they won their first playoff series since 1996, when they went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.  

Winning another series will be tough, though.  Because they're playing an opponent that knows them well in the Lightning.  While that's important, it's not as important as what could be the real determining factor in this series.  Experience.  The Lightning have it in abundance.  They've won two straight Cups and have been to five of the last seven Eastern Conference Finals.  (Of course, the irony is the year they won the President's Trophy, they got swept in the first round.)  The Lightning have won nine consecutive playoff series.  In a variety of ways.  I just can't pick against them.  Tampa Bay in six.

Hurricanes-Rangers: When these two met in the Toronto bubble in 2020, the Rangers were completely overmatched against the Hurricanes.  That's most definitely not the case this year.  These teams are even on pretty much every level, which is why they were neck-and-neck atop the Metropolitan Division all season.  Of course, Carolina was the better team in both of those games at Madison Square Garden in April, so we'll see how much of an impact that has.

Igor Shesterkin was at times brilliant, at times terrible in the Penguins series.  If he plays well, the Rangers will be very tough to beat.  If he doesn't, it could be Games 3 & 4 in Pittsburgh all over again.  I don't want to simplify it down to how well the Rangers' goalie plays, but, frankly, that might be the difference.  They're so evenly-matched across the board that some little thing might end up having a huge impact.  And it could be what decides the series.  Carolina in seven.

Avalanche-Blues: Before the playoffs started, I said that nobody in the West could compete with Colorado.  After the first round, I'm still convinced of that.  The only team that can beat the Avalanche is the Avalanche.  The Blues definitely have a much better chance of being competitive with them than the Predators did, but will St. Louis beat them?  Definitely not.  Maybe one or two games, but not four.  

The craziest thing about this series is the fact that while everybody else was doing battle in Game 7, these two have been sitting around waiting to play each other.  The Avalanche haven't played since last Monday, and St. Louis-Minnesota was the second series done.  So, any advantage one might've had because of the extra rest (or, the playing vs. rust factor) is completely negated.  Colorado in five.

Flames-Oilers: This is the series I'm looking forward to the most.  Two teams that aren't very far and do not like each other, who are meeting in the playoffs for the first time in 30 years.  As exhausted as they must both be after those hard-fought seven-game series against LA and Dallas, that should all be gone once the puck drops for Game 1.  That's what playing a rival in the playoffs can do for you.

Both teams have talent in abundance, and they'll need their stars to show up the way they did in their respective Game 7's.  Of course, one of Edmonton's biggest weapons is Leon Draisaitl, who was injured in Game 7 against the Kings.  If he's not at 100 percent, that puts even more pressure on Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.  Although, the Oilers finally got over that hump and got their first series win with this group.  That should take a ton of pressure off.  Which should let Edmonton let loose and set up a Western Conference Final between Colorado and the only team that might have a chance of possibly beating them.  Edmonton in six.