nhl playoff predictions 2022 espn

All things being equal, Colorado boasts the deeper team. Shilton: Hurricanes in six Anze Kopitar led the team in scoring. Watching all of it from the crease is Vezina contender Jacob Markstrom. Player to watch: Under different circumstances, 22-year-old defenseman Evan Bouchard might have been a Calder Trophy finalist with his 43 points in 81 games. Alas, he's ineligible, having played more than six games in his first two NHL seasons. . 2022-23 NCAA Basketball Regular Season Game; North Carolina (17-11, 9-8 ACC) vs. No. Wyshynski: Flames in seven. Wyshynski: Hurricanes in five, The Stanley Cup playoffs are back on ESPN and ABC! Will that be the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are looking to become the first team to win the Cup in three consecutive seasons since the New York Islanders won four straight from 1980 to 1983? Before the NBA resumes play on Thursday night, it is time to answer some big questions. ESPN Megacast, formerly known as ESPN Full Circle, is a multi-network simulcast of a single sporting event across multiple ESPN networks and serviceswith each feed providing a different version of the telecast making use of different features, functions or perspectives. The Lightning have done it the past two seasons, under less-than-ideal pandemic-related circumstances to boot. That mindset is critical when every team out there is looking to unseat the champions. I apologize in advance for spoiling the next two months for you, as obviously all of . Game 3: Florida Panthers at Washington Capitals 1 p.m. Callahan: Flames in five Goalie Frederik Andersen had a dominant regular season, finishing third in goals saved above average (38.7). Tampa Bay is better 5-on-5. I said in my series prediction . He worked through his emotions during the Rangers' first two games in Pittsburgh, where he was pulled twice. But the kids were all right too: Forwards Arthur Kaliyev, Rasmus Kupari and Quinton Byfield, as well as defensemen Mikey Anderson and Sean Durzi, also contributed. Unfortunately, Alex Ovechkin cornered the market on "he can still do that at his age, wow!" The Oilers are more balanced (28.1% on the power play, 85.4% on the kill). The NHL has passed the mathematical midpoint of the 2022-23 regular season. Back in 2019, St. Louis went from flailing to thriving at the end of the regular season and carried a hot streak all the way past Boston for the franchise's first Cup title. Why? This postseason, he's 8-3 with a .932 save percentage and has 6.76 goals saved above average to lead all goalies still playing in the postseason. 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs: Highlights and analysis from the entire postseason. Messier: Oilers in six Player to watch: Tarasenko. Make Your Picks. He heads to New York with 1,225 points in 1,161 regular-season games. DiPietro: Hurricanes in six Why Rangers-Lightning, Avs-Oilers demand your attention, Wyshynski's NHL trade deadline tiers: From elite game-changers to bargain beauties, NHL trade deadline guides for all 32 teams: Players, picks in play, cap space, team status. The Oilers will have to settle for Bouchard logging 19:46 in average ice time and being part of a successful pairing with Duncan Keith, which is not something Edmonton fans would have predicted before the season. That could change in a hurry in the postseason, as the Canes flex their impressive depth, stingy penalty kill and offensive power led by Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov. Florida has three 30-plus goal scorers, six players with 50-plus points and a Hart Trophy contender in Jonathan Huberdeau, who can go toe-to-toe with any offensive threat in the league. Did he skid at the end of this season? How they got here: Defeated Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3, defeated Florida Panthers 4-0. Returning contributors Alex Killorn and Ondrej Palat can play up or down the lineup with effectiveness. We just didn't go away. FiveThirtyEight's 2021-22 NHL forecast predicts the winner of each hockey game and calculates each team's chances of advancing to the playoffs and winning the Stanley Cup. Hextall: Avalanche in five With a healthy Ovechkin, they can be in any series. They'll need continued offense from Fox, who had 18 points in 14 games. Note: Profiles for the Atlantic and Central playoff brackets were written by Shilton, while Wyshynski analyzed the Metro and Pacific brackets. The team also had strong seasons from veterans Trevor Moore, Alex Iafallo, Adrian Kempe and Alex Edler, a resurgent campaign from Jonathan Quick and an outstanding season from Drew Doughty before he went out with a wrist injury. Rush to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Selected by Nashville in the fourth round (No. Campbell-Pascall: Hurricanes in five Their superstars kept improving throughout the last round and were the difference-makers at critical times. The Bruins have just about everything you can want in a contender: a deadly top line, an elite defenseman, and a great goalie. Case for a Stanley Cup run: Few teams are built better for a run at the Cup than the Calgary Flames. The Lightning had some bumpier stretches in the season's second half. Once the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round matchups are set, hockey fans worldwide can start creating and submitting brackets outlining their predictions for each playoff series online. He was fourth on the team in goals scored above average. Kaplan: