The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin this Saturday as playoff hockey is back. The defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers will attempt to repeat as they begin their journey for Lord Stanley. Alexander Ovechkin will have another crack at getting his second Stanley Cup victory, as he made history earlier this season when he broke Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record. The Winnipeg Jets end the season as the Presidents’ Trophy holders going into the playoffs. Will the Presidents’ Trophy curse hit them? Or will Winnipeg win its first Stanley Cup?
The first round will feature several rivalries, including the Battle of Ontario, the Battle of Florida, Canes vs. Devils and Oilers vs. Kings. The Capitals will face off against the Montreal Canadians, who have not made the playoffs since the 2020-2021 season and will be looking for their first cup since 1993.
The Winnipeg Jets will face off against the St. Louis Blues. The Blues won 12 games in a row en route to clinching a playoff spot and hope to upset the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets. The Jets had a historic year and had great performances from players like Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, and Connor Hellebuyck.
The Minnesota Wild have been pushing through the season since their star player, Kirill Kaprizov, missed a notable amount of time with an upper-body injury. While the Wild struggled, they did enough to make the playoffs and will match up against the winners of the Pacific Division: the Vegas Golden Knights. The Knights have played great hockey year-round and are considered contenders for the playoffs.
One of the great stories headed into the playoffs was Mikko Rantanen returning to Colorado for what could be an intense series. Rantanen has spent most of his NHL career with the Avs and has broken out into a superstar. The Dallas Stars live up to their name as they have a lot of star power on their roster. Matt Duchene and Jason Robertson lead the way for the Stars going into the playoffs as they lead the team in points. The Stars also have a great goaltender in Jake Oettinger. In front of Oettinger is Finnish defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who is expected to play in round one. The Avs are led by none other than Nathan Mackinnon and Cale Makar. Makar had an impressive 30-goal season as a defenseman. The last time that happened was when Capitals legend Mike Green did it back in 2009. Nathan Mackinnon continues to impress in Colorado as he tallied another 100-plus point season. He was also tied in the NHL in assists with 82. These two will be the key to defeating the Dallas Stars in round one.
The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning will meet for the second consecutive season for the Battle of Florida. This time around, the Lightning will have home ice advantage. The Panthers will have Matthew Tkachuk for the playoff series, as they have missed his presence during the regular season. Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is considered one of the best goalies during the playoffs. Last season, Bobrovsky dominated throughout the playoffs as he put up a .906 save percentage and 2.36 GAA, and was a key contributor to why the Panthers won the Stanley Cup.
The Battle of Ontario, Ottawa vs Toronto, will be in the first round. For the first time since 2004, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators will meet. The Ottawa Senators have waited since 2017 to play playoff hockey. The Leafs have made the playoffs for nine consecutive seasons but have only made it out of the first round once. The last time the Sens made the playoffs, they made a deep playoff run but lost in overtime when Chris Kunitz of the Pittsburgh Penguins fired a blistering slap shot to send Ottawa home.
The Carolina Hurricanes and the New Jersey Devils have a deep playoff history, dating back to the early 2000s. The Canes have beaten the Devils four out of five times in their playoff matchups. The last playoff matchup between these two teams ended in five games when Jesper Fast deflected a shot from Jesperi Kotkaniemi in overtime to send the Hurricanes to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings will face off for the fifth consecutive season. The Kings will look for their first series win against the Oilers, as they are 0-4 against Edmonton. As for the Oilers, they will be seeking revenge as Edmonton reached the cup final and almost completed a historic reverse sweep against the Panthers. But fell short in Game Seven.
The Montreal Canadians have not played in the playoffs since their crushing defeat against the Tampa Bay Lightning. This time, they will have to match up against the first-seeded Washington Capitals. The Habs have had a bumpy road to the playoffs, as their spot in the playoffs was almost lost due to a late-season losing streak. But, in the end, the Habs beat the Carolina Hurricanes to close out any doubts about them not making the playoffs. The Washington Capitals got off to a hot start early in the season and did not look back. The Caps had the number one seed in the East and claimed home ice advantage through the Conference Finals. Captain and now all-time leading goalscorer Alexander Ovechkin will lead his team for potentially one last time as his contract ends next season, but due to already hitting the all-time goal scoring record, a Stanley Cup this season could mark the end to a historic career.
