Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 2 Matchups
by Tyler Doty | by Tyler Doty
Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 2
Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs produced a few quality series, but no surprising outcomes. All eight higher seeds emerged victorious, which sets up some intriguing matchups in the conference semifinals.
We're well into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, let's take a look at how each of the 4 series is panning out. We also have free expert hockey predictions available for each of the matches!
Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Rangers
If the rest of the series looks like Game 1 did on special teams, Carolina has no chance in this series. The Hurricanes outplayed the Rangers in most stretches of the first game, but their special teams play left a lot to be desired. During the regular season, the Hurricanes ranked second on the power play and had the best penalty kill in the league.
But in the opening game, the Hurricanes failed to cash in any of their five power plays. Conversely, the Rangers got two and spent all of 23 seconds on the power play because they converted each one in less than 15 seconds. New York is too good on defense and has too many weapons for Carolina to hope to compete if it gets bossed on the power play. The numbers bear that out: the Hurricanes are just 2-8 in their past 10 games against New York, and both Carolina wins saw the Rangers fail to score a power play goal.
The Rangers’ big cause for concern is how many quality shots the Hurricanes got on Igor Shesterkin. Carolina took just 25 shots for the game, but the majority of them were clean looks at the net. The Rangers didn’t generate anywhere near as many good opportunities as Carolina did, which says that this series has the potential to turn if New York’s defense can’t close off lanes quicker.
These teams tend to play tight games, with five of their past six meetings decided by a single goal. New York has to be considered the favorite given its overall dominance of Carolina, and backing the Rangers to win the series in seven games carries excellent value at +425 at BetMGM. If you’re looking for a prop play, Mika Zibanejad of the Rangers and Seth Jarvis of the Hurricanes have both been brilliant in this season’s playoffs. Backing them to score or to have a multi-point effort should carry some good odds.
Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers
This series is a rematch of last year’s memorable first-rounder. Florida won the series in seven games after being down 3 games to 1, mainly because the Bruins were so exhausted they had nothing left to finish off Florida. This year’s Bruins squad seems a lot more likely to do the job. Boston didn’t miss a beat in its opener after a long layoff, and Florida seemed to lose its momentum from wiping out Tampa Bay in five games and waiting for a week.
The Panthers made mistake after mistake on defense, and that’s stunning given how well Florida played without the puck in the Tampa Bay series. The Panthers allowed just eight goals in the four wins over the Lightning, and they gave up the fewest goals in the NHL in the regular season. Against Boston, Florida allowed five goals in the series opener and immediately lost the home-ice advantage.
Dismissing the Panthers based on one game would be foolish, as Florida showed it could overcome a 3-1 deficit last season. But Florida’s miscues in Game 1 were elementary mistakes, and if the Panthers continue making those kinds of errors, the series won’t last very long. If you think Game 1 was a trend, getting the Bruins to end the series in five at +550 seems like a reasonable attempt at value.
Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars
Dallas comes in with little rest, while Colorado barely had to break a sweat in its series. The Avalanche proved that a team cannot just sit back and soak up pressure to beat them, as they dispatched the Jets and their weak offense in just five games. The Stars bring a much better offense than do the Jets, but they also just had to grind through seven grueling games with Vegas. They also didn’t come close to scoring with Colorado for most of the year, as the Avalanche have won four of the past five meetings between the teams.
Jake Oettinger has played excellent hockey in net for Dallas and Wyatt Johnston had an incredible series against Vegas, but that’s not going to be enough to slow down Colorado. The Avalanche haven’t scored less than four goals in any of their past five matchups with Dallas, and the goaltending took a big step forward in routing the Jets.
Unless the Stars can step up their attack in a hurry, they’re not going to be able to outscore the likes of Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon. Both scored nine points in the Winnipeg series, and both come into this series healthy and rested. Even with Dallas’ higher seed, Colorado’s going off at close to even money to win this series. Backing the Avalanche to win on home ice in six games at +450 makes a lot of sense, especially because there’s no value on Colorado in a seventh game. Dallas coach Peter DeBoer is 8-0 all-time in Game 7s, so if this gets to a seventh game, the Stars become heavy favorites.
Edmonton Oilers vs. Vancouver Canucks
Everyone has forgotten that Vancouver, not Edmonton, won the Pacific Division. That’s because the Oilers have been a playoff fixture for years, while the Canucks are in the playoffs for just the second time in nine years. Still, it’s hard to imagine a team more disrespected than Vancouver. The Canucks won all four matchups against the Oilers this year and won the two games in Vancouver by a combined 14-3. And still, Edmonton goes off as the biggest favorite in round 2.
The conventional thinking holds that this Edmonton team isn’t the same one that went 0-4 against the Canucks this year. They changed coaches since the third meeting and didn’t have Connor McDavid in the final game, so most analysts are willing to throw out all of the records.
But Vancouver’s defense has been rock-solid all season, and the Canucks are the type of team that can give the Oilers trouble. Vancouver had a bad matchup in Round 1 against Nashville, which forced it to grind out space night after night. Conversely, Edmonton got a good matchup with a Los Angeles team it knows how to beat and has proven it can beat three years running.
The roles are now reversed, and there’s value on the Canucks. It’s rare that you get a top seed that nobody believes in, but that’s what exists here with Vancouver going off at +220 to win the series. The Canucks are the better team in 5-on-5 play; the Oilers only win this series if they get Vancouver to take penalties. There’s plenty of value in taking the Canucks to stay out of the penalty box and win the series. Even with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton can’t beat Vancouver without the man advantage.