Avalanche in six And it's not just the Avs' marquee names -- Nazem Kadri, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar to name a few -- who are having an impact. Washington lives and dies on the performance of its franchise star, especially on the power play. The All-Star Game and the Stadium Series will be on ABC, and ESPN will have the All-Star Skills Competition. Biggest flaw(s): Being a top-heavy offensive team is a good problem to have when the top of one's lineup is filled with players who have more than 35 goals. After Pavelski, Hintz and Robertson (who all tallied 70 or more points), Dallas' offense has been streaky. ESPN will air the entirety of the Metropolitan and Pacific divisions on alternating days, beginning Wednesday, May 18. The Stars' first line might be its superpower, but this lineup can offer a lot more than that. Colorado has given up the third-fewest goals against per game (2.70) among remaining playoff teams, and its power play is operating at a crisp 34.5% (best in show throughout the postseason). While offense can sometimes dry up the deeper we get into postseason play, that doesn't necessarily mean it will be the case here. If the season ended today we'd have the Heat . Sure, Penguins center Nick Bonino scored the winning goal against the Sharks in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals. The Oilers peppered Calgary's Jacob Markstrom with over 34 shots per game in the second round and their elite talent up front (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evander Kane, etc.) Toronto Maple Leafs. Andrei Vasilevskiy is one of the greatest postseason goaltenders in NHL history. Being involved to that degree clearly works for the netminder, and he has thrived under the pressure. The Predators can score well enough, but how well they can execute team defense and keep the puck out of their own net will be the key. The Stanley Cup playoffs are a place where teams defy the numbers, find an undeniable belief in themselves and create - for lack of a better term - postseason magic. It was once again the Connor and Leon show, as McDavid had 123 points and Draisaitl had 110. Period. Cohn: Rangers in seven But it was also a campaign that saw Alex Ovechkin score 50 goals and carry the team for stretches this season. Excellent goaltending. Keep an eye on those little things Brodin can do to put Minnesota over the top. Lawrence-Riddell: Flames in seven Lawrence-Riddell: Hurricanes in seven Don La Greca: Panthers in seven It breeds confidence, and that's having a huge impact on the Oilers' success in this postseason. You can say the Rangers haven't faced a goalie like Vasilevskiy, and that's true. Any notion that the Avs' slide out of the regular season (losing six of their last seven games) was a premonition of poor playoff performance to come was unfounded. NHL trade grades: Kings make smart additions in Gavrikov, Korpisalo, NHL trade tracker: Latest deals, rumors and grades, Capitals send Eller to Avs for second-round pick, Kings deal Cup-winning G Quick to Blue Jackets, Rangers clear hurdles, get Kane from Blackhawks, Oilers bulk up defense, secure Predators' Ekholm, Leafs win Schenn sweepstakes, trade for veteran, Leafs deal Sandin to Capitals for Gustafsson, pick, Wild add depth, acquire Johansson from Capitals, Chasing history in Boston: The numbers behind the Bruins' wild 2022-23 season, McDavid, then who? Bob Wischusen: Panthers in seven (2:28). Player to watch: Tom Wilson managed not to get suspended during the regular season, to his credit. Shilton: Avalanche in seven No one will let the Leafs forget what happened against Boston (twice) or Montreal. When the trade deadline rolls around, there are always teams caught in the middle of the standings . Bold prediction: As happened to Tampa Bay in 2019, the seemingly unstoppable Panthers fall short with a baffling first-round exit. Facebook; Twitter; Facebook Messenger; Pinterest; Email; print; Welcome to the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs!The first round gets rolling on Saturday with Game 1 of the Washington Capitals-Boston Bruins series.. There's plenty of history in many of these matchups, as the NHL is using an intradivisional format for the first two rounds, before re-bracketing the final four for the semifinals. Whether or not he'll again be eyeing a trade out of town this offseason, Tarasenko should take every chance to shine in the coming weeks. The Avalanche are excelling in the ways they should, getting timely goals and playing to their strengths. To help get you up to speed before the puck drops on Game 1 of the West matchup Tuesday night, we're bringing you a mega-preview, breaking down each team in five different categories and offering our predictions on which clubs will head to the Stanley Cup Final. We just don't go away, regardless of the score and regardless of where the game is. Callahan: Hurricanes in six But it'll also take continued contributions from players like Andrew Copp (12 points), Ryan Strome (9) and Frank Vatrano (8); and further damage done by the Rangers' "Kid Line" of Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko. Bold prediction: Toronto shocks the world and wins multiple playoff rounds. All we know for sure is that the real winners here are those of us watching the action unfold. His .925 career playoff save percentage ties him for third all time (minimum 60 games) with Hall of Famer Dominik . 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